Journal of Discourses Volume 4

BY:  BRIGHAM YOUNG
President of the Church of Jesus Chirst of Latter-day Saints

HIS TWO COUNSELLORS,
AND THE TWELVE APOSTLES

REPORTED BY G. D. WATT,

AND HUMBLY DEDICATED TO THE
LATTER-DAY SAINTS IN ALL THE WORLD

VOL. IV.

LIVERPOOL

EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY S. W. RICHARDS, 42, ISLINGTON.

LONDON:

LATTER-DAY SAINTS' BOOK DEPOT, 35 JEWIN STREET, CITY.

1857

Preface

Vol. 4, p.iii
We have the satisfaction of offering to the Saints and the public the
Fourth Volume of the Journal of Discourses.

Vol. 4, p.iii
It would be altogether gratuitous and uncalled-for, on our part, to
write a commendatory preface to the Discourses of the First Presidency
and Twelve Apostles of this Church. To the Saints their words are as
the words of God, their teachings fraught with heavenly wisdom, and
their directions leading to salvation and eternal lives.

Vol. 4, p.iii
We believe that the present Volume is the most important of any yet
placed in the hands of the Saints. It contains Discourses, Remarks,
and Exhortations, delivered at the time of the great Reformation among
the Saints in Zion.    It shows the noble and mighty efforts of the
authorities to purify the children of Zion, and prepare them for the
great day of redemption. It is the written embodiment of the fire of
the Almighty that burned in His Prophets and Apostles at that
momentous epoch in the history of the Latter-day Church. The influence
of that Reformation was felt by heaven, earth, and hell. It called
down power and blessings from the celestial world to rest upon the
Anointed Ones. It strengthened the union of the Saints, and added
brightness to their faith. It made Satan and his hosts rage and
tremble.

Vol. 4, p.iii
Besides those delivered at the Reformation, the Fourth Volume contains
Discourses and Remarks full of new ideas, improved schemes relative to
emigration and other matters, and counsel and instructions suitable to
the advanced and peculiar conditon of the people, and the development
of the work of the last days. Moreover, throughout the whole Volume,
we see signs that the day of God's power is at hand, and that the fire
of the Almighty is proceeding forth from the leaders of Israel.

Vol. 4, p.iii
To complete the present Volume, we have been under the necessity of
introducing Discourses reported by J. V. Long, which are distinguished
in the Index by an asterisk (*).

THE PUBLISHER. [p.1]

Heber C. Kimball, June 29, 1856

The Saints Should Prepare for Future Emergencies—Evil
 Spirits—Their Power and Organization—the Chain
of the Priesthood—Angels Are Ministering Spirits.

A Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, in the Bowery, 
Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, June 29, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.1
On account of the breeze that is playing beneath this shade, brother
Brigham thought I had better put on my hat, but I never feel as though
I wanted to wear my hat when he is present. I consider that the master
should wear his hat, or hang it on the peg that God made for it, which
is his head, of course.

Vol. 4, p.1
I feel tolerably well as to health today, but I suffer much from bad
colds, and have to be very careful, for I am often confined in my
house with colds. I took a very violent cold here last Sabbath, by
sitting in the draft, and I have not felt very well since, still I
feel ambitious in the cause that I have espoused. The things
concerning which brother Grant has this day been speaking are good,
and I believe in his doctrines because they are true, especially in
regard to our being one. I do know most definitively that unless we
are one we are not Christ's; and I also know that if we are not one
with brother Brigham, our leader, we are not one with Christ. Yes, I
know this, and my feelings are and have been with brother Brigham all
the time.

Vol. 4, p.1
I have learned by experience that there is but one God that pertains
to this people, and He is the God that pertains to this earth—the
first man. That first man sent his own Son to redeem the world, to
redeem his brethren; his life was taken, his blood shed, that our sins
might be remitted, That Son called twelve men and ordained them to be
Apostles, and when he departed the keys of the kingdom were deposited
with three of those twelve, viz.: Peter, James, and John. Peter held
the keys pertaining to that Presidency, and he was the head.

Vol. 4, p.1
How did these keys come to us? Did not Peter, James, and John, ordain
Joseph Smith our Prophet? They did. And Joseph Smith called and
ordained brother Brigham, brother [p.2] Heber, brother Parley, and
others, enough to make twelve Apostles. Thus you see that there is
always a governing principle in the Church upon the earth; there is
always a Presidency, three who represent the Deity here on the earth.
Just think of your position; you have heard the teachings and
instructions of President Young, and his instructions are the word of
God to us, and I know that every man and woman in this Church who
rejects his testimony, and the testimony of those that he sends,
rejects the testimony of God his Father. I know that, just as well as
I know that I see your faces to-day.

Vol. 4, p.2
Where will those go to that reject this Gospel? Why, in reality they
will not go anywhere. [A voice from the stand: They will not go
anywhere else, for they have no other place to go to.] They will
remain where they are, in hell, where my spirit was for a short time,
when I was in England. Where was my body during that brief period? It
was in Preston, on the corner of Wilford street, but my spirit could
see and observe those evil spirits as plainly as it ever will after I
die. Legions of disembodied evil spirits came against me, organized in
companies that they might have more power, but they had not power over
me to any great extent, because of the power that was in and
sustaining me. I had the Priesthood, and the power of it was upon me.
I saw the invisible world of the condemned spirits, those who were
opposed to me and to this work, and to the rifting up of the standard
of Christ in that country. Did I at the same time see or have a vision
of the angels of God—of His legions? No, I did not; though they were
there and stood in defence of me and my brethren, and I knew it. And
all this not that there was any very great virtue in me, but there was
virtue in the Priesthood and Apostleship which I held, and God would
and did defend; and the evil spirits were dispersed by the power of
God.

Vol. 4, p.2
Some people suppose that when they leave this state of existence they
are going into the paradise of God, but if they do not overcome evil
and subject themselves to the will of God and to him that is appointed
to lead us here in the flesh, they will become subject to those wicked
spirits. Angels will not come by legions to defend those whose faith
fails them when the destroyer comes, but he will be permitted to waste
the wicked. I never said that I ever saw an angel from God, though I
have dreamed about them; neither did I see those evil spirits with my
natural eyes, nor was I at the time asleep, but I saw them after I was
laid prostrate upon the floor.

Vol. 4, p.2
When I recovered I sat upon the bed thinking and reflecting upon what
had past, and all at once my vision was opened, and the walls of the
building were no obstruction to my seeing, for I saw nothing but the
visions that presented themselves. Why did not the walls obstruct my
view? Because my spirit could look through the walls of that house,
for I looked with that spirit, element, and power, with which angels
look; and as God sees all things, so were invisible things brought
before me, as the Lord would bring things before Joseph in the Urim
and Thummim. It was upon that principle that the Lord showed things to
the Prophet Joseph.

Vol. 4, p.2
I speak of these things because I do know that if you do not yield
obedience to true principles, and bring your wills into subjection
thereto, you will be overcome of evil. Jesus says, I have not come to
do my will, but the will of my Father who sent me. Upon the same
principle I say that I have not come to do my will, but to do the will
of him that sent me, even that of brother Brigham.

Vol. 4, p.3
[p.3] This is my place and my calling, and this is my wish and the
wish of brother Jedediah, of brother Amasa, of brother Parley, and of
every other Apostle that God has appointed and called upon this earth,
or ever will while we remain here. It is for brother Brigham to do the
will of Joseph, and for Joseph to do the will of Peter, for Peter to
do the will of Jesus, and for Jesus to do the will of his Father. That
is the chain that reaches from heaven to earth, and do you not
understand that it is so? If you will keep hold of that chain and keep
your hands strongly fastened in the links, you can reach into the
vail. But you must hold on firm and fast to the cable —why? Because
there is an anchor at the end of the cable, and that cable is fastened
to the ship so that it is made sure at both ends. That is the way it
is in a ship, and it is so with the kingdom of God.

Vol. 4, p.3
My feelings are for you to learn to follow our leader, our Prophet,
our President. He will be our President in eternity, and Joseph is his
President and will counsel him, and you need not trouble yourselves,
but do as you are told and you will obtain salvation and go into the
celestial glory. You will then dwell in the same glory with Joseph,
with father Smith, with the Apostles and Saints; and by taking such a
course not one of you will fall, and I know it.

Vol. 4, p.3
You have got to be organized and disciplined by the Priesthood, and
you have got to stick to that organization, for you cannot be saved
with a celestial glory unless you are saved by this Priesthood.
Brother Brigham says stick to it, and then we will all be saved in the
kingdom of our God.

Vol. 4, p.3
Thousands of this world, with large herds of cattle and much substance
are fleeing to California or Oregon to escape the troubles, but they
will be caught in the snare. [President B. Young: They will, and they
will fall into the pit.] The road on the Plains is full of emigrants
of that class, and there are several thousand Saints on the way here.
The hand-carts are rolling, and those with them can sleep at night and
be up in the mornings, and the carts will jingle through the day; and
as soon as we can get teams, after our wheat is harvested, we shall
call on you to go back and meat them with flour and other comforts of
life; what do you say? [Yes, from many voices in the congregation.]
There are squally times in the east; they have got so that they cannot
really stand it, without drubbing each other with canes. The world is
in commotion; I have been talking about it here, and about the state
of affairs in this Church, and what we have got to do, and I cannot
get this subject out of my mind, no, not for one moment.

Vol. 4, p.3
Brethren and sisters, take care of your grain; do not waste any of
your grain, for you will need it all; and do not make an unwise or
unsaintly disposition of it. I beg of you to attend to this counsel,
for I have told it three or four times; not because I profess to be a
Prophet, but because I naturally see the necessity for so doing. The
people are out of grain and out of bread, and I have but little
myself; and from what I see, I should think that very many had none,
for if you were to go to my house and stay one day, you would see
enough to craze you, for they come in crowds and are hungry, and I
feel to pity them, but I cannot feed all creation.

Vol. 4, p.3
Suppose all this people had been wise and taken counsel, would they
have suffered the present destitution? No, they would not. Much of our
grain has been consumed by our enemies, by those who care not for what
they have to pay, for Uncle Sam pays their bills. Shall they have our
grain this year? Doubtless many of this [p.4] people will sell their
grain to them at a low price, and thus they will be fed, while many
worthy persons will see straitened circumstances through lack of food,
and I see this naturally. This is a numerous people, and they have no
surplus of bread, not a particle, and our crop is very light in many
places; there are hundreds and thousands of men that have lost their
crops entirely. I understand that brother Grant has lost a great
portion of his crop, and thousands of acres have been parched up for
the want of water, and there will be but little wheat, not near enough
to supply the wants of this people, and bring them safely through to
another harvest.

Vol. 4, p.4
In addition to our present number, according to accounts that I see,
there are five thousand Saints ready for the Plains at one place, and
five thousand more at another, besides those that are casually falling
into the ranks, and they have to eat as well as we, until another
harvest.

Vol. 4, p.4
I speak of these things to warn and forewarn you to take care of your
grain and save it, and it will be better for you to do this, even
though in so doing you have to go bare-footed. And it will be better
for the sisters to let fine shoes, fine dresses, fine bonnets,
ribbons, veils, laces, and all other imported finery stay in the
stores until they rot, than to let their grain go for such articles.
Will you take the course that you have been exhorted to take? If you
do not, a few men may not suffer, but the majority will. I do firmly
believe that our bread has been blest and multiplied this season, for
I know there was not enough in the Territory to sustain the people.
However, the present scarcity is one of the best things that ever
happened to this people, for it will teach them wisdom. This is one of
the poorest countries for occupancy for Gentiles that I have ever
seen, though for the same reasons it is at present the very best for
the Saints, for we can get along in it better than any other people.

Vol. 4, p.4
There are those here who will censure brother Brigham and me,
notwithstanding all that we have done for them. [President B. Young:
We do not care what they say about us, if they will not steal.] There
is but little left in this Territory, so far as bread is concerned.
Brother Brigham and I have had to put our families on half rations, in
order that we might have wherewith to feed the destitute, and they now
say that they feel better than they did before; and I judge, from the
testimony that they have given, that it is best to keep them on short
rations, for they are fat and fair, and enjoy a good portion of the
Spirit of God.

Vol. 4, p.4
Now, as anciently, the more some are blest, the more they complain;
the more the Lord pours out His blessings upon some, the more covetous
they are, and a great many of such characters will go to the devil.
Brother Brigham and I would rather see our families beg for a living,
go poor, penniless, and afflicted, and become sanctified, become
celestial beings, and enter into glory, than to see them transgress
the law of God. The bodies we do not care so much about, though we
intend to support them in time and eternity.

Vol. 4, p.4
I believe that Joseph has got the Church organized in the spirit
world, and that he calls and sends the Elders to preach the Gospel to
the spirits in prison.

Vol. 4, p.4
Inasmuch as we do right, we shall have good times and prosper; and the
majority of this people are honest and righteous, and they will be
saved in the kingdom of God, for they will cleave to brother Brigham
for ever, and will be one family. And if I am not very much mistaken,
I shall be along with brother Brigham; and  if [p.5] there is anything
necessary for me to do, I will do it, though it takes my head off from
my shoulders, for I am to be one and will be one with those who will
be one with brother Brigham. I will go into the celestial kingdom with
him and with Joseph, also with Peter, Paul, Adam, Noah, Job, Daniel,
and all the ancient worthies, Prophets and Apostles, that ever lived
in this world, and we will dwell there forever. I am on the right
track; "Mormonism" is the pride of my heart, trod I take no pride in
any thing else. If I was driven to break up my home to-morrow, I would
not cry for any thing which I have on this earth.

Vol. 4, p.5
Do you suppose that I would cry at being compelled to leave my house?
Do you wish to know what I would do with it? I would say, let the
houses and everything else go. Just before I left Nauvoo, I had
finished me a good house, and when compelled to start, I told the
devil to take it and stick it in his hat, and I would go to the
mountains and get rich.

Vol. 4, p.5
Many think that they are going right into the celestial kingdom of
God, in their present ignorance, to at once receive glories and
powers; that they are going to he Gods, while many of them are so
ignorant, that they can see or know scarcely anything. Such people
tall; of becoming Gods, when they do not know anything of God, or of
His works; such persons have to learn repentance, and obedience to the
law of God; they have got to learn to understand angels, and to
comprehend and stick to the principles of this Church.

Vol. 4, p.5
I feel to pray that the Lord may preserve you all from every evil. As
for the departure from this state of existence, it is but for a little
moment; and though I have not tasted death, yet I have seen in vision
the invisible enemies of God, and they were organized and arranged in
battle against one or two men, simply because those men were going to
proclaim the Gospel to the nations, and the devil did not like it; and
the devil will work against every man who goes into a new place to
preach the Gospel. As to the length of that vision, after they took
their departure, brother Willard Richards said that it was an hour and
a half that we were in the vision, though it seemed to me not to have
been a moment. One of the devils spoke, and said to brother Hyde, "I
have said nothing against you."

Vol. 4, p.5
I did not contend with them, and I assure you it was enough for me to
look upon them; though I expect, after passing through the valley of
death, that I shall preach to companies and nations of those spirits
that are in prison. Those that were disobedient in the days of Noah?
No, but to those that have been disobedient in the days of Joseph and
Brigham, and that have been condemned for their sins; and we shall
have many of them to contend with.

Vol. 4, p.5
They will come by and bye in legions, but we shall have power to
overcome by the power of God. They will have great power in the last
days, and if you do not overcome them, you will fall into the same
spirit; and you will be as liable to be deceived in that state of
existence as you are in this, if you turn against God or this kingdom.

Vol. 4, p.5
I bear testimony of this, and I wish you would listen to counsel and
lay aside every sin that doth so easily beset you, and turn to the
Lord with full purpose of heart.

Vol. 4, p.5
Brother Brigham has fellow-laborers here, and they are just as good
men as any that ever lived upon this earth. Adam and Jesus, and all
the Prophets, down to the present, have contemplated this work, and
would have rejoiced to live in our day, that they might have
participated while in the flesh, in the glories of the last days.

Vol. 4, p.5
We cannot become perfect, without [p.6] we are assisted by our
heavenly Father. We must be faithful and of one heart, and one mind,
and let every man and woman take a course to build up and not pull
down. See that you save your grain, that you may save yourselves from
the wicked of the world. Try to take care of every thing that is good
to eat, for this is the work of the Lord God Almighty, and we shall
have times that will test the integrity of this people, that will test
who is honest and who is not.

Vol. 4, p.6
Omitting prayer is calculated to lead the mind away from those duties
which are incumbent upon us; then let us attend to our prayers and all
our duties, and you will know that brother Brigham and his brethren
have told you of these things.

Vol. 4, p.6
Rejoice in all things brought forth in these last days, for the time
will come when you will say that we indeed live in the last
dispensation.

Vol. 4, p.6
The trials in the last days will be numerous, but to the faithful they
will be of but small moment, for they will live above these things,
they will increase in power. The work of God is bound to increase, and
just in that proportion will the devil's kingdom rise in power and
strength, and wall; up to battle against us. The adversary is bent on
having a war with this people, we shall have him right by the side of
us, and you will find that he will keep you very busy, if you strive
to come off victorious.

Vol. 4, p.6
We feel the responsibility that is resting upon us, and we wish to
save this people, if they will listen to our counsel, both temporal
and spiritual. I have to restrain myself, many times, from speaking of
things which pass through my mind. I naturally delight in truth and
plainness, this is my character, hence I make use of expressions and
figures which are plain and easy to be understood.

Vol. 4, p.6
I wish to have you receive the truth and obey counsel, and become
thoroughly imbued with correct principles, that you may bring forth
that which is good, raise up righteous sons and daughters, and bear
off this kingdom, for it is beginning to work in you.

Vol. 4, p.6
Take the boys here, the sons of our brethren and sisters, and you may
cut them into inch pieces, and they will not forsake this cause, but
they will defend it to the last. Some of them may be rough, and
perhaps some of them do not pray much, but send. them into the
vineyard, and then you will see them shew forth the power that is in
them.

Vol. 4, p.6
At present the Prophet Joseph's boys lay apparently in a state of
slumber, every thing seems to be perfectly calm with them, but by and
bye God will wake them up, and they will roar like the thunders of
mount Sinai.

Vol. 4, p.6
There is much work to be done: God is not asleep, and He will wake up
our children and they will bear off this kingdom to the nations of the
earth, and will bear testimony to the truth of this work, and of the
integrity and true character of Joseph, and Hyrum, and Brigham, of
Heber, and Jedediah, and the Twelve, and of thousands of others.

Vol. 4, p.6
There are trying times ahead of you, do you not begin to feel and see
them? If you do not, I say you are asleep. I wish that the spirit
which rests upon a few individuals could be upon you, every one of
you, it would be one of the most joyful times that brother Brigham and
I ever saw with the Saints of God upon this earth.

Vol. 4, p.6
Let us be one; brethren, let us be of one heart and one mind; sisters,
listen to counsel, and then, as I have said a hundred times, you never
will want for flour and the comforts of life, from this time
henceforth and forever.

Vol. 4, p.6
Do I believe that God can increase our substance, increase our flour
and our wheat, as He did those loaves and [p.7] fishes with which
Jesus fed 5,000 people?

Vol. 4, p.7
Supposing that there was a tub standing here and the people perishing
for want of water, could not I, were I beyond the vail, come and pour
in water? Yes, and you could not see me. Unless your eyes are touched
by the power of God, you cannot see an angel; it is as much as you can
do to see me.

Vol. 4, p.7
Angels are ministering spirits, and do you suppose that they will see
this people want? Do you suppose that my Father will sit upon His
throne, and see us starve? No, no more than He suffered His servant
Elijah—to starve, He then inspired a bird to carry meat to His servant
Elijah, and He can do the same now.

Vol. 4, p.7
Did He not cause manna to come from heaven? Yes, and there is plenty
more on hand.

Vol. 4, p.7
I am telling the truths of God, and I am one with brother Brigham, and
I can bear testimony to him and of him, and our testimony is as good
as that of Peter, or of John.

Vol. 4, p.7
Brother Brigham and I once started to travel with sixteen dollars and
fifty cents, and in five hundred miles we paid out eighty-two dollars,
and had some money left when we got to the end of our journey. Do you
not suppose that we believe in angels and holy beings, having visited
us on those occasions? Cannot angels furnish Saints with money? Our
wants were supplied, and we are witnesses of the fact, and we still
live, and shall continue to live, and bear testimony to this
generation.

Vol. 4, p.7
Do you not think that angels can bring flour? Can they not go and take
it from those who have plenty, and put it in the empty bins, sacks,
and barrels belonging to good men, and that too without your knowing
it? It is very common for one to increase, and for another to
decrease.

Vol. 4, p.7
Prepare yourselves for the future scenes through which you may be
called to pass.

Vol. 4, p.7
May the Lord God of Israel bless you all, is my prayer. Amen.

Jedediah M. Grant, July 24, 1856

A Prayer

By President J. M. Grant, at the celebration of the 24th of July,
1856,
 in Big Cottonwood kanyon, Utah.

Vol. 4, p.7
Our Father and our God, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we bow
before thee, and thank thee that we have the privilege of coming to
the tops of these mountains to worship thee our God, and to celebrate
the liberty of thy people, and their entrance into these peaceful
valleys and mountains.

Vol. 4, p.7
We thank thee for these mountains, for the fountains of waters that
flow from them, for the timber that grows upon them, and for all the
blessings that thou hast vouchsafed to thy people in this land.

Vol. 4, p.7
We thank thee that thou hast preserved this land from the eye of the
wicked, that they have not desired it, that they have not coveted it,
that thou hast kept it for thy people and [p.8] hast brought them
hither, through the instrumentality of thy servant Brigham, whom thou
hast inspired by the Holy Ghost.

Vol. 4, p.8
We thank thee that we here rest secure from our enemies, that we and
our families enjoy peace and rest from the persecutions of those who
hate thy chosen people.

Vol. 4, p.8
We thank thee for this goodly inheritance which thou hast vouchsafed
to thy people, and for the privilege of raising our banners and
ensigns on these mountain tops. May our enemies never have power over
us, and may we be blessed by doing right and keeping thy commandments,
by living pure, and by being watchful and careful to do no evil, that
we may multiply in our families, in our flocks, and in our herds, in
our fields and habitations.

Vol. 4, p.8
We pray thee, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that thou wouldst
bless this valley and all the adjacent valleys; and bless the streams
of water that flow from the mountains. As we are at the head of Big
Cottonwood kanyon, we pray thee that thou wilt bless it, and the water
that flows to the mills, and to the land we cultivate. And may the
timber and grass, and vegetation of every description, growing in this
little valley in the tops of these mountains, be blessed; and we
consecrate and dedicate it to thee for the benefit of thy people, for
their happiness, that they may rest here and be safe. Bless all the
elements that are here; may the rocks and the mountains be blessed,
and every thing that has life.

Vol. 4, p.8
We pray thee, in the name of the Lord Jesus, that thou wouldst bless
thy servant Brigham, and those associated with him, who have taken
pains to prepare the way, and kindly invite us to these regions. May
we feel that we are blest, and that the Lord, through the dispensation
of His providence, has granted to us these favors. We ask thy choicest
blessings on thy servants Brigham, Heber, and the Twelve, and upon all
thy faithful people in every kingdom and nation. Bless our friends,
and all who speak comforting words to thy people, and defend them, and
may the enemies of truth and righteousness be confounded, and not have
power to injure the people of God. Bless thy servant George A. Smith,
and thy servant John Taylor, and thy servant John M. Bernhishel, and
bless all thy servants in every land and clime. Bless those who write
and defend thy people through the press, may our prayers come up
before thee in their behalf, for thou knowest we have not sinned
against thee in these groves—in this kanyon. We do not visit groves,
as did Israel of old, to commit adultery, nor to depart from the Lord
our God. But we desire to appear before thee with clean hands and
hearts, to call upon thee for thy blessing and do thy will, that our
inheritance may be blest and all we have, and that all the efforts we
make to build up Zion and rear temples to thy name may be blest, that
the people of God may flock to the mountains by tens of thousands; may
the wicked be cut off, may they be taken in the snares they have
spread for thy people, and fall into the pits they have dug for thy
Saints, and may they not prosper on the earth.

Vol. 4, p.8
We desire that thou wouldst fulfil the covenants made with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, with Lehi and Nephi, and with all the Prophets that
have lived on this land, that Zion may come down from above, and Zion
come up from beneath; that every band may be broken, and all Israel be
saved. O Lord, we ask thee to bless us in our efforts on the earth;
may righteousness and peace spread as the light of the morning, may we
rejoice in the natural fortresses of this land, and may  we be the
pioneers of truth, [p.9] men who will break the crust of nations,
gather Israel, and send the truth to every clime. May we accomplish
the great work thou didst commence through thy servant Joseph, that
truth may reign on the earth, and righteousness predominate among all
people. May we have power over the wicked nations, that Zion may be
the seat of government for the universe, the law of God be extended,
and the sceptre of righteousness swayed over this wide world; and
eventually, with the redeemed, may we be brought to celebrate thy
praise, in thy kingdom and presence. These favors, and all we need to
prepare us to live here, to dwell with thee and the sanctified
hereafter, we humbly crave, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Parley P. Pratt, June 29, 1856

A Visit, By P. P. Pratt, to the Southern 
Settlements—The Power of the Priesthood—
Union Among the Saints—A Miracle

A Discourse, Delivered by Elder P. P. Pratt,
 in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, June 29, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.9
Brethren and Sisters,—It is with no ordinary feelings of joy and
thanksgiving that I have the privilege of again standing before you,
in a good degree of health.

Vol. 4, p.9
I have been absent some five weeks, on a mission through the southern
settlements. Many of you will remember that I had been very low with
sickness previous to my departure, and I thank God this day that I
have, in a great measure, recovered my health and strength.

Vol. 4, p.9
I have had a good visit among the Saints throughout the south, from
here to Washington county, distance 300 miles. The hot weather,
prevailing south winds, and the dust, rendered our traveling somewhat
disagreeable and fatiguing; nevertheless, I have enjoyed myself well.

Vol. 4, p.9
The Saints among whom we have labored received us with hospitality,
the best they were capable of; they could have done no better if
angels from heaven had visited them; and I feel to bless them for it.

Vol. 4, p.9
I will say a word about the crops and the industry of the people
south, as I presume you are all anxious on that subject. I know of no
particular drawback in any large portion of the settlements in the way
of good crops.

Vol. 4, p.9
They are later in the south than here, the climate being a little
colder; but in every settlement a peculiar spirit of industry
characterises the Saints; they seem to strain every nerve to put in
crops and to take care of them, and with some few exceptions in small
places, there is every prospect of good crops, good gardens, and good
grain, and I hope, with the blessing of the Lord, that the people in
these distant regions will be able to produce sufficient for
themselves and those who are coming this season, and I think the most
of them will take care of it.

Vol. 4, p.10
[p.10] If we do the same, and all the other settlements, we will be
enabled to live, and to enable those of our brethren to live who may
come to us. I found it true, as our President said this spring, that
there was four times the destitution in this city that there was out
of it.

Vol. 4, p.10
When I arrived as far as Nephi, and from that onward south, I heard of
but very little scarcity, but very little want, but they all seemed to
have enough to eat, and occasionally some to spare.

Vol. 4, p.10
I mention these few things for your comfort, as we are one body and
rejoice in each others welfare.

Vol. 4, p.10
I would also mention that a good spirit, the spirit of union and
peace, seems generally to prevail so far as I could tell; and as to
myself, I have enjoyed myself well and felt a good portion of the
Spirit during my ministry in the south, and feel to thank my Heavenly
Father for all these things.

Vol. 4, p.10
I have been led to reflect in viewing the unanimity of the people, and
the extent to which they can endure and suffer for the sake of their
religion. I have been led to reflect upon the power of the Gospel, the
ordinances ministered for this people, and the spirit received in
connexion therewith.

Vol. 4, p.10
Some people inquire after miracles, and signs, and wonders; I will
mention one sign, and wonder, and miracle, that I have reflected upon
of late; it is very public, and before the eyes of this people, and
hence I have pleasure in referring to it.

Vol. 4, p.10
It is this: here are a people congregated in the capacity of civil and
religious governments in the valleys of Utah, made up of almost all
nations and languages, comparatively speaking, or of many nations,
having brought with them a variety of manners and customs, as well as
many peculiar opinions and nationalities. And besides these,
religiously speaking, they have been gathered out from almost every
sect and creed under heaven or at least from many of them. A miracle,
a sign, and a wonder, is this!

Vol. 4, p.10
How came this? When found among all nations and languages, and
religions, I say how came they to be made one, not that all are
perfect in one, but so far as they are? And if any body doubts this
being a miracle, a sign or wonder, what we ask of them is, to produce
the same, if they can.

Vol. 4, p.10
If any body needs a miracle, this is one for them. Has any person, or
I might say, have all persons power upon natural principles, by their
own wisdom and power, to take people of different nations, and
languages, and tongues, habits, customs, and religions, and unite them
in one common band, civil and religious, and then govern them in a
great measure as a unit? I ask, have they the power? I would like to
see it tried somewhere, either in Kansas or in some part of the United
States; or elsewhere.

Vol. 4, p.10
If the union which exists in Utah cannot be effected by others, and
elsewhere, with similar materials, then all must acknowledge a
miraculous power existing and operating in these valleys.

Vol. 4, p.10
A great many throughout the nations, learned men, philosophers,
rulers—those that have studied the science of government, would fain
inquire by what means or power this miracle is accomplished over so
many conflicting elements.

Vol. 4, p.10
Well, suppose we touch upon a little key, or give a clue to it, for
the benefit of those to whom it was and is a mystery, and also for our
own satisfaction.

Vol. 4, p.10
Then, in the first place, we say that it is by the power and keys of
the holy Priesthood, and the ordinances and spirit thereof.

Vol. 4, p.11
This people, composed of diverse [p.11] nations, tongues, habits and
religions, have all been baptized by one Spirit into one body. So far
as they have, in all honesty repented, and been baptized, they have
all received a portion of the Holy Spirit of promise by the laying on
of the hands of the Priesthood, in the name of Jesus, and they have
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one Holy Spirit, and one God and
Father of all. This is as it was said by the ancient writer in
relation to the ancient Saints.

Vol. 4, p.11
Is there power in the Priesthood as there was anciently? We say the
Priesthood has been restored by the ministration of angels to Joseph
Smith and others, and confirmed and ordained upon the heads of others
by that same authority, by him and the word of the Lord through him.

Vol. 4, p.11
Is there power in it? If not, how came this people to be concentrated
and united, after being gathered out of many jarring elements, from
the United States and from Europe?

Vol. 4, p.11
Although they are very far from being perfect in this union, yet we
say that by the power of the ordinances and by the power of the
Spirit, that accompanies the ordinances, this great miracle has been
done in the name of Jesus Christ.

Vol. 4, p.11
We take, for instance, a Presbyterian Methodist, a Quaker, a Baptist,
and an Infidel, as they are called, or whatever name, community, or
creed they belong to, and on their profession of reformation and faith
in Jesus Christ, we bury them in the water, in the name of Jesus, for
the remission of sins; they rise again out of the water in newness of
life, that is, with a fixed purpose of leading a new life; and after
receiving instruction at the hands of the authorized Priesthood, we
lay our hands upon them, accompanied with prayer in the name of Jesus
Christ, for the gift of the Holy Ghost; and if they do not receive
that Spirit, you may know that they have not obeyed this Gospel from
the heart.

Vol. 4, p.11
Was there any power in the ordinances anciently, in the ordinances of
God administered by proper authority? And is there power now? Let us
look at it for a few moments.

Vol. 4, p.11
Moses, being about to depot from his great responsibilities in the
midst of Israel, laid his hands upon Joshua by the word of the Lord.
After this Joshua was filled with the Spirit of God and of his
calling. His works in leading Israel into the promised land, and there
defending them and settling them according to the word of the Lord, go
to show that he not only received a form under the hands of Moses, but
he actually received the power and spirit of that form.

Vol. 4, p.11
Saul, king of Israel, was anointed by the direction of the word of the
Lord under the hands of a Prophet; literally anointed when he was a
young man, to be king over Israel. He was a poor, inexperienced young
man, and probably knew no more of inspiration than other youths. But
soon after his anointing, the Philistines made war against Israel, and
would not make peace only on condition that every man of Israel would
consent to lose his right eye. Saul, on hearing of these humilitating
proposals, felt the power of his anointing. The Spirit of God came
mightily upon him; he raised an army, conquered the haughty foe, and
saved his country.

Vol. 4, p.11
But by and bye this man, Saul, so far transgressed, that the word of
the Lord came to him through Samuel, the same that anointed him, and
said, the kingdom is rent from thee, and given to thy neighbor, who is
better than thou art.

Vol. 4, p.11
And after that he did not have the Spirit of the Lord to guide him,
and shortly after that he got into trouble with the Philistines, whose
armies [p.12] were placed in battle array against him.

Vol. 4, p.12
I have mentioned these circumstances to show you that there is power
in the ordinances of the Almighty, when administered by authority.
There are a great many other circumstances, but I tame these few to
illustrate the question under consideration.

Vol. 4, p.12
Well, was their power in the ordinances of the kingdom, when
administered by Joseph Smith? We say there was power in all that he
did.

Vol. 4, p.12
Well, he ordained men to be Apostles, and Prophets, and Elders, and
they went forth to administer in the sacred ordinances of the house of
God; and I ask, is there power in their administration?

Vol. 4, p.12
If not, how came these Americans here, and Britons, and Irishmen, and
Scotchmen, and Danes, and French, and more nations than my memory will
serve to name, corning together as a unit, scarcely anything occurring
to mar their happiness?

Vol. 4, p.12
You do not hear a man say that he is a Dane, or an Englishman, or of
any peculiar nation, but losing his nationality, and all blending into
one mass, with a united heart to build up the kingdom of our God, and
to become one great nation, Americans to be sure, if you wish to call
it so, as it is in that country.

Vol. 4, p.12
How came this to be, if there is no power in the modern Priesthood and
in the modern ordinances? As I said before, if any body disputes this
power being with us, will they set us a similar example?

Vol. 4, p.12
Leave out their nationalities, and the variety of jarring politics,
and our political predispositions and prejudices; leave that out of
consideration, and I just come to the advantages and disadvantages in
our traditions that have come down from our fathers, and are now held
sacred by us, so much so, that I heard a person who was brought up in
New Hampshire say that he grew up in the world among all the jarring
of politics, and to use his own language, "I was brought up to believe
that my father was right in both religion and politics." "What was
he," said I? "O, he was a Whig in politics, and a Congregationalist in
religion;" and, says he, "I was so glad that my father was so lucky in
both as to be right." What is the proof," says I, "that your father
was right in both?" "Why, the proof is, he was my father, and
therefore he must be right, in both his religion and politics, for my
father could not be wrong!"

Vol. 4, p.12
Well, fortunately or unfortunately, we have all had fathers; and, of
course, because they are our fathers, they must be right in politics
and religion, no matter which it is. Such has been our strong
prejudice with reference to our fathers.

Vol. 4, p.12
Well, now, how do we stand now: have we got rid of all this? How came
we to have one faith, one Lord, and one baptism, and one Holy Spirit,
as it is in a great measure this day? Probably there my be few
exceptions, persons who have got the opposite spirit; like Saul when
the Lord rejected him through rebellion. How came this to be, as I
said before, when we turn from our errors and sins as well as we can?
How is this? We came forward, when we see our sins, with honest
hearts, determined to do right, believing in Jesus Christ; then some
Apostle or Elder that had received the Priesthood through the
ministration of Joseph Smith, or that grew out of his administration,
took us and buried us in the waters of baptism in the name of Jesus
Christ, for the remission of sins, and we then resolved to lead a new
life.

Vol. 4, p.12
It expresses a covenant, whether they said it in so many words or not
—they promised to lead a new life. Then just as soon as they could
[p.13] receive sufficient instruction, the Elders laid their hands
upon them in the name of Jesus Christ, and they could receive their
blessings; and the Elders confirmed upon them the gift of the Holy
Ghost, and the power thereof. And, by and bye, many others were
ordained to holy and important callings, and were anointed to take
part in the work, and partake of the power of the holy Priesthood
after the order of the Son of God, and it is this power that unites us
together in one. The world do not believe this I am aware.

Vol. 4, p.13
It is really so long since I was among the sectarian world, that I had
almost forgotten that I was a sectarian of any kind, and that I was a
political partizan of any kind. I have been so long removed from those
scenes which characterise the numerous parties of the world, I had
almost forgotten whether there was a whig or democratic party, or
whether parties existed; I say, I had almost forgotten whether I had
ever belonged to any sect or party, and I had almost forgotten my
nationality. It is true that I do not speak a different language from
what I did in the world, but I had almost forgotten that, but I feel
that I am with the Priesthood, and with all good then, I am one with
them, to be used nationally, politically, morally, and religiously, to
hold fast our faith, to build up a righteous people from every
country, to preach and establish righteousness, and union, and peace,
to all people in every country, for the benefit of all men that will
obey it, without regard to persons.

Vol. 4, p.13
Well now, this, so far as I can tell it in a few words, is the great
secret, or one secret out of the great mystery, or rather one mystery
out of another, which exists in the minds of the people, that do not
know it. How is it that this people, that are come up of so many
parties, and tongues, and people, and creeds, are measurably become
one in faith and spirit? And what is further to increase in them this
oneness? Being careful to live to our righteous religion, and to do
right continually so that we become one in heart and mind. We are
required to overcome our faults, and be careful to increase in and
learn the truth, and put in practice, and to pray for the Holy Spirit
of promise, and to be careful to keep the commandments of God, careful
to do nothing to our neighbors, but what I would have them do under
the like circumstances and be perfectly willing for them to do to me.

Vol. 4, p.13
By adopting these means we are sure to progress in that oneness, and
in that union nationally, religiously, politically and socially, and
in every way to learn to cooperate, and to be more and more in the
spirit, cue in heart and in mind. Well, then, a great reward lies
before us upon conditions of obedience, but there is still a mighty
work to be done. I have taken but little praise for what has been
done, though much has been done, still much remains to be done, not
only to convert the honest in heart, but to build up cities, and make
farms. We have much to do with each other in order to bring us rate
union more perfectly as families and communities, as we will have to
form ourselves and be prepared to form a more intimate union with the
powers that have gone before us, even the powers of heaven, because
there is a work to be done, and we have been called to help to do it.
We are called upon not to do it alone, for the Prophets that have gone
before us, that have fallen martyrs to it, are to help in the work.

Vol. 4, p.13
We have never said that we would do it alone; but rather that the
powers of the heavens that have gone before us and been perfected in
the same Gospel, were engaged in it, and [p.14] wish to help to do it.
Nothing short of this fond union of the Saints who have gone before us
with the living Latter-day Saints, will ever bring about and complete
that great restoration that we have all been looking for, and
believing in, that all the Prophets have prophesied of since the world
began; nothing short of these united powers can possibly attain to
that which is designed, hence they in the other world will attend to
their part of it; they are doing it now. But by and bye they will have
to be ministers on the earth, and to the Latter-day Saints, and we
have to be prepared to have the vail rent, and to be united more
perfectly in our cooperations with them, and they with us; and we
should endeavor to do our part of the work, to prepare for that which
is to come, progressively, and be ready to enter into the kingdom of
righteousness and truth, act so that we can be worthy and ready to be
wrought upon by the Spirit of God.

Vol. 4, p.14
We should prepare for the ministration and society of the pure in
heart, for they are preparing to meet the people down here. And I know
not but that some among us are looking for the Lord Jesus Christ to
appear very shortly with all his Saints and angels publicly. Well, I
am looking for it too, but it is not the first thing that I am looking
for, but I am looking for it when all things are ready, and when all
things are prepared, so that when coming he will not break one jot nor
tittle of the prophecies, but they will all he fulfilled in their time
and place. If the coming of the Savior is the next thing in order, I
consider that it would become all of us, so imperfect, so unprepared,
so far froth being perfectly united in righteousness, to become
sanctified and made ready for his appearance. There will be people on
the earth that will be ready when he does come, and how will it be at
his coming? There are a great many that stand between us and Jesus
Christ, and who stand in more immediate relationship to this work, and
also to us. There is our leader, and many others that are leaders, and
who hold the keys, and who have gone before us; and they stand between
us and Jesus Christ, they hold keys between him and us, and then again
there are others of the former day Saints, such as Peter, James and
John, and they hold keys which are ahead of our leaders that are dead,
our Prophet, for instance? Yes, they hold keys between him and Jesus.
Here we all see that we have only got a portion of the Priesthood and
the keys, the others are in the possession of the congregations of
Saints in the heavens, and before we are prepared to be ministered to
by them and enjoy their society, we must alter considerably. Some say,
why, the coming of the Lord is nearer than some of you suppose. Well,
I would not wonder if it was further off than some of you suppose,
from the fact of the things that have to be accomplished.

Vol. 4, p.14
If we were to say that before the coming of the Lord many great things
await us, and that we are to be prepared for all the changes which
have to take place, and that they are nearer at hand than we would
imagine them to be; and if we should say that that event was much
nearer than many of us suppose, and that we have already received many
warnings, most certainly we ought to prepare to receive greater
covenants, to become more closely acquainted with the Spirit of God,
to be more perfect in union, to know how to act more in concert, to
overcome our weaknesses and errors of judgment, and ignorance and
follies, leant to be happy and to come up to the mark, and be
sanctified before the Lord, that peradventure some portion of the keys
and powers from the eternal world may be more fully bestowed upon us,
that we may be [p.15] prepared by gradual experience from time to
time, that we may progress in the science and plan of salvation, and
be prepared for the greater things that await us.

Vol. 4, p.15
I will not complain of our deficiencies for we have to be satisfied
with the things which we have accomplished, but we have full
confidence in the union and power that attends this work. It is for us
to prepare ourselves and to repent of all our errors, and follow our
leaders until we reach celestial glory. The powers of heaven are
neither ashamed nor afraid, but they have confidence in us and will
dwell in our society. There are a great many keys, and manifestations,
and preparations, and associations between us and that great and
perfect day, when the Lord will come in the power of heaven.

Vol. 4, p.15
Let us all do our duty, and be faithful to our covenants. May God
bless you all. Amen.

Jedediah M. Grant, August 3, 1856

Why the Saints Rejoice—The Spirit Received
 Through Laying on of Hands—Cleanliness

A Discourse, Delivered by President J. M. Grant,
 in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, August 3, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.15
Having the privilege of speaking to you this morning, I particularly
need the aid and assistance of the Spirit of the Lord, for I have been
labouring under indisposition for several weeks, and do not possess
that physical force which is natural to me, therefore I need more of
the divine influence of the Holy Spirit.

Vol. 4, p.15
We have professedly gathered ourselves to this land to serve our God;
we feel that we have found the pearl of great price. It matters but
little in relation to the land that we dwell upon, or the special
comforts of life that we may have found and now enjoy in this land, so
we but have within us that eternal treasure that warrants us in
believing that we please our God, and that He approbates our course.

Vol. 4, p.15
I am aware that the christians would think inasmuch as they have
circulated the Bible among the nations of the earth, that they have
thereby done much towards spreading the Gospel and establishing the
kingdoms of God on the earth. But you, as reasonable men, would
consider that I reasoned very badly, were I to say that the United
States by circulating the Constitution among the various governments
on the earth, had thereby established so many republics.

Vol. 4, p.15
In order for the kingdom of God to have an existence upon the earth,
we naturally need the radiant light of heaven, we need the divine
sanction of the Almighty, and He will set a man to properly organize
His people, and execute those things which He designs to have carried
out. Some may ask, why the Latter-day Saints rejoice? I answer, we
rejoice not alone in that we have a claim superior to the claims of
others; not alone in that we have houses and lands, and power and
authority, and the comforts of this city, but in the privileges given
us by the Almighty, through faith [p.16] and obedience, for being more
happy than other people. We have not the facilities that the people of
many other cities and parts of the earth possess; indeed, we are
deprived of many of the comforts and luxuries which many enjoy in
other climes. But suppose we are, did we come here for them? Were they
the grand object of our leaving our native soil? Was this the view we
had when we left Europe, the United States, or any other part of the
earth, or the islands of the sea? Did we come here to obtain a better
farm, to obtain the luxuries of life? If this was the object of our
pursuit, we have certainly been mistaken.

Vol. 4, p.16
It is possible that some may have been tempted, as they were in the
days of Jesus, by the loaves and fishes; but those who understood the
truth, and comprehended and loved virtue, had no such idea. They
understood that the Gospel of the Son of God, proclaimed and taught by
the proper officers, had been brought unto them, and that the sceptre
of life had been held out to them. And may we not, as Saints of God,
rejoice that we have found and received the truth, that we have tasted
of its sweetness, and that it has made us happy.

Vol. 4, p.16
It matters not whether you dwell in Great Salt Lake City, or in the
different settlements of this territory, or whether you are associated
with those that are following some special branch of mechanism, if you
have the principles of eternal life, the gift of the Holy Ghost, the
will of the Lord, the power of God within you, for then you will be
contented. On the other hand, if you have not the principles that come
from Heaven, though you may have rich soil to cultivate, and splendid
houses to dwell in, though you may be connected with wealthy and
influential families, and possess choice localities in a powerful
state, you are not happy, you are not contented, for there is a vacuum
where the principles of life should be, and gold and silver will not
fill it and satisfy the cravings within.

Vol. 4, p.16
Some people act as if they looked for this city to be like the various
other cities of the earth, and if they do not prosper as well as they
think they ought, they turn round upon us as though this world's goods
were the primary object of their coming hero. I admit that Heaven has
seen fit to give us many of the comforts of life, but the primary
object of our coming here was not to obtain more desirable temporal
blessings, or to obtain more gold or silver. This was not our view,
but we came here to do the will of our Father; and we built houses,
laid out farms and went to work as we would elsewhere, but these
things did not induce us to come here. When we enlisted in the
covenant of the everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ, our object was to
attain eternal life; the object of our coming here was to please our
God.

Vol. 4, p.16
We did not merely have the Bible circulated among us; Joseph Smith did
not merely tell us that he was a missionary sent to proclaim that
which was proclaimed and believed in the Garden of Eden, or the
testimony that was given to Noah before the flood; or that he was sent
simply to bring the books of Moses with the writings of the ancient
Apostles and Prophets; or alone to inform us of the works of Jesus
Christ when upon the earth. This was not alone the work of the
Prophet, but it was that he had received a commission from the
Almighty, that he had been ordained by Peter, James and John, who were
sent unto him as messengers or ministers from the heavens with proper
authority, and had given him the legal authority of God—for what? To
build up the kingdom of God upon the earth, to organize it and set it
in order, and to ordain proper officers to execute the law. This
Apostle of [p.17] Jesus Christ told the people that if they would obey
the Gospel, if they would repent of their sins, if they would be
baptized for the remission of their sins, they should receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of hands, which he was authorized
to administer.

Vol. 4, p.17
Many complied with the teachings of the Prophet, and what was the
result? Much the same as we read of in the Bible and the Book of
Mormon. The Prophet translated the Book of Mormon, and therein found
the subject of salvation set forth as it is in the Bible, only more
plainly and fully. The Book of Mormon and the Prophet Joseph taught
repentance the same as the Bible, therefore they agreed; and the
Prophet never limited that instruction, neither did he limit any of
the teachings of the ancients.

Vol. 4, p.17
If Joseph had merely sold the people the Bible and Book of Mormon,
would they have received the gift of the Holy Ghost? It was, and I
presume still is, a favorite theme with Mr. Alexander Campbell, of the
United States, that "the word is the Spirit and the Spirit is the
word," in short that there is no Spirit to be received separate from
the word of God. His logic amounts virtually to this"Simply preach the
Bible, the word of God and salvation as printed in the Bible; and all
who purchase the Bible thereby purchase eternal life."

Vol. 4, p.17
Who that is rational and possessed of a disposition to scan the
subject can believe such a doctrine? Doubtless Moses heard the thunder
of the Almighty on Mount Sinai, and saw the lightnings, but would you
say that I was reasoning correctly, if I were to say that I heard that
thunder and saw those lightnings simply through reading the history
thereof in the Bible? Again, would I be reasoning correctly to say,
because I have read the account of what transpired on the day of
Pentecost, when the Spirit was poured out upon the people and Peter
spoke as he was moved upon by the Holy Ghost, that I, therefore, have
seen the day of Pentecost? That because I have read the history of
some of the operations of the Holy Ghost, therefore I have the Holy
Ghost? Or that I heard them speak in tongues, because I have read the
history of persons speaking in tongues? Certainly not.

Vol. 4, p.17
I am aware that hundreds and thousands of different denominations
disagree with Mr. Campbell, and also declare that they receive the
Spirit of the Lord, what they call the new birth, a change of the
heart, put off the old man and put on the new man, and at the same
time the operations of their minds, their course of life and all their
doings and sayings, prove that they are equally as fir behind as Mr.
Campbell, and that they have only the history of the light itself.

Vol. 4, p.17
Should you light a room with gas, and should an artist take a sketch
of the light, and some author write a history of the affair, and at a
subsequent date some other man writes history, and should the two
accounts be placed together, describing the beauty thereof and benefit
thereof, would the history of the light and the benefit that had been
derived therefrom, and the abundance of that light that was said to
have existed, light up a hall? If it would, do not buy any more
candles, but read the history of candles, and stick that history in
your candlesticks; read the history of oil and wick, and stick that in
your lamp, and see how much light you will get.

Vol. 4, p.17
You may read the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and
Covenants, and the word of God in its various written and printed
forms, and after you have read them all, have you, by so doing, gained
any right to say that you have the light of Moses,  [p.18] Isaiah,
Daniel, and other ancient and modern men of God? Have you any reason
to say that you possess the same light, the same joy, the same spirit,
as they did, in consequence of your possessing the same written word
of God that they possessed? Yes, if Mr. Campbell's doctrine be
correct. No doubt the followers of Mr. Campbell consider the doctrine
true, and his logic and reasoning correct.

Vol. 4, p.18
Some, in the so called Christian world, contend that the spirit is the
word, and that word, they argue, will save the people.

Vol. 4, p.18
Now suppose that some missionary or Bible society should send a few
missionaries to the Latter-day Saints, in these valleys, upon hearing
that we were short of bread and other kinds of food, and suppose that
those missionaries should tell us about the various kinds of food
necessary to sustain life; and then suppose that this benevolent
institution should publish 15 or 20,000 tracts to teach us what an
advantage it is to live in New York, London, Paris, or New Orleans,
and what they live upon in the various regions of the habitable
portions of the earth, what good would all that do us? I answer, not
any.

Vol. 4, p.18
After you have read in this book (holding up the Bible) concerning the
commission which Jessie gave to corbin of his disciples, can you get
up and say that you are Peter, James, John, or any of the ancient
Apostles, or Prophets? or by so doling, that you had the Holy Ghost,
the same as they had?

Vol. 4, p.18
Could you reason that when you had read the account of the Psalmist,
where he says, "The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills
like lambs," that you had seen the glory of God in this way, because
the Psalmist records that he saw it?

Vol. 4, p.18
Could you, when you have read that Paul knew a man who was caught up
to the third heavens, testify that you knew the man who was caught up,
simply from having read that account?

Vol. 4, p.18
When you read of the gifts that were bestowed upon and circulated
among the people of God, you certainly would not wish others to
suppose that mere reading about them puts you in possession of the
same blessings.

Vol. 4, p.18
But many in the world would suppose that when they preach and
circulate the Bible, they actually put in the possession of the people
that power and life and those gifts, that the ancient Apostles and
Prophets and Saints of God enjoyed.

Vol. 4, p.18
Brethren and sisters, we understand the difference between enjoying
and reading of enjoyment, between the history of a feast and the feast
itself; also between the history of the law of God and the law itself.

Vol. 4, p.18
When the Prophet Joseph came among the people he did not tell them
that he would sell them the word of God, but after he had established
the truth in their minds and they were baptized, he then laid his
hands upon them that they might receive the gift of the Holy Ghost,
for he had promised this, and they received the Holy Comforter and the
same light, the same Spirit, the same power of God, and the same
principles of eternal life; that very gift which is the greatest gift
of God, and it gave them the same joy, and the same great blessings,
and this Spirit taught them the will of God.

Vol. 4, p.18
Herein is the difference between this Church and the people of the
world. They rejoice in thinking that their forefathers had such rich
blessings, and that they were so happy and rejoiced so much that they
saw God, His Son Jesus Christ, and Peter, James, and John; and that
their forefathers received the Holy Ghost.

