Journal of Discourses Volume 9

Delivered By:
PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG

HIS TWO COUNSELORS
THE TWELVE APOSTLES,
AND OTHERS

Reported By:
G. D. WATT AND J. V. LONG

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

VOL. IX.

LIVERPOOL

EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY GEORGE Q. CANNON, 42, ISLINGTON,

LONDON:

LATTER-DAY SAINTS' BOOK DEPOT, 30, FLORENCE STREET, ISLINGTON, N.

1862.

Preface

Vol. 9, p.iii
After a long night of darkness, which has covered Christendom like a
pall, the light of Heaven has again burst forth to cheer and bless
mankind. The keys of knowledge, long lost from among men, have been,
with the Priesthood, once more restored to the earth. For centuries
there has been no man in Christendom authorised to say "Thus saith the
Lord;" and men have had to be dependent upon the knowledge and
experience of those who in former generations received the revelations
of Jesus. But now this has changed. Through the Gospel which has been
restored, with the Priesthood, in its fulness and purity, the mind of
the Lord respecting the inhabitants of the earth is being made known
unto men.

Vol. 9, p.iii
The Journal of Discoveries goes forth to the world as another record
corroborating those already extant, bearing the same testimony to the
immutable principles of salvation which they have borne, and giving
additional light upon many points concerning the salvation of this
generation on which they are silent. All men can be profited by
perusing its pages and pondering over the words of truth and salvation
as they flow in beautiful simplicity and power from the mouths of the
Living Oracles.

Vol. 9, p.iii
That this Volume may go forth and fill its destined mission, and
remain an imperishable memento of God's kindness and his desire to
save His erring children, is the prayer of the

EDITOR.[p.1]

Brigham Young, April 6, 1861

True Testimony—Preparation for Coming Events—
Corruption of the Government, Etc.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, April 6, 1861.

Reported By G. D. Watt

Vol. 9, p.1
We have always had larger congregations on such occasions as this than
we have had buildings to accommodate; and had it not been that I
requested the brethren of the city to tarry at home, so as to give
room to these who should come from a distance, the house would have
been crowded to overflowing, and there would have been a large
congregation outside. I do not know that, this side of the day of rest
that we are looking for, we shall ever have a building large enough to
accommodate our congregations. When we have overcome the enemy to
righteousness and have a thousand years to work unmolested, I think
that we then can build a room that will contain as many people as can
hear the speaker's voice. We have the privilege, it is true, of
assembling in the open air, where most of our Conferences have been
held.

Vol. 9, p.1
We now enjoy the anniversary of our General Conference. The Church is
thirty-one years old to-day. It seems but a short time—but a few days,
since there were only six members in this Church. It seems but a short
time since I desired most fervently go see some one who was a
foreigner baptized into this Church. I well remember how anxious I was
that an English preacher belonging to the Independents, and with whom
I was acquainted, should come into the Church, that he could go to his
native land and preach the Gospel there. What were the feelings of the
few; thirty-one years ago to-day?

Vol. 9, p.1
Brother Kimball observed in his remarks, that he could recollect the
history of this Church from its beginning, and understood the
persecutions against this people. The Book of Mormon was translated
near where we then resided, as we might say, in our own neighbourhood.
It was translated about as far from where brother Kimball then lived
as it is from heine to Little Cottonwood; and where Joseph first
discovered the plates was about as far from where I then lived as it
is from here to Provo. Here we would have considered the discoverer of
those plates and the translator of the Book of Mormon as [p.2] one of
our neighbours. We are in the habit here of travelling more frequently
and further than we were there. From the time that Joseph had his
first revelation, in the neighbourhood where brother Kimball and I
then lived, appears but a few days. Since then this people have passed
through, experienced, and learned a great deal.

Vol. 9, p.2
If there is a person in the midst of the Latter-day Saints—one who has
named the name of Christ as a Latter-day Saint, that can ask for any
more literal testimony than we have, I do not know what he would ask.
He might wish to see some person that had power to bring fire down
from heaven.    Should such a person appear, the exercise of that
power would by no means prove that he was a messenger of salvation. Or
suppose that I should see a man capable of raising the dead every hour
in a day, could I merely for that believe he was sent of God? [No.
Some may think it strange, but should I see a man come along here and
cast his cane on the floor, and it became a serpent and ran out of the
door, would I any more believe that man to be sent of God? No, I would
not. Were I to see a person fill the air with living creatures, turn
the dust into life, or the river Jordan into blood, do you suppose I
would any more for that consider that man sent of God? Not in the
least. There is but one witness—one testimony, pertaining to the
evidence of the Gospel of the Son of God, and that is the Spirit that
he diffused among his disciples. Do his will, and we shall know
whether he speaks by the authority of the Father or of himself. Do as
he commands us to do, and we shall know of the doctrine, whether it is
of God or not. It is only by the revelations of the Spirit that we can
know the things of God.

Vol. 9, p.2
Suppose that we should see a man capable of raising the dead and he
should say, "Consequently I ought to be the leader of the Church —the
legitimate heir that God has appointed to perform his work in the last
days," would I for that believe him? No. I have never seen the day,
since I arrived at the years of discretion, when it would have made
any difference in my feelings. Almost one of the first things I read
in the Bible was that Saul in his darkness and unbelief called on the
Witch of Endor for a revelation, and she had power to raise Samuel
from the dead. What proof was that that she was a Saint of God? If the
people want any more witness than they have, I do not know what they
would call for. Seek for the Spirit of Truth, and that will bring all
things to your remembrance that Jesus spake and performed,—all that
has been, is, and that which is to come, so far as may be necessary.
That is the Spirit by which Joseph spoke.

Vol. 9, p.2
I am thankful that we live to free this day, and have the privilege of
assembling ourselves in these valleys. We are not now mingling in the
turmoils of strife, warring, and contention, that we would have been
obliged to have mingled in, had not the Lord suffered us to have been
driven to these mountains—one of the greatest blessings that could
have been visited upon us. It has been designed for many generations
to hide up the Saints in the last days until the indignation of the
Almighty be over. His wrath will be poured out upon the nations of the
earth. We see the nations steadily driving along to the precipice. The
Lord has spoken from the heavens, and he is about to fulfil the
prophecies of his ancient and modern Prophets. He will bring the
nations into judgment, and deal with them and make a full end of them.
Do you  wish to see it done to-day? Are you prepared for [p.3] the
crisis that will eventually come? No.

