Journal of Discourses

Volume 2

By Brigham Young, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,

His Two Counsellors, the Twelve Apostles, and Others.

Reported by G. D. Watt, and Humbly Dedicated to the Latter-day Saints in the World

Liverpool: Published by F. D. Richards, 86, Islington.
London: Latter-day Saints’ Book Depot, 35, Jewin Street, City.

1855

Journal of Discourses, Volume 2. Kindle edition published August 2010 by Ben Crowder. Updated October 2011.

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Table of Contents

Original page numbers are in parentheses.

- Preface

- The Gospel — Growing in Knowledge — The Lord’s Supper — Blessings of Faithfulness — Utility of Persecution — Creation of Adam — Experience, by Brigham Young (1–10)

- The Power of God and the Power of Satan, by Jedediah M. Grant (10–16)

- The Word of Wisdom Especially Suited to Infants and Youth — Privations in Missouri — Necessity of Integrity, and Strife for Excellence — Responsibility of Parents, by Brigham Young (16–21)

- Reminiscences of the Jackson County Mob, The Evacuation of Nauvoo, and the Settlement of Great Salt Lake City, by George A. Smith (22–24)

- Persecutions, Duties, and Privileges of the Saints, by Daniel H.Wells (25–28)

- Necessity of Building Temples — The Endowment, by Brigham Young (29–33)

- A Prayer, by Heber C. Kimball (34–35)

- Persecutions, Position, Prospects, and Agency of the Saints, by Edward Hunter (35–38)

- Prayer, by Alfred Cordon (39–40)

- The Church Built on a Rock — Efforts of Satan — The Priesthood, by John Young (40–41)

- Prayer, by George B. Wallace (41–42)

- Spiritual Communication, by Parley P. Pratt (43–47)

- Prayer, by Orson Hyde (47–48)

- Debtors to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund, by President Brigham Young (49–53)

- The Perpetual Emigrating Fund — Emigration of the Saints and the Nations, by Orson Pratt (54–61)

- Gathering the Saints — Perpetual Emigrating Fund, by Orson Hyde (61–70)

- The Immigration — The Perpetual Emigrating Fund — Scoffers, by Jedediah M. Grant (71–74)

- The Marriage Relations, by Orson Hyde (75–87)

- Marriage Relations of Bishops and Deacons, by Brigham Young (88–90)

- Organization and Development of Man, by Brigham Young (90–96)

- Consecration, by Orson Pratt (96–104)

- Union of the Saints — Authority of the Priesthood — Power of God — Obedience — The Urim and Thummim, etc., by Heber C. Kimball (105–111)

- Common Salvation, by Orson Hyde (112–120)

- Saints Subject to Temptation — True Riches, Virtue, and Sanctification — “Mormonism” — Gladdenites, Apostles, and Saints — Devils Without Tabernacles, by Brigham Young (121–129)

- Perfection and Salvation — Self–government, by Brigham Young (129–135)

- Spiritual Gifts — Hell — The Spirit World — The Elders and the Nations — The Lamanites — The Temple, by Brigham Young (136–145)

- Fulfilment of Prophecy — Wars and Commotions, by Jedediah M. Grant (145–149)

- Obedience — The Spirit World — The Potter and the Clay, by Heber C. Kimball (150–154)

- Contentment — Home Manufactures — The Priesthood — Tithing — Gathering — Building up Zion — Purification, by Heber C. Kimball (155–163)

- The Constitutions of the United States and Illinois, etc., by Joseph Smith (163–169)

- The Constitution and Government of the United States, etc., by Brigham Young (170–178)

- The Priesthood and Satan, etc., by Brigham Young (179–191)

- The Church and Kingdom of God, and the Churches and Kingdoms of Men, by Wilford Woodruff (191–202)

- The Judgements of God on the United States — The Saints and the World, by Orson Hyde (202–211)

- Gathering and Sanctification of the People of God, by George A. Smith (211–220)

- Obedience — The Priesthood — Spiritual Communication — The Saints and the World, by Heber C. Kimball (220–225)

- The First Principles of the Gospel, by Jedediah M. Grant (225–233)

- The Power of the Gospel, by Heber C. Kimball (233–235)

- The Increased Powers and Faculties of the Mind in a Future State, by Orson Pratt (235–248)

- Faithfulness and Apostacy, by Brigham Young (248–258)

- Progress of the Work — Consecration — Preaching to Israel, by Orson Pratt (259–266)

- Preaching and Testimony — Gathering Israel — The Blood of Israel and the Gentiles — The Science of Life, by Brigham Young (266–271)

- Faith and Works, by Jedediah M. Grant (272–279)

- Dependence on the Lord — Coal and Iron Works — Family Excursions, by Brigham Young (279–284)

- The Ancient Prophecies, by Orson Pratt (284–298)

- Consecration, by Brigham Young (298–308)

- The Kingdom of God, by Brigham Young (309–317)

- Utah Delegate to Washington — U.S. Government and Officers, by Brigham Young (318–323)

- Arguments of Modern Christian Sects Against the Latter–day Saints, by George A. Smith (323–334)

- The Holy Spirit and the Godhead, by Orson Pratt (334–347)

- Necessity of Opposition, by Ezra T. Benson (347–353)

- Privileges and Duties of the Saints, by Heber C. Kimball (354–357)

- The Word of Wisdom, by Ezra T. Benson (357–359)

- Ordaining Young Men to Office — The Word of Wisdom — Union, by George A. Smith (360–368)

- Funeral Address, by Orson Pratt (368–372)

- Opposition to the Gospel, by George A. Smith (373–376)

Preface

The Second Volume of the Journal of Discourses needs no recommendation to make it interesting to every Saint who loves to drink of the streams that flow from the fountain of Eternal Truth. It is made up of the choicest fruit that can be culled from the tree of knowledge, suited to the tastes of all who can appreciate such delicious food. It contains the principles of the Gospel of Salvation to this generation. By the rules and precepts found in it, he that reads with the light of the Holy Spirit may measure himself and the progress he has made in the way of Eternal Life. Like a mirror it will reflect upon the souls of the meek and humble the beams of light which emanate from the presence of the Father. Hypocrites, and workers of iniquity, will find in it the most cutting rebukes, that, when uttered, tingled the ears of these who heard, and caused the wicked to feel the canker worm of conscious guilt, which will gnaw upon their vitals until the day shall come when they have paid the penalty of transgression, and are permitted to reap the blessing of repentance.

As the Kingdom advances, and the Saints emerge from the receding shadows of sectarianism and the prejudices of early education, the revelations of the Lord, through His servants, abound with increasing intelligence, and are more cogent and powerful in administering rebuke to the wicked, comfort and consolation to the Saints, and reveal more distinctly the way-marks which point the way to exaltation and eternal lives.

There is a feast of fat things continually spread in Zion for the faithful, and the longing appetite for celestial food need never go unsatisfied. Some discourses in this Volume mark distinct eras in the progress of the work. Among these we will only notice the discourses on the principles of Consecration, and those in which President Young has administered severe but well-merited rebuke to the General Government of the United States and its corrupt officials, and indicated the future course and policy of Utah.

According to the measure of light in which a man lives, the past serves as an index to the future. The marks which recent events have left on the dial plate of time, indicate a rapid increase in the brilliancy of the light which shines from Zion, and that the voice of “The Lion of Lord” will increase the terror of the wicked, and send trembling and dismay into the camps of the enemy. Let him that would be saved watch and pray, and read with an understanding heart the words that flow from the lips of Prophets and Apostles, and, when he has read, practise the principles they teach.

THE PUBLISHER

The Gospel—Growing in Knowledge, etc.

Brigham Young

A discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Oct. 23, 1853.

I wish to bear my testimony, before this congregation, to the religion which is called “Mormonism,” and preached by the Elders of the same profession in all the world; and that, we believe, is the Gospel of salvation, and calculated to save all the honest in heart who wish to be saved.

This is my testimony concerning it—It is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe and obey it. The words “obey it,” I have added to the text as it is given to us by King James’s translators. To say it is the power of God unto salvation to them that believe, and that be the end of it, then the people could not be saved by it. It is quite possible some may argue the point as it is held out in the New Testament reading, and in their own estimation justly. But to me one argument is sufficient to lay the matter at rest in my mind—a person who disobeys the Gospel, and operates against it, may not only believe it, but know it to be true. Therefore I read the Scripture thus—“This Gospel that we preach is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe and obey it.”

My testimony is based upon experience, upon my own experience, in connexion with that obtained by observing others. To me it has become positively true—no doubt remains upon my mind, whatever, as to the power of the revealed will of Heaven to man upon the minds of the people, when the principles of salvation are set before them by the authorized ministers of heaven. The heavenly truth commends itself to every person’s judgment, and to their faith; and more especially to the senses of those who wish to be honest with themselves, with their God, and with their neighbor. Yet I must admit that all men are not operated upon alike; the evidence of truth comes more forcibly to the understandings of some than others. This is owing to numerous influences. The Gospel may be preached to an individual, and the truth commend itself to the conscience of that person, creating but a little faith in its truth, to which there may be an addition made. If persons can receive a little, it proves they may receive more. If they can receive the first and second principles with an upright feeling, they may receive still more, and the words of the Prophet be fulfilled. He, seeing and understanding the mind of man, and the operations of the different spirits that have gone abroad into the world, and knowing the ways of the Lord, and the vision of his mind being opened to those things we call mysteries, said—“Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line, here a little, and there a little.” That is, He gives a little to His humble followers to-day, and if they improve upon it, to-morrow He will give them a little more, and the next day a little more. He does not add to that which they do not improve upon, but they are required to continually improve upon the knowledge they already possess, and thus obtain a store of wisdom. It is plain, then, that we may receive the truth, and know, through every portion of the soul, that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, that it is the way to life eternal; still there may be added to this, more power, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. The Apostle does not say, grow in grace, and in the knowledge of the truth, as Jesus did; no, but it reads, “Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,” which implies a growing in strength, wisdom, and understanding, as he did.

It is the privilege of all Saints to grow and increase in understanding, and to spread abroad. If they receive a little, it is their privilege to improve upon that little, and so receive more, until they become perfect in the Lord—knowing and understanding perfectly His ways. Then the manifestations of His providence among the children of men cease to be a mystery to them. Kingdoms and thrones, princes and potentates, with all their earthly splendor, may be hurled to the dust, and revolution upon revolution may spread scenes of affliction and blood among the inhabitants of the earth, yet their eyes are open to see the handy work of the Lord in all this. They realize that He is capable of endowing His ministers and servants on the earth with the same power as He possesses in Himself, that He scrutinizes every particle of His work, and that not a hair of their heads can fall to the ground without His notice.

I bear my testimony that the Gospel you have embraced is the way of life and salvation to every one that believes it, and then obeys it with an honest intent. The inquiry may arise in the minds of some, as to how far they shall obey it. Every son and daughter of God is expected to obey with a willing heart every word which the Lord has spoken, and which He will in the future speak to us. It is expected that we hearken to the revelations of His will, and adhere to them, cleave to them with all our might; for this is salvation, and any thing short of this clips the salvation and the glory of the Saints. Consequently, we are here to-day, engaged in the administration of the ordinance of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. How does it appear to you, and what are your sensations, when the servants of the Lord present to you the emblems of His body? Do you believe you receive life? Do you realize that you receive any benefit? Do you feel that you will receive fresh strength, or additional knowledge, through this holy ordinance? Or, do you do it because others do it? Do you partake of these tokens of the love of the Redeemer because it is a mere custom? Suffice it to say, varied are the feelings among the human family upon this subject.

If you ask a certain class of the priests of Christendom what they think of the bread and wine administered for the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, they will declare that the bread is the actual flesh, and the wine the real blood, of him who was slain for the sins of the world.

If you ask another class of men what benefit they derive from partaking of the Sacrament, from eating and drinking the emblems of the body and blood of Christ, they reply, “It is merely a token of our fellowship with each other.” Is there any life, any power, any real and substantial benefit to be obtained by adhering to, and obeying faithfully, this ordinance? What do the Latter-day Saints think about it? Do they understand the true nature of this ordinance? Perhaps they do, and again perhaps they do not.

It is an easy matter for me to understand the information the Lord has imparted to me, and then communicate the same to you. Will the bread administered in this ordinance add life to you? Will the wine add life to you? Yes; if you are hungry and faint, it will sustain the natural strength of the body. But suppose you have just eaten and drunk till you are full, so as not to require another particle of food to sustain the natural body; you have eaten all your nature requires; do you then receive any benefit from. the bread and wine as mere articles of food? As far as the emblems are concerned, you receive strength naturally, when the body requires it, precisely as you would by eating bread, and drinking wine, at any other time, or on any other occasion.

In what consists the benefit we derive from this ordinance? It is in obeying the commands of the Lord. When we obey the commandments of our heavenly Father, if we have a correct understanding of the ordinances of the house of God, we receive all the promises attached to the obedience rendered to His commandments. Jesus said—Verily, verily I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of God, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Again, “He that eateth me,” “shall live by me.” Again, “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh, my blood, hath eternal life.” “For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.”

Can you understand these sayings of the Saviour? These sayings are but isolated portions of the vast amount of instructions given by him to his followers in his day. Had a thousandth part of his teachings to them been handed down to us, and all his doings been faithfully recorded and transmitted to us, we should not have known what to do with such a vast amount of information. The Apostle says, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.”

Allow me to explain this text. The Apostle could not possibly mean what the language of the quotation implies—that the whole earth would have been covered with books to a certain depth; no, but he meant, by that saying, there would have been more written than the world of mankind would receive, or credit. The people then were as they are in this day—they are continually reaching after something that is not revealed, when there is more written already than they can comprehend. Instead of saying the world could not contain the books, we will say there would have been more written than the people would carry out in their lives.

I will now tell you what the Saviour meant by those wonderful expressions touching his body and blood. It is simply this—“If you do not keep the commandments of God, you will have no life of the Son of God in you.” Jesus, as they were eating, took the bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them; saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” What were they required to drink it for? What are we partaking of these emblems for? In token of our fellowship with him, and in token that we desire to be one with each other, that we may all be one with the Father. His administering these symbols to his ancient disciples, and which he commanded should be done until he came, was for the express purpose that they should witness unto the Father that they did believe in him. But on the other hand, if they did not obey this commandment, they should not be blessed with his spirit.

It is the same in this, as it is in the ordinance of baptism for the remission of sins. Has water, in itself, any virtue to wash away sin? Certainly not; but the Lord says, “If the sinner will repent of his sins, and go down into the waters of baptism, and there be buried in the likeness of being put into the earth and buried, and again be delivered from the water, in the likeness of being born—if in the sincerity of his heart he will do this, his sins shall be washed away. Will the water of itself wash them away? No; but keeping the commandments of God will cleanse away the stain of sin.

When we eat of this bread, and drink of this water, do we eat the literal flesh of the Son of God? Were I a priest of the Roman Catholic church, and had been trained from my youth in that faith, I might believe fully, with my whole heart, that my prayers would transform the bread of the eucharist into the literal flesh, and the wine into the literal blood, of the Son of God. But notwithstanding my faith on that matter, the bread and wine would be just the same in their component parts, and would administer to the mortal systems of men, or of beasts, the same amount and kind of nutriment that the same quantity of unblessed bread and wine would. If bread and wine are blessed, dedicated, and sanctified, through the sincerity and faith of the people of God, then the Spirit of the Lord, through the promise, rests upon the individuals who thus keep His commandments, and are diligent in obeying the ordinances of the house of God. So I understand all the ordinances of the house of the Lord. You know we used to get down upon our knees and pray for the remission of sins; and we would pray until we got peace of mind, and then we thought our sins were forgiven. I have no fault to find with this, it is all right. Many in this way have been made to rejoice in the hope of eternal life, to rejoice in the gift of the Spirit of the Lord, and in the light of His countenance. Many received heavenly visions, revelations, the ministering of holy angels, and the manifestations of the power of God, until they were satisfied; and all this before the ordinances of the house of God were preached to the people. They obtained those blessings through their faith, and the sincerity of their hearts. It was this that called down heavenly blessings upon them. It was their fervency of spirit, and not their obedience to the celestial law, through which they received such blessings; and it was all right. What is required of us when the law comes? We must obey it, as old Paul did. He was a servant of God in all good conscience, when he took care of the clothes of those who stoned Stephen to death; but when the law came, sin revived in him, and he said, “I died.” That is, his former notions of serving God, his former incorrect traditions, all appeared to him in their true light, and that upon which he had trusted for salvation as baseless as a dream, when the law of the Lord came by Jesus Christ; and in it he found the promises and the gifts and the blessings of the holy Gospel, through obedience to the ordinances. That is the only legal way to obtain salvation, and an exaltation in the presence of God.

In this light do I view all the ordinances of the house of God. I do not know of one commandment that may be preferred before another; or of one ordinance of the house of God, from the beginning to the end of all the Lord has revealed to the children of men, that is not of equal validity, power, and authority with the rest. So we partake of bread and wine, obeying the commandments of the Lord; and by so doing we receive the blessing.

But how do the people feel? Perhaps you will refer the answer of this question to myself. Were I to answer it, I should say, they feel every way. Permit me to refer particularly to the brethren and sisters who have lately come to this place—they have all the variety of feelings that is common to the human heart. They know how they feel; they are my witnesses. The most frivolous and trifling circumstance that can transpire, will produce in them the most keen and cutting trial. What can we say about it? For one I will say, let them come, the small trials and the large ones; let them be many or few, it is the same; let them come as the Lord pleases. Brother Heber C. Kimball was speaking this morning about this people being driven from pillar to post, and he told the cause of their many trials. I will ask a question concerning this matter. If you had not been driven from York State, and the persecution become so hot as to send you up to Kirtland, Ohio, would you have known as much as you now know? Persecution did not commence in Kirtland, nor in Jackson County, but it commenced at the time Joseph the Prophet sought the plates in the hill Cumorah. It did not commence after I came into the Church, but I found it at work when I entered the Church.

Suppose Joseph had not been obliged to flee from Pennsylvania back to York State, would he have known as much as he afterwards knew? Suppose he could have stayed in old Ontario County in peace, without being persecuted, could he have learned as much as he did by being persecuted? He fled from there to Kirtland, accompanied by many others, to save their lives. There are men now in this Church whom I see before me and in full fellowship, who haunted my house for days, weeks, and months to kill me, and I knew it all the time; and Joseph had to flee to Missouri.

Would he have known as much if this persecution had not come upon him, as he afterwards did by its coming upon him? When the people left Kirtland they went to Jackson County, Missouri, and Joseph commenced to lay out a city to be called Zion; and not now, but after a time, when the Lord has accomplished His preparatory work, it will be built, even the New Jerusalem. The brethren were persecuted also in Jackson County, and driven out; they had trial upon trial, persecution on the right hand and on the left. Suppose, when they went to Jackson County, all the people of Missouri had hailed them as brethren, fellow citizens, and as neighbors, and had treated them accordingly, and they had been protected in their religious liberty, would the people that were driven from Jackson County have known as much as they now know? Could they have gained the knowledge and wisdom they have obtained by means of their persecutions? You can answer these questions to suit your own minds. When they had to flee from Ohio to Missouri, it certainly gave the people an experience they could not have obtained in any other way. When they were driven from Jackson County, and went to Clay, Ray, Caldwell, and Davies counties, persecution still followed them, and every man and woman who acknowledged Joseph Smith to be a Prophet, had to leave the State forthwith.

I feel inclined now to give some of you a gentle touch on the left side. Brethren, how glad I am to see you; how pleased I am to see you; where have you been these few years back? Where have you been living? Where did you go after you left Missouri? “Why I stayed there.” I say, there was not a man who would say that Joseph Smith was a Prophet, could stay there; they had all to leave the State; and you will now show yourselves at this late day, and try to have us believe you are first-rate Latter-day Saints. My thoughts are, “YOU POOR DEVILS!”

I hope I do not hurt any of your feelings. If you will do right from this time henceforth, and help with your mights to build up the Kingdom of God, I will hold you in fellowship after you have thus proved yourselves. But you may regard it as an established fact, that I have no fellowship for you yet; and I have as much as the Lord has. Still, if I have anything to fear, it is that I fellowship people too much, when they are not worthy; that is, I reflect—“Can I be more merciful than the Lord?” But I have not got light enough nor wisdom enough to fellowship men who lived in peace with those who sought to kill us.

Ask yourselves whether you think this people would have received as much as they have received, if they never had been persecuted. Could they have advanced in the school of intelligence as far without being persecuted, as they have by being persecuted? Look for instance at Adam. Listen, ye Latter-day Saints! Supposing that Adam was formed actually out of clay, out of the same kind of material from which bricks are formed; that with this matter God made the pattern of a man, and breathed into it the breath of life, and left it there, in that state of supposed perfection, he would have been an adobie to this day. He would not have known anything.

Some of you may doubt the truth of what I now say, and argue that the Lord could teach him. This is a mistake. The Lord could not have taught him in any other way than in the way in which He did teach him. You believe Adam was made of the dust of this earth. This I do not believe, though it is supposed that it is so written in the Bible; but it is not, to my understanding. You can write that information to the States, if you please—that I have publicly declared that I do not believe that portion of the Bible as the Christian world do. I never did, and I never want to. What is the reason I do not? Because I have come to understanding, and banished from my mind all the baby stories my mother taught me when I was a child.

But suppose Adam was made and fashioned the same as we make adobies; if he had never drunk of the bitter cup, the Lord might have talked to him to this day, and he would have continued as he was to all eternity, never advancing one particle in the school of intelligence. This idea opens up a field of light to the intelligent mind. How can you know truth but by its opposite, or light but by its opposite? The absence of light is darkness. How can sweetness be known but by its opposite, bitter? It is by this means that we obtain all intelligence. This is “Mormonism,” and it is founded upon all truth, upon every principle of true philosophy; in fact the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only true philosophy in existence. There is not one particle of it that is not strictly philosophical, though you and I may not understand all the fulness of it, but we will if we continue faithful.

Let the brethren who have been persecuted and driven from city to city, inquire of themselves if they like it. Some of you may give a negative to this inquiry. You recollect brother Taylor telling about a woman in Far West who had her house burnt down some four or five times; she finally said, “she would be damned if she would stand it any longer.” If her eyes had been opened to see, she would have thanked the Lord for that, more than for anything else; that persecution was more precious to her than riches, because it was designed to teach her to understand the knowledge of God. Do I acknowledge the hand of the Lord in persecution? Yes, I do. It is one of the greatest blessings that could be conferred upon the people of God. I acknowledge the hand of the Lord in levelling His people to the dust of the earth, and reducing them to a state of abject poverty.

Time and time again have I left handsome property to be inherited by our enemies.

Suppose we were called to leave what we have now, should we call it a sacrifice? Shame on the man who would so call it; for it is the very means of adding to him knowledge, understanding, power, and glory, and prepares him to receive crowns, kingdoms, thrones, and principalities, and to be crowned in glory with the Gods of eternity. Short of this, we can never receive that which we are looking for.

For example, I will refer to your crossing the plains. How could you in any other way have known the hardships incident to such a journey? And do you not feel ashamed for getting angry at your cattle, or for letting passion arise in your bosoms? Suppose you were rolling in wealth, and perfectly at your ease, with an abundance around you; you might have remained in that condition until Doomsday, and never could have advanced in the school of intelligence, any more than Adam could have known about the works of God, in the great design of the creation, without first being made acquainted with the opposite? “Is there evil in the city and I have not done it, saith the Lord.” There is no evil that is not known to the Lord. He has been perfectly acquainted with all the persecutions the Saints have passed through. His hand was there, as much so as it is in building up and tearing down kingdoms and thrones on earth; and even the moth we trample upon is not overlooked by Him. Everything is under His watchful eye; he understands all the works of His hands, and knows how to use them to His own glory. He has given the children of men the privilege of becoming equal with His Son Jesus Christ, and has placed all things that pertain to this world in their hands, to see what use they will make of them.

Joseph could not have been perfected, though he had lived a thousand years, if he had received no persecution. If he had lived a thousand years, and led this people, and preached the Gospel without persecution, he would not have been perfected as well as he was at the age of thirty-nine years. You may calculate when, this people are called to go through scenes of affliction and suffering, are driven from their homes; and cast down, and scattered, and smitten, and peeled, the Almighty is rolling on His work with greater rapidity. But let you and me live and die in peace, and in our lives we send the Gospel to the nations, from kingdom to kingdom, and from people to people, will it advance the same speed if it receive no persecution: If we had received no persecution in Nauvoo, would the Gospel have spread as it now has? Would the Elders have been scattered so widely as they now are, preaching the Gospel? No, they would have been wedded to their farms, and the precious seed of the word would have been choked. “Brother Joseph, or brother Brigham, do not call upon me to go on a mission, for I have so much to do I cannot go,” would have been the general cry. “I want to build a row of stores across this or that block, and place myself in a situation to make $100,000 a year, and then I can devote so much for the building up of the kingdom of God.” The Elders would have been so devoted to riches, they would not have gone to preach when the Lord wanted them. But when they have not a frock to put upon the backs of their children, of a shoe for their feet, then they can go out and preach the Gospel to the world.

Well, do you think that persecution has done us good? Yes. I sit and laugh, and rejoice exceedingly when I see persecution I care no more about it than I do about the whistling of the north wind, the croaking of the crane that flies over my head, or the crackling of the thorns under the pot. The Lord has all things in His hand; therefore let it come, for it will give me experience. Do you suppose I should have known what I now know, had I not been persecuted? I can now see the hearts of the children of men with the same clearness as I can your persons in the light of day. I know we have been sunk in the depths of poverty and wretchedness, by the hands of our enemies, but in this we have seen the works of the Lord, and the works of darkness intermingled; this has taught us to discriminate between the two, that we may learn to choose the good, and refuse the evil; or in other words, to separate the chaff from the wheat.

I am a witness that “Mormonism” is true upon philosophical principles. Every particle of sense I have, proves it to be sound, natural reason. The gospel is true, there is a God, there are angels, there are a heaven and a hell, and we are all in eternity, and out of it we can never get, it is boundless, without beginning or end, and we have never been out of it. Time is a certain portion of eternity allotted to the existence of these mortal bodies, which are to be dissolved, to be decomposed, or disorganized, preparatory to entering into a more exalted state of being. It is a portion of eternity allotted to this world, and can only be known by the changes we see in the composition and decomposition of the elements of which it is composed. The Lord has put His children here, and given them bodies that are also subject to decay, to see if they will prove themselves worthy of the particles of which their tabernacles are composed, and of a glorious resurrection when their mortal bodies will become immortalized. Now if you possess the light of the Holy Spirit, you can see clearly that trials in the flesh are actually necessary.

I will refer again to the brethren and sisters who have lately come over the plains. My counsel to them to-day is, as it has been on former occasions to all who have come into these valleys, Go and be baptized for the remission of sins, repenting of all your wanderings from the path of righteousness, believing firmly, in the name of Jesus Christ, that all your sins will be washed away. If any of you inquire what is the necessity of your being baptized, as you have not committed any sins, I answer, it is necessary to fulfil all righteousness.

I have heard of some of you cursing and swearing, even some of the Elders of Israel. I would be baptized seven times, were I in your place; I would not stop teazing some good Elder to baptize me again and again, until I could think my sins forgiven. I would not live over another night until I was baptized enough to satisfy me that my sins were forgiven. Then go and be confirmed, as you were when you first embraced the religion of Jesus. That is my counsel.

Furthermore I counsel you to stop and think what you are doing, before you commit any more sins, before you give way to your temper. The temper, or the evil propensities of men, when given way to are the cause of sinning so much. The Lord is suffering the devil to work upon and try His people. The selfish will, operated upon by the power of Satan, is the strongest cord that vibrates through the human system. This has been verified a thousand times. Men have sacrificed their money, their health, their good names, their friends, and have broken through every tender tie to gratify their wills. Curb that, bridle the tongue, and then hold the mastery over your feelings, that they submit not to the will of the flesh, but to the will of the Holy Ghost; and decide in your own minds that your will and judgment shall be none other than the will and judgment of the Spirit of God, and you will then go and sin no more.

Many of the brethren who have led companies through this season are scattered through the congregation. I will tell a story you will scarcely believe. In the first place, I will remark, it has been very common for the companies crossing the plains to send into the city for provisions to be sent out to them. Again, many of you new comers have suffered want of food on the plains. Would you have suffered as you did if you had been in possession of the experience you now have? “No,” you reply. “No,” says this father, and that mother, and this man that brought through a company, “had we the experience we now have, when we left the Missouri river, we could have come through, and none have suffered for food, and less of our stock would have been destroyed.” This experience is good for you. It helps you to learn the lessons of human life, for the Lord designs His people to understand the whole of it—to understand the light and the darkness, the height and the depth, the length and the breadth of every principle that is within the compass of the human mind.

Now for the hard saying. Brother David Wilkin’s company, Joseph Young’s company, John Brown’s company, and other companies, had more provisions for their journey, when they left Missouri river, by a great amount, than the first emigrants had who started to come to this valley, not knowing whither they went, carrying with them their farming implements into a country where they could obtain nothing to sustain themselves in life until they raised it from the ground. When you started for this place, you had more provisions, according to your numbers, than the first pioneer companies had who came here six years ago. Can you believe this statement? I can prove it to you. Here are hundreds who can testify to the truth of this statement. And you complain of suffering! If you suffer, it is for want of experience. This is positive proof to you, that were it not that the Lord turns us into these difficulties, and leads us into these trials, we could not know how to be glorified and crowned in His presence. If these companies were again to cross the plains, they would have plenty, and some to spare to feed the poor, and take up the lame, and the halt, and the blind, by the way, and bring them to Zion, and then have a surplus. Are you to blame? No. If you are to blame for anything, it is for complaining against the providence of God, instead of feeling thankful for the knowledge and intelligence the Lord has given you in this experience. When you are in the like situation again, you can save yourselves, and those associated with you. Your experience is worth more to you than gold.

Brother Kimball referred to Zion’s camp going to Missouri. When I returned from that mission to Kirtland, a brother said to me, “Brother Brigham, what have you gained by this journey?” I replied, “Just what we went for; but I would not exchange the knowledge I have received this season for the whole of Geauga County; for property and mines of wealth are not to be compared to the worth of knowledge.” Ask those brethren and sisters who have passed through scenes of affliction and suffering for years in this Church, what they would take in exchange for their experience, and be placed back where they were, were it possible. I presume they would tell you, that all the wealth, honors, and riches of the world could not buy the knowledge they had obtained, could they barter it away.

Let the brethren be contented, and if you have trials, and must see hard times, learn to acknowledge the hand of the Lord in it all. He directs the affairs of this world, and will until He reigns King of Saints. The vail which is over this people is becoming thinner; let them be faithful until they can rend it asunder, and see the hand of the Lord, and His goings forth among the people, with a vision unobstructed by the vail of ignorance, and bless the name of the Lord.

Brethren and sisters, inasmuch as I have the right and privilege, through the Priesthood, I bless you in the name of the Lord, and say, Be you blessed. These are my feelings to the Latter-day Saints, and would be to all the human family, if they would receive my blessings, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Power of God and the Power of Satan

Jedediah M. Grant

A discourse by Elder Jedediah M. Grant, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Feb. 19, 1854.

I have been pleased with the remarks of Elder Hyde this afternoon. I am myself more or less familiar with the doings of the Spirit Rappers, having had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with them when I was last in New York and Philadelphia; and I am satisfied now, and was then, that they are manifestations of spirits; and startling are the sentiments, developments, and doctrines they have made known. It has been treated as a bubble upon the wave that soon would burst asunder; but I am satisfied the result of the manifestations of the spirits (wicked spirits) will be to combine their forces in as systematic an order as they are capable of, to successfully resist the Priesthood upon the earth.

I am aware that even some of the Latter-day Saints are slow to believe in relation to the power of Lucifer, the son of the morning, who was thrust from the heavens to the earth; and they have been slow to believe in relation to the spirits that are associated with him; but from the first revelations of the Almighty to brother Joseph Smith, not only revelations in relation to the deep things of the kingdom of God, and the high things of heaven, and the depths of hell, but revelations showing him the power of Lucifer, the opposite to good, that he might be aware of the strength of his opponent, and the opponent of the Almighty—I say, from perusing these revelations, I have always been specially impressed with the doctrine relating to the power of Satan, as well as with the doctrines relating to the power of God.

I have always felt that no Saint fully comprehends the power of Satan as well as God’s Prophet; and again I have thought that no Saint could fully understand the power of God unless he learn the opposite. I am not myself acquainted with any happiness that I have not learned the opposite of. You may perhaps enjoy a great deal, the opposite of which you know nothing of, you may be constituted different to me, your feelings may be different, you may have learned to enjoy without first experiencing the opposite; but I may say with safety, nearly all the blessings I enjoy and highly prize are most appreciated after I have learned their opposite; and I am of opinion that all Saints sooner or later will have to learn the opposite to good, they will have to partake of the bitter in order to properly appreciate the sweet, they will have to be impressed with pain that they may appreciate pleasure.

In relation to spirits, for it seems to be the subject introduced to-day, I have this idea, that the Lord our God absolutely gave Lucifer a mission to this earth; I will call it a mission. You may think it strange that I believe so good a being as our Father in heaven would actually send such an odd missionary as Lucifer. You may call him a missionary, or any thing else you please, but we learn he was thrust out of heaven, the place where the Lord dwells, to this earth; and his mission, and the mission of his associates who were thrust down with him, and of those whom he is successful in turning away from God’s children who have tabernacles, is to continue to oppose the Almighty, scatter His Church, wage war against His kingdom, and change as far as possible His government on the earth. He could take the Saviour upon the pinnacle of the temple, and show him the kingdoms of this world, and could perform many wonderful works in the days of Jesus. When the Priesthood of God is upon the earth, then the priesthood of the devil may be seen operating, for he has got one. When the kingdom of God is on the earth, you may expect to see a special display or manifestation of the opposite to the Gospel of the kingdom, or of the Priesthood of God.

If you read the Book of Mormon, the Bible, and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, you read about the power of Satan upon the earth—the manifestation of wicked spirits. When was this special power of Satan more particularly made manifest? It has always been when the power of the holy Priesthood and the kingdom of God were upon the earth. In the days of Moses, in the days of the Patriarchs, in the days of the Prophets, and in the days of Jesus and his Apostles, and while his Church remained upon the earth, the opposite of the principles of heaven were specially made manifest, causing a lull in the public mind. The world is more or less controlled all the time by influences that Lucifer evidently is not opposed to; he has little objection to the present organization of human society, from the fact that every thing passes along in the wake that agrees with his religion;, and rather tends to forward his purposes.

Now some suppose if they can see a miracle, as they call it, that is, something beyond that which is ordinary with man, they are bound to believe; but I am of opinion that Lucifer and his associates can show as many miracles as the people desire to see; they can show as many as were exhibited in Egypt in the days of king Pharaoh. I believe Lucifer has I just as much power to make lice now as ever he had, he has just as much ability to display his power in making a serpent to oppose a Moses as ever. Has he lost his power during the last two, three, or four thousand years? We do not believe he has. If, then, he possesses the same power as he once did, why is he not able in this dispensation to make manifestations corresponding to those in previous ones?

I wish to come down to our own day, for you know I am fond of rooting, grubbing, building, fencing, and doing the things needed right here at home. Let us then confine our remarks to this dispensation, when the Prophet Joseph Smith was visited by an holy angel, clad in robes of light, who authorized him to sound the trump of the Gospel of peace, and receive the sacred records from the earth, and the Urim and Thummim, and who laid hands upon him and gave him the Holy Ghost, and authorized him to baptize for the remission of sins, and organize the kingdom of God on the earth. What do we see at this time? We see the manifestations of the power of Satan immediately after the revelations of the angel to Joseph. For instance, there were spirit mediums in Kirtland, when the Church was first organized there by brother Parley P. Pratt and others; but when Joseph went with the Priesthood, the devil had to leave, for he had learned the power of Lucifer; and Joseph organized the Church, established the Priesthood, and set every thing right.

I might go on with a long routine of manifestations of the power of God, and of the power of the devil; but you who have come from the old country, and some of the first Elders that went over there—residents Young, Kimball, Hyde, and others, recollect manifestations of the spirits of the devil in that land. They attacked those brethren by hundreds and by thousands, and the spirits were actually visible. If you could call up brother Willard Snow and converse with him, I have no doubt that he would tell you he was attacked by them, and they overcame his body.

I am not surprised to see these manifestations increased upon the earth; but where is the anchor to the faith of the Saints? Where is the surety of the Saints against these manifestations? Inasmuch as the world would not listen to the Prophet Joseph, and receive the word of God through him, I look for the Lord to fulfil His word, and send them strong delusion, inasmuch as they believe not the truth, and will permit them now to believe a lie, that all who have pleasure in unrighteousness may be damned. I anticipate seeing strong delusion among the wicked in the day in which we live, but where is the anchor for the faith of the Saints? I will tell you where mine is.

When Joseph Smith was alive, his declaration to me was as the voice of Almighty God. Why? Because he had the Priesthood of God on the earth; the Priesthood that is without father, without mother, without beginning of days or end of years, which is God’s authority, the eternal power and right of the government of God upon the earth. I was subject to that government in the days of Joseph. Men used to talk on this wise—“But would you believe in the Prophet if he should demand all your property?” Lucifer would suggest this idea to them. “No.” says another, “I would not.” “Suppose he should come to you, and tell you, you must sell your farm in the east, and go to Kirtland, and consecrate your property to the Lord, would you do it?” “No, answers his neighbor, “the Lord has no use for my property, I would not do it.” “Well,” says one, “do you think Joseph is right to dictate in temporal matters?” “No,” There were quite a majority, I believe, in the days of Joseph, who believed he had no right to dictate in temporal matters, in farms, houses, merchandize, gold, silver, &c.; and they were tried on various points.

When the family organization was revealed from heaven—the patriarchal order of God, and Joseph began, on the right and on the left, to add to his family, what a quaking there was in Israel. Says one brother to another, “Joseph says all covenants are done away, and none are binding but the new covenants; now suppose Joseph should come and say he wanted your wife, what would you say to that?” “I would tell him to go to hell.” This was the spirit of many in the early days of this Church.

If you maintain the fact that the Priesthood of God is upon the earth, and God’s representatives are upon the earth, the mouth-piece of Jehovah, the head of the kingdom of God upon earth, and the will of God is done upon earth as it is in heaven, it follows that the government of God is upon the earth. I allude to the church which it dictates; and then to the whole earth which it will dictate. Satan may succeed for a season to curtail the extent of this government, and the free working of its machinery, but if the Lord Almighty has organized a government upon the earth, and has committed the keys and Priesthood of it to His Prophet, that Prophet holds jurisdiction over the earth, the same as Adam did in the beginning. And righteous men in every dispensation since the creation, if they had any keys, had the keys of the kingdom of God; and they extended over this wide world wherever God had a people and a government; and just as far as the Priesthood exercised its authority, just so far the rule of the Almighty reached.

If Joseph had a right to dictate me in relation to salvation, in relation to a hereafter, he had a right to dictate me in relation to all my earthly affairs, in relation to the treasures of the earth, and in relation to the earth itself. He had a right to dictate in relation to the cities of the earth, to the natives of the earth, and in relation to everything on land and on sea. That is what he had a right to do, if he had any right at all. If he did not have that right, he did not have the Priesthood of God, he did not have the endless Priesthood that emanates from an eternal being. A Priesthood that is clipped, and lacks length, is not the Priesthood of God; if it lacks depth, it is not the Priesthood of God; for the Priesthood in ancient times extended over the wide world, and coped with the universe, and had a right to govern and control the inhabitants thereof, to regulate them, give them laws, and execute those laws. That power looked like the Priesthood of God. This same Priesthood has been given to Joseph Smith, and has been handed down to his successors.

I do not care how many devils rap, it is no trouble to me. I say, rap away, and give as many revelations as you please, whether you are good spirits or bad ones, it does not trouble my cranium. Rap away, for I trust in the anchor of my soul that is sure and steadfast, in the Priesthood of God upon the earth.

What would a man of God say, who felt aright, when Joseph asked him for his money? He would say, “Yes, and I wish I had more to help to build up the kingdom of God.” Or if he came and said, I want your wife?” “O yes,” he would say, “here she is; there are plenty more.”

There is another main thread connected with this; that I have not brought out. You know in fishing with the hook and line, if you draw out suddenly on the line when you have got a large trout, you may break your line; you must therefore angle a little, and manage your prize carefully. I would ask you if Jehovah has not in all ages tried His people by the power of Lucifer and his associates; and on the other hand, has He not tried them and proved them by His Prophets? Did the Lord actually want Abraham to kill Isaac? Did the Prophet Joseph want every man’s wife he asked for? He did not, but in that thing was the grand thread of the Priesthood developed. The grand object in view was to try the people of God, to see what was in them. If such a man of God should come to me and say, “I want your gold and silver, or your wives,” I should say, “Here they are, I wish I had more to give you, take all I have got.” A man who has got the Spirit of God, and the light of eternity in him, has no trouble about such matters.

I am talking now of the present day. There was a time when we could be tried pretty severely upon these points, but I now could pick you out hundreds of men that cannot be tried in this way, but they will hand over every thing they possess. They understand the nature of such doctrines, and the object of such requirements. They know it is to prove the people, both men and women, and to develop what they will do. How can the Priesthood judge the people, if it does not prove them.

If ever you are brought into the presence of God, and exalted to a seat in His celestial kingdom, it will be by virtue of the Holy Priesthood, therefore you have got to be proved, not only by being tempted by the devil, but the Priesthood will try you—it will try you to the core. If one thing won’t try you, something else will be adopted, until you are like the passive clay in the hands of the potter. If the Lord our God does not see fit to let the devil loose upon you, and mob you, He will employ some other means to try, you as in a crucible, to prove you as gold is tried seven times in the furnace.

The world philosophizes about the “Mormons,” about their leaders, and the life they are living. There are a thousand conjectures among them in relation to the “Mormons.” The grand secret is told in a few words; the fact is, the Almighty God has spoken from the heavens, sent heavenly messengers, and organized His Church, restored the Holy Priesthood, established His government on the earth, and exerted his power to extend it, and send forth His word. And that Priesthood understands the principles and motives by which men are actuated, and it understands the workings of the devil on the earth; that Priesthood knows how to govern, when to strike, and when not to strike.

Some things in this Church start up at times, that you would think the whole Church would be rent asunder, like the clans of Scotland. Clanism, and “Mormonism” are like that [putting his fingers across]; “Mormonism” is one, it is governed by one head, one President, and that head representing God on earth. If Joseph Smith held the keys of the kingdom of God on earth, of the Apostleship, does not his successor possess the same? Does he not have a right to give laws, to instruct, to control and rule the people of God?

I might still go on, and explain to your understandings exactly what I mean by rule. If this Priesthood is upon the earth, and you are controlled thereby, and listen to its counsels, you will be united as one people. I know the time was that many of this people believed that if a man was adopted here and there, one man would hold this way, and another that; but the fact is, in the kingdom and Church of the Lord they are all in one pile. I do not care how many of you have been adopted here or there; that is the doctrine to me.

Let the devils rap, then, and let them talk, and mutter, and have their mediums; what do I care, so long as the Priesthood is upon the earth, and the Apostleship is upon the earth, and the government of God, and the light and influence of the Holy Ghost, are upon the earth? Can they shake the Saints? No. But let a man lose the Spirit of God, and depart from this Church, and from the men that hold the Priesthood of God on the earth, and I have no doubt that Lucifer will reveal a great many truths to him, and teach and advocate principles and sentiments that will agree with doctrines of this Church. And they will even imitate Joseph Smith’s hand writing, and the hand writing of brother Hyrum, of Bishop Partridge, and of Bishop Whitney, and others; and they will give you flaming revelations, and the light they emit will blaze like a comet.

Now Lucifer has philosophy enough and religion enough to suffer his agents to run along with the truth hand in hand, and make himself appear like an angel of light, and teach hundreds of true principles, if he can only thereby get you to swallow one item of false doctrine. But the grand story is, the devil may rage as long as he pleases, and use all the cunning and craft that he may, yet he never can overreach those who hold the keys of the Priesthood, nor succeed in deceiving them. This Joseph taught the people, but they were slow to believe. But now the energies of the people move as one man; and if they want to build a Temple, they can build it, and whatever they want to accomplish they can do.

The Priesthood is a power we should respect, reverence, and obey, no matter in whose hands it is. Let Lucifer mix in truths with error, and work great signs and wonders to deceive the very elect, but it is not possible. Why? Because they have learned the Priesthood, and they possess the power thereof that cannot be shaken. Let the Rappers go ahead, then, for it is not possible for them to deceive the elect of God; and let the witch of Endor, and all other witches and wizards, with the prince and power of the air at their head, do their best, if we keep the commandments of God we shall continually soar far above their power and influence.

I want to have nothing to do with Satan, I desire not to shake hands with him, nor to do anything that will bring me in contact with him, for he is powerful, and if he once gets you in his grasp and shakes you, you will think you are less than a grasshopper. Let us rally round the standard of God, and when we are in the circle of truth, then let the devil and the enemies of the Church of God fire their loudest guns, and wage their war, and marshal their strength, yet, armed with the armor of righteousness, clothed with the Priesthood and generalship of the Almighty, we shall successfully resist, and triumphantly conquer Satan and all his allied forces of the earth and hell They will then find out whether Joseph had a right to rule this earth by the power of the Priesthood. They will then find out that the “Mormons,” notwithstanding their curious bumps, for they have got some curious bumps, are authorized to preach the Gospel of God, gather Israel, build up Zion, bind Lucifer with a chain, and establish the reign of peace on earth.

My prayer is that the Saints may understand that they are safe as long as they listen to the Priesthood authorized of heaven, are united in one, and not divided into clans, but become one great clan, under one head. Then let all the clanism of the world rally against us, and we are as firm as the rock of ages, that supports the throne of Jehovah.

May God bless you with the truth as it is in Himself, and save you in His kingdom, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Word of Wisdom Especially Suited to Infants and Youth, etc.

Brigham Young

An address by President Brigham Young, to the children who formed the procession at the anniversary of the entrance of the pioneers into Great Salt Lake Valley, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, July 4, 1854.

My remarks on this occasion will be disconnected, in order to answer my feelings, and to satisfy the congregation.

Here is a spectacle that is indeed admirable, and a scene that has called forth many reflections in my mind, and, no doubt, in the minds of the spectators.

First of all, allow me to remark, that before it was concluded to celebrate this day, the Seventh Anniversary of the entrance of the Pioneers into these valleys which we now occupy, I had determined to treat some of my family and friends to a dinner and had made preparations accordingly. This has occupied a portion of my time and attention, but before all my preparatory labor was performed, I was urged to attend on this interesting occasion. This has thrown my previous plans, touching this day, somewhat into confusion, still I am filled with joy in beholding this heart-cheering scene. According to the Programme it seems I am to be escorted by the procession back to my dwelling. I however ask it as a favor of the officers of the day to excuse me, and relieve me from being present, or from taking any further part in this day’s proceedings, after the dismissal of this congregation, that I may repair immediately to my house, for, if I have to wait for the company to escort me, it will make it late before I can be present to wait upon my friends.

On such occasions as this, our Tabernacle does not afford room for seating the people, I wish the Bishops to hearken to a request I will make of them—Enable brother Hyde to prosecute the labors placed upon him to build a Bowery, on the north of this Tabernacle, that will convene about twelve thousand people; and let it be done before another Celebration comes off or even before another Conference. I am disposed to take a vote upon this matter. If the brethren and sisters, old and young, will put forth their exertions and means to assist in accomplishing this work, let them signify it by raising their right hands. [All hands were up.] I shall with pleasure render all the assistance possible.

Were there time, I would like to make a great many remarks pertaining to parents and children, but my time will be too limited.

A portion of the youth of our community is before me, and could I give these young persons a word of counsel, it would meet my wishes, and gratify my desires to do them good. I will venture to give them a few items pertaining to life, health, vigor, and salvation; and I hope they will not forget what I am about to say to them.

I will begin by asking the older portion of the assembly, if you do, not recollect that when you were two, three, or four years of age, many of your mothers, as soon as you were able to drink out of a glass, and they happened to have a little wine, would compel you to partake of it, contrary to your feeble remonstrances? Do you not recollect when your mother made a little sling to revive her when she was fatigued with labor or exertion of any kind, saying to you, “Drink, my child?” Now, I wish to say to you girls, never be guilty of such practices when you become mothers. Never, when you sit down at the table to drink strong tea, perhaps as a stimulant when you are fatigued, give it to your child. I see this practice almost daily, or occasionally, at least, in this as well as other communities. Keep the tea, the coffee, and the spirits from the mouths of your children.

I could say many things that would be of great worth to you, pertaining to the rising generation, had I time; but I wish you to recollect and practise this one item I have briefly laid before you. I wish the daughters of Israel to far exceed their mothers in wisdom. And I wish these young men and boys to far exceed their fathers. I wish my sons to far exceed me in goodness and virtue. This is my earnest desire concerning my children, and that they not only walk in the footsteps of their father, but take a course to enjoy life, health, and vigor while they live, and the Spirit of intelligence from God, that they may far outstrip their father in long life, and in the good they will perform in their day. What I say of my children I apply to all.

Young men, my young brethren, will you accept a little counsel from me? When you go from this Tabernacle make a covenant with yourselves that you will taste no more ardent spirits, unless it is absolutely necessary, and you know it is; also make a covenant with yourselves that no more of that filthy, nasty, and obnoxious weed called tobacco shall enter your mouths; it is a disgrace to this and every other community. I am well aware of the reflections of many upon this subject. You may say to yourselves, “If I can do as well as my parents, I think I shall do well, and be as good as I want to be; and I should not strive to excel them.” But if you do your duty you will far-excel them in everything that is good—in holiness, in physical and intellectual strength, for this is your privilege, and it becomes your duty. Young men, take this advice from me, and practise it in your future life, and it will be more valuable to you than the riches of this world. “Why,” say you, “I see the older brethren chew tobacco, why should I not do it likewise?” Thus the boys have taken licence from the pernicious habits of others, until they have formed an appetite, a false appetite; and they love a little liquor, and a little tobacco, and many other things that are injurious to their constitutions, and certainly hurtful to their moral character. Take a course that you can know more than your parents. We have had all the traditions of the age in which we were born to contend with; but these young men and women, or the greater part of them, have been born in the Church, and brought up Latter-day Saints, and have received the teachings that are necessary to advance them in the kingdom of God on earth. If you are in any way suspicious that the acts of your parents are not right, if there is a conviction in your minds that they feed appetites that are injurious to them, then it is for you to abstain from that which you see is not good in your parents.

I will now offer a few words of encouragement, and I wish you to listen to them attentively. If you wish to be great in the Kingdom of God, you must be good. It has been told you often, and I reiterate it to-day, that no man or woman in this kingdom that the Lord Almighty has again established upon the earth, can become great without being good—without being true to their integrity, faithful to their trust, full of charity and good works. If they do not order their lives to do all the good they can, they will be stripped of their anticipations of greatness. You may write that down, and write it as revelation if you please, for it is true. Again, you must make sacrifice, if such you may call it, of every feeling you possess on earth, as a man, as a woman, as a father, as a mother, as a husband, as a wife, as a member of a family or community, for the sake of the kingdom of God on earth—that you assuredly must do. Now remember, that no earthly object may stand between you and your calling and duty.

While gazing upon the scene before me, and thinking of what we had passed through—scenes of affliction fleeting through my memory, I reflected on the generation now growing up, and on the past dealings of the Lord towards this people in His wise providences. I recollect that in 1830, the Twelve and others were called upon to go to England, after they had suffered much persecution and tribulation. Brother Joseph Smith had to leave Ohio and escape for his life. I had also to leave the country to save my life; I was going to the west, where Joseph told me to go. I had not been in Missouri more than five months, before the mob commenced to burn houses. I had expended what little means I had left, to purchase an inheritance for my family, but I had to leave Missouri, after being at the trouble and expense of conveying my goods there, and preparing for living; I left all behind and went to Illinois. Well, the revelation was that several of the brethren must start on missions to foreign lands, and we fulfilled it in the midst of poverty. This is a proof that the hand of God is able to sustain His people, and he will continue to provide for them.

If we do His will, He will take care of us as a people, and as individuals. One proof of this, is in my own life and experience. When I left my family to start for England, I was not able to walk one mile, I was not able to lift a small trunk, which I took with me, into the wagon. I left my wife and my six children without a second suit to their backs, for we had left all our property in possession of the mob. Every one of my family were sick, and my then youngest child, who has spoken before you to-day, was but ten days old at the time I left for England. Joseph said, “If you will go, I promise you, that your family shall live, and you shall live, and you shall know that the hand of God is in calling you to go and preach the Gospel of life and salvation to a perishing world.” He said all he could say to comfort and encourage the brethren. This was our situation, and I say, with regard to the remainder of the Twelve, they had all been driven like myself, and we were a band of brethren about equal. My family lived. When I left them they had not provisions to last them ten days, and not one soul of them was able to go to the well for a pail of water. I had lain for weeks, myself, in the house, watching from day to day for some person to pass the door, whom I could get to bring us in a pail of water. In this condition I left my family, and went to preach the Gospel. As for being cast down, or at all discouraged, or even such thoughts entering in my heart as, “I will provide for my family, and let the world perish,” these feelings and thoughts never once occurred to me; if I had known that every one of them would have been in the grave when I returned, it would not have diverted me from my mission one hour. When I was ready to start, I went and left my family in the hands of the Lord, and with the brethren.

I returned again in two years, and found that I had spent hundreds of dollars, which I had accumulated on my mission; to help the brethren to emigrate to Nauvoo, and had but one sovereign left. I said I would buy a barrel of flour with that, and sit down and eat it with my wife and children. and I determined I would not ask anybody for work, until I had eaten it all up. Brother Joseph asked me how I intended to live. I said, “I will go to work and get a living.” I tarried in Nauvoo from the year 1841 to 1846, the year we left. In that time I had accumulated much property, for the Lord multiplied everything in my hands, and blessed all my undertakings. But I never ceased to preach; and travelled every season, both in the winter, and in the summer. I was at home occasionally, and the Lord fed and clothed me. It has never entered into my heart, from the first day I was called to preach the Gospel to this day, when the Lord said, “Go and leave your family,” to offer the least objection. It has never entered into my heart to violate my covenants, to be an enemy to my neighbor, to deceive, to lie, or to take to myself that which was not my own. The youth around me, in their addresses this day, have eulogised the life and ability of brother Brigham; I want you not only to do as I have done, but a great deal better.

I am trying to encourage you to do good, and not evil, that the Lord Almighty may take care of you, sustain you, and give you power and influence, which He will do, if you serve Him with an undivided heart, but if you do not, He will chastise you. Remember it.

When I left Nauvoo, I again left all I had, and was under the necessity of borrowing a span of horses from this man, a yoke of cattle from that, and a wagon from the other; and after gathering up what little moveable property I could in this way, I left the country. I had accumulated thousands of dollars’ worth of property, and had to leave it in the hands of the mob, and, said I, “Eat it up, destroy it, or burn it down, as quick as you please, for ‘the earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof.’”

How did I obtain all this property? The Lord gave it to me; He has done what has been done. And if the youth will turn their hearts and affections to the Lord their God, they will be prepared to enter into the glory we are contending for, they will be prepared to redeem Zion. These young brethren and sisters will be prepared to return to Zion, bear off the Priesthood triumphantly, and build up the kingdom of God among the nations of the earth far better than we their fathers and mothers have, though we have done the best we could. Be full of integrity and love for all people, let hope abound in you, be filled with truth and virtue, and never allow yourselves to do a thing you would be ashamed to do in the presence of the Lord Almighty, or that you would be ashamed of were He to stand in your path, and call you to an account. That is the way to live, and it is the only way for a “Mormon” Elder to live, or for a “Mormon” mother, or daughter, or sister, in order to obtain what they wish to obtain. It is the only path you can possibly walk in to secure that which you desire. There are men who will tell you many things in your houses, and will try to pervert the truth, and the simple principles of the Holy Gospel, but you must remember that it is a holy life before God which gives you influence with Him.

Look, and see the past course of brother Brigham; he is not any different to-day from what he ever was. Knowing that the Lord wishes him to do a certain work, he is willing to do it. This has always been his character. You have seen me rise up here in my authority, when necessary, and I have had to be like a lion among the people. But who can point out a single act that has not been full of kindness to this people, collectively and individually? Though sometimes I have to roar to them; and why? Because sometimes they are foolish. This was exhibited here to-day, and also on the fourth of July. I saw scores of men who had no more sense than to crowd upon the women and children, at the risk of crushing them to death. When I see such conduct, I feel like a lion in the cause of the oppressed; and when the dogs and the wolves undertake to make this people a prey, they may expect that somebody is ready to roar, and contend for them.

Do you wish to know how men of God feel under such circumstances? I will tell you. If an enemy is crawling round this people, trying to make inroads to destroy them, they can pick up men as fast as they come to them, and throw them out of their way; they can conquer and destroy army after army; and in their feelings a thousand or ten thousand are no more to them than so many grasshoppers. It is the strength of the Almighty God that is in them. Keep His commandments, if you would have strength in the day you need it; and when you do not need it, be passive, like children in their mother’s lap, and be always ready and willing to extend the hand of charity and benevolence, and do all the good that is needed to be done, and you will thereby be able to resist the evil.

I had to go out to the door, when the people were crowding each other down, and talk as if I would swallow them up. What for? To injure them? No. Did I tell you to rush on and tread down women and children? No. Have I ever told you to take advantage of the weak and defenceless, or in any way oppress the innocent? No, never; and if you do, I shall handle you; and if you get into my way, you will be no more to me than a child’s toy.

I am consuming much time, and I wish to dismiss the meeting. But I will state that if children could know the feelings of their parents, when they do good or evil, it would have a salutary influence upon their lives; but no child can possibly know this, until it becomes a parent. I am compassionate therefore towards children. Parents, will you have a little wisdom, and learn to bring up your children under a proper influence, and under proper teaching? Mothers, remember that when your husbands are engaged in the service of the Church, and are all the time occupied in the duties of the Priesthood, so that they have not time to instruct their children, the duty devolves upon you. Then bring your children up in the ways of truth, and be to them both a father and mother, until they are old enough to perform duties by the side, and under the immediate eye, of their father. I like to see mothers bring their children to meeting, as soon as they can be brought without injuring them, and when they can tell what they want, and call for water when they are faint. As soon as they are old enough to receive instructions, bring them here to be taught; and when you go home with them, do not put strong drinks, or tea, or coffee to their lips. I have actually seen women whip their children to make them drink spirits; such mothers do not know what is actually necessary they should know. Children should have milk, bread, water, and potatoes; and everything that would lay the foundation for disease should be strenuously kept from their stomachs, that no appetites may be formed for pernicious substances, which, when formed, cannot be overcome easily, if at all. The course mothers generally take in the world with their children, produces an appetite in the child that almost invariably leads to excess. There are scores in our midst who were begotten in a vault of liquor, and were enveloped in it till the day of their birth. They have come forth from it, and have a longing desire to still swim in it unto the day of their death. I wish you to understand this, sisters; and when you become mothers, know how to train up your children better than the past generations have been brought up.

Brethren and sisters, may the Lord bless you all. If I had time to answer my feelings here to-day, I should enjoy more freedom in my remarks. Brother George A. Smith has given you the music, and I wished to point out the way in which you ought to walk. Take him for the music, and my words for the counsel; all he said was right, and I want you to observe what he told you; and what more you should do, we will tell you in season.

Reminiscences of the Jackson County Mob, The Evacuation of Nauvoo, and the Settlement of Great Salt Lake City

George A. Smith

An address by Elder George A. Smith, to the children who formed the procession at the anniversary of the entrance of the pioneers into Great Salt Lake Valley, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, July 24, 1854.

My Young Friends—It is with pleasure I rise to address you on the present occasion.

Having been called upon to walk in the Procession, as the Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it created in my breast feelings not easily described; it brought up reminiscences of past scenes, and of celebrations similar to this, wherein I have acted in company with my worthy predecessor, Dr. Willard Richards, one of the First Presidency of the Church of God on earth, and one of the Pioneers who first entered this Valley. He has gone to rest, after being worn out by trials, persecutions, and adversities, and by the difficulties incident in the forming of this settlement in the Valleys of the mountains.

I could have stopped to drop a tear to the memory of departed worthies—the Historian, the aged Patriarch John Smith, and many others; at the same time, I could but feel joyful to see such an immense assembly, gathered together to commemorate the day on which the Pioneers first arrived in this region to inhabit these valleys.

Should we refer to the pages of the history that is no doubt written in many a private journal, our memories would be refreshed with the startling truth, that the first fifteen years of our existence had been a continued scene of trials, persecutions, afflictions, and murders; including the murder of the Prophet, the Patriarch, and a great many others of the ablest and most energetic members of the Church.

At a Council of the leading men of this community in Nauvoo, it was concluded that on finishing the Temple there; a company of one thousand or fifteen hundred pioneers should establish themselves in the mountains, to prepare the way for a safe retreat from the tyranny and oppression which had so long followed this people. This conclusion was unknown to the public, hence the surprise of the mob at our willingness to depart.

In a very few days afterwards, bands of organized mobbers commenced the work of burning our houses in Yelrom, Green Plains, and Bear Creek settlements, and throughout the country. As if they were not satisfied with the destruction of the hundreds of lives their persecutions had already sacrificed, and the millions of property they had already destroyed in Missouri; as if dissatisfied with the blood of the Prophet still smoking from the ground as it were; they lighted anew the torch of the incendiary, and the Governor of the State was silently willing to fan its fires. It will be recollected that he did not stop the house burning, but we stopped it ourselves, under the direction of the Sheriff of the County.

The moment that was done, General Harden; mounted on a white horse, backed up and accompanied by other dignitaries of the State came into Nauvoo with four hundred men. What was said to us by these worthies? They said, that in consequence of the combination against us throughout the State, the Governor did not feel at liberty to do anything for us; so we were abandoned to the rage of unprincipled men.

They then informed us they had come to search for some men that were missing, and formed a square around the Temple, also around the stables of the Nauvoo house, but more particularly around the Masonic Hall, the basement story of which contained a quantity of wine. General Hardin, and others of his band, went into the stables where a horse had just been bled, and concluded a man had been killed there, but fortunately the horse was there to answer for the blood. The General and his Staff then pierced with their swords the heaps of manure, thinking, I presume, that if they pricked a dead man, he would squeal. I thought they acted a little simple, for they might have presumed that if anybody had been killed, they would have been thrown in the Mississippi, which was not more than ten rods from the stables.

This was all that was done to punish the house burners; and the State authorities said they could do nothing for us; hence the only alternative was to leave, as nine counties of the State had concluded in Convention, that we must leave or be exterminated. The fact is, this was the very conclusion we had already come to, ourselves, in a Council a few days before. Yet it was thought, proper not to reveal the secret of our intention to flee to the mountains; but as a kind of put off, it was communicated in the strictest confidence to General Hardin, who promised never to tell of it, that we intended to settle Vancouver’s Island. This report, however, was industriously circulated, as we anticipated it would be.

The persecution was blazing on every hand, and the reputable authorities “could do nothing for us; “which was equal to saying, “Hold on, and let us run our daggers into you.”

The first companies which left; in consequence of those persecutions, were obliged to start in the dead of winter, in the beginning of February, 1846. Many of the companies crossed the Mississippi, with their wagons, on the ice, and the rest in flat-boats, and winding their way through a new and trackless country, making a road of nearly four hundred miles in length, stopped to winter on the right bank of the Missouri, where they built quite a town, called Winter Quarters.

Finding that our numbers in Nauvoo were reduced to a mere handful, the mob, numbering some 1800 armed men, supplied with scientific engineers, and good artillery, attacked the remaining few, who were chiefly lame, blind, widows, fatherless children, and those too poor to get away. There were not one hundred able bodied men to stand against this superior force in defence of the helpless; this is called the battle of Nauvoo, and was fought in September. They cannonaded the citizens of Nauvoo, and finally, after three days’ fighting, and being forced to retreat three times, they succeeded in driving them over the river.

What was the result of all this? In April, 1847, we started from Winter Quarters, with a hundred and forty-three men (instead of 1000) as Pioneers. We were “few,” and I was going to say “far between,” but we were close together. We set out, and made a new road to this valley, the greater portion of the way; we thus worked the path through, and arrived here on the day we now commemorate.

This is a hasty glance of history. To enter into details would introduce matters that would unnecessarily harrow up the minds of many. Suffice it to say, like the pilgrim fathers who first landed upon Plymouth Rock, we are here pilgrims, and exiles from liberty; and instead of being driven into the wilderness to perish, as our enemies had designed, we find ourselves in the middle of the floor, or on the top of the heap. Right in the country that scientific men and other travellers had declared worthless, we are becoming rich in the comforts and blessings of life, we are now rocking in the cradle of liberty, in which we are daily growing; and I challenge the Union to produce a parallel of this day’s Celebration.

I say to my young friends, be firm to extend the principles of freedom and liberty to this country, and never suffer the hand of oppression to invade it.

In the history of our persecutions there have arisen a great many anecdotes; but one will perhaps serve to illustrate the condition in which I wish to see every man that raises in these mountains the hand of oppression upon the innocent. I wish to see such men rigged out with the same honors and comforts as was the honorable Samuel C. Owen, Commander-in-Chief of the Jackson County mob. He, with eleven men, was engaged at a mass meeting, to raise a mob to drive the Saints from Clay County. This was in the year 1834, in the month of June. They had made speeches, and done everything to raise the indignation of the people against the Saints. In the evening, himself, James Campbell, and nine others, commenced to cross the Missouri river on their way home again; and the Lord, or some accident, knocked a hole in the bottom of the boat. When they discovered it, says Commander Owen to the company on the ferry boat, “We must strip to the bone, or we shall all perish.” Mr. Campbell replied, “I will go to hell before I will land naked.” He had his choice, and went to the bottom. Owen stripped himself of every article of clothing, and commenced floating down the river. After making several attempts he finally landed on the Jackson side of the river, after a swim of about fourteen miles. He rested some time, being perfectly exhausted, and then started into the nettles, which grow very thick and to a great height, in the Missouri bottoms, and which was his only possible chance in making from the river to the settlements. He had to walk four miles through the nettles, which took him the remainder of the night, and when he got through the nettles, he came to a road, and saw a young lady approaching on horseback, who was the belle of Jackson County. In this miserable condition he laid himself behind a log, so that she could not see him. When she arrived opposite the log, he says, “Madam, I am Samuel C. Owen, the Commander-in-Chief of the mob against the Mormons; I wish you to send some men from the next house with clothing, for I am naked.” The lady in her philanthropy dismounted, and left him a light shawl and a certain unmentionable under garment, and passed on. So His Excellency Samuel C. Owen, who was afterwards killed in Mexico by foolishly exposing himself, contrary to orders, took up his line of march for the town, in the shawl and petticoat uniform, after his expedition against the Mormons.”

My young friends, have the goodness to use every man so, who comes into your country to mob and oppress the innocent; and LADIES, DON’T LEND HIM ANY CLOTHING.

Persecutions, Duties, and Privileges of the Saints

Daniel H. Wells

An address by Elder Daniel H. Wells, to the children who formed the procession on the anniversary of the entrance of the pioneers into Great Salt Lake Valley, delivered in the Tabernacle, July 24, 1854.

Beloved Friends—We are met in commemoration of the important historical fact, that on the 24th of July, seven years ago, a band of brethren came to this place, seeking a home, an asylum, where they might rest awhile from their arduous and toilsome march, and feel secure from the wrath of wicked, wreckless, infuriated men, who had, in times past, pursued and hunted them with relentless fury, and driven them from the abodes of civilization. Directed by the same God who led Moses and the children of Israel out from the land of Egypt, they, with our beloved President at their head, located in this valley.

This becomes an important fact from its associations, fraught as it is with momentous consequences to us as a people; transplanting us from the narrow limits of a single city, to a large territory, in which we are fast becoming a mighty people. We perceive the hand-dealing of a wise and beneficent God in this, who has said, by the mouth of His Prophet, that it was “His business to provide for His Saints.” This also furnishes a strong illustration of high Heaven’s economy, in over-ruling and turning the wrath of man to its service and praise, and from “seeming ill still educing good.”

This day, in reality, is the Anniversary of our Birth-day as a free people. We may say that it was a bloodless conquest, and yet our path has not been strewn with flowers, as witness the parting pang when exhausted strength has been laid low in the dust, and bitter tears have only been dried in view of a better future.

We this day rejoice together in union and harmony—in peace and prosperity; and as the sun of gladness has arisen upon our horizon, so may it never again become darkened by the mists of sorrow, nor the storms of persecution be permitted to obscure its genial rays.

We now possess a country sufficient for our present necessities and purposes, institutions which we have received from God, through His Prophets, and, under the broad folds of our glorious Constitution, American Freedom.

We now have the privilege of worshipping God according to the dictates of our own consciences, and no one to disturb, or make us afraid.

What more can we ask? What more can we expect? The balance rests with ourselves. If we would be happy, if we would be great, have the knowledge and wisdom of God, and be prospered, it remains with us to pursue that course, to perform those duties, and to live that life, which shall conspire to produce those blessings.

The kingdom will advance, and bring with it the treasures of knowledge, wisdom, and power, just so fast as the Lord finds that He has a people ready, willing, and capable of receiving, and bearing it off. If we would hasten the time for the coming of the Son of Man with power and great glory, we must increase our diligence, hasten ourselves in the attainment of every perfection, and by our purity and excellence bring unto ourselves Heaven’s excellence and purity.

My friends, this is a day of rejoicing with the Saints, and here in this sacred place of worship, we mingle together, the old and the young, in offering to our God, praise and thanksgiving for His kind mercies and blessings. As we mingle in our amusements and rejoicings, and participate together in our celebration of this day, and the realization of our dependence upon Him who has wrought out our salvation, and brought us to an inheritance in this goodly land, amid scenes of joy and prosperity, it is always well to remember and acknowledge the kind hand of Providence, from whom we receive every good and perfect gift.

How can we well express the overflowing gratitude of our hearts to the Giver of all good, for what we this day behold? Thousands of children in a single city, of less than seven years growth, convened under their respective banners, each bearing a motto expressive of their views and sentiments, intention and designs; each bosom swelling with pride and gratitude, that they too are the children of the Kingdom, unto whom pertain the promises of God concerning Israel.

My young friends, how shall we reciprocate? What shall we do to advance the glorious cause of truth make ourselves useful, and fulfil the measure of our creation upon the earth? I answer, it is for us to be obedient, hearken unto the counsel of our parents and leaders, to keep the commandments of God. It is to qualify ourselves to follow some useful occupation, to be industrious in acquiring knowledge, and not spend our time in useless visiting, and lounging about in idleness. It is to have every moment devoted to some useful employment, to serve God, and walk humbly before Him, blameless in all of His ordinances, be true to God and His servants, follow in the dictates of wisdom and experience, be patient and courteous toward each other, be persevering, virtuous, honest, and faithful—in short, be good, faithful Saints of the Most High God.

If we do this, we shall always enjoy the blessings of a good conscience, void of offence toward God and man. Let our aim be for God, and an exaltation in His Kingdom, keeping our minds constantly directed to the attainment of this object; and no matter what may befal us here below, we shall be safe in the arms of our blessed Redeemer, who said, “Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Does our Father in heaven view us with approbation this day? Let us look to it, each one of us, that we do nothing either in thought, word, or deed, neither this, nor any other day, but that He can look down upon us with approbation. Let not folly nor wickedness be committed in Israel, lest we be called upon to put away the workers of iniquity from our midst, and thus cleanse Israel from sin and guilt.

Young men and youths, just rising to take a part in the affairs of men, if you follow in the precepts of wisdom, and abide in the counsel of truth, you shall have strength according to your day, and the mountain torrent shall not be more fierce to encounter than you, when the enemy shall again marshal his hosts for battle; the mountain roe shall not be swifter, nor more agile in its flight, than you in scaling the mountain height, or leaping the deep, dark chasm, made by a thousand floods. Nothing shall present a barrier too high, too rugged, or so difficult that you cannot surmount it.

As physical strength shall be given, so shall mental strength and ability, and you will increase and strengthen until you can fathom the deep sciences, and unfold the mysteries of eternity.

To you, also, ye maidens of Israel, is it not an honor to be numbered among the daughters of Zion? Unto you this invitation extends, to make yourselves useful in the drama of life; qualify yourselves also for the part which may be allotted you to perform in the Kingdom of our God. Preserve yourselves in purity and the perfection of every virtue. Let your time be fully occupied in some useful employment and although you may not be called upon to encounter the fierce contest of the world, as your brothers, fathers, or husbands, yet your path shall so closely entwine itself with theirs, as to strengthen, nourish, and sustain them, be a present help in every time of need; and when the storm clouds shall lower, and fierce persecution rage, be enabled by united faith and energy to bid defiance to “Mormon” foes, whether they come in form of men in hostile array, or the more insidious and stealthy manner of demons from the arch and subtle intriguer, and deceiver of the human race.

Yes, fair maidens, if you would have loveliness encircle your brow, and beauty adorn your forms, let the gems of virtue, truth, and sincerity sparkle your eyes, and adorn your minds with knowledge and wisdom. Let excellence, goodness, and industry embellish your lives, and the star of your glory shall never wane, nor the promised inheritance to dwell among the Gods be withheld, proving to God and man

“The kindest blessing High Heaven could send; In life a treasure, and in death a friend.”

This is an age of progress, and if we would keep pace with the times, we must progress also. The youth of other States, Territories, or Nations, must not outstrip us in the arts and sciences, nor in anything that is calculated to adorn life and become useful to man.

Situated as we are, so far distant from the emporium of letters and commerce, some may think that this is difficult to avoid; but it is not so. It is easy not only to keep pace with, but outstrip them even in the race of progress. Our advantages are simply these—we have not the burden of trash and nonsense to wade through at the beginning, which others have; the mind is therefore more free to act, and can conceive more real truth and imbibe more real knowledge in a given time; and although we may not yet possess every facility for our advancement, still we are more than compensated by the wholesome influence of virtue and religion, rules, regulations, and institutions freed from the bigotry, superstitions, dogmas, and follies of ages. We moreover breathe the pure mountain air, and drink from the cool mountain stream, and dwell in a lighter and purer atmosphere, not only physically, but socially and morally. Are these advantages, and do they contribute to correct thinking? If they are, and if they do, then we have certainly no cause to complain.

If we will only avail ourselves of the opportunities which we possess, take the good, and reject the evil, abide in the light and truth, and apply ourselves, we have no fears but that we shall excel. And time will show in regard to our moral and social institutions, which Congress are so often trying to legislate about. They are welcome to all of their moral and social rules and regulations, religious or otherwise; nor do I suppose that we shall try to legislate about them, although we have just about as much right to, as they have about ours. The argument is opportune; I could not wish for better illustration for the subject under consideration, than the already muddy and beclouded brains which some of the present Congress exemplified upon this very subject. One might suppose that the spirit at least of the 3000 clergymen upon the Nebraska and Kansas Bill, had found its way into their minds, and left its impression with them. What other item of religious faith they will next seek to interfere with, is left for time to determine; but I should expect, that women would be prohibited from marrying, or Shakerism abolished.

Excuse me, my friends, for alluding to such a subject, upon an occasion like this, but the absurdity of undertaking to legislate upon the morality of our social relations and religious institutions, imperceptibly led me to make a comment upon it.

If it is an indication of a righteous feeling among them, there may be some small hopes of them yet; but it smacks rather too much of the SULPHUR to be genuine,” as the parrot said when the devil taught him prayers. I hope you will accept of my apology, and I will refrain.

Our Pilgrim Fathers, when they landed on Plymouth Rock, constituted a small band, ‘tis true; yet by uniting rich resources with energy and determined perseverance, witness what it amounted to—New England’s rocks and hills were peopled; large cities sprung into existence, and she sends her sons and daughters too into every State; they are the first upon the confines of civilization, exploring the deep forest and wide-spread prairie, stemming Missouri’s flood, and traversing ocean’s wide domain. The sons of the Pilgrim Fathers are everywhere; here to-day are congregated thousands of them, who feel the same spirit of freedom which emulated them to flee from under the oppressor’s rod, and beyond the tyrant’s grasp.

Our Pioneers, unlike our Revolutionary Fathers, did not dissolve their political ties, but more than our Pilgrim Fathers, fled from persecution, and planted their standard like them, free to all to flee unto. Here we hope to preserve American freedom, to ourselves and others, although it was not preserved to us in the land of our nativity. Here we hope to be prospered and increased in knowledge, wisdom, and power; enabled to preserve our rights, and our liberties, as did our Revolutionary Fathers, when oppression became too onerous, and tyranny ranked too high.

But I forbear. Let us do our duty to ourselves, our country, and our God; be vigilant in the preservation of virtue and truth; and leave the event with the God of Nations, who shutteth and no man can open, and opens and no man can shut.

Necessity of Building Temples—The Endowment

Brigham Young

Oration by President Brigham Young, delivered on the South-East Corner Stone of the Temple at Great Salt Lake City, after the First Presidency and the Patriarch had laid the Stone, April 6, 1853.

This morning we have assembled on one of the most solemn, interesting, joyful, and glorious occasions, that ever have transpired, or will transpire among the children of men, while the earth continues in its present organization, and is occupied for its present purposes. And I congratulate my brethren and sisters that it is our unspeakable privilege to stand here this day, and minister before the Lord on an occasion which has caused the tongues and pens of Prophets to speak and write for many scores of centuries which are past.

When the Lord Jesus Christ tabernacled in the flesh—when he had left the most exalted regions of His Father’s glory, to suffer and shed his blood for sinning, fallen creatures, like ourselves, and the people crowded around him, a certain man said unto him, “Master, I will, follow thee whithersoever thou goest.” Jesus said unto him, “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay HIS head.” And we find no record that this man followed him any farther.

Why had not the Son of Man where to lay his head? Because his Father had no house upon the earth—none dedicated to Him, and preserved for His exclusive use, and the benefit of His obedient children..

The Ark containing the covenant—or the Ark of the Covenant in the days of Moses, containing the sacred records, was moved from place to place in a cart. And so sacred was that Ark, if a man stretched forth his hand to steady it, when the cart jostled, he was smitten, and died. And would to God that all who attempt to do the same in this day, figuratively speaking, might share the same fate. And they will share it sooner or later, if they do not keep their hands, and tongues too, in their proper places, and stop dictating the order of the Gods of the Eternal Worlds.

When the Ark of the Covenant rested, or when the children of Israel had an opportunity to rest, (for they were mobbed and harassed somewhat like the Latter-day Saints,) the Lord, through Moses, commanded a Tabernacle to be built, wherein should rest and be stationed, the Ark of the Covenant. And particular instructions were given by revelation to Moses, how every part of said Tabernacle should be constructed, even to the curtains—the number thereof, and of what they should be made; and the covering, and the wood for the boards, and for the bars, and the court, and the pins, and the vessels, and the furniture, and everything pertaining to the Tabernacle. Why did Moses need such a particular revelation to build a Tabernacle? Because he had never seen one, and did not know how to build it without revelation, without a pattern.

Thus the Ark of the Covenant continued until the days of David, King of Israel, standing or occupying a Tabernacle, or tent. But to David, God gave commandment that he should build Him a house, wherein He, Himself, might dwell, or which He might visit, and in which He might commune with His servants when He pleased.

From the day the children of Israel were led out of Egypt to the days of Solomon, Jehovah had no resting place upon the earth, (and for how long a period before that day, the history is unpublished,) but walked in the tent or Tabernacle, before the Ark, as it seemed Him good, having no place to lay His head.

David was not permitted to build the house which he was commanded to build, because he was a “man of blood,” that is, he was beset by enemies on every hand, and had to spend his days in war and bloodshed to save Israel, (much as the Latter-day Saints have done, only he had the privilege to defend himself and people from mobocrats and murderers, while we have hitherto been denied that privilege,) and, consequently, he had no time to build a house unto the Lord but commanded his son Solomon, who succeeded him on the throne, to erect the Temple at Jerusalem, which God had required at his hands.

The pattern of this Temple, the length, and breadth, and height of the inner and outer courts, with all the fixtures thereunto appertaining, were given to Solomon by revelation, through the proper source. And why was this revelation-pattern necessary? Because that Solomon had never built a Temple, and did not know what was necessary in the arrangement of the different apartments, any better than Moses did what was needed in the Tabernacle.

This Temple, called Solomon’s Temple, because Solomon was the master workman was completed some time previous to the appearance of the Son of Man on the earth, in the form of the babe of Bethlehem, and had been dedicated as the House of the Lord, and accepted as a finished work by the Father, who commanded it to be built, that His Son might have a resting place on the earth, when he should enter on his mission.

Why, then, did Jesus exclaim to the man who volunteered to follow him wheresoever he went, that “the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head?” Jesus knew the pretended Saint and follower to be a hypocrite, and that if he told him plainly that he would not fare as well as the birds and foxes, he would leave him at once, and that would save Him much trouble.

But how could Jesus’ saying, that he had “not where to lay his head,” be true? Because the house which the Father had commanded to be built for his reception, although completed, had become polluted, and hence the saying, “My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves,” and he made a scourge of cords, and drove the money-changers, and dove-sellers, and faro-gamblers, all out of his house, and overthrew their tables; but that did not purify the house, so that he could not sleep in it, for an holy thing dwelleth not in an unholy Temple.

If Jesus could not lay his head in an unholy, polluted temple, how can the Latter-day Saints expect that the Holy Spirit will take and abide its residence with them, in their tabernacles and temples of clay, unless they keep themselves pure, spotless, and undefiled?

It is no wonder that the Son of Man, soon after his resurrection from the tomb, ascended to his Father, for he had no place on earth to lay his head; his house still remaining in the possession of his enemies, so that no one had the privilege of purifying it, if they had the disposition, and otherwise the power, to do it; and the occupants thereof were professors in name, but hypocrites and apostates, from whom no good thing can be expected.

Soon after the ascension of Jesus, through mobocracy, martyrdom, and apostacy, the Church of Christ became extinct from the earth, the Man Child—the Holy Priesthood, was received up into heaven from whence it came, and we hear no more of it on the earth, until the Angels restored it to Joseph Smith, by whose ministry the Church of Jesus Christ was restored, re-organized on earth, twenty-three years ago this day, with the title of “Latter-day Saints,” to distinguish them from the Former-day Saints.

Soon after, the Church, though our beloved Prophet Joseph, was commanded to build a Temple to the Most High, in Kirtland, Ohio, and this was the next House of the Lord we hear of on the earth, since the days of Solomon’s Temple. Joseph not only received revelation and commandment to build a Temple, but he received a pattern also, as did Moses for the Tabernacle, and Solomon for his Temple; for without a pattern, he could not know what was wanting, having never seen one, and not having experienced its use.

Without revelation, Joseph could not know what was wanting, any more than any other man, and, without commandment, the Church were too few in numbers, too weak in faith and too poor in purse, to attempt such a mighty enterprise. But by means of all these stimulants, a mere handful of men, living on air, and a little hominy and milk, and often salt or no salt when milk could not be had; the great Prophet Joseph, in the stone quarry, quarrying rock with his own hands; and the few then in the Church, following his example of obedience and diligence wherever most needed; with laborers on the walls, holding the sword in one hand to protect themselves from the mob, while they placed the stone and moved the trowel with the other, the Kirtland Temple—the second House of the Lord, that; we have any published record of on the earth, was so far completed as to be dedicated. And those first Elders who helped to build it, received a portion of their first endowments, or we might say more clearly, some of the first, or introductory, or initiatory ordinances, preparatory to an endowment.

The preparatory ordinances there administered, though accompanied by the ministration of angels, and the presence of the Lord Jesus, were but a faint similitude of the ordinances of the House of the Lord in their fulness; yet many, through the instigation of the devil, thought they had received all, and knew as much as God; they have apostatized, and gone to hell. But be assured, brethren, there are but few, very few of the Elders of Israel, now on earth, who know the meaning of the word endowment. To know, they must experience; and to experience, a Temple must be built.

Let me give you the definition in brief. Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the House of the Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them the key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the Holy Priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell.

Who has received and understands such an endowment, in this assembly? You need not answer. Your voices would be few and far between, yet the keys to these endowments are among you, and thousands have received them, so that the devil, with all his aids, need not suppose he can again destroy the Holy Priesthood from the earth, by killing a few, for he cannot do it. God has set His hand, for the last time, to redeem His people, the honest in heart, and Lucifer cannot hinder Him.

Before these endowments could be given at Kirtland, the Saints had to flee before mobocracy. And, by toil and daily labor, they found places in Missouri, where they laid the corner stones of Temples, in Zion and her Stakes, and then had to retreat to Illinois, to save the lives of those who could get away alive from Missouri, where fell the Apostle David W. Patten, with many like associates, and where were imprisoned in loathsome dungeons, and fed on human flesh, Joseph and Hyrum, and many others, But before all this had transpired, the Temple at Kirtland had fallen into the hands of wicked men, and by them been polluted, like the Temple at Jerusalem, and consequently it was disowned by the Father and the Son.

At Nauvoo, Joseph dedicated another Temple, the third on record. He knew what was wanting, for he had previously given most of the prominent individuals then before him their endowment. He needed no revelation, then, of a thing he had long experienced, any more than those now do, who have experienced the same things. It is only where experience fails, that revelation is needed.

Before the Nauvoo Temple was completed, Joseph was murdered—murdered at sun light, under the protection of the most noble government that then existed, and that now exists, on our earth. Has his blood been atoned for? No! And why? A martyr’s blood to true religion was never atoned for on our earth. No man, or nation of men, without the Priesthood, has power to make atonement for such sins. The souls of all such, since the days of Jesus, are under the altar,” and are crying to God, day and night, for vengeance. And shall they cry in vain? God forbid! He has promised He will hear them in His own due time, and recompense a righteous reward.

But what of the Temple in Nauvoo? By the aid of sword in one hand, and trowel and hammer in the other, with fire arms at hand, and a strong band of police, and the blessings of heaven, the Saints, through hunger, and thirst, and weariness, and watchings, and prayings, so far completed the Temple, despite the devices of the mob, that many received a small portion of their endowment, but we know of no one who received it in its fulness. And then, to save the lives of all the Saints from cruel murder, we removed westward, and being led by the all-searching eye of the Great Jehovah, we arrived at this place.

Of our journey hither, we need say nothing, only, God led us. Of the sufferings of those who were compelled to, and did, leave Nauvoo in the winter of 1846, we need say nothing. Those who experienced it know it, and those who did not, to tell them of it would be like exhibiting a beautiful painting to a blind man.

We will not stop to tell you of the sufferings of widows and orphans on Omaha lands, while their husbands and fathers were traversing the burning plains of the South, to fight the battles of a country which had banished them from civilization, for they secured the land on which we dwell, from our nation’s foe, exposed the gold of California, and turned the world upside down. All these things are before you—you know them, and we need not repeat them.

While these things were transpiring with the Saints in the wilderness; the Temple at Nauvoo passed into the hands of the enemy, who polluted it to that extent the Lord not only ceased to occupy it, but He loathed to have it called by His name, and permitted the wrath of its possessors to purify it. by fire, as a token of what will speedily fall on them and their habitations, unless they repent.

But what are we here for, this day? To celebrate the birth-day of our religion! To lay the foundation of a Temple to the Most High God, so that when His Son, our Elder Brother, shall again appear, he may have a place where he can lay his head, and not only spend a night or a day, but find a place of peace, that he may stay till he can say, “I am satisfied.”

Brethren, shall the Son of Man be satisfied with our proceedings this day? Shall he have a house on the earth which he can call his own? Shall he have place where he can lay his head, and rest over night, and tarry as long as he pleases, and be satisfied and pleased with his accommodations?

These are questions for you to answer. If you say yes, you have got to do the work, or it will not be done. We do not want any whiners about this Temple. If you cannot commence cheerfully, and go through the labor of the whole building cheerfully, start for California, and the quicker the better. Make you a golden calf, and worship it. If your care for the ordinances of salvation, for yourselves, your living, and dead, is not first and foremost in your hearts, in your actions, and in everything you possess, go! Pay your debts, if you have any, and go in peace, and prove to God and all His Saints that you are what you profess to be, by your acts—a God of Gods, and know more than He that made you.

But if you are what you profess to be, do your duty—stay with the Saints, pay your Tithing, and be prompt in paying, as you are in feeding your family; and the Temple, of which we have now laid the South-east Corner Stone, will arise in beauty and grandeur, in a manner and time which you have not hitherto known or contemplated.

The Saints of these valleys have grown in riches, and abundance of the comforts of life, in a manner hitherto unparalleled on the page of history, and if they will do by their Heavenly Father as He has done by them, soon will this Temple be inclosed. But if you go in for a speculation with passers by, as many have hitherto done, you will not live to see the Topstone of this Temple laid; and your labors and toils for yourselves and, friends, dead and alive, will be worse than though you had had no existence.

We dedicate this, the South-east Corner Stone of this Temple, to the Most High God. May it remain in peace till it has done its work, and until He who has inspired our hearts to fulfil the prophecies of His holy Prophets, that the House of the Lord should be reared in the “Tops of the Mountains,” shall be satisfied, and say, “It is enough.” And may every tongue, pen, and weapon, that may rise against this or any other Corner Stone of this building, feel the wrath and scourging of an incensed God! May sinners in Zion be afraid, and fearfulness surprise the hypocrite, from this hour. And may all who do not feel to say Amen, go speedily to that long night of rest from which no sleeper will awake, till roused by the trump of the Second Resurrection.

A Prayer

Heber C. Kimball

By President Heber C. Kimball, delivered on the South-East Corner Stone of the Temple at Great Salt Lake City, after the First Presidency and the Patriarch had laid the Stone, April 6, 1853.

O God, the Eternal Father, in the name of thy Son Jesus Christ of Nazareth, we ask thee to look upon us at this time in thy tender mercy. Thou beholdest that thy servants, Brigham and his Council, have laid the Chief Corner Stone of a holy House, which we are about to erect unto thy name. We desire to do it with clean hands and pure hearts before thee, and before thine holy angels.

We thank thee that we are permitted to live in the flesh, and have a place upon thy footstool, and partake daily of the bounties thy hand bestows, for thou art our Father, and Jesus Christ is our Elder Brother.

Inasmuch, O Lord, as we desire to erect a House to thy name, that if it seemeth thee good to come and take up thine abode on the earth, thou mayest have a place to lay thy head, we pray thee to assist us to erect it in purity before thee, and the Heavenly hosts.

We ask thee to help us so to conduct ourselves, that all the holy Prophets, the angels of Heaven, with thee and thy Son, may be engaged continually for our welfare, in the work of salvation and eternal lives. Bless us in this attempt to glorify thee. Bless this portion of the earth we dwell upon—even these valleys of the mountains, which we have consecrated unto thee. Cause them to bring forth the productions of the soil in rich abundance. Bless the seeds that are placed therein by thy servants and handmaidens. And inasmuch as they are disposed to do thy work, and erect a Temple to thy name, which is their fixed purpose and determination; let the heavens be gentle over them. May the earth be sanctified for their good, and the seeds they throw into it yield to them an hundred fold in return. We pray thee to bless such men and women—may the blessings of the Almighty richly attend them, and multiply them in their families, in their herds and flocks, in strength and in health, in salvation, and in eternal lives.

We also pray for those who do not feel favorably disposed to thy work—may thy blessings not attend them, but may they go backward and not forward, may they wither and not increase, and may the strength that they might have received, through their faithfulness to thy work, be multiplied and divided amongst these thy servants, who are determined to keep thy commandments, and sanctify their affections unto thee.

Look upon thy servant Brigham, O Lord, and let thy Holy Spirit rest mightily upon him this day, and from henceforth. May he live to dictate the erection of thy house, see the Top-stone brought on with rejoicing, and administer the keys of salvation and eternal life unto his brethren therein. Bless his Council in common with him, may they live to a good old age, and glorify God in all their days; may they never want for food and raiment, for fathers and mothers, for wives and children, and for the power of thy Spirit to inspire them, and those thou hast given them.

Pour out thy Spirit upon thy servants, the Twelve Apostles; may thy power abide upon them, to qualify them for the responsible calling unto which thou hast called them. Also, in connexion with them, let thy Spirit rest upon the Quorums of the Seventies, the High Priests, the Bishops, the High Council, the Elders, Priests, Teachers, and Deacons; and upon every faithful member of thy Church in these valleys of the mountains, and in all the world.

Now, O God, we dedicate this Stone to thee. May this spot be holy, and all that pertaineth to it. And inasmuch as there shall be an enemy, or a person that are evil disposed towards thy house, and they shall endeavor to lay snares for the feet of thy people, may they be caught in their own net, be overwhelmed in their own dilemma, and have no power nor influence in the least to hurt thy Saints from this time henceforth and for ever. May the power of the mighty God of Jacob fortify thy servants, enabling them to execute righteousness before thee the Lord our God.

Hear us, O Lord, for we dedicate this, the South-east Corner Stone unto thee, praying that it may sleep in peace, be preserved from decay, for it is the Chief Corner Stone of the House we shall rear to thy name. May the same blessings attend the other three Corner Stones, and all the works thy servants shall set their hands to do, from this time henceforth and forever.

Bless the architect, the superintendent, the foremen of the various departments, and all the laborers that shall raise a hand, or move a thing for the erection and perfection of this thine house; and provide for them, their wives, their children, and all that pertains unto them, that they may want for no good or necessary thing, while they are engaged in thy service, and from this time henceforth and for ever.

We dedicate ourselves unto thee, with our wives, our children, our flocks, and our herds, with all the settlements and possessions that pertain to thy people in these valleys of the mountains. And all the praise and the glory we will ascribe to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Persecutions, Position, Prospects, and Agency of the Saints

Edward Hunter

An oration by Bishop Edward Hunter delivered on the South-West Corner Stone of the Temple, at Great Salt Lake City, after the Presidencies of the Aaronic Priesthood had laid the Stone, April 6, 1853.

Brethren and Friends—This, the South-west Corner Stone of this Temple, in Salt Lake Valley, and Utah Territory, has been laid by the Aaronic Priesthood, which is in connection with the Melchisedec Priesthood forever—to connect those two Priesthoods to the building up of the kingdom of the last days, and exalt mankind on the earth, and in the presence of God, and prepare for the coming of Christ our Redeemer.

The past, the present, and the future—our history, our destiny, recur with redoubled force upon our minds, upon occasions like this. In honor to the great God we are here assembled. To the Valleys of the mountains we have been led by His Almighty power and watchful guidance. We have been delivered from our enemies, from our oppressors, by His unerring wisdom, and surpassing kindness.

Never before could the Saints look around, and behold so glorious, so prosperous a prospect before them, for the accomplishment of the enterprise which we this day commence. Although peace may temporarily have smiled around, yet it was like the lone traveller, struggling to make his way through the scarcely incrustated lava, yet warm, amid the craters of the momentarily extinct volcano, which has only ceased to pour forth its liquid fire, to gather renewed and increased energy, and again send forth its lurid flame, molten fury, and devastation, to all around. Thus has it ever been with this people—in the midst of enemies have they struggled to build up cities, wherein they might inhabit; erect temples unto the name of the God whom they serve, wherein to worship, and receive their holy anointings and endowments. But no sooner have they commenced, than have also commenced the howlings of the myrmidons of Satan’s kingdom, crying, as they did before Pilate, when they murdered the Saviour of the world, “Away with him! away with him! crucify him! crucify him!” And they have poured out their wrath—they have murdered the Saints, driven them from city to city, from land to land, dispossessed them of their inheritances, destroyed their cities, their temples and slain their Prophets.

As it was in the days of our Saviour and his Apostles, so has it been in our day. They have used every stratagem, every exertion to destroy the Priesthood from the face of the earth. They were successful then—will they be so now? Will the authority of the holy and eternal Priesthood of Almighty God, again be driven from the face of the earth, the Prophets and Apostles all slain, and none left in possession of the living oracles of divine truth? No.! no!! The might of Jehovah will preserve us. The Lord God will sustain us, and, if so be we should be scattered as hitherto, He will gather us in greater power, greater numbers, with increased ability to perform His work upon the earth.

Let all people, sinners, mobocrats, and devils, learn from experience that persecution, plunder, robbery, rapine, murder, and expulsion from home and country, will not win. They have effectually tried this plan, and it has as effectually failed every time. Please take notice! and devise some new scheme the next time, wherein you can feel some assurance, that you may possibly succeed, and we have the pleasure of not being plundered, murdered, and disfranchised in the same old way. Tax your inventive genius for some broader scheme to destroy God’s people from the face of the earth.

Suppose you try the suggestion of our much esteemed, though distant, learned, very polite, and unsolicited chronicler, Lieutenant Gunnison, “of letting us alone severely?” But I will not make suggestions for you, having great confidence in your ability of changing your mode of operation. When your plans become so futile, weak, and unavailing, as to become stale and uninteresting, I may suggest for you. In the meantime, let the Saints remember the promise President Young made them, upon the occasion of his breaking the ground for this temple, on the 14th of February last—“Not one of them, who had not been through the fiery ordeal, should lose the privilege, if he continued faithful; he shall not be a whit behind the most exquisite infliction of torture that any of the Saints have had to endure.” If you are faithful, you shall have the promised blessing pertaining to those characters who became partakers of the sufferings of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

When we look around us, what do we behold? We see the most unmistakable tokens of prosperity, peace, and plenty; the self-evident fruits of high heaven’s protecting care, industry, sobriety, and faith. What else do we behold? Wickedness—the hydra-headed monster, apostacy, dares to lift his head; thieves dare to prowl in our midst.

It seems, that no sooner can the Lord pour out His blessings upon His people, and Zion be favored for a season, than it becomes occasion for some to kick and flounder, turning their heel against that beneficent power unto whom they owe their being, their existences—who has fed them, and nurtured them, and led them, like as He did the Saints of old, all the day long.

What becomes the duty of the Saints under such circumstances? Do you realize that upon yourselves, in a great measure, depends your future prosperity, the prosperity of Zion’s cause, the extension and advancement of the cause of truth in the world? Do you consider that it is your duty to purify and sanctify your hearts before God, to put evil far from you, to resist the allurements, temptations, and devices of Satan, and thus panoplied in the bright armour of integrity, truth, and righteousness, with pure hearts, and clean hands, and arising in the strength, might, and majesty of the great Jehovah, put down iniquity, yea, with an eagle eye, ferret it out, and with a strong arm, hush in eternal silence every ingrate spirit, who profanes, with his unholy presence, the most holy place; who tramples under his feet, as a thing of naught, those covenants, those most solemn obligations, which he has freely made? So shall Israel put away iniquity from their midst, and obtain and retain the favor of the Lord of Hosts.

Do you remember the history of the Gadiantons, as told in the Book of Mormon? We are surrounded by their descendants. Those loathsome, effeminate specimens of humanity, which we daily see in our midst, are their children, low, degraded, sunken to the lowest depths of human existence. We have our location amid their strongholds, where the ruins of their cities, towns, and fortifications are yet to be seen—they continue unto this day. Shall we, the Saints of the Most High God, who have been the special recipients of the oracles of life and salvation, to this generation, to all generations to come, to even those who have preceded us—shall we, through supineness and neglect, permit a foundation to be laid in our midst, for the ultimate triumph of wickedness, apostacy, and every abomination which maketh desolate? I tell you, if we do, we need go no farther in the progress of this work, for we shall most probably share the fate of those Gadiantons and their children. Better, far better, would it be for us to stop, and, in the first place, sweep from our midst and from our borders, every vestige of unmitigated wickedness and sin. If we do not put it down, it will put us down. If we do not, when we have the privilege, the opportunity, magnify our calling, fulfil our covenants, the Lord our God will withdraw His Spirit from our midst, as being unworthy and negligent servants.

I am aware that the devil raves and grows angry when the Saints prepare to build a temple, I am aware that he rummages every nook and corner, to gain the ascendancy, seduce away, stir up strife, contention, and hinder the progress of the work; he seeks to lull into a false security, the vigilance of the Saints; to cool their ardor, check their efforts, and render them fruitless; to cause them to neglect their duties, grow luke-warm and indifferent towards the cause of God.

Brethren, let me exhort you against these allurements, against this apathy—it will never do, it does not become the Latter-day Saints, whose work rolls upon them as fast as they are able to accomplish it. The Saints pray their Father in heaven to hasten His work, and roll it forth with mighty power.

Do you not know that the heavens are ready to drop with blessings in store for the faithful Saints, if they were ready and able to receive them? The Almighty God is ready to establish His kingdom upon the earth, in power and majesty, if His people were ready to receive, were prepared to administer therein in holiness, purity, and wisdom.

The heavens are propitious, and if we do right, the Lord our God will be our friend, bless and prosper us in our endeavors to bring. to pass this our preparatory work. We will build a temple unto the name of the mighty God of Jacob, here in the wilderness of deserts, amid the forest of mountains, upon the foundation which we this day consecrate unto the Lord of Hosts. We will rear a superstructure wherein we can receive the ministrations of angels and holy beings; wherein we can receive instructions, and perform offices for the redemption of our dead, receive keys for the resurrection of the Saints of God, wherein we can meet the spirits of just men made perfect, and again strike hands with the martyred Prophets, Joseph and Hyrum, and all those who have suffered and died for the testimony of Jesus.

We are far more commodiously situated, far better prepared for this work, than ever before, as a people. We have a house wherein we can hold our Councils, a tabernacle wherein to worship, storehouses to contain the tithing of the people, and shops, and machinery in full operation.

The wall around the Temple Block will soon secure those grounds from intrusion. We are comparatively free from debt, everything seems favorable for the rapid progress of this work.

Brethren, it depends upon your efforts, your liberality, your faithfulness, whether its progress be slow or fast. We are now ready to bid the Saints “come lend us your aid—bring up to the Tithing House of the Lord, your tithings and your consecrations; pay up what you owe, that our hands may be untied, and freed from our remaining indebtedness; that the hearts of the public workmen may rejoice in the blessings and comforts of life.” Let your liberality be known by your works, and remember that it is your own work you are called upon to perform, and one in which you have the deepest and most abiding interest.

Prayer (Cordon)

Alfred Cordon

By Bishop Alfred Cordon, delivered on the South-West Corner Stone of the Temple at Great Salt Lake City, after the Presidencies of the Aaronic Priesthood had laid the Stone, April 6, 1853.

O God, the Eternal Father, we thank thee that we are assembled here this morning, to lay the foundation of another Temple to thy name. We ask thee, in the name of Jesus Christ thy Son, to let thy blessing rest upon this, the South-west Corner Stone, which has been laid by the Presiding Bishop of thy Church, and his Council. Also let thy power and strength rest upon thy servants who shall endeavor to build upon the same—may that spirit of unanimity and peace that pervades our bosoms this morning, rest upon those who shall labor upon this building; may it also rest upon their wives and children, and extend itself throughout the length and breadth of this territory, and the whole world, that the honest in heart may rejoice, and thy Saints be filled with thanksgiving, with praise and adorations to thy great name, for the mercies thou art continually extending unto them.

Especially let thine Elders abroad, whose hearts are panting this day with joy and satisfaction, feel the force and influence of thy Spirit, that so richly rest upon us, that they may take comfort and consolation. Let their lives be preserved, that they may return, and behold a building reared to thy name, and greatly rejoice and adore thee, O God. May their way be opened, that they may move from nation to nation, from city to city, and from habitation to habitation. Let thine angels go before them, and the secret agency of thy Holy Spirit touch the hearts of the people for their good, that thy purposes may soon be accomplished, that Israel may be gathered from the nations of the earth, that light and truth may spread itself, until all the honest. in heart rejoice in the principles of freedom, and every band and yoke of the tyrant is snapped and broken asunder, and the knowledge and power of God shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the face of the great deep.

We pray thee to let the petitions of thy servant, which were offered upon the Chief Corner Stone, be answered upon the heads of this people, and may thy blessing and power rest upon him and his brethren, even the First Presidency of thy Church. May they be filled with the spirit of revelation continually, that thy Saints may flourish, thy kingdom prosper, and thy work roll forth under their guidance, that the day may soon come when Zion shall be respected among the nations, and the Holy Priesthood be the only authority acknowledged, either at home or abroad, on the land or on the sea.

Direct thy people in thy path, that they may be prepared for the accomplishing of thy purposes. Let the Temple for which we are this day laying the Corner Stones, be reared to thy name, and the Top-stone be brought on with shouts of rejoicing before thee. Let every person that shall put forth his hand to prevent this thing from being accomplished, sink into oblivion, and may his power wither like the gourd of Jonah. Let all those who put forth their hands to rear this House, or in any way assist in doing the same, be blessed abundantly in the blessings of heaven, and the blessings of earth. And may all things work together for the good of thy people in all time to come.

We dedicate this Stone, and resign ourselves to thee, to use us according to thy pleasure, praying thee to direct our course, and save us eternally in thy celestial Kingdom, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Church Built on a Rock, etc.

John Young

An oration by Elder John Young, delivered on the North-West Corner Stone of the Temple at Great Salt Lake City, after the Presidency of the High Priests Quorum, and the Presidency and the High Council of the Stake had laid the Stone, April 6, 1853.

Brethren and Sisters—I have not a written oration to read before you, but shall content myself with simply expressing the feelings that pervade my breast on this interesting occasion. What I say, will come at once from the fountain of my heart.

I have one thing to say particularly—that this is the best day I ever saw in all my life. I realize that I am greatly blessed, in connection with my brethren and sisters of this Church, that I am permitted to live to see the present day, and to stand upon this rock, which is the North-west Corner Stone of a Temple that is to be built upon this ground, which Stone we have laid in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I firmly believe that, as we stand upon this rock, so is the Church of Latter-day Saints founded upon the rock of eternal ages. My continual prayer and desire are, that we may live to see a Temple built to the name of the Most High God. I feel myself honored of God and my brethren, in having the opportunity of standing here to-day, in speaking, and realizing what I have, since I came on the Temple ground.

I hope we shall see the Cap-stone brought on with shouts of joy. I believe we shall, if we remain faithful in the cause of truth.

I very well know that, at the commencement of the Temples that have heretofore been built to the name of the Lord, by this people, the devil has always moved his artillery with greater power and activity at that time. This is the foundation of the fourth Temple that the Latter-day Saints have laid; and I pray that we shall all feel nerved up with power to accomplish the great and glorious work which we are called to perform.

For my own part, I am sensible that I have not long to stay upon the earth, but I have a great desire to live in connection with my brethren, to see this Temple completed. I believe we shall.

My chief interest in living on the earth is to see the work of the Lord prosper, and to assist all in my power to roll it forth; and why I say this is the best day I ever saw upon the earth, is because the prospects for the advancement of the kingdom of God are greater now than ever I saw them before in my days. I have always, in all my life, been desirous to see the cause of the Lord prosper on the earth, but more especially so since I found a true Church founded by the Prophet of God.

We have Prophets among us—a Seer and Revelator, and also Apostles of Jesus Christ. Do I not know that I am standing this day in the presence of the greatest men that are to be found upon the footstool of God? My voice is now sounding in the ears of the greatest men that are this side of eternity, and I know it. If I should stand before all the kings, potentates, and princes of the earth, in one general assembly, the comparison would not begin to bear with the present occasion. They are men chosen by the people alone, and destitute of the power of an eternal Priesthood. These are the mighty chieftains of Israel, called and appointed by the Lord of Hosts, clothed with salvation and eternal lives, and sent for a blessing to the faithful.

I am thankful and happy. I have not language sufficient at my command to express, in full, my feelings. If I did not make a written oration, it has fallen to my lot to make a few verbal remarks. I am proud to stand here with my brethren, and pray that the power of the Spirit of God may rest upon His people, that they may prosper exceedingly, and bud and blossom like a fruitful bough upon the mountains. I have felt, while these Stones were being laid, that the angels of God were round about us. And may a convoy of them continually attend this holy spot, until all the things we desire to do for the glory of our Heavenly Father, and the extension of His cause on earth, are accomplished, which is my prayer. Amen.

Prayer (Wallace)

George B. Wallace

By Elder George B. Wallace, delivered on the North-West Corner Stone of the Temple Great Salt Lake City, after the Presidency of the High Priests’ Quorum and the Presidency and the High Council of the Stake had laid the Stone April 6, 1853.

Righteous and merciful God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, we consecrate and dedicate this Stone unto thee, even the North-west Corner Stone, which we have laid as part of the foundation of a Temple to be built unto thy great and holy name. We pray thee, O God, to accept this offering from our hands; and may thy peace and blessing be and abide here, that this spot of ground may be holy unto thee, and never be polluted by those who are unholy, or by any unclean thing.

May this foundation be firm as the foundations of the everlasting hills that cannot be moved, that the super-structure which shall be reared upon it may never be shaken, that the people may receive their blessings therein, to qualify them to pass through the vale, into celestial happiness.

We pray thee, O Lord, to let thy peace be upon those who labor upon these works; may their hearts be inspired by the Holy Ghost, to realize that they are working to build a House to thy name, that immortal beings may come and administer in the ordinances of salvation, and teach thy servants things that are beyond the vail, to prepare them to enter into that rest which is prepared and promised to thy Saints. We pray thee to cement this Corner Stone in a bond of indissoluble union with the other three, that they may stand firm as the eternal Priesthood which has been given unto men, even thy servants, that never can be moved out of its place, but will stand, from this time henceforth and for ever.

Bless the people that are congregated together this day; may it be to them a day long to be remembered let thy Spirit prevail in their midst and every heart be filled with unutterable joy. Let the visions of eternity be opened unto them, that they may behold things new and precious, and rejoice in the holy principles of the Gospel of God; that has been brought to light in this dispensation, by the administration of angels to thy servants, even in the latter days.

Let our enemies be taken in their own snare, and fall into the pit they dig for thy people. Let confusion come upon them; may they be turned backward, and have no power from this time henceforth and forever, to prevail against the Saints and the Lord’s anointed. Inspire the hearts of thy servants that are scattered abroad among the nations of the earth, and upon the islands of the sea; may their eyes be inclined towards us this day, and let their hearts be lifted up in joy and rejoicing before thee. Strengthen them, and give them great prosperity in their missions, and return them with honor to see the Cap-stone of this Temple brought on with shouting grace unto it.

We now dedicate ourselves, our wives, our children, our flocks and herds, unto thee, O God the Eternal Father, and pray thee to accept of us, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Spiritual Communication

Parley P. Pratt

An oration by Elder Parley P. Pratt, delivered on the North-East Corner Stone of the Temple at Great Salt Lake City after the First Presidency of the Seventies and the Presidency of the Elders’ Quorum had laid the Stone, April 6, 1853.

“And when they shall say unto you, seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and mutter; should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to hear from the dead?”

The foregoing text was copied by Nephi, from the Book of Isaiah, about six hundred years before Christ, and is now contained in the second Book of Nephi, chap. ix.

For the last few years the world has been disturbed very much by alleged communications from the world of spirits. “Mesmerism,” “Clairvoyance,” “Spiritual Knockings,” “Writing Mediums,” &c., are said to be channels of communication between the living and the dead. How often one meets with an invitation to seek to some “medium”—to some one “familiar with spirits,” in order to hear from a deceased father, mother, husband, wife, or other relative or friend.

On the other hand, these alleged communications from the spirit. world are zealously opposed, on the ground that there is no such philosophy in nature; that there can be no medium of communication between the living and those who have passed the vale of death; and that, therefore, all alleged communications from that source must necessarily be false.

It becomes the Saints to be able on this, as on all other subjects, to judge correctly and understandingly, by their knowledge of the principles of true philosophy, and of the laws of God and nature.

If on the one hand we admit the principle of communication between the spirit world and our own, and yield ourselves to the unreserved or indiscriminate guidance of every spiritual manifestation, we are liable to be led about by every wind of doctrine, and by every kind of spirit which constitute the varieties of being and of thought in the spirit world. Demons, foul or unclean spirits, adulterous or murderous spirits, those who love or make a lie, can communicate with beings in the flesh, as well as those who are more true and virtuous.

Again—The spirits who are ignorant, uncultivated, and who remain in error, can communicate through the same medium as those better informed.

To illustrate this subject, we will, consider the telegraphic wire as a medium of communication between New York and Boston.

Through this medium a holy Prophet or Apostle could communicate the holy and sacred words of truth; while through the same, could be communicated words of truth in relation to news, business transactions, the sciences, &c.; and also every species of lie, error, imposition, fraud, &c. Hence, if the people of New York should submit to the guidance of beings in Boston, who communicate with them by telegraph or other mediums, they would be guided by a mixture of intelligence, truth, error, falsehood, &c., in every conceivable variety. So with communications from the spirit world, if we once credit the philosophy or fact of an existing medium of communication.

If, on the other hand, we deny the philosophy or the fact of spiritual communication between the living and those who have died, we deny the very fountain from which emanated the great truths or principles which were the foundation of both the ancient and modern Church.

Who communicated with Jesus and his disciples on the holy mount? Moses and Elias, from the invisible world. Who bestowed upon the Apostles the commission to preach the Gospel to every creature in all the world? He that had passed the vale of death, and had dwelt in the spirit world, yea, he that had ascended far on high above the realms of death, and far beyond all the principalities and powers of the spirit world, and had entered, and been crowned, in the mansions of immortal flesh.

Who communicated with the beloved disciple on the Isle of Patmos, and revealed those sublime truths contained in his prophetic book? He that liveth and was dead, through his angel, who declared to John—Behold, I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the Prophets, that have the testimony of Jesus.

Who communicated with our great modern Prophet, and revealed through him as a medium, the ancient history of a hemisphere, and the records of the ancient dead? Moroni, who had lived upon the earth fourteen hundred years before. Who ordained Joseph the Prophet, and his fellow, servant, to the preparatory Priesthood, to baptize for remission of sins? John the Baptist, who had been beheaded! Who ordained our first founders to the Apostleship, to hold the keys of the kingdom of God, in these the times of restoration? Peter, James, and John, from the eternal world. Who instructed him in the mysteries of the Kingdom, and in all things pertaining to Priesthood, law, philosophy, sacred architecture, ordinances, sealings, anointings, baptisms for the dead, and in the mysteries of the first, second, and third heavens, many of which are unlawful to utter? Angels and spirits from the eternal worlds.

Who revealed to him the plan of redemption, and of exaltation for the dead who had died without the Gospel? and the keys and preparations necessary for holy and perpetual converse with Jesus Christ, and with the spirits of just men made perfect, and with the general assembly and Church of the first-born, in the holy of holies? Those from the dead!

Again—How do the Saints expect the necessary information by which to complete the ministrations for the salvation and exaltation of their friends who have died?

By one holding the keys of the oracles of God, as a medium through which the living can hear from the dead.

Shall we, then, deny the principle, the philosophy, the fact of communication between worlds? No! verily no!

The spiritual philosophy of the present age was introduced to the modern world by Joseph Smith. The people of the United States abandoned him to martyrdom, and his followers to fire, and sword, and plunder, and imprisonment, and final banishment to these far-off mountains and deserts, simply because a medium of communication with the invisible world had been found, whereby the living could hear from the dead. No sooner had the people and nation, thus guilty of innocent blood, completed the banishment of the Saints from their midst, than they began to adopt some of the same principles of spiritual philosophy, although in a perverted sense of the word.

Editors, statesmen, philosophers, priests, and lawyers, as well as the common people, began to advocate the principle of converse with the dead, by visions, divination, clairvoyance, knocking, and writing mediums, &c., &c. This spiritual philosophy of converse with the dead, once established by the labors, toils, sufferings, and martyrdom of its modern founders, and now embraced by a large portion of the learned world, shows a triumph more rapid and complete—a victory more extensive, than has ever been achieved in the same length of time in our world.

A quarter of a century since, an obscure boy and his few associates, in the western wilds of New York, commenced to hold converse with the dead. Now, vision, new revelation, clairvoyance, mediums, oracles, &c., are talked of and advocated as far as the modern press extends its influence, or steam its powers of locomotion.

An important point is gained, a victory won, and a countless host of opposing powers vanquished, on one of the leading or fundamental truths of “Mormon” philosophy, viz.—“That the living may hear from the dead.”

But, notwithstanding these great victories of truth over error, ignorance, and superstition, in certain points of spiritual philosophy, yet much remains to be done, ere pure, uncontaminated truth will reign triumphant, and darkness and error surrender their last stronghold on the earth.

The fact of spiritual communications being established, by which the living hear from the dead—being no longer a question of controversy with the well informed, we drop that point, and call attention to the means of discriminating or judging between the lawful and the unlawful mediums or channels of communication—between the holy and impure, the truths and falsehoods, thus communicated.

The words of the holy Prophet in our text, while they admit the principle of the living hearing from the dead, openly rebuke, and sharply reprove, persons for seeking to those who have familiar spirits, and to wizards that peep and mutter, and remind us that a people should seek unto their God for the living to hear from the dead

By what means, then, can a people seek unto their God, for such an important blessing as to hear from the dead?

And how shall we discriminate between those who seek to Him, and those who seek the same by unlawful means?

In the first place, no persons can successfully seek to God for this privilege, unless they believe in direct revelation in modern times.

Secondly, it is impossible for us to seek Him successfully, and remain in our sins. A thorough repentance and reformation of life are absolutely necessary, if we would seek to Him.

Thirdly, Jesus Christ is the only name given under heaven as a medium through which to approach to God. None, then, can be lawful mediums, who are unbelievers in Jesus Christ, or in modern revelation; or who remain in their sins; or who act in their own name, instead of the name appointed.

And moreover, the Lord has appointed a Holy Priesthood on the earth, and in the heavens, and also in the world of spirits; which Priesthood is after the order or similitude of His Son; and has committed to this Priesthood the keys of holy and divine revelation, and of correspondence, or communication between angels, spirits, and men, and between all the holy departments, principalities, and powers of His government in all worlds.