Vol. 4, p.19
We rejoice that we have seen and that our Prophets have received the
[p.19] like blessing, and not that we read of their enjoyment. We
rejoice that our God lives, that Jesus Christ His Son lives, and that
the gifts and blessings are bestowed upon us.

Vol. 4, p.19
It is generally admitted that it is natural for parents to love their
young children as well as the older ones, and if there be any
difference, they will love the youngest ones a little the most, for
they sometimes have to be more severe with the older ones.

Vol. 4, p.19
But the world reverse this doctrine with regard to the Almighty, for
they make God love Adam, Abraham, and the ancients, but when it comes
down to the present time their wonderful, peace-making religion makes
them rejoice that their older brethren and sisters had rich dinners
and suppers, and that they had feasted on the good things of heaven,
but that our father is so unmerciful in our day that we have to eat
husks.

Vol. 4, p.19
According to the doctrine of our religious friends, we have to rejoice
that the ancients enjoyed the rich blessings of our Father, and that
He will not give us anything but the history thereof. (President B.
Young: And the chaff.)

Vol. 4, p.19
Such a course is not as consistent as that of the devil, for he treats
his first children in a certain way, and then he treats all the others
in much the same way; he treats everybody about alike.

Vol. 4, p.19
Have we not a right to receive those blessings that were enjoyed by
our elder brethren? If the devil tempts and tries everybody, and if
the young children have to be tried, why not the young be blest like
the old children?

Vol. 4, p.19
I am aware that the Latter-day Saints require a great deal of
preaching, and some of that, too, on subjects very easy of
comprehension; I will tell you what I said to one of our home
missionaries a few days age, and I said the same to one of the
brethren from Grantsville, when speaking to him about the petty
wrangling there.

Vol. 4, p.19
They wanted a new local President and a new local Bishop, they wanted
this, that, and the other, and wished to know what we had to say. I
remarked, if you wish to know what I have to say, I will tell you.

Vol. 4, p.19
Said I, if an angel of God should come to that village, he would say
to its inhabitants, "Repent and wash your bodies, repent and clean up
your door yards, repent and cleanse your out-houses," all of which I
seriously think that they have very much need to do.

Vol. 4, p.19
After they have actually cleansed themselves and commenced doing
right, and have cleansed their locality, I presume that then an angel:
or a man of God, might tell them what further to do.

Vol. 4, p.19
I actually suppose that in the instructions which an angel of God
would give, the very first lesson would be to teach cleanliness to the
filthy, and then instruct them to keep themselves cleanly all the
time. This is what our President is frequently teaching you; and yet
you may go into some parts of this city, and you would actually think
that Provo river affords no more water than would suffice for
cleansing them.

Vol. 4, p.19
I like a place constantly kept clean, and that must be so to satisfy
me, I not only want the history of a people's being clean, and of
their having cleansed up their door yards, outbuildings, and grounds,
but I want them to do it.

Vol. 4, p.19
We have preached cleanliness at Fillmore, last winter; and when I went
there lately I was pleased to see that they had made some little
improvement.

Vol. 4, p.19
But there is still by far too much carelessness in this matter, and
some people seem to love to live amidst; filth, and to snuff its
nauseous and unhealthy odors, when it would be [p.20] far better to
apply it to enriching your soil.

Vol. 4, p.20
You have been taught true doctrines, and the Lord God has given, you
the Holy Ghost which has purified your hearts, and now purify all that
pertains to you.

Vol. 4, p.20
The time will come when you will be tried in this respect; and the
days of power will come, when the power of God will be more abundantly
poured out upon those who are prepared for it. And you who have the
truth and do not live up to it, who do not live up to that light and
intelligence which is given you, who do not purify your bodies, your
clothing, your buidings; your door yards, gardens, and fields, may
look for the wrath of God to burn against you.

Vol. 4, p.20
It is your duty to be clean and neat, and it is the duty of all the
settlements throughout the Territory.

Vol. 4, p.20
You have the history of the light, and you have received the virtue
and power which are in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it is for you
to obey your leaders and the intelligence which is in you, which may
the Lord grant, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Brigham Young, August 17, 1856

The Holy Ghost Necessary in Preaching—Faith—Healing
the Sick—the Saints' Interests Are One—All of Our Efforts
Should Tend to the Upbuilding of the Kingdom of God

A Discourse by President B. Young, Delivered in the Bowery,
 Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, August 17, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.20
We have had the privilege of hearing the testimony of brother Whiting,
who has just returned from his mission, upon which he started two
years ago from San Pete.

Vol. 4, p.20
Brothers Merril and Clinton, and several others, have lately arrived
from their missions, and I will here give an invitation to those
brethren to come to the stand, Sabbath after Sabbath, and bear their
testimony and speak to the people. I wish to say to the Elders who
arrive, come, we would be happy to see you with us; come, we will find
seats for you; and if you are not all eloquent preachers, come and
bear your testimony. Brother Whiting says that he is a man of but few
words. I am satisfied that there is greater Wisdom with many who say
but little, than there is with those who talk so much; as for the
multitude of words, they are but of little consequence, the ideas are
of far the greatest importance.

Vol. 4, p.20
The kingdom of our God, that is set up on the earth, does not require
men of many words and flaming oratorical talents, to establish truth
and righteousness. It is not the many words that accomplish the
designs of our Father in heaven, with Him it is the acts of the people
more than their words; this I was convinced of, before I embraced the
Gospel. Had it not been that I clearly saw and understood that the
Lord Almighty would take the weak things of this world to confound
the mighty, the wise, and the talented, there was [p.21] nothing that
could have induced me, or persuaded me to have ever become a public
speaker. I did think, and I now think, that I am personally as well
acquainted with my own weaknesses as any other mortal is with them,
for this is my fortune, my good fortune and blessing, and I am ready
to acknowledge that it is more than many have got. I am of the opinion
that I know and understand myself, about as well as any person can
know and understand me; yet I may think that I know my weaknesses and
incapabilities to the fullest, while others may see weaknesses that I
do not. Still I am so constituted that when I discover my weaknesses I
bear them off as well as I can; and I say to all people, if you
discover that I falter, when I do the best I can, what are you going
to do about it?

Vol. 4, p.21
When I first commenced preaching, I made up my mind to declare the
things that I understood, fearless of friends and threats, and
regardless of caresses. They were nothing to me, for if it was my duty
to rise before a congregation of strangers and say that the Lord
lives, that He has revealed Himself in this our day, that He has given
to us a Prophet, and brought forth the new and everlasting covenant
for the restoration of Israel, and if that was all I could say, I must
be just as satisfied as though I could get up and talk for hours. If I
could only say that I was a monument of the Lord's work upon the
earth, that was sufficient; and had it not been for this feeling,
nothing could have induced me to have become a public speaker.

Vol. 4, p.21
With regard to preaching, let a man present himself before the Saints,
or go into the world before the nobles and great men of the earth, and
let him stand up full of the Holy Ghost, full of the power of God, and
though he may use words and sentences in an awkward style, he will
convince and convert more, of the truth, than can the most polished
orator destitute of the Holy Ghost; for that Spirit will prepare the
minds of the people to receive the truth, and the spirit of the
speaker will influence the hearers so that they will feel it.

Vol. 4, p.21
These reflections are my true sentiments, and it is knowledge with me
with regard to speakers and people who have honest hearts, who desire
the knowledge of the Lord, who are seeking to know the will of God,
and willing to become subject to it. The Spirit of truth will do more
to bring persons to light and knowledge, than flowery words. This is
my experience, and I presume it is the experience of many of you, and
that you can call that to mind when you first received the Spirit of
this Gospel.

Vol. 4, p.21
When you see a person at a distance, you can, at times, see the spirit
of that person before you have the opportunity of speaking to him; you
can discern his spirit by the appearance of his countenance. This has
been my experience from my younger days, and more especially since I
have become acquainted with sacred things. My later experience has
been very vivid with regard to the spirits of people, and it matters
not to me whether they say much or little, so they but let me hear
their voices and see them, let me hear and see the manifestation of
their spirit, that I may know whether they are constantly with us in
their feelings. I wish to know the spirits of those that are around
and with us.

Vol. 4, p.21
Brethren, you who have returned and are this season returning from
missions, we shall be happy to have you take your seats with us on
this stand, and when opportunity offers we shall be glad to hear your
voices and testimonies.

Vol. 4, p.21
When I rise before you, brethren and sisters, I often speak of the
faults of the people and try to correct them; [p.22] I strive to put
the Saints in a right course and plead with them to live their
religion, to become better and to purify themselves before the Lord;
to sanctify themselves, to be prepared for the days that are fast
approaching. I do this oftener than I speak of the good qualities of
this people, and I have reasons for this which, perhaps you would like
to hear.

Vol. 4, p.22
The froward and disobedient need chastisement, the humble and faithful
are sealed by the Spirit of the Gospel that we have received. I have
not time nor opportunity to caress the people, nor flatter them to do
right; nor often to speak well of them, portraying their good
qualities.

Vol. 4, p.22
The consolations of the Holy Spirit of our Gospel comfort the hearts
of men and women, old and young, in every condition of this mortal
life. The humble, the meek, and faithful are all the time consoled and
comforted by the Spirit of the Gospel that we preach; consequently,
their comfort, happiness, joy, and peace must be received from the
fountain head. As Jesus says, "In the world ye shall have tribulation,
but in me ye have peace," so we say to ourselves, so we say to the
Saints; in the Lord ye have joy and comfort, and the light of truth
which shines upon your path.

Vol. 4, p.22
The Holy Ghost reveals unto you things past, present, and to come; it
makes your minds quick and vivid to understand the handy work of the
Lord. Your joy is made full in beholding the footsteps of our Father
going forth among the inhabitants of the earth; this is invisible to
the world, hut it is made visible to the Saints, and they behold the
Lord in His providences, bringing forth the work of the last days.

Vol. 4, p.22
The hearts of the meek and humble are full of joy and comfort
continually; do such need comfort from me? Yes, if any mourn, perhaps
a few encouraging words from me would give them consolation and do
them good. I am always ready to impart what I have to this people,
that which will cheer and comfort their hearts, and if the Lord will
lead me by His Spirit into that train of reflections and teaching, I
am more willing and ready to speak comforting words to this people,
than I am to chastise them.

Vol. 4, p.22
But I hope and trust in the Lord my God that I shall never be left to
praise this people, to speak well of them, for the purpose of cheering
and comforting them by the art of flattery; to lead them on by smooth
speeches day after day, week after week, month after month, and year
after year, and let them roll sin as a sweet morsel under their
tongues, and be guilty of transgressing the law of God. I hope I shall
never be left to flatter this people, or any people on the earth, in
their iniquity, but far rather chasten them for their wickedness and
praise them for their goodness.

Vol. 4, p.22
The Lord praises you and comforts you, if you live as you are
directed; if you live with your life hid with Christ in God, you do
receive, from the fountain head, life, joy, peace, truth, and every
good and wholesome principle that the Lord bestows upon this people,
and your hearts exult in it, and your joy is made full.

Vol. 4, p.22
This people are the best people upon the face of the earth, that we
have any knowledge of. Take the congregation now before me, and what
portion of them has been in the Church twenty-six years? What portion
has been in the Church fifteen years? But a small part.

Vol. 4, p.22
How many of those before me were personally acquainted with Joseph,
our Prophet? I can see now and then one; you can pick up one here and
another there; but  the most of the people now inhabiting this [p.23]
Territory never behold the face of our, prophet; even quite a portion
of this congregation never beheld his face. All this I consider.

Vol. 4, p.23
But few of this congregation have been assembled together more than a
very few years, to receive and be benefitted with the teachings from
the fountain head, directly from the living oracles.

Vol. 4, p.23
How long have they been gathered? Some one year, some two years, and
some five or six years; and I can only pick out a few in this
congregation, who were acquainted with the Prophet.

Vol. 4, p.23
I could pick out a few of this assembly who have been here seven and
eight years.

Vol. 4, p.23
You who understand the process of preparing mortar, know that it ought
to lay a certain time before it is in the best condition for use. Now,
suppose that our workmen should work over a portion and prepare it for
use, and when it is rightly tempered, suppose some one should throw
into the mixture a large quantity of unslacked lime, this would at
once destroy its cementing quality, and you would have to work it all
over and over again.

Vol. 4, p.23
This is precisely like what we have to do with this people; when a new
batch is mixed with the lime and sand which were prepared ten days
ago, before it is fit for use it has to be worked all over with the
ingredients and proportions that were used to make the first.

Vol. 4, p.23
Some think this rather hard, but they have to be worked over, because
they are in the batch. Again, they are in the mill, and like the
potter's day which brother Kimball uses for a figure, they have got to
be ground over and worked on the table, until they are made perfectly
pliable and in readiness to be put on the wheel, to be turned into
vessels of honor.

Vol. 4, p.23
Now, suppose, when it is in this good state, that somebody should
throw in a batch of unworked clay, it would spoil the lot, and the
potter would have to work it all over; the clay that was prepared has
to be worked over with the unprepared.

Vol. 4, p.23
This principle makes many feet sore, and some are starting for the
States, and some for California, because they will not be worked over
so much, and we cannot set a guard over the mill to keep the new clay
from being thrown in.

Vol. 4, p.23
You may say that that is my business; no, it is my business to throw
in the new clay, and work it over and over, and to use the wire to
draw from the lump any material that would obstruct the potter from
preparing a vessel unto honor.

Vol. 4, p.23
I do not wish you to think that I chastise good men and good women;
chastisements do not belong to them, but we have some unruly people
here, those who know the law of God, but will not abide it. They have
to be talked to; and we have to keep talking to them, and talking to
them, until by and by they will forsake their evils, and turn round
and become good people, or take up their line of march and leave us.

Vol. 4, p.23
I have reflected much upon the true character of mankind, pertaining
to the Gospel of salvation, and more particularly in reference to the
character of that portion of mankind that is here in the capacity in
which we now are. How hard it is for people to see and understand
things as they are. I allude, in my remarks, to this people who do
reflect, and who profess to believe in a Supreme Being, the Creator of
the heavens and the earth, who have professed, by their acts, that God
has spoken in the last days, that unto us He has revealed His will;
that He has given unto us the oracles of divine truth, the Gospel of
life and salvation, with the privilege of making sure unto ourselves
eternal life; this [p.24] is the people I am now preaching to, and
unto whom I wish to address my few remarks.

Vol. 4, p.24
How slow many of us are to believe the things of God, O how slow. How
many men and women can I find here who place implicit confidence in
their God? Perhaps you might wish an explanation with regard to the
term I here make use of. I will acknowledge my inability to explain to
the fullest extent, what I regard as implicit confidence in our God;
the reason of this is the ten thousand opinions that people have.

Vol. 4, p.24
If I were to urge that we ought to have implicit confidence in the
power and willingness of our God to sustain us by doing everything for
us, that would cut the thread of my own faith, it would run counter to
ninny of my ideas in regard to the dealings of the Almighty with the
human family. On the other hand, how much confidence shall I have in
God? One says, "I have no confidence in Him, any further than what I
can see, hear, and understand. I have no confidence that wheat will
grow here, unless I put it into the ground; or that I will have food
to eat, unless I take the proper steps for raising it, or purchase it
from those that have it." Both of these points are true in part, but
the minds of the people are more or less beclouded.

Vol. 4, p.24
To explain how much confidence we should have in God, were I using a
term to suit myself, I should say implicit confidence. I have faith in
my God, and that faith corresponds with the works I produce. I have no
confidence in faith without works. Shall I explain this? I do not
think I can fully present the idea to your understanding, but I will a
portion of it; and to do so, I will refer to a circumstance that
transpired in Nauvoo. A President of the Elders' Quorum old father
Baker, was called upon to visit a very sick woman, a sister in the
Church; they sent for him to lay hands upon her. It was a very sickly
time, and there was scarcely a person to attend upon the sick, for
nearly all were afflicted. Father Baker was one of those tenacious,
ignorant, self-willed, over-righteous Elders, and when he went into
the house he enquired what the woman wanted. She told him that she
wished him to lay hands upon her. Father Baker saw a teapot on the
coals, and supposed that there was tea in it, and immediately turned
upon his heels, saying, "God don't want me to lay hands on those who
do not keep the Word of Wisdom," and be went out. He did not know
whether the pot contained catnip, pennyroyal, or some other mild herb,
and he did not wait for any one to tell him. That class of people are
ignorant and over-righteous, and they are not in the true line by any
means.

Vol. 4, p.24
You may go to some people here, and ask what ails them, and they
answer, "I don't know, but we feel a dreadful distress in the stomach
and in the back; we feel all out of order, and we wish you to lay
hands upon us." "Have you used any remedies?" "No. We wish the Elders
to lay hands upon us, and we have faith that we shall be healed." That
is very inconsistent according to my faith. If we are sick, and ask
the Lord to heal us, and to do all for us that is necessary to be
done, according to my understanding of the Gospel of salvation, I
might as well ask the Lord to cause my wheat and corn to grow, without
my plowing the ground and casting in the seed. It appears consistent
to me to apply every remedy that comes within the range of my
knowledge, and to ask my Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus
Christ, to sanctify that application to the healing of my body; to
another this may appear inconsistent.

Vol. 4, p.25
If a person afflicted with a cancer should come to me and ask me to
heal [p.25] him, I would rather go the grave-yard and try to raise a
dead person, comparatively speaking. But supposing we were traveling
in the mountains and all we had or could get, in the shape of
nourishment, was a little venison, and one or two were taken sick,
without anything in the world in the shape of healing medicine within
our reach, what should we do? According to my faith, ask the Lord
Almighty to send an angel to heal the sick. This is our privilege,
when so situated that we cannot get anything to help ourselves. Then
the Lord and his servants can do all. But it is my duty to do, when I
have it in my power. Many people are unwilling to do one thing for
themselves, in case of sickness, but ask God to do it all.

Vol. 4, p.25
A portion of our community have so much confidence in God, even men
and women in this city, that if you put in their possession five
bushels of wheat, they will dispose of it and trust in God for their
food for a year to come. To me this is inconsistent; I know nothing
about the consistency of such a confidence in God. But to me it is
consistent for the poor man, or woman, that has been gleaning wheat,
and has saved five or ten bushels, to lay it up for a time of need;
though I understand that some of them are trying to sell it. Poor men
and women who have had to beg for the last six months, and who have
had nothing but what they obtained through charity, but who have now
obtained a few bushels of wheat, are ready to sell it for something of
no intrinsic worth, trusting in God to provide for them. This is
inconsistent to me.

Vol. 4, p.25
How shall I present consistent faith and religion, so that you may
comprehend the subject? I will do my best, and leave the event with
God. I believe, according to my understanding of the principles of
eternal truth, that I should have implicit faith in our God; and when
we are where we have no help for ourselves in the case of diseases,
that we have the right to ask the Father, in the name of Jesus, to
administer by His power and heal the sick, and I am sure it will be
done to those who have implicit confidence in Him.

Vol. 4, p.25
Again, in regard to food, implicit faith and confidence in God is for
you and I to do everything we can to sustain and preserve ourselves;
and the community that works together, heart and hand, to accomplish
this, their efforts will be like the efforts of one man. The past year
was a hard one for us with regard to provisions, but I never had one
faltering feeling in reference to this community's suffering, provided
all had understood their religion and lived it. Some few understand
their religion and live it; others make a profession, without
understanding their religion, and do not live it; consequently there
has been a lack of union of effort to sustain ourselves, which has
made it very hard for the few.

Vol. 4, p.25
Suppose that we had done our best and had not raised one bushel of
grain this year, I have confidence enough in my God to believe that we
could stay here, and not starve to death. If all our cattle had died
through the severity of the past winter, if the insects had cut off
all our crops, if we still proved faithful to our God and to our
religion, I have confidence to believe that the Lord would send manna
and flocks of quails to us. But He will not do this, if we murmur and
are neglectful and disunited.

Vol. 4, p.25
Not having breadstuff nor manna, if we are cut off from those
resources, from our provisions, the Lord can fill these mountains and
valleys with antelope, mountain sheep, elk, deer, and other animals;
He can cause the buffalo to take a stampede on the east side of the
Rocky mountains, and fill [p.26] these mountains and valleys with beef
I have just that confidence in my God. I have confidence enough to
believe that if we had not raised our own provisions this year, and
had proved true and faithful to our God and to our religion, that the
Lord would have given us a little bread, even though he should have to
put it in the minds of the people in the States to go to California
and Oregon, and to lead their wagons with sugar, flour, and everything
needed, more than they could consume, and cause them to leave their
superabundance here, as some did a great quantity of clothing, dried
frail, tools, and various other useful articles, in 1849, the first
season that large emigrating companies passed through this valley to
California. I could then buy a vest for twenty-five cents, that would
now sell here for two or three dollars; and coats could be bought for
a dollar each, such as are now selling for fifteen dollars.

Vol. 4, p.26
This is my confidence in my God. I am no more concerned about this
people's suffering unto death, than I am concerned about the sun's
falling out of its orbit and ceasing to shine on this earth again. I
know that we should have that confidence in God this has been my
experience, I have been led into this confidence by the miraculous
providences of God. My implicit confidence in God causes me to husband
every iota of property He gives me; I will take the best care of my
farm, I will prepare my ground as well as I can, and put in the best
seed I have got, and trust in God for the result, for it is the Lord
that gives the increase.

Vol. 4, p.26
I will illustrate by relating a circumstance which occured this
summer. A certain brother sowed a field with wheat, grid he has been
afraid, and afraid all the summer, about the water, saying, "When
shall we get the water? We shall quit farming, for I am tired of it."
I said to him, it is God that gives the increase, and it is for us to
do the best we can; and if there is no water for the grain, He is
close by, and is careful to give the increase, when it is necessary.
This brother had sowed five or six acres; and the straw was so short,
that a portion of the crop had to be pulled, and when thrashed, he had
over one hundred and seventy bushels of wheat.

Vol. 4, p.26
The Lord wishes to show this people that He is close by, that He walks
in our midst daily and we knorr but little about him; yet He intends
to train us until we find out. This year, I think, gives us a positive
manifestation of the hand of our God in giving the increase. I do not
know that any person can cavil upon that question any more, and say
that it is all in accordance with natural philosophy, as the world
term it.

Vol. 4, p.26
Natural philosophy, as you and I understand it, would not have
produced one bushel of grain, where we now have ten. I would like the
philosopher to make it appear how the trees have grown so luxuriantly
this year, with so little water. Have you ever before seen the weeds
flourish so finely on these dry hills? Look at your grain; though much
of it is so low that you have to pull it, can you tell what it is that
has caused the kernels to be so numerous and plump? Let the natural
philosopher tell the reason, if he can; he cannot do it.

Vol. 4, p.26
After all that has been said and done, after He has led this people so
long, do you not perceive that there is a lack of confidence in our
God? Can you perceive it in yourselves? You may ask, "Brother Brigham,
do you perceive it in yourself?" I do, I can see that I yet lack
confidence, to some extent, in Him whom I trust. Why?  Because I have
not the power, in consequence of that which the fall has brought upon
me. I have just told you that I have no lack of [p.27] confidence in
the Lord's sustaining this people; I never had one shadow of doubt on
that point.

Vol. 4, p.27
But through the power of fallen nature, something rises up within me,
at times, that measurably draws a dividing line between my interest
and the interest of my Father in heaven—something that makes my
interest and the interest of my Father in heaven not precisely one.

Vol. 4, p.27
I know that we should feel and understand, as far as possible, as far
as fallen nature will let us, as far as we can get faith and knowledge
to understand ourselves, that the interest of that God whom we serve
is our interest, and that we have no other, neither in time nor in
eternity.

Vol. 4, p.27
If I have an interest in any object, but should not live to enjoy that
object, you can perceive that it is cut off from me, and that my
interest and my hopes are gone, so far as worldly things are
concerned. If any one has an interest in an object that is changeable,
in anything of an earthly nature, and is separated from it, it can be
of but little use to him, and should cease to be an object of great
care or desire. Any object or interest that we have, aside from our
Father in heaven, will be taken from us, and though we may seem to
enjoy it here, in eternity we shall be deprived of it.

Vol. 4, p.27
Consequently, I say that we have no true interest, only conjointly
with our Father in heaven. We are His children, His sons and
daughters, and this should not be a mystery to this people, even
though there are many who have been gathered with us but a short time.
He is the God and Father of our spirits; He devised the plan that
produced our tabernacles, the houses for our spirits to dwell in.

Vol. 4, p.27
My interests are with His, yours are there, and if you, seemingly,
have any interest anywhere else, it will be severed from you, and you
will never enjoy it. Still there is a feeling which has come by the
fall, by transgression, in the heart of every person, that his
interest is individually to himself; and that if he serves God, or
does anything for Him, it is for some being for whom he has no
particular concern. This is a mistaken idea; for every thing you do,
every act you perform, every duty incumbent upon you, is solely for
your interest in God, and no where else, neither can it be.

Vol. 4, p.27
When you promote His interest, you promote your own; and when you
promote your own interest, you promote His. When you gain a title of
glory, or any good thing, you gain this to your Father in heaven as
well as to yourself. And every object you are in pursuit of, should be
that which will pertain to eternity, and let time take care of itself,
only be sure to do the duties pertaining to it.

Vol. 4, p.27
If we can see and realise that our interests are hid in God, and that
we can have no interest anywhere else, perhaps we can learn obedience
faster than we now do. Many think, "Well, I am an independent
character; I do not like to be counseled, governed, or controlled; I
wish to do as I please." That feeling, in a degree, is in every
person.

Vol. 4, p.27
There is an impulse in man that separates his interest from the
interest of his God, and the interest of our Father in heaven from
ours.

Vol. 4, p.27
This must be learned so that you can discern it in yourselves, so that
you can apply all your efforts, every act of your lives, to the
interest that pertains to your eternal exaltation.

Vol. 4, p.27
If in this world we had every object that we could desire, of an
earthly nature, do you not understand that death would separate us
from it? You can understand that naturally. A man possessing thrones,
kingdoms, and power, leaves them when he is laid in the grave.

Vol. 4, p.28
[p.28] Now suppose that you let the common mode of reflection and
practice reach into eternal things, upon the same principle you would
have a selfish interest in eternity; you would there be to yourself,
by yourself, and for yourself, regardless of every other creature. But
the truth is, you are not going to have a separate kingdom; I am not
going to have a separate kingdom; it is not our prerogative to have it
on this earth.

Vol. 4, p.28
If you have a kingdom and a dominion here, it must be concentrated in
the head; if we are ever prepared for an eternal exaltation, we must
be concentrated in the head of the eternal Godhead. Why? Because
everything else is opposed to that kingdom, and the heir of that
kingdom will keep up the warfare with that opposing power until death
is destroyed, and him that hath the power of it; not annihilated, but
sent back to native element. He will never cease to contend with the
opposite power, with that power that contends against the heir of this
earth; consequently, if we fancy that we have an independent interest
here and in the world to come, we shall fail in getting any of it.

Vol. 4, p.28
Your interest must be concentrated in the head on the earth, and all
of our interest must centre in the Godhead in eternity, and there is
no durable interest in any other channel.

Vol. 4, p.28
I desire the people to consider whether they have any faltering in
their feelings, any misgivings, or lack of confidence in their God. If
they have, they should seek, with all the spirit and power they are in
possession of, until they can understand the principle of eternity and
eternal exaltation, and then apply the actions of their lives to these
principles, that they may be prepared to enjoy that which their hearts
now anticipate and desire. If we will learn these things correctly and
advance, and advance, and continue to advance, though the new clay may
be continually thrown into the mill, we will bring it to the same
pliability as the old, much sooner than if it was ground alone; for
the old clay soon mixes with the now and makes the whole lump passive.
If we apply our hearts to these things, we shall soon learn to have
our interests one here on the earth.

Vol. 4, p.28
The principles of eternity and eternal exaltation are of no use to us,
unless they are brought down to our capacities so that we practise
them in our lives. We must learn the principles of government, must
learn ourselves, the eternal government of our God, the interest that
the Father has hero on the earth and the interest that we have; then
we will place our interest with the interest of our Father and God,
and will have no self-interest, no interest only in His kingdom that
is set up on the earth; then we will begin and apply these principles
in our lives.

Vol. 4, p.28
How shall we apply them? We must learn that we have not one farthing's
worth of anything in heaven, earth, or hell, not even our own being.

Vol. 4, p.28
We have been brought forth on this earth, organized for the purpose of
giving us an opportunity of proving ourselves worthy to possess
something by and bye.

Vol. 4, p.28
We make farms, build fine houses, get possessions around us, and these
we call ours, when not a dime's worth of them is either yours or mine.
This is what we must learn.

Vol. 4, p.28
I have much property in my possession, and we use the terms, "my farm,
my house, my cattle, my horses, my carriage," &c., but the fact is we
do not truly own anything; we never did and never will, until many
long ages after this. We seemingly have property; we have gold and
silver in our possession, and houses and lands, and goods, &c. These
things we are [p.29] accustomed to call ours, but that is for the want
of understanding.

Vol. 4, p.29
Every man and woman has got to feel that not one farthing of anything
in their possession is rightfully theirs, in the strict sense of
ownership. When we learn this lesson, where will be my interest and my
effort? I do not own anything—it is my Father's. How came I by my
possessions? His providence has thrown them into my care; He has
appointed me a steward over them, and I am His servant, His steward,
His hired man, one with whom He has placed certain property in charge
for the time being, that is, pertaining to the things of this world.

Vol. 4, p.29
Says one, "It was preached thirty years ago, that nothing belongs to
us, and, if I have a thousand dollars, to at once give it all to the
poor." That is your enthusiasm and ignorance. Were you to make an
equal distribution of property to-day, one year would not pass before
there would be as great an inequality as now.

Vol. 4, p.29
How could you ever get a people equal with regard to their
possessions? They never can be, no more than they I can be in the
appearance of their faces.

Vol. 4, p.29
Are we equal? Yes. Wherein? We are equal in the interest of eternal
things, in our God, not aside from Him.

Vol. 4, p.29
We behold Church property, and not one farthing of it is yours or
mine. Of the possessions that are called mine, my individual property,
not a dollar's worth is mine; and of all that you seem to possess, not
a dollar's worth is yours.

Vol. 4, p.29
Did you ever organize a tree, gold, silver, or any other kind of
metal, or any other natural production? No, you have not yet attained
to that power, and it will be ages before you do. Who owns all the
elements with which we are commanded and permitted to operate? The
Lord, and we are stewards over them. It is not for me to take the
Lord's property placed under my charge and wantonly distribute it; I
must do with it as He tells me. In my stewardship I am not to be
guided by the mere whims of human folly, by those who are more
ignorant than I am, not by the lesser power, but by the superior and
wiser.

Vol. 4, p.29
Those who are in favor of an equality in property say that that is the
doctrine taught in the New Testament. True, the Savior said to the
young man, "Go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou
shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me," in order to
try him and prove whether he had faith or not.

Vol. 4, p.29
In the days of the Apostles, the brethren sold their possessions and
laid them at the Apostles' feet. And where did many of those brethren
go to? To naught, to confusion and destruction. Could those Apostles
keep the Church together, on those principles? No. Could they build up
the kingdom on those principles? No, they never could. Many of those
persons were good men, but they were filled with enthusiasm, insomuch
that if they owned a little possession they would place it at the feet
of the Apostles.

Vol. 4, p.29
Will such a course sustain the kingdom? No. Did it, in the days of the
Apostles? No. Such a policy would be the ruin of this people, and
scatter them to the four winds. We are to be guided by superior
knowledge, by a higher influence and power.

Vol. 4, p.29
The superior is not to be directed by the inferior, consequently you
need not ask me to throw that which the Lord has put into my hands to
the four winds. If, by industrious habits and honorable dealings, you
obtain thousands or millions, little or much, it is your duty to use
all that is put in [p.30] your possession, as judiciously as you have
knowledge, to build up the kingdom of God on the earth. Let this
people equalize their means, and it would he one of the greatest
injuries that could be done to them. During the past season, those who
lived their religion acted upon the principles thereof by extending
the hand of charity and benevolence to the poor, freely distributing
their flour and other provisions, yet I am fearful that that mode was
an injury instead of a real good, although it was designed for good.

Vol. 4, p.30
Many poor people who receive flour of the brethren, if they have a
bushel of wheat will sell it in the stores for that which will do them
no good. My object is to accomplish the greatest good to this people.
If I can by my wisdom and the wisdom of my brethren, by the wisdom
that the Lord gives unto us, get this people into a situation in which
they can actually sustain themselves and help their neighbors, it will
be one of the greatest temporal blessings that can be conferred upon
them. If you wish to place persons in a backsliding condition, make
them idle and dilatory in temporal things, even though they may be
good Saints in other respects. If the whole of this people can be put
in a situation to take care of themselves, individually, and
collectively, it will save a great many from apostatizing, and be
productive of much good. I have got to wait for the Lord to dictate
from day to day, and from time to time, as to what particular course
to pursue for the accomplishment of so desirable a result.

Vol. 4, p.30
Suppose that we should say that we intend to sell flour at ten dollars
per hundred, would that make the people take care of themselves and
their grain? It is not so very material what flour costs, nor whether
the brethren sell it for three or ten cents a pound, as it is whether
each will strive to secure and economise his own provisions. If you
establish the selling price of flour at one dollar a hundred, or even
at thirty cents, here are some who will sell all they have before
night, and then beg their living of their neighbors. What course shall
we pursue to produce the greatest good? We have the Gospel and the
ordinances of salvation, and if we can get the people to do that which
will produce the greatest good, then we shall further promote the
interests of the kingdom of God on the earth.

Vol. 4, p.30
I do not like to have the Saints, those who profess to be Saints, get
such extravagant confidence in our God that they will not do one thing
to provide for the body, but omit securing provision enough to sustain
themselves, and say, "O, I shall have as long as there is any means,
or wheat, or flour; I know that brother Brigham will not see the
suffer. Mr. store-keeper, take the little I have and give me some
ribbons for it, or a nice dress, for I want the best I can get, and I
know that brother Brigham will not let me suffer." Will this course
produce good to the people, or are they ignorant that they do not know
what course to pursue?

Vol. 4, p.30
The grand difficulty with this community is simply this, their
interest; is not one. When you will have your interests concentrated
in one, then you will work jointly, and we shall not have to scold and
find fault, as much as we are now required to. Somebody ought to be
reproved here to-day, for some of our farmers are bringing in wheat
and selling it to the stores for a dollar and a half a bushel. Would
they sell it that low to the poor? No, they would not, if the poor had
money to pay for it. If this is the best  way, the most conducive of
the greatest good to this [p.31] community, all right, but I cannot
see any good resulting from it.

Vol. 4, p.31
I can see no good accruing to this community in maintaining a divided
interest; our interest must be one throughout, in order to produce the
good we desire. Many are distrustful in the providences of God; they
profess faith enough to have the Lord extract a cancer from their
flesh, or drive a fever from them, though they would not do a single
thing for themselves; yet if they have a few bushels of grain, or five
dollars, and you touch that, you touch the apple of their eye. You
will run caroller to the feelings of "here is my individual family, my
individual substance, my individual habitation, and my individual
property that I have gathered together; it is all my own, it is not
yours."

Vol. 4, p.31
I know that there is great liberality among this people, and on the
other hand there is much liberality like this, though I do not know
that I can fully explain it to you, but I will try. A few years ago we
wished to drive all the cattle not needed here, so as to leave the
feed for our milch cows, and there was not a man who was not heart and
band for the policy. When the time came to gather up the cattle, every
man said to his neighbor, "This is one of the best possible plans for
our stock, now you drive off your cattle," so each man said to his
neighbor, and thought to himself "mine will have a better chance." And
in the matter of fencing, each one says to his neighbor, "You put up a
good fence round your garden and herd your cattle," at the same time
intending to let his own run at large. These few instances explain the
feelings and conduct of some, and in what manner they are liberal.

Vol. 4, p.31
I again say that I do not wish any to take chastisement but those who
need it, though most of the people are generally so righteous and
liberal that they give over every part of it to their neighbors; they
consider that none of it belongs to them. Some are so liberal that
they will pick up my cattle on the range and butcher them, saying,
"There is nothing her, belonging to brother Brigham, nor to anybody
else, it is the Lord's, and I will have a little beef."

Vol. 4, p.31
I wish the people to understand that they have no interest apart from
the Lord our God. The moment you have a divided interest, that moment
you sever yourselves from eternal principles.

Vol. 4, p.31
It is reported that many are going away; I say, gentlemen and ladies,
you who wish to go to California, or to the States, go and welcome; I
had rather you would go than stay. I wish every one to go who prefers
doing so, and if they will go like gentlemen, they go with my best
feelings; but if they go like rascals and knaves, they cannot have
them. I have never requested but two things of those Who leave,
namely, to pay their debts and not steal; that is all that I have
required of them. Go about your business, for I would rather you would
go than stay.

Vol. 4, p.31
The moment a person decides to leave this people, he is cut off from
every object that is durable for time and eternity, and I have told
you the reason why. Everything that is opposed to God and His Son
Jesus Christ, to the celestial kingdom and to celestial laws, those
celestial laws and beings will hold warfare with, until every particle
of the opposite is turned back to its native element, though it should
take millions and millions of ages to accomplish it. Christ will never
cease the warfare; until he destroys death and him that hath the power
of it. Every possession and object of affection will be taken from
those who forsake the truth, and their identity and existence [p.32]
will eventually cease. "That is strange doctrine." No matter, they
have not an object which they can place their hands or affections
upon, but what will vanish and pass away. That is the course and will
be the tendency of every man and woman, when they decide to leave this
kingdom.

Vol. 4, p.32
They are welcome to go, and to stay where they go; I heartily wish
that a great many would go, such as I can point out. Like old Lorenzo
Dew, when he was trying to detect the person who had stolen an axe; he
said that he could throw the stone which he had carried into the
pulpit and hit the man that stole the axe; he handled the stone as
though he would throw it, and the guilty person dodged, when he said,
that is the man. So I could throw and hit a great many that I wish to
go.

Vol. 4, p.32
I say again, you that wish to go, go in peace, and we like to have you
go; and those that wish to come here we like to have them come and be
Saints, and if they would, they would stay; but if not, I like to have
them leave, no matter whether they belong to the Church or not.

Vol. 4, p.32
My soul feels hallelujah, it exults in God, that He has planted this
people in a place that is not desired by the wicked; for if the wicked
come here they do not wish to stay, no matter how well they are
treated, and I thank the Lord for it; and I want hard times, so that
every person that does not wish to stay, for the sake of his religion,
will leave. This is a good place to make Saints, and it is a good
place for Saints to live; it is the place the Lord has appointed, and
we shall stay here until He tells us to go somewhere else.

Vol. 4, p.32
All I ask of the Saints is to live their religion, serve their God,
and recollect that their interest should be in Him and no where else;
that the inferior must be controlled by the superior, and our efforts
and affections all be concentrated in one, namely, in building up the
kingdom of God to the destruction of wickedness; and may God help us
to do it, I ask in the name of Jesus Christ: Amen.[p.33]

Brigham Young, August 31, 1856

Testimony to the Divinity of Joseph Smith's Mission—
Elders Should Go to Their Missions Without Purse or Scrip
—The Lord Deals With the Saints—Jesus Their President
—Satan Angry

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery,
 Great Salt Lake City, August 31, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.33
I appear before you to bear my testimony to the truth of "Mormonism,"
that Joseph Smith, jun., was a Prophet called of God, and that he did
translate the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost.
This same testimony all can bear, who have received and continue to
retain the Spirit of the Gospel.

Vol. 4, p.33
We are happy to hear from our brethren who have returned from the
fields of their labor, it rejoices our hearts, and we like to see
their faces. I know how they feel when they return home, for I have
felt many times, in returning to the Saints, as though the privilege
of beholding their faces was a feast to overflowing, my soul has been
full. I rejoice all the time, and I can understand why brother Clinton
has rejoiced so exceedingly; it is because the lightning and thunder
are in him, and because he gave vent to his feelings. Brother Robins'
calling has been different, of such a nature that the lightning and
thunder in him have lain dormant, to a certain degree, and he has not
enjoyed himself so well as he would, had he been sent solely to preach
and build up churches.

Vol. 4, p.33
Let me reduce this to your understandings. Right here, in our midst,
many who gather from foreign lands, who have undergone all the toil,
labor, and hardship that it is possible for their nature to sustain on
their journey, after they arrive in these valleys begin to sink in
their spirits, neglect their duties, and in a little time do not know
whether "Mormonism" is true or not. Take the same persons and keep
them among the wicked, and they will preserve their armor bright, but
it has become dull and rusty here; this is the cause of so many
leaving these valleys. The seas are so calm and the vessel is wafted
over them so smoothly, and in a manner so congenial to the feelings of
the people, that they forget that they are in Zion's ship. This is the
main reason of so many leaving for the States, California, and other
places. Send those persons among their enemies, among those who will
oppose "Mormonism," among those who will oppose the truth, and let
them be continually persecuted, and they will know very quickly
whether they are "Mormons" or not; for they must go to the one side or
the other. But the condition of society here, and the feelings of the
people, are so different from those of the wicked, that many glide
smoothly along, forget their religion and their God, and finally think
that this is not the place for them and go away.

Vol. 4, p.33
I will now state that I am thus far perfectly satisfied with the
labors of the brethren who have returned from their missions this
season, and have come on the stand to-day, and at other times; I am
highly gratified [p.34] with the doings and labors of those Elders.

Vol. 4, p.34
With regard to brother John Taylor, I will say that he has one of the
strongest intellects of any man that can be found; he is a powerful
man, he is a mighty man, and we may say that he is a powerful editor,
but I will use a term to suit myself, and say that he is one of the
strongest editors that ever wrote. Concerning his financial abilities,
I have nothing to say; those who are acquainted with the matter, know
how "The Mormon" has been sustained. We sent brother Taylor, and other
brethren with him, to start that paper without purse or scrip, and if
they had not accomplished that object, we should have known that they
did not trust in their God, and did not do their duty.

Vol. 4, p.34
Let me call your reflections to the days of Joseph; here are some of
the Twelve, here are the Seventies and High Priests, and members of
the High Council, and several who have been long in the Church, did
any of you ever receive any support from the Church, while on your
missions in the days of Joseph? We're you all to answer, you would say
that you do not know the time.

Vol. 4, p.34
I came into this Church in the spring of 1832. Previous to my being
baptized, I took a mission to Canada at my own expense; and from the
time that I was baptized until the day of our sorrow and affliction,
at the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum, no summer passed over my head
but what I was traveling and preaching, and the only thing I ever
received from the Church during over twelve years, and the only means
that were ever given me by the Prophet, that I now recollect, was in
1842, when brother Joseph sent me the half of a small pig that the
brethren had brought to him, I did not ask him for it; it weighed 93
pounds. And that fall, previous to my receiving that half of a pig,
brother H. C. Kimball and myself were engaged all the time in pricing
property that came in on tithing, and we were also engaged in
gathering tithing, and I had an old saddle valued at two dollars
presented to me, and brother Heber was credited two dollars in the
Church books for one day's services, by brother Willard Richards who
was then keeping those books. Brother Heber said, "Blot that out, for
I don't want it." I think it was crossed out, and so was the saddle,
for I did not want it, even had it been given to me. These were the
only articles I ever received in the days of Joseph, so far as I
recollect.

Vol. 4, p.34
I have traveled and preached, and at the same time sustained my family
by my labor and economy. If I borrowed one hundred dollars, or fifty,
or if I had five dollars, it almost universally went into the hands of
brother Joseph, to pay lawyers' fees and to liberate him from the
power of his enemies, so far as it would go. Hundreds and hundreds of
dollars that I have managed to get, to borrow and trade for, I have
handed over to Joseph when I came home. That is the way I got help,
and it was good for me; it learned me a great deal, though I had
learned, before I heard of "Mormonism," to take care of number one.

Vol. 4, p.34
For me to travel and preach without purse or scrip, was never hard; I
never saw the day, I never was in the place, nor went into a house,
when I was alone, or when I would take the lead and do the talking,
but what I could get all I wanted. Though I have been with those who
would take the lead and be mouth, and been turned out of doors a great
many times, and could not get a night's lodging. But when I was mouth
I never was turned out of doors; I could make the  acquaintance of the
family, and sit and sing to them and [p.35] chat with them, and they
would feel friendly towards me; and when they learned that I was a
"Mormon" Elder, it was after I had gained their good feelings.

Vol. 4, p.35
When the brethren were talking about starting a press in New York, and
how it has been upheld, I did wish to relate an incident in my
experience. In company with several of the Twelve I was sent to
England in 1839. We started from home without purse or scrip, and most
of the Twelve were sick; and those who were not sick when they started
were sick on the way to Ohio; brother Taylor was left to die by the
road-side, by old father Coltrin, though he did not die. I was not
able to walk to the river, not so far as across this block, no, not
more than half as far; I had to be helped to the river, in order to
get into a boat to cross it. This was about our situation. I had not
even an overcoat; I took a small quilt from the trundle bed, and that
served for my overcoat, while I was traveling to the State of New
York, when I had a coarse sattinet overcoat given to me. Thus we went
to England, to a strange land to sojourn among strangers.

Vol. 4, p.35
When we reached England we designed to start a paper, but we had not
the first penny to do it with. I had enough to buy a hat and pay my
passage to Preston, for from the time I left home, I had worn an old
cap which my wife made out of a pair of old pantaloons; but the most
of us were entirely destitute of means to buy even any necessary
article.

Vol. 4, p.35
We went to Preston and held our Conference, and decided that we would
publish a paper; brother Parley P. Pratt craved the privilege of
editing it, and we granted him the privilege. We also decided to print
three thousand hymn books, though we had not the first cent to begin
with, and were strangers in a strange land. We appointed brother
Woodruff to Herefordshire, and I accompanied him on his journey to
that place. I wrote to brother Pratt for information about his plans,
and he sent me his prospectus, which stated that when he had a
sufficient number of subscribers and money enough in hand to justify
his publishing the paper, he would proceed with it. How long we might
have waited for that I know not, but I wrote to him to publish two
thousand papers, and I would foot the bill. I borrowed two hundred and
fifty pounds of sister Jane Benbow, one hundred of brother Thomas
Kington, and returned to Manchester, where we printed three thousand
Hymn Books, and five thousand Books of Mormon, and issued two thousand
Millennial Stars monthly, and in the course of the summer printed and
gave away rising of sixty thousand tracts. I also paid from five to
ten dollars per week for my board, and hired a house for brother
Willard Richards and his wife who came to Manchester, and sustained
them; and gave sixty pounds to brother P. P. Pratt to bring his wife
from New York. I also commenced the emigration in that year.

Vol. 4, p.35
I was there one year and sixteen days, with my brethren the Twelve and
during that time I bought all my clothing, except one pair of
pantaloons, which the sisters gave me in Liverpool soon after I
arrived there, and which I really needed: I told the brethren, in one
of my discourses, that there was no need of their begging, for if they
needed anything the sisters could understand that. The sisters took
the hint, and the pantaloons were forthcoming.

Vol. 4, p.35
I paid three hundred and eighty dollars to get the work started in
London, and when I arrived home, in Nauvoo, I owed no person one
farthing. Brother Kington received his pay from the books that were
printed, [p.36] and sister Benbow, who started to America the same
year, left names enough of her friends to receive the two hundred and
fifty pounds, which amount was paid them, notwithstanding I held her
agreement that she had given it to the Church.

Vol. 4, p.36
We left two thousand five hundred dollars worth of books in the
Office, paid our passages home, and paid about six hundred dollars to
emigrate the poor who were starving to death, besides giving away the
sixty thousand tracts; and that too though I had not a sixpence when
we first landed in Preston, and I do not know that one of the Twelve
had.

Vol. 4, p.36
I could not help thinking that if I could accomplish that much in
England, in that poor, hard country, it could not be much of a job for
a man to establish paper in New York. I thought that to be one of the
smallest things that could be; I could make money at it. We sent
brother George Q. Cannon, one of brother Taylor's nephews, to
California, over a year ago last spring, to print the Book of Mormon
in the Hawaiian language. He has printed a large and handsome edition
of that book; has published a weekly paper and paid for it; has paid
for the press and the type, and paid his board and clothing bills,
though he had not a farthing to start with, that is, he went without
purse and scrip, so far as I know, as did also brothers Bull and
Wilkie who went with him.

Vol. 4, p.36
It is one of the smallest labors that I could think of to establish a
paper and sustain it in St. Louis, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, or
any of the eastern cities. I wish to say this much, for the
information of those who think it a great task to establish and
sustain a paper; though I am not aware that any of the brethren think
so.

Vol. 4, p.36
I will relate another incident, which occurred during our journey to
England. Brother George A. Smith accompanied me to New York City, and
we had not money enough to pay the last five miles' fare.

Vol. 4, p.36
We started from New Haven in a steam boat, and when we left the boat,
I hired passage in the stage to New York; the captain of the steam
boat happened to be in the same stage.

Vol. 4, p.36
When we left the coach, I said to the captain, will you have the
kindness to pay this gentleman's passage and mine. I had had no
conversation with him during the day, only in interchanging the common
and usual compliments, but when we left him he greeted us cordially,
and said that he had paid our stage-fare with the greatest pleasure,
and shook our hands as heartily as a brother, saying, "May God bless
and prosper you in your labors."

Vol. 4, p.36
In five minutes we were in the house with Parley P. Pratt, who had
moved to that city the fall before. As soon as those of the Twelve who
were appointed on that mission to England came in, we concluded that
we would not go among the Branches, but seek out and preach to those
who had not had an opportunity of hearing the Gospel.

Vol. 4, p.36
Accordingly we separated and went into many parts of the State of New
York, Long Island and New Jersey, and some went into the city of
Philadelphia.

Vol. 4, p.36
After we had got through with the regular meetings, we proposed to the
brethren, if any of them wished to have meetings in their private
houses and would tell us when and where that we would meet with them.

Vol. 4, p.36
It was not more than a week or ten days before we had been in fifty
different places in New York city and the surrounding country, and
those who came to hear  us invited their neighbors, and thus we
preached and baptized, and soon gathered means [p.37] enough to defray
the expenses of our passage to England, principally from those who
were the fruits of our own labors.

Vol. 4, p.37
Though the people in the States are daily becoming more hardened
against the truth, yet if I was in New York this day, and it was my
business to be there, I would not be there long before I would have
many Elders preaching through different parts of that city; I would
have them preaching in the English, Danish, French, German, and other
languages. And soon would have Elders dispersed all over the State,
and would raise up new friends enough to sustain me, that is if the
Lord would help me, and if He did not I would leave.

Vol. 4, p.37
That is the way we have traveled and preached, but now we do a great
deal for our missionaries, for they gather money on tithing, and ask
me to credit such and such a man so much on tithing; this course tends
to shut up every avenue for business here.

Vol. 4, p.37
We do not receive cash on tithing from abroad, because our
missionaries are so liberal, and feel so rich, that they gather every
dollar that can be scraped up, and then come here and have it credited
to such and such individuals on tithing, without handing over the
money.

Vol. 4, p.37
This course hedges up the work at head quarters. Did I have that
privilege? No, never; and men should not have it now. If a paper
should be published, brethren ought to have wisdom enough to sustain
themselves and the paper, and they can do it.

Vol. 4, p.37
I do not wish to find fault with our missionaries, but many of them
now live on cream and short cake, butter, honey, light biscuit, and
sweet meats, while we had to take the butter milk and potatoes. That
kind of fare was good enough for us, but now it is short cake and
cream, light biscuit, with butter and honey, and sweet meats of every
kind, and even then some of them think that they are abused.

Vol. 4, p.37
I see some here who did not have as good fare as buttermilk and
potatoes; I see some of the brethren who have been to Australia, the
East Indies, &c. When I returned from England, I said it is the last
time I will travel as I have done, unless the Lord specially requires
me to do so; for if we could ride even as comfortably as brother
Woodruff once rode on one of the Mississippi steam boats we considered
ourselves well off. All the bed he had was the chines of barrels, with
his feet hanging on a brace, and he thought himself well off to get
the privilege of riding in any shape, to escape constant walking.

