Journal of Discourses Volume 2
 
 BY BRIGHAM YOUNG,
 President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
 
 HIS TWO COUNSELLORS,
 THE TWELVE APOSTLES AND OTHERS.
 
 REPORTED BY G. D. WATT,
 
 AND HUMBLY DEDICATED TO THE 
 LATTER-DAY SAINTS IN THE WORLD.
 
 VOL. II.
 
 LIVERPOOL:
 
 PUBLISHED BY F. D. RICHARDS, 86, ISLINGTON,
 
 LONDON:
 
 LATTER-DAY SAINTS' BOOK DEPOT, 35, JEWIN STREET, CITY.
 
 1855.
 
 Preface
 
Vol. 2, p.vii
 THE Second Volume of the Journal of Discourses needs no recommendation
 to make it interesting to every Saint who loves to drink of the
 streams that flow from the fountain of Eternal Truth. It is made up of
 the choicest fruit that can be culled from the tree of knowledge,
 suited to the tastes of all who can appreciate such delicious food. It
 contains the principles of the Gospel of Salvation to this generation.
 By the rules and precepts found in it, he that reads with the light of
 the Holy Spirit may measure himself and the progress he has made in
 the way of Eternal Life. Like a mirror it will reflect upon the souls
 of the meek and humble the beams of light which emanate from the
 presence of the Father. Hypocrites, and workers of iniquity, will find
 in it the most cutting rebukes, that, when uttered, tingled the ears
 of these who heard, and caused the wicked to feel the canker worm of
 conscious guilt, which will gnaw upon their vitals until the day shall
 come when they have paid the penalty of transgression, and are
 permitted to reap the blessing of repentance.
 
Vol. 2, p.vii
 As the Kingdom advances, and the Saints emerge from the receding
 shadows of sectarianism and the prejudices of early education, the
 revelations of the Lord, through His servants, abound with increasing
 intelligence, and are more cogent and powerful in administering rebuke
 to the wicked, comfort and consolation to the Saints, and reveal more
 distinctly the way-marks which point the way to exaltation and eternal
 lives.
 
Vol. 2, p.vii
 There is a feast of fat things continually spread in Zion for the
 faithful, and the longing appetite for celestial food need never go
 unsatisfied. Some discourses in this Volume mark distinct eras in the
 progress of the work. Among these we will only notice the discourses
 on the principles of Consecration, and those in which President Young
 has administered severe but well-merited rebuke to the General
 Government of the United States and its corrupt officials, and
 indicated the future course and policy of Utah.[p.viii] 
 
Vol. 2, p.viii
 According to the measure of light in which a man lives, the past
 serves as an index to the future. The marks which recent events have
 left on the dial plate of time, indicate a rapid increase in the
 brilliancy of the light which shines from Zion, and that the voice of
 "The Lion of Lord" will increase the terror of the wicked, and send
 trembling and dismay into the camps of the enemy. Let him that would
 be saved watch and pray, and read with an understanding heart the
 words that flow from the lips of Prophets and Apostles, and, when he
 has read, practise the principles they teach.
 
 THE PUBLISHER[p.1] 
 
 Brigham Young, October 23, 1853
 
 The Gospel—Growing in Knowledge—the Lord's 
 Supper—Blessings of Faithfulness—Utility of 
 Persecution—Creation of Adam—Experience
 
 A Discourse By President Brigham Young, 
 Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, 
 Oct. 23, 1853.
 
Vol. 2, p.1
 I wish to bear my testimony, before this congregation, to the religion
 which is called "Mormonism," and preached by the Elders of the same
 profession in all the world; and that, we believe, is the Gospel of
 salvation, and calculated to save all the honest in heart who wish to
 be saved.
 
Vol. 2, p.1
 This is my testimony concerning it—It is the power of God unto
 salvation to all who believe and obey it. The words "obey it," I have
 added to the text as it is given to us by King James's translators. To
 say it is the power of God unto salvation to them that believe, and
 that be the end of it, then the people could not be saved by it. It is
 quite possible some may argue the point as it is held out in the New
 Testament reading, and in their own estimation justly. But to me one
 argument is sufficient to lay the matter at rest in my mind—a person
 who disobeys the Gospel, and operates against it, may not only believe
 it, but know it to be true. Therefore I read the Scripture thus—"This
 Gospel that we preach is the power of God unto salvation to all who
 believe and obey it."
 
Vol. 2, p.1
 My testimony is based upon experience, upon my own experience, in
 connexion with that obtained by observing others. To me it has become
 positively true—no doubt remains upon my mind, whatever, as to the
 power of the revealed will of Heaven to man upon the minds of the
 people, when the principles of salvation are set before them by the
 authorized ministers of heaven. The heavenly truth commends itself to
 every person's judgment, and to their faith; and more especially to
 the senses of those who wish to be honest with themselves, with their
 God, and with their neighbor. Yet I must admit that all men are not
 operated upon alike; the evidence of truth comes more forcibly to the
 understandings of some than others. This is owing to numerous
 influences. The Gospel may be preached to an individual, and the truth
 commend itself to the conscience of that person, creating but a little
 faith in its truth, to which there [p.2] may be an addition made. If
 persons can receive a little, it proves they may receive more. If they
 can receive the first and second principles with an upright feeling,
 they may receive still more, and the words of the Prophet be
 fulfilled. He, seeing and understanding the mind of man, and the
 operations of the different spirits that have gone abroad into the
 world, and knowing the ways of the Lord, and the vision of his mind
 being opened to those things we call mysteries, said—"Whom shall he
 teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them
 that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept
 must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon
 line, here a little, and there a little." That is, He gives a little
 to His humble followers to-day, and if they improve upon it, to-morrow
 He will give them a little more, and the next day a little more. He
 does not add to that which they do not improve upon, but they are
 required to continually improve upon the knowledge they already
 possess, and thus obtain a store of wisdom. It is plain, then, that we
 may receive the truth, and know, through every portion of the soul,
 that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, that it is the way
 to life eternal; still there may be added to this, more power, wisdom,
 knowledge, and understanding. The Apostle does not say, grow in grace,
 and in the knowledge of the truth, as Jesus did; no, but it reads,
 "Grow in grace, and in the knowledge. of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
 Christ," which implies a growing in strength, wisdom, and
 understanding, as he did.
 
Vol. 2, p.2
 It is the privilege of all Saints to grow and increase in
 understanding, and to spread abroad. If they receive a little, it is
 their privilege to improve upon that little, and so receive more,
 until they become perfect in the Lord—knowing and understanding
 perfectly His ways. Then the manifestations of His providence among
 the children of men cease to be a mystery to them. Kingdoms and
 thrones, princes and potentates, with all their earthly splendor, may
 be hurled to the dust, and revolution upon revolution may spread
 scenes of affliction and blood among the inhabitants of the earth, yet
 their eyes are open to see the handy work of the Lord in all this.
 They realize that He is capable of endowing His ministers and servants
 on the earth with the same power as He possesses in Himself, that He
 scrutinizes every particle of His work, and that not a hair of their
 heads can fall to the ground without His notice.
 
Vol. 2, p.2
 I bear my testimony that the Gospel you have embraced is the way of
 life and salvation to every one that believes it, and then obeys it
 with an honest intent. The inquiry may arise in the minds of some, as
 to how far they shall obey it. Every son and daughter of God is
 expected to obey with a willing heart every word which the Lord has
 spoken, and which He will in the future speak to us. It is expected
 that we hearken to the revelations of His will, and adhere to them,
 cleave to them with all our might; for this is salvation, and any
 thing short of this clips the salvation and the glory of the Saints.
 Consequently, we are here to-day, engaged in the administration of the
 ordinance of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. How does it appear to
 you, and what are your sensations, when the servants of the Lord
 present to you the emblems of His body? Do you believe you receive
 life? Do you realize that you receive any benefit? Do you feel that
 you will receive fresh strength, or additional knowledge, through this
 holy ordinance? Or, do you do it because others do it? Do you partake
 of these tokens of the [p.3] love of the Redeemer because it is a mere
 custom? Suffice it to say, varied are the feelings among the human
 family upon this subject.
 
Vol. 2, p.3
 If you ask a certain class of the priests of Christendom what they
 think of the bread and wine administered for the Sacrament of the
 Lord's Supper, they will declare. that the bread is the actual flesh,
 and the wine the real blood, of him who was slain for the sins of the
 world.
 
Vol. 2, p.3
 If you ask another class of men what benefit they derive from
 partaking of the Sacrament, from eating and drinking the emblems of
 the body and blood of Christ, they reply, "It is merely a token of our
 fellowship with each other." Is there any life, any power, any real
 and substantial benefit to be obtained by adhering to, and obeying
 faithfully, this ordinance? What do the Latter-day Saints think about
 it? Do they understand the true nature of this ordinance? Perhaps they
 do, and again perhaps they do not.
 
Vol. 2, p.3
 It is an easy matter for me to understand the information the Lord has
 imparted to me, and then communicate the same to you. Will the bread
 administered in this ordinance add life to you? Will the wine add life
 to you? Yes; if you are hungry and faint, it will sustain the natural
 strength of the body. But suppose you have just eaten and drunk till
 you are full, so as not to require another particle of food to sustain
 the natural body; you have eaten all your nature requires; do you then
 receive any benefit from. the bread and wine as mere articles of food?
 As far as the emblems are concerned, you receive strength naturally,
 when the body requires it, precisely as you would by eating bread, and
 drinking wine, at any other time, or on any other occasion.
 
Vol. 2, p.3
 In what consists the benefit we derive from this ordinance? It is in
 obeying the commands of the Lord. When we obey the commandments of our
 heavenly Father, if we have a correct understanding of the ordinances
 of the house of God, we receive all the promises attached to the
 obedience rendered to His commandments. Jesus said—Verily, verily I
 say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of God, and drink his
 blood, ye have no life in you. Again, "He that eateth me," "shall live
 by me." Again, "Whose eateth my flesh, and drinketh, my blood, hath
 eternal life." "For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink
 indeed."
 
Vol. 2, p.3
 Can you understand these sayings of the Saviour? These sayings are but
 isolated portions of the vast amount of instructions given by him to
 his followers in his day. Had a thousandth part of his teachings to
 them been handed down to us, and all his doings been faithfully
 recorded and transmitted to us, we should not have known what to do
 with such a vast amount of information. The Apostle says, "And there
 are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should
 be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not
 contain the books that should be written."
 
Vol. 2, p.3
 Allow me to explain this text. The Apostle could not possibly mean
 what the language of the quotation implies —that the whole earth would
 have been covered with books to a certain depth; no, but he meant, by
 that saying, there would have been more written than the world of
 mankind would receive, or credit. The people then were as they are in
 this day—they are continually reaching after something that is not
 revealed, when there is more written already than they can comprehend.
 Instead of saying the world could not contain the books, we will say
 there would have been more written than the people would carry out in
 their lives.
 
Vol. 2, p.4
 I will now tell you what the Saviour [p.4] meant by those wonderful
 expressions touching his body and blood. It is simply this—"If you do
 not keep the commandments of God, you will have no life of the Son of
 God in you." Jesus, as they were eating, took the bread, and blessed
 it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat;
 this is my body. And he took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to
 them; saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the New
 Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." What
 were they required to drink it for? What are we partaking of these
 emblems for? In token of our fellowship with him, and in token that we
 desire to be one with each other, that we may all be one with the
 Father. His administering these symbols to his ancient disciples, and
 which he commanded should be done until he came, was for the express
 purpose that they should witness unto the Father that they did believe
 in him. But on the other hand, if they did not obey this commandment,
 they should not be blessed with his spirit.
 
Vol. 2, p.4
 It is the same in this, as it is in the ordinance of baptism for the
 remission of sins. Has water, in itself, any virtue to wash away sin?
 Certainly not; but the Lord says, "If the sinner will repent of his
 sins, and go down into the waters of baptism, and there be buried in
 the likeness of being put into the earth and buried, and again be
 delivered from the water, in the likeness of being born—if in the
 sincerity of his heart he will do this, his sins shall be washed away.
 Will the water of itself wash them away? No; but keeping the
 commandments of God will cleanse away the stain of sin.
 
Vol. 2, p.4
 When we eat of this bread, and drink of this water, do we eat the
 literal flesh of the Son of God? Were I a priest of the Roman Catholic
 church, and had been trained from my youth in that faith, I might
 believe fully, with my whole heart, that my prayers would transform
 the bread of the eucharist into the literal flesh, and the wine into
 the literal blood, of the Son of God. But notwithstanding my faith on
 that matter, the bread and wine would be just the same in their
 component parts, and would administer to the mortal systems of men, or
 of beasts, the same amount and kind of nutriment that the same
 quantity of unblessed bread and wine would. If bread and wine are
 blessed, dedicated, and sanctified, through the sincerity and faith of
 the people of God, then the Spirit of the Lord, through the promise,
 rests upon the individuals who thus keep His commandments, and are
 diligent in obeying the ordinances of the house of God. So I
 understand all the ordinances of the house of the Lord. You know we
 used to get down upon our knees and pray for the remission of sins;
 and we would pray until we got peace of mind, and then we thought our
 sins were forgiben. I have no fault to find with this, it is all
 right. Many in this way have been made to rejoice in the hope of
 eternal life, to rejoice in the gift of the Spirit of the Lord, and in
 the light of His countenance. Many received heavenly visions,
 revelations, the ministering of holy angels, and the manifestations of
 the power of God, untill they were satisfied; and all this before the
 ordinances of the house of God were preached to the people. They
 obtained those blessings through their faith, and the sincerity of
 their hearts. It was this that called down heavenly blessings upon
 them. It was their fervency of spirit, and not their obedience to the
 celestial law, through which they received such blessings; and it was
 all right. What is required of us when the law comes? We must obey it,
 as old Paul did. He was a servant of God in all good conscience, when
 he took care of the clothes of those who stoned Stephen to death;
 [p.5]  but when the law came, sin revived in his, and he said, "I
 died." That is, his former notions of serving God, his former
 incorrect traditions, all appeared to him in their true light, and
 that upon which he had trusted for salvation as baseless as a dream,
 when the law of the Lord came by Jesus Christ; and in it he found the
 promises and the gifts and the blessings of the holy Gospel, through
 obedience to the ordinances. That is the only legal way to obtain
 salvation, and an exaltation in the presence of God.
 
