Journal of Discourses Volume 14

BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG, 

HIS TWO COUNSELLORS, 
AND THE TWELVE APOSTLES.

REPORTED BY D. W. EVANS, 
J. Q. CANNON AND MISS JULIA YOUNG,

AND RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO THE LATTER-DAY 
SAINTS IN ALL THE WORLD.

VOL. XIV

LIVERPOOL: 

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY 
ALBERT CARRINGTON, 42, ISLINGTON.

LONDON: 

LATTER-DAY SAINTS' BOOK 
DEPOT, 20, BISHOP'S GROVE, ISLINGTON.

1872.[p.iii] 

Preface

Vol. 14,  p.iii
IN times such as the present, the discourses of the leaders of Israel
cannot be else than of the highest interest to every soul who has
embraced the Gospel for the love of the truth. With this knowledge we
present the Fourteenth Volume of the to the
Saints, realizing that any words of commendation on our part would not
only be entirely out of place, but worse than superfluous.

GEORGE REYNOLDS[p.1] 

Wilford Woodruff, January 1, 1871

Eventful Times

Remarks By Elder W. Woodruff, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, January 1, 1871.

(Reported by DAvid W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.1
I wish you all a happy new year, and I hope that we may live to see a
good many, and that we may keep the commandments of God, obey his
laws, and have his approbation and blessing upon us as a people. We
have assembled here on this, the first day of the week, and the first
day of the year 1871; and this leads my mind to reflect upon the age
and generation in which we live, and the great events of the latter
days—events which involve the interests and destiny of all the
inhabitants of the earth—both Zion and Babylon, Jew and Gentile,
Jerusalem, America, and the whole world. All nations are interested in
the events which are approaching us, and which await this generation;
for, whether the world believe it or not, they are of vast interest to
them all. There have been certain times looked forward to in the
world's history, in which it was believed that something remarkable
would occur, and there have been several of these periods during the
last fifty years. I do not know that anything was predicted at an
early day with regard to 1830; but I recollect, when a boy at school,
of reading a certain verse about a great eclipse of the sun—

Vol. 14,  p.1
In eighteen hundred and thirty-one
Will be a great eclipse upon the sun.

Vol. 14,  p.1
I heard about this fifteen years before it took place, it having been
foretold by the astronomers, by the principles and laws of the science
of astronomy. On that day I was passing through a forest of pinewood,
at Farmington, Connecticut, going to see my father, whom I had not
seen for some time. It was nearly as dark as night, and when I got
through, into the open fields, there was what is termed a poor house,
the only house erected within several miles in that region of country.
A poor man had died there and they were drawing his body on an ox sled
and were going to bury him. I noticed this as I passed along, and
thought of what I had read; but nothing of any particular interest
occurred that year except the eclipse [p.2] of the sun. But in 1830
something occurred of great interest to all the inhabitants of the
earth: that was the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.

Vol. 14,  p.2
Many persons have looked forward to the year 1830 with great interest
and this has been the case with many of the Latter-day Saints. What
took place in that year? The dissolution of the American Union; for in
that year the South took a stand against the North, and the North
against the South, in fulfilment of a certain revelation given by
Joseph Smith thirty years before it took place. Joseph Smith predicted
that there would be a great rebellion in the United States—the South
and the North warring against each other and that this rebellion would
commence in South Carolina, and would end in the death and misery of
many souls; and that in process of time—after many days, the slaves
would rise against their masters, and that one nation would call for
aid upon another, for war would be poured upon the whole earth. I
wrote this revelation twenty-five years before the rebellion took
place; others also wrote it, and it was published to the world before
there was any prospect of the fearful events it predicted coming to
pass.

Vol. 14,  p.2
Joseph Smith once said in a speech at Nauvoo, to a company, that
whosoever lived to see the two sixes come together in '66 would see
the American continent deluged in blood. That was many years before
there was any prospect of a rebellion. The history of '60 and of '66
is before the world, and I do not wish to spend time in referring to
it.

Vol. 14,  p.2
We have got by '30, '60, '66, and '70, and we are now living at a
period when every year is big with events of interest to the
inhabitants of the earth; and they will continue from this time until
the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Many men have set times for the
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, among whom, living in our own day, we
may mention Mr. Miller. He set times and days for the appearing of the
Messiah, and has said that he would surely come on such a day. Now if
Mr. Miller had been acquainted with the prophecies contained in the
Bible, and with the Spirit by which the Scriptures were written, he
would have known very clearly that Christ would not come until certain
events had taken place. He would have been aware that the Messiah
would not make his appearance until an angel of God had delivered the
everlasting Gospel from the heavens to be preached to the nations of
the earth; until the honest and meek of the earth are gathered out
from every sect, party and denomination under the whole heavens; until
the Zion of God had gone up into the mountains of Israel and there
established Zion, and lifted up a standard to the people. Mr. Miller
and all who have believed like him, had they understood the Scriptures
and possessed the Spirit of truth, would have known that Christ would
not come until the Jews had returned to their own land and had rebuilt
the City of Jerusalem and the temple there; they would have known that
all these and many other prophecies must have been fulfilled as a
preparatory work for the coming of the Messiah.

Vol. 14,  p.2
These things are before us; we are here in these valleys of the
mountains, as the Church of Jeans Christ of Latter-day Saints,
established by the hand of God—by revelation from heaven. This Church
has been established by raising up prophets, unto whom have been given
the keys of the kingdom of God—the keys of the holy Priesthood and
Apostleship of the Son of God, with power to [p.3] organise the Church
and kingdom of God on the earth, with all its gifts, graces,
ordinances, and orders, as proclaimed by all the Apostles and prophets
who have lived since the world began. It is because of this that we
are here to-day. In fulfilment of prophecy and revelation we have
established a kingdom, as it were, a state, a nation, a people here in
the deserts of North America. We have planted six hundred miles of
cities, towns, villages, gardens, orchards, tabernacles and temples by
the command of God, for the hand of God is in all these things, and
they are in fulfilment of revelations given in the Bible, Book of
Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants, in our day and in ancient days.
This is the work of the Lord, and all the Scriptures, from the
beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelations point to this day as
one of great interest to all the human family; although as one said of
old, "As it was in the days of Noah and of Lot, so shall it be in the
days of the coming of the Son of Man." In those days they were
marrying and giving in marriage, and when Noah went into the Ark, and
when Lot fled out of Sodom, the inhabitants of the earth through their
unbelief were ignorant of the destruction awaiting them.

Vol. 14,  p.3
At the present day darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the
minds of the people; nevertheless they are living in an age of the
world more fraught with interest to the human family than any
preceding age or generation since the creation. There is no hundred
years, no thousand years, no two thousand years since God made this
world and placed Adam in the Garden of Eden when there was as, much
prophecy, revelation, vision, and word of the Lord and promises of God
to he fulfilled as there is in the generation in which you and I live.
This is the great dispensation of all dispensations. This is the time
to which all the prophets of God have pointed, and in which they have
declared the great latter-day work of God should be established. And I
will here say that, many times, while a boy, when reading the
testimony of John, given on the isle of Patmos, whither he had been
banished for the testimony of Jesus Christ and for the word of God;
while reading the account he gives of the pouring out of plagues and
judgments on the inhabitants of the earth, I have marvelled that the
Lord should do such a work. But I do not wonder at it to-day: the
scenes have changed. When I was a boy, fifty years ago, the kingdom of
God had not been established among men; the angels of God had not
visited the earth; the Lord Almighty had not clothed his servants with
the Priesthood and commanded them to go and warn the nations of the
earth of the judgments which awaited them. There was not the
wickedness then that there is to-day. The wickedness committed to-day
in the Christian world in twenty-four hours is greater than would have
been committed in a hundred years at the ratio of fifty years ago. And
the spirit of wickedness is increasing, so that I no longer wonder
that God Almighty will turn rivers into blood; I do not wonder that he
will open the seals and Pour out the plagues and sink great Babylon,
as the angel saw, like a millstone cast into the sea, to rise no more
for ever. I can see that it requires just such plagues and judgments
to cleanse the earth, that it may cease to groan under the wickedness
and abomination in which the Christian world welters to-day. I can see
the necessity for the Lord stretching forth his hand, establishing his
kingdom, warning the nations,[p.4] and gathering out the honest and
meek of the earth from among all nations, kindreds, tongues and
people, sects and parties under the whole heaven, and preparing them
to stand as the bride, the Lamb's wife, as the Church of Jesus Christ,
as the kingdom of God, adorned with goodly apparel, adorned with the
light of Zion, with the principles of eternal life, with the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, preserving within themselves the virtues and attributes
which have made God what he is, established him on his throne, and
given him the power which he now possesses. I can say this—the Lord
will never come to visit an earth like this; he will never come to
visit a generation of the inhabitants of the earth until they are
prepared for his coming and are willing to receive him.

Vol. 14,  p.4
This is the foundation of Mormonism; this is the foundation of the
Church and kingdom of God, which was laid in 1830. The Church was
established on the 6th of April in that year. Its history and the
history of this people are before the world. We ourselves have learned
it by shoe-leather. Many of the Elders of Israel have travelled a
hundred thousand miles to preach the Gospel during the last forty
years without purse or scrip; we have labored day and night, and
travelled as no other generation of men since the world was made have
travelled. Our garments are clear of the blood of this generation, at
least many of us, and I hope many more will be. We have been true and
faithful in our testimony to the inhabitants of the earth; and as the
world generally has rejected our testimony the Lord has withdrawn his
spirit from the people in a great measure, and the religion they once
enjoyed is as nothing to many of them. Infidelity prevails throughout
the world; very few, either priests dr people, believe in a literal
fulfilment of the Bible. They have a theory, but as to believing in a
real fulfilment of prophecy, or that the Lord meant what he said and
said what he meant, that is out of the question—very few believe it.

Vol. 14,  p.4
I want to ask a question—Will the unbelief of this generation make the
truth of God without effect in our day any more than it has in any
other age of the world? I tell you nay, and think not, as Paul says,
that I am your enemy because I tell you the truth. These things are
true before God; this is the Zion of God, and these are the people of
God; and we, as Latter-day Saints, should live our religion better
than we do; and as we are now entering on another year I hope we shall
try to live our religion through this year, and do our duty and keep
the commandments of God and walk uprightly before him, that we may
become united as the heart of one man.

Vol. 14,  p.4
There are great events, as I have already said, before us. The fact
is, the Lord has laid down a great many promises concerning the latter
days, and they are going to be fulfilled; for though the heavens and
the earth pass away not one jot or tittle of the word of the Lord will
fall unfulfilled; and when our nation and the nations of the earth
have filled their cup and are ripened in iniquity the Lord will cut
them off. The greater the battle the sooner it will end; the greater
the warfare the greater the victory, if the Saints do their duty.
These things are before my mind, in the vision of it, and the Lord
will not fail in anything he has promised concerning the work of the
latter days. Whatever opposition this Church and kingdom may have, it
is the work of God. The Lord has planted and sustained it. Jesus
compares the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed, [p.5] the least of
all seeds, but by and by when it grows it becomes a large tree, so the
fowls of the air can lodge in, its branches. So it has been with the
kingdom of God; but we are told that the little one will become a
thousand, and the small one a strong nation, and the Lord will hasten
it in his own time. The Lord says," I will break every weapon formed
against Zion; and every nation, kindred, tongue and people that will
not serve Zion shall be utterly wasted away."

Vol. 14,  p.5
When I see the world making warfare against the Zion and people of God
because they have borne record and testimony of his work on, the earth
I can tell pretty well what the end will be; I can see it. We are
living in a time when the work of God is going to increase in interest
every day until it is wound up. No man knows the day or the hour when
Christ will come, yet the generation has been pointed out by Jesus
himself. He told his disciples when they passed by the temple as they
walked out of Jerusalem that that generation should not pass away
before not one stone of that magnificent temple should be left
standing upon another and the Jews should be scattered among the
nations; and history tells how remarkably that prediction was
fulfilled. Moses and the prophets also prophecied of this as well as
Jesus. The Savior, when speaking to his disciples of his second coming
and the establishment of his kingdom on the earth, said the Jews
should be scattered and trodden under foot until the times of the
Gentiles were fulfilled. But, said he, when you see light breaking
forth among the Gentiles referring to the preaching of his Gospel
amongst them; when you see salvation offered to the Gentiles, and the
Jews—the seed of Israel—passed by, the last first and the first last;
when you, see this you may know that the time of my second coming is
at hand as surely as you know that summer is nigh when the fig tree
puts forth its leaves; and when these things commence that generation
shall not pass away until all are fulfilled.

Vol. 14,  p.5
We are living in the dispensation and generation to which Jesus
referred—the time appointed by God for the last six thousand years,
through the mouths of all the prophets and inspired men who have lived
and left their sayings on record, in which his Zion should be built up
and continue upon the earth. Those prophecies will have their
fulfilment before the world; and all who will not repent will be
engulphed in the destructions which are in store for the wicked. If
men do not cease from their murders, whoredoms, and all the wickedness
and abominations which fill the black catalogue of the crimes of the
world, judgment will overtake them; and whether we are believed or
not, these sayings are true, and I bear my testimony as a servant of
God and as an Elder in Israel to the truth of the events which are
going to follow very fast on each other.

Vol. 14,  p.5
The Lord is going to make a short work in the earth; he is going to
cut it short in righteousness, or no flesh would be saved. What
Brother Rich has said to-day is true. These principles will sustain us
Virtuous and godly principles—the principles of the Gospel will, in
the end, come off triumphant; and they will sustain and preserve any
people who practice them, whether they are popular or not in the
estimation of the world. All who embrace the principles of the Gospel
of Christ will be saved by them. He that abides a law will be
preserved by it. Any man who abides the law of the Gospel will be
saved and receive exaltation and glory by it. Let us remember these
things,[p.6] for all that has been spoken concerning this Zion of God
in the mountains will come to pass. It is the work of God, and his
eyes are over it; the heavens behold it. Every prophet and Apostle who
ever bore testimony to this work is watching us with the deepest
interest; they watch our labors and faithfulness, and are anxious
about the course we pursue. Many of them desired to live in our day,
but had not the privilege. We have been permitted to see and live in
this great and eventful age of the world. The God of heaven has put
into our hands the Gospel, the Priesthood, the keys of his kingdom,
and the power to redeem the earth from the dominion of sin and
wickedness under which it has groaned for centuries, and under which
it groans to-day. Let us lay these things to heart, and try to live
our religion; so that when we get through we may look back on our
lives, and feel that we have done what was required of us,
individually and collectively. The Lord requires much at our
hands—more than he has ever required of any generation that has
preceded us; for no generation that has ever lived on the earth was
called upon to establish the kingdom of God on the earth, knowing that
it should be thrown down no more for ever. Daniel saw this; the
Prophet Isaiah had spoken of it; in fact three-fourths of all his
predictions relate to the establishment of the kingdom of God in the
latter days; to our persecutions, to our travels to these valleys of
the mountains, to the lifting up of the standard to the people on the
mountains of Israel; to the casting up of the great highway—this
national railroad, which the ransomed of the Lord should walk over,
and on which the Gentiles should come to the light of Zion, and kings
to the brightness of her rising.

Vol. 14,  p.6
These things are to come to pass in our day, and the beginning has
commenced, and the end will come by the power of God and in fulfilment
of his promises; and it is at our hands the work is required.
Therefore I feel to bear my testimony to-day that this is the work of
God, that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that Brigham Young is
a prophet of God, and is inspired, led, dictated and directed of the
Lord, and has been very profitable to the Latter-day Saints, and is
doing all he can for the salvation of the world. So did Joseph Smith,
while he lived. He came in fulfilment of prophecy, accomplished what
was required of him, laid the foundation of the work, received the
keys of the Priesthood and Apostleship, and every gift and grace in
the organization of the Church necessary to carry it on. We are called
to build on the foundation he laid, until Zion shall arise and put on
her beautiful garments and the people of God become united as the
heart of one man; until the little stone, cut out of the mountain
without hands, becomes a mountain and fills the whole earth, and
accomplishes all God has spoken concerning it.

Vol. 14,  p.6
Brethren and sisters, let us unite together and be faithful, and live
our religion every day, and do our duty in 1871 as in any of the years
that are past and gone since we have been acquainted with the Gospel
of Christ. If we do this we shall come off triumphant. The God of
heaven is our friend, and blessed is that people whose God is the
Lord. Blessed is that people who do not turn to any other God but the
living and true God.

Vol. 14,  p.6
May God bless you, bless this assembly, bless us as a people, and the
honest and meek of the earth everywhere, and prepare us for the great
events which await this generation, for Jesus' sake. Amen.[p.7] 

Orson Pratt, February 19, 1871

The Blessings of Joseph—the American Indians

Discourse By Elder Orson Pratt, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Feb. 19, 1871.

(Reported by John Q. Cannon)

Vol. 14,  p.7
I will call the attention of the congregation to a portion of the word
of the Lord contained in the 3rd chapter of Deuteronomy, commencing at
the 13th verse. What I am about to read is the word of the Lord
through Moses. "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 coucheth 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 everlasting hills, and for the precious things of the earth and
the fullness 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 separated from his brethren. His glory is
like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of
unicorns; with them he shall push the people together to the ends of
the earth; and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the
thousands of Manasseh."

Vol. 14,  p.7
These words occurred to me after rising to my feet, as the blessing of
Moses upon one of the tribes of Israel. The Latter-day Saints are
aware that in ancient times men of God were led by the spirit of
inspiration to bless with prophetic blessings. Such was the case in
the days of Noah, such was the case in the days of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, and such was the case in the days of Moses. Being prophets, the
Lord inspired them to know and understand the future, to know What he
intended to perform and accomplish on the earth. They understood by
the spirit of prophecy the blessings that would come upon the
righteous and the curses that would come upon the wicked. They
understood that the Lord would bestow blessings bountifully upon those
who would serve him and keep his commandments. Hence they predicted
blessings upon them, not only of a spiritual nature but of a temporal
nature, among which farms were given to them, kingdoms, thrones, and a
great variety of blessings of a temporal nature were oftentimes
conferred by the spirit of prophecy upon the descendants of those whom
the Lord delighted in. Many prophecies are recorded in the Book of
Deuteronomy, pertaining to the twelve tribes, among which were certain
cursings if they did not keep the commandments of the Lord, and
certain blessings inasmuch as they would keep his commandments.
Indeed, six of the tribes of Israel, or men out of six tribes,
representing six of the tribes, were commanded to go upon a certain
mountain, and representatives out of the other six tribes were
commanded to get upon another mountain. The representatives on one of
these mountains were to pronounce blessings on conditions, while [p.8]
the others were to pronounce curses also on conditions. Israel were to
be blessed in their basket and in their store; in their goings out and
in their comings in; blessed with all the blessings of the earth in
the land of Palestine; blessed with the comforts and consolations of
the Spirit; with revelations, with prophets, with all the blessings
that had been enjoyed by their forefathers in the days of their
righteousness; but if they would not do this, the others upon the
other hill were to curse them; they were to be cursed in their basket
and in their store; in the increase of their fields and in their
flocks; cursed with all the plagues of Egypt. Their enemies, though
few in number, should come against them, and they, though many, should
flee before them. They should be dispersed until the latter days. In
the latter days the Lord would again stretch forth his hand and would
bring them from all the nations of the earth, where they have been
scattered, to their own land of Canaan.

Vol. 14,  p.8
Almost the last thing that Moses did among the children of Israel was
to pronounce separate blessings upon each tribe, commencing with the
first-born, Reuben, taking them according to their ages, pronouncing a
variety of blessings, spiritual and temporal, upon the twelve tribes,
until he comes down to Joseph. The words which I have read were the
blessings upon that tribe: "Blessed of the Lord be his land." It was a
temporal blessing then; it did not particularly have reference to
those spiritual blessings that pertain to eternity, but it was a
temporal blessing. "Blessed of the Lord be his lurid, for the precious
things of the earth, the precious things of heaven, for the dew and
for the deep that coucheth beneath. For the precious fruits brought
forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon;
and the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious
things of the everlasting hills, and for the precious things of the
earth and the fullness 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 separated from his brethren."
You perceive, then, that this blessing was of a temporal nature.

Vol. 14,  p.8
Now when Joseph entered the land of Palestine he received an
inheritance with the rest of the tribes. Both Ephraim and Manasseh
received their inheritances; one of them received an inheritance on
the east side of Jordan; the other, Ephraim, received an inheritance
on the west of Jordan in connection with the rest of the tribes.
"Blessed of the Lord be his land;" and among the precious things that
were to be given were the precious things of the earth and the
fullness thereof. What are we to understand by the fullness of the
earth? I Understand it to mean the products of all climates. Palestine
is in the temperate zone, and therefore produces fruits that are
adapted to a temperate climate. Let me refer you to the blessing of
Jacob, the father of Joseph, upon Ephraim and Manasseh. In the 48th
chapter of Genesis we read that Joseph brought up his two sons to
Jacob to receive his last blessing. Jacob was blind, and when Ephraim
and Manasseh were brought before him, Manasseh being the oldest was
brought before the old Patriarch in such a way that the old man would
place his right hand upon the first-born, and his left hand upon the
younger, that the first-born might receive the prophetic blessing.
Being guided by the spirit of inspiration, the old Patriarch crossed
his hands and laid his right hand upon the head of the younger and his
left hand upon [p.9] the head of Manasseh and pronounced his blessing.
He said that these two sons of Joseph should become a great people and
a multitude of nations in the midst of the earth. Now it would he very
difficult for us to find the descendants of Joseph—a multitude of
nations—anywhere on the eastern continent. If we go among the nations
of Asia, the Chinese, the Hindoos, &c., we can trace back their
history to early ages, and there is no evidence that they are the
descendants of Joseph. If we go into the northern portions of Europe,
to Russia and other countries, we find no evidence that they are his
descendants. If we go among the various eastern nations, we have no
evidence that they are the descendants of him. I don't know any
portion of the eastern continent, in Europe, Asia, Africa, or
Australia, where we can find a multitude of nations. When we come to
America, we have a large country, with every variety of climate,
temperate, torrid and arctic, and every variety of temperature. Jacob
not only predicted that his tribe should become a great people—a
multitude of nations—but that they should be blest in a variety of
ways.

Vol. 14,  p.9
The great Prophet Jacob also pronounced these remarkable words uttered
by inspiration: "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by
a well, for his branches shall run over the wall." What a great
prediction about the tribe of Joseph!

Vol. 14,  p.9
There are, several things to be understood in the prophecy. First, he
should become a multitude of nations. We understand what this means.
In the second place, his branches should run over the wall. Now what
does this mean? The Lord in ancient times had a meaning for
everything. It means that his tribe should become so numerous that
they would take up more room than one small inheritance in Canaan,
that they would spread out and go to some land at a great distance.
You recollect that the Lord told Abraham to get upon a hill and look
forth to the east and then to the west, then to the north and to the
south. For, saith the Lord, "All the land thou seest I will give to
thee and thy seed for an inheritance, for an everlasting possession."
That was the blessing conferred upon one of Jacob's progenitors. Isaac
had also the same blessing. Here Jacob wrestled with God or the angel
near to the brook Jabbok. It will be recollected how Jacob sent his
wives over the brook and stayed behind to wrestle with the angel, and
they wrestled all night just as two men would wrestle. The angel not
being able to overpower him by physical strength alone, but by
miracle, touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh and it was withered, and
in this way he was able to overpower him. The Lord pronounced great
blessings upon his head, greater than those of his progenitors. This
is the time that some say that Jacob received his conversion; but he
did not repent of having more wives than one. What! was he a holy man
of God and had more wives than one? Yes; and instead of turning them
off, he arranged them to go and meet his brother Esau; the first wife
and her children, then the second with hers, and so on, and when Esau
saw them, he inquired who they were? Jacob replied, "These are they
whom God hath graciously given to thy servant." We have deviated a
little from our subject, but we will return to it.

Vol. 14,  p.9
Joseph's peculiar blessing, which I have just read to you, was that he
should enjoy possessions above Jacob's progenitors to the utmost
bounds of the everlasting hills. This would seem to indicate a very
distant land, from Palestine. The old patriarch [p.10] said, "I bestow
this blessing upon the head of him that was separated froth his
brethren." Of course such a land must be large to contain a multitude
of nations. It was to be adapted to the fruits, vegetables and grains
of all climates; the precious things of the earth and the fullness
thereof. We may learn then, from these facts, that the land was at a
great distance from the land of Palestine. Where can we find a people
who fulfil the terms of this prophecy as well as the American Indians?
Here are a great number of nations. Go into the arctic regions and you
find nations; in British America you find them scattered over a vast
area of country; in the United States there is a multitude of nations,
being driven west by the white men. Go farther south into the
provinces of Mexico; go through the isthmus into South America and you
will find still numerous nations of Indians. They have different
languages, but the roots of each language indicate that they have all
sprung from the same origin. How do you know that they have sprung
from one race of people, or are of the same origin? Because learned
men have studied into the antiquities of our country. Societies have
been formed, among which is the Antiquarian Society, afterwards called
the Etymological Society, which discovered that the roots of all the
different languages have a very close resemblance to the Hebrew. But
there is another thing that will prove still further their origin.
When our fathers first settled the New England States and penetrated
into the Country they discovered that the Indians had certain rites
and ceremonies which they observed, such as the new moon sacrifices,
&c. From these proofs we conclude that they must have been descendants
of the Israelitish nation. Lord Kingsbury, a man who was once very
wealthy, expended about £80,000 sterling in getting up nine large
volumes giving accounts of these antiquities. He had agents searching
in all the large libraries of Europe. Imagine the immense amount of
manuscript writing, so voluminous as to fill nine large volumes! In
these volumes he brought forth all the testimony in his power to prove
that the American Indians were Israelites. But there was one thing
that he could not understand; he found that the ancient Indians
understood something about the Lord Jesus Christ. If he had consulted
the Book of Mormon, he would have known why they knew about Jesus.

Vol. 14,  p.10
Let me here observe that the Book of Mormon, which has been published
for forty-one years, gives an account of the first settlement of this
country by these inhabitants, showing that they are not the ten
tribes, but they are the descendants of one tribe, and they came to
this country about six hundred years before Christ. The people when
they first landed consisted of only two or three families; and instead
of landing on the northwest coast of North America, they landed on the
south-west coast of South America. A history of the escape of these
few families from Jerusalem is contained in the Book of Mormon. How
they traveled on the eastern borders of the Red Sea, and how they
built a vessel or ship to cross the Indian and Pacific oceans; they
were instructed how to build this vessel, and when they had embarked
on it, they were brought by the special direction of the Lord to this
land. He guided their vessel, or instructed them how to guide it,
until they landed on the west coast of South America. One portion had
become wicked and had apostatized from the religion of their fathers
and [p.11] sought the destruction of the righteous portion. The
righteous portion of these families left the first settlement and
traveled several hundred miles to the north, and formed settlements,
and became a powerful nation. The others—the wicked portion—became a
powerful nation. About fifty years before Christ the Nephites, as the
righteous portion was called, sent forth numerous colonies into North
America. Among these colonies there was one that came and settled on
the southern borders of our great lakes. Both nations became very
wicked, notwithstanding their prophets foretold great destruction if
they would not repent. They predicted that at the time of the
crucifixion darkness, earthquakes and great destruction of cities
should transpire. While they were standing near their temple,
conversing about this sign which had been given them of the
crucifixion, they heard a voice in the heavens, and they looked up and
beheld their, Messiah descending. He came down and stood in their
midst, and showed them the scars in his hands and feet, and in his
side; and after visiting them for several days successively, he told
them that he was going to the ten tribes of Israel. He also chose
twelve disciples to administer his Gospel on this land and for the
ministration of the Holy Ghost. The twelve disciples went forth and
preached the Gospel, commencing in South America, and then went into
North America, until all the people both in North and South America
were converted, receiving the principles of the Gospel—namely,
baptism, and the laying on of hands, and all the other principles as
preached in our day. About two centuries after this, the Nephites fell
into wickedness: the Lamanites, who dwelt in the southern portion of
South America, also apostatized; and they began to wage war with the
Nephites, who were their enemies; and being exceedingly strong they
drove all the Nephites out of South America and followed them with
their armies up into the north country, and finally overpowered them.
They were gathered together south of the great rakes in the country
which we term New York. The Lord ordered that the plates on which the
records were kept should be hid, and one of the prophets knowing that
it was the last struggle of his nation, hid them in the hill Cumorah,
in Ontario county, in the State of New York, with the exception of
those which his son Moroni, who was also a prophet, had. The last
account that we have is furnished to us by Moroni, who states that,
after keeping himself hid for several years, and being commanded of
the Lord, he hid away the records, about 420 years after Christ. Thus,
I have given you a very brief history of the settlement of our
country.

Vol. 14,  p.11
In the year 1827 Joseph Smith, then a young man, took these records
from their place of concealment, and, by the aid of the Urim and
Thummim, translated them. In the presence of three witnesses, the
angel took the plates and turned them over, leaf after leaf, showing
them the characters thereon, and told them that they had been
translated correctly. They were also seen by eight other men, making
twelve men in all, including himself. Joseph Smith being inspired from
on high, was commanded to organize a Church, which he did on the 6th
day of April, 1830. It was composed at first of six members. Witnesses
and preachers went forth into the States of this Union to preach the
Gospel, and many were led to join the Church. It has steadily
progressed since the time of its first organization until the present.
The [p.12] Saints were driven from State to State until they finally
crossed the Missouri river and came to these valleys. Thus I have
endeavored to give you a very brief sketch of the organization of this
Church, and it has been very brief indeed.

Vol. 14,  p.12
I see the time is up; much more might be said from the holy Bible in
relation to this great Latter-day work, but time will not permit.
Amen.

Geroge A. Smith, May 6, 1870

Home Manufactures—Union in Business Matters

Remarks By President George A. Smith, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 6, 1870. 

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.12
In February, 1831, just after the organization of the Church, we
received a revelation through Joseph Smith, commanding the members of
the Church to let the beauty of their garments be the workmanship of
their own hands. It reads as follows: "And again, thou shalt not be
proud in thy heart; let all thy garments be plain, and their beauty
the beauty of the work of thine own hands; and let all things be done
in cleanliness before me. Thou shalt not be idle; for he that is idle
shall not eat the bread nor wear the garments of the laborer." This
revelation was given almost forty years ago, but slowly, very slowly,
have we advanced in fulfilling it; and it really seems that some of
the first commandments given to the Church are amongst the last
obeyed. I realize the reason of this, when reflecting upon the great
work to be done in moulding the children of God, gathered from the
various nations and denominations, with all their prejudices,
traditions, and varied habits of living. They come here filled with
ideas averse to those of God and differing from each other; and under
these circumstances it is difficult for them to arrive at a oneness in
their associations—to use an expression common amongst us at the
present—it is difficult for them to co-operate to build up Zion in the
last days. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, was three hundred and
sixty-five years preparing the people, before the saying went forth:
"Zion has fled." "Enoch was 25 years old when he was ordained under
the hand of Adam, and he was 65 and Adam blessed him, and he saw the
Lord, and he walked with him, and was before his face continually; and
he walked with God 365 years, making him 430 years old when he was
translated." Doc. and Cov., sec. 3, par. 24. Three hundred and
sixty-five years teaching and instructing the people, and setting
examples before them, and forming a city that should be a model city
of Zion. It was in an age when men lived longer, and when,
peradventure, they had [p.13] not become so full of tradition as at
the present day; yet when we consider the time that it took Enoch to
accomplish this work, we have every reason to rejoice at the progress
of Zion at the present time. Most of the efforts we have made to
advance the cause of Zion we have been able to carry through
successfully. For instance, when in the temple of the Lord at Nauvoo,
we entered into a covenant that we would, to the extent of our
influence and property, do all in our power to help our poor brethren
and sisters in emancipating themselves from tyranny and oppression,
that they might come to the mountains, where they could enjoy
religious liberty. Just as soon as food was raised in this Valley this
work continued, and every effort and energy was used to fulfil this
covenant. It required unity of effort, but it has been a success.
Roads had to be constructed, bridges built, ways bought out,
mountains, as it were, torn down, deserts turned into fruitful fields,
and savages more wild than the mountain gorges they inhabit
conciliated and controlled, and all this to effect a purpose. But it
has been done by unity of effort, and hundreds and thousands of
Latter-day Saints rejoice in the fact.

Vol. 14,  p.13
We extended our work of gathering the Saints across the mighty deep,
and aided the poor brethren in Europe, continuing our donations in
money, and, in addition to this, we went with our hundred, two
hundred, three hundred or five hundred teams annually across the great
desert plains, to bring home to Zion those who desired to be gathered.
This was done by co-operation, by unity and a determined purpose.

Vol. 14,  p.13
It appears that we have gathered many to Zion who do not fully
appreciate the great work of these Says—namely, to place the people of
God in a condition that they can sustain themselves, against the time
that Babylon the Great shall fall. Some will say that it is ridiculous
to suppose that Babylon, the "Mother of Harlots," is going to fall.
Ridiculous as it may seem, the time will come when no man will buy her
merchandise, and when the Latter-day Saints will be under the
necessity of providing for themselves, or going without. "This may be
a wild idea," bat it is no more wild or wonderful than what has
already transpired, and that before our eyes When we are counseled to
"provide for your wants within yourselves, we are only told to prepare
for that day. When we are told, "Unite your interests and establish
every variety of business that may be necessary to supply your wants,"
we are only told to lay a plan to enjoy liberty, peace and plenty.

Vol. 14,  p.13
Many years ago efforts were made on the part of the Presidency to
extend the settlements into the warm valleys south of the rim of the
Basin. The country was very forbidding and sterile. Many were invited
and called upon to go and settle there. Numbers went, but many of them
returned disheartened; but the mass of those who went, confident that
the blessings of God would be upon their labors, pushed forth their
exertions and built up towns, cities and villages; they established
cotton fields and erected factories, and supplied many wants which
could not be supplied within the rim of the Basin.

Vol. 14,  p.13
It has been my lot to visit these regions recently, and I have felt to
rejoice to see the kind spirit, genial dispositions and warm hearts
that were manifested in all those settlements, where men and women had
taken hold with all their hearts to obey the commandments of God, and
to lay a foundation for Zion to become self-sustaining. I feel that
those who [p.14] have turned away from that country and swerved from
the mission assigned them there have lost a great and glorious
blessing, which it will be exceedingly difficult for them ever to
regain. I am exceedingly gratified at the progress which has been made
in that country, and I realize that our brethren, from year to year,
are becoming more and more united.

Vol. 14,  p.14
Some tell us that we want capital, and that we should send abroad and
get men to come here with money to build factories. This is not what
we need. If the cotton lord and the millionaire come here and hire you
to build factories and pay you their money for their work, when the
factory is erected they own it, and they set their price upon your
labor and your wool or cotton—they have dominion over you. But if, by
your own efforts and exertions, you cooperate together and build a
factory it is your own. You are the lords of the land, and if fortunes
are made the means is yours and it is used to oppress no one. The
profits are divided among those whose labor produced it, and will be
used to build up the country. Hence it is not capital, that is, it is
not so much money that is needed. It is unity of effort on the part of
the bone, sinew, skill and ingenuity which we have in our midst, and
which, in whatever enterprise has been attempted hitherto, under the
direction of the servants of the Lord, with whole-souled unity on the
part of the people, has proved successful. Let us be diligent in these
things. Why send abroad for our cloth when we have the necessary means
and skill to manufacture it for ourselves? Why not let these mountains
produce the fine wool? and why not let the low valleys produce the
silk, flax, and all other articles that are necessary which it is
possible to produce within the range of our climate, and thus secure
to ourselves independence? I am very well aware that this has looked,
and to many still looks, a wild undertaking; but that which has been
accomplished gives abundant evidence of what may be. If we continue to
import our hats, bonnets, boots, shoes and clothing, and send away all
the gold, silver and currency that we can command to pay for them, we
shall ever remain dependent upon the labor of others for many of the
actual necessaries of life. If, on the other band, we devise means to
produce them from the elements by our own labor we keep our money at
home, and it can be used for other and more noble purposes, and we
become independent.

Vol. 14,  p.14
Some may say, "We are willing that you should preach faith and
repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins, but we do not want
you to have anything to say about business matters." No idea could be
more delusive; this oversight in temporal matters being indispensably
necessary; for the Latter-day Saints have been gathered from the old
settled nations of the earth and are unacquainted with the manner of
life in new and sparsely settled countries. An intelligent citizen of
Provo, on his arrival in this country, came to my garden to work; he
undertook to set out some vegetables—onions, carrots, and parsnips,
and he set every one of them wrongside up. My wife went out, and,
seeing what he was doing, she said, "You are foolish." "Why so?" said
he, "I thought I was pretty smart." "Why you have planted these things
all wrong end up." "Have I, I did not know any better. I never saw
such things planted before." That man became a wealthy farmer. But he
had to learn; he had never seen a carrot planted to produce seed in
his life,[p.15] and did not realize which end up to put it in the
ground. We have tens of thousands of men, women and children who have
had to learn how to get a living in this country, who perhaps had
spent their days in painting a tea cup, turning a bowl, weaving a
ribbon or spinning a thread, and knew nothing else. Here they have had
to work at several kinds of work at once, and had to learn how, and it
required all the power, energy and influence of the Elders of israel
to instruct them and tell them holy to live. I have been astonished at
the patience, perseverance, determination and incessant labor of
President Young in giving these instructions—telling men how to build
mills and houses, so that they would not fall over their own heads;
telling them how to yoke cattle, barness horses, how to make fences,
and, in fact, how to do almost every kind of business.

Vol. 14,  p.15
There are very few in our midst now Who know how to make good bread. I
advise the ladies' relief societies to teach all the sisters to make
first-class bread. Many of them do not know how; and let every sister
in Israel be thankful for instruction in relation to cooking or any
other useful information that can be imparted unto her. Do not let
pride and independence make you feel that you know how to do
everything. There are a great many things that the smartest among us
do not know how to do; then we should be anxious and willing to be
taught, and go to work and learn.

Vol. 14,  p.15
Much of the sickness which is amongst our children is the result of
improperly prepared food. We raise choice wheat; our millers make good
flour, yet in many instances bread is so prepared that it is heavy and
unpalatable, causing disease of the stomach and bowels, with which
many of our little ones are afflicted, and find rest in premature
graves. Give the children good light bread that they may be healthy.

Vol. 14,  p.15
Brethren and sisters, may the blessings of Israel's God be upon you
and may you continue to improve in everything useful and good. Seek
after the Lord with all your hearts. Co-operate in building factories,
importing merchandise and machinery, taking care of your cattle, and
in every kind of business. Remember that, "United we stand, divided we
fall."

Vol. 14,  p.15
May God bless you for ever. Amen.

Brigham Young, May 6, 1870

The Fashions of the World—Making Our 
Own Clothing & Fashions

Remarks By President Brigham Young, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 6, 1870. 

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.15
If I can have the ears and attention of the people, I want to preach
to them a short sermon on our present condition and on some
particulars with regard to our customs. We, the Latter-day Saints, as
a people,[p.16] received a command many years ago to gather out from
the wicked world and to gather ourselves together to stand in holy
places, preparatory to the coming of the Son of Man. We have been
gathered together promiscuously from the nations of the earth, and in
many respects we are like the rest of the world. But I wish to make a
few remarks on some points wherein we differ. We differ from the
infidel world in our belief, and from the vulgar world in regard to
the language we use. It is not common for the Latter-day Saints to
take the name of the Deity in vain, while it is common and quite
fashionable to do so in Christendom. Herein we disagree with the
outside world, or we may call it the vulgar world, for no matter how
high or how low their position may be, or how poor or how wealthy,
when people use language which is unbecoming they descend to a very
low level, and in this respect I am happy to say that the Latter-day
Saints differ from the wicked or vulgar world. I will also put in the
political world. It is a very common practice throughout the
fashionable, political world to gamble; we differ also in this
respect, for the Latter-day Saints are not in the habit of gambling at
any game whatever; neither are they in the habit of drinking
intoxicating liquors, which, throughout the world at large, and
especially the Christian world, is such a prolific source of
wretchedness and misery. In a great degree, I may also say that, as a
people, we are not in the habit of lying and deceiving; but there is
one thing that we are too much guilty of, and that is, evil speaking
of our neighbors—bearing false witness against them. As a people we
are too lavish in our conversation in this respect, our words come too
easy and cheap, and we use them too freely in many instances. This is
one thing in which we do not differ so much from the world as I should
wish. There is another point on which the same remark is true, and
that is fashion in dress. Look over this congregation and we see this
demonstrated before us, and on this particular item I wish to lay my
views before the minds of the people.

Vol. 14,  p.16
To me a desire to follow the ever-varying fashions of the world
manifests a great weakness of mind in either gentleman or lady. We are
too apt to to low the foolish fashions of the world; and if means were
plentiful, I do not think that there are many families among the
Latter-day Saints but what would be up to the highest and latest
fashions of the day. Perhaps there are a great many that would not
follow these fashions had they ever so much means. But too many of
this people follow after the foolish, giddy, vain fashions of the
world. It any persons want proof of this they need only look over this
congregation, and view the bonnets, hats or headdresses of our
fashionable ladies. Do they wear bonnets that will screen their faces
from the sun, or shelter their heads from the rain? Oh, no, it is not
fashionable. Well what do they wear? Just such as the wicked would
wear.

Vol. 14,  p.16
My discourse will have to be brief, and I am going to ask my sisters
in particular to stop following these foolish fashions, and to
introduce fashions of their own. This is the place, and this the time
to make known the word of the Lord to the people.

Vol. 14,  p.16
It is vain and foolish, it does not evince godliness, and is
inconsistent with the spirit of a saint to follow after the fashions
of the world. I wish to impress these remarks especially on the minds
of my young Sisters—the daughters of the Elders of Israel. Not but
what our wives [p.17] as well as daughters follow many fashions that
are uncomely, foolish and vain. What do you say? "Snail we introduce a
fashion of our own, and what shall it be?" Do you want us to answer
and tell you how to make your bonnets? Let me say to you that, in the
works of God, you see an eternal variety, consequently we do not ask
the people to become Quakers, and all the men wear wide-brimmed hats,
and the ladies wear drab or cream-colored silk bonnets projecting in
the front, perhaps six or seven inches, rounded on the corners, with a
cape behind. This is Quakerism, that is, so far as headdresses are
concerned for ladies and gentlemen. But while we do not ask this, we
do ask the sisters to make their bonnets so as to shelter themselves
from the storm and from the rays of the sun. I have heard a saying
that three straws and a ribbon would make a headdress for a
fashionable lady. This was a year or two ago; and the same varying,
fantastic, foolish notions prevail with regard to other portions of a
lady's habiliments as much as with her headdress. A few years ago it
took about sixteen yards of common-width cloth to make a dress for a
lady, for she wanted two or three yards to drag in the streets, to be
smeared by every nuisance she walked over. Now I suppose they make
their dresses out of five yards and a half, and then have abundance
left for an apron. They put me now strongly in mind of the ladies I
used to see in Canada some years ago, who made their dresses out of
two breadths of tow and linen, and when they were in meeting they were
all the time busy pulling them down, for they would draw up. The young
ladies look now as if they needed somebody to walk after them to keep
pulling down their dresses.

Vol. 14,  p.17
How foolish and unwise this is, and how contrary to the spirit of the
Gospel that we have embraced! This Gospel is full of good sense,
judgment, discretion and intelligence Does this look intelligent?
Suppose the ladies continue the fashion of shortening their dresses
how long will it be before three-quarters of a yard will be enough for
them? You may say that such extravagant comparisons are ridiculous. I
say, no more than your dresses and many of your habits and fashions
now, only they may be a little exaggerated, that is all. Anything is
ridiculous, more or less, that is not comely. I do beseech my sisters
to stop their foolishness and to go to work and make their own
headdresses. If they will they will be blessed. Do you say, "How shall
we be blessed?" I will tell you—by introducing a spirit of industry
into your families, and a spirit of contentment into your hearts,
which will give you an interest in your domestic cares and affairs
that you have not hitherto enjoyed. Doctor Young says that "Life's
cares are comforts," and they who take an interest in and try to
promote their individual welfare, that of their neighbors or of the
human family, will find a pleasure such as is derived from few other
sources. They derive delight and pleasure from it, and are filled with
peace. But when, the eyes of people are like the fool's eyes—wandering
to the ends of the earth, continually wishing, longing for and
desiring that which they have not got, they are never happy. If we
will take the course I have indicated, we shall be benefited in our
spirits, and shall have more of the Spirit of the Lord.

Vol. 14,  p.17
I wish to say to you, and you may read it in the Bible if you wish,
that he who has the love of the world within him hath not the love of
the Father. They who love the things [p.18] of this world are
destitute of the love of the Gospel of the Son of God. This is my
Scripture: They who long and lust after the fashions of the world are
destitute of the Spirit of God. Every person of experience will
testify that this is the truth. Now, my sisters, let me urge you to
make your own headdresses. You have the material here, and if you wish
to make your hat with a brim six, twelve, twenty, or three inches
wide, we will not quarrel with you; but make your own headdresses, and
do not hunt after the fashions of the wicked world. If you wish to
make a cottage, or a corn-fan bonnet, or a hat, make it to suit
yourselves, but do not run after the fashions of the world. I expect,
by and by, if this taste for fashion, be not checked, to see this
house alive, more or less, with what are termed "shoo fly" hats,
bonnets and headdresses; and what else you'll get I do not know. But
no matter what the name nor what the fashion if we do not lust lifter
the wicked world. And when you buy yourselves dresses do not purchase
one for six or eight dollars, and then want about twenty more for
trimmings. What is the use of of it? I asked some of my wives the
other evening, "What is the use of all this velvet ribbon—perhaps ten,
fifteen, twenty, or thirty yards, on a linsey dress?" Said I, "What is
the use of it? Does it do any good?" I was asked, very spiritedly and
promptly, in return, "What good do those buttons do on the back of
your coat?" Said I, "How many have I set?" and turning round I showed
that there were none there.

Vol. 14,  p.18
This reform in fashion and extravagance in dress is needed. God has a
purpose in it, and so have his servants. What is it? If the Lord has
given me means and I spend it needlessly, in rings for my fingers, and
jewelry for adornment, I deprive the Priesthood of that which they
ought to have to gather the poor, to preach the Gospel, to build
temples and to feed the hungry in our midst. I deprive a people, who
will by and by inherit the earth, of so many blessings. Every yard of
ribbon that I buy that is needless, every flounce, and every gewgaw
that is purchased for my family needlessly, robs the Church of God of
just so much. But it seems as though the people do not think of these
things; they do not lay them to heart. Our wives and daughters seem to
forget that they have responsibilities resting upon them in these
respects. The conduct of a great many of them indicates a care for
nothing but, "How much can I get? Can I get everything I want? I wish
I could see something new, I want to pattern after it!" This manifests
the spirit of the world, and a foolish, vain disposition. Not but that
I am guilty myself, perhaps, of using means for my individual person
that is not necessary; but if I do, will some of you kindly tell me? I
recollect once, when preaching in England, that I passed through
Smithfield Market, in Manchester, and I saw some very fine grapes just
arrived from France. I spent a penny for some of them, but I had not
taken half a dozen steps from the stand where I purchased them, before
I saw an old lady passing along who, I could tell by her appearance,
was starving to death. Said I, "I have done wrong in spending that
penny, I should have given it to that old lady." I made it a practice,
before leaving my office, of going to a drawer, taking out a handful
of pence, in order to give to the numerous beggars which everywhere
meet the eye in walking the streets in the large towns in that
country, and in this instance I felt guilty at having spent a penny in
[p.19] grapes, and I thought of it many times after. What else did I
spend needlessly? Not much. "Well," but say some, "Brother Brigham do
not you have good horses?" Yes, I do. Do you know where I got them?
But some of them were given to me, and I thank God and those who
bestowed them, and I use them prudently. But I would as lief my poor
brethren and sisters would ride in my carriage as to ride in it
myself. Yet in many things I may be to blame, and do wrong, but in
many things I know that we as a people do wrong.

Vol. 14,  p.19
"Well, Brother Brigham, what shall we do?" I say make your own
headdresses; here is abundance of material to do it with, and it is
not right for me to pay out hundreds and perhaps thousands of dollars
annually for needless articles of dress for my family. The same is
true of my brethren. If that means were to go to gather the poor this
season, it would bring many from the old countries. About this,
however, I will say that it is rather discouraging to bring people
here and to put them in situations to live and accumulate, and then
they, as soon as they make a little means, lift their heel against God
and his anointed. Nevertheless it is Our duty to feed nine persons who
are unworthy rather than to turn away the tenth, if he be worthy. It
is better to bring ninety-nine persons here who are unworthy than to
leave one that is worthy to perish there, consequently we say we will
do all we can. They, whom we bring here, are agents for themselves
before God, and they act for themselves.

Vol. 14,  p.19
But now, brethren and sisters, let us stop and again consider and
think. Can we not sustain ourselves more than we do? I do not ask my
sisters to make themselves sunbonnets and wear them and nothing else.
I do not say, all of you adopt some particular fashion and stick to
that alone. This is not the question; the question is, will we stop
wearing that that is so useless and needless? If we will, we can have
scores of thousands annually to bestow upon the poor, to rear temples,
to build tabernacles and schoolhouses, to endow schools, to educate
our children, and to aid every charitable institution and every other
purpose that will advance the kingdom of God on the earth.

Vol. 14,  p.19
This would be wisdom in us. What do we think about it? What do you
say, young ladies—I mean all of you this side of a hundred years
old—will you step following the foolish fashions of the world, and
begin to act like people possessing moral courage and good natural
sense? If this is your mind, brethren and sisters, I ask you, young
and old, to make it manifest, as I do, by raising your right hand. (A
sea of hands was immediately raised.) Some, no doubt, feel ready to
say, "Why, Brother Brigham, do not you know that your family is the
most fashionable in the city?" No, I do not; but I am sure that my
wives and children, in their fashions and gewgaws, cannot beat some of
my neighbors. I will tell you what I have said to my wives and
children; shall I? Shall I expose what I say to them on these points?
Yes, I will. I have said to my wives, "If you will not stop these
foolish fashions and customs I will give you a bill if you want it."
That is what I have said, and that is what I think. "Well, but you
would not part with your wives?" Yes, indeed I would. I am not bound
to wife or child, to house or farm, or anything else on the face of
the earth, but the Gospel of the Son of God. I have enlisted all in
this cause, and in it is my heart, and here is my treasure. Some may
say, "Why, really, Brother Brigham,[p.20] you almost worship your
family; you think a great deal of your wives." Yes, I do, but, from my
youth up, I never had but one object in taking a wife, and that was to
do her good. The first one I had was the poorest girl I could find in
the town; and my object with the second, and third, and so on to the
last one was to save them. You say," Do I humor them?" Yes I do, and
perhaps too much.

Vol. 14,  p.20
Now, my brethren and sisters, a few words more. We have been striving
for some time to get the people to observe the Word of Wisdom. But why
do they not observe it? Why will they cling to those habits that are
inimical to life and health? "Well," says a sister, "I cannot leave
off my tea, I must have a cup of tea every morning, I feel so sick." I
say then, go to bed, and there lie until you are better. "Oh, but it
will kill me if I quit it." Then die, and die in the faith, instead of
living and breaking the requests of Heaven. That is my mind about the
sisters dying for the want of tea. With regard to drinking liquor, I
am happy to say that we are improving. But there are some of our
Elders who still drink a little liquor occasionally, I think, and use
a little tobacco. They feel as though they would die without it, but I
say they will die with it, and they will die transgressing the
revelations and commands of Heaven, and the wishes of our heavenly
Father, who has said hot drinks are not good.

Vol. 14,  p.20
Now let us observe the Word of Wisdom. Shall I take a vote on it?
Everybody would vote, but who would observe it? A good many, but not
all. I can say that a good many do observe their covenants in this
thing. But who is it that understands Wisdom before God? In some
respects we have to define it for ourselves—each for himself—according
to our own views, judgment and faith, and the observance of the Word
of Wisdom, or the interpretation of God's requirements on this
subject, must be left, partially, with the people. We cannot make laws
like the Medes and Persians. We cannot say you shall never drink a cup
of tea, or you shall never taste of this, or you shall never taste of
that; but we can say that Wisdom is justified of her children.
Brethren and sisters, hearken to these things. I do not know that we
shall have much time to talk about them; but take the little counsel
given, and observe it. This is the place to give counsel to the
people. Go home, Bishops and Elders, when the Conference is over, and
observe what has been told you here. If we commence making our own
bonnets, we shall find that we shall increase in other directions
besides making leather for our boots and shoes, and cloth for coats
and pantaloons.

Vol. 14,  p.20
It is very pleasant in passing through the Territory to have brethren
in the various settlements say, "Bro. Brigham, Brother Geo. A., or
Brother Daniel, come and see our store, or our shop; here are boots
and shoes made from leather of our own manufacture;" and some are as
fine looking as you can see anywhere. They are doings good deal in
this city, and also in other places Some are making straw hats and
bonnets, and others are endeavoring to promote other branches of home
manufacture. This is very pleasant, but we want to see it more general
in this great community. If it were so this season in the one branch
of straw hat and bonnet manufacture we should not see the scores and
hundreds of five-dollar hats brought here and sold, that are good for
nothing in the world. They have no strength about them. The
manufacturers of these hats pick up old cloth that is rotten and good
for [p.21] nothing, and make hats of it, and the result is that the
hats brought here have very little wear in them. They may look decent
to begin with, but after being worn a few times they are shapeless and
worthless. Let us go to work and make them for ourselves and save this
expense. If we do this, we are wise; if we do it not, we are foolish.

Vol. 14,  p.21
We heard Brother Taylor's exposition of what is called Socialism this
morning. What can they do? Live on each other and beg. It is a poor,
unwise and very imbecile people who cannot take care of themselves.
Well, we, in the providences of God, are forced to do a great many
things that are very advantageous to us. Let us observe the Word of
Wisdom, and also begin and manufacture our clothing. We are doing a
good deal now, but let us do more. I have learned one fact that is
very gratifying: A few years ago when we commenced our little
factories here we could obtain no wool—the sheep were not taken care
of. A seen as we commenced to manufacture cloth and to distribute it
among the people, taking their wool in exchange, we found that the
wool increased; and this season, if we had had the factory, in course
of construction at Provo, finished, the supply of wool would have been
so great that the factory would have been overstocked. Some idea may
be formed of the great increase in the supply of wool when I state
that the Provo factory, when running, will be capable of making
perhaps ten or twelve hundred yards of cloth per day. This is
pleasing. Let us get factories built. I find they are building South,
and they are preparing to build North; and pretty soon you will see
the brethren, as a general thing, dressed in home-made.

Vol. 14,  p.21
Some here are thinking, probably: "Brigham, why don't you dress in
home-made?" I do. "Well, have you got it on to-day?" No, but I want to
wear out, if I can, what I have on hand. I give away a suit every
little while, and I would like to give some more away if I could find
anybody my clothes would fit. I travel in home-made and wear it at
home. As for fashion, it does not trouble me, my fashion is
convenience and comfort. The most comfortable coat that a man can wear
in my opinion is what the old Yankees and Eastern and Southern people
call a "warmus." Some of the people here know what I mean; it is
something between an overshirt and a blouse, buttons round the neck
and wrists. I have worked in one many a day. If I introduce the
fashion of wearing them here who will follow it? I expect a good many
would. I recollect that I wore one when Colonel Kane was here. Said
he, "I am gratified to see that you do not ask any odds about the
fashions, you have one of your own." My feelings then, as now, were,
whatever, in Brother Brigham's judgment, is comfortable and comely is
the fashion with him, and he cares nothing about the fashions of the
world. There is a style of pantaloons very generally worn, about which
I would say something if there were no ladies here. When I first saw
them I gave them a name. I never wore them; I consider them uncomely
and indecent. But why is it that they are worn so generally by others?
Because they are fashionable. If it were the fashion to go with them
unbuttoned I expect you would see plenty of our Elders wearing them
unbuttoned. This shows the power that fashion exerts over the majority
of minds. You may see it in the theatre; if you had attended ours
recently you might have seen that that was not comely; you might have
seen Mazeppa ride,[p.22] with but a very small amount of clothing on.
In New York I am told it is much worse. I heard a gentleman say that a
full dress for Mazeppa there was one Government stamp. I do not know
whether it is so or not. Fashion has great influence everywhere, Salt
Lake not excepted. No matter how ridiculous, the fashions must be
followed. If it be for the ladies to have their dresses to drag along
the streets, or so short that they show their garters, we see it here;
the same is true if they are sixteen or twenty-four feet round, or so
tight that they can hardly walk. A great many seem to regard and
follow fashion, with all its follies and vagaries, far more fervently
than duty. How foolish is such a course. I have talked long enough.
God bless you.

George Q. Cannon, January 8, 1871

Stirring Times—the Latter-Day Work

Discourse By Elder George Q. Cannon, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, January 8, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.22
In rising to address you this afternoon, brethren and sisters, I crave
an interest in your faith and prayers, that I may be led to speak upon
those subjects and to advance those ideas that shall be instructive to
you and adapted to your circumstances and condition.

Vol. 14,  p.22
I have acted in the ministry since my boyhood, but whenever I am
called upon to speak I do so with great diffidence and fear. I do not
know that the feeling can ever be conquered entirely, in fact, I do
not know that I wish that it could; for if a man could arise and feel
perfectly capable, in and of himself, to speak to the edification of
the people, judging by my own experience in the matter, I imagine that
he would have but very little aid from the Lord. But if he rise
depending upon the Lord, and not upon his own strength, the Lord has
promised to render that aid unto his servants that is necessary to
enable them to testify to the truth, and to cleanse their garments of
the blood of this generation.

Vol. 14,  p.22
There is no lack of topics or subject matter in dwelling upon the work
we are engaged in; the range is an extensive one; but it needs the
Spirit of God to select, out of the variety of subjects which it
presents, those points, doctrines, and counsels that should be touched
upon to edify the people in the circumstances which surround them. The
older I grow, the more convinced I am that we as a people and as
individuals need practical instructions in what may be termed our
every-day duties. It is delightful to reflect and speak upon, and to
sit and have held up before our minds the course pursued by those who
were our predecessors in [p.23] the Gospel. It is also equally
delightful, when inspired by the Spirit of God, to contemplate the
future with its great events, which the prophets foresaw, and
concerning which they have written so much.

Vol. 14,  p.23
As a generation, we live in a busy, stirring time—a time that is fall
of important events, one treading upon the heels of another so rapidly
that we have scarcely time to contemplate the past—even the past of
our own history; and we have but little time to look forward to the
future, only as it is necessary to comfort and to cheer us. The work
of God is rushing forward with extraordinary speed, and the Lord is
operating in a most signal manner to bring to pass his great and
marvellous designs and purposes; and to no eyes are these things
clearer than to those of the Latter-day Saints, especially those whose
minds are enlightened by the Spirit of God, and who seek for the
inspiration thereof to guide them in their every-day affairs.

Vol. 14,  p.23
It has been frequently remarked that we as a people are entirely too
egotistical; that we imagine that God, in his operations and dealings
with the children of men, has selected us and made us the peculiar
recipients of his blessings to the exclusion of the rest of the human
family. I have heard it very frequently remarked, when conversing with
persons respecting our views and doctrines, that we confine our
attention entirely too much to ourselves and the little work with
which we are identified, forgetting that we are but a small handful of
the great human family. I have also heard it remarked that it was
entirely too much to expect that a people, so insignificant as we are
numerically, should anticipate the great results that we speak about
very frequently, and which, from the writings of ancient prophets and
of those who have lived contemporaneously with us, we are led to
anticipate will be fulfilled in our case. Men say, in speaking of us:
"Do you Latter-day Saints, who in Utah and the adjoining Territories
number probably one hundred and fifty or two hundred thousand, and it
may be a few hundred thousand elsewhere, recollect; or do you ever
consider, that the nation of which you form an integral part, numbers
forty millions, and that there are hundreds of millions of human
beings scattered over the face of the earth who are not of your creed?
Do you recollect that you are very contemptible in point of numbers,
influence and wealth and everything that constitutes greatness in the
earth?" If we were disposed to forget these things there are those
around us with whom we are brought into frequent contact, who take
great and especial pains to remind us of our insignificance, so that I
think there is no real danger of our entirely forgetting it. But
though we are few in numbers, we declare that the oracles of God are
with us, and that he has chosen the Latter-day Saints to he his
peculiar people and has placed upon them his name, or the name of his
Son Jesus Christ, and has called us to be ministers of life and
salvation, to be the thunders of a new order of things on the earth,
and to be the means in his hands, as we firmly believe and testify, of
effecting a wonderful revolution in affairs. Yet, while believing
this, the Latter-day Saints are not so uncharitable as to imagine that
they are the only ones with whom God is dealing, or that they are the
only people over and towards whom his providences are being exercised.
Such a thought has never entered into the hearts of those who are
intelligent and reflecting in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. It is [p.24] true that we believe and testify that we have
been called to proclaim the everlasting Gospel in its ancient purity
and simplicity, With the plenitude of its gifts and graces as enjoyed
in ancient days; and that we have been called to lay the foundation of
that work which is destined to grow, increase and spread until it
fills the whole earth from north to south, from east to west. Yet we
do not on this account arrogate to ourselves all the kindness, mercy,
care, and goodness which God dispenses to his creatures on the earth;
but we firmly believe that in every nation, and among every kindred,
tongue and people, and, in fact, in every creed on the face of the
wide earth of ours there are those over whom God watches with peculiar
care and to whom his blessings are extended; and we believe that his
providences are over all the works of his hands, and that none are so
remote, friendless and isolated that they are not the objects of his
care, mercy and kindness. This is our belief; and when we see the
events which are taking place at the present time in Europe, when we
hear of revolutions and wars, of nation rising against nation, of the
various judgments and calamities as well as the various kindnesses and
mercies that are bestowed upon and extended to the inhabitants of the
earth, and to the various nationalities into which they are divided,
we see in all these things the hand of our kind and beneficent
Creator; we see his providences, we behold his going forth, and we
acknowledge his goodness; and we also think that we can discern his
overruling care and providence for the bringing to pass the great
events of which he has spoken, which will eventually result in the
emancipation of our race from the thraldom of evil under which it
groans.

Vol. 14,  p.24
It is true, as I have already remarked, that God has called us out of
the nations to be his peculiar people; but we are not the only ones
who will be so called, The message which came to us and which we
received and were made glad thereby, is sent to every kindred, tongue
and people on the face of the whole earth. It has gathered us out to
be the pioneers in this great work; but the call is not ended nor the
period arrived when it shall no longer be proclaimed by our being
gathered together. It is still in force, and has to be carried
throughout earth's wide domain, until the reverberation thereof shall
be heard in every land, and men of every nationality, tongue and creed
shall have heard and had a chance to receive or reject the glad
tidings of salvation which have been committed unto us.

Vol. 14,  p.24
The dealings of God with our own nation, the singular events which are
transpiring at the present time on the continent of Europe, the
revolutions that are taking place in Asia, and the wars and commotions
that seem to convulse most of the nations of the earth, have all for
their object, as we believe, the preparation of the way by which this
great message can be carried more freely, and its principles declared
more thoroughly to all the inhabitants of the earth. The Prophets
looked down to the days of the future and they saw in vision that God
would perform a great and mighty work in the midst of the inhabitants
of the earth. They wrote about it, and some of the finest writing in
the Bible contains glorious allusions to the last days, when God
should stretch forth his arm in mighty power in the midst of his
people and accomplish a great and marvellous work—a work that should
be a wonder in the eyes  of all people. The religious sects of
Christendom, for hundreds of years, have looked forward [p.25] to the
accomplishment of these predictions, and the hope of this has cheered
them in their operations, labors, expenditures, and in every effort
they have made for the redemption of the race and its enlightenment in
the principles of Christianity. To accomplish the fulfilment of the
predictions contained in the Bible they have used every means in their
power; but they have not met with the success which they desired.
Still, so firm has been their faith in these predictions, that they
have persevered, although the result of their labors, take it as a
rule, has not been of a cheering character. Tract societies, Bible
societies, missionary societies, and societies of almost every kind
and description have been organized with the best of motives, and with
vast expenditures of means, for the purpose of fulfilling the
predictions of the prophets concerning the inhabitants of the earth.
But there has been a power lacking, there has been an influence
wanting; there has not been that union, blessing of heaven and that
providential combination of circumstances necessary to bring to pass
the results desired. Man may toil, labor and expend his means and
forces, and may bring to his aid all the wisdom of which he is the
possessor to bring about divine results; but unless God give the
increase, as the Scriptures say, his labors will be fruitless. This
has been signally fulfilled in the results which we see around us at
the present time in Christendom, for their efforts have not been
crowned with success. Travel through the most Christian nations
to-day, and there is no disguising the fact that they are the most
deeply steeped in wretchedness and wickedness. It is true that men
live in the midst of these things until they become so accustomed to
them as to accept them as a necessary condition of affairs. They may
say it has been so from the beginning and will be so to the end, and
to attempt to change this and to introduce a state of society without
evil is utopian, it never can be effected. They accept the
wretchedness, degradation, poverty, prostitution, and all the numerous
evils that abound in the nations of which they are members, as
something that cannot be removed—as the necessary consequence of our
existence here on the earth. But the prophets have predicted that a
time shall come when our race shall be emancipated from these evils,
and when there shall be nothing to hurt or destroy in all the holy
mountain of the Lord; when swords shall be beaten into ploughshares
and spears into pruning hooks; when nation shall no longer rise
against nation, and war shall be learned no more. The prophets have
predicted that the time shall come when the knowledge of God shall
cover the earth as the waters cover the mighty deep; and when man need
no longer say to his neighbor, "Know ye the Lord," but when all shall
know him, from the least unto the greatest. There is no doubt that, if
anything in the Scriptures is true, these predictions are, and that
they will be verified to the letter. But man, in his efforts to bring
about this time, has labored without the concurrence of heaven,
without the divine blessing resting upon his labors. He has run before
he was sent; in his zeal he has undertaken measures for which he had
no warrant. What, then, shall cure or bring the means of cure to our
race? What shall ameliorate the condition of the human family,? What
scheme shall be adopted to bring to the earth the blessings which we
are told it is our privilege to enjoy, at some period or other? Shall
man seek to bring this about without [p.26] divine aid? Shall he
undertake to effect these great changes and bring to pass this great
deliverance without seeking the aid of the Supreme Being, who created
the earth and the inhabitants thereof? Or shall he in humility bow
himself in the dust, and await the dispensation of truth from heaven,
await the bestowal of the light and knowledge necessary to enable him
to accomplish these mighty works; and then, in faith, plant and water
and wait upon God to give the increase?

Vol. 14,  p.26
I think that the course that we as a people have taken, is the course
which all should take; I think it is the only proper and legitimate
course for any individual and people to take. Men may say that we are
deluded and that we deceive ourselves; they may say that our system is
one of imposture. Whether this be so or not matters but little to the
point in question; the course that we have taken, whether our system
be divine or not, is the course which all should take. What we have
done we have claimed to do under the inspiration and direct guidance
of heaven. Every move that we have taken since our Church was
organized, on the 6th of April, 1830, we claim has been by inspiration
and under the guidance of the Almighty. On the day I have named our
Church was organized by revelation. On that day the Church was
organized and ministers chosen; Elders were endowed with, or ordained
to, the Priesthood. They were sent forth by revelation, and commanded
to go to this place and the other place, to this and to that land by
revelation from the Lord. A message was given unto them, not from the
Bible, or Book of Mormon; not from any written record, not a copy or
transcript of some message carried by some previous generation of men;
but an original message, direct to them, to be conveyed by them to
their fellow creatures; a perfectly original message, so far as this
generation was concerned, delivered to them by the Almighty; and they
were sent forth to proclaim it to the inhabitants of the earth.

Vol. 14,  p.26
They were commanded by revelation to gather together. A place was
designated as a place of gathering. Circumstances favored the
procuring of that place; but they were not allowed to remain in it.
They were driven forth, and again they were guided by revelation to
another place, and again they were driven forth and compelled to
abandon their homes; and again another place was designated to which
they should go; again they were driven forth, and again they were
directed what to do, and they came to this land, guided by revelation,
inspired by the Almighty, not knowing where they were going. Thousands
started out on the plains without having the least idea where they
would stop; they launched forth on the trackless prairies without any
location ahead of which they knew anything; and when they reached here
they settled by revelation; and since then, in our movements, in our
settlements of various localities, in all our labors at home, going to
the nations of the earth or returning therefrom; in our migrations, in
sending out colonies, and in every variety of labor which we have
performed we claim to have been guided by the spirit of revelation;
and mark, my brethren and sisters, the wonderful results.

Vol. 14,  p.26
Have we had wealth? Have we had societies organized to aid us? Have we
had popularity with or popular support from the nation? No, we have
had nothing of the kind. We have stood alone, with none to aid,
sustain, or comfort but God. Instead of aid from our fellowcreatures
[p.27] we have had persecution; instead of comfort we have had
reviling; instead of words of encouragement, we have, as it were, had
deep damnation poured out upon our heads. We have had adverse
circumstances to contend with, but we have also had that which is
better than all the world can bestow—the aid of heaven, divine
concurrence; we have had a combination of circumstances to aid us in
accomplishing the objects for which we started out. The result is, we
are in these valleys to-day—a people of varied nationality, of varied
creeds and modes of education, and a people as utterly diverse in
their original traditions and habits as men and women of our color
could be. And yet, what do we see? Why, throughout all this range of
valleys a people homogeneous, dwelling together in peace, love and
union, and enjoying all the blessings promised to the people of God in
the last days. I say all the blessings, but not in their fullness. We
are but imperfect yet; we are not prepared for these blessings in
their fullness; but so far as we are progressed and are prepared, they
have been bestowed upon us; and to-day we present to the eyes of the
world one of the most remarkable spectacles that can be seen.

Vol. 14,  p.27
Men may say, "Pooh, pooh, you Latter-day Saints are nothing! you are
too contemptible for notice!" But our acts show that there is a power
and an influence with us that the inhabitants of the earth elsewhere
do not possess. We are looked upon as a social phenomenon in the
earth; we are diverse from every other people; and our community is
the object of attention and I may say of respect that its numbers do
not entitle it to. Men from afar cannot cross the continent without
coming to visit the Latter-day Saints. Why is this? It is because
there is a feeling throughout the earth that there is something
remarkable connected with us, that, we are not as other people are.
What is it that distinguishes us from our fellows? What is it that
distinguishes us from the average American, Englishman, Scandinavian,
German, Swiss, Italian, or Frenchman, or from the average Asiatic?
There is something; they feel it and we feel it; and that distinction
is, we believe in revelation, we profess to be guided by revelation.
We are peculiar when compared with the rest of the world, because all
our movements are under divine guidance. We claim this, and we act
upon it; we seek for it, and God bestows it upon us. It is our
testimony, at least, that he bestows it upon us, for we see the
results. We see what, is not witnessed anywhere else on the earth.

Vol. 14,  p.27
As I have already said, tract, Bible and missionary societies have
been formed, and the wealth of the nations has been poured into the
hands of religious people, and spent lavishly and without stint, for
the salvation of the human family; but where on the face of the earth
can you find the fruits to be witnessed before me to-day, and that can
be seen throughout the Territory of Utah. Why is this? Because, as I
have said, they have labored without the concurrence of heaven; they
have run before they were sent. But unto us, scattered, isolated
individuals, this message from God came, and there being a spark of
divinity within us, we received it and embraced it, and have
endeavoured to live up to it, and God has blessed us and our labors.
But after all, what we have done is very little.

Vol. 14,  p.27
I have told you what has been remarked here, time and time again,
probably you have heard it, respecting our insignificance. I feel most
sensibly that, so far as numbers are [p.28] concerned, we are a very
insignificant people. But I will tell you a remark, which I believe is
credited alike to the late Mr. Stephen Girard and to Commodore
Vanderbilt, both great financiers, that the hardest money they ever
earned was the first five hundred dollars they saved. Now the hardest
thing in building up a people is to gain a foothold. We have gained
this; we have gained and organized the first hundred thousand people.
We have achieved a position that will render our future progress more
rapid than in years past and gone. I fully expect to see the progress
of this work in the future much more rapid than it has been in the
past. I see the providence of God laboring to bring this about. Not to
build up a people distinct from all the rest of the earth; not to
build up some little, narrow sect or denomination; but this work and
Gospel is to embrace within its fold all Earth's children, every son
and daughter of God on the earth. That is its mission, and it will
accomplish it. But it will spread with increased rapidity from this
time forth. The foundation and corner-stones have been laid in tears,
blood, and in much sorrow, but they are laid firmly, cemented by the
sufferings, toils, faith and endurance of this people for the past
forty years; and I trust that they are laid so deep that they will
never be torn up, shaken or disturbed; and that upon them will a
superstructure be reared of such strength, beauty and symmetry that it
will be the joy and pride of the whole earth.

Vol. 14,  p.28
The labors of the Elders of this Church have not been confined to this
land, but they have extended to England, Scandinavia, some little in
France, a very little in Prussia, some in Switzerland; but vast fields
yet lie before us that we have not touched, and to which this message
must go. The throes of revolution which Europe is now undergoing I
look upon as the premonitory signs of that freedom that shall soon
dawn on that continent. Then the Elders, of this Church will go
through Germany, France, Italy and Spain, and through every land in
Europe; for the "sick man" will yet open his doors to hear the Elders
of Israel, and Russia will unfold her gates and give them free
entrance, and they will go forth declaring the glad tidings which God
has given unto us to the oppressed of all nations, proclaiming unto
them that God has established a government which will be the means of
restoring to the earth the blessings for which mankind have sighed,
panted and labored for ages in vain.

Vol. 14,  p.28
When the mind, inspired by the Spirit of God, contemplates the future,
and sees the immense field which is widening before the Elders of this
Church, I, for one, feel that it ought to stir up every one of us to
the most energetic and resolute preparation for the great labor that
is fast devolving upon us, and that we live to discharge. Our own land
will yet be convulsed with revolution, for it contains within itself
the seeds of dire misfortunes, which will yet come upon the unhappy
Republic. We may deplore, mourn over and regret that such things do
exist; but they do nevertheless, and we should be blind indeed did we
shut our eyes to the fact, and fail to prepare ourselves for their
accomplishment. There is before this people, connected with our own
country, a destiny that is so glorious when we contemplate it in the
future, that it is enough to dazzle and oppress the mind of man at the
immensity of the labor that lies before us.

Vol. 14,  p.29
It may be said that this is all very foolish to think of or to talk
about;[p.29] but it is no more foolish than it would have been, when
driven, peeled and scattered, we were coming out of Illinois, to have
said we should yet lay the foundation of a great State, such as we now
behold in these mountains. I tell you, my brethren and sisters, that
God has given to this people qualities which, in the contest of races,
must tell. There are qualities connected with the Latter-day Saints,
and principles connected with their system that, persecute and crush
them out as you may, as long as the men live who bear the authority,
and so long as the principles have a believer and practicer in the
world, must live, survive, and have influence in the midst of the
earth and upon the populations thereof. There is no disguising this
fact! Little plotters, such, for instance, as the "ring" in this city,
may fix snares and nets, and arrange toils, and think they are going
to stop the work of God, ensnare the feet of the servants of God, and
do wonderful things! Puny drivellers! they would raise their impious
hands and tear down the throne of Jehovah, and attempt to impede the
progress of his work; but, like others who have preceded them, they
will be covered with shame and confusion and go down to dishonored
graves, while the people whom they seek to oppress will continue to
rise and increase in strength and power by the practice of those
qualities which God has given unto us through revelation, until their
influence will be felt, not only in Utah Territory, but from sea to
sea, and give them time enough, and it will be felt throughout the
length and breadth of the earth, and thus will the sayings of the
prophets be fulfilled.

Vol. 14,  p.29
How else could they be fulfilled? Can you imagine any better plan than
this that you begin to see unfold before us? Can you think of any
other way by which these predictions will be fulfilled? I can not. It
is simple, natural and scriptural, and perfectly Godlike in my sight,
and according to my limited ideas.

Vol. 14,  p.29
But as a people, we should endeavor, in the midst of all our troubles,
difficulties, trials and temptations, to remember that we are God's
people; that he has called us to be his, and we should put our firm
faith and trust in him and leave him to work out the results. And, my
brethren and sisters, if we are faithful to the truth which he has
revealed to us, he will bring to us greater salvation than we ever
conceived of, and will work out ways of deliverance of which we have
never dreamed; for his word, which cannot be recalled, has gone forth
through his ancient servants; and he is pledged to his servants in the
days in which we live; and he is pledged to us, to sustain this work
and to give it power and influence, and a foothold in the earth. And
there never was a people who prayed with greater unanimity for any one
thing, than do the Latter-day Saints that God will deliver his people
from the hands of their enemies and give them the victory. These
prayers will be heard and answered upon our heads, and, as I have
said, we will see deliverance and salvation such as we never dreamed
of.

Vol. 14,  p.29
I recollect very well the feelings that were manifested here, I think
it was last summer but one, by a scientific gentleman, who came into
our city, and for the first time was brought into contact with us. He
had known up when he was a boy in Illinois; now himself a professor in
one of the Illinois colleges, and a man of some note in the scientific
world. He had seen or heard something of our persecutions, and while
in conversation with me he remarked, "Mr. Cannon, when I looked upon
this [p.30] beautiful valley and saw these pleasant homes, and your
people dwelling in contentment and peace, my heart was filled with
inexpressible sadness; I could not repass my emotions, my eyes
suffused with tears, and I wished from the bottom of my heart that you
were somewhere else rather than within the confines of the United
States, somewhere where you would not be subject to persecution; for I
know the intense bigotry and hatred of feeling that are entertained
towards you, and I know that it only awaits a fitting opportunity to
re-enact the scenes that you have endured in the past." I appreciated
the kindness of feeling which prompted the remarks, but told him that
I viewed things differently from him. I was fully aware of the feeling
of which he spoke, and knew that it existed in certain quarters; but I
was also aware of one thing, which he (being an infidel) probably did
not understand, and that was—there was a God in heaven who ruled,
over-ruled and controlled all circumstances for the accomplishment of
his own designs. I further remarked, "Suppose we were away from here,
outside the confines of the United States, do you think we could live
in any spot on the earth without attracting attention? Do you think
that a people such as we are could go to any land, or into the
greatest desert on the earth, and live there any length of time
without attracting the attention of the world as much as we do now?
Why, the thing is impossible. When we came to this region it was as
much out of the way as any place on the earth could be. But after
coming here we demonstrated that the soil of these valleys, by being
watered artificially, would produce crops; and the result of our
experiment, for experiment it may be called, is that all this interior
basin, formerly looked upon as an irreclaimable desert, is a choice
land. The world once convinced of this, and population came to us, and
the railroad came across the continent, and we find ourselves right in
the centre of the great transcontinental highway. If we were to go
into any other land it would be the same—we should attract population
and wealth, and the eyes of mankind would be directed towards us; and
were we to leave here we could not find a place where we should be
more secluded than we have been here; but," said I, "we don't
calculate to leave here; we think we have got to the right spot, and
we calculate to remain, and the Lord will deal with those who seek to
deal with us." He felt that there might be some destiny about it, but,
being an unbeliever in God, he did not know anything about it, and did
not allow himself to have any faith concerning it. Still he saw that
we were a remarkable people, and said there might be a great future in
store for us, some destiny; of which he and others, who merely looked
on, might be very ignorant.

Vol. 14,  p.30
It is a truth, my brethren and sisters, there is a great destiny in
store for the Latter-day Saints. Men may fight this work and persecute
the people who sustain it; they killed Joseph, and thought they had
destroyed the corner stones, as it were, of the fabric; and like the
men mentioned in the parable, having killed the heir, they thought
they could possess the vineyard, but they soon found out their
mistake; and so it will be with every move that is made against the
work of God—those with whom they originate will find they have made a
great mistake. They will be disappointed in the results of their
labors and operations, for God has spoken and his word will be
fulfilled and this work will increase and progress. And the day will
come, [p.31] though, as I have said, we may regret and deplore it, yet
the day will come, and I would like the thought to be fastened, if
possible, so deeply in every heart that when persecution and annoyance
come upon us, you will not forget it—when the Latter-day Saints will
be the only well-governed people on this continent, and in their midst
will be found the only place where constitutional government will be
preserved in its old purity and integrity. I know that this sounds
strange, because the idea is that the "Mormons" are the most
despotically governed people on the face of the land. But I know that
there is not another people to-day under the light of the sun, from
the Atlantic to the Pacific, or from the Gulf of Mexico to the
Canadas, who are so free in every sense of the word, men and women, as
the Latter-day Saints, and who have greater liberty to do that which
is right in their own eyes.

Vol. 14,  p.31
I see the clock, and I am reminded that it is time to quit. May God
bless you, my brethren and sisters, and let his peace and preserving
care be over you, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Wilford Woodruff, May 6, 1870

The Work of God—Authority of President 
Young—Keeping the Commandments of God

Discourse By Elder Wilford Woodruff, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 6, 1870. 

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.31
I believe this is the largest assembly of Saints or sinners, Jew or
Gentile, that ever I saw together under one roof. There are very few
of us capable of making such an assembly hear, unless it is very
still; and when persons have come from twenty to two hundred and fifty
miles to attend Conference, it certainly is important that we give
them a chance to hear what is said.

Vol. 14,  p.31
It is true that God has set his hand in these latter days to bring to
pass his act, his strange act, and to accomplish his work, his strange
work—that truth should spring out of the earth, and righteousness look
down from heaven; and it certainly would be strange if these things
were not performed. The Supreme Ruler would not be like a God who had
created a world like this and peopled it it he let it go at random,
without any purpose or plan for the benefit and salvation of the
children of men.

Vol. 14,  p.31
I want to say a few words on this subject. I consider that the work we
now see taking place in these mountains, and which has been going on
from the time this Church was organized, is but carrying out the great
plan of our Father in heaven—that plan which was ordained from before
the foundation of the world. In fact there is no dispensation that has
been looked upon with as much [p.32] interest by all the prophets of
God and inspired men, from the day of Joseph Smith, as that in which
we live, in which the Zion of God is being built up, and the earth is
being prepared for the coming of the Son of Man.

Vol. 14,  p.32
Isaiah, in looking by prophetic vision to this day, makes use of very
strong language in endeavoring to express his feelings in relation to
it. In one instance he says, "Sing, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth!
Break forth into singing, O ye mountains, for the Lord has comforted
his people, and will have mercy on his afflicted yet." Zion says, "The
Lord has forsaken me, my God has forgotten me." "Can a woman forget
her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of
her womb?" "Yea," the Lord says, "a woman may do that," but he will
not forget Zion. Says he, "Zion is engraven on the palms of my hands,
her walls are continually before me."

Vol. 14,  p.32
Now this Zion of God has been before his face from before the
foundation of the world, and it is no more going to fail in the latter
days than any of the purposes of God are going to fail, hence I look
upon this work as the work of God, and it makes no difference to the
Lord Almighty, nor to his Saints, what the world may think or do about
it, or what course they may pursue with regard to it; they cannot stop
its progress, because it is the work of God. If it were the work of
man it would not exist as it does to-day. If God had no hand in this
work, we should not have seen this assembly here to-day in this
Tabernacle, nor this Territory filled with cities and towns. But being
the work of God, he asks no odds of any nation, kindred, tongue or
people under the whole heavens, any further than they are willing to
keep his commandments and do his will; for as the Lord God Almighty
lives, so true will the work, the foundation of which has been laid in
these latter days, increase and continue until its consummation is
effected, and the great Zion of God is established in beauty, power
and glory, and the dominion of the kingdom of our God extends over the
whole earth.

Vol. 14,  p.32
Joseph Smith laid the foundation of this work; he was chosen by the
Lord for that purpose, and was ordained by prophets and inspired men
who formerly held the keys of the kingdom of God upon the earth. They
laid their hands upon his head and ordained him to the Priesthood, and
gave him power to unlock the heavens and to administer the ordinances
of the house of God upon the earth. This work he performed in the face
of difficulty, persecution, opposition and oppression; but the hand of
God sustained him. He knew what few men or people on the whole face of
the earth know—that God lives, and he also knew that the work whose
foundations he laid was the work of God.

Vol. 14,  p.32
This is what has sustained President Young through all his labors.
Many men have looked upon him, and, in consequence of outside
pressure, have expected him to say this, that, and the other; but all
the time he has taken a straightforward course, walking in the path
pointed out by the God of heaven; and that same hand has sustained him
and you and me and every good and virtuous man and woman on the face
of the earth who has listened to the commandments of God.

Vol. 14,  p.32
Isaiah and other prophets saw in vision much concerning the building
up and establishment of the latter-day Zion of God upon the earth.
They saw the people gathering from [p.33] the nations of the earth to
the mountains of Israel; they speak of a great company coming up to
Zion, the women with child and her that travailed with child together;
and a great many other things in relation to the internal workings of
the inhabitants of Zion in building up the kingdom of God they do not
mention, whether they ever saw them or not. Isaiah has not written
concerning many of these things, neither has anybody yet that we know
of. Perhaps when the remainder of the plates, which were delivered to
the Prophet Joseph, and which he was commanded not to translate, come
forth, we may learn many more things pertaining to our labor on the
earth which we do not know now. But be this as it may, all this
internal work is left for the Holy Ghost to reveal to the living
oracles, as they guide, lead, dictate and direct; the people day by
day. This is one thing I want to say to my friends and to the Saints
of God, that without the Holy Ghost, without direct revelation and the
inspiration of God continually, Brigham Young could not lead this
people twenty-four hours. He could not lead them at all. Joseph could
not have done it, neither could any man. This power is in the bosom of
Almighty God, and he imparts it to his servants the prophets as they
stand in need of it day by day to build up Zion.

Vol. 14,  p.33
I want to say to my brethren and sisters that President Young is our
leader; he is our lawgiver in the Church and kingdom of God. He is
called to this office; it is his prerogative to tell this people what
to do, and it is our duty to obey the counsel that he has given to-day
to the sisters and the brethren. We, as a people, should not treat
lightly this counsel, for I will tell you in the name of the Lord—and
I have watched it from the time I became a member of this Church—there
is no man who undertakes to run counter to the counsel of the legally
authorized leader of this people that ever prospers, and no such man
ever will prosper. Many things I might name, if it were wisdom to do
so, to prove the truth of this statement, but you may watch for
yourselves, and you will find that all persons who take a stand
against this counsel will never prosper.

Vol. 14,  p.33
A great deal has been said with regard to guiding this people in
temporal matters. I ask you in the name of the Lord, who is called to
guide the temporal affairs of this Church and kingdom, for its
advantage, redemption and exaltation, as pure as a bride adorned for
her husband, if it be not that man who is placed as the lawgiver and
leader of Israel? There is no man on the footstool of God who has this
authority but him who stands at the head; and his Counsellors and the
Apostles, Bishops and Elders ought to be coworkers with him, and they
should work together in carrying out his counsel. And when counsel
comes we should not treat it lightly, no matter to what subject it
pertains, for if we do it will work evil unto us. Co-operation, it is
well known to every Saint who has his eyes and ears open, has brought
much good to Israel, yet from the very commencement of it there has
been more or less discontent and dissatisfaction felt and manifested
towards it; but there is not an individual who has attempted to work
against it but who has lost the Spirit of God unless he has repented.
It is so in all things, as every one of us who has had experience in
this kingdom has seen over and over again. No man has ever prospered
by this course, but if he has continued it he, by and by, has gone
downward instead of upward; no such man ever received and gained
[p.34] to himself honor by taking such a course, and no man ever will.
They may try it as often as they wish; no matter whether they are
insiders or outsiders, every man who undertakes to fight against this
work and people will, in God's own time, receive chastisement at his
hand. Many who have done so, have been cut off, and others will
follow. This is true, whether it is in regard to following counsel or
not. We cannot treat lightly the counsel of God without incurring his
displeasure.

Vol. 14,  p.34
Does any man or woman wonder that President Young leads out, and calls
upon us to follow, in directing temporal affairs? What would become of
us and Zion if there were no one to give counsel in temporal matters?
We could not advance if such were the case; but we have been guided so
far by the servants of God and the Spirit of God. We have been dull
scholars perhaps in a great many things, but I thank God that it is as
well as it is with us to-day. The organization of this Church took
place forty years ago with six members, and here is a congregation
that would make two thousand branches of the Church as large as the
first branch that was established, and this is only one congregation,
while we have 600 miles of towns, villages and settlements in this
Territory. It is progress all the time. Why? Because it is the work of
God. No one can stand in the way of the work of God in safety. The
Lord is not dependant upon any man on his footstool; if one man will
not do his bidding, another will. He gives his law to all men, and
inasmuch as they reject it they ate under condemnation.

Vol. 14,  p.34
I fear not the world. We are the only people under heaven who are one,
and we are not half as much one in we ought to be; we have to improve.
We are the only people in the whole Christian world who make any
pretensions to oneness in building up the Zion of God on the earth. We
profess to be one in the Gospel, and we have to become so in temporal
matters. We have to become of one heart and mind in giving attention
and obedience to the counsel of God in all things, both spiritual and
temporal. Zion has got to advance; she has got to rise and shine and
put on her beautiful garments. She is advancing and has been from the
time of the organization of this Church, and she will continue to do
so until the winding up scene.

Vol. 14,  p.34
When I look at the blessing of the Gospel of Christ, and at the
blessings which we as a people enjoy; when I look at the glorious
principles which God has revealed for the exaltation and glory of man,
I rejoice in them, and ask who will obey them? I feel that we ought to
be thankful to God day and night; we should be humble and always ready
to listen to counsel. Let us go to and carry out these principles. "If
ye love me, keep my commandments," says the Lord Jesus. President
Young preached on that subject a few Sabbaths ago, showing that
however great our professions as Saints may be, they are vain unless
we keep the commandments and counsels of the Lord given unto us. What
are they? We have the moral law and we have the Gospel in the
Scriptures; but there are commandments and ordinances, and there is
counsel which we have to observe which are not contained in the Bible,
in the Book of Mormon, or in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. In
fact there is very little there in regard to our work and labors here
as a people.

Vol. 14,  p.34
The Lord has put into our hands the power to build up this great Zion,
which all the ancient prophets rejoiced [p.35] in and prophecied
about. What manner of people ought we to be who are called to carry
out this work? We ought to be the Saints and children of God in very
deed. Our hearts ought to be open and prepared to receive instruction,
light and truth, and to carry out, all principles which may be
communicated unto us by the servants of the Lord. The counsels we have
had to-day are of great value to the Latter-day Saints. By and by
Babylon will fall; in a little while "no man will buy her
merchandise," and the sooner we are prepared for the changes which are
about to take place in our nation and in the nations of the earth the
better for us. We are all interested in the welfare of Zion. Our
wives, daughters and sons are interested in the welfare of the
husbands and fathers, and the children in that of the parents; and we
all should be interested in each other's temporal and spiritual
labors, and there should not be a selfish feeling on the part of any
portion of a family—"I do not care what becomes of this, that or the
other, if I can only get what I want myself." This is selfishness, it
produces disunion and is inconsistent with the profession of a Saint
of God. We should labor, each and every one of us to put such feelings
from our hearts, and then we, in our family organizations, should
strive to promote the general interest of the members thereof; but the
interest of Zion and the kingdom of God should be first with us all
the time, for we are all members of that kingdom and its welfare is
ours.

Vol. 14,  p.35
I consider that we are in a position in which we have every chance to
do a great deal of good in our day and generation, we have every
chance to work with the Lord, every chance to fulfil our mission and
calling here on the earth. We have every chance to build up the Zion
of God. I rejoice in the faith that has been manifested by those who
have charge of the affairs of the kingdom of God, in the revelations
of God. By their works they have manifested their determination
continually to carry out the commands of God. "Who am I," saith the
Lord, "that I command and am not obeyed?" "Who am I," saith the Lord,
"that I promise and do not fulfil?" The Lord has never made a promise
to the children of men but what he has fulfilled it; and all the
promises that the Lord has made and all the revelations that have been
given by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, will have their
fulfilment, and we have nothing to fear. As President Young said a few
Sabbaths ago, the only thing we need fear is that we shall not keep
the commandments of the Lord. Let us keep the commandments of God and
then we shall have power with him; the word of the Lord will sustain
us and he will fight our battles. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay,"
saith the Lord. We need have no fears with regard to the future. The
Zion of God is before his face continually. He has laid a foundation
and He will build upon it, and his Saints will build upon it; and
thousands and tens of thousands of the meek of the earth will yet take
hold and become co-workers in the great work of God. I feel, myself,
as though we should lay these counsels that we receive to heart; we
should not treat them lightly. We have been called upon by the Lord
and his servants to keep the Word of Wisdom; it is time we did it.
Wherein we have failed in these things in the past we should try to
improve.

Vol. 14,  p.35
I rejoice in this work, I rejoice in the Gospel of Christ. I rejoice
that we live in a day when we have inspiration, when we have prophets,
Apostles and inspired men to lead us,[p.36] and when we are made
partakers of the blessings of the kingdom of God upon the earth. It is
safe for us to pursue that course wherein we can walk in the light,
and we need not find fault with the principles of the Gospel because
any brother does that which we cannot endorse. It is for us, each of
us, individually, to see to our own conduct, and never follow the
errors of others. It is not difficult to find them in our own conduct.
We should all bring this home to ourselves.

Vol. 14,  p.36
I do hope that the sisters, generally, and the Female Relief Societies
in particular, will listen to the counsel that has been given to-day,
and that they will go to and establish braiding schools in all their
societies, where the young ladies may be taught to braid straw.
President Young has called upon them to do it from time to time. It is
true that he has not always commanded them, in the name of the Lord,
to do thus and so, and this has been a great blessing to Israel. We
have been governed by counsel instead of commandment in many things,
which has been a blessing to the Saints, for "he that is commanded in
all things" and obeyeth it with slothfulness and not a willing mind,
is not qualified before the Lord as that man is who, having the power
within him, bringeth to pass much righteousness without being
commanded in all that he does.

Vol. 14,  p.36
I feel thankful for the blessings that we enjoy. The Prophet Joseph
was called an idler and a gold digger. We have been called a great
many things—such as lazy, indolent, and many other things
discreditable. Why, every man possessing reason and judgment, who
knows anything about the Territory of Utah, will at once pronounce
such assertions nonsensical, for this city and every portion of the
Territory bear witness to the untiring labor and industry of the
Latter-day Saints, and the people, as a general thing outside, are
beginning to give up the idea that we are an idle people. They
formerly found a great deal of fault with Joseph Smith, because they
said he was a gold digger; but since then nearly all the Christian
world have turned gold diggers. Hundreds of thousands of them have run
into this western country to dig gold; and, while they formerly found
fault with us for digging gold they have latterly found fault because
we do not dig it. I hope and trust that all the accusations of wrong
brought against us in the future will be as groundless as those of the
past. Let us show our faith by our works, let us show to the Lord our
God that we have faith and confidence in his word and works.

Vol. 14,  p.36
We have to become united as a people in all our labors—in our
agriculture, manufactures; and every branch of our temporal labors. It
is of great importance to the Latter-day Saints that they should unite
together on the principle of co-operation. Where this is not done we
still ought to try individually to manufacture all we can. I was
pleased, a few days ago, while paying a visit; to Jenning's shoe
factory, to see the large number of home-made boots and shoes, many of
which were made with machinery which had been imported for the
purpose. This should be done wherever it is possible; the people
should co-operate and import labor-saving machinery, so as to be able
to compete with foreign manufacturers of goods of all kinds. President
Young has set an example in introducing carding machines and in
establishing factories here. He has done all he could in this
direction, and we should follow in the wake as far as we can. I know
that God will bless the people by doing this.[p.37] 

Vol. 14,  p.37
I do not wish to occupy any more time. I feel to say God bless you.
Lay these things to heart. Let us lay hold and build up Zion. Let us
realize that we are the children of God, that he is at work with us
and that we are at work with him. It has been said that the Lord and a
good man are a great majority. He has got a great many good men on the
earth, and he is gathering them together to build up Zion, to carry
out his work and to do his will. He will also control the course of
human events so as to forward his purposes. He holds the destinies of
the nations in his hands. He holds Zion in his hands and he will carry
out his work and do all he has promised. Those who fight against Zion
fight against God, and he will break every weapon formed against his
kingdom, and will bring his people triumphant over every obstacle, and
finally give them eternal life, which is the greatest of all the gifts
of God. May God grant that it may be bestowed upon us by our faith,
works, and labors, through his mercy and goodness, for Jesus' sake.
Amen.

Brigham Young, May 8, 1870

Character and Condition of the Latter-Day Saints—
Infidelity—the Atonement—Celestial Marriage

Discourse By President Brigham Young, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 8, 1870.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.37
We have now been together in a Conference capacity for four days. It
seems a very short time; we would like to stay a little longer, if it
were prudent. This is the place to give general instruction to the
Latter-day Saints. It is good when the Saints meet together to look at
each other, to hear the brethren bear testimony of the truth and to
feel the fellowship of the Holy Ghost. This makes our hearts joyful
and glad. It will be prudent for us now to bring our Conference to a
close, and, after I have spent a few minutes in speaking, we shall
adjourn until the 6th of next October, at ten o'clock in the morning,
at this place.

Vol. 14,  p.37
There are many things which we would like to talk about; I would like
to do a great deal of talking if I had the opportunity and were able
to do so. There are many little items pertaining to what are called
temporal matters, which it would be well for the people to understand
in order to promote their happiness here on the earth and to aid them
in securing eternal salvation. It is not those who are bearers of the
word only who are blessed and who secure to themselves the blessings
of eternal life; they who secure eternal life are doers of the word as
well as hearers. If we hear the word and do not perform the labors
indicated by it, it will [p.38] profit us noticing. To hear the word,
as the Latter-day Saints do, and then to perform the labor devolving
upon them, requires a great deal of wisdom; and to bring the people up
to this standard much labor and instruction from the Elders is
necessary.

Vol. 14,  p.38
If we can remember what we have heard at this Conference, and carry it
out in our lives, it will profit us. I hope and trust that we may. Let
us apply our hearts to the wisdom that has been exhibited before, the
Conference, and observe the little duties of every-day life, that we
may be prepared to receive more. It is not possible for a person to
learn all the will of God in an hour, a day, or a week; it requires
much time and attention to do this. The Lord gives a little here and a
little there, a precept now and a precept again, and by close
observance of these things in our lives we grow in grace and in a
knowledge of the truth.

Vol. 14,  p.38
We are thankful for the privilege of talking a little. We ought all to
be very thankful that we have the privilege of the Gospel and of the
ordinances of the house of God, for by applying them to the duties of
life we can increase in knowledge, wisdom and understanding. We are
thankful to see the increase that there is in the midst of the people.

Vol. 14,  p.38
You very well know that it is said by many of those who wish to
traduce the character of the Latter-day Saints that we are a poor,
miserable, ignorant people. If we are, there is a great chance for
improvement. We will acknowledge that we are very ignorant, and that
the Lord has taken the weak things of the world to confound the wisdom
of the wise. He has picked up the poor of the earth and brought them
together, because they seek after him; while the hearts of the rich
and the proud, the high and the noble, are lifted up, and they cannot
hearken to the principles of the Gospel and receive them and obey
them. They feel themselves too good; they know too much; while the
poor and needy, those who suffer from hunger and nakedness, and from
hard labor and taskmasters, are the ones who naturally seek after the
Lord. The Lord is just as willing to Hess and to pour out his Spirit
upon the king on the throne as upon the beggar in the street; but the
king has sufficient—he does not feel after the Lord; but the beggar
cries unto the Lord for his daily bread. Hence the Lord gathers the
poor. When we are gathered together, if we will improve ourselves by
and by we will be filled with wisdom.

Vol. 14,  p.38
When we look at the Latter-day Saints and remember that they have been
taken from the coal pits, from the ironworks, from the streets, from
the kitchens and from the barns and factories and from hard service in
the countries where they formerly lived, we cannot wonder at their
ignorance. But when they are brought together they soon become
scholars. Many of them become farmers and merchants, and they soon
learn to procure a sustenance for themselves and families, and gather
around them the necessaries and comforts of life. They also learn the
object of their being, of the creation of the earth, and how to
organize the elements so as to subserve their own wants and
necessities. This is a blessing, and we are proud to see the industry
of the Latter-day Saints, and also their improvements and
faithfulness. If we are ignorant, let us become wise; if we are poor,
let us gather around us the comforts of life. I look around among my
brethren and I see scholars. The world say we are ignorant; we
acknowledge it, but we are not as ignorant as they are, although they
have had opportunities [p.39] of education perhaps that many of our
brethren have not had. We study from the great book of nature. We are
driven to this of necessity Where is there another people who have
done what this people have done in these mountains, by way of making
improvements in their own midst—upon the soil and in their cities and
towns. They are not to be found on the face of the earth. If this is
not intelligence—if this is not good, hard, sound sense, I wish
somebody would come and teach us a little. If we are taken from the
poor, ignorant, low and degraded, and make ourselves wise and happy,
it is a credit to us.

Vol. 14,  p.39
There are causes for this which some may not have thought about. I
often think of them. You take, for instance, a father, who has, say,
four, ten or twelve sons. He may have abundance to dispose of to each
and every one; but he dislikes some particular one, and perhaps feeds
and clothes eleven, but the twelfth, whom he hates and despises, he
turns out of doors to provide for himself. This one son goes forth
weeping, and says, "I am forsaken of my father and his house; now I
have to look after myself. I have the earth before me; I have to live;
I do not want to kill myself, and as I have lite before me I certainly
must make my own future. I will go to work and accumulate a little of
something, so that I can purchase me a piece of land. When it is
purchased I will put improvements upon it. I will build me a house; I
will fence my farm; I will set off my orchard and plant out my garden;
and I will gather around me my horses, my cattle, my wagons and
carriages, and I will get me a family." Pretty soon here is a boy who
knows how to live as well as his father does. How is it with the rest
of the family? They are led and clothed by their Father; they know not
where it comes from nor how it is obtained, and they scarcely know
their right hand from their left with regard to the things of the
world.

Vol. 14,  p.39
This illustrates the history of this people. We have been under the
necessity of learning every art—to cultivate the soil and how to
provide for our own wants under the most adverse circumstances. We
have been compelled to do this or go without, for none would do it for
us. We have been forced to study mechanism, all kinds of machinery,
how to build, and how to provide and take care of ourselves in every
respect I thank the parent and the boys for turning us out of doors.
Why? Because it has thrown us on our own resources, and taught us to
provide for ourselves. We have a future before us, and God will take
care of us. In my meditations I say, "Shall I complain of father? No.
I will not complain at all, he has done the best he could for me,
though he knew it not. If he had marie my house, opened my farm,
planted my orchard, seen to my planting and ploughing as well as the
gathering; and then had brought my food to my chamber and appointed a
servant to feed me, what should I have known about, getting my living?
How could I have known anything about raising fruit or anything else?
I could not have known. I might read books until Doomsday, and unless
I apply the knowledge thus obtained I should know but little." Without
the application of knowledge acquired by reading, it makes mere
machines of us; we can tell what others have done, but we know nothing
ourselves. Then speak evil of no man, and acknowledge that it has been
a blessing to us to be cast aside and compelled to take care of
ourselves.

Vol. 14,  p.40
When we left our homes in the [p.40] East and started for the Rocky
Mountains the feeling in regard to us was, "There is starvation before
you Mormons; but if you do not die of starvation the Indians will kill
you." We knew that they would do no such thing; we knew that we could
live when we got here, and we also knew that we could travel twelve or
fourteen hundred miles with our cows, calves, colts, lame cattle, our
seed grain and provisions and farming utensils on wagons, carts and
handcarts, without an ounce of iron on some of them. It was said that
we could raise nothing when we got here; but I said, "We will wait and
see; we know that God has led us out here, and we will wait and see
what he will do for us." You can see what he has done, and thank his
name and be humble. Shall we speak evil of others? No. Why? Because
the result of their treatment towards us has made us better and
greater than we could have been otherwise. It has brought us closer
together than we could possibly have come without a great deal more
revelation than we have had. Our enemies have pushed us together; and
it is excellent to be surrounded by circumstances that will bring us
close together. We learn then whether we have fellowship one for
another. Let us thank God, and speak evil of none; and instead of
finding fault with father, let us thank him for turning us out of
doors, for we have learned a great many useful lessons in life that we
could not have learned without. We can read just as much as the
inhabitants of the earth, and after reading we can practice a thousand
times more than many of them.

Vol. 14,  p.40
I wish now to say a few words in relation to a subject which is
attracting the attention of thousands of people in the world. I refer
to what is termed infidelity. We are very well aware that a statement
made in reference to this matter in this Conference is true—namely,
that the inhabitants of the earth are drifting, as fast as time can
roll, to infidelity. I do not profess to know a great deal; but some
things I do know. Shall I take the liberty of telling you the story of
the boy who went to the mill? He was looking at the miller's hogs,
which were very fat, clean and fine. The miller came out, and, seeing
the boy attentively observing the pigs, said to him, "What are you
thinking about?" Said the boy, "I was thinking that millers have fat
hogs." "Were you thinking of anything else?" said the miller. "Yes."
"What was it?" "I do not know whose grain they are fed on," said the
boy. I take the liberty of telling this story for illustration. Some
things I do know and some I do not know; if I do not know whose grain
the pigs eat, I do know that there are some fat hogs.

Vol. 14,  p.40
What shall I say with regard to infidelity? I do not know a great
deal, but I say that a man has not good common sense who denies his
Maker; such a man is not endowed with reasoning powers. I hold this
book in my hand, and I say that for its production from the crude
element it required a type founder, paper maker, printer and a book
binder, and by their united exertions the book was made. But the
infidel bases his argument on the principle that the book is here
without a producer—that no type founder, paper maker, printer, nor
bookbinder was necessary. Is not a man who argues on this principle a
feel? If he is not he comes pretty near it.

Vol. 14,  p.40
There are a great many who say that there is no embodiment of the
Deity. Our Christian brethren almost deny the existence of a God; but
it is in word only; they do not feel it [p.41] in their hearts, they
do not mean any such thing. They are like the people of whom Paul
speaks, who had temples reared to the unknown God. The Christians do
not know anything about God, neither does the infidel. The Christian
world say, "We believe in a God who has no body." You do not believe
in anything of the sort, Christian world! You think you believe it,
but it is only tradition with you. Your fathers told you that God has
no body; the priests told them; the schoolmasters have joined in the
endorsement of the same ridiculous idea; it is also written in your
church creeds; but, when you let common sense have place in your
hearts, you do not believe in any such nonentity or nondescript as a
God without body, parts or passions.

Vol. 14,  p.41
But foolish and absurd as is such an idea, it is not so ridiculous as
that of the infidel. The Christian world, while virtually declaring
that God is nothing, also declare that the world was created by him;
but the infidel says the world had no creator, it is the result of
chance. Now I defy any infidel, or any other person on the face of the
earth, to prove that anything can be made or exist without a maker.
The world and all its various grades of organized denizens, from the
lowest forms of vegetable or animal life, up to man, the lord of
creation, were framed and made, or they would not have been here.

Vol. 14,  p.41
I just want to say with regard to infidelity, it means nothing more
nor less than to disbelieve anything we have a mind to. If we
disbelieve in the existence of the Eternal, as an embodiment or
personage, we are infidel on that point. If we disbelieve in the
efficacy of the blood of the Savior and his atonement, we are infidels
on that subject. I wish to say, however, to the Christian world, that
the moment the atonement of the Savior is done away, that moment, at
one sweep, the hopes of salvation entertained by the Christian world
are destroyed, the foundation of their faith is taken away, and there
is nothing left for them to stand upon. When this is gone all the
revelations God ever gave to the Jewish nation, to the Gentiles and to
us are rendered valueless, and all hope is taken from us at one sweep.

Vol. 14,  p.41
What proof have you, Infidels, that Jesus is not the Christ? What
proof have you of the negative of the existence of God the Father, or
of Jesus as the Mediator, or of the Holy Ghost as God's minister, or
of the gifts and graces that God has bestowed upon his people? None at
all, not the least thing in the world. Is there anybody living on the
earth that has the proof of the affirmative? Yes; we have. We have
proof that God lives and that he has a body; that he has eyes, and
ears to hear; that he has arms, hands and feet; that he can walk and
does walk. He has declared himself to be a man of war—Jehovah, the
great I Am, the Lord Almighty, and many other titles of a like import
are used in reference to him in the Scriptures. But take away the
atonement of the Son of God and the Scriptures fall useless to the
ground.

Vol. 14,  p.41
How is it, Infidel, have you any proof that Jesus did not die for the
sins of the world? No; not the least, any more than you have proof
that there was no need to go to the mountains to cut the timber used
in building this house, or to quarry the rock of which the pillars of
this house are composed. How is it, Mr. Infidel, have you any proof of
the non-existence of Him who rules and reigns in heaven, and who
controls the destinies of the earth? No; not the least. But you say,
"I do not believe it." That is your affair [p.42] only, nobody cares
about that.

Vol. 14,  p.42
Infidelity extends to other subjects besides the existence of God and
the atonement of the Savior. Some are infidel on one point and some on
another. I want to say that so far as a God without a body, parts and
passions is concerned, I am a complete infidel. The God whom I serve
has got eyes, ears, nose and mouth. He has hands to handle; his
footsteps are seen in the midst of his people, and his goings forth
among the nations; and he who has the Spirit of the Almighty can see
the providences of God and behold his ways. I ask the infidel if he
has any proof that I do not enjoy that Spirit? I have proof that I do.
What is that proof. The peace, light and intelligence that I enjoy,
which I have not obtained from the infidel, from reading books, from
going to school, nor from studying the wisdom of any man that ever
lived on the face of the earth. "Where did you obtain it?" says the
infidel. From heaven, from the fountain of light and intelligence.
"Where is your wisdom?" again says the infidel. Here, right before me,
teaching the people how to be saved, how to live, and to live with
each other; how to improve their minds; how to govern and control
themselves. It was so with Joseph Smith, in his day. So it is to-day;
how else could it be done? Who can gather rite people from the nations
in their poverty and ignorance and fill them with light and
intelligence, teach them how to live, what the earth is and what it is
for, make them understand that God is our father, Jesus the Mediator,
and that we belong to the highest intelligence that there is in
existence, and that we are the natural offspring of God the Father?
God only can do this Yet the infidel will say there is no God, that we
are creatures of to-day that we had no existence before this, and that
when this is over there is nothing after. And following down the chain
of his reasoning, he will say there was a time when there was no
earth, no stars, no worlds, no anything. Well, I know there never was
such a time. That is faith against faith, declaration against
declaration. What a pitiful condition it would be for all space to
contain nothing! To suppose that element, worlds, men, the grass of
the fields, or the trees of the forest were created, is all folly!
They are from eternity. It is equally vain to imagine space empty!
There is no space without a kingdom, neither is there any kingdom
without space, and they are from everlasting to everlasting. "How do
you know it?" asks the unbeliever. By the revelations of God, by the
revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ. "How do you know how to teach
the people to control themselves and make them of one heart and one
mind?" By the revelations of the Lord. Well, then, I guess we will
sing and pray and serve our God and keep his commandments; and I
rather think that Zion will prosper. That is my opinion.

Vol. 14,  p.42
While the chapter from the prophecies of Daniel was being read,
showing the plans and schemes of those who sought to entrap Daniel,
and their miserable end, I was thinking how wise (!) men were in those
days. How wise were those great captains, counselors and presidents!
Could they not foresee that they could not overthrow Daniel? No, they
could see no further than to believe that if the King would sign the
decree that no petition should be presented to any potentate, on,
above, or around about the earth, but to himself, for the space of
thirty days, they would entrap and destroy Daniel. What was the
result? Just as quick as they commenced their [p.43] special
legislation against Daniel the Lord commenced special legislation for
him and against those who got him into the lion's den. The final
result was that Daniel lodged with the lions over night and came out
unscathed, not injured in the least; the lions lay there peaceable
when the stone was rolled away, and those who had caused him to be
thrust there were condemned to take the place he left, and the lions
devoured them. they could not foresee what Daniel could; he could have
foretold their destiny, and that the legislation of the Lord Almighty
would be a little above the special legislation of which they were the
authors against him.

Vol. 14,  p.43
Brethren and sisters, will you keep the Word of Wisdom, say your
prayers, observe the Sabbath, speak evil of no man, and strive to be
humble and faithful in all things? It you will, we shall be one by and
by; we are not yet. We must overcome the love of the world. He that
hath the love of the world hath not the love of the Father. He that
loves the things of the world loves not the kingdom of heaven on the
earth. Whosoever serves mammon cannot serve God. We must let these
things go out of our affections, then lay hold of the principles of
eternal life and sustain the kingdom of God on the earth, or else we
shall go by the board. If we jump over, we shall certainly sink, and
if we stay aboard Zion's ship, we can do no more than sink, and it
will be just as well if Zion's ship sink to be aboard as to jump
overboard and sink. We had better stay aboard, she may go into harbor;
and I can promise you in the name of Israel's God that she will go
there safe and carry every one of her passengers. Will we be humble
and faithful? I trust we will. I hope—I pray you, brethren and
sisters, let us be humble, be faithful to our God, our religion, and
each other.

Vol. 14,  p.43
I will say a few words on a subject which has been mentioned here—that
is, celestial marriage. God has given a revelation to seal for time
and for eternity, just as he did in days of old. In our own days he
has commanded his people to receive the New and Everlasting Covenant,
and he has said, "If ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned."
We have received it. What is the result of it? I look at the world, or
that small portion of it which believes in monogamy. It is only a
small portion of the human family who do believe in it, for from nine
to ten of the twelve hundred millions that live on the earth believe
in and practice polygamy. Well, what is the result? Right in our land
the doctrine and practice of plurality of wives tend to the
preservation of life. Do you know it? Do you see it? What is our duty?
To preserve life or destroy it? Can any of you answer? Why yes, it is
to perpetuate and preserve life. But what principle do we see
prevailing in our own land? What is that of which, in the East, West,
North and South, ministers in their pulpits complain, and against
which both gentlemen and ladies lecture? It is against taking life.
They say, "Cease the destruction of pre-natal life!" Our doctrine and
practice make and preserve life; theirs destroy it. Which is the best,
saying nothing about revelation, which is the best in a moral point of
view, to preserve or to destroy the life which God designs to bring
upon the earth. Just look at it and decide for yourselves.

Vol. 14,  p.43
This house is very large, but as a general thing the people bare been
very attentive, and they have tried to keep as still as possible.
Still, I [p.44] believe they can improve a little. I think that many
of our sisters who have children can stay nearer the doors, and then,
if they cannot prevent their children crying, they can step out. I do
believe they can stop their whispering. When there is anything said
from this Stand that pleases or displeases you, you turn to your
neighbor and whisper, and the next one does the same, and directly
there are a few thousand whispering, creating a noise like the rushing
of many waters. Then you scrape your feet a little, and the many
little noises are lille the dust that composes the mountains and the
whole earth. Every person should be silent when we meet here to
worship God. Remember and try to keep perfectly quiet, and do not
whisper, talk, nor scrape your feet; and do not let your children cry
if you can help it. Twenty years ago I used to tell you that you might
pinch your children to make them cry as loud as they could if you
wished, and I could preach louder than they could cry. I could do it
then, but now I want all to keep still.

Vol. 14,  p.44
I trust we shall long have the privilege of enjoying this shade which
we have built; it is a cover from the burning sun in summer; and when
the storm of rain comes this umbrella will shelter us. I perceive
that, in the gallery, there is a little more heat now than before; we
shall open the ventilators and put in some skylights, then I think it
will be as cool as in the past.

Vol. 14,  p.44
Brethren and sisters, I feel to bless you. I ask my Father in heaven
to bless the Saints, to bless every quorum and organization of his
kingdom, from the First Presidency down to the last organization to
promote good in the midst of his people. I pray continually for the
Bishops, presiding Elders, High Councillors, and the Female Relief
Societies. I will bless you, my sisters, if you will hearken to the
counsel which has been given you with regard to these fashions. Then,
to my brethren, I say, I will bless you, if you will seek a little
closer to sustain yourselves, by preserving and wisely using that
which the Lord gives you, and not suffer your cattle and sheep to die
on the prairies, but preserve them, that we may have the wherewithal
to supply ourselves with the necessaries of life, by raising sheep,
building factories, raising flax, the mulberry and silk and other
things useful. I do not care how beautifully you are adorned, ladies,
if you will only raise the silk and adorn yourselves with your own
hands. That is the requirement of heaven. It was so almost forty years
ago. The word of the Lord to his Saints then was, "Let the beauty of
your apparel be the beauty of the work of your own hands." If you will
observe this, adorn yourselves as much as you please. Make your hats
and bonnets, and also make hats for your brothers and sons. It is your
duty to do it. Preserve that that the Lord has given you, and waste
nothing. I can say to the Latter-day Saints that there is no man nor
woman, person or persons, but what I would rather feed, clothe, and
sustain than to see a particle wasted in the midst of my family or
this people. God does not like it, his Spirit is grieved with it.
Idleness and wastefulness are not according to the rules of heaven.
Preserve all you can, that you may have abundance to bless your
friends and your enemies, as we did in '49, '50 and '61. In those
years we fed thousands and thousands of poor, starving emigrants, who
had gold so big in their eyes that, when they started for the Plains,
they did not know whether they had anything to eat or not. By our
[p.45] instrumentality they were fed and sent on their way rejoicing.
If we take the counsel now given we shall have abundance to bless our
enemies if it be necessary. Shall we say that we have any? Yes, there
are those who would delight to be our enemies if they knew how; but
they do not know how. I do not suppose that there was a greater enemy
to the Savior, when he was on the earth, than the devil. How he did
plead with the Savior to worship him! Said he, "I will give you all
you can see, if you will fall down and worship me." But Jesus rebuked
him. Yet the devil hunted and followed up Jews and Gentiles, that is,
the Romans, until they betrayed the Redeemer into the hands of his
enemies, who crucified him, and in doing that they consummated the
great act for the salvation of the human family, which will cheat the
devil out of pretty much all of them, one way or the other. If he had
had any good sense about him—but he was as short of that as the
infidels in our day—he would have said, "I am with you, I will go with
you, pay your taxes, and will make you welcome to my house." But no,
the devil and his followers did not know enough to do this, neither do
our enemies, and thank God for it!

Vol. 14,  p.45
Again I say, I feel to bless my brethren and sisters—every quorum,
every authority; our brethren and sisters who have sung for us, or
played on the organ. I thank you, doorkeepers, and you who have waited
on the congregation, and I say God bless you, and in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ I bless the whole house of Israel. I pray for the
redemption of the centre stake of Zion, and the upbuilding thereof. It
is before us continually in our faith, and I hope that we shall live
to see it. Amen.

George Q. Cannon, August 15, 1869

The Gospel of Jesus  Christ  Taught By the 
Latter-Day Saints—Celestial Marriage

Discourse By Elder George Q. Cannon, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, August 15, 1869. 

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.45
"I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk
worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.

Vol. 14,  p.45
"With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one
another in love;

Vol. 14,  p.45
"Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Vol. 14,  p.45
"There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope
of your calling;

Vol. 14,  p.45
"One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 

Vol. 14,  p.45
"One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in
you all.[p.46] 

Vol. 14,  p.46
"But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of
the gift of Christ.

Vol. 14,  p.46
"Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity
captive, and gave gifts unto men.

Vol. 14,  p.46
"Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first
into the lower parts of the earth?

Vol. 14,  p.46
"He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all
heavens, that he might fill all things.

Vol. 14,  p.46
"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some,
evangelists; and, some, pastors and teachers;

Vol. 14,  p.46
"For the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for
the edifying of the body of Christ:

Vol. 14,  p.46
"Till we all come in the unity, of the faith, and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of
the fulness of Christ:

Vol. 14,  p.46
"That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and
carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and
cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive:"

Vol. 14,  p.46
These words are found in the 4th chapter of the Epistle of Paul to the
Ephesians.

Vol. 14,  p.46
Probably at no time in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints has there been more interest felt in relation to the
doctrines in which we believe and the nature of the organization with
which we are connected and the bonds by which we are united together
than at the present time. The completion of the railroad has brought
us immediately in contact with the outside world, and it has also
brought us prominently before the nations—not only our own nation, but
other nations; and many people who have heretofore felt little or no
interest in regard to the people called Latter-day Saints are now,
through travel, being brought in contact with them, and are disposed
to investigate and to inquire concerning their faith and the nature of
their organization.

Vol. 14,  p.46
It is very agreeable to us to have our principles investigated, for
the first Elders of the Church have endeavored for nearly forty years
to disseminate a knowledge of them among all people unto whom they
could get access. They have traveled throughout the length and breadth
of the nation, having visited every State and nearly every township in
the Union. They have also traveled in Canada, and have proclaimed the
Gospel in Europe and Asia, and some have even gone to Africa and to
the islands of the sea. What we have done we have endeavored to do
openly, and have striven to make plain the principles we have
advocated. The greatest difficulty we have had to contend with has
been the indisposition of the people to listen. The idea that has
seemed to possess the minds of many was that they understood our
principles perfectly well, and that it was unnecessary to say another
word about them.

Vol. 14,  p.46
Probably there is no people in the world concerning whom so much has
been said, and there is probably no people on the face of the earth
who are so little understood and concerning whom there are so many
misrepresentations in circulation. The prevalent idea concerning us in
a great many circles is that we have thrown aside the Bible and have
substituted in its stead a book of our own, the Book of Mormon, and
other works, of modern origin, or works which they consider of modern
origin. It is only a few weeks since that a gentleman from the Eastern
States was invited to preach in the New Tabernacle. He did so, and
preached a very eloquent discourse. He was followed by President
Young, and [p.47] after the latter had finished and the meeting was
dismissed this clergyman said he had not the least idea that we had so
large a Christian element in our faith until he heard that discourse
from President young. He had supposed that we had set aside the Bible
and had taken the Book of Mormon and the doctrines and revelations
contained in that and in the book of Doctrine and Covenants as our
rule of faith.

Vol. 14,  p.47
He was not singular in that idea; it is the general belief in many
circles, and among people who, on other subjects, are well informed.
They have an idea that we are a very peculiar people, and that our
peculiarities have their origin in those books. Of course among people
who have read the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and
Covenants these ideas do not prevail, because such persons are aware
that those books corroborate the Bible, and are witness of the truth
of the great principles contained in the Old and New Testaments, and
teach precisely the same.

Vol. 14,  p.47
The peculiarities, if such they may be called, which distinguish us
from other people, have their origin in our implicit faith in the
Scriptures. There is no principle nor doctrine of our faith that We
are not willing to have tested by the revelations and teachings
contained in King James's translation of the Bible; and our Elders
have gone forth taking that as their text-book, preaching item it the
principles which those now called Latter-day Saints have embraced, and
which caused them to gather together from the nations of the earth, to
the State of Ohio, then to Missouri, then to Illinois, and then to
these valleys.

Vol. 14,  p.47
This statement may sound strangely to the ears of many. I have heard
people express considerable surprise upon hearing it. I recollect in
my early experience as an Elder meeting and having considerable
conversation upon our principles with a clergyman. I left with him the
work called "The Voice of Warning;" and when I called upon him again
after a lapse of a few days, he expressed his surprise at there being
any diversity between the Latter-day Saints and the orthodox sects,
"for," said he, "I see that you base your faith upon and draw your
arguments from the New Testament." I admitted that it was strange, but
remarked to him that it was because we received the New Testament
literally, and believed that the teachings contained in that book were
intended to be understood as they were written, and that when God made
a declaration, or his authorized servants preached the Gospel, or made
certain plain and positive promises, the design was that the children
of men should rely upon those promises and believe the principles of
that Gospel with the most unwavering faith and expect their fulfilment
to the very letter, if they would only comply with the conditions
connected therewith.