Vol. 9, p.3
I have frequently thought upon the preparation that is necessary.
Suppose the word should come, "Return and build up the centre Stake of
Zion," are we ready for it? No. I have often alluded to our mechanics.
We have not a mechanic that would know how to lay the first stone for
the foundation of the wall around the New Jerusalem, to say nothing
about the temples of our God. Are you prepared for the day of
vengeance to come, when the Lord will consume the wicked by the
brightness of his coming? No. Then do not be too anxious for the Lord
to hasten his work. Let our anxiety be centred upon, this one thing,
the sanctification of our own hearts, the purifying of our own
affections, the preparing of ourselves for the approach of the events
that are hastening upon us. This should be our concern, this should be
our study, this should be our daily prayer, and not to be in a hurry
to see the overthrow of the wicked. Be careful; for if they were all
to be overthrown at once, how many would there be left that are called
Saints? Not as many as I would have remain. We are prepared for the
day that is approaching: let us then prepare ourselves for the
presence of our Master—for the coming of the Son of Man. The wicked
and the ungodly are preparing for their own utter overthrow, and the
nation in which we live is doing so as fast as the wheels of time can
roll, and ere long sudden destruction will come upon them. Seek not to
hasten it, but be satisfied to let the Lord have his own time and way,
and be patient. Seek to have the Spirit of Christ, that we may wait
patiently the time of the Lord, and prepare ourselves for the times
that are coming. This is our duty.

Vol. 9, p.3
We are blessed in these mountains. This is the best place on, the
earth for the Latter-day Saints. Search the history of all the
nations, and every geographical position on the face of the earth, and
you cannot find another situation so well adapted for the Saints as
are these mountains. Here is the place in which the Lord designed to
hide his people. Be thankful for it; be true to your covenants; be
faithful, each and every one. How frequently we hear from each other,
"Be ready to receive the truth. If it is contrary to our feelings—let
it be ever so opposite to our own feelings or affections—receive the
words of counsel from those who are appointed to lead us." How my
heart longs to see the brethren and sisters in a condition that when
the words of truth and virtue—righteous words of counsel—are poured
upon them, they will meet like drops of water meeting each other. How
I long to see the brethren, when they hear the words of truth poured
upon them, ready to receive those words because they are perfectly
congenial to their feelings, and every soul exclaim, "Those words
savour of the Spirit that is in me; they are my delight, my meat, and
my drink; they are the streams of eternal life. How congenial they
are, instead of their being contrary to my feelings."

Vol. 9, p.3
If I or any other man give counsel that meets with opposition, that
intrudes upon the affections, meditations, and feelings of the people,
and is harsh to their ears, bitter to their souls, it is either not
the words of truth, or they have not the fountain of life within them,
one of the two. If the Lord speaks from the heavens, reveals his will,
and it comes in contact with our feelings and notions of things, or
with our judgments, we are destitute of that fountain of truth which
we should possess. If our hearts are filled with the Spirit of truth,
with the Spirit of [p.4] the Lord, no matter what the true words from
heaven are, when God speaks, all his subjects shout "Hallelujah!
praise God! We are ready to receive those words, for they are true."

Vol. 9, p.4
Much has been said in regard to the Government in which we live. We
say that it is the best form of human government upon the earth. The
laws and institutions are good, but how can a republican government
stand? Did you ever ask yourselves this question? I wonder whether our
great men of the nation have ever asked themselves this question. The
heads of different departments—governors, judges, cabinet officers,
senators, representatives, presidents, —I wonder whether they ever ask
themselves the question, "How can a republican government stand?"
There is only one way for it to stand. It can endure; but how? It can
endure, as the government of heaven endures, upon the eternal reek of
truth and virtue; and that is the only basis upon which any government
can endure. Let the people become corrupt, let them begin to deceive
each other, and they will all deceive themselves, as our Government
has. When we made application to the General Government for a
restoration of our property and rights in Missouri, if Martin Van
Buren had said, "Yes, I will restore your lands to you, and will
defend you in the possession of your rights, if I have power; and if I
have not, my name shall not remain as President of the United States,"
he could have reinstated us in our rights. A few words from the
General Government to the Government of Missouri would have restored
to, us our lands and stayed the operations of the mob. If Van Buren
had said, "Be still, or I will chasten you and keep sacred the oath of
my office," we should not have been mobbed, and the nation would not
have been as it is to-day.

Vol. 9, p.4
Our present President, what is his strength? It is like a rope of
sand, or like a rope made of water. He is as weak as water. What can
he do? Very little. Has he power to execute the laws? No. I am an
American-born citizen—born under the Green Mountains in Vermont, from
whose summits you can look down upon the Atlantic States; and I feel
chagrined and mortified when I reflect upon the condition of my
nation. Of late, at times, I have almost wished that I had been born
in a foreign nation. I feel disgraced in having been born under a
government that has so little power, disposition, and influence for
truth and right; but I cannot help it. What is the cause of their
weakness and imbecility? They have left the paths of truth and virtue,
they have joined themselves to falsehood, they have made lies their
refuge, they have have turned aside the innocent from their rights,
and justified the iniquitous doers. They have justified thieving and
lying and every species of debauchery; they have fostered those who
have purloined money out of the public treasury—those who have
plundered the cotters of the people, and have said, "Let it be so; you
secrete my faults, you assist me to plunder and deceive, and I am with
you to Cover up your iniquity." Shame, shame on the rulers of the
nation! I feel myself disgraced to hail such men as my countrymen,
though I think I shall live through it. I Will endure it as well as I
can; but the corruption, the iniquity; and the deception of men in
high places no man can tell.

Vol. 9, p.4
I have previously related one little circumstance, which occurred not
long ago, illustrative of the mode in which payment of claims against
the Government is sometimes secured. A certain gentleman had attended
many sessions of Congress,  trying to [p.5] get payment of a claim due
to widows and orphans; but could not. In a short time, the claim was
adjusted. Brother George A. Smith, when in Washington, saw a gentleman
who had been years in endeavouring to get a claim allowed and paid;
one thousand dollars more to grease the wheels, and through it
went—the claim was paid. We have long been trying to get our claims
paid for expenditures in quelling Indian disturbances in 1853. When
the appropriation had reached the last move to be made, it could not
go. "What is the reneer?" "Somebody is throwing sand on the axletree,
and the wheel is stuck." "What must be done?" "Thirteen hundred
dollars must grease it." It then moved through—the appropriation was
made. It is so all the time—every day. These instances are
comparatively of little moment, and I merely allude to them to show
how minutely corruption prevails where justice should exist.

Vol. 9, p.5
These corruptions flow very naturally from the indebtedness contracted
to attain power. In elections, the successful become indebted to their
friends; and they promise them the patronage of the President, that
they shall be sent as a minister to such or such a country, or be
appointed a judge here or there, or a governor yonder. They cannot
obtain their election without paying largely for it, both in promises
and money; and to recover the means, they must either become thieves
or repudiate their debts. "Such a one owes me so much for contributing
to his election, and he will not pay me." It often happens that he
cannot, unless he steals it.