Vol. 4, p.37
How do they go now? They take the first cabins, cars, and carriages. I
wish to see them cross the Plains on foot, and then have wisdom enough
to preach their way to the city of New York, and there, in the same
manner, to get money enough to cross the ocean. But no, they must
start from here with a full purse, and take broad cloth from here, or
money to buy it in the States, and hire first cabin passages in the
best ocean steamers; and after all this many think it is hard times.

Vol. 4, p.37
I want to see the Elders live on buttermilk and potatoes, and when
they return be more faithful. But they go as missionaries of the
kingdom of God, and when they have been gone a year or two, many of
them come back merchants, and how they swell, "how popular 'Mormonism'
is, we can get trusted in St. Louis for ten thousand dollars as well
as not, and in New York brother Brigham's word is so good that we can
get all the goods we want; 'Mormonism' is becoming quite popular."
Yes, and so are hell and the works of the devil.

Vol. 4, p.38
[p.38] When "Mormonism" finds favor, with the wicked in this land, it
will have gone into the shade; but until the power of the Priesthood
is gone, "Mormonism" will never become popular with the wicked.
"Mormonism" is not one farthing better than it was in the days of
Joseph.

Vol. 4, p.38
The hand of the Almighty is over mankind, and "Mormonism" is hid from
them; they do not know anything about it. The Lord deals with this
people, and draws them into close quarters, and makes them run the
gauntlet, and tries their faith and feelings. He draws them into
diverse circumstances to prove whether they believe in Jesus Christ,
or not; and if need be He will let the enemy persecute us and destroy
many of us; He will let them take our substance and drive us from our
homes. Was "Mormonism" popular with those who have formerly
persecuted, killed and driven us? Yes, as much so as it is at this
day.

Vol. 4, p.38
The hand of the Almighty is over the wicked, and He handles them
according to His good pleasure, as He does the Saints. His hand is
over us, and His hand is over them. But there is a thick mist cast
before their eyes, so they do not discern the truth of "Mormonism." Do
you wonder that they are mad, when they see the progress of truth? I
do not.

Vol. 4, p.38
The different political parties are in opposition. One party says, "We
are republicans, and we are opposed in principle to all who are not of
our party." Can the various parties be reconciled? No. Each party
wishes to elect a President of the United States. We design to elect
Jesus Christ for our President, and the wicked wish to elect Lucifer,
the Son of the Morning, and swear that they will have him; and we
declare that we will serve Jesus Christ, and he shall be our
President.

Vol. 4, p.38
Do you think that the democrats and republicans have made friends? No,
they are just as much opposed to each other now as ever they were, and
the devil is just as much opposed to Jesus now as he was when the
revolt took place in heaven. And as the devil increases his numbers by
getting the people to be wicked, so Jesus Christ increases his numbers
and strength by getting the people to be humble and righteous. The
human family are going to the polls by and by, and they wish to know
which party is going to carry the day.

Vol. 4, p.38
When you see mild weather, when all is smooth and our religion is
becoming popular, the Lord is casting mist before the eyes of the
wicked, and they do not see nor understand what will take place at the
polls when the day of voting comes. Those who vote for Jesus will be
on the right hand, and those who vote for Lucifer on the left; one
part will be right and the other wrong. We calculate that we are
right, and we are going to vote for the sovereign we believe in; and
when he comes behold he will go into the chair of state and take the
reins of government. Do you suppose the wicked will feel bad about it?
That is what they are afraid of all the time.

Vol. 4, p.38
They may kill the bodies we have, they may strive to injure us, but
when the day of the great election comes, as the Lord Almighty lives,
we shall gain our President, and we anticipate holding office under
him. Do you blame the wicked for being mad? No. They desire to rule,
to hold the reins of government on this earth; they have held them a
great while. I do not blame them for being suspicious of us; men in
high standing are suspicious of us, hence the frequent cry, "Treason,
treason, we are going to have trouble with the people in Utah." What
is the matter? Wherein can they point out one particle of injury that
we have done to them?

Vol. 4, p.39
[p.39] True we have more wives than one, and what of that? They have
their scores of thousands of prostitutes, we have none. But polygamy
they are unconstitutionally striving to prevent: when they will
accomplish their object is not for me to say. They have already
presented a resolution in Congress that no man, in any of the
Territories of the United States, shall be allowed to have more than
one wife. under a penalty not exceeding five years imprisonment, and
five hundred dollars fine. How will they get rid of this awful evil in
Utah? They will have to expend about three hundred millions of dollars
for building a prison, for we must all go into prison. And after they
have expended that amount for a prison, and roofed it over from the
summit of the Rocky Mountains to the summit of the Sierra Nevada, we
will dig out and go preaching through the world. (Voice on the stand:
what will become of the women, will they go to prison with us?)
Brother Heber seems concerned about the women's going with us; they
will be with us, for we shall be here together. This is a little
amusing.

Vol. 4, p.39
Brother Robbins, in his remarks, said that the Constitution of the
United States forbids making an ex post facto law. The presenting of
the re solution alluded to shows their feelings, they wish the
Constitution out of existence, and there is no question but that they
will get rid of it as quickly as they can, and that would be by ex
post facto law, which the Constitution of the United States strictly
forbids.

Vol. 4, p.39
Brother Robbins also spoke of what they term the "nigger drivers and
nigger worshippers," and observed how keen their feelings are upon
their favourite topic slavery. The State of New York used to be a
slave State, but there slavery has for some time been abolished. Under
their law for abolishing slavery the then male slaves had to serve
until they were 28 years old, and if my memory serves me correctly,
the females until they were 25, before they could be free. This was to
avoid the loss of, what they called, property in the hands of
individuals. After that law was passed the people began to dispose of
their blacks, and to let them buy themselves off. They then passed a
law that black children should be free, the same as white children,
and so it remains to this day.

Vol. 4, p.39
But at the time that slavery was tolerated in the northern and eastern
States, if you touched that question it would fire a man quicker than
any thing else in the world; there was something very peculiar about
it, and it is so now. Go into a slave State and speak to a man on the
subject, even though he never owned a slave, and you fire up his
feelings in defence of that institution; there is no other subject
that will touch him as quickly. They are very tenacious and sensitive
on those points, and the North are becoming as sensitive as the South.
The North are slow and considerate; they have their peculiar customs;
and are influenced by the force of education, climate, &c., in a
manner which causes them to think twice before they act; and often
they will think and speak many times before they act. The spirit of
the South is to think, speak, and act all at the same moment. This is
the difference between the two people.

Vol. 4, p.39
Matters are coming to such a point, the feelings of both parties are
aroused to that degree, that they would as soon fight as not. But I do
not wish to speak any longer in that strain, though, if you want to
know what I think about the question, I think both parties are
decidedly wrong.

Vol. 4, p.39
It is not the prerogative of the President of the United States to
meddle with this matter, and Congress is not allowed, according to the
[p.40] Constitution, to legislate upon it. If Utah was admitted into
the Union as a sovereign State, and we chose to introduce slavery
here, it is not their business to meddle with it; and even if we
treated our slaves in an oppressive manner, it is still none of their
business and they ought not to meddle with it. 

Vol. 4, p.40
If we introduce the practice of polygamy it is not their prerogative
to meddle with it; if we should all turn to be Roman Catholics to-day,
if we all turned to the old Mother Church, it would not be their
prerogative, it would not be their business, to meddle with us on that
account. If we are Mormons or Methodists, or worship the sun Or a
white dog, or if we worship a dumb idol, or all turn Shaking Quakers
and have no wife, it is not their prerogative to meddle with these
affairs, for in so doing they would violate the Constitution.

Vol. 4, p.40
There is not a Territory in the Union that is looked upon with so
suspicious an eye as is Utah, and yet it is the only part of the
nation that cares anything about the Constitution. What have they done
in the States? Why, in some places they have celebrated the fourth of
July by hoisting the National flag bottom side up, making a burlesque
of the celebration, but "Utah is hell and the devil." This reminds me
of a circumstance that transpired in England. A boy was brushing his
shoes on Sunday morning, and a priest observing him said, "What, do
you brush your shoes on Sunday?" "Yes, sir; do you brush your coat?"
"Yes." "Well I suppose it is life and salvation for you to brush your
coat, but hell and damnation for me to brush my shoes." That is the
difference.

Vol. 4, p.40
"Mormonism" is true, and all hell cannot overthrow it. All the devil's
servants on the earth may do all they can, and, as brother Clinton has
just said, after twenty six years faithful operation and exertion by
our enemies, including the times when Joseph had scarely a man to
stand by him, and when the persecution was as severe on him as it ever
was in the world, what have they accomplished? They have succeeded in
making us an organized Territory, and they are determined to make us
an independent State or Government, and as the Lord lives it will be
so. (The congregation shouted amen.) I say, as the Lord lives, we are
bound to become a sovereign State in the Union, or an independent
nation by ourselves, and let them drive us from this place if they
can; they cannot do it. I do not throw this out as a banter; you
Gentiles, and hickory and basswood "Mormons," can write it down if you
please, but write it as I speak it.

Vol. 4, p.40
I wish you to understand that God rules and reigns, that he led us to
this land and gave us a Territorial government. Was this the design of
the wicked? No. Their design was to banish us from the earth, but they
have driven us into notoriety and power; we are now raised to a
position where we can converse with kings and emperors.

Vol. 4, p.40
In the days of Joseph it was considered a great privilege to be
permitted to speak to a member of Congress, but twenty-six years will
not pass away before the Elders of this Church will be as much thought
of as the kings on their thrones. The Lord Almighty will roll on the
wheels of His work, and none can stop them; and they cannot drive us
from these mountains, because the Lord will not suffer them to do so.
I desire them to let us alone; "hands off and money down," we crave no
jobs and make none. Let them attend to their own business, and we will
build up Zion while they go to hell. Jesus Christ will be the
President, and we  are his officers, and they will have to leave the
ground: for they will find [p.41] that Jesus has the right of soil.
This they are afraid of, do you blame them? No, I do not, and you
should not: let them feel bad and worry.

Vol. 4, p.41
I have frequently told you, and I tell you again, that the very report
of the Church and kingdom of God on earth is a terror to all nations,
wheresoever the sound thereof goeth. The sound of "Mormonism" is a
terror to towns, counties, states, the pretended republican
governments, and to all the world. Why? Because, as the Lord Almighty
lives and the Prophets have ever written the truth, this work is
destined to revolutionize the world and bring all under subjection to
the law of God, who is. our lawgiver.

Vol. 4, p.41
I am still governor of this Territory, to the constant chagrin of my
enemies; but I do not in the least neglect the duties of my
Priesthood, nor my office as governor; and while I honor my Priesthood
I will do honor to my office as governor. This is hard to be
understood by the wicked, but it is true. The feelings of many are
much irritated because I am here, and Congress has requested the
President to inquire why I still hold the office of governor in the
Territory of Utah. I can answer that question; I hold the office by
appointment, and am to hold it until my successor is appointed and
qualified, which has not yet been done. I shall bow to Jesus, my
Governor, and under him, to brother Joseph. Though he has gone behind
the vail, and I cannot see him, he is my head, under Jesus Christ and
the ancient Apostles, and I shall go ahead and build up the kingdom.
But if I was now sitting in the chair of state at the White House in
Washington, everything in my office would be subject to my religion.
Why? Because it teaches me to deal justice and mercy to all. I am
satisfied to love righteousness and be fall of the Holy Ghost. while
all hell yawns to destroy me, though it cannot do it.

Vol. 4, p.41
If I were to forsake this kingdom, the car of righteousness would roll
over and crush me into insignificance; and so it will every other man
that gets out of the right path. What then are we going to do? We had
better stick to the ship than jump overboard, because if we stay
aboard we stand a good chance to be saved, but if we jump over we
shall be drowned.

Vol. 4, p.41
Who can help all these things? I did not devise the great scheme of
the Lord's opening the way to send this people to these mountains.
Joseph contemplated the move for years before it took place, but he
could not get here, for there was a watch placed upon him continually
to see that he had no communication with the Indians. This was in
consequence of that which is written in the Book of Mormon; one of the
first evils alleged against him was that he was going to connive with
the Indians; but did he ever do anything of the kind? No, he always
strove to promote the best interest of all, both red and white. Was it
by any act of ours that this people were driven into their midst? We
are now their neighbors, we are on their land, for it belongs to them
as much as any soil ever belonged to any man on earth; we are drinking
their water, using their fuel and timber, and raising our food from
their ground.

Vol. 4, p.41
I do not wish men to understand I had anything to do with our being
moved here, that was the providence of the Almighty; it was the power
of God that wrought out salvation for this people, I never could have
devised such a plan. What shall we do? Be still and know that the Lord
is God: and let all people be silent and know that the Lord Almighty
reigns, and does His pleasure on the earth. What had we better do?
[p.42] Be submissive and passive, serve our God and walk humbly before
Him.

Vol. 4, p.42
The same Spirit pervades the Latter-day Saints in all the world, and
what the Lord designs doing here is made manifest to the brethren in
different parts, and the world feels the power of it and begins to
persecute. When we commence that temple you will hear the devils howl.

Vol. 4, p.42
We are now doing but little besides taking care of ourselves, but the
kingdom has got to be taken and the Lord Jesus come to reign here.
When you wonder why it is that we are building many large buildings
here and the temple not going on, be silent and patient.

Vol. 4, p.42
Here let me ask the old Saints a question. Have you ever seen a temple
finished, since this Church commenced? You have not. The Lord says,
"Be patient and gather together the strength of my house;" then do not
fret yourselves, and if you feel a little worried, be sure that you
are right, and do as you are counseled.

Vol. 4, p.42
Why do we urge this upon the people? They are only counseled to love
God and do His will. You cannot point out where a man has been
counseled one hair's breadth from this course, and in this we have a
right to be urgent, and strenuous, and sharp in our remarks. Serve
your God and love your religion.

Vol. 4, p.42
I could tell you a great many lessons that I have learned in
"Mormonism," but it is very seldom that; I refer to past scenes, they
occupy but a small portion of my time and attention. Do you wish to
know the reason of this? It is because there is an eternity ahead of
me, and my eyes are ever open and gazing upon it, and I have but
little time to reflect upon the many circumstances I have been placed
in thus far during life. They are behind me, and I am thankful that I
have not time to reflect on past transactions, only once in a while,
when it seems almost necessary to refer to them.

Vol. 4, p.42
May the Lord God of heaven and earth bless you, and may He preserve us
and all good men and women upon the earth, and give us power to blow
the Gospel trump to earth's remotest bounds, and gather up the honest
in heart, build up Zion, redeem Israel, rebuild Jerusalem, and fill
the earth with the glory and knowledge of our God, and we will shout
hallelujah! Amen. [p.43]

Brigham Young, September 21, 1856

A Call for An Expression of the Condition of the People
—Repentance Among the Saints Necessary—
Renewing of Covenants

Instructions by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, September 21, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.43
I have an impulse within me to preach the Gospel of salvation. I am
here by the providence of our God; I have professed to be a teacher of
righteousness for many years, and to preach the Gospel of salvation
which is still within me, and I feel to pour it forth upon the people;
and I present myself here this morning as a teacher in Israel, as a
man having the words of eternal life for the people.

Vol. 4, p.43
I feel to call upon this congregation to know whether any of them, or
whether all of them wish salvation. If they do, I have the Gospel of
salvation for them; and I call upon the people to know whether they
are the friends of God, or only of themselves individually. I do not
know of any better way to get an expression from the people, as to
whether they wish the Gospel preached to them, whether they desire to
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, to obey his counsels, and live to
his glory, denying themselves of worldly lusts and of every thing that
is sensual and contrary to his Gospel, and feel as though they wanted
to be Saints of the Most High, than to have the brethren and sisters,
those who so wish and desire, manifest it by rising upon their feet.
You will observe all who do not rise. [The vast congregation all
responded by standing up.] Take your seats again. You have manifested
that you want to be Saints, and I am happy for the privilege of
talking to such a people.

Vol. 4, p.43
When we get the font prepared that is now being built, I will take you
into the waters of baptism, if you repent of your sins. If you will
covenant to live your religion and be Saints of the Most High, you
shall have that privilege, and I will have the honor of baptizing you
in that font, or of seeing that it is done.

Vol. 4, p.43
As for living here, as I have done for a length of time, hid up in the
chambers of the Lord, with a people that are full of contention, full
of covetousness, full of pride, and full of iniquity, I will not do
it. And if the people will not repent, let the sinners and hypocrites
look out. I will repent with you and I will try with my might to get
the spirit of my calling; and if I have not that spirit now to a
fulness, I will get more of it, so as to enjoy it to its fulness. And
if I should be filled with the power and spirit of the mission that is
upon me, I shall not spare the wicked; I shall be like a flaming sword
against them, and so will all those that live their religion; it is
not to be suffered any longer.

Vol. 4, p.43
As I told you last Sabbath, if I was not mistaken, my feelings were
that this people were preparing themselves, many of them, for
apostacy; were preparing themselves for the apostacy of their
neighbors and their families; their children and their friends were
all leading the way of the sinner. I had not then an idea that I was
mistaken; I have not now an idea that I [p.44] am mistaken. I
understand these things perfectly well; and if the people are disposed
to awake out of their lethargy and walk up to their religion, to their
duty, to the highest privilege that ever was or ever can be granted to
mortal man upon this earth, which is eternal life, and will do so,
then we will be brethren. And if not, the thread must be severed, for
I cannot hold men and women in fellowship that serve the devil and
themselves, and give no heed to the Almighty; I cannot do it.

Vol. 4, p.44
This people have been taught a great deal; they have had principle and
doctrine fed to them till they are surfeited; and where is the man,
the officer, or the community, that understands what has been taught
them? There may be one here and there that understands, but generally
the eyes of the people are closed upon eternal things, and they seek
for that which pleases the eye, that which is in accordance with the
lusts of the flesh, that which is full of iniquity, and they care not
for the righteousness of our God.

Vol. 4, p.44
I repeat that, as for as those who are disposed to refrain from their
evils, to renew their covenants and live their religion, I will have
the honor and you the privilege of going forth and renewing your
covenants, otherwise their must be a separation. Let those who have
been with us ten or fifteen years, who have passed through the
sorrowful scenes that Joseph and many others who have gone behind the
vail had to wade through, look back and see the hand of God that has
led us to a land where we enjoy liberty, where we enjoy all the
freedom that ever the city of Enoch enjoyed, until they were more
perfectly made acquainted with God. All that we can enjoy more than we
do, unless we further acquaint ourselves with our God and become His
friends and His associates, will be but very little more than we now
possess.

Vol. 4, p.44
I tell you that this people will not be suffered to walk as they have
walked, to do as they have done, to live as they have lived. God will
have a reckoning with us ere long, and we must refrain from our evils
and turn to the Lord our God, or He will come out in judgment against
us. I refer to the doctrine and the teachings that have been laid
before this people; and I will say that it would take me weeks and
months to tell you what has been already told you. But it passes into
your ears and out again, and is no more remembered.

Vol. 4, p.44
Show me the man who knows enough about his God, and is sufficiently
acquainted with the principle of eternal lives to be able to say, "I
can handle the gold and the silver, the goods, the chattels, and the
possessions of this world, with my heart no more set upon them than it
is upon the wind. I know how to use them, to deal out this and to
distribute that, and to do all to the glory of my Father in heaven."
If there is one in this congregation that knows how to do all this,
will you please to rise up? These are things that I have taught you
week after week, and year after year, but do you understand them? No.
You may say, with shamefacedness, that there is hardly a man in this
congregation that can righteously manage even earthly things. Just as
quick as you are prospered you are lost to the Lord, you are filled
with darkness.

Vol. 4, p.44
Do you think the angels of the Lord lust after the things that are
before them? All heaven is before us, and all this earth, the gold and
the silver, all these are at our command, and shall we lust after
them? They are all within our reach; they are for the Saints whom God
loves, even all who fix their minds upon Him and the  interests of His
[p.45] kingdom. Our Father possesses all the riches of eternity, and
all those riches are vouchsafed unto us, and yet we lust after them.

Vol. 4, p.45
I have taught you these things weeks and months ago, and yet there is
not a man or woman in this congregation that understands them in their
fulness. These are simple principles that should be learned; and
although they have been taught you from time to time, yet you have not
learned them. And for me to repeat to you what I have taught you, and
what my brethren have taught you, would take me weeks.

Vol. 4, p.45
And notwithstanding all that has been taught, still the people are
full of idolatry, the spirit of contention and the spirit of the world
are in them, and they are full of the things of the world.

Vol. 4, p.45
Well, I just say, my brethren and sisters, it cannot be suffered any
longer, a separation must take place; you must part with your sins, or
the righteous must be separated from the ungodly. I will now give way,
and call upon others of the brethren to speak to you. Amen.

Heber C. Kimball, September 21, 1856

Application of the Words of Helaman to the Condition
 of the Latter-Day Saints

Remarks by President H. C. Kimball, Delivered in the Bowery,
 Great Salt Lake City, September 21, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.45
I have a great many things on my mind constantly, by night and by day,
in regard to this people, ourselves I mean, here in these valleys of
the mountains.

Vol. 4, p.45
I was lately looking in the Book of Mormon, and I thought that a
portion Of the Book of Helaman, from nearly the 420th page (second
European edition) to the end of the 4th chapter, would apply very well
to this people, and if they would appreciate it rightly, it would be
what I should call a very great sermon. [It was read to the
congregation in the afternoon, by brother Leo Hawkins.]

Vol. 4, p.45
It treats upon the conduct of the people when they were blest. They
were led into a land away from their enemies, and the Lord blest them
exceedingly; yet the only way that He could keep them within due and
proper bounds, so that they would live their religion, so that they
would be humble before their Maker and their God, was to let
afflictions come upon them.

Vol. 4, p.45
The Lord, through the Prophet relates that He had withheld their
enemies from them by softening their hearts from day to day, so that
they would not go up to war against the people of God; and that He had
multiplied blessings upon them, insomuch that they became exceedingly
rich in fine clothing, jewelry, raiment, and every thing that heart
could wish.

Vol. 4, p.45
God poured out His blessings upon them, and as quick as they began to
prosper, and to increase in property, they were raised up in the pride
of their hearts, forgot their God, their [p.46] prayers, and the
covenants they had made with and before their God. And when we read
the Bible and the Book of Mormon, we are led to contrast the
proceedings of the former-day Saints on this continent with the
travels and course of this people; and to reflect that many of us have
been rooted up and driven some five or six times, and that last of all
we are driven here into the Valleys of the Mountains, a thousand miles
from every body, where God has let us come to worship Him, to carry
out His designs, to establish His ordinances, and to qualify a people
that they may obtain a celestial glory.

Vol. 4, p.46
Are not this people running into pride? Are they not filled with
discord, contention, broils, and animosity? Have they not forgotten
their God and their covenants? Do they hold their covenants sacred,
those they made when they received their endowments, when they
covenanted not to speak evil of one another, nor of the Lord's
anointed, nor of those that lead them? Did they not make all these
covenants? Have they not broken them, or many of them?

Vol. 4, p.46
Do you suppose that God would have spoken to you through brother
Brigham as He did last Sunday, if all was right, if you were all
living your religion? No, it would have been another tune that would
have been sung or played, and it would have given you credit. But that
sermon was good to me; and God knows that I never heard a better one
since I was born, considering the occasion and the circumstances in
which this people stand before their God.

Vol. 4, p.46
This will not apply to all, but it will apply pretty generally, more
or less. We have got to take a different course, and it must needs be
that this people repent of their sins and do their first works over,
or God will remove their candlestick out of its place.

Vol. 4, p.46
When our President, our Leader our Prophet, speaks unto us from week
to week, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, do his teachings reach our
hearts? Do the people hear? Do the people understand? If they do, they
are not all careful to practice.

Vol. 4, p.46
I have told you, a great many times, that the word of our Leader and
Prophet is the word of God to this people, and you play with those
words, and you neglect them. You neglect the voice and word of God,
and it will fall upon you in a way that you never expected, and you do
not expect it now. But there is yet a chance for us to redeem
ourselves; and there is a great deal more necessity for us to redeem
ourselves, than there is for us to redeem the dead, for the dead they
are dead, and you cannot help it; but we are living and can help
ourselves, and I suppose God helps those who help themselves.

Vol. 4, p.46
Let us rise up as a people and turn unto the Lord our God with full
purpose of heart, and, peradventure, our sins may be remitted and
forgiven, and blotted out. This is what the Lord has placed men to
lead you for. You cannot see God, you cannot behold Him and hold
converse with Him, as one man does with another; but He has given us a
man that we can talk to and thereby know His will, just as well as if
God Himself were present.

Vol. 4, p.46
Am I afraid to risk my salvation in the hands of the man that is
appointed to lead me, and to lead this people? No, no more than I am
to trust myself in the hands of the Almighty. He will lead me right,
if I do as He says in every particular, in every circumstance, in
poverty, in riches, in sickness, and in death. That is the course for
me take; and if that is the course for me to take, it is the course
for brother Grant to take, and for the Twelve Apostles, for the
Seventies, for the High  Priests, for the Elders, and for every person
in [p.47] the Church and Kingdom of God. We should be like the clay in
the hands of the potter. Bless your souls, that is just as true a
figure as can be presented before a people, if they ever saw a potter
work; but if they never saw one work, they do not know what course he
takes, any more than a person knows about a mill that never saw one.

Vol. 4, p.47
Well, this is the course for us to take, to be like clay in the hands
of the potter. Who is the potter? God our Father is the great porter,
the head potter, and brother Brigham is one of His servants, to
preside over this pottery here in the flesh; and his word is the word
of God to this people, and to those that he has called to assist him
in this great work.

Vol. 4, p.47
These are my feelings, and a part of what I was meditating and
reflecting upon, as also upon how much we are blest. I know that there
are several going away, and that they say that this is a hard country.
Let the people that have come from Denmark turn round and go back to
where they came from, and then they will say that this land is a
perfect Eden, and this place a perfect palace, when compared to the
land they lived in before they came here. They come here as hearty and
as robust as our mountain sheep, or elk, or the buffalo, and why is it
so? Because they have always worked from the days of their youth; they
are the chaps. We want those men that have been raised in the
mountains, and that have learned to be obedient from the days of their
youth. They are the Saints that the men of God want. I love to see
them come here under their own flag, the Danish flag, for the standard
is raised, and they may come with their own banners, and bow to king
Immanuel.

Vol. 4, p.47
What is required of us, now that we have run into a snare? We should
be willing to come out of the forbidden path, and turn unto the Lord
with full purpose of heart. Here are hundreds of people that desire
their endowments, as soon as they can get them. I would not give them
their endowments to almost the last we took through, until they
repented and were baptized. We have taken hundreds through, when they
ought to have previously done their first works over.

Vol. 4, p.47
I offer these few remarks that you may reflect upon them, and know
when you are guilty. When a man has done wrong he knows it; and when
he is breaking his covenants he knows it, and those persons are under
condemnation, and it need be that they repent. I am willing to repent
of my sins. I repent every day of my life, and I humble myself before
my God and acknowledge my sins, both in private and in public. And I
take a course to be industrious and I do as I am told, and I do not
care what that is, for I know it will be right. If I were told to
build a house that would include this whole city, I would goat it. It
might make me groan a little, but I would go at it, don't you believe
I would? I tell you I would, though it broke my neck, or cut my throat
and chopped me into mince meat. I will stand by the kingdom, and by
the Prophets and Apostles, and by all that stand up for the kingdom of
our God. I am their friend, and hands off from those men, if you do
not want to take Jesse. These are my feelings, and may God bless you,
and may peace be multiplied unto you. Amen.

Vol. 4, p.47
[The following is that part of the Book of Mormon alluded to by
President Kimball.]

Vol. 4, p.47
"And thus we can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the
hearts of the children of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in His
great, infinite goodness, doth bless and prosper those who put their
trust in Him; yea, and we may see at the very time [p.48] when He doth
prosper His people; yea, in the increase of their fields, their
flocks, and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner
of precious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and
delivering them out of the hands of their enemies: softening the
hearts of their enemies, that they should not declare wars against
them; yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness
of His people; yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts,
and do forget the Lord their God, and do trample under their feet the
Holy One; yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceeding
great prosperity. And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten
His people with many afflictions, yea, except He doth visit them with
death and with terror, and with famine, and with all manner of
pestilences, they will not remember Him. O how foolish, and how vain,
and how evil, and devilish, and how quick to do iniquity, and how slow
to do good, are the children of men; yea, how quick to hearken unto
the words of the evil one, and to set their hearts upon the vain
things of the world; yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how
quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how
slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto His
counsels; yea, how slow to walk in wisdom's paths! Behold they do not
desire that the Lord their God who hath created them, should rule and
reign over them, notwithstanding His great goodness and His mercy
towards them; they do set at naught His counsels, and they will not
that He should be their guide. O how great is the nothingness of the
children of men; yea, even they are less than the dust of the earth.
For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the
dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God;
yea, behold at His voice doth the hills and the mountains tremble and
quake; and by the power of His voice they are broken up, and become
smooth, yea, even like unto a valley; yea, by the power of His voice
doth the whole earth shake; yea, by the power of His voice, doth the
foundations rock, even to the very centre; yea, and if He say unto the
earth, move, it is moved; yea, if He say unto the earth, thou shalt go
back, that it lengthen out the day for many hours, it is done; and
thus according to His word, the earth goeth back, and it appeareth
unto man that the sun standeth still; yea, and behold this is so; for
sure it is the earth that moveth, and not the sun. And behold, also,
if He say unto the waters of the great deep, be thou dried up, it is
done. Behold, if He say unto this mountain, be thou raised up, and
come over and fall upon that city, that it be buried up, behold it is
done. And behold, if a man hide up a treasure in the earth, and the
Lord shall say let it be accursed, because of the iniquity of him who
hath hid it up, behold, it shall be accursed; and if the Lord shall
say, be thou accursed, that no man shall find thee from this time
henceforth and for ever, behold, no man getteth it henceforth and for
ever. And behold if the Lord shall say unto a man, because of thine
iniquities, thou shalt be accursed for ever, it shall be done. And if
the Lord shall say, because of thine iniquities, thou shalt be cut off
from my presence, He will cause that it shall be so. And woe unto him
to whom He shall say this, for it shall be unto him that will do
iniquity, and he cannot be saved; therefore, for this cause, that men
might be saved, hath repentance been declared. Therefore, blessed are
they who will repent and hearken unto the voice  of the Lord their
God; for these are they that shall be saved. And may God grant, [p.49]
in His great fulness, that men might be brought unto repentance and
good works, that they might be restored unto grace, for grace
according to their works. And I would that all men might be saved. But
we read that in that great and last day, there are some who shall be
cast out; yea, who shall be east off from the presence of the Lord;
yea, who shall be consigned to a state of endless misery, fulfilling
the words which say, they that have done good, shall have everlasting
life; and they that have done evil, shall have everlasting damnation.
And thus it is. Amen."

Jedediah M. Grant, September 21, 1856

Rebuking Iniquity

Remarks by President J. M. Grant, Delivered in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, September 21, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.49
I feel that the remarks which we have heard this morning are true, and
they apply directly to you who are now present, and to the inhabitants
of this city and of the Territory generally, and we do not excuse any
of you.

Vol. 4, p.49
If the arrows of the Almighty ought to be thrown at you we want to do
it, and to make you feel and realize that we mean you. And although we
talk of the old clay's being ground in the mill, we do not mean it to
apply to some other place, for we have enough here who have been dried
ever since their baptism, and many of them are cracked and spoiling.

Vol. 4, p.49
Some have received the Priesthood and a knowledge of the things of
God, and still they dishonor the cause of truth, commit adultery, and
every other abomination beneath the heavens, and then meet you here or
in the street, and deny it.

Vol. 4, p.49
These are the abominable characters that we have in our midst, and
they will seek unto wizards that peep, and to star-gazers and
soothsayers, because they have no faith in the holy Priesthood, and
then when they meet us, they want to be called Saints.

Vol. 4, p.49
The same characters will get drunk and wallow in the mire and filth,
and yet they call themselves Saints, and seem to glory in their
conduct, and they pride themselves in their greatness and in their
abominations.

Vol. 4, p.49
They are the old hardened sinners, and are almost—if not
altogether—past improvement, and are fall of hell, and my prayer is
that God's indignation may rest upon them, and that He will curse them
from the crown of their heads to the soles of their feet.

Vol. 4, p.49
I say, that there are men and women that I would advise to go to the
President immediately, and ask him to appoint a committee to attend to
their ease; and then let a place be selected, and let that committee
shed their blood.

Vol. 4, p.49
We have those amongst us that are full of all manner of abominations,
those who need to have their blood shed, for water will not do, their
sins are of too deep a dye.

Vol. 4, p.50
You may think that I am not teaching you Bible doctrine, but what
[p.50] says the apostle Paul? I would ask bow many covenant breakers
there are in this city and in this kingdom. I believe that there are a
great many; and if they are covenant breakers we need a place
designated, where we can shed their blood.

Vol. 4, p.50
Talk about old clay; I would rather have clay from a new bank than
some that we have had clogging the wheels for the last nineteen years.
They are a perfect nuisance, and I want them cut off, and the sooner
it is done the better.

Vol. 4, p.50
We have men who are incessantly finding fault, who get up a little
party spirit, and criticise the conduct of men of God. They will find
fault with this, that, and the other, and nothing is right for them,
because they are full of all kinds of filth and wickedness.
            

Vol. 4, p.50
And we have women here who like any thing but the celestial law of
God; and if they could break asunder the cable of the Church of
Christ, there is scarcely a mother in Israel but would do it this day.
And they talk it to their husbands, to their daughters, and to their
neighbors, and say they have not seen a week's happiness since they
became acquainted with that law, or since their husbands took a second
wife. They want to break up the Church of God, and to break it from
their husbands and from their family connections.

Vol. 4, p.50
Then, again, there are men that are used as tools by their wives, and
they are just a little better in appearance and in their habits than a
little black boy. They live in filth and nastiness, they eat it and
drink it, and they are filthy all over.

Vol. 4, p.50
We have Elders and High Priests that are precisely in this
predicament, and yet they are wishing for more of the Holy Ghost, they
wish to have it in larger doses. They want more revelation, but I tell
you that you now have more than you live up to, more than you practise
and make use of.

Vol. 4, p.50
If I hurt your feelings let them be hurt. And if any of you ask, do I
mean you? I answer, yes. If any woman asks, do I mean her? I answer,
yes. And I want you to understand that I am throwing the arrows of God
Almighty among Israel; I do not excuse any.

Vol. 4, p.50
I am speaking to you in the name of Israel's God, and you need to be
baptized and washed clean from your sins, from your backslidings, from
your apostacies, from your filthiness, from your lying, from your
swearing, from your lusts, and from every thing that is evil before
the God of Israel.

Vol. 4, p.50
We have been trying long enough with this people, and I go in for
letting the sword of the Almighty be unsheathed, not only in word, but
in deed.

Vol. 4, p.50
I go in for letting the wrath of the Almighty burn up the dross and
the filth; and if the people will not glorify the Lord by sanctifying
themselves, let the wrath of the Almighty God burn against them, and
the wrath of Joseph and of Brigham, and of Heber, and of high heaven.

Vol. 4, p.50
There is nothing to prevent you from being humble and doing right, but
your own little, foolish, and wicked acts and doings. I will just tell
you that if an angel of God were to pass Great Salt Lake City, while
you are in your present state, he would not consider you worthy of his
company.

Vol. 4, p.50
You have got to cleanse yourselves from corruption, before you are fit
for the society of those beings. You may hear of people in other
cities being baptized and renewing their covenants, but they are not
sinners above all others; and except the inhabitants of Great Salt
Lake City repent, and do their first works, they shall all likewise
perish, and the wrath of God will be upon them and round about them.

Vol. 4, p.51
[p.51] You can scarcely find a place in this city that is not full of
filth and abominations; and if you would search them out, they would
easily be weighed in the balances, and you would then find that they
do not serve their God, and purify their bodies.

Vol. 4, p.51
But the course they are taking leads them to corrupt themselves, the
soil, the waters, and the mountains, and they defile everything around
them.

Vol. 4, p.51
Brethren and sisters, we want you to repent and forsake your sins. And
you who have committed sins that cannot be forgiven through baptism,
let your blood be shed, and let the smoke ascend, that the incense
thereof may come up before God as an atonement for your sins, and that
the sinners in Zion may be afraid.

Vol. 4, p.51
These are my feelings, and may God fulfil them. And my wishes are that
He will grant the desires of my brethren, that Zion may be purified,
and the wicked purged out of her, until God shall say I will bless the
rest; until He shall say I will bless your flocks, your herds, your
little ones, your houses, your lands, and all that you possess; and
you shall be my people, and I will come and take up my abode with you,
and I will bless all those that do right; which may He grant, in the
name of Jesus. Amen.

Brigham Young, September 21, 1856

The People of God Disciplined By Trials—Atonement By the
 Shedding of Blood—Our Heavenly Father—A Privilege
 Given to All the Married Sisters in Utah

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery,
 Great Salt Lake City, September 21, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.51
Before I sit down, I shall offer a proposition to the congregation;
though I will first say a few words concerning our religion, our
circumstances, and the circumstances of the brethren and people
generally that inhabit these valleys, but more especially of these
that have the privilege of assembling at this Tabernacle from Sabbath
to Sabbath.

Vol. 4, p.51
If they will rightly consider their situation, they will believe for
themselves that they are in a place, in a country, where they can be
Saints as well as in any other place there is on the face of this
earth.

Vol. 4, p.51
True, we hear some complaints from those who lose the spirit of their
religion, who turn away from us. They think that this people will
suffer here. I will give you my feelings upon the subject.

Vol. 4, p.51
There is not a hardship, there is not a disappointment, there is not a
trial, there is not a hard time, that comes upon this people in this
place, but that I am more thankful for than I am for full granaries.

Vol. 4, p.51
We have been hunting during the past twenty-six years, for a place
where we could raise Saints, not merely wheat, and corn. [p.52]
Comparatively I care but little about the wheat and corn, though a
little is very useful.

Vol. 4, p.52
It is true that this is a good country for fruits of some kinds; this
soil produces, as good peaches as can be. raised on any soil, and also
grapes, apples, and so on. But what of all that? The man, or the
woman, that mainly looks after the fruit, after the luxuries of life,
good food, fine apparel, and at the same time professes to be a
Latter-day Saint, if he does not get that spirit out of his heart, it
will obtain a perfect victory over him; whereas he is required to
obtain a victory over his lusts and over his unwise feelings; and if
he does not get rid of that spirit, the quicker he starts east for the
States, or west for California, the better.

Vol. 4, p.52
If we could not raise any fruit, if we could not raise an ear of corn,
I should be quite thankful if we could raise the oats and the peas,
and make the oat bread and the pea broth, and live on them from year
to year.

Vol. 4, p.52
I say hallelujah, this is a first-rate place to raise Saints. Let the
people complain of hard times, complain of their poverty, their poor
fare and their hard labor; that wood is scarce, that we have to go far
for it, and have to toil so hard to raise our grain; that we lose our
stock upon the prairie, that a cow is gone to-day, and an ox was lost
last year; that if we turn out our cattle they will stray off, and we
shall see them no more.

Vol. 4, p.52
How would you feel were you in a country where you could not raise
stock, except you provided comfortable shelter and an abundance of
odder for them all?

Vol. 4, p.52
In the country where I was brought up, could you turn out a calf in
the fall and have it live through the winter? There never was such a
thing done, to my knowledge; and no man ever thought of such a thing
as wintering a calf, unless he had a shelter prepared for it almost as
warm as the rooms for the children.

Vol. 4, p.52
I mention these things for the benefit of those here to-day, if any,
who think that this is not a good country, and who do not really know
whether they wish to stay, or whether we are right or wrong, or
whether "Mormonism" is true or false.

Vol. 4, p.52
I would advise those persons to repent of their sins forthwith, and to
try with all their might to get the spirit of their religion upon
them, and if they cannot do that, to take their own course and go
where their hearts desire, for doubtless there is some place where you
would wish to go.

Vol. 4, p.52
Those that have the Gospel, who enjoy the Spirit of their religion,
lie down in peace, and wake up full of rejoicing, full of peace, of
glory, of faith and thanksgiving; this is the case with all who are
full of good works.

Vol. 4, p.52
We need a reformation in the midst of this people; we need a thorough
reform, for I know that very many are in a dozy condition with regard
to their religion; I know this as well as I should if you were now to
doze and go to sleep before my eyes.

Vol. 4, p.52
You are losing the spirit of the Gospel, is there any cause for it?
No, only that which there is in the world. You have the weakness of
human nature to contend with, and you suffer that weakness to decoy
you away from the truth, to the side of the adversary; but now it is
time to awake, before the time of burning.

Vol. 4, p.52
Whether the time of burning will be this week, or the next, or next
year, I do not know that I care; and I do not know that I would ask,
if I was sure the Lord would tell me. But I tell you that which I do
know, and that is sufficient.

Vol. 4, p.52
I do know that the trying day will soon come to you and to me; and ere
long we will have to lay down these [p.53] tabernacles and go into the
spirit world. And I do know that as we lie down, so judgment will find
us, and that is scriptural; "as the tree falls so it shall lie," or,
in other words, as death leaves us so judgment will find US.

Vol. 4, p.53
I will explain how judgment will be laid to the line. If we all live
to the age of man the end thereof will soon be here, and that will
burn enough, without anything else; and the present is a day of trial,
enough for you and me.

Vol. 4, p.53
We have got to be rightly prepared to go into the spirit world, in
order to become kings. That is, so far as the power of Satan is
concerned you and I have got to be free from his power, but we cannot
be while we are in the flesh.

Vol. 4, p.53
Here we shall be perplexed and hunted by him; but when we go into the
spirit world there we are masters over the power of satan, and he
cannot afflict us any more, and this is enough for me to know.

Vol. 4, p.53
Whether the world is going to be burned up within a year, or within a
thousand years, does not matter a groat to you and me. We have the
words of eternal life, we have the privilege of obtaining glory,
immortality, and eternal lives, now will you obtain these blessings?

Vol. 4, p.53
Will you spend your lives to obtain a seat in the kingdom of God, or
will you lie down and sleep, and go down to hell?

Vol. 4, p.53
I want all the people to say what they will do, and I know that God
wishes all His servants, all His faithful sons and daughters, the men
and the women that inhabit this city, to repent of their wickedness,
or we will cut them off.

Vol. 4, p.53
I could give you a logical reason for all the transgressions in this
world, for all that are committed in this probationary state, and
especially for those committed by men.

Vol. 4, p.53
There are sins that men commit for which they cannot receive
forgiveness in this world, or in that which is to come, and if they
had their eyes open to see their true condition, they would be
perfectly willing to have their blood split upon the ground, that the
smoke thereof might ascend to heaven as an offering for their sins;
and the smoking incense would atone for their sins, whereas, if such
is not the case, they will stick to them and remain upon them in the
spirit world.

Vol. 4, p.53
I know, when you hear my brethren telling about cutting people off
from the earth, that you consider it is strong doctrine; but it is to
save them, not to destroy them.

Vol. 4, p.53
Of all the children of Israel that started to pass through the
wilderness, none inherited the land which had been promised, except
Caleb and Joshua, and what was the reason? It was because of their
rebellion and wickedness; and because the Lord had promised Abraham
that he would save his seed.

Vol. 4, p.53
They had to travel to and fro to every point of the compass, and were
wasted away, because God was determined to save their spirits. But
they could not enter into His rest in the flesh, because of their
transgressions, consequently He destroyed them in the wilderness.

Vol. 4, p.53
I do know that there are sins committed, of such a nature that if the
people did understand the doctrine of salvation, they would tremble
because of their situation. And furthermore, I know that there are
transgressors, who, if they knew themselves, and the only condition
upon which they can obtain forgiveness, would beg of their brethren to
shed their blood, that the smoke thereof might ascend to God as an
offering to appease the wrath that is kindled against them, and that
the law might have its course. I will say further; I have had men come
to me and [p.54] offer their lives to atone for their sins.

Vol. 4, p.54
It is true that the blood of the Son of God was shed for sins through
the fall and those committed by men, yet men can commit sins which it
can never remit. As it was in ancient days, so it is in our day; and
though the principles are taught publicly from this stand, still the
people do not understand them; yet the law is precisely the same.
There are sins that can be atoned for by an offering upon an altar, as
in ancient days; and there are sins that the blood of a lamb, of a
calf, or of turtle doves, cannot remit, but they must be atoned for by
the blood of the man. That is the reason why men talk to you as they
do from this stand; they understand the doctrine and throw out a few
words about it. You have been taught that doctrine, but you do not
understand it.

Vol. 4, p.54
It is our desire to be prepared for a celestial seat with our Father
in heaven. It was observed by brother Grant that we have not seen God,
that we cannot converse with Him; and it is true that men in their
sins do not know much about God. When you hear a man pour out eternal
things, how well you feel, to what a nearness you seem to be brought
with God. What a delight it was to hear brother Joseph talk upon the
great principles of eternity; he would bring them down to the capacity
of a child, and he would unite heaven with earth, this is the beauty
of our religion.

Vol. 4, p.54
When it was mentioned this morning about seeing God, about what kind
of a being He was, and how we could see and measurably understand Him,
I thought I would tell you. If we could see our heavenly Father, we
should see a being similar to our earthly parent, with this
difference, our Father in heaven is exalted and glorified. He has
received His thrones, His principalities and powers, and He sits as a
governor, as a monarch, and overrules kingdoms, thrones, and dominions
that have been bequeathed to Him, and such as we anticipate receiving.
While He was in the flesh, as we are, He was as we are. But it is now
written of Him that our God is as a consuming fire, that He dwells in
everlasting burnings, and this is why sin cannot be where He is.

Vol. 4, p.54
There are principles that will endure through all eternity, and no
fire can obliterate them from existence. They are those principles
that are pure, and fire is made typical use of to show the glory and
purity of the gods, and of all perfect beings. God is the Father of
our spirits; He begat them, and has sent them here to receive
tabernacles, and to prove whether we will honour them. If we do, then
our tabernacles will be exalted; but if we do not, we shall be
destroyed; one of the two—dissolution or life. The second death will
decompose all tabernacles over whom it gains the ascendancy; and this
is the effect of the second death, the tabernacles go back to their
native element.

Vol. 4, p.54
We are of the earth, earthy; and our Father is heavenly and pure. But
we will be glorified and purified, if we obey our brethren and the
teachings which are given.

Vol. 4, p.54
When you see celestial beings, you will see men and women, but you
will see those beings clothed upon with robes of celestial purity. We
cannot bear the presence of our Father now; and we are placed at a
distance to prove whether we will honor these tabernacles, whether we
will be obedient and prepare ourselves to live in the glory of the
light, privileges, and blessings of celestial beings. We could not
have the glory and the light without first knowing the contrast. Do
you comprehend that we could have no exaltation, without first
learning by contrast?

Vol. 4, p.55
When you are prepared to see our [p.55] Father, you will see a being
with whom you have long been acquainted, and He will receive you into
His arms, and you will be ready to fall into His embrace and kiss Him,
as you would your fathers and friends that have been dead for a score
of years, you will be so glad and joyful. Would you not rejoice? When
you are qualified and purified, so that you can endure the glory of
eternity: so that you can see your Father, and your friends who have
gone behind the vail, you will fall upon their necks and kiss them, as
we do an earthly friend that has been long absent from us, and that we
have been anxiously desiring to see. This is the people that are and
will be permitted to enjoy the society of those happy and exalted
beings.

Vol. 4, p.55
Now for my proposition; it is more particularly for my sisters, as it
is frequently happening that women say they are unhappy. Men will say,
"My wife, though a most excellent woman, has not seen a happy day
since I took my second wife;" "No, not a happy day for a year," says
one; and another has not seen a happy day for five years. It is said
that women are tied down and abused: that they are misused and have
not the liberty they Ought to have; that many of them are wading
through a perfect flood of tears, because of the conduct of some men,
together with their own folly.

Vol. 4, p.55
I wish my own women to understand that what I am going to say is for
them as well as others, and I want those who are here to tell their
sisters, yes, all the women of this community, and then write it back
to the States, and do as you please with it. I am going to give you
from this time to the 6th day of October next, for reflection, that
you may determine whether you wish to stay with your husbands or not,
and then I am going to set every woman at liberty and say to them, Now
go your way, my women with the rest, go your way. And my wives have
got to do one of two things; either round up their shoulders to endure
the afflictions of this world, and live their religion, or they may
leave, for I will not have them about me. I will go into heaven alone,
rather than have scratching and fighting around me. I will set all at
liberty. "What, first wife too?" Yes, I will liberate you all.

Vol. 4, p.55
I know what my women will say; they will say, "You can have as many
women as you please, Brigham." But I want to go somewhere and do
something to get rid of the whiners; I do not want. them to receive a
part of the truth and spurn the rest out of doors.

Vol. 4, p.55
I wish my women, and brother Kimball's and brother Grant's to leave,
and every woman in this Territory, or else say in their hearts that
they will embrace the Gospel—the whole of it. Tell the Gentiles that I
will free every woman in this Territory at our next Conference. "What,
the first wife too?" Yes, there shall not be one held in bondage, all
shall be set free. And then let the father be the head of the family,
the master of his own household; and let him treat them as an angel
would treat them; and let the wives and the children say amen to what
he says, and be subject to his dictates, instead of their dictating
the man, instead of their trying to govern him.

Vol. 4, p.55
No doubt some are thinking, "I wish brother Brigham would say what
would become of the children." I will tell you what my feelings are; I
will let my wives take the children, and I have property enough to
support them, and can educate them, and then give them a good fortune,
and I can take a fresh start.

Vol. 4, p.55
I do not desire to keep a particle of my property, except enough to
protect me from a state of nudity. And [p.56] I would say, wives you
are welcome to the children, only do not teach them iniquity; for if
you do, I will send an Elder, or come myself, to teach them the
Gospel. You teach them life and salvation, or I will send Elders to
instruct them.

Vol. 4, p.56
Let every man thus treat his wives, keeping raiment enough to clothe
his body; and say to your wives, "Take all that I have and be set at
liberty; but if you stay with me you shall comply with the law of God,
and that too without any murmuring and whining. You must fulfil the
law of God in every respect, and round up your shoulders to walk up to
the mark without any grunting."

Vol. 4, p.56
Now recollect that two weeks from to morrow I am going to set you at
liberty. But the first wife will say, "It is hard, for I have lived
with my husband twenty years, or thirty, and have raised a family of
children for him, and it is a great trial to me for him to have more
women;" then I say it is time that you gave him up to other women who
will bear children. If my wife had borne me all the children that she
ever would bare, the celestial law would teach me to take young women
that would have children.

Vol. 4, p.56
Do you understand this? I have told you many times that there are
multitudes of pure and holy spirits waiting to take tabernacles, now
what is our duty?—to prepare tabernacles for them; to take a course
that will not tend to drive those spirits into the families of the
wicked, where they will be trained in wickedness, debauchery, and
every species of crime. It is the duty of every righteous man and
woman to prepare tabernacles for all the spirits they can; hence if my
women leave, I will go and search up others who will abide the
celestial law, and let all I now have go where they please; though I
will send the Gospel to them.

Vol. 4, p.56
This is the reason why the doctrine of plurality of wives was
revealed, that the noble spirits which are waiting for tabernacles
might be brought forth.

Vol. 4, p.56
If the men of the world were right, or if they were anywhere near
right, there might not be the necessity which there now is. But they
are wholly given up to idolatry, and to all manner of wickedness.

Vol. 4, p.56
Do I think that my children will be damned? No, I do not, for I am
going to fight the devil until I save them all; I have got my sword
ready, and it is a two-edged one. I have not a fear about that, for I
would almost be ashamed of my body if it would beget a child that
would not abide the law of God, though I may have some unruly
children.

Vol. 4, p.56
I am going to ask you a good many things, and to begin with I will
ask, what is your prayer? Do, you not ask for the righteous to
increase, while the unrighteous shall decrease and dwindle away? Yes,
that is the prayer of every person that prays at all. The Methodists
pray for it, the Baptists pray for it, and the Church of England and
all the reformers, the Shaking Quakers not excepted. And if the women
belonging to this Church will turn Shaking Quakers, I think their
sorrows will soon be at an end.