And again—The Lord has ordained that all the most holy things pertaining to the salvation of the dead, and all the most holy conversations and correspondence with God, angels, and spirits, shall be had only in the sanctuary of His holy Temple on the earth, when prepared for that purpose by His Saints; and shall be received and administered by those who are ordained and sealed unto this power, to hold the keys of the sacred oracles of God.

To this same principle the Prophets Isaiah and Micah bear testimony, saying, that in the last days all nations: shall go up to the house (or Temple). of the Lord, in order to be taught in His ways, and to walk in His paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, &c. Now it is evident that the people of all nations in the last days would be utterly unable to learn the ways of the Lord to perfection, in any other place except in a holy Temple erected among the mountains. For if the oracles, and most holy ordinances, and the keys or the mysteries, could be had elsewhere, or in any and every place, the people would never take the pains to resort to one house amid the mountains in order to learn of His ways, and to walk in His paths.

It is, then, a matter of certainty, according to the things revealed to the ancient Prophets, and renewed unto us, that all the animal magnetic phenomena, all the trances and visions of clairvoyant states, all the phenomena of spiritual knockings, writing mediums, &c., are from impure, unlawful, and unholy sources; and that those holy and chosen vessels which hold the keys of Priesthood in this world, in the spirit world, or in the world of resurrected beings, stand as far aloof from all these improper channels, or unholy mediums, of spiritual communication, as the heavens are higher than the earth, or as the mysteries of the third heaven, which are unlawful to utter, differ from the jargon of sectarian ignorance and folly, or the divinations of foul spirits, abandoned wizards, magic-mongers, jugglers, and fortune-tellers.

Ye Latter-day Saints! Ye thousands of the hosts of Israel! Ye are assembled here to-day, and have laid these Corner Stones, for the express purpose that the living might hear from the dead, and that we may prepare a holy sanctuary, where “the people may seek unto their God, for the living to hear from the dead,” and that heaven and earth, and the world of spirits may commune together—that the kings, nobles, presidents, rulers, judges, priests, counsellors, and senators, which compose the general assembly of the Church of the first-born in all these different spheres of temporal and spiritual existence, may sit in grand Council, and hold a Congress or court on the earth, to concert measures for the overthrow of the “mystery of iniquity,” the thrones of tyrants, the sanctuaries of priestcraft and superstition, and the reign of ignorance, sin, and death.

Saints! These victories will be achieved, and Jesus Christ and his Saints will subdue all opposing powers, and attain to universal empire in heaven and on earth, as sure as innocent blood was ever shed on Mount Calvary, or the official seal broken on the door of the tomb of the Son of God. This day’s work, in laying these Corner Stones for a Temple amid the mountains, is one advancing step in the progress of the necessary preparations for these mighty revolutions.

Let Zion complete this Temple, let it be dedicated to, and accepted by, the Almighty, let it be preserved in holiness according to the laws of the Holy Priesthood, and Zion shall not want for a man to stand before the Lord, and to receive the oracles, and administer in His holy sanctuary, and to administer the keys of His government upon the earth,

While sun, or moon, or stars shall shine, Or principalities endure.

If the Saints accomplish these things, and fail not to keep the commandments of Jesus Christ and the counsels of his servants, the kingdoms of the world shall never prevail against them from this time forth and for ever.

But remember, O ye Saints of the Most High! remember that the enemy is on the alert. That old serpent and his angels, who have ruled this lower world, with few exceptions, for so many ages, will not tamely, and without a struggle, submit to have the kingdom, and seat of government, and sanctuary of our God, again erected on our planet, no more to be thrown down or subdued, till every square yard of the vast dominion shall be re-conquered by its rightful owners. No! From the moment the ground was broken for this Temple, those inspired by him [Satan] have commenced to rage; and he will continue to stir up his servants to anger against that which is good, but, if we are faithful, the victory is ours, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Prayer (Hyde)

Orson Hyde

By President Orson Hyde, delivered on the North-East Corner Stone of the Temple at Great Salt Lake City, after the Twelve Apostles, the First Presidency of the Seventies, and the Presidency of the Elders’ Quorum had laid the Stone. April 6, 1853.

Almighty Father—Thou who dwellest in the heavens, and who sittest upon the throne of thy glory and power, we beseech thee to behold us, in great mercy, from thy celestial courts, and listen to our prayers which we this day offer to thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, thy Son. Although thou art exalted in temples not made with hands, in the midst of the redeemed and sanctified ones, yet deign thou to meet with us in our humble sphere, and, as we have laid, help thou us to dedicate unto thee, this Corner Stone of Zion’s earthly Temple, that in her courts thy sons and daughters may rejoice to meet their Lord.

Everlasting thanks are due to thee, O God of our salvation, for thy manifold blessings and mercies extended unto us—that since we have been compelled to flee to the valleys and caves of the mountains, and hide ourselves in thy secret chambers, from the face of the serpent or dragon of persecution, red with the blood of the Saints and martyrs of Jesus, thou hast caused the land to be fruitful—the wilderness and desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose. Known unto thee is the history of our career. Our merits and demerits have been open to thy view, and our wisdom and folly have not been hid from thine eyes. Thou hast comprehended our strength and our weakness, our joys and our sorrows, and also our sufferings and persecutions for thy name’s sake; and the martyrdom of thy servants!

Remember us, Oh Lord, and let the radiance of thy favor, like the rainbow of peace, encompass thy people while we sojourn here, and remain tenants at will in these frail bodies, the abodes of our spirits. And remember, likewise, our enemies who, through cruel jealousy, and malicious intent, have compelled us to find homes in these distant regions, and in the more lonely grave, or wander as strangers and pilgrims on the earth without an abiding city or resting place. Reward them according to their works, and let them eat the fruits of their own doings, inasmuch as they repent not.

The Twelve Apostles of the LATTER-DAYS, to whom has been committed the pleasing task to lay the Northeast Corner Stone of this Temple, even the last Corner Stone of the building, are here convened to discharge their duty before thee, in the midst of the authorities of thy Church, and of the assembled thousands who are come to witness the solemn ceremonies of the occasion.

We, therefore, implore thy blessings upon our heads, on this lovely day, while the sun of heaven, on his annual visit to his northern dominions is changing the very heart of nature and lighting up her face with the smiles of welcome. The snows of the everlasting mountains are made to yield at his approach, and to flow down in crystal streams of living waters, spreading life and verdure over all the plain.

From the very hour that the ground was broken to prepare for this foundation, Satan has been more diligently engaged in stirring up the hearts of his children to hate the servants and people of our God. But, O Lord, the work is thine, and thine arm is able to execute and defend it.

We now, in the name of Jesus Christ, our great High Priest and Lawgiver, dedicate and consecrate this Corner Stone unto thee, asking that the walls to be reared upon this foundation may steadily rise, by the persevering industry of thy people, under thy providential care and blessings, and the protecting and fostering arm of the Angel of thy presence.

Whosoever, O Lord, shall bless and aid the building of this Temple, with their faith, goodwill, and means—with their silver and their gold, with their labor and toil, with their horses, their cattle, their sheep, and their grain, or with any or all of their products, necessaries, or availables—may they rise in wealth and influence, and in the confidence and favor of God and His servants; and may the blessings of this Temple be extended unto them, whether they be Jews or Gentiles, bond or free, male or female. And whosoever shall attempt to hinder, oppose, or obstruct the progress of this building, or that shall hate or blaspheme the same, or that shall, in any way or manner, knowingly, wilfully, or intentionally destroy, injure, mar, or deface any part or portion of the work, let such not only be powerless, and clothed with shame, disgrace, and condemnation, but receive the very same kind of treatment in their own persons, in the course of thy providences, as they may manifest or desire to manifest towards this edifice.

Hasten thou the period, O Lord, when this thine House, in the midst of the mountains, shall receive the Top-stone with the shouts of gladness, and be completed, and nations flow unto it—when many people shall say, “Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law,” making manifest every false and delusive spirit every true principle, and also the errors that have involved nations in broils and contentions, in strife, in darkness, and in sin; and that will remove the vail of the covering that has been cast over all people; and the Gentiles shall come to the light of Zion, and kings to the brightness of her rising. Roll on the hour, Eternal Parent, when the intelligence and knowledge obtained by thy servants, on this consecrated spot, shall prove a beacon light to the nations who are floating on the sea of time in a dark, cloudy day.

O God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, overrule, we pray thee, every act and movement of the power of the world, to further the interests of the Redeemer’s kingdom, and to prepare the way for his triumphant reign on earth. Bless every honest-hearted ruler in the governments and kingdoms of men, and, though they may be ignorant of thy purposes and designs, yet make them the agents to bring about and accomplish the very intentions formed in thy bosom, and decreed in thine heart.

Holy Father, bless, we pray thee, the Presidency of this thy Church, and prolong their days, that we may long enjoy their counsels, and avail ourselves of their wisdom. Remember the Twelve Apostles also, with the Presidents of the Seventies, who now call upon thy name with our voices. May none of us ever fall by transgression, or bring dishonor upon thy cause, or a stain upon our reputation. But preserve us in thy fear, in the light of truth, in the favor of our God, in the confidence of one another, in the estimation of our superiors, and in, the favor of the just.

As we have laid and dedicated this Corner Stone, with our best wishes, most lively hopes, and unshaken faith that the building may be speedily erected and finished, we ask thee that we may become pillars in thy spiritual Temple, and go no out, but sustain and uphold in connexion with all the faithful, the grand superstructure and edifice reared by infinite wisdom, power, and goodness, in which to gather, in thine own due time, every son and daughter of Adam’s fallen race. And to God and the Lamb be ascribed everlasting honors, praise dominions and glory, both now and for ever. Amen.

Debtors to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund

Brigham Young

An address by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1854.

It is rather late in the morning to offer a lengthy discourse upon any particular subject; but I will give a text for others.

Unless we continue our Conference after the first day of the week, we shall not have time to instruct the people as fully as we should like to; but we will endeavor to do what we feel to be our duty in this matter.

I more particularly wish those who have lately come into this place, to consider the teachings that may be given upon the text. The greater part of those who have come across the plains this season, will no doubt attend this Conference; though, perhaps, a few of them may be necessarily absent, and a few have gone to other settlements.

I will comprise the text in a few words, though not exactly as it reads in the Bible, and will put it in the form of a question. My brethren, you who have been helped to this place by the Perpetual Emigrating Fund—Will you do to your brethren as you would have, or wish, them to do by you in like circumstances?

Can you call to mind the time, when you have seen others emigrating to America—being helped away from poverty and distress? Can you recollect the days and weeks when at work, when walking abroad, and when at meetings, that your hearts have been full, and lifted to the Lord, in earnest supplication, to incline the hearts of your brethren in Zion to put forth their hands, and help you away from that country where hundreds and thousands are turned out of employment, in consequence of their embracing the Gospel—thus depriving them of labor, and consequently the necessary food for themselves and families?

Can you who have arrived here this fall, or who arrived one, two, and three years ago, think how you felt when you heard that a company was established, and means were being provided, to help the poor to this place? If you can, call to mind now the feelings you had then, and ask yourselves if you are willing to do to your brethren who are now in that country, as you wished to be done unto by those who emigrated before you; or whether you will do as many have done after they have arrived here.

Many brought here in former years by the Perpetual Emigrating Fund have wanted the highest wages for their labor, when they could not do half the amount of work that a man can do who has been here a few years. They have wanted to make themselves rich, or at least very comfortable, before they could think of paying their passage here. They must have a good house, and a fine garden; and by the time they have got that, they think they really need a farm.

They will say to themselves, “I must raise grain, for it is becoming dear, and there will be a high-priced market opened here for it by and bye; grain is going to be in good demand, and I must have a farm; I must get poles to fence it; I must have my oxen; and I shall not pay what I owe the Perpetual Emigrating Fund yet. I want, at least, time to fence my farm, and I want so many cows that I can have a dairy, for butter and meat will be very scarce. And by the time I have got me a farm and a dairy, I must have a carriage to ride to my farm to see how my servants are getting on; and I must have horses,” &c., &c.

With a very few exceptions, no man has put forth his hand to pay the debts he owes the P. E. Fund.

I now ask you if you are willing to do what you have wanted others to do by you? Let the first thing you attend to be to pay the debt you owe the Fund. Do you say, “Well, shall we not get us a house?” No; live in your tents, or go into the woods, and bring down bushes and make bough houses as the Indians do, and say you will be satisfied with that until you have paid the debt you owe the poor. You do not owe it to me, nor to these my brethren; we have plenty. We have houses; we have enough to sustain ourselves. You do not owe it to any individual here, but you owe it to the poor who wish to come here; the debt is due to them alone. If you refuse to do this, would you not shut up the bowels of your compassion against the poor?

Be careful, brethren, that your eyes follow not after the riches of this world, to lust after them; I say be careful, that you do not want a cow, and then another, and another, and another; that you do not want a carriage, and then another, and so on, before paying your debt to the Fund. And if you are not careful, you will never be satisfied with earthly possessions, worlds without end.

I would like about six discourses preached upon this text, each about six hours long, if we had time, to see if we could remove the scales from the eyes of the people, and stir them up to faithfulness in keeping their covenants, and doing to others as they would have others do to them.

If any of the brethren are disposed, they can go into mathematical demonstrations on this subject and can show to the congregation what the Fund would probably be another year, if all were faithful in paying back what they have received from it. If I were to guess, without entering into an examination of the books, I should judge that we would have between one and two hundred thousand dollars, with which to bring the poor to this place next season.

The Perpetual Emigrating Fund is a business transaction that increases; it is bound to increase, if men and women will be faithful to pay what they owe. The question may be asked, “Do you want the people to pay when they are suffering?” There is no such thing as suffering here. Is there a man, woman or child in this territory who cannot get what is necessary for them to eat without being forced to the necessity of stealing it? Is there a house in this city, or territory, that will refuse a hungry person a meal of victuals, when he has not been here long enough to earn his food? Every person acquainted with the circumstances and disposition of the people here will say “No, there is not a family that would not impart to their brethren and sisters, to the passing stranger, and even to an enemy, to feed them.”

Again, how many invalids can you find here, or people who cannot do enough to maintain themselves? Very few.

Four years ago we commenced to lay our plans to sustain the poor, and take care of those who could not take care of themselves. We provided sixteen houses on one farm which we purchased, and had men selected to take care of those who could not sustain themselves; but there has not been a man or woman, a widowed lady or an orphan child who was old enough to speak for himself, that has been willing to occupy one of these houses, go to a farm, or live in a house that we purchased for them. They say, “We do not want to live there, for it was purchased for the poor.” We have never found a family that would acknowledge themselves so destitute as to live in a house we bought for the accommodation of the poor. “But,” say they, “if you will purchase a house for us close to the Tabernacle, we will live in it.”

For the last four years, we have fed, on an average, six hundred people, who come to the Tithing Office, and who never give us a dime for it: and yet they will not acknowledge themselves poor. There are also hundreds of persons in this city, and in other cities in the territory, who require the Bishops to help them, when at the same time they are able to drive a pretty good team, and occupy as good a house as I live in, and are able to have a good garden, and quite a farm. Yet they will go to the Bishops, and say, “Will you let me have a yoke of oxen?” or, “I wish, Bishop, you would let me have those horses; I do not know when I can pay you for them; I am poor;” or, “Will you let me have that carriage that has been put in on tithing? I do not know when I shall pay you for it; I have raised considerable wheat, but I want to get a quantity of clothing with that for my family this year; let me have the carriage anyhow, and I do not want you to ask me for the pay, or say anything about it.” Still we cannot find one family to acknowledge they are sustained by the Church, and own the name of being poor—who cannot sustain themselves. We have the proof on hand for this.

There is much said in the Bible with regard to the rich. In one place it is said, “It is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven;” but “blessed are the poor, for they shall inherit,” &c. Can you understand what the Lord means by these sayings, and others, by His Prophets and Apostles, touching the poor? He means simply this, “Those who have the good things of this world, and will put them to use in building up the kingdom of God on earth; will feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and do good with them; they are my people, saith the Lord.”

But let me tell you, poor men, or poor women, who have nothing, and covet that which is not their own, are just as wicked in their hearts, as the miserly man who hoards up his gold and silver, and will not put it out to use. I wish the poor to understand, and act as they would wish others to act towards them in like circumstances.

Let the brethren and sisters who have come in this season, as quick as the Lord puts anything in their possession, first pay the debts they owe the poor in foreign countries. They do not owe it here; it is merely paid into the treasury here, from which it is appropriated to bring the poor Saints of other countries to this place. You owe it to people that cannot help themselves; to those who may travel hundreds of miles, and apply to every mechanic’s shop or factory for employment, to get a penny to buy a loaf of bread, and to no avail.

The Americans do not understand this; they have seen hard times it is true, but they never saw people as poor as they are in Europe. In the eastern countries of America, there are thousands who have hard fare, but they can get food in a way the poor of the old countries cannot. You who have come from there, know what it is; it has been before your eyes all your lifetime.

If the poor there are found asking for a meal of victuals, or soliciting the least help in the streets as vagrants, they are reported to the police; and what is next? They are taken and put into the house of correction, and made to work on the tread-mill, and there, by their own weight, made to turn machinery constructed to grind sand and other substances. In these circumstances thousands of them die yearly. It is against the law in that country for them to be found begging, and in some places, if they are found begging a third time; they are put in the stocks.

As many of you may not know what the stocks are, I will try to describe them. You will see, by the side of the most public thoroughfares, or in the public market-places, two posts sunk firmly in the ground; from post to post there is a thick block of wood let into them and pinned fast; there is also another block above the first one, that is made to slide down upon it, where it can be made fast; there is a half circle made in each block, which, when they come together, form a round hole. In this hole the vagrant is made fast by the neck. The upper block is raised, he is made to put his neck between, it is then slid down, and made fast; and there they leave him, where he is obliged to stay as long as the officer is disposed to keep him.

Do you see any such things in any part of America? The brethren and sisters who have come from the old country will tell you that they have seen hundreds and thousands of men, women, and children, passing through the streets in that country, bowed down with hunger, and their faces pale as death, leaning perhaps upon a little stick they use for a walking cane, and passing slowly along to see if any person would give them something without asking for it.

Are any of our brethren there, in that situation? Yes; there are hundreds of them to-day who have not a morsel of food to put into their stomachs to sustain nature. Are any of them dying with want there? Yes; scores of them will die there before next March, for want of something to eat. Suppose they were here, they would only need to glean in your fields to obtain bread enough, and dig over your gardens again to get the potatoes you have left in the ground, which they would be glad to eat. You may as well abuse your own flesh, as to refuse to put forth your hands to assist the brethren who are thus situated in the old countries.

This text I want preached upon in this Conference, and how many more will be preached upon I do not know. I want the brethren who have come here this season, to do their duty.

Little occurrences may be told with regard to the gathering of the Saints. For instance, men or women put in a few pounds to bring them to these valleys, and the Perpetual Emigrating Fund pays the rest. When they get on the plains, the wagons break down. They begin to weigh up, and find a few hundred pounds over weight; they destroy their large boxes, or leave them on the plains; and in the operation find silks and satins that would twice pay their passage. After they arrive here, boxes of English goods are taken away from the camping ground, which have been smuggled here in the Fund train.

Woe to those who profess to be Saints and are not honest. Only be honest with yourselves, and you will be honest to the brethren. I want the brethren preached to upon this subject, and if they do not remember the instructions given; the sin will lie at their doors, and not at ours.

It is not for men to rise in this stand and tell what will be in the Millennium, and what will be after the Millennium. That which pertains to every day life and action, is what pertains to us; that the Saints here may know how to order their course before each other, and before the Lord; that they may be justified, and have the Spirit of the Lord with them continually. This is our Gospel, it is our salvation. You need to be instructed with regard to these items of every day duty one towards another; and when you know how to be a Saint to-day, you are in a fair way to know how to be a Saint to-morrow. And if you can continue to be a Saint today, you can through the week, and through the year, and you can fill up your whole life in performing the duty and labor of a Saint.

This is our religion, and the Gospel of salvation, and is the salvation held out in the discourses we have been blessed with this morning; and I wish you to treasure them up, and profit by them.

I now request the Presidents of every Branch, and the Bishops and their Counsellors throughout Utah, to hunt up those who are indebted to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund, and as fast as possible, collect their dues in available means, and forward the same to my office, even should you have to plan for them, or set them to work, that the Fund may increase, and the poor be delivered from oppression.

And I pray the Lord to bless our efforts for the accomplishment of this and every other good work, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Perpetual Emigrating Fund, etc.

Orson Pratt

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, October 7, 1854.

We will bring up the subject upon which others have spoken, and that which more immediately concerns us, viz.: the Perpetual Emigrating Fund. What is it? For what was it established? What are your duties in regard to this Fund, and in relation to your fellow-beings, your brethren and sisters, and their families that are scattered abroad in the midst of those wretched, wicked, and abominable governments?

We have already been informed, and taught from this stand, by those who are filled with the Holy Ghost, by those who are filled with the inspiration of the Almighty, setting forth the necessity and importance of being awake in regard to the condition of the Saints that are scattered abroad. We are apt to forget the things we ought to do, though they are told to us in plainness. We think in our hearts—“Well, we will go and do as we have been told; it looks beautiful and very consistent; it seems to be the very law by which we should be governed; and when we go from this Conference, we will make all the necessary arrangements to fulfil and comply with this law, and hearken to the counsels and instructions that have been given;” but straightway, as you go out of the Tabernacle, and get out of the voice of the servants of God, the devil comes along, and begins to whisper in your ears, and tells you to be a little selfish, saying, “Look out more for yourselves, for your wives, and for your children; they may go hungry, they may want food, and houses, and ten thousand other things, and unless you put forth your hands, and exert your energies to provide for them, they may be brought into great suffering; and again, perhaps there may be some great trials a-head of the Saints, there may be pinching times; it would be well for you to look out a little, and be prepared against these times of trial,” &c. And thus the good word that is sown in your hearts by the Holy Spirit begins to be caught away, one principle after another, until finally selfishness has full control over your movements, and it is the last thing you think of to do unto others as you would have others do unto you under the same circumstances.

The Lord is going to gather His Saints, and we are already gathered, a great host of us, into this territory; but let me tell you this is hardly a beginning; many nations are yet to be gathered unto the name of the Lord of Hosts, unto Mount Zion, where they can be taught in the ways of the Lord, and be instructed to walk in His paths, and understand the principles of true government, and their duties towards one another, and towards the God whom they profess to worship and serve. Nations, not a few, are to be gathered, and to go up for that purpose.

This is just laying the foundation; it is a little nucleus, and a few thousands are gathering to it year after year; but the work that is now commenced will increase, and continue to increase, like the stone that was hewn out of the mountain. In the first place, the stone taken out of the mountain is much smaller than the mountain, but finally it increases to that magnitude that it begins to be a great mountain, not merely to fill one small territory, but as Daniel said, “it became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”

Very well, then, the Saints are to be gathered, and they are to come not only by thousands, but tens of thousands, scores of thousands, and hundreds of thousands are to be assembled from among the nations. How is this to be brought about? Through the servants of the living God. This is what the Lord told us before one Saint was gathered. In a revelation, given in the presence of six Elders, in Sept, 1830, the Lord says, “Ye are called to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect, for mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts, wherefore the decree hath gone forth from the Father, that they shall be gathered in unto one place upon the face of this land.”

That is the decree that has gone forth; it is ordained in the heavens, and it will come to pass. As the Saints have already been gathered here unto this territory, even so will it continue to be fulfilled until the last of the elect of God are assembled from the four corners of the earth.

The servants of God are the ones that are called to bring to pass this work, says the revelation. In obedience to this declaration, and in fulfilment of this prophecy, the Holy Ghost wrought upon the heart of our President, to establish a fund—a Perpetual Emigrating Fund, to bring about this great work; he laid the foundation of it; he proposed it to the people, and explained the nature of it—how it was to be used, how it was to be controlled, and how it should be made lasting and perpetual in its nature, to accomplish the design of the Almighty in gathering His elect from the four winds of heaven. Shall we, then, as Saints of the Most High, come here and sit down in our fine habitations, and upon our farms and inheritances, and let this great work of the last days come to naught through our carelessness and indifference? No, brethren; let it not be recorded in the archives of the eternal world that we will thus do, when our brethren have stretched out their hands to help us to this place. Let not the news fly to eternal worlds that we are not willing to do to our brethren scattered abroad, as they have been willing to do to us, when we were in a scattered condition.

I do not know what more can be said, than what other speakers have already said upon this subject. Our President said he would be glad to have some six discourses, each six hours long, preached to the people upon the subject of doing their duty unto others in regard to this Fund. And I have no doubt he included every other duty between man and man, so far as it could be done in that short period of time, for thirty-six hours would not begin to be time enough for a man to tell the people all their duties. Many people think that all the duties of man are recorded in the Bible; that idea is held by many of the sectarian world; they think this book contains all the duties in regard to the relationships between man and man, and that it is a sufficient rule of faith and practice, and enough to govern them in all their dealings with each other, and in their duties towards their God.

Let me tell you, if any one man’s duties (if he lived to be an old man) were clearly written, and foretold before he was born, it would take a larger volume than the Bible to contain them all; and when we consider the thousands and millions of human beings that are on the earth now, and the millions that have dropped into their graves in ages past, it is absurd to suppose that one such volume could point out all their duties, even if they all could have been foretold by the spirit of prophecy.

For instance, the duties of to-day, if written, would require something like one page; and as every day’s duties would be different the one from the other, it would require three hundred and sixty-five pages in one year, which in seventy years would amount to upwards of twenty-five thousand pages, which would have to be recorded to point out the duties of one individual towards his fellow-man. Think not, then, that six discourses each, only six hours long, could make known to you the whole of your duties towards each other through life.

This is reason why the Lord has appointed a living Priesthood on the earth; why He has sent down the Holy Ghost from heaven, why it enters the heart of man, and inspires him with knowledge and information concerning his own duties, and the duties of others also, that he may impart to them, week after week, and from one meeting to another, in public and in private, before large assemblies and in the family circle, every principle and duty that is necessary to be known; that his family, his wives and his children, and the Church of God at large may be taught by the Holy Ghost—the Comforter that guides into all truth; it is that power that instructs men in regard to all their duties.

Then let not the immigrants—the Saints that have come into this territory in former years, as well as those who have come here the present year, be asleep upon this subject, but awake from a deep sleep. You know what the parable says, on the subject of the kingdom of God in the last days, comparing it to ten virgins, that took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. They did not stay abroad among the nations. “Then,” says Jesus, “the kingdom of heaven shall be likened unto ten virgins.” Not the kingdom he built up in his own day, and in the days of his Apostles, who were with him in the flesh; but “then;” having reference to what was previously spoken in the foregoing verses, concerning his second coming in the clouds of heaven in power and great glory. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went forth from among the nations; some took oil in their lamps, and some did not, but let their lamps go out, only having barely lighted up their wicks a little, which contained no oil to feed the flame; and they all slumbered and slept; but by and bye, about midnight, when they were all in a sound slumber, a cry is heard, “Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him.” That waked them all up.

Now it would be much better for us to wake up before the midnight cry is sounded in our ears. We gathered here and brought lamps with us, have we got oil in them? Are we doing the things God requires at our hands? Are we doing unto others that we would have others do to us under the same circumstances? If you want to know just precisely your duties towards your fellow-man, always ask yourselves this question—“If I were placed in that man’s or in that woman’s condition, how should I desire that they should do unto me?” And whatsoever you would have them do to you, do ye even the same to them. We can always tell what we should do by changing circumstances and places; by placing ourselves in other’s circumstances, we can see what we would wish them to do to us under those circumstances, and thus find out what we should do for those in that condition.

What does the Lord intend to do? He is introducing a new dispensation, yet it is the Gospel dispensation, the same as all other dispensations; the Gospel is included in this new dispensation. The Lord intends to do a great many things in this dispensation He never did in former ones; and a great many things that were in former ones will eventually be done away in this new one. What is to be done away? A great many things Jesus taught on the Mount will actually have to be done away in this new dispensation. A great many things were given to meet the circumstances of the people, that when they all become righteous many of those laws and regulations that were given to them in an imperfect state will vanish away; they will be of no use; they are like the platform erected around an edifice, which serves a good purpose for the time being, but when the edifice is completed, the platform is taken away.

We are told a great deal about the poor in former dispensations; how to deal with them, and the laws that were given to regulate mankind in dealing their alms to them. Will this always be the case? No, but the time will come when there will be no poor. The object of this last dispensation is to make the people one as the Father and the Son are one, or as the Book of Doctrine and Covenants says, to make them “equal in earthly things, that they may be made equal in heavenly things.”

To bring about this object, and do away with poverty, and make all the people rich, the Lord has introduced laws, and rulers, and governors, to teach us our duty while poverty reigns in the world. If you think it hard to pay back a just and honest debt to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund, what will you think when the pure laws of God are introduced, and you are required by His law to pay over every farthing you have in the world! not only to pay your just and honest dues to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund, but to pay everything in your possession. If you cannot deal justly in relation to these small accounts, how is it to be expected you will perform the pure law of God—the law of consecration? I tell you, we have got to begin and attend faithfully to these small things. But when we are first born into His kingdom we cannot run alone; we are not able to prance, and trot, and caper about; He has therefore ordained certain helps, and governments, and laws to govern us while we are in the creeping state, and trying to advance into a more perfect order of things. This Perpetual Emigrating Fund is one of those helps, ordained to assist us in our imperfect and weak state: by and bye, when the full law of God comes in force, these helps can then be dispensed with. When that will be, I do not know, but I have an idea that it will not be until we get back to Jackson County, for the Lord has told us, in one revelation, in substance as follows—“Let these laws I have given concerning my people in Jackson County be fulfilled after the redemption of Zion.”

The Lord is beginning to redeem Zion. You must not suppose, because you are away here in Utah, that you are out of the reach of the Lord’s working for the redemption of Zion; for He has been working, ever since we were scattered from that land, to bring it about, and we are becoming more and more of one heart and mind, more and more willing to hearken to counsel. You see among this people a very different spirit manifested, from what was manifested some ten, fifteen, and twenty years ago. How ready and willing they generally are to receive the instructions and counsel of those God has ordained to teach them.

We can see how the Lord has prospered us as a people since we came to this territory, and how everything has worked for our good through obeying the counsel of those God has appointed for our consolation, happiness, and benefit, both temporally and spiritually. All this has a tendency to the redemption of Zion; it is all making to that great point. Whenever the properties of this Church shall be consecrated to it, and the Saints receive their stewardship, it will all be tending to bring about that which is so often spoken of in ancient and modern revelations.

The Perpetual Emigrating Fund is one of the helps that is introduced to lead us previous to our getting into that more perfect state; and when we get into that, it will all be Perpetual Fund, or any other kind of funds we please to name, for the property will all be consecrated unto the Lord, with a deed and covenant that cannot be broken; then the servants of God can take the whole of the property and use it according to the mind and will of God, and it will be all Perpetual Fund, and all tithing funds, and all public building funds; for it will be just the kind of funds the Lord shall direct to accomplish whatever is designed in His wise purposes through His servants.

Let us step forward, and build up this Fund, and take hold of simple things, if we ever expect to receive the greater ones. We had excellent preaching this forenoon, as to practical duties; this has been my manner of preaching when abroad upon the earth, except on my last mission; on that, I was sent to preach the doctrine of plurality of wives. In all my preaching on other missions, I have endeavored to be just as practical as possible among the people, showing them their every-day duties. I have published many pamphlets and works, and in the most of them, I have published the simple, plain, easy principles of the Gospel. It is true, in answering some queries that have been put forth by the world, I have been obliged to deviate, in some of my publications, from the plain and simple course I have generally pursued in my works.

For instance, the world read in the revelations we have received, that there are more Gods than one. This is something that does not immediately concern us; but yet opposers get up and contend against us, and prejudice the minds of congregations against the people of God, because they profess to believe, not only in a plurality of wives, but also in a plurality of Gods; it is necessary to show them the reasons for our belief—the whys and the wherefores; and this I endeavored to do in some of my last publications; not because I had more light upon this subject than many others, but I endeavored to do it for the benefit of the people—to show them wherein we believe in the plurality of Gods, and yet acknowledge only one God. I believe both of these principles with all my heart. I believe there is one only wise God, and I believe there is an immense number of Gods: The people know we believe these doctrines, and they publish against us on this ground; and if we should not take up any arguments to explain the matter, it would only serve to rivet down their prejudices on their hearts. Notwithstanding this, it was always more delightful to me in all my preachings abroad, and in any publications I have sent forth, to dwell upon faith, repentance, baptism for the remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of hands, and upon the plain, simple, everyday duties of the Saints, showing them what to do in order to obtain eternal life in the kingdom of God.

So far as I have ever preached abroad in the world, and published, one thing is certain, I have not published anything but what I verily believed to be true, however much I may have been mistaken, and I have generally endeavored to show the people, from the written word of God, as well as reason, wherein it was true. This has been my general course. I may have erred in some principles; I do not profess to be wise, or to have more understanding than many others. I am not called with the same calling as those who preside over all the Church. I may not have as great a degree of the spirit of revelation; but I have always tried, in my teachings, and in my proclamations, and publications, where I could not get light by the Spirit of the Lord (or did not get light; I will not say could not, for I believe it is the privilege of all Elders, authorities, and members of the Church of God to get light by the Spirit of the Lord), but where I did not get light by the Spirit of the Lord, I have generally been careful to back up all the doctrines and principles I set forth by reason, or by, Thus saith the Lord, in some revelation either ancient or modern. Previous to declaring a doctrine, I have always inquired in my own mind, “Can this doctrine be proved by revelation given, or by reason, or can it not?” If I found it could be proved, I set forth the doctrine; but if I found there was no evidence to substantiate it, I laid it aside; in all this, however, I may have erred, for to err is human.

I feel thankful to God this day that I stand in the midst of a great and good people, that are willing to practise the principles of eternal truth and righteousness; and those mysteries about the plurality of Gods, and the plurality of worlds also are good in their places; God has revealed them, and they are intended for our good and instruction, or He never would have revealed them.

But to go back to the words of our text; that is the thing that most concerns us at present. It should be laid before the minds of the people and instilled into their hearts week after week; they should be taught and instructed in such a way and manner that these mysteries, when we get the true light upon them, may do us good. When the Lord sees fit to pour out wisdom and knowledges, and mysteries, and understanding from the heavens, may we, by practical works, faith, and diligence in doing our duties one towards another, and towards our God, be able to receive them, and have them do us good. The time will come when the Lord will reveal all these things; everything in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth; and everything pertaining to the soul of man will be proclaimed by the sounding of trumpets in the ears of all living.

I will adopt the old saying—“I feel first-rate.” It does me good to get back into Utah Territory, after having been gone two years, to behold the faces of the Saints again, and rejoice in their midst, and to bear my weak and humble testimony of the truth of this great and glorious work. It is now over twenty-four years since I was baptized into this Church; it was twenty-four years on the 19th of last month since I was baptized, and became a member of this Church. I have seen it rise to its present greatness from a very few individuals that composed the whole Church in 1830. There were then, perhaps, not fifty Latter-day Saints in the whole world; and every year brings to pass the fulfilment of the sayings, and predictions, and revelations of Joseph, the Prophet.

The work is rolling on as rapidly as the wheels of time will permit. I well recollect a revelation given upwards of twenty-three years ago. What did the Lord say when we were only a little handful? Said He, “It is necessary that my Elders should go forth into all the regions round about, and preach my Gospel, and many shall be converted; and ye shalt have power to organize yourselves according to the laws of man.” This was spoken before we began to gather. What was the use of organizing ourselves according to the laws of man? “That you may break every band where with the enemy, seeketh to destroy, and that you may keep my laws.” Has not this been fulfilled? Look at the time that prophecy was given, away back nearly twenty-four years ago. Has it come to pass? Are we not organized according to the laws of man? Are not many converted just as the revelation predicted? And are we not in a position, by being organized here in Utah territory according to the laws of man, to break the bands of the enemy, that they may not destroy us as a people? If mobs undertake to afflict us here, they will find it very difficult, because we are organized according to the laws of man. If they use any exertion or any influence to bring about the destruction of this people, we are organized according to the laws of man, and can fight them with their own weapons.

Not only was this for the purpose of our being secure from the hands of our enemies, but, “that ye may be able to keep my laws.” That was another reason the Lord gave in the same revelation. Are there not some laws of God that we could keep if we were scattered over the other states and territories, unorganized according to the laws of man? Yes. There are laws of the greatest moment, that have a bearing upon the present and future destiny of this people; that have a bearing upon their eternal glory, exaltation, and everlasting happiness. These laws never could have been kept had we not been organized according to the laws of man. The Lord has fulfilled this revelation thus far; how much more complete this organization may become hereafter, I know not, neither do I care.

It was not the invention of man, nor the power and wisdom of man, that organized this kingdom, but the God we worship and serve, who made the heavens and the earth. He made this kingdom and organized it, and established it; it is all His, and He holds it in His own hands; and the same great Being rules and governs the wicked; He controls them, and He will fulfil every word that has been given through the mouths of His servants, as He tells us in the preface of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants—These commandments and prophecies shall be fulfilled; though the heavens and the earth shall pass away, not one jot or tittle of the commandments of that book shall pass away.

Everything will roll round, roll round, roll round in its times and seasons until this kingdom shall spread forth, and the dominion and the greatness of it will cover the whole face of the earth, and there will not be a dog to move his tongue from the Rocky Mountains to the uttermost parts of the earth, but all be in subjection to the kingdom of Christ; all must become subject to her laws; and the great nations of the earth—mighty nations not a few, ere long will come up to Zion to seek wisdom and knowledge from the counsellors in Zion. They will read her laws, and say, “Our laws are as nothing, our wisdom as foolishness, our words like the tow that is exposed to the devouring flame; we are broken asunder, torn into fragments, and ready to crush under our own weight; but your laws, government, and officers are all good, righteous, just, and true; surely the God of Israel is in your midst. Come, let us go up to Zion, let us hear from the wise legislators of Zion, and let us hear the laws proclaimed therein; let us learn of the wisdom that dwells in the servants of the Most High.” And they will come up with their armies, and their mighty men, and their judges, and their rulers, and kings will come to the brightness of her rising, and the Gentiles will come like a flowing stream, and the gates of Zion will be open day and night, and never be shut, to admit the forces that will come rushing in from all nations, to learn the wisdom, knowledge, and instruction that are poured out from the heavens upon the servants of the Most High.

If we are looking forward to such a glorious time—to such a happy period, let us endeavor to prepare ourselves, and awake from our slumber, and do the duties required at our hands. Pay up your debts, pay them up to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund; and let the means be sent back immediately, that those who are starving to death, and are ground down with tyranny, may enjoy the same privileges as you. Remember them, and God will remember you. But if you turn your back upon these principles, and will not seek to do unto others as you would have them do to you; if you will not listen to the instructions of our Prophet, and to the instructions of others who have spoken on this stand, you will wither away like a dried reed, and you will bear no authority, and that you have will be taken from you, and you will be left poor and miserable, and become the offscouring of the earth, under the curse of the Almighty for your disobedience.

Gathering the Saints, etc.

Orson Hyde

A discourse by President Orson Hyde, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, October 8, 1854.

I am called upon this morning, beloved brethren and sisters, to make a few remarks, and speak unto you concerning the way and manner of gathering the people of God. In the first place, to show unto you that there is no religion with which we are acquainted, except that of the Latter-day Saints, that can, in its exercise and in its operations, bring to pass the fulfilment of the predictions of the Prophets. All the types and figures presented to our Lord and Saviour to illustrate truths, weighty and important, show that in the last days there is to be a gathering together of the people. They will be gathered by the peculiar attraction that will prevail at the time when they are not weighed down with mortal tabernacles, but released from this cumbrous clay, their immortal spirits will be gathered around the throne of God, there to receive a welcome into the everlasting glory prepared for the righteous; or to hear the dreadful sentence—Depart, ye cursed, into outer darkness, where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth!

But, my friends, there is to be a gathering of the people here on earth. The husbandman, when he sows his seed in the soil, watches it, and cultivates it with care; he does not wait to reap his harvest in some other region, but he reaps it on the ground where he sowed his seed: and there he realizes the benefits and returns of his labor; not in some other country, but here

The Saviour says, the kingdom of heaven is like a fish net that is cast into the sea, which took of every kind, both good and bad, and by and bye they brought the net to the shore, and gathered the good into vessels, and cast the bad away. So shall it be in the last days, in the end, when the gathering dispensation shall be introduced, and the Gospel net be drawn to shore; not in some foreign clime or mountain, beyond the bounds of time and space; but on the shore that skirts the margin of the water, as testified by this figure; so on earth, the gathering of the people will be.

We are also told the manner in which they shall come. They shall come upon swift beasts—upon dromedaries and camels; and the ships of Tarshish shall bear them home, and a highway shall be cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in. That highway is not an immaterial one, that leads to mansions in the sky, but it is a highway that has to be cast up on earth; and it may be that the very railroads that are being cast up are one means by which this operation of the gathering will be greatly facilitated. This may be the subject which the Prophet had his eye upon when he said, The lion’s whelps have not trod there, and the vulture’s eye hath not seen it. At that time it was not cast up; but was reserved to be cast up in the last days. The lion’s whelp had never trodden there; but, by and bye, it might when it was cast up.

The old Prophet had his eye upon the increased speed of ships; but our translators have made him to say that swift messengers shall be sent to the nations afar off in vessels of bulrushes. What do we understand by vessels of bulrushes? Do we ever see such vessels, or hear tell of such, except the cradle that was made for Moses to float in on the Nile? Have we ever read of men, swift messengers going in vessels of bulrushes?

It is nonsense; such a vessel could not withstand the buffetings of the winds and the waves, nor ride in safety through the elements contending with each other, as it were, for empire; or as if the winds and waves were both armed with eager vengeance, to see which should first grasp the little speck struggling for life upon the surface of the boiling element. Who believes anything of this sort? The idea is inconsistent. But when we come to look at it in another point of view it is not so inconsistent and obscure. Brother Carn who is present knows how the German Bible reads. I believe it calls them Pipe ships. The bulrush is hollow, resembling a pipe, and the old Prophet had nothing else to represent his idea by, but the bulrush; though he saw ships in which hollow tubes and pipes were running in every direction, and he was at a loss for the name “Steamship” to apply to them. Now, says he, swift messengers shall be sent in Pipe ships, looking at the time when steam should be used as a propelling power. What is this steam power for? Is it merely for the accommodation of mankind? Or has God made this an important agent to perform His work—to facilitate His purposes in the last days? The matter is unquestionably the design of the Great Creator; not only so, but there is another thing in connection with this—the Saviour says, in speaking of his coming, it shall be like the light of the morning, or like lightning that shineth from one end of heaven to the other, even so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. What do we behold being constructed on earth to bring about the designs of heaven? We behold the electric wire running from one country to another, and already it is in contemplation to carry it across the Atlantic, to bring all nations in immediate communication. Does this look like the lightning that spreads from east to west? Even so shall the coming of the Son of Man be! The electric telegraph takes it from eastern climes to western. It is so quick that a speech made in Washington city at twelve o’clock is delivered in St. Louis at half past eleven the same day. Electricity flys [flies] with so much greater velocity than the earth, that it is half an hour before the times between Washington and St. Louis; even so shall the coming of the Son of Man be; or in other words, in the last days intelligence shall fly with such rapidity, so quick shall it be in the day of his coming. We conclude that we are approximating very near that time. We are getting, as it were, in the neighborhood of it. Now, says he, watch! when you see the fig tree and all the trees beginning to bud, and put forth their leaves, know that summer is nigh: and when you begin to see these things come to pass, lift up your heads and rejoice, for your redemption draweth nigh.

I may have begun at the wrong end of my discourse, but if I have, I will get at the other end of it before I have done; so that you shall have all the parts of it, if the Lord will give me strength through your prayers; you shall have the sum and substance of what I was required to make known to you, but I must have my own way of telling it.

The gathering of the Saints together is to take place. “But,” says one, “we do not believe that the gathering of the people will take place in the last days literally; we do not believe that angels will minister any more to us.” The old-fashioned religion is, “We have got all that heaven was pleased to give, and that can be proven by the good Old Bible. Let the angels stay in glory, and we will stay on our farms, and go to church from one year to another, and follow up the same routine over and over again until we go down to our graves, and that is the end of our service in the flesh.” Do you not see that all of the Christian world reject the administration of angels, the Latter Day Saints excepted, and some few others that believe in these things?

There are many in the last days, who believe in Spirit Rapping, and in such kind of angels that have no mouth to speak. The angels that visited the servants of God had mouths, and they spoke! Suppose you were to ask me a question, and I have intelligence and a mouth to communicate but, instead of speaking to you, I set the table to jumping, or kick over the chairs and the bureaus, &c. What would you know about it? You would know the devil was to pay; you would know there was a total absence of good feeling and intelligence. Man was created in the image of God, and the holy angels that surround His throne, the flaming messengers to bear His will to man, are in His image and likeness. Even the servants of God in the days of old, when they saw one of those celestial spirits, began to bow down and worship him, as though he were the God who created the heavens and the earth; but they were commanded to worship God. There he was, standing in the image of his Maker, and the Prophet mistook him for the Lord. These angels are in the likeness and image of God, and men are also in His image. I believe, if God gave me a message to deliver to the people, and I did not deliver it in the legitimate way, He would close my mouth because I would not give it in the way he gave it to me. Spirit Rappers, below par!

“What is the matter?” “There has some dreadful thing taken place.” “What is it?” “We cannot tell you any thing about it, only there is a wonderful ado—a wonderful thing has happened in the land of Ham.” I tell you, those who reject the truth borne to them by the servants of God, who speak to them in plainness, will be acquainted with muttering spirits that know nothing for their good: for, “for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” When people reject the truth they become the plaything of wild delusive spirits, and are tossed to and fro by them like a bubble on the wave. True messengers of God do not come in this way; but says the world—“Angels came in olden times, but do not come now to earth any more; they have gone to heaven, and there is nothing more for them to do here.” I can speak to the servant of a king when I cannot speak to the king himself. I could approach the lower orders of his subjects when I might not approach the higher circle. If men reject the administration of angels, and will not believe in their existence, nor regard their words, I do not know how they will ever obtain access to the king. If they will not acknowledge his ministers, I do not know how they are going to speak to the king himself.

Have angels anything to do with what will take place in the last days? He makes His angels ministering spirits, and they are sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation. The Lord is everywhere present by His ministering angels, just like any other ruler, monarch or king, who has ministers everywhere throughout His dominions; and God’s ministers are every-where; He has servants tabernacled in flesh on earth, and they are going through the land in every direction, and God is present everywhere with them; and He knows everything. How? When His angels and ministers tell Him of it, like any other ruler. I have been at some of the prayer circles and meetings in the sectarian world, and heard their pious minister say, “Come, sinner, bow to the yoke of Christ; behold the guardian angel standing waiting to be the honored agent to carry the news to heaven, that one more soul is converted.” If God knows it already, what is the use of angels to carry the intelligence? God knows everything through His agents, or servants, and that is the way He is everywhere present. But if you were to see Him in propria persona, you would see a person like yourself. How was it with Stephen? Was God scattered to the four winds everywhere? If He was in particles smaller than any mathematical calculation could define, you could not see Him. But Stephen, “being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up ste[a]dfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold! I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.” If God was without body, parts, and passions, how could Stephen know whether He stood on the right hand, or the left, or whether He stood upon either side?

However we will pass this by for the present. Angels will have a part in the work of the last days. What are they to do? Says the Saviour—“The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: but while man slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.” He let them grow together until the time of harvest; then He “will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles and burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” The field is the world. Who are the reapers? The angels are the reapers; and still, angels, you say, are coming to earth no more. This won’t do, for the reapers are the angels, the good seed are the children of the kingdom, and the tares are the children of the wicked one, and the enemy that sowed them is the devil. In another place it is said, “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” And yet the present Christian world say that angels have no more to do; of course, then, they do not look for any thing of this kind; their faith does not embrace the sayings of the Savior and His Apostles, touching the winding up scene: and without faith, it is impossible to please God; consequently they cannot share in the blessings of the gathering dispensation of the last days, their unbelief excludes them.

It is said that God helps them that help themselves. I have been showing you what will be done for His elect in the last days; but will He do it for them who will do nothing for themselves? I say no; God helps those who help themselves. I recollect when I was in Potawatomie I was determined to raise a crop if I could. I commenced and plowed up the land, and went into the woods when it was hot enough in the summer season almost to unsolder a skellet, and hauled out my rails, and fenced and sowed the land; when snow came, there was a fleece of wheat over the land like wool on a sheep’s back. President Young saw it, and he said it pleased him; and he said, “I know that God helps those who help themselves.” We may sit down and persuade ourselves that it is God’s will we should do nothing for ourselves, and we may go to beggary; but if we help ourselves, and bestow the labor for nature to bring forth, we shall have an abundance, and God will be faithful in blessing our labors.

We are looking for these things to transpire in the last days, to bring about the gathering of the Saints preparatory to the coming of the Son of Man. We can see the electric wires extending through the earth; and ships are constructed to bear forth swiftly the messengers of salvation, to bring home the Saints under the indulgent hand of our heavenly Father. What does He require us to do? Says He, “I commit to you, my servants, the keys of the kingdom of heaven, the authority of the Priesthood, light and intelligence, and knowledge to make you acquainted with all these things; now I want to see if you will put forth a helping hand, knowing, as you do, your Master’s will, and understanding His whole plan of operation, and work according to the ability I have given you; I will put you to the test.” What is to be done? “Go forth and preach the Gospel among the nations, and baptize them in my name for the remission of sins, and confirm them by the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and teach them to gather; for it is the gathering dispensation, and if they have not means to gather, it is for you to advance means to bring them.” “Now,” says the Almighty, “I want to try you and prove you, and see if you will act in small things that you may render yourselves worthy of being blessed with the means which I will prepare, and which I have ordained. I want to see if you are worthy.” What have we done here for the purpose of carrying into effect this desirable object? We have commenced to gather the people, and we have also commenced to raise a Fund by which the poor Saints are to be gathered; and this is based upon principles that are applicable to us in the days of our childhood; but we suppose, when the Almighty begins to put forth His own hand to accomplish His own work, and sustain the operations of His servants on this small scale, which we shall know it is small when we see the mighty engine of God at work, for when we were children we spake as children, and understood as children, and thought as children; but when we become men, we shall put away childish things. We now have to do with small things, that we may advance from one point to another. What are the small things? Here is a Perpetual Emigrating Fund, for instance, for the purpose of gathering the Saints of God. How is this Fund raised? It is raised by voluntary contributions from every one who is able to help and who has a heart and a spirit to engage in the work of God in the last days. It is raised by the hard earnings of the brethren and sisters. It is the little mites, and large mites, little sums and big sums, all thrown together into one purse.

Now go and take this, ye swift messengers, you faithful agents, in vessels of bulrushes, pipe-ships, or, in other words, steam-ships, and be messengers of glad tidings to the poor, and wretched, and oppressed, and meek of the earth. It is an honor to be a messenger, bearing to them the means of taking them out of their poverty, wretchedness, and oppression. He says to them, “I have come to bring you to the family of God; to rescue you from the land of your oppression and poverty, and put you in a position where you may be blessed temporally and spiritually.” Is not he who bears these tidings blessed? “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth.” This messenger goes and brings them to his place by the means that is put into his hands.

Now I know some, when they are brought here by this agency, think they have got to their desired haven. They say, “Now I am secure in a haven of peace, I am among the people of God, and this is all I care for. Now I will make myself as happy as I can, and I will forget my fellows that I have left in bondage; I will not remember them who are oppressed beneath the galling yoke, I am free, let them take care of themselves.” That is the feeling that pervades the breast of many after they are borne here by means that were produced by other hands than their own; and say they—“If we can manage any way to postpone the payment of this debt we owe to the institution that brought us here, until we can gather around us the comforts of life, then peradventure we will pay our obligation.” But let me here observe, when it is in the power to pay a debt, or do a good deed, the longer we postpone it, the greater will be the detraction from the merits of that act; now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation, when the hungry, the poor, wretched, and oppressed call for redemption. While the power of redeeming them is in our hands, and we will not extend it to them, how can we expect God to hear our prayers to roll on His great work for the final redemption of the scattered remnants of His people. And let me here say, I very much doubt whether God will hear the prayers of any man that owes a just debt, and has means to pay it, but refuses to do it: or withholds a blessing from his fellow when it is in his power to extend it. What is his prayer? “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,” or in other words—“Do towards us, as we do towards others;” if we withhold benefits due to others, how can God bestow blessings upon us that are not our due, but are the acts of His mercy and kindness? When we have shared the benefit of any charitable bequest, more especially when we hold a portion of it in our own hands, that ought to be benefiting others, how can we expect God, or any other philanthropist, to extend to us blessings?

What is the duty of the Saints who have come here by the aid and benefit of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund? It is their duty to pay back the debt they owe immediately. “But,” says one, “we cannot pay, we have no means.” Very well, we will not oppress you; but you can give your note, and you can file your obligation with the agent, or such authorities of the Fund that it concerns, that they may have some voucher to act upon, or that they can tell at least where the funds are—in whose hands they are lodged; but do not go to the east and to the west, to the north and to the south, from the city, without making it a matter of record in some shape; and when God puts the means in your hands, by your own perseverance and economy, pay it over and liquidate the debt, and these means are sent again to relieve some one else; and the same means that brought you, may perhaps bring out a thousand persons, if they are faithful and active in restoring it to the channel of its usefulness. For instance, I take half a dollar, and it is a debt I owe; I pay it, and that man owes it to another; and by the time it has passed round it has paid a hundred debts, and relieved a hundred wants; whereas, if I keep it in my pocket, I prevent it from being circulated, and doing so much good. Do I get any credit by doing so? I have the satisfaction of saying I am not out of money; while at the same time, I have the disgrace, before God and every intelligent being, which is my due.

Well, then, this money that has been appropriated to bring the Saints here, let it be refunded with all speed, let it be a matter of conscience. If you should see your neighbor suspended from a tower, and hanging by a brittle cord, and by any little struggle he might break the cord, and be dashed in pieces, whatever you might be engaged in, you would leave it and run to his rescue, and try your utmost to save the man who is ready to plunge into this vortex, a gulf beneath his feet. Look, then, at your brethren in a similar position; and perhaps if they were struggling to gain life, they would be plunged into wretchedness forever. This is a debt, a sacred obligation which you owe, not only to the authorities of this Church and kingdom, but you owe it to your brethren whose cries and prayers are ascending up to God; and if you withhold that which belongs to them—that which they should enjoy, their prayers will recoil on your heads, not in blessings, but in curses.

We all say here, that we are blessed; we say our labor and toil have been blessed; I am sure of it. Can we work out our salvation? Can we witness to God and angels and to our brethren, that we are willing to put forth our hands and contribute to swell the sum total of this Perpetual Emigrating Fund, according to the ability God has given us? Are we willing to put forth our hand and aid in rolling forth this work, by collecting the people together from wretchedness and want? What shall we gain by doing this? We shall gain numbers that will look up to us as their friends and benefactors, and hail us as their saviors. It is said, that “Saviors shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.” Some men think the way they are going to be saviors is to get as many wives as they can, and save them; now, they may slip up on that, if that is their view, and their feelings extend no further. I will tell you what a savior is; if I see a family who are starving for want of bread; and are thirsting and fainting for water, and an individual should give them bread and water, he has saved them; that is the kind of savior I would give the most for, under some circumstances that I have been placed in, and I would prize that savior more precious than gold. If I were in danger of falling from a precipice, or from a building, as I have said before, and had no means of saving myself, if some kind friend would come along, and put forth his hand and help to save me, he is my savior; so if a man rescues me from a galling yoke of oppression, under which I must faint and die, he is my savior. Saviors shall come upon Mount Zion, and they shall judge the Mount of Esau. This is the kind of savior that will judge the ungodly, and give them their due. “What! are you going to judge the ungodly?” Yes, judge the Mount of Esau. You know the Lord has said, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” Where is the Mount of Esau? It is the world at large, the wickedness of which God hates. Then saviors shall come upon Mount Zion and judge the Mount of Esau. And says Paul, know ye not, brethren, that the Saints shall judge the world?

We will hand out our money, for that is almighty in the eyes of this world. God has put this means in our hands, and it is for us to advance it to this good purpose according to our ability, and so we shall become saviors to rescue the oppressed from every land; and when we have gone to the extent of our power, and done all we can, will there be any more efficient operations entered into to effect the purposes of God? There will; He will say—“Now, my servants, you have done all you can, I will stretch out my own arm!” Says one, “I really wish I knew how soon it will be when the angels are sent from heaven to gather up the elect at the winding up scene?” I can tell you how soon it will be.

Have you got the word of the Lord upon this subject?” I do not claim that I have, but when I tell you, you will say it is true; and if it is true, it is just as good as the word of the Lord, and as any other revelation already given. When will it be that the angels are sent to gather in the remnant? It will be just at the time when the Saints have done all that is in their power to do, and can do no more, and have been worn out in the service of their God: then the Lord will send the armies of heaven to aid them. He has had an army under His training from the beginning, and when He gives the word of command they will collect the balance of the Saints from the four winds; and not only so, but they will open the graves, and raise the Saints from the dead. An angel showed a little example of this at the time the Saviour ascended from the tomb. He rolled the stone from the door of the sepulchre, and the keepers fell as dead men, and the Son of God arose. There is the work of an angel, of one who was reserved for this purpose, and there are convoys of angels who are schooled and trained to this work, and they can open a grave much quicker than an Irishman can with a spade. At the presence of one of these angels, the earth trembles, and throws out its dead. The angels will do this, but not until we have done our best. I have frequently said to my son, “You take this bag and carry it to a certain place.” “I cannot, father.” “Well, take hold of it and try.” He takes hold of it, and it is a pretty good lift for him, and he begins to labor and lift with all his might; at the moment he begins to try, the father’s hand helps him to balance the load. It is just so in this work. “Now,” says the Lord, “I have tried you, and you have done as I have told you, and my hand is ever ready to help you. If I were hungry, I would not ask you for food; if I were naked, I would not ask you for clothing.” I do not know how many spirits of the condemned are at work making white robes for the just and pure; I do not know how much they are spinning, and how many white robes they are making, for the Saints and the redeemed; but they have to work out all their indebtedness in prison; and if God is hungry or naked, He will not call upon you; for He has millions of resources in another quarter. He can get along without us doing the work, but He gives us a privilege of doing it if we will; and if we will, He will bless us; and if we will not, He don’t care.

There are some men in this kingdom who have an idea it cannot roll on without them—“I must be there, I am of so much consequence and importance, that if I should happen to set up my will in opposition to any measure, the wheels would be retarded in their onward course.” “But,” says the Lord, “if you do not wish to serve me, go your own way; I have plenty at my command, and when you are out of the way I will let you see that my kingdom will roll on faster without you than with you; still, if you desire to take a part among the multitude of my servants in rolling it on, I will make you an honored instrument in doing so.”

I think I have spoken about as long as is necessary. Brother Kimball wished me to speak upon this subject. Brother Young will be in soon, and probably there are other matters to be attended to. I might continue to address you, but I esteem it unnecessary. I believe I have fulfilled the charge laid upon me—to show the necessity of putting forth our own hands to pave the way for the exhibition of the great power of the Almighty in accomplishing His purposes on the earth. I wish to say a word or two more, and then I am done. It is the desire of my heart that we may all live, before God, and before one another, in the way and manner that shall reflect honor upon the cause of the Latter Day Saints—upon “Mormonism,” as it is termed. They may publish their squibs in the newspapers, and tell all about our wickedness and corruptions, but if we only live to reflect honor on the cause of God, it matters little what our enemies say.

In a communication from an editor to me, he quotes from the 17th chapter of Jeremiah, where it says, “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.” “Now,” says he, “how exactly is this fulfilled in the followers of Joe Smith, that have gone to Utah Territory; there they are in a salt and barren land, and they do not know when good comes.” In my communication, I have told him he is mistaken: for we have no more salt here than is necessary; but the quotation made me think of Long Island, for the early settlers were surrounded with salt, and it must allude to Long Island; and if it would not suit there he might apply it to the early settlers of Syracuse: it is all in that country.

But to turn the scale: where shall be the habitation of the righteous? The old Prophet says, “He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.” Where is the people who have got more rocks than we have? Do we have bread, and plenty of it? Yes! We have had fine crops of wheat since the cricket and grasshopper war was over, and our waters are sure, for here we have them flowing down every street, in the midst of summer, and they are not salt waters either, but they are fresh and good. How applicable are these sayings of the Prophet to the Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake Valley. Their habitation is the “munitions of rocks,” and they ask no odds of the world, but they are subject to God, who has redeemed this Basin, and put salt enough in it to save us. It is not a dry and barren ground, for we can make it rain when we please, and they cannot in Long Island. The Bible says, “Have salt in yourselves;” we have it here, and if there comes along a villain who is worthy of it, we can salt him up in Salt Lake too. [Laughter.]

There is another thing I want to say. We should live before God and one another so as to reflect honor upon the cause we have espoused, and never let Satan gain an advantage over it, but like the true American soldier, let us keep our colors unfolded, and flying free, in the hour of battle; and let us all the time be right side up with care in the eyes of everybody. If you light a candle and set it on a table, everybody in the house can see; so let your good works shine before men on earth and angels in heaven.

I spoke in relation to some things on Friday evening, about which I merely wish to say the sentiments I advanced, with regard to certain doings here, are unalterable in my heart; I care not whether it is Gentile or “Mormon” that defiles the land in which we dwell. Judgment begins at the House of God, and the “Mormon” will be the first to feel the chastening of the Almighty, because we looked for better things of him: he has light and knowledge, and knows better than to be guilty of such acts. If we always think of God, and maintain our integrity to Him, to ourselves, and towards our neighbors, the unvirtuous and wicked cannot find access into our society. If the gate of the citadel of virtue is never opened to our enemy, he may strive in vain. He cannot find access unless the way is voluntarily opened, and he invited and encouraged. Let every man and woman be on their guard, and situate themselves so that strangers and bogus “Mormons” can neither rob you of your virtue nor of your money or goods, that they cannot do a wrong that will bring a stain upon the fair name of the Saints, or damn themselves forever. I say, then, let the standard of our integrity and virtue be erect, and let it never lean to the right hand or to the left.

I have no blessings upon them that will do these things, even as I have said, whether they be Jew or Gentile, bond or free; but the men or women that observe the common laws of propriety, and walk uprightly, I do not care whether they be black or white, if they mind their own business, I say, God bless them, and guide them in the way of life everlasting. But the villain who seeks to lay the axe at the root of truth, and to bring dishonor upon the Saint, I say, curses be upon that individual, let him die the death of the ungodly. I do not wish anybody to apply this to themselves unless they are worthy of it; and if I am met in the streets and assailed with having spoken rashly, I say, you are the man, the saddle fits you; but those who are not guilty, but are secure in the possession of their virtue and good intentions, may the blessings of the Lord be upon you for ever. Amen.

The Immigration, etc.

Jedediah M. Grant

An address by President Jedediah M. Grant, delivered at the General Conference, in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, October 7, 1854.

This afternoon I have very little disposition to detain you long. My health is such, I would prefer hearing others rather than speak myself.

We have received much good instruction, and I feel that our spirits are refreshed, and cheered up. We have been edified during the Conference.

I like the remarks of Elder Orson Pratt this afternoon. I hope they will be listened to and obeyed.

I regret very much that our immigration this season are so few; though I rejoice on the other hand that the Elders abroad, and the general instructions of the Church, have been able to gather so many. We believe we have brethren here from different settlements, and lots of persons in this city, who are on hand to take into their employment three or four times as many people as have come in this season from the nations of the earth.

The first year we were located in the Valley we wanted a few teams sent out to help the emigration, and we had to use considerable exertion to get those few teams; but this year, all the servants of the Lord had to do was to make a call upon the people, through their Bishops, and all the teams we wanted were forthcoming, with flour and all necessary food, to send forth to help in our emigration.

I have seen the time, in Kirtland, Ohio, the first gathering place I went to, when you could have crowded the whole congregation into one room sixteen feet by eighteen; and these comprised all the Saints that were there. If we had sent up to Jackson County, and brought them all down, and had a house like this, there would have been just a little belt of people in front of the stand, and reaching part way up towards the opposite side of the room.

In the mountains, though it is difficult to gather the people here, though they come from the nations, and have the Atlantic to cross, and have to come from the different parts of the United States, we have got together a considerable body of people. However, there are as yet but few, comparatively. We are looked upon as feeble in the world, of but small height; but it is a very easy thing to bring in an emigration of four or five thousand; and we can bring wagons from different settlements, and the people who have come in are swallowed right up, as it were, so that in three or four weeks we cannot tell what has become of our immigration. They can come by thousands, and be dispersed throughout the Territory among the Saints, and find comfortable homes, and it is scarcely known and felt.

As to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund, to make it perpetual, you must replenish it, and not take from it—that would make it a short-lived thing. If you are aided by that Fund, throw the aid you have received back into the treasury, that it may be full, that we may be able to send for others. I have heard the President speaking that he designed to call upon individuals who are pretty well off here, who have friends in England, Scotland, Wales, Denmark, Germany, Italy, and I don’t know where, to operate with the Fund, and become a stay and a staff to it, and associate with it. For instance, here is such a man as father Russell, that has given his thousands; perhaps he knows of some family there he would like to bring here. He can send through the P. E. Fund for that family; and they shall be brought on this condition—that they labor for him, and assist him until they pay for their being brought here.

In Yankee land they make the boys pay for their bringing up; so they can pay for their bringing here, if I have spent the money for them. Some of you who want a gardener, or a farmer, launch out your gold, your cattle, your horses, your food, and your raiment, and deposit the means, and we will send over, and get the family, and that family will aid and assist you in your financial operations, and pay up the debt. I reckon that six or eight thousand in Utah could act upon this principle.

You who have been brought in here, labor, and throw back into the great purse what you have received, that we may bring double the number another year.

Our brethren in Potawatomie County, four or five years ago, had a notion that they were going to get up a machine that would bring fifteen thousand at a load.

The idea of becoming a State in two or three years, when we have only got four or five thousand of an emigration! I do not wonder that the Latter-day Saints believe in the plurality of wives. Launch out your means to help us to bring the poor; if you do not, we will raise up the mountain boys ourselves. This piecemeal business of gathering Saints! we want it upon the wholesale principle. That’s the doctrine. I tell you, a few more boys breaking the crust of nations, like brother Carn, after a while, by driving their little wedges, will bring them over by nations.

A great many people who come here, when they do not find everything right handy—plenty of food, houses, and all other conveniences, are discouraged, and lose their energies. If you want to know something about the “Mormon” grit, remember what brother Carn said this morning; if he is whipped, he don’t stay whipped. You cannot discourage a real “Mormon.” It is necessary to raise up a certain stripe in the Valley, of the real “Mormon” grit, that those who come over here, and who have the whines and the grunts, may have the “Mormon” leaven among them to leaven the whole lump.

I do not know but the President will be calling for volunteers to operate with the Fund to bring more families here.

There are one or two more little items I wanted to speak about.

I have had one or two cases reported to me. For instance, some of our brethren who cross the plains, when they get here, are a little peevish, snappish, vexed, and quarrelsome. When the wind blowed the other day, a man got the servant girl to hold the tent-pole, to keep it from falling, but she not being strong enough, down went the tent. The man then made a scourge out of a rope, and began to beat the girl, and beat her most unmercifully. I do not know whether that man is converted or not; but it makes me think of an old Baptist preacher in Virginia. He came and preached in a certain place; the next time he came round, a drunken man came staggering up to him and said, “Brother Jones, when you was last in our settlement, you converted my soul.” “Well,” said brother Jones, “I should think I did, for I do not believe the Lord had anything to do with it.” I am rather inclined to think it is possible that the girl whipper is yet unconverted. We like men here to learn how to treat their families, their cattle, and their horses, &c.

I am entirely of a lively disposition; I know not how to be low-spirited; I never knew what it was to be lonesome in my life. Some talk about being lonesome when they are alone; I know nothing about it. I never misuse a beast, and I am not inclined to misuse people; but when they are right mean, I like to work them up with my tongue once in a while. But the idea of people going to work to beat, and kick, and pound their cattle, horses, children, and everything around them, is nonsense. Good-natured feelings and good-natured conduct are worth a thousand of the opposite character. Do right, be kind and gentle. You have come in the midst of the people of God; you have come to unite with us in serving the mighty God of Jacob, and endeavor to do right.

When brethren start to come here, they are anxious, to be in this place, but many of them, when they get here, see no charms in Zion. You can learn their spirits directly, for they are known by their associates. We have some High Priests, &c., who have been among us for years, and others who have come in lately, who like to associate with our enemies, those who have a sneering and malicious spirit. Talk about such persons having the “Mormon” spirit in them, and the light of the Holy Ghost, and yet love the world and the things of the world, and the spirit of the world, and the glory of the world, and the wickedness of the world! Some people can associate with those who laugh at the institutions of heaven, at the principles of eternity, and laugh to scorn the ministry of the people of God; they like to converse with them, and they love to be in their society; they love to have them around them. I would rather dig thistle roots and sego roots to live upon, and eat boiled hides; and drink the broth from them, than to take such enemies into my house, and board them; and rather than rent my house to such persons to live in, I would burn it up if they had lived in it, and have a new one. That is my grit. The filthy old building should never hold my family. I wish all the “Mormons” felt as I do, there would be a flame in Zion, and a fire in Jerusalem. I say, if all the “Mormons” felt as I do about those who laugh at our distresses, and when calamities come upon us, wag their heads and say, “Ha, ha! so would we have it,” they would think there was a furnace in Zion, and a flame in Jerusalem.

I want “Mormons” to feel like “Mormons,” to feel like Saints. I want a man of God to feel fired up with the Holy Ghost, and not place his affections upon the world, and the things of the world; but love your God, and your brethren that are poor and in distress, and who love God. Those high-minded hypocrites, who bow and scrape to get your dimes, let them go to where they belong, they and their dimes; that is the way I feel about them. I like to see the Saints of God fired up to help the poor, and bring them in here to strengthen the reins of Israel. I like to see them exert themselves to send forth the Gospel, and bring from the nations those who are humble, contrite, pure, and holy, and who are uncontaminated by the vices of the world. Go into the circles of high life, if you please; I know about the high and the low in the United States. Talk about high life! about converting many of that class and bringing them here! What will you bring? Those who believe the truth with difficulty. But the poor and needy, who are looked upon as the dross and offscouring of all things, are the best of all creation, and we want the best, the purest, and those that are the most holy, brought to Zion. But the breath of that person who rejects my God is like the upas tree to me—it is poisonous; I do not like it. I admit that I occasionally find some who have not been baptized, in whom there is a stripe of honor and good-will which I like; but I speak generally of those who knowingly persecute the people of God, who reject the truth; I do not love them. I am like the old Indian, “Though I will forgive and forget, I always remember.” It is bred in my bones; I was raised up in the “Mormon” Church from my childhood; it is sweet to me, sweeter than the honey or the honeycomb; it is life and breath to me; it is eternal life, and I love it.

I do not like the person who sneers at “Mormonism,” and I do not like those who associate with such; they are no brothers, no sisters, nor friends to me. I fellowship those who love the institutions of God—who love the servants of God, and the truth of God and the principles of righteousness. But that class that sneer at the principles of the Gospel, and the institutions of the kingdom of God, who like to associate with the wicked and ungodly, are not my brothers, they are not my sisters, nor friends, nor the friends of God. But the person who seeks to convert the sinner, and bring him to the truth; I like that disposition. What I am at is this—not that I feel any different towards those out of the Church than the rest of you; there are a great many of the brethren and sisters who are poor devils. All Gentiles, in their eyes, are so good, so kind, so loving, so gentle, and so full of sympathy, that they cannot tell that there is any difference between them and the Latter-day Saints. Give me the man and the woman that can tell the difference between the devil and a Saint. Says one, “Most all of us can.” I tell you, you cannot. I see people on my right and on my left who can dwell and associate with the ungodly, drink into their spirit, and fall into the same condemnation as they do. Take a man who is pure, he sees the corruption of the ungodly. I do not like it; it has no spirit of Zion in it.

New-comers, you will find men called Saints who are “land-sharks of Utah.” We have all kinds of men here, and we expect to have them; and if some of you who have been brought here by the Fund this year, are no better than many of those who were brought last season, you will whine; but for God’s sake, when you feel like whining, bite your tongue; and if you do not like to do that, use brother H. Kimball’s remedy—chew a piece of India rubber, and keep chewing it until you get the grunt out of you.

I do not wish to detain you. May the God of heaven bless you, and bless the Saints in every land and nation, that Israel may be gathered, and the Saints saved, which may God grant. Amen.

The Marriage Relations

Orson Hyde

A lecture by President Orson Hyde, delivered at the General Conference, in the Tabernacle Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1854.

Beloved Friends and Brethren—It appears to have fallen to my lot to be your speaker at this time, and to call your attention to a subject that was proposed in the former part of the day.

At the time I gave out the appointment for this evening’s meeting, my eye was fixed upon another person to deliver the lecture. I shall try to do the subject as good justice as my abilities, aided by the faith of the Saints and the Spirit of God, may enable me to do, I desire not only your candid and undivided attention, but I trust I shall also have your prayers, that the Lord may inspire me with those arguments and reasons that are well pleasing in His sight, that I may acquit myself before Him, if it may not be my good fortune to acquit myself so amply before you as my heart would desire.

While reflecting upon the subject of this evening’s lecture, those words occurred to my mind, which our Savior spake to the Jews, who considered themselves righteous, and looked upon others with distrust and disdain—in short, who looked upon others as sinners; to reprove them, he said, “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.”

I do not know that I shall confine myself to this text particularly. Although I have repeated these words for the text, yet the text is not a guide at all times for the servant of God. It is the letter that killeth, we read, but; it is the Spirit that giveth life. The Spirit of the Almighty is the agent by which His servants should ever be led.

The words contained in this Bible are merely a history of what is gone by; it was never given to guide the servant of God in the course he should pursue, any more than the words and commandments of God, given to a generation under one set of circumstances, would serve for another generation under another set of circumstances. There must be something to suggest or to draw forth the command to answer the circumstance under which we are placed at the time.

It is so with the servants of God. There is a Spirit that is ever ready, and points out, under varied and conflicting circumstances, the very course which the servants of God should pursue. The Bible is not a sufficient guide; it is only the history of the people who lived 1800 years ago. The history of our Church in this day, presents the scenes and transactions of this people—the revelations and words of God to them; but if an individual living an hundred, or eighteen hundred, years hence, under different circumstances, were to adopt the history of this people for his guide in all things, he would not find it sufficient to answer the circumstances surrounding him.

Hence, it is the letter that killeth, and the Spirit giveth life. In the light of that celestial agent I ever hope to walk. I hope that it may be not only my helm and guide, but yours also, through all the labyrinths and windings of this mortal life, until we attain a standing upon ground celestial.

I have heard it remarked sometimes, by individuals who were not identified or connected with our Church, that if they could only be convinced that polygamy was true, they would become “Mormons” at once.

Do you believe the Bible? “Certainly I do,” says the inquirer. Did father Abraham and the ancient Patriarchs live in this relation, and practise this doctrine? You say they did. Then if what they practised is true, you are bound to become a “Mormon,” upon your own hypothesis and reasons. But, gentlemen, if I knew that that was the all-convincing argument, and if that was the principal doctrine that alone influenced you to become a “Mormon,” I should at once say, let me never baptize such a person, let me never be the agent to bring such a person into the Church and kingdom of God.

God despises every character who would enter His Church for no other purpose than to criminally indulge his natural propensities. Then, gentlemen, do not indulge the expectation, if you should be convinced by the arguments. I may adduce in favor of the doctrine of polygamy, as it is called, that that will prove a sufficient groundwork for your faith. But where is the ground upon which to base your faith? Where shall you go to find out “Mormonism” from the foundation to the top-stone, from the root to the uttermost branch in the tree? Begin at the beginning. If men wish to accomplish any work, they must begin at the beginning of that work, not in the middle of it, or at the end. I must begin at the beginning, and if I know that the first stone is laid upon a permanent foundation, I can then with safety add another to that already laid; but if I cannot lay the first stone upon ground that is solid—if I cannot lay it upon a rock, I may despair of ever rearing a fabric or superstructure that will resist the rain and winds that may be hurled against it by the power of nature. We must begin at the beginning, and not content ourselves by grasping at that which may be beautiful in illustration and enlist our attention, and begin to build upon it as a foundation. In such a case we may have branches, but we do not bear the root.

I know that this doctrine is made the subject of a great deal of ridicule. I know that the world at large who profess to be pious, or, if not pious, morally upright, look upon it as a damning sin, as a stain upon the bright escutcheon of their country, here in the very heart of the United States territory, surrounded by tall mountains; they consider it a dark spot in the country’s history. Many of the great politicians of the day view it in this point of light. Religionists are still more scrupulous—they regard it as a heinous and damning sin.

I always consider it my duty, under proper circumstances, to give a reason of the hope that is in me, with meekness and fear; and if I have imbibed a principle, and am unable to defend it upon the principles of truth, justice, equity, and true philosophy, I should consider I was walking in the dark.

Whenever truth is manifested by revelation to the servants of God, it never comes without a reason for it. When the light of revelation bursts upon the mind, it not only unfolds one principle, but many. For instance, to illustrate this idea, suppose this room were in total darkness, and we were seated as we now are, if a brilliant light were introduced in the midst of the room, it would enable us to see not only one person, but the whole multitude.

So it is with the light of revelation. When it bursts into the human mind, it not only reveals one principle, but casts a halo of light upon all connected with it. An individual thus favored, walks in the light of Jehovah’s countenance. I have a desire that in this light we may walk; and he whose eye is single, says the Savior, his whole body shall be full of light, and there is no darkness in him, nor occasion of stumbling.

What is the condition of the world at large, both religious and political, who regard us as being in the depths of sin, iniquity, and transgression? What are their customs? Go, if you please, to the large cities of every nation and clime. I have visited many of them in the four quarters of the earth, and in the islands of the sea. I have had some little experience in relation to these things, so far as common observation could give it to me, and I pretty well understand the manner of life of the world at large.

A man, for instance, who has the most riches, the, man who can command the most wealth, I do not not say this is the case with all, but it is the case with the majority—they not only have their wives and families with whom they publicly live and associate, but they also have in secret places their mistresses, whom they maintain not honorably, but under a cloak as it were. When by their illegitimate connexions they are likely to increase their race, what means do they resort to, to save their credit, to keep their honor unsullied in the eyes of the multitude, to cover up their iniquity, hide their crimes, and smother their shame? A skilful practitioner is employed to destroy the embryo offspring. This is murder.

Nor is this the only means used to hide their shame, and save themselves from reproach. They may be successful in hiding their iniquity from the eye of man, but they cannot hide it from the eye of the Omnipotent Jehohovah [Jehovah]. Is there not a day coming when these acts will be searched out, and proclaimed abroad, and that, too, by a mind that penetrates the secret thoughts and intents of the hearts of the children of men? “What! is there indeed such a day approaching?” Yes. It may be hid for a little season from the view of the wicked, but it is steadily approaching, and will come as a thief in the night; and those very persons, both male and female, who often throw out their anathemas against the “Mormons,” against their course, and manner of life, will be overwhelmed with it.

Then how will apply[ing] the words of our text—“Ye are they that justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts; for that which is well pleasing in the sight of men, is an abomination to God.” What is well pleasing in the eyes of worldly men—men devoid of principle, and destitute of the righteousness of God? It is pleasing to them to hide and smother up anything that would tend to cast reproach and infamy upon their name. The blackness of their character they seek to conceal from the public gaze, and appear good Christians, and honorable men in society, men of principle, virtue, and integrity. If they can hide their shame, no matter what the expense or suffering caused in destroying the embryo coming into being. They care not to risk the life of her who would become a mother. All this is well pleasing in the eyes of unprincipled men, and that their iniquity should not come to light.

But that that is well pleasing in the sight of men, is an abomination in the sight of God. I will venture to say, that you may go into the most populous cities of the world, and you will find a considerable part of those who give tone to Christianity as it is in the world, standing in these miserable relations, under cover, and in secret. These things are true, and it is enough to pain the heart of the philanthropist, and wound the feelings of any man who is the friend of suffering humanity, to read their history, and observe their course. I would not follow them in all their filthy windings, were I able. Had I the discerning eye of an angel, or of a God, I would not wish to follow them up, and disclose to you the corruptions that are practised in the world, and all under the cloak of popularity, shrouded by high standing, and worldly authority; and thus they are protected in their unlawful relations.

I am not disposed to charge home upon the lawgivers of our country things of this kind; I will not presume to do it; yet at the same time, if I can credit their own statements in relation to the acts of one another touching these matters, it is enough to make the nations blush and hide their heads in shame, from such miserable, MISERABLE, corrupt proceedings.

But we do not wish to sustain our own position upon the corruptions of others—our own position, as it is in the mind and revelations of God. God forbid that our faith should be founded upon the corruptions of the world. Our faith is founded upon the purity of the word of life, and there let it be grounded.

Well, now, friends and brethren, will you listen to me for a short time, and let me conduct you as far as I shall be able this evening, through the volume of inspiration that is universally acknowledged by all Christendom to be the word of God, the truth of heaven? Will you listen to some of the sayings contained in that book? And then say whether we possess the same spirit now that inspired the breasts of the ancients, whose history is penned upon these pages. Judge for yourselves whether it be so or not.

In the first place, then, we will look unto Abraham our father, and to Sarah who bore us, for if we are Christ’s, then we are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Let any story be told of my father whereby dishonor is laid to his charge, or let any reproach be cast upon my mother, and if the feelings of the loyalty of a son towards his parents dwell in my bosom I will resist all such reproach. No matter how sinful they might have been, their sins must not be portrayed before me. I look then unto Abraham as my father, and unto Sarah as my mother who bore me. How was it, then, with Abraham? He is said to be the father of the faithful, and the great head of the Church in the days of the Patriarchs, and the head of those who have been adopted into the covenant of Jehovah through the blood of His only begotten; for if we are Christ’s then we are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. If, by the virtue of the Savior’s blood, our sins are washed away, we are the children of Abraham; we hail him as our father, and Sarah as our mother; he is the father of the faithful, he is the father of many nations. How was it with Abraham? Did he please God, walk before Him uprightly, and obtain this testimony that he pleased God, and obtain promises that no other man has obtained since the days of Abraham, the Son of God excepted? Jehovah promised that in him and in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed, as a pattern of piety, and as the great head of the Church. Because of his faithfulness in keeping the commandments of Jehovah on earth, he drew from on high this great promise. Who has lived since that time who has been thus blessed? I will venture to say not one. Then if we are his children, will we not do the works of faithful Abraham? So said the Savior, who ever spoke the truth, who ever declared the mind and will of his Father in heaven. Are we Abraham’s seed, or are we bastards and not sons? That is the question.

Let us see what Abraham’s works were. Abraham obtained promises. What promise have you obtained? What promise has the Christian world obtained? “Why,” says one, “the Bible is all full of promises made to the people of God long ago.” But what have the promises to the people of God long ago to do with us? Have we obtained promises to ourselves? There is the point. If our fathers obtained promises that they should be fed, and were fed, their eating and drinking does not satisfy my appetite. It satisfied them, but that has nothing to do with me, I want the same kind of substantial food myself. If Abraham obtained promises, I want to obtain promises also. “What! A man that has more than one wife obtain promises from God?” I tell you there were but few in olden times who ever did obtain promises from God, that had not more than one wife, if the Bible be true. There was David, and there was Solomon; there were the whole line of the kings of Israel. Says one, “That Old Bible was for the Jews, and has nothing to do with us; that is the Old Testament; and having more wives was according to their law, and according to their custom, but it does not apply to us; the Savior of the world is our great pattern, he is our great lawgiver.”

And how is it with him? Let us inquire. Did the Savior of the world consider it to be his duty to fulfil all righteousness? You, answer, yes. Even the simple ordinance of baptism he would not pass by, for the Lord commanded it, and therefore it was righteousness to obey what the Lord had commanded, and he would fulfil all righteousness. Upon this hypothesis! will go back to the beginning, and notice the commandment that was given to our first parents in the garden of Eden. The Lord said unto them, “Multiply and replenish the earth.” I will digress here for a moment from the thread of the subject, and bring an idea that may perhaps have a bearing upon it.

The earth, you remember, was void and empty, until our first parents began at the garden of Eden. What does the term replenish mean? This word is derived from the Latin; “re” and “plenus;” “re” denotes repetition, iteration; and “plenus” signifies full, complete; then the meaning of the word replenish is, to refill, recomplete. If I were to go into a merchant’s store, and find he had got a new stock of goods, I should say—“You have replenished your stock, that is, filled up your establishment, for it looks as it did before.” “Now go forth,” says the Lord, “and replenish the earth; for it was covered with gloomy clouds of darkness, excluded from the light of heaven, and darkness brooded. upon the face of the deep. The world was peopled before the days of Adam, as much so as it was before the days of Noah. It was said that Noah became the father of a new world, but it was the same old world still, and will continue to be, though it may pass through many changes.

When God said, Go forth and replenish the earth; it was to replenish the inhabitants of the human species, and make it as it was before. Our first parents, then, were commanded to multiply and replenish the earth; and if the Savior found it his duty to be baptized to fulfil all righteousness, a command of far less importance than that of multiplying his race, (if indeed there is any difference in the commandments of Jehovah, for they are all important, and all essential,) would he not find it his duty to join in with the rest of the faithful ones in replenishing the earth? “Mr. Hyde, do you really wish to imply that the immaculate Savior begat children? It is a blasphemous assertion against the purity of the Savior’s life, to say the least of it. The holy aspirations that ever ascended from him to his Father would never allow him to have any such fleshly and carnal connexions, never, no never.” This is the general idea; but the Savior never thought it beneath him to obey the mandate of his Father; he never thought this stooping beneath his dignity; he never despised what God had made; for they are bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh; kindred spirits, that once basked in rays of immortality and eternal life. When he found them clothed upon and surrounded with the weaknesses of mortal flesh, would he despise them? No. It is true, I have seen men who became poor and miserable all at once, and then those who were their friends in the days of their prosperity turn from them, and scarcely deign to bestow them a look, it being too humiliating to associate with them in their poverty. But it was not so with the Savior; he associated with them in other spheres, and when they came here descending below all things, he did not despise to associate with these same kindred spirits. “Then you really mean to hold to the doctrine that the Savior of the world was married; do you mean to be understood so? And if so, do you mean to be understood that he had more than one wife?”

The Christian world by their prejudices have driven us away from the Old Bible, so we must now appeal to the New Testament, for that seems to suit the prejudice of the people though to me it is all alike, both the Old and New Testaments; for the scribe that is well instructed, brings out of his treasury things both new and old. This is my treasury, or rather, it is one of my treasuries, and what I cannot find there, I trust will come down from on high, and lodge in my heart. The gift of God is also my treasury, even the Holy Spirit.

Now suppose I should set out myself, and travel through the cities of the nation as a celebrated reformer, preaching revelations and sentiments as lofty as the skies, and rolling out ideas strange and new, to which the multitude were entirely unaccustomed; and wherever I went, suppose I had with me three or four women—one combing my head, another washing my feet, and another shedding tears upon them, and wiping them with the hair of her head. Suppose I should lean upon them, and they upon me, would it not appear monstrous in the eyes of the world? Would they ride me into Jerusalem upon our ass’s colt, and cast branches of the palm tree beneath my feet, shouting, “Hosannah, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, hosannah in the highest?” I guess they would give me a coat of tar and feathers, and ride me on a rail; and it is my opinion they would serve the Savior the same, did he go about now as he did eighteen hundred years ago.

There is an old prophecy of Isaiah, which I cannot stop to read, but you will find it in the 53rd chapter of his prophecies; read the whole of the chapter. This particular prophecy speaks of Christ all the way through. It is there said, “When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed.” What constitutes the soul? The spirit and body of man united; for you know it is said in one place that so many souls were slain in the night by the angel of God. The immortal part was not slain, but a disunion of the mortal and immortal parts took place. When they shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. If he has no seed, how could he see them? When they make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, and prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.” By and bye the Prophet goes on to say, “And who shall declare his generation,” for his life is taken from the earth. If he had no generation, who could declare it. I told you there was an agent who would bring out every subject in bold relief, which is the Holy Ghost, who searcheth all things, even the deep things of God, and until that celestial agent should fire some man’s heart to declare his generation, it could never be made known. Who shall declare it? He could not, for he was cut off from the earth. I have noticed the prophecy of Isaiah, that portion of it which was fulfilled in the person of the Savior, for the Lord divided him a portion with the great, “and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Upon him was laid the iniquity of us all; he was numbered with thieves,’ and in his expiring moments he said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.” Now if one portion of this prophecy has been fulfilled, the other portion has, or will be.

How was it with Mary and Martha, and other women that followed him? In old times, and it is common in this day, the women, even as Sarah, called their husbands Lord; the word Lord is tantamount to husband in some languages, master, lord, husband, are about synonymous. In England we frequently hear the wife say, “Where is my master?” She does not mean a tyrant, but as Sarah called her husband Lord, she designates hers by the word master. When Mary of old came to the sepulchre on the first day of the week, instead of finding Jesus she saw two angels in white, “And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She said unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord,” or husband, “and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.” Is there not here manifested the affections of a wife. These words speak the kindred ties and sympathies that are common to that relation of husband and wife. Where will you find a family so nearly allied by the ties of common religion? “Well,” you say, “that appears rather plausible, but I want a little more evidence, I want you to find where it says the Savior was actually married.”

Have you ever read your Bibles? I must confess I have not read it for some time, but looked more to Him who rules on high, and to those who hold the words of life in the inspiration of the Holy Ghost; I look to them more frequently than to it. I have once memorized the Bible, and when any one quoted one verse, I could quote the next. I have memorized it in English, German, and Hebrew, still I do not profess to be very familiar with it now, yet the sentiments and spirit of it are in my heart, and will be as long as I live, and still remain when I am gone to another sphere. When does it say the Savior was married? I believe I will read it for your accommodation, or you might not believe my words were I to say that there is indeed such a Scripture.

We will turn over to the account of the marriage in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Yes, and somebody else too. You will find it in the 2nd chapter of John’s Gospel; remember it and read it when you go home. “And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: and both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six water pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast, And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him”—that is, the ruler of the feast saith unto the bridegroom, “Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.”

Gentlemen, that is as plain as the translators, or different councils over this Scripture, dare allow it to go to the world, but the thing is there; it is told; Jesus was the bridegroom at the marriage of Cana of Galilee, and he told them what to do.

Now there was actually a marriage; and if Jesus was not the bridegroom on that occasion, please tell who was. If any man can show this, and prove that it was not the Savior of the world, then I will acknowledge I am in error. We say it was Jesus Christ who was married, to be brought into the relation whereby he could see his seed, before he was crucified. “Has he indeed passed by the nature of angels, and taken upon himself the seed of Abraham, to die without leaving a seed to bear his name on the earth?” No. But when the secret is fully out, the seed of the blessed shall be gathered in, in the last days; and he who has not the blood of Abraham flowing in his veins, who has not one particle of the Savior’s in him, I am afraid is a stereotyped Gentile, who will be left out and not be gathered in the last days; for I tell you it is the chosen of God, the seed of the blessed, that shall be gathered. I do not despise to be called a son of Abraham, if he had a dozen wives; or to be called a brother, a son, a child of the Savior, if he had Mary, and Martha, and several others, as wives; and though he did cast seven devils out of one of them, it is all the same to me.

Well, then, he shall see his seed, and who shall declare his generation, for he was cut off from the earth? I shall say here, that before the Savior died, he looked upon his own natural children, as we look upon ours; he saw his seed, and immediately afterwards he was cut off from the earth; but who shall declare his generation? They had no father to hold them in honorable remembrance; they passed into the shades of obscurity, never to be exposed to mortal eye as the seed of the blessed one. For no doubt had they been exposed to the eye of the world, those infants might have shared the same fate as the children in Jerusalem in the days of Herod, when all the children were ordered to be slain under such an age, with the hopes of slaying the infant Savior. They might have suffered by the hand of the assassin, as the sons of many kings have done who were heirs apparent to the thrones of their fathers.

History is replete with circumstances of neck-or-nothing politicians dyeing their hands in the blood of those who stood in their way to the throne or to power.

That seed has had its influence upon the chosen of God in the last days. The same spirit inspires them that inspires their father, who bled and died upon the cross after the manner of the flesh.

“Well, but,” says one, “there was certainly an injunction laid upon the Bishops in New Testament times, that they should have but one wife. This is brought up as a great argument against the position the Latter-day Saints have taken. In olden times they might have passed through the same circumstances as some of the Latter-day Saints had to in Illinois. What would it have done for us, if they had known that many of us had more than one wife when we lived in Illinois? They would have broken us up, doubtless, worse than they did. They may break us up, and rout us from place to another, but by and bye we shall come to a point where we shall have all the women, and they will have none. You may think I am joking about this, but I can bring you the truth of God to demonstrate it to you I have not advanced anything I have not got an abundance of backing for. There is more truth than poetry in this as sure as you live.

The Bishops anciently, in their office and callings, had a great deal to do with temporal matters—serving tables, attending to the poor, &c. And inasmuch as so much trust was reposed in them of a temporal character, they were required to have a fair reputation, and must not stand in any relation that would in the least prejudice their reputation with the world of mankind.

In certain countries, plurality of wives is legal. Christendom think they are about everybody, and the “rest of mankind” are few and far between. I have travelled among nations and countries where this doctrine was tolerated by law, and I will venture to say, if we were to take a walk through the world to-night and find out those who are in favor of, or against, this doctrine, the majority would be in its favor. Could the whole world be assembled here before me, and a vote taken upon this subject, they would give us the right of conscience in this matter.

Has not the Mahomedan a right to be in favor of it? Did not God make him? And is not his right as dear to him as ours? Why should we set ourselves up as a little family of nations in Christendom, and say to the rest of the great family of the world, “You shall not do so and so, and you shall do this or that?” Why should we be restricted in this matter, while the great majority of the world decide in its favor?

Take this question up upon political principles, and what do the majority of the world say about it? They establish our right. Then take it upon the principles of natural philosophy, and the truth of our position is made still more apparent. Had I language to portray to the most delicate ear the principles of our existence, and the laws of our nature, the most stubborn sceptic would be obliged to yield to the power of truth. I might take up the subject in this point of light, but I will forbear, I will spare you. If I had a congregation of men, I would not spare them one whit.

The Bishop is to be the husband of one wife. And as for old Paul, everybody says he lived and died a bachelor; but he said all things were lawful for him, and that he had power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other Apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas. Paul did not make known all things, for all things were not lawful to tell. He said himself, he knew a man that was caught up to the third heavens, and heard things unlawful to utter. If he did not take a wife, and multiply, and replenish the earth, he did not fulfil the first great fundamental law of nature.

There are many living now who are bachelors. I do not complain of the very old men, for they cannot help themselves at all times, but I am going to complain of the old bachelors; and I tell you what it is, if you do not step forward and marry, and try to carry on the great work of Jehovah, it will be left for a better man to do than you. [Voice in the stand “There is but one old bachelor in the Territory, and he has gone to the States.”] O! I beg your pardon; President Young says he does not know of but one old bachelor in all the Territory of Utah, and he has gone to the States; therefore I have nothing more to say on this particular point. Look abroad, upon the world at large, and how many are there who are too niggardly to take a wife, and support her and her offspring honorably, and rear up a family that will reflect honor upon them in their old age! No—they cannot afford to do this, but they go where they can gratify their fleshly desires, leaving the consequences altogether with the confiding females whom they dishonor, and who in that state despair of ever being reinstated in society with a good character, give themselves to prostitution, and in rottenness go down to a premature grave with ten thousand curses on the heads of their deceivers.

Do you suppose these things are going to escape the all-seeing eye of the Great Jehovah? And. will He not visit the guilty sensualist with a dreadful punishment? He will. Why not in honorable wedlock raise up offspring to glorify God? Why this niggardly disposition? No wonder the Lord Almighty sends the pestilence to lay them waste, and reduce nations and cities to ruins.

Brethren and sisters, it is for us to have the light of truth shining in our eyes, and honor that truth in all our intercourse with one another.

The Bishop shall have but one wife. If you were in a country where only one wife is allowed by law, then you would be obliged to have but one. What shall I say? A Bishop in England, where he knew polygamy to be contrary to law, must have but one wife; if you want another, and the law will not allow it, you must go where it is allowed by law. It was the case with the Bishops in olden times. We must submit to the laws of man until he shall reign whose right it is to reign.

This is the cord that shall revolutionize the whole world, and it will make the United States tremble from the very head to the foot; it is like leaven hid in three measures of meal until the whole is leavened. There is such a tide of irresistible arguments that, like the grand Mississippi, it bears on its bold current everything that dares to oppose its course.

Says one, “Why is it that men in your society may have more than one wife? What is the policy of it?” The men of God who hold the Priesthood of heaven, and imbibe the light of the Holy Ghost, have the privilege and right. Now let me illustrate one thing, and let me bring it home to you. There may be some under the sound of my voice that the case will fit. Some man will perhaps marry a wife of his youth. She dies—he loved her as he loves himself, and her memory ever lingers about his heart. He marries another, and she dies, and he loved her equally as well. He marries a third, and so on, and he loved them all. By and bye he dies, and he dies with devoted affection and love to them all.

Now in the resurrection, which of these wives will he claim? There is no difference in his love to any of them, and they have all perhaps borne children to him. He loves the children of one mother as well as the children of another. What say you? Which shall he have in the resurrection? Why, let him have the whole of them. To whom are they nearer allied?

There is a case opposite to this, where a woman married a husband, and he died, and so on, until she was married to seven husbands, and then she died. The question was asked the Savior, “Whose wife will she be in the resurrection!” for they all had her. The Savior gave a curious answer. Says he, “In the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God.” Now tell me how the angels are in heaven, and then we shall have the secret.

This is the benefit of dreams and visions, although this power is lightly spoken of, and repudiated in the Christian world. The revelation of the Almighty from God to a man who holds the Priesthood, and is enlightened by the Holy Ghost, whom God designs to make a ruler and a governor in His eternal kingdom is, that he may have many wives, that when he goes yonder to another sphere he may still continue to perpetuate his species, and of the increase of his kingdom and government there shall be no end, says Daniel. How does the kingdom of God increase, but by the increase of its subjects? Everything increases, everything multiplies. As brother Benson said this morning, even the musquitoes of Nebraska increase and multiply. If they do, why not high orders of the creation have a better right? These musquitoes and insects are the result of a fallen world, but by and bye there will be nothing to hurt or destroy in all God’s holy mountain.

These men of God who are married here by the authority of heaven are sealed on earth and in heaven. The good old book says, that which is sealed on earth is sealed in heaven; and whosoever sins ye remit on earth shall be remitted in heaven, and whatsoever ye bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. That Priesthood that has not this power is no better than a rope of sand. The true Priesthood alone possesses it. The Priesthood that has not this power is a mock Priesthood, and not the Priesthood of the Almighty. Little did the world know when they treated the Savior as they did, that he held their destiny in his hands; the world knew him not; he came to his own and they received him not; but the time will come that they will know him, and the power of his Priesthood.

When the servants of God and their wives go to heaven there is an eternal union, and they will multiply and replenish the world to which they are going.

It is not every man in the United States that can be the president, or that can be a governor, or a judge, but all are within the pale of the government of the United States, though they do not all bear rule; many are called, and few are chosen. But in yonder world those who bear the Priesthood, and by their faith and obedience obtain the sanction of the Almighty, they are sealed on earth and in heaven, and will be exalted to rule and govern for ever; while those who would not listen to the holy commandments, and died without having a wife sealed to them, are angels; they are lower spirits, and servants to them that rule. Therefore, this family of old, which the Savior spoke of, saying, “In the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage,” are not Gods, but angels, who neither marry nor are given in marriage, while the men that magnify their callings are they that bear rule, and hold dominion, and receive their crown, and are one with the Savior, as he is one with the Father. Hence, he that is faithful over a few things shall be made ruler over many things.

I have a few words more to say, and a great deal more can be said; for I have only just dipped into the subject a little. I want to say a few things more, and perhaps this is the most fitting occasion on which they could be said. You never see a “Mormon” man who bears the Priesthood, unless it is some characters that only bear it in form, who are devoid of principle, who have transgressed, and have escaped being dealt with—I say you never see a true-hearted “Mormon” man running after a lewd woman; but there are women among the Latter-day Saints who are loose in their conduct, notwithstanding they have embraced the Gospel. We only wish to apply this where it belongs; do not any of you have your feelings hurt, for God knows I would hold the virtuous and good as sacred as I would my own life. At the same time I am bound to speak in plainness, and I feel that the Spirit is on me now, I am warmed with it, and it presses me to speak on this subject, and to speak it out. There are families in this town that have bowed externally to the yoke of Christ, but they are as corrupt as hell, and I can point where they are, in what direction they dwell. When I approach their habitations, I feel that they are an abomination in my sight. “Have you any tangible evidence of this?” Yes, I have, and more than I want, which I shall keep to myself, but the day will come when it will all come out. Do you see “Mormon” men running there? No. Wherever you find a house among the Latter-day Saints where no “Mormon” men go, you may know it is not all sound in Denmark. I will tell you whom you see there in particular—men who fear not God nor regard man. What have I got to say concerning women that will come into the Church and kingdom of God, and bring dishonor upon themselves, and endeavour to bring it upon the whole Church, by cohabiting with those cursed scape-graces who are passing through here to California, who make their boast of what they did in Great Salt Lake City? I know their secret talk in their chambers, for the Spirit of God searcheth all things. It may not be with me to the same extent all the time, but sometimes the whole vision of my mind is lit up, and I see and understand it all.

I am going to say something upon those who dishonor the Church and kingdom of God in this way. I will tell you what shall happen to those men and women who commit lewdness, and go and boast of it, and laugh in the face of heaven. The day shall come when their flesh shall rot upon their bones, and as they are walking it shall drop, and become a nauseous stink upon the highway. Now go and boast that you can get all you want for a dress pattern, or a yard of ribbon; go and boast of it, and the Lord Almighty shall curse you all the day long. [Voice in the stand, “Amen.”] And when you step, chunks of your flesh shall drop off your bones, and; stink enough to sicken a dog.

I speak this to both men and women that practise this iniquity in the midst of this people; and if you do not refrain from such intercourse, this prediction shall begin to take effect, and by this you shall know whether I have spoken in the name of the Lord, or in the name of Orson Hyde. For such abominable practices to come in our midst under the robes of sanctity, because there are liberal, holy, and righteous principles practised by the Saints, I say, curse their habitation and their persons; and if this is your mind, let all Israel say amen. [The whole of the congregation at the top of their voices said, “Amen!”] And let these contemptible wretches feel the “Mormon” spirit, not by “Mormon” hands, but by the power of God on high.

I feel charged with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, and it burns in my heart like a flame, and this is the testimony I bear. If I do mingle in the streets with the crowd to engage in business as any other man, I am not always asleep, and insensible to what is passing around me. I do not profess to know a great deal, but some things I do know, and some things I do not know.

I have endeavored to illustrate this subject for the benefit of the honest inquirer, I have only just touched it, endeavoring to throw out a few hints for your consideration, that you may know we are not without some reason for our faith and practice touching the subject of polygamy. I wish you to mind the admonition I have given. I have given it to you in faith; I have given it to you regardless of consequences, for I ask no odds of any body, except of my Father in heaven, and of my brethren whose hearts I know to be pure; and I want to be identified with them in time and in all eternity, and with my sisters too; and wish to be exalted with them, and they with me, where the Saints may join hands after passing through much tribulation, and gaining crowns, to rejoice together for ever and ever.

I feel as though I had borne a faithful testimony, and I now say, in the presence of God and angels, that I have given the guilty persons warning, and my garments are clean from your blood. Take warning, and never do a thing that will throw dishonor upon the Saints of the Most High.

May God add His blessing, and preserve us to His heavenly kingdom, which may He grant. Amen.

Marriage Relations of Bishops and Deacons

Brigham Young

An address by President Brigham Young, delivered at the General Conference, in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1854.

I do not wish to eradicate any items from the lecture Elder Hyde has given us this evening, but simply to give you my views, in a few words, on the portion touching Bishops and Deacons.

In Paul’s first epistle to Timothy, third chapter, he writes as follows—

“This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (for if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the Church of God?) Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil: Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.”

I have read this that your minds may be refreshed, and that you may know how it does read.

Instead of my believing for a moment that Paul wished to signify to Timothy that he must select a man to fill the office of a Bishop that would have but one wife, I believe directly the reverse; but his advice to Timothy amounts simply to this—It would not be wise for you to ordain a man to the office of a Bishop unless he has a wife; you must not ordain a single or unmarried man to that calling.

If you will read this chapter carefully, you will learn the qualifications necessary for Deacons and Bishops, and also for their wives.

I will simply give my views with regard to this matter, and then leave it.

I have no testimony from the Bible, neither have I from any history that I have any knowledge of, that a man was ever prohibited in the Church in the days of Paul from taking more than one wife. If any historian has knowledge to the contrary, let him make it known at a suitable time; but if such was the case it has not come to my knowledge.

I will now give you my reasons why it is necessary that a Bishop should have a wife, not but that he may have more than one wife. In the first place he is (or should be) like a father to his ward, or to the people over whom he presides, and a good portion of his time is occupied among them. Still he does not wish to be bound up, or flooded with cares of this world, so but that he can officiate in his office, and magnify it to acceptance.

The office of a Bishop is in his ward; and when he finds a man who is doing a good business as a farmer or a tradesman, and who has plenty around him, and is faithfully paying his tithing, he has no business there only to receive the tithing that man has to pay for the benefit of the kingdom of God; his business is more particularly in the houses of widows orphans, and he is called to administer to them in righteousness, like a father.

Paul, knowing by observation and his own experience the temptations that were continually thrown before the Elders, gave instructions paramount to this—Before you ordain a person to be a Bishop, to take the charge of a Branch in any one district or place, see that he has a wife to begin with; he did not say, “but one wife;” it does not read so; but he must have one to begin with, in order that he may not be continually drawn into temptation while he is in the line of his duty, visiting the houses of widows and orphans, the poor, the afflicted, and the sick in his ward. He is to converse with families, sometimes upon family matters, and care for them, but if he has no wife, he is not so capable of taking care of a family as he otherwise would be, and perhaps he is not capable of taking care of himself. Now select a young man who has preserved himself in purity and holiness, one who has carried himself circumspectly before the people, and before God: it would not do to ordain him to the office of a Bishop, for he may be drawn into temptation, and he lacks experience in family matters; but take a man who has one wife at least, a man of experience, like thousands of our Elders, men of strength of mind, who have determination in them to preserve themselves pure under all circumstances, at all times, and in all places in their wards. Now, Timothy, select such a man to be a Bishop.

A Bishop in his calling and duty is with the Church all the time; he is not called to travel abroad to preach, but is at home; he is not abroad in the world, but is with the Saints.

When you have got your Bishop, he needs assistants, and he ordains Counsellors, Priests, Teachers, and Deacons, and calls them to help him; and he wishes men of his own heart and hand to do this. Says he, “I dare not even call a man to be a Deacon, to assist me in my calling, unless he has a family.” It is not the business of an ignorant young man, of no experience in family matters, to inquire into the circumstances of families, and know the wants of every person. Some may want medicine and nourishment, and to be looked after, and it is not the business of boys to do this; but select a man who has got a family to be a Deacon, whose wife can go with him, and assist him in administering to the needy in the ward.

These are simply my views in a few words on this subject, and always have been since I have reflected upon the doctrine that the fathers teach us in the Holy Scriptures. I will venture to say the view I take of the matter is not to be disputed or disproved by Scripture or reason.

I have no reasonable grounds upon which to say it was not the custom in ancient times for a man to have more than one wife, but every reason to believe that it was the custom among the Jews, from the days of Abraham to the days of the Apostles, for they were lineal descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all of whom taught and practised the doctrine of plurality of wives, and were revered by the whole Jewish nation, and it is but natural that they should have respected and followed their teachings and example.

So much I wished to say to my brethren and sisters. We have had a splendid address from brother Hyde, for which I am grateful. I feel in my heart to bless the people all the time, and can say amen to brother Hyde’s last remarks. I know just as much about those matters as I want to know, and if I do not know more, it is because there is no more of it in the city. It is a hard matter for a man to hide himself from me in this Territory; the birds of the air, they say, carry news, and if they do not, I have plenty of sources for information.

I say to the congregation, treasure up in your hearts what you have heard to-night, and at other times. You will hear more with regard to the doctrine, that is, our “Marriage Relations.” Elder Hyde says he has only just dipped into it, but, if it will not be displeasing to him, I will say he has not dipped into it yet; he has only run round the edge of the field. He has done so beautifully, and it will have its desired effect. But the whole subject of the marriage relation is not in my reach, nor in any other man’s reach on this earth. It is without beginning of days or end of years; it is a hard matter to reach. We can tell some things with regard to it; it lays the foundation for worlds, for angels, and for the Gods; for intelligent beings to be crowned with glory, immortality, and eternal lives. In fact, it is the thread which runs from the beginning to the end of the holy Gospel of salvation—of the Gospel of the Son of God; it is from eternity to eternity. When the vision of the mind is opened, you can see a great portion of it, but you see it comparatively as a speaker sees the faces of a congregation. To look at, and talk to, each individual separately, and thinking to become fully acquainted with them, only to spend five minutes with each would consume too much time, it could not easily be done. So it is with the visions of eternity; we can see and understand, but it is difficult to tell. May God bless you. Amen.

Organization and Development of Man

Brigham Young

A discourse by President Brigham Young delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City February 6, 1853.

The organization of man, I suppose, is one of the deepest and most profound studies for philosophers and theologians there is in nature. The organization of man, embracing all the attributes and powers of his physical and mental constitution, is considered a mystery by the wisest and most expert philosophers that have lived, and is a subject that daily occupies the thoughts and researches of the more intelligent portion of the children of men.

When we carefully notice the manner of our own reflections, it is a marvel and a wonder to us; and we are apt to say, What am I? Who am I? And for what was I made? Who is the author of my existence? Who laid the foundation of and planned this singular structure? It is a mystery how this wonderful machinery works, and how it is sustained to fulfil the purpose of its creation! In reality, however, there is no such thing as a mystery but to the ignorant. We may also say, there is no such thing, in reality, as a miracle, except to those who do not understand the “Alpha and Omega” of every phenomenon that is made manifest. To a person who thoroughly understands the reason of all things, and can trace from their effects to their true causes, mystery does not exist. Yet the physical and mental existence of man is a great mystery to him.

In the experience of our lives we are taught many principles that are worthy the attention of the most intelligent on earth. The first great principle that ought to occupy the attention of mankind, that should be understood by the child and the adult, and which is the main spring of all action, (whether people understand it or not,) is the principle of improvement. The principle of increase, of exaltation, of adding to that we already possess, is the grand moving principle and cause of the actions of the children of men. No matter what their pursuits are, in what nation they were born, with what people they have been associated, what religion they profess, or what politics they hold, this is the main spring of the actions of the people, embracing all the powers necessary in performing the duties of life.

This is the lesson we should study. The powers of our minds and bodies should be governed and controlled in that way that will secure to us an eternal increase. While the inhabitants of the earth are bestowing all their ability, both mental and physical, upon perishable objects, those who profess to be Latter-day Saints, who have the privilege of receiving and understanding the principles of the holy Gospel, are in duty bound to study and find out, and put in practice in their lives, those principles that are calculated to endure, and that tend to a continual increase in this, and in the world to come. All their earthly avocations should be framed upon this principle. This alone can insure to them an exaltation; this is the starting point, in this existence, to an endless progression. All the ideas, cogitations, and labors of man are circumscribed by and incorporated in this great principle of life.

When we duly reflect upon the cogitations of our own minds, when we look upon the people called Latter-day Saints, upon the earth on which we stand, and upon the mighty universe around us, by the light of the Spirit of truth in our minds, we marvel with astonishment. When the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world, illuminates the understanding, and exposes to view the true order of the works of the Framer of the Universe, so that they can contemplate the great first cause of all things, and then look upon the grovelling pursuits of mortals, and their anxiety to obtain that which will perish, at the expense of the more enduring substance, every person must be struck with astonishment beyond measure.

The human family are like so many children that have just learned how to walk, in the eyes of a person whose mind has been opened by the light of the Holy Ghost. The sage, grey headed grandfathers, and those of fewer years, but not of less experience and wisdom, have viewed the eagerness of children to possess mere trifles, and often something that would be their sure destruction if they obtained it. So it is with the inhabitants of the world. A company of little children at play is a perfect miniature picture of the life of man: “Give me this, and give me that; and I want to have the other thing; still you are not willing I should possess it; and the parent knows that often its possession would be an injury. Or when one child sits down in a little chair, another one will cry because of it, without receiving the least injury. If you place a plate of apples or plums before a child of three or four years old, he will not be content with one, or two, or with as many as he can hold, but he will try to grasp the whole plate full with his little fingers, dropping one, and taking up another, until he has scattered and wasted them, and at last be contented to sit down and eat one, that is, if the rest of the children have not any but himself; or else cry, when he has as many as he can hold, because he can not hold them all. The little girl will cry for the needle she sees her mother working with, and when she has got it, handle it to her injury; and the little boy will cry for the razor he sees his father using.

It is so with many of the brethren and sisters; they cry for the razor. These inconsistent desires of early childhood for trifling things, are exhibited in the human family, after they have arrived to maturer years. They may be reaching after things of weightier importance than the child, but when they are compared with eternal matters, they are just as trifling; and to the mind that is instructed, that has been touched with the light of eternal truth, they appear even more foolish than children, because we expect better things of them. As a general thing, the men of eighty years of age are as contracted in their minds, as to a knowledge of the true principles of life, and the end and purpose of their being, as little children only two and three years old are of the business that occupies the attention of the City Council or the Legislature of the State.

The thousand-and-one inconsistencies of childhood have their parallel in the actions, and doings of many of this people. Theatrical companies try to exhibit traits of human life; but a better stage cannot be than the world, nor better actors than men, to a man of understanding. It is pleasing and instructing to see certain characters personified upon the boards of a theatre which is managed upon righteous principles. A prominent feature of the human world was most admirably portrayed by our performers the other evening, in the melo-drama called “The Serious Family.” When the mother told the daughter to say to the friend of her husband, they had no spare rooms in the house, the daughter replied, “Shall I tell a lie?” “Yes, answered the old dame, “if it is to promote our holy cause.” Do anything, no matter what, whether it is right or wrong, to gain the end we wish, is the language of unenlightened, unregenerate man. If the Lord Almighty should give the human family their desire in full, they would not keep the broad road to destruction, but they would go across lots, quick to hell.

It is not my intention to detain the meeting long this afternoon; but before I bring my remarks to a close, I wish to impress upon your minds some few prominent items of our religion. I can say truly that I am happy, and rejoice exceedingly, and am thankful beyond measure, that the items I wish to notice are in a great degree adhered to by this people as a whole. That I may bring the matter before our minds at once, I will repeat part of the “Mormon Creed,” viz., “Let every man mind his own business.” If this is observed, every man will have business sufficient on hand, so as not to afford time to trouble himself with the business of other people. You can now comprehend the whole discourse by the nature of the text.

While brother Erastus Snow was speaking, he made use of weedy gardens as a comparison, to apply to those who complained of other people’s gardens, while their own were neglected. I will refer to the same idea. There are plenty of evils about our neighbors; this no person will pretend to deny; but there is no man or woman on the earth, Saint or sinner, but what has plenty to do to watch the little evils that cling to human nature, and weed their own gardens. We are made subject to vanity, and it is right. We are made subject to the powers of evil, which is necessary to prove all things, We are apt to neglect our own feelings, passions, and undertakings, or in other words, to neglect to weed our own gardens, and while we are weeding our neighbor’s, before we are aware, weeds will start up and kill the good seeds in our own. This is the reason why we should most strictly attend to our own business.

I am happy to say that this people do increase in understanding, wisdom, patience, and faith. It appears to me much more easy for mankind to live without sin, than with it. We have been taught that it is contrary to nature to live without sin. If a man should spit in my face, it would be natural for me to knock him down, or in return spit in his face. But suppose one should injure me in person, or estate, and I should overlook it, and show mercy to the individual, it would cause him to reflect upon his conduct, and show him the true bearings of his unjust act, and make him ashamed of it much better than if I retaliated. If I were to pay him back in his own coin, I should render myself worthy of what I have received. If I bear an insult with meek patience, and do not return the injury, I have a decided advantage over my adversary. And if the person is susceptible of feeling such a rebuke, he will say, “I have done wrong; my conscience condemns me, and my neighbor, or my brother, did not retaliate.” It at once causes the evil doer to reflect, and he will say, “Why did I do it? The devil tempted me; I will go and confess my sin to my neighbor, for he is not disposed to return the wrong, and he is a better person than I am; and from henceforth I will mind my own business, and keep a guard upon my passions.” Is it not better in all such cases to be guided by that principle, than by the principle of retaliation?

To illustrate still further. Suppose A insults B, and B demands satisfaction, and they agree to fight; they meet and inflict upon each other blows and injuries, and whip each other right well. A, however, is the conqueror, and B retires vanquished, in shame and disgrace. He cannot any longer remain in the same neighborhood with his victorious enemy, and therefore concludes to sell out, and leave the place. Now suppose B had borne the first insult, or injury, and returned it only with good, instead of trying to do A an injury; A would have been completely conquered, and B would have escaped a sound whipping. Were we, one and all, to pursue the latter course, quarrels would soon cease in our community. As I said, if we keep our own gardens clear of weeds, our neighbors will take a pattern by us, and produce from their gardens greater quantities of fruit another year.