Vol. 9, p.5
The whole Government is gone; it is as weak as water. I heard Joseph
Smith say, nearly thirty years ago, "They shall have mobbing to their
heart's content, if they do not redress the wrongs of the Latter-day
Saints." Mobs will not decrease, but will increase until the whole
Government becomes a mob, and eventually it will be State against
State, city against city, neighbourhood against neighbourhood,
Methodists against Methodists, and so on. Probably you remember
reading, not a week ago, an account of a Conference being held in
Baltimore, in the course of which they seceded from their fellow
churches in the free States. It will be the same with other
denominations of professing Christians, and it will be Christian
against Christian, and man against man; and those who will not take up
the Sword against their neighbours must flee to Zion.

Vol. 9, p.5
Where is Zion? Let us be prepared to receive the honorable men of the
earth—those who are good. Are there any good people among them? Yes,
hundreds and thousands and thousands right in our Government, rotten
as it is; but they are so priest-ridden that they have no mind of
their own—they have not strength and fortitude. And I ask you, and I
can appeal to your own experience, place any of us back in the midst
of our old neighbour's, would it not be hard to break out and say, "We
are Latter-day Saints and followers of Joseph Smith; we believe
'Mormonism': good bye?" Them are hundreds and thousands in this
situation in the States, who desire to see truth, righteousness, and
right prevail; but they have not strength and power of mind to break
loose and say," We will be for God and none else." They follow the
customs of their fathers, and more or less cling to the faith and
religion of their fathers. They are bound down with priestcraft. I
took forward to the days when their bands will be broken. I pray this
people to do right. Purify yourselves, sanctify yourselves, and
prepare to receive those persons into everlasting habitations.

Vol. 9, p.6
[p.6] It is time to close our forenoon meeting. This afternoon,
probably, we will take up the business of the Conference, and continue
our meeting; and when we are through and wish to adjourn, we will do
so. We all feel like praying for the prosperity of the kingdom. The
whole body is continally seeking the welfare of each individual part.
The eye wishes the foot well, the foot wishes the head well, and will
walk to get food for the head and stomach, and they are united, and we
shall become more and more united. And I pray that the Lord will pour
out his grace on his sons and daughters, and I pray the Saints to
improve upon it until we are Sanctified. God bless you! Amen.

Heber C. Kimball, April 6, 1861

Spirit of Unity—Independence of Zion, &c.

Remarks by President Heber C. Kimball, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, April 6, 1861.

Reported By G. D. Watt

Vol. 9, p.6
I am glad to see you, and the feelings within me are God bless you,
peace be multiplied upon the Saints; and those that are not Saints,
may they be blessed with that which they love to that degree that they
cannot stay in this land. (A voice in the stand —"And I say amen.")

Vol. 9, p.6
I do respect and love good men and women. It has been natural to me
all the days of my life to do this; and the more of the Good Spirit
that dwells in a man, the more that love of those that are good
accumulates in him. I often speak by figures, and so did Jesus in his
day. He said, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman:
every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every
branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more
fruit. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and
I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do
nothing." Again, he says, "If a man abideth not in me, be is cast
forth as a branch that is withered; and men gather them, and they are
'east into the fire, and they are burned." When a branch withers and
dies, the avenues of the sap and nourishment from the root is cut off,
and the branch is cut off after it ceases to live and draw nourishment
from the roots.

Vol. 9, p.6
No branch is cut off from the tree while it is bearing fruit and
cleaves to the tree. We cleave to the vine by our works of
righteousness, and by our works of unrighteousness we become dead and
unfruitful; then it is necessary that the unfruitful branch should be
taken away, and another branch that is more fruitful should be grafted
in. We should all be one, like unto a tree, and receive intelligence
from heaven as the tree receives its nourishment from the roots.

Vol. 9, p.7
My prayer is from time to time, Father, baptize the Presidency into
[p.7] one spirit, and let them partake of the same element; and then,
Father, baptize the Twelve, and the Seventies, and every officer in
the Church and kingdom of God, and also every Branch connected to
them, that we may all be baptized into one spirit; then we need not
fear earth or hell.

Vol. 9, p.7
Brother Wells was speaking of the extension of our settlements, that
every inch of ground that is consecrated to God and the Use of his
Saints is redeemed from the power of Satan. That is verily true; and
when the people of our settlements act like one man in all flyings
that are revealed unto them, it will truly be so. But I presume,
brethren, you will find many devils in all these places; and they will
be there until they are east into hell with all those that forget God
and turn away from him. It is for us to keep them out of our own
bodies. If we do that, they will not trouble us much. Resist the
Devil, and the Scripture says he will flee from you; that is, he will
stand back a little until he can get better chance at some future time
to make an attack upon you. That it is his business, and it is ours to
avoid him and keep him far from us. Our calling is to do right, and to
teach righteousness and virtue, industry and economy, that we may gain
power over the world, over the flesh, and over the Devil, and, over
all that is combined to overthrow this work. Do you think they will
overthrow it? They may overthrow many of you, but they will never
overthrow this Church while the world stands. But when a man loses
that Good Spirit, he looks upon this work as the world look upon it.
He sees no beauty in it; he is opposed to it in his heart.

Vol. 9, p.7
As for the condition of the nations that brother Wells has been
speaking of, we shall never secede frome the Constitution of the
United States. We shall not stop on the way of progress, but we shall
make preparations or future events. The South will secede from the
North, and the North will secede from us, and God will make this
people free as fast as we are able to bear it. They send their poor
miserable creatures here to rule us. Why, it would be upon the same
principle that this Church and authority should send some poor curse
to rule me and my family in my own house. We need good men that are
capable of ruling us, and we have them in our midst. Take any man
there is here, and I would rather have him come and rule me and this
people than have any of those poor creatures that come here. What do
they know? Nothing, only to come here and undertake to lead this
people astray and pollute them. They would pollute every one, if they
had the power, or every one that would yield to them. We have to
submit to this, and to bear it with patience. But let me tell you, the
yoke is now off our neck, and it is on theirs, and the bow key is in.

Vol. 9, p.7
'The day is not far distant when you will see us as free as the air we
breathe, and we will be ruled by those men whom God Almighty appoints.
I live above the law, and I am above them, and mean to keep so by
doing right, as the Lord requires us through those who dictate and
lead us.

Vol. 9, p.7
President Young is our leader, and has been all the time since the
death of Joseph Smith the Prophet. He can govern this people with his
hands in his pockets, and they are not governed one whit by the men
that are sent here. I want to tell it, and I want they should know I
tell it. We are going to be ruled by our Father in heaven, and the
agents he sends and appoints for us, from this day henceforth and
forever.