Vol. 4, p.56
Sisters, I am not joking, I do not throw out my proposition to banter
your feelings, to see whether you will leave your husbands, all or any
of you. But I do know that there is no cessation to the everlasting
whining of many of the women in this Territory; I am satisfied that
this is the case. And if the women will turn from the commandments of
God and continue to despise the order of heaven, I will pray that the
curse of the Almighty may be close to their heels, and that it may be
following them all the day long. And those that enter into it and  are
faithful, I will promise them [p.57] that they shall be queens in
heaven, and rulers to all eternity.

Vol. 4, p.57
"But," says one, "I want to have my paradise now." And says another,
"I did think I should be in paradise if I was sealed to brother
Brigham, and I thought I should be happy when I became his wife, or
brother Heber's. I loved you so much, that I thought I was going to
have a heaven right off, right here on the spot.

Vol. 4, p.57
What a curious doctrine it is, that we are preparing to enjoy! The
only heaven for you is that which you make yourselves. My heaven is
here—[laying his hand upon his heart]. I carry it with me. When do I
expect it in its perfection? When I come up in the resurrection; then
I shall have it, and not till then.

Vol. 4, p.57
But now we have got to fight the good fight of faith, sword in hand,
as much so as men have when they go to battle; and it is one continual
warfare from morning to evening, with sword in hand. This is my duty,
and this is my life.

Vol. 4, p.57
But the women come and say, "Really brother John, and brother William,
I thought you were going to make a heaven for me," and they get into
trouble because a heaven is not made for them by the men, even though
agency is upon women as well as upon men. True there is a curse upon
the woman that is not upon the man, namely, that "her whole affections
shall be towards her husband," and what is the next? "He shall rule
over you."

Vol. 4, p.57
But how is it now? Your desire is to your husband, but you strive to
rule over him, whereas the man should rule over you.

Vol. 4, p.57
Some may ask whether that is the case with me; go to my house and
live, and then you will learn that I am very kind, but know how to
rule.

Vol. 4, p.57
If I had only wise men to talk to, there would be no necessity for my
saying what I am going to say. Many and many an Elder knows no better
than to go home and abuse as good a woman as dwells upon this earth,
because of what I have said this afternoon. Are you, who act in that
way, fit to have a family? No, you are not, and never will be, until
you get good common sense

Vol. 4, p.57
Then you can go to work and magnify your callings; and you can do the
best you know how; and on that ground I will promise you salvation,
but upon no other principle.

Vol. 4, p.57
If I were talking to a people that understood themselves and the
doctrine of the holy Gospel, there would be no necessity for saying
this, because you would understand. But many have been (what shall I
say? pardon me, brethren,) hen pecked so much, that they do not know
the place of either man or woman; they abuse and rule a good woman
with an iron hand. With them it is as Solomen said—"Bray a feel in a
mortar among wheat, with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart
from him." You may talk to them about their duties, about what is
required of them, and still they are fools, and will continue to be.

Vol. 4, p.57
Prepare yourselves for two weeks from to morrow; and I will tell you
now, that if you will tarry with your husbands, after I have set you
free, you must bow down to it, and submit yourselves to the celestial
law. You may go where you please, after two weeks from to-morrow; but,
remember, that I will not hear any more of this whining.

Vol. 4, p.57
In the midst of all my harsh sayings, shall I say chastisements?—I am
disposed, in my heart, to bless this people; and I do bless you, in
the name of Jesus. Amen. [p.58]

Brigham Young, November 2, 1856

Reformation Necessary Along the Saints—Infidel Philosophy

A Discourse, by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle,
 Great Salt Lake City, November 2, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.58
I am very thankful for the privilege that I enjoy this morning, with
so many of the Latter-day Saints. I am thankful that we have the
privilege of assembling here to worship the Lord in so comfortable a
building, and in quite a moderate climate. I am happy for the
privilege of addressing the Saints, and I could hope with all my
heart, that I may never be called upon to address any other class of
people; still, the Gospel must be preached to the world, that the
wicked may be left without excuse. We have done a great deal of
preaching and talking to persons that knew nothing of the Gospel of
salvation, and I have occupied many years in trying to lay before the
inhabitants of the earth the principles of life and salvation, until,
through the providence of God, I have been called to other duties than
to mingle or associate with those who would not believe and practise
the Gospel. Still, I should have been more than satisfied, had my duty
led me in a path to associate, more or less, with unbelievers, for I
can say that I would rather preach to them, would rather associate
with them, would rather take my chance among a people who have never
heard the Gospel preached at all, than to live in the midst of the
ungodly. The term ungodly conveys an idea to my mind, perhaps, that it
does not to all present, for it is a fact that a man or woman must
know the ways of God before they can become ungodly. Persons may be
sinners, may be unrighteous, may be wicked, who have never heard the
plan of salvation, who are even unacquainted with the history of the
Son of Man, or who have heard of the name of the Savior, and, perhaps,
the history of his life while on the earth, but have been taught
unbelief through their tradition and education; but to be ungodly, in
the strict sense of the word, they must measurably understand
godliness.

Vol. 4, p.58
It is lamentable to any person who understands by the visions of
eternity the plan of salvation, the providences of God to His
creatures, to see one who has his mind opened to see, understand, and
embrace the principles of life and salvation in his faith, and who has
the privilege of being adopted into the family of heaven, of becoming
an heir with the Saints that have formerly lived upon the earth, an
heir with the Prophets and with Jesus Christ, and of being numbered
with the children of the Most High, with a legal administrator to
officiate for the attainment of all these privileges, and to open the
door of salvation and admittance into the kingdom, neglect so great a
salvation. But for any of this people who enjoy the privilege of
seeking unto the Lord their God, of being made acquainted with the
ways of life and salvation, to procure to themselves an eternal
exaltation, who have the privilege of preparing themselves to dwell
with Christ in the  presence of their Father and their God, of being
joint heirs with Christ, and with all the Holy Ones that have [p.59]
lived, to turn from those holy commandments, to cease or neglect
performing every duty made known to them, and to let the gay and giddy
fancies of this life entangle their feelings, and draw them froth the
principles of eternal salvation, is most astonishing to me, or to any
person that ever had the vision of their minds opened.

Vol. 4, p.59
Every principle of philosophy that is known upon the face of the
earth, every argument and reason that can be adduced, would prove that
such a man or woman was taking a course destructive to themselves;
that they were blindfolding themselves by shutting their own eyes,
and, literally speaking, rushing to a precipice from whose verge they
would be dashed to pieces. It is most astonishing to every principle
of intelligence that any man or woman will close their eyes upon
eternal things after they have been made acquainted with them. and let
the gay things of this world, the lusts of the eye, and the lusts of
the flesh, entangle their minds and draw them one hair's breadth from
the principles of life.

Vol. 4, p.59
True there are many in the world who profess to be what we call
infidels, who have no knowledge of anything beyond the researches of
their education, who have not the faculty to pry into and understand
things beyond what they can see with their natural eyes, hear with
their ears, or comprehend with their natural understandings; yet there
are but few that are really left indeed in the dark, left to be in
reality what they profess to be. And those few have not one particle
of good sound reason, not one argument on their side, to prove that a
licentious, ungodly life is of any advantage to any person on the
earth, but will argue the point, and that strenuously, that strict
morality should be observed among all intelligences, and an honest
bearing, an upright walk, and a gentlemanly conversation, not giving
way to vulgarity and foul language, nor doing anything in the dark
that they would not be willing to be scanned in daylight. For all this
they argue strenuously, and yet say that they know nothing about God
and eternity. We are here, we exist on the earth. I am sure that I am
alive, for I can see others living. I am endowed with a certain degree
of intelligence, where did it come from? An infidel might say, "I do
not know." Where did I originate? "I do not know." Who was the maker
and former of all we can see? "I do not know." Yet those very
characters will argue the necessity of a moral life, of an honest
upright walk, one with the other.

Vol. 4, p.59
But what are their arguments and what are their hopes? Why, they say,
"We are to-day, to-morrow, perhaps, we shall be no more. We came into
existence, but how we cannot tell. We have no faith, or belief, or
confidence in the God that you Christians talk about; we have no
confidence in His providence; by chance we are, and by chance we shall
go and be no more." Do you not perceive that their arguments land them
in the vortex of ignorance and unbelief, of misery and annihilation?
Go into the world and observe those who do not possess principles that
reach into eternity, and that are in eternity, principles by which
they exist and by which God created all things, and you will see that
those principles are lost to them, and that, whether they believe in
those principles or not, their course and profession will land them
without an existence, or the possession of the least thing in heaven,
earth, or hell.

Vol. 4, p.59
These reflections bring to my understanding the greatest ignorance
that can be manifested by an inteligent people, those in particular
that are now before me,  who have had the privilege of the holy Gospel
and [p.60] neglected their duty, turned away from the holy
commandments, and ceased to live their religion in every point; such
conduct does manifest the greatest weakness, ignorance; foolery, and
wickedness that can be produced by intelligences. If you comprehend my
ideas you will agree with me, for no sensible man or woman can see the
subject in any different light. If we are here by chance, if we
happened to slip into this world from nothing, we shall soon slip out
of this world to nothing, hence nothing will remain; consequently we
have nothing to gain or lose. But the man of better judgment, of more
sound reasoning, must know that every thing that was, that is, or that
will be, every thing that can be in all the eternities in the vast
expanse that we behold, must have had a Creator. No principles
exhibited to the human family will suggest that a book, a bench, a
house, a tree, or any growing or manufactured article, can be produced
without a producer. All we know, all we see, hear, and understand,
proves to us that there is no fabric without a constructor.

Vol. 4, p.60
These reflections lead me to contrast the world with a people like
this before me, a people endowed with intelligence and a knowledge of
heavenly principles. That is our profession before the world, and is
our confession to God and angels, to all that have lived on the earth
and that are now on it; and you will hear the world exclaim, "You poor
Mormons, you Latter-day Saints that have left your homes, your houses,
your friends, your families, your possessions, the place of your
birth, and every thing that is near and dear to you, you say that the
visions of your minds have been opened, that you have had the visions
of eternity opened to your understanding, so that you do know that
there is a God, that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world; so that
you do know of the principles of life and salvation proffered to you;
and for these you have forsaken all and gone to the mountains."

Vol. 4, p.60
Of these things the whole world are witnesses against us and for us,
wherever the sound of this Gospel has been; and you can hardly find a
nook on the earth where the sound of it has not reached, for it has
gone to the uttermost parts of the earth, and hosts are witnesses of
this. Yet all acknowledge that you have something superior, that you
have light and intelligence that others do not enjoy; that God has
opened up the heavens to your minds, and taken away the vail from your
understandings. And you say that there is a God, that you understand
His character, that He has revealed Himself to you, and that you have
left all and come to the mountains, and what is the cry here? Why the
people need reforming, there is necessity for reformation.

Vol. 4, p.60
"I am thankful," says one, "that I found the spirit of reformation
when I came home." What would an angel of the Lord say, if he came
here, or a devil either? "O, shame on these Latter-day Saints, it is a
disgrace to intelligence, to your officers as Elders in Israel, to
your characters, to your names and beings on the earth, that you have
had the visions of eternity opened to you, and many have forsaken
everything that is near and dear to them by way of preparation for the
Celestial kingdom, and now cry out the necessity of a reformation. It
is most astonishing." I will leave it to every man, woman, and child,
if it does not look strange. What! reformation? Yes, for in one sense
we intend that is as knowledge comes to us, to reform daily. But shall
the sound go forth that we do not see and understand things as we did
when in England, in France, in Germany, in Denmark, in the East
Indies, or anywhere else on this earth? This sound goes forth, it is
echoed by  the angels [p.61] into the ears of our God and Father in
eternity, and it is carried on the wings of the wind over the earth,
that the Latter-day Saints are digging and toiling, going by sea and
by land, traversing distances of thousands of miles and circumscribing
the earth to be with their brethren, and when they get here they need
reforming. Why? Because they have backslidden.

Vol. 4, p.61
You may ask me whether there is a need of reformation. Yes; and if I
were to dictate you how to reform I should have to tell the old story
over again, as I already have hundreds of times. First, reform as to
your moral character, dealing, walk, precepts and examples. Reform
first morally, before you get down before the Lord and plead with Him
for the visions of eternity to be opened to your understandings,
before you ask for the vail to be taken from your eyes. First reform
in your moral character and conduct one towards another, so that every
man and woman will deal honestly, and walk uprightly with one another,
and extend the arm of charity and benevolence to each other, as
necessity requires. Be moral and strictly honest in every point,
before you ask God to reform your spirit.

Vol. 4, p.61
If the people in their present situation and mode of dealing in this
city, to say nothing of those out of the city, all go to work now and
have meetings and call upon God to get the spirit of reformation, but
sing and pray about doing right without doing it, instead of singing
themselves away to "everlasting bliss," they will sing and pray
themselves into hell, shouting hallelujah. You cannot be saved by any
other principle than that of the holy Gospel; and if you live in the
neglect of the performance of the duties that you know are required at
your hands, if you do not walk uprightly before God and your brethren,
if you do not deal justly with one another, if you do not walk in
honesty and soberness with one another, your faith is vain and your
reformation is vain. You must repent of your evil deeds and first of
all morally reform yourselves, before you can ask God for His Spirit
to reform and enlighten your spirits. This is my doctrine and
philosophy; were it not, I would say, let those who steal, stem on;
and you that are in the habit of swearing, swear away; and you that
have been in the habit of taking advantage of each other, cheat away;
and those who lie, lie away; and you that trespass upon your brother,
trespass away; and so continue, Christian like, only be sure, just as
you are going to die, to look out and not have death catch you asleep,
that when it comes you may be awake enough just to repent of all your
sins and turn to God, and then you will be as fit subjects for heaven
as powder would be for a burning dwelling. Our limekiln, when it is
burning to its zenith, would be as fit a place for a powder house, as
is the celestial kingdom for such characters.

Vol. 4, p.61
Do you think that I am telling you the truth? I do not care one groat
whether you think that I am telling you the truth, or not; for when
the day comes that we shall be weighed in the balance, you will know.
I am charged by the whole world with almost every degree of immoral
conduct, with the most erroneous practices that were ever indulged in
by any person on the earth, and for what? Because I have such an
influence over these men who are sitting here; because you all hearken
to your leader. I would to God that this was altogether the truth, for
I tell you, in the name of the Lord, that there would not be a
professed Latter-day Saint in this Territory, but what would live his
religion. They think we are all one, but when the Saints gather here
they are far from being one; they have not yet learned to be one in
Christ, they do not understand the principle of [p.62] being one in a
church capacity, to say nothing about being one in a family capacity,
or in a neighborhood capacity. The people might have known, long ago,
what the difficulty is, if the influences, temptations, and lusts that
are in us naturally are given way to, and we are led captive at the
will of him that rules the world; that forms the grand difficulty.

Vol. 4, p.62
Do you want to know the reason why I speak of our being so comfortably
situated this morning in so comfortable a meeting house? We can return
home and sit down and warm our feet before the fire, and can eat our
bread and butter, &c., but my mind is yonder in the snow, where those
immigrating Saints are, and my mind has been with them ever since I
had the report of their start from Winter Quarters, (Florence,) on the
3rd of September. I cannot talk about any thing, I cannot go out or
come in, but what in every minute or two minutes my mind reverts to
them; and the questions—whereabouts are my brethren and sisters who
are on the Plains, and what is their condition—force themselves upon
me and annoy my feelings all the time. And were I to answer my own
feelings, I should do so by undertaking to do what the conference
voted I should not do, that is, I should be with them now in the snow,
even though it should be up to the knees, up to the waist, or up to
the neck. My mind is there, and my faith is there; I have a great many
reflections about them.

Vol. 4, p.62
Have any of you suffered while coming here? Yes. How many of you
sisters present buried your husbands, or your fathers, or your
mothers, or children, on the Plains? How many of you brethren buried
your wives? Have you suffered, and been in peril and trouble? Yes, you
bad to endure anguish and pain from the effects of cholera, toil, and
weariness. Do you live your religion when you get here, after all the
trouble, afflictions, and pains you have passed through to come to
Zion? and to a pretty Zion! Men and women start across the Plains for
this place, and are they willing to wade through the snow? Yes. To
travel through snow storms? Yes. To wade rivers? Yes. What for? To get
to Zion. And here we are in Zion, and what a Zion! where it is
necessary for the cry of reformation to go through the land, both a
spiritual and temporal reformation. God is more merciful than man can
be, and it is well for us. Again, when I consider the backsliding of
the people, and their sins, I will not ask God to be more merciful,
and have more sympathy towards me, than I have for my brethren and
sisters.

Vol. 4, p.62
A good many teams have already gone out to meet the Saints who are
struggling to gain this place; I can hardly keep from talking about
them all the time, for when I am preaching they are uppermost in my
mind. The brethren were liberal last Sunday in turning out to meet
them with teams, still if any more feel desirous of going to their
assistance, I will give them the privilege, and advise them to take
feed, not only for their own animals, but also for those of the
brethren who have already gone out, for they will very likely be
short. But I should be more particularly thankful if the minds of this
community could be so impressed and stirred up, so wakened up, that
when those poor brethren and sisters who are now on the Plains do
arrive they may be able to say of a truth and in very deed, "God be
thanked, we have got to Zion." But fearfulness and forebodings of
disappointment to them are in my feelings. How far they may be
disappointed, I do not know.

Vol. 4, p.62
I do not wish to be personal in this congregation, but let me say to
the authorities, to the Elders of Israel, the Seventies, High Priests,
[p.63] Bishops, or any other quorum or class of officers, if you will
appoint meetings and have only those present whom we wish to be there,
I will then tell you how to commence a reformation. I will there be
particular and personal in my remarks, if necessary, and I will talk
to you as severely as I already have to some of the quorums. Now then,
morally reform. "In what?" In everything. Reform your moral character,
and be at least as moral as you would if you belonged to a Methodist,
Presbyterian, or Baptist church, or to the Roman Catholics: be as
moral as those classes of people, for heaven's sake. Then there will
be a chance for you to reform in spirit, and to get the light of
eternity to shine upon your efforts.

Vol. 4, p.63
There are a great many things to be taught and practised. I have
frequently thought that I would rather preach to and baptize new
converts than to fashion over the old ones, for you can seldom get a
good pattern out of them. Some will be full of seams and checks, and
you never can make a sound piece out of them. If I had the material to
work with I would rather make new ones, than patch up the old ones:
but as we have not the new materials to work upon, we must patch up
the old ones. Patch up yourselves—make your characters comely to each
other. I am not so anxious about the Spirit; let a man walk as pure
and holy as the Gods and angels, and then see if there will not be the
light of eternity in him. Let a man or woman walk without spot or
blemish and the Spirit and power of God Almighty will be with them all
the time, and the angels of God will be round about them all the time,
they will be preserved to do the will of God preparatory to an eternal
exaltation.

Vol. 4, p.63
Do not talk to me and tell me that you are so backslidden and dark,
but reform and get the light of God within you. Some get up here and
say, "I will live my religion, I will brethren; O pray for me, I will
live my religion, if it costs me my life." Yes, some of the great men
of Israel talk in that style. Some of the Presidents come here and
say, "I will live my religion, God being my helper, if it takes away
my life." When a man talks about his religion costing him his life, I
want to ask that man if he has any common sense about him. Have you
any true philosophy, argument, light, or intelligence in the least
degree? "O yes, we are philosophers." Then ask yourselves from whence
you derive your lives, your means, your property, everything you can
enjoy in time and eternity. Do you receive them outside of the Gospel
of Jesus Christ? No you do not. And still a man will get up here and
say, "I will serve the Lord, if it costs me my life." I will say what
I said yesterday, such a man is a feel. Such a man is condemned, and
the wrath of God is upon him. His eyes are closed, and he is no more
fit for a President of the Seventies, or any other quorum, than a red
hot limekiln is for a powder house. Cut such a man off from the
Church, for he has backslidden to that degree that nothing but death
stares him in the face, when he looks to God and Christ with a view of
keeping their law. We wish those rotten branches cut off from the
Church, severed from the trunk of the tree; slash them off, and put a
little wax on where you cut the limb off, that the wound may heal
over, and the tree grow more thrifty. May the Lord bless us. Amen.
[p.64]

Heber C. Kimball, November 2, 1856

Effects of a Murmuring Spirit—Companies on the Plains—
Those Who Enter Heaven Have to Pass the Inspection
 of the First Presidency.

A Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered in the
Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, November 2, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.64
You have heard what brother Brigham has said to you to-day, and his
words are as true as any that were ever spoken by Moses, by the
Prophet Joseph Smith, or by any other man that ever lived or is now
living upon the face of the earth.

Vol. 4, p.64
Were this people living their religion as faithfully as they ought to,
when a person rose up to teach you the principles of life and
salvation, his mind would be free, his tongue would be loosed, and you
would be able to draw from him those instructions best adapted to your
feelings and circumstances. But at times it is almost impossible for a
man to speak to this people. It seemed to brother Grant and me, in the
Social Hall the other night, as though every person in that
congregation had their hearts shut against our words; and in our
congregations here I occasionally notice more or less of the same
feeling. This may be measurably due to a murmuring spirit, which I am
rather inclined to believe some of you have, and I will tell you
wherein. Some find fault with and blame brother Brigham and his
Council, because of the sufferings they have heard that our brethren
are enduring on the Plains. A few of them have died, and you hear some
exclaim, "What an awful thing it is! Why is it that the First
Presidency are so unwise in their calculations? but it falls on their
shoulders." Well, the late arrival of those on the Plains cannot be
helped now, but let me tell you, most emphatically, that if all who
were entrusted with the care and management of this year's immigration
had done as they were counseled and dictated by the First Presidency
of this Church, the sufferings and hardships now endured by the
companies on their way here would have been avoided. Why? Because they
would have left the Missouri river in season, and not have been
hindered until into September.

Vol. 4, p.64
There is a spirit of murmuring among the people, and the fault is laid
upon brother Brigham. For this reason the heavens are closed against
you, for he holds the keys of life and salvation upon the earth; and
you may strive as much as you please, but not one of you will ever go
through the strait gate into the kingdom of God, except those that go
through by that man and his brethren, for they will be the persons
whose inspection you must pass. I tell you this plain truth, and you
may do what you think best with it.

Vol. 4, p.64
Three hand-cart companies have arrived in safety and in good season,
and with much less sickness and death than commonly occur in wagon
companies. Does it make a man sick to labor and be diligent? Let me
sit down and be inactive in mind and body, let me cease building and
making improvements, or doing  something [p.65] useful, and I should
not live six months, nor would brother Brigham, because we have become
so inured to occupation.

Vol. 4, p.65
If the immigration could have been carried on as dictated by brother
Brigham, there would have been no trouble. The devil has tried to
hedge up the way, so that we should not bring about the wise plans
devised by our President, and has tried to make those plans look as
disagreeable and as miserable as possible. Our brethren and sisters on
the Plains are in my mind all the time, and brother Brigham has given,
to those who wish it, the privilege of going back to help bring them
in. If I do not go myself I will send a team, though I have already
sent back nearly all my teams, and so has brother Brigham. Those who
have gone back never will be sorry for or regret having done so. If
brothers Joseph A. Young, my son William H., George D. Grant, and my
son David P. had not gone to the assistance of those now on the
Plains, I should always have regretted it. If they die during the
trip, they will die while endeavoring to save their brethren; and who
has greater love than he that lays down his life for his
friends?—Manifest your love by your works. Jesus said, "If you love
me, keep my commandments;" by this you shall know that you love him.
If you love brothers Brigham, Heber, Jedediah, and the Twelve, please
to keep our commandments that are given to you from day to day, and
you will be blest and exalted. I do not want a woman to tell me that
she loves me, when she does not keep my commandments, for her
statement would be vague and foolish.

Vol. 4, p.65
Were I in the situation of some of you, I would not sleep another
night before starting to the assistance of the people that are now
struggling through the snow. I would not wait until to-morrow, I would
start to-day, and I would toil until I reached those brethren, and
they were in this valley. When the brethren who went back first met
them, they felt as though they were truly saviors to them; and when
they came into their midst, they would not permit them to go ten rods
from them, for while one of them was present they felt as though they
were safe, as though they would be preserved from misery, from
starvation, and death. And yet, perhaps, some of these very persons we
are striving to save may turn against the Church, and become our most
bitter enemies.

Vol. 4, p.65
Those that have died, I presume were some of the best men and women in
the company, and the most faithful. Why did not the Lord take the
ungodly? It may be that He thought He would let the devil handle them
a little, and kill a few of them, and the devil is so much of a
financier that he will not kill his own subjects. Well, if he has
slain the Saints with God's permission, and they were a good people
coming to Zion to serve God and seek for eternal glory, they have gone
home happy, and we will see them again. And they will thank God that
they stepped out of the world when they did, for if they had come here
they would have seen the wickedness of some of this people, and
perhaps they would have become unrighteous too.

Vol. 4, p.65
As brother Brigham has said, I would rather be helping in those on the
Plains than to be here, if circumstances and duty would permit. We
offered our offering and started to go, but the Lord ordered it
otherwise and we came home. But we have done a better work than if we
had gone, for the brethren would have said, "Brother Brigham is there
with his Council, and we will sit down here and roast our shins, say
our prayers and lull ourselves to sleep." There would [p.66] have been
no general stir in behalf of our brethren on the Plains; but scores
and hundreds have now gone to meet them, and they have had good
weather so far, have they not?

Vol. 4, p.66
I cannot account for the barrier that is between you and the Lord in
any other way, only that there is quite a sympathy at work against
brother Brigham and his Council. But there is not a thing which he has
dictated but what has come out right, and will now, and will work
together for good to those that love God and keep His commandments. We
have to acknowledge the hand of God in all things; and that man or
woman that feels to murmur and complain is in the gall of bitterness
and the bonds of iniquity, and does not know it. May God have mercy on
you. Amen.

Brigham Young, November 2, 1856

Counsel Concerning Immigration—Benefits to Be Derived
 From An Early Start—Crossing the Plains With Hand-Carts, Etc.

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, November 2, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.66
Brother Kimball, in his remarks, touched upon an idea that had not
previously entered my mind, that is, that some of the people were
dissatisfied with me and my counselors, on account of the lateness of
this season's immigration. I do not know but what such may be the
case, as I am aware that those persons now on the Plains have a great
many friends and relatives here; but it never came into my mind that I
was in the least degree censurable for any person's being now upon the
Plains. Why? Because there is not the least shadow of reason for
casting such censure upon me. I am about as free from what is called
jealousy, as any man that lives; I am not jealous of any body, though
I knorr what the feeling is; but it never troubled me much, even in my
younger days. Neither am I suspicious of my brethren, therefore I was
not suspecting any censure of the kind just named.

Vol. 4, p.66
Aside from entire want of foundation, and aside from my freedom from
jealousy and suspicion, there are other reasons why I could not be
expected to have indulged in the suspicion of such a charge. Our
general epistles usually go from here twice a year, and the
immigration, the gathering of the people, is dictated in those
epistles, with a considerable degree of minute detail; I also advance
many ideas on the same subject, from time to time, which are written
and published; and I write a great many letters on this subject, and
many of these are published.

Vol. 4, p.66
There is not a person, who knows anything about the counsel of the
First Presidency concerning the immigration, but what knows that we
have recommended it  to start in season. True, we have not expressly,
and with a penalty, forbidden the immigration to start late, but
hereafter I am going to lay an injunction [p.67] and place a penalty,
to be suffered by any Elder or Elders who will start the immigration
across the Plains after a given time; and the penalty shall be that
they shall be severed from the Church, for I will not have such late
starts. You know my life; there is not a person in this Church and
kingdom but what must acknowledge that gold and silver, houses and
lands, &c., do multiply in my hands. There is not an individual but
what must acknowledge that I am as good a financier as they ever knew,
in all things that I put my hands to. This is well known by the
people, and they consider me a frugal, saving man, therefore there is
no ground or room for their suspecting that my mismanagement caused
the present sufferings on the Plains. I presume that brother Kimball
never would have thought of such an idea, had he not heard it.

Vol. 4, p.67
Say that we start a company from the Missouri river as late as the
first of June, and allow them three months in which to perform the
journey, then they have time to travel moderately and one month of
good weather for lee-way, in which to finish the journey, provided
they do not complete it in three months; then they may be ninety days
or more in coming a thousand miles, which a child of four years old
could walk it in that time. They may stop and feed their teams, and
after they arrive they will have the autumn in which to look round and
prepare for winter. This is my policy, and then during the first half
of the journey the cattle can get what is called prairie grass while
it is at its best, for it is easily killed by frost, and cattle must
have the privilege of feeding upon it before it is too dry, or frost
bitten. The month of June is the best month for that grass, and this
all know who are acquainted with the western prairies. Then they come
to the mountain grass in the latter part of their journey, which
though probably dry by the time they get to it, is filled with
nutrition, nearly as much so as grain, and wilt fatten cattle.

Vol. 4, p.67
They can come along moderately, take their time, and arrive here in
August. They should be here in that month, what for? To help us
harvest our late wheat, corn, potatoes; to help get up wood, put up
fences and prepare for winter. This plan also puts into the possession
of new comers time and ability to secure to themselves their winter's
provision. Do you not see that such is the result? I have known this
all the time. I have always said, send the companies across the Plains
early. Companies have suffered loss upon loss of lives and property,
but never by the dictation of the First Presidency. Do you not readily
understand that if the immigration had been here a few months ago, or
by the first of September, that they would have had opportunity to
rest, and then to secure wheat, to lay up a few potatoes, to get up
wood and lay in the staple necessaries for winter?

Vol. 4, p.67
But our Elders abroad say, by their conduct all the time, that we here
in the mountains do not understand what is wanted in the east, as well
as they do. They do not proclaim it in so many words, but their
conduct does, and "by their fruits ye shall know them." Their actions
assert that they know more than we do, but I say that they do not. If
they had sent our immigration in the season that they should have
done, you and I could have kept our teams at home; we could have
fenced our five and ten acre lots; we could have put in our fall
wheat; could have got up wood for ourselves and for the poor that
cannot help themselves; and thus we might have been providing for
ourselves, and making ourselves comfortable; whereas, now your hands
and mine are tied.

Vol. 4, p.68
[p.68] This people are this day deprived of thousands of acres of
wheat that would have been sowed by this time, had it not been for the
misconduct of our immigration affairs this year, and we would have had
an early harvest, but now we may have to live on roots and weeds again
before we get the wheat. I look at this matter as plainly as I do upon
your faces. I have a philosophical forecast, and I do know the results
of men's work; I know what the conduct of this people will produce in
their future life. If I have not this power naturally, God has surely
given it to me.

Vol. 4, p.68
Well, what shall be done? Why, we must bear it. The Elders east fancy
that they know more about what is wanted here than we do, and we have
to bear it. Let me have had the dictation of the emigration from
Liverpool, and I could have brought many more persons here, and at a
cost of not more than from three to five dollars of what it has now
cost, provided I could have dictated matters at every point. That is
not boasting; I only want to tell you that I know more than they know.
But what have we to do now? We have to be compassionate, we have to be
merciful to our brethren.

Vol. 4, p.68
Here is brother Franklin D. Richards who has but little knowledge of
business, except what he has learned in the Church; he came into the
Church when a boy, and all the public business he has been in is the
little he has done while in Liverpool, England; and here is brother
Daniel Spencer, brother Richards' First Counselor and a man of age and
experience, and I do not know that I will attach blame to either of
them. But if, while at the Missouri river, they had received a hint
from any person on this earth, or if even a bird had chirped it in the
ears of brothers Richards and Spencer, they would have known better
than to rush men, women, and children on to the prairie in the autumn
months, on the third of September, to travel over a thousand miles. I
repeat that if a bird had chirped the inconsistency of such a course
in their ears, they would have thought and considered for one moment,
and would have stopped those men, women, and children there until
another year.

Vol. 4, p.68
If any man or woman complains of me or of my Counselors, in regard to
the lateness of some of this season's immigration, let the curse of
God be on them and blast their substance with mildew and destruction,
until their names are forgotten from the earth. I never thought of my
being accused of advising or having anything to do with so late a
start. The people must know that I know how to handle money and means,
and I never supposed that anybody had a doubt of it. It will cost this
people more to bring in those companies from the Plains, than it would
to have seasonably brought them from the outfitting point on the
Missouri river. I do not believe that the biggest feel in the
community could entertain the thought that all this loss of life,
time, and means, was through the mismanagement of the First
Presidency.

Vol. 4, p.68
I know how to dictate affairs; and no man need to have walked in
darkness touching his duty with regard to the foreign immigration. You
can read their duty in our epistles, letters, and sermons; and what is
the purport of those documents, on this point? That we are new
settlers in a wild and uninhabited country, and are thrown upon our
own resources; that we need all our teams and means to prepare for
those persons who are coming, instead of crippling us by taking our
bread, men, and teams, and going out to meet them. And if the present
system continues, this people will be found like the Kilkenny cats,
which eat up each other clear to [p.69] their tails, and they were
left jumping at one another; such operations will financially use us
up.

Vol. 4, p.69
Last year my back and bead ached, and I have been about half mad ever
since, and that too righteously, because of the reckless squandering
of means and leaving me to foot the bills. Last year, without asking
me a word of counsel, without a word being spoken to me about the
matter, there was over sixty thousand dollars of indebtedness incurred
for me to pay. What for? To fetch a few immigrants here, when I could
have brought the whole of them with one quarter of the means.

Vol. 4, p.69
What is the cause of our immigration being so late this season? The
ignorance and mismanagement of some who had to do with it, and still,
perhaps they did the best they knew how.

Vol. 4, p.69
Are those people in the frost and snow by my doings? No, my skirts are
clear of their blood, God knows. If a bird had chirped in brother
Franklin's ears in Florence, and the brethren there had held a
council, he would have stopped the rear companies there, and we would
have been putting in our wheat, &c., instead of going on to the Plains
and spending weeks and months to succor our brethren. I make these
remarks because they are true.

Vol. 4, p.69
As to the companies now out, we must bring them in; and another year
we will send men to the Missouri river who understand the right
management of affairs, and will send them in the speediest
conveyances, so that they may not get the "big head" before they
arrive there, and then they may be able to do as we tell them.

Vol. 4, p.69
Can people come across the Plains with hand-carts? Ask brothers Edmund
Ellsworth, Daniel D. McArthur and William Bunker, who led the three
hand-cart companies that have already arrived; and the brethren and
sisters in those companies state that they crossed quicker and easier
than the wagon companies.

Vol. 4, p.69
Those who counseled the companies to come on have nearly all gone back
to their assistance, after staying at home but about two days, after
their return from a long mission, thus manifesting their faith by
their works.

Vol. 4, p.69
I cannot help what is out of my reach, but I am on hand to send more
teams, and to send and send, until, if it is necessary, we are
perfectly stopped in every kind of business. Brother Heber says that
he will send another team, and I mean to send as many more as he does;
I ought to send more than brother Heber, for I am fourteen days older
than he is. I can send more teams, but I do not intend that the
fetters shall be on me another season.

Vol. 4, p.69
I will mention something more. You cannot hear George D. Grant, Daniel
Spencer and others of the lately returned missionaries speak without
eulogizing Franklin D. Richards. They are full of eulogizing Franklin
D. Richards, but they need to be careful or they will have the "big
head" and become as dead and devoid of the Spirit as old pumpkins. And
with them it is, "What could I have done without brother George? And
what could we have done without brother Franklin?—and when you hear me
calling you Rabbi, know ye that I want to be called Rabbi;" and so it
goes, but I suppose that this is not what they do it for.

Vol. 4, p.69
Don't you know that I know whether you are good for anything, or not,
without my praising you? I know all about you, without telling what
great things you have done, and what you have not done, But the very
spirit some have in them of pride, arrogance, and self esteem, has led
men and women to die on the Plains, by scores, at least their folly
has. [p.70] And if they had not had any such spirit about them, God
would have whispered to them to have held a council, and would have
stopped them from rushing their brethren and sisters into such
suffering. But we must now rescue those people, and may God help us to
do it. Amen.

Jedediah M. Grant, November 2, 1856

Companies on the Plains—Practicability of Hand-Carts
—The Time for Starting From Missouri River—Reformation, Etc.

A Discourse by President J. M. Grant, Delivered in the Tabernacle,
 Great Salt Lake City, November 2, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.70
I always regret that circumstances should occur to call from our
President remarks like some of those he was moved upon to make this
forenoon; but such circumstances do occur, hence similar remarks must
be made.

Vol. 4, p.70
As an individual I have been and am very anxious in relation to the
immigration now upon the Plains. Their situation is very distressing,
and several have died in brother Willie's company. Some had died
before the brethren could reach them, and a few more died during the
first five days after they met them. The company had encountered cold
and storms, and one very stormy day which caused nearly one third of
the deaths that had happened.

Vol. 4, p.70
They had no serious or contagious diseases, but the storms came and
the air was very cold, as a matter of course some who were fatigued
with the toil and anxiety of the journey sank under the inclemency of
the weather; they were furnished by those that returned to them, with
shoes, clothing, and food. They were not entirely destitute of
provisions when the return teams met them; their rations at the
outfitting were more than those of the companies in advance of them.
When met they had nearly four hundred pounds of sea bread, but their
last rations of flour had been dealt out on the evening previous.

Vol. 4, p.70
Brother Willie's company was met with on the upper crossing of Sweet
Water, but the whereabouts of the ox-trains and the hand-cart company
in rear of brother Willie are yet unknown to us.

Vol. 4, p.70
We have now some two hundred teams out to meet them, and some were
only prepared with seven days forage for animals. It will be necessary
for more teams to go to their relief, with grain and hay to sustain
the animals already sent out, or they will die.

Vol. 4, p.70
The weather had been cold enough to freeze over the Sweet Water; I
mention this that you may know how the thermometer stood in that
region; and some animals had been frozen to death. It is winter where
they are, and they are actually in the cold and snow which was near
one foot deep, and as they went east it appeared to grow deeper.

Vol. 4, p.71
The observations made this [p.71] morning, as a matter of course,
would only be treasured up by those who had in them the spirit of
life. We have persons that have so much death in them that they do not
know the counsels that are given to the immigrating Saints, that do
not know the tenor of advice contained in the general epistles of the
Presidency of the Church. But I do not suppose that the thinking part
of the community anticipated any censures being placed upon the First
Presidency of this Church, in consequence of the sufferings of the
people now upon the Plains. Still there is a certain class of people
whose brains never reach above the calves of their legs, and they
never will know anything about the general policy of the Church, about
what is written, what is desired, counseled, or asked for.

Vol. 4, p.71
In relation to hand-cart companies, I have said, and I say it again,
that they should start by the first of May, and then they can travel
leasurely according to their strength and feelings; they can then have
May, June, July, and August for the accomplishment of their journey.
They could not travel so leasurely this year, from the fact that there
were no grain depots on the route, consequently they had to hurry
through, lest their rations should fail. Were grain deposited at
convenient points on the route, the trip is, in every sense of the
word, a feasible one for hand-carts, for without that advantage, the
present year has proved the feasibility of the undertaking.

Vol. 4, p.71
The grand difficulty with a portion of our immigration this year has
been in starting in the fore-part of September instead of the first of
May, but even then it is worse with ox teams than with hand-carts, for
if the cattle fail the people have no facilities for transporting
their tents, bedding, clothing, and provisions. Unless I have
different feelings to what I now have, I should never wish to see a
train leave the Missouri river after the middle of June, or after the
first day of July at the latest, until we can establish grain depots
on the route, for I do not consider any train safe in starting late.

Vol. 4, p.71
Brother Brigham has invariably advised early starts, and be gave his
reasons for so doing this morning, and I do not wish to reiterate
them.

Vol. 4, p.71
I wish to see those who are directly engaged in carrying out the
operations of gathering the Saints, to correctly understand the advice
given and the system adopted for the gathering, and when they
understand that and carry it out, as planed and given by brother
Brigham, our immigration will be free from the sad results of
mismanagement. But for persons, who are ignorant of the special causes
and agents in any unpleasant transaction, to at once blame the head is
the height of nonsense, though people in all ages have been prone to
censure their leader, in times of special distress. When crickets and
grasshoppers devour, when famine wastes, and when snows, storms, and
accidents occur, it is natural, in that portion of the community that
lack the gift of the Holy Ghost, to murmur against the leader of the
people.

Vol. 4, p.71
With Saints, what is the practical result of that murmuring? It shuts
down the gate between you and heaven, between you and the Almighty,
and you cannot get the Spirit of God. The murmurings and rebellions of
ancient Israel prevented Moses from leading thereto the land of
Canaan. So soon as they had to endure hardship they began to murmur
against Moses, and the result was the Lord would not give them His
Spirit; the same has been the result in this dispensation.

Vol. 4, p.71
In the days of Joseph, if a woman happened to put on her stocking
wrong side out she would blame the [p.72] Prophet; and if a man
happened to tie his shoestring in a hard instead of a bow knot, he was
angry with the Prophet for not having inspiration enough to have
prevented so dire an event. The brains of that class of people never
reach above the calves of their legs. I like to see the people have a
little hard sense, like the mule; I like to see them understand the
principles of the Son of God.

Vol. 4, p.72
With regard to this people, I know that they are the best people on
the earth, but there is more or less alloy among them which we hate.
The Savior said that the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a net that
gathereth all kinds of fish; and I believe that parable holds good in
our day, with regard to the gathering of the people that are caught by
the Gospel of the Son of God, through the practical preaching of the
Elders. I believe this, from observing the unwise sayings and doings
of some who profess to be Saints.

Vol. 4, p.72
I am aware that the world, because we are not all strictly living our
religion, will imagine, as a matter of course, that we are bursting to
pieces up here, and will say, "That is what we like; we told you that
if you would let the 'Mormons' alone they would all burst to pieces."
We can, by taking an unrighteous course, burst ourselves to pieces,
but they cannot burst us to pieces, if we do right, that is certain,
for they tried it when there were but eight or ten in the Church, and
when there were a few hundred, and when there were a few thousand, and
they were unable to burst the Church. Now they flatter themselves that
we shall burst under the weight of our own conduct, but I will tell
you that we are after the evil doers.

Vol. 4, p.72
If the Bishops and Teachers will go to work, together with every
officer in the Church, we can soon find out those who are not disposed
to do right; and let their names be written down, and let the offence
and place of residence be written against the name, that we may know
who are living in sin, where they live and what their offences are.

Vol. 4, p.72
I know that a great many people are full of sympathy, and yet they
talk of the celestial law that they are going to keep and abide; but
let me tell you that if you violate that law, you must meet the
penalty. How many have we got here that would sympathize with those
who are guilty of breaking their covenants, and thereby virtually
partake of their crimes? I believe it to be a correct doctrine that
the sympathizer is more or less implicated. The President enjoined it
on the High Priests to expose those they knew to have committed or to
be committing evil, and if they did not, hereafter the sin would be
upon their heads.

Vol. 4, p.72
Let the whole people take warning; and let every man and woman in
Israel understand that the indignation of the Almighty rests upon that
person who fails to expose iniquity. And let the wrath of God be upon
any officer of the Church that knows of abomination, unless he comes
out and makes known that abomination. I believe this ought to be, for
we want the evil deeds of every person exposed.

Vol. 4, p.72
We want to feel after the people and hunt them up; and we want the
wrath of Brigham, and the wrath of Heber, and the wrath of all the men
and woman on earth that are right, and the wrath of Joseph, and the
wrath of Michael, and the wrath of Raphael, and the wrath of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and the wrath of Almighty God and of all the Gods in
eternity to burn against those that will sin. And we want the
indignation and fire of the Almighty to sweep through the land  like
the locusts of Egypt, until every nauseous weed [p.73] that grows
among the Saints of God is destroyed.

Vol. 4, p.73
Words are said to be light and windy, but I tell you that talking
these things foreshadows what will be literally and really. I would be
glad, when I speak to the people, that the Lord would let His Holy
Spirit accompany my words, for I do not want my words to go alone. We
have to speak to this people often, and when we talk to them like a
man reading off a sermon that is written, it takes but little effect.
When words go to the people alone, they are not profited by them.

Vol. 4, p.73
Instead of all the people being desirous and anxious, as they should,
to serve their God and practise what they know to be right, many are
all the time longing for some fantastical doctrine, for something to
gratify their vain imaginations. If you wish to feast on the word of
God and feel its realities, you must practise the revelations of Jesus
Christ. You must advance and do the will of God, and then you will be
blest.

Vol. 4, p.73
I am aware, as the President said this morning, that it is of no use
talking about the Holy Ghost, the power of God, the gift of God, or
the light of the Almighty resting on this people, until they become
morally reformed. Some people laugh at and deride sectarian religion.
I never was a sectarian; I have been in this Church from my boyhood;
but in the region where I was raised, sectarian morality exceeds, in
some respects, the morality of many who call themselves Latter-day
Saints.

Vol. 4, p.73
Some here keep their children too dirty for admission into a district
school where I was raised; and in some houses the towels look as
though they had passed Noah's ark, or had been used by some of the
inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the knives and forks have the
appearance of having been rusting ever since Adam was driven from the
garden of Eden.

Vol. 4, p.73
I want to see the people wake up and reform, forsake all their evil
habits and everything that is dark, loathsome and impure. I want to
see them eschew all dirt, and filth, and degradation, and cease
profaning the Sabbath, and the name of the Lord God of Israel; I want
to see them become at least as moral and temperate as any people in
the Gentile world, as we call it. I tell you that the Gentiles would
be shocked at the filth and dirt of some of the sons and daughters of
Israel, and feel offended to associate with them; I mean that portion
of the Gentiles that are pure in their moral habits.

Vol. 4, p.73
I want to see the people repent, as the President said this morning,
and make a reformation in their lives, in their doings, and in keeping
their houses, farms, and everything they have, clean and tidy.

Vol. 4, p.73
We talk about our boys being smarter than their fathers. How many of
our boys are learning trades, are learning to be farmers, or to
understand any useful occupation? How many boys have we that are
trustworthy; and as good as their fathers were at the same age? I know
that our boys are bright and active, full of energy, life, and power,
but many of the parents do not teach their children as they ought.
They expect the schoolmaster to teach them, but what can the
schoolmaster teach them, when the parents teach them nothing at home,
and take no interest in what they are learning at school?

Vol. 4, p.73
We talk about daughters rivalling their mothers. How many daughters
have we that know how to spin, make butter, keep hairs and flies'
wings and legs on one plate, and the butter on the other, make good
cheese, knit their own stockings, and make good hasty pudding or mush?
How many of thom can make their own bonnets [p.74] and dresses? How
many know how to use fine needles and coarse needles, and every kind
of needles?

Vol. 4, p.74
Many parents need to reform. Let the fathers teach their sons how to
work, the art of chopping and hauling wood, of breaking up the ground,
and of raising grain, cattle, sheep, hogs, &c.; and let the mothers
set their daughters to work; and let every man, woman, and child, that
is old enough, learn the arts of industry.

Vol. 4, p.74
We want every Bishop to teach these reforms in Israel, we want every
man in Israel to teach them; and when all reform in such matters, the
Lord our God, will shower His blessings upon the people of this city
and upon the people in the valleys of these mountains.

Vol. 4, p.74
You may talk of reform, you may preach upon a virtuous life, upon
cleanliness, upon God and the Holy Ghost, but while there is filth
around the house, filth in the yard, and in every part of the city,
your preaching will not amount to much. Some people are never
contented unless the cow yard is under their noses, the hen coop in
the parlor, and the privy in the kitchen, that is if they have any
privy.

Vol. 4, p.74
I want the people to wake up to a sense of their duty, and begin to
serve God and repent of their sins, repent of every improper habit.

Vol. 4, p.74
I sometimes confess men's sins for them, and they will get up and
parry off. I confessed a man's sins here lately, and he supposed that
I did not know what I was talking about. If he had corrected me a
little further, I would have told all his sins; I would have told the
things that were in his very heart; and if he parries again, I will
come out more pointedly than I did then. 

Vol. 4, p.74
In some of the wards men will rise up and confess their sins, and
after a week's reflection, they will go to meeting and commence
parrying, and make themselves as good as an angel. Again, some people,
when they get the Spirit of God, when they actually pray fervently,
are deemed by their neighbors to have sectarian religion. If God
Almighty moves upon a man to pray with a loud voice and in earnest,
some are ready to exclaim that tie is a sectarian, and are so anxious
to put away sectarianism, that they bundle the religion of Jesus
Christ out of doors. In their zeal against sectarianism and doctrines
they do not like, they leave God and the Lord Jesus Christ out of the
question, and prayer, and keeping the Sabbath, and moral honesty, and
virtue, and purity and everything that is good.

Vol. 4, p.74
Every portion of sectarian religion that is good is my religion. If
they have a precious gem it belongs to my religion; if it is purity,
virtue, integrity, the gift of the Holy Ghost, fervency, and prayer,
it is my religion. Some people talk of wild fire; I would rather have
wild fire than no fire at all. I would like you to come up to the
light of the Almighty, and if you want to pray to God, if you want to
shout and make heaven and earth ring—drive the devil out of doors,
chase darkness from your houses, and from your families, and raise the
banner of the Lord Jesus Christ in your households, and the flag of
God in your city, and say, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I
will do right, and root up everything that is wrong.

Vol. 4, p.74
This makes me think of a circumstance that occurred when we went to
Kaysville to preach the reformation, under the direction of brother
Brigham. There was a dark and dull spirit there which was not very
congenial to our natures, and brother Joseph Young felt life in him,
he was full of the Spirit. After staying a couple  of days, he said to
me, "Brother Grant, they feel cold, and I guess we had better go to
Farmington, preach there, and go home." After a [p.75] while I said to
him, "Do you know how I feel about it? In the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, I will never leave this land, until this people surrender. I
will hang the flag of the Lord Jesus Christ on their doors, and there
shall be a siege of forty days. Then let every man storm the castle,
and rule against the bulwarks of hell, and let every Elder throw the
arrows of God Almighty through the sinner, and pierce their loins, and
penetrate their vitals, until the banner of Christ shall wave
triumphantly over Israel. Shall we give up, and let the wicked and
ungodly overcome us? No, in the name and by the power of God we will
overcome them. We will cleanse the inside of the platter and have
Israel saved, through the name of Jesus Christ, and by the power of
his word."

Vol. 4, p.75
Those who will not repent by the preaching of the Gospel, we will
bring to the standard of the Lord Jesus Christ in the right and proper
way, for we are determined to save you all, if possible. In former
days the Lord cut off rebellious Israel by thousands, to save them; He
had no other way for saving them. He had tried every other means; He
had opened the sea for them to pass over dry shod, and overthrew their
enemies, the horse and his rider, in the flood; He made the mountains
skip like rams, and the little hills like lambs; He spoke to the
angels, saying, throw down your food to them, and the bright clouds
shed down manna to sustain them; He spake to them in thunders, in
lightnings, in earthquakes, and tried every means to save them, that a
God could try in the plentitude of His mercy, and when He had
exhausted the arrows of His wrath in chastisement, and the wells of
His mercy in blessings and entreaty, He cut them off by thousands.

Vol. 4, p.75
O Israel, hear, while the voice of entreaty is in the land, hear the
voice of brother Brigham, and awake from your slumbers; forsake your
sins and abominations and turn unto your God, that repentance may
reach you, and remission of sins, and the gifts and blessings of God
come upon you. May God bless you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Brigham Young, November 9, 1856

The Gospel Like a Net Cast Into the Sea—Good and Bad
in the Church—Embrace Principles in Your Faith, not Men
—Confess Only to Those Against Whom You Have Sinned
—Economize the Gifts of God, Etc.

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle,
 Great Salt Lake City, November 9, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.75
I rise to explain one principle to Elders who are in the habit of
preaching the Gospel to the world. Not but what their views coincide
with mine, not but what they fully comprehend the matter, but all have
not the power and faculty to develop what is in them; some are at a
loss to explain that which they understand.

Vol. 4, p.75
I wish to refer more particularly to a remark made by brother Benjamin
L. Clapp, who has just been speaking to us concerning men coming to
him in Texas, and saying that things were [p.76] thus and so in Utah.
What can they tell about Utah? To begin with, they do not know any
evil of this people; the sins of this people are with themselves and
their God. I defy all hell and all the devils in and about the
inhabitants of the earth to substantiate permanent acts of wickedness
against the Elders of this people.

Vol. 4, p.76
Suppose that men came to brother Benjamin in Texas, and told him that
I was the biggest scoundrel in the world, do not this people know
better about that than they? and even Benjamin himself knows it to be
a falsehood? We know that is falsehood, and I should have taken the
liberty of telling them so.