Vol. 2, p.5
 In this light do I view all the ordinances of the house of God. I do
 not know of one commandment that may be preferred before another; or
 of one ordinance of the house of God, from the beginning to the end of
 all the Lord has revealed to the children of men, that is not of equal
 validity, power, and authority with the rest. So we partake of bread
 and wine, obeying the commandments of the Lord; and by so doing we
 receive the blessing.
 
Vol. 2, p.5
 But how do the people feel? Perhaps you will refer the answer of this
 question to myself. Were I to answer it, I should say, they feel every
 way. Permit me to refer particularly to the brethren and sisters who
 have lately come to this place—they have all the variety of feelings
 that is common to the human heart. They know how they feel; they are
 my witnesses. The most frivolous and trifling circumstance that can
 transpire, will produce in them the most keen and cutting trial. What
 can we say about it? For one I will say, let them come, the small
 trials and the large ones; let them be many or few, it is the same;
 let them come as the Lord pleases. Brother Heber C. Kimball was
 speaking this morning about this people being driven from pillar to
 post, and he told the cause of their many trials. I will ask a
 question concerning this matter. If you had not been driven from York
 State, and the persecution become so hot as to send you up to
 Kirtland, Ohio, would you have known as much as you now know?
 Persecution did not commence in Kirtland, nor in Jackson County, but
 it commenced at the time Joseph the Prophet sought the plates in the
 hill Cumorah. It did not commence after I came into the Church, but I
 found it at work when I entered the Church.
 
Vol. 2, p.5
 Suppose Joseph had hot been obliged to flee from Pennsylvania back to
 York State, would he have known as much as he afterwards knew? Suppose
 he could have stayed in old Ontario County in peace, without being
 persecuted, could he have learned as much as he did by being
 persecuted? He fled from there to Kirtland, accompanied by many
 others, to save their lives. There are men now in this Church whom I
 see before me and in full fellowship, who haunted my house for days,
 weeks, and months to kill me, and I knew it all the time; and Joseph
 had to flee to Missouri.
 
Vol. 2, p.5
 Would he have known as much if this persecution had not come upon him,
 as he afterwards did by its coming upon him? When the people left
 Kirtland they went to Jackson County, Missouri, and Joseph commenced
 to lay out a city to be called Zion; and not now, but after a time,
 when the Lord has accomplished His preparatory work, it will be built,
 even the New Jerusalem. The brethren were persecuted also in Jackson
 County, and driven out; they had trial upon trial, persecution on the
 right hand and on the left. Suppose, when they went to Jackson County,
 all the people of Missouri had hailed them as brethren, fellow
 citizens, and as neighbors, and had tyreated them accordingly,  and
 they had been protected in their religious liberty, would the people
 that were driven from Jackson County have known as much as they [p.6]
 now know? Could they have gained the knowledge and wisdom they have
 obtained by means of their persecutions? You can answer these
 questions to suit your own minds. When they had to flee from Ohio to
 Missouri, it certainly gave the people an experience they could not
 have obtained in any other way. When they were driven from Jackson
 County, and went to Clay, Ray, Caldwell, and Davies counties,
 persecution still followed them, and every man and woman who
 acknowledged Joseph Smith to be a Prophet, had to leave the State
 forthwith.
 
Vol. 2, p.6
 I feel inclined now to give some of you a gentle touch on the left
 side. Brethren, how glad I am to see you; how pleased I am to see you;
 where have you been these few years back? Where have you been living?
 Where did you go after you left Missouri? "Why I stayed there." I say,
 there was not a man who would say that Joseph Smith was a Prophet,
 could stay there; they had all to leave the State; and you will now
 show yourselves at this late day, and try to have us believe you are
 first-rate Latter-day Saints. My thoughts are, "YOU POOR DEVILS!"
 
Vol. 2, p.6
 I hope I do not hurt any of your feelings. If you will do right from
 this time henceforth, and help with your mights to build up the
 Kingdom of God, I will hold you in fellowship after you have thus
 proved yourselves. But you may regard it as an established fact, that
 I have no fellowship for you yet; and I have as much as the Lord has.
 Still, if I have anything to fear, it is that I fellowship people too
 much, when they are not worthy; that is, I reflect—"Can I be more
 merciful than the Lord?" But I have not got light enough nor wisdom
 enough to fellowship men who lived in peace with those who sought to
 kill us. 
 
Vol. 2, p.6
 Ask yourselves whether you think this people would have received as
 much as they have received, if they never had been persecuted. Could
 they have advanced in the school of intelligence as far without being
 persecuted, as they have by being persecuted? Look for instance at
 Adam. Listen, ye Latter-day Saints! Supposing that Adam was formed
 actually out of clay, out of the same kind of material from which
 bricks are formed; that with this matter God made the pattern of a
 man, and breathed into it the breath of life, and left it there, in
 that state of supposed perfection, he would have been an adobie to
 this day. He would not have known anything.
 
Vol. 2, p.6
 Some of you may doubt the truth of what I now say, and argue that the
 Lord could teach him. This is a mistake. The Lord could not have
 taught him in any other way than in the way in which He did teach him.
 You believe Adam was made of the dust of this earth. This I do not
 believe, though it is supposed that it is so written in the Bible; but
 it is not, to my understanding. You can write that information to the
 States, if you please—that I have publicly declared that I do not
 believe that portion of the Bible as the Christian world do. I never
 did, and I never want to. What is the reason I do not? Because I have
 come to understanding, and banished from my mind all the baby stories
 my mother taught me when I was a child.
 
Vol. 2, p.6
 But suppose Adam was made and fashioned the same as we make adobies;
 if he had never drunk of the bitter cup, the Lord might have talked to
 him to this day, and he would have continued as he was to all
 eternity, never advancing one particle in the school of intelligence.
 This idea opens up a field of light to the intelligent mind. How can
 you know truth but by its opposite, or light but by its opposite? The
 absence of light is darkness. How can sweetness be [p.7] known but by
 its opposite, bitter? It is by this means that we obtain all
 intelligence. This is "Mormonism," and it is founded upon all truth,
 upon every principle of true philosophy; in fact the Gospel of Jesus
 Christ is the only true philosophy in existence. There is not one
 particle of it flat is not strictly philosophical, though you and I
 may not understand all the fulness of it, but we will if we continue
 faithful.
 
Vol. 2, p.7
 Let the brethren who have been persecuted and driven from city to
 city, inquire of themselves if they like it. Some of you may give a
 negative to this inquiry. You recollect brother Taylor telling about a
 woman in Far West who had her house burnt down some four or five
 times; she finally said, "she would be damned if she would stand it
 any longer." If her eyes had been opened to see, she would have
 thanked the Lord for that, more than for anything else; that
 persecution was more precious to her than riches, because it was
 designed to teach her to understand the knowledge of God. Do I
 acknowledge the hand of the Lord in persecution? Yes, I do. It is one
 of the greatest blessings that could be conferred upon the people of
 God. I acknowledge the hand of the Lord in levelling His people to the
 dust of the earth, and reducing them to a state of abject poverty. 
 
Vol. 2, p.7
 Time and time again have I left handsome property to be inherited by
 our enemies. 
 
Vol. 2, p.7
 Suppose we were called to leave what we have now, should we call it a
 sacrifice? Shame on the man who would so call it; for it is the very
 means of adding to him knowledge, understanding, power, and glory, and
 prepares him to receive crowns, kingdoms, thrones, and principalities,
 and to be crowned in glory with the Gods of eternity. Short of this,
 we can never receive that which we are looking for.
 
Vol. 2, p.7
 For example, I will refer to your crossing the plains. How could you
 in any other way have known the hardships incident to such a journey?
 And do you not fed ashamed for getting angry at your cattle, or for
 letting passion arise in your bosoms? Suppose you were rolling in
 wealth, and perfectly at your ease, with an abundance around you; you
 might have remained in that condition until Doomsday, and never could
 have advanced in the school of intelligence, any mere than Adam could
 have known about the works of God, in the great design of the
 creation, without first being made acquainted with the opposite? "Is
 there evil in the city and I have not done it, saith the Lord." There
 is no evil that is not known to the Lord. He has been perfectly
 acquainted with all the persecutions the Saints have passed through.
 His hand was there, as much so as it is in building up and tearing
 down kingdoms and thrones on earth; and even the moth we trample upon
 is not overlooked by Him. Everything is under His watchful eye; he
 understands all the works of His hands, and knows how to use them to
 His own glory. He has given the children of men the privilege of
 becoming equal with His Son Jesus Christ, and has placed all things
 that pertain to this world in their hands, to see what use they will
 make of them.
 
Vol. 2, p.7
 Joseph could not have been perfected, though he had lived a thousand
 years, if he had received no persecution. If he had lived a thousand
 years, and led this people, and preached the Gospel without
 persecution, he would not have been perfected as well as he was at the
 age of thirty-nine years. You may calculate when, this people are
 called to go through scenes of affliction and suffering, are driven
 from their homes; and cast down, and scattered, and smitten, and
 peeled, the Almighty is rolling on [p.8] His work with greater
 rapidity. But let you and me live and die in peace, and in our lives
 we send the Gospel to the nations, from kingdom to kingdom, and from
 people to people, will it advance the same speed if it receive no
 persecution: If we had received no persecution in Nauvoo, would the
 Gospel have spread as it now has? Would the Elders have been scattered
 so widely as they now are, preaching the Gospel? No, they would have
 been wedded to their farms, and the precious seed of the word would
 have been choked. "Brother Joseph, of brother Brigham, do not call
 upon me to go on a mission, for I have so much to do I cannot go,"
 would have been the general cry. "I want to build a row of stores
 across this of that block, and place myself in a situation to make
 $100,000 a year, and then I can devote so much for the building up of
 the kingdom of God." The Elders would have been so devoted to riches,
 they would not have gone to preach when the Lord wanted them. But when
 they have not a frock to put upon the backs of their children, of a
 shoe for their feet, then they can go out and preach the Gospel to the
 world.
 
Vol. 2, p.8
 Well, do you think that persecution has done us good? Yes. I sit and
 laugh, and rejoice exceedingly when I see persecution I care no more
 about it than I do about the wistling of the north wind, the croaking
 of the crane that flies over my head, or the crackling of the thorns
 under the pot. The Lord has all things in His hand; therefore let it
 come, for it will give me experience. Do you suppose I should have
 known what I how know, had I not been persecuted? I can now see the
 hearts of the children of men with the mane clearness as I can your
 persons in the light of day. I know we have been sunk in the depths of
 poverty and wretchedness, by the hands of our enemies, but in this we
 have seen the works of the Lord, and the works of darkness
 intermingled; this has taught us to discriminate between the two, that
 we may learn to choose the good, and refuse the evil; of in other
 words, to seperate the chaff from the wheat.
 
Vol. 2, p.8
 I am a witness that "Mormonism" is true upon philosophical principles.
 Every particle of sense I have, proves it to be sound, natural reason.
 The gospel  is true, there is a God, there are angels, there are a
 heaven and a hell, and we are all in eternity, and out of it we can
 never get, it is boundless, without beginning or end, and we have
 never been out of it. Time is a certain portion of eternity allotted
 to the existence of these mortal bodies, which are to be dissolved, to
 be decomposed, or disorganized, preparatory to entering into a more
 exalted state of being. It is a portion of eternity allotted to this
 world, and can only be known by the changes we see in the composition
 and decomposition of the elements of which it is composed. The Lord
 has put His children here, and given them bodies that are also subject
 to decay, to see if they will prove themselves worthy of the particles
 of which their tabernacles are composed, and of a glorious
 resurrection when their mortal bodies will become immortalized. Now if
 you possess the light of the Holy Spirit, you can see clearly that
 trials in the flesh are actually necessary.
 
Vol. 2, p.8
 I will refer again to the brethren and sisters who have lately come
 over the plains. My counsel to them to-day is, as it has been on
 former occasions to all who have come into these valleys, Go and be
 baptized for the remission of sins, repenting of all your wanderings
 from the path of righteousness, believing firmly,  in the name of
 Jesus Christ, that all your sins will be washed away. If any of you
 inquire what is the necessity of your being baptized, as you have not
 committed [p.9] any sins, I answer, it is necessary to fulfil all
 righteousness.
 
Vol. 2, p.9
 I have heard of some of you cursing and swearing, even some of the
 Elders of Israel. I would be baptized seven times, were I in your
 place; I would not stop teazing some good Elder to baptize me again
 and again, until I could think my sins forgiven. I would not live over
 another night until I was baptized enough to satisfy me that my sins
 were forgiven. Then go and be confirmed, as you were when you first
 embraced the religion of Jesus. That is my counsel.
 
Vol. 2, p.9
 Furthermore I counsel you to stop and think what you are doing, before
 you commit any more sins, before you give way to your temper. The
 temper, or the evil propensities of men, when given way to are the
 cause of sinning so much. The Lord is suffering the devil to work upon
 and try His people. The selfish will, operated upon by the power of
 Satan, is the strongest cord that vibrates through the human system.
 This has been verified a thousand times. Men have sacrificed their
 money, their health, their good names, their friends, and have broken
 through every tender tie to gratify their wills. Curb that, bridle the
 tongue, and them hold the mastery over your feelings, that they submit
 not to the will of the flesh, but to the will of the Holy Ghost; and
 decide in your own minds that your will and judgment shall be none
 other than the will and judgment of the Spirit of God, and you will
 then go and sin no more.
 