Vol. 9, p.8
Let us all go to work and [p.8] cultivate the earth, beautify and
adorn it with trees and shrubs and plants that never die. Let us
preserve and sustain, and make ourselves independent both for clothing
and for food, and also for herds and flocks; and we will be free, and
our enemies will not trouble us much more. I am a witness to what the
nation has done to the people of the Saints for thirty years past.
They have killed some of the best men that ever lived, and the whole
nation sanctioned it, thinking they had got rid of the worst men that
ever were upon the earth. I know this to be true. They now look upon
President Young as they looked upon Joseph Smith as one of the
greatest curses that could come upon the earth. They have driven us,
robbed and plundered us; and when we sought for redress, they said our
cause was just, but they could do nothing for us. Let a man come into
my house or into yours, and serve us as the United States have served
this people, and would there not be a scrambling? We would soon decide
whether the cause was just or not. I can do it in a family capacity;
but Territories and States have not got; as much governing power as a
man ought to have in his family. I do not wish to say any more at this
time. Amen.

John Taylor, April 6, 1861

Union—Human and Divine Goverment, Etc.

Remarks by Elder John Taylor, made in, the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, April 6, 1861.

Reported By J. V. Long

Vol. 9, p.8
We have got through presenting the various Quorums comprising the
authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It has
seemed to be a little difficult to get some of the names right, and
also to get them in their proper places; but we have now got them
straight, and I believe there has been a unanimous feeling to sustain
all those officers presented in their respective positions.

Vol. 9, p.8
The question very naturally occurs to me, Would there be the same
unanimity of feeling in sustaining the same number of officers
anywhere else in the world? I do not think there would. In fact, I
know there would not. There is a principle of union with us: at least,
in outside show we are united; and in our actions, to a certain
extent, far more so than any other people; for other communities
cannot even be persuaded to vote alike. If there are those among us
that, feel a little crossways, thinking that some other way might he
better; yet there is so much of the feeling to the contrary that the
opposition is readily brought to acquiesce in the popular vote,
whether they really feel so or not; but they generally feel like it.
But still there is a lesson that we have been learning that none of us
are perfect in. Our judgment is not perfect;  and as we are not
perfect in [p.9] our sphere, we need not expect to find others perfect
in theirs; and as we are not perfect ourselves, we may have need to
come to the throne of mercy an I ask for wisdom and support, and we
can come to the Lord with faith and full assurance. If we have need to
come to the Lord, so have you. Be careful, then, how you judge. We can
say to all, With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with
what measure, ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Vol. 9, p.9
In regard to our criticism on the acts of public men, whatever we may
feel in regard to their acts, it is best to let it be laid aside for
the general good of all; or, in other words, we do not think, or
should not think, we are, the smartest men in the world. It appears
natural to us to think that we are as competent to judge as anybody
else, and yet we think that those who dictate matters ought to have
the Spirit of the Lord to guide them, and consequently yield our
judgment to theirs, and we strive to carry out the principles of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ in our actions. We do it to a great extent, but
not so fully as we might do. It is all voluntary on the part of the
people; but generally, out of respect to the superior intelligence of
those that are associated with the dictation of affairs, we act with
them. Although we may feel an uncertainty in regard to the views of
some, yet with those feelings we act in unison to a certain extent,
and we yield to the judgment of the majority, and to that of those
whose right it is to nominate and dictate in the kingdom of God.

Vol. 9, p.9
So far, then, as we have made progress in those things, so far have we
advanced in the knowledge of the Gospel of Christ, and so far have we
become strong and powerful as a people upon the earth.

Vol. 9, p.9
There is a little difference between our principles, or, I should say,
the principles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and
what are called democratic principles. Democracy governs by the people
alone; and, as was stated this morning, where the people are pure and
living under the influence of correct priniciples, and are seeking to
do right, it is one of the best governments on the earth. But where
the people are wicked and corrupt, that alters the case very
materially. It is not with us as it is with democracy. We do not
believe that any people are capable of governing themselves. There is
no need of entering into an argument upon the matter before this
congregation; but it is my opinion that there are no people under the
heavens that now exist, nor are there any that ever did exist, that
are capable of governing themselves.

Vol. 9, p.9
There have been a variety of governments on the earth, and very
powerful ones too have existed, in different ages of the world. Those
governments have generally been established and maintained by force of
arms—by power. Thus many submit to the few, and the majority have had
very little to say in the matter. We have generally been in the habit
of supposing that our republican institutions are the most perfect of
anything can exist among men—the ne plus ultra of human government;
and hence we have had a very favourite motto ready always upon our
tongue's end—Vox populi, vox Dei. I do not believe that the voice of
the people is the voice of God, but would ask, Is it the Northern or
Southern States that are governed by the Almighty? We have one of the
best human Governments upon the earth governed by the voice of the
people, and yet we are divided, torn assunder, and confused, and
appear to be on the eve of having two governments, and both republican
in their form; but which of them is governed by God? [p.10] Neither of
them have anything to do with the Lord. They are not under his
guidance or direction, and without his dictation it is impossible to
govern correctly. The principles of human government, as now
practised, are wrong; for what man knows the things of God? What human
wisdom can dictate to the inhabitants of a world? Human governments
have always been fluctuating and changeable. They have their rise,
their progress, and fall, and have always contained within themselves
the elements of their own destruction. The proper mode of government
is this—God first speaks, and then the people have their action. It is
for them to say whether they will have his dictation or not. They are
free: they are independent under God. The government of God is not a
species of priestcraft, after the order of the Church of Rome, where
one man dictates and everybody obeys without having a voice in it. We
have our voice and agency, and act with the most perfect freedom;
still we believe there is a correct order—some wisdom and knowledge
somewhere that is superior to ours: that wisdom and knowledge proceeds
from God through the medium of the holy Priesthood. We believe that no
man or set of men, of their own wisdom and by their own talents, are
capable of governing the human family aright.

Vol. 9, p.10
These are our opinions. We believe that it requires the same wisdom
that governs the planetary system, that produces seed time and
harvest, day and night, that organised our system, and that implanted
intelligence in finite man,—that it needs the same intelligence to
govern men and promote their happiness upon the earth that it does to
control and keep in order the heavenly bodies; and we believe that
that cannot be found with man independently. It is a principle that
exists with God, and he will not confer it upon the wicked and
ungodly, neither will he sustain those that trample under foot his
authority and his laws. Hence he has organised his kingdom with the
express intention of governing his children himself according to the
wisdom that dwells with him, through the medium that he has appointed;
and hence, having appointed a medium, he brings it before the people,
that they may have an opportunity of expressing their sentiments.
Then, if they do not like the method which he has adopted, or any
plans that he may introduce,—if they do not like his officers, they
have a voice in it, and can say so. There is no man or government
under the heavens that has so strict a scrutiny as we have in the
Church of Jesus Christ. All the authorities of this Church have to be
acted for twice a year by all the Saints throughout all the world.
This is very rind sentry, more searching than that of our democratic
rulers; but these men with whom we associate in the kingdom of God do
not take it upon themselves alone to dictate and regulate these
important matters pertaining to the kingdom of God and the salvation
of man, because they do not consider they have got the intelligence.
Hence my remarks so far, and hence the course of procedure pursued
to-day in the presentation of the authorities of the Church in
bringing all leading matters before the people.