Vol. 4, p.76
I never preached in Texas, but I have preached in places as wicked;
and when a man told me that which was not true about this people or
about the leaders of this people, I would take the liberty of telling
him that he was not telling the truth. I preached during twenty-four
or twenty-five years among the wicked, and I never yet saw a man that
I was afraid to tell that he was saying that which was not so, when I
knew better; frequently they would turn and say to me, "You had better
tell me that I lie," and my prompt reply would be, you do, sir, and
that before God.

Vol. 4, p.76
What fault could the world justly find with this people? Some have
passed through here to California to dig gold, but they have received
nothing at the hands of this people but kindness. What do they know
about us? They cannot charge us with one evil. Suppose there are
wicked men here, I say the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that
gathers fish both good and bad, and I say this because it is true.

Vol. 4, p.76
We have in our community the worst creatures that the world can
produce; the Gospel net must gather them of necessity, or the swing of
Jesus, and what he knew of the kingdom in the last day would not come
to pass. There are as bad men and women within the pales of this
Church as there are upon this earth, and the Gospel being preached to
them prepares them to become devils. As you have frequently been told,
that is the only way men can become devils; they must have the
knowledge to sin against the Holy Ghost, or yet the day of redemption
awaits them, one or the other.

Vol. 4, p.76
Suppose I was preaching in the world, and they should alledge that
some of the people in Utah swore, stole, and were wicked in many ways,
I would acknowledge it to be the case. They might then inquire, "Why
do you say that you have got the Gospel of salvation? and why do you
come to us to preach, seeing that your own people do wickedly?" I
would reply that the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that gathers
fish of all kinds, therefore we must have the good and the bad in
Utah, or else it cannot be the kingdom of heaven.

Vol. 4, p.76
We have some of the bad, and those who pass through our settlements,
or sojourn in our midst for a brief period, become familiar with those
who are wicked, but do not become acquainted with the righteous. The
great majority of this people are righteous, but the worldlings seek
out and mingle with the few wicked here, because both those classes
love the spirit of the world.

Vol. 4, p.76
As to the great argument against the kingdom of God, because there are
some evil doers in the Church, I will take the principles and
doctrines taught by Jesus and his Apostles, and show that these go to
provo and substantiate the fact that this is the kingdom of God. Why?
Because we can produce the meanest curses  there are on the earth,
those who take all the revelations given by the Almighty, and every
influence [p.77] and revelation they can get from the devil, and make
use of them to add sin to sin. This fact is also another proof that
all hell is against this people, for there is not a person in the
world, that gives way to wickedness, but what has antipathy against
this people.

Vol. 4, p.77
Now hearken, O ye Texians; do you say there are are people here who
are wicked? So we say. Could I wish things to be otherwise? No, I
would not have them different if I could. We can produce the best men
and the worst, the best women and the worst, and thus prove, according
to the sayings of Jesus Christ and his Apostles, that this is the
kingdom of God, or at least answers to the Savior's description of
that kingdom.

Vol. 4, p.77
Were I in Texas I would say, let me tell you that I have not embraced
any man on this earth, in my faith, but I have embraced the doctrine
of salvation, and it is no matter what the people do in Utah. Here is
the doctrine of salvation, talk against that, prove that to be false,
or find a flaw in it, if you can. As for the people, they cannot save
you. Never embrace a man in your faith, for that is sectarianism.

Vol. 4, p.77
There are many of the men and women now before me who have looked for
a pure people, and have supposed that that was a proof of the truth of
our doctrines, but they will never find such a people until Satan is
bound, and Jesus comes to reign with his Saints. The doctrine we
preach is the doctrine of salvation, and it is that which the Elders
of this Church take to the world, and not the people of Utah.

Vol. 4, p.77
Some of the Elders seem to be tripped up in a moment, if the wicked
can find any fault with the members of this Church; but bless your
souls, I would not yet have this people faultless, for the day of
separation has not yet arrived. I have many a time, in this stand,
dared the world to produce as mean devils as we can; we can beat them
at anything. We have the greatest and smoothest liars in the world,
the cunningest and most adroit thieves, and any other shade of
character that you can mention.

Vol. 4, p.77
We can pick out Elders in Israel right here who can beat the world at
gambling, who can handle the cards, cut and shuffle them with the
smartest rogue on the face of God's foot-stool. I can produce Elders
here who can shave their smartest shavers, and take their money from
them. We can beat the world at any game.

Vol. 4, p.77
We can beat them, because we have men here that live in the light of
the Lord, that have the Holy Priesthood, and hold the keys of the
kingdom of God. But you may go through all the sectarian world, and
you cannot find a man capable of opening the door of the kingdom of
God to admit others in. We can do that. We can pray the best, preach
the best, and sing the best. We are the best looking and finest set of
people on the face of the earth, and they may begin any game they
please, and we are on hand, and can beat them at anything they have a
mind to begin. They may make sharp their two-edged swords, and I will
turn out the Elders of Israel with greased feathers, and whip them to
death. We are not to be beat. We expect to be a stumbling block to the
whole world, and a rock of offence to them.

Vol. 4, p.77
I never preached to the world but what the cry was, "That damned old
Joe Smith has done thus and so." I would tell the people that they did
not know him, and I did, and that I knew him to be a good man; and
that when they spoke against him, they spoke against as good a man as
ever lived.

Vol. 4, p.78
I recollect a conversation I had with [p.78] a priest who was an old
friend of ours, before I was personally acquainted with the Prophet
Joseph. I clipped every argument he advanced, until at last he came
out and began to rail against "Joe Smith," saying, "that he was a mean
man, a liar, money-digger, gambler, and a whore-master;" and he
charged him with everything bad, that he could find language to utter.
I said, hold on, brother Gillmore, here is the doctrine, here is the
Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the revelations that have come through
Joseph Smith the Prophet. I have never seen him, and do not know his
private character. The doctrine he teaches is all I know about the
matter, bring anything against that if you can. As to anything else I
donor care. If he acts like a devil, he has brought forth a doctrine
that will save us, if we will abide it. He may get drunk every day of
his life, sleep with his neighbor's wife every night, run horses and
gamble, I do not care anything about that, for I never embrace any man
in my faith. But the doctrine he has produced will save you and me,
and the whole world; and if you can find fault with that, find it. He
said, "I have done."

Vol. 4, p.78
It is the fashion in the world to embrace men in their faith, or a
fine meeting house, or a genteel congregation, thinking, "O, what
perfect order, and how pretty they look; how straight they walk to
meeting, and how long their faces are during the services; how pretty
that deacon looks under the pulpit; the people are so pretty, the
meeting house is so nice, that we want to join such pretty people."
Such feelings will take a people to hell. Embrace a doctrine that will
purge sin and iniquity from your hearts, and sanctify you before God,
and you are right, no matter how others act.

Vol. 4, p.78
I wish you all to understand that no Elders go to any place among the
world, but what the wicked find fault with the people of God. They
found fault with Joseph Smith, and at length killed him, as they bare
a great many others of the Latter-day Saints. What for? Because of his
wickedness? No. But the cry was, "Away with him, we cannot do with
this man nor with his people." Did they hate him for his evil works?
No. If he had been a liar, a swearer, a gambler, or in any way an evil
doer, and of the world, it would have loved its own, and they would
have embraced him, and nourished and kept him. If he had been a false
prophet they never would have lifted a hand against him, because he
could have spread still more delusion through the world around him.

Vol. 4, p.78
We are hated, because we are righteous. If we have sinned, the people
in Texas know nothing about it; they cannot in truth find a word of
fault with the character of this people, except with the few we have
on hand ready to beat them at their meanness. The Lord wants those few
here to fulfil His words and purposes, and they are fit for no other
place. The sheep and the goats, the calves and the pigs, are all good
in their places. The Lord will make use of us to His glory; and though
a good many of those who now profess to be good Latter-day Saints may
meet condemnation, even their course will finally result to the glory
of God. Are these ideas correct? Judge ye.

Vol. 4, p.78
Now, brethren, let me say a few words to you. Let us repent of our
backslidings and tell the people of Texas that we ask no odds of them,
nor of any one else but our Father and our God, and those we are
associated with in His kingdom. As brother Benjamin has exhorted you,
confess your faults to the individuals that you ought to confess them
to, and proclaim them not on the house tops. Be careful that you wrong
not yourselves. [p.79] Do you not know that if a good person is guilty
of committing a crime he thinks that everybody knows it, and is ready
to confess here, and there, and everywhere he has an opportunity?

Vol. 4, p.79
I do not want to know anything about the sins of this people, at least
no there than I am obliged to. If persons lose confidence in
themselves, it takes away the strength, faith and confidence that
others have in them; it leaves a space that we call weakness. If you
have committed a sin that no other person on the earth knows of, and
which harms no other one, you have done a wrong and sinned against
your God, but keep that within your own bosom, and seek to God and
confess there, and get pardon for your sin.

Vol. 4, p.79
If children have sinned against their parents, or husbands against
their wives, or wives against their husbands, let them confess their
faults one to another and forgive each other, and there let the
confession stop; and then let them ask pardon from their God. Confess
your sins to whoever you have sinned against, and let it stop there.
If you have committed a sin against the community, confess to them. If
you have sinned in your family, confess there. Confess your sins,
iniquities, and follies, where that confession belongs, and learn to
classify your actions.

Vol. 4, p.79
Suppose that the people were to get up here and confess their sins, it
would destroy many innocent persons. Does Texas know about it? No, nor
you about one another, if you will be wise and confess your wrongs
where they ought to be confessed, and keep the knowledge of them from
every person it ought to be kept from. In this way you will have
strength against the enemy, who would otherwise buffet you and say,
"Here is your wickedness made manifest," and would overcome you and
destroy all the confidence you have in yourselves and in your God.

Vol. 4, p.79
If the Lord has confidence in you, preserve it, and take a course to
produce more. If the Lord had a people on the earth that He had
perfect confidence in, there is not a blessing. in the eternities of
our God, that they could bear in the flesh, that He would not pour out
upon them. Tongue cannot tell the blessings the Lord has for a people
who have proved themselves before Him.

Vol. 4, p.79
That we may have confidence in Him, and lie in us, let us take a
course to create it, that He may open the heavens and pour upon us the
blessings and power of the Holy Ghost.

Vol. 4, p.79
Fathers, reflect for yourselves. Suppose that a father had thirty
thousand dollars to distribute among three of his boys, and that one
of them was a spendthrift who would prodigally sow his share to the
four winds, and cause his wife and children to come on his father for
support. Would that father have confidence to bestow ten thousand
dollars on his spendthrift son? No, but he would deal it out to that
son's wife and children as they might need, and the rest he would
preserve for him to another time. Our Father has to deal in that
manner with us, for He has not confidence to know that we will do the
things we ought and economize His blessings, if He should bestow them
upon us.

Vol. 4, p.79
We are like children who want the looking-glass to play with, and who
cry for the sharp razor and for the moon they see reflected in the
water, desiring them for play-things. Let us take such a course that
God will have confidence in us, and then we shall receive all we need,
all we desire and ask for.

Vol. 4, p.79
Take a wise course; do not be foolish. I want you to reform, for there
is need of it; though the world, [p.80] knows nothing about it. They
hate us for the truths sake, and seek to destroy us; and I say to
them, go it ye cripples, while you are young; for the day is coming in
which you will find yourselves as badly crippled as ever the "Mormons"
were.

Vol. 4, p.80
May the Lord bless you. Amen.

Heber C. Kimball, November 9, 1856

Persons not to Be Baptized Until They Repent and
Make Restitution—All Sin to Be Repented of Before
 Partaking of the Sacrament, Etc.

A Discourse, by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered in the
Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, November 9, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.80
I wish to advance a few ideas that are upon my mind, and they concern
every individual in this congregation and every person that professes
to be a Latter-day Saint. I have often reflected upon them, and they
are particularly in my mind to-day.

Vol. 4, p.80
Last evening I attended the High Priests' Quorum, and perhaps there
were a hundred or a hundred and fifty High Priests present. In that
meeting brother Brigham gave permission to the members of that Quorum
to be baptized in the font; but he objected to any one going into that
font, to be baptized for the remission of sins, until he had actually
repented of and made restitution for the sins he had committed. If any
of them had done anything wrong, he wished them to confess to those
they had aggrieved or injured, and make restitution; and wherein they
had committed sins and violated their Priesthood and their covenants,
they must make satisfaction to those they had injured; and not step
into that font, until they have done these things.

Vol. 4, p.80
That is the course to take; and how do you expect to get a remission
of your sins, and be forgiven by the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ,
and by the Holy Ghost, so that you can have the Holy Ghost rest upon
you, unless you repent and make restitution or restoration, and make
atonement for the sins that you may have committed?

Vol. 4, p.80
I pray to my Father, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, that the
High Priest or any other person that attempts to go into that font
without previously making restitution for such evil as he may have
committed, may be cursed and withered until he does make restitution.

Vol. 4, p.80
I will now touch upon another point. Our Bishops are now breaking
bread, the emblem of the broken body of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ, and I say let every one who is guilty of sins they have not
repented of, and made restitution for, refuse to partake of that
bread, also of that water, (which is an emblem of the blood of Jesus
that was spilled for the remission of our sins,) until they have
repented and made restitution; for unless you do, you shall drink
damnation to yourselves, until you make restitution. I do not care who
the persons are.

Vol. 4, p.81
[p.81] If the High Priests, who are clothed with the Priesthood which
is after the order of God, should be prohibited a Gospel ordinance,
until they make good that which they may have done wrong, why should
you as a people partake of these emblems upon any other conditions? If
you do you eat damnation unto yourselves, and you will become sickly
and pine away and die.

Vol. 4, p.81
Paul, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, 11th chap. and 20th,
27th, 28th, 29th and 30th verses, has written as follows:—

Vol. 4, p.81
"26. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show
the Lord's death till he come.

Vol. 4, p.81
"27. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of
the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the
Lord.

Vol. 4, p.81
"28. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread
and drink of that cup.

Vol. 4, p.81
"29. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh
damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

Vol. 4, p.81
"30. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many
sleep."

Vol. 4, p.81
According to Paul you perceive that those who partook of the bread and
wine unworthily, became sickly and died; but those that eat and drink
worthily will receive life and salvation by partaking. Now, gentlemen
and ladies, what do you think of partaking of this bread and this wine
in remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Vol. 4, p.81
Some of you, doubtless, have been guilty of committing more or less
sin, of being more or less rebellious to the authorities of this
Church, and to the Priesthood and government of God, and then coming
and partaking of this sacrament. Do not such persons comprehend that
they are drinking damnation to themselves? Why should persons wish to
partake of this sacrament, when they know that they are unworthy?

Vol. 4, p.81
I want to warn you and forewarn you not to trifle with this ordinance,
nor to indulge in any unwise conduct. I desired the opportunity of
telling you my feelings before this bread is dedicated and
consecrated. I do not consider that it is dedicated and consecrated to
any person that cannot eat it with an upright heart, or to one that
will eat it and then live in a course of rebellion against God and His
authority.

Vol. 4, p.81
I do not consider that one of my wives, or one of my children, has a
right to partake of these emblems, until they make a full and proper
restitution to me, if they have offended me. Why is this? Because I am
their head, I am their governor, their dictator, their revelator,
their prophet, and their priest, and if they rebel against me they at
once raise a mutiny in my family.

Vol. 4, p.81
I forbid all unworthy persons partaking of this sacrament; and if such
do partake of it, they shall do it on their own responsibility, and
not on mine. In partaking unworthily, a person is corroding and
destroying himself, not me. This ordinance is administered on
condition of your living in righteousness, and of your hearts being
true to your God and to your brethren.

Vol. 4, p.81
How can you love your God and Jesus Christ, and not love those that He
has sent to you to do you good? Can you love God and His Son Jesus
Christ, and not take the counsel pointed out by brother Brigham and
those that are sent to you? Jesus says, "If you love me, keep my
commandments;" and brother Brigham and his counselors can say, if you
love God, love us and keep our commandments. Why? Because brother
Brigham is placed as God's agent to us in the flesh.

Vol. 4, p.82
[p.82] When you go into heaven, into the celestial world, you will see
the Church organized just as it is here, and you will find all the
officers down to the Deacon. Our Church organization is a
manifestation of things as they are in heaven, and you are all the
time praying that the Church here may be brought into union and set in
order as it is in heaven.

Vol. 4, p.82
Do you think a wife is contending against her husband with a good
spirit, when she is commanded to be subject to her husband, even as we
are to Christ? Is it not just as necessary that women should be
governed, as that men should be? Is it not just as reasonable that a
wife should be governed, as that her husband should be? I want to know
what good a wife is to me, unless she will let me lead and guide, and
let me govern her by the word of God.

Vol. 4, p.82
When a wife is obedient to her husband there is union, there is
heaven, that is, there is one heaven, though it is a little one; and a
righteous union is what will make a heaven.

Vol. 4, p.82
There are many kinds of sin, among which is the sin of confusion; and
I tell you there is plenty of confusion in a family where each one
wants to be head. Just look at it, what a heaven that is! We all have
to make our heaven, or do without one.

Vol. 4, p.82
A great many of this people want their endowments; but I never wish to
give another man or woman their endowments, until they have reformed
from whatever they may have done amiss. I had as soon give the devil
his endowment as to confer it upon some men and women who profess to
be Latter-day Saints; I want them to reform first.

Vol. 4, p.82
Do I feel as though I wanted to dance? No, I never want to go forth
again in the dance, until the spirit of reformation is rife among the
people. Neither do I want to see any man or woman partake of this
sacrament, when they are living in open rebellion against God, against
his government, and His servants.

Vol. 4, p.82
I have no wife nor child that has any right to rebel against me. If
they violate my laws and rebel against me they will get into trouble,
just as quickly as though they transgressed the counsels and teachings
of brother Brigham. Does it give a woman a right to sin against me,
because she is my wife? No, but it is her duty to do my will, as I do
the will of my Father and my God.

Vol. 4, p.82
It is the duty of a woman to be obedient to her husband, and unless
she is, I would not give a damn for all her queenly right and
authority; nor for her either, if she will quarrel, and lie about the
work of God and the principle of plurality.

Vol. 4, p.82
I tell you, as the Lord God Almighty and I never will sheath it until
those mighty lives, my sword is unsheathed, of you who have done
wrong, repent of your evil deeds. Some of you have found fault,
because I am so plain and severe. No man can rise up here with his
sophistry and silver lips, and have the Holy Spirit for a moment.

Vol. 4, p.82
A disregard of plain and correct teachings is the reason why so many
are dead and damned and twice plucked up by the roots, and I would as
soon baptize the devil, as some of you. You call that a hard saying,
do you not?

Vol. 4, p.82
Brethren and sisters, shall I ask the Lord to bless this bread and
dedicate it to Him for you, and then you partake of it unworthily? You
would only drink condemnation to yourselves, not to me. I have not
knowingly injured one of you; if I have injured any one in this
congregation, or in this Church, I must have  done it by telling them
the truth, if that can be called an injury. There is not that man or
that woman that can justly [p.83] say that I have taken the first dime
from them, or stolen anything, or told a lie; if there are any such
let them come forward and I will make restitution four-fold.

Vol. 4, p.83
All the fault I have to find with myself, and I presume all that God
has to find with me, is because I have sometimes held back and
resisted His Spirit; and so have my brethren, for if we would yield to
it at all times, we should be ten times more severe than we now are. I
know that when I have seen certain evil practices in our midst, I have
felt bad about it. For instance, hire some men to work, and the moment
you are out of their sight they will scarcely do a thing. What are
such men good for?

Vol. 4, p.83
The man that will be lazy and spend his time for nought, will steal,
and will also be liable to consider it no sin to commit adultery. And
some of the men and women whom you employ, will steal from you almost
as much as the wages for which they were hired.

Vol. 4, p.83
While standing between you and the bread, I know of no way but to
preach plain to you, and to tell you of your faults. Now I feel clear;
and I could not feel at peace, until I had told you what was in my
mind.

Vol. 4, p.83
May God have mercy upon you and enlighten your minds, touch your
intellects and qualify you for your callings.

Vol. 4, p.83
I will tell you a dream that brother Joseph Fielding had in England,
about the time that brother Brigham and I went back on our second
visit, for it will apply to many in this congregation.

Vol. 4, p.83
Brother Fielding dreamed that he had a sharp sickle, and that he bung
it up on a bush, but when he returned and took down his sickle, he
found the edge all taken off from it. This will apply to many others.
You remember it, do you not, brother Joseph? —and is it correct? It
is, and his sickle has not cut from that time to the present, and the
reason is he has had a woman straddle of his neck from that day to
this. Amen.

Jedediah M. Grant, November 9, 1856

Hypocrisy Reproved—Family Government, Etc.

A Discourse by President J. M. Grant, Delivered in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, November 9, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.83
I believe, with brother Kimball, that many of this people partake of
the sacrament unworthily. Some will steal their neighbour's spade, or
his crowbar, or wood from his pile, or cabbages and potatoes from his
garden, or hay from his stack, or go into his yard sad milk his cows,
and commit numerous other sins, and the next day come here and partake
of the sacrament.

Vol. 4, p.83
When I see persons very religious outwardly, I always look for them to
commence stealing the first opportunity they have, and on the next day
expect to hear them speak in tongues [p.84] in some class meeting, or
ward meeting, and give the interpretation of tongues, or relate some
remarkable dream or vision. I noticed another thing in this
Tabernacle. When it was first completed, brother Brigham wanted a
certain number of seats reserved for his family. Now, would you
believe that some of the most pious old ladies and sisters in the
Church would be at the four doors of this Tabernacle by seven o'clock
in the morning, that they might crowd into seats reserved for the
President's family and crowd them out. Those are professedly the most
pious among us; bless you, they are professedly just as full of
religion as they can be.

Vol. 4, p.84
I wish to see people come to meeting right and in order; to do so they
must be right at home, they must be right all the while.

Vol. 4, p.84
I seriously question, when some people are baptized, whether they do
not come out of the water the same poor miscrable devils as they went
in.

Vol. 4, p.84
There must be a foundation in the people, the right standard in the
breast, and that must be inherent in the people more or less, or else
our professions are in vain. I, therefore, want every person to leave
the bread in the salvers, and the water in the cups, and not partake
of the sacrament, unless they are right. I want every thief, and every
unrighteous person to let the bread alone.

Vol. 4, p.84
If I could have one prayer effectually answered forthwith, it would
put a stop to a great many evils in Israel, to say the least of it.
But as the work of reformation increases among the people, our
President says, and it is so, that we may look for the workings of an
opposite power. The solution he gave last night, in the High Priest's
Quorum, is the best explanation that I have heard concerning the fogs
that we have felt for some time past. The principle was this, that as
we advance in the light and in the truth, the arch adversary and his
associates will make a corresponding effort to darken our minds and
becloud our atmosphere, and thereby throw us into the fog.

Vol. 4, p.84
I am aware that we have only a few among us but what feel determined
to reform; the great majority wish to live their religion, and I am
glad of it. I believe that the majority of this congregation that are
here to-day actually intend to do right. Now do not let the devil
cheat you; and if the devil marshals his forces against you and
beclouds your minds, tell him that, you are serving the God of Israel.
If you are in the dark and cannot get light, keep a firm hold on the
foundation of truth, and be determined not to be jostled off it.

Vol. 4, p.84
Brother Kimball frequently alludes to discords in families. I was
listening, as I came along the street, to a Bishop who spoke of
discord in a certain family in his Ward. The person he alluded to has
but one wife and is said to be a fine man, and his wife is said to be
a fine woman, and of good parentage. They have some five promising
children, but that woman wants to forsake her husband and go to her
father.

Vol. 4, p.84
You may sum up the difficulties in families throughout the country,
and you will find ten to one more jars in families where there is but
one wife, than in families where there are a number.

Vol. 4, p.84
I believe there has been a disposition, on the part of some men and
women to break the strong tie that ought to bind families together,
but I do not believe they will accomplish much. I look for our
relations to be permanent and the institutions of the Church to be
eternal, because they are perfectly right; I now refer more
particularly to our family organizations. But there is more or less
discord in families, I would like it to, [p.85] cease altogether; and
I would actually like the day to come in Israel, when the people will
not only love the doctrines and revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ,
but rejoice that they live in the day when the Prophet Joseph has
brought them forth.

Vol. 4, p.85
To the man I have just now been alluding to, say to that wife, "Go to
your darling people then." If she wished to leave me, and the Almighty
had blessed me with the means, I would bless her and bestow upon her
everything I could. I would give her all my cattle, horses, and other
property, and say, "God bless you, go and prosper, if you can." If
necessary, I would rise at midnight and write her out the nearest bill
she ever saw, and I would figure it all over with flowers and doves,
and bedeck it with red ribbons.

Vol. 4, p.85
I make these remarks, not that I have had any difficulty with my own
family, but because there is a principle I wish to speak upon. I
believe that men should lead their families, and not drive them. Some
people do not understand the difference between leading and driving a
flock of sheep. Brother Willes has seen the shepherds and their flocks
in the Eastern countries, and can tell you the difference in the
management of flocks in those countries and America. In America the
sheep are driven; in the East the shepherds lead their flocks. The
American and English spirit, and also the spirit of some other
nations, places the sheep in front and the shepherd must follow.

Vol. 4, p.85
If there is any difficult place, a stream to ford, or a slippery log
to walk on, the American's spirit is to try his wife first on the log,
to drive his wife and children across first; he most drive. I do not
like that, though some men are almost compelled to do so, because the
women are determined to lead.

Vol. 4, p.85
I have traveled with brother Heber, and I never saw a milder man in my
life, when everything is right and people keep out of his track. But
when they get in his path he is obliged to tread on their heels, for
they cannot walk so fast as he can. He is not to blame for that; they
are to blame.

Vol. 4, p.85
In the early ages of the world there was a youth imprisoned by the
ruler of the people. His parents went to the ruler and plead with him
to release their son, but they could not prevail at first. They then
wept and tore their reverend locks from their heads to move the ruler
to pity, and when they had done this he released their son from
prison. The historian remarks that it was not so much the weakness
existing in the youth's parents that caused them to tear their hair,
as it was the obstinacy in the ruler; they were obliged to take that
course, resort to such means, to effect their purpose.

Vol. 4, p.85
Am I to blame for scolding the people? Not at all. Is brother Heber?
Not at all. Is he to blame for chastising an unruly wife? No. If she
gets in his path and he steps on her heels, is he to blame? No, and if
she is hurt thereby, it is the result of her own acts.

Vol. 4, p.85
What will be the result of the chastisements given to this people? I
answer, if they heed them, they will bring them into the true path. It
is the situation of the people that prompts the teachings they now
receive from God's servants. if all the people did right, they would
not be chastised at all. If a man's family conduct themselves right,
do you suppose that a consistent, reasonable man will find fault with
them? No. If all the people in a Ward do right, will the Bishop
chastise them? No; but if they do not do right, the Bishop is placed
under the necessity of coming forth, clothed in the armor and power of
the Almighty, to put them right, and of calling upon the teachers to
[p.86] assist him in this work. And when the people repent and are
found to be on the right track, the Bishop lays the rod on the shelf.

Vol. 4, p.86
This is the cage with brother Brigham. Does he chastise this, that,
and the other man, because he likes the job? No. You know that he is
mild, and is a father to this people; and were I to take any exception
to his course, it would be on account of his being so merciful. Why?
Because he is more merciful than I am. When he extends mercy to the
people, he deals it out more lavishly than I would, unless the Lord
should lead me as he does him. I have not so much mercy, so much of
God and eternal life in me as brother Brigham has in him; it does not
belong to me to have so much, for he stands at the fountain of life;
he descends below all things and ascends above all things to this
dispensation.

Vol. 4, p.86
I hear men undertake to laugh and joke in their familiar chat with
each other, and say that they heard brother Brigham say this or that,
and that they saw brother Brigham do this, that, or the other, and
strive to justify themselves on that account. But brother Brigham
commands an influence that you do not command, and cannot be thrown
off the line of propriety and truth, as easily as you and I. When men
do not know the power that constrains them, they ought to be cautious
how they speak and how they act.

Vol. 4, p.86
Brother Brigham is a father to the Quorums of this Church; and when
the people are right, has he a disposition to chastise them? No, he
has a fatherly feeling to bless them, and so has brother Heber. I do
not know whether I have as much of that feeling as either of them,
with regard to the Church, but I do not suppose that there is a man on
the earth that is fender of children than I am. If I do not like old
people so well as some do, I like children well enough to balance the
difficiency.

Vol. 4, p.86
I would be glad to see more peace, mercy, truth, equity, justice, and
righteousness made manifest in the midst of this people. We want the
hay, the straw, the wood, the stubble, the dross, and every impure
principle burnt up. When a man is wrong and will turn round and do
right, I love him better than I did before. We do not feel like
casting you off, like casting you into the mire, and saying "God
Almighty damn you." "Get out of the mud and may the Lord God of Israel
bless you" is what we say. I had rather bless ten men than curse one.
I am not led to curse, but I am led to chastise iniquity, to bring out
the alloy, expose sins and bring to light that which is wrong among
the people; but I do not want to curse them.

Vol. 4, p.86
I tell you that the devil is working against us, and Lucifer is in the
land. Did you know that he bad come to this country? Let me tell you
the news to-day, if you have not heard it; he has come to this country
and has been seen, the real old fellow himself, the same Lucifer that
was east down from heaven.

Vol. 4, p.86
Another thing; did you know that; all hell is let out for noon? The
master is in the school-house, therefore. When we talk of hell we mean
uncle Jim, uncle Bill, uncle Sam, and all our uncles and cousins over
the wide world. We mean old Babylon, the confusion that is over the
wide world.

Vol. 4, p.86
But thanks be to our God, and to high heaven, the light of God is here
and the truth of God is here, and we have waged a war with Lucifer,
under the banner of the Lord Jesus Christ. May we be able to stand in
the contest and overcome. We bring no railing accusation against our
common enemy, but we tell him and his  host that they must surrender.
We say [p.87] to the sinners in Zion, be afraid, you must surrender to
the Lord Jesus Christ. We say to you, Saints, rub up your armor, gird
on the sword of the Almighty and walk forth to battle, and never yield
the ground.

Vol. 4, p.87
Some men say that they feel sick and faint, and weary, when they see
so much darkness among the people. I feel as though I could say to the
mountains and to all hell, get out of my way, or I will kick you out;
I am not going to surrender. I want no poor pussyism around me; hang
not your sickle on the tree to rust, but make it still sharper, and
cut more grain in one day than you have ever done; and tell the devil
that you are ahead of him. You old men, that let your sickles rust,
take them down and sharpen them up, and walk into the fields and reap
down the grain, that there may be wheat in the house of our God, for
the harvest is great and the reapers are few.

Vol. 4, p.87
I am not of that class that believes in shrinking; if there is a fight
on hand, give me a share of it. I am naturally good natured, but when
the indignation of the Almighty is in me I say to all hell, stand
aside and let the Lord Jesus Christ come in here; He shall be heir of
the earth; the truth shall triumph, the Priesthood and Christ shall
reign.

Vol. 4, p.87
I had rather fight the devils that are out of tabernacles, than those
that are embodied. The grand difficulty we have to encounter is from
devils that enter into you; they take possession of your houses, and
then we have to fight devils in tabernacles. We want the devils east
out of you, and the power of God and the light of the Almighty to
shine in you as a lamp.

Vol. 4, p.87
The result of the teachings we are receiving, if practised, will
reform the whole community. When you are right we will cease to
chastise, we will cease to rebuke; we will cease throwing the arrows
of the Almighty through you, we will cease telling you to surrender,
to repent of all your sins. But until you do this, we will continue to
throw the arrows of God through you, to hurl the darts of heaven upon
you and the power of God in your midst; and we will storm the bulwarks
of hell, and we will march against you in the strength of the God of
Israel. And by the power of the Priesthood restored by the Prophet
Joseph, by the light of heaven shed forth by brother Brigham and his
associates, we expect to triumph; and in the name of Jesus Christ, we
do not mean to surrender to evil. [p.88]

Heber C. Kimball, November 9, 1856

The Emigrant Saints—Children More Susceptible
 of Tuition Than Adults

Remarks, by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, November 9, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.88
We have had some good instructions, and as far as I have knowledge
they are all true; and obedience to those principles that we have
heard will save every man and woman in this congregation and in the
world, and they will open the gates of hell, and eventually redeem
every man and woman that has not sinned the sin unto death. Many
suppose, and I used to suppose so from what the sectarians taught me,
that people went to hell for good, but I can tell you that there will
be a great many who will go there for evil and not for good.

Vol. 4, p.88
Captain Smoot's and Captain Willie's companies will arrive this
afternoon, and the Bishops have prepared houses to take them to. A
great many who went out to assist those companies, found their
relatives and friends, and will take them home with them.

Vol. 4, p.88
It is expected that the people will send in their offerings, and that
the Bishops will report to brother Hunter, their presiding Bishop,
that he may direct the distribution of the provisions and comforts of
life to the new comers. And it will be necessary to be as careful in
dealing out food to them, as you would be with little children,
otherwise they will be apt to injure themselves by eating vegetables,
&c. Now do you understand me?

Vol. 4, p.88
Let your offerings be to your Bishops, that they may be able to issue
and control them in wisdom. This word of caution will also apply to
those brethren who take the newcomers into their houses. Give them
what you think they ought to eat, and no more; and have compassion
upon them, and do not kill them with your kindness. A great many are
killed by unkind acts, but this is a case of sympathy, and if you are
not very careful you will injure them instead of doing them good.

Vol. 4, p.88
I now want to say to the door keepers, those who attend to seating the
congregation, let the men, women, and children who come here in season
and take seats keep them; do not drive them away, but let them keep
their seats; let all who come in good season, keep their seats. There
are many children six years old who comprehend and practise what is
here taught, better than many of the grown persons: their intellects
are brighter than those of many of the old men and women, therefore do
not drive up nor drive out the children.

Vol. 4, p.88
Some women come in here tossing their heads about, with their bonnets
and everything about them all on a wiggle, but go to their homes and
you will often find them as abusive to their parents as the devil can
wish them to be; they come here late and expect that the little
children will be made to leave their seats.

Vol. 4, p.89
I will illustrate the difference between the temperaments of the old
[p.89] and young, by referring you to the buffaloes on the Plains, as
most of you had a chance to observe their habits. If I wish to
domesticate buffaloes, I will take none but the calves, for I can do
nothing with the old ones, they have become too set in their wild
ways. But I can take the calves and learn them to work and give milk,
and learn them to become domesticated and useful. Amen.

Brigham Young, November 16, 1856

Temptation and Trials Necessary to Exaltation—If the Saints Perform
 Their Obligations, the Lord Will not Fail in His—Hand-Cart
 Emigration Preferable to that By Ox-Teams

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, November 16, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.89
I rise to make a few remarks, to satisfy the feelings of the people
and correct their minds and judgment.

Vol. 4, p.89
You have heard concerning the sufferings of the people in the
hand-cart trains; and, probably you will hear the Elders, for some
time to come, those who have lately returned from their missions and
those now on the Plains, speak about the scenes they have witnessed,
and I would like to forestall the erroneous impressions that many may
otherwise imbibe on this subject.

Vol. 4, p.89
Count the living and the dead, and you will find that not half the
number died in brother Willie's hand-cart company, in proportion to
the number in that company, as have died in past seasons by the
cholera in single companies travelling with wagons and oxen, with
carriages and horses, and that too in the forepart of the season. When
you call to mind this fact, the relations of the sufferings of our
companies this season will not be so harrowing to your feelings. With
regard to those who have died and been laid away by the roadside on
the Plains, since the cold weather commenced, let me tell you they
have not suffered one hundreth part so much as did our brethren and
sisters who have died with the cholera.

Vol. 4, p.89
Some of those who have died in the hand-cart companies this season, I
am told, would be singing, and, before the tune was done, would drop
over and breathe their last; and others would die while eating, and
with a piece of bread in their hands. I should be pleased when the
time comes, if we could all depart from this life as easily as did
those our brethren and sisters. I repeat, it will be a happy
circumstance, when death overtakes me, if I am privileged to die
without a groan or struggle, while yet retaining a good appetite for
food. I speak of these things, to forestall indulgence in a misplaced
sympathy.

Vol. 4, p.89
You have heard the brethren relate their trials through Iowa; it is a
a wicked place. Those regions of the country are the locality of the
afflictions that have come upon this people. Take Missouri, Illinois,
and Iowa, and they are the places where we [p.90] have been afflicted
and driven. What can we expect from those people? anything but hell
out of doors?

Vol. 4, p.90
Not long since I was talking with one of the brethren, who has crossed
the Plains this season, in regard to the propriety of companies
starting so late. He argued that it was far better for the Saints to
be striving with all their might, doing all they could to serve the
Lord and keep His commandments, and traveling the road to Zion with
intent to build it up and establish the kingdom of God on earth, even
though they should lay down their lives by the way, than to stop
amoung the Gentiles and apostates. I told him it was a good argument,
though it was not exactly according to the will of the people and the
will of the Lord, for He wishes to throw temptation and trial before
His people, to prove them preparatory to their eternal exaltation;
consequently, if the people have not an opportunity of proving
themselves before they die, by the ruler of their faith and religion,
they cannot expect to attain to so high a glory and exaltation as they
could if they had been tried in all things. Yet I believe it is better
for the people to lay down their bones by the way side, than it is for
them to stay in the States and apostatize.

Vol. 4, p.90
I told the Elder that his argument seemed reasonable, but it made me
think of the story about a Roman Catholic priest and a Jew. The priest
was crossing on the ice, and on his way found a Jew, who had fallen
through an air hole, clinging to the edge of the ice, and unable to
get out. He begged of the priest to help him out, but he would not,
unless he first professed a belief in Jesus Christ. "I cannot," said
the Jew. "Then I will let you down," replied the priest, and let go of
him. Still clinging to the ice, as the priest was about to leave, he
again begged him to pull him out. "I cannot, unless you believe in
Christ." "I cannot believe," said the Jew, and the priest let him go
again. At length the Jew said, "Take me out, I do believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ with all my might." "Do you?" said the priest," "then I
think it is best to save you, while you are a Christian and strong in
the faith," and he shoved him under the ice.

Vol. 4, p.90
If we could have it so, I would a little rather the Saints could be
privileged to come here and serve the Lord, or apostatize, as they
might choose, for we surely expect to gather both the good and the
bad. You recollect what I told you, last Sabbath, that we can beat the
world at anything. If brother Willie has brought in some of the
sharks, the garfish, the sheepheads, and so on and so forth, it is all
right, for we need them to make up the assortment; as yet, I do not
know how we could get along without them; all these kinds seem to be
necessary.

Vol. 4, p.90
I have seriously reflected upon the gathering of the people. They have
all the time urgently plead and importuned to be gathered, especially
from the old countries where they are so severely oppressed; and they
are willing to come on foot and pull hand-carts, or to do anything, so
they can be gathered with the Saints. Well, we do gather them, and
where do many of them go? To the devil.

Vol. 4, p.90
In Nauvoo we had obligations, to an amount exceeding $30,000, against
Saints that we had brought from England with our private means; and
there is not to exceed two, of all the persons thus brought out, who
have honorably come forward to pay one cent of that outlay in their
behalf; and some of them were in the mob when it killed Joseph.

Vol. 4, p.90
I knew all the time that it was better for many of these persons to
stop in England and starve to death, [p.91] for then they might have
received a salvation; but they plead with the Lord and with His
servants for an opportunity to prove themselves, and made use of it to
seal their damnation and become angels to the devil. They had the
opportunity, do you not see that they had?

Vol. 4, p.91
If Saints do right and have performed all required of them in this
probation, they are under no more obligation, and then it is no matter
whether they live or die, for their work here is finished. This is a
doctrine I believe.

Vol. 4, p.91
If brother Willie's company had not been assisted by the people in
these valleys, and he and his conspuny had lived to the best light
they had in their possession, had done everything they could have done
to cross the Plains, and done justice as they did, asking no questions
and having no doubting; or in other words, if, after their President
or Presidents told them to go on the Plains, they had gone in full
faith, had pursued their journey according to their ability, and done
all they could, and we could not have rendered them any assistance, it
would have been just as easy for the Lord to send herds of fat
buffaloes to lay down within twenty yards of their camp, as it was to
send flocks of quails or to rain down manna from heaven to Israel of
old.

Vol. 4, p.91
My faith is, when we have done all we can, then the Lord is under
obligation, and will not disappoint the faithful; He will perform the
rest. If no other assistance could have been had by the companies this
season, I think they would have had hundreds and hundreds of fat
buffaloes crowding around their camp, so that they could not help but
kill them. But, under the circumstances, it was our duty to assist
them, and we were none too early in the operation.

Vol. 4, p.91
It was not a rash statement for me to make at our last Conference,
when I told you that I would dismiss the Conference, if the people
would not turn out, and that I, with my brethren, would go to the
assistance of the companies. We knew that our brethren and sisters
were on the Plains and in need of assistance, and we had the power and
ability to help them, therefore it became our duty to do so.

Vol. 4, p.91
The Lord was not brought under obligation in the matter, so He had put
the means in our possession to render them the assistance they needed.
But if there had been no other way, the Lord would have helped them,
if He had had to send His angels to drive up buffaloes day after day,
and week after week. I have full confidence that the Lord would have
done His part; my only lack of confidence is, that those who profess
to be Saints will not do right and perform their duty.

Vol. 4, p.91
You hear the testimony of the brethren with regard to the feasibility
of the hand-cart mode of traveling; that testimony and their
experience have fully sustained the correctness of the views and
feelings of myself and others upon that subject from the beginning. It
is the very essence of my feelings that the people in this house, if
we wanted to cross the Plains next season to the States, could start
from here with hand-carts, and beat any company in traveling that
would cross the Plains with teams, and be better of and healthier.
These are my feelings, and they have been all the time.

Vol. 4, p.91
I have argued the point before the people that they are not aware of
their ability, that they do not know what they can do; that they are
healthier when they live in the open air. What gives the people colds
and makes them sick? You hear many say, "I had not had a cold this
fall [p.92] until I came into our new house." Brethren and sisters
that have come into the city from living in the kanyons, and those who
have arrived from the States this season, have not been troubled with
colds until they came into warm houses; that gives them colds, by
depriving their lungs of the benefit they are organized to receive
from the atmosphere.

Vol. 4, p.92
It is a strange thought, but could you weigh the particles of life
that you constantly receive from the water you drink and from the air
you breathe, you would learn that you receive a greater proportion of
nourishment from those sources than from the food you consume. Many
are not aware of this, for they are not apt to reflect how much longer
they can live when deprived of food than they can when deprived of
air. When people are obliged to breathe confined air, they do not have
that free, full flow of the purification and nourishment that is in
the fresh air, and they begin to decay, and go into what we call
consumption.

Vol. 4, p.92
People need not be afraid of living out of doors, nor of sleeping out
of doors; this country is much healthier than the lowlands in the
States, or than many places in the old world. I recollect that in
1834, myself, brother Kimball, and others, traveled two thousand miles
inside of three months, and that too in the heat of summer, We cooked
our own food, carried our guns, got our provisions by the way, and
performed the journey within ninety days. We laid on the ground every
night, and there was scarcely a night that we could sleep, for the air
rose from the ground hot enough to suffocate us, and they supplied
musketos in that country, as they did eggs, by the bushel; they never
thought of supplying less than a bushel or so at once to an
individual. That journey was many times more taxing upon the health
and life of a person, than this season's hand-cart journey over the
Plains.

Vol. 4, p.92
You may take the rich and the poor, every person, and they can gather
from the Missouri river, or from parts of the States where there are
no railroads or steamboats, easier than they can with teams. And I am
ashamed of our Elders that go out on missions, it is a disgrace to the
Elders of Israel, that they do not start from here with hand-carts, or
with knapsacks on their backs, and go to the States, and from thence
preach their way to their respective fields of labor. Brother Kimball
moves that we do not send any Elders from this place again, unless
they take hand-carts and cross the Plains on foot. When the time
comes, I expect that this motion will be put to vote.

Vol. 4, p.92
It is a shame for the Elders to take with them from this place
everything they can rake and scrape. I can go on foot across the
Plains. As old as I am, I can take a hand-cart and draw it across
those Plains quicker than you can go with animals and loaded wagons,
and be healthier when I get to the Missouri river. Our Elders must
have a good span of horses, or mules, and must ride, ride, ride; kill
many of their animals, and get little or nothing for those left when
they arrive at the Missouri river, besides taking four or five hundred
dollars worth of property from their families. And some ride so much
that they do not know how to preach, whereas, if they would walk, they
would be in far better condition to labor in the Gospel.

Vol. 4, p.92
As to the expediency of the hand-cart mode of traveling, brothers
Ellsworth, McArthur, and Bunker, who piloted the three first hand-cart
companies over the Plains, can testify that they easily beat the wagon
companies. Brother Ellsworth performed the journey in sixty-three
days, and brother McArthur in sixty-one and  a half, [p.93]
notwithstanding the hindrance by the baggage wagons. If brother
Willie's company could have had their provisions deposited at Laramie
and at Green river, and had been free from wagons, they would have
been in this valley by the time they were in the storms.

Vol. 4, p.93
We are not in the least discouraged about the hand-cart method of
traveling. As to its preaching a sermon to the nations, as has been
remarked, they are preached pretty nigh to destruction already. We do
not care whether the hand-cart scheme preaches to them, or whether it
be by the teachings of the Elders of Israel. They are so bound up with
their friends and so priest-ridden, that they cannot burst through
those chains; and they will have to remain so until Jesus devises some
other means to save them, for the great majority will not hear and
obey.

Vol. 4, p.93
There are a few who are sufficiently independent to obey the truth
when they hear it. We will gather them up, and let the devils howl and
let all hell be moved in striving to overthrow this people. We will
gather the faithful, God being our helper, and we do not care whether
the rest hear and believe or not. The sound of the Gospel has gone to
the uttermost parts of the earth, as I have told you already; and I
know not a people, and hardly a nation, but what it makes them quake
from centre to circumference. If they do not believe the sound that
has gone forth, let them disbelieve; we ask no odds of them.

Vol. 4, p.93
We do not expect that all the people will believe, and wickedness will
increase while the Saints are gathering together. If those who profess
to know what right is, will do right and live to the Gospel of Christ
which they understand, there is no danger but what the elect will be
saved, and that the devil cannot get them. All that Jesus designs to
save he will save; all that are disposed to believe and obey, he is
disposed to save, and will do it. And those that will falter and
hearken to the teachings and seductions of the world, the flesh, and
the devil, he can save upon the principles he has established.

Vol. 4, p.93
Men act upon their own agency; we do not expect that those who will
not hearken and obey will be saved by the Gospel; and many that obey
the first principles of the Gospel will net live their religion.

Vol. 4, p.93
Let this people live their religion here. We cry to you all the time
to live your religion. Let every man and woman forsak their evil ways,
and turn unto the Lord with all their hearts, that He may have mercy
on us, that the light may shine, and the nations feel its influence,
and the honest in heart rejoice therein and be gathered to Zion.

Vol. 4, p.93
As I told the brethren the other evening, if the candle of the
Almighty does not shine from this place, you need not seek for light
any where else. If this people have not the light and power of God
with them, the Elders that go forth cannot have the light and enjoy
the power that we do not have here; they must be lower than we are;
they cannot attain to the, light that we can here.

Vol. 4, p.93
Shall we forsake our wickedness? I say, thank God, that I see a spirit
of repentance in a degree; but I want to see so thorough a reform that
sin and wickedness will be done away. Live your religion; that tells
the whole story. If you live your religion you have the Holy Ghost in
you, it abides with you; you shun evil, and put forth your energies to
do all the good you can; you will refrain from everything that is
evil, and do everything you can to promote the cause of God on the
earth.

Vol. 4, p.93
It is all embraced in the three words, live your religion; that is
what I wish [p.94] to say to all good people. That the Lord may help
us so to do, that we may be accounted worthy to be saved in His
kingdom, is my constant prayer, brethren and sisters, in the name of
Jesus Christ. Amen.

Willford Woodruff, October 6, 1856

The Facilities Afforded By the Hand-Cart Movement for
 the Gathering of Israel—the Saints Specially Opposed
 By the Devil in Any New Enterprise—Reformation

A Discourse by Elder Woodruff, Delivered in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.94
Brethren and sisters, I feel to take the liberty of occupying a few
moments in expressing some few of my feelings. I have heard all the
brethren that have spoken for several days past. I have heard them say
that it was with great difficulty that they expressed their feelings,
and I did not wonder at this, for any one who will reflect upon the
state of the world and the kingdom of God upon the earth, and the
dealings of God with us, will be filled with feelings and reflections
which they cannot express. No man could listen to what we have heard
to-day and yesterday, and I may say for the past month, without having
many feelings in reference to the condition of the people, Church, and
kingdom of God. There is no man that has been acquainted in this
Church and kingdom, that has felt any responsibility resting upon him,
that has any desire in relation to the gathering of Israel, that has
beheld with his eyes for the last week or two, and that has listened
to our brethren, but must have felt that the Spirit of God has been
with them.

Vol. 4, p.94
I have a desire to bear my testimony with my brethren, for I feel
thankful to God for His blessings auto us, and unto our brethren who
have journeyed on foot to the valleys. My heart was filled with joy on
listening to our returned missionaries who have told of the dealings
of God with them. I have been much edified and interested in listening
to the testimony of our returned missionaries.

Vol. 4, p.94
When I first met the train of hand-carts my soul was full, the scene
was overwhelming, our hearts were swollen, as brother Kimball said,
till they felt as though they were as big as a two bushel basket. Was
it sorrow that produced this? No, but joy; and why so? Because it
looked as if the very flood gates of deliverance were opened, and as
if we could say to the starving millions, "Come home to Zion, and
improve the opportunity that is now open, and renew your covenants,
reform yourselves in your lives and conduct."

Vol. 4, p.94
President Brigham Young has talked about this plan for some time
before it came before the public; he has felt that an improvement and
change must take place in relation to the gathering of the people, as
well as a reformation of life of all those who were gathered.

Vol. 4, p.94
Whatever counsel the Presidency of this Church have been led to give
unto this people, it has been dictated [p.95] by the Spirit and power
of God, and our safety and salvation lies in obeying that counsel and
putting it into practice. We should learn to listen to the operation
and manifestation of the Spirit of Truth.

Vol. 4, p.95
When President Young launched forth into the wilderness, leading the
pioneer camp to seek a new location and home as a resting place for
the Saints, there were many men that fell as though it was a wild
speculation, they thought it was taking a stand that was dangerous,
but were they men of faith? They might well feel so if they had not
the Spirit of God, but all those that were governed and controlled by
the right spirit, felt as he did, and that God was leading him, and
that he would lead the people right; and it is so with the hand-cart
trains.

Vol. 4, p.95
We should learn a lesson by this hand-cart operation as we should by
every other operation of the servants of God. I know how it looks to
the Saints, but "Mormonism" to men that have not the Spirit of God is
a great mystery and a strange work indeed, they do not understand the
ways or work of God; it looks to them like leading the people to
destruction; but in all cases where destruction comes in all ages of
the world, it is where the counsels of the Prophets of God are not
fully carried out, but where the people deviate in some measure from
their counsel. And this was fully manifest in the days of the ancient
Prophets as well as in our day.

Vol. 4, p.95
The word of the Lord and the words of His servants have been proved
many times, and that before our eyes; our leaders were led by the
Spirit of God, and I can bear testimony that our Prophets and leaders
have the Spirit of the Lord, and they are clothed upon with the holy
Priesthood of God, and all the powers and keys thereof, and with the
holy anointing, and are fully authorized and qualified to build up the
kingdom of God upon the earth; they are inspired by the very same
spirit that the ancients were; they want to build up the kingdom of
God, this is their object.

Vol. 4, p.95
When I saw brother Ellsworth come into this city covered with dust and
drawing a hand cart, I felt that he had gained greater honor than the
riches of this world could bestow, and he looked better to me than he
would have done had he been clothed with the most costly apparel that
human ingenuity can produce; he looked better, I say, to me, than a
man adorned with jewels and finery of every description. The honor any
man can obtain by his faithfulness in this cause and kingdom is worth
far more than all the honors and riches of the world.