Vol. 2, p.9
 Many of the brethren who have led companies through this season are
 scattered through the congregation. I will tell a story you will
 scarcely believe. In the first place, I will remark, it has been very
 common for the companies crossing the plains to send into the city for
 provisions to be sent out to them. Again, many of you new comers have
 suffered want of food on the plains. Would you have suffered as you
 did if you had been in possession of the experience you now have?
 "No," you reply. "No," says this father, and that mother, and this man
 that brought through a company, "had we the experience we now have,
 when we left the Missouri river, we could have come through, and none
 have suffered for food, and less of our stock would have been
 destroyed." This experience is good for you. It helps you to learn the
 lessons of human life, for the Lord designs His people to understand
 the whold of it—to understand the light and the darkness, the height
 and the depth, the length and the breadth of every principle that is
 within the compass of the human mind.
 
Vol. 2, p.9
 Now for the hard saying. Brother David Wilkin's company, Joseph
 Young's company, John Brown's company, and other companies, had more
 provisions for their journey, when they left Missouri river, by a
 great amount, than the first emigrants had who started to come to this
 valley, not knowing whither they went, carrying with them their
 farming implements into a country where they could obtain notheing to
 sustain themselves in life until they raised in from the ground. When
 you started for this place, you had more provisions, according to your
 numbers, than the first Pioneer companies had who came here six years
 ago. Can you believe this statement? I can prove it to you. Here are
 hundreds who can testify to the truth of this statement. And you
 complain of suffering! If you suffer, it is for want of experience.
 This is positive proof to you, that were it not that the Lord turns us
 into these difficulties, and leads us into these trials, we could not
 know how to be glorified and crowned in His presence. If these
 companies were again to cross the plains, they would have plenty, and
 some to spare to feed the poor, and [p.10]  take up the lame, and the
 halt, and the blind, by the way, and bring them to Zion, and then have
 a surplus. Are you to blame? No. If you are to blame for anything, it
 is for complaining against the providence of God, instead of feeling
 thankful for the knowledge and intelligence the Lord has given you in
 this experience. When you are in the like situation again, you can
 save yourselves, and those associated with you. Your experience is
 worth more to you than gold.
 
Vol. 2, p.10
 Brother Kimball referred to Zion's camp going to Missouri. When I
 returned from that mission to Kirtland, a brother said to me, "Brother
 Brigham, what have you gained by this journey?" I replied, "Just what
 we went for; but I would not exchange the knowledge I have received
 this season for the whole of Geauga County; for property and mines of
 wealth are not to be compared to the worth of knowledge." Ask those
 brethren and sisters who have passed through scenes of affliction and
 suffering for years in this Church, what they would take in exchange
 for their experience, and be placed back where they were, were it
 possible. I presume they would tell you, that all the wealth, honors,
 and riches of the world could not buy the knowledge they had obtained,
 could they barter it away.
 
Vol. 2, p.10
 Let the brethren be contented, and if you have trials, and must see
 hard times, learn to acknowledge the hand of the Lord in it all. He
 directs the affairs of this world, and will until He reigns King of
 Saints. The vail which is over this people is becoming thinner; let
 them be faithful until they can rend it asunder, and see the hand of
 the Lord, and His goings forth among the people, with a vision
 unobstructed by the vail of ignorance, and bless the name of the Lord.
 
Vol. 2, p.10
 Brethren and sisters, inasmuch as I have the right and privilege,
 through the Priesthood, I bless you in the name of the Lord, and say,
 Be you blessed. These are my feelings to the Latter-day Saints, and
 would be to all the human family, if they would receive my blessings,
 in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
 
 Jedediah M. Grant, February 19, 1854
 
 The Power of God and the Power of Satan
 
 A Discourse By Elder Jedediah M. Grant, 
 Delivered in the Tabernacle; Great Salt Lake City, 
 Feb. 19, 1854.
 
Vol. 2, p.10
 I have been pleased with the remarks of Elder Hyde this afternoon. I
 am myself more or less familiar with the doings of the Spirit Rappers,
 having hid an opportunity of becoming acquainted with them when I was
 last in New York and Philadelphia; and I am satisfied now, and was
 then, that they are manifestations of spirits; and startling are the
 sentiments, developments, and doctrines they have made known. It has
 been treated as a bubble upon the wave that soon would burst asunder;
 but I am satisfied [p.11] the result of the manifestations of the
 spirits (wicked spirits) will be to combine their forces in as
 systematic an order as they are capable of, to successfully resist the
 Priesthood upon the earth.
 
Vol. 2, p.11
 I am aware that even some of the Latter-day Saints are slow to believe
 in relation to the power of Lucifer, the son of the morning, who was
 thrust from the heavens to the earth; and they have been slow to
 believe in relation to the spirits that are associated with him; but
 from the first revelations of the Almighty to brother Joseph Smith,
 not only revelations in relation to the deep things of the kingdom of
 God, and the high things of heaven, and the depths of hell, but
 revelations showing him the power of Lucifer, the opposite to good,
 that he might be aware of the strength of his opponent, and the
 opponent of the Almighty—I say, from perusing these revelations, I
 have always been specially impressed with the doctrine relating to the
 power of Satan, as well as with the doctrines relating to the power of
 God.
 
Vol. 2, p.11
 I have always felt that no Saint fully comprehends the power of Satan
 as well as God's Prophet; and again I have thought that no Saint could
 fully understand the power of God unless he learn the opposite. I am
 not myself acquainted with any happiness that I have not learned the
 opposite of. You may perhaps enjoy a great deal, the opposite of which
 you know nothing of, you may be constituted different to me, your
 feelings may be different, you may have learned to enjoy without first
 experiencing the opposite; but I may say with safety, nearly all the
 blessings I enjoy and highly prize are most appreciated after I have
 learned their opposite; and I am of opinion that all Saints sooner or
 later will have to learn the opposite to good, they will have to
 partake of the bitter in order to properly appreciate the sweet, they
 will have to be impressed with pain that they may appreciate pleasure.
 
Vol. 2, p.11
 In relation to spirits, for it seems to be the subject introduced
 to-day, I have this idea, that the Lord our God absolutely gave
 Lucifer a mission to this earth; I will call it a mission. You may
 think it strange that I believe so good a being as our Father in
 heaven would actually send such an odd missionary as Lucifer. you may
 call him a missionary, or any thing else you please, but we learn he
 was thrust out of heaven, the place where the Lord dwells, to this
 earth; and his mission, and the mission of his associates who were
 thrust down with him, and of those whom he is successful in turning
 away from God's children who have tabernacles, is to continue to
 oppose the Almighty, scatter His Church, wage war against His kingdom,
 and change as far as possible His government on the earth. He could
 take the Saviour upon the pinnacle of the temple, and show him the
 kingdoms of this world, and could perform many wonderful works in the
 days of Jesus. When the Priesthood of God is upon the earth, then the
 priesthood of the devil may be seen operating, for he has got one.
 When the kingdom of God is on the earth, you may expect to see a
 special display or manifestation of the opposite to the Gospel of the
 kingdom, or of the Priesthood of God.
 
Vol. 2, p.11
 If you read the Book of Mormon, the Bible, and the Book of Doctrine
 and Covenants, you read about the power of Satan upon the earth—the
 manifestation of wicked spirits. When was this special power of Satan
 more particularly made manifest? It has always been when the power of
 the holy Priesthood and the kingdom of God were upon the earth. In the
 days of Moses, in the days of the Patriarchs, in the days of the
 Prophets, and in the days of Jesus and his [p.12]  Apostles, and while
 his Church remained upon the earth, the opposite of the principles of
 heaven were specially made manifest, causing a lull in the public
 mind. The world is more or less controlled all the time by influences
 that Lucifer evidently is not opposed to; he has little objection  to
 the present organization of human society, from the fact that every
 thing passes along in the wake that agrees  with his religion;, and
 rather tends to forward his purposes.
 
Vol. 2, p.12
 Now some suppose if they can see a miracle, as they call it, that is,
 Something beyond that which is ordinary with man, they are bound to
 believed; but I am of opinion that Lucifer and his associates can show
 as many miracles as the people desire to see; they can show as many as
 were exhibited in Egypt in the days of king Pharaoh. I believe Lucifer
 has I just as much power to make lice now as ever he had, he has just
 as much ability to display his power in making a serpent to oppose a
 Moses as ever. Has he lost his power during the last two, three, or
 four thousand years? We do not believe he has. If, then, he possesses
 the same power as he once did, why is he not able in this
 dispensation to make manifestations corresponding to those in previous
 ones?
 
Vol. 2, p.12
 I wish to come down to our own day, for you know I am fond of rooting,
 grubbing, building, fencing, and doing the things needed right here at
 home. Let us then confine our remarks to this dispensation, when the
 Prophet Joseph Smith was visited by an holy angel, clad in robes of
 light, who authorized him to sound the trump of the Gospel of peace,
 and receive the sacred records from the earth, and the Urim and
 Thummim, and who laid hands upon him and gave him the Holy Ghost, and
 authorized him to baptize for the remission of sins, and organize the
 kingdom of God on the earth. What do we see at this time? We see the
 manifestations of the power of Satan immediately after the revelations
 of the angel to Joseph. For instance, there were spirit mediums in
 Kirtland, when the Church was first organized there by brother Parley
 P. Pratt and others; but when Joseph went with the Priesthood, the
 devil had to leave, for he had learned the power of Lucifer; and
 Joseph organized the Church, established the Priesthood, and set every
 thing right.
 
Vol. 2, p.12
 I might go on with a long routine of manifestations of the power of
 God, and of the power of the devil; but you who have come from the old
 country, and some of the first Elders that went over there—residents
 Young, Kimball, Hyde, and others, recollect manifestations of the
 spirits of the devil in that land. They attacked those brethren by
 hundreds and by thousands, and the spirits were actually visible. If
 you could call up brother Willard Snow and converse with him, I have
 no doubt that he would tell you he was attacked by them, and they
 overcame his body.
 
Vol. 2, p.12
 I am not surprised to see these manifestations increased upon the
 earth; but where is the anchor to the faith of the Saints? Where is
 the surety of the Saints against these manifestations? Inasmuch as the
 world would not listen to the Prophet Joseph, and receive the word of
 God through him, I look for the Lord to fulfil His word, and send them
 strong delusion, inasmuch as they believe not the truth, and will
 permit them now to believe a lie, that all who have pleasure in
 unrighteousness may be damned. I anticipate seeing strong delusion
 among the wicked in the day in which we live, but where is the anchor
 for the faith Of the Saints? I will tell you where mine is.
 
Vol. 2, p.13
 When Joseph Smith was alive, his [p.13] declaration to me was as the
 voice of Almighty God. Why? Because he had the Priesthood of God on
 the earth; the Priesthood that is without father, without mother,
 without beginning of days or end of years, which is God's authority,
 the eternal power and right of the government of God upon the earth. I
 was subject to that government in the days of Joseph. Men used to talk
 on this wise—"But would you believe in the Prophet if he should demand
 all your property?" Lucifer would suggest this idea to them. "No."
 says another, "I would not." "Suppose he should come to you, and tell
 you, you must sell your farm in the east, and go to Kirtland, and
 consecrate your property to the Lord, would you do it?" "No, answers
 his neighbor, "the Lord has no use for my property, I would not do
 it." "Well," says one, "do you think Joseph is right to dictate in
 temporal matters?" "No," There were quite a majority, I believe, in
 the days of Joseph, who believed he had no right to dictate in
 temporal matters, in farms, houses, merchandize, gold, silver, &c.;
 and they were tried on various points.
 
Vol. 2, p.13
 When the family organization was revealed from heaven—the patriarchal
 order of God, and Joseph began, on the right and on the left, to add
 to his family, what a quaking there was in Israel. Says one brother to
 another, "Joseph says all covenants are done away, and none are
 binding but the new covenants; now suppose Joseph should come and say
 he wanted your wife, what would you say to that?" "I would tell him to
 go to hell." This was the spirit of many in the early days of this
 Church.
 
Vol. 2, p.13
 If you maintain the fact that the Priesthood of God is upon the earth,
 and God's representatives are upon the earth, the mouth-piece of
 Jehovah, the head of the kingdom of God upon earth, and the will of
 God is done upon earth as it is in heaven, it follows that the
 government of God is upon the earth. I allude to the Church which it
 dictates; and then to the whole earth which it will dictate. Satan may
 succeed for a season to curtail the extent of this government, and the
 free working of its machinery, but if the Lord Almighty has organized
 a government upon the earth, and has committed the keys and Priesthood
 of it to His Prophet, that Prophet holds jurisdiction over the earth,
 the same as Adam did in the beginning. And righteous men in every
 dispensation since the creation, if they had any keys, had the keys of
 the kingdom of God; and they extended over this wide world wherever
 God had a people and a government; and just as far as the Priesthood
 exercised its authority, just so far the rule of the Almighty reached.
 
Vol. 2, p.13
 If Joseph had a right to dictate me in relation to salvation, in
 relation to a hereafter, he had a right to dictate me in relation to
 all my earthly affairs, in relation to the treasures of the earth, and
 in relation to the earth itself. He had a right to dictate in relation
 to the cities of the earth, to the natives of the earth, and in
 relation to everything on land and on sea. That is what he had a right
 to do, if he had any right at all. If he did not have that right, he
 did not have the Priesthood of God, he did not have the endless
 Priesthood that emanates from an eternal being. A Priesthood that is
 clipped, and lacks length, is not the Priesthood of God; if it lacks
 depth, it is not the Priesthood of God; for the Priesthood in ancient
 times extended over the wide world, and coped with the universe, and
 had a right to govern and control the inhabitants thereof, to regulate
 them, give them laws, and execute those laws. That power looked like
 the Priesthood of God. This same Priesthood has been given to Joseph
 [p.14] Smith, and has been handed down to his successors.
 
Vol. 2, p.14
 I do not care how many devils rap, it is no trouble to me. I say, rap
 away, and give as many revelations as you please, whether you are good
 spirits or bad ones, it does not trouble my cranium. Rap away, for I
 trust in the anchor of my soul that is sure and steadfast, in the
 Priesthood of God upon the earth.
 
Vol. 2, p.14
 What would a man of God say, who felt aright, when Joseph asked him
 for his money? He would say, "Yes, and I wish I had more to help to
 build up the kingdom of God." Or if he came and said, I want your
 wife?" "O yes," he would say, "here she is; there are plenty more."
 