Vol. 9, p.10
We can acquiesce generally in the guidance of the Lord, and with
pleasure obey the dictation of his servants. Have we by doing this
progressed in a knowledge of the law of God, and the rule and
government of his kingdom upon the earth? If  we have any
intelligence, we shall show that we have learned a great and important
lesson—one that we [p.11] might have learned some time ago. But I will
tell you what it is: When God dictates through the channel. that he
has placed won the earth, he directs through the gift and power of the
Holy Ghost, and this way manifests his will to those whose right it is
to know it. In this way he makes known the things of his kingdom and
the principles that are necessary to the salvation of the people. Then
all the congregation lift up their hands as a token before God that
they sanction what is presented, and then the voice of the people is
the voice of God. He first dictates, and then we sustain his
nomination. Thus we have the wisdom of God associated with the
concurrence of man; and God being governed by the Spirit of truth, and
the Saints possessing and being guided by the gift of the Holy Ghost,
it is the voice of God and the voice of his people under his
direction, and God and his people are one, as Jesus said—"I in them,
and thou in the that we all may be one." This is the way we look at
things, and by pursuing this course we have made great progress in the
principles of eternal life, and all those things that devolve upon us
to attend to.

Vol. 9, p.11
What is it that we are after? Is it to revolutionize these States of
America by force, by physical power, by the sword, and by treading
underfoot their rights? No. Are we striving to overthrow the nations,
and to put our feet upon the necks of men? No: we care but very little
about them or their concerns. But is there not a kingdom that God
should set up? Yes. Is not this the stone hewn out of the mountain
without hands, that is to grow into a great kingdom and fill the whole
earth? It is. Then how are you going to accomplish this great work? We
answer, Precisely as the Lord tells us. We have existed for thirty
years, and we have used a great deal of our time and labour for the
promotion of this kingdom. But have we at any time interfered with the
rights of others? We have been outraged and abused in Ohio, Missouri,
and Illinois; but whom have we interfered with? We are at the defiance
of the world to point out a single instance. Have we attempted to
overrun Texas or New Mexico—to trample underfoot the people of
Nebraska and Kansas, and make everybody tremble and succumb by the
power of the sword? Have we interfered with California, Oregon, or
Washington Territory? No, we have not.

Vol. 9, p.11
Then what have we done to cause people to be so jealous of us? Why, we
have just let everybody else alone; we have preached peace and
salvation, built up Zion, and proclaimed the kingdom of God. They
would not, however, let us alone; but we could not help that, The very
move that they have made and all the steps that we have taken have
brought us before the nations, and manifested the power of God in a
way that never could have been done otherwise. They may say what they
will, but this is the result of it. We did not kill them when we had a
chance. They came upon us and sought to destroy us, and why did they
do this? It was because the Lord was with us. We could not help them
doing as they did, and I suppose they could not resist the power that
prompted them to do as they have done. However, it is all right; the
hand of God is in it and has been from the beginning. Do we rejoice at
the present time over the difficulties of our enemies in the States?
No, we would be glad to do them good, if they would only let us; but
they are unwilling to receive the truth.

Vol. 9, p.11
Have We forsaken our covenants? or have they violated the law in their
treatment to us? It was shown very clearly this morning, by President
[p.12] Wells, that they hunted us like the wolves in the desert. They
came with their armies fully bent on our destruction, but a barrier
stood in the way. The Lord said; "Thus far shall you go, and no
farther. You can now stop. You can shiver and shake out there in the
mountains, during the cold, chilling blasts of a dreary winter; but
touch not my anointed, and do my Prophets no harm."

Vol. 9, p.12
They have now got the difficulties at home which they intended to
create among us. We have not injured them—we have not hurt a hair of
their heads, and we still feel willing to assist them. We feel willing
to help to preserve, the nation; and our Elders have travelled
thousands of miles to bless the people. Yes, we feel to bless
everybody; and what will we not do to benefit our fellow-beings?
Brethren, let, us try to conquer ourselves. Let us try to understand
our own position, to magnify our calling, that, we may be prepared to
act in that sphere in which God may call us to operate. The Lord has
chosen his servants, he has lifted up his standard in Zion, he has
proclaimed peace and happiness on earth, he has taught us how to live
and how to die; the way is pointed out whereby we can obtain salvation
in his kingdom. He has made manifest unto us his will, and we feel
glad; we rejoice and sing Hallelujah! the Lord God omnipotent
reigneth!

Vol. 9, p.12
Brethren and sisters, we have a great mission to perform—we have to
try to govern ourselves according to the laws of the kingdom of God,
and we find it one of the most difficult tasks we ever undertook, to
learn to govern ourselves, our appetites, our dispositions, our
habits, our feelings, our lives, our spirits, our judgment, and to
bring all our desires into subjection to the law of the kingdom of God
and to the Spirit of truth. It is a very critical thing to be engaged
in the upbuilding of the kingdom of God—a nucleus of which we have
here.

Vol. 9, p.12
Whatever good feelings we have originate from the Spirit of the Lord,
and from the light and intelligence that come from the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. For all we owe our oblation of thanksgiving to the great Giver
of all good.

Vol. 9, p.12
We are assembled here from different nations, having a variety of
prejudices, different kinds of education, having imbibed different
feelings, notions, and ideas; and we have now come together to learn
to bend our minds, to yield our opinions, and not to follow our own
notions, not to cling to our peculiar whims and caprices, but to bow
to the holy Priesthood, which is the rule of God upon the earth. You
should understand that when you have been voting here to sustain the
Presidency of the Church o Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the
Twelve Apostles, the High Council, the Bishops, and other Quorums, you
have been voting to sustain the legitimate and authorized officers of
the Church and kingdom of God; whose right it is to rule and govern
whenever and wherever the Almighty has a people upon the earth.