Vol. 4, p.95
The Elders of this Church have been inspired while on their missions
abroad among the nations of the earth; they have had the Spirit of the
Lord, and they have borne it forth among the people, and we can see
the spirit by which they have been governed in their works. I feel
thankful that the Lord has heard our prayers in their behalf, for
these men have been remembered; there has not been a prayer offered up
by a man or a woman in Israel who have enjoyed the Spirit of the Lord,
but they have offered their prayers and exercised their faith in
behalf of and in favor of those men; they have prayed for the
"hand-cart company," that they might be strong and be able to perform
their duties, and we have prayed that they might be preserved from
cholera, from sickness, and from the power of the destroyer; and these
prayers have ascended up on high and entered into the ears of the God
of Sabaoth, and our brethren have felt the power of them; they felt,
as brother Ellsworth said he felt, viz., that they had the prayers and
faith of their friends in Zion.

Vol. 4, p.96
[p.96] Do I look upon these brethren and sisters that come in with
hand-carts with any less degree of respect than I should if they had
come with horses, with dromedaries, with mules and swift beasts? No, I
do not; but I feel that they have accomplished a good work in thus
centring to Zion, in the way the Presidency have pointed out. 

Vol. 4, p.96
I feel to rejoice also to see the Spirit and power of God poured out
so powerfully upon the Presidency of the Church and those who have
been faithful either at home, or those who have been on missions
abroad.

Vol. 4, p.96
The Presidency of the Church are calling upon us as a people to repent
and put off our sins. It is right, it is just that we should awake and
reform, for we have go; to have the same spirit; we have to wake up
from the deep sleep and slumbering condition in which we find
ourselves. We must arise to a sense of our position and to understand
the signs of the times, and become acquainted with what the Lord
requires at our hands.

Vol. 4, p.96
I am satisfied, and have been for some length of time, that the Lord
would open some way of relief for the poor Saints; it would require
all the Saints that are upon the earth with their means—I was going to
say that it would require all the means in the world to bring the poor
in the way they have been gathering. There must be a change in the way
of the gathering, in order to save them from the calamities and the
scourges that are coming upon the wicked nations of the earth. It
would require more gold than all the Saints possess upon the earth, to
gather the Saints unto Zion kern all nations in the way they have been
gathering, but now the hand-cart operation has been introduced to this
people, it will bring five here to where one has been brought
heretofore.

Vol. 4, p.96
I rejoice in all those men who have stood up to their posts as men of
God and defended the words of His servants, and assisted in carrying
out their plans and designs in gathering the people from the nations;
they have been inspired by the power of the great God, and they have
carried the words of His servants into operation with success, and had
it not been so, the devil would have gained a great victory over the
Saints; they have conquered, and this has been the case in every
operation that we as a people have taken in hand under the direction
of the servants of God.

Vol. 4, p.96
The moment that you take in hand any new operation in the kingdom of
God, that moment you have to renew your warfare, and the Saints will
find that wherein they undertake any new enterprize and are sent to
the nations of the earth, the devil will be up against them. Look how
he raged when the Prophet Joseph commenced preaching upon this
continent, and then again when we went from this country to Europe, it
seemed as if all hell was let loose. As soon as brothers Kimball and
Hyde arrived in England, all the devils in Europe, or in England at
any rate, were let loose upon them, and it was precisely the same in
London when the brethren went there; and I will say still further, it
has been so in every place.

Vol. 4, p.96
I thank God that those men that, have been appointed to lead these
hand-carts have been filled with the Holy Spirit, and have had courage
and faith to carry out the plan designed by the servants of the
Almighty. It is an omen, not only to the Jews, but to the Gentiles; it
shows them that there is a God in Israel whose power and Priesthood
have been commited into the hands of men upon the earth, and their
works cause "the wisdom of the wise to perish, and the understanding
of the prudent to be hid;" and this power and principle is felt by the
great and the mighty among men.

Vol. 4, p.97
[p.97] I feel thankful that the Lord has preserved our brethren the
missionaries, and that they have been permitted to return to our
midst, and that we have the privilege of greeting them, and that we
can rejoice together in the goodness and mercy of God.

Vol. 4, p.97
I wish to say a few words to the Elders. I suppose we are all Elders;
do you teach your families the way of life and salvation? Do you teach
your wives and children the counsel of God? We should impress upon the
minds of our children the evil consequences of committing sin or
breaking any of the laws of God, they should be made to understand
that by doing wrong they will inherit sorrow and tribulation which
they can easily escape by doing right, and they should learn this
principle by precept without learning sorrow and affliction by
experience from doing wrong.

Vol. 4, p.97
We as a people should be humble, be prayerful, be submissive to the
powers that be, that we may receive the promised blessings of our
Heavenly Father.

Vol. 4, p.97
I want now to say a few words upon the subject of our reformation. The
Presidency have called upon us to reform our ways, to renew our
covenants, and to commence to live the lives of Saints. I take this
liberty because I have the the opportunity of speaking to you. I say
then that they have called upon us to put on the whole armor, to
reform our conduct. Men having authority have called upon us to
forsake our wickedness and our follies, and I may here say that the
Presidency have preached to the people in this Territory, not only for
the last month, but for the last year, and I have thought that it was
a good deal like throwing a ball against a rock, it did not penetrate
but hounded back, but they have told us that we were asleep as a
people, and we have been told of the condition that we are in by the
Prophets of God, and as brother Grant has said, we may take the Church
as a body with the Priesthood, with but few exceptions, and we have
been asleep. What! should the Apostles of Jesus Christ go to sleep,
men who ought to have their minds upon nothing else but the things of
the kingdom of God? No, they should not, they should not be asleep,
but they have not always felt as they should feel.

Vol. 4, p.97
You may take the Twelve, and the Seventies, and High Priests, and all
the other quorums, except the First Presidency, and they have been
more or less asleep. I believe the First Presidency have been awake or
they would not have known that we were asleep, and they now think that
it is time for us to awake and arise from our slumbers, and I feel so
too.

Vol. 4, p.97
I will tell you how I feel about it; men bearing the Priesthood of
God, it is a solemn truth, and you know it as well as I do, that
almost all the male members in this land bear the holy Priesthood of
the Most High, and yet at the same time we have had more stealing,
more lying, more swearing in one year than there should have been in a
thousand: we have had more stealing here in Utah than has been for our
credit, and when you have taken up that you may also take up every
other sin and pile them up together and what is our condition before
God? Why, we have violated our covenants which we made at the waters
of baptism. What is the use then of our saying that we have been
righteous, that we have been holy, when we have actually been in a
sound sleep, when we have been so much out of the way? It is house
whatever, and the time of sifting and purifying the Saints has come,
and for one I am willing to put on the garment, and keep it on, until
we burn out all the evil that exists.

Vol. 4, p.98
Why will we suffer our hearts to be set upon the things of the world,
[p.98] when they should be upon the Lord and the building up of His
kingdom? And as long as the angels are ready to write down our
actions, and the Spirit of God is taken away from the nations of the
earth, and they are filled with wickedness and abominations of every
kind, and the judgments of God are ready to fall upon the earth, for
"Hell has enlarged herself. and the pomp and glory of the world will
descend lute it." And where should men be awake if not here in Zion?

Vol. 4, p.98
It is our duty, brethren, to live in that way and manner before our
God, that we will find no difficulty in administering in any of the
ordinances of the kingdom of God; we should live so that the spirit
and power of the Holy Ghost will rest down upon us; we should humble
ourselves before the Lord in our closets, and live day by day, so that
we can know what is right and what is wrong, and when the Presidency
give us any instruction or charge, to live so that we will be ready to
follow their counsel.

Vol. 4, p.98
I believe that the majority of the people are ready to wake up; I
believe that they already begin to feel the reformation spirit in
them, and it is certainly time, for there are great events at our
door, and I likewise feel that we will have as much labor upon our
hands as we will be able to perform; it is a great and an important
day that we live in, and when we look upon the work of the Lord as
Elders, as High Priests, as Seventies, and, as men should who bear the
Priesthood, we should never be asleep, but be ever ready to do the
work of God, and to build up His kingdom, for the day is now come when
we must awake and become the friends of God; we must not allow
anything to stand between us and our God, or we shall be cut off.

Vol. 4, p.98
There has been a great deal among us which has been wrong, and for
which we have been reproved, and will not hand the garments to my
neighbor, but I will give every one their due, and take that portion
to myself which belongs to me. It has been a custom at times when
reproofs have been given, and the garment would fit a man, to hand it
to his neighbor, but I know that but few of us will escape.

Vol. 4, p.98
I know that I can take the reproof to myself, and I consider that it
is one of the greatest victories for a man to gain, to learn how to
control himself. Show me a man that does control himself and I will
show you a safe man; or a man that has prepared himself by this
principle is on the road to salvation. A man that is prepared to lay
all that he hath upon the altar, and his life with it, for the
Gospel's sake and the kingdom of God, is in the right way, but the
moment that we teach a doctrine that we do not practise we show our
weakness. The moment a man or a woman becomes angry they show a great
weakness, and so it is with any of us when we do anything wrong.

Vol. 4, p.98
I feel, as President Young said, that our Father in heaven is touched
with the feelings of our infirmities, and when I have looked at the
magnitude of the work, and the nature of our Priesthood, and the
authority and responsibility which rests upon us and upon all the
hosts of Israel, I have felt oftentimes to mourn and weep over the
passions and follies to which man is subject in this life.

Vol. 4, p.98
If men could see and understand their relationship to God, and the
position they occupy, they would not see one moment of their lives
that they would desire to do a wrong thing, but they would pursue a
straightforward course, they would avoid all kinds of evil words and
improper expressions.

Vol. 4, p.98
What was intended by the establishment of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
[p.99] Was it for men to become darkened and sleepy? No, for the
moment that we do we come under condemnation. I stay, then, that we
have all been reproved by our brethren. I speak of the reproofs given
because they have been among the things foremost before our brethren,
who have preached to us for some time past.

Vol. 4, p.99
I feel that this call of repentance and baptism for the remission of
our sins is an important one, and that we cannot again go to sleep
with impunity, and I feel that inasmuch as we will walk in the light,
awake from our slumber, repent of our sins, we shall receive the
blessings of the Gospel of Christ, and all things that pertain to the
kingdom of our God.

Vol. 4, p.99
These things that God has given to us through our Prophets, will prove
the savor of life unto life, or of death unto death.

Vol. 4, p.99
When I was a boy, there was an old man used to visit at my father's
house; his name was Robert Mason, and I heard teachings from him from
the time that I was eight years old and upwards, and they were
teachings that I shall ever remember, and he taught my father's
household many important truths concerning the Church and kingdom of
God, and told them many things in relation to the Prophets and the
things that were coming upon the earth, but his teachings were not
received by but few, they were unpopular with the Christian world, but
nearly all that did receive his teachings have joined the Latter-day
Saints. Prophets were not popular in that day any more than now, and I
have often thought of many things which the old man taught me in the
clays of my youth since I received the fulness of the Gospel and
became a member of the Church of Christ.

Vol. 4, p.99
He said, "When you read the Bible do you ever think that what you read
there is going to be fulfilled? The teachers of the day," said he,
"spiritualize the Bible, but when you read in the Bible about the
dreams, visions, revelations and predictions of Ezekiel, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, or any other of the Prophets or Apostles, relative to the
gathering of Israel and the building up of Zion, where they say that
Israel shall be gathered upon litters, swift beasts and dromedaries,
you may understand that it means just what it says, and that it will
be fulfilled upon the earth in the last days. And when you read of men
laying hands upon the sick and healing them, and casting out devils
and working miracles in the name of Jesus Christ, it means what it
says." And he further said "The Church of Christ and kingdom of God is
not upon the earth, but it has been taken from the children of men
through unbelief, and because they have taken away from the Gospel
some of its most sacred ordinances, and have instituted in their stead
forms and ceremonies without the power of God, and have turned from
the truth unto fables, but," said he, "it will soon be restored again
unto the children of men upon the earth, with its ancient gifts and
powers, for the Scriptures cannot be fulfilled without it; but I shall
not live to see it, but," said he to me, "you will live to see that
day, and you will become a conspicuous actor in that kingdom, and when
you see that day, then that which the Prophets have spoken will be
fulfilled.

Vol. 4, p.99
And as brother Van Colt said about his father and grandfathers, that
they did not join any church, it was so with me; I did not join any
church, believing that the Church of Christ in its true organization
did not exist upon the earth, but when the principles of the
everlasting Gospel were first proclaimed unto me, I believed it with
all my heart, and was baptized the first sermon I heard, for the
Spirit of God bore testimony to me in power that it was true.

Vol. 4, p.100
[p.100] And I believe that I should never have joined any Church had I
not heard some men preach who had the holy Priesthood. But when I
heard the fulness of the Gospel, I was greatly blessed in receiving
it, and was filled with joy unspeakable, and I have never been sorry,
but I have rejoiced all the day long, and when I saw that train of
hand-carts, I thought of the teaching and words of the old prophet
Mason, for he came the nearest to being a true Prophet of God in his
predictions and works of any man I ever saw, until I saw men
administering in the holy Priesthood.

Vol. 4, p.100
He also east out devils in the name of Jesus Christ, by the laying on
of hands and the prayer of faith. "But," said he, "I have no right to
administer in the ordinances of the Gospel, neither has any man unless
he receives it by revelation from God out of heaven, as did the
ancients. But if my family or friends are sick, I have the right to
lay hands upon them, and pray for them in the name of Jesus Christ,
and if we can get faith to be healed, it is our privilege; and I will
here say that many were healed through his faith and prayers, and
that, too, within my knowledge." And when that first hand-cart company
came into the city, I, indeed, thought of the old prophet, for if they
did not come with litters it was as near as possible to it, and I now
believe that from this time forth hand-carts will be used more than
horses, mules, and oxen.

Vol. 4, p.100
I thank God that I have lived to see this day and generation, and I
pray God to bless you and me, that we may do our duty in our families,
and among our friends, and in our neighborhoods, and in every
circumstance in which we are placed. I also feel thankful to see our
brethren and sisters coming in, and especially the missionaries, for
they have returned filled with the gifts and powers of the Holy Ghost;
it does my soul good, and I feel to thank God for these things.

Vol. 4, p.100
When I came into the Tabernacle, and saw the offerings that were made,
I felt satisfied that there was an improvement; and I will say here
that whenever the Prophets who lead us call upon us, we should be
ready and on hand to take hold of that wheel which he points to and
pull, and when we get the spirit of our calling, and the power of God
upon us, the Church and kingdom will grow. As President Young said,
the vail will be rent, and when the armies of Gog and Magog arise,
they will say, let us not go against Israel to battle, for her sons
are terrible, and we cannot stand.

Vol. 4, p.100
If we as a people follow the counsel of the Presidency of this Church,
repent of our sins, wake up, do our duty, keep on the armor of
righteousness, live our religion, and are filled with the Holy Ghost,
we shall soon see that sinners in Zion will tremble, and fearfulness
will surprise the hypocrite.

Vol. 4, p.100
I feel to bless you, brethren and sisters, and pray that we may do our
duty in all things, and ever honor the Priesthood, and at last be
crowned in the Church and kingdom of God; I ask it in the name of
Jesus Christ. Amen. [p.101]

Brigham Young, September 28, 1856

The Hand-Cart Emigration—Opinions of the Emigrants Concerning
 It—Females Endure the Journey Better Than Males, Etc.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, September 28, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.101
I think it is now proven to a certainty that men, women, and children
can cross the Plains, from the settlements on the Missouri river to
this place on foot, and draw hand-carts, loaded with a good portion of
the articles needed to sustain them on the way.

Vol. 4, p.101
To me this is no more a matter of fact this morning, after seeing the
companies that have crossed the Plains, than it was years ago. I have
no different knowledge, feelings, or faith, upon this subject to-day
than I have had from the beginning. It has been a matter of doubt with
many of our Elders who have gone out to preach, and with many who have
staid at hence, as to the propriety of starting a train upon the
Plains for men, women, and children to walk.

Vol. 4, p.101
Probably my faith has been based upon actual knowledge. There are a
great many men who know but little about what they can do, and there
are a great many women that never consider what they can perform;
people do not fully reflect upon their own acts, upon their own
ability, and therefore do not understand what they are capable of
doing.

Vol. 4, p.101
My reasoning has been like this: Take small children, those that are
over five years of age, and if their steps were counted and measured,
those that they take in the course of one day, you would find that
they had taken enough to have traveled from twelve to twenty miles.

Vol. 4, p.101
Count the steps that a woman takes when she is doing her work, let
them be measured, and it will be found that in many instances she had
taken steps enough to have traveled from fifteen to twenty miles a
day; I will warrant this to be the case. The steps of women who spin
would, in all probability, make from twenty to thirty miles a day.

Vol. 4, p.101
So with men, they do not consider the steps they make when they are at
their labor; they are all the time walking. Even our masons upon the
walls are all the time stepping; they take a step almost at every
breath.

Vol. 4, p.101
Many people have believed that they could not walk much of a distance,
if they had to walk right along in a road, but this is not so. Our
carpenters, joiners, masons, tenders, road makers, tillers of the
soil, and persons of almost all avocations in life, men, women, and
children, are subject to continual travel. These things I have
contemplated, and I have seen walking put into practise.

Vol. 4, p.101
The longest journey on foot that ever I took at one time was in the
year 1834, when a company of the brethren went up to Missouri, the
next season after the Saints were driven out of Jackson County. Many
in this congregation, and some on the stand, were in that company;
brother Kimball and brother Woodruff were in it.  We performed a
journey of two thousand miles on foot; we [p.102] started on the 5th
day of May, and accomplished that journey inside of three months,
carrying our guns on our shoulders, doing our own cooking, &c. And
instead of walking along without having to labor, much of the way we
had to draw our baggage wagons through mud holes and over sections of
bad road. Twenty or thirty men would take hold and draw a wagon up a
hill, or through a mud hole; and it was seldom that I ever laid down
to rest until eleven or twelve o'clock at night, and we always rose
very early in the morning, I think the horn was blown at three o'clock
to arouse us, to prepare breakfast, &c. and get an early start; and we
averaged in the outward trip upwards of forty miles a day,

Vol. 4, p.102
If we laid by a day, or half a day, we generally calculated to make
the travel of the week average forty miles a day.

Vol. 4, p.102
We spent considerable time in waiting upon the sick; and some days and
nights the brethren who were able, were standing over the sick and
dying, and burying the dead; we buried eighteen of the company.
Notwithstanding all this, inside of three months we walked about two
thousand miles.

Vol. 4, p.102
I am not a good walker, though I have walked a great deal in the
course of my life, but it is not natural to me to be a great walker. I
have walked much during my missions to preach the Gospel; and we have
many in this congregation who have walked from twenty to thirty miles
on a Sabbath, after working hard all the week and then preached two or
three times.

Vol. 4, p.102
When I was in England I found that I was poor at walking, in
comparison with the females there. Brother Edmund Ellsworth, who has
led this first company of hand-carts over the Plains, says that the
females have stood the journey better than the males; taking the girls
and the boys of equal age, the men and the women, and the females have
best endured the travel.

Vol. 4, p.102
In England I could walk comfortably with the men, but if the women
undertook, they could easily out do me in walking.

Vol. 4, p.102
Our American women think it strange to advance such an idea as women's
walking. I will refer you to one individual that many of you know, and
that is sister Turley, who now lives in San Bernardino; after working
hard all the week, she and her husband frequently used to walk twenty
or thirty miles on the Sabbath, and attend three meetings.

Vol. 4, p.102
There are many in this congregation that used to walk and preach, and
some of them did so on week days as well as on Sabbaths.

Vol. 4, p.102
True, in those old countries people are not in the habit of taking
journeys of hundreds of miles as the Americans do, but they walk
through their towns and counties, throughout their circuits, and walk
a great deal more and better than do the Americans.

Vol. 4, p.102
The common people, the masses that work in the factories, do not own
teams in the old countries, and if they wish to visit or go to a fair,
they go on foot, If they should get any way of conveyance to places
where the railroads have not yet reached, they hire a cart, or perhaps
a wagon on springs, and six, eight, twelve, or twenty persons will get
in and ride for a few miles; but that is only for the sake of the name
of riding, and not particularly for the comfort of it, for they would,
as a general thing, rather foot it than ride in many of their modes of
conveyance.

Vol. 4, p.102
To the American this seems strange; but you may go into Scotland and
Wales, and then cross to the little island called Ireland, and then to
France and the German States, and pass on to Italy, and you will find
the generality of the people in the habit of performing their journeys
on foot, [p.103] not depending upon being conveyed in vehicles.

Vol. 4, p.103
They are in the habit of working and walking, and their toils and
labors are very excessive, and apparently without cessation. Go into
the mountainous regions of some of these old countries, and you will
see men, women, and children packing soil, like it would be to take it
from the banks of Jordan and carry it half way up the sides of these
mountains, and, when they can get one, two, or three rods of level
surface, making their gardens upon the rocks.

Vol. 4, p.103
They will take cows up to such places, and pack up fodder, and there
keep them, for they are not able to go down and feed and return again
the same day.

Vol. 4, p.103
They will walk on the brinks of precipices, clamber around the rocks,
pack up the soil from the bottoms, and thus make a subsistence,
raising a few potatoes and whatever vegetables they can, and there
they live summer and winter; they are all the time toiling and
laboring.

Vol. 4, p.103
In many districts of England, it is the custom to put children into
factories at five years of age, and there they remain so long as they
live. Children from five years old and upwards, will go for miles to
their labor early in the morning, winter and summer, and must be at
the factory at factory time, and there they must stand upon their feet
until they are dismissed for half an hour, or an hour, to eat their
breakfast, or their dinner, and all the rest of the time they are upon
their feet. They are used to labor, accustomed to being on their feet
and walking.

Vol. 4, p.103
We have not yet had a report from any of the brethren who have led the
hand-cart companies, with regard to their traveling across the Plains,
any more than to say they are here. I think brother Ellsworth says
that seven persons died in his company, between here and Iowa City.
How many died in the companies last year? How many will die in the
companies who ride? Double that number, very likely. As for health, it
is far healthier to walk than to ride, and better every way for the
people. When they get up in the morning, instead of wearying the women
with running through the long grass hunting the oxen, &c., they are
there in camp, and if they wish to do any walking, they can take hold
of their little handcarts and go on about their business. When they
come to sandy hills, it is then no doubt hard. (Voice, they can then
double teams.) Yes, they can easily double teams, for they are right
on hand all the time.

Vol. 4, p.103
The hand-carts look rather broken up, but if they had been made of
good seasoned timber, they would have come in as nice as when they
started with them. True, the brethren and sisters that came in with
hand-carts have eaten up their provisions, and some have hired their
clothing brought, and they had but little on their carts when they
came in.

Vol. 4, p.103
They also started with full loads, and I presume it was hard for them
at first, but they became inured to it. And yesterday I heard many of
them, and especially the women, observing to some of the sisters that
came to see them, while they were questioning them about their journey
across the Plains on foot, "that if we had the journey to perform
again, and had our choice, we would go on foot rather than go with
teams, and be plagued with oxen and wagons." Why, I will answer one
query, "We have not time to wait for oxen and wagons."

Vol. 4, p.103
The hand-cart companies that have come in, had a few strong teams with
them, well able to travel, but the companies had to wait every day for
these teams, and they hindred them exceedingly. If this is not so, let
brother Ellsworth correct me; this is [p.104] what I have heard some
of them say.

Vol. 4, p.104
They could have been here ten days ago, perhaps twelve, had it not
been for waiting for the teams. If persons have a journey to perform
and can get at railroad speed with hand-carts, it is better than to
drag along with ox teams.

Vol. 4, p.104
This is the subject I have on my mind, and I presume the people feel
as I do; it is an interesting subject, an interesting event in our
history as a people. There is nothing that can be brought before the
Latter-day Saints of deeper interest than to know how they can be
gathered together, without so great an expense as has hitherto
attended the gathering.

Vol. 4, p.104
We know that our sorrows and our cares in this particular are
measurably at an end if we can avoid buying teams and expensive
outfits to bring the people here. We have now proved that they can
come pretty much by themselves, working their way along and drawing
their own provisions, and also their little ones, and the maimed, and
old, and blind. If any way can be opened for the gathering together of
the poor, it takes off a great burden and labor from the body of the
people.

Vol. 4, p.104
It is an interesting subject, and my feelings are precisely as they
have been all the time. I have believed, and I believe to-day, that I
can take my own family, my women and children, across those Plains,
asking no odds of any team in the world, only what we make ourselves;
and I believe I could beat any ox train at it. I have always believed
it, I believe it to-day. I presume my family would feel, as others
feel, that it is a hard task, a great trial; who can bear such great
afflictions? to have to walk a thousand miles? Those who get into the
Celestial Kingdom will count this a very light task in the end, and if
they have to walk thousands of miles, they will feel themselves happy
for the privilege, that they may know how to enjoy celestial glory.

Vol. 4, p.104
I recollect that in my young days, before I made any profession of
religion, when people were disposed to call me an infidel (though they
did not know what infidelity was) because I did not believe in the
sectarian religion, I could not see any utility in it, any further
than a moral character was concerned, yet I believed the Bible. I felt
in those days, after I had made a profession of religion, that if I
could see the face of a Prophet, such as had lived on the earth in
former times, a man that had revelations, to whom the heavens were
opened, who knew God and His character, I would freely circumscribe
the earth on my hands and knees; I thought that there was no hardship
but what I would undergo, if I could see one person that knew what God
is and where He is, what was His character, and what eternity was; and
I presume that the people feel with regard to relligion, to the
doctrine of the Gospel, partially, if not altogether, as I did. They
are very anxious to know the ways of life, they want to know the ways
of God; they want to become acquainted with His character, to know who
He is and what He is. They want to understand just as they are
directed to understand in the New Testament, and said to be the words
of the Savior, "this is eternal life, to know the only living and true
God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent." To know that God, and to
know Jesus, the people who wish to do right are willing to undergo
anything. Those that gather here, if they will do the best they know,
will know God, and Jesus whom He has sent, and be as familiar with Him
as they can be with any character whose face they see not; they can
know His character and understand His ways.

Vol. 4, p.105
I shall now give way, and call upon [p.105] brother Ellsworth to
address you; and if any of the other brethren who have been called
upon to come to the stand, are in the congregation, they will please
come forward, for it is of great interest to me, to learn something of
the travels of our brethren and sisters.

Heber C. Kimball, September 28, 1856

Emigration—The Saints Warned to Repent or
 Judgments Will Come Upon Them

A Discourse, by President H. C. Kimball, Delivered in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Semptember 28, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.105
I feel very thankful to my Father and my God in regard to the two
hand-cart companies that have just come in, led by brothers Ellsworth
and McArthur.

Vol. 4, p.105
I went out with brother Brigham to meet those companies, and when
within a mile and a half of the foot of the Little Mountain we left
the company that was with us, and drove on until we met Captain
Ellsworth's company. I did not shed any tears, though I could have
done so, but they would have been tears of joy; my heart was so full
that it was impossible for a tear to pass it; that is the way I felt.
Why did I have those feelings? Was it because the company were on
foot, dusty, and pulling hand-carts? No, for I was aware that they had
come into these valleys easier than most, if not all, other companies.
Their task was light in comparison with that of the pioneers in 1847,
for they had to build bridges, cross deep and wide rivers upon rafts,
and make hundreds of miles of road, digging up and throwing out stones
and cutting down trees and thick brush.

Vol. 4, p.105
Brother Mills mentioned in his song, that crossing the Plains with
hand-carts was one of the greatest events that ever transpired in this
Church. I will admit that it is an important event, successfully
testing another method for gathering Israel, but its importance is
small in comparison with the visitation of the angel of God to the
Prophet Joseph, and with the reception of the sacred records from the
hand of Moroni at the hill Cumorah.

Vol. 4, p.105
How does it compare with the vision that Joseph and others had, when
they went into a cave in the hill Cumorah, and saw more records than
ten men could carry? There were books piled up on tables, book upon
book. Those records this people will yet have, if they accept of the
Book of Mormon and observe its precepts, and keep the commandments.

Vol. 4, p.105
Again, how does it contrast with Joseph's being sent forth with his
brethren to search out a location in Jackson County, where the New
Jerusalem will be built, where our Father and our God planted the
first garden on this earth, and where the New Jerusalem will come to
when it comes down from heaven?

Vol. 4, p.106
I mention these few things by way [p.106] of contrast with the
hand-cart operation; they are events that I have heard Joseph speak
of, time and time again.

Vol. 4, p.106
There will not one soul of you go to build up that holy city in
Jackson County until you learn to keep the commandments of God, and
listen to the counsel of brother Brigham and his counselors, of the
Twelve Apostles, of the Bishops, and of every officer in the Church of
God; until you are willing to keep what we call the celestial law.

Vol. 4, p.106
What is the celestial law? A great many of you think that you have not
come to it, but the fundamental principles of "Mormonism," faith in
Jesus Christ, repentance for sins, and baptism for their remission.
which is the door into the kingdom of God, are the first letters of
the alphabet of the celestial law; and if you turn away from those
principles, you turn away from everything that your salvation depends
upon.

Vol. 4, p.106
There is a reformation proposed; it has already commenced in the
north, and the people there are repenting, that is, they say they
repent; and many have gone forward and been baptized for the remission
of their sins.

Vol. 4, p.106
But, brethren and sisters, you may go forward and be baptized, and say
you repent, and receive the laying on of hands, and if you do not
repent and lay aside your wickedness, yea will go to hell. I tell you
that there is nothing that will turn away the wrath of God, and the
chastenings that are to come on this people, if they do not repent
indeed; now mark my words.

Vol. 4, p.106
There has been too much said here, by brother Brigham and his
brethren, to fall to the ground unnoticed, and you must observe every
word of it.

Vol. 4, p.106
I am very thankful that so many of the brethren have come in with
hand-carts; my soul rejoiced, my heart was filled and grew as big as a
two-bushel basket. Two companies have come through safe and sound. Is
this the end of it? No; there will be millions on millions that will
come much in the same way, only they will not have hand carts, for
they will take their bundles under their arms, and their children on
their backs, and under their arms, and flee; and Zion's people will
have to send out relief to them, for they will come when the judgments
come on the nations. And you will find that judgments will be more
sore upon this people, if they do not repent and lay aside their pride
and their animosities, their quarrelling and contentions, their
disputations among themselves.

Vol. 4, p.106
Those that have come in with the hand-carts may wonder how this can
be, for doubtless many of them thought that they were coming to where
it was all peace and harmony, and so remain for ever. So it would,
were it not for the wicked ones that come here. You who come with the
hand-carts have brought nobody here but yourselves, and probably, as
brother Ellsworth said, there are as good people among his company as
ever were on the earth, according to their knowledge; and then he said
there were some of the worst. I do not doubt it, for he never stopped
to select them, but he brought all that happened to be in the net, and
there were several kinds, I suppose.

Vol. 4, p.106
Any man or woman that has got the Spirit of the Lord, may know that
God is with those missionaries who have come in with these companies,
and they have made a character for themselves that will live for ever,
and they will live for ever; and God bless them for ever, and they
shall be blessed for ever. And when brother Brigham, and Heber, and
Jedediah, and the Twelve Apostles go through the straight gate into
the kingdom, they shall go with us.

Vol. 4, p.107
[p.107] Your face looks good to me, brother McArthur; I sat beside you
to-day, and it warmed my heart clear through. I have known him from
his boyhood, and so I have the others. And Joseph A. Young, and
William H. Kimball, they know nothing but "Mormonism;" they were born
in it. They could not fully discern the difference until they went on
a mission to the lower world, where they were under the necessity of
depending upon their God, and now they know that God lives, that
"Mormonism" is true, that Brigham Young is a Prophet of God, and that
Joseph Smith was a Prophet.

Vol. 4, p.107
No man or woman can have the spirit of Prophecy, and at the same time
do evil and speak against their brethren; and you will find that man
or that woman barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of God, and
filled with disputations.

Vol. 4, p.107
When you hear false statements from disaffected characters, do not
circulate them; do not send them back to England, France, &c., to
prevent those from coming here that otherwise would come. The Saints
will gather, and hand cart companies will become common; there will be
more of them than there will be of ox or mule trains.

Vol. 4, p.107
If brother Brigham should say to me, next spring, go back and bring up
a hand-cart company, I am ready to do so. I can do it with less
fatigue than the labour I perform every day of my life. Will twenty or
twenty-five miles daily travel excuse me? No. I am never still, never
idle, and I never expect to be, in heaven nor on earth.

Vol. 4, p.107
I have often told you that all my lazy baits were gone; and I have
often told the young Elders, to encourage them, that the first mission
I took, after I was ordained one of the Twelve, was through New
England and into Nova Scotia, 1500 miles travel on foot with my valise
on my back. Soon after I started I found tibet I was rather unlearned,
though I knew that before, but I knew it better after I started

Vol. 4, p.107
I began to study the Scriptures, as brother McArthur did, and I had so
little knowledge that the exercise of study began to swell my head and
open my pores insomuch that the hairs dropped out; and if you will let
your minds expand as mine did you will have no hair on your heads. I
expected to lose all my hair, and my head too; but I am alive and in
the house of Israel; and I expect to live to see this people prosper,
the house of Israel gathered, and scattered Israel connected with this
people; and we will bring about the purposes of God. My body may fail,
but my spirit will never die, nor will the spirit of any good
"Mormon." Let us "live our religion."

Vol. 4, p.107
I presume there were as many devils after those hand-cart companies as
ever followed any company of Saints that ever left the States, and
their object was to defeat them in this attempt, but they have not
been permitted to do it.

Vol. 4, p.107
The Elders that go forth and preach the Gospel will have to lead the
hand-cart companies over the Plains, and learn to go on foot, Am I not
glad? Yes, I rejoice exceedingly. I have prayed for those companies
night and day, and I never was more pleased to see any persons than I
was to see those brethren and sisters, and the Elders that have
brought them here. I baptized several of them eighteen years ago in
Chatburn and Downham, England, and I thank God that they have come
here. It proves that they were good Saints, to stand so long in that
wicked country, and sustain "Mormonism" eighteen or nineteen years.

Vol. 4, p.108
In Tithe-barn I stood upon a barrel and preached, and a woman came and
[p.108] took hold of my coat; I said, "What is wanted, lady?" "I want
to be baptized." I jumped from the barrel and baptized twenty-five
persons, some of whom are here. That was nineteen years ago, when
"Mormonism" was introduced into that nation; I went over about the
time when the Church was broken up in Kirtland, and when there were
not twenty persons on the earth that would declare that Joseph Smith
was a Prophet of God.

Vol. 4, p.108
When we returned from England, we could report from two thousand to
twenty-five hundred Saints added to the Church, after being away about
eleven months. When we got back the Church was all driven from Ohio,
and we went to Missouri. I arrived there in time to be sick three
weeks; and then the mob prevailed and we were driven out.

Vol. 4, p.108
And as fast as we could get well and get out of a place, I was taken
sick and driven again. That is the way I have been kept going, and I
expect to be kept going in that way, if this people do not do right
and keep the commandments of God.

Vol. 4, p.108
"Live your religion," keep the commandments of God, listen to the
servants of God, and you will stand for ever, and the world cannot
trouble you.

Vol. 4, p.108
Last Sabbath I referred to the conduct of the ancient inhabitants of
this continent, and the dealings of the Lord with them; and it is the
only way in which those who profess to be the people of God are kept
humble. When they prospered in riches they were lifted up, and God
sent famine and pestilence among them, and sickness and death, until
He pretty much destroyed the nation, until they humbled themselves;
and I wish to apply that experience to this people, and they will feel
it if they do not repent.

Vol. 4, p.108
Your ears may hear my words, but do my words enter your hearts? Will
you repent sincerely before God? If you will we never will be
afflicted, no, never. I do not know of any way for this people to
appreciate their blessings, only by affliction and by being brought
into sorrow. And if you do not repent, the little we saw night before
last, when the hand-cart train came in, will be no comparison to the
straitened circumstances you will be brought into; and people will
look upon us and weep to see the suffering and affliction that we will
be brought into.

Vol. 4, p.108
Many of this people have broken their covenants by speaking evil of
one another, by speaking against the servants of God, and by finding
fault with the plurality of wives and trying to sink it out of
existence. But you cannot do that, for God will cut you off and raise
up another people that will carry out His purposes in righteousness,
unless you walk up to the line of your duty. On the on, hand there is
glory and exaltation; and on the other no tongue can express the
suffering and affliction this people will pass through, if they do not
repent.

Vol. 4, p.108
Brother Brigham is placed here, and he has chosen men to stand by him,
holding the keys of life and salvation to this people; and we shall
bear off the kingdom, even though there be but few that will stick to
us. They cannot be shaken, for God says everything that can be shaken
shall be shaken, and that which cannot be shaken shall remain.

Vol. 4, p.108
Scores will shake, and the earth will be caused to shake, and the
thunders will roll and the lightnings flash, and the desolation of
famine and pestilence awaits the world and its inhabitants.

Vol. 4, p.108
How many times I have told you to take care of your grain and not
waste it, for before another harvest many of you will see such times
as you did the past  season. Some do [p.109] not believe this, but a
great many do, and they are laying up their grain. Much wheat has
already been sold here, by those who were begging last year, for a
dollar a bushel, and from that to a dollar and a quarter, and a dollar
and a half. I had grain enough, last spring, to have sustained my
family and lasted me another year, though it takes over a thousand
bushels to feed my family one year; but I have fed it all out, and now
I have not over two hundred bushels, and I shall have to buy eight
hundred more to feed my family till another harvest.

Vol. 4, p.109
I am going to live my religion; and if need be I will sell my
furniture, my beds and bedding, and everything I have, for grain. I
look for hard times, and this year is not going to end them.

Vol. 4, p.109
There are from eight to ten thousand people coming here this year, and
scarcely a man in all the valleys of the mountains has any old wheat;
nearly all had to commence consuming the present crops; just look at
it, and reflect.

Vol. 4, p.109
I have not stopped rationing my family to half a pound a day, and do
not mean to this year: though I would have added a little more to it
if they had needed it, but they do not. Many are wasting their grain,
and feeding it to their horses and cattle; and others are lavish with
it. Do not lay out your means, your wheat, and your substance, for
that which profiteth nothing, for ribbons, gewgaws, jewelery,
artificials.

Vol. 4, p.109
For God's sake cease this course: for your own sake, for my sake, and
for Christ's sake, let us go to work and make our own shoes from our
own leather, and make and produce all we need, and use it wisely.

Vol. 4, p.109
If I would suffer it, I should have to lay out $500 yearly for morocco
shoes and bootees at from three to five dollars a pair, for the women
could not wash without putting on a pair of fine shoes. How many times
have I told you these things? And brother Brigham has told you. They
are on my mind all the time, and I cannot get them off, but I must
keep telling you until my mission is complete; I cannot help it. I
foresee the consequences of an unwise course, as plainly as I see your
faces to day.

Vol. 4, p.109
Let the men who are on the Public Works, if they get a pound of bread
stuff a day, lay up one third of it; I tell the men who are laboring
for me to lay up their flour for a rainy day. Why? Because when I get
my grainery full, I do not want to deal it out to you; for harder
times are coming by and bye, and there is going to be an awful famine.
And if we do right, we shall take a course to lay up our surplus
grain, and labor to cultivate the earth six years, and let it rest
during the seventh. Brother Brigham taught us that when we first came
into these valleys, and brother Woodruff has his prediction written,
and by and bye it will come out in the History.

Vol. 4, p.109
I want you to repent and lay up wheat, corn, and everything else you
save. I have handed out bread to some of the most industrious and
saving people, until I have handed out every ounce, and had to borrow
for six weeks. Why did I do it? That I might answer a good conscience
before God and man, and not come under condemnation. Will I do it
another year? If I do, you shalt pay for it. Why? Because it will not
answer for us to be dillatory and neglect our duties, when the
servants of God are teaching us from Sabbath to Sabbath, and from day
to day.

Vol. 4, p.109
I hope that the Bishops will step forth and get places for those who
have just come in; and I hope that the people will employ them, and
not let them lay in their tents, for if they stay there idle they will
become sick; [p.110] but if you set them to work they will not be
sick.

Vol. 4, p.110
I will not tell you to do a thing that I will not do myself. I have
spoken to a man that brother Ellsworth gave me an introduction to, and
to his wife and child, and to his wife's mother, who is seventy-six
years of age, and I am going to provide them a home and set them to
work. I told the man that he need not make any calculation on
receiving wages, for if I took care of them all, I thought I should
have plenty to do to feed them and make them comfortable through the
winter; for the winter is at hand, and it probably will be a hard one.
I will use them as well as I was used when I was in England. I spent
seven months in London, and established a Church there, brother
Woodruff was with me, and did not do it with their purse and scrip.
That is now a great Conference; it is the greatest Conference in the
world, except this. Listen to what you hear, and tell your neighbors
of it; and when it comes spring, do not have it to say that you are
without bread. When you get your full rations, save one third of them.
I feel for this people; my heart is good towards them; I feel kind and
generous, and I do all that I can to do them good. But I cannot do
everything, and set everybody to work. Every one of you extend the
hand of kindness and benevolence to those that have come with the
hand-carts. They have shown their faith by their works, and it made
the tears come out of your eyes to see them, and God bless them for
ever and ever; and I pray that not one of them may ever deny the
faith. And I bless every one of you, and every thing that is within
the pale of the kingdom of God; and I curse every thing that seeks to
pull this people down and destroy them; I say, may the curse of God
descend upon them, that they may go down and become powerless; and
those that speak well of, and administer to Zion, they shall be
blessed forever, and no enemy shall prevail against them from this
time, henceforth and for ever, and all who are in favour of this say
amen. [All the congregation said amen.] [p.111]

Brigham Young, November 9, 1856

The Emigrating Saints Were Prompted By Tile Spirit of God

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
 Great Salt Lake City, November 9, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.111
I wish to say to the brethren, as many as are here to-day, who have
come across the Plains with the hand-carts, that I feel to bless you,
and you may be sure that you have my best feelings all the time.

Vol. 4, p.111
While brother Ellsworth was speaking about the Spirit, and the spirits
that were around them, the spirit that he seemed to have to contend
with, and the spirit that the people had to contend with, I wanted to
tell one secret. While those brethren and sisters were faltering, and
did not know whether to stop or go along, there was faith in this
valley that bound them to that journey and they were obliged to
perform it, they could not help performing it. Who had that faith? The
people here; and the Spirit of the Lord was all the time prompting
them, and the brethren who led them. They were, as many are now, they
were prompted to do as they did; they could not do anything else,
because God would not let them do anything else. The brethren and
sisters came across the Plains because they could not stay; that is
the secret of the movement. But let the devil have his will, and do
you suppose that any of them could have crossed the Plains? No, not a
person ever would have started. But they did start, and they performed
the journey.

Vol. 4, p.111
We are doing a great many things, and Joseph did a great many things,
because the Spirit of the Lord prompts us to do them, as it prompted
him. Joseph could not do anything else than what he did; it is the
same with us all the time. The Lord prompted the hand-cart companies
all the time, in the midst of their afflictions, to prepare for and
start upon their journey, and they only had faith and power for the
day, and on the morrow it seemed as though they certainly had to stop.
But when to-morrow came they had faith and power to perform the
journey of that day, and so they have been prompted day by day, to
this point.

Vol. 4, p.111
God is at the helm of this great ship, and that makes me feel good.
When I think about the world, and the enemies of the cause of God, I
care no more about them than I do for a parcel of musketoes. All hell
may howl, and they may run up and down the earth and seek whom they
may destroy, but they cannot move the faithful and pure in heart. Let
those apostatize who wish to, but God will save all who are determined
to be saved.

Vol. 4, p.111
Brethren and sisters, I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
[p.112]

Brigham Young, October 5, 1856

Discord at Meetings Rebuked—A Text for Speakers at the
 Conference—Subject for the People—A Call for Mules,
 Horses, Wagons, Teamsters, Flour, Etc.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, October 5, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.112
I wish the most strict attention of the entire congregation, for if
there is walking and talking within and around this bowery, a great
many will not be able to hear. And I request those who wish to talk
and whisper, to remove so far that they will not disturb the
congregation today, nor during the Conference, as the assembly,
undoubtedly, will be very large.

Vol. 4, p.112
If we could possibly build a bowery, or a tabernacle, that would bring
the people so near to us that we would not have to speak so loud, we
should certainly do it: but this we cannot do, for by the time that we
could build a tabernacle for seating fifteen thousand persons nearer
the speaker than are the outskirts of this congregation, the people
would have so increased, that we should just be as far from our object
as now.

Vol. 4, p.112
I shall require the people to be perfectly still, while they are here
and we are trying to speak to them. Let there be no talking,
whispering, nor shuffling of feet. It would be beneficial for mothers
who have small children here that will cry, to leave, the bowery, if
they cannot keep their children still. I make this suggestion, in
consequence of what has passed.

Vol. 4, p.112
I will say, in regard to the sisters who bring children here to make a
noise, they have never yet sufficiently thought, nor sufficiently
considered their own place in this world, nor the place of others, to
know that there is any other person living on the earth but
themselves; and they think, when they hear people tall, that it is a
noise through a dark veil. I cannot say much for the education, based
on good feeling, that such persons have. Were I to describe it in a
plain way, I should say that they are people of no breeding, that they
were never bred but came up; that is about as good a character as I
can afford to give to any mother that will keep a squalling child in a
meeting. I have never said to the congregation, look and see who they
are, for you may distinguish by your ears, without looking, the
mothers that have had good teaching and been brought up in a civilized
society.

Vol. 4, p.112
So it is with some men; and to the disgrace of some of our police, I
will state that in Conference times, and when we have unusually large
assemblies, they will converse right in the congregation, and just on
the outside, disturbing the meeting. I would that we had a police that
understood good breeding. If the police want to know how to manage to
keep order, notwithstanding I have frequently told them, I will now
tell them again. Instead of shouting "silence," go and touch the
unruly person.

Vol. 4, p.112
Were I a policeman I would follow a practice of my father's; it used
to be a word and a blow, with him, but the blow came first. I should
act upon that plan, when  persons are holding caucus meetings in or
about our congregations; and if they would not desist, I would rap
them hard  enough [p.113] for them to take the hint without my
speaking.

Vol. 4, p.113
I make these remarks, because I wish the brethren who will speak to
you to-day, the Elders who have lately returned, to be heard. Those
who speak in large assemblies understand that they often have to raise
their voices as though they were giving commands to a large army, but
we expect our Elders will speak as they have been in the habit of
doing. If they can raise their voices above the crying of children and
the talking and whispering of the people, so that all can hear, it
will be well; but this we cannot expect.

Vol. 4, p.113
To-morrow our semi-annual Conference commences, and I notice that many
have come in from a distance. We shall have large congregations during
the Conference, and we wish perfect order maintained.

Vol. 4, p.113
I will now give this people the subject and the text for the Elders
who may speak to-day and during the Conference, it is this, on the 5th
day of October, 1856, many of our brethren and sisters are on the
Plains with hand-carts, and probably many are now seven hundred miles
from this place, and they must be brought here, we must send
assistance to them. The text will be—to get them here! I want the
brethren who may speak to understand that their text is the people on
the Plains, and the subject matter for this community is to send for
them and bring them in before the winter sets in.

Vol. 4, p.113
That is my religion; that is the dictation of the Holy Ghost that I
possess, it is to save the people. We must bring them in from the
Plains, and when we get them here, we will try to keep the same spirit
that we have had, and teach them the way of life and salvation; tell
them how they can be saved, and how they can save their friends. This
is the salvation I am now seeking for, to save our brethren that would
be apt to perish, or suffer extremely, if we do not send them
assistance.

Vol. 4, p.113
I shall call upon the Bishops this day, I shall not wait until
to-morrow, nor until next day, for sixty good mule teams and twelve or
fifteen wagons. I do not want to send oxen, I want good horses and
mules. They are in this Territory, and we must have them; also twelve
tons of flour and forty good teamsters, besides those that drive the
teams. This is dividing my text into heads; first, forty good young
men who know how to drive teams, to take charge of the teams that are
now managed by men, women, and children who know nothing about driving
them; second, sixty or sixty-five good spans of mules, or horses, with
harness, whipple-trees, neck-yokes, stretchers, lead chains, &c.; and,
thirdly, twenty-four thousand pounds of flour, which we have on hand.

Vol. 4, p.113
I will repeat the division; forty extra teamsters is number one; sixty
spans of mules or horses is part of number two; twelve tons of flour,
and wagons to take it, is number three: and, fourthly, I will allow
the brethren to tell something about their missions, by way of
exhortation to wind up with.

Vol. 4, p.113
I will tell you all that your faith, religion, and profession of
religion, will never save one soul of you in the celestial kingdom of
our God, unless you carry out just such principles as I am now
teaching you. Go and bring in those people now on the Plains, and
attend strictly to those things which we call temporal, or temporal
duties, otherwise your faith will be in vain; the preaching you have
heard will be in vain to you, and you will sink to hell, unless you
attend to the things we tell you. Any man or woman can reason this out
in their own minds, without trouble. The Gospel has been already
preached to those brethren and sisters now on [p.114] the Plains; they
have believed and obeyed it, and are willing to do anything for
salvation; they are doing all they can do, and the Lord has done all
that is required of Him to do, and has given us power to bring them in
from the Plains, and teach them the further things of the kingdom of
God, and prepare them to enter into the celestial kingdom of their
Father. First and foremost is to secure our own salvation and do right
pertaining to ourselves, and then extend the hand of right to save
others.

Vol. 4, p.114
I have given you my text and the subject, and shall give way to the
brethren, and request close attention, and that there be no noise; for
I realize that men who go forth to preach are in the habit of speaking
to small congregations, in small halls, where all can hear without
much elevation of the voice. This cannot be done here, for we have to
shout, and exercise our lungs to the utmost, to make so many people
hear.

Vol. 4, p.114
I am satisfied that the prayer by brother Spencer was not heard by
one-third of the congregation this morning; a little moving of the
feet, a little whispering, the noise occasioned by mothers' trying to
keep their children still, a little noise of this kind and a little of
that, all tend to break the sound of the speaker's voice, and the
people cannot catch his words, and of course are not edified. May the
Lord bless us all. Amen.

Franklin D. Richards, October 5, 1856

The Hand-Cart Enterprise—Returning Missionaries—Exhortation
to the Saints to Rescue the Brethren and Sisters on the Plains, Etc.

A Discourse by Elder Franklin D. Richards, Delivered in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, October 5, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.114
My brethren and sisters in the Lord, I rejoice exceedingly in being
permitted to go to the nations of the earth to engage in the discharge
of duties laid upon me, and in geting back in safety to your midst. To
see how you have increased in numbers, and how you have extended
abroad, truly indicates that the work of the Lord is onward here, and
it is onward too in the old countries, where the Gospel has been
preached with success.

Vol. 4, p.114
I cannot take the time now to rehearse the varied circumstances and
incidents of my mission, for the main thing before us now is to help
in the brethren who are on the Plains. The subject of immigration by
hand-carts is one that will do to talk about; I have learned that by
experience in the little I have had to do with them; it will also do
to pray about, and it does a great deal better to lay hold of and work
at, and we find it to work admirably.

Vol. 4, p.114
We have not had much preaching to do to the people in the old
countries, to get them started out with hand-carts. There were fifteen
or twenty thousand waiting for the next year to roll around, that they
may be brought out by the arrangements of the P. E. F. company. Those
who had any objections to this mode of  [p.115] traveling we wanted to
wait, and see if the experiment would work well.

Vol. 4, p.115
The subject is popular in those countries, and the hardest part of my
talking was to find the means to bring out the many that were urgently
teasing me to let them come. When the first hand-cart company came in
it was a soul stirring time; banners were flying, bands of music
played, and the citizens turned out almost en masse to greet them. But
they will yet come with hand-carts by thousands, and when they get
here, they will be most likely to enjoy "Mormonism."

Vol. 4, p.115
This time we have not been preaching them easy and smooth things, for
we had heard of the hard times you have had in the valleys, and we
have invited them to come and share with you; and we have given them
to understand that in coming here they came to work out their
salvation.

Vol. 4, p.115
The Saints that are now on the Plains, about one thousand with
hand-carts, feel that it is late in the season, and they expect to get
cold fingers and toes, But they have this faith and confidence towards
God, that He will overrule the storms that may come in the season
thereof and turn them away, that their path may be, freed from
suffering more than they can bear.