Vol. 14,  p.47
This is the great difficulty to-day; this is the cause of the
diversity of beliefs in the Christian world. Instead of taking the
word of the Lord as it is, they wish to place their own construction
on that word so as to suit their own peculiar ideas and views; and
having thus interpreted it, they flame their belief in accordance with
that interpretation. But it is very plain, from words contained in the
New Testament, that the Lord expected his children to believe the
Gospel and to carry it out in their practice, as it was delivered
anciently. For instance: Paul, on one occasion, when writing to the
Galatians, said—

Vol. 14,  p.47
"Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other Gospel unto you
than that which we have preached [p.48] unto you, let him be
accursed."

Vol. 14,  p.48
And, as if to make this so positive that it could not be
misunderstood, he repeated the language. Here an anathema is
pronounced upon the head of any individual who should attempt to
preach any other Gospel than that which the Apostle Paul and the other
Apostles had declared; even if an angel from heaven were to declare
anything opposed to or differing from it he was to be accursed.

Vol. 14,  p.48
It is highly important that mankind should understand what was the
nature of that Gospel, and whether the creeds to which they have
rendered obedience in these days agree with the principles preached by
the Apostles; if they do not, they who preach them are exposed to the
anathema pronounced by Paul, or his words are not to be relied upon.
It is a very easy matter to find out what the Apostles did preach;
there need be no difficulty about this if people will receive the
teachings contained in the New Testament, for them we have a record of
their labors and an epitome of the doctrines they taught and
administered to the people.

Vol. 14,  p.48
If we refer to the first discourse that was preached after the
ascension of Jesus into heaven we shall find what the Apostles taught
on that occasion, when inspired by the Holy Ghost, to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem. The people were excited over the strange event that had
taken place in their midst; for men of various nations had gathered
together to the Holy City and the Apostles stood up in the power and
demonstration of the Holy Ghost and declared to the people there
assembled the startling intelligence that Jesus, whom they had so
recently crucified as an impostor, was indeed the Lord of life and
glory and was the veritable Son of God, the Messiah, of which the
prophets had spoken, and for whose coming they had so long and
anxiously looked. This was unexpected intelligence to them; but the
arguments of the Apostles on this matter were so convincing and the
power of God so apparent—each man hearing the Gospel in his own
tongue, that they were pricked to the heart and were convinced that
Jesus was the Son of God and the Savior of the world, and they cried
out, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" It is very reasonable to
suppose that when the Apostles answered this question, made under such
extraordinary circumstances, they would declare the doctrines and
requirements which would be binding on all the inhabitants of the
earth under similar circumstances.  To imagine anything else would be
to suppose that which would be contrary to reason and common sense. To
think that they would tell something that was not necessary and
essential to salvation on such an important occasion, when so many
were pricked to their hearts, is to suppose something that is not
consistent with the character of the Apostles and the nature of their
mission to the children of men. Peter said unto them, "Repent, and be
baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the
remission of your 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." Thus,
he set before them in simplicity and in the greatest plainness, the
requirements with which they must comply in order to receive that
which they desired.

Vol. 14,  p.48
It was not necessary for him to say unto them, Believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ, for they did already believe, having been convinced
through the testimony of the Apostles. Peter, therefore, said unto
them, "Repent"—that [p.49] being the next principle they had to
obey—"repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for the
remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost." He did
not say unto them, "Here is an 'anxious bench,'" or, "Come and throw
yourselves at the foot of the cross, and seek with prayer before the
Lord until he remits your sins." He did not tell them to do any such
thing, but he told them to repent of their sins, that is, to forsake
them, and to be baptized for the remission of them, promising them
that they should receive the Holy Ghost, "For," said he, "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."

Vol. 14,  p.49
How many did the Lord call? Why he has called all. He commanded the
Apostles to go and preach the Gospel to every creature, therefore
every human being on the face of the earth was called by the Lord; and
the promise was unto the multitude there assembled and to all afar
off; hence, it is quite clear that all the inhabitants of the earth
had a claim on this promise on complying with the conditions
prescribed—namely, faith in Jesus Christ, repentance of their sins,
being baptized for their remission, and having hands laid upon them
for the reception of the Holy Ghost.

Vol. 14,  p.49
This was the Gospel which Peter preached unto the people on the day of
Pentecost, and several thousands of them went forth and were baptized
on that occasion. We find, by examining the "Acts of the Apostles,"
that this was the nature of their teaching on every occasion when
preaching to the people, and we also find that when the people did
comply with these requirements the Holy Ghost did rest upon them.

Vol. 14,  p.49
A great many have had the idea that the Holy Ghost was only bestowed
upon those who were called to act as officers in the churches; but an
investigation of the labors of the Apostles will prove that this was
not the case, and will establish the fact that every individual,
whether male or female, who was baptized by the servants of God for
the remission of sins, received the laying on of hands, and also the
Holy Ghost. You recollect, doubtless, the record contained in the 8th
chapter of Acts, which contains an account of Philip preaching the
Gospel in Samaria and baptizing some believers. Philip, it seems, had
only the authority that John the Baptist had, holding the same
Priesthood as he did. It is written of John that he said, "I indeed
baptize you with water unto repentance; but he that cometh after me is
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize
you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." John never presumed to lay on
hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost: he had not the authority,
He was a priest after the order of Aaron; he held the Aaronic
Priesthood, to which Priesthood belongs not the authority to lay on
hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost. To do this it requires a
priest after the Order of Melchizedec, which Jesus and his Apostles
held. Philip, after leaving Samaria, baptized the Eunuch, but we do
not read that he laid his hands upon him, evidently proving that he
held only the Priesthood of Aaron. When the Apostles which were at
Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, through
Philip, they sent unto them Peter and John, two of the Apostles, who,
when they came unto them, prayed for them that they might receive the
Holy Ghost, and they laid their hands upon them, and they received the
Holy Ghost. It did not [p.50] rest upon them previous to this
ordinance being attended to; for the Testament says the Holy Ghost had
not as yet fallen upon any of them, although they had been baptized.
This shows that, not only is it necessary for men to believe in Jesus
Christ, repent of their sins, and be baptized for the remission of
them, but, that they must receive the laying on of hands of those who
have authority, or they could neither claim nor enjoy the Holy Ghost;
but when they did have hands laid upon them, wonderful to relate in
this age of unbelief, the Holy Ghost rested down upon them and they
were filled therewith, and they were bound and united together, and
they knew the things of God and enjoyed the gifts of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ.

Vol. 14,  p.50
On one occasion Paul met with a number of disciples at Ephesus and he
inquired of them if they had received, the Holy Ghost since they
believed. They told him they had not so much as heard whether there be
any Holy Ghost· He then inquired unto what then were they baptized.
They replied they were baptized unto John's baptism. Paul baptized
them anew, and laid hands upon them, and, we are told, they received
the Holy Ghost and spake with tongues and prophecied. Paul had
authority; he held the Melchizedec Priesthood, in which was included
the authority to lay on hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost.

Vol. 14,  p.50
This is the manner in which the Apostles preached the Gospel; there is
no record of their doing it in any other way. We do not read of their
teaching the people the plan of salvation in any other way.

Vol. 14,  p.50
A great many, to prove that baptism and laying on of hands are not
necessary, have cited the case of Cornelius, who, though he was not
baptized, received the Holy Ghost. The case of Cornelius is the only
case of the kind on record, and there were strong reasons why it
should be as it was with him. The Gospel and its ordinances were
administered only to the Jews; Cornelius was a Gentile, and between
the two races strong prejudices existed, the Jews looking upon the
Gentiles as far inferior to them. Cornelius and his household were the
first Gentiles to whom the Gospel was preached, they received it, and
the Lord, to show to the Apostles that the Gentiles were entitled to
the ordinances of salvation as well as the Jews, if they were willing
to comply with the requirements of the Gospel, conferred the Holy
Ghost upon Cornelius and his family. When Peter saw this family he
said, "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but
in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is
accepted with him." And when afterwards, he heard them speak with
tongues and magnify God, he said, "Can any man forbid water that these
should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as
we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord."
Peter did not say, Cornelius, you have received the Holy Ghost as well
as we have, and there is no necessity for you to obey any further
ordinances, which, under the circumstances, if he had considered
baptism or the laying on of hands non-essential, he would have been
very likely to do; but instead of that he commanded them to be
baptized. Peter took this, as the Lord intended it, as an evidence
that the Gentiles as well as the House of Israel were entitled to the
Gospel. And he had them baptized, and without doubt laid his hands
upon them to confirm upon them the gift they had received. Had
Cornelius, at that hour, stood upon his dignity [p.51] and said, There
is no necessity for me to be baptized for the remission of my sins,
God having Wen me the Holy Ghost without obeying that ordinance, and
having already received the Holy Ghost, I have no need to have hands
laid upon me, there is not a doubt in my mind but what that precious
and inestimable gift would have been withdrawn from him, and he would
not have enjoyed it after. It could, only be continued to him on
condition of his obeying the ordinances which God had placed in his
Church and which he required all the inhabitants of the earth to
submit to without hesitation; and without doubt, Cornelius wisely went
forward and obeyed those ordinances. This was the manner in which the
Apostles preached the Gospel to the inhabitants of the earth in those
days·They did not say to the people, "You must seek the Holy Ghost and
probably the Lord will give it to you if you will only exercise faith
enough;" but they told the people plainly and positively, without the
least hesitation, that if they would comply with certain requirements
they should receive the Holy Ghost. The only condition was their
sincerity and faithfulness in obeying the requirements. 

Vol. 14,  p.51
What were the fruits of this preaching? Wherever the Apostles went and
the people received their testimony the Spirit of God rested upon them
and their hearts were united, and they enjoyed the gifts of prophecy,
healing, tongues, interpretation of tongues, discerning of spirits,
wisdom, knowledge and all the varied gilts of the Gospel necessary for
their growth and development in the things of God. This was not the
case at Jerusalem alone, but in far off Ephesus and in the various
cities of AsiaMinor where Paul preached; and throughout the length and
breadth of the earth wherever the Apostles traveled these peculiar
gifts and manifestations were enjoyed.

Vol. 14,  p.51
Paul, who had been separated from the rest of the Apostles for a
number of years, found when he came to Jerusalem and was united with
them, that he had precisely the same knowledge concerning the Gospel
of Christ that they had; the Holy Ghost had taught it to him the same
as it had to Peter, James, John, Andrew and the rest of the Apostles.
And had they been permitted to continue their labors the inhabitants
of the earth, if they had received the Gospel, would have been united
together as one in the things of God.

Vol. 14,  p.51
Does anybody wonder that there is division now in Christendom? Does
anybody wonder that, instead of there being, "One Lord, one faith and
one baptism," as recorded in the words I have read in your hearing,
there are, it may be said, many lords, many faiths and many baptisms?
Does anybody wonder at this? I cannot when I see how men have strayed
from the path that Jesus marked out; when I hear men say that baptism
is non-essential. What a wide difference between such persons and the
Lord Jesus Christ! You will remember that when John came baptizing in
the wilderness Jesus applied to him for baptism, and, in answer to the
remonstrance of John, who seemed to think that he had more need to be
baptized by the Savior than for the Savior to be baptized by him,
Jesus said, "Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfil
all righteousness." The wonder is that there is a remnant of faith in
Jesus left in the world when we see how widely men have diverged from
the paths in which the Apostles walked, and from the doctrines which
they taught.

Vol. 14,  p.52
We must always bear in mind that which Paul said—"Though we, or [p.52]
an angel from heaven, preach any other Gospel unto you than that which
we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." We must bear this in
mind when we investigate the nature of the Apostles' teachings and the
ordinances and doctrines which they administered and taught. If they
who profess to be preachers of the Gospel diverge in the least from
the doctrines and principles taught by the Apostles they place
themselves in a position to receive the condemnation which Paul
invoked.

Vol. 14,  p.52
I have endeavored in these remarks to bring your minds to the faith
the Saints once enjoyed, and to the teachings which the Apostles, in
their day, laid before the people, and called upon them in all
earnestness to obey. I have done this in order that you may be
prepared for that which we teach, for we teach precisely the same
principles that they did. Men wonder and say, "How is it that you
Latter-day Saints can live together as you do? How is it that you are
so united?" The secret lies in the tact that we have the same
principles to teach to the people that were taught by the ancient
Apostles, and the same results follow in our case as in theirs.

Vol. 14,  p.52
It has been frequently remarked to the Elders, when abroad, "What
necessity was there for an angel to come from heaven to earth to
bring, as you say he did, the everlasting Gospel when we have the
Bible and Christian organizations and Christian churches all through
the land?" This is a very important question, and one to which I will
try and give a satisfactory answer. There would have been no necessity
of any such thing if the churches, at the time Joseph Smith sought for
knowledge, had taught the same principles the Apostles declared, and
if believers in these days had enjoyed the same gifts and blessings
that they did in theirs. But if there was such a church at that time
history has failed to record the fact. There was no man on the face of
the earth, of whom we have heard, who declared to the people that if
they would believe in Jesus and repent of their sins and be baptized
for the remission of them, they should receive the Holy Ghost. On the
contrary, the bestowal of the Holy Ghost, as anciently, with its gifts
and powers, was denied by the whole Christian world. They declared
that these gifts were not for this generation, but were bestowed upon
the primitive church for the whole and sole purpose of establishing
the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that when that was accomplished there
wes no longer any need for them. That was the belief in Christendom
then, and that is the belief there now; you may hear it expressed on
every hand when conversing on these subjects. They will declare that
there is no necessity for these gifts in this age, as if the Holy
Ghost could be enjoyed by man and these gifts not manifested! Such a
thing is impossible! There would have been no necessity for the
restoration of the Gospel to the earth by an angel if the keys and
priesthood by which the ancient Apostles officiated had not been taken
from the earth. It is true that the Catholic Church claims direct
succession from the Apostles; other churches claim the same; and all,
claiming any authority whatever, endeavor to trace it back to them.
They all base their claims to authority on the fact that the Apostles
received it. The Catholic Church, especially, claim uninterrupted
descent from Peter and the last of the Apostles. But, while so doing,
they ignore the fact that as long as there was a man on the earth who
laid claim to authority direct from God the inhabitants warred against
him, until [p.53] they had succeeded in killing him, as they had all
others. This fact, though as familiar as any fact to the student of
history, is lost sight of by the Catholic Church. So long as the
Apostles lived, and so long as any man lived who had been associated
with them in their labors, there was an incessant persecution carried
on against them. And if, is recorded that every one of them, except
John, died a violent death. They tried to kill John; they immersed him
in a cauldron of boiling oil and bent him to the Isle of Patmos to
work in the lead mines, and persecuted him in various ways; but, owing
to the promise of God, they could not kill him. Peter was crucified at
Rome with his head downwards, not considering himself worthy to be
crucified as his Lord had been. Paul was beheaded in Rome; the other
Apostles were killed in various ways, every one of them suffering an
ignominious death because of their belief in Jesus; because they
believed God was a God of revelation, and because they laid claim to
authority from Jesus to administer the ordinances of his church. This
was the course pursued by the inhabitants of the earth until the
Apostles and every man having authority had been killed, and the gifts
and blessings had entirely disappeared from the earth. After this men
took to themselves doctrines to accommodate themselves, the rites and
many of the doctrines of Paganism and portions of existing
institutions were incorporated into the Christian Church, until almost
every vestige of the pure doctrines had disappeared, and nothing was
left but mere forms.

Vol. 14,  p.53
Is it any wonder that the Latter-day Saints claim that it was
necessary for an angel to fly through the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting Gospel to preach to the nations of the earth? If authority
to administer in the ordinances of the Gospel had existed among men
there would have been no such necessity; but that authority had been
taken back to God who gave it, and it had to be restored by him or it
could not be exercised on the earth again.

Vol. 14,  p.53
Where were Apostles to be found? Why they were unpopular; every man
that had held the Apostleship had been killed, yet in the words which
I have read in your hearing it is said—

Vol. 14,  p.53
"He gave to some Apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some
pastors and teachers."

Vol. 14,  p.53
And yet men tell us to-day that Apostles are not necessary! Is it
surprising that the results which we see have followed such unbelief
in Apostles? It was very dangerous to be called Apostles! It sounded
better to be called Bishops or some other title; it suited the popular
ear better and did not excite the persecution which the name of
Apostle did. Yet in the words of Paul we are told that Apostles,
prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers were placed in the Church,
for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, the
edifying of the body of Christ. If there is any man on the earth who
can prove from the Scriptures that Apostles are not necessary in the
Church of Christ, then he can prove that the words of Paul and the
rest of the Apostles are not trustworthy, for Paul tells us that they
were placed in the Church for the work of the ministry, the perfecting
of the Saints, and they were to continue there.

Vol. 14,  p.53
"Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of
the fullness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed
to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
sleight of [p.54] men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they he in wait
to deceive."

Vol. 14,  p.54
Is there room for wonder that men are carried about by every wind of
doctrine, and that they are deceived by the cunning craft of men, when
they no longer believe in Apostles and prophets, and have taken in
their stead self-constituted ministers, men who never received
authority to administer in the things of God? Can any be surprised
that Christendom is split up as it is to-day, and that men are so
confused in relation to the doctrines of Christ? or that infidelity
rears its head so defiantly in the midst of Christendom? No, it cannot
be wondered at, when men have so widely departed from and so
flagrantly disobeyed the plain teachings of Scripture as we find them
recorded in the New Testament. The condition of Christendom alone is,
of itself, sufficient to prove to every reasoning mind that if there
is a God in heaven, as we know there is; that if there is such a
principle as divine revelation, which we declare to be true; if there
are such beings surrounding the throne of God as angels, of which we
bear testimony, there never was a greater necessity for angels to be
sent to earth, or for revelation to be given to man, than in the day
in which we live. Some may say that we have the Bible and its divine
teachings to peruse at our leisure; but has frequently been remarked
by those who scoff at it that it is like a fiddle, every kind of a
tune can be played upon it. It requires something more than the Bible
to guide man to eternal life. It requires divine inspiration, it
requires the Holy Ghost, it requires the Priesthood, as it existed in
ancient, days, to be restored; and I thank God with all my heart, this
morning, that I do know it has been restored. I thank God from the
bottom of my heart that I have this knowledge.

Vol. 14,  p.54
Before me, in this Territory, I see the fruits of this
restoration—precisely the same fruits that followed the Priesthood
anciently. I see, here, people gathered from various nations, of
various creeds, speaking various languages, and having been reared and
educated in a very dissimilar manner, from limited monarchies, from
despotic monarchies and from republics; and yet they dwell together in
unity, worship God alike, live lives of good. Order, truth and
holiness, and love one another, which is an evidence, as the Apostle
says, that they have passed from death unto life. This unity is one of
the greatest evidences that can be given that we are the disciples of
Christ, for he has said

Vol. 14,  p.54
"If ye are not one, ye are not mine." 

Vol. 14,  p.54
And it is also one of the strongest evidences that can be given that
Jesus is the Christ, for, on one occasion, when praying to the Father
that his disciples might be one, he said—

Vol. 14,  p.54
"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."

Vol. 14,  p.54
As a people the unity of the Latter-day Saints is proverbial, and
furnishes a powerful testimony that we have walked with Christ, and
have received the blessings following the bestowal of the Holy Ghost.

Vol. 14,  p.54
These are some of the doctrines that the Latter-day Saints believe in;
time would fail to tell all. We believe that God is the same
yesterday, to-day and for ever; that he is a God of revelation, and
that the reason he has not revealed himself for centuries is because
the people so cruelly persecuted his anointed ones when he sent them
into their midst.[p.55] Their blood has cried for vengeance on the
inhabitants of the earth, and he has closed the heavens, as it were,
for centuries, our forefathers having been left only with such light
as they could obtain without the Priesthood. But has he not bestowed
his Holy Spirit upon men? Yes, millions of people have received the
Holy Spirit to a certain extent, although not in its fulness. Luther
had it, when he was inspired to war against the iniquities that
existed in the Romish Church. He was raised up especially to prepare
the way for the manifestation of the work of God in the last days.
Calvin and Melancthon had a portion of the Holy Spirit, and so had all
the Reformers who followed them; and though they had not the authority
to build up the Church of God in its ancient purity, they still had a
work to do and they have come in their days and generations and have
labored zealously, indefatigably and fearlessly, regardless of death,
inspired of God to do the work which they performed in the various
lands in which they labored—Germany, France, England, Scotland, and
various parts of Europe, and also in our own land—America. John
Wesley, also, was raised up and inspired of God to do a work, and he
did it.

Vol. 14,  p.55
Not only have these religious reformers been inspired to do a work in
preparing for the advent of the kingdom of God upon the earth; but
others have been raised ten the same purpose. Columbus was inspired to
penetrate the ocean and discover this Western continent, for the set
time for its discovery had come; and the consequences" which God
desired to follow its discovery have taken place—a free government has
been established on it. The men who established that Government were
inspired of God—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams,
Benjamin Franklin, and all the fathers of the Republic were inspired
to do the work which they did. We believe it was a preparatory work
for the establishment of the kingdom of God. This Church and kingdom
could not have been established on the earth if their work had not
been performed, or a work of a similar character. The kingdom of God
could not have been established in Asia amid the despotisms there; nor
in Africa, amid the darkness there; it could not have been built up in
Europe amid the monarchies which crowd every inch of its surface. It
had to be built up on this land, hence this land had to be discovered.
It was not discovered too soon; if it had been it would have been
overran by the nations of the earth, and no place would have been
found, even here, for the kingdom of God. It was discovered at the
right time and by the right man, inspired of God not to waver or
shrink; but, undaunted by the difficulties with which he was
surrounded, and contending with a mutinous crew, he persevered, and
continued his journey westward until he discovered this land, the
existence of which God had inspired him to demonstrate.

Vol. 14,  p.55
It was necessary that George Washington should be raised up, that the
battles of the Republic should be fought, that the Colonies should be
emancipated from the fetters of the mother country, and declared free
and independent States. Why? Because God had in view the restoration
of the everlasting Gospel to the earth again, and in addition to this
the set time had come for him to build up his kingdom and to
accomplish the fulfilment of his long deferred purposes.

Vol. 14,  p.55
Jesus said unto Jerusalem, "How often would I have gathered thy
children together, even as a hen [p.56] gathereth her chickens under
her wings, and ye would not!" But the prophets tell us that in the
last days the people of God shall be gathered together from the
different parts of the earth and be united together in one people. It
was necessary, therefore, that a land should be prepared and a form of
government be established within its borders without conflicting with
it. Therefore, religious liberty arm toleration have been proclaimed
throughout the length and breadth of this land. Men fought, bled and
died in vindication of these principles, and they were incorporated
into the Constitution, and we, to-day, are reaping the blessed results
of their labors. Shall they not have glory in the sight of God for
those labors? Yes, glory and honor and blessings and immortality will
rest upon men who have been instruments in the hands of God in
bringing to pass his great and marvellous purposes. We have the
greatest charity for them; we know that God will save and bless them.
We know, further, that their sins were sins of ignorance. Where there
is no law, it is said, there is no transgression. They had not the
fulness of the Gospel declared unto them; but the generation in which
we live hear the law and the testimony, and they will be held
accountable for this knowledge. God will hold you, my brethren,
sisters and friends, strictly accountable for that which you hear. You
live in a day and age when the purposes of God are transpiring before
your eyes, and when you see the mighty going forth of his great work.
Men, generally, however, will not look at it, and yet they are ready
to declare that if they knew the work of God was progressing they
would be willing to help it forward. They are the same as the Jews
were with the Lord Jesus Christ. When he was with them he was despised
and put to death; now men think they honor him, but if he lived upon
the earth to-day do you think he would be honored? He would be treated
to-day as he was then. God sent his only Son, the Prince of life and
glory; he came to the earth in humble mien, in the garb of poverty,
speaking ungrammatically, yet he was heaven's Prince, the Lord of all
things. He was born in a stable and cradled in a manger. But God's
noble sons are not always born to thrones; some of the noblest men who
have lived on earth have not been found in the courts of kings. Where
shall we look for them? Frequently among the humble and lowly. I thank
God it is so. I have found among the humble and lowly, men with minds
which were like rich jewels; men who loved the truth, and who have
been willing to die for principle. I have also found many of the rich
and noble who have 

Vol. 14,  p.56
"Crooked the pregnant hinges of the knee, 
That thrift might follow fawning."

Vol. 14,  p.56
And who have been willing to do anything to curry favor, who
worshipped popularity, and were ready to bow at its shrine in humble,
abject reverence. While among the poor, the meek, and the lowly, I
have known men, and we all doubtless have, who would die rather than
step aside from principle. Among such God has placed his nobles in
this generation, in order to be pioneers in this work and lay its
foundations. They cooled sacrifice, and endure poverty for the sake of
truth, and they have done so, and have risked all, braving the world
fearlessly, establishing principle after principle, and declaring
truth, in all its simplicity and purity, to the nations of the earth.
Thus far God has vindicated their course and upheld them and has borne
them off triumphantly, [p.57] and he will continue to do so until the
victory is achieved and the desired consummation of his purposes is
reached.

Vol. 14,  p.57
This work will stand and spread abroad, because it is the work of God.
After awhile it will gather within its fold men who, at the present
time, consider it beneath their notice. It will accomplish the destiny
that has been assigned to it. It will gather every honest man and
woman on the face of the earth; all who will acknowledge truth will
receive and rejoice in this work. I thank God that it is restored to
the earth. It is more precious than the good will of men to know God.
To have the spirit of truth, and the union and fellowship which exist
among the Latter-day Saints, is worth more than the riches of
California, more than all the mines Of the earth, or all the jewels in
the crown of every monarch on the earth, or their entire treasures,
because they will fade away, but these will endure for ever. And the
man who obeys the Gospel of Jesus need not feel that he is bound or
enslaved, or deprived of the exercise of any of the faculties, as many
suppose. He is emancipated from thraldom; he can rejoice in the light
of truth, and go forward and embrace every principle of truth. Not
religious. truth alone; it is a wrong idea that people who are
religious must confine themselves to what are termed religious truths
only. The Gospel of Jesus Christ embraces within its scope every truth
known to man; every truth pertaining to astronomy, geology and every
other science belongs to and is incorporated in that Gospel.

Vol. 14,  p.57
I have spoken thus far and have not said a single word about that
much-mooted doctrine—plurality of wives. I expect there are gentlemen
and ladies here who would rather hear that spoken of than all that
could be said besides; who would rather hear an Elder tell how many
wives and children he has got than all that could be said about Jesus,
his Apostles, the Holy Ghost or its gifts. There is a prurient
curiosity on the part of a great many people in relation to this
subject, and were it not transcending the bounds of politeness, about
the first question they would ask after being introduced to an Elder
would be, "How many wives and children have you got?" That is about
the extent of their desires. Here is a great phenomenon before their
eyes in this Territory, of intense interest and of immense importance,
yet their souls cannot rise high enough to comprehend the first
feature of it, and no higher than to ask about the number of a man's
wives! When I hear such inquiries I pity the person who makes them. I
think if a person cannot allow his or her mind to rise any higher than
that, he or she is in a most deplorable condition.

Vol. 14,  p.57
I am satisfied that there is an immense amount of misunderstanding
among the people of the world with respect to the Latter-day Saints
and their belief in this peculiar doctrine. It is generally believed
that we have embraced it for SenSual purposes, and that we are a
sensual people. We see these ideas frequently advanced in newspapers,
and it is stated by them that we gather the people from the nations
because of this doctrine. What a silly idea! Why, any man with a grain
of common sense might know better if he would give a little reflection
to the matter! How much easier it would be, if we were licentious, to
practice licentiousness according to the popular method! Why go to the
trouble and expense and incur the odium of sustaining wives and
children merely to gratify licentiousness, when we could do it to the
fullest extent, on the popular plan,[p.58] without incurring odium or
assuming responsibility and care? Read the records of New York,
Washington, Chicago, and the records of all the cities east and west
on our continent, and then go to the old world, and you may find that
men can gratify their lustful desire without incurring odium. They can
even destroy females by the thousands in the gratification of their
sensual appetites, but because the Latter-day Saints choose to marry
them, to make women and their children respected and honorable, all
hell is moved against them. The devil does not like it. I will tell
you a rule, brethren, sisters and friends, that I have observed
through my intercourse with men, in my travels, and that is, that they
who have opposed this principle most bitterly when they understood it,
have been the most corrupt men, the very, men who have practiced
adultery and whoredom in secret; while openly, to hear them speak of
our system of patriarchial marriage, one might think them immaculate;
but I never found pure-minded men or women, honest and true to their
God, and to their partners if they had them, but what, when they heard
it explained as the Saints in this Territory understand, preach and
practice it, let them believe what they might on other points, they
would acknowledge that there was something godlike in that doctrine,
if we carried it out as we believed it. That has been my experience.

Vol. 14,  p.58
We are solving the problem that is before the world to-day, over which
they are pretending to rack their brains. I mean the "Social Problem."
We close the door on one side, and say that whoredoms, seductions and
adulteries must not be committed amongst us, and we say to those who
are determined to carry on such things we will kill you; at the same
time we open the door in the other direction and make plural marriage
honorable. What is the result? Why, a healthy, pure and virtuous
community, a community which, in these respects, has no equal on the
earth.

Vol. 14,  p.58
I say these few words by way of explanation; they are very inadequate
to convey the ideas that we entertain, and that I would like to convey
to my hearers, in relation. to celestial marriage. That God may bless
and sustain you in the practice of truth, is my prayer, in the name of
Jesus. Amen.

Orson Pratt, March 26, 1871

The Restoration of the Jews and the Rebuilding of
Jerusalem—the Latter-Day Kingdom of God—Gathering of Israel

Discourse By Elder Orson Pratt, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, March 26, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.58
I will call the attention of this congregation to a portion of the
word of the Lord contained in the first five verses of the fourth
[p.59] chapter of the prophecies of Isaiah—

Vol. 14,  p.59
"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

Vol. 14,  p.59
"Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received
of the Lord's hand double for all her sins.

Vol. 14,  p.59
"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of
the Lord, make straight in the desert a high way for our God.

Vol. 14,  p.59
"Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be
made low; and the crooked shall, be made straight, and the rough
places, plain:

Vol. 14,  p.59
"And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed; and all flesh shall see
it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."

Vol. 14,  p.59
These are the words of the inspired Prophet Isaiah, most of which
remain to be fulfilled. The first two verses contain a prediction not
yet fulfilled: '"Comfort ye my people, saith your God; speak
comfortably to Jerusalem, cry unto her that her warfare is
accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of
the Lord's hand double for all her sins."

Vol. 14,  p.59
Every person who is acquainted with the history of the inhabitants of
Jerusalem very well knows that this prediction has never received a
fulfulment. In consequence of the wickedness of that people, and the
great transgressions that they committed in the sight of heaven in
rejecting the Lord, their true Messiah, great and severe calamities
and judgments came upon them, and have continued upon them and their
posterity until this age of the world. In other words, all those
curses which are pronounced in the Book of Deuteronomy upon the head
of Israel have literally been fulfilled during the past eighteen
hundred years. I have no need to enter into particulars with regard to
that devoted race; but I will state, very briefly, some of the
judgments that they have endured.

Vol. 14,  p.59
After the Prophet Isaiah had delivered this prophecy they suffered
severely at the hands of the Babylonians; who, about six centuries
before Christ, came against the Jews. and Jerusalem and destroyed many
of their nation, and carried the remnant of them into captivity to
Babylon, where they remained some seventy years. They then returned
and rebuilt their city and temple, and were chastened at various times
from that period until their Messiah came, in fulfilment of the
prophecies and predictions of Isaiah concerning the first advent of
the Redeemer. He came, as he, himself, expressed it, to his own, but
his own received him not. They looked upon him as a base impostor, as
a Sabbath-breaker, a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber. Instead of
being a moral character, in their estimation, he was a friend of
publicans and sinners, and associated with them instead of with those
who professed to be religious. They persecuted, hated and reviled him;
and finally succeeded, in fulfilment of prophecy, in crucifying him.

Vol. 14,  p.59
Jesus, before he was crucified, said unto the Jews, "I say unto you
that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and shall be given to
a people who shall bring forth the fruits thereof." As much as to say,
"You once enjoyed the fruits of the kingdom; you once had in your
midst inspired men, prophets, great and holy men who spoke as they
were moved upon by the Holy Ghost; you once enjoyed all the blessings
and gifts of the kingdom of God; in the days of your righteousness you
enjoyed these fruits in abundance. But, alas! you have departed from
the laws of that kingdom; you have [p.60] forsaken the religion of
your fathers; you have turned your hearts away, you have apostatized
from the truth, and the fruits that were enjoyed by your fathers no
longer exist among you. Your fathers were in possession of all the
miraculous fruits and blessings and gifts of the kingdom. They could
prophecy and see visions; they could hear the voice of the Lord
speaking to them; they could enjoy the power and gift of the Holy
Spirit; work miracles in the name of the Lord; heal the, sick; cast
out devils and perform all these miracles that are recorded in the Old
Testament; and these were the fruits of that kingdom which you, the
Jewish nation, once enjoyed; but because you have rejected your
Messiah, rejected the testimony of the prophets concerning him;
rejected the testimony given in the law of Moses, and those great
types pointing to the Messiah, you, in turn, shall be rejected, the
kingdom shall be taken from you, and it shall be given to a nation who
shall bring forth the fruits thereof."

Vol. 14,  p.60
Again, Jesus says, before he was crucified, when looking upon
Jerusalem, the capital city of the Jews, "O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto
thee, how often would I have gathered you together as a hell gathers
her chickens under her wings, but ye would not."

Vol. 14,  p.60
Again, after enumerating their wickednesses, pointing out their
apostacy, and pronouncing a great variety of woes upon them, he
finally delivers a prediction of this nature upon the heads of this
devoted people, "There shall be great distress in the land, and wrath
upon this people; they shall be destroyed by the edge of the sword;
they shall be carried away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem
shall be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles
are fulfilled."

Vol. 14,  p.60
This was literally fulfilled upon their heads. Titus, the Roman
general, laid siege to that city and overcame the Jews, eleven hundred
thousand of whom were killed, and ninety-seven thousand taken into
captivity, many of the latter being afterwards persecuted and killed
by their enemies; thus a poor, miserable remnant were scattered abroad
among all the various nations and kingdoms of the earth. Jerusalem,
their beloved city, where their temple was built, where the name of
the Lord was placed, and from which they had been warned by the mouth
of the prophets, where the voice of inspiration had been heard; where
Jesus himself, who spake as never man spake, ministered for many
months. That city was delivered up to the Gentiles, and overcome by
them; the stones of their beautiful temple were torn down to the very
foundation, and the city passed into the hands of the Gentiles, and
has remained in their possession from that day until the present time,
which, I think, is now precisely 18 centuries since that people were
scattered and became a hiss and a bye-word among all nations. It was
said this morning that they invoked the curse of the Almighty on their
heads when they said, at the crucifixion of the Savior, "Let his blood
be upon us and upon our children." The Lord took them at their word,
and his blood has been answered upon their heads, and upon the heads
of their children, and their children's children, until eighteen long
centuries have rolled away.

Vol. 14,  p.60
When will the time come for this great curse to be removed from the
Jewish nation? When shall it be said that "her iniguity is pardoned,
she has received at the Lord's hand double for all her sins?" When
shall [p.61] the message go forth, in the words of our text, "Comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God? Speak ye comfortably to
Jerusalem, cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her
iniquity is pardoned, for she has received at the Lord's hand double
for her sins." I, ask the question; where shall we get the reply? In
what way will this comforting message be delivered to the inhabitants
or the earth? When shall this glorious cry go forth concerning this
persecuted, down-trodden people? When shall Jerusalem be rebuilt in
all its beauty and glory by the hand of the people who have been so
long scattered among the nations? When shall that beautiful and holy
temple be again reared upon its former foundations, and the glory of
the Lord be manifested in it? There is such a proclamation to be made
manifest, such a message to go forth by Divine authority and power,
and to be delivered to the children of men, comforting the inhabitants
of Jerusalem and declaring that her warfare is accomplished.

Vol. 14,  p.61
Before this great message for the redemption and salvation of the
Jewish nation can ever go forth, there is a certain work to be
performed on the earth, certain purposes to be fulfilled, and until
that is fulfilled and accomplished, Jerusalem can never be rebuilt,
and the Jews can never return as a nation. A decree has gone forth by
the mouth of the Son of God himself, that that city should be in the
possession of the Gentiles, and that it should be trodden down by
them, and that the Jews should be scattered among the nations until
the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Who, among all the
inhabitants of the earth, can tell us how the Lord will bring about
the fulfilment of this prediction in regard to the Gentiles? Who is
able to declare when the times of the Gentiles will be fulfilled? Who
knows anything about it, unless it be revealed from heaven? We might
pore over the pages of the Bible, understand many of the prophecies
that have been fulfilled, and be able to treasure up in our hearts and
commit to memory all the predictions of the prophets, and yet, without
new revelation, no person would be able to decide when the times of
the Gentiles are fulfilled. We might, of course, by carefully
searching the prophecies, judge of the particular period of age of the
world in which that would take place; but to come to the exact year is
out of the power of human wisdom, it cannot comprehend it; nothing but
new revelation can put us in possession of this important knowledge.
In vain may attempts be made, by the organization of societies, for
the amelioration of the condition of the Jews; in vain will societies
be organized for their restoration to their own land and the
rebuilding of Jerusalem, until the Lord's time arrive.

Vol. 14,  p.61
It may not be amiss to declare, in a very few words, the belief of the
Latter-day Saints, in regard to the fulfilling of the times of the
Gentiles; that is, what we understand by the fulfilling of their
times. We believe, as was said this morning, that before the times of
the Gentiles can possibly be fulfilled, a proclamation must come from
heaven and be sounded in their ears—namely, that an angel must come
from heaven and bring the everlasting Gospel, not for the Jews, the
descendants of Israel, alone, but for every nation, kindred, tongue
and people. Gentiles and Jews, all must hear it, for the prediction is
that when the angel comes forth with that message from heaven, it is
to be preached to all nations, kindreds, tongues and people. This, of
course, includes Gentiles as well as Jews.[p.62] We cannot, therefore,
suppose that the times of the Gentiles will be fulfilled until after
that event takes place. When the angel comes, when the servants of God
are sent forth by Divine authority with a proclamation, and have
fulfilled that prediction by declaring the everlasting Gospel to all
the nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles, then their times will be
fulfilled, and not before.

Vol. 14,  p.62
What would be the use of sending the Gospel to the Gentiles if their
times were fulfilled and there was no hope or chance for them to
receive salvation? The very declaration—that an angel shall come forth
with the Gospel in the latter days before the destruction of the
wicked, and that that Gospel is to be preached to Gentiles as well as
Jews, is proof and evidence to every reflecting mind that believes the
Bible that the Gentiles will have an opportunity, until that message
is delivered and the prediction concerning it fulfilled. When that is
done the law is bound, the testimony is sealed, so far as they are
concerned.

Vol. 14,  p.62
When the Almighty, in the present century, sent forth an angel from
heaven, as we heard this forenoon, and restored the Gospel and the
authority and power to preach it and administer its ordinances, and
organized this Church on the earth, and sent forth his servants to all
nations so far as they would open their doors to receive them, they
were fulfilling the commands of the Most High given by the angel. We
have been forty years, since the angel came, fulfilling that
prediction; how many more years the Lord may bear with the motions and
kingdoms of the Gentiles before they are cut off I do not know. How
many more years will pass over our heads that we will have the
privilege of declaring the fullness of the everlasting Gospel among
the nations of the Gentiles is not revealed. All that we know on the
subject is what the Lord told us some forty years ago, that the times
of the Gentiles would be fulfilled in the generation in which he
established his Church, that is, that before the generation living
forty years ago have all passed away the times of the Gentiles will be
fulfilled. And what then? The prediction of Isaiah, in another place,
will be literally fulfilled—the "law will be bound up and the
testimony sealed" so far as sending the Gospel to the Gentile nations
is concerned.

Vol. 14,  p.62
What will be the next work to be performed? The Jews will then come in
remembrance before the Lord. That is, the set time for their
deliverance and restoration will have come, the period predicted by
the mouth of the ancient prophet in which the Gospel shall be
proclaimed to them. In testimony of this let me refer you to the
eleventh chapter of Romans, in which the Apostle Paul has touched upon
this subject very plainly. We will read a few passages, commencing at
the 13th verse:

Vol. 14,  p.62
"For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the Apostle of the
Gentiles, I magnify mine office.

Vol. 14,  p.62
"If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh,
and might save some of them."

Vol. 14,  p.62
Again he says, speaking of Israel—

Vol. 14,  p.62
"And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild
olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the
root and fatness of the olive tree;

Vol. 14,  p.62
"Boast hot against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not
the root, but the root thee.

Vol. 14,  p.62
"Thou wilt say then, the branches were broken off that I might be
grafted in."

Vol. 14,  p.63
Thus the kingdom was taken from Israel and given to them (the
Gentiles)[p.63] and they brought forth the fruits of it. Says Paul
again—

Vol. 14,  p.63
"Well, because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by
faith. Be not high minded, but fear;

Vol. 14,  p.63
"For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also
spare not thee—"

Vol. 14,  p.63
A great warning to the Gentiles—the house of Israel—the branches of
the tame olive tree were broken off because they ceased to bring forth
the fruits of the kingdom of God. As much as to say, Because they
ceased to bring forth the fruit that pertains to the tame olive tree,
they were broken off through unbelief, therefore you Gentiles, who are
now grafted in, being branches of the wild olive tree, take heed and
beware lest you fall after the same example of unbelief. If thou
standest by faith, boast not against the branches, etc. 

Vol. 14,  p.63
Paul says—

Vol. 14,  p.63
"Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God; on them which
fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his
goodness—otherwise thou shalt be cut off."

Vol. 14,  p.63
Now, here is a definite prediction: if ye continue in his goodness,
the goodness of God will be extended to you, though you are Gentiles,
though you are grafted, contrary to nature, into the tame olive tree,
but if you do not continue in his goodness, if you lose your faith, as
the house of Israel lost it; if you cease to bring forth the fruits of
the kingdom, as they have done, you also shall be cut off. And they
also; that is, the Jews, if they abide not in unbelief, shall be
grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again; but if they were
cut out of an olive tree, wild by nature, and were grafted, contrary
to nature, into a good olive tree, how much more shall those which be
the natural branches (meaning the scattered Jews), be grafted into
their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that you should be
ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that
blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the
Gentiles be come in—

Vol. 14,  p.63
"And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, There shall come
out of Zion a Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob."

Vol. 14,  p.63
You see, the Lord has a blessing in store for Jacob—the literal seed
of Israel; but we cannot go go them until the Gentile fullness has
come in, until their times are fulfilled, then all Israel will be
saved, by a Deliverer sent out of Zion; in other words, there will be
a Zion again on the earth. The earth has been destitute of a Zion for
about sixteen centuries. No Church of God, no prophets, no inspired
Apostles, no voice of God from the heavens, no ministration of angels;
none of the ancient powers and gifts, all the fruits of the kingdom of
God that existed in the first century of the Christian era banished
from among the Gentile nations, and the cry among them all is, "That
the power of godliness, as manifested in the first century of the
Christian era, is no longer necessary." They have a form of godliness
without the power thereof. The power then manifested, say they, is not
to be enjoyed by the people of our day and age.

Vol. 14,  p.63
Having, then, lost their faith and ceased to bring forth the fruits of
the kingdom, the prediction has gone forth that they also shall be cut
off. But when? Not until the Lord sends that angel from heaven with
the everlasting Gospel, and sends forth his servants by Divine
authority to preach the Gospel to all the nations and kingdoms of the
Gentiles. When that has been done it brings condemnation wherever the
sound of it goes and the people reject it. But a few will receive it;
a few will gather [p.64] together and they will build up Zion, and out
of that Zion will come a Deliverer who will turn away ungodliness from
Jacob.

Vol. 14,  p.64
Who will be that Deliverer? Certainly Jesus, when he came eighteen
centuries ago, did not turn away ungodliness from Jacob, for they then
were filling up their cup with iniquity. They have remained in
unbelief from that day to this; hence, there did not come a Deliverer
out of Zion eighteen centuries ago. But the Zion of the last days,
that Zion that is so frequently and so fully spoken of by the ancient
prophets, especially by Isaiah, is the Church and kingdom of God; and
out of that Church or kingdom or Zion is to come a Deliverer, who will
turn away ungodliness from Jacob after the times of the Gentiles are
fulfilled.

Vol. 14,  p.64
Paul further says—

Vol. 14,  p.64
"As concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sakes; but as
touching the election, they are beloved for the father's sakes."

Vol. 14,  p.64
Again he says, in the 30th verse—

Vol. 14,  p.64
"For as ye, in times past, believed not God, yet have now obtained
mercy through their unbelief; even so have these," meaning Israel,
"also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain
mercy."

Vol. 14,  p.64
This shows that the proclamation which goes to Israel must come
through the Gentile nations; that is, through those whom God may
select among the Gentiles, that through the mercy and kindness of the
Gentiles, or those who receive the message in the latter days, the
house of Israel may be saved.

Vol. 14,  p.64
This is what the Lord has in store for his servants. You young men who
sit here on these seats will live to see the times of the Gentiles,
fulfilled; you will live to see the time when the Lord will give you a
direct command from on high to no more go into the cities of the
Gentiles to preach unto them, the law having been bound, the testimony
sealed; and the mission which you will receive, young men, will be to
go to the scattered remnants of the house of Israel among all the
nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles. To search them out and proclaim
to them the message restored by the angel, that it may be preached to
Israel, as well as to the Gentiles. That is your destiny; that, young
men, is what the Lord will require at your hands. We have labored, in
the midst of persecution, for forty years past in trying to establish
Zion among the Gentiles.

Vol. 14,  p.64
Will the Gentiles be entirely cut off? Oh no, there Will be a great
many, even when Israel are gathering, who will come along and say,
"Let us be numbered with Israel, and be made partakers of the same
blessings with them; let us enter into the same covenant and be
gathered with them and with the people of God." Though the testimony
is bound, and though the law is sealed up, yet there will be an
opening for you to come in. But you will have to come of your own
accord, there will be no message sent to you, no ministration of the
servants of God expressly directed to you. When the times of the
Gentiles are filled, through the mercy of the believing Gentiles, the
house of Israel must obtain mercy; that is, through the messengers
that will then go forth and fulfill the first verses of my
text—"Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God."

Vol. 14,  p.64
Individuals are now sitting in this Tabernacle who will carry this
message. The young among us will go forth to the ends of the earth and
declare to the scattered remnants of Israel, wherever found, the
comforting words that, "The times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, that
the day is come [p.65] for the covenant which God made with the
ancient fathers of Israel to be fulfilled;" and you will have the
pleasure of gathering them up by thousands, tens of thousands, and
hundreds of thousands, from the islands of the sea and from all
quarters of the earth; for that will be a day of power far more than
it is while the Gospel continues among the Gentiles.

Vol. 14,  p.65
"But," inquires one, "have you any testimony from the Scriptures to
prove that that day will be a day of power?" Hear what the Lord says
by the mouth of the Psalmist David, "Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power." They are not willing now and have not been
willing for eighteen centuries past. But when the day of his power
comes they will be willing to hearken, they will gather up to their
promised land, for it will be the day of the Lord's power. In what
respect will there be power manifested then? As power was manifested
when the Lord brought Israel from the Egyptian nation into the
wilderness of Sinai and spoke to them by his own voice, so will the
power of Almighty God be made manifest among all the nations of the
earth when he brings about the redemption and restoration of his
people Israel; or, in other words, the former display of power will be
eclipsed, for that which was done in one land, among the Israelites
and Egyptians in the wilderness, will be performed among all nations.
So says the prophet. Let us quote prophecy to show what the day of the
Lord's power means, when the people of Israel will be willing. The
first to which I will call your attention will be found recorded in
the 20th chapter of Ezekiel, commencing at the 33rd verse—

Vol. 14,  p.65
"As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a
stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you:

Vol. 14,  p.65
"And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of
the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a
stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.

Vol. 14,  p.65
"And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there
will I plead with you face to face.

Vol. 14,  p.65
"Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of
Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God."

Vol. 14,  p.65
This will be when the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, and you
Elders of Zion are sent to the house of Israel. You will go in the
Lord's power, and so great will be that power that yea will have
influence over them. You will tell them that their warfare is
accomplished, that their iniquity is pardoned, and that they have
received at the Lord's hand double for all their sin; and the Lord
dill bear witness of this by his mighty power, with a mighty hand and
an outstretched arm will the Lord do this, and with fury poured out.
Poured out upon whom? Upon all the nations and kingdoms of the
Gentiles who will not receive the truth, their times being fulfilled.
It will be expressly the day of the Lord's judgment, or, in other
words, the hour of the Lord's judgment, that is spoken of in the 14th
chapter of Revelations, when the angel brings the Gospel.

Vol. 14,  p.65
It is not only a Gospel to be preached to all the nations of the
earth, but in connection with it you will have to make proclamation
connected with it, to all people, to fear God and give glory to him,
for the hour of his judgment is come. And as these judgments come,
kingdoms and thrones will be east down and overturned. Empire will war
with empire, kingdom with kingdom, and [p.66] city with city, and
there will be one general revolution throughout the earth, the Jews
fleeing to their own country, desolation coming upon the wicked, with
the swiftness of whirlwinds and fury poured out, recollect, as it was
poured out on the Egyptians. 

Vol. 14,  p.66
Let us read the 35th verse—

Vol. 14,  p.66
"And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there
will I plead with you face to face."

Vol. 14,  p.66
"No more miracles," say this Christian generation; "no more power to
be made manifest; we have a form of godliness, but we don't need this
display of power." This is their cry, with all these prophecies
staring them in the face.

Vol. 14,  p.66
"I will bring you into the wilderness."

Vol. 14,  p.66
Bring whom? The house of Israel which are gathered from all these
various nations. "I will bring you into the wilderness, and there I
will plead with you face to face as I plead with your fathers in the
wilderness, in the land of Egypt." How did he plead with them there?
He plead with them by his power, by splendid miracles, by his own
voice he chased Mount Sinai to tremble under the sound and power of
his voice, while lightnings and thunders were made manifest before all
the congregation of Israel. He spoke to them by the voice of a trumpet
which, when the twenty-five hundred thousand of the hosts of Israel
heard, they fled, and stood afar off—they were afraid and fearful,
because the Lord had descended upon Mount Sinai. So will he plead with
Israel in the latter days, and show forth his mighty hand and power,
when he gathers them from the nations; and he will give revelations he
did to their fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt.

Vol. 14,  p.66
But as a still further testimony of the power that will be made
manifest in the restitution of Israel, let me refer you to another
passage, which is contained in the 11th chapter of Isaiah, "He shall
set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of
Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four
corners of the earth." Here is a declaration that the two great
kingdoms of Israel—its "outcasts," the ten tribes, scattered seven
hundred and twenty years before Christ, and the "dispersed of Judah,"
dispersed among all nations, shall be gathered. But before he gathers
them he will set up an ensign—an ensign is to be raised in the
latter-days especially for the gathering of Israel.

Vol. 14,  p.66
Again, says the Prophet, "And the Lord shall utterly destroy the
tongue of the Egyptian sea." How? "With his mighty power shall he
shake his hand over the river and shall smite it in the seven streams
and make men go over dryshod. 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." the
same thing, not a spiritual, but a literal transaction, as the Lord
smote the tongue of the Egyptian sea in ancient days, and caused his
people to go through on a highway in the midst of those mighty waters
which stood like walls on each side of the assembly of Israel. So in
the latter days he will not only cut off the tongue of the Egyptian
sea, but the river in its seven streams will also be divided and men
will go through dryshod. This is the testimony of the prophets
concerning the events that are to take place when the times of the
Gentiles are fulfilled.

Vol. 14,  p.66
But in regard to this ensign, the Lord has never said that he will
lift it up before the time comes to gather [p.67] Israel. And now let
us inquire where will it be lifted up; in what part of the earth will
he commence the great work? He must begin it among the Gentiles, as I
have already said, and as Isaiah tells us in the 49th chapter—a
standard or ensign, to which the people will gather, will he reared
among the Gentiles. Recollect this is something to be commended among
the Gentiles, not among the Jewish nation, not away yonder in
Palestine or Jerusalem. "Thus saith the Lord God, behold I will lift
up mine hand to the Gentiles and set up my standard to the people"—the
same ensign that Isaiah speaks of in the eleventh chapter—for a
standard and an ensign are synonymous terms.

Vol. 14,  p.67
Now, notice what follows, us soon as this standard is raised among the
Gentiles, "They shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters
Shall be carried on their shoulders;" that is, those who receive that
standard, or who embrace the work and gather to the standard, "shall
bring thy sons in their arms and thy daughters on their shoulders."
Will the kings of the earth help on this work? Yes, for the prophet
says, "And kings shall be their nursing fathers and their queens thy
nursing mothers." What more about the Gentiles? "And they shall bow
down to thee with their Gee toward the earth, and lick up the dust of
thy feet." Israel is to be honored: the Lord will require even the
kings of the Gentiles—their great men, lords, nobles and rulers to bow
down and lick up the dust of their feet, for he intends to make Israel
the head and not the tail.

Vol. 14,  p.67
To show still more fully the place where this ensign or standard is to
be raised, let me refer you to the 18th chapter of Isaiah, wherein you
will find these words, "Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is
beyond the rivers of Ethiopia." In the 3rd verse of that chapter,
after uttering the prediction concerning the judgment to come upon
that land beyond the rivers of Ethiopia from Palestine—a land that has
the appearance of shadowing with wings, like North and South America,
the prophet says, "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 with a trumpet, hear ye"—something that the Lord considered
worthy of the attention of all the people of the earth. It was not to
he sounded to one nation alone, not a work like that of ancient
days—to be done among the Egyptian nation alone, but "all ye
inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he
lifts up an ensign on the mountains, and when he bloweth a trumpet,
hear ye."

Vol. 14,  p.67
Now Webster and other lexicographers in their definitions of the word
"standard" say it is something to which the people rally and around
which they gather, as you Latter-day Saints have rallied to these
mountains from all the various nations and kingdoms of Europe; from
Australia, Southern Africa, Hindostan and other parts of the earth.
Here the "standard" has been lifted up, the "ensign" has been raised;
the angel has come, the voice of inspiration is again heard; the
Church of the living God is again reared; Zion is rising in the earth;
the times of the Gentiles will soon be fulfilled, and when that epoch
arrives all the inhabitants of the earth will be required to see,
understand and listen to that which God is doing in the midst of the
mountains. He is raising up a people there that are called his Church,
his kingdom, that never is to be destroyed, but is to continue for
ever.

Vol. 14,  p.68
This agrees with the testimony of [p.68] the Prophet Daniel. In his
second chapter we are informed that Nebuchadnezzar, the king, had a
dream in which it was revealed to him concerning the kingdoms of this
world, down to the latter days. Daniel came forth before the king,
related the dream and gave the interpretation thereof. Said he—

Vol. 14,  p.68
"Thou, O king, sawest, and beheld a great image. This great image,
whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form
thereof was terrible.

Vol. 14,  p.68
"This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of
silver, his belly and his thighs of brass.

Vol. 14,  p.68
"His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.

Vol. 14,  p.68
"Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote
the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay and brake them to
pieces.

Vol. 14,  p.68
"Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold
broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer
threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was
found for them; and the stone that smote the image became a great
mountain, and filled the whole earth."

Vol. 14,  p.68
The mountain referred to by Daniel is the place where the standard is
to be raised and the ensign is to be reared; the same place whence the
proclamation was to go to all the dwellers on the face of the earth
requiring them to listen to the same, and to see the stone that was
cut out of the mountains that was eventually to fill the whole earth;
while the great image representing all human governments was to become
like the chaff of the summer threshing floor.

Vol. 14,  p.68
Are there any statesmen in this congregation, among the strangers who
are visiting in our midst, who are desirous to know the future destiny
of the nations, kingdoms and governments of our globe? Read the
prophecies; there you will find portrayed the destiny of all
governments organized by human wisdom they are to become like the
chaff of the summer threshing floor—the wind is to carry them away,
and no place is to be found for them, from the head of gold to the
feet and toes of iron and clay, all are to be broken to pieces
together. And what is to remain in their stead? A stone cut out of the
mountains without hands—little in its beginning, insignificant, in the
estimation of the great and powerful kingdoms of the world; but it is
to roll forth, become a great mountain and fill the whole earth and to
continue for ever. Hear what the prophet has said—

Vol. 14,  p.68
"And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a
kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall nob be,
left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all
these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever."

Vol. 14,  p.68
The kingdom that was set up eighteen hundred years ago by our Savior
and his Apostles was destroyed out of the earth in fulfillment of the
prophecies of Daniel and John the Revelator. They said that the powers
of the world would make war with that kingdom and overcome it. that
has been fulfilled to the very letter. The kingdom of God, with its
inspired prophets and Apostles, was rooted out of the earth, also the
Priesthood with all its powers; and instead thereof churches, creeds
and governments have been reared and built up by human wisdom; but the
kingdom of God that is to be established in these last days, instead
of being overcome and destroyed out of the earth, is to stand for
ever; it was not to be delivered to another people, that is, it is
never to change hands, but once established, once organized [p.69] on
the earth, it is to continue from that time henceforth and for ever,
while the kingdoms of this world will vanish away like the dream of a
night vision.

Vol. 14,  p.69
Now we begin to understand the latter part of our text. Not only is
Israel to be saved; but "prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight
in the desert an highway for our God." What do we want with an highway
in the desert? We have already read about the highway through the Red
Sea, and through the seven streams of the river of Egypt that is to be
cast up like it was in ancient days; but what need have we for a
highway in the desert? It is for the ransomed of the Lord to pass
over. What ransomed of the Lord? Those who are ransomed from among the
nations, by the proclamation of the everlasting Gospel, those who
listen to the angelic message that comes from heaven; they who have
toiled with ox teams, mule teams and hand carts and wheelbarrows to
get themselves here, to lay a foundation of the work of God in the
midst of this desert. They need a highway here, that the balance who
are to come hereafter, and they will come by hundreds of thousands,
may come swiftly, and more speedily than by handcart conveyances. And
this pats me in mind of another passage in regard to the highway
connected with the proclamation of the Gospel to all the world.

Vol. 14,  p.69
Isaiah says, "Cast up, cast up an highway, gather out the stones, lift
up a standard for the people, prepare ye the way of the people, for
behold the Lord hath proclaimed unto the ends of the world, say ye to
the daughter of Zion, behold thy salvation cometh; behold his reward
is with him and his work is before him. They shall call them a holy
people, the redeemed of the Lord; and they shall be called, sought
out, city not forsaken." What a curious work to take place in the
latter days! A highway to be made, and the stones to be gathered out!
When these men, sitting here on these seats, were working out in these
rugged mountains for some two or three hundred miles fulfilling these
prophecies, did you blast out the rocks and gather out the stones?

Vol. 14,  p.69
Another thing connected with the prophecy says, "Go through, go
through the gates; cast up an highway," etc, I have no doubt that the
prophet saw the construction of this highway in vision, in fact he
must have seen it or he could not have predicted it to such a nicety.
He must also have seen these trains crossing this great continent,
"dodging" into what seemed to be holes in the mountains, and after
watching a little while see them come out at the opposite side. He did
not call them tunnels in those days, but said, "Go through the gates,"
etc.

Vol. 14,  p.69
In order to show how swiftly the people would come on this highway in
the latter days let me refer you to the 5th chapter of Isaiah and the
26th verse, "He will lift up his ensign to the nations from afar, and
will hiss unto them from the ends of the earth; and behold they shall
come with speed swiftly." Not with handcarts and ox teams as we did
for many years; but they are to come from the ends of the earth
swiftly. But he tells us that an ensign is to be lifted up. All these
predictions centre in one: The standard, the ensign, the proclamation,
the casting up of the highway, and the coming with speed swiftly, all
concentrate, as it were, into one, to fulfil the great purposes of
Jehovah in the latter days.

Vol. 14,  p.69
"Lift up an ensign to the nations from afar!" Where was Isaiah when he
delivered this prophecy? In [p.70] Palestine. Do you think you could
get much further from Palestine and have an ensign raised up from
afar? It is not an ensign that is to be raised up in the land of
Palestine, right where the prophet predicted it; but he saw from afar,
from a great distance, the great work God would perform in the latter
day. "Lift up an ensign for the nations;" not for-one nation, not for
a few people; but it was a work that was general in its nature—an
ensign or standard the raising of which was to affect all the
inhabitants of the earth. And when this is accomplished an highway was
to be built and be made straight in the desert—an highway for our God.
Why? Because, says our text, the glory of the Lord was to be revealed
and all flesh was to see it together. This does not refer to the first
coming of the Messiah, but to that great advent spoken of by all the
prophets when he shall come in his glory and power, when the mountains
and hills that are on the east, west, north and south of this valley
will be leveled; when the crooked places shall be made straight, and
the rough places plain; and when the glory of the Lord will be
revealed; and, instead of a few seeing it, as they did in ancient
times, "all flesh will see it together;" for every eye shall see him
when he comes in his glory and power to reign as King of kings and
Lord of lords. Amen.

Brigham Young, July 10, 1870

Sin—the Atonement—Good and Evil—the Kingdom of God

Remarks By President Brigham Young Delivered in 
the Tabernacle, Ogden City, July 10, 1870.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.70
I am disposed to ask a few questions of this congregation, though not
expecting them to give audible answers. Judging from what I know and
understand of the Latter-day Saints, I can answer these questions
satisfactorily to myself, and probably to the satisfaction of most of
the people.

Vol. 14,  p.70
Do we believe in the Scriptures of Divine truth?—those which are
contained in the Old and New Testaments, in the Book of Mormon, the
Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and other revelations that have been
given to this people? I can answer this in the affirmative, by saying
that we certainly do. This leads my mind to the reflection that if we
believe the Scriptures and the revelations I have referred to, we also
believe that Jesus is the Christ; and believing the Scriptures and
that Jesus is the Christ, we must believe other things also. If the
Scriptures are true, it proves that sin is in the world, and the
question arises, Is it necessary that sin should be here? What will
the Latter-day Saints say? Is it, necessary that we should know good
[p.71] from evil? I can answer this to suit myself by saying it is
absolutely necessary, for the simple reason that if we had never
realized darkness we never could have comprehended the light; if we
never tasted anything bitter, but were to eat sweets, the honey and
the honeycomb, from the time we come into this world until the time we
go out of it, what knowledge could we have of the bitter? This leads
me to the decision that every fact that exists in this world is
demonstrated by its opposite. If this is the fact—and all true
philosophy proves it—it leads me to the conclusion that the
transgression of our first parents was absolutely necessary, that we
might be brought in contact with sin and have the opportunity of
knowing good and evil. It may be deemed strange and singular by the
Christian world that we should believe such a thing; but the
Scriptures inform us, in Genesis iii., 22, that the Lord God said,
"Behold, the man has become as one of us, to know good and evil." Are
we the sons and daughters of that God whom we serve? We answer we are.
Do we expect to be exalted with our Father in heaven? We do. How are
we to be exalted? We have sinned and transgressed the law of God. The
Christian world and the world of mankind have not only transgressed
the laws of God, but they have changed the ordinances and broken every
covenant that God has given them. Then I ask, Is there a debt
contracted between the Father and his children? There is. Our first
parents transgressed the law that was given them in the garden; their
eyes were opened. This created the debt. What is the nature of this
debt? It is a divine debt. What will pay it? I ask, Is there anything
short of a divine sacrifice that can pay this debt? No; there is not.

Vol. 14,  p.71
I say this to gratify myself, and to gratify my brethren and sisters.
A divine debt has been contracted by the children, and the Father
demands recompense. He says to his children on this earth, who are in
sin and transgression, it is impossible for you to pay this debt; I
have prepared a sacrifice; I will send my Only Begotten Son to pay
this divine debt. Was it necessary then that Jesus should die? Do we
understand why he should sacrifice his life? The idea that the Son of
God, who never committed sin, should sacrifice his life, is
unquestionably preposterous to the minds of many in the Christian
world. But the fact exists that the Father, the Divine Father, whom we
serve, the God of the Universe, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and the Father of our spirits, provided this sacrifice and
sent his Son to die for us; and it is also a great fact that the Son
came to do the will of the Father, and that he has paid the debt, in
fulfilment of the Scripture which says, "He was the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world." Is it so on any other earth? On every
earth. How many earths are there? I observed this morning that you may
take the particles of matter composing this earth, and if they could
be enumerated they would only be a beginning to the number of the
creations of God; and they are continually coming into existence, and
undergoing changes and passing through the same experience that we are
passing through, Sin is upon every earth that ever was created, and if
it was not so, I would like some philosophers to let us know how
people can be exalted to become sons of God, and enjoy a fulness of
glory with the Redeemer. Consequently every earth has its redeemer,
and every earth has its tempter; and every earth, and the people
thereof,[p.72] in their torn and time, receive all that we receive,
and pass through all the ordeals that we are passing through.

Vol. 14,  p.72
Is this easy to understand? It is perfectly easy to me; and my advice
to those who have queries and doubts on this subject is, when they
reason and philosophize upon it, not to plant their position in
falsehood or argue hypothetically, but upon the facts as they exist,
and they will come to the conclusion that unless God provides a Savior
to pay this debt it can never be paid. Can all the wisdom of the world
devise means by which we can be redeemed, and return to the presence
of our Father and elder brother, and dwell with holy angels and
celestial beings? No; it is beyond the power and wisdom of the
inhabitants of the earth that now live, or that ever did or ever will
live, to prepare or create a sacrifice that will pay this divine debt.
But God provided it, and his Son has paid it, and we, each and every
one, can now receive the truth and he saved in the kingdom of God. Is
it clear and plain? It is to me, and if you have the Spirit of God, it
is as plain to you as anything else in the world. Why are you baptized
for the remission of sins? Is there virtue in it? There is. Why do we
lay hands on the sick? Is there virtue in doing so? There is, and the
wicked world as well as the Saints prove this. Since Joseph Smith
received revelations from God, Spiritualism has taken its rise, and
has spread with unprecedented rapidity; and they will lay hands on
each other—one system proving another—spiritualism demonstrating the
reality of animal magnetism? Is there virtue in one person more than
another? Power in one more than another? Spirit in one more than
another? Yes, there is. I will tell you how much I have. You may
assemble together every spiritualist on the face of the earth, and I
will defy them to make a table move or get a communication from hell
or any other place while I am present. Yes, there is more spirit in
some than in others; and this power—called by the world animal
magnetism—enables those possessing it to put others into the mesmeric
sleep. When I lay hands on the sick, I expect the healing power and
influence of God to pass through me to the patient, and the disease to
give way. I do not say that I heal everybody I lay hands on; but many
have been healed under my administration. Jesus said, on one occasion,
"Who has touched me?" A woman had crept up behind him in the crowd,
and touched the hem of his garment, and he knew it, because virtue had
gone from him. Do you see the reason and propriety of laying hands on
each other? When we are prepared, when we are holy vessels before the
Lord, a stream of power from the Almighty can pass through the
tabernacle of the administrator to the system of the patient, and the
sick are made whole; the headache, fever or other disease has to give
way. My brethren and sisters, there is virtue in us if we will do
right; if we live our religion we are the temples of God wherein he
will dwell; if we defile ourselves, these temples God will destroy.

Vol. 14,  p.72
We shall now sing and dismiss the meeting. We do hope and pray you
Latter-day Saints to live according to your best knowledge; and we
pray God, our Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, to give you
faith, grace and fortitude to do so; and his Spirit, that you may be
able to see the glory of his kingdom, and then compare it with the
kingdoms of this world. What is the glory of this world? Just gather
it all together,[p.73] and it is nothing but a shadow! All the kings
and potentates on the earth, with all their power, pomp, greatness and
grandeur, will pass into oblivion—they will pass completely from the
remembrance of the children of men; they were, but are not. This is
the glory of the world; but the glory of the kingdom of God was, is,
and for ever will be!

Vol. 14,  p.73
The Lord bless you. Amen.

Brigham Young, August 7, 1870

The Latter-Day Saints the Hope of the World—Jesus Must Be 
Acknowledged—One-Man Power—Truth and Error

Remarks By President Brigham Young, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, August 7, 1870. 

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.73
It may appear strange to Jew and Gentile, to Saint and sinner, to high
and low, to bond and free, but with all our weaknesses and
imperfections we, the Latter-day Saints, are the hope of the whole
world. Our brother who has just spoken says there is something to be
done, and I say that God has commenced to do it upon this continent.
The Lord has revealed his will from the heavens; he has bestowed his
Priesthood on the children of men; he has sent forth his holy angels
with the Gospel to proclaim, and this Gospel has been proclaimed to
the children of men, and a few have received it; and strange as it may
sound to the ears, and inconsistent as it may be to the hearts,
sympathies, judgments or feelings of the Christian or of the heathen
world, without us they cannot be saved; with all our weaknesses and
imperfections, and as far short as we may come of the perfection that
we understand and which is necessary to possess before we can enjoy
the celestial kingdom of God, this is verily true.

Vol. 14,  p.73
The few observations that we have heard this morning are rich, and
many of them full of divine matter, and especially with regard to the
Christian world. This book, that we call the Bible, the Christian
world profess to believe in. Let me tell them that they must either
acknowledge, openly and frankly, that the Latter-day Saints have the
Gospel taught by Christ and his Apostles or they will go tO the wall
as infidels; it cannot be otherwise. There are but two parties on the
earth, one for God and the other for the world or the evil one. No
matter how many names the Christian or heathen world bear, or how many
sects and creeds may exist, there are but two parties, one for heaven
and God, and the other will go to some other kingdom than the
celestial kingdom of God.

Vol. 14,  p.73
Our brethren go forth in weakness; and our Elders have traversed the
earth, and have offered the Gospel [p.74] unto every nation that would
open its doors to receive it. A few from various nations have obeyed
it and have gathered themselves together; but of this number few live
strictly according to the words revealed for the guidance of the
Saints. The Gospel of the Son of God is the only thing that will do
the people good. It is all happiness, submission, kindness and love;
it is glory to God in the highest, and good will to man on the earth.
But even if we bad not the Holy Ghost Within us, look at the morals
that are taught in this Book, say nothing about the divinity of the
doctrine of the Son of God; take it morally, is it not the best code
for people to live by ever portrayed or placed on paper? We say it is;
and we may look at it in any light we please.

Vol. 14,  p.74
When the Elders of Israel go forth to preach the Gospel to the
inhabitants of the earth, though it may be done in weakness and with a
stammering tongue, the Spirit of the Lord attends the preached word
and bears witness to the honest in heart, and teaches them that this
is the truth. No matter how many priests, or who contend against the
Gospel and say, "We do not acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God,
we believe he was a philanthropist, or a divine man in human shape, so
far as nature can make him so, but to acknowledge that he was the Son
of God we cannot;" it is no matter how many talk like this, they must
eventually either acknowledge that he is the Son of God and that his
Gospel is the only Gospel or they must take infidelity. Is this the
fact? It is. Sooner or later the sects, one after, another, will deny
the Savior and every one of the ordinances of his Gospel, until they
are all, enveloped in infidelity, or they must accept the whole.
Strange as it may appear, they are now following shadows, phantoms of
the brain, and mischievous manifestations.

Vol. 14,  p.74
When the Elders of Israel first commenced to preach the Gospel there
was no such thing known on the earth as a belief in spiritual
manifestations, which are now so general. I promised them years and
years ago, when I commenced my career in the ministry, that, if they
did not accept the revelations which God had delivered to the children
of men, he would suffer the enemy of all righteousness to give them
revelations to their hearts' content, and they would receive and
believe them. What is the condition of the Christian world to-day?
They are seeking after mischievous muttering spirits; they are seeking
to know something that is not true, and to establish that which no
true philosophy on earth will establish. The only true philosophy ever
revealed to the children of men, whether pertaining to religion,
science, art, mechanism, or to any and every department of human
knowledge, was revealed by God. It is true that many who do not
believe in Jesus possess more or less of this true philosophy which
comes from God, whether they acknowledge it or not.

Vol. 14,  p.74
One of my brethren who has been speaking to you says it is a mystery
to him to see the people led as they are; to see them submit to
manpower, and to false creeds and governments as they do. It is not
strange to me. They must be servants to some being or principle. There
is not a being on the face of the earth that is free and independent
of God and his Spirit, or of that mischievous influence and power that
goes through the earth, seeking whom it may devour and to lead captive
at its will. Every son and daughter of Adam is subject to one of these
powers; there are none but what have within them [p.75] the operations
of a spirit of good or evil.

Vol. 14,  p.75
When we read over the history of the ancients we can learn that many
of them acted very foolishly; their conduct was unbecoming in many
instances. Even Moses, great as he was, and as much of divinity, light
and intelligence as he enjoyed from the Almighty, lifted himself up
above the Power that conferred upon him his greatness and influence,
and said to the people, "Shall I do this or that for you?" instead of
saying, "The Lord will do this or that for you," or, "Shall the Lord
do thus and so for you?" Through his pride and selfishness he was
deprived of the privilege of going into the land of Canaan. it is also
true that David, in many things, was very unwise. We are told that he
was a man after God's own heart, yet he did many things which he knew
to be wrong in the sight of God. Where was he left? In darkness. Then
Solomon, borne to David by Bathsheba, was also left in the dark, with
all his greatness and wisdom! Alter being blessed of the Lord to a
most wonderful degree, he turned from the Lord, followed alter strange
women and sacrified to idols. Many of the ancients acted unwisely, and
I hope and trust that many of the Elders of Israel will do better than
some of them. But if we can do as well as some of them, we are safe
for honor, glory, immortality, eternal lives and exaltation in the
kingdom that God has prepared for the righteous.

Vol. 14,  p.75
When Brother Spencer was speaking he said, "I believe in one-man
power." What can we do without it? If God does not rule in the midst
of the nations of the earth, sooner or later those nations will go
down. If the Lord Almighty does not rule in the hearts of individuals,
families, neighborhoods, towns, cities, states, and countries, sooner
or later they will fall. I cannot do without the Lord Jesus! He is the
man for me. That God who holds the keys of life and death, and who has
suffered and died for the children of men, is he who must rule in the
hearts of the children of obedience, and his kingdom will stand for
ever. The laws which God has revealed to the children of men are as
pine and as much calculated to endure forever to-day as they ever
were. Why? Because they are pure and holy, and anything that is impure
must, sooner or later, perish; no matter whether it is in the faith
and practice of an individual, town, nation or government. That
kingdom, principality, power or person that is not controlled by
principles that are pure and holy must eventually pass away and
perish.

Vol. 14,  p.75
Our brother who last addressed you said he did not know much about
Scripture. He had a father who read the Scriptures in his family, and
who taught his children the way of life and salvation contained
therein. Professor Orson Spencer was as good a scriptorian as could be
found on this continent. He lived faithful to it, and taught His
children to have faith in the name of the Lord Jesus. He was a rare
gentleman. Very few of the learned or of those who are high and lifted
up in the estimation of the people receive the Gospel; but Professor
Spencer received it. Through poor, yet he was in high life and high
standing, and he received and obeyed the Gospel and, submitted to the
government God bad established.

Vol. 14,  p.75
What is it that enables our Elders to go forth and preach the Gospel?
The Spirit of the Lord. This is their experience and testimony. What
do they testify when they go forth? That the Gospel, as set forth in
the Old and New Testaments, is true; that the plan of salvation,
revealed [p.76] by God through his prophets in ancient times, and in
modern times through Joseph Smith, is true; and as they are
enlightened and aided by the Spirit of the Lord, error must fall
before them. I often think what a task the Elders of Israel would have
to perform if they had to go to the world and establish a false
religion! They would have to read and study for years! They would be
compelled to start at the common school, and go from there to the
academy, and thence to the college and seminary; they must know what
every divine, historian and commentator has said about every
Scripture; they must also have language at their tongues' ends to
swamp the common people with their fine words, and drown them in the
mist of fog and error. But it is not so with the Elders of Israel;
they go forth with the plain, simple truth which God has revealed, and
which commends itself to the conscience and understanding of every
honest and virtuous individual who hears it. No matter how simple the
declaration of a servant of God; no matter how imperfect his language
or how few his words, the Spirit of God will bear witness of its truth
to the spirits of those who are ready and willing to receive it. How
easy it is to live by the truth! Did you ever think of it, my friends?
Did you ever think of it, my brethren and sisters? In every
circumstance of lite, no matter whether among the humble or lofty,
truth is always the surest guide and the easiest to square our lives
by. When the sisters, for instance, meet together at a quilting or for
a visit, if every one speaks, believes and loves the truth, and there
is nothing in them that is deceptive, how easy it is to converse and
pass the time! We all delight in the truth; and if a wrong, or that
which is false, is manifested it must be corrected or banished, and
truth be adopted in the place thereof. It is the easiest life to lead
on the face of the earth. How do I know it? By experience; I never
tried the opposite much.

Vol. 14,  p.76
How easy it is to sustain truth! How easy it is to sustain the
doctrines of the Savior! If I were to undertake to prove that baptism
is not necessary for the remission of sins, what a labour it would
impose upon me! How I would have to study, and use language so as to
throw a mist over the minds of the people! Jesus told his disciples to
go to all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, saying,
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;" but suppose I were
to come along and say it is not necessary, and Jesus did not mean what
he said, what a labour it would impose upon me to deceive the people,
by endeavoring to prove the truth to be false! Jesus calculated that
every individual should be baptized for the remission of his sins. How
easy it is to preach that! If persons believe and be baptized, Jesus
says lay hands upon them for the reception of the Holy Ghost; but if I
were to say contrary to this, a labor would devolve upon me which I
should not have to bear if I preached only that which is true. What a
labor it imposes upon the priests, divines, lawyers and statesmen, and
others who hold leading positions in society, when they argue from
false premises and undertake to enforce their false theories! But
simple truth, simplicity, honesty, uprightness, justice, mercy, love,
kindness, do good to all and evil to none, how easy it is to live by
such principles! A thousand times easier than to practice deception!

Vol. 14,  p.76
How I have looked at the meandering paths of politicians! See one man
spend a thousand dollars to get a small office. Another ten thousand,
[p.77] another a hundred thousand. Intriguing and planning here and
there. What for? To deceive somebody or other! Why not tell the truth
right out? Would it not be easier? It would. Politicians would not be
under the necessity of using so many arguments to make their hearers
and constituents believe that they are the very men wanted, and that
their opponents are the very men not wanted. I was diverted at a
gentleman in this Territory, fifteen or sixteen years ago, who put
himself up as a candidate for the legislature. He went on a tour of
what is called "stump speaking," telling the people "I am the man you
want; this other is the man you do not want; you may think you want
him but you do not, I am the man you should send to the legislature,
and the one you should vote for." They could not see the point and did
not vote for him. His opponent kept quietly attending to his business,
all he said being, "I am not at all anxious for office, and if the
people want me, they may vote for me."

Vol. 14,  p.77
How many times have I heard men labor an hour or two to prove that
baptism is not necessary; when a close-communion Baptist, with a Bible
in his hand, would come along and in five minutes prove that it was
necessary. Some Christians will argue that the taking of the sacrament
of the Lord's Supper is necessary; while others will argue for hours
that it is unnecessary. But the one who argues in the affirmative has
the Bible—the words of Jesus to sustain him, and his opponent, however
strenuously he may labor, cannot substantiate his petition, because
his premises are false, consequently; his whole argument must fall to
the ground.

Vol. 14,  p.77
I used to be amused in my youth at the friend Quakers; if they had
done nothing for a whole week, from Monday morning till Saturday
night, they would surely rise from their beds, if sick, for the sake
of working on the first day of the week—the Sabbath—to show to mankind
that they were above superstition. They would declare that the
observance of the Sabbath as a day of rest was all superstition, all
the work of the Elders, and was unnecessary.

Vol. 14,  p.77
When our Elders go forth to preach the Gospel, in the power and
demonstration of the Spirit of God, it commends itself to every heart;
and, if the people admit the truth of the Scriptures, it is by no
means difficult to convince thereof the truth of the doctrines that we
preach; but it requires a great deal of the power of God to induce
some to receive it enough to carry it out practically in their lives,
and to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Very
few do this. Many will acknowledge that faith, baptism, the laying on
of hands and the Lord's Supper are according to the law and the
testimony; but pride, the love of the world, the love of money, and
the love of a good name prevent many from obeying. A good name! Bless
me! what is a name? It may shine like the noon-day sun in the
estimation of friends and neighbors to-day, and to-morrow be eclipsed
in midnight darkness, to rise no more!

Vol. 14,  p.77
The glory of the world passes away, but the glory that the Saints are
after is that which is to come in the eternal world; the intelligence,
honor and brightness that come from the Supreme Being, by which the
inhabitants of celestial spheres live without sorrow and pain.

Vol. 14,  p.77
Joy, comfort, consolation, glory, happiness, perfection and eternal
lives are before us, with the eternity of God to spend in the fruition
of the glory of him that sits on the throne, the Lamb that was slain
for us.[p.78] Glory, honor, might, dominion, and the kingdom for ever
and ever. If we submit in all things to him, whose right. it is to
reign king of nations as he does king of Saints, we shall attain to
this. I do desire that we may be numbered with this happy company, and
I pray that the Lord will help us to be so. Amen.

Brigham Young, April 9, 1871

Gathering the Saints—the Providences of the Lord—
Uselessness of Non-Producers—Arbitration Better Than 
Courts—Feed not Fight the Indians—Paying Tithing

Discourse By President Brigham Young, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, April 9, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.78
I have a few sermons to preach, and as the time is short I do not know
that I shall be able to deliver as many as I wish to. I want your
attention, and you will have to be quiet. I find that my voice is a
little broken, and it will be pretty hard for me to speak so that you
can hear me. I shall not try to talk down the crying of children, the
whispering of the congregation, or the shuffling of feet, as I have
often done. I want your attention to the various subjects I wish to
lay before you; for I shall have but a few minutes to speak on each
one.

Vol. 14,  p.78
In the first place, I want to say to the Elders who go forth to preach
the Gospel—no matter who may apply to you for baptism, even if you
have good reason to believe they are unworthy, if they require it
forbid them not, but perform that duty and administer the ordinance
for them; it clears the skirts of your garments, and the
responsibility is upon them. 

Vol. 14,  p.78
A few words now with regard to gathering. I will say that if unworthy
people are gathered in the future, it is nothing new or strange,
nothing more than we expect. If this net does not gather the good and
the bad we should have no idea that it is the net that Jesus spoke
about when he said that it should gather of all kinds. Furthermore,
there are a great many who come into the Church because they know the
work is true. Their judgment, and every reasoning faculty and power of
their minds tells them it is true; consequently they embrace the
truth. But do they receive the love of it? That is the question. I
will tell you that very few of those who receive the love of the
truth, but many of those who fall away, though they know the Gospel is
true, do not possess the love of the truth, and they will not
apostatize while scattered. We try to get them to do so in the old
country, but they will not. Bring them over to New York and they will
not apostatize.[p.79] They will labor there year after year, and
struggle and toil until they can get to the gathering place, they must
come to headquarters, then they can apostatize, forsake the faith, and
turn away from the holy commandments of the Lord Jesus. This is not
our business. Our duty is to preach the Gospel and to receive all that
wish to have the ordinances administered to them, and leave the result
in the hands of God. This is his work, not ours. He has called us to
be co-laborers with him.

Vol. 14,  p.79
I want to say for the consolation of the Elders of Israel and those
who go forth to preside, you need have no trouble with regard to the
building up of this kingdom, only do your duty in the sphere to which
you are assigned. I think there is more responsibility on myself than
any other one man on this earth pertaining to the salvation of the
human family; yet my path is a pleasant path to walk in, my labors are
very agreeable, for I take no thought what I shall say; I trouble not
myself with regard to my duties. All I have to do is to live, as I
have often made the comparison, and keep my spirit, feelings and
conscience like a sheet of blank paper, and let the Spirit and power
of God write upon it what he pleases. When he writes I will read; but
if I read before he writes, I am very likely to be wrong. If you will
take the same course you will not have the least trouble.

Vol. 14,  p.79
Brother Carrington was telling us about the way in Which money turned
up to clear the ship after sending off more Saints than he had means
to pay for. Was this a miracle any more than many other things in our
lives and in the work of God? No, the providences of God are all a
miracle to the human family until they understand them. There are no
miracles only to those who are ignorant. A miracle is supposed to he a
result without a cause, but there is no such thing. There is a cause
for every result we see; and if we see a result without understanding
the cause we call it a miracle. This is what we have been taught; but
there is no miracle to those who understand.

Vol. 14,  p.79
While Brother Cartington was speaking about getting twenty pounds, I
thought of a few circumstances which have transpired here. I will
refer to one that came along in 1856. In that year our agents in
England loaded up the Saints, brought them over the ocean, up the
rivers and railroads, and fitted them out with ox teams, wagons, and
provisions, and then sent on their drafts to me, and within thirty
days I had piled upon me $78,000 that I had to pay. I never was
apprized of any draft being drawn upon me, or one word sent from the
Liverpool office, until I saw the drafts as they commenced to come in
for five, ten, or fifteen thousand dollars. I did not know where I was
going to get the first dollar; but I did just as I always do—my duty
and trusted in God. I had not, a draft protested, and I do not think
that any man went without his pay. But let me have done the business,
I should have done it differently. When I have the privilege of
acting, I act a little more by works than altogether by faith. I dare
not trust my faith quite so far, but others dare, and they have not
swamped me yet; they have not lettered my feet so that I cannot walk,
nor tied my hands so that I cannot handle; nor my tongue so that I
cannot speak; and the Lord has delivered me every time with the help
of my brethren.

Vol. 14,  p.79
We do not care anything about these things, they are but trifles. We
could stand here and talk until tomorrow morning, telling remarkable
instances of the providences of God [p.80] towards his servants and
people, and then only have just commenced. Who put flour into the
barrels here when we were destitute and had nothing to eat? The women
would go and scrape the precious barrel and take out the last half
ounce of meal and make up a little cake to divide among the children;
and perhaps the next time they would go to the barrel they would find
it halt full of flour. Who put it in? Their neighbors? No, they had
none to put in. Was it from the States? If it was, they who brought it
must have flown through, the air, for they could not have brought it
with ox teams quite so quickly. But without stopping to inquire
further about how this replenishing of the flour barrels was effected,
I know now, and knew then, that these elements that we live in are
full of all that we produce from the earth, air, and water. I told the
people when we settled here that we had all the facilities here that
we could ask for, all we had to do was to go to work and organize the
elements. How far Jesus went to get the wine that was put into the
pots which we read about in the account of the marriage at Cans of
Galilee I do not know; but I know that he had power to call the
elements that enter into the grape into those pots of water,
unperceived by anybody in the room. He had power to pass through a
congregation unseen by them; he had power to step through a wall and
no person be able to see him; he had power to walk on the water, and
none of those with whom he associated could tell how; he had power to
call the elements together and they were made into bread, but it was
done by invisible hands.

Vol. 14,  p.80
Well, I will change the subject a little, and I say to the brethren,
do not be discouraged; bring on all who wish to obey the Gospel, that
they may apostatize. We want them to apostatize as quickly as
possible. How long will the people continue to apostatize? Until the
Master comes. When he comes the word will go forth, "Gather my wheat
into my garner, and bind the tares in bundles, that they may be
burned." The wheat and the tares will grow together until harvest, and
we cannot help it, and we need not worry about it neither.

Vol. 14,  p.80
We want the brethren and sisters to feel around and see if they can
find a sixpence, a dollar or five dollars to help out the poor. Talk
about the people over yonder being hungry, why I have known them eat
not more than a third of a meal for a whole week in order to save
enough to feed two or three of us Elders. I was always ashamed to take
it; and I will tell you what else I am ashamed of. I am ashamed that
any man calling himself an Elder of Israel should go to any country to
preach the Gospel and then commence begging. Such a course is
disgraceful. I have no fellowship for those who do it; and those who
will borrow and not repay ought to be cut off the Church. I will give
you a little of my experience when on my English mission. When I
landed in Liverpool I had six bits, and with that I bought me a hat. I
had worn, on my journey to England, a little cap that my wife had made
me out of a pair of pantaloons that I could not wear any longer. We
stayed in Liverpool one year and sixteen days, and during that time we
baptized between eight and nine thousand persons, printed five
thousand Books of Mormon, three thousand hymn books, over sixty
thousand tracts that we gave to the people, and the Millennial Star;
established a mission in London, Edinburgh, and I do not know but in a
hundred other places, and we sustained ourselves.[p.81] Who was there
on that mission, I mean among the missionaries, that had a coat or
cloak that I didn't pay for? I transacted the business myself, and we
paid every dime. We got money from the brethren and sisters and paid
them up. Besides doing this, we fed family after family; and I never
allowed myself to do down to the printing office without putting my
hand in the drawer and taking out as many coppers as I could hold, so
that I might throw them to beggars without being stopped by them on
the road. Did we borrow that which we did not pay? No. Did we beg? No.
The brethren and sisters, and especially the sisters, would urge us to
come and eat with them. I would try to beg off; but that would not do,
it would hurt their feelings, we must go and eat their food, while
they would starve to procure it. I was always ashamed of this; but I
invariably had a sixpence to give them. How much had I given to me?
One sister, who now lives in Payson, gave me a sovereign and a pair of
stockings; and when I came away a hatter, by the name of Miller, sent
two hats by me to my little boys. The sisters, when I first went to
Liverpool, made a little contribution and got me a pair of pantaloons.
I was not in the habit of begging, but I said to them, "When my
trousers are a little ridiculous, I guess you will know it. won't
you?" and they gave me a pair of pantaloons, otherwise I do not think
I received one farthing. I might have received a shilling or two from
others, but I do not recollect. When we left we sent over a shipload
of the brethren and sisters, a good many of whose fares we paid. When
I went into Liverpool I do not think I could have got trusted a
sixpence if I had gone into every store and shop in the place. When we
came away a certain Captain wanted to bring us over, and said he, "Are
you ready?" "No." "How long must I wait for you? "Eight days;" and
they tied up one of the finest vessels in the harbor of Liverpool in
order to bring us over. I thought, this was a miracle, don't you? I am
sure there are some sisters now here who came with us in that vessel.
I received that as a miracle. It was the hand of God. Was it our
ability? No. Is it our ability that has accomplished what we see here
in building up a colony in the wilderness? Is it the doings of man?
No. To be sure we assist in it, and we do as we are directed. But God
is our Captain; he is our master. He is the "ONE MAN" that we serve.
In him is our light, in him is our life; in him is our hope, and we
serve him with an undivided heart, or we should do so.

Vol. 14,  p.81
What do you suppose I think when I hear people say, "O, see what the
Mormons have done in the mountains. It is Brigham Young. What a head
he has got! What power he has got! How well he controls the people?
The people are ignorant of our true character. It is the Lord that has
done this. It is not any one man or set of men; only as we are led and
guided by the spirit of truth. It is the oneness, wisdom, power,
knowledge and providences of God; and all that we can say is, we are
his servants and handmaids, and let us serve him with an undivided
heart.

Vol. 14,  p.81
Let us gather the poor. Look up your sixpences, dimes, and dollars.
Just think what your feelings would be, if your children had to go to
bed to-night crying for bread and you had none to give them! Think of
it, families, you who profess to be Saints! Fathers, think of getting
up in the morning and not a mouthful to feed your families with. I
have seen them totter along, although it was good times when I was
there to what it [p.82] is now, so they say; but I have seen them
totter along the streets when they could hardly stand up, for want.
But I never failed to give such persons sixpence, a shilling, or a
penny, when I realized that such was their position before they passed
me. The Lord gave it to me and I dealt it out freely, and am doing so
still, and I calculate to do so.

Vol. 14,  p.82
Now, let us help the poor, bring them here, place them in good,
comfortable circumstances, so that they can strut up and say, "I guess
I am somebody, and I ask no odds of the Lord." O, fools! When I hear
such expressions, or see such a disposition manifested, I think, "O,
foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you? who has turned your brain
and made you believe that you are independent of that Being who
brought you and all the human family on the earth? Who has instructed
you to believe that God has nothing to do with us, that everything
that is is by the providence of chance, or no providence at all, and
that man is all there is?" Who has taught the people this? Not the
wise, not the true philosopher. Find a true philosopher and you find
one who has the true principles of Christianity. He delights in them;
and sees and understands the hand of Providence guiding and directing
in all the affairs of this life. Though Inert are severed far from
God, and though they have hewn out to themselves cisterns, broken
cisterns that will hold no water, the true philosopher recognizes the
hand of the Supreme, guiding and controlling the affairs of the
children of men.

Vol. 14,  p.82
I have a short discourse to preach now to my friends who may be here
to-day, who are engaged in, or who may contemplate commencing
operations in, the mining business. It is the general belief now, that
there is a great deal of mineral wealth in these mountains. The
reports that have gone abroad concerning this are causing great
excitement; and I will preach a short discourse now to miners,
merchants, lawyers, doctors, priests, people, everybody. I want to
talk to you a little and give you some counsel; and I want the Saints
to take this counsel. But they take it all the time, and I expect they
will continue to do so. This counsel is with regard to lawing with one
another. I want to say to you miners: Do not go to law at all; it does
you no good, and only wastes your substance. It causes idleness,
waste, wickedness, vice, and immorality. Do not go to law. You cannot
find a court room without a great number of spectators in it; what are
they doing? Idling away their time to no profit whatever. As for
lawyers, if they will put their brains to work and learn how to raise
potatoes, wheat, cattle, build factories, be merchants or tradesmen,
it will be a great deal better for them than trying to take the
property of others from them through litigation.

Vol. 14,  p.82
We have got to a state in our nation when there is quite a portion of
the young and middle-aged men who calculate to live, as the saying is,
by their wits. I would like to have a man look philosophically into
his own heart, by the spirit of truth, and examine himself, and see
what he is, what he was made for, and what, use he is on the earth if
he never did a thing to produce a morsel of bread. Such a man eats the
bread of the laborer, he wears the clothing of the laborer; every time
he lies down on his bed he lies on that which the labor of another
produced; he never took the pains to raise a goose, duck, lamb, or
sheep. He never sheared a sheep or tried to make cloth of the wool; he
never took the pains to plough the ground and sow a little wheat, to
plant a few potatoes, to raise [p.83] a calf, a pig, or a chicken. No,
he never did anything useful; but still he eats, drinks, and wears,
and lives in luxury. In the name of common sense What use is such a
man on this earth? The question may arise, "Must we not have law?" We
have plenty of it, and sometimes we have a little too much.
Legislators make too many laws; they make so many that the people do
not know anything about them. Wise legislators will never make more
laws than the people can understand. But by reason of the wealth of
our country, young men are sent to schools and colleges, and after
receiving their education they calculate to live by it. Will education
feed and clothe you, keep you warm on a cold day, or enable you to
build a house? Not at all. Should we cry down education on this
account? No. What is it for? The improvement of the mind; to instruct
us in all arts and sciences, in the history of the world, in the laws
of nations; to enable us to understand the laws and principles of
life, and how to be useful while we live. But the idler is of no use
to himself or to the world in which he dwells.

Vol. 14,  p.83
In all nations, or at least in all civilized nations, there are
distinctions among the people created by rank, titles, and property.
How does God look upon these distinctions? How do Truth, Justice, and
Mercy look upon them? They are all alike in their eyes. The king upon
the throne and the beggar in the street are the same before the
Heavens—the same in the eyes of Truth, Justice, Love, and Mercy. Find
a true philosopher and he will look at the children of men as they
are. I do not care whether he says so or not, he regards the poorest
of the poor as human beings—men and women, and the kings and great
ones, no matter how they are clothed, if they wear crowns, diadems,
and diamonds, and ride in gilded coaches, are but human beings.

Vol. 14,  p.83
Our education should be such as to improve our minds and fit us for
increased usefulness; to make us of greater service be the human
family; to enable us to stop our rude methods of living, speaking, and
thinking. But you take those who bear the sway among men, those who
hold the affairs of the nations in their hands, catch them in the
dark, and they are the lowest of the creations of God. Many of them
descend to the lowest gutters they can find, and there, in darkness
and in private, wallow in filth and wickedness. This is a waste of
their lives, a prostitution of their knowledge and of the blessings
Providence has bestowed upon them. Many of them will sit and gamble
all night, to see who shall have the pile; and such men are called
gentlemen! And in the day time they seem the most perfect gentlemen
imaginable. They are accomplished to the highest degree; they
understand languages, and amongst them are to be found lawyers,
doctors, statesmen and members of the highest classes of society. I
heard of one in New York. A young man went there from Boston, and a
gentleman wished to show him around, and initiate him into the
mysteries of high life in New York. He took him to one of the finest
houses on Fifth Avenue, I think it was. The young man supposed it was
the residence of a private family. He was led into a long hall, so
richly adorned and ornamented that his eyes were dazzled. There was
table after table, table after table, surrounded by gentlemen who were
gambling, and the furniture and the room throughout were gorgeous in
the extreme. Here was hall after after hall, side rooms, refreshment
rooms, etc., and the young man found out that he was in a fashionable
[p.84] gambling hell. He had not believed in such things before; but
he sat there all night watching, for he wanted to find out something
pertaining to fashionable life in the metropolis. About 3 or 4 o'clock
in the morning there was a gentleman sat back from one of the tables.
He had played, played, played at one of the tables until he had played
himself perfectly out, his money and estate all gone. He entered the
place the night before a wealthy man, and by 3 or 4 o'clock in the
morning he was not worth a penny in the world. He threw himself back
from the table, and saying, "Gentlemen, I am played out," he took a
derringer pistol from his pocket, put it to his ear, and put a ball
through his brains. He was one of the wisest of that class of men I
ever heard of. If each and every one of them would do like this one,
before commencing to game, and leave their substance to men and women
who would labor, they would prove themselves wise, for their wealth
would benefit the earth. "O," say they, "we have plenty." If you have,
go and build up another city or town; go into the wilderness, take the
poor with you, teach them how to farm, how to raise cattle, how to
gather around them the comforts of life, and prove yourselves worthy
of an existence. If you have money to gamble with, you have money to
buy a farm and set the poor to work. In doing this, you are helping to
elevate the human family; but in gambling and otherwise abusing the
blessings, power and influence you possess, you do no good to anybody,
and work out your own destruction. When you have bought a farm and set
the poor to work, get a school on your farm, and begin and teach those
who never had the privilege of going to school. There are hundreds and
thousands in the City of New York who never went to school a day in
their lives; they are wallowing in the gutter, ragged, dirty, and
filthy. They learn sharpness, it is true; but where do they sleep? By
the wayside, or crawl into some old building—girls and boys, and live
there by the thousand. They have not a shelter to place their heads
under, but when night comes their only refuge is old buildings,
hovels, and corners of streets forsaken by the police, and there they
must spend the night. Why not take such characters and bring them out
to this country, or take them to California, Oregon, or to the plains
of Illinois, Wisconsin, &c., and make a town, settle up the country,
and make these poor, miserable creatures better off? You would prove
yourselves worthy of existence on the earth if you would. But no, "We
will gamble." Now gamblers, stop your gambling here and go to work;
that is my advice. "Well but," say some, "we are not going to be
instructed by Brigham Young." Who cares for that? If you will not
receive my instructions, instruct yourselves. I want you to see, in
and of yourselves, that your life is a poor miserable life of waste, a
disgrace to the human family. Go to work, improve the country, build
towns and cities, set out shade trees, build school houses and meeting
houses and worship what you please, we do not care what. Be civil,
honest in your deal, be upright, do not take that which belongs to
your neighbor; and miners do not go to law, and lawyers go to work. If
you have difficulties that you cannot settle among yourselves, have
recourse to arbitration. Select your men, three, five, seven, nine,
eleven, thirteen, or what number you please, men without prejudice for
this or that side, place them in possession of the facts of the case;
and when they say, "Mr. James Munroe, [p.85] you do so much;" or, "Mr.
John Jones, you do so and so, this is our decision," abide by it. This
course will cost you nothing, you go about your business, the country
is quiet, and the community is not running after these infernal
courts. Excuse me for the expression; but the whole nation think we
must have courts, and the courts adjudicate; and some courts take the
liberty of legislating as well as adjudicating, when, the fact is, if
all difficulties now taken into courts were submitted to men's honor,
honesty, brains, and hearts, they could be adjudicated without the
least trouble in the world. What would we do with our judges in such a
state of society? Let them go to farming, get a factory, or go into
business and improve the country.

Vol. 14,  p.85
I cannot say that this counsel is especially for the Latter-day
Saints. Why? For this simple reason—you take out of these mountains
the whole of the community except the Latter-day Saints, and I might
include a good many who do not belong to the Church, and we would not
have a lawsuit in our midst from one year's end to another for five
hundred miles square. And if the counsel I have just given be adopted,
we shall have the most stable mining districts through our settlements
that have ever been found in the western country. You will never see
the excitement that you have seen in other mining localities. Of
course there may be some who will crawl up into the mountains, build
up little towns, and have their games and a little rowdyism, but not
much; you will see a steadfast community.

Vol. 14,  p.85
We say to the Latter-day Saints, work for these capitalists, and work
honestly and faithfully, and they will pay you faithfully. I am
acquainted with a good many of them, and as far as I know them, I do
not know but every one is an honorable man. They are capitalists, they
want to make money, and they want to make it honestly and according to
the principles of honest dealing. If they have means and are
determined to risk it in opening mines you work for them by the day.
Haul their ores, build their furnaces, and take your pay for it, and
enter your lands, build houses, improve your farms, buy your stock,
and make yourselves better off; but, no lawing in the case. I have had
an experience in this. I never lawed it much in my life; but from my
youth my study has been to avoid law, and to take a course that no man
could get the advantage of me.

Vol. 14,  p.85
The esteem in which I hold law prompts me to keep out of it. You
recollect the story of the lawyer and the two farmers. The farmers had
quarreled about a cow, and they went to law, and the result was the
farmers held the cow and the lawyer milked her. I never see law going
on much without the lawyer getting the milk and the cream, while those
who go to law hold the cow for him to milk. I know you think my esteem
is not very high for lawyers. I will say it is not for their evil
practices; but as men and gentlemen I have known many who never
dabbled in dishonesty. I have marveled many times at the oath that is
required Of a lawyer with regard to his client; it gives him license
to make white black, and black white. If I were to fix up an oath for
a lawyer to take when he entered upon business, I would make him swear
to tell the truth, and to show the right of the case, for or against,
every time, that is what I would do. But they are licensed from the
very oath they take to justify their client, let him be ever so wrong;
this, however, does not compel them to be dishonest. Now, I do beseech
you, I pray you, for your own sakes,[p.86] you capitalists, to have no
law. I have heard it said that a mine is good for nothing until there
has been two or three lawsuits over it, but I say that will make your
claims no better whatever.

Vol. 14,  p.86
I will say still further with regard to our rich country here. Suppose
there was no railroad across this continent, could you do anything
with these mines? Not the least in the world. All this galena would
not bear transportation were it not for that; and, take the mines from
first to last, there is not enough silver and gold in the galena ore
to pay for shipping were it not for the railroad And then, were it not
for this little railroad from Ogden to this city these Cottonwood
mines would not pay, for you could not, cart the ore. Well, they want
a little more help, and we want to build them a railroad direct to
Cottonwood, so that they can make money. We want them to do it and to
do it on business principles, so that they can keep it, and when you
get it, make good use of it and we will help you. There is enough for
all. We do not want any quarreling or contention; and I believe that,
if dishonest capitalists were to come here and commence a dishonest
course with our citizens in hiring them, there are men of honor
sufficient to say, "You had better get out of this place; we are an
honest and industrious community, and we wish to deal on honest
principles and make this community substantial. We will finnish you
with all your supplies that we can produce here, and take our pay for
it; you take your capital and add to it, and then when you leave you
will, feel well about us and yourselves."

Vol. 14,  p.86
I do not want you to think that I have ever counseled this. Do it, in
and of yourselves, for you know it would be ridiculous in the eyes of
some to take counsel of Brigham Young; it would be preposterous to
suppose he can give good counsel. I leave that, however, to every man
or woman to decide whether or not it is good counsel. There has been
but little of this contention and lawing here, and I do hope and pray
there will be less; it only creates bad feelings and distress in any
society in the world.

Vol. 14,  p.86
We are here as a human family. Bless your hearts, there is not one of
us but what is a son or daughter of Adam and Eve, not any but what are
just as much brothers and sisters as we should, be if born of the same
parents, right in the same family, with only ten children in the
family. It is the same blood precisely. I do not care where we come
from, we are all of this family, and the blood has not been changed.
It is true that a curse came upon certain portions of the human
family—those who turned away from the holy commandments of the Lord
our God. What did they do? In ancient days old Israel was the chosen
people in whom the Lord delighted, and whom he blessed and did so much
for. Yet they transgressed every law that he gave them, changed every
ordinance that he delivered to them, broke every covenant made with
the fathers, and turned away entirely from his holy commandments, and
the Lord cursed them. Cain was cursed for this, with this black skin
that there is so much said about. Do you thing that we scald make laws
to change the color of the skin of Cain's descendants? If we can, we
can change the leopard's spots; but we cannot do this, neither can we
change their blood.

Vol. 14,  p.86
There is a curse on these aborigines of our country who roam the
plains, and are so wild that you cannot tame them. They are of the
house of Israel; they once had the Gospel, delivered to them, they had
the [p.87] oracles of truth; Jesus came and administered to them after
his resurrection, and they received and delighted in the Gospel until
the fourth generation, when they turned away and became so wicked that
God cursed them with this dark and benighted and loathsome condition;
and they want to sit on the ground in the dirt, and to live by
hunting, and they cannot be civilized. And right upon this, I will say
to our government if they could hear me," You need never fight the
Indians, but if you want to get rid of them try to civilize them." How
many were here when we came? At the Warm Springs, at this little grove
where they would pitch their tents, we found perhaps three hundred
Indians; but I do not suppose that there are three of that band left
alive now. There was another band a little south, another north,
another further east; but I do not suppose there is one in ten,
perhaps not one in a hundred, now alive of those who were here when we
came. Did we kill them? No, we fed them. They would say, "We want just
as fine flour as you have." To Walker, the chief, whom all California
and New Mexico dreaded, I said, "It will just as sure kill as the
world, if you live as we live." Said he, "I want as good as Brigham, I
want to eat as he does." Said I, "Eat then, but it will kill you." I
told the same to Arapeen, Walker's brother; but they must eat and
drink as the whites did, and I do not suppose that one in a hundred of
those bands are alive. We brought their children into our families,
and nursed and did everything for them it was possible to do for human
beings, but die they would. Do not fight them, but treat them kindly.
There will then be no stain on the Government, and it will get rid of
them much quicker than by fighting them. They have got to be
civilized, and there will be a remnant of them saved. I have said
enough on this subject.

Vol. 14,  p.87
I want to say a little now with regard to tithing. Some of this people
think they pay their tithing. I expect they do; but I can make the
same comparison that Jesus did when in Jerusalem. Here came the
Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, &c., and put their substance in the
Lord's storehouse; and there came along a poor widow with nothing, to
all appearance. She had not clothing to make her comfortable, but she
had two mites, which she had saved probably by her labor, and she
placed them in the storehouse of the Lord. Jesus lifted himself up,
and, seeing what they were doing, said, "Of a truth I say unto you
that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all; for all these
have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God; but she of
her penny hath cast in all her living that she had." Now there are a
few of just this same kind of characters here who do pay their
tithing. But do we rich men pay ours? Not by considerable. I can
inform the Elders of Israel and everybody else that since we have been
raising grain in these valleys the deposits paid in on tithing have
not amounted to one-hundredth part of all that has been raised,
whereas one-tenth was due the storehouse of the Lord. You may say,
"Brother Brigham, have you paid in yours?" No, I have not. There is a
number of the brethren who have paid in considerable, but I expect I
have paid more tithing than any other man in this Church. I expect I
have done more for the poor than any other man in the Church; yet I
have hardly commenced to pay my tithing. How is it with you? I know
how it is. There are a few poor who pay their tithing, and who are
pretty strict;[p.88] but take the masses of the people, and they have
not paid one-twentieth of their tithing. Do you believe it? I know it.
If I were to reason over this and attempt to show the Latter-day
Saints the inconsistency of their course in the matter, I would plant
my feet on this ground: We are not our own, we are bought with a
price, we are the Lord's; our time, our talents, our gold and silver,
our wheat and fine flour, our wine and our oil, our cattle, and all
there is on this earth that we have in our possession is the Lord's
and he requires one-tenth of this for the building up of his kingdom.
Whether we have much or little, one-tenth should be paid in for
tithing. What for? I can tell you what for in a hundred instances, but
I will only tell you just a few, and will commence with the poor. You
count me out fifty, a hundred, five hundred, or a thousand of the
poorest men and women you can find in this community; with the means
that I have in my possession, I will take these ten, fifty, hundred,
five hundred, or a thousand people, and put them to labor; but only
enough to benefit their health and to make their food and sleep sweet
unto them, and in ten years I will make that community wealthy. In ten
years I will put six, a hundred, or a thousand individuals, whom we
have to support now by donations, in a position not only to support
themselves, but they shall be wealthy, shall ride in their carriages,
have fine houses to live in, orchards to go to, flocks and herds and
everything to make them comfortable. But it is not every man that can
do this. The Bishops cannot do it; not that I would speak lightly of
the wisdom of our Bishops, but we have hardly a Bishop in the Church
who knows A with regard to the duties of his office. Still we have
good men, but our hearts are somewhere else, and we are not studying
the kingdom, the welfare of the human family, nor what our office
calls upon Us to perform. We do not seek after the poor and have every
man and woman put to usury. This ought to be, for our time is the
Lord's. All we want is to direct this time and use it profitably.
There is abundance of labor before us. We have the earth to subdue,
and to make it like the Garden to Eden. Do you believe it? I know it.
But how do we live? Very much like the rest of the world. We are ready
to run over all creation. Just as I have said to some of the brethren,
and to some that I have known in the world; they get their eye on a
dime; they see it roll away and they go after it. By and by they stub
their toe against an eagle; soon they come to another one, a doubloon
or a slug, and they will stub their toe against it, and down they go;
but they are up again, for their eye is on that, dime, and, in their
eagerness to obtain it, they stumble over the eagles they might pick
up if they had wisdom to do it. Is this so? O yes, they who have eyes
to see can see. Take things calm and easy, pick up everything, let
nothing go to waste.

Vol. 14,  p.88
You, sisters, know I have sometimes told you what my office is. Does
it make you ashamed of me when you hear some of the brethren say,
"Well, I do not believe that Brother Brigham has anything to do with
my farm or household matters; or with temporal things; I do not think
the First Presidency has anything to do with my temporal affairs." O,
yes, we have; and to come right down to the point, it is my privilege,
if I were capable, to teach every woman in this Church and kingdom how
to keep house, and how to sweep house, cook meat, wash dishes, make
bread without any waste, &c. I may go to a [p.89] house and what do I
see? Perhaps the bottom or top of the bread is burnt to a coal. Why
did you not do different? "O, these are accidents." Yes, because we
never think of the business on our hands. Mother gets up and it is:
"O, Sally, where is the dish cloth, I want it in a minute?" "Susan,
where in the world have you put that broom?" or, "Where is the iron
holder?" and Susan knows nothing about either dish cloth or broom, and
says, "We have no iron holder except some waste paper? If I had
nothing but a piece of an old newspaper folded for a holder I would
have it where I could put my hand on it in a moment, in the dark if I
wanted it. And so with the dishcloth, the broom, the chairs, tables,
sofas, and everything about the house, so that if you had to get up in
the night you could lay your hand on whatever, you wanted instantly.
Have a place for everything and everything in its place.

Vol. 14,  p.89
If I only had time I would teach you how to knit stockings, for there
are very few women now-a-days who know how many stitches to set on to
knit stockings for their husbands or for themselves; or what size yarn
or needles they require; and when their stockings are finished they
are like some of these knitted by machinery—a leg six inches long'
while the foot is a foot or a foot and a half long; or the leg only
big enough for a boy ten years old, while the foot is big enough for
any miner in the country: You know this is extravagant, but it is a
fact that the art of knitting stockings is not near so generally
understood among the ladies as it should be. I could tell you how it
should be done had I time and knew how myself.

Vol. 14,  p.89
I will ask the whole human family is there any harm in teaching people
how to be mechanics and artists, and what their life is for? Is there
any harm in teaching them the laws of life and how to live, so that
when they go down to the grave they can say, "There is my life, and it
has been one of honor; look at it and do as much better than I have as
God will give you ability to do. This is the duty of the human family,
instead of wasting their lives and the lives of their fellow-beings,
and the precious time God has given us to improve our minds and bodies
by observing the laws of life, so that the longevity of the human
family may begin to return. By and by, according to the Scriptures,
the days of a man shall be like the days of a tree. But in those days
people will not eat and drink as they do now; if they do their days
will not be like a tree, unless it be a very short-lived tree. This is
our business.

Vol. 14,  p.89
Then pay your tithing, just because you like to, not unless you want
to. They say we cut people off the Church for not paying tithing; we
never have yet, but they ought to be. God does not fellowship them.
The law of tithing is an eternal law. The Lord Almighty never had his
kingdom on the earth without the law of tithing being in the midst of
his people, and he never will. It is an eternal law that God has
instituted for the benefit of the human family, for their salvation
and exaltation. This law is in the Priesthood, but we do not want any
to observe it unless they are willing to do so. If I ask my brethren,
"Are you willing to pay tithing?" Many of them would say, "Yes, we are
not only willing to pay tithing, but all that we have, for we are the
Lord's, and all that he has given us is his." That would be the reply
of thousands here to-day. If the law of the land would permit us we
would show whether we are willing to deed our property to the kingdom
of God or not. Mine has been deeded; and [p.90] now I will tell you
that the insurance company that I have taken stock in is up yonder,
and the Lord of Hosts is President of that company. I do not want to
insure my life in any other; and if we want to insure property, let us
insure each others' and our own. I say, my brethren and sisters, that
if we had the privilege, we would show to the world whether we would
deed everything to the kingdom of God or not. But can we do it here?
The Government has passed a law to the effect:

Vol. 14,  p.90
"That it shall not be lawful for any corporation or association for
religious or charitable purposes to acquire or hold real estate in any
Territory of the United States during the existence of the territorial
government of a greater value than fifty thousand dollars; and all
real estate acquired or held by any such corporation or association
contrary to the provisions of this act shall be forfeited and escheat
to the United States: Provided, that existing vested rights in real
estate shall not be impaired by the provisions of this section."

Vol. 14,  p.90
That is how the Government binds us up. Never mind, we can build
temples, pay our tithing and our free-will offerings; we can raise our
bread, hire our school teachers and teach our children without help.
We came here stripped of everything, and men in high places sat and
laughed at us, and said we should perish; but we have not perished.
Many of them have gone down to their graves and their spirits have
gone into the spirit world, where they will not have the comforting
influences of the angels of God as the Saints will. Hades, the grave
and the world of spirits are called hell in the original language. Now
I don't expect them to go down, down, down to the bottom of the
bottomless pit, where they will be pitched over with pitchforks. I do
not have reference to anything of this kind when I speak of hell, or
the world of spirits. I do not wish to frighten people to the anxious
seat, and then say, "O, my beloved sister, how did you feel when your
dear little infant died?" and, "O, my beloved brother, did not your
heart bleed for your dear companion when you laid her in the silent
bourne from whence no traveler returns." This is not our religion; our
religion does not consist of sensation or animal magnetism, as that of
the sectarian world does. I have seen it from my youth up, working on
the passions of the people, making them crazy. About what? Nothing at
all. I have seen them lie, when under their religious excitement, from
ten minutes to probably an hour without the least sign of life in
their systems; not a pulse about them, and lay the slightest feather
in the world to their nose and not the least sign of breathing could
be discerned there, any more than anywhere else. After lying awhile
they would get up all right. "What have you seen, sister or brother?
What have you learned more than before you had this fit?" I do not
know what kind of a fit it would be, whether a falling sickness or
fainting fit, or a fit of animal magnetism. "What do you know,
sister?" "Nothing." "What have you seen, brother?" "Nothing nor
nobody." "What have you to tell us that you have learned while in this
vision?" "Nothing at all." It always wound up like the old song, "All
about nothing at all."

Vol. 14,  p.90
That is not the faith of the Latter-day Saints. Their religion
consists of the knowledge that comes from God; a knowledge of the law
of heaven, the power of the eternal Priesthood of the Son of God; and
by obeying this law and these ordinances we, in a business manner,
philosophically,[p.91]  in a manner that can be demonstrated as
clearly as a mathematical problem, gain the right to eternal life; and
though we do not see the Lord in the flesh we can see him in vision,
and we have a right to visions, administration of angels, the power of
the eternal Priesthood with the keys and blessings thereof. And by and
through the labors of his faithful servants the Lord offers salvation
to the human family; and though they will not save themselves we
calculate to do all we can for them. 

Vol. 14,  p.91
God bless you. Amen.

Brigham Young, April 8, 1871

The One-Man Power—Unity—Free Agency—
Priesthood and Government, Etc.

Discourse By President Brigham Young, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, April 8, 1871. 

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.91
I have a few words to say to the congregation and I wish perfect
silence. This is a very large room, and for any person to fill the
space within these walls with his voice, he needs strength of lungs
and stomach and the attention of the congregation.

Vol. 14,  p.91
We have been witnessing, this afternoon, the world's great objection
to "Mormonism," for we have had the privilege of beholding the
unanimous vote of the people when the names of the officers of the
Church were presented for election or rejection. We have seen the same
oneness and unanimity this afternoon which characterize the Latter-day
Saints on all occasions, and this is objectionable to the world. They
say it is anti-democratic, though we think not. I looked over the
congregation pretty diligently to discover a contrary vote; but I
could not see such a thing. When the vote was called all hands were
up. I thought, while witnessing this spectacle, "What harm is there in
a people being of one heart and one mind?" but, to use a common
phrase, I could not see the point. I connot discover any iniquity in a
people's being one. If they are disposed to chose evil instead of
good, sin instead of righteousness, darkness instead of light,
falsehood instead of truth, where is the utility in being divided and
quarrelling about it? And if they have embraced, believe in and love
the truth; or if they desire and are seeking for it, I ask, where can
be the harm in being one in this? This is the "one-man power" that
there is so much said about.

Vol. 14,  p.91
Now, ask yourselves, and let me ask you, who has been to you,
individually, and told you to vote just as you have voted here to-day?
Has any man visited your habitations to [p.92] tell you that when you
came to this house you must all vote precisely alike? I will pause
right here and will request that, if any person present has been so
instructed, he or she will let us know it. I do not see any person
rise, and I need not look for any one to do so, from the simple fact
that not a word on this subject has been said to the Latter-day
Saints. Our doctrine is true and we like it; our faith is one and we
are one in it, our object is one and we unitedly pursue the straight
and narrow path that leads to it.

Vol. 14,  p.92
This is for those who have only one ear, half an ear, or no ear at all
for the truth; or for those who wish to leave the truth. Though I do
not suppose there are any here this afternoon that wish to leave the
truth for error, that wish to forsake righteousness, holiness and
truth for unrighteousness, corruption, disorder, confusion and death.
People do, however, leave this Church, but they leave it because they
get into darkness, and the very day they conclude that there should be
a democratic vote, or in other words, that we should have two
candidates for the presiding Priesthood in the midst of the Latter-day
Saints, they conclude to be apostates. There is no such thing as
confusion, division, strife, animosity, hatred, malice, or two sides
to the question in the house of God; there is but one side to the
question there.

Vol. 14,  p.92
You ask the kingdoms of the world if they have such an organization as
the kingdom of God, and they will tell you they have not. They have no
organization amongst them so perfect and complete. Well, is it right
for the people of the world to elect their presidents and rulers? Yes,
if they wish to. For four years? Yes, or for one year, or for six
months or one month, if they wish to; but when the Lord appoints
presidents, he does not change them every month or year, or every four
years. Should they be changed? No, they should not. Should they be
changed in human governments? No, they should not; and the nation that
would delight in a good government, the best possible for its
preservation and strength, should pattern, in its organization, after
the kingdom of God on the earth. Here are our tribunals and courts;
and our courts are courts of error, to judge every matter and cause
according to its merits and demerits.

Vol. 14,  p.92
Well, where is the harm in this I wish the world, or any scientific
men in it, would detail the error in a people being one; and I will go
still further, and say, being one in the Lord, as we are commanded and
recommended to be. Even in the wicked world, where there is so much
confusion, where is the good that arises from contention and
opposition? I have not seen it, and, as I have said, I cannot see the
point. But here in Utah that "one-man power" is such a terrible thing.
I would ask: Who is that man, and where is the power, and what is the
power? It is the power of him who brought us into existence, and he is
the MAN who wields it, and he is the Father of us all, and the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Maker and Possessor of this
earth that we inhabit, and is the Producer of all things upon it. Is
he one? Yes. Is his trinity one? Yes. Is his organization one? Are the
heavens one? Yes. Although we have a short account, in what are called
the Scriptures of truth, that on a certain occasion there was a little
confusion in heaven. The Lord has revealed something of this in these
latter days. What was the result? One-third part of the hosts of
heaven walked out. I do not think the election lasted a great while,
if [p.93] they had two candidates, and it appears they had; and I do
not think they stopped very long at the polls, or were very long
counting the votes to find out who would be president or who would
not, for they turned them out. Was there any reason for this? Would it
be democratic to get up an election in heaven and have opposition?
Why, yes, according to the feelings and understandings of the
political world it would be very democratic; but I would say to the
political world, if they were before me, that the opposition they are
so anxious to promote contains the seeds of the destruction of the
government that we live in. This is the plant or tree flora which
schism springs; and every government lays the foundation of its own
downfall when it permits what are called democratic elections. If a
party spirit is developed, the formation of one party will be speedily
followed by another; and furthermore, the very moment that we admit
this, we admit the existence of error and corruption somewhere. Where
is it? Right points out its hiding place, and says that truth, and
truth only, will endure, and that falsehood and corruption and error
of every description are from beneath—are of the enemy; and the Lord
Almighty suffered this schism in heaven to see what his subjects would
do preparatory to their coming to this earth, which we need not talk
about to-day. But the division did not take place in those who were
redeemed from the earth and exalted and brought up into the presence
of the Father and the Son, to live in their presence and in their
glory, and be partakers of their power. But it was among another
class, and we are now in the midst of them. There is but one thread
that can be followed that can endure for ever, but one path that we
can walk in that is eternal—and that path is the path of perfection,
purity and holiness, By this, and this only, have the Gods been
exalted, the angels live and the heavenly hosts bask in purity. We are
trying to prepare for it.

Vol. 14,  p.93
Can error live? No, it is the very plant of destruction, it destroys
itself; it withers, it fades, it falls and decays and returns to its
native element. Every untruth, all error, everything that is unholy,
unlike God, will, in its time, perish. Every government not ordained
of God, as we have just been hearing, will, in its time, crumble to
the dust and be lost in the fog of forgetfulness, and will leave no
history of its doings. Why, with all the knowledge and learning now in
the world we have the history of only a very scanty portion of those
who have peopled our earth from the days of Adam until now. And we, in
our turn, should go into the land of forgetfulness were it, not for
our organization and the oneness which prevail in our midst. Says
Jesus, "Unless ye are one, ye are not mine." The counsel contained in
this saying is the best that could be given. Who could have given
better advice to his friends than Jesus gave to his disciples? Be one,
for union is strength, is it not? Yes. Go into the political world,
and you will find that union is strength; it is the same in the
mechanical world; and if we take every art and science, and all the
pursuits of the human family, in oneness there is strength. Said
Jesus, "Be ye one, as I and my Father are one, he in me and I in him;
I in you," &c. Now, I finish this by saying if there is a person on
the face of this earth that can give a true and philosophical reason
why we should not be one, I wish he would bring it forth, for the
Latter-day Saints want to have the best organization that can be
formed, and they want the best of everything that can be got. We want
the truth, and the [p.94] whole truth; and we look forward with
gladness to the time when we can say we have nothing out the truth. We
cannot say that now; we have an immense amount of error, and we are
very far from being perfect; but we hope to see the time that we can
say that we have truth only, the whole truth and nothing but the
truth.