Vol. 9, p.12
Now, then, brethren and sisters, do not go away from here, and run
against those very parties whom you have covenanted to sustain;
because, the very moment you do, every sensible man will set you, down
as hypocrites. You have a free opportunity here of manifesting your
choices, and I will here say that so far you have manifested good
sense in being united in regard to those principles we have to carry
out. Let the principles of union and faith be observed at your homes;
and if you are men having families, let there be a daily incense arise
from your family altar, and let your constant  and daily prayer be,
"God bless the Presidency of the [p.13] Church, God bless the Twelve,
the Bishops, and all the constituted authorities of the Church, and
the the Lord give me wisdom to act according to their dictation, and
the Lord bless all those that believe on their words." Then there will
be a feeling of union in all our small districts; and instead of its
being, "Tom wants to do this, and Jim wants to do the other," it will
be, "I don't want my way, but I want the mind and will of God. I want
to know what my duty is, and then I will pray God to give me grace and
power to do it." This is the feeling of every good, intelligent,
Latter-day Saint at the present time, who is seeking to do the will of
God upon the earth. Never mind if somebody is trying to encroach;
never mind about your independence and your rights.

Vol. 9, p.13
I was talking to a man, the other day, who said—"I must have my
rights." I replied to him, "I have no rights only those that God gives
me." But I have been imposed upon," said the man. Well, what if you
have? It is a great deal better than if you had imposed upon somebody
else. Just say, Why, that man don't know any better; and if he can
stand it, I can.

Vol. 9, p.13
These are our feelings in regard to rights. There was a time when I
thought I had a great many rights of my own, but now I have got to
understand that I have all the rights that God will give me, and I
don't want to have any more. I want to live in the light of his
countenance, to ask him to give me his Spirit, and then I know I shall
prosper. When you feel like talking about your rights, let me advise
you to go into your closet, forget your imaginary rights, and ask the
Lord to give you wisdom to guide you aright, that you may act before
him as children of the light, and not be the means of throwing a
stumbling block in the way of others. By pursuing this course, you
will get along much easier, and there will not be near so much of that
spirit of grumbling and complaining.

Vol. 9, p.13
It would be first rate for many Latter-day Saints to consider the
following sentiment of the poet:—

Were half our time in reasoning spent,
To heaven in supplication sent,
Our cheerful songs would oftener be,
Hear what the Lord has done for me.

I believe what he has done for me and for this people to be saving in
its nature, and to be the best that could have been done for us. Let
us all seek to do right, get the Spirit of the Lord, and allow that to
govern and dictate us.

Vol. 9, p.13
Suppose there are some who do not do exactly right in some places,
what of that? There are many things that are not right. Never mind;
everything that is wrong will in due time be righted. Permit me to
bring a figure before you. A year ago last winter there was a very
severe frost, and it injured the fruit trees. Some who professed to be
judges thought it best to cut down the peach trees; some thought that
if left alone they would still grow, and therefore they left them
alone to see how many would live: There was quite a difference of
opinion upon the subject, and some adopted one plan, and some another.
The general impression was, I believe, that it would be best to cut
off those limbs that were frost-bitten and that did not appear to have
much sap in them.

Vol. 9, p.13
Now, my doctrine is, Prune the trees, or, in other words, the branches
of the great tree to which we are connected, just at the time when it
will do the least injury. It requires great wisdom, however, to prune
and regulate the Church of Christ. There were a great many of our
people got frost-bitten—a kind of dead in their spirits, and some were
for going right to work and pruning; but hold on. [p.14] Said Jesus,
"The wheat and tares must grow together until harvest." Perhaps you
would pull up the wheat with the tares, if you were to do it when you
think best. If there is nothing good in a man, he will by-and-by
develop the evil that is in him, and then everybody will agree that
the pruning ought to be done, and the branch ought to be cut off; but
if the good preponderates, it would be wrong because of prejudice or
ignorance, to destroy the good. It is best to leave it to the
husbandman, and then all the congregation will say Amen.

Vol. 9, p.14
There are a great many things that might be spoken about to further
illustrate this subject, but the same principle applies everywhere.
For instance, there were two or three of us went up to Salt Creek a
few days ago to attend to some business; and by the accounts given and
the reports circulated, a stranger would have thought that we had got
one of the most mean and contemptible of men for a Bishop: but when
the matter came up for investigation, there was not one solitary
charge that could be sustained; the man was innocent. Now, I would
rather be found at some other business than to be finding fault with
and accusing my brethren. If people would leave such things alone a
little more than they do, and leave the management of them to the
proper authorities, it would be better. Suppose a corrupt man is
presiding in a certain place, his corruptions are soon known. People
need not strive to turn good into evil because they think that some
man does wrong. They need not turn calumniators and defamers, for all
will come right in its turn. Then attend to your own business, work
the works of righteousness, sustain the constituted authorities of the
Church until God removes them, and he will do it in his own time.
Bishops, be afar such men as speak against the Lord's anointed. The
Priesthood is placed in the Church for this purpose, to dig, to plant,
to nourish, to teach correct principles, and to develop the order of
the kingdom of God, to fight the devils, and maintain and support the
authorities of the Church of Christ upon the earth. It is our duty all
to act together to form one great unit—one great united phalanx,
having sworn allegiance to the kingdom of God; then everything will
move on quietly, peaceably, and easily, and then there will be very
little trouble. I never want to interfere with anybody else's
business: I always find enough to attend to of my own.

Vol. 9, p.14
There was a man came to me, a short time ago, and wanted me to do
something about a decision of High Council. I told him I would have
nothing to do with it. It was presumable to me that they had done
right—that twelve disinterested men were more likely to judge
correctly than one man who was evidently interested. I did not want to
be entangled in affairs that did not belong to me. I like people to
attend to their own affairs.

Vol. 9, p.14
Am I an Apostle? I would like to magnify my calling. Am I an Elder, a
Bishop, a Priest, a Teacher? If I am, I would like to magnify my
calling, that I might secure the honour and glory of God, and promote
the welfare of his kingdom, and be a co-worker in the establishment of
the principles of righteousness, and become a blessing to my
neighbourhood. What do we see our President at? Is he sitting down at
ease, allowing the time to pass unimproved? No: he is stimulating us
to good works. He is saying to the Elders, Go forth and preach the
Gospel, gather the poor, send out your teams and your  young men, and
thus show that you can do something for the gathering of scattered
Israel. Get the [p.15] Spirit of life, power, and energy within you,
that you may be able to do something to make you feel fit to hold the
Priesthood of the Most High God. The poor Saints are watching you, the
First Presidency and other authorities are watching you, and they are
watching with Argus' eyes over the interests of the Church and kingdom
of God.