Now, brethren and sisters, receive the exhortation and counsel of brother Snow, and profit by it; and employ the rest of your lives in good thoughts, kind words, and good works. Shall I sit down and read the Bible, the Book, of Mormon, and the Book of Covenants all the time?” says one. Yes, if you please, and when you have done, you may be nothing but a sectarian after all. It is your duty to study to know everything upon the face of the earth, in addition to reading those books. We should not only study good, and its effects upon our race, but also evil, and its consequences.

I make these remarks to lay the foundation for principle in the minds of the people; and if you do not yet understand what I would be at, I will try to illustrate it still further. For example, we will take a strict, religious, holy, down country, eastern Yankee, who would whip a beer barrel for working on Sunday, and never suffer a child to go into company of his age—never suffer him to have any associates, or permit him to do any thing or know anything, only what the deacon, priests, or missionaries bring to the house; when that child attains to mature age, say eighteen or twenty years, he is very apt to steal away from his father and mother; and when he has broken his bands, you would think all hell was let loose, and that he would compass the world at once.

Now understand it—when parents whip their children for reading novels, and never let them go to the theatre, or to any place of recreation and amusement, but bind them to the moral law, until duty becomes loathsome to them; when they are freed by age from the rigorous training of their parents, they are more fit for companions to devils, than to be the children of such religious parents.

If I do not learn what is in the world, from first to last, somebody will be wiser than I am. I intend to know the whole of it, both good and bad. Shall I practise evil? No; neither have I told you to practise it, but to learn by the light of truth every principle there is in existence in the world.

Still further. When I was young, I was kept within very strict bounds, and was not allowed to walk more than half-an-hour on Sunday for exercise. The proper and necessary gambols of youth having been denied me, makes me want active exercise and amusement now. I had not a chance to dance when I was young, and never heard the enchanting tones of the violin, until I was eleven years of age; and then I thought I was on the high way to hell, if I suffered myself to linger and listen to it. I shall not subject my little children to such a course of unnatural training, but they shall go to the dance, study music, read novels, and do anything else that will tend to expand their frames, add fire to their spirits, improve their minds, and make them feel free and untrammeled in body and mind. Let everything come in its season, place everything in the place designed for it, and do everything in its right time. And inasmuch as the Lord Almighty has designed us to know all that is in the earth, both the good and the evil, and to learn not only what is in heaven, but what is in hell, you need not expect ever to get through learning. Though I mean to learn all that is in heaven, earth, and hell. Do I need to commit iniquity to do it? No. If I were to go into the bowels of hell to find out what is there, that does not make it necessary that I should commit one evil, or blaspheme in any way the name of my Maker.

Do you not suppose the Lord is there, and knows all about it? I am satisfied of it. If He is not there, when the wicked inhabitants of the earth begin to inquire where they shall flee to escape from His presence, they will find a hiding place in hell. If the wicked wish to escape from His presence, they must go where He is not, where He does not live, where His influence does not preside. To find such a place is impossible, except they go beyond the bounds of time and space.

I have learned enough to be happy, when I am in the enjoyment of the blessings of the Lord. That is a great lesson for a man to learn. There are two things that make this people unhappy, if ever they are unhappy, viz., themselves, and the spirits that are around them. This, however, will more particularly apply to individuals. As a people, as a community, there is not its parallel to be found on the earth, for contentment and happiness. Will you make yourselves happy? You are greatly blessed of the Lord, all the day long, and should be happy; but we are apt to close our eyes against this fact, and fancy ourselves miserable, when we are actually blessed.

To make ourselves happy is incorporated in the great design of man’s existence. I have learned not to fret myself about that which I cannot help. If I can do good, I will do it; and if I cannot reach a thing, I will content myself to be without it. This makes me happy all the day long. I wish you to learn the same profitable lesson. Who hinders you from being happy? from praying, and serving the Lord as much as you please? Who hinders you from doing all the good in your power to do? Who is there here, to mar in any way the peace of any Saint that lives in these peaceful valleys? No one. It is for us to keep our own gardens clean, and see we do not harbor evil in our own hearts. Were we to look into our own hearts and seek diligently to do all the good in our power, and never commit another evil while we live, what is there to prevent us from being happy? I know there never lived a happier people, upon the earth, I might venture to say, because of the dispensation in which we live; it brings joy, comfort, and satisfaction to those who will receive it, that could not be realized by any people who have lived before us.

Do we expect to see our children grow up in darkness, and rebellion against the principles of the Gospel of Christ? Have you this thought to worry your minds? No. The ancients had, and their souls were sometimes weighed down with sorrow on this account. They saw their children would leave the true Church, transgress the laws, change the ordinances, and break the everlasting covenant. This we have not to fear. God has seen fit in our day to bring forth the Priesthood again, even at the eleventh hour—at the end of summer—at the harvest time—at the gathering up of his sheep. At this time, or never, He has put forth His hand to send the Gospel to all nations, and gather the people together, and give to the chosen of the Lord the inheritance of the earth. Now what hinders our being a happy people? I do not see anything to hinder it.

I have a few words to say concerning our spiritual labors. I cannot, however, define any difference between temporal and spiritual labors. I call it spiritual to accommodate my language to the ideas of the people. Anything that pertains to the building up of the Lord’s kingdom on earth, whether it be in preaching the Gospel, or building Temples to His name, we have been taught to consider a spiritual work, though it evidently requires the strength of the natural body to perform it.

If the weather had been fine the past week, we should have been ready to have commenced excavating the earth for the foundation of the Temple. When we call upon the brethren, we wish them to be ready to obey the call. Probably a week from to-morrow we shall call upon them to commence this work. To satisfy those who may wish to know the size of the excavation, I will state that it will be about 250 feet from east to west, and from north to south a little less, and from 16 to 20 feet deep. we expect the mason work of the basement will be 24 feet high, 16 feet below the ground, and 8 feet above. That will require considerable labor.

We wish the excavation made, and everything prepared to lay the corner stones on the 6th day of April next, if the Lord will; and if the Lord will not, I care not whether a stone is laid here, or in any other place; I care as little about it as the snow birds in our fields. All that concerns me, is to do the work the Lord has for me to-day; and if the work is designed for to-morrow, I will prepare for it to-day, so as to be ready to perform it to-morrow with alacrity.

I need not say anything more about the Temple; we shall accomplish that work as expeditiously as we can. I might advance many profitable ideas pertaining to business, if the brethren who are men of business, and understand what is needed in our case, would listen, and profit by them.

I will say a word to the Seventies. Some of them have incorrect notions touching the Seventies’ Hall; and I wish them to understand, that the Temple must be the first thing in our thoughts; and if I want all the funds that have been collected for the Seventies’ Hall, for the erection of a Temple, I calculate to use them. The people need not expect us to give them the easy circumstances the noblemen of the Gentile nations enjoy, while there is so much for us to do for the public good. There is more before us to be done this year, than will take five to accomplish. We are not, however, going to do all things this year; we are not going to finish the Temple this year, but we will begin it. The Lord requires all we have to be devoted to His kingdom; and though it be but the widow’s mite, He can do as much with two mites as we can with millions of them.

May the Lord God of Israel bless you, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Consecration

Orson Pratt

A discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, September 10, 1854.

By the request of our President, I arise this afternoon for the purpose of addressing you upon those subjects that may be presented to my mind, feeling joyful in nay heart that I have the opportunity.

I do not say, as many others may have said, that it is a disagreeable task, or a very great cross, for me to address the Saints; this is not the case; it is a pleasure and a joy; and I feel to esteem it as a blessing from the hand of God, that I have the privilege from time to time of meeting with His people, and speaking about the great things that God has revealed, which belong to our peace, happiness, and welfare, both here and hereafter.

There is no other subject that I care much about. As it regards earthly things, temporal things, the riches of this world, or the honors of this world, I will not say they are of secondary nature to me, but they are far beneath this; though they may be good in their place, yet my whole object and design, delight and joy, is to do the will of God, to benefit the children of men, and to seek after the welfare, happiness, and peace, not only of myself and family, but also of the whole human race, as far as it is within my power.

It does me good to return, after an absence of two years, and again look upon the faces of the brethren and sisters; there is something so different in the expression of your countenances from what we see abroad in the world; the principles of goodness, of righteousness, of virtue, and of holiness seem to be enstamped upon the countenances of the Saints of the living God; the spirit of meekness, of sobriety, of solemnity—a Godlike spirit is reflected in every feature of those who are truly good, which seems to carry peace, happiness, and joy to the hearts of those who gaze upon them with the same spirit. But after all, brethren, we are not near as good as we might be, in many respects. Though we are far in advance of the nations of the earth, though we have become far exalted above them in the principles of virtue, truth, righteousness, and a oneness of feeling, yet there is still room for improvement, and, while we remain here in the flesh, there will be room for improvement, upon all these principles, upon all the attributes of divinity, and upon everything that is good and Godlike.

There is one subject that presents itself to my mind, and upon which I have meditated in years past and gone, and which gave me great joy when I learned that it was being established in our midst. What is it? It is the consecration of the properties of the whole Church, according to the written revelations, commandments, and laws of the Most High God. I heard of this about the time I was starting upon the plains for this place, and it gave me great joy to learn that there was a prominent step taken at your last Conference to bring about and accomplish this object. I consider it is one of the most important objects to be accomplished among the Saints of Latter-days.

You may ask why? You may think that this contradicts my first statement—that the temporal things of this life are not even of a secondary consideration with me. They are not in one respect, but, in another, I consider them a part and portion of the religion that we as a people have embraced, and a very essential and necessary part too.

We read in the revelations that God has given, that the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; well, if it is the Lord’s and the fulness of it, then it does not belong to you nor me as individuals, exclusive of others. If the Lord had set apart, and consecrated, and given a certain portion of the earth to any individual with a deed and covenant, he might with some propriety call it his own; but all other deeds that are according to Gentile laws, and the institutions of the nations of the earth, do not, according to the laws and revelations of heaven, give to men the exclusive right to the things of this world, as their own; they are good enough in their place, for the Lord deals with: the nations according to their light; and suffers laws to be enacted that are good in their place, and calculated to govern imperfect beings; laws to govern and control property; and in many respects, they are just adapted to the circumstances and conditions of the nations where they are enacted; and they are the means of doing much good in preserving what are termed the rights of individuals, and of the citizens generally; and they should not be done away, until circumstances will permit of their being superseded by a more perfect law. That more perfect order is what we wish to speak a few words upon at this present time.

The Lord told us something about it in the revelations He gave a long time ago, in the year 1831, when ancient “Mormonism,” as it has often been termed, was first introduced; we call it ancient, because it seems quite long to us narrow minded creatures.

There were certain laws and revelations then given, in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, pertaining to the Lord’s earth, and the righteous that He has upon it. I will repeat a small clause which was given before the Church was one year old, in March 1831. It reads thus—wherefore “it is not given that one man should possess that which is above another, wherefore the world lieth in sin.” This was revealed above twenty-three years ago; we will again repeat it, “It is not given that one man should possess that which is above another wherefore the world lieth in sin.” Here was a hint of the more perfect law and order of things that God intended eventually to introduce among this people; and which I am happy to say, there has been a great step already taken at the last Conference to bring about; and I hope that I may be permitted to live to see this law carried out to the fullest extent among the Saints of the living God.

Remember, that as long as there is inequality in the things that belong to the Lord, the world lieth in sin. It is not given to them that they should possess one above another. I intend to explain how this is to be brought about, and also show how one man can possess hundreds and thousands of dollars, in a certain sense of the word, and another man only one dollar, and yet both be equal; but they possess the same, not as their own, but as stewards of the Lord; it being the Lord’s property.

We read, in another revelation that God gave in the early rise of this Church, that unless we are equal in earthly things, we cannot be made equal in heavenly things. Here is an equality preached. There must be an equality in earthly things, in order that we may be equal in heavenly things. Now supposing the people were all to be made equal to-day, tomorrow they would, through circumstances, become unequal: but I will show you how this equality can be established upon an order that never can be shaken—that inequality, in regard to property, never more can be introduced among the Saints, that no circumstance which can transpire can make them unequal. If a fire should burn up a man’s barn, and his stacks of grain, and every thing he has accumulated, I will prove to you that it does not render him unequal with his brethren on the principle the Lord has established and ordained; so that when this order is once established among this people, they will become equal in earthly things, which will prepare them to be made equal in heavenly things.

In the first place how shall we get at this order? In what manner and by what means shall we begin to lay the foundation of this equality? The Lord has told us, that it is required of every man in this Church to lay all things, not one tenth alone, but to lay all things before the Bishop of His Church; consecrate the whole of it—everything he has—his flocks and herds—his cattle, horses, and mules—his gold and silver—his wearing apparel, watches, jewellery, and everything he possesses; consecrate it; not keep back a portion like Annanais and his wife, but give everything—make a full consecration to begin with. [Voice in the stand, “Wives and children.” ] Yes, give wives and children of course: the wives have given themselves to their husband, and he has to consecrate them; they are the Lord’s, He has only lent them to us.

Supposing that the people had complied with this law when it was first given, in every respect, instead of seeing inequality that has reigned for these many years in this Church, we should now have seen a different order of things. But we lacked experience, and there was too much covetousness in our hearts, for a full consecration of property, then. In consecrating property, we must, in the first place, remember that it is not ours. Why? Because the earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof. We have no cattle, no gold or silver, no watches or jewellery, no property of any description, no houses, lands, or any thing else which is our own, if the fulness of the earth is the Lord’s. Then in consecrating that which we have been in the habit of calling our own, we are only returning to the Lord His own property—that which we became legally possessed of according to the laws of man, but not according to the laws of God, He never having directly given us the things which we claim as ours; we have not got them according to the celestial law—according to the great principle and order God has established; but we came by them through speculation, trading, labor, etc., and after we thus got them they are the Lord’s still. We consecrate this property—it all goes into the hands of the Bishop of the Church. If the whole Church were to consecrate in this way they would have nothing left of their own. Then, it would all be the Lord’s, and it has to be consecrated too, says the revelation, with a covenant and a deed that cannot be broken; that is, according to the law of God and man, and if it is made according to the law of God in all respects, and also according to the law of the land in which we live, it will be in the situation the Lord wants it in, even the whole property of the Church.

We ask, are they not all equal now? Yes. If the whole Church have consecrated every thing in their possession to the Bishop, is there not a perfect equality among them before they get their stewardship? Yes: this makes them perfectly so, as far as property is concerned; they are all in a state of equality, owning nothing. What is the next step to be taken in order to bring about equality of property? The Lord says, “Let the Bishop appoint every man his stewardship,” for, says the Lord, “It is required of every man to render an account of his stewardship, both in time and in eternity.” Now the Bishop begins and parcels out to this man his stewardship, and to that one his stewardship, according to the counsels of the First Presidency of the Church—the authority that has the management and control of the Lord’s property. Each one gets his stewardship.

Now supposing one man obtained double the quantity of another; it is not his, but the stewardship is the Lord’s; consequently the man is on a perfect equality with his brother still. But there is another sense in which this equality may be made, so far as the consecrating of property to the Church is concerned, which includes the whole of it. I say, who does it belong to in another sense of the word? I have shown you that it belongs to the Lord, and if we are His, we shall inherit it with Him; consequently in another sense of the word it is all ours. If each one in the Church, then, possesses the whole of it, as joint heirs with the Lord, is there not an equality? You may diminish the common property or joint fund just as much as you please. Suppose it were diminished to one half by mobs, &c., it does not make the Church unequal, not in the least; for each one may be considered as the possessor of the whole; he inherits all things; he is a joint heir with Jesus Christ in the inheritance of the earth, and all the fulness thereof. Can you make any inequality here? If each man in the Church is a joint inheritor of all the property, and a part of it, it makes each one perfectly equal with the rest.

Now I defy you to bring about an equality upon any other principle. You may divide the properties of the Church to-day, yes, if it be possible, make a perfectly equal division of it, so that every man in the whole Church should have his share, and let him call it his own; it would not be one day before there would be an inequality again introduced; and one man would possess that which is above another; it could not be otherwise; the changes, difficulties, want of judgment in the management and control of property, and all these things combined together, would serve to render these divided shares unequal; one man losing a large portion of his property through mismanagement; another by fire, by mobocracy, or in some other way, so that neither would have one half, one quarter, or perhaps one hundredth part as much as some of his brethren with whom he was only a short time before perfectly equal.

No equality can be brought about by dividing property; the Lord never intended such an order of things. It is not a division of property that is going to bring about a oneness among the Latter-day Saints in temporal things but it is a union of property, that all the property may be united, and considered belonging to the Lord, and to every individual in the whole Church, as joint heirs with Him, or as His stewards. You may imagine, then, how my heart rejoiced, when I received a letter from our beloved President, informing me that steps had been taken for a full consecration of the property of the Church, to introduce the order of stewardships among the Saints of God.

But in regard to these stewardships, it is not needful or necessary, or the Lord never intended, that every man should possess an equal amount of stewardship with his brother. Why? Because God has given to some men greater ability to manage and control property than others. He may give to one, one talent; to another, two; to another, three; to another, five; and to another, ten; and then command them to make use of these talents according to the instructions and revelations given, and be accountable to Him who gave them. “It is required of every man,” says the Lord, “to be accountable to me in their stewardships, both in time and in eternity;” consequently these stewards have to render all their accounts to some one in time, but to whom? To the Lord’s Bishop—to those whom the Lord has appointed to receive the accounts. And if a man undertakes to squander the stewardship which the Lord has entrusted to him, He takes it away, and gives it to another who is a more wise steward; one who will manage His property in such a way as to benefit the whole; each one seeking the interest of the whole as well as of himself.

Each one is to be considered as possessor of all things in the Church: but if it be all common property, how is it that the Saints can get along and give an account of their stewardship of property? Will not one brother go and pick up his brother’s plow, and take it off, without asking him for it, imagining that he is the possessor of all things? Yes, if that brother had no understanding he would do it, but when he comes to understand the law of the Lord, he will find that all these stewardships are controlled by the wisest kind of laws; hence the Lord says, “Thou shall not take thy brother’s garment; thou shalt pay for that which thou dost receive from thy brother.” Notwithstanding the whole property belongs to the Lord, and to each one as joint heirs, yet the Lord has given strict laws with regard to the stewardships, so that one has no business to go and pick up his neighbor’s ax, or take any of his stewardship from him, without leave; but he is to pay for that which he receives from his brother steward, unless he borrow it by fairly asking for it.

On this principle it would be an easy matter for each steward to render an account of his time; and if necessary he could account for every item of his stewardship. But if it were permitted to run at random, according to the vague ideas of common stock in some societies in the world, away would go a man’s hat, or his coat, and he could render no account of it at all. But according to the strict principle which the Lord has ordained, he could show to his Bishop a full account of everything in his stewardship—that he has gained so much here, and made so much there, upon the Lord’s property. What says the Bishop? “Well done, good and faithful steward, thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will enlarge that stewardship,” providing he had anything to enlarge it with. “You have gained other talents; you have increased upon that intrusted to your charge; you have not squandered it away foolishly for that which would not profit you.”

There would be no desire on the part of stewards to steal, “For, says one, If I go and steal from another steward, it is all the Lord’s, and it would do just as much good in the hands of that steward to whom it was intrusted, as if I were to possess it by stealing it from him.”

How much every Saint ought to be interested for this order of things to be brought about, realizing that all the property of the Church is for his own good as well as for the good of the whole body.

Let me illustrate this in another way; not but what I suppose all the Saints understand it, but you only want to be put in mind of that you have understood for years, but have not perhaps practised upon it; and unless a people practise upon that they do understand, it does not benefit them much. Suppose a man have twelve sons, and he had according to the laws of the land 78 acres of ground; he gives to his oldest son twelve acres as a steward; he gives to his next son eleven acres, and to the next ten, and so on down to the youngest, which he gives one acre; and he says unto them, “Manage these different inheritances that I have set off to you, and gain all you can;” would those sons have any right or title to call that property their own? No: they would say, “It is father’s property, and he has told us to go and occupy it, and he has given us rules by which we are to be governed; that the youngest may not encroach upon the oldest, nor any one encroach upon another, but that each stewardship may be managed and controlled according to the regulations he has given, and at the end of the year each of us must render a strict account; to our father of every iota of our business transactions, of our losses and gains in trading, etc.” Now all this property, we see, belongs to the father, but it is all for the benefit of the twelve sons; they are all to be made joint heirs with the father in the possession of it. In due time, when they have learned the law the father has ordained, they will be prepared to enter as joint owners upon the grand inheritances, not only of 78 acres, but to possess all things that the father has.

Temporal things are a type of heavenly things, as the Lord says, in one of the revelations, “All things have their likeness, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual.” Does this order of things—the equality of property—have its likeness? Yes, in the heavens, and it is typical of that celestial order that we are all praying for, that we all desire the Lord to bestow upon us. We all feel very anxious to enter into the fulness of celestial glory, and inherit thrones and dominions, principalities and powers, and to have kingdoms appointed to us, and to receive crowns and to sway a sceptre over kingdoms, as wise rulers. If we want to get there, we must begin here, and learn the order that is to be there. If we should have a division of property here, as we have had heretofore, and continue this order of things, as has been for many years back, and never should begin to practise upon this equality of things which God has ordained in His law, when we come to enter the courts above, we should be ignoramuses; we could say, “We read in your law something about it, but the people did not practise it, they were careless, and did not keep the law.” And now we do not know how to manage this celestial glory, and these kingdoms, and these worlds placed under our charge; for we are to give an account, not only in time, but in eternity, of our stewardship; consequently we must improve upon the true order of things here, which is typical of that which is hereafter; and if we learn the lessons here, everything there will be plain before us, and we will be able to enter into the very things we have been practising years before. There will be an inequality, no doubt, in some respects in the eternal worlds, in proportion to the eternal things that will be intrusted to the servants, as in temporal things; but there will be a perfect equality in another respect; the revelation says, “He maketh them equal in might, and in power, and in dominions.”

Did you ever think of that? It is only in one respect. Each one will be made joint heir of all things in heaven, and upon earth. What more can a person want, if he is made a joint heir of all things; and one revelation says, he that is a faithful and wise steward in time shall inherit all things; consequently they are equal in dominion, and in power, and in might, as the vision states. This don’t say that each one shall actually control, and govern, and manage all things; that is a very different thing; just as it is here in temporal things, though each person may be considered as the inheritor of all the properties of the Church; yet when he comes to the management of property, he has only a share; so in heavenly things, a person may have the management of only one world, or of two, or of three, or of as many as there are particles of dust that compose our globe, yet, after all, each can proclaim himself as the inheritor of all things, being a joint heir of the grand universal inheritance.

There is no division of celestial glory, imparting to each one an equality of dominion, and might, and power; it is not to be divided, but there is an equality in the union of all these things. That is what we want to get at here; we want to learn the alphabet of it here, and advance to the a, be, abbs, and get over into two syllables, and keep on until we understand all about the celestial order by practise in this world, and then we will learn the laws that are to govern the different individuals that control and manage certain portions of the great joint stock inheritance; we will learn the laws that are to rule and govern between man and man; and we will not be ignorant of it when we go into the next world, we will find there that one kingdom will not have the right to encroach upon the royalty of another and take away its right, but each one will be governed by true and holy laws. Upon this principle, and this only, can we understand those revelations which so often speak of the principles of equality in the eternal worlds. Equality of dominion we cannot understand, by supposing each person that comes into the celestial glory is going to have the same number of worlds, and of kingdoms, and thrones set off to him that those have who have been in the celestial glory millions of ages—that he is going to have the same number of principalities and powers, and servants or angels to wait upon him to carry out his commands. An equality of dominion is that that I have already explained, each one inheriting all things, according to the laws God has ordained for celestial beings, but not directly or personally controlling only that which is placed under his management.

Much might be said upon this subject; it is glorious, and it is a principle I wish the Saints in Utah may all be enlisted in, that it may be sought by the nations afar off, when they come to learn that this people are the people of God, and they are governed by God’s laws; that they may see the order carried out before them in practice, that we may be looked to as a great light set upon the mountains, that will reflect upon all the face of the earth, and show the people the true order by practice, and then they will see the difference between God’s order of the possession of property, and the little, narrow, contracted orders established by man; for each one is grasping for all he can get, oppressing the widow and the fatherless, bearing down his neighbor, and grinding him down in distress, tyrannising over mankind, because he has riches at his command. The Lord has seen this order long enough, and it is a stink in His nostrils, and He wishes it driven away from the earth, and He has given us instructions to do it away, and if we want to do it away, let us begin among ourselves first. I rejoice in this principle, because it takes away the idea of having so many poor in our midst. You know in the days of Enoch the Lord placed the people upon the high places and mountains, and they flourished, and He blessed them, and called them Zion because there was no poor among them, and the Lord was in their midst.

Now the Latter Day Zion is to be built up according to the same pattern, so far as circumstances will permit, for we expect that the Zion which was built up by Enoch, that had no poor in it, will come down again at the commencement of the Millennium to meet the Zion here, according to the song in the Book of Covenants, “The Lord has brought up Zion from beneath, the Lord has brought down Zion from above,” and they shall gaze upon each other’s countenances, and see eye to eye. When we get there how sadly we should be disappointed, if we should look forward upon all the vast extent of the Zion of Enoch, and all the Zions God has taken out of His creations to heaven, and should see no poor among them; and then we should look upon Zion brought up from beneath, containing poor and rich; should we not be ashamed? especially when we reflected that the law of God had been among us; we should not have boldness to gaze upon their countenances, unless we came into the same order of things that existed among them.

Let us prepare ourselves for the coming of Enoch’s Zion, that we may have the same order of things among us that they had in the beginning. Then, again, it will be a glorious thing in many other respects. What is it that creates this great inequality that we naturally see in the world, in regard to the high and low? It is the difference of parentage in many respects. One man is so situated he can train up his children in all the learning of the day; he can take them into his carriage, and they can ride at their ease, and in their grandeur, while the poor and needy and destitute bow before them, or are trampled under their feet. There is no such thing as union there, because they were unequal to begin with. When the Saints have this established in their midst, you will see them all alike, where none can say that “such a person is richer than I am, and I have no right to associate with him.” Neither can the rich look upon those that are poor, and say, “My children shall not marry with the poor, and unite with them in their festivities, &c., because I have more property than they;” all these things will be done away, and the principle of equality will be established, and all will be stewards of the Lord’s property. That is what I wish to see—that when one family of children have the privilege of being educated, the rest should enjoy it; when one family are in possession of the good things of the earth, the rest should enjoy the same privileges also.

How do I feel, to take it home to myself? I long for the time to come when I can consecrate everything I have got; all the cattle I have; I have got some first-rate cattle, the Lord has prospered them. I want the time to come when I can consecrate every hoof of them; also my books, and the right and title I have to publish my works, also my wearing apparel, and my houses; they are not mine, and not being mine, I have no business with this property, only as the Lord sees fit to let me have it. When I have done this, if the Lord in His mercy will give me one team, five or ten teams, to make use of as His steward, I will endeavor to keep a record of that stewardship, of the losses and the gains of it, and will endeavor to render an account of it in time as well as in eternity, and an account of all things pertaining to it, and of my transactions in regard to it; for unless I am a wise and faithful steward in time, I never expect to inherit all things in eternity.

Having said this much, may the Lord bless you, and may His Holy Spirit be poured out upon you, and may your hearts be united to bring about this union; for if we unite ourselves together upon this principle, with all our hearts, mights, minds, and strength, laying aside all covetousness, there is not any power beneath the celestial kingdom that is able to prevail against us; we will prosper in all things, and the Lord will make us the richest of all people that have been upon the face of the earth for many generations, and He will bless our basket and our store, and increase and multiply the flocks and the herds in the fields, and cause them to flourish exceedingly, and make us mighty; and when we go forth He will make the nations to tremble before us, because His power and glory will be with us when we are doing His will and are united in one.

Union of the Saints, etc.

Heber C. Kimball

A discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, delivered at the Special Conference in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, August 13, 1853.

The preaching we have had by brother Joseph Young, is the kind I love. It is very unlike the mixed up preaching of the world; but it is music to my ears; there are no jars nor discord when we hear the sounds of the glorious Gospel of the Son of God. It matters not to me what kind of an instrument it is played on, it is music to me and to you; but if you will tear in pieces the best and most perfect thing on the earth, it will not look well in that condition.

The Gospel and plan of salvation that I have embraced, is music to me; it is sweet to my body, and congenial to my spirit; and it is more lovely than any thing else I have ever seen since I have been in the world. I love it, and that is why I love this people better than any other people on God’s earth, because there was never a better people, that is, I am speaking of the majority of them; but if you take them as a whole, I do not know that you can find any worse—that is, there are some that will compare with the worst in the world for in and wickedness.

As brother Joseph said, so say I—Do not fear anything this side of hell, or that is in the east, west, north or south. I do not fear it any more than I do that the sun will fall from its position in the heavens, if this people will do just precisely as they are told. You know I preach upon this a great deal. The world considers it to be quite ridiculous for us to be of one heart, and of one mind. It is this union among those who are faithful “Mormons” that makes the world afraid of us; they fear us because we differ from the world. In the United States and in the old countries, they are divided into six or seven hundred different religious denominations, all disagreeing with each other; besides political and a thousand other kinds of divisions and differences, such as whiggery, democratism, socialism, which, in short, may all be summed up under the term, Devilism. This is not the policy of the Latter-day Saints. Jesus says, if you are not one, you are not mine. Let the Christian world who profess to believe in Jesus Christ, and in his Father, and in this book, the Bible, note that passage, “Except ye are one, ye are not mine.”

There is more oneness in this people, than in any people that ever lived upon the earth. There was not that oneness in the days of Jesus, that there is now, and I suppose there never has been since the days of Enoch. Because there was such a oneness among the people of Enoch, and they could not continue to be one, and live with the people in the same world, God took them and their city with a part of the earth to Himself, and they sailed away like one ship at sea separating from another.

Jesus says, “Except ye are one, ye are not mine.” And yet the Christian world take a course to justify themselves in division, in strife, in animosity, in quarreling, in envy, in jealousy, in war and bloodshed. And yet they say they are one: I say THEY LIE. A man that says it, lies to me, and he lies to God. I say this to all the world, and to those who are passing through the city as emigrants; if you profess to be disciples of Christ, and have hatred to us in your hearts, I say you lie; in the name of the Lord God Almighty I say it. Do you not think He will sustain me in it? Yes, and all His faithful followers will too; and those who desire to be the disciples of Christ and to be one, will gather together.

I referred to the days of Jesus; was there that union then, that might have been? Jesus said to the disciples, when the people turned away from him, “Will ye also go?” This he said to the Twelve. Many of the disciples forsook him. Even Peter, the chief Apostle, turned away from him when he was in the greatest trouble, and denied him with cursing and swearing.

In this day and age of the world, we profess to be one. Jesus said then, how often would I have gathered you together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not. He will do so now if you will let him; he will gather us together from the four quarters of the earth—I mean the Saints, the honest in heart, the elect of God; that they may become one, and lay aside their selfishness, their bickering, their murmuring and complaining, and everything of this nature.

If a man wants my ox, let him come and tell me so, and he shall have it; he need not quarrel with me about it; and if he robs me of it, I want him to enjoy the stolen property, if he can; for I will not quarrel about the foolish things of this world, for they will soon decay, and return to their mother earth, as you and I will.

Now, brethren and sisters, I will say to the emigrants who are passing through this city, and to the world at large, that it is our intention to become perfectly one in heart and mind. Have those who have separated themselves from this people prospered? They may have prospered for a season; but by and bye they become like a limb that is severed from the tree; they wither and vanish away; and all such will continue to do so from this time henceforth and forever. It is just as much impossible for a people to exist that withdraw from this Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as it is for a limb of a tree to live when it is severed from the body of the tree. Of this I am positive, because I know it. So I will say concerning the world and all the sects and denominations and kingdoms of the world, that oppose this work and people of God, they will wither in due time likewise, and they cannot help themselves.

When brother Joseph Smith lived, he was our Prophet, our Seer, and Revelator; he was our dictator in the things of God, and it was for us to listen to him, and do just as he told us. Now that appears very absurd in the eyes of the world; but they all say, if they had lived in the days of Peter, Moses, or Jesus, they would not have done as the people in those days did to them; but at the same time they would take their lives if they could, and do just like them.

We are the servants of God; we have been called of God through the ministry of that holy Prophet Joseph Smith, who received his authority through the ministry of holy angels. Now he was just as true a Prophet as Moses was, or as any Prophet that has ever been upon the earth; and we are just as much the authorized servants of God, as the Apostles and disciples in the days of Jesus Christ were, and I know it. And I bear testimony of it to the United States, and to the nations of the world. They say they do not believe it. What do I care whether they do or not? I know it, and God requires me to bear testimony of it, to be valiant in testimony to the truth of this work, and to preach the Gospel, and to lay before my brethren their duty.

Brother Joseph is gone, and now brother Brigham Young, the Governor of the Territory of Utah, is our Prophet, our leader, our Revelator; and it is for me and you to listen to him with all diligence, the same as we would listen to Joseph were he alive. Brother Brigham is his successor; his word is sacred; and if you do not observe it, it will not be well, and there is where I fear for you, brethren. I do not fear so much for myself as I do for you, because it will go hard with you, if you disobey his advice. There will many of you turn from the faith; you will turn your backs to us, and some will be guilty of shedding innocent blood, if you are not aware. This will be the result of apostacy. When that spirit attacks you, you will be led to do as other apostates have, who have turned from the Church of Christ.

Judas, when he lost the faith, received the power of the devil, and betrayed the Son of God into the hands of murderers. Joseph Smith in like manner was betrayed into the hands of wicked men, who took his life. He was betrayed by apostates, by men whom he once loved when they were in our midst, and had the Spirit of the Lord. We also would have been slain, if they could have got hold of us; but they were afraid to touch us; they knew it would be certain death to the man who lifted his heel against us. Just so now. I have got my old Gospel preparation laid up drying, preparing himself for action. Do I fear? No. I do not fear anything that lives on the earth, or that is in hell; Indians or anything else never will disturb us, the Saints, from this time to all eternity, if we will do precisely as we are told.

I do not speak of these things to establish myself as a Prophet, but I know what I say; I know you will prosper, and live in peace in the mountains of the Great Salt Lake, and be perfectly independent. You will have food and raiment, houses and lands, flocks and herds, and everything your hearts can desire, that there is in heaven and on earth, if you but do as you are told. If you will do this, you will think my words are very profitable to you, whether I am a Prophet or not. I am not saying anything but what my President has said time and time again. You will live in peace, and God will be your defence; and you will increase in knowledge, in power, in grace, and in every good thing that you can think of, or mention. I have said often, you may go and write blessings for yourselves, and insert every good thing you can think of, that is in heaven or on the earth, and it will all come to pass on your heads, if you do right.

What do I care for what the world says? I care no more about it than I do for the squalking of a goose. It is none of their business if I have a mind to be a Saint, and keep the commandments of God; and as you have heard it said, so say I—the time will come in which you will dwell in peace and safety; and when the time comes that you will go back to Jackson County, you will be independent, and live without any opposition at all. Can the Lord do it? Yes. All the people are in His hands, and He can turn the nations as I can an obedient horse. They are governed and controlled by the Almighty as much as we are. What can they do against us? Why nothing whatever, but if we do not do right they will be a scourge in the hands of God to scourge us, just as the Indians are at this time. There never would have been a disturbance if this people had done as they were told.

I am not speaking of the people in this city any more than of the people of other settlements. To my certain knowledge there is not a settlement in these mountains but were instructed by brother Brigham to build good forts and live in them; and on these conditions alone were volunteers permitted to go out and make new settlements.

Have any of them built forts? Tell of one settlement, if you please, excepting they commenced one in Iron County which remains unfinished yet. The Indians are now upon us, and our brethren are scattered off, three, four, and five families in a place, away off in this and in that direction, exposed to the Lamanites. They have been called into the city that they might be safe, and they are now teasing us, and wanting to go back again, and live in those exposed locations without a fort.

The Lord has made the Lamanites—the Indians, a scourge; but if this people will turn to and do just as they have been told, their wrath will be turned away in a short time, but not until the Lord God sees that this people are determined to do right. Upon the same principle that my wrath would be turned away from a child that repented under the rod of correction, so will the Lord’s wrath be turned away from His children when they repent, and go and do what they are told. A spirit of compassion seizes me the moment I see a repenting child; so it is with our heavenly Father. But the most of parents, when they tell their, children to do a thing, and happen to give them a little slap on the ear for disobedience, the next moment they are saying, “O my dear child, I am sorry, let me give you a piece of bread and butter.” Our Father in heaven does not do so, until he sees contrition of heart in His children, for their wrongs.

We live in the days of Prophets, Apostles, High Priests, and servants of God who have the Priesthood upon them, and I know it. Gentlemen, I have been a member of this Church near 23 years, and passed through the whole of the difficulties in Kirtland, Ohio, and Missouri. When brother Brigham and myself and others, with our families, left Kirtland to go to Missouri with Joseph Smith, we had to lie with our firelocks by our side. When we arrived in Missouri, the devil contrived to raise the armies of the wicked against us there; and all the Elders and male members that could be counted from the western boundaries of Missouri to Nova Scotia, were not more than 205 men. We went up to Missouri to reinstate our brethren who had been driven out of Jackson County. We went up near 1000 miles with our firelocks in our hands. Was there any fear in us? No. It never entered into our hearts, from the day we started to the time we returned again. I never saw the time but I could whip out twenty of the best men on earth.

I had a spirit on me as much superior to this earth, as the earth is superior to the degraded spirits of the wicked that dwell on its face. It was the Spirit of the Lord that stood by me, and diffused strength into my body, and into my limbs, until the very hair of my head felt all alive. Did they fear us in that upper country? Yes, they ran as though they were never going to stop in the world. We felt perfectly able to clear out that country to Nova Scotia, and we could have done it with 205 men, if the Lord God had commanded us, as the Gideonites did in days of old. Yes; 205 men, with the Spirit and power of God upon them, and their faces shining like the sun, it cannot be told what they could accomplish; neither can we form any conception of it.

Let us be as one person from this time henceforth, and do not let us suffer ourselves to become cold and stupid, but be Saints all the day long; and we shall build up the kingdom of God, and be prospered in all things we set our hands to do.

These are a few things I wanted to say; still there are many more things of great importance to us if we will only listen to them. One is, take care of your grain; for it is of more worth to you than gold and silver. I know you will see harder times before another harvest, than you have seen this season. Do you believe it? Did they believe it last year, when there were 15,000 bushels of wheat in the Tithing Office? No. When brother Brigham said the same thing last spring, to stir up the people to be careful of their grain, they said, “O no, brother Brigham, we cannot surely come to such scarcity as you foretell; look at the storehouse, it is full.” How much was there in the storehouse this harvest? There is not one bushel of grain of any kind, and I do not know that there will be.

There has been a great quantity thrashed out this harvest, but little of it has come into the public store, and the hands on the public works are obliged to live. If you go into the joiner’s shop, it is almost left desolate. If you go into the machine shops, and into the mason’s shop, they are the same; and yet there are thousands of bushels being thrashed out and ground into flour, and sold for from seven to ten dollars per hundred weight to the world—the emigrants who are passing through here yet—and at the same time the business on the public works stopped for want of it.

Brethren and sisters, please to look at this; you know I am telling you the truth, which is every day exhibited before your eyes.

The public ground here has to be inclosed before we can put forth a hand to build a Temple to the name of our God; and you are ready to feed everybody else under the heavens but the workmen. Have you turned from the Lord your God, and forgot His purposes? Think of it, you farmers!

I do not know but I am wearying the brethren, but these things were on my mind, and I have got a back load of them yet; I see them, and reflect upon them in my heart. O Lord God, what will become of us? Have the people forgotten thee and thy purposes, with the Holy Priesthood upon. them—with the sacred ordinances of God’s house upon them? Now think of it, brethren and sisters. There is enough, and we need never want bread; but if we do not take the right course, we are sure to see sorrow, and the greatest you have ever seen. Some of you never saw any in your lives. Those who were never without bread, and clothing, and good houses to dwell in, murmur the worst; and those who never had any troubles and trials since they have been in this Church, or since they have been on the earth, are the most ready to complain. This may appear strange doctrine to you, but you know it is true.

As to getting rich, why bless your souls, is not the earth the Lord’s and the fulness thereof? Are not the gold and precious metals in the mountains, in the dells, and in the cliffs of the earth, all the Lord’s? He created all; and the human family, with all the treasures of earth, are in His hand. They all belong to the Lord our God, and we are His people if we do His will. Are we not heirs to all these riches? Certainly we are; every son and daughter of Adam, who love, the great Father of our spirits and His Son Jesus Christ, and obeys the Gospel, and listens to him whom God has delegated as an Apostle and Prophet to counsel His people, I tell you that all this treasure is theirs, and the devils cannot help themselves. I am just as sure of it as I am that the sun will rise and set to-morrow. Do you believe it, brethren and sisters? Do you know it? Yes, you know it. Now if you ever expect to enjoy it, you have got to live for it, as individuals, independent of any other man or woman. You have got to live as independent Saints, and obey the will of God independently as it is taught, and laid before you from time to time. All that wish to be delivered from the scourge, and from afflictions, will have to rise up and do right to their God, and to each other, not as a Conference merely, but as a people, as the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am not going to command you to do it; but my advice is for you to do it. Rise up now, and do just as you are told, and you will see happy times.

I know there is a greater desire in this people for things that perish, for theatrical performances and dancings, than there is for the public interests of the Kingdom of God. Well, let us be Saints indeed, and show to the world that we are for God and for none else.

Among some people in the world it is popular to be a Christian; and among another class it is not popular; but it is popular with me to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; and then it is popular for me to do the will of the Holy Spirit.

A single man can accomplish more with the power of the Spirit of God, than this whole people can, if they will not do right. Do I fear anything? No; but if I have to bow down to the chastening rod, as I have already done many times in this Church, I will do it like a man of God. I have been driven five or six times, and yonder are my habitations, and they may rot there. And so have some of you been driven in like manner; and some of you never had one thing to trouble you in your lives. I am now well off; but if I have got to come to it again as I have in former times, I will round up my back to the burden, and make it as tough as a piece of sole leather, to bear what shall be laid upon me manfully, or else I will die. I have no fears upon that ground at all; but my prayers are, by night or by day, for the Lord to take me from the earth, rather than I should sin against Him, or against my brethren, or against our President Brigham Young. I have known him 30 years, and he and brother Joseph Smith have been comrades together; and better men never lived on the earth than they are; and you may tell the kings and rulers of the earth this, and the nations over which they preside, if you please. The reason why we would rather have him to be our Governor than any other man, is because he is the best man we are acquainted with.

I have lived in the State of New York, town of Bloomfield, Monroe County, right in the heart of the country where the ancient Lamanites, and other veterans, destroyed each other, root and branch; where the Book of Mormon was discovered in the hill of Cumorah. From among those rich hills the people are flocking to these mountains. Why? Because this is the richest place in the world.

The country adjacent to the Sweet Waters has actually become a rich gold mine. Talk about gold! The Lord can change any of the elements into gold as easy as He could change the water into wine.

I suppose I had better bring my disjointed remarks to a close. I feel first-rate; I feel like a soldier of Christ, like a man of God. I feel sometimes that I could take one of those mountains, and handle it as I could a foot-ball. Bless your souls! if you will only do as the Lord tells you through His delegated agent, who gives you the voice of God and the wisdom of God, I am not troubled at all. The question is asked many times, “Has brother Brigham got the Urim and Thummim?” Yes, he has got everything; everything that is necessary for him to receive the will and mind of God to this people. Do I know it? Yes, I know all about it; and what more do you want? That is true, gentlemen; I am one of his witnesses in the last days, and to bear testimony of the truth of “Mormonism.”

I say to the Saints, do not look upon us as perfect beings; notwithstanding, if you are perfect yourselves, then look for it in us, and not until then. If any of you are perfect, we want you to come here that we may see such beings, and know how to model ourselves after you; just as I take a piece of clay and shape it after another model more beautiful still.

Some of you think you have passed through awful tribulations in leaving your mothers and friends. I was glad when I got away from mine, because they persecuted me, and lied about me, and persecuted my brethren; so I was glad to get away from them. But they will see the day when they will be glad to come to brother Heber, and say, “Let me black your boots, clean your horse, or drive your carriage,” &c.

You talk about carriages; good heavens! I am just as sure of enjoying these blessings as I am of enjoying anything on this earth. If you do not believe it, read that book (the Bible), which speaks about the armies of heaven, and about horsemen and chariots, and men armed with swords, and all kinds of instruments of music; it is all spoken of in this book, and we will enjoy it, while those who seek our destruction, and all sinners, will go to hell.

All this enjoyment of the good things of heaven and earth will come by a separation of the righteous and the wicked. There was a time when an eruption took place in heaven, and Michael and his armies arose, and cast out the rebellious portion of the angels from heaven. Don’t you think they got tired of contention, and broils, and tumults? Yes, so they universally agreed to cast it out. We will get tired of it too, in these last days, and we will make a separation between Saint and Sinner. The Sectarian priests have written and preached about forty years ago, and have proved to their readers, and to their hearers, that there would be a separation, and the sheep would be placed on the right hand and the goats on the left; I suppose the goats mean those that are not good for much, they bear no wool.

I guess I had better stop speaking. May the Lord God bless you for ever; and may union, peace, righteousness, and salvation be with you for ever and ever. Amen.

Common Salvation

Orson Hyde

A discourse by President Orson Hyde, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, September 24, 1853.

Being called upon this morning to occupy a portion of the time, I gladly arise to do so.

I am not in the habit of making many apologies, for I intend to give you the best I have on hand, and also such as may be given me, during the remarks I may make.

While I attempt to edify you upon some of the principles of salvation and eternal life, I desire an interest in your prayers, that I may speak, not according to the wisdom that man deviseth, but according to that which cometh down from above.

As a foundation for some remarks that I will make, I will read a portion of the Epistle of Jude, 3d verse:—“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the Saints.”

Were I capable this morning of addressing you upon subjects that are not understood by you, that you do not comprehend, there would remain a doubt in your minds with regard to the truthfulness of what I say; but if I address you upon subjects with which you are familiar, impressing them upon your minds perhaps more forcibly than they have been for some time past—if I refresh your minds with familiar things, you will then know and understand.

The old book, the Bible, which I have read so many times, does not lose its interest by once or twice perusing, but I take it up and read it over and over again, and my mind is refreshed; which is a matter of satisfaction and comfort to me. So it is with the principles of our religion; though we have often heard them, yet we desire to hear them still, and they are of that peculiar nature that they do not lose their interest to those who are seeking for eternal life.

Jude speaks of a common salvation; that it was not only necessary to write unto them of the common salvation, but while he was doing so, that he should exhort them to contend for the faith once delivered to the Saints. Now I know it is too often the case, when we speak of salvation we speak of a state of glory to be attained in the eternal world; that the matters and affairs of this world are of but little consequence, of little importance, but we are looking yonder in the heavens for our reward, for our everlasting inheritance.

I look at it in this light. The husbandman may plant seed in the earth, but if he all the time looks to the golden harvest, and pays no attention to the cultivation of the young plants on their progress to perfection, he will not reap the reward he anticipated. Then it becomes necessary for him, and it is to his interest to attend to the cultivation of the plant in its progressive stages, and encourage its growth.

Just so it is with us. It is for us to attend to the things that are present; the things that are past we are to forget, particularly those things that are of an unpleasant character; and the things that are in future are not in our hands, and subject to our control, but they are in the hands of the Almighty, and with Him they are secured. It is the present, then, with which we have to do—with the things that are immediately before us; that is, I believe, the common salvation. I do not pretend to say what the Apostle had his eye particularly fixed upon, but I shall pursue this subject as it appears unto me.

Another thing I will suggest in the outset. It is often the case that we hear men and women talk about temporal things, and about spiritual things. What are temporal things, and what are spiritual things? Can you tell me what spiritual things are? Says one, “It is a joyful feeling, that buoys us above the cares and anxieties of this world. Spiritual things are our hope of a glorious inheritance in the Kingdom of God in the future. Temporal things are the things we eat, drink, wear, and use in divers ways, to shelter and sustain this mortal body while it remains a tabernacle for our spirits.”

I look at temporal and spiritual things in the same point of light; they are to me all spiritual; I know no difference. The hand that has prepared a place in the celestial kingdom for them that are worthy of it, has also formed the earth and caused it to produce food for every living thing. We behold, in the starry firmament, the worlds that are revolving continually around us, which are made by the same Omnipotent hand, and they are all His, and they are all spiritual, because they are as eternal as God Himself, for there can be no annihilation of matter; consequently they are eternal; and nothing we may conceive or imagine of more refined substances can do more than continue for ever.

Everything God has created and made, even the hairs of our heads that fall to the ground, do not escape His notice. The Almighty has not organized matter as a mere plaything, of a temporary existence, and then plunge it into the regions of utter annihilation; but everything He has done is like Himself, Eternal, and everything eternally witnesses the goodness of the Supreme Ruler, for all His works shall praise Him. If His works are to perish, where is the monument of His labor? There will be none. What He does is eternal, and remains an eternal witness of what He has done, and so His works eternally praise Him.

But we want to come to this common salvation. It is said somewhere, whether in the Bible or some other place, I do not pretend to say; but if it is not in the Bible it is none the less true, that “self preservation is the first law of nature.” I have reflected this morning a short time upon our condition. I contemplate the circumstances under which the Pioneers came to this valley—the circumstances that attended the early settlements and exertions made here to procure the necessaries of life.

I was not one among the honored company that first led the way to this distant region, that first plowed up the sterile soil of this valley, but I was engaged in some other country. Indeed while Pioneers were on their way to this land—while they were engaged in that arduous enterprise, I was perhaps upon the banks of the Danube, or might possibly be in England, or in Asia, I do not now recollect where I was; but I was in those eastern regions, bearing my testimony perhaps among the Austrians, Russians, or Turks, among their consuls and agents, bearing my testimony to them of the things to come. Perhaps some in those nations may now remember that an humble servant of God at a certain time bore his testimony among the people in that country, which is the most beautiful of God’s creation, spreading out in valley or plain, and which perhaps is now laid desolate, and drenched in human blood.

I was elsewhere when this valley was settled. How was it? Behold, when they arrived here, all they had to subsist upon, until they raised it from the soil, was in their wagons. There were no crops to come to; there was nothing provided to cheer them at the end of their long and toilsome journey; and the skeletons of cattle might be seen walking to and fro, without anything provided to feed them upon through a long winter. And then, when they had plowed up the soil, and sowed seed in the earth, and the fields began to show an evidence of a future supply, the crickets came in millions from the mountains, and nearly devoured all that grew; everything that germinated in the shape of food for man was eaten by the insects.

But before they had completed the work of destruction, the hand of Providence prepared agents, and sent them to destroy the destroyer; a circumstance that was rare, one that was never known to exist before, and never since to any extent—behold, the gulls came in swarms, and as clouds and eat up the crickets, and checked them in their destructive career; and there was just enough saved to feed the hungry with a scanty morsel.

There are many before me this morning who can no doubt remember well when their meal bags were perfectly empty, with only a distant prospect of their being replenished; and when a cow was slaughtered, rare as it was, they eat everything; even the hide was boiled, dressed, and eaten, and everything else, external and internal, that possibly could be eaten was eaten; there was nothing lost.

One man said to me, “I labored hard under the pangs of hunger to put up a little adobie cabin and prepare to live, and at the same time my wife and children, pale with want, were ranging the hills and benches to find thistles and roots to eat, which we boiled in the milk of the remaining cows the wolves had not eaten.”

Those who have come here since the Valleys have become a little fattened, think it hard if they cannot get what they want, and immediately enjoy a fulness with those who have borne the burden and heat of the day. They think it hard if they have to pass through a close place, and have to struggle a little to obtain the comforts of life. But look back to the early settlements of this place, when nothing but destruction stared its inhabitants in the face, what surety had they from the savage that was in their. doors and in their tents? Here was the hostile and blood-thirsty savage, prowling around, and the early settlers knew not what hour he might pounce upon them; they were out of doors; they had not a house to live in, or to form a defence, much less a fort to protect them, until they were able to throw up something of a temporary character to shield them from the attacks of the wild man of the mountains.

This is a little of the early history of this settlement. We have prospered; we have had accessions to our numbers; to be sure we have had trouble and difficulty with the savages in various ways, but in the midst of it all we have arisen. from the germ, and the tree has grown up, and begins to shoot forth its branches.

It is not the inhabitants of the little settlement in Salt Lake Valley alone that are now embraced within the walls of this Tabernacle; but three hundred miles to the south, and two hundred miles to the north, large settlements have sprung up. In the midst of these circumstances, the hand of God has been with us as a people, and prospered our labors abundantly; and I feel proud to meet you this morning in such comfortable circumstances; you all appear comfortably clad, and the bloom of health and the smile of contentment sit triumphantly upon your countenances. The hand of the Almighty is with you, to cheer and gladden you in the midst of all difficulties, and the praise is due unto Him, for He has blessed our labors, and enabled us to acquire these comforts we enjoy; and let me say, they are the staff and bulwark of our common salvation, for it is our lives we wish to prolong on the earth.

Why do we wish to do so in this toilsome and troublesome world? Why not close our mortal career, and our spirits go home to God who gave them? Because we have not done our work. It is said the wicked shall not live half their days; if they did they would only multiply their race until the principles of wickedness would become universally diffused. The Lord will give to the righteous the long end of the cord, for they shall live out their days. Then I say to the Saints, be just and true to each other, and to your God, and you will live out your days, and complete the work assigned you.

I will represent it in another point of light. Suppose a man is sent to England, or to the Continent, to Asia, Egypt, to any part of Africa, to the western islands, or to the islands of the Pacific to fulfil a mission, and he returns before he has completed it; who is ready to greet him? who stands ready to welcome him, that understands his true position? He has not done his duty; he has not fulfilled his mission, and accomplished the work he was sent to do; and he returns, how? Filled with the Spirit of God? No, but with the spirit of darkness; and his testimony is powerless; he feels he has not done his duty like a faithful servant.

We are all on a mission to this world. We came from yonder bright sphere, and each of us have our lots assigned us; and now if we can accomplish our mission, when we return to the bosom of our Father and God, would you not suppose we shall be hailed with one universal welcome? Yes. “Ah!” says one, “I was an hungered and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger and ye took me in; naked and ye clothed me; I was sick and ye visited me; I was in prison and ye came unto me. Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” This is the welcome.

Then it is for us to act well our part, and perform our mission faithfully, with fidelity to God and to one another, while we are permitted to dwell upon the earth. If we should not act well our part, and go home to the world of spirits, who will be ready to receive us, to extend to us the welcome hand? Every mouth is silent; no songs of praise greet the ear, or shouts of gladness to bless the heart, that a valiant soldier who has retained his laurels would receive. The unfaithful one has lost his glory, and is shorn of his laurels. What will be said to him? “Inasmuch as you knew your master’s will, and did not do it, you shall be beaten with many stripes.” He has gone to another society; he is not permitted to mingle with the righteous, but he must seek an asylum in another quarter.

Then remember we are missionaries sent to this lower world to accomplish a work. What is the work we are sent to accomplish? In the beginning it was said to our first parents, Go forth, and multiply and replenish the earth. I have been looking about, and have seen how anxious many of our farmers are to improve their stock of cattle; to make them of better blood, and thus all the time be improving; but I very seldom have heard of man seeking to improve his own species. I wish you to think of that for a moment. I have seldom heard that subject agitated, when indeed it is the most important one that was ever investigated.

Let us go a little into the philosophy of this, and see if it can be done, as much so as we can improve any other portion of the animal creation. It is said we bear the image of God, and now shall we dwindle down to the physical and mental degeneracy of the monkey? Shall we suffer our race to dry up like a parched reed? Let us look at this matter. The question is before you to investigate and understand.

Look around upon all the ranks of mankind, and we see different races some of a high order of intellect, and some low and grovelling, among all the different grades and classes of the human family. Do you suppose it is so in the spirit world? These earthly tabernacles are merely temporary houses for them to dwell in—moving tabernacles; and there are thousands and tens of thousands in the spirit world that have yet to come and take bodies here; and there are different grades of men. Some are of a high order of intellect, and others are low; some are more noble and generous, and some are less so; they all wish to take tabernacles in this world.

I will illustrate how it is possible to improve our own race. Suppose there comes into the community a noted thief and villain; where will he find a home? He will seek for a man possessing a kindred spirit; with that man he takes up his abode, for he does not find the son of peace there, but the son of villainy.

On the other hand suppose a righteous man comes into the community, would it not be natural for him to make his abode with a righteous man? for no other society would be at all congenial to him. The words of the Savior chime in with this idea. Said he to his Apostles, “And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.”

Will that thief and villain go and call upon a righteous man? The atmosphere that surrounds that devoted family is too scorching for him; he is glad to escape from it.

Now then, how shall we improve our own race? Evil communications corrupt good manners. This is as true a saying as it is common. Let every family, every parent, man and woman, set up the standard of purity and righteousness in their own families, and suffer no corrupt principle to lodge in the mind, and never practise it, but by strict integrity and righteousness maintain an atmosphere that is congenial to the good and great.

So, when those spirits come to take bodies, where will the noble and high order of them go? Will they take bodies that have come through a low and degraded parentage? No, no more than the righteous man will take up his abode with the vile and wicked. Where will he go? “Why,” says that noble spirit, that is swelling with light and intelligence, “I will take a body through an honorable parentage; I will have a body that will correspond with my mind; I will go to the place where purity and righteousness dwell.”

Where do the spirits of a lower grade go? Among the lowest, and uncultivated, where the cultivation of the principles of virtue and integrity is in part or entirely neglected. In this way the sins of the fathers are answered upon their children to the third and fourth generation.

Do good spirits want to partake of the sins of the low and degraded? No; but they will stay in heaven until a way is opened for purity and righteousness to form a channel in which they can come, and take honorable bodies in this world, and magnify their calling. Let us take that course, and if we do not draw the brightest spirits to honor our generations, it is because I do not understand, and declare unto you, the principles of true philosophy in correctness on this subject.

Try this, and your offspring will be the fairest specimens of the work of God’s hand. If the servants of God will maintain the principles of holiness and integrity, they can then have more than one wife, and by that means you can draw in your train more of those spirits that will glorify the God of Israel.

Let me bring it right home to you. Suppose your children were about to go from you to some distance—would you not feel anxious they should fall into good company, into generous hands? Yes. So, when our Father in heaven, who is the Father of the spirits of all flesh, (no mother up there, is there? I do not know that a man can produce his own kind without the agency of woman; I know of no such law in nature,) sends spirits to earth, when they leave Him, is He not anxious they should fall into good hands? Yes. He is anxious they should have an honorable birth, and glorify His name in the flesh, reflecting honor on His character and dignity in heaven. And if there is not much said about the mother, if they honor the Father, the mother will borrow her glory from the father, it will come to her through that channel, and it is a legitimate one.

The parent has a desire that the recreant child may do well, at the same time his good desires and hopes for his welfare are weakened by despair; you commit him to the care and keeping of kind Providence; it gives you sorrow, it pains you that he will not be good, but you cannot help it, for he will not listen to the counsels of a kind parent. So it is with our heavenly Father. He wishes the spirits born to him in the eternal world to do well when they come here to take bodies. If some are not so loyal, so true and faithful as others, yet He wishes them to do well, but at the same time they must pursue their own course, prove themselves, and then receive the reward due to their works done in the body.

Now then, let us commence to improve our race. You know, to one there is given five talents, to another two, and to another one, &c. Let us improve upon the talents we have received—upon every power, ability and trust that has been committed to us. If we do not, the talents we receive may be taken from us. After all these things I have told you about improving our own race, self-preservation is the first law of nature. I have told you about the people in the Valley, about the productions thereof, how it was in the beginning of its settlement.

I wish to come to our present condition, and I want to speak justly and correctly, and if I do not, I know there is a power here that will correct me, and will not fail to do it. If I say anything that is far out of the way, it should be corrected, and I hope I may ever stand in that relation whenever I commit an error, that it may be corrected before it be too late.

This season the Lord has blessed us with abundance. I told you that all things are spiritual to me, and when I talk about potatoes, hay, wheat, &c., I am talking about things that are given to us of God. Suppose the Lord should give to me the gift of tongues, it would be the gift of God. On the other hand, suppose He should give me a loaf of bread when I am hungry, which shall I prize the most? It is all the gift of God. Then with regard to self-preservation being the first law of nature. When our brethren have a good crop given to them by the hand of Providence, coupled with their own industry, they are anxious to sell it. They want to buy many things, and press it into market, and sell it for comparatively half its value, so crazy are they to sell it.

They are like some men, when they get a few dimes in their pockets it burns them as it were, and they must spend their money, because they cannot rest until it is spent; taking comfort from the idea, “O well, we will get along the best way we can;” and when they have spent the last dime they are hard up sure enough. This is the case with many of our friends whose labors the Lord has blessed, and richly repaid them for their toil by a bounteous harvest, and now they are anxious to get rid of it.

When we descend to the matter of dollars and cents, it is also spiritual; God made the metal of which they are made; He put it in the earth. We came down so, to accomodate ourselves to the understandings of all, for I told you I should talk about things you know, and not about things that you cannot comprehend. I will venture to say, when I talk about dollars and cents, you will all understand me. For instance, you sell your hay at ten dollars per ton, your wheat at a dollar and a half per bushel, and all your other products in the same ratio to the stranger, or any body else that will buy it from you, you are so anxious to get rid of it. But by and by, when your poor brethren come in, and have not means to buy that which they must subsist upon, but are under the necessity by days’ work first to earn capital before they can buy the farmer’s produce—by the time they get means, the price is raised from fifty to one hundred per cent.

Your own brethren, who stand by you in summer and in winter, in adversity and in prosperity; your own brethren, who roam the world over to bring recruits to strengthen your forces, and make your defences still more invulnerable; when they come fainting from the field of their labors, you make them pay an hundred per cent. more for your produce than the stranger that passes through your country. Is that right? Will God bless an order of things of that kind? Try it, and if you don’t dwindle into monkeys, you will dwindle into something more hideous still.

What is to be done? Shall not the stranger be fed? Most certainly. Where rests the difficulty then? If you will only sell to your poor brethren next spring at the same price you will now sell to the stranger, there is no difficulty—I have nothing more to say, but I will be perfectly quiet upon this matter. If you will not do this, raise the price to the stranger, to the same standard you will exact from your poor brethren next spring. If you will do this, you will do right.

This is the common salvation that I wanted to speak to you upon. The scales of justice should be hung upon an even balance. Who are the best able to pay? Your poor brethren, who have hardly a pittance left when they arrive here—who have nothing to bless and comfort their souls and bodies with, or those who come backed up with resources inexhaustible?

Says one, “Do you calculate to go upon the principle that he who has the most shall pay the most?” No; but he shall pay just as much in the fore part of the year, as those do in the latter part of it. I do not see any injustice in this. You now sell your hay at from eight to ten dollars per ton. Next spring, When your poor brethren who have come from Denmark, England, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and the islands of the sea, with their cattle poor, and in the winter and spring shivering and perishing around your stack yards, what will you charge these poor fellows for hay? Twenty-five dollars per ton, when in the early part of the season you sold it for ten to the stranger. When it has become scarce because of the draft made upon it in the fore part of the fall at that low price, you then exact more than double from your brethren.

How can you answer for this to the Gods who gave you a being? I will leave you to tell your own story. I say, make your prices so that they continue the same the year round, both in times of scarcity and in times of plenty. What is food for one is food for another.

By taking this course you may perhaps compel a little more money to be left in the Valley. What will be done with it? Why, money, like every other stream, will seek its own level. The water courses here find their own level. Suppose there is more money left in the Valley than we actually need—where will it go to? It will find its own level. By and by the land we occupy will come into market, and then where goes the money? Into the treasury of the United States. Has the Government lost anything? No. Has the consumer? No; he has had the value of his money. The producer has gained, but he has gained no more than his just due for encountering the danger he is exposed to, and the labor he must perform in raising produce in the shape of grain, and stock in an Indian country. When his boys go out to herd the cattle they have to be guarded against the attacks of the savage. When the producer goes into the field to labor, he is liable to be shot down by the Indian. In the midst of dangers they produce the necessaries of life, and yet they will sell their products for a mere song.

“Why,” says one, “do you wish to oppress anybody by increasing the price of the staple articles of life to the injury of the purchaser?” That is not the design. But I will tell you what it is; men who pass through here may be thankful to get them on any terms. If they had come eight years ago they would have found a waste howling wilderness. What would they have given then for a bushel of wheat? Almost any price. Who has contended with the obstacles to making things as accessible as they are now? The producers, and they are entitled to the benefit arising from their labors.

We do not wish to oppress any person, but we wish to bring every body to one standard price. We want to see the brethren who come here cold and hungry, have as good a chance as those who come in with their abundance. I am glad we have sufficient to spare to feed the stranger, the soldier, who is the right arm of the nation’s defence; I am glad to see them share the bounties of Providence; but I say, let the scale of justice hang upon an even balance.

Do I want any person oppressed, and taken advantage of? No. But I want free trade and sailors’ rights. I want even handed justice all round; then I will be satisfied; for this is the common salvation. But if one party is favored more than another, it is a particular salvation. Good wheat, fine flour, beef, butter, cheese, and vegetables are good ingredients to form a common salvation upon; they prolong our lives, lengthen out our days, that we may perform our mission, and do well our work while we are upon the earth, and not die before we have lived out our days, and fully performed what is designed we should.

Now I did not preach exactly so at Dry Creek and Mountainville, but I preached nearly in this way, and when I had done I told them not to be in a hurry to sell their grain, but keep it and try to maintain an equilibrium in the market all the year through. When I had got through, I believed they would do as I told them; for they saw the wisdom of it, and everybody will act according to it only him who says, “I want to live, and I care not if all the rest go to the devil.”

What an unenviable situation a man must be in to live himself, and see everybody else destroyed! What a glory it would be to him! He could then exclaim, like Alexander Selkirk,

I am monarch of all I survey, My right there is none to dispute.

It is a glory I never want to have.

The religious world scandalize the Deity by saying He is quite alone. I once learned a piece to repeat on the Fourth of July. It began like this—

When time was not, e’er suns and planets shone; When God their mighty Maker lived alone; When men, the high born offspring of the sky, Lived but in visions to the Eternal’s eye; T’was then that freedom held her bright abode In cloudless glory in the mind of God.

I do not believe God was ever alone; for He has said Himself, it is not good for man to be alone; and if it is not good, I am sure He will not be alone.

We are created in His image and likeness, and I think He has been moving on the same track we are in, and we shall acquire the same experience if we listen to His revelations. “What!” do you suppose He has lived in the flesh?” Paul says, we have not a God that cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Why? Because he has felt about the same as we do. The other day when brother Hyde was mixing mortar, a person came along and said, “Brother Hyde, is it possible that I see you mixing mortar?” “Yes,” I replied, and when I stand up yonder, and see you poor fellows mixing mortar, I can sympathise with you.” I should hate to enlist under a General, and follow him to the field of battle if he had never been there; I should want him to have a little experience, and then I could follow him with some degree of confidence.

I have spoken to you freely on the common salvation. And while the Spirit is upon me, I would charge you to practise it; to set your standard prices now, and maintain them to your brethren in the spring. If you have not already set them high enough to meet your ambitious views, raise them until they will, and there let them stand. That is my advice, and who is going to be injured by it? No person. Who is going to be benefited by it? The producer, who has to go into the field with his life in one hand, and the implement of husbandry in the other. If this is done, the hand of God will strengthen the hands of the producer, and he will live in time and throughout eternity; and we shall have abundance, and rejoice in the kingdom of our God.

Contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the Saints. But if I were to branch out upon that, I should detain you too long. I will therefore leave it for another occasion, or for some one who is better able to handle it than myself.

May God bless us, and save us in His kingdom. Amen.

Saints Subject to Temptation, etc.

Brigham Young

A discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 17, 1853.

I will embrace the present opportunity for making a few remarks, as I expect to leave this city before another Sabbath, to be gone several weeks.

You have heard good instructions, counsel, and advice from Amasa Lyman and Charles C. Rich; I desire to profit by their sayings, and I hope this people will.

We see men before us who are old Elders in this Church, veterans in the kingdom of God; I hope they will live many years to grace our ranks Those who have been in the Church from the beginning are men and women who have paid attention to their faith, and to the doctrine of sound common sense; they have been good scholars, and by this time must understand tolerably well what they believe. They must also be schooled in the study of man, and in matters which pertain to nations and kingdoms, and in circumstances which concern us as individuals.

The doctrine we have heard is good; we have listened to principles that pertain to life and salvation; and I repeat again what you have heard often, “Secure for yourselves first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness.” When you have done this, every good principle, every good thing, every great endowment, every peaceful influence, and all that can be enjoyed by celestial beings are and will be yours.

We may be within the pale of the kingdom of God on earth, yet we are liable to be overcome of evil. There are many spirits who have gone abroad in the world, and men are overcome by false spirits, and led astray from the path of truth. They will begin by doing some evil thing out of sight, and say, “O, it is nothing, it is a mere trifle, and the Lord is merciful, and forgiveth sin.” The sins which are considered trifles lay the foundation for greater evils, and expose men to be tempted, and buffeted by Satan, and they will be overcome little by little, until by and by they are over-taken in a fault which is more aggravating in the sight of justice, which lays the foundation for another trial more severe, and to be buffeted more by the devil, for they lay themselves more liable to his power. We might refer you to many instances of Elders of Israel becoming victims to evil—but I pass over that disagreeable matter.

God never bestows His grace upon an individual without trying it in that person, to see if the compound is good. Men do not realize this, nor think upon it as they ought; if they did they would be more careful never to speak against the Father, against the Son, against any heavenly being, or against any being on the earth.

Brethren, seek first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness, then all the blessings that brother Amasa anticipates enjoying will be yours. But no man or woman can enjoy them unless they have first secured to themselves the kingdom of heaven—unless they have secured to themselves eternal life.

Our bodies are satisfied with plenty of food, and we have property around us of various kinds, which satisfies our temporal wants for the moment. But, as I told you some time since, the king seated upon his throne wearing a glittering crown, and surrounded with all the glory of his greatness to-day, to-morrow may be numbered with the beggar, and his crown given to another. To-day we possess riches, and to-morrow they may take the wings of the morning and leave us poor indeed.

How long shall we enjoy the happiness we now enjoy, in coming to this house to worship the Lord, and in associating in other capacities with our dear friends? Perhaps by another Sabbath many of us may be laid away, if not in the graveyard, upon a bed of sickness. We cannot trust to the certainty of mortal possessions; they are transitory, and a dependence upon them will plunge into hopeless disappointment all those who trust in them. When men act upon the principles which will secure to them eternal salvation, they are sure of obtaining all their hearts’ desire, sooner or later; if it does not come to-day, it may come to-morrow; if it does not come in this time, it will in the next.

If people would contemplate the stupendous works of God, and be honest and candid in their investigations, there is much to be learned that would show them how comparatively worthless are earthly things. We see the spangled vault of the starry heavens stretched over us; but little is known of the wonders of the firmament. Astronomers have, by their researches, discovered some general facts that have proved useful and instructing to the scientific portion of mankind. The phenomena of the motions of the heavenly bodies, and their times and seasons are understood pretty accurately. But who knows what those distant planets are? Who can tell the part they play in the grand theatre of worlds? Who inhabits them, and who rules over them? Do they contain intelligent beings, who are capable of the happiness, light, glory, power, and enjoyments that would satisfy the mind of an angel of God? Who can tell these things? Can they be discovered by the light of science? They cannot. Let every intelligent person seriously contemplate this subject, and let the true light of reason illuminate the understanding, and a sound judgment inspired by the Spirit of Christ be your guide, and what will be your conclusions? They will be what mine are—that the Lord Almighty reigns there; that His people are there; and that they are, or have been, earths to fulfil a similar destiny to the one we inhabit; and there is eternity; and as Enoch of old said—“Thy curtains are stretched out still.”

Can any of the astronomers in the world point out the kingdom or the world where God is not? where He does not reign? Can a kingdom be found, by worldly wisdom, study, or by any means that can be employed, over which He does not sway His sceptre? If such a kingdom exists, I will acknowledge that the doctrine I taught you the other day is incorrect; and besides that, you will have to blot out some of the writings of the ancient Scriptures.

I wish to make an application of this, with the sayings we have heard from brother Amasa Lyman to-day.

We talk about true riches—about the eternal attributes of the Deity—and about that which He has given to the children of men. I also heard something said the other day about sanctification. This doctrine I heard taught many years ago, and I perceive that men do not fully understand these principles; even the best of the Latter-day Saints have but a faint idea of the attributes of the Deity.

Were the former and Latter-day Saints, with their Apostles, Prophets, Seers, and Revelators collected together to discuss this matter, I am led to think there would be found a great variety in their views and feelings upon this subject. without direct revelation from the Lord. It is as much my right to differ from other men, as it is theirs to differ from me, in points of doctrine and principle, when our minds cannot at once arrive at the same conclusion. I feel it sometimes very difficult indeed to word my thoughts as they exist in my own mind, which, I presume, is the grand cause of many apparent differences in sentiment which may exist among the Saints.

What I consider to be virtue, and the only principle of virtue there is, is to do the will of our Father in heaven. That is the only virtue I wish to know. I do not recognize any other virtue than to do what the Lord Almighty requires of me from day to day. In this sense virtue embraces all good; it branches out into every avenue of mortal life, passes through the ranks of the sanctified in heaven, and makes its throne in the breast of the Deity. When the Lord commands the people, let them obey. That is virtue.

The same principle will embrace what is called sanctification. When the will, passions, and feelings of a person are perfectly submissive to God and His requirements, that person is sanctified. It is for my will to be swallowed up in the will of God, that will lead me into all good, and crown me ultimately with immortality and eternal lives.

There are numbers of men who can say much with regard to their faith in, and exalted views of, “Mormonism;” they could converse continually about it. In a word, if “Mormonism” is not my life, I do not know that I have any. I do not understand anything else, for it embraces everything that comes within the range of the understanding of man. If it does not circumscribe everything that is in heaven and on earth, it is not what it purports to be.

I will inform you how I became a “Mormon”—how the first solid impression was made upon my mind. When I undertook to sound the doctrine of “Mormonism,” I supposed I could handle it as I could the Methodist, Presbyterian, and other creeds of Christendom, which I had paid some considerable attention to, from the first of my knowing anything about religion. When “Mormonism” was first presented to me, I had not seen one sect of religionists whose doctrines, from beginning to end, did not appear to me like the man’s masonry which he had in a box, and which he exhibited for a certain sum. He opened the main box from which he took another box; he unlocked that and slipped out another, then another, and another, and thus continued to take box out of box until he came to an exceedingly small piece of wood; he then said to the spectators, “That, gentlemen and ladies, is free masonry.”

I found all religions comparatively like this—they were so deficient in doctrine that when I tried to tie the loose ends and fragments together, they would break in my hands. When I commenced to examine “Mormonism,” I found it impossible to take hold of either end of it; I found it was from eternity, passed through time, and into eternity again. When I discovered this, I said, “It is worthy of the notice of man.” Then I applied my heart to wisdom, and sought diligently for understanding.

But the natural wisdom and judgment which were given me from my youth, were sufficient to enable me to easily comprehend the discrepancies and lack in the creeds of the day.

“Mormonism”is all in all to me; everything else in the shape of false government and false religion will perish in the due time of the Lord, or else the ancient Prophets have been mistaken. If death is not destroyed, and him that hath the power of it, and every man and woman who are not prepared to enjoy a kingdom where angels administer, then much of the Bible is exceedingly erroneous. Every kingdom will be blotted out of existence, except the one whose ruling spirit is the Holy Ghost; and whose king is the Lord. The Lord said to Jeremiah the Prophet, “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hands of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.” The clay that marred in the potter’s hands was thrown back into the unprepared portion, to be prepared over again. So it will be with every wicked man and woman, and every wicked nation, kingdom, and government upon earth, sooner or later; they will be thrown back to the native element from which they originated, to be worked over again, and be prepared to enjoy some sort of a kingdom.

Then where will be their glory—their lands—their silver and gold—their precious diamonds and jewels—and all their fine pictures, and precious ornaments? In the hands of the Saints. Will the wicked inherit them? No; they will be disinherited.

I do not wonder at the ancients marvelling at the wickedness and unbelief of the people. I do not wonder at the words of the Savior, which will apply to the people generally as well now as then, when he said, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.” This generation are seeking eagerly after that which will perish in their hands; they are madly rushing forward, hazarding their eternal all, to secure transitory possessions, which, when they think they have obtained them, are not fully satisfactory; they have grasped at the walls of an airy phantom, and sacrificed an enduring substance. How foolish, in the eyes of the truly intelligent, the pursuits of the wicked appear. They set their hearts’ affections upon that which is not durable, seeking happiness where misery and all its attendant effects are sure to be realized. Jesus said to his disciples, when he was about to leave them, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Who wishes to overvalue earthly things as they are now constituted? They are made to be changed, they are subject to decay. But the earth will not be utterly destroyed; the elements of which it is composed will not be annihilated, but they will be changed. Neither shall those be consumed who can abide the day of the Lord Almighty, and stand in His presence. The earth in that great day will be renovated—cleansed from wickedness—purified from dross, sanctified, and prepared for the habitation of the Saints of the Most High.

On the other hand, the wicked shall be consumed with the Spirit of His mouth, and destroyed by the brightness of his coming. The gold, the silver, the precious stones, and all that is desirable to beautify the heaven of the Saints, will be made pure, and fit for them to handle. it is the misapplied intelligence God has given us that makes all the mischief on the earth. That intelligence He designed to carry out the purposes of His will, and endowed it with capabilities to grow, spread abroad, accumulate, and endeavor to enjoy greater happiness, glory, and honor, and continue to expand wider and wider, until eternity is comprehended by it; if not applied to this purpose, but to the grovelling things of earth, it will be taken away, and given to one who has made better use of this gift of God.

I say again—“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,”and in due time, no matter when, whether in this year or in the next, in this life or in the life to come, “all these things” (that appear so necessary to have in the world) “shall be added unto you.” Everything that is in heaven, on the earth, and in the earth, everything the most fruitful mind can imagine, shall be yours, sooner or later. I wish you would square your lives according to what has been said to you to-day, especially while I am gone.

I wish to say to all the brethren, young men, and boys, while I am gone from your midst for a season, let your conduct and conversation be such as becometh your profession in all things. I hope I shall not hear of drunkenness, confusion, and quarrelling when I return. I am never afraid of it when I am here, for I can manage such characters so completely that they do not think it worth while to begin. While I am gone, behave yourselves. I will preach to you the same sermon I preached to the missionaries a week ago, viz., “Walk up-rightly.” When I return, and find you have done this, all will be well; if you have violated this counsel, you may expect to be chastised. Let it be said when I return, “All is right; all has been peace; and good order has prevailed in your absence.”

I wish to say a few words about some men and families in this city, called Gladdenites. We have been pretty severe upon them, but nowhere, except in the pulpit, to my knowledge. I counsel my brethren to keep away from their houses; let them alone, and treat them as courteously as you would any other person. Do you enquire whether I have any grounds for giving this advice? I answer, I have. For there are few men in this congregation who know when to stop, should they find themselves engaged in a contest with one of that class of people, therefore let them alone entirely. Those individuals are disagreeable to me, and so are their doctrines. The man they hold up is so low and degraded in his spirit, feelings, and life, I have not patience to hear anything said about him. I have known him too long, and too well, not to be satisfied of the wickedness of his heart.

You say you wish to do right, and please the Lord in all your actions; but were I to adopt an evil practice, the greater portion of this community would follow it. Why not follow me then in doing right? Righteousness, in whomsoever found, will never lead you astray; while wickedness will lead you to ruin. No man possessing the Spirit of the Lord, can for a moment believe Gladden Bishop’s writings. If it were possible, his system is more, foolish than the exhibition of free masonry. I have referred to.

I wish this community to understand, that what has been said here touching those men and their views, has been with no other design than to cause them to use their tongues as they ought, and cease abusing me and this people. Some of them visited me yesterday, and wished to know if it was safe for them to stay here. I told them they were as safe as I was, if they did not undertake to make us swallow, whether or not, something we are not willing to take. “We have been driven, and re-driven, said I, “and if corrupt people stay in our midst, they have got to use their tongues properly.” They promised they would, if they might stay.

If they wish to live here in peace, I am willing they should, but I do not wish them to stir up strife. I never expected that this community would be composed entirely of Latter-day Saints, but I expected there would be goats mixed among the sheep, until they are separated. I do not look for anything else, but I wish them to behave themselves in their sphere, also the sheep; and let the goats associate with their goatish companions, and not endeavor to disturb the equanimity of the sheep in their pasture.

This comparison will apply to this people, and those men. If they wish to labor, and obtain a living, they are welcome to do so; but they are not at liberty to disturb the peace of their neighbors in any way; neither let this people disturb them, but grant them every privilege claimed by, and belonging to, American citizens. Let them meet together and pray if they please; this is their own business. Let them do as some did in a camp-meeting in York State—One man met another and said, “How do you do? How are they getting along on the camp-ground?” “Why they are serving God like the very devil,” was the reply. And the Gladdenites may serve God like the devil, if they will keep out of my way, and out of the way of this people.

The men who visited me yesterday, stated that they believed Joseph was a true Prophet, and that they were full-blooded “Mormons;” indeed they seemed to have in them an extra charge of “Mormon” blood. I asked one of them if he had any confidence in the endowment. He confessed he had no faith in it. I then asked him if he did not believe that Joseph Smith was a fallen Prophet. His reply was, “I rather think he is.”

When a man throws a stone at me, and with it dashes his own brains out, I have nothing to say. He called himself a full-blooded “Mormon,” and almost in the same breath declared Joseph was a fallen Prophet, and that he had no confidence in the endowment. How is it in reality with those men? Why they have not a particle of faith either in Joseph Smith, or in the Book of Mormon. I told one of them, who professed to be so honest, that he wanted the Lord to come down from heaven that moment and judge him, that five years would not pass away before he would be cursing, and swearing, and proclaiming blasphemously against every good principle in heaven and on earth.

They do not know what they believe, neither do they know what they have received; they think they know all about it; they think they know that you are out of the right way, and that they are walking in it. When they say this people are going to be destroyed by the judgments of God, it is to me like the crackling of thorns under the pot. Pass along, and mind your own business, is a fit reply to their declarations.

There has never been a Church of God on the earth without such characters. According to their outward appearance, they are as good men and women as you might think could possibly be. You might say with safety, “They are truly Saints,” if you were to judge by the appearance of the outside of the platter. But what does Jesus Christ say? “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Again? “For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

He that death the will of God, is His disciple. You may say Joseph was a devil, if you like, but he is at home, and still holds the keys of the kingdom, which were committed to him by heavenly messengers, and always will. Do you ask who brother Brigham is? He is an humble instrument in the hands of God, to keep His people in the path which He has marked out through the instrumentality of His servant Joseph; and to travel in which is all I ask of them. I said some time since on this stand, if I was not a Prophet, I certainly had been profitable to this people. I know I have, by the blessing of the Lord, been successful in profiting them. The Lord has done it through me.

There is a man named Martin Harris, and he is the one who gave the holy roll to Gladden. When Martin was with Joseph Smith, he was continually trying to make the people believe that he (Joseph) was the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel. I have heard Joseph chastise him severely for it, and he told me that such a course, if persisted in, would destroy the kingdom of God. Who else ever said that Joseph Smith was anything but an unlearned son of a backwoodsman; who had all his lifetime, ever since he could handle an ax, helped his father to support his little family by cutting wood?

Thus the Lord found him, and called him to be a Prophet, and made him a successful instrument in laying the foundation of His kingdom for the last time. This people never professed that Joseph Smith was anything more than a Prophet given to them of the Lord; and to whom the Lord gave the keys of this last dispensation, which were not to be taken from him in time, neither will they be in eternity.

I wish to see this people fulfil in every particular what Joseph told them to do, and build up the kingdom of God, and this they are doing. I give them praise to-day, for they are a God-blessed people. Which of these Elders that are sitting round me, if they were asked to go on a mission for five, ten, or twenty years, would not rise up and say, “I am ready,” notwithstanding all their weaknesses and foolishness?

Ask an apostate to go and preach salvation to a perishing world, and his reply would be, “I cannot go, I am too poor.” They are a perfect abomination among men. Did they ever build up the kingdom of God in any way? Never. They have done nothing but apostatize, and they will now continually try to destroy the work of God with all their might. This is all they ever did do, and it is all they ever will do. There is not a faithful Elder here who would not, if called upon, readily go forth to preach the Gospel in distant countries, though he had not a shoe to his feet, or a coat to his back. Would an apostate do it? No, they cannot do anything without money! money! money! which is their god. The faithful children of God will be faithful in preaching the Gospel, in building up the cause of their God, and in carrying salvation to thousands and millions of the fallen race of Adam, which we have done.

I wonder what apostate would do as we did when we went to England? I was better off than many of my brethren, for I had three shillings to pay my expenses to Preston. On we went to that town, and held our Conference, and from thence we started out every way, preaching the Gospel in the regions round about.

Allow me the privilege of boasting, though it is not me but the Lord that has done it. We sustained ourselves, and assisted the poor to a very large amount, and only staid in England one year and sixteen days. This means was gathered up by faith, and we baptized over seven thousand people, gave away about sixty thousand tracts, for which I paid the money, and sent Elders out to preach in every direction. Would an apostate do this? No. But they wish to sour, corrupt, and desecrate with apostacy every Saint they come in contact with. It is not in them to do any good to the cause of truth; but out of the evil they design the Lord will bring good.

This people commenced with nothing. Joseph Smith, the honored instrument in the hands of God to lay the foundation of this work, commenced with nothing; he had neither the wisdom nor the riches of this world. And it is proven to our satisfaction, that when rich men have come into this Church, the Lord has been determined to take their riches from them and make them poor; that all His Saints may learn to obtain that which they possess by faith.

How many times has He made us poor? Thousands of dollars’ worth of property in houses and lands, which the Lord gave me, are now in the East, in the hands of our enemies. I never said they were mine, they were the Lord’s, and I was one of His stewards. When I went to Kirtland, I had not a coat in the world, for previous to this I had given away everything I possessed, that I might be free to go forth and proclaim the plan of salvation to the inhabitants of the earth. Neither had I a shoe to my feet, and I had to borrow a pair of pants and a pair of boots. I staid there five years, and accumulated five thousand dollars. How do you think I accomplished this? Why, the Lord Almighty gave me those means. I have often had that done for me that has caused me to marvel. I know, as well as I know I am standing before you to-day, that I have had money put into my trunk and into my pocket without the instrumentality of any man. This I know to a certainty. Ask an apostate, if they can, in truth, bear testimony to such a thing. They cannot do it. Enough about that.

Again, I say if “Mormonism” is not all I anticipated it to be, it is nothing. If it is not in me, and I in it, if it is not all and in all to me, I am deceived in myself. It is everything in heaven and on earth to those who possess it truly; but lose this, and, as I told you the other day, what remains will dwindle, perish, decay, decompose, and be reduced to its native element, or, in other words, be thrown into the mill to be ground over.

The Lord Almighty will not let anything endure that offers hospitality to the devil and his imps. Those who suffer their bodies to be dwellings for evil spirits, must suffer loss, for devils cannot construct a house that will in any way answer their purpose; neither have they been able to do so in all the eternities there are; that is the very thing which causes us trouble continually; for they are trying all the time to get into our dwellings, because they have none of their own. Did you ever desire to take possession of another person’s tabernacle, and leave your own? No rational person owning a tabernacle would wish to do so. The devils have no tabernacles, which is the reason of their wanting to possess human bodies. If any of you have suffered any of these houseless spirits to enter you, turn them out, and they will perhaps seek refuge in the body of an ox, or some other animal, or may be go into Jordan.

Do you think the legion we read of, that entered the swine, in the days of Christ, had bodies of their own? No; they have no meeting houses but in ball rooms, gaming houses, brothels, gin palaces, parlors, bed rooms, and other places which they frequent in the bodies of those they lead captive; otherwise they are wandering to and fro in the earth, seeking to possess tabernacles that other spirits, not of their order, already occupy. They are in our midst watching for an opportunity to enter where they may. What will be the doom of those who give way to them, and yield to them the possession of their tabernacles? They will wander to and fro, happiness will be hid from them, they will weep, and wail, and suffer, until their bodies return to their mother earth, and their spirits to judgment.

Brethren and sisters, you are on the right track; be virtuous, humble, thankful, generous, and true to your God, and to each other, loving Him more than all things else, and making His Law your delight day and night. If I did not love the Lord enough to leave houses, lands, father, mother, wives, and children, and even be ready to lay down my life freely for the kingdom of God’s sake, I should not consider I was worthy of it. Were I to forsake all for it, I should lose nothing; for the man who honors and serves God, cannot suffer loss.

The very laws which govern eternity are planned to sustain an eternal growth, gathering together and increasing; so that the true servant of God cannot possibly suffer loss, but will reap eternal gain, though he, for the cause of truth, is poor and needy through the whole of this short life. He has made truth his theme; and what is it? I will say it is that which endures; it is eternity, and its power is to grow, increase, and expand, adding life to life, and power to power, worlds without end.

May God bless you. Amen.

Perfection and Salvation, etc.

Brigham Young

A discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, December 18, 1853.

I love to hear my brethren speak. Their testimony yields joy and consolation to my heart. But notwithstanding the pleasure it would give me to sit and hear them continually, it is obligatory upon me to occupy the position I do, and let my voice be heard in connexion with theirs.

We all occupy diversified stations in the world, and in the kingdom of God. Those who do right, and seek the glory of the Father in heaven, whether their knowledge be little or much, or whether they can do little or much, if they do the very best they know how, they are perfect.

It may appear strange to some of you, and it certainly does to the world, to say it is possible for a man or woman to become perfect on this earth. It is written “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Again, “If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.” This is perfectly consistent to the person who understands what perfection really is.

If the first passage I have quoted is not worded to our understanding, we can alter the phraseology of the sentence, and say, “Be ye as perfect, as ye can,” for that is all we can do, though it is written, be ye perfect as your Father who is in heaven is perfect. To be as perfect as we possibly can, according to our knowledge, is to be just as perfect as our Father in heaven is. He cannot be any more perfect than He knows how, any more than we. When we are doing as well as we know how in the sphere and station which we occupy here, we are justified in the justice, righteousness, mercy, and judgment that go before the Lord of heaven and earth. We are as justified as the angels who are before the throne of God. The sin that will cleave to all the posterity of Adam and Eve is, that they have not done as well as they knew how.

I will apply this to myself, and it will apply to you, and to every man and woman upon the earth; of course including brother Morley, who spoke to you this morning. If he has done the best he could in the late Indian difficulties in the district where he lives, and acted according to the judgment and light of the spirit of revelation in him, he is as justified as an angel of God.

Though we may do the best we know how at this time, can there be no improvement made in our lives? There can. If we do wrong ignorantly, when we learn it is wrong, then it is our duty to refrain from that wrong immediately and for ever, and the sin of ignorance is winked at, and passes into oblivion.

An inquiry was made this morning, if we know who we are, what our situation is, and the relationship we sustain to each other, to our God, and the position we occupy to the human family. I can answer the question. No, we do not. Do the people understand all the obligations they are under to each other and to their God? They do not. Again, do they try to know, as far as it is in their power? They do not. Are there individuals among us who seek with all their hearts to know and understand the will of God? Yes, many. But as a people, do they, with an undivided heart, endeavor to know the will of God in preference to everything else upon earth? They do not.

There is a reason for this. Brother Morley wanted to know if we had learned ourselves. We have not. When he referred to the spirits in the world, and what we could witness in the infant child in its mother’s lap, at this moment like a little seraph, and in the next, more like a demon with passion and rage, I thought we need not confine ourselves to the child for example, for this picture of good and evil is exhibited as frequently in the parent, and even in the grey-headed sire, as in the child. If men and women understood perfectly their position before God, angels, and men, the place they occupy, and the sphere they act in, they would know they are as independent in their organization as the angels, or as the Gods. Yet, in consequence of sin entering into the world, darkness, wretchedness, folly, weakness of every kind, and the power of temptation surround the children of men, as well as the power of God. I say the grey-headed father, and the aged matron will give way to the power of evil, when it comes upon them, as readily, in many instances, as the infant child upon its mother’s lap.

I speak what I know, and say, shame on those who are subject to such weakness, when they have had time and opportunity to learn better. Brother Morley says, “Such spirits will be damned.” Bless your souls, they are damned already. The reason they act as they do, in a manner so diametrically opposed to the angels and Gods in the eternities that are, is because they have been in a miserable condition since they have been upon the earth.

When men and women give way to these wicked spirits, it is a proof they have not learned their organization, and what they were made for.

As for this people knowing their true position before God, in the midst of the nations of the earth, it is certain they have not yet learned it. Shall we ever learn it? We shall. And further, we shall be obliged to learn it; and further still, we shall be COMPELLED to learn it. How? By flattery? By blessings? By the kind smiles of providence? By the bountiful fulness of the invisible hand of our heavenly Father bestowing every blessing upon us? Now some of us are ready to say, this will not bring us to an understanding of our true position, and prepare us for what is before us. If the mercies and blessings of our kind and indulgent heavenly Parent will not produce the desired effects upon His people, He will certainly chasten them, and make them know, by what they suffer, how to govern and sanctify themselves before Him.

We ought to pursue the same course with our children when we wish them to obey our commands. It is reasonable and right, after you have held out every kind of inducement possible, to bring them to their senses, and to obedience, if they still continue refractory, to try the rod, and chasten them until they become obedient. That is what our Father in heaven will do for this people, if they will not learn by His blessings and loving kindness.

Do you inquire if I think we are about to be afflicted? If we are not good children, we shall be. We must learn to love righteousness, and hate iniquity, and then we can chasten ourselves, and bring ourselves to the sphere we were designed to fill in our existence, and govern and control ourselves in it, preparatory to power being put into our hands. We should never have but one desire, but one determination; our will should be perfectly cent[e]red upon the one object, viz., to find out the will of God, and do it. Let every individual thus school, chasten, prove, view, and review himself, taking himself into custody as a prisoner to be subjected to a severe examination, until his will is perfectly subservient to the will of God in every instance, and you can say, “No matter what it is, let us know the will of the Father in heaven, and that is our will.” Then we shall be able to train, school, and practise upon ourselves, until we can control, and bring under subjection, the wicked influences that surround us; we can then begin to pave the way, or throw up an highway of holiness to the rising generation.

This we have to do. It is our business. It is the labor of the Latter-day Saints, which, if, carried out, will run through all the various changing scenes of mortal life. It is in every act and dealing, both with ourselves, our families, and strangers. It fills every avenue of human life, from beginning to end. To gain the spiritual ascendancy over ourselves, and the influences with which we are surrounded, through a rigid course of self-discipline, is our first consideration, it is our first labor, before we can pave the way for our children to grow up without sin unto salvation.

No man, in a short hour or two, can tell everything that is in his heart, when it is filled by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. But I will continue my remarks, and give you a little more.

All persons are surrounded with circumstances peculiar to their location, station, and situation in life. A portion of our old associates believe we are controlled entirely by circumstances; but this people have learned enough to know they have the ability and power to control circumstances, to a certain extent; they will control us more or less, but not entirely. We can lay the foundation in the midst of this people for a train of circumstances to surround the rising generation with a divine influence. We can also produce a train of circumstances that will work their certain destruction. This is in our power, and the first is the labor of the Latter-day Saints.

Some, when their minds are opened to behold the purity of a God of eternity—the purity of heaven, and understand that no impure thing can enter there; when they can realize the perfection of the redeemed and glorified Zion, and then look at the people now, and their actions, and how they are overcome with their weaknesses, how they cannot go out and come in without coming in contact, in some way, with their neighbors; when they look at the universal sinfulness of mortal man; are ready to exclaim, “We shall all go to destruction, salvation is impossible.” I do not believe a word of it. If we do the best we know how, and yet commit many acts that are wrong, and contrary to the counsel given to us, there is hope in our case.

The Savior has warned us to be careful how we judge, forgiving each other seven times seventy in a day, if we repent, and confess our sins one to another. Can we be more merciful and forgiving than our Father in heaven? We cannot. Therefore let people do the best they can, and they will pave the way for the rising generation to walk up into the light, wisdom, and knowledge of the angels, and of the redeemed from this earth, to say nothing of other earths, and they will be prepared to enjoy in the resurrection all the blessings which are for the faithful, and enjoy them in the flesh.

It is our duty, and to this we are called so to frame and control circumstances in our lifetime, as to bring blessings upon the rising generation, which we can never attain to while we are in the flesh. But when the vision of our minds is opened to behold the immaculate purity, perfection, light, beauty, and glory of Zion, the heaven of eternity, the place where Saints and angels dwell in the eternal worlds, then salvation for us poor erring mortals seems almost impossible; it seems that we shall hardly be saved. This, however, is verily true, we shall hardly be saved. There never was any person over saved; all who have been saved, and that ever will be in the future, are only just saved, and then it is not without a struggle to overcome, that calls into exercise every energy of the soul.

It is good for us to follow the example of those who have attained unto salvation; consequently if I wish to be saved, and be an instrument of pointing out the way to others, let me not only preach the doctrine of salvation, but set the example in my conduct, and plead with them to follow it. If our faith is one, and we are united to gain one grand object, and I, as an individual, can possibly get into the celestial kingdom, you and every other person, by the same rule, can also enter there.

Though our interest is one as a people, yet remember, salvation is an individual work; it is every person for themselves. I mean more by this than I have time to tell you in full, but I will give you a hint. There are those in this Church who calculate to be saved by the righteousness of others. They will miss their mark. They are those who will arrive just as the gate is shut, so in that case you may be shut out; then you will call upon some one, who, by their own faithfulness, through the mercy of Jesus Christ, have entered in through the celestial gate, to come and open it for you; but to do this is not their province. Such will be the fate of those persons who vainly hope to be saved upon the righteousness and through the influence of brother Somebody. I forewarn you therefore to cultivate righteousness and faithfulness in yourselves, which is the only passport into celestial happiness.

There is another thing I wish to notice, viz., touching the man brother Morley spoke of this morning, who put away his wife which he had lately taken. He began to tell you how mean it looks to him to trifle in this manner with the greatest blessings of heaven to man. To men who will ask for blessings, and jewels of great price, and seek to cast them away to-morrow, it will be said by and bye; “Take that and give it to the man who is more worthy.” And what shall be done with the other? Let him scrub the floor, clean shoes, and make soap. I mean this to be understood spiritually. Of course we shall be so clean in the heavenly Zion, we shall not need anybody to wash for us. When I say we will set such characters to work in the garden, to clean our stables, to curry our horses, or work in the cellar kitchen, it is to be understood spiritually.

You may get jewels of great price, and trifle with them, and think them nothing, but by and bye they will so far outshine you, that you cannot look upon the blaze of their glory without being struck with blindness. The words of the Savior will be fulfilled on such persons, “Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.”

That which they think they possess, they only seem to have. It is put in their hands for a few days, to see if they have wisdom sufficient to use it to the glory arid honor of God, that they may have more blessings added to them. When they have proved themselves unworthy, that which they seemed to have will be taken away, and given to another who is more worthy, that he may have more abundantly.

As it respects the wicked actions of the people, while brother Morley was speaking, I thought I could tell you things about some men, that you would not want to hear. To satisfy my own feelings by way of comparison, I will give you a faint idea of how they look to me.

Imagine all the carcas[s]es of the people who have died of the cholera, and of other loathsome diseases, heaped up to rot in one general mass, under the rays of a southern sun, and the stench of such a mass of corruption would not begin to offend my nostrils, and the nostrils of every righteous man, so much as those men do. On the other hand, if every man will do the best he can, and as far as he knows how, it will be well with him, and he will be blessed until there is not room to contain, the blessings which will be poured upon him. Sin consists in doing wrong when we know and can do better, and it will be punished with a just retribution, in the due time of the Lord.

Have this people been blessed? They have. Why can they not understand, that they are organized and formed for the express purpose of becoming independent in and of themselves, that they may begin to guard against any evil principle, or the suggestions of evil? But you will readily say, “That is in all men, it is natural to them.” So Paul thought. He was surrounded with spirits of evil, and was wonderfully troubled with them, so much so, that when he would do good, evil was present with him. I would have kicked them out of doors. He was a righteous man, and died for the Gospel’s sake, and it was right for him to die, if it were for nothing but taking care of the clothes of those who stoned Stephen to death. “Now,” says Paul, “I would do good to that man, but evil is present with me.” Why did he not kick that evil out of the way of his doing good? Was he bound to be troubled with it? No, no more than you and I are.

Are those who are drinking and carousing to-day (and there may be some doing so who profess to be brethren) obliged to break the Sabbath and make themselves drunkards and gluttons? No. If the brethren who profess to be Saints, and do wrong, would reveal the root of the matter, and tell the whole truth, it would be, “I have a desire to do a great deal of good, but the devil is always at my elbow, and I always like to keep the old gentleman so that I can put my hand upon him, for I want to use him sometimes.” That is the reason why men and women are overcome with evil.

Again, I can charge you with what you will all plead guilty of, if you would confess the truth, viz., you dare not quite give up all your hearts to God, and become sanctified throughout, and be led by the Holy Ghost from morning until evening, and from one year’s end to another. I know this is so, and yet few will acknowledge it. I know this feeling is in your hearts, as well as I know the sun shines.

We will examine it a little closer. Many of you have fearful forebodings that all is not right in the organization of this kingdom. You shiver and shake in your feelings, and tremble in your spirit; you cannot put your trust in God, in men, nor in yourself. This arises from the power of evil that is so prevalent upon the face of the whole earth. It was given to you by your father and mother; it was mingled with your conception in the womb, and it has ripened in your flesh, in your blood, and in your bones, so that it has become riveted in your very nature. If I were to ask you individually, if you wished to be sanctified throughout, and become as pure and holy as you possibly could live, every person would say yes; yet if the Lord Almighty should give a revelation instructing you to be given wholly up to Him, and to His cause, you would shrink, saying, “I am afraid he will take away some of my darlings.” That is the difficulty with the majority of this people.

It is for you and I to wage war with that principle until it is overcome in us, then we shall not entail it upon our children. It is for us to lay a foundation so that everything our children have to do with, will bring them to Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel. If we lay such a foundation with all good conscience, and labor as faithfully as we can, it will be well with us and our children in time and in eternity.

What kind of a sensation would it produce in my heart, should I hear at the close of this meeting that the Lord had suffered the devil to destroy my houses, my wives, and my children, and committed every particle of my property to the devouring flames—that I am left destitute, and alone in the world? I wish you all to apply this interrogation to yourselves. What would such a circumstance produce upon this people, provided they did not know the Lord was going to send a judgment upon them, as He has done in former times (though you need not be afraid of it)? how would you feel? Would there not be murmuring, and fault finding, and writing and plotting with apostates, and some fleeing to California, and some running back to the States?

Or suppose, when you arrive at home from this meeting, you find your neighbors have killed your horses and destroyed your property, how would you feel? You would feel like taking instant vengeance on the perpetrator of the deed. But it would be wrong for you to encourage the least particle of feeling to arise in your bosom like anger, or revenge, or like taking judgment into your own hands, until the Lord Almighty shall say, “Judgment is yours, and for you to execute.”

Brother Morley wished to know if any one could tell the origin of thought. The origin of thought was planted in our organization at the beginning of our being. This is not telling you how it came there, or who put it there. Thought originated with our individual being, which is organized to be as independent as any being in eternity. When you go home, and learn that your neighbors have committed some depredation on your property, or in your family, and anger arises in your bosom, then consider, and know that it arises in yourselves.

On the other hand, suppose some person has blessed you when you return home, brought you a bag of flour, for instance, in a time of great scarcity, and some butter, milk, and vegetables, thoughts would at once spring up to bless the giver. The origin of thought and reflection is in ourselves. We think, because we are, and are made susceptible of external influences, and to feel our relationship to external objects. Thus thoughts of revenge, and thoughts of blessing will arise in the same mind, as it is influenced by external circumstances.

If you are injured by a neighbor, the first thought of the unregenerate heart is for God to damn the person who has hurt you. But if a person blesses you, the first thought that arises in you is, God bless that man; and this is the disposition to which we ought to cleave. But dismiss any spirit that would prompt you to injure any creature that the Lord has made, give it no place, encourage it not, and it will not stay where you are. You can let the black man, or the white man into your house, as you please; you can say, “Walk in,” to both of them.

This is a figure. When the white man presents himself, you know him at once by his complexion; the same when you see darkness and blackness advancing, you know it is from beneath, and you can command it to leave your house. When the good man comes, he brings with him a halo of kindness which fills you with peace and heavenly comfort; invite him into your house, and make him your constant guest.

I have often told you from this stand, if you cleave to holy, godlike principles, you add more good to your organization, which is made independent in the first place, and the good spirit and influence which come from the Father of lights, and from Jesus Christ, and from the holy angels add good to it. And when you have been proved, and when you have labored and occupied sufficiently upon that, it will become, in you, what brother Joseph Smith told Elder Taylor, if he would adhere to the Spirit of the Lord strictly, it should become in him, viz., a fountain of revelation. That is true. After a while the Lord will say to such, “My son, you have been faithful, you have clung to good, and you love righteousness, and hate iniquity, from which you have turned away, now you shall have the blessing of the Holy Spirit to lead you, and be your constant companion, from this time henceforth and forever. Then the Holy Spirit becomes your property, it is given to you for a profit, and an eternal blessing, It tends to addition, extension, and increase, to immortality and eternal lives.

If you suffer the opposite of this to take possession of your tabernacles, it will hurt you, and all that is associated with you, and blast, and strike with mildew, until your tabernacle, which was created to continue throughout an endless duration, will be decomposed, and go back to its native elements, to be ground over again like the refractory clay that has spoiled in the hand of the potter, it must be worked over again until it shall become passive, and yield to the potter’s wish.

One power is to add, to build up, and increase; the other to destroy and diminish; one is life, the other is death. Let us, then, lay a foundation for the rising generation to grow up without being trammeled and hindered in their ownward [onward] course to glory and happiness by the superstitions, tradition, and ignorance that have blinded and hurt us. Let us do the best we can, and if we make a mistake once, seven times, or seventy times seven in a day, and are honest in our confessions, we shall be forgiven freely. As we expect to obtain mercy, so let us have mercy upon each other. And when the evil spirit comes let him find no place in you.

I recollect telling the Latter-day Saints that no man could judge the nature of a spirit without first testing it; until then, he is not capable to judge of it. Brethren, love righteousness, and hate iniquity.

May God bless you for ever. Amen.

Spiritual Gifts—Hell, etc.

Brigham Young

A discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Dec 3, 1854.

There are two or three subjects that I wish to occupy a short time in speaking upon, and I will commence with observations upon spiritual gifts, applicable directly to “such as sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death,” according to the words of the Psalmist.

In the Scripture written by Job, or said to be written by him, you can read, “There is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding;” and in the New Testament, “In him (Christ) was life; and the life was the light of men.” “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”

We could turn to many other passages of Scripture, alluding to what I have in my mind with regard to the inhabitants of the earth. It is believed, or has been, for I have often heard it taught by the Elders of Israel, that every person of accountable age, who did not believe in the Gospel of the Son of God, as it is written in the New Testament, and practise it in their lives, would be damned; or in other words, if a person does not become a Saint, or what we call a Saint, he must be damned. According to the old Scriptures, in one sense, I can agree with them with regard to the expression, and truly say that the inhabitants of the earth who have lived and died, and those who are now living, are all damned.

This idea brings to my mind so much not directly alluding to my subject, that i will break off, and say that we are now fighting the devils, in order to make a heaven of this earth.

Any person knowing and understanding the Scriptures as they are, and understanding the mind and will of God, can understand at once that when he is shut out from the presence of the Lord, when He does not hear His voice, sees not His face, receives not the ministering of His angels or ministering spirits, and has no messenger from the heavens to visit him, he must surely be in hell. Does the wrath of God rest upon all such? Yes, and we have plenty of it, just as much as we know what to do with. Are you not aware that the Latter-day Saints are realizing this, and saying “that it seems as though the devils are let loose upon the Saints?” Do you not know that they are liable to temptation? to feel wrath, malice, strife, envy, hatred to God, dislike to righteousness, and an inclination to dethrone the Almighty, and usurp His authority? If this is not being in hell, and if this is not the wrath of God abiding, to a certain degree, upon the inhabitants of the earth, we will wait until we find out what it is; but I cannot tell it any better in so few words.

The Spirit of the Lord; the light of Christ, and the inspiration of the Almighty, are given to every man to profit withal. All who understand the Gospel of salvation, in reflecting upon the condition of their progenitors, as far back as they can trace them, have this consolation; if they were honest, if they were upright, if they lived according to the best light and knowledge they had, if they served the Lord according to all they could obtain from the priest, and other sources, and lived according to that light, are they damned? Yes, precisely as you and I will be.

It is understood, and is so written, that when the inhabitants of the earth pass through what is called the valley of death, that which is in the tabernacle leaves it, and goes into the world of spirits, which is called hades or hell. The spirits that dwell in these tabernacles on this earth, when they leave them, go directly into the world of spirits. What, a congregated mass of inhabitants there in spirit, mingling with each other, as they do here? Yes, brethren, they are there together, and if they associate together, and collect together in clans and in societies as they do here, it is their privilege. No doubt they yet, more or less, see, hear, converse, and have to do with each other, both good and bad. Jesus himself went to preach to the spirits in prison; now, as he went to preach to them, he certainly associated with them; there is no doubt of that. If the prophets went and preached to the spirits in prison, they associated with them: if the Elders of Israel in these latter times go and preach to the spirits in prison, they associate with them, precisely as our Elders associate with the wicked in the flesh, when they go to preach to them.

This is exactly what I wish to get before your minds, not that but many of you understand these principles, and again many of you have not had the privilege of hearing them. Brother Woodard, who spoke to you this morning, has been in Italy, and has never before had the privilege of gathering with the Saints. He first learned of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and the restoration of the Gospel, from the Elders who travelled where he was, and by the Spirit of the Lord he understood.

Brethren and sisters, and all who preach the Gospel of salvation, and, in short, all who inhabit this earth, I wish you to understand that the Lord has pleased to organize tabernacles here, and put spirits into them, and they then become intelligent beings. By and bye, sooner or later, the body, this that is tangible to you, that you can feel, see, handle, &c., returns to its mother dust. Is the spirit dead? No. You believe the spirit still exists, when this body has crumbled to the earth again, and the spirit that God puts into the tabernacle goes into the world of spirits. What is their situation? Is there any opportunity for them whatever? Yes, there is; although there is a great deal of Scripture which the priests have been pleased to make, without revelation, that contradicts this idea; and the traditions of the fathers contradict it, not the traditions of the Prophets and Apostles, but of our fathers, those who have lived in the dark ages of the world, and the great majority of those who live now; for I do not know of a darker period in the history of the world, than that of the nineteenth century, apart from the light of the new and everlasting covenant. It is the ignorance and superstition of the people that contradict future progression in the world of spirits, for the Gospel does not. There is an opportunity for men who are in the spirit to receive the Gospel. Jesus, while his body lay in the grave two nights and one day, went to the world of spirits to show the brethren how they should build up the kingdom, and bring spirits to the knowledge of the truth in the spirit world; he went to set them the pattern there, as he had done on this earth. Hence you perceive that there, spirits have the privilege of embracing the truth.

You may ask if they are baptized there? No. Can they have hands laid upon them for the gift of the Holy Ghost? No. None of the outward ordinances that pertain to the flesh are administered there, but the light, glory, and power of the Holy Ghost; are enjoyed just as freely as upon this earth; and there are laws which govern and control the spirit world, and to which they are subject.

Can we do anything for them? Yes. What are we trying to build a Temple for? And we shall not only build a Temple here, if we are successful, and are blessed and preserved, but we shall probably commence two or three more, and so on as fast as the work requires, for the express purpose of redeeming our dead. When I get a revelation that some of my progenitors lived and died without the blessings of the Gospel, or even hearing it preached, but were as honest as I am, as upright as I am, or as any man or woman could be upon the earth; as righteous, so far as they knew how, as any Apostle or Prophet that ever lived, I will go and be baptized, confirmed, washed, and anointed, and go through all the ordinances and endowments for them, that their way may be open to the celestial kingdom.

As I have frequently told you, that is the work of the Millennium. It is the work that has to be performed by the seed of Abraham, the chosen seed, the royal seed, the blessed of the Lord, those the Lord made covenants with. They will step forth, and save every son and daughter of Adam who will receive salvation here on the earth; and all spirits in the spirit world will be preached to, conversed with, and the principles of salvation carried to them, that they may have the privilege of receiving the Gospel; and they will have plenty of children here on the earth to officiate for them in those ordinances of the Gospel that pertain to the flesh.

Many people believe that the Spirit of the Lord has not been upon the earth when the Gospel was not among men in its purity; they believe the Spirit of the Lord has been entirely taken from the earth since the apostacy of the Church. I do not believe for one moment that there has been a man or woman upon the face of the earth, from the days of Adam to this day, who has not been enlightened, instructed, and taught by the revelations of Jesus Christ. “What! the ignorant heathen?” Yes, every human being who has possessed a sane mind. I am far from believing that the children of men have been deprived of the privilege of receiving the Spirit of the Lord to teach them right from wrong. No matter what the traditions of their fathers were, those who were honest before the Lord, and acted uprightly, according to the best knowledge they had, will have an opportunity to go into the kingdom of God. I believe this privilege belonged to the sons and daughters of Adam, and descended from him, and his children who were contemporary with him, throughout all generations.

Men who are under the influence of their traditions and former notions, will desire to ask scores of questions upon this subject, but I think I can relieve your minds.

The Spirit of the Lord, in teaching the people, in opening their minds to the principles of truth, does not infringe upon the laws God has given to mankind for their government; consequently, when the Lord made man, He made him an agent accountable to his God, with liberty to act and to do as he pleases, to a certain extent, in order to prove himself. There is a law that governs man thus far; but the law ‘of the celestial kingdom, as I have frequently told you, is, and always will he, the same to all the children of Adam. When we talk of the celestial law which is revealed from heaven, that is, the Priesthood, we are talking about the principle of salvation, a perfect system of government, of laws and ordinances, by which we can be prepared to pass from one gate to another, and from one sentinel to another, until we go into the presence of our Father and God. This law has not always been upon the earth; and in its absence, other laws have been given to the children of men for their improvement, for their education, for their government, and to prove what they would do when left to control themselves; and what we now call tradition has grown out of these circumstances.

There is so much of this, that I hardly dare to commence talking about it. It would require a lengthy discourse upon this particular point. Suffice it to say, the Lord has not established laws by which I am compelled to have my shoes made in a certain style. He has never given a law to determine whether I shall have a square-toed boot or a peaked-toed boot; whether I shall have a coat with the waist just under my arms, and the skirts down to my heels; or whether I shall have a coat like the one I have on. Intelligence, to a certain extent, was bestowed both upon Saint and sinner, to use independently, aside from whether they have the law of the Priesthood or not, or whether they have ever heard of it or not. “I put into you intelligence,” saith the Lord, “that you may know how to govern and control yourselves, and make yourselves comfortable and happy on the earth; and give unto you certain privileges to act upon as independently in your sphere as I do in the government of heaven.”

No matter whether we are Jew or Gentile, as the two classes of people are called; though Gentile signifies disobedient people; no matter whether we believe in the Koran as firmly as we now believe in the Bible; no matter whether we have been educated by the Jews, the Gentiles, or the Hottentots; whether we serve the true and the living God, or a lifeless image, if we are honest before the God we serve.

Brother George Q. Cannon brought me a god from the Sandwich Islands, made out of a piece of wood. If all the people bow down to such a god as that, it is in accordance with their laws and ordinances, and their manner of dealing among themselves; the Lord permits them to do as they please with regard to that matter, and this illustration will apply to all the nations upon the face of the earth. People who fall down beneath the wheels of Juggernaut, and are crushed to death; who sacrifice their children in the worship of idols; if they act according to the best of their knowledge, there is a chance for their salvation, as much as there is for the salvation of any other person.

“Do you suppose the Hindoos have the light of the Spirit of Christ?” I know they have; and so have the Hottentots, and so has every nation and kingdom upon the face of the earth, even though some of them may be cannibals, indulging in a practice the most repugnant to our refined feelings of any we know of among any people; yet that is a practice which the religious, refined, and polished inhabitants of our lovely country shudder at. But let me place any member of this congregation, or the whole of them, in such a state of suffering, from year to year, that they shall never see one day or one hour’s comfort, nor satisfaction of human life; when compared with a condition of that kind, the sin of killing and eating a human being would not be as great as many sins committed by the so-called Christian nations.

Can I refer your minds to circumstances of this kind among the people of our lovely country? Yes, brethren and sisters, ladies and gentlemen, scores of them. When a man has power over his neighbour, over his fellow-being, and puts him in torment, which is like the flames of everlasting fire, so that he never dares to speak his mind, or walk across the street, or attend to any branch of business without a continual fear of his oppressor, and of the rod hanging over him for punishment, it is worse than to kill and eat him. That is as the torment of hell, do you know it? Now do not be scared when you hear of the heathen engaging in loathsome practices, for I defy you to bring up a meaner or more degraded set than now exists among the so-called civilized nations of the earth.

When I heard brother George Q. Cannon speak about the traditions of the people where he has been, I thought that some of their traditions were no worse than some of ours. They believe that no one is better capable of teaching the inhabitants of the earth than they; and I defy them to believe that stronger than we believe it of ourselves. It is what we have been taught, and what we verily believe; they have been taught the same idea, and believe it with all their hearts; then don’t cast them down to hell for their honest belief.