Vol. 2, p.14
 There is another main thread connected with this; that I have not
 brought out. You know in fishing with the hook and line, if you draw
 out suddenly on the line when you have got a large trout, you may
 break your line; you must therefore angle a little, and manage your
 prize carefully. I would ask you if Jehovah has not in all ages tried
 His people by the power of Lucifer and his associates; and on the
 other hand, has He not tried them and proved them by His Prophets? Did
 the Lord actually want Abraham to kill Isaac? Did the Prophet Joseph
 want every man's wife he asked for? He did not, but in that thing was
 the grand thread of the Priesthood developed. The grand object in view
 was to try the people of God, to see what was in them. If such a man
 of God should come to me and say, "I want your gold and silver, or
 your wives," I should say, "Here they are, I wish I had more to give
 you, take all I have got." A man who has got the Spirit of God, and
 the light of eternity in him, has no trouble about such matters.
 
Vol. 2, p.14
 I am talking now of the present day. There was a time when we could be
 tried pretty severely upon these points, but I now could pick you out
 hundreds of men that cannot be tried in this way, but they will hand
 over every thing they possess. They understand the nature of such
 doctrines, and the object of such requirements. They know it is to
 prove the people, both men and women, and to develop what they will
 do. How can the Priesthood judge the people, if it aces not prove
 them.
 
Vol. 2, p.14
 If ever you are brought into the presence of God, and exalted to a
 seat in His celestial kingdom, it will be by virtue of the Holy
 Priesthood, therefore you have got to be proved, not only by being
 tempted by the devil, but the Priesthood will try you—it will try you
 to the core. If one thing won't try you, something else will be
 adopted, until you are like the passive clay in the hands of the
 Potter. If the Lord our God does not see fit to let the devil loose
 upon you, and mob you, He will employ some other means to try, you as
 in a crucible, to prove you as gold is tricot seven times in the
 furnace.
 
Vol. 2, p.14
 The world philosophizes about the "Mormons," about their leaders, and
 the life they are living. There are a thousand conjectures among them
 in relation to the "Mormons." The grand secret is told in a few words;
 the fact is, the Almighty God has spoken from the heavens, sent
 heavenly messengers, and organized His Church, restored the Holy
 Priesthood, established His government on the earth, and exerted his
 power to extend it, and send forth His word. And that Priesthood
 understands the principles and motives by which men are actuated, and
 it understands the workings of the devil on the earth; that Priesthood
 knows how to govern, when to strike, and when not to strike.
 
Vol. 2, p.14
 Some things in this Church start up at times, that you would think the
 whole Church would be rent asunder, like the clans of Scotland.
 Clanism, [p.15] and "Mormonism" are like that [putting his fingers
 across]; "Mormonism" is one, it is governed by one head, one
 President, and that head representing God on earth. If Joseph Smith
 held the keys of the kingdom of God on earth, of the Apostleship, does
 not his successor possess the same? Does he not have a right to give
 laws, to instruct, to control and rule the people of God?
 
Vol. 2, p.15
 I might still go on, and explain to your understandings exactly what I
 mean by rule. If this Priesthood is upon the earth, and you are
 controlled thereby, and listen to its counsels, you will be united as
 one people. I know the time was that many of this people believed that
 if a man was adopted here and there, one man would hold this way, and
 another that; but the fact is, in the kingdom and Church of the Lord
 they are all in one pile. I do not care how many of you have been
 adopted here or there; that is the doctrine to me.
 
Vol. 2, p.15
 Let the devils rap, then, and let them talk, and mutter, and have
 their mediums; what do I care, so long as the Priesthood is upon the
 earth, and the Apostleship is upon the earth, and the government of
 God, and the light and influence of the Holy Ghost, are upon the
 earth? Can they shake the Saints? No. But let a man lose the Spirit of
 God, and depart from this Church, and from the men that hold the
 Priesthood of God on the earth, and I have no doubt that Lucifer will
 reveal a great many truths to him, and teach and advocate principles
 and sentiments that will agree with doctrines of this Church. And they
 will even imitate Joseph Smith's hand writing, and the hand writing of
 brother Hyrum, of Bishop Partridge, and of Bishop Whitney, and others;
 and they will give you flaming revelations, and the light they emit
 will blaze like a comet.
 
Vol. 2, p.15
 Now Lucifer has philosophy enough and religion enough to suffer his
 agents to run along with the truth hand in hand, and make himself
 appear like an angel of light, and teach hundreds of true principles,
 if he can only thereby get you to swallow one item of false doctrine.
 But the grand story is, the devil may rage as long as he pleases, and
 use all the cunning and craft that he may, yet he never can overreach
 those who hold the keys of the Priesthood, nor succeed in deceiving
 them. This Joseph taught the people, but they were slow to believe.
 But now the energies of the people move as one man; and if they want
 to build a Temple, they can build it, and whatever they want to
 accomplish they can do.
 
Vol. 2, p.15
 The Priesthood is a power we should respect, reverence, and obey, no
 matter in whose hands it is. Let Lucifer mix in truths with error, and
 work great signs and wonders to deceive the very elect, but it is not
 possible. Why? Because they have learned the Priesthood, and they
 possess the power thereof that cannot be shaken. Let the Rappers go
 ahead, then, for it is not possible for them to deceive the elect of
 God; and let the witch of Endor, and all other witches and wizards,
 with the prince and power of the air at their head, do their best, if
 we keep the commandments of God we shall continually soar far above
 their power and influence.
 
Vol. 2, p.15
 I want to have nothing to do with Satan, I desire not to shake hands
 with him, nor to do anything that will bring me in contact with him,
 for he is powerful, and if he once gets you in his grasp and shakes
 you, you writ think you are less than a grasshopper. Let us rally
 round the standard of God, and when we are in the circle of truth,
 then let the devil and the enemies of the Church of God fire their
 loudest guns, and wage their war, and marshal their strength, yet,
 armed with the armor of righteousness, [p.16] clothed with the
 Priesthood and generalship of the Almighty, we shall successfully
 resist, and triumphantly conquer Satan and all his allied forces of
 the earth and hell They will then find out whether Joseph had a right
 to rule this earth by the power of the Priesthood. They will then find
 out that the "Mormons," notwithstanding their curious bumps, for they
 have got some curious bumps, are authorized to preach the Gospel of
 God, gather Israel, build up Zion, bind Lucifer with a chain, and
 establish the reign of peace on earth.
 
Vol. 2, p.16
 My prayer is that the Saints may understand that they are safe as long
 as they listen to the Priesthood authorized of heaven, are united in
 one, and not divided into clans, but become one great clan, under one
 head. Then let all the clanism of the world rally against us, and we
 are as firm as the rock of ages, that supports the throne of Jehovah.
 
Vol. 2, p.16
  May God bless you with the truth as it is in Himself, and save you in
 His kingdom, through Jesus Christ. Amen.
 
 Brigham Young, July 24, 1854
 
 The Word of Wisdom Especially, Suited to 
 Infants and Youth—Privations in Missouri—Necessity 
 of Integrity, and Strife for Excellence—Responsibility of Parents
 
 An Address By President Brigham Young, to the Children 
 who Formed the Procession at the Anniversary of the Entrance 
 of the Pioneers Into Great Salt Lake Valley, Delivered in the
 Tabernacle, 
 Great Salt Lake City July 24, 1854.
 
Vol. 2, p.16
 My remarks on this occasion will be disconnected, in order to answer
 my feelings, and to satisfy the congregation. 
 
Vol. 2, p.16
 Here is a spectacle that is indeed admirable, and a scene that has
 called forth many reflections in my mind, and, no doubt, in the minds
 of the spectators.
 
Vol. 2, p.16
 First of all, allow me to remark, that before it was concluded to
 celebrate this day, the Seventh Anniversary of the entrance of the
 Pioneers into these valleys which we now occupy, I had determined to
 treat some of my family and friends to a dinner and had made
 preparations accordingly. This has occupied a portion of my time and
 attention, but before all my preparatory labor was performed, I was
 urged to attend on this interesting occasion. This has thrown my
 previous plans, touching this day, somewhat into confusion, still I am
 filled with joy in beholding this heart-cheering scene. According to
 the Programme it seems I am to be escorted by the procession back to
 my dwelling. I however ask it as a favor of the officers of the day to
 excuse me, [p.17] and relieve me from being present, or from taking
 any further part in this day's proceedings, after the dismissal of
 this congregation, that I may repair immediately to my house, for, if
 I have to wait for the company to escort me, it will make it late
 before I can be present to wait upon my friends.
 
Vol. 2, p.17
  Before I proceed further, I wish to make another request, in behalf
 of the children, who are not capable of judging for themselves—they
 would traverse these streets until they fainted. I wish the Bishops
 and Marshals of the day to consider this, and my advice is to dismiss
 them soon; and while they are parading the streets, be sure to have
 plenty of water handy for them to drink. If these requests can be
 granted, I shall feel thankful, and I presume you will have no
 objections to granting them.
 
Vol. 2, p.17
 On such occasions as this, our Tabernacle does not afford room for
 seating the people, I wish the Bishops to hearken to a request I will
 make of them—Enable brother Hyde to prosecute the labors placed upon
 him to build a Bowery, on the north of this Tabernacle, that will
 convene about twelve thousand people; and let it be done before
 another Celebration comes off or even before another Conference. I am
 disposed to take a vote upon this matter. If the brethren and sisters,
 old and young, will put forth their exertions and means to assist in
 accomplishing this work, let them signify it by raising their right
 hands. [All hands were up.] I shall with pleasure render all the
 assistance possible.
 
Vol. 2, p.17
 Were there time, I would like to make a great many remarks pertaining
 to parents and children, but my time will be too limited.
 
Vol. 2, p.17
 A portion of the youth of our community is before me, and could I give
 these young persons a word of counsel, it would meet my wishes, and
 gratify my desires to do them good. I will venture to give them a few
 items pertaining to life, health, vigor, and salvation; and I hope
 they will not forget what I am about to say to them.
 
Vol. 2, p.17
 I will begin by asking the older portion of the assembly, if you do,
 not recollect that when you were two, three, or four years of age,
 many of your mothers, as soon as you were able to drink out of a
 glass, and they happened to have a little wine, would compel you to
 partake of it, contrary to your feeble remonstrances? Do you not
 recollect when your mother made a little sling to revive her when she
 was fatigued with labor or exertion of any kind, saying to you,
 "Drink, my child?" Now, I wish to say to you girls, never be guilty of
 such practices when you become mothers. Never, when you sit down at
 the table to drink strong tea, perhaps as a stimulant when you are
 fatigued, give it to your child. I see this practice almost daily, or
 occasionally, at least, in this as well as other communities. Keep the
 tea, the coffee, and the spirits from the mouths of your children.
 
Vol. 2, p.17
 I could say many things that would be of great worth to you,
 pertaining to. the risings generation, had I time; but I wish you to
 recollect and practise this one item I have briefly laid before you. I
 wish the daughters of Israel to far exceed their mothers in wisdom.
 And I wish these young men and boys to far exceed their fathers. I
 wish my sons to far exceed me in goodness and virtue. This is my
 earnest desire concerning my children, and that they not only walk in
 the footsteps of their father, but take a course to enjoy life,
 health, and vigor while they live, and the Spirit of intelligence from
 God, that they may far outstrip their father in long life, and in the
 good they will perform in their day. What I say of my children I apply
 to all.
 
Vol. 2, p.17
 Young men, my young brethren, [p.18] will you accept a little counsel
 from me? When you go from this Tabernacle make a covenant with
 yourselves that you will taste no more ardent spirits, unless it is
 absolutely necessary, and you know it is; also make a covenant with
 yourselves that no more of that filthy, nasty, and obnoxious weed
 called tobacco shall enter your mouths; it is a disgrace to this and
 every other community. I am well aware of the reflections of many upon
 this subject. You may say to yourselves, "If I can do as well as my
 parents, I think I shall do well, and be as good as I want to be; and
 I should not strive to excel them." But if you do your duty you will
 far-excel them in everything that is good—in holiness, in physical and
 intellectual strength, for this is your privilege, and it becomes your
 duty. Young men, take this advice from me, and practise it in your
 future life, and it will be more valuable to you than the riches of
 this world. "Why," say you, "I see the older brethren chew tobacco,
 why should I not do it likewise?" Thus the boys have taken licence
 from the pernicious habits of others, until they have formed an
 appetite, a false appetite; and they love a little liquor, and a
 little tobacco, and many other things that are injurious to their
 constitutions, and certainly hurtful to their moral character. Take a
 course that you can know more than your parents. We have had all the
 traditions of the age in which we were born to contend with; but these
 young men and women, or the greater part of them, have been born in
 the Church, and brought up Latter-day Saints, and have received the
 teachings that are necessary to advance them in the kingdom of God on
 earth. If you are in any way suspicious that the acts of your parents
 are not right, if there is a conviction in your minds that they fees
 appetites that are injurious to them, then it is for you to abstain
 from that which you see is not good in your parents.
 
Vol. 2, p.18
 I will now offer a few words of encouragement, and I wish you to
 listen to them attentively. If you wish to be great in the Kingdom of
 God, you must be good. It has been told you often, and I reiterate it
 to-day, that no man or woman in this kingdom that the Lord Almighty
 has again established upon the earth, can become great without being
 good—without being true to their integrity, faithful to their trust,
 full of charity and good works. If they do not order their lives to do
 all the good they can, they will be stripped of their anticipations of
 greatness. You may write that down, and write it as revelation if you
 please, for it is true. Again, you must make sacrifice, if such you
 may call it, of every feeling you possess on earth, as a man, as a
 woman, as a father, as a mother, as a husband, as a wife, as a member
 of a family or community, for the sake of the kingdom of God on
 earth—that you assuredly must do. Now remember, that no earthly object
 may stand between you and your calling and duty.
 