Vol. 14,  p.94
I want to say a few words for the benefit of my brethren the Elders,
and of all the Latter-day Saints, male and female, old and young; and
then for the benefit of strangers, Christians and ministers of the
different religious sects, if they could all hear me to-day. I can
tell you the difference in one grand principle, between your religion
and ours. It is this: we would not make everybody bow down to our
religion, if we had the power; for this would not be Godlike; but
other religionists would. It is not discovered by the world, and it is
not perceived enough by the Elders of Israel. The reasons why we do
not prosper and travel faster and further than we do, we have not time
to talk about, perhaps, to-day; but I will say this: our religion, the
religion of heaven, differs very much from man's religion. It has just
been told us that the divines are in the habit of taking a text from
the Scriptures, but when they do so they almost invariably preach from
it. I hardly ever heard a man in my life, when in the Christian world,
preach to his text, but directly from it. This makes confusion.

Vol. 14,  p.94
Now, suppose that we were to issue our edicts to the whole world of
mankind for them to obey the Gospel we preach, and had the power to
compel them to obey, could we do it according to the dictates of our
religion? We could not. We could invite them, and could tell them how,
but we could not say, and maintain the faith that we have embraced,
you must bow down and profess our religion and submit to the
ordinances of the kingdom of God. I will give you a reason for this.
If this were our duty, and it were legitimate, if we had the power,
for us to make every person on the earth submit to the code of laws
and ordinances that we have submitted to, it would prove that God is
in fault in not making them do so. But if we become Godlike we will be
just as full of charity as he is. We would let pagans worship as they
please, and to the Christians and Mahommedans, and all sects and
parties in the world we would say, "Do just as you please, for your
volition is free, and you must act upon it for yourselves before the
heavens. Our religion will not permit us to command or force any man
or woman to obey the Gospel we have embraced. And we are under no
obligation to do this, for every creature has as good a right,
according to his organization, to choose for himself as the Gods. To
use a comparison, all have a right to eat bread or let it alone; they
may make and eat unleavened cakes as the people did anciently, if they
choose; and no person has a right to say to another, "Why do you eat
wheat bread, corn bread, or no bread at all? why do you eat potatoes,
or why do you not eat them? why do you walk, or why do you sit down?
why do you read this or that book? or why do you go to the right or
the left?" for everyone has a right to do as he likes in these
respects, all being independent in their capacity and choice. Here is
life for you, here is salvation for you, choose ye this day whom ye
will serve. If the Lord be God, serve him, or you may serve Baal, just
at your pleasure. If the Elders of Israel could understand this a
little better, we would like it, for the simple reason that if they
had power given [p.95] them now they manifest the same weaknesses in
the exercise thereof as any other people. They have not an eye to
discern between the spirit, power, and principles by which the the
Gods live, and those which govern and control the children of men; and
yet between the two there is an infinite difference.

Vol. 14,  p.95
Can you find a Christian denomination which would not make us bow down
to their creeds if they had the power? Not one. We have plenty of
evidence to prove this. We have history enough to prove that when they
have the power their motto is, "You shall." But there is no such thing
in the economy of heaven. Life is before us, death is before us, we
can choose for ourselves; and this is one of the differences between
the religion of heaven and the religions of men. Do we profess to say
that the various religious systems of the world are the religions of
men? If they are not, what are they? If the sects and parties have not
been formed by man and the wisdom of man, what power did form them?

Vol. 14,  p.95
I will now say a few words with regard to our faith. Our religion, in
common with everything of which God is the Author, is a system of law
and order. The earth on which we live hangs and floats in its own
element, rotates upon its axis and moves at an immense velocity
without our perceiving it either asleep or awake, it performs its
revolutions, the atmosphere moving with it, so as not to injure,
disturb, or molest any being on its face. But how long would it retain
its position and move unwaveringly in the orbit assigned it without
law? Can you tell us, you astronomers? How long would the moon and the
members of our planetary system retain their positions, were it not
for strict law? Who gave that law? He who had the right. The world do
not know him, but he will call around one of these days and let them
know that be is in being. I will say to Saint and sinner, that if we
do not know him, he will call by and by, and let us know that he
lives, and will bring us to judgment. If we do know him, happy are we
if we obey his laws. He is not a phantom; he does not exist without
law, order, rule, and strict regulation. And the laws by which he is
governed are the laws of purity. He has instituted laws and ordinances
for the government and benefit of the children of men, to see if they
would obey them and prove themselves worthy of eternal life by the law
of the celestial worlds; and it is of these laws that our religion is
composed. This holy Priesthood that we talk about is a perfect system
of government. The best way I can think of to express my idea of
Priesthood of the Son of God is to call it a perfect system of laws
and government. By obedience to these laws we expect to enter the
celestial kingdom and be exalted.

Vol. 14,  p.95
We have had a few words with regard to temples. We are going to build
temples. This law is given to the children of men. I will carry this a
little further, and say to my brethren and sisters and all present,
that the law of the celestial kingdom that is introduced here upon the
earth in our day is for the salvation and exaltation of the human
family. Previous to the coming forth of this Priesthood and code of
laws, there was no law on the earth that we have any knowledge of
whereby a man or woman could be sanctified and prepared to enter the
presence of the Father and the Son. This may sound in the ears of many
like strange doctrine. But pause a moment; do not let any of your
hearts flutter, not for a moment. If you and the world [p.96]
generally knew all that we know, I do not believe that there is a
wicked man on the earth, unless he be past the day of grace, but would
say, "Thank you, Latter-day Saints, God bless you! I will help you to
carry on your work, for you have the keys of life and salvation
committed to you for this last dispensation." We could enumerate a few
of the laws that we have embraced in our faith pertaining to the
building up of the kingdom of God on the earth. How is it with regard
to the authority to proclaim the words of salvation to the children of
men? According to the Scriptures of divine truth, and the revelations
that God has given, "no man taketh this honor unto himself, except he
be called of God, as was Aaron." These are the words of the Apostle.
Did Joseph Smith ever arrogate to himself this right? Never, never,
never; and if, God had not sent a messenger to ordain him to the
Aaronic Priesthood and then other messengers to ordain him to the
Apostleship, and told him to build up his kingdom on the earth, it
would have remained in chaos to this day. There is no objection to
people having the spirit of their calling, and having it even before
they are called; but if they have the spirit of wisdom given to them
they wait until a servant of God says, "My brother John," or, "My
brother William, the Lord Almighty has called thee to be a minister of
salvation to the inhabitants of the earth, and I ordain thee to this
office. This is the law of heaven. Is it observed in the Christian
world? No, it is not; there man's authority and notions prevail
entirely, and this is the cause of their confusion and variety in
their methods of expounding the Gospel as contained in the Scriptures;
but when a man who is called and ordained of God goes forth he
preaches the ordinances, faith in Christ and obedience to him as our
Savior. He declares that the first step to be taken, after believing
in the Father and the Son, is to go down into the waters of baptism
and there be immersed in the water, and come up out of the water as
Jesus did. Some may inquire why the Latter-day Saints are so strenuous
on this point? We do it for the remission of sins; Jesus did this to
fulfill all righteousness. John said to him, when he went and demanded
baptism at his hands, "I have need to be baptised of thee, and comest
thou to me!" Jesus answered: I do this to fulfill all righteousness; I
do this to set a pattern for my brethren, and for all who come after
me and believe on my name; and this is why the Latter-day Saints are
so strenuous with regard to baptism by immersion. What was the result
of obedience to the ordinance of baptism in the case of the Savior?
The Holy Ghost, in the form of a dove, it is said, rested upon him.
This is not exactly the fact, though a natural dove descended and
rested on the head of the Lord Jesus, in witness that God had accepted
the offering of his Son. But the dove was not the Holy Ghost, but the
siren that the Holy Ghost was given to him. And after that, Jesus went
forth and was tempted, as you read.

Vol. 14,  p.96
Obedience to the ordinance of baptism is required that people may
receive the remission of their sins. After that, hands are laid upon
them for the reception of the Holy Ghost; and this Holy Ghost teaches
you and me to vote exactly alike; it teaches us to believe alike and
to receive the ordinances of the house of God. No man or woman ever
received the faith of this Gospel but what desired to be baptized by
immersion for the remission of sins and to have hands laid upon them
for the Holy Ghost. Then [p.97] come the blessings of healing, faith,
prophecy, tongues, and so forth.

Vol. 14,  p.97
I recollect when brothers Kimball and Hyde went to England the first
man they baptized was George D. Watt. In the second or third meeting
after his baptism, Brother Watt got up and said: "I have the spirit of
prophecy upon me;" and said he, "We are all going to leave England,
and are going to America, for America is the land of Zion." Not a word
had been said to Brother Watt about the gathering. Is not this so,
Brother Hyde? (Brother O. Hyde: Yes, sir.) I wanted to say these few
words on this subject.

Vol. 14,  p.97
And now, my brethren, the Elders of Israel, have compassion on all the
inhabitants of the earth, for we shall never have the keys of
authority committed to us to he rulers until we will rule just as God
would rule if he were here himself. We have been persecuted, driven,
smitten, cast out, robbed and hated; and I may say it was for our
coldness and neglect of duty; and if we did not exactly deserve it,
there have been times when we did deserve it. If we did not deserve it
at, the time, it was good for and gave us an experience, though I must
say that one of the hardest lessons for me to learn on earth is to
love a man Who hates me and would put me to death if he had the power.
I do not think I have got this lesson by heart, and I do not know how
long I shall have to live to learn it. I am trying. I believe that if
the reins of power were in my hands to-day, I never would ask a man to
be a Saint if he did not want to be; and I do not think I would
persecute him if he worshiped a white dog, the sun, moon, or a graven
image. But let us alone; let the kingdom of God alone that is all we
want. If the principles of eternal life are not sufficient to win fine
hearts of the children of men, just take your course—the downward
road. I will say if there be any here who were once Latter-day Saints,
but have apostatized, do not persecute us; do not try to hinder the
work we are engaged in. We are trying to save the living and the dead.
The living can have their choice, the dead have not. Millions of them
died without the Gospel, without the Priesthood, without the
opportunities that we enjoy. We shall go forth in the name of Israel's
God and attend to the ordinances for them. And through the Millennium,
the thousand years that the people will love and serve God, we will
build temples and officiate therein for these who have slept for
hundreds and thousands of years—those who would have received the
truth if they had had the opportunity; and we will bring them up, and
form the chain entire, back to Adam.

Vol. 14,  p.97
I will say that there is not a man on the face of the earth but, if he
knew the objects the Saints have in view, and the work they are
engaged in, would rather say, "I have a sixpence to help you," sooner
than he would persecute and slander this Priesthood or people. No, he
would say, "I have a sixpence or thousands to help on this good work."
We Will bring up all the inhabitants of the earth, except those who
have sinned against the Holy Ghost, and save them in some kingdom
where they will receive more glory and honor than ever the Methodist
contemplated. This should be a comfort and a consolation to all the
inhabitants of the earth. They will not save themselves, millions have
not had a chance, and millions now living, through the strength of
their traditions, will not do it; their consciences and feelings are
bound up in their systems and creeds, whereas, if they felt as
independent as they should feel, they would break loose and receive
the [p.98] truth; but they will live and die in bondage, and we
calculate to officiate for them. Many a man I know of, who has fallen
asleep, we have been baptized for since the Church was organized—good,
honest, honorable men, charitable to all, living good, virtuous lives.
We will not let them go down to hell; God will not. The plan of
salvation is ample to bring them all up and to place them where they
may enjoy all they could anticipate. Is there any harm in this? No.
God bless you. Amen.

Brigham Young, August 8, 1869

Traditions—Oppressing The Poor—
Influence of Women—Fashions

Discourse By President Brigham Young, Delivered in 
the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, August 8, 1869.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.98
This is a very singular world that we live in; yet were it not for the
spirit of error and confusion that everywhere prevails I think we
should call it a very fine, excellent world. The annoyances,
difficulties, errors, perplexities, sorrows, and troubles of this
life, from first to last, are in consequence of sin being in the
world. For me to say it is not right for sin to be in the world, or if
we, as intelligent beings, come to the conclusion that sin entered the
world by chance, through some mistake, and it was contrary to the
design of him who created us, we should err.

Vol. 14,  p.98
This people called Latter-day Saints are looked upon as a very
singular people; in fact, we are regarded as an anomaly in the world.
Why is this so? Are we different to others who are born into the
world? Are we not of the same blood as the people of the other nations
and tongues of the earth? We certainly are, for we are gathered from
among them. Like there, we have eyes to see with, ears to hear with;
we have lips and organs of speech, and we use them as others do; we
eat, drink, sleep, plant, sow, reap, mow, build houses and inhabit
them, just as they do. Then what is the difference between us and
them, and why are we looked upon by the world as though we are
entirely different from them, and why have we from the beginning met
with vituperation and abuse from the hands of many, and, been deprived
of our civil and religious rights and treated as outlaws? If we search
the Old and New Testaments, and then the corroborative evidence
contained in the Book of Mormon, and find therein how the kingdom of
God was organized, and compare our present organization with it, we
shall find that one is a perfect facsimile of the other. This
constitutes the difference between us and the world, and this is why
we have been treated as we have been, and why we are looked upon as we
are. We believe the Bible and practice it, as far as our weaknesses
will [p.99] permit. Not that we do it perfectly; as it has been stated
this morning, we have darkness, unbelief, ignorance, superstition, and
our traditions to contend with and overcome; and they cling to us to
that degree that we can hardly overcome them.

Vol. 14,  p.99
The traditions that we have imbibed in the several countries in which
we have been born, and under the various circumstances under which we
have been raised, offer a wide field for reflection, and in passing
judgment upon each other's acts a great deal of charity is necessary.
The people of one nation will do a thousand things, and, according to
their traditions, feel themselves perfectly justified, which those of
another nation, with their traditions, would not consider it right to
do. How would it look here in the United States of America to enter a
large meeting house like this, move out the benches, and then for a
congregation to enter the house, kneel down and say a few words of
prayer, get up and begin to waltz around to the music of the organ?
This would be considered a very strange proceeding among the people of
America; yet in other countries it is done and is considered most
sacred; and it is in accordance with their traditions. People's
notions of honesty as well as of worship differ very widely, and this
difference of opinion is the result of the traditions they have
imbibed; and for any persons to say we will bring a motley mass
together from various countries, and we will judge all of them by our
standard, would be diverging somewhat from the path of truth and
justice. Still, notwithstanding the various traditions we have
severally imbibed, we are all capable of coming to a perfect
understanding of truth and justice, and of what we should do to be
perfectly right before God This is a subject I have reflected upon a
great deal, and I have come to the conclusion that we shall be judged
according to the deeds done in the body and according to the thoughts
and intents of the heart.

Vol. 14,  p.99
In viewing the traditions of the Christian world, so far as I have
been acquainted with them, before I knew anything of the Gospel, and
before it was revealed from heaven, I have seen men who thought they
were as full of grace, faith, and sanctity as possible, in fact, full
of self-righteousness, which they considered the righteousness of God;
and yet what would they do? I have known such men, in time of harvest,
or when they had a press of work, say to the poor man who was hardly
able to procure the bread necessary for his wife and children, "I will
give you fifty cents a day if you will come and help me harvest, and
pay you in Indian meal." Such men feel justified, for to oppress the
poor is in accordance with their traditions.

Vol. 14,  p.99
A similar course is pursued with the female sex. A young woman,
compelled to labor for her daily bread, applies for work to some lady
in comfortable circumstances. The lady perhaps says, "What wages do
you want?" "I do not know. What will you give me?" The reply is,
probably, "Well, I will give you fifty cents a week and your board,
but I shall want you to do my washing, ironing, milking, scrubbing,
and cooking," the whole of it, most likely, keeping the poor girl at
work from five o'clock in the morning until ten at night. Yet her
poverty leaves her no choice, and she is compelled to become a slave
in order to procure, day by day, her breakfast, dinner, and supper. It
is probable that if her father be alive he is too poor to help her;
and if she has a mother she may be a widow and unable to rescue her
from a life of toil and [p.100] slavery. A lady, whom I knew in my
youth, the wife of a minister, where I used to attend meeting, said
once to some of her sisters in the church, "Do you suppose that we
shall be under the necessity of eating with our hired help when we get
into heaven? We do not do it here, and I have an idea that there will
be two tables in heaven." Yet she was a lady of refinement and
education, still the traditions that had been woven into her very
being proved the folly she possessed to ask such a question.

Vol. 14,  p.100
Do these and similar traditions exist in the world? Yes; I know of
countries in which if a poor person—or perhaps I should say any
person, and not confine it to the poor—where if any person, man or
woman, were passing along the street, and were to pick up a pocket
book containing one, ten, a hundred, or a thousand pounds, he or she
would feel to thank God for the blessing, and would never think of
trying to find the owners of this property, or of letting them know
anything about it, even if they were known. Such parties would feel
justified in the act, and would rejoice because they were able to make
themselves comfortable. Are any of you acquainted with such
traditions? Yes, many of you have been brought up in the midst of
them.

Vol. 14,  p.100
What would you do, who have lived in England, if you had rented a
place, and in that place you had found some old secret cupboard or
hole in the wall containing a fortune in treasure which had belonged
to some one who had formerly resided in those premises, and whose
children or relatives might be living in the neighborhood even then?
Would you divulge such a circumstance, and do your best to discover
those to whom it rightfully belonged, in order to restore it to them?
No; you would put it in your pocket, considering it a godsend, and
never say a word about it.

Vol. 14,  p.100
I see these and numberless other traits of character among, the people
here, all of which are the results of their traditions. Now, what can
we expect of them? We expect to treat them as children until we can
teach them to become men and women. Seeing, then, that these
differences in sentiment exist among the people, and knowing that they
are the natural result of the traditions and circumstances by which
they have been surrounded, it will not do to judge according to the
outward appearance, but according to the sincerity and honesty of the
heart.

Vol. 14,  p.100
I look at the Latter-day Saints, and I sometimes take the liberty to
preach to them; and this principle, of being judged according to our
works, is as applicable to communities as individuals. I, therefore,
wish to apply it to those amongst, us who are not as diligent as they
might be in the duties of every day life, as they present themselves
before them, whether they he of a spiritual or temporal nature.
Whatever you do, you have been taught sufficient to know that all our
duties are in the Lord and are circumscribed in the faith and practice
of the kingdom of God. "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness
thereof." The gold and the silver the earth contains are his; the
wheat and fine flour, the wine and the oil are his; the cattle that
roam over the plains and mountains belong to him we serve, and whom we
acknowledge as the God of the universe. And whether we are raising
cattle, planting, gathering, building or inhabiting, we are in the
Lord, and all we do is within the pale of his kingdom upon the earth,
consequently it is all spiritual and all temporal, no matter what we
are laboring to accomplish.

Vol. 14,  p.100
We frequently call the brethren to go on missions to preach the
Gospel, [p.101] and they will go and labor as faithfully as men can
do, fervent in spirit, in prayer, in laying on hands, in preaching to
and teaching the people how to be saved. In a few years they come
home, and throwing off their coats and hats, they will say, "Religion,
stand aside, I am going to work now to get something for myself and my
family." This is folly in the extreme! When a man returns from a
mission where he has been preaching the Gospel he ought to be just as
ready to come to this pulpit to preach as if he were in England,
France, Germany, or on the islands of the sea. And when he has been at
home a week, a month, a year, or ten years, the spirit of preaching
and the spirit Of the Gospel ought to be within him like a river
flowing forth to the people in good words, teachings, precepts, and
examples. If this is not the case he does not fill his mission.

Vol. 14,  p.101
Men may think, and some of them do, that we have a right to work for
ourselves; but I say we have no time to do that in the narrow, selfish
sense generally entertained when speaking about working for self. We
have no time allotted to us here on the earth to work for ourselves in
that sense; and yet when laboring in the most disinterested and
fervent manner for the cause and kingdom of God, it is all for
ourselves. When I say we do not labor for ourselves, I reflect in a
moment that I do nothing but what is for myself and then for my
friends. It is equally true with all of us; and though our time be
entirely occupied in laboring for the advancement of the kingdom of
God on the earth we are in reality laboring most effectually for self,
for all our interest and welfare both in time and eternity are
circumscribed and bound up in that kingdom.

Vol. 14,  p.101
How often, when I was engaged in traveling and preaching the Gospel,
have the people said to me, "O, this must be all a speculation! You
differ so much from other people that we cannot believe all you
teach." "We have heard a great deal about Mr. Smith, or 'Joe Smith,'"
they would often say, and he must be a speculator, and these doctrines
you preach were gotten up by him expressly for a speculation." I have
acknowledged a great many times, and I am as free to acknowledge it
to-day, that it is the greatest speculation ever entered into by God,
men, or angels, for it is a speculation involving eternal lives in the
celestial kingdom of God. It is the grandest investment on the face of
the earth, and one in which you may invest all and everything you
possess for the present and eternal benefit of yourself, your wives,
your children, parents, relatives and friends; and all who, are wise
will enter into it, for they can make more by it, and be exalted
higher by its means than by any other speculation ever introduced
among the children of men. When I labor in the kingdom of God, I labor
for my own clear self, I have self continually before me; the object
of my pursuit is to benefit my individual person; and this is the case
with every person who ever was or ever will be exalted. Happiness and
glory are the pursuit of every person that lives on the face of the
earth, who is thoroughly endowed with wisdom and the spirit of
enterprise, whether immorality is brought in or not. Such are after
honor, ease, comfort; such want to wield power, and would like to have
influence and dominion. Now, if they will enter this great
speculation—the kingdom of God on the earth, the plan of redemption
and exaltation devised before the foundation of the world was laid, it
will lead to greater happiness, power, influence, and dominion than
ever man possessed or thought of.[p.102] 

Vol. 14,  p.102
I believe it is generally allowed that "self-preservation is the first
law of nature." If it is, let us save ourselves and enter into
covenant with God, who holds the issues of life and death, and who can
give and no one can dispute his right; who can withhold and no one can
hinder it. Let us enter into covenant with him by enlisting in this
great, good cause, and thus take ourselves back into his presence. We
can do this through his grace and Gospel, through the atonement of his
Son, by faith in the Father and the Son and by our obedience to their
requirements.

Vol. 14,  p.102
Now, if we are to be judged according to our works I want to proceed a
little further. You will permit me to be plain in making my remarks;
in so doing, however, I may interfere with individual ears and
feelings. I have a word to say to my sisters. When I reflect upon the
duties and responsibilities devolving upon our mothers and sisters,
and the influence they wield, I look upon them as the mainspring and
soul of our being here. It is true that man is first Father Adam was
placed here as king of the earth, to bring it into subjection. But
when Mother Eve came she had a splendid influence over him. A great
many have thought it was not very good; I think it was excellent.
After she had partaken of the fruit she carried it to her husband,
saying, "Husband, a certain character came to me and said if you will
eat of this fruit you will find it excellent, and it will make you as
Gods, knowing good from evil; and I have tasted it, and I assure you
it is excellent." Her influence was so great with Adam that he also
partook of it, and his eyes were opened. You know the result—they were
both driven from the garden. Before this, however, they were commanded
to multiply and replenish the earth and thus fill the measure of their
creation.

Vol. 14,  p.102
Now, I say the women have great influence. Look at the nations of the
earth. Any nation you like, no matter which, and you enlist the
sympathies of the female portion of it and what is there you cannot
perform? If the government wants soldiers, they are on hand; if means,
it is forthcoming. If you want influence and power, and have the
ladies on your side, they will give it you. You take a nation that is
going to war, whether our nation or any other; in the late struggle,
for instance, between the Northern and Southern States, suppose all
the mothers, sisters and daughters of the Republic had set their will
and determination that no soldiers should go to the field, how many do
you suppose would have been obtained? A few Irishmen and Germans might
have been hired, but that is all. This is the influence the ladies
hold in the nations of the earth. It is true that they are not allowed
to go to the ballot-box, but let the females in any district be united
and say that such a man shall not go to Congress, and I reckon he
cannot go. He may make up his mind to stay at home and make shingles,
raise potatoes, or do something else. If he is a lawyer, he may try to
get a living by pleading law, but he cannot go to Congress. And when
the ladies say send such a man, he is pretty sure to go if they are
united and determined that it shall be so. The ladies may not know
that they wield so much influence as this, and they would probably
want some outward sign before they could be convinced, but it is
nevertheless true that their influence is as powerful as I have
stated.

Vol. 14,  p.102
Now, a few words directly to my sisters here in the kingdom of God. We
want your influence and power in helping to build up that kingdom, and
what I wish to say to you is [p.103] simply this, if you will govern
and control yourselves in all things in accordance with good, sound,
common sense and the principles of truth and righteousness, there is
not the least fear but what father, uncle, grandfather, brothers, and
sons will follow in the wake.

Vol. 14,  p.103
It is the ladies who introduce the fashions here. I will take the
liberty of speaking with regard to some of them. If you take up some
of the fashion magazines sent here you will find the ladies very
beautifully portrayed with those "Grecian bends." They are being
introduced here, but they are of very moderate dimensions yet. By and
by, in about another year perhaps, they will be as large again as they
are now; and in two years from the present time they will be three or
four times as large, and if this ridiculous fashion should continue
they may keep on increasing in size until on a hazy day, or in the
dusk of the evening, you will not be able, for the life of you, to
tell a lady, at a distance, from a camel. Now, the ladies can do just
as they please about adopting or changing this fashion. If it is
adopted there is one thing I am afraid of. In the world, you know, it
is no uncommon thing to see children born deformed; every such
instance might have been avoided with proper care, for all such
deformities are the result of natural causes. I hope we shall never
see such things in Zion, but if our ladies continue the fashion of the
"Grecian bend." I am afraid some of their children will be born with
humps on their backs.

Vol. 14,  p.103
There is another item in relation to fashions to which I wish to call
the attention of the sisters, being satisfied that ladies, of
naturally good taste, need only to have their attention directed to
anything showing a want of it, to discontinue it. I refer now to the
trails or trains that it is fashionable for ladies to wear at the
bottom of their dresses. You know it is the custom of some here to
have a long trail of cloth dragging after them through the dirt;
others, again, will have their dresses so short that one must shut his
eyes, or he cannot help seeing their garters. Excuse me for the
expression; but this is true, and it is not right. The ladies of
Israel should consider these things, and as they will be judged
according to their works just as much as the men, they should seek to
have good works, and be governed by good sense instead of foolish
fashions in their modes of adorning and dressing themselves.

Vol. 14,  p.103
It is true that we have not the etiquette here, as a general thing,
that is in the world; and this is not at all strange when the
circumstances in which most of the people have been reared are
considered. When I meet ladies and gentlemen of high rank, as I
sometimes do, they must not expect from me the same formal ceremony
and etiquette that are observed among the great in the courts of
kings. In my youthful days, instead of going to school, I had to chop
logs, to sow and plant, to plow in the midst of roots barefooted, and
if I had on a pair of pants that would cover me I did pretty well.
Seeing that this was the way I was brought up they cannot expect from
me the same etiquette and ceremony as if I had been brought up at the
feet of Gamaliel. The most of the people called Latter-day Saints have
been taken from the rural and manufacturing districts of this and the
old countries, and they belonged to the poorest of the poor. Many of
them, I may say the great majority, never had anything around them to
make life very desirable; they have been acquainted with poverty and
wretchedness, hence it cannot be expected that they should manifest
that [p.104] refinement and culture prevalent among the rich. Many and
many a man here, who is now able to ride in his wagon and perhaps in
his carriage, for years and years before he started for Zion never saw
daylight. His days were spent in the coal mines, and his daily toil
would commence before light in the morning and continue until after
dark at night. Now what can be expected from a community so many of
whose members have been brought up like this, or if not just like
this, still under circumstances of poverty and privation? Certainly
not what we might expect from those reared under more favorable
circumstances. But I will tell you what we have in our mind's eye with
regard to these very people, and what we are trying to make of them.
We take the poorest we can find on earth who will receive the truth,
and we are trying to make ladies and gentlemen of them. We are trying
to educate them, to school their children, and to so train them that
they may be able to gather around them the comforts of life, that they
may pass their lives as the human family should do—that their days,
weeks, and months may be pleasant to them. We prove that this is our
design, for the result, to some extent is already before us.

Vol. 14,  p.104
I will now return to the influence of the female portion of our
community. The ladies have power and influence to suppress the
"Grecian bend" and other fashionable follies, if they will. I want
them to consider well their standing, condition, and influence.
Suppose that our wives and daughters should say to us, "Husband," or
"Father, will you wear a straw hat of our make?" or, "We had some flax
got out last season and we have made some tow or linen cloth, and we
have some that Would make a nice coat, will you wear it if we make it
up for you?" What do you suppose we should say? The reply would be,
"Wives," or "Daughters, yes, and we thank you; we see your good works
and we will wear the hat or the coat you may make for us." And we
should do this without ever having a thought about anybody else being
pleased with them or not; if we looked well in the eyes of our wives
and daughters, we should care very little for others. Then suppose,
after they had made these garments for us, they go to the boys and
say, "Here, boys, will you wear what father wears?" There would be no
fear but the boys would say, "Yes, if it is good enough for father it
is good enough for us." We sometimes see a few home made hats in our
congregations, and without a close examination they might be taken for
foreign goods, they are so excellent and possess such a delicacy of
appearance and finish, which is praiseworthy.

Vol. 14,  p.104
What is there in these respects that the members of the Female Relief
Societies cannot accomplish. They can abolish the "Grecian bend," if
they wish to do so, and so far as my taste is concerned I would much
rather see a "Mormon bend" than a "Grecian bend;" and besides this
they can control the fashions, and if they are so disposed, make
home-manufactured articles of all kinds the fashion throughout the
Territory. Is there any necessity for this? Certainly there is. Just
for want of a few hundred thousand dollars, owing to this people by
the railway companies, almost every business man in our community is
oppressed. Suppose the amount due were paid, in a few months it would
be spent and the people would be in about the same condition they are
in to-day. Where then could you procure money to buy foreign goods?
Our merchants are [p.105] complaining of dull times and no sales. Ask
them what are their dividends, and they will tell you "a mere
nothing." Why not relieve this portion of the community, and keep them
from the necessity of straining their brains until they become insane
to know how to pay their debts? Say to them, "Pay your debts, we will
help you to do so but do not run into debt any more. We are going to
make our own bonnets and hats." Will you make the ribbons? No; you are
not prepared to do so now, but you soon will be. If any of you want to
do so now I have silk I can garnish you, and we, have plenty of silk
weavers amongst us. But if you are not prepared for this just say, "We
will do without ribbons," of "We will do with as few as possible," and
make the ornaments you wear on your heads of the straw that grows in
our fields.

Vol. 14,  p.105
Ladies, can you do this? You can and we require you to do it. If you
are the means of plunging this whole people into debt so as to
distress them will there be anything required of you? I think there
will, for you will be judged according to your works. Are not the men
as extravagant as the women? Yes, certainly they are, and just as
foolish. I could point out instances by the score and by the hundred
of men who are just as unwise, shortsighted, and foolish as the women
can be; but a condemnation of the male portion of the community will
not justify the female portion of it.

Vol. 14,  p.105
There is a great deal said in these clays with regard to woman's
rights. I Wish our women understood their rights, and would then
assume them. They have a great many rights they are not aware of. As I
pass around from house to house, occasionally, I sometimes think, "I
wish the lady who lives here understood her rights if she did I think
her house and children would look a little different." It is your
right, wives, to ask your husbands to set out beautiful shade and
fruit trees, and to get you some vine and flowers with which to adorn
the outside of your dwellings; and if your husbands have not time, get
them yourselves and plant them out. Some, perhaps, will say, "O, I
have nothing but a log house, and it is not worth that." Yes; it is
worth it. Whitewash and plaster it up, and get vines to run over the
door, so that everybody who passes will say, "What a lovely little
cottage!" This is your privilege and I wish you to exercise yourselves
in your own rights.

Vol. 14,  p.105
It is your right and privilege, too, to stop all folly in your
conversation, and how necessary this is! I have often thought and
said, "How necessary it is for mothers, who are the first teachers of
their children and who make the first impressions on their young
minds, to be strict." How careful they should be never to impress a
false idea on the mind of a child! They should never teach them
anything unless they know it is correct in every respect. They should
never say a word, especially in the hearing of a child, that is
improper. How natural it is for women to talk baby-talk to their
children; and it seems just as natural for the men to do so. It is
just as natural for me as to draw my breath to talk nonsense to a
child on my lap, and yet I have been trying to break myself of it ever
since I began to have a family.

Vol. 14,  p.105
These duties and responsibilities devolve upon mothers far more than
upon fathers, for you know the latter are often in the field or canon,
and are frequently away from home, sometimes for several days
together, attending to labors which compel them to be absent from
home. But the mother is at home with the children continually; [p.106]
and if they are taught lessons of usefulness it depends upon her. How
foolish it is—and some mothers do it, to dress a child in the most
gaudy apparel you can get hold of, when you know that, unless under
your own eye, that very child, in five minutes after being dressed,
will be playing in the mud! Why not rather dress the child in
something useful and appropriate, for play, sunshine, and fresh air
are as necessary to children as food. Do I see any of this nonsensical
short-sightedness on the part of mothers? Yes, but it is for the want
of thought and through mistaken kindness that they do this and many
other foolish things to their children.

Vol. 14,  p.106
One thing is very true and we believe it, and that is that a woman is
the glory of the man; but she was not made to be worshipped by him. As
the Scriptures say, Man is not without the woman, neither is woman
without the man in the Lord. Yet woman was not made to be worshipped
any more than man was. A man is not made to be worshipped by his
family; but he is to be their head, and to be good and upright before
them, and to be respected by them. It is his privilege to walk erect,
to converse the same as God, in fact he is made in the express image
of his Heavenly Father, and he should honor this position. Yet he is
not made to be worshipped, but to be the head and superior, and to be
obeyed in all love and kindness, and the woman is to be his helpmeet.
Woman has her influence, and she should use that in training her
children in the way they should go; if she fails to do this she
assumes fearful responsibilities.

Vol. 14,  p.106
We have instances in this Church of mothers full of faith and good
works, and if you mark their children you cannot find one that is
froward in his ways; I do not remember an instance among the children
of such mothers but what believed in and delighted in the Gospel. We
have also here the children of mothers of an opposite
character—mothers who have been careless and indifferent about the
Gospel or the kingdom of God, and, if you mark their children, they
are the same, and they stray away from the kingdom of God and from the
ordinances of life and salvation. This is the result of the influence
of the mother; I am an eye-witness of it.

Vol. 14,  p.106
If our sisters comprehended the power they bear and the influence they
wield in the midst of the people it does appear to me that they would
consider their condition a little more than they do. It is true that I
sometimes chasten them pretty severely and talk to them harshly, and
tell them precisely how they look and act, and the path they are
walking in and point out the dangers to which they are exposed; and
sometimes it hurts their feelings, but I cannot help this. I take the
liberty of doing this and I do it for their good, for it is seldom
that a man will say anything to his wife or daughters about their
every-day labor and conduct. It is true that there is occasionally a
man who will find fault with everything, and a woman who will do the
same; and there is a certain few on this earth who are never happy
unless they are miserable, and who are never easy until they are in
pain; but such people are not commonly to be met with. Let the husband
train himself to be submissive to the Lord and his requirements in
every respect, and teach his wife or wives and children the doctrine
of life and salvation and set before them an example worthy of
imitation, and there are few families but what will follow such a
husband and father. Occasionally you may meet with a family who will
be rebellious [p.107] under such circumstances, and you may once in a
while find a man who will be rebellious when his wife and children are
full of faith and good works, But such individuals are of Gentile
blood, which is the rebellious blood, and will show it out.

Vol. 14,  p.107
Now, sisters, hearken! Look to yourselves in your capacity as Relief
Societies in this city and throughout the mountains. Look at your
condition. Consider it for yourselves, and decide whether you will go
to and learn the influence which you possess, and then wield that
influence for doing good and to relieve the poor among the people.
When I have been out in the nations I have frequently been pained to
see the scenes of distress there to be met with. I recollect one
circumstance, while in England. I have related it often, but will do
so now. When standing in Smithfield Market, in the City of Manchester,
once, I spent a penny for a bunch of grapes that had just come from
France. Immediately after I felt as guilty as I could feel, for I saw
a woman passing by who, I knew by her appearance, was starving to
death. She dare not steal nor beg, for if she had done either she
would have been instantly arrested and taken to prison or the
workhouse. I say I felt guilty for spending that in luxury which, if
it had been given to that woman, might have procured her a morsel of
bread, and so have helped to relieve her misery.

Vol. 14,  p.107
Sisters, do you see any children around your neighborhoods poorly clad
and without shoes? If you do, I say to you Female Relief Societies
pick up these children and relieve their necessities, and send them to
school. And if you see any young, middle-aged or old ladies in need
find them something to do that will enable them to sustain themselves;
but don't relieve the idle, for relieving those who are able but
unwilling to work is ruinous to any community. The time we spend here
is our life, our substance, our capital, our fortune, and that time
should be used profitably. Take these old ladies, there are a great
many of them around rather poor, and give them something to do; that
is their delight. You will hardly find an old lady in the community
who has not been brought up to work; and they would rather knit
stockings or do some other useful labor than eat the bread of charity.
Relieve the wants of every individual in need in your neighborhoods.
This is in the capacity and in the power of the Female Relief
Societies when it is not in the power of the Bishops. Do you know it?
I do, whether you do or not; and you are learning it. Find out what
your influence is and how far it extends, and use it to do good; and
live every day so that when you lie down at night you can look back on
the day and say, in all honesty before God, "I do not know that I have
done a wrong action, said an improper word, indulged in a bad thought,
or neglected to perform any duty that I ought to have attended to this
day, and I can lie down in peace, and submit myself to the Lord, and
if I never wake again in this world, all right, I am just as ready to
go now as I ever shall be. This is the way we all should live, but I
know we come short of it, and then plead ignorance as an excuse, as
has been stated here to-day.

Vol. 14,  p.107
We are here in these mountains. How often do I think of it? Bro.
George A. says we are here because we are obliged to go somewhere.
This is true, we are absolutely under the necessity of going somewhere
or of fighting the whole world. The Lord did not desire this. It was
necessary for the people to be scourged,[p.108] it was necessary for
us to learn whether we loved our property better than the truth. Five
times I have left a good handsome property; but no matter, the earth
is the Lord's, and he can give and take away what he pleases. Every
time I have been driven I have improved in my circumstances. Every
time this work has been removed it has become taller, wider, and
longer; and if in the reign of King James Buchanan, they had succeeded
in removing us we should have been still better off, because the Lord
would have prepared everything for the people to have been better off;
but this was not his mind. Here is our home, right here in these
mountains. What you have heard to-day from the previous speaker I
acknowledge may grate on the ears of some; nevertheless it is true. I
acknowledge another thing—truth should not at all times be spoken. But
we are here, and the statement you have heard with regard to the
President of this people saying, "If they let us alone ten years we
would ask no odds of them," is true; and the only thing in which we
have never failed in obtaining satisfaction has been to ask no odds of
them, for the most of things that we have asked for have been denied
us. In that we can have satisfaction; we cannot help it. We would not
have things as they are if we could help it. We should not have left
the States if we could have stayed there. If we could have all the
people believe the truth we would not have them unbelievers. There is
hardly a civilized nation on earth to which we have not carried the
Gospel without purse and scrip. He who had money left it at home. We
have offered life and salvation to the inhabitants of the earth
without money and without price, so you see we do not believe in a
hireling priesthood. We preach here without pay. Do our Bishops labor
for pay? No, if they are not capable of getting a living and
sustaining themselves and families, and of filling the office of
Bishop without pay, they are hardly worthy of the Bishopric. If a High
Priest is called to be a president or to travel and preach the Gospel
to the nations of the earth, he must do it without pay; and we think
that any man who is not able to keep himself and family and travel and
preach one-half or two-thirds of his time without being paid, is not
so good a financier as he ought to be, still we find many who do not
possess this qualification. When we have all learned this we shall
find that we can have all we can ask for or desire; everything to make
us happy and comfortable, no matter whether we are called to go abroad
and preach or whether we stay and labor at home.

Vol. 14,  p.108
Brethren and Sisters, and especially the sisters, I hope you will
listen to what has been said this morning. I have been preaching to
the sisters of the Church this morning, not to outsiders. If I had
preached to outsiders I should have told them what the Gospel is; how
they can come to God, not to an "anxious bench." I should have told
them to repent of their sins, and to be baptized for the remission of
them, and to have hands laid Upon them for the reception of the Holy
Ghost, which Would bring to their remembrance things past, present,
and to come; that would make prophets and prophetesses of them; give
to them those girls that God has set in his Church—the gift of
healing, the gift of discerning of spirits, of tongues, of the
interpretation of tongues, of prophecy, etc., etc. Are they here? Yes,
right here in abundance, to overflowing. If the Saints would be
faithful in cultivating these gifts every doctor might be removed from
our midst.[p.109] Let the mothers, say nothing about the Elders in
Israel, exercise the faith that it is their right to exercise, and I
am satisfied that nine out of every ten children that now die might be
saved Doctors and their medicines I regard as a deadly bane to any
community, Give your children, when sick, a little simple herb drink;
and if they have eaten too much let them go without food until their
stomachs are cleansed and purified, and have faith in the name of
Jesus and in the ordinances of his Church, and they will live. That is
my faith with regard to this thing. I am not very partial to doctors
and lawyers, I can see no use for them unless it is to raise grain or
go to mechanical work. But I need not go into this subject at the
present.

Vol. 14,  p.109
We say forgive us of our errors, accept the truth and love and serve
God that you may be saved in his kingdom, which I ask in the name of
Jesus. Amen.

Brigham Young, May 7, 1871

Good and Evil—the Testimony of the 
Spirit—His Early Religious Experience

Remarks By President Brigham Young, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 7, 1871. 

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.109
I have a few words to offer to my brethren and sisters, and all who
hear me, concerning the experience of the minds of the children of
men, especially in their transit from evil to good. We vary very
materially in our dispositions, reflections, in the impulses of our
minds, and in our perceptive faculties. There is a great variety of
operations upon the minds of the inhabitants of the earth, and the
people are unacquainted with them, for they do not lay them to heart,
contemplate and realize them, consequently they cannot look upon them
as they are. These remarks of mine are the result of reflections upon
the sayings of our brother who has been speaking to us, and telling
his experience when he received the Gospel. He told us that, though
his perceptive faculties were So quickened that he could read the
Bible understandingly, this did not satisfy him; he must have a storm.
I make use of this term to express my idea of what he desired and so
earnestly sought for. He must have an experience like a rushing,
mighty wind, or he could not be satisfied. In reading the sayings of
the ancients, we find that they looked sometimes for the Lord to come
in a storm. Sometimes you will see the storm pass, and the Lord is not
there. The winds blow terribly, but the Lord is not there. A terrible
tempest comes along, in which the lightnings flash and the thunders
bellow almost enough to shake the mountains down. Is [p.110] the Lord
there? No, he is not there. But by and by you hear a small, still
voice saying, "Peace, peace." The Lord is there, and this is his
voice. It will satisfy some, but others, like our brother, want a
testimony like a rushing, mighty wind.

Vol. 14,  p.110
I will give you a little of my experience, not merely at the time that
I concluded to forsake sin and embrace peace, and righteousness, but
since then. My experience in this kingdom as a man, as an intelligent
being, concerning the philosophy of this world and mankind, and all
things pertaining to the earth, teaches me a great many little items
that are passed over unnoticed by most of the people. My conclusion
with regard to a sound religious experience is simply this: If I am
convicted of sin I am made sensible of wrong. If this wrong exists
within me, my good judgment teaches me that I should take that and put
it away from me; turn it out of doors; it would teach, me to say, "I
do not want you, you are not good for me; you produce sorrow,
mourning, affliction, and all manner of grief and pain. Go out of
doors, I do not want you, you are evil. I will adopt truth and correct
principles and plant them within me instead of that which will destroy
me." Being convinced of all this, what course shall I pursue, if I
desire to procure a sound experience—one that is genuine and will
endure, and prove to God and all the heavenly host, also to my family
and neighbors, that I am sorry for sin? I will forsake it, and will
not let it dwell within me, but will do all I can to banish it from
me. Would this be a proof? Yes. Then let my actions correspond with
the confession of my mouth; and if I have discovered this fountain of
evil within me, I must lay a foundation to be free from it. Do I wish
to wait until the Lord speaks from heaven to me? No, the Lord has
planted within me knowledge and wisdom to distinguish between: right
and wrong, and if I wait until his voice comes from, heaven to tell me
that I am a sinner, or until he gives me some particular manifestation
of approval on my attempting to forsake evil, I may wait a great
while. I do not know how much he thinks of me, nor whether, if I
sought such a manifestation, he would come the first night I knelt
down to pray, or the second, third, or fourth, or whether I should
have to continue a week, two weeks, or for months. I do not know
anything about this; but my judgment having convinced me that I am
wrong, I do not want the Lord to speak from the heavens. I will ask
any intelligent being that dwells on the face of the earth if it is
necessary to wait until the Lord comes like a rushing, mighty wind, or
like an earthquake or tornado? I do not see any necessity for it. If I
find an evil in me to-day I must try and get rid of it; and if I find
another to-morrow I must get rid of it; and how long must I continue
to do so? Just as long as God gives me intelligence; not for a day,
week, br year, bat for my whole life; and if I exist for ninety-nine
years, or for nine hundred and ninety-nine, I do not expect there will
be an hour in which I will not be under the necessity of endeavoring
to put evil from me if I find it within me, and to grow and increase
in the principles of truth and righteousness. By taking this course I
know, in and of myself, that I am forsaking my sins, and do not want
the Lord to manifest it unto me. I know that if the plants of sin and
death are permitted to grow within me they will prove my utter
destruction, unless I tear them up root and branch, and throw them
away. The Lord has bestowed upon me and upon every [p.111] intelligent
being on the earth, wisdom sufficient to comprehend this, and I do not
want the Lord to come in the storm, the thunder, lightning, or
whirlwind to tell it to me. I know that I must uproot the plants of
evil that are within me, and in their place engraft plants of truth
and virtue, and these will grow up within me to eternal life. Is not
this reasonable? Is this not a true principle? Yes, and the whole of
man's experience, science, and wisdom proves it. I may take, for
instance, the beautiful machinery of my watch, and neglect to clean it
or wind it up; I may take out the mainspring, the hairspring or the
main cog-wheel, and then say, "Keep time for me," and it would be no
more inconsistent than to say, "I have naturally within me, through
the fall, the principles of death, and they reign within me, and I
seek not to put those principles away from me, but wait for the Lord
to manifest to me that I am born of him and he is delighted with me."
I do not care if I live my whole lifetime without a testimony from the
Lord; not that he leaves his children thus; he has never been so
hard-hearted, so austere a master as to leave one of his children with
full purpose of heart to serve him and do his will without a witness
of his approval. But, suppose he were disposed to do so, I am under
obligations, on the principles of right and wrong, to forsake evil,
and to plant within me every principle of purity and holiness, whether
or not the Lord manifest unto me that I am his son and that he is
pleased with me. I am not pleased with myself if I imbibe and cherish
death and destruction; but let me cherish life and salvation, that
that promotes the happiness of mankind, and life, peace, and
tranquility within myself and all around me, and I shall have my own
approval and the approval and blessing of the Lord whether he tells me
so, in so many words, or not.

Vol. 14,  p.111
I am under obligation to take a course which will sustain life within
myself and others, on rational principles, without any special
manifestation from God. You can all see this; but some think if they
do not receive some special manifestation from God that he has
accepted them, they are rejected of him. Do you not all know that you
are the sons and daughters of the Almighty? If you do not I will
inform you this morning that there is not a man or woman on the earth
that is not a son or daughter of Adam and Eve. We all belong to the
races which have sprung from father Adam and mother Eve; and every son
and daughter of Adam and Eve is a son and daughter of that God we
serve, who organized this earth and millions of others, and who holds
them in existence by law. Now suppose he does not tell us that he
particularly loves us and thinks so much of us; or that he delights in
Brother James or William, or in Sister Susan or Nancy more than in any
other being on the earth, what of it? I do not know that I shall
inquire of the Lord whether he loves me or not. I do not know that I
have ever taken pains to ask him. I have professed religion somewhere
near fifty years, and I do not know that I ever asked the Lord whether
he loved me or not. I want to take a course that I can love purity and
holiness. If I do this, then I love the Lord and keep his
commandments, and that is enough for me. If he is not disposed to like
me as well as he did John, "the beloved disciple," who leaned upon his
breast on a certain occasion, and tells me to sit yonder instead of
here, it is all right, I am as satisfied to sit there as here. I want
to preserve my identity [p.112] and to increase in intelligence, and
if I can do this I do not know that I care, particularly, with regard
to how much, in weight or measure, the Lord loves me or does not love
rile. There is one fact that I do know, he will love me all he should.
If I take a course to love him and keep his commandments am for life
and duration, I am for eternity, for I take that course which will
preserve myself.

Vol. 14,  p.112
Many men and women who have obeyed the Gospel, and have not received
from the Lord these striking testimonies, will say, "Well, I really do
not know that I can tell whether the Gospel is true or not." To all
such I say, then you are no philosopher at all, for upon the rational
principles of common philosophy you can tell whether it is true or
not. Does it contain the seeds of life? Does it promote the plants and
yield the fruits of life, or does it produce the plants and yield the
fruits of death? You can ask these questions and readily answer them
for yourselves. Not that I wish to make a mere historical convert, or
a people who believe historically, mathematically, or philosophically;
but I know and understand that the Lord never leaves his children
without a witness. Now I will tell you a witness which would he enough
for me—I read the Bible, diligently and faithfully, and if I could
have found a church and people organized according to the pattern
contained in its pages I should have been satisfied that that was
God's Church and people, and that would have been witness enough for
me. But I will give you a little of my experience in my early days
with regard to the religious sects. From my youth up their cry was,
"Lo here is Christ, lo there is Christ;" no, "Yonder is Christ;"
"Christ is not there, he is here," and so on, each claiming that it
had the Savior, and that others were wrong. I used to think to myself,
"Some one of you may be right, but hold on, wait awhile! when I reach
the years of judgment and discretion I can judge for myself; and in
the meanwhile take no course either with one party or the other." When
I would make known my views and feelings with regard to their confused
state they would call me an infidel. I would say to them, "All right,
I am an infidel in a great many things." I read the Bible, and
especially the New Testament, which was given as a pattern for the
life of Christians, whether as a church or individuals, and this was
my inward inquiry, "Is there a church on the earth organized according
to the pattern Jesus left?" No. Is there an Apostle left on the earth?
Not one. Is there a prophet, which the Scriptures inform us were
placed in the Church for its edification? Not one. Is there an
evangelist? No. Is there the gift of healing? We cannot find any such
thing, with all their cries of "Lo here, lo there, and lo yonder."
"Are there any who speak with tongues?" No. Any that prophecy? No, we
do not believe in prophecy. Any one who has received the Holy Ghost,
and speaks and preaches by its influence? "Why the Holy Ghost is not
given in these days," say all those who say, "Lo, here is Christ," and
"Lo, there is Christ!" Well, I used to say, I am an infidel, for I do
not believe anything of this; when you bring me a people built up and
believing according to the New Testament I will believe that they are
right. When you find such a people you will find the people and Church
of God, with all the gifts and graces of the Gospel in their midst;
and you will find the kingdom of God on the earth." They labored with
me, but finally declared that I was an infidel, [p.113] for I could
not believe in their doctrines and principles. Yet I have been at many
of their meetings and seen their modes of conversion. As I have said
to my friends here, in speaking about Spiritualism, I have seen the
effects of animal magnetism, or some anomalous sleep, or whatever it
may be called, many a time in my youth. I have seen persons lie on the
benches, on the floor of the meeting house, or on the ground at their
camp meetings, for ten, twenty, and thirty minutes, and I do not know
but an hour, and not a particle of pulse about them. That was the
effect of what I call animal magnetism; they called it the power of
God, but no matter what it was. I used to think that I should like to
ask such persons what they had seen in their trance or vision; and
when I got old enough and dared ask them, I did so. I have said to
such pensons: "Brother, What have you experienced?" "Nothing." "What
do you know more than before you had this; what do you call it—trance,
sleep or dream? Do you know any more now than before you fell to the
earth?" "Nothing more." "Have you seen any person?" "No." Then what is
the use or utility of your falling down here in the dirt?" I could not
see it, and consequently I was an infidel to this. But I said then as
I say now—"Show me a church that God has organized, and you will find
Apostles to rule, govern, control, dictate, and give counsel. You will
find prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, governments, helps, and
diversities of tongues. When the Church and kingdom of God is upon the
earth you will find all these things and you will also hear
prophesying therein.

Vol. 14,  p.113
I will now return again to our experience here. In Christendom the
people are taught by the priest, by father, by mother, by president,
prince and king, that the Bible is true and that Jesus is the Christ;
and they inherit this belief, and if it is a true principle to believe
in Jesus, they inherit it without the use of their judgment and
reasoning faculties. And when you find a church organized according to
the New Testament pattern it does not require any particular
manifestation to prove its truth, for we are taught from our youth up
to acknowledge the New Testament and we cannot help it. It is
interwoven into our very natures; I do not know but it is the warp and
the filling, both. In consequence of this we have a holy reverence for
and a belief in the Bible, though we may not believe in the actions of
all those who profess to believe in it. As it was observed by my
brother, "He loved religion;" and for myself I can say that I have
always had a holy reverence for the truth. I have had a divine
reverence for it from my youth, but, not for the conduct of all those
who profess to be Christians.

Vol. 14,  p.113
Well, how can you know When you have passed from death unto life? You
had the witness right here from our brother, according to the
testimony of the Apostles, "By this ye shall know ye have passed from
death unto life, if ye love the brethren." Our brother said he loved
that poor Elder who preached the Gospel to him, although he could not
gain admittance into a decent house. Nobody would receive an Elder of
Israel, nobody would receive a messenger bearing the words and keys of
eternal life and salvation to the nations, but a poor widow on a back
street where our brother was ashamed to go. It put me in mind of the
harlot Rahab. She alone would receive the spies sent out by Joshua,
the servant of God. Do you not think she was blessed? I think so; and
I think [p.114] the poor widow who received and gave an asylum to the
Elder referred to by our brother was blessed also, for his words were
life, light, and peace; and he said that he loved him, and by this he
might have known that he had passed from death unto life.

Vol. 14,  p.114
Now, to our experience again. Suppose you obey the ordinances of the
Gospel, and do not speak in tongues to-day, never mind that. Suppose
you do not have the spirit of prophecy, no matter. Suppose you do not
receive any particular gift attended by the rushing of a mighty wind,
as on the day of Pentecost, there is no particular necessity that you
should. On the Day of Pentecost there was special need for it, it was
a peculiarly trying time. Who believed on Jesus? Look at his poor
disciples! When Jesus was on trial, Peter, the chief of the Apostles,
dare not own him, and denied him through fear. There was not a man or
woman to stand up and say, "This is the Christ; don't you crucify him.
He is Christ, the Savior of the world; be cautious how you handle that
man." There was not one to say anything of this kind. It was a very
peculiar time, and some special and powerful manifestation of the
power of the Almighty was necessary to open the eyes of the people and
let them know that Jesus had paid the debt, and that they had actually
crucified him who, by his death, had become the Savior of the world.
It required this at that time to convince the people; but when the
doctrines of Christianity became popular it was no longer necessary. I
do not need this; do you? No. Do you believe the truth? If you do,
embrace it in your lives. What next? Prove to the Lord, to all the
heavenly host, and to the inhabitants of the earth, that you live
according to the law of the holy Gospel that God has revealed for the
salvation of the children of men. This will show that you are honest
and sincere, and that you are worthy of life eternal in the celestial
kingdom of God.

Vol. 14,  p.114
God bless you. Amen.

Brigham Young, May 14, 1871

Attending Meetings—Religion & Science—Geology—the Creation

Remarks By President Brigham Young Delivered in 
the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 14, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.114
I sometimes ask the Saints a question with regard to our meetings, but
I have not done so lately. We come here on Sabbath mornings to this
large hall, which will contain a great many people, but only a few, in
proportion to the number there is in the city who should be here,
attend; and I ask myself and have heretofore asked the people why they
do not attend? Do they love their meetings, do they love their
religion, and do [p.115] they love to hear the servants of the Lord
bear testimony to the truth? How is it? Perhaps many of the brethren
and sisters think we are not as interesting in our conversation as we
should be. I will say to such, we will give the ground to you at any
time you will take the stand, and we will sit and hear. But when we
talk to you we give you such ideas as we have, and we clothe them in
the best language that is in our possession, according to the ability
and the gift and grace that we possess. Whether they are interesting
to you or not is not for me to say. It is true the Saints may ask me
why I do not attend meetings more strictly than I do. I will say that,
in my life, I have been very strict in attending meetings, and when I
attend now I feel that the Saints require me to speak to them; that is
their desire and their faith; but I have met with and talked to them
and the inhabitants of the earth so much that I very frequently feel
that my talk is almost finished, it is pretty much gone out of me; not
the subjects to talk upon or the ideas, but the strength of my human
existence, and in consequence of this during the winter just passed I
have stayed at home. I have not asked the Saints to excuse me on this
account, for I think that I know my own duty and what I should or
should not do better than anybody else; but as I am feeling much
better with regard to my stomach and lungs, though I have no complaint
to make of my lungs as to the wind chest—I have plenty of strength
there; but the organs of speech in this tabernacle are actually worn;
but as I am feeling better I expect to meet with you more frequently.

Vol. 14,  p.115
It is my highest delight and pleasure to serve God and keep his
commandments; there is great delight in the law of the Lord to me, for
the simple reason—it is pure, holy, just, and true; and those
principles which the Lord bas revealed are the only correct principles
that man possesses on the earth. We may imagine to ourselves that we
possess a great deal of human wisdom independent of the Lord, but this
is a mistake, for every truth that is in the possession of the
children of men upon the earth came from God. The sciences understood
by man came from God, and when we demonstrate a truth, we demonstrate
a portion of the faith, law, or power by which all intelligent beings
exist, whether in heaven or on earth, consequently when we have truth
in our possession we have so much of the knowledge of God. I delight
in this, because truth is calculated to sustain itself; it is based
upon eternal facts and will endure, while all else will sooner or
later perish.

Vol. 14,  p.115
It was observed here just now that we differ from the Christian world
in our religious faith and belief; and so we do very, materially. I am
not astonished that infidelity prevails to a great extent among the
inhabitants of the earth, for the religious teachers of the people
advance many ideas and notions for truth which are in opposition to
and contradict facts demonstrated by science, and which are generally
understood. Says the scientific man, "I do not see your religion to be
true; I do not understand the law, light, rules, religion, or whatever
you call it, which you say God has revealed; it is confusion to me,
and if I submit to and embrace your views and theories I must reject
the facts which science demonstrates to me." This is the position, and
the line of demarcation has been plainly drawn, by those who profess
Christianity, between the sciences and revealed religion. You take,
for instance, our geologists, and they tell us that this earth has
been in existence [p.116] for thousands and millions of years. They
think, and they have good reason for their faith, that their
researches and investigations enable them to demonstrate that this
earth has been in existence as long as they assert it has; and they
say, "If the Lord, as religionists declare, made the earth out of
nothing in six days, six thousand years ago, our studies are all vain;
but by what we can learn from nature and the immutable laws of the
Creator as revealed therein, we know that your theories are incorrect
and consequently we must reject your religions as false and vain; we
must be what you call infidels, with the demonstrated truths of
science in our possession; or, rejecting those truths, become
enthusiasts in, what you call, Christianity."

Vol. 14,  p.116
In these respects we differ from the Christian world, for our religion
will not clash with or contradict the facts of science in any
particular. You may take geology, for instance, and it is a true
science; not that I would say for a moment that all the conclusions
and deductions of its professors are true, but its leading principles
are; they are facts—they are eternal; and to assert that the Lord made
this earth out of nothing is preposterous and impossible. God never
made something out of nothing; it is not in the economy or law by
which the worlds were, are, or will exist. There is an eternity before
us, and it is full of matter; and if we but understand enough of the
Lord and his ways, we would say that he took of this matter and
organized this earth from it. How long it has been organized it is not
for me to say, and I do not care anything about it. As for the Bible
account of the creation we may say that the Lord gave it to Moses, or
rather Moses obtained the history and traditions of the fathers, and
from these picked out what he considered necessary, and that account
has been handed down from age to age, and we have got it, no matter
whether it is correct or not, and whether the Lord found the earth
empty and void, whether he made it out of nothing or out of the rude
elements; or whether he made it in six days or in as many millions of
years, is and will remain a matter of speculation in the minds of men
unless he give revelation on the subject. If we understood the process
of creation there would be no mystery about it, it would be all
reasonable and plain, for there is no mystery except to the ignorant.
This we know by what we have learned naturally since we have had a
being on the earth. We can now take a hymn book and read its contents;
but if we had never learned our letters and knew nothing about type or
paper or their uses, and should take up a book and look at it, it
would be a great mystery; and still more so would it be to see a
person read line after line, and give expression therefrom to the
sentiments of himself or others. But this is no mystery to us now,
because we have learned our letters, and then learned to place those
letters into syllables, the syllables into words, and the words into
sentences.

Vol. 14,  p.116
Fifty or a hundred years ago, if any one had told the people of the
East Indies that water could be congealed, and form ice so thick and
hard that you could walk on and drive teams over it, they would
probably have said, "We do not believe a word of it." Why? Because
they did not know anything about it. A proper reply for all mankind to
make under similar circumstances would be, "We do not know anything
about what you say, and do not know whether we should have faith in it
or not. Perhaps we should, but we have no [p.117] evidence at present
on which to found such a belief." You go down south here among some of
our native Indian tribes, where some of the very best of blankets are
made, and you will find them twisting their yarn with their fingers
and little sticks, and their loom attached to the limbs of trees for
weaving purposes. Show them a loom such as white people use, and it
would be a perfect mystery to them. Sixty or seventy years ago a loom
worked by water power would have been a mystery to an American, but,
there is no mystery in that to-day, because the process is understood.
So it is with the East Indians and ice, for the chemist now, by a
chemical process, will congeal the water and make ice of it before
their eyes, and it is in this way, by testimony, evidence, and
demonstration that ignorance and prejudice are removed, faith
implanted and knowledge acquired. It is so with regard to all the
facts in existence that we do not understand.

Vol. 14,  p.117
We differ very much with Christendom in regard to the sciences of
religion. Our religion embraces all truth and every fact in existence,
no matter whether in heaven, earth, or hell. A fact is a fact, all
truth issues forth from the Fountain of truth, and the sciences are
facts as far as men have proved them. In talking to a gentleman not
long ago, I said, "The Lord is one of the most scientific men that
ever lived; you have no idea of the knowledge that he has with regard
to the sciences. If you did but know it, every truth that you and all
men have acquired a knowledge of through study and research, has come
from him—he is the fountain whence all truth and wisdom flow; he is
the fountain of all knowledge, and of every true principle that exists
in heaven or on earth." The gentleman said that such ideas conflicted
with his traditions; but said he, "I like to hear such talk and such
principles taught, for we do know, from scientific research and
investigation, that certain facts exist in nature which those called
Christians discard or throw away; they do not want anything to do with
them; they say this has nothing to do with religion; but you talk very
different to this."

Vol. 14,  p.117
Yes, we do differ in these respects from the Christian world; with
them it is "glory, hallelujah," shouting "Praise the Lord," singing,
praying and preaching; and when they are out of meeting they are too
apt to enter into the spirit of the world. The religion that we have
embraced must last a man from Monday morning until Monday morning, and
from Saturday night until Saturday night, and from one new year until
another; it must be in all our thoughts and words, in all our ways and
dealings. We come here to tell the people how to be saved; we know
how, consequently we can tell others. Suppose our calling, to-morrow,
is to conduct a railroad, to go into some philosophical business, or
no matter what, our minds, our faith or religion, our God and his
Spirit are with us; and if we should happen to be found in a room
dedicated for purposes of amusement and an accident should occur, and
an Elder engaged in the dance is called upon to go and lay hands on
the sick, if he is not prepared to exercise his calling and his faith
in God as much there as at any other time and in any other place, he
never should be found there, for none have a legal right to the
amusements which the Lord has ordained for his children except those
who acknowledge his hand in all things and keep his commandments. You
see from this that our religion differs very much from others.

Vol. 14,  p.118
A gentleman said to me not long since, "You 'Mormons' don't seem
[p.118] to be very religious; I do not make any pretensions to be
religious; and I like you very well." I replied, "That is a mistake,
we are the most religious people on the face of the earth. We do not
allow ourselves to go into a field to plough without taking our
religion with us; we do not go into an office, behind the counter to
deal out goods, into a counting house with the books, or anywhere to
attend to or transact any business without taking our religion with
us. If we are railroading or on a pleasure trip our God and our
religion must be with us. We are the most religious people in the
world; but we are not so enthusiastic as some are. We have seen plenty
of enthusiasm, but we do not care about it." Said I, "This shouting
and singing one's self away to everlasting bliss, may be all very well
in its place; but this alone is folly to me; my religion is to know
the will of God and do it.

Vol. 14,  p.118
I will say a few words to the Saints now. Shall I come right out plain
to you? I think I will. Suppose I were to get up a party here and say,
"You are welcome, I will find music and a good dinner," do you not
think this room would be crowded? Yes, to overflowing, it would not be
large enough; but when it is opened for the worship of God how
different! O, Saints, all the fear that I have with regard to us as a
people, is that we may neglect our God and our religion! We have
passed through the narrows, and have run the gauntlet for forty years
now and have come out unscathed, and what do you say? Will we serve
God.

Vol. 14,  p.118
Latter-day Saints, have your children come to meeting. Sisters, let
your little girls go to Sunday school or come to meeting! Brethren,
let your children go to Sunday school, or to meeting, and advise your
neighbors to do the same, and let this hall be crowded; and when more
want to gain admittance than it will accommodate we will resort to the
New Tabernacle, as we intend to do this afternoon. Some of the sisters
say it is so warm in here; but let me ask them whether they would go
without breakfast rather than cook it because the stove is hot. If
there were a breakfast or dinner here, I expect you would come
notwithstanding the warmth. I do not fear the scoffs of the world;
but, as I have already said, if I fear anything with regard to this
people, it is that they will neglect God and their religion.

Vol. 14,  p.118
We have heard something about Joseph Smith this morning. Brother
Woodruff has been talking about the Prophet. I can say that if the
whole world of mankind had known Joseph Smith and this people as well
as we know them, the biggest infidel in the world, or the wickedest
man living, if he had not passed the day of redemption and grace, so
that the Spirit of the Lord had ceased to operate on his mind, that
man would thank God for the Latter-day Saints, for we are for the
salvation of all who can be saved, and we calculate to continue until
the work is done. Jesus is our captain and leader; Jesus, the Savior
of the world—the Christ that we believe in, is the "one-man power" so
much talked about; and we calculate to do his will as far as we know
it. May God help us to do it! Amen.[p.119] 

Brigham Young, May 21, 1871

Obedience—the Revelation on Marriage & the Anti-Polygamy Law

Remarks By President Brigham Young, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 21, 1871. 

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.119
If my friends will have patience with me I will say a few words. To
the Latter-day Saints I say, I do pray you to prove the words of
Brother Cannon true with regard to being obedient to your President in
all things, and doing as he tells you. I pray you to hearken to this
counsel; if you do, contention and sin will cease, and we shall not
see men going to the canon or riding out for pleasure on the Sabbath
day, instead of coming here to meeting; we shall hear no more of their
taking advantage of each other, stirring up strife, going to law,
bearing false witness, or pilfering a little the one from the other. I
pray you to take this counsel, and cease your wickedness, Latter-day
Saints, and do as your President tells you. I feel to say this; and if
you will be patient with me I will say a little more.

Vol. 14,  p.119
There are strangers here, and to them I will say we have traveled the
earth over, and where we could not go we have sent by Elders and by
proclamation. We have asked the inhabitants of the earth to become
acquainted with our doctrine. Would they read it? No. Would they go to
hear an Elder preach? No, as a general thing they would not. If we had
been let alone while with the Christians we would have been there now
proclaiming the Gospel. But I wish to say to strangers that we were
not persecuted because we believed in having many wives, for that
principle was not known to our persecutors until we came to these
mountains, although the revelation was received by Joseph Smith and
written a year before his death. Since this doctrine has been
proclaimed we have lived in peace.

Vol. 14,  p.119
The inquiry among many, and especially among our political friends,
is, "What are you going to do? Are you going to observe the law
against plurality of wives, or are you going to obey the revelation?"
We have obeyed the revelation thus far, and still live; that I can
say, and perhaps that is enough. What do we say about the lawmakers?
Go to, ye legislators, and make a law that every man in this
government shall have one wife. You have just as good a right to do
that as to say that we shall not have two. Let every man have his
wife, raise his family, live virtuously and keep his vows, and our
difficulty is at an end. We say to Congressmen and Presidents, have
your wife; and we also say to every political and financial man the
world over, marry the women and take care of them and save us the
trouble. If you do not, we will gather them up, just as sure as the
world. Many destroy life; we save it; and as we have said, years and
years ago, we say now to all, the day that you will be virtuous and
cease your unlawful connections with the sex and every man have his
wife, and all the inhabitants of this government observe [p.120] this
rule, we shall have then but one wife apiece; but we shall save all we
can save. The men are the lords of the earth, and they are more
inclined to reject the Gospel than the women. The women are a great
deal more inclined to believe the truth than the men; they comprehend
it more quickly, and they are submissive and easy to teach, and if we
cannot save the men, let us save the women for God's sake, and do not
find fault with us.

Vol. 14,  p.120
Again, a gentleman said to me, the other day, "What are you going to
do with the anti-polygamy law?" I replied, "Nothing at all, we mind
our own business, and I hope everybody else will. We have not meddled
with it, and do not expect to; but we expect to live."

Vol. 14,  p.120
I want to say a word with regard to what are called our former
persecutions; though I, for one, will acknowledge that I have never
been persecuted. As for what people do with my name, I do not know nor
care; they use it for good or for evil, just as they please. The Lord
gave a revelation through his servant to me, that my name should be
had for good and for evil before the nations of the earth, and if that
is the way they use it, all right—either one or both, no matter. Hands
off is all I ask, and let us have the privilege of living in peace.
But will you hearken to the truth? Will you listen to the words of
eternal life? We have traveled the earth over, and have read to the
people out of the book of life; but as a general thing they have
refused to receive it. It is true that a few have received it in the
past, and I hope that many will in the future. We shall gather and
save all we can. The rise and cause of our persecutions have been just
the same as it has ever been in the experience of the Saints of God.
Who were the leaders and foremost in the ranks of the Savior's
persecutors? The Scribes and the Pharisees. Who were foremost in the
ranks in persecuting Joseph Smith, even when he had the pledge of the
governor of the State of Illinois that he should be preserved, and
when not one scratch or law could be found against him? Who led the
blackened crew who said that if the law could not reach him, powder
and ball should? The priests; they have always led the van, and always
will. It is Baal against Christ now, as it always was.

Vol. 14,  p.120
When we were in Missouri the order was issued, "You 'Mormons' must
leave the State," and thirty-five hundred men were paraded for battle
against about three hundred of the Elders of Israel, but they did not
happen to kill us all. They took Joseph, or rather they sent for him
and Hyrum, and, they went down to their camp, and General Clark called
the brethren together, and, said he, "Give up your arms and every
weapon you have;" and the brethren gave them up. I stood there and
heard the General declare, "Gentlemen, you are the best and most
peaceable community there is in this State; but," said he, "as for
your prophets, bishops, high councils, &c., we shall not permit you to
have them any longer. Forsake your religion and abandon your Prophet!
We have him, and you will never see him again; forsake this banding
together and being one, and live with us and become as we are. You are
the very mechanics and farmers we want. You have shown us how to build
mills, set out orchards, raise wheat, rear comfortable habitations,
school the children, build meeting houses, and, in short, you have
done more to make the country in three years than we have in fifteen.
You are good citizens, but you must not clan together, you [p.121]
must disperse among the people; if you do not, remember the militia
will be upon you." We bid them good bye and left our property; we
would not forsake our prophets then, and we are of the same mind yet.

Vol. 14,  p.121
Here we are, though we did not come here because we chose to get out
of the way of the Christians. We wanted to stay with our former
brethren, to induce them if possible to receive the truth; but they
would not hear it. The world of mankind is sunk in ignorance and
darkness; but the Lord Almighty has revealed his will from heaven, and
we shall declare it to the people, and give them a chance to receive
or reject it. The Lord invites all to come, and partake of the
benefits of his Gospel, which, we are told in the Scriptures, is the
power of God unto salvation; and our experience has proved that it is
so, whether taken in a moral, social, political, or financial point of
view. We have gathered the poorest class of men to be found on the
continent of America, and I was one of them; and we have gathered the
same class from Europe, for very few indeed of those who have obeyed
the Gospel have ever been the possessors of any wealth. We have taken
the poor and the ignorant from the dens and caves of the earth and
brought them here, and we have labored day and night, week after week,
and year after year, to make ourselves comfortable, and to obtain all
the knowledge there is in the world, and the knowledge that comes from
God, and we shall continue to do so. We shall take the weak and the
feeble and bring them up to the standard that God requires. The Gospel
of life and salvation does not reduce those who obey it to beggary;
but it takes the poor and the ignorant, makes them wise and happy, and
surrounds them with the comforts of life and everything desirable, and
teaches them to serve God with all their hearts.

Vol. 14,  p.121
This, gentlemen, is our doctrine, faith, and practice; and we wish
strangers to understand that we did not come here out of choice, but
because we were obliged to go somewhere, and this was the best place
we could find, It was impossible for any person to live here unless he
labored hard and battled and fought against the elements, but it was a
first-rate place to raise Latter-day Saints, and we shall be blessed
in living here, and shall yet make it like the Garden of Eden; and the
Lord Almighty will hedge about his Saints and will defend and preserve
them if they will do his will. The only fear I have is that we will
not do right; if we do we will be like a city set on a hill, our light
will not be hid. I trust that the time will soon come when, in all
things, our conduct will be such that all the world might pattern
after us with advantage. I can say that at the present time we are far
from that. It is sometimes said by strangers, "We suppose you
Latter-day Saints consider yourselves perfect, don't you?" I answer,
not by any means; we are as imperfect as a people ought to be, and a
little more so.

Vol. 14,  p.121
I wish that what Brother George Q. said of you was true—that you were
all obedient to your President. If you all will be, you will cease
sinning, tattling, lying, backbiting, and strife, all will be
industrious, prudent, faithful and full of wisdom and good works, and
the power of God will be upon us more and more, and we will be able to
do more good to the inhabitants of the earth. We have no quarrel with
anybody. We exchange ideas, but we will not contend. As I used to say
to the ministers, when travelling and preaching, "I will not dispute.
If you want [p.122] the truth I will give it you; and if you have a
truth that I have not, I want all you have; but contention is not my
calling; it is no part of the Gospel of Christ; that is peace, life,
light, and salvation. The Lord has given that to me and you, and you
are welcome to it."

Vol. 14,  p.122
I wanted to say these few words to you. I thank you for your patience.
God bless you. Amen.

George Q. Cannon, April 8, 1871

The Building of Temples—the Keys of the Apostleship

Discourse By Elder George Q. Cannon, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, April 8, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.122
I will read a portion of Scripture which is found in the 17th chapter
of the First Book of Chronicles, commencing at the 3rd verse—

Vol. 14,  p.122
"And it came to pass the same night that the word of God came to
Nathan, saying,

Vol. 14,  p.122
"Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not
build me an house to dwell in:

Vol. 14,  p.122
"For I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought up
Israel until this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one
tabernacle to another.

Vol. 14,  p.122
"Wheresoever I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word to any of
the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why
have ye not built me an house of cedars?

Vol. 14,  p.122
"Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith
the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, even from following
the sheep, that thou shouldest be ruler over my people Israel:

Vol. 14,  p.122
"And I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast walked, and have
cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a name
like the name of the great men that are in the earth. 

Vol. 14,  p.122
"Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them,
and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no more;
neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at
the beginning:

Vol. 14,  p.122
"And since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people
Israel. Moreover, I will subdue all thine enemies. Furthermore, I tell
thee that the Lord will build thee a house.

Vol. 14,  p.122
"And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go
to to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee,
which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.

Vol. 14,  p.122
"He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever.

Vol. 14,  p.122
"I will be his father, and he shall be my son; and I will not take my
mercy away from him, as I took it [p.123] from him that was before
thee:

Vol. 14,  p.123
"But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever; and
his throne shall be established for evermore.

Vol. 14,  p.123
"According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so
did Nathan speak unto David."

Vol. 14,  p.123
There is one point, brethren and sisters, in the passages I have just
read in your hearing, to which I wish to call your attention—namely,
the pleasure that was evinced by the Lord at the disposition which
David manifested—a disposition which none of his predecessors,
apparently, had exhibited, to build unto the Lord of hosts a house, a
temple, a place upon and within which his glory could rest. So pleased
appeared the Lord to be with this disposition of David that he
promised him that he would establish his dynasty, that his son should
reign after him, and that this son should be the instrument in his
hands of building a glorious temple unto his name. The reasons are
given in other portions of Scripture why the Lord did not accept this
offering on the part of David. The Lord, in one place, alludes to his
life, saying that he had been a man of war and blood; that he had gone
forth and fought his enemies, and because of this the Lord Was not
disposed to accept his offer, but he promised David that he would
raise up a son after him who should be a man of peace—a man free from
war and blood, and that during his lifetime his temple should be
reared; and, according to the prediction of the Lord God, through
Nathan the Prophet, Solomon was raised up and did accomplish the work
which his father David had desired to do, and he did rear a temple
unto the name of the Lord upon and within which his glory rested and
was manifested; and the blessing of God rested upon Solomon so long as
he continued to serve with a perfect heart the Lord God of his
fathers. Israel was also greatly blessed and prospered in rearing that
house; and though Solomon, in his prayer, when dedicating it, said how
was it possible that God could take up his residence upon earth, when
the heavens, and the heaven of heavens could not contain him, still
God did condescend to manifest his glory in that house to such an
extent that the priests could not endure it; and the blessings of God
rested visibly, in the presence of the people, upon that house, and
they knew that he bad accepted their labors and the dedication of
their means for the erection of a house to his name.

Vol. 14,  p.123
This labor appeals to us in a very peculiar manner. There is no people
or community on the face of the earth to-day, except the Latter-day
Saints, who think of rearing unto the Lord of Hosts a temple upon the
same principle and for the same objects and ends that the temple was
reared in Jerusalem. Already we have completed two temples, and laid
the foundation of five. The Saints are all familiar with the history
of the building of the temple of Kirtland, whether they were there
personally or not; they are also familiar with the blessed results
which followed its erection. They know that God did manifest himself
to his servants and people in a very peculiar manner, and poured out
upon them great and precious blessings; many ordinances which bad been
lost to man, or of which he scarcely knew anything, and for the
administration of which there had been no authority upon the earth for
generations, were restored, and men and women received ordinances,
promises and blessings which comforted their hearts and encouraged
them in the work of God. And not only were these ordinances
administered, [p.124] but additional authority was bestowed upon the
prophet of God who stood at the head of this dispensation. And so also
the completion of the temple at Nauvoo brought many blessings; that
is, so far as it was completed, for the enemies of God's kingdom did
not permit us to complete it entirely; but so far as it was completed
God accepted the labor of the hands of his servants and people, and
great and precious blessings were bestowed upon the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints for the faithfulness and diligence of its
members in rearing that house.

Vol. 14,  p.124
I have often thought of the shortness of the period, after the death
of Joseph, which was continued in building that house. He died, as you
well know, or was murdered, on the 27th of June, 1844. Before 1845 had
passed away the Saints were receiving their endowments in that house.
The walls were completed, it was roofed, the spire finished, and the
upper story so far completed that the Elders could go in and
administer in the ordinances of God's house—the sealings, washings and
anointings, and in the performance of those ceremonies and ordinances
which were necessary for our growth, increase and perfection as a
people; and when it is recollected that all this was done in a very
short period over one year, it bears testimony to the zeal of the
Saints and the mighty exertions they made to fulfil the word of God
and the requirements He made of us as a people, that we and our dead
might not be rejected. But we were not permitted to enjoy that house,
we were not permitted to continue receiving blessings there; the
enemies of God's kingdom were upon us, and we were compelled to
abandon it and our homes, and it fell a sacrifice to the wickedness of
the wicked and it was burned with fire—probably a better fate than to
have it stand and be defiled by the wicked.

Vol. 14,  p.124
We have now to commence again the erection of another temple. For many
years the foundation of one on this block has been laid, and the
Saints have labored upon it to some extent; but it has not been pushed
forward with very great rapidity. There have been reasons for
this—good and weighty reasons. It is desirable when we build another
temple that it should not fall into the hands of the wicked, as those
we have already built have done; but that it should stand as an
enduring monument of the faith, zeal and perseverance of the
Latter-day Saints, in which the ordinances of God's house and kingdom
may be administered through all coming time. There seems to be a
spirit now resting upon the servants of God to push this house forward
to its completion; and I doubt not that this spirit will be received
and cherished by the Saints. throughout Utah Territory, and throughout
the world. Judging by my own feelings on this subject and by the
expressions of those who have alluded to it, I confidently believe
that a spirit is resting upon the people to receive the counsel that
is given concerning it, and to carry forward the work to a speedy
completion.

Vol. 14,  p.124
There are many reasons why we should do it. It is true that God, in
his mercy, has permitted us to build another house, which we call the
Endowment House, and in which we have received many ordinances and
blessings; but there are several which cannot be attended to in the
Endowment House; they must be postponed until a temple is completed,
in which the Elders and men of God who bear the Holy Priesthood, can
go and administer the things of God, and have them accepted by him.
This, of itself, is sufficient to stir us up, as [p.125] a people, to
exceeding great diligence in pushing forward this work.

Vol. 14,  p.125
When David announced his intention to prepare the means for the
building of the house that should be erected by his son Solomon, he
accumulated everything that could be prepared beforehand, So that when
Solomon should come to the throne after his decease, he might be
full-handed and have abundance wherewith to commence the labor of
building. To accomplish this, David called upon Israel to come forward
and exert themselves, and they did so, so we are told, and had
exceeding great, joy in contributing of their means for the erection
of that building. Of course there is no objection to the Latter-day
Saints doing the same; still, that requirement is not made of us at
the present time. All that we are required to do is to obey the law
that God has given unto us, that is, to pay our tithing. It has been
said, and I do not doubt the correctness of the statement, in fact, I
may say I am fully aware and conscious of it, that if this people
would pay one-tenth of their tithing this temple could be pushed
forward to completion very speedily.  As a people we have been very
negligent in paying our tithing; there are doubtless many exceptions,
but as a rule we have not complied with that law with the strictness
which we should have done. Now, however, there is an opportunity for
us to compensate for our shortcomings in the past, and to go to with
zeal and energy to rear this house, so that there may be a temple of
God in our midst in which ordinances can be administered for the
living and for the dead. I fully believe that when that temple is once
finished there will be a power and manifestations of the goodness of
God unto this people such as they have never before experienced. Every
work of this kind that we have accomplished has been attended with
increased and wonderful results unto us as a people—an increase of
power and of God's blessings upon us. It was so in Kirtland and at
Nauvoo; at both places the Elders had an increase of power, and the
Saints, since the completion of, and the administration of ordinances
in, those buildings have had a power they never possessed previously.

Vol. 14,  p.125
If any proof of this is needed let us reflect upon the wonderful
deliverances that God has wrought out for us since we left Illinois.
Up to that period or up to the time that the temple was partly
finished and the blessings of God bestowed within its walls, our
enemies to a very great extent had triumphed over us. We had been
driven from place to place; compelled to flee from one town, county
and State to another; but how great the change since then! We started
out a poor, friendless people, with nothing but God's blessing upon
us, his power overshadowing us and his guidance to lead us in the
wilderness; and from the day that we crossed the Mississippi river
until this day—the 8th of April, 1871—we have had continued success
and triumphs. God has signally delivered us from the hands of our
enemies, and when it has seemed as though we would be overwhelmed, as
though no earthly power could succor or deliver us from the hands of
those who sought our overthrow, God has done for us as he did for his
ancient covenant people, when he caused the waters of the Red Sea to
separate, that they might pass through and escape the destruction
their enemies threatened. So have we been in as remarkable a manner
delivered from, apparently, overwhelming difficulty and danger.

Vol. 14,  p.126
Whence, I ask, my brethren and [p.126] sisters, has this power come?
Whence has it been derived? I attribute it to the blessings and the
power and the authority and the keys which God gave unto his Saints,
and which he commenced to give in the Temple at Nauvoo. The Elders of
Israel there received keys, endowments and authority which they have
not failed to exercise in times of extremity and danger; and clouds
have been scattered and storms blown over, and peace and guidance, and
all the blessings which have been desired have been bestowed upon the
people, according to the faith that has been exercised. Others may
attribute these things to other causes; but I attribute them to this,
and I feel to give God the glory; and I trace these deliverances to
the power that the Elders received in that temple and previously. I
fully believe also, as I have said, that when this and other temples
are completed, there will be an increase of power bestowed upon the
people of God, and that they will, thereby, be better fitted to go
forth and cope with the powers of darkness and with the evils that
exist in the world and to establish the Zion of God never more to be
thrown down.

Vol. 14,  p.126
I know that there is a feeling in the breasts of many people that this
sort of thing is fanaticism. This is characteristic of the age of
unbelief in which we live. God, in the minds of this generation, is
removed far from them. He dwells at an illimitable distance from man,
and is not supposed to interfere with his affairs. Man, they think, is
left to work out deliverance and salvation according. to his own
wisdom; and there are a great many people, and it may be said, a great
many nations, who do not believe that God interferes at all with
matters off the earth. They think of and speak about him; but it is
mere form and tradition with them; very few believe that he interferes
directly with the affairs of men. Of course when such a belief is
prevalent, or rather when such unbelief prevails, the idea of building
a temple or temples to the Most High God, in which ordinances shall be
performed for the living and the dead, strikes the people as something
strange and fanatical. But, let me ask, what was the object of
building a temple in the days of Solomon? What was the object of
rebuilding it after its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar? Why was it that
Ezra and the Jews who were him in Babylonish captivity were
strengthened to go forth to rebuild the temple of God at Jerusalem? We
read in the Scriptures that God's blessing rested upon them. Their
enemies, it is true, harrassed them and did all in their power to
check their labors, but nevertheless they were exceedingly blessed,
and God accepted their work and bestowed choice and peculiar blessings
upon them.

Vol. 14,  p.126
When Jesus came the temple still stood in Jerusalem, but it had become
defiled. He was so angered on one occasion on this account that he
took a scourge of cords and beat out the money changers and others who
had defiled it, and upset their tables, and in this visible manner
showed his anger at the defilement of his Father's house.

Vol. 14,  p.126
We read in the revelations that the time will come when the tabernacle
of God will be with men on the earth. How shall we, as men and women,
prepare for this? One of the prophets says, "And the Lord whom ye seek
shall suddenly come to his Temple," showing that there will be, at
some period or other, a temple or temples built on the earth to which
God will come.

Vol. 14,  p.127
I have often thought, in reflecting on this subject, how careless
mankind [p.127] are in relation to the future. We are born on the
earth, where family relationships that are most desirable are formed.
Parents have their children whom they love beyond expression. These
children grow up and form associations in life and raise families, and
these relationships are the most tender known to the human heart.
There is nothing so much calculated to make life desirable as the
relation of parents to children and children to parents, husbands to
wives and wives to husbands; and many a man when he loses his partner,
loses all the hope that he has; his heart sinks within him, and he
feels as if life was undesirable; and instances are not rare of men,
through grief on this account, having their lives shortened. And so
with the other sex; sometimes through the loss of a husband a woman's
heart will break and she goes down to an early grave. And yet, in the
midst of the world where all these tender ties and emotions exist
there is no preparation for their perpetuation. The people do not
believe that they exist beyond the grave. Imagine, if you can, a state
of things where all these relationships are utterly destroyed and all
mingle in one common herd! This is the kind of heaven that many people
believe they are going to. I have heard ministers say, "O, I will not
know any relationship between myself and my wife hereafter; she, then,
will be no nearer to me than any other woman, nor I to her than any
other man; our children will be no nearer to us than any other
children, and we will live in this condition throughout the endless
ages of eternity." This is a dreary prospect for any human being who
has the affection of a husband, wife, parent, or child—a dreary
prospect for that endless eternity to which we are all hastening.

Vol. 14,  p.127
But God, in ancient days, gave certain authority unto one of his
Apostles—namely, Peter. He gave to him authority to bind on earth, and
it should be bound in heaven; to loose on earth and it should be
loosed in heaven. Where is this authority now? Shall we go to the
Roman Catholic Church to find it? If it be there it is not exercised.
Shall we go to the Episcopal Church to find it? If it be there they
fail to proclaim it. Where shall we go to find a man who has authority
to bind on earth and it is bound in heaven, as Jesus told Peter? Where
shall we find a man whose acts will be thus recognized of God, and
whose performances or solemnizations are confirmed by the heavens
themselves? You travel throughout all the earth and mingle with the
various sects who claim to be the descendants of the Apostles, and you
will look in vain for any claims to such authority. But come among the
Latter-day Saints, who claim to be the original Church restored to the
earth again, who claim to have the authority of the Apostleship—the
same Apostleship that was exercised by Peter, James, John and the
other Apostles, and you will find the authority to bind and loose on
earth and it will be bound or loosed in heaven, claimed and exercised
in their midst. It is claimed by the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints that God has restored the keys of the Apostleship;
that he has restored the authority by which the ordinances shall be
performed on the earth that will bind man to woman, woman to man,
children to parents and parents to children, so that these
relationships which are so acceptable in the sight of God may not only
exist for time, but may be perpetuated throughout the endless ages of
eternity.

Vol. 14,  p.128
This is the claim the Latter-day [p.128] Saints make, and it is the
authority they exercise. To claim the Apostleship and authority
without claiming and exercising its functions would be altogether
contrary to the spirit and power of that office and authority when it
was upon the earth in ancient days; therefore we wish to rear temples
and administer ordinances, looking, as we do, upon this life as a
state of probation in which we may gain experience and prepare
ourselves for higher exaltation and a greater degree of felicity in
the world to come.

Vol. 14,  p.128
We build temples and we administer and submit to ordinances and
perform those things within them which will prepare us to dwell
eternally with our God, with Jesus and the Apostles in the heavens.
There each man will have his family and kingdom. It is said that God
is Lord of lords and King of kings; but how can he be King of kings
unless there be kings under him to give him homage and pay respect
unto him and acknowledge him as their Lord and their King? When God
led forth Abraham and told him that as the stars of the firmament were
innumerable so should his seed be, he proclaimed to him the greatness
of his kingdom in eternity. He told Abraham that he should be a king
Over this innumerable host; for if Abraham were not to be king over
them, of what use or glory would his posterity be to him? When God
pointed Abraham to the sand on the sea shore and told him that as it
was countless so should his seed be, he told him in accents that could
not be mistaken of the future glory of his eternal kingdom. And if all
mankind attained to the same promises as Abraham, they also would have
an innumerable posterity to reign over. As the prophet says concerning
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, "To the increase of his kingdom
there shall be no end." It shall go on increasing with every cycle of
eternity, as long as time endures. There shall be no end to the
increase of his kingdom. His glory consisted of this; and the glory of
God consists in the number of his posterity; and as generation
succeeds generation, until the earth is filled and glorified, other
worlds will be rolled into existence, upon which the posterity of God,
our heavenly Father, shall increase throughout the endless ages of
eternity.

Vol. 14,  p.128
As it was said to Abraham and Jesus, so it will be said to the
faithful sons and daughters of God; hence the Latter-day Saints
believe in the eternal nature of the marriage relation. When we marry
there is a power here to bind on earth and it is bound in heaven. Men
and women are married to each other for time and for all eternity; not
as it is in the world, "until death shall them part;" but that tie
shall be as enduring as eternity itself, and there shall never be a
time when it shall be dissolved; and to their increase there shall be
no end, for this is the glory of God, and this is the blessing of God
upon his faithful children. The godlike power has been given us here
on the earth to bear and perpetuate our own species; and shall this
power, which brings so much joy, peace and happiness, be confined and
limited to this short life? It is folly to talk about such a thing;
common sense teaches us better. It teaches that we have been
organized, not for time alone; that we have been endowed as we are, in
the image of God, not for thirty, forty, fifty, seventy or a hundred
years, but as eternal beings, exercising our endowments and functions
for all eternity, if we live faithful or take a course that God
approves. Therefore there is great sense, beauty and godliness in the
idea that God taught Abraham with respect to his posterity becoming as
numerous [p.129] as the stars of the firmament.

Vol. 14,  p.129
The Latter-day Saints live for this. We look upon this life as a very
short period of time. We have suffered and are likely to suffer as the
Saints of God did anciently; and this life is a state of probation—a
short period filled with sorrow. Difficulties, thorns, briars,
brambles, and obstacles of various kinds beset our pathway; but, as
was said yesterday, we look forward to a heavenly city, whose builder
and maker is God. We look forward to the time when this earth will be
redeemed from corruption and cleansed by fire; when there shall be a
new heaven and a new earth, and when the Saints shall possess their
native inheritance purified from sin, redeemed from corruption, with
the power of Satan curtailed, and when we shall be able to increase
and multiply and fill this earth, go to other earths and carry on the
work of emigration through the endless ages of eternity.

Vol. 14,  p.129
This is a little of the heaven that the Latter-day Saints look forward
to. It is not a heaven where all distinctions are abolished—where
parents and children are mingled with the common mass, where wives and
husbands are undistinguishable; but where all these ties exist and are
preserved and perpetuated, and man goes forward on that heavenly
career which God, his Heavenly Father, has assigned to him, and which
he designs that all his faithful children shall walk in. These are
some of the reasons why we want a temple built. There are innumerable
reasons why we should go to with our might and rush forward this work.
Let us push it to its completion as speedily as may be required, and
God will bless us; he will make our feet fast in these valleys; he
will give us increase and make of us a mighty nation. Already he has
set his seal upon us; already he has given us the glorious privilege
of bearing his name. Let us rear a house upon which his glory shall
rest, and that shall be called by his name. This is required at our
hands; and that God may help us to accomplish it, and keep us faithful
to the end, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Brigham Young, May 21, 1871

The Character of the Savior—the Power of the 
Priesthood—the Unpardonable Sin

Remarks By President Brigham Young, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, May 21, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.129
I feel to bear my testimony to the truth as far as we have heard it
to-day, and to all truth. We have been hearing of the Gospel of life
and salvation, a subject which should interest the whole human family
as [p.130] soon as they can become acquainted with it. The subject of
salvation should occupy the thoughts and reflections of every
intelligent being. The salvation and redemption wrought out by the
Savior is for us—it was purchased for us. The character we have been
hearing of is our Savior and Redeemer—the Savior of the whole world of
mankind, and of all creatures pertaining to the earth, and the earth
itself, for all will be redeemed by the blood of the Son of God. We
should have a part in this, and we can say truly that we have a part
in it. Whether it will benefit us as it might, depends upon our own
thoughts, reflections and actions—upon our obedience to the
requirements of our Father in heaven to secure to us life everlasting.
The Father has done all he can do on his part: He has given his only
begotten Son; he has sent light into the world; he bestows his Spirit
upon the children of men; he lights up the understanding of every
person that lives, that ever did or ever will live upon the earth.
Christ is the light that lights every man that comes into the world.
We have this light, will we improve on it?

Vol. 14,  p.130
In my reflections on the Gospel of life and salvation and the theories
of the children of men I have contrasted the various beliefs, faiths,
ordinances and operations of the people who profess to worship a
Supreme Being. Not only the Christians; for I do not know of any
nation on the earth but what has some object which it worships as
supreme, and to which it renders adoration. This is the case even with
the heathen, although they worship gods which their own hands make. No
matter about this, they are ignorant; but that spirit that dwells in
the children of men prompts them to worship, adore, to seek after that
which will better their condition and make themselves happy. This is
the condition of all the inhabitants of the earth, whether Christian
or Pagan; although the innate disposition to render homage to some
invisible power as the Supreme Ruler is modified and diversified
according to their varied traditions. The effects of tradition are as
visible among Christians as among heathens; and these traditions, as
well as our own superior intelligence, lead us to regard the worship
of the heathen as nonsensical, and we may say ridiculous. We can have
no faith in this; we see no propriety in bowing down to gods made with
our own hands, whether they be gods of gold, silver, wood or stone.
This would be folly in the extreme to persons who believe in the New
Testament; we say we will worship the Being who has redeemed us, him
who created us and all things and who rules and governs all things
according to his good pleasure, whether in heaven or on earth. But
will we worship according to the directions that He has given? Will we
believe the doctrine that Jesus has left on record in the New
Testament, or will we believe in something that varies from this?

Vol. 14,  p.130
We see that Christendom is full of religion; in fact the world is full
of it, no matter where we go. I have been brought up to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ; I am taught to believe in him. Perhaps if I, my
parents before me, and the nation in Which I was born and brought up
had never heard of his name, I would treat it with as much
indifference as the heathen do when they hear of it; and yet if men
did but understand the light of Christ that is within them it would
prompt them, universally, to adore and admire, we will say, the God of
nature—him who has created and formed the earth and all things it
contains, including us, who, [p.131] in the image of our Creator,
dwell upon and inhabit it. I say that, did we all understand this
light of Christ, possessed by every human being when born into the
world, it would prompt us to worship the God of nature; and did we
heed it as we ought we would not be likly to come to the conclusion
that there is no personal God.

Vol. 14,  p.131
Among the remarks made here this morning was one worthy the notice of
every intelligent being, and that was that if we do not understand the
mysteries of the being of our Creator, shall we deny it? Shall we deny
the existence of that which we do not understand? If we do, we would
want to keep an iron bedstead to measure every person according to our
own measurement and dimensions; and if persons were too long we would
cut them off, and if too short draw them out. But we should discard
this principle, and our motto should be, we will let every one believe
as he pleases and follow out the convictions of his own mind, for all
are free to choose or refuse; they are free to serve God or to deny
him. We have the Scriptures of divine truth, and we are free to
believe or deny them. But we shall be brought to judgment before God
for all these things, and shall have to give an account to him who has
the right to call us to an account for the deeds done in the body.

Vol. 14,  p.131
What shall we believe, then, when we reflect upon and consider all
these things? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Who can object to him?
When his character is set forth in its true light what fault can be
found with him? I have no question, as an individual, but that the
Jews believed they saw a great many defects in the Savior. I would
just as soon believe that the ignorant wicked can see no defects in
the character of a modern prophet as to believe that the Jews could
see none in the Savior. I have had the privilege, in my lifetime, of
reading some of the writings which have been preserved and handed down
by the Jews, which contained their description of the Savior's
character, and certainly, nothing could be more ridiculous; and I
remember that, on one occasion, when talking to the Prophet Joseph
about these things, I said to him, "No matter what they say about you,
I will defy mortal man to say worse about a modern prophet than the
Jews have said about the Savior;" and that the character of the
Redeemer presented no defects whatever to the eyes of those among whom
he lived, is what I would not say. I may say, however, that men who
did not believe in him looked through prejudiced eyes, and hence they
were unable to view him in his true light; and no man who has ever
lived on the earth was more ridiculed and traduced than he was. But
when we, that is, the Christian world, read an account of his
character and doings, not the least blemish or defect is seen; it
might be different, however, if he were here in our midst. Suppose
that he or his Apostles were to walk through Christendom, preaching
the Gospel without purse or scrip, do you think that if they tried to
gain admission to the pulpits in the churches or places of worship
which have been erected in their honor, and called the churches of the
Savior, or of St. Matthew, John, Paul, Peter, Bartholomew and so on,
that they could gain admittance? Let reason, guided and enlightened by
the conduct of the people, answer, and it will give the negative at
once to every building of this kind erected in Christendom; so far as
my knowledge extends, this would be the result except among the
Latter-day Saints. Perhaps some may say that I have too much faith
[p.132] in the prophecies of God, in the latter-day work, and in the
administration of individuals that now live and have lived on the
earth in our day. Be it so, no matter to me. I am here to testify in
the name of the God of Israel that for many years past there have been
men travelling through the length and breadth of the earth who possess
the same power and authority as that with which Jesus endowed his
Apostles when he told them to go into all the world and "preach the
Gospel to every creature, and he that believeth and is baptized shall
be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned, and these signs
shall follow them that believe. In my name they shall cast out devils,
heal the sick, speak with new tongues," &c.

Vol. 14,  p.132
I am a witness here, to-day, that these sayings and promises have been
fulfilled in these latter days as much as they were in the days of the
Savior. Have the dead been brought to life? Yes, or those who, to all
appearance, were dead, and this is so to my certain knowledge? But
were they dead? No, they were not. What did Jesus say to his disciples
and those who followed him to the grave of Lazarus, when they were
mourning and bewailing, and beseeching him to say the word only and it
should be done? Jesus said, "He is not dead, but sleepeth." So it has
been in these latter days. To all appearance life and breath had
departed, but they yet lived, and some who, under such circumstances,
were restored by the power of God, are still living. The eyes of the
blind have been opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped; the lame
have been made to leap, and foul spirits have been cast out. Has this
been the case in every instance? Not by any means, neither was it in
the days of the Savior. They who have faith receive these blessings if
they live according to the spirit of the holy Gospel.

Vol. 14,  p.132
Is there any harm in preaching and believing in such doctrines, and
realizing the blessings? I often ask myself this question, but I fall
to see harm or impropriety therein. I know that some say we can be
saved without a Savior. If parties like to believe this, all right;
but if we can be saved without, we certainly can with. Some will say
we can be saved without believing in baptism; very well, we surely can
be then if we do believe in it. Some say we can be saved just as well
without having hands laid on for the reception of the Holy Ghost as
with; if we can be saved without we certainly can be with. If an Elder
of Israel lay his hands upon us and say, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost,"
there is not the least harm in it; it is conferring a blessing. "I
desire to bless you," says the Elder, "and if I had power I would
bless you; and according to the faith in me I do dispense the Holy
Spirit to you." It is a blessing pure as the angels in heaven. If I
say to the sick, "Be healed and blessed," or bid foul spirits, pain,
fever or any disease whatever, "Depart," it is a blessing to the
patient, and there is not the least harm in it in the world. And now,
suppose the Elders of this Church have power to say, "Receive ye the
Holy Ghost," and the Holy Ghost is given, is there any harm in it? Not
the least in the world; and if we can be saved without these things we
certainly can with, so we are on sure ground. Suppose that we can be
saved without doing precisely as the Savior has told us, we most
certainly shall be by observing what he has left on record for our
salvation. But he has said that not one jot or tittle of his word or
of the law shall pass without being fulfilled; and it is no matter
whether he speaks by his own [p.133] voice, by the voice of an angel,
or through his faithful servants here on the earth, all the words of
the Lord Almighty will certainly be fulfilled; then if we believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and comply with all the requirements of his
Gospel we are on safe ground.

Vol. 14,  p.133
If it is acceptable in the sight of Heaven for a minister to dip his
finger in water contained in a gold, silver or marble vase, and then
wet the forehead of the child or the adult, and call this baptism,
where can be the harm in going down into the waters of baptism as
Jesus did, and as the eunuch did? I say where is the harm in being
buried with Christ in baptism? I cannot see the least harm in it. Then
if we are safe without baptism for the remission of sins, we are
certainly safe with it. If we are safe without having hands laid upon
us for the reception of the Holy Ghost, we are certainly safe with it;
if we are saved without having the gift of faith to heal the sick or
cast out devils, we are assuredly saved with. Then where is the danger
of those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and keep his
commandments?

Vol. 14,  p.133
The cry of the Christian world is "The Bible, the Bible," but who will
believe it? who will believe that Jesus is the Christ, that he is the
Son of God and the express image of his Father? But a few will believe
these things, and yet the salvation that Jesus has purchased will
reach the whole human family and save, in a kingdom or in some place
where they will enjoy to the extent of their capacity, those who
reject not the Gospel and despise not the Savior. Those who set at
naught the counsels of God are the only ones the Gospel will not reach
and save in a kingdom. But who will go into the celestial kingdom?
Those who obey the Gospel of the Son of God, and then walk in all
humility before the Lord and keep his commandments in all things. They
are the ones who will enter in at the strait gate. Jesus said, "Strait
is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life"—that is our
translation; the original is, "that leads to the lives"—"and few there
be that find it; while broad is the gate and wide is the way that
leads to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat." Many will
there be who will miss receiving the blessings and being caught up
with Christ in the air, and being saved in the presence of the Father
and the Son, that now anticipate enjoying the glory, excellency and
exaltation which God has prepared for the faithful.

Vol. 14,  p.133
The inquiry arises with a great many, "What are you going to do with
all the rest of the human family, are you going to send them to hell?"
I will answer the question as Joseph once did when a person asked him,
"Will everybody be damned except the Latter-day Saints?" "Yes," said
Joseph, "and many of them, unless they take a different course from
what they are now taking." Who will be saved in the celestial kingdom,
and go into the presence of the Father and Son? Those only who observe
the whole law, who keep the commandments of God—those who walk in
newness of life, observe all his precepts and do his will. Are we
going to send all the rest to hell? Not the sectarian hell, pardon the
expression. The wicked, we are told, will be turned into hell, with
all the nations that forget God, and that is very true. But where is
hell? Read for yourselves. What is hell? Read for yourselves. You may
call it hell, hades, or the world of spirits. It is where Jesus went
and preached to the spirits in prison. All who have not received the
Gospel, who have [p.134] not had the advantages resulting from strict
obedience to the ordinances, are there subject to the evil power, to
the principle of death. There they will reside who have denied the
Lord Jesus Christ; but they will be resurrected and will receive their
bodies again; but blessed and holy is be on whom the second death hath
no power. On many it will have power; but what proportion of the whole
human family from the days of Adam to the last born on the earth will
become angels of the devil and will reap the wrath of God and endure
it for ever and ever, it is not for me to say; but none will, save
those who have sinned against the Holy Ghost. Who is able to do this?
that is the question. I will tell you of one man who could have
committed this sin.

Vol. 14,  p.134
We read in the days of the Apostles of a certain man named Cornelius,
a devout man and one who worshipped the Lord according to the light he
possessed. As he was once praying in his house, the Holy Ghost fell
upon him, and he and his household rejoiced exceedingly. What was the
word of the Lord to Cornelius under these circumstances? Was it "You
are saved, you are just right, you can build up churches, you can show
the people that they can be saved, and can receive the Holy Ghost
without the laying on of hands?" No, the word of the Lord to Cornelius
was, "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 sent
to Joppa, and just before his messengers reached the house at which
Simon lodged, he had had a vision in which a sheet descended from
heaven, in which were all manner of beasts and creeping things of the
earth; and a voice said, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat." But Peter said,
"Not so, Lord, for I have never eaten anything common or unclean." And
the voice said unto him, "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou
common." At that time the Gospel had been given to the Jews only, and
Peter and his brethren had the idea that it was not for the Gentiles;
but this vision was as much as to say, "I want to open your eyes and
show you that the Gentiles as well as the Jews are to receive and
participate in the blessings of the Gospel. Just as Peter awoke from
his vision there came a rap at the door and the messengers of
Cornelius inquired for him, and made known to him their errand, and he
and some of his brethren went down and conversed with Cornelius, and
while doing so the Spirit of God rested on them so powerfully that
they glorified God. The Jews who were with Peter commenced, "Take
care, Peter, we do not like this; we do not understand that the
Gentiles are to have the Gospel. The Savior is the Savior of the Jews;
Jesus was the king of the Jews only and not the king of the Gentiles."
Peter commanded them to be still. Said he, "Do you not see the pouring
out of the Spirit just as on the Day of Pentecost, these people
speaking with new tongues and prophecying;" and said be, seeing that
this is the case, "Can any man forbid water that these should not be
baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as. we."
Cornelius, if he had rejected the testimony of Peter, would have been
led to reject the Holy Ghost, which bad fallen upon him, and been
lost.

Vol. 14,  p.134
This was an instance in which the Holy Ghost was given before baptism;
there may be other cases in these days, but if parties are thus
favored of the Lord, the outpouring of his Spirit prompts them to send
for an [p.135] Elder of Israel that they may be baptized for the
remission of their sins. I do not know that it is recorded that
Cornelius received a remission of sins before baptism. The quotation
has been read here from the Scriptures that except a man be born again
he cannot see the kingdom of God; and unless he be born of the water
and of the Spirit he cannot enter it; that is, no man can see and
understand the kingdom of God unless the Spirit reveal it to him. When
a person receives the Holy Ghost he begins to read the Bible
understandingly. It is a new book to him. Is this fortunate or
unfortunate for him? I will say it is fortunate for those who receive
the Gospel as preached by the Latter-day Saints, when the Spirit of
the Lord rests upon them. Such an individual will say, "The Bible is a
new book to me, bless me; I never read the principles understandingly
in my life before; I could not understand them. I never read the New
Testament, nor comprehended the character of the Savior arm his
teachings to his disciples as now; although I have read the Scriptures
hundreds of times they never were plain before." The Spirit may rest
upon many and reveal to them the wonderful things of God; but when it
does it will prompt them to obey the commands of the Lord Jesus. Is
this the fact? It is. Well, we will say it is very fortunate for those
who receive this Gospel and the spirit of it in their hearts, for it
awakes within them a desire to know and understand the things of God
more than they ever did before in their lives, and they begin to
inquire, read and search, and when they go to the Father in the name
of Jesus he will not leave them without a witness.

Vol. 14,  p.135
When we go to the nations we say, "Receive ye the Gospel, treasure it
up in your hearts; the Spirit is ready to testify to you at any
moment; are you ready to receive the Spirit?" No person need wait;
whenever the spirit within him yields obedience to the still small
voice that whispers, "This is the way, walk ye in it," that Spirit, is
ready in a moment to teach, guide and direct him in the way of life
and salvation. If there is darkness, it is the result of our own
organization and intelligence being beclouded and far from the things
of God. We listen to the continual promptings of the Man of Sin, when
he says, "Do not you submit to the Lord, do not inquire of the Lord;
do not ask for the Spirit of the Lord; do not go to the Father in the
name of Jesus, or if you do go, be very careful how you, go. Let
reason take the stand with you, let the words of your petitions be
dictated by the reason that is within you, then you will be very sure
not to ask in the spirit of meekness! No, you should not yield your
manhood to any spirit to ask for things you need, or that you may be
led, guided and preserved in the way of truth."

Vol. 14,  p.135
These are the promptings of the devil; but when the spirit in man
yields obedience and brings the flesh into subjection the Spirit of
the Lord is then ready to whisper to the individual, "This is the way,
walk ye in it;" and such individuals can go on their way rejoicing,
regardless of those who cry, "Lo! here is Christ," or "Lo! there is
Christ;" for the Spirit will teach them that Jesus is the Christ and
that the Bible is true. It may not all have been translated aright,
and many precious things may have been rejected in the compilation and
translation of the Bible; but we understand, from the writings of one
of the Apostles, that if all the sayings and doings of the Savior, had
been written, the world could not contain them. I will say that the
world could [p.136] not understand them. They do not understand what
we have on record, nor the character of the Savior, as delineated in
the Scriptures; and yet it is one of the simplest things in the world,
and the Bible, when it is understood, is one of the simplest books in
the world, for, as far as it is translated correctly, it is nothing
but truth, and in truth there is no mystery save to the ignorant. The
revelations of the Lord to his creatures are adapted to the lowest
capacity, and they bring life and salvation to all who are willing to
receive them. They are so simple that the high-minded and those lifted
up in their own estimation will say, "I cannot get down so low as
that." If they pray, they dare not ask for the things they want. I
have known a great many individuals who dare not ask God the Father in
the name of Jesus Christ if the doctrine we preach is true. They have
a conviction within them that it is true, and they say, "If we ask we
shall receive the witness we ask for, and then we shall have no excuse
whatever for not obeying it." I have had it said to me, "I am sorry I
have learned so much, sorry I have had so much revealed. I wish I was
as ignorant as I was a few years ago." What will be the condition of
such individuals? Ignorance will be their portion. Let him that is
ignorant remain ignorant still. The Gospel will do them no good; but
they who are honest before the Lord, and ask in the name of Jesus,
will receive a testimony, and know that Jesus is the Christ. Flesh and
blood will not reveal this to them, neither will the sciences of the
day; it can only be known by the spirit of revelation. The kingdom of
God and its mysteries are and can be known only to him to whom God
reveals them, and I hope and pray that we are or may be among that
number. It is very customary to pray to the Lord, but in my petitions
I pray a great deal to the Latter-day Saints, or those who profess to
be. When traveling and preaching I frequently pray the people, in
Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God, I pray you, my hearers, to
ask the Father, in the name of Jesus, whether these things be true or
not. I cannot pray the Father that he will compel you to know; it
would be no use for the Father to compel you to know the truth. All
must be willing to ask for and receive it. The fountain is open, truth
is ready, its streams are waiting and desirous to come and testify to
every, individual on the earth who is willing to be taught that Jesus
is the Christ, the Gospel is true, God is true, life and salvation are
true. We are here upon this earth—upon this little dark, opaque body;
if we were in some of the celestial kingdoms and were to look at this
earth it would not appear larger, probably, than just a little speck,
a black marble! Who can notice such an insignificant affair? God
notices this world. He organized it, and brought forth the inhabitants
upon it. We are his children, literally, spiritually, naturally, and
in every respect. We are the children of our Father; Jesus is our
elder brother, ready to save all who will come to him. By and by the
Lord will purify the earth, and it will become pure and holy, like a
sea of glass; then it will take its place in the rank of the celestial
ones, and be recognized as celestial; but at the present time it is a
dark, little speck in space.

Vol. 14,  p.136
I pray the people and all who hear me, be ye reconciled to God, and
ask for the things that you want. If you want life and salvation, ask
for it in faith, humility and meekness. Be willing to receive the
truth let it come from whom it may; no difference, not [p.137] a
particle. Just as soon receive the Gospel from Joseph Smith as from
Peter, who lived in the days of Jesus. Receive it from one man as soon
as another. If God has called an individual and sent him to preach the
Gospel that is enough for me to know; it is no matter who it is, all I
want is to know the truth. This should be the feelings and the
heartbeatings of every individual that lives on the earth. If we are
endowed with intelligence we can know and understand things for
ourselves.

Vol. 14,  p.137
You have received the truth, Latter-day Saints; live it. You know it
perfectly well. When a Latter-day Saint says, I have sinned, will you
forgive me? Did you sin knowingly? Tell the truth and say "Yes," you
sinned, with your eyes wide open. When you commit a wrong, after
having been enlightened, you violate your own judgment, and the
convictions of the spirit that is within you. Why not live as we
should? We should be the best people on the earth; we have more
knowledge of the things of God and of his purposes than the rest of
the inhabitants of the earth that we have any knowledge of. Then what
manner of persons should we be? I do pray you to live your religion,
and pray God to bless you. Amen.

Orson Pratt, March 19, 1871

The Fulfillment of Prophecy—the Early History of 
the Church—the Book of Mormon

Discourse By Elder Orson Pratt, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, March 19, 1871. 

(Reported by Julia Young)

Vol. 14,  p.137
I will read a portion of the word of God contained in the 85th Psalm: 

Vol. 14,  p.137
"Lord thou hast been favorable unto thy land; thou hast brought back
the captivity of Jacob.

Vol. 14,  p.137
"Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people; thou hast covered all
their sin. Selah.

Vol. 14,  p.137
"Thou hast taken away all thy wrath; thou hast turned thyself from the
fierceness of thine anger.

Vol. 14,  p.137
"Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger towards us to
cease.

Vol. 14,  p.137
"Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? will thou draw out thine anger
to all generations?

Vol. 14,  p.137
"Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in thee?

Vol. 14,  p.137
"Shew us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.

Vol. 14,  p.137
"I will hear what God the Lord will speak; for he will speak peace
unto his people and to his Saints; but let them not turn again to
folly.

Vol. 14,  p.137
"Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell
in our land.

Vol. 14,  p.138
"Mercy and truth are met together;[p.138] righteousness and peace have
kissed each other.

Vol. 14,  p.138
"Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look
down from heaven.

Vol. 14,  p.138
"Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield
her increase.

Vol. 14,  p.138
'"Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of
his steps."

Vol. 14,  p.138
This was a prayer and prophecy uttered by the ancient Psalmist in
relation to the house of Israel. These psalms were written by the
inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and most of them were prophetic in
their nature. David was a man especially inspired of the Lord, not
only to reign as king over the house of Israel, but to utter forth
really predictions in the form of psalms to be sung in the
congregations of Israel. He clearly spoke concerning the coming of the
Messiah; his death, and the afflictions that should come upon him as
the Redeemer of the world, and of many events in connection with his
coming, all of which were fulfilled. He also spoke in many psalms in
regard to the preaching of the servants of God in all nations,
declaring the wonderful works of God. He also spoke concerning the
second coming of this Messiah, the great glory that would be revealed
on that grand occasion; He also spoke by the spirit of prophecy
concerning the downfall of the twelve tribes of israel and the great
affliction that would come upon them; also, that the Lord would
remember them in the latter times, and bring them to a knowledge of
the truth.

Vol. 14,  p.138
This psalm which I have just read contains a prayer, uttered by this
inspired man, for the redemption of the covenant people of the Lord.
That he would not be angry with them forever, that his anger might not
be drawn out towards them to all generations; that he would turn
himself from the fierceness of his wrath and show mercy unto his
people again.

Vol. 14,  p.138
The Lord saw proper, in answer to that prayer, to inspire the Psalmist
to utter these words—"Mercy and truth are met together, righteousness
and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth
and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yea, the Lord shall
give that which is good and our land shall yield her increase.
Righteousness shall go before him and shall set us in the way of his
steps."

Vol. 14,  p.138
The Lord did not leave David in uncertainty about the blessings that
should come upon his covenant people; he was informed, in the words
which I have repeated, that the Lord intended again to bestow his
blessings after he had sufficiently punished Israel; that he intended
to bring them back to their own land; that he intended to bless that
land which was given to them as an inheritance, and, that that land
should again yield its increase to his people. But before he would do
this he promised that truth should spring out of the earth, and that
at the same time righteousness should look down from heaven; that
truth should go before his face and set his people in the way of his
steps.

Vol. 14,  p.138
We live, Latter-day Saints, in the age when this prophecy is being
fulfilled. We have lived to behold the glorious period dawn upon this
creation when God has condescended to bring forth truth out of the
earth, and at the same time has manifested his righteousness from
heaven—that is his law. I need not tell the Latter-day Saints that are
now before me how this prophecy was fulfilled, for they already
understand it. There may be strangers, however, in our midst who do
not understand these things, as we understand them; and [p.139] it may
be well to briefly notice the fulfillment of this prophecy as
manifested in the rise and progress of this Church. This Church has an
existence this day in consequence of the fulfillment of their words.
There never would have been any such people as the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, unless God had again manifested himself
in fulfillment of this prophecy. He has seen proper after so many
generations have passed, to again reveal himself to the children of
men, although it was contrary to their opinions and ideas that God
would ever again speak to the inhabitants of the earth. They concluded
that all communication from the eternal worlds was shut off, that,
although there Was a God and plenty of angels and messengers in his
presence, he would never send them again to the inhabitants of our
globe to reveal anything new.

Vol. 14,  p.139
These have been the ideas of our fathers for many generations that are
past.

Vol. 14,  p.139
The whole Christian world were deluded with these ideas for some
seventeen or eighteen centuries.

Vol. 14,  p.139
The idea took its rise in the apostate church that sprang up in the
days of the Apostles; a church which denied the spirit of revelation
and had the wickedness and audacity to proclaim in the face and eyes
of the Bible that it needed no new revelation; that it had sufficient.
The councils that were called towards the close of the third and
fourth centuries of the Christian era concluded to introduce laws and
rules among the church. The Greek and Catholic churches excommunicated
all persons that would believe in the God of revelation.

Vol. 14,  p.139
They collected together various manuscripts which they had picked up
in various parts of the earth, which they called the fullness of the
canon of Scripture; then they passed a decree that if any person
should be found believing anything except that which was contained in
their canon, that he should not be permitted full fellowship in the
church; that he should be disfellowshipped and anathematized. This
wicked and abominable doctrine was handed down for a great many
generations in the Greek and Roman Catholic churches, and will be
found throughout all their writings—the writings of their most noted
archbishops. They declare that they neither received nor believed in
any new revelation; that their rule of faith and practice was ancient
Scripture; that the church must be guided by those ancient laws, and
by the traditions of their fathers—traditions handed down from the
days of the Apostles to their day. Thus you see all communication from
the heavens was cut off by their own decree; they were worse than the
heathen. Nebuchadnezzar, a great heathen king accustomed to worship
idols all his days, had not apostatized from the true God as those
professed Christians had, for he believed in the God that gave
revelation. We have an account in the Book of Daniel how the Lord did
reveal himself to that heathen king in a dream. But he forgot the
dream and sent a proclamation to all the wise men of Babylon to see if
he could find out an interpreter. He, at length, found one in the
person of Daniel the Prophet, who gave the king the dream that the God
of heaven had given him; also the interpretation, and we have many
instances on record where ancient heathen kings had not so far strayed
from the God of heaven but what they could believe in new revelation;
but we have the example before us for many generations where people
who have assumed the name of Christ disbelieved in new revelation, and
[p.140] persecuted those who believe in receiving any new
communication.

Vol. 14,  p.140
Some two or three centuries ago there was a great reformation in
Europe—a protestation against this wicked, corrupt and abominable
power that had held sway under the name of Christian.

Vol. 14,  p.140
They did reform from many of their corrupt practices, and they had
power given to them, although perhaps they did not understand it
fully, and the God of heaven did give power to these reformers to
bring about more liberal principles; but they had to do it through
great persecution. They succeeded, however, in building up
denominations which they called Christian, that had forsaken, in some
measure the corruption of the mother church. These reformers followed
the mother church in regard to limiting their faith to ancient
Scripture; they would tell the people that there was to be no more
revelation. John Calvin and Martin Luther held the view, that there
was to be no more revelation from heaven; that the canon of Scripture
was full. They received this false dogma from the mother church; they
could not find it in the New Testament; but it was a tradition handed
down by the mother church that such was the fact.

Vol. 14,  p.140
Now, the devil did not particularly care how many good principles
people retained, so long as they should deny one of the most important
principles of heaven. Cut off communication from the Lord, shut up the
heavens, keep angels out of the question concerning any more new
communication to be given to the children of men, and the devil has
accomplished his object. These falsehoods were handed down, after the
reformers came out, in all the various denominations until the present
day, until the time when the Lord, by the mouth of his holy angels,
called Joseph Smith and gave unto him a knowledge by vision of the
place where the ancient records of a portion of the Israelitish nation
were deposited. At, that period of time there was scarcely a people on
the face of the whole earth but what were more or less under the
delusion of this apostate doctrine. Mr. Smith, however, was
uncontaminated by these traditions, as he was not a member of any
church; this is manifest in the prayer offered by this young man at
the time when the Lord first revealed himself to him.

Vol. 14,  p.140
He went out to pray, being then a little over fourteen years of age,
in a little grove not far from his father's house. The great object
which he had in praying was to learn some few principles, which he saw
were absolutely necessary to know, according to his understanding, in
order to serve the true and living God. He desired to know which,
among all the denominations with which he was surrounded, was the true
church.