Vol. 9, p.15
Where does this spirit come from? It comes from the Lord. Where does
it flow to? It finds access to every man that has the spirit of
honesty within him; and hence when the teachings come, "Send your
waggons, go here, go there," the reply is, "Yes," we are all one in
the Church of Christ; we have dedicated ourselves; spirit and body, to
the Church and kingdom of God; we are on hand to furnish anything for
its advancement. This is the feeling that governs the Latter-day
Saints. They all feel to say—"Do you want teams? Do you want waggons?
Do you want men, wheat, or corn?" The response is, "Yes, we are all on
hand." Brethren, this is the way to make ourselves rich and strong,
and secure the favour of God and of the holy angels. This is the way
to have peace in our own bosoms, to preserve peace and happiness in
our own families, by engaging in doing the work of the Lord, by
striving to accomplish his purposes upon the earth, and by preparing,
as President Young said, for the events that are approaching.

Vol. 9, p.15
Let us be prepared to become co-workers with our the leaders, and then
all will be well. Brethren, God bless you! Amen.

George A. Smith, April 6, 1861

Sectarian Religion—Democracy, Etc.

Remarks by Elder George A. Smith, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, April 6, 1861.

Reported By G. D. Watt

Vol. 9, p.15
I arise before you to offer a few remarks, and to preach from a text.
I do not know that you will find it recorded in any particular volume,
and it is not exactly possible for me to tell the chapter and verse,
but it will be found in the Gospel according to Saint
Brigham:—Sectarian religion, sectarian God, and the democracy of our
country compared together.

Vol. 9, p.15
We find in the Methodist discipline that the God worshipped by John
Wesley's followers was a very singular being, without body or parts.
In the platforms of the Presbyterians, Baptists, and other
denominations, it is declared that he has neither body, parts, nor
passions. This is John Knox's old platform. I never was very much
posted in these systems of [p.16] piety, but I remember, when quite
young, looking at the book containing the articles of their faith, and
wondering what sort of a being it was that had neither body, parts,
nor passions, and I might perhaps, with propriety, add principles or
power.

Vol. 9, p.16
Lindley Murray says a substantive is the name of anything that exists;
but if a being had no body, parts, or passions, its existence could
only be imaginary. I suppose it would be a noun, but not really a
substantive. I understand a substantive, according to Kirkham, to be
the name of a substance.

Vol. 9, p.16
The God that Moses saw wrote With his finger upon the tables of stone.
(See Ex., ch. 31, v. 18.) The God that Jacob saw walked with him.
Jacob was, no doubt, an expert wrestler, and in the habit of throwing
anybody that came along. (See Genesis, chap. 32, and chap. 25, v. 21.)
He was wandering about one night, and met a stranger, with whom he
wrestled all night; and when he found he could not throw him, he said,
You are something more than a man, or I could throw you. But I will
not let thee go, except thou bless me; for thou art more than mortal,
or I could throw thee. And Jacob said, I will call the name of the
place Peniel, for I have seen God face to face, and my life is
preserved. The God with whom Jacob wrestled had some body and some
parts. I need not go to investigate this subject, only to say that the
God worshipped by the sectarian world is not the being that wrestled
with Jacob.

Vol. 9, p.16
We also learn from the old book that the Lord created man in his own
image and in his express likeness. Man possesses body and parts: the
result is, he is a being in the express image of the Father. The
Father of the God that the sectarians worship is not the being who
created man. But this imaginary deity, or myth of nothing at all,
whose centre is said to be everywhere, and whose circumference is
nowhere, (I have heard it described in that language,) which is
worshipped by the sectarian world, can simply be expressed by using
the words of the Methodist discipline and the creeds generally, and
with the addition of two or three other words, without body, parts, or
passions; then add principles or power. What is the result of
worshipping such a being? It is a most indescribable religious
confusion—a confusion that our language is inadequate to express. One
of the old Prophets says—"Woe to the multitude of many people that
make a noise."

Vol. 9, p.16
I once went to a Methodist camp meeting, and heard some thousands of
men and women praying, shouting, screeching all at once. At that time
I looked round, and thought of the words of the Prophet—"Woe to the
multitude of many people that make a noise like the noise of a sea."
It was like a perfect bedlam of confusion. About midnight I got tired
of the noise, and thought I would go away. I had tied my horse about a
quarter of a mile from the camp. When I went to get him, he had broke
the girth of the saddle, drawn the halter so tightly that I had to cut
it and to lead him some distance before I could quiet him so as to
ride him.

Vol. 9, p.16
This will give you an idea of the confusion that can be created by a
thousand voices in the extreme of enthusiasm and confusion of a
Methodist camp meeting. The different sects differ about almost
everything that pertains to their religion.

Vol. 9, p.16
Harper's Magazine tells the following story:—

Vol. 9, p.16
" A Mormon Elder from Salt Lake, by the name of Randall, not many
years ago, while on a visit [p.17] to his friends in the State of
Ohio, was requested to attend a Campbellite meeting—a society to which
his relatives belonged. He went, and listened to an eloquent
discourse. The preacher was more charitable than many of the clergy of
other denominations; and, in the course of his remarks, said that each
denomination or branch of the church formed a link in the chain with
which Satan will be bound, and thus usher in the reign of peace. After
the sermon was ended, many of the brethren expressed their approbation
of the discourse, and bore testimony to the truth of what the preacher
had said. Finally, the friends of the Mormon Elder requested him to
speak. He hesitated. But, after much solicitation, he arose and
said—"I believe what your preacher has said in regard to the different
denominations—that they each form a link in the chain with which Satan
will be bound; and when bound, both Satan and chain will be east into
the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, according to the
testimony of John the Revelator;" and sat down. He was not called on
again."

Vol. 9, p.17
But now for the second part of my text—the Democracy of our country. I
was reading the remarks of a gentleman, who was insisting that the
young men of our country should learn to spout—that is, to make a
speech on politics, and be prepared to take the stump. A gentleman
commenting on it says gold will ruin the country and destroy the
Union. The people being the government, having no recognized head, and
having to express itself through the belly, if you please, it takes a
long time; and by the time the sentiment comes to the head, it is so
confused and divided that the fact, is, it would have you to suppose
that the greater portion of the brains were in the boots! Read the
proceedings of Congress for the last year, and you will see one
constant stew. Every man that could get the opportunity would get up
and pronounce a solemn speech, or have it printed at the public
expense—at any rate, to send home to his constituents, to let them
know that he did or must say something to prevent the dissolution of
the Union, without ever reflecting upon or seeing the real cause of
the difficulty. It is a species of maddening fury that rolls along
like the waves of the sea—a kind of universal confusion. Take, for
instance, those who have been the most devoted to the Constitution of
the United States, and they, like the ancients who shouted "Great is
the goddess Diana of the Ephesians!" would shout "Great is the
Constitution!" "A great and glorious thing is the Union!" And every
step they would take, every single effort they would make, would be to
tread on the rights of others. What is the matter? What causes all
this confusion? Why, those men who are placed in authority, from the
President down, looked silently on, and saw the laws trampled
underfoot, the Constitution violated, the rights of the innocent
trifled with, the blood of innocence poured upon the ground like
water, and the little insignificant body of people, the "damned
Mormons," as they pleased to call them, driven from their homes into
the wilderness, and so peace was taken from their midst. Suppose you
get the Christians now together and fetch them up here, and ask them
to tell us which is the pure religion; take, say a dozen of the
leading sects, and let each one tell us which is the pure religion of
Jesus Christ, and they would get up such a quarrel, such a confusion,
such a hubbub, that it would be impossible to tell anything about it.
Go to work and gather up the different factions of our country,
politically, and let them undertake to tell what the matter is, and it
would only [p.18] have a tendency to show a specimen of that
ignorance; stupidity, weakness, and universal confusion which reigns
throughout the land. When the Latter-day Saints were driven from
Jackson county, in 1833, Joseph Smith prophesied that if the people of
the United 'States would not bring to justice that mob and protect the
Saints, they should have mob upon mob, mob upon mob, until mob and
power and mob rule should be all over the whole land, until no man's
life or property should be safe. This prophecy is being literally
fulfilled.