Vol. 2, p.18
 While gazing upon the scene before me, and thinking of what we had
 passed through—scenes of affliction fleeting through my memory, I
 reflected on the generation now growing up, and on the past dealings
 of the Lord towards this people in His wise providences. I recollect
 that in 1889, the Twelve and others were called upon to go to England,
 after they had suffered much persecution and tribulation. Brother
 Joseph Smith had to leave Ohio and escape for his life. I had also to
 leave the country to save my life; I was going to the west, where
 Joseph told me to go. I had  not been in Missouri more than five
 months, before the mob commenced to burn houses. I had expended what
 little means I had left, to purchase an inheritance for my family,
 [p.19] but I had to leave Missouri, after being at the trouble and
 expense of conveying my goods there, and preparing for living; I left
 all behind and went to Illinois. Well, the revelation was that several
 of the brethren must start on missions to foreign lands, and we
 fulfilled it in the midst of poverty. This is a proof that the hand of
 God is able to sustain His people, and he will continue to provide for
 them.
 
Vol. 2, p.19
 If we do His will, He will take care of us as a people, and as
 individuals. One proof of this, is in my own life and experience. When
 I left my family to start for England, I was not able to walk one
 mile, I was not able to lift a small trunk, which I took with me, into
 the wagon. I left my wife and my six children without a second suit to
 their backs, for we had left all our property in possession of the
 mob. Every one of my family were sick, and my then youngest child, who
 has spoken before you to-day, was but ten days old at the time I left
 for England. Joseph said, "If you will go, I promise you, that your
 family shall live, and you shall live, and you shall know that the
 hand of God is in calling you to go and preach the Gospel of life and
 salvation to a perishing world." He said all he could say to comfort
 and encourage the brethren. This was our situation, and I say, with
 regard to the remainder of the Twelve, they had all been driven like
 myself, and we were a band of brethren about equal. My family lived.
 When I left them they had not provisions to last them ten days, and
 not one soul of them was able to go to the well for a pail of water. I
 had lain for weeks, myself, in the house, watching from day to day for
 some person to pass the door, whom I could set to bring us in a pail
 of water. In this condition I left my family, and went to preach the
 Gospel. As for being cast down, or at all discouraged, or even such
 thoughts entering in my heart as, "I will provided for my family, and
 let the world perish," these feelings and thoughts never once occurred
 to me; if I had known that every one of them would have been in the
 grave when I returned, it would not have diverted me from my mission
 one hour. When I was ready to start, I went and left my family in the
 hands of the Lord, and with the brethren.
 
Vol. 2, p.19
 I returned again in two years, and found that I had spent hundreds of
 dollars, which I had accumulated on my mission; to help the brethren
 to emigrate to Nauvoo, and had but one sovereign left. I said I would
 buy a barrel of flour with that, and sit down and eat it with my wife
 and children. and I determined I would not ask anybody for work, until
 I had eaten it all up. Brother Joseph asked me how I intended to live.
 I said, "I will go to work and get a living." I tarried in Nauvoo from
 the year 1841 to 1846, the year we left. In that time I had
 accumulated much property, for the Lord multiplied everything in my
 hands, and blessed all my undertakings. But I never ceased to preach;
 and travelled every season, both in the winter, and in the summer. I
 was at home occasionally, and the Lord fed and clothed me. It has
 never entered into my heart, from the first day I was called to preach
 the Gospel to this day, when the Lord said, "Go and leave your
 family," to offer the least objection. It has never entered into my
 heart to violate my covenants, to be an enemy to my neighbor, to
 deceive, to lie, or to take to myself that which was not my own. The
 youth around me, in their addresses this day, have eulogised the life
 and ability of brother Brigham; I want you not only to do as I have
 done, but a great deal better.
 
Vol. 2, p.19
 I am trying to encourage you to do good, and not evil, that the Lord
 Almighty may take care of you, sustain [p.20] you, and give you power
 and influence, which He will do, if you serve Him with an undivided
 heart, but if you do not, He will chastise you. Remember it.
 
Vol. 2, p.20
 When I left Nauvoo, I again left all I had, and was under the
 necessity of borrowing a span of horses from this man, a yoke of
 cattle from that, and a wagon from the other; and after gathering up
 what little moveable property I could in this way, I left the country.
 I had accumulated thousands of dollars' worth of property, and had to
 leave it in the hands of the mob, and, said I, "Eat it up, destroy it,
 or burn it down, as quick as you please, for 'the earth is the Lord's
 and the fulness thereof.'"
 
Vol. 2, p.20
 How did I obtain all this property? The Lord gave it to me; He has
 done what has been done. And if the youth will turn their hearts and
 affections to the Lord their God, they will be prepared to enter into
 the glory we are contending for, they will be prepared to redeem Zion.
 These young brethren and sisters will be prepared to return to Zion,
 bear off the Priesthood triumphantly, and build up the kingdom of God
 among the nations of the earth far better than we their fathers and
 mothers have, though we have done the best we could. Be full of
 integrity and love for all people, let hope abound in you, be filled
 with truth and virtue, and never allow yourselves to do a thing you
 would be ashamed to do in the presence of the Lord Almighty, or that
 you would be ashamed of were He to stand in your path, and call you to
 an account. That is the way to live, and it is the ably way for a
 "Mormon" Elder to live, or for a "Mormon" mother, or daughter, or
 sister, in order to obtain what they wish to obtain. It is the only
 path you can possibly walk in to secure that which you desire. There
 are men who will tell you many things in your houses, and will try to
 pervert the truth, and the simple principles of the Holy Gospel, but
 you must remember that it is a holy life before God which gives you
 influence with Him.
 
Vol. 2, p.20
 Look, and see the past course of brother Brigham; he is not any
 different to-day from what he ever was. Knowing that the Lord wishes
 him to do a certain work, he is willing to do it. This has always been
 his character. You have seen me rise up here in my authority, when
 necessary, and I have had to be like a lion among the people. But who
 can point out a single act that has not been full of kindness to this
 people, collectively and individually? Though sometimes I have to roar
 to them; and why? Because sometimes they are foolish. This was
 exhibited here to-day, and also on the fourth of July. I saw scores of
 men who had no more sense than to crowd upon the women and children,
 at the risk of crushing them to death. When I see such conduct, I feel
 like a lion in the cause of the oppressed; and when the dogs and the
 wolves undertake to make this people a prey, they may expect that
 somebody is ready to roar, and contend for them.
 
Vol. 2, p.20
 Do you wish to know how men of God feel under such circumstances? I
 will tell you. If an enemy is crawling round this people, trying to
 make inroads to destroy them, they can pick up men as fast as they
 come to them, and throw them out of their way; they can conquer and
 destroy army after army; and in their feelings a thousand or ten
 thousand are no more to them than so many grasshoppers. It is the
 strength of the Almighty God that is in them. Keep His commandments,
 if you would have strength in the day you need it; and when you do not
 need it, be passive, like children in their mother's lap, and be
 always ready and willing to extend the hand of charity and
 benevolence, and do all the good that is needed to [p.21] be done, and
 you will thereby be able to resist the evil.
 
Vol. 2, p.21
 I had to go out to the door, when the people were crowding each other
 down, and talk as if I would swallow them up. What for? To injure
 them? No. Did I tell you to rush on and tread down women and children?
 No. Have I ever told you to take advantage of the weak and
 defenceless, or in any way oppress the innocent? No, never; and if you
 do, I shall handle you; and if you get into my way, you will be no
 more to me than a child's toy.
 
Vol. 2, p.21
 I am consuming much time, and I wish to dismiss the meeting. But I
 will state that if children could know the feelings of their parents,
 when they do good or evil, it would have a salutary influence upon
 their lives; but no child can possibly know this, until it becomes a
 parent. I am compassionate therefore towards children. Parents, will
 you have a little wisdom, and learn to bring up your children under a
 proper influence, and under proper teaching? Mothers, remember that
 when your husbands are engaged in the service of the Church, and are
 all the time occupied in the duties of the Priesthood, so that they
 have not time to instruct their children, the duty devolves upon you.
 Then bring your children up in the ways of truth, and be to them both
 a father and mother, until they are old enough to perform duties by
 the side, and under the immediate eye, of their father. I like to see
 mothers bring their children to meeting, as soon as they can be
 brought without injuring them, and when they can tell what they want,
 and call for water when they are faint. As soon as they are old enough
 to receive instructions, bring them here to be taught; and when you go
 home with them, do not put strong drinks, or tea, or coffee to their
 lips. I have actually seen women whip their children to make them
 drink spirits; such mothers do not know what is actually necessary
 they should know. Children should have milk, bread, water, and
 potatoes; and everything that would lay the foundation for disease
 should be strenuously kept from their stomachs, that no appetites may
 be formed for pernicious substances, which, when formed, cannot be
 overcome easily, if at all. The course mothers generally take in the
 world with their children, produces an appetite in the child that
 almost invariably leads to excess. There are scores in our midst who
 were begotten in a vault of liquor, and were enveloped in it till the
 day of their birth. They have come forth from it, and have a longing
 desire to still swim in it unto the day of their death. I wish you to
 understand this, sisters; and when you become mothers, know how to
 train up your children better than the past generations have been
 brought up.
 
Vol. 2, p.21
 Brethren and sisters, may the Lord bless you all. If I had time to
 answer my feelings here to-day, I should enjoy more freedom in my
 remarks. Brother George A. Smith has given you the music, and I wished
 to point out the way in which you ought to walk. Take him for the
 music, and my words for the counsel; all he said was right, and I want
 you to observe what he told you; .and what more you should do, we will
 tell you in season.[p.22]  George A. Smith, July 24, 1854
 
 Geroge A. Smith, July 24, 1854
 
 Reminiscences of the Jackson County Mob, the 
 Evacuation of Nauvoo, and the Settlement of 
 Great Salt Lake City
 
 An Address by Elder George A. Smith, to the Children who formed the 
 Procession at the Anniversary of the Entrance of the Pioneers into 
 Great Salt Lake Valleys Delivered in the Tabernacle, 
 Great Salt Lake City, July 24, 1854.
 
Vol. 2, p.22
 My Young Friends—It is with pleasure I rise to address you on the
 present occasion.
 
Vol. 2, p.22
 Having been called upon to walk in the Procession, as the Historian of
 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it created in my
 breast feelings not easily described; it brought up reminiscences of
 past scenes, and of celebrations similar to this, wherein I have acted
 in company with my worthy predecessor, Dr. Willard Richards, one of
 the First Presidency of the Church of God on earth, and one of the
 Pioneers who first entered this Valley. He has gone to rest, after
 being worn out by trials, persecutions, and adversities, and by the
 difficulties incident in the forming of this settlement in the Valleys
 of the mountains.
 
Vol. 2, p.22
 I could have stopped to drop a tear to the memory of departed
 worthies—the Historian, the aged Patriarch John Smith, and many
 others; at the same time, I could but feel joyful to see such an
 immense assembly, gathered together to commemorate the day on which
 the Pioneers first arrived in this region to inhabit these valleys.
 
Vol. 2, p.22
 Should we refer to the pages of the history that is no doubt written
 in many a private journal, our memories would be refreshed with the
 startling truth, that the first fifteen years of our existence had
 been a continued scene of trials, persecutions, afflictions, and
 murders; including the murder of the Prophet, the Patriarch, and a
 great many others of the ablest and most energetic members of the
 Church.
 
Vol. 2, p.22
 At a Council of the leading men of this community in Nauvoo, it was
 concluded that on finishing the Temple there; a company of one
 thousand or fifteen hundred pioneers should establish themselves in
 the mountains, to prepare the way for a safe retreat from the tyranny
 and oppression which had so long followed this people. This conclusion
 was unknown to the public, hence the surprise of the mob at our
 willingness to depart. 
 
Vol. 2, p.22
 In a very few days afterwards, bands of organized mobbers commenced
 the work of burning our houses in Yelrom, Green Plains, and Bear Creek
 settlements, and throughout the country. As if they were not satisfied
 with the destruction of the hundreds of lives their persecutions had
 already sacrificed, and the millions of property they had already
 destroyed in Missouri; as if dissatisfied with the blood of the
 Prophet still smoking from the ground as it were; they lighted anew
 the torch of the incendiary, and the Governor of the State was
 silently willing to fan its fires. It will be recollected that he
 [p.23] did not stop the house burning, but we stopped it ourselves,
 under the direction of the Sheriff of the County. 
 
Vol. 2, p.23
 The moment that was done, General Harden; mounted on a white horse,
 backed up and accompanied by other dignitaries of the State came into
 Nauvoo with four hundred men. What was said to us by these worthies?
 They said, that in consequence of the combination against us
 throughout the State, the Governor did not feel at liberty to do
 anything for us; so we were abandoned to the rage of unprincipled men.
 
Vol. 2, p.23
 They then informed us they had come to search for some men that were
 missing, and formed a square around the Temple, also around the
 stables of the Nauvoo house, but more particularly around the Masonic
 Hall, the basement story of which contained a quantity of wine.
 General Hardin, and others of his band, went into the stables where a
 horse had just been bled, and concluded a man had been killed there,
 but fortunately the horse was there to answer for the blood. The
 General and his Staff then pierced with their swords the heaps of
 manure, thinking, I presume, that if they pricked a dead man, he would
 squeal. I thought they acted a little simple, for they might have
 presumed that if anybody had been killed, they would have been thrown
 in the Mississippi, which was not more than ten rods from the stables.
 
Vol. 2, p.23
 This was all that was done to punish the house burners; and the State
 authorities said they could do nothing for us; hence the only
 alternative was to leave, as nine counties of the State had concluded
 in Convention, that we must leave or be exterminated. The fact is,
 this was the very conclusion we had already come to, ourselves, in a
 Council a few days before. Yet it was thought, proper not to reveal
 the secret of our intention to flee to the mountains; but as a kind of
 put off, it was communicated in the strictest confidence to General
 Hardin, who promised never to tell of it, that we intended to settle
 Vancouver's Island. This report, however, was industriously
 circulated, as we anticipated it would be.
 
Vol. 2, p.23
 The persecution was blazing on every hand, and the reputable
 authorities "could do nothing for us; "which was equal to saying,
 "Hold on, and let us run our daggers into you."
 