Vol. 14,  p.140
It is not often that boys of this age would be so exercised, but this
was the fact in regard to Joseph Smith. He was uneducated; he had not
been to college; he was not trained in the vices of all large cities;
but merely a country boy accustomed to hard work with his father.
Probably one reason why his mind was thus exercised was in consequence
of the religious excitement existing in that neighborhood at the time;
some of his own relatives had joined the Presbyterian Church, and he
was earnestly sought after to join himself with some church, and his
mind being somewhat wrought upon, seeing many of his young
acquaintances turn to the Lord, he greatly desired to know which was
the true church. It was a great question; he knew not how to satisfy
his mind, for he had not read the Bible much. He heard a great many
different doctrines advocated by [p.141] ministers respecting the
different denominations, which caused him to read the Bible. He
happened to fall upon a certain passage contained in the Book of
James, "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth
liberally and upbraideth not." This passage, when he read it, seemed
to sink with great weight upon his mind. He thought it was his
privilege to go to the Lord and ask him respecting the desired
information. As I told you before, he had not been trained up in any
of the creeds of the existing denominations, and therefore he was
confiding enough to believe what was here written, "If any man lack
wisdom," &c. He thought to himself that he did lack wisdom, for he did
desire to know which was the true church. He went into the grove with
a determination to claim this promise. When he was thus praying he saw
a light which appeared to be approaching him from the heavens. As it
came nearer it seemed to grow brighter until it settled upon the tops
of the trees. He thought it would consume the leaves of the trees; but
it gradually descended and rested upon him. His mind was immediately
caught away. He saw in this light two glorious personages, one of whom
spoke to him, pointing to the other, saying, "This is my beloved Son,
hear ye him." This was a glorious vision given to this boy. When these
persons interrogated him to know what he desired, he answered and
said, "Lord show me which is the true church." He was then informed by
one of these personages that there was no true church upon the face of
the whole earth; that the whole Christian world, for many generations,
had been in apostacy; that they had denied communication and
revelation from heaven; denied the administration of angels; denied
the power that was in the ancient church that comes through the gift
of the Holy Ghost, and gave him much instruction upon this point, but
did not see proper upon that occasion to give him a full knowledge of
the Gospel, and what was necessary to constitute a true church, and
gave him some few commandments to govern him in future time, with a
promise that if he would abide the same and call upon his name, that
the day would come when the Lord would reveal to him still further,
making manifest what was necessary to the constitution of the true
church. The vision withdrew; the personages attending and the light
withdrew. He returned to his father's house, and told the vision, not
only to his parents and neighbors, but to some of the preachers of the
religious denominations in that place. He was expressly commanded in
the vision to unite himself to none of these churches. When he related
that which be had received in this vision, the ministers immediately
made light of it, and said to him, "God does not reveal anything in
our days; he revealed all that was necessary in ancient times; he has
not spoken for 1800 years to any one." From that time forth he was
persecuted, not only by ministers, but all denominations in that
region persecuted him. "There goes that visionary boy." This seemed to
be the feeling manifested, not only by professors, but by all; but yet
he knew that God had manifested himself to him; he could not be
persuaded to the contrary, any more than Paul could when he heard
Jesus in his first vision.

Vol. 14,  p.141
When about four years had elapsed, he retired to his bed one Sunday
evening, reflecting upon the former vision, praying to the Lord that
he might receive a fulfillment of the promise—namely, that if he was
faithful, the true order of the Church [p.142] of the Son of God
should be revealed to him. While he lay thus praying, all at once the
chamber was lighted up; this light continued to grow brighter and
brighter until he saw a glorious personage, and this personage
revealed to him the condition of the world, the apostacy of the
Christian nations, and the darkness that reigned; also revealed to him
what the Lord intended to accomplish upon the face of the whole earth
preparatory to his coming. He informed him that this continent had
once been occupied by a religious people, who understood the law of
Moses and the Gospel; that they kept sacred records among them, and
wrote them upon plates of gold, which were deposited in a certain hill
about three miles from his father's house. At the same time this angel
was telling him about these plates, the vision of his mind was opened
so that he could see the place of their deposit. After the angel had
given many instructions he withdrew. Joseph Smith continued to pray;
the angel came a second time, related the same things over again, and
gave him the same view of the plates, and still further information
concerning the work of the last days, and then withdrew a second time.
He continued to pray; the angel came the third time, gave him some
further knowledge and information, opening still further the
prophecies concerning the grand events that must be fulfilled in the
latter days. When the angel withdrew from him the third time, instead
of going to sleep, he arose and it was daybreak. He had been
conversing with this angel nearly the whole night.

Vol. 14,  p.142
He went out in the morning, as usual, with his father to labor in the
field, and his father, observing that he looked pale, asked him if he
was ill. He replied that he did not feel very well. His father advised
him to go to the house. He started to go home, and after going a
certain distance from his father, and before he reached the house, the
angel again appeared to him—this was in day-light—and told him to turn
back and tell his father what he had seen. He did so; he was also
commanded by the angel in this fourth vision that he should go to the
place where these plates were deposited, After relating to his father
what he had seen, his father declared that it was a heavenly vision,
and told him to be faithful to what had been revealed to him. He,
therefore, on the morning of the 22nd of September, 1823, repaired to,
and saw the place where these plates were deposited, just as he had
seen in the night vision. They were deposited in a stone box not far
from the summit of the hill Cumorah. The crowning stone that covered
the box was oval; by taking away the turf from its edges he succeeded,
by the use of a lever, in raising it from the box. When he saw the
plates, he also saw an instrument that was called by the ancient
prophets a Urim and Thummin. While he was thus gazing upon the plates,
the angel came again to him, and as he was about to put forth his hand
to take them, forbade him, saying that he needed further experience;
that they could not be entrusted with any one only with those having
an eye single to the glory of God; that they were sacred records, and
that no person could have them for speculative purposes; and gave him
certain commandments to keep, and told him to visit that place again
one year from that time when he would again meet with him. He did so
at the expiration of the year, and did so until four years had passed
away; and on the morning of the 22nd of September, 1827, the angel
permitted him to take the plates, and also the Urim and
Thummin.[p.143] 

Vol. 14,  p.143
Thus I have shown you how Truth sprang out of the earth; according to
the words of our text. Mr. Smith being uneducated, except in the
elementary branches as taught in our common schools in the East,
therefore felt himself incapable, by his own learning, to perform so
great a work; He was commanded of the Lord to draw off some of these
characters from the plates and send them to the learned, which he did;
they were sent to the city of New York by the, hands, of Martin
Harris, the old gentleman whom you saw here last Conference. That old
gentleman being then a middle-aged man, went to New York to see if he
could find any person among the learned that could translate the
characters. He went to Professors Mitchell and Anthon, and they were
exhibited to them; and Mr. Harris received a certificate, stating that
to them the translation of Joseph Smith seemed to be very correct.
Martin Harris had not told Mr. Anthon how Mr. Smith came in possession
of these characters. The Professor asked Mr. Harris how Mr. Smith
obtained the plates from which the characters were taken; he said that
he obtained them by the administration of an holy angel by obedience
to the commandments of God. Mr. Anthon requested him to let him see
the certificate, he did so; and without any further consultation tore
it up before his eyes, and then said, if he would bring the plates to
him he thought he could assist him in the translation. We all know
that some of the characters and hieroglyphics that have been
discovered in some parts of America Cannot be deciphered by the most
learned men of our day. The Professor wrote an article some time
afterwards against the Latter-day Saints, in which he corroborates
that which I have just told you concerning a plain countryman coming
to him with characters.

Vol. 14,  p.143
Thus we have the testimony of Professor Anthon that such a
circumstance did transpire, and that such characters were handed to
him. After Martin Harris returned to Joseph Smith and told him the
conversation that had taken place, how that Professor Anthon could not
decipher the records, Joseph inquired of the Lord, and the Lord
commanded him that he should translate the records, and that he should
do it through the medium of the Urim and Thummim. He commenced
translating, but being a poor scribe, he employed Martin Harris to
write some for him; he also employed other scribes to write from his
mouth, and at intervals continued to work upon the farm. Being
persecuted, however, he had to leave his father's house and went down
to Pennsylvania, where he was also persecuted. He continued the work
of translation until it was completed, and this is the book (Book of
Mormon) which is the translation from these plates, a book which
contains some five or six hundred closely written pages. After Mr,
Smith had almost completed the translation, he found that there was a
prediction contained in the book that the Lord would show to three
witnesses, by his power from heaven, the truth of the divinity of this
work. The query immediately arose who these three should be. Martin
Harris, Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer were very anxious that they
might be the favored individuals. They were told to humble themselves
before the Lord and pray unto him, and that if they would do this the
same should be shown to them. They did so. Mr. Smith went with them;
this was in Fayette, Seneca Co., New York, in the year 1829. While
they were praying the angel descended from the [p.144] heavens in the
presence of these four men, and took the plates and exhibited the
pages and engravings of that portion that was unsealed—for the whole
of them were not permitted to be translated; and thus the engravings
were shown to three other witnesses. The angel at the same time placed
his hands upon the head of David Whitmer and said, "Blessed be the
Lord and they that keep his commandments." At the time that the angel
was showing the records, they heard a voice out of the heavens saying,
that the records had been translated correctly by the gift and power
of God, and they were commanded to bear witness of the same to all
people to whom the work should be sent. They have therefore given
their solemn testimony in this book in connection with Joseph Smith,
concerning the appearing of the angel, and the exhibition of the
plates; their testimony has gone forth wherever this book has been
published. Mr. Smith was also permitted to show the plates to eight
other witnesses whose names are also given in testimony of these
things, that they saw the plates and handled them.

Vol. 14,  p.144
Thus you have the testimony of twelve men, eleven witnesses besides
the one who found the plates, three of whom saw the angel of God; and
all this before there was any latter-day church in existence. There
was a circumstance, however, that took place, before the organization
of this Church, on the 15th day of May, 1829. Two men, Joseph Smith
and Oliver Cowdery, being exercised before the Lord in regard to the
ordinance of baptism; how and in what way they should receive this
ordinance acceptably before him they did not know. They understood the
mode of baptism, for in the translation of this record they found that
the ancient inhabitants of Israel baptized by immersion, and that the
words used in connection with it were also given. The question arose,
Who could baptize them. The Lord had already told them that there was
no true church on the earth, and that there was no authorized minister
to administer baptism; and, of course, this was a question that would
arise in the mind of any individuals under similar circumstances; they
would naturally want to know how they could be baptized, so as to have
their baptism recognized in the heavens. They understood that they
might just as well jump into the water themselves, as to be baptized
by a man having no authority on him. They did not understand how it
could be done, and they therefore were troubled in their minds with
regard to it, and went and humbled themselves before the Lord, who, on
the 15th day of May, 1829, sent an angel to them. This angel informed
them that he was John the Baptist, who was beheaded, and who baptized
their Savior, and that he held the priesthood of his fathers, the
priesthood of Levi. He laid his hands upon their heads and ordained
them unto the priesthood that he himself had, which priesthood had
authority to baptize for the remission of sins, but had no authority
to lay hands upon the people for the gift of the Holy Ghost. John, who
baptized our Savior, himself declared:

Vol. 14,  p.144
I can baptize you with water, and that is the extent of my authority,
but there cometh one after me who is mightier than I, he has greater
authority, he can baptize you with fire and with the Holy Ghost; but I
have the right to baptize you with water. This was in substance what
John said to the Jews in his day. He conferred this same priesthood
upon these two men, and commanded them to baptize one another, giving
them a promise that that priesthood [p.145] should never be taken from
the earth, but should remain for ever; consequently the priesthood
conferred by the angel is never again to be banished from the earth,
as it has been throughout, the dark ages.

Vol. 14,  p.145
They went and baptized each other, for the Lord did not permit them to
organize the Church until the fullness of time had arrived. He
appointed the day by new revelation, the very day on which they should
commence the organization of the Church—namely, the 6th of April,
1830; also gave a commandment on the day of its organization, how the
Church should be organized, with what offices, or those necessary to
constitute a true Church of God here on the earth. Previous, however,
to this organization of the Church they received higher authority than
that which John the Baptist gave them.

Vol. 14,  p.145
For when they found they only had authority to baptize by water, but
could not minister the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, the
question arose immediately: How shall we obtain that authority? They
again prayed; they again called upon the name of the Lord, and the
Lord sent messengers from heaven with a higher priesthood than that
which John the Baptist held, whose names were Peter, James and John,
three ancient Apostles, and they conferred upon them the priesthood
and Apostleship that they themselves had, which gave them authority
not only to baptize, but to administer in the ordinance of the Holy
Ghost by the laying on of hands in the name of Jesus, precisely the
same as the Apostles did when on the earth.

Vol. 14,  p.145
Thus they received, not only the lesser priesthood, but also the
Apostleship, and having authority granted unto them from heaven they
were fully qualified to organize the Church; but still they could not
do it by their own wisdom. There was nothing to be done in this Church
by the wisdom of man. The Lord, as I heretofore stated, had already
told them what the necessary offices were, and what the duties of
these several offices should be in the Church.

Vol. 14,  p.145
The Church was organized, and we might give you a relation of its
history from that day down to the present, but I see that the time
allotted for our forenoon meeting has already passed.

Vol. 14,  p.145
I wish before I close to cite one Or two testimonies from the
prophecies in relation to this great work of the latter days. If you
will turn to the 29th chapter of Isaiah and read the prediction
contained therein you will find that nearly the whole chaplet pertains
to the events of the latter days, one of the predictions is the
destruction of the nations of the wicked, which has never been
fulfilled. It reads thus:—That all nations that fight against Mount
Zion shall become as a dream of a night vision, etc., etc.

Vol. 14,  p.145
The Lord intends, in the last days, to build up a people called Zion,
or, in other words, his Church. It matters not how numerous the people
of the nations may be, this is their destiny; they will become as the
dream of a night vision; or as the Prophet Daniel expresses it—all
kingdoms and governments organized by human authority shall become
like the chaff of the summer threshing floor; the winds of heaven
shall blow them away, and no place shall be left for them; and that
the stone out of the mountain should become a great mountain and fill
the whole earth; and the kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom
should be given into the hands of the Saints of the Most High—this is
what Daniel has predicted. Isaiah has predicted the same; but, before
this destruction of [p.146] the wicked, certain events are to happen;
among which he speaks of a book. He says, "And the vision of all is
become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which linen
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, For as much as this people
draw near me with their mouths, and with their lips do lienor me, and
their fear toward me is taught by precepts 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." "In
that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of
the blind shall see out of obscurity and darkness."

Vol. 14,  p.146
These words of the Prophet Isaiah were fulfilled so far as the coming
forth of this book was concerned. It was not the book itself that was
to be sent to the learned; if that had been the case the prophecy
would not have been fulfilled; but it "was the words of the book," and
not the book itself "And the book was given to him that is not
learned, saying, read this I pray thee. He says I am not learned."
Then comes in the declaration of the Lord:—Because of the wickedness
of the people, etc., that he would "proceed to do a marvellous work
and a wonder," and in that event he would cause the wisdom of the wise
men to perish, etc., all of which has been fulfilled. "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." Now, I would ask,
are there not many in this congregation of Latter-day Saints who can
testify that they have seen this literally fulfilled? Have you not
seen those who have been literally deaf, in the enjoyment of their
hearing, and this by the power of God in this dispensation? Yes, there
are scores of witnesses that can testify that this has been literally
fulfilled. Have you not seen those who have been afflicted with
blindness restored immediately to their sight? Yes, and all this in
fulfillment of this prophesy. The meek shall increase their joy in the
Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel."
Who, I would ask again, is the most benefited by this prophecy? In
ancient days, while the learned and the chief priests rejected the
Gospel of the Son of God, was it not the poor among men that were
benefited by the Gospel preached to them? Yes, and so it has been in
these days.

Vol. 14,  p.146
How many scores of thousands have been taken from the oppressions of
the old world, and brought some six or seven thousand miles here, into
the interior of this glorious land of America, a land of promise?
Although we have come into a very poor portion of it, yet you have
been benefited; you now own houses and lands, cattle, horses and
property that you never would have possessed had you not participated
in the literal fulfillment of this prophecy. The poor among men are
literally, as well as spiritually, blessed. Then comes in another
prediction concerning the destruction of the nations of the wicked.
"For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is
consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off, and all nations
that fight against Mount Zion, will perish and vanish away." When this
marvellous work and a wonder is commenced, and its truths preached and
fully declared to the nations, and they reject them, the [p.147]
desolation and destruction that were brought upon the ancient Jews for
the rejection of the Gospel will, according to this prophecy, be
visited upon the wicked of this generation. How about Israel?
According to the words of our text, "Truth shall spring out of the
earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven, yea, the Lord
shall give that which is good, and our land shall yield her increase;
righteousness shall go before him, and shall set us in the way of his
steps." Thus you see, in that day, when the wicked will be so sorely
afflicted the God of heaven will signally favor Israel. These things
will transpire when we get through with the Gentiles, because the
direct commandment of the Lord is, first to the Gentiles, and then to
the house of Israel. And when the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled,
then the Lord will restore the blessings he promised to Israel; he
will then fulfill literally that which was uttered by the Psalmist
David, "Turn us again, O God of our salvation; how long will thou be
angry with us? how long shall we have to suffer in consequence of our
wickedness and the wickedness of Our fathers?" Until truth shall
spring out of the earth; until then your captivity must remain; until
then your sufferings and great afflictions must continue. But when the
Lord brings truth out of the earth and sends righteousness down from
heaven he will again remember Israel; then the Gentile nations will be
punished, and Israel be saved.

Brigham Young, June 25, 1871

The Celestial Glory—Modern Civilization—Family Government

Discourse By President Brigham Young, Delivered in the New 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday, June 25, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.147
As Brother Smith and myself, with others, will take our leave of this
place to-morrow morning for a preaching tour through the northern
settlements, we wish to say a few words. My remarks will be for all,
both Saint and sinner; those who are Saints, those who wish to be, and
those who wish not to be. I will read the fifth paragraph of the
seventh section of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. On referring to
that place you will find the following words:

Vol. 14,  p.147
"And they who are not sanctified through the law which I have given
unto you, even the law of Christ, must inherit another kingdom, even
that of a terrestrial kingdom, or that of a telestial kingdom. For he
who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom, cannot abide
a celestial glory; and he who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial
kingdom [p.148] cannot abide a terrestrial glory; he who cannot abide
the law of a telestial kingdom, cannot abide a telestial glory;
therefore he is rot meet for a kingdom of glory. Therefore he must
abide a kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory."

Vol. 14,  p.148
These words set forth the fact to which Jesus referred when he said
"In my Father's house are many mansions." How many I am not prepared
to say; but here are three distinctly spoken of; the celestial, the
highest; the terrestrial, the next below it; and the telestial, the
third. If we were to take the pains to read what the Lord has said to
his people in the latter days, we should find that he has made
provision for all the inhabitants of the earth; every creature who
desires, and who strives in the least, to overcome evil and subdue
iniquity within himself or herself, and to live worthy of a glory,
will possess one. But, "In my Father's house are many mansions," says
the Savior; he has prepared places for his children; but the Saints,
we who have received the fullness of the Gospel of the Son of God, or
the kingdom of heaven that has come to earth, are in possession of
those laws, ordinances, commandments and revelations that will prepare
us, by strict obedience, to inherit the celestial kingdom, to go into
the presence of the Father and the Son. While Jesus was here on the
earth his followers inquired about his future dwelling place, for they
all wanted to be with him. Said they, in effect, "Where thou goest, we
want to go; where thou dwellest, we want to dwell;" and they said,
"Where shall you live hereafter, and what will be your state and
condition?" Said Jesus, in reply, "I am of the Father; I was with him
before the foundations of the world were laid; I and my Father are
one, we shall live together;" and he said also, "Strait is the gate
and narrow is the way that leads to the lives," (it reads in our Bible
"Leadeth unto life," but if it were translated correctly it would be,
"Leadeth to the lives,") "and few there be that find it."

Vol. 14,  p.148
Jesus travelled and preached, worked miracles, and labored diligently
by day and by night, and when he had finished how many were there to
stand by him? How many were there to believe and confess him before
the scribes and pharisees? After travelling with him and seeing him
feed the multitudes with a few loaves and fishes, heal the sick and
open the eyes of the blind, how many friends had he when he came to
the cross? How many of his disciples were there to say, We are the
disciples of this man whom you are about to crucify? They stepped out
of the way. Well might Jesus say, "Strait is the gate and narrow is
the way that leadeth to the lives, and few there be that find it." We
may say, and justly too, that the conduct of his disciples was very
remarkable; for, as much as they thought of their Master, and as long
as they had followed him, there was not a man to stand by him in his
trying hour. It was but a few hours before that they had eaten supper
with him, when, we are told, "Jesus took the bread, blessed and brake
and gave to his disciples, and said, 'Take and eat ye all of this;'
and he took the cup, saying, 'Take this and drink ye all of it, this
is my body in the New Testament and this is my blood in the New
Testament.'" All this was a few hours before his crucifixion; and when
his death drew near every single man, to a man, forsook him. During
his trial, probably you all, even to the children, have read the story
a great many times, when Peter was accused of being one of his
disciples [p.149] by a damsel who sat or stood by, he denied it,
saying, "It is not so, I am not one of his disciples;" and when a
second time he was accused of being one of his disciples, he said,
"No, it is not so, I firmly deny it, I am not one of his disciples."
And when a third time the same accusation was made he cursed and swore
about it.

Vol. 14,  p.149
Now I make an application of this right here. As much as we think of
that ancient name and character—the Savior, which age and antiquity
have rendered so sacred to the Christian world that they profess to
revere them, compare the course his immediate followers took, with the
course taken by the followers of Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the
latter days, as much as he is despised and his name ridiculed. There
is scarcely any, no matter how high socially, who can speak of him
with sufficient respect to call him "Mr." or "Joseph" Smith, but they
generally refer to him as "Joe" Smith; yet, much as he is scorned and
despised, he had hundreds and thousands who would have gone to the
death with him when he went to death, but Jesus found not a man.
Joseph Smith, though he spent only fourteen years in presiding over
this people, organizing the Church, proclaiming the Gospel and
receiving revelations, yet had hundreds and thousands of men and women
who were ready to go to the death with him.

Vol. 14,  p.149
I wish now to look at my subject a little more, and will refer to the
present condition and future prospects of the inhabitants of the
earth. If we had time to read we could show to you, Latter-day Saints,
that the Lord is more merciful to the people than we are. He has
compassion on the works of his hands, while we, through the fall, have
a disposition, in common with all mankind, that is revengeful, and apt
to give way to passion, wrath, malice, anger, bickering, contentions,
hateful feelings and unbecoming words. All men are subject to this;
but the Latter-day Saints should be above it; and I wish to caution
them, and to inform them that if they expect to enter the celestial
kingdom they must overcome this weakness and the wicked dispositions
they have inherited through the fall; they must subdue, and become
masters of them in the name of Jesus, and become compassionate to all.
I have travelled a great deal in the world; and though, through the
evil that is within me, it is natural for me to contend, and if I am
opposed to oppose in return, and if a sharp word is spoken to me to
give a sharp word back, I have done so but rarely. It is wrong, and we
must subdue the inclination.

Vol. 14,  p.149
It has been mentioned here about the Saints leaving their homes and
being persecuted. They may be again for aught I know; and if in the
providence of God it is permitted to chasten us for our wickedness and
for yielding to sin, I hope we shall be able to bear it patiently; but
if the Latter-day Saints will live their religion and exercise faith
in the name of Jesus, they will be able to overcome every besetting
sin within themselves; and then we shall be able to overcome every foe
without, and we will live and outlive all the slander, falsehood and
prejudice now heaped mountain high against and around us by many
individuals in the nations. We will live it down, live it into
oblivion. But shall we turn away from the holy commandments of the
Lord and join hands with the wicked and ungodly to make our faith
popular? No, God forbid. I am happy in believing, in knowing and in
proclaiming, that the Lord Almighty has so organized his kingdom
[p.150] on the earth and he so rules it that no man will have the
privilege of coming into and abiding in it, and receiving a fullness
of its blessings through covetousness, selfishness or any spirit of
idolatry. In the contemplation of this I rejoice, and I am exceedingly
glad that the Lord has so ordered it that no man can be saved in his
sins and in his iniquity. All will have to come to the Lord and be
sanctified through the grace of Christ by faith in his name; without
this, I am happy to say, that none can be purified, sanctified and
prepared to inherit eternal glory.

Vol. 14,  p.150
Well, Latter-day Saints, will you live your religion? Sometimes I do
not know about this. I see and realize so much with regard to the
power of Satan on the earth, the evil propensities of mankind and the
weakness of human nature, that I do not know whether the Latter-day
Saints are going to abide all that will come upon them. Whip them and
they will acknowledge the Lord, abuse them and they will be Saints.
Have we any ensamples? We have. You take plenty of these who are
around here, who have been in this Tabernacle, and some probably who
are here to-day, and when they were in their own country, poor,
distressed, with not enough to eat, scanty clothing, no house of their
own to live in, not any property, not worth a chicken, and the finger
of scorn pointed at them from Monday morning until Saturday night, and
they would go weeping through the streets bearing precious seed, and
declare that "the Gospel is true, Jesus has spoken from the heavens,
the angel has flown through the midst of heaven and delivered the
Gospel to the children of men, the kingdom of God is set up, the word
of the Lord is within me and I am ready to declare it to the people;"
and they would go weeping week after week, month after month, and year
after year, in their poverty and wretchedness; but bring them here and
put them in a condition to gather around them a few hundreds or
thousands, and they will lift their heel against the Almighty; and
when I think of this I do not know how many of the Latter-day Saints
will apostatize. Let us be in a condition now, if we could step
forward directly into a position in Which we should be equal with our
neighbors, equal with the corruptions of this world, equal with the
wicked, and we should have praise and popularity. I am glad it is not
so. If we could have the favor of the wicked world, and have the
blessings heaped upon us and be fostered as other people, communities
and territories are, probably it would lead away a great many. It is
all right now. If we will bear all these things and be patient, and
live our religion whether We have enough to eat or half enough;
whether we have a good house to dwell in, or we live in tents, wagons,
or in dens and caves, and love the Lord and delight to do his will and
walk humbly before him, and overcome every passion and evil
propensity, and subdue the old man within us that Christ may live
within us—the new man to his glory, we will inherit celestial glory.
But no person will be sanctified without the law—the law which the
Lord has given, will be observed by few comparatively, when we take
into account the vast numbers who have lived on the face of the earth.
There is no prospect whatever of multitudes of them being sanctified
by the law of Christ. What we shall do for them in the Millennium it
is not for me to say altogether. We shall do a great deal, there is no
question about it. It is a matter of great rejoicing, and should bring
forth gratitude from the [p.151] hearts of the whole world of mankind,
that the Lord has promised a day of rest. The day will come when Jesus
will rule King of nations, as he now does King of Saints, and this
glorious rest that the Saints have been looking for for thousands and
thousands of years, from the days of Adam until now, will arrive. They
have been looking for the absent body, just as John the Revelator
says, He saw the souls under the altar crying, "How long, O Lord?" We
are waiting for the absent body, how long shall we look for it? It
will come again by and by, and the spirit and the body will be
reunited; but how many will be prepared to enter the celestial kingdom
unless they are officiated for it is not for me to say. But if we
preserve ourselves in the truth and live so that we shall be worthy of
the celestial kingdom, by and by we can officiate for those who have
died without law—the honest, honorable, good, truthful, virtuous and
pure. By and by it will be said unto us, "Go ye forth and be baptized
for them, and receive the ordinances for them;" and the hearts of the
children will be turned to the fathers who have slept in their graves,
and they will secure to them eternal life. This must be, lest the Lord
come and smite the earth with a curse. The children will go forth and
revive this law for those who have slept for thousands of years who
died without the law. Jesus will prepare a way to bring them up into
his presence. But were it not for the few who will be prepared here on
the earth to officiate when the Lord shall come to reign King of
nations, What would be the condition of the world? They would sleep
and sleep on; but the way is prepared for their redemption.

Vol. 14,  p.151
Now, those who cannot abide the law of the Celestial kingdom cannot
abide the glory of a celestial kingdom. All Christians are looking for
celestial glory, but can they abide it? They cannot; it would consume
them, for "our God is a consuming fire." They think they could abide a
celestial kingdom; but they could not. They will have to abide another
kingdom and another glory, according to the lives they lead and the
knowledge they possess here. When we look at it, we should have
compassion and we should be charitable. I want to say: a great many
priests have been here and I have spoken before them; if there be any
here to-day I say to them and to every priest on the face of the
earth, I do not care whether they be Christian, Pagan or Mahommedan,
you should live according to the best light you have; and if you do
you will receive all the glory you ever anticipated. We should not be
prejudiced against you in the least; even if you are against us and
declare falsehoods about us we should not retaliate. But how prone we
are to rebuke if we are rebuked, or if we receive a sharp word to
return one. The Latter-day Saints have to overcome this; and the world
may cry out and say all manner of evil against us, but, my brethren
and sisters, let us so live that it will be said falsely. It we do
this, happy are we; but if truthful, woe be to the Latter-day Saints!
Let all evil spoken of the people called Latter-day Saints be falsely
spoken, as some that I heard a week to-night. Shall I mention it? How
quickly "old Adam"' rose within me, when the gentleman speaking
pointed his finger, and said, "You murderers!" And I thought, "Will
you not prove it?" I did not say a word; I thought about it a minute,
and concluded that it was not worth noticing. He did not say you
"Latter-day Saints," but his congregation was mainly composed of
Latter-day Saints, and said he, "You [p.152] murderers!" Could he
prove this? No, no, he could not. Could any man prove it? Not that man
that lives on the face of the earth; it cannot be proved. Why? Because
the Saints are free and clear from the crime, that is the reason. Let
the evil they speak of us be just as false as that was when they were
going to bring us all to judgment!

Vol. 14,  p.152
I believe I will venture to say a little further The gentleman said
all would be brought to judgment, and said he, "You who have two wives
will be there?" I thought to myself, "Glory, allelulia, we shall be
along with you father Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and with Moses and the
prophets." I do not wish to say one word to east a reflection
whatever; but pity, pity! Open the Bible and read from Genesis to
Revelations, and the whole amount of the Christian religion, and all
that they can teach and tell is, "Come to Christ, come to Christ!"
Why, certainly, that is right. Come to Christ, and with it forsake our
sins, and when we do this, keep the commandments of Christ and fulfill
the law just as he did. Said he, "I come not to destroy the law but to
fulfill it;" and he declared that every jot and tittle thereof should
be fulfilled. Now pardon me, but if I am a Saint my heart would he
filled with pity, oh, how pitiful, and yet I could say, and with
justice and truth, though it might sound harshly to the ears of some,
"O, fools and slow of heart to believe" all that is written of Jesus
and the prophets, of the latter-day work, of the Millennium, of the
coming forth of the kingdom of God upon the earth, of the cleansing
and revolutionizing of the inhabitants of the earth, and preparing
them for the coming of the Son of Man! I could say to the whole
Christian world, justly, "O fools and slow of heart to believe what is
written in the Bible and other books concerning these things."

Vol. 14,  p.152
I say "other books," for we believe in other books as well as the
Bible; but do we on that account believe in an untruth? No. I heard
something this morning about our religion being vulgarly called
"Mormonism." I say not vulgarly called so. Mormon was a good man, and
he is in heaven, or in a good place at any rate; and the Book of
Mormon is named after him, and we believe it. What does the word
mormon mean? In the strict sense, and as it was translated by the
ancients, it means more good. Mormon, more good; and "Mormonism"
embraces all the truth that there is in heaven and on the earth; and
if there is any in hell it belongs to us. Every truth in the sciences
and in the arts, and all the knowledge that God has given to man in
mechanism, and in fact on the earth, which is but a small speck among
the creations of God, and the whole universe, all is incorporated in
and constitutes what the world call "Mormonism." If we have errors,
and seeing that we are just like other people, it is natural to
suppose that we are not free from them, they should be overcome. There
is no other people on the face of the earth that have the law of God
as the Latter-day Saints have it. They believe in the ordinances of
the house of God, they believe in the laws that the Lord has revealed
for the salvation of the children of men. All these holy ordinances
are embraced in our faith. We try to live according to them, and that
too strictly; and when aught is said against us I only ask my brethren
and sisters to live so that it will be said falsely—live so as to be
guiltless—be innocent, full of faith, good works, charity, love,
long-suffering, patience, godliness and brotherly kindness. If we fill
up our [p.153] lives with these good works, happy are we, no matter
where other people go or what they say or do; or whether they ever
give us our rights according to their estimation or according to ours.
If we do this God will give us our rights. We live in peace and
prosper, and live in hope; and if we do our duty we shall live down
every obstacle, every opposing foe, every opposite spirit and
influence that is raised against us as a nation or as nations; and
live, as I hope will be our constant aim, so as to glorify God. Not to
gain the flatteries and fellowship of the world, for I would not give
a snap of my finger for them; for as the world is I want not their
fellowship. I should have their good feelings! Why? Because I do
nothing only to do them good. There is not a professed Christian on
the face of the earth but what, if he knew what we know, would pray
for the Latter-day Saints. Why? Because we have the keys of salvation
to the children of men, which have been restored to the earth by the
Almighty in these latter days, and we are doing everything we possibly
can for their salvation.

Vol. 14,  p.153
Talk about persecution, why that only comes from those who hate the
truth. When falsehood is spoken against this people, no matter by
whom, whether priest or people, it comes from a foul, wicked heart.
Some say we are all wicked. Yes, we are all wicked; but we should not
allow our tongues to utter forth many things that are uttered. We are
not pure enough yet; we are not holy, we are not sanctified; no, the
Latter-day Saints are not sanctified, and if any person thinks that
we, as a people, are a pattern for the human family, we would just
refer him and all mankind to the commandments and revelations which
the Lord has given for the salvation of his creatures; they are
perfect, but we are imperfect. We are trying to be perfect, and trying
to sanctify the Lord God in our hearts, and to honor his name,
character and laws, and to spread them as far as we possibly can to
the east, west, north and south, and to gather up all that will be
gathered into the celestial kingdom; but to shake hands with the world
and fellowship them, no, no! In the first place they will not
fellowship us, and in the next place we cannot fellowship them. We
will fellowship every good word and every good thought and every good
deed; but we cannot fellowship them in rebelling against the truth.

Vol. 14,  p.153
Speaking of persecutions, neglects, slights and insults, was it an
insult for the President of the United States, after calling upon our
men to redeem this land from a foreign government, which we did, so
far as the whole of Upper California is concerned, for it was acquired
by the Latter-day Saints from the Mexican Government; and over it we
hoisted the American flag, and have maintained it ever since; and then
for our Chief Magistrate to make war upon the people who had actually
added so much to the public domain and placed it under the banner and
flag of their Government, to send an army to waste us away and destroy
us, was it generous? Did it evince brotherly kindness? Was it
according to Christian light? Was it according to the New Testament,
the sayings of the Savior, or the acts of the wise and the good? We
leave everybody to judge. Still they did not do it, no, nor they will
not do it either.

Vol. 14,  p.153
What did we do when we came here? A few words upon this. Did we
manifest to the world that we knew how to take care of ourselves? What
did we bring with us? Five times have I been broken up and left
[p.154] a fine property behind. I never looked after it, for I knew
that the earth was the Lord's and the fullness thereof, and that he
could give me what he pleased, hence I never looked behind, but
marched forward, right ahead five times. What did we bring here?
Nothing; we came here comparatively, as the old saying is, naked and
barefoot. We have lived here twenty-four years, and now we are reid
that if we can convince the people of the United States that we can
actually govern, control and sustain ourselves, why, we can have a
State Government, so as to get us a little land to school our children
and help ourselves a little. I suppose from this that they wish to
imply that up to this time we have not proved that we can sustain and
govern ourselves. What is necessary, judging by the standard of
civilization, to prove this? What does it take to constitute a people
capable of governing and controlling themselves? Now, mark, in the
estimation of civilization it requires a settlement, territory and
subjects tar this territory; and then it requires certain ingredients
within this community, to constitute civilization. Where shall we
begin? We will build a grogshop, that will be the first thing, and
have a few groceries; and we will bring on the liquor. The description
of an outfit to the mines in early days will answer to illustrate and
fill up the picture. The first thing was a barrel of whisky, then ten
pounds of dried beef, and a box of crackers; what next? A ten gallon
keg of whisky and four pounds of cheese, ten of butter, then another
barrel of whisky, next ten pounds of dried beef, two sacks of flour,
and so on. Now, after we get a parcel of grogshops and can see, every
Saturday, men drinking in the streets, hurrahing, running their
horses, having children run over, and perhaps get to fighting and
somebody's head broken, or some one shot down, and have some gambling
saloons, then we are ready for a meeting house, and here comes the
priest through the streets mourning over the sins of the people,
crying, and "Oh what a wretched place this is." That is civilization.
You will excuse me, this is no overdrawn picture, but is a
representation of what is misnamed civilization. But is it so in the
eyes of Heaven? No, it is civilization in the eyes of filth and
corruption, that is what it is.

Vol. 14,  p.154
To call this civilization is like saying to a kind, judicious and
loving mother, "You are not capable of taking care of your children,
we will put them out." What is the matter, mother? And the mother
says, "Why, my children obey me. I make no request of them but what
they comply with; and they are willing and obedient. I teach them
morning and evening to pray; I teach them to read the Bible, to be
good, not to tell falsehoods, but to be truthful and honest, and not
to take a pin's worth from their neighbors; not to contend with each
other about their toys." And this mother is kind, loving and
agreeable, and her children love her, and in the morning run with open
arms and salute her with, "Mamma, how glad I am to see you, are you
well?" And at night when going to bed the mother says, "Good night, my
darlings, come and let me give you a kiss." But this mother is not
worthy of her children, and they must be taken from her and put out;
she is too kind to them, and has perfect control over them. That is
what they are afraid of. And the father, when he comes from his work,
his store or, mechanics' shop, is met with smiling faces, and "good
evening, father, or papa," and he has a kiss for each of them, and has
a kind good [p.155] night for all, and perfect love and peace reign in
their midst. But that mother and father are unworthy of those
children; the way they have trained them is not civilization. Whip
them, teach them to quarrel, fight, knock each other down, and finally
kick them out of doors! That is civilization according to the notion
of the world. This is a comparison and it may be a strong one; but lay
it in the balance and see how it will weigh. Will they among whom such
manners and principles prevail be prepared for the celestial kingdom,
or for a terrestrial or telestial kingdom, no matter who they are? I
think not. They will have to abide a kingdom where there is no glory.

Vol. 14,  p.155
Well now, why not take this family and let papa and mamma train up
their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and teach
them every good moral principle, and faith in the name of Jesus? To my
certain knowledge children in our community, when mamma has been sick,
have said, "Mamma, are you not better?" "Why do you ask my little
dear?" "Why," says the little girl, "I have prayed for you; are you
better?" "Yes, my dear." I have witnessed many and many a time
children praying for the father or for the mother, and that mother or
father would be healed through the faith of the child. But this is not
civilization. No; hence you Latter-day Saints must not have any lands
to make use of to school your children. You must be tied up, you must
be ruled over; you are not capable of governing and controlling
yourselves. And yet thousands and thousands of them who say this will
admit that we have the best organization and are the best governed
community they have ever seen. But what is the matter when they get
away? Why papa and mamma kiss the children, and the children kiss papa
and mamma, and this will not do, it is not civilization. Kick, cuff
and scold from morning to night must be the story, "then we are ready
to receive you?" Shame on such conduct! Shame on such statesmanship!

Vol. 14,  p.155
"Well, I don't like your peculiar institutions? We have never been
driven yet for our peculiar institutions which they talk about, and if
we can beat them in peculiar conduct I am mistaken! I have seen men
come here, who moved in the highest society on the American continent,
and "Who have you got with you?" "My wife," he says, and by and by you
find out it is not his wife, but a woman he has hired to come here. In
one instance a judge came here with a woman who had been turned off by
a Congressman, and she sat on the judgment seat with him and claimed
him for husband; but when he had got through with her, "You can go
now, I do not want you any more." Will a "Mormon" do this? No, never,
if he does he will be damned; and any man who does will go to hell,
now mark my word for it. And this is civilization!

Vol. 14,  p.155
Can they inherit these glories? No, the Lord has revealed the fact
that the people must be sanctified; and if they cannot abide and be
sanctified by a celestial law, they can not inherit this glory; and
they must abide and be sanctified by a terrestrial law and inherit a
terrestrial glory. But we will pick every man and every woman on the
face of the earth that we can possibly save and give them life and
salvation through obedience to the requirements of Heaven. that is the
way it is given, obtained and enjoyed. The spirit of the Gospel comes
by obedience to the Gospel.

Vol. 14,  p.155
I want to say a few things to the Latter-day Saints, for I have not
half freed my mind. Will you live so as [p.156] to make your calling
and election sure? You have a work to do, and it requires a holy life
to prepare you to do it. Now I charge you again, and I charge myself
not to get angry. Never let anger arise in your hearts. No, Brigham,
never let anger arise in your heart, never, never! Although you may be
called upon to chastise and to speak to the people sharply, do not let
anger arise in you, no, never! Let us sanctify the Lord God in our
hearts and live to his honor and glory and all is right with us; and
by and by we shall see what comes to those who say to us, "You can't
have your rights."

Vol. 14,  p.156
I will just say to the nation in which I live, and which gave me
birth: The Lord God Almighty has a controversy with you and he will
bring you to judgment, and no power can hinder it. It is the decree of
the Almighty in the heavens, and will be so. Let us prepare for it,
Saint and sinner. This life is but a moment, and is only preparatory
to a higher state of glory. We are in darkness and ignorance here; but
it is to give us an experience that we can step into a higher state of
knowledge, understanding, light and intelligence. That we may come up
higher and higher, and not be reduced when we enter the next state of
existence, I say to the inhabitants of the earth, for God's sake and
for your own sakes, do take that course that when you step into
another room, or lay down this mortal tabernacle, you will be prepared
for a higher state of glory. It will not be present civilization that
will prepare you for that; but strict obedience to the requirements of
heaven in all honesty, sincerity, purity, lowliness of heart and
faithfulness to our God. May he help us to do it. Amen!

Brigham Young, June 4, 1871

Political Parties and  Christian Sects—the Sabbath—Marriage

Discourse By President Brigham Young, Delivered in 
the Tabernacle, Ogden City, June 4, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.156
It is a great work to instruct ourselves and each other; and to bring
ourselves into perfect subjection and to an understanding of
principle. We know what it is to meet with obstructions, difficulties
and contradictions of various kinds; and this people know pretty well
what it is to have to contend with the influences of the wicked world;
but we have reason to rejoice and be exceeding glad that we are not in
the same circumstances now that we have been heretofore. We have peace
here in these mountains, and since we arrived in these valleys we have
been free from those obstructions with which our pathway was
constantly strewn before. It is frequently asked me why we left the
States and the society of our Christian [p.157] brethren. My reply has
invariably been, "We stayed with you just as long as you would let us,
and when you would let us stay no longer we had to hunt up some other
place, and we came to the valleys not out of choice but out of
necessity." It is true that we have had some little things to contend
with here, but it amounts to no more than a war of words. Our religion
will bear investigation, and we invite the Christian world to
investigate and to exchange ideas concerning faith and principles.

Vol. 14,  p.157
Brother Wells has been telling you about some of the influences that
we had to contend with in Illinois. This gentleman was not a "Mormon"
when we went from Missouri to Illinois, neither was he when we left
that State, and he was in a position to know what the feelings of the
people were; his neighbors composed the band that slew Joseph and
Hyrum in the jail at Carthage. He is acquainted with the
circumstances. He says he has put them from his mind as much as
possible, and does not think of them. I am happy to hear it. I wish we
may never be under the necessity of again referring to what we have
passed through; but we shall be, there is no question; and if we have
to meet with influences of another character now, all that we have to
do is to be prepared for them; and if the Lord brings us into
circumstances in which we shall be as willing to live our religion and
pray as some are to fight, it will be much better for us. We have many
Elders in Israel who would much rather fight for their religion than
pray. As for a person being saved in the celestial kingdom of God
without being prepared to dwell in a pure and holy place, it is all
nonsense and ridiculous; and if there be any who think they can gain
the presence of the Father and the Son by fighting for instead of
living their religion, they will be mistaken, consequently the quicker
we make up our minds to live our religion the better it will be for
us. If we live so as to enjoy the spirit of the faith that we have
embraced there is no danger of our being deceived.

Vol. 14,  p.157
To those of our Christian brethren who have come here, not to join a
mob to kill or persecute the Saints, but to see how many of those who
have obeyed the Gospel they can induce to forsake the holy
commandments of the Lord Jesus and to follow after phantoms, I say the
quicker this war of words commences and the fiercer it is carried on
the better it will be for the Saints. So we say come, brethren, come
with your big tents, your meeting houses, your arguments and all the
philosophy you are in possession of, for we have a religion that we
would like the inhabitants of the earth to understand. We have nothing
in the dark, nothing but what is good for man; and we would say to all
try our religion. We have tried and we understand the religions of the
world; and in some remarks I made yesterday I ventured to say that our
youth know more of heavenly things than old men do in the Christian
world. If any doubt this, just take our children and question them,
and if they have the courage and boldness, see how quickly they will
lead members of the sectarian world into waters so deep that they
cannot see the shore. But if a war of argument is desired or intended,
I do not mean contention, but an exchange of ideas, we are willing to
give to all who want them the principles of the Gospel of life and
salvation, and they can give to us all they know of the Gospel as they
have embraced it, which is no more nor less than a system of morals or
ethics, and is excellent as far as it goes.[p.158] But the Gospel that
we have embraced includes every principle of morality and virtue that
is taught by any person on the earth, whether he does or does not know
or profess to know Christ.

Vol. 14,  p.158
If we are brought into circumstances where we have the privilege of
telling strangers what we believe in we are very willing to do so; but
the first thing with them is, "Oh, your strange doctrine, your
peculiar doctrine!" How often this is said to me in my office. I say
to them, "What peculiar doctrine? Will you please to name it?" The
reply is, "Well, you know you have a peculiar doctrine;" and the
ladies stand anxiously waiting for somebody or other to give it a
name. I sometimes say, "Is it plurality of wives you mean?" "Yes, yes,
that is the doctrine." If I were to answer my own feelings to such
parties, I would answer them and say, "That is nothing; so far as a
plurality of women goes, you men, if you will allow me this vulgar
expression, 'knock the hind sights off the Mormons.'" But that is
vulgar, and so let it pass.

Vol. 14,  p.158
"But," say they, "what of your peculiar doctrine? What did you come to
the mountains for? What did you leave us for? We suppose it was on
account of your peculiar doctrine." I reply, "Pause! Wait a moment!
When we left the confines of what is called civilization the doctrine
of plurality of wives was not known by the world, and was not taught
by us, and was known only to a very few members of our Church; but
since we have declared this revelation we have dwelt in peace and
safety, so we were not persecuted for that, sure. We did not leave
Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, or any other State or neighborhood within
the confines of civilization for believing in the doctrine of a
plurality of wives." I say this to all who hear me. I want our young
folks to understand this, or they may perhaps grow up with the idea
that we were driven from our homes in consequence of our belief in
celestial marriage. I want all our young, and all who believe the
Gospel and all who do not believe it, to know that we were driven for
believing in the Old and New Testament; not for believing in the Book
of Mormon, but in the Bible, and then practising it in our lives.
This, and this only, is what we were driven for. It is now called the
"one-man power;" then it was "the 'Mormons' clan together;" and this
was the rock of offence or seemingly so; but in reality it was the
same then as now and now as then—we as a people believe in the
Scriptures of divine truth, and we are united in endeavoring to live
according to the precepts thereof.

Vol. 14,  p.158
When Brother Wells was speaking he said the Christian religion had
failed. I will say just what he meant to say—namely, that professing
the Christian religion has failed to bring the world into subjection
to moral laws. I would not say that Christianity has failed; the
religion of Christ has not failed, but those professing this religion
have failed to bring the world into subjection to good and wholesome
laws. You may take up politics, for instance, and in our own country
there are a great many parties who differ in their views and opinions
with regard to governing a nation, and on every hand they are
contending against each other. This division exists even among the
professing Christians. The Catholics and Quakers are probably less
divided than others, but they are far from being one in politics; and
the same is true to a greater extent of the Episcopalians,
Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists, Methodists, and [p.159]
so on. When we see a religion, and one which is claimed to be the
religion of Christ, and it will not govern men in their politics, it
is a very poor religion, it is very feeble, very taint in its effects,
hardly perceptible in the life of a person. The religion that the Lord
has revealed from heaven unites the hearts of the people, and when
they gather together, no matter where they are from, they are of one
heart and one mind. Those who have no idea of the effects of the
Gospel attribute the oneness it produces to the influence of
individuals now living on the earth, instead of giving God the glory,
praise and honor.

Vol. 14,  p.159
The religion of heaven unites the hearts of the people and makes them
one. You may gather a people together, and no matter how widely they
differ in politics, the Gospel of Jesus Christ will make them one,
even if among them were found members of all the political parties in
the country, I do not know how many different political parties now
exist in the country. There used to be only Federals and Democrats,
then Whigs, Republicans, Locofocos, Barn-burners, and Free-soilers.
Then the "Know Nothings" sprang into existence. I believe the Ku-Klux
is a new political organization; and I have heard that, in the City of
Washington, the Anti-Ku-Klux, another political party, has recently
been organized. If members of all these various organizations were to
obey the Gospel and gather together, the religion of heaven would
clear their hearts of all political rubbish and make them one in
voting for principles and measures, instead of men, and I think that
any religion that will not do this is very feeble in its effects. The
Christian religion, or what is called so, has failed to subdue the
world; but what will the Gospel of Jesus Christ do? If the Gospel that
we preach, and which we are trying to set before priest and people—for
we want all to know and understand it—if it does not have the effect
of convincing men and women of the truth sufficiently to induce them
to yield obedience to its ordinances and to embrace the doctrine of
life and salvation, and accept the overtures of mercy, learn Christ
and obey him, it will drive them to the wall of infidelity. Do we
believe this? It must be so. Do others believe it? No, they do not.
The Christian world do not know that they are infidels in their belief
in regard to the character of the Father and the Son, and the Holy
Priesthood and its laws and requirements. If a man does not believe
that he ought to be baptized for the remission of his sins, he is an
infidel to baptism. My definition of the term infidel is that if any
principle or doctrine is set before me, and I say I disbelieve it, I
am neither more nor less than an infidel to that principle or
doctrine. Are the sectarian world infidels according to this
definition? Yes, and if we had time we would take some passages of
Scripture and prove it. Take, for instance, the character of the
Savior, and the sectarian world are infidel on this point. What do
they believe about it? I do not know what they believe, and they do
not know themselves. Many of them do not know that they believe
anything. They would he glad to believe if they knew what to believe.
But not knowing what to believe, they say, "We do not know, we do not
understand, we cannot tell. We understand some things by reading the
Scriptures; but the ministers tell us they have a spiritual meaning."
Now what does this favorite saying of the ministers—"a spiritual
meaning"—convey to the mind? Something or other that you and I do not
understand, that is all. Well, then,[p.160] partially, I will say, to
a certain degree, it leaves us in infidelity. This is the situation of
the sectarian world to-day—they do not know what to believe, and
consequently they are full of unbelief and doubt, and we say that our
children ought to know enough to teach the whole world with regard to
these things. The divines of the day, when, they have graduated from
the schools, seminaries and colleges, so far as their knowledge of
heavenly things goes, are a bundle of trash and ignorance. I meet with
some occasionally, however, who are very religious. I met with a
gentleman in my office last Friday evening, who was very tenacious on
some points touching morality. He put me in mind of a great many I
have met in my travels—strong, staunch Christians. What did the
religion of that individual consist of? I told you yesterday—ignorance
and impudence—that is about, the amount of it. Such men would be
Christians if they knew how, they would like to be. But will they
receive the truth? Our doctrine and practice is, and I have made it
mine through life—to receive truth no matter where it comes from. Is
there truth in heaven? Yes, it dwells there, it is the foundation of
the heavens. Is there truth on earth and beneath the earth? There is.
Is there truth in the words of a good man? Yes. In the words of a
wicked man? Yes, sometimes; and there is truth in the words of an
angel, and in the words of the devil, and when the devil speaks the
truth I should have the spirit to discriminate between the truth and
the error, and should receive the former and reject the latter. For
example, you read in Genesis about the formation of the earth and the
creation of Adam and Eve in the Garden. By and by the devil comes
along and tempts Eve, by offering her the fruit of a certain tree,
assuring her at the same time that the very day she ate of it her eyes
would be open and she would see like the Gods. Did the devil tell the
truth? He did. Did he tell a lie? Yes, and how many of them he told to
one truth I have not taken pains to examine. You take a wicked person,
an opposer of the truth, one of our apostates, for instance, and he
will tell you a little truth and mix it up with a great deal of error;
but we should know enough to understand and receive the truth; that
will do us good, and if we reject the error it will do us no harm.

Vol. 14,  p.160
This is our position, and we say to all Christians come and
investigate our religion. Do we understand Methodism, Presbyterianism,
Quakerism, Shakerism and the various other isms of the Christian
world? Yes. I learned these, as far as their creeds go, many years
ago. That which they could not tell and did not understand, I never
did learn. My objection to their creeds and systems was that they
talked about things they did not understand and could not tell a word
about; consequently I was called an infidel. We say, give us the
truth; but when strangers come to see me their first reflection is, "I
would like to ask him a question if I dare." What is it? It is all
about wives. My conscience! what a generation of gentlemen and ladies
we have! Their thoughts and reflections are continually about wives
and husbands. Why the mind of a pure Saint and Christian is above such
things. If it is necessary to take a wife, take one; if it is
necessary to have a husband, have one. If it is necessary to have two
wives, take them. If it is right, reasonable and proper and the Lord
permits a man to take half a dozen wives, take them; but if the Lord
says let them alone, let them alone. How long? Until [p.161] we go
down to the grave, if the Lord demand it. If he require an Elder or
Elders to take their valise and travel and preach the Gospel until the
day of their death, they should do it; and if they are not happy in so
doing, it would prove that they do not possess the spirit of their
religion.

Vol. 14,  p.161
This gentleman to whom I was speaking on Friday was tenacious with
regard to the Sabbath; that was his whole theme. He commenced about
our running cars here on the Sabbath Day. I told him in as few words
as I could, that my feelings were not to do it, and if I had the
management of railroads I would stop it. Why? Because the Lord has
said that it is not good for us to work the seven days; it is good to
work six and rest the seventh. Our system requires rest after six
days' labor, and consequently he has set the seventh apart for that
purpose. But I told him I could not control that matter; the people
want to run from Salt Lake to Ogden and back again to Salt Lake on
Sundays, and consequently, as it is a matter of necessity, we run the
cars on the Sabbath. Said he, "How can you reconcile this?" Said I,
"It ought to be done, that is how I reconcile it." Know whether you
ought to do a thing or not, and if you ought to do it, do it; and if
you ought not, let it alone. That is the way to live. You can not read
anything in the Bible about a railroad from Salt Lake City to Ogden,
nor from the Atlantic to the Pacific; you cannot read anything about
telegraph wires, nor whether they should work on a Sunday or lie
still; nor anything about running a railroad, or a stage, or about the
labor of the people who live now. By reading the Bible we can learn
something about the way the ancients regulated their labors as far as
the Lord told them what to do." It is one of the most simple things in
the world for people to understand what course they should take; what
a pity they do not all understand it! If men would live and humble
themselves like children God could dwell within them and could dictate
every heart. But to enjoy this we must live before the Lord, so that
our minds would he like a sheet of white paper such as our reporters
here are writing on, then the Lord could and would dictate all our
movements. Live with a conscience void of offence towards God and man
and the spirit of inspiration would indite matter on every such well
regulated conscience. But our consciences are made by our parents and
teachers; and just as we are taught by others are our consciences
dictated. But we should all live so that the spirit of revelation
could dictate and write on the heart and tell us what we should do,
instead of the traditions of our parents and teachers. But to do this
we must become like little children; add Jesus says if we do not we
cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. How simple it is! Live free from
envy, malice, wrath, strife, bitter feelings, and evil speaking in our
families and about our neighbors and friends, and all the inhabitants
of the earth, wherever we meet them. Live so that our consciences are
free; clean and clear. This is as simple as anything can be, and yet
it is one of the hardest things to get people to understand, or rather
to practice; for you may get them to understand it, but the great
difficulty is to get them to practice it. If we, both priest and
people, will practice this, the Spirit of the Lord can dictate and
tell us our duty, and when that is presented before us we will go and
do it.

Vol. 14,  p.161
But, instead of such principles as these occupying people's minds
now-a-days, it is, "How many wives have you, Mr. Young? Oh, I do want
to [p.162] ask Mr. Young how many wives he has." Ladies who come into
my office very frequently say, "I wonder if it would hurt his feelings
if I were to ask him how many wives he has?" Let me say to all
creation that I would as lief they should ask me that question as any
other; but I would rather see them anxious to learn about the Gospel.
Having wives is a secondary consideration; it is within the pale of
duty, and consequently, it is all right. But to preach the Gospel,
save the children of men, build up the kingdom of God, produce
righteousness in the midst of the people; govern and control ourselves
and our families and all we have influence over; make us of one heart
and one mind; to clear the world from wickedness—this fighting and
slaying, this mischievous spirit now so general, and to subdue and
drive it from the face of the earth, and to usher in and establish the
reign of universal peace, is our business, no matter how many wives a
man has got, that makes no difference here or there. I want to say,
and I wish you to publish it, that I would as soon be asked how many
wives I have got as any other question, just as soon; but I would
rather see something else in their minds, instead of all the time
thinking "How many wives have you; or I wonder whom he slept with last
night." I can tell those who are curious on this point. I slept with
all that slept, and we slept on one universal bed—the bosom of our
mother earth, and we slept together. "Did you have anybody in bed with
you?" "Yes." "Who was it?" It was my wife, it was not your wife, nor
your daughter nor sister, unless she was my wife, and that too
legally. I can say that to all creation, and every honest man can say
the same; but it is not all who are professed Christians who can say
it, and I will say, and I am sorry to say it, not all professed
"Mormons" can say this. Live so that your heart is pure and holy, and
if the Lord Almighty gives you a wife take good care of her, and do
not be like many of our brethren. I heard a contention this morning
between an old man and his family, I am ashamed to say it; as I said
to the brethren, "It is bad enough to see young fools, but worse to
see old fools." You only meet with a man occasionally who knows enough
about human nature to govern his own family. Men, as a general thing,
do not know the dispositions of their wives and children, nor how to
govern and control them; and it is certainly a pretty close, intricate
point. I have had some people ask me how I manage and control the
people. I do it by telling them the truth and letting them do just as
they have a mind to. I control my wives by telling them the truth and
letting them do as they like. Will I quarrel with them? No, I will
not. Some of them may have felt a little discouraged at this. I do not
know, however, that they had a disposition to quarrel; if they have
had, they are sick of it, for they have found out that they cannot
raise the breeze. Devils, pigs, dogs and the brute creation quarrel.
Do intelligent men quarrel? Yes, and men and women will quarrel, and
sometimes they quarrel with their neighbours. I meet with some
occasionally who need chastening, but as for quarrelling I do not
think that I am guilty of it.

Vol. 14,  p.162
With these few remarks it is about time to close. We shall meet again,
this afternoon. To satisfy my feelings I should have to say a good
deal. I say to you who want to govern your wives, set them an example,
continually, that is good. Let them say, "There is my husband, does he
do anything that he should not do? No, [p.163] he does not; He prays,
he is faithful, humble, meek, full of kindness and of good words and
works, I see nothing wrong in him." If a man lives like this his wife
will say, "I should be ashamed to get up a quarrel, I think I had
better do as he says, I think he knows better than I do, I will yield
my spirit to his." If a man pursue this straightforward, manly,
god-like course he will find woman in her place by his side following
him. He is leading her, she is not leading him. When we find an Elder
of Israel do this we find plenty of women who will go along with him.
And this is the principle on which to govern a neighborhood or nation
as well as a wife or children. When a king, ruler, president, governor
or legislative assembly take this course, the people knew they are
looking after the welfare of the governed instead of their own
aggrandizement, and they will always be glad to have them in office,
and they will not wish for a change. When the righteous rule, the
people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people mourn. This is the
secret of it; if we govern ourselves we can govern others.

Vol. 14,  p.163
May the Lord bless us. Amen.

George Q. Cannon, June 11, 1871

Persecution—First Principles—Priesthood

Discourse By Elder George Q. Cannon, Delivered in 
the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday, June 11, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.163
The circumstances which surround us at the present time are of a very
peculiar character; probably at no period of our history has the work
of the Last Days attracted the attention and the curiosity of the
people generally to the extend that it does to-day. There are several
reasons for this, but that which, more than anything else at this
time, has directed the minds of the world to Utah is the discoveries
of mineral in oar Territory. This has undoubtedly added greatly to the
interest which has ever been felt in this strange land, and in the
strange people who inhabit it. The best method of disposing of us and
our system has given rise to much controversy and discussion in years
past. That we ought to be disposed of in some manner has been a very
general opinion and feeling in certain quarters; there has seemed to
be a disposition manifested by some persons to do something so as to
effectually dispose of the system called "Mormonism." They have
apparently felt that it was in the way and ought to be removed, or
that something should be done to retard its growth and progress, and
the influence which it is exercising in the world. Did we not know
through our own bitter experience in the past that this feeling is
entertained by a [p.164] great many people, it would be difficult for
us to imagine that such is the case, for an examination of our
principles, and an understanding of their bearing, operation and
effects would certainly not lead to conclusions of this character. So
far as I myself am concerned, if this matter were submitted to me
without my knowledge and past experience in relation to it, I should
say that the principles and doctrines believed in and practiced by the
Latter-day Saints, and the results which have been wrought out by
their operation would not have had the effect of creating animosity or
ill will, or any feeling other than kind, brotherly and affectionate.

Vol. 14,  p.164
What is there about this system called "Mormonism" that should evoke
the terrible amount of animosity and hatred which have been displayed
at various times? The Latter-day Saints believe in Jesus Christ, they
believe that he is the Savior of the world; that he died for man's
redemption; that, through his death, we may, by obedience, be brought
into the presence of the Father, and made heirs of eternal glory. The
Latter-day Saints believe that mankind should repent of and forsake
all sins, and be baptized in the name of Jesus for their remission;
the Latter-day Saints believe that they Should not only be baptized
for the remission of their sins, but that baptism should be
administered by those only who have authority. Not vague or
ill-defined authority, based upon a commission given to others
centuries ago; but an authority proceeding from God that will be
recognized on earth and in heaven. The Latter-day Saints believe that,
having repented of sin and been baptized for the remission of it, they
who have complied thus far with the Gospel requirements, should have
hands laid upon them for the reception of the Holy Ghost; and that
they who thus lay on hands should have authority from God to officiate
in this ordinance.

Vol. 14,  p.164
Is there anything about or connected with this faith that should
excite opposition, create ill-feeling and arouse hatred? Certainly,
when we look at this dispassionately, we must admit that there is not.

Vol. 14,  p.164
Is there anything connected with this faith, or the principles to
which I have referred, that does not harmonize with the Scriptures?
Peter, who preached the first sermon of which we have any account
after the resurrection of Jesus, declared precisely the same
principles which I have alluded to as being part of our belief. The
other Apostles taught the same principles, and enforced them upon the
people to the extent of their ability and power. I know that there are
difficulties and contentions in the religious world as to the mode and
efficacy of baptism; some assert that immersion is not the true mode;
but we are willing to stand by the Scriptures and to abide by their
decision, feeling assured that, if they be taken literally, those who
read them will have a perfect conviction that immersion is the only
true mode. But even should there be a difference of opinion on this
point, it is not of such a character as to stir men up in deadly
hostility towards us.

Vol. 14,  p.164
There may also be a difference of opinion in relation to the laying on
of hands. Some may say this is only necessary where men are ordained,
and that it is not right or proper for all the members of the Church
of Christ to receive the imposition of hands. But as I have said in
reference to baptism so I say of this ordinance: it is clearly
revealed in the Scriptures and can readily be substantiated from them
that the members of the Church of Christ in ancient days had hands
laid upon [p.165] them for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and that
it was the ordinance and the only ordinance instituted in God's
economy for the bestowal and the reception of that gift.

Vol. 14,  p.165
Well, is this all the Latter-day Saints believe in? No. I do not
expect to be able to tell all we believe. in, or to allude to every
principle this afternoon; but these are the first principles which we
have proclaimed to the world. In addition to these there is
another—namely, the gathering together of the people of God. Wherever
the Elders of this Church have gone they have said, and testified to
the people, that the time in which we live is the gathering
dispensation alluded to by the ancient prophets, when God's people
should be gathered from the various nations of the earth to one place,
according to the predictions of John the Revelator, David the
psalmist, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and all other prophets whose
writings we have in this book. They, in simplicity, have called upon
the people everywhere to repent, and to gather together; and these, in
substance, are the principles which the Elders of this Church have
declared unto the people wherever they have travelled; and it is
because of these principles and their proclamation that so much
persecution has been stirred up.

Vol. 14,  p.165
I know very well the feelings of the world, and perhaps of some who
are listening to-day to this brief enunciation of our principles and
the causes of our persecutions. Say they, "If these were the only
principles taught by the Latter-day Saints we cannot think they would
have been persecuted, there must be something behind this. It cannot
be possible that, in this enlightened age; men and women should be
persecuted and reviled and their names east out as evil for believing
these doctrines?" A prevalent idea has been that this prejudice
against us owes its origin and continuation to our belief in a
plurality of wives; but when it is recollected that the mobbings,
drivings and expulsion from cities, counties and states which we have
endured, and our exodus to these mountains all took place before the
revelation of that doctrine was publicly known, it will be seen at
once that our belief in it has not been the cause of persecution. I
have an idea on this point in relation to this much-talked-of and
much-abused doctrine, and it is this: I believe that from the day it
was taught to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and
embraced in the faith and lives of its members we have risen in power
and grown in influence; we have gained favor with and enjoyed the
proration of the Heavens such as we never possessed before. All the
prosperity, seemingly, that we enjoy to-day has been bestowed upon us
since the proclamation of that principle and its adoption by us into
our faith and practice. There has been an almighty power hedging us
round about and encircling us from that day until the present time;
and though men have plotted and schemed and have devised mischief, and
formed machinations and combinations against the Latter-day Saints,
their schemes have fallen to the ground; their combinations have
proved unavailing, and we have been delivered time and time again
since we came to these valleys.

Vol. 14,  p.165
There is good reason why this is so. If this principle be from God, as
we solemnly testify it is, surely God would stretch forth his arm to
defend and deliver a people who would be so valiant and trustful as to
go forth in the face of so-called civilization and popular prejudice
in the nineteenth century, and embrace and practice that doctrine, and
assume all the [p.166] consequences which its practice involves!
Surely God, who would reveal such a principle to his people and call
upon them to obey it, would defend those who had the courage to
sacrifice themselves if it were necessary to carry out what they
believed to be God's behest! He would stretch forth his arm, exert his
power and fulfill his promises to deliver those who would thus go
forth in humility and meekness and carry out a principle that he had
revealed unto them!

Vol. 14,  p.166
This is the view which I take of this matter. Instead of our being
left to the power of our persecutors tea greater extent since its
revelation and practice, we have had greater freedom and security, and
have been blessed as we never were before. It was not on account of
our belief in this that we have been hated. Joseph and Hyrum Smith
were slain in Carthage jail, and hundreds of persons were persecuted
to the death previous to the Church having any knowledge of this
doctrine. What then was the cause of the persecutions of the people,
and why should they have been singled out and made so remarkable above
other people, many of whom believe in several of the principles that
they believed in. There is not a religious denomination in Christendom
which does not believe in Jesus Christ; I do not know of one that does
not believe in repenting of sin and also in some form of baptism. They
may differ in opinion as to the mode, efficacy and necessity of the
ordinance; some may and do call it essential, while others regard it
as non-essential, but it is generally believed in; and there are also
denominations which believe in the laying on of hands. I do not know
of one that believes in the gathering of the people together, still
there are people or communities who do gather together, besides the
Latter-day Saints. What is it then that makes us so marked? I will
explain it in a few words, as I understand it. It is because the
Latter-day Saints believe that GOd has restored from the heavens the
everlasting Priesthood—that eternal authority by which man acts upon
the earth as the ambassador of God. It is because we have testified
that God has restored this once more to earth and we have received it,
and that by virtue of it we act as Apostles, members of the seventies,
high priests, elders, bishops, priests, teachers and deacons, and in
the several offices God has placed in his Church. This is the secret,
my brethren and sisters and friends, of the opposition that is and has
been waged against the Church of God. We might go forth and preach
belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance of sin, and baptism for
the remission of sins, as Alexander Campbell did; we might say, as
some of the sects do, that it is necessary to lay on hands; we might
gather the people together, and do any or all of these things, but if
we did not have the right to exercise heaven-bestowed authority there
would be no particular opposition to us. Of course, the nearer a man
draws to God, and the more he lives according to the plan which God
has prescribed, the more opposition he meets with. Satan will stir up
strife, animosity and hatred against him. On this account Luther,
Calvin, John Wesley and other reformers have been persecuted. The
nearer they came to the truth, and the more zealous they were in
proclaiming it, the more opposition they met with. Men, in reasoning
upon this subject, say that every sect, at the commencement of its
career, is persecuted because men are not familiar with its doctrines;
but, when they become known, opposition and persecution cease. They
predict this about the Latter-day Saints; but the [p.167] truth of the
matter is this: if every new sect is persecuted, it is because it
fearlessly denounces the sins, follies and vices of the age, and so
long as they continue this, so long are they persecuted; but the
moment they assimilate to the world, gloss over its follies and go
with the stream and float with the popular current, opposition ceases.
This has been the case, more or less, with every sect; but when men
predict this of the Latter-day Saints they do not understand the
nature of the work in which we are engaged; they do not comprehend the
nature of the claims that we make; they have no understanding of the
authority that we exercise. The distinction, to which I have referred,
between us and others is that we claim to have the Holy Priesthood.

Vol. 14,  p.167
"But," says one, "has not this authority always been on the earth?
Why, ministers have gone forth and preached now for centuries,
authorized by the divine commission of the Apostles—'Go ye into all
the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, he that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be
damned.' On the strength of this commission they have gone forth for
centuries, and why do you Latter-day Saints claim additional
authority?  Has the authority not existed ever since the days of the
Apostles?"

Vol. 14,  p.167
If it has, where are its fruits, where are its powers, and where is
the proper exercise thereof exhibited? Shall we go to the Church of
Rome and inquire of it? It claims to have uninterrupted Apostolic
descent from Peter, down through the ages until we reach our own day.
Say the Episcopalians, Lutherans, Calvinists, and all Protestant
sects, "No, she is the mother of harlots, she has defiled herself;
that church is false, and God has taken from her the authority she
once had. If we go back to the middle ages you will find that her
popes have been corrupt, and them have been times when there were more
than one pope, and if history can be relied on a woman once occupied
the papal chair; therefore we Protestants abhor her and call her the
mother of harlots; we have come out of her and have renounced her and
her wickedness. Neither she nor her priests have any authority."

Vol. 14,  p.167
But the Catholic, on the other, hand, maintains that his church and
his alone has the authority, which Protestant Christendom declares she
has lost. And here a question arises in my mind, for as the Protestant
churches say that the Catholic Church is the mother of harlots, I turn
to the mother and ask who and where are her daughters. Is Lutheranism
a daughter of hers? Is Calvinism a daughter of hers? Is the Church of
England, founded by Henry VIII., a daughter of hers? If they are not,
where are her daughters? Where shall we look for them, if not in the
midst of the Protestant churches? If I go to the Episcopalians and ask
them for their authority, what reply do they give me? "We exercise
that which has come down to us from the Catholic Church. We came out
of that church because of her impurity, but we brought with us
authority to build another church, and ours is the Church of God.

Vol. 14,  p.167
But, says the Catholic Church, "We have severed you from us;" and I,
as a Latter-day Saint, say to the Episcopalians: If the Catholic
Church had authority to give you the priesthood, and you derived it by
imposition of hands from the Catholic clergy, then it had power to
deprive you of that authority; if it had power to bestow authority it
had power to withdraw that authority; and the [p.168] Catholic Church
did excommunicate Henry VIII., Latimer, Cranmer, and all who took part
in that defection, and branded them as apostates, and, if they had any
authority, deprived them of all they possessed. The same is true of
the Lutheran and Calvinist churches, and all others who descended from
her.

Vol. 14,  p.168
But there is another view to be taken of this matter. Jesus said to
his Apostles: "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; and these signs shall follow them
that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils," &c.

Vol. 14,  p.168
Now, my Protestant brethren, if you take one part of this commission,
why not take the whole of it? You say that by virtue of this authority
which Jesus gave unto his Apostles, you go forth and preach the
Gospel; but if you take this part of the commission, why not take the
whole, and have the signs following them that believe your teachings,
and have devils cast out, the sick healed, &c.

Vol. 14,  p.168
In asking these questions I do not wish to be harsh or to reflect on
any sect, but only, in honesty, to place the truth before you from my
standpoint. Say the so-called Christians, in answer to the above
questions: "We do not believe in these things; this power has been
withheld, it was only bestowed in the Apostolic age, and was necessary
then for the establishment of the Gospel."

Vol. 14,  p.168
If that is so, where do you find authority for making the assertion?
If you take part of this commission given by Christ to his Apostles,
what Fight have you to reject the remainder? Why not reject the whole?
I say that, by a parity of reasoning, if you take a part you ought to
take the whole. You cannot consistently take one portion of Scripture
and say, "This applies to me, or is mine, and I have a right to act by
the authority it confers;" and then to say of the other, "I dismiss
it, and want nothing to do with it." That is mutilating the word of
God, and wherever you find men who have authority from God to act in
his name, you will find these gifts and blessings attending their
administrations, just as in ancient days.

Vol. 14,  p.168
Suppose a descendant of John Adams, the first minister of this
government to the Court of St. James, should find an old document that
had been given to him by the Continental Congress authorising him to
go and act as its minister. He reads this document in which his
ancestor's name is mentioned and in which he is duly empowered to act
as ambassador for the United States, and he says, "Here is a document,
I have it, the original that was given to my great ancestor. I do not
see why I should not go and act as ambassador. This document was not
given to me, it is true, but I want to act in this capacity." He goes
across the water, travels to London, goes to Court, and presents his
document and says, "I am empowered to act. I am sent over by the
United States as ambassador to the Court of Great Britain." "Where is
your commission?" "Here." "Why, this is an old document, it was given
to John Adams. Is that your name, and are you the man?" "Oh no, I am
not the man, but I am a descendant of his." This would be just as
consistent as for a minister of religion in this day to claim
authority because he has a record of the commission which Jesus gave
to his disciples. If one case is consistent, so is the other; if one
is not, then the other is not.

Vol. 14,  p.169
My brethren, sisters and friends, you now, probably, begin to see the
[p.169] reasons why the Latter-day Saints Claim that God has restored
the authority and the everlasting priesthood; you now, probably, begin
to see some reasons why God should send his holy angels from heaven to
earth again.

Vol. 14,  p.169
"But," says one, "I thought there were going to be no more angels,
prophecies or revelations. I have been taught that the canon of
Scripture was full, and that it was not necessary for God to speak
again to man on the earth.

Vol. 14,  p.169
Oh, this delusive idea! This damnable doctrine which has been preached
until Christendom is completely filled with unbelief, so that the man
who believes in revelation and that there is a necessity for it is set
down as one who is unworthy the society of his fellows! Oh, the
dreadful effects which have followed the proclamation of this fallacy
for so long a period! What are the effects, resulting from it, that we
see to-day? Christendom rent asunder, divided into sects and parties,
the name of Jesus derided and sneered at, and the pure Gospel lost
because of the propagation, for centuries, by so-called Christian
ministers, of the soul-destroying and damnable heresy that God cannot
or will not speak to man again from the heavens; that God will not
reveal his will, send his angels, or exercise his power in the affairs
of earth as much as he did in ancient days. Look at the effects of
this! Travel in all our cities of the Atlantic and Pacific, and what
do you see? Men and women professing to be followers of Jesus Christ,
and yet all divided and split asunder, and quarrelling and
contending—even members of the same church divided asunder. The
Methodist Church North, and the Methodist Church South; the
Presbyterian Church North, and the Presbyterian Church South; the
Baptist Church North, and the Baptist Church South, and thus the
religious world is divided and split asunder, and there is no
authority to say what is truth or who shall proclaim it; there are
none to say in the midst of the people, "Thus saith the Lord," or
"Here is the path, walk ye in it;" and if a man comes forward claiming
that he has this authority he is met with the accusations:

Vol. 14,  p.169
"You are deluded, you are an impostor, you preach false doctrine, we
will have none of your teaching. Men who believe in prophesy and
revelation are liable to be deceived, and we are afraid of you, we do
not know but you will deceive us. Jesus said there should be false
prophets, we believe you are one of them."

Vol. 14,  p.169
And thus they fortify and encase themselves in their unbelief and
reject the word of God, and if Paul or Peter were to rise from the
dead, and go amongst them and proclaim the principles they taught
anciently, they would close their churches and chapels, and would say,
"We will have none of you, you will deceive us, you are one of the
false prophets spoken of," forgetting that, if there are false
prophets, there will, in all probability, also be true ones; and that
it would be inconsistent to talk about false prophets if there were no
true ones. There never is a counterfeit, bogus or imitation without a
true one to copy after! Can you wonder, brethren and sisters, that the
world is in the condition that it is, when unbelief has been handed
down for generations, until it permeates the minds of all, both priest
and people, even the children learn it in the Sunday schools, until
every fibre of their minds becomes indoctrinated with the idea? The
present condition of the Christian world is not to be wondered at, the
wonder is that belief and faith [p.170] exist to the extent they do.
There are a few things more I would like to say in connection with
this subject while I am upon it. One is that a perusal of the
Scriptures will clear up one point in our minds respecting the
principle of revelation and communication between God and man. There
is not a servant of God of whom we have any account, from Genesis to
Revelations, who did not receive revelation. Can any person point out
a man who was one of God's servants, of whom we have any account in
the Scriptures, that did not receive revelation? Not one. it may be
said, and is argued, "Why is it, if it be God's will that man should
have revelation from him, that the world has been so long without it?"
This is very easily explained. You recollect that Jesus, on one
occasion, went into a certain place, and it is said concerning him
that he could not do many mighty works there because of the people's
unbelief. Unbelief, therefore, has a tendency to prevent the
communication of God's will to man by closing the channel of
communication. And another very good reason is that when men were on
the earth who did have these communications they were not allowed to
live. Every such man was hunted and persecuted, and his life was
sought after until there was not one left who had the power, authority
and great gift and blessing to say to the people, "Thus saith the
Lord;" and revelation and the spirit of revelation were withdrawn from
man, and the whole earth fell into unbelief and darkness, and gross
darkness prevailed over the hearts of the people. It is a very
excellent reason why revelation should cease when the earth was
drenched with the blood of Heaven's messengers, and that blood was
crying for vengeance on those who had slain them.

Vol. 14,  p.170
But there was a time predicted by the Prophets—John saw it, and has
said in his revelations, "I saw another angel fly in the midst of
heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell
on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and
people, saying with a loud voice, 'Fear God and give glory to him, for
the hour of his judgment is come.'" Now the testimony of the
Latter-day Saints is that God has sent this angel, and has actually
restored the Holy Priesthood—that authority which was held by the
Apostles and Jesus in ancient days, and by Joseph Smith, an humble,
unlearned, but God-fearing boy, in our day. Joseph sought the Lord
diligently and earnestly to know which was the right way; his mind was
distracted by the various claims. set forth by one sect and another,
and he was determined to seek unto the Lord for wisdom, for he had
read in the Epistle of James, that if any lacked wisdom and would ask
of God, he would give liberally and upbraid not. He did so, and the
Lord communicated to him that in his own time he would establish his
Church, on the earth. He also told him not to join any of the churches
then in existence, for all had departed from the right way. Eventually
he was ordained; but in the first place, anxious to be baptized, he
sought the Lord to know in what way he should obtain the ordinance of
baptism, and the Lord sent an angel—John the Baptist, him who held
this authority in ancient days and who baptized Jesus, and he laid his
hands on the head of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, and ordained
them to this authority. "Well," says one, "I cannot believe this; if
they could have got it from Peter Waldo, from the Catholic Church or
the Baptist Church, I might have believed it;[p.171] but to think that
an angel came, shocks me, and it is more than I can believe. It is
fanatical, and none but fanatics believe angels come to earth; there
is deception in the idea."

Vol. 14,  p.171
Oh, foolish generation! How could the power of God be restored from
heaven, how could the world be united again, how could men be brought
into one fold, and how could these dissensions and divisions be healed
and removed unless God exerted his power? When the Lord does exercise
power it is in his own way. If he chooses to send an angel, he will do
so, and will not ask you or me whether we will accept and are suited
with it or not. He sent an angel on this occasion to restore to earth
the authority to baptize for the remission of sins, and that messenger
laid his hands on the heads of Joseph and Oliver and gave them that
authority, and they commenced to baptize.

Vol. 14,  p.171
But there was the authority to baptize with the Holy Ghost, or laying
on of the hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost, yet remaining to
be restored. All of you who are familiar with the experience of Philip
who baptized the eunuch, and who went to Samaria and preached the
Gospel, know that we have no account of him laying on hands for the
Holy Ghost. When the Apostles at Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans
had been baptized by Philip, they sent two of their number to lay on
hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost. These two had authority to
baptize, and they also had authority to lay on hands; and when they
came to Samaria they laid hands on the baptized believers, and they
received the Holy Ghost, and they spake with tongues and prophecied.
Philip had the same authority as John had—namely, the authority to
baptize; but it appears from the record that he had not authority to
lay on hands. This was the position of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery
after having been ordained to this priesthood. They had authority to
baptize, but there was something still lacking. They were men who
would not run before they were sent; they would not claim authority
that had not been bestowed upon them. They waited the good pleasure of
the Lord and he sent to them Peter, James and John. You recollect that
Jesus, on one occasion, asked Peter whom men said he, the Son of Man,
was. They said some said one thing and some another. Then said Jesus
to them, "But whom say ye that I am?" and Peter said, "Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Flesh and blood
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven."
That is, he had not received that knowledge from man, but from God;
and said Jesus, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my
Church." What rock? "Oh," says the Catholic, "upon Peter, he was a
rock, and the Church was built upon him." "No," Say the Protestants,
"not upon Peter, but upon Jesus." "Now," says Jesus, "upon this rock."
What rock? The rock of revelation—the principle upon which he was
talking. He had spoken to Peter and told him that flesh and blood had
not imparted to him certain knowledge which he possessed, but "my
Father which is in heaven; and upon this rock will I build my Church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." They never can
prevail against a Church built on the rock of revelation. "Upon this
rock will I build my Church, and I will give unto thee, Peter, the
keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth
shall be bound in heavens, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on, earth
shall be loosed in heaven."[p.172] 

Vol. 14,  p.172
Now this Peter, who held this authority when it was withdrawn from the
earth, still held it as an angel in the presence of God. What
messengers better adapted to the exigencies of the case than Peter,
with his two associates, James and John, to come and lay hands upon.
Joseph Smith and ordain him to the authority to preach the Gospel and
to lay on hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost?" It is the
exercise of this authority, thus bestowed, which has gained the
thousands from the various nations of the earth that people these
mountain valleys! It is this authority which has enabled the Elders of
this Church to traverse remote continents and islands of the sea
without purse or scrip, and, in the name of Jesus Christ, proclaim his
Gospel in its ancient simplicity, God confirming the word by signs
following—the very same work and the very same results that followed
the preaching of it in the days of Peter and his fellow Apostles.

Vol. 14,  p.172
How very singular, is it not, that Joseph Smith should have claimed to
receive the authority from John the Baptist! How very singular that he
should claim authority from the ordination of Peter, James and
John—that is, if it were not true! How very singular! And then, to add
to the singularity of the whole case and to the remarkable features of
it, to think that the Elders of this Church have accomplished a work
precisely similar in many respects to that which the ancient Apostles
accomplished! Wherever they went and the people received their
testimony they were of one heart and mind. And has it not been so in
our day? We find in this Territory men representing nearly every
country. They have come here by thousands from remote continents and
isles of the sea, and they are united, not so much as they should be,
or as they will be; but still there is amongst them a remarkable
amount of union, peace, love, and goodwill, and an absence of
litigation, drunkenness, theft, and the evils and vices that prevail
in the world. The people are united, and from every hamlet, and every
habitation over all this extended country, from north to south, their
united prayers ascend morning, noon and night to God, to bless his
servants and to bear off the Holy Priesthood and Apostleship. Yes, in
all this land, and throughout the earth wherever the servants of God
have gone, these same principles prevail and are observed by those who
have received their testimony. The Saints are united; they sustain the
authority which God has restored; for be it known there is an
authority now on the earth by which men can declare to the people,
"Thus saith the Lord," just as we might suppose a servant of God would
do anciently.

Vol. 14,  p.172
Do I believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet because it was told to me
in my childhood? Do I believe that Brigham Young is an Apostle and
prophet because it has been told to me? Partly, but more from the fact
that God has borne testimony to me by the revelations of the Holy
Spirit; and I have grown in the belief and knowledge, and I know that
Joseph was a prophet; I know that he was ordained of God; I know that
he had the authority which he professed to have, and that it is in the
Church; and I know, too, that the same signs follow the believers as
did anciently, and the Church will grow and increase and spread
abroad. It is on this account, my brethren and sisters and friends,
that we are so hated, for the adversary knows it, and hence this
persecution which seems so causeless.

Vol. 14,  p.172
May God bless us, help us to keep his commandments, to discern the
truth, and to cleave to it all our days, in the name of Jesus.
Amen.[p.173] 

Orson Pratt, June 18, 1871

The Day of Pentecost—the Gifts of the Spirit—Cornelius

Discourse By Elder Orson Pratt, Delivered in 
the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, June 18, 1871. 

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.173
Let me call the attention of this congregation to a portion of the
Word of God contained in the 46th and 47th verses of the last chapter
of the Gospel according to St. Luke—

Vol. 14,  p.173
"And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ
to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day.

Vol. 14,  p.173
"And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his
name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."

Vol. 14,  p.173
These are the words of our Savior to his disciples after his
resurrection, and just before he was received up into heaven. The
Apostles who heard these words had gone forth among the Jewish nation
and preached in their numerous cities, towns and villages the Gospel
of the kingdom, declaring that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. They
had gone forth crying repentance in the midst of the people, and had
pointed them to Jesus as the Messiah, and now, after the resurrection,
when Christ, in fulfillment of the prophets, had been sacrificed for
the sins of the world, a new commission seems to have been given them.
Jesus said unto them, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel
to every creature;" and in another place—the last chapter of Matthew,
the commission reads: "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you, and lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the
world."

Vol. 14,  p.173
These Apostles received a divine Commission to preach the Gospel of
the Son of God to every people under the whole heavens, first to the
inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem. They were to commence there to
fulfill this great commission; they were not permitted to go forth and
begin the great proclamation, to open the door of the kingdom in all
its fullness and glory, until qualified; but were commanded to tarry,
as it is recorded by one of the evangelists, at Jerusalem until they
were endowed with power from on high. Then they were to go forth to
all the world and proclaim repentance and remission of sins, the
Gospel of the Lord Jesus in its fullness, Jerusalem was to be the
tarrying point, until then.

Vol. 14,  p.173
We accordingly find, as is recorded in the first and second chapters
of the Acts of the Apostles, that they did tarry in that city, waiting
for the power that was needful to enable them to carry out the
commission which had been given to them. They could not fulfill the
duties of that great mission without power from the heavens; they
needed something more than human power; they needed that Spirit from
on high which was [p.174] promised them just before the crucifixion of
Christ. Said he, "It is expedient for me that I go to the Father for
your sakes, for if I go not to the Father the Comforter will not come;
but if I go to the Father I will send him unto you." Without this
Comforter it was impossible for them to accomplish the duties of that
great and solemn commission that was given them by our Lord himself.
They needed the Comforter for various purposes. Jesus had told them
that it should take the things of the Father and show them unto them;
and that it should lead them into all truth and show them things to
come. That is, it should make prophets and revelators of them, and
inspire them to deliver the word of God to the inhabitants of the
earth. Without this they could not magnify and honor the office of the
Apostleship, which was the ministry to which they had been ordained.
They needed the spirit of revelation, they needed power to commune
with the heavenly hosts, with God the Father and with his Son Jesus
Christ, that they might be able to impart their will to the
inhabitants of the earth, according to the heed and diligence which
mankind might be disposed to give unto them.

Vol. 14,  p.174
On the Day of Pentecost, a great feast which had been observed by the
Jewish nation for many generations, there were gathered at Jerusalem,
not only the Twelve Apostles, but also all the disciples of Jesus who
had not apostatized, to the number of about a hundred and twenty
souls—those of the ministry, the Seventies as well as the Twelve. They
were gathered together in one place, in an upper room of the Temple;
and they were engaged in fervent prayer and supplication before the
Lord. What for? For the endowments and qualifications necessary to
assist them in the work of the ministry. While they were thus
assembled, praying and exercising faith with one accord, in the Lord
and in his promises, they heard a sound as of a rushing mighty wind,
and it filled all the house where they were sitting, and there
appeared to them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each
of them:—that is, upon the hundred and twenty souls that were present,
and they were filled with the Spirit of God, baptized with the
Comforter, with the Holy Ghost and with fire; they were immersed in
it, really baptized by immersion.

Vol. 14,  p.174
After having received the Holy Ghost or Comforter it immediately began
to make manifest a supernatural power upon those men of God. They were
unlearned men, most of them, or most of the principal ones, at any
rate, were unlearned; they had been engaged, as we heard this
forenoon, at the business of fishing, and no doubt had lacked the
opportunities for the acquisition of learning which many of the
scribes, pharisees, high priests and religious people of that day
enjoyed. The Apostles and disciples of the Lord Jesus were not doctors
of law and divinity, they had not been educated and qualified for the
ministry in any theological school, seminary or university, but they
received the Spirit of God, which manifested. unto them the will of
Heaven, and though they understood only their mother tongue, the power
of the Spirit bestowed upon them enabled them to speak in the various
languages and tongues of the earth, and to declare the things of God
therein on that occasion.

Vol. 14,  p.174
There was then assembled a very great company of Jews, also
preselytes, who had come from the surrounding nations to Jerusalem to
keep the feast of Pentecost, according to their usual custom, and they
heard of the marvellous work that was [p.175] transpiring in the midst
of this little company, and they heard unlearned men declaring, in the
several tongues in which they were born, the wonderful works of God.
This was marvellous; it was not the result of human power, but it was
by the operation of the Holy Ghost. However, in that large
congregation there were some who were disposed to accuse the disciples
of folly. The followers of Jesus did not belong to the popular orders
of the day. They were not high priests; they did not belong to the
learned scribes or pharisees, but it was known that, as a general
thing, they were illiterate men, and when the people saw this
extraordinary manifestation of the power of God through them many
ascribed it to the effects of new wine; said they, "It cannot be
anything else," and they accused them of being actuated on that
occasion with the spirit of intoxication or drunkenness. But Peter,
with the Eleven, stood up in the midst of the thousands there
assembled, and opened the proclamation of the Gospel at Jerusalem
according to the commission they had received, and what we wish to
understand this afternoon is how, or in what manner, did he preach on
that occasion? In other words, what was the plan of salvation he
declared to the thousands of the children of men then gathered
together? If we can find this out, we can ascertain what the Gospel
is.

Vol. 14,  p.175
When they were accused of being under the influence of new wine,
Peter, holding the keys of the kingdom, stood up and said, "This is
not the effect of new wine, as ye suppose;" and as an argument to
prove that they were not intoxicated he informed them that it was only
the third hour of the day. In those days, probably, people did not get
drunk at all hours, as they do in these, and according to the custom
then, the third hour was too soon. Well, if the effects now made
manifest to the people are not the results of drinking new wine, to
what do you ascribe them? Said Peter, "This is that which was spoken
of by the Prophet Joel, who says, 'And it shall come to pass in the
last days, saith God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophecy; your old men shall dream
dreams, your young men shall see visions, and upon my servants and
handmaidens will I pour out of my Spirit, in those days, and they
shall prophecy; and I will show wonders in the heavens above, and
signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapour of smoke; the
sun shall be darkened and the moon shall be turned into blood, before
the great and notable day of the Lord shall come.'" Here, then, was a
prophecy repeated by the Apostle Peter to prove what was the cause of
the effects manifested on that occasion.

Vol. 14,  p.175
There is one thing in relation to this quotation from the prophecies
of Joel to which I wish to call your special attention. Peter did not
say, this is the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy, for we all know that
it was not then fulfilled. The Spirit was not poured out upon all
flesh; all men and women were not made prophets on that occasion,
consequently the prophecy was not fulfilled. Peter said, "These cloven
tongues of fire, and this Spirit that has been poured out upon these
hundred and twenty individuals is the same Spirit which Joel said
should be poured out in the last days upon all flesh." That promise,
down to the nineteenth century, has never been fulfilled; the Spirit
has never yet been poured out upon all flesh, making all men and women
living, prophets, seers, revelators, &c. The work was begun on the day
of Pentecost; but [p.176] the sun was not darkened on that occasion,
nor the moon turned into blood; the signs that were to precede the
second coming of the Son of God were not then shown forth, and
consequently the prophecy was not fulfilled. It yet remains to be
fulfilled. I would like to ask what are we going to do with the whole
Christian world which declare that there are to be no more prophets,
revelators or inspired men, when the word of the Lord through Joel
says all flesh are to become prophets—that is, all who are spared on
the earth, for there will be a tremendous destruction before that is
fulfilled? The wicked will be swept from the earth, and all who remain
will become revelators, prophets and inspired men, getting visions and
revelations and foretelling the future. What shall we do with the
sayings that have gone forth and been inculcated and promulgated by
numerous sects and parties, that the day of visions, revelations and
prophecies has passed? But we will pass on.

Vol. 14,  p.176
After having quoted this prophecy, to show that the Spirit that man
should receive under the Gospel dispensation was to give them
revelation and prophecy, and to show that the Spirit then being poured
out was that spoken of by Joel, the Apostle refers to what David the
psalmist said about Jesus, and about his sufferings, death and
resurrection; and having quoted what the prophets—witnesses that were
dead, had to say about the Holy One, they, as living persons, the
oracles of God then in the midst of the people, bore witness that
Jesus was the very Christ, and that the Jews had put to death the Holy
One; these combined testimonies convinced many that Jesus was indeed
the Messiah· This was not a popular doctrine in those days, as it is
now. There are millions at the present day with whom it is popular to
believe in Christ; they do so traditionally, and because it is
customary in the nations where they were born; they believe it because
they have had millions of copies of the word of God published in their
midst, and spread broadcast over the nations of Christendom. But in
those days very few believed it, the very great majority of the people
believed him to be a wicked impostor, and regarded him as the
offscouring of all things, the friend of publicans and sinners; and
they said that he cast out devils by the power of Beelzebub; they
called him a Sabbath-breaker, a wicked man, and so on; and the most
religious people of those days were his greatest persecutors, and as
they had influence over the rest it was very unpopular indeed to
believe that he was the true Messiah. But the arguments brought forth
in the first Christian sermon after the resurrection of Christ were
sufficient to send conviction into the hearts of many thousands of
people. They believed or professed to believe in their ancient
prophets, and when they were quoted in relation to Jesus, and the
testimony of living witnesses was borne they cried out, in the anguish
of their hearts, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" As much as to
say, we see that our nation has crucified Jesus, the Christ; we
thought he was an impostor and that he ought to die, but now we are
convinced that he is the Holy One, and that he has indeed risen from
the dead; and is there any salvation for our nation, seeing that it
has put Jesus to death? These were the feelings of sincere,
sin-convicted persons on that occasion, and they cried, "Men and
brethren, what shall we do?"

Vol. 14,  p.176
I sometimes think that if they had lived in our day they would have
had so many ways pointed out to obtain [p.177] the forgiveness of
their sins that they would not have known which way to turn, and
perhaps would not have had much confidence in what was said to them on
the subject. But these men, being under the influence of the
Comforter, the Holy Ghost, knew precisely what these convicted sinners
should do in order to obtain the pardon of their sins. Now mark the
answer, and see if it agree with the ways taught by the Christian
sects. Peter said unto these inquiring souls, who believed and were
pricked in their hearts, for belief comes before repentance, for a
person who did not believe would not repent. Peter said, "Repent."
What more? Come to the mourner's bench?" Oh no, that is not written
there. Come here to the "mercy seat, and be prayed for?" Oh no,
nothing of that kind was said. Then what else were they to do besides
repent? Said Peter, "Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the
name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins, and you shall
receive the Holy Ghost." What do you mean, Peter, by the Holy Ghost?
Do you mean that same Holy Spirit—the Comforter that you have just
received, and that has rested upon the hundred and twenty individuals
who are followers of Christ? Yes, for he had just told them that it
was the effects of the Holy Spirit which they had been witnessing, and
they, no doubt, felt anxious to receive the same, for the Holy Spirit
was that which would enable them to prophecy, see visions, dream
dreams, and guide them into all truth, reveal unto them the things of
the Father, and show them things to come, hence it was a Spirit
greatly to be desired, and they wished to know how they might obtain
it; and here was the path. It is very plain and very simple. Can it be
wondered at, then, that so few in Salt Lake City wanted to go to the
"Mourner's bench," at the Methodist camp meeting, after having heard
and obeyed these principles. No. They have heard these principles for
years and years, and having tested them, the fables of sectarianism
possess no charms for them.

Vol. 14,  p.177
Seeing then that the pardon of sins is what the penitent soul desires,
how is he to obtain it? By being baptized. What? Do you mean to say
that sinners can obtain pardon by being baptized in water? "What
effect," inquires one, "has water in washing away sins?" It would have
no effect whatever if God had instituted some other way; but, seeing
that he has not, but has commanded sinners, first to believe that
Jesus is the Christ; second, to repent of their sins; and third, to be
baptized for the remission of their sins in his name, that is the
right way; and though the water, independent of the blood and
atonement of Christ and the commandment of God, has no efficacy
whatever to wash away sins, yet it has great power because of these
things, for the man that complies with this ordinance witnesses to God
that he believes in Jesus and his Gospel and is willing to comply with
its requirements. But if men should say, "There is no efficacy in
water, and we will take some other way to obtain the pardon of our
sins; the water is only to answer a good conscience towards God, and
is not particularly essential," do you think they would obtain the
pardon of their sins, after hearing the Gospel preached in its purity
and fullness by a man having authority from God? They might pray until
they were as old as Methusaleh, "Lord pardon, forgive and blot out our
sins," but do you think the Lord would hear them. Not at all. Why not?
"Is it not written," says a person of this class, "that the Lord
[p.178] is more willing to give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him
than earthly parents are to give good gifts to their children?" Yes,
but it must be remembered that this is written of those who have
believed, repented, and obeyed the Gospel; it was not written
concerning unbelievers and the disobedient. When they have once
believed in Jesus Christ and have been baptized for the remission of
their sins, they can call upon God in all confidence and he is more
willing to give his Holy Spirit unto them than earthly parents are to
give good gifts unto their children, and you know how willing they are
to do that, for they like to see their children joyful and happy. So
it is with our Heavenly Father. He likes to see his children who have
repented and obeyed his Gospel joyful and happy, and he is willing to
give good gifts unto them; but he never can to those who do not keep
his commandments. They may pray until they are greyheaded and they are
about to fall into their graves and their sins would not be pardoned.

Vol. 14,  p.178
But again. Peter informs the inquiring believers on the Day of
Pentecost that if they would repent and be baptized they should not
only receive the remission of their sins, but they should also receive
the Holy Ghost. Was this promise only to the people then present? No,
for if we read the next verse we find that "the promise is to you and
to your children, and to all that are afar off, even to as many as the
Lord our God shall call." Is not that promise universal—to every
people, nation, kindred and tongue, Jew and Gentile, bond and free?
Yes, the promise is to all the Lord our God shall call; not only to
the three thousand baptized on that occasion, but to all afar off.
Does not that scope in all languages, nations, kindred and tongues?
Yes. What! shall they all receive the Holy Ghost? Yes, if they will
comply with these conditions. Shall they all be pardoned if they will
repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of their
sins? Yes. Now, what effect would that vast multitude expect to follow
the reception of the Holy Ghost by them? Supposing this congregation
had been present eighteen centuries ago at Jerusalem at the first
Gospel sermon preached after the ascension of Christ, and that, in the
anguish of your hearts you had inquired what you must do to receive
the pardon of your sins and how you could obtain the Holy Ghost, and
what effects that Holy Ghost would have had upon you, would you not
have expected to receive something precisely similar to what the
hundred and twenty had received upon whom it was poured out? Could you
have expected anything else? No. But it is very different with the
Christian sects to-day; they think the Holy Ghost will perform
everything ascribed to it except the supernatural powers and effects;
but when it comes to revelation, prophecy, dreaming dreams,
foretelling future events, casting out devils, healing the sick,
discerning of spirits, speaking in and interpreting other languages
and tongues, they boldly declare, as I heard in my boyhood, and again
during the past week, that these wonderful and miraculous gifts were
only intended for that day and age of the world. All the other effects
are to continue, but they are to cease. The Spirit is to purify,
sanctify, justify, to give love, joy, peace, long-suffering, patience,
hope, and all these great and glorious effects that are promised in
the word of God; but when it comes to these other effects, they are
all to be done away. By whom? By Christendom, by those professing to
be the teachers [p.179] and leaders of the people. By what authority
do they do these things away? Can they find within the lids of this
Holy Bible, from beginning to end, that a period should ever arrive,
so long as there was one soul on the earth to be saved or pardoned of
its sins, that these miraculous effects should cease. No, they have
taken this responsibility upon them selves, and it is a very fearful
responsibility indeed to say that they are done away. I would not dare
to do it, I should be afraid of fulfilling that prophecy delivered by
Paul, when he says that, "In the last days perilous times shall come;
men shall be lovers of their own selves, proud, boasters, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful; unholy, without natural affection.
truce-breakers, incontinent, despisers of those that are good,
traitors, heady, high-minded, having a form of godliness, but denying
the power thereof." I do not, want to come under the declaration of
Paul; I do not want to be numbered with those who fulfil this
prediction that he uttered about the people of the latter days. He was
not speaking altogether of the wicked world that made no profession of
religion. He was not referring to atheists and deists, and those who
did not profess Christianity; but of professed religionists, people
who profess to believe in the Bible and in Jesus, having the form of
godliness, but denying the power thereof.

Vol. 14,  p.179
If you can tell me any way by which the power of godliness can be more
effectually denied than to do away the effects of the Holy Spirit as
they were manifested on the Day of Pentecost end in all the Christian
churches so long as there were any on the earth; I say if there is any
more effectual way of denying the power of godliness than to do away
with this power and say it is not necessary, I do not comprehend it.
I, myself, should not know how to deny the power of godliness any more
effectually than to say these things were done away. And yet when I
was a youth, before I was nineteen years of age, I used to attend
Methodist meetings mostly, though I never joined any society; and I
heard these ideas advanced from their pulpits; there was to be no such
thing as healing the sick in the name of Jesus; no such thing as
foretelling future events; no such thing as obtaining new revelation,
for the canon of Scripture was closed; no such thing as receiving the
gift of discerning of spirits, or beholding angels and ministering
spirits; no such thing as speaking in other tongues or languages by
the Spirit of God. I heard all these things preached then, and I heard
them again last week at the Methodist camp meeting here in this city.
I did not know but spiritualism, so-called, had made a change in the
world during the last forty-one years; but I find that the same old
story still exists as in the days of my youth. They still cry, "All
these things are done away, they are not necessary in this age of the
Christian world."

Vol. 14,  p.179
Who told you they were not necessary? Has God spoken anew and told you
that revelation had ceased to exist? Why, no, that would be a
contradiction in terms, that would be a new revelation, if he had
spoken anew. How did you find out, then, that they were not necessary?
I cannot find it in the Scriptures, indeed I find directly to the
contrary—that they are necessary; and here let me quote a passage that
was quoted this forenoon, in the 4th chapter of Ephesians. Speaking of
the gifts that Jesus gave, the Apostle says when he ascended up on
high he led captivity captive and gave [p.180] gifts unto men. I have
already repeated the gifts he did give through the inspiration and
power of the Holy Ghost, that was made manifest upon those who obeyed
the Gospel. He gave, says the Apostle in this fourth chapter, some
apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, pastors and teachers
besides all these other miraculous gifts I have named.

Vol. 14,  p.180
Now let us see if we can ascertain from the following verses how long
these gifts were to continue in the Christian Church. That will settle
the question. They were given, said he, for the perfecting of the
Saints. Before we proceed to the other reasons for which they were
given, let us examine this first for a moment: "They were given for
the perfecting of the Saints." I have heard Christian ministers, that
ought to know better, misleading the world and their congregations, by
declaring that these gifts were given to convince the world of mankind
who were unbelievers in ancient days, and to establish Christianity in
the earth, and the latter once done on a firm foundation, they were no
longer needed.

Vol. 14,  p.180
We will now see what Paul says. "They were given for the perfecting of
the Saints." Indeed! are there Saints in these days in New York, in
the New England States, in the Southern and in the Northern States, in
Great Britain and in the nations of Europe, and among all the nations
of what is termed modern Christendom? "Oh, yes," says one, "we have
over two hundred millions of Christians among all these nations."
Indeed, then you have these gifts, I suppose; for remember they were
given for the perfecting of the Saints. Do you mean to tell me that
there are Saints, and they have all become perfect? "Oh, no," says
one, "we do not pretend to say that the Roman Catholic, the Greek
Church, and all the various denominations of the Protestant Churches
have become perfect yet." Very well, these gifts were given for the
perfecting of the Saints, and if you are Saints where are your gifts?
for does it not follow that if you have no gifts you are either
perfect Saints or not Saints at all? for if you are not perfect Saints
these gifts must be among you. Do you know any way to perfect Saints
independent of these gifts? I do not. If the Bible has taught any
other way I have never happened to find it. I know of no way in which
Saints can be perfected without inspired Apostles and prophets and the
gifts here named. But see the inconsistency I am now about to point
out! Here are five gifts named that Jesus gave when he ascended up on
high. The first one is an Apostle, the second is a prophet; then come
evangelists, pastors and teachers; and we might go on and enumerate
eight or ten more gifts that were given. Now, why split these verses
in two? I ask all Christendom why do they separate these verses in
two, and say, "We will believe that pastors and teachers and
evangelists are necessary in all ages of Christendom to perfect the
Saints, but when it comes to the other two gifts—Apostles and
prophets, they are not necessary?" Why? Because it involves a
miraculous power. An Apostle must have revelation and the power of
inspiration to get more Scripture; and if this were allowed it would
overturn their creeds, and the power of godliness would again be upon
the earth, and the Christian sects cannot bear the idea that there
should be any such thing as the power of revelation or vision, or the
power to understand the future; no, that is all done away. Has Jesus
told you to make this separation in the gifts, to retain some of them
and say the others [p.181] are done away? Is there any more right, in
the nineteenth century, than of a preceding period, for the head, in
the human body, to say to the hand, "I have no need of thee?" No, the
hand is just as necessary now as in the first century of the Christian
era; hence evangelists, pastors and teachers, which are still believed
in as being necessary to perfect the Saints, have no right to say to
the Apostle or the prophet, "We have no need of thee in the Church."

Vol. 14,  p.181
But the gifts of the Spirit were not only given for the perfecting of
the Saints; there was another object in view—they were for the work of
the ministry. Now I presume that the two hundred millions of
Christians will not pretend to deny that the work of the ministry is
needed; and if the work of the ministry is needed then are inspired
Apostles and prophets needed, for they were given for the work of the
ministry as well as to perfect the Saints; so long, therefore, as the
work of the ministry is needed there should be inspired prophets and
Apostles on the earth.

Vol. 14,  p.181
A third object for which they were given was the edifying of the body
of Christ. Now I really believe that the body of Christ, if it can be
found on the earth, needs edifying, unless its members have come to
that perfect day that is spoken of in the 13th chapter of Paul's first
epistle to the Corinthians. Let me refer to that chapter, for it
furnishes an additional proof that these gifts were to continue in the
true Church; not, of course, among apostate Christendom, among those
who have no authority. Speaking of charity, the Apostle says—

Vol. 14,  p.181
"Charity never faileth; but whether there be prophecies, they shall
fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be
knowledge, it shall vanish away.

Vol. 14,  p.181
"For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

Vol. 14,  p.181
"But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part
shall be done away.

Vol. 14,  p.181
"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I
thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish
things.

Vol. 14,  p.181
"For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face; now I
know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known."

Vol. 14,  p.181
Now, here is proof positive; this shows how long these spiritual gifts
would he needed. Now we know in part and prophecy in part, but when
that which is perfect is come that which is in part shall be done
away. As much as to say that while the Church remains in this mortal
state we are but children in Christ Jesus. Here we only know in part
and prophecy in part; we speak in tongues, and so on; but when that
which is perfect is come that which is in part shall be done away. Now
can any one tell me whether that day of perfection has come for the
Church or not? If it has, these gifts should be done away; but if not,
they should still remain. Can we find any clue in the words I have
quoted to the nature of the period when the Saints shall come to
perfection! Yes. Here in this life, we only know in part, we prophecy
in part, but when that which is perfect is come then that which is in
part shall be done away. Now we see through a glass darkly, that is
while the Church is in this mortal state; but when that which is
perfect is come we shall see face to face. This shows that we shall be
in our immortal state before these gifts are done away—I mean in the
true Church, of course they will not be in false churches; but in the
true Church they will always exist, until we know [p.182] even as we
are known; when we come into the presence of the Almighty, when the
veil is rent asunder, and we look upon the face of God the Father and
his Son Jesus Christ. We shall not know in part in that day, nor
prophecy in part; neither shall we heal the sick there; there will be
no gift of healing needed, for there will be no one to be healed.
Neither shall we speak in tongues then; tongues will cease; for the
Lord will turn unto his people a pure language. They will have the
language of angels, the language of God the Father, and will all
understand one another and will have no need of the gift of tongues.

Vol. 14,  p.182
Here, then, are evidences that the Christian world cannot get rid of;
here are testimonies that condemn the whole of them; not only those of
this generation, but all who have lived during seventeen centuries
that are passed who have had the wickedness in their hearts to say,
"The power of godliness is not needed in our day," and that the canon
of Scripture is closed, and there must be no more prophets to receive
new Scripture.

Vol. 14,  p.182
The gifts which I have been describing are the effects of the Holy
Ghost. Now we hear almost every society praying the Lord to send the
Holy Ghost. Their cry is, "Let the Holy Ghost come down upon us now;
let it be with us this very moment; let us have its influence and
enjoy its operations now." But they know nothing about it; they have
never received the Holy Ghost, neither can they until they comply with
the Gospel ordinances—repent of their sins and be baptized for their
remission. "But," says one, "do not you remember good old Cornelius?
was he baptized?" No, He received the Holy Ghost before baptism. But
had he any promise of it before? No. The Lord, on that, occasion, had
a special object in view, which is named in the history of the
transaction. Cornelius seems to have been the first Gentile, whom the
Apostle Peter, in opening the door of the Gospel to the Gentiles, was
commanded to visit. The Jewish nation was exceedingly prejudiced
against the Gentiles. Peter happened to have six proselytes from the
Jewish nation with him on that occasion. Oh, how bitter they were
against the Gentiles! They thought he Gentiles had no part or lot in
the matter; and notwithstanding the commission that the Lord had given
to the Apostles he had to work a miracle to convince Peter, so strong
were the prejudices of the Jews that the Holy Ghost and the Gospel
blessings were not for the Gentiles. You recollect Peter's vision, in
which the Lord let down a sheet by the four corners, full of all
manner of beasts, clean and unclean, and Peter being commanded to
arise, slay and eat; and his not being willing to do it because it was
contrary to the law of Moses. But he was told that the Lord had
cleansed the contents of the sheet, and he was forbidden on that
account to call it common or unclean. You recollect that the Lord sent
an angel, as he always does when he has a Church on the earth, to a
certain man called Cornelius. This man had been praying, he wanted to
know how to be saved. The Lord had heard his prayers, and had sent an
angel to him, and the angel said to him, "Cornelius, thy prayers are
heard, and have come up before the Lord as a memorial. Now send to
Joppa for one Simon, whose surname is Peter, and he will tell you
words whereby you and your house will be saved." What! Cornelius not
in a state of salvation, and he a praying man? No doubt he was in a
state of salvation, so far as he understood; but he [p.183] was
ignorant and did not understand how to get into the celestial kingdom.
He knew nothing about the birth of the water and of the Spirit, that
we heard about fids forenoon, without which no man can enter into the
kingdom of God. Yet he had given much alms, and his prayers had come
up as a memorial before God, and the Lord had pity on his ignorance
and sent an angel to him. But the angel did not see proper to tell him
what to do to get into a more fall state of conversion; he simply told
him to send for Peter—a man of God, promising him that he would tell
him how to be saved. Peter, being warned beforehand, by the vision,
went down to the house of Cornelius, nothing doubting, taking these
six Jewish converts with him, full of all their Jewish prejudices.
When Cornelius had given an account of the visit of the angel to him,
Peter began to preach Christ and him crucified, and while he was
speaking the Holy Ghost fell on Cornelius and his household, and they
spake with tongues and magnified God.

Vol. 14,  p.183
Do you suppose that the Holy Spirit could have been retained by
Cornelius supposing he had refused to obey the ordinances of the
Gospel? No, it was only given as a witness and testimony to convince
the Jewish brethren, who were with Peter, that the Gentiles might have
salvation as well as the Jews; for when they began to speak in
tongues, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, Peter turned to his
Jewish brethren, and said, "Who can forbid water that these should not
be baptized?" and he commanded them, in the name of the Lord Jesus, to
be baptized. What, a command? Yes. Had Peter the right to give that
command? Yes; for the angel of the Lord had said to Cornelius, "He
shall tell you words whereby you and your house shall he saved," and
his command to them to be baptized was some of his words unto them.

Vol. 14,  p.183
Supposing that Cornelius had said, "Oh, baptism is not essential, it
is not among the fundamental principles of salvation; it is one of the
non—essential, outward ordinances, etc., and and is of no consequence,
I have received the Holy Ghost, I am a Christian, I believe in your
words; I have offered my alms to the poor, and they have come up
before the Lord; I am good enough, there is no need for me to be
baptized," how long would the Holy Ghost have remained with him? Just
the moment that he had refused to obey this commandment the Holy Ghost
would have fled from him and his house. The only way for him to retain
the gift that comes through obedience was to be baptized, though on
that occasion it was given without promise, and without baptism.
Baptism, recollect, is for the remission of sins, and the Holy Ghost
comes afterwards; but on this occasion it was given before it; but he
could not have retained it, it would have left him, and he would have
been in seven-fold greater darkness than before had he refused to obey
the words of this inspired messenger. The Jewish brethren could not
forbid water after the, manifestation of the power of God on that
occasion; their prejudices were done away by a miracle.

Vol. 14,  p.183
Now, because the Lord varied on that one occasion and gave the Holy
Ghost before baptism, how many there are who want to do away with
baptism, and to seek some other way for those who are convicted and
laboring under a feeling of sorrow and mourning for their sins; but
there is an ordinance connected with the receiving of the Holy Ghost.
If there is an ordinance connected with the baptism of water, so there
is in [p.184] relation to the higher baptism; and the Lord made his
servants, the Apostles, ministers not only of the word, but also of
the Spirit. They were abide ministers of the Spirit; that is, they had
authority to administer the Spirit. They could not do it of
themselves; but when God calls a man and gives him authority by
revelation and sends him to preach his Gospel, and people listen to
that Gospel and are willing to be baptized, that man has the right to
baptize them; and if he is ordained to the Apostleship or to those
offices that have the power to administer the higher ordinance of the
laying on of hands, and he lays hands on, God will acknowledge that
ordinance. He will acknowledge baptism by giving remission of sins;
and he will acknowledge the laying on of hands by sending from heaven
the gift of the Holy Ghost. Indeed, in ancient days, when Paul went to
Ephesus he found certain persona there who had been baptized. They
thought, no doubt, they were very pious, and perhaps concluded that
they were in a state of salvation. They had heard of and received What
was called John's baptism, but when Paul asked them if they had
received the Holy Ghost since believing they said they had not so much
as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. Then Paul perceived that
they had been taught by some impostor—some person who had no
authority, who pretended to be preaching John's doctrine, who had told
them nothing about the Holy Ghost. John, when he baptized the people,
told them there was one coming after him mightier than he who baptized
with the Holy Ghost and with fire; but these Ephesians bad been taught
by some person who had no authority, and who had left out a part of
the doctrine of salvation, as preached by John, just as the Christian
sects do at the present day. Paul saw that their baptism was illegal,
and he preached unto them Jesus Christ, and when they had heard this
they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and when Paul laid
his hands upon them the Holy Ghost fell upon them and they spoke with
tongues and prophecied.

Vol. 14,  p.184
Again, when Philip went to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to
the people, he had no right to administer the higher ordinances of the
laying on of hands; he had not been ordained to the power. He had the
right to baptize them in water and he baptized a large number of men
and women among them; and when the Apostles who were at Jerusalem
heard that Samaria had received the word of God they sent unto them
Peter and John, who, when they came down, prayed for them, that they
might receive the Holy Ghost, for as yet he was fallen on none of
them; and they laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy
Ghost.

Vol. 14,  p.184
Do you not see that this higher blessing of the baptism of fire and of
the Holy Ghost comes through the laying on of hands, which is an
ordinance just as much as baptism by water, both of which have to be
administered by a man called of God, or the Lord will have nothing to
do with it.

Vol. 14,  p.184
We have thus pointed out to sinners, this day, how they may be
converted. How do you like it? Is it according to Scripture? if it is
not reject it; but it is the same doctrine that we have taught for
forty-one years in this Church. It is the same doctrine that has been
published by the Latter-day Saints throughout the length and breadth
of our Union; it is the same doctrine that we have carried to the
nations afar off; it is the same doctrine [p.185] that the Lord sent
an holy angel to deliver to Joseph Smith—a youth, and commanded him to
preach, and ordained him to the Apostleship, commanding him, by
revelation, to ordain others; it is the same doctrine that tens of
thousands have received. Do they receive the promises? Is the Holy
Ghost given? If it is, all these gifts are given; and if the
Latter-day Saints are not in possession of these gifts, they are not
in possession of the Gospel, and are no better off than the Baptists,
Methodists or Presbyterians, and we all know they have not the Gospel;
we all know they have not the power of God among them. They do not
believe in it, they say it is done away. We all understand this. Well,
Latter-day Saints, you are no better if you have not these gifts. But
you have had forty-one years' experience, and I think you know whether
you have them or not. If you have, blessed are ye; but if you have
them not, it is time you waked up and began to hunt around for the
Gospel if it can be found on the earth. If you have not these gifts,
then the angel has not come with the Gospel according to promise; but
if you have, the angel of God has flown through the midst of heaven
and committed the everlasting Gospel to the children of men, and you
have been the receivers of it. Amen.

John Taylor, March 20, 1870

The Holy Spirit—the Knowledge Brought By 
Obedience to the Gospel—the Labors of the Elders

Discourse By Elder John Taylor, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, March 20, 1870.

(Reported by David W. Evans.)

Vol. 14,  p.185
When we meet together on an occasion like the present our thoughts and
reflections vary as much as our countenances. We meet for the avowed
purpose of worshipping the Lord and we expect to receive instructions
from those who address us. I always consider it a very great privilege
to assemble with the Saints of God. We have met to partake of the
Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and we should endeavor to draw away
our feelings and affections from things of time and sense; for in
partaking of the Sacrament we not only commemorate the death and
sufferings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but we also shadow
forth the time when he will come again and when we shall meet and eat
bread with him in the kingdom of God. When we are thus assembled
together we may expect to receive guidance and blessings from God,
from whom, the Scriptures inform us, every good and perfect gift
proceeds;"[p.186] and in him, we are also informed, "there is no
variableness nor shadow of turning." In our assemblies they who speak
and they who hear ought to be under the guidance and direction of the
Lord, the Fountain of Light. Of all people under the heavens we,
Latter-day Saints, do continually realize the necessity of leaning
upon God; for I look upon it that, no matter what intelligence may be
communicated, no matter how brilliant the speech and edifying the
ideas communicated may be, they will not benefit those who hear unless
they are under the guidance and inspiration of the Spirit of God, for
the Scriptures say, "The light shineth in the darkness, but the
darkness comprehendeth it not." This is precisely the case in our
preaching in the world. We go among the wicked, but they do not
understand us; they understand not the truth, the light of revelation,
nor the power of God. The Elders now going forth into the world are
pretty much in the same position as those who went forth in former
times on the same mission. It is said of Jesus that "He came to his
own, but his own received him not; but as many as did receive him to
them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to as many as
believed on his name, which were born not of the flesh, nor of the
word of man, nor of man, but of God;" born of the Spirit of God, and
hence they became new creatures in Christ Jesus. Having partaken of
the Holy Spirit and received the forgiveness of their sins, they were
brought into relationship with him, they became the offspring of
Heaven and members of the family of God. This was the position that
the Saints of God enjoyed in former times; and this is the position
that we occupy to-day. The Apostle says the Saints were heirs of God
and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ; and he says further, that if we
suffer with him we shall also reign with him that both may be
glorified together.

Vol. 14,  p.186
It is very difficult for men of the world to understand these
principles, and only by the light of revelation can they be
comprehended. We are told that a portion of the Spirit of God is given
to every man to profit withal; and if men improve upon that, and are
honest and full of integrity, when they hear the truth they realize
and understand it; it is to them life and health and salvation. Hence
Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice and know me and follow me; but a
stranger will they not follow, because they know not the voice of a
stranger."

Vol. 14,  p.186
It is very pleasant for those who comprehend it to reflect upon the
relationship they sustain to God and his kingdom and to each other;
but these things have no charms for men of the world, whose minds are
not enlightened by the Spirit of truth, and who, consequently, do not
comprehend the Gospel or the power of God. The principles of the
Gospel, to the unbeliever, have neither worth nor efficacy; but with
us, who believe them, they comprehend everything pertaining to the
well-being of man in time and eternity; with us the Gospel is the
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end; it is interwoven with all
our interests, happiness and enjoyment, whether in this life or that
which is to come. We consider that, when we enter into this Church and
embrace the new and everlasting covenant, it is a life-long service
and affects us in all the relationships of time and eternity; and as
we progress, these ideas which, at first, were a little dim and
obscure, become more vivid, real, life-like, tangible and clear to our
comprehensions, and we realize that we stand [p.187] upon the earth as
the sons and daughters of God, the representatives of heaven. We feel
that God has revealed to us an everlasting Gospel, and that associated
with that are everlasting covenants and relationships. The Gospel, in
the incipient stages of its operations, begins, as the Prophet said it
should, to "turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the
hearts of the children to the fathers." We no longer have to ask, as
in former times, "Who am I?" "Where did I come from?" "What am I doing
here?" or "What is the object of my existence?" for we have a
certainty in relation to these things. It is made plain to us by the
fruits of the Gospel—by the truths which God has revealed through the
medium of revelation by the inspiration of the Almighty, that we are
"saviors on Mount Zion and that the kingdom is the Lord's." We know
that this is not merely a nominal matter, but that it is what the
French sometimes call an Actua ite—a thing that positively exists. We
know that God our Father lives, we know that Jesus Christ our Savior
lives, and that be is our Great High Priest; and that, "though dead,
he ever lives to make intercession for us." We know that God has
revealed unto us the everlasting Gospel in all its fullness, richness,
glory and power. We know something about the world we live in, and the
relation that we sustain to it, and it to us. We know something about
our progenitors, and God has taught us how to be saviors for them by
being baptized for them in the flesh, that they may live according to
God in the spirit. We know that when our wives are sealed to us for
eternity we shall have a claim upon them. This is no phantom, but a
reality; it is not only a principle of our faith, but it is a
principle of knowledge, and we expect to renew our associations in the
eternal worlds, just as much as we expect, when we lay ourselves down
to rest at night, to rise in the morning refreshed and invigorated. We
know that while we are mortal beings, and subject to decay, we are
also immortal beings and shall live for ever. We know that the
priesthood with which we are associated in this world is also an
everlasting priesthood and will administer in this world and the world
to come—in time and in eternity. As rational beings we am seeking to
act, in all our operations in life, with reference not only to time
but to eternity; and we know, as others have known, that after the
"earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved we have a building of
God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens; which the
Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to us, and not to us only, but to
all who love the appearing of our Lord and Savior. Jesus Christ." It
is the knowledge of these things and of many more of a similar nature
that leads us to pursue the course that we do. It is this which
prevents us from bowing to the notions, caprices, ideas and follies of
men. Having been enlightened by the spirit of eternal truth, having
partaken of the Holy Ghost, and our hope having entered within the
vail, whither Christ, our forerunner, has gone, and knowing that we
are the children of God and that we Are acting in all things with
reference to eternity, we pursue the even tenour of our way
independent of the smiles and careless of the frowns of men. There is
nothing associated with our religion that we can barter away, no
principle that we have to dispose of—there is nothing in this world
that can purchase it; its price is above rubies, it is more valuable
than fine gold. It contains principles that lay hold of [p.188]
eternal life; and being in this position, we, as rational, intelligent
beings, fear God and know no other fear. There is nothing in this
world that can be brought into competition with the principles of
eternal truth, and he who barters away the least particle of that
truth is a fool, though he may not comprehend it.