Vol. 4, p.115
They have confidence to believe that this will be an open fall; and I
tell you, brethren and sisters, that every time we got to talking
about the hand-carts in England, and on the way, we could not talk
long without prophesying about them. On shipboard, at the points of
outfit, and on the Plains, every time we spoke we felt to prophesy
good concerning them. We started off the rear company from Florence
about the first of September, and the Gentiles came around with their
sympathy, and their nonsense, trying to decoy away the sisters,
telling them that it was too late in the season, that the journey
would be too much for their constitutions, and if they would wait
until next year, themselves would be going to California, and would
take them along more comfortably.

Vol. 4, p.115
When we had a meeting at Florence, we called upon the Saints to
express their faith to the people, and requested to know of them, even
if they knew that they should be swallowed up in storms, whether they
would stop or turn back. They voted, with loud acclamations, that they
would go on. Such confidence and joyful performance else arduous
labors to accomplish their gathering wilt bring the choice blessings
of God upon them.

Vol. 4, p.115
I would like to say a word to the sisters here, for they have a
tremendous influence sometimes. Let me say to some of those that came
out in the earlier years of our settlement in these valleys, you
thought the journey quite long enough, and that if it had been a week,
a fortnight, or a month longer, you did not know how you could have
endured it. Many of you came in wagons, bringing the comforts of life
with you in abundance.

Vol. 4, p.115
Sisters, think of those fatiguing times, and stir up your good men in
behalf of those who are footing it, and pulling hand-carts thirteen
hundred miles, instead of riding one thousand as you did. The aged,
the infirm and bowed down, and those who have been lame from their
birth, are coming along upon their crutches; and they think it is a
good job if they can walk the most of the way through the day, and
avoid riding all they can.

Vol. 4, p.115
Indeed persons of nearly all ages and conditions are coming. There are
also delicate ladies, these who have been brought up tenderly from
their youth, and used to going to school and teaching school, playing
music, &c.; but when they received the Gospel they had to bid good bye
to fathers, and mothers, [p.116] and were turned out of doors; that
taught them the first principles of gathering up to Zion. And the idea
that there was a place here that could be truly called home, inspired
them to go along, to the astonishment of their friends, and kindred,
and that of the Gentiles on the way. 

Vol. 4, p.116
When I think of the devilish doings of those abroad, I feel wroth in
my soul to see what the Saints have to put up with. The wicked found,
after trying their best, that they could not coax away even the most
tender and delicate from their toil of drawing their hand-carts, from
fifteen to twenty miles a day. The Saints are happy to perform this
labor, and make the welkin ring at night, when their day's toil is
over, with their songs of praise and rejoicings. I could but think of
the way Israel walked in olden times, when the Lord rained down manna
for bread, and they were not allowed to keep any till to-morrow, and
in that wilderness required of them to build a gorgeous tabernacle and
carry it on their shoulders.

Vol. 4, p.116
I have thought that the gathering of the honest in heart in these
latter times is much like that good old mode; and it must be good,
because it is in the Bible. The Gentiles found that they could not
turn away the good and the faithful, who are back in the bills pulling
their hand-carts.

Vol. 4, p.116
Many of those now back are poor, and had not enough to get away from
their homes with, and now they have scarcely a change of clothing. If
they can have some slices sent out to them, and a few blankets to make
them comfortable at night, and flour enough, with what beef they have
along, to make thorn a good meal in the morning, they will make those
hand-carts work powerfully. But if they are tender fooled through
going shoeless, and when they lay down at night, if they lay cold, it
will tend to retard their progress very much, however, good their
faith and resolution may be.

Vol. 4, p.116
I realize in talking to you, and applying to you for help to aid those
brethren and sisters, that it is as just, and worthy a cause as can he
espoused. I pray you, as you regard those on the Plains, as you wish
them to come and share with you the words of life and the ordinances
of the House of the Lord, and as you desire Zion to be strengthened,
and righteousness to to take the place of wickedness on the earth, to
arise up and bring those Saints in, for it is late in the season, and
ten to one they will have snow storms to encounter; though the Lord
will not let them suffer any more than they have grace to bear. It is
our highest privilege to do all we can to ameliorate the sufferings of
those brethren that are thus trying to work out their emigration.

Vol. 4, p.116
President Young wrote to me a year ago, stating that if I got his
letter I should have joy in carrying out his plans; I testify here
that I never entered into any measures that, filled up my soul with
joy, faith, and energy so much as this plan for gathering of the
honest poor. It was late when I began the work, but we could not get
at it any sooner. We have wrought with our might, and brother Daniel
Spencer has been a pillar of strength upon which the hopes of
thousands have rested securely. I rejoice exceedingly with him in the
excellent feelings that Iris own conscience and bosom inspires him
with when he remembers his labors.

Vol. 4, p.116
Brother Wheelock has been like an angel among the churches in the old
countries and they have been strengthened in the work we are called to
do. We did not stop to enquire whether the plan was a feasible one or
not, that was none of our business; and when the word said hand carts,
we understood it so.

Vol. 4, p.117
[p.117] Brothers Van Cott, Grant, Kimball, Webb, and others have
labored with all their mights this season. I assure you it has been by
some hard thinking, hard working, and doing the best we could unitedly
that we have accomplished what we have. But our souls cannot be
satisfied nor rest, until we feel assured that the brethren and
sisters now on the Plains are brought forward, and made as comfortable
as the circumstances of the case will admit of.

Vol. 4, p.117
Before leaving England, on the 26th of July, I had the pleasure of
welcoming brothers Pratt and Benson to that interesting and important
field of labor. We had a joyful Conference at Birmingham, and a
Council of the general authorities of the Church in those countries.
Those brethren expressed themselves very satisfactorily and
cheeringly, as to the condition in which they received the work at our
hands; they spoke with great energy and power. The fire of the Lord
was felt through that Conference, and will be felt in all the
Conferences through the Pastors and Presidents who were with us,
counseling on the condition of the work of the Lord in the European
missions. The cause of truth is progressing there as well as here.

Vol. 4, p.117
It gives me great joy, on returning, to see what an advancement there
is in the increased out-pouring of the Spirit of God upon this people.
Those that stay here continually cannot so abundantly realize and
appreciate this, as those can who go out into the world for a season
and return again.

Vol. 4, p.117
I feel thankful for the privilege of being with you to try to partake
of that Spirit, and improve with you in the work of reformation. I
realize every time I go out from you, that the works of darkness are
more consolidated and powerful against the cause of God on the earth,
hence the Saints need increasing strength and power. I feel joyful to
come back here, and feel the spirit and influences that are here.

Vol. 4, p.117
The brethren that abide here year after year, do not know the power
that is in them by the workings of the Holy Ghost, and the exercise of
the holy Priesthood; but when they get out in the field of battle,
where they have to contend against the adversaries of truth, then they
can realize the strength of the Lord upon them, they can realize that
He is with them, and makes their labors successful.

Vol. 4, p.117
It is, I believe, as comforting a thought as the human soul can enjoy,
to realize the worth of home, while abroad in the world. When you were
first called to receive the Gospel, many of you were at once alienated
from your homes and nearest kindred, and have never found a place
where you could feel at home, until you found it among the Saints.
This is the only home for the righteous on the earth, and blessed is
that Saint who can appreciate it, and enter into the righteousness and
power of it, and enjoy its benefits in their true light and spirit.

Vol. 4, p.117
I felt to-day that I could love to sit and drink in the Spirit's
gracious influences. I could feel, while on my way in from the Weber,
that there was a spirit here watching over the people, such as is not
to be found anywhere else on the face of the earth. It is nourishing
and cherishing to the servants of God, and the whole Church in these
mountains. How thankful we ought to be. The Lord has brought His Zion
here to strengthen her; to admonish, reprove, build up, and prepare
His Saints for the events that are coming. And I pray the Lord to give
us hearing ears and understanding hearts, that we may always have
ready hearts to do His will.

Vol. 4, p.117
In ten years past, last July, I have been sent to England on three
missions; and out of that ten years I [p.118] have been absent from
home something over seven. I have made a good many acquaintances and
friends in the old countries; I have labored with joy in my field of
labor, and God has blessed me. My heart has been, made glad, and I
have been enabled to bless others.

Vol. 4, p.118
During the last two years, we have sent out eight thousand Saints; and
nearly double that number have been added to the Church by baptism in
that country. I fear that I have almost become a stranger in Israel;
there are but few that I am acquainted with here, and it helps me to
appreciate the privilege of getting home, and of seeing brother
Brigham and Heber, and Jedediah, and the Saints in Zion.

Vol. 4, p.118
The Elders that go out to labor in the world, are from time to time
called upon to measure themselves, and they have labors and duties
laid upon them that no man can perform, except in the name of his God.
And it behoves every man and woman to strengthen themselves in the
name of their God continually, to have their armor on, and keep it
bright, as the President said to us last night; I do not intend to lay
it off.

Vol. 4, p.118
I thank God for the strength He has given me among the nations; I
praise His name for these good brethren that were with me. I never
labored with a company of brethren with more joy, satisfaction, and
good cheer; I mean these brethren who went with me, Joseph A. Young,
William H. Kimball, George D. Grant, and others. They have been like
the deer on the mountains to carry the expresses of the Saints, and to
render any and all kinds of help in hard times. They are men for whom
the Lord has much regard; and though their words might not come forth
in the same smooth shape as those of some men, yet they hit as hard
when they were called upon to chastize the wicked; and they also
comforted those that needed comfort.

Vol. 4, p.118
They took hold with me, shoulder-to-shoulder. I do not wish to take
much credit to myself, for what I have done has been accomplished in
the name of the Lord; my brethren out of the Office and in the Office
helping me to their utmost. I wonder and am astonished, when I think
of what the Lord has brought His people through in the last days. What
would have put another people under ground, they have surmounted by
the influence and power of the Eternal.

Vol. 4, p.118
Already we are a great people, there is hardly room for us, yet we are
but; as a drop of the bucket to the great work before us which has yet
to be done; and the more there is accomplished the more we see there
is to do, and doubtless it will keep on so, worlds without end.

Vol. 4, p.118
I want to grow up with the Church: it fills my heart with praise, and
melts me into contrition, when I think I am called upon to engage in
such a work. I wish to employ all my energies and influence,
everything I can control in its interests. I ask the Lord to lend me
the blessings and comforts of this life for the time being, and to
inspire me to use them to His glory, whether it be a family, or
earthly substance.

Vol. 4, p.118
It is one thing for a man to learn to live away from home, and to
preach the Gospel and magnify his calling there, and it is another
thing for a man to learn to live at home, and magnify his calling
here. I want to obtain grace, that I may magnify my calling at home
and away from home, and I desire the continuation of your confidence,
love and faith, that I may live and wisely improve upon that which is
not my own; that in the end I may receive the true riches.

Vol. 4, p.118
Concerning the hand-cart companies this year, it is an experiment. We
cannot yet tell you exactly what it costs to come through in that way;
but we know that it is  going to cost [p.119] those on the other side
of the mountains cold feet, and a great deal of affliction and sorrow,
unless we help them. The word to-day is, mules, wagons, flour, shoes,
and clothing. I entreat you, as you value yourselves, and the
interests of this people, do to those brethren and sisters that are
out on the Plains as you wish to be done by.

Vol. 4, p.119
Many of you have been permitted to live at home to enjoy the comforts
of life, and you have accumulated to yourselves wagons and teams, and
now is a time for you to do good with them. I feel to thank the Lord
my God; my heart is full of thanksgiving and praise to Him, for
blessings be stowed upon me and upon His people, while I have been
gone. When we were crossing the Plains, men, women, and children were
destroyed, but the Lord has preserved us, and permitted us to arrive
in time to attend Conference.

Vol. 4, p.119
May He ever help us to appreciate His goodness unto us, and thereby we
be led to do good unto others so long as we dwell on the earth, in the
name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Heber C. Kimball, October 5, 1856

God is Our Father; Joseph Smith His Representative
on the Earth; Brigham Young Joseph's Legal Successor.
—Call for Teams to Meet the Emigrants

Remarks by H. C. Kimball, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, October 5, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.119
There is a little matter of business I wish to lay before this
congregation this morning, and I do not know of anything that will
test the people only to lay before them their duty, which gives them a
chance to step forward and act therein.

Vol. 4, p.119
We have not as yet any durable location; we are merely probationers in
this present state, and we shall always be so, until we obtain a
permanent exaltation, by following in the footsteps of our God. He is
our Father and our God, and His Son Jesus Christ is our Savior, and
the Holy Ghost is to be our comforter, and will comfort all those who
will prepare their tabernacles as fit temples for him to dwell in.

Vol. 4, p.119
When the Holy Ghost dwells in us it will enable us to discern between
right and wrong, will show us things to come, and bring things to our
remembrance, and will make every one of this people prophets and
prophetesses of God.

Vol. 4, p.119
We have acknowledged brother Brigham to be our leader, and he holds
the keys of the kingdom of heaven here on the earth. Whether people
believe it or not, he is God's representative in the flesh, and is the
mouth-piece of God unto us.

Vol. 4, p.119
Brother Joseph Smith many a time said to brother Brigham and myself
and to others, that he was a representative of God to us, to teach and
direct us and reprove the wrong doers. He has past behind the veil,
but there never will a person in this dispensation enter into the
celestial glory without his approbation.

Vol. 4, p.120
[p.120] Brother Brigham is brother Joseph's rightful successor, and he
has his Counselors, and together they are an earthly pattern of the
divine order of government. Those men are God's agents, His servants,
and are witnesses of your covenants, which you will have to fulfil.
And what you do not fulfil in this year you will have to do in the
next; and what are not then fulfilled will have to be in some future
time.

Vol. 4, p.120
Some people think that, because they have passed through a great many
troubles, have been to the nations to preach the Gospel, and have been
robbed and plucked up several times, that will make an atonement for
their sins. What you have passed through has nothing to do with
atonement for sins. If you have sinned you have got to make an
atonement for that sin, and the trials you have passed through in
doing your duty are not the atonement. Trials are to test you, to
prove whether you will do those things that are right. Some try to
make out that their trials will answer as an atonement, but I tell you
that they will not. If you commit sin there must be an atonement to
satisfy the demands of justice, and then mercy claims you and saves
you. But, as brother Grant has said, many of our old men think,
because they were in the Church in the first beginning, that they can
now lay upon their oars, that is, that they can sit down in the ship
and not use the oars any more. But God requires every man and woman to
be faithful; and if they have sinned, they have got to make an
atonement for that sin, and your trials do not make that atonement.

Vol. 4, p.120
God says that we shall be tried in all things, even as was Abraham of
old. He was called upon to offer up, his son, and was found willing to
offer him up, but, as the sin was not sufficient to require the
shedding of his son's blood, a lamb was provided, and its blood atoned
for the sin that Abraham's son was to be offered up for, and saved the
son.

Vol. 4, p.120
If you are ever saved, you have got to take a course to draw near to
the throne of God; and how can you draw near to the throne of God,
except you draw near to those men who are placed as His
representatives in the flesh? The same principles, the same order, the
same Priesthood, the same gifts, and the same powers are instituted,
established and organized in our day as they were in the days of
Jesus, and all the reason that people do not see it is because of
their traditions; the veil of darkness is over their minds, and they
cannot see it.

Vol. 4, p.120
With all the instructions that are given to you by brother Brigham,
brother Heber, and brother Jedediah, many of you will go home and find
fault with them; and you will have your contentions and your
animosities, when you should take a course to sustain their words, for
you cannot sustain them without sustaining their words, nor can you
serve God and slight their counsels. If you expect the favor of God,
favor His servants and sustain them. This is plain doctrine, and you
will find it so, and I am not ashamed to teach it to you.

Vol. 4, p.120
When brother Brigham points out a course, it is for this people to
rise up and go to and carry out His purposes with their might; and
until that is done this kingdom never will prosper as it should,
worlds without end.

Vol. 4, p.120
Now I will come to the business, and tell you what is wanted. Our
brethren and sisters are on the Plains with their hand-carts, and
there is snow on the ground, and many are bare-footed, and destitute
of comfortable clothing, and we want some men and teams to fix up this
day, and be ready to start for them to-morrow. [p.121] We want horse
and mule teams, if they can be had; but if they cannot, we want ox
teams.

Vol. 4, p.121
We do not wish you to take out loads, though it will be well to put in
a couple or' hundred pounds or so of forage, grain, &c., to two span
of mules or horses, or to two yoke of cattle, with a light wagon, and
go speedily and take those people into your wagons and bring them
here, doing as you would wish to be done by in the same circumstances.

Vol. 4, p.121
Would not all of you, if you were out on the Plains, say that if you
were the good people in the valleys you would go out and help them in?
Would you not all feel so? But you are not there, and you do not fully
realize their feelings.

Vol. 4, p.121
Now manifest your faith by your works. You will not, probably, have to
go any further than Fort Bridger before you meet some of them, and you
can go and return in a week, or may be in two weeks, and may be in
twenty days.

Vol. 4, p.121
"O, dear," says one, "I have not got up my winter's wood." Well, you
will not get it up by staying here, but if you will help in those on
the Plains and do all other things that you are required to do, God
will give us a summer all winter; and if you do not do so, He will
give us winter all summer.

Vol. 4, p.121
Our God can change the seasons and drive away the storms, the tempest
and the snows, to favor this people, if they will do right; and if you
wish to be favored of God, favor us and this people; favor your
brethren, and do as you are told.

Vol. 4, p.121
Brother Dan Jones has been talking to you about the clay in the hands
of the potter. If you get hold of a lump of clay that is snappish and
wilful, and not willing that you should twist it into any shape or
form, what is the use of working it? You throw it back into the mill
and let it be ground again, and then take it out and make of it a
vessel unto honor.

Vol. 4, p.121
Perhaps some do not really believe that when a man is thrown back into
the mill, or goes into the spirit world, that he ever will be
redeemed, but he will, if he has not sinned against the Holy Ghost. He
will be ground and worked up until he becomes passive, and then God,
through His servants, will redeem him, and make him a vessel unto
honor.

Vol. 4, p.121
A great many will go to hell, and the very men that are preaching to
you now will visit you and offer you salvation, after you have laid
there, perhaps, thousands of years, for you must stay in the mill
until you are passive and obedient.

Vol. 4, p.121
Jeremiah, at the command of God, went to the potter's house where the
potter was molding the clay, and when he went to turn it on the wheel
it was refractory and rebellious; and he worked at it and sweat over
it, but after all it was rebellious, and fell down on the wheel.

Vol. 4, p.121
What did he do then? He cut it off from the wheel and threw it back
into the mill, and after he had ground it awhile, he took it out and
made of it a vessel unto honor; so of the same lump he made a vessel
unto dishonor, and one unto honor.

Vol. 4, p.121
Did the potter make it dishonorable? No, the vessel made itself unto
dishonor; and the next time it; was pliable and passive, and the
potter made of it a vessel unto honor, because it was honorable and
submissive.

Vol. 4, p.121
I wished to make these few remarks, because they touch upon things
that are on my mind all the time. And if you wish to be Saints, for
God's sake be Saints, and if you wish to be devils, be devils, and get
out of this place; and let those that will be Saints, be Saints; and
let them commune together and carry out the purpose of God.

Vol. 4, p.122
I would rather have three hundred [p.122] men and women that are
perfectly amenable to the authorities of this Church, than a numerous
people that are rebellious; and I could do more to bring about the
purposes of God, and do it ten times quicker, with a few faithful
persons, than with hosts of the wicked.

Vol. 4, p.122
You know this, every one of you. I can accomplish more work with one
man that is amenable to me, and will do as I tell him, than I can with
twenty who are disobedient; so I can with one woman. I had rather have
one woman that is humble, than twenty that are not; and she is more
honor and glory, and happiness and heaven to a man, than twenty
disobedient ones.

Vol. 4, p.122
You that hare but one wife know this pretty well but we who have
scores, know it better; we are further advanced in the experience of
this life.

Vol. 4, p.122
Now, brethren, what do you say? This is the word of the Lord to us,
that we rise up and gather up our teams and start forthwith, not with
loads, except feed; take hay and deposit it in different places, so
that you can have some when you come back, and bring in those brethren
and sisters, and you will have a pleasant time, and God and His angels
will go with you, and you will be prospered, upheld, and sustained.

Vol. 4, p.122
That man that drops down his head under his wife's arm, and says, "I
guess they don't see me;" and that wife that says, "O, my husband, I
cannot spare you, I cannot sleep alone, for when night comes I shall
get cold ;" O, the poor little things.

Vol. 4, p.122
I say that those who will take counsel and prepare themselves to go,
back on this mission shall be blest; and if a man has but one yoke of
cattle, let him put that on with those of some other person.

Vol. 4, p.122
I now want every man that will actually go and help, and not say he
will go, and not go, to rise up.

Vol. 4, p.122
[One hundred and fourteen teams were volunteered, and reported ready
to start forthwith.]

Jedediah M. Grant, October 26, 1856

Those Who Are in Darkness Cannot Discern the Light—
Exhortations to Male and Female to Seek After the Light
 of the Holy Ghost—Women Who Leave Their Husbands, Etc.

A Discourse, Delivered by J. M. Grant, in the Tabernacle,
 Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, October 26, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.122
While the sacrament is passing, I will occupy a short time, for I wish
to bear my testimony to the truth of what we heard in the fore part of
the day. It is not for want of truths or testimonies that the people
are careless, but it is for the lack, on their part, of living up to
the truths and testimonies they hear.

Vol. 4, p.122
We have, in the revelations of God and in the teachings of the
servants of God, a great variety of truths, but [p.123] those truths
are not specially in force and brought to bear upon our minds, and to
be carried out in our practice, until we are fully impressed by that
gift of the Lord God, which we call the Holy Ghost.

Vol. 4, p.123
When the Spirit of the Lord rests upon a community, they naturally are
inclined to feel after the Lord their God, and they are inclined unto
righteousness, and they like the influence of that Spirit which leads
into all truth; it is sweet and very delicious to them. But when
darkness beclouds the people in consequence of their transgressions,
they have but little relish for the things of God; they relish every
thing else but the things which pertain to the kingdom of God on the
earth, and the kingdom of God hereafter. They cannot enjoy the Gospel
as do those who are not in the dark, for those who are in the light
can appreciate the light they are in the enjoyment of.

Vol. 4, p.123
But while people are in the dark, they do not see the light; their
deeds are not made manifest, for it is the light that maketh manifest.
If a room be dark, the objects in that room are not discernible, but
when light breaks into the room, the objects therein can be plainly
seen.

Vol. 4, p.123
We may say the same of the people of God; when they are in the dark,
no difference how much light they may have had, if they pass from the
light into the dark, they may remember that they once saw the light,
they do not enjoy the light because they, have passed from light into
darkness, and they do not discern the objects in themselves. They
gradually are sliding from the law of God, or from the Church of God,
and do not discover where they are going or what from, from the fact
that they are in the dark, they cannot see.

Vol. 4, p.123
But when the light comes they discover that they are about falling
from a precipice, about plunging into ruin, about going to
destruction; the light makes this manifest, and they see their
situation.

Vol. 4, p.123
I have no idea that chastisement from this stand will increase the
darkness, or aggravate the transgression. of the people; but if light
breaks forth from any source and reflects upon the people, they then
see the motes, the beams, and the dross in, themselves. While the
light makes manifest, the Spirit of God reveals the secrets of the
heart, and makes manifest those dark spots that exist; among the
Saints of God.

Vol. 4, p.123
Some suppose that they can pass by the Priesthood of God on the earth,
and very lightly esteem the men who hold it. They think it is not
material about offending the Bishops or the presiding Elders, or the
councils that preside over them, and no difference, specially, about
brother Brigham, "he is only brother Brigham, no difference about
giving offence to him, or in associating with him."

Vol. 4, p.123
"We are conscious," says one, "that we have offended him and many of
the Councils of the Church, but notwithstanding this, we will go to
God and ask Him, in the name of Jesus Christ, to forgive us, and we
will make it all right between us and our God; and if we can only keep
the stream pure between us and our God, no difference whether the
water is dark and turbid between us and His servants, or not. We can
get the Spirit of God for ourselves, and the blessings we want we will
ask God for, no difference about offending His Servants."

Vol. 4, p.123
A great many people actually suppose that they can treat with impunity
the authority of God, and the light of God, the chain that the
Almighty has, let down from heaven to earth, which we call the
Priesthood; that they can break and insult that chain and trifle
therewith, as much as they please. and when they please,  that they
can abuse Jehovah in His power and [p.124] attributes. I reason in a
different circle, or upon a different principle; I have practised a
different principle. When I offend one of God's servants, I consider
it my duty to atone, to make reconciliation for my offence, no matter
whether he be above or below in this Church, as the term is used; no
matter whether it be President Brigham Young or my teacher, I have
erred in either case.

Vol. 4, p.124
A great many say, "If I can only keep the stream clear between me and
the heads of the Church, that is all I want or care for."

Vol. 4, p.124
A High Priest in the road the other day, a talented man, an important
man, said, "If he could only keep the stream clear between himself and
the heads of the Church, that he would consider that he was all
right." I said to him, if you act upon that principle, in the same
sense you have thrown it out to me, it will send you across lots to
hell. The spirit of the principle to me was, that it did not matter
about offending persons below him, or injuring different individuals
in the Church, such as Elders, Priests, Teachers, Deacons, and
Members, if he could only keep the stream pure between him and the
First Presidency.

Vol. 4, p.124
This idea a great many people entertain; they can offend their
Bishops, or the Bishop's Counsellors, and the Teachers, and they can
offend the President of a Branch of the Church, the President over the
High Priests' Quorum, and the President over the High Council, and
they can offend all the Church, so they can only have the good graces
of brother Brigham and his Council, that is enough for them.

Vol. 4, p.124
That is actually the idea of some people. Such doctrine as that, with
me, is the height of nonsense. You have not their good graces, only as
you treat every person right. If you are dishonest with one of those
poor benighted Indians, you foul the water between me and you, and God
Almighty will not give me power to bless you, until you rectify that
wrong with that poor Indian, or with the least person on the footstool
of God. And you should not pass by your Bishop and insult him, if you
do, you will forfeit your claim to the throne of God in heaven, until
you make reconciliation to that Bishop, or to any other person you
have injured; and then it is time enough for you to bring your
offerings, and they will be accepted in the sight of God, and in the
sight of His servants.

Vol. 4, p.124
We exist here in an organized Branch of the Church, we have several
councils, quorums, and organizations. We were called upon during the
last Conference, to elect a President of this Stake of Zion; Daniel
Spencer and his two Counsellors, Elders Fullmer and Rhodes, preside
over this Stake. Now suppose they know that the Bishop of some ward,
or one of his Counsellors, is teaching an erroneous doctrine, it is
the duty of Daniel Spencer to send for that Bishop, or that
Counsellor, or instruct some one in that ward to rectify that people.

Vol. 4, p.124
The Presidency of this Branch of the Church should go to work and
learn whether every quorum in this Branch is doing its duty. The First
Presidency, by their sanction, have ceded the local Branch of this
Church in Great Salt Lake City, to Daniel Spencer and his Council, and
he should understand whether the first, second, third, fourth, fifth,
sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth,
fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth,
and twentieth wards are in order; and if his jurisdiction extends
beyond the city, he should ascertain whether every man is doing right
within the bounds of that  jurisdiction. And he ought to come up to
the First President of the Church, and consider himself one of his
Council, and report the situation [p.125] of the different wards; and
he ought to have a hook containing full and correct reports from every
Bishop of the different wards, that when the First President of the
Church shall say, brother Spencer, in what condition is this or that
Branch of the Church, he may be able at once to give a truthful
report. He ought to know all about the High Priests, their number, and
the number of the Seventies; where they meet, and what they are about.
His eve ought to be through the city like the eye of God, to search
the people over whom he is made President: and he ought to know that
his Counsellors are alive and active in the discharge of their duty. I
do not know whether he can report so now or not, but I very much doubt
whether he can.

Vol. 4, p.125
Brother Spencer should come to the First President of the Church and
not consider that he is intruding, for he is rightly connected with
him. Can a man be intruding when he does those things he has a right
to do, and which pertain to his duty? No. Neither can he be intruding
by reporting to the first President of the Church.

Vol. 4, p.125
The presiding Bishop belongs to the First Presidency of this Church,
and he ought to know about the situation of each ward, and not merely
talk about the people's paying their tithing, for there has been too
much mere talking about it already. I would ask, have the people in
this city paid their tithing? I sincerely doubt whether one fourth or
even one eighth, have paid it. It is the duty of the Bishop not only
to sound his trump outside this city, but in this city, and learn what
persons are deficent in this point, and not cease with merely talking
about it. Talking so much and not doing is one of the grand evils; it
is not for the Bishop to merely talk about the people's paying their
tithing, and say that they are good fellows, &c., but we want him to
know that the people pay their tithing, and that they are right; and
then come to the First President of the Church and tell him those
facts, reporting faithfully the situation of all the Bishops in the
Church, and how they stand in their accounts with the General Tithing
Office; and let him gather all the pile together.

Vol. 4, p.125
If Bishop Hunter waits until the roads are muddy, he may expect to
meet with drawbacks and losses, the bins are now as full as they will
be. Strike while the iron is hot, is the, old adage; but my adage is,
strike while the roads are good, and while there is grain.

Vol. 4, p.125
If you wait until after cold weather comes, after the mud comes, and
after the people come in hungry, the bins where the wheat is now may
be like they were with brother Browning; be had several hundred
bushels of tithing wheat, and when we sent for it, there were
somewhere about forty or fifty bushels; it had wasted; the cats, the
goats, the ducks, the rats, the mice, the geese, and the ganders all
were at work in those bins.

Vol. 4, p.125
I want the Bishop to understand that we want the tithing brought to
the store-house of God, while it can be brought without delay; not
merely to talk about it, but we want the work performed. I tell you
that the people in this city do not wall; up to their duty on the
subject of tithing.

Vol. 4, p.125
Members of the quorum of the Twelve, when at home, ought to be right
about the First President of the Church with the power of God that is
in them, and communicate some of that light to brother Brigham to
comfort him. Do you expect brother Brigham to put fire into the whole
of this people, and no man on earth put fire in him and bless him, and
give him instruction and information? Must he impart and teach,
[p.126] and teach, and no man tell him anything?

Vol. 4, p.126
We have missionaries who go out to different parts of this Territory,
and over the earth, gaining experience and information, but can we get
them up here to tell us one single thing they know? No, unless you
take them by the back of the neck, and the seat of their pantaloons
and haul them in sight, making them squeal like a "possum car," before
you can get anything out of them.

Vol. 4, p.126
We want you to impart what you know, if you have the light of God, or
any information about heaven, earth, or hell. We want yea to furnish
your share to the fund of information, and not cry, all the day long,
give, give, give, without imparting anything to the giver. We want the
Twelve, when they are full of the Holy Ghost, to come up and bless us.
And if any of you know how to make a good goose yoke, a hog yoke, a
good jackknife, or anything else that is valuable, do not put your
hands on your mouths and cry mum.

Vol. 4, p.126
If you know how to raise wheat, potatoes, or anything else, impart
your knowledge, that the light in you may not be hid under a bushel.
It is so with almost every person in the Church; if they have light
they keep it under a bed, or under a bushel they keep it locked up
within their bosoms, and we cannot get it out.

Vol. 4, p.126
If a man knows anything valuable, we want him to impart his knowledge.
We want the President of the Seventies, brother Joseph Young, about
us; we do not want him to go on the hill where Lorenzo lived, but we
want him to live in the city near brother Brigham, because, if he does
not, he will die. Some of brother Joseph's Council want to wander off,
saying that brother Brigham says they may go. Why; Because they want
to. If the light of God was in them, and the gift of the Holy Ghost,
they would know that their place is at head quarters. We want such men
to come and be one with the Prophet, and believe and understand for
themselves.

Vol. 4, p.126
If you offend your brother, you have to make reconciliation. You might
as well baptize a dog, as baptize a man or woman who will not make
reconciliation for the offences they have committed. Some women will
say, "What is the difference, suppose I offend my husband, if I can
only lie to brother Brigham, and tell him a first-rate tale, and make
out that my husband is a poor curse? I will get as many blessings as I
want from brother Brigham, and from others that I can make believe
that I am a good woman."

Vol. 4, p.126
I may not have used their words exactly, but those words portray their
practices. That woman who offends her husband, if he has on him the
power of the Priesthood and does right, I would not give a groat for
all the blessings she will get from the Holy Ghost. You may as well
baptize a dog, or a skunk, as such a woman, until she makes
reconciliation with that man of God whom she has offended.

Vol. 4, p.126
I sometimes talk about the old stereotyped edition of "Mormons?" Is it
that I do not love our old fathers in Israel? No, for I know their
labors, toils, and anxiety, and I; love them; but many of them feet
that they have done enough. Men have to be rewarded according to their
works; if a man ceases to work, there is no more blessings for him. He
is lariatted out, as Orson Pratt lariatted out the Gods in his theory;
his circle is as far as the string extends. My God is not lariatted
out.

Vol. 4, p.126
I do not want the old men to grow dull. Was father Adam dull in his
old age, when he blessed his children, and predicted what would befall
them down to the  latest generation? Will [p.127] a man, fired up by
the fire of the Almighty, be dull? No. I do not want the old men to
think that they have done enough, but to exert themselves to the last,
and not to believe in a God that is lariatted out, nor be lariatted
out themselves, and say, "I have worked ten, fifteen, or twenty-five
years, and I do not want to work any more, my rope is long enough
now."

Vol. 4, p.127
Do not imbibe that principle, but keep advancing and advancing in the
knowledge of the truth, in the light of the Almighty which brightens
up your intellects, enlightens your minds, and makes you feel the fire
and power of God Almighty in your earthly tabernacles. We want our
fathers in Israel to wake up and bless their children, to bless the
young men and the Church of God, and let the fire of the Almighty be
in them. We want the presiding Patriarch to freely call upon the
Prophet, brother Brigham; and we want the heads of the different
departments of the kingdom of God to come up and strengthen the hands
of the Prophet.

Vol. 4, p.127
The old men, those men who have been in the Church twenty years and
more, are ready to run from the man of God that holds the keys of the
kingdom of heaven. If you was full of the Holy Ghost you would not do
this, but you would be round about us, instead of being all the time
with your wives. It is the greatest piece of nonsense that was ever
planted in a Gentle breast, for a man to tie himself down to be at
home day and night with his women. Where would this kingdom go, if
brother Brigham and his Council were to do so? It would go to hell,
across lots, in double quick time. Do not let your wives hind you up
with green withes and strong cords as Delilah did Sampson, and make
you powerless. Break asunder the cords, the ropes and cables that bind
you, and come forth, ye old men, out of your shells, and break your
lariats and your stakes, and begin to drink of the fountain of life,
with God and His servants.

Vol. 4, p.127
I might say to the young men wake up from your sleep, that you may
have the blessings of God poured out upon you. And if the women want
to know what I think of many of them, let them read the 32nd chapter
of Isaiah; I had better read part of it for you. "Rise up ye women
that are at ease, hear my voice, ye careless daughters, give ear unto
my speech. Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless
women; for the vintage shrill fail, the gathering shall not come.
Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones;
strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins."

Vol. 4, p.127
I want to say to many of our old women, and to hundreds and thousands
of our young women, that the life of God Almighty is not in you; you
are at ease, and careless, and dull, and blind, and you do not
understand the rights that God Almighty wishes you to enjoy. I want
such women to humble themselves in sackcloth and ashes, until they get
the Holy Ghost. I want every mother and daughter in Israel to serve
their God, have the light of God in them, instead of pride, foolery,
nonsense, and everything that is light and vain. Rise up, ye careless
women that are asleep in Zion, and betake yourselves to mourning and
lamenting before God, until the light of heaven shall shine upon you,
until the light of God shall chase away your pride, and your
abomination, and your sins, and be round about you, and until the eye
of heaven smiles upon you and blesses you forever. I want you to be
blest and saved, that your children may rise up and be blest. I want
the women to understand that there is something in Zion for them to
do, instead of going [p.128] to sleep. There is a work upon you; you
have made covenants and sacred obligations, as well as the men, and we
want you not to falsify those obligations, but to keep the law of your
husbands, and listen to them, and know that they are your head.

Vol. 4, p.128
A man is a president to his family. If the Church has a head, which is
Christ, then is the man the head of his family. Some men are not the
heads of their families, but their wives walk on them, their daughters
walk on them, and their sons walk on them, and they are as the soles
of their shoes.

Vol. 4, p.128
Talk of some men's being the heads of their families. It makes me
think of the old deacon, that went to teach a man and his wife who
were quarrel-dome; said he, "Do you not know that you and your husband
are one flesh?" "You don't say that, do you, deacon?" "Yes, the Lord
has made you one." "Lord God," said she, "if you were to pass by here
when me and my old man are quarreling, you would think there were
fifty of us." This is often the case in Israel; instead of the men
being the heads of their families, they are as sole-leather under
their feet.

Vol. 4, p.128
I want the women to understand, when they have a good husband, one
that does his duty, that he is president over them and that they have
made covenants to abide the law of that husband. Talk about women
leaving their husbands! I would be far from taking a woman that would
leave a GOOD man. A woman that 	wants to climb up to Jesus Christ,
and pass by the authorities between her and him is a stink in my
nostrils. I have large nostrils, and I often talk about smelling, for
my olfactory nerves are very sensitive. I want women to know their
places and do their duty; but there is a low, stinking pride in a
woman, that wants to leave a good husband to go to another. What does
it matter where you are, if you do your duty? Being in one man's
family or the other man's family is not going to save you, but doing
your duty before your God is what will save you.

Vol. 4, p.128
Because I am one of the Council of the First President, will that save
me? No, but if I am saved, I shall be saved because I do my duty as a
man of God. Shall a man be saved because of some particular Quorum to
width he belongs, or a woman be saved because she is in some
particular family? No, that is foolery. Men and women are saved
because they do right. It is nonsense for a woman to suppose, that
because she is sealed to some particular man she will be saved, any at
the same time kick up hell's delight, play the whore, and indulge in
other evil acts and abominations.

Vol. 4, p.128
Even some mothers in Israel actually suppose that if their daughters
are sealed to a certain man they will be saved, no matter what they do
afterwards. That is damned foolery: and I want men and women to
understand that salvation is based on a better foundation, that it is
made up of righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Ghost.

Vol. 4, p.128
We want you to understand that the power of the Holy Ghost should be
in you. We want fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, and the whole
Church renovated and made one. Do you suppose that I can be saved by
standing alone, or that brother Heber can, or by attempting to use our
Apostleship independent of brother Brigham? We have sense enough to
know that we have no power, only as we are one with him. Or can the
Twelve, or any one else, have any power, only as they are one with
brother Brigham? No. In the same way no woman can be right, only that
woman who is one in spirit with her husband. We should then be one in
understanding, in power, in the gifts of God and in the light [p.129]
of the Gospel, and do right all the time. May God Almighty wake up the
fathers, the mothers, the sons and the daughters, and bless you all
and keep you in the path of your duty, and save you in the name of
Jesus Christ. Amen.

Brigham Young, December 4, 1856

On the Death of President Jedediah M. Grant

A Funeral Sermon, by President Brigham Young, Delivered 
in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory,
 December 4, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.129
We expected that this congregation would have been assembled and
seated by ten o'clock, or by a quarter past ten at the latest; it is
now twelve, lacking five minutes, and near the time when we should be
moving to the place of burial.

Vol. 4, p.129
The time is so far advanced that I shall not presume to answer my
feelings, in my remarks on this occasion. I expected to have had time
enough for offering some of my feelings and views, with regard to the
living and the dead. True, it would take me a long time to reveal to
you what is in my heart, but I expected to have bad time to bestow a
portion thereof on this congregation.

Vol. 4, p.129
I will say to those here assembled, and especially to those more
immediately connected with brother Grant in the capacity of a family,
you have no cause for mourning, neither have we. True, we were very
fond of the company and society of brother Grant; brother Jedediah was
a man we all loved, and we would have liked to have had him staid with
us; we would have been pleased in longer enjoying his society here.

Vol. 4, p.129
But this our place of abode is only temporary; we are on a journey; we
have only to winter and summer, as it were. Brother Grant has got
through here, and has gone to his spiritual place of abode for a
season. Not that he has reached his journey's end, nor will he, until
he has again received this body that now lies before me. Every
material part and portion pertaining to his body, to the temporal
organization that constitutes the man, will clothe his spirit again,
before he is prepared to receive the place and habitation that is
prepared for him, yet he has gone to his spiritual home for a season.

Vol. 4, p.129
I am aware of the feelings of families and friends on such occasions.
Many times I can govern and control my feelings, at other times I
cannot. When I can control my own feelings, I can collect my thoughts
and express my ideas as clearly as my language will permit.

Vol. 4, p.129
In the few remarks that I hill make today, I will not go to the Bible,
to the Book of Mormon, nor to the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, for
my text, for I will give you a text which comprehends the sermon also,
so that if I do not dwell directly upon it, I trust that what I say
will be true, for it will be incorporated in my text, and the text
alone will be a sermon.

Vol. 4, p.129
On this occasion I will say, as on other occasions, blessed are they
that hear the Gospel of salvation, believe it, embrace it, and live to
all its [p.130] precepts. That is the text, and a whole sermon in and
of itself.

Vol. 4, p.130
Time will not permit me to tell, only in part, wherein they are
blessed, how and with what they will be blessed, for it takes a life
time to prepare for this blessing.

Vol. 4, p.130
Some people would have to live to be a hundred years of age, in order
to be as ripe in the things of God as was brother Grant, whose body
now lies lifeless before us; to be as ripe as was the spirit which
lately inhabited this deserted earthly tabernacle.

Vol. 4, p.130
There are but few that can ripen for the glory, the immortality that
is prepared for the faithful; for receiving all that was purchased for
them by the Son of God; but very few can receive what brother Grant
has received in his life time. He has been in the Church upwards of
twenty-four years, and was a man that would live, comparatively
speaking, a hundred years in that time. The storehouse that was
prepared in him to receive the truth, was capable of receiving as much
in twenty-five years as most of men can in one hundred.

Vol. 4, p.130
Though we might say that the time has been short which he has had to
prepare himself in the flesh for receiving all that is treasured up
for the faithful, yet there are but few men in this Church that ever
will be prepared to receive what he will receive though they live
thirty, fifty, seventy-five, or a hundred years or to the coming of
the Son of Man; there are but few men that will be prepared to receive
the same degree of glory and exaltation that brother Jedediah will
receive. This may be attributed to the peculiar organization of man.

Vol. 4, p.130
It is not every man that is capable of filling every station, though
there is no man but what is capable of tilling his proper station, and
that, too, with dignity and honor to himself. When you find a person
that is capable of receiving light and wisdom, one that can descend to
the capacity of the weakest of the weak, and can comprehend the
highest and most noble intelligence that can be obtained by man, can
receive it with all ease, and comprehend it, circumscribe it,
understand it from first to last, that is the man that can ripen for
eternity in a few years; that is the individual who is capable of
occupying stations that many cannot occupy.

Vol. 4, p.130
Brother Grant we were well acquainted with, and there is no person but
what laments his departure from this world. But that will we mourn
for? I want to ask myself that question, as I have a great many times.
What will you mourn for, because brother Grant has gone where he can
do more good? No, we will not mourn for that. Will we mourn because he
has overcome all his enemies here, all that are opposed to Jesus
Christ and to his Gospel, because he has won the prize? Will we mourn
for that?

Vol. 4, p.130
He is prepared to dwell with Prophets, with brother Joseph, with the
ancient Apostles, with Moses, with Abraham, and to dwell in the
presence of Jesus Christ. We will not mourn for that. What will we
mourn for? He has lost nothing, but has gained all.

Vol. 4, p.130
Why do we mourn? Perhaps it will be difficult for me to tell you, yet
I know. It is not the knowledge that God has given you or me, that
causes us to mourn; it is not the Spirit of the Gospel that produces
within us a mournful feeling; it is not the Spirit of Christ, the
knowledge of eternity, of God, or of the way of life and salvation.
Our mourning proceeds from none of those causes. What causes us to
mourn? Neither more nor less, to me and so far as I can convey my idea
by language, than the earthly weakness that is in us. It is not the
knowledge of the Almighty, the power of God, the [p.131] light of
eternity, but it is the darkness, the weakness, the ignorance, the
want of that eternal knowledge, so far as I can conceive, that makes
any person mourn here on the earth. If this conveys the idea to you,
as it does to me, it will satisfy me.

Vol. 4, p.131
Mourning for the righteous dead springs from the ignorance and
weakness that are planted within the mortal tabernacle, the
organization of this house for the spirit to dwell in. No matter what
pain we suffer, no matter what we pass through, we cling to our mother
earth, and dislike to have any of her children leave us. We love to
keep together the social family relation that we bear one to another
and do not like to part with each other; but could we have knowledge
and see into eternity, if we were perfectly free from the weakness,
blindness, and lethargy with which we are clothed in the flesh, we
should have no disposition to weep or mourn.

Vol. 4, p.131
Perhaps it is not proper for me to make a few remarks with regard to
this day's operations. Funeral ceremonies have often borne upon my
mind with considerable, I will say, weight, and especially since I
came into the vestry at the time appointed for the services to
commence. I have often reflected with regard to paying particular
respect to that which is useless, to that which is nothing at all to
us. And while waiting in the vestry, I was pondering upon how many
bands of music attended Jesus to the tomb, upon what the procession
was, how many were crape, who mourned, and the situation of the
mourners.

Vol. 4, p.131
There are but few of us but what have been honored with as convenient
a place for a birth as was Jesus, though I presume that his mother was
comparatively comfortable while lieing on the hay in the manger there
are but few of us but what have had the privilege of a house to be
born in.

Vol. 4, p.131
I was reflecting upon how many here were to lament and mourn for the
when he went out of the world; and the few that did mourn had to make
their escape, like going on to Ensign Peak; they had to stand afar off
to mourn, and durst not be seen near the place of the crucifixion.
When the body had hung on the cross until eight, Joseph begged the
privilege of taking it down and carrying it to the tomb.

Vol. 4, p.131
I was reflecting further. Suppose brother Grant could speak to us this
day, he would deprecate to the lowest degree the fuss and parade we
are making. He would say, "Away with you; stop your blowing of horns,
beating of drums, and hoisting of colors. Give my body a place to lay
and rest, and do not consider me better than other men. Take my body
and bury it deep enough, so that it can rest where the floods cannot
wash it out, where it can remain until the trumpet sounds, when I may
awake up and help you again.

Vol. 4, p.131
Perhaps it is not proper for me to make these remarks, yet I hope they
will not injure the feelings of any one. But I say to each and every
one of you, whether I die in this city, or wherever I die, when my
spirit leaves my body, know ye that that; tabernacle is of no use,
until the command comes for it to be resurrected; and I do not want
you to cry over it, nor make any parade, but give me a good place
where my bones can rest, that have been weary for many years, and have
delighted to labor until nearly worn out; and then go home about your
business, and think no more about me, except you think of me in the
spirit world, as I do about Jedediah.

Vol. 4, p.131
I have not felt, for one minute, that Jedediah is dead; I feel he is
with us just as much as he was a week or a month ago.

Vol. 4, p.132
The few words I say will perhaps [p.132] be a consolation to you, and
perhaps not, but I tell you some of my feelings and views.

Vol. 4, p.132
I want you all to remember this; when I die, let your flags remain in
their proper places, omit your parade, and lay me away where I can
rest. And I do not wish any of you to cry and feel badly, but prepare
yourselves to fight the devils while you live, and after you pass
through the vail; and let me tell you, that there we will do a great
deal more than we can here.

Vol. 4, p.132
Another thing I want to promise you, every one of you, if you will be
faithful; I promise it to myself. True, brother Grant was a great help
to me; he stood by me, and was willing to come and go, and to do
whatever was requested of him, in order to take the burden from me;
but I tell you that we will have not only four, but an hundred fold
for him, just as good, and so we will for every good man that lies
down; I promise you that. Brother Grant we call a great man, a giant,
a lion; but let me tell you that the young whelps are growing up here
who will roar louder than ever he dare, and instead of there being
two, or three, or four, there are hundreds of them.

Vol. 4, p.132
Perhaps many of you will think I am not correct in my views, that I am
enthusiastic, that I am mistaken; but let me tell you that the very
sons of these women that sit here will rise up and be as great as any
man that ever lived, and as far beyond Jedediah, or myself, and
brother Heber, as we are in the Gospel beyond our little children. I
am not going to gather the lions of the forest from the sectarian
world, that is not where I am going to get them, but the mothers in
Israel are going to rear them. They will raise hundreds and thousands
that will know more about the things of God in twenty years than
Jedediah did in his lifetime, which was forty years. Will they know
more than I do? Yes.

Vol. 4, p.132
I do not make any calculation, and never did, but that my boys who are
now growing up will be as far beyond me, at my age, as I am beyond the
knowledge I had in my infancy. We will not mourn for that, will we?
No. For one I am comforted, if I can overcome the weakness that is
upon me, which is the result of ignorance; that pertains to the
flesh—to fallen nature. The cause of mourning does not pertain to God,
nor to the things of God, but arises from the weakness of human
nature.

Vol. 4, p.132
When we lose such men as we have since we came into the valleys of the
mountains, such men as brother Whitney, brother Willard, brother
Jedediah, brother Orson Spencer, and many others, it is a matter of
regret.

Vol. 4, p.132
Brother Grant can now do ten times more than if he was in the flesh;
do you want to know how? He is in the spirit world, he has conquered
death and hell, and wilt the grave, when he again assumes his body. He
is no more subject to the devils that dwell in the infernal regions;
he commands them, and they must go at his bidding; be can move them
just as I can move my hand. Do you know how that is done? It is done
by the principle in me that is called will, which principle God has
planted in all intelligences according to the capacity bestowed upon
them. That intelligence is in us; we may call it will; it is the power
of life in every creature and in all intelligences, and by that power
I stretch out my arm and bring it to me again at my pleasure, I look
to the right or to the left, and I speak according to the dictates of
my will. When I govern myself, I do this or that, I rise up to go to
that city and return again, I sit down and rise up, and do what I
please.

Vol. 4, p.133
When men overcome as our faithful brethren have, and go where they
[p.133] see Joseph, who will dictate them and be their head and
Prophet all the time, they have power over all disembodied evil
spirits, for they have overcome them. Those evil spirits are under the
command and control of every man that has had the Priesthood on him,
and has honored it in the flesh, just as much as my hand is under my
control.

Vol. 4, p.133
Do you not think that brother Jedediah can do more good than he could
here? When he was here the devils had power over his flesh, he warred
with them and fought them, and said that they were around him by
millions, and he fought them until he overcame them. So it is with you
and I. You never felt a pain and ache, or felt disagreeable, or
uncomfortable in your bodies and minds, but what an evil spirit was
present causing it. Do you realize that the ague, the fever, the
chills, the severe pain in the head, the plurisy, or any pain in the
system, from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet, is put
there by the devil? You do not realize this, do you?

Vol. 4, p.133
I say but little about this matter, because I do not want you to
realize it. When you have the rheumatism, do you realize that the
devil put that upon you? No, but you say, "I got wet, caught cold, and
thereby got the rheumatism." The spirits that afflict us and plant
disease in our bodies, pain in the system, and finally death, have
control over us so far as the flesh is concerned. But when the spirit
is unlocked from the body it is free from the power of death and
Satan; and when that body comes up again, it also, with the spirit,
will gain the victory over death, hell, and the grave.

Vol. 4, p.133
When the spirit leaves the tabernacle of flesh and goes into the
spirit world, it has control over every evil influence with which it
comes in contact, and when it takes up the body again, then the body
also, with the spirit, will have control over every evil spirit; that
is in a tabernacle, if there is any such being, just as far as the
spirit that has the Priesthood had control over evil spirits.

Vol. 4, p.133
Perhaps you do not understand me. Take a spirit that has gone into the
spirit world, does it have control over corruptible bodies? No. It can
only act in the capacity of a spirit. As to the devils inhabiting
these earthly bodies, it cannot control them, it only controls
spirits. But when the spirit is again united to the body, that spirit
and body unitedly have control over the evil bodies, those controlled
by the devil and given over to the devils, if there is any such thing.
Resurrected beings have control over matter as well as spirit.