Vol. 2, p.23
 The first companies which left; in consequence of those persecutions,
 were obliged to start in the dead of winter, in the beginning of
 February, 1846. Many of the companies crossed the Mississippi, with
 their wagons, on the ice, and the rest in flat-boats, and winding
 their way through a new and trackless country, making a road of nearly
 four hundred miles in length, stopped to winter on the right bank of
 the Missouri, where they built quite a town, called Winter Quarters.
 
Vol. 2, p.23
 Finding that our numbers in Nauvoo were reduced to a mere handful, the
 mob, numbering some 1800 armed men, supplied with scientific
 engineers, and good artillery, attacked the remaining few, who were
 chiefly lame, blind, widows, fatherless children, and those too poor
 to get away. There were not one hundred able bodied men to stand
 against this superior force in defence of the helpless; this is called
 the battle of Nauvoo, and was fought in September. They cannonaded the
 citizens of Nauvoo, and finally, after three days' fighting, and being
 forced to retreat three times, they succeeded in driving them over the
 river.
 
Vol. 2, p.23
 What was the result of all this? In April, 1847, we started from
 Winter Quarters, with a hundred and forty-three men (instead of 1000)
 as Pioneers. We were "few," and I was going to say "far between," but
 we were close together. We set out, and made a new road to this
 valley, [p.24] the greater portion of the way; we thus worked the path
 through, and arrived here on the day we now commemorate.
 
Vol. 2, p.24
 This is a hasty glance of history. To enter into details would
 introduce matters that would unnecessarily harrow up the minds of
 many. Suffice it to say, like the pilgrim fathers who first landed
 upon Plymouth Rock, we are here pilgrims, and exiles from liberty; and
 instead of being driven into the wilderness to perish, as our enemies
 had designed, we find ourselves in the middle of the floor, or on the
 top of the heap. Right in the country that scientific men and other
 travellers had declared worthless, we are becoming rich in the
 comforts and blessings of life, we are now rocking in the cradle of
 liberty, in which we are daily growing; and I challenge the Union to
 produce a parallel of this day's Celebration.
 
Vol. 2, p.24
 I say to my young friends, be firm to extend the principles of freedom
 and liberty to this country, and never suffer the hand of oppression
 to invade it.
 
Vol. 2, p.24
 In the history of our persecutions there have arisen a great many
 anecdotes; but one will perhaps serve to illustrate the condition in
 which I wish to see every man that raises in these mountains the hand
 of oppression upon the innocent. I wish to see such men rigged out
 with the same honors and comforts as was the honorable Samuel C. Owen,
 Commander-in-Chief of the Jackson County mob. He, with eleven men, was
 engaged at a mass meeting, to raise a mob to drive the Saints from
 Clay County. This was in the year 1834, in the month of June. They had
 made speeches, and done everything to raise the indignation of the
 people against the Saints. In the evening, himself, James Campbell,
 and nine others, commenced to cross the Missouri river on their way
 home again; and the Lord, or some accident, knocked a hole in the
 bottom of the boat. When they discovered it, says Commander Owen to
 the company on the ferry boat, "We must strip to the bone, or we shall
 all perish." Mr. Campbell replied, "I will go to hell before I will
 land naked." He had his choice, and went to the bottom. Owen stripped
 himself of every article of clothing, and commenced floating down the
 river. After making several attempts he finally landed on the Jackson
 side of the river, after a swim of about fourteen miles. He rested
 some time, being perfectly exhausted, and then started into the
 nettles, which grow very thick and to a great height, in the Missouri
 bottoms, and which was his only possible chance in making from the
 river to the settlements. He had to walk four miles through the
 nettles, which took him the remainder of the night, and when he got
 through the nettles, he came to a road, and saw a young lady
 approaching on horseback, who was the belle of Jackson County. In this
 miserable condition he laid himself behind a log, so that she could
 not see him. When she arrived opposite the log, he says, "Madam, I am
 Samuel C. Owen, the Commander-in-Chief of the mob against the Mormons;
 I wish you to send some men from the next house with clothing, for I
 am naked." The lady in her philanthropy dismounted, and left him a
 light shawl and a certain unmentionable under garment, and passed on.
 So His Excellency Samuel C. Owen, who was afterwards killed in Mexico
 by foolishly exposing himself, contrary to orders, took up his line of
 march for the town, in the shawl and petticoat uniform, after his
 expedition against the Mormons." My young friends, have the goodness
 to use every man so, who comes into your country to mob and oppress
 the innocent; and LADIES, DON'T LEND HIM ANY CLOTHING.[p.25] 
 
 Daniel H. Wells, July 24, 1854
 
 Persecutions, Duties, and Privileges of the Saints
 
 An Address by Elder Daniel H. Wells, to the Children who formed the 
 Procession on the Anniversary of the Entrance of the Pioneers into 
 Great Salt Lake Valley, Delivered in the Tabernacle, July 24, 1854.
 
Vol. 2, p.25
 Beloved Friends—We are met in commemoration of the important
 historical fact, that on the 24th of July, seven years ago, a band of
 brethren came to this place, seeking a home, an asylum, where they
 might rest awhile from their arduous and toilsome march, and feel
 secure from the wrath of wicked, wreckless, infuriated men, who had,
 in times past, pursued and hunted them with relentless fury, and
 driven them from the abodes of civilization. Directed by the same God
 who led Moses and the children of Israel out from the land of Egypt,
 they, with our beloved President at their head, located in this
 valley.
 
Vol. 2, p.25
 This becomes an important fact from its associations, fraught as it is
 with momentous consequences to us as a people; transplanting us from
 the narrow limits of a single city, to a large territory, in which we
 are fast becoming a mighty people. We perceive the hand-dealing of a
 wise and beneficent God in this, who has said, by the mouth of His
 Prophet, that it was "His business to provide for His Saints." This
 also furnishes a strong illustration of high Heaven's economy, in
 over-ruling and turning the wrath of man to its service and praise,
 and from "seeming ill still educing good."
 
Vol. 2, p.25
 This day, in reality, is the Anniversary of our Birth-day as a free
 people. We may say that it was a bloodless conquest, and yet our path
 has not been strewn with flowers, as witness the parting pang when
 exhausted strength has been laid low in the dust, and bitter tears
 have only been dried in view of a better future.
 
Vol. 2, p.25
 We this day rejoice together in union and harmony—in peace and
 prosperity; and as the sun of gladness has arisen upon our horizon, so
 may it never again become darkened by the mists of sorrow, nor the
 storms of persecution be permitted to obscure its genial rays.
 
Vol. 2, p.25
 We now possess a country sufficient for our present necessities and
 purposes, institutions which we have received from God, through His
 Prophets, and, under the broad folds of our glorious Constitution,
 American Freedom.
 
Vol. 2, p.25
 We now have the privilege of worshipping God according to the dictates
 of our own consciences, and no one to disturb, or make us afraid.
 
Vol. 2, p.25
 What more can we ask? What more can we expect? The balance rests with
 ourselves. If we would be happy, if we would be great, have the
 knowledge and wisdom of God, and be prospered, it remains with us to
 pursue that course, to perform those duties, and to live that life,
 which shall conspire to produce those blessings. 
 
Vol. 2, p.26
 The kingdom will advance, and bring with it the treasures of
 knowledge, [p.26] wisdom, and power, just so fast as the Lord finds
 that He has a people ready, willing, and capable of receiving, and
 bearing it off. If we would hasten the time for the coming of the Son
 of Man with power and great glory, we must increase our diligence,
 hasten ourselves in the attainment of every perfection, and by our
 purity and excellence bring unto ourselves Heaven's excellence and
 purity.
 
Vol. 2, p.26
 My friends, this is a day of rejoicing with the Saints, and here in
 this sacred place of worship, we mingle together, the old and the
 young, in offering to our God, praise and thanksgiving for His kind
 mercies and blessings. As we mingle in our amusements and rejoicings,
 and participate together in our celebration of this day, and the
 realization of our dependence upon Him who has wrought out our
 salvation, and brought us to an inheritance in this goodly land, amid
 scenes of joy and prosperity, it is always well to remember and
 acknowledge the kind hand of Providence, from whom we receive every
 good and perfect gift.
 
Vol. 2, p.26
 How can we well express the overflowing gratitude of our hearts to the
 Giver of all good, for what we this day behold? Thousands of children
 in a single city, of less than seven years growth, convened under
 their respective banners, each bearing a motto expressive of their
 views and sentiments, intention and designs; each bosom swelling with
 pride and gratitude, that they too are the children of the Kingdom,
 unto whom pertain the promises of God concerning Israel.
 
Vol. 2, p.26
 My young friends, how shall we reciprocate? What shall we do to
 advance the glorious cause of truth make ourselves useful, and fulfil
 the measure of our creation upon the earth? I answer, it is for us to
 be obedient, hearken unto the counsel of our parents and leaders, to
 keep the commandments of God. It is to qualify ourselves to follow
 some useful occupation, to be industrious in acquiring knowledge, and
 not spend our time in useless visiting, and lounging about in
 idleness. It is to have every moment devoted to some useful
 employment, to serve God, and walk humbly before Him, blameless in all
 of His ordinances, be true to God and His servants, follow in the
 dictates of wisdom and experience, be patient and courteous toward
 each other, be persevering, virtuous, honest, and faithful—in short,
 be good, faithful Saints of the Most High God. 
 
Vol. 2, p.26
 If we do this, we shall always enjoy the blessings of a good
 conscience, void of offence toward God and man. Let our aim be for
 God, and an exaltation in His Kingdom, keeping our minds constantly
 directed to the attainment of this object; and no matter what may
 befal us here below, we shall be safe in the arms of our blessed
 Redeemer, who said, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and
 forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven."
 
Vol. 2, p.26
 Does our Father in heaven view us with approbation this day? Let us
 look to it, each one of us, that we do nothing either in thought,
 word, or deed, neither this, nor any other day, but that He can look
 down upon us with approbation. Let not folly nor wickedness be
 committed in Israel, lest we be called upon to put away the workers of
 iniquity from our midst, and thus cleanse Israel from sin and guilt. 
 
Vol. 2, p.26
 Young men and youths, just rising to take a part in the affairs of
 men, if you follow in the precepts of wisdom, and abide in the counsel
 of truth, you shall have strength according to your day, and the
 mountain torrent shall not be more fierce to encounter than you, when
 the enemy shall again marshal his hosts for battle; the mountain roe
 shall not be swifter, nor more agile in its flight, than you in
 scaling the mountain height, or leaping the [p.27] deep, dark chasm,
 made by a thousand floods. Nothing shall present a barrier too high,
 too rugged, or so difficult that you cannot surmount it.
 
Vol. 2, p.27
 As physical strength shall be given, so shall mental strength and
 ability, and you will increase and strengthen until you can fathom the
 deep sciences, and unfold the mysteries of eternity.
 
Vol. 2, p.27
 To you, also, ye maidens of Israel, is it not an honor to be numbered
 among the daughters of Zion? Unto you this invitation extends, to make
 yourselves useful in the drama of life; qualify yourselves also for
 the part which may be allotted you to perform in the Kingdom of our
 God. Preserve yourselves in purity and the perfection of every virtue.
 Let your time be fully occupied in some useful employment and although
 you may not be called upon to encounter the fierce contest of the
 world, as your brothers, fathers, or husbands, yet your path shall so
 closely entwine itself with theirs, as to strengthen, nourish, and
 sustain them, be a present help in every time of need; and when the
 storm clouds shall lower, and fierce persecution rage, be enabled by
 united faith and energy to bid defiance to "Mormon" foes, whether they
 come in form of men in hostile array, or the more insidious and
 stealthy manner of demons from the arch and subtle intriguer, and
 deceiver of the human race. 
 
Vol. 2, p.27
 Yes, fair maidens, if you would have loveliness encircle your brow,
 and beauty adorn your forms, let the gems of virtue, truth, and
 sincerity sparkle your eyes, and adorn your minds with knowledge and
 wisdom. Let excellence, goodness, and industry embellish your lives,
 and the star of your glory shall never wane, nor the promised
 inheritance to dwell among the Gods be withheld, proving to God and
 man
 
Vol. 2, p.27
 "The kindest blessing High Heaven could send;
  In life a treasure, and in death a friend."
 
Vol. 2, p.27
 This is an age of progress, and if we would keep pace with the times,
 we must progress also. The youth of other States, Territories, or
 Nations, must not outstrip us in the arts and sciences, nor in
 anything that is calculated to adorn life and become useful to man.
 
Vol. 2, p.27
 Situated as we are, so far distant from the emporium of letters and
 commerce, some may think that this is difficult to avoid; but it is
 not so. It is easy not only to keep pace with, but outstrip them even
 in the race of progress. Our advantages are simply these—we have not
 the burden of trash and nonsense to wade through at the beginning,
 which others have; the mind is therefore more free to act, and can
 conceive more real truth and imbibe more real knowledge in a given
 time; and although we may not yet possess every facility for our
 advancement, still we are more than compensated by the wholesome
 influence of virtue and religion, rules, regulations, and institutions
 freed from the bigotry, superstitions, dogmas, and follies of ages. We
 moreover breathe the pure mountain air, and drink from the cool
 mountain stream, and dwell in a lighter and purer atmosphere, not only
 physically, but socially and morally. Are these advantages, and do
 they contribute to correct thinking? If they are, and if they do, then
 we have certainly no cause to complain.
 
Vol. 2, p.27
 If we will only avail ourselves of the opportunities which we possess,
 take the good, and reject the evil, abide in the light and truth, and
 apply ourselves, we have no fears but that we shall excel. And time
 will show in regard to our moral and social institutions, which
 Congress are so often trying to legislate about. They are welcome to
 all of their moral and social rules and regulations, religious or
 otherwise; nor do I suppose that we shall try to legislate about them,
 although [p.28] we have just about as much right to, as they have
 about ours. The argument is opportune; I could not wish for better
 illustration for the subject under consideration, than the already
 muddy and beclouded brains which some of the present Congress
 exemplified upon this very subject. One might suppose that the spirit
 at least of the 3000 clergymen upon the Nebraska and Kansas Bill, had
 found its way into their minds, and left its impression with them.
 What other item of religious faith they will next seek to interfere
 with, is left for time to determine; but I should expect, that women
 would be prohibited from marrying, or Shakerism abolished.
 