Vol. 14,  p.188
We stand, then, really in an important position before God and before
the world. God has called us from the world. He has told us that we
are not of the world. We have all been baptized into one baptism, and
have all partaken of the same Spirit, even the Spirit communicated
through the ordinances of the Gospel. We have been called from the
world for the express purpose of being the representatives of heaven,
that the Lord might have a people to whom be could communicate his
will, purposes and designs, and through whom he might spread forth the
principles that dwell in his bosom; that we might partake of the same
Spirit that dwells in Christ and among the angelic throng; that it
might permeate our bodies and be exhibited in our acts and lives
before our families and the world, that the spirit and mind that dwell
in Christ should grow, spread and expand until all that come under its
influence might be leavened with the same leaven until they become one
lump of righteousness, virtue, truth and intelligence.

Vol. 14,  p.188
In entering this sacred relationship with God we have assumed the duty
of carrying out in our midst the order of things that exists in
heaven, that when we shall be transplanted from the earth to the
heavens we may be prepared for the associations that we shall meet in
the celestial kingdom of our God. We have entered into eternal
covenants with God that we will be his people and that he shall be our
God, and that, for us and ours, we will serve the Lord; that as a
people, as a Territory, as a Church, we will yield obedience to the
laws of God, bow to his sceptre, acknowledge his authority, and do the
things which he requires at our hands, so that, as God exists eternal
in the heavens, the same principles of eternal life may dwell in us,
that we may become gods, even the sons and daughters of God.

Vol. 14,  p.188
These are some of the ideas that we have in reference to God and our
relationship to him. God is our Father, we his children, and we all
ought to be brethren; we ought to feel and act like brethren, and
while we are striving to serve the Lord our God with all our hearts,
minds, souls and strength, we ought, at the same time, to seek to love
our neighbor as ourselves; we ought to feel interested in his welfare,
happiness and prosperity, and in anything and everything that will
tend to promote his temporal and eternal good. Our feelings towards
the world of mankind, generally, ought to be the same as Jesus
manifested to them. He sought to promote their welfare, and our motto
ought ever to be the same as his was—"Peace on earth and good will to
men;" no matter who they are or what they are, we should seek to
promote the happiness and welfare of all Adam's race.

Vol. 14,  p.188
Perhaps there has never been a greater exemplification of this
feeling, however little it may have been understood, than by the works
of our Elders· They have not been governed by sordid feelings in any
of their operations or ministrations. Believing in God, they have put
their trust in him. They have trusted him for their food and for their
raiment in travelling to the ends of the earth without purse of scrip,
to proclaim to a fallen world the great principles that have been
revealed from heaven [p.189] for the salvation of the human family.
There is not, to-day, on this wide world, an example of
disinterestedness and self-abnegation equal to that which has been
exhibited by the Elders of this Church for the last thirty-five years,
and not only by the Elders, but by their wives. I see men around me in
every direction who have travelled thousands and thousands of miles
without purse or scrip, to preach the Gospel to the nations of the
earth. They have traversed plains, mountains, deserts, seas, oceans
and rivers; they have gone forth trusting in the living God, bearing
the precious seed of eternal life. It is true they have not been
comprehended or understood by the nations, but that does not alter the
fact. Many who went forth in their weakness have returned rejoicing,
bringing their sheaves with them, as trophies of the victory of the
principles of eternal life that they themselves had communicated. I
say there is not another instance on record to-day of like
disinterested, affectionate regard for the welfare of the human family
as has been manifested by the Elders of this Church. I have travelled
thousands and hundreds of thousands of miles to preach the Gospel
among the nations of the earth, and my brethren around me have done
the same thing. Did we ever lack anything necessary to eat, drink and
wear? I never did. God went with his Elders, and they have gathered
together his people as they are here to-day. They have been seeking to
carry out the desire of the Lord and the wish of the Almighty in
regard to the human family. They were told to go trusting in the name
of the Lord, and he would take care of them and go before them, and
that his Spirit should go with them and his angels accompany them.
This is all true; and these Elders have preached to you, in your
various homes and tongues, those principles which God revealed from
heaven, and you were influenced by dreams and visions and by the
Spirit of the Lord to give heed to their words, for, like the words of
the Apostle of old, they came to you, "not in word only, but in power,
in rich assurance and in demonstration of the Spirit of the Lord," and
you realized it and rejoiced in it, and you were led to cry,
"Hallelujah! for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Thanks be to the God
of Israel who has counted us worthy to receive the principles of
truth." These were the feelings you had and enjoyed in your tar
distant homes. And your obedience to those principles tore you from
your homes, firesides and associations and brought you here, for you
felt like one of old, when she said, "Whither thou goest I will go;
thy God shall be my God, thy people shall be my people, and where thou
diest there will I be buried." And you have gathered to Zion that you
might be taught and instructed in the laws of life and listen to the
words which emanate from God, become one people and one nation,
partake of one spirit, and prepare yourselves, your progenitors and
posterity for an everlasting inheritance in the celestial kingdom of
God.

Vol. 14,  p.189
It is no dream or phantom that has brought us here; we have had to do
with realities all the way through. And then you who have been brought
in have partaken of the spirit of Zion and have helped to teach others
the way of life and to lead them in the paths of righteousness; and
now we are not only trying to teach the world, but our children, our
youth, our young men and women in the same principles, that when we
leave this stage of action they, inspired by the Spirit of revelation
which flows [p.190] from God, may bear off his kingdom triumphant.

Vol. 14,  p.190
This is the feeling that permeates this people. With all our
weaknesses, and we are weak; with all our follies, and we are very
foolish; with all our infirmities, and we are very infirm, we are
trying to do the will of God, and to prepare ourselves for an
inheritance in his kingdom, to save our progenitors and to pour
blessings on our posterity. These are the feelings by which we are
actuated; and it is not only in one, but it is in all, more or less,
according to the proportion of the Holy Spirit they enjoy. Witness now
the First Presidency of this Church. Who could labor more arduously
than they? Where is there a man in existence to-day, of the years of
President Young, that takes upon himself the amount of care, anxiety,
and travel that he does? There are very few of our young men wire
would have liked to undertake such a trip as he is now engaged in,
Right in the worst possible season of the year, with bad roads and bad
weather and all kinds of unfavorable circumstances, to travel a
journey of five or six hundred miles and back! What for? To look after
the welfare of Zion, to promote the interests of Israel, to help to
build up and establish the Church and kingdom of God on the earth, to
fulfill the behests of his Lord and Master, and try to carry out the
things which God requires at his hands. He feels the importance of
those things that Jesus spoke to Peter about after Peter had denied
his Lord. Said Jesus—

Vol. 14,  p.190
"Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto
him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He said unto him, Feed
my lambs. He saith unto him again, the second time, Simon, son of
Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that
I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He said unto him the
third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved
because he said unto him the third time, lovest thou me, and he said
unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love
thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep."

Vol. 14,  p.190
Well, we have a shepherd who, together with his associates, is feeding
the sheep of God, and they, unitedly, are watching after their
interests, wellbeing and happiness, and trying to carry out the will
of our Heavenly Father; and while God is operating in the heavens, the
Holy Priesthood is operating here to build up and establish his
kingdom and introduce righteousness upon the earth.

Vol. 14,  p.190
As I said before, the Elders are engaged in the same thing, and have
been all the time. How many have been to the United States this last
season visiting among their friends, associations and acquaintances,
and preaching the Gospel wherever they had an opening? How are they
looked upon? Hear their statements when they return. They are looked
upon, by the people generally, as impostors or deceivers. The people
do not seem, any more than the Jews in former times, to understand the
day of their visitation, nor to comprehend the laws of life nor the
relation that they sustain to God; and if ten thousand Elders were
sent throughout the United States and Europe, the people would treat
them and the principles they bear with contempt and utter
carelessness; they do not understand the rich gems of eternal truth
when they are laid before them, and they call our good evil, and their
evil good. They do not know the difference, neither do they understand
the day of their visitation. They possess not the Spirit of God; they
are wallowing in the mire of sin and [p.191] groping in the darkness
of unbelief and death.

Vol. 14,  p.191
Is this speaking harshly. Some perhaps will say it is. I cannot help
that, it is true. Are there men among them who seek to do good? Many.
Are there philanthropists among them? Yes, scores and hundreds of
them. Are there high-minded, honorable, intelligent men in their
midst? Yes, thousands of them. But do they know the truth? No, they do
not, and there are very few of them that have the hardihood to stand
up for what they consider to he right, for they fear that by so doing
they would be compromised in some worldly point of view; it would not
be populist, so they say, "Better let it alone." Do we understand
their position? Yes. Do we hate them? No, we wish to do them good, and
would teach them every good principle that we possess; we would lead
them in the path of life and show them the way to God; we would
introduce them into the kingdom of God, but they cannot see it, and
unless a man is born again, the Scriptures tell us that he cannot see
the kingdom of God. Sometimes I hear people talk and see them write
about the kingdom of God; but all they talk and all they write proves
to me that they are not born again, and consequently they cannot see
the kingdom of God any more than a blind man could see the faces
before me if he were standing where I am. Jesus told Nicodemus that
"except a man be born of water he cannot see the kingdom of God; and
except he be born of the water and of the Spirit he cannot enter the
kingdom of God." People unenlightened by the spirit of truth can see
the kingdoms of the world, and they can reason upon their
organization, their power and weakness, and upon the justice or
injustice of the policy they pursue; but when it comes to the kingdom
of God there is a current associated with that which they are not
acquainted with, and principles which they cannot comprehend; they see
depths which they cannot, fathom, and they grope in the dark and are
entirely ignorant concerning the purposes of Jehovah.

Vol. 14,  p.191
Well, we who comprehend these things, look at them in another light;
we are acquainted with their philosophy; we are acquainted with their
status and position. We know ours, they know theirs, but they cannot
comprehend us, for we are told, emphatically, in the Scriptures, that
the world by its wisdom knows not God. And as it was in former times,
so it is to-day, and the world by its understanding cannot find out
God. Man, by philosophy and the exercise of his natural intelligence,
may gain an understanding, to some extent, of the laws of Nature; but
to comprehend God heavenly wisdom and intelligence are necessary.
Earthly and heavenly philosophy are two different things, and it is
folly for men to base their arguments upon earthly philosophy in
trying to unravel the mysteries of the kingdom of God.

Vol. 14,  p.191
Standing, then, in the position that we do, it is for us to try to
obtain a closer connection and union with our Heavenly Father and with
the Holy Priesthood, and to comprehend more and more the laws of life
and the things pertaining to the work of God. We are here to save
ourselves, to learn the laws of heaven, and to save our progenitors,
that they may participate with us in the rich blessings of the Gospel.
If we answer the ends of our creation in these respects we shall not
live and die as the tool lives and dies; but, while the world is
overwhelmed with crime, wickedness and malign influences, we may help
to introduce and establish principles which God will approve, which
all [p.192] the good and virtuous will love and admire and which will
be approbated by the holy angels; and may organize ourselves so that
we may be prepared to associate with the intelligences around the
throne of God. Let us, then, keep the commandments of God, live our
religion, be humble and faithful, cleave to the Lord our God,
cultivate his Holy Spirit, that it may dwell and abound within us,
that it may be as a well of water springing up to eternal life; and
that its refreshing, invigorating streams may spread around us
wherever we go, that we may be prepared for glory, salvation and an
eternal inheritance in the celestial kingdom. May God help us to
attain to this, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Brigham Young, June 3, 1871

The Training of Children

Discourse By President Brigham Young, Delivered in 
the Tabernacle, Ogden City, June 3, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.192
I am aware that Brother Franklin D. Richards' request to the children
to come to meeting this afternoon has produced a little excitement;
but we are very happy to see the people together. My remarks will be
to parents as well as to children. I will commence by saying that if
each and every one of us who are parents will reflect upon the
responsibilities devolving upon us we shall come to the conclusion
that we should never permit ourselves to do anything that we are not
willing to see our children do. We should set them an example that we
wish them to imitate. Do we realize this? How often we see parents
demand obedience, good behavior, kind words, pleasant looks, a sweet
voice and a bright eye from a child or children when they themselves
are full of bitterness and scolding! How inconsistent and unreasonoble
this is! If we wish our children to look pleasant we should look
pleasant at them; and if we wish them to speak kind words to each
other, let us speak kind words to them. We need not go into detail,
but we should carry out this principle from year to year in our whole
lives, and do as we wish our children to do. I say this with regard to
our morals and our faith in our religion.

Vol. 14,  p.192
Now let me call the attention of parents to another subject worthy of
their notice—that is, the use of proper language. Take us as a people
and we are not overstocked with language; there are very few highly
educated men in the Church to which we belong. We have a few learned
men and a few good scholars among the women, but they are scarce. Now,
parents, and I wish you to remember this, should never permit
themselves to speak improperly before a child, or [p.193] to use
language that would not be commendable in an orator. If you have not
such language at your command, then use the best you have. It is true
that to use that which we are in possession of to advantage is a
peculiar gift. We see some who can use language, apparently, to their
entire satisfaction, and yet they have no great store of language at
their command; but still they have the happy faculty of conveying
their ideas with greater propriety than others who are literary in
their tastes and have been highly educated. There is considerable in
making choice of words. For instance, if we were to address a man who
had been disobedient and needed chastisement we would use very
different language from that which would be used if addressing a child
or a lady. If you wish to impress on the minds of individuals or an
audience anything that you desire them to remember, you will have to
use language accordingly. I have heard it observed that language
should be used according to the merits or demerits of the case under
consideration; this will do under some circumstances. I wish to
impress upon myself, as well as upon my brethren and sisters, the
propriety of never using language to a child that we should dislike to
hear them use in refined society. If we have a choice set of words at
our command we should always use them when speaking to our children,
even from the time they commence to talk. If we do this, the effect
will be very pleasing in after years, for when our children enter into
polite and refined society, instead of being mortified and having to
call them to one side to correct their unrefined language, the
elegance and propriety of their mode of expression will be a source of
gratification and pleasure. If a child has to be corrected for the use
of improper or inelegant language, it might reply, "Mother, or father,
I am using words that you taught me."

Vol. 14,  p.193
Carry out this principle, not only in language, but in all the affairs
of life; and let us always set an example before our children that is
worthy of their imitation and highest admiration. If we do this, we
shall have occasion to rejoice and be exceeding glad, for we shall
have influence over them and they will not forsake us.

Vol. 14,  p.193
There is a passage in this good book (the Bible) said to have been
written by a very wise man, which says—

Vol. 14,  p.193
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will
not depart from it."

Vol. 14,  p.193
To make a community thoroughly understand these words a great deal of
explanation would be necessary. To illustrate, I ask myself, am I
capable of bringing up a child in the way that he should go? The
answer is right here—I am not. Why not? Because I have not that light
and intelligence in my possession and that command over myself to give
to a child a suitable impression under every circumstance and in every
place, when I address him or require anything of him. I would not
speak discouragingly of myself or of my brethren and sisters. We know
a great deal, but when we compare our knowledge with the fountain of
knowledge it is very small; when our light is compared with the
fountain of light it is very small, and consequently I can say that I
am not prepared to bring up a child in the way he should go; and yet I
probably come as near to it as any person that lives. How is it with
my brethren and sisters? They are capable of bringing up their
children a great deal better than they do, that is certain. If we do
as well as we know how—use all the faith and [p.194] intelligence in
our possession, and seek to gain more, we will be able to bring up our
children in such a way that very few of them will ever depart from the
right path. I want you to remember this. If we will do just as well as
we know how, never missing an opportunity of giving a word, a look or
a principle that will do good to the rising generation, never
permitting ourselves to be overtaken in fault, but preserving
ourselves in the integrity and patience of our souls, there are very
few of the rising generation with us that will depart from the words
of life. As for those who are old amongst us, their traditions and
prepossessed notions, imbibed in childhood, cling to them like a
garment, or like something glued to them; and they govern them to a
great extent, and it is almost an impossibility for old people to get
rid of their traditions; but it will be very different with our
children if we train them according to the will of God that has been
revealed to us as a people. We have the Old and New Testaments; the
Book of Mormon, giving an account of the aborigines of our country,
the visit of the Savior to and the organization of his Church on this
continent, the Game as to his brethren on the land of Palestine. Then
we have the Book of Doctrine and Covenants; in addition to these three
books, we have the history, discourses and sayings of the Prophet
Joseph, and the history, sayings and discourses of the Elders of
Israel, and also the experience we have gained in this Church. Combine
these, and I think we cannot come to the conclusion that we are
ignorant and do not know anything; although I say that, in comparison
with the fountain of all knowledge, our knowledge is small and
trifling. But if we will do as well as we know how, we will be able to
teach our children sufficient doctrine, truth and principle, that they
will actually grow up into Christ, our living head.

Vol. 14,  p.194
Now let us say a few words with regard to human nature and its
proneness to wander into evil. You go, for instance, to the river and
commence to throw sticks and shavings into the water, and they will go
down stream; and a great effort or a very powerful wind will be
required to make a small beat, vessel, bark, or even a board that the
children play with, go up stream. The same is true of small streams.
Cast anything into them, and it goes down stream, We are taught in
these books that, through the Fall, we have partaken so much of the
nature of the enemy—he has so much influence in the flesh of every
person, that we have to enter into a warfare, and we have to summon
all our force and to use every effort to propel our bark up stream, or
to put down iniquity in our own hearts and inclinations. I will pause
right here, and refer to what brother George Q. Cannon was saying this
morning to the children. Said he, "My boys, do not chew tobacco
because you see others do it; do not smoke a cigar because you see
others do it; my little girls, do not drink tea because you see mamma
do it." Now let me give you a comparison. Ask these little boys, if
they saw two parties, one on the right hand praying to the Father in
the name of Jesus, and the other on the left with a cigar in his
mouth, puffing away as vigorously as possible, which they would be
most inclined to imitate, and you will find they will instantly choose
that which is evil. They are not inclined to pray; there seems to be a
kind of a dread or terror about it, and they say, "We do not know how
to ask the Father for blessings, and we do not think we could pray,
but give us a cigar and [p.195] we can puff as well as anybody." This
is only a comparison, but it furnishes a correct illustration of the
facility with which evil habits are acquired, and how quick children
as well as parents are to go astray, how quick their feet are to run
into by and forbidden paths. But if parents will continually set
before their children examples worthy of their imitation and the
approval of our Father in heaven, they will turn the current, and the
tide of feelings of their children, and they, eventually, will desire
righteousness more than evil. This disposition will not be acquired in
one day, week or year; but let parents spend their lives in teaching
good, in good words and good looks and in the continual exercise of
their faith in God, and their children will finally feel that they
would rather be Christians than sinners.

Vol. 14,  p.195
Have we any proof of this? Yes. We have brethren here who have
traveled a good deal, and who have been in the Church a good many
years. If they could only think of them they could count over people
by the hundred and the thousand who have left this Church; but you now
· see many of their children coming to Zion; and get into conversation
with them and you will hear them say, "I have come to see what you,
Latter-day Saints, are, doing. My father was formerly a member of your
Church; but he left and died in Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
Rhode Island, Maine, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, or somewhere
else. My parents taught me to believe the Gospel, and, although they
were cut of from the Church, it has never left me. When I read the
Bible I find that they taught me the truth. If I go to meeting among
the sectarians, I gain neither light nor knowledge; but what my
parents taught me has had an influence upon me through my life from my
childhood up, and now I have come to see what you, Latter-day Saints,
are doing." And the children and grandchildren of those who
apostatized years and years ago, will come up to Zion by hundreds and
thousands, impelled by what their parents taught them in childhood.

Vol. 14,  p.195
This is another comparison. We are not quite all going to apostatize;
a great many have died in the faith, and a great many have
apostatized, but their posterity will come to Zion and believe the
truth. Our children will have the love of the truth, if we but live
our religion. Parents should take that course that their children can
say, "I never knew my father to deceive or take advantage of a
neighbor; I never knew my father take to himself that which did not
belong to him, never, never! No, but he said, 'Son, or daughter, be
honest, true, virtuous, kind, industrious, prudent and full of good
works.'" Such teachings from parents to their children will abide with
them for ever, unless they sin against the Holy Ghost, and some few,
perhaps, will do this.

Vol. 14,  p.195
If you should have visits here from those professing to be Christians,
and they intimate a desire to preach to you, by all means invite them
to do so. Accord to every reputable person who may visit you, and who
may wish to occupy the stands of your meeting houses to preach to you,
the privilege of doing so, no matter whether he be a Catholic,
Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Baptist, Free-will Baptist,
Methodist, or whatever he may be; and if he wishes to speak to your
children let him do so. Of course you have the power to correct
whatever false teachings or impressions, if any, your children may
hear or receive. I say to parents, place your children, as far as you
[p.196] have an opportunity to do so, in a position or situation to
learn everything in the world that is worth learning. You will
probably have what is called a Christian Church here; they will not
admit that we are Christians, but they cannot think us further from
the plan of salvation as revealed from heaven than we know them to be,
so we are even on that ground, as far as it goes. But, as I was
saying, you may have professing Christians come here to take up their
residences in your midst; and I want to say to parents and children,
that, so far as the Christian nations are concerned, I will take
America, for instance, and on the score of morals—honesty, integrity,
truthfulness and virtue, you will find people by hundreds of thousands
just as good as any Latter-day Saints, as far as they know. They are
the ones we are after. The Lord told us to go and preach the Gospel
without purse and scrip. What for? To hunt up the honest ones who are
now mixed, up with all the nations of the earth and gather them
together; and we have done so, as far as we have had the opportunity
and privilege. And after we are gathered we are none too honest, any
more than the inhabitants of the world generally are, and they hardly
know the meaning of the term. Still, according to the light they
possess, I mean the Christian world, thousands and millions of them
are honest, virtuous and true, and I fellowship them as far as they do
right. Is this strange? No, it is not. I wish that all the Latter-day
Saints were as good, according to the knowledge they possess, as
thousands and millions of the sectarian world are; and I will not skip
even the heathen world, for many of them are as good and honest,
according to the light they possess, as men and women know how to be. 

Vol. 14,  p.196
Now, then, if our brethren of the Presbyterians, Methodists or any
others visit here and want to preach to you, certainly let them
preach, and have your children hear them. They will tell you to keep
the Sabbath and to love your father and mother; they will tell you to
be true, honest, industrious, to be faithful to your studies, to read
the Bible and all good books, to study the sciences, &c., which is all
good, and as far as such teaching goes just as good as it can be. If
they want to come and teach your children in the Sunday school, I say
let them do so, most certainly. We have scores of thousands of their
books distributed among the Sunday schools throughout our Territory.
Some Latter-day Saints think they are not exactly what they ought to
be; but we are using them in our schools Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays,
Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, from one year's end to
another.

Vol. 14,  p.196
I say, parents, do not be afraid of having your children learn
everything that is worth learning. I can pick hundreds and thousands
of children in this Church whom I could teach with greater ease, and
so could a man from college, than their parents could be taught. I can
get at their senses better; they are quick and apprehensive and can
learn sooner. And if any of our Christian brethren want to go into our
Sabbath schools to teach our children, let them do so. They will not
teach them anything immoral in the presence of those who are in charge
of the schools; they wait until they get behind the door in the dark
before they commit immoral acts, and very few of them will, even then.
But in their Sunday schools they teach as good morals as you and I can
teach.

Vol. 14,  p.197
I want to say that we are for the truth, the whole truth and nothing
[p.197] but the truth; we are pursuing the path of true, and by and by
we expect to possess a great deal more than we do now; but to say that
we shall ever possess all truth, I pause, I do not know when. We
receive light and truth from the fountain of light and true, but I am
not at liberty to say, and do not know that we shall ever see the time
when we shall possess all true. But we will receive truth from any
source, wherever we can obtain it.

Vol. 14,  p.197
Next week the great camp meeting that has been so long contemplated is
to commence in the city of Salt Lake, where, I have heard it
whispered, there are so many of the "Mormons" to be converted. I am
going to permit every one of my children to go and hear what they have
to say. When we come to the sciences of the day the knowledge of the
sectarian world is very extensive; the same is true of their morality;
but when we come to read out of the Book of Life the words of the
Almighty to the people, and compare them with the knowledge of the
sectarian world, I am reminded of the words of Geo. Francis Train
concerning a certain gentleman. Said he, "I want you to sit down and
tell me all you know in five minutes." They can tell all they know
about God, godliness, heaven, earth, and the exaltation of man to the
Godhead in five minutes, for they do not know anything. Our children
can see this, and I want them to see it. If there is any man among
them that does know anything about the plan of the Almighty for the
redemption and exaltation of man, I hope and pray that I may have the
privilege of seeing him. I recollect when I was young going to hear
Lorenzo Dew preach. He was esteemed a very great man by the religious
folks. I, although young in years and lacking experience, had thought
a great many times that I would like to hear some man who could tell
me something, when he opened the Bible, about the Son of God, the will
of God, what the ancients did and received, saw and heard and knew
pertaining to God and heaven. So I went to hear Lorenzo Dew. He stood
up some of the time, and he sat down some of the time; he was in this
position and in that position, and talked two or three hours, and when
he got through I asked myself, "What have you learned from Lorenzo
Dew?" and my answer was, "Nothing, nothing but morals." He could tell
the people they should not work on the Sabbath day; they should not
lie, swear, steal, commit adultery, &c., but when he came to teaching
the things of God he was as dark as midnight. And so I lived until,
finally, I made a profession of religion. I thought to myself I would
try to break off my sins and lead a better life and be as moral as I
possibly could; for I was pretty sure that I should not stay here
always. Where I was going to I did not know, but I would like to be as
good as I know how while here, rather than run the risk of being full
of evil. I had heard a good deal about religion, and what a good nice
place heaven was, and how good the Lord was, and I thought I would try
to live a pretty good life. But when I reached the years of, I will
say, courage, I think that is the best term, I would ask questions. I
would say, "Elder, or Minister, I read so and so in the Bible, how do
you understand it?" Then I Would go and hear them preach on the
divinity of the Son, and the character of the Father and the Holy
Ghost and their divinity, and, I will say, the divinity of the soul of
man; what we are here for, and various kindred topics. But after
asking questions and going to [p.198] hear them preach year after
year, What did I learn? Nothing. I would as lief go into a swamp at
midnight to learn how to paint a picture and then define its colors
when there is neither moon nor stars visible and profound darkness
prevails, as to go to the religious world to learn about God, heaven,
hell or the faith of a Christian. But they can explain our duty as
rational, moral beings, and that is good, excellent as far as it goes.

Vol. 14,  p.198
This has been my experience in the Christian world, and I want our
children to go and hear all there is to hear, for the whole sum of it.
will be wound up as I once heard one of the finest speakers America
has ever produced say, when speaking on the soul of man. After
laboring long on the subject, he straightened himself up—he was a fine
looking man—and said he, "My brethren and sisters, I must come to the
conclusion that the soul of man is an immaterial substance? Said I,
"Bah!" There was no more sense in his discourse than in the bleating
of a sheep or the grunting of a pig. I palliated the facts partially,
however, so far as he was concerned, by attributing my lack of
comprehension to my own ignorance. This reminds me that I once heard
Mr. Lansing preach a most elaborate discourse. It was in the morning,
and when the meeting was dismissed and the people had come out, Deacon
Brown says to Deacon Taylor," What a sermon we have had!" Deacon
Taylor says, "Yes, yes!" Deacon Brown says, "That is one of the most
profound discourses I ever heard Mr. Lansing deliver;" and so they
continued talking until one of them said at last, "I did not
understand a word of it." The other Deacon replied, "Neither did I."
Their verdict was a just one, for the discourse consisted of fine,
beautiful words and nothing else, I saw and heard nothing to give me
the least clue to anything pertaining to God, heaven, or the designs
of the Creator with regard to the earth and its inhabitants. But as I
did not understand a word of it, I supposed that was on account of my
ignorance, until I heard the Deacons say that they did not, and then I
concluded that I knew as much as they did. For this reason I say, go
and learn all they know. Their catechisms are good; but if you come to
the things of God I will be bound that we have children who, if they
dare open their months and converse, would place them in water they
could not fathom. Yet I say, go and see and hear them and learn what
they know, then you can discriminate and discern, and will be able to
understand why the Lord called upon Joseph Smith to come out and
declare his will, and why he bestowed upon Joseph the Priesthood and
its keys and powers. You will then learn, my little boys and girls,
that the world of mankind scarcely know anything about the Bible. Ask
them concerning the character of the Savior and they will expatiate
and expound hour after hour, but they will tell absolutely nothing. I
presume that there are sisters here who have asked ministers what a
certain Scripture meant, and in reply they have talked, talked,
talked, and wound up by saying, "Great is the mystery of godliness,
God manifest in the flesh. Sister, I cannot tell you." Have you ever
heard sisters and children ask questions of this kind? Yes, and so
have I many times, but they have failed to obtain one particle of
knowledge from their religious teachers. Why? Because they did not
possess it. They did not know that Jesus was the express image of his
Father, although they had read it in the Bible; they did not know
[p.199] that man was made in the image of his God, although they have
read it hundreds of times in the book they profess to reverence and
believe in so much. They cannot realize it. When and how will they
realize it? When they submit themselves to the Lord, and ask the
Father in the name of Jesus to give them revelation by the Holy Ghost.
No man can call Jesus the Christ except it be revealed from heaven to
him.

Vol. 14,  p.199
I will say to my young friends, my little brothers and sisters, go and
learn everything you can. I say to parents, do not be afraid one
particle! These children will learn something that we as parents know
and understand already, and it is very grievous for us to realize that
it is the truth. Joseph, our Prophet, was hunted and driven, arrested
and persecuted, and although no law was ever made in these United
States that would bear against him, for he never broke a law, yet to
my certain knowledge he was defendant in forty-six lawsuits, and every
time Mr. Priest was at the head of and led the band or mob who hunted
and persecuted him. And when Joseph and Hyrum were slain in Carthage
jail the mob, painted like Indians, was led by a preacher. And now
they follow us up and want us to learn of them, when, so far as the
characters of God and Jesus are concerned and the errand of Jesus into
the world, our youth know better than the whole sectarian world. In
coming to Utah to teach the "Mormons" the way of life, the Christians
are but carrying coals to Newcastle. What is the use of going to
"Mormon" settlements to teach the people temperance and sobriety, or
to teach them the Bible? No more use than in going to Newcastle to
sell coal. There is no other people in the world that believe in and
practice the Bible as strictly as the Latter-day Saints. None but the
Latter-day Saints properly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; no other
people acknowledge him and keep his commandments; and yet they follow
us up, their object, professedly, being to convert us to Christianity,
but in reality it is to induce us to apostatize until they get the
upper hand, that the Priesthood may again be destroyed from the earth.
But never mind, let them go ahead, we shall see whether Christ or Baal
will be king of the earth, and whether Baal will reign several
thousand years longer. We shall find it out by and by.

Vol. 14,  p.199
I am saying this to parents, to those who have been in the midst of
Christendom and have seen its workings; to women who have sat up night
after night, for hundreds of nights, to watch their houses and keep
the mob, led by priests, from slaughtering their husbands and families
and destroying their property. Perhaps I ought to keep silent rather
than say these things, but that would not be justice. Facts are facts
and we cannot help it. I hope they will prove a little different in
time to come. But with the exception of the infidel portion of it, the
sectarian world has hewn out to itself broken cisterns that, will hold
no water; the priests have got their creeds, systems, and
organizations, they live on the people, and they are afraid that, if
truth be proclaimed, their craft will fall. Go to the infidel portion
of the world and we are all right; for if they refuse to receive our
doctrines they will talk and reason like men of intelligence. But with
many of those professing to be Christian teachers it is very
different, and in my secret estimate of the characters and attainments
of many of them I have come to the conclusion that their forte is
ignorance and impudence.

Vol. 14,  p.200
I will take another turn in my [p.200] remarks, and will say if we
were known by the world as we are, truly and honestly, I will not
except the Christians nor their priests; if we were known by them as
we know them, there is not a priest but would pray for the Latter-day
Saints. The infidel world would also pray for us, and so would the
political and moral world. But they do not know what the Lord is doing
through us; they are ignorant, and in their ignorance they lift
themselves up against God end his Anointed, for they have no eyes to
see, ears to hear, nor hearts to understand. But some are becoming
acquainted with us, and this has its influence. What is the object of
the Lord Almighty in calling this people as he has done? This question
may be answered in a very few words—it is nothing short of restoring
to the midst of the children of men every truth, every good, all
knowledge and everything lovely and beautiful for time and eternity,
saving all that will or can be saved and exalting his children to
thrones, and to crown them with crowns of glory, immortality and
eternal lives. Do you see what is going to be the result of the course
the Lord is pursuing with this people and with the world? You see some
who formerly obeyed the Gospel leaving us occasionally. Where are they
going? Is there anything else that will satisfy them? Not on this
earth; they either remain faithful to the Gospel or go to infidelity.
This is the fact. When men go from this Church they become infidels.
They can say they believe in this, that or the other; they may turn to
Spiritualism, bogusism, Emmaism or anything else; no matter what, but
they must be infidels or else acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ.

Vol. 14,  p.200
The doctrine that we preach is the doctrine of the Bible, it is the
doctrine the Lord has revealed for the salvation of the children of
God, and when men, who have once obeyed it, deny it, they deny it with
their eyes wide open, and knowing that they deny the truth and set at
naught the counsels of the Almighty.

Vol. 14,  p.200
I have spoken quite awhile to you, my brethren and sisters. I have
been teaching parents some things with regard to their children; now I
wish to say to the children, obey your parents, be good, never suffer
yourselves to do that which will mortify you through life, and that
will cause you to look back with regret. While you are pure and
spotless preserve yourselves in the integrity of your souls. Although
you are young you know good from evil, and live so that you can look
back on your lives and thank the Lord that he has preserved you, or
has enabled you to preserve yourselves, so that you have no misconduct
to regret or mourn over. Take this course and you will secure to
yourselves an honorable name on earth among the good and the pure; you
will maintain your integrity before heaven, and prove yourselves
worthy of a high state of glory when you get through with this world.

Vol. 14,  p.201
God bless you. Amen.[p.201] 

Brigham Young, August 13, 1871

The Gospel—the Spirit of the Lord—Revelation

Discourse By President Brigham Young, Delivered in 
the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday, August 13, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.201
I feel like bearing my testimony to the Gospel of the Son of God, and
I have it upon my mind to impress on the Latter-day Saints one
particular item of our faith, and that is to take a course to possess
the Spirit of the Lord. According to your experience and mine you
cannot understand the things of God but by the Spirit of God. If we
were to examine the character of the Jews in the days of the Savior we
would learn this one fact—that the people at that time were about as
destitute of the Spirit of the Lord as any nation ever need be. In our
day it seems that the Spirit will actually prompt people to liberal
thinking, to liberal actions and to liberal government, and not to be
as suppressive as they were in the days of the Jewish nation and other
nations that then bore rule; although in Christendom there have been
times when governments have been very oppressive, and when the people
were obliged to think as they were told, and when the doctrines they
believed in must be according to the precepts and teachings of
priests; but the present age is more liberal. The time has come when
the Lord is commencing to pour out his Spirit upon the people.
According to the words of the Prophet the time is to come when the
Spirit of the Lord shall be poured out upon all flesh. He says, "Your
sons and your daughters shall prophecy, your old men shall dream
dreams, your young men shall see visions, and also upon the servants
and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit." This
appears to be the commencement, and I am very thankful for it. Still,
according to the experience of those who examine themselves, and the
operations of the different spirits upon themselves, we learn that the
power of evil is very great, and we are more given to it than to
possess the Spirit of Christ. Yet the Spirit of the Lord enlightens
every man that comes into the world. There is no one that lives upon
the earth but what is, more or less, enlightened by the Spirit of the
Lord Jesus. It is said of him, that he is the light of the world. He
lighteth every man that comes into the world, and every person, at
times, has the light of the Spirit of truth upon him.

Vol. 14,  p.201
When we look at the conduct of the Jews and of the Romans in
Jerusalem, and other nations around, among whom Jesus traveled, we
find that it was very little influenced by those mighty miracles that
we think, talk and preach so much about. I mean the Christian world.
They cry to their hearers, "Look at the Savior, look at his acts,
behold his doings! What miracles he wrought! How [p.202] he suffered
for us," and so on. What did the Jews or Romans care about all this?
Did they believe in him? It appears not, or but very few of them. And,
as we have just been hearing, it was the same among the multitudes Who
followed him; although he fed them, and they saw his miracles, yet
they understood nothing of the power by which his mighty works were
accomplished. It was just so with the young man who was born blind,
whom the Savior healed. "Who opened your eyes," said the Scribes and
Pharisees. "Why, this man who is going about preaching, who says he is
the Savior, the Son of God—the king of the Jews." The priests replied:
"That is nonsense; you do not pretend to say that this man opened your
eyes!" "Well, all I know about it is, that he spat on the ground and
made a little mortar from the clay and anointed my eyes, and before
that I was blind, but now I see." "Well, do not believe on him, he is
an impostor, he is deceiving the people;" and when we examine and
understand the facts in relation to this personage whom we call the
Savior of the world, there were not, strange to say, as many persons
believed on him as have believed on Joseph Smith in the latter days.
Not that Joseph was the Savior, but he was a prophet. As he said once,
when some one asked him, "Are you the Savior?" "No, but I can tell you
what I am—I am his brother." So we can say. But Joseph was a prophet;
and so we testify, declaring that we know it. But how, in the world,
do you know it? Because somebody has made clay and anointed your eyes?
No. The young man did not know the real character of the personage by
whom his eyes were opened, nor he never would know unless the Holy
Ghost—the Spirit of revelation, rested upon him to such a degree as to
manifest to him that Jesus was the Christ.

Vol. 14,  p.202
This is a matter that we should well consider. Jesus fed the
multitudes miraculously; he walked on the water, healed the sick, gave
sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and raised the dead to life,
but what of all this? Did it prove that he was the Christ? I recollect
once, when on my travels, hearing some divines try to prove that
everybody ought to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ because of the
miracles be wronght. When they had argued some time I took the liberty
of saying, "Gentlemen, who were they who testified of these great
miracles that you speak of?" It was an Elder in Israel who was arguing
with them, and trying to prove to their minds that Joseph was called
of God to open up this last dispensation. They spurned every argument
and ignored every Scripture that was brought forward; but yet, they
said, we ought to believe on the Lord Jesus because of his great
miracles. "Who were they," said I, "who testified of these miracles? I
will return you your own words. You say that this gentleman is one of
Joseph Smith's disciples, and a party concerned and has an interest in
establishing the fact that he was a prophet and was called of God. If
he is a party concerned, were not Peter, Paul and Jude parties
concerned? and when you get the names of all who have written in the
New Testament—eight in number—you find they were all interested in
establishing the divinity of the Savior, they were all parties
concerned and had an object in view in endeavoring to establish the
fact that he was the Savior. This gentleman has told you that there
are twelve men who testify that they saw the plates from which the
Book of Mormon was written;[p.203] they saw and handled these plates,
and they witness to the world that the Book of Mormon is true. Here
are twelve living men, who can be spoken to, against eight men who
have been dead for about seventeen hundred years." Well, but these
great miracles, these wonderful miracles!

Vol. 14,  p.203
I do not wish to speak the least derogatory to the character of him,
or whoever performed these miracles in the name of the Lord; but I
mention this to show how men's minds are wrought upon and how they
look at things. In my conversation I asked those gentlemen if they
believed the Bible? Yes, and they were very fervent in bringing forth
the great miracles of Moses, who was called to lead the children of
Israel. "Well, what did Moses do?" "Why, so and so." "And you say that
Jesus raised the dead?" "Yes." "If you will turn to the Old Testament,
you will find that a certain woman, called the witch of Endor, raised
up Samuel the Prophet. Did Jesus ever raise up a prophet?" They had to
acknowledge that he did not. What greater work did Jesus do than a
witch, that our fathers in Massachusetts used to hang up by the neck
and burn, or make them swim across the bay, and if they went across,
that was proof they were witches or wizards; and if they could not get
quite across, but sank, they might possibly be innocent, but they were
at the bottom of the sea. What proof have you that Jesus wrought any
greater miracle than the witch of Endor—a wicked woman, who, to please
wicked Saul, brought the Prophet Samuel from his grave?"

Vol. 14,  p.203
Well, now, examine the character of the Savior, and examine the
characters of those who have written the Old and New Testaments; and
then compare them with the character of Joseph Smith, the founder of
this work—the man whom God called and to whom he gave the keys of
Priesthood, and through whom he has established his Church and kingdom
for the last time, and you will find that his character stands as fair
as that of any man's mentioned in the Bible We can find no person who
presents a better character to the world when the facts are known than
Joseph Smith, jun., the prophet, and his brother, Hyrum Smith, who was
murdered with him.

Vol. 14,  p.203
I will come now to my text again, and will ask the Latter-day Saints,
Do you know that Joseph Smith was a prophet? Yes. How do you know it?
Why, father and mother says it is so; Elder such-a-one says it is so,
and I believe it. They prove their doctrine by the Bible, and I am
forced to believe the Bible through the traditions of the fathers; and
these Elders establish the truth of their doctrines beyond all
controversy from Scripture, and I cannot deny it, hence I believe
Mormonism, or the Gospel.

Vol. 14,  p.203
Now, the question is, how much good will it do me to believe the
Gospel on the evidence of others, without possessing the spirit of the
Gospel? This is a question that I can answer very readily. There is no
man or woman on the earth that will live according to the laws of God,
but will possess the Spirit of God. This answers the question. But
suppose we believe and we do not quite live this law. We embrace the
Gospel, we gather up with the Saints, and yet we live in the neglect
of our duty and beneath our privileges; we do not call upon the Father
in the name of Jesus with that sincerity and earnestness necessary to
bring down the revelations of the Lord upon us, and we live in this
manner for days and years together; by and by something or other comes
along that we do not like, we cannot understand it, we [p.204] have
not the spirit to understand it, and consequently we reject this and
reject that; and if the Church is just right and its leaders are just
right, why the individual is not right, and he turns away from the
holy commandments of the Lord Jesus, and goes back to the beggarly
elements of the world, like the dog to his vomit, or the sow to her
wallowing in the mire.

Vol. 14,  p.204
Now, let me ask the Latter-day Saints, you who are here in this house
this day, how do you know that your humble servant is really,
honestly, guiding and counseling you aright, and directing the affairs
of the kingdom aright? Let you be ever so true and faithful to your
friends and never forsake them, never turn traitor to the, Gospel
which you have espoused, but live on in neglect of your duty, how do
you know but I am teaching false doctrine? How do you know that I am
not counseling you wrong? How do you know but I will lead you to
destruction? And this is what I wish to urge upon you—live so that you
can discern between the truth and error, between light and darkness,
between the things of God and those not of God, for by the revelations
of the Lord, and these alone, can you and I understand the things of
God. When Jesus preached to the people they were destitute of the
Spirit of truth, and if they believed his teachings for the moment, as
soon as they went away the Spirit left them and they were again in the
dark, and they did not become the disciples of Jesus. So it is now.
For instance, a great many strangers come here; they see our work,
they give us praise, they acknowledge our faithfulness, industry,
prudence, economy and so forth. How do they know that we are preaching
the Gospel? "Oh," say they, "we do not know anything about that; we do
not come here to be Mormons." But suppose they were perfectly honest
before God and sought unto him until they got the Spirit of
revelation, they would be convinced that we told them the truth, or
else that we did not preach that which we profess to teach, one of the
two. We know all about it, but they do not. Did the people in the days
of the Savior? No, they saw his miracles, but they enjoyed no more of
the Spirit of truth than some of the strangers who visit us. One thing
is very remarkable, and should he noticed by strangers who come here,
and that is, the change that takes place in their own feelings. Let me
say this to strangers, I mean those who have any regard for truth and
holiness; when you are here in this house or city, and you commune
with the Latter-day Saints, there is a spirit of peace, a holy
reverence for truth, righteousness, goodness, mercy and virtue rests
upon you; in fact, you are influenced by that spirit and influence
which hover over this people; but what do many of you say when you go
away? No longer ago than yesterday a reporter said to me, "While in
California, judging by what I heard, I supposed you had no
improvements here, you lived in dugouts, you had no schools, and that
the people did not look as the people do anywhere else—quite another
kind of people—neither industry, judgment nor discretion amongst them;
but I am perfectly disappointed, my whole mind is revolutionized, and
I see things so different to what I expected to see them, that I am
really another person here." What will he write about us? If he does
as others have done, we may expect to see a batch of
misrepresentations from him just as quick as he gets away and the
spirit of the enemy takes possession of him. Such men cater to the
world [p.205] and to the ungodly priests that the world is afraid of.
But I will confine this wholly to the political world. "Yes," says the
senator, or the man who wishes to be a senator, representative,
governor or any officer, "if I do not cater to these priests I shall
lose my election." But I would see them further in heaven than they
will get in ten thousand years before I would cater to them. Truth,
honesty and uprightness in everything, and if that will not stand upon
its own basis, falsehood, deception, lying to and deceiving each other
certainly will not, either here or hereafter. It is the honest and
honorable, or, in other words, it is truth and righteousness, that
will stand the day of God Almighty. When the Lord Almighty thunders
from the heavens to try the souls of the children of men they will
want truth and righteousness.

Vol. 14,  p.205
But to return to my question to the Saints, "How are you going to know
about the will and commands of heaven?" By the Spirit of revelation;
that is the only way you can know. How do I know but what I am doing
wrong? How do I know but what we will take a course for our utter
ruin? I sometimes say to my brethren, "I have been your dictator for
twenty-seven years—over a quarter of a century I have dictated this
people; that ought to be some evidence that my course is onward and
upward. But how do you know that I may not yet do wrong? How do you
know but I will bring in false doctrine and teach the people lies that
they may be damned? Sisters can you tell the difference? I can say
this for the Latter-day Saints, and I will say it to their praise and
my satisfaction, if I were to preach false doctrine here, it would not
be an hour after the people got out, before it would begin to fly from
one to another, and they would remark, "I do not quite like that! It
does not look exactly right! What did Brother Brigham mean? That did
not sound quite right, it was not exactly the thing!" All these
observations would be made by the people, yes, even by the sisters. It
would not sit well on the stomach, that is, on the spiritual stomach,
if you think you have one. It would not sit well on the mind, for you
are seeking after the things of God; you have started out for life and
salvation, and with all their ignorance, wickedness and failings, the
majority of this people are doing just as well as they know how; and I
will defy any mar, to preach false doctrine without being detected;
and we need not go to the Elders. of Israel, the children who have
been born in these mountains possess enough of the Spirit to detect
it. But be careful that you do not lose it! Live so that you will know
the moment the Spirit of the Almighty is grieved within you. Do you
ever see such times? I do. I watch you. I see, for instance, a company
of young people go and mingle, perhaps, with old people, and hear them
laughing, joking, and talking nonsense and folly. By and by darkness
comes—leanness of the soul; and one says, "My head don't feel right;
my heart is not right; my nerves are not right; I do not know what is
the matter, but I do not enjoy myself here this evening." Do you know
what is the matter? You ought to live so that the very moment the
Spirit of the Lord is grieved, stop that instantly, and turn the
attention of every individual to something else that will retain the
good Spirit of the Lord and give you an increase of it. This is the
way to live.

Vol. 14,  p.205
Have you this experience, sisters? Yes, many of you have. We need not
go to the Elders of Israel to ask them. Do you see people
apostatize?[p.206] Yes. Will more go? Yes, many more. It is a day of
trial—a day wherein the Lord will try the hearts of the children of
men; and he is taking a course now with individuals and with nations,
to make them exhibit the very centre of their hearts, as governments,
as nations, as cities, as heads of families and as individuals, that
he may reveal the secrets thereof, that they may be known to each
other. Consequently you can see the necessity of every person living
so as to have the Spirit of revelation.

Vol. 14,  p.206
Brother George A. Smith has been speaking about our little trials in
Missouri. I do not wish to cast reflections on any person, but I do
not acknowledge that I ever received persecution; my path has been so
kind from the Lord I do not consider that I have suffered enough even
to mention it. But when the words of Governor Lillburn W. Boggs were
read by General Clark, with regard to our leaving the State or
renouncing our religion, I sat close by him, although I was the very
particular one they wanted to get and were inquiring for; but as kind
Providence would have it they could not tell whether it was Brigham
Young they were looking at or somebody else. No matter how this was
done, they could not tell. But, standing close by General Clark, I
heard him say, "You are the best and most orderly people in this
State, and have done more to improve it in three years than we have in
fifteen. You have showed us how to improve, how to raise fruit and
wheat, how to make gardens, orchards and so on; and on these accounts
we want you; but we have this to say to you, No more bishops, no more
high councils, and as for your prophet," and he pointed down to where
Joseph lay, right in the midst of the camp, "you will never see him
again." Said I to myself, "May be so and may be not; but I do not
believe a word of it." "And," continued he, "disperse, and become as
we are." Do you want I should tell you what I thought? I do not think
I will. I thought a kind of a bad thought, that is, it would be
considered so by a very religious person, and especially if he was
well stocked with self-righteousness; but I would as soon as not tell
what I thought to those who have not much of this and are not very
pious, and it was, "I will see you in hell first." Renounce my
religion? "No, sir," said I, "it is my all, all I have on this earth.
What is this world worth as it is now? Nothing. It is like a morning
shadow; it is like the dew before the sun, like the grass before the
scythe, or the flower before the pinching frosts of autumn. No, sir, I
do not renounce my religion. I am looking beyond; my hope is beyond
this vale of tears, and beyond the present life. I have another life
to live, and it is eternal. The organization and intelligence God has
given me are not to perish in nonentity; I have to live, and I
calculate to take such a course that my life hereafter will be in a
higher state of existence than the present." Said he, "Forsake your
religion, and become as we are!" I had been round the country enough
to know the practice of both priest and people. On Saturday they would
get together and run horses, throw up coppers to see who would treat,
get pretty drunk, and perhaps get up a good sound quarrel, and then
the priest would step in half drunk, and with long face and
sanctimonious drawl preach on the evils of intemperance and so on.
"Become as you are? God forbid," said I. You are as low and degraded
as possible, living hem without schools, orchards or mills, like the
brutes almost, in your little [p.207] cabins! Bacon and hominy! Bacon
and Indian bread, honey and milk, and they were perfectly satisfied.
As I heard one of these great nobles say, on a certain occasion when
at his house; we were holding a two-days' meeting; he did not belong
to the Church, but his family did. Said he, "Mr. Young, I have a great
deal of property and some money, and I do not know what to do with it,
I think I will go up to your place and buy." He had a log house, all
in one room, with six beds in it. Not a light of glass to light the
room; and just to instruct my sisters how to cook, I will tell them
something about the first meal we had there. A twelve-quart tin milk
pan was set on the table, filled with beef, stacked as you see cannon
balls, up to the peak or roof, in arsenals. I think there was about
two ounces of butter on the table, white as cheese curd. This was in
the month of August, when the fat beeves were standing around, and I
do not know how many cows, sheep, oxen, horses, geese, turkeys and
fowls were running round his yard; and I do not think that his pile of
beef in the milk pan had a half or a quarter of an ounce of fat on it.
Said they to us, "Help yourselves, lay hold and help yourselves;" and
we did, to a piece of dry bread, dry beef and a little "clean"
butter—we always called such butter "clean," because it looked so
white. I recollect on Sunday morning, you will excuse me for telling
this anecdote, after we had sat down and had eaten a little, the lady
of the house said, "Brother Young, take a piece of pie! Brother
Kimball, take a piece of pie." They had a large peach orchard, with
hundreds of bushels of ripe peaches, probably not all worked up into
brandy, but still they could not afford a ripe peach for a pie. The
lady put a piece of pie on the plate, and I cut a little off and
turned it over and looked at it, and said I, "Yes, I will taste your
pie, for I never saw the like before in my life; did you, Brother
Kimball?" No, S-i-r, I n-e-v-e-r did." There were peaches that had
fallen from the trees before they were ripe, cut in two and the pits
taken out, put on a piece of dough, not even the fuzz wiped off, and
then another cake put over the top, nothing else inside but this, and
then baked in a bake pan, or "Dutch oven," as we used to call it. "It
is peach pie, Brother Brigham; Brother Kimball, will you take a bit of
pie, it is peach pie." I never saw the like before, and there the man
sat, as happy and contented as could be. And this is like Missouri,
all over, as it used to be. "I do not know what to do with my means,"
and yet he had not a light of glass in the place, and had to open the
door to see to eat; and six beds in one room. We slept there with the
family, not with the wife, but with the whole family—men, women and
children. Said the owner of the place, "I declare, I think I will go
and purchase some land." I said to him, "How would it do to have this
floor fixed and made comfortable?" It was made of oak boards sawed out
and dried up, and you might have shoved your hand down between each
one; and it was just so with the chamber, and when a person walked on
it, it went "clatter," "clatter," "clatter." Said I, how would it be
to have this floor planed, matched and nailed down, so that when the
children walk over it it will not make so much noise? And how would it
be to have a window? When the weather gets cold, it will be pretty
uncomfortable to have to open the door to see to eat, knit, sew and so
on?" "Well," said he, "I declare I never thought of that;" and I do
not suppose he ever [p.208] had in his life. I dare not say much, so I
abridged my remarks, and wound up as quickly as possible. The
gentleman, I believe, continued to live there, and for anything I
know, he is there still; at any rate he did not come up to the
gathering place and buy property. This was the style of living there,
and they wanted us to adopt it, and become as they were. "No, sir,"
said I, "I am for improvement." I guess General Clark lived in just
about such a house, and I think the others did. We printed the first
papers, except about two, set out the first orchards, raised the first
wheat, kept almost the first schools, and made the first improvements
in our pioneering, in a great measure, from the Mississippi river to
the Pacific Ocean; and here we got at last, so as to be out of the way
of everybody, if possible. We thought we would get as far as we could
from the face of man; we wanted to get to a strange land, like
Abraham, that we might be where we should not be continually wrong
with somebody or other, and have them crying, "Oh, you Mormons!" and
have the priests preaching, the press printing, the drunkard swearing,
and all, high and low, rich and poor, wishing these poor "Mormons"
were out of the way. We got out of the way as far as we could; and if
we can get out of the way any further and do any good, we are ready to
get out of the way; but I think we are as far out of the way as we
need to be; and we have got on the highway which has been cast up, and
I think we had better stay here.

Vol. 14,  p.208
As far as our doctrines are concerned, come on my brother from the
"Mother Church," down to the last one that has come out with something
new. Come on, you revivalists, what have you got? If you have anything
better than we have, come up here and let us have it. Our belief and
doctrine with regard to the human family is that if we know more than
you, we will give our knowledge to you, then you will know as much as
we; and by the time you have acquired it we will know a little more,
and be ahead every time we impart knowledge. Like the teacher in the
school, no matter whether he is teaching a, b, c, a-b ab, or in the
higher branches, while teaching others, he or she is also increasing.
While those who, in the providence of God, are the possessors of
knowledge and wisdom, are dispensing them to others, they are
increasing their own store. That is our principle of action. Take the
poor, do not go down to the poor and the ignorant, lift them up, and
give them all we have; and we go ahead and get more, and impart to the
inhabitants of the earth until they are filled with wisdom, knowledge
and understanding.

Vol. 14,  p.208
To my text again—

Vol. 14,  p.208
How do we know that Jesus is the Christ? By the revelations of the
Spirit of God. How do we know that the Bible is true? We know that a
great deal of it is true, and that in many instances the translation
is incorrect. But I cannot say what a minister once said to me. I
asked him if he believed the Bible, and he replied, "Yes, every word
of it," "You do hot believe it all to be the word of God?" "Most
assuredly I do." Well, said I, you can beat me at believing, that's
certain. As I read the Bible it contains the words of the Father and
Son, angels, good and bad, Lucifer, the devil, of wicked men and of
good men, and some are lying and some—the good—are telling the truth;
and if you believe it all to be the word of God you can go beyond me.
I cannot believe it all to be the word of God, but I believe it as it
is.[p.209] 

Vol. 14,  p.209
How do we know it is true? By revelation. How do we know that prophets
wrote the word of the Lord? By revelation. How do we know that Joseph
Smith was called of God to establish his kingdom upon the earth? By
revelation. How do we know that the leaders of this people teach the
truth? By revelation. How do we know the doctrine of baptism for the
remission of sins to be true? It is written in the Bible; but the
Christian world deny it, because it is not manifested to them by the
revelations of the Lord Jesus. They have not the keys of revelation,
although some believe baptism by immersion, but they do not believe it
is for the remission of sins, except one society, which came out from
the Close Communion Baptists, founded by Alexander Campbell. He
baptized for the remission of sins. At this time I was a Methodist.
Said I, "Why not lay on hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost?"
"O," said they, "we have no authority to do that, it is done away."
"How do you know that baptism for the remission of sins is not done
away? Your arguments confuse themselves, and these self-confounding
arguments are all chaos to me. If you have the right to baptize for
the remission of sins, you have the right to lay on hands for the
reception of the Holy Ghost; and if you have this power and authority,
of course you have prophets, and possess the various gifts and graces
recorded in the New Testament. Do you lay hands on the sick?" "Oh,
no." "Do you prophecy?" "We do not believe in it." Most Christians
disbelieve in these things, but "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," is
their great point; and, so far as it goes, it is good. But unless we
obey his Gospel, where God and Christ are we cannot live hereafter,
but shall have to take another kingdom, live in another place and be
administered to by those who are higher. What do you say, is that
correct? I will just read a word or two and then stop. Here is the
doctrine. I am not going to say anything about it, but will just read
it. "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, but
live according to God in the Spirit." First Peter, 4th chapter, 6th
verse.

Vol. 14,  p.209
What does that mean? Not only in the world, but out of the world, they
who expect to receive any salvation at all must hearken to the
requirements of heaven, thus far, to entitle them to the Spirit of the
Lord Jesus, that they may live by the revelations thereof, and walk no
more in darkness, but in the light of life. I do wish that each and
every one of us would do that. Are we able to do it? Certainly; it is
the simplest thing in the world. Well, then, just believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. "Oh," say the Christians, "we do believe." Well, then,
come forward and be baptized for the remission of your sins, and
receive the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost,
then you shall receive the witness, and you shall he the possessor of
the Spirit of revelation according to the gifts and graces of God as
he dispenses them to you—speaking in tongues, interpreting the same,
prophecying, dreaming dreams, and so forth, for all these are by the
selfsame Spirit, which is the Spirit of Christ.

Vol. 14,  p.209
If we will live so that Christ can make us one through our obedience,
where are wars and contentions? All will cease. Where is the spirit of
bickering? There will be no more of it. How much pleasanter it would
look, and how much better it would be for the world if these things
were [p.210] to cease! "Well," say the world, "you Mormons, forsake
this obnoxious doctrine and practice of having more wives than one."
For heaven's sake, then, cease killing the men, and let them live and
take the women, or you will oblige us to take more than we know what
to do with. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, obey his doctrine, cease
your warring and contention, beat your swords into ploughshares and
your spears into pruning hooks; make railroads, build colleges, teach
the children, give them the learning of the world and the things of
God; elevate their minds, that they may not only understand the earth
we walk upon, but the air we breathe, the water we drink, and all the
elements pertaining to the earth; and then search other worlds, and
become acquainted with the planetary system, the dwellings of the
angels and the heavenly beings, that they may ultimately be prepared
for a higher state of being, and finally be associated with them. I
wish we would do it; I pray the Lord to do it, but he will not, unless
we help him.

George A. Smith, August 13, 1871

The Lord's Supper—Historical Reminiscences—the Puritans

Discourse By President George A. Smith, Delivered in 
the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday, August 13, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.210
In the providence of our Heavenly Father we are permitted once more to
assemble for the purpose of partaking of the Sacrament of our Lord and
Savior. It appears that on the night previous to his arrest, he gave
to his disciples this ordinance. It was in a manner instituting anew
the ordinance that Israel had observed from the time of leaving
Egypt—namely, the feast of the Passover. When we assemble for the
purpose of partaking of this ordinance it is very important for us to
realize and appreciate the position which we take, for we witness to
our Father who is in heaven, by the partaking of the bread and of the
water, that we do remember him; and while we take the bread from the
same plate we should not hold within our hearts feelings or sentiments
other than what are right. To use the expression of the Savior, in the
ever memorable sermon on the Mount, "When thou bringest thy gift to
the altar, consider whether thy brother hath aught against thee."
Every man who receives the principles of the Gospel of peace and obeys
the ordinances of initiation into the Church is under obligations to
lead a straightforward, moral and upright life, to deal justly, to
love mercy and to walk humbly in observance of the [p.211] principles
which he has received. To neglect these things, to suffer ourselves to
stray from them, to become forgetful of the principles and ordinances
of the Gospel, under all circumstances, should be avoided. If we love
each other, as we should do, we should never be found speaking evil of
each other. In almost all communities, so far as my knowledge of
history extends, one of the great banes of society is a disposition to
tattle, to speak evil one of another; and I have noticed that this
habit has not always been forsaken by those who are called Latter-day
Saints; but at times there seems to be a feeling of willingness to
retail scandal. When we come to partake of the sacrament if we have
injured our brother, sister or neighbor, it is our duty to make these
things right, and to come wisely, prudently and conscientiously. If we
harbor evil thoughts, or are the slaves of evil passions, when we
stretch forth our hand to partake of the sacrament, we may be guilty,
peradventure, of fulfilling that dreadful position referred to by the
Apostle—"He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh
damnation to his own soul."

Vol. 14,  p.211
There are certain principles which God has revealed, by the observance
of which we are entitled to his Holy Spirit; but when Latter-day
Saints neglect their duties and fail to observe these principles and
defile their bodies they cease to become fit temples for the Holy
Spirit to dwell in, and the light that is in them becomes darkness. It
seems that at the last supper Peter was so sanguine, so fully
determined and set in his faith that he declared to the Savior, though
he should die with him yet would he not deny him; and yet in a very
few hours after, when he saw his Master seized rudely by the high
priests and soldiery, and dragged away, and a crown of thorns placed
upon his head, he denied him. When his Master was first taken Peter
was ready to fight for him. He was like a great many Latter-day Saints
I have seen—they would much rather fight for their religion than try
to live it. It was so at that time with Peter. He drew his sword and
was ready to cut and slay, but his Master said to him, "Put up thy
sword," and he healed the wounded servant. Peter did not understand
that; it did not look like the temporal dominion he expected to see
Jesus possess; and when he was accused of being one of his disciples,
he answered, "I know not what thou sayest," denying him, to whom, but
a few hours before, he had expressed such strong attachment. When
Peter went out, the cock crew, and then he remembered the words of
Jesus, and he wept bitterly. It is said of this Apostle that when he
came to the end of his earthly career, which was crucifixion by the
hands of his enemies, he requested that he might be crucified with his
feet upwards; because he had denied his Master he was unwilling to be
put on the cross in the same position.

Vol. 14,  p.211
This weakness exists in the breasts of all human beings, more or less;
all have their times of trial, and their days of temptation and
suffering. We remember, in the days of our Prophet Joseph Smith, whom
God sent us in these last days with the dispensation of the fullness
of times, and the restoration of the Gospel and Priesthood, that many,
who stood by him and professed to be his most warm and ardent friends,
not only turned away at his death, but in many instances became bitter
enemies. This weakness exists, and there are reasons why it exists in
the human heart. For instance, God requires his children to pray; but
through labor, business and care they frequently fail to fulfill
[p.212] the requirement either in their families or in secret, and in
a little while their minds become darkened; and in consequence of this
neglect the Spirit of the Lord withdraws from them, and they forget
what they once knew. You let a man among the Saints indulge in any
habit prohibited in the Gospel, and the same result will follow if
continued. If he allow himself to take the name of the Lord in vain,
and continue in it, the Spirit of the Lord will withdraw from him. If
he allow himself to be guilty of dishonesty, corruption,
licentiousness or anything that is prohibited in the Gospel of peace,
peradventure, his mind becomes darkened. He, to-day, might bear
testimony that he knew this to be the work of God; and he might, by
neglect of duty, in time become so darkened that he would conclude he
hardly did know it, and finally that he did not know it. These are the
results of losing the light of the Holy Spirit, hence the exhortation
that every man who partakes of the sacrament should be careful, and
make it a time of reckoning—bringing our minds up to the standard and
knowing that we are right.

Vol. 14,  p.212
I notice in the observance of the Word of Wisdom, a manifestation of
the Holy Spirit connected with it. Whenever a person has failed to
observe it, and becomes a slave to his appetite in these simple
things, he gradually grows cold in his religion; hence I constantly
feel to exhort my brethren and sisters, both by precept and example,
to observe the Word of Wisdom. We should not be thoughtless, careless
nor neglectful in the observance of its precepts. "Why, it cannot do
any hurt," says one, "to take a glass of ale!" I recollect seeing a
man once in England, who said to me, "Mr. Smith, how can it be
possible that it can injure a man to drink the matter of half a pint
of ale?" He had had so much that he could not stand without leaning
against a fence, and yet he could not see how it could injure a man to
take a half pint; but if he had not taken the first half pint he could
have stood as well as anybody. It may as well be said, and no doubt
often is, How can it hurt a man to chew tobacco or to drink tea? It
injures, because it creates a disturbance in the human organization,
and that disturbance, if continued, creates an appetite to which its
possessor becomes a slave, and it shortens his days; and while living
his condition is such that he cannot as efficiently perform the duties
devolving upon him as he otherwise could.

Vol. 14,  p.212
We have every reason to be thankful that God has preserved us from the
wrath of our enemies. He has led us by the inspired hand of his
servant Brigham into the valleys beyond the Rocky Mountains, in the
Great Basin; and he has blessed the desert land, that with the labor
and toil of twenty or twenty-tour years, has become manifest in
stretching forth the curtain of the habitations of Zion. We have every
reason to be thankful for these blessings, for previous to that time
we are all well aware that we did not taste of but very little of what
might be called religious liberty; for the very moment that the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized by Joseph Smith,
with six members, the hand of persecution and oppression was raised to
destroy it. It not only extended to scandal and abuse, but to personal
violence and to a long-continued succession of vexatious lawsuits; to
the tearing down of houses, daubing men with tar and feathers, and
driving from place to place. I have heard the scandal brought up
occasionally that the Mormons were driven from Jackson [p.213] County,
Missouri, for stealing horses. Now the facts of the case are that
there is not, nor can be found on record in the county of Jackson, a
solitary syllable in any docket or record of any court the account of
any crime or charge of crime against any individual belonging to the
Church of the Latter-day Saints. From the time they settled there
until the expulsion, amongst them it was one straightforward scene of
good behavior. The charges on which they were driven were specified,
published and signed by a large number of distinguished individuals,
and these were that they (the Mormons) "differ from us in religion;"
and that they also "anoint the sick with holy oil," and "They openly
blaspheme the most high God, and cast contempt on his holy religion by
pretending to receive revelations direct from heaven, by pretending to
speak unknown tongues, by direct inspiration, and by diverse pretences
derogatory of God and religion and to the utter subversion of human
reason;" "that the 'Mormons' tampered with the slaves," &c. It is very
true that the Mormons in Jackson County, Missouri, were not
slaveholders; but the laws of the State on that subject were so very
rigid that it required no mob power to enforce them; and as every
office in the State, both civil and military, was held by men not
"Mormons," and especially in the county of Jackson, it is not likely
that there would have been any difficulty to enforce the law. The
declaration on which the mob was organized, and which was signed by
clergymen and other gentlemen, was "The civil law does not afford us a
guarantee against this people," which was as much as to say, they were
a law-abiding people. Well, but did you practice plurality of wives?
Not at all, the principle was unknown in the Church; it had not been
revealed, and every man and woman in the Church was rigidly, to all
intents and purposes, strict mono-gamists. In 1838-9 these Latter-day
Saints were expelled from the State of Missouri, and no charge of
practicing polygamy existed against them; but when they were gathered
together and received their grand sentence under the exterminating
order of the governor of the State, they were told that if they
"assembled together again and organized with bishops and presidents
they should be utterly destroyed;" but they were required to leave the
State and that in a very short time, which they did, leaving all their
property. It is very well known that some three hundred and eighteen
thousand dollars were paid by Latter-day Saints for land in the State
of Missouri, and that very few if any of them, ever got a dollar for
that land, and it belongs to them to this day; and when the great and
glorious day shall come that the Constitution of the United States
shall become absolutely the supreme law of the land, guaranteeing to
all men the right of life, liberty and property, the Saints can
inherit this land and live and enjoy their faith there as well as
anywhere else. All these things had occurred, and the hand of
persecution did not stay until, in 1844, it had slain the prophets,
and, in 1845-6, had driven the people, and robbed and peeled them of
the property they had accumulated in Illinois, and in 1857 the
pioneers' advanced guard, led by President Young, succeeded in making
a road, and founding a colony in this valley.

Vol. 14,  p.213
In 1843 the law on celestial marriage was written, but not published,
and was known only to perhaps one or two hundred persons. It was
written from the dictation of Joseph Smith, by Elder William
Clayton,[p.214] his private secretary, who is now in this city. This
revelation was published in 1852, read to a general conference, and
accepted as a portion of the faith of the Church. Elder Orson Pratt
went to Washington and there published a work called the "Seer," in
which this revelation was printed, and a series of articles showing
forth the law of God in relation to marriage. From that time to the
present the power of the enemies of the Latter-day Saints to persecute
them seems to have been broken; for since then we have never been
compelled to forsake our inheritances. The press and the pulpit have,
of course, been called into requisition more or less, and a great
amount of lies and scandal has been published, and politicians have
endeavored to make capital and money out of exterminating the
"Mormons," and fortunes out of "Mormon" blood, and more or less
difficulty has occurred; but during that period the Saints have been
able to proceed along with their work. They have laid out a hundred
and fifty towns and cities, and have built them up to a greater or
less extent, extending their settlements five hundred miles through
this great desert. They have also been able to hold in check the
savage tribes of Indians and to gain influence over them; and with a
few interruptions, arising from the reckless character and conduct of
transients, have been enabled to maintain towards them a peace
hitherto unknown in any State or Territory in the midst of an Indian
population.

Vol. 14,  p.214
It required faith and energy to settle in such a country. For the
first three years after the settlement commenced hardly any person
dared to eat as much food as his appetite craved; so scarce were
provisions that it was necessary to economize and eke out every little
supply to its greatest possible extent. A great many became
discouraged and disheartened, having the idea that the country could
never he reclaimed; many went away, but generally returned after
awhile, quite surprised at the progress made during their absence. Our
visitors look at our city and say, "What a beautiful place! how did
you find so lovely a place?" I can answer. When we reached here it was
a naked sage plain, bearing very little sage, the land being too poor;
but industry and a wise and careful application of the water to the
soil has produced the vegetation here to be seen. For awhile after we
came hear we could occasionally hear of rejoicing from pulpit and
press that "Joseph Smith, the arch-impostor," as they called him, was
dead, and that, the "Mormons" were driven into the wilderness, where
they would all perish, and they should never hear anything more about
them. Yet it only took a few years for them to discover that this
people were yet alive, and that they were living in the exercise of
their faith, and making themselves felt, known, realized and
understood in the world. Now, inasmuch as God has thus blessed us and
extended to us so many great privileges, it is very important that we
should abide in the faith wherein Christ has made us free, and live in
the exercise of that religion, and not by any means suffer ourselves
to fall into snares, temptation, wickedness or evil. We have every
reason to be thankful to our Heavenly Father for his many blessings.

Vol. 14,  p.214
Our organization as a church differs widely from almost every other.
For instance, almost every denomination has, in its organization, a
plan for the support of a minister—a salaried gentleman. When we
commenced to preach the Gospel to the world without purse or scrip,
without money [p.215] or price, these ministers were generally the
first to raise the hue and cry, to tar and feather, and throw rotten
eggs at us; to drive us from our homes and tear down our habitations;
and in every mob, from the commencement to the close of the
persecutions, were to be found men professing to be ministers of the
Gospel; and although the denominations to which they belonged might
not be disposed to persecute, yet they disgraced them by taking part
in such proceedings. It is said that the men who slew the Savior
believed they did God service, and it is probable that the ministers,
professors of religion and others, who, with blackened faces,
surrounded Carthage jail and murdered, in cold blood, the Prophet and
Patriarch of the Church, Joseph and Hyrum Smith, thought they also
were doing God service, although they were guilty of the most brutal
and disgraceful murders ever perpetrated on the earth.

Vol. 14,  p.215
There is one thing very peculiar in relation to us. I have noticed it
from the fact that I have been a student, to some extent, of the
history of the Puritan fathers who settled in New England. It is very
well known that they escaped from tyranny in their mother country;
they were oppressed there in their religious faith. Their views were
of a different kind to those of the established church; and it was in
consequence of oppression of this kind that they sought a home in the
wilds of America; and in almost every instance, as soon as they had
established a home, they commenced making rules and proscribing
everybody who differed in opinion with themselves. You will notice
this, especially if you read the early history of Massachusetts. The
colonists of that State were very stringent in particular items of
faith and practice, I have always felt a little proud of the noble
heart of my fourth great-grandfather Zaccheus Gould, because he
actually had the courage to keep the Quakers at his farm the very
night after they had been proscribed by the colonial government and
expelled from Salem, and for this and supplying them with the common
necessaries of life and then allowing them to proceed on their way in
the morning, he was fined and compelled to stand up in the church, and
hear his confession read. But I am proud of the feelings and
sentiments of the man that, although a Puritan, he had so much
humanity in him.

Vol. 14,  p.215
I notice, in looking over the history of New England, that our Puritan
fathers lacked an understanding of the power of principle. If a man
preached a sermon that did not please them he must leave the colony;
he could not retire to his farm, lot or inheritance, and there attend
to his own business; no, they would frequently tear down his house,
put him aboard a ship and send him away. Numbers of instances of this
kind are on record; and the sect most noted for its principle of
non-resistance to all men—the Quakers, were whipped and tarred and
feathered, and some of them put to death; and numbers of them were
expelled from the colony, and that, too, by men who, we cannot doubt,
believed in their own hearts, that they acted from good motives. They
did these things from a determination that they would cleanse the
people. Still, after awhile, this feeling wore away.

Vol. 14,  p.215
I notice, from the very commencement of our settlement of these
valleys that there never has been a law enacted or regulation made but
what would affect the interests of all societies and denominations
alike. There have been no special acts on this account. As a matter of
course, persons have been cut off the Church,[p.216] but their civil
rights, and their privileges under the laws have not been in any way
abridged. Had our fathers, in New England, simply disfellowshipped Mr.
Williams as a member of their church, and allowed him to baptize
people by immersion if he choose, it would have been an entirely
different thing from compelling him to leave the colony.

Vol. 14,  p.216
This spirit of intolerance is yielding to the march of enlightenment,
in our own age and day, but still we as a people have suffered
severely from its effects, for that alone compelled us to seek a home
in these deserts. But it is gratifying to reflect that we have not
nourished that spirit of persecution in our hearts, for from the time
that emigrants commenced passing this way up to the present, ministers
of every denomination, men of repute among their own people, have been
called upon and invited, and, whenever they have desired it, have had
the privilege of preaching to our congregations, and have held
meetings and organized churches in our cities without interruption.
These facts are before the world. There are scores of ministers who
have spoken in this stand, many of whom have declared to the public
that they never spoke to so large an audience and never expected to
speak in so large a house in their lives; but when a Latter-day Saint
Elder has called upon them and asked for the privilege of preaching,
their answer has been in effect, "Why, no; I have a right to preach in
a heathen temple, but I cannot open my temple to a heathen!" Such men
dare not trust their congregations to hear the truth, or peradventure,
to hear error. We have had here some of the most eloquent preachers, I
believe, of the present age; and we were delighted that they should
display their eloquence in our midst. And if they have anything better
than we have we want it; and we think it is quite right for the
younger portions of our community, who have not had the privilege of
hearing the religions of the day preached in the world, to hear them
here; and the more of it the better, if they desire it. But the elder
portion of those who profess our faith have generally belonged to or
been associated with different religious denominations; for as our
Elders have preached abroad they have gathered from every bundle and
of every kind; and that portion of our people are as thoroughly
acquainted with all the religions and the religious tenets taught at
the present day as any people can be. But it is not so with the
younger members of our Church, hence when we had a Methodist camp
meeting here, President Young and the Elders gave an invitation to all
the people, and especially to the young, to go and hear the teachings
there given. That was the reason they had such immense congregations.
The camp meeting did not attract the miners; they cared nothing about
it; they had seen and known and learned all they wished about them
long ago. They did not come here to hunt Methodism, but silver and
gold. But our people turned out, especially in the evenings, by
thousands, and heard them speak and formed their own opinions. I have
been at camp meetings in my boyhood, and I did not think the one held
here a fair specimen—not what a camp meeting used to be thirty-five
years ago.

Vol. 14,  p.216
If a faith will not bear to be investigated; if its preachers and
professors are afraid to have it examined, their foundation must be
very weak. Those who come into the Church of Latter-day Saints, if
they are faithful, learn in a short time, and know for themselves. The
Holy Spirit and [p.217] the light of eternal truth rest down upon
them, and you will hear them, here and there, testify that they know
of the doctrine, that they are acquainted with and understand it for
themselves.

Vol. 14,  p.217
There has been a great bawl from the pulpit and the press calling upon
the government of the United States to exert its power to suppress a
practice in the faith of the Latter-day Saints. Now the fact of the
case is, it is out of the power of any government or nation to
regulate religion at the present age; it is a matter that must
regulate itself. You may drive men from their homes, rob them of their
possessions, murder their leaders deprive them of their civil and
religious rights, but you cannot change their opinions by such
arguments; and when men have recourse to them it only signifies that
the foundation upon which their system is based is very weak, and that
their only hope of enforcing their own and suppressing the views of
others is by force. Shame on the low degraded feelings which prompt
such measures. In every land freedom of thought and opinion and the
liberty to preach and practice whatever religion you wish should be
guaranteed and the only method of manifesting disapproval of the
course of others in these respects should be to disfellowship them
from their churches. All should have this privilege. It feels good for
a man to believe as he pleases; and if you undertake to check this, do
not put to death, daub with tar and feathers, or tear down the
dwellings of those who differ from you. Where is the liberty, justice
and uprightness of such a course? I have been through the mill a
little, and understand how it feels.

Vol. 14,  p.217
For my own part, however, I believe that mankind generally are getting
wiser on this subject. Our Puritan fathers never succeeded in forcing
their peculiar views on others, and in time, even among themselves,
everybody could say about what he pleased; or at any rate the
particular points upon which there was the greatest trouble were taken
away. So it will be in the present age.

Vol. 14,  p.217
It is very well understood that, by many of the people, the law of
marriage is regarded as something instituted by God; and that men, in
their laws and regulations on the subject, have undertaken to govern
their fellows too much. Our fathers Abraham and Jacob and many of the
prophets took steps in this matter, which are now denounced by a large
portion of Christendom as very wrong; and yet these very persons, in
their prayers and preachings, claim that they are going to "Abraham's
bosom." I can tell any man that wishes to murder, rob and plunder, and
deprive of liberty a Latter-day Saint because he believes and
practices plurality of wives, that he need never expect to dwell in
"Abraham's besom," for Father Abraham will not cast his wives out to
receive such narrow-minded men. I can further tell them that, if ever
they come to the gates of the New Jerusalem, they will there find the
names of the twelve sons of Jacob; and if they believe with all their
hearts that Jacob and his sons, most of whom were polygamists, were
wicked men, and most of the sons bastards, they had better stay
outside; in fact they will not be permitted to enter. Unless they can
acknowledge these twelve sons as lawful and legitimate sons, in
accordance with the law of God, they will have to stay outside, and
"without are dogs, sorcerers, whoremongers, idolators," and everybody
that loves and makes a lie.

Vol. 14,  p.217
May God enable us, one and all, to be truly prepared to enter through
the gates into the city, is my prayer in the name of Jesus.
Amen.[p.218] 

Brigham Young, July 23, 1871

An Incident of Nauvoo

Remarks By President Brigham Young 
at Logan, Sunday, July 23, 1871.

(Reported by Miss Julia Young)

Vol. 14,  p.218
While brother George A. Smith was referring to the circumstance of
William Miller going to Carthage, it brought to my mind reflections of
the past. Perhaps to relate the circumstance as it occurred would be
interesting.

Vol. 14,  p.218
I do not profess to be much of a joker, but I do think this to be one
of the best jokes ever perpetrated. By the time we were at work in the
Nauvoo Temple, officiating in the ordinances, the mob had learned that
"Mormonism" was not dead, as they had supposed. We had completed the
walls of the Temple, and the attic story from about half way up of the
first windows, in about fifteen months. It went up like magic, and we
commenced officiating in the ordinances. Then the mob commenced to
hunt for other victims; they had already killed the Prophets Joseph
and Hyrum in Carthage jail, while under the pledge of the State for
their safety, and now the wanted Brigham, the President of the Twelve
Apostles, who were then acting as the Presidency of the Church.

Vol. 14,  p.218
I was in my room in the Temple; it was in the south-east corner of the
upper story. I learned that a posse was lurking around the Temple, and
that the United States Marshal was waiting for me to come down,
whereupon. I knelt down and asked my Father in heaven, in the name of
Jesus, to guide and protect me that I might live to prove advantageous
to the Saints. Just as I arose from my knees and sat down in my chair,
there came a rap at my door. I said, "Come in," and brother George D.
Grant, who was then engaged driving my carriage and doing chores for
me, entered the room. Said he, "Brother Young, do you know that a
posse and the United States Marshal are here?" I told him I had heard
so. On entering the room brother Grant left the door open. Nothing
came into my mind what to do, until looking directly across the hall I
saw brother William Miller leaning against the wall. As I stepped
towards the door I beckoned to him; he came. Said I to him, "Brother
William, the Marshal is here for me; will you go and do just as I tell
you? If you will, I will serve them a trick." I knew that brother
Miller was an excellent man, perfectly reliable and capable of
carrying out my project. Said I, "Here, take my cloak;" but it
happened to be brother Heber C. Kimball's; our cloaks were alike in
color, fashion and size. I threw it around his shoulders, and told him
to wear my hat and accompany brother George D. Grant. He did so. I
said to brother Grant, "George, you step into the carriage and look
towards brother Miller, and say to him, as though you were addressing
me, 'Are you ready to ride?' You can do this, and they will suppose
[p.219] brother Miller to be me, and proceed accordingly," which they
did.

Vol. 14,  p.219
Just as brother Miller was entering the carriage, the Marshal stepped
up to him, and, placing his hand upon his shoulder, said, "You are my
prisoner." Brother William entered the carriage and said to the
Marshal, "I am going to the Mansion House, wont you ride with me?"
They both went to the Mansion House. There were my sons Joseph A.,
Brigham, jun., and brother Heber C. Kimball's boys, and others who
were looking on, and all seemed at once to understand and partake of
the joke. They followed the carriage to the Mansion House and gathered
around brother Miller, with tears in their eyes, saying, "Father, or
President Young, where are you going?" Brother Miller looked at them
kindly, but made no reply; and the Marshal really thought he had got
"Brother Brigham."

Vol. 14,  p.219
Lawyer Edmonds, who was then staying at the Mansion House,
appreciating the joke, volunteered to brother Miller to go to Carthage
with him and see him safe through. When they arrived within two or
three miles of Carthage, the Marshal with his posse stopped. They
arose in their carriages, buggies and waggons, and, like a tribe of
Indians going into battle, or as if they were a pack of demons,
yelling and shouting, they exclaimed, "We've got him! we've got him!
we've got him!" When they reached Carthage the Marshal took the
supposed Brigham into an upper room of the hotel, and placed a guard
over him, at the same time telling those around that he had got him.
Brother Miller remained in the room until they bid him come to supper.
While there, parties came in, one after the other, and asked for
Brigham. Brother Miller was pointed out to them. So it continued,
until an apostate Mormon, by the name of Thatcher, who had lived in
Nauvoo, came in, sat down and asked the landlord where Brigham Young
was. The landlord, pointing across the table to brother Miller, said,
"That is Mr. Young." Thatcher replied, "Where? I can't see any one
that looks like Brigham." the landlord told him it was that fat,
fleshy man eating.  "Oh, hell!" exclaimed Thatcher, "that's not
Brigham; that is William Miller, one of my old neighbors." Upon
hearing this the landlord went, and, tapping the Sheriff on the
shoulder, took him a few steps to one side, and said, "You have made a
mistake, that is not Brigham Young; it is William Miller, of Nauvoo."
The Marshal, very much astonished, exclaimed, "Good heavens! and he
passed for Brigham." He then took brother Miller into a room, and,
turning to him, said, "What in hell is the reason you did not tell me
your name?" Brother Miller replied, "You have not asked me my name."
"Well," said the Sheriff, with another oath, "What is your name?" "My
name," he replied, "is William Miller." Said the Marshal, "I thought
your name was Brigham Young. Do you say this for a fact?" "Certainly I
do," said brother Miller. "Then," said the Marshal, "why did you not
tell me this before?" "I was under no obligations to tell you,"
replied brother Miller, "as you did not ask me." Then the Marshal, in
a rage, walked out of the room, followed by brother Miller, who walked
off in company with Lawyer Edmonds, Sheriff Barkenstos, and others,
who took him across lots to a place of safety; and this is the real
pith of the story of "Bogus" Brigham, as far as I can
recollect.[p.220] 

Brigham Young, August 27, 1871

Missionaries—the Influence of Mothers

Remarks By President Brigham Young, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, August 27, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.220
I have a few words of counsel for the returned missionaries, and all
the Elders of Israel may heed them if they feel disposed to. You hear
the Elders, when they return and get up in the stand, tell what happy
days they have experienced on their missions; how they have enjoyed
themselves, the Spirit of the Lord has rested upon them, how they have
spoken to their own astonishment, words have been given them that
never entered their hearts before, and when they have lifted up their
voices in the name of the Lord to testify of the Gospel of the Son of
God they have astonished themselves, and so on; you know what they
say! Now, I wish to make this request: that the Elders who return from
missions consider themselves just as much on a mission here as in
England or in any other part of the world. There is no people need
preaching to more than those who live in this Territory and in these
mountains. The Latter-day Saints, or those who profess to be, need
talking to just as much as a child who begins to prattle and run
around the house. It gets into mischief continually and its mother has
to keep talking to it to keep it from meddling with things that it
should not. It does not know how to guide itself, and wants guiding
and correcting all the time; but not more than the Latter-day Saints
who gather together. Now, Elders of Israel, if you have the harness
on, keep it on and lift up your voices to the people here and teach
them the way of life and salvation; and teach obedience to the
Priesthood, that they may receive the blessings which are promised to
them who believe and obey the Gospel as it is revealed in the latter
days. Will you hearken to this counsel, my brethren? I have not the
least objection to the sisters considering themselves on missions to
teach their children the way of life and salvation.

Vol. 14,  p.220
I feel like saying a few words about seeing so many empty benches
here; but there is some excuse for this, for if you were to take this
congregation, small as it seems, and try to put it into the common
halls where our brethren have preached, you would find a portion of it
out of doors; and very few meeting houses in the eastern country would
hold the people who are here this morning. Still there could be a
great many more here. It is true that many attend Sunday school with
the children in the morning, but if children who do not attend school
were to receive proper teaching from their mothers, they would be at
meeting on Sunday morning. Mothers, will you be missionaries? We will
appoint you a mission to teach your children their duty; and instead
of ruffles and fine [p.221] dresses to adorn the body, teach them that
which will adorn their minds. Let what you have to clothe them with be
neat and clean and nice. Teach them cleanness and purity of body and
the principles of salvation, and they will delight to come to these
meetings. I attribute the wandering of our young people to the
teachings of their mothers. You see young ladies here wandering after
the fashions of the world; I attribute it to their mothers, and the
mothers know but little more than their daughters. If you will take
this counsel, and begin and teach your children as you should, we will
have more here of a morning than we have generally. There are a great
many people in this city who should attend meeting on a Sunday
morning—enough to fill this house, besides those who go to Sunday
school. When they were in the lands where they were hated and the
finger of scorn was pointed at them, they delighted only in the
society of their brethren; and when they had an opportunity to escape
from their arduous labors, they would travel day or night to meet with
the Saints. But here everything is so free, so easy and delightful,
that they are here, there and everywhere but where they should be. A
few Latter-day Saints, however—and I think the majority of them, are
doing the best they know how. But our brethren, when they return from
their missions, complain at what they see, and I do not wonder. Will
you, Brother Dewey, set the example and come to meeting every Sunday?
or shall I, in a few Sundays, hear that you are gone on a pleasure
excursion, that you are riding out here or there? How will it be with
Brother Shipp and others who have been speaking? How long will it be
before we hear that you have gone on the railroad to Wasatch or
somewhere else on a pleasure excursion, or to your farm or to visit
your brethren? There is one thing that we have to meet with here. In
our community we have a few from the Society of Friends; we commonly
call them Quakers. As far as I have known them, and I have known them
as long as I can remember, if they do not work or visit on the
Sabbath, they will mourn the whole week. They are so free and
independent that they want to show the whole human family that they
have no more regard for one day than another, and especially the
Sabbath day. We have to meet with this influence here as well as other
things; and unless our Quaker friends who come into the Church are
continually led they will never come to meeting; they are sure to be
fishing, going after hay or hunting their cattle; and these practices
have their influence on others.

Vol. 14,  p.221
I wish to say to the Elders and mothers in Israel: teach your children
as they should be taught and you will find they will never stray from
the path of rectitude. There is more depending upon mothers than is
generally supposed. You may take any nation in the world, and just let
the mothers say there should not be a soldier in the army, and kings
might call for soldiers, but they would be disappointed if they
expected to obtain any. Mothers bear more influence in the nations of
the earth than they are aware of. Take my counsel, and teach your
children how to live, teach them to pray, to come to meeting; teach
them to love the Lord and to believe and read the Bible, and when they
grow up they will delight in doing right.

Vol. 14,  p.221
As for the so-called Christian world, all I wish to say about it I can
say in a few words. Yesterday, when talking about the priests, I
discovered there was considerable humor in our beloved [p.222] brother
who has been speaking to us this morning, and I joked him; and I will
joke him again a little more severely, by telling a little anecdote of
Sir Francis Train; you have all heard of George Francis Train, I call
him "Sir" Francis. He says, in speaking of a certain dignitary, "Just
sit down and tell me all you know in five minutes!" I make that
application to all the so-called Christian divines—sit down and tell
all you know about God, heaven and hell in five minutes; you can do
it, it does not require any more time, for you know nothing. They say
they believe the Bible; but if, when they open and read it, any one of
them can discriminate, and tell what part to believe and what to
reject, let that man come forth, speak by the power of God and draw
the line that we may know the truth; but if they have no revelation on
the subject, let them lay their hands on their mouths, and them in the
dust, and cry, "unclean!" So much for the so-called Christian world.
As I said to our brother yesterday, I have been routed from a good
home and plenty of means five times; but I never was routed from home
and possessions without priests led the mob, never! And yet among the
priests of the day there are a great many good, honest men. But in
most of the communities in the world, those who are unruly, boisterous
and wicked, can commit acts of wickedness, and those who are just will
stand and look on until the evil is performed and wonder what is going
on. There are thousands and thousands of people in the United States
who deprecated the injuries that we received from the hands of mobs;
but what did they do? Stood and looked on until all was over, and then
said, "I pity them." How much did they pity us? We had to pity and
take care of ourselves, and we have learned to do it; but we do not
say that all people are mobbers, or that all will persecute, for they
will not; and I meet with a great many ministers who are gentlemen,
who have hearts within them, and I bid them God speed! Do what good
you can.

Vol. 14,  p.222
How often I have talked about the missionary system of Christendom! It
is true that we do not believe in it exactly as they do, for we
believe in sending out men without purse or scrip, that they may prove
the people and see who will or will not feed a servant of God; and in
this manner our Elders have traversed almost every nation on the face
of the globe. But these Christian Missionary Societies have done an
immense amount of good, and they will have the credit for it. God has
got their credit marks, and he will justify them as far as they go;
but when light comes into the world that they have not conceived of,
and they reject it, what will be their condemnation? Let the Lord
judge.

Vol. 14,  p.222
Now, you Elders of Israel, I turn to you again—you missionaries. I see
a few of you here who have just returned home, but a good many are
wanting. There are places here for all, but they are not here. They
have been home a few weeks and what are they doing? Visiting with
their families, or perhaps gone to the kanyon after wood; and those
who have just come home complain of the coldness of the people and
that many are turning away from the commandments of the Lord. I say to
those who complain of these things—see that you do not do likewise!
Come to meeting and be ready to talk here. Our religion, our Gospel,
is not to train a few men in all the sophistry that learning can
impart, and enable them to address a congregation and nothing else;
but our ministers or [p.223] preachers work all the week in the store,
at the mechanic's bench, on the farm, in the kanyon, or at whatever is
wanted to be done, and when Sunday morning comes they get, up here and
preach a sermon; and if they cannot do that, we consider they do not
possess the spirit of their mission. It is not so with the world. Our
Elders must support themselves with their hands, as Paul did. I do not
care whether they are tent makers or boat makers, let them earn their
own living. I have. For my part, I consider that the honor God
bestowed upon me in calling me to the holy ministry was enough for me
to think it was my duty to support myself in this ministry and do
honor to the cause, without asking any people for help. I have done
so. I did, I believe, have a few shillings given to me when in
England. When I landed there I had five shillings left. I stayed there
a year and sixteen days, and when we left one of the best ships in
Liverpool docks tied up eight days for the sake of bringing us home;
and merchants and banking houses were at our service. I did business
there in printing and dealing, and so on; but it did not tarnish my
hands, nor stain my spirit, not in the least, and it would not to-day.
We must live, and we must sustain ourselves, and come to meeting, and
be ready also to attend ward meetings. Do not come and ask me if you
may go to preach, pray or lay hands on the sick. Ask God to give you
faith to perform your duties, to walk humbly before him, and to build
up his kingdom on the earth. That is your duty. Yes, preach every
night, we need a reformation here. Attend meetings in the various
wards. Take your turns around from one ward to another. Preach to the
people until they get the spirit of their mission and calling. We all
have a mission as much at home as in a foreign land, and may Clod help
us to improve upon and magnify it!

Brigham Young, August 17, 1871

Temperance

Remarks By President Brigham Young, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, August 27, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.223
First of all, I will inform this congregation and the world of mankind
at large with regard to the life and character of Joseph Smith. As a
prophet it only requires age to make his character as sacred as that
of any man that ever lived on the face of the earth. I want to say a
few words with regard to temperance. We are a temperate people; this
is what we [p.224] have set out to be. We have lived in this city a
good many years, and, until recently, when a stranger arrived here and
wanted to purchase liquor, he had to inquire, "Where can I find a
place where they sell liquor?" It was not to be found; and I will say
that such places would not be found to-day among this people or in
these mountains were it not for the urgent request of outsiders. We
have to bow down to the wishes and customs of our fellow-men. There
are a great many men here now in the mining interests, and they want
to put up where they can purchase liquor, for many of them drink. As
for the temperance societies which we have been hearing about, I can
say that with all the stringency in getting laws passed to prevent the
sale or use of liquor in the Eastern States, when those who were
determined to obtain it could do so in no other way, they would get
what appeared to be a beautifully bound book, with "Pilgrim's
Progress" on the outside, but in the inside it would be full of
whiskey. As for our saying that the inhabitants of the earth shall
stop using ardent, spirits, we may say it, but they will not mind us.
As far as the Latter-day Saints are concerned, we have rights, others
have rights—all have rights; and I would to God that what our enemies
say, with regard to the word of Brigham Young being law to the
Latter-day Saints, was true; but it is not.

Vol. 14,  p.224
General Riley has been talking to us about temperance societies; the
principles he advocates are excellent, first-rate. More than
fifty-five years ago, in the same county where he lived, I was asked
to sign a pledge. This was when I was a boy. He is about five years my
senior. We are acquainted with the same people, towns, counties,
neighborhoods and districts, and we have traveled the roads, and built
up the towns and were acquainted in the country, and we know and
understand its character at the present time.

Vol. 14,  p.224
Some people here take the liberty to sell and dispose of their liquor
without license from the city. We have a city here—an organized city;
we have our municipal laws; we have officers for this city appointed
by the legislative power and enactments of this Territory; and we have
somebody or other here, who say, "You have no law here only what we
give you, and you shall know that we are the law to this people!" And
are not our city officers under bonds of some sixty thousand dollars
in the aggregate for spoiling a nasty place carried on contrary to
law? Yes, they are, and held to bail by government officers. Well,
what do we care about it? Nothing. That goes to a higher court, with a
great many other matters. They will go to a court, I hope, of justice.

Vol. 14,  p.224
But we keep liquor here; we are obliged to do it to accommodate our
neighbors who come here; and some Latter-day Saints take the liberty
of drinking. As far as these are concerned they have a right to get
drunk; but we have rights, and have a right to disfellowship them, or
cut them off from the Church, and we calculate to do it whenever it
ought to be done. We have been found fault with because we cut people
off from the Church! What do you suppose the so-called Christian world
care about our Church? Nothing on the face of the earth only to
annihilate it. That is all they care for us, poor sinners, in the
mountains. What do they care about our selling liquor? Nothing, if it
will only lead our young men to destruction. That is what they want.
Men are sent here, ostensibly, to guard the rights of the people, but
in reality to destroy the people. What [p.225] was the counsel and
advice of Mr. Cass when the army of King James came here in 1857? Said
he, "Send an army of young men to Utah to decoy and destroy the young
women there, and that will break up 'Mormonism.'" There are men here
now who seem to think that it is their imperative duty to sustain, at
all hazards, everybody in all acts which are opposed to the Gospel.

Vol. 14,  p.225
General Riley has been preaching temperance to the Latter-day Saints.
I do wish they would observe it. And I will go a little further and
say, I would like to see them leave off, not only all intoxicating
drinks, but those narcotic drinks—tea and coffee, and the men their
tobacco. Our lecturer, I believe, observes all these things. Look at
him; if it was not for his grey head you would not suppose him to be
over thirty-five years old; and I expect he could run a pretty good
foot race. What has done this? Temperance. What has preserved me?
Temperance. I was a young man in the same county with him, and young
men would say to me, "Take a glass." "No, thank you, it is not good
for me!" "Why, yes, it is good for you." Thank you, I think I know
myself better than you know me." Even then I said, "I do not need to
sign the temperance pledge." I recollect my father urged me. "No,
sir," said I, "if I sign the temperance pledge I feel that I am bound,
and I wish to do just right, without being bound to do it; I want my
liberty;" and I have conceived from my youth up that I could have my
liberty and independence just as much in doing right as I could in
doing wrong. What do you say? Is this correct? Am I not a free man,
have not I the power to choose, is not my volition as free as the air
I breathe? Certainly it is, just as much in doing right as in doing
wrong; consequently I wish to act upon my own volition, and do what I
ought to do. I have lived a temperate life; I feel as though I could
run through a troop and leap over a wall.

Vol. 14,  p.225
Shall we preach to the Latter-day Saints? Yes. I thank the gentleman
for his good counsel to you, Latter-day Saints. Observe it; and I say
to strangers, I do wish you would observe it. I wish you would say to
us, "Down with the grogshops!" If the strangers who come here to hunt
minerals; those who are working them; those who are poor and those who
are rich, and all classes, if they would say, "Down with the
grogshops," the thing would be soon done. Talking, I understand from
the General, has an influence among the people, in helping to form
public opinion. This is true; and if by talking we can turn the tide
of the feelings of those who visit us, so that they will be in favor
of the City Council passing an ordinance for closing drinking holes,
they would soon be closed. We can say that we are not bowing down to
the wishes of any person in the world any further than it is true
policy to let every person have his rights. We can stop this drinking
and shut up these grog-shops here. I do not go down the streets to see
them, and never have from the time the filth came into the streets. I
did when the Latter-day Saints traded one with another in their
stores, and there was no liquor, no swearing or low conduct, but every
person meeting with and hailing his neighbor like a friend and
brother; but for twelve years not a man or woman in this room has seen
me walk down through what I call "Whisky-street." My eyes do not wish
to see it. I never wish to hear another oath, or to see another evil
action performed, for it is just as much as the people can do to
revolutionize [p.226] their own feelings and to overcome the evil
within themselves without having to come in contact with the evils of
others.

Vol. 14,  p.226
I will say with regard to the so-called Christian world, and the moral
reform of which they talk so much, that they are an utter failure, so
far as stemming the tide of evil among men is concerned; and if this
Gospel that Jesus has revealed in the latter days does not do it, it
will not be done. But we say it will be done. We shall continue our
course, praying the Father in heaven to assist us in preaching the
principles of righteousness, and we shall drive the wedge a little
further and a little further, and by and by the world will be
overturned according to the words of the prophet, and we will see the
reign of righteousness enter in, and sin and iniquity will have to
walk off. But the power and principles of evil, if they can be called
principles, will never yield one particle to the righteous march of
the Savior, only as they are beaten back inch by inch, and we have got
to take the ground by force. Yes, by the mental force of faith, and by
good works, the march forth of the Gospel will increase, spread, grow
and prosper, until the nations of the earth will feel that Jesus has
the right to rule King of nations as he does King of Saints. We are in
this work, and we calculate to pursue it too; and we are not the least
afraid. As I have told my brethren and sisters a thousand times, I
have but one fear, and that is that the Latter-day Saints will not do
just right. There is no fear in the life of the man or woman who will
serve God with all his heart, keep His commandments, love mercy,
eschew evil and promote the principles of right and righteousness upon
the earth. Is this so? Yes, and I bear testimony to it.

Vol. 14,  p.226
I will turn again to the Latter-day Saints and to the world, and will
say I would to God that the Latter-day Saints would take the word of
Brigham Young to be law! I will defy the inhabitants of the whole
earth to tell one word that he ever counseled that was wrong; or to
point out a path that he ever advised man or woman to walk in but
would lead to light, life, glory, immortality, and to all that is good
or desirable by the intelligence that dwells upon the earth. What do
you say, is that boasting? If any person has a mind to call it
boasting, do so. It is righteousness that we want, it is purity and
holiness that we are after. We are preaching to the people far and
near; our Elders are traveling through the earth; strangers are coming
here, and we are declaring to them that the Gospel of the Son of God
is true. Whether they believe or not, it is no matter. That book (the
Bible)contains the words of the Almighty, and I will repeat a few of
them. Jesus says, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." What do you
say, hearers, is that correct? I look at the Christian world, and I
say that the Lord Almighty must set up His kingdom, just as Daniel has
said; and all the ordinances of that kingdom must be observed by its
inhabitants, or it cannot go forth, be established and bring in the
reign of Christ on the earth. The few words of Jesus which I have
repeated, you can read for yourselves. We had some read this
afternoon; and we can turn over the pages of the Bible and read for
ourselves; but do not take one passage and say, "That is mine, but I
will abandon all the rest, it is out of date." No, sir, take the Bible
just as it reads; and if it be translated incorrectly, and there is a
scholar on the earth who professes to be a Christian, and he can
translate it any better than King [p.227] James's translators did it,
he is under obligation to do so, or the curse is upon him. If I
understood Greek and Hebrew as some may profess to do, and I knew the
Bible was not correctly translated, I should feel myself bound by the
law of justice to the inhabitants of the earth to translate that which
is incorrect and give it just as it was spoken anciently. Is that
proper? Yes, I would be under obligation to do it. But I think it is
translated just as correctly as the scholars could get it, although it
is not correct in a great many instances. But it is no matter about
that. Read it and observe it and it will not hurt any person in the
world. If we are not to believe the whole of the Bible, let the man,
whoever he may be, among the professed Christians, who thinks he
knows, draw the line between the true and the false, so that the whole
sectarian world may be able to take the right and leave the wrong. But
the man Christ Jesus, who has revealed himself in the latter days,
says the Bible is true and the people must believe it. Let us believe
it, and then obey it; for Jesus says, "If ye love me, keep my
commandments." I do not know anything about loving God and not keeping
His commandments. I do not know anything about coming to Jesus only by
the law he has instituted. I do know about that. I know of the bright
promises which he gave to his disciples anciently. I live in the
possession of them, and glory in them and in the cross of Christ, and
in the beauty and holiness that he has revealed for the salvation and
exaltation of the children of men. I do wish we would live to them,
and may the Lord help us.

Brigham Young, September 16, 1871

Our Present Life—the Spirit World

Remarks By President Brigham Young, at the Funeral 
Services of Miss Aurelia Spencer, in the 13th 
Ward Assembly Rooms, Sept. 16, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.227
There has been considerable said, and well said, with regard to our
existence, and I will say this: As for the Gospel of the Son of God,
it is here; as for the Priesthood, it is here; as for the keys of
Priesthood, they are here and are enjoyed by this people called
Latter-day Saints. A few words to my friends. To preach or talk to the
dead I have never undertaken to; I talk to the living on such
occasions as this. We are assembled this morning to pay our last
respects to the remains of a beloved sister, and we meet here with
cheerfulness. It is not quite three years since we met in this room to
pay our respects to the remains of [p.228] this young lady's father.
She has now gone to try the realities of another existence—to another
department of the life and the lives that God has bestowed upon His
children. This life is preparatory to a more exalted state of
existence. We have a certain amount of intelligence here, but in the
life to come we shall have more. We see the life and growth of the
human family, and to those ignorant of the object of our creation, the
process presents a very strange phenomenon; but to those who do
understand, it is rational, plain and easy to be understood, and in
fact they see it is necessary that it should be just as it is. You
step into a room and you perhaps see a mother attending a sick child
of a few weeks or months old; and helpless and totally dependent upon
others as the infant is, it is no more so than we all have been, for
every member of the human family passes through the same process that
we behold day after day in our own houses and in the houses of our
neighbors. An infant, if sick, cannot tell what ails it, cannot make
any signs whatever to tell what is the matter or what remedy is
necessary in its case. But it grows, and as it does so it increases in
intelligence; it learns to talk and can say, "My head aches," "My eye
pains me," "I have hurt my hand and it pains me," "I want a drink of
water," or "I want something to eat," and it goes on step by step, and
thus we see the growth and development of the whole human family
illustrated through its various stages from infancy to youth, manhood
and old age, until we finally drop back again to mother earth, from
whence we came. it not remarkable? We have all travelled the same road
to get here, and we shall all travel the same road to leave this
department to get into another one.

Vol. 14,  p.228
What are we here for? To learn to enjoy more, and to increase in
knowledge and in experience. We behold the starry heavens, but we know
nothing of them comparatively. We behold space, but cannot comprehend
it. We have an existence here on the earth, but the generality of
mankind do not comprehend the nature or object of it. We, the
Latter-day Saints, however, have a little smattering of knowledge
respecting the design of our Creator in placing us here. It had been
observed that we are in ignorance, and so we are with regard to many
things, and especially about the future. It is not wisdom for us to
understand the future, unless upon certain principles. Those
principles are divine, and when we understand the future and eternity
upon divine and holy principles, we are satisfied with our own
existence, for we understand the object of it. But take the human
family, the great mass of human beings who swarm in creation, and
convince them that their state would be better when they step from
this to the next world, and let them have no knowledge beyond this and
the crime of self-destruction, which has been mentioned here to-day,
would be far more prevalent than it is now, especially among the
wicked. How many there are who say, "I wish I was better off, for I am
in a sad condition!" Is this the case with most of the human family?
It is, and the majority say in their hearts, if not with their
tongues, "I wish I was in different circumstances; I am poor, I am
afflicted, I am sorrowful, I am without friends and home, and am here
on the earth like a lost one and know not what to do;" and make them
understand that their condition would be so much better when they pass
the veil and many of them would be guilty of self-destruction. The
Lord has, therefore, wisely [p.229] hidden the future from our view.

Vol. 14,  p.229
The Latter-day Saints have some knowledge respecting their future
lives and destiny; the Lord has revealed this knowledge. We know the
design of our Father in heaven in creating the earth and in peopling
it, and bringing forth the myriads of organizations which dwell upon
it. We know that all this is for His glory—to swell the eternities
that are before Him with intelligent beings who are capable of
enjoying the height of glory. But, before we can come in possession of
this, we need large experience, and its acquisition is a slow process.
Our lives here are for the purpose of acquiring this, and the longer
we live the greater it should be. For instance, the experience of a
person like our deceased sister here, of twenty or twenty-one years of
age, although she knew a good deal, is not equal to that of a person
of fifty, sixty, seventy or eighty years of age; but now she has
stepped through the door—the partition separating this from the next
state of existence, she will continue to labor just as much as she has
done the last year or the last five years. Nothing remains here for us
but to pay our last respects to that which came from mother earth. It
was formed and fashioned and the spirit was put into it, and it has
grown and become what it is, and the spirit having departed, the body
lies ready to return to the bosom of its mother, there to rest until
the morning of the resurrection. But the life and intelligence which
once dwelt in that body still live, and Sister Aurelia moves, talks,
walks, enjoys and beholds that which we cannot enjoy and behold while
we are in these tabernacles of clay. She is in glory; she has passed
the ordeals and has reached a position in which the power of Satan has
no influence upon her. The advantage of this Priesthood that Brother
George A. Smith has been talking about is that when persons yield
obedience to it, they secure to themselves the sanction of Him who is
its author, and who has bestowed it upon the children of men. His
power is around them and defends them; and when they pass into the
spirit world they are out of the reach of the power of Satan, and they
are not liable to be tempted, hunted, and chased as the wicked are,
although the wicked may rest and enjoy far more there than here; but a
person who obeys the Priesthood of the Son of God is entirely free
from this. Where the pure in heart are the wicked cannot come. This is
the state of the spirit world.

Vol. 14,  p.229
I will say to Sister Spencer and the relatives and friends of the
deceased—Do not wish her back again. I do not suppose you do; and I
will say, further, that if you could talk with her, and she with you,
as you could a short time since, you could not prevail upon her to
come back, if she had the power to do so. You might say to her, "You
have not finished your work, you might do a great deal for your dead
relatives," but her reply would be to this effect: "There are plenty
on the earth, if they will believe, to perform all the ordinances
necessary." "Well, but you have not entered upon your womanhood, and
have not become a mother in Israel." "No matter, I see, understand,
and know what is before me, and the time will come when, inasmuch as I
was faithful to the Priesthood, I shall possess and enjoy all that I
now seem to have been deprived of by my death." This is a consolation,
is it not?

Vol. 14,  p.229
I have asked the people of the world sometimes what will become of the
infants who die. Take the masses of the human family, and I do not
think that any rational person amongst [p.230] them will, for a
moment, admit that they will go to a place of punishment. But whatever
opinions may prevail on this subject, the fact is they return to the
Father, as Jesus says, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and
forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven." Yes, the
children must return to the Father: they came from and were nursed and
cherished by Him and the heavenly host, and when they are called to
pass the ordeal of death, they go right back into His presence. But
what of the ungodly parents of the tabernacles of these children, will
they have the privilege of going there? No, where God and Christ are
they cannot come. Perhaps some of them may have had an offer of the
Gospel and rejected it, then what will become of the children? They
swarm in the Courts of Heaven; there are myriads and myriads of them
there already, and more are going continually. What are you going to
do with them? Perhaps I might say somebody will have the privilege of
saying to our young sisters who have died in the faith, "I design so
many of these children for you, and so many for you, and they are
given you by the law of adoption, and they are yours just as much as
though you had borne them on the earth, and your seed shall continue
through them for ever and ever." It may be thought by some that when
young persons die they will be cut short of the privileges and
blessings God designs for His children; but this is not so. The
faithful will never miss a blessing through being cut off while here.
And let me say to my brethren and sisters, that it is not the design
of the Father that the earthly career of any should terminate until
they have lived out their days; and the reason that so few do live out
their days, is because of the force of sin in the world and the power
of death over the human family. To these causes, and not to the design
of the Creator, may be attributed the fact that disease stalks abroad,
laying low the aged, middle-aged, youth, and infants, and the human
family generally by millions. Some think that not one-half of those
born live to the age of twelve years; others think that one-half die
before reaching fifteen or seventeen years; but, be that as it may, it
is not the design of our Father in heaven that it should be so.
However, here we are, and we have to meet with these obstacles, and if
we are not able to overcome them we have to yield, and this is why we
lose our children, our young men and women, and those near and dear to
us. We do not know what to do for the sick, and if we send for a
doctor he does not know any more than anybody else. No person knows
what to do for the sick without revelation. Doctors, by their study of
the science of anatomy, and by their experience, by feeling the pulse,
and from other circumstances may be able to judge of many things, but
they do not know the exact state of the stomach. And again, the
operations of disease are alike on no two persons on the face of the
earth, any more than the operations of the spirit of God are alike on
any two persons. There is as much variation in these respects as there
is in the physiognomy of the human family; hence, when disease seizes
our systems, we do not know what to do, and death often overcomes us,
and we bury our friends. This is hard for us, but what of it? We will
follow them, they will not come back to us. The time will come when
they will come back, but that will be when Jesus comes. We shall be
with them then; but we shall perhaps sleep in the dust long before
[p.231] that time, that is, many of us. Perhaps some in this house
will live until Jesus and the Saints come, but I expect to sleep. I
have no promise of living until then. I can say with regard to parting
with our friends, and going ourselves, that I have been near enough to
understand eternity so that I have had to exercise a great deal more
faith to desire to live than I ever exercised in my whole life to
live. The brightness and glory of the next apartment is inexpressible.
It is not encumbered with this clog of dirt we are carrying around
here so that when we advance in years we have to be stubbing along and
to be careful lest we fall down. We see our youth, even, frequently
stubbing their toes and falling down. But yonder, how different! They
move with ease and like lightning. If we want to visit Jerusalem, or,
this, that, or the other place—and I presume we will be permitted if
we desire—there we are, looking at its streets. If we want to behold
Jerusalem as it was in the days of the Savior; or if we want to see
the Garden of Eden as it was when created, there we are, and we see it
as it existed spiritually, for it was created first spiritually and
then temporally, and spiritually it still remains. And when there we
may behold the earth as at the dawn of creation, or we may visit any
city we please that exists upon its surface. If we wish to understand
how they are living here on these western islands, or in China, we are
there; in fact, we are like the light of the morning, or, I will not
say the electric fluid, but its operations on the wires. God has
revealed some little things with regard to His movements and power,
and the operation and motion of the lightning furnish a fine
illustration of the ability and power of the Almighty. If you could
stretch a wire from this room around the world until the two ends
nearly met here again, and were to apply a battery to one end, if the
electrical conditions were perfect, the effect of the touch would pass
with such, inconceivable velocity that it would be felt at the other
end of the wire at the same moment. This is what the faithful Saints
are coming to; they will possess this power, and if they wish to visit
different planets, they will be there. If the Lord wish to visit His
children here, He is here; if He wish to send one of His angels to the
earth to speak to some of His children, he is here.

Vol. 14,  p.231
When we pass into the spirit world we shall possess a measure of this
power; not to that degree that we will when resurrected and brought
forth in the fullness of glory to inherit the kingdoms prepared for
us. The power the faithful will possess rhea will far exceed that of
the spirit world; but that enjoyed in the spirit world is so far
beyond this life as to be inconceivable without the Spirit of
revelation. Here, we are continually troubled with ills and ailments
of various kinds, and our ears are saluted with the expressions, "My
head aches," "My shoulders ache," "My back aches," "I am hungry, dry,
or tired;" but in the spirit world we are free from all this and enjoy
life, glory, and intelligence; and we have the Father to speak to us,
Jesus to speak to us, and angels to speak to us, and we shall enjoy
the society of the just and the pure who are in the spirit world until
the resurrection.

Vol. 14,  p.231
I will say to Sister Spencer and to the relatives and friends of the
deceded, Dry up your tears, live your religion; we have nothing to
sorrow for here without it is for sinful conduct. I say also to my
young brothers and sisters, live your religion, and try to fill up the
measure of your creation in usefulness; you [p.232] have a work to do
to prepare for a more exalted sphere than this. Outsiders have a great
deal to say about the trials of our females. Are the trials of our
females to compare with the sorrows that the wicked world have to pass
through? Not by any means. Their sorrow and grief are unto death. Our
trials are to make us perfect and to prepare us for the reward of the
just. Is there a female here that has had a glimpse of even the
glories of the next world. If there is, she rejoices in the labor of
love in this world to do good and prepare for her exaltation.

Vol. 14,  p.232
She does not know but she may be there to-morrow morning. We have no
lease to our lives. Who knows but some one of us will meet with an
accident going from this house and will be in eternity in half an hour
from this time? This life is given to prepare for the next. You will
not drop off there as here: you will stay there, except those who are
destroyed by the second death. Well, then, what is this world? I am
sorry to see any one so enveloped in ignorance as to see nothing else
but the enjoyment of this world, or to hear them say, "Oh this is all
that I can ask for, I want my riches and finery that I may enjoy the
society of the rich and gay, and I want to lavish upon myself and
family all that heart can wish." The whole wicked world is in this
condition of mind, no matter who they are, from kings, queens, and
emperors on their thrones down to the laborer in his humble cot; but
true happiness is unknown amongst them. They do not enjoy themselves,
and all their pleasures leave a pang or sting behind. The rich and
great may pass a few hours in visiting their friends, or they may glut
themselves with the luxury of the earth, but all this leaves a sting
behind. The humble, faithful Saints care not for this. They know this
earth is not their permanent abiding place, and when they look forward
to eternity, the prospect is bright and glorious. "Yes, there is my
home, there is my family, there are my friends, there is my heaven,
there is my Father, and I am going to dwell with Him to all eternity."
These are the hopes and aspirations of every heart, and the
expressions of every faithful Saint; and they will learn more and more
and be exalted from one degree of glory to another until they become
Gods, even the sons of God. Then what is this earth in its present
condition? Nothing but a place in which we may learn the first lesson
towards exaltation, and that is obedience to the Gospel of the Son of
God.

Vol. 14,  p.233
God bless you, my friends.[p.233] 

Orson Pratt, August 20, 1871

The Redemption of the Earth—Pre-Existence—Marriage

Discourse By Elder Orson Pratt, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday, August 20, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.233
I will read a few sayings of our Savior, recorded in the second, and
third verses of the 14th chapter of the Gospel according to St. John:

Vol. 14,  p.233
"In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would
have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."

Vol. 14,  p.233
"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and
receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

Vol. 14,  p.233
It is not very customary for the Latter-day Saints to select a text
and to confine their remarks to the subject matter thereof; yet I do
not know that there is any particular harm in doing so, provided we do
not limit the operations of the Spirit of God upon ourselves. It is my
most earnest desire, when addressing a public assembly, to understand
the mind and will of God in relation to what should be said to them.
No man, by his own wisdom, understands the wants of his
fellow-creatures in all respects, but the Spirit of the Most High
understands the circumstances of all the people, and that spirit,
having all power and wisdom, is capable of moving upon the hearts of
His servants to speak in the very moment what is most adapted to the
condition of the people.

Vol. 14,  p.233
I listened with great interest this forenoon to the many subjects
which were briefly touched upon by Elders Woodruff and Smith, one of
which, in a particular manner, seemed to rest with considerable
bearing upon my mind: that was the condition of mankind in a future
state, and the principalities, powers, glories, dominions, and
exaltations that will be enjoyed by the true Saints. This is a subject
of special interest to the Latter-day Saints, and we should look
forward with feelings of great joy in anticipation of the future, and
we should understand what is necessary for us to do in this short
life, to secure the great blessings promised to the faithful
hereafter. Jesus, in the passage I have read, has informed the world
that there are many mansions in his Father's house. This, however, was
not spoken especially to the world, but to the Apostles and Disciples
who were gathered around him. The Father's house! There is a great
deal comprehended in these words. Where is it, and what kind of a
house may we conclude it to be? Are we to understand by the term
house, used in this passage, small buildings such as are erected for
our residence, here on earth, and if not, what are we to understand? I
understand that God is a Being who, as the Scriptures declare,
inhabits eternity. Eternity is His dwelling place, and in this
eternity are vast numbers of worlds—creations formed by His mighty
hands; consequently [p.234] when we speak of the Father's house we are
to understand it in the Scriptural sense, in the idea that is conveyed
by many of the inspired writers. It is declared in many places that
eternity is His habitation. He is not the God of one little world like
ours; He is not a Being who presides over a few isolated worlds in one
part of eternity, and all the rest left to go at random; He is not
confined to the worlds that are made, comparatively speaking, today;
but all worlds, past, present, and future, from eternity to eternity,
may be considered His dominions, and His places of residence, and He
is omnipresent. Not personally; this would be impossible, for a person
can only be in one place at the same instant, whether he be an
immortal or a mortal personage; whether he be high, exalted, and
filled with all power, wisdom, glory, and greatness, or poor,
ignorant, and humble. So far as the materials are concerned, a
personage can only occupy one place at the same moment. That is a
self-evident truth, one that cannot be controverted. When we speak,
therefore, of God being omnipresent we do not mean that His person is
omnipresent, we mean that His wisdom, power, glory, greatness,
goodness, and all the characteristics of His eternal attributes are
manifested and spread abroad throughout all the creations that He has
made. He is there by His influence—by His power and wisdom—by His
outstretched arm; He, by His authority, occupies the immensity of
space. But when we come to His glorious personage, that has a dwelling
place—a particular location; but where this location is, is not
revealed. Suffice it to say that God is not confined in His personal
character to one location. He goes and comes; He visits the various
departments of His dominions, gives them counsel and instruction, and
presides over them according to His own will and pleasure.

Vol. 14,  p.234
But if eternity is His house, habitation, or residence, what are the
mansions referred to by our Savior, mentioned in the text? I
understand them to be places that the Creator has constructed like
this present world of ours; for this world, in its future history and
progress, will no doubt become one of the mansions of the Father,
wherein His glory will be made manifest as it is in many other
redeemed worlds. I consider that this idea of mansions has reference
more especially to celestial mansions, or worlds that have been
redeemed and made celestial. God has formed more worlds than can
possibly be enumerated or numbered by man. If it were possible for man
to count the particles of this little earth of ours; if he were able
to enumerate the figures that would express these particles, it would
scarcely be a beginning to the number of the mansions which God has
made in the eternal ages that have passed—mansions that were made,
first temporal and afterwards redeemed and made eternal. Mansions, no
doubt, constructed somewhat similar to the one we now inhabit; and in
the eternal progression of worlds they rise upwards and still upwards
until they are glorified and are crowned with the presence of Him who
made them, and become eternal in their duration, the same as our earth
will eventually become. We know, according to the declaration of the
Scriptures, that our earth was made some few thousands years ago. How
long the progress of formation lasted we do not know. It is called in
the Scriptures six days; but we do not know the meaning of the
scriptural term day. It evidently does not mean such days as we are
now acquainted [p.235] with—days governed by the rotation of the earth
on its axis, and by the shining of the great central luminary of our
solar system. A day of twenty-four hours is not the kind of day
referred to in the scriptural account of the creation; the word days,
in the Scriptures, seems oftentimes to refer to some indefinite period
of time. The Lord, in speaking to Adam in the garden, says, "In the
day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die;" yet he did not
die within twenty-four hours after he had eaten the forbidden fruit,
but he lived to be almost a thousand years old, from which we learn
that the word day, in this passage, had no reference to days of the
same duration as ours. Again, it is written, in the second chapter of
Genesis, "In the day that He created the heavens and the earth;" not
six days, but, "in the day" that, he did it, incorporating all the six
days into one, and calling that period "the day" that He created the
heavens and the earth.