But when the light of the knowledge of God comes to a man and he rejects it, that it is his condemnation. When I have told all I have been authorized to declare to him in the name of the Lord, if he does not have the visions of eternity, it is all nonsense to him. To know the truth of my testimony he must have the visions and revelations of God for himself. And when he gets them, and turns aside, becoming a traitor to the cause of righteousness, the wrath of God will beat upon him, and the vengeance of the Almighty will be heavy upon him. This comes, not because their fathers lived in darkness before them, and the ancestors of their fathers before them; not because the nations have lived and died in ignorance; but because the Lord pours the spirit of revelation upon them, and they reject it. Then they are prepared for the wrath of God, and they are banished to another part of the spirit world, where the devil has power and control over them.

Have not all our missionaries complained of hard times in their fields of labor? And some lately sent out are coming home, It is hard times for the brethren who are preaching in India. I understand the cause of it, and I wish to tell you, that you may understand it when you go there, or whether you go or not.

Take an artificial globe, and point out the, spot where the Lord commenced to build up His kingdom in the times before the flood: follow the history of that people down to the days after the flood; and find on the globe where their children settled, and where the confusion of languages took place; then, trace the children of Israel from Egypt, follow their tracks along the sea, and in their wanderings through the Red Sea to the land of Canaan; then take the site of Jerusalem where the Saviour was martyred; then follow the paths of the ancient Apostles of Christ, and see where they preached the Gospel; and when you have followed their tracks throughout the extent of their labors, and come to those who did not reject the Gospel, or had not the privilege of receiving it, you have come to the borders of the ground where the good seed can be received.

Jerusalem is not to be redeemed by our going there and preaching to the inhabitants. It will be redeemed by the high hand of the Almighty. it will be given into the possession of the ancient Israelites by the power of God, and by the pouring out of His judgments. The ground where you can sow the good seed, and where it will yield crops that you can gather, is outside of that where the ancient Apostles and Prophets labored. They had the light and power of God with them; and made manifest the hand of the Almighty in delivering the people and working miracles, and saving those that were redeemed; and the people who are the most ready to receive the Gospel are those who have lived without it from the days of Noah to this time.

If you can and an island upon which a portion of the people who were scattered from the Tower of Babel found a resting place, and whose inhabitants were never visited by any of the ancient Apostles and Prophets, and where Jesus Christ did not visit, and who have not received any knowledge of the Father, nor the Son, from the days of the confusion, there is the spot where the Elders will reap the fruits of their labor more than anywhere else.

Previous to our receiving the Priesthood in these latter times, when we were members of the different sectarian churches, we used to read much about the Waldenses whom brother Woodard has been speaking about to-day, and who inhabit the mountains and vales of Piedmont, and from whom the Baptists say they received their authority or priesthood. But their priesthood is no better than the Catholic priesthood. Do you think they as a people will receive the Gospel? No. A few of them will. You recollect that brother Woodard said they were a mixed race, and are the descendants of those who heard, and most of whom rejected the Gospel. He said that but very few of them could read and write; and that the priest was ready to chastise those who could read, if they were known to use their knowledge. Now, they are only like the brute; they are not to blame for their superstition; and they are not the people to readily receive the Gospel. I may say they have put their cast-iron creed into the centre of an iron casting; the creed, notions, and superstitions of their fathers, their priests, kings, judges, and men in authority have been cast into one mould, and there they are stereotyped in cast iron. You may break their iron bands, and set them at liberty, and but few of them will receive the Gospel.

Why is this? Because their fathers heard the Gospel, and most of them rejected it; and the curse of the Almighty is upon them, and upon their posterity until they have wrought out their salvation by suffering; for the last shall be first, and the first shall be last. A nation which has had the privilege of receiving the everlasting covenant, and has rejected it, will be saved in the kingdom of God, but it will be among the very last which will receive the Gospel. Perhaps you will marvel at this. It is no marvel to me, because I perceive natural principles and sound reason for all these providences of the Almighty. All His providences to His people upon the face of the whole earth, are perfectly philosophical. Then recollect, there is a chance for all who are honest in heart. What shall we do with those who are dishonest? Let them remain with the good until the time comes to east them away, and gather out the good.

We might say much on this point, showing you why things are as they are concerning the inhabitants of the earth receiving or rejecting the Gospel. Do you suppose they believe in Jesus Christ at Jerusalem? Can you make a Christian of a Jew? I tell you, nay. If a Jew comes into this Church, and honestly professes to be a Saint, a follower of Christ, and if the blood of Judah is in his veins, he will apostatize. He may have been born and bred a Jew, have the face of a Jew, speak the language of the Jews and have attended to all the ceremonies of the Jewish religion, and have openly professed to be a Jew all his days; but I will tell you a secret—there is not a particle of the blood of Judaism in him, if he has become a true Christian, a Saint of God; for if there is, he will most assuredly leave the Church of Christ, or that blood will be purged out of his veins. We have men among us who were Jews, and became converted from Judaism. For instance, here is brother Neibaur; do I believe there is one particle of the blood of Judah in his veins? No, not so much as could be seen on the point of the finest cambric needle, through a microscope with a magnifying power of two millions. This is a secret that you will perhaps find out, in a coming day, to your satisfaction. The Lord knew how to preach to the Jews, and told them what the truth was. You may as well undertake to command the most degraded of these Indian tribes, and give them arms and accoutrements, and try to put them through the regular military exercise, as to preach to the Jews to make them believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jerusalem is not to be redeemed by the soft still voice of the preacher Of the Gospel of peace. Why? Because they were once, the blessed of the Lord, the chosen of the Lord, the promised seed. They were the people from among whom should spring the Messiah; and salvation could be found only through that tribe. The Messiah came through them, and they killed him; and they will be the last of all the seed of Abraham to have the privilege of receiving the New and Everlasting Covenant. You may hand out to them gold, you may feed and clothe them, but it is impossible to convert the Jews, until the Lord God Almighty does it.

We have this illustrated in the account of Cain and Abel. Cain conversed with his God every day, and knew all about the plan of creating it his earth, for his father told him. But, for the want of humility, and I through jealousy, and an anxiety to possess the kingdom, and to have the whole of it under his own control, and not allow any body else the right to say one word, what did he do? He killed his brother. The Lord put a mark on him; and there are some of his children in this room. When all the other children of Adam have had the privilege of receiving the Priesthood, and of coming into the kingdom of God, and of being redeemed from the four quarters of the earth, and have received their resurrection from the dead, then it will be time enough to remove the curse from Cain and his posterity. He deprived his brother of the privilege of pursuing his journey through life, and of extending his kingdom by multiplying upon the earth; and because he did this, he is the last to share the joys of the kingdom of God.

Here are the Lamanites, another example. Their wickedness was not so great as those who slew the Son of God. Jesus revealed himself to them after he was slain, preached to them the Gospel. But in the fourth generation the Priesthood was driven from their midst, and after that, the laws, ordinances, and power of the Gospel ceased to be with them. Is their curse as great as that of those in Palestine? No, it is light, in comparison. They began to thirst for each other’s blood, and massacred each other, from generation to generation, until they sunk into wickedness, and evil principles the most degrading, and have become loathsome and vile. Still, the curse will be removed from them before it will be removed from the children of Judah; and they will become “a white and delightsome people.”

Brother Ballantyne, and many of our brethren in distant lands write, “O, how we would rejoice to have the privilege of visiting our mountain home!” I would rather undertake to convert five thousand Lamanites, than to convert one of those poor miserable creatures, whose fathers killed the Savior, and who say, “Amen to the deed,” to this day. Yea, I would rather undertake to convert the devil himself, if it were possible.

Then I say to the Elders in those regions, be not astonished if you have to see hard times. And if I had a voice that would reach the ears of all those Elders, I would say, LEAVE THEM, AND COME HOME, THE LORD DOES NOT REQUIRE YOU TO STAY THERE, FOR THEY MUST SUFFER AND BE DAMNED.

Now, sisters, write to your husbands who are in regions where the Gospel has been preached anciently, to come home; and I say to all the Elders who are in lands where the Gospel has been preached previous to our day, come away from that people, and leave them to live and die in their sins and ignorance. For the sins of their fathers are a sweet morsel to them, and they take pleasure in their wickedness; therefore, let them alone, and come home, and preach to the Lamanites.

There are many in this city who can bear witness to an incident I will now relate. Last spring, when we visited Walker, the Indian chief, he was dull and sulky, and lay in his tent, and would not come out to meet me. I went into his tent, and the first thing he said was, “Brother Brigham, lay your hands upon me, for my spirit has gone away from me, and I want it to come back again.” He was full of anger, for his people had been fighting, and he did not know whether to turn on to the side of peace or of war.

We laid hands upon him, and he felt better. At his request, we sung some “Mormon” hymns, and, as we left his tent, he was full of the good Spirit, and world not injure this people, no, not one particle. He was full of kindness, and love to God, and to all His works. He travelled with us to Iron County, and had dreams which amounted to revelations. If I could keep him with me all the time, do you suppose he would have an evil spirit? No, he would be filled with the Spirit of the Lord.

Last Sabbath we had an excellent discourse from brother Aaron Farr; his spirit is good, and so is brother Washington L. Jolly’s. Brother Farr dosed his remarks by saying, “that we were building fine houses, and neglecting the Temple of the Lord,” and brother Jolly referred to the same thing in his remarks. If it would not hurt their feelings, I would say, it is none of your business if we do not build a Temple here for years. I know they feel anxious to have a place for us to administer the endowments in, and so do I.

Among those we administered the endowments to in Nauvoo, do you not think we administered to some who were devils, or in other words, full of the devil? You wish to see a Temple built, and, when it is done, some poor miserable beings will come up, and say, “We were baptized by brother So-and-so. Brother Brigham is a charming man, and what an excellent woman his wife is! Cannot we have our endowments this winter, brother Brigham?” And they will plead with brother Kimball, and sympathise for this or that man, saying, “Do let him have his endowment, for he is so generous and loving; he gave a sister a pair of stockings and shoes; cannot he have his endowment?” Well, he gets his endowment, and what for? To go to California, and reveal everything he can, and stir up wickedness, and prepare himself for hell.

I would rather see this people cleansed, and give the righteous their endowments after they have waited awhile. Let the poor, and those who are humble before the Lord, have the first chance. I shall not build a Temple, nor commence to tout one piece of hewn stone upon the foundation, or plane a board or stick of timber for that building, until the Temple lot is fenced. If this people will pay one-fifth of the tithing that is due, we can build all that we wish.

I will venture to say that brothers Farr and Jolly never counselled their brethren, where they have been laboring, to come up here and pay their tithing; and yet they look to me and my brethren to do it all, to send the Gospel to the nations, to build temples, and watch night and day over the interests of this kingdom, and they have not even mouthed tithing; or, if they have, they have merely touched upon it, and when they get here, they whisper in my ear, “Brother Brigham, handle them carefully on tithing, for they know but little about it.”

I wish you to understand me. Wait until this people have paid their tithing, before there is any demand made on the Lord, or on His servants, for a Temple. If this people rise up, and make demands on me for anything that has not been done, or complain about anything that they have done, I am ready to post up the books, and strike a balance sheet, and show whether it is you or your President that is the defaulter. If all the brethren understood, and would pursue a proper policy, they would do better than they now do. My policy is to get rich; I am a miser in eternal things. Do I want to become rich in the things of this earth? Yes, if the Lord wishes me to have such riches, and I can use them to good advantage. My policy is to keep every man, woman, and child busily employed, that they may have no idle time for hatching mischief in the night, and for making plans to accomplish their own ruin.

We see men in our streets employed only in plotting the ruin of this people. But men who are engaged in the kanyons, in stores, or in any active labor in the day time, when night comes they are glad to rest. Night is the time the idle and the indolent water for their prey. My policy is to keep everybody busy in building up this kingdom; in building houses; in breaking up land; in setting out fruit and ornamental trees; in laying out fine gardens, pleasant walks, and beautiful groves; and in building academies, and other places of learning.

There are hundreds of young men here who can go to school, which is far better than to waste their time. Study languages, get knowledge and understanding; and while doing this, get wisdom from God, and forget it not, and learn how to apply it, that you may do good with it all the days of your lives. May God bless you. AMEN.

Fulfilment of Prophecy—Wars and Commotions

Jedediah M. Grant

A discourse by President Jedediah M. Grant, in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 2, 1854.

We are assembled this afternoon to partake of bread, and drink in remembrance of the death and suffering of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

I am satisfied that the Spirit of the Lord attends us whenever we meet in the way He has commanded; and whenever we have a meek and quiet spirit, we are prepared to receive that additional influence of the Holy Spirit, necessary to lead us into all truth, through the ordinances of the house of the Lord.

While we sit and contemplate upon the fulfilment of prophecy, delivered by the Prophet of the Lord in this dispensation, and by many more of His servants; while we contemplate upon the fulfilment of the revelations in the Book of Mormon, and in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and think of the events that we have been for twenty odd years expecting and preaching about, now rolling in on the right and on the left; it is calculated to make some of our very anxious people feel more satisfied.

The time has been, that even many of our Elders, when the sun was retiring in the west, looked for some sign in the heavens—for some flaming sword unsheathed, or some visible display of the power of the Almighty, by which they might know of the near approach of the Son of God. Others have feared greatly they would not live to see the fulfilment of the prophecies of brother Joseph, brother Brigham and others; they have felt very anxious indeed about it. But I am convinced, that that class of Saints which have been so struck with anxiety and fearfulness, may now dismiss, their fears, and dispense with all their anxiety, in relation to the predicted events that are coming upon the earth, for they are rolling in with such rapidity—they are rushing upon the astonished world with such velocity, as to exceed even our most sanguine expectations.

The things that are transpiring upon the earth are certainly as great and as momentous as any of the revelations hold forth, or as any of the predictions of the Prophet Joseph have foretold.

Notwithstanding this display of the power of God in fulfilling His word, we need not expect the eyes of the inhabitants of the earth to be opened to understand the meaning of the astounding events that are transpiring around them, for one of the marked signs of the last days is, the blindness of the people; we are told they should have eyes and see not, and ears but hear not, and hearts but understand not. If in the days of Jesus this was true of the Jews and surrounding nations, it is doubly so now in relation to the nations with which we are acquainted.

Though the fulfilment of the words of the Prophets is clear and visible to us as the noonday sun in its splendor, yet the people of the world are blinded thereto; they do not comprehend nor discern the hand of the Lord. The Saints who live in the Spirit, walk by the Spirit, and are governed by the counsels of the Almighty, can see the working of the Lord, not only in our midst—not only in Utah Territory, in the midst of the people of God who assemble in this Tabernacle—it is not only in this latter day capacity we view the work of God, but we let our minds stretch abroad to creation’s utmost extent, and we can see the hand of the Lord in all the events of earth. We see it in the revolutions of our own continent; we see it in the scattering and scourging of the house of Israel; in the fading away of nations, on the right and on the left; in the present commotion in our own nation; in the broils and contentions between the South and the North; in short, we see it in all the events connected with our own and other nations living on the continent of North and South America. And when the mind’s eye stretches abroad across the mighty deep, throughout Europe, we see the hand of the Lord visibly at work there, not only in the spread of the Gospel, in the prosperity of the people of God, and in the proclamation of the eternal principles of truth through the agency of the Elders of Israel, but in the war-cloud gathering black around, dyeing the ocean with human gore, and drenching the solid earth with blood.

We see it in the preparations of war, and the framing of treaties of peace among strong nations. The world is in commotion, and the hearts of men fail them for fear of the impending storm that threatens to enshroud all nations in its black mantle. Treaties of peace may be made, and war will stop for a season, but there are certain decrees of the Gods, and certain bounds fixed, and laws and edicts passed the high courts of heaven, beyond which the nations cannot pass; and when the Almighty decrees the wicked shall slay the wicked, strong nations may interfere, peace conventions may become rife in the world and exert their influence to sheath the sword of war, and make treaties of peace to calm the troubled surface of all Europe, to no effect; the war cloud is still booming o’er the heavens, darkening the earth, and threatening the world with desolation.

This is a fact the Saints have known for many years—that the Gods in yonder heavens have something to do with these revolutions; the angels, those holy beings who are sent from the heavens to the earth to minister in the destiny of nations, have something to do in these mighty revolutions and convulsions that shake creation almost to its centre.

Consequently, when we see nation stirred up against nation, and on the other hand see other nations exerting a powerful influence to bring about negociations of peace, shall we say they can bring it about? Do we expect they can stay the onward course of war? The Prophet of God has spoken it all, and we expect to see the work go on—and see all things fulfilled as the Prophets have declared by the spirit of prophecy in them.

The fact of the Prophet declaring an event before it comes to pass does not necessarily make that event. If he should foresee war, and predict it, the bare prediction, independent of the event that is known in the heavens, and which the world must read in the great chapter of events, does not set Europe to boiling like a pot. The Prophet simply tells a fact that is to exist—simply tells an event that is to transpire in the great chain of the providence of the Almighty relating to this earth, in the winding up sceneries thereof.

Why is it that the Latter-day Saints are perfectly calm and serene among all the convulsions of the earth—the turmoils, strife, war, pestilence, famine, and distress of nations? It is because the spirit of prophecy has made known to us that such things would actually transpire upon the earth. We understand it, and view it in its true light. We have learned it by the visions of the Almighty—by that spirit of intelligence that searches out all things, even the deep things of God.

Can the wise men of Europe tell the result of the present war between Russia and Turkey with the allied powers? No, they cannot. If the present war should be suspended for a time, can they tell you when the next will break out, and what will be the result of it? No, they cannot. But if you will listen to the revelations of God through the spirit of prophecy, and to the servants of God, you may learn it all with certainty.

Three days before the Prophet Joseph started for Carthage, I well remember his telling us we should see the fulfilment of the words of Jesus upon the earth, where he says the father shall be against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother-in-law against the daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law; and when a man’s enemies shall be those of his own household.

The Prophet stood in his own house when he told several of us of the night the visions of heaven were opened to him, in which he saw the American continent drenched in blood, and he saw nation rising up against nation. He also saw the father shed the blood of the son, and the son the blood of the father; the mother put to death the daughter, and the daughter the mother; and natural affection forsook the hearts of the wicked; for he saw that the Spirit of God should be withdrawn from the inhabitants of the earth, in consequence of which there should be blood upon the face of the whole earth, except among the people of the Most High. The Prophet gazed upon the scene his vision presented, until his heart sickened, and he besought the Lord to close it up again.

When we hear of war in foreign lands—when we hear of the revolutions among nations afar off, we necessarily infer that distresses incident to war and the hottest of the battle will not come nigh unto us. It is natural for man to make favorable conclusions as to his own safety, when danger threatens, but the Prophet saw in the vision, that war and distress of nations will not only occur in Europe, in Asia, and in the islands of the sea, but he saw it upon the American Continent—in the region of country where he first introduced the doctrine of the Son of God; so we may look for calamity in our own borders, in our own nation, as well as in the nations of foreign climes.

Some think, because of the peculiar situation of the country of the United States—the government being so well organized, little or no difficulty will ever come upon this continent, notwithstanding the European wars. Allow me to tell you in relation to that—when the Spirit of the Lord is powerfully manifested in any of the Elders of Israel, the first thing that is presented to his mind is the shedding of the blood of the Prophet, and those who did the deed.

It is no matter how much they deal in compromised measures, or how often they try to adjust difficulties that thicken around them—it is a stern fact that the people of the United States have shed the blood of the Prophets, driven out the Saints of God, rejected the Priesthood, and set at naught the holy Gospel; and the result of rejecting the Gospel has been, in every age, a visitation from the chastening hand of the Almighty—which chastisement will be administered in proportion to the magnitude and enormity of their crimes.

Consequently I look for the Lord to use His whip on the refractory son called “Uncle Sam;” I expect to see him chastised among the first of the nations. I think Uncle Sam is one of the Lord’s boys that He will take the rod to first, and make him dance nimbly to his own tune of “Oh Oh!!” for his transgressions, for his high-mindedness and loftiness, for his evil, for rejecting the Gospel, and causing the earth to drink the blood of the Saints—for this, I say, I expect he will be well switched among the first of the sons.

I expect John Bull will get the next whipping; and I have no idea of the Lord whipping Russia and letting those refractory sons escape who are better taught—who have had a kind Father teaching them and instructing them by the voice of His Elders; sending Prophets to them, to warn them late and early; inviting them by the voice of His Son, by the voice of angels, and by the still small voice of His Spirit, crying unto them to repent of their sins and to turn unto Him; I say, I do not expect He will pass by these refractory sons who have turned a deaf ear to all His instructions, maltreating His messengers, and whip those boys who have not been so well instructed.

I rejoice in the Lord my God, and feel happy in my spirit that the work of God is prospering, not only by the preaching of the Gospel, but by the progress of revolutions among the nations of the earth, and by the deeper corruption of the press and the people. I do not rejoice that the people and the press are waxing more and more corrupt, and that the war cloud darkens more and more, threatening nations with deeper distress; but I rejoice that the words of the Prophet are being fulfilled.

I do not desire thousands to lose their lives by war, and the attendant distresses; the spirit in me is different to this; but I rejoice that the reign of Satan is short upon the earth, and that the work of the Father has commenced on the face of all the earth—in the north, in the south, in the east, and in the west; and it is seen in our midst by the progress of the work of apostacy; for there is half wise and half foolish, as represented by the parable of the Saviour.

How many of the brethren that are brought here by the Perpetual Emigrating Fund from England and other countries will keep the faith, and stay with the people of God, and do right? I am afraid not more than half. All these things betoken the establishment of the work of God, and the growth of our religion, which gives me great joy.

When the people apostatize there is a contrast between the good and the bad, the just and the unjust. I rejoice when I see the righteousness of the Saints in contrast with the corruptions of the world.

In the midst of this people there is faithfulness, virtue, and integrity, and they are the most righteous and the best people upon the face of the whole earth; but when the world look upon us, and upon our morals, they look through dark spectacles and goggles, which blind them; they cannot see, and they therefore think we are the blackest people in crime, and the deepest sunk in degradation. When I see that the world have eyes, but cannot see, ears, but cannot hear, hearts, but cannot understand, it speaks volumes on the end being near, when the Son of God will come in the clouds of heaven to take vengeance on the ungodly, and reign in the midst of His people, and bring to a termination the reign of Satan.

I rejoice exceedingly that the work of God is progressing so rapidly under the sun upon the face of all the world. For war and bloodshed are just as necessary, and just as much the work of God, as repentance and baptism for the remission of sins; and it must progress, for the only means to bring about His purposes, consummate His decrees, and establish eternal righteousness, is by cutting off the wicked from the earth, after He has sought to save them by the plan of salvation Seeing they would not listen—they would not obey—they would not be instructed—then as a kind father who cares for the welfare of his children, He takes the chastening rod, He unsheathes His sword in heaven, and cuts off the disobedient portion of His children. I rejoice to see this work progressing.

To give you my ideas more clearly upon this matter, suppose the people of God are called out to war—would they wish to cultivate the same spirit that the wicked cultivate? No, they would not. Would they go out to war to satisfy a guilty thirst for blood? No. But they would exercise faith in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and execute the judgments of God upon the wicked by His command.

I know that some cannot see the difference between a man of God taking a sword as did Samuel, and hewing down Agag, and the wicked slaying each other; but they look upon that the same as they do upon one Gentile hewing down another. When the man of God raises the sword, he would at the same time ask God to nerve his arm with strength, and fill him with the Holy Ghost. Thus strengthened, one man would slay a thousand, and overcome a troop, in executing the judgments of God, like the angels that were sent into the camp of the Assyrians in days of old. Do you think those angels were bloodthirsty? No. They were messengers of the Most High, to execute His judgments, and bring to pass His purposes.

Some think we rejoice to see the wicked in their distress, and to behold the calamity that is coming upon the earth. That is not the true cause of our rejoicing; but we rejoice to see the predictions of the Prophets coming to pass, the reign of wickedness closing, which is the cause of all the ills to which mortality is heir, the cause of God move on in its majesty, and the great work fast approaching the winding up scene of the dispensations pertaining to earth.

Let us hear, see, understand, obey, and serve God faithfully, that we may make our way, through changing elements and the crash of worlds, into the presence of our Father who is in heaven, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Obedience, etc.

Heber C. Kimball

A discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 2, 1854.

I have been much interested and edified with the remarks of brother Grant: they are good. I wish this whole people could see the propriety of these things as they ought. To me it would be one of the best and most joyful things in the world, if men and women who call themselves “Mormons,” or Latter-day Saints, would live up to their profession, and learn to speak the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, and do his will on the earth, as it is done in heaven.

I ask you, brethren and sisters, if you expect to go into heaven, if you do not do his will on earth as it is done in heaven? Can those persons who pursue a course of carelessness, neglect of duty, and disobedience, when they depart from this life, expect that their spirits will associate with the spirits of the righteous in the spirit world? I do not expect it, and when you depart from this state of existence, you will find it out for yourselves.

Brother Grant was speaking about the work of God, in the laying waste of nations by sea and by land. I believe it is all the work of God, and it is all right. Will He sweep them from the earth in order to destroy their power and influence? He will. And when kings, and princes, and captains, and great men, according to the greatness of the world, go into the world of spirits, they will not have as much power as they had here upon the earth. We can hear of their spirits trying to peep, and mutter, and mock, and rap, and cause tables to dance, and chairs to move from one place to another, but that is all the power they have.

While I am in the flesh, I can take a chair, or a club, and make you feel my power to a still greater extent; I could bruise your flesh, and break your bones, but they cannot do anything but peep, and make tables and chairs dance, and rap, and give uncertain sounds. That is wisdom great enough for the world; it does well enough for them; it is all the revelation they deserve; and a few of this people go to those spirits. That man or woman who will not learn the principle of subjection, and become like clay in the hands of the potter, will be led astray by these spirits; and if not by these spirits, something will come by and by with more power.

The Saints are receiving their endowment, and preparing for that which is in the future; to dwell in the heavens, and sit upon thrones, and reign over kingdoms and dominions, principalities and powers; and as this work progresses, the works of Satan will increase, and he will continue to present one thing after another, following up the work of God, and increasing means of deception, to lead astray such men and women, and take them captive. As the work of God increases in power and extent upon the earth, so will the works of Satan increase. I expect that tribulation will be upon the wicked, and continue from this time until they are swept off from the earth. I just as much expect these things as I do to see the sun rise and set to-morrow.

I would like to see all this people do right, and keep the commandments of God. I would like to see them fulfil their covenants, and live up to their vows and promises, and fulfil their obligations, for they have obligated themselves before God, and before angels, and before earthly witnesses, that they would do this.

What you have agreed to do, God will require you to perform, if it should be ten thousand years after this time. And when the servants of God speak to you, and require you to do a thing, the Lord God will fulfil His words, and make you fulfil His words he gave to you through His servants. Inasmuch as you have come into this Church, and made a covenant to forsake the world, and cleave unto the Lord, and keep His commandments, the Lord will compel you to do it, if it should be in ten thousand years from this time. These are my views, and I know it will be so.

Comparing us to clay that is in the hands of the potter, if that clay is passive, I have power as a potter to mould it and make it into a vessel unto honor. Who is to mould these vessels? Is it God Himself in person, or is it His servants, His potters, or journeymen, in company with those He has placed to oversee the work? The great Master Potter dictates His servants, and it is for them to carry out His purposes, and make vessels according to His designs; and when they have done the work, they deliver it up to the Master for His acceptance; and if their works are not good, He does not accept them; the only works He accepts, are those that are prepared according to the design He gave. God will not be trifled with; neither will His servants; their words have got to be fulfilled, and they are the men that are to mould you, and tell you what shape to move in.

I do not know that I can compare it better than by the potter’s business. It forms a good comparison. This is the course you must pursue, and I know of no other way that God has prepared for you to become sanctified, and moulded, and fashioned, until you become modelled to the likeness of the Son of God, by those who are placed to lead you. This is a lesson you have to learn as well as myself.

When I know that I am doing just as I am told by him who is placed to lead this people, I am then a happy man, I am filled with peace, and can go about my business with joy and pleasure; I can lie down and rise again in peace, and be filled with gladness by night and by day. But when I have not done the things that are right, my conscience gnaws upon my feelings. This is the course for me to take. If it is the course for me to take, it is the course for every other Elder in Israel to take—it does not matter who he is, or where he came from; whether he be an American, an Englishman, Irishman, Frenchman or German, Jew or Gentile; to this you have got to bow, and you have got to bow down like the clay in the hands of the potter, that suffers the potter to mould it according to his own pleasure. You have all got to come to this; and if you do not come to it at this time, as sure as the sun ever rose and set, you will be cut from the wheel, and thrown back into the mill.

You have come from the mill, and you have been there grinding. For what purpose? To bring you into a passive condition. You have been gathered from the nations of the earth, from among the kindreds, tongues, and peoples of the world, to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, to purify and sanctify yourselves, and become like the passive clay in the hands of the potter. Now suppose I subject myself enough, in the hands of the potter, to be shaped according as he was dictated by the Great Master potter, that rules over all things in heaven and on earth, he would make me into a vessel of honor.

There are many vessels that are destroyed after they have been moulded and shaped. Why? Because they are not contented with the shape the potter has given them, but straightway put themselves into a shape to please themselves; therefore they are beyond understanding what God designs, and they destroy themselves by the power of their own agency, for this is given to every man and woman, to do just as they please. That is all right, and all just. Well, then, you have to go through a great many modellings and shapes, then you have to be glazed and burned; and even in the burning, some vessels crack. What makes them crack? Because they are snappish; they would not crack, if they were not snappish and wilful.

If you go to the potteries in Staffordshire, England, where the finest china ware is manufactured, you will see them take the coarsest materials about the pottery, and make a thing in the shape of a half bushel; then put the finest ware in these to secure it from danger in the burning operation. All the fine ware made in Europe and in China, is burnt in this kind of vessels. After they are done with, they are cast away—they are vessels of wrath fitted for destruction. So God takes the wicked, and makes them protect the righteous, in the process of sanctifying, and burning, and purifying, and preparing them, and making them fit for the Master’s use.

These saggars, as they are called, are compounded of refuse articles that have been cast out; so even they are good for something. The wicked are of use, for they are a rod in the hands of the Almighty to scourge the righteous, and prepare them for their Master’s use, that they may enter into the celestial world, and be crowned with glory in His presence.

Brethren who hold the Priesthood how do you like to rebel against those who are placed over you in the Priesthood, to rule and guide you in the proper way? You Bishops, or Presiding Elder, Teacher, Deacon, Apostle, or Prophet, how do you appear when you rebel against your head? You look like the woman who rebels against her husband or Lord. It also makes the children as bad as the parents; for if the parents are rebellious against their superiors, the children will be rebellious against their parents. Because the parents do not pursue a proper course, God makes their children a scourge to them.

Parents, if you do not listen to counsel, and walk in the path the Priesthood marks out, the Lord will prepare a scourge for you, if it is in your own family, to chasten you, and bring you to a knowledge of the truth, that you may be humble and penitent, and keep the commandments of God.

There is not much of this in the city of the Great Salt Lake, but look among the settlements north, south, east, and west, and see the rebellion against the authorities of which President Young and his associates have sent to preside over them; there is scarcely an instance where a whole settlement will listen to the counsel of their President.

Do you expect to have peace and plenty, to continue to thrive, and increase in property, in life, in herds, in flocks, and in the comforts of this life, while you are disobedient to those placed over you? You may for a season, but there is a rod preparing for the rebellious, and the righteous will have to suffer with the guilty. I know that by experience.

I will tell you another thing that I know. While the righteous are taking the rod along with the wicked, and it comes upon them severely, (I have passed through it many times,) they have joy, and peace, and consolation, and the Spirit of the Lord God rests mightily upon them, and is round about them, and they say, in the midst of it all, “We are determined, by the help of God, to keep His commandments, and by His help to do the will of our President.” For if there is no man on God’s footstool that will stand by him, and assist him, I am determined to do all that lies in my power to sustain him while I am upon the earth.

My prayer is, O Lord help me to do thy will, and walk in the footsteps of my leader, light up my path, and help me to walk so that my feet may never slip, and to keep my tongue from speaking guile; that I may never be left to betray my brethren, who hold the Priesthood of the Son of God; but that I may always honor that Priesthood, magnify it, reverence it, and love it more than I do my life, or my wives and my children. If I do that, I know the Priesthood will honor me, and exalt me, and bring me back into the presence of God, and also those who listen to my counsel as I listen to the counsel of him whose right it is to dictate me. If brother Brigham should get a revelation containing the will of God concerning His servant Heber, it would be, “Let my servant Heber do all things whatsoever my servant Brigham shall require at his hands, for that is the will of his Father in heaven.” If that is the will of God concerning me, what is the will of God concerning you? It is the same.

Brethren of the Priesthood, let us rise up in the name of Israel’s God, and dispense with everything that is not of God, and let us become one, even as the Father and the Son are one. If we take that course we shall triumph over hell, the grave, and over everything else that shall oppose our onward progress in earth, or in hell; there is nothing we need fear. I fear nothing only to grieve my Father who is in heaven, and my brethren who are upon the earth.

Now suppose my wives and my children would take the same course to please me, and be subject to me, as I am to brother Brigham, would there be any sorrow, or confusion, or broils? No, there would be no sorrow, there would be no blues in my family. I am never blue when I do brother Brigham’s will; but when I do not do it, I begin to grow blue; and when brother Brigham does not do the will of God, he begins to feel blue. It always makes my family feel blue when they will not do as I wish them; and I suppose it affects almost every family so in this town.

Do you suppose I am afraid of the world? No. I have nothing to do with the world, with the devil, with any of his servants, nor with his commandments. All I have to do with is the Saints. I belong to the Kingdom of God, with my family, and with everything I possess on earth or in heaven, it is the Lord’s, and I am His servant, and I devote all I have to Him, and to His cause, it is all at the service of this Church and people. I have said it to my family, and I say it now, when I have finished my course pertaining to the flesh, I am going to deed all my property to the Church; my wives, my children, shall not have it to quarrel about; but I will deed it all to the Church, and the Church shall dictate them from this time henceforth and forever.

That is just as I feel; for if I put myself in the Church, and everything I have, and deed it all over to the Church, then I belong to the Church, with all I possess. I have not anything but what the Lord has given to me; He has given me my houses and my land. I have built my houses out of the elements that He organized when He organized the earth. My wives, my children, myself, and all I own, belong to the Lord God; and when I lay down this tabernacle of clay, my spirit will return to God who gave it. What can I retain of this world when I have done with it in this mortal state? I do not know of anything I can take with me. I came into the world naked, and I shall go from it taking nothing with me.

I have seen many cases where, at the death of the parents, the children will quarrel about the property, and fight about it; but my inheritance shall not be divided, it must remain whole; for except the body remains whole, it will die. If you divide the body, and separate the members of it, it will distress the body, make it imperfect, and it will go to misery, wretchedness, sorrow, and death. Well, then, when you die, put your inheritance into a situation that it will never be divided, and there will be no quarrelling about it.

It is just so with this Church; if we are united, and the Priesthood is united, and the families of this Church, with their husbands at their head, are united, we stand, and all hell, with the devil at their head, have nothing to do with us; they cannot move us. But if we are divided we fall.

What do you say to our being one, and clinging together? I speak to the brethren; I do not expect any woman will stick to me only my wives; if the women of every man stick to him, as the men stick to me, then we shall all be stuck together, and live together, and reign together, and get rich together, and increase together, and build up together, and be as one man in all things. Would we not be a happy company? It is that alone that will make you truly happy; and to be perfectly limber in the hands of the potter like clay. What makes the clay snap? Because it wants its own way; and you cannot be happy unless you submit to the law of God, and to the principles of His government.

When a person is miserable, wretched, and unhappy in himself, put him in what circumstances you please, and he is wretched still. If a person is poor, and composes his mind, and calmly submits to the providences of God, he will feel cheerful and happy in all circumstances, if he continues to keep the commandments of God. But you may fill the house of a dissatisfied person with everything the world can produce, and he will be miserable with all. All heaven could not satisfy discontented persons; they must first be satisfied with themselves, and content in the situation in which they are placed, and learn to acknowledge the hand of God in all things.

There are some ladies who are not happy in their present situations; but that woman who cannot be happy with one man, cannot be happy with two, and a man that is not happy with one wife, cannot be with two, even though they are good women. You know all women are good, or ought to be. They were made for angelic beings, and I would be glad to see them act more angelic in their behaviour. You were made more angelic, and a little weaker than man. Man is made of rougher material, to open the way, cut down bushes, and kill the snakes, that women may walk along through life, and not soil and tear their skirts. When you see a woman with ragged skirts, you may know she wears the unmentionables, for she is doing the man’s business, and has not time to cut off the rags that are hanging around her. From this time henceforth you may know what woman wears her husband’s pants.

May the Lord bless you. Amen.

Contentment, etc.

Heber C. Kimball

A discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Nov. 26, 1854.

I feel grateful for the privileges and blessings we enjoy as a people. This seems to be the feeling of every one that attempts to speak before this congregation. But what are the feelings of thousands of this people that appreciate their blessings and their enjoyments? I know for one that I have never seen a day since I entered into this Church, but what I felt thankful for the situation in which I was placed. I have been many times poor as to the things of this world, but I never saw the time but what I felt rich in regard to the principles of life and salvation, that God has revealed to us.

I presume there are but few in this valley, and perhaps not one, that has seen closer times than I have, or than President Brigham Young has. I hear a great many people say, and even some of those who labor on the Public Works, that they have nothing but bread to eat and water to drink; well, I have seen the time, a great many times, that I had not bread to eat, but there was plenty of water, though not half so good as we have here in these valleys. I have thought a thousand times how it is possible that men can have nothing under the heavens to live upon but bread and water, when the valleys are full of vegetation, and at the same time they will have plenty of potatoes, beets, carrots, pumpkins, and everything of that kind, and still they say they have nothing but bread and water! That is a mystery that never has been unfolded to me. I have never seen the time in my life but what I had something to eat, if it was nothing but some horse beef, or something of that kind.

Well, there are a great many who labor, and have their three dollars and three dollars and a half a day, and they say there is nothing but bread and water to live upon. Ask them how much of a family they have, and you will learn they have only one wife, and no children, and are paid from 18 to 20 dollars a week, and cannot get anything but bread and water!

I merely speak of this because I have heard it so much. Perhaps they cannot get meat, and perhaps they cannot get butter, nor sugar, nor coffee, nor tea, but they have plenty of potatoes, and they have plenty of beets, carrots, pumpkins, squashes, &c., &c., for there are thousands of these things in the Tithing Office. I wish the brethren would not come to President Young, nor to any other one, with that complaint any more, until the potatoes are all gone. Why not say, “We have to live on bread, and water, and potatoes, and pumpkins, squashes, and all these good things?” Will you not be so candid as to make that report the next time? I know perfectly well we are comfortable as a people, and you may go into the United States, and into the best cities and towns that there are in the United States, and you cannot find so large a congregation as are here together, which is as well clad as you are to-day. If you could stand where I am, and look upon this congregation, you would be surprised to see the good clothing you have on; it is better than I ever saw any congregation have in any part of the United States, or in any portion of Europe that I ever was in; and we have the least cause of complaint of any people that live upon the face of the earth; this I know. And I know another thing, that a great many people are becoming so proud—well, perhaps it is not pride, but they have got so that they cannot dress and clothe themselves with anything that is not brought here by the merchants. Many will bring in their wool, and their linsey, and their good clothing that they make here from the wool, and give it to clothe the Indians, for they are too proud to wear it themselves. But the day will come when the merchants of the earth will lift up their heads and their voices, and cry out, “We have no place to sell our merchandize.”

Will the time ever be that we can make our clothing? We nearly can at this time. We can do it almost universally as a people. If there are any who have not got the sheep, they can buy the wool cheaper than it can be bought in the United States this day. You can buy it at from 20 to 50 cents a pound. I would like to see the people take a course to make their own clothing, make their own machinery, their own knives and their own forks, and everything else we need, for the day will come when we will be under the necessity of doing it, for trouble and perplexity, war and famine, bloodshed and fire, and thunder and lightning will roll upon the nations of the earth, insomuch that we cannot get to them, nor they to us. If you do not believe me I want you to believe the Prophets; read the revelations that came through brother Joseph Smith, and through Daniel and Moses, and through Jesus, and through all the ancient Prophets. They spoke of these things, and declare they shall come to pass in the latter days. Well, what period is it now? Unto us it is the “last days,” in which, the Lord says by His Prophets, when you hear of war, and rumors of war, it will not be long before you have it in your own land. Now are we as a people preparing and qualifying ourselves for that day, lest it overtake us as a thief in the night? It certainly will if we do not wake up from our slumber.

There is a blessing that attends this people wherever they go, and every man that comes to us, or is at a place when we come, I never have seen the time but what they begin to get rich. Look at Nauvoo, for instance, and see how poor and penniless we were, living in old log cabins, and destitute; but we began to get rich, and many became wealthy. There is no man upon the face of the earth that will be favorable towards Zion and towards this people, but what he will prosper temporally as well as spiritually. I have never seen a place, since I was born upon the earth, in which I could make one dollar, but that I could make 50 dollars among the Saints in the same length of time. It seems to cost more to build a house here by one half than it does in the United States, still it is easier to build, and to multiply and replenish the earth, and raise food, and everything else, in this place, than in any other that ever I saw. At the same time there are a great many who murmur, and say it is the hardest place they ever saw; that is a curiosity to me, when the blessings of the Almighty attend us wherever we go; for we can build up a city in a few days, or at the furthest in a few years, and it seems to be no trouble at all. Brethren and sisters, let us try to appreciate our blessings, and honor the calling we have received. At the same time there are a great many who disregard their profession, and tantalize others who hold the Priesthood, and try to make it dishonorable; but they cannot do it. I cannot dishonor it, but I can dishonor myself.

The Priesthood is a gift from the Almighty, and He has placed a portion of it upon me to honor, and if I honor that calling, that Priesthood will honor me, it will magnify me before God, and before the world. I do know that when I take a course to dishonor myself, I degrade myself in the eyes of heaven, and upon earth. When I trifle with the Priesthood I trifle with the Almighty; and when I trifle with President Young I trifle with the Priesthood, and that Priesthood will leave me, and I will fall and I will become disgraced in the eyes of heaven, and of all Saints; and I forfeit everything that I had attained while I held that Priesthood, when I forfeit it; I forfeit my salvation and every blessing I possess.

Supposing we all realized this, do you not think that those who have the Priesthood, and take a course to pollute not only themselves, but their brethren, and their sisters, and degrade themselves, and steal, and lie, and take the name of God in vain, would repent speedily? How do you suppose the Lord looks upon them? Now reflect one moment; He looks upon them with less allowance than I do, and that in proportion to the light and knowledge which He has. And how do angels look upon them when they are sent forth to minister to those who ;will become heirs of salvation?

We read in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants that when Peter and James desired to depart, John desired to tarry, that he might accomplish a greater work. “Well,” says the Lord, “you may have your wishes, and, as John wants to tarry to do a greater work, I will authorize you, James and Peter, to assist my servant John to perform a good work while he shall tarry.” Now, if John has angels to administer to him, why not other men who are servants of the living God? It is just as reasonable that they should. I know it is so; I do not believe it, but I actually know it; and that the God which I serve lives and dwells in the heavens; and I feel to honor Him, I feel to reverence Him, and to do a good work by His authority, that I may come into His presence, and give up my stewardship with joy, and not with grief; and dwell with Him at some future time. And when I give up my stewardship to Him, if He considers me worthy, He can restore it to me, with an hundred fold beside.

We are on trial, and let us prove ourselves by paying our tithing, and fulfilling all our duties before God, and see if He will not pour us out a blessing that there will not be room to contain it. How in the heavens can you prove the Lord whether His word shall be verified, if you do not step forward and do as He has told you? Gentlemen and ladies, let me tell you one thing, your withholding does not impoverish the Almighty, for you have not anything only what is His, and you have not anything only what He gave you; and do you suppose He has given all to you that He possesses? No. When He has given every thing that you can retain, that you can watch over, and preside over, He is not impoverished, because there is an eternal increase, and there is no end to His income, and there is no end to His creations, for they go on continually. You have not anything only what you have received from the Almighty from day to-day. Where do you get your water, your meat, your bread, and the luxuries of life? Did not He create them all, or, in other words, organize them? Were not the elements thereof placed here upon the earth before you came here? One half of this people may draw away from the truth, or two-thirds of them, or a quarter of them, or all but twenty, if you please, and do you suppose it will hinder the salvation, the exaltation, the happiness, and the heaven that pertain to those who cleave to this Church? No, it won’t affect them one hair. If you do not pay one dime of tithing it will not impoverish the Almighty, but I will tell you where the effect will be, it will affect yourselves, your own salvation. If you neglect these things, I tell you the Lord will neglect to bless you; it comes on yourselves individually, and it stands you in hand, every soul of you, men and women, to arise and prove the Lord, and see if He does not watch your faithfulness, and is not ready to pour you out a blessing that you have not room to receive.

Since President Young and others have dwelt upon tithing it is coming in first rate, and Bishop Hunter has become frightened; “Good heavens,” says he, “what shall we do with the tithing? We have not got room to put it.” “Why,” says I, “stretch out, Bishop.” If he does not stretch out, he will, in comparison, be like an artificial globe, he will become round, he will draw up, that is the trouble. Too many have got the sweeny, and the skins are growing tight on their flesh, and even on their bones. Some of the Bishops and Elders become so contracted that it is too hard for them to pay their tithing when it pertains to them as individuals, for it is an individual salvation. Let us be one in these things, and be up and doing while it is time; and it is time all the time, and it is time in eternity all the time, and always will be; and when we get into the next stage of action it will be time while we are there, and it will be eternity around us. Let us go to work and purify our hearts—our tabernacles—and purify and cleanse our houses, and let us rise up as a people. What say ye? Do you feel inclined to do it? Let us show to the world that we are Saints, for it hurts my feelings to see the steps that some Elders here are taking right in the midst of Israel, rising up in clans to steal from their brethren, and thinking we shall believe it is some one else. Is that righteous? Is that the religion of Christ? Is that doing as you would wish to be dealt by? Such characters will see sorrow, they will see wretchedness, they will see misery; and may God grant that their misery may begin to fall upon them, and increase, that they may never rest until they repent, and wash away their sins, and turn unto the Lord; I wish this on conditions you know. Well, here we pray, and here we desire, that inasmuch as the world raise weapons against Zion, or against God’s people, we pray that these weapons may fall upon their own heads, and not upon ours; we pray, inasmuch as they dig pits, that they may fall into them instead of getting us into them.

Bless your souls, I have no fear about any matters pertaining to this people, if they would rise up and be as one man, and act by common consent with the President, as his Counsellors and as the Twelve do. The Twelve feel to be one with the First Presidency, as they are with each other. I do not fear this world, nor do I fear anything that is in it, for where there is union and concentration with that man whom God has appointed, there is a power that this earth cannot handle. Now the world do not know this, but still they are fearful; there is something out of sight which they fear. Again, if those who go forth to preach the Gospel could speedily gather every one of the Saints from Europe, Asia, Africa, the islands of the sea, and from wherever they are scattered, there would be twenty thousand, yes, fifty thousand, converted, where there now are not ten. The lingerers are right in the gate, like a dog in a manger; they will neither eat themselves nor let anybody else eat; and they are an offence in the eyes of the world, and they block up the work from rolling on. I wish they were gathered into a brush heap and burned, that is those who ought to be burned, and the rest gathered with us; for the Lord, in the very first start of this Church, said, “All those who have entered into covenant with me, and come into my Church, let them gather themselves together into one place.” Still, do you not see how desirous people are to scatter here and there, and not go as they are told; but they are for getting off by themselves, to partake of the spirit of the world, and the spirit of selfishness; and they want to own everything there is, that no person or being can get within miles of them.

We are commanded to gather into one place, and purify ourselves, and sanctify ourselves, that we may be prepared for His coming; for He will come by and bye, when He gets ready; the time is not very far off, as many suppose; He will not come to the wicked first, but to those who are virtuous, and have kept their covenants; and when He comes to the wicked He will come in the clouds of heaven and in flames of fire, and will take vengeance on them, and on those that know not God, and do not obey His counsel, and His Priesthood, and the power He has placed upon earth. To me, the word comes from brother Brigham as the word of the Lord; but how many there are who disregard it. He is the delegate that God has appointed to be Joseph’s successor, and his word is the word of the Lord, whether it is written or not; whether it comes out as revelation or not, it is the word of God to those who believe and practise it; and when this is done the blessings of the Lord God will rest upon this people to that degree that you cannot conceive nor imagine. As for riches, let us seek after the riches of eternal life, and let us seek first the kingdom of God, and its righteousness, and then all necessary things shall be added unto us, both those that pertain to earth, and that pertain to heaven and heavenly things. As to what little I have in this world, I have not anything but what belongs to the Almighty; and if I have got anything here in my possession that I am steward over, if it is wanted I want He should have it, I do not care what it is. I know the earth is full of the abundance of everything that is or ever was upon it; and we are bound to prosper if we take this course, but if we do not we shall experience the opposite; and when the opposite takes place it will be worse, and more sorrowful, and more to be dreaded than anything we have ever had to experience.

I wish many of you had been through the scenes that brother Brigham and many others have. “What, do you want us to pass through the same that you have?” Yes, and more abundantly. Do you think I will cry about it? No; I will rejoice if you only stick to the faith, because it will be for your good—for your happiness; it will give you an experience that you have not got, and I do not know that you can have it until you have been tried. You have never seen the day that you have had to watch with your firelock in readiness; that is, you have not had to watch President Young, with your fire-arms and other weapons of defence, and not only to watch him, but to watch you Elders. This was all the time the case in the former part of our career in this Church, and we were happy then; were we not, brother Brigham? [“Yes, sir.”] and rejoiced all the day long that it was no worse with us.

We talk of these things to you a great many times; well, we have passed through a great deal of tribulation. Though there may be individuals who have passed through pretty close places, yet I never saw a place where there was not a chance to get out some time; but have you, as a people, one in a hundred of you, passed through any great trials? Many of you have been brought here free of expense, and did not work to pay one dime of it, until you got here, and got settled. Did we get carried in our early day? No, we had to look out for ourselves, and then take a large back load besides.

Some say they do not want to work here for nothing and find themselves but we found ourselves, that is, we found ourselves right there. Telling about finding ourselves! God finds us, and furnishes us with everything we have, with the breath we breathe and the earth we stand upon, and the water that we drink. Do you make all these things? No, the Lord made them, and placed them here upon the earth for our use; He made the wheat and organized it; we have the seed, and all we have to do is to sow one kernel and get a thousand, to sow one bushel and get twenty, forty, or eighty; to plant one bushel of corn and get five hundred; to plant six bushels of potatoes and get three or four hundred. Find yourselves, do you? Did you find the seed? No, you did not, the Lord found it; when He came here He brought it with Him, and He told His sons to sow it, and let it increase.

You are aware that my object in addressing you is to try to influence your minds to do good, and take the right course, and listen to counsel, and to the government of God as it is established upon the earth. Do you suppose I would occupy this stand, were it not that peradventure I might persuade you? I am exhorting you to faithfulness, humility, and to be true to your integrity, and to your God, and to one another, and to pray. There are a great many men will pray when you ask them to pray, but I doubt whether they pray at any other time, but they must keep up an appearance in our midst, and at the same time carry on iniquity right here in the heart of Zion. As some one said here last Sabbath, I wish things would take a little different course, that we should have no necessity of exhorting you to faithfulness. I wish you would exhort yourselves to faithfulness, and then practise it, and then continue in it to the end. Let us go, to work and build up Zion as well as build up ourselves, for when we build up Zion we build up ourselves, when we enrich Zion we enrich ourselves. When we build up the Public Works we enrich ourselves, for the public improvements increase the value of our private improvements, and they are connected together. Let President Brigham Young and his Counsellors, and the Twelve, leave this place and go to Fillmore, and property in Fillmore will rise the moment we go there and commence to build a temple. Lots, instead of selling for 25 dollars, will sell for 25 hundred. Take away the temple from here, and place it there, and see what a change it will make; for where the carcase [carcass] is, there the eagles will gather together, and you cannot help yourselves. Do you know it? Now let us go to work and build up these Public Works, and make things look nice and comfortable. It will take us but a little while to do a thing if we have means to do it; for the more means there are, the more men can be employed; and after all true riches are in labor and muscle, the sinew and the bone, more than in gold and silver, and fine clothing. Did you ever see a piece of calico make itself? It is produced by bone and sinew.

Some in the world say, “I never can believe the earth was made with hands, or if it was, it is certainly a curiosity for the Lord to measure the whole of it in the hollow of His hand, and it is said He did; He hefted it and weighed it in a balance. What does all this mean? Does it not mean what it says, or does it mean something else?” God made the earth, and He made it with His hands, just as much as I ever made a vessel from clay with my hands. I shaped it, but the elements were made before; I only took the material from the bank and organized it and put it into such shape as my master told me. An apprentice who goes to a trade has to do as his master tells him. Look at it, we are apprentices, and we ought to become obedient to our masters, that we may become workmen who need not be ashamed to present ourselves before our masters, or before those who of right take cognizance of us.

In Europe all the troops that are enlisted have to be taken and drilled, and when they have been drilled for many years, they have to learn to march with heads up, and eyes right or left, and all step alike; after they can do this first rate they must then be examined by the best military men, and when they are approved they are sent to different parts of the earth to take stations. That is good, is it not?

The Saints have to come to as careful discipline, and the day will come when the wicked will have to come to it, and if they do not learn to step right, they will be made to do it. I was speaking about it yesterday, when I went with brother Brigham to see the review; they are improving, no doubt, though our troops were not all there. We were speaking about an open vision that we saw some years ago; it was not seen in the dark, but we saw it with our natural eyes; President Young, myself, brother Phineas Young, and many others saw it. We saw an army start from the east, and go to the south, and there were twelve men in a column, and one column came right after the other, so that when the first stepped, the next stepped in their track; and they had swords, guns, knapsacks, caps, and feathers, and we could see them march with a uniform step from one side of the heavens to the other. This we saw with our natural eyes, and looked upon it for hours; it was the very night that the angel delivered the plates to Joseph Smith.

This army marched to the southwest, and they marched as if there was a battle to take place; and we could hear the clashing of their swords and guns, and the measured tread of their march, just as plain as I ever heard the movements of troops on the earth. John P. Greene came to wake me up to look upon it. I am speaking of this to show you how exact in our discipline and government we must be to prepare us for a celestial being; we have got to begin to come to it, and I would like to know when you will begin to prepare yourselves. The whole world have got to see and feel the armies of heaven, and when they come they will come with order, and when they are commanded to act there will be no running away, and there will be no traitors in that army, but it will be composed of virtuous Saints, who are clothed with the power of God, and have the integrity of heavenly beings. They will not sell whisky, and stick up grogeries, and establish distilleries, and engage in various other operations to pollute this people among whom they have enlisted, even under the banners of Christ. Among the wicked there will be disorder, but in the armies of heaven there will be order. Things in heaven are in order, there is a pure government there, and it must be observed, and strictly adhered to; this you read in your Bibles. When the order of that government was threatened, did not Michael the archangel, with the hosts of heaven that were with him, cast Lucifer out, and all his votaries?

The world is in confusion, and shall we pattern after the world, or after the armies of heaven? What do you say as a people? To pattern after heavenly things is my religion, it is what I believe, and is what I would like to practise, and what I would like to see the Elders in Israel practise, and all who profess to be Saints.

Now look at yourselves, and scan yourselves, and see whether you are fit subjects to go there. Are you without spot or blemish? If not, awake and exert yourselves to work righteousness. What will you see outside of that city? Dogs, sorcerers, and whoremongers, and those who love and make a lie, and steal, and disobey the requirements of God, and take His name in vain. Are they going inside? No; but a wall will have to be built to keep the devils out, even in heaven; and still, many do not deem it necessary for Saints to be gathered together and wall in a city!

Awake, all ye Israel, from your slumber, and call upon God, and listen to His counsel, and obey, and then we shall prevail, and not be prevailed against; then we shall live forever, and see the devil cast out of heaven, and destroyed with his works. I do not expect to live for ever in this old body, for I am going to have a new one. Then let me magnify and keep this body pure, that I may be entitled to a new one, and if I do not keep this pure I shall not be entitled to a better; neither will any of you, except you honor this body. Now, will you go and pollute yourselves, and lose the right and title to a resurrection, to dwell with the Saints, and with God the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ, who is my brother? You who do not wish to be Saints, who do not care anything about righteousness, and desire to follow the evil habits you have been accustomed to in other countries, will you not please to leave us? Will you lift up your hands and show yourselves? No. I can not get a hand up, you keep down under the curtain; but we will find you out by and bye, and we will cast nuisances out of this city; for in a city acknowledged by God the Eternal Father grog shops cannot be tolerated. Look in the Eastern States; we cast them out there as nuisances, and they never can be tolerated here. Don’t you say it will be better to take that course than to have the chastity of our virtuous women violated? Drunkenness and pollution cannot prevail while we dwell here, and when we remove there will be nobody here but devils. Every place we have left has become a literal hell. Look at Nauvoo, which we tried to build up, and they would not let us, but killed our Prophet and Patriarch, because we preached, and tried to practise, the same righteous course which I am now exhorting you to pursue. That is what they drove us for. I know all about it, I was there, and President Young was there. We never had any peace in the States after we embraced “Mormonism;” even as soon as I embraced it in my own country, men came into my house to drive and mob me. They had no fault to find with me and brother Brigham, but with our religion, because it was severe towards the wicked and ungodly. Now, you who profess to be in the sheepfold, for Heaven’s sake be subject to the law and government of the Shepherd.

Have I said enough? I feel just as I say; I am honest. I am a servant of God, and I intend to sustain His cause. When we came to this Valley we came to leave wickedness and work righteousness, though we came here because we were obliged to.

Brethren and sisters, may God bless you, and cause peace and plenty to abound among you from this time henceforth and for ever. Amen.

The Constitutions of the United States and Illinois, etc.

Joseph Smith

An address by President Joseph Smith, Delivered on the evening of his arrival from Dixon, June 30, 1843, in the Grove, near the Temple, Nauvoo; about eight thousand people having hastily assembled, under the most intense excitement, in consequence of the attempt of Sheriff Reynolds, of Jackson County, Missouri, to kidnap him to Missouri, by preventing him from obtaining a writ of Habeas Corpus. (Reported by Dr. Willard Richards and Elder Wilford Woodruff.)

The congregation is large; I shall require attention. I discovered what the emotions of the people were on my arrival at this city, and I have come here to say, “How do you do?” to all parties, and I do now at this time say to all, “How do you do?” I meet you with a heart full of gratitude to Almighty God; and I presume you all feel the same. I am well—I am hearty. I hardly know how to express my feelings—I feel as strong as a giant. I pulled sticks with the men coming along, and I pulled up with one hand the strongest man that could be found: then two men tried, but they could not pull me up; and I continued to pull mentally until I pulled Missouri to Nauvoo. But I will pass from that subject.

There has been great excitement in the country since Joseph H. Reynolds and Harmon Wilson took me; but I have been cool and dispassionate through the whole. Thank God, I am now a prisoner in the hands of the Municipal Court of Nauvoo, and not in the hands of Missourians.

It is not so much my object to tell of my afflictions, trials, and troubles, as to speak of the writ of Habeas Corpus, so that the minds of all may be corrected. It has been asserted by the great and wise men, lawyers and others, that our municipal powers and legal tribunals are not to be sanctioned by the authorities of the State; and accordingly they want to make it lawful to drag away innocent men from their families and friends, and have them put to death by ungodly men for their religion! Relative to our city charter, courts, right of Habeas Corpus, &c., I wish you to know and publish that we have all power; and if any man from this time forth says anything to the contrary, cast it into his teeth. There is a secret in this; if there is not power in our charter and courts, then there is not power in the State of Illinois, nor in the Congress or Constitution of the United States, for the United States gave unto Illinois her constitution or charter, and Illinois gave unto Nauvoo her charters, ceding unto us our vested rights, which she has no right or power to take from us; all the power there was in Illinois she gave to Nauvoo; and any man that says to the contrary, is a fool. The Municipal Court has all the power to issue and determine writs of Habeas Corpus, within the limits of this city, that the Legislature can confer. This city has all the power that the State Courts have, and was given by the same authority—the Legislature.

I want you to hear and learn, O Israel! this day, what is for the happiness and peace of this city and people. If our enemies are determined to oppress us, and deprive us of our constitutional rights and privileges as they have done; and if the authorities that are on the earth will not sustain us in our rights, nor give us that protection which the laws and constitution of the United States, and of this State, guarantee unto us, then we will claim them from a higher power—from Heaven—yea, from God Almighty.

I have dragged these men here by my hand, and will do it again; but I swear I will not deal so mildly with them again; for the time has come when forbearance is no longer a virtue; and if you or I are again taken unlawfully, you are at liberty to give loose to blood and thunder. But be cool, be deliberate, be wise, act with almighty power, and when you pull, do it effectually—make a sweepstakes for once!

My lot has always been cast among the warmest hearted people; in every time of trouble, friends, even among strangers, have been raised up unto me, and assisted me.

The time has come when the vail is torn off from the State of Illinois, and its citizens have delivered me from the State of Missouri; friends that were raised up unto me would have spilt their life’s blood, to have torn me from the hands of Reynolds and Wilson, if I had asked them; but I told them not. I would be delivered by the power of God, and generalship; and I have brought these men to Nauvoo, and committed them to her from whom I was torn, not as prisoners in chains, but as prisoners of kindness. I have treated them kindly, I have had the privilege of rewarding them good for evil. They took me unlawfully, treated me rigorously, strove to deprive me of my rights, and would have run with me into Missouri to have been murdered, if Providence had not interposed; but now they are in my hands, and I have taken them into my house, set them at the head of my table, and placed before them the best which my house afforded; and they were waited upon by my wife, whom they deprived of seeing me when I was taken.

I have no doubt but I shall be discharged by the Municipal Court: were I before any good tribunal I should be discharged, as the Missouri writs are illegal, and good for nothing—they are “without form and void.”

But before I will bear this unhallowed persecution any longer—before I will be dragged away again, among my enemies for trial, I will spill the last drop of blood in my veins, and will see all my enemies IN HELL! To bear it any longer would be a sin, and I will not bear it any longer. Shall we bear it any longer? [One universal “No!” ran through all the vast assembly, like a loud peal of thunder.]

I wish the lawyer who says we have no powers in Nauvoo may be choked to death with his own words. Don’t employ lawyers, or pay them money for their knowledge, for I have learnt they don’t know anything. I know more than they all.

Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel; he that believeth in our chartered rights, may come here and be saved, and he that does not shall remain in ignorance. If any lawyer shall say there is more power in other places and charters, with respect to Habeas Corpus, than in Nauvoo, believe it not. I have converted this candidate for Congress [pointing to Cyrus Walker, Esq.], that the right of Habeas Corpus is included in our charter. If he continues converted, I will vote for him.

I have been with these lawyers, and they have treated me well; but I am here in Nauvoo, and the Missourian too. I got here by a lawful writ of Habeas Corpus, issued by the Master in chancery of Lee County, and made returnable to the nearest tribunal in the Fifth Judicial District having jurisdiction to try and determine such writs: and here is that tribunal, just as it should be.

However indignant you may feel about the high hand of oppression which has been raised against me by these men, use not the hand of violence against them; for they could not be prevailed upon to come here till I pledged my honor and my life that a hair of their heads should not be hurt. Will you all support my pledge, and thus preserve my honor? One universal “Yes!” burst from the assembled thousands.] This is another proof of your attachment to me. I know how ready you are to do right; you have done great things, and manifested your love towards me in flying to my assistance on this occasion. I bless you, in the name of the Lord, with all the blessings of heaven and earth you are capable of enjoying.

I have learned we have no need to suffer as we have heretofore—we can call others to our aid. I know the Almighty will bless all good men—He will bless you; and the time has come when there will be such a flocking to the standard of liberty as never has been, or shall be hereafter. What an era has commenced! Our enemies have prophesied that we would establish our religion by the sword; is it true? No, but if Missouri will not stay her cruel hand in her unhallowed persecutions against us, I restrain you not any longer: I say, in the name of Jesus Christ, by the authority of the Holy Priesthood, I this day turn the key that opens the heavens to restrain you no longer from this time forth. I will lead you to battle; and if you are not afraid to die, and feel disposed to spill your blood in your own defence, you will not offend me. Be not the aggressor—bear until they strike you on the one cheek; then offer the other and they will be sure to strike that then defend yourselves, and God will bear you off, and you shall stand forth clear before His tribunal.

If any citizens of Illinois say we shall not have our rights, treat them as strangers and not friends, and let them go to hell and be damned! Some say they will mob us; let them mob and be damned! If we have to give up our chartered rights, privileges, and freedom, which our fathers fought, bled, and died for, and which the Constitution of the United States, and of this State, guarantee unto us, we will do it only at the point of the sword and bayonet.

Many lawyers contend for those things which are against the rights of men, and I can only excuse them because of their ignorance. Go forth and advocate the laws and rights of the people, ye lawyers; if not, don’t get into my hands, or under the lash of my tongue.

Lawyers say the powers of the Nauvoo charter are dangerous; but I ask, is the Constitution of the United States, or of this State, dangerous? No; neither are the charters granted unto Nauvoo by the Legislature of Illinois dangerous, and those who say they are, are fools. We have not enjoyed unmolested those rights which the Constitution of the United States of America, and our charters grant. Missouri and all wicked men raise the hue and cry against us, and are not satisfied. Some political aspirants of this State also are raising the hue and cry that the powers in the charters granted unto the city of Nauvoo are dangerous; and although the General Assembly have conferred them upon our city, yet the whine is raised—“Repeal them, take them away;” like the boy who swapped off his jack-knife, and then cried, “Daddy, daddy, I have sold my jack-knife, and got sick of my bargain, and I want to get it back again.” But how are they going to help themselves? Raise mobs? And what can mobocrats do in the midst of Kirkpatrickites? No better than a hunter in the claws of a bear. If mobs come upon you any more here, dung your gardens with them. We don’t want any excitement; but after we have done all, we will rise up, Washington-like, and break off the hellish yoke that oppresses us, and we will not be mobbed.

The day before I was taken at Inlet Grove, I rode with my wife through Dixon to visit some friends, and I said to her, “Here is a good people.” I felt this by the Spirit of God. The next day I was a prisoner in their midst, in the hands of Reynolds of Missouri, and Wilson of Carthage. As the latter drove up, he exclaimed, “Ha, ha, ha, by God we have got the Prophet now!” He gloried much in it; but he is now our prisoner. When they came to take me, they held two cocked pistols to my head, and saluted me with “God damn you, I’ll shoot you! I’ll shoot you, God damn you;” repeating these threats nearly fifty times from first to last. I asked them what they wanted to shoot me for. They said they would do it if I made any resistance. “O very well,” I replied, “I have no resistance to make.” They then dragged me away, and I asked them by what authority they did these things. They said, “By a writ from the Governors of Missouri and Illinois.” I then told them I wanted a writ of Habeas Corpus. Their reply was, “God damn you, you shan’t have it.” I told a man to go to Dixon, and get me a writ of Habeas Corpus. Wilson then repeated, “God damn you, you shan’t have it; I’ll shoot you.” When we arrived at Dixon, I sent for a lawyer, who came, and Reynolds shut the door in his face, and would not let me speak to him, repeating “God damn you, I’ll shoot you. I turned to him, opened my bosom, and told him to “shoot away; I have endured so much persecution and oppression that I am sick of life; why then don’t you shoot, and have done with it, instead of talking so much about it?” This somewhat checked his insolence. I then told him that I would have counsel to consult; and eventually I obtained my wish. The lawyers came to me, and I got a writ of Habeas Corpus for myself, and also a writ against Reynolds and Wilson for unlawful proceedings and cruel treatment towards me. Thanks to the good citizens of Dixon, who nobly took their stand against such unwarrantable and unlawful oppression, my persecutors could not get out of town that night; although, when they first arrived, they swore I should not remain in Dixon five minutes; and I found they had ordered horses accordingly to proceed to Rock Island. I pledged my honor to my counsel that the Nauvoo city charter conferred jurisdiction to investigate the subject; so we came to Nauvoo, where I am now prisoner in the custody of a higher tribunal than the circuit court.

The charter says that “the city council shall have power and authority to make, ordain, establish, and execute such ordinances, not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States, or of this State, as they may deem necessary for the peace, benefit, and safety of the inhabitants of said city;” and also that “the Municipal Court shall have power to grant writs of Habeas Corpus in all cases arising under the ordinances of the city council.” The city council have passed an ordinance “that no citizen of this city shall be taken out of this city by any writ, without the privilege of a writ of Habeas Corpus.” There is nothing but what we have power over, except where restricted by the Constitution of the United States. “But,” say the mob, “what dangerous powers!” Yes, dangerous, because they will protect the innocent, and put down mobocrats. The Constitution of the United States declares that the privilege of the writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be denied. Deny me the right of Habeas Corpus, and I will fight with gun, sword, cannon, whirlwind, and thunder, until they are used up like the Kilkenny cats.

We have more power than most charters confer, because we have power to go behind the writ, and try the merits of the case.

If these powers are dangerous, then the Constitution of the United States, and of this State, are dangerous; but they are not dangerous to good men; they are only so to bad men who are breakers of the laws. So with the laws of the country, and so with the ordinances of Nauvoo; they are dangerous to mobs, but not to good men who wish to keep the laws.

We do not go out of Nauvoo to disturb anybody, or any city, town, or place; why then need they be troubled about us? Let them not meddle with our affairs, but let us alone. After we had been deprived of our rights and privileges of citizenship, driven from town to town, place to place, and State to State, with the sacrifice of our homes and lands, our blood has been shed, many having been murdered; and all this because of our religion—because we worship Almighty God according to the dictates of our own consciences. Shall we longer bear these cruelties, which have been heaped upon us for the last ten years in the face of heaven, and in open violation of the Constitution and laws of these United States, and of this State? God forbid! I will not bear it: if they take away my rights, I will fight for them manfully and righteously until I am used up. We have done nothing against the rights of others.

You speak of lawyers; I am a lawyer too, but the Almighty God has taught me the principle of law; and the true meaning and intent of the writ of Habeas Corpus is to defend the innocent, and investigate the subject. Go behind the writ, and if the form of one that is issued against an innocent man is right, he should not be dragged to another State, and there be put to death, or be in jeopardy of life and limb, because of prejudice, when he is innocent. The benefits of the Constitution and Laws are alike for all; and the great Eloheim has given me the privilege of having the benefits of the Constitution, and the writ of Habeas Corpus, and I am bold to ask for this privilege this day; and I ask, in the name of Jesus Christ, and all that is sacred, that I may have your lives and all your energies to carry out the freedom which is chartered to us. Will you all help me? If so, make it manifest by raising the right hand. [There was a unanimous response, a perfect sea of hands being elevated.] Here is truly a committee of the whole.

When at Dixon, a lawyer came to me as counsel; Reynolds and Wilson said I should not speak to any man, and they would shoot any man who should dare to speak to me. An old grey-headed man came up, and said I should have counsel, and he was not afraid of their pistols. The people of Dixon were ready to take me from my persecutors, and I could have killed them notwithstanding their pistols; but I had no disposition to kill any man, though my worst enemy—not even Boggs: in fact he would have more hell to live in the reflection of his past crimes, than to die. After this, I had lawyers enough, and I obtained a writ for Joseph H. Reynolds, and Harmon Wilson, for damage, assault, and battery, as well as the writ of Habeas Corpus.

We started for Ottoway, and arrived at Pawpaw Grove, thirty-two miles, where we stopped for the night. Squire Walker sent Mr. Campbell, Sheriff of Lee County, to my assistance, and he came, and slept by me. In the morning, certain men wished to see me, but I was not allowed to see them. The news of my arrival had hastily circulated about the neighborhood; and very early in the morning the largest room in the hotel was filled with citizens, who were anxious to hear me preach, and requested me to address them. Sheriff Reynolds entered the room, and said, pointing to me, “I wish you to understand this man is my prisoner, and I want you should disperse; you must not gather round here in this way.” Upon which an aged gentleman who was lame, and carried a large hickory walking-stick, advanced towards Reynolds, bringing his hickory upon the floor, said, “You damned infernal puke; we’ll learn you to come here and interrupt gentlemen: sit down there, [pointing to a very low chair,] and sit still, don’t open your head till General Smith gets through talking; if you never learned manners in Missouri, we’ll teach you that gentlemen are not to be imposed upon by a nigger driver: you can not kidnap men here, if you do in Missouri; and if you attempt it here, there’s a committee in this Grove that will sit on your case; and, sir, it is the: highest tribunal in the United States, as from its decision there is no appeal.” Reynolds, no doubt aware that the person addressing him was at the head of a committee, who had prevented the settlers on the public domain from being imposed upon by land speculators, sat down in silence, while I addressed the assembly for an hour and a half on the subject of marriage; my visitors having requested me to give them my views of the law of God respecting marriage.

My freedom commenced from that hour. We came direct from Paw-paw Grove to Nauvoo, having got our writ directed to the nearest court having authority to try the case, which was the Municipal Court of this city.

It did my soul good to see your feelings and love manifested towards me. I thank God that I have the honor to lead so virtuous and honest a people, to be your leader and lawyer, as was Moses to the children of Israel. Hosannah! Hosannah!! HOSANNAH!! to Almighty God, who has delivered us thus from out of the seven troubles! I commend you to His grace, and may the blessings of heaven rest upon you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

[President Smith then introduced Mr. Cyrus Walker to the assembled multitude; and remarked to him]—These are the greatest dupes, as a body of people, that ever lived, or I am not as big a rogue as I am reported to be. I told Mr. Warren I would not discuss the subject of religion with you. I understand the Gospel, and you do not; you understand the quackery of law, and I do not.

[Mr. Walker then addressed the people to the effect that from what he had seen in the Nauvoo city charter, it gave the power to try writs of Habeas Corpus, &c. After which President Smith continued as follows—]

If the Legislature have granted Nauvoo the right of determining cases of Habeas Corpus, it is no more than they ought to have done, or more than our fathers fought for.

Furthermore, if Missouri continues her warfare, and to issue her writs against me and this people unlawfully and unjustly as she has done, and to take away and trample upon our rights, I swear in the name of Almighty God, and with uplifted hands to heaven, I will spill my heart’s blood in our defence. They shall not take away our rights; and if they don’t stop leading me by the nose, I will lead them by the nose; and if they don’t let me alone, I will turn up the world—I will make war. When we shake our own bushes, we want to catch our own fruit.

The lawyers themselves acknowledge that we have all power granted us in our charters that we could ask for—that we had more power than any other court in the state; for all other courts were restricted, while ours was not; and I thank God Almighty for it. I will not be rode down to hell by the Missourians any longer; and it is my privilege to speak in my own defence; and I appeal to your integrity and honor, that you will stand by and help me, according to the covenant you have this day made.

The Constitution and Government of the United States, etc.

Brigham Young

A discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Feb. 18, 1855. (Read by Elder Thomas Bullock.)

Brethren, Sisters, and Friends—

We are a people believing in the providences of God, and acknowledging His hand in His dealings with us from day to day.

We are a people whose rise and progress from the beginning, has been the work of God our Heavenly Father, which in His wisdom He has seen proper to commence for the re-establishment of His kingdom upon the earth.

Still further we believe that the Lord has been preparing that, when He should bring forth His work, that, when the set time should fully come, there might be a place upon His footstool where sufficient liberty of conscience should exist, that His Saints might dwell in peace under the broad panoply of constitutional law and equal rights. In this view we consider that the men in the Revolution were inspired, by the Almighty, to throw off the shackles of the mother government, with her established religion. For this cause were Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, and a host of others inspired to deeds of resistance to the acts of the King of Great Britain, who might also have been led to those aggressive acts, for aught we know, to bring to pass the purposes of God, in thus establishing a new government upon a principle of greater freedom, a basis of self-government allowing the free exercise of religious worship.

It was the voice of the Lord inspiring all those worthy men who bore influence in those trying times, not only to go forth in battle, but to exercise wisdom in council, fortitude, courage, and endurance in the tented field, as well as subsequently to form and adopt those wise and efficient measures which secured to themselves and succeeding generations, the blessing of a free and independent government.

This government, so formed, has been blessed by the Almighty until she spreads her sails in every sea, and her power is felt in every land.

The American Government is second to none in the world in influence and power, and far before all others in liberal and free institutions. Under its benign influence the poor, down trodden masses of the old world can find an asylum where they can enjoy the blessings of peace and freedom, no matter to what caste or religious sect they belong, or are disposed to favor, or whether they are disposed to favor any or none at all. It was in this government, formed by men inspired of God, although at the time they knew it not, after it was firmly established in the seat of power and influence, where liberty of conscience, and the free exercise of religious worship were a fundamental principle guaranteed in the Constitution, and interwoven with all the feelings, traditions, and sympathies of the people, that the Lord sent forth His angel to reveal the truths of heaven as in times past, even as in ancient days. This should have been hailed as the greatest blessing which could have been bestowed upon any nation, kindred, tongue, or people. It should have been received with hearts of gratitude and gladness, praise and thanksgiving.

But as it was in the days of our Savior, so was it in the advent of this new dispensation. It was not in accordance with the notions, traditions, and pre-conceived ideas of the American people. The messenger did not come to an eminent divine of any of the so-called orthodoxy, he did not adopt their interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. The Lord did not come with the armies of heaven, in power and great glory, nor send His messengers panoplied with aught else than the truth of heaven, to communicate to the meek, the lowly, the youth of humble origin, the sincere enquirer after the knowledge of God. But He did send His angel to this same obscure person, Joseph Smith jun., who afterwards became a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, and informed him that he should not join any of the religious sects of the day, for they were all wrong; that they were following the precepts of men instead of the Lord Jesus; that He had a work for him to perform, inasmuch as he should prove faithful before Him.

No sooner was this made known, and published abroad, and people began to listen and obey the heavenly summons, than opposition began to rage, and the people, even in this favored land, began to persecute their neighbors and friends for entertaining religious opinions differing from their own.

I pause now to ask, had not Joseph Smith a right to promulgate and establish a different, a new religion and form of worship in this government? Every one must admit he had. This right was always held sacred, for upon it was based the religious liberty of every citizen of the Republic. It was a privilege held sacred in the bosom of every class of people; no Judge dared invade its holy precincts? No Legislator nor Governor ventured to obstruct the free exercise thereof. How then should it be esteemed an object worthy of persecution that Joseph Smith, the man called of God to perform a work in restoring the Gospel of salvation unto the children of men, and his followers, true believers in his divine mission, should attempt to exercise the same privilege held sacred by all others, of every name, nature, and description, and equally so by them? Why should he and his followers be debarred the privilege of worshipping God according to the dictates of their consciences? Legally they cannot, and I will further state, that legally they have not. No! whenever the iron hand of oppression and persecution has fallen upon this people, our opposers have broken their own laws, set at defiance and trampled under foot every principle of equal rights, justice, and liberty found written in that rich legacy of our fathers, THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

Whenever popular fury has been directed against us, no power in the government has been found potent enough to afford protection, and what is still more astonishing, honorable enough to yield redress, nor has any effort succeeded in bringing to justice those individuals who had perpetrated such fearful crimes. No! The murderer, the assassin, the mid-day plunderer, and highway robber roam unmolested, and mingle unquestioned in the society of the rulers of the land; they pass and re-pass as current coin, producing no jar in the sensibilities of refinement, no odium in the atmosphere in which they move.

I ask you, friends, how is this? Are not our religious sentiments as sacred to us as to any other portion of the community? And should it not be the duty, as well as the pride, of every American citizen to extend that provision of the CONSTITUTION to us which he claims for himself? And is not that sacred instrument invaded and broken as much in debarring and excluding this people from its privileges, rights; and blessings, as it would be if your rights and privileges were thus invaded? No, gentlemen, we have broken no laws, our Glorious CONSTITUTION guarantees unto us all that we claim. Under its broad folds, in its obvious meaning and intents, we are safe, and can always rejoice in peace. All that we have ever claimed, or wish to, on the part of the government, is the just administration of the powers and privileges of the National Compact.

It is not our acts, neither our intentions that the people or the Government are afraid or complain of, but their own evil surmisings concerning us.

In our first settlement in Missouri, it was said by our enemies that we intended to tamper with the slaves, not that we had any idea of the kind, for such a thing never entered our minds. We knew that the children of Ham were to be the “servant of servants,” and no power under heaven could hinder it, so long as the Lord should permit them to welter under the curse, and those were known to be our religious views concerning them. Yet, the misrepresentation of our enemies found willing ears in those prejudiced against us, and we were driven from our homes in consequence of the fears of the people, and the prejudice which had been raised against us in consequence thereof.

Again, in Missouri, in the early part of our history, the fears of the people and Government were aroused, because they, not we, said that it was our intention to tamper with the Indians, therefore we must not be allowed to exist in their vicinity; and again the alarm was sounded, and we were driven from our homes, plundered, mobbed, some killed, and all this not for any crime which we had committed, but for fear we might commit one. Again; it was industriously circulated that we were going to declare our “Independence,” not that we had, or intended to do so absurd a thing; yet anything, no matter how absurd, seemed sufficient excuse to startle the fears of the community, and they began to drive, plunder, rob, burn our houses, and lay waste our fields, and this was called, “Mormon disturbances,” and the aid of the Government was invoked to quell “Mormon insurrection,” “Mormon troubles,” and “Turbulent Mormons.” And although it was found necessary, as they state, to drive us from Missouri and the frontiers, to prevent us from tampering with the slaves and Indians, yet it was found equally necessary, ten years afterwards, when we were a hundred to one at that time, to drive us from Nauvoo into the very midst of the Indians, as unworthy of any other society. Fears of what we might do with the Indians had by this time subsided, and fears of something else that we might hereafter do, if left to remain in peace, and a desire to plunder, accomplished our exodus from Illinois. Perhaps, however, in this last case our enemies might have entertained some fears that, if we were permitted to remain unmolested, the blood-thirsty assassins who killed our beloved Prophet and Patriarch, Joseph and Hyrum, who were inhumanly massacred while reposing under the pledged faith of the State for their protection and safety, might not be permitted to remain undisturbed in their guilt.

As in the case of the Indians upon the frontier, this also was a false conclusion, for if ever a people would have been justified in redressing their own wrongs, and could have done so with impunity, it was at the time of his horrible murder. But they proved to the world, by their quiet and peaceable demeanor, that they had no such intention, but this was forgotten, and in less than a year and a half we were again assailed, our houses and grain stacks burned, and our brethren shot down in the glare of the light thereof, while attempting to save a pittance to drive starvation not from the doors nor the tents, for there were none of either, but from the famishing hearts of their social circle—of their wives and children.

And again was the aid of the Government invoked to quell the so-called “Mormon disturbances,” and still we see the newspapers teeming with these and the like epithets—“Turbulent Mormons.” “What shall be done with these turbulent Mormons?” is the cry from one end of the Union to the other. In the name of Heaven what have we done to excite the fears of any People or Government, that the sound of war and blood must eternally be kept ringing in our ears? I answer, nothing. It is the same as before, in the case of tampering with the slaves and Indians, a certain fear-fulness that if we are not looked to, driven, plundered of our homes and possessions, slain, and massacred as before, we may do something, they have not yet, to my knowledge, defined precisely what.

Have not this people invariably evinced their friendly feelings, disposition, and patriotism towards the government by every act and proof which can be given by any people?

Permit me to draw your attention, for a moment, to a few facts in relation to raising the Battalion for the Mexican war. When the storm cloud of persecution lowered down upon us on every side, when every avenue was closed against us, our Leaders treacherously betrayed and slain by the authorities of the Government in which we lived, and no hope of relief could penetrate through the thick darkness and gloom which surrounded us on every side, no voice was raised in our behalf, and the General Government was silent to our appeals. When we had been insulted and abused all the day long, by those in authority requiring us to give up our arms, and by every other act of insult and abuse which the prolific imagination of our enemies could devise to test, as they said, our patriotism, which requisitions, be it known, were always complied with on our part; and when we were finally compelled to flee, for the preservation of our lives and the lives of our wives and children, to the wilderness; I ask, had we not reason to feel that our enemies were in the ascendant? that even the Government, by their silent acquiescence, were also in favor of our destruction? Had we not, I ask, some reason to consider them all, both the people and the Government, alike our enemies?

And when, in addition to all this, and while fleeing from our enemies, another test of fidelity and patriotism was contrived by them for our destruction: and acquiesced in by the Government, (through the agency of a distinguished politician who evidently sought, and thought he had planned our overthrow and total annihilation.) consisting of a requisition from the War Department, to furnish a Battalion of five hundred men to fight under their officers, and for them, in the war then existing with Mexico, I ask again, could we refrain from considering both people and Government our most deadly foes? Look a moment at our situation, and the circumstances under which this requisition was made. We were migrating, we knew not whither, except that it was our intention to go beyond the reach of our enemies. We had no homes, save our wagons and tents, and no stores of provisions and clothing; but had to earn our daily bread by leaving our families in isolated locations for safety, and going among our enemies to labor. Were we not, even before this cruel requisition was made, unmercifully borne down by oppression and persecution past endurance by any other community? But under these trying circumstances we were required to turn out of our travelling camps 500 of our most efficient men, leaving the old, the young, the women upon the hands of the residue, to take care of and support; and in case we refused to comply with so unreasonable a requirement, we were to be deemed enemies to the Government, and fit only for the slaughter.

Look also at the proportion of the number required of us, compared with that of any other portion of the Republic. A requisition of only thirty thousand from a population of more than twenty millions was all that was wanted, and more than was furnished, amounting to only one person and a half to a thousand inhabitants. If all other circumstances had been equal, if we could have left our families in the enjoyment of peace, quietness, and security in the houses from which we had been driven, our quota of an equitable requisition would not have exceeded four persons. Instead of this, five hundred must go, thirteen thousand per cent above an equal ratio, even if all other things had been equal, but under the peculiar circumstances in which it was made comparison fails to demonstrate, and reason itself totters beneath its enormity. And for whom were we to fight? As I have already shown, for those that we had every reason to believe were our most deadly foes. Could the Government have expected our compliance therewith? Did they expect it? Did not our enemies believe that we would spurn, with becoming resentment and indignation, such an unhallowed proposition? And were they not prepared to make our rejection of it a pretext to inflame the Government still more against us, and thereby accomplish their hellish purposes upon an innocent people, in their utter extinction? And how was this proposition received, and how was it responded to by this people? I went myself, in company with a few of my brethren, between one and two hundred miles along the several routes of travel, stopping at every little camp, using our influence to obtain volunteers, and on the day appointed for the rendezvous the required compliment was made up; and this was all accomplished in about twenty days from the time that the requisition was made known.

Our Battalion went to the scene of action, not in easy berths on steamboats, nor with a few months absence, but on foot over two thousand miles across trackless: deserts and barren plains, experiencing every degree of privation, hardship, and suffering during some two years absence before they could rejoin their families. Thus was our deliverance again effected by the interposition of that All-wise Being who can discern the end from the beginning, and overrule the wicked intentions of men to promote the advancement of His cause upon the earth. Thus were we saved from our enemies by complying with their, as hitherto, unjust and unparalleled exactions; again proving our loyalty to the Government.

Here permit me to pay a tribute of respect to the memory of Captain Allen, the bearer of this requisition from the Government. He was a gentleman full of humane feelings, and, had he been spared, would have smoothed the path, and made easy the performance of this duty, so far as laid in his power. His heart was wrung with sympathy when he saw our situation, and filled with wonder when he witnessed the enthusiastic patriotism and ardor which so promptly complied with his requirement; again proving, as we had hundreds of times before proved, by our acts, that we were belied by our enemies, and that we were as ready, and even more so than any other inhabitants of the Republic, to shoulder the musket, and go forth to fight the battles of our common country, or stand in her defence. History furnishes no parallel, either of the severity and injustice of the demand, or in the alacrity, faithfulness, and patriotism with which it was answered and complied. Thus can we cite instance after instance of persons holding legal authority, being moved upon, through the misrepresentation and influence of our enemies, to insult us as a people, by requiring a test of our patriotism. How long must this state of things continue? So long as the people choose to remain in wilful ignorance with regard to us; so long as they choose to misinterpret our views, misrepresent our feelings, and misunderstand our policy.

To accuse us of being unfriendly to the Government, is to accuse us of hostility to our religion, for no item of inspiration is held more sacred with us than the Constitution under which she acts. As a religious society, we, in common with all other denominations, claim its protection; whether our people are located in the other states or territories, as thousands of them are, or in this territory, it is held as a shield to protect the dearest boon of which man is susceptible—his religious views and sentiments.

The Government of the United States has never engaged in a crusade against us as a people, although she has remained silent, or refused us, when appealed to for redress of grievances. She has permitted us to be driven from our own lands, for which she had taken our money, and that too with her letters patent in our hands, guaranteeing to us peaceable possession. She has calmly looked on and permitted one of the fundamental and dearest provisions of the Constitution to be broken; she has permitted us to be driven and trampled under foot with impunity. Under these circumstances what course is left for us to pursue? I answer, that, instead of seeking to destroy the very best government in the world, as seems to be the fears of some, we, like all other good citizens, should seek to place those men in power who will feel the obligations and responsibilities they are under to a mighty people; who would feel and realize the important trusts reposed in them by the voice of the people who call them to administer law under the solemn sanction of an oath of fidelity to that heaven inspired instrument, to the inviolate preservation of which we look for the perpetuity of our free institutions.

It should be the aim of all good citizens, and it is our intention and design as a people, to promote virtue, intelligence, and patriotism; and when any person seeks to invade our virtue, by sowing the seeds of corruption and vice, and, when rebuked therefor, assails our rights and patriotism, as has universally heretofore been done, he exhibits, before this people, his own depraved heart. Should not those persons who are appointed to administer law, observe it themselves? Should not those officers who have been sent among us by the United States, be an example in point of morality, virtue, and good behavior; and do honor to those laws which they came here to execute and administer? And shall they so far forget themselves, as to spend their time in licentiousness, gambling, and seducing the innocent and unsuspecting, and in a variety of ways sow the seeds of sin and immorality, with impunity, and no man dare utter his protest? I tell you nay. With me, with this people you will have war, if needs be, upon this principle. It is incumbent upon us to use our influence for the preservation of ourselves, our wives, our children, our brethren, our sisters, and all of our society from the contaminating influence of vice, sin, immorality, and iniquity, let it emanate from where it will. If it exists in high places, so much the more need of rebuking it, for from thence it will do the most harm.

I claim this as a right, as a Constitutional right; I believe it is legal to exercise all the power and influence which God has given me for the preservation of virtue, truth, and holiness; and because we feel sensitive upon points such as these, should it be construed that we are enemies to the Federal Government? Our history proves that for such things we have been persecuted even unto death but this deters me not. I would rather have God my friend, and all the world enemies, than be a friend with the world, and have God my enemy; and in this view of the case the Government should also be our friends, for assuredly in the preservation of virtue, morality, and intelligence she may look for the perpetuity of her free institutions, and the preservation of her liberty. And in the moment of her disregard of these principles, when wickedness and sin can run riot with impunity, and not moral influence and force enough be found in the people to check it, and walk it under foot, then may she reckon on a speedy downfall. When moral obligations cease to exert an influence, and virtue hides its face, and the unblushing effrontery of sin and foul corruption takes its place, then may the nation consider there is danger. “When the wicked rule the people mourn.”

This then is our position towards the Government of the United States, and towards the world, to put down iniquity, and exalt virtue; to declare the word of God which He revealed unto us, and build up His Kingdom upon the earth. And, Know all men, Governments, Nations, Kindreds, Tongues, and People, that this is our calling, intention, and design. We aim to live our religion, and have communion with our God. We aim to clear our skirts of the blood of this generation, by our faithfulness in preaching the truth of heaven in all plainness and simplicity; and I have often said, and repeat it now, that all other considerations of whatever name or nature, sink into insignificancy in comparison with this. To serve God and keep His commandments, are first and foremost with me. If this is higher law, so be it. As it is with me, so should it be with every department of the Government; for this doctrine is based upon the principles of virtue and integrity; with it the Government, her Constitution, and free institutions are safe; without it no power can avert their speedy destruction. It is the life-giving power to the government; it is the vital element on which she exists and prospers; in its absence she sinks to rise no more.

We now proceed to discuss the question, does our faith and practice—our holy religion, as we hold and believe it—come within the purview of the Constitution; or, in other words, is it a religious question over which the Constitution throws its protecting shield? It reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Ours is peculiarly a religious establishment; in it are centred all our hopes of salvation, honor, glory, and exaltation. In it we find our hopes of a resurrection, and of a life of immortality in another state of existence. By it we are actuated in all our business of life, through its influence we have preserved virtue, established truth, and been enabled to endure persecution. By its influence we have surmounted the difficulties of a banishment from the abodes of civilization and this world’s enlightenment, and established ourselves in these distant vales, where, until we came hither, there was nothing, either in soil, climate, or productions, to attract the notice of even the adventurous and enterprising; in a country which offered no inducements worthy of consideration to any people but us. And why to us as a people? Because here, far distant from any white settlements, upon a piece of earth not valuable for its facilities either for cultivation, navigation, or commerce, where the whole face of the country presented the most barren and forbidding aspect, we considered we might live and enjoy our religion unmolested, and be free from the meddlesome interference of any person. If our principles and religion were obnoxious to any, they were relieved from our presence, unless they chose to follow us.

If the people of the United States do not like our religious institutions, they are not compelled to mix in our society, or associate with us, or with our children. There is nothing here to tempt their cupidity, their avarice, or their lust. Then let them remain at home, or if they wish to roam in quest of new locations, there are none less desirable than this, for any other purpose than the one for which we have selected it, not for its intrinsic value in a pecuniary point of view, but in order that we might enjoy our religion in peace, preserve our youth in virtue, and be freed from the insults, abuse, and persecution of our enemies.

Why should we have enemies? “Why is it,” say our objectors, “that you cannot mingle and mix in society like other religious denominations?” It has been seen that the people would not permit us to dwell in their midst in peace. We have been universally driven by illegal force, by mobs, murderers, and assassins, as unworthy of having a place amongst the abodes of civilized man, until, as a last resort, we found peace in these distant valleys. It is because our religion is the only true one. It is because we have the only true authority, upon the face of the whole earth, to administer in the ordinances of the Gospel. It is because the keys of this dispensation were committed by messengers sent from the Celestial world unto Joseph Smith, and are now held on the earth by this people. It is because Christ and Lucifer are enemies, and cannot be made friends; and Lucifer, knowing that we have this Priesthood, this power, this authority, seeks our overthrow.

I am aware that these answers involve the truth of our principles, the divine appointment of Joseph Smith the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, &c.; but this subject I leave for your consideration and investigation, with this simple declaration, that whether our religion is believed by any other people or not, it is by us, and no power or authority in the government can lawfully or righteously molest us in the peaceable and quiet enjoyment thereof. It cannot be done without law, and surely the government have no right to make any law concerning it, or to prevent the free exercise thereof.

Why should tests of patriotism to the government be required of this people, more than of any other community in the States and Territories? Would it not be considered insulting and abusive in the highest degree, by any other community in the government, to be thus subjected and humiliated? Cannot the people and government perceive in us, as a people, industry, sobriety, order, and well regulated society; also a general diffusion of knowledge and dissemination of moral principle? And do they not know that these are the unmistakable signs and fruits of virtue, truth, love of our country, and high regard for her institutions? And do not such views, feelings, practices, and principles emanate from a pure and undefiled religion, a high sense of faith, practice, and obligation unto Christ our Lord, and his revealed will unto us?

Does our doctrine, containing such views, sentiments, and practices, and exercising so genial an influence upon society; or in other words, does our religion disqualify us from being faithful, good, and patriotic citizens of the American government? Have the American people so far gone astray, and wandered from the light and power of the Gospel, that they cannot understand, recognize, and appreciate the savory element of religious influence, high tone of morality, and exemplary practice of virtuous and holy principles? If so, then indeed have the degenerate sons of worthy and patriotic sires well nigh spent their substance, and are preparing to subsist on husks, with swine. If so, then does the moral dearth well nigh betoken a famine far exceeding the scorching drought, wasting pestilence, and direful calamities of 1854. If so, then will the government, like the storm-driven bark, soon dash to atoms, having neither rudder to guide, nor calibre to withstand, the angry surging of the tempestuous waves.

In the sincere observances of the principles of true religion and virtue, we recognize the base, the only sure foundation of enlightened society and well-established government. In truth and by virtue of divine appointment we combat error, and seek to rend asunder the vail of darkness enveloping the human race.

In the progress of the age in which we live, we discern the fulfilment of prophecy, and the preparation for the second coming of our Lord and Savior to dwell upon the earth. We expect that the refuge of lies will be swept away, and that city, nation, government, or kingdom which serves not God, and gives no heed to the principles of truth and religion, will be utterly wasted away and destroyed.

The word has gone forth from the Almighty, and will not return unto Him void. It becomes us, therefore, one and all, to have on our wedding garments, to have our lamps trimmed and burning, well filled with oil, lest we also be taken unawares, and share the fate of the foolish virgins.

May the Lord bless us with the inspiration of His Holy Spirit, that our minds may be enlightened, our understandings enlarged and strengthened; and may His grace, wisdom, and intelligence be given unto us for our preservation and sanctification according to our day and generation, for the Redeemer’s sake. Amen.

The Priesthood and Satan, etc.

Brigham Young

A discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Feb. 18, 1855.

A portion of this congregation have been brought up in America, and are more or less acquainted with the Constitution, with the Constitutional rights of the people, with the institutions of the country, with the State governments, laws, &c.; and if they have paid particular attention, and have heard brother Bullock read my written discourse, so that they could understand it, they know whether their minds, feelings, and judgments coincide with mine, upon the views that have just been presented.

For one, I can say they are true; they are the sentiments of this people, so far as they are acquainted with the principles of the government of the United States; though a part of our present community have not been reared under the benign influences of the institutions of our parent government. But as far as they understand, I will venture to say that these are the sentiments of all the Latter-day Saints.

In my conversation, I shall talk and act as I please. Still I am always aware, when speaking in public, that there are those present who are disposed to find fault with this people, and to try to raise a prejudice against them; and they will pick up isolated words and sentences, and put them together to suit themselves, and send forth a garbled version to prejudice the world against us. Such a course I never care anything about; for I have frequently said, spoken words are but wind, and when they are spoken are gone; consequently I take liberties in speaking which I do not allow when I commit my sentiments to writing.

The discourse that has just been read, pointing out the path this people have walked in, is merely a brief summary of our experience, of what we have borne, and of what we believe.

Before the Book of Mormon was printed, and immediately after Joseph Smith obtained the plates, and the revelations he received concerning this record being the record of the Nephites, and of the Lamanites, who are the fathers of the present aborigines of our country, and in which the Lord told him that He was about to set to His hand the second time to gather Israel, the war commenced against him; this was long before the book was printed. I will now tell you all a secret, although it has already been read to you; it is this, Christ and Belial are not friends, they are enemies. We ask where Christ’s Church is. My conclusive answer is, if the Latter-day Saints do not constitute the Kingdom of God on the earth, the Church of Jesus Christ, it is no where to be found upon it. It is easily proved by the Scriptures that no other church, professing to believe in the Old and New Testament, bears hardly a resemblance to the ancient true Church in the fulness of the doctrines of the Lord Jesus.

So far as morality goes, in many instances I have no complaints to make. Thousands and millions of people live according to the best light they have, but the Holy Priesthood is not on the earth, unless the Latter-day Saints have it. It is the Priesthood again given to the children of men—shall I say it out? [“Yes.”] That raises the devil, and makes all hell angry; and the servants of the devil will run to and fro, and publish his lies about Christ and his Church on the earth. They are not angry with me or with you; and the professors of Christianity, the priests, are not angry with us, but they are filled with wrath and indignation with themselves, and with the Almighty. Why are they angry? Because they are men, and like other men. If a man sees his house about to fall, if he sees something or other continually gnawing, and gnawing, and picking, and operating upon the foundation, and discovers that by and bye his house must fall, perhaps when he is asleep, or when he is gone from home, and destroy his women and children, he is all the time worried, and in a stew; all the time watching with a fearful looking for the time when it will crumble to pieces. This is the difficulty with the professing Christian world. Is it so with the Infidel? No, he does not care anything about the matter; but those sweet, loving, blessed Christians, the priest in the pulpit, and the deacon under it, and the sage followers of their own nonsense and the traditions of their fathers are the ones who are at war with the Eternal Priesthood of God.

The Universalists say that we are all going to heaven in a heap together, and if they believe their religion they do not trouble themselves about “Mormonism.” Though I confess that I think the most of them are like the old man who was a strong believer in Universalism, and, while walking among his cattle, and musing over his doctrine, stepped up to a favorite ox, and said to himself, “I believe the doctrine of the Universalists, but, old Bright, as well as I love you, I would willingly give you if I knew it was true.” You find a man who does not believe in any religious doctrines, who does not believe in a future existence, and what does he care about “Mormonism?” Nothing at all.

Who is it that stirs up the devil all the time? Those sanctified hypocrites, those old sectarians, who profess so much sanctity, and so much religion. They see that their old favorite dwelling is crumbling to the dust, never to be rebuilt again before “Mormonism” will triumph. That is what stirs up all the mischief. It was priests who first persecuted Joseph Smith. I will here relate a few of the circumstances which I personally knew concerning the coming forth of the plates, from a part of which the Book of Mormon was translated. This fact may be new to several, but I had a personal knowledge with regard to many of those circumstances.

I well knew a man who, to get the plates, rode over sixty miles three times the same season they were obtained by Joseph Smith. About the time of their being delivered to Joseph by the angel, the friends of this man sent for him, and informed him that they were going to lose that treasure, though they did not know what it was. The man I refer to was a fortune-teller, a necromancer, an astrologer, a soothsayer, and possessed as much talent as any man that walked on the American soil, and was one of the wickedest men I ever saw. The last time he went to obtain the treasure he knew where it was, and told where it was, but did not know its value. Allow me to tell you that a Baptist deacon and others of Joseph’s neighbors were the very men who sent for this necromancer the last time he went for the treasure. I never heard a man who could swear like that astrologer; he swore scientifically, by rule, by note. To those who love swearing, it was musical to hear him, but not so to me, for I would leave his presence. He would call Joseph everything that was bad, and say, “I believe he will get the treasure after all.” He did get it, and the war commenced directly.

When Joseph obtained the treasure, the priests, the deacons, and religionists of every grade, went hand in hand with the fortune-teller, and with every wicked person, to get it out of his hands, and, to accomplish this, a part of them came out and persecuted him.

Ours is professedly a Christian nation, and those who profess to be Christians should be so in very deed; if they were, they would not hesitate to have a good man and a Christian preside over them. As much as is said against Christians sitting in the Presidential chair of the government, they are the only suitable persons to rule, and should be taught of the Lord by dreams and visions. But after all the hue and cry about “Church and State,” there has not been a President, nor a Governor, in our day, but what has been controlled, more or less, by priests who deny revelation, believe not in visions, and receive not the ministration of angels. Presidents, Governors, Members of the Cabinet and of Congress are more or less controlled either by the priests, or by a traditionary religious influence; and at the same time nearly all of them will turn round and curse the priests, and curse religion to the lowest hell, while they are governed and controlled by it. The false religion that is in the world, is what raises this “hue and cry,” misguides the people, and opposes itself against the Kingdom of God on the earth. Now if we would only fall in with the wicked all would be right, and then no person would wish to persecute us.

I will mention a few sayings and doings that transpired in Missouri, when they had Joseph and many others in prison. Old General Clark had discretionary power, from Governor Boggs, to kill man, woman, and child, or to spare the women and children, or distribute the whole community of the Saints among the other inhabitants, just as he pleased. The cause of this was laid to “Mormon disturbances,” “Mormon troubles;” though the “Mormons” had not been out of their own county, for they owned nearly all the county where they lived, and they did not go beyond their own boundaries except upon lawful and necessary business. We had given up our arms, by their request, to prove our loyalty to the government, and then many of them said, “Now, God damn you, we will shoot you;” and some of the Saints were killed after they had surrendered their arms, in faithful compliance with the requisition.

The starting point of our persecutions there arose by our enemies setting fire to their own houses, and swearing that they were burnt out and driven by the “Mormons.” This I know, for it came under my own observation. When General Clark came into Far West with his army, he sent George M. Hinkle, the apostate, to call out the remainder of the brethren on to the public square, and when they were assembled he surrounded them with his men, and said, “Gentlemen, I have discretionary power in my hands, and I will now tell you what we desire. We wish one to go home with this man, and another with that man, and take your wives and children with you, and distribute yourselves through the State. You are the best mechanics and the most industrious people we have; and you have accomplished more here in two years, than our old settlers have in twelve. We wish you to live with us. Why cannot you associate with us? I want you to scatter among our people, and give up your religion, and Prophet, for I will tell you now, in the beginning, you will never see your Prophet, Joseph Smith, again.” (Said I to myself, ‘That is a falsehood.’) “Only mingle with us, and give up your Prophet, your Apostles, and your assembling yourselves together, and we wish you to stay with us, for you are the best citizens in the State.” I thought that these expressions did not correspond well with many of his remarks, and being determined not to give up my religion, I at once concluded that he might go to hell, and I would leave the State; and so I did, with the balance of the Latter-day Saints, as they had previously killed many.

Brethren and sisters, our friends wish to know our feelings towards the Government. I answer, they are first-rate, and we will prove it too, as you will see if you only live long enough, for that we shall live to prove it is certain; and when the Constitution of the United States hangs, as it were, upon a single thread, they will have to call for the “Mormon” Elders to save it from utter destruction; and they will step forth and do it.

We love the Constitution of our country; it is all we could ask; though in some few instances there might be some amendments made which would better it. We love the Federal Government, and the laws of Congress. There is nothing in those laws that in the least militates against us not even to our excluding common law from this Territory. I can inform our lawyers who plead at the bar here, that the Congress of the United States have passed laws giving us the privilege of excluding common law at our pleasure, and that too without any violation of the Constitution, or general statutes. They have also given us privilege to stop drunkenness, swearing, and gambling, and to prevent horse-racing, and to punish men for hurting and robbing each other. The Constitution of the United States, and the whole Federal Government, in their acts, have given us this privilege.

Now I will tell you one thing that I am opposed to, and that this people are opposed to; it is to a man’s coming here as an officer, with a bit of sheep’s skin in his pocket having some great man’s name to it, and beginning to set up his rules of discipline for the people, and saying, “I am a gentleman, I am a high-minded gentleman; can you tell me where I can find a woman to sleep with me to-night?” and setting up gambling shops, and drinking, and carousing, and stirring up strife, and hatching up law-suits; hunting out disaffected spirits, and then lecturing the people on morality, wishing them to become like other communities, and saying to Mrs. Such-a-one or Miss Such-a-one, “Won’t you ride with me—won’t you take a sleigh ride to-night with me? I am a high-minded gentleman.” A prudent father, or husband, says, “Come home here; this is your place; you have no business with strangers.” What is the result of this? Why, from most of the high-minded gentlemen, you can hear, “God damn the Mormons, they are opposed to the Federal Government, because they will not let us sleep with their wives and daughters.” I am opposed to such men, and am after them with the barbed arrows of the Almighty. To what extent? Let them intrude upon the chastity of my family, and, so help me God, I will use them up. [All the congregation said, “Amen.”] Such characters may cry, “Aliens, aliens; the Mormons are all hostile to the government,” and they may cry it until they are in hell.

As I have already stated, the President of the United States should be a perfect pattern for all the people to walk after; so also should the Vice-President, the members of the Cabinet, and of Congress, the Governors of States and Territories, and in fine, all the officers in the Government, be patterns for the people to imitate. But what do you find among the leaders of the people? Almost everything but an upright example.

Corrupt men cannot walk these streets with impunity, and if that is alienism to the Government, amen to it. The Constitution of the United States we sustain all the day long, and it will sustain and shield us, while the men who say we are aliens, and cry out “Mormon disturbance,” will go to hell. There have been officers here who were not fit to live in our midst, and they ran home, and raised the cry, “Mormon disturbances,” “Mormon rebellion,” “Mormon war,” and, “Treasoners;” but their day is over.

When a man professes to be my friend, and the friend of this people, he will take my counsel, instead of stirring up strife, and practising iniquity. I dislike the wilfully corrupt, and by and bye I will come out thunder-like, as I have done upon others when practising iniquity; and as I did upon a certain individual when he made his glorious speech, and insulted this people, from the highest to the lowest. I chastised him, and he ran off and reported as my sayings those which I did not say. It was told him, while he was on the plains, that President Zachary Taylor was dead and damned, and it has gone through the States, from side to side, that I said so. It was first given out that the “Mormons” said so, and then that Brigham said so; well, I backed it up, because I knew it was true. I have just as good a right to say that President Taylor is in hell, as to say that any other miserable sinner is there. Was he any more than flesh and blood? I have as good a right to canvass him in a religious point of view, as I have to canvass the peasant upon the dunghill. He has gone there, and so have many others; and the Lord Almighty is removing the bitter branches, as foretold in the Book of Mormon.

The newspapers are teeming with statements that I said, “President Pierce and all hell could not remove me from office.” I will tell you what I did say, and what I now say; the Lord reigns and rules in the armies of the heavens, and does His pleasure among the inhabitants of the earth. He sets up a kingdom here, and pulls down another there, at His pleasure. He walks in the midst of the people, and they know it, not. He makes Kings, Presidents, and Governors at His pleasure; hence I conclude that I shall be Governor of Utah Territory, just as long as He wants me to be; and for that time, neither the President of the United States; nor any other power, can prevent it. Then, brethren and sisters, be not worried about my being dismissed from office; for when the President appoints another man to be Gove[r]nor of Utah Territory, you may acknowledge that the Lord has done it, for we should acknowledge His hand in all things.

All people are in the hands of the Almighty, and He governs and controls them, though they cannot perceive, neither do they acknowledge, His handy-work. He exalts the President to be the head of the nation, and places kings upon their thrones. There is not a man that escapes His cognizance, and He brings forth His purposes in the latter days. I can tell you something more, brethren and sisters, and friends, and the United States, and all the world; the Lord Almighty will not suffer His Priesthood to be again driven from the earth, even should He permit the wicked to kill and destroy this people. The Government of the United States and all the kings of the world may go to war with us, but God will preserve a portion of the meek and humble of this people to bear off the Kingdom to the inhabitants of the earth, and will defend His Priesthood; for it is the last time, the last gathering time; and He will not suffer the Priesthood to be again driven from the earth. They may massacre men, women, and children; but the Lord will not suffer them to destroy the Priesthood; and I say to the Saints, that, if they will truly practise their religion, they will live, and not be cut off.

“There is a spirit in man; and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding;” and many who do not hold the Priesthood have ideas which are really true, yet they are not always certain whether they are true or not. The cogitations, concerning this people, of men upon their beds, of the President of the United States, of the members of Congress, and of the rulers of different nations, when they meditate upon the condition of the world, and their final exit from this stage of action, are that there is no evil in the Latter-day Saints. And I tell you, in the name of the God of Israel, that their secret reflections tell them this, unless they are so far depraved by wickedness that the Spirit of the Lord has ceased to strive with them. But as soon as they engage in the turmoil of their daily duties, the hue and cry that “the Mormons are about to do this and that,” attracts their attention. [Formerly the rumor was that “they were agoing to tamper with the slaves,” when we had never thought of such a thing. The seed of Ham which is the seed of Cain descending through Ham, will, according to the curse put upon him, serve his brethren, and be a “servant of servants” to his fellow-creatures, until God removes the curse; and no power can hinder it. These are my views upon slavery. I will here say a little more upon this point. The conduct of the whites towards the slaves will, in many cases, send both slave and master to hell. This statement comprises much in a few words. The blacks should be used like servants, and not like brutes, but they must serve. It is their privilege to live so as to enjoy many of the blessings which attend obedience to the first principles of the Gospel, though they are not entitled to the Priesthood.

But to proceed; the principal evil is in the rulers, or those who profess to be rulers, and in the dispensers of the law, and not the Constitution, it is pure. Even those who have evil in their hearts, when they contemplate the powers that be, as now exhibited before their eyes, when they think of them upon their beds, and in their most sober reflections, are beginning to realize that God is visiting the earth, that the Latter-day Saints are not as bad a people as they are represented to be by their enemies, that they are not disposed to be hostile to the Government, and that they are a good people. Many who occasionally reflect calmly are beginning to realize that we have something which they know but little about, and to wish that they understood it. When they cast off these reflections fear comes upon them, because the cry, from one end of the Union to the other, is that “the Mormons are going to do something.” What was said in Nauvoo? “Let Joe Smith and the Mormons alone, and it will be but a little time before they control the election of this State; and the man that Joe Smith says shall be Governor, so will he be; and the men whom he says shall be Representatives, so shall they be; and we will not bear it.”

It was the priest in the pulpit thorning the politician, and gouging underneath, saying, “Don’t you bear it;” and this because the priest could not bear to stand up in the pulpit and own his shame for vindicating a false religion, for our Elders could silence every one of them, and crimson their faces with shame. Hence their words and determinations were and are, “We will kill the Mormons;” and the priests were pinching the “Mormons” from behind the politicians. How long would it have been before the whole election of Illinois would have been controlled by the Latter-day Saints? Our enemies saw this, and the devil knew it, and was mad, and determined to remove us. He did so, and I thank God for it. The priests and the politicians could discern that “Mormonism” was gathering to its banner its thousands and tens of thousands, and that it would be but a very short time ere the State would be governed entirely by the Latter-day Saints. The whole election would have been controlled by them, if we had not come out, and forbidden our people to vote. We had to do this, or control the ballot box.

They succeeded in killing Joseph Smith and Hyrum his brother, and in driving us to these Valleys. Now, we are here, and what are they afraid of? I will tell you; they are afraid that we shall become independent of them.

The relation between us and the Government may be likened to a man having twelve sons, and all the elder sons pitch upon the younger one, as Joseph’s brethren of old did upon him. They persecuted him, and lied to their father about him, and tried to alienate the feelings of the old man from him, and succeeded in a measure in estranging the feelings of the father from the young child. So it is with the General Government and us. We have plead time and time again, and will plead, saying, “Spare us, love us; we mean to be one of the best boys you have got; be kind to us, and if you chasten us, it may be said that we have kissed the rod and reverenced the hand that gave it, and tried again: but be merciful to us, for do you not see that we are a dutiful child?” But no, Tom, Bill, Dick, Harry, and the rest of the boys are eternally running to the old man with lies in their mouths, and he will chastise little Joseph. And though the old fellow has not come out in open war upon him, and arrayed the force and arms of the Government to kill the boy, yet he sleeps in his chair, and dreams it over, and talks in his sleep, saying, “Go it, boys; go it, boys; we will not say anything here.” And Tom, Bill, Dick, &c., commence pounding on to little Joseph; and the old man is dozing in his chair saying, “Go it, boys.” What will become of this little Joseph? I will tell you. We are a child of the Government, one of the youngest children, and we cling to our parent, and desire to be reckoned in the family, and to hail our brethren as brethren, and be numbered among them either in a Territorial or State capacity. What next? The cry is raised by the older boys that “it never will do to admit this younger child into the Union, he is an alien, and we must exclude him.” I will tell you what this will amount to, they will pound and abuse little Joseph until his affections are entirely weaned from his parent, and from his brethren, and he becomes an independent boy. Who will cause this, the “Mormons?” No, the elder brethren will do it. They will urge on their hostility against little Joseph until he is driven into Egypt for succor. Well, if this is not Egypt enough, where will you find it?

“What is agoing to be done with these turbulent Mormons, these outrageous Mormons?” I will tell you what might be done, and what ought to be done. The Government of the United States, and the Presidents of the United States ought to treat the religion of the Latter-day Saints as they do Methodism, Presbyterianism, Quakerism, Shakerism, and many other isms, and say, “Here, I wish you to hold your tongues about the Mormons, for they have just as good a right to their religion as you have to yours.” And when the people petition for this or that (as the right of petition should never be denied), it is the duty of those who are addressed to hearken to the petitions of the people, and to let them have officers of their own choice, for the appointing power is elected by the voice of the people, and the mass of the people hold the reins of government in their hands. Then let the people carry out those principles they have adopted and profess to abide by, and when we wish for a Governor, or a Judge, or any other appointed officer, let us have the men we prefer, and not those who will run away and report falsehoods about us.

Many of the Battalion boys are here to-day, who walked over the plains and deserts; they know what they have endured. They left their fathers, mothers, and children on the prairie, and some of them they have never since seen, and will not in this time, for they sleep in the silent grave. They suffered all this in fighting for the country that had cast them out!

Do I love murderers and mobocrats as I do good men? No. Do I pray for them? Yes, that the Lord would judge them out of their own mouths, and that speedily.

We plead all the time to be let alone, and to be permitted to live in peace, and not to be whipped and abused without cause, for we are “flesh of your flesh, and bone of your bone;” then why not let us enjoy our piece of cake, as we let you enjoy yours? For this we plead, and plead, and plead continually, but “No,” say they, “we will chastise you because we have the power to do it; we will whip you because we are stronger than you.”

I will take the Government of the United States, and the laws of Missouri and Illinois, from the year 1833 to 1845, and if they had been carried out according to their letter and spirit, they would have strung up the murderers and mobocrats who illegally and unrighteously killed, plundered, harassed, and expelled us. I will tell you how much I love those characters. If they had any respect to their own welfare, they would come forth and say, whether Joseph Smith was a Prophet or not, “We shed his blood, and now let us atone for it;” and they would be willing to have their heads chopped off, that their blood might run upon the ground, and the smoke of it rise before the Lord as an incense for their sins. I love them that much. But if the Lord wishes them to live and foam out their sins before all men and women, it is all right, I care not where they go, or what they do.