Vol. 2, p.28
 Excuse me, my friends, for alluding to such a subject, upon an
 occasion like this, but the absurdity of undertaking to legislate upon
 the morality of our social relations and religious institutions,
 imperceptibly led me to make a comment upon it.
 
Vol. 2, p.28
 If it is an indication of a righteous feeling among them, there may be
 some small hopes of them yet; but it smacks rather too much of the
 SULPHUR to be genuine," as the parrot said when the devil taught him
 prayers. I hope you will accept of my apology, and I will refrain.
 
Vol. 2, p.28
 Our Pilgrim Fathers, when they landed on Plymouth Rock, constituted a
 small band, 'tis true; yet by uniting rich resources with energy and
 determined perseverance, witness what it amounted to—New England's
 rocks and hills were peopled; large cities sprung into existence, and
 she sends her sons and daughters too into every State; they are the
 first upon the confines of civilization, exploring the deep forest and
 wide-spread prairie, stemming Missouri's flood, and traversing ocean's
 wide domain. The sons of the Pilgrim Fathers are everywhere; here
 to-day are congregated thousands of them, who feel the same spirit of
 freedom which emulated them to flee from under the oppressor's rod,
 and beyond the tyrant's grasp.
 
Vol. 2, p.28
 Our Pioneers, unlike our Revolutionary Fathers, did not dissolve their
 political ties, but more than our Pilgrim Fathers, fled from
 persecution, and planted their standard like them, free to all to flee
 unto. Here we hope to preserve American freedom, to ourselves and
 others, although it was not preserved to us in the land of our
 nativity. Here we hope to be prospered and increased in knowledge,
 wisdom, and power; enabled to preserve our rights, and our liberties,
 as did our Revolutionary Fathers, when oppression became too onerous,
 and tyranny ranked too high.
 
Vol. 2, p.28
 But I forbear. Let us do our duty to ourselves, our country, and our
 God; be vigilant in the preservation of virtue and truth; and leave
 the event with the God of Nations, who shutteth and no man can open,
 and opens and no man can shut.[p.29] 
 
 Brigham Young, April 6, 1853
 
 Necessity of Building Temples—the Endowment
 
 An Oration by President Brigham Young, 
 Delivered on the South-East Corner Stone of the Temple at Great 
 Salt Lake City, after the First Presidency and the Patriarch had laid
 the Stone, 
 April 6, 1853.
 
Vol. 2, p.29
 This morning we have assembled on one of the most solemn, interesting,
 joyful, and glorious occasions, that ever have transpired, or will
 transpire among the children of men, while the earth continues in its
 present organization, and is occupied for its present purposes. And I
 congratulate my brethren and sisters that it is our unspeakable
 privilege to stand here this day, and minister before the Lord on an
 occasion which has caused the tongues and pens of Prophets to speak
 and write for many scores of centuries which are past.
 
Vol. 2, p.29
 When the Lord Jesus Christ tabernacled in the flesh—when he had left
 the most exalted regions of His Father's glory, to suffer and shed his
 blood for sinning, fallen creatures, like ourselves, and the people
 crowded around him, a certain man said unto him, "Master, I will,
 follow thee whithersoever thou goest." Jesus said unto him, "Foxes
 have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man
 hath not where to lay HIS head." And we find no record that this man
 followed him any farther.
 
Vol. 2, p.29
 Why had not the Son of Man where to lay his head? Because his Father
 had no house upon the earth—none dedicated to Him, and preserved for
 His exclusive use, and the benefit of His obedient children..
 
Vol. 2, p.29
 The Ark containing the covenant—or the Ark of the Covenant in the days
 of Moses, containing the sacred records, was moved from place to place
 in a cart. And so sacred was that Ark, if a man stretched forth his
 hand to steady it, when the cart jostled, he was smitten, and died.
 And would to God that all who attempt to do the same in this day,
 figuratively speaking, might share the same fate. And they will share
 it sooner or later, if they do not keep their hands, and tongues too,
 in their proper places, and stop dictating the order of the Gods of
 the Eternal Worlds.
 
Vol. 2, p.29
 When the Ark of the Covenant rested, or when the children of Israel
 had an opportunity to rest, (for they were mobbed and harassed
 somewhat like the Latter-day Saints,) the Lord, through Moses,
 commanded a Tabernacle to be built, wherein should rest and be
 stationed, the Ark of the Covenant. And particular instructions were
 given by revelation to Moses, how every part of said Tabernacle should
 be constructed, even to the curtains—the number thereof, and of what
 they should be made; and the covering, and the wood for the boards,
 and for the bars, and the court, and the pins, and the vessels, and
 the furniture, and everything pertaining to the Tabernacle. Why did
 Moses need such a particular revelation to build a Tabernacle? Because
 he had never seen one, and did not know how [p.30] to build it without
 revelation, without a pattern.
 
Vol. 2, p.30
 Thus the Ark of the Covenant continued until the days of David, King
 of Israel, standing or occupying a Tabernacle, or tent. But to David,
 God gave commandment that he should build Him a house, wherein He,
 Himself, might dwell, or which He might visit, and in which He might
 commune with His servants when He pleased.
 
Vol. 2, p.30
 From the day the children of Israel were led out of Egypt to the days
 of Solomon, Jehovah had no resting place upon the earth, (and for how
 long a period before that day, the history is unpublished,) but walked
 in the tent or Tabernacle, before the Ark, as it seemed Him good,
 having no place to lay His head.
 
Vol. 2, p.30
 David was not permitted to build the house which he was commanded to
 build, because he was a "man of blood," that is, he was beset by
 enemies on every hand, and had to spend his days in war and bloodshed
 to save Israel, (much as the Latter-day Saints have done, only he had
 the privilege to defend himself and people from mobocrats and
 murderers, while we have hitherto been denied that privilege,) and,
 consequently, he had no time to build a house unto the Lord but
 commanded his son Solomon, who succeeded him on the throne, to erect
 the Temple at Jerusalem, which God had required at his hands.
 
Vol. 2, p.30
 The pattern of this Temple, the length, and breadth, and height of the
 inner and outer courts, with all the fixtures thereunto appertaining,
 were given to Solomon by revelation, through the proper source. And
 why was this revelation-pattern necessary? Because that Solomon had
 never built a Temple, and did not know what was necessary in the
 arrangement of the different apartments, any better than Moses did
 what was needed in the Tabernacle.
 
Vol. 2, p.30
 This Temple, called Solomon's Temple, because Solomon was the master
 workman was completed some time previous to the appearance of the Son
 of Man on the earth, in the form of the babe of Bethlehem, and had
 been dedicated as the House of the Lord, and accepted as a finished
 work by the Father, who commanded it to be built, that His Son might
 have a resting place on the earth, when he should enter on his
 mission.
 
Vol. 2, p.30
 Why, then, did Jesus exclaim to the man who volunteered to follow him
 wheresoever he went, that "the Son of Man hath not where to lay his
 head?" Jesus knew the pretended Saint and follower to be a hypocrite,
 and that if he told him plainly that he would not fare as well as the
 birds and foxes, he would leave him at once, and that would save Him
 much trouble.
 
Vol. 2, p.30
 But how could Jesus' saying, that he had "not where to lay his head,"
 be true? Because the house which the Father had commanded to be built
 for his reception, although completed, had become polluted, and hence
 the saying, "My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a
 den of thieves," and he made a scourge of cords, and drove the
 money-changers, and dove-sellers, and faro-gamblers, all out of his
 house, and overthrew their tables; but that did not purify the house,
 so that he could not sleep in it, for an holy thing dwelleth not in an
 unholy Temple.
 
Vol. 2, p.30
 If Jesus could not lay his head in an unholy, polluted temple, how can
 the Latter-day Saints expect that the Holy Spirit will take and abide
 its residence with them, in their tabernacles and temples of clay,
 unless they keep themselves pure, spotless, and undefiled?
 
Vol. 2, p.30
 It is no wonder that the Son of Man, soon after his resurrection from
 the tomb, ascended to his Father, for he had no place on earth to lay
 his [p.31] head; his house still remaining in the tressession of his
 enemies, so that no one had the privilege of purifying it, if they had
 the disposition, and otherwise the power, to do it; and the occupants
 thereof were professors in name, but hypocrites and apostates, from
 whom no good thing can be expected.
 
Vol. 2, p.31
 Soon after the ascension of Jesus, through mobocracy, martyrdom, and
 apostacy, the Church of Christ became extinct from the earth, the Man
 Child—the Holy Priesthood, was received up into heaven from whence it
 came, and we hear no more of it on the earth, until the Angels
 restored it to Joseph Smith, by whose ministry the Church of Jesus
 Christ was restored, re-organized on earth, twenty-three years ago
 this day, with the title of "Latter-day Saints," to distinguish them
 from the Former-day Saints.
 
Vol. 2, p.31
 Soon after, the Church, though our beloved Prophet Joseph, was
 commanded to build a Temple to the Most High, in Kirtland, Ohio, and
 this was the next House of the Lord we hear of on the earth, since the
 days of Solomon's Temple. Joseph not only received revelation and
 commandment to build a Temple, but he received a  pattern also, as did
 Moses for the Tabernacle, and Solomon for his Temple; for without a
 pattern, he could not know what was wanting, having never seen one,
 and not having experienced its use.
 
Vol. 2, p.31
 Without revelation, Joseph could not know what was wanting, any more
 than any other man, and, without commandment, the Church were too few
 in numbers, too weak in faith and too poor in purse, to attempt such a
 mighty enterprise. But by means of all these stimulants, a mere
 handful of men, living on air, and a little hominy and milk, and often
 salt or no salt when milk could not be had; the great Prophet Joseph,
 in the stone quarry, quarrying rock with his own hands; and the few
 then in the Church, following his example of obedience and diligence
 wherever most needed; with laborers on the walls, holding the sword in
 one hand to protect themselves from the mob, while they placed the
 stone and moved the trowel with the other, the Kirtland Temple,—the
 second House of the Lord, that; we have any published record of on the
 earth, was so far completed as to be dedicated. And those first Elders
 who helped to build it, received a portion of their first endowments,
 or we might say more clearly, some of the first, or introductory, or
 initiatory ordinances, preparatory to an endowment.
 
Vol. 2, p.31
 The preparatory ordinances there administered, though accompanied by
 the ministration of angels, and the presence of the Lord Jesus, were
 but a faint similitude of the ordinances of the House of the Lord in
 their fulness; yet many, through the instigation of the devil, thought
 they had received all, and knew as much as God; they have apostatized,
 and gone to hell. But be assured, brethren, there are but few, very
 few of the Elders of Israel, now on earth, who know the meaning of the
 Word endowment. To know, they must experience; and to experience, a
 Temple must be built.
 
Vol. 2, p.31
 Let me give you the definition in brief. Your endowment is, to receive
 all those ordinances in the House of the Lord, which are necessary for
 you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to
 the presence of the Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels,
 being enabled to give them the key words, the signs and tokens,
 pertaining to the Holy Priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation in
 spite of earth and hell.
 
Vol. 2, p.31
 Who has received and understands such an endowment, in this assembly?
 You need not answer. Your voices would be few and far between, yet the
 keys to these endowments are among you, and thousands have received
 [p.32] them, so that the devil, with all his aids, need not suppose he
 can again destroy the Holy Priesthood from the earth, by killing a
 few, for he cannot do it. God has set His hand, for the last time, to
 redeem His people, the honest in heart, and Lucifer cannot hinder Him.
 
Vol. 2, p.32
 Before these endowments could be given at Kirtland, the Saints had to
 flee before mobocracy. And, by toil and daily labor, they found places
 in Missouri, where they laid the corner stones of Temples, in Zion and
 her Stakes, and then had to retreat to Illinois, to save the lives of
 those who could get away alive from Missouri, where fell the Apostle
 David W. Patten, with many like associates, and where were imprisoned
 in loathsome dungeons, and fed on human flesh, Joseph and Hyrum, and
 many others, But before all this had transpired, the Temple at
 Kirtland had fallen into the hands of wicked men, and by them been
 polluted, like the Temple at Jerusalem, and consequently it was
 disowned by the Father and the Son.
 
Vol. 2, p.32
 At Nauvoo, Joseph dedicated another Temple, the third on record. He
 knew what was wanting, for he had previously given most of the
 prominent individuals then before him their endowment. He needed no
 revelation, theng of a thing he had long experienced, any more than
 those now do, who have experienced the same things. It is only where
 experience fails, that revelation is needed.
 
Vol. 2, p.32
 Before the Nauvoo Temple was completed, Joseph was murdered—murdered
 at sun light, under the protection of the most noble government that
 then existed, and that now exists, on our earth. Has his blood been
 atoned for? No! And why? A martyr's blood to true religion was never
 atoned for on our earth. No man, or nation of men, without the
 Priesthood, has power to make atonement for such sins. The souls of
 all such, since the days of Jesus, are under the altar," and are
 crying to God, day and night, for vengeance. And shall they cry in
 vain? God forbid! He has promised He will hear them in His own due
 time, and recompense a righteous reward.
 
Vol. 2, p.32
 But what of the Temple in Nauvoo? By the aid of sword in one hand, and
 trowel and hammer in the other, with fire arms at hand, and a strong
 band of police, and the blessings of heaven, the Saints, through
 hunger, and thirst, and weariness, and watchings, and prayings, so far
 completed the Temple, despite the devices of the mob, that many
 received a small portion of their endowment, but we know of no one who
 received it in its fulness. And then, to save the lives of all the
 Saints from cruel murder, we removed westward, and being led by the
 all-searching eye of the Great Jehovah, we arrived at this place.
 
Vol. 2, p.32
 Of our journey hither, we need say nothing, only, God led us. Of the
 sufferings of those who were compelled to, and did, leave Nauvoo in
 the winter of 1846, we need say nothing. Those who experienced it know
 it, and those who did not, to tell them of it would be like exhibiting
 a beautiful painting to a blind man.
 