Vol. 14,  p.235
When this world was formed, no doubt, it was a very beautiful
creation, for God is not the author of anything imperfect. If we have
imperfections in our world God has had nothing to do with their
introduction or origin, man has brought them upon himself and upon the
earth he inhabits. But however long or short may have been the period
of the construction of this earth, we find that some six thousand
years ago it seems to have been formed, something after the fashion
and in the manner in which it now exists, with the exception of the
imperfections, evils, and curses that exist on the face of it. Six
thousand years, according to the best idea that we have of chronology,
are now about completed; we are living almost on the eve of the last
of the six millenniums—a thousand years are called a millenium—and
to-morrow, we may say, will be the seventh; that is the seventh
period, the seventh age or seventh time; or we can call it a day—the
seventh day, the great day of rest wherein our globe will rest from
all wickedness, when there will be no sin or transgression upon the
whole face of it, the curses that have been brought upon it being
removed, and all things being restored as they were before the Fall.
The earth will then become beautified, not fully glorified, not fully
redeemed, but it will be sanctified, and purified, and prepared for
the reign of our Savior, whose death and sufferings we have this
afternoon commemorated. He will come and personally reign upon it, as
one of the mansions of his Father; and after the thousand years have
passed away, and wickedness is permitted again, for a short season, to
corrupt the face of the earth, then will come the final change which
our earth, or this mansion of our Father, will undergo. A change which
will be wrought, not by a flood of waters, or baptism, as in the days
of Noah, cleansing it then from all its sins; but by a baptism of fire
and of the Holy Ghost, which will sanctify and purify the very
elements themselves. After the seventh millennium has passed away the
elements will be cleansed, or in other words, they will be resolved
into their original condition—as they were before they were brought
together in the formation of this globe. Hence John says, in the 20th
chapter of Revelation: "I saw a great white throne and Him that sat
thereon, from before whose face the heavens and the earth fled away,
and there was no place found for them."

Vol. 14,  p.235
Now, this fleeing away of the literal heavens, and of the earth on
which we dwell with all it contains, will be similar to the
destruction or death of our natural bodies. We might say, with great
propriety, when a man is [p.236] martyred or burned at the stake, his
body has fled away, its present organization is dissolved, and its
elements are resolved into their original condition, and perhaps
united with and dispersed among many other elements of our globe; but
in the resurrection these elements are brought together again and the
body reorganized, not into a temporal or mortal tabernacle, but into
an eternal house or abiding place for the spirit of man. So the earth
will pass away, and its elements be dispersed in space; but, by the
power of that Almighty Creator who organized it in the beginning, it
will be renewed, and those elements which now enter into the
composition of our globe, will again enter into the composition of the
new heavens and the new earth, for, says the Prophet John, "I saw a
new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth
had fled away."

Vol. 14,  p.236
He then beheld two cities, as is recorded in the 21st chapter of
Revelation, descending from God out of heaven. The first one is called
the New Jerusalem. The description of this city is not given in this
chapter; we have no information regarding its size, or the number of
its gates, and the height of the walls; all that we know is that John
saw it descend out of heaven. Afterwards he was taken off into a high
mountain and saw a second city descend out of heaven. A description of
this, called the "Holy City," is given. The number of the gates, the
height of the walls, the nature of the houses, the streets, and the
glory of the city are plainly given in the revelation. But when the
first city, called the New Jerusalem, descended, he heard a voice say,
"Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, henceforth there shall be
no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, for the former things have
passed away and all things are made new." This will be the final
transformation of this earth, and when that is effected it will become
one of the mansions of our Father. It will be redeemed, or, we might
say resurrected after it passes away. That renewed state will be
eternal, it will never be changed; and it will be the eternal
residence of those disciples to whom Jesus was addressing the words of
the text.

Vol. 14,  p.236
Where will Jesus be? What is the particular creation asssigned to him?
I answer that our globe will become the abiding place of all the
Saints from the days of Father Adam until the time that it passes away
and is renewed again and becomes glorified, after which the tabernacle
of God will be with men, and be will wipe away all tears from their
eyes, and this creation from that time henceforth and for ever will be
free from sorrow; and from that period to all the ages of eternity
there will be no more death, for death wilt be swallowed up in
victory. The curse that came by the Fall will be entirely removed, and
God, Himself, will light up the world with His glory, making of it a
body more brilliant than the sun that shines in yonder heavens.

Vol. 14,  p.236
Some may inquire, "Do you think the sun is a glorified world?" Yes, in
one sense. It is not yet fully glorified, redeemed, clothed with
celestial power, and crowned with the presence of the Father in all
the fullness and beauty of a celestial mansion, because it is still
subject to change more or less. If it were fully glorified; if it had
passed through its temporal existence and had been redeemed,
glorified, and made celestial, and had become the eternal abiding
place of celestial and glorified beings, it would be far more glorious
than our eyes could behold, the eyes of mortality could not endure the
light thereof. We can endure and rejoice [p.237] in its present light
and glory. It gives light and heat to the surrounding worlds, and thus
renders them fit habitations for intelligent human beings. But were it
glorified, as it will be hereafter, and as our earth will be, men such
as we are, clothed with mortality, would be overpowered, we could not
stand in the presence of its glory without being consumed. This earth,
therefore, is destined to become one of the heavenly mansions.

Vol. 14,  p.237
And now, with regard to its being the place of the habitation of the
Saints for ever and ever, let me quote some proofs in relation to it
from the Scriptures. Jesus, in his great and beautiful sermon on the
mount, has told us of the blessings that should rest on his people,
among which he says, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the
earth." This certainly could not have had reference to this temporal
existence, for look at the meek who lived on the earth in the first
ages of Christianity. Did they inherit the earth? No. What was their
destiny? To wander about in sheep skins and goat skins, dwelling in
the dens and caves of the earth, not being ensured worthy by the
wicked to receive an inheritance with them, yet Jesus said, "They
shall inherit the earth." When? If they do not inherit it before death
they must after the resurrection. In proof that they will inherit it
after the resurrection, let me refer you to the testimony of John,
recorded in the fifth chapter of Revelation. John saw a great company
of Saints in the presence of God the Father, and except those who were
resurrected at the time of the resurrection of Christ they were the
spirits of men. They were singing a beautiful song, the purport of
which was emigration. They had it in view to emigrate from their
present home or location in the celestial paradise to some other
place, and their song reads something like this: "Thou art worthy to
take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and
by thy blood hast redeemed us from all nations and kindreds and
peoples and tongues, and hast made us unto our God kings and priests,
and we shall reign on the earth." This is the place of their future
residence, and they rejoiced much in the anticipation of returning to
their mother earth, the place of their nativity; they rejoiced
exceedingly at the prospect of getting back again to their old
homestead. They were absent a little season because of the wickedness
that covered the earth, they were absent a little season because death
overpowered their mortal tabernacles. The Fall bad brought them down
to the grave, but they rejoiced that the grave would no longer hold
its captives. These spirits from all nations, kindreds, tongues, and
peoples were rejoicing in the great day when they should receive their
resurrected bodies and return again to their old homestead—the earth,
to receive their kingdoms, thrones, and dominions. "We shall reign on
the earth!" Not come to be persecuted and driven about as the meek
always have been when the wicked have had power; not come to be
scattered, peeled, and driven, as the ancient Saints were; not to be
sawn asunder, beheaded, persecuted, and buffetted, as the servants and
Saints of God have always been; but they will come here to reign:
"Thou hast made us kings and priests unto God, and we shall reign on
the earth." The period doting which they were to reign, as mentioned
in the 20th chapter of Revelation, was one thousand years, and this
was the introduction to their eternal reign. "Blessed and holy is he
who hath part in the first resurrection," for on such the second death
can have no [p.238] power, and all such shall be priests to God and to
Christ, and they shall reign with Him a thousand years. In their song
they did not stretch forth to that eternal reign on the earth which
will commence after the one thousand years have ended and the earth
has passed away and been renewed. That was too glorious a theme to be
recorded by John and for the inhabitants of the earth in their corrupt
and fallen state to become acquainted with. If they rejoiced with such
exceeding great joy in the prospect of returning to reign only for a
thousand years, before the earth was fully redeemed, glorified, and
made new, how much greater would be their joy, and how much more
glorious would be the song, if they could see themselves made kings
and priests to God, and knew they were about to commence a reign on
the earth which would endure throughout the countless ages of
eternity.

Vol. 14,  p.238
To prove that mankind, when they come out of their graves, will come
into possession of the earth, let me quote a very familiar passage
from the 37th chapter of Ezekial. Ezekial lived in the midst of a
people who had apostatized in a great measure from the religion of
their fathers, and who began to think that their hope was lost, and
that they were cut off from inheriting the promises made to their
fathers, because they saw that their fathers for many generations were
dead and gone, and neither they nor their seed had come into
possession of the Promised Land, according to the prediction made in
the days of Abraham and Jacob. You recollect that the Lord promised
Abraham and Jacob that they should have the land of Palestine for an
everlasting possession. Not only their seed, but they themselves,
Abraham and Jacob, were to inherit it everlastingly. Well might the
Jews, when considering these promises, and looking upon the bones of
Jacob and their old forefathers, who were righteous men, bleaching, as
it were, in their sepulchers, be ready to find fault and say: "Our
bones are dried, our hope is lost, the promise is not fulfilled, and
we are cut off from our portion—that is the promised land given to us
for an everlasting inheritance." The Lord, to do away with such wicked
and erroneous notions which were prevalent among the apostates of
Israel, carried Ezekiel into the midst of a valley full of bones, and
then told him to prophesy unto those bones and to say unto them: "O ye
dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord unto these
bones: Behold I will bring up flesh and sinews upon you and will cover
you with skin," etc. And Ezekiel prophesied as he was commanded, and
as he prophesied there was a great noise and a shaking and the bones
came together, bone to its bone. And while he was examining these
numerous skeletons, without either flesh, sinews, or skin, "Lo, the
sinews and flesh came upon them and the skin covered them above, but
there Was no breath in them." Then the Lord said Unto the Prophet:
"Prophesy unto the wind, son of man, and say to the wind, thus saith
the Lord God, come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon
these slain that they may live. So I prophesied as He commanded me,
and the breath came into them and they lived and shall upon their
feet, an exceeding great army."

Vol. 14,  p.238
Now, if we were to go to uninspired men and ask them the meaning of
this, they would say it was the conversion of sinners to newness of
life; but the Lord had another interpretation, which you will find in
the following verse: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of
Israel,"[p.239] including the old patriarchs, including their
forefathers for many generations. The people in Ezekiel's day said,
"Our bones and the bones of our fathers are dry, and our hope is lost,
for we are not brought into the inheritance of the land of Palestine,
etc.," but the Lord, by this parable of the valley of dry bones,
wished to do away with this lack of faith among Israel, and His
interpretation of it was this:" Behold, I will open your graves and I
will bring you up out of your graves, and will bring you into the land
of Israel." Notice now, the Lord did not say He would take them off to
some unknown region in the immensity of space, according to the
notions of some of our modern poets, who look forward to a heavenly
place beyond the bounds of time and space. When a boy I used
frequently to attend the Methodist meetings, though I never joined any
religious society; but I recollect a very beautiful hymn they used to
sing about being wafted away to a heaven of some kind. I will repeat
two or three lines of the hymn:

Vol. 14,  p.239
"Beyond the bounds of time and space, 
Look forward to that heavenly place,
The Saints' secure abode."

Vol. 14,  p.239
I did not, at that early period of my life, see the inconsistency of
this, and being very much charmed with the beautiful tune, I thought,
of course, that the words were all right, until I, in after years,
reflected upon the subject, and began to understand about the future
residence of the Saints. I then could not understand the description
of the heaven they sang about, I could not comprehend how any place
could be located outside the bounds of space, which is illimitable,
and has no bounds, consequently I concluded that it was merely the
poet's flight, and that it was not a scriptural doctrine, for when I
came to the Scriptures I found that the heavenly place spoken of by
the ancient prophets that we are to look forward to is in our land, if
we can find where that is. There are a great many people, though, who
will not have any land, for the Lord never gave them any. A great many
generations have lived without securing any land except by human laws,
that the Lord never had anything particular to do with, and only
permitted for the good order of society. But all human laws must
perish when the Lord comes, for then the world will be governed by
divine laws, and blessed are the people who have secured their landed
estates from the Great Creator, who owns the earth, having created it
by His own power, and who can give it to whomsover He will. He gave to
the righteous among the house of Israel the land of Palestine and the
regions round about, and He says: "Behold I will open your graves and
bring you into your own land, and you shall know that I am the Lord."
When the Lord has frought them out of their graves and has placed them
in the land which He gave to their fathers they will fully comprehend
that He will fulfil His promise. I would like to dwell on this subject
further, and in doing so to refer you to the 37th Psalm, and to many
sayings of the Lord to Moses about inheriting the earth for ever, and
so on; but we will pass by that to some other things that are on my
mind.

Vol. 14,  p.239
We heard this forenoon that, when the Saints come into the possession
of their everlasting inheritance and are exalted as glorified and
eternal beings, to the increase of their posterity there would be no
end. "No end!" What does that mean? It means that it will be
eternal,—that there never will be a period throughout all the future
ages of eternity, but what they will be increasing [p.240] and
multiplying, until their seed are more numerous than the dust of the
earth or the stars of heaven. They will multiply throughout all the
ages of eternity, and the earth will be their head-quarters. There is
another principle connected with this. "What is it," inquires one?
They will not only people worlds, but they will create them. There is
room enough to accomplish this when we consider that space is
boundless. There is no end to the worlds that might be formed, for the
materials existing in space from which to form them are infinite in
quantity, and consequently can never be exhausted; for that which is
infinite can, by no process whatever, be exhausted, no matter how many
millions or myriads of creations may be formed out of it; and,
consequently, though millions and millions, through their observance
of the higher law that pertains to exaltation and glory, should be
counted worthy to receive this earth as their everlasting inheritance;
and should these millions and millions multiply their seed until they
are as the sands on the sea shore for multitude, yet there is room in
boundless space for new creations and materials enough teethe creation
of new worlds, and for this innumerable offspring to spread forth and
people them. Certainly they could not all dwell here: the earth would
be overrun by them after awhile, but this would be one of the heavenly
mansions, and their head-quarters. And here comes in another doctrine.
This forenoon you heard many of the principles and doctrines touched
upon wherein this people differ from the outside world. I will now
briefly call your attention to one.

Vol. 14,  p.240
We believe that we are the children of our parents in heaven. I do not
mean our tabernacles, but our spirits. That being that dwells in my
tabernacle, and those beings that dwell in yours; the beings who are
intelligent and possess, in embryo, all the attributes of our Father
in heaven; the beings that reside in these earthly houses, they are
the children of our Father who is in heaven. He begat us before the
foundations of this earth were laid and before the morning stars sang
together or the sons of God shouted for joy when the corner stones of
the earth were laid, as is written in the sayings of the patriarch
Job. In the midst of all the patriarch's trials the question was put
to him: "Job, where wast thou when I laid the corner stones of the
earth, when the morning stars sang together for joy?" Job did not
pretend to answer the question, but left it for the Lord. But the
question was highly suggestive of a pre-existence, and of the fact
that Job existed before Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden. Not his
body, but the living being who inhabits the body, who thinks and
reasons, and moves the body by his will, and that lives when the body
is mouldering in the dust; that being or those beings who shouted
together when the corner stones of the earth were laid. Why did they
rejoice and shout together for joy when the corner stones, or rather,
when the nucleus was formed around which the materials of this globe
were gathered together? Because, being intelligent, and knowing the
path that led to immortality and exaltation, they saw a prospect
before them of walking therein. But the point to which I wish to
direct your attention now is a fact of a pre-existence,—a principle
believed in by this people, and which is new to them and the world
generally; but it is not new, for it was taught in ancient times, and
is a scriptural doctrine. Solomon says when the body is laid down the
spirit will return to God [p.241] who gave it. Now would there be any
sense in that doctrine if we had never been there before? Could I say
I will return to China, when I have never been to China. No, the word
"return" would not correctly express the idea. If the spirit returns
to God, it has been there before, and we are only strangers here,
having been sent forth from our Father's house to one of His mansions
in its imperfect state. What for? To try us and give us experience, to
place us in a school in which we may learn some things that we never
could have learned if we had stayed at home, where we were at the time
this earth was formed. By and by we will return home again. There is
something comforting in the anticipation of returning home when we
have been away for a long time; but if we never had been in heaven, in
our Father's house; if we never had associated with the heavenly
throng and had never beheld our Father's face we could not realize the
feelings we now realize when we reflect that we are going back to
where we care dwelt. Happy thought, to think that the memory, now
clogged so that we cannot pierce the veil and discern what took place
in our first estate, will by and by be quickened again and that we
will wake up to the realities of our past existence. When a man goes
to sleep at night he forgets the doings of the day. Sometimes a
partial glimpse of them will disturb his slumbers; but sleep as a
general thing, and especially sound sleep, throws out of the memory
everything pertaining to the past; but when we awake in the morning,
with that wakefulness returns a vivid recollection of our past history
and doings. So it will be when we come up into the presence of our
Father and God in the mansion whence we emigrated to this world. When
we get there we will behold the face of our Father, the face of our
mother, for we were begotten there the same as we are begotten by our
fathers and mothers here, and hence our spirits are the children of
God, legally and lawfully, in the same sense that we are the children
of our parents here in this world. We are so called in the scriptures.
It is written in the epistle of James: "Shall we not much rather be in
subjection to the father of our spirits?" Again, we read that Jesus
was with the Father from before the foundation of the world; and in
his last prayer he prayed that he might be restored to that glory
which he had with the Father before the world was.

Vol. 14,  p.241
Now, who is Jesus? He is only our brother, but happens to be the
firstborn. What, the firstborn in the flesh? O no, there were millions
and millions born in the flesh before he was. Then how is he the
firstborn? Because he is the eldest—the first one born of the whole
family of spirits and therefore he is our elder brother. But why these
spirits came to inherit mortal tabernacles is a question worthy of
consideration. This world is full of sin, sorrow, affliction, and
death, and mankind see nothing, as it were, but mourning and sorrow,
from their birth until they go down to the grave; then why scud these
heavenly spirits to dwell in mortal tabernacles, corrupt, fallen, and
degraded as we are in this world? It is to learn, as I have already
said, certain lessons that we never could learn up in yonder mansions.
Learn to understand by experience many things pertaining to the flesh
that we never could learn there, that when we should be redeemed by
the blood and atonement of our elder brother, the firstborn of every
creature, and brought back into the mansions whence we emigrated we
might appreciate that [p.242] redemption, and understand and
comprehend it by experience and not by precept alone. We might bring
up many arguments With regard to experimental knowledge. Who that is
born blind can know by experience, or in any other way, the nature of
light? No one. You might tell the blind man, who never saw the first
glimmer of light about its beauties, you might speak of its various
hues and colors, and of the benefit of being able to see, but what
could you make him understand? He would not know light from anything
else, and when you had talked to him for a hundred years about the
beauty of light, he would not have a comprehension of it. Why? For the
want of experience; he must experience the sense of sight or he cannot
understand its worth. When his eyes are opened and the light beams
forth upon the optic nerve it creates a new experience, by calling
into play a new sense, and he learns something he did not before
comprehend. He could not learn it by being taught. So in regard to
coming from yonder heavenly creations to this world. We learn by our
experience many lessons we never could have learned except we were
tabernacled in the flesh.

Vol. 14,  p.242
But another and still greater object the Lord had in view in sending
us down from yonder world to this is, that we might be redeemed in due
time, by keeping the celestial law, and have our tabernacles restored
to us in all the beauty of immortality. Then we will be able to
multiply and extend forth our posterity and the increase of our
dominion without end. Can spirits do this? No, they remain single.
There are no marriages among spirits, no coupling together of the
males and females among them; but when they rise from the grave, after
being tabernacled in mortal bodies, they have all the functions that
are necessary to people worlds. As our Father and God begat us, sons
and daughters, so will we rise immortal, males and females, and beget
children, and, in our turn, form and create worlds, and send forth our
spirit children to inherit those worlds, the same as we were sent
here, and thus will the works of God continue, and not only God
himself, and His Son Jesus Christ have the power of endless lives, but
all of His redeemed offspring` They grow up like the parents; that is
a law of nature so far as this world is concerned. Every kind of being
begets its own like, and when fully matured and grown up the offspring
become like the parent. So the offspring of the Almighty, who begot
us, will grow up and become literally Gods, or the sons of God. Here
is another doctrine wherein we differ from the world, perhaps not so
much differ either, for they do sometimes believe in that passage of
scripture which speaks of Gods. "If they call them Gods unto whom the
word of God comes," says Jesus, or words to that effect, "why then do
you find fault with me because I make myself the Son of God?" If those
prophets and inspired men, such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses,
Samuel, and others to whom the word of God came were Gods in embryo
why do you find fault with the only begotten of the Father, so far as
the flesh is concerned, because he makes himself the Son of God? We,
then, shall become Gods, or the sons of God.

Vol. 14,  p.242
This puts me in mind of a certain vision that John the Revelator had
on the Isle of Patmos. On that occasion he saw one hundred and
forty-four thousand standing upon Mount Zion, singing a new and
glorious song; the singers seemed to be among the most happy and
glorious of those who were shown to John. They, the [p.243] one
hundred and forty-four thousand, had a peculiar inscription in their
foreheads. What was it? It was the Father's name. What is the Father's
name? It is God—the being we worship. If, then, the one hundred and
forty-four thousand are to have the name of God inscribed on their
foreheads, will it be simply a plaything, a something that has no
meaning? or will it mean that which the inscriptions specify?—that
they are indeed Gods—one with the Father and one with the Son; as the
Father and Son are one, and both of them called Gods, so will all His
children be one with the Father and the Son, and they will be one so
far as carrying out the great purposes of Jehovah is concerned. No
divisions will be there, but a complete oneness; not a oneness in
person but a perfect oneness in action in the creation, redemption,
and glorification of worlds.

Vol. 14,  p.243
I thought I would make a few remarks on these subjects, inasmuch as
they were broached this morning. You begin to understand, strangers,
what the Latter-day Saints' views are in regard to the multiplication
of the human species to all ages of eternity. You begin to understand
what is meant by that passage in the New Testament in the writings of
Paul, that the man is not without the woman in the Lord, neither is
the woman without the man. You will find it in the eleventh verse of
the eleventh chapter of Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians. Here
is a mystery which the whole religious world perhaps have not
understood. They suppose that old maids and bachelors are just as
honorable in the sight of God as though they were married. It is not
so according to the words of Paul. If a man be in the Lord he must not
be without the woman and the woman must not be without the man. Why?
Because there is an eternal union to exist in the marriage covenant
between the male and female to carry out and fulfil those great
purposes of which I have been speaking—namely, the peopling of the
mansions of our Father in the future. And those mansions will multiply
to all eternity; there will be no end to the increase of worlds, and
no end to the inhabitants of those worlds; and the father of the
spirits who go forth, take tabernacles, and are redeemed, will be king
over his own sons and daughters in the eternal worlds, through all the
ages of eternity. He will not go and rob his neighbor of his children
to set up a kingdom of his own. He must have a woman in the Lord, and
the woman must have a man in the Lord if they ever carry out the great
and eternal purposes of which I have been speaking.

Vol. 14,  p.243
Much might be said in this connection with regard to the doctrine of
plurality of wives. There is a difference between the male and the
female so far as posterity is concerned. The female is so capacitated
that she can only be the mother of a very limited number of children.
Is man thus capacitated? Was not Jacob the patriarch of old capable of
raising posterity by all his wives? He certainly was; and were not
many of the ancient prophets and inspired men capable of raising
twenty, forty, fifty, or a hundred children, while the females could
only raise a very limited number on an average. In the resurrection,
when the four wives of Jacob come out of their graves, will he divorce
three of them and only keep one? or will they all multiply and spread
forth their dominions under the old patriarch while eternal ages shall
last? and would a monogamist have power to fill a world with spirits
sooner than a polygamist? Which would accomplish the peopling of a
world quickest,[p.244] provided that we admit this eternal increase,
and the eternal relationship of husband and wife—after the
resurrection as well as in this world? In that state they do not marry
nor give in marriage. Why? Because marriage is an ordinance that has
to be attended to here, and unless it is secured in this life for
eternity it cannot be secured in the resurrection, for they neither
marry nor are given in marriage there. They do not baptize after the
resurrection, they do not confirm and administer the ordinances
pertaining to this life after the resurrection. All these things have
to be attended to here, then we have a claim to the blessings here and
hereafter. If a man would obtain an eternal increase and eternal
kingdoms without number for his posterity to inhabit, under the
direction and control of Him who is King of kings and Lord of lords,
he must secure the right to these blessings in this life. When Adam
and Eve were married they were married for eternity, from the very
fact that they were united together before they fell, before death
entered into the world. Death was not considered in the marriage
covenant. The first example of marriage on record was between two
immortal beings—two beings who would have lived until now if they had
not sinned, and the end of that marriage covenant would never have
come; but notwithstanding this, throughout the whole Christian world,
when the marriage ceremony is performed the minister stands up and
says: "I pronounce you husband and wife until death does you
separate;" when death separates you the marriage covenant is at an
end. Can they live together after the resurrection by virtue of these
covenants made by uninspired men? No. Why? Because they were only
married for a certain definite period, and that was until death, when
that comes the time is run out. The covenant is no longer binding. It
is not legal in the sight of heaven for eternity. But when a man is
united to a woman by virtue of that priesthood which has power to seal
on the earth and it is sealed in heaven, their marriage covenant is
not dissolved, but it will stand and be good and lawful as long as
eternity endures, just like the covenant entered into by our first
parents. Perhaps you may think that Brother Pratt is rather
enthusiastic and fanatical in his ideas to suppose that immortal
beings can multiply; but I would ask any person who has read the first
and second chapters of Genesis if the command which was first given to
multiply was not given to two immortal beings who had not yet fallen?
If, therefore, two immortal beings, were then commanded to multiply,
why should it be thought incredible that immortal beings who are
raised from the grave and restored to all that which Adam and his wife
possessed before the Fall, should have the power to do the same?

Vol. 14,  p.244
Then again, it oftentimes happens that a monagamist, or the man with
but one wife, loses that wife; and by the Scriptures he is permitted
to marry again. If he loses a second wife it is lawful for him to
marry a third wife, and so on. Now if we admit the eternal covenant of
marriage between the first pair—two immortal beings, and that they
were commanded to multiply, then, if the same order of marriage is to
be continued, and we become immortal, and all the man's three wives
who have died in succession come up out of the grave, must he divorce
all but one, or will he have them all? And if he must divorce any,
which must he divorce, and which must he claim? Does not everything
that is consistent and reasonable, and everything that agrees [p.245]
with the Bible show that plurality of wives must exist after the
ressurrection? It does, or else there will be a breaking up of the
marriage covenant.

Vol. 14,  p.245
I do not know but I ought to apologize for detaining you so long; but
the subject is interesting to my own mind and I trust it has been
interesting to the hearers.

John Taylor, October 8, 1871

The Unchangeableness of the Gospel—the Triumph of Truth

Discourse By Elder John Taylor, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday, October 8, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.245
We are met here in a conference capacity, and have assembled
ostensibly, and in reality, to confer together about the general
interests of the church and kingdom of God upon the earth. The
authorities from the distant settlements are here to represent
themselves and their people, and a great many are here from the
surrounding settlements to listen to the teachings that may be given,
to the business that may be transacted, to the doctrines that may he
promulgated, and in general to make themselves acquainted with the
spirit of the times, with the obligations that devolve upon them; and
the various responsibilities that rest upon all parties.

Vol. 14,  p.245
We meet, then, as I have said, to consult on the general interests of
the the church and kingdom of God upon the earth, and not upon our own
peculiar ideas and notions, to carry out any particular favorite theme
or to establish any special dogma of our own devising; nor do we meet
here to combine against men; but to seek, by all reasonable and proper
means, through the interposition and guidance of the Almighty, and
under the influence of His Holy Spirit, to adopt such means and to
carry out such measures as will most conduce to our individual
happiness; the happiness of the community with which we are
associated; to the establishment of correct principles; to the
building up of our faith, and strengthening us in the principles of
eternal truth; to our advancement and progress in the ways of life and
salvation, and to devise such measures and carry out such plans as
will best accord with the position and relationship we occupy to God,
to the world we live in, and to each other.

Vol. 14,  p.245
So far as the principles of truth are concerned they are like the
Author of truth—"the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." No change
has taken place in the programme of the Almighty in regard to His
relationship with men, the duties and responsibilities that devolve
upon men in general, or upon us, as the elders of [p.246] Israel and
representatives of God upon the earth. Years ago, when we listened to
the glad tidings which had been again revealed to man, by the opening
of the heavens and by the revelations of God, we rejoiced in the great
principles of truth that were then divulged. The gospel that we then
obeyed brought peace to our bosoms; for it enlightened the eyes of our
understandings and gave us a knowledge of our standing with and
relation to the Almighty; made us acquainted with the position we
occupy in relation to the living and the dead; opened up a way whereby
we might pour blessings on the latter, and, as ancient patriarchs and
servants if God did, by which we could confer blessings on unborn
generations. That gospel unfolded unto us some of those glorious
principles associated with the present position and future destiny of
man. The work in which we are engaged is like the Great
Jehovah—eternal and unchangeable. It emanated from God, and was
imparted to man by revelation. By obedience to that gospel we received
the Holy Ghost, which partook of the things of God and showed them
unto us. That spirit imparted light, truth, and intelligence, which
have continued to be manifested to the church of the living God and to
all who are faithful in that church up to the present time.

Vol. 14,  p.246
Men have their ideas and theories and notions, their views of
morality, politics, science, and philosophy; we have our ideas in
relation to God, to angels, to eternity and to our responsibility to
God and to the world; and acting upon that faith we go forth in the
name of Israel's God to accomplish that destiny which God has placed
in our hands. God has decreed certain things with regard to the earth
and the people who live on it. He has revealed unto His servants, the
prophets, certain things that should transpire in connection with the
world and its inhabitants, and we are left no longer to the wild chaos
of fleeting thought that exists, everywhere in the world; for God has
placed us under His inspiration, given unto us a knowledge of His law,
revealed unto us His purposes, drawn back the curtain that intervenes
between man and his heavenly Father, and divulged unto us His will;
designs, and purposes concerning us. We know for ourselves of the
truth of those principles that God has revealed, and if in former days
Paul could say, "Ye are our witnesses, as also is the Holy Ghost who
bears witness unto us," it can be said more emphatically of this day.
This assembly now before me have received the gospel of Jesus Christ,
the Holy Ghost accompanying that gospel; and every man and woman
present who has lived the religion of Jesus Christ has the witness of
the truth of the work they have obeyed, and they are ready with one
acclaim to pronounce:" We are His witnesses, as is also the Holy Ghost
which bears witness unto us." You, my brethren and sisters, know of
the truths of that gospel which you have received, and you are not
indebted for that knowledge to any organization that exists under the
face of the heavens, other than the one you are now associated with.
No philosophy, no religious combination, no school, no doctors of
divinity, no priesthood of any order revealed unto you the principles
which you are in possession of. The gospel that you received, you
received "not of man nor by man, but through the influence of the
Spirit of God and the power of the holy priesthood that administered
it." This you know now, and this you then knew. It is no wild phantom,
no idle theory, no notion propagated by man; but it is the word of
eternal life, the revelations [p.247] of God, the gospel of Jesus
Christ, the principles of eternal truth, which you have received, from
the God of truth, through the medium of that priesthood which He has
organized on the earth; and this you know, realize, and understand for
yourselves. You understood it years ago, and you understand it to-day.
It is the same gospel, the same priesthood, the same principles of
truth; it imparts the same hope, fills the besom with the same joy,
disperses that uncertainty and doubt that dwell in the bosoms of
unbelievers, and opens to the view of the believer visions of "glory,
honor, immortality and eternal lives." And there is nothing in this
world that can change these feelings—no vain philosophy, no political
influence, no combinations of any kind that can root out of the mind
these principles of eternal truth which are inspired and implanted
there by the spirit, of the living God. They are written on the
tablets of the heart in characters of living fire, and they will burn
and extend while time exists or eternity endures. So far then we feel
comforted and blessed. If others are satisfied with their views, all
right. If a man wants to be a Methodist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic,
Shaker, or Quaker, all right, he can be what he pleases; but let me
have my religion. Let me have principles that will draw aside the
curtain of futurity and introduce me to those scenes that exist behind
the veil. Let me, as an immortal being, know my destiny pertaining to
time and eternity, and the destiny of my brethren and friends, and of
the earth that I live upon; let me have a religion that will lead me
to God, and others may take what they please, it is immaterial to me.
I have no quarrel with them. They can have their own ideas and carry
out their own views, so far as I am concerned, untrammelled, if they
will let me have mine. Let me be surrounded with the panoply of truth,
let me have the favor of Jehovah, let me associate with angels and the
heavens, and eternity be opened to my view, and be placed in such a
relationship with God that He can communicate His will to me, and I
ask no more of this world. I have no complaint to make about anybody,
I don't even complain of the devil. I know that he was sent here for a
certain purpose—to carry out the purposes of God, and God did not even
banish him His presence when the sons of God met together, for the
devil was also among them, and we need not be surprised at anything of
that kind now. When the Lord asked him where he came from, said he, "I
came from wandering to and fro in the earth." What did he do in the
earth? Not much good, and, I presume, all the evil he could. And I
presume it was absolutely necessary that there should be devils, or
there would not have been any.

Vol. 14,  p.247
Years and years ago, I preached abroad among the nations of the earth,
and I see around me here many of my brethren, the elders, whose heads
are now as grey as mine, who did the same. We preached to many of you
who are here, and told you that the world would wax worse and worse,
deceiving and being deceived. Did we not preach this doctrine? I think
we did, ten, twenty, thirty, and forty years ago. We told you then
that in consequence of the wickedness that would exist upon the earth,
thrones would be cast down, empires be demoralised, and that wars and
bloodshed would exist upon the face of the earth, and that God would
arise and vex the nations and bring them to judgment, because of their
iniquities. Is it anything astonishing that these words should be
fulfilled? Why,[p.248] they are the words of truth! They were spoken
by the spirit of revelation, and were in accordance with the
revelations given to ancient men of God, who spoke as they were moved
upon by the Holy Ghost, and who, while rapt in prophetic vision, saw
and foretold what should transpire on the earth. God revealed the same
things to us that He did to them.

Vol. 14,  p.248
And what other doctrines did you bear the elders proclaim, my friends?
You heard them proclaim, "Come out of her, my people." Why? "That you
partake not of her sins and receive not of her plagues." Didn't you
hear that? I think you did. Did you hear that her sins had reached up
to heaven, and that God would remember her iniquities? Yes, you did.
Do you believe it to-day? Yes: you believe just the same principles
now that you believed then. Your ideas and views, feelings and
theories in these respects have not advanced, as people tell us
sometimes, with the intelligence of the age. God save me from such
intelligence, the Lord deliver me from their infidelity, corruption,
and iniquity, social, moral, political, and of every kind you can
mention; and the Lord God deliver this people from it. I don't want
it. I want to know God and the principles of truth. I want, as an
immortal being to understand something of my relationship with the
other world. I want to know how to save the living and to redeem the
dead, and to stand as a savior on Mount Zion, and to bring to pass the
purposes of Jehovah in relation to this people and the earth whereon
we live. That is what I want to know; that is the kind of intelligence
I am after. Then, if there is anything else that we have not got, that
is good, virtuous, holy, pure, or intellectual, give it to us, and we
will embrace it; but we don't want your corruptions, debaucheries, and
crimes, which everywhere prevail, and which are a stench in the
nostrils of God, angels, and all good men; and I would make a prayer
here which I used to hear very often when I was an Episcopalian: "From
all such things, good Lord deliver us." We want truth, purity,
integrity, and honesty; we want men who live so that they dare face
any man, or, even God himself; and to reach this standard is what we
are after, and it is our constant aim and desire. I was very much
pleased with a song I heard sung yesterday. I don't know that I can
remember it, but it was something like this:

Vol. 14,  p.248
"Hurrah, hurrah, for the mountain brave,
No trembling serf is he;
Nor earth, nor hell can him enslave—
The Gods have set him free."

Vol. 14,  p.248
There is nothing faltering in the knees of a man of God, you can't.
make him quail. God is his friend, and angels and all good men are his
friends. He is living for time and eternity, and all is right with
him, living or dying.

Vol. 14,  p.248
Well, but don't you think some folks are very bad? I always thought
so; my mind is not changed about that a particle. Well, but don't you
think the folks don't treat us very well sometimes? I never knew the
time they did; I never expect to be well treated by them. I never knew
nor read of any men of God that were well treated by the people of the
world, and if we were I should not think we were men of God at all.
Why men who feared God anciently were generally the most unpopular of
men, they were considered a kind of fools, or half crazy, or something
the matter with them. The enlightened pagans of former days did not
like either the religion or the God of the Hebrews. They thought them
a shame and a disgrace, and that Baal and their [p.249] gods were much
better. Men of God, in old times, we are told, had to wander about in
sheepskins and goatskins, and to dwell in deserts and in dens and
caves of the earth. "They must have been very wicked people in those
days," say you; and they were, and so they are to-day. There is not
much difference, only I think we are a little better situated, for we
have our good houses and farms and an extensive territory. We live
under our own vine and figtree, and none can make us afraid. They
think they can, but they make a mistake; there is no trembling of the
knees here. Fear does not dwell here, and if it did a little more of
the principles of that gospel you have received would dispel it. I
remember a kind of shaky-kneed fellow in old times, and they were in
rather a critical position. There was some Gentiles holding court
there. Oh no, it was not that, I forgot; it was another affair, an
army was surrounding them. Excuse me for making the mistake! There was
an old prophet there, rather a rough sort of a fellow, and very
unpopular. His servant was a rather shaky-kneed sort of chap, was in a
tremble, and wanted to know what was going to be done. "Why," says the
prophet, "They are more who are for us than those who can be against
us." The servant didn't understand this exactly, and the prophet
prayed that he might get a little more religion. Said he, "O God, open
the young man's eyes," and the Lord did so, and as soon as his eyes
were opened he saw thousands of the heavenly hosts surrounding him,
and said he, "The chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof." That
inspired him with confidence, and did away with that trembling in the
knees. Now if any of you should have had a little trembling of that
kind, go to your God, seek for the spirit of revelation that flows
from Him; get hold of the light and intelligence which the Holy Ghost
imparts, and you will cry, "Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna to the God of
Israel, for He rules and will rule until He has put all enemies under
His feet," you will cry out, "Zion shall arise and shine, and the
glory of God shall rest upon her!" You will cry aloud, "The principles
of eternal truth will triumph, not all the powers of earth and hell
can stay their progress, for Zion is onword, onward, onward, until the
kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and His
Christ, and He will rule for ever and ever!"

Vol. 14,  p.249
If there is anything the matter with any of you, I don't think there
is much; but if there is, get a little more religion; live your
religion, seek for the spirit of revelation, which has led you on to
the present time. If you cling to that it will lead you to the portals
of eternal life. Talk about the Saints of God quailing, pshaw! The
work of God is onward, the kingdom of God is forward, and all that I
have to say is, get out of the way, for the chariots of Israel are
advancing, the purposes of God are being unfolded, the work of God
will roll forth, and woe to that man who lifts his puny arm against
it.

Vol. 14,  p.249
But I am not strong in body, rather feeble in health, and I do not
feel that my bodily strength is sufficient to talk much longer to this
large assembly. I have heard men say they know this is the truth; so
do I. I know that God has spoken. If nobody else knows on the earth
besides, I know that the truths of God have been revealed; I know that
the gospel has been restored; I know that this people will continue to
cleave to the truth, that the kingdom of God will progress, and that
by and by we will shout victory! victory! victory! now [p.250] and for
ever, worlds without end. May God bless Israel and all who bless
Israel, and let the curse of God rest, upon her enemies, in the name
of Jesus. Amen.

John Taylor, October 22, 1871

Revelation—Persecution—His Testimony and Feelings

Remarks By Elder John Taylor, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday October 22, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.250
It is very pleasant for the Saints of God to reflect upon the
principles of eternal truth, that have been developed unto them. If
there is anything connected with happiness and humanity, if their is
anything calculated to expand the views and feelings of the human
family, to raise our hopes and aspirations, and to give peace, joy,
and confidence; it is the thought that God has revealed unto us the
precepts of eternal truth; that He has planted them within our bosoms
and given unto us a certainty in regard to those things we profess to
believe in, and assuredly do know.

Vol. 14,  p.250
Standing, as we do, before our Heavenly Father, in possession of the
principles of eternal life; having had a knowledge of them unfolded
unto us by the revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ, and as mortal and
immortal beings, knowing for a certainty the things which God has
revealed, for the salvation of the human family, we feel confident,
joyous, happy, and contented, and our souls rejoice in the fullness of
the blessings of that gospel, of which the world, generally, at the
present time are so ignorant. Men generally, although very particular
about financial matters, and things pertaining to time; although very
careful about the acquisition of wealth and desirous of knowing which
is the best way to invest it after they have obtained it; although
desirous to obtain honor and fame and wealth; yet in regard to
religious matters it; seems that they are perfectly willing that
anybody should think for them and act for them, and be their dictators
and guides; and hence they have a hireling priesthood whom they pay to
take care of their souls, just as they pay physicians to take care of
their bodies, and lawyers to take care of their property. Religion is
not a thing, according to the estimation of a great many, that
everybody ought to be dabbling with: it belongs to the priests,
teachers, etc., who are paid for teaching their dogmas, theories,
creeds, and opinions. I was brought up a member of the Church of
England, the same as my friend, the speaker who preceded me. It is
customary among the Episcopalians to [p.251] prepare men for the
ministry just the same as they prepare men for doctors, lawyers, or
the military profession. In examining their boys to find for what,
they are the best capacitated, if one is pretty shrewd, he must be a
lawyer; if one is full of fire and energy, they try to make a military
officer of him; but those who are dull, dumpish, and ignorant are
generally made parsons of. These are they who are teachers of
religion, and who the great mass of men are ready to follow; and as
the scriptures say, when "the blind lead the blind they both fall into
the ditch."

Vol. 14,  p.251
I speak of these things to show the position of the world generally in
regard to religion—that which affects their interests for eternity.
Men are sometimes a little careful in the organization of governments,
and in the passage of laws for the protection of their rights;
statesmen, scientists, philosophers, and men of intelligence are
brough t into requisition, to expand the general judgment about
matters wherein individual rights or the rights of a community are
concerned; and in fact, in relation to affairs of a temporal or
worldly nature, men are generally careful; but on religious matters it
is very different.

Vol. 14,  p.251
What are we to think of the religious standard or statutes of the
Christian world to-day? Professing to believe in the Bible, who really
believes in or cares for the principles which it advocates? Who has
the hardihood to be governed by the laws which it promulgates? Why, I
could refer you to judges to-day, and Christian judges at that,
professing to believe the Bible, who would make men guilty and arraign
them before their bars for believing the principles contained in that
very book. This is the height of intelligence, the summit of all
excellence, and the glory of our judiciary to-day! And look at our
religionists—they are fools, and don't know what they are doing, the
position they are placing themselves in, or the ruin they are hurling
upon the nation with which they are associated. They do not know that
by the intro—duction of false principles, those principles will
spread, and permeate, and will roll back again on their own heads,
producing misery, confusion, and bloodshed wherever they go. They do
not know this, they have not sense enough to see it—they are poor,
miserable, blind fools.

Vol. 14,  p.251
And what do they know about God and eternity? Nothing. They deny the
very principles that would bring men into communication with the
Almighty. Christian ministers, for ages past, have repudiated all idea
of revelation or communication from God. Shut up that principle from
me, deprive me of the privilege, shut me out from God, let the heavens
be brass so that I could not approach Him, and life has no object. As
an immortal being, connected with this world and the next, if I can
not have a knowledge of God, I do not want to exist. I want nothing to
do with this world; God knows there is not enough in it to captivate
the mind of any intelligent being who is capable of reflecting on the
destinies of an immortal soul. Strip us of that, and what have we
left? Nothing, simply nothing. I look upon man as the handwork of God
and as an immortal being. I look upon the world we live in as having
emanated from Him, and man created and placed here by the wisdom,
intelligence, power, and generosity of the All Wise, the Great Eternal
I Am; that was, and is, and is to come. I look upon it that men,
combining the mortal and immortal, and possessing such intelligence as
they possess, ought to be able to approach the fountain of all
intelligence in the way which the [p.252] gospel unfolds; and if the
religion that I possess will not bring me to an acquaintance with my
Heavenly Father, to a relationship with Him, to a certainty pertaining
to the future, as well as the present, I want nothing to do with it. I
would not give the ashes of a rye straw for all the religion in the
world that would not lead a man to God. I want knowledge, certainty,
intelligence; I want principles that have emanated from God; and I
want freedom and liberty as an American citizen, and as a citizen of
the kingdom of God, as a man who is capable of breathing free air, and
living, and enjoying the gifts of God. These things I want, and these,
so help me God, I will have so long as God gives breath (congregation
said "Amen"), and no man, no set of men shall deprive me of them. They
may deprive me of life, but I shall live and soar among the free in
the eternal worlds, and rejoice among the Gods, under these blessings
and privileges that God has revealed to us here on the earth. These
are my feelings in short, and I feel calm, comfortable, pleasant,
joyous, and happy in the possession of those principles which God has
revealed for the salvation of the human family.

Vol. 14,  p.252
I think we read somewhere that "happy is that people whose God is the
Lord;" and I say happy is that people who believe in a living God, a
God that can hear and see, and who can speak and reveal His will to
man. I feel happy at being associated with such a people, and to-day
there is not a king, emperor, potentate, or power on earth with whom I
would exchange places. God is my God, my Heavenly Father is my
protector, and He is the protector, and friend, and God of Israel, and
He will stand by and sustain them in the midst of all events and under
all circumstances which may transpire, consequently I feel easy,
comfortable and pleasant.

Vol. 14,  p.252
"Well but," says one, "perhaps you would not feel so if you had a
process resting on your head, as some have." I do not know, but I
think I should. I have known some little of these things before
to-day. I have been mobbed before to-day for my religion, I have been
shot at and hit before to-day for my religion; and my religion is just
the same to-day as ever. It produces the same joy, confidence, hope,
and reliance as in any other day; and these are not only my feelings,
but they are also those of my brethren. There is no faltering, no
trembling of the knees, no shaking in the feelings with us. God is our
God; we are his people. This is the Zion of God; this is the kingdom
of God, which our judges tell us the United States is making war
against. I wonder if they tell the truth? No matter, I am a member of
and an elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I
dare acknowledge it before any power there is under the heavens. I
belong to that Church; and I thank God, my Heavenly Father, for the
privilege of being associated with these brethren and these sisters
who are before and around me; and my feelings are today, and ever have
been, like one of old, when she said: "This people shall be my people,
their God shall be my God; where they live I will live also, where
they die there I want to be buried ;" and when they rise from and
burst the barriers of the tomb and ascend into the presence of
Jehovah, I expect to be with them, and to be one with them in time and
one in eternity. These are my hopes and my feelings, and I say
Halleluiah, Halleluiah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, and He
will reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet"
(Congregation said "Amen"), and this kingdom will go forth and [p.253]
roll onwards, and woe to the man who attempts to stay the progress of
Jehovah. He shall wither like grass before the breath of the Lord of
Hosts (Congregation said "Amen"), and the principles of eternal truth
will be onward, onward, onward, until the kingdoms of this world shall
become the kingdoms of our God and His Christ, and He shall rule for
ever and ever."

Vol. 14,  p.253
Men may try to forge chains for us, but we will snap them asunder as
Samson did, by the power of God. God being our helper, we will
maintain the principles of eternal truth; we will maintain and cherish
the principles of freedom and liberty of all kinds, for all men, for
every son and daughter of Adam; and we will never rest until the world
shall be revolutionized with these principles, until all men
everywhere shall proclaim themselves free. It will not be only like
the bell they sounded when they proclaimed the Declaration of
Independence, and liberty throughout the land; but we will proclaim
liberty to the world, salvation to the human family, freedom of
thought and freedom of action, with power to worship God as they
please, when they please, and where they please, all over the face of
the wide earth. We will never rest until the shackles are knocked off
from all men, and all men everywhere are free and equal. These are the
designs of God, and God will consummate them, and no power can stop
His hand.

Vol. 14,  p.253
I am not strong in body, and cannot talk long; but I feel in my bosom
the spirit of God burning like a living fire. I thank my Father for
His protecting care and grace over this people; and I feel like
exhorting my brethren to live their religion, to keep the commandments
of God, and preserve themselves pure. If they do they need ask nothing
from these rotten, miserable, stinking wretches with which they are
surrounded here at the present time. Preserve yourselves pure, be
virtuous, holy, and honorable, and God will bless you and stand by
you, and Israel shall be victorious from this time henceforth and
forever, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Orson Pratt, December 10, 1871

The Gathering—the Rise of the Church—the 
Book of Mormon—True Christianity

Discourse By Elder Orson Pratt, Delivered in 
the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, December, 10, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.253
There is a large assembly of people now seated in this Tabernacle, and
it will require a good deal of attention and stillness on the part of
so large a congregation in order to hear distinctly and to understand
what may be advanced. I have been in the habit for a few months past
of selecting a text from the Scriptures. I do not do so this
afternoon, for the reason that no particular text has presented itself
to my mind; nevertheless [p.254] I shall endeavor by the assistance of
the Spirit of the Lord to speak upon subjects as they may be presented
to me at the very moment. What they will be I know not. It is my
earnest desire, however, that I may be favored with the faith and
prayers of all good people who may be present, that peradventure the
Lord may be merciful to us and shed forth a great abundance of His
Holy Spirit to assist us on this occasion.

Vol. 14,  p.254
It is a strange thing to the greater part of the civilized world to
see, or rather to contemplate, so many scores of thousands of people
gathering together in the interior portions of North America, in the
Rocky Mountains or vicinity, all of one religious faith. It is a
marvel, and produces a great deal of wonderment among the people, to
understand what is the cause of this great assembling or gathering
together, what it means, what the object is, what purpose is to be
accomplished, what the designs of the people are and so forth. It is
attracting the attention not only of our own nation but of many other
nations—this fleeing out, this gathering together of a people from so
many parts of the world and coming together in the interior of this
new world, in a country which, to all human appearance, was one of the
most difficult countries in the known world to be settled. They wonder
how it is that an influence can be exercised over the minds of so many
people, among so many nations, to get them to leave the homes of their
fathers, their native countries, their associates and friends, and go
forth for thousands of miles upon railroad conveyance, and cross the
ocean, and then pursue their journey for thousands of miles still
further into the heart of a desert. This is a curious thing when we
reflect upon it. I will here observe, however, that it is not the
influence of man that has brought this great event about; man is not
the origin of this great gathering which you see in the Territory of
Utah. If you do not believe what I say, let any other society, I don't
care how much talent they may have, how much human wisdom they may
possess; let them attempt to accomplish a similar thing and see
whether they can succeed. Take all the learning that is in the world,
combine it together, send forth the most learned and talented orators
among the nations, exercise all the human power and influence that God
has given you, and attempt to accomplish a work similar to the one
which is now before your eyes, and see if you can succeed. It can't be
done; it never has been done, to my knowledge, since the days of our
Savior. We have no account in history of any religious society
gathering out from so many nations into one region of country since
the days of the Savior.

Vol. 14,  p.254
Do you wish to know the secret of this great gathering? Do you wish to
know why it is that this influence has been exercised over the minds
of the people? I will tell you: it is because God, who is in yonder
heavens, has spoken in our day, this is the secret. It is because he
has sent forth angels, messengers from heaven, who have appeared to
men here on the earth, and have conversed with them. It is because
God, by angels, and by his own voice, has sent forth messengers again
unto the human family with an important message, a message more
important, in one sense of the word, than any which has before been
delivered to man—a message to prepare the way before the face and
coming of his Son from the heavens.

Vol. 14,  p.254
Strangers may inquire, what has this great gathering to do with
preparing the way before the coming of his Son? Could you not all
remain scattered abroad among the nations [p.255] and be prepared just
as well? I answer, that if God had commanded us to remain among the
nations in our scattered condition, that would have been right, and
acceptable before him; but on the other hand, if God has spoken, as we
declare that he has, and his voice has been heard, and messengers have
been called and sent forth by divine command, and revelation has been
given, not only for the people to obey the gospel but also to gather
out and assemble themselves in one, then we could not be prepared for
his coming without obeying the divine command. It all rests,
therefore, on this point: has God spoken concerning this matter? Has
he really instituted this thing? Has he given divine revelation in the
19th century? Has he sent forth his angels? If he has, then the work
that is before you is the preparatory work for the coming of the Son
of God. If he has not spoken, as we declare that he has, then a
similar work will have to be performed in the future by some other
people; for the very work which you now perceive—the gathering
together of so many thousands, is clearly predicted by the ancient
prophets; and if we are not the people fulfilling these predictions,
then another people must rise hereafter under similar circumstances to
fulfil them, before the Son of God will come from the heavens, to
reign here as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Vol. 14,  p.255
Much has been said about the coming of our Lord to reign here on the
earth for a thousand years. We have now in the United States and in
Great Britain, and other parts of the world, those who call themselves
Second Adventists, who say they are going forth in order to prepare
the way before the coming of the Lord. But are they fulfilling the
predictions of the ancient prophets contained in this Bible? By no
means. The first prediction to which I will refer you, upon this
subject, that now occurs to my mind, is one that has been often
repeated, for some forty-one years, by this people; but it is of so
much importance and interests this generation to that degree, that I
never feel tired of repeating it. It will be found in that prophecy
that was delivered to John on the Island of Patinas. He saw in vision,
as represented in the 14th chapter of his prophecy, the Son of Man
sitting on a cloud with a sharp sickle in his hands, clothed in glory
and in power, and he saw angels at the same time, and one of them
cried unto him that had the sharp sickle in his hands, that he should
go forth and reap down the earth; for the harvest of the earth is
ripe. Here was a view of the coming of the Son of Man. But before
this, there was a preparatory work to perform, the nature of which is
explained in the same chapter. This preparatory work is what I wish to
call your special attention to on this occasion.

Vol. 14,  p.255
It was no less than a messenger that was to fly through the midst of
heaven—an holy angel, not something to be spiritualized, or that we
can interpret according to our own views, not some great and renowned
man that was to be raised up here on the earth, but an angel. "I saw
another angel," says John, before the coming of Christ, before he saw
that personage sitting on the cloud. "I saw another angel flying
through the midst of heaven." Not a person raised up to go and preach
here, and fly among the inhabitants of the earth, but flying through
the midst of heaven. What particular message had this angel to convey,
and to whom was he to convey it? John says, that this angel whom he
saw flying through the midst of heaven had the everlasting gospel to
preach unto them that dwell on the earth. To [p.256] show how
extensively it was to be preached, mark the next sentence: "To be
preached unto them that dwell on the earth, unto every nation,
kindred, tongue and people." Does not this include all? Does not the
prediction take within its scope all mankind in the four quarters of
the earth? It verily does. What was connected with this everlasting
gospel that the angel should have to be thus extensively preached
among the inhabitants of the earth? What other prediction was uttered
on that occasion? the angel proclaimed that the hour of God's judgment
had come. He had the gospel to restore, however, before that judgment
would fall on the nations. They must first hear it, they must first be
warned, they must first receive the opportunity and privilege of
receiving the message, after which, if they do not receive it, the
angel said that the hour of God's judgment has come. Consequently we
learn from these predictions some three or four very important things.
First: that when. the gospel is again committed to the inhabitants of
the earth it is to be by an angel. Second: that when it is thus
committed, it must he preached to all people under the whole heavens,
without any exception of tongues or languages or races. Third: we
learn that the hour of God's judgment was immediately to follow this
preaching of the everlasting gospel.

Vol. 14,  p.256
Now mark what is predicted in the next verse. This was the first
message; but John says: "I saw another angel follow him." There were
two angels then, the first one with a message of the gospel of peace,
proclaiming peace to the inhabitants of the earth, and then judgment
immediately to follow. The second angel had no message of peace, but
this was his proclamation; "Behold, Babylon the great is fallen, is
fallen, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of
her fornication." We learn that a certain power, under the name of
Great Babylon, is to meet with a total downfall after the gospel had
been preached, that was to be brought by an angel. A third angel
followed, and declared that all who would not receive the message of
truth should be cast down, and should be punished, and the smoke of
their torment should rise up for ever and for ever. After having
predicted the coming of these three angels he then proclaims the
coming of the Son of God sitting on a cloud, of which I have spoken.

Vol. 14,  p.256
Now we have this important message to testify, and we testify it in
all boldness, we testify it before the heavens, we testify it before
the earth, we testify it in the name of the Lord God who has sent us,
in the name of Jesus Christ who has redeemed us, that that angel has
already come, that the 19th century is the favored century in which
God has fulfilled this ancient prediction, uttered by the mouth of his
ancient servant. God has indeed sent that angel, and when he came he
revealed the everlasting gospel.

Vol. 14,  p.256
But I know what now rises in your hearts, I know what the strangers
who are before me will say in their hearts, what they now think. Some
of you now say in your hearts, we have the everlasting gospel
contained here in this book, the New Testament, and we have had it for
some eighteen centuries or more, and consequently what was the use of
another angel having the same everlasting gospel to commit to the
children of men when we already had it? Now was not that in your
hearts? I will venture to say that there were some in this
congregation who were thinking of something very similar to this. Let
me say in answer to this query that; God has revealed the everlasting
gospel anew.[p.257] But what reason or purpose had he in so doing, say
some, have we not sufficient written on the subject in the Bible? Have
we not the Gospel in great plainness, and why should he reveal it
anew? I will tell you why. What is written in the New Testament in
relation to the everlasting Gospel is not as it was when it was first
revealed; and as a testimony that it is not very plain, let me refer
you to some five or six hundred different religious views, all founded
on this same book, which you say contains the everlasting Gospel. Why
all these views, why all this distraction of faith? Why, for instance,
does one sect believe in sprinkling, another in pouring, another in
immersion, another rejecting baptism entirely, another baptizing those
who profess to have obtained forgiveness of sins? Another class
baptizing expressly for the remission of sins? Why is it that all
these sentiments and religious notions prevail? Do not all these
classes profess to found their faith on the New Testament, which they
say contains the everlasting Gospel? O yes. It shows clearly and
plainly that there is something lacking. There are just as many
sincere people, no doubt, who believe that sprinkling infants is the
correct mode of baptism, as there are who believe in baptizing adults
by immersion. One class is just as sincere as the other; one professes
to believe and have confidence in the New Testament as well as the
other. Now there must be something that is not quite so clear in the
New Testament, or there would not be so great a diversity of opinion
and sentiment.

Vol. 14,  p.257
We again refer to the everlasting Gospel that the angel should bring!
What might we expect when the angel comes? Could we not reasonably
expect that when God sends an angel from heaven with the everlasting
Gospel he will make it so plain that there can be no misunderstanding
in regard to any ordinance or any principle that is connected with it?
That is what i should expect. The causes why these things are not so
plain now in the New Testament, are these: the New Testament has been
handed down, or its manuscripts, for a great many centuries,
transcribed by the scribes of different generations. No doubt many of
these were sincere and good men; but they have made, in the course of
so many centuries, many great perversions in the text, in the original
word I mean, in the Greek text, and also in the Hebrew so far as the
Old Testament is concerned. I am not referring o the English
manuscripts, but to the text written in what is termed the original
Greek or Hebrew. These Greek and Hebrew manuscripts being transmitted
from generation to generation, and transcribed and altered more or
less, have fallen at length into the hands of the people of latter
times in a state wherein they very much contradict each other. It is
declared by the most learned archbishops and bishops, and men of great
learning who have gathered together thousands of these ancient
manuscripts and compared them one with another, that there are thirty
thousand different readings of the original text. Not merely a
different reading in one or two phrases, but of the original text,
taking the Old and New Testament as a whole. When King James, in his
day, set a great number of learned men apart to translate the Bible
into the English language, they gathered together such manuscripts as
they could get hold of. By examining them they of course did not know
which was correct. They found them differing one with another in
thousands of instances. Which were the most correct they, without
inspiration,[p.258] never could learn; but they did the very best they
knew how. They are not to blame for those errors. They were men of
integrity; they collected, according to the best of their
understanding and knowledge, the manuscripts in existence and
translated them according to the best information they had concerning
the original languages. Hence originated this present English Bible,
King James's translation. I am astonished when I look at this Bible,
to find it so correct; I am astonished, and it has been a mystery to
me that it can be so correct with such an abundance of contradictions
in the original manuscripts. As a general thing the meaning has not
been altered much, but it has been altered sufficiently to produce all
the confusion at present existing throughout Christendom. All these
different denominations have arisen, founded on the same Bible and on
the same text. What may we expect then when God sends an angel? Must
we expect that he will give us a confused mass of something that we
cannot understand? Or may we not rather expect that he will impart to
us the plainness and simplicity of his word, and call that the gospel,
and call upon the nations of the earth to receive it? I answer that so
far as reason is concerned, and good sound judgment, that is, so far
as I can judge concerning reason, reason would say that the God of
truth would communicate a message in perfect plainness, that could not
be misunderstood by those who desired to know the right way.

Vol. 14,  p.258
Well, such was the fact. I hold in my hand a record containing more
writing than the New Testament; and this book, from the beginning to
the end, was written by divine revelation, comprising history,
prophecies and the Gospel. It was written by an ancient people, a
portion of the house of Israel, who dwelt in ancient America. Prophets
and inspired men wrote this record on plates of gold. they inform us
that Jesus administered on this American continent in person, as well
as on the little land of Palestine. They inform us that after his
resurrection and ascension from the land of Jerusalem to his Father,
he descended on this American continent, that he taught them here at
different times, appearing to them often, delivering to them his
everlasting Gospel in plainness and simplicity. He commanded them to
write that Gospel upon the plates that they kept their records on at
that time, and which had been already handed down among them for about
six hundred years. This book also informs us concerning the preaching
of the Gospel among the ancient Americans—the ancient inhabitants of
this country; that twelve men were called, not apostles, or rather
that they were not called apostles, but disciples. Twelve disciples
were chosen in ancient America and preached the Gospel that the Son of
God revealed to them in person. They proclaimed that Gospel in the
four quarters of this Western hemisphere, in other words, on what we
call South and North America; they built up the Church and Kingdom of
God in this land, and millions of the people received the Gospel. They
kept a record of this fact three hundred and eighty-four years after
the coming of Christ. Mormon, who had charge of the records, after
making an abridgment on other plates, in consequence of the apostacy
of his portion of the nation, delivered the abridgment or the plates
that contained it, into the hands of his son Moroni, a faithful
prophet and servant of God, but the other plates he hid up in a hill
in what we now call the State of New York. Moroni beheld the downfall
of his nation, their destruction by the [p.259] hands of another
branch of the house of Israel, a powerful nation on this continent.
The nation that kept these records was destroyed. Moroni, who was the
last prophet entrusted with the plates, had to flee from place to
place and hide up in dens and caves in order to preserve his own life.
These records, four hundred and twenty years after the birth of
Christ, were hidden up, at least that was the last date given on them.
With them was deposited a sacred instrument that was possessed by the
people on this continent, called the Urim and Thummim. Many
predictions were uttered, not only by Moroni, but by many previous
prophets, that these records in the last days, should be brought to
light by the ministration of holy messengers; that God would bring
them forth in order to prepare the way before the coming of his Son
from the heavens. This, therefore, is the book that that angel whom
John saw flying through the midst of heaven has revealed to the
inhabitants of the earth. This is the sacred book that contains the
everlasting Gospel revealed by the angel. This is the sacred book
which God has commanded his servants to publish to the four quarters
of the globe as a witness unto all nations before the Son of Man
comes. This is the sacred book that contains the words of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ when he appeared on this American continent. This
is the sacred book that will go forth, warning all people, nations and
tongues before the Son of Man appears in his glory. If they receive it
they will be blest, if they receive it not then will be fulfilled that
which was spoken by the mouth of John the Revelator concerning the
hour of God's judgment coming upon them.

Vol. 14,  p.259
Does this book do away with those differences that exist in regard to
many points of the doctrine of Jesus? Does it make it plain so that
there is no chance of building up two different denominations from the
doctrines it contains? I answer yes, there can not be established two
different denominations founding their ideas on the doctrines of this
book. Why? Because the doctrine is so plain in every point that it is
impossible for any person with common sense not to understand it just
as it is delivered and revealed. Hence you perceive that, that which
we would naturally expect and reasonably hope for when the angel came
is realized, namely, a doctrine so plain that all the learning and
wisdom of man could not wrest and twist and turn it and make it appear
two different things. For instance, let us take the simple ordinance
of baptism, what does the Book of Mormon say in regard to that one
ordinance? Jesus, when he came to the American continent, they not
having seen the true order of baptism in the same light that the Jews
had in Palestine, condesended to point out to them how they should be
baptized. He says, first, you must believe in me and repent of your
sins and become as a little child and go forth and be baptized for the
remission of your sins and you shall receive the Holy Ghost; and then,
to show how this ordinance was to be performed, he says that inasmuch
as any one shall come forth desiring the ordinance of baptism, having
repented of his sins, having believed in me, even Jesus Christ, you
shall go down into the water and you shall baptize him in my name; you
shall immerse him in the water, and come forth out of the water, and
then he shall receive the Holy Ghost. Showing the ordinance also
through which and by which the Holy Ghost should be given, namely, the
laying on of hands. Now I ask, is there any possibility, with words
penned as [p.260] plain as these words are recorded, to build up two
different denominations in regard to the mode of baptism? No, they
could not do it; there could not be one sprinkling, another pouring
and another baptizing by immersion; neither could there be those who
would require individuals to first experience religion and then be
baptized; but "be baptized in my name for the remission of their sins,
and then they shall receive the Holy Ghost."

Vol. 14,  p.260
Perhaps the strangers will say, that is plain enough, we admit your
argument that, if that be a revalation from God, there could not be
two different denominations built up on that. I will say further that
in regard to a great many other points of doctrine this book is just
as plain and just as simple. Supposing you could grant all this,
supposing you should say, strangers, we will admit that it is very
plain in the Book of Mormon; but the great question with us is, is the
Book of Mormon a divine revelation? that is the question that we want
answered. The plainness we don't dispute, we know that it is so plain
that a wayfaring man though a feel need not err therein; all that we
want to know in regard to the matter is, has God given that book, or
is it an invention of man? What evidence have you to offer, inquires
the stranger, to prove the divine authenticity of your book? You have
the testimony of Joseph Smith. He says that an angel came and revealed
to him the Book of Mormon, and that he was commanded by the Lord
Almighty to go and get the plates, according to the vision that was
shown to him at the time the angel came and conversed with him, that
he obtained the plates, and he says he translated them by the Urim and
Thummim. This all rests, perhaps you may think, upon his testimony
alone.

Vol. 14,  p.260
Well, supposing it did, has God ever condemned the world for not
obeying one servant when he only had one witness? I answer yes, in
some instances. He was going to condemn the great city of Nineveh on a
certain occasion through the testimony of one man called Jonah. "In
forty days this great city shall be destroyed," says Jonah. Jonah
finding that the Lord sent but one witness with such an important
message felt almost discouraged, and when he was on his way to deliver
it to a great people and city, he felt that he would almost rather die
than go as a single and solitary witness with a message of so much
importance, and he besought the people to throw him overboard. They
did so, the Lord having produced a furious wind, frightened the
people, and they, according to their old traditions, thought somebody
was on board that ought not to be there. Jonah told them that he had
rejected the commandment of the Lord, and if they would throw him
overboard the winds would cease. They did so, and the wind did cease.
A fish was prepared and it swallowed up Jonah, and the fish was
commanded of the Lord to go and vomit up Jonah on the land, which he
did. Very obedient, much more so than many people are now-a-days, or
have been in former times. This fish was obedient to the command of
the Lord and went and did what the Lord commanded, and Jonah was
thrown up. The word of the Lord came to him to go and fulfil his
mission. He went and preached to the great city of Nineveh, and told
the people what the Lord intended to do, and the people repented in
sackcloth and ashes, from the king on his throne down to the least of
them; they all turned and repented of their sins, and the Lord had
compassion and did not execute the judgment on them because of their
[p.261] repentance. Now, what would have been the consequence if they
had rejected this one man's testimony? The consequence would have been
their overthrow. Jonah might have told them that God had sent him, and
he might have preached to them that he had been swallowed up by a
whale, and that God had given commandment to the fish to vomit him up
on dry ground! What would they care about that? They would have said,
"Jonah is crazy, insane, he must be insane," and they might have
rejected his testimony, and brought death and destruction on the whole
city, consequently God may send but one witness.

Vol. 14,  p.261
But he sometimes condescends to give more. We have four witnesses who
have written and whose writings have descended to our day, concerning
the resurrection of Jesus Christ—one of the most, important events
that has ever happened in our world. Four men who saw Jesus after his
resurrection have testified in the New Testament to his resurrection.
"Oh, but,"says one, "we have more than four men." I think not, I can't
find but four who have written. No women have written, for we have not
any women's epistles or writings in the New Testament. "But," says
one, "do you mean to say that the twelve apostles have not handed down
their testimony? I do say so. I have no doubt but what they did
testify of his resurrection, but they have given us no account. Four
of the eight writers of the New Testament saw Jesus after his
resurrection, and all the Christian world at the present day believe
that Jesus rose from the dead because those four men testified that he
did so. But does not Paul say that he was seen by him, and afterwards
on a certain occasion after his resurrection by five hundred of his
brethren? Yes, we suppose that he said so, because the writer of the
Acts of the Apostles says that Paul said so; but it all rests on the
writer of those Acts, whose name is supposed to be Luke. Luke says
that Paul saw Jesus; Luke says that he was seen by five hundred, or at
least he says that Paul says that he was seen by five hundred. Well
now, such a great and important fact as the resurrection of the Son of
God rests upon the testimony of four witnesses, and they are dead. You
cannot cross-question them, you can't ask them if their testimony is
true, you can't go to them and enquire about the particulars in
relation to it; but you have to take the testimony of four witnesses
who are dead and have been for eighteen hundred years; yet you believe
the great fact, I do, and so do the Latter-day Saints, on their
testimony.

Vol. 14,  p.261
Again, we find that it is written in the New Testament, the words of
Jesus on the same subject, that in the mouths of two or three
witnesses shall every word be established. Indeed, is that so? Are two
or three witnesses sufficient to condemn the whole world of mankind,
and to leave them without excuse? Jesus says so: every word shall be
established in the mouths of two or three witnesses. This is in
accordance with what took place in the days of the flood. Noah, Shem,
Ham and Japhet were the only witnesses that went forth to warn that
generation of a terrible judgment that was to come on all flesh if
they did not repent. They did not receive the testimony of those four
men and consequently they were overthrown by the flood. God does
therefore condemn the children of men by the number of witnesses that
seems to him good to communicate, or through whom to communicate, a
message to them.

Vol. 14,  p.262
Now then, let us come back again. Here was Joseph Smith, a boy, his
[p.262] very youth ought to testify in his favor, for when the Lord
first revealed himself to that little boy, he was only between
fourteen and fifteen years of age. Now, can we imagine or suppose that
a great impostor could be made out of a youth of that age, and one
that could reveal the doctrine of Christ as he has revealed it to this
generation? Would he stand forth and bear testimony that he had seen
with his own eyes a messenger of light and glory, and that he heard
the words of his mouth as they dropped from his lips and had received
a message from the Most High, at that early age? And then, after
having declared it, to have the finger of scorn pointed at him, with
exclamations, "There goes the visionary boy! No visions in our day, no
angels come in our day, no more revelation to be given in our day! Why
he is deluded, he is a fanatic;" and to have this scorn and derision
and still continue to testify, in the face and eyes of all this, while
hated and derided by his neighbors, that God had sent his angel from
heaven. Can you imagine that a youth would do this? Select out some of
our little boys here, fourteen years of age, can you imagine it to be
possible for them to be impostions of this description? I think not.
The very youth, then, of this first witness that I have named,
testifies in his favor! Did God send forth servants to publish this
Book of Mormon, containing the everlasting Gospel, to all the nations
and kingdoms of the earth without giving more witnesses than this one
I have named? No, he was more merciful to this generation than he was
to the city of Nineveh; he sent more than one. He would not even
permit this book to go forth as a divine revelation to this generation
until he had raised up three other men—Martin Harris, David Whitmer
and Oliver Cowdrey, besides Joseph Smith. "But," says. one, "perhaps
they were deceived, while Joseph Smith was the imposter, they might
have been sincere men!" Let us see whether they could be deceived men,
and yet their testimony be given as it is here recorded. They have
testified to all nations, kindred, tongues and people unto whom this
work shall come, that, "we, through the grace of God the Father and
our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this record,
and we testify with words of soberness that God sent forth an holy
angel from heaven, and he showed unto us the plates from which this
record was taken, and he commanded us to bear record of the same and
to be obedient unto the commandment of God. We bear testimony of these
things, and we do know it we are faithful in Christ we shall rid our
garments of the blood of all men," and so forth. I have repeated to
you part of the testimony of these three men.

Vol. 14,  p.262
Now is there any chance for deception here? An angel to be sent forth
from God, an angel to come down from heaven clothed in glory and
brightness! An angel to take these plates and turn them over leaf
after leaf and show the engravings thereon! An angel to proclaim to
them that they must bear testimony of it to all people, nations and
tongues; and at the same time to hear the voice of God out of the
heavens proclaiming that it had been translated correctly! Any chance
for deception here, so far as they are concerned? Were they deceived?
If so, you may as well say that Peter was deceived, that Paul was
deceived, that James, was deceived, that all the writers of the New
Testament were deceived, that all the writers of the Old Testament
were deceived, when they testify that they saw angels, for one stands
on as good and sound [p.263] a foundation as the other; and if the
very nature of the testimony as recorded by the ancient writers shows
the impossibility of their being deceived, so does the nature of the
testimony revealed in the last days show the impossibility of these
individuals being deceived. Here then were four men before this church
had any existence, four special witnesses, raised up to testify to the
truth of the divinity of the Book of Mormon.

Vol. 14,  p.263
Were these all the witnesses God gave before the rise of this church?
No, no! There are eight other witnesses whose names are recorded,
attached to their own testimony, a testimony which they give expressly
to go forth in connection with this record, or in all the translations
of this record to every people, tongue and nation under the whole
heavens. What do they testify? They testify in words of soberness that
they have seen the plates from which this record was translated, that
they have handled these plates, that they saw the engravings on these
plates, that they had the appearance of ancient work and of curious
workmanship, and they bear this testimony in words of soberness, and
give their names to go forth to the whole world of mankind. I ask if
either of these twelve witnesses have denied their testimony from that
day to this? Never, in no instance. Neither of these twelve men,
whatever has been his circumstances, wherever he has been, has ever
denied his testimony from that day to this. Forty-two years and
upwards have passed away since those twelve witnesses, four of whom
saw the angel, gave their testimony.

Vol. 14,  p.263
What other witnesses have you besides these? On the strength of this
testimony other persons believed in the everlasting Gospel and went
forth and were baptized, repenting of their sins, for the remission of
them. And God commanded his servants whom he had called and ordained
to be apostles in this church and kingdom, to lay their hands upon
them, and said that they, the candidates, should receive the Holy
Ghost through that ordinance. Did they receive the Holy Ghost? They
testified that they did. They prophesied,—they were filled with joy
and light, and with a spirit that they never had experienced before.
They testified that they had received the baptism of fire and of the
Holy Ghost, in fulfillment of the promise. Did God reveal to them
anything by this spirit that came upon them through obedience to the
Gospel? Yes. What did he reveal? He revealed to them the divinity of
this work, the truth of it, and they knew as well as these witnesses
whose testimonies are recorded that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.
They knew that no human being by human means could confer the baptism
of the Holy Ghost, as they testified they had received it,
consequently they became witnesses in their turn, and many of them
were sent forth as messengers and missionaries to preach to their
neighbors, and into the regions round about, to declare what God had
commenced to perform and accomplish in the midst of the 19th century.

Vol. 14,  p.263
By and by thousands received the work. Did they receive the Holy
Ghost? Yes, every person who repented sincerely before God, who had
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and came forth humbly, and was
baptized by immersion by those whom the Lord had called and appointed
by revelation, did receive the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of the
hands of the servants of God. These would constitute thousands of more
witnesses in addition to those that I have named.

Vol. 14,  p.264
But let other witnesses speak, besides all these who had received a
[p.264] revelation of the divinity of this work. What other witnesses
did God give? He gave the same witnesses to the Church after it was
built up that he gave to the ancient Church. What did he give to the
ancient Church? He said to his apostles, as recorded in the last
chapter of Mark, "Go ye forth and preach the Gospel in all the world
to every creature, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow
them that believe." Notice, now, certain signs were to be given not
only to the twelve men to whom he was speaking, but all the world that
should believe their testimony, making millions and millions of
witnesses. "These signs shall follow them that believe: in my name
they shall cast out devils." These believers, not you apostles to whom
I am speaking alone, but all that believe the Gospel which you preach,
"they shall cast out devils in my name; they shall speak with new
tongues, if they shall drink any deadly thing or take up serpents it
shall not hurt them; they shall lay their hands upon the sick and they
shall recover." What glorious signs to follow the Christians, or all
believers in Christ! What has become of all the Christians in all the
centuries that are past and gone? Where are they? If there have been
any they have had these signs following them. What, do you mean, Mr.
Pratt, to unchristianize the world? O no, I am only quoting the words
of Jesus. If there have been any Christians in the world for the last
seventeen centuries, these signs have followed them. They have laid
hands on the sick and the sick have recovered; they have east out
devils in the name of Jesus, for recollect the promise is to all
believers, not to a few or a part of them.

Vol. 14,  p.264
Notice the two promises: First, salvation—he that believes, (that
is—all believers throughout the world,) and is baptized shall be
saved. Will you pretend to say that that promise of salvation was
limited to the days of the apostles? "O no," answer all the Christian
sects with one united voice, "the promise of salvation is for all
Christians in the first age, in all future ages throughout all the
world." Very well, come to the next verse, "These signs shall follow
them that believe." "Ah," says the Christians, "that is not for us,
that is limited to the days of the apostles; that was not intended for
the Christians of the second, third, fourth or fifth century, or for
the people in our day. No, all we have to do is to claim the first
promise and reject the last."

Vol. 14,  p.264
Well, we are not so foolish as all this, although taught by our
forefathers, and the pretended Christians around us, that these signs
would not follow the believer, yet we were just simple enough to
believe that Jesus told the truth, and, consequently, when the
servants of God went forth and taught the everlasting Gospel that an
angel had brought from heaven, the Lord confirmed the word by signs
following. To whom? To those who believed. He promised that they
should have certain signs, and they got them, and this was a
confirmation to them. Every man and every woman might know whether he
or she was a believer or not in the Gospel; if they obtained the signs
they were believers; if they obtained no gifts or no signs there was
lack on their part, they were not Christians in the full sense of the
word.

Vol. 14,  p.264
Don't you think we would have been discouraged after forty years'
trial if God had not fulfilled the promise? I think we should. I do
not think you would see this large congregation here in this desert
mountainous country, I have no idea you would [p.265] find such a
people here in such a forbidding country as we now occupy, if God had
not, in numerous instances among the nations in which you formerly
dwelt, fulfilled his promise, and given you the promised blessing.
This therefore, is another evidence, besides the evidence and
testimony recorded in the Book of Mormon, an evidence which hundreds
and thousands enjoy at the present day. Hundreds and thousands have
seen with their eyes and have experienced the power of God as
manifested in the various gifts.

Vol. 14,  p.265
This is what constitutes the true Christian Church. This is what
distinguishes Christianity from all spurious doctrines, and separates
the true from spurious Christianity. This is the great distinguishing
point, it is the power of God made manifest through the preaching of
the everlasting Gospel. It is this which has gathered this people out
from among the nations. It is because their sick have been healed in
their own country; it is because thousands of this people, now in this
Territory, have been healed themselves. It is because God has shed
forth his power by the ministrations of his servants and proved to
them with testimonies they never can deny that, the Lord God of Israel
has spoken from the heavens. Blessed be the name of the Lord our God!
Praise his name for evermore, that he has again sent the Gospel in its
fulness to the earth. We should praise his name because he has not
only restored the Gospel, but the power and authority to preach it,
and administer its ordinances! Power and authority sent down from
heaven and conferred upon weak mortal man to baptize for the remission
of sins! Power and authority sent from the eternal heavens to build up
his Church here on the earth; and we see divine power and authority
accompaning those who he has thus called and to whom he has thus
revealed himself. Consequently our Gospel does not come with the
cunning craftiness of man's wisdom. Though we may be poor, illiterate
men, taken from our common avocations of life and sent forth by the
Lord Almighty to proclaim his Gospel, we have one thing the world has
not got. Though we may not be able to proclaim the Gospel in eloquence
of language and in the power and wisdom of the world, we have a power
that is superior to that—we have the power of the Almighty God. We
have his angels to go before our face, his Spirit to dwell richly in
our hearts, and his presence to go with us and be with us on our right
hand and our left. It is he who performs the work; it is he who
proclaims to the inhabitants of the earth by the months of his
servants, saying," Repent, and prepare the way for the great day of
the coming of the Lord from the heavens."

Vol. 14,  p.265
Will they hear? No, like the people in the days of the flood, they
eat, they drink, they are engaged in merchandise and in the traffic of
this world, and the voice of inspiration and the power of Almighty God
that are being made manifest among the people will not reach their
stubborn and hardened hearts, until the Lord, by and by, by his
judgments, will pour out his indignation upon all nations.
Amen.[p.266] 

John Taylor, December 17, 1871

Our Religion From God not Man—Enter not Into 
Temptation—No Covenants to Forsake

Discourse By Elder John Taylor, Delivered in 
the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, December 17, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.266
In rising to address you this afternoon I feel as I always do, on like
occasions,—the necessity of the influence and direction of the spirit
of the Lord. We, as a people, believe emphatically in the sustaining
hand of the Almighty, and in our speaking and in our hearing in the
assemblies of the Saints we always feel that it is a matter of the
greatest importance to us. We realize that God is near to us, that we
are acting under his guidance and direction, that we are his children
and require his aid, and that while we seek unto him for guidance and
direction we shall always have his Holy Spirit to lead us in the paths
of truth, In this respect as well as many others we differ from the
people of the generation in which we live. We came out from among them
years ago, because we believed in certain revelations that God had
made to the human family; and believing in these principles we have
assembled ourselves together as we are found, in these valleys of the
mountains, in the Territory of Utah. We have come here, ostensibly and
in reality, not to do our own will, but the will of our heavenly
Father; not, to follow our own pursuits, but to try and pursue that
path which he should dictate in all things, temporal and spiritual,
pertaining to this world and the world to come; and hence we, as a
people, feel and realize our dependence upon the Almighty. We
conceive, as the old apostle did in generations past, that "in him we
live and move and from him we have our being;" and we conceive that we
derive all the enjoyments of life from him. Our religion emanated from
him, if it did not we have none, for it certainly is not founded upon
any principles that were extant in the world when it was revealed. If
he had not revealed his will and we had not believed in that
revelation we should not have been here; but believing in that, we are
assembled as we are to-day, here, and as we are through the valleys of
these mountains. We did not obtain our religion from anybody else, we
did not learn it in the colleges of the day nor from any system of
theology, nor any religious academy, neither in any theological
school. We are not trained, or brought up, or educated, or informed by
any intelligence that they have; the religion that we have we received
"not of man, neither by man, but by the revelations of the Lord Jesus
Christ." This is the position that we occupy to-day in regard to our
religious feelings, and if this is a fiction, then our religion is a
fiction altogether, for we have none. We claim no affinity, no
relationship, no [p.267] association with any sect, any party, any
religionists that exist on the face of the wide earth; therefore they
cannot say, as some profess to do, that we have borrowed certain parts
of our religion from others. We have neither adopted the opinions of
Socrates, Mahommed, Paine, Luther, or the Hindoos; nor are we indebted
to Roman Catholicism, the Greek Church, Episcopalianism, or to Knox,
Calvin, Whitfield, Wesley, Campbell, Miller, or any other sects, our
religion in its entirety came from God, and we give to him, and not to
any man or any set of men, the glory.

Vol. 14,  p.267
In relation to our political position it is precisely the same. There
is an inherent principle of right planted in the human bosom, which
God has placed there, and which man never could, can not now, nor ever
will up. root; principles of inherent right which all intelligent men,
when they have sought for the truth, with un-biassed mind, and desired
sincerely to know, have invariably found. Governed by the principles
of right, and un-influenced by party power or wealth there have always
been men inspired by an infallible divine afflatus, who have
recognized an innate, inalienable principle of justice and equity, in
every age and among all nations, and the records of the Babylonians,
the Medo-Persians, the Greeks, Romans and more modern nations bear
ample testimony to this fact. The principle of right is implanted in
the human bosom and inherent in the human family, among all
governments that have ever existed, and men of virtue, honor and truth
have always arrived at the same conclusions that we have. The founders
of our government, under the inspiration of the Almighty, and goaded
by an oppressive power, discovered the same elements, the same
principles, the same ideas that we have, and enunciated those eternal
principles and made them known to the world,—"that all men are born
free and equal and have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness." The founders of the French Republic, about the same time,
made a declaration almost verbatim. It is the violation of the natural
rights of man that has deluged the earth with blood in all ages. These
principles were enunciated also by Joseph Smith, he believed in them,
so do we, in the right to think, in the right to speak, in the right
to act, in the right to do all things that are right and good and
proper, but not in the right to interfere with any other man's rights,
any other man's religion, any other man's principles. These are our
views. God has planted them in our bosom, they will remain there
eternally, for they are principles that dwell in the bosom of God. He
is not circumscribed or sectarian in his views, "he causes his sun to
shine on the evil and the good, and sends his rain on the just and
unjust." We certainly are not indebted for these principles to those
who come among us here, but God has implanted them in our bosoms, and
they will grow there and take root and spread and prevail, and the
worst wish we have to the human family is that the principles
enunciated in our Constitution may reverberate over the wide earth,
and spread from shore to shore until all mankind shall be free.

Vol. 14,  p.267
These are the things that we are struggling for, these are the things
for which we stand condemned at the present day, by the would-be
republicans and democracy of this corrupt generation with which we are
associated. Nevertheless, we have clung to them and shall cling to
them. Do any men come among us with religions that we consider false?
All right, let them worship as they please. Let them rant and roar and
[p.268] pray and halloo to their God, who seems to be deaf and can't
hear them, and let them take what course they please butler us alone.
We will let them alone. They may halloo until they crack their
throats, it will make no difference to us. We care nothing about their
opinions and dogmas, we have left their follies and nonsense and cant
and hypocrisy years ago, we want nothing to do with it. If they want,
it they can take it, they can hug it to themselves as a sweet morsel,
and take their own coarse, but let us alone. We are indebted to God
for the blessings we enjoy, and this nation, whether they know it or
not, are indebted to the same source for all those pure, patriotic,
liberal, exalted notions that the wise, enlightened and honest
statesmen, inducted into our government years ago, and which those who
are not disfranchised among us, experience to-day. But God has nothing
to do with the corruption, fraud, hypocrisy and cant that exist,
whether among religionists or politicians. He is not the author of it,
it proceeds from beneath, from the father of lies. No good man will
seek to oppress the good, the pure, the virtuous, nor lend himself as
a tool for that purpose. We are seeking for those things that tend to
exalt, ennoble and purify the human family. We say to others, get out
of our way; let us alone. Hug your creeds! hug your tyranny! hug your
corruptions and lies to your bosoms, but let us alone. That is all we
ask and mean to have it, for the right and the might, and virtue and
truth will prevail; and iniquity, error, tyranny and oppression will
by and by be laid low, and Zion will rise and triumph, while the
wicked and corrupt are writhing and weltering in the results of their
own acts.

Vol. 14,  p.268
They would sympathize with us! We don't ask their sympathy; reserve i~
for yourselves. They would purify us! What by? By their whoredoms here
right in our midst! By their drunkenness, by their gambling, by their
hells of infamy which they have introduced, and which are sustained by
legal authority here. That is the course they are taking. "My soul,
enter not thou into their secret; my honor, with them be not thou
united!" Talk about our ladies here associating with such wretches as
they! No never! no never!! no never!!! They will not mingle with
harlots, they have come of another stock, they are inspired by other
feelings, motives and views; they can't bow to it. Let them take their
rottenness to their own dens and wallow in it, we want nothing to do
with it! They can take their pity and everything else they have got
and stuff themselves with it, and I hope that our sisters here, both
young and aged, have enough respect for themselves to keep out of the
company and society of such corrupt wretches. I don't think it is
necessary to say so, but these are my feelings and I tell them.

Vol. 14,  p.268
The Lord has given us a work to do, and by his help we shall do it. He
has placed the Gospel of life and salvation in our hands, and we have
carried it from the rivers to the end of the earth without begging all
over the world for a little help and charity. We can go trusting in
God. The elders of this church, whom I see around me, have wandered
over this wide world, trusting in the Almighty for their support, and
he has been with 'them, and they don't need to cringe and bow, and
lie, and misrepresent to get somebody to give them a little money to
help them on with their religion.

Vol. 14,  p.268
We believe in the great truths which God has revealed for the
salvation of the human family; we are engaged in building up and
establishing [p.269] the Kingdom of God on the earth. The great
Eloheim is our father, friend and benefactor; we lean upon his arm,
and we know that he will guide and direct, influence and control the
affairs of his people, therefore we rely upon him. We have engaged in
nothing but what we have been directed by the Almighty in, except some
of us who have got aside into transgression. We are married to our
wives and don't want any other associations. We respect and honor
them, we cleave unto them, and we will do so in time and throughout
all eternity. (Congregation said "amen.") Some of our miserable
apostates may shake and tremble in their boots when somebody at the
East tells them what is going to come. They may break their covenants
with God and their wives, and forsake them. We are not afraid of these
things, we have learned a lesson, not in their school. We can't
forsake those whom God has given to us, but we will cleave to them for
ever and for ever, worlds without end. That is our view; that is mine.
I have no covenants to violate, nobody to forsake. This people's God
is my God, their religion is my religion, where they go I hope to be
found, where they live I wish to live, where they die I want to be
buried. I want to be associated with them in time and in eternity. I
don't believe in the God of the religions of this world, nor in their
heaven, nor in anything pertaining to it. I don't want to go to a
heaven "beyond the bounds of time and space." I don't want to worship
a God "without body, parts or passions." I have no reverence for him.
I don't want anything to do with him. They can worship him and go to
their own heaven, and let us alone.

Vol. 14,  p.269
I will tell you what we have to do as Latter-day Saints—live our
religion, keep the commandments of God and be virtuous. Do not mingle
with these abominations that have been imported into your midst, keep
away from them and let them alone, and let the wicked and corrupt
wallow in their wickedness and corruption. Have nothing to do with it.
Don't go to their balls, assemblies or associations, keep apart from
them and let them alone, they are not worthy of your association. We
live in a purer atmosphere, we breathe a purer air, we worship another
God, we have another religion, one that is very willing and liberal
enough to extend to all the rights that all men want, but we will not
associate with them in their corruption and infamy. They may wallow on
"Whiskey" St. and have their whore houses if they like, and be
sustained if they so choose by judicial authority, but God deliver us
from them! We want nothing to do with them. I am ashamed of such
flyings, and did think once there was some decency among men, but I am
changing my opinion. Let us cleave to our religion and humble
ourselves before God, pray to him, keep his commandments, and be
virtuous and pure and holy! Remember your prayers; be true and
faithful to each other and to your covenants, keep the commandments of
the Almighty, and the blessings of Israel's God will rest upon you,
and no power this side of hell or the other side either shall harm
you. It is our duty to serve God; it is God's duty to take care of his
Saints, and he will say to all powers that may be arrayed against you,
as he did to the mighty swelling flood, "Hitherto shall thou go and no
further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed."

Vol. 14,  p.269
We are in the hands of God, and our enemies are in the hands of God,
we are all in the hands of the [p.270] Almighty, and he will sustain
the right, and Israel shall be victorious, therefore you need not
trouble about what this man or the other man, or this combination or
the other combination can do, they can do nothing but what God will
let them; for the God we serve is not dead, he lives yet, and he hears
the prayers of his servants, and he will stand by and save and deliver
them, and Israel shall rejoice and truth shall prevail, and the
kingdom of God will roll onward, and the purposes of God will be
accomplished. The potsherds of the earth may strive with the potsherds
of the earth; but in interfering with righteousness and virtue they
may run against the fierce bosses of Jehovah's buckler, and he will
tell them by and by to: "Stand back, touch not mine anointed, and do
my prophets no harm!" He will deliver Israel and his Saints shall be
joyful in him.

Vol. 14,  p.270
Brethren, God bless Israel! I thought I would like to say a few words
to you. Be not timid, any of you, for God is on the side of right, and
he will protect his people; and let their enemies look out! Don't
fight! You need not think anything about that. Fear God and keep your
powder dry, but don't shoot anybody. Be ready always. Watch everybody
in all their operations. Be quick, lively and energetic, but you need
not fear. We want no vigilant societies here, nor bloodtubs, nor
"Pluguglies," nor Ku-Klux, nor John Brown raids, nor Jayhawkers, as
they frequently have down east and west and south. We don't want any
secret organizations of any kind, nor any infractions of law.

Vol. 14,  p.270
Let others be breakers of the law, and us the keepers of it, let
others trample under foot human rights, and us maintain them. If we
were in Russia we would take all the liberty they would give to us,
and we will take all we can got here, and the remainder we will
contend for, and we will keep contending for it until honor and
honesty and truth can hold up their heads unabashed before the world,
and until all that love honor, truth, integrity, pure and correct
principles and equal rights shall be exalted and the wicked be put
down.

Vol. 14,  p.270
These are the things we are contending for, and we will keep
contending for them as long as we live, and we will instruct our
children after us to contend for them. If others want to play the part
of tyrants let them do so and they will find the tyrant's end. It is
for us to keep the commandments of God, and in doing that we need not
break the laws of the land. Why, bless your souls, we can live
anything that anybody else can! We profess to be governed by a higher
law, let us move in a higher atmosphere; and let these miserable dogs
take their course, pursue their own path and do as they please. We can
submit to anything that they can. Don't be troubled, you need not be
hurt. We do not propose to leave here;they are not able to rob us of
all. They may do a little stealing. They have laid out great plans,
but they will accomplish very little. We can stand it if they can. I
would rather be the man that was robbed than the robber; I would
rather be stolen from than be the thief; I would rather he the
oppressed than the oppressor; I would rather suffer wrong than do
wrong. And if they can stand these things we can, and let us do it
manfully and womanfully.

Vol. 14,  p.270
I am glad there is a little spirit among our sisters, and that they
dare say their souls are their own. I don't like to see people
sneaking about with their heads down, and fretting about every little
wind that blows. It will be all right with us, never fear. We [p.271]
will live so far above them that they can't touch us; and their
infamies will be so plain that they will be proclaimed on the
housetops, and everybody will be ashamed of them as we are to-day. May
God help us to do right and to be faithful in keeping his
commandments, in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Orson Pratt, April 9, 1871

Order—Spiritual Gifts—Temples—the New Jerusalem

Discourse By Elder Orson Pratt, Delivered in 
the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, April 9, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans, Transcribed by Masters 
Feramorz Young and John Q. Cannon)

Vol. 14,  p.271
Brethren, sisters, and strangers, I wish to address you for a few
moments this forenoon, and to speak upon those things that may be put
into my mind. We, all of us, believe that our God is a God of order,
that all things that are conducted by him are conducted in the most
perfect order, according to law. Hence it is written somewhere in the
New Testament, I think in the 14th chapter of Paul's 1st epistle to
the Corinthians that: "My house is a house of order and not a house of
confusion." What we mean by this is, that everything pertaining to the
salvation of men, which is acceptable in the sight of heaven, must be
in accordance with strict law. In other words, that the Lord designed
a work among the human family according to those laws that were
ordained by him from before the foundation of the world. If he desires
them to be baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, he has ordained
a law through and by which mankind may be made partakers of the
blessing. If he is willing to extend mercy and pardon to the children
of men he has ordained a law, namely, faith in his Son Jesus Christ,
in the atonement that he wrought out in the ordinances and
institutions of the Gospel that he established, requiring the human
family to repent, and reform their lives, to put away their sins,
break off from every manner of evil and enter into a covenant with him
to serve him faithfully, and to manifest their repentance by obeying a
certain ordinance, then comes forgiveness. That ordinance is baptism,
which must be performed according to the pattern and law of heaven; it
must not be varied from. Sprinkling will not do; pouring water on the
head will not do; baptism administered by a man having no authority
from heaven will not be accepted; it must be administered according to
law, order and authority, by one who is commissioned, to whom the Lord
has spoken and to whom he has given revelation and called to [p.272]
perform that work, then it will be acceptable, and will be
acknowledged in heaven, and be recorded in the archives of eternity;
and when the books are opened it will be found in those books that
that man or that woman has complied with the order of God's house,
given heed to the institutions and ordinances of his kingdom, and
having continued to do so to the end he or she can be saved.

Vol. 14,  p.272
God has also ordained that when he bestows upon the children of men
spiritual gifts that they must be received in order; they must be
given according to the laws and institutions of the church, through
the administration of that authority and power that he has established
here on the earth. Hence, Paul, in writing to the saints in his day,
said to them on a certain occasion that he greatly desired to visit
certain branches of the church in order that he might impart to them
some spiritual gifts. Why not receive these spiritual gifts in some
other way? Why not receive these great and choice heavenly blessings
according to our own will? Because God is a God of order and his house
is not a house of confusion. If he desires to bestow any great, choice
heavenly gift upon his servants and handmaidens he has ordained an
authority and set that authority in his church, and through the
administration of the ordinances that pertain to that heavenly gift
they may be made partakers thereof.

Vol. 14,  p.272
God has promised in the sermon on the mount a very great blessing to
the pure in heart:—"Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see
God." How great is the blessing that is here pronounced! They shall
see God. God is a being who is willing to reveal himself, even to his
children here on the earth. If they will abide by law, give heed to
the ordinances that he has ordained, and walk in consistency with the
principles that are revealed, they may come up to that high privilege
here, in time, that the vail will be taken away and their eyes can
look on the face of the Lord, for they are pure in heart. I know it is
written in other places that no man hath seen God at any time. In the
book of Exodus it is written that "no man shall see my face;" and then
again, the same book says that Jacob saw God face to face and talked
with him. Again it is written that Moses talked with the Lord face to
face as a man talks with his friend. How shall we reconcile these
passages of scripture? If we take the scriptures in their true import,
and according to the general tenor of their reading, they are easily
reconciled. No natural man hath seen God at any time. A natural man
could not behold the face of the Lord in his glory, for he could not
endure it; but when a mortal man or woman here on the earth has put
away the natural or carnal mind; when he or she has put away all sin
and iniquity, and has complied with the laws and commandments of God,
then, like Jacob of old, he or she may see God face to face, and, like
Moses, talk with the Lord as one man talks with another. It is written
here in this book which you and I have received as a part and portion
of our rule of faith and practice, "The Book of Covenants," as
follows: "Verily thus saith the Lord, it shall come to pass that,
every soul that forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me and calleth on
my name and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments shall see my
face, and know that I am, and that I am the true light that lighteth
every man that cometh into the world, and that I am in the Father and
the Father in me; and the Father and I are one." Again it is written
in another revelation: "And in as much as my people [p.273] shall
build up a house unto me in the name of the Lord, and do not suffer
any unclean thing to come into it that it be not defiled, my glory
shall rest upon it, yea, my presence shall be there, for I will come
into it, and all the pure in heart that shall come into it shall see
God; but if it be defiled I will not come into it and my glory shall
not be there, for I will not come into unholy temples, etc."

Vol. 14,  p.273
I have read these sayings, in order that the Latter-day Saints may
perceive that God is willing that you and I and the least of those
that are called Latter-day Saints, if they will purify themselves
before him and call upon his name, keep his commandments, obey his
institutions, comply with the order of his house, regulating their
lives and conduct by every word that proceeds forth out of his
mouth—may rend the veil, and be permitted to gaze upon the face of our
Redeemer and Creator. This was the privilege of the Saints of God in
times of old. Paul in addressing the Saints who lived in his day
writes thus:

Vol. 14,  p.273
"Ye are came unto Mount Zion, unto the city of the living God, to the
heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, unto God the
judge of all, and Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant."

Vol. 14,  p.273
What high privileges and great blessings were conferred upon those
former-day Saints! They had been enabled by their faith to come up
before God and claim, not only those common spiritual gifts that are
imparted to the church for the mutual edification of its members, but
they were also permitted to rise still higher, by virtue of their
faith, and gaze upon the heavenly Jerusalem, to come unto mount Zion,
to the city of the living God. They could behold the face of God, the
face of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the faces of an innumerable company
of angels,—the church of the First Born, and mingle themselves, as it
were, in their society. All these things were obtained through
obedience to the laws and institutions that God had made manifest in
the midst of his house.

Vol. 14,  p.273
When the Lord commanded this people to build a house in the land of
Kirtland, in the early rise of this church, he gave them the pattern
by vision from heaven, and commanded them to build that house
according to that pattern and order; to have the architecture, not in
accordance with architecture devised by men, but to have every thing
constructed in that house according to the heavenly pattern that he by
his voice had inspired to his servants. When this was complied with
did the Lord accept that house? Yes! They having complied with the
order and built the house according to the pattern, the Lord
condescended to grace that house with his presence. In that house the
veil was taken away from the eyes of many of the servants of God and
they beheld his glory. In that house the Lord Jesus Christ was seen by
some of the Elders of the Church in heavenly vision standing upon the
threshhold of the pulpit, proclaiming himself to be Alpha and Omega,
the first and the last, the Great I Am, &c. And he gave keys of
instruction and counsel and authority to his servants, declaring unto
them that he accepted that house at their hands, and inasmuch as they
had been faithful in the performance of their duty in building a
temple to his name, he blessed them therein. He also proclaimed unto
them that from that house his servants should go forth armed with the
power of his priesthood, and proclaim the Gospel among the various
nations, and that many people should come from the uttermost parts of
the earth and praise the [p.274] name of the Lord in Zion, and in the
midst of his house. Thus did the Lord, when we fulfilled on our part,
fulfil his promises on his part. So, in the latter-days, when the Lord
our God shall permit us to build that house of which he has spoken in
the paragraph just quoted from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, it
shall come to pass in that day that all who are pure in heart that
enter into that house shall see God. Thus we perceive that the Lord
chooses to have a house built unto his holy name, wherein he shall
manifest his glory and power.

Vol. 14,  p.274
When Moses reared a tabernacle in the wilderness of the land of Egypt
according to the pattern that God gave unto him did the Lord
acknowledge it? He did. Did he show forth his power and glory in that
house? He did. Did a cloud rest upon it by day and a pillar of flaming
fire hover over it by night? Yes! It was done according to the pattern
and according to the heavenly order and commandment of the Great
Jehovah. So, when the servants of God in the last days shall build a
house in the the tops of the mountains, he will acknowledge it if they
build it according to the pattern which shall be revealed from heaven,
on the spot that the Lord shall designate by his own voice, and in the
time and in the season, proclaimed by the Almighty. It shall come to
pass in that day, also, that the Lord will show forth his glory in
that house, and the fame thereof shall go forth to the uttermost parts
of the earth: all people, nations, languages and tongues, kings upon
their thrones, and many nations will say, "come let us go up to the
mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may
teach us of his ways." That is, that he may inform our minds
concerning the order and laws that pertain to his house and kingdom,
that everything may be done by law and authority, that what is done
here on the earth may be acknowledged and recorded in the heavens, for
the benefit of those who believe.

Vol. 14,  p.274
I have about five minutes more. We read in the scriptures of diviner
truth that the Lord our God is to come to his temple in the last days,
as was quoted yesterday by Elder Penrose. It is recorded in the 3rd
chapter of Malachi that "the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to.
his temple." This had no reference to the first coming of the Messiah,
to the day when he appeared in the flesh; but it has reference to that
glorious period termed the last days, when the Lord will again have a
house, or a temple reared up on the earth to his holy name. "The Lord
whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, but who shall abide
the day of his coming? Who shall stand when he appears? For he is like
the refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. He shall sit as a refiner
and purifier of silver upon the sons of Levi; that they may offer an
offering unto the Lord in righteousness. Then shall the offering of
Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord as in days of old and as
in former years." The Lord intends to have a temple not only in Zion,
but, according to this, in old Jerusalem; and he intends that the sons
of Levi shall receive their blessings—the blessings of their
priesthood that were conferred upon them in that temple; and he is
determined that the ministers in that temple shall be purified as gold
and silver is purified, and he is determined to sit as a refiner's
fire in the midst of that temple. So it will be in the temple in Zion,
for behold in the last days the Lord will rear up Zion upon the
American continent, and he will also rear up Jerusalem on [p.275] the
eastern hemisphere. Zion on the western continent will be the place
where the Lord will also purify and cleanse these two priesthoods,—the
priesthood of Levi and the priesthood of Melchizedec—the lower and the
higher priesthood,—and they will be filled with the glory of God upon
Mount Zion in the Lord's house.

Vol. 14,  p.275
Let me read a few passages in the Book of Covenants. Thirty-nine years
ago a revelation was given, a passage or two of which I will now read;
"A revelation of Jesus Christ unto his servant Joseph Smith and six
Elders, as they united their minds and lifted up their voices on high.
Yea the word of the Lord concerning his church, established in the
last days for the restoration of his people, as he has spoken again by
the mouth of his prophets, for the gathering of his saints, to stand
on Mount Zion, which shall be the city of the New Jerusalem, which
city shall be built, beginning at the temple lot which is appointed by
the finger of the Lord in the western boundaries of the State of
Missouri, and dedicated by the hand of Joseph Smith and others with
whom the Lord was well pleased."

Vol. 14,  p.275
I now notice another prediction: "Verily this is the word of the Lord,
that the city of the New Jerusalem shall be built up by the gathering
of the saints, beginning at this place, even the place of the temple,
which temple shall be reared in this generation, for verily this
generation shall not all pass away until an house shall be built unto
the Lord, and a cloud shall rest upon it, which cloud shall be even
the glory of the Lord, which shall fill the house."

Vol. 14,  p.275
We will now read an item from the sixth paragraph: "The sons of
Moses," that is, those that pertain to the two priesthoods, "the sons
of Moses and the sons of Aaron shall offer an acceptable offering and
sacrifice in the house of the Lord, which house shall be established
in this generation upon the consecrated spot, as I have appointed; and
the sons of Moses and of Aaron," that is, those who receive the two
priesthoods," shall be filled with the glory of God upon Mount Zion in
the Lord's house, whose sons are ye, and also many whom I have called
and sent forth to build up my church; for whosoever is faithful to the
obtaining of these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the
magnifying of their calling are sanctified by the spirit unto the
renewing of their bodies, that they become the sons of Moses and of
Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom and the
elect of God," etc.

Vol. 14,  p.275
Here then we see a prediction, and we believe it. Yes! The Latter-day
Saints have as firm faith and rely upon this promise as much as they
rely upon the promise of forgiveness of sins when they comply with the
first principles of the Gospel. We just as much expect that a city
will be built, called Zion, in the place and on the land which has
been appointed by the Lord our God, and that a temple will be reared
o~ the spot that has been selected, and the cornerstone of which has
been laid, in the generation when this revelation was given; we just
as much expect this as we expect the sun to rise in the morning and
set in the evening; or as much as we expect to see the fulfillment of
any of the purposes of the Lord our God, pertaining to the works of
his hands. But says the objector, "thirty-nine years have passed
away." What of that? The generation has not passed away; all the
people that were living thirty-nine years ago have not passed away;
but before they do pass away this will be fulfilled. What is the
object of this Temple? The object is that the Lord may,[p.276]
according to the order that he has instituted, unveil his face to his
servants, that those that are pure in heart and enter into that temple
may be filled with the glory of God upon Mount Zion in the Lord's
house; and, finally, whatever we may be called upon to do, whether it
be building temples, cultivating the earth, organizing ourselves into
co-operative companies to carry out the purposes and designs of
Jehovah; whether we are sent abroad on missions or remain at home, it
matters not, all things must be done in order, all things must be
performed according to law, so that they will be acceptable in the
sight of heaven, and be recorded there for the benefit of the people
of God here on the earth. Why? Because God is a God of order; he is a
God of law. God is that being that sways his scepter over universal
nature and controls the suns and systems of suns and worlds and
planets and keeps them moving in their spheres and orbits by law; and
all his subjects must comply with law here on the earth, that they may
be prepared to do his will on the earth as his will is done by the
angelic hosts and those higher order of intelligences that reign in
his own presence. Amen.

Brigham Young, July 3, 1870

Debts—Ingratitude—Confidence—Our Religion

Remarks By President Brigham Young Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, July 3, 1870.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.276
I have a few words to say to the Latter-day Saints with regard to
borrowing money and not repaying it. The individual referred to by
Brother Carrington is not the only one who has done this. If we were
to do justice by them I think we should deprive them of the fellowship
of the Saints until they learned to keep their word and to deal
honorably with their brethren. It is bad enough, quite bad enough, to
borrow from an enemy and not to repay him; to do this is beneath the
character of any human being; but all who will borrow from a friend,
and especially from the poor, are undeserving the fellowship of the
Saints if they do not repay. If anybody in the congregation is
disposed to make a motion to that effect I certainly should put it to
the vote. Then again, I will pause. There are circumstances that are
discouraging, and which naturally weaken the faith and confidence of
the Saints, and few things more so than to send money to bring the
poor home to Zion, and, after teaching them how to take care of
themselves, to accumulate the necessaries of life around them, and
when they become comfortable and have a little to spare, for them to
lift their heels against God and his Annointed. And this is not
unfrequently done.

Vol. 14,  p.277
I look over the congregations of the [p.277] Saints as I travel
through the Territory and I see quite a large percentage of people
who, I know, never in their lives owned a house, a foot of land, a
horse, a wagon, a carriage, an ox, a cow, a sheep, or even a fowl. But
gather them here, make them comfortable and put them in happy
circumstances and they often forget their God, their covenants and
their benefactors. I do not know of anyone, excepting the unpardonable
sin, that is greater than the sin of ingratitude; and I do think that
many of this people are guilty of it. I will say, however, that if
there be those in this congregation who have held out to the poor
Saints any prospects of helping them to gather, keep your word with
them.

Vol. 14,  p.277
A very serious question frequently arises in my mind with regard to
the character of men and women. It is this; "Are our characters our
own?" We may say "yes, we form these characters." Suppose that we are
fortunate enough to form a good, honest character in the minds and in
the faith of those who are acquainted with us, do not those characters
belong to our neighbors, although we may be the framers of them? And I
would like to ask: Have we the right to destroy them? It is a serious
question with me. If we have confidence in each other, and our conduct
has been such that we have created. confidence in the feelings of our
neighbors towards us, have we a right to destroy that confidence? Is
it not sacrilege? I will simply reply by giving my views with regard
to myself. According to the knowledge which I possess it is o great
deal easier for an individual to preserve a good character than to
frame and make one if it is lost. It is much easier to keep a fort
when it is well armed and defended than to give it into the hands of
the enemy and then regain it. Consequently we had better keep our
characters, if they are good, than to suffer the enemy to rob us of
them.

Vol. 14,  p.277
Now, to the Latter-day Saints, I will say that when you received the
Gospel in foreign lands you received no more, in comparison, than a
child receives at school when he learns his first lesson. If he
masters the alphabet he thinks he is progressing finely. If the Saints
receive the alphabet abroad they are doing well. When they come here
they have more to learn. The school we are in will never cease; the
lessons we have to learn will never be less than those which we have
received: they will never end; consequently it is important that we
school and train ourselves until we are in subjection to the mind and
will of heaven.

Vol. 14,  p.277
In passing through the world I see that the most of parents are very
anxious to govern and control their children. As far as my
observations have gone I have seen more parents who were unable to
control themselves than I ever saw who were unable to control their
children. If a mother wishes to control her child, in the first place
let her learn to control herself, then she may be successful in
bringing the child into perfect subjection to her will. But if she
does not control herself how can she expect a child,—an infant in
understanding—to be more wise, prudent and better than one of grown
age and matured? I think it would be asking too much. If we will
school ourselves and bring oar own tempers and dispositions into
subjection we shall then have influence to do good, over the minds of
our acquaintances; but if we do not control ourselves how can we have
influence over others? You let two men meet, for instance, say two
neighbors, between whom there is a difficulty, and one is full of
anger and [p.278] wrath and he is ready to settle the matter on the
spot; but the other one, calm and quiet in feeling, says: "Neighbor,
stop a moment, let us look at and reason on this subject; I perceive
that you are angry this morning, you are not in a good temper, and are
not in a situation now to consider this matter justly. Wait a few
moments and see if this evil influence will depart from you. We will
then endeavor to revise this matter thoroughly and learn who is to
blame." Now the one who is calm and full of judgment, discretion and
patience pretty soon overcomes the opposite influence. Which of the
two has the mastery? The one who is angry or the one who is full of
patience? Why, the one who is angry at once submits in his own
feelings to his superior. Who is the superior? The one who has
possessed his soul. If we take this course we will gain influence.

Vol. 14,  p.278
But we do know, the Christian knows, the heathen knows, and the whole
world of mankind knows, and it is acknowledged by all, that confidence
is lost; the members of the human family have not confidence in each
other, as nations, individuals, kings, potentates, statesmen, or as
officers of governments; and I am sorry to say that people have not
confidence in each other as Christians. Confidence is lost. The work
in which you and I have enlisted is to restore confidence in the minds
of the people; and when I hear of circumstances transpiring in which
brethren forfeit their word I regard it as a blot upon the character
of this people. We should keep our word with each other. And if we
have difficulty of misunderstanding with each other, talk it over,
canvass the subject thoroughly, seriously and discreetly, and we shall
find that all difficulties will be remedied in this way easier than
any other; and we shall also find that nearly every difficulty that
arises in the midst of the inhabitants of the earth, is through
misunderstanding; and if a wrong in intent and design really exists,
if the matter is canvassed over in the manner I have advised, the
wrong-doer is generally willing to come to terms.

Vol. 14,  p.278
This restoration of confidence devolves upon us, then let us do what
we can in our humble sphere to do so among ourselves in the first
place, and by-and-by it will reach to others. I am happy to say that
those who are not of us have a great deal more confidence in us, in
many respects, I mean as business men and traders, than in any other
community on this continent; and I do not believe that there is a
community in the whole of Christendom, the members of which pay their
debts as well as the Latter-day Saints. But they are not up to the
mark, and are defaulters in many respects; yet they may not be nearly
so much to blame as outward appearances seem to indicate, for there
are so many men who will deal on prospect, really believing that their
business matters are so propitious and promising that they will be
able to make both ends meet and accomplish all their designs. Such
persons have more confidence in themselves and in future fortune than
they should have; and through this the Latter-day Saints oftentimes
fail in their business transactions and engagements with one another.
How desirable it is that we should be prompt with each other in every
respect! Failure in this is often the source of ill feeling and of a
bad reputation. How often I have heard the saying, from my youth up,
"There is a bad neighbor," or "such a one is a bad neighbor!" But in
most of such cases which have come under my notice, I have learned
that the "bad neighbor," wants that returned [p.279] which others have
borrowed, and at the time they have promised; and if they were not
prompt and true to their word he speaks uncomfortable words and gets
angry. And, as a general thing, I have found that "bad neighbors" in a
country are, in nearly every case, men who are very prompt, and
because others are not so, difficulties arise; for instance, Mr. A.
goes to Mr. B. and says," Can I borrow your hoe, plow or wagon of you
today?" Says Mr. B., "Yes sir, you can have it, if you will return it
in the evening, for I shall want it early to-morrow morning." But
to-morrow morning comes and the plow is not brought home, and here
stands the team and the hired man and boy waiting for it, and thus
anger is created. These little bars should be put up. It is hard for
us to enjoy that spirit of peace that we should enjoy unless we are
very prompt in our dealings with each other. We sometimes say to the
brethren, "We do not see nor understand how in the world you can enjoy
your religion unless you have a good fence around your garden; you
have a fine garden with good vegetables and fruits growing, but no
fence around it." "Well, it is the law here for people to take care of
their cattle." "Yes, but they don't do it." In this garden there may
be a patch of beans coming on finely, or some young fruit trees
growing thriftily. The owner of the garden gets down on his knees for
morning prayer, and presently be hears a rush round the house. "What
is the matter?" "Why cattle are in the garden." I think he cannot pray
much. It destroys the spirit of prayer and takes peace from him. But
let him put a good fence around his garden, orchard or field and he
can kneel down and pray in peace, and ask his heavenly Father for the
blessings he wants, and not be interrupted, and the devil is fenced
out. Well, in all these things guard against temptation, against this
loose life, and be prompt in everything, and especially to pay your
debts.

Vol. 14,  p.279
The Perpetual Emigrating Fund is not doing anything this season.

Vol. 14,  p.279
But it is painful to hear the cries, wishes wants and importunities of
the poor Saints. If we will do right we shall have abundance to gather
the poor. They must all have a chance, although many of them forsake
their God, deny their Savior, forsake their brethren and turn away and
become traitors, yet they must have their chance. Gather them, give
them all the chance possible for life and salvation, and if they
receive it right, blessed are they; if they reject it, their blood be
upon their own garments.

Vol. 14,  p.279
I want to say a few words with regard to our religion, our spiritual
faith and belief, to my friends who are here. I am accosted frequently
with the expression, "I think you have done wonders here, but I do not
believe anything of your religion." Now, you certainly do. There is
not an infidel in the world but who believes in our religion more or
less; and the same is true of the heathen and also of professing
Christians and their ministers; but they do not know how to define it.
They believe in a God, but they do not know how to define that God. If
they turn to the Bible and read, it will tell what God is; it will
describe the character and form of the very God that the Christians
serve. He has a body, parts and passions; he has feelings,
sensibility, principle, attributes, and powers and this Bible proves
it definitely to every person who really believes the Bible is true. 

Vol. 14,  p.279
Do the Christian world believe in the Son of God—the Savior of the
world? They say they do, and we certainly do; and we also believe that
[p.280] he came and died for sinners—died to save the world. Do the
Christian world believe it? Yes, they say they do. Do not we believe
alike? Yes. They do not know how to define it, but we do. Do they
believe in the gifts and graces of God? They certainly do. I have
heard ministers begin to preach and read from the scriptures and give
their interpretations of what the Lord meant. I have said to them
"there must be more revelation in the world than ever be. fore, for
how can you tell what the Lord means, if you do not read it, unless he
tells you?" Here is the word of inspired men, but you say it does not
mean what it says. I believe it means what it says, where it is
translated correctly. I believe that inspired men said what they
meant, and meant what they said. I believe that Jesus said precisely
what he meant, and meant precisely what he said. Do Christians believe
this? They say they do, and I have heard ministers of the gospel
declare that they believed every word in the Bible was the word of
God. I have said to them "you believe more than I do." I believe the
words of God are there; I believe the words of the devil are there; I
believe that the words of men and the words of angels are there; and
that is not all,—I believe that the words of a dumb brute are there. I
recollect one of the prophets riding, and prophesying againts Israel,
and the animal he rode rebuked his madness.

Vol. 14,  p.280
Do you believe all this is the word of God? If you do yen certainly
believe more than I do. The words of the Lord are the words of the
Lord, and the revelations God has given concerning himself are true.
When Moses wrote and said that man was formed precisely in the image
of God he wrote the truth. We are the children of our father,—his
offspring, of the same family; we belong to him by birthright, and we
are his children and Jesus is our brother. Does the Bible tell all
this? Just as plain as words can tell anything. The Christian world do
believe "Mormonism," and "Mormonism" is the truth.

Vol. 14,  p.280
"Where is your code, your particular creed," says one. It fills
eternity; it is all truth in heaven, on earth or in hell. This is
"Mormonism." It embraces every true science and all true philosophy.
Is this so? Certainly it is; but, vain philosophy is the result of
vain conjurations of the brains of men. How often we hear men
philosophise about what would have been suppose we had not been here,
and suppose the earth had not been made, and suppose Adam had not come
into the garden of Eden, and suppose he had not sinned, what would
have been the condition of the world! Always arguing from false
premises, and on a false foundation. Facts are facts, and we might as
well argue that there is not a railway across this continent to carry
the people and goods as to argue that Adam was not in the garden of
Eden, that he did not fall, that sin is not in the world or that Jesus
is not the Christ. The negative of these propositions is hard to
prove, but the affirmative is easy to prove and comprehend, and easy
to understand and live by.

Vol. 14,  p.280
Well, I will say that our religion is nothing more nor less than the
true order of heaven—the system of laws by which the Gods and the
angels are governed. Are they governed by law? Certainly. There is no
being in all the eternities but what is governed by law. Who is it who
desires to have liberty and no law? They who are from beneath. This is
what Lucifer, the Son of the Morning, wanted. He wanted to save the
world without law, to redeem the [p.281] world without order. There
must be law, order, rules and regulations; there must be a system of
government; and, to have a kingdom of God on the earth, there must be
a king, and subjects to rule, and territory for those subjects to
dwell upon. These things comprise the kingdom of God, the embryo of
which is now being formed by the Latter-day Saints, by the will of the
Father, by the power of God; and they will endure and truth will
prevail, and we need not be afraid as to the result.

Vol. 14,  p.281
True science, true art and true knowledge comprehend all that are in
heaven or on the earth, or in all the eternities. By these all beings
exist, whether they be celestial, terrestial or telestial; or whether
they are from beneath and dwell with the devils among the damned. All
truth is ours. Now, if anybody wants to make a trade, come on! If you
have truths, and I have errors, I will give ten errors for one truth.
I have said a great many times to my friends, "if I have errors bring
on your truth." I have embraced the Gospel of the Son of God, by the
world termed "Mormonism," simply because it is true; and there is no
power, no argument, no true philosophy, no principle of science, there
is no truth from heaven, no word of God or of angels that says to the
contrary; but all agree that this is the word of God, this is the
power of God, this is life everlasting; and we can say, as it was said
in old times, "This is eternal life to know the only wise and true God
and Jesus Christ whom he has sent," and thanks be to God we are
tolerably well acquainted with him, and with the principles which he
has revealed for the guidance and salvation of the children of men. He
extends life and salvation to all, and says, "Come to me all ye ends
of the earth and be ye saved." Is there any person excused, any left
out of doors, to whom no invitation is sent? Not one. It was a marvel
to me, when I first believed, how it was that professing Christians in
the world need to repent. But I took this ground in my own mind, and I
carried it out. Said I, "If I have no sins to repent of let me repent
of that religion that I have embraced that is not true." So we say to
all others. If you have been righteous from your birth up, and have
never committed known sins and transgressions, be baptized to fulfil
all righteousness, as Jesus was. If you can say you have no sins to
repent of, forsake your false theories, and love and serve God with an
undivided heart.

Vol. 14,  p.282
God bless you. Amen.[p.282] 

Joseph F. Smith, September 3, 1871

No Time to Do Wrong—Save the Children

Discourse By Elder Joseph F. Smith, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, September 3, 1871. 