I have but one fear concerning this people in the Valleys of the Mountains, I have but one trembling sensation in the nerves of my spirit, and that is, lest we do not live the religion we profess. If we will only practise what we profess, I tell you we are at the defiance of all hell. But if we transgress the law God has given us, and trample His mercies, blessings, and ordinances under our feet, and treat them with the indifference which I have thought that some occasionally do, not fully realizing the obligations that they are under to their God, I have feared that in consequence they would be overcome, and that the Lord would let them be scattered and smitten. But only let them live their religion, and I have no more fears with regard to their being driven, and with regard to their enemies having power over them, than I have with regard to these mountains being blown over upon this city. I am willing to fight, or to go; to run, or to stay; or to do anything else that the Lord Almighty requires of me for His Kingdom’s sake, and then to lay down my life for His cause. But I swear by the Gods of eternity that I will not suffer men in our streets, and in our houses, to corrupt this people and overthrow them, the Lord and good men being my helpers.

To whom do I allude, but to those who wish to destroy this people? Not one, I am not opposed to any man or set of men who are here, there, yonder, or anywhere else, but I am opposed to wickedness and vice, where-ever they may be found in the whole earth; I am opposed to unrighteousness, and I always intend to be.

I prefer to remark upon subjects as they present themselves to my mind; though I might prepare a course of lectures, and confine myself to given subjects, as I have often done; but when I am in this stand I hoist the gate and let the flood run, not caring which way it goes, or how.

What happened when I chastised a runaway officer? I did not say one rash word to him, nor chastise him half as much as he deserved; but I told him what he was, and how he looked to me; what he was sent here for, and what he should be, if he magnified his office. Before the meeting was out the word was, “O! we are agoing to be driven; here is a mob coming.” Said I, “Get out of my way, or I will kick you out; what are you afraid of?” “O! of the Government of the United States?” I replied, “Let me die and go to my Father in heaven, before I stoop to that abominable wickedness; I never will stoop to it, so help me God.” What was the result of the course I then took? He was chastened, and our Chief Justice who is now here told him in Washington, that he was chastened for his own iniquity, and said to him, “I expect they did not chastise you half enough.” Do you suppose that I am agoing to crouch down, and suffer this people to bow down continually to the rod of corruption? No. Come on with your knives, your swords, and your faggots of fire, and destroy the whole of us, rather than we will forsake our religion. Whether it is true or false is none of your business; whether the doctrine of plurality of wives is true or false is none of your business. We have as good a right to adopt tenets in our religion as the Church of England, or the Methodists, or Baptists, or any other denomination have to in theirs. Our doctrine is a Bible doctrine, a patriarchal doctrine, and is the doctrine of the Gods of eternity, and of the heavens, and was revealed to our fathers on the earth, and will save the world at last, and bring us into Abraham’s bosom, if we ever get there. Are the officers of the Government the judges of our religion? It is none of their business whether it is true or false. I know whether it is true or not, and that is enough for me; you know, brethren and sisters, and that is enough for you. If they do not believe it, we do not trouble them with it. We say that we will meet you as friends, and as neighbors, as “flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone,” but not, as the world meet you, upon the platform of corruption and iniquity. We are not there, neither will we meet you there; but we will hail you as friends, and as brethren, pertaining to the citizenship of the Government; so we hail the officers who are now with us. And if the gallant gentleman who is now in our midst had received the commission of Governor of this Territory, as was reported, and had accepted it, I would have taken off my hat and honored the appointment; and this people would have been just as passive and submissive to him as ever they could be to me. That I will warrant and vouch for. If they wish to send a Governor here, and he is a gentleman, like the one I have referred to, every heart would say, “Thank God, we have a man to stand at our head in a gubernatorial capacity; a man who has got a good heart, and is willing that we should enjoy the federal rights of the Constitution as well as himself.” I am with all such men, heart and hand. But for a man to come here and infringe upon my individual rights and privileges, and upon those of my brethren, will never meet my sanction, and I will scourge such a one until he leaves; I am after him. But I will say, to the praise of the gallant gentleman referred to, if there was going to be a gentleman called upon to be our Governor, there is not a man, out of the Kingdom of God, that I would listen to sooner, and feel more confidence and cordiality towards, than to him. I wish this meed of praise could be awarded to every officer in the Government, but it cannot. We have some of the most corrupt, damnable, mean curses here that ever disgraced the earth; some who even wish to carry the holy sanctuary in one hand, and a jug full of whisky in the other, and follow a whore and have a saint trail behind them to hold up their garments to prevent their drabbling. They are like the pilot fish to the shark, serving to lead him to his victim. I despise them; and so does every good man. Show your colors, gentlemen, and let us know what and who you are, as I do, that all the earth may see and hear.

Have I any feelings against the man who has a true heart for constitutional rights? I have nothing but love and good feelings for all such. What have I for the sinner, the hypocrite, the unbeliever, the ungodly, the liar, the sorcerer, the whoremonger, and the adulterer? I have nothing but chastisement for them, until they repent of their wicked ways, and turn to God and find mercy. This is according to my priestly office. I informed you, in my discourse that has just, been read, that my religion is first and foremost with me, and I will send it to all the earth, to President Pierce, whether he retains me as Governor of Utah Territory or not; and, whether I should be President of the United States, or King of Great Britain, or Monarch of all the world, my religion and my God are first and foremost with me. My kingship, my presidentship, and all shall bow to that eternal Priesthood which God has bestowed upon me. I have been Governor of this Territory ever since it has had one, and in all my official transactions I have acted in accordance with the Priesthood. I never will infringe upon it with anything I may operate in in any office; let them all go by the board, before I will be brought into a situation that will cause me to infringe upon my Priesthood. In all my doings as an Elder of Israel, as holding the keys of the Priesthood to this generation, if I continue to be the Governor of this Territory, I shall magnify my office by my Priesthood. No matter what my Priesthood and calling are, all must bow to my God, and to His commandments. Have I been obliged to violate any law? No. The Priesthood assists me to honor, to preserve, to see, and understand the welfare of the Government I am acting for, and enables me so to do a thousand times more effectually than I could if I had not this Priesthood; and if any one can produce documents to prove that any Governor has magnified his office better than I have, let him bring them forth.

In the free and independent government of the United States, who in the eyes of the Almighty ought to have the privilege of sitting in the Presidential chair, to be countenanced, adored, loved, and reverenced in his capacity, and be justified therein by the heavenly hosts? It is that man who is sanctified before God, and who loves the Lord Jesus with all his heart, or in other words, who is endowed with wisdom from on high, and has revelations, visions, and dreams, giving him understanding to provide for the welfare of every portion of the nation, and a willingness to preserve to every one their fair and just religious rights, as well as political, for the good and benefit of all. In the eyes of eternal justice, only such a man has a right to that office. They are afraid to put a man there who is a professor of religion, lest he favors his own party. A man is a fool that would do that, when he has laws to preserve and keep inviolate towards the Methodists, and all religious denominations.

The kingdom that Daniel saw will push forth its law, and that law will protect the Methodists, Quakers, Pagans, Jews, and every other creed there ever was or ever will be, in their religious rights. At the same time the Priesthood will bear rule, and hold the government of the Kingdom under control in all things, so that every knee will bow, and every tongue confess. to the glory of God the Father, that Jesus is the Christ. Every one must bow to the Savior, and acknowledge and confess him with their mouths. Can they still be Methodists? Yes. Presbyterians? Yes. And I some expect that many will be brought into close places, as the Jew was by the Catholic priest. The Jew fell through the ice, and was about to drown, and implored the Catholic priest to pull him out. “I cannot,” said the priest, “except you repent, and become a Christian.” Said the Jew, “Pull me out this once.” “Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Catholic Church?” asked the priest. The Jew answered, “No, I do not.” “Then you must stay there,” and the priest held him under the water awhile. “Do you believe in Jesus Christ now?” “O yes, take me out.” “Well,” remarked the priest, “thank God that another sinner has repented; you are safe now, and while you are safe I will send you right to heaven’s gate,” and he gave the Jew a push under the ice.

I most assuredly expect that the time will come when every tongue shall confess, and every knee shall bow, to the Savior, though the people may believe what they will with regard to religion. The kingdom that Daniel saw will actually make laws to protect every man in his rights, as our government does now, whether the religions of the people are true or false. We believe this as sincerely as we believe anything else; and I think that the course of this people has proved it, as far as the acts of the children of men are concerned. All creation could ask for no more witnesses than they have, that the New Testament is true, that Jesus is the Christ, that the holy Prophets are true, that the Book of Mormon is true, and that Joseph Smith was a Prophet and Revelator. But the Lord has so ordained that no man shall receive the benefits of the everlasting Priesthood without humbling himself before Him, and giving Him the glory for teaching him, that he may be able to witness to every man of the truth, and not depend upon the words of any individual on the earth, but know for himself, live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,” love the Lord Jesus Christ and the institutions of His kingdom, and finally enter into His glory. Every man and woman may be a Revelator, and have the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy, and foresee the mind and will of God concerning them, eschew evil, and choose that which is good.

There are thousands of things I would like to name with regard to ourselves and our Government. Our whole interest is in it; we cling to it as a sucking child to its mother’s breast, and we will hang to it until they beat us off, until we can hang no longer, and this will never happen, unless they drive us from it under the pretext of what “Mormonism” is agoing to do. What is the Kingdom of God agoing to accomplish on the earth? It will revolutionize not only the United States, but the whole world, and will go forth from the morning to the evening, from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, so shall be the ushering forth of the Gospel until the whole earth is deluged with it, and the righteous are gathered.

The sinner will slay the sinner, the wicked will fall upon the wicked, until there is an utter overthrow and consumption upon the face of the whole earth, until God reigns, whose right it is. As it was said in the days of the Savior, if we said his man alone you may depend ulet tit [sic.] that through his influence he will take away our place and nation. If you let “Mormonism” alone, I will promise that every honest man and woman in the United States will be in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and be governed by the law of God.

Let them take the counsel of the late Captain Gunnison, who was massacred by the Indians; he was convinced that it would not do to persecute the “Mormons;” for every time we were driven, we have succeeded beyond our most sanguine anticipations. It has happened to us as it did to the old man’s stone wall, which was five feet high and six feet thick. The boys could not get his apples, and said among themselves, “We will turn over the old wall;” they turned it over, and it was higher than before. So with us; every time the “Mormons” have been driven they have enlarged their borders. Look out, drive us again and we will take the kingdom before you are aware of it.

We certainly shall gather out all the good as fast as we can, for the people who love truth will hear sound argument, which is our rule of battle, and it is a scientific one. Now come on to war, whenever you think best, and we will gather out the honest until the last seed of Israel is gathered, and there is hardly enough left to elect a President, even among the Know-Nothings.

Only persecute us and we will grow the faster. Say they, “What shall we do; do tell us which way we shall go, for we do not know what to do, nor what to say; if we persecute them they will grow the faster, and take away our place and nation, and will get all the good people to follow them, and what shall we do?” It is a hard case I know.

When strangers come among us they often feel diffident, for we keep to ourselves here in these distant parts, and do not always immediately know whether we are about to receive friends or enemies into our community. We have been persecuted and driven, and been a scoff and a by-word, and when strangers come among us they feel a delicacy in making our acquaintance. I say, brethren and sisters, be frank with strangers, and when you talk with them, or are in their presence, live your religion, and do not vary one particle from the truth.

You say, “I love my God and my religion.” Then manifest to them what your religion is, and if they are honest ere long they will fall in with it, if not they will take up their line of march and leave us; and my prayer is that we may be delivered from every inbred corruption.

So far as the time and your patience would permit, I have endeavored to candidly and truly portray our real feelings and views with regard to the General Government, the members of the various Christian denominations, the upright everywhere, and the corrupt and abominable wherever they are to be found; and also to briefly sketch a few of the scenes and incidents of our past and present history.

Let us live our religion, and show the world that we love the Lord Jesus Christ better than anything else. Though the world persecute you, yet cling to the Lord and the Holy Gospel, even if you lay down your lives for the truth’s sake. May God bless you. Amen.

The Church and Kingdom of God, and the Churches and Kingdoms of Men

Wilford Woodruff

A sermon by Elder Wilford Woodruff, delivered in the Tabernacle, G. S. L. City, Feb. 2, 1855.

I will endeavor to occupy a little time this morning, and while I address my friends, I hope I may have their attention and prayers; for I realize that while any person stands before an assembly of this kind to teach, he needs the Spirit of the Lord to dictate and direct his mind, that he may speak unto the edification of the people.

I am aware that “Mormonism,” as it is called, presents a wide field for reflection and contemplation; it presents an extensive surface upon which the mind may roam; it affords a variety of objects for us to converse upon; but, at the same time, we want our minds led in that channel which is according to the mind and will of the Lord.

We have had some very interesting teaching presented to us from this stand, during the last two Sabbaths especially, though I may say that we have good teaching every Sabbath that we assemble together in this house. In fact, the day and age in which we live, those things connected with the past and present history of this people, and the signs of the times, are matters so diverse from the affairs of the nations of the earth, and from the views of the children of men generally, that they cause them to marvel and wonder exceedingly.

I felt to rejoice last Sabbath while sitting in this stand, listening to our President. I will tell you why I felt to rejoice—there was one main reason for my joy; I have been acquainted long enough with this work to know its truth; I have had sufficient experience in it to see and to know that the hand of God is in it, and that it is controlled and guided by the Spirit of the Almighty, and the revelations of heaven; to know, that from the commencement of it, it has been the design of the God of heaven to establish His Kingdom upon the earth, to be thrown down no more for ever.

I rejoice that this kingdom is blessed with a leader, or leaders, who are not ashamed or afraid to watch over the interests of Zion—at all times to seek diligently the welfare of the children of Israel; who will point out the path for this people to walk in, whether that path may be popular or unpopular; leaders who will not hesitate to rebuke sin and wickedness, whether emanating from high or low places.

Those who have been acquainted with the Prophet Joseph, who laid the foundation of this Church and kingdom, who was an instrument in the hand of God in bringing to light the Gospel in this last dispensation, know well that every feeling of his soul, every sentiment of his mind, and every act of his life, proved that he was determined to maintain the principle of truth, even to the sacrificing of his life. His soul swelled wide as eternity for the welfare of the human family. He began entirely alone, as far as the influences of the children of men were concerned upon the earth, to endeavor to establish a religion and order of things diverse from anything then existing among men, a religion that was unpopular and contrary to the feelings, and views, and traditions of the whole human family.

Every man that is acquainted with the history of the nations of the world at this time, must know that religion is a very popular thing—it has many followers; and they must also know that the religions of the day are very diversified; and that they are in a great measure framed to meet the conveniences, traditions, and situations of the children of men, with but little regard to the declarations of the Bible, or the revelations of Jesus Christ. Every man that will read the Scripture of the Old and New Testaments, will see that there was an organization in the days of Jesus Christ, a system for the salvation of the children of men. It is laid down plainly and definitely for the inhabitants of the earth to follow. But, if we search throughout the earth at this day, we cannot find a system existing that has scarcely any resemblance to the example laid down by Christ and the Apostles. And I will here say that the persecution, opposition, and oppression that this Church has met with from its first organization, have been in a great measure in consequence of carrying out that very system, those very ordinances, that same Gospel which Jesus Christ and his Apostles established in their day, and which cost the most of them their lives.

The New Testament clearly shows that whenever God has had a people upon the earth—when He has had a Church and kingdom in the world, it has been organized with Prophets and Apostles, and has been endowed with revelations, with diverse kinds of gifts, with healing power, with miracles, with dreams, and I may say with every member that belongs to the body of Christ, necessary for the edifying of the body, for the work of the ministry, or sanctifying of the people. We cannot find anywhere within the lids of the Bible, where the Lord ever had a people He acknowledged, except they were led by immediate revelation. The Lord never had a people in any age of the world without Prophets to lead them, even to the present day; and this is the reason why this Church and kingdom is so diverse from the views, feelings, and traditions of the nations around us, and that has caused it to meet with great opposition, persecution, and opposing spirits from the commencement, and perhaps may continue to do so until the winding up scene.

Many of the Prophets have prophesied that such an order of things as that which Christ and his Apostles established, should again be established in the last days, after ages of apostacy and darkness. When the Jews fell through unbelief, as the Apostle says, the Gospel was taken from them and given to the Gentiles. Did the kingdom go to the Gentiles stripped of any of its powers, or portion of its organization because the Jews would not receive it? No, verily it did not. When the kingdom was presented to the Gentiles, it was presented with Apostles and Prophets, with healing powers, with revelations direct from God, and with every gift and grace the Jews believed in and enjoyed while they remained faithful: when it went to the Gentiles it was perfect in its organization, but in process of time they changed the ordinances of the kingdom of God, and fell through the same example of unbelief, and have remained for centuries without the true order of heaven among them.

Ask any portion of Christendom why the ancient order of the Church of Christ is not among them—Apostles, Prophets, revelations, and other gifts, and they will inform you that they were only needed in the dark ages of the world, to establish the kingdom of God, but in this enlightened age are not necessary. It makes me think of a remark made by Mr. Kirkham in his Grammar; he says, “The Lord hung the Bible out of heaven, and retired.” It appears so indeed among the Gentile nations, for in process of time the gifts, and graces, and powers of the kingdom of God were taken away, and the men who officiated in the ancient Church of God were nearly all put to death; they were slain because they endeavored to maintain it in its purity, and tried with all their might to establish the principles that God had revealed to the Jews, for they were the chosen people of God, the promised seed; but they fell because they would not receive the Messiah, the Shilo, their Savior; when they put him to death, and imbrued their hands in the best blood that had flowed through the lineage of Judah, they had to foot the bill; blood was shed, the laws of God were broken, the ordinances were changed, and the Priesthood of High Heaven trampled upon: the Jews must, therefore, suffer to pay the debt they contracted. Jesus Christ told them what would come upon them before he was taken away, for he mourned over them, saying, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” Again, he says to them, “Woe unto you, Scribes and pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the Prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the Prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the Prophets. Fill ye up the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” Again, “Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” He also told them that their temple would be destroyed, and not one stone be left upon another that would not be thrown down, and thus they had to suffer until the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled. Jesus Christ lifted up his voice, and spared not, for he knew what was awaiting that nation; and his heart yearned over them when he saw them as a nation rushing madly on to destruction, and sowing seed that would cause a thousand years of sorrow and mourning by their posterity. They had their agency to act upon as seemed them good, and they became wicked and corrupt, and instituted their own systems of religion and ordinances, instead of the true order of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus told them they would be dispersed among the Gentiles, and be trodden down and afflicted by them until the times of the Gentiles should be accomplished.

We understand from the Scriptures, that have been referred to from time to time in this desk, that the Lord will set His hand again to gather Israel. We heard this subject treated upon a few Sabbaths ago, and what would take place in the last dispensation, even in the dispensation of the fulness of times.

But those who have been taught after the traditions of the fathers, have been taught that the Bible should be spiritualized, that it does not mean what it says, nor say what it means; we have been taught to believe that where the Lord says Israel shall be gathered, it means spiritually. When we read any portion of Scripture, which did not agree with our traditions, every man had his own system of spiritualizing, to make it bend to his own views. Instead of this, we have now learned that God means what He says, and says what He means.

When we read the history of the United States, or the history of General Washington, no man in his sober senses would have the least idea of spiritualizing it. When we read the history of our revolutionary fathers, who sat in solemn council to deliberate upon and sign the Declaration of Independence, because of the grievances they were called upon to bear from the mother country, no man would for a moment dream of spiritualizing these events; but every man would understand that the historian meant them to be read and understood literally.

Now, if we so read and believe the history of the foundation of our national government, or the history of the Jewish nation, or any other nation, that has been written by men who do not make any pretensions to inspiration, if we should never think of spiritualizing their writings, but take them and understand them as they are given to us, why should we take it upon ourselves to spiritualize and twist the words, and the meaning of the words, of that God who rules the nations?

When He gives to us revelations of the greatest moment to us, will He not set forth His mind and will in their true meaning, as He intends they shall be fulfilled, and as He intends we shall understand them? The Latter-day Saints as a people have learned to take God at His word. We admit that there are in the Bible metaphors, figures, and parables.

When Jesus was teaching the women the things of the kingdom of God, he used comparisons which they understood. Hence he says, “The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.” He knew the women understood about making bread. And so he talks to the farmer about sowing grain, that some sow seed on good ground, and others on stony ground, and others among thorns, likening the kingdom of heaven unto it. He used these metaphors to make a deeper impression upon the minds of the children of men; and at other times he used dark sayings in the same way. We understand a figure as a figure, and a parable as a parable, but the meaning of the Savior is plainly manifest in them.

When the Lord says by the mouth of His Prophet, “And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dry shod. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt; and again, “And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord:” again, when He says, “They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn;” we believe He means what He says, for we have ourselves seen many of these prophecies literally fulfilled in this generation. Again, we believe He means what He says, when the Lord declares through His Prophet, that an angel shall fly through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come. We believe He means what He says. To fulfil this declaration we believe it is necessary for an angel of God to come to the earth, and deliver the Gospel, the true Gospel, and the only Gospel that ever was revealed for the exaltation and glory of man.

Why does it require an angel to bring the Gospel from heaven in these last days, when the earth is deluged with Gospel, with religion, with different systems and plans of salvation? Because that none of them are according to the order or organization that God has given to govern and control the human family when they would be controlled by Him. If there had been a true organization of the kingdom of God upon the earth in these latter-days, there would have been no need of an angel to visit the earth to teach men the first principles of the Gospel of Christ, and administer its ordinances to them.

When the Apostles of old dwelt upon the earth. the angel that appeared to Saul of Tarsus, and the angel that appeared to Cornelius, did not administer the Gospel to them, but instructed them to apply to those men whom Christ had ordained to that authority, and who held the keys, the gifts and graces, and Priesthood of the kingdom of God. So it would have been in the last days, if there had been authority, and the true Priesthood of God on the earth; there would, in that case, have been no necessity for an angel to come with the Gospel.

Angels are sent as ministering spirits to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. We believe the Lord means what He says. We believe Israel were led formerly by Prophets who were full of wisdom and truth; and they are again to be led by holy Prophets, that have the Priesthood of the Most High upon them, and power to lead and to teach the children of men. When Daniel the Prophet declared that the kingdom of God should be set up in the last days, and that it should break in pieces all other kingdoms, and have no end, he meant what he said. When we read the prophecies that declare unto us that great wickedness shall be upon the earth in the latter days, and that great plagues will be poured out upon the world; that angels are to pour out the vials of the wrath of the Almighty, and that previous to this all men are to be warned by the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we believe those declarations will have a literal fulfilment.

Before I ever heard of “Mormonism,” when reading the Scriptures, I often wondered why it was that we had no Prophets, no Apostles, no gifts and graces, no healings by the power of God, no visions, no angels, no revelations, no voice of God. I often wondered why these things were not continued among the children of men why they were not enjoyed by the different churches and denominations of the day, and in my conversation with theologians and divines, I often referred to these things, but they all told me that such supernatural manifestations were unnecessary in our day and age of the world, that such power was only necessary in a day of darkness among an ignorant generation of people; they needed Prophets to lead them; but we who live in the blaze of Gospel light need no such thing; we need no revelation, only that which is in the Bible; we need no visitation of angels now, those things were given to establish the doctrine of Christ, and when it was once established they were no longer needed.

This logic always appeared strange to me. I said then, and I say now, may the Lord give me such periods of darkness as were enjoyed by the Apostles and Saints of old, in preference to the Gospel blaze of modern Christianity. The ancient doctrine and power will unlock the mysteries of heaven and pour forth that Gospel light, knowledge, and truth, of which the heavens are full, and which has been poured out in every generation when Prophets appeared among the children of men. But the Gospel of modern Christendom shuts up the Lord, and stops all communication with Him. I want nothing to do with such a Gospel, I would rather prefer the Gospel of the dark ages, so called.

I do not wish to be understood that we are now living in a dark age of the world, but for the last fourteen hundred years the world have been enveloped in darkness, in which wickedness has ruled, and the powers of darkness have prevailed among the children of men, and the nations have been bound down by false traditions, and incorrect principles, but the day has now dawned, the dark clouds have now broken up and soon will pass away, and the sun of righteousness will arise in its glory, and show forth the light of heaven; and for that I am thankful, and rejoice, and so do thousands and tens of thousands in this dispensation, who have been touched with the light of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ which has been revealed in our day, by the administering of holy angels, in all its fulness, beauty, power, and glory; this Gospel has caused Prophets, Elders, and Saints to rejoice: it has nerved up their spirits with fortitude and strength, and borne them up against every opposing influence; this has been the case in every dispensation when this light and power have been enjoyed by the children of men.

The Gospel has gone forth in our day in its true glory, power, order, and light, as it always did when God had a people among men that He acknowledged. That same organization and Gospel that Christ died for, and the Apostles spilled their blood to vindicate, is again established in this generation. How did it come? By the ministering of an holy angel from God, out of heaven, who held converse with man, and revealed unto him the darkness that enveloped the world, and unfolded unto him the gross darkness that surrounded the nations, those scenes that should take place in this generation, and would follow each other in quick succession, even unto the coming of the Messiah. The angel taught Joseph Smith those principles which are necessary for the salvation of the world; and the Lord gave him commandments, and sealed upon him the Priesthood, and gave him power to administer the ordinances of the house of the Lord. He told him the Gospel was not among men, and that there was not a true organization of His kingdom in the world, that the people had turned away from His true order, changed the ordinances, and broken the everlasting covenant, and inherited lies and things wherein their was no profit. He told him the time had come to lay the foundation for the establishment of the Kingdom of God among men for the last time, preparatory to the winding up scene. Joseph was strengthened by the Spirit and power of God, and was enabled to listen to the teachings of the angel. He told him he should be made an instrument in the hands of the Lord, if he kept His commandments, in doing a good work upon the earth, that his name should be held in honor by the honest in heart, and in dishonor throughout the nations by the wicked. He told him he should be an instrument in laying the foundation of a work that should gather tens of thousands of the children of men, in the generation in which he lived, from every nation under heaven, who should hear the sound of it through his instrumentality. He told him the nations were wrapt in wickedness and abomination, and that the judgments of God were ready to be poured out upon them in their fulness; that the angels were holding the vials of His wrath in readiness; but the decree is that they shall not be poured out until the nations are warned, that they may be left without an excuse.

This man to whom the angel appeared obeyed the Gospel; he received it in meekness and humility, and bowed down before the Lord and worshipped Him, and did the best he could in his illiterate state; he was as it were but a mere plow-boy. He laid hold of it with all his heart, though he saw he would have to wage war with sin, and wickedness, and abominations, and the oppositions of the people; he began to trust in the Lord; and what was the consequence? Wherever the words of the Gospel, which the angel revealed to him, were preached among the children of men, it had its effect. The Church was at length organized with a few humble men. The learned might laugh at them because of their ignorance, but their words were like daggers to their hearts, and like a two-edged sword, piercing and dividing asunder the very thoughts and intents of the hearts of men. The honest in heart began to receive their testimony, and it continued to spread from town to town, from city to city, from state to state, and from nation to nation, until we see the fruits of it here to-day in this Tabernacle of the Lord in the tops of the mountains.

I say I rejoice before the Lord this day that we have leaders in Israel that are qualified for their place and station to preside over this people, and who will seek their welfare, and are not afraid or ashamed to rebuke wickedness in high places, whether manifested by their brethren or neighbors, if they do wrong. Their minds are quick as the vivid lightning of heaven; they are filled with the visions of eternity; they are not asleep, but they comprehend the elements around them; they read and digest them, and they know exactly what course to pursue; the leaders of this people know what they are doing, what is approaching this people, and what is approaching the world: and we may all know the same things by reading the Scriptures, and by prayer, and through the ministering of the Holy Ghost conferred upon us. What man is there who reads the Scriptures, and believes that God means what He says, and says what He means, but what can see a flood of dreadful events ready to be poured out upon this generation with the rapidity of lightning. No man can escape the influence of these events that are about to burst upon the heads of this generation. The Gospel has gone forth, and when the nations are warned, another angel will cry, “Babylon is fallen.” War, and famine, and the plague will overwhelm the nations of the earth, and none can escape.

As Latter-day Saints, we look upon the signs of the times, we are not ignorant of them, but we understand them. We look upon the events that are rolling upon us with great interest. It matters not what the minds and feelings of men are, the Lord is determined to raise up a people that will worship Him; and if He has to whip, and scourge, and drive us through a whole generation, He will chastise us until we are willing to submit to righteousness and truth, or until we are like clay in the hands of the potter. The chastisements we have had from time to time have been for our good, and are essential to learn wisdom, and carry us through a school of experience we never could have passed through without. I hope, then, that we may learn from the experience we have had to be faithful, and humble, and be passive in the hands of God, and do His commandments. Do I blame President Young because he chastises us? No. Would he be a father to us, a Prophet, and a High Priest of God, if he saw his brethren going wrong, and would not warn and chastise them? The chastisement of a friend is far better than the kisses of an enemy. When I am out of the way, and when you are out of the way, I thank God that we have a man to preside over us, who loves us enough to chastise us; it is for our good, and I believe we have been always ready to receive the chastening rod from our superiors when they thought fit to give it to us, and kiss the rod that chastened us. If a Prophet is called to lead and chastise Israel, shall He not rebuke wickedness when it is not in Israel? The very spirit that vibrates in the soul of President Young, and every act of his life, show, to all acquainted with him, that he will do his duty in this respect, as well as in every thing else wherein he stands connected, while he dwells upon the earth, regardless of all consequences, and will leave the event in the hands of God, and his Counsellors are governed by the same spirit and principles. The Lord has reproved the wicked in all ages, and He will do it again. He also inspires His servants to reprove and rebuke wickedness; He controls all nations, and the destiny of the world is in His hands as much now as it was in the days of Israel when He himself led them out of the land of Canaan.

Wickedness is in the earth, and Satan has great power over the hearts of men, and he seeks to destroy them, and he seeks to destroy this people, and lead away the Elders of Israel; and when he overcomes a man that has made a covenant with God, who has been baptized in this Church and kingdom, he gains a greater victory over him than over one who never made any profession. Why have old grey-headed Israelites turned their faces for generations past towards Jerusalem, and lifted up their voices and mourned in sorrow? Because their fathers had rejected the Messiah and broken their covenants with God. Why are these Lamanites roaming about in misery and wretchedness, living upon reptiles of the earth? Why are they cursed so bitterly, and brought down so low, for they are of the seed of Israel? It is because the chastening rod of the Almighty has rested upon them and upon their fathers. We should be very cautious and careful to keep the commandments of God, and do right, while we have such examples of the dealings of God with the nations who have broken His laws. We shall be corrected in all our errors, that we may become sanctified, and be prepared for those glories, principles, powers, and privileges which the Lord has promised to reveal to us.

The Latter-day Saint, in the vision of his mind, sees displayed on the great panorama of the world all the scenes that are to transpire in the present day, while the wicked are ignorant of what is about to transpire; they do not know what is the matter; while there are cholera, whirlwinds, storms, thunder and lightning, and earthquakes in divers places, and kingdom is rising against kingdom in battle array, they are ignorant of what will be the end of these matters, and the cause of their existence, because the things of God are not before their eyes. They see naturally, but do not understand. They read the Scriptures but do not look for the fulfilment of the words of the Prophets, and they do not understand what those things mean when they are fulfilled before their eyes. Did they understand the Scriptures they could see and understand what is the matter in the world.

But this is only the beginning of sorrow and trouble; the heavens are full of great judgments which are about to be poured out on the world. The words of the Prophets cannot have their fulfilment unless these things take place. Read the Revelations of Saint John, touching the fall of Babylon, and you there have a faint picture of what is about to transpire.

I feel thankful that the Lord has revealed these things for our benefit, and that He has given us power and authority to stand up in the defence of that which is right before the Lord, and to bear testimony of the truth, and to proclaim those things which will assuredly come to pass in this generation. It is better for us to fall in defence of truth, than to deny the words of God, and go to hell. It is better to suffer stripes for the testimony of Christ, than to suffer and fall by our sins and transgressions, and then have to suffer afterwards. I would rather seal my testimony with my blood, and lay my body to rest in the grave, and have my spirit go to the other side of the vail, to enjoy a long eternity of light, truth, blessings, and knowledge which the Lord will bestow upon every man who keeps His law, than to spend a few short years of earthly pleasure, and be deprived of those blessings, and the society of my friends and brethren behind the vail.

There is no man in his sober senses that would not desire this. There is no man that has an understanding of the blessings that God has promised to give to His children; but what will desire that in preference to the fading enjoyments and empty honors of this world. You may surround any man or woman with all the wealth and glory that the imagination of man can grasp, and are they satisfied? No. There is still an aching void. On the other hand, show me a beggar upon the streets, who has got the Holy Ghost, whose mind is filled with that Spirit and power, and I will show you a person who has peace of mind, who possesses true riches, and those enjoyments that no man can obtain from any other source. The servants of God, in every age of the world, have been sustained and nerved up to do their duty by this power; and I will say to the Latter-day Saints, if they will be faithful, and do what they should do, and listen to the counsel given to them, they need not have any fears about anything, for the whole work is in the hands of God, the destinies of nations lie there. It is better for a people to be wise, to get righteousness, to be the friend of God, than to occupy any other position in life.

Then I hope my brethren and sisters will feel in their hearts to sustain the Presidency of this Church, by their faith, works, and prayers, and not suffer them to carry all the load, while we hide ourselves in the rear. If we should do this we are not worthy, we are not worthy of our position as Elders in Israel, and fathers and mothers in Israel. Let each one bear their share; and if we will correct our own follies, and set in order our own houses, and do that which is right, we shall then do some good, and help to lift the load that rests upon those that lead. It was grievous to the feelings of Jesus Christ, to his Apostles, and to Joseph Smith, when they saw the people running into danger, and it is grievous to President Young, when he sees the people reckless in pursuing their own course leading them to destruction; when they are not willing to take his counsel and abide the doctrines he teaches; but when he sees the people willing to obey wholesome counsel, and endeavor to sanctify themselves before the Lord, he feels strengthened and sustained, he feels backed up by the works of the people, and not by one alone. I hope this will be the case with us, that we will set in order our own houses, as wives, husbands, children, as parents, and as officers in the Church and Kingdom of God. If we will sanctify ourselves, and do right, we shall have our reward, and shall be satisfied with it. No man or woman in the Kingdom of God that does wrong can escape sorrow. It is so in the world; the Lord rewards all men according as their works have been in the body. One reason why the Lord will pour out His judgments upon the nations, is the blasphemous spirit of wickedness and corruption that reigns among men.

When the Gentiles reject the Gospel it will, be taken from them, and go to the house of Israel, to that long suffering people that are now scattered abroad through all the nations upon the earth, and they will be gathered home by thousands, and by hundreds of thousands, and they will re-build Jerusalem their ancient city, and make it more glorious than at the beginning, and they will have a leader in Israel with them, a man that is full of the power of God and the gift of the Holy Ghost; but they are held now from this work, only because the fulness of the Gentiles has not yet come in. Tens of thousands among the Gentile nations will receive the Gospel, but the majority of them will reject it, and then the Jews will receive it; and it will go to them with all the gifts, blessings, and powers it possessed when it was taken from them.

We are all Gentiles by nationality, we are of the Gentile nations who hold the sway of the earth. Not only will the Jews have these blessings again, but these poor despised Indians will enjoy the light and glory of the Gospel of Christ; their fathers proclaimed blessings upon them, by the spirit of prophecy and revelation, which are as assuredly to rest upon a remnant of that people as they exist, though they are now the most miserable beings that live upon the face of the earth, nevertheless a remnant of them will embrace the Gospel, and their eyes will be opened and they will understand that they are of Israel. Our missionaries have labored among them, and what effect has it had? But little. Missionaries of different orders have labored among them, with little or no success.

We cannot do a great deal for that people, only pray for them, and treat them kindly, until the power of God begins to rest upon them, and they are waked up by the visions of heaven, and the angels begin to converse with them. They will be inspired by the Spirit and power of God, like other branches of Israel, and the day will come when the poor Utahs, and Piedes, and other degraded tribes in these mountains will again feel they possess souls among men as their fathers did before them. The ten tribes will also come in remembrance before the Lord, and they will again return with out-stretched arms to their lands, and be led by leaders inspired by the Spirit and power of God, and they will come with visions, revelations, and Prophets, and they will be baptized and ordained under the hands of the children of Ephraim, who bear the Holy Priesthood on the earth at that time, and they will be crowned with glory, power, immortality, and eternal lives before God.

This is only a synopsis of the vision of the things that present themselves to our minds, while we sit and meditate upon the scenes that present themselves to our view. No man can contemplate the truth concerning the nations of the earth without sorrow, when he sees the wailing, the mourning, and death, that will come in consequence of judgments, plagues, and war. It has already begun, and it will continue to multiply and increase until the scene is ended, and wound up.

Do I delight in the destruction of the children of men? No. Does the Lord? No. He gives them timely warning, and if they do not listen to His counsel, they must suffer the consequences. He has determined, in the last days, in spite of earth and hell, wicked men, and devils, to establish His kingdom upon the earth; He has proclaimed it in the Bible, that it shall not be thrown down any more for ever. Who owns the earth? Does the devil? No; but he has had it a great while, and holds universal sway, and has held it almost from the beginning; so much so, that if the Lord inspires a man upon the earth, the power of the devil is so great, that that man is, or men are, slain. Even Christ and his Apostles could but exist in tribulation and suffering for a little while, and then were slain. The power of the devil was so great, that the principles of righteousness were driven from the earth, and those that taught them. But, hark! in the last days it will not be so, the time has come for the kingdom to be established, because the earth is ripe, and the set time has come.

The Lord made the earth, and placed man upon it, and He owns it still, and He will cut off wickedness, no matter where it exists, so that there will be room for the good fruit to grow. As true as the Lord lives, if we wish to exist upon the earth in these days, we must be righteous; if we expect to have a place, an inheritance, and dwell on the earth, we must keep the law of God, or we shall be cut off. This will apply to all, to Jew and Gentile, bond and free; this will apply to all men in every nation, and under all circumstances.

It is the decree of the Almighty God, that the kingdom of heaven shall be established, and shall never again be overthrown, that judgments shall lay waste the nations, enough at least to give that kingdom room to grow, and spread, and prosper. This is the truth, and you will all find it so. Those judgments have begun, that will never leave the earth until it is swept as with the besom of destruction, until thrones are cast down and kingdoms overthrown, until each man draws his sword against his neighbor, and every nation and kingdom that exists will be at war with each other, except the inhabitants of Zion. The Lord has spoken it, and it will come to pass.

I again say I am thankful that we have men to preside over us, who are determined to rebuke sin, wherever it shows itself, and God will sustain these men, and uphold them, whether we do or not. I do not care in what circumstances they may be placed, even if it be necessary for them to seal their testimony with their blood, as Joseph and Hyrum have done; it is all right, they only pass to the other side of the vail, where they can operate still better for the salvation of the people. We shall not be left without leaders that have the Spirit of God. This people will always have leaders that are just men, that are good men, and that delight to do the will of God, and would sacrifice life and all things for it if required.

If we are afraid to rebuke iniquity, or ashamed to cast it off ourselves, Israel would go to hell, we should be cut off as a people, and the Lord would raise up another; for He is bound to have a people in the last days who will keep His commandments, and magnify their calling, and prove themselves friends of God, and maintain the principles of righteousness, and honor them before God, angels, and men, that His kingdom may be established in purity, and be prepared for the coming of the Messiah; for Christ is coming again to earth: he is preparing the bride, and here is a portion of it before me to-day.

Will he receive us to himself? Are we prepared for his coming and kingdom and the fulness thereof, unless we are sanctified, and lay aside sin, and do right? No. We must sanctify ourselves, and keep the commandments of God, and do those things that are required at our hands, before we can be prepared for the coming of the Great Bridegroom.

The signs of the heavens are appearing, the fig trees are leaving and showing that summer is nigh. It will overtake this generation, and us also, quite as soon as we are prepared for it.

I pray that we may live in such a manner as not to be among the foolish virgins, but understand the signs of the times, do our duty, maintain our integrity, overcome the world, and be prepared to receive our Redeemer when he comes with joy, and not in grief and shame; which may God grant for Christ’s sake. AMEN.

The Judgements of God on the United States

Orson Hyde

A sermon by President Orson Hyde, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 18, 1855.

Beloved Brethren and Friends—Since it has fallen to my lot to address you this afternoon, I hope you will not only lend me your undivided attention, but favor me with an interest in your prayers, that I may ever speak according to the mind and will of God, upon all those subjects which may engage my attention.

I shall take a text, according to the mode and fashion of the day; yet, I will not promise to confine myself to it, or take any position that may be calculated to forestall the dictates of the Spirit of God in me. You may be surprised when you are made acquainted with the name of the author of my text. Were I to quote from Joseph Smith, or from Brigham Young, a sentiment for my ground work, you might be gratified and complimented; but the world, or outsiders might think it folly, blasphemy, nonsense, and trusting in man. I shall not, therefore, borrow my text from either of the foregoing; but from a distinguished outsider, that thereby I may pay a proper tribute of respect unto that department of God’s dependent creatures.

In the last General Epistle of Franklin Pierce, Chief Apostle of the United States of America, written to his brethren of the Senate and House of Representatives in General Conference assembled, first clause of the first verse, you will find these remarkable words recorded:

“The past has been an eventful year, and will hereafter be referred to as a marked epoch in the history of the world. While we have been happily preserved from the calamities of war, our domestic prosperity has not been entirely uninterrupted. The crops, in portions of the country, have been nearly cut off. Disease has prevailed to a greater extent than usual; and the sacrifice of human life through casualities by sea and land is without parallel.”

When we consider that the author of these words was chosen by the sovereign will of the American people to preside over the destinies of our common country, that he was duly set apart for that station, and regularly installed in power, it is but reasonable to suppose that his words are prompted by the conviction and faith of the nation; and he can hardly be expected to give utterance to an incorrect idea, if the faith of the nation be correct. He, therefore, being the head and eye of the Republic, discovered that the land declined to produce in its usual strength, that disease had marked out its increased number of victims with unerring precision, and that sea and land had conspired against the lives of the thousands that float on the former, and the millions that walk on the latter.

Why this increase of Providential manifestations in the form of scourges and chastisements? Is it because the nation has reformed and grown better? Is it because the true God is more correctly and devoutly worshipped? Or is it because the present is an age not so enlightened and scientific; and hence, not so well qualified to guard against the casualties and ills of life as former and more enlightened ages? Or is it because the Prophets of God have been cruelly and treacherously slain, and their brethren and friends banished by violent hands, from their homes, into an untried and wilderness country, where it was hoped and believed, by many, that savage ferocity would terminate our existence as a people?

When the Latter-day Saints fled before the fiery blast of persecution’s bitter hate, they left, it is true, their goods and their homes as a prize, rich with curses, to those whose guilty hearts and bloody hands rendered them legitimate heirs to their ill-gotten gain. We brought but little with us when we fled; yet we took what the nation can never re-gain until they punish those murderers according to their own laws, chastise the guilty coadjutors in deeds of cruelty and rapine, and compensate the sufferers for the losses which they so unjustly sustained. We brought away with us from the nation that suffered us to be cast out, the good-will and blessing of our God, even the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. That blessing and good-will cannot return until we return and carry them.

Allow me, in this place, to give you a legal opinion. None of you entertain a doubt but that your claims and titles to the lands sold, under duress, in Missouri and Illinois, are as good and valid now in the eyes of God as they ever were; but I tell you that they are just as good and safe to you at this very moment, in the eye of the Constitutional laws of the land, as they ever were. No deed of conveyance of real estate, executed by any of you in Missouri or Illinois, after you were warned to leave, and threatened with violence if you did not leave, is worth one red cent. No court of chancery in the nation, having jurisdiction, could lawfully avoid giving you your lands again, with interest and damage. But would the Government sustain the decision of such a court? There is the rub, and hence the guilt?

But let us see if we can account for the fearful increase of pestilence, scarcity, and destruction of human life spoken of in our text. God is said to, be with His servants and people. “Lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” If a nation or people cast out the Saints and servants of God from their midst, God goeth with them and leaveth that nation, and leaveth it under evil influences and afflicting agents.

This dream even aroused the old man’s resentment, and drew forth from him a rebuke upon his son; for he thought the dream indicated that he and his mother and his brethren should bow down to him. His brethren greatly envied him; but his father observed the dream and reflected, notwithstanding the rebuke. The fire of jealousy burning in the hearts of the elder brethren against their younger brother, they resolved to slay him, and conspired to perpetrate this bloody deed! Not that Joseph had injured them, or done them any wrong. It was because they feared he would do something, as his dreams evinced. But, behold the inconsistency of his elder brethren! If his dreams were of God, it was a sufficient cause of great joy to them, that they could have a ruler of divine appointment; and hence worse than madness to oppose him. If his dreams were not of God, they had no cause to fear his elevation to the ruling power. But his dreams were of God, and the means which they adopted to prevent their fulfilment proved, under the over-ruling hand of Providence, to be the very means to bring about the things fore-shadowed by them.

It is not unfrequently the case, that plans and measures devised by the greatest cunning, ingenuity, and wisdom of the wicked against God’s chosen, prove to be the most impressive and happy means to bless and exalt those against whom these plans are laid. Instead of slaying their brother, they agreed to cast him into a pit where there was no water, that he might perish there. But being a little conscience smitten at this specimen of cruelty towards their brother, they agreed to sell him into Egypt as a slave, and thus rid themselves and the country of this troublesome dreamer.

But God was with Joseph in Egypt, in the house of Potiphar, and blessed Potiphar’s house for Joseph’s sake. Potiphar, a poor benighted heathen, saw that God was with Joseph, and that he made all things to prosper that were in his hands; and therefore committed his house and all he had into the care of Joseph. Step by step did he gain influence and consideration in Egypt; and the favor and blessing of God were manifest upon him, and upon all that he did. God even blessed the whole kingdom for his sake. He apprised him, in the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream, of the approaching famine, and greatly multiplied the fruits of the earth, that they might be laid up in store against the time of need. Thus, the country to which the chosen of God was banished, was enabled to feed the starving millions that fled thither for seven long years, and Joseph was prime minister to the crown, and general superintendent of all the affairs of Egypt. He controlled all the food that had been laid up in store. The famine waxed strong in the land from which he was expelled, and they had nothing laid up in store; for they had no Joseph to warn them of the approaching distress. They had driven him away, and God greatly blessed the land to which he fled.

Soon it fell out that Joseph’s brethren had to go down to Egypt to buy corn. “Their sheaves began to bow to his sheaf.” Again they went, being sorely pressed with famine in their own land; and Joseph made himself known to them. Prince as he was, Prophet and minister of God as he was, I cannot think that the propriety of a union of Church and State was discussed at their meeting at all; especially not until they had taken their dinner together. Thanks be to the God of Israel, they had plenty to eat?

Can any one, acquainted with the Latter-day Saints’ history, see any similarity between their expulsion from the States, and the causes of that expulsion; and the banishment of Joseph into Egypt, and the causes of that banishment? Neither of them had done any wrong, but it was feared that they would. They both would dream, and tell their dreams. They were both superlatively hated and envied by their brethren—were both sent away among heathens to perish, and both have been sustained by the favor of God. We both have had coats of many colors: ours, patch upon patch! We have had at least, one coat different from his, probably because such coats were not fashionable in his day, a coat of tar and feathers. Neither of us went away by his own choice; but were forced away contrary to our wishes, and contrary to existing laws. Both went into countries where there is but little rain. The chief difference that I can see, is this. Their sheaves bowed to his sheaf. The sun, moon, and stars bowed to him when they came to him for bread. It has not yet happened so unto us. But when scarcity increases in the land from whence we came, pestilence and plague abound, the channels of business and trade completely broken up, civil war and know nothing within, the wheels of diplomacy in the mud without, and foreign foes press sorely on our coasts, then the nation may begin to ask—Was Joseph Smith a Prophet? Is God angry with us because we have only winked at his treacherous murder? Is He angry, because we have quietly suffered His chosen people to be robbed, plundered, murdered, and driven like chaff before the wind, without interposing in any way to prevent it? Is it because we have turned a deaf ear to their petitions and cries for redress?

With all the respect that is due from an humble citizen, to the words of the chief ruler of a great and powerful nation, and with all the modesty that diffidence and delicacy can inspire, I feel it my duty to say, in the name of that God whose I am, and whom I serve, that here lie the causes of the increasing evils in the land, spoken of in our text. For thus the Lord hath spoken. Nations shall be cut off when they are ripe in iniquity. But they are not ripe in iniquity, until they kill, my servants, and cast out my people;—then will I visit them in my anger, and vex them in my displeasure, and cut off their bitter branches. A desolating sickness shall cover the land. (See Book of Covenants.) Famine shall sorely oppress them—confusion and war shall make their hearts to faint, and their knees to tremble. Would to God that our nation had never given cause for the distress which they now only begin to suffer Would to God that they, chiefly for their sakes, had never provoked the anger of the Almighty by killing our Prophets, and casting out our people. Yet for us, it is all the better! For if we had not been driven away, we might have remained there to suffer as they are suffering and will suffer. “The wrath of man is often made to praise the Lord,” as in this case; and everlasting honors be ascribed to Him for His mercy, His justice, and His truth.

In view of the approaching crisis which has been preached about, written upon, and prophesied of by us for the last twenty years, I would call upon the people of Utah, both Saint and sinner, Jew and Gentile, white men and red, to quit their vain and unprofitable traffic and speculation, and go to with their might to raise wheat, corn, and stock. Be not anxious to drive your stock to California. Save all your grain, and sow all you possibly can. Rich deposits of snow are now being made in the mountains, according to your prayers, which betoken a fruitful year. Ask God to bless your labors, and every seed that you sow in the earth. Prepare storehouses in which it can be saved. Remember Joseph in Egypt! The old man himself, and all the boys had to go to him, for he had corn in time of famine. Politicians oppose our gathering together. But if you will have plenty of wheat, pork, and beef on hand, all hell cannot stop them from coming here. Look out for the old man and all the boys to come bending unto you, and I’ll venture they will not quarrel with you about the union of Church and State, at least not until they have had their breakfast. We may then tell them that when we were with them, they burned up our wheat in the stack, in the shock, and that which was scattered in the field. They burned our hay and our houses; and left our sick, our women and children in the scorching sun and beating rain, without food or shelter.

We told them when they did it, that we would have wheat when they had none. When these poor starving thousands flock here for food, will it not be glory enough for you to begin with, to feed them, to give them shelter, and administer to their sick? Will not such coals of fire heaped upon their heads be hot enough to satisfy your righteous indignation? If you will do as you are told, your eyes shall witness just such scenes! You may ask, “When shall these things be?” Answer. Just so soon as you can possibly lay up the wheat. If the United States will not make Brigham Young Governor, wheat will. Joseph’s brethren never voted to make him Governor over them; but he was elected to that office by a joint ballot of wheat and corn. There is more salvation and security in wheat, than in all the political schemes of the world, and also more power in it than in all the contending armies of the nations. Raise wheat and lay it up in store till it will bring a good price; not dollars and cents, but kingdoms, countries, peoples, tribes, and tongues. “They have sold themselves for naught, and must be redeemed without money!” It will take wheat to redeem them! Raise wheat and lay it up securely and it will preach the “gathering” more eloquently, successfully, and extensively than all the missionaries that we can send out to sweep through the nations, with the proclamation of the judgments of God abroad in the land!

If I feel at our approaching Conference as I now do, I shall ask to move that our home missions be not diminished, but increased, if possible; and all set to raising wheat, and make Zion a house and city of refuge for the Saints and for the sons of strangers, that they may come and build up our walls, even as the old Prophet hath spoken. Many of you have finished your seeding, perhaps, for the season; but suppose you add another edition, enlarged, if not revised. Trust in God! and if your works be good, and plenty of them, your faith will not be questioned!

I will now call your attention, for a short time, to some occurrences that have taken place in our city.

On Sunday, the 4th day of February, brothers Kimball and Grant spoke very plainly and pointedly in relation to the intercourse of the Saints with the world; and seriously objected to that intercourse when it tended to debase and corrupt the Saints. They were tolerably well posted up in some matters upon which they spoke. I will not say by what means they were posted, whether by private confession of some conscience-smitten guilty participant in things not right, or by the common or ordinary means of knowledge. Suffice it to say, that they meant those and those only who were guilty of improprieties, that can not be looked upon with complacency by this people. The line was drawn between vice and virtue, so clearly and plainly that none need mistake it. Several persons took serious exceptions to the teachings that were then given, and felt themselves insulted, excluded from society, and as the Indians say; “thrown away.”

The next day, Monday, the Eastern Mail arrived, and brought a very belligerent article from the Charleston Mercury. It is said to have been prompted by the Cabinet at Washington, with design to raise a fuss with the “Mormons.” The article shows a deep-rooted and heated feeling against the Saints, and takes it for granted that every evil that can be said of us is true. The following is a short quotation from the article—

“There can be no fellowship between Mormon and Christian. They cannot exist under the same social system. They cannot be partners in political power.”

Here the line is drawn! All fellowship is denied us. No social relations are permitted. Did brothers Grant and Kimball say anything more than this. Did they not make as many honorable exceptions as are made in the foregoing? We are obliged to pocket all such sayings, and go along about our business.

Brothers Grant and Kimball were only God’s looking-glasses, to reflect the sentiment entertained towards us, which, like some other coming events, cast its shadow one day in advance of the mail, and was partially endorsed and responded to before it arrived. If outsiders do not like us to endorse their paper, they should not present it; and when we endorse it to a limited extent, it ill becomes them to object to their own doctrine when the tables are turned.

Aside from all strife or prejudice on either side, to what extent are the Saints to unite with the world? They are God’s creatures as well as we. He sustains them and has regard for them. We ourselves were once of the world, and should not forget the rock from whence we were hewn, nor the hole of the pit from whence we were digged. How far, then, is it our duty to extend our fellowship and regard for them; that we may be justified in the eyes of God who presides over us all? Remember, ye Elders in Israel, that you are to go to all nations, and preach the Gospel to every creature. While abroad on your missions in the discharge of your official duties, what favors have you a right to ask of the world? If you are hungry, you have the right to ask them for food. If you are in distress or in want, and cannot relieve yourselves, you have the right to ask them for relief and aid. If any one kindly and generously gives you food, clothing, or money for Christ’s sake, and because he respects and loves you as a good man, let your peace and blessing rest upon that person, and upon all others that kindly administer to your wants; and then when you all appear before the God of truth, forget not to give a good account of those who favored you on your missions through this world, and say: “When I was hungry, they gave me food; when a stranger, they took me in; naked, they clothed me; and when thirsty, they gave me a cup of cold water.” Remember that your comfort and happiness in this life were measurably suspended upon their kind offices towards you; and in turn, their future comfort and happiness will be suspended upon your testimony, and upon your favorable report it will be said unto them, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Enter thou into the joys of thy Lord!”

But when you go abroad on business of a worldly or temporal nature, you have not this claim upon the hospitality of the world; but should pay your way the same as a worldling. But whether you are abroad on ordinary business, or as a minister of God, you have no right to make any more free, or take any more liberties, with other men’s wives, sisters, or daughters, than with the men themselves; and the higher you stand in the Church, the more heinous and criminal would be such an offence• Whenever a “Mormon” will do any such thing, you may know that he is under transgression, that the spirit of truth, of honor, of integrity, or of God, is not with him. But if any of you, outsiders, have a “Mormon” wife, who became a “Mormon” before you married her, and you married her with your eyes opened to the fact, I cannot promise that your happiness with her will always be uninterrupted. I say the same in relation to a “Mormon,” if he marry out of this Church (a circumstance that never occurred to my knowledge). Any ‘“Mormon” who will seek the company of a lewd woman, either at home or abroad, or that will try to seduce a virtuous woman, is looked upon precisely the same, and with similar feeling to those with which we would look upon the contents of a bilious stomach ejected by the aid of lobelia, or tartar emetic. We spew such out of our mouth. We can look upon no such character as a Christian or a gentleman, though he be the highest “Mormon” official, a civil or military officer, the king upon his throne, or the President in his chair. The higher the station, the more sinful and loathsome the act.

But if a man, in good faith and integrity, with righteousness as the girdle of his loins, take unto himself many wives, acknowledge and sustain them, and honorably care and provide for their offspring, it is all right with me, and with God, so far as I know and understand His law, with the Prophets and Apostles of old, with the Patriarchs and wise men of the East, to which quarter we look for light natural and spiritual. But woe be unto him who, alone for guilty pleasure, corrupts himself—who, to gratify the lower passions, prostrates the fair temple of virtue, and turns the feet of the unwary and light-hearted female, by soft and flattering words, from the high road of honor, life, and immortality, to the shades of misery, shame, corruption, and death. A creature (not a gentleman), once said to me, “I found that she was corrupt, and hence no sin if I paid her; as, with the price of her shame and debauchery, she could supply herself with the means of a living.” “Ah!” thought I, “better die than live by such means. Had you given her aid with a word of kind reproof, and kept yourself free from her snare, you would not have patronized or encouraged her in her sin. Your behavior would have been that of a God and a Savior; but as it is, you have acted the part of a devil—joined hands with corruption, and identified yourself with the prostitute, and with the whore.” Let any man, however high or honorable he may wish to be thought, give evidence to this community that such is his moral calibre, he will be spurned from the domiciles and homes of the Saints (that are Saints) with that becoming indignation that God and angels will approve. But that man whose mind is unfortified by religious influence, yet who, from the force of moral principle and natural goodness and virtue, keeps himself free and unspotted from those vices, is more to be valued than the fine gold of Ophir, or the diamond that glitters in the monarch’s crown. He is as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, or like the oasis in the desert, which lures the weary wanderer to repose his brawny limbs on its verdant bed. He draws around him all that venerate genuine moral worth, and holds an influence that will not allow him, like a certain Judge, to fly the track and cry, “Mad dog,” when the hydrophobic virus is concealed under his own tongue.

It is our custom to receive all strangers, who come among us under the name and style of respectability, with kindness and cordiality, and yet with cautious reserve. We try to make them comfortable and happy. But if we discover that an advantage is sought to be taken of our generous good feeling, to practise what our religion, laws, and vital prejudices are strenuously opposed to, I mean that practice so common and popular in the world, sexual intercourse without respect or regard to the solemnities of the marriage vow, then the thread will be cut at once, and such characters dropped and despised by the virtuous and good. The armies of the world cannot force us or frighten us to honor or respect such persons. They will then question our patriotism, and send away all manner of reports, prejudicial to our religious and political standing. But they will be careful about reporting what they have done. They, of course, are the innocent ones! It is my candid and unqualified opinion, that but few, if any, persons living among us. and not of our Church, have ever sent or carried evil reports of us, who themselves have not met with some unexpected obstacle in their way to vice and criminal pleasure and indulgence, or to political ambition and advancement. This may serve as a key to many things. Because strong language is used in relation to such vile practices, it may be inferred that much corruption exists here. But the contrary is true. If licentiousness or illicit intercourse had gained the footing and reputation here that it has in London, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, or Washington, then we might be comparatively silent while such vices carried the popular sway. But anything unusual, and of a corrupting character in our midst, excites in us an indignation that often finds vent in maledictions upon the heads of the demons that attempt to introduce it.

If there were none but Latter-day Saints living in Utah, we should have no occasion to speak upon this subject as we do; but being infested by those “who profess the pure morality of the religion of Jesus,” such as the Charleston Mercury endorses and eulogizes, we are constrained to speak in great plainness. I will now leave this subject, knowing that he or she that is righteous will be righteous still; and they who are filthy will be filthy still.

I discover that some of the Eastern papers represent me as a great blasphemer, because I said, in my lecture on Marriage, at our last Conference, that Jesus Christ was married at Cana of Galilee, that Mary, Martha, and others were his wives, and that he begat children.

All that I have to say in reply to that charge is this—they worship a Savior that is too pure and holy to fulfil the commands of his Father. I worship one that is just pure and holy enough “to fulfil all righteousness;” not only the righteous law of baptism, but the still more righteous and important law “to multiply and replenish the earth.” Startle not at this! for even the Father himself honored that law by coming down to Mary, without a natural body, and begetting a son; and if Jesus begat children, he only “did that which he had seen his Father do.”

But to return to our subject—the fellowship of the world. Unite with them just as far as you require them to unite with you, and upon the same principle. If they are hungry, feed them when in your power. If they are in distress, trouble, or difficulty, relieve them. Take them in when strangers, if they ask you. Be kind unto them and courteous; yet remember that God has given to you His Holy Spirit as a standard, to which the world should come. It is your duty to honor that standard, and to keep it erect. If the world have fellowship and union with you, let it be in the Spirit of the Lord. But if you allow that standard to fall in your own hearts, or to become recumbent, and you slide back into the spirit of the world and unite with them, you have virtually struck your colors to the enemy, and gone over to his side! The salt has lost its savor, and is become powerless to save. It is only fit to be cast out and trodden under foot of men.

If you love and respect the welfare of the world, never allow yourselves to imbibe their spirit, or to become one with them. For if you do, you cannot be a savior, but need one as well as they; for you both stand upon one and the same level. The world hated the Savior before they hated us, and they killed him because he would never unite in heart and spirit with them. They will kill some of us for the same cause. But blessed are the man and the woman that are hated by the world because they will not be one with them. “Do them all the good you can, and as little harm as possible.”

In conclusion, the present is an important era, an era in which the nations are becoming angry. They thirst for each other’s blood; and who knows but that all nations will, respectively, file off under the heads of Greek and Roman, or “Gog and Magog,” to fight the terrible battles spoken of in sacred writ?

Ye Saints of Latter-days, keep your lamps trimmed and burning, that you walk not in darkness. Ye virgins, wise and foolish, awake, for, behold, the day is near, and the hour fast approaching, when it shall be said—“Behold, the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him!”

Allow me here to close by giving you the translation of a stanza from a celebrated German poet—

“Calmly bear the frowns of fortune, Soothe the heart oppressed with woe; Sacred keep the plighted promise, True alike to friend and foe. Manly pride display to Princes, Give to modest worth its due, Cherish truth with all her vot’ries, Deprecate the faithless crew.”

Gathering and Sanctification of the People of God

George A. Smith

A sermon by Elder George A. Smith, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 18, 1855.

Brethren and Sisters—I must express my gratification at the address which was delivered for our consideration in the former part of the day. I do not feel as much in the spirit of preaching as I do in that of listening; but as there is still a short time to be occupied, at the request of the brethren I will offer for your consideration a few remarks.

According to the example already given this afternoon, I shall commence by taking a text, which will be found recorded in the 23rd chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew”—O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.”

While I call your attention to this passage of Scripture, I have in view the rich items that have been presented here to-day, the light of the Spirit which has been manifest in revealing to us our duty, that purity of life, that submission of conduct, that correct course which are calculated in all things to enlighten the Saints, and prepare them for exaltation and eternal lives. How often, says the Savior, would I have gathered thy children together, O! Jerusalem, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and would have nourished you, but you would not.

These words were uttered by the Savior while looking at the vast city and surrounding country which was then inhabited by the Jews, who were residing there in security, surrounded with plenty, and were at the same time almost universally in open rebellion against the law of heaven.

It has been a very common saying in the world that the Lord was able to do everything, that he could do anything he had a mind to do, and accomplish what he pleased; that he possessed universal power, and could accomplish what he undertook. But what says our text? “How oft would I have gathered you, but you would not.” This indicates that he could not do it, because they were not willing; that is the way we understand the language. It is plain also from the text, that if the people of Jerusalem, the children of Israel, would have listened, and would have been gathered, he would have nourished them, and conferred upon them the principles of salvation, the laws of exaltation which it was his desire to give them. Let me say, then, that from the foundation of the world, or, in other words, from the fall of man until the period of the declaration of the words of our text, we find plainly illustrated, in the whole history contained in the sacred book, the principle that the Lord wished to reveal unto the children of men things which had been hid from before the foundation of the world, principles which would exalt them to celestial thrones, but they would not, or, which amounts to the same, He could never find a people, could never communicate with a generation or a very numerous body of men that would obey His commandments, listen to His counsel, and observe His wisdom, or be led by His revelations.

Some of my friends may think I am doing injustice by these remarks to the Zion of Enoch. I am aware that the Lord did in the days of Enoch gather together enough of the inhabitants of the earth to build a city, but in consequence of the rebellion, the wickedness, and oppression of the great mass of mankind, He could not save that city from destruction, only by taking it unto His own bosom hence went forth the saying of old, “Zion is fled.” So far as revealed records show, that is the nearest He ever came to the point of accomplishing the end of His undertaking, touching the redemption of the human family, up to the days of the Savior.

As we have learned, from Elder Hyde’s sermon this afternoon, the same thing is illustrated in the history of Joseph; he wished to reveal the will of God to his brethren, but they rebelled, and sold him into Egypt. Moses undertook to give the children of Israel the laws of the Priesthood, to make them a holy people, a chosen generation, a kingdom of Priests, but what was the result? They would not receive it; and although God had delivered them from the plagues of Egypt, from the hands of Pharaoh, brought them through the Red Sea, and led them by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, yet, when Moses went into the presence of God to receive His law, to receive those principles that were to magnify them, and make them a kingdom of Priests, a holy people, they, a whole people, concluded that it was best to worship a calf. “Why,” said they, “our neighbors worship calves, they have gods, they have idols, and we wish to worship something that we can see, for we do not know what has become of this Moses, and we want a god that we can see and handle.”

In taking a passing glance of this subject, we find the same attempt was made in the days of Solomon, the wise king of Israel. The Lord undertook to prepare a place, a house wherein He could reveal unto His people the law of exaltation. He made the attempt, but before that house could be completed, one of the very men through whom the ordinances of exaltation were to be revealed must be put to death by the cruel treachery of wicked men, stirred up by the adversary, which frustrated the design. The keys of the Priesthood consequently had to be kept a secret, and years after, the Prophets were lamenting, mourning, complaining, and finding fault with the people because the Lord could never be permitted to reveal the fulness of His will to the children of men. Micah, after reflecting how often the Lord had attempted to reveal His law, and as his eye by the spirit of prophecy glanced down through the vista of time to the last days, exclaims in a transport of joy, “But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

This was just a glimpse that the Prophet had of the establishment of the purposes of Jehovah in the last days. He saw the nations flowing to the tops of the mountains to receive that law of redemption which the world would not receive in the meridian of time, when the Savior made his appearance, and presented himself to the house of Israel, chose his Apostles, conferred upon them the keys of the Priesthood, and sent them forth to bear testimony to the sons of men. The result of his divine mission is manifested in the words of our text, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not.”

Says John, when speaking of our Savior, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” Power was given them to become the sons of God, and joint heirs with Christ; hence the principles of exaltation were clearly illustrated by Jesus Christ and his Apostles, yet the people would not receive them. In a few years afterwards we find that every person who preached the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ was doomed to destruction by the hands of wicked men, the power of the adversary increased, Paganism overwhelmed the true Church, and Pagan institutions were substituted instead, and the Christian religion either had to hide itself in the dens and caves of the earth, or bow to the unmeaning mummeries of ancient Pagan Rome. Notwithstanding this, the Lord had His eye upon the great point to be attained, the great object to be accomplished, when He would again attempt to gather the children of Israel together, and nourish them, and teach them of His ways, and learn them to walk in His paths.

The very first moment after the angel of God had communicated to Joseph Smith the revelation of the fulness of the Gospel, what do we discover? We discover that all the blood hounds of earth and hell were let loose upon him. The very first attempt that could be made to bear testimony of the Gospel was to be thwarted by persecution, the editorial thunder was immediately let loose, and as the old Quaker said to the dog that came to his store, being a little offended at the animal, “I will not kill thee, but I will give thee a bad name,” so he turns him out and halloos, “Bad dog,” judging rightly that somebody would suppose him to be mad, and shoot him. That was the devil’s plan, when this Gospel was first introduced, the cry was, “False prophet, impostor, delusion, fornication,” mixed up with every kind of slander.

Every person who is well acquainted with the history of this Church, knows that at the commencement of it the persecutions commenced, and they continued to increase until the death of the Prophet. Forty-seven times he was arraigned before the tribunals of law, and had to sustain all the expense of defending himself in those vexatious suits, and was every time acquitted. He was never found guilty but once. I have been told, by Patriarch Emer Harris, that on a certain occasion he was brought before a magistrate in the State of New York, and charged with having cast out devils; the magistrate, after hearing the witnesses, decided that he was guilty, but as the statutes of New York did not provide a punishment for casting out devils, he was acquitted.

The limited amount of time which I may use this afternoon, compels me to take but a partial glance at certain points that I wish to notice in connexion with our text.

Among the first principles that were revealed to the children of men in the last days was the gathering; the first revelations that were given to the Church were to command them to gather, and send Elders to seek out a place for the gathering of the Saints. What is the gathering for? Why was it that the Savior wished the children of Israel to gather together? It was that they might become united and provide a place wherein he could reveal unto them keys which have been hid from before the foundation of the world; that he could unfold unto them the laws of exaltation, and make them a kingdom of Priests, even the whole people, and exalt them to thrones and dominions in the celestial world.

For this purpose, in 1833, the Saints commenced to build a Temple in Kirtland, the cost of which was not less than one hundred thousand dollars. A mere handful of Saints commenced that work, but they were full of faith and energy, and willing, as they supposed, to sacrifice everything for the building up of Zion. In a few weeks some of them apostatized; the trials were too great, the troubles were too severe. I know persons who apostatized because they supposed they had reasons; for instance, a certain family, after having travelled a long journey, arrived in Kirtland, and the Prophet asked them to stop with him until they could find a place. Sister Emma, in the mean time, asked the old lady if she would have a cup of tea to refresh her after the fatigues of the journey, or a cup of coffee. This whole family apostatized because they were invited to take a cup of tea or coffee, after the Word of Wisdom was given.

Another family, about the same time, apostatized because Joseph Smith came down out of the translating room, where he had been translating by the gift and power of God, and commenced playing with his little children. Some such trials as these, you know, had to be encountered.

I recollect a gentleman who came from Canada, and who had been a Methodist, and had always been in the habit of praying to a God who had no ears, and as a matter of course had to shout and hallooed pretty loud to make him hear. Father Johnson asked him to pray in their family worship in the evening, and he got on such a high key, and hallooed so loud that he alarmed the whole village. Among others, Joseph came running out, saying, “What is the matter? I thought by the noise that the heavens and the earth were coming together,” and said to the man, “that he ought not to give way to such an enthusiastic spirit, and bray so much like a jackass.” Because Joseph said that, the poor man put back to Canada, and apostatized; he thought he would not pray to a God who did not want to be screamed at with all one’s might.

We progressed in this way while we were building the Kirtland Temple. The Saints had a great many traditions which they had borrowed from their fathers, and laid the foundations, and built that Temple with great toil and suffering, compared with what we have now to endure. They got that building so far finished as to be dedicated; this was what the Lord wanted, He wished them to provide a place wherein He could reveal to the children of men those principles that will exalt them to eternal glory, and make them Saviors on mount Zion. Four hundred and sixteen Elders, Priests, Teachers, and Deacons met in the Kirtland Temple on the evening of its dedication. I can see faces here that were in that assembly. The Lord poured His Spirit upon us, and gave us some little idea of the law of anointing, and conferred upon us some blessings. He taught us how to shout hosannah, gave Joseph the keys of the gathering together of Israel, and revealed to us, what? Why the fact of it was, He dare not yet trust us with the first key of the Priesthood. He told us to wash ourselves, and that almost made the women mad, and they said, as they were not admitted into the Temple while this washing was being performed, that some mischief was going on, and some of them were right huffy about it.

We were instructed to wash each other’s feet, as an evidence that we had borne testimony of the truth of the Gospel to the world. We were taught to anoint each other’s head with oil in the name of the Lord, as an ordinance of anointing. All these things were to be done in their time, place, and season. All this was plain and simple, yet some apostatized because there was not more of it, and others because there was too much.

On the evening after the dedication of the Temple, hundreds of the brethren received the ministering of angels, saw the light and personages of angels, and bore testimony of it. They spake in new tongues, and had a greater manifestation of the power of God than that described by Luke on the day of Pentecost. Yet a great portion of the persons who saw these manifestations, in a few years, and some of them in a few weeks, apostatized. If the Lord had on that occasion revealed one single sentiment more, or went one step further to reveal more fully the law of redemption, I believe He would have upset the whole of us. The fact was, He dare not, on that very account, reveal to us a single principle further than He had done, for He had tried, over and over again, to do it. He tried at Jerusalem; He tried away back before the flood; He tried in the days of Moses; and He had tried, from time to time, to find a people to whom He could reveal the law of salvation, and He never could fully accomplish it; and He was determined this time to be so careful, and advance the idea so slowly, to communicate them to the children of men with such great caution that, at all hazards, a few of them might be able to understand and obey. For, says the Lord, my ways are not as your ways, nor my thoughts as your thoughts; for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

For instance, you tell a man he must be baptized for the remission of his sins; then the query arises, “What use is it to dip a man in water?” You tell a man he should repent of his sins, cease to do evil, and learn to do well, and the answer is, “Well, and what is the reason of all that!” Tell him that he should receive the imposition of hands on his head for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and he will feel some as the old woman did where I was preaching and baptizing in England. An old lady came to be baptized; we accordingly baptized her. When the time came to attend to the ordinance of confirmation, I began to confirm the company of new disciples. I had noticed that she lacked soap and water, things that evidently were scarce about her house. When I came up to lay my hands upon her, says she, “Don’t you lay your filthy paws upon my head.” The fact of it was, she had received all the law of redemption she could receive, and the law of laying on of hands looked so foolish to her that she would not have anything to do with it.

This serves to illustrate the saying, that our ways are not as the ways of the Lord, nor our thoughts as His; neither do the plans which the Lord has devised for the good of man correspond with the plans and views which men devise for their own good. Now if the Lord had considered it wisdom, on the day of the Kirtland endowment and great solemn assembly, to come forward and reveal to the children of men the facts that are laid down plainly in the Bible, and had told them that, without the law of sealing, no man could be exalted to a throne in the celestial kingdom, that is, without he had a woman by his side; and that no woman could be exalted in the celestial world, without she was exalted with a man at her head; that the man is not without the woman, nor the woman without the man in the Lord; had He revealed this simple sentiment, up would have jumped some man, saying, “What! got to have a woman sealed to me in order to be saved, in order to be exalted to thrones, dominions, and eternal increase?” “Yes.” “I do not believe a word of it, I cannot stand that, for I never intended to get married, I do not believe in any of this nonsense.” At the same time, perhaps somebody else might have had faith to receive it. Again up jumps somebody else, “Brother Joseph, I have had two wives in my lifetime, cannot I have them both in eternity?” “No.” If he had said yes, perhaps we should all have apostatized at once.

Now I will illustrate this still further. The Lord did actually reveal one principle to us there, and that one principle was apparently so simple, and so foolish in their eyes, that a great many apostatized over it, because it was so contrary to their notions and views. It was this, after the people had fasted all day, they sent out and got wine and bread, and blessed them, and distributed them to the multitude, that is, to the whole assembly of the brethren, and they ate and drank, and prophesied, and bore testimony, and continued so to do until some of the High Council of Missouri stepped into the stand, and, as righteous Noah did when he awoke from his wine, commenced to curse their enemies. You never felt such a shock go through any house or company in the world as went through that. There was almost a rebellion because men would get up and curse their enemies; although they could remember well that it is written that Noah cursed his own grandson, and that God recognized that curse to such an extent that, at this day, millions of his posterity are consigned to perpetual servitude.

Many men are foolish enough to think that they can thwart the power of God, and can liberate the sons of Ham from that curse before its time has expired. Some of the brethren thought it was best to apostatize, because the spirit of cursing was with men who had been driven from Missouri by mob violence. Yet every word that they prophesied has been fulfilled. They prophesied that the bones of many of those murderers should bleach on the prairie, and that birds should pick out their eyes, and beasts devour their flesh. Men who have traversed the plains of Mexico, California, Nebraska, and Kansas, have often seen the fulfilment of that prophecy in the most marvellous manner. We have seen their names upon trees, on the heads of old trunks, and bits of boards; the names of men that I knew, and I knew just as well, in the Kirtland Temple, what would be their fate, as I know now. But that tried us, some of us were awfully tried about it. The Lord dared not then reveal anything more; He had given us all we could swallow; and persecution raged around us to such an extent that we were obliged to forsake our beautiful Temple, and flee into the State of Missouri.

He there put us into another sieve, and sifted us good, and we were then driven from the State of Missouri, leaving the Prophet and a good many of his brethren in prison. We thus passed on from the year 1837 until the year 1843, when the Lord concluded that the people who had been gathered; since the scattering from Missouri, had been made acquainted with the principles of His kingdom so long, that they must have become strong enough for Him to reveal one sentiment more.

Whereupon, the Prophet goes up on the stand, and, after preaching about everything else he could think of in the world, at last hints at the idea of the law of redemption, makes a bare hint at the law of sealing, and it produced such a tremendous excitement that, as soon as he had got his dinner half eaten, he had to go back to the stand, and unpreach all that he had preached, and left the people to guess at the matter. While he was thus preaching he turned to the men sitting in the stand, and who were the men who should have backed him up, for instance, to our good old President Marks, William and Wilson Law, and father Cowles, and a number of other individuals about Nauvoo, for this occurred when the Twelve were in the Eastern portions of the United States, and said, “If I were to reveal the things that God has revealed to me, if I were to reveal to this people the doctrines that I know are for their exaltation, these men would spill my blood.” This shows the improvement that had been, the advancement that had been made, and the light that had been attained. He also said, that there were men and women in that congregation who imagined themselves almost perfect, and who would oppose and reject the principles of exaltation, and would never fully realize their mistake until the morning of the resurrection. I was not there, and did not hear the discourse; but persons were there who could write two or three words of a sentence, and I profess to be good enough at guessing, to tell what the balance was.

In tracing the history of this Church through the records, I make myself acquainted with circumstances, and I cannot but see illustrated before the eyes of the whole people the fatherly care that God had to take in revealing to this people the law of exaltation. Finally, He revealed so much of it that William Law, one of the First Presidency, and one of the most sanctimonious men in Israel, got alarmed for fear that Joseph was going to kill him, and he called the whole of the Police before the City Council, and had them all sworn, and cross examined, to find out if Joseph had instructed any of them to kill him. I told some of the boys at that time, that he knew he had done something that he ought to die for, or he would not be so afraid of his best friends. Joseph said to the Council and Police, “I might live, as Caesar might have lived, were it not for a right hand Brutus;” and the illustration of that saying is most clearly shown by William Law’s operations in bringing about the murder of the Prophet. The men who were in his bosom, shared his confidence, and professed to be his warmest and best friends, were the men to treacherously shed his blood.

Why? Because he had revealed one additional principle of the law of redemption, that is, that the man is not without the woman, nor the woman without the man, in the Lord; that if a man went to the eternal world without obeying the law of sealing, he would remain forever alone, forever a servant, and could never have any increase; that if a woman entered the celestial world without having complied with the law of sealing, as intrusted by the Savior to his Apostles, she would remain for ever alone, and without any increase; and if either man or woman should reject the principles of that law, they would forever lament and mourn that they might have been exalted to an eternal increase, and an everlasting dominion, but they would not have it.

There was a very high degree of hypocrisy manifested in the manners of this President William Law that always astonished me. I have learned, in writing history, one or two very singular instances.

In 1843 Joseph Smith was arrested two hundred and fifty miles from home; the Saints felt a great anxiety for his safety; hundreds of individuals went out of Nauvoo on horseback, and took possession of all the roads between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and some set out on a steamboat, with a determination to examine every boat on the rivers, and attack any one that had him on board; and some of the most rapid marches on record were performed on that occasion. Among others William Law started out with a party; when he met Joseph, he rushed up to him and took him in his arms, and hugged him, and kissed him before some fifty or a hundred witnesses. He must have loved him wonderfully, for, about half an hour previous to his meeting Joseph, he had got the idea that he had been shipped on board a steamboat into Missouri, and he was dreadfully excited. Brother A.P. Rockwood, or John Butler, can tell you how he talked. “O!” says he, “I would not have Joseph taken to Missouri and killed for any thing in the world, for property would fall more than one half its value in Nauvoo.” There is the saying of a man who, like Judas, could kiss the Prophet, when probably there were not many men in the whole city that would have cared a farthing for all the property in the world, when compared with saving Joseph’s life.

After the death of the Prophet, the world and the devil thought that they had once more destroyed the attempt of the Almighty to reveal the law of exaltation, as only part of the work of rearing the Temple was then done. The news spread all over the United States that the Governor of Illinois had treacherously pledged the faith of the State for the safety of Joseph Smith, and also how honorably the Prophet had acted in every thing under these trying circumstances, being well aware that his death was intended, and the people were really shocked at such base treachery, but generally exclaimed, “How disgraceful! how disgraceful!! to murder him so treacherously!!! But on second thoughts, it is a good thing he is dead.”

By and bye the devil discovered that brother Joseph’s blood was not spilled before the Lord had said, “You have done enough, you may rest from your labors.” He had conferred upon others the knowledge of the Priesthood; and God raised up another man to be a Prophet unto Israel, to be a President, a Ruler, and Instructor. I once heard a person say, “O! I do wish brother Brigham was as good a man as Joseph was.” Now let me tell you, brethren, that if brother Brigham was one particle better man than he is, he could not stay among us, he would have to leave us; he is just as good a man as we are at present worthy of having in our midst. The Lord in mercy to us has given us a great Prophet and a wise Ruler in Israel that we may exert our powers, influence, and wisdom, under his direction, to prepare for the revelation of the law of exaltation which has been so long promised.

We went to work in Nauvoo and finished the Temple, and had no sooner got it done but we had to leave it to be burned by our enemies; and they then thought that if we were only driven into the wilderness, our sufferings would be so great in the desert that we should all perish, and that would be the end of the matter. The devil wisely got up a new system of treatment; after they had robbed us of every thing we had, and driven us from all the comforts and necessaries of life into the desert, he commenced to adopt the “let alone system” upon us, under the impression that we would die of our own accord. They commenced this under glorious auspices, when we had nothing to eat, nothing to wear, not a drop of rain to water the earth, and a desert all around us, of the apparent fertility of which you may judge, when the mountaineers said that they would give a thousand dollars for the first bushel of wheat or corn that was raised in the Valley. While letting us alone, a considerable change took place; but it was hard to let us alone long, they had to give us an occasional poke, that we might know they were still alive.

While letting us alone the Gospel was introduced into the Sandwich Islands, and into Denmark, and has begun to pour out its blessings in Sweden, Norway, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Africa, Australia, Malta, Gibraltar, the Crimea, and the East Indies, and is spreading all over the world ten times more rapidly than ever. All this came through “letting us alone.” I do not know but they may conclude it to be the best to give us another blow up; if they do, it will be precisely as it was with the man who did not like the mustard stalk in his garden, which grew up, and became large and full of seed. The owner saw it had gone to seed in the garden, and became dreadfully irritated with the gardener, and got the hoe, and beat the stalks to pieces in his anger, and scattered the seed all over the garden. That is the way our enemies have operated the whole time, so they may as well take the “let alone system” as any other. Joseph prophesied that if they would let us alone, we would spread the Gospel all over the world, and if they did not let us alone, we would spread it anyhow, only a little quicker.

But to my text, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” Let me tell you, my friends, that the foundation of another Temple is laid, and the very moment the first stone was placed, that moment the devil began to rage again; and if this people will be united, they will be the identical people that will “learn the ways of the Lord,” and the Lord will reveal unto them things that have been hid from before the foundation of the world. We find ourselves here, not by our own will but forced by our enemies, in the midst of the tops of the mountains, about a mile above the Christian world, surrounded by mountains whose tops are covered with perpetual snows; and we also find the fulfilment of the prophecy that many people of all nations are saying, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.”

We are here, and the Lord is determined, if He can accomplish it, if we will let Him, to reveal unto us the laws of exaltation. He is determined to make this people “Kings and Priests unto God and his Father;” to give them the keys of exaltation for the redemption of themselves, and of all their dead back to the time when the covenant was broken. If this people will be submissive and obedient to the laws and instructions of His Prophet and His Apostles, obey the teachings that are given unto them, and keep themselves pure, He will reveal unto them all those blessings; and will not say unto us, as he said to Jerusalem, “How oft would I have gathered you, but you would not.” If we will be submissive and listen to the revelations of the Most High, remembering that His ways are not as our ways, and His thoughts as our thoughts for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are His ways than our ways, and His thoughts than our thoughts; if we will remember this, and act upon it, we are in the way to obtain those keys of power, and profit by them; that is to say, we are right on the grand turnpike to exaltation.

I recollect a story I heard Joseph once tell to a sectarian minister; he had been preaching to him some of the first principles of the Gospel; the minister acknowledged that the doctrines were strictly according to the New Testament, but gave a kind of a pious sigh, and said, “I am afraid there is something wrong at the bottom of it.” Joseph replied. “I feel a good deal as the honest Irishman did, who landed in America, and started to go into the country, and see how it looked. As he was walking along the road, he came across a very pious minister of the Methodist order, who came up to the Irishman, and, thinking that he must say something about religion, as he sat in his two wheeled gig, says, ‘Patrick, have you made your peace with your God?’ ‘Ah. faith, sir, and sure we never had a falling out.’ That rather shocked the priest, and he gave vent to an unearthly grunt, and said, ‘You are lost, lost.’ ‘Faith, sir, how can I be lost in the middle of the big turnpike?’” I tell you we are in the middle of the “big turnpike,” and if we continue in it the keys of exaltation are with us and the great work of God will unfold to this people things that have been hid from before the foundation of the world. Let us be as clay in the hands of the potter, and strive with our mights to build up this work, and it will not be said of us, as it was of Jerusalem, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered you, but ye would not.”

May God bless you, and enable us to fulfil and carry out His great and glorious designs: is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Obedience—The Priesthood, etc.

Heber C. Kimball

An address by President Heber C. Kimball, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, September 17, 1854.

It is some time since I spoke to this congregation, and it is with me as it probably is with many others, the longer I sit, and the less I say, the more I am troubled with fear. Is it the fear of God? No. It is a kind of a fear of the world—a fear of man. Now there is scarcely a person but what has more or less of these feelings, at times. I recollect often hearing brother Joseph Smith say that many times his legs trembled like Belshazzar’s when he got up to speak before the world, and before the Saints.

I have been interested with the relation brother Staines has given, although he could not relate all the experience he has had since he came into this Church some twelve or fourteen years ago. If he could remember it all, and relate it, his experience would be very interesting. It is good, and I have been interested with it. I am interested with everything that is good; and in fact, I am interested with a great many things which are not so very good, for there is nothing that I see on earth or in the heavens but what interests me, and gives me an experience. When I see a man take the wrong road—the road which leads to death, it is an experience to me, and it opens my eyes to shun that path. And we are taught that if a man will not learn by precept, or by example, he has, to learn by what he suffers. By seeing the bad example of another I can shun that path, and escape the difficulties he goes into. Of course his experience is quite a schoolmaster to me; for if I do not take that road, I do not suffer the inconvenience he does.

During my whole course from the day I first heard of “Mormonism,” more than twenty-two years ago, I have never had but one desire, and that is to do what I am counselled, it matters not to me whether it be by the voice of God, or by the voice of His servants, it is all the same with me. When we go forth as the servants of God, we are dictated by the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost will speak the truth, and that is the word of God, it is the revelations of Jesus Christ, and it is the voice of God to us.

When He commands us to go forth and preach His word, and declare His Gospel—faith, and repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins, with the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, He says it is the same as though it were spoken by His own voice, and the same condemnation will rest upon the world, and upon those people who hear it and do not abide it, and keep it, and walk in it. This is my testimony, and this is the testimony that God has revealed to us as a people. When he sent forth his disciples in his day he said, If they will not hear you they will not hear me; and if they will not obey you they will not obey me, and if they will not obey me they will not obey my Father. So it is with us, if you will not listen, obey, and practise those things that are laid before you by President Young and his brethren, you would not obey God, if He should speak from the heavens. Why? Because the Almighty has appointed him his delegate, just as much as we have appointed Doctor Bernhisel to be our Delegate to Congress, to lay before them those things that we want in connexion with him. He has not gone to do his own will, but he has gone to do the will of those who have sent him. So it is with President Young. He is our head, he is our President, our Prophet, and Leader, and the Government of the United States have appointed him our Governor. He was before, in a Church capacity. Then his voice to this people is the voice of God, just as much as was Moses God, when God called him and set him to preside among the children of Israel. His word was the word of God to. that people, and when they did not listen to him they suffered the penalty. We read there were two-and-twenty thousand fell in one day because of their rebellion. They rebelled against Moses, against his counsel, and against his government, which was of course rebelling against the character who sent him. God sent him and authorized him; and to us President Young is sent, ordained, and appointed by the Almighty, as Joseph’s successor, to lead this people. I want the world to know this; I want the people who come into these valleys, and do not believe “Mormonism,” to know what we believe. Probably there are but few men in the United States but what know that we look up to President Brigham Young as our leader, Prophet, and dictator. I want you to understand that I actually do, and I believe I have done so to the entire satisfaction of this people. I have proved it by my works from the day I came into the Church until the present time.

Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, and was sent of God. He had visits from holy angels from the heavens, who authorized him to commit to this nation the Gospel, the plan of salvation and eternal life, which will save every man and woman that believe it, and practise it in their lives—in their out-goings, and in their in-comings. I know it will save them. You have my testimony, and my testimony is true, and you will find it so, every soul of you who will practise it.

We believe this book, the Bible, to be an historical account of Jesus Christ, and his Apostles and Prophets. We believe it is sacred, and the great majority of this people actually practise it; and there is not a man nor woman in this Church, who believe it, but what have been baptized for the remission of their sins, and that too by immersion, being buried with Christ by baptism. This is what they have done, and that enables them, after they have received the laying on of hands, to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and they are entitled to a membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If they honor that membership, and are faithful, they will continue in it, not in time only, but in eternity, worlds without end. These are my feelings, and my determination is to continue to the end.

I am now in my fifty-fourth year; I am a Latter-day Saint, full in the faith, and not only in the faith, but I have a knowledge of the truth of this work. I know that God lives and dwells in the heavens; for I have asked Him scores of times, and hundreds of times, for things, and have received them. Is not that a pretty good proof that He hears me, when I ask Him for things and get them; and is not that a proof that He lives, and dwells in the heavens? I think it is. I suppose He dwells there, He could not dwell anywhere else, but in what particular portion He dwells, I do not precisely know, though He is not so far off as many imagine. He is near by, His angels are our associates, they are with us and round about us, and watch over us, and take care of us, and lead us, and guide us, and administer to our wants in their ministry and in their holy calling unto which they are appointed. We are told in the Bible that angels are ministering spirits to minister to those who shall become heirs of salvation.

Bless my soul, look at the unbelieving world, that is a great many of them, they now believe in spiritual knockings, spiritual communications, and spiritual rappings, and they will ask the same spirit for this, and for that; to know this, that, and the other; and, “Won’t you cause that table to kick up its legs, and that chair to dance, and cause a knocking here, and a knocking there?” They believe all this, still they do not believe that God can communicate. And at the same time those that they communicate with are corrupt spirits, and they might know it, and still they say they can speak from the heavens, and communicate this, that, and the other, and tell them where their friends are. If wicked spirits can do this, I want to know, on the same principle, if the righteous have not power to communicate to the children of men? And has not God power to do it? He has. The whole world is now enthusiastic in these things.

I never heard a knocking, or saw a table dance, only as I kicked it myself. I do not want them knocking and dancing around me.

The people of the world do not believe in revelation from God, and they believe that Joseph Smith was a fool to pretend to have revelation direct from heaven, but still they are all engaged in this matter, in getting revelations from evil, corrupt, and comparatively ignorant spirits, and wicked men. Some became spiritual writers by a spirit taking their hand, and writing without their consent. I do not thank any person to take my hand and write without my consent; we do not like such proceedings. We believe they exist, but they are not for us. We receive communications upon another principle, and that is direct from heaven, from God’s servants, delegates, or administrators; this is what we believe most devoutly; and we intend to practise our religion, and to be governed by it.

I have no doubt but the gentlemen who have come in this year will discover a difference in the manners and conduct of the people here, when compared with those of the cities from whence we have come. We do not admit of some practices in our city that they admit of in the United States, at least in all of their great cities. We desire to live a virtuous and holy life, and do unto others as we wish others to do unto us, and for that reason many of us have been driven from the United States; I say many of us, for a great many who are now here have not been driven here, but have come since we were driven, and we have passed through a great many trials. Brother Staines was speaking about some of them. I was one of the first, in connexion with President Young, who came to this valley when it was a desolate region, and we could not even get a chart from Fremont, nor from any other man, from which to learn the course to this place. I was one who helped to pick out the road. When we started to come here, we had no more provisions with us than those emigrants started with, to whom we have sent flour this season. We had only one hundred-weight a-piece, and came here with nothing but what was in our wagons, only as we hunted and killed game. When we got to the upper ferry of Platte river, half of our company had not a mouthful of bread. That would look a little harder to you than the cricket time, still there was no grunting, nor murmuring, for it was beyond the grunting point; it would not do any good to find fault; it would not provide bread, buffalo, antelope, deer, nor elk.

I recollect one day, I believe it was on the Platte, brother Brigham said to me, “Brother Heber, what do you think about it, do you think we shall go any further?” I knew he asked this question to try me. I replied, I wanted to go the whole journey, and find some white sandstone, and see what there was in the earth. There never was a day when I would not go with him until we found a location. I knew there was a place somewhere, thought at times the prospect appeared dreary, but here it was on high. It is the best country I ever saw. I have lived in the best portions of the United States, but this country is better. I have lived where Joseph found the plates, and where the angel of the Lord administered to him; it is the heart of the world, but is that place as good as this? No. It does not begin to bring forth wheat, corn, oats, and every other vegetation that the heart desires, like this land. We are going to be comfortable here.

The troops of the United States have come here; see how liberal they have offered for wheat, and not only for wheat, but for oats, barley, corn, potatoes, cheese, chickens, beets, carrots, parsnips, and everything they wish to buy. We do not say so much about the merchants, they have got plenty. You will see how good we will make the transient residents feel this winter.

How comfortable they feel, and rejoice to dwell in the midst of white people. They never thought for a moment we were white men and women; but when they came, they found out, to their astonishment, that the people in Utah were quite white, and right from their own country. Bless your souls, we are a free people, it is not a slave country here; still I admit we have to slave pretty hard to raise these fine things. Well now, do not be disheartened; make yourselves comfortable; treat us well, and you shall be treated well, and the best you ever were in your lives; but HANDS OFF. I speak just as I feel. My heart is good, kind, and generous; but there are lots of men more generous than I am, and again there are lots that are not so much so. All kinds of spirits have all kinds of capacities. There are as many spirits here as you can see persons, for they all have spirits in them; and some are more snappish than others, and some are more liberal, kind, and generous, and more divested of selfishness than others. If that is a fact, it proves to me that you can become just as generous as the most generous. Let us try, and what I say to one Saint I say to all the Saints, and to all people that come into this valley, be generous, be friendly, and be Saints.

We want you to be Saints while you stay here; for you know in the days of the Apostles, when they were among the Romans they did as Romans did; and while you are among the “Mormons,” do as the “Mormons” do; be generous, and be white folks. We are white folks; a good portion of us were born in the United States, and a great many in Old England; and they are our brethren and sisters. My father came from there, and fought for this country, and sustained it; if he did not my grandfather did, it is along in that train somewhere. We have all come from the old countries, and come into a new country, into the States; and from that we have emigrated into still newer countries—into the tops of the mountains, just as the Prophet said. They declared the Saints would be gathered in the last days, and we are gathering to build a city to the name of our God and we are going to build a Temple, and houses of worship, that when you come here you may worship with us, and when you are among the “Mormons” do as the “Mormons” do, do right, and keep the commandments of God. I have said a good many times, when a man comes into my house, if he is a Catholic, a Pagan, a Quaker, a Baptist, a Methodist, a Soldier, a Captain, a Governor, or a President, he has got to subject himself to the order of my house; and when I bow down on my knees, I want him to bow down with me. That is my religion, let him bow down and pray with me; and then if I go into another man’s house, if he stands up to pray, I will stand up too and pray with him. That is good religion. Do as the Romans do when you are among them. A man can stand up, kneel down, or sit down, and not pray, and be as cross as he has a mind too, but let him be subject to the governor or the government of that house, and when he goes into another kingdom, let him be subject to that kingdom. God says, “If a man keep my commandments he has no need to break the laws of the land!” These are my feelings.

Let us be Saints, and keep the commandments of God, and mind our own business. That is my religion. We want all men to do this, we want all women to observe the same thing—to keep the commandments of God, and keep themselves pure and clean. And if you are not clean, pure, and holy, I would advise you to repent of your sins, and go and be baptized for the remission of them, and sanctify yourselves, and receive the Holy Ghost, that it may show you things to come, and bring things to your remembrance. That is my counsel and advice.

May God bless you, brethren and sisters, and bless this whole people, male and female, old and young, foreigner and every body else; may He bless you with peace and quietness, that we may have a heavenly time, a joyful time during the coming winter. May God bless you with these blessings, and every other, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

The First Principles of the Gospel

Jedediah M. Grant

A discourse by President J. M. Grant, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, December 17, 1854.

I will call your attention this morning while I read to you that scripture recorded in the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians, 1st. chap.

[President Grant read the whole chapter.]

Not long ago, our President was saying that he would like it, if the Elders would preach the Gospel. Considering myself an Elder, and years ago having had some experience in preaching the first principles of the Gospel to the world, I thought this morning I would endeavor, by the aid of your prayers, and by the aid of the Spirit of the Lord, to preach what I consider the Gospel.

In the chapter I have read there is a favorite text, that I used to select when I was travelling abroad to preach, particularly when I chanced to get among those who supposed the Latter-day Saints, or “Mormons,” had a new Bible, and preached a new Gospel. I used to select the eighth verse of the chapter I have just read, which reads as follows—“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”

All who understand the language of this passage, will agree that the Apostle alluded particularly to the Gospel that he had preached to the Galatians and others, and that which was preached by his colleagues, the other Apostles, and by others who were authorized to preach.

It would be useless for a man to embrace our religion unless he could be satisfied that the first principles thereof are based upon the word of God contained in the holy Scriptures. In relation to our faith, I would say, the Gospel as preached by the Apostles, and as contained in the book of Mormon, is the same, or agrees with the Gospel contained in the Bible. The Gospel preached by Joseph Smith, and the revelations of God that have come through him to the Church, as contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, fully agree with the Gospel contained in the New Testament.

The commission given to Joseph Smith and others in our day, was to go forth and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Lord said unto them, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned.” The Savior gave the same commission to the Twelve Apostles anciently, and said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned.” But he enjoined another duty upon them, he commanded them to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endowed with power from on high.

In the chapter I have read, you will notice the Apostle Paul states he did not receive this Gospel of man, neither was he taught it but by the revelations of Jesus Christ. From this you see, that the Gospel was a certain something he could not receive from man, but had to receive it from Jesus Christ by revelation. The disciples had travelled with Jesus, they had seen him in the midst of his enemies, and witnessed that he had been delivered by the power of God from their grasp; they had seen him cast out devils; they had heard his voice speak to the dead, and they came forth; thus, they had witnessed many mighty displays of the power of God through His Son Jesus Christ; yet, said he, “Before you attempt to preach my Gospel to all the world, after I leave you and go to the Father, tarry in Jerusalem until you are endowed with power from on high.” They had learned obedience to his word, and according to the account given of them they tarried.

The nature of that endowment was different from the one we read of in these days, viz., to go to college, or other seminary of learning, and graduate, to be endowed and qualified to preach the Gospel. The nature of the endowment given to the Apostles anciently was of a peculiar kind. They tarried till the Jews assembled to celebrate the feast of Pentecost.

At that feast were assembled the leaders of the Jews, and thousands flocked to the city of Jerusalem not only from the Jewish nation, but from the neighboring nations. They waited until the day of Pentecost was fully come, and while they were assembled together in an upper room,”suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

“When this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded because every man heard them speak in his own language.” “They were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born.” “Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said to them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: for these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel,” &c. Thus, while they were wondering and disputing among themselves, the chief Apostle Peter, who had received the keys of the kingdom from his Master, with his brethren, stepped forward and commenced preaching to them, and gave them a narrative of the dealings of God with their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; noticing the promises made to them, and tracing the subject down through the Prophets to the people then living.

He told them they had crucified the Lord of glory, that he had risen from the dead, and being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, had shed forth that which they saw and heard. “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the Apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” The Apostle Peter having sojourned with the Savior, and witnessed his miracles, if you please had been with him on the Mount when he was glorified, and being endowed with the Holy Ghost, the presumption with me is that he actually was qualified to preach the Gospel as it should be preached. If we ascertain the Gospel that Peter preached, the Gospel that John and James preached, the Gospel that the Apostle Paul preached, we shall ascertain that Gospel, that if any man or an angel from heaven preach any other the curses of God shall rest upon him. “And they said unto Peter and the rest of the Apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” “Then said Peter unto them, 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. 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.”

In order that you may draw the line of demarkation between the Gospel preached by Peter on that important day, and the Gospel now preached in Christendom, I need only call upon you to reflect upon your own experience, to reflect upon what has been taught you when you have anxiously inquired what you should do to be saved. How often have you heard the sound from the pulpit saying, “Come forth to the anxious bench, to the prayer ring, and we will unite and pray for you, and you shall be converted;” and sometimes a portion of the congregation is sent to a private house to pray for you, while the preacher is operating upon you in public. Again, others that have been taken from the congregation are waiting at a private house for the priest to operate upon them there, while the congregation remain to pray for them in the chapel.

This is practised extensively among the divines of the present day. You will find the preachers teaching hell and damnation, and in various ways seeking to terrify their hearers, by portraying before them the agonies of the damned, and the miseries to be endured by the unconverted in the hot lava of hell—the awful condition of the damned souls that are cast out into the dark regions of hades; and then they are praying and working with all their might to convert souls. and turn them to the Lord. I have heard so much of this that I can fairly taste it yet.

Now I ask you did the Apostle Peter teach any thing of this kind—did he teach the people that they should come forth and be prayed for, that they might be converted and get the remission of their sins? No: but in the first place he bore testimony to them, he taught them that Jesus Christ had been crucified, and was risen from the dead, and that Jesus Christ is the only name given unto men, by which they can be saved; that their fathers had persecuted the Prophets, and shed the blood of the Son of God, and when they anxiously exclaimed, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” says Peter, “Repent, &c.

Now upon the subject of repentance; I have been told in my boyhood that it is a sorrow for sin. There are two kinds of sorrow spoken of in Scripture: Paul says godly sorrow worketh repentance that needeth not to be repented of, but says he, “The sorrow of the world worketh death.” The sorrow of the world is of this nature; for instance, we find men who curse and swear, lie and steal, get drunk, &c., when they are reproved, or even when they reflect in their reflective moments, they are sorry for their conduct, but does that prove they repent? Certainly not, a man may be sorry for sin and not repent thereof. You may see the drunkard at his home intoxicated, abusing his wife and children but when he is sober he is sorry for the act, and perhaps the next day is found drunk again, he still continues to pour down the intoxicating fire-water, and is sorry again, does he repent? No; but he is sorry with the sorrow of the world, which worketh death, which is to sin, and be sorry for it, and go and sin again; but godly sorrow worketh repentance that needeth not to be repented of. What kind of sorrow do we understand Peter to mean when he said to the Jews, “Repent.” We understand him to mean, they were to forsake their sins; to cease to do evil; let him that stole, steal no more; let him that got drunk, cease the sinful practice; let him who has been in the habit of doing wrong in any way, cease to do wrong, and learn to do right.

I am here reminded of a circumstance that took place in Virginia. A deist, a lawyer by profession, was on his death bed through consumption; his friends were Presbyterians, and they had prayed for him again and again, and the poor fellow still remained unconverted, and of course was expected to go into eternity, to dwell in that hot place. The last resort was to have a minister to pray for him, but he still remained unconverted. They exhorted him to repent and turn to God, and be converted before the brittle thread of life should be snapped asunder, and he should take his exit to another world. He thanked them for their advice, and told them he appreciated their labors. After they had got through exhorting him, he being wearied, and very sick, they concluded to let him rest, and converse among themselves on the topics of religion. They began to converse about the conscience being the most troublesome thing in the world. Said one, “I am much afflicted with the smitings of conscience when I lie down and rise up.” “And so am I,” said another, “that monitor within is more trouble to me than anything else here below.” When they had got through, the deist spoke and said, “Gentlemen, you have taken the trouble to come and give me advice, now permit me to give you a little; go home all of you, forsake your sins and behave yourselves, and your consciences will not trouble you any more.” It is true repentance, when a man departs from evil, and cleaves to that which is good. This is what the Apostle means when he said to the inquiring Jews on the day of Pentecost, “Repent, and be baptized.” “What shall we be baptized for, Peter?” “For the remission of your sins.”

In the first place, you notice, he taught them the Gospel, and faith sprung up in them by hearing the word of God—the Apostles, filled with the Holy Ghost, preached the word of God, and the multitude believed. As soon as they had faith, they were taught to repent; then repentance is the second step to be taken by the sinner in the Gospel of salvation. As soon as they were taught to repent, they were commanded to be baptized for the remission of sins. Some preach the ordinance of baptism very lightly, they say that baptism is an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace. I want to reason on that a few minutes, taking them upon their own grounds.

According to their own admonition, “the faith” means the orthodox clergy. You know every man considers his religion orthodox, and his neighbor’s religion heterodox. The orthodox clergy of the day, who are defenders of “the faith,” say that baptism is an outward sign of an inward work. Suppose it is. Suppose I take this woman’s child and sprinkle a little water on its head, that is an acknowledgement or sign of a corresponding inward work. How much inward work has a sprinkled person got? Just a little sprinkling, that is all, if baptism is a sign of the work within.

Now if baptism is an outward sign of an inward work, and you cover a person in water, that is a sign that the entire man had to be filled with the Holy Ghost. They reason rightly in relation to their case, and I presume indeed their mode of baptism is a corresponding sign of the work within; and immersion must certainly be a very strong sign corresponding with an extensive inward work, according to their own reasonings.

But baptism is for the remission of sins. “What!” says one, “baptism is a saving ordinance!” Certainly it is saving in its nature, in connexion with the balance of the Gospel of salvation. The people are to be saved if they embrace the Gospel, and to be damned if they do not. If I escape damnation by obedience to the Gospel, and baptism is a part of it, I would ask if that is not a portion of the scheme by which I escape—a part of the scheme by which I am saved? It is certainly so.

When the angel appeared to Cornelius he did not baptize him, but said he, “Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: he lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the seaside: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.” Cornelius obeyed; and when Peter came and learned his situation, and the vision he had had of an angel, he taught him the Gospel, and commanded him to be baptized. Peter told him words whereby he should be saved, and these were a part of them.

It was also said to the Apostle Paul, by the servant of the Lord, “Why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins,” &c. That was the way the Almighty had instituted in the Gospel; baptism is an institution of heaven, sanctioned by the Father, revealed by the Son, taught by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost; and is the method by which a man’s sins can be remitted. Faith, repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins were a saving means to the children of men anciently, and are at the present day, because they are a part of the Gospel, and are all essential to the remission of sins.

In relation to the mode of baptism, there is sufficient in the Bible to prove that. The Apostle in writing to his brethren tells them he was buried with Christ in baptism; and Jesus commanded his disciples to follow him. If they were buried with Christ, it shows that he was buried. I ask if you can go and be buried with any of your friends unless they be buried also? But the world are not pleased with this mode of remitting sins; they say it is too easy. They make me think of Naaman the Assyrian, when he came to the old Prophet Elisha; he came with his gold and his silver, with his chariots and servants, expecting to be healed of his leprosy by means of some great thing. He expected by his talents of silver and gold to win the Prophet over to heal him. Elisha did not even go out to see him, but sent his servant with a message saying, Go and wash seven times in Jordan, and be healed. But the old Assyrian was wrath and went away, and said, “Behold, I thought, he will surely come out to me, and stand, and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand upon the place, and recover the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.” One of his servants stepped up, and said, “My father, if the Prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”

It is not that baptism is such a great thing, or that it can be purchased with silver and gold, that it washes away sins, but because the Almighty has instituted it as His own ordinance; and if you will comply therewith, He promises you a remission of sins. If you are buried with Christ in baptism it proves he was buried.

I once asked a Methodist if he considered Jesus Christ the Lamb of God. He said he did. I then asked him if he believed that the Colossians were buried with Christ in baptism, “Yes, but,” said he, “Dr. Clark says, when commenting upon that passage, that immersion was administered only to adult believers. We believe they were actually immersed.” Said I, “Do you think Jesus Christ was immersed?” “No, we think he was either poured or sprinkled.” I then inquired of him how they could be buried with Christ unless he was buried also. He said, he did not know about that; but he thought it was very probable that Christ was sprinkled. I asked him if he considered the head of a man all the man, or if the shoulders and the arms were all the man. “No,” he answered. “Well, then,” said I, “if you consider the head, arms, shoulders, body, legs, and feet all the man, and the whole man baptized, you must believe he was immersed to accomplish his baptism.” “If the Colossians were buried with Christ in baptism, he also must have been buried.”

Among other arguments against the immersion of the whole body as the mode of baptism, he said that delicate women would catch cold if they were buried in water. I contended, if it would not hurt the Lamb of God to be baptized it would not hurt a sheep. Then baptism by immersion is the third principle in the Gospel of salvation; and the Apostle taught the people if they would be baptized they should receive the remission of sins, and receive the Holy Ghost; for, said he, “The promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even to as many as the Lord our God shall call.”

Notice here the extensive promise of Peter, that the Holy Ghost should come upon every man who would yield obedience to the Gospel. In process of time, as they preached in the regions round about Jerusalem, Philip went to Samaria, and preached to the people of that city; they gave heed to his preaching, and they were baptized, both men and women. It does not read men, women, and children, but Philip went to Samaria, and preached the Gospel, and they were baptized, both men and women; infants are not mentioned; and they had great joy in that city. Says one, “Yes, they had joy because they had received the gift of the Holy Ghost;” but wait; when they at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word, they sent Peter and John to pray for them at Samaria, and lay their hands on them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost, for as yet it had fallen on none of them; hence you perceive they had great joy, but not the Holy Ghost. But when the Apostles prayed for the Samaritans who had received the word, and laid their hands upon them, they received the Holy Ghost.

Now suppose we should say that the curse of the Apostle Paul would rest upon every person that did not preach the same Gospel that he and his brethren preached and practised, we should only be saying what is emphatically declared in the Scriptures.

The Holy Ghost was received by the laying on of hands. Was this ever taught you in England, or in America, except by the Latter-day Saints? Did you hear this at any protracted meeting of Presbyterians, or at any meeting of the members of the Church of England? Would you hear this Gospel in a Methodist Chapel, or on their camp grounds, to repent and be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands? If you would, you would hear something I never heard. Well, though we or an angel from heaven preach any other Gospel, let him be accursed No matter how near men may preach the Gospel; they must preach the same Gospel, every part of it, every ordinance of it, every principle Jesus Christ revealed and his Apostles taught, if they do not, they teach another Gospel, and if they teach another, says the Apostle, let them be accursed.

Now if you will preach the same Gospel, you will preach the same principles precisely that were taught not only by Paul, Peter, James, and John, but by all the rest of their fellow servants. And when men received the Holy Ghost, they spake with other tongues, and prophesied. In order to tell whether people have embraced the true Gospel or not, we need only to look at their fruits, for by their fruits shall ye know them, says the Savior. Look, for instance, at the Corinthian Church; though you read they were guilty of many absurdities, yet to one was 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 working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues. All these gifts, which are reckoned up and classified by the Apostle Paul, were enjoyed by the Corinthians.

Now some suppose there was a necessity for this display of the power of God to establish the Gospel, and that when it was established the gifts would be done away. I recollect reading, in the ninety-fourth sermon of John Wesley, in commenting upon this subject, he says, “It has been vulgarly supposed that after the Gospel was established the spiritual gifts were no longer needed; but this is a gross error. To be sure we seldom hear of them after that fatal period that Constantine called himself a Christian Scarcely an instance of the manifestation of these spiritual gifts can be found in the second century, the reason is not that they were done away by the will of the Almighty, but Christians had apostatized, and become heathen, and had nothing but a dead form of religion left, and this is the grand reason the gifts have not continued in the Church.” This is the idea Wesley gives in the sermon I have alluded to, if not the exact language. That is “Mormonism.” In the second century the Church apostatized and became heathen, and men could not speak by the gift of the Holy Ghost, and with other tongues, and prophesy, and obtain visions, and the gift of healing. The Apostle says, If there be any sick among you let him send for the Elders of the Church, and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, &c.

But in the present day it is, “If any be sick among you let him send for a physician, or a noted practitioner in the healing art; and let him go forth and administer a portion of calomel mixed with gamboge, with the addition of a large blister plaster upon the back of the neck, and you shall be healed.” We do not learn this from the teachings of Jesus Christ, Peter James, Paul, or any of the Apostles; it is not incorporated in the Gospel; but the Gospel plan of administering to the sick is, if any be sick among you, let him call for the Elders of the Church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he hath committed sins they shall be forgiven him. Jesus Christ says, when speaking of the power that shall attend his servants, “They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover;” and, says the Apostle Paul, Stir up the gift of God that is given thee by the laying on of my hands. It is said that Joshua was full of the Holy Ghost after Moses had laid his hands on him. Members of the Church of England when they are sick send for a noted physician, and they trust in a doctor for their recovery, not in the Lord or in the virtue of their religion. They dare not, many of them, live in the city without a family physician; they must have a family physician and an eminent physician, and in case the family physician fails to prescribe an effectual remedy they must send for the eminent physician. This is the case with orthodox professors throughout the world.

Do they preach the Gospel as they did in ancient days? Do they teach the people to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins? If the laying on of hands and the anointing with oil healed the sick then, why not now? If the Gospel is the same, if God is the same, if the Holy Ghost is the same, if faith is the same, if baptism is the same, and if all the principles of the Gospel are the same, will they not produce the same effect?

I want to bear my testimony, that mine eyes have seen the sick healed in the way the Gospel recommends; I have seen the ears of the deaf opened, and they have heard; I have seen the lame man walk, and leap like a hart; and I have seen others rise up suddenly from their sick bed, healed of a consuming fever.

In Montrose, near Nauvoo, hundreds of families were sick nigh unto death, and some were given up to die. The Prophet Joseph Smith took some of the Elders with him, and went over there, and said to the sick, “I command you, in the name of the Lord God, to rise up and walk.” And he went from house to house, and made every man, woman, and child to walk, and they followed him to the next sick family, and they are witnesses here to testify to it. There are men now upon the face of the earth, that by the visions of the Almighty have seen convoy after convoy of angels. Can you find these things out of the Latter-day Church? No; you cannot. Are the sick healed in this city? Yes; I know they are. I have administered to the sick, in company with my brethren, and they were healed, and I know they were healed by the power of God; those that die are killed by the doctors. I tell you their calomel mixed with gamboge, their shaving of the head, and their blistering operations, kill ten where they heal one.

The Gospel preached by Joseph Smith is the same that is contained in the New Testament, and which was preached by Jesus Christ and his Apostles, and it is the power of God to every one that believes it; it will heal the sick, open the heavens, and revolutionize the earth; and this Gospel must be preached to all nations for a witness to them. I bear testimony to all men that Joseph Smith preached it in its purity and fulness, as the Apostles of old preached it; and that it is now being preached in the United States, in Europe, in the Islands of the sea, and will be preached in every nation, kindred, tongue, and people under the whole heavens; and the same fruits, the same blessings, the same light and glory will be manifested as anciently.

May God save us all in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Power of the Gospel

Heber C. Kimball

An address by President Heber C. Kimball, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Dec. 17, 1854.

The Gospel you have heard this morning from brother Grant, you have heard over and over again. Every one who professes to be a Latter-day Saint, and will acknowledge the truth of this Gospel according to the historical account in the New Testament, must know that it is true. Why? Because, as brother Grant has testified, when brother Joseph Smith proclaimed this Gospel of repentance and baptism for the remission of sins, his testimony would have been true if there had been no New Testament.

God sent an angel to him and others, and the angel preached the Gospel to them, and authorized Joseph Smith to baptize Oliver Cowdery, and then Joseph received baptism from his hands. When Jesus Christ came he authorized men to administer the ordinances of the Gospel, and then he went forward and was baptized himself; he did not excuse himself, neither did brother Joseph. He went forward and set the example, that he might fulfil all righteousness, that he might glorify God on earth and in heaven; and, said he, “That I have seen my Father do, that do I.” Upon the same principle, you pursue the course you see the Apostles in the last days pursue.

As to the circumstance brother Grant was speaking of in Montrose, I was with brother Joseph, and so was brother Brigham and many others, and hundreds were healed, and leaped out of their beds, and followed us. If you do not believe it, call on many of those that were sick nigh unto death at that time, and are now living in these valleys, enjoying good health. How many sick have been healed in Old England? I have been many a time in houses where people were sick nigh unto death, with small-pox, and with other complaints, and they were healed by the power of God; I have taken them to the water, when they have been on the verge of the grave, and baptized them, and they have been healed. “What, of the smallpox?” Yes; and there are numbers of people here that were sick nigh unto death, and brother Orson Hyde is a witness that they were just ready to die, and they are now here in a robust state of health. [Orson Hyde, “It is true.”] True? Yes, as true as that God reigns in the heavens; and there are thousands more in the Church who know it is true. The testimony of brother Grant and other men is just as true, and will be valid just as much as the testimony of Peter, James, and John, for they speak the truth as it is in Jesus Christ.

I rejoice that I live in this day. You have heard me say a great many times that “Mormonism” and this people are the pride of my heart. I wish to see the Saints do right, and repent of their sins in such a manner, that they never need to have any more repentance from this time, and forsake their sins, and do their first works, and turn unto the Lord with full purpose of heart while it is their privilege, and then it will not be required for a man to preach to this people the first principles of the Gospel of Christ; for there are many who ought to repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins; but never go into the water again and be baptized for the remission of your sins, except you forsake them, and be Saints from that time forth, and not cultivate the principle of iniquity with yourselves, nor with your families, nor among this people. Let every man and woman rise up and purge iniquity from our midst, and if you do not, all I can say is, you will see sorrow, and you will see sorrow that will cleave to you, though you repent in tears, and in sack-cloth and ashes, and you cannot get out of it until the Lord has a mind to deliver you.