Vol. 2, p.32
 We will not stop to tell you of the sufferings of widows and orphans
 on Omaha lands, while their husbands and fathers were traversing the
 burning plains of the South, to fight the battles of a country which
 had banished them from civilization, for they secured the land on
 which we dwell, from our nation's foe, exposed the gold of California,
 and turned the world upside down. All these things are before you—you
 know them, and we need not repeat them.
 
Vol. 2, p.32
 While these things were transpiring with the Saints in the wilderness;
 the Temple at Nauvoo passed into the hands of the enemy, who polluted
 it to that extent the Lord not only ceased [p.33] to occupy it, but He
 loathed to have it called by His name, and permitted the wrath of its
 possessors to purify it. by fire, as a token of what will speedily
 fall on them and their habitations, unless they repent.
 
Vol. 2, p.33
 But what are we here for, this day? To celebrate the birth-day of our
 religion! To lay the foundation of a Temple to the Most High God, so
 that when His Son, our Elder Brother, shall again appear, he may have
 a place where he can lay his head, and not only spend a night or a
 day, but find a place of peace, that he may stay till he can say, "I
 am satisfied."
 
Vol. 2, p.33
 Brethren, shall the Son of Man be satisfied with our proceedings this
 day? Shall he have a house on the earth which he can call his own?
 Shall he have place where he can lay his head, and rest over night,
 and tarry as long as he pleases, and be satisfied and pleased with his
 accommodations?
 
Vol. 2, p.33
 These are questions for you to answer. If you say yes, you have got to
 do the work, or it will not be done. We do not want any whiners about
 this Temple. If you cannot commence cheerfully, and go through the
 labor of the whole building cheerfully, start for California, and the
 quicker the better. Make you a golden calf, and worship it. If your
 care for the ordinances of salvation, for yourselves, your living, and
 dead, is not first and foremost in your hearts, in your actions, and
 in everything you possess, go! Pay your debts, if you have any, and go
 in peace, and prove to God and all His Saints that you are what you
 profess to be, by your acts—a God of Gods, and know more than He that
 made you.
 
Vol. 2, p.33
 But if you are what you profess to be, do your duty—stay with the
 Saints, pay your Tithing, and be prompt in paying, as you are in
 feeding your family; and the Temple, of which we have now laid the
 South-east Corner Stone, will arise in beauty and grandeur, in a
 manner and time which you have not hitherto known or contemplated.
 
Vol. 2, p.33
 The Saints of these valleys have grown in riches, and abundance of the
 comforts of life, in a manner hitherto unparalleled on the page of
 history, and if they will do by their Heavenly Father as He has done
 by them, soon will this Temple be inclosed. But if you go in for a
 speculation with passers by, as many have hitherto done, you will not
 live to see the Topstone of this Temple laid; and your labors and
 toils for yourselves and, friends, dead and alive, will be worse than
 though you had had no existence.
 
Vol. 2, p.33
 We dedicate this, the South-east Corner Stone of this Temple, to the
 Most High God. May it remain in peace till it has done its work, and
 until He who has inspired our hearts to fulfil the prophecies of His
 holy Prophets, that the House of the Lord should be reared in the
 "Tops Of the Mountains," shall be satisfied, and say, "It is enough."
 And may every tongue, pen, and weapon, that may rise against this or
 any other Corner Stone of this building, feel the wrath and scourging
 of an incensed God! May sinners in Zion be afraid, and fearful news
 surprise the hypocrite, from this hour. And may all who do not feel to
 say Amen, go speedily to that long night of rest from which no sleeper
 will awake, till roused by the trump of the Second Resurrection.
 [p.34] 
 
 Heber C. Kimball, April 6, 1853
 
 A Prayer
 
 By President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered on the 
 South-East Corner Stone of the Temple at Great Salt Lake City, 
 after the First Presidency and the Patriarch had laid the Stone, 
 April 6, 1853.
 
Vol. 2, p.34
 O God, the Eternal Father, in the name of thy Son Jesus Christ of
 Nazareth, we ask thee to look upon us at this time in thy tender
 mercy. Thou beholdest that thy servants, Brigham and his Council, have
 laid the Chief Corner Stone of a holy House, which we are about to
 erect unto thy name. We desire to do it with clean hands and pure
 hearts before thee, and before thine holy angels. 
 
Vol. 2, p.34
 We thank thee that we are permitted to live in the flesh, and have a
 place upon thy footstool, and partake daily of the bounties thy hand
 bestows, for thou art our Father, and Jesus Christ is our Elder
 Brother.
 
Vol. 2, p.34
 Inasmuch, O Lord, as we desire to erect a House to thy name, that if
 it seemeth thee good to come and take up thine abode on the earth,
 thou mayest have a place to lay thy head, we pray thee to assist us to
 erect it in purity before thee, and the Heavenly hosts.
 
Vol. 2, p.34
 We ask thee to help us so to conduct ourselves, that all the holy
 Prophets, the angels of Heaven, with thee and thy Son, may be engaged
 continually for our welfare, in the work of salvation and eternal
 lives. Bless us in this attempt to glorify thee. Bless this portion of
 the earth we dwell upon —even these valleys of the mountains, which we
 have consecrated unto thee. Cause them to bring forth the productions
 of the soil in rich abundance. Bless the seeds that are placed therein
 by thy servants and handmaidens. And inasmuch as they are disposed to
 do thy work, and erect a Temple to thy name, which is their fixed
 purpose and determination; let the heavens be gentle over them. May
 the earth be sanctified for their good, and the seeds they throw into
 it yield to them an hundred fold in return. We pray thee to bless such
 men and women—may the blessings of the Almighty richly attend them,
 and multiply them in their families, in their herds and flocks, in
 strength and in health, in salvation, and in eternal lives.
 
Vol. 2, p.34
 We also pray for those who do not feel favorably disposed to thy
 work—may thy blessings not attend them, but may they go backward and
 not forward, may they wither and not increase, and may the strength
 that they might have received, through their faithfulness to thy work,
 be multiplied and divided amongst these thy servants, who are
 determined to keep thy commandments, and sanctify their affections
 unto thee.
 
Vol. 2, p.34
 Look upon thy servant Brigham, O Lord, and let thy Holy Spirit rest
 mightily upon him this day, and from henceforth. May he live to
 dictate the erection of thy house, see the Top-stone brought on with
 rejoicing, and administer the keys of salvation and eternal life unto
 his brethren therein. Bless his Council in common with him, may they
 live to a good old age, and glorify God in all their days; may they
 never want for food and raiment, for fathers and mothers, for wives
 and children, and for  the power of the, [p.35] Spirit to inspire
 them, and those thou hast given them.
 
Vol. 2, p.35
 Pour out thy Spirit upon thy servants, the Twelve Apostles; may thy
 power abide upon them, to qualify them for the responsible calling
 unto which thou hast called them. Also, in connexion with them, let
 thy Spirit rest upon the Quorums of the Seventies, the High Priests,
 the Bishops, the High Council, the Elders, Priests, Teachers, and
 Deacons; and upon every faithful member of thy Church in these valleys
 of the mountains, and in all the world.
 
Vol. 2, p.35
 Now, O God, we dedicate this Stone to thee. May this spot be holy, and
 all that pertaineth to it. And inasmuch as there shall be an enemy, or
 a person that arc, evil disposed towards thy house, and they shall
 endeavor to lay snares for the feet of thy people, may they be caught
 in their own net, be overwhelmed in their own dilemma, and have no
 power nor influence in the least to hurt thy Saints from this time
 henceforth and for ever. May the power oft he mighty God of Jacob
 fortify thy servants, enabling them to execute righteousness before
 thee the Lord our God.
 
Vol. 2, p.35
 Hear us, O Lord, for we dedicate this, the South-east Corner Stone
 unto thee, praying that it may sleep in peace, be preserved from
 decay, for it is the Chief Corner Stone of the House we shall rear to
 thy name. May the same blessings attend the other three Corner Stones,
 and all the works thy servants shall set their hands to do, from this
 time henceforth and for ever.
 
Vol. 2, p.35
 Bless the architect, the superintendent, the foremen of the various
 departments, and all the laborers that shall raise a hand, or move a
 thing for the erection and perfection of this thine house; and provide
 for them, their wives, their children, and all that pertains unto
 them, that they may want for no good or necessary thing, while they
 are engaged in thy service, and from this time henceforth and for
 ever.
 
Vol. 2, p.35
 We dedicate ourselves unto thee, with our wives, our children, our
 flocks, and our herds, with all the settlements and possessions that
 pertain to thy people in these valleys of the mountains. And all the
 praise and the glory we will ascribe to the Father, Son, and Holy
 Ghost. Amen.
 
 Edward Hunter, April 6, 1853
 
 Persecutions, Position, Prospects, and Agency of the Saints
 
 An Oration by Bishop Edward Hunter, 
 delivered on the South-West Corner Stone of the Temple, at Great Salt 
 Lake City, after the Presidencies of the Aaronic 
 Priesthood had laid the Stone, April 6, 1853.
 
Vol. 2, p.35
 Brethren and Friends—This, the South-west Corner Stone of this Temple,
 in Salt Lake Valley, and Utah Territory, has been laid by the Aaronic
 Priesthood, which is in connection with the Melchisedec Priesthood
 forever—to connect those two Priesthoods to the building up of the
 kingdom of the last days, and exalt mankind on the earth, and in the
 presence of God, and prepare for the coming of Christ our Redeemer.
 
Vol. 2, p.36
 The past, the present, and the future—our history, our destiny, recur
 [p.36] with redoubled force upon our minds, upon occasions like this.
 In honor to the great God we are here assembled. To the Valleys of the
 mountains we have been led by His Almighty power and watchful
 guidance. We have been delivered from our enemies, from our
 oppressors, by His unerring wisdom, and surpassing kindness.
 
Vol. 2, p.36
 Never before could the Saints look around, and behold so glorious, so
 prosperous a prospect before them, for the accomplishment of the
 enterprise which we this day commence. Although peace may temporarily
 have smiled around, yet it was like the lone traveller, struggling to
 make his way through the scarcely incrustated lava, yet warm, amid the
 craters of the momentarily extinct volcano, which has only ceased to
 pour forth its liquid fire, to gather renewed and increased energy,
 and again send forth its lurid flame, molten fury, and devastation, to
 all around. Thus has it ever been with this people—in the midst of
 enemies have they struggled to build up cities, wherein they might
 inhabit; erect temples unto the name of the God whom they serve,
 wherein to worship, and receive their holy anointings and endowments.
 But no sooner have they commenced, than have also commenced the
 howlings of the myrmidons of Satan's kingdom, crying, as they did
 before Pilate, when they murdered the Saviour of the world, "Away with
 him! away with him! crucify him! crucify him!" And they have poured
 out their wrath—they have murdered the Saints, driven them from city
 to city, from land to land, dispossessed them of their inheritances,
 destroyed their cities, their  temples and slain their Prophets.
 
Vol. 2, p.36
 As it was in  the days of our Saviour and his Apostles, so has it been
 in our day. They have used every stratagem, every exertion to destroy
 the Priesthood from the face of the earth. They were successful
 then—will they be so now? Will the authority of the holy and eternal
 Priesthood of Almighty God, again be driven from the face of the
 earth, the Prophets and Apostles all slain, and none left in
 possession of the living oracles of divine truth? No.! no!! The might
 of Jehovah will preserve us. The Lord God will sustain us, and, if so
 be we should be scattered as hitherto, He will gather us in greater
 power, greater numbers, with increased ability to perform His work
 upon the earth.
 
Vol. 2, p.36
 Let all people, sinners, mobocrats, and devils, learn from experience
 that persecution, plunder, robbery, rapine, murder, and expulsion from
 home and country, will not win. They have effectually tried this plan,
 and it has as effectually failed every time. Please take notice! and
 devise some new scheme the next time, wherein you can feel some
 assurance, that you may possibly succeed, and we have the pleasure of
 not being plundered, murdered, and disfranchised in the same old way.
 Tax your inventive genius for some broader scheme to destroy God's
 people from the face of the earth.
 
Vol. 2, p.36
 Suppose you try the suggestion of our much esteemed, though distant,
 learned, very polite, and unsolicited chronicler, Lieutenant Gunnison,
 "of letting us alone severely?" But I will not make suggestions for
 you, having great confidence in your ability of changing your mode of
 operation. When your plans become so futile, weak, and unavailing, as
 to become stale and uninteresting, I may suggest for you. In the
 meantime, let the Saints remember the promise President Young made
 their, upon the occasion of his breaking the ground for this temple,
 on the 14th of February last—"Not one of them, who had not been
 through the fiery ordeal, should lose the privilege, if he  continued
 faithful; he shall not be a whit behind [p.37] the most exquisite
 infliction of torture that any of the Saints have had to endure." If
 you are faithful, you shall have the promised blessing pertaining to
 those characters who became partakers of the sufferings of our Lord
 and Saviour Jesus Christ.
 
Vol. 2, p.37
 When we look around us, what do  we behold? We see the most
 unmistakable tokens of prosperity, peace, and plenty; the self-evident
 fruits of high heaven's protecting care, industry, sobriety, and
 faith. What else do we behold? Wickedness—the hydra-headed monster,
 apostacy, dares to lift his head; thieves dare to prowl in our midst.
 
Vol. 2, p.37
 It seems, that no sooner can the Lord pour out His blessings upon His
 people, and Zion be favored for a season, than it becomes occasion for
 some to kick and flounder, turning their heel against that beneficent
 power unto whom they owe their being, their existences—who has fed
 them, and nurtured them, and led them, like as He did the Saints of
 old, all the day long.
 
Vol. 2, p.37
 What becomes the duly of the Saints under such circumstances? Do you
 realize that upon yourselves, in a great measure, depends your future
 prosperity, the prosperity of Zion's cause, the extension and
 advancement of the cause of truth in the world? Do you consider that
 it is your duty to purify and sanctify your hearts before God, to put
 evil far from you, to resist the allurements, temptations, and de