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.282
I have been unexpectedly called upon to stand before you to give
expression to my feelings, and I trust while so doing that I may be
led by the spirit of the Lord. It behoves "Mormon" Elders to be always
prepared,—"minute men," for they do not know at what moment they may
be called upon to perform some duty connected with their calling. The
Savior admonished his apostles and followers, saying, "Be ye always
ready," and he illustrated it by a parable to the effect that if the
good man of the house knew the hour the thief would come he would be
prepared for him, and his house would not be broken open. So with the
Latter-day Saints, and especially those who bear the priesthood, for
they are liable, at any time, to be called upon to go and preach the
Gospel to foreign nations, or to get up in the midst of the Saints to
bear testimony of the truth, to exhort to faithfulness and diligence,
and to show forth the light that is in them in persuading their
fellow-beings to do that which is right in the sight of God. We should
be prepared all the day long for any emergency, no matter whether it
be life or death. Life is very uncertain with us, we do not know this
moment what the next may bring forth; therefore the religions of the
day will not answer for the Latter-day Saints any more than they will
answer, in reality, for those who profess to believe in them, because
they are unsound. It behoves us as the children of God to be always
prepared for every duty and for every event that may transpire in
life, that we may not be taken unawares, caught off our guard or out
of the path that leads to eternal life. The Lord may call us when we
little think of it, or require labors at our hands when we are not
prepared; which would be an awkward position, and very unpleasant to a
person who had any regard for his character, before God, and in the
society of his friends. There is no time to lay off the armor of
Christ; there is not a moment in the lives of the children of men when
they can afford to serve the devil; it is always the best to be on our
guard, be honest, and honorable in the sight of God and man, which is
the path of safety.

Vol. 14,  p.282
Not because honesty is the best policy, but because it is the duty of
every individual on the face of the earth to be so; and because, so
far as we the Latter-day Saints are concerned, we have voluntarily
covenanted with the Lord to keep his commandments and to forsake sin.
We have done this because we have been convinced that this is the only
way to find favor with God and to obtain salvation in his presence.

Vol. 14,  p.284
Then there is no time to swear, no time to cheat our neighbor or to
take [p.283] advantage of him, there is no time to waste and fritter
away in foolishly decorating our bodies, or to acquire means to devote
to that which will grieve the Spirit of the Lord and disqualify us to
receive solid blessings from his hands. The Latter-day Saints have no
time to drink whisky, or to waste in following the silly fashions of
the world. There is too much to do and too many labors for us to
perform to have time for anything of this nature. Yet how often do we
see those who profess to be Later-day Saints,—who should be the
servants and handmaids of God,—those who have received the holy
priesthood, turning away from the path of rectitude and following
after the foolish fashions, frivolities and vices of a corrupt and
depraved world? I am sorry to say that this is seen too often! But if
there was only a single instance of it among all the Latter-day Saints
it would be too often, for, as I have already said, we have no time
for anything of the kind. The world is before us, wherein are millions
of our fellow-beings in darkness, who have never had the privilege of
hearing the truth. We are chosen to be ministers of the Gospel unto
them. Every man and woman who professes to be a believer in the Gospel
revealed in this last dispensation should live so that their light may
shine; their character should be such that no one on earth could take
exceptions from it. They should live pure, holy, virtuous lives before
God. Their acts should speak louder than it is possible to speak with
words, their conduct should evince the truth and sincerity of their
professions. But when people come into our midst what difference do
they see between the conduct of many calling themselves Latter-day
Saints, and that of the world at large? Not any. Says the stranger, "I
do not see but you 'Mormons' are about the same as other people. You
can smoke cigars, frequent whisky and billiard saloons, or perchance
gambling places (if any), and take the name of God in vain, the same
as anybody else." And I have been told that if you go into these
places you will be almost sure to find there some who are called
"Mormons;" young men, and old, sons of the prophets, if you please,
and that this practice is increasing in Salt Lake City,—the central
city of Zion where dwell the priesthood and the authority delegated by
heaven for preaching the Gospel and admistering the ordinances
thereof, for the salvation of the children of men. What difference,
then, can they see between these and other folks? for it is this class
that they do see, and yet many that are falling into these
disreputable habits are men who hold the priesthood,—Elders in Israel
and their sons; and perhaps strangers who come here have seen and
heard some of them preaching the Gospel abroad, and when they come
here they find them spending their time and means in whisky and
billiards, and in other foolish and wicked ways:—indeed every way but
the right way. What do such habits speak for men who indulge in them?
Shame and disgrace. I want to tell my brethren and the strangers
before me to-day that we have no fellowship for any such men, no
matter who they are. They may call themselves Latter-day Saints, and
you may have seen them abroad preaching the Gospel; but when you find
them indulging in the course I have indicated they have fallen,
dishonored their calling, disgraced themselves; they are no longer
Latter-day Saints, but apostates, and we have no fellowship with them,
for they are unworthy of the Redeemer's cause. That cause has for its
object the reclaiming of the world from sin;[p.284] the overturning of
everything that tends to degredation and evil and to the shame and
degeneracy of the people, and the Saints are the chosen instruments in
God's hands to accomplish this work, and we mean to prosecute it to
the uttermost—to fight the good fight of faith, and though really may
turn aside the work is onward and upward, and it will grow and spread
until the purposes of God are consummated. He has commenced his great
work,—his strange work and his wonder, and he will roll it forth with
rapidity and will consumate his plans in the day in which he has set
his hands to gather his people, and that is this day, the evening of
time—the closing moments of the last hour of the seventh day as it
were. We are living in that eventful time, and the Lord has set his
hand to gather his people. He has called them forth out of Babylon.
His voice is calling aloud to the inhabitants of the earth to come out
of Babylon that they receive not of her plagues and that they partake
not of her sins.

Vol. 14,  p.284
We do not want to bring Babylon here—the gathering place appointed by
the Lord for his people; but we want to take every precaution and to
adopt every preventive measure in our power to stay the inroads of the
evils which characterize Babylon, which are so condemned in the laws
of God, and which are so repugnant to the spirit of the gospel. We do
not want these things here; but we are not supreme; we cannot govern
as we would wish. Not that we desire to rule with an iron hand,
oppressively. It would not be oppression to me, for the Proper
authorities to say,—"You Shall not take intoxicating liquors; you
shall neither manufacture nor drink them, for they are injurious to
your body and mind," nor would it be to any Saint,—but what oppression
it would be to a certain class! Yet I hope to see the day when, within
the pale of the kingdom of God, no man will be allowed to take
intoxicating liquor; and make—I was acing to say, a beast of himself.
But I do not name it, rather to make a degraded man of himself. Beasts
would not degrade themselves as men do. The habits of the brutes are
decent in the eyes of God and angels when compared with the conduct of
drunken, debauched men, who pollute mind and body by the commission of
every species of vice and crime. I want to see the day when no man in
the midst of this people will be allowed to touch intoxicating drink
to become drunken. But if we we were to attempt to enforce this rule,
what would be the hue and cry? "Tyranny, and oppression;" and armies
would be sent here to use up the "Mormons;" and yet if such a rule
could be enforced it would be a blessing, and no man can deny it; and
if it were enforced it would only be carrying out the principles of
"Mormonism."

Vol. 14,  p.284
Do the "Mormons" drink it? Yes, to their shame, disgrace and the
violation of their covenants, some of them do; and while on this
subject I will say that no one supposes for a moment that a confirmed
and unrepentant drunkard will ever be permitted within the gates of
the celestial city. We all understand this, but I want to bear my
testimony that those who prostitute mind and body by the debasing use
of intoxicating drinks and the crimes and evils to which it leads will
never have part in the celestial kingdom. "But," says one, "did not
some of the ancients get 'boozy' once in a while?" If they did they
had to repent of it. I do not excuse them any more than I would you or
myself, for taking a course of this kind. Yet God sees as we cannot
[p.285] see. He takes all things into consideration, He does not judge
partially as we are liable to do. When He places a man in the balance
He weights him righteously, but when we judge a man we are apt to
judge un-righteously, because we are not omniscient. But what
necessity is there for a healthy person to take intoxicating liquor?
Does it ever do him any good? No, never. But does it never do any good
to use liquor? I do not say that. When it is used for washing the body
according to the revelations God has given, and when absolutely
necessary if used with wisdom for sickness, it may do good, but when
it is used to the extent that it destroys reason and judgment it is
never used with impunity. All who thus use it then violate an
immutable law, the penalty of which must inevitably follow the
transgressor. It is against this practice that I am speaking. If there
be any guilty of it here this afternoon, and I have no doubt there
are, I wish them to take warning.

Vol. 14,  p.285
Is intemperance the only evil that is making an inroad among the
Latter-day Saints? No, I will tell you another. When coming up here to
meeting I noticed in the neighborhood of forty boys between my house
and this Tabernacle who were sitting in the shade, on the road sides,
lounging in groups—hanging around the corners. Who are they? They are
boys who have been been born in the valleys and their parents claim to
be Latter-day Saints. I asked myself, "What is the character of the
fathers and mothers of these boys?" and I came to the conclusion that
they are hypocrites or apostates, and I can come to no other. Why? If
they practised what they professed to believe they would teach their
sons correct principles, and their religious duties—to attend meeting
on the Sabbath and use their time in a profitable and Christian like
manner, instead of turning them out to contract habits which will ruin
them and make them infidels. Now the parents of these boys have either
apostatized and do not care enough about their children to teach them
correct principles; or, while professing to be Latter-day Saints, by
their acts regard the salvation of the gospel as worthless and
therefore they are hypocrites and need to repent in either case.

Vol. 14,  p.285
I would advise my brethern, and I take the advice to myself, to look
after their sons as well as their daughters, and see where they are on
the Sabbath; see that they do not go a fishing, riding or hunting, or
waste their time in idleness, contracting pernicious and injurious
habits,—habits that will lead them to destruction, so that when we are
called upon to answer for the time and talents God has given us we may
not be found wanting; and when it is asked, "Did you train your
children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?" "Did you set an
example worthy of imitation, that their blood may not be on your
skirts?" and you can answer, "Yes Lord, I did all in my power to teach
my children and to rear them in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord. I did all in my power to make men and women of them who would
honor the name of God." If this course be taken by parents very few
children will be un-controlable; or come to the terrible end that
awaits them if parents neglect them and show by their course that they
had as lief they would go to the devil as not.

Vol. 14,  p.285
I can see where this is tending. It is to unbelief, immorality and
abominations of every kind; and I am sorry to see that it is
increasing rather than diminishing among us. I preached about this a
few months [p.286] ago, and I will keep the subject before the
brethren and sisters, if enabled by the good Spirit, until they will
prize their children enough to look after them, and to know where they
are and what they are doing, and that the company they keep is such as
they ought to keep, and that they attend to their duties, for they
have duties to attend to as well as you and I have. If we, as parents,
controlled our children as well as many parents in the sectarian world
do theirs, they would not only be taught to regard the Sabbath day as
holy, and thereby keep the commandment of God, but they would come to
meeting and listen to the instructions given, store their minds with
knowledge and an understanding of the truth, instead of going in gangs
about the streets, using obscene language, throwing rocks at and
scuffling with each other, going riding, walking, fishing, hunting,
&c., on the Sabbath day, and taking a course which will lead to
confirmed idleness, drunkenness, profanity, and even blasphemy and
every abomination, for the devil will "find mischief for idle hands to
do," just as sure as you are born, especially among the children.

Vol. 14,  p.286
Now, my brethren and sisters, will you try to take care of your
children, and look after them on the Sabbath day, see where they are,
bring them to meeting and teach them something they do not know? I
recollect, when on my mission in England, I visited a number of my
relatives there. They were what we call sectarian; they did not
believe the true Gospel; they did not believe that God could or would
speak from the heavens in this dispensation, nor that an angel had
visited the earth in this day, nor that the Gospel had been restored
in its ancient purity and perfection, nor that the priesthood was
restored again, and that men were legitimately authorized to officiate
in the ordinances of the house of God for the salvation of mankind.
But what a great contrast there was between the way they trained their
children and the way some of us train ours! They made no pretensions
to new revelation or to special acceptance with God, but when the
Sabbath day came their children were called in, and if they did not go
to meeting, they were taught to take a book and read, and the parents
sat down and taught them, and they read by turns and explained
passages of Scripture and history, and they talked to and instructed
one another, and thus they spent the day, and when evening came the
children had learned something, their minds were improved, and they
were better than when the day began. The course I am denouncing is not
general, but there is far too much of it. If we turn out our children
on the Sabbath for a holiday, careless where they are or what they are
doing, God will not hold us guiltless. Children are subject to their
parents, and the parents are responsible for the conduct of their
children until they arrive at years of maturity.

Vol. 14,  p.286
Look after your children, brethren and sisters, and when winter comes,
in two or three months from now, see there are not five or six hundred
children skating and sliding in the streets on the Sabbath. It was so
last winter. This is not the way for Latter-day Saints to train their
children; it is not living our religion, and herein we come under
condemnation before God, and it is where men and women point the
finger of scorn at us. They say, "Here are men and women who profess
to have received revelation from God, and they are letting their
children go to the devil as fast as they can, and care nothing about
them."[p.287] 

Vol. 14,  p.287
Says one, "These are truths, but they should not be told in public."
If my brethren did not want to hear such things from me they would not
call me up to speak. But they do; that is to say, when a man will get
up and teach the people the truth, warn them of their follies and of
the evil consequences thereof, they rejoice in it, because it is good,
it is that which we need. We do not want to be palavered and
soft-soaped; we do not want anybody to get up here and tell us how
good we are, for the Lord looks at us as we are, and he will judge us
according to our works. I want to quote to you a passage of Scripture,
the words of Jesus. Said he, "Except your righteousness exceeds the
righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees you can in no wise enter
the kingdom of heaven." This passage applies right home to us; and
unless our righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and
Pharisees of the day in which we live, we will come short of the
kingdom of heaven as sure as we live. We cannot expect anything better
than what we see from men and women who profess to be Latter-day
Saints, who will run after the follies and fashions of the world, and
give up everything in the shape of honesty and integrity for the sake
of accumulating wealth. If men and women will do this, I do not wonder
at their children going at random on the Sabbath day. I am not
surprised to hear them curse and swear and profane the name of God. If
men and women will run after the follies and fashions of the world—if
women will paint and bedizen themselves to attract the gaze of men,
they have not the spirit of the Gospel; God is not with them, truth
will not abide with them; they will go to hell and be damned unless
they repent. You daughters of Israel, born of parents as true to the
Gospel as men and women can be on the earth, who are dressing and
painting to show yourselves, wasting your time and spending your
fathers' means corruptly and wickedly in the sight of God, he will
send a curse on you if you do not desist. I say it in the name of
Jesus Christ. I say the same to mothers who encourage their daughters
in this kind of conduct, for the responsibility rests more with them
than their daughters. They should not allow it. Says one, "I can not
help it." But I would help it. If a daughter of mine persisted in such
a course, I would put a stop to it, or I would cut the tie between us
and she should go her own road. She should not take my name, with my
sanction, before the world in that course, nor would I be less careful
of a son. "But," says one," they will do it any how." If so, let the
responsibility be on their own heads and not on the parents'. Let us
do our duty to our children, train them in the way they should go,
give them the benefit of our experience, teach them true principles
and do all we can for them, and when they reach years of maturity, if
they walk in evil ways, we may mourn and bewail their follies, but we
shall be guiltless before God so far as they are concerned.

Vol. 14,  p.287
Teach your children so that they may grow up knowing what "Mormonism"
is, and then if they do not like it, let them take what they can find.
Let us, at least, discharge our duty to them by teaching them what it
is. The Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians and all the sectarian
world do it, and why should not we? Can you find a Catholic that will
send his children to a Protestant school, or a Protestant who will
send his to a Catholic school; they, each, send their children to
their own schools, and they take all the pains [p.288] and use all the
means in their power to rear their children in their own faith, being
convinced that is the proper course for them to pursue. It is right
that they should do so. But some Latter-day Saints are so liberal and
unsuspecting that they would just as soon send their children to Mr.
Pierce down here as to anybody else. I would not do it. However good a
man Mr. Pierce may be, he should not teach one of my children as long
as I had wisdom and intelligence to teach him myself, or could find a
man of my own faith to do it for me. This is true doctrine, and no man
can take any exceptions to it. I am talking to Latter-day Saints, you
who have covenanted to keep the commandments of God, professed to
receive the Gospel and entered into the Kingdom of God, by baptism;
and I have a right to talk to you, we have a right to talk to each
other and admonish each other when there is wrong, and we will do it.

Vol. 14,  p.288
Then look after the children, and our own morals and conduct, so that
we may be as a light set on a hill and not under a bushel; that we may
be the salt of the earth, that has not lost its savor and is good for
nothing. If I were once to be seen in a brothel, gambling hell,
billiard saloon, or in any disreputable place, would I have the
boldness to stand in the position I occupy to-day? No I would not.
Would I have the courage if called, to go and preach the Gospel
abroad? No. I would be ashamed to do it, at least until I had made
some recompense and restitution for the wrong I had done, and had
satisfied God, my brethren and my conscience by renewing my covenants.
Suppose that some of you Elders who have frequented these whisky and
billiard saloons on Main Street, should be called on missions, and
when you go you meet with people who have seen you there! They would
be very likely to point the finger and say, "I saw you in a whisky
shop, billiard saloon," or in some disreputable place, "and now you
come to preach the Gospel and set yourselves up as a light unto the
world!"  That is what many of the so-called Christian ministers of the
day are doing all the time, and that is what has brought their
Christianity into such disrepute. Ministers may take that course, but
what of their Christianity? Nothing; it is all humbug and "bosh," and
the people know it, and the time has come when a man has to be judged
by his works, even by his fellow beings. If a man does not bring forth
fruits worthy of the profession he makes, do not believe in him nor
walk after him; but when you see a man that brings forth good fruit
you may know that he derives it from a good fountain that can be
relied on.

Vol. 14,  p.288
This is as the Latter-day Saints should live, and when we fake into
consideration the great labor before us, the frailties and weakness of
human nature that we have to overcome, and the obstacles in the path
to the accomplishment of God's work, we have no time to waste in
drunkenness, idleness, or in following after the follies and fashions
of the world. Our whole time should be occupied in that which is
profitable to ourselves and our fellowbeings. May the Lord help us to
be faithful in living the religion of Jesus Christ, is my prayer.
Amen.[p.289] 

Orson Pratt, November 27, 1870

The Restoration of the Gospel—Its First Principles—
Accumulating Evidences of the Truth of the Book of Mormon

Discourse By Elder Orson Pratt, Delivered in 
the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, November 27, 1870.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.289
We have assembled ourselves together this afternoon to partake of
bread, and also the contents of the cup, to witness before the heavens
that we remember the crucifixion, death and sufferings of our Savior;
that we are willing to keep his commandments and determined to be his
followers and obey him to the end of our lives. We have also assembled
to speak and to listen concerning those things that pertain to our
peace and welfare, not only in this world, but in that which is to
come.

Vol. 14,  p.289
We, as a people, called Latter-day Saints, are a very peculiar people,
not only in the eyes of one another, but in the eyes of the world and
also in the eyes of God and all the heavenly host. We are a peculiar
people in some respects,—namely, we believe that God has spoken and
Sent an angel from the heavens, as we heard this forenoon, and, by new
revelation has established his kingdom or Church upon the earth,
according to the predictions of the ancient prophets. In this respect
we are very peculiar.

Vol. 14,  p.289
We are also peculiar in another respect. Instead of remaining where we
embraced this Gospel among the various nations, we have left our
native lands and have emigrated to the interior of North America, and
have founded settlements in the Rocky Mountains under the most
unfavorable circumstances. In this respect, again, we are peculiar.

Vol. 14,  p.289
There is another respect wherein this people are very peculiar. We not
only believe in the Jewish Bible—the Old and New Testament—but we also
believe in the ancient American Bible, called the Book of Mormon;
which no other people do believe in, and hence, on this latter point,
we are regarded as very peculiar.

Vol. 14,  p.289
We might point out a great many peculiarities relating to this people;
but I do not know that it is necessary to mention all the differences
between this people and the religious Christian denominations of the
age. I think those already named are sufficient to render us a
distinct people from the rest of mankind. We believe that God has
fulfilled that which was spoken of this forenoon, that was predicted
by the mouth of the revelator John: that he has sent an angel from
heaven, and by the ministration of this angel he has revealed the
everlasting Gospel in all its ancient purity and fulness to be
proclaimed to every nation under [p.290] heaven. And let me dwell on
this subject a little while—the restoration of the everlasting Gospel
by an angel, for this is a peculiar doctrine and the Latter-day Saints
are the only people on earth who believe in it.

Vol. 14,  p.290
Let us now inquire, for a few moments, in what manner this Gospel was
restored by an angel. Did it come to us verbally,—from his mouth, or
was there a revelation communicated and written containing this
everlasting gospel? We testify that by the ministration of this angel,
sent from heaven, in fulfillment of John, an ancient Bible, kept by
ancient prophets, was brought to light,—the Bible of ancient America.
Of course it has a little different name—we call it the Book of
Mormon. This Bible contains the everlasting Gospel. But in order to
know whether it does contain this everlasting Gospel, it may not be
amiss for me to state, in a very few words, what the everlasting
Gospel is.

Vol. 14,  p.290
I would state that the everlasting Gospel must be the same that was
published in the Eastern Continent some eighteen centuries ago, as
recorded in the New Testament. We and our forefathers have had a
record of that Gospel from ancient times unto the present; but a
record is one thing and the power and authority to administer it is
another. They are entirely distinct, as much so as the history of a
good dinner enjoyed in ancient days is distinct from the partaking of
that dinner in our day. The history of such an event will not satisfy
a man's hunger, any more than the mere record of what the everlasting
Gospel is will confer the authority to administer its ordinances. We
may read, when we are very hungry, about the three or five thousand
eating the loaves and fishes; but our appetite would still remain
unsatisfied. It is very good to think that somebody else was fed and
had their hunger satisfied; but it does us no good, so far as
satisfying the cravings of our own appetites is concerned. So with
regard to the New Testament containing the everlasting Gospel. None
could embrace that Gospel, from the simple fact that none were
authorized to administer its ordinances. After the Apostles and
righteous men of ancient days, who held this authority, were killed
off, you might read the Gospel and relate over to one another its
various principles and ordinances, but you could not embrace them.

Vol. 14,  p.290
That everlasting Gospel required a man to be baptized for the
remission of his sins. That is very important; and everybody who
believes in God, and in Jesus Christ will acknowledge that the sins of
men and women should be forgiven. God ordained in the everlasting
Gospel that his creatures should be baptized for the remission of
their sins; but how could I or any other person be baptized for the
remission of sins if no man on the earth had the authority to
administer the ordinance of baptism? Would God forgive my sins through
my faiths and repentance, without being legally baptized in water? Is
there any promise in this everlasting Gospel that we can receive
forgiveness of sins unless we connect with our faith, baptism by
immersion in water? No, the everlasting Gospel, as preached in ancient
times, contained no such promise. Read the record of it in the second
chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, where it was first promulgated
after the commission was given to the ancient apostles to preach the
Gospel to every creature. They were commanded to tarry in the city of
Jerusalem until they, received power to preach that Gospel and
administer its ordinances to the people. They did so, and on [p.291]
the day of pentecost they received this power. The Holy Ghost came
upon them; the whole house, where they were sitting was filled with
cloven tongues, like fire, and sat on each of them; and they rose up
before a large multitude of people, many thousands in number, and
proclaimed the everlasting Gospel. They informed the people that that
despised being, called Jesus, whom the Jews had crucified, was both
Lord and Christ. They proved it effectually by appealing to the
prophetic writings. After having proved this fact and having convinced
the people, by sufficient testimony exhibited before their minds, that
he was really the Lord and Savior, that he was the Great Redeemer, and
had come in fulfillment of the law of Moses to be offered as a
sacrifice, the people were pricked to their hearts; they were
convicted, or in other words, faith had come by hearing the evidence
presented before them, and they were convinced that Jesus was really
and truly both Lord and Christ; and seeing the importance and
necessity of repenting of their sins, they cried out in the anguish of
their hearts: "Men and brethren what shall we do?" As much as to say:
"We see, by the testimony which you have presented before us that we
have crucified the Savior, that he was that being that the law of
Moses typified; we see that we have committed a great sin, that our
nation has transgressed, and that we are under great condemnation.
Now, how shall we be saved, can you inform us how we can receive the
remission of our sins?" The answer was ready. Peter said unto them:
"Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of the Lord
Jesus, for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the Holy
Ghost; for the promise is to you, and to your children and to all that
are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." These were
the first principles of the Gospel of the Son of God; these
constituted in part, so far as its elements were concerned, the
everlasting Gospel that was to be brought by the angel in the latter
days and committed to the inhabitants of the earth.

Vol. 14,  p.291
You will notice that, on the day of pentecost, faith was not
sufficient for the remission of sins; neither were faith and
repentance; neither were faith, repentance and prayer sufficient to
obtain the great blessing of the remission of sins. There was a sacred
ordinance connected with these principles by which only the remission
of sins was promised,—namely, baptism by immersion in water.

Vol. 14,  p.291
After having been born of the water and justified from all their sins
they had the promise of the Holy Ghost,—that is, the birth of the
spirit, as well as the birth of the water. And this baptism of the
Holy Ghost, like all other blessings that the Lord has promised unto
the people, came through the administration of an holy ordinance. What
was that ordinance? The hands of the servants of God had to be laid on
the baptized believer,—the penitent soul who had received the first
principles of the Gospel; for God committed to his servants whom he
called to preach in ancient days, the power not only to administer the
Gospel in word, but also its ordinances and spirit.

Vol. 14,  p.291
I know that there are many at the present day, in Christendom, who
will ask "What is the use of these outward ordinances? What particular
benefit is it for me to go and be immersed in water, or to have hands
laid upon me for the gift of the Holy Ghost? they are only outward
ordinances." In explanation, let me say to the congregation that the
blessings which God has promised in his word,[p.292] generally come
through some act required of the creature. When the man with the
withered hand was healed, the Lord did not say I command you to be
healed, without any act on his part; but he commanded him to stretch
forth his hand. That, apparently, was an impossibility, for his arm
was withered, powerless; and he might have thought that it was
impossible for him to perform the act required of him. But an exercise
of faith was required on the part of that man,—something connected
with the mental faculties, by which the blessing of healing might be
secured.

Vol. 14,  p.292
So it is in regard to the blessing of the remission of sins. God, in
order to prove that we have faith, requires us to be baptized for the
remission of our sins. If we do this he stands ready to impart
forgiveness to us. So in regard to the baptism of the Holy Ghost. He
is willing to grant this spirit to those who are willing to be
obedient; but if they are unwilling to receive this simple act of the
laying on of hands, considering it non-essential, God will not be
willing to pour out his spirit; if they will not obey so simple an
ordinance he will withold his spirit.  This, then, was the everlasting
Gospel, so far as its first principles are concerned, as preached in
ancient days.

Vol. 14,  p.292
Now, then, let us consider this Gospel, so far as the power of it is
concerned. We have shown you how to obtain the remission of sins and
the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now, what are the powers of this Holy
Ghost, as promised to the believer? for we have seen that the promise
is not a limited one. When the apostle made the promise on the day of
pentecost he said, "the promise is to you,"—a large multitude; and it
is not only to you, but "to your children," meaning the then rising
generation; and not only to "you and your children" but "to all afar
off."—meaning the distant nations of the earth, and to all that "the
Lord our God shall call" every human creature on the face of the earth
that has the Gospel preached to him has the promise of the Holy Ghost,
if he or she will yield obedience.

Vol. 14,  p.292
Now what are the powers of the Holy Ghost? What are its gifts and
blessings? How are we to know when we receive the Holy Ghost? I will
mention the Scriptural account of the blessings and gilts that pertain
to the Holy Spirit. You read the 12th chapter of 1st Corinthians and
you will have a description of the various powers and gifts of the
Holy Ghost. We there learn that God gave to every man, that is, every
man in the Church, the demonstration of the Holy Spirit to profit
withal.  Says Paul, "We are all baptized into the same body by the
same spirit." That is, they were not baptized into half a dozen or a
hundred different bodies, or denominations of people, called
Christians; but they were all baptized into the same body by the same
spirit, and all made partakers of the gifts of that spirit, enjoying
the blessings and powers of the same. The members constituting the
body of Christ are diversified: and being filled with the Holy Ghost
it operates in various ways. "To one," says Paul, "is given through
the spirit the word of wisdom; to another is given by the same spirit,
the word of knowledge; to another is given faith by the same spirit;
to another the gift of healing; to another the working of miracles; to
another prophecy, to another the discerning of spirits, to another
divers kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues;
but all these work after the one and the selfsame spirit, severally as
he will."

Vol. 14,  p.293
Here then we see what it is that [p.293] constitutes the body of
Christ, or in other words his Church. First, those principles that I
have named,—faith, repentance and baptism for the remission of sins;
then the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost; then,
when the spirit falls upon the Church, it diversifies all these gifts
that are named throughout the whole body of the Church. This agrees
with the promise that Jesus made when he gave the great, last
commission to his apostles to preach the Gospel in all the world to
every creature. On that occasion he made certain promises to every
creature that should dwell on the earth. Said he, "He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be
damned; and these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name
they shall cast out devils." Now, notice, this promise was not
exclusively made to the apostles, they were the ones who received the
commission to go and preach the Gospel; but the promises that I am now
repeating were made to all persons in the world that should believe
that Gospel they preached. They who believed should not only have the
gift of salvation contented upon them, but, "these signs shall follow
them that believe. In my name they shall cast out devils, they shall
speak with new tongues; and if they take up serpents, or drink any
deadly thing they shall not hurt them, and they shall lay hands on the
sick and they shall recover."

Vol. 14,  p.293
These are the gifts of that ancient Gospel,—the powers that pertain to
the baptism of the Holy Spirit, promised to every believer in the
world. These were the powers that were remarkable in the Church of the
living God, and which constituted that Church the body of Christ.

Vol. 14,  p.293
Now, we will inquire where has this body of Christ been during the
last seventeen hundred years? Has it existed among the Greeks or Roman
Catholics? or has it existed among the Protestant denominations for
the past two or three centuries? No; these gifts have been banished
from the earth for several centuries and the universal cry in the
religious world of Christendom is, that "These gifts were only
intended for the first age of Christianity." But if these gifts are
part of the Gospel, you do them away and you do away with the Gospel.
Let me quote a passage to prove that these gifts were to remain among
the true believers so long as true believers should be on the earth.
We have already quoted one passage to prove this, which is to be found
in the last chapter of Mark, where all believers in the four quarters
of the earth are promised that certain signs should follow them.
Another passage you will find in the epistle of Paul to the Ephesians,
which says that when Jesus ascended up on high he led captivity
captive, and gave gifts unto men. He gave some apostles, some
prophets, some evangelists, pastors and teachers. All these various
gifts that I have quoted were given unto men when Jesus ascended up on
high.

Vol. 14,  p.293
What was the purpose for which they were given? Were they given, as
the Christian world say, merely for the sake of establishing the
Gospel, and when that was thoroughly established they were no longer
necessary? Is this the language of the ancient apostle? Hear what he
says:—They were given for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work
of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,"—the Church.
Now, if they were given for these three special purposes, let us
inquire whether they are needed for these purposes at the present day?
Is the work of the ministry needed now? "O, yes," all denominations
will tell you that [p.294] the work of the ministry is needed now.
Well, recollect that, according to the words of the apostle Paul,
these gifts were given for the work of the ministry. You take away
these gifts, and how can there be a ministry? There can only be a
false ministry,—only those who have no power of God with them,—a
ministry that God has nothing to do with. They may go and preach, but
their preaching is as powerless as the preaching of the heathen
priests.

Vol. 14,  p.294
Another purpose for which these gifts were given was for the
perfecting of the Saints. Can Saints be perfected now, any more than
in the days of Paul, without the gifts of prophecy, revelation,
visions, the ministrations of angels, tongues, the interpretation of
tongues, healing, wisdom and knowledge by the power and spirit of God?
If they can be perfected without these gifts then we have a new
Gospel, and not the everlasting Gospel spoken of by the ancient
apostle. But it seems that mankind, at the present day, have so fallen
into tradition, and have preached a Gospel without its gifts so long,
that I have no doubt there are thousands of them who really believe
it, and believe that God will acknowledge their Gospels to be divine,
and acknowledge their Churches to be his Church. It is the greatest
piece of foolishness that could possibly be conjured up in the minds
of men to suppose that the Church of the living God could be here
without inspired prophets and apostles it it! How could Saints be
perfected? Has God altered the Gospel or changed the pattern of things
that is recorded in the New Testament? Has he predicted that the time
should come when the Saints should no longer need the gifts to perfect
them, or that they should be perfected by the learning and wisdom of
man? If he has introduced, or designs to introduce, any such order of
things he has not told us anything about it, but has left us entirely
in ignorance on the subject. If his people are to be perfected by
learning, or by men studying years and years, pouring over the
theology of the day, if anything of this kind is intended to perfect
the children of men, then I don't read the Scriptures aright; for I am
told in the Scriptures that God gave these gifts specially, because we
cannot be perfected without them. They were given, says Paul, for the
edifying of the body of Christ. O, how much the Christian world seem
to be edified at the present day! If they can hear a minister use very
flowery language, a great deal of oratory, and bring into his subject,
as it were, all the various parts and points of logic and rhetoric,
their ears are tickled, and they feel that they are wonderfully
edified, but it is a false edification. the edification the Scriptures
speak of are those miraculous gifts that Jesus gave when he ascended
up on high. Without them the world is liable to be deceived and
carried away by every wind of doctrine that is incorrect; and Paul
tells us that they were given for the edifying of the body of Christ
until we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the
Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ. That is, they were never to cease, they were never
to be done away until the Church arrived at that period when they
should no longer look through a glass darkly, but see face to face,
and become immortal and be exalted to his presence; then these gifts
would no longer be necessary. The gift of healing will no longer be
needed when we are all immortal; there will be no need of the gift of
tongues or interpretation when all have one language.[p.295] 

Vol. 14,  p.295
Besides being designed to bring the Saints to this state of perfection
these gifts were also intended to prevent; the Church from being
carried about by every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and
their cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. You take
a people who have not these gifts, and you will see them carried about
by every wind of doctrine. One leaning to the Methodist, another after
the Baptists, another after the Presbyterians, and another after this
sect and another after that. They have not the gifts necessary to keep
them in the unity of the faith; and not being kept in the unity of the
faith, not having the power to call upon God and receive revelations
from him to guide and direct them in regard to doctrine and principle,
they are overcome by the power and persuasion of the children of men,
by their sleight and cunning craftiness until they are overpowered and
dragged away, as it were, into every species of wild enthusiasm, the
doctrines of men. So much for the Gospel as taught by holy and
inspired men in former days. Now for another part of my subject.

Vol. 14,  p.295
I told you that God had revealed an ancient Bible,—the Bible of
ancient America, by the ministration of an angel, sent forth from
heaven. What does it contain? A record of this same Gospel that I have
already named. "But," says one, "we have a record of that already, in
the New Testament: what is the use of another record of it?" In
answering that question, I will ask another. When Matthew had written
his Gospel, what was the use of Mark writing one afterwards; and when
Matthew and Mark had each written the Gospel what was the use of Luke
writing it; and when these three had written it what was the use of
John the Revelator writing another record of it? And so we might go on
and say, after Matthew, Mark, Luke and John had written, why should
God reveal to us another Bible containing the same Gospel? I will tell
you,—It is because God intends to give just as many witnesses to the
children of men as seems him good. If we have the testimony and
witness of the Jewish nation on the eastern continent to that
everlasting Gospel, is it not reasonable that God should also give us
the testimony of the inhabitants who formerly lived on the great
western world. Let us reason together on this subject. The infidel
says, "Why was the Lord so narrow in his feelings that he confined his
operations to that little spot of ground called Palestine? Why didn't
he reveal his will, requirements and laws to other nations?" This is
one of the arguments of the infidel, and it is very good so far as it
goes. The infidel sometimes happens to hit upon some truth. I would
say the same. God had a people here in ancient America, there is no
mistake about this, and all who want to know for certain in regard to
this Continent being settled, just read the history of its
antiquities,—read the works of Stevens and Catherwood and many others,
on the great and mighty ancient cities whose ruins are seen on various
parts of this Continent, especially in Central America and the
northern part of South America. Ruins, too, that not only speak of a
former civilization of the inhabitants who dwelt there, but which show
that they were a people who understood the arts,—understood building
magnificent cities, temples and great palaces. They were a very
different people from the present aboriginal inhabitants of the
Continent.

Vol. 14,  p.295
Now it God had a people living on this Continent ages and ages ago,
would it, not be reasonable that he [p.296] should speak to them as
well as to the people of Asia? Reflect upon it for a few moments! Why
should God leave the great western world out of the plan of salvation?
Has he not declared himself to be an impartial being? And if he is
impartial would he not remember those who are of the same blood? We
are all created by the same Creator; the inhabitants of the four
quarters of the earth descended from the same parentage; they are all
of the same blood, and conseqently they are immortal beings, and have
souls to be saved. Then was it not needful, in order to be saved, that
the fulness of the Gospel should be revealed to the people of the West
as well as to the people of the East? Now, reason, independent of
anything else, would say that it would be perfectly Godlike for him to
reveal himself to the people of ancient America as well as to the
people of the eastern world; that they might know about Jesus, and the
atonement that he wrought out, and be made partakers of the same gifts
and blessings as the children of God in the eastern lands. This is a
reasonable conclusion to come to.

Vol. 14,  p.296
And, again, if God did reveal to the people of this continent the plan
of salvation, showing that he is an impartial being, why should it be
thought incredible by the learned or by any reflecting person that he
should bring these revelations to light, especially when he had
promised, according to what you heard this forenoon, to send an angel
with the everlasting Gospel to be preached to every people, nation and
kindred under the whole heaven? Why not bring to light, by the
ministration of an angel, the record of the Gospel that was preached
here on this western hemisphere?

Vol. 14,  p.296
Perhaps some may say that we have neither witness nor testimony, save
it be the Book of Mormon, and the living witnesses whose names are
attached to that book, that the people of this continent know anything
about God or about revelation. But let me inform such persons that
they are mistaken. Only a few years ago,—in 1835, thirty-eight years
after the plates of the Book of Mormon were taken out of the earth by
Joseph Smith, one of the great mounds in the State of Ohio was opened,
near Newark, in Licking County. It was a very large mound: it
measured, before they began to cart away the stones and dirt, 580 feet
in circumference, and was from forty to fifty feet in height. After
they had carted away from this mound several thousand loads of dirt
and stones, for the purpose of canaling or fixing a canal, they found
on the outer edge near the circumference of the base of this mound,
just within the circle, several smaller mounds, built entirely of fire
clay, that had the appearance of putty. When digging into one of these
smaller mounds they came to something that had the appearance of wood,
and after having removed the upper surface of it, they found a trough,
and in that trough several metalic rings, probably the ancient coins
of the country. They also found that the interior trough had been
lined with some kind of cloth, but it was in such a state of
decomposition that only the least bit of it would hold together, not
even a piece as large as your thumb nail. There was also some human
bones in this trough and a lock of fine black hair. Underneath this
trough, still further down in the fire clay, they found a stone, and
when it was taken out they found that it was hollow and that there was
something inside of it. They found by inspection that it had been
cemented together with hard cement. With considerable exertion they
broke the [p.297] stone in two. It was oval, or elliptical in form.
They separated it where it was cemented together, and in the inside
they found another kind of stone on which was engraven the Ten
Commandments in the ancient Hebrew. This stone was immediately sent to
Cincinnati, where many learned men saw it and they declared the
inscriptions were in ancient Hebrew, and translated the Ten
Commandments. The stone was nearly seven inches long, nearly three
inches wide, and almost two in thickness. On one side of it there was
a depression, and in this depression was a raised profile, the
likeness of a man clothed with a robe,—that is, carved out of the
stone, with his left side partly facing the beholder, and the robe and
girdle upon his left shoulder; he had also a turban on. Over his head
was written in Hebrew, Moshe, which is the Hebrew name for Moses. They
therefore represented this person, thus carved out, as Moses. Around
about him, that is on the various sides of the stone, were written the
Ten Commandments in ancient Hebrew.

Vol. 14,  p.297
Now what does this prove? It proves that the inhabitants of this
country were acquainted with the revelations of heaven,—those given to
Moses; and if they understood these would they not naturally look
forward to the coming of the Messiah? would they not look for the Lord
to raise up such a being, which their law indicated by types? And when
that being came is it to be supposed that he would leave the
inhabitants of America ignorant concerning that event? By no means. He
would not forget them. And this record,—the Book of Mormon, gives us
an account of that very people.

Vol. 14,  p.297
Let me here state that I have seen this stone; with my own eyes I have
seen the Hebrew engravings upon it; mad though many of the characters
were altered in shape from the present Hebrew, yet I had sufficient
knowledge of them to understand and know how to translate the
inscription. This stone was sent to the New York Ethnological Society,
and while there, by the politeness of the Secretary of the Society, I
had the pleasure of seeing it. Another mound was opened in the same
county, in Ohio, and out of it were taken stones with other Hebrew
inscriptions; and in 1860 and 1865 there were several of these
antiquities exhumed with Hebrew characters on, and one with characters
that were not Hebrew, and which the learned could not translate,
showing that the people of this continent not only understood the
Hebrew, but some other kind of an alphabet. This book,—the Book of
Mormon, informs us that the Lord brought the colony to this country
six hundred years before Christ, and that he brought them from
Jerusalem. Was there anything connected with these ancient characters
that would indicate such a great antiquity? Yes. The Hebrew, since six
hundred years before Christ, every learned scholar knows, has been
greatly altered in the shape of its characters. It now has square
characters, with vowel points; that is, the form of the Hebrew
characters now is entirely different in many respects from the ancient
characters, such as are found on coins and engravings lately exhumed
in Palestine. Moreover since the period that colony was brought to
America, not only have the forms of the Hebrew characters been
changed, but some fourteen different new characters have been
introduced. Now, the stones taken from these mounds, on which the Ten
Commandments were engraved, had none of these new characters, which
shows that the inscriptions were of a more ancient date than the
modern Hebrew. Still [p.298] further. The Hebrew as it now stands, has
a great many of what are termed final characters that it did not have
six hundred years before Christ. You do not find these characters on
these stones that were taken out of the Ohio mounds. All these
circumstances prove, pointedly, the great antiquity of the people who
formed these mounds and wrote the characters on these stones.

Vol. 14,  p.298
The Book of Mormon informs us that they understood the Egyptian as
well as the Hebrew. They kept many of their records in the Egyptian
character as well as the Hebrew character. That hook also informs us
that Jesus, after he was crucified in Jerusalem, appeared on this
American continent, and commanded the people to do away with the law
of Moses which their fathers were in possession of and kept; and he
introduced the everlasting Gospel in their midst; and be commanded
them to write it on the plates, from which this book was translated.
Thus you see that this is a record of the everlasting Gospel, as
Jesus, himself, administered it to the people of this continent
eighteen hundred years ago, that is, after his resurrection from the
dead, and after he bad finished his ministry in Jerusalem.

Vol. 14,  p.298
On what part of this continent did Jesus appear? He appeared in what
is now termed the northern part of South America, where they had a
temple built, at which place the people were gathered together, some
twenty-five hundred in number, marvelling and wondering at the great
earthquake that had taken place on this land, which had destroyed so
many cities, &c., and the great darkness that had overshadowed the
land, which was a sign given them by prophecy concerning the
crucifixion of Christ. They were marvelling and wondering about it,
and while they were talking over it, nearly a year after the
resurrection of Jesus, they heard a voice in the heavens, and casting
their eyes heavenward they saw a man descend out of heaven, clothed in
a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them, and
told them he was Christ, about whom their prophets had written; and
that he had been crucified for the sins of the world. He then choose
twelve disciples from amongst them, and administered his Gospel unto
them.

Vol. 14,  p.298
Thus you see that when we testify that God has fulfilled that saying
in the 14th chapter of Revelations, that he would send an angel having
the everlasting Gospel to preach to all people, nations and tongues on
the earth, we have something tangible, something contained in the form
of a revelation; it is not a mere verbal message by the voice of an
angel, but an entire record, a sacred history of the western world, of
one half of our globe, detailing the wars of the people of this
continent, the same as the Jewish record contains the history of the
wars and doings of the Jews on the eastern continent. God has brought
this forth and confirmed it to others by the ministration of holy
angels. Joseph Smith was not the only one, but there were three men
besides him to whom the Lord sent his angel, clothed in glory, who
exhibited the plates before their eyes after they had been translated,
and commanded them to bear record of it to all people, nations and
tongues. They have given their testimony in this book. These witnesses
I am well acquainted with, as well as with Joseph Smith. He also
exhibited the plates to eight other men. Thus we have twelve witnesses
in all, four of whom saw the angel, and the others saw the plates and
the engravings thereon and handled them;[p.299] and their testimony is
also recorded in the book to go to all people, nations and tongues
under the whole heavens.

Vol. 14,  p.299
And having revealed this book, and it having been translated by the
gift and power of the Holy Ghost,—the same gift and spirit which
enabled Joseph Smith to interpret the language of this record by the
use of the Urim and Thummim; I say, having done this, the Lord
commanded his servants to organize his Church, and in obedience to
this commandment they gathered together on the 6th of April, 1830; and
while thus gathered together the Lord God spake unto them, and
commanded them after what order his Church and kingdom should be
organized. It was then organized, and it has continued to receive
acquisitions from that day until this, and has rolled forth among many
nations and kingdoms; and the people have been gathered out from those
nations here into the midst of these mountains in fulfillment of
ancient prophecy.

Vol. 14,  p.299
God Almighty has spoken, he has given commandment in relation to the
organization of this kingdom. He has sent his angel and restored the
Gospel; he has given commandment for his servants to gather out his
elect from the four quarters of the earth unto one place. He has given
commandment to prepare his people for the great day of the coming of
the Son of God in the clouds of heaven. And we have gone forth and
labored diligently from that day to this to establish the kingdom of
our God. We have succeeded, so far as time will permit, in gathering
up a great people to these mountains. Here they must become acquainted
with the Lord more fully; here they must become sanctified before the
Lord of Hosts; here they must learn to be more obedient in keeping the
commands and counsels of God, or he may withold from them the sacred
blessings and gifts which he heretofore bestowed so bountifully upon
them. Here the Saints must became acquainted with those celestial laws
which are calculated to exalt them into the presence of God, and into
the fulness of his glory. Here, you Latter-day Saints mast be prepared
to carry out and fulfill his purposes in the last days pertaining to
the redemption of the desert, that joy and thanksgiving may be offered
up in all parts of it in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, which
has often been sung by the Christian world:—"The Lord shall comfort
Zion, he shall comfort all her waste places, make her wilderness like
Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness
shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody." You
here see the beginning of the fulfillment of this ancient prophecy.
Isaiah in his 40th chapter also says, "Zion shall go up into the high
mountains." Zion in the high mountains! Zion in the midst of the great
American desert is beginning to redeem it and make it blossom as the
rose, making it like the garden of Eden, that joy and thanksgiving and
songs of praise and prayer and gladness may ascend up from all her
habitations and settlements throughout the length and breadth of this
desert, and thus the prophecies will be fulfilled. Amen.[p.300] 

Lorenzo Snow, January 14, 1872

Progression—the Fatherhood of God—the Perfect 
Man—the Gifts of the Spirit—His Testimony

Discourse By Elder Lorenzo Snow, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, January 14, 1872. 

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.300
I take pleasure, this afternoon, in making a few remarks to the
Latter-day Saints, as well as to any strangers that may be in our
midst. I never designed to be a preacher; it was only a sense of
positive duty that induced me to occupy the position as a preacher of
the Gospel for, I may say, nearly thirty-five years an understanding,
given through the revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the
principles that we, the Latter-day Saints have espoused, has induced
me to travel through the world bearing testimony of those things which
I assuredly do know pertaining to the Gospel of life and salvation
revealed in this our day. The relation that we sustain to the Lord our
God, and the blessings and privileges to be acquired through the
system of life which we have received, are worthy of our deepest
consideration; and it is no less necessary that we understand the
duties the performance of which is requisite on our part, for the
attainment of those blessings and privileges, and to keep ourselves in
the path on which we may secure the highest advantages which the
system of religion we have received is, in its nature, capable of
giving.

Vol. 14,  p.300
The relationship which we sustain to God our Father, as well as to the
world at large, if properly understood and appreciated, is calculated
to wake us up to the performance of the duties required of us as
Latter-day Saints. We ought to understand that we have espoused a
system of religion that is calculated in its nature to increase within
us wisdom and knowledge; that we have entered upon a path that is
progressive, that will increase our spiritual, intellectual and
physical advantages, and everything pertaining to our own happiness
and the well-being of the world at large. We believe that we are the
offspring of our Father in heaven, and that we possess in our
spiritual organizations the same capabilities, powers and faculties
that our Father possesses, although in an infantile state, requiring
to pass through a certain course or ordeal by which they will be
developed and improved according to the heed we give to the principles
we have received. We believe that God is no respecter of persons, but
that he confers blessings upon all his children in proportion to the
light they have, or in proportion as they proceed according to the
light and knowledge they possess in the different circumstances of
life that may surround them. We believe that the spirit which
enlightens the human family [p.301] proceeds from the presence of the
Almighty, that it spreads throughout all space, that it is the light
and life of all things, and that every honest heart possesses it in
proportion to his virtue, integrity, and his desire to know the truth
and do good to his fellow men.

Vol. 14,  p.301
We see the providences of God in all things; we see them in raising up
different communities and establishments in the world for the general
and Universal benefit of mankind. We see the providences of God in
raising up a Luther and a John Wesley; we see the providences of God
in all the Christian organizations and communities; we trace the hand
of the Almighty in framing the constitution of our land, and believe
that the Lord raised up men purposely for the accomplishment of this
object, raised them up and inspired them to frame the constitution of
the United States. We trace the hand of God, his Spirit, his workings
upon and among all classes of people, whether Christian or heathen,
that his providences may be carried out, and that his designs, formed
before the morning stars sang together or the foundations of the earth
were laid, may be ultimately fulfilled. He slackens not his hand, he
gives not up his designs nor his purposes; but his work is one eternal
round. We trace the hand of the Almighty and we see his Spirit moving
in all communities for their good, restraining and encouraging,
establishing governments and nations, inspiring men to take a course
that shall most advance his purposes until the set time shall come
when he shall work more fully and effectually for the accomplishment
of his designs, and when sorrow, wickedness, evil, crime, bitter
disappointments, vexation, distress and poverty shall cease and be no
more known, and the salvation and happiness of his children be
secured, when the earth shall be rolled back into its pristine purity
and the inhabitants thereof dwell upon it in perfect peace and
happiness.

Vol. 14,  p.301
If there is any class of people in the world that have reason to be
more liberal and generous towards their fellow creatures, it is the
Latter-day Saints; and if our liberality and generosity are not shown
more than they are, it is in consequence of the pressure of
circumstances with which we are surrounded restraining us from the
exercise thereof; yet we expect to be, hereafter, in circumstances
when we will have the privilege and opportunity of doing as we desire
in these respects. However, in regard to this matter, whether
circumstances shall so change or not, we know that we have obeyed a
system of progression. We might speak in reference to the increase of
knowledge to any individual who may receive and obey the doctrines we
teach; but that which is most interesting to us is the progression of
the Latter-day Saints themselves in the system they have received. Our
faith, views and the principles we have obeyed all coincide perfectly
with those of former-day Saints, which we read about in this book (the
Bible). Were ministers at the present day to stand up in their pulpits
and announce doctrines in reference to the progression of Saints, as
they were preached in former days, the doctrines would be considered,
at least, very startling, and a committee of investigation would
undoubtedly be required at once by their congregations to ascertain
whether or not they had seceded from their previously avowed
principles. For instance, let a Methodist, Presbyterian or Baptist
minister rise in his pulpit, and suggest to his congregation, as Paul
did on a certain occasion: "Let this same mind [p.302] be in you which
is also in Christ Jesus, who, having the form of God, thought it not
robbery to be equal with God," it would be considered a startling
announcement; so also would the doctrine of John the Revelator on a
certain occasion, when he says: "We are now, the sons of God, it does
not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he (that is
Christ) shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he
is; and every man that has this hope in him purifies himself even as
God is pure." That would be a startling announcement of doctrine. Did
any one present, acquainted with the Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian
or Episcopalian societies, ever hear suggestions or doctrines like
these? I never did, and I was formerly well acquainted with these
societies. "Let this same mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus,
who, finding himself in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God;" and "He that has this hope in him, purifies himself
even as God is pure;" and again: "When he shall appear we shall be
like him, for we shall see him as he is."

Vol. 14,  p.302
We were born in the image of God our Father; he begot us like unto
himself. There is the nature of deity in the composition of our
spiritual organization; in our spiritual birth our Father transmitted
to us the capabilities, powers and faculties which he himself
possessed, as much so as the child on its mother's bosom possesses,
although in an undeveloped state, the faculties, powers and
susceptibilities of its parent.

Vol. 14,  p.302
Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, we are told,
were placed in former days in the Church for the perfecting of the
Saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ, "until we all come to the unity of the faith, and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, unto the perfect man." What is meant by
this, "The perfect man?" And again, "Unto the measure of the statue of
the fulness of Christ?" A system of things was had in those days
through which a Saint could come up and be a perfect man in the Lord
Jesus,—a system by which Saints could advance in the knowledge of the
things of God, to an understanding of his purposes, of their own
natures and characters, of their relationship to the Almighty, and of
the ordeals it was necessary for them to pass through that they might
be perfected, as the Son of God was perfect.

Vol. 14,  p.302
This system of things, taught by Christ and his apostles, was not then
first introduced; it was known ages before, and was established before
the foundations of the earth were laid. I will quote a passage from
the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, which will be found on page 85,
section 4, paragraph 6:—

Vol. 14,  p.302
"He that receiveth me (saith the Lord) receiveth my Father; and he
that receiveth my Father, receiveth, my Father's kingdom; therefore
all that my Father hath shall be given unto him, and this is according
to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood. Therefore
all who receive the priesthood, receive this oath and covenant of my
Father, which he cannot break, neither can it be moved; but whose
breaketh this covenant, after he bath received it, and altogether
turneth thereform, shall not have forgiveness of sins in this world
nor in the world to come."

Vol. 14,  p.302
This is a revelation that has been given to the Latter-day Saints, and
so far as respects its provisions in reference to those who receive
it, it is precisely in keeping with those passages I have quoted from
the New [p.303] Testament; they were the burden of the teachings of
the apostles in former days; but were they presented now to the
Christian world by their ministers and religious teachers, they would
be considered startling. This system of things was well known to Adam
after he was expelled from the Garden of Eden; it was well known to
Noah, and he preached it to the Antediluvians for one hundred and
twenty years; it was also known in the days of Moses. He preached it
to the Israelites on the banks of the Red Sea. "I would not have you
ignorant," says the apostle, in reference to this point, "how that our
fathers all passed through the sea, were all under the cloud, all ate
the same spiritual meat, all drank the same spiritual drink, for they
drank of that spiritual rock which followed, and that rock was
Christ." It is evident from this that the Gospel of life was known and
practised there; but we are told that, in consequence of wickedness
and unbelief, the Gospel was taken from the people in the days of
Moses, because it did not profit them, and in the place thereof was
introduced a system which was called the schoolmaster, to bring them
to Christ. On account of their wickedness and hardness of heart they
refused to avail themselves of the privileges within their reach, for
when the Lord proposed to come down into their midst and talk with
them face to face as he did with Moses, they requested Moses to
officiate for them and speak with the Almighty; and being filled with
unbelief and unwillingness to become acquainted with God, their
Father, the Gospel and all its privileges were withdrawn. But this
Gospel has been introduced at various times into the world. It was
known by the Prophets. They understood plainly and distinctly that
Jesus was the lamb slain from before the foundation of the world; and
that in due season he would manifest himself to the children of men,
that he would die for their sins, and be crucified in order to
complete the plan of salvation. The Prophets had the Gospel and its
advantages in their midst; and the Holy Spirit that is ever connected
with it, was poured out upon them in its fulness.

Vol. 14,  p.303
There was a certain blessing connected only with obedience to the
Gospel, that was the gift of the Holy Ghost. When people received the
ordinances of the Gospel they were promised that they should receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Savior who undoubtedly knew best about
the nature and character of this gift, said it should lead all who
received it into all truth and show them things to come. It should be
more than that spirit which proceeds from God, filling the immensity
of space and enlightening every man that comes into the world, the
gift of the Holy Ghost should lead into all truth, and show them
things to come. Furthermore, in speaking of its effects, the apostle
says: "The spirit is given to every man to profit withal. To one is
given faith." Not a common, ordinary faith, which some people pretend
to at the present day; but a faith which enables its possessors to be
sawn asunder, to be cast into dens of lions, fiery furnaces, and to
undergo tortures of every description. This was the kind of faith that
the Holy Ghost conferred upon those who possessed it, enabling its
possessor to stand in the midst of every difficulty, defy every
opposition and lay down his life, if necessary, for the cause that he
had espoused. There was an almighty inspiring power in this faith,
given by the Lord through the Holy Ghost, which no other principle
could communicate. To one was given faith, to another knowledge, not
that [p.304] which is gained by reading books merely, but knowledge
from the Almighty. A self-inspiring principle was upon them, which was
tangible, giving them a knowledge of the cause they had espoused. They
knew by revelation from God that the cause they had obeyed was true,
it was revealed to them in a manner they could not dispute, and they
knew for themselves. They were then established, as we heard this
morning, upon the rock of revelation.

Vol. 14,  p.304
There is a great difference between the possession of the Holy Ghost
and the mere possession of the Spirit of God. Everybody has the Spirit
of God, that is, the honest hearted, those who are living according to
the best light they have. All Christian Churches have it, those who
seek truth and righteousness. The Baptists, if they are honest, have
it; so have the Presbyterians and the Methodists; so also have all
Christian and heathen nations. You go to China, and all honest hearted
people there have the Spirit of God; in fact we are told that this is
the light that lights every man that comes into the world; but to say
that all have the Holy Ghost, the gift that was promised to those who
obeyed the Gospel, it is not so. We can trace the providences of the
Almighty in raising up certain individuals to establish religious
organizations, and we see in these things the workings of the Spirit
of God for the general interest of the human family. We look upon
George Washington, the father of our country, as an inspired
instrument of the Almighty; we can see the all-inspiring Spirit
operating upon him. And upon his co-workers in resisting oppression,
and in establishing the thirteen colonies as a confederacy; and then
again the workings of the same Spirit upon those men who established
the constitution of the United States. In a revelation contained in
the Book of Doctrine and Covenants the Lord says: "And for this
purpose have I established the Constitution of this land by the hands
of wise men, whom I raised up unto this very purpose." We see the hand
of the Lord in these things. The Christian Churches will not
acknowledge that which we acknowledge and most firmly believe in
regard to the workings of Providence and the operations of the Spirit
of the Lord upon the hearts of the human family. We can see not only
what the Baptists, Methodists, Quakers, Shakers, Presbyterians, and
Campbellties see,—the hand of the Lord working with them, but we can
see the hand of the Almighty establishing a kingdom spoken of in ages
long past by Daniel the Prophet,—a kingdom which shall grow and spread
until it fills the whole earth, when light and intelligence shall be
so generally diffused that it shall no longer be necessary for any man
to say to his fellows, "Know ye the Lord," but all shall know him,
from the least unto the greatest; and when the Spirit of the Lord
shall be poured out upon all flesh to such a degree that their sons
and their daughters shall prophesy, their old men shall dream dreams,
their young men see visions, and when there shall be nothing to hurt
or destroy in all the holy mountain of the Lord.

Vol. 14,  p.304
There are some other considerations connected with this subject worthy
of our attention. We have seen what has been promised, and what
encouragement was given or suggestions made in regard to our
progression, as contemplated by the Prophets, in their writings in the
Old and New Testaments. We see what God has said to us in his
revelations direct, and we might bring up passage after passage from
the New Testament,[p.305] Book of Doctrine and Covenants and the Book
of Mormon in regard to the progression and happiness of his people.
But there are some considerations connected with this to which I will
call your attention. The revelations of the Lord, given in these
latter days, say that all things shall be given to those who receive
the priesthood; but in connection with this promise there are certain
obligations which have to be fulfilled on our part. That same God and
Father who tells us what great things await the faithful, says: "Whose
layeth down his life for my cause and for my name's sake shall receive
it again, even life eternal; therefore fear not your enemies, for I
the Lord have decreed in my heart that I will prove you in all things
whether you will abide in my covenant even unto death, for he that
will not abide in my covenant is not worthy of me."

Vol. 14,  p.305
Here we have, on one hand, those extraordinary and wonderful
blessings; and, on the other, if we renounce the doctrine we have
received, or if we are unwilling to stand up to the point, even of
death, in fulfilling the will of our Father in the accomplishment of
his work, we shall be counted unworthy of the blessings that are
promised.

Vol. 14,  p.305
Now, you take a man, no matter from what country, if he be a man of
integrity, when he receives a knowledge of the truth, he will stand to
that knowledge; you can not persecute it out of him by imprisoning
him, or taking away his property or by destroying every source of his
happiness. Do what you can to annoy and oppress him he will still
stand firm in his adherence to the principles which he knows are true.
If we, as Latter-day Saints, are not honest, we are certainly in a
very bad condition. When the Gospel reached us in the different
nations whence we came, the Spirit of the Lord gave us convictions of
its truth, and, in the honesty of our hearts, we received it, and its
blessings, otherwise we would have stayed at our several homes. It was
promised us by the several Elders who proclaimed the Gospel unto us,
that if we would do the will of God, if we would obey the Gospel, we
should receive the gift of the Holy Ghost; they said, as Peter said on
the day of Pentecost, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, for
the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the Holy Ghost.
Then, when they spoke of the operations of the Holy Ghost, they
described them as Jesus, Paul, John and the Saints who received it,
testified in regard to it, from the effects it had produced upon them.
Therefore, when the Gospel was received under circumstances of this
nature, those who were its recipients expected superior and
extraordinary blessings, blessings that they could not reach in any
other religious society. They were promised such blessings as the
religious societies said did not, nor ever would exist, and could not
be received in the future. They would acknowledge that such blessings
had been formerly received through the Gospel, but they said could not
be received now hence if those who obeyed the Gospel as taught by the
Elders of this Church did not receive the blessings promised, why do I
see them before me here to-day by thousands? Why, when traveling
through the length and breadth of this country, do I see people that
have gathered, comparatively, from almost every nation under the sun?
If they received not the blessings promised, why are they here in this
Territory, in these valleys of the mountains? They had better stayed
at home. It is the most inconsistent thing imaginable to suppose that
people, after [p.306] being deceived, should leave their country,
homes and friends and cross the wide ocean, and vast deserts into a
land they knew nothing of. When Abraham received the word to leave his
home and kindred he obeyed the mandates of the Almighty, and the fact
that thousands are now here, settled through this long strip of
country, over hills, valleys and mountains, proves that they have done
the same; they have shown by their acts that they have received the
all-inspiring power of the Holy Ghost which was promised them, which
revealed to them that the Lord had fulfilled the prophecy of his
servant Daniel—that without hands he had cut a stone from the
mountains and that it had commenced to move and roll, and would
continue on its course until it had fulfilled the destiny predicted by
the prophet.

Vol. 14,  p.306
If the people here have not received the miraculous blessings promised
in connection with their obedience to the Gospel, they are acting most
inconsistently, for they are perpetuating upon their children and
their children's children and upon future generations a system that is
entirely false, binding a yoke of tradition upon them which, in its
consequence, is beyond the power of language to express. The people
are guilty of the most gross offence before the Almighty, for they are
not only injuring themselves, but they are destroying the happiness of
unborn generations. But the fact that the work still continues, and
increases, and that the last words of the dying Saints to their
children and friends, are: "I know by the revelations of God that this
work is true," is strong presumptive proof of the absolute truth of
this work.

Vol. 14,  p.306
If you Saints here do not know this work is the work of God, it is
your duty to rise up and declare you have been deceived, acknowledge
that the Spirit of God has not been given you, and that the
declaration of the Elder who promised it is entirely false, and thus
try and correct the error which you have been guilty of propagating.
At once, leave the Mormon Church and you would assume a position that
would be more consistent; then get a testimony from the Almighty that
some other Church possesses the system of salvation; get a testimony
from the Almighty that the Book of Mormon, and Book of Doctrine and
Covenants are false, and just the moment you get that testimony where
are you? Where are the words of the Apostle Peter: "Repent and be
baptized, every one of you, and you shall receive the Holy Ghost?"
Where are the words of the Lord Jesus? He says, "It (the Holy Ghost,)
shall lead you into all truth and show you things to come." Where are
the words of the Apostle Paul: "Let this same mind be in you which was
in Christ Jesus, who, finding himself in the form of God, thought it
not robbery to be equal with God?" Where are the words of John: "We
know that we are the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we
shall be, but we know that when he (Jesus) shall appear, we shall be
like him, for we shall see him as he is; and every man that hath this
mind in him purifies himself, even as God is pure?" Throw these
doctrines aside, let them pass; and go to a Methodist, Baptist,
Episcopalean, Quaker or Shaker, then where is your Bible.

Vol. 14,  p.306
I testify before this assembly, as I have testified before the people
throughout the different States of the Union, and throughout England,
Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy, Switzerland, and France, that God
Almighty, through my obedience to the Gospel [p.307] of Jesus, has
revealed to me, tangibly, that this is the work of God, that this is
his Gospel, that this is his kingdom which Daniel prophesied should be
set up in the last days. I prophesy that any man who will be humble
before the Lord, any man who will, with childlike simplicity, be
baptized for the remission of his sins, shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost, which shall lead him into all truth and show him things to
come; he shall receive a knowledge from the Almighty that his kingdom
has been established in these latter days; and that it shall never be
thrown down or be left to another people.

Vol. 14,  p.307
In saying this, I say no more than every man could say and has said
who had a dispensation of the Gospel. I would not be here to-day, I
would not have traveled over the face of the earth as I have for the
last thirty-five years unless God had revealed this unto me. I have
already said nothing but absolute duty ever inspired me to travel and
preach this Gospel; but I received a dispensation from the Almighty,
and I could say and do say now, as the Apostle Paul said: "I received
not this Gospel from man, but I received it by revelation from the
Almighty." I say that any man who will humble himself before God and
will be immersed in water, after repentance, for the remission of his
sins, shall receive, through the laying on of hands, the gift of the
Holy Ghost. Can I give this to him? No, I, simply as a messenger of
the Almighty, to whom has been delegated authority, administer
immersion for the remission of sins; I simply immerse him in water,
having authority so to do. I simply lay my hands upon him for the
reception of the Holy Ghost, then God, from his presence, acknowledges
my authority, acknowledges that I am his messenger, and confers the
Holy Ghost upon the individual. Well, this is the Gospel; this is what
makes a man a savior of life unto life, as Jesus told his disciples
they were.

Vol. 14,  p.307
Now talk about this kingdom being destroyed! Talk about, reason upon,
lay plans here and there by the combined wisdom of Governments to
destroy the kingdom of God; why, you might as well try to pluck the
stars from the firmament or the moon or the sun from its orbit! It can
never be accomplished, for it is the work of the Almighty. I advise
every man who has a disposition to put forth his hand against this
work, to hold on and consider. Take the advice of Gamaliel the lawyer.
Said he: "If this is the work of God, ye can do nothing against it; if
it is not, it will come to naught."

Vol. 14,  p.307
Well, now, they say that the Mormons are fanatical. Well, it is very
good fanaticism. We have philosophy, science, truth, the power of God,
and the testimony of good men on our side. I can pick out twelve men,
with whom I have been acquainted for the last twenty-five, thirty or
thirty-five years. I have known them under varied circumstances in
which their hearts have been proved, their feelings tried, and their
honesty and integrity tested. Have I confidence in such men? I have,
just as much as I have when I read in the New Testament about Twelve
Apostles. I know nothing about Peter, James, or the rest of the
Apostles; but these men I know something about; I have seen their
honor and integrity tried under various circumstances in life. Have I
not a right to believe in their testimony? Most assuredly I have, and
I will prophesy of them, no, excuse me, I am not in the habit of
prophesying, I will predict, I will say here, that in generations to
come, the doings of these men will be read, the account of their
[p.308] works in preaching the Gospel to the nations of the earth,
what, they have suffered for the cause of God; the imprisonment,
contumely, drivings from Ohio, Missouri, Jackson County, and the
northern counties in Missouri, and from Illinois, and how they have
passed through all this and everything by way of suffering that can be
imagined, and have still adhered to and borne their testimony to the
truth; their works will be read and in generations to come people will
have just as much confidence in these men as they now have in the
Twelve Apostles whose doings are recorded in the New Testament. They
are just as good men I have every reason to believe. As to the truth
of what these Apostles said, that I read about here in the New
Testament, I know nothing about that at all, only what I experience,
through having observed the same system they preached. They received
the blessings pertaining to it, so have I received the blessings which
they promised should be conferred upon those who received that system.
Therefore I and my brethren, who have received a like experience, are
the only witnesses in regard to the truth of what those Apostles said;
we are the only witnesses in regard to the truth of what Jesus said.
Jesus said, He that will do the will of my Father shall know of the
doctrine. We are witnesses that Jesus told the truth. The Apostles say
that those who receive the Gospel by baptism for the remission of
sins, shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. We are witnesses that
they told the truth. Can the Methodist or Presbyterian ministers
witness to these facts? No, they know nothing about them. They
received their certificates and endowments at college, they trust in
the wisdom of man, to the knowledge of the sciences, we trust to the
power of the Almighty. Perhaps it may he said to us: "For ye see your
calling, brethren; how that not many wise men after the flesh, not
many mighty, not many noble are called. But, God hath chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God
chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that
are."

Vol. 14,  p.308
Well, I do not feel materially concerned about anything that respects
the advancement and prosperity of the kingdom of God. It is a matter
that I have not contrived, nor my brethren; it is the Lord's affair.
He has done this work. We never came to these valleys through our own
designs and wishes; the Lord God Almighty brought us here, and when he
wants us to leave these valleys, we are just as well prepared to leave
as we were to come. We simply do what the Lord our God commands us.
God loves his offspring, the human family. His design is not simply to
furnish happiness to the few here, called Latter-day Saints. The plan
and scheme that he is row carrying out is for universal salvation; not
only for the salvation of the Latter-day Saints, but for the salvation
of every man and woman on the face of the earth, for those also in the
spirit world, and for those who may hereafter come upon the face of
the earth. It is for the salvation of every son and daughter of Adam.
They are the offspring of the Almighty, he loves them all and his
plans are for the salvation of the whole, and he will bring all up
into that position in which they will be as happy and as comfortable
as they are willing to be. Our mission is to the world, and not simply
to carry the Gospel to the people, but to establish plans and lay
[p.309] schemes for their temporal salvation. Our object is the
temporal salvation of the people as much as it is for their spiritual
salvation. By and by the nations will be broken up on account of their
wickedness, the Latter-day Saints are not going to move upon them with
their little army, they will destroy themselves with their wickedness
and immorality. They will contend and quarrel one with another, state
after state and nation after nation, until they are broken up, and
thousands, tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands will
undoubtedly come and seek protection at the hands of the servants of
God, as much so as in the days of Joseph when he was called uphill to
lay a plan for the salvation of the house of Israel.

Vol. 14,  p.309
We have received revelation and, accordingly, we are here in these
mountain valleys, and we are going to stay here. We shall cultivate
our farms, and lay foundation for a time when the nations shall be
broken up. Multitudes will then flee to these valleys of the mountains
for safety, and we shall extend protection to them. You may say, shall
you require them to be baptized and to become Latter-day Saints? Not
by any means. I meet with gentlemen from time to time, from different
portions of the Union. I never offer them my religious views unless
they seek them. I am not anxious to push my religious views upon any
man. I will do them all the good I can. If a gentleman comes into my
neighborhood, a stranger, I will say, "Will you have something to eat?
Is there anything I can do for you?" I am not anxious to make a
"Mormon" of him, not by any means; we extend the hand of charity just
as far as people are willing to allow us; but when, as I said at the
beginning, people are crowding upon us, persons who are determined to
destroy us and have not the principles of humanity in their bosoms, we
cannot exercise that charity in their behalf that we desire.

Vol. 14,  p.309
Well, we expect to do good; it is our duty, as the servants and
ministers of God upon the earth, to do good to his offspring. This is
our mission, and it is as much our duty to do good to those who do not
receive the Gospel, as it is to do good to ourselves; and God will
give us the opportunity, just according to our desires, despite the
efforts of evil-minded men. Our business is to save, not to destroy,
and as we improve and advance, and develop the attributes of deity
within us God will remove from our path the impediments and obstacles
to our progress that are found therein; and the bitter branches, as
they increase or manifest themselves, will be removed one after
another, until the people of God have all the opportunity they desire
to do good to the world.

Vol. 14,  p.310
I have occupied time sufficient. God bless you. Amen.[p.310] 

George Q. Cannon, December 3, 1871

The New Birth—Baptism for the Dead—Temples

Discourse By Elder George Q. Cannon, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, December 3rd, 1871.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.310
I will read a portion of the 3rd chapter of Peter's first epistle,
commencing at the 18th verse:

Vol. 14,  p.310
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust,
that he might, bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit:

Vol. 14,  p.310
By which also be went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

Vol. 14,  p.310
Which sometimes were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God
waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein
few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water.

Vol. 14,  p.310
The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us, (not the
putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good
conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

Vol. 14,  p.310
Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels, and
authorities, and powers being made subject unto him.

Vol. 14,  p.310
In the fourth chapter of this epistle the same subject is continued.
The apostle says:

Vol. 14,  p.310
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready
to be revealed in the last time.

Vol. 14,  p.310
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a reason (if need be) ye
are in heaviness through manifold temptations.

Vol. 14,  p.310
When I was called upon to speak, these passages suggested themselves
to my mind. Whether the Spirit will lead me to dwell upon them at
length I do not know, but there are important principles embodied in
these verses which I have read in your hearing, principles which, when
rightly understood, change the belief of men in relation to the
future, that is, the belief of those who receive the commonly accepted
creeds of Christianity. For some reason or other, there is an idea
prevalent in the Christian world that mankind, when they lay down
their mortal lives, are consigned to a condition or place of happiness
or pain, there to remain throughout the endless ages of eternity.
There may be a few who do not entertain this belief, but it is the
general belief of most of the sects which comprise Christendom. There
is an idea prevalent that if men do not receive what may be termed a
conversion, or change of heart, if they do not obtain a remission of
sins through the bleed of Jesus, and they die in this condition, their
doom is [p.311] irrevocably fixed, and that they are consigned to
eternal, never-ending misery. I believe that I do not misstate the
belief, in this respect, of some of the most prominent sects that
comprise the Christian world, so-called. I have conversed with
ministers of various denominations in relation to the future of the
heathen—those who die without a knowledge of the name of Jesus, and of
his character as the Redeemer and Savior of the world. I have asked
them what they thought the condition of the heathen would be, and
where any definite answer was made, the feelings of such persons would
lean to the idea that they would be consigned to hell with others,
either no definite idea was entertained, or, being more tender in
their feelings, the answer would be, they did not know what their
future condition would be.

Vol. 14,  p.311
There is an expression of the Savior's to Nicodemus, which I think I
will read; it is found in the 3rd chapter of John's Gospel. There was
a man of the Pharisees, John writes, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the
Jews; the same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we
know thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these
miracles that thou doest except God be with him.

Vol. 14,  p.311
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Vol. 14,  p.311
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he
enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born?

Vol. 14,  p.311
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born
of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Vol. 14,  p.311
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of
the Spirit is spirit.

Vol. 14,  p.311
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Vol. 14,  p.311
Now here is a definite doctrine laid down by the Savior, that unless a
man is born again he can not see the kingdom of God, and unless he is
born of the water and of the Spirit he can not enter into the kingdom
of God; he can not even see the kingdom without the new birth, and he
can not enter that kingdom without being born of the water and of the
Spirit. This doctrine is exceedingly positive, it leaves no room for
doubt; there is no chance to evade the fact of this doctrine if there
is to be any reliance placed upon the words of Jesus. Then, we ave
forced to the belief that no man can enter into the kingdom of God
unless he is born of the water and of the Spirit.

Vol. 14,  p.311
Well, taking these passages into consideration, a large class of
people have come to the conclusion that unless a man is born again,
or, as they term it, experience a change of heart, he is consigned to
endless misery; and there are those who believe that all the heathen
who have died in ignorance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are thus
punished, and, in fact, there are t hose who profess to have faith in
Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world, who believe that in hell,
that place of torment from which they declare there is no escape,
there are infants by scores, and hundreds and thousands, and I may say
by millions, enduring inconceivable and endless torment because they
have died before receiving the ordinances which they consider
necessary to salvation.

Vol. 14,  p.311
I do not thus understand the Scriptures, I do not thus understand the
plan of salvation; I do not thus view the character and dealings of
God our heavenly Father with his creatures. One of the most propminent
attributes which we ascribe to our Father in heaven is mercy. The
Scriptures declare [p.312] most emphatically that he is a God of
mercy, and a God of love. Can we, even in our degraded condition;
consider a being endowed in the least, degree with the attributes of
love and mercy, or even of justice, who would Consign millions of his
creatures to endless torment because they do not believe and obey a
doctrine which they never heard? Why such an idea is unworthy of
intelligent beings. Suppose that any of us who have families should
pass a law or prescribe a rule for their government, and at the time
it is passed or prescribed, a portion of our children are not within
hearing, and while still in ignorance of it, they unconsciously
violate it, and because of this the father punishes them. What would
you say of such a father? Would you not say that he was unjust, harsh
and cruel? Why, certainly this would be our verdict, if we pronounced
any, we could not pronounce otherwise. We would be compelled to come
to the conclusion that the father who would act in this manner would
neither be kind, just or wise. And shall it be said of our heavenly
Father, who is the fountain of love, mercy and justice, that he will
act with less justice than man, and that he will punish, curse and
consign to eternal misery, his children, because they have tailed to
obey the laws he has never made known to them? Certainly not; and it
is on account of these doctrines, which have been propounded and
circulated so widely in Christendom, that skeptics are numbered by
hundreds of thousands and it may be said by millions. The feelings of
the people recoil, humanity revolts at such monstrous doctrines, and
the growth of skepticism and infidelity may be traced to the fact that
such hideous principles are advocated by those professing to be
servants of the living God and the ministers of Jesus Christ. But do
the Scriptures, the words of eternal life, as recorded in the Bible,
inculcate such ideas? Certainly not. There is in the plan of
salvation, which God our heavenly Father has revealed, perfect love,
mercy and justice, and every other attribute which pertains to the
character of Deity are perfectly illustrated in the plan of salvation
which he has revealed for man's guidance.

Vol. 14,  p.312
The words of Jesus which I have read to you, contain an immutable
truth: that except a man be born again he can not see the Kingdom of
God. It is an immutable truth that, except a man be born of the water
and of the spirit, he can not, enter the Kingdom of God. These words
proceeded from the mouth of Jesus, the Son of God, the author of our
salvation, the founder of our religion.

Vol. 14,  p.312
He was perfectly acquainted with the laws necessary to be obeyed in
order to effect an entrance into his Father's kingdom; and being thus
acquainted, he had the right as well as the knowledge necessary to
advance and proclaim this doctrine to the children of men.

Vol. 14,  p.312
While we are upon the subject we may as well make a few remarks upon
the nature of this new birth of which Jesus speaks. As I have told
you, and as you well know, there is a large class in Christendom who
believe that this new birth consists of what they term a change of
heart; if the heart undergoes a change they say the creature is born
again. Now, I do not so understand the Scriptures, I do not think that
the change of heart thus referred to, is the new birth to which the
Savior refers; on the contrary, it says here in great plainness, that
they must be born of the water as well as of the Spirit. Not for the
putting away the filth of the flesh, as I read to you in the passage
from Peter, but for the answer of a [p.313] good conscience towards
God. Jesus, as you will recollect, on the occasion when John the
Baptist, as he was called, was baptizing in Jordan, went and offered
himself to John as a candidate for baptism. John, having received a
testimony from the Father that Jesus was his beloved son in whom He
was well pleased; knowing also that he, himself, was the forerunner of
Jesus spoken of by the Prophets, declined to baptize him, saying, in
effect, it is better for me to submit to thee than thee to submit to
me. Jesus replied, Suffer it to be so now, to fulfil all
righteousness. Then John took Jesus and baptized him.

Vol. 14,  p.313
Here we have an example on the part of our Savior of obedience to a
certain ordinance. Some say that in this ordinance Jesus had water
poured upon him, others say he was sprinkled, and a great many of the
popular pictures represent him standing in the Jordan with his arms
folded across his breast and John the Baptist pouring water on his
head; but a careful perusal of the writings of those who have
described this event will leave but one conclusion on the unprejudiced
mind, and that is that Jesus went down into the water and was baptized
by John, and came up out of the water; and that if pouring or
sprinkling had been the method of administering the ordinance of
baptism, there would have been no necessity for John and the people of
Jerusalem and the regions round about, to have gone the distance that
intervened between the river Jordan and Jerusalem to attend to it, and
in fact there are other passages in the Scriptures which go to prove
that immersion was the method of baptism, and that John so
administered the ordinance. In one passage of Scripture it is said
that John was baptizing at a place near Enon, because there was much
water there, showing that an abundance of water was necessary for its
correct, administration.  This was the ordinance that Jesus submitted
to. He was the Son of God, the Lamb slain from before the foundation
of the world; He was spotless and sinless in the sight of his Father,
yet, he considered it necessary to attend to this ordinance that he
might fulfil all righteousness; and it is a remarkable fact that we
have no account in the Scriptures of Jesus acting in his ministry
until he had attended to this ordinance.

Vol. 14,  p.313
This, as I understand the Scriptures, and as the Latter-day Saints
testify, was the new birth. He went down into one element, was buried
in that element, and, emerging therefrom, was born again, in other
words was born of the water. Can you imagine a new birth more
perfectly represented than by this act which I have described,
performed by John upon Jesus? After this birth of the water had taken
place, the birth of the Spirit followed, for as soon as he came up
out, of the water, the Holy Ghost, in the likeness of adove, descended
upon him, and a voice was heard from heaven testifying that he was the
beloved son in whom the Father was well pleased. Jesus was enveloped
in that spiritual element, and was born of the Spirit as he had been
born of the water. Thus, in his own case, he illustrated, by his
obedience and humility to the wall of his Father, the doctrine which
he taught to Nicodemus, and which he declared was necessary to prepare
not only him but all the children of men to enter into the kingdom of
God. Paul, also, in one place, speaks of being buried with Christ in
baptism in the likeness of his burial, in the likeness also of his
resurrection; the burial in the liquid grave being symbolical of the
death and burial of the Son of God, and the [p.314] coming forth
therefrom of his resurrection.

Vol. 14,  p.314
This doctrine is clearly laid down in the Scriptures. You will find it
if you trace the preaching and the labors of the Apostles and the men
who were immediately connected with the Lord in his ministrations to
the people. You will find that in every instance where the records are
complete, these ordinances were attended to—the people, if they
believed in Jesus Christ and repented of their sins, were baptized, in
order that they might be born of the water; and after attending to
this ordinance, they were then baptized of the Spirit, or, in other
words, had hands laid upon them for the gift of the Holy Ghost. They
were enveloped in and born of that Spirit, and became legal heirs of
and entitled to an entrance into the kingdom of God. There is not an
instance of any other kind found on record in the Scriptures. We often
quote the teachings of Peter, himself, on the day of Pentecost, to
prove this, and in passing along I may as well briefly allude to it.

Vol. 14,  p.314
On the day of Pentecost, after the Jews had been convinced of the fact
that Jesus the Nazarene, who had been crucified as a malefactor, was
indeed the very Messiah of whom the Prophets had spoken; when they
were convinced of this and also of the fact that the men who stood and
preached in their midst, and through whom they had seen the power Of
God manifested, were his Apostles, they cried: "Men and brethren, what
shall we do?" They felt that they were sinners; probably, for aught we
know, they had consented in their feelings to the death of this holy
being, and they gave vent to their anxiety in the expression I have
already quoted. Now it is to be presumed that on that occasion Peter
declared the Gospel in its fulness and purity as it existed in the
mind of God, and as it had been revealed to him by Jesus. We can not
presume that he taught something he was not warranted in teaching,
something that was not the Gospel, for the occasion was one of the
most important, probably, that the Church witnessed in that
generation. It was, as far as we know, the first proclamation of the
Gospel after the death of Jesus, and it was certainly the first time
the power of God was manifested to such a wonderful extent. Peter,
then, standing up, inspired not only with the greatness of the
occasion, but with the sublimity of the manifestations that had been
poured out by God, by the fact that he, for the first time, was
declaring the Gospel in the ears of the assembled Jews at Jerusalem
who had crucified Jesus, also by the spirit and power of his great
office, we can not doubt that he declared the Gospel in simplicity and
plainness, and he said, in reply to their very important question,
Repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the remission of your
sins, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost.

Vol. 14,  p.314
Now here were the two births of which I have spoken. They already
believed that Jesus was the Christ, and they were told to repent, and
be baptized for the remission of their sins; not, I repeat again, for
the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but for the remission of
their sins, that they might be born of the water, that they might
become suitable canddates to receive the Holy Spirit. Peter continued:
"And ye shall receive 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." And they went and were baptized, and we are
told that three thousand were added to the Church on that occasion.
This [p.315] is only an example of what the Apostles afterwards
taught. I do not intend, this afternoon, to quote the numerous
instances that occur in the Scriptures where this doctrine was taught,
where it was obeyed by those unto whom it was taught, and the
blessings that followed obedience; but I call attention to the fact
that this doctrine was set forth by the Apostles even as Jesus taught
it and even as Jesus obeyed it, and that they administered the
ordinances as the Lord had taught them.

Vol. 14,  p.315
It may be said, How is it possible for the millions that exist on the
face of the earth to obey this doctrine? This question is very
frequently asked us, because the Latter-day Saints dwell very
considerably upon this part of the Gospel, and upon the necessity of
these ordinances being obeyed. The question, very naturally,
immediately rises in the minds of men, if it be necessary that all men
and women should be born of the water and of the Spirit, then what is
to become of the millions who have died and have not had the
opportunity? I recollect, on one occasion, when quite a youth,
speaking upon this principle of baptism, and dwelling, at some length,
upon the necessity of people yielding obedience to it. After I had got
through, a gentleman walked up to me, and said he had been very much
interested in my remarks, but one difficulty had suggested itself to
his mind, and he would like to have me explain. Said he, you doubtless
recollect when Jesus was crucified there were two thieves with him,
one of whom upbraided and railed at him. This called forth a rebuke
from the other thief, who, turning to Jesus, said, "Lord, remember me
when thou comest into thy kingdom." Jesus replied in this wise:
"To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." Now, said the gentleman,
"if your doctrine be correct, that a man must be born of the water and
of the Spirit before he can enter the kingdom of God, I would like to
know how that thief entered that kingdom." Well, looking at this from
his standpoint, it was a very plausible question, and it looked as
though his position was incontrovertable. But did Jesus enter into the
kingdom of God when he was crucified? Did he, when he was crucified,
enter upon the glory he afterwards attained unto, and did the thief
accompany him? I know that many Christian ministers, so-called,
believe this, I know they teach it. In reading the newspapers I
frequently see accounts of the execution of vile criminals, whose
entire lives have been spent in the commission of revolting crimes.
Christian ministers, so-called, attend these criminals while
incarcerated in jail, and to the gallows; they pray with them and
endeavor to awaken them to a sense of their lost condition, and
frequently they are successful, for many influences are brought to
bear on the minds of malefactors at such times and their hearts are
softened at the near prospect of death. Then, when these ministers
accompany them to the scaffold they will pray with them there, and
they assure them that through the merits and death of Jesus they will
be ushered into the kingdom of heaven as soon as they are executed.
This is the invariable assurance given to criminals who will listen to
them, by ministers of this description. They believe that the thief on
the cross was ushered into the immediate presence of God, there to
dwell eternally in peace and felicity. This was the view entertained
by this gentleman I have mentioned.

Vol. 14,  p.315
If you will turn and read the account of the resurrection at Jesus,
you will find an explanation of this [p.316] that probably many have
not thought of You recollect that after the death of Jesus, and after
he had been placed in the sepulchre, there was great anxiety on the
part of the Apostles and those who had been familiar with Jesus, as to
his body. They looked for his resurrection, they expected him to come
forth, but they were filled with doubt and anxiety, for they had the
idea that he would return king of Israel, that the set time had come
for the establishment of God's kingdom on the earth never more to be
thrown down. Among Others who were very anxious about this, was Mary,
one of the women who had attended upon Jesus. She went to the
sepulchre and found that the body of her Lord and Master had been
taken away, and she could not find it. She turned around, full of
grief and anxiety about him whom she loved, and saw a personage
standing beside her, whom she supposed to be the gardener, and she
inquired of him what they had done with the body of her Lord. It was
Jesus to whom she addressed herself, but she did not recognize him at
first, and failed to do so until he uttered her name. When he said,
"Mary," then she recognized his voice and person, and, as was very
natural under the circumstances, in the excess of her joy, she rushed
forward to clasp him; but he stepped back, and forbade her in those
remarkable words: "Touch me not, Mary, for I have not yet ascended to
my father; but go to my disciples, and tell them that I ascend to my
Father and to their Father, to my God and to their God." This was the
third day after his crucifixion, and daring this time he had not
ascended to his Father, and he did not want to be touched, he did not
want mortal hands put upon him. When I quoted this to this gentleman,
said he, "Where was he then, during this period? If he did not ascend
to his Father, and if the paradise to which the thief went with him,
was not heaven, then where was he?" I then quoted to him the words I
first read this afternoon, "If Christ also has once suffered for sin,
etc."

Vol. 14,  p.316
Here Peter gives the explanation, and it is as plain and unmistakable
as language can make it. Jesus died on the cross, be was crucified and
put to death in the flesh, as the Apostles say, and after being put to
death he went and preached to the spirits which were in prison,
spirits which were disobedient in the days of Noah, saying rejected
Noah's testimony, and they had been incarcerated in prison for some
twenty-five hundred years. He was engaged in this labor while his body
lay in the tomb, and hence, when Mary saw him after his resurrection,
and attempted to embrace him, he said, "Touch me not, Mary, for I have
not yet ascended to my Father, etc."

Vol. 14,  p.316
Now by this I do not mean to infer that after his crucifixion, when
his spirit had left his body, he got outside the presence of his
Father, for the presence, power and eyes of God are everywhere; but he
did not ascend to his immediate personal presence until after his body
was resurrected from the tomb And in further confirmation of the view
which I am endeavoring to set forth to you, the Apostle Peter,
continuing this subject, as I read to you from the 4th chapter of his
first epistle, says, "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, but live according to God in the Spirit." "Ah," says one,
"dead in sin!" Who told you so? What right has any man to put such an
interpretation on the Scriptures? The declaration here is as plain as
[p.317] language can make it, "Gospel was preached also to them that
are dead," &c., confirming what the Apostle had said in the previous
chapter, that Jesus was engaged in preaching the Gospel to the spirits
in prison while, as I have said, his body slumbered in the tomb.

Vol. 14,  p.317
Now do you see and comprehend anything of the long suffering and mercy
of God unto the millions who have been born and died on our earth in
ignorance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Do you comprehend the great
plan of salvation, or a portion of that great plan which God our
heavenly Father has devised for the redemption of all his children?
Shall we say that God's work is confined to this short probation of
ours, that his labor for the salvation of his children and the plan
that he has devised are confined to this brief space that we call
time, or shall we say that God's plan of salvation extends over all
his creatures and throughout all his creations, and that if men don't
have opportunities here of understanding it, they will have that
opportunity hereafter? This is set forth in these chapters with great
plainness, and so as to leave no doubt upon the minds of those who are
disposed to accept the Scriptures as they read. Of course, where men
have traditions and pre-conceived views and ideas concerning these
matters they are likely to cling to them and reject the truth. They
would rather believe that nine-tenths of the human family would be
consigned to endless torment than accept the idea that God is a God of
mercy, and that the plan of salvation which he has devised is
all-sufficient and extends to all grades, conditions and
circumstances, in which his creatures are found.

Vol. 14,  p.317
This doctrine was revealed to the Latter-day Saints through the
Prophet Joseph Smith. We were as ignorant of it and of the meaning of
these passages as anybody else previous to the establishment of this
Church. Among other doctrines that were taught to the Prophet Joseph,
was this which I have endeavored to set forth briefly before you. I
have not dwelt upon it at length, but it was taught in great plainness
to the Prophet, and he taught it to the people. The Prophet Malachi,
you recollect, predicts that before the great and terrible day of the
Lord comes, the Lord will send Elijah, the Prophet, and he will turn
the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the
children to the fathers, least the Lord come and smite the earth with
a curse. You can read this in Malachi; and when the Latter-day Saints
heard this Gospel, and became acquainted with the fact that it was
necessary for men and women to be baptized for the remission of their
sins, their hearts immediately yearned for their ancestors. I have
heard hundreds of persons who have joined this Church say, "Oh, that
my father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, children,
grandfather or grandmother had heard this doctrine as the Elders teach
it! How gladly they would have embraced it! How their hearts would
have warmed towards this Gospel! They lived in anticipation of some
such doctrine as this; they were not satisfied with the creeds of men,
or with Christianity as taught. They wanted the gifts, graces and
blessings of the Gospel. Oh, that they could have lived and heard the
teachings that we now hear, that God has revealed from the heavens,
the ancient and pure Gospel, with the Holy Ghost and the gifts
thereof! Oh, how their hearts would have been gladdened to have heard
these glad tidings! Thus were the hearts of the children turned
towards the fathers, and I doubt not the hearts of the fathers were
turned towards the children.[p.318] 

Vol. 14,  p.318
There was an anxiety among the people in this church for many years,
in relation to what would become of their ancestors and the world at
large who were not acquainted with the Gospel, until the Lord
condescended to give a revelation in which this doctrine was
explained. By turning to the first epistle to the Corinthians, you
will find there that the Apostle Paul, in reasoning upon the
resurrection, advanced an idea which is not generally understood. In
the 15th chapter and 29th verse of that epistle the Apostle uses this
language: "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead? If
the dead rise not at all, why are they then baptized for the dead?"

Vol. 14,  p.318
Now, among other arguments which he brought forth to convince the
Corinthians that there was such a thing as a resurrection he appeals
to the fact that there was such a doctrine as baptism for the dead in
the Church and practised by the former day Saints, and to enforce the
doctrine he uses the words I have read, one of the most powerful
arguments that he could adduce in favor of the resurrection. How
useless it would be for men and women to be baptized for the dead, if
the dead rise not at all; but the dead do rise, and the Saints are
baptized for them. I might paraphrase his words and reason upon them
in this way. The dead are baptized, for we are baptized for them, and
they do rise or else all our labor would be in vain in going forth and
being baptized for them. Now, here is a doctrine that has been hidden.
True, it is only a slight allusion, but it is sufficient to show that
there was in the ancient Church such a doctrine believed in and
practised by the Saints of God.

Vol. 14,  p.318
"Oh," but says one, "how can the dead be born of the water and the
Spirit; suppose that Jesus went and preached to the spirits in prison,
and among the rest to the thief who was on the cross when he got to
paradise, as you explain the Gospel, how could he, in the spirit
world, be born of the water and of the Spirit?" A very serious
question, but here is the explanation: those who are alive in the
flesh can go forth and be baptized for them. "What! Be baptized for
the dead? And will that stand?" I would ask those who object to this,
how is it that the death of Jesus, the Son of God, affects our
salvation? He acts for us vicariously; by his vicarious atonement he
redeems us from the effects of the transgression of our first parents.
As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. Death came
into the world by Adam. Adam did not die to redeem the world, but
Jesus came forward, vicariously, as the Savior of the world, and died
to redeem us from Adam's sin. Through his death Adam's sin is atoned
for. In like manner, Malachi says, in speaking of the Prophet Elijah
coming before the great and terrible day of the Lord: "The hearts of
the fathers shall be turned to the children." What for? Because the
children can act vicariously for them; "and the hearts of the children
shall be turned to the fathers," because the children will feel after
their fathers; they will search for their genealogies, and learn of
their ancestors, and they will go forth and perform ordinances in the
flesh for their dead, which the dead can not perform for themselves,
and act vicariously for them, and so fulfil the saying of the Prophet
Obediah, where he says, "There shall be saviors in the last days on
Mount Zion." They shall stand as ministers of salvation. There shall
be saviors in the last days, acting in a lesser capacity, it is true,
but still somewhat in the capacity of our Lord [p.319] and Savior
Jesus Christ, for their dead. Not atoning for the original sin, not
shedding their blood, but, going forth and being baptized for them and
receiving the ordinances of salvation in their behalf.

Vol. 14,  p.319
I know that this doctrine is new, and to many startling; it comes in
contact with all their prejudices. But I would ask the Christian world
how mankind are to be saved? Can you substitute anything better than
this? How are the millions of heathens who have died in ignorance of
the name of Jesus to be saved? How are our ancestors to be saved, who,
living and dying in the long night of darkness which prevailed through
Christendom, never had the privilege of hearing the Gospel in its
fulness? "Oh," says one, "saved by the goodness of God." Yes, but how
shall we elude the words of Jesus where he says, "Except a man be born
again he can not see the Kingdom of God;" and "Except a man be born of
the water and of the Spirit he can not enter into the Kingdom of God?"
It is very easy her men in their traditions to say; "Well, our way
suits us, because we have been accustomed to it." But if we accept
these traditions as binding, how shall we set aside the words of him
who spoke as never man spake, of him who was without guile and whose
words were truth and holiness? How shall we set them aside? We can
not, and rather than attempt to do so I would accept them as true and
divine, and practise them, even though it required the sacrifice of my
traditions and prejudices. To my mind there is something godlike in
the Gospel of salvation I can see beauty, and the power of God in it.
I understand from this that there is a plan of salvation capable of
saving all men; that though there is a space between death and the
resurrection, during that space the spirits of those who died without
the Gospel can be preached to, and can receive the Gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ, though they died in ignorance of it.

Vol. 14,  p.319
A great many have wondered how it is that the Latter-day Saints are so
anxious to have temples built.  We built a temple in Kirtland, and
after we had built it we were compelled to leave it and flee to
Missouri. We laid the foundations of two in Missouri, one in Jackson
County, the other in Caldwell County. That in Caldwell was not laid
until after we were driven from there. A revelation was given through
Joseph Smith, I think on the 11th of July, 1838, that on the
succeeding 26th of April, the foundation stone of the temple should be
laid in Far West; and the Twelve Apostles should take their departure
from that corner stone, and cross the ocean to preach the Gospel in
Europe. Now, said the mob, "There being a date fixed to this
revelation, if Joseph Smith never was a false prophet before, we will
make him one now," and they turned and drove the Latter-day Saints
from Missouri, and made it worth a man's life to go back there, if he
was a Mormon. They drove every one out of Missouri, under a ban of
extermination, in the winker previous to the time set for the
fulfillment of this revelation. That was in the winter of 1838-9; and
there were but very few left, and they were in peril of their lives
all the time. Joseph, Hyrum and several of the leading Elders were in
prison, and it seemed as though the words of Joseph would fall to the
ground that time, at any rate. President Young was then President of
the Twelve Apostles; he with others had to flee to Quincy, and he
proposed to his fellow Apostles that they should go up to Missouri, to
fulfil that revelation. [p.320] Father Joseph Smith, father of the
Prophet, thought that the Lord would take the will for the deed, and
it would not be necessary. He felt as though there would be great
danger in the undertaking, and that the brethrens' lives would be in
peril. A good many of the other Elders felt the same, but the Spirit
rested upon President Young and his brother Apostles, and they
determined to go, and they did go, and, according to the revelation,
they laid the corner stone in the town of Far West. They laid it in
the midst of their enemies; they sang their songs, ordained two of the
Twelve, and if I recollect right, two of the Seventies, and then shook
hands with the Saints there, bade them adieu, and took their departure
for Europe, thus fulfilling the word of God given nearly a year
previously through the Prophet Joseph, and which the enemies of the
Kingdom of God said should never be fulfilled.

Vol. 14,  p.320
That foundation stone was laid, and the Saints, as I said, fled into
Illinois, and there laid the foundation of a temple at Nauvoo,
Illinois, the finest building then in the western country, and the
admiration of everybody. The Saints erected it in the midst of
poverty, destitution, sickness, death, and, I may say, with the sword
or rifle in one hand and the trowel in the other, their enemies
surrounding them on every hand. They had slain Joseph and Hyrum, and
attempted to destroy others of the servants of God, and they were
continually burning and destroying the houses and property of the
Saints, and were determined to expel them from the State. But in the
midst of these tribulations the Saints continued their labors until
that temple was roofed in, and until within its walls they could
attend to the ordinances for the living and the dead.

Vol. 14,  p.320
Again they were driven, and again they took up their line of march,
and they came out to this desert country, and again we laid the
foundation of another temple, a few hundred yards from this building;
and this winter we have laid the foundation of another at St George,
in the southern part of this Territory. The masons and laborers are
down there endeavoring to push it forward to completion as fast as
possible.

Vol. 14,  p.320
Why is it that we are so anxious to build temples? It is that we may
attend to ordinances necessary for the salvation of the living and the
dead, that we may be baptized for our ancestors who died without
having the privilege of hearing and obeying the Gospel. We not only
believe that we should be baptized for them, but we also believe that
where our fathers and mothers have died, having been married only
according to the practice of the world, they should be married for
time and eternity; and, in the temples erected by the Saints to the
name of the Most High, we shall act for them in this respect also. We
believe, not only, that we should be married for time and eternity,
but that they should be also. We believe in the eternal nature of the
marriage relation, that man and woman are destined, as husband and
wife, to dwell together eternally. We believe that we are organized as
we are, with all these affections, with all this love for each other,
for a definite purpose, something far more lasting than to be
extinguished when death shall overtake us. We believe that when a man
and woman are united as husband and wife, and they love each other,
their hearts and feelings are one, that that love is as enduring as
eternity itself, and that when death overtakes them it will neither
extinguish nor cool that love, but that it will brighten and kindle it
to a [p.321] purer flame, and that it will endure through eternity;
and that if we have offspring they will be with us and our mutual
associations will be one of the chief joys of the heaven to which we
are hastening. If I have loving wives and children, who could
contribute to our happiness so much as we could to each others', they
to mine, I to theirs? Shall we be separated and I be no more to them
and they no more to me than strangers? How unnatural the thought! God
has restored the everlasting priesthood, by which ties can be formed,
consecrated and consummated, which shall be as enduring as we
ourselves are enduring, that is, as our spiritual nature; and husbands
and wives will be united together, and they and their children will
dwell and associate together eternally, and this, as I have said, will
constitute one of the chief joys of heaven; and we look forward to it
with delightful anticipations.

Vol. 14,  p.321
Brother Woodruff, in his remarks this morning, spoke of the blessing
that the Lord promised Abraham, that as the sands on the sea shore, or
the stars that bespangle the firmament are innumerable, so should his
seed be. How is this to be effected? Why, by the eternal union of the
sexes, by the eternal union of Abraham with those who were his family
in his life. Strange as this doctrine may seem, it is nevertheless
amply sustained by these divine Scriptures in which Christendom all
profess to believe.

Vol. 14,  p.321
Now we rear Temples in order that we may be baptized in the fonts
which will be in those Temples, for our dead, in order that we may go
forward and act vicariously for them in the ordinance of baptism and
in the laying on of hands for the Holy Ghost, and then in other
ordinances, which Shall prepare them to dwell with us and us with them
eternally in the presence of God.

Vol. 14,  p.321
If you read the 20th chapter of the Revelations, you will see that the
Lord revealed to John that there shall be a thousand years' rest, a
millennium, or millennial era, when the earth shall rest from
wickedness, and when knowledge shall cover it as waters cover the
deep, and when one man shall not have to say to another, "Know ye the
Lord?" but when, according to the words of the Prophet, "all shall
know him, from the least even unto the greatest;" when God's will
shall be written in the hearts of the children of men, and they will
understand his law. The Prophets have spoken of such a day, and in the
chapter to which I have alluded, the 20th of Revelations, the Lord
speaks of it in plainness to his servant John the Revelator, setting
forth that there shall be a thousand years' rest, on the earth, during
which Christ shall reign in the midst of his Saints, and when there
shall be nothing to hurt or destroy in all the holy mountain of the
Lord; when the lamb will lie down with the lion, the cow with the
bear, and when the whole animal creation will dwell together in peace,
when swords shall be beaten into ploughshares, spears into pruning
hooks, and when the nations shall learn war no more, men shall plant
and eat the fruit thereof, build and inhabit, and when none shall
deprive them of the fruits of their labors.

Vol. 14,  p.321
I quote these passages as they occur to my mind. You are all familiar
with them. They will be fulfilled, and there will be a thousand years'
rest, during which period Satan will be bound, and when the seed of
the righteous will increase and cover the land. In that glorious
period everything on the face of the earth will be beautiful; disease
and crime, and all [p.322] the evils that attend our present state of
existence will be banished; and during that period, as God has
revealed, the occupation of his people will be to lay a foundation for
the redemption of the dead, the unnumbered millions who lived and died
on the earth without hearing and obeying the plain of salvation.

Vol. 14,  p.322
We believe, further, that every man who dies belonging to this Church,
and having the right to officiate in the Priesthood, will be engaged,
while awaiting the resurrection of his body, in a work similar to that
in which Jesus was engaged, namely, preaching the Gospel to those who
are ignorant of it. He will proclaim the plan of salvation to those in
the spirit world who have died in ignorance of the name of Jesus and
of the character of his redemption. For, let me tell you, there is no
name under heaven whereby men can be saved, except the name of Jesus
Christ, and if the dead ever are saved, it must be through the name of
Jesus and through the redemption he has worked out. This is the gospel
and the plan of salvation as we believe it.

Vol. 14,  p.322
Men say that the Latter-day Saints are exclusive and uncharitable; bur
they know nothing of the doctrines that we believe in. Our hearts
swell with exceeding desire for the salvation of our fellow creatures:
we want all saved. We would, if we had arms sufficiently long, enclose
them all, and shed around them the halo of love. We desire and yearn
for their salvation; we pray for it, and we expect to spend our days,
both here and hereafter, in accomplishing it. It is the chief labor
that occupies our attention, and we expect to rear temples in which we
can attend to the ordinances necessary to work it out. There are men
already who spend the chief portion of their time in attending to
these ordinances, forgetful of their worldly interests, devoting
themselves almost exclusively to these labors, and we expect to save
all that will accept the plan of salvation. I say we, I mean God and
the authority that he has established and restored to the earth.

Vol. 14,  p.322
Can you wonder that we believe in plural marriage when we have these
views? Now, for instance, there is a man who has had a wife, and
children by that wife. She has died, and he has married again, and had
a family by the second wife. In some instances she has died, and he
has married a third time. Now we believe that that man, it he be a
good man, will be entitled to these wives in the resurrection. There
may be men of this class here to-day, men who have lost their first
wives, by whom they have had children, and who have made their little
home a heaven, lavishing upon them all the wealth of their affection;
and that woman having passed away, they have taken another with, and
she has been equally true She has done the best she could. Now in the
resurrection which wife shall he put away? Shall he say to the first
wife, "I have a second wife, I do not want you to live with me." Or
shall he say to the second wife, "Here is the wife of my youth; the
one who engaged my heart's first affections, and I love her and you
must go." "Oh," says one, "there will be no wives there, and no
necessity of a man saying such things either to first or second wife."
You see the dilemma in which the belief of Christendom forces them.
They are compelled by their traditions to reject the idea of the
marital relation, and of husband and wife dwelling together for
eternity. What is their view? Why, as I have heard it, and I have
gleaned it from the best of them, the idea they have of the heaven to
which mankind are hastening [p.323] is that of being clothed in white
raiment and with harp in hand, singing praises to God and the Lamb
eternally. This is very good employment no doubt, but to think of our
being so employed forever and ever does not satisfy the enquiring
mind. I could not be happy, as I am now constituted, you could not,
without active employment—a field for the exercise of every faculty of
mind and body that God has given you. I do not wonder at men dreading
death when they have such ideas of heaven and future happiness. My
idea of heaven pictures to me a condition of society as much superior
to this as heaven is to earth. I picture to myself a state of society
that shall be free from every sin, where the adversary can have no
entrance, where there will he no gloom, sorrow, pain or death, and
where I shall associate with those whom I have loved; whose byes have
been spent with me in endeavoring to do good; with the wife or wives
and children I have had here, living with them eternally in the
presence of God. And as it was said of Jesus: "To the increase of his
seed there shall be no end," so do I hope, after I leave here, the
blessing sealed upon Father Abraham, of whose seed I am, that as there
should be no end to his increase, there shall be none to mine.

Vol. 14,  p.323
It is this I labor for and look forward to. Heaven looks bright to me;
death is robbed of its terror—it has no sting, and, like one of old, I
can say, "O grave, where is they victory: Oh, death, where is they
sting!" There is no sting in death, there is no victory in the grave,
for we all expect, who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, to be resurrected in glory, with every faculty of
body and mind enhaneced, purified, enlarged, until we shall be like
our Father and God. This is the heaven which we are looking for, and
to which I pray we may all attain, in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Orson Pratt, February 11, 1872

Nephite America—the Day of God's 
Power—the Shepherd of Israel

Discourse By Elder Orson Pratt, Delivered in the Tabernacle, 
Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, February 11, 1872.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.323
It is quite unexpected to me to be called upon this afternoon to
address this congregation; but inasmuch as I have been solicited so to
do I cheerfully comply with the request. It has also been suggested
that there would be several strangers present this afternoon who would
desire to hear some of the evidences in relation to the Book of
Mormon, and although it is a subject on which we have spoken daring
the week just passed,[p.324] and have set forth many evidences in
support of the divine authenticity of this book, still it may not be
amiss to repeat some of these evidences and give some reasons to those
who are present why this people receive this book as a part and
portion of the revelations of the Most High. Our traditions, which we
received from our fathers, have naturally inclined us to reject all
revelations, or all pretended Scripture except that which happened to
be compiled in the Old and New Testament. I had this tradition in
common with the rest of mankind who profess to believe the Bible; but
when I came to examine this tradition which I, as well as millions,
had imbibed, I found it to be only tradition and without any
substantial foundation. I can not possibly imagine how to reconcile
the supreme goodness, wisdom and mercy of the Almighty with the idea
that a few of the inhabitants of our globe, dwelling in one small
region called Palestine, should be the favored few to whom revelation
should be vouchsafed. I can not reconcile this idea with the view that
we take of the character of the great Being whom we worship and serve.
When I contemplate the vast number of millions that must have swarmed
over this great western hemisphere in times of old, building large
cities, towns and villages, and spreading themselves forth from shore
to shore from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the frozen regions of
the north to the uttermost extremity of South America—when I
contemplate all these people as human beings, beings that have
immortal souls and form part of the brotherhood of all nations,
descending from the same parents, created by the same Creator, I can
not believe that all these nations have been left in darkness,
deprived of the light of revelation from Heaven, and having no
knowledge concerning God; but I must believe that God, who is an
impartial Being and presiding over all the inhabitants of the earth,
would have respect to the people of ancient America as well as of
ancient Asia. Consequently, in accordance with the views that we would
naturally entertain concerning the attributes of the Great Jehovah, we
believe that he has in these latter times, in the generation in which
we are permitted to live, condescended to bring to the knowledge of
the people another book, another divine revelation containing the
history of his dealings with the generations that are past and gone on
this western hemisphere. The book which I hold in my hand (the Book of
Mormon) contains nearly as much information as the Old Testament. It
is a book of five or six hundred closely printed pages. This book, the
Latter-day Saints believe to be the Bible of the western hemisphere; a
compilation of sacred books, books delivered by divine inspiration in
ancient times to prophets, revelators and inspired men who dwelt upon
this continent, both in North and South America. We believe that it
was written, mostly by a branch of the house of Israel, a part and
portion of the chosen seed, the descendants of Abraham who were led
forth to this continent some six hundred years before Christ from the
city of Jerusalem, brought by the special providence, miracles and
goodness of the Almighty. A colony with whom there were several
prophets; a colony of Israelites who believed in the law of Moses, and
to whom the Lord manifested himself in a peculiar manner. They were
brought forth from the land of Jerusalem in the first year of
Zedekiah, King of Judah, six hundred years before the birth of our
Lord and [p.325] Savior. By revelation from the Lord they traveled
south-west from the city of Jerusalem, and after reaching the Red Sea
they continued along its eastern borders and afterswards bent their
course eastward, arriving at the Indian Ocean. There they were
commanded by the Almighty to build a vessel, the pattern of which was
given to them by revelation, building it as Noah built the Ark—under
the direction of the Almighty. On board this vessel they embarked, and
were guided by the Almighty across the great Indian Ocean. Passing
among the islands, how far south of Japan I do not know, they came
round our globe, crossing not only the Indian Ocean, but what we term
the great Pacific Ocean, landing on the western coast of what is now
called South America. As near as we can judge from the description of
the country contained in this record the first landing place was in
Chili, not far from where the city of Valparaiso now stands.

Vol. 14,  p.325
After landing on the western coast of South America, they divided into
two colonies, one colony called Lamanites, the other called Nephites.
These names originated from two brothers, the name of one being Laman,
the name of the other Nephi. The Lamanites became a very wicked and
corrupt people. the Nephites believed in the law of Moses, in God, in
the spirit of revelation and prophecy; they believed in visions, in
the ministration of angels, and they sought to serve the Lord with all
their hearts, and they were exceedingly persecuted by the Lamanites.
The Nephites, by the command of the Almighty, made sacred records on
gold plates, and on these plates they were commanded to engrave their
history, their prophecies, the dealings of the Lord with them from
generation to generation.

Vol. 14,  p.325
Being so severely persecuted by the Lamanites, the Nephites were
commanded of the Lord to depart from their midst, that is to leave the
first place of colonization in the country which the Spanish now call
Chili. They came northward from their first landing place traveling,
according to the record, as near as I can judge, some two thousand
miles. The Lamanites remained in possession of the country on the
South. the Nephites formed a colony not far from the head waters of
the river Amazon, and they dwelt there some four centuries, increasing
and spreading forth in the land. The Lamanites, in the South and in
the middle portions of South America, also spread forth and
multiplied, and became a very strong and powerful nation. Many wars
existed between the two nations, in which hundreds of thousands were
destroyed. Finally, in the course of generations, the Nephites fell
into wickedness; they departed in a great measure from the law of
Moses and from the precepts of truth which had been taught to them by
the prophets in their midst. A certain portion of them who still
believed were commanded of the Lord to leave their brethren in
consequence of their wickedness; they did so, and those who still
remained faithful, under the guidance of prophets and revelators, came
still further northward, emigrating from the head waters of what we
now term the river Amazon, upon the western coast, or not far from the
western coast, until they came on the waters of the river which we
call the Magdalena. On this river, not a great distance from the mouth
thereof, in what is now termed the United States of Columbia, they
built their great capital city. They also discovered another nation
that already possessed that country called the people of Zarahemla.
They also were a [p.326] branch of Israel who came out from the city
of Jerusalem five hundred and eighty-nine years before the coming of
Christ, in the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah, at the time he
was taken captive, and the Jews were carried into Babylon. One of the
sons of Zedekiah, King of Judah, being commanded of the Lord, left the
city of Jerusalem with a colony, who were brought forth and landed
north of the Isthmus and journeyed southward, passed through the
narrow neck of land which we term the Isthums into the United States
of Columbia, and formed their settlements there, and when discovered
by the Nephites had dwelt there near four hundred years.

Vol. 14,  p.326
The Nephites and the people of Zarahemla united together and formed a
great and powerful nation, occupying the lands south or the Isthmus
for many hundreds of miles, and also from the Pacific on the west to
the Atlantic on the east, spreading all through the country. The
Lamanites about this time also occupied South America, the middle or
southern portion of it, and were exceedingly numerous. I will here
observe, that from the time the Nephites consolidated themselves with
the people of Zarahemla, they had numerous wars with the great nation
of the Lamanites, in which many hundreds of thousands perished on both
sides.

Vol. 14,  p.326
About fifty-four years before Christ, five thousand four hundred men,
with their wives and children, left the northern portion of South
America, passed through the Isthmus, came into this north country, the
north wing of the continent, and began to settle up North America, and
from that time a great emigration of the Nephites and the people of
Zarahemla took place year by year. I will here mention one thing which
perhaps may be startling to individuals who are unacquainted with the
antiquities of this country, theft the Nephite nation about this time
commenced the art of shipbuilding. They built many ships, launching
them forth into the western ocean. The place of the building of these
ships was near the Isthmus of Darien. Scores of thousands entered
these ships year after year, and passed along on the western coast
northward, and began to settle the western coast on the north wing of
the continent. I will observe another thing—when they came into North
America they found all this country covered With the ruins of cities,
villages and towns, the inhabitants having been cut off and destroyed.
The timber had also been cut off, insomuch that in many places there
was no timber by which they could construct their dwellings, hence the
Nephites and the people of Zarahemla had to build their houses of
cement, others had to dwell in tents. Vast quantities of timber were
shipped from the south to the people on the western coast, enabling
them to build many towns, cities and villages. The latter also planted
groves of timber, and in process of time they raised great quantities,
which furnished them with sufficient for building and other purposes.
Forty-five years before the coming of Christ there was a vast colony
camo out of South America, and it is said in the Book of Mormon that
they went an exceeding great distance, until they came to large bodies
of water and to many rivers and fountains, and when we come to read
more fully the description of the country it answers to the great
Mississippi Valley. There they formed a colony. We know that to be the
region of country from the fact that these plates were taken from a
hill in the interior of the State of New York, being the descendants
of those [p.327] same colonists that settled in the valley of the
Mississippi. When we speak of the valley of the Mississippi, let me
say a few words to inform the minds of my brethren and sisters from
foreign countries who may not be so fully acquainted with the
geography of our land. The valley of the Mississippi does not mean a
small valley like these valleys here in the Rocky Mountains, but it
means a vast area of territory some fifteen hundred thousand square
miles in extent, enough to accommodate several bundled millions of
inhabitants, almost a world of itself. There the Nephites became a
great and powerful people. In process of time they spread forth on the
right and on the left, and the whole face of the North American
continent was covered by cities, towns and villages and population.

Vol. 14,  p.327
But we will hasten on. They having kept, the law of Moses, I mean the
Nephites, looked forward, according, to the testimony of their law,
for the coming of the Messiah, that is the great Prophet of Israel
which Moses had told them the Lord would raise up unto them. They
looked for that great Prophet to come and shed his blood, for their
sacrifices and burnt offerings pointed to a great and last sacrifice,
the sacrifice of the Son of God. The Nephite nation, therefore, had a
testimony given to them concerning that future Messiah that was to
come; a sign was given to them on this American continent that they
might know the very day on which he was born. The night before Jesus
was born this continent had no darkness. There was one day, and then a
night and then a day without any darkness at all—it was as light as
day during the period which is generally called night. This was
prophesied or predicted by their Prophets as a sign that they might no
longer be in suspense about the coming of their great Prophet. After
the birth of Christ there were signs given to the people concerning
his crucifixion. The inhabitants of this land were not in ignorance
about the great atonement that was wrought out on Mount Calvary. It
was not in vain that they kept the law of Moses, and offered up their
burnt offerings and the shedding of the blood of beasts and fowls,
pointing forward to the stoning blood of Jesus, they knew when the
great and last sacrifice was offered here on this land. However, it
was a day of sorrow to them, for most of the people at that time had
become very wicked. They had stoned and killed the Prophets and
persecuted them exceedingly, and had become so corrupt and had
deviated so far from the law of Moses and from the prophecies that God
had given to them, and the righteous precepts that had been taught
them by their Prophets, that the Lord in his anger destroyed many
hundreds of thousands of the people at the time of the crucifixion of
Jesus. The Prophets told the people that when Jesus should be hung on
the cross there should be a terrible convulsion and great earthquake
on this continent, that many of their towns, cities and villages
should be totally destroyed, some of their cities should be sunk and
buried in the depths of the earth, that mountains should rise up and
come over and fall on certain cities, that other cities should be sunk
and waters come up in the place thereof, that other cities should be
destroyed by tempest and whirlwind, that others should be burned by
fire. Another great sign was given to them concerning the period
during which Jesus was to remain in the tomb—that from the period of
the crucifixion until the time of the resurrection thick darkness
should spread over all the face [p.328] of this continent, darkness
like that of Egypt, that could be felt by the people. No sun, nor
moon, nor stars were permitted to shine on that occasion, not a
glimmer of light, three days and three nights of darkness.

Vol. 14,  p.328
All this took place st the crucifixion of Christ. The judgments came
as predicted by the prophets. The rocks upon nearly all the face of
this continent, prior to that event, were not found disrupted as at
the present day. Those who have travelled through these mountainous
regions and looked at the various strata of rocks find many of them
turned up edgeways. This must have been caused by some terrible
convulsion. You will see it on every hand in these mountains. It is
not something peculiar to our vicinity, but the same thing occurs
throughout all the vast region called the Rocky Mountains. From the
frozen regions of the north until you penetrate through the Isthmus
into the Andes, and then on to the end of this continent in the south,
we find these disruptions, seams and cracks among the various strata
of rock. Before the coming of Christ this was not so. Many mountains
existed after the crucifixion where there were deep valleys before,
and the whole face of the land was changed. No wonder then that our
miners here in these rocky regions, and in various portions of
Montana, California, and Nevada, occasionally, after digging several
hundred feet, find remains of human arts. They find these things, and
they have published descriptions of them in the papers in California
and elsewhere, and in consequence of these discoveries they begin to
calculate that the earth must be so many hundred thousand years old,
and some of them conclude that it must be millions, in order to
account for the phenomena which have been observed. But geologists
should leave these things out of the question and should begin to
inquire what has produced these terrible convulsions of nature, what
has thrown up these vast ridges of mountains, what has sunk down
valleys? What is it that has disrupted and apparently thrown the
western continent into such terrible convulsion as to place the rocks
on edge and rend them asunder? If they would inquire into these things
it would be no marvel to them to find the remains of the ancient arts
of men sunk far beneath the surface of the earth. I would say to them
that, peradventure, they may yet find, when the Lord shall again
convulse this continent, as he assuredly will do, throwing down the
mountains and raising up the valleys, at the time of his second
coming, for then, says the prophet Isaiah, the mountains shall flow
down at his presence. Then, says the prophet David, the hills and the
mountains shall melt like wax before the presence of the Lord. I say
when this great and terrible convulsion shall come we may find cities
rising, as it were, from the bowels of the earth, disgorged and
brought to the surface. It need not surprise the inhabitants who then
live to see cities brought up from the depths of the lakes and from
the depths of great waters; to see mountains removed from their places
and uncovering ancient cities that have been covered up for
generations. All it needs then is a convulsion, a terrible catastrophe
of nature to produce the effects that are sometimes ascribed to long
ages of the slow working of the elements. But to go back to the
history.

Vol. 14,  p.328
At the time of the crucifixion the Nephites dwelt in North America and
also occupied a portion of South America; and after that event, the
more righteous portion of those among them who were spared and also
those [p.329] among the Lamanites who had not altogether forsaken the
truth, began to remember the prophecies, recorded upon their plates of
gold, that after the crucifixion, and after all these terrible
judgments had come upon them, their Messiah, of whom Moses had spoken,
should render himself visible to the inhabitants of this continent.
They tell us that they assembled themselves around a certain temple
that the Lord had preserved in the northern part of South America, and
were wondering about the great convulsions of nature that had taken
place.