Brethren and sisters, treasure up the Gospel, read the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, and the Book of Mormon. What does the Lord say? That every one, who will read the Book of Mormon attentively, faithfully, and prayerfully, before he gets through, will receive a testimony of its truth. I know it. If you have lost the Spirit, go and read the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and you will get it again, more or less. There are but few who know anything about these books and what they mean.

I wanted to bear testimony, in connexion with brother Grant, of the truth of his statements with regard to the healing. power of God manifested in Montrose, for I went with the Prophet, and am an eye-witness. Has not this Gospel the same power it had eighteen hundred years ago? It has, for God has renewed it unto us, and conveyed it to us through Joseph Smith, by the ministration of an angel. We have received the Gospel, and we have received the Priesthood. and the keys and power pertaining thereto, and the Kingdom of God is restored, and it will never be overthrown again, but will overthrow all iniquity or power that undertakes to wrestle with it, I care not whether it is a nation or a kingdom. Do the world believe this? Who cares whether they do or not, God knows it will do it, and I know it, and that is enough. If there was not another man in heaven or on earth knew it, and I knew it, and was authorized, it would overthrow all other governments, and they could not help themselves. You all know this, don’t you brethren? [” Yes.”]

Let us be brethren. As I have often said, I want to see this people acting like brethren; and if any of you have got full lots in the city, let your mother or your sister have a portion; and if you have got more land than you can cultivate, do likewise; and if Weber County has got more than they need, let Davies have a piece, and let us be one. Let us be brethren, and let us be one, and then what will the world be to us? I wish you all felt as I do, and then you would know that God will not suffer His righteous servants to be overthrown; and you must never undertake to overthrow them, if you calculate to be Priests of our God, and reign for ever.

Millions of men will be saved who will never be Gods. They may be the Saints of God, and be submissive to the sons of God. Listen to the counsel of the servants of God, and do as our head tells us to do, and we will prosper from this time henceforth and for ever.

I know what will save you, it does not require much knowledge to tell that, for it consists in keeping the commandments of God, and that alone will save you. May God bless you, and help you to live faithfully before Him from this time henceforth and for ever. Amen.

The Increased Powers and Faculties of the Mind in a Future State

Orson Pratt

A discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, October 15, 1854.

I feel grateful to my heavenly Father this afternoon for the privilege of meeting with the Saints in this Tabernacle; and feel thankful also for the privilege of rising in this stand, for the purpose of speaking to you upon such subjects as may be presented to my mind.

I, however, realize sometimes, more than at others, the necessity of having the gift of the Holy Spirit resting upon me in order to instruct and teach the people; for that is the only object of speaking and hearing in a place like this. We speak for the purpose of conveying to others the ideas that are contained within, our own minds; or such ideas as God may condescend to put into our hearts; the people listen for the purpose of receiving the ideas that may be advanced, in hope that their minds will be enlarged and instructed, through the speaker. If I know my own heart, it is my desire when I rise before an assembly to communicate something that shall be instructing to the minds of the people; and in order to do this, I am perhaps as well aware as any other person living, of the necessity of having that Spirit that is able to give truth to the mind—that Spirit that is able to inspire the heart in the very moment with the words and ideas calculated to benefit the people. Indeed this is the promise of the Lord to His servants; they are not to take any thought beforehand concerning the words and ideas they shall utter before a congregation; it is true they are commanded, in the revelations which God has given, to treasure up in their minds continually the words of life.

Why is it that we are required, as the servants of God, to treasure up in our minds the words of life? It is in order that we may have a store of knowledge and information—it is in order that we may understand true principles—true doctrine, upon all subjects that pertain to the welfare of man, that the mind being filled with understanding, light, knowledge, truth, theory and with a knowledge of things God has revealed, may be able to communicate at the very moment that part or portion of the same which God shall be pleased to impart to the congregation, suited to their capacity and circumstances; this is not taking thought beforehand what we shall say. If we should treasure up the words that God has revealed—that are written in the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and in the various revelations that God has given in latter times, (I mean the printed and written ones,) together with what he has revealed in ancient times; if we should get it all imprinted upon the tablet of our minds, it would not be taking thought beforehand what we should say.

When we arise to speak before a congregation, if we place our dependence upon God to inspire us with the Holy Spirit, to bring forth not only the knowledge and information in regard to things that are written, and things that have been revealed, but to communicate new ideas, instructions, and information by the power of the Holy Ghost, we shall thus be able to edify.

Sometimes when I arise before a congregation of the Saints, here in the Valleys of the Mountains, I look at myself naturally, and think over naturally in my own mind, How can I edify this people? What can I say to them that has not already been said? This is a weakness in human nature. These meditations and reflections ought not to have any bearing upon the mind; God has wisdom sufficient; He has knowledge sufficient, and understanding, and light, and truth to communicate something for the benefit of the people, though they may have been instructed for a long period, and been well informed in doctrine and principles. Sometimes the Lord does not see proper to impart any new ideas to the speaker, but rather to influence his mind to dwell upon old things, or in other words, that which has already been made manifest, for the purpose of communicating more clearly, or impressing upon the mind more forcibly, the importance of attending to that which has already been spoken and revealed.

We are only sojourners here, stopping here for a short period of time, and while we are here we often meet together. What for? To learn something that is calculated to benefit us temporally or spiritually. Indeed everything with which we are surrounded, every circumstance that we may be placed in, everything with which we have to do, if properly used, is calculated to benefit the mind of man. That is the object of all the works of God, to benefit living beings—beings that are capable of being made happy—capable of receiving joy and peace, all His works from the beginning to the end, (if there be any beginning or end, which we doubt very much,) are calculated in their nature to render happy, living, intelligent beings. That is the reason we are here—the reason we have come from distant countries, from foreign lands, and congregated in these valleys; it is in order that we may be more happy, and more fitted to gain that experience that is calculated to make us more happy. We are looking forward to a time when we shall be exceedingly happy; that is natural to the mind of man; it is on the stretch looking forward to the period when it shall be far more happy than at present. We are inquiring how, and by what means, or by what course of conduct, we can make ourselves more happy than at the present time. Some people pursue one course and some another; mankind have their various paths, walks, and courses, there are almost as many courses as there are people upon the face of the earth; and they are travelling in these paths and roads: each one seeking his own happiness, and perhaps, in few instances, the happiness of some others. Some take a road of sin and wickedness to secure happiness, but, in the end, they will find themselves literally disappointed. In travelling these great variety of paths, they find that it does not produce the result they hoped for—it does not bring happiness, nor give to them joy. There is something, connected with the travels of the people, and the courses that they mark out for themselves, that is calculated very frequently to leave a bitter sting upon the consciences. They suppose they can be happy in pursuing a certain course, but they find themselves miserably disappointed.

The Lord is gathering His Saints into this valley in order to instruct them how to be happy; that is the ultimate object and aim He has in view: He desires us to be well instructed, and to have the straight and narrow path laid out plain before us, showing us, from time to time, what steps are necessary to be taken, that will lead to the greatest amount of happiness; and if we follow them and continue in the path, we shall find that our light will grow brighter and brighter, our happiness greater and greater, and our joys will become more and more intense, until, in the eternal world we shall be swallowed up, as it were, with a fulness of joy—a fulness of happiness.

We are all the time, as I have already observed, looking forward to something ahead of our present condition, to something that is future.

We believe in a future state; it is a kind of natural instinct in the mind of man, to believe in a never ending hereafter. When he lays down his mortal body in the silent tomb, and it crumbles back to its mother earth, he does not believe that the destruction of the mortal body, is the last of the being called man; he believes that there is something there besides the tabernacle of flesh, that will live, move, and have a being forever. Furthermore, when we reflect more fully upon this subject, we believe that the something which dwells in this flesh and bones, is the only being that is capable of being made happy.

We have often been told this, from this stand; and it has often been told, among the congregations of the Saints abroad, that it is the spirit of man, and not the mortal tabernacle, that enjoys, that suffers, that has pleasure and pain. But the mortal tabernacle is so closely connected with the spirit of man, and we have so long been in the habit of associating the pains and pleasures of the spirit with what is termed the pains and pleasures of the body, that we have almost worked ourselves into the belief that it is actually the body that suffers pain, and enjoys pleasure; but this is not the case; the body, so far as we know, is incapable of feeling; it is naturally incapable of it: it is only the spirit, that dwells within the body, that feels. However severely the body may be injured, it is not the body that discerns that injury, but the spirit, within the body, that discerns it. [The speaker here asked a blessing on the cup.] We were speaking concerning that being that we call ourselves, that dwells in this mortal tabernacle of flesh and bones. We were observing that so intimately are the body and spirit connected together, that we have become habituated to term the pleasures and pains that we experience, the pleasures and pains of the body; but this is not the case; the body of flesh and bones, when the spirit has left it, is incapable of any sensation whatever; it does not form any portion of that identity that belongs to ourselves as spirits; we are not aware of its pleasures or its pains; for it has neither; but we are aware that if our mortal tabernacle is injured or infringed upon, the spirit within is troubled and pained; but we have become habituated to call this the pain of the body.

I make these remarks in order to extend our ideas beyond this state of existence.

If the spirit while in the body is capable of suffering, of being acted upon from without the body, and of experiencing diverse sensation, if it is capable of intense joy, or intense grief, may we not suppose that when it is freed from the body, when the animal tabernacle is fallen into the dust, and returns to its former earth, the same spirit, unclothed and unshielded, standing naked, as it were, before God, and before the elements that He has made, will be acted upon then, more or less, by these same elements; and that the same spirit that is capable of suffering here, will be capable of far more intense suffering hereafter; the same spirit that is capable of great joy here, will be capable of far more intense joy and pleasure hereafter; and the same things of an external nature that are capable of producing intense pain here, are, under certain circumstances, capable of producing a hundred fold more pain hereafter? If this be the case, how important it is that we should take that course that the spirit may, in its future state of existence, be placed under circumstances where we can obtain the pleasure, joy, and happiness, and escape the pains, evils, and bitterness of misery, to which some spirits will be exposed.

Perhaps there may be in the future state a difference, a vast difference, in some respects, in the reflection of pain upon the spirit from what there is here; and in other respects there may be a similarity. There are many things connected with the spirit of man, in the intermediate state, that we do not know anything about; and then there are other things that we do know, so far as they are revealed, and no further; and then there are other things connected with the spirit of man between death and the resurrection that we may believe, but not have a certain knowledge of, but believe that such and such will be the case from analogy, from reason, from the nature of things. There has been but a little revealed to man on the subject of the intermediate state of the spirit, after it leaves this mortal tabernacle.

We are told in the Book of Mormon that the spirits of all men, as soon as they leave this mortal body, and return home to that God who gave them life, whether they be wicked or whether they be righteous, go back to where they once were; they return to their former state, to their former location and residence; they appear in the presence of the Being that gave them life.

What further are we told on the subject? That after we get back into the presence of God, and return home again, then it shall come to pass that the spirits of the righteous, those who have done good, those who have wrought the works of righteousness here upon the earth, shall be received into a state of rest, a state of happiness, of peace, a state of joy, where they will remain until the time of the resurrection. We are also told that another portion of spirits, another class of them that return home to God, after leaving this mortal tabernacle, are cast out, are sent off again, and are not permitted to stay at home, but are cast out into outer darkness, where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Now there must be some intense suffering, some intense misery in connexion with the wicked class of spirits in order to cause them to weep and to wail.

We might now inquire, what is the cause of this intense suffering and misery? Is it the action of the elements upon the spirit? Is it the materials of nature, operating from without upon it, that causes this distress, this weeping, wailing, mourning, and lamentation? It may be in some measure; it may help to produce the misery and the wretchedness; but there is something connected with the spirit itself that no doubt produces this weeping, wailing, and mourning. What is this something? It is memory, and remorse of conscience; a memory of what they have once done, a memory of their disobedience. Do you not, suppose the spirits can have power to remember in that world as well as in this? Yes, they certainly can. Have you never read in the Book of Mormon, where it informs us, that every act of our lives will be fresh upon the memory, and we shall have a clear consciousness of all our doings in this life? Yes; we have read that in the Book of Mormon—“a clear consciousness.”

We read or learn a thing by observation yesterday, and to-day or tomorrow it is gone, unless it be something that impresses us distinctly, that makes a vivid impression upon the mind, that we can remember it perhaps for days, months, and years; but common information and knowledge are constantly coming into our minds, and as constantly being forgotten. And some of the knowledge we receive here at one time becomes so completely obliterated, through the weakness of the animal system, that we cannot call it to mind, no association of ideas will again suggest it to our minds; it is gone, erased, eradicated from the tablet of our memories. This is not owing to the want of capacity in the spirit; no, but the spirit has a full capacity to remember; for do you suppose that God in begetting spirits in the eternal world would beget an imperfect thing, that had no capacities? No. The Being, who is full of intelligence, knowledge, and wisdom, and acting upon the great principles that are ordained for the generation of living beings, spiritual beings, brings them forth with capacities capable of being enlarged or extended wider and wider; consequently it is not the want of capacity in the spirit of man that causes him to forget the knowledge he may have learned yesterday; but it is because of the imperfection of the tabernacle in which the spirit dwells; because there is imperfection in the organization of the flesh and bones, and in things pertaining to the tabernacle; it is this that erases from our memory many things that would be useful; we cannot retain them in our minds, they are gone into oblivion. It is not so with the spirit when it is released from this tabernacle.

I might refer to the words of many of the Prophets upon this subject, but every person of reflection and observation knows that the imperfection of the tabernacle does have a bearing upon the memory, as well upon other faculties and powers of man. It has been proved that when the skull has been depressed by accident, or in the way of experiment, every particle of the knowledge that the person has possessed has been entirely suspended. Relieving the skull from the pressure, things come fresh again into the mind; this shows that the spirit has not lost its capacity for memory, but it is the organization of the tabernacle that prevents it from remembering. Wait until these mortal bodies are laid in the tomb; when we return home to God who gave us life; then is the time we shall have the most vivid knowledge of all the past acts of our lives during our probationary state; then is the time that we will find that this being we call man—this spirit that dwells within the tabernacle, is a being that has capacity sufficient to retain all its past doings, whether they be good or bad.

It is, then, this memory that will produce the suffering and the pains upon that class of spirits whose works have been wicked and abominable in the sight of God. A spirit, then, will remember, that “at such a time in yonder world, and at such a place, I disobeyed the commandments of God; I did not hearken to the counsel of those whom God had appointed to be my counsellors; I did not give heed to the man of God; no: but I rejected his sayings; good counsel was imparted to me, but I did not heed it.” In this life, things that may have been erased from your memory for years will be presented before you with all the vividness as if they had just taken place. This will be like a worm upon the conscience; it will prey upon the spirit, and produce unhappiness, wretchedness, and misery. This will cause you to lament, and mourn, and weep after you are cast out from the presence of God—from the home to which you have returned.

I am speaking now of the wicked. What is it that produces the opposite principle? There is an opposition in all things; it is the reflection of the memory that produces joy; that is one of the elements by which joy and happiness are produced upon the spirit of man in the future state; we remember the acts of our past lives that they have been good; we perceive by our memories that we have been obedient to counsel; we perceive that when we have erred through our weakness we have repented of that error; when we have been told of a fault we have forsaken it. When we look back upon acquaintances and neighbors we perceive that we have observed the golden rule, to do unto others as we would that others should do unto us. We look back upon our past lives, and we perceive we have never spoken evil against a brother or sister, that we have never striven to stir up family broils, and that we have never desired to injure any of the children of men; male or female. What do these reflections produce? They produce joy, satisfaction, peace, consolation, and this joy is a hundred fold more intense than what the spirit is capable of perceiving or enjoying in this life. Why? Because just in proportion to the vividness of the conscience, or the memory, so will be the joy. This you may have knowledge of by every-day experience; just in proportion to the vividness of your ideas, and of the truth set before your minds, and of the good things that are imparted to you, the more intense is your happiness here; how much more intense would it be hereafter, when this mortal clog with all its imperfections has been laid down in the grave! The fact is, our spirits then will be happy, far more happy than what we are capable even of conceiving, or having the least idea of in this world.

Our happiness here is regulated in a great measure by external objects, by the organization of the mortal tabernacle; they are not permitted to rise very high, or to become very great; on the other hand it seems to be a kind of limit to our joys and pleasures, sufferings, and pains, and this is because of the imperfection of the tabernacle in which we dwell; and of those things with which we are surrounded; but in that life everything will appear in its true colors; in my estimation not a single thought of the heart, that has ever passed through the mind, not a single act of an individual, from the earliest period of its memory till the time it comes into the presence of God, will escape the notice of the memory when it appears there, unclogged from this tabernacle.

Are there any other circumstances that will produce pain or joy, besides that which is connected with the spirit—besides its own conscience or memory? Yes, a great deal will depend upon the place of the residence of these spirits. Suppose you were a righteous spirit, and you were cast out to dwell a certain time; not cast out, but sent out, on a mission to the abodes of darkness, or to those who are not as righteous as yourselves; though you might have peace of conscience and happiness dwelling within your own bosoms in reflecting upon your past conduct, yet the society with which you are compelled to mingle for a short period, in order to impart knowledge and wisdom and such information as is calculated to benefit them, is, in a measure, disagreeable; you are compelled, for a season, to mingle with those who are inferior to yourself in their capacities. When you go and associate with them there is something disagreeable in the nature of this association; you feel to pity them in their ignorance, in their condition and circumstances; their conversation is not agreeable to you as that of your own associates in the presence of God. There is something that is calculated to render their society disagreeable to themselves, which increases as the degradation of the society is increased. Then a wicked man entering into the company of such beings has not only a hell within himself—a conscience gnawing like a worm, but he sees misery and wretchedness; and they cleave one to another in their wickedness, and in their conversation, and acts, and doings, and intercourse with each other; all these things are calculated in their nature to produce misery and wretchedness, as well as their own consciences. It should then be our constant study to escape this order of things. We are free and independent; it is all in our hands whether to escape this order of wretchedness and misery, and the abodes of the wicked in the spiritual world; we can dwell in the society of the righteous, or in the society of the the wicked, just as we choose. As the revelation states, all intelligence and all truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it to act for itself, consequently you and I are the ones to make ourselves happy by taking the course pointed out by our superiors, by those who have a right to teach, control, and direct us. It is for us to create a heaven within our own minds. It is for us to choose the place of our abode, either among the spirits of the just or the spirits of the damned.

We have spoken of the memory of spirits in the future state; the same principle will apply to many other faculties of the mind of man, as well as memory; knowledge for instance. How limited, how very limited, in its nature is the knowledge of man in this life. Why is it that our knowledge is so limited? I say limited, compared with that which is to be known, and which will be known. The reason is, God has seen proper in His infinite wisdom to place us in circumstances where we can learn the very first elements of knowledge, and act upon them in the first place. Instead of having the whole of the rich treasures of knowledge and wisdom unfolded to us at once, He begins to feed us little by little, the same as you would feed a weakly, sickly infant with food prepared and adapted to its taste, and to the weakness of its system. The Lord brings us in this state under similar circumstances, endowed with certain senses by which we can gain, by little and little, knowledge and information; but it takes a long time to get a little into our minds. It seems that our spirits, that once stood in the presence of God, clothed with power, capacities, wisdom, and knowledge, forget what they once knew—forget that which was once fresh in their minds.

But, inquires one, “Do you have an idea we had once much information and knowledge in the spirit world?” Yes, we had a great deal of knowledge and information, but to what extent I know not; suffice to say we had much knowledge, we were capable, when the morning stars sang together for joy, when the foundations of this earth were laid, of lifting up our voices and shouting aloud for joy. What produced this joy? The contemplation of a world on which we were to receive our probation, and have tabernacles of flesh and bones and obtain our redemption. All these things were known to us in our anterior state, but we have forgotten them all. We knew then about the Redeemer—about Christ, but we forgot it in our infantile moments.

As soon as our spirits were enclosed in this tabernacle all our former knowledge vanished away—the knowledge of our former acts was lost, what we did then we know not; we had laws to govern us; how obedient to them we were we know not; how faithful we were we know not, we had a contest with the one third part of the hosts of heaven, and we overcame them; and then the Lord made an earth where we might have a second probation, and forget all we once knew concerning the battles we had fought, before we came here, against Lucifer the son of the morning. We forget about the laws that were given to govern us in that spiritual state. Why all this? If we came here with all the knowledge we formerly possessed, could we be again tried as those who possess only the first principles of knowledge? We must begin at the alphabet of knowledge; and when once we begin to gain knowledge and information the Lord tries us to see if we will comply with that, and if we do, He gives us more, in this probationary state; but after we have gained all we can here, it is nothing compared with that immense fulness, which it is the privilege of the children of men to obtain in the future state of existence.

Our knowledge here is, comparatively speaking, nothing; it can hardly be reckoned the elements of knowledge. What few glimmering ideas the wisest of us get, we obtain by experience, through the medium of our senses, and the reflecting powers of the mind.

Some people suppose that we do not acquire scarcely any knowledge, only what we get by seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and feeling; we may not, in one sense of the word, but in another sense there is a vast amount of knowledge which we gain by reflection; the solving of mathematical problems from beginning to end is not brought about by seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, or feeling, unless the mind can feel them; we reason from one step to another until we solve the proposition. There is a vast field of knowledge, pertaining to this state, that mankind can gain through the medium of their reflecting or reasoning powers; and then there is another vast field that they can explore through the medium of their senses. I am now speaking of temporal knowledge.

We became acquainted with light and color through the organization of our bodies. In other words the Lord has constructed the mortal eye and framed it in such a manner that it is capable of being, acted upon by one of the elements of nature, called light; and that gives us a great variety of knowledge. A blind man knows nothing about light, as we were told here the other day by our President, the blind man knows nothing about light if he were born blind. You cannot, by talking with him for a thousand years, instil into his mind an idea what red, yellow, white, black, green, blue are like; they are ideas that have never entered into his mind. Why? Because the little inlet to this kind of knowledge is closed up, and there is no other part of the spirit exposed to the light. It is only a small place by which the spirit can converse with light and its colors. Just so in regard to many other ideas.

Take a man who is perfectly deaf, who was born deaf, so that no sound has ever entered his ears; what does he know about music? about the various sounds that are so beautiful to the mind of man? He knows nothing at all about it, neither can it be described to him.

A man that has always been deprived of the organ of smell, has no other inlet of knowledge by which he can know and understand the nature of smell; he cannot see a smell, or hear a smell; it can only be perceived by this little organ called the nose; that is the only way these ideas can get to the spirit. If he ever knew them before he came here, he has forgotten them, which is the same as if he had never known them; and if he wishes to gain an idea of the sensations produced by the elements of nature, he must learn them anew by these media. If a man be devoid of taste what can he know about sweet and sour? You might as well talk to him about the bounds of time and space, and get him to comprehend a heaven located beyond their limits, as to comprehend what sweet and bitter are, or tell the difference between a piece of sugar and vinegar, so far as its taste is concerned.

So with regard to touch. There are many things we cannot feel, yet we have knowledge of them; we cannot feel the sun, moon, stars, and comets, and many other things; and if it were not for some senses that give a knowledge of them we should be wrapped in total ignorance concerning them. How do we know, when this spirit is freed from this mortal tabernacle, but that all these senses will be greatly enlarged? If we, by looking through these little eyes of ours, can see objects some thousands of millions of miles distant; if we can see objects that are existing at that immense distance through the medium of these little inlets; suppose that the whole spirit were uncovered and exposed to all the rays of light, can it be supposed that light would not affect the spirit if it were thus unshielded, uncovered, and unclothed? Do you suppose that it would not be susceptible of any impressions made by the elements of light? The spirit is inherently capable of experiencing the sensations of light; if it were not so, we could not see. You might form as fine an eye as ever was made, but if the spirit, in and of itself, were not capable of being acted upon by the rays of light, an eye would be of no benefit. Then unclothe the spirit and instead of exposing a small portion of it about the size of a pea to the action of the rays of light, the whole of it would be exposed. I think we could then see in different directions at once, instead of looking in one particular direction; we could then look all around, us at the same instant. We can see this verified, in some small degree, by bringing to our aid artificial means. Look at the telescopes invented, of what advantage are they? Why, they bring a greater number of rays of light together, and concentrate them upon the retina of the eye. The glasses within the telescope are so constructed as to bring the rays of light to a focus; and when they are placed properly in that instrument it brings a larger number of rays upon the eye, so that it brings objects we cannot see with the natural eye within the power of our vision, thus we are enabled to see many glorious objects in the heavens, that the natural eye could never have gazed upon.

Let the spirit itself be a telescope; or in other words, let there be a million of times more of the surface of the spirit exposed to the rays of light, than is now exposed through the medium of the eyes, or were this body of flesh and bones taken off, and the whole spirit exposed to the rays of light; would not these rays produce an effect upon the spirit? Yes; inasmuch as it is inherently capable of such effects, independent of flesh and bones. Then there would be a vast field opened to the view of the spirit, and this would be opened not in one direction only, but in all directions; we should then have the advantage of the telescope, though it were as large as Lord Ross’s, whose object glass is six feet in diameter. What great improvement it would be if a telescope could be invented, to bring the rays of light on other parts of the spirit, besides the eye. Such will be the case when this tabernacle is taken off; we shall look, not in one direction only, but in every direction. This will be calculated to give us new ideas, concerning the immensity of the creations of God, concerning worlds that may be far beyond the reach of the most powerful instruments that have been called to the aid of man. This will give us information and knowledge we never can know as long as we dwell in this mortal tabernacle. This tabernacle, although it is good in its place, is something like the scaffolding you see round about a new building that is going up; it is only a help, an aid in this imperfect situation; but when we get into another condition, we shall find that these imperfect aids will not be particularly wanted; we shall have other sources of gaining knowledge, besides these inlets, called senses.

In relation to this matter, touching the extension of our knowledge year after year, some people have thought that we should have to learn everything by study. I do not believe it; there are a great many ways of learning things without reasoning or studying them out; without obtaining them through the medium of the five senses. Man will be endowed, after he leaves this tabernacle, with powers and faculties which he, now, has no knowledge of, by which he may learn what is round about him. In order to prove this, let me refer you to some things in some of the revelations which God has given. What is said about the brother of Jared? It is said that the Lord showed him all the children of men previous to his day, and all that were on earth at the time he lived, and all that would be to the end of time. How do you suppose he beheld them? Did he look at them with his natural eyes? How long do you suppose it would take a man to see all that are now living, if he only employed one second to look at each individual? It would take him a long time; it would take him over thirty years. In order to see them all, he must place his eye upon them all. If a man look at one individual in this assembly, though he may indistinctly perceive, on each side of that individual, a vast variety of faces, yet there is only one person that he sees distinctly; the rest only produce very indistinct images upon his vision. So with the brother of Jared; if he had looked at each individual of all the generations for one second successively, it would have taken him over three thousand years to have beheld them all.

There must be some faculty or power natural to God and to superior beings, that man, in this life, is not in possession of in any great degree, by which they can look at a great variety of objects at once. The brother of Jared could look upon past, present, and future generations; they all came before him, and he gazed upon them all; there was not a soul that he did not behold.

Moses also had a similar view; he, at a certain time, was clothed upon with the glory of God; and while he was thus clothed upon, he was enabled to behold many things; and seeing some things that looked very glorious, he wanted to see more; but the Lord said unto him. “No man can behold all my works, except he behold all my glory; and no man can behold all my glory and afterwards remain in the flesh;” that is, it would consume him; the sight would be so overwhelming that the mortal tabernacle would melt away. Should a mortal man be permitted to gaze upon all the works of God, which include all His glory; mortality could not endure it. But the Lord did condescend to give him, in a measure, the same principle that He Himself is in possession of; for the Lord beholds all His works. He says, “Mine eye can pierce them all,” after telling us that the number of worlds were greater than the number of particles in millions of earths like this. Jesus says that he “looked forth upon the wide expanse of eternity.” and that “all things are present before mine eyes.”

Now, the Lord imparted a portion of this principle to Moses. Let us see how it operated on his vision. As soon as Moses got this new principle, not natural to man, what did he behold? He looked upon that which mankind never can look upon in this natural state, without the aid of the same principle; he beheld every particle of the earth, or, as the new revelation says, and there was not a particle of it that he did not behold, discerning it by the spirit of God. What an excellent telescope! Did the Spirit of God impress it by the rays of light upon the retina of the eye only? No: the vision was exhibited to the mind, independent of the natural eye. Instead of acting upon the mere eye, every part of the human spirit could behold and discern, through the medium of that all-powerful substance—the Spirit of God, every particle of this earth. How long would it have taken Moses to have gazed at each particle separately, with the natural eye? While he was gazing with the eye at one, he could not be looking directly at another. It would have taken him a great many millions of years to have gazed directly and distinctly upon every particle of the earth, as we naturally see things in succession. But, instead of this, we find him, in a short space of time, perhaps the interval was only a few minutes or hours, gazing upon every particle of it. Here was something new, and independent of the natural vision, showing him things beneath the surface of the earth. Men look at things above the surface by the natural eye; but here is a man who, by the power of heaven, is enabled to penetrate that which the natural eye could never behold. Suppose that the spirit of man were unclogged from this mortal tabernacle, the Lord could show him the particles of million on millions of worlds, in the same way, and with the same ease, that he showed Moses the particles of one.

By the same power and principle that Moses beheld every particle of this earth, he could have looked at the moon, and beheld every particle of it; and the same power could have shown him every particle of the sun, planets, comets, and fixed stars.

Here, then, is a new faculty of knowledge, very extended in its nature, that is calculated to throw a vast amount of information upon the mind of man, almost in the twinkling of an eye. How long a time would it take a man in the next world, if he had to gain knowledge as we do here, to find out the simplest things in nature? He might reason, and reason for thousands of years, and then hardly have got started. But when this Spirit of God, this great telescope that is used in the celestial heavens, is given to man, and he, through the aid of it, gazes upon eternal things, what does he behold? Not one object at a time, but a vast multitude of objects rush before his vision, and are present before his mind, filling him in a moment with the knowledge of worlds more numerous than the sands of the sea shore. Will he be able to bear it? Yes, his mind is strengthened in proportion to the amount of information imparted. It is this tabernacle, in its present condition, that prevents us from a more enlarged understanding. Moses understood all he saw, so far as the Lord pleased to show him; and if the Lord showed him all the properties, qualities, and connexions of those particles, he would have understood it.

There is a faculty mentioned in the word of God, which we are not in possession of here, but we shall possess it hereafter; that is not only to see a vast number of things in the same moment, looking in all directions by the aid of the Spirit, but also to obtain a vast number of ideas at the same instant. Here, we have to confine ourselves in a little, narrow, contracted space, and we can hardly think of two things at a time; if we do, our minds are distracted, and we cannot think distinctly. Some, by habit, it is true, are able to think of two or three little things at once, or at least the interval between the successive thoughts is so small as to be inappreciable. Some people play on an instrument of music, and may go through a very difficult performance, while their minds are thinking of something else; and by habit, they hardly perceive the working of the musical instrument.

I believe we shall be freed, in the next world, in a great measure, from these narrow, contracted methods of thinking. Instead of thinking in one channel, and following up one certain course of reasoning to find a certain truth, knowledge will rush in from all, quarters; it will come in like the light which flows from the sun, penetrating every part, informing the spirit, and giving understanding concerning ten thousand things at the same time; and the mind will be capable of receiving and retaining all.

Says one, “Shall we have all knowledge?” I have nothing to say about that; that is a matter that you must look to our President for information upon; he is the one to hear upon that subject; and we should not teach anything, when we once ascertain his real mind, that will come in contact with his teachings. I do not know that I have this day presented any views that are different from his: if I have, when he corrects me, I will remain silent upon the subject, if I do not understand it as he does. So with regard to any other principle whatever which I may teach. God has placed him as the President of this Church, as our leader, guide, and teacher, and we are bound not to come in contact with him—not to teach differently to what he does; that is, when we once ascertain fully his mind and views. But, very frequently, mankind are so imperfect, and their minds so contracted, and their knowledge so little, comparatively speaking, that they may throw out many ideas that may not be true. that are incorrect: but the Lord has appointed these that hold the keys, to correct and give us instructions on all principles of doctrine; and as often as they see proper to turn the keys and unlock to their own minds these principles, they can do so. It is not always wisdom to use the keys of knowledge and revelation upon trifling subjects. There may also be many subjects that it is not wisdom for us to understand and receive at present. There may be many items of knowledge in the bosom of God, in the eternal worlds, that He does not see proper to reveal to us, while in our mortal state; consequently, people may differ with regard to their views of those things not revealed, and which they do not understand. In many of my remarks and teachings, I may have laid before you ideas, which, when you come to learn the President’s mind upon them, may be declared erroneous and not sound doctrine. I may have done the same things in many of my writings; but in all points of doctrine, relating to the plan of salvation, and the redemption of man, so far as I understood it, I have endeavored to write that which I, at the time, verily believed to be true. Some of those things may be wrong; I do not say that I am capable, without direct revelation, of writing upon many intricate points, with the same degree of perfection and precision as one who writes only as he is inspired. But I do feel thankful to that God who has placed us in these Valleys of the Mountains, that He has ordained keys by which knowledge and information may be poured down from the great fountain, until we gain all that is necessary for us to know in this state: and I do look forward with great rejoicing at the prospects of the future.

When I speak of the future state of man, and the situation of our spirits between death and the resurrection, I long for the experience and knowledge to be gained in that state, as well as this. We shall learn many more things there; we need not suppose our five senses connect us with all the things of heaven, and earth, and eternity, and space; we need not think that we are conversant with all the elements of nature, through the medium of the senses God has given us here. Suppose He should give us a sixth sense, a seventh, an eighth, a ninth, or a fiftieth. All these different senses would convey to us new ideas, as much so as the senses of tasting, smelling, or seeing communicate different ideas from that of hearing.

Do we suppose the five senses of man converse with all the elements of nature? No. There is a principle called magnetism; we see its effects, but the name of the thing does not give us a knowledge of its nature, or of the manner in which the effects are produced. We know not why a piece of iron will turn towards a magnet this way or that. Now, suppose we had a sixth sense that was so adapted as to perceive this very thing, we should learn some new ideas, connected with the elements of nature, besides those we have learned by the five senses we already possess. I believe there are ten thousand things with which we are surrounded, that we know nothing about by our present natural senses. When the Lord imparts to us a principle by which we can look upon the past and future, as well as the present—by which we can look upon many intricate objects of nature which are now hidden from our view, we shall find our capacity for obtaining and retaining knowledge to be greatly enlarged.

We already have the capacity, and all it wants is to bring things into a situation to act upon it. The capacity is here; and when the Lord sees fit, it will be instructed and taught, and things will be unveiled—even the things of God, and the laws that have been hidden concerning the celestial, terrestrial, and telestial worlds, and concerning all the variety of things that are organized in the immensity of space, so far as the Lord sees proper to unfold them; and we shall learn more and more of them until the perfect day, as the Lord places us in circumstances to become acquainted with them.

I have dwelt upon this subject in order that we may be looking forward with joyful anticipations to the future. I am constantly looking to the future, as well as to the present, and trying to frame my present course of conduct in such a way as shall enable me to attain to that which is in the future for the faithful. If I had no knowledge or understanding of the future, it would be like a person pursuing a phantom that he did not know was of any worth; but the more knowledge we get of the future, the more we impress it upon our minds and in our thoughts the more we will be stirred up in our exertions to do that which concerns us at the present moment, knowing that it has an all-important bearing upon the future.

Faithfulness and Apostacy

Brigham Young

A discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 6, 1855.

Twenty-five years ago to-day this Church was organized with six members. More had been baptized by brother Joseph, but he having received a revelation to organize the Church, and only six members being present, they were all that were then incorporated. Many of the faithful brethren and sisters, who embraced the Gospel of salvation in the early days of the history of this work, have no doubt often looked over the ground this Church has traversed, and have been enabled to discern the invisible hand of the Lord in the preservation of this people in the various scenes they have passed through.

Many times, to all human appearance, there was no temporal salvation for the Saints. Again, those who were not faithful, beholding things as the natural man beholds them, have left the Church; yes, scores of them, hundreds of them, thousands of them, both male and female. They looked at this kingdom, and, considering its progress upon seemingly natural principles, discovered it was best for them to leave it, and if possible save their lives. Those who have been faithful can witness this day, that those who have sought to save their lives have lost them, while those who have sought diligently to build up the kingdom of God, who have clung to the commandments of the Lord, who have not counted their lives dear to them, have saved their lives.

It is marvellous, it is marvellously strange, and truly it is a marvellous work and a wonder, to those destitute of the revelations of Jesus Christ, when they reflect upon the history of this people, in their travels and progress; and it has been a wonder to all who have been acquainted with it.

Those who were acquainted with the rise of this Church, with the lives and acts of the few who then believed the Gospel, and with the lives and acts of many who surrounded them, discovered then that the powers of darkness, the powers of the enemies of all righteousness, were leveled against the few who believed in the Book of Mormon, and who believed that Joseph Smith was a Prophet. Whether they were six in number, or six times six, or whether there was but one, it made no difference. Just as soon as the Book of Mormon was declared to the people, or to a neighborhood, and proclaimed to be the history of the aborigines of our country, and to contain the will of God to the people formerly, and that the Lord Jesus appeared to the inhabitants of this continent and revealed to them the Gospel; that the kingdom of God was built up here; that the Lamanites were a remnant of the house of Israel; and that the set time had come for the Lord to favor Zion and gather Israel; at that very time, on that very day, the powers of darkness were arrayed against the Prophet, against the Book of Mormon, and those who believed it to be what it purported to be.

Has this spirit of persecution ceased? No, not in the least, but it has steadily increased. I was somewhat acquainted with the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, not only through what I read in the newspapers, but I also heard a great many stories and reports which were circulated as quick as the Book of Mormon was printed, and began to be scattered abroad. Then the spirit of persecution, the spirit of death, the spirit of destruction immediately seemed to enter the hearts of the pious priests more particularly than any other portion of the people; they could not bear it. Among those who professed great faith and great piety, and believed in the blessings of sanctification, and professedly believed in the ministering of angels, and in the gift of the Holy Ghost, and that it was the privilege of Christians to enjoy the gifts and graces of the Spirit now, as well as in ancient times, as quick as the Book of Mormon was introduced into conversation, a spirit would rise in them causing them to wish to destroy that book and every person who believed in it. They would say, “It is from hell, it is from the bottomless pit, it is of the devil; and those who believe in it ought to go to hell; it is a pity that such a delusion should be permitted to rise in our Christian country.” Such expressions came from the mouths of religious priests, from the mouths of leading characters in society, from those who professed to hold the keys of salvation, and to teach the people the way of life. Has this spirit ceased? No, it has not, but it has constantly increased. And to my certain knowledge, through the visions of the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, I did know, I did see, I did understand, before I went into the waters of baptism, that this spirit of persecution would increase. As the kingdom of God increased upon the earth, so would the power of the enemy increase in like manner, to keep pace with it; and there never would be a time, except for a short period, that this people would have rest, until Israel was fully gathered, was redeemed and built up, and the Lord had drawn the dividing line between the righteous and the wicked.

This Church has lived twenty-five years and is not dead yet, although a great many of its members have gone behind the vail. Those who were first baptized into the Church have almost entirely left this stage of action. I presume there is not a single person in this congregation who embraced the Book of Mormon in the fall of 1829, or in the fore part of the year 1830. The Prophet, his father, and his brothers, except one, are gone behind the vail. I suppose that Martin Harris and Joseph’s mother are living, but Oliver Cowdery has gone to his long home, and most of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon have died; and I know of but very few in these valleys who embraced the faith of the Gospel in the early days of the rise of this Church. When I call to mind the multitudes with whom I have been acquainted in this kingdom, and reflect how few there are who have stood firm, and how many have apostatized, I often at first think it is strange, but again, it is no marvel, realizing as I do that every person who lives in this Church must be faithful. They cannot run by sight, but must actually exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in order to enjoy the light of the Holy Ghost. When they neglect this, the spirit of the world takes possession of them, and they become cold and fruitless, and pine away into darkness and spiritual death, and finally leave us. Will this continue? Yes.

Perhaps there are many who are astonished to see people apostatize, but it really is no marvel, it is no astonishment at all. If you wish to know the reason why they apostatize, it is because they neglect their duty, lose the Spirit of the Lord, and the spirit of the holy Gospel that they received when they first embraced it. Many receive the Gospel because they know it is true; they are convinced in their judgment that it is true; strong argument overpowers them, and they are rationally compelled to admit the Gospel to be true upon fair reasoning. They yield to it, and obey its first principles, but never seek to be enlightened by the power of the Holy Ghost; such ones frequently step out of the way.

Say they, “Mormonism is true, but I am not going to stand it; I am not going to abide this severe temporal loss; I am not going to stay here and have my rights trampled upon; I am not going to be checked in my career; I do not wish to be trammeled in my doings, but I want my liberty perfectly; still I believe it to be true with. all my heart.”

Well, right upon these statements, if such men only believe “Mormonism” to be true, and that too no stronger than they do, they are not so far ahead in this particular as the devils in hell, for they both believe and know that the Gospel is true. They believe and know that Jesus is the Christ; they believe in the Old and New Testament, and in the Book of Mormon, and know that they are true. They know when a true Prophet comes forth upon the earth; if they did not they would not raise up persecution against him. Not only believing, but knowing that the Gospel is true, they are arrayed in opposition to the truth, and lay every plan and scheme, that it is possible for devils to invent, to overthrow the kingdom of God on earth, that they may retain possession of the world still longer.

Will there still be apostacy? Yes, brethren and sisters, you may expect that people will come into the Church, and then apostatize. You may expect that some people will run well for a season, and then fall out by the way. For example, take the parable of the sower that went out to sow, “and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: but other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundred fold, some sixty fold, some thirty fold.”

When the seed falls into good ground it takes root, and brings forth fruit; such individuals will be faithful to the end. The seed that falls by the way side, for want of root cannot endure the scorching sun of persecution. Those who are represented by the seed among thorns cannot endure because of the cares of the world and the pride of life. The influence and power of the world, and of the adversary, surrounding such individuals, they are by and by turned away, and cease to be Saints, cease to serve the Lord, and turn every one to his own way. Is this strange to you? Yes, for a moment, you say it is very strange. What did you embrace “Mormonism” for? Some have embraced it for the truth’s sake; some love the Gospel because it is the Gospel—because it is based upon true principles, and because it is the only system of doctrine revealed to the children of men, that is built upon a sure foundation. They love truth because it is truth, because it is light, and there is no darkness in it; and they fear not to come to the light that their deeds may be reproved, for they wish to get rid of their evil deeds. They love virtue because it is a holy principle by which the angels live; they love all the Gospel principles because they are connected with eternity, and are the foundation of eternal lives, and will exalt the faithful to happiness and felicity, to kingdoms of glory, power, and immortality, and to all the knowledge and happiness that can be enjoyed by the intelligent beings who inherit eternity.

It is not for me to say how many embrace the Gospel for the sake of the loaves and fishes; but I really think, from their conduct, that many have embraced the Gospel to see if they cannot make gain of it; to see if there is any temporal advantage in it. Let this kingdom or this people prosper, let them be free from persecution at this day, let our friends, our relatives, our former neighbors speak well of us and tell the truth with regard to our temporal prosperity, as they would of other people, and what would be the result? Thousands would professedly embrace the Gospel for the advantages to be derived therefrom, to get a good name, and to obtain the riches which are of this world, and to be perfectly free from restraint. Let this kingdom prosper in a manner that all men will speak well of it, and let there be no trials, no threatenings, none to say, “You shall be killed, you shall be destroyed,” but let all say “Peace shall be with you, we will bless you, we will neighbor with you, and hail you as our friends and brethren;” under such a state of things, thousands would professedly embrace the Gospel for the sake of living in peace, and to obtain the riches of this world; thousands would professedly embrace the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants for political advantages, for a great name, and to obtain what they are seeking after continually. What is that? To be spoken well of by everybody, to obtain power and great influence among men. Were I to give my own private opinion concerning the matter, I cannot say that a great many have come into this Church solely for the worldly advantages which they would derive therefrom. On the other hand, do all people join this Church with a pure intention? A great many embrace the Gospel to be free from the iron hand of oppression; under which they are labouring continually, from year to year, in servile chains, toiling to get a morsel of bread to subsist upon. They are ground down and afflicted; their wages are cut down to the last penny they can live upon, when they know that they must labor or die.

Thousands are in this pitiable condition, and would embrace anything, I do not care what under the heavens was preached to them. You may go and preach the doctrines of Universalism, of Infidelity, or of any other belief in the world, you may boil them down and get their very essence, and with it tell those who are oppressed and borne down by the rich and the great, “You shall be delivered from your factories, you shall make your escape from your shops of toil; we are preaching this to the poor; now embrace our system and our doctrine, and you shall be delivered from this iron hand of oppression. We will take you to a land of plenty, to a land of freedom, where you can enjoy your rights and be blessed, and have the privilege of obtaining, with comparative ease like other men, all the comforts of this life.” What is their reply? “O, we will embrace your religion, if you will only take us away from these toils and this starvation.” Many embrace the Gospel, actuated by no other motive than to have the privilege of being removed from their oppressed condition to where they will not suffer. They will embrace any doctrine under the heavens, if you will only ‘take them from their present condition.

Are there any with us who act upon the same principle? O yes, you may, once in a while, see one who is acting upon that principle. Let persecution be heaped upon this people as it has been heretofore, even let the persecutors threaten, at the great distance from us that they are now, and those who have embraced the Gospel with motives that are not in every sense pure, will say, “I am for embracing something else to get rid of persecution; I am for leaving these Latter-day Saints, lest affliction, trouble, and persecution come upon me and I be killed, or be made to suffer in the flesh. I am going to leave for California, or for the United States, or I am going to do something; I want to do that which will free me from all earthly suffering and trouble.” Do these considerations touch one who has embraced the Gospel because of its principles? No. Those who feel like forsaking the religion of Jesus Christ for such considerations, embraced it at first to better their temporal position in life, and for nothing else. This has always been the case with many, and when persecution has come, men and women have said, “I cannot bear it, I thought I was going to have happiness, and to enjoy life; I really supposed that my sorrows were all ended.”

A great many have embraced the Gospel, believing that their sorrows would come to an end, at a certain period in this Church and kingdom, on the earth, and that too, speedily. I am a witness to this in my own experience and feelings. When I yielded obedience to the commandments of the Lord, the brethren were preparing to gather to a place that was called Zion, in Jackson County, on the western borders of the State of Missouri. I then actually had faith and the spirit of Zion to such a degree, that I supposed that if we got to Zion our worldly sorrows and afflictions would cease. I had not however a disposition to go there myself, for I wanted to go to the world and proclaim the word of the Lord that was revealed to me, and on that account I never had the privilege of settling in that county. The spirit of Zion which I then possessed is the spirit that inhabits the heavens and fills them, it is in and round about all heavenly beings.

When that spirit is imparted to individuals they realize it as it is in its purity, and are not mindful, at all times, that they are still embodied in a tabernacle of clay that is subject to the power of the devil, and that is liable to be afflicted at any moment, and to have severe trials, and be opposed and persecuted as long as they are in the flesh. But when the spirit that fills eternity is breathed into a person everything else is dispersed in a moment, and he sees Zion as it is in its purity, he then enjoys the spirit of Zion.

A great many people imbibed the same idea which I did in the beginning, and really believed that in Jackson County all the earthly sorrows, afflictions, disappointments, and weaknesses pertaining to the flesh would be at an end, and that every one would be sanctified before the Lord, and all would be peace and joy from morning until evening, and from year to year, until the Savior should come.

The brethren who went then found themselves mistaken, in a very short time. Those who went there, and those who were acquainted with their going and coming, found the world, the flesh, and the devil there, just as much as any where else, unless they had faith to turn every spirit of the world out of doors, that is, out of their hearts. They found the same tempter, the same covetous feelings, and the same allurements there, as in other places.

When our Elders go out to preach the Gospel, they tell the people to gather to Zion. Where is it? It is at the City of the Great Salt Lake in the Valleys of the Mountains, in the settlements of Utah Territory—there is Zion now. But you perceive when you come here the same covetous feelings imbibed in the hearts of many, as in other places, the same tempter is here, and there are plenty of allurements; and unless the people live before the Lord in the obedience of His commandments, they cannot have Zion within them. They must carry it with them, if they expect to live in it, to enjoy it, and increase in it. If they do not do this, they are as much destitute of Zion here as they are in other places. Some inquire, “Why cannot we serve God in other countries as well as here?” You can just as well in England, in France, in Germany, in Italy, on the Islands of the Sea, in the United States, in California, or anywhere else, as you can here. “Well, then, let us go,” say they. But hold on, you can serve Him just as well anywhere else, when it is your duty to be there. If it is not your duty to be anywhere else, if you would serve him acceptably, it must be where He calls you. To what part of the earth is the Lord now calling His Saints? He has opened up their way far into the interior of North America, they are widely removed from all surrounding civilization.

If you will examine the map you will find that we are located in an isolated portion of what? Of Zion. And what is Zion? In one sense Zion is the pure in heart. But is there a land that ever will be called Zion? Yes, brethren. What land is it? It is the land that the Lord gave to Jacob, who bequeathed it to his son Joseph, and his posterity, and they inhabit it, and that land is North and South America. That is Zion as to land, as to Territory, and location. The children of Zion have not yet much in their possession, but their territory is North and South America to begin with. As to the spirit of Zion, it is in the hearts of the Saints, of those who love and serve the Lord with all their might, mind, and strength. We have opened up the way, and come here, and what will you see? Just as much weakness and trouble as in any other place, if you have a mind to make it—which you will if you do wickedly, and perform that which is derogatory to the principles of righteousness. We can make the Territory of Utah one of greatest sinks of iniquity upon the face of the whole earth, and exceed the abominations of the ancient Sodomites, if we are so disposed.

The first founders of this Territory, those who dug their way through the mountains, cut the sage brush, killed the snakes, made the roads, built bridges and houses, opened farms, laid out and built cities where no white man ever thought that civilized people could subsist, unless they brought provisions from a distant country, can now assemble together surrounded with the comforts and many of the luxuries of this life. No white man who ever passed through this country believed that a settlement could be made in these mountains, and prosper in cultivating the earth. The Lord has brought us here, and what have we brought? Most certainly ourselves, and after we get here some want to go away, and say that the place is not holy enough for them, that they will not endure it, but will withdraw from this society, until we are pure enough, and then they will come back again. Such persons are like those who stayed in Jackson County, they are too pure and holy for themselves. But if they stay, they stay with themselves, and if they go, they take themselves with them, and that is their great difficulty. If they could leave themselves behind, we might succeed in cleansing them from sin; but no, they go and have to take themselves with them.

The Saints who first came into these valleys necessarily brought their tabernacles with them, but we endeavored not to bring any selfishness with us, any erroneous prepossessed notions, any feelings, laws, rules, or acts pertaining to ourselves, except such as the Lord should dictate day by day.

Suppose that every person who comes into these valleys should come with a determination to be led by the Lord, from day to day; suppose they should say, “I will serve my God and keep His commandments; I will not set a stake here, or there, or anywhere else; I will not say that I will rise up to-morrow, and go to this city, or to that town, to exchange and trade to get gain, only as the Lord will say, and this will I do from this time, henceforth and forever;” and then let each one faithfully maintain such a determination, and we could truly say that we have the Territory of Zion, and the spirit, light, glory, and power thereof, and that the God of Zion dwells with this people.

But if we bring our old traditions with us, our prepossessed feelings and notions of this, that, and the other; and set our stakes, build our habitations, and locate our position in accordance therewith, and say, “I will do so and so, this is the path I will pursue, and I am determined to walk in it, regardless of everything else,” then we may expect to be overthrown, and the spirit of the holy Gospel will depart from us. Then you would soon learn that there was no temporal, no natural prospect for this people to escape from utter destruction; and you would rise up and say, “I am off to California to save my life.” But those who try to save their lives by their skill and craftiness, will lose them, both temporally and spiritually.

A great many say, “I believe the Gospel,” but continue to act wickedly, to do that which they know to be wrong. I wish you to fully understand that merely believing the Gospel, that Jesus is the Christ, in the Old and New Testaments, that Joseph Smith was a Prophet sent of God, and that the Book of Mormon is true, does not prepare you to become angels of light, sons and daughters of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ to a divine inheritance. Nor does mere belief entitle you to the possession of the crowns and thrones that you are anticipating. No, such preparation can be made, and such objects attained only by doing the work required of us by our Father in heaven, by obeying Him in all things, letting our will, dispositions, and feelings fall to our feet, to rise no more, from this time henceforth, and actually operating upon the principle that we will do the will of our Father in heaven, no matter what comes upon us. Then, if you are going to be killed by your enemies, or destroyed by the adversary, you can say, “Kill away, destroy away.”

True, the enemy of all righteousness, Lucifer, the son of the morning, the devil, is in possession of the world, and of nearly all that is in it, and says, “I am determined to destroy every man, woman, and child that will not yield to my kingdom, obey my mandates, and renounce the Lord Jesus Christ.” But my determination is, not to renounce the Lord Jesus Christ and his commandments, but to keep his commandments faithfully, and let this people pursue the same course, and wait until the final issue, and see who will come off victorious in the great contest.

At present the enemies of all righteousness have the lead, and say, “Now you poor Mormons, are you not afraid that we can muster our thousands, and destroy every one of you?” “Go to hell,” say I, “and be damned; for you will go there, and you are damned already.” I can prove from the Scriptures that they are in hell, though sanctimonious persons consider it wicked to make such remarks. I also say, “Stay in the hell you are in, if you choose, or go to another if you can.”

Are the people going to fear? If fear is in the hearts of any of you, it is because you do not pray often enough; or when you do pray you are not sufficiently humble before the Lord. You do not plead with Him until your will is swallowed up in His. If every one of the Latter-day Saints lived up to their privileges, they would not fear the world, and all that they can no, any more than they fear that the cranes, that fly croaking three quarters of a mile above them, will drop their eggs upon them to dash their brains out. You might as well fear that event, as to fear all the forces of hell, if the people were sanctified before the Lord, and would do His will every day.

Are these ideas strange to you? Read and learn how the Lord protected the children of Israel in former days, even during their wickedness, and rebellion against Him.

Whenever a good man would say, “Cease your wickedness, turn from your idols, and seek to the Lord,” and they hearkened to his counsel, then the Lord would fight their battles, and kill their enemies by scores and hundreds of thousands. And on one occasion the angel of the Lord slew one hundred and eighty-five thousand of those who came against His people to destroy them, “and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.” So reads the Bible. The Lord fought their battles.

Again, Elisha’s servant saw that there was more for them than all who were against them; he saw that the sides of the mountains were covered with “chariots of fire.”

When the Lord commands those invisible beings, shall I say, those who have had their resurrection? yes, millions and millions more than the inhabitants of this earth, they can fight your battles.

Now, since one angel could fight their battles in former times, and overcome the enemies of the people of God, whom shall we fear? Shall we fear those who can kill the body, and then have no more that they can do? No, but we will fear Him who is able not only to destroy the body but has power to cast both soul and body into hell fire.

There is an item of doctrine that I will now present just as it occurs to me. You are aware that many think that the devil has rule and power over both body and spirit. Now, I want to tell you that he does not hold any power over man, only so far as the body overcomes the spirit that is in a man, through yielding to the spirit of evil. The spirit that the Lord puts into a tabernacle of flesh, is under the dictation of the Lord Almighty; but the spirit and body are united in order that the spirit may have a tabernacle, and be exalted; and the spirit is influenced by the body, and the body by the spirit.

In the first place the spirit is pure, and under the special control and influence of the Lord, but the body is of the earth, and is subject to the power of the devil, and is under the mighty influence of that fallen nature that is of the earth. If the spirit yields to the body, the devil then has power to overcome both the body and spirit of that man, and he loses both.

Recollect, brethren and sisters, every one of you, that when evil is suggested to you, when it arises in your hearts, it is through the temporal organization. When you are tempted, buffetted, and step out of the way inadvertently; when you are overtaken in a fault, or commit an overt act un-thinkingly; when you are full of evil passion, and wish to yield to it, then stop and let the spirit, which God has put into your tabernacles, take the lead. If you do that, I will promise that you will overcome all evil, and obtain eternal lives. But many, very many, let the spirit yield to the body, and are overcome and destroyed.

The influence of the enemy has power over all such. Those who overcome every passion, and every evil, will be sanctified, and be prepared to enjoy eternity with the blessed. If you have never thought of this before, try to realize it now. Let it rest upon your minds, and see if you can discover in yourselves the operations of the spirit and the body, which constitute the man. Continually and righteously watch the spirit that the Lord has put in you, and I will promise you to be led into righteousness, holiness, peace, and good order.

But let the body rise up with its passions, with the fallen nature pertaining to it, and let the spirit yield to it, your destruction is sure. On the other hand, let the spirit take the lead, and bring the body and its passions into subjection, and you are safe.

It is instructive to reflect upon the, acts of men, to observe what prompts them to action, and to see how liable they are to get out of the way, how weak they are, how short-coming, how failing in their spirits to do the will of the Lord, and how fearful they are. Afraid of what? Do you reflect and realize that your fear is all pertaining to your bodies, that it not pertaining to your spirits? Let me tell you, when the spirit is once separated from the body, it is one of the most beautiful and delightful objects that you could contemplate, and there is nothing that can give a pure spirit so much joy as to have the privilege of being separated from the body and of going back to its Father in heaven, to await the morning of the resurrection.

Remember this when you are afflicted with fear and trembling, and are exclaiming, “Oh what shall we do?” Do you recollect what has been said here? I recollect that when I chastised certain individuals who were really not worth any body’s notice, the cry of some was, “O, dear! we are all going to be destroyed, where shall I go to save my life, to the north, south, east or west?” That fear arose from the organization of the tabernacle, and not from the spirit within it.

The fear and trembling, the misgivings and wavering arise from the anxiety we have to know how to save ourselves pertaining to the flesh. That weakness is not exhibited in the spirit.

I am afflicted with it just as you are, but what do my judgment, the revelations of Jesus Christ, the Scriptures, and the spirit of the Gospel teach me? That my tabernacle is of comparatively small value, although it is a pretty fair one, and one that I am willing to take in the morning of the resurrection. The Lord gave it to me, and I am thankful for it. When it is the will of my Father that my spirit should return to Him, what do I care about the mouldering tabernacle, so that the spirit is unlocked, and set free from its prison-house of clay? It can go to the Father who gave it, until the body is resurrected, when the spirit will again be reunited with the tabernacle, to be exalted to thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, and spread abroad, and to the increase there shall be no end.

Fears arise from the weaknesses of the flesh, over which the devil has power. We should care, comparatively, but little about it; let it crumble, let it fall, and go back to its mother earth, and be reserved to the morning of the resurrection. I shall have this body again, then what need we care how quickly our bodies dissolve? All I care for it, in my spirit, in my judgment, and in my moments of reflection and revelation, is merely that I wish it to endure here to fight the tabernacles which devils dwell in, until the last one is driven from the earth. Then let my tabernacle stay here and contend with the fallen nature that it is heir to, and let my spirit rise triumphant over it, until every passion, feeling, and appetite is brought in subjection to the will of God. Let me stay here until I have accomplished this, and have done the work I was designed for in this my probation, then my spirit will be free from mobs and strife, and I can soar far above those who have power over them, even death, hell, and the grave.

I say to the Latter-day Saints, who are coming here by thousands and thousands, and who are coming into the Church by tens of thousands, begin to think, especially some of you first Elders, and ask yourselves how many you can bring to mind of those who are now in good faith in the Church, in proportion to the number that you have known to have come into it, and you will find that there are only a very few.

If you should hunt up many of those who have been baptized for some time, but have not yet gathered, and ask them if they believe that Joseph Smith was a true Prophet of God, and that the Book of Mormon is true, several of them will reply, “O yes.” “Then why don’t you gather with the Saints?” “O, I don’t know; I am poor now; but I would very much like to gather with them.” At the same time, I know that their feelings are, “If I go there I shall be persecuted, but if I live here I shall have peace with my neighbors, so long as I let religious matters alone, and here I can live without persecution, until my tabernacle is ready to return to the earth.” What makes them have that fear of trials and persecutions? It is on account of their tabernacles. The spirit is not afraid. If it was free of the encumbrances of the tabernacle, no such fear would be manifested; and while we are in the flesh the Gospel is calculated to deliver those who live by its principles from all those fears.

I recollect many times when brother Joseph, reflecting upon how many would come into the Kingdom of God and go out again, would say, “Brethren, I have not apostatized yet, and don’t feel like doing so.” Many of you, no doubt, can call to mind his words. Joseph had to pray all the time, exercise faith, live his religion, and magnify his calling, to obtain the manifestations of the Lord, and to keep him steadfast in the faith.

Do you not know others who had manifestations almost equal to those Joseph had, but who have gone by the board? Martin Harris declared, before God and angels, that he had seen angels. Did he apostatize? Yes, though he says that the Book of Mormon is true. Oliver Cowdery also left the Church, though he never denied the Book of Mormon, not even in the wickedest days he ever saw and came back into the Church before he died. A gentleman in Michigan said to him, when he was pleading law, “Mr. Cowdery, I see your name attached to this book; if you believe it to be true, why are you in Michigan?” The gentleman read over the names of the witnesses, and said, “Mr. Cowdery, do you believe this book?” “No, sir,” replied Oliver Cowdery. “That is very well, but your name is attached to it, and you say here that you saw an angel, and the plates from which this book is said to be translated, and now you say that you do not believe it. Which time was you right?” Mr. Cowdery replied, “There is my name attached to that book, and what I have there said that I saw, I know that I saw, and belief has nothing to do with it, for knowledge has swallowed up the belief that I had in the work, since I know it is true.” He gave this testimony when he was pleading law in Michigan. After he had left the Church he still believed “Mormonism;” and so it is with hundreds and thousands of others, and yet they do not live it.

If the Saints in the midst of these mountains would live their religion according to the best of their knowledge, according to what they see, feel, and hear, there is no power that could move them out of their place.

A great many of the new comers have been in the Church but a short time, but you may take the Saints as a body, from those who have been in the Kingdom twenty, and twenty-two years, to those who have embraced it but a few years past, and, according to my feelings and faith, and I will call upon every man and woman, who has got the Holy Ghost, to say whether I am right, faith and good works are rapidly increasing among this people. You know whether I tell the truth, or not. If they have not increased, for heaven’s sake, for God’s sake, for your own soul’s sake, for Zion’s sake, for Jerusalem’s sake, and for the sake of scattered Israel, let them increase from this time henceforth. Let “Mormonism,” the faith of the Gospel, which is “Mormonism,” continue to increase, and cease all your evil deeds, and return to the Lord, and be honest and true. I tell you that a man cannot believe “Mormonism” as I do, and be a bad man.

You will find in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and in the other revelations of God, that there is a clear distinction made between the sinner and the ungodly. A person to be ungodly must have known godliness, and must have a knowledge of what the Lord requires concerning him. There are many in the midst of this people who believe the Gospel with all their hearts, but yet do wickedly; this makes them ungodly. Do wickedly no more, but follow good works, and cherish faith and benevolence one to another.

Progress of the Work, etc.

Orson Pratt

An address by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the New Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, April 7, 1855.

With great pleasure I arise before this large congregation assembled here in the capacity of a General Conference. I feel great joy in having the privilege which is now granted to me to stand before you. What I may say, I do not know, but I trust in that God whom we all serve, that He will pour out upon us the Spirit of truth—the Comforter—that shall enable us to say those things which shall do you the most good.

I do not know that I shall be enabled to make the outskirts of this large assembly hear me, but I will speak as loud as I conveniently can.

I truly feel to rejoice, when reflecting upon the greatness of the work in which we are engaged; I rejoice with that joy which I am incapable of finding language to express. The Lord has truly accomplished great things during the twenty-five years that this Church has had an existence upon the earth—things that no man, unless he were filled with a very great measure of the Spirit of God, could have anticipated in the early rise of this Church. Nothing but the hand of an Almighty Being could have brought about a work of the magnitude which we behold before our eyes. It is the hand of the Almighty; it is the power which He has ordained, and the agencies that He has employed, which have performed that which we behold before us.

I have not only read the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but I have grown up, as it were, in their midst. It will be twenty-five years next September since I was baptized into this Church. At that time I am not aware that there were fifty persons who had been baptized into the Church. How many of those persons still live, and are in the faith, I know not; but I believe, from the testimony of our President, which was given before us in the tabernacle yesterday, that if we were to search through the lengths and breadths of our Territory, and among all the various Branches scattered abroad, there are but a very few individuals indeed, of those who embraced the work in the early rise of this Church, that are still living and strong in the faith. Many of them are gone to the tomb; their bodies slumber while their spirits are mingling with the just, waiting the sound of the trump to call them forth to glory, immortality, and eternal lives. How soon we shall follow and lay down these mortal tabernacles, we know not; neither do I, as an individual, care, if I can be prepared in all things, if I can be ready for that day, to stand in my lot and station, and receive the reward that is promised to those who endure in faith to the end; it matters not to me whether the time shall be longer or shorter; and I presume there are thousands now before me who feel on this subject in the same manner that I do; they care but a very little about this mortal tabernacle; they are looking for a building not made with hands, eternal in the heavens; they are looking for mansions that are prepared in the presence of God their Father; they are looking for immortality and eternal lives.

But we have no promise, unless we endure in faith unto the end; whether we live few or many years upon the earth, we must endure through all the trials, tribulations, difficulties, and persecutions which the Lord sees fit in His infinite wisdom to cause us, as individuals, or as a people, to wade through; we must endure them, and hold steadfast to the faith, if we would inherit the crowns of eternal lives that are promised to the faithful.

In speaking of this, I will qualify my language by saying, that the Saint who has been sealed unto eternal life and falls into transgression and does not repent, but dies in his sin, will be afflicted and tormented after he leaves this vale of tears until the day of redemption; but having been sealed with the spirit of promise through the ordinances of the house of God, those things which have been sealed upon his head will be realized by him in the morning of the resurrection. But it is my desire and my constant prayer that I may so live, that when I depart from this life—when I lay down this mortal body, (if I am called upon to lay it down before the coming of our Lord,) I may enter into the paradise of rest, and not only conquer Satan, and have power over him here, but have power over him and all his hosts hereafter. These are my feelings, these are my desires, and this is my prayer.

What am I willing to do to accomplish this? I will tell you what I feel willing to do. I am willing to do everything the Lord requires at my hands, so far as I understand His will concerning me. What is property? what is gold? what is silver? what are houses and inheritances, or any of the riches of this world, compared with the riches of eternal life? Have I anything that I have obtained by my own wisdom, or by my own exertions, independent of the hand and providences of the Almighty? No, I have not. The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof is His. I am in His hands, and all that I have is in His hands; and if the servants of God require it, if God desires all that I have, it is on hand, at any moment. These are my feelings; and should not these be the feelings of all the Latter-day Saints? (Voice, “Yes.”)

We heard the testimony of our President from this stand this forenoon, concerning himself, and that which God has been pleased to put within his possession. God has been with him, and His hand has been over him for good, and He has blessed him in all things that he has set his hand to do, even as He blessed Joseph when he was sent down into Egypt. He has accumulated by the providence of the Almighty much of this world’s goods; God has given it to him. You heard him express himself before you, that he had made arrangements to consecrate all that he has unto the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If, then, our President—a man of great possessions, with houses and lands, inheritances, cattle, and with an abundance, is willing to consecrate the whole of it for the building up of the cause of God, should not we be willing to follow in his footsteps? Yes, verily.

As I have said in days that are past, the time will come, (and how soon we know not,) but it will come, when this people will become of one heart and of one mind in temporal things, as well as in spiritual: they will as individuals be identified with the Church, and all they possess, whether it be gold, or silver, or jewelery, or cattle, or flocks, or herds, or lands, or houses, or wives, or children, it matters not what they possess, it will all go as it shall please the Lord, according to His counsel, and His direction for the building up of this kingdom.

But you know that property is the Gentiles’ god; it is sought after more eagerly than any other thing by the Gentile nations; it is worshipped by them, and their hearts are set on their treasures; and their treasures are of the earth and of an earthy nature; and it will take a long time for the Saints to get rid of their old idols—their idolatrous notions and traditions. The Gentile god has great influence even over the Saints; consequently it will take years to eradicate covetousness from our hearts; as our President has told us that the law relating to a full consecration of our property would perhaps be one of the last laws that would be fulfilled before the coming of Christ. Much patience and forbearance will need to be exercised before the Saints will get completely rid of their old traditions, Gentile notions, and whims about property, so as to come to that perfect law required of them in the revelations of Jesus Christ. But the day will come when there will be no poor in Zion, but the Lord will make them equal in earthly things, that they may be equal in heavenly things; that is, according to His notions of equality, and not according to our narrow, contracted views of the same.

Having said this much with regard to property, I wish now to say a few words in regard to one of the most glorious events which has taken place for a long time. It is in regard to sending the Gospel to the house of Israel. O how this ought to rejoice the hearts of the Saints! The Lord told us, in the early rise of this Church, something about the day that is now upon us, and we understood it in a measure; but now the period—the glorious period, has arrived, when we can see the thing fulfilling before our eyes. If you will read the revelations given in 1833, you will find in them a promise made, when the time should arrive for this Gospel to be sent to the house of Israel. If you will read another revelation given on the 7th day of March, 1831, you will there learn also concerning the fulfilment of the times of the Gentiles.

I wish to say a few words upon two subjects; first, the times of the Gentiles being come in; and second, their times being fulfilled, and the sending of the Gospel to the house of Israel.

In a revelation, given in March, 1831, (twenty-four years ago,) to the Prophet Joseph, concerning what Jesus said to the Apostles at Jerusalem, in regard to the last days, and the day of their redemption, etc., Jesus said to his Apostles, when that day shall come, and the light shall begin to break forth among them that sit in darkness, when the fulness of my Gospel shall begin to break forth, that is the period when “the time of the Gentiles shall come in.” Mark the expression; when the light shall begin to break forth, then at that period the time of the Gentiles shall have come in, and in that generation “the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled.”

Here then, we perceive the two distinctions, when the light begins to break forth; that is, when the Book of Mormon is translated, when the Church is organized, these events bring in the time of the Gentiles, and in the generation that the light breaks forth the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled. We are also told in the same revelation that the Jews who were to be scattered from old Jerusalem, should remain scattered, until the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled; consequently, this is the reason why the Jews have not gathered since the rise of this Church. If they were gathered together—if they had assembled at old Jerusalem, it would have contradicted the prophecies and revelations God has given on this subject. They are to remain scattered, said the Lord, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, and their times are to be fulfilled in the generation that their time comes in, or when the light of the fulness of the Gospel begins to break forth.

Another revelation upon this subject says, that after the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, the servants of God should be sent forth to Israel. What shall then take place? Behold, “then cometh the day of my power.” “Then,” when the servants of God turn from the Gentile nations, and shall go forth by commandment of the Almighty, being sent by His Church, the voice of His people, and the Holy Spirit, unto the nations of Israel, “then cometh the day of my power,” saith the Lord. What kind of power? He goes on to tell us, that it should come to pass, that the tribes and nations of Joseph should hear the Gospel in their own tongue, and in their own language, through those who are sent forth and ordained unto this power through the gift of the Holy Ghost shed forth upon them, for the revelations of Jesus Christ.

Now the Lord does not accomplish all things in twenty-four years, but He takes His own time to bring to pass the great work He is performing on the earth. Twenty-five years have passed away, and the voice of the Spirit in the servants of God now is, “Go forth to the house of Israel; for lo, the Gentiles count themselves unworthy of eternal life, go to the house of Israel, to the seed of Jacob, call upon them, hunt them out from the holes, the rocks, and from the dens of the earth; gather them together, that the covenants and promises made to their fathers my be realized and fulfilled.” Israel are upon all the face of the earth. Some think that these American Indians are Israel, and we think that they are too; but they are only one part or portion of the twelve tribes; indeed, they are only a very small portion of the tribes of Joseph, the most of them being the descendants of Manasseh. But Israel dwell upon the islands of the sea, and in the countries and nations of Europe, in the various kingdoms and empires of Asia; some are scattered through Africa, and wherever you go you find the promised seed—the descendants of Jacob. And if we had the voice of a trumpet and could make our speech heard unto the ends of the earth, we would say to all the nations of our globe—to all peoples, kindreds, and tongues, “Hear ye, when the Lord sends forth a proclamation to Israel that are in your midst; for then shall be fulfilled that which is written, that all nations shall see the salvation of God, for His arm shall be made bare in the eyes of all people; it shall be made bare in power, in signs, in wonders, and in mighty miracles, to bring about His purposes unto the house of Israel.”

Who, then, does not feel honored that has been appointed to such a mission by the servants of God during this Conference. Do the missionaries, do the Elders count this a light thing? They should have no such feelings as these; great things result from small beginnings, and the Lord delights to work among the children of men in this way, bringing about great results from small things, that is, from things that are apparently small. This was the case in regard to the organization of this Church with six members only.

Twenty-five years ago yesterday, we were organized into a Church capacity, to whom the Lord gave revelations through the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator who was in our midst, concerning the things that are now about to take place. From, six members it has multiplied, and multiplied, until at the present time, there is scarcely a nation under the whole heavens, but what has heard the voices of the servants of the living God. This is something glorious; it is something that is calculated to give joy to the hearts of the Saints of the Most High. What can be more pleasing than to see the prophecies both of ancient and modern times fulfilling constantly before our eyes.

“But,” inquire the people, “do you believe that the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled yet?” No; they are not fulfilled yet. Hundreds and thousands, and tens of thousands of the Gentiles among the various nations of the earth will yet bow to the fulness of the Gospel; and they will come, and the gates of Zion will not be shut day nor night, that the forces of the Gentiles may flow unto her. The Lord will continue to work among both Israel and Gentiles, and His power will increase, the more we send the Gospel among Israel; the more the servants of God seek for the seed of Jacob, the more will the powers of heaven be displayed for the redemption of that people. They are the promised seed; God has not forgotten the prayers of their fathers; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob prayed for their posterity, and they had faith for them and in them all the nations of the earth are to be blessed. And those that bow down and worship the works of their own hands will forsake their idols when the day of the Lord’s power shall be made manifest in and through the chosen seed. Then will be fulfilled that which was written by the Prophet Ezekiel, that the Lord will gather them with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out: and He will assemble them in the wilderness, and there will He plead with them face to face, like as He plead with their fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt; thus saith the Lord, by the mouth of Ezekiel. He will plead with them by His power; He will plead with them by His angels; and He will plead with them by the revelation of His own face.

And this makes me think of the prophecy delivered by the Prophet Joseph, concerning the Elders in this Church. They were very anxious, in the early rise of the Church, to have the angels of God come from heaven to administer to them, and to have the face of the Lord unvailed in their midst, when they were unprepared for it. By sectarianism and the traditions handed down to us by our fathers, we were not prepared to abide the presence of those holy beings who dwell in the celestial worlds. Joseph, knowing this by the Spirit of truth, arose and said to the Elders, that when the time came that they should go forth unto the house of Israel, when that day should arrive, and their hearts were sufficiently purified before the Lord, then the Lord should appear unto them, that is, in His own time, in His own way, and after His own order, and in His own place. Now this will shortly be fulfilled. Let these missionaries go forth and endure troubles like good and faithful Elders; let them bear all afflictions and trials. patiently; let them not be faint-hearted when they go hungry and thirsty; and when they suffer cold, and when they are in deep distress and sore difficulties; for be assured that the time is not far distant when God will fulfil these promises that He made by the mouth of His servant Joseph the Prophet; and the face of the Lord will be unvailed.

How pleasant—how glorious it would be, if we had proved ourselves in all things; if we had become pure in heart, with no unbelief, no evil, no abominations, but our hearts perfectly pure before God; if we could behold His smiling face, and look upon Him, and hear the words of His mouth, pronouncing blessings upon our heads. Would not this be worth sacrificing all things for? Yes; how pleasing—how glorious it would be, could we see those three old Nephites whose prayers have ascended up, for something like 1800 years, in behalf of the children of men in the last days, and have them return to their old native land, and find the kingdom of God prepared and pure to receive them, and could we hear their teachings, and their voices lifted up in our midst.

Should not this be cheering to our hearts. Yes. Is there anything too great for us to suffer or endure, or any sacrifice too great for us to make to be prepared to receive blessings of this description? No. Then let us wake up, and be assured that just as soon as we prepare ourselves for these blessings, so soon they will be upon our heads. Do you suppose that these three Nephites have any knowledge of what is going on in this land? They know all about it; they are filled with the spirit of prophecy. Why do they not come into our midst? Because the time has not come. Why do they not lift up their voices in the midst of our congregations? Because there is a work for us to do preparatory to their reception, and when that is accomplished, they will accomplish their work, unto whomsoever they desire to minister. If they shall pray to the Father, says the Book of Mormon, in the name of Jesus, they can show themselves unto whatsoever person or people they choose. The very reason they do not come amongst us is, because we have a work to do preparatory to their coming; and just as soon as that is accomplished they are on hand, and also many other good old worthy ancients that would rejoice our hearts could we behold their countenances, and hear them recite over the scenes they have passed through, and the history of past events, as well as prophecy of the events to come. How great and how precious are the promises of the Lord, contained in ancient revelation! how great and precious are the promises He is still making almost every week from the stand, by the mouth of the President whom He has appointed over all this Church! How earnestly has He plead with us as a people! Can we not bear witness? Would not the walls of this Tabernacle, if they could speak, bear witness how faithfully we have been warned, week after week, month after month, and year after year, to cease from all evil, to purify our hearts, to do the things that are required at our hands, and not merely say, “Yes, we will go and do it,” but go and do it? It is the study of the servants of God, by day and by night, how to sanctify this people before God—how to lead them according to the law of righteousness, until they hate wickedness and abomination; and when the servants of God see evil rising in our midst they are filled with the spirit of justice, the Spirit of the Almighty fills their souls with indignation against all wicked works, and abominations, and dishonesty, and corruption that may enter these peaceful Valleys. Let us then give heed to the warning voice; let us not count these things as a mere song—as a trifling anecdote to amuse our ears, but let us endeavor to do the things that are required at our hands.

If we have property, let us tithe that property; if we have the privilege of consecrating all we have, and it is required, let us do it freely, and voluntarily, and that will be pleasing in the sight of God, trusting in Him who holds the heavens and the earth in His own hands, who holds the creations of eternity in His own hands, and sways His sceptre over kingdoms and worlds without number, and controls them according to His own will and pleasure. Has He not told us, in the early rise of this Church, if we would do His will, and seek the riches that is the will of the Father to bestow upon us, we should be the richest of all people; for the riches of eternity should be given to us, and it must needs be, saith the Lord, that the riches of the earth are mine to give. They are all His; how easily He could turn all the riches of the earth into our hands, if we were only prepared to receive them and use them according to His will. But He knows the time to hasten them, and He knows the secret intents of our hearts as a people; He knows whether we are prepared to use the riches of the earth to build up His kingdom or not, and He will withhold them, until the time shall fully come for Him to bless us according to the promise He has made—until we shall be prepared to receive them; we shall have riches then in great plenty. Gold will be so plentiful that we may find no use for it only to make culinary and other utensils; we may use some of it for paving our streets, and for whatsoever is necessary; we can use the gold and silver which we have not toiled for in the gold mines of California and Australia, to collect for ourselves; we shall have that which others have labored for, but were unworthy because of wickedness to enjoy.

We have heard the Elders of the Church give us some idea how this may be brought about. How easy it is for the Lord to stay the rains of heaven, as He did last season in the United States, and shut up the windows on high, that they should not pour out their refreshing showers on the earth, and cause the grain to wither away, and the earth to become barren and desolate, and to reduce the people to starvation; how easy it is for Him to cause these Valleys to be far more abundantly fruitful than heretofore, and to yield their strength in great profusion to the inhabitants of this Territory, and to make their granaries flow with plenty, so that they should hardly have room to contain it. Do you not think this would be tempting to the starving nations, and would they not give gold and silver, and riches, and all things that are now considered choice and valuable by them for that which would appease their appetites? Yes; the Lord can accomplish all this; the rains are in His hands; all things are in His hands to control just as we can control our bodily members; consequently the Lord is a very handy workman, and can bring about His purposes with scarcely any efforts on His part; all He has to do is to speak the word, and it is done.

Let us then, prepare ourselves for whatever shall take place—to be very rich or very poor; it matters not, if we are doing the will of God, whether we have an abundance, or are like the Indians of our Valleys, with scarcely anything to subsist upon from day to day. But if we do the will of God in all things we shall not be left in poverty and distress. Why? Because the Lord has made a decree upon this subject, you can read it in the Book of Covenants. He says, “Inasmuch as my people will hearken unto me, from this very hour, and do the things I command them, the kingdoms of this world shall not prevail against them.” And again, “Zion shall flourish upon the mountains and upon the hills.” That was said before we came to these Valleys, to inhabit this mountainous district; we were living on those low, broad, flat prairies of the west when He gave us this promise, that Zion should flourish upon the mountains and hills, and that His people should blossom as the rose. This promise was made upwards of twenty years ago, and you can bear me witness whether it is fulfilled or not.

Has not Zion prospered on the mountains, and flourished on the hills? Yes, verily. Never were this people in as healthy a condition, or in as good circumstances as you see them at this day; and we shall flourish more abundantly; and as brother Kimball said to us this forenoon, our riches will be multiplied over five hundred fold if we do the will of God, and not labor for that which perisheth, to heap up riches, but try to keep the commandments of God, and labor for the truths sake, because we love the truth, because we love honesty, and righteousness, and goodness; this should be the motive power that should prompt our actions—that should inspire us to do the will of God, because we love that which is good. Then we will be happy; we will be happy whether we are poor, and passing through tribulation pertaining to the body or not, we will be cheerful and happy.

I do greatly rejoice; and when I reflect upon the scenes before me, and upon what He will do, so far as He has revealed it in the revelations, and so far as the Spirit of truth opens the visions of our minds to contemplate these things; I say, when I reflect upon these things, I do not know where to find language to express my feelings—to express the joy and gratitude of my heart for these glorious benefits and gifts bestowed upon the people of God in these last days! O how happy I feel that I have the privilege of being among this people. Nearly twenty-five years, as I have stated, have rolled over my head since I had the privilege of going into the waters of baptism, and being immersed for the remission of my sins; I am still one with this people, and in your midst; and I rejoice—my soul is glad, and I feel to cry, Hosannah to God and the Lamb, who has been so kind and so merciful to me.

May the God of heaven bless you all, and His spirit be poured out upon you, that your hearts may be enlightened; and may He continually multiply the blessings of heaven and earth upon you, is the prayer of your humble servant in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Preaching and Testimony, etc.

Brigham Young

A discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 8, 1855.

It is nearly time to draw our meeting to a close, and I think we had better adjourn our Conference to the sixth of next October, as the business now necessary to be done is accomplished; and I find that we are very much crowded in this Tabernacle, and on this account the congregation is rather uncomfortable.

There has been much said, though for one I can say that we have not preached to the assembled thousands one fourth part as much as we could have wished. But we have been privileged to meet from distant points, and see each other, and hear, learn, and receive spiritual strength.

A few of the brethren have spoken, but there has not been a lengthy discourse delivered since we have been together; and if we were to continue in Conference a whole week, we could give opportunity to but comparatively few of the Elders who would like to speak, even though we allotted only fifteen, twenty, thirty, forty, or forty-five minutes to each speaker.

I realize that the hearts of many are full, and they would like to rise up and testify, and say that they believe the Book of Mormon, and that Joseph Smith was a Prophet, just as well as the few who have spoken. You are aware that you have this privilege in your several Wards, and any of the Elders of Israel who wish to bear their testimony to the truth of the Gospel, and have not had the privilege in this Conference, can go to the Ward meetings and rise up and bear testimony of the truth, and exhort the brethren. And if you have a word of counsel, or a word of doctrine, give it to the people, and do not be backward, but improve every opportunity that is presented for you to expand your minds.

A man who wishes to receive light and knowledge, to increase in the faith of the Holy Gospel, and to grow in the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, will find that when he imparts knowledge to others he will also grow and increase. Be not miserly in your feelings, but get knowledge and understanding by freely imparting it to others, and be not like a man who selfishly hoards his gold; for that man will not thus increase upon the amount, but will become contracted in his views and feelings. So the man who will not impart freely of the knowledge he has received, will become so contracted in his mind that he cannot receive truth when it is presented to him. Wherever you see an opportunity to do good, do it, for that is the way to increase and grow in the knowledge of the truth.

I expect the brethren who have been selected to go and preach the Gospel will meet this evening in the Seventies’ Hall, and the Twelve will meet with them, and the missionaries will there receive some instructions. I will give them one item of instruction now. I wish each man, who does not feel willing to seek unto the Lord his God, with all his heart, for preparation to magnify his mission and calling, but declines in his feelings to walk up to his duty in spirit, and is not anxious to cleave to righteousness and forsake iniquity, to keep away from the Hall this evening; or, if such a one comes there, let him ask us at once to be excused, and we will excuse him. We do not wish a man to enter on a mission, unless his soul is in it. Some of the brethren will say—“I do not know whether my feelings are upon my mission, or not, but I will do the best I can.” That is all we ask of you. I have known some of the Elders, when they thought they would be called out to preach, keep away from meeting lest they should be called upon, for they feel their littleness, their nothingness, their inability to rise up and preach to the people. They do not feel that they are anybody, and why should they expose their weaknesses? I have noticed one thing in regard to this—quite as many of these men become giants in the cause of truth, as there is of any other class; for when they get away they begin to lean on the Lord, and to seek unto Him, and feeling their weaknesses, they ask Him to give them wisdom to speak to the people as occasion may require. Others can rise up here and preach a flaming discourse, insomuch that you would think they were going to tear down the nations; but when they go out into the world they often accomplish but little.

You used to hear brother Joseph tell about this people being crowded into the little end of the horn, and if they kept straight ahead they were sure to come out at the big end. It is so with some Elders who go on missions; while many who go into the big end of the horn, and are so full of fancied intelligence, preaching, counsel, knowledge, and power, when they go out into the world, either have to turn around and come back, or be crowded out at the little end of the horn.

On the other hand I do not wish any of the brethren to be discouraged, for if you feel that you cannot say a single word, no matter, if you will only be faithful to your God and to your religion, and be humble, and cleave unto righteousness, and forsake iniquity and sin, the Lord will guide you and give you words in due season.

Recollect that we are now calling upon the Elders to go and gather up Israel; this is the mission that is given to us. It was the first mission given to the Elders in the days of Joseph. The set time is come for God to gather Israel, and for His work to commence upon the face of the whole earth, and the Elders who have arisen in this Church and Kingdom are actually of Israel. Take the Elders who are now in this house, and you can scarcely find one out of a hundred but what is of the house of Israel. It has been remarked that the Gentiles have been cut off, and I doubt whether another Gentile ever comes into this Church.

Will we go to the Gentile nations to preach the Gospel? Yes, and gather out the Israelites, wherever they are mixed among the nations of the earth. What part or portion of them? The same part or portion that redeemed the house of Jacob, and saved them from perishing with famine in Egypt. When Jacob blessed the two sons of Joseph, “guiding his hands wittingly,” he placed his right hand upon Ephraim, “and he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads,” etc. Joseph was about to remove the old man’s hands, and bringing his right hand upon the head of the oldest boy, saying—“Not so, my father; for this is the first born; put thy right hand upon his head. And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.” Ephraim has become mixed with all the nations of the earth, and it is Ephraim that is gathering together.

It is Ephraim that I have been searching for all the days of my preaching, and that is the blood which ran in my veins when I embraced the Gospel. If there are any of the other tribes of Israel mixed with the Gentiles we are also searching for them. Though the Gentiles are cut off, do not suppose that we are not going to preach the Gospel among the Gentile nations, for they are mingled with the house of Israel, and when we send to the nations we do not seek for the Gentiles, because they are disobedient and rebellious. We want the blood of Jacob, and that of his father Isaac and Abraham, which runs in the veins of the people. There is a particle of it here, and another there, blessing the nations as predicted.

Take a family of ten children, for instance, and you may find nine of them purely of the Gentile stock, and one son or one daughter in that family who is purely of the blood of Ephraim. It was in the veins of the father or mother, and was reproduced in the son or daughter, while all the rest of the family are Gentiles. You may think that is singular, but it is true. It is the house of Israel we are after, and we care not whether they come from the east, the west, the north, or the south; from China, Russia, England, California, North or South America, or some other locality; and it is the very lad on whom father Jacob laid his hands, that will save the house of Israel. The Book of Mormon came to Ephraim, for Joseph Smith was a pure Ephraimite, and the Book of Mormon was revealed to him, and while he lived he made it his business to search for those who believed the Gospel.

Again, if a pure Gentile firmly believes the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and yields obedience to it, in such a case I will give you the words of the Prophet Joseph—“When the Lord pours out the Holy Ghost upon that individual he will have spasms, and you would think that he was going into fits.”

Joseph said that the Gentile blood was actually cleansed out of their veins, and the blood of Jacob made to circulate in them; and the revolution and change in the system were so great that it caused the beholder to think they were going into fits.

If any of the Gentiles will believe, we will lay our hands upon them that they may receive the Holy Ghost, and the Lord will make them of the house of Israel. They will be broken off from the wild olive tree, and be grafted into the good and tame olive tree, and will partake of its sap and fatness. If you take a bud and inoculate it into another tree it ceases to receive nourishment from its original stock; it must, however, receive nourishment, or it will die. Where must it receive its nourishment from? From the tree into which it has been introduced; it is supported by it, and becomes incorporated with it.

It is so with the House of Israel and the Gentile nations; if the Gentiles are grafted into the good olive tree they will partake of its root and fatness.

You understand who we are; we are of the House of Israel, of the royal seed, of the royal blood.

There are many subjects upon which I wish to speak, but there is not time now, though in regard to teachings pertaining to our temporal organization, I will take the liberty of saying a few words. Do not some of you have to send for doctors to draw your teeth, and lie night after night with a bag of hot ashes, or hot salt, on your faces, and say, “O dear, what a tooth ache I have got?” When your children wake up in the night, crying on account of a pain in their heads, do not some of you go to the doctors, to see what they can do for the little sufferers? Some of your children are afflicted with humors in the head, and blotches upon the body, and other ailments; and some of you have pains in various parts of your bodies.

The fathers and mothers have laid the foundation for many of these diseases, from generation to generation, until the people are reduced to their present condition. True, some live to from fifty to ninety years of age, but it is an unusual circumstance to see a man an hundred years old, or a woman ninety. The people have laid the foundation of short life through their diet, their rest, their labor, and their doing this, that, and the other in a wrong manner, with improper motives, and at improper times. I would be glad to instruct the people on these points, if they would hearken to me. I would be glad to tell mothers how to lay the foundation of health in their children, that they may be delivered from the diseases with which I am afflicted, and have been from my youth up.

Suppose I happen to say “Come, wife, let us have a good dinner today;” what does she get? Pork and beef boiled, stewed, roasted, and fried, potatoes, onions, cabbage, and turnips, custard, eggs, pies of all kinds, cheese, and sweet-meats. Now grant that I and my wife sit down and overload our stomachs, until we feel the deleterious effects of it from the crowns of our heads to the soles of our feet the whole system is disturbed in its operations, and is ready to receive and impart disease. A child begotten under such a condition of the systems of its parents, is liable to be born with a tabernacle subject to a life of pain and distress.

Will all the women hearken to this plain statement? No, you might as well talk to the wild geese that fly over us.

Again, a little hot tea, coffee, or sling, is generally given to a babe as soon as it comes into the world, to quiet the nerves, and make it sleep better; and I have seen my own wives almost whip their little ones to make them drink liquor. When I happen to see them, I say, “Stop that, that is something you may very well dispense with; do not put a drop of liquor into that child’s mouth.”

Some mothers, when bearing children, long for tea and coffee, or for brandy and other strong drinks, and if they give way to that influence the next time they will want more, and the next still more, and thus lay the foundation for drunkenness in their, offspring. An appetite is engendered, bred, and born in the child, and it is a miracle if it does not grow up a confirmed drunkard.

Now will you, my sisters who are before me, hearken to good, sound common sense and reason? Will you commence now, and lay the foundation for a healthy posterity? Will you say, “I am determined not to desire this thing, or that, which will be injurious, but I will pray, and ask my Father in heaven for grace according to my day, that I may not desire that which will lay the foundation of ruin to my offspring, and to my posterity for generations?” Or will you say, “Cannot I have a little tea, or a little whisky?”

The satisfying of these desires lays the foundation of sickness, disease, and short life. But if any one really desires a particular kind of food, or drink, and feels as though she could not do without it, let it be obtained, if possible; though it is far better to have faith to overcome such desires.

It is for us to stop the tide of physical degeneracy—to lay the foundation for a return to the position from which the human family has fallen. We have that privilege, by keeping ourselves pure. If we take the right course, our children will live longer than we shall, and their children will surpass their fathers, and have longer life, and so on, till they obtain to the age of those who lived in the early period of the world. The Prophet, speaking of the Saints in the last days, said, “For as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.” Still, in the present short period of life some say that “this is a miserable world, I do not care how soon I get through.” Well go and destroy yourselves, if you choose, you have all the opportunity that you can desire; there is plenty of arsenic, calomel, and other means, within your reach. But I would not give a cent for such persons; I do not delight in such characters, and I do not believe that the Lord delights in people who wish to die before they have accomplished the work that He designed for them to do. For a person to be willing to die is but a small part of the duties pertaining to the Gospel of salvation and the Gift of eternal life. We ought to prepare ourselves to live in the flesh, and overcome every sin, to live to the glory of God, to build up His kingdom, and to bring forth righteousness, salvation, and deliverance to the house of Israel, until the devil and his associates are driven from the earth, and he and his clan are bound and thrust down to hell, and a seal put upon them. Latter-day Saints who live merely to get ready to die are not worth much; rather get ready to live, and be prepared to live to the glory of your Father in heaven, and to do the work He has given you to do. That is our duty, and then we shall be ready to receive our blessings.

I do not wish to occupy any more time now, but if we had the time, as we shall have, and a house to hold all who wish to assemble, I am ready to come here every day, for I have nothing to do but to do good. At this time some may say, “My wheat is not all sown.” That does not affect my feelings. I will tell you an item of my experience with regard to raising grain. The last year we staid in Nauvoo, I planted from ten to twelve acres of corn, and I never saw one day, from the time it was planted until it was harvested, in which to spend an hour amongst it. My teams were wanted at the Temple, and, said I, “Let the corn go.” If they had the teams ready to attend to the corn, the word was, “Go to the Temple,” and I do not suppose there was a greater crop of corn raised in all Hancock County. I said to the brethren who plowed and planted the land, “Paul plants and Apollos waters, and if God does not give the increase I can do without it.”

I have given the sisters a few words of advice, and wish the brethren to pay particular attention to what brother George A. Smith said this forenoon. If the “old fogies” take a little tobacco, a little whisky, or a little tea and coffee, we wish you boys to let it alone, and let those have it who have long been accustomed to its use. It is far better for these my brethren, who are young and healthy, to avoid every injurious habit. There are a great many boys here who are in the habit of chewing tobacco, they should stop it, and take no more, they are better without it. Some may turn round and say, “Father, do you think so?” Yes, let the old folks have it, but you young, smart gentlemen, let it alone.

I bless you all, and feel to pray for you, and desire you to pray for me; and I believe that you do, as fervently as I could ask.

We have had a good Conference, though it has been a short one to me, and perhaps we may have a long meeting some of these days, and enjoy ourselves to the full extent of our understandings and patience.

Faith and Works

Jedediah M. Grant

A discourse by Elder J. M. Grant, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 11, 1855.

I am thankful for the blessings that the Lord has vouchsafed to bestow upon His people. If I do not at all times in public express my gratitude to our heavenly Father, yet I feel grateful and thankful for all His favors, whether I utter it or not. I have reason to believe that all the people feel the same, that is, all who feel right, all the Saints, all who live up to the religion they profess.

We have received many testimonies of the goodness of God, our heavenly Father, in sickness and in health; He has heard our prayers, and supplied our wants; in distress He has administered unto us consolation; and when the light of His Spirit is upon us we comprehend clearly the dealings of the Lord, but when that Spirit is absent from us we do not so clearly comprehend His mercies and blessings bestowed upon us individually, and as a people. I presume that in the order of the providences of God He has considered it necessary, at times, to leave His children to themselves, without the aid of any special influence of the Holy Spirit, that they may learn to comprehend and appreciate it when bestowed upon them.

For instance, the blessings you enjoy every day for a week, a month, or a year, you do not prize so highly as you do the blessings you receive more seldom. Deprive a man of any common article of food, even the bread you now enjoy, keep it from him for a week, for a month, or for a year, and when he again obtains it he will appreciate it very much. It is measurably so with the Spirit of the Lord; we do not enjoy it at all times, we do not receive it under all the circumstances of life, the same as we do under some special condition that we may be placed in, where we particularly need the Spirit of the Lord to assist us.

We pray for many things; and I have heard some people pray in a manner that they would be very sorry, in their sober moments, if the Lord should actually answer their prayers. If the prayers of the people were written down, so that they could read and reflect upon them, I have no doubt but what they would wish to have a new edition. I have heard people pray for the Lord to do this and that; indeed, I have heard them pray for Him to do a thousand things that they themselves would not attempt to do; they would consider it degrading to do them; they would actually consider it sinful to endeavor to accomplish what they will petition the Almighty to perform for them.

A man’s works should agree with his faith; if he has faith to sustain his words, if he has faith to sustain his deeds, his works should correspond with his faith. I must be right in my faith, to be right in my works. If the tree is bitter, the fruit will also be bitter; or in other words, the tree is known by its fruits, and faith by its works. If a man’s works are good, his faith is also good; if his works are bad, we infer that his faith is bad also, and very just inferences too. All men should be judged by their works; this is a correct criterion to judge every person by. Many of the Latter-day Saints have correct faith and correct works, while some profess to have correct faith, but exhibit by their works that their faith is actually not good. How can I tell whether your faith is good or not? I can only judge of it by your works.

If your works are good and in accordance with the law of God, with the Book of Mormon, with the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and with the rules of right, I have a right to infer that your faith has produced the works I behold; that the tree, or stem, if you will allow me the expression, from which they grew, is a good one. But when we see a man’s works vary with sometimes a little good today and to-morrow, and perhaps the third day he performs evil, to believe that man is correct in his faith, in every sense of the word, I cannot.

We speak of faith as the first principle of our religion. If it is the first principle, other principles grow out of it. We cannot create principle, we can only discover it. If you were to discover a new principle, you would err in saying that you had created a principle, that you had brought one into existence. Principle eternally exists, and man cannot create it. If you discover any law in mathematics, in astronomy, or any principle or law connected with the sciences, this is no proof that you have brought into existence a new law, or process of law, for the principle existed before you made the discovery.

We have the faculty to make discoveries, we have the faculty to discover, we have the faculty to learn and understand the first principles of the doctrines of Christ. Faith, being the first principle of our religion, is established in the mind by hearing, it is established in the mind by evidence and by testimony.

I cannot believe everything that my neighbor may wish me to believe, I cannot always believe to please my neighbor, while I have no evidence perhaps to believe as he does. I have no testimony to receive what he has received, and I reject it. My neighbor is then offended, and calls upon me to have faith, to believe as he does. If he would only produce sufficient evidence and testimony for me to predicate my faith upon, to produce in me confidence, or establish in my mind faith, then I could believe as he does. Faith then comes by hearing testimony, or by testimony being produced, or brought before the mind.

The testimony you have received of the religion you profess is just as different as the religion you profess is different from any other religion. The Methodist, for example, founds his religion upon the kind of testimony he receives; he is taught by the presiding Elder. the circuit rider, the local preacher, the class leader, the exhorter, or some of the lay members, certain principles, or in other words, testimony is produced to convince him that such and such principles are right, and his belief is based upon the testimony that he is capable of receiving and appreciating. Their faith corresponds more or less with their discipline, or articles of faith; they believe there is but one God, infinite, eternal, from everlasting to everlasting, without body, parts, or passions. Their testimony for that belief is only to be found in their discipline and traditions, and has been handed down from father to son, from their grandmother the Church of Rome to their mother the Church of England; they actually believe it, write it, and publish it abroad.

Their notions of sprinkling, pouring, and other works we might mention, correspond with their belief. If they believed it right for a man to be invariably immersed, they would teach him so; if they believed it right for a man to be baptized only by pouring, they would teach him so; if they believed it right for a man to be sprinkled to answer the requirements of heaven, they would teach him so. Hence you discover that their works would correspond with their faith; if they had no faith, they could not believe either in immersion, sprinkling, or pouring. If a believer in immersion, he will practise it, his works will correspond with his faith, and he will go forth and be immersed. How do you know he believes in baptism by immersion? By his works. What evidence have you that that person believes in immersion? “Why,” says my brother, “I was present when he was immersed; I heard him tell the Elder, or the Priest, that he required immersion at his hands, and he went forth and backed up his faith in it by his works.” This would be correct reasoning. “But,” says one, “I believe in having water poured upon my head.” “How do you know he believes this?” “I was present, and heard him require the Priest, or Elder, to pour water upon him, and the Priest complied with his wishes, and his works proved to me that he believed in pouring.”

Another one says to the Priest, “I wish you to sprinkle me, I require this because I believe that sprinkling is the best mode.” What evidence have you that this man believes in sprinkling? His works prove it. The simple fact that you were present and saw him sprinkled, or heard him request the administration of the rite, convinces you that he had a certain kind or species of faith. Do all people have one faith? No, and their works are as varied as their faith. If there are diverse kinds of faith, there must be diverse kinds of works.

If there is but one faith, there can be but one mode of baptism. Dr. Clark asserts positively that the Colossians were buried with Christ in baptism; that is, they were actually immersed. He says the Greek Testament reads that they were immersed, plunged, buried, that they were covered up. How do you know anything about the Colossians? What process of reasoning would you pursue, to lead you to the conclusion that the Colossians believed in immersion as the only mode? that they were actually buried in water? Again, if you inquire whether the Corinthians were sprinkled, how would you know their faith? Says one, “I would know it by their works, for I know that their works would correspond with their faith. And if the Ephesians had the ordinance administered by pouring, I should know it by their works.” What does the Bible tell you? That there is one faith, one Lord, and one baptism.

If the Catholics had the same faith that the Colossians had, could they pour or sprinkle? Certainly not. If you say that one portion of the people of God are poured, another portion sprinkled, and another immersed, you introduce schism and false doctrine, and then different works follow. As quick as you have the Colossians immersed, the Corinthians poured, and the Ephesians sprinkled, you introduce the doing of three kinds of labor. But if there is one faith, and they all had the right kind of faith, if they had all attained to the like precious faith delivered to the Saints, and one portion was immersed, then the balance were immersed also. If the fact can be established that one portion of the Christian Church was immersed, it will establish the fact, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that all the rest were administered to in the same way. The people of God are under the necessity of having like precious faith, and their works therefore would also have to agree. If Dr. Clark was correct, and I have no reason to dispute the learned doctor, that the Colossians were immersed the balance of the people of God in all the ancient Church were also immersed. If they had but the one faith, it is impossible to introduce pouring and sprinkling. If you introduce pouring, then they had the pouring faith; if sprinkling, the sprinkling faith. But if you prove that one portion was immersed, you prove that they had the like precious faith, and the rest must of necessity be immersed. This is the way I reason upon the subject.

Again, if they were immersed, they were confirmed by the laying on of hands, as you learn by the same Scripture. If the ancient Saints believed it necessary to lay on hands, and the Latter-day Saints should believe it to be unnecessary to lay on hands, how could you make your faith agree with theirs? How could you introduce a new doctrine and argument, and reconcile your faith with theirs? They actually believed in the laying on of hands in confirmation for the reception of the Holy Ghost.

The Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Church of England, all believe that was the practice of the ancient Saints. All who believe in the Bible will agree that that was the faith of the ancients as exhibited in their works; therefore if any of the modern Christians reject it, we have a right to assert that their faith is known by their works. We have a right to say that their faith agrees not with that of the ancients. But my faith agrees with that of the ancients. I believe and practice the very works which they practised. I believe in baptism for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and, if any are sick among you, in sending for the Elders of the Church, in anointing the sick with oil, and in praying for them, that they may be healed.

Now I want to dwell a little upon this point. I do not know but some use the ordinances of God too commonly, and on too slight occasions. Some, if they get a sliver in their finger, will call for the laying on of hands and for prayer to cure the wound; or if they get a little gravel or dust in their eye, they will want you to lay hands on them to eradicate it; and so of other little complaints for which we already have simple and known remedies. I do not wish to teach this, but I wish to teach you the doctrine of the Bible. “Is any sick among you? let him call for the Elders of the Church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” This is the doctrine of the Bible, mark the words. If any of the Apostles are sick, let them send for some of the rest of the Apostles, and let their brethren Apostles administer to them, and they shall be healed; the Bible does not read thus. It does not read that only the renowned in the Church shall reap the benefits of this institution, but it says, “Is any sick among you?” &c. Suppose God has a true Church upon the earth in this age, what mode would that Church adopt in case any were sick? Says one, “If they had the same faith as the ancients, they would perform the same works.” How shall we ascertain whether the Latter-day Saints have the like precious faith with the Apostles? You know that the Apostles said they had the like precious faith. How are we to ascertain that we have it? If any are sick among you, you will send for the Elders of the Church, and let them anoint you with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith shall save the sick.

You see at once that it is necessary for your works to correspond, and for you to send for the Elders of the Church. Do you see this practised among the Latter-day Saints? Some of them must first try the physician, have the head shaved, take a dose of calomel and gamboge, have a blister plaster on the back of the neck, and another all over the bowels, besides one on each hip—in short, they must have six or eight large blister plasters on them at once. After trying all this, and running up a bill with a physician of from six to six hundred dollars, they then send for the Elders. When James is about dead, having had two quarts of blood taken from him on Saturday, and another on Monday, and when the life is nearly drawn out of the poor fellow by physicing and bleeding, why then they send for the Elders, and ask them to pray for him. When a man or woman sends for me after taking such a course I feel insulted, if I do not act so. I go to the house perfectly good natured apparently, and administer, but there is a frown of indignation within me. I feel that they have insulted the Priesthood, trampled upon the order of the house of God, and treated lightly His holy ordinances. I am not anxious to exercise faith for such persons, for I think that they are fools, and let them die the fool’s death.

If the Saints of God actually have the faith of the ancients, let them practise the doctrine in their works. A man will tell me that he is a “Mormon,” that he believes in the faith of the ancients, when at the same time he practises everything else but their religion. My rule is to practise our religion. If I want a drink of catnip tea, or of composition, or of lobelia, it is all right, but I will first practise my religion. You know that it is hardly allowable in Utah to drink any more than five gallons of lobelia at once, for the Assembly of Deseret once had the matter under consideration.

I wish to see the Saints practise their religion, and carry it out, and if they cannot live by their religion, then die by it. That is the doctrine. I want my religion if I am going to die. Most certainly that is the time I would not like to lay it by, for it would be unwise to do that, since that is the very time that one needs it the most, and is the time when he should be immersed in it. I want to see the Saints actually show by their works that they have the faith of the ancients.

When the Elders go forth to preach, and people are healed by the laying on of hands, some have said, “We cannot expect the sick to be healed in Zion; we cannot expect to see miracles when we are gathered to Zion.” That is the very place for the sick to be healed, and the place where the people of God should exercise the most faith, and be the most diligent in keeping the ordinances of the Lord’s house perfectly. You have only heard the theory taught abroad, but you have now come home to practise what you have been taught in other lands.

If any are sick among you, let them send for the Elders of the Church to pray for them, and to lay their hands upon them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith shall save the sick. People neglect to anoint with oil when they should and might use it. I have seen the Elders try to cast out devils, and to accomplish it they have fasted, and prayed, and laid on hands, and rebuked the devil, but he would not go out. I have then seen them bring consecrated oil, and anoint the person possessed of the devil, and the devil went out forthwith. That taught me a good lesson—that God Almighty, when He speaks, means what He says; and if a man’s works are right, his faith will be right; and if his faith is wrong, his works are wrong. When a man whose faith is right goes forth to administer to the sick, he will anoint with oil, as well as lay on his hands and pray. Unless you anoint with oil, your prayers will not rise higher than the fog, and you know that it seldom rises much higher than the tops of the mountains.

If I am sick, and send for an administrator, I want him to fulfil every word of the Lord; and if there is any body there you don’t like when you come to me, invite them out of the door. When devils are in the house, and you don’t like them, cast them out, but be sure to administer the ordinances right. When an Elder comes to administer to the sick, and is afraid of greasing his fingers, or of dropping a little oil on his vest or pants, and says, “O never mind the oil, there is no virtue in the olive oil; you might as well drink it as anoint with it; besides, I might grease my gloves; I will dispense with it,” I want such a man to walk off. If I was sick, and he came to me in that manner, I should say, “You are a poor, miserable hypocrite.” That is the way I should feel and talk. Let a man, when he has the right kind of faith, practise the works thereof; and when God says, “Anoint with oil,” anoint; I don’t care if it runs down your beard as it ran down Aaron’s, it will not hurt you. When a man complies with every requisition of heaven, his works and his faith are right. He offers up prayer for the sick, he anoints with oil, and lays on his hands. When his works are right they will correspond with his faith, and men and women will be healed.

This is just as sure as the law of mathematics; I never saw it fail, and it never will fail; I tell you this in the name of the Lord God of Israel. The grand difficulty is, as brother Kimball says, people play with these things as a cat does with a mouse until it is dead; and so it will be with the ordinances of God when a part of them only are performed and a part omitted, for in this way the channel of the Lord’s blessings is stopped up. The Saints who are sick need not expect that they are going to be healthy when only half of the ordinance is administered to them. If a man wishes to be healed, he must be administered to lawfully in that way God has appointed, and live his religion.

A great many people partake of the Sacrament, and at the same time are thinking, “How many teams can I get to-morrow to haul stone? I wonder if that sister has a bonnet like mine, or if I can get one like hers? I wonder if it is going to be a good day tomorrow, or whether it will rain or snow?” &c. You can sit in this stand and read such thoughts in their faces. When a sick person has sent in a request for the prayers of this congregation, many are permitting their thoughts to wander all over creation. Do we not see this right here? Yes, and a man of God feels indignant at it. No matter who is called upon to pray, all the assembly should unite in one; every person in the congregation who have an interest at the throne of grace should engage in prayer, and raise their hearts, as the heart of one man, to the Almighty, for the blessings desired, and in offering thanks for the blessings enjoyed.

We talk about being one; now if our faith is right, let our works correspond. If you have faith to pray, and prayer is offered up in the stand, pray too; and if you cannot confine your thoughts in any other way, mentally repeat the prayer of the one who is praying aloud, word for word, and let every Saint of God pray when the hour of prayer comes. When prayer is offered up in this manner to the God of high heaven for the sick and afflicted, you will find that the sick will be healed, for the prayers of the people of God ascend as incense before Him, and He has decreed that He will answer their prayers because they are united. When a sick person sends a request here for the benefit of our prayers, it is not sent that one man alone may pray for that person, but that the prayers of the assembled Saints, individually. and collectively, may be offered up for that person. Hence every one in the Tabernacle of the righteous should lift up his voice and pray for that sick person, it is your duty to do it. And when you partake of the Sacrament, you should discern the Lord’s body, and believe that, by the virtue of his sufferings, blood, and death, you are redeemed. You should realize that it is no little, trifling ordinance, but was instituted by the great God for the benefit of His people, and to commemorate and perpetuate the sufferings and death of His Son.

I wish to call upon you to be faithful, to have the right kind of faith, and to exhibit it by your works. What is the testimony of the Latter-day Saints? Our religion is as different from other people’s religion as our testimony is different from theirs. When Joseph Smith bore testimony, he told the people that an angel from high heaven had spoken to him, that he had been ordained by authority from Jesus Christ, and sent forth to preach the Gospel. Did you ever hear the Methodists bear such a testimony? If not, how can you expect them to have such faith as the man who believes the testimony of Joseph Smith? The Methodists have no such testimony, only as they have it from the Latter-day Saints. Joseph also said that he had seen the dark regions of Hades; did you ever hear a Methodist bear that testimony? No. Here are Elders of Israel who have seen company after company of angels, who have seen the sick healed, the ears of the deaf unstopped, the tongue of the dumb loosed, and the eyes of the blind opened. You will hear them testify that they have seen the glory of God; and that by the spirit of prophecy, they have seen war, pestilence, and famine coming upon the earth. The Methodists do not pretend to have such testimony, and of course have not such faith. You may go to any sect you please upon the earth, and their faith corresponds with their testimony, more or less.

The Latter-day Saints have testimony, and faith comes to them by hearing the word of God, but it comes to others by hearing the words of men.

We have testimony that Christ lives, and sits on the right hand of God, that angels have administered to the children of men on earth, and that our God hears and answers our prayers. Our faith is different and our testimony is different, from the rest of the professing world, and, in order to have them agree with us, they have to hear and receive the same testimony, the same doctrine, and the same weight of argument that we have, for faith comes by hearing the word of God. The people of God in these last days differ from other sects of religionists. How can it be otherwise, when our testimony is so different, when the first proclamation we heard was so different, when the restoration of the Book of Mormon, its translation by the use of the Urim and Thummim, the gifts and blessings of the Holy Ghost, the administration of angels, and every thing connected with our religion, are so different from that to which the world have been accustomed? They believe that calomel will heal the sick—we believe not, but that the anointing with oil and laying on of hands will; and we practise accordingly.

It is no wonder that the Latter-day Saints believe differently from other folks, for their works are different, and their testimony is different. We believe in gathering together; the Lord God has spoken to us from the heavens and commanded us to gather. They do not believe in gathering to where the Almighty can talk to them; they do not even pray for the Lord to send an angel to speak to them. The Latter-day Saints try to live their religion, that they may converse with angels, receive the administration of holy messengers from the throne of God, be sanctified in their spirits, affections, and all their desires, that the Holy Ghost may rest upon them, and their hearts be filled therewith, and become competent to bear the presence of angels.

May the Lord bless you, and wake you up upon these points of doctrine, that your faith and works may ever correspond, and that your blessings be equal with those of the ancient people of God, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Dependence on the Lord, etc.

Brigham Young

An address by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, May 27, 1855.

I am happy in the privilege of meeting with you this afternoon. You will recollect that I told you, before I left this place a few week’s since, that I should go and come in safety. We have had a prosperous and pleasant journey, have met with the Saints, and their hearts were cheered, and their feelings made glad with comfort and consolation. Quite a number of the brethren proposed going with us, as we passed through the settlements, for the grasshoppers had taken all their crops, and as they had no farming to see to, they wished to go with us and take a ride. Those who went, returned perfectly satisfied with their excursion.

I believe all the settlements we have passed through are satisfied with regard to the Lord’s dealing with this people; and I wish to add, to what has already been said, that it becomes our duty to use all possible diligence and every proper means to sustain ourselves. We have yet ample time for planting and sowing; let us improve it, and use that ability which God has given us to provide sustenance, and then let the result rest in His hands, and feel perfectly satisfied.

This people have to learn that the Lord is God, that He rules among the armies of heaven, and does His pleasure among the inhabitants of the earth. They have to be brought to the test, as much so as were the children of Israel when the Egyptians were in their rear, when mountains were on either side, and the Red Sea was before them, with no human prospect for avoiding destruction, yet the Lord brought them salvation. This people have got to trust in Him, and learn that He will be with His people, and provide for His Saints, and defend them against their enemies, and watch over them as a mother watches over her tender infant. We have got to learn the ways of the Lord. If it is necessary for the Lord to rain down manna from heaven, He has the same power to do it, the same power to feed His people, in the latter days, that He had in former days. It is far easier for Him to feed the Saints from heaven, than it is for them to raise grain in the common way. Still it is our duty to be active and diligent in doing everything we can to sustain ourselves, to build up His kingdom, to defend ourselves against our enemies, to lay our plans wisely, and to prosecute every method that can be devised to establish the kingdom of God on the earth, and to sanctify and prepare ourselves to dwell in His presence. Yet, after all this, if the Lord should not help—if He should not lend His aid to our endeavors, all our labors will prove in vain. This the great majority of mankind do not understand. He has made it obligatory upon them to act, to do their part; yet if He was to neglect His part, or withhold His assistance, our labors would prove abortive. We must learn that it is God who gives the increase, or rather, it is His mercy over the people, whether Saints or sinners, that sustains them in life. All Latter-day Saints have got to learn these facts, and it matters but little how we learn them.

If the people are anxious to learn the ways of the Lord, if they wish to see the hand of God made manifest, if they wish to have the visions and revelations of Jesus Christ given in profusion, perhaps the Lord is now using the very means to bring them to that point where they will be obliged to seek Him for themselves. They have been besought by day and by night, and from year to year, to humble themselves before the Lord, to live their religion, and to walk in the light of eternity. They have been plead with to live so that they can know the mind and will of the Lord for themselves, and for that which they preside over; at the same time, not to be too anxious for the Lord to give revelation, and make Himself known, but rather to be very anxious and very tenacious to improve upon what He has already given—this is our duty.