Vol. 4, p.133
Brother Grant's body which lies here is useless, is good for nothing
until it is resurrected, and merely needs a place in which to rest;
his spirit has not fled beyond the sun. There are millions and
millions of spirits in these valleys, both good and evil. We are
surrounded with more evil spirits than good ones, because more wicked
than good men have died here; for instance, thousands and thousands of
wicked Lamanites have laid their bodies in these valleys. The spirits
of the just and unjust are here. The spirits that were cast out of
heaven, which you know are recorded to have been one-third part, were
thrust down to this earth, and have been here all the time, with
Lucifer, the Son of the Morning, at their head.

Vol. 4, p.133
When a good man or woman dies, the spirit does not go to the sun or
the moon. I have often told you that the spirits go to God who gave
them, and that He is everywhere; if God is not everywhere, will you
please tell me where He is not. The moment your eyes are opened upon
the spirit land, you will find yourselves in the presence of God, for
as David says, [p.134] "If you take the wings of the morning and fly
to the uttermost parts of the earth, He is there; and if you make your
bed in hell, behold He is there."

Vol. 4, p.134
You are in the presence of God, and when your eyes are opened you will
understand it. Brother Grant's spirit is in the presence of God; and
he is with Joseph, when he is not required to be somewhere else. He is
at work for the benefit of Zion, for that is all the business that
Joseph and the Elders of this Church have on hand.

Vol. 4, p.134
You and I have yet to deal with evil spirits, but Jedediah has control
over them. When we have done with the flesh, and have departed to the
spirit world, you will find that we are independent of those evil
spirits. But while you are in the flesh you will suffer by them, and
cannot control them, only by your faith in the name of Jesus Christ
and by the keys of the eternal Priesthood. When the spirit is unlocked
from the tabernacle it is as free, pure, holy, and independent of them
as the sun is of this earth. Jedediah can now do more for us than he
could by longer staying here.

Vol. 4, p.134
Where do you suppose the spirits of our departed friends are? Where
they ought to be; they are here, on the other side of the earth, in
the East Indies, in Washington, &c.; they are controlling the fallen
spirits here, or somewhere else. They could not control the spirits of
evil men while here, only by faith, but now one of our departed
brethren can control millions of disembodied evil spirits; while they
were in the flesh they were afflicted by them. Is this not a great
consolation to us? Some one may ask me for the proof for my
statements, and may enquire whether it is in the Bible; yes, every
word of it. I could provo it every word from that book, but I do not
need to go to the Bible, my scripture is within me.

Vol. 4, p.134
Brother Kimball could tell what I will now just touch upon better than
I can, for he heard it; I will, however, say a few words about it. A
short time before his death, brother Jedediah went to the world of
spirits two nights in succession, and saw perfect order amongst them.
He saw many of the Saints whom he was acquainted with, and saw his
wife Caroline and his child that was buried on the route across the
Plains, and dug up and eaten by the wolves. She aid to him, "Here is
my child; you know it was eaten up by the wolves, but it is here, and
has taken no harm." It was the spirit of the child he saw. He came
back to his body, but did not like to enter it again, for he saw that
it was filthy and corrupt. He also told how his brethren and family
felt, when he told them what he saw in the spirit world. He said that
his friends felt like saying," Well brother Grant, may be it is so,
and may be it is not so; we do not know anything about it."

Vol. 4, p.134
You know nothing about what I am telling you concerning the spirit
world any more than brother Grant's friends knew about what he told
them. Why? Because we are encumbered with this flesh, we are in
darkness; the flesh is the vail that is over the nations. When we go
from the body, we have eyes to see spiritual things and understand
them.

Vol. 4, p.134
I have not answered my feelings, and cannot, owing to the lateness of
the hour. It wanted but five minutes to twelve when I began to speak,
and it is now time to bring the services to a close.

Vol. 4, p.134
I hope you will remember what I have said, for it is true; and if you
do not, I hope it will be told to you until you do. May God bless you.
Amen. [p.135]

Heber C. Kimball, December 4, 1856

Remarks at the Funeral of President Jedediah M. Grant

By President Heber C. Kimball, Made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, December 4, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.135
The ideas that brother Brigham has just advanced are congenial with my
feelings, perfectly so.

Vol. 4, p.135
During brother Grant's brief sickness I would not believe, for one
moment, that he was going to die, though my feelings would at times
incline me to doubt as to his recovery; but I would not give way to
them. And now it is only the body that is dead, for his spirit will
never die! It has overcome death and hell, and laid aside its earthly
tenement that that may return to its native element, awaiting the morn
of the resurrection, when the spirit will receive it in an immortal
state, and then have gained the victory ever death, hell and the
grave.

Vol. 4, p.135
In regard to the lifeless body that now lies before us, let me tell
you that mourning and making a great parade over it, is similar to
what it would be for me to lament about a house which the occupants
had forsaken. I left a house in Nauvoo, but do you suppose that I fret
about it? I do not. And what is the use of gathering the bands
together and the troops, and performing lengthy and pompous ceremonies
over a tenement the spirit has left? I would not give a picayune for
all your parade.

Vol. 4, p.135
I will not stoop to the principle of death. I could weep, but I will
not. There is a spirit in me that rises above that feeling, and it is
because Jedediah is not dead.

Vol. 4, p.135
I went to see him one day last week, and he reached out his hand and
shook hands with me; he could not speak, but he shook hands warmly
with me. I felt for him, and wanted to raise him up, and to have him
stay and help us whip the devils and bring to pass righteousness. Why?
Because he was valiant, and I loved him. He was a great help to us,
and you would be, if you were as valiant as he was, which you can be
through faithfulness and obedience.

Vol. 4, p.135
I laid my hands upon him and blessed him, and asked God to strengthen
his lungs that he might be easier, and in two or three minutes he
raised himself up and talked for about an hour as busily as he could,
telling me what he had seen and what he understood, until I was afraid
he would weary himself, when I arose and left him.

Vol. 4, p.135
He said to me, brother Heber, I have been into the spirit world two
nights in succession, and, of all the dreads that ever came across me,
the worst was to have to again return to my body, though I had to do
it. But O, says he, the order and government that were there! When in
the spirit world, I saw the order of righteous men and women; beheld
them organized in their several grades, and there appeared to be no
obstruction to my vision; I could see every man and woman in their
grade and order. I looked to see whether there was any disorder there,
but there was none; neither could I see any death nor any darkness,
disorder or confusion. He said that the people he there saw were
organized in family capacities; and when he looked at them he saw
grade after grade, and all were organized [p.136] and in perfect
harmony. He would mention one item after another and say, "Why, it is
just as brother Brigham says it is; it is just as he has told us many
a time."

Vol. 4, p.136
That is a testimony as to the truth of what brother Brigham teaches
us, and I know it is true, from what little light I have.

Vol. 4, p.136
He saw the righteous gathered together in the spirit world, and there
were no wicked spirits among them. He saw his wife; she was the first
person that came to him. He saw many that he knew, but did not have
conversation with any except his wife Caroline. She came to him, and
he said that she looked beautiful and had their little child, that
died on the Plains, in her arms, and said, "Mr. Grant, here is little
Margaret; you know that the wolves ate her up, but it did not hurt
her; here she is all right."

Vol. 4, p.136
"To my astonishment," he said, "when I looked at families there was a
deficiency in some, there was a lack, for I saw families that would
not be permitted to come and dwell together, because they had not
honored their calling here."

Vol. 4, p.136
He asked his wife Caroline where Joseph and Hyrum and Father Smith and
others were; she replied, "they have gone away ahead, to perform and
transact business for us." The same as when brother Brigham and his
brethren left Winter Quarters and came here to search out a home; they
came to find a location for their brethren.

Vol. 4, p.136
He also spoke of the buildings he saw there, remarking that the Lord
gave Solomon wisdom and poured gold and silver into his hands that he
might display his skill and ability, and said that the temple erected
by Solomon was much inferior to the most ordinary buildings he saw in
the spirit world.

Vol. 4, p.136
In regard to gardens, says brother Grant, "I have seen good gardens on
this earth, but I never saw any to compare with those that were there.
I saw flowers of numerous kinds, and some with from fifty to a hundred
different colored flowers growing upon one stalk." We have many kinds
of flowers on the earth, and I suppose those very articles came from
heaven, or they would not be here.

Vol. 4, p.136
After mentioning the things that he had seen, he spoke of how much he
disliked to return and resume his body, after having seen the beauty
and glory of the spirit world, where the righteous spirits are
gathered together.

Vol. 4, p.136
Some may marvel at my speaking about these things, for many profess to
believe that we have no spiritual existence. But do you not believe
that my spirit was organized before it came to my body here? And do
you not think there can be houses and gardens, fruit trees, and every
other good thing there? The spirits of those things were made, as well
as our spirits, and it follows that they can exist upon the same
principle.

Vol. 4, p.136
After speaking of the gardens and the beauty of every thing there,
brother Grant said that he felt extremely sorrowful at having to leave
so beautiful a place and come back to earth, for he looked upon his
body with loathing, but was obliged to enter it again.

Vol. 4, p.136
He said that after he came back he could look upon his family and see
the spirit that was in them, and the darkness that was in them; and
that he conversed with them about the Gospel, and what they should do,
and they replied, "Well, brother Grant, perhaps it is so, and perhaps
it is not," and said that was the state of this people, to a great
extent, for many are full of darkness and will not believe me.

Vol. 4, p.136
I never had a view of the righteous assembling in the spirit-world,
but I have had a view of the hosts of hell, and have seen them as
plainly as I see you to-day. The righteous spirits [p.137] gather
together to prepare and qualify themselves for a future day, and evil
spirits have no power over them, though they are constantly striving
for the mastery. I have seen evil spirits attempt to overcome those
holding the Priesthood, and I know how they act.

Vol. 4, p.137
I feel well, and I do not feel to condescend to a spirit of mourning.
If I do weep, I will weep for my own sins and not for Jedediah. If he
could speak he would say, "Weep not for me, but weep for your own
sins."

Vol. 4, p.137
Before brother Grant was taken sick, he said that he had unsheathed
his sword, and that it never should be sheathed again until the
enemies of righteousness were subdued; and he fought the devil up to
the last, and used to proclaim that he should not prevail on this
earth. I can say that he left us with his sword unsheathed, and he
will help Joseph and Hyrum and Willard.

Vol. 4, p.137
Previous to the late Reformation, I saw brother Willard in a dream. I
dreamed that we had a very large kiln filled with articles of ware of
various kinds and sizes. Many of them had previously fallen down,
being thin, not having strength to remain upright; we had put the good
ones into the kiln and put in the fire, and had got them considerably
warmed; but, somehow or other, they got cold again, and we thought we
would go down to a certain stream and get some dry wood, and burn the
earthenware for use. As we were going towards the stream, brother
Willard came along and said, "Brethren, I am gathering up better fuel
than that—some that will make a bigger fire." So he is, and Jedediah
has gone to help, and the day will come that many of us will go too;
and as the Lord Almighty lives, and as my soul lives, we have
unsheathed the sword, and we never will sheath it until the enemies of
our God are overcome. Jedediah has overcome all his enemies.

Vol. 4, p.137
Brother Brigham says that he will have hundreds and thousands of boys
right here that will help us with a power greatly increased beyond
that of their fathers, and I know that it will be so. When boys go
back on the Plains to encounter storms and rescue the suffering, as
did David P. Kimball, Stephen Taylor, Joseph A. Young, Ephraim Hanks,
and many others, it makes me feel well. David took the consecrated oil
and went forth, like a man of God, and anointed the sick and
afflicted, and commanded them to arise; and those boys acted
valiantly, having been trained up amid the Saints.

Vol. 4, p.137
Brother Ephraim Hanks has put a feather in his cap, through his noble
conduct in aiding our belated immigration, he has unsheathed his sword
upon the side of doing good, and I exhort him not to sheath it again.

Vol. 4, p.137
I feel encouraged; brother Jedediah has gone to be with Joseph.

Vol. 4, p.137
Let us be faithful, and listen to the words of brother Brigham and
brother Jedediah and those placed to lead us, and what joy I will
have. Would I be willing to lay down my body? Yes, if that would
sooner accomplish so great an object, and bring this whole people into
a position where they could see and understand for themselves.

Vol. 4, p.137
These are my feelings, brethren and sisters, and may God bless you. To
those who delight in uprightness I am all blessings, from the crown of
my head to the soles of my feet; but I am heavy on the tracks of
sinners, because I know that if they do persist in their course, and
if the Quorums do not purfy themselves quickly, you will see something
that will make you lament; some are nourishing a cankerworm that they
will not easily get rid of.

Vol. 4, p.137
Why do you not all listen to brother Brigham and Jedediah and Heber
and many others? They have had the spirit of reformation all the time.
[p.138] Then wake up ye Saints of Latter Days, and cleanse your
platters inside and out, and God Almighty will rescue us from our
enemies. He will slay thorn; He will hurl kings from their thrones and
unrighteous rulers from their places of authority, and they will drop
faster than you saw the stars drop from heaven, at the time that the
Saints were driven out of Jackson county Missouri.

Vol. 4, p.138
I am talking of what I know, and not of what I merely believe; and may
the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, rest upon you, my
brethren and sisters, and upon our families and every good person.
Brother Brigham is my brother, and brother Jedediah is my brother; I
loved him, I love those men, God knows I do, better than I ever loved
a woman; and I would not give a dime for a man that does not love them
better than they love women. A man is a miserable being, if he lets a
woman stand between him and his file leaders; he is a feel, and I bare
no regard for him; he is not fit for the Priesthood.

Vol. 4, p.138
I want to stir you up to faith, obedience, integrity, and everything
that is good. I am preaching to you; not to Jedediah. What remains
here of him goes back to mother earth, and let us strive to honor our
tabernacles as did brother Grant his.

Vol. 4, p.138
My body has got to return to dust, and I will honor it, then I will
take it again. I am as sure of that, as I am that I am standing here
before you.

Vol. 4, p.138
God bless you forever: Amen.

Heber C. Kimball, December 21, 1856

Reformation—A Test at Hand to Prove the Saints

A Discourse, by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered
 in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City,
 December 21, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.138
Brethren, I wish to speak to you about the reformation that is now
taking place, and to inform you that God would have this people adhere
to and listen to it. He would have this people take a course to live
their religion, that they may be faithful and have confidence in God
their Father, and have a testimony of things in heaven, and that
brother Brigham is our Prophet and leader, and that the Twelve
Apostles are called of God; that they may know these things for
themselves, and thus get such a testimony and such a portion of the
Spirit of God, of the Holy Ghost, that they will stand.

Vol. 4, p.138
This people must come to a position where they will be tested, every
one of them; and the day is just at our door, although many of you
will not believe it, even when you are told so by brother Brigham and
brother Heber; and when Jedediah was alive you would not believe it.
You might have believed, "But," said some, "we cannot realize it."
Whether you believe it or not, you will realize such a scenery as you
have never seen, and it will go ahead of anything I have,[p.139] ever
seen, for we have promised you that you shall all be tested; that is,
you will be tested as to whether you are of the religion of Christ or
not. Some may often think that we merely talk to frighten you, but I
tell you that the testing time is right at your doors, and you know it
not. I want you to understand it; I am going to tell it to you, and I
mean to warn and forewarn you of it. I have done so for these five
years in succession, and so has brother Brigham.

Vol. 4, p.139
I presume there are hundreds here to-day who can say that I speak the
truth. I have said that the scarcity of bread was nothing in
comparison to what is coming: for this reason the Lord wants this
people to repent, reform, and live their religion; to learn to be
punctual, true, and humble; and those who do not will go overboard.
Mark it; you will see hundreds, if not thousands, in a few years, turn
their backs to us and seek the death of brother Brigham and brother
Heber, and hundreds of you that now hear me speak. Men are sitting
here to-day, and are at home and in other places, who will rally to
the mob, to those that will seek to destroy this people.

Vol. 4, p.139
I have seen such scenes, but I shall see more of them. I do not come
here with velvet lips, nor with silver lips; my lips are not fixed for
silver, nor for gold. I tell you the truth as to what those who will
not live their religion may expect, and they cannot expect anything
else. As to those who do live their religion, God will make a way for
our escape and we will go free. Then I will tell you there will be
many a scape goat that we shall always be pleased about, for that will
sift this people and cleanse them, and the power of God Almighty will
rest on those who remain true and faithful.

Vol. 4, p.139
These are my feelings, and I want to tell them to you, for I do not
want you to go home and lay down and deep; but I wish you to repent
and forsake your sins and your wickedness, your lying and your
hypocrisy. I will tell you how I feel; I bare no, fellowship for those
men and women in our midst who do not live their religion, who do not
pray and pay their tithing and do as they are told; I have no
confidence in such persons. I cannot have confidence in any man or
woman any further than they do right; and I know that the Spirit of
God will not rest on one of you, any further than you do right. When
you have reformed one inch, the Spirit of God is upon you precisely in
tidal proportion; and when you have reformed all over, inside and out,
your bodies will be filled with light; but you hays more light, only
according to the amount you live your religion.

Vol. 4, p.139
There are men right in our midst, some of whom are now sitting in this
assembly, who will gamble, associate with lewd women, frequent grog
shops, get drunk, use profane language, and sit with the wicked and
hear them curse brother Brigham and brother Heber and the authorities
of this Church. Do you suppose that I hays confidence in such men? Do
you suppose that I have confidence enough in them to invite them to
associate with the servants and representatives of the Almighty? No, I
will not abuse my brethren by inviting such persons anywhere; I will
show wickedness and its votaries a proper resentment.

Vol. 4, p.139
God and mammon, or the righteous and the ungodly, have no fellowship
for each other. Those that are for God love one another, and those
that are for the devil try to love one another; I have no fellowship
for the devil and his servants. Are there such characters here? Yes,
there are some who are in the Quorums of the Seventies, and brother
Pulsipher and others will sit in this stand and let [p.140] those poor
curses pervert the ways of righteousness and damn themselves. There
are men now sitting close by this stand as wicked as hell, who
associate with apostates, with whore-masters and with whores and
gamblers; and there are men in our midst who would destroy every one
of us in one moment, if they had the power.

Vol. 4, p.140
And here are brother, Pulsipher, Herriman and Clapp, members of the
first Presidency of the Seventies, sitting here as dead as door nails,
and suffering these poor curses to live in our midst as Seventies. As
the Lord God Almighty lives, if you do not rise up and trim your
quorums, we will trim you off, and not one year shall pass away before
you are trimmed off.

Vol. 4, p.140
Am I telling you the truth? I am, and I ask no odds of any unrighteous
man that lives, nor of any one who wishes to cherish unrighteous
curses in our midst. I have not said anything about those who do not
belong to this Church; I am talking about those who are in the Church,
and am striving to impress it upon you that we have got to go to work
and cleanse and purify the inside of the platter; we must remove those
dead men's bones and rottenness that are as corrupt as hell. Do you
believe that such things exist? There is an example of them not ten
feet from brother Pulsipher's left hand.

Vol. 4, p.140
Do I ask any odds of the unrighteous? God knows that I do not, nor of
any who associate with them or strive to justify them. And I am
disgusted with many of you; I am disgusted with your meanness, your
corruption, and your ungodliness.

Vol. 4, p.140
The Spirit and power that rested upon the First Presidency when
brother Jedediah was in the flesh are with brother Brigham and me, and
you cannot get them away from us. We have the keys of the kingdom of
God, and they will be on this earth, even though there should be but
one left of those who hold them.

Vol. 4, p.140
You read, in the revelation that God gave through Joseph the Prophet,
concerning the plurality of wives, that all shall be redeemed, except
those who sinned against the Holy Ghost by shedding innocent blood or
consenting thereto, after having entered into the new and everlasting
covenant. Thus you can see that a man or woman that consents to the
shedding of innocent blood is partaker of the crime, and is just as
bad as the one that committed the deed; and that the damnation is just
as sure to the accessory as to the principal, which is also in
accordance with the law of the land. Now suppose that one of our
Elders will associate with the ungodly, with apostates, with
adulterers, with whoremongers and liars, and will tamely sit and bear
them damn brother Brigham and brother Heber and every thing that is
pure and holy, without rising up and reproving them, I wish to know if
he is not just as bad as the characters that conduct so wickedly? Yes,
he is. And those that will quietly sit and hear such language are
partakers of that sin, and will soon begin to curse and swear with
those wicked persons.

Vol. 4, p.140
If you do not repent of these things and stop them, there are many
among this people that will be damned. I know that many of you
associate with and cherish the wicked. What would I give for the
friendship of such men and women? Not one farthing, nor for their
religion, nor for their presence, nor for their preaching. I wish all
such persons would go from this place. They will go by and bye, if
they do not now; for the Lord our God will bring a test on this
people; and if you do not feel it and acknowledge to me that it is
something that surpasses anything we have ever passed through, then I
am mistaken.

Vol. 4, p.141
I have been through strait places, [p.141] and there are many who know
it; and we have individuals in this place that were apostates and
treacherous then, and who did drink and were drunken with the poor
curses that oppressed us. Do they ever come near me or brother
Brigham? No, not unless they are obliged to. If they were Saints they
would associate with us, they would come and comfort us and cheer us
up, and with us investigate matters and try to do us good; but instead
of that, they are with the drunken. Did you ever see me with such
characters, or hear of roy associating with them? No, never in your
lives. God knows that I despise their society. I have been in the
world, through the United States and Great Britain, and I have plowed
and worked, and God knows that I did abhor their wickedness.

Vol. 4, p.141
Who is bearing off the kingdom of our God? Those who stand right up
breast to breast to those who are leading this people in the paths of
truth. As brother Hyde has said, those men will have power, glory,
immortality, and eternal life; and they will increase upon them as
fast as we can lead this people along. But leading this people is at
times a harder work than drawing a large tree, top foremost, and yet I
know that there are just as good men and wrench sitting here as ever
were on this earth, and also that there is an opposite class.

Vol. 4, p.141
You talk of angels and ministering spirits, and let me tell you that
they are ready to abundantly minister to all who are faithful in their
different callings. And if brother Hyde, who is the President of the
Twelve, and if the President of the High Priests, the Presidents of
the Seventies, the Patriarchs, the Bishops and all the officers of
this Church will honor and magnify their respective callings, the
spirit and power of those who have previously filled those stations
with honour, but who are now behind the vail, will rest mightly upon
them, and they will become a terror to evil doers. If you do not honor
the callings which have been delivered to you, as the Lord Almighty
lives, you shall be severed from those callings. For me to speak in
this congregation until I am worn out, and still know that drunkards,
whoremongers, sorcerers, adulterers, gamblers, and every species of
vile characters are rioting in our midst, I tell you that I will not
endure it any longer. Are they here? Yes, and the Presidency of the
Seventies are aware of them. Why do you not rise up and purify your
Quorums and bring such vile persons to justice? If they deserve
severing from this Church, sever them; if you do not, you Elders will
be severed.

Vol. 4, p.141
Why pursue this course? To cleanse Israel and qualify and prepare
them, for there is going to be a test, A TEST, A TEST; and if you do
not forsake your wickedness you will see sorrow, as the children of
Israel did in Jerusalem. Do you believe it? If you will cleanse your
hearts and purify them, and call on your God, He will tell you that I
speak the truth. I would not give a dime for all the learning upon
this earth, without it is devoted to the dictation of the Holy Ghost.
There are a great many learned men, and they can be used to good
advantage in the kingdom of God, if they will listen to the dictates
of His Spirit. Yet I would rather take a clean, pure, white sheet of
paper to fill with useful matter, than to take all old scrap book
already filled with matter that I did not want, and undertake to
correct that. If God has a pure heart, like a pure piece of white
paper. He can easily write on it what He has a mind to.

Vol. 4, p.141
I want to see every man rise up, in the name of Elijah's God. I will
not ask you whether you will or not, for I do not want you to make
covenants, because there are many who make [p.142] covenants today and
break them tomorrow. I would not give a dime for such persons, and God
is going to send forth a test that will tumble them over the board,
because there is not integrity in them. They are not honest, they will
not fulfil the duties that are required of them. Justice will make her
demands, and God will require an account from them in a coming day,
and He will cast them into prison, into hell, and they will lie there
until they pay the uttermost farthing.

Vol. 4, p.142
As we progress in the reform, as we confess our faults and make
restitution to those we have wronged, asking pardon of those we have
offended, the opposition of the devil will proportionally increase,
and his power be manifested in a greater degree; and there is going to
be a mighty time. I understand this; I wish you did, and some of you
do. It is a peculiar day, a peculiar time.

Vol. 4, p.142
Do you suppose that we would take a course to send the Gospel to every
nation, if God did not dictate and require it? This Gospel shall go to
every kindred, nation, tongue, and people under heaven, and then the
end shall come.

Vol. 4, p.142
Righteous and holy men and their sons, all who honor their calling,
will bear off the kingdom and become a royal Priesthood. But while we
are multiplying and gathering such as will be saved, adulterers,
whoremongers, and every kind of abominable characters creep into our
midst. Many who are as corrupt as they possibly can be, come forward
and are baptized in their corruption, and then come here and live in
it.

Vol. 4, p.142
Do you suppose that an unbeliever a Gentile, could induce a woman to
prostitute herself to his hellish desires, if every woman was pure and
holy? No, there is not an upright woman that would submit or even
listen for a moment to such a course. Why do any women submit to such
wickedness? Because they were in the habit of doing so before they
came here, and they delight to follow their old practices. They are
the ones that find fault with brother Brigham and with brother Heber,
because we have many wives. And when you meet whoremongers they are
the ones who find fault with us, and at the same time will whore it
with every woman, married or single, that will listen to them. This is
true, and men who are pure are like the gleaning of grapes, after the
vintage is done.

Vol. 4, p.142
Brother Hyde: 19 years ago this winter we were proclaiming salvation
in England, and since then that nation has greatly multiplied in
corruption. Father and Mother Black, if you were now to go back to
Manchester you would not want to stay there long, for you would not
find it as it was when we were there.

Vol. 4, p.142
Many of those who have come from foreign lands do not realize the
wickedness, the poverty and the distress that abound there. Our Elders
who have lately returned from abroad understand the matter; they
comprehend the condition of the people. When I was about leaving
England, I left brother Lorenzo Snow in London, and God knows that I
nourished him and blessed him, and he had more power unto salvation
than all the rest of the citizens put together.

Vol. 4, p.142
I feel free, and have not the least desire to reprove or offend any
good person. I have not interfered with the wine and the oil, but I am
trying to defend them, to get the dross from among the pure metal,
that you may all be like virgin gold seven times tried in the furnace,
that you may be pure. They melt and refine gold until there is no
dross in it, and we wish this people to cleanse and purify themselves
until they are parted from all dross.

Vol. 4, p.143
Wake up, you Bishops, Elders, [p.143] and High Priests, and go and be
baptized for the remission of sins, that you may receive the Holy
Ghost, for it will not rest on you until you do. I say to brother John
Young. President or the High Priests' Quorum, baptize those who will
repent; and to brother Spencer, it is your duty to exercise a careful
oversight of the affairs in this Stake of Zion, and I will not ask you
to be any more obedient to me in my calling than I will be to you in
yours. May the Almighty bless you and your counslors, and fill you
with the power of God. And I say to the faithful of all Israel, God
bless you when you go out and when you come in, and bless all your
good wives and children for ever. You shall be blessed; and I will
bless you all the time, for I have nothing about me but blessings and
telling you the truth.

Vol. 4, p.143
I want to be one with brother Brigham, just as Jesus was one with his
Father. Jesus replied to Philip, when he said, "Show us the Father,"
"He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father." I want to live in the
same element and in the same power with God and with brother Brigham,
that when you see me, you may see brother Brigham. Jesus said,
"Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me:" and again,
"At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I
in you." Let me maintain the Father's words and enjoy the Holy Ghost,
the Comforter, and I will be one with the Father, with brother
Brigham, and with all holy beings, even as the Son is one with the
Father.

Vol. 4, p.143
Wake up, ye Elders of Israel, and purge yourselves, and purge out the
filth that is in your Quorums, for we will not countenance
unrighteousness in our midst. There are thousands and millions of men
that will have to become eunuchs, to obtain the kingdom of God, and
God will cut off their posterity, so that when they come up in the
resurrection they will find their houses left unto them desolate. God
will not have their names perpetuated on the earth, because they have
forfeited their Priesthood.

Vol. 4, p.143
We are going to send some missionaries to Europe in the spring, and
when they come back I do not want to hear any of them say, "brother
Brigham, I was ignorant;" for you will lie, if you say so; because all
who are sent forth are carefully instructed, and especially in regard
to the sin of adultery, a crime so prevalent in the world. Some have
committed adultery and been cut off from the Church, and the rest who
are guilty of that crime will be cut off, sooner or later. O ye
unbelieving of the world, ye call us impure; but I would have my head
severed from my body, yea a thousand times, before I would be guilty
of such a crime. Ought not adulterers to be damned and go to hell?
Yes, for they are bringing destruction and wasting upon the human
family by their acts. Yea have all read or been taught the revelation
which positively and plainly informs us that all such characters shall
be destroyed in the flesh, and that their spirits shall be given over
to the buffetings of Satan until the day of redemption. That is true,
and why do you not read and understand it as I do? I am pleading all
the time to save you from stumbling and falling.

Vol. 4, p.143
I am talking more particularly about things that have transpired since
you came into the new and everlasting covenant; I am not talking about
the world. Have you lived your religion and been faithful and
virtuous, since you came into the Church? Have you been ungodly, since
you were admitted into the fold of God? I  have told you time and
again, to refrain from all ungodly [p.144] conduct; and yet Elders
have women coming in here, with whom they made covenants while abroad.
You cannot find a man who has done that. but what is to-day as
spiritually dead as a door nail, and will be. Why? Because he has
broken his former covenants.

Vol. 4, p.144
I am telling you the truth, and trying to save you from falling into
snares; I see a great many men falling by these things. I have said,
months ago, that there is an under current of wickedness working in
this city. How do I know it? By the Holy Ghost, which shows it to me.

Vol. 4, p.144
Why don't you wake up, ye sleepy heads and stop your murmuring and
complaining? Why don't you engage more thoroughly and wisely in
providing the raw material for every article we need, and in
manufacturing those materials into hats, boots, cloth, and everything
useful? I have been engaged in this movement, and have been pleading
with and exhorting my family to go into home manufacturing. They have
done pretty well; they made some six or seven hundred yards of cloth
last year, and this year some eight or nine hundred yards. You have
not heard of any trouble about my family, because they have been at
work with the spinning wheels, the looms and the dye tubs. I furnish
them with rolls, and they spin color, weave and manufacture theta into
stockings and clods. I say to them, "Ladies, you don't get me to buy
you another ribbon, or artificial. If you want flowers in your hair,
or in your bonnets, take the peach, apple, and other blossoms in their
season, and then you dill have the real instead of the artificial."

Vol. 4, p.144
Where are many women spending their time? Around the Tithing Office,
idling from morning until night, spending their time for naught. What
are you lounging about there for, with your dresses and petticoats,
looking as though they were sadly in want of soap and repairing? You
know that I have said that the women who go about with the lower edges
of their clothes draggled into strings and fragments, are the women
who rule their husbands; they are so constantly making snaps and
flirts, like a whip lash.

Vol. 4, p.144
I cannot let go of you, I feel such an interest, such an anxiety for
this people. Go to work and cut off the few poor miserable devils in
our midst, for they will never think that they are sinners, until you
do cut them off; they will not know but what they are in full
fellowship, they have become so darkened.

Vol. 4, p.144
I am not going to often attend your evening ward meetings, for my
health will not admit of it. What I do here, with what I have to do
through the week, is a little more than I can well endure.

Vol. 4, p.144
God bless those men who went to the rescue of our late immigration,
and all who have in any wise assisted it; also those who have come in
this season, if they live their religion and appreciate their
blessings. Perhaps some have had their feet frozen a little, hut if
some others had had their heads frozen off it would have been best for
them, for they will murmur and find fault, after the immense toil and
expense we have been at to bring them here. What I have individualy
done towards accomplishing their deliverance amounts to $1100. What
has brother Brigham done for the same purpose? Several times more than
I have. Will one hundred thousand dollars pay the expense of that
operation? No, and if those people murmur, after all their experience
and all that has been freely done for them. the Almighty will cut;
them off. We have taken them into our houses as we would little
children, and have nursed and cherished them, and after all some  of
them will [p.145] murmur and go to hell, and there are some of them
that will be true unto death. 

Vol. 4, p.145
Do as you are told, and you will be blessed. A great many men and
women have received the word, and will treasure it up: and it will
bring forth fruit, and be like a well of water springing up to
everlasting life, to every soul that receiveth it.

Vol. 4, p.145
Ye Elders of Israel, you who have lately come from your missions,
continue your labors and go forth among the people by the power of
God. Ye Bishops, teach your people to go to meetings at the hour
appointed.

Vol. 4, p.145
I feel perfectly free and sociable, because the Gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ is a spirit of freedom; and I am going to be free, and
not be in bondage any longer. We shall be a free people, if we only do
right, and reform and live our religion; and we never will be in
bondage again, worlds without end. I most sincerely wish 	that you
so had the Spirit on you that you could see it all, without a man's
saying one word, or giving you a single wink. 

Vol. 4, p.145
My forefathers came out of the old world, and some of them were in the
American revolution. One of their mottoes was, "Go a head," and the
other was "Press forward." Do you not perceive that I possess the same
spirit? I am one of the sons of the revolution, and in the first
beginning of this Church God called upon that class of men, and they
are the ones to sustain the constitution of the United States, for
they are of the real blood of Israel, and they will raise up a royal
Priesthood, and you candler help yourselves. I have twenty-three boys
living and ten dead, and lots of girls. They were all honestly
begotten, and the Almighty will sustain thorn, and they will be like
lions among this generation; they will live to let live, and the world
cannot help themselves.

Vol. 4, p.145
Do I feel as though I ever wanted to stop? I never will; as the Lord
lives, I never will stop. I will always strive to root out iniquity;
and Jedediah will work behind the vail, and I will work this side with
Brother Brigham, and may God aid us, and all who love truth, in
bringing to pass righteousness, for His Son's sake. Amen. [p.146]

Willford Woodruff, December 21, 1856

The People Asleep—Those Holding the Priesthood Must Magnify
 Their Callings or Be Removed—The Saints to Be Tried
 Even Unto Death

Remarks by Elder Wilford Woodruff, Delivered in the Tabernacle,
 Great Salt Lake City, December 21, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.146
We have some few missionaries returned very recently, and I wish to
notify them to meet with us on Tuesday evening in the Seventies'
Council Hall; and we want all the Bishops in the city, and the
missionaries who have been appointed to labor here, to meet at the
same place, on the same evening.

Vol. 4, p.146
I attended the High Priests' meeting last evening, in company with
brothers F. D. Richards and Lorenzo Snow, and I want to say to all the
High Priests in this city, I want them to meet with their quorum; and
we are going to meet with you; the Twelve will meet with you and with
the Seventies, and I want every man who is a president of Seventies to
meet with his quorum at the time appointed. There was not more than
half the High Priests out last evening.

Vol. 4, p.146
We are called upon to wake up and reform, and it makes me feel curious
when I go into the High Priests' meeting, and see not one half of them
there when a meeting is held to prepare them to wake up the people.

Vol. 4, p.146
I want this people to listen to what they have heard to-day. I feel
thankful to see brother Kimball again come into this stand. I
expressed my feelings when I saw the sacrament removed from the table;
I felt that it was a loud sermon to this people; I said I knew not
what would come next; I thought likely the Presidency would be removed
next froth us, not that I expected they would die; brother Grant,
however, is gone; the load he undertook to draw killed him, the same
lead that was pressing the President of this Church to the earth, when
Jedediah rose up to bear it off; his spirit was strong enough, but as
brother Kimball said, his mortal body was not strong enough to bear
its weight. The First Presidency have not addressed this people but a
little time since the sacrament was removed, therefore I was glad to
see and hear brother Kimball to-day.

Vol. 4, p.146
Although Jedediah has been taken from us, that lead, which in a
measure has been removed from the Presidency of this Church, has not
returned unto them, and I pray it never may. When Jedediah M. Grant
went forth among the people through the north country and this city to
carry out the views of President Young, and lifted up his voice like
the trump of the angel of God, and called upon the people to awake out
of their deep sleep and repent of their sins and turn unto God, the
people were so sound asleep that they did not realize the importance
of his mission; many felt that his labors and reproofs were
unnecessary and uncalled for, the people did not know what he was
doing. Had the vision of their minds been open as was brother Grant's,
and those who sent him, they would have seen and felt the importance
of that mission.

Vol. 4, p.146
I tell you the people have been asleep, and they are not yet half
awake, they have not more than one eye open, and not that quite; when
we hear such things as we  have [p.147] today, this people have got to
wake up to righteousness. I have lived twenty-three years in the
Church, and I have been acquainted with Prophets and have heard them
prophesy, and I have not yet seen their words fall to the ground
unfulfilled; and when they speak Israel should hear and obey.

Vol. 4, p.147
We have been called upon, some of us, as missionaries to the people of
this city, to wake them up. We shall be among you, brethren, and we do
not intend to let you sleep. Brother Orson Hyde is with us to-day; he
has had a dream which refers to the wheat and the thrashing floor. I
am glad brother Hyde is with us, and I want to say to you, brother
Hyde, in the name of the Lord, wake up and rise up in the midst of
your brethren the Twelve, and lead them forth into the field of labor,
and we will stand by you; if you will lead the Twelve, brother Hyde,
in the spirit and power of your calling as an Apostle of Jesus Christ,
you will see your brethren by your side; we will back you up, and step
forth and help to bear that mighty lead which has rested upon the
Presidency of the Church like a mountain, and nearly crushed them to
the ground. As a Quorum we have got to more fully obtain the spirit
and power of our Apostleship and take more upon ourselves the care and
burthen of the Church and Kingdom of God than we have done.

Vol. 4, p.147
The Twelve Apostles have got to rise up and magnify their calling, or
they will be removed out of their place. The High Priests, the
Seventies, the Bishops, and every other Quorum of the Church and
Kingdom of God have got to do the same, or they also will be removed;
we cannot sleep any longer with the Priesthood of Almighty God resting
upon us, and the work that is required at our hands. WE CANNOT SLEEP.
I do not wonder that calling on the people to wake up has killed one
man, and it will kill more if we do not respond to the call; mortality
cannot endure the visions of eternity that rests on them when they
look on the Priesthood and see the position they are in; it has nearly
laid brother Young in the grave; he felt he could not live until some
man rose up and started the work of reformation.

Vol. 4, p.147
I know it is my duty to wake up and enter into the labors of my
calling, and it is the duty of Elder Hyde, and the duty of every other
man in israel that bears this Priesthood to do the same; it is our
duty to bear off that burden and labor which has been resting like a
mountain upon the leaders of this Church. I know they have groaned
under the lead than has rested on them, when they have seen all Israel
going to sleep.

Vol. 4, p.147
Let the Twelve Apostles, and the Seventy Apostles, and High Priest
Apostles, and all other Apostles rise up and keep pace with the work
of the Lord God, for we have no time to sleep. What is man's life good
for, or his words or work good for when he stands in the way of men's
salvation, exaltation, and glory? They are of no use at all.

Vol. 4, p.147
As an individual I am determined to wake up and do my duty, God being
my helper. I want to see brother Hyde, who is the President of the
Twelve, walk into all these Quorums and attend their meetings, and we
will back him up; I want him to lift up his voice like a trumpet and
go to winnowing the wheat; it is for the Twelve to rise up and carry
off the lead. The Seventies have got to walk up in their place and do
their duty. I know God requires this at our hands. The law of God, the
holy Priesthood, and the holy anointing and washing, and everything
else that is holy requires it at our hands. I know this.

Vol. 4, p.147
It is necessary to reform. The question may be asked, what is the
matter? Whey, we are asleep; if the [p.148] eyes of any man or woman
is opened as they should be, they could see the things of God as they
are in one moment; they would see there is a necessity of waking up
and doing something. Here is a great and mighty dispensation committed
into the hands of this people for the living and the dead; the candle
of the Lord God is placed in these mountains like a city that is set
on a hill that cannot be hid; the work is on your shoulders, ye
Priests of the Most High God!—on you rests the salvation of this
generation, and the Lord will require this stewardship at your hands.

Vol. 4, p.148
The Lord has given you the keys of the Priesthood with all the
blessings pertaining to it—as great and as mighty a work its ever was
committed to any man on the earth, and that too in the midst of the
last dispensation and fulness of times. The Lord requires us to
prepare this generation, both Jew and Gentile, either for salvation or
damnation through the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and
the administering of the ordinances of the House of God, and we go to
sleep! The Apostles go to sleep—the Seventies go to sleep—the Elders
of Israel close their eyes to slumber, and we the only people God has
on the earth, upon whose shoulders He has laid the responsibility of
performing this great and mighty work!

Vol. 4, p.148
Do you wonder that Prophets get up here and chastise, and draw the
sword of justice and hold it over our heads? I do not. I wonder that
our children at the fireside do not rise up and prophesy, with a voice
like thunder and in flames of fire, unto their fathers and mothers,
and unto the people of Israel. I know that the counsels we have had
here through the mouths of the Prophets of God are just and true. I
know that the warning voice that has been heard in this Stand, and the
call that has been made on this floor is necessary; and I do hope and
pray God that we, as missionaries, will listen to it. I want my
brother missionaries in the first place to wake up, and get aroused
with the matle of salvation and Spirit of God ourselves, and get our
own armor bright. It has been justly remarked here that we have got to
labor ourselves until we get the Spirit of God, and then we can walk
out among the people and correct them; but if we as Seventies, as High
Priests, and Apostles, and Elders bearing the Priesthood, if we are
resolved to set our hearts upon things of this earth, without being
engaged in the interest of the kingdom of God, what can we expect of
the people? Not anything. I desire that we may all wake up, and listen
to the counsel of these men who lead. us from day to day.

Vol. 4, p.148
We have no time to lose to prepare ourselves for the tilings that are
coming on the earth; and who wants to lose his crown, his glory, and
hope of eternal lives that he has had in days past and gone by
receiving the Gospel of Jesus Christ? No man that has any portion of
the Spirit of God. Let us rise up and magnify our calling, and labor
before God until we can get the Holy Spirit, and until our prayers
rend the vail of eternity and enter into the ears of the God of
Sabbaoth and be answered in blessings upon our heads.

Vol. 4, p.148
When shall the fire be kindled in Zion? I do not mean wild fire—there
is a true fire, and that is the fire we need to get, that is necessary
to kindle; and if we live up to our privileges, do our duty, walk up
to the word of the Lord God, and magnify our calling, we do know that
the blessings of God will attend us, and the sinners in Zion will
tremble and fearfulness will surprise the hypocrite; and let what will
come, all will be right with the Latter-day Saints.

Vol. 4, p.149
[p.149] There are great things awaiting us and the world—the Lord is
withdrawing His Spirit from the nations of the earth, His sword is
bathed in heaven and will fall upon Idumea or the world; the seals are
about to be opened and the judgments of God poured out upon the
wicked, for the cup of their wickedness and abominations is filled to
the brim and the indignation of the Lord will be poured out without
measure.

Vol. 4, p.149
Let the Saints read the revelations of God, and they will see that
there are important events at our doors. Let us hearken and wake up,
and be doing the things required of us. Let the missionaries first get
their lamps trimmed and burning, and then go among the people, and go
with the Spirit of God and the salvation of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ; and let the other Quorums do the same; and when you do this
you will see a reform, and sin and iniquity cannot abide in our
habitations, in our wards, or in our city.

Vol. 4, p.149
We have sin and sinners among us, and what are we going to do about
it? Why, we are going to try to live our religion, and when we do that
we shall do right. The business with me is to do right to-day, to live
my religion to-day, and leave the events with God; He holds the
destinies of the nations and of all men; they are in His hand; He made
the earth and controls the children of men upon it.

Vol. 4, p.149
Then let events roll on—if we are only right, all is well. We have got
to be tried even unto death. The Lord says He will prove us, and see
if we abide in His covenants. There is where we have got to stand as a
people, not only our horses, and gold and silver, and land and houses,
but our lives have got to lie on the altar, and when anything comes to
test us, even at the stake of our lives, we should he in the
possession of the Holy Ghost not to flee from it, and such will be
crowned with the gift of eternal lives, exaltation and glory.

Vol. 4, p.149
There is nothing to encourage a man to draw back; there is nothing
short of the most damnable principle that dwells in the spirit of
devils that would tempt any man to shed the blood of the Lord's
anointed, yet men will try to do it. There are men hero to-day who
will possess that spirit; I believe it; they are in our city. If they
shed blood they have got the bill to pay. Let the wicked and the
ungodly, who will not repent, but fight against God, do their worst,
their time is short, and the day will come, and that soon when they
will be called to judgment.

Vol. 4, p.149
I remember what Joseph said, a short time before he was slain in one
of the last sermons I ever heard him preach. Said he, "Men are here
to-day who are seeking my blood, and they are those who have held the
Priesthood and have received their washings and aniontings; men who
have received their endowments." I saw the faces of those men at that
time, and they had a hand in slaying the Prophet. There are men who
now possess the same spirit and the same desire. There are men here,
too, that have faith, that have the Priesthood and the spirit of it,
and they will do their duty, and God will sustain them in it, and He
will sustain this Church and kingdom; let the trials of the Saints be
what they will, the kingdom of God is not to be torn down any more at
all—it will not again be taken from the earth until it is prepared to
receive Christ at his coming.

Vol. 4, p.149
Let us prepare ourselves and do our duty, and let the High Priests and
Seventies go to their meetings, and before you go there, go to work
and get the Spirit of God, that when you get there you may not freeze
to death. And I want to have the people. when they come here, to get
enough of the Spirit of God, that [p.150] when the Presidency rise in
this Stand they may give us what is in their hearts. They are filled
with blessings for this people. All the trouble is our eyes have been
closed, we have been in a deep sleep; let us wake up and attend to our
duty, and make it the first business we do.

Vol. 4, p.150
Those who lay their plans in secret chambers to seek the blood of the
Prophets, will have their case attended to by messengers on the other
side of the vail, ministers will be sent to them who will render unto
them a righteous judgment there. I do not want to preach to them here,
but to those who want to be saved.

Vol. 4, p.150
Go to, and if you have not the Spirit of God, make it your first
business to get it, that your minds may be opened to see the things of
God as they are; it is your privilege and mine, that we may be
prepared for what is to come.

Vol. 4, p.150
That this people may repent of all their sins and wake up, and have
power to come before God that their prayers may be heard, be prepared
to defend the kingdom and never desert their covenants and their
brethren, or betray the Gospel, but overcome the world and be prepared
to become joint heirs with Christ to the fulness of the first
resurrection which is prepared for those who keep the commandments of
God, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Jedediah M. Grant, October 12, 1856

Overcome the Powers of Darkness By Prayer—Spiritual
 Things First in Importance—Cleanliness

Remarks, by President J. M. Grant, Delivered in the Bowery,
 Great Salt Lake City, October 12, 1856.

Vol. 4, p.150
I am glad this morning to hear from brother Daniel Spencer, and to
learn that he feels that the Lord has blest the people in this land,
as well as in the land where he has been sojourning for a time.

Vol. 4, p.150
I do not and have not felt that I need a mission to a foreign land for
the purpose of causing me to understand myself, or to fill me with the
Holy Ghost, or to prepare me to be useful in this land; neither have I
felt I needed to go to the United States or any other part of the
world to put on the Gospel armor. I feel it to be necessary that I
should wear that armor here, and if I ever have had it on, I feel that
I have had it on in this land; and I do not deem it necessary for many
men to cross the ocean to get the Holy Ghost, or to enjoy the power of
God. If they will do the will of God in this land, they will see their
situation and be filled with His power from the crown of their heads
to the soles of their feet; I believe that if the Saints were to have
more religion in their own homes they would be better off.

Vol. 4, p.150
Were I thirsty and could go to a spring or lake whose water was pure.
and clear as crystal, even the best that could be found, I should have
no occasion for going  to another and more distant place to procure
water. And if I should find ice there, should [p.151] I say it was too
much trouble to break it? No, but I should labor to break that ice;
and the thicker the ice, the more persevering I should labor, until I
got some of the water of the crystal fountain.

Vol. 4, p.151
While paying attention to the prayers of some persons in their family
devotions, I sometimes notice that they often stop praying without
breaking through the darkness and obtaining the Holy Spirit. If I
found that, it was necessary to pray three hours I would keep praying
for that length of time, or until I got the Spirit, unless I
remembered that I had neglected a special duty, when I would go and
attend to that duty; after which I should want to return and pray
until I got the Holy Ghost; I would keep praying until I broke the ice
and obtained the Holy Ghost.

Vol. 4, p.151
Some think that they have already labored enough to obtain heaven.
Such persons put me in mind of Sydney Rigdon, who said that he had
suffered enough to obtain salvation. He said that the sufferings of
Jesus Christ were light in comparison with what he had endured, and he
would be damned to hell if he would suffer any more.

Vol. 4, p.151
I notice that some who gather here think they have already suffered
enough, and feel like saying, "I will be damned to hell if I will
suffer any more."

Vol. 4, p.151
Many of those who have come with hand carts think that they have done
wonders, therefore they want every hat hoisted in deference to them,
and every meal bag gratuitously opened; and they want every body to
feed, clothe, and lodge them, and find them every thing they need,
because they have dragged a hand-cart across the Plains.

Vol. 4, p.151
You deserve credit for what you have done, but I make this observation
that you may know that you have not yet got into the harbor of eternal
life; and that you may not think that you have not anything to do now
that you have come here, for unless you keep on the armor, you will be
overcome.

Vol. 4, p.151
We want people that have come here with their Gospel armor on to keep
it on, that they may shed abroad the light of God, and the gift of the
Holy Ghost. We have given the same instructions to Elders that have
returned, and we want every class of men and women in this Church to
keep on the Gospel armor.

Vol. 4, p.151
I want to say to every institution in our midst, whether the talent
they have is under the supervision of eight, ten, or twelve men, we
wish you to manifest that you have the Holy Ghost for your guidance,
and then to go to work and convert Great Salt Lake City. I want you to
try your skill and the power of God upon this city, and exert
yourselves through your Wards, under the direction of the Bishops,
that you may he the means of filling the people with the Holy Ghost,
and in order that you may have power and discretion to act wisely, see
that you have the light of heaven in your own hearts.

Vol. 4, p.151
Many talk of their visions, revelations, and mighty works; but we have
to have minds and men that think, and have wisdom in all their ways.
It is for us to occupy our minds and direct our labors in the proper
channel, and to use our talents and intellects as the head shall
direct.

Vol. 4, p.151
There is a drought and has been; the people have felt too much like
putting their temporal affairs first, and then attending to the
spiritual at their leisure.

Vol. 4, p.151
So much do many act upon this principle that their intellectual
faculties become dark, they do not get into the light of the Lord
Jesus Christ and of the gift of the Holy Ghost, of the light of
eternity; but their temporal matters are first and [p.152] foremost.
If they have a gewgaw, they take great pleasure in going round to
exhibit it, and they will borrow heads, rings, watches, and all kinds
of gewgaws to gratify the pride of their hearts. Such hearts are not
right before God, and such conduct must be done away from among the
Latter-day Saints.

Vol. 4, p.152
I will now mention another thing; some will ask you three dollars a
day for common labor, and others will not lift a pick, shovel, or ax,
short of two dollars a day; and they have left the best situations in
the Territory and have gone to Provo and other places, because they
could get but $1.50 a day. They are our hand-cart men who are acting
so. This proves that they, came here for the loaves and fishes. They
will tell you that they have learned to draw the hand-carts, and now
they expect the highest wages.

Vol. 4, p.152
I want to notify all Saints, whether they came with hand-carts,
horses, mules, or oxen, wagons, carriages, or wheelbarrows, that in
this land we wish you to keep the commandments of God, and when you
have food, raiment, and shelter, be satisfied and don't be greedy Do
not expect to get as many comforts around you the first year, as men
have got in many years by hard labor and toil. Remember that some of
us earns here in 1847, with scarcely anything, and we have had to toil
assiduously to accumulate what we have. Do not you the first year,
month, or week, covet every thing that you see; do not covet every
man's house and business, but seek the blessings of the Lord God of
Israel, and bring up your temporal matters in their place and season.

Vol. 4, p.152
I will explain what I mean by place and season. Go to different parts
of the Territory and advance the people in their religion, make them
humble and faithful so that the Spirit of the Lord shall govern them,
till all shall be sweetened in their minds and be united as one, till
they shall see eye to eye, and hear ear to ear, and if they d