Vol. 14,  p.329
While they were thus conversing, pointing out and explaining to each
other what had taken place, both in the north and in the south as far
as they had explored, while they were thus conversing in all humility
about Jesus, who had been crucified in the land of their fathers, they
heard a voice coming out of the heavens. At first they could not
comprehend it; but it excited their attention—the attention of about
twenty-five hundred men, women and children, and they all gazed
steadfastly towards the heavens, and while they were thus engaged the
voice spoke again the second time and the third time, saying unto
them," Behold my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," and they saw
Jesus descending out of the heavens clothed in a white robe, and he
came and stood in the midst of that large assembly of people and he
said unto them, "Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father
of the heavens and the earth, the God of the whole earth." After he
had thus spoken to them he told them how he had come in the land of
their fathers, and how he had been crucified by the Jewish nation. He
then called the multitude to come and see the wounds in his hands, in
his feet and in his side, and they saw these wounds, and heard the
voice of their Redeemer, and they knew of a surety that be was the Son
of God, of whom their prophets had so long prophesied. Jesus commanded
them no longer to kill sacrifices and shed the blood of beasts and
fowls, for he himself had been offered as a last final sacrifice
according to the types that were given in the law of Moses, and that
he had shed his blood for the remission of sins; and then he
introduced among them the gospel in all its fulness and plainness.
Oftentimes has my heart been filled with joy inexpressible when I have
read the words of Jesus on that occasion, declaring to them his
gospel, and unfolding to them that they must have faith in him as the
only Redeemer, as the only being who could atone for the sins of
mankind; that they must repent of their sins and become as little
children, and be baptized by immersion for the remission of their
sins; that if they would do this they should be baptized with fire and
with the Holy Ghost, and when they should receive the Holy Ghost it
should impart unto them special gifts in order that they, through the
exercise of these gifts, might be perfected and prepared to return
into the presence of their Father and their God.

Vol. 14,  p.329
Jesus chose twelve disciples on the American continent. They are not
called apostles in the Book of Mormon, but disciples. I have no doubt,
however, in my own mind, that they held the office of the apostleship,
for they exercised all the functions of apostles. They had power not
only to baptize with water, but to lay on hands for the baptism of the
Holy Ghost, which latter was one of the functions granted, in ancient
days, unto the office of an apostle. These twelve Nephites who were
called by the personal ministry of Jesus, were commanded to go forth
and preach the Gospel on all the face of the [p.330] North and South
American continent. They were to build up his Church; they were to
teach the people that they should no more worship God by the
ordinances of the law of Moses, but according to the words which that
prophet had delivered to them, even Jesus who appeared in their midst.

Vol. 14,  p.330
After Jesus had administered unto them the first day he withdrew and
ascended into heaven, saying unto the people, "Behold I will visit you
again on the morrow." The people who were present on that occasion
spread the news of the Savior's visit as far as they possibly could
during the remainder of the day and through the night, and people
gathered from all quarters as far as they possibly could, so as to be
at the place where Jesus should appear to them On the next day he came
again, and the next day the disciples separated the vast multitudes
that came together into twelve bodies, and they taught them, for they
could not be assembled in one body and all be able to hear the sound
of one man's voice. For this reason they were separated into twelve
bodies and the Twelve taught them. They taught them the words of Jesus
about being baptized by immersion for the remission of sins, and about
the gift or reception of fire and the Holy Ghost. After they had
taught the people the Twelve went forth, being commissioned of the
Almighty, into the water and baptized great numbers. After this Jesus
came again cud ministered to them and blessed them, and taught them
still further concerning his doctrines, and also prophecied many
things that should take place during that generation, and for many
generations to come. Many times after this Jesus showed himself to the
Nephite nation. These twelve disciples went forth, according to the
commandment of the Lord and ordained others, and these ministers thus
ordained went forth on all the face of the continent, and so great
were the witnesses, so powerful the manifestations of healing the
sick, opening the eyes of the blind and the power that was displayed
among the American Israelites that the greater portion of both
Nephites and Lamanites were converted, indeed—in process of time they
were all converted—and they dwelt in righteousness nearly three
centuries. We have but a very short history, however, in the Book of
Mormon of the righteousness of the Nephites and Lamanites during those
three centuries. We are merely informed that they had all their
property in common, that there were no rich nor poor among them,
during all that period of time, that they were a humble people and
worshiped the Lord their God in the name of Jesus, and they were a
people who sought diligently to comply with every commandment and
revelation from heaven. After about three generations had passed away
they began to apostatize, not to dwindle in unbelief, but to reject,
wilfully, the principles that had been revealed to them, which were
very great indeed; for during that period of time, according to the
little information that we have, the Lord gave them many precious
revelations, which were recorded on their plates which were not
permitted to come forth in this record, being too great for us or for
any people to receive who dwell not in righteousness. But the people
began to apostatize and turn away from such great light, and their
condemnation, of course, was greater than that which would have come
upon them if they had been in darkness and ignorance. Sinning against
so great light they speedily ripened themselves for destruction. They
began to separate [p.331] again into Lamanites and Nephites, and they
made two great, grand divisions.

Vol. 14,  p.331
About three hundred and seventy-five years after the birth of Christ,
the Nephites occupying North America, the Lamanites South America, and
wars having existed between them for nearly fifty years, the Lamanites
began to overpower the Nephites, and they drove them northward from
the narrow neck of land which we call the Isthmus of Darien, burning,
destroying and desolating every city, town and village through which
they passed. The Nephites continued to flee before their conquerors
until they came into the interior of the State of New York. There, the
king or commander of the Nephites wrote an epistle to the Lamanites
and requested an armistice for four years, for the purpose of
gathering in all the Nephite nation into that one place. The king of
the Lamanites granted this armistice, and during these four years they
had no battles, but were occupied very diligently in gathering the
whole Nephite nation into that one region, and the Lamanites gathering
the whole Lamanite nation into the same region of country. Many
millions on both sides were here gathered together, and when the four
years had expired, hostilities were renewed, many battles were fought
and the Nephites acre overpowered, men, women and children being hewn
down. The great and last battle, in which several hundred thousand
Nephites perished was on the hill Cumorah, the same hill from which
the plates were taken by Joseph Smith, the boy about whom I spoke to
you the other evening. A few Nephites dissented over to the Lamanites
and joined them, and a few escaped into the south country. Mormon, one
of the prophets of the Nephites, who had the records in his
possession, being commanded of the Lord, hid up the records in the
hill Cumorah before the battles commenced. I mean all the records
except an abridgment. The gold plates from which the Book of Mormon
was taken are only an abridgment from vast numbers of other plates
which were hidden up by Mormon in that hill. This abridgment, reserved
and not hid up by Mormon, he gave to his son Moroni. He and Moroni
both surveyed the destruction of their nation; they fell, wounded
among the vast numbers on that hill, but their wounds were not fatal
and they survived and for a short time kept themselves hid. Mormon,
however, was afterwards discovered and destroyed by the Lamanites.
Moroni continued from three hundred and eighty-four years, the date of
the destruction of his nation, until four hundred and twenty years
after Christ, that is the last date given in this record. Moroni tells
us, as a prophet of God, that he was commanded of the Lord to hide up
these records in the hill Cumorah, not in the same place where the
other records had been hidden by his father Mormon, but in another
place, for the Lord had promised the prophet Moroni that he would
bring these records to light in the latter days, when he should bring
forth a great and powerful nation upon this land. the Lord showed all
these things to these ancient prophets, and they understood our
history and wrote about it before ever Columbus discovered America.
Moroni informs us that after the Lord should establish in the latter
days a great and powerful nation of the Gentiles on the thee of this
land, and should deliver them by his power out of the hands of all
other nations, then the Lord would bring forth this abridgment, these
plates which Moroni was commanded to hide up; that the records [p.332]
should be revealed, that the individual who should discover them
should, by the aid of the Urim and Thummim, be able to translate the
records from the language in which they were written into our
language, that these records should be brought forth expressly to
accomplish the great purposes of the Lord in the last days in regard
to warning all the nations of the Gentiles first, and that they might
have the Gospel preached unto them in its ancient purity, as it was
preached on this great western hemisphere, in order that the fulness
of the Gentiles might be brought in, then their times should be
fulfilled. After the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled by the
coming forth of these records, the prophet informs us that the records
should be sent to all the scattered remnants of the house of Israel in
the four quarters of the earth, and that then the Lord would set his
hand in power to deliver his people Israel from all the nations and
kingdoms under the whole heaven, and that he would bring them back to
the land of their fathers.

Vol. 14,  p.332
But before Israel can be gathered, these records, according to the
predictions contained in them, must be sounded abroad, not only to the
great and powerful nation, the Republic of the United States, and the
Canadas, but to all the nations of the Gentiles, that all may be left
without excuse. Already the time has far gone by for this warning to
the Gentiles. Forty-two years out of the generation has already
passed, and the same generation to whom these records were revealed
shall not pass away until the times of the Gentiles shall be
fulfilled. When that period shall arrive, as I said in my lecture
during the week, there will come a day of the Lord's especial power,
the day of power spoken of by the psalmist David where he addresses
the Lord, saying: "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy
power." Israel have never been willing to receive Jesus from the day
that they were cut off as bitter branches that brought forth no good
fruit, until the present period. Generation after generation has
passed away, and they still remain in unbelief, and they still remain
in their scattered condition among all the nations and countries of
the earth. But when the day of the Lord's power shall come, when he
shall send forth his servants with the power of the priesthood and
apostleship to the nations and to the scattered remnants of the house
of Israel that dwell in the islands of the sea afar off, he will show
forth his power in that day in such a conspicuous manner that all
Israel, as it were, will be saved. As it is written by the Apostle
Paul, "Blindness in part hath happened to Israel until the fulness of
the Gentiles be come in, and so all Israel shall be saved." All Israel
in that day will hear the voice of the Lord and the voice of his
servants; all Israel, in that day, will see the arm of the Lord made
bare in signs and mighty wonders in effecting the restoration of his
chosen people to their own land. Then will be fulfilled that which is
spoken of in the 20th chapter of Ezekiel concerning their restoration:
"For with a mighty hand, saith the Lord, and with fury poured out will
I rule over you, and I will gather you out of the nations and from the
countries wherein you were driven with a mighty hand, with an
outstretched arm and with fury poured out, and I will bring you into
the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to
face like as I plead with your fathers in the wilderness of the land
of Egypt, so will I plead with you saith the Lord God." That has never
been fulfilled, but it will be fulfilled when scattered Israel [p.333]
return to their own land. A similar scenery is to be enacted to that
which was enacted when israel were brought forth out of the land of
Egypt, while they were in the wilderness. Go back to that period and
behold the Lord descending upon Mount Sinai, speaking with the voice
of a trump in the ears of twenty-five hundred thousand people, the
thunders rolling, the lightnings flashing and the voice of Jehovah
heard by a whole nation. You marvel at this, it was great and
wonderful; but another day is to come when those sceneries enacted in
the wilderness of the land of Egypt will be almost entirely forgotten,
swallowed up in the greater manifestations of his power, not alone on
Mount Sinai, but among all the nations of the earth. Wherever Israel
is scattered there will the servants of God be, and his power working
wonders, signs and miracles for the gathering of that people and
restoring them to their own land. And when they are gathered together
in a vast body the Lord intends to take that multitude into the
wilderness before he permits them to go into the land of their
fathers, and when he gets them into that wilderness, he says, "I will
plead with you face to face, like as I plead with your fathers in the
wilderness of the land of Egypt." Yet we are told by the present
generation there is to be no more revelation, no more miracles, no
more manifestations of the power of the Almighty, no more the voice of
God speaking from the heavens, no more of the manifestations of his
glory, or the showing of himself personally to his people. How
wonderfully this generation of Christendom will be mistaken in that
day when Israel will go again to their own land, and when the Lord God
shall stretch forth his hand to the nations of the Gentiles, saying,
"Your times are fulfilled, my servants have been sent forth in your
midst, they have declared the word of the Lord to you all the day
long, but you would not hear or receive their testimony, now the
summer is ended and your times are fulfilled. Now will I gather my
people Israel from the four quarters of the earth."

Vol. 14,  p.333
Here let me say again, according to the Book of Mormon, many of those
great islands that are found in the Indian Ocean, also in the great
Pacific Sea, have been planted with colonies of Israelites. Do they
not resemble each other? Go to the Sandwich Islands, to the South Sea
Islands, to Japan—go to the various islands of the Pacific Ocean, and
you find a general resemblance in the characters and countenances of
the people. Who are they? According to the Book of Mormon, Israelites
were scattered forth from time to time, and colonies planted on these
islands of the ocean. In that day the isles will sing with joy; in
that day the isles of the sea will wait for the Lord's law; in that
day the isles of the sea will rejoice, for they will give up their
inhabitants, and they will be waked in ships to their promised land,
and God will show forth his power and gather millions of people from
these numerous isles of the ocean, and he will bring them back to the
land of their fathers. These poor degraded Lamanites, or American
Indians, that are now so far sunk beneath humanity, are to be lifted
up by the power of the Almighty when the day shall come for Israel to
be restored, for God will not forget them. They are descendants of the
tribe of Joseph, and consequently they are numbered with the people of
the covenant. God will remember the covenant which he made with our
ancient fathers. These Lamanites, these American Indians, will come to
the knowledge of the covenant, [p.334] and they will arise and will
built upon the face of this land a magnificent city called Jerusalem
after the pattern and in the same manner that the Jews will build old
Jerusalem. That is what the Lamanites will do, and we will go and help
them too, for it is predicted in the Book of Mormon that when this
work should come forth, when the time fully arrives for the redemption
of this small remnant of the house of Joseph, "As many of the Gentiles
as will believe, they shall assist my people, who are a remnant of the
house of Israel, that they may build up on the face of this land a
city that shall be called the New Jerusalem, and then, behold, the
powers of heaven shall come down and be in the midst of this people,
and I also will be in your midst."

Vol. 14,  p.334
That is what the Lord intends to fulfil on this land. Jesus is coming
here as well as to many other places. When the New Jerusalem is built
on this land, Jesus will visit that city his glory will be upon its
dwelling places. Isaiah the Prophet has declared that upon every
dwelling place of Mount Zion there shall be a cloud and smoke by day,
and a shining, flaming fire by night. This will not only be on the New
Jerusalem, but on tike Holy City that is built up on the land of
Palestine; and when the people have repented and become sufficiently
righteous, and made preparation for the coming of the Lord Jesus, he
will come, and they will behold the Shepherd that is promised to them.

Vol. 14,  p.334
Did you not know that the house of Joseph had a Shepherd promised
them? He was promised by the old Patriarch Jacob, as you will find in
the blessing which he pronounced on his twelve sons. He called them up
one by one, beginning with the first-born, and blessed each one in his
turn, until he came to Joseph, upon whom he pronounced a special
blessing. "Joseph," said ,latch, "is a fruitful bough, a fruitful
bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall. The archers have
sorely grieved him, shot at him, hated him, but his bow abode in
strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of
the mighty God of Jacob. From thence is the Shepherd or Stone of
Israel."

Vol. 14,  p.334
Notice now, Jesus was not born of the tribe of Joseph, he was a
descendant of Judah according to the flesh, but still the promise of a
Shepherd or stone of Israel is from the house of Joseph. The same
Jesus that was born of the tribe of Judah is to come, in the latter
days, in the capacity of a Shepherd for the restoration of the
remnants of the tribe of Joseph. This agrees with what is contained in
one of the Psalms of David: "Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that
leadest Joseph like a flock. Stir up thy strength and come and save
us." Yes he will come and save them, and he will come in the character
of a Shepherd too. "I also will he in your midst." The powers of
heaven shall come down then, and he in the midst of this people. This
agrees with what I have already quoted, only I did not quote it in
full: "Blindness in part hath happened to Israel, until the times of
the fulness of the Gentiles be come in, and so all Israel shall be
saved. As it is written, Behold the Deliverer shall come out of Zion,
and turn away ungodliness from Jacob."

Vol. 14,  p.334
Did Jesus, when, he came of the tribe of Judah, turn ungodliness away
from Jacob? He tried to do so, but they would not hear him, and
instead of turning them away from their un-godliness they put him to
death, and brought upon themselves and their children for many
generations the [p.335] curse of the Almighty. Not so when this
prophecy of Paul is fulfilled, when in the latter days, after the
fulness of the Gentiles is come in, the Redeemer comes in the
character of a Shepherd, he will turn away un-godliness from Jacob,
for so great will be his power and so wonderful his administration in
that day, that Jacob will rejoice and Israel will be glad, and the
Lord will bring forth deliverance, as he says in the Psalms of David,
out of the midst of Zion. "Oh," says David, "that the salvation of
Israel was come out of Zion, when he bringeth hack the captivity of
his people! When he shall do this, Israel shall be glad and Jacob
shall rejoice." He will accomplish this work in his own way, in his
own time, and according to his own purposes, fulfiling every jot and
tittle of that which has been spoken by the mouths of his ancient
Prophets.

Vol. 14,  p.335
I thought when I rose to my feet I would bring forth some of the
evidences of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon, but I have
been led otherwise, and I find I have not time to do so this
afternoon. I have given you a statement, however, of the arrival on
this great continent of a colony of Israelites, and have given you a
very brief outline of their history from six hundred years before
Christ to four hundred and twenty years after him. I have told you
that they worshiped according to the law of Moses until they were
taught and received the Gospel. I have told you concerning three
generations of righteousness, concerning the destruction of the
Nephite nation in the interior of the State of New York. I have told
you a few of the purposes that God designs to fulfil and accomplish by
bringing forth this record. I have told you that it must go forth to
the Gentiles, and fulfil their times and bring in their fulness. I
have told you that the servants of God would then be sent forth to the
islands of the sea, and bring Israel from the four quarters of the
earth. I have told you that that would be a day of tike Lord's special
power, in which he would plead with Israel as he plead with their
fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt. All these great events
must come to pass, according to the predictions of the prophets, in
order to prepare the way for the glorious advent of the Son of God
from the heavens.

Vol. 14,  p.335
If time would permit, we would be glad to enter into the evidences of
the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon; but, no doubt
opportunities to dwell upon this subject will present themselves
hereafter. In the meantime, may the blessing of the Almighty God rest
upon all the Latter-day Saints throughout these mountain vales, and
throughout the whole earth! And shall we confine our blessing to the
Latter-day Saints? No. May the blessing of Almighty God rest upon the
honest-hearted among all nations, kindreds, tongues and people upon
the two great continents of our globe, and the four quarters of our
earth, that they may come to the knowledge of the truth and be
prepared for the great and wonderful events that are to take place in
the last days, preparatory to the coming of the Son of Man.
Amen.[p.336] 

John Taylor, March 3, 1872

Truth—Freedom—the Gospel versus Modern Christianity

Discourse By Elder John Taylor, Delivered in the New 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, March 3, 1872.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.336
We meet together from time to time to speak, to hear, and to reflect
upon things pertaining to the kingdom of God, and the interests and
happiness of humanity; to strengthen, cheer and instruct, to teach and
be taught on things that pertain to our happiness and well-being, in
time and in eternity. As a people we differ in very many respects from
the world with which we are associated. Our ideas, reflections and
belief with regard to Deity are different to those of the world; our
ordinances also vary from those which are in existence among the
Christian world. We have our reasons for this difference; they,
perhaps, have theirs. We place God, his service and his worship as
among the first things that ought to attract our attention.
Considering ourselves immortal as well as mortal beings, and having to
do with time and eternity; with things future, as well as present, it
has been our study for years to try to form correct opinions and ideas
in relation to those things which pertain to our everlasting welfare.
In doing this we have not been desirous, generally, to court the good
feelings or approbation of men. We know that mankind vary very much in
their ideas in relation to these matters, and if desirous we could not
follow them because they do not agree; but we have been desirous, as
far as lay in our power, to seek the approbation of the Almighty and
of an approving conscience, for in religious matters it is with these
we have to do. We consider that we are engaged in a work that will
affect us and our posterity after us for innumerable generations; in a
work in which both the living and the dead are interested. And acting
in the fear of God, and with a reference to eternal realities, we try
to square our conduct and regulate our actions, in such a manner, that
we may stand approved of all good men, and of the holy angels; that we
may be approved of the virtuous and good who have lived on the earth,
and of the virtuous and good who may hereafter live upon it; for we
consider, as we are eternal beings, that things pertaining to eternity
are of a great deal more importance than the evanescent transitory
things pertaining to time and sense, which speedily pass away. We find
one thing literally true, as spoken of by the scriptures,—that "It is
appointed for men once to die," and that the teeming millions who now
inhabit this earth have only existed upon it for a very short time,
and will only continue to exist for a short time to come; and as we
have [p.337] supplanted the millions who have gone before us, so also
shall we be supplanted by millions who will follow after us; and as we
believe in an eternity and in future rewards and future punishments,
and in future exaltations and future degradations; as we believe that
this life is simply a probatoinary state we feel desirous to act as
wise, prudent, intelligent beings, squaring our lives and actions
according to the high position that we occupy before God and before
the holy angels. We are not satisfied, as many men are, with simple
theories, because this, that or the other man or bodies of men have
told us they are true, we are governed by no man's ipse dixit. We have
not any particular dogmas to sustain, or any special theory to
establish. Living in the world of mankind, surrounded by the works of
nature, walking, as it were, in the presence of the Great Eloheim, we
wish to comprehend and embrace all truth and seek for and obtain
everything that is calculated to exalt, ennoble and dignify the human
family; and wherever we find truth, no matter where, or from what
source it may come, it becomes part and parcel of our religious creed,
if you please, or our political creed, or our moral creed, or our
philosophy, as the case may be, or whatever you may please to term it.

Vol. 14,  p.337
We are open for the reception of all truth, of whatever nature it may
be, and are desirous to obtain and possess it, to search after it as
we would for hidden treasures; and to use all the knowledge God gives
to us to possess ourselves of all the intelligence that he has given
to others; and to ask at his hands to reveal unto us his will, in
regard to things that are the best calculated to promote the happiness
and well-being of human society. If there are any good principles, any
moral philosophy that we have not yet attained to we are desirous to
learn them. If there is anything in the scientific world that we do
not yet comprehend we desire to become acquainted with it. If there is
any branch of philosophy calculated to promote the well-being of
humanity, that we have not yet grasped, we wish to possess ourselves
of it. If there is anything pertaining to the rule and government of
nations, or politics, if you please, that we are not acquainted with,
we desire to possess it. If there are any religious ideas, any
theological truths, any principles pertaining to God, that we have not
learned, we ask mankind, and we pray God, our heavenly Father, to
enlighten our minds that we may comprehend, realize, embrace and live
up to them as part of our religious faith. Thus our ideas and thoughts
would extend as far as the wide world spreads, embracing everything
pertaining to light, life, or existence pertaining to this world or
the world that is to come. They would dig into the bowels of the
earth, or go to the depth of hell, if you please; they would soar
after the intelligence of the Gods that dwell in the eternal worlds;
they would grasp everything that is good and noble and excellent and
happifying and calculated to promote the well-being of the human
family.

Vol. 14,  p.337
There is no man nor set of men who have pointed out the pathway for
our feet to travel in, in relation to these matters. There are no
dogmas nor theories extant in the world that we profess to listen to,
unless they can be verified by the principles of eternal truth. We
carefully scan, investigate, criticize and examine everything that
presents itself to on view, and so far as we are enabled to comprehend
any truths in existence, we gladly hail them as part and portion of
the system with which we are [p.338] associated. We are quite willing
that others should be governed by the dogmas, theories and notions of
men just as much as they please: we do not have confidence in them.
They may worship God as they please, it is none of our business, it is
a matter between them and their God. We may think, in many instances,
their acts are foolish; but if they have a mind to be foolish that is
not our business. They perhaps entertain the same opinion in relation
to us. But we do feel, in regard to moral and religious ideas, that we
are engaged in a sacred cause, and that while men, with all their
combined wisdom and intelligence, have been unable to introduce and
establish systems that are good, happifying, elevating and ennobling;
we think there is a being who lives in the heavens superintending the
affairs of the human family, who is worshiped by the great mass of
humanity in one form or another—a great power that is capable of
instructing, guiding, directing and regulating the affairs of men, as
by eternal laws he governs all nature and regulates the planetary
system. While on the one hand we are willing that others should
worship him in what manner they please, we have a right to the same
privileges, rights and immunities, and possessing ourselves of this
idea we take the liberty to do so.

Vol. 14,  p.338
There are two things I have always said I would do, and I calculate to
carry them out, living or dying. One is to vote for whom I please and
the other to worship God as t please. There is a principle of freedom
planted in the human mind that has always existed there, and no man,
nor any power has yet been able to obliterate it. Believing as we do
we take the liberty to believe the Bible, which our fellow Christians,
generally throughout the world, profess to believe in, whether they do
so or not. We read in that sacred volume that, "Holy men of old spake
as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost." This, to many, seems
perhaps singular phraseology, but it is nevertheless true; and if they
did not, whence came this sacred volume? How do men at the present day
learn anything pertaining to God? Who puts them in possession of any
information relative to the holy angels, to a heaven, to the plans and
purposes of God pertaining to the earth whereon we live, and its
inhabitants? Who revealed anything pertaining to future rewards and
punishments, and how did the theologians of the day become acquainted
with these principles? Where did they get their knowledge from? They
tell you from the Bible. That Bible would never have been in existence
if holy men of old had not spoken as they were moved upon by the Holy
Ghost. If men in former times had not had revelation from the Most
High; if angels had not ministered to them; if they had not had
revelations and the dark curtain of futurity had not been withdrawn
from their minds and they had not been enabled to gaze upon the
purposes of God as they should roll forth in future generations: if
such "old fogies," as some call them, had not lived, we should have
had no Bible, no Christian religion, nothing to guide our feet, that
is, so far as records are concerned. If the heavens had always been,
as many would have us believe they are now—as brass over our heads,
and God had been deaf to the entreaties of humanity, we should have
had no Christian or Mosaic religion, or any religion giving any
knowledge of God or his purposes.

Vol. 14,  p.338
We profess, forsooth, in this generation of enlightenment, with all
its latitudinarianism, with all its diversities [p.339] of opinions,
ideas, theories and dogmas; with a thousand different professedly
religious parties to be wiser than that man who said there was "One
Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God who is above all, through all
and in you all." People now-a-days think the religion they had in
those days might do for a barbarous age, but we are so enlightened, so
intelligent, so philosophical, that we are altogether ahead of those
"old fogies" who lived some time ago and conversed with God and had
angels minister to them. Now I have frequently said, and say to-day,
"The Lord God deliver roe from the enlightenment, the corruption and
evil throughout the world at the present time," and give me some of
that religion that ancient men of God had who spake as they were moved
upon by the Holy Ghost. I would like to associate with men whom God
would talk with, and that angels would communicate intelligence to,
and that the heavens could be opened to, that could have the purposes
of God unfolded to them, that could comprehend the object of the
creation of the world whereon we live; the object of the existence of
man, and his future destiny, as an eternal intelligent being. I want
to know whence I came, I want to know what I am doing here, what is
the object of my existence. I want to know something about the world
whereon I live, the object of this beautiful creation with which I am
surrounded, and its destiny; and if there is a God who rules in the
heavens and superintends the affairs of the universe I want to know
something about him, whom to know I am told is "life everlasting." If
there is a religion that will teach me that, that is the religion I
want, and anything short of that I would not give the ashes of a rye
straw for. People may take their philosophy, and their Christianity,
and their morality, and their intelligence, and chuckle over their
supposed superiority for what I care if I can only get acquainted with
God and know something of his law, of the principles of eternal truth,
if I can learn to save myself and my posterity; be placed in a
position that I can obtain promises from God as Abraham did, that
should reach down through every subsequent period of time until the
final winding up scene, and then stretch forward into the eternity
that is to come. As an eternal intelligent being these are some of the
thoughts, reflections and ideas that come through my mind, and I can
not be satisfied With anything less. Others may be glad to "Sit and
sing themselves away," as they ignorantly sing sometimes, "to
everlasting bliss." They may worship a God without body, parts and
passions, or go to a heaven somewhere "beyond the bounds of time and
space" I would like to be associated with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
Jesus, the prophets and those honorable men who had communication with
God and that he was not ashamed of, and as one of the apostles says,
"God was not ashamed to be called their God, for he had provided for
them a city." I want to search for a tangible reality, "a city that
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God," as the scriptures
speak of a city that one of those ancient men of God, when under the
inspiration of the Almighty, had a vision of, and contemplated its
glory.

Vol. 14,  p.339
We are seeking, in the first place, to regenerate ourselves, and then,
under the guidance and direction of the Almighty, to regulate the
world in which we live. We know that this is not very popular; but
that makes no difference to us. So far as we, ourselves, are concerned
we know precisely where we stand; so far as [p.340] the world is
concerned, as to the reception of our ideas by them, that is their
business, and God's business. They have to do with him and we have to
do with him. We are in his hands, and all the world of mankind are in
his hands, and he will manage and control them and dictate and
regulate them according to the dictates of his will, and not according
to my theories or yours or any other person's, and, "The judge of all
the earth will do right." This people know what they are doing, and
they know precisely their position whether others do or not.

Vol. 14,  p.340
What has called you out from among the nations, you who are here
before me? I speak now to Latter-day Saints, you who heard the sound
of the Gospel in the various lands that you came from. When the Elders
came and preached unto you it was something like the position of Paul
of old—"Their words came to you with power and demonstration and with
the Holy Ghost," and their words and testimony and spirit responded to
that spirit which was in your bosoms, and you hailed their testimony
as a message of light, and you obeyed it: you went forth into the
waters of baptism amid the scorn, contumely, reproach and contempt of
the world, religious, philosophical and moral. Inspired by the fire of
truth you braved the whole of it. By the same spirit and influence you
have been gathered together here, as you are to day in this city and
in these valleys of the mountains, throughout the length and breadth
of this Territory. Your ideas were based on the revelations of God,
the message that you heard was that God had spoken, that the heavens
had been opened, that angels had appeared as they had formerly, that
the everlasting Gospel had been restored in all its richness, fulness,
power and glory, that it was your privilege to know for yourselves the
truth of the principles you believed in. You believed those
principles, you went forth into the waters of baptism and obeyed them,
you have all been baptized into one baptism, have all partaken of one
spirit, and are here under the same influence, guidance and direction;
and hence we are here assembled, as on this occasion to-day, not by
our own wisdom and intelligence, not by the intelligence of the world,
not by the intelligence of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, any of the
Apostles, or anybody else, but by the intelligence and inspiration of
the Lord of Hosts to them and to you, and by the Spirit of God
attending the administration of his Elders, and you have known and
comprehended and realized for yourselves the truths which you believed
in.

Vol. 14,  p.340
Standing in this capacity there is a work which we have to perform—to
save ourselves, our progenitors, our posterity, and to act as saviors
upon Mount Zion, to build the temples of the Lord and to administer in
them, and as eternal beings to watch after the eternal interests of
humanity. This is the position that we occupy.

Vol. 14,  p.340
We find men come along among us sometimes who think we are fools, and
that they could improve matters considerably. They have had plenty of
opportunity in the world to do that, why haven't they accomplished it?
There is room enough for all the philosophers, and all the
theologians, and all the wise men and philanthropists to benefit
mankind outside of us. Anywhere, everywhere, go where you will, and
what do you find? Corruption, evil, iniquity, hypocrisy of every grade
and form, and under all circumstances, moral, religious, political and
social, and everything else you please to name. Societies convulsed,
rending apart, vilifying [p.341] and abusing one another; full of
corruption and rottenness, evil and iniquity of every kind, socially,
morally and religiously. Plenty of room for all philanthropists and
for all men who desire to benefit the human family. Go and regulate
them. Put the United States right, regulate England and France, put
Germany straight. Regulate the affairs of the nations, and then come
and talk to us. But until we see something better than the kind of
civilization that we are having introduced here, we beg to be excused
from it. We saw enough of that before we came here; and the examples
that are exhibited in our midst are too revolting, too degrading and
humiliating for decent men and women to have anything to do with. Is
this indeed the vaunted civilization so much talked of? We do not want
it "May soul, enter not thou into their secrets; my honor, with them
be not thou united!" We are after more honorable aims, more exalted
feelings and principles and views than those that are imported into
our midst here. I used to believe in that scripture, and I have a good
deal of faith in it yet, that "an impure fountain cannot send forth
pure streams;" that "a bad tree will not bring forth good fruit;" and
that trees are "known by their fruits." I am a believer of that kind
of thing yet, and in speaking of these affairs I feel a good deal as
one of the servants of God felt when he was engaged in building the
walls of old Jerusalem. There was some man came up and wanted to
interfere with his operations, but said he, "I am doing a great work,
hinder me not." We feel about the same. We are engaged in a great
work, we are seeking after our own salvation and the salvation of our
friends, the salvation of our forefathers, the salvation of our
children and posterity who shall come after us, the salvation of the
world wherein we live and its everlasting happiness and exhaltation,
"hinder us not." Pursue your own course, worship as you please, do as
you please, follow your own inclinations in any other way, only do not
interfere with the rights of men nor violate the laws of the land.
That is all we ask, and you have full liberty to carry out any views
and feelings you please. I remember reading a few lines of some very
zealous Protestant who wrote over some public building: "In this place
may enter Greek, Jew or Atheist, anything but a Papist." Now I say let
the Papist come in too, the Moslem, the Greek, the Jew, the Pagan
believer and unbeliever, and the whole world. If God sends his rain on
the good and evil and makes his sun shine on the just and unjust, I
certainly shall not object. Let them worship us they please, and have
full freedom and equal rights and privileges with us, and all men.
These are our feelings, and, as I said before, we are desirous, so far
as we can, to be instructed in everything that is calculated to exalt
and ennoble the human family. Others, of course, can do as they please
about it And in speaking of the Saints let me tell you that the
religion you embraced five, ten, twenty, thirty or forty years ago is
just the same now as it was then; it is like its author, "The same yes
terday, to-day and for ever." We have not "changed our base," as they
talk about sometimes in their wars; we have no "new departures," as
others talk about. We are after the truth. We commenced searching for
it, and we are constantly in search of it, and so fast as we find any
true principle revealed by any man, by God or by holy angels, we
embrace it and make it part of our religious creed.

Vol. 14,  p.342
Nobody need be concerned at all by [p.342] the events that have been
transpiring here, or that may transpire. There is nothing new in
relation to these matters. It is only a little piece of the same
material that we have experienced in years gone by, and that the
Saints of God have always had to cope with. They talk sometimes about
our morality here, and the action of this people and so forth. In
conversation lately, with a judge from Montana, I forget his name, I
told him I had been judge of the probate court in Utah County, one of
the largest counties in Utah, perhaps the largest with the exception
of Salt Lake, and that during two years, while acting in that
capacity, I had one criminal case—petty larceny—come before me, and
three civil cases, two of which were decided by arbitration. I asked
him how he got along in Montana. Said he, "in the same time while I
was judge there, probate judge, I had to act as probate on upwards of
eighty cases, most of whom came to their death by violent means." Why
didn't they blame the Governor or the Mayors of cities for killing
these men? Could so many murders be committed and the Mayors and
Governors not do it? It is astonishing! Now I would rather be the
friend and associate of these men whom they call murderers here than
of their most honorable men, and so would this people, and all who
believe it say aye. (The crowded congregation gave one unanimous
"aye.") They cannot show such a record in any part of the world as we
can exhibit in this Territory in relation to these matters; and they
cannot find another Territory that has been so well managed in its
financial matters. Our city here is out of debt; our cities throughout
the Territory are out of debt; our counties are out of debt and our
Territory is out of debt. Where can you point to the same thing
anywhere else? Well, they have got such good, smart, intelligent men
in other places that they manage to keep things right, and we are
fools here! A good many people think that Mayor Wells is not half
smart enough, and that if they were in his place they could manage the
municipal finances a great deal better. I presume the same as they
were manipulated in New York. (Laughter.) But we don't want such
Mayors, nor such Governors, nor such institutions in our midst. We
want righteousness and truth and equity and honor and integrity, and
men to be governed by correct principles, and to seek the well-being
of the people they live among and rule over. And who are these men
they are now prosecuting and persecuting? Why, here is Brigham Young,
for instance, I have travelled with him thousands of miles, preaching
the Gospel without purse or scrip. What, has he done to anybody? Whom
has he injured? Can anybody put their finger on it? Not and tell the
truth. I know before God they lie. I have been with him in private and
public under all circumstances and I know his feelings. I know they
are liars when they make these statements, and this people believe it
too.

Vol. 14,  p.342
Well, what shall we do then? Why, do right. It is all right, who
cares? Whe wrath of man shall praise the Lord. He holds them and us in
his hands, and he will control, guide, manage and direct all things
according to the counsel of his will, and no power in this city nor in
these United States I say, and I will prophesy it in the name of
Israel's God, shall harm you (Congregation said "Amen.") God will
control, direct and manage all the affairs pertaining to his people,
and Israel will rejoice and be triumphant, and the kingdom of God will
be established, and the [p.343] power of God will be manifested, and
the work of God will progress, and the kingdom of God will roll forth,
from conquering unto conquer, until the kingdoms of this world shall
become the kingdoms of our God and his Christ, and he shall reign with
universal empire.

Vol. 14,  p.343
May God help us all to be faithful, in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Orson Pratt, March 10, 1872

Zion

Discourse By Elder Orson Pratt, Delivered in the Tabernacle, 
Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, March 10, 1872.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.343
The speaker who addressed you this forenoon, referred to another book,
that is called the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. I will select a few
words from that book this afternoon—a part of the 8th paragraph, of
the 21st section, being a revelation given to the Prophet Joseph
Smith, in September, 183l. The word of the Lord to the Prophet reads
thus: "For behold, I say unto you that Zion shall flourish, and the
glory of the Lord shall be upon her, and she shall be an ensign unto
the people, and there shall come unto her out of every nation under
heaven. And the day shall come when the nations of the earth shall
tremble because of her, and shall fear because of her terrible ones.
The Lord hath spoken it. Amen."

Vol. 14,  p.343
Much has been said since the rise of this Church in regard to the Zion
of the latter days, and much more might be said, for after we have
said all that we can say, as far as God has revealed, I presume that
we shall not be able to portray scarcely anything compared with the
glory and greatness and the excellency and the beauty of that people
and of that city that are called Zion, to be built up on the earth in
the latter times.

Vol. 14,  p.343
The first question that naturally presents itself to the mind in
regard to Zion is this: What is Zion? What are we to understand by its
term? Is it a city? Is it a people? Is it a good people or a bad
people? What may we understand by the term as used in the Scriptures?
There are a great many ideas among the children of men in reference to
this term, especially among all Christian denominations. I presume
there is not a people on the whole face of the earth who profess to be
Christian but what have their definition of the term Zion. If we go to
the Catholics they tell us that they are Zion—that they are the only
people whom the Lord acknowledges as Zion. If we [p.344] go to the
Greek Church, that has existed contempoary with the Catholics for many
centuries, and inquire of them what their understanding is concerning
Zion, they will tell us that it is the Greek Church. You go to all the
Protestant denominations that have dissented from the Catholics and
from the Greek Church and inquire of them what Zion is, and the answer
of the greater portion of them will be, it is the various Christian
denominations, such as the Lutherans, the Church of England, the
Methodists, the various order of Baptists, and the various Christian
denominations that have arisen during the last three or four
centuries. Go to the Latter-day Saints and inquire of them what Zion
is, and they will tell you it is the Church of the living God wherever
it can be found. Consequently in order to ascertain what Zion is it is
necessary for us to understand what the Church of the living God is,
and try to distinguish between that Church and all other Churches. I
shall endeavor, in a very few words, to mark out some of the
distinguishing features between the true Church of the living God and
Churches built up by human wisdom; and when we have ascertained what
the true Church is we shall then have learned what the true Zion is.

Vol. 14,  p.344
I will begin with some of the first principles which God has revealed,
and which it is necessary for mankind to obey before they can
constitute a part and portion of Zion. Before Zion, or the Church of
the living God, can have any existence on the earth it is very
important and necessary that there should be divine administrators.
What I mean by this is, men having a divine mission, a divine
call—being called of the Lord by the spirit of revelation to build up
Zion on the earth. And when I speak of men having a divine call I do
not mean those who have merely an impression, as a great many
ministers among all religious denominations say that they are called
of God because they have an impression that God has sent them, and
they go forth and preach their peculiar doctrines, as a mission which
they have to deliver to the people. One man who says he is sent of God
preaches baptism by sprinking; another man sent by the same God, or
who professes to be, teaches baptism by pouring water on people. A
third man, who says he is sent of God, and has an impression to
preach, preaches that baptism by immersion is the only true mode, and
is to be administered to those who have experienced religion, and have
obtained forgiveness of sins. A fourth man comes forth and says he is
called of God, and has a divine mission, and the way that God has
taught him is to be baptized by immersion for the remission of sins.

Vol. 14,  p.344
Now we must not undertake to suppose that God is the author of all
these different methods, and that he sent all these different
ministers. If he sent any one man to baptize by sprinkling, then those
who baptize by immersion are false teachers, running of their own
accord. If he sent any one man to pour water on those who are
candidates to be baptized, he has never sent any persons to sprinkle,
neither to baptize by immersion; and if we can ascertain who it is
that is sent, and what the form of ordinances is that, are to be
administered, then we shall understand something towards the first
principles of the building up of Zion on the earth, or, to come more
directly to the point, concerning these divinely authorized
messengers. How should true messengers of heaven be sent? In what way
has God always sent them? By divine revelation. Now there never was a
dispensation since God made [p.345] man on the earth wherein a message
was sent forth to the human family unless there was revelation
connected with that message, unless the ministers who bore that
message forth to the human family were divinely called by revelation,
new revelation I mean. I need not go back and trace the callings and
the gifts of God unto the patriarchs before the flood, nor those who
lived immediately after the flood, nor in the days of Moses, nor in
the days of the prophets who followed Moses; nor in the days of Jesus,
nor in the days of the Apostles. All these are before the people, the
callings and the gifts that were manifested in those days among the
various dispensations which God has introduced among the human family.
In all these various dispensations God has directly spoken from the
heavens; he has communicated his will to the human family. He has
raised up revelators and inspired them, he has filled his servants
with the spirit of prophecy, that they should foretell the future. He
has inspired them to write revelations, and hence in all these
different dispensations the God of heaven has thus authorized the
children of men to build up his Zion on the earth, and without these
no such thing as Zion can be built up among the children of men.

Vol. 14,  p.345
Those persons were not only called by revelation, but they also were
guided after they were called by the spirit of revelation in all their
travels. Sometimes when they, of their own accord, would have a
disposition to visit a certain city, town, neighborhood or nation, the
Spirit would speak unto them and say: "Not so, that is not the place
for you;" and they would be constrained by the Holy Ghost not to
travel in that direction, but to go to some other city that that same
Spirit should designate and point out to them. Thus they were guided
and directed where they should go, what they should preach, what form
of doctrine to deliver to the people, what kind of ordinance to
administer to them; every particular was given by revelation from the
Most High.

Vol. 14,  p.345
Let us stop right here and enquire. Have there been any Christian
denominations for the last seventeen centuries that have enjoyed this
spirit of divine revelation? If there have been, then Zion existed on
the earth daring the period this spirit of revelation was enjoyed.
When this spirit of revelation ceased Zion ceased; when people ceased
to be called by direct revelation, and the Scriptures ceased to
receive any additional books, then Zion ceased among the children of
men. When mankind came to the conclusion that their own wisdom was
all-sufficient, independent of any more revelation, Zion ceased from
off the earth.

Vol. 14,  p.345
How long is it since Zion ceased? For everybody will admit, among all
Christian denominations, that there has been no revelation for some
seventeen hundred years,—among all the Protestants of the present day,
among all the Catholics that lived before them and that now live, and
among all the different peoples and nations and tongues that have
received the doctrines of the Catholics, or of the Greek Church. They
all admit that, they all testify and acknowledge that God has had no
inspired men on the earth since the days of the Apostles, consequently
he has had no Church on the earth, for whenever the Church of God
exists there exists prophets and men who are capable of writing
Scripture; there exists men who have communion and fellowship with
God; there exists men to whom the Lord communicates his will by the
ministration of holy angels and by his own voice. Therefore when these
[p.346] things ceased, and men ceased to be inspired to write
Scripture, and the Scripture was pronounced full and complete, sealed
up as it were, that moment the people called Zion are banished from
the face of the earth; or in other words the Church of the living God
has no existence thereon.

Vol. 14,  p.346
There was a Zion on the earth in the first century of the Christian
era. They were Christians; they believed in Christ; they worshiped
Christ, they received his ordinances, they were filled with the spirit
of revelation, they had their inspired prophets and revelators; they
had their heavenly visions; they had the ministration of angels; they
could hear the voice of God; they could behold in heavenly vision the
face of the Lord Jesus Christ after he had ascended to his Father and
was glorified at his right hand. They bore testimony that they had
seen him, that he had conversed with them and that he had communicated
his will unto them. These were Christians; that was the Christian
Church; that may be pronounced Zion.

Vol. 14,  p.346
What existed after this? The Apostles were put to death; they were
hunted from nation to nation; they wandered about in sheep skins and
goat skins in the dens and caves of the earth, of whom the world was
unworthy. Their followers were put to death by hundreds, by thousands,
by tens of thousands; and after a while there sprang up a people that
pretended to be Christians—followers of the meek and lowly Jesus,
having no apostles, no inspired men, no revelation, no ministration of
angels, none of the characteristics, except a few forms, of the
Christian Church as it existed in the first century of the Christian
era. This class of men, calling themselves Christian, uniting with the
various forms of the pagan religion, adopting many of their ceremonies
and institutions, became very popular, and finally some of the pagans
embraced Christianity and were placed, as it, were, upon the throne,
and what they termed Christianity became very popular indeed. How long
has this order of things existed, this dreadful apostacy, this class
of people that pronounced themselves Zion, or Christians, without any
of the characteristics of Zion? It has existed for some sixteen or
seventeen centuries. It has spread itself and grown and gone into the
four quarters of the earth. It is the great ecclesiastical power that
is spoken of by the revelator John, and called by him the most corrupt
and most wicked of all the powers of the earth, under the name of
spiritual Babylon, or in other words Babel, which signifies confusion.
This great and corrupt power is also represented by John as presenting
a golden cup to the nations, full of all manner of filthiness and
abominations.

Vol. 14,  p.346
She is termed, in other places, by the same prophet, "The whore of all
the earth," making the nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication.

Vol. 14,  p.346
Some three centuries ago there came out sortie excellent men, named
Martin Lather, John Calvin and many others that might be mentioned,
who protested against the wickedness and abominations of the Church
wherein they had been educated, and of which they had been members.
Because of their protestations against the mother Church they were
called Protestants. They pronounced her the whore of all the earth;
they declared that she had no authority, that she had none of the
blessings and gifts which characterized the ancient Christians. They
came out and established other Churches. The Lutheran Church prevailed
in Germany and various portions of northern Europe. The Calvinist
Church or Presbyterian Church [p.347] was also established. Henry the
Eighth established and became head of the English Church. Wesley, at a
later period, established a Church which has grown to great numbers at
the present day. But among all these Churches where are the
characteristics of Zion? We hunt for them in vain. Go to all these 666
different Protestant denominations that have come out from the mother
Church, and inquire of them, Have you inspired men among you? and
their united voice is that God speaks no more in our day; no other
message is given from heaven; no voice is heard from the eternal
worlds; no angels are sent in these days; no inspired apostles are
raised up to establish the Church and the Kingdom of God; no men are
filled with the spirit of prophecy to portray the events of the
future, or to accomplish and perform the work of God in our day. We
enquire, "What have you?" "Oh we have 666 different denominations and
we have surnamed ourselves Christians. We are Bible Christians." How
mistaken they are! Bible Christians were those who believed in having
apostles and inspired prophets among them. Bible Christians could
receive more revelation and add more books to the Bible; Bible
Christians could converse with the Lord, and oftentimes beheld the
lace of Jesus; they could Commune with holy angels; they had authority
from God to lay hands upon those whom they baptized, for the reception
or baptism of the Holy Ghost. This was what constituted ancient Zion;
but inquire for these characteristics among these 666 different
Christian denominations and they will tell you they are all gone, they
have not any of them amongst them. Now suppose we take their word for
it! I do, I really believe them. I think they tell the truth when they
say they have no inspired men. I believe them when they say they have
neither prophets nor apostles among them. Why do I believe them?
Because they have received no new books in addition to the Bible, and
whenever God had a people on the earth they were constantly giving new
books, inspired from on high, and when that ceases we draw the
conclusion that inspiration has ceased.

Vol. 14,  p.347
Under these circumstances what is to be done? If the world has thus
apostatized, and there has been no Church of the living God, no Zion
among the nations for the long period I have named, what are we to
expect? Is the world always to remain in this condition? Has God
spoken for the last time? Were the few favored Christians who lived in
the first century of our era the last ones who were to be favored with
a message from heaven? I think not, the Bible tells us a different
story altogether. That book tells us that there is to be one of the
greatest dispensations ushered in upon the face of the earth that ever
has been since the creation of man, and I profess to believe the
Bible. When I read the words of the Apostle Paul about the new
dispensation that should take place after his day, I believe it. You
will find in the first chapter of his epistle to the Ephesians that in
the dispensation of the fulness of times he shall gather together in
one all things that are in Christ, whether they be in heaven, or here
on the earth. A dispensation of gathering, a dispensation called the
dispensation of the fulness of times, a dispensation in which the very
heavens, and all the spirits of men that are behind the vail are to be
gathered in one; all things that are in Christ to be gathered in one,
preparatory to the great resurrection that will take place in that
dispensation.[p.348] 

Vol. 14,  p.348
The dispensation that was introduced in the days of the apostles was
not a dispensation of gathering. When the apostles went forth to build
up the Church of Christ at Corinth or at Ephesus, in Galatia or any
other part of the earth, the Christians all remained where they
received the Gospel except those who were driven into the mountains by
the persecutions of their enemies. But in the last dispensation there
is to be one feature characterizing it that did not characterize the
dispensation established by the ancient apostles, namely the gathering
together of the people—all that are in Christ from the ends of the
earth. When that dispensation is introduced Zion will be introduced
again, the Lord will bring again Zion.

Vol. 14,  p.348
Many of you who are Bible believers have read a great many prophecies
about the Zion of the latter days and how the Lord should bring again
Zion, which seems to intimate that Zion was once on the earth, that it
was lost from the earth for a certain period of time, and that the
Lord was going to restore it once more. Let us hear what Isaiah has
said on this subject: "Thy watch-men shall lift up their voice, with
the voice together shall they sing, for they will see eye to eye when
the Lord shall bring again Zion." But perhaps strangers may inquire,
How are we to know the period or age of the world when the Lord shall
bring again Zion, or in other words restore his Church to the earth?
What are the signs of that day, that we may discern the signs of the
times? I will tell you how you may know that period. If you will go to
the 102nd Psalm of David you will find a clue to that period. I think
I will read a little of that psalm for the benefit of strangers. "When
the Lord shall build up Zion he shall appear in his glory." I think
this gives a clue to the period, for every one will admit that the
Lord has not yet appeared in sis glory. We are looking for him. The
Christians of all denominations expect that he will appear in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory. The Latter-day Saints
expect this in common with all other Christians. But before he appears
in his glory he is going to build up Zion, that is, Zion must again be
built up on the earth: and if there is not a Zion built up on the
earth before be comes, or in other words, if there never is to be
another Zion built up on the earth, then he never will come. But when
we see the day arrive that the Lord begins to establish his Church on
the earth once more, characterized by apostles and prophets, and
introduces a dispensation of gathering, wherein all in Christ, shall
he gathered together in one; when the period of time shall come that
the watchmen in that Zion shall see eye to eye and with the voice
together sing, we may know that the Lord is coming in his glory, and
is near at hand.

Vol. 14,  p.348
We will read a few other passages in the same psalm. "Thou shalt arise
and have mercy upon Zion, for the time to favor her, yea the set time
has come." The Lord has a set time for a great many of his purposes. A
set time for the scattering of Israel; a set time for Jerusalem to be
trodden down by the Gentiles until their times are fulfilled; a set
time for the stone out of the mountain to be cut without hands and the
kingdom of God to be organized on the earth; a set time for the coming
of the angel with the everlasting Gospel to be preached to all people,
nations, kindreds and tongues; a set time for the Lord to favor Zion,
as is here declared. "For thy servants take pleasure in her stones and
favor [p.349] the dust thereof; so the heathen shall fear the name of
the Lord and all the kings of the earth thy glory."

Vol. 14,  p.349
Now do not mistake, any of you strangers, and think that this was
fulfilled in the days of David. It was written for a period long after
his day. This shall be written for the generations to come. "And the
people which shall be created shall praise the Lord." That is, future
generations of the earth—those who live at that peculiar period of
time when the Lord should again build up Zion on the earth. For "he
hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary, from heaven did the
Lord behold the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to loose
those who were appointed to death, to declare the name of the Lord in
Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem." But, says one, "That means the
first time he came." Let us read the next verse and see if it really
means that period. "When the people are gathered together and the
kingdoms to serve the Lord." Now, were the people gathered together in
the days of the first coming of Jesus? No. Were the kingdoms then
assembled to serve the Lord? No. Recollect that Paul predicted that in
the dispensation of the fulness of times, all things in Christ are to
be gathered together in one. Then the heathen nations and the kingdoms
of the earth shall he gathered. What for? To be taught in his ways,
and instructed to walk in his paths.

Vol. 14,  p.349
We will now quote another passage that has reference to the same great
event. It is contained in the 2nd chapter of Isaiah the prophet. "And
it shall come to pass in the last days"—recollect now it is a work of
the latter time—"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." When was this fulfilled? Every person with any
reflection whatever, that has the least particle of faith in this
prophecy, knows that it never has been fulfilled. The Zion that was
built up in the days of David and that he dwelt in, the Zion that was
in existence at Jerusalem 1800 years ago was thrown down. Zion was
plowed like a field, as the Prophet Micah predicted it would be. The
houses, palaces and mansions in Jerusalem that were called Zion were
all thrown down, and the beautiful Temple was also torn down and not
one stone left upon another. But in the last days "The mountain of the
house of the Lord shall be established in the tops of the mountains,
shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it."
This shows that it will be a work that will attract the attention of
the nations. It will not be a work like that which is performed by
erring humanity, by men without inspiration; but a work of the Lord
our God. When he shall build up Zion he will appear in his glory; when
he builds up Zion he will bless the inhabitants, the habitations, the
palaces, the gates and everything round about that Zion, and the
towers within that Zion, all will be blessed according to the
testimony of the prophets.

Vol. 14,  p.349
But let us read a little further to show more fully that this was a
work of the latter days. "And all nations shall flow unto it 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.'" Two separate and
distinct places. The whole of the twelve tribes of Israel are to
[p.350] return back to Palestine in Asia and rebuild their city of
Jerusalem and a temple within that city before, and preparatory to the
coming of the Lord. Ezekiel, in describing the latter-day building of
Jerusalem, says, "And the name of the city from that day forward shall
be 'The Lord is there.'" After the rebuilding of that city it will
never be forsaken, or plucked up. As Jeremiah says in his 31st
chapter, "It shall never be plucked up or thrown down henceforth and
for ever." It will stand while all the generations of the earth shall
Stand when the house of Israel shall return and rebuild it under the
direction of the Almighty.

Vol. 14,  p.350
But Zion is also to be built up. Another city, not old Jerusalem, but
a new Jerusalem, called Zion, upon the great western hemisphere,
preparatory to the coming of the Lord. "Out of Zion shall go forth the
law," says the prophet. What law? A law to regulate the nations, a law
teaching them how to be saved, a law informing the kings and emperors
and the nobles of the earth how they can save themselves, and how they
can save their dead. When the mountain of the house of the Lord is
established on the tops of the mountains they will gather from all
those nations to this house of the Lord, to be instructed in his ways,
that is to learn how to save themselves, and how to save their
ancestors from generation to generation. How to be baptized for the
dead, according to the custom practised by the ancient apostles; how
to administer for and in behalf of the dead. The temple of the Lord,
the house of God, that we heard of this morning, is built for that
express purpose. See what follows: "And he shall judge among the
nations and rebuke many people, and they shall beat their swords into
ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not
lift up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more."

Vol. 14,  p.350
Now every person will acknowledge with me that such an order of things
has not yet been fulfilled. It is the Millennium, it is that glorious
period of rest when Jesus, personally, will reign on this earth, when
his throne will be built in the temple at Jerusalem, when he will
descend on the Mount of Olives on the east of Jerusalem accompanied by
all his Saints, as you will read in the last chapter of the Prophet
Zachariah: "The Lord thy God shall come," says Zachariah, "and all his
Saints with him, and he shall stand his feet in that day on the Mount
of Olives, which is before Jerusalem to the east; and the Mount of
Olives shall divide asunder, half of the mountain moving towards the
north, and half towards the south, and there shall be a very great
valley," and so on. And when he descends with all his Saints on that
mountain, and this great convulsion of the earth takes place, then
will Jesus proceed down to the new gate that will be built on the east
side of the temple—the east gate of the temple, and he will enter into
that temple and will seat himself on the throne that will be built in
that temple. Ezekiel when describing this, in the 43rd chapter of his
prophecy, says, or railer the Lord through Ezekiel says, "Son of man
behold the place of my throne, and the place of the solos of my feet
where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever.
And they shall no more defile my name," and so forth. Here is a
prediction that, in that temple will be a certain apartment dedicated
and set apart for the throne of the Lord, where he will sit, as the
Prophet Zachariah and many of the Apostles have predicted, on the
throne of his [p.351] father David, and judge the whole house of
Israel. Dwell with them personally, be in their midst. Where will be
the twelve Apostles that wandered about with him, when Jesus comes and
sits upon that throne? They will also be silting upon thrones. Where?
In Palestine. "Ye who have followed me in the regeneration shall sit
upon twelve thrones, and shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel, and
you shall eat and drink at my table at the time you shall do this."
What? Immortal beings sitting upon thrones, having a table set for
them and eating and drinking at the table of Jesus in Jerusalem? Yes,
this is what is promised, and what we are looking for; this is the
order of things that will come when Zion is fully established on the
earth preparatory to that order of things. No wonder that nations will
no longer lift up sword against nation! No wonder that kings will no
longer fight against kings, and emperors against emperors! No wonder
that they will beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears
into pruning hooks, for it will be a day of peace and rest, of which
our present Sabbath is typical. As there is one day out of seven set
apart, sanctified and ordained as a day of rest, so there is one
thousand years set apart as a day of rest out of the seven thousand
which will constitute the temporal existence of our earth. That will
be the time when the Lord Jesus will reign as King of kings and Lord
of lords. That will be the time when the kings and nations will come
up to Zion and also to Jerusalem. The kingdoms will be gathered
together to serve the Lord.

Vol. 14,  p.351
Supposing some of them should happen to refuse, those that live off a
great distance should conclude to refuse, and not go up to worship the
Lord of hosts, let us see what will become of them. After having
spoken of the Lord coming with all the Saints with him, and standing
his feet on the Mount of Olives, the prophet says: "And it shall come
to pass in that day that the light shall not be clear or dark, but it
shall be one day, which shall be known to the Lord; not day nor night,
but it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light. And
it shall be in that day that living waters shall go out of Jerusalem,
half towards the former sea, and half towards the hinder sea; in
summer and in winter shall it be." Again he says, speaking of
Jerusalem, "Men shall dwell in it. There shall be no more utter
destruction, Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. And this shall be
the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have
fought against Jerusalem; their flesh shall consume away while they
stand upon their feet; their eyes shall consume away in their holes,
and their tongues shall consume away in their months." Again he says:
"And it shall be that whosoever will not come up of all the families
of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts,
even upon them there shall be no rain; and if the family of Egypt go
not up that have no rain, there shall be the plague wherewith the Lord
will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of
tabernacles. In that day there shall be upon the bells of the horses
'holiness unto the Lord.'" We see then that the nations of the earth
around about Jerusalem will be under the necessity, by the law which
God has ordained, to fulfil these prophecies, to go up once a year for
the purpose of beholding Jesus sitting upon his throne in the midst of
Jerusalem, and of beholding the twelve Apostles as they sit upon their
thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. From [p.352] year to year
they will have to go up for the purpose of worshiping him. By and by
some of them, perhaps, will get it into their hearts that there is no
use in their going up. "What is the use of our taking this long
journey to Jerusalem?" and they will begin to say within their
hearts—"We can serve God here in our own land just as well as going up
to Jerusalem." Just as soon as they begin to apostatize in this way
the Lord will send a plague, a famine, that is, withold the rains of
heaven, so that their lands will be parched up, and if the family of
Egypt, that have no rain, refuse to go up, there will be a peculiar
plague set apart for them, namely, the same kind of a plague that will
come upon the various nations that gather up against Jerusalem to
battle just before the Lord comes and stands his feet upon the Mount
of Olives. It will be no judgment, no calamity whatever for no rain to
be given to the land of Egypt, because they depend on the waters of
the Nile, by irrigation they overflow the land, hence it is no
particular consequence to the people of Lower Egypt to have no rain.

Vol. 14,  p.352
I mention all these things in order that the Latter-day Saints may be
re-refreshed in regard to the great events that must take place in the
latter times, and that strangers who are in our midst may have a more
full understanding of the views of the Latter-day Saints in regard to
the ancient prophecies. You see we are looking for the building up of
Zion on the earth, for the lifting up of the standard of the Lord, an
ensign for the nations; or in other words, as I read at the
commencement of my remarks: "For behold Zion shall go forth and become
the joy of the whole earth, and the glory of God shall be upon her and
the day shall come when the nations of the earth shall fear and
tremble because of her, and shall fear because of her terrible ones."
Why? Because the Lord himself will be in the midst of Zion, before he
comes on the Mount of Olives.

Vol. 14,  p.352
Now here is the difference between Zion and old Jerusalem. The Jews,
or many of them, will gather back to Jerusalem in a state of unbelief
in the true Messiah, believing in the prophets but rejecting the New
Testament, and looking for the Messiah to come, honest-hearted no
doubt, many of them. And they will rebuild Jerusalem after the times
of the Gentiles are fulfilled. While in that state of unbelief Gog and
Magog, the inhabitants of Russia and all those nations in northern
Europe and northern Asia, a great multitude, will gather against the
Jews before Jesus comes, and they will fill up the great valley of
Armageddon, the great valley of Jehosaphat and all the surrounding
valleys; they will be like a cloud covering the land.  Horses and
chariots and horsemen, a very great army, will gather up there to take
a spoil. For you know when the Rothschilds and the great hankers among
the Jewish nation shall return back to their own land to rebuild the
city of Jerusalem, carrying their capital with them it will almost
ruin some of the nations, and the latter will go up against Jerusalem
to take a spoil. And they will succeed in taking half the city
captive; and when they are in the act of destroying that city, behold
the Lord will come with all his Saints, and he shall stand his feet on
the Mount of Olives, "And in that day" says the Prophet Zachariah
"shall the Lord go forth and fight against all those nations that have
fought against Jerusalem, and their flesh shall consume away upon
their bones, their eyes in their sockets. This great calamity comes
upon the Jewish nation in [p.353] consequence of their unbelief in the
true Messiah.

Vol. 14,  p.353
Not so with Zion, she will be built upon the great western hemisphere
in North America, and become a righteous people long before the Jews
will gather home. Zion will be built up by the gathering of the Saints
from all the nations and kingdoms of the earth. Zion will be built up,
her habitations will be reared, her Temple will be built and the glory
of God will rest upon them long before these great events in
connection with the house of Israel will be fulfilled. Hence there is
a difference between Zion and Jerusalem in the latter days.

Vol. 14,  p.353
We will now read something more about this Zion. Isaiah, as I have
already quoted in the second chapter, has told us about the house of
the Lord, and the great peace that should come, the beating of swords
into ploughshares, &c., and then he goes on to portray the blessings
that are to come upon Zion. He says, "In that day seven women shall
take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread and wear our
own apparel, only let us be called by thy name to take away our
reproach. In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and
glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely."
Thus we see that Zion is to become glorious. The branch of the Lord
the branch of his own planting, established by his own power, the
building up of a people and city by his own instructions and
administration by the inspiration of his servants, the establishing of
Zion no more to be thrown down. And the Lord will create upon every
dwelling place of Mount Zion and upon her assemblies a cloud and smoke
lay day, and shining, flaming fire by night; and upon all the glory
shall be a defence and there shall be a tabernacle for shadow in the
day time from the heat, and for a place of refuge and for a covert
from storm and from rain. How often I have quoted this passage! I am
not tired of quoting it yet. It is among the great events of the
latter days; it is among those marvels and wonders that are just at
hand. A Zion to be built up; a city of Zion having habitations, and
upon these habitations a supernatural light by night, and a
supernatural cloud by day. No such event has happened since this
prophecy was uttered by the Prophet Isaiah, it remains to he fulfilled
in the latter days. No wonder then that the Lord said to Joseph Smith
in the year 1831, that is, before we were a great people, while we
were only a few hundreds, well did the nord inspire him to say that
Zion should become great and glorious and the day should come that the
nations of the earth should tremble because of her, and should fear
because of her terrible ones; for the glory of God shall be there, and
the power of the Lord shall be them when the day comes that the city
of Zion is clothed upon with the glorious appendage that is herein pro
dicted; when the branch of the Lord becomes beautiful and glorious,
and the fruit of the earth excellent and comely, when that day shall
come that seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, "We will eat
our own bread and wear our own apparel, only let us be called by thy
name to take away our reproach," when that day shall come that the
Lord God shall show forth his power in Zion—upon her Tabernacle, upon
her Temple, her meeting places, her residences, palaces, towers, walls
and gates, when that day shall come it will astonish the nations even
unto the ends of the earth. Thus you see the reason why the kings of
the earth will go up to Zion. They would not go [p.354] if there was
not something very extraordinary happened. Do you suppose the kings
would forsake their thrones and their earthly glory and go up to the
mountain of the Lord to be taught in his ways and instructed in his
paths, and that many nations would say, "Come let us go up to the
house of the Lord," if there was not something very extraordinary
manifested in the midst of Zion? You might go and preach to them, as
the sectarians preach, until you were greyheaded, and you could
scarcely get near the throne of a king, much less would you be able to
persuade him to leave his kingdom and throne and go up to Zion. But
when the Lord begins to move, and show forth his power, when he begins
to light up the habitations of Zion, when he comes to Zion to turn
away ungodliness from Jacob, then I think the nations will begin to
wake up.

Vol. 14,  p.354
Let us read a little more about the glory of Zion in the 59th and 60th
chapters of Isaiah. I told you a little while ago that Jesus would
come to Zion and would show forth his glory there, while the Jews
would be reserved for a great chastisement and would be afflicted by
the nations gathering against them, fighting against them and taking
half the city captive, and so on. Now let me read a prophecy in the
latter part of the 59th chapter of Isaiah. "So shall they fear the
name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the
sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood the Spirit of the Lord
shall lilt up a standard against him, and the Redeemer shall come to
Zion and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the
Lord. As for me this is my covenant with thee saith the Lord, my
spirit that is upon thee and my words that I put in thy mouth shall
not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out
of the mouth of thy seed's seed saith the Lord, from henceforth even
for ever. Arise and shine, for thy light is come and the glory of the
Lord is risen upon thee." You notice here, then, that the Redeemer is
to come to Zion, at the time when every habitation is lighted up with
his light, and to all that turn from transgression in Jacob.

Vol. 14,  p.354
Now let me here remark that this remnant of the house of Israel or
Jacob, which we term the American Indians, are eventually to become a
righteous branch of the house of Israel; when the times of the
Gentiles are fulfilled, they will be numbered among the people of the
covenant made with ancient Israel, they will be a branch of the Lord,
beautiful and glorious, excellent and comely, and the power of the
Lord will be upon them. In that day Jesus will come to them, they
being a remnant of the tribe of Joseph. Then will be fulfilled that
which was predicted by the Patriarch Jacob upon the decendants of
Joseph. Speaking of Joseph he says, "Joseph is a fruitful bough, a
fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall. The
archers have sorely grieved him and shot at him and hated him, but his
how abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by
the hands of the mighty God of Jacob, from thence is the Shepherd, the
stone of Israel."

Vol. 14,  p.354
Whet, Jesus comes to Zion as is here predicted, in the 59th chapter of
Isaiah, he will come in the character of a great shepherd. Not in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory; but appearing in the
midst of Zion and administering to the remnants of Joseph in the
character of a shepherd. From thence is the shepherd, the stone of
Israel.[p.355] Now we all know that Jesus sprang from Judah; but here
is a declaration that from Joseph is the shepherd, the stone of
Israel.  That is, he will come the second time as a shepherd. He will
gather his flock, or as the Psalmist David has said, "Give ear, O
Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock, stir up thy
strength and come and save us." He will come as a shepherd, he will
stir up his strength and show forth his power and the remnant of
Joseph will be lead by their shepherd, long before the Jews are
redeemed. "Arise and shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of
the Lord is risen upon thee."

Vol. 14,  p.355
What condition do you suppose the wicked will be in in those days,
even all the inhabitants of the earth except Zion? "For behold
darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people; but the
Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee."
What a difference between Zion and the rest of mankind! Darkness
covering the whole four quarters of the globe. Why darkness? Because
the salt of the earth is gathered out; the children of light are
gathered together to Zion, and those who are left behind are in
darkness, that is, a great many of them. No doubt there will be honest
ones, and vast numbers who will come to Zion, notwithstanding the
darkness that covers the earth.

Vol. 14,  p.355
We will read the next verse: "And the Gentiles shall come to thy light
and kings to the brightness of thy rising." "Thy gates shall be open
continually; they shall not be shut day nor night, that men may bring
unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be
brought, for the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall
perish, yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted." What! no people
or nation left that will not serve Zion? Not one. What will become of
this great republic with its forty millions of people, and which is
spreading forth continually? If they will comply with the ordinances
of Zion, repent of their sins and be prepared for this great and
glorious day, God will save them; but if they will not they will be
utterly wasted away. Thus have the prophets declared. "The sons also
of them that afflicted thee, shall come bending unto thee and shall
bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet, and they shall call thee
the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy Gee of Israel." Now here is
a little comfort to you miners: "For brass I will bring Gold, for iron
I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron; and I
will make thine officers peace and thine exacters righteousness.
Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction
within thy borders."

Vol. 14,  p.355
"Wars will cease in those days. The sun shall no more be thy light by
day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee, but
the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy
glory." Zion will not need the sun when the Lord is there, and all the
city is lighted up by the glory of his presence. When the whole
heavens above are illuminated by the presence of his glory we shall
not need those bright luminaries of heaven to give light, so far as
the city of Zion is concerned. But there will be a great people round
about, dwelling in other cities that will still have need of the light
of the sun and the moon; but the great capital city where the Lord
will establish one of his thrones—for his throne is not to be in
Jerusalem alone, it will also be in Zion, as you will find in numerous
places in this Bible. When therefore, he shall [p.356] establish his
throne in Zion and shall light up the habitations thereof with the
glory of his presence, they will not need this light which comes from
the bright luminaries that shine forth in yonder heavens, but they
will be clothed upon with the glory of their God. When the people meet
together in assemblies like this, in their Tabernacles, the Lord will
meet with them, his glory will be upon them; a cloud will overshadow
them by day and if they happen to have an evening meeting they will
not need gas light or lights of an artificial nature, for the Lord
will be there and his glory will be upon all their assemblies. So says
Isaiah the Prophet, and I believe it. Amen.

John Taylor, March 17, 1872

Continued Revelation

Discourse By Elder John Taylor, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday, March 17, 1872.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.356
In rising to address the congregation this afternoon, I do so, as I
always do, with very great pleasure. It always affords me
gratification to contemplate the things pertaining to the Church and
kingdom of God, and to the interests of humanity on the earth. I love
to speak of these things, I am always pleased to hear of them, and I
am as willing to listen to the truth when emanating from some person
else as I am to communicate it to others, as it may be made manifest
to me. I feel as our Elders generally do—that we are seeking to
communicate—not our own special ideas, or any peculiar theory that we
may have entertained; but, under the guidance of the Almighty, that we
may instruct and teach as we may be led and guided by the Spirit of
the living God. I feel, as it is expressed in the Scriptures, "That it
is not in man to direct his steps," and it is not especially in man to
teach things pertaining to eternity, or to the everlasting welfare of
the human family, unless he be under the guidance and direction of the
Almighty, and feels that he is simply an instrument in His hands to
unfold and develop certain principles that are made manifest unto him.
I feel always willing to hear, to teach, to receive instruction, or to
communicate unto others those principles that are calculated to
promote their happiness and well-being in time and in eternity. These
things lie at the foundation of the happiness of the human family;
they emanate from God, our Father, in whom, we are told, "we live and
move and have our being," and upon whom we are dependant for all the
blessings we enjoy, whether they pertain to this world or the world to
[p.357] come. Ignorant of all true principles without inspiration from
him, we feel at all times that it is necessary for us to be under his
guidance and direction, and to seek for the aid of his Holy Spirit,
that we may be led and taught, instructed and directed in all of our
acts and associations in life, that we may be prepared for any events
that may transpire, associated with the affairs of this world or
relative to the world to come. We look upon ourselves as eternal
beings, and that God is our Father. We are told in the sacred record
of truth that he is the God and Father of the spirits of all flesh—of
all flesh that has lived, that now lives or that will live; and it is
proper that we should have just conceptions of our relationship to
him, to each other, to the world wherein we live, to those who have
existed before us, or to those who shall come after us, that as wise,
intelligent beings, under the inspiration of the Almighty, we may be
able to conduct our steps so that our pathway in life may be such as
to secure the approval of a good conscience and of God, angels and
good men; and that whilst we live upon the earth we may fulfil in an
honorable manner the measure of our creation, and, obeying our
Creator, feel that he is indeed what the Scriptures represent him to
be, and what we believe him to be—"the God and Father of the spirits
of all flesh."

Vol. 14,  p.357
There is a feeling generally extant in the world that God is a great
and august personage who is elevated so high above the world, and is
so far separated from humanity that it is impossible to approach him,
and although the Christian religion, under whatever form it may be
practised, teaches mankind to pray unto God in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, yet it is very tow who suppose that their prayers amount
to anything, that God will listen to their supplications, or that they
will prove of any special benefit. A feeling of this kind tends more
or less to unbelief instead of faith in God, and hence we find very
few men in our day who act as men of God did in former days, that is,
seek unto him for guidance and direction in the affairs of life. If we
examine what is termed the sacred history of the Bible, we shall find
that in the various ages of the world, until soon after Christianity
was introduced, them was a feeling among men to call upon God and to
have their prayers answered—a feeling that if they would approach the
Most High and call upon his name in faith, he would answer their
supplications and give unto them wisdom, intelligence and revelation
for the guidance of their feet in the pathway of life; and it was not
based as it is now, generally, upon some old theories, or upon
communications made unto others; but if we trace the records of
Scripture through, we shall find that men generally sought for
themselves guidance and direction and revelation adapted to the
peculiar circumstances in which they were placed.

Vol. 14,  p.357
If we go back to the time when Adam first made his appearance on the
earth, the Lord God we are told communicated with him, gave him
certain commandments, told him what he should do and what he should
not do; and when he transgressed the law, we are told that he heard
the footsteps of the Lord in the garden, and he heard his voice
speaking unto him, and when, at the dictum of the Almighty, he was
expelled from the paradise in which he lived, an angel was placed
there as a guardian to prevent his return.

Vol. 14,  p.357
From the accounts that we have in oar possession of events that took
place soon after that time, we learn [p.358] that the Lord
communicated his will unto others, and there was a man called Enoch, a
very remarkable personage, whose history is very brief indeed,
considering the important events that transpired during his day. We
are told that he walked with God, had communication with him, and that
"He was not, for God took him." Our recent revelations give us
information pertaining to this same man—that he gathered together a
people, that be taught them the principles of the Gospel, that he
gathered together all who would listen to the principles of truth
previous to the flood, and that he and his city were translated, or as
the account of the Bible says—"He was not, for God took him."

Vol. 14,  p.358
By and by another event transpired. the people became excessively
wicked and corrupt, so much so, that, as the Scriptures informs us,
"Their thoughts were only evil, and that continually;" and in
consequence of this the Lord decreed that he would destroy the people
from the face of the earth. But before he did it he gave revelation
unto Noah, telling him that the destruction of all flesh upon the
earth had been decreed by the Almighty in consequence of the
wickedness of the people; and Noah had special revelation given to him
adapted to the circumstances which surrounded him, and the age in
which he lived. He was not told to build a city, to preach the Gospel
and gather the people as Enoch had done; but he was told that the
wickedness of all flesh had come up before the Almighty and that he
had determined to destroy them with a flood; and Noah, believing in
God and in the revelation which he gave unto him, according to the
testimony of the Scriptures, built an ark, and gathered into that ark
himself and wife, his sons and their wives, and two—male and female—of
the various kinds of beasts, birds and creeping things that dwelt on
the face of the earth. History records the coming of the flood, the
destruction of the world by it, and the preservation in the ark of
those who had listened to the word of God and to whom he communicated
his will.

Vol. 14,  p.358
Subsequent to this time a variety of singular circumstances transpired
and there existed many prominent characters both good and bad,
worshipers of God and worshipers of idols. We find that after the
re-peopling of the earth after the flood men set to work to build a
tower, and the Lord confused their languages and scattered them from
hence, throughout all the earth. About this time a singular kind of
personage appeared on the stage of action, named Abraham. He had been
taught by his father to worship idols; but the Lord had manifested
himself to him on certain occasions and instructed him in the true
religion. He did not teach him as he taught Enoch, or as he had taught
Noah; the circumstances of Abraham were different from those of Enoch
and Noah, and if Abraham had the history of their times, as he
unquestionably had, for Abraham was contemporary with Noah and Noah
with Adam, and must have been acquainted with the events which had
transpired, from the days of Adam at least from information given by
Adam to Noah and by Noah to himself, he would know that the
revelations they received were not applicable to his case, but he
needed revelation from God for his own guidance and direction, that he
might be led aright, and that he might be able to instruct his
children after him in the path they should tread, in the principles,
doctrines and ordinances that should be according to the mind and will
of God.[p.359] 

Vol. 14,  p.359
There is something humorous in a history that we have in relation to
this personage. The priests of those days offered sacrifices to their
gods, and, like the priests of these days, they were generally opposed
to new revelation from God. Abraham's father had instructed him in the
doctrines of these idols, and had sought to induce him to have faith
in them and in their power, authority, and dominion, telling him what
great personages they were. But Abraham, inspired by the Lord, went on
a certain occasion into the temple of these gods and smote them right
and left, upsetting and breaking them in pieces. His father came in
and asked what he had been doing, what great sin this was that He had
committed, why he was so sacrilegious in his feelings and so winked as
to seek to destroy these gods? Said he, "Father, I did not do anything
to them, they quarreled among themselves and went to work fighting and
knocked one another down, broke one another's heads and knocked off
one another's arms and legs." "Oh," said his father," my son do not
tell me anything of that kind, for they are made of wood and they
could not move or stir from their place nor knock one another down; it
has been some other agency that has done it." "Why, father," said he,
"would you worship a being that could not stir or move, that had hands
and could not handle, that had legs and could not walk, a mouth that
could not speak, and a head and it was of no use? Would you warship a
being like that?" But nevertheless our history informs us that the
priests were angry and stirred up his father against him. But the Lord
inspired Abraham to leave there. The Bible tells us the Lord said to
him: "Get thee up from thy father's house, from the land wherein thou
wast born, and go up to a land I will show unto thee, and which I will
afterwards give unto thee for an inheritance." And we are told that
"he went up, not knowing whither he went."

Vol. 14,  p.359
There is something very peculiar about this little history, so far as
we have it in the Bible. I think I see this man of God rising up,
after he had incurred the displeasure of the priests and his father,
and had slain these gods, making preparations to leave his native
country. I fancy I see some of his neighbors coming to him, and
saying: "Abraham, where are you going?" "Oh," says he, "I do not
know." "You don't know." "No." "Well, who told you to go?" "The Lord."
"And you do not know where you are going?" "Oh, no," says he, "I am
going to a land that he will show me, and that he has promised to give
me and my seed after me for an inheritance; and I believe in God, and
therefore I am starting." There was something very peculiar about it,
almost as bad as us when we started to come off from Nauvoo: we hardly
knew where we were going, but we could not have rest, peace or safety
among the Christians, consequently we left them and started off to the
Rocky Mountains, under the direction of God, hardly knowing whither we
went, just as Abraham did, and I do not think we were any bigger fools
than he, for he went just about as we did, not knowing whither he
went.

Vol. 14,  p.359
Afterwards the Lord gave him a son, for when He was an old man, and
his wife Sarah was seventy years old, they were childless, and at this
advanced age the Lord gave them a son. There had been no event of that
kind ever transpired before in the history of the Bible, and if it
were the Bible they had to look at, it would have been of no use to
them, for they could not get any instructions [p.360] there how they
were to act; but he feared God and put his trust in him, and the Lord
gave him revelation. The angel of the Lord, we are told, visited
Abraham and his wife, and told her she should have a son. Sarah was a
good deal amused at it, and laughed over the matter, for she was about
seventy years old and thought it rather strange that she should have a
son at that age, and she laughed at the idea, as many of our old
sisters would unquestionably do now if they were told such a thing. It
seems all very natural when you look at it just about as it is. And
when the angel asked her why she laughed, she lied and said: "I did
not laugh," she did not want to have it known that she laughed at what
the Lord said. "Nay, but," said he, "thou didst laugh." And as the
time came round, lo and behold she had a son and called his name
Isaac. And after this the Lord seemed determined to try Abraham and
see whether or not he would be faithful to him and obey him in all
things. He had obeyed him in breaking up those Gods, and in leaving
his father's house and going up to a land that he had shown unto him,
and the Lord was determined to try him to the uttermost, and see
whether he would obey him yet further. "Now," said he, "Abraham, take
thy son, thine only son Isaac, and go to a place that I will indicate,
and offer him up as a burnt offering before me." That was a curiosity,
it had something odd and strange about it. It was not really what you
would call philosophical; it was not in accordance with any principles
that we could understand anything about, in our day; and it would have
been difficult for Abraham to have reasoned it out why he should be
called to offer up his son as a sacrifice. Nothing of the kind had
ever transpired before as a precedent; no such thing written in the
Bible that had taken place among men before. In offering up his only
son there was something very peculiar, not especially as a sacrifce,
but it came in contact with every parental feeling which he must
necessarily have felt for his only child. This, in and of itself,
rendered it one of the most severe and painful trials that could be
placed upon man; but there was something else connected with this
which was explained by the Prophet Joseph Smith, who, when speaking of
these things, said God was determined in these days to have a tried
people as He had in former times, and that he would feel after their
heartstrings and try them in every way possible for them to be tried;
and if he could have invented anything that would have been more keen,
acute, and trying than that which he required of Abraham he would have
done it. But that, no doubt, was one of the greatest trials that could
have been inflicted on any human being. Notice the old gentleman
tottering along with his son, brooding over the promises of God and
the peculiar demand now made upon him. Says he: "Isaac, let us go up
into the mountain here, and offer a sacrifice to the Lord." And he
took him along; they ascend the mountain, they gather together some
rocks and together build an alter; they gather the fuel and place it
on that alter; and when everything is prepared Isaac says: "Father,
here is the altar and here is the wood, but where is the sacrifice."
What would the feelings of a father be under such circumstances? Says
he, with a heart gushing with sorrowful emotions, "My son, God will
prepare himself a sacrifice," and finally the old man gave his son to
understand that he was the sacrifice, and he bound him and placed him
on the [p.361] wood upon the altar, and lifted the knife to strike the
fatal blow, and while his arm was outstretched the Lord spake, saying:
"Abraham, lay not thine hand upon the lad, for the Lord shall provide
thee a sacrifice," and he looked round and found a ram in a thicket,
and he placed it on the altar and offered a burnt offering before the
Lord. The Lord then took him aside and said: "Lift up thine eyes
eastward, westward, northward and southward, for to thee and to thy
seed after thee will I give this land; and thy seed shall be as
numerous as the stars in the heavens, and like the sand on the sea
shore so shall they be innumerable; and in blessing I will bless thee,
and in multiplying I will multiply thee, and in thee and in thy seed
shall all the families of the earth be blessed." The Lord proved him
and found him faithful in all things. That was a severe test to human
nature; but there were other ideas crowding on his mind that were ten
thousand times more formidable than these paternal feelings which
gushed and welled up in his bosom when told to offer up his son as a
sacrifice. What was it? Why the Lord had told him that he would make
of him a nation and a multitude of nations, and that he should be the
father of many nations, and yet he told him to go and offer up his
only son. And he was an old man and his wife an old woman; and it was
not only the idea of taking the life of his son that was crowding upon
his mind, but the cutting him off in regard to posterity and the
promises that God had made to him in regard to the magnitude of the
peoples that should arise from him, or from his loins, and leaving
him, as it were, a dry root, helpless, hopeless, tottering on the
grave without any heir. Paul very justly remarks that in the midst of
all these things, "he staggered not through unbelief, but was strong
in faith giving glory to God; believing that he from whom he had
received him, as it were hem the dead, would be able, if he had even
slaughtered his son, to raise him from the dead." He was strong in
faith, says Paul, "giving glory to God." He had had the visions of his
mind unfolded in regard to the future; he had looked through the dark
vista of future ages. Inspired by the spirit of revelation he
contemplated the purposes of God as they rolled forth in all their
majesty and glory and power, and considered that He was to be one of
the great actors in this great world drama that should be exhibited in
the after ages or time, and in the eternities that were to come. Jesus
said of him, "Abraham saw my day and was glad." But he saw in this,
apparently, all his hopes blasted; but notwithstanding he had faith
and confidence in God, and he stood there like the beaten anvil to the
stroke, or the sturdy oak defying all storms and blasts and
influences. He was strong in faith, giving glory to God. Nothing but
the spirit of revelation could have given him this confidence, and it
was that which sustained him under these peculiar circumstances.

Vol. 14,  p.361
He then told him that, by and by, his seed should go down into bondage
in Egypt, and should remain there four hundred years, and that then
they would be delivered. He also made promises concerning his
posterity, telling him they should inherit that land; and yet,
singular to say, notwithstanding these revelations and promises from
the Lord, several thousand years after, when Stephen was referring to
these promises, he said "he gave him none inheritance in it, no not so
much as to set his foot;" but he told him that he would "give it to
him, and to his seed after him, for an everlasting inheritance."
[p.362] And as we have to do with a truthful God, and with eternal
things, we expect that these promises will be literally fulfilled, and
that God will accomplish all things that he spoke to him pertaining to
his seed. But there was one peculiarity about this that I wish to
notice in connection with others—that when God gave revelations to the
human family in the different ages of the world it was particularly
adapted to the circumstances in which they were placed. They were not
dependant, as Christians are now, simply on the Bible or upon some old
revelation, from which they could learn many great things, but they
could not learn what was necessary, what plan it was proper for them
to adopt under the peculiar circumstances in which they were placed.

Vol. 14,  p.362
We find, in continuing the history of these things, that after the
children of Israel had been in Egypt for a length of time, God sent
them a deliverer—he raised up Moses and inspired him with the
principle of revelation, told him he had a work for him to do, that he
was to deliver Israel from the bondage that had been placed upon them
by the Egyptian kings. Moses shrank from the responsibility, and told
the Lord that he was a "man of stammering tongue and of slow speech,"
and that he was not competent to perform a work of such magnitude. The
Lord told him never to mind, it would be all right, that he would
provide a spokesman for him in Aaron his brother, and Aaron should be
a mouthpiece to the people, and Moses should be as a god to Aaron and
dictate him in the course that He should take. And this very Moses
gives us an account of all the histories that we have in relation to
the dealings of God with the human family from Adam's day until the
time in which he lived There was something peculiar about the mission
that he had. He was sent on several occasions to present himself
before the Egyptian king with a message from the Lord that he should
let his people Israel go, and in these various messages you will find,
just as I stated before, the revelations that he had were adapted to
the particular circumstances he was placed in. He was not told to
build a city as Enoch bad been, and to gather a people together to be
translated; he was not told to build an ark, as Noah did; he was not
told to leave his father's house and go to a strange land, as Abraham
was; he was placed in other circumstances—he was going to be the
deliverer of Israel from Egyptian bondage, and to lead them to that
land which God had promised Abraham, and consequently he had to have
direct communication with the Lord—revelation to guide him in the
course that he should pursue in the work that he had to perform. The
result was that after many revelations he took Israel out of Egypt, he
brought them into the wilderness, he passed them through the Red Sea,
and he went upon the mountain, conversed with God and received from
him tables of stone written by his own hand for the guidance of the
people, and was under the direction of the Almighty in all his moves.
He built an ark, not according to his own judgment or wisdom, not
according to anything that he read of in the Bible, nor according to
any previous revelation or communication; but the Lord told him to see
"that he made all things according to the pattern that he had shown
him in the mount," and he did so. And the people traveled on through
that wilderness, and were there for forty years, a pillar of fire
leading them by night and a cloud by day; and when that pillar of fire
or cloud rested they [p.363] rested, when it lifted up they moved, and
followed its guidance. And Aaron went and ministered in the Tabernacle
and approached before the Holy of Holies, and all these sayings,
doings and events that then transpired were under the immediate
revelation, dictation and guidance of the Almighty. The Lord at that
time desired to make of Israel a great nation, a kingdom of priests.
They had the Gospel preached unto them in the wilderness, so Paul
tells us, but they were rebellious, wayward and stiffnecked. It was
the design of the Almighty to lead them into the presence of God, that
they might see him as Moses did, and as the seventy Elders of Israel
did, that they might converse with him and obtain intelligence from
him, and be under his special guidance and direction; but they could
not endure the Gospel, and therefore we are told "the law was added
because of transgression." What was it added to? Why, to the Gospel.
What was the Gospel? A principle of revelation; it always was. It was
the same Gospel that Jesus had that was revealed to them. The
Scriptures tell us that it "brings life and immortality to light;" and
whenever in any age of the world men had a knowledge of life and
immortality, of the purposes of God and his future designs, and of the
future estate of mankind, it came through the Gospel, for it is the
Gospel that brings life and immortality to light; and wherever the
Gospel exists, there exists a knowledge of life and immortality; and
wherever a knowledge of life and immortality does not exist the Gospel
does not exist. The children of Israel, then, were placed under the
law—a schoolmaster, we are told, "a yoke that neither they nor their
fathers were able to bear." This Peter tells us.

Vol. 14,  p.363
Then there were other Prophets after Moses appeared on the stage, such
as Job, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah and many others, who had
communication with God and received a knowledge of his will and
purposes, and prophesied under the inspiration of the Almighty and
testified of events that should afterwards transpire. To these men
wears indebted for the Bible, that is, for the Old and New Testaments;
to them and their revelations, to the communications that they had,
the ministering of angels and the opening visions, and the unfolding
of the purposes of God, and the various histories and dealings of God
with the people; to them are we indebted for the Bible that we
Christians of the present day talk so much about. To these men who
made this Bible we are indebted for any knowledge that they had about
God; and that Gospel, we are told, brings life and immortality to
light.

Vol. 14,  p.363
We are now sometimes told by people here, at this present day, that we
have the Bible to go by. Indeed? We have the Bible, have we? Yes. Who
made that Bible? Did the Christians? No, they did not. The early
Christians had something to do with making the New Testament
Scriptures, but not the Old Testament; and then, as I have told you
heretofore, these men always bad revelation given them adapted to the
peculiar circumstances in which they were placed. But you read the
Bible through, and you will find that the Scriptures that are given to
us are simply an account of revelations, communications, prophecies
and the ministering of angels, and the power of God made manifest to
the ancient people of God who had the Gospel. What! do you mean to
say, then, that all these men had the Gospel? I most assuredly do, for
without that they could not have had a knowledge [p.364] of life and
immortality. Did Abraham have it? Yes, if Paul told the truth, he did.
What does he mean when he says, "God, foreseeing that he would justify
the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham?"
What does he mean when he tells us about Moses and the children of
Israel? Says he: "We have the Gospel preached unto us as well as they;
but the word preached unto them did not profit them, not being mixed
with faith in those who beard it; wherefore the law was added because
of transgression." What was it added to? Why, to the Gospel, for they
had the Gospel before, and the law was added not as a peculiar kind of
a blessing that some people speak of, but as a peculiar kind of a
curse—the law of carnal commandments"a yoke that we nor Our fathers
were able to bear." And when Jesus came, what did he bring? Why, the
Gospel, and with that Gospel light and revelation and communication
with God, and ministering of angels and the gifts of tongues and
healing and prophecy, and the power of God made manifest among the
people as it was in former times. Life and immortality were again
brought to light, the heavens were again unveiled, angels ministered
to man, and they had a knowledge of things to come. The law was added
because of transgression, and when the Gospel came, it came not to do
away with the law or the Prophets, but to fulfil them. It was not a
law of carnal commandments and ordinances, but "the law of the spirit
of life in Christ Jesus, which makes us free from the law of sin and
death;" the law of the Gospel whereby men were adopted into the family
of God, and became "heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ,"
that" if we suffer with him," as he once said, "we shall also reign
with him, that both may be glorified together." It was a thing that
adopted them into the family of God, and made them heirs of God and
joint-heirs with Christ his Son, and one of the principles of eternal
life, and like all other revelations, was adapted peculiarly to the
position that they then occupied. It was called the Gospel, and there
was a Priesthood connected with it, and what was that called? Why, the
Melchizedec Priesthood? What did the Melchizedec Priesthood do? It
held the keys of the mysteries of the revelations of God. And who was
Christ? He was a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedec. And
what did he introduce? The Gospel. And who was Melchizedec? A man that
blessed Abraham we are told, and to whom Abraham paid tithes of all
that he possessed; and Paul tells us that, "Verily the less is blessed
of the greater," and this Melchizedec was greater than Abraham was,
although Abraham was the father of the faithful. What kind of a thing
did Jesus introduce when he came? He introduced the Gospel; he had the
Priesthood after the order of Melchizedec. What did Melchizedec have?
Why, the Priesthood after the order of the Son of God, if you please.
If Christ's Priesthood was after his order, the Melchizedec Priesthood
must be after the order of the Son of God. And if Christ introduced
the Gospel, Melchizedec had the Gospel, and Melchizedec blessed
Abraham, and he had the Gospel preached to him, so says the Bible that
the Christians profess to believe in.

Vol. 14,  p.364
Well, then, if this has been the way of God's dealing with the human
family in all ages, it would seem that he would continue to deal with
men on the same principle now.

Vol. 14,  p.365
John the Revelator speaks of a [p.365] time when "an angel should fly
in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to
those who dwell on the face of the earth, and to every nation,
kindred, tongue and people, crying with a loud voice, Fear God and
give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come." Who was it
that saw this? Why John, on the Isle of Patmos. But did'nt he have the
Gospel? Yes. But he saw that a certain power would arise that would
make war against the Saints and overcome them, that they should be
given into the hands of this power to a certain time. Then he tells us
afterwards that, after all these events should have transpired, and
all the apostacy and the rising of "Mystery Babylon," the "Mother of
Harlots," and the abominations that should exist on the face of the
earth, says he, "I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven
having the everlasting Gospel to preach to them that dwell on the face
of the earth." What do you mean by the everlasting Gospel? Why, the
same Gospel that Jesus taught, the same Gospel that Abraham, Moses,
Enoch and Adam had—that everlasting, eternal, unchangeable principle
that brings men into relationship with their God, unveils the heavens
and the purposes of God to the human family, and leads them in the
paths of life. "I saw another angel flying through the midst of heaven
having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto those who dwell on earth,
to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, crying with a loud voice,
Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come,
and worship him that made the heaven, the earth, the seas, and the
fountains of water." This was the declaration of John.

Vol. 14,  p.365
Now, then, an event like this was to transpire; the everlasting Gospel
was again to be introduced to man upon the earth. Joseph Smith came
forward telling us that an angel had administered to him, and had
revealed unto him the principles of the Gospel as they existed in
former days, and that God was going to set his hand to work in these
last days to accomplish his purposes and build up his kingdom, to
introduce correct principles, to overturn error, evil, and corruption,
and to establish his Church and kingdom upon the earth. I have heard
him talk about these things myself. I have heard him tell over and
over again, to myself and others, the circumstances pertaining to
these visions and the various ministrations of angels, and the
development of the purposes of God towards the human family. And what
does he do? Bring us something different? Yes, in many respects, but
not different in regard to our connection with God. Different as
regards the age in which we live and the circumstances with which he
was surrounded, but not different as it regards bringing men to a
knowledge of God. He taught precisely the same principles and doctrine
and ordinances that were taught by Jesus and his disciples in their
day, He organized Apostles; he had Prophets in his Church. He told
them that inasmuch as they would do right and keep his commandments,
they should have the gift of the Holy Ghost. He led them forth and
baptized them, just as John and the disciples of Jesus did. He
baptized them in the name of Jesus for the remission of their sins,
and told them they should receive the Holy Ghost. He organized his
Church precisely upon those principles; but it was a different
dispensation—"the dispensation of the fulness of times, when God would
gather together all things in one," prophesied of by Paul; when his
[p.366] people should be gathered, as the Scriptures say, from the
east, the west, the north and the south; when he would take "one of a
city and two of a family and bring them to Zion and give them pastors
after his own heart, that could feed them with knowledge and
understanding." It was a dispensation to prepare the people for the
events that should transpire on the face of the earth, that they might
no longer be led astray by the cunning craftiness of men whereby they
lie in wait to deceive, but be led by the spirit of revelation and
brought into communication with God. Hence the people that I see
before me to-day—the major part of this congregation and the people
that inhabit this Territory, have been brought together under these
auspices, by the preaching of the everlasting Gospel, by being
baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins, having bands
laid on them for the reception of the Holy Ghost; and they have
received of that Spirit, and they know for themselves of the truth
that they have received, and consequently they cannot be twisted about
by every wind of doctrine. They know and appreciate the truths they
have received, and they have faith in God, for the Gospel they have
obeyed leads them to a knowledge of God, whom to know is life
everlasting.

Vol. 14,  p.366
Now this is the position; it is just the same as they had in former
days. The Gospel that they had in any age of the world was to lead men
to God; the Gospel that we have, and that we have taught to you, is to
lead you to God, to righteousness, to virtue, purity, integrity, to
honor, to revelation, to a knowledge of the ways of God, and of his
purposes pertaining to you and your families, to your progenitors and
your posterity; pertaining to this world and that which is to come. It
is a revelation adapted peculiarly to the position that we occupy in
these last days. How very remarkable many Scriptures are on these
points, "I will take one of a city and two of a family." And what will
you do with them? "I will bring them to Zion." And what will you do
with them there? "I will give them pastors after my own heart that
shall feed them with knowledge and understanding." Not with theories,
ideas and uncertainties; not with the dogmas of men, but with the
knowledge of God, with revelation, with an understanding of the
principles of eternal truth. And this is why we are assembled here as
we are on the present occasion. What shall we do then? We will live
our religion and keep the commandments of God. Cultivate the spirit of
revelation that you have then, as the Scriptures said formerly, "As
many as are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God." Another
passage, in speaking of certain individuals, tells them that they have
received an unction from the Holy One, and they know all things, being
instructed and taught by the Spirit of eternal truth. This is what the
Bible speaks of in former times. "And ye need not," says he, "that any
man should teach you, save the Anointing that is within you, which is
true and no lie." Let men feel the anointing of the Spirit of the Lord
and that Spirit will lead them into all truth, will bring things past
to their remembrance and it will show them things to come, as it did
in former times.

Vol. 14,  p.366
I remember Joseph Smith speaking to me upwards of thirty years ago.
Says he: "Brother Taylor, you have received the Holy Ghost. Now follow
its teachings and instructions. Sometimes it, may lead you in a manner
that may be contrary [p.367] almost to your judgment; never mind,
follow its teachings, and if you do so, by and by it will become in
you a principle of revelation, so that you will know all things as
they transpire."

Vol. 14,  p.367
How does that agree with the other—"You have received an unction from
the Holy One and know all things, and need not that any man should
teach you, save the Anointing which is within you, which is true and
no lie?"

Vol. 14,  p.367
We have been taught and instructed in many principles that the world
know nothing about, and that we know nothing about, and that Brother
Young knew nothing about, nor Brother Joseph, nor the Twelve, that
nobody knew anything about until God communicated it; and you, under
the influence of that Spirit, know of a truth and rejoice in the
truth, and the truth has made you free; and when you hear men talking
about how bad they feel for you because of your fanaticism, what do
you feel like? Say you; "Poor things, you do not know what you are
doing. Preserve your pity for yourselves and your children; keep your
high, exalted notions, if you have any, for we are satisfied with
ourselves and our principles. We know in whom we have believed, and no
power can overturn us. We have been baptized into one baptism, we have
partaken of the same spirit; we are all built up together in the faith
of the everlasting Gospel, and our progress is onward, onward, onward,
until the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God
and his Christ, and he will reign with universal empire, until error
and folly, and vanity and corruption, and wickedness of every kind
will fail and dissolve before the rays of eternal truth which God has
revealed, and in which he will continue to reveal, until the Kingdom
of God shall prevail and extend throughout the wide world. We are
happy we live, and we rejoice in the blessings that we have received,
and we pray our Heavenly Father to keep us faithful.

Vol. 14,  p.367
I will tell you the only thing I am afraid of about the Saints is that
they will forget their God and that they will not live their religion;
then again I have not that fear, because I know the generality of them
will. I know this kingdom will not be given into the hands of another
people. I know that it will continue to progress and continue to
increase in spite of all the powers of the adversary, in spite of
every influence that exists now, or that ever will exist on the face
of this wide earth. God is our God, and he will bring off Israel
triumphant.

Vol. 14,  p.367
May God help us to be faithful and to keep his commandments, in the
name of Jesus, Amen.[p.368] 

George A. Smith, April 6, 1872

Persecution—Temples—Co-Operation

Remarks By President George A. Smith, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Saturday Morning, April 6th, 1872.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.368
Owing to a spirit of persecution and religious bigotry, alike
disgraceful to the age, the enlightenment of the present generation
and the nation in which we live, our First President is not permitted
to be with us. While we regret such a state of affairs, we rejoice in
the many liberties, privileges, blessings and powers which are
extended unto us. It is not by any means strange that, while the world
has been plunged in ignorance upon matters of religion and morality,
and broken up into factions, on the appearance in the midst of the
whole, of a small body of men, illiterate in their character,
proclaiming to the world that they are inspired of the Lord, and
undertake to introduce system and principles calculated to elevate
mankind from degredation and destruction, and exalt them to eternal
glory and endless increase, they should be misunderstood; it has been
so in all ages of the world. When our Savior visited the earth
bringing the simple principles of salvation, he was misunderstood,
mis-apprehended, persecuted, imprisoned, crowned with thorns,
tortured, as a man who was opposed to the religion of the age, and
dangerous to the State. He was accused of a great variety of crimes,
of being a pestilent fellow, and was finally put to death by a class
of men a great number of whom were zealous professors of
religion—elders, high priests, rabbis, doctors of the law and others
claiming to be exceedingly holy. Jesus, in referring to the history of
the past, said that the fathers of those who persecuted him had slain
the prophets, and such was the case; and we find that, in every age,
when God inspired a man to proclaim the Gospel of salvation, all, or a
large portion of mankind, were ready to denounce him and put him to
death, to whip, imprison, annoy, lie about him, proclaim all manner of
evil against him, and so on, until his influence should be annihilated
from the earth. The same principle still exists, and the Latter-day
Saints have had to contend with it. When Joseph Smith, in 1830,
organized the Church with six members, the war as it were commenced; a
few hours only had passed away when he was arrested, taken before a
magistrate and accused of prophesying. He was discharged, arrested
again, taken before another magistrate, and finally a declaration was
made that if the law could not reach him tar and feathers and mob
power should. This is a very poor argument and shows the weakness of
those who have recourse to it.

Vol. 14,  p.369
We live in an age of science, in an [p.369] age when intelligence is
being developed in a great many directions, and when the learning of
man is vastly extended. The Apostle Paul cautioned the Saints in his
day to beware lest any spoil them through philosophy and vain deceit;
yet the religion of Jesus Christ embraces every true and perfect
principle, every correct science, every principle of philosophy—that
is every true principle, and is calculated to benefit mankind in every
way; and yet the laws of life as revealed, explained and developed in
the organization of the human family are trampled under foot and very
little understood. God has commenced a work in these last days to
elevate mankind, to save them to increase them, to place them on a
footing of independence; to cause them to love one another and to lay
a foundation for peace and harmony, that bloodshed and war, contention
and devastation shall cease; that the power of the oppressor shall be
broken and that the honest in heart may have the privilege of dwelling
together and building up Zion in all the earth, and of continuing the
blessings and ordinances of exaltation for time and throughout all
eternity.

Vol. 14,  p.369
There is no doubt but Satan stirs up the hearts of the children of man
to disobedience and to war against the principles of righteousness;
but they are true. Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, he was a
minister of the Most High; he brought forth pure and holy principles,
principles which are calculated to save and exalt mankind. He was
slain, and those who received his testimony were rob bed of all they
possessed and driver into the wilderness under the influence of
religious fanaticism and bigotry, which apprehended nothing but their
utter destruction. God preserved them, blessed them, and they spread
abroad in the midst of these valleys; they converted the desert into
fruitful fields, and laid a foundation for the redemption of the human
race, and thank God for these privileges.

Vol. 14,  p.369
We want while we are here at Conference, to have our brethren collect
in their minds—that is, leave their business out of doors. It is a
good time to come to Conference, a splendid time to do business and
all that; but while the hours of Conference are on, let us come to
meeting, give strict attention to what is said and done, and call upon
God in mighty prayer, that he will deliver Zion from her oppressors;
that he will bless the efforts of his servants for the advancement of
his work; that he will bless the Missionaries that are sent abroad,
and those who are abroad among the nations, and the missions of the
native elders in the various counties; that he will open the way that
the poor may be gathered. And, by the way, while we are doing this,
let us reflect how much we can do to aid the Perpetual Emigration
Fund, in bringing home the Poor. Many of them have been scattered
among the nations half a generation and more, and they are unable to
gather home. Think of these things. Pray the Lord to give his servants
wisdom; pray the Lord to strengthen the President of the
Church—Brigham Young, heal his body, make him strong, sound and
healthy, deliver him from the power of the oppressor and those who
seek to destroy him, that he may have wisdom, intelligence and power
to preach to and teach the Saints, and to counsel and guide the
affairs of the great work which God has entrusted to him. Let us
devote a few days, as the case may be, to counsel, to instruction, to
bearing testimony, to acquiring a knowledge of the things of God,
speaking of those things that are for the welfare of Zion; taking
counsel [p.370] together as to the best course to pursue on the
various subjects that are before us—forwarding the building of
Temples, &c.

Vol. 14,  p.370
After last Conference President Young and myself made a journey to St.
George. His health was very poor and he was quite feeble when he left
here. When he reached that mild climate, or rather, that even, dry
climate, he seemed immediately to commence to recruit, and while we
remained there—we were absent about ten weeks—he improved very much;
but in consequence of the persecution which was inaugurated against
the Latter-day Saints, aiming at him directly, it became necessary for
him to return in the midst of a very cold and stormy season, and very
muddy roads. While at St. George he selected a spot, laid out the
foundation and dedicated the ground and made a commencement, to build
a temple, which is being continued under the direction of President
Erastus Snow, that the ordinances of the holy priesthood, which should
be administered only in a Temple, may be attended to in that part of
the Territory, in the neighborhood and vicinity of those settlements.

Vol. 14,  p.370
Our brethren can observe that a very handsome addition has been made
to the foundation of the Temple here since the last Annual Conference,
and they can now begin to form some idea of how the work is going to
look. When you realize that all the granite that is in that immense
foundation has been hauled some seventeen miles with oxen, mules and
horses, you must realize that a very great job has been accomplished.
But at the present time we have a railroad almost into the quarry, and
the result is that the labor has been greatly lessened, and the rock
and the sand and other building material can be brought here at vastly
less expense than formerly, and consequently we will be able to push
the work forward more rapidly. We want the brethren and sisters—all of
them, to feel an interest in the tithes and offerings for the Temple,
and in the labor upon it.

Vol. 14,  p.370
All must be aware that considerable expense and a great deal of time
and disarrangement of business has been caused by the persecutions and
prosecutions of the last year. But we are very glad that Co-operative
Associations for mercantile, manufacturing, agricultural, grazing and
other purposes that have been forming in this City and throughout this
Territory for several years past, have proved in an eminent degree
successful, manifesting what wonderful results can be accomplished by
the Latter-day Saints when united in the exercise of their several
duties and in the performance of their labors. The want of unity and
organization causes the loss of a good deal of time, and hence the
necessity of organization and united efforts.

Vol. 14,  p.370
The ladies relief societies in all the several settlements wherever
they have existed have also been in many respects highly successful,
and great blessings to the community—looking after the poor and
introducing improvements, encouraging and enabling women to take
charge of branches of business that are suited to their strength,
knowledge and condition. It always did seem to me ridiculous to see a
man six feet two and weighing two hundred and twenty measuring tape or
ribbons in a store; and I shall be very thankful when I can see
changes effected to such an extent that nimble fingers, suited to
handle light goods will be permitted to follow that kind of
employment, and so on throughout the whole organization of society.
Let those great big men go and dig the rock, handle the saw log, or do
something that their [p.371] strength was made for, and not let their
giant power wilt away in the shadow of a store. However these are
things yet to come. It is not my design to offer many remarks, but
merely as an introduction to the conference, to express my faith. I
know that this is the work of God, and that all the efforts of wicked
men to trample it under foot will be vain. I know the Lord has
commenced his great work of the latter days, and that Zion will
triumph. This is my testimony. I am not talking what I guess at, what
I imagine or what I think, but what I verily know—God has revealed it
unto me. Brethren, if you have not this knowledge within  yourselves,
seek it of the Lord by obedience to his laws, by observing his
counsel, by walking in his ordinances, by laboring for the upbuilding
of Zion, and you will obtain it, and it will be like a well of water
springing up in your hearts unto everlasting life.

Vol. 14,  p.371
May the blessing of Israel's God be and abide upon you for ever and
ever. Amen.

George A. Smith, April 8, 1872

Our Schools

Remarks By President George A. Smith, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Monday Morning, April 8th, 1872.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 14,  p.371
I am gratified in the enjoyment of the privilege of continuing our
Conference, and rejoice in the instructions and testimonies of the
Elders which have been given during the two days past. There are a few
subjects I feel anxious to lay before the brethren and sisters. I
should be glad, had I strength and opportunity, to explain many things
more minutely. I feel that God is with us, but that a great and
fearful responsibility rests upon our heads. In order that we may be
prepared to enjoy the blessings of our high and holy calling we should
be diligent, humble, faithful, and constantly unite our powers of mind
to magnify our Priesthood. One great responsibility which rests upon
us is the education of our children—the proper forming of their minds
and understandings, not only in the ordinary branches of education,
but in the principles of our holy religion.

Vol. 14,  p.371
I understand from the reports of Mr. Robert L. Campbell,
Superintendent of common schools for the Territory, that there are
about thirty thousand school children in the Territory, between the
ages of four and sixteen.

Vol. 14,  p.371
Our golden browed neighbors here in Nevada, who have for several years
enjoyed all the benefits and blessings accruing to common schools
[p.372] from a State government, have about four thousand, if I am
rightly informed, and no doubt, with the means which they possess,
they are enabled to get up excellent schools.

Vol. 14,  p.372
It appears to be a portion of the policy of the national government
never to do anything for schools in a Territory. When a Territory
becomes a State, the policy of Congress, in years past, and it will
probably continue to be so in years to come, has been to extend
liberal privileges and immunities, in the donation of lands and of the
per cents from the sales of public lands within the State for
educational purposes—the support of common schools and universities.
This parsimonious policy towards Territories may be an enlightened
one, and it may not; having lived in a Territory most of my life I may
not be considered a proper judge. Suffice it to say, however, that so
far as legislation for education is concerned, or any encouragement or
assistance extended from the United States to the people of the
Territories, their children must be raised in absolute ignorance. The
result is, that whatever progress is made or improvement attained in
these directions in the Territories is due entirely to the energy,
enterprise and enlightenment of the inhabitants—the hardy pioneers who
break the ground, make the roads, fight the Indians and create the
State.

Vol. 14,  p.372
The report of the Superintendent of Common Schools for this Territory
goes to show, not only that there are about thirty thousand school
children, but that they have attended school a greater portion of the
time than is sometimes reported in the new States, and in some of the
older ones, where they have all the advantages granted by the general
government. This speaks well for the pioneers of Utah; it is a proud
record, and one of which the Latter-day Saints may justly boast. It is
true that most of our schools are simply primary schools; but, from
what I have seen while visiting a good many of them, I know they are
vastly superior to schools which I attended, more or less, in my
earlier years in other States and Territories. I am proud of these
facts; but at the same time there is a great deal in our system that
is not by any means up to the mark. All that has been done has been
done voluntarily. The school laws of Utah Territory authorize
districts to establish free schools, if they choose to do so, by a
two-thirds vote of the inhabitants of the district, and a number of
districts have adopted this system with satisfactory results.
Otherwise the schools are sustained by the tuition fees of the pupils,
with the exception that taxes are generally levied on the property in
the school districts to assist to build school houses and to supply a
portion of the expenses and extend some little aid to the more
indigent, that all may have the privilege of going to school. A
general free school system has not been inaugurated, and any man who
will coolly, deliberately and wisely consider the condition,
associations and changeable nature of the government of our Territory,
will see the wisdom of not entering upon such a system until it can be
done under the regulations and privileges which a State government
would bring. At least, that is my judgment on the subject, though we
have advocates for the establishment of a general free school system
now. I want to say in relation to this, that perhaps there are
counties where such a system might be adopted with advantage; but if
it were adopted generally throughout the Territory, it would have to
contend with difficulties and dangers [p.373] which I would wish to
avoid. As I am not here to deliver a political speech I shall not, of
course, undertake to explain what these are. I will simply refer you
to certain little difficulties that have occurred in neighboring
States in relation to the handling of school funds, and other
important items, which show the delicacy of these matters unless they
are in the hands of the most reliable men, who are absolutely
responsible to the people by whom they are appointed and elected.

Vol. 14,  p.373
I feel satisfied, notwithstanding this good record, that there is a
very great necessity for the minds of many people to be stirred up in
relation to the education of their children, the building of good,
healthy, well ventilated school-houses, and the sending of the
children to school, providing suitable books and seats. I remember
once, in a new country, going into a school-house, and finding the
children packed almost like herrings in a box, some on the floor, some
on seats, little fellows with short legs sitting on high benches, and
all breathing air that, perhaps, might not inaptly be compared to that
of the black-hole of Calcutta. A couple of men, ignorant even of the
most simple principles of ventilation, were laboring to teach these
children, and I have sometimes taken the liberty to carry a
carpenter's saw into a school to saw off the legs of the benches to
make them a proper height to correspond with the length of the
children's legs, for I do despise the idea of putting small children
upon a high bench and large children upon a low one. I am very fond of
seeing straight, erect, well formed boys and girls, and in three
months a little inattention on the part of teachers trustees, and
school superintendents in matters of this kind, will crook the necks,
crook the backs, weaken the stomachs, produce deformity, lay a
foundation for consumption, and shorten the children's lives ten
years. I suggest to the brethren from all parts of the Territory—go
into your school-rooms, measure the children's legs, if you please,
and the benches, and see how they correspond. See whether the little
fellows sit up straight, or humped up as if they were trying to
imitate the back of a camel or dromedary, and give particular
attention to the manner in which the school-rooms are ventilated. Do
not deprive the little fellows of the most necessary and the cheapest
of all elements—atmospheric air, in its purity, and thereby sow in
their systems the seeds of premature death.

Vol. 14,  p.373
There are many persons come into the Territory who do not speak the
English language. I think more institutions should be got up in all
the neighborhoods to encourage the learning of our tongue. I know
young people generally learn it pretty quickly; but as the laws and
most of the public speeches are made in the English language, it is
important even in Welsh, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, German and French
settlements, that the language in which law and justice are
administered, and in which public meetings are generally conducted,
should be well and properly understood.

Vol. 14,  p.373
It occurs not only with some of the foreign emigration, but with some
other persons, that they fail to appreciate the necessity of
education, and of sending their children to school. Good and wholesome
influences, exercised through teachers, Elders and Bishops, should be
brought to bear on all this class of people, to show them the
importance of educating their children. There are Elders who seem
willing and ready to take missions to the most distant [p.374] foreign
countries, but when they are invited to go into a school-room to teach
a school, they will say, "Well, I can make more money at something
else, I would rather be land speculating, go a lumbering, or set up
merchandizing." Let me say to you, brethren, that there is no calling
in which a missionary can do more good, either man or woman, than to
teach a common school, if he or she is qualified to do so.

Vol. 14,  p.374
We are very well aware that it is but little use to whip "Mormon"
children. You undertake to thrash anything into them, and you will
most surely thrash it out of them. It was never any use to undertake
to drive or coerce Latter-day Saints, they never could be coerced in
their religious faith or practice. It is not their nature, and the
mountain air our children breathe inspires them with the idea that
they are not to be whipped like dogs to make them learn. The manner in
which it must be done is by moral suasion, superior intellect, wisdom,
prudence and good straightforward management in forming the judgment
of the pupil by cultivating his manly qualities. This principle should
be carried out in all our schools. In my boyhood discipline was
enforced by the application of the blue beech switch. The blue beech
does not grow in this country, but many school-masters in former times
in New York and New England were provided with these tough limber
switches, and I have seen them used among the scholars with fearful
effect, and in cases where I am satisfied the pupil was less at fault
than the preceptor. I know they say Solomon declared if you spare the
rod you will spoil the child. My opinion is that the use of the red is
very frequently the result of a want of understanding on the part of a
spoiled parent or teacher in guiding, directing and controlling the
feelings and affections of children, though of course the use of the
rod in some cases might be necessary; but I have seen children abused
when they ought not to have been, because King Solomon is believed to
have made that remark, which, if he did, in nine cases out of ten
referred to mental rather than physical correction.  I will, however,
allow other men who have taught school, as a profession, to offer
their suggestions on these subjects; but I will say that I have known
Professor Dusenberry teach a hundred scholars—the wildest, roughest
boys we had in a frontier town, and never lay a stick on one of them.
He has done it term after term, and the children liked and respected
him and would mind him, and there was nothing on the face of the earth
that seemed to hurt their feelings more than to feel that they had
lost the confidence of their preceptor. This was simply the result of
cultivating reasoning powers in the minds of the children, and I am
happy to say there are many such teachers now in Utah.

Vol. 14,  p.374
I will say a few words in relation to normal schools. As I said
before, we have had nothing to encourage primary schools but what we
ourselves with our bone, sinew, energy and enterprise have done. So it
is with the more advanced branches. The Deseret University has made
efforts to establish graded schools for the education of teachers.
This has been done by small appropriations from the Legislative
Assembly and Salt Lake City and County; but the great mass of the work
has been done by individual enterprize. There are many at the present
time in Utah who have been thus educated, who devote the winter
season, and many of them the summer, to teaching schools. The energy
of Superintendent Campbell in introducing suitable [p.375] books and
apparatus, and to improve the condition of our schools has been
commendable; and the Timponagos branch of the University of Deseret,
at Provo, one at St. George and several others established in the
Territory for the education of teachers have had their good effects.
But their effects are limited, compared with what they might be, and I
am sorry to say that several of our young men have been under the
necessity of going to universities in other parts of the world to
obtain an education, which it is desirable we should have the
facilities to give them here. Brethren and sisters, take this matter
to your hearts, for it is one of the great missions of the Latter-day
Saints to do all in their power to educate the rising generation and
to teach them the principles of eternal truth.

Vol. 14,  p.375
I have had the pleasure of visiting a good many Sunday-schools, from
time to time, from a very early period after they were established in
this Territory, and I can speak highly of their influence and the
benefits they have produced. I visited a Bible class while at St.
George, composed of young gentlemen and ladies, and I found that they
were as well instructed in relation to the principles of the Gospel,
as laid down in the Bible and in the revelations of the Lord, as a
very large portion of the Elders. I was very glad to see it. I visited
Sunday-schools when I could in the course of my travels, and I was
gratified to see the progress that has been made. I want to stir up
parents to the necessity of fitting up and encouraging their children
to attend Sunday-school. I also want to encourage them to attend
themselves and act as teachers; and for the young men and young women,
whenever they can, or those whose family arrangements are such that
they can attend to it, to volunteer and contribute their exertions in
carrying on Sunday-schools. A great many Elders have devoted much time
to this useful and important subject, and have labored to teach,
encourage and strengthen Sunday-schools. Last summer, two weeks
previous to the celebrated Methodist camp meeting that was held in
this city, Dr. Vincent, a Methodist minister, and two others connected
with Sunday-schools, by their own request, addressed in this
Tabernacle about four thousand Sunday-school children. They told me
they had visited the Sunday-school in the 13th Ward, and had addressed
the scholars there, and they said that that Sunday-school was highly
creditable. But although they gave us so much credit, they went away
feeling very bitter towards us. I asked them if they had not been
treated as well here as we would be in their society. "O, yes," said
they, "We were invited to attend Sunday-schools and we did so. We were
allowed to address the children, and at our request four or five
thousand were brought together for us to talk to." And they went on
and told how well they were treated; but nothwithstanding that, they
said they had been told from the most reliable sources that a great
many men had been killed in this country for not being "Mormons." Said
I, "You have been most foully gulled by somebody." Dr. Vincent
replied, "The authority is most reliable, for it came from our
officers." I said to him, "The officers change so often that they can
have no personal knowledge on these subjects. Some of them are
interested in promoting difficulty with the people of Utah. No man was
ever killed in Utah for his religion; and if the few cases of murder
that have occurred here were thoroughly investigated they would be
found to [p.376] be the result of private quarrels; and there have
been five hundred per cent. less of such cases here than in any other
new State or Territory with which I have been acquainted; and the
country can not be found on the face of the earth where the population
is scattered over such a large area which has maintained such perfect
police regulations, and these statements are simply scandal."

Vol. 14,  p.376
I name this circumstance from the fact that a man who bad been so
liberally treated by the Latter-day Saints, who had had the privilege
of speaking to the largest collection of school children that he
probably ever saw in his life, would believe lies told him by
renegades, and carry them away and publish them rather than the real
facts which he had the privilege of seeing, hearing and learning from
reliable authority while here. 

Vol. 14,  p.376
I wish to stir up our brethren to continue their labor in
Sunday-schools, and, in doing so, to continue to sustain liberally the
Juvenile Instructor. Place it in the hands of your children, it
contains some of the best reading matter for them I know of, and its
circulation should be widely extended. I notice from pieces published
by Protestant ministers who have established churches in this city,
that their principal hope of converting the "Mormons" is by leading,
(I call it misleading) away their children. They despair of converting
the old ones who are perfectly established in their religious faith;
and their hope appears to be in misleading their children by getting
them into their schools. By so doing they can probably draw them away
from the Latter-day faith, and through the children they may also
succeed in gaining over some of their parents. The enemy of all
righteousness is sagacious, and so are his servants, and I think it
quite honest, but not very creditable to Christian ministers to
frankly acknowledge that their business here is to try and entice
children from their parents. But so far as this is concerned our
brethren and sisters should learn a lesson by it, and see that the
persons who educate their children do not plant in their hearts
falsehood, deception, wickedness and corruption. They should place
them under the tuition of those who will teach them the principles
they are employed to teach, and not instil into their minds those
things that will lead them to destruction. The catechism for children,
exhibiting the prominent doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, should be in every family, school and Bible class.

Vol. 14,  p.376
I think measures should be taken to increase the circulation among the
people of the Deseret News, and the standard works of the Church. A
great many read them, and many do not; and if in the various
neighborhoods, a little more pains were taken, the information they
contain could be more widely disseminated. I know the enemies of Zion
are willing take any pains in the world almost to circulate lies; why
should we not take a little pains to circulate truth, and to spread
and to disseminate abroad pure and holy principles? I call the
attention of Elders of the various stakes to these subjects.

Vol. 14,  p.376
Peace to the faithful. Amen.