Now I may say to the Saints, you need not be discouraged, we have yet plenty of time to raise good crops. If it is the Lord’s will that we raise crops to sustain ourselves, it will be all right, and if it is His will that the devourer eat up the products of our labour, it is all right, and it will deliver and preserve us from greater evil. For one, if weeping would have done any good, I have seen months and months, in this city, when I could have wept like a whipt child to see the awful stupidity of the people in not realizing the blessings bestowed upon them in grain; I could have wept to see this people trample on the mercies of their benefactor in bestowing the fruits of the earth upon them in such plenty. If the Lord is now disposed to learn us a lesson, and make us thereby wise men and wise women, and prudent in all our ways, all I have to say is, amen, it is all right. When chastisements come, let them be what they may, let us always be willing and ready to kiss the rod, and reverence the hand that administers it, acknowledging the hand of God in all things.

As I have already observed, it is our duty to do all we can to sustain ourselves, trusting in God to give the increase, and then be satisfied. So far as I am concerned, I intend to plant and sow, not only in the month of May, but in the month of June, and in the month of July, and I will continue my labors to raise what is necessary to sustain life, as long as the season lasts; and if I raise nothing, I shall be just as well satisfied as though I raised an abundance, at least I ought to be. If the people will take this course, it will reconcile them to the providences of the Almighty.

I am happy and thankful to be able to say, as far as I have received information in the midst of this people called Latter-day Saints, that there is certainly an improvement in their understanding, and an advancement in their knowledge of the things of God. A good spirit prevails, and contentment, peace, and joy seem to pervade the bosoms of those who walk humbly before God. Yet, whenever we go to meet with the Saints, we can say, as it was said in olden times, Satan is there also. We find the works and power of the enemy, we find that in the midst of the kingdom of God, or, in other words, in the net that was cast forth to gather the people, there are good and bad. So it will be, until the time comes to gather the good and throw away the bad, which is not now. But in regard to those who desire to be Saints, and who try to be Saints, I can say there is an increase in their knowledge, in their faith, and in their understanding. And now I wish more particularly to see an increase of resignation to the will of God, of doing every thing that is possible to build up this kingdom, and of submitting themselves and all their affairs into His hand; and I wish to see this done cheerfully, and a patient waiting for the result of His providences.

There are two subjects which I now wish to speak upon. The coal beds which we visited in San Pete, I think can be made available for fuel, even in this place, at perhaps half or two thirds of the expense of our present method of procuring fuel, for our home fires, for the public works, smith shops, &c. I will say to the brethren here, that I expect the brethren in San Pete will soon send the terms upon which they will deliver coal in this city, and when they do so I shall wish to know whether any person in this city will encourage the business. If we turn our attention to coal for fuel, we can easily store away a winter’s stock in our cellars, and turn the key upon it, and this will actually make some men practically honest, whereas, if your wood pile is out of doors, they may continue to be dishonest. I speak now of the practice of dishonest people, not of their intent. If we can get men to practise honesty, virtue, and holiness, I am fully of the faith that they will become righteous in their intentions—that the time will come when the Lord will bless them, and make them in reality righteous men and women.

Shall we encourage the coal trade or not? Shall we encourage the opening of a mine, and have coal brought to this market? It would no doubt be disagreeable at first to the Americans, or to the majority of them, but people who have lived from their youth by a coal fire admire it. Its use is accompanied with some dust, but I will offsett that inconvenience with one to which we are subject when. burning wood; then our houses are often infested with spiders, bugs, ants, and other insects, which has always been a great annoyance to me. I have often almost dreaded to bring an armful of wood into the house, lest such insects should drop from it. True, these are small items, but I will tell you one thing with regard to life, it is the small inconveniences which are interwoven with our existence that mar the peace of mankind, more than the greater afflictions, disappointments, and perplexities men meet with as they pass along in this probation. But enough on this topic for the present.

We have visited the Iron works in Cedar city, Iron county, and as far as I am capable of judging, I will say, that the brethren have done as well as men could possibly do, considering their impoverished circumstances, and the inconveniences they have had to labor under. They have probably progressed better than any other people would upon the face of the earth. They are without sufficient capital to rapidly accomplish so great a work, and many are without suitable clothing, and almost destitute of bedding, and other things necessary to supply the common comforts of life for themselves and families. Although they have been thus destitute, yet in the midst of all that, they have progressed almost equal to men of capital in the older states.

I am not familiarly acquainted with the fluxing or separating the metal from the ore, but those who understand building furnaces and their operations, are aware that it is very injurious for a large and expensive furnace to blow out, as they call it, hence policy requires the blast to be continued as long as possible. I have learned, of late, from men of experience in these matters, why it is desirable to continue the heat—it is because no furnace can be heated up for two or three weeks, and then blow out, or stop, without risk of spoiling the furnace, or destroying its lining; and it frequently so injures the furnace, that it has to be rebuilt, or at least a portion of it. Hence, when it costs from one to five thousand dollars to prepare a furnace to bear a long blast, it is a great loss to any company to have it blow out in a short time.

Our brethren who have been operating in Iron county, have a very fine furnace, but they are so weak handed as not to be able to continue the blast over fourteen days, and I have learned that they want help. This is the main object of my speaking upon this subject, and my mind inclines in favour of their having it, and I want to see whether the brethren will turn out with their teams and help them. The Church has done much for them, and we are still intending to aid. Our last winter’s operations have helped them;the Territory took, two shares, and the Trustee in Trust, two; still they are not able to carry on the business profitably. Iron we need, and iron we must have. We cannot well do without it, and have it we must, if we have to send to England for it. We have an abundance of the best quality of iron ore. A trial furnace was made, and kept hot for sixteen days, and produced as good pig metal as can be found in the world; this they puddled, and brought forth excellent iron. I believe the castings made from the pigs will be superior to any in the world. I repeat that iron we must have, and we are right on the thresh-hold of obtaining it; we have our feet on the step, and our hand holds the latch of the door that leads to the possession of this invaluable material.

From the time I first went to Iron county until now, I had thought that perhaps the brethren were dilatory—my feelings were tried; I would not say, however, that I had suspicions pertaining to the doings of the Iron Company there; but let that be as it may, it is all right with me now, the iron we must have. From the time I went to San Pete, and saw that beautiful coal bed, averaging eight feet thick, with its stony strata of nine, five, and three inches, which probably will give out, and learned that iron ore was close by the coal bed, I took into consideration the distance from Cedar City to this place, and the distance from here to San Pete. When I had weighed all the circumstances, my mind balanced in favor of the works at Cedar City for the present; and if I can get brethren to join me, I will send one or two teams myself, with teamsters. We want fifteen good teams, with men with them who are willing to take hold and quarry out the ore and the coal, and get wood, and lime, or anything else that is wanted. Twenty or twenty-five men, besides these teamsters, are wanted, and we wish to send them now, in the fore part of the season. If we will do this, and we can if we have a mind to, I suppose that in two or three weeks after they arrive there, the blast furnace can be kept running for several months, or until they are obliged to stop in consequence of the deficiency of water. There is a large stream of water there, but it is a singular stream, sometimes it will sweep across the flat, carrying down rocks that would weigh perhaps twenty or thirty tons, and appear as though it would sweep everything before it; and when the cold weather comes, and you would naturally think that you were going to have water to turn a mill wheel, or to create the blast for the furnace, and every use for which it might be needed, in one freezing night it will perfectly close up, insomuch that there will not be enough to water a horse.

That is a singular feature, but it is the way it operates. The brethren are now making an engine, so that they can continue their blast through the winter. If any are disposed to forward this work, I call upon them to lend their aid, to send the men and teams, and we can have the iron.

The distance from here to the iron works is about 290 miles. This should not deter us from bringing iron from there, though it could be quicker come at if iron works were established at San Pete, which is not much over 100 miles from here. I have this to say, if any of the brethren feel disposed (as the grasshoppers have taken their crops, and they have not much to do) to go there, I, think it would be a good course to pursue. There is plenty of grain there; I could have bought wheat, I do not know but thousands of bushels, at a dollar per bushel; but as sure as you send men there, it will be raised to three dollars; that is incorrect policy, and, as Jesus said, the children of this world are wiser than the children of light.

I have asked this people not to sell their grain, but to preserve it to a day of need, but sell it they would. I have then said, “Will you sell it for a dollar and a quarter per bushel, and let that be the standing price?” “No, we will have two dollars per bushel for it.” I then said, “Well, brethren, will you keep it at two dollars, and not sell it to Gentiles cheaper than that?” “No, I will not, but I will have no more than a dollar and a quarter of a Gentile.” This is a great mistake in the dealings of the people one with another.

I will bring my remarks to a close on this subject. I have had a very pleasant ride through the southern settlements, and in a much shorter time than usual; this was due to the good weather, and the improvements in the roads. We had very pleasant weather, and a very good time. We started from Parowan, which is two hundred and fifty-one miles from here, on the morning of the 22nd, travelled thirty-seven miles and turned out our animals. They, however, would not graze, but went to playing, and the brethren said, “Let us drive further next day.” We drove fifty miles next day, and on the day following sixty; yesterday I took supper in Springville, and took breakfast to-day in Great Salt Lake City, distance sixty miles from Springville. We camped out as much as possible, which was good for our health.

If the people should conclude to take short excursions with their families, except the smallest children, it would be much to their comfort, and would cheer them up, and I really have some idea of adopting the plan. Though you know what they say about me in the east; should I take my ninety wives and their children, with carriages and wagons enough to convey them, it would make such a vacuum here, and so many others would wish to go, that there would be no Salt Lake City. I think I will take a few of them, but I dare not take the whole, for if I did they would then know how many wives I have got, and that would not do.

I have visited the different settlements many times, and have invited everybody to go. I now give a standing invitation again; I wish everybody to go that can go without interfering with their business at home. I invite everybody. I am soon going north to explore in the mountains, and I invite you to go. Take your wives, but not your babies, unless you take a cradle along to keep them quiet.

The out-door air is what the people need for health, it is good for them to camp out. Close houses are injurious to the health; if our houses were every one of them levelled to the ground, and we were obliged to live in our wagons and tents, the people would be healthier, from year to year, than they are now. Good houses are comfortable and very convenient, and please our feelings, and are tolerably healthful when properly ventilated. Let us do as Brother Kimball recommends, that is, if we cannot raise grain, raise houses, and build the best houses we can think of. If you are going to do a good deed, do as good a one as you can think of. If you wish to build a house, build as good a one as you can imagine. Some men have not faith to do this. As to means, they have it in their own arm, in their bones and sinews. A great many think and say that they cannot do it: you know cannot never did accomplish much in this world. I never require five dollars to begin to build a house worth five thousand. I do not know that I ever had that much to begin to build with, and I have built a great many houses, both for myself and for others. I have never built two houses alike, and I do not expect to in time or eternity, but I mean to improve every time I begin. Build the best houses you can imagine; and above all things else let this people be faithful to their God and their religion, keep their vows and covenants, and walk humbly before Him, that we may receive the blessings we anticipate, which may God grant, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

The Ancient Prophecies

Orson Pratt

A discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, January 7, 1855.

I have been requested by brother Kimball to speak a few words upon the subject of the Ancient Prophecies. I will commence without any preliminaries, for we have not time in one short discourse to take up the prophecies systematically, and trace them down in their fulfilment to the present period; neither have we time to refer to one hundredth part of the prophecies relating to the present period, or those that relate to the future; but we have time to say a few words and glean up some few ideas that have a bearing upon the present generation: and I shall endeavor to make my remarks as plain and as simple as possible.

The Latter-day Saints that are now sitting before me, and those who inhabit this Territory, are here in fulfilment of prophecy. We inhabit these mountains because the ancient Prophets have predicted that such an event should take place, and we are fulfilling their predictions in this respect.

We believe in that sacred record called the Book of Mormon. Why? Because the ancient Prophets have predicted that such a book should be revealed in the latter times; and it has come, accompanied with sufficient evidence to produce conviction in our minds; but if any person could persuade us that the Book of Mormon is not the book predicted by the ancient Prophets, we have sufficient light and information in the prophecies to convince us that such a book must come, and we should with one accord look for a book of a similar description.

This latter-day work that we have received, is considered a very strange work, in the estimation of the world; but in the estimation of the Saints it does not appear strange, why? Because it is the very thing that the Lord, by the mouth of His Prophets thousands of years ago, predicted should take place: and we are the very people that are enjoying the fulfilment of those predictions. We will, therefore, in the first place, bring up some prophetical evidences which prove the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon; not but that we have other proofs, that are clear and lucid, and demonstrative in their nature, to establish its divine authenticity.

In regard to the prophetic evidences of the Old Testament in relation to this book, we will first turn to the 29th chapter of Isaiah, and see what he has said upon this subject. In the first verse the Prophet addresses himself to the City of Jerusalem, called Ariel—“Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices. Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow.” We will observe, in relation to this prophecy, that the Jews of the city where David dwelt, were distressed; and notwithstanding they prolonged their sacrifices after they ought to have been done away, they were distressed, and brought down, and afflicted with heaviness and sorrow.

After having foretold the distress of the inhabitants of that city, the Prophet commences concerning another people, and says, “And IT shall be unto me as Ariel.” Now here is something to be distressed, to be brought down in heaviness and sorrow, and afflicted similar to the city of Ariel—it is some nation the Prophet speaks of that were to meet with similar affliction to that which should come upon the people of Jerusalem, the city where David dwelt. “And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.” Against whom? Against that people who should be afflicted similarly to what the inhabitants of Jerusalem were to be afflicted. “And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.”

This people, then, that the Prophet here alludes to, were to meet with a similar destruction and affliction to that which should come upon Ariel, and they were to have forts raised against them, and fortifications. Now is not every year bringing to light ancient forts and fortifications upon this continent? It is well known that, within a very few years past, large and extensive volumes have been published describing the forts, fortifications, and ancient ruins that have been found in the midst of the United States. In the large volumes published by the “Smithsonian Institution” in Washington, one of the most learned institutions of our country, are found descriptions of a great number of those ancient ruins; they are situated in the States of New York and Ohio. These discoveries have been published within a few years past.

The ancient inhabitants of this country were eventually brought down, and their ruined cities, temples, and synagogues proclaim in silent grandeur that a great and mighty nation have fallen—they have been brought down and distressed like the Jews at old Jerusalem—like Ariel. But many antiquarians have supposed that they have been brought down, and nothing left of their history, but their old ruins, to proclaim their former greatness. It is not so; for the very people that were thus to be brought down were to speak out of the dust. What! were they to be resurrected to converse with us? Was this what the Prophet had reference to? No; this is not what he has reference to in this passage, as you will find by reading the following in the same chapter; their whispering out of the dust and speaking out of the ground, was a work to take place before the destruction of the nations of the wicked.

Now wherein is this prophecy been fulfilled, if not in the coming forth of the Book of Mormon? That book has come out of the ground; it was found in the State of New York, in the midst of those forts and fortifications that are so plentiful there. That sacred record was found written upon plates that had the appearance of gold; out of the ground it was taken; and it contains the words of the ancient Prophets that lived among this remnant of the house of Israel that were brought down, and whose speech should whisper low out of the dust; it whispers in the ears of mortal man; it proclaims repentance to the present generation, like the voice of one crying from the dead.

“Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away; yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.” Any person that will take the trouble to read over that book that has come forth out of the ground, and that whispers to us out of the dust, will find that the multitude of the terrible ones among the ancient Nephites have passed away as chaff, they were destroyed upon this land by hundreds and by thousands, by judgments, and calamities, and war.

“Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.” This verse has reference to what follows in the next—“And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh: but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against Mount Zion.” Here you perceive is another thing taken up by the Prophet in connexion with the whispering of the words of that nation out of the dust; immediately following that remarkable event there was to be a dreadful destruction, not upon Ariel—not upon Israel—but upon the multitude of all the nations of the earth that should fight against Mount Zion. Three things, then, are declared in succession—one is the destruction of a nation, another the speaking of their words out of the dust in the ears of the living, and the third that which immediately follows, namely, the destruction of all the nations of the earth that should fight against Mount Zion; this latter event has not yet been fulfilled; but is just as sure to be fulfilled as the other portions of the prophecy that have taken place; just as sure as the Book of Mormon has whispered out of the dust, and spoken in the ears of this generation, in fulfilment of the words of the Prophet Isaiah, so sure will the Lord of hosts visit the multitude of all the nations of the earth, that fight against Mount Zion, with thunder, and earthquake, and with the flame of devouring fire, and they shall be as the dream of a night vision, they shall pass away from the face of the earth and be as chaff blown to the four winds of heaven, and no place shall be found for them. But we pass on.

The Prophet now comes back, after having foretold the destruction of the nations following the coming forth of this work, to the thing he was speaking of previously, and gives us more particulars upon this subject, and informs us more particularly in what way the Lord shall accomplish this whispering out of the dust; he says to the multitude of those nations about to be destroyed, “Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.” He could not have used language to describe the present generation better than he has done; they are drunken, as John the Revelator saw them, with the filthiness of the abominations of old Babylon; they stagger, not with strong drink, but with the traditions of men, which they have inculcated from generation to generation, and which have become instilled into the minds of the people. “For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.” He calls upon this people on whom the spirit of sleep was poured out, to stay themselves and wonder. Wonder! what about? Why, says he, “And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.”

See how clearly the Prophet has illustrated the coming forth of this work. He describes a book, and the words of a book, and even goes on to particularize, and informs us that the words of that book should be sent to the learned. All who are acquainted with the history of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, know that it is a fact, that several of the words of that book were copied by Joseph Smith, and sent by the hands of Martin Harris from Ontario county to New York city, and he exhibited them to the most learned men that could be found, to see if they could translate them; among others he went to Professor Anthon—a professor of great celebrity: Mr. Anthon examined the characters, as he himself has published since that period. He states that there was an ignorant farmer came to him, and he had some ancient characters or writing that he could not understand: he supposes them to be characters selected from many alphabets, mixed together; he has published enough to prove that such a circumstance did transpire, that an unlearned man did come to him with words professing to be copied from a book. Mr. Smith did not know anything about this prophecy at that time, for he was unacquainted with the contents of the Bible; he was brought up to work. This part of the prophecy was fulfilled to the very letter the “words of the book,” not the book itself, were sent to the learned. If Mr. Smith had sent the plates to New York the terms of this prophecy would not have been fulfilled.

The next verse says, “And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee and he saith, I am not learned.” Now Mr. Smith was not a learned man, as acknowledged by all our opposers. It is true he had some of the common rudiments of an English education, he could read, and write a very bungling hand, and this was about the extent of his education. When the book was given to the unlearned man, he did not reply to the Lord as the learned Mr. Anthon did to Martin Harris, that it was a sealed language and he could not understand it, but said he, “I am not learned.” What was the Lord’s answer to this unlearned young man? He answered him in the words of Isaiah which I have already quoted, “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth,” &c.

What should we naturally conclude the Lord intended to do, from this expression? He said that He would do a marvellous work and a wonder, after that He had presented the book to the unlearned, and after that he, when he was told to read it, had made an excuse that he was unlearned. We should naturally suppose that the Lord intended to make this unlearned man read the book; that was indeed the fact, he was commanded of the Lord to read it, and he translated it by the means of a Urim and Thummim, which is well known to be a instrument used in ancient times, through which people inquired of the Lord. Aaron had one in the centre of his breast-plate, and when anything came before him he could not understand by his own judgment, he enquired of the Lord, by the Urim and Thummim, and that was the end of controversy. In this way the Lord made this unlearned man read the book. Did this not cause the wisdom of the learned Mr. Anthon to perish, and the understanding of the wise of this world to come to naught? It required inspiration and power from on high—a marvellous work and a wonder to be wrought, in order to translate this book of upwards of six hundred pages, and reveal the history of one half of our globe to the astonished nations of the earth.

Now to prove positively that the Lord did cause this book to be translated by the unlearned, and that it was read by somebody, we will quote the 18th verse of this chapter—“And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.” We see the fulfilment of this before us at the present time. Here are hundreds and thousands of poor, that were bound down with the curse of oppression and tyranny in foreign lands, who, through the medium of this book that has been translated by an unlearned man, and through the medium of the proclamation of the glorious Gospel contained in the same, have been made to rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. The blind has seen out of obscurity, and the deaf has heard the words of the book, and they have come forth from the nations of the old world—from under the hand of tyranny and oppression, and have been planted here in these rich valleys; and if you do not believe that they rejoice, get into some of their splendid parties, and stand in one corner and look at them.

There will be a great deal of rejoicing by and bye, when the time shall come that the multitude of all nations that shall fight against Mount Zion will be as a night vision, when they will be perfectly swept away from the earth. See what the Prophet says in the next verse—“ For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off.” This is one cause of their joy, “All that watch for iniquity are cut off,” &c. “That make a man offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.” No wonder, then, that the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel when those events take place.

But how is this book to affect the children of Israel? It is not only intended to make us rejoice, but is going to affect the nations of Israel; if you do not believe it, see what the Prophet says about it—“ Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.” When this book comes forth, when it is translated, when it is carried to Israel by the authority God has ordained and established upon the earth, and they publish its glorious principles in their ears, “Jacob shall not be ashamed;” though they have been for 1800 years past kicked and cuffed about, deprived of what is called citizenship among the various nations of the earth, and trampled down and destroyed by hundreds and thousands, and though they have wandered about without Prophets and inspired men, without the Urim and Thummim, without visions and angels from heaven, and without the powers and manifestations of the glory of God that were among their fathers; yet, when the Lord sends this sacred book among them, they shall not be ashamed. What have they been waiting for? For the Lord to bring forth this book. And they never could be redeemed, but would remain trampled down by the Gentiles thousands of years to come, unless the Lord should bring forth this book—that is one of the principal means for the redemption of Jacob.

The Prophet continues, “But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.” Yes; they shall be brought together, be assembled in one, and the covenants made with their fathers will be fulfilled. Another glorious effect this book will have with the honest among the nations of the earth—“They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.” Every person that is now before me knows very well that there have been many honest, candid, sincere individuals among all the various nations of Christendom who have erred in spirit; they wanted to learn the truth, as we have, but they erred in spirit, and murmured too. How often have my ears heard the murmurings of the honest in heart in something like the following language—“I do not know what to do; it is strange there should be so much confusion, one teaching this, and another that.” They would murmur because of the divisions and contentions they saw among religious societies. But here is something that will do away with those errors, for the book will not only cause the blind to see out of obscurity and darkness, but those that erred in spirit shall come to understanding. In what way? How can they come to understanding by this book? Because of the plainness of the doctrine of Christ contained in it. If any person will take the opportunity to inform themselves concerning the contents of that book, they will find the doctrine of salvation—the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead, and every principle pertaining to the redemption of man, set forth in such a plain, simple, convincing manner, that it is almost impossible for any individual who believes in its divine authenticity, to err in doctrine; it makes a people of one heart and of one mind, so far as their faith is concerned, if they can once be satisfied it is of God.

This is only one chapter of prophecy in relation to the great work of our God in the last days. We might refer you to many others. Indeed, there are some others I will refer you to, if time will permit.

This book professes to be a record written by a remnant of the house of Joseph; while the Bible is admitted to be a record of the Jews, containing a history of Palestine and the adjacent nations, interspersed with doctrine. The Book of Mormon is the history of ancient America, interspersed with the prophecies of numerous Prophets who once lived on this continent. The Lord has confirmed this book by innumerable evidences which I shall not notice in my remarks in this short discourse. He has united the testimony of the ancient nations of America with the testimony of the Jews; we wish to know if there is any indication in the prophecies of the union of the testimony of these two books in the latter times.

We will refer your minds to the 37th chapter of the prophecies of Ezekiel, where we shall find something very definite on this subject, commencing at the 15th verse—“The word of the Lord came again unto me saying, Moreover, thou son of man, take the one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: and join them one to another in one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.” Ezekiel went and did as the Lord told him, and took two little sticks and wrote for Judah and Joseph; after he got through writing he put them together, and held them up before the house of Israel. “And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these?” “It is a strange thing that you should write upon one stick for Judah, and upon one for Joseph, and hold them up before us; explain the mystery to us.” “Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.” “Just as these two sticks are one in your hand, so I will make the stick of Joseph and Judah one in mine hand, but the sticks whereon thou writest shall be one before their eyes.”

Here then was a symbol represented before their eyes in language that could not be misunderstood; it was a symbol of two records; for it is well known that records were kept in ancient times on parchment, rolled upon sticks, the same as we keep our maps at this day. All the prophecies of Jeremiah for many years were written and rolled round a stick, and were called a book; so in Ezekiel these sticks represent two records, one the record of the tribe of Joseph, and the other of Judah: and the Lord promises, through that symbol, that He himself would take the stick of Joseph, and put it with the stick of Judah, and make it one in His own hand, showing that it was to be a work He would accomplish Himself in the last days.

“The sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. And say unto them,” now mark what follows these two sticks, “Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: and I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.” Has that ever been fulfilled? Does this have reference to their gathering from Babylon before Christ? No. They were scattered since that, and the ten tribes were taken away before that time, and they never have been gathered. But here is a prediction that they should never be divided into two kingdoms any more at all, but that they should become one nation upon the mountains of Israel, never afterwards to be scattered. Notice, He declares to them that before He will do this, He will take the record of Joseph and put it with the record of Judah, and make them one in His hand, and then accomplish this gathering of Israel.

Now, my friends, you may go to work with all your Christian benevolent societies, to gather the Jews from the nations; you may combine all the wisdom and learning of Christendom, and put all their exertions, and all the funds they can rake and scrape together from the two hemispheres of the earth, and after all, you never can accomplish the gathering and restitution of Israel until the Lord does it in His own way, by uniting the records of Judah and Joseph to accomplish this work. Then, and not till then, will the house of Jacob rejoice in the Holy One of Israel, and no more be made ashamed.

Now, is there any indication about the house of Joseph coming to America? Says one, “If I really thought these American Indians were the descendants of Joseph, I should be inclined to think that the Book of Mormon was actually the record of Joseph.” Let us see what the Prophet Jacob, the old Patriarch, said, concerning the house of Joseph. He calls up the two sons of Joseph, and pronounces a peculiar blessing upon them, laying his right hand upon the head of the youngest, and his left hand upon the head of the oldest, and he blessed them, saying, “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, the angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” When Joseph saw his father lay his right hand upon the head of the youngest of the lads, it displeased him, and he held up his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head, saying, “Not so, father, for this is the first born; put thy right hand upon his head. And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.”

Turn over to the next chapter, and you will find a remarkable prophecy concerning Joseph. After having blessed the two sons of Joseph, he calls up his twelve sons before him, and commences to bless them, beginning with Reuben; when he comes to Joseph he pronounces upon him a peculiar blessing—“Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall,” &c. As much as to say that all the branches that descended from Joseph would not remain in one country connected with the parent tree, but they should be so fruitful and numerous, in order to fulfil the prediction uttered in the 48th chapter, as to become a multitude of nations in the midst of the earth; that they would have to leave the parent tree, and the place of their first inheritance; they would have to “run over the wall,” over the great wall of waters that intervened between them and this great western hemisphere.

In order to show that they were to inherit a land greater than that which they possessed by Jacob’s forefathers, the old gentleman continues in this blessing, and says, “The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.” That is, the blessing of Jacob prevailed above that of Abraham and Isaac. The Lord promised Abraham and Isaac they should have the land of Canaan, and their seed after them, for an everlasting possession. That, you know, is not a large country; but says Jacob, “I have a greater blessing than that. I prevail above that of my progenitors, and I will confer this blessing upon you, Joseph. The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors.” How much above? “Unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.” That is as much as to say, that “my blessings are not only to inherit this small country, called the land of Canaan, but they extend unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills; I have a larger country than this conferred upon me, and because you have been a good son, and because your children are good, and because you have taken care of your brethren in the land of Egypt, I will give it unto you. These blessings shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.”

In order that Joseph might become a multitude of nations his branches had to run over the wall; he had to come to the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills; he had to be located in a large country where his seed could have room to grow into a multitude of nations. Where can you find a multitude of nations who descended from Joseph? You may go through England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Europe, Asia, and Africa, but they are not to be found in any of those lands. The origin of those nations can mostly be traced, and it can be proved that they are not the descendants of Joseph. When you have passed through all those countries, and cannot find a multitude of nations from Joseph, cross the great waters that intervene, like a wall, between the land of Palestine, or the eastern hemisphere, and the American continent, and what do you discover? A multitude of nations, evidently having sprung from the same origin, as is indicated by very many striking characteristics.

Here then is the only land on which that prophecy has been fulfilled. If it is not fulfilled here, it cannot have been fulfilled on any other portions of the earth with which we are acquainted. Moses speaks of this and of Joseph, in particular, when he was about to be taken out of the midst of the children of Israel. He pronounced a blessing on the twelve tribes, beginning with Reuben. When he blessed Joseph, his blessing was peculiar indeed. And of Joseph he said—“Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that croucheth beneath, and for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon, and for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, and for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.” If Joseph only inherited a small portion of the land of Canaan with the rest of the tribes, why does Moses bless his land more particularly than the adjacent inheritances of the other tribes? There could not be much difference in the qualities of lands that lay side by side.

Here we get a clue to a land that was to be blessed above all other lands—a distant land from Canaan as is expressed by the words, “the utmost bound of the everlasting hills,” and sufficiently large to hold a multitude of nations springing from Joseph. Remember that they were to be blessed not only with the precious things of the earth, and the fulness thereof, but with the precious things of heaven. What are the precious things of heaven? Are they anything else but revelations? Can you think of anything else that could be called the precious things of heaven? After the children of Joseph came to this land, they were blessed, as Moses predicted, with the precious things of heaven; the Lord opened to them things past, present, and future, unfolding His great purposes that were to take place in the latter times; He unfolded to them mysteries and things too great to be uttered by man. Many of these things were written; they kept their records, and they were handed down from Prophet to Prophet: at last the people fell into great wickedness, and the principal nation was destroyed; and one of their last Prophets was commanded to deposit the records where they were found by Mr. Smith. Their words have “whispered from the dust,” and they have come forth among the nations, accompanied by an abundance of evidences.

Before this was offered to the world, the Lord confirmed it by opening the heavens in broad day light, and sending down an holy angel, who descended in the presence of four individuals, three besides Mr. Smith, and the angel took the plates, and turned them over leaf after leaf, while, at the same time, the voice of the Lord out of the heavens told them it had been translated correctly, commanding them to send forth their testimony to all nations, kingdoms, tongues, and people. They accordingly attached their printed testimony in connection with the Book of Mormon. This was done before they were permitted to go forth and build up the Church. The Lord was determined that this generation should not only have the sure word of prophecy to convince them of the truth of this work, but living witnesses to bear testimony to what their eyes had seen, their ears had heard, and their hands had handled in relation to this matter, that they might have evidences so great as to leave them without any excuse.

We will now pass on to some other prophecies in relation to the gathering of the people together. You know we have already referred you to prophecies relating to the gathering of Israel when this record should be brought forth. But Israel are not the only ones to be gathered, but many of the Gentiles will be gathered also and numbered with Israel. We might first refer you to some prophecies to show you that this work is not to commence among Israel first but among the Gentiles; that the Gentiles are the ones to whom the standard should be first raised. This is what the Apostle Paul says in the 11th chapter of Romans, “For as ye (Gentiles) in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their (the Jews) unbelief: even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.” Through whom? Through the Gentiles; for it is through their instrumentality that the Lord is bringing forth the record of Joseph to the world in the last days, as a standard of doctrine, a plan of salvation, raising it up in the midst of the Gentile nations, that we, as instruments in His hands, might go forth and gather the house of Israel, that through our mercy they also might believe, and be brought to the knowledge of the truth. Isaiah, in his 49th chapter has informed us that this work should commence, not among the Jews first, but among the Gentiles.

We will read a portion of that chapter—“Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and setup my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.” That is, the sons and daughters of the house of Israel. “And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face towards the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.” Here we perceive, that when the great day shall come for the house of Israel to be restored to their own lands, the very first work He accomplishes in relation to that restoration will be to lift up His hand to the Gentiles and set up a standard among them. This shows plainly that it will not be some man among the Gentiles that will rise up uninspired, like the old reformers, setting up his own doctrines and opinions: it is not a work of that description, but it is a work which the Lord Himself has to perform; “and I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and I will set up my standard to the people, and then after I have done this they (the Gentiles) shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders, kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers,” &c. The same things are predicted, also, in the 11th chapter of this prophecy, “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt,” &c.

Now the Lord will not accomplish this by getting the people together in the capacity of miss[i]onary societies, without Prophets, Apostles, and the word of the Lord to direct them; but it is the Lord who says, “I will set up my hand the second time,” &c. How did He set His hand the first time, to gather Israel out of Egypt? Did He do it by a company of uninspired men, without miracles, angels, signs, and wonders? No; but He set His hand the first time by signs, wonders, Prophets, miracles, sending angels from heaven, by dividing the waters and causing Israel to walk through the midst of the sea without suffering harm, and by coming upon the Mount, and proclaiming the law in the ears of all Israel; when He undertakes to gather them from the nations of the earth, you will find a work of still greater magnitude highly necessary to accomplish that great gathering. To take a nation from the midst of another single nation where they were all collected, and lead them off eleven days journey to another land, is a small work compared with the gathering them from all the nations of the earth, and assembling them in one. When He sets His hand again the second time, He says, “He shall set up an ensign for the nations;” which is the same thing as spoken of in the 49th chapter. The standard that I have proved should be lifted up to the Gentiles, is the same thing as the ensign mentioned in this place. “He shall set up an ensign to the nations” “and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth,” &c.

Do you believe they can be assembled before that standard—that ensign, is raised? Can they be assembled in some other way, and the prophecies be fulfilled? In vain would it be for the nations to undertake to accomplish this thing in any other way than the one the Lord has pointed out by prophecy. Mark what He says in the 15th verse, “And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dry shod. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.” Do you believe the words of the Prophet? Do you believe that when the Lord sets His hand the second time to gather Israel from the four quarters of the earth, and lifts up a standard and ensign among the Gentiles to accomplish it, they will go through the sea dry shod, as they did through the Red Sea anciently? If you do not, you do not believe this prophecy. I am now speaking to a people that do believe it; they believe it shall be like as it was in the day that Israel came up out of the land of Egypt; not spiritually, but literally, as then.

We, as Gentiles, have cause to rejoice; that is, we who are numbered with the Gentile nations (for there may be many of the blood of Israel among us)—I say, we have cause to rejoice that the Lord has lifted up His hand, and set up His standard, and raised His ensign, and called upon us to bear this ensign—this standard, to the nations of the earth, and to proclaim it in the ears of the Gentiles first; what for? That the times of the Gentiles may be fulfilled, that the fulness may come in, and then all Israel are to be saved, as it is written, “There shall come out of Sion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” Therefore, we are the people identified with the Gentiles, to whom this standard has been raised; and it has been raised too on the mountains, for the Prophet Isaiah has told us that it should be accomplished on the mountains. We refer you to the 18th chapter of his prophecy. In it is a proclamation to all the world. They are commanded in that day to both see and hear—“All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. For so the Lord said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider, in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. For afore the, harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.” What becomes of them after they are cut down? “They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth; and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.” What an awful destruction; the multitude of all the nations will become like the dream of a night vision, they will pass away. All the nations are here called upon to see and hear at the time the ensign is lifted up: will they see? No. The spirit of deep sleep is poured upon them; the Prophets, and Seers, and rulers are covered.

In order to show still more clearly that the Gentiles are to be the characters that are to carry this ensign to the nations, we will refer you to the last chapter of Isaiah—“For I know their works and their thoughts: and it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.” How is He going to do this work? He says, “I will set a sign among them.” The same thing as spoken of in the passages already referred to—“And I will send those that escape of them unto the nations” (here go the missionaries)—“to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame.” They will go among the idolatrous nations, to Hindostan, Siam, China, to the Sandwich Islands, etc. “And they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.” The Lord did not send these messengers to declare His glory among Israel first, why? Because a certain work had to be done among the Gentiles first; they were to carry this sign, ensign, or standard, proclaiming the doctrines of Jesus Christ so as not to be misunderstood; they have to carry it to the isles afar off, and declare His glory first among the Gentiles.

What next? A mission to Israel; and these same missionaries “shall bring all your brethren (Israel) for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord.” The children of Israel will be gathered just as literally as they formerly brought an offering into the house of the Lord. In the last days, when the Lord shall set a sign among the Gentiles, He will as literally bring all Israel back to their holy mountain in Jerusalem, as He brought them from Egypt anciently. After that His people have been gathered out from the nations, they will have the privilege of going to look upon the carcasses of those that transgressed against the Lord; their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched.

Now, we have a great work before us; we are a little handful in the mountains, but you know what Isaiah said, “A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation.” However little we may be, we must become a thousand; though we are a small one, it will be but a little while before we shall be a strong nation, not a weak one; and we will have missionaries in every part of the nations of the earth afar of[f], and we will declare His glory among every nation, people, kindred, and tongue; and as fast as we get the people to believe in the standard the Lord has raised up, we will introduce them into the kingdom, baptize them for the remission of sins, and lay our hands upon them in the name of Jesus Christ, as he has commanded us, and they will receive the Holy Ghost, and be filled with mighty faith, and they will be armed with the power of God, in great glory, and will come from different nations with songs of everlasting joy upon their heads, and nothing will be able to compete with the work of the Lord; but it will progress and continue to roll on, until every nation hears, and every heart is penetrated, and the heavens and the earth shall come together.

That is what we look for, for the union of the heavens and the earth; we are dwelling here, separate from our brethren in heaven; we want to get back to them, and they to us, and we want to be united, and accomplish what the Lord intends to be accomplished in the last days; and before we get through with it, we shall see greater wonders and signs than that little transaction of bringing Israel out of Egypt: that will almost be entirely forgotten among the great displays of His power in the last days.

There is to be a house of the Lord built in the last days. “What! are there not plenty of houses of the Lord? Go into New York, and many other great cities, and you will find Saint John’s Church, and Saint Peter’s, and the Church of Jesus, and many houses which profess to be houses of the Lord; and yet you tell us that there is to be a house of the Lord built in the last days.” Will it not be a wonderful thing when the Lord gets a house upon the earth? Yes—He has been so long without one. People have been building houses to Him, the same as Israel built sepulchres for the Prophets whom their fathers had killed; so it is with the good Christians in the nineteenth century. Did He tell them to build houses unto Him? Did He give them the pattern to work by? Did He point out the location upon which they should be built? No; the Lord had no hand in their works. But, what says the Prophet Isaiah, in the second chapter of his prophecy? He predicts, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.” What can there be so attractive about the house of the Lord as to cause all nations to flow unto it, and to cause the Prophet to notice the very spot on which it should be built? It is not to be built in the city of New York, or in Boston; those are comparatively level countries, almost on a level. with the sea; but, “it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains.”

We have got up here over four thousand feet high, and we are going to build Him a house, by the word of the Lord, and by the inspiration of the Almighty, according to the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, commanding us to build one to His name; and it will be a house different from all others, that will attract the attention of the nations; and all nations shall flow into it. What for? Isaiah tells us, “And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” In two places the Lord is going to give revelations; the one is in Mount Zion, and the other in Jerusalem. What shall follow this? “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” What a happy, peaceable time! But before the Lord can introduce such a joyful time, He has got to cut down the branches of the wicked with pruning-hooks, and let the fowls and beasts of the earth have a good supper; “and the fowls shall summer upon them, and the beasts shall winter upon them.” When He has got the rebellious eaten up, the rest of the nations will come flocking unto the mountain of the Lord’s house, to be taught in His ways, and instructed in His paths; and they will get so perfectly instructed, that they will not wish to learn war any more, and will convert their weapons into farming utensils.

That happy, peaceable time, so often predicted by Prophets, will come; that is the reason, my hearers, we want to build a house of the Lord in the top of the mountains; it is in order to fulfil ancient and modern prophecy, and the commandments which the Lord our God has given to us. There must be something wonderful, indeed, to attract the attention of all nations; unless there is to be a very great power manifested, it would not attract the attention of the people afar off; if only some few sick people were healed, it might, perhaps, not be heard of only for a few miles from the place where it happened. It must be some tremendous power among that people that build the house of the Lord. What kind of a city will this Zion be, and how will the dwellings of the people be lighted up? Isaiah has told us, in the fourth chapter, “And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.” No wonder that the nations afar off flow to Zion. Did you ever hear tell of a whole city lighted up in that manner? You have heard of the invention of gas-lights, but this does not attract the attention of the nations; but there is to be a city called Zion, and a house of the Lord in the top of the mountains, that are not to be lighted up with gas, but by the glory of the God of Israel—“I will create upon every dwelling-place of Mount Zion,” &c.; not on one house alone, but upon every dwelling-place, “a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night.” The nations will be struck with wonder, and will say, “If that people have such great power, let us leave our own lands and countries; for it must be that those people are the people of God, for their houses are enveloped in a flame of fire every night, because of His glory: let us go up there, and know what His will is concerning us.”

But the prophecies are so full upon these subjects, and the time so far expired, that I will stop where I am, without saying any more.

Consecration (Young)

Brigham Young

A discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, June 3, 1855.

The blessings bestowed upon the Saints are in many instances considered sacrifices, and for this reason I have concluded to say a few words upon the law of consecration, surplus property, and tithing.

The law of consecration was revealed previous to the brethren’s going to Jackson County, or about the time they went; after they left Jackson County and went to Caldwell, inasmuch as the people did not understand why they should be called upon to consecrate; for if a man possessed more than he needed, the Lord was welcome to it anyhow, but if a man did not possess more than he really thought he needed, they concluded there should be no such law as the law of consecration, or the law of tithing; and in consequence of many questions being asked upon the subject, a revelation was given after the Prophet had cried unto the Lord, saying, O Lord, show unto thy servants how much of the property of thy people thou dost require for tithing.

This revelation was given in February, 1831, and I will read a part of it, commencing at the 8th paragraph—“If thou lovest me, thou shalt serve me and keep all my commandments. And behold, thou wilt remember the poor, and consecrate of thy properties for their support that which thou hast to impart unto them, with a covenant and a deed which cannot be broken; and inasmuch as ye impart of your substance unto the poor, ye will do it unto me, and they shall be laid before the Bishop of my Church and his Counsellors, two of the Elders, or High Priests, such as he shall or has appointed and set apart for that purpose. 9. And it shall come to pass that after they are laid before the Bishop of my Church, and after that he has received these testimonies concerning the consecration of the properties of my Church, that they cannot be taken from the Church, agreeably to my commandments; every man shall be made accountable unto me, a steward over his own property, or that which he has received by consecration, inasmuch as is suf[f]icient for himself and family.”

It is hardly worth while for me to say anything about the disposition of the people; still, when a person can realize that men do not know themselves, we, consider it proper to tell them who they are, what they are, and how they feel. It would not be worth while for me or for any other person to talk about their dispositions, the nature of their intentions, their attachments to the world, their sympathies, passions, or anything of the kind, were it not that people are often blinded in their minds, and do not know themselves: hence it is proper enough to make a few remarks about themselves.

I will read another revelation given in April, 1832—“Verily thus saith the Lord, in addition to the laws of the Church concerning women and children, those who belong to the Church, who have lost their husbands or fathers. Women have claim on their husbands for their maintenance until their husbands are taken, and if they are not found transgressors they shall have fellowship in the Church; and if they are not faithful, they shall not have fellowship in the Church; yet they may remain upon their inheritances according to the laws of the land.”

Paragraph 2. “All children have claim upon their parents for their maintenance until they are of age; and after that they have claim upon the Church; or in other words, upon the Lord’s storehouse, if their parents have not wherewith to give them inheritances. And the storehouse shall be kept by the consecrations of the Church, and widows and orphans shall be provided for, as also the poor. Amen.”

There is another revelation still prior to this time, stating that it is the duty of all people who go to Zion to consecrate all their property to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This revelation was referred to at the April Conference in 1854. It was one of the first commandments or revelations given to this people after they had the privilege of organizing themselves as a Church, as a body, as the kingdom of God on the earth. I observed then, and I now think, that it will be one of the last revelations which the people will receive into their hearts and understandings, of their own free will and choice, and esteem it as a pleasure, a privilege, and a blessing unto them to observe and keep most holy.

It is time the privilege of consecrating their property was given to the people, it is the will of the Lord they should enjoy this blessing and privilege, those who choose to hand over their property; to whom? To Him who has given them everything they possess: He owns all they possess, and they have no property, more or less, only that which actually belongs to the Lord, and He deals it out and bestows it where it seemeth Him good.

It is not for me to rise up and say that I can give to the Lord, for in reality I have nothing to give. I seem to have something, why? Because the Lord has seen fit to bring me forth, and has blessed my efforts in gathering things which are desirable, and which are termed property. He has instituted a plan and order, has organized this planet, and peopled it by His wisdom and power. He has given me my being upon this earth which is His, for “the earth is the Lord’s,” and all that pertaineth to it, all the elements, no matter how they are organized, no matter what element it is, it is the element the Lord has brought together to compose the earth. Was it His in the beginning? It was. Did He cause the atoms of elements to come together to organize the earth? He did. He did bring forth the earth, and formed and organized it as it was in the beginning, and made it perfect, pure, and holy.

To whom do these elements belong now? To the same Being who owned them in the beginning. The earth is still His, and its fulness, and that includes each one of us, and also includes all that we seem to possess. It includes all the elements, in whatever shape, form, or condition, and wherever they are situated, whether in the native state, or in a state of organization for the comfort and benefit of man.

The ability which we have to bring them together we have received of the Lord, by His free gift, and He has made us capable of performing many things for His glory, for His wisdom, and for the exaltation of those creatures He has brought forth and made. Has He not endowed mankind with intelligence? He has created them but a little lower than the angels. They have received wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, and are organized to receive power, glory, and honor. If they are industrious, prudent, and filled with understanding to know from where these favors emanate, of course they will attribute all the power and goodness to the honor and glory of the Being who bestowed them.

As I have already observed, the people are ignorant; they do not know themselves, do not understand their own organization, or from whence they are; if they did, there would be no necessity of talking to the people upon these points. We are here on the earth, we live, and find ourselves endowed with wonderful powers, and it seems as though we, as individuals, were perfectly independent of every creature or being throughout the immensity of space. We cannot see our superiors, and we do not fully realize from whence we have received anything we now have in our possession. This is in consequence of our shortsightedness, of our want of understanding, and of our lack of the knowledge of eternal beings. Herein is where mankind fail, lacking that which we might have in our possession, viz.—the light of the revelations of Jesus Christ, the light of the Holy Spirit, the light of heaven. This is the privilege of the Latter-day Saints, but they do not enjoy it as much as they might; consequently it is right to talk about these matters, and to instruct the people.

If we could perceive and fully understand that all the ability and knowledge we have, every good we possess, every bright idea, every pure affection, and every good vision of mind from our infancy to the present time, are all the free gift of the Lord, and that we of ourselves have nothing original, we should be much better prepared and far more ready to act faithfully and wisely under all circumstances. Every good thing is in His hands, is subject to His power, belongs to Him, and is only handed over to us, for the time being, to see what use we will make of it.

If we will improve, be faithful and diligent in all the blessings bestowed upon us, we then have the principle of increase, and this is the great blessing given to man, and was the promise which Abraham received at the hands of the Lord. Abraham was fearful he would not increase and multiply his posterity on the earth, though he might increase in power, wisdom, and knowledge himself; and reflected, “I have no children, or even prospect of them, to rise up and bless me, or to honor and revere my name in coming generations.” The Lord, however, gave him this promise, “You have been faithful, and gained wisdom and knowledge in every blessing I have bestowed upon you; and now I will give you a promise that you shall yet have a posterity, and it shall multiply upon the face of the earth, and finally, the end of the number thereof no man can tell, for your seed shall be as numerous as the sands upon the sea shore, or the stars in the firmament, and to their increase there shall be no end.” The same blessing was promised to the Lord Jesus Christ. It was the privilege of Abraham to receive knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, but this did not satisfy him, he wanted to see his children multiply. When Abraham has passed a certain ordeal and proved himself faithful, he will receive honor, power, glory, and exaltation, which he is made as capable of attaining in the future as those were who acted previous to his day. Were not this the case, the intelligence, the power of the mind, the spirit that is placed in the body, and all that pertain to life in this stage of action, or prior to our coming into the world, are not made honorable; and if they are not honored by the creature, by the principle that is placed in him, that organization is liable to decompose. Can you understand this? For instance, let a man or woman who has received much of the power of God, visions and revelations, turn away from the holy commandments of the Lord; and it seems that their senses are taken from them, their understanding and judgment in righteousness are taken away, they go into darkness, and become like a blind person who gropes by the wall. Many of you witness this almost daily. Such will continue to go on the retrograde path until they are decomposed; while those who are faithful will continue to increase, and this is the great blessing the Lord has given to, or placed within the reach of, the children of man, even to be capable of receiving eternal lives.

To have such a promise so sealed upon our heads, which no power on earth, in heaven, or beneath the earth can take from us, to be sealed up to the day of redemption and have the promise of eternal lives, is the greatest gift of all. The people do not fully understand these things and have them not in full vision before their minds, if they did I will tell you, plainly and in honesty, that there is not a trial which the Saints are called to pass through that they would not realize and acknowledge to be their greatest blessing.

I will give you my reasons for this; if Adam had not sinned, and if his posterity had continued upon the earth, they could not have known sin, or the bitter from the sweet, neither would they have known righteousness, for the plain and simple reason that every effect can only be fully manifested by its opposite. If the Saints could realize things as they are when they are called to pass th[r]ough trials, and to suffer what they call sacrifices they would acknowledge them to be the greatest blessings that could be bestowed upon them. But put them in possession of true principles and true enjoyments, without the opposite, and they could not know enjoyment, they could not realize happiness. They could not tell light from darkness, because they have no knowledge of darkness and consequently are destitute of a realizing sense of light. If they should not taste the bitter, how could they realize the sweet? They could not. They would be like a machine, and could not approximate to the standard of the present enjoyment of the brute, and probably not even to that of the vegetable kingdom. To know the bitter they must taste it; they must be made acquainted with the evil there is in existence, or they cannot realize the good. If the people could see and understand things as they are, instead of saying, “I have sacrificed a great deal for this kingdom,” they would understand that they had made no sacrifices at all. They have received the blessing of the knowledge of God, to know and understand things as they are, that they may contrast between the evil and the good, between the light and the darkness, between that which is of God, and that which is not of God, between that which is calculated to exalt and glorify the people, and that which is calculated to carry them down to destruction, and waste them away until they would be no more.

It is a curious idea, but one in favor of which there is much testimony, that when people take the downward road, one that is calculated to destroy them, they will actually in every sense of the word be destroyed. Will they be what is termed annihilated? No, there is no such thing as annihilation, for you cannot destroy the elements of which things are made. But Jesus will take the kingdom, and reign until he has destroyed death, and him that hath the power of death, which is the devil. The people think that many of the revelations of the Lord are hard, and say, “The Lord has given this revelation to try me, to try the strength of my faith.” It is the Lord’s design that His people should have an experience; hence I will not dispute for one moment but what it was the will of the Lord that we should be made acquainted with darkness, and subjected to vanity.

In my fullest belief, it was the design of the Lord that Adam should partake of the forbidden fruit, and I believe that Adam knew all about it before he came to this earth. I believe there was no other way leading to thrones and dominions only for him to transgress, or take that position which transgression alone could place man in, to descend below all things, that they might ascend to thrones, principalities, and powers; for they could not ascend to that eminence without first descending, nor upon any other principle.

I do not dispute but what you and I, naturally, should love the world; this I verily believe. I believe the Lord has designed, from ages immemorial, that we should be in darkness and ignorance, and at the same time I believe it is His will that we should receive light and intelligence in order that we may understand true principle, and the true position which the Saints should take to contrast continually between the evil and the good. I believe all this, just as much as I believe anything else pertaining to mankind. It is then the design of the Lord that mankind should be placed in this dark, ignorant, and selfish state, that we should naturally cling to the earth; for, as it was said here last Sabbath, the earth is very good in and of itself, and has abided a celestial law, consequently we should not despise it, nor desire to leave it, but rather desire and strive to obey the same law that the earth abides, and abide it as honorably as does the earth.

If we do abide this law thus faithfully, we are sure to get our resurrection and exaltation, for then we can see and understand things as they are. Then instead of concluding that the Lord has drawn us into difficulties, and compelled us to do that which is unpleasant to our feelings, and to suffer sacrifice upon sacrifice to no purpose, we shall understand that He has designed all this to prepare us to dwell in His presence, to possess His Spirit, which is right and intelligent, for nothing but purity and holiness can dwell where He is. He has so ordained it, that by the natural mind we cannot see and understand the things of God, therefore we must then seek unto the Lord, and get His Spirit and the light thereof, to understand His will. And when He is calling us to pass through that which we call afflictions, trials, temptations, and difficulties, did we possess the light of the Spirit, we would consider this the greatest blessing that could be bestowed upon us.

When the Lord gave the revelation instructing us in our duty as to consecrating what we have, if the people then could have understood things precisely as they are, and had obeyed that revelation, it would have been neither more nor less than yielding up that which is not their own, to Him to whom it belongs. And so it is now. But what vain and foolish principles and ideas have crept into the world, and have occupied the minds of the people! They are far from the true principles of salvation and godliness; and the world has sunk so far in wickedness, wretchedness, misunderstanding, and every kind of ignorance, and every species of wickedness which can be devised and introduced by the devil and the people combined, that even some of the Saints are almost persuaded to think that the Lord has called upon them to consecrate, to give up something which they consider their own, but in reality is not, to somebody that never did own it. Some of the people feel thus, and it is in consequence of the wickedness that is on the earth. The Lord has not called for one farthing’s worth which is not His own. The people could not own it, and if they did, have they power to preserve it? No. Can they preserve their buildings from the raging elements of fire? No. Have they power over their grain to keep it from mould, to preserve it from blight, and from the ravages from insects? No. Have they power to preserve their animals in life? No. Can they do these things independent of the power of the Lord Almighty? No. It is a vain and foolish thought for men to think they own anything of themselves, for they do not. It is here in our possession, but how came it so? They do not know. Life is here, but do they know the power that gave it, or the mode of its coming? Vegetation and animals, in great variety, teem upon the face of the earth, but are mankind familiar with the secret springs of their growth and existence? Men ought, in the first place, to find out how these things came, and who produced them. They will acknowledge at once that there never was a house which was not built, and understand the principles of human art, but do not fully understand the operations of nature, though they proceed upon simple and natural principles.

Hence they see the mountains and do not know how they are made, the grass, but do not know upon what principle it grows; the cattle come and go, but they do not know their first origin. Mankind spread abroad upon the earth, but do not know how they came here, and are not familiar with the workings of the power that sustains them. This the people ought to find out in the first place, and then they will know that the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof, and that there is an eternity of matter yet to be organized. When the Saints find out the truth as it is, they will learn that they have nothing to consecrate in reality, that they have nothing to give to the Lord, because they hold nothing but what already belongs to Him. We seem to possess much, and if we are faithful and endure to the end will be crowned, and then the Lord will say, “It is enough, you have proved yourselves faithful.” Comparatively speaking, He will talk with them as a father does with his children. To one son he says, “Go and improve that farm, though I do not deed it to you;” to another he says, “Take that farm;” and to a third, “Take this;” and all upon the same conditions, “and I will see what you will do with these my farms.” They think the farms are already theirs, but they are mistaken, for the father did not deed the farms to them. The eldest son fences, plows, and improves it, builds a house and a good barn upon it, plants an orchard, raises cattle, and makes the possession much more valuable than when the father put it into his hands. “Now, John,” says the father, “you have proved yourself a wise and faithful steward, I will now give you a deed of this property which I have owned so long, that it may be your property.” He says to William, “How is it with your farm?” “Well, father, it is much the same as when you gave it to me to improve; I have not done much; I raised a little wheat and corn.” “Where is your house, William?” “O I was not sure that the land was mine, and I did not build one.” “Why did you not build a barn?” “Well, I did not know that I was going to possess it, so I did not put myself to that trouble; as for an orchard, I was not going to set one out for you to give to some other of the boys.” “You are an unfaithful steward, and you can go now and get you a farm, and I will take this that you might have improved, and possessed for an everlasting inheritance, and give it to John, for he has been faithful.” The parable delivered by Jesus Christ is a fit illustration of this principle, wherein he likens the kingdom of heaven to a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods; “and unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one,” &c. The one who received the one talent hid it up; he was unfaithful and unprofitable, and so his master took away from him, the one talent, and gave to him that had ten. So it is with the Lord in all things. If men are faithful, the time. will come when they will possess the power and the knowledge to obtain, organize, bring into existence, and own. “What, of themselves, independent of their Creator?” No. But they and their Creator will always be one, they will always be of one heart and of one mind, working and operating together; for whatsoever the Father doeth so doeth the son, and so they continue throughout all their operations to all eternity. John will be counted worthy to receive his inheritance, but William will be disinherited, and that which he seemed to have will be taken from him, and given to the faithful steward. What have we that is really our own to consecrate? Nothing at all. What is our duty? It is our duty to improve upon every blessing the Lord gives to us. If He gives us land, improve it; if He gives us the privilege of building houses, improve it; if He gives us wives and children, try and teach them the ways of the Lord, and exalt them above the dark, degraded, and sunken state of mankind, &c.; if He gives us the privilege of gathering together, let us sanctify ourselves. In His providence He has called the Latter-day Saints from the world, has gathered them from other nations, and given them a place upon the earth. Is this a blessing? Yes, one of the greatest the people can enjoy, to be free from the wickedness of the wicked, from the calamities and clamor of the world. By this blessing we can show to our Father in Heaven that we are faithful stewards; and more, it is a blessing to have the privilege of handing back to Him that which He has put in our possession, and not say it is ours, until He shall say it from the heavens. Then it is plain that what I seem to have I do not in reality own, and I will hand it back to the Lord when He calls for it; it belongs to Him and it is His all the time. I do not own it, I never did. He has called upon the people to consecrate their property, to see whether they could understand so simple a thing as this. When they bow down to worship the Lord, they acknowledge that the earth is His, and the cattle upon a thousand hills; and tell the Lord there is no sacrifice they are not willing to make for the sake of the religion of Jesus Christ. The people were crying this continually among the churches when the Book of Mormon came forth, and the Lord spoke through Joseph, revealing the law of consecration, to see whether they were willing to do as they said in their prayers. In their weekly meetings they have told how the Lord has blessed them and forgiven their sins, what glorious visions they have had, and have declared that the Lord was present, and that they had angels to visit them, and they felt so good that they would give all for Christ. Said the Lord to Joseph, “See if they will give their farms to me.” What was the result? They would not do it, though it was one of the plainest things in the world. No revelation that was ever given is more easy of comprehension than that on the law of consecration, which the Christians had acknowledged all their days, and we are all Christians by birth, and all believed that we owned nothing, but that all belonged to the Giver of all good. We believe in God the Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, and we believe that he was actually going to possess the earth, and reign with his people on the earth; that all is his, and for ever will be. Yet, when the Lord spoke to Joseph, instructing him to counsel the people to consecrate their possessions, and deed them over to the Church in a covenant that cannot be broken, would the people listen to it? No, but they began to find out that they were mistaken, and had only acknowledged with their mouths that the things which they possessed were the Lord’s. When the Latter-day Saints arise to speak, or bear testimony in their meetings, they tell us about the Lord’s owning the earth, and being the maker of it, and I have thought, sometimes, that we could pick up a class that would acknowledge this principle, both out of doors and in. Not like a man who spoke to me last summer, as I was riding in my carriage; he shook hands with me, and kept a firm hold of the carriage with his other hand, and said, “Brother Brigham, how do you do? I am going to consecrate all my property, could you not buy me a farm?” I got my hand out of his, and the other off from the wheel, and he went reeling with drunkenness, and I told him I did not want anything to do with such men.

Another says, “Brother Brigham, I want to consecrate all I have, but you must build me a house for it, or get me my wood.” This class will acknowledge that all is the Lord’s, both out door and in. I wish to see the people acknowledge the principle of consecration in their works, as well as in their prayers. Do I, as an individual, want to see the people deed all they have to the Church? It does not concern me individually; I would not give the ashes of a rye straw for a personal deed of all the Latter-day Saints possess. Yet they are trying to acknowledge that all is the Lord’s, and will say, “Let brother Brigham come and get what he wants, but I do not believe in giving up this property, it is mine, and I may want to trade this, that, or the other article.” I do not want one red cent from you, but the Lord would be glad to see the people practise out of doors what they hypocritically profess before Him in doors. They say they are the Lord’s, and when their children are taken sick, or their wives, fathers, mothers, or husbands are taken sick, O, how humble they then are, and they will send for the Elders to pray for them, and acknowledge that all is the Lord’s, and say, “We give ourselves and all we have to thee.” The Lord makes them well by His power, through the ordinances of His house, but will they consecrate? No. They say, “It is mine, and I will have it myself.” There is the treasure, and the heart is with it, and what will be the end thereof? That which they seem to have will be given to those who are faithful, and they will receive nothing at all. They will not get an inheritance upon the earth, and cannot be crowned as kings and rulers in the kingdom of God; but if they are saved at all it will be as servants, to do the drudgery of those who are faithful, and who live the religion out doors which they say they have in their hearts. If the people knew themselves, if they understood their own feelings and reasonings, and the spirits that operate upon them, and of what spirit they are, there would be no need of thus talking to them.

When the revelation which I have read was given in 1838, I was present, and recollect the feelings of the brethren. A number of revelations were given on the same day. The brethren wished me to go among the Churches, and find out what surplus property the people had with which to forward the building of the Temple we were commencing at Far West. I accordingly went from place to place through the country. Before I started, I asked brother Joseph, “Who shall be the judge of what is surplus property?” Said he, “Let them be the judges themselves, for I care not if they do not give a single dime. So far as I am concerned, I do not want anything they have.”

Then I replied, “I will go and ask them for their surplus property;” and I did so; I found the people said they were willing to do about as they were counselled, but, upon asking them about their surplus property, most of the men who owned land and cattle would say, “I have got so many hundred acres of land, and I have got so many boys, and I want each one of them to have eighty acres, therefore this is not surplus property.” Again, “I have got so many girls, and I do not believe I shall be able to give them more than forty acres each.” “Well, you have got two or three hundred acres left.” “Yes, but I have a brother-in-law coming on, and he will depend on me for a living; my wife’s nephew is also coming on, he is poor, and I shall have to furnish him a farm after he arrives here.” I would go on to the next one, and he would have more land and cattle than he could make use of to advantage. It is a laughable idea, but is nevertheless true, men would tell me they were young and beginning the world, and would say, “We have no children, but our prospects are good, and we think we shall have a family of children, and if we do, we want to give them eighty acres of land each; we have no surplus property.” “How many cattle have you?” “So many.” “How many horses, &c?” “So many, but I have made provisions for all these, and I have use for every thing I have got.”

Some were disposed to do right with their surplus property, and once in a while you would find a man who had a cow which he considered surplus, but generally she was of the class that would kick a person’s hat off, or eyes out, or the wolves had eaten off her teats. You would once in a while find a man who had a horse that he considered surplus, but at the same time he had the ringbone, was broken-winded, spavined in both legs, had the pole evil at one end of the neck and a fistula at the other, and both knees sprung.

This is the description of surplus property that some would offer to the Lord. Such have been the feelings of a great many men. They would come to me and say, “Brother Brigham, I want to pay my tithing; please come outside here, I wish to show you a horse I have got. I want to raise fifty dollars on this horse, and the balance I am willing to turn in on tithing. If you will pay me twenty dollars in money, ten in store pay, and so much on another man’s tithing, and so much on my own, you shall have the horse for eighty dollars;” when I could get as good a one for forty. I make no such trades. Some of our brethren would actually take a horse worth no more than forty dollars, pay fifty and give credit on tithing for thirty.

I mention these things to illustrate the feelings of many of the people, for they do not understand the spirit they are of. When a man wishes to give anything, let him give the best he has got. The Lord has given to me all I possess; I have nothing in reality, not a single dime of it is mine. You may ask, “Do you feel as you say?” Yes, I actually do. The coat I have on my back is not mine, and never was; the Lord put it in my possession honorably, and I wear it; but if He wishes for it, and all there is under it, He is welcome to the whole. I do not own a house, or a single foot of land, a horse, mule, carriage, or wagon, nor wife, nor child, but what the Lord gave me, and if He wants them, He can take them at His pleasure, whether He speaks for them, or takes them without speaking. Should this be the feeling to animate every bosom? It should. What have you to consecrate that is actually your own? Nothing. The time will come when the people will look back on their first experience, and they will realise that that which they now consider hardship was their greatest blessing. They are called to leave their homes, their parents, their families, and their native country. They are called away by the providence of God to what they now consider to be sorrow; but it is not so, it is only an experience put into the possession of the Saints, that they may know the blessings of eternity. There is no being in eternity about whom we have ever read or heard, but what has suffered in like manner as we have, for it was by suffering they had to gain their exaltation, as you and I will have to do.

When was there a beginning? There never was one; if there was, there will be an end; but there never was a beginning, and hence there will never be an end; that looks like eternity. When we talk about the beginning of eternity, it is rather simple conversation, and goes far beyond the capacity of man. All beings will go into a future state, and what do you suppose those think who are there now? Do you suppose that Joseph the Prophet thinks he has sacrificed anything on this earth? No. But the Lord led him in a way that he might understand glory, exaltation, and power—that he might comprehend the blessings the Lord gave to him. Suppose you had a diamond of the finest water, as large as my fist, and worth millions of pounds sterling, and you gave it to one who did not know its value, he would put it in the mud, as quick as he would a potatoe; and a very ignorant person would know no difference between a piece of gold and a piece of bright copper. He has to learn the distinction by those principles of knowledge which the Lord places in the hearts of the human family to enable them to contrast the one with the other, and to know everything by its opposite. Take a little girl who has no more knowledge than to think that piece of white paper is just as good to make a frock of as a piece of good lawn, and she has to wait until she grows up to that knowledge. All the Prophets have had to learn in a similar manner; Joseph learned in that way, and so must we.

How long have we got to live before we find out that we have nothing to consecrate to the Lord—that all belongs to the Father in heaven; that these mountains are His; the valleys, the timber, the water, the soil; in fine, the earth and its fulness?

You now see one of His armies passing through here, sweeping everything before them. Has He nothing to do with these grasshoppers that are destroying our crops? Yes, as He has with every thing else on the earth. Has He anything to do with the locusts in Egypt? Yes; but they are not satisfied with eating the vegetation, but will eat a man’s shoes off from his feet, and the beard from his face, for when a man lies down to sleep, he is in danger of losing his mustachios. These are some of the armies of the Lord; He made them and He made man, the one as well as the other. He made man but a little lower than the angels, and next to man the brute creation, and filled the earth with all varieties of seeds and insects; He made the earth and all connected with it, organized it, and brought it forth, and now He intends to see what the people will do with it; whether they are disposed to do anything more than to say, “This is mine, and that is thine.”

Observe the men who have come into this Church rich in property, and where can you find one who has said, “I brought fifty, forty, or twenty thousand dollars into this Church,” but what they have either come begging to the Church at last, or apostatized? If you cling to the world, and say it is hard for you to do this or that, recollect that the love of the Father is not in you. Let me love the world as He loves it, to make it beautiful, and glorify the name of my Father in heaven. It does not matter whether I or anybody else owns it, if we only work to beautify it and make it glorious, it is all right. Let me do what I am called to do, and be contented with my lot, and not worry about this, that, or the other. I have spoken long enough. May God bless you. Amen.

The Kingdom of God

Brigham Young

A discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, July 8, 1855.

I will make a few remarks upon the same subject that was presented this forenoon, although there were many leading items in those remarks that would require a considerable length of time for me to give my views upon them, and to explain fully what I understand in relation to them. My brethren, who rise here to speak to the people, are also aware that it is impossible to fully explain to the congregation all the points that may be alluded to in a discourse.

Hence I design to speak a few words concerning the Kingdom of God. Not that I would disagree in the least from the remarks made by brothers Grant and Pratt, or that we differ in our views upon this subject. It is an extensive one, and the usual time never permits a person, in one short discourse, to fully explain such subjects as were presented for our edification this morning. I noticed throughout the remarks of both of the brethren that they did not make sufficient distinction, nor make it plain to the minds of the people, that the Kingdom of God would be different, in a certain sense, from all other kingdoms and empires upon the earth: this was for the want of time. In public speaking a man’s mind is often led from one idea to another, branching to the right and to the left upon matters and points that need explanation, and I presume this is more particularly the case upon the subject of the Kingdom than any other.

If you and I could live in the flesh until that Kingdom is fully established, and actually spread abroad to rule in a temporal point of view, we should find that it will sustain and uphold every individual in what they deem their individual rights, so far as they do not infringe upon the rights of their fellow creatures. For instance, if the Kingdom of God was now established upon the continent of North and South America, and actually held rule and dominion over what we call the United States, the Methodist would be protected just as much as the Latter-day Saints; the Friend Quakers, the Shaking Quakers, and the members of every religious denomination would be sustained in what they considered to be their rights, so far as their notions were not incompatible with the laws of the Kingdom.

The Calvinist would be equally preserved in his rights, whether he believed, wished to believe, or said he believed and did not believe, that God has fore-ordained whatsoever comes to pass, and has dictated from all eternity the acts of the children of men down to the end of time, embracing every sin and every transgression of the law that has ever been committed upon the earth, from the first creation of man upon it; the Kingdom of God will protect him in that belief, and extend to him the privilege and the liberty of believing that, as fully as we should have the liberty of believing the opposite.

Again, men would come and say, “We believe in the Christian religion, but we firmly believe that the God we wish to serve has no eyes, no ears, no mouth, no head, and no body, that he is not composed of elements, that he has no parts nor passions, that his centre is everywhere, his circumference no-where; we firmly believe in serving such a God.” That people would be preserved in their rights just as much as the people who believe that God lives, exists, and has the power of seeing, hearing, knowing, and understanding, and that we are organized and fashioned after, or, in other words, made like unto Him.

This is what the Kingdom of God will do for the inhabitants of the earth. If a sect should arise and say, “We do not believe in a God at all, and only in that which we can see, hear, taste, and handle, that which we can understand, or in gods our own hands have made, which we have carved out of wood or stone, or cast from metal, we believe in serving only such god; we have many gods, we have a god for every element that has come within the range of our understanding, one for the air, the water, the sun, the moon, the different planets, and the stars; we have a god of war and a god of peace, which we carve out of wood and stone, or make them of silver, gold, iron, or copper, and put them in our temples. These are the gods we worship, and do not believe in any other god or gods”—even they would be preserved in their individual rights and belief, as much so as the Latter-day Saints.

When the Kingdom of God is fully set up and established on the face of the earth, and takes the pre-eminence over all other nations and kingdoms, it will protect the people in the enjoyment of all their rights, no matter what they believe, what they profess, or what they worship. If they wish to worship a god of their own workmanship, instead of the true and living God, all right, if they will mind their own business and let other people alone.

As was observed by brother Pratt, that Kingdom is actually organized, and the inhabitants of the earth do not know it. If this people know anything about it, all right; it is organized preparatory to taking effect in the due time of the Lord, and in the manner that shall please Him. As observed by one of the speakers this morning, that Kingdom grows out of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but it is not the Church, for a man may be a legislator in that body which will issue laws to sustain the inhabitants of the earth in their individual rights, and still not belong to the Church of Jesus Christ at all.

And further, though a man may not even believe in any religion, it would be perfectly right, when necessary, to give him the privilege of holding a seat among that body which will make laws to govern all the nations of the earth and control those who make no profession of religion at all; for that body would be governed, controlled, and dictated to acknowledge others in those rights which they wish to enjoy themselves. Then the Latter-day Saints would be protected, if a Kingdom of this kind was on the earth, the same as all other people.

It was observed this morning that the government of the United States was the best or most wholesome one on the earth, and the best adapted to our condition. That is very true. And if the constitution of the United States, and the laws of the United States, and of the several States, were honored by the officers, by those who sit in judgment and dispense the laws to the people, yes, had even the letter of the law been honored, to say nothing of the spirit of it, of the spirit of right, it would have hung Governors, Judges, Generals, Magistrates, &c., for they violated the laws of their own States.

Such has been the case with our enemies in every instance that this people have been persecuted. If a person belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was guilty of stealing while living in the States, or if any of that Church were found guilty of murder, or any other transgression of the civil law, they ought to have been tried by the law, and have received the punishment affixed to the crime. Did any of the Latter-day Saints object to that? No, not one. Joseph the Prophet never objected to it, but on the contrary he urged it, prayed for it, and wished the Church to be delivered from all transgressors.

While we were in Illinois, if every trangressor [transgressor] of the law of that State, in our community, had been taken up and tried and punished, every Saint would have said, “Amen, we are better without than with them.” So we say here, we are far better off without wicked men than with them. I would rather be in the midst of these mountains with one thousand, or even five hundred, men who are Latter-day Saints, than with five hundred thousand wicked men, in case all the forces of the earth were to come against us to battle, for God would fight the battles of the Saints, but He has not agreed to fight the battles of wicked men.

I say again that the constitution, and laws of the United States, and the laws of the different States, as a general thing, are just as good as we want, provided they were honored. But we find Judges who do not honor the laws, yes, officers of the law dishonor the law. Legislators and law makers are frequently the first violators of the laws they make. “When the wicked rule the people mourn,” and when the corruption of a people bears down the scale in favor of wickedness, that people is nigh unto destruction.

We have the proof on hand, that instead of the laws being honored, they have been violated in every instance of persecution against this people; instead of the laws being made honorable, they have been trampled under the feet of lawyers, judges, sheriffs, governors, legislators, and nearly all the officers of the government; such persons are the most guilty of breaking the laws.

To diverge a little, in regard to those who have persecuted this people and driven them to the mountains, I intend to meet them on their own grounds. It was asked this morning how we could obtain redress for our wrongs; I will tell you how it could be done, we could take the same law they have taken, viz., mobocracy, and if any miserable scoundrels come here, cut their throats. (All the people said, Amen.)

This would be meting out that treatment to wicked men, which they had measured to innocent persons. We could meet them on their own ground, when they will not honor the law, but will kill the Prophets and destroy the innocent. They could drive the innocent from their homes, take their houses and farms, cattle and goods, and destroy men, women, and children, walking over the laws of the United States, trampling them under their feet, and not honoring a single law.

Suppose I should follow the example they have shown us, and say, “Latter-day Saints, do ye likewise, and bid defiance to the whole clan of such men?” Some who are timid might say, “O! our property will be destroyed, and we shall be killed.” If any man here is a coward, there are fine mountain retreats for those who feel their hearts beating, at every little hue and cry of the wicked, as though they would break their ribs.

After this year we shall very likely again have fruitful seasons. Now, you cowards, if there are any, hunt in these mountains until you find some cavern where no person can find you, and go there and store up grain enough to last you and your families seven years; then when the mob comes, take your wives and your children, and creep into your den, and there remain until the war is over.

Do not apostatize to save your lives, for if you do, you are sure to lose them. You may do some good by laying up a little more grain than you want, and by handing out a biscuit to a brave hearted soldier passing by, hungry and fatigued. I could hide myself in these mountains, and defy five hundred thousand men to find me. That is not all, I could hide this whole people, and fifty times more, in the midst of these mountains, and our enemies might hunt until they died with old age, and they could not find us. You who are cowards, lay up your crops another year and hide them away.

You know that almost every time that Gentiles address us in public, they are very mindful to caution the Latter-day Saints “not to fight, now don’t fight.” Have we ever wanted to fight them? No, but we have wanted to preach to them the Gospel of peace.

Again, they say, “We are afraid that you, Latter-day Saints, are becoming aliens to the United States; we are afraid your hearts are weaned from the brotherhood down yonder.” Don’t talk about weaning now, for we were weaned long ago, that is, we are or should be weaned from all wickedness and wicked men. I am so perfectly weaned that when I embraced “Mormonism,” I could have left father, mother, wife, children, and every relation I had, and I am weaned from everybody that will turn a deaf ear to the voice of revelation. We are already weaned, but remember, we are not weaned from the constitution of the United States, but only from wickedness, or at least we should be. Let every man and woman rise up in the strength of their God, and in their hearts ask no favors of the wicked; that is the way to live, and then let the wicked persecute, if they choose.

Are we going to fight? No, unless they come upon us and compel us either to fight or be slain.

Last fall we were visited by some of the brotherhood from the east, and I said, “Come in, my brother, come into my house; this is Mrs. Young, this is my daughter, and this is sister so and so. Wilford, Joseph, and William; open your houses and let these eastern brethren stay with us in comfortable quarters this winter.” Wilford turns his family out of a fine house into a log cabin, to let the brotherhood in. Not a person, with but one exception, opened his house for their accommodation, without first asking my counsel. I said, “Yes, open your houses, turn out your wives and children, and let the brotherhood come in, and prove to the old stock, that we are their friends if they will do anything like what is decent;” and we furnished them comfortable winter quarters.

Directly the brotherhood began to pass around, and, as brother Grant said to-day, with a glove half way on their fingers, apparently so virtuous in the day light that they durst not touch a female’s hand with theirs, unless gloved, but under the shadows of night they would go whisking around, here and there, saying, “Won’t you take a sleigh ride with me this evening? Step into my carriage, and take a ride.”

These proceedings were directly in the face and eyes of this people; What did they do when I introduced them to a wife, a daughter, or a sister, with all the grace, politeness, and kindness that could be expected from any man? As quick as my back was turned, it would be, “Miss, or Madam, I want to get into bed with you. Look here, you come to my office, wont you? I have a good bed there.”

I will cut the matter short and ask, once for all, did they return the compliment, and without exception reciprocate the kindness and courtesy with which they were invariably met? No, they did not, at least not all of them, for several returned evil for good, and introduced wickedness and corruption into our midst, and the Lord knows that we already had enough of that to contend with.

Past experience has taught the brethren that in future it will probably be the best policy to let soldiery quarter by themselves, and I am perfectly willing.

If persons come here and behave like gentlemen, they shall enjoy their rights, and we will enjoy ours or fight to the death. Let the laws of the United States be honored, and the laws of the individual States, and we will do as the Kingdom of God will do—protect every body in their rights.

The experience of the last winter has taught us a good lesson, and we hope it has taught the people generally a lesson. I am troubled all the time with, “Brother Brigham,” and “President Young, I do love you, President Young,” when at the same time some, who use such expressions, will have one arm round my neck; loving me dearly, and the other around the neck of a scoundrel, trying to get Christ and Belial together; this I cannot endure.

If a man will keep a grog-shop and permit wickedness to fester around him, or do anything else that is contrary to the Christian religion taught in the New Testament, I say to all such, either stop it, or take your property and leave, for our laws do not tolerate it, and we will put them in force against you. As to again suffering the wickedness and misrule of foul spirits that come into our midst, and are treated by us as gentlemen, I will not.

I will say to such official gentlemen as tell and boast “what the General Government is going to do,” or “what they themselves will do,” or “what they want to do,” thinking to terrify the Latter-day Saints, that you may as well undertake to terrify the Almighty on His throne, as to terrify a Latter-day Saint of the true stripe—one who has the true blood in him.

True, there are many timid persons: timidity or fear is a weakness of the flesh; but to that person who has so far obtained the victory over the flesh as to know how God is dealing with the people, there is no terror, for he is just as ready to die as to live, just as the Lord pleases; his object is to do right, and he fears not.

The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Jesus taught his disciples to pray that the kingdom of heaven might come upon the earth, and when it does come, you will find that it will be very different from what many people are imagining or expecting it will be. Its spirit will be to preserve their individual rights sacred to the inhabitants of the earth.

What is the foundation of the rights of man? The Lord Almighty has organized man for the express purpose of becoming an independent being like unto Himself, and has given him his individual agency. Man is made in the likeness of his Creator, the great archetype of the human species, who bestowed upon him the principles of eternity, planting immortality within him, and leaving him at liberty to act in the way that seemeth good unto him, to choose or refuse for himself; to be a Latter-day Saint or a Wesleyan Methodist, to belong to the Church of England, the oldest daughter of the Mother Church, to the old Mother herself, to her sister the Greek Church, or to be an infidel and belong to no church.

As I have just stated, the Lord Almighty has organized every human creature for the express purpose of becoming independent, and has designed that they should be capable of receiving the principles of eternity to a fulness; and when they have received them unto a fulness, they are made perfect, like unto the Son of Man, and become Gods, even the Sons of God.

I am so far from believing that any government upon this earth has constitutions and laws that are perfect, that I do not even believe that there is a single revelation, among the many God has given to the Church, that is perfect in its fulness. The revelations of God contain correct doctrine and principle, so far as they go; but it is impossible for the poor, weak, low, grovelling, sinful inhabitants of the earth to receive a revelation from the Almighty in all its perfections. He has to speak to us in a manner to meet the extent of our capacities, as we have to do with these benighted Lamanites; it would be of no benefit to talk to them as I am now speaking to you. Before you can enter into conversation with them and give them your ideas, you are under the necessity of condescending to their low estate, so far as communication is concerned, in order to exalt them.

You have to use the words they use, and address them in a manner to meet their capacities, in order to give them the knowledge you have to bestow. If an angel should come into this congregation, or visit any individual of it, and use the language he uses in heaven, what would we be benefitted? Not any, because we could not understand a word he said. When angels come to visit mortals, they have to condescend to and assume, more or less, the condition of mortals, they have to descend to our capacities in order to communicate with us. I make these remarks to show you that the kingdom of heaven is not yet complete upon the earth. Why? Because the people are not prepared to receive it in its completeness, for they are not complete or perfect themselves.

The laws that the Lord has given are not fully perfect, because the people could not receive them in their perfect fulness; but they can receive a little here and a little there, a little to-day and a little to-morrow, a little more next week, and a little more in advance of that next year, if they make a wise improvement upon every little they receive; if they do not, they are left in the shade, and the light which the Lord reveals will appear darkness to them, and the kingdom of heaven will travel on and leave them groping. Hence, if we wish to act upon the fulness of the knowledge that the Lord designs to reveal, little by little, to the inhabitants of the earth, we must improve upon every little as it is revealed.

When He tells you how to purify your hearts, purify them. He says to the nations, “I send unto you my servants, I raise up unto you a Prophet, and call upon you, O inhabitants of the earth, through him, to repent of your sins.” Do the people believe it is right to repent of their sins? Yes. How shall they repent of them? By forsaking them. If they will do this, the Lord will teach them how to become Saints. In what manner? By calling upon them through His servants to be baptized for the remission of sins, if they want to have their sins remitted, if they wish to be washed and made clean.

But before they go into the waters of baptism, they must forsake all their wicked practices, and covenant before the Lord to leave them for ever behind them, saying, “Now we will go and serve the Lord our Maker.” Has the Lord called upon the inhabitants of the earth in this way? Has He not taught you and me to become Latter-day Saints in this way? He has. Are we Saints still? When we first received the spirit of the Gospel, what was the world to us, with its grandeur, its riches, its elegance, its finery, its gaudy show, its glittering array of paltry honors, its empty titles, and every thing pertaining to it? Nothing but a shadow, when the Lord opened our minds and by the visions of His Spirit revealed to us a few of the things He had in reserve for the faithful, which were only, as it were, a drop in the bucket, compared to the ocean yet to be revealed. Yet that little made our hearts leap for joy, and we felt that we could forsake everything for the knowledge of Jesus Christ and the perfections that we saw in his character.

Are you Saints still? If you are not, repent of your sins and do your first works. Has the Lord taught you how to consecrate yourselves to His service, build up His kingdom, and send forth the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth, that others may rejoice in the same Spirit that you have received, and enjoy the same things you enjoy? Yes, He has; and what more? A great deal more. He has taught you how to purify yourselves, and become holy, and be prepared to enter into His kingdom, how you can advance from one degree to another, and grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth, until you are prepared to enter the celestial kingdom; how to pass every sentinel, watchman, and gate keeper.

Then go on and build the Temples of the Lord, that you may receive the endowments in store for you, and possess the keys of the eternal Priesthood, that you may receive every word, sign, and token, and be made acquainted with the laws of angels, and of the kingdom of our Father and our God, and know how to pass from one degree to another, and enter fully into the joy of your Lord. Latter-day Saints, do you live to this, do you seek after it with all your heart? You are aware that the Lord is able to reveal all this in one day, but you could not understand it. The Elders who have preached abroad, and the Sisters who have taught their neighbors at home, know by experience that this is true.

When your minds have been lighted up with the candle of the Lord, and you have been able to speak forth the great things of God, things that were beyond the capacities of the people to receive, you have felt your ideas apparently rebound or return to you again. So it is with the Lord; He would be glad to send angels to communicate further to this people, but there is no room to receive it, consequently, He cannot come and dwell with you. There is a further reason—we are not capacitated to throw off in one day all our traditions, and our prepossessed feelings and notions, but have to do it little by little. It is a gradual process, advancing from one step to another; and as we lay off our false traditions and foolish notions, we receive more and more light, and thus we grow in grace; and if we continue so to grow we shall be prepared eventually to receive the Son of Man, and that is what we are after.

I wish to proceed a little further with regard to the Kingdom of God. The principles, doctrine, germ, and, I may say, marrow of that Kingdom are actually planted on the earth, but does it grow to perfection at once? No. When wheat is planted and germinates, you first see the blade, and by and by the head forming in the boot, from which in due time it bursts forth and makes its appearance. When this Kingdom is set up on the earth, and spreads, its condition is happily set forth in the toast that was given here on the fourth, viz.—“May the wings of the American Eagle spread over the nations, and its DOWN fall on America.” Suppose the Kingdom of God is compared to the American Eagle; when it spreads over the nations what will it do? Will it destroy every other bird that now flies, or that will fly? No, but they will exist the same as they do now. When the Kingdom of Heaven spreads over the whole earth, do you expect that all the people composing the different nations will become Latter-day Saints? If you do, you will be much mistaken.

Do you expect that every person will be destroyed from the face of the earth, but the Latter-day Saints? If you do, you will be mistaken. Many of our Elders labor under these erroneous expectations when reading over the sayings of the Apostles and Prophets in regard to the coming of the Son of Man. In one verse the Prophet will be describing the second coming previous to the commencement of the Millennium, and perhaps in the same verse he will describe a scene that will take place after the Millennium, and when the earth will be cleansed from all wickedness, after Satan has been let loose a little season, and had another tour upon it, and after it is renovated and becomes sanctified, and is like a sea of glass, as John describes it. Will this be in the Millennium? No. But the order of society will be as it is when Christ comes to reign a thousand years; there will be every sort of sect and party, and every individual following what he supposes to be the best in religion, and in everything else, similar to what it is now.

Will there be WICKEDNESS then as now? No. How will you make this appear? When Jesus comes to rule and reign King of Nations as he now does King of Saints, the veil of the covering will be taken from all nations, that all flesh may see his glory together, but that will not make them all Saints. Seeing the Lord does not make a man a Saint, seeing an Angel does not make a man a Saint by any means. A man may see the finger of the Lord, and not thereby become a Saint; the vail of the covering may be taken from before the nations, and all flesh see His glory together, and at the same time declare they will not serve Him. They may, perhaps, feel something as a woman in Missouri did, who had been driven four times, and when she was about to be driven again she said, “I will be damned if I will stand it any longer; if God wants me to go through such a routine of things, He may take me where He pleases, and do with me as He pleases; I won’t stand it any longer.”

When the nations shall see the glory of God together, the spirit of their feelings may be couched in these words, “I will be damned if I will serve You.” In those days, the Methodists and Presbyterians, headed by their priests, will not be allowed to form into a mob to drive, kill, and rob the Latter-day Saints; neither will the Latter-day Saints be allowed to rise up and say, “We will kill you Methodists, Presbyterians, &c.,” neither will any of the different sects of Christendom be allowed to persecute each other.

What will they do? They will hear of the wisdom of Zion, and the kings and potentates of the nations will come up to Zion to inquire after the ways of the Lord, and to seek out the great knowledge, wisdom, and understanding manifested through the Saints of the Most High. They will inform the people of God that they belong to such and such a Church, and do not wish to change their religion.

They will be drawn to Zion by the great wisdom displayed there, and will attribute it to the cunning and craftiness of men. It will be asked, “What do you want to do, ye strangers from afar.” “We want to live our own religion.” “Will you bow the knee before God with us?” O yes, we would as soon do it as not;” and at that time every knee shall bow, and every tongue acknowledge that God who is the framer and maker of all things, the governor and controller of the universe. They will have to bow the knee and confess that He is God, and that Jesus Christ, who suffered for the sins of the world, is actually its Redeemer; that by the shedding of his blood he has redeemed men, women, children, beasts, birds, fish, the earth itself, and everything that John saw and heard praising in heaven.

They will ask, “If I bow the knee and confess that he is that Saviour, the Christ, to the glory of the Father, will you let me go home and be a Presbyterian?” “Yes.” “And not persecute me?” “Never.” “Won’t you let me go home and belong to the Greek Church?” “Yes.” “Will you allow me to be a Friend Quaker, or a Shaking Quaker?” “O yes, anything you wish to be, but remember that you must not persecute your neighbors, but must mind your own business, and let your neighbors alone, and let them worship the sun, moon, a white dog, or anything else they please, being mindful that every knee has got to bow and every tongue confess. When you have paid this tribute to the Most High, who created you and preserves you, you may then go and worship what you please, or do what you please, if you do not infringe upon your neighbors.”

The brethren who spoke this morning had not time to explain these points, and I have only just touched upon the subject.

The Church of Jesus Christ will produce this government, and cause it to grow and spread, and it will be a shield round about the Church. And under the influence and power of the Kingdom of God, the Church of God will rest secure and dwell in safety, without taking the trouble of governing and controlling the whole earth. The Kingdom of God will do this, it will control the kingdoms of the world.

When the day comes in which the Kingdom of God will bear rule, the flag of the United States will proudly flutter unsullied on the flag staff of liberty and equal rights, without a spot to sully its fair surface; the glorious flag our fathers have bequeathed to us will then be unfurled to the breeze by those who have power to hoist it aloft and defend its sanctity.

Up to this time we have carried the world on our backs. Joseph did it in his day, besides carrying this whole people, and now all this is upon my back, with my family to provide for at the same time, and we will carry it all, and bear off the Kingdom of God. And you may pile on state after state, and kingdom after kingdom, and all hell on top, and we will roll on the Kingdom of our God, gather out the seed of Abraham, build the cities and temples of Zion, and establish the Kingdom of God to bear rule over all the earth, and let the oppressed of all nations go free.

I have never yet talked as rough in these mountains as I did in the United States when they killed Joseph. I there said boldly and aloud, “If ever a man should lay his hands on me and say, on account of my religion, ‘Thou art my prisoner,’ the Lord Almighty helping me, I would send that man to hell across lots.” I feel so now. Let mobbers keep their hands off from me, or I will send them where they belong; I am always prepared for such an emergency.

I have occupied time enough; may God bless you. Amen.

Utah Delegate to Washington, etc.

Brigham Young

An address by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, June 17, 1855.

Perhaps it is expected that I will make a few remarks, after hearing the statements made by our Delegate, the Hon. J. M. Bernhisel.

I presume that but few of this congregation, and I may say that but few of the people of this Territory, have a thorough knowledge, or even a general understanding, of the business transactions and responsibilities of our Delegate in Congress. It is a matter this people have not immediately before them, it does not directly concern them—hence they do not inquire into it.

Brother Bernhisel has given you a very brief sketch of the doings of Congress, necessarily omitting most of them. Doubtless the people of this Territory were perfectly satisfied with the labors of their Delegate during the last session of Congress; or, in other words, it would be hard to find an individual who is the least dissatisfied with him, though it is true that the greater part of the people do not understand what should constitute a proper cause for approbation or disapprobation. They are not dissatisfied with him, and I am not dissatisfied with him, neither have I ever been. He has been in Washington during the past six years, most of which time he has spent there for this people. The general government paid him for the services of four years, the appropriation for the services of the first two years another received.

I can say freely that I am perfectly satisfied with the labors of Dr. Bernhisel in Washington; and I will further say, for the satisfaction of the parties concerned, that I very much doubt whether we could find another man, belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who could go to Washington and do as much for this people, in the capacity of a representative, as the one we have sent for years past. Why do I doubt this? In the first place, he is a man of sterling integrity, firm to his faith, punctual, industrious, fervent, and always on hand to do everything that can be done. Another reason is, but few of the talented men who belong to this Church could go to the seat of Government and endure the slang and misrepresentations which the Doctor has endured.

The Doctor is different from that class in this respect, he can endure their insults and abuses. It is true they have to be offered, if at all, behind his back, for you cannot easily find a man who will abuse him to his face, as he is so kind in his manner, so gentlemanly in his appearance, and so easy in his deportment, treating everybody with due courtesy and respect. When a deadly foe to his operations and to the interests of his constituents is in the field, that is the first man the Doctor visits, and he labors to make him our friend.

Having before us these reasons, with many others equally weighty, that might be given, I doubt whether there is another man in the Territory, or belonging to the Church, in or out of the Territory, who could have accomplished what brother Bernhisel has done in Washington for this people. I am confident that I should not stay there long, for there is too much fight in me.

You have seen some persons who, when mad, would fight a whole crowd as readily as they would a single person. I am somewhat of that temperament; if I should get mad in Washington, I would as soon fight the whole crowd as one individual, and they would use me up. There are but few spirited men who would endure the abuse and lies heaped upon this people.

There is one statement which I have already made in this stand twice or thrice, but I will now make it again before our Delegate, for it has caused him much trouble. It has been reported in the United States that Brigham should have said that the President of the United States could not remove him from his office. I will repeat what I did say, as nearly as my memory will serve me, Exhorting the brethren and sisters, I said, “Do not be alarmed, neither let your hearts sink within you, or be worried in the least with regard to a new Governor’s coming to this Territory, for the Lord Almighty will preserve your present Governor unto you as long as He pleases, and no power can hinder. And if it is His will to remove the present Governor, know ye that it will be for the best.”

That is the spirit of what I said, if not the exact words; and I say so now. President Pierce has been in power long enough to try the experiment, and there have been many to influence him to remove the Governor of this Territory from office. Is it done? It is not; though we nearly thought it was, when Colonel Steptoe received the appointment; but the Lord operated upon the Colonel to continue his march to California. He received his commission, but he would not be qualified. There were many applicants for the office, but they have not yet got it, and the Lord can baffle them as long as He pleases. He turns the hearts of men when they know it not, and the mysterious workings of His providence among the people they do not understand. He rules in their midst, and controls the nations of the earth according to His will and pleasure; so He does in this case, and will continue to do, just as long as seemeth Him good. When He wishes another Governor here, the proper person will be on hand; until then, there is no power beneath the heavens that can simply remove the present Governor of Utah, much less the loyal people who inhabit these mountains.

The people abroad are at enmity with us; we expect this, for they have been our enemies ever since we were Saints, or professed to be. Are they opposed to us in consequence of the doctrine which has been alluded to by brother Bernhisel, I mean polygamy? No. Let the Methodists, Church of England, Presbyterians, or any other popular church, adopt that principle, and it would be applauded to the skies. They are not opposed to us in consequence of the doctrine of polygamy.

Has the wrath of the enemy become any more enraged since that doctrine has been published than it was before? No, not one particle. Christ and Belial cannot be made friends; the devil is at war with the Kingdom of God on the earth, and always has been, and will continue to be, until he is bound. They do not personally hate you, nor me, any more than they did Joseph Smith, whom they have slain; they do not hate the Latter-day Saints any more now than they did twenty years ago. The same deadly hatred was then in the heart of every one who had the privilege of hearing the doctrines of this Church and refused to embrace them, that we see exhibited at this day. If they had had the power twenty or twenty-five years ago, they would have slain the Prophet Joseph as readily and with as much rejoicing as they did when they massacred him in Carthage Jail, in the State of Illinois. It is not any particular doctrine or men and women that they are opposed to, but they are opposed to Christ and to the Kingdom of God on the earth. I observed here last Sabbath, “Let the wicked rage and the people mock on, for now is their day, and it will soon be over.” Let them do all they can, and if they have power to destroy any more of this people, Amen to it; what will it do? It will only augment the cause of Zion, spread the Gospel of Salvation, and increase the Kingdom of God on the earth. Their persecutions will never destroy this people, or the everlasting Gospel. Every time they have killed any of this people and opposed the Gospel, both have increased ten fold, and the work has spread still the more; yes, more than it would have done had they let it alone, and not have come against the Saints to drive them from their possessions. If it is wisdom that the Saints should be driven again, it would be the greatest blessing that could come to this people, for it would give greater permanency to the Kingdom of God on the earth.

As I said when I commenced preaching twenty-three years ago, and saw the same spirit of persecution exhibited then as subsequently, “Let us alone, persecutors, we do not wish to fight you, for we have not come to destroy men’s lives, or to take peace from the earth, but we have come to preach the Gospel, and to make known to you the things of the Kingdom of God. If your doctrine is better than ours, let us know it, for we are searching after the true riches, we wish the light of heaven to accompany us, we are searching after salvation, and if you have anything better than this, let us have it, and if we have anything better than you, you are welcome to it. But just let us alone, for we are determined, in the name of Israel’s God, not to rest until we have revolutionized the world with truth; and if you persecute us, we will do it the quicker.”

I say the same now. Let us alone, and we will send Elders to the uttermost parts of the earth, and gather out Israel, wherever they are; and if you persecute us, we will do it the quicker, because we are naturally dull when let alone, and are disposed to take a little sleep, a little slumber, and a little rest. If you let us alone, we will do it a little more leisurely; but if you persecute us, we will sit up nights to preach the Gospel.

To return to our Delegate. It is not my intention at this meeting to mention whom I think we had better send to Washington, as I did two years ago this summer, when brother Bernhisel arose to speak here, at which time we nominated him for our next Delegate. Before he is again elected I wish to learn whether he is willing to return. The office is a toilsome one, and is a mission which is not desirable to any Elder in this Kingdom; but if I can learn that he will accept the mission, I have no question but that he will have to round up his shoulders and go again. If he declines accepting, and wishes to be excused, we will pick up somebody else. Who? Why the man who will do the least hurt of any man we can find; as for doing much there, in the way of getting our just share of the appropriations, we care not whether he can do it or not, for we care not whether they make them or not.

True, the members of the Utah Legislature get their per diem, and some money has been appropriated to this Territory, but is it paid to the Territory? No, only a small portion of it, and it has leaked out that they have determined in Washington, never to pay another dollar to Utah, until they can have all the federal offices in this Territory filled by persons of their own choice.

A few of the brethren have received some money for the labor they have done on the military road, but I think I can take men on to that route, for which $25,000 were appropriated and said to have been expended, and do more good work with $6,000 or $8,000 than has been done with the $25,000.

They wish political gamblers to have the money, in order to work corruption, and make the influence of money affect the ballot box, as in the United States, and thus use the appropriations for this Territory to subserve party purposes and pander to corrupt favoritism. They had better keep the money out of the Territory, than bring it here with such objects in view.

If the government of the United States never pay another dime to this Territory, I will insure that in ten years we shall be ten times better off than if we received a hundred thousand dollars a year from them, and that too upon natural principles.

I will use a familiar comparison to illustrate this. Suppose that a father has a number of sons, and one of them wishes to set up for, himself; whereupon the old man furnishes him a farm, buys him a team, builds him a house, and puts bread into the house for his family; buys his seed corn, a plow and harrow; shows him how to plow, and perhaps sends one of his hired men to plow for him. In a great majority of such instances, the son will remain inactive upon his plantation, leaning upon his father for support until he becomes indolent, and says, “If I want wheat I can go and get it from my father; or if I want a team, a barn, a house, or anything else, the old man will supply them; I have nothing to do but call upon my father.”

Now what is that boy good for? He is not worth a red cent; turn him out into the world alone, and he will starve to death. But first learn him to go and earn his farm, his teams, and his bread stuff; to understand the value of everything by knowing how to earn it; and he will become independent like the father, and know how to take care of himself.

So it is with States and Territories. Let them be unduly fostered and sustained by the General Government, and it will lead them into idleness, inactivity, and corruption; they will not be as spirited and active as when they are made to rely upon their own resources.

What does it do still further? You distribute money here, and what would you see, should men come in here this fall willing to pay a high price in money for the little grain that will be raised here this season? I tell you, these poor men and women would have to suffer for the want of it, as those who have it, at least many of them, will sell the last mouthful for money, as has been done. Men have taken their grain from their wives and children, and made them live on wolf flesh, in order to get money. The love of money raises trouble among a people and sends them to the devil.

We want none of their money, and if they are not disposed to send it here, I care nothing about their money’s coming; and this proves to me, and should to you, that I do not care about a man’s getting one dime appropriated to this Territory. But we will send a Delegate who will do no hurt; and if it were not that the hue and cry of “Treason against the General Government” would be made, we would not send a Delegate at all; or were it not that they would say, “Now you have proof sufficient that the Mormons mean to secede from the Union, as they have sent no Delegate;” and thus hatch up a pretext for commencing fresh hostilities against us.

It has been observed that the people where Judge Douglass resides say to him, “What are you going to do with Utah? We hope you will do something to put down this odious doctrine, for they will have more women than one, and they will acknowledge them openly.” I am now talking in accordance with their practice. “We want to hire our women in the dark, and pay them a few dimes or dollars, use them as long as we wish, and then kick them out of doors. But the Mormons will own them, give them their name, acknowledge their children and educate them.”

That is one great difference between the “Mormons” and the Gentiles, and, upon natural principles, that is, to outward appearance, in reality all the difference there is, though we are laying a foundation for another state of being. Are they men of virtuous character who talk so about the “Mormons” having more wives than one? How odious it was last winter, in the sight of certain men who were here, to think that we had more lawful wives than one; yet they would creep into your houses, and try to coax your wives and daughters away from you. What for? Was it to make them more honorable, to give them a better character in the midst of the inhabitants of the earth, sustain them better, and make them more comfortable, and acknowledge them? No—they wanted to prostitute them, to ruin them, and send them to the grave, or to the devil, when they had done with them.

I do not know what I shall say next winter, if such men make their appearance here, as were some last winter. I know what I think I shall say, if they play the same game again, let the women be ever so bad, so help me God, we will slay them.

If any wish to go to California to whore it, we will send a company of them off; that is my mind, and perhaps some few ought to go, for they are indeed bad enough.

There are some things I learned, when I was in the south country lately, which I do not wish to mention, because of the friends of those girls who are gone; but when they passed through the southern settlements they were weeping all the time, and they are perhaps now in their graves. The men who coaxed them away did not intend to take them to California. If any offer to do the same things again, in these mountains, “judgment shall be laid to the line and righteousness, to the plummet;” and they say that Brigham does not lie.

If they want women to go to California with them, we will send a company of the same stripe, if they can be found, and then both parties will be suited to and for each other. I would rather follow her to the grave, and send her home pure, than suffer my daughter to be prostituted. I will not suffer any female member of my family to be polluted through the corruptions of wicked men.

Write this to the States, if you please. If there are any Gentiles or hickory “Mormons” here, and so disposed, write it down and send it to Washington, that if they send their officers and soldiers here, to conduct themselves as they did last winter, they shall meet upon the spot the due reward of their crimes.

Though I may not be Governor here, my power will not be diminished. No man they can send here will have much influence with this community, unless he be the man of their choice. Let them send whom they will, and it does not diminish my influence one particle. As I said, the first time I spoke on this stand, my Governorship and every other ship under my control, are aided and derive direct advantages from my position in the Priesthood.

The office of Governor is not necessarily in the least degree incompatible with the upright course of any person clothed with the Priesthood; but, on the contrary, such a person should be far better qualified to wisely and righteously administer in any civil office, and in this manner the channel of true intelligence would be opened, and light and truth flow freely into every avenue of social life.

There are more things I might talk about, but no matter now, as the meeting has been held long enough. I say, God bless you. Amen.

Arguments of Modern Christian Sects Against the Latter-day Saints

George A. Smith

A sermon by Elder George A. Smith, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, June 24, 1855.

I must say, brethren and sisters, that it is with a degree of pleasure that I enjoy the privilege, this morning, of rising for the purpose of addressing you. However probable it may be that there are those present who might do so more to your satisfaction; yet, if the spirit of prayer and faith is exercised in the assembly, I may be able to present to your consideration some items which may not be altogether uninteresting.

I have taken a good deal of pleasure in preaching in the different settlements of this territory, wherever I have had the opportunity of meeting with the Saints; but it is seldom I arise in this stand for that purpose, for it requires a voice rather, if any thing, beyond the strength of my lungs, to speak in this large congregation, any length of time, and consequently I do not appear in this stand as often as I otherwise would.

There are many subjects which I take pleasure in discussing in the presence of the Saints. I have felt, ever since I received my ordination, a great desire to preach upon the first principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world; and to spend my time in proclaiming to the Saints those doctrines of obedience, faith, and charity which are so generally understood, and which by a great many persons are neglected, to their own injury. There is not a person of common intelligence among the Saints, who has resided in this valley for the past three years, who has not heard enough of the principles of salvation to know perfectly what to do to be saved, if they had given that attention to the subject which they ought to have done, if such persons desire to carry out the views and sentiments which have been from time to time proclaimed, from this stand.

To be sure we frequently hear inferences drawn, which do not comport altogether with our former sentiments, sentiments and opinions which we have formed by tradition, or which have been the result of circumstances by which we have been surrounded.

I suppose no person will take exceptions if I should in the continuation of my remarks take a text, which will be found recorded in the 4th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Mark. “And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.” If such a passage as this does not occur in the 4th chapter of Mark, then I will acknowledge myself mistaken. But whether there is or not, the subject that presents itself to my mind is illustrated by the words of this text.

I remember twenty-four years ago, when the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were first being proclaimed to the inhabitants of the earth, we were told that we were to participate in the same blessings, and would be subject to the same kind of persecutions, as was the common lot of all former-day Saints; that the same gifts that were enjoyed in the days of our Savior and his Apostles were and should be in the last days; and that if these things did not follow, it was for want of obedience to the will of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It was this spirit of revelation that pointed out the only way; and because the different churches did not have in their midst the same offices, gifts, and blessings, and the same privileges, the reason assigned was plainly and simply that they had not been faithful in their obedience to the principles which had been revealed, and had thereby lost the spirit of revelation, had slid from the original platform, and had fallen back to principles of folly, teaching for doctrine the precepts of men. The Christian world, as we shall denominate it, being then composed of several hundred different denominations, who all professed to form portions of the Church of Christ, and separately professed to have the only true Church, and the only true doctrines that were upon the earth, each one of them claimed to have the only true plan of salvation that was upon God’s footstool, and to disclaim all others as being heretical, erroneous, and corrupt; and yet each and all were differing on some principles. This division of principle had unquestionably, for many centuries, been the cause of bloody war, and millions of people had been slain in consequence; the quantity of blood spilt, and amount of human suffering produced, were immense. These same Christian divisions, which had been so thirsty for human blood, so tenacious to their peculiar doctrines, and that had been so fruitful in producing creeds and systems which they maintained by the edge of the sword, almost invariably, as they would use every means that came within their power to build up themselves, and the more they had of subdivisions the more new schisms; new, because a new division had been made—the whole may be considered a practical illustration of the sentiment of the Irish Poet—

“Who can believe it? the cause is rather odd—

They hate one another for the love of God.”

The Lord sent His servant Joseph Smith to proclaim to the world the original principles of the Gospel; and the very moment they heard him calling upon them to come back to the original principles, and partake of the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as they were originally preached by those whom Jesus himself sent to preach, all those different sects and denominations began to call for authority! On being told that it was revealed from heaven, and that the foundation was revelation from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, authority given by him, and that He had commanded the re-establishment of his Church, or of laying the foundation of his Church upon its primitive or original foundation, they all exclaimed, “There is to be no more revelation, there is to be no more prophesying, no more visions, no more ministering of angels.” Hard as it is to believe, and strange as it may appear, these religionists who had read and professed to believe the New Testament, and knew that John did declare, more than sixty years after Christ, that he saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, see Rev. xiv. 6—these same men would rise up and declare that such a thing never was to take place; and although John plainly declares that what he saw was to come to pass hereafter, yet they believed it not, and said all such manifestations had an end when the Apostles, or fathers, fell asleep.

Thus they commenced a persecution, an untiring crusade, against the Latter-day Saints, and by every means in their power endeavored to stop the progress of the work.

“Why,” said they, “we have authority direct from Jesus Christ.” I remember a circumstance of a certain learned Baptist preacher, rising in a congregation where I had been preaching, and stating that the Baptists had all the authority of the Gospel Priesthood that was required in the Baptist church, and that it had come to them from the Apostles, pure and unadulterated, by way of the Waldenses, and that he was prepared to prove the channel through which it had come. I do not know but his congregation believed what he said; but at any rate, the gentlemen declined to produce his evidence when I called upon him to do so, and all the evidence that he could have adduced was, that about the year 1160, in Lyons, a man named Peter Waldo, hired a catholic priest to translate the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; and they formed a church, which took the name of its mercantile founder. And this is as far as the authority can be traced by the Baptists; this method of tracing authority is of no use, unless they adopt the authority of the pope; and if the Catholic church be taken as authority, then when the Catholic church brings out the edict of expulsion, it certainly deprives those whom it expels of all their authority, for it is impossible for a stream to rise higher than its fountain.

If the pope and his church be corrupt, the authority of no other church can be of any value that has descended from it, and is built upon the validity of its Priesthood.

The Presbyterians consider that they can trace the matter a little further back. They consider that their authority originated somewhere else, but after spending their time and toil they can only get back to the Catholic church, for they renounced its principles and came out from it, set up a new set of doctrines, part of them borrowed and part of their own manufacture. They denied the spirit of revelation, and consequently had no knowledge from the eternal world, and with the exception of those doctrines which they had picked up, they had no priesthood but that which they had borrowed from the mother church; and the mother church having pronounced an edict of expulsion against them, which must have been valid if she had possessed any authority to confer.

Perhaps a Wesleyan might tell us that in their church they had authority from God. Then we ask, where did it come from? “From Mr. John Wesley,” they will reply. And where did he get it? “Why he was a minister of the Church of England.” And where did the Church of England get the authority from? From Henry the Eighth, who is designated among English kings as the wife killer. And where did he get it? Why, when the Romish church refused to sanction the divorce of his lawful wife, without any just cause, and refused to grant him his wishes, he put away his wife, rebelled against the church, which he had acknowledged, and from which he had received the title of Defender of the Faith, from the Roman pontiff; but yet he came out, excommunicated the pope, and declared the Catholic church to be heretical and abominable and declared himself to be the head of the church. He enforced his title by military power, seized the revenues of all religious establishments, used them for his own aggrandizement, created new ones upon his own authority, and established the Church of England priesthood. And this is as far as the matter can be traced, and there is the extent of their authority, the idol of their hearts, and the head of the Church of England excommunicated from the Church of Rome for his own corruption. This is a pretty seat of authority! Some persons will tell us that God has never intended to give any more revelations, notwithstanding they read that God set in His Church Apostles and Prophets, Pastors and Teachers, and that they had gifts, prophecies, and revelations and that they were placed in the Church for the express purpose of the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, and that they might be no more children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and the cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive.

This is plainly and clearly illustrated before any persons who believe the New Testament, and yet the principles and doctrines, when set forth in boldness and simplicity, have been rejected by them.

When the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was first founded, you could see persons rise up and ask, “What sign will you show us that we may be made to believe?” I recollect a Campbellite preacher who came to Joseph Smith, I think his name was Hayden. He came in and made himself known to Joseph, and said that he had come a considerable distance to be convinced of the truth. “Why,” said he, “Mr. Smith, I want to know the truth, and when I am convinced, I will spend all my talents and time in defending and spreading the doctrines of your religion, and I will give you to understand that to convince me is equivalent to convincing all my society, amounting to several hundreds.” Well, Joseph commenced laying before him the coming forth of the work, and the first principles of the Gospel, when Mr. Hayden exclaimed, “O this is not the evidence I want, the evidence that I wish to have is a notable miracle; I want to see some powerful manifestation of the power of God, I want to see a notable miracle performed; and if you perform such a one, then I will believe with all my heart and soul, and will exert all my power and all my extensive influence to convince others; and if you will not perform a miracle of this kind, then I am your worst and bitterest enemy.” “Well,” said Joseph, “what will you have done? Will you be struck blind, or dumb? Will you be paralyzed, or will you have one hand withered? Take your choice, choose which you please, and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ it shall be done.” “That is not the kind of miracle I want,” said the preacher. “Then, sir,” replied Joseph, “I can perform none, I am not going to bring any trouble upon any body else, sir, to convince you. I will tell you what you make me think of—the very first person who asked a sign of the Savior, for it is written, in the New Testament, that Satan came to the Savior in the desert, when he was hungry with forty days’ fasting, and said, “If you be the Son of God, command these stones to be made bread.” “And now,” said Joseph, “the children of the devil and his servants have been asking for signs ever since; and when the people in that day continued asking him for signs to prove the truth of the Gospel which he preached, the Savior replied, “It is a wicked and an adulterous generation that seeketh a sign,” &c.

But the poor preacher had so much faith in the power of the Prophet that he daren’t risk being struck blind, lame, dumb, or having one hand withered, or any thing of the kind. We have frequently heard men calling for signs without knowing actually what they did want. Could he not have tested the principles, and thus have ascertained the truth? But this is not the disposition of men of the religious world. To be sure, I have seen those who would get up and reason that Christ built his Church upon the rock—for say such men, “Jesus promised and said, ‘Upon this rock will I build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’” From this declaration they claim that the Church being built upon a rock would always remain upon the earth in its purity, and the Priesthood and authority be preserved, and this argument would be produced with a degree of triumph. How say they? “If ‘Mormonism’ be true, and the pure Priesthood had been lost, and the true Church had therefore become extinct upon the earth, the gates of hell would have prevailed against it, or the Savior’s words failed.” If this conclusion be correct, what was the cause of Mr. Wesley beginning a reformation in his day? The church had got into darkness, and the devil had got such power that it was necessary that a reform should be got up.

Where was the necessity of Waldo beginning a new church in his day? The power of the devil, the great adversary, had entirely overcome the church; and, hence, it was necessary to begin anew. Now suppose we were to read the passage, and see what it was that the Savior did say upon the subject. The Savior said, on a certain occasion, addressing his Apostles, “Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” His disciples say, “They have different opinions about you—some say thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the old Prophets has risen from the dead.” “But,” says the Savior, “whom do ye say that I am?” “Why,” says Peter, “thou art Christ the Son of the living God.” The Savior replied, “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven; I say unto thee, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

This argument would be introduced by those who believe that Christ built his Church upon St. Peter, and you then come to read the passage, and what do you learn by it? You simply learn that Peter had made the discovery, by revelation, that Jesus was the Son of the living God, and that upon the rock (revelation) he (Christ) would build his Church, and upon nothing else, and that the gates of hell should not prevail against it. Not being a linguist, like my brother behind me, I shall say that the common accepted meaning of the word “hell,” is a place of miserable departed spirits, and hence the Savior told Peter that the gates of departed miserable spirits should never prevail against his Church. This is the principle here illustrated, and consequently whenever a reformation becomes necessary in the Church of God, it must be founded upon the rock—revelation; and whenever the Church left the principles of revelation they ceased to be the Church of God; and nothing could bring them back again, or reestablish them, but being replaced upon the same foundation, and by the same authority.

I have heard arguments brought against this Church, by men endeavoring to prove that there was to be no more revelation. For instance, learned men have quoted the epistle of Paul to Timothy, to prove that all revelations ceased in the time of the Apostles, for at the time Paul wrote to Timothy he made a declaration to him, which the learned have endeavored to use to some advantage. Paul says, “From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation.”

Now I have heard and seen learned priests rise up against this Church, and say, “There, Paul says that the holy Scriptures were able to make Timothy wise unto salvation, and the ‘holy Scriptures’ means the Bible, and that is all the Scripture that is necessary now, for it is only necessary to be made wise unto salvation; and if Timothy had enough to make him wise unto salvation, why all Christians have enough, who are believers.” Let me here ask a question—are we sure that we have got all the Scriptures that Timothy had known from his childhood? He tells Timothy that from a child he had known the holy Scriptures. Now if Timothy was a man of very mature years, he might have been a child before our Savior’s crucifixion; as Paul’s epistle was written 30 years after that event, therefore he must have been a child before the writing of the four Gospels, for one of them was not written until years after. Then those Scriptures which he was acquainted with, were those which were written previous to the New Testament, and if we can believe the testimony of the Old Testament, it is found that a great many books were acknowledged as Scriptures and as revelation, which were not by King James’s translators considered to be such, and are not at the present day, as they are not incorporated in this Bible. For instance, we learn of the “Book of Enoch;” we read a reference made by Moses to “the Book of the Wars of the Lord.” Now what kind of a book, or what kind of Scriptures those books might have been, we cannot tell; but it is probable that they were in Timothy’s knowledge, for he had known the holy Scriptures from a child.

This was the great knock-down argument brought by the Campbellites against the Latter-day Saints—“That from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures.” What Scriptures? To be sure John’s Gospel was not written at that time, neither were his three epistles, or his revelations, and several other books were not written at that time, although King James’s translators considered those books necessary, and inserted them in our Bible. But suppose we read the passage a little further: 2 Tim. iii. 15—17. “From a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

Then you discover that those Scriptures which were given were only sufficient to make even Timothy wise unto salvation, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and that all Scripture given by inspiration was profitable and actually necessary to make the man of God perfect, and thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Now, my friends, get into heaven without revelation if you can; for all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and the man of God cannot be thoroughly furnished with all good works without getting a knowledge of the Scriptures. It matters not through whom, this is the principle upon which the true Church is founded, and the gates of hell will never prevail against it; but when they reject revelation they adopt another religion, that is built upon another and sandy foundation, and that has another head, different from the true Gospel; the clouds will come, and the winds blow and beat upon their fabric, and the fabric that has become old and venerated will be thrown down, and great will be the fall thereof; and it will be more tolerable for the heathen than for such churches.

Well, this is the very state and position of Christendom when Joseph Smith introduced the fulness of the everlasting Gospel into the world.

I have narrated the facts relative to the quarrels they had with each other in the several denominations; and yet they united to destroy the little illiterate boy, as he was called. If education were necessary to proclaim the revelations which Jesus Christ had revealed unto him (the boy) then we may conclude the Lord did not select the proper person. They persecuted him (not for being wicked), burnt his houses, stole his property, tarred and feathered, scourged and imprisoned him; and his friends also shared a similar fate—they were whipped and driven from place to place; and finally when he was placed under the pledge of protection from the executive of the State in which he lived, he was treacherously murdered, almost the whole Christian world said, “It is too barbarous to kill him in that way, but then it is a good thing that he is dead.”

“But,” say some, “how is it that all the power, and all the miracles, and all the manifestations and blessings of the Priesthood have not been manifested in the Church, that were manifested in the Church of God formerly by the Prophets of old?

I do not believe that. the history of the world records as great a miracle as Deseret now is. The history of the sacred volume does not contain a record of as great and wonderful a miracle as the fleeing of this people into the wilderness, robbed of every earthly thing that could make life desirable, driven before the muskets of the Christian mob, exposed to the vicissitudes of new climates, and exploring into the mountains in a new and desert country, and contending with every difficulty that the devil could introduce, and with all the clamor and calumny that could be invented to harden the hearts of men and women against them. In the midst of all this, they rejoiced, and after locating themselves in the wilderness, a thousand miles from settlements, in a place that was pronounced by all scientific travellers to be uninhabitable, and there producing the bounties of life in great abundance, and to see how it has risen in splendor, in every respect, I say it is a wonder and a marvel far beyond any other recorded upon this earth. The fact of it was, before we were driven from the United States, we petitioned the Governor of every State in the Union for an asylum where we might be permitted to enjoy the blessings of our religion unmolested; and all our petitions were treated with cruel neglect. When our enemies drove us into the wilderness, a great share of the Christian world felt like saying, “They will starve to death, the Indians will destroy them, and we shall have done with Mormonism;” and they concluded that, in the eyes of posterity, they would give us such a bad name as to justify their cruel actions towards us, and as we should be sure to perish, there would nobody live who would tell the truth for us, and that would be the end of the matter.

We were quite willing to go, for the best of all reasons, we could not stay. There was no chance under the heavens for us to stay, and be protected, in any State in the Union; and I suppose some of them felt as the pious old quaker did when he was on board a vessel which was attacked by pirates—he was too pious to fight, it was against his conscience, but when one of the pirates started to climb a rope and get upon the vessel, the old quaker picked up a hatchet and said, “Friend, if thee wants that piece of rope, thee can have it and welcome,” and immediately cut the rope and let him drop into the sea, where he was drowned. So our enemies thought they would let us go into the heart of the Great American Desert and starve, as they compelled us to leave every thing that would make life desirable.

It was even counselled in high places to disarm the “Mormons” after they started, that is, to take from them the few old fusees and cheap arms which they had been able to scrape together, after they had been disarmed the third time by executive authority, and they had subsequently picked up some old fusees to kill game with; and it was gravely discussed to disarm them, so that they would not be able to kill game, or defend themselves against the Indians; but through the providence of God, and our prayers, we were enabled to pack off the few old guns, and started for the mountains. But instead of starting to kill the Indians, as our puritan fathers did, we began endeavoring to teach them to work and be industrious; and had it not been for the interference of other spirits, we would have got along very smoothly; and this has been the result of the united efforts of those who have been willing to listen to the counsel and instruction given to this people. Those who have been unwilling to listen to the counsel and instructions of President Young, have caused us more trouble than everything else we have had to contend with among the Indians.

For instance, in the year 1849, a company of Missourians passing through the country to California, shot a number of squaws, for the sake of stealing their horses, and pursued their journey. This produced enmity among the Indians towards the white men.

A few such circumstances have caused some of our brethren to lose their lives; but not a thousandth part of troubles have occurred here, that was brought upon those colonies established upon the coast, with the single exception of Pennsylvania.

No man that has had to do with the Indians, has ever been able to do the good to them that Governor Young has done; and some of the statesmen have acknowledged it.

And the discovery has actually been made, that the “Mormons” do not starve to death, and that the Almighty did sustain them in the midst of every difficulty which possibly could be brought upon their heads.

I have seen men, even in this Church, who have become discouraged at a few trials. I can tell you, brethren and sisters, if all such men will trace their conduct to its source, they will find that they have fostered an evil spirit, evil principles, and lived in open rebellion to the religion which they have professed; and consequently darkness has come over their minds, and they soon felt as a very self righteous man did some years ago. He was in the Church, and he said he had proved the revelations of Joseph Smith to be untrue. “How did you prove them so?” “Why,” said he, “one of Joseph Smith’s revelations says, that if a man shall commit adultery, he shall lose the Spirit of the Lord, and deny the faith, and shall be cast out. Now,” says he, “I have been guilty of that crime, and I have not apostatized, and consequently that revelation is not true, and that proves Joseph Smith is not a true Prophet.” This was the darkness which his corruptions had brought upon him, and this is the kind of darkness which transgression will bring upon all men in this Church.

This people are different from any other people that live upon the face of the earth; they have the Holy Priesthood, and there is no man in all the house of Israel that fulfils the duties of his calling as a Saint, but receives a portion of the holy Priesthood, and every person has his duties to fulfil.

Every man that would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that would receive the doctrines he taught, and those taught by his Apostles, that would listen to his counsel, and obey his precepts, were promised, and did receive, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and that Spirit did lead, and guide, and teach him or her that received it, into all truth, unless the receiver afterwards defiled his temple by wickedness and corruptions. And he (the Spirit) would lead into all truth, and that truth when revealed would become a matter of knowledge in the breast of every Saint. And no man can rise up, that has lived in obedience to those principles, and say that he has not realized the very thing promised.

The very first thing that Joseph told the brethren, when they were going out to preach, was, that their salary would be tar and feathers, abuse and persecution—“You will be driven from house to house, and from country to country, and be hated of all men because of your religion;” and this has been fulfilled, and that too by the people in free America. Thousands of people have been driven over and over again by people living under the free institutions of the United States. Who could have thought that their teachers and leaders would have been murdered while under the protection of the Governor of a State? And who could have believed that this could have been done in free America, without a single murderer being brought to justice?

When Joseph proclaimed these things to the world beforehand, all men said, “Let him alone, he will prove himself a liar in that;” but even that was proved true; the vengeance of the wicked fell upon him, and they took his life, and not a single individual was ever brought to justice for it!

Now in the days of early Christians, when Pagan Rome persecuted the Apostles, it was a different case altogether; for the Pagan religion was the acknowledged creed of the land, therefore the Pagan religion being established by law, made the innovation by the early Christians a violation of their laws; but it has not been so in this land, where freedom of opinion upon all subjects is guaranteed to all, by both State and Federal constitutions. And every murder, every house that has been robbed or burnt, and every act of cruelty and oppression which has been committed upon the” Mormons,” has been in violation of both laws and constitution, and these things have been known to the officers of state, and yet, remarkable to tell, not one has ever been punished; still the evidence was in their possession, which would have brought the perpetrators of those crimes to justice. They were sworn to support the constitution and to faithfully execute the laws, the neglect of which was perjury; and they had the laws of their country and of their Senate to back them.

Not so with the Romans. When the Romans carried on their persecution of the Apostles, the laws of their country and senate supported them, for the proclamation of the disciples of Christ was defaming the gods that the laws of their country commanded to be worshipped; but in this instance it was entirely another thing, for freedom of thought, freedom of speech, and freedom of conscience in religious matters is guaranteed to all people who might choose to come there; and in the face and eyes of all this, not only were their privileges taken away as citizens, but the laws and constitution of their very country, the country in which many of their fathers fought and bled, were treated with utter contempt. And religious prejudices, and Christian stupidity, that defy a comparison or parallel in the history of nations, produced this identical effect.

This, however, is not all the work which is presented to us as an illustration of the fulfilment of the prophecies of the Prophet, that has been accomplished. It is only the commencement of the mighty purposes which have been predicted for when the Prophet first made his appearance he proclaimed the distresses that were to come upon the nations of the earth; and what has been the result? Why at the present time the nations are filled with madness; they are dashing against each other with perfect madness, slaying their thousands daily. It appears as if all the rulers and great men of the earth had lost their reason, and as if the feelings of the human race were bent perfectly like butchering and destroying each other. Millions of lives during the past year have been sacrificed, either in the battle field or in sickness, or accident by sea, or the sickness which is the result of the war, and yet greater preparations are being made to contest the point; and what point is it? Why, whether a certain tract of land, which neither of the great parties ever saw, or probably ever will see, shall be governed by a man called Sultan, or by a man called Czar. But the real thing is, the spirit of peace is taken from the earth, and the spirit of war and bloodshed runs through the earth, and that to an extent hitherto unknown.

We sometimes see men make their appearance among us, and after a short stay they will say, “Why I believe I will go off to some place and wait till ancient Mormonism comes round again, for this is not ancient Mormonism; these are not the original doctrines that were preached.” Well, there were similar persons in the days of the apostle Paul. He in writing to the Hebrews, v. ch, 12 ver., says, “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers,” that is, when you have been long enough in the Church to become teachers, “ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.” “You,” says he, “have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and you belong to that class who have need of milk.” Now when I hear a “Mormon” talk of going back to “Ancient Mormonism,” it forcibly reminds me of this passage of Scripture which I have just cited.

To be sure, when the work first commenced, men would rise up and say, “Show us the wonderful power and miracles which were performed by Moses.”

The text shows the kingdom of heaven is likened unto seed cast into the ground; it is compared to corn; it springs up, first the blade, then the ear, and then the full corn in the ear.

You are all aware that it has never been in any one period of the world’s history that corn or any other grain has come to maturity at once, and you are also aware that a kingdom or country or nation, of any kind or condition, is not the work of a moment. But the kingdom of heaven was likened by our Savior to seed sown in the ground; it springs up, first the blade, and afterwards the full corn in the ear, and when harvest comes, the sickle is thrust in and the harvest is gathered, and thus the work is progressive. And the Prophets, in speaking of the work of the last days, have said that the Lord will give line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, and that a little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a great nation; I the Lord will hasten in its time: so is the kingdom of God.

This people have nothing to expect but persecution, for just as long as they adhere to the principles of revelation, just so long as they are governed by the original principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, will every priest upon the face of this earth, that is an hireling, raise his influence to destroy the kingdom and those who bear the Holy Priesthood.

The fulfilment of the predictions of the Apostle is in our own day, viz., that men would after their own ungodly lusts heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and turn their ears from truth unto fables! not wait till God sent men among them, they would not listen to men whom heaven might send with new revelation, but they would go to work to educate them themselves, heap to themselves teachers of their own manufacture, get up their own factories, and manufacture their own teachers or preachers, who should turn the hearts of the people from the truth, and turn them unto fables, and teach for doctrines the precepts of men.

These will act as the Apostle Peter tells us, for says he, “There shall come false preachers and false teachers in the last days, who shall turn the hearts of the people from the truth, and shall say unto them, Where is the promise of his coming, for since the fathers fell asleep all things remain as they were from the beginning, and the great day is passed, and we are under the necessity of rejecting anything and everything that professes to be revealed from God.”

And unless this people so live before God as to have the light of revelation constantly before their eyes, the powers of darkness will prevail over them, for that very day spoken of by the Savior is near at hand, when nation is lifting up sword against nation, and when it is necessary that we should see and understand the signs for ourselves, for it is nearly the time when the sign of the Son of Man shall be again seen.

The signs of the times thicken in the heavens, and the earth shows forth her wonders. And as this is frequently denominated the fast age, I will say that it is fast ripening for the burning, for ere long the Savior will make his appearance among his people, when they are sufficiently united, when they become sufficiently agreed that they can all work with one feeling, one mind, one soul, and with one spirit; the heavens then can be revealed, the curtains unrolled, and the Savior appear in the midst of his Saints.

Some feelings have been created in the world because the Saints are so firmly united. Now they need not be afraid, for it is the work of God, and although they scatter us a hundred times to the four winds of heaven, although they murder thousands of us, and burn and destroy our property, it is the work of the Almighty, and they cannot prevail against it. Whatever may be done will only serve to roll it forth, and hurry forward the work of the Almighty.

The fact is, the time is near at hand when the consummation of the wicked will take place; the day of the Lord is near; the harvest is not far ahead. The wicked are slaying the wicked, and times are growing worse and worse; all the world feel it; and we should watch for the coming of the Son of Man.

This puts me in mind of a little anecdote that I have heard our Irish brother tell of a son of the Green Isle, who was placed in prison with a Yorkshireman. The Yorkshireman had stolen a cow, and Patrick had been stealing a watch. While they were there, Yorkshire concluded that he would joke his companion about stealing the watch, so says he to Patrick, “What time is it?” “About milking time,” said Pat. And I say that it is about harvest time, and it will not be long before the story of the Kilkenny cats will be acted out in earnest; the nations will devour and destroy each other, for peace is taken from the earth.

I shall close, praying the blessings of heaven to rest upon you continually in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Holy Spirit and the Godhead

Orson Pratt

A discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the open air, on the Temple Block, Great Salt Lake City, February 18, 1855.

I presume that the people who are now before me feel, with myself, somewhat disappointed in their expectations this morning. We met together here for the purpose of hearing an address from our beloved President, in regard to the views of this people respecting the Government of the United States, and our relations and connection with that Government as a people.

It is certainly a disappointment to me, and I have no doubt but it is to all who are under the sound of my voice, but you see that the house is insufficient to accomodate us all, and in consequence of this, being requested by some of the First Presidency, I have come out into the open air for the purpose of addressing you, according to the strength of my lungs and the wisdom which God may be pleased to give me.

Let us all lift up our hearts in faith before the Lord, that in our disappointment in not hearing the President, the Lord may still be merciful, and pour out from on high the Holy Ghost upon us, that we may be instructed and edified, and have our minds strengthened by the gifts, and power, and wisdom thereof; for without the gifts and strength of the Holy Spirit to inspire the hearts of those who speak and of those who hear, our remarks will be in vain, and our hearing will be in vain; but keep that Spirit with us, and then, notwithstanding the circumstances under which we are placed, all will be well; and never let the Saints feel discouraged, neither forget to pray for the Holy Spirit to rest down upon them, and upon those who speak to them, that each and all may be directed to act at all times by that Spirit that is able to guide into all truth. This certainly is the object for which we are gathered out from the nations of the earth; this is the object for which we are assembled here to-day; at least, it ought to be. We ought not to have any other thing in view only to be blessed, edified, and strengthened in the Lord.

I am sure that I have no other object in view, and I am the last person in my feelings that would come out and undertake to speak for the sake of hearing myself and getting the applause of men; for so far as speaking is concerned, I feel more like retiring into some lonely place; for I never did feel a desire to be engaged in public life, only so far as I can do good; but I have a desire to serve the Lord, I have a desire to do good, I have a desire to persuade men and women to become righteous, I have a desire to understand the knowledge and things of God, and those great principles that will be calculated to aid me under all the circumstances of this life, as well as in that which is to come; and for these things I live, and for this cause (believing that it is required of my hands by the Lord) I take a part in public life.

I believe I will take a text, and then I can, perhaps, collect my thoughts and concentrate my mind upon some subject. I am aware that it is very difficult to speak in the open air, but I will endeavor to make all hear. I know of no more appropriate text than one which is expressed in two words, and it is therefore a very short one; and although I have spoken and written upon the subject before, there may be those present who are not fully acquainted with it, and it may also assist the Elders to defend our principles when they are sent forth to preach the Gospel. It is comprehended in the following two words—“ BE ONE.”

Why are we required to be one? What is the object of being one? I do not know of any better way to illustrate this question than this—if this congregation who are now present before me, were required to perform some great and mighty works, wherein great strength was necessary to be exerted, and each individual went and tried to perform the work given to them to do unitedly, his acts, being individually and separately performed, would fail to perform the work.

It may be a work of great moment which we are called upon to perform, requiring all the union, strength, and force that are in our minds. If men undertake any work of great magnitude by their united force and strength, they may be able to bring to pass that which they could not accomplish individually; and so it is with regard to the things of the kingdom of God.

We are required to be one in order that our exertions and strength may be united, and have an influence to accomplish our great end and aim; for by our united faith and exertions we shall be able to prove ourselves worthy. The Saints are universally interested, as much as we are, in the building up of this kingdom, which requires oneness of action.

The devil is all the time working in opposition to our exertions, and he feels quite interested in opposing us by all his forces, embodied and disembodied; for he has a great many ways by which he overcomes the human family, and brings them into bondage. He has been a long time in war with the kingdom of God, and has become very wily, and has great experience in his favor, and that is the way he has acquired such a great deal of cunning; although he has not the same degree of knowledge that there is in exercise in behalf of the Saints; for he knows not the mind of God in all things.

That he is thus limited in knowledge is clearly revealed in the Prophet Joseph’s inspired translation of the book of Genesis. He has many years of experience, and so have his associates; for they have been engaged in a spiritual warfare for many ages, endeavoring to bring into captivity the spirits of men, to lead them into subjection to his own power; and it requires a strong force to operate successfully against his numerous host; consequently, we read that in the last great battle that shall be fought with this adversary, all the forces of heaven will be brought to bear against him: they will all be united in one great body under the direction of our father Adam, the chief prince, the archangel who was appointed in the beginning to overcome the devil by the assistance of his children. He will marshal all the hosts of heaven, and will be able to prevail against him; and then will the Saints be delivered from his power from henceforth and for ever.

Now you see the nature of the thoughts and ideas that the Savior had in his mind when he commanded his people to be one. We have to learn the lesson of union here, and when the time shall come for the commands to be issued forth by the archangel, or the head angel, that his children may be ready, and all under his command really prepared to go and perform the work that is given them to do. How, or in what manner, this battle will be fought, it is not necessary in this discourse to explain; indeed, we do not know all the particulars, for they are not revealed, but we may judge from analogy.

We see how the devil operates with us in this life, for he knows now that our strength is broken; some are in distant settlements, and some here, and others scattered abroad among the nations; and he is all the time operating and laying plans for the purpose of injuring and afflicting the Saints of the living God; and he will not alter his evil course, but will try to entrap as many as possible by his stratagems, and lead them astray from the path of life. That is the way he fights against the cause of God.

Whether there will be any physical force used by celestial beings when, fighting against other beings, is not revealed; but suffice it to say, that there will be a spiritual strength and force exercised, and an endeavor made to overcome the minds of men and women, and bring them into subjection and captivity; and when the mind is brought into subjection, there will be a spiritual misery, and this is one of the greatest causes of misery.

It is not this physical body that suffers in such a case as the one we have mentioned; but as I have, years ago, frequently told the people that the body has not life in itself; it is the spirit that has life and feeling, and that is capable of experiencing sorrow and joy, and all those changes of sensation to which we are liable in this mortal state; when we are overcome, the spirit is in bondage, subject to the power of him who has subjected and overcome it, and so it will be with those that Satan finally overcomes; they will become his prisoners, for he will have prevailed against them; and thus they are spiritually subdued.

If they are overcome in their bodies while here, if their minds are bound down in captivity by their great enemy, if they render themselves subject to him, it will produce misery and pain and wretchedness to every such soul. This is compared to a literal pain of the body by fire and brimstone, about which so much as been said by the religious world.

I do not know but there will be a literal hell of this description; for aught I know, the Lord may have worlds prepared with plenty of fire and brimstone in them; but in my opinion the greatest torment the wicked will have, will be the torment and sting of the mind, being brought into subjection to that being that is continually seeking to overcome and entangle mankind in his snares.

Then, it is necessary that we should be one, and hence the Lord said to us in the early rise of this Church, “If ye are not one, ye are not mine.” Why not His? Why will He not accept of us? Because without union, without concentration, it is clear that we cannot enjoy ourselves as the Lord designs we should; in short, exclusive of the principle and spirit of union, we never can accomplish any great work like the one given into our hands.

The Lord, therefore, designed to have His people united in one, to show us the nature of His laws, and the necessity of being united, so that we may enjoy the society of the ancients, and be one with them.

We are also commanded to shun all contentions and strifes, and all those fiendly emanations that would create a hell for us, and for those with whom we are associated in our families.

The Lord has no sure foundation to work upon, unless we are united; and consequently in order to prevent discord and disunion, the results of every one going his own way, He has warned us before hand, and said that unless we are one, we are not His.

But let us for a few moments examine this text. The Scriptures read in one place that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one. What are we to understand from this expression? Are we to understand that the persons of the Father and Jesus Christ are incorporated in one? No, it has no such meaning as this. Then are they one in substance, as the Methodist discipline, and many other creeds, declare? No; from the very fact that two particles of matter can never be one; or in other words, where one is, the other is not, and cannot be at the same instant of time.

There may be several separate substances existing at the same time, possessed of the same properties, perfections, and attributes; the particles of which they are composed may be the same in kind, and be possessed of the same amount of wisdom, power, and intelligence; but still they are separate substances, occupying separate portions of space; so with the persons of the Father and Son: for instance, if we examine the constituents of pure water obtained in Utah and in France, we find them the same, not in substance, but in quality.

A particle of oxygen, or of hydrogen in Europe, is precisely the same in quality as in America, or any where else; it is just so with the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. They are one in the attributes and principles that exist in their substances, the materials being the same in kind and qualities only. But I will not say that the Holy Ghost is a personage, the same as the Father and Son. When I speak of the Holy Spirit, I speak of it as being a substance that is precisely the same in its attributes as those of the Father and Son; I speak of it as a substance that is diffused throughout space, the same as oxygen is in pure water or air, and as being cognizant of every day’s events. And wherever this Holy Spirit is, it possesses the same attributes and the same kind of qualities that the personages of the Father and the Son are possessed of; consequently, the oneness that is here spoken of, must be applied to the attributes, and not to the persons themselves.

This subject has been a great mystery to men in the religious world; they could not comprehend it, and consequently they have conjectured many things in relation to it, without having the inspiration of the Almighty to guide them; and hence, one has got one idea, and another has conjectured in his way and got another idea, quite different from that of his neighbor. And in this way men have got up creeds and systems diverse from each other, and contrary to the real truth; and about these false creeds they have been striving and contending for ages.

For my own part, I see no mystery about it; the subject is plain and simple to those who enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost.

In order to explain my mind more fully upon this subject, I will take a father and son, and a person who lives with them, and works about the farm, and performs such other duties as may be required: let those persons have the same attributes, suppose that one knows as much as the other, and that they all act in union and concert; it could then be said of those three persons that they were one; and no one would, from that expression, suppose them to be one identical person, but every one would believe and understand that they were one in their knowledge, one in their views, and in their attributes. I understand the same with regard to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

I will tell you what I believe in regard to the Holy Ghost’s being a person: but I know of no revelation that states that this is the fact, neither is there any that informs us that it is not the fact, so we are left to form our own conclusions upon the subject, and hence some have concluded that they were right, and that others were not. It is in fact a matter of doubt with many, and of uncertainty, I believe, with all, whether there be a personal Holy Spirit, or not.

I am inclined to think, from some things in the revelations, that there is such a being as a personal Holy Ghost, but it is not set forth as a positive fact, and the Lord has never given me any revelation upon the subject, and consequently I cannot fully make up my mind one way or the other.

I know there are indications that such is the fact; for instance, where the personal pronoun is applied to the Spirit, as “He shall lead and guide you into all truth;” “he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak;” and “he shall take of the things of the Father, and show them unto you.”

From these and many other passages of the same kind and bearing, we may draw the conclusion that the Holy Spirit is actually a person. Then, again, there are other revelations where the pronoun it is applied, such for instance as, “The Spirit itself maketh intercession with groanings that cannot be uttered.” And many other revelations convey the idea that the Spirit is a diffused substance. Just so in the Book of Mormon, we find many of those terms, and consequently we are left to our own conjecture respecting there being a personal Holy Spirit; but one thing is certain, whether there is personal Holy Spirit or not, there is an inexhaustible quantity of that Spirit that is not a person. This is revealed; this is a fact. And it is just as probable to my mind, that there should be a portion of it organized into a person, as that it should exist universally diffused among all the materials in space.

This Holy Spirit is all-wise, and in many of its attributes much like the Father and Son, and acts in concert with them. It governs and controls all things, and from this some might infer that it has the same knowledge and power as the Father and Son have.

I will tell you some of the knowledge that this Holy Spirit has; it controls all the laws that you see existing around you in the variations of the weather and the changes of the seasons, and all those phenomena that you behold, and that you call the laws of nature; all these are nothing more nor less than the workings of this all-wise Spirit.

You see a stone or other substances fall to the ground, and you ask, What makes them fall, and what controls them? Why will they not rise? Has any person ever found out the cause of this? No; even Sir Isaac Newton’s principles of gravitation have failed to show it; as learned a man as he was, he has only given us an index or key to the effects, but not the cause of those effects. He has taken great pains to show us that when anything falls to the ground, it is the effect of the law of universal gravitation; but he himself declares that the law gives no indication of the cause; he makes this declaration in his writings.

If, then, he knew nothing about the cause of stones falling, and if no other persons know, the inquiry may still with propriety be made—what is the cause of stones or any other substances, when hurled into the air, falling to the earth? This is one of the mysteries of nature not yet discovered, unless we can attribute it to the Holy Spirit’s governing and controlling all things. But is the Holy Spirit in the stone, says the inquirer? and is it that which causes it to fall to the ground, instead of going upward, or instead of going in a horizontal direction? This Spirit is in all things, governing and controlling them according to the eternal decrees of the Almighty. “How do you prove it,” says one? I will prove it by quoting a revelation where it says, “He is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made. As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made. As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made. And the earth also, and the power thereof; even the earth upon which you stand.”

“And the light which now shineth,” meaning the light of the sun, “which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understanding; which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God, to fill the immensity of space. The light which is in all things—which giveth life to all things—which is the law by which all things are governed: even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.”

This light, then, recollect, is so universally diffused, that it giveth light to all things. This is the same light that governs all things, and it is: called the “power of God.” And this, in connection with another passage in the same revelation, clearly sets forth the doctrine I have presented before you; the passage says that; “light cleaveth to light.” You all recollect the paragraph. The revelation goes on to say that “God, who sitteth upon his throne, governeth and executeth all things;he comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things; and all things are by him and of him, even God, for ever and ever.”

Well, then, shall we say, when God, or His Holy Spirit, which in many revelations is called God, is through all things, being universally diffused, and in and round about all things, that it is not in a stone when it falls to the ground? No; we will not exclude it from anything that exists, for if we exclude that Spirit from one substance, we might as well exclude it, or attempt to exclude it, from all matter. If God be in all things, He is in the stone. If we were to take the wings of the morning and fly to the uttermost parts of the earth, God is there; or if we make our bed in hell, He is there; and that Spirit is there, not in suffering, but executing the decrees of the Almighty.

All those vast bodies which we behold traversing space, are governed and controlled by the same Spirit. If each of them, or the Holy Spirit diffused through them, did not know enough of those universal laws by which all worlds and all matter are kept in order, they might frequently come in contact with each other, as the orbits of many of them intersect each other in performing their revolutions. Even the stone that is thrown into the air does not go at random, but its path is marked out systematically; according to certain laws and conditions, it always falls to the ground.

Why did the axe rise to the top of the water when commanded by Elisha the Prophet? I will tell you how Elisha made it come up to the surface of the water. The spirit or power that caused the piece of iron to sink, was used to bring it up again, for it required the same power to bring it to the top of the water that it did to take it down. The agency or power that caused the iron axe to sink when it fell into the water, is called the law of “universal gravitation.” There is no attraction towards the earth, as some have supposed, but there is a gravitating power, or a power that sends everything towards the earth as soon as it is left loose in the atmosphere.

Suppose you take the spirit, which is in all things, away from the axe of which we are speaking, would the particles of iron cleave together? No, they would not; there would be no more union of the particles than there is in the atmosphere we all breathe; but it is the Spirit of God that causes the particles of iron to cleave together in the axe, and it is the same Spirit that brings it up to the water’s surface, and that same Spirit causes iron to sink to the bottom of a creek or river into which it may fall; and consequently all these universal laws that appear so prominently before us from day to day are nothing more than the operations of that all-wise Spirit which we are told is “round about and in all things,” and which act according to certain laws prescribed by the Almighty.

It is this same Spirit that acts in connexion with the Father and Son in governing all things in the heavens and upon the earth, and through all the boundless extent of space. Cause this oneness, this union among the particles of the Spirit, to cease, and you would soon see all things go into confusion. Take away this Spirit, and you would immediately see some things going up, others down; some moving horizontally; one portion of the earth would divide from the other; one part would be flying here and another there. Unless there was a oneness existing in the innumerable atoms of this universal Spirit, matter would cease to move by law; but they all act in concert, and hence there is no confusion in the operations of nature or of nature’s laws.

I have heard it observed, as an argument against this view of the subject, that if all the particles of the Holy Spirit had the same degree of knowledge, they might get to quarreling with each other. Take away this kind of union that now exists, and you would find one particle contending for one kind of government, and a second for another, and each would think its own method the best; there would be room for a great deal more contention and quarreling where diversity of opinion exists through lack of knowledge, than if they had the same knowledge. In short, if the particles of the Holy Spirit were not one in knowledge, there would be a constant quarreling for want of understanding. Differences of views, arising from the want of the same knowledge, introduce discordant feelings and expressions into every family, and among every class of persons where they exist.

Give to two individuals of the same capacities the same knowledge of anything—let them see and understand so that they shall have the same views formed by that sameness of knowledge, and they will not quarrel about their views, but they will act as one, and consequently will be one in the thing which they understand alike; and just so it is with the planets, the earth, the moon, and other worlds; they act in concert, and the spirit that governs them understands the principles by which this world and all others are governed, and consequently there is no confusion nor discord; no worlds clashing against each other, and breaking themselves into millions of atoms, and scattering themselves throughout space. Why is there nothing of this kind? Because the particles of the Holy Spirit are one.

You do not find one part of our spirits or our bodies fighting against another part. You do not find the spirit that is in our left foot fighting against the spirit that is in the right foot; but they act together, being one. If one hand gets burnt, the other is warned and keeps away from the fire. Why is this? It is because the particles of spirit in both have the same degree of intelligence, and being united in all things, one is warned by the other.

Some suppose that all our intelligence is in the head. I do not believe any such thing; but I believe that if our spirits could be taken from our bodies and stand before us, so that we could gaze upon them with our natural eyes, we would see the likeness and image of each of the tabernacles out of which they were taken. Not only the head, but the figure of the head, feet, arms, hands, face, and of the whole body. If the spirit is composed of innumerable particles possessing knowledge or intelligence, we argue that it is diffused through the system in which it dwells. For if the parts of the spirit had individually no knowledge, then they would not have any knowledge collectively.

How many dead persons would you have to pile together to make a living one? If ten thousand were piled together they would produce neither life nor knowledge. And it is just so with these particles or parts of the body said to have no spirit in them, you might bring them together, and they would know just as much as a hundred thousand dead persons. Consequently, if the whole is intelligent, the parts are. It matters not if the particles are so small that ten thousand of them might be put upon the point of a cambric needle, they all form parts of that intelligent Spirit, and act in unison one with the other in all things; and hence there is a oneness according to the words of our text. No fighting one against the other, but a perfect oneness exists, and is exhibited through all the actions of that Spirit. If the all-wise Spirit gains an existence in man, it endeavors to influence and persuade him to become one with God, as it is one with Him.

Portions of this Spirit, we say, exist throughout every part of space, and they perform all the work of governing, and keeping that perfect harmony which we behold in all nature. All nature is by these means made to submit to the great law of oneness. Then why not we conform to the same great principle at once? We must conform to it, if we intend to enjoy the presence of God, and of His Son Jesus Christ: We have got to become just as much one in our faith and in our actions as our right and left hands are in their actions one with the other.

“But,” say the people, “inasmuch as you are touching upon this principle of oneness, we should like to have you explain, to us the passage where it says, ‘The Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, and the Spirit is in them both,’ or words to this effect.” It is the passage recording Jesus’ prayer for his disciples. I will give you our Savior’s own words: “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” How often we are told in the Scriptures of truth of this one great and important fact—the oneness of the Father and the Son, and it is as often repeated in the Book of Mormon. Just on one single page of that book we find it repeated a great number of times.

Now Jesus, in his prayer, had no reference to the oneness of their substances, but to the attributes, showing to us, in a most explicit manner, that the attributes that dwell in the Father dwell also in the Son.

Now, let me ask you, if the same knowledge be in two or more persons—if they understand a truth, and any other persons understand it, does that make it more than one truth? Or, if I understand a truth, and some other person in this congregation understands the same, does that make two truths of it? No; it does not. And if this body of people before me were in possession of the same truth as I am, does that make as many truths as there are persons who understand it? No; certainly not: it is all one truth, dwelling in various tabernacles; it is one truth wherever it is found, or whoever may possess it—it is still the one unchangeable truth.

Jesus could with all propriety say, when speaking of the knowledge he had, “The Father is in me, and I in him.”

What does he say concerning us in a revelation in 1831? He says, “I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and inasmuch as you have received me, I am in you, and you in me.” That is as much as to say, that “not the whole of me is in you, because, you are imperfect: but inasmuch as you have received the truth I have imparted, so much of me is in you, for I am the truth, and so much of you dwells in me.” And if you should happen to get a knowledge of all the truth that he possesses, you would then have all of his light, and the whole of Christ would then dwell in you.

There is one revelation that this people are not generally acquainted with. I think it has never been published, but probably it will be in the Church History. It is given in questions and answers. The first question is, “What is the name of God in the pure language?” The answer says, “Ahman.” “What is the name of the Son of God?” Answer, “Son Ahman—the greatest of all the parts of God excepting Ahman.” “What is the name of men?” “Sons Ahman,” is the answer. “What is the name of angels in the pure language?” “Anglo-man.”

This revelation goes on to say that Sons Ahman are the greatest of all the parts of God excepting Son Ahman and Ahman, and that Anglo-man are the greatest of all the parts of God excepting Sons Ahman, Son Ahman, and Ahman, showing that the angels are a little lower than man. What is the conclusion to be drawn from this? It is, that these intelligent beings are all parts of God, and that those who have the most of the parts of God are the greatest, or next to God, and those who have the next greatest portions of the parts of God, are the next greatest, or nearest to the fulness of God; and so we might go on to trace the scale of intelligences from the highest to the lowest, tracing the parts and portions of God so far as we are made acquainted with them. Hence we see that wherever a great amount of this intelligent Spirit exists, there is a great amount or proportion of God, which may grow and increase until there is a fulness of this Spirit, and then there is a fulness of God.

Looking at the subject in this light, there is no longer any mystery in the Scripture that says the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, for they are always one, working together to accomplish the great work of redemption.

The flesh and bones of the Son were not in the Father, neither did Jesus try to convey such an idea. The Apostles understood as we do on this point, and they likewise knew that he had made and created all things; we believe the same, and that he is infinite. Not infinitely expanded in his person, but that the all-wise substance, called the Holy Spirit, is “in all things, and round about all things.”

We see the propriety, then, of this prayer of our Savior’s: “Father, I pray not only for these Twelve Apostles that thou hast given me, but for all those who shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee; that they may be made perfect in one, even as we are one.”

Hence, then, men are to be one with Christ on the same principle that he is one with the Father. Now there is no man that will be so foolish as to think and believe that all men, who shall believe on the Savior through the Apostle’s words, will become the same identical person; this is not the idea conveyed, but they were to have that same truth, so as to make them one in their feelings, desires, designs, and actions for the salvation of the fallen race of Adam.

When we look at all those principles, and reflect upon them, they afford us joy and comfort, and the reflection gives me an earnest desire to be one with my brethren, and to be one upon the principles of righteousness, and not upon unrighteous principles; for if it were possible for men to be one upon unrighteous principles, it would be of no use to them.

You will perceive that in the devil’s kingdom, with all the knowledge that they have gained by a long experience, they are not one. There are disunion and strife continually among them; they are not united upon false principles, and wherever false principles exist in the world, or anywhere else, there will be discord and contentions, and hence he (Jesus) says “Be one? This has no reference whatever to being one upon an unrighteous foundation; it has only a reference to being one upon the principles of the celestial law. And as soon as this people are united, and become one upon the principles of the celestial law, the Lord will pour out His blessings more abundantly upon them; when all understand it, they will all be governed by it; they will believe alike, and act alike, and this will make them one.

There is another thing upon which I will now speak, namely, the Omnipresence of God.

Every one knows that it is absurd to believe in a personage being present in two places at once. “But,” says one, nothing is impossible with God.” But; I beg to differ with such persons, and inform them, that if the Scripture be true, there are things which are impossible with God; for it is said that it is impossible for Him to lie; and if so, it would be impossible for Him to act inconsistent with truth; He could not place His body in Europe and America at the same time, for that would be inconsistent with the simplest principles of truth.

We heard a most excellent discourse last Sunday about the angels being sent to the various nations of the earth, to superintend the affairs and destinies thereof; also about each person upon the face of the whole earth having his guardian angel from the time that he comes into the world. The Holy Spirit acts in conjunction with those angels, and in places where they cannot be, for there are a great many places where those angels cannot be present, and the Holy Spirit being omnipresent is in every place at the same moment of time, regulating the seasons, and governing the planets in their courses. There would have to be a vast number of angels to be present in every place at the same instant of time, directing the movements of each particle of matter throughout the vast extent of space; consequently this is attended to by that All-powerful Spirit that exists in inexhaustible quantities throughout the universe.

The Holy Spirit “is in all things, and round about all things,” holding all things together in every place and part of the earth, and in all the vast creations of the Almighty. If you ascend into heaven, it is there: if you take the wings of the morning and fly to the uttermost parts of the earth, it is there; if you go to the depths of hell, it is there, not suffering, but performing the works of His justice upon the ungodly. Go where you will, through endless space, and you will find the Spirit there, and consequently, when we speak of the omnipresence of God, we have reference to His Spirit, and not to His person. But why is this called the omnipresence of God? Simply because this Spirit possesses the same knowledge that dwells in the persons of God the Father and God the Son, hence God is there, so far as that knowledge is there.

This, then, will account for the great mystery which exists in the sectarian world about God’s being everywhere present. Some of them think and believe that God is a person, and that He can be everywhere present in a personal capacity. Those who are called the wisest among the religious world have made it out, that the persons of the Father and Son can be in them and in every other place at the same instant of time. This is as gross an absurdity as it would be to say that three times three make ten, or three times one make four. But they have drawn this conclusion out of certain passages of Scripture, in order to satisfy their hearers with regard to this intricate subject. They do not wish to acknowledge their ignorance, and therefore they have given out this doctrine, which is diametrically opposed to every principle of science as well as of reason.

The plain, simple Scriptural doctrine is that God’s Spirit is there, which is God in all His power and majesty. All those seemingly mysterious passages which the learned divines have applied to the person of the Father being omnipresent, have reference to that All-wise Spirit of which we have spoken. What effect will this view of the doctrine have upon persons? We answer, that a person who believes and follows this as taught in the Book of Covenants, and the Book of Mormon, will never be confounded. Such persons will be all the time thinking, “If we have anything to do, God is in that thing, and is the law and power by which all things that surround us are governed and kept in such perfect order.” What influence will this have over a man who believes it? It will put him more upon his guard, far more than he otherwise would be; for God cannot be in this board, or in each blade of grass in person, but when we know that the Holy Spirit is everywhere present, being combined with all matter then we have a correct understanding. God cannot be in every place without understanding our actions and our thoughts too. Do you believe that the particles of the Holy Spirit have such great knowledge? How much knowledge will they require to enable them to overlook and superintend all the works of God? They will require knowledge infinitely greater than ever we thought of. For instance, they must have a most perfect knowledge of the law of the inverse square of the distance pertaining to universal gravitation, or how could they know the exact distance of those innumerable worlds under their charge, so as to keep them all moving harmoniously as we see them. Particles of intelligence that can do all this, can surely know of the thoughts and intents of the heart; hence, we should always consider, when tempted to do evil, that God is round about us with all the knowledge that governs and controls nature. You see, then, that this view of the subject is calculated to have an effect that will be profitable to us all.

“But” inquires one, “how are you going to get along with the passage, in Isaiah, where the Lord declared that, There is no God before me, nor shall there be any after me?’” How can we believe this, when we believe in the revelation given through Joseph Smith, which says there are many Gods, and that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are Gods, and that all good men in this Church shall become Gods? Paul also speaks of the only wise God. Perhaps some may suppose that it is translated improperly. But you will find the same thing in the Book of Mormon, translated by the Urim and Thummim; the same things are also contained in the new translation of the book of Genesis, given to Moses, where the Lord declares that, “There is no God besides me.” In these expressions, God has reference to the great principles of light and truth, or knowledge, and not to the tabernacles in which this knowledge may dwell; the tabernacles are many and without number, but the truth or knowledge which is often personified and called God, is one, being the same in all; God is one, being a unity, when represented by light, truth, wisdom, or knowledge; but when reference is made to the temples in which this knowledge dwells, the number of Gods is infinite.

This explains the mystery. If we should take a million of worlds like this and number their particles, we should find that there are more Gods than there are particles of matter in those worlds. But the attributes of Deity are one; and they constitute the one God that the Prophets speak of, and that the children of men in all worlds worship.

One world has a personal God or Father, and the inhabitants thereof worship the attributes of that God, another world has another, and they worship His attributes, and besides Him there is no other; and when they worship Him they are at the same time worshipping the same attributes that dwell in all the personal Gods who fill immensity. And hence the Lord says, in one of the revelations of these last days: “Ye are tabernacles in which God dwells, man is the tabernacle of God.” Suppose that there should be a thousand, or one hundred and forty-four thousand, which number John saw, and they should have the inscription “God” on their foreheads, not placed there to make fun of them, but to describe their persons and the authority they possess. Suppose they should all receive the same knowledge, would not God dwell in them? If man is the tabernacle of God, then God dwells in them all, being only one God; but when we speak of them in their personal capacity, we say that John saw a hundred and forty-four thousand Gods; if we speak of the light or truth in each that governs them all then there is but one God, and He is in all worlds, and throughout all space, wherever the same identical light or truth is found; and all beings, from all eternity to all eternity, have to worship and adore the same one God, and always will have to worship Him; though they worship Him in so many different tabernacles, yet it is the one God, or in other words, the same light or truth that is worshipped by all. When we look at the subject in this light, there is no mystery about it. Only look at it in the light that it is revealed to man in these last days, and there is none of that darkness and sectarian foolishness which characterize apostate Christendom; and we cannot understand nor explain one single principle correctly, and are in the dark and cannot see the way before us; but when we talk and act under the immediate influence of the spirit of revelation, then we can see that which the world are ignorant of. When we undertake to talk of the great and glorious principles revealed in our day, and speak of the great and glorious light now revealed, and of which the world have been ignorant for so many generations, and assert that the Lord has seen fit to reveal the fulness of the everlasting Gospel to Joseph Smith, an illiterate man, the religious world spurn at it and drive it from their dwellings.

How came the Lord to pass by all the great and good men with their wisdom—how was it, I say, that He passed by the learning of this generation to reveal the doctrines and principles of our holy religion? Because He was determined that no flesh should glory in His presence. How was it that Joseph Smith was enabled to make those doctrines as plain as the alphabet? It was because God was with him; God was in the work; and we would just as soon worship that Holy Spirit or intelligence in Joseph Smith or in any person else, not the person, but the God that is in him, as to worship the same attributes somewhere else. And when we find the Father of Jesus Christ, we will worship Him, not the flesh and bones, but the attributes. The Savior tells us that he has revealed a great many things, that we may know how to worship in spirit and in truth. How can a man call on the name of God acceptably and understandingly, unless he knows about His attributes, and unless His doctrines are revealed? How can the poor ignorant Indians of the forest worship acceptably until they are taught about God and about Jesus? They must understand a great many things in order to enable them to comprehend the things of God, and be baptized in an acceptable manner. If we would worship the Father and the Son, we must know something about them.

We should study the laws of God, and get a perfect understanding of all things that are revealed, and we will find that we can comprehend all that is for our present good.

I do not know but I am taking up too much time. I have been led in my mind to explain some of these things, I have done it from the fact that the Elders go abroad among the nations of the earth and meet with much opposition. For instance, when the learned and the wise begin to controvert the revelations given to Joseph the Seer, let them (the Elders) know what arguments to bring forth to sustain them, and you will see, brethren, how easy it is to show that there is but one God when speaking of the attributes, but that there are many Gods when speaking of the personages in which the same attributes dwell. and you can make it clear and plain. These things I published on my last mission, according to the knowledge I had, knowing that they were views that the Christian world came in contact with; and knowing also, this morning, that they were things that the Elders would need to understand, I have spoken as I have. If the Elders would inform themselves, they would find that they have a strong armor to support themselves with, and their testimony would be so powerful that the arguments of our enemies would fall to the ground; indeed, when on my mission, I could not find any to investigate or to controvert what I set forth, and this was a disappointment to me. I could not find any opposition, only through the papers; and consequently, I had to throw out our views and leave the public to judge. Amongst all the papers and periodicals that are published in the States I have never seen one of the arguments set forth in the Seer met by good sound reason; ridicule and denunciations were the only weapons used against us; and this has always been the case. You will find when truth is set before the people they will appeal to ridicule, from the fact that they have no arguments.

Having said this much, may the Lord bless you, brethren and sisters, and His Spirit rest upon us all, and may we feel the importance of being one in all things that are good, virtuous, and upright. Amen.

Necessity of Opposition

Ezra T. Benson

A discourse by Elder Ezra T. Benson, delivered at the Seventies’ Conference in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake, February 16, 1853.

I have listened with a great degree of satisfaction to those who have already spoken. I am now called upon to cast in my mite by the words of my mouth. I take pleasure in doing so. I always have taken satisfaction in speaking to my brethren, whenever it has fallen to my lot.

I have no excuse to make, no particular preliminaries to introduce, but wish at once to mingle my spirit, views, and feelings with those of this people. Whatever may be my field of labor, or whatever I may be called upon to do, I am ready to do it willingly, and wish to act in the calling whereunto I am called, to the best of my ability; whether to preach, or to labor with my hands, or whatever it may be, it is all the same to me, so that I am attending to the duty of my calling, and working in the sphere of this our holy religion. From the experience that most or all of us have had in this day and age of the world, we have all pretty much come to the conclusion that whatever we do, whether it is to day or at any other time, should be within the pale of our religion, acting in the spirit of our calling. This is the instruction we have been receiving this afternoon and this morning. My heart has been warmed up since I have been sitting here, and it does not take a great deal to warm it up in this case, because I try to so live before the Lord and this people, that it takes but little to warm it up.

What kind of feeling do we want resting upon us? We want the testimony of Jesus, and that is what we must have, not only this week, this month, and this year, but every day of our lives. We should be in possession of that which the Apostle Paul admonished the people to possess in his day, viz., to be ready to give a reason of the hope that you have in you.

Much good instruction has been given to the Elders of Israel. It is true I have been a little surprised, when I have reflected as a man reflects, when I have reasoned as a natural man would reason, at the remarks that have been made here this afternoon by President Joseph Young. Here we are, eating, and drinking, and sleeping in peace, “with none to molest, or make us afraid,” worshipping God according to the dictates of our consciences.

But when we reflect for a moment upon the past experience of this people, it speaks louder than thunder in our ears, we are to be on hand, as has been stated this afternoon. What is this for? It is for our good, that we may not lie down and become indolent, and say all is ease now in Zion. But the devil is not dead yet; he is on hand to do his work, to perform his mission, which is to stir up the Saints to their duty, if they do not attend to it by being counselled from God. It has been so in every age of the world—it has been the experience of this people.

We have now commenced to prepare for the building of a Temple; the ground has been staked out and broken; does not the devil know it? Yes; he knows all about it, and there could not be a thing to displease him more than for this people to talk about a Temple, to say nothing about going to work to build one. Did it not always stir up the devil? It was so in Kirtland, Missouri, and Illinois; and will it not be so in the City of the Great Salt Lake? It will. Are you not glad of it? You ought to be. Why? Because it is impossible to do anything, to any great extent, without an opposite. This is strictly according to the experience we have had. We must have an opposite, it must needs be that there is an opposite in all things to square us up, and make us ready to become useful in all things. I am glad of it, myself. What is required of us to do? Why, just do right, and all is right; what an easy lesson. Can you have any enjoyment without an opposite? We hear a good deal said about making sugar; but I tell you it is impossible to make sugar enough to make everything sweet. There is plenty of sweet, and there is also plenty of bitter. There must be an opposite, and it is all right.

What should the Saints do? You know you are right, God has told you so. The revelations of Jesus Christ have told you that you are right, and every body who knows anything about God tells you that you are right, for you want to do right, and work righteousness. What greater testimony do you want? It is enough, it is quite sufficient. It is the privilege of every body to do just as much good as they have a mind to. And what a glorious idea it is to know that we are in the Church and Kingdom of God, where there is a fountain of knowledge, of light, and of faith, where there is an inexhaustible fountain of matter and experience to work upon, so that a man is not trammelled in performing any one good thing. The revelations of Jesus Christ are far more liberal than Mr. Strang’s. He told the people that it was only the rich that should have many wives, and the poor are not to have any. Our God does not use any such expression; He makes no distinction between the rich and the poor, between the high and the low, the man-servant and the maid-servant; every body is placed as free as the air that blows. Who is trammelled in the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Is there one person? No, not one. Are you debarred from getting revelation? No, not at all. Light and intelligence are placed as free as the air that blows.

Can an Elder in Israel leave this place and go into the world to preach the Gospel without revelation? No. Can people live in these valleys of the mountains without? No, they could no more live without the light of revelation than they could without eating bread, and performing the duties required at their hands. Well, what difference is there, then, if a man can have all that he needs?

I once heard a sectarian priest undertake to tell about the different glories Paul speaks of. He compared Christians to cups or tankards, some held a pint, some a gallon, &c. Now says he, “When the cups are all full, is not that enough.” I thought the comparison was pretty good. The Lord says He has different gifts and talents to the children of men; to one He gives revelation, to another the gifts of tongues, to another prophecy, to another the gift of miracles, but one man is deprived of obtaining them all, if he has the power of mind, intelligence, and faith to do so. We can get all we desire, all we can comprehend and ask for, or all we can appreciate. Here is wisdom, that a man should not ask for that he could not appreciate or comprehend, or make a good use of, although many of us may ask and receive like the child did the apples. A little child playing upon the floor sees you hold a plate of apples, it asks for one, which it holds in one hand; then it wants another in the other hand; then it wants more, until the arms and lap are filled to overflowing; still it is not content, but craves for more until it cannot hold them, and loses the whole. This spirit the President said he could see manifested by some of this people, so that if they are not careful their blessings will become a curse to them. We have to prove ourselves in all things, every man and woman in the Kingdom of God. Our faith is tried in many ways, and what plan looks better to a faithful, virtuous Latter-day Saint? And can you be a Latter-day Saint without being virtuous? The Prophet Joseph said one could not; and he said a virtuous man or woman is willing to do precisely as the Lord tells him. Then, according to the Prophet Joseph, it is virtuous for you to obey the voice of God—the counsel of heaven through that man whom God has set to preside over us. He holds the keys of salvation to this people, and to the nations of the earth; and when that man unlocks, there is not power enough in this earth to lock. This is the situation we are in, these are the keys that are held by the men of God among us. Have we anything to fear? We need not stop to spend any time to know whether we shall do this thing or the other we have been counselled to do. If it should be to sharpen up our swords, we need not inquire when a mob is coming from the States, or whether there is enough of mobocrats in our midst to raise one.

The longer I live, and the more experience I have, the more I feel like fighting for my religion and my rights. But to make a long story short, I would not give one groat whether I stay here one month, or one year, or twenty years longer. If I sit down, and reason with myself on this wise, “Well, I have built me a good, comfortable house, I have made me an excellent farm, and am just preparing to live;” or, “My wife is sick, and I have scarcely any provisions;” I should begin to draw in my horns, you know, and be against going away. But when we reflect upon the past, looking back upon the days of Nauvoo, and comparing the situation of this people now with their situation then; could we then claim a wide spread Territory? No, we were settled then in a little elbow of the Mississip[p]i, cornered up with mobs all around us, and even in that condition many of us felt first-rate. When we came away the enemy gave back before the Saints, and we crossed over the river unmolested. I am speaking of those who obeyed the counsel of the Lord.

I can recollect the time I had in Nauvoo. Brother Joseph Young remarked. that he was President of the Seventies before any Seventies were organized; I also was somewhere, and was coming along in the natural train of things as fast as I could to stand in my lot among this people. I would have obeyed the Gospel before, if I had known enough. We found ourselves cooped up in Nauvoo, and the word of the Lord to this people was to gather out; and mobs menaced us on every side. Some good men at that time went to brother Brigham, “We shall never get out, we never can be permitted to pass through the Territory of Iowa.” Says brother Brigham, in reply to them,” We shall all go through, and not a man shall be hurt.” This I heard him say in the Temple of the Lord. Was it not the case? It was. The very moment the Saints began to cross the Mississippi river the cloud began to disperse, and the light in the west began to break forth; mobs began to disperse each way on the right and on the left, to let the Saints pass through unhurt. That was the situation of affairs at that time, it is all fresh upon my memory. I have not time to enter into this part of our history in full, I merely wished to refresh your memories, and make you feel as I do. All the people did not pass through, some half-hearted “Mormons” were left behind, with a sprinkling of true hearts, and the Lord was with them notwithstanding, and they stood there to whip the devil, and they did it first rate.

Now let us stay here in the valleys of the mountains, and do all the good we can. Let us fight if the Lord says so, and blow and shatter hell from the centre to the circumference if He tells us to do so, then it will be all right. But if He says, “Let the Saints go,” I tell you I want to be among the first train, if possible. I want to be on hand to obey counsel when the Lord speaks. We have escaped our difficulties in Illinois, and got a possession in these goodly valleys, by obeying the commandments of heaven, and what are our privileges? We are now organized as a Territorial Government, and acknowledged as such by the parent Government. This is the result of what we have passed through. Of course, then, if we carry out the same principle of progress, before we can be numbered as a free and sovereign State the mustard stalk must be again kicked; this is logical. It was pictured to us by the servants of God, before we embraced “Mormonism,” that we could not become Latter-day Saints without; passing through much persecution. If we do not pass through it, it shows plainly to me that we are not Latter-day Saints.

I have known men converted to this Gospel through the remarks of the priests of Christendom. A very intelligent man in New York, for instance, when the priest told him not to run after this deluded people, saying, “They are thieves and robbers,” replied, “You don’t say so; why that is the people I have been hunting for—a people that all denominations of Christians speak against, for that is the Church of Jesus Christ; so, sir, I am a Mormon right straight.” We have got all these things to contend with, and it is all right, brethren and sisters; for here is your blessing, here is your crown, and with your crown here is your glory. You are all desiring this, labor for it; and the longer I labor, the more experience I have. I find we have to labor with our own hands—this kingdom has got to be built up by manual labor; as the Governor said in the Legislature this winter, viz., our capital lies in the physical force of this people. Here is element in abundance all around us, as much as we have a mind to organize, according to the faith, experience, and ability that we possess from day to day.

Brethren, let us build a Temple, make farms, and raise an abundance of the good things of the earth; let us go to work and act according to the revelations we read from time to time, let us establish home manufactories, and, as I have said numbers of times this winter, I would to God we could say to day that we will, from this time henceforth, sustain ourselves by the help of God, and abide by it. Decorate our own bodies with the workmanship of our own hands, and I know, as “Mormonism” is true, and my experience correct, we shall that moment be independent. If we are not willing to fulfil the word of the Lord by counsel, and the experience we pass through, He will let the devil punish us until we do it. What do we want of the Gentiles? I would rather wrap myself up in a buffalo robe than go back amongst them again, unless I was counselled to do so.

We are doing first-rate. I feel as though I was doing first-rate sometimes, and sometimes I do not feel so, but can discover that there is room for me to do a little better. I know the majority of this people mean to do right, and follow the counsel of the Lord’s servants, but there are some few who are wandering, their minds are not open to mark the providences of God to this people, but are pinned upon something else. We hear of meetings being established around in this city, for this ite, that ite, and the other ite. What is the matter with this portion of the people? Have they been neglecting their duties and their prayers? When I am out in the country, and stay at the houses of the brethren, I have an opportunity of seeing who prays. I stop all night at a brother’s house, I eat with his family, and I begin to know how he feels. If he is a praying man, he will ask me to pray with him, or he will pray for me, and his family, and the welfare of Israel.

I found, as I travelled round among the people, that many Elders of this Church seldom bow down to pray. We cannot live righteously without praying. Show me an individual who lives without prayer, and I will show you an individual who lives without the bread of life. Let us pray, and get into heaven as fast as possible; for we need not be many years in getting there. The quicker we get a Temple built, and preach the Gospel to the nations of the earth, and gather the Saints, the quicker we shall be released from the powers of darkness. If a man is perfectly filled with the Spirit of God, when the devil comes along there is no chance for him to enter. Here then is quite an advantage in a person’s being continually filled with the Spirit of truth. So you are on the right track, you are right, and nobody can get you wrong. If you suffer the Spirit of the Lord to leave your hearts, and the devil comes along and finds an empty house, he then enters in, and inasmuch as we are under transgression, he lays his hand upon us, saying, “You shall be my tool for me to work with, you have transgressed the laws of God, and my spirit shall lead you about; you shall go into Gladdenism, to this and that ism.” I say you ought to feel the happiest people upon the earth, because we have had experience in this Church; we have got righteous men to lead us; they have stood the test—stood through mobs, fire, sword, and death, and their knees have never trembled, nor their lips quivered upon any occasion; but they have done every thing that could be done by mortal man for the good of this people, and for our deliverance.

We have nothing to fear, but fear God and work righteousness all the days of our lives. Do not let us be cast down, nor be troubled about that which we cannot help. As the Apostle Paul says, we have done the will of the Gentiles, but from this time we will serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Let us weed our own gardens, take care of our own concerns, and all will be right as far as we are concerned. I feel well, and I mean to go ahead in this great work; I want to see the winding up scene of this generation. If ever we are clipped of our Priesthood, our glory, and our crown, it will be when we cease to faithfully preach the Gospel, cease to keep the commandments of God enjoined upon us, cease doing good to this people. Then, at once, the principles of “Mormonism” will be contracted in us; we shall become leaky vessels in the principles of the Gospel, while we ought to retain every good thing we receive.

Does a man lose any of his Priesthood and power by going to heal and bless the sick? No, He receives a blessing at the same time. Is not a man blessed when he gets a revelation from God to this people? He is; and so are we blessed if we do the work of God. No man or woman is exempted from doing good; we may do just as much as we please. Let us have respect and kindness for each other; let us feel well towards each other, speak good things to each other, and of each other, for this is the way Saints should live. When we take this course we shall feel right. When I feel like blessing my brethren, like lifting them up, and exalting them in my feelings, I feel first-rate myself; but when I feel like dragging them down, I feel contracted in my feelings, my mind does not expand in the principles of “Mormonism;” but when I feel to bless everybody and do right by night and day, I feel like blessing everybody, and strong like a young lion sallying from his thicket. Do you want a qualification to that expression? I feel like blessing those who ought to be blessed, they do not stick anywhere else. God blesses no person, only on condition, neither do His servants. If a man rises up and prophecies great and glorious things on your head it is all on conditions. And says Jesus. Christ, “He that endureth to the end shall be saved.” It is the faithful performance of our duties that will insure us an entrance into the celestial kingdom of God, not only to-day, but to the end of our lives.

Now, brethren and sisters, may God bless you; pray for yourselves; go into the private chamber, and there kneel down, and make known your wants unto God; if you ask wisdom He will not upbraid, but give it to you liberally. Get the spirit of prayer upon you, and then you are all right; it is no matter where we are, so as we are found doing the will of God. He does not require us to ascend these snow-capped mountains, or to go to the United States this winter, to do His will, but the arena of action is here, in our family circle, by our own firesides, attending to our daily labors and local duties. And if a man wishes to have the Spirit, let him expand himself in temporal matters, or spiritual if you please, for it is all spiritual and all temporal according to my feelings. I preach the Gospel, it is temporal, it is manual labor; I would rather chop cord wood any time than do it, were I to consult my natural feelings. For when I preach to the people I want to take the word in my hand and throw it down their necks, and say, “That is ‘Mormonism,’ will you swallow it? It is the truth from heaven and I know it.” That is about all the preaching a man can do. You may quote Scripture for a month, and a sectarian will rise up and tell you, “We preach the Holy Scripture,” but if they do, they do not know it is true. I know that “Mormonism” is true; this testimony will make him shake like Belshazzar of old. When a man knows that “Mormonism” is true, he is commissioned to preach the Gospel; if he does not, he is not qualified.

We have heard a great deal this morning about reading and qualifying ourselves; it is right, and according to the revelations of God; but if I cannot have but one of these qualifications given me, I want to have the testimony of Jesus, which will pierce them like a cannon ball. It made me feel so. You will be called upon to go to the nations; and before you go, as brother Jedediah said, we want you to have “Mormon” thunder in you; and if you have not got any of it, we will try to pump some in you before you start. For you will have many kinds of devils to contend with; there are laughing devils, and crying devils, murmuring devils, and sympathetic devils, besides many more I could name. But don’t be afraid, brethren, you will all have a chance to go and see for yourselves.

I belong to all the Quorums. One Quorum is just as necessary as another, and if so, it is just as honorable in its place, sphere, and calling. What a beautiful Church the Lord has organized! We could not have thought of it; it is altogether beyond the wisdom of man, because a man, no matter how big, how eloquent, or learned he may be, has to be admitted through the same door, he must pass through the same ordeal as the ignorant, yet honest, poor man, he must be kicked, and cuffed, he must sacrifice all things for Christ’s sake, or he cannot reign with this people. How should we look among the exalted and glorified Saints who have passed through much suffering to obtain their crowns, if we had not passed through the same, could we reign with them with any satisfaction to ourselves? I think not. As we heard here last Sunday, do not be discouraged because you were not in the various troubles the Saints have passed through on sundry occasions, for you will get a chance to try yourselves in like scenes, that you may have the same glory, exaltation, and crown.

May the Lord bless you for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

Privileges and Duties of the Saints

Heber C. Kimball

An address by President Heber C. Kimball, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, September 19, 1852.

Brethren and Sisters—I never saw the day in which I felt more thankful than I do at the present time, that the God whom I serve has given me the Spirit of truth. I have no desire in my heart to manifest anything, by my words or by my acts, only the truth.

There is not anything that has been revealed to me, since I came into this Church, but what I most assuredly know to be true. “Mormonism” is true, and we who have enlisted in this Church have enlisted in a good cause; and by continually obeying the truth to the end of our lives, it will lead us into the Celestial world; and I know that there is no other way to get there, only by the principle of obedience, and bringing our hearts to bear upon the truth, and to gauging our lives by it. I reflect many times upon these things, and am thankful that I know and possess the truth in a degree, still am aware that there are thousands of things before us which I have not yet attained to. The only way for us to be useful to one another is to take a course to build upon the principles of truth, and never to suffer ourselves to cultivate any but the principles of right.

I am satisfied that a man’s conduct has a great influence; it has an influence with the Saints and with the world. The world is in possession of the truth and of the Spirit of the Lord in some degree; as you have heard brother Brigham say a great many times, there is not an honest man or woman, who has heard the Gospel, but who has in a greater or less degree been influenced by that Spirit to believe it to be the truth—that Joseph Smith was a Prophet, an Apostle, a man sent of God to preach the Gospel. He was, whether they believe it or not. We live in a day and age of the world which we have talked about a thousand times, but do we fully realize it? We live in a day that the Apostles in the days of Jesus, and the Patriarchs, and thousands of holy men actually saw—they beheld the day we now live in, and anxiously desired to enjoy it in the flesh, but they died without that privilege. Are we not privileged with that day? Do we not live in the days of the Prophets and Apostles, in the days of Patriarchs and holy men? We do. I realize it, I reflect upon it, and desire that the people should reflect upon it, and diligently seek after the Spirit of truth—seek after the Holy Ghost, which is the Spirit of revelation, and it will reveal past things to you and show you things to come. Many times you reflect upon things, but are not certain whether they are correct or not, and by and by they will be revealed from this stand, the very things you had in your mind for years, and that the Spirit of God had shown to you, but you did not know how to organize and classify them, and judge of their truth. President Brigham Young is a Prophet, and can present doctrines to you, classify them, and set them in order; that is his office; and the Apostle has his office, which is to preach the Gospel in all the world, and organize the Church, and set it in order, to take the elements and combine them together.

Inasmuch as we are the Elders of Israel, the saviors of men, we should take a course to set an example that is worthy of imitation in our daily walk, conversation, and business transactions. While we were hearing from this stand last Sabbath concerning the course which some men took in keeping groceries, &c., I thought all men are not alike—have not all got strong minds, that it is the duty of every person never to introduce into or permit a thing to enter your houses that would have a tendency to allure the mind and lead it astray, but set a good example and do as you would wish to be dealt by?

A man who starts a drinking shop in the midst of this people, is introducing that which has a tendency to lead away men who are habituated to strong drinks from their youth up, and have so craving an appetite for them that they cannot let them alone if they are where they can be got.

Another thing, it does not suit my mind to believe that man to be a good man who would present anything to his neighbor that is calculated in its nature to be injurious. As we are the people of God, as “Mormonism” is true, and as we have enlisted under the banner of Christ the King, the Savior of the world, and as he taught the laws of his Father, we should do his will and keep his commandments as he kept the commandments of his Father, and never allow ourselves to do wrong, or act in any manner that would lead any one astray.

But where a man does permit himself to do those things, I have no doubt that in process of time it will work together for good to those who love God and keep His commandments. We can see who is righteous, who is false, and who is true. Let us keep the commandments of God, and when we meet together, as we have this afternoon, and every afternoon, to partake of the Sacrament, let us pray that we may be strengthened in our bodies and spirits, that we may be filled with the same spirit, power, truth, and righteousness that dwelt in the bosom of Jesus, that we may cleave to the vine and partake of the same nourishment with it.

Let us all take a course to do right, and, if we all do right, there is no person here that will do wrong. I am aware that there will have to be a sifting, but would there be any necessity for it if the elements were pure? No. You can obtain pure sand here upon the public works, and with that you can make good tempered mortar, for the better it is tempered the better wall you can put up for your habitation. Temper the mortar and let the sand be clear of stone, roots, and every imperfect thing.

If this were the case the masons would have no use for the coarse screen to throw the sand against, nor for a fine sieve to separate the finer particles. It is just so with us. The Lord will keep sifting, and will prepare a riddle and sieve, that is, the devil will riddle you, and after that he will sift you. Did not the Savior tell one of his disciples that the devil desired to sift him as wheat is sifted? We have come together here, the wheat is gathered in from the four quarters ready for the thrashing and sifting. The world is called the field, and the reapers are going forth to reap and bind up the wheat, or children of the kingdom, into churches, and then draw them together from the four quarters of the earth. For what purpose? In order that the wheat may be thrashed, and after it is thrashed it must go through the fanning mill, and many of the kernels are blown out with the chaff. The heavier wheat drops down in the place prepared to receive it, and at the mill it has to go through the smut machine before it is ground, and after it is ground it has to go through a bolt.

At the far end of the bolt there are fans, into which the flour enters, then it keeps growing coarser and coarser, and then goes out the bran at the hind end. In this country we have got a thrashing machine that is fitted with three places; one for the chaff, another for the smut, and other foul articles, and a third to retain the wheat; hence they can go off south, in this way or that way, and some go after gold, and some after a better climate, for they do not like this climate, as they say the winters eat up the summers.

I am more than willing that all such should go, for if they all the time want to go there, let them go. We have got to be brought back into the presence of our Father in heaven, from whence we have fallen; and if we calculate on this we must pass through trials, suffering, and sifting. If you get thrashed, do not murmur. Brethren, let us take the right course, listen to the counsels we are blessed with and that we know to be right.

If you will not take the course the Lord has marked out, you might as well back out and go down to the regions of despair, to the gold regions, or where you please, but do not trouble us, we are bound to be Saints. We know that this work is true, and if you don’t know how to take a course that will bind you to it, plead with and ask God until you do get knowledge for yourselves, until you can bear the same testimony as we do. When you can do that, you will have favor with God, He will prosper you here and multiply His blessings upon us, until we are redeemed and prepared to enter into His glory, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Joseph.

You know the revelation says that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob entered into their glory and exaltation, and they have done this; you can sit down with them by taking the same course that they did. Let us cheer up, let us be comforted. We are comforted, we are blessed, and you feel just as good a spirit here as ever you felt in any place.

You who have lately come in, if you are not very careful, will get to murmuring and finding fault with us, and to think that we are not religious enough. I admit that I am not quite so sanctimonious as they are in London, but I believe that we have got something they have not, we enjoy something they do not. The feelings I enjoy, yield me pleasures that far exceed those derived from the mere luxuries of the world, and that is, to have dwelling in me the power of the Holy Ghost, to be honest, and as pure as a babe, as a lamb, or as an angel.

If you enjoy that condition, brethren and sisters, never be troubled about anything, about food, raiment, houses, lands, the devil, or any wicked person, and we will gain the victory, and become Kings and Priests to our God and to His Christ. If every individual will overcome for himself, he will be crowned. This Church and Kingdom will never fall, therefore let me hear about pure Saints and a pure plan of salvation. Let us observe the order of God, and every one be humble to that order and His authorities that preside over us. Let these Saints in the valleys of the mountains be subject to their officers, the people to their Bishops, and the Bishops to their rulers, and in this way we will move on with mighty power. As for the devil and the world, with its combined powers, if they are all arraigned against us, we have power with God to overcome them all.

In the days of Israel, we read that one chased a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight. The Lord would send an influence, perhaps a spirit rapping would get into their midst, and they would go to work and slay one another. Cannot the Lord do the same now? Cannot He turn over mountains, if we were followed up by enemies, and heap them upon them just as easy as I can turn over an apple? You need not borrow trouble about brother Brigham—he does right all the time. God is with him, angels are with him and round about him night and day. The wisdom of God is given to him, and it will supersede the wisdom of the world; I know this as well as I know that you are here this day.

The ungodly killed Joseph and Hyrum, but in so doing they furthered the work of God more than tenfold. Joseph laid the foundation, and left us to build the building, and when we are gone we will leave others, for it must be done. Do not be troubled, but do what you have been told today, and never take a course to trammel the First Presidency in their operations, but take off their shackles and burdens and carry them yourselves, for you have just as much physical strength as they have. There is scarcely a weakly man or woman here; then carry your own burdens. God bless you for ever. Amen.

The Word of Wisdom

Ezra T. Benson

An address by Elder Ezra T. Benson, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, April 8, 1855.

I feel to rejoice this morning in the remarks that I have heard, and I feel to bear testimony to the same, and also to all the instructions given during this Conference.

I feel that it is good to be here, and I can say that I have tried to appreciate the blessings we enjoy in common with my brethren. It is indeed a privilege to rise before an assembly of Saints in the Valleys of the Mountains, before those that are now so comfortably and favorably located in this place; and while brother George A. Smith was speaking upon the “Word of Wisdom,” there was a dream occurred to my mind that I heard related by one of the brethren a short time ago. He said there was a proclamation issued by the President of the Church of Jesus Christ, for the Elders of Israel to collect those together who had kept the commandments of God, for there was a work that the Lord had for them to perform. The people came together very slowly and reluctantly; once in a while a few would come along, but a leader off was wanted, and perhaps an Elder would be seen coming up, but it seemed to be slow work collecting the people together. After a while there was another proclamation issued for the people to come together in masses, those that were true, and that were known to be trying to keep the commandments of God, and they then came up by thousands, by tens of thousands, and by hundreds of thousands. I felt that it was so this morning, that those that had been speaking had touched the right subject, and it was very good; and I felt that there would be very few in this vast congregation, (if they were called out,) who had kept the “Word of Wisdom;” if all such were called for, I am persuaded that there would be very few that would come forth, but if the word were, “Come forth, all ye Latter-day Saints that are trying to keep the Word of Wisdom,” I feel that there would be many that would come forth, and I believe I would be among that number that would be found trying to keep the Word of Wisdom.

When we first heard the revelation upon the Word of Wisdom many of us thought it consisted merely in our drinking tea and coffee, but it is not only using tea and coffee and our tobacco and whisky, but it is every other evil which is calculated to contaminate this people. The Word of Wisdom implies to cease from adultery, to cease from all manner of excesses, and from all kinds of wickedness and abomination that are common amongst this generation—it is, strictly speaking, keeping the commandments of God, and living by every word that proceedeth from His mouth.

This is the way that I understand the Word of Wisdom, consequently we have to keep all the commandments, if I understand the matter correctly, in connexion with this Word of Wisdom, in order to obtain the blessings, for unless we do keep the commandments of God, and not offend in any one point, we have not a full claim upon the blessings promised in connexion with this portion of the word of the Lord.

The Lord says, in reference to these things mentioned in the Word of Wisdom, that they are not good for the body! I know that my brethren and sisters feel as I do, they have a desire to keep the Word of Wisdom, and know it is the wish of the Presidency that the Elders of Israel should preach upon the Word of Wisdom, and establish it in the minds of the people, and suffer not themselves from desire to be overcome by the habits of those among whom they travel to preach the Gospel, but be an example in all things.

I can say one thing which I am very thankful for, I never partook of an evil in my life because my brethren did, but I have always tried to act and live upon my own agency. If I have sinned, it has been through my own ignorance; if I go astray, it is because my mind and my nature are human.

I have ever felt determined to take a course to enjoy the Spirit of the Lord, and when He has left me to myself, and I have been tempted, I have always trusted in the Lord and endeavored to obey Him, and not to give way to the tempter; and I want this feeling to sink deep into the hearts of every man and woman calling themselves Latter-day Saints. And when I hear a word dropped by any one that will tend to thwart the design of God’s holy word, why then I feel most indignant.

I wish to see men observe and teach the Word of Wisdom in their families, for to see men throw a bad influence upon the word of the Lord, I was going to say such a spirit is a stink in the nostrils of all righteous men.

Many of the Saints excuse themselves for chewing tobacco because others use it, but let us examine ourselves this morning, and see if such a course will be justifiable before our heavenly Father.

Where is the man that excuses himself on this account? I ask him—is it righteousness for him to excuse himself in order to free himself from blame? If it is not, let him repent, cease his excusations, and turn unto the Lord his God, and work righteousness all the days of his life, that he may be saved in the kingdom of heaven.

You know it as an old Methodist doctrine, that every tub has to stand upon its own bottom, and we will find that it is so before we get through; yet we will find, brethren and sisters, that it is for every man and woman to take a course to save themselves individually, obey counsel, observe all the revelations of Jesus Christ that shall be given to us as a people in this present age, whether by the dreams of the night, the visions of the day, or the revelations of God’s Holy Spirit, and to follow after righteousness, pursue the course marked out for the people of God, and then all will be well with us in this life, and also in that which is to come.

I feel to rejoice, and I thank my heavenly Father that we have escaped thus far the contaminating influences of the Gentiles, and I always do rejoice that our lives are prolonged upon the earth. I never attended a Conference in my life but I felt thankful to God that I had fellowship and a standing in the midst of this mighty people, and that I had some confidence before them and also the God whom we serve.

We are indeed a blessed people, prosperity attends us as a community, the wicked and even the very devils are prophesying the prosperity of this people, to say nothing about the predictions of the Latter-day Saints themselves. The great and influential amongst the nations are all the time speaking of the success and prosperity that attend this people, and their telling this is what stirs up the devil.

We are going to build a temple, we are now laying the foundation, and when it is completed we expect to receive our blessings, and do you think the devil knows this? Yes, he knows all about it, and he stirs up the wicked, and why does he do this? To hinder the people of God from obtaining the blessings they desire. (It then began to rain, and brother Benson remarked,) Well, I can stand the rain if you can. Brethren and sisters, we are neither sugar nor salt, although we are a little of both. Give us your attention for a few moments, and we will dismiss till two o’clock.

May the Lord bless you, that your hearts may be comforted, and that you may listen to all the instructions that you have heard during this Conference; this is my determination. May God bless you through Christ our Redeemer. Amen.

Ordaining Young Men to Office, etc.

George A. Smith

A discourse by Elder George A. Smith, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, April 8, 1855.

As I arise I am cautioned by President Kimball to be careful that my hair does not blow off; I shall exercise as much care and caution as possible on the subject; but if it should actually come off, I have very few friends here to-day in this numerous audience but what know very well how my head looks perfectly bare, and consequently I should not feel as though I was subject to any particular disgrace, while I can enjoy the comfort of sitting in the congregation without having my head tied up in a handkerchief, or suffering with a cold.

I feel a little sorry this morning that our meeting house is so small; really it seems too bad that we have not a little more room, but it fulfils very clearly the early predictions of the first President of the Church, (Joseph Smith,) that we may build as many houses as we would, and we should never get one big enough to hold the Saints; and I presume, before this immense Bowery is absolutely enclosed, and comfortably seated, that we shall find it too small to accommodate those who wish to attend here on the Sabbath day, or on any important occasion.

In rising to speak to so vast an assembly, I am reminded of the old rupture of my lungs, which was made while preaching in the streets of London to scattered assemblies, to persons in the courts, in the squares, in the windows of buildings four and five stories high, and on different sides of the streets, in the midst of a foggy, smoky, damp atmosphere. It is a rupture which caused my lungs to bleed, and which has been a constant caution and effectual check to my course in life, requiring me to keep within a certain limit, with, however, this condition, that, live or die, or whatsoever might be in the road, the Gospel of Jesus Christ I would preach, and the testimony of the fulness of the Gospel of the Lord to the Saints in the last days I would bear, whereever and whenever I had the opportunity, backed with a faith in me that I would have power and health to do this; at the same time any kind of exercise, that would heat my blood for one half hour, would produce considerable bleeding from the lungs, and yet by the aid of your faith I undertake to address this immense audience, with full confidence that I shall succeed so that a great portion will hear me, and by the stillness of the balance I may be enabled to make them all hear me, though it requires a great effort for even a man with sound lungs to make ten thousand persons hear him speak distinctly.

I have been a member of this Church from my childhood: I commenced to advocate the Book of Mormon when only thirteen years of age. The second day after I got hold of it I read it nearly through. News flew round the neighborhood that the “golden bible” had come, and a large company of neighbors came in to see the book; they commenced to examine and find fault with it, and I to answer their objections, as I thought they looked so unreasonable; although I had not made my mind up on the subject, yet I tried to remove their objections; the result was, the whole company went away confounded, leaving me surprised that they could not raise any stronger objections against it; and from that day to this I have not let any proper occasion slip that presented to me an opportunity of defending the mission of Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon, to the very best of my ability. It may be said of me that I never knew anything else but “Mormonism,” yet I have found that some of the traditions of my early education (as I was piously educated at the Sunday school in the doctrine and principles of Presbyterianism)—some of these principles which I received in my youth have clung to me so closely that I have had to stop at times and reflect whether I had learned that from the proper source, or whether it was part of my old catechism, which I must confess I have forgotten.

I introduce these remarks as a preface to my discourse, because I have been pleased by the remarks of the First Presidency, especially by those of President Brigham Young, on the subject of the appointment of Bishops; he wishes to appoint those who have grown up in the Church, who have not lived a great portion of their days under the influence of sectarian traditions of their fathers, and been subject to the slavish notions of cast-iron creeds, that when they entered into this Church, they were so bound in them, they never could be unbound, and that even now in performing the duties of their callings they do not learn enough of the things of God to in every instance discriminate between the two. I had discovered in a number of instances that appointments of this kind to different offices did not work well; and that when men who are not very old when they come into the Church, all they have learned is the truth, and are not under the necessity of unlearning what they might have learned in twenty, forty, or fifty years, of old tenets, creeds, doctrines, and nonsense, but have taken a start from the right foundation, and what they did learn have learned it right.

I thought I would take the liberty of addressing the younger brethren, as a great portion of this congregation are what might be termed in the States, Young America, if you please, or among us, “Young Mormons,” those who have been raised in the midst of persecutions, and the instructions the Saints have enjoyed. President Young, in the course of his remarks, introduces the subject of the divisions that exist in New York politics; for instance, it is customary in the political circles of New York, and has extended from that capital throughout the Union, to denominate men that have become somewhat superannuated in their veins, or have got the old-fashioned slow motion about them, “old fogies.” For instance, there are but few of us but what can remember when railroads were first introduced into the United States. It is not difficult for old men to remember when the first steam boat was built, or when the first telegraph wire was put in operation; and it is properly denominated the “fast age.” Men who have got the old principles of locomotion—that cannot accommodate their feelings to the great improvements of the fast age—that have got their education on the slow track, and are determined to follow it, it would be better for them to stand aside, and clear the track for the telegraph speed of the present generation just rising up on their heels.

I was pleased with the resolution, as far as it was necessary to apply it; but there are a great many men of the most mature age, who were at a mature age when they received this Gospel, that never had imbibed scarcely any sectarian prejudices; and those that they had got, when they discovered they were of little use, they have cast them behind the lighthouse, and let them go with the waves. There are others who have stood in the stream of light until every single particle of the old imperfections and old prejudices that could possibly have adhered to them, have been carried away; the light of the Spirit has showered upon them so brilliantly that all of us who were younger when we entered the work, were instructed, taught, and made acquainted with the things of God, through the wisdom and light which God has given them.

Mankind is capable of a great many extravagances; we very well remember the time when a very zealous man named Hawley, arraigned Joseph Smith before Bishop’s counsel in Kirtland, and charged him with having forfeited his office as a Prophet of God, because he had not prohibited the aged sisters from wearing caps. I attended the Council, which was held very late, and the man there advocated that he was cut off from the Church, for God had cut him off from the Church, as well as from his Apostleship, because he had suffered the men to wear little cushions on the shoulders of their coat sleeves. It being then fashionable to wear a little cotton on the shoulders, and in consequence of some of the brethren wearing such coats, the Prophet of God was cut off from the Church by this man, and persecuted as an impostor, and another was placed in his stead.

That man was possessed of such wisdom as man could reasonably manifest, yet he was so perfectly full of folly and of his own traditions and notions he had fancied over in his own head, that seemingly it was impossible for him to understand anything better; he was blinded, and lifted his hand against the Prophet of God. Instances of this kind have been continually accumulating, and it is one of the most perfect illustrations of the sayings of the Prophet, that He would sift His people as with a sieve. It has been a constant sifting from the time we entered the Church up to the present; some would compel it, while in others none of the old prejudices have predominated; and so it has continued until twenty-five years have passed away, and until a great number of persons have risen up who have not the prejudices of their fathers to contend with, and if they will humble themselves with all their might, knowledge, and intelligence, power will grow in them, and they will approximate nearer to the things of God, to get more light, more knowledge, more intelligence, more faith, and more power to spread forth the work of God, and to roll forth the kingdom their fathers have been able to obtain.

It is an old proverb, that as the old birds crow the young ones learn. There are a great many habits, a great many customs which our fathers have imbibed, and which their children have been induced more or less to practise, which are decidedly in opposition to the true principles of life and prosperity; now for us who are young, we are full of life and vigor, to think, because our fathers or mothers indulged in a good cup of tea, or cup of coffee, and a hundred other different; luxuries which are at variance with the Word of Wisdom, that we must follow the same track, pursue the same course, and not only ourselves become slaves to the same habits, but transmit them to our posterity, and continue them, that we may preserve the old Gentile customs which have been established under a system of tactics that have been introduced by medical men, to injure the health of the community and to make for themselves a growing business! I do not believe in the constant use of tobacco and hot drinks, although they have been for a long time steadily recommended by men in the medical profession as beneficial to health; I believe that learned doctors do know, when they are doing so, they are introducing a system of things to make men sick throughout their lives, weaken the human race, and make business for medical practitioners. If men wish to grow up in these mountains, free from disease, and from the power of the destroyer, and become strong and powerful like tigers—like giants in Israel, let them observe the principles laid down in the words of wisdom, let them observe them when they are children, let them grow up breathing a pure atmosphere, drinking pure water, and partaking of the wholesome vegetation, observing the words of wisdom, and they will grow up mighty men; one of them will be worth five dozen of those who are steeped and boiled by hot drinks, and tanned in tobacco juice.

While I address you, brethren, upon this subject, I speak more from observation of the conduct of others than from my own experience; I have observed considerable upon this matter; I know that indulging in habits of this kind, however simple they may seem, they lead in the end to great evil, and I know from experience that our tastes are in a great measure artificial. Now when a “Mormon” Elder comes up to me, and wants to get a little counsel, and his breath smells as though he had swallowed a still-house, it is all I can possibly do to remain near enough to him to hear his story; he necessarily wishes to come up close to me, as such men are sure to have a secret they wish to whisper, and their breath is so offensive, I am forced to retire. When I am called upon to give counsel to a man who is indulging in these intemperate practices, I feel at a loss to know whether my counsel is going to do him good or harm, or whether he will pay any attention to it after he gets it.

I know that many men have persisted in the use of these stimulating articles until they cannot do without them, or they think they cannot. Perhaps sometimes when they have been reduced by sickness or fatigue, they have then been under the necessity of taking some of these things as a medicine to revive sinking nature, and this was probably when they first began to practise the use of them, and laid the foundation for a short life. They now wish me to prolong their days, like the old toper who had undermined his constitution, and who was about to die in consequence of drinking a quart of brandy a day; he sent for the doctor; he, being anxious to preserve the life of his patient, dared not stop the use of brandy entirely, nor yet suffer the inebriate to persist in his usual course, ordered his patient three glasses of French brandy with loaf sugar per day, upon which the old toper shrugged his shoulders and said, “Doctor, aint it bad to take?” In introducing the use of things injurious to our health, when we commence it, it is not so pleasant; perhaps in a fit of sickness, prostrated by the ague, cut down by disease, we will indulge in these kinds of habits, until by and bye a taste is formed for them, and we feel that we really must have our tea or our coffee; a glass of liquor does us good occasionally. How often does “occasionally” come? “O, once in a while.” How often is that? “Why, every now and then.” And it gets so, by and bye, if a man has addicted himself to it and don’t have it, he feels quite lonely, he feels lost, as though there was something wrong about him, and he becomes such a perfect slave to it, he cannot exercise his talents or his ingenuity. I have seen distinguished members of the bar with whom it was absolutely necessary they should take a drink of spirits in the middle of a plea, to brighten their ideas; the result is, it will bring a man to a premature grave.

I say to Young America, brethren and sisters, if we have imbibed such habits, let us lay them off; let us suffer our fathers and mothers to drink the tea and the coffee, and chew all the tobacco they want, and as long as we can get it for them, because they have imbibed this practice years ago, and now to deprive them of these things altogether might endanger their lives; but when it comes to us, who have not been believers in the doctrine, let us take these things as we would calomel, opium, arsenic, lobelia, corrosive sublimate, or any other drugs which are so much valued among physicians. Now if a man really felt as if he were dying, and was anxious to hurry himself away, a dose of strychnine might assist him. Now anything that a man takes that stimulates his nerves above their proper mode of action when he is in health, his system will fall in the same proportion below a healthy action, and it will require a little more the next time to stimulate it to the same height, and so on, until the system refuses to be stimulated, and the person will suddenly fall into the grave. So much, then, will answer for my remarks upon this subject.

I believe, brethren, many of us have accustomed ourselves to using articles prohibited in the Word of Wisdom, which prohibition is desired for the benefit of the Saints in Zion, and in all the world; we frequently use them merely out of compliment. For instance, I call in a brother’s house, the lady of the house knows I am an Apostle, and she wishes to treat me with marked respect, and she supposes I am entirely unmindful of the precepts contained in the Word of Wisdom, makes me a cup of tea or coffee; well, I think it is a pity to throw it away, after it has spoiled half a gallon of the best American creek water, and I drink it to save it. This is not only the case with me, but with other young men also, (for I can call myself a young man with a perfect grace now, for I have as fine a head of hair as any of you); a great many of us take these stimulating drinks for the sake of fashion. If I should happen to come across those who know how to use “the good crater,” they will invite me to partake with them; if I refuse, they will then begin to urge; but the best policy to be observed in cases of this kind is to do as we have a mind to; if we do not want “the intoxicating drink,” let them take it all; and if we do, we will take it without urging, and bear the responsibility ourselves. This is the best policy I would wish to be governed by, though I have had to say, once or twice in my life,” Gentlemen, I do not wish to be urged.” If a man refuses to drink with those who indulge in the use of strong drinks, it is customary to consider it a want of friendship. Let us be our own masters, and not believe we must be chained down to these foolish and hurtful traditions.

It has happened to be my lot to visit a good many of the Branches; a great portion of the time that I have been in this Church, I have spent in travelling. Last year, in performing the duties of historian, when I found that constant application to these duties became severe on my health, I would go out in the neighboring settlements and preach to the people, and stir them up to diligence and obedience; in this way I have had a good opportunity to observe the feelings and sentiments of the people, which operate upon the hearts of the Saints in the different settlements of these valleys.

The view that I wish to take on this subject is, that there is in many of the settlements a want of union. For instance, they will get together in a meeting; and conclude that they will have a certain man for a President, or for a Bishop, they will all agree to it, then some few individuals will go back into a corner and say, “Well, brother, don’t you think that such a man would have made a great deal the best President?” And whenever the President steps forward to introduce a measure, the next thing he would come across would be, two or three of the brethren will kindly say to one another, “I, for one, don’t like that measure.” You understand the simple lever power, the most simple of all mechanical principles; you know that I can take a lever, and by getting a first-rate good purchase, I can hold as much as twenty men can roll; the result is, if I cannot have it my way, I might by that means prevent the President from having it his way. I am more intimate with the City of Provo; its population I do not now exactly recollect, but it is probably about three thousand five hundred; its locality is one of the best in the mountains, from the fact that the position is in the midst of a heavy amount of water power, which can be easily applied to machinery to the best possible advantage; it is also surrounded with the best farming land, with an abundant means of irrigation by the application of a very little labor, and the facilities for timber are a great deal more convenient than in other places, referring especially to this Territory. Provo is also the County Seat of Utah County, gathering to its centre a great amount of county business, at any rate such a portion of it as pertains to keeping of records, which makes it a kind of general place of resort for men from every part of the county, who wish to do business of this kind.

I give you this description to show you that they have every facility to make it one of the handsomest and most wealthy cities, according to the number of its inhabitants; they have a rich soil as well as an abundance of water and mill privileges; and yet, for want of union in the feelings of that community, the place has been a great portion of the time at a kind of drag, the progress of the place has been slow; for when any measure would be presented, a few individuals would use their influence to check the wheel. The fact is, if they were not disposed to roll the load over, they could clog the wheels and hinder in a great measure its progress.

That has been the difficulty which has existed in that place, and in other places, and it has had the effect of retarding the progress of the place in wealth, in prosperity, in public buildings, schools, roads, bridges, and other improvements, in private interests, and in farming facilities. To any man who has an idea of what men can accomplish, this arrangement is positively obnoxious; it seems as a clear illustration of the necessity of Saints being united. There is a city in Utah County, by the name of Springville; in consequence of a little division which has arisen there occasionally, they have been prevented, for several years, from building anything like a reasonable amount of school houses, compared with the number of its inhabitants; there are individuals there who have been all the time blocking the wheels, and by that means they hinder the onward progress of the whole community in their labor of public improvements.

Now, brethren, almost all the difficulties that have been brought on the Saints from the beginning, were in the first place in consequence of this kind of division. There is nothing we ought to guard against so much, on the face of the earth, as against division of this kind, or any other kind. It is an old adage that “union is strength,” and a very true one. An old Scythian king, who had many sons, on his death bed called them around him, and some of them suggested to him the propriety of his dividing his dominions among all his sons. He took a bundle of arrows, and gave them to his sons, saying, “Break that bundle of arrows.” They passed the arrows round and all tried to break them, as the old man lay upon his death bed, and they could not. He then said, “Now untie them, and then break them;” which was easily done. He then said to his sons, “If you are all united as one man, you can never be overpowered or destroyed, but if you divide you will be easily conquered.” We can now behold the result in the Russian Empire. This principle applies to the Saints, and to every principle of division that sticks out in any Branch of the Church hang together, and love, and faithfully carry out the measures of those who preside, for they know the best what measures to adopt.

The principle of division aims directly at the foundation of the Church. “But,” say some, “I am nobody, and if I stick out I cannot do much hurt anyhow.” You can do a little, you can do all the hurt you are able to do; and the little influence you have, if it counts in any way, it should count in favor of the common cause, and not against it; if it counts in its favor, it counts twice. My exertions would count for what they are worth; not only this, but if I was operating against the cause, it would take one of equal capacity of myself to balance against me.

The time is coming when one shall chase a thousand, and two shall put ten thousand to flight. When will that be? When Israel is united. If all this people were absolutely united with all their hearts to pull upon one grand thread, upon one grand cord, they would have power and dominion over the whole earth; all the men and devils in hell, on the earth, or anywhere else could not make a successful opposition against us. The chief point we have got to maintain is the point of union; that is all that is necessary to be done to secure all we anticipate. That is what we have been schooled for in the school-house of trouble and affliction.

It is hard to make the Saints united, and we have to be sifted and sifted until we are perfectly united, that every man in the kingdom will be united as one man, and then no power can break our ranks. Talk about the power of men, only let the Saints be united, and their power vanishes away; it becomes weakness. But how is it? How is it in families? How many men are there that can take their families, and gather round the family altar, and all of them bow before the Lord without a jar of feeling, with one perfect unity, every one willing to submit with the most perfect submission to the will of the Lord, as clay in the hands of the potter? How many families, I say, are there in Israel where this union exists in this style, in all its purity and power? How many men would be permitted to rear a family altar of this kind even in his own house? How many wards can we find in all Israel that could unite so that they would not find a single word of fault with each other, or grumble at the Bishop? The only way we can ever obtain this point is to look at our own faults and not at our neighbors’, and listen to the counsel of those men whom God sets to counsel us; correct the errors in ourselves, and dwell on our own faults.

I recollect once in Iron County one of the brethren got irritated at me, and threatened to report my conduct to the First President; I wanted to know what I had done, and he went on and gave a whole list of my sins for six months past, he seemed to be as well acquainted with them as though he had counted them over every day after his prayers, as the Catholic counts his beads. One sin was, I had threatened to beat a teamster if he did not stop abusing his oxen, and a great many more such like. After he had read all my sins over at once, the list rather shocked me, but I suspected, instead of counting his own faults, and keeping a record of them, he had been at work to keep a record of mine; instead of living to correct his own faults, he was trying to correct my errors.

When he got through, I said if he reported me to the Presidency, they would correct my faults, and that would do me good. I was ready to make all due acknowledgment, and was prepared to receive reproof with a thankful heart, whenever it was necessary, for all my faults; at the same time I really did feel as though he had dwelt more upon my faults than his own; he subsequently acknowledged that was the fact, and I consequently escaped being brought before the Presidency. I always did feel, when I saw a man abusing his oxen, who could not defend themselves, to lay the whip about his back, and I have once or twice come very near trying the operation. I believe every man in Israel is responsible as to how he uses his cattle; I can speak with perfect safety on this subject, for I am not possessed of cattle so as to have any person criticise me; a great proportion of animals that are used among men on the California and Oregon roads are abused in a shameful manner, and thousands have been killed with the Missouri whip; I never believed it was right, and when I had the control of moving a camp, I used a little extra exertion to prevent it.

Now, brethren, I want every one of you to let these principles sink deep in your hearts, that we may cultivate a principle of union, and look first at ourselves, reckon first with ourselves, and dwell upon our own faults, instead of dwelling upon the faults of others. We have to know for ourselves, and every wrong another person may do, it is no excuse for me: and I tell you that every man who raises his hand in the Branches, among the wards, or wherever he may be, to injure and destroy the counsel and instructions given to them, and operate in opposition to those instructions, will fall into a snare; and I do absolutely know, that if the Saints in the settlements, especially in the South, had listened to the counsel of the Presidency in the foundation of those settlements, instead of the Church property ranging at a value of seven or eight hundred thousand dollars, it might have increased to as many millions just as well, if the brethren had listened with one spirit to the counsels and instructions given them from the head which God has appointed to lead and direct us.

But no, some of us thought they had a better plan, and there were as many plans as men, and never found out their mistake till the Indian war set in. We have got along, by the mercy of God, and by His blessings, as well as we have, learning by the things which we suffer, and we all ought to continually thank Him for it, and not our own wisdom. With these remarks I will close by bearing my testimony that this is the work of God, and these men are His servants, and God has placed in His Church a Prophet, Priest, and President, who is just as good and as wise a man as we are capable of keeping in our society; if he was any better than he is, God would have to take him, or we would have to improve with the rapidity of lightning to keep up with him. Joseph Smith was a true Prophet, and that which he has conferred upon this people is a true Priesthood, and if you listen to the instructions and be led by the keys of this kingdom, you are in the path to an eternal exaltation, and we shall overcome every power that would seek to prevail against us. Let us be as one, and we can never be broken. May God preserve us in the light and law of Christ, that we may be redeemed. Amen.

Funeral Address

Orson Pratt

By Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the Council House, Great Salt Lake City, June 30, 1855, over the mortal remains of the Honorable Leonidas Shaver, Associate Justice of the Supreme, and Judge of the First Judicial District Courts of the United States, in and for the Territory of Utah.

Friends and Brethren, we have assembled ourselves together on this solemn occasion to commemorate one of our departed friends, who has suddenly been taken from our midst.

It is customary among most of the nations of the earth, on an occasion of this kind, to deliver what is termed a funeral sermon. I have been called upon quite unexpectedly this forenoon to perform this office. I do not expect to be lengthy in my remarks, but shall endeavor to say something in relation to the present condition of man, and his future state.

We have been placed upon this earth for a wise purpose, in a state and condition of being to prepare ourselves for a higher state and order of things. Those are the objects for which man exists here. Generations have come and gone. Millions and hundreds of millions of human beings have peopled this globe, and have departed hence, and we must all follow in the footsteps of the generations that are past.

It is a decree of Jehovah who governs and controls the destinies of worlds, who controls all intelligent beings, that man should die. No one can escape this decree! No one can prevail with the grim monster death, and overcome him, but we must all sooner or later meet that enemy of mankind, and be laid prostrate in the tomb.

Why is it that so great and good a Being, a Being who is full of benevolence and love, a Being who is filled with mercy and compassion, should suffer such a dire calamity to befall the human race? Why is it? Is it because He delights in the sufferings of mankind? Is it because he delights to see them writhe in pain and distress? No: it is because man has sinned; it is because he has offended his Maker—because he has transgressed sacred and holy laws, because he has subjected himself to the monster death, to the miseries, wretchedness, and vanities of this life. It is not, however, because we ourselves have sinned that death comes upon us; but it is because of the original sin; for all will admit that infants that are incapable of sinning against God, who are unacquainted with His revealed will, who discern not between good and evil, fall victims to the destroyer, as well as others. If, then, this curse seizes upon the innocent and upon those who have not transgressed the laws of heaven, it must be in consequence of the original sin that so great a calamity is in the world.

“By man came death,” says the Apostle Paul. Again the same Apostle says, “As by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” (Rom. v, 18.) What free gift? The free gift of salvation from the grave, the salvation of our bodies, or in other words, of our corporeal systems. The redemption of our bodies from the grave is brought about through the atonement of Jesus Christ; hence we have had no agency in bringing death into our world, and we have no agency in the redemption of our world. One man brought death into the world, and one man brought redemption from death.

This redemption is just as extensive as the curse, so far as the body is concerned. The curse affected all, and the bodies of all will be redeemed. When I speak of this redemption, I wish to be distinctly understood, that I mean the redemption of the body from the grave. If the fall lays all mankind low in the dust, the redemption will bring them forth from the dust. If the fall shut them out from His face and presence, the redemption will bring them back into His presence to behold His face.

Jesus was lifted up by sinful man upon the cross; what for? That all mankind might be lifted up from the grave to be judged before God; not for Adam’s sins, but for their own personal sins; hence there is no person dwelling upon the face of the earth that is free from the original curse that came in consequence of the transgression of Adam.

If we had no sins of our own, we should ever remain, after this universal redemption of our bodies, in the presence of God, but if we individually have committed sins, we shall be again cast out from the presence of God, unless we have complied with the great plan of salvation revealed by our Savior.

The great question raised by many with regard to the extent of the atonement, is, “Will all mankind be saved eternally in the presence of God, in the celestial kingdom, who have personally sinned?” No; they will not. There is a certain class of mankind that will be saved in the fulness of celestial glory, and partake of all the blessings held forth by the plan of redemption. But this applies only to those who are faithful and obedient.

There are others who will partake of a portion of this redemption; but they will differ from the first, as much as the moon differs from that bright luminary of heaven—the sun. Hence Paul, in speaking of the redemption of man, says, there are bodies celestial, and bodies terrestrial, and the glory of the celestial is one and that of the terrestrial another, and by the glory of the stars he represents a third class of beings. And again, in order to show the difference existing in this third class, he says, as one star differeth from another star in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead.

Here, then, are three distinct classes of beings in the eternal world, all of whom partake of happiness, each to be rewarded according to their works: one is represented by the sun, another by the moon, and a third by the glory of the stars, that is, by the apparent glory, of the stars, or as they appear to us, and not as they would appear to individuals who are in their immediate vicinity.

This third class, it appears, differ in glory while the others are alike. In this third class there is a difference according to their works. Some will shine forth like the brightest stars in the firmament; while others, whose works have not been so honorable, will be like some of those stars that appear to the naked eye in the heavens much inferior.

Who are those individuals who will enter into the higher state of glory? I answer; they are the individuals who keep the law of God, who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who repent and forsake their sins, who receive the ordinances of the Gospel, who are baptized in the likeness of Christ’s death, who arise from the liquid element in the likeness of his resurrection, who receive the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, who walk ste[a]dfastly in all the principles revealed for the salvation of man, and who continue faithful to the end.

These are the righteous who will be admitted into the highest glory. Their glory will be full; it will be like the glory of the Son of God; as the Apostle John has said, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” Their bodies will come forth from the grave fashioned like unto His glorious body, and in every respect they will inherit the same glory that the Son inherits, and hence they are one as the Father and Son are one.

Now many religious societies are so uncharitable in their feelings, that they suppose that all who die, not having received the plan of salvation, will sink down into a night of endless darkness. I speak of a certain class of Christians; they suppose there will be only two places—heaven and hell; and that all those who do not enter into heaven will sink to hell, where they must remain eternally.

But these are not the views of the Latter-day or former-day Saints. They believe that all will be judged according to their works. If they do not receive the fulness of the plan of salvation, yet, if they are among the honorable men of the earth, having dealt uprightly and honorably one with another, and have lived up to the light which they are in possession of, they will in due time be redeemed, and partake of a degree of glory; such will be exalted to all the happiness and greatness, wisdom and knowledge, light and intelligence which they are prepared for, or capable of receiving. It is true, they may have to associate in the intermediate state with beings, and powers, and principles that will not be pleasant; for the spirit world is, in some respects, like the world we live in.

Beings that enter the spirit world find there classes and distinctions, and every variety of sentiment and feeling; there is just as much variety in the spirit world as in this; consequently, they have to grapple with those powers and influences that surround them. Spirits have their agency between death and the resurrection, just as much as we have here. They are just as liable to be deceived in the spirit world as we are here. Those who are deceived may assist in deceiving others, for they have their classes, their theories, and their opinions. Almost everything that we see here is the same in the spirit world. They are mixed up with every variety, and are as liable to be deluded there as here.

Although the righteous enter into a state of rest and peace, and enjoy happiness in a great degree, yet their happiness is not complete, they are not perfected in glory. It is only their spirits that are there, and they will have to mingle more or less with inferior minds, and different dispositions; but still they will enjoy a great degree of happiness, for their own consciousness of having done right imparts pleasure, consequently it is a state of rest, of peace, free from the imperfections of mortality; but to say that they will be free from all association with beings that are sinful and inferior to themselves, we do not believe. It is true, they will go back to where Jesus is; they will have communion with him, and behold his face, but they will not always remain in tone particular place or position; they will have their works to perform, as we have in this life.

If they are clothed with power and authority in this life, they do not leave their Priesthood when they leave this body, hence John. heard them sing, “Thou art worthy to take the book, and open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, and hast made us kings and priests unto God, and we shall reign on the earth.” We perceive that the Priesthood does not die with their bodies, the kingly authority does not cease with the mortal bodies: it is an office that continues for ever, that continues in the spirit world, as well as after the resurrection. Those that receive their authority from heaven, will have to magnify it, and set a good example and every person receiving an office in this Priesthood, and afterwards dying, will have to perform all the duties and exercise the functions thereof, in order that they may be useful to those spirits in an inferior state. If they hold the Priesthood before the resurrection, do we suppose that they will sit down and have nothing to do? No: there will be other individuals that will not hold the Priesthood, and that have not had the Gospel, and they will be sent to them, to enlighten their minds, and enable them, who will, to rise in the great scale of moral and intellectual excellence.

They will naturally have to mingle with all, as we do in this life; and this will be calculated to make it rather unpleasant; but they are willing to do this for the salvation of those who have died without the Gospel. Jesus himself set the example and pattern for others. While his body lay in the silent tomb, his noble spirit was not idle; hence, Peter says, that Jesus, being put to death in the flesh, was quickened by the spirit, by which also he went and preached to the spirits in prison that were sometime disobedient in the days of Noah, &c. Jesus entered the prison house of those persons who were destroyed in the mighty flood, and preached to them. Those antediluvian spirits had suffered in the prison some two thousand years, and upwards; they needed some information, and Jesus went to enlighten them.

Why were they shut up in prison? It was because they rejected some light in the days of Noah. It is true, that Noah and his three sons could not preach to all the world, but they had rejected some light, and they had to go to prison to atone for that sin.

It is not as some have supposed, that such characters have to go into a lake of fire and to welter there for ever and ever. These persons were destroyed by the flood; they were shut up in prison and confined there; and after a long-period, light broke in upon them, and the prison doors were thrown open. Jesus came for that purpose, not only to benefit the living, but also the dead—to open the prison doors, and break the chains of darkness. Jesus went and preached to the antediluvian spirits. What did he preach? Did he preach, “You must remain here to endless ages without hope of redemption?” If this were the proclamation, what was the use of going to proclaim it? What would be the use of telling those beings that they were to remain in misery, and that there was no chance of escape? No use of proclaiming such news in the ears of any one. Peter tells us why he preached to them: he said, “For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, and live according to God in the spirit.”

This was the object, then, that they might have the same Gospel that men have in the flesh. If we acknowledge they had not the opportunity of receiving it in the flesh, they must have it in the spirit world; for in the great judgment day all men are to be judged by the same Gospel, and consequently, in order to judge them, it was necessary that they should hear the same Gospel that was preached upon the earth, that they might have the privilege of entering into the presence of the Lord their God, or, if they rejected it, be justly condemned.

Jesus has set us the pattern, he held the Priesthood which was conferred by his Father, to redeem those spirits, that they might come forth in the morning of the first resurrection and receive eternal life, and partake a portion of that glory of which I have spoken. If Jesus did this, may not his servants do it also, being blessed in this life with the same authority from heaven, and holding that authority after death? May not they be engaged in the same benevolent purposes? Yes, they may.

These are our views, the views of the Latter-day Saints. And we believe that the spirits of the just will be sent on missions of mercy to those in prison, who had not in this life the opportunity of obeying those principles that I have referred to.

Much might be said with regard to the future state of man between death and the resurrection. We might go on and contrast the difference between man in the flesh, and man in the spirit world. There are many points of contrast, as well as of agreement, in these two states of existence. But we have not time to take up and contrast the difference between disembodied spirits, and those that are in an embodied state.

By way of conclusion, we will say, that all men will come forth and take bodies, some celestial, some terrestrial, and telestial, to occupy degrees of glory and be rewarded according to their works, unless they have sinned against the Holy Ghost. There are certain sins that cannot be forgiven in this world nor in that which is to come; to say that such shall be forgiven, we are not authorized, but all others, after suffering for their evil deeds, will come forth from the grave to receive for their good works, those that have done evil having suffered according to their evil deeds; and thus the justice and mercy of God will be displayed. All will partake of them according to the degree of light that has shone forth in their day.

We are called upon on this solemn occasion as a Territory to mourn the loss of one who has occupied a distinguished position among us, one whose course has been an exemplary one to all mankind, that is, so far as we are acquainted with him. He has now left us, but we expect to meet with him again and see his face. And it it is not long before all now present will again meet with this distinguished individual.

May God bless us and enable us to be prepared to meet with each other in the eternal worlds, and to receive according to the justice and mercy of God. Amen.

Opposition to the Gospel

George A. Smith

An address by Elder George A. Smith, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, August 5, 1855.

I have listened, brethren and sisters, to the remarks of Elder Seth M. Blair with a good deal of interest, and I can appreciate to a considerable extent the sensation that a man feels when he leaves the division, corruption, and savage dispositions that are prevalent among the nations of mankind, and comes among the Saints. Where there is unity and the blessings of the Spirit of the Lord dwelling in the hearts of the people, peace and prosperity will attend their exertions, temporal as well as spiritual, for they will act in unity, and their exertions for each other’s welfare being unanimous and simultaneous, success is bound to be their reward.

I am very happy to enjoy the privilege of seeing the faces, and listening to the voices and testimonies, of our Elders when they return from their missions, and I do know that the greatest school to which any man in this Church can be sent, is through the world to preach the Gospel. I used to say when I was a young man and was travelling to preach the Gospel, I would forgive the worst enemy I had if he would only travel among the Presbyterians, Seceders, and Covenanters in Pennsylvania, and preach the fulness of the everlasting Gospel faithfully, without purse or scrip. I would forgive him from the fact that if he lived three months among them in that way, he would have been literally starved into a full atonement for any injury that he could have inflicted on me.

There was, from the beginning, fixed hatred in the minds of the world at large against this people. It is not here as it is in the Christian world generally, for there the Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Universalists, although bitterly opposed to each other, can all unite to persecute the poor “Mormons,” they are all in error together, but they can unite whenever the truth comes along, and use all their combined influences to put it down. They differ on a kind of complimentary principles, but when they speak of the Saints of God, there is in the hearts of the whole of them, a deep-seated, deadly hatred, and they will do all in their power to put them down. I do not know how the people generally feel about it, but it must seem strange to individuals having the Spirit of the Lord, that these different sects and parties despise and hate each other, and differ so materially, and yet the very moment that an Elder comes into a city, town, or village, they all unite to mob him out of the place. He may perhaps allude to some of their doctrines, and perhaps not, but they will all join together to put down the “Mormons.” The only difficulty is that the Baptists, Universalists, Presbyterians, and Methodists, and the others have all got different meeting-houses, or else we might conclude that their opposition to the Saints would unite them into one, for some of them believe that they will all be saved, notwithstanding their difference of opinion, but the very moment that a “Mormon” comes and preaches the first principles of the Gospel, you will see the utmost confusion among them, their preachers all put their heads together to form plans by which to overthrow “Mormonism,” and even if there is an infidel that they consider or think is a little smarter than they are, they will sustain him if they can persuade him to unite with them to put down “Mormonism,” and if arguments are likely to fail, they start a fresh or more sure method by raising a mob, and exciting the public feeling, and driving out the “Mormons,” believing that to allow the “Mormons” to obtain any influence would be hurtful; they are fearful that it would really injure their cause.

And what is the reason that such fear and alarm should seize them when the Elders go among them? Why, it is plain and simple: the man of God who goes forth without purse and scrip, he has the truth, and he has the Spirit of the Almighty God, and he has the truth as it was anciently and as it is modernly revealed, and he lays the axe at the root of the tree, and annihilates error wherever he finds it.

All the systems of Christendom have got so mixed up with the world, and so mixed and interwoven with the corruptions thereof, that the adversary has perfect dominion over them all, and hence the very moment that a man having the Priesthood comes along and pours in a flood of light upon the world, the adversary tells them like this, “Why we should put that down, or it will cause us trouble,” and the very spirit that is in them is the spirit of the adversary, and they go to work with all their might, and try to put down all who dare to advocate such strange doctrines, and thereby trammel everything under their control. And nothing is more sure than that when the Spirit of the Lord is withdrawn from a people who have previously received the light of the Gospel, or who have had the opportunity of receiving it, they become violent persecutors, and hence it is that the editors of the newspapers in the United States breathe forth their most bitter anathemas against this innocent and law-abiding people, because that spirit of darkness which rules them is afraid of the truth.

It was cowardly fear that caused the Allies to banish Napoleon the First to St. Helena, and there watch him as they would a wild beast to the day of his death. It is a similar fear that causes the enemies of this people to attempt our utter destruction, and that prompts the great writers and statesmen of the age to cry out, “Annihilate the ‘Mormons,’ or Christianity is down,” and thereby seek to raise the ruthless hand of military power to annihilate and destroy innocent, unoffending, law-abiding citizens of a rapidly improving Territory. Every honest man that comes into our Territory, after a short existence in the midst of the Saints, reasonably concludes we have greater respect for the Constitution of the United States, than any other people, notwithstanding all that may have been said by howling priests about the tyranny in the midst of these mountains.

Circumstances have proven, beyond all successful contradiction, that the Elders and authorities of this Church do respect the great principles of the Constitution, and the Latter-day Saints in and of every nation do respect the constitution and laws of their country; the principles of their faith make this obligatory upon them.

We have been driven from our comfortable homes in the United States, into these mountains, and it is only under the kind hand and protecting care of the Almighty that we are kept here; He gave us the privilege of sheltering and of staying here for the time being.

We are the children of the Most High, and we have been called upon by Him to make sacrifices for the building up of His kingdom, and it beho[o]ves us to be awake to our duties as sons and daughters of God. And I tell you it is for us to depend upon, Him, the giver of all good, and if we do not so live as to be partakers of the blessings of the fulness of the Gospel, and of His watchful care, we may anticipate that more destruction will come upon our heads, for the Lord will purify us.

We are blessed indeed to be in a position which is of the utmost importance to the fulfilment of the purposes of God and the accomplishment of the Latter-day work, which we shall be the means of bringing about if we dedicate ourselves to the interests of His work.

We are perfectly aware of the bloody hatred that exists towards us throughout the world, and we are perfectly aware of the hot persecution that we have to endure because of our religion; we know the people of God always were persecuted, and we expect they always will be, until the power of the devil is subdued and the kingdom and the greatness thereof shall be given to the Saints of the Most High, to possess for ever and for ever. Although we have met with opposition from all quarters, yet thousands and thousands of exertions have been made by this people for the express purpose of causing the inhabitants of the world to abandon their corruptions, forsake their wicked practices, leave off and repent of their foolish doings and our constant exertions have been rebutted with constant abuse from those we were trying to benefit.

The blood of our Prophet and Patriarch, and hundreds of innocent men, women, and children, and the destruction of millions and millions of dollars’ worth of property, the long list of abuses to which we have been subjected, and the patience, forbearance, and fortitude with which these abuses have been borne, only prove in the first place the intense hatred with which the world hate us, and in the second the sterling integrity of the people called Latter-day Saints, and their determination to abide the laws of their country.

Then I say, let us be united, and let our voices ascend to Him as the voice of one man, and let every foolish notion depart from our midst, that we may have power with Him, for I tell you we depend alone upon the Almighty for protection, and if we depend upon His arm and upon His power, we can work in faith, believing that He will help us. I do know that if this people were united, and would exercise faith, and listen to the counsel of the Presidency as they ought, and be united as one man, all the powers of earth and hell could not prevail against them; and if no power could prevail, of course there would be but little danger. But if feuds, discord, selfishness, and contentions are permitted to break up our unity, we shall then become like others, weak in consequence of our division.

I have listened with pleasure to the remarks of our brother, and I can appreciate his feelings while he preached the everlasting Gospel on the soil of Texas, for the liberties of which, he had in the days of his youth periled his life on many a bloody battle field.

I realize the sensation of endearment of native country that flows in the breast of man who has been driven from his rights and privileges, a feeling of a peculiar nature, for when a man is abused by those around him, it is rather humiliating to have to quietly submit to be deprived of his rights; but we have to seek those rights we cannot get at the hands of our fellow men, at the hands of the Almighty; for wicked men will not extend them to us, and therefore we must depend upon Him who is the source of all good, and from whom protection must be derived, for as the Lord lives, peace is taken from the earth, and every man’ hands is against that of his neighbor, and death and destruction and all the powers of earth and hell seem to be manifest to bring about the consumption determined for the last days.

There is considerable anxiety among the Elders to go and preach the Gospel to distant nations, to those who profess to be enlightened, but brethren and sisters, let us preach the Gospel at home, in our houses, to those natives in the mountains who are sunk in misery and distress.

Let us open good schools for the Indians, and use the influence that we have got, for their redemption, and let us endeavor to bring them back to the light, bring them back from their long lost and degraded condition, bringing them back to the Gospel enjoyed by their fathers, for they prophesied that their children should wander in darkness for many generations, and then the Lord would commence His work amongst them again; and let us do it, and do it with faithfulness and tenderness, with kindness and generosity, and act as fathers would act towards their children; and let us spend our means and labor, let us toil, and even spend our all for their redemption and preservation. And let us not take hold of it as a light matter, as a matter that we will never let come near our hearts, but with willingness, long-suffering, and continued endeavors to do them good, and when we are foiled in our endeavors to benefit those people, let us recollect that we are not to be discouraged, but let us remember that we are to keep trying, and pray God to give you wisdom to act aright. Put away from your hearts all desires to shed their blood, and put far from you the disposition that causes you to think they are troublesome, and we should like to get rid of them. Let us consider that they have rights here, that they are the original settlers. They have natural rights, and all our kindness and generosity and all our faith exercised to benefit them will be acknowledged.

I know the feelings of some; they think the best and only method to deal with them would be to kill off and exterminate their race.

But the Lord has placed us here to try us, and if we have suffering He will bless us for our labors among that people.

Do not let us be weary, but let the hearts of young and old throb with emotions to be missionaries, throb with desires to teach them the arts of civilization.

Let these be our feelings and desires, and may God bless us in our faith and works, that we may bring them back to the knowledge of their fathers and the blessings of the Gospel according to the promises. Amen