Vol. 9, p.18
The laws of the country are trampled upon with impunity, and there is
nothing but a general and universal mob rule. There is really a
combination of corruption which exceeds anything which the world has
witnessed for generations.

Vol. 9, p.18
Take, for instance, the officers of the army; go into any little
detachment of the army, and they get together in solemn conclave, and
condemn a whole lot of provisions—sell them for a mere trifle. Some of
them will buy them in again, and pay twenty times as much as they sold
for, and thus bleed Uncle Sam. Such men are in office every year. Men
in office think it a fine thing to swindle the Government, which is
only a miserable goose for them to pluck.

Vol. 9, p.18
Now I will put the text together. The religious and political
organizations of the country. Abe Lincoln, the present President of
the United States, that was—at any rate he occupies the seat and
claims the title, and presides over a portion of the Union at
Washington in name,—this man is the representative of the religious
enthusiasm of the country. For the last thirty years there has been a
constant stirring up and firm exertion on the part of the North to get
up a crusade against slavery—to make the men who live in the Southern
States turn over their slaves.

Vol. 9, p.18
I was raised in the State of New York, and recollect the early
movements in this matter. At that time a great many men held slaves.
We drove our slaves to Virginia and sold them for the money, and got
full pay. We immediately began to feel sorry for them, and began to
feel that it was very wicked to keep negroes, seeing we had got the
money for ours. Our State was free from slavery, and we desired all
the Virginians to turn their negroes loose. We grew more and more
conscientious about it. The pulpit, took the lead—the Sunday schools
and every other religious influence that could be brought to bear. Mr.
Lincoln now is put into power by that priestly influence; and the
presumption is, should he not find his hands full by the secession of
the Southern States, the spirit of priestcraft would force him, in
spite of his good wishes and intentions, to put to death, if it was in
his power, every man that believes in the divine mission of Joseph
Smith, or that bears testimony of the doctrines he preached.

Vol. 9, p.18
There is no spirit more intolerant, cruel, and devilish than a spirit
of religious persecution. It carries its cruelties to a greater
extent; and when the civil authority becomes mingled with the
religious, and that power is united, and the sword is placed in their
hands, it is the most bloody weapon that was ever wielded. Infidelity
is almost harmless, compared with it. The bloodthirsty power that has
been exercised under such influence exceeds anything that history
records. It is a union—a combination of civil and religious power in
the hands of corrupt men, and that brought to bear, and turned loose
upon us, with a determination to annihilate every Latter-day Saint.
But God is our shield and our protector.

Vol. 9, p.19
It was this influence that brought [p.19] us trouble during the
administration of Mr. Buchanan.

Vol. 9, p.19
The Republican organs whipped Mr. Buchanan into the Utah war, and they
then whipped him for getting into it; and they whipped him until he
got but of it the best way he could, and then they whipped him awfully
for getting out. They meant to keep him there until the work of
destruction was done. But, thank the Lord, the Latter-day Saints yet
live, and yet have an influence, and they are yet felt.

Vol. 9, p.19
Now, brethren, this is the word of the Lord. And that contention which
exists throughout the country, and which by its actual division is
rendered powerless to injure us, is really our protection; God uses it
to protect us. He has said, "The wicked shall slay the wicked." The
time shall come when the vengeance of the Almighty will fall upon the
heads of those that have persecuted, slain, driven, and rejoiced over
the destruction and affliction of the Saints. I know that ibis is the
work of the Lord Almighty. I bear my testimony to it. And I say that
if we were as we ought to be, if we would listen to the counsel of
President Young as we ought to do, if we would obey his instructions
as we ought to obey them, we should be the wealthiest people upon the
face of the earth. I suppose, however, so far as the necessaries of
life are concerned, we are so now. I presume you cannot find a
community throughout the United States as large as ours but what the
present distress, growing out of the present financial panic, from
political disorganization, the failure of men to pay their debts, the
refusal of the South to continue in the Union,—among these influences
you cannot find a community so large as this but what would be more or
less actually in a state of suffering for want of bread. There is no
Latter-day Saint in these mountains but what can get good bread, and
eat that which is good and wholesome. Hence, I may say, we are the
richest people; and if we had listened as we ought to have done for
the last four years to the counsel of the Presidency, we should have
possessed millions of property which we do not now. The fear there is
in the breasts of many that the Presidency will exercise an influence
over their business affairs, that would not give them as good a chance
as they ought to have, has been all the while a plan to entangle our
own feet, and has caused us to grope like blind men in the dark, and
scramble for the picayunes when we might as well have picked up the
eagles. I have been sorry for this. I know that a wise head to guide
us in our movements in our different settlements—to tell us what we
should cultivate, what kind of things we should improve in, and the
advantages to be taken of the climate and productions of our several
localities, and the way we should exercise our labour to produce the
necessaries of life, is of vast importance to us. We have our brethren
scattered all over the world, far and near, and many of them have been
struggling for years to come to Zion. We should be awake while we are
here, and try to release them from their bondage, for ere, long the
terrible storm will break loose; every man's hand will be let loose
upon his neighbour, and blood and distress, turmoil, sorrow, misery,
war, and destruction will sweep the whole face of the earth as with
the besom of destruction.

Vol. 9, p.19
Let us, then, exert ourselves to deliver our brethren, that they may
flee from the old barn like rats from a building on fire, and escape
in time, and escape unhurt. Be wide awake and diligent in these
things; and, when we are called upon to go after the poor, regard it
as a most important mission. I do not want to [p.20] bread. There is
no Latter-day Saint go as teamsters, select some that are of no
account. If you send our's team round which you expect to have
gathered fifteen or twenty Saints to cross the Plains, send a man that
will be a father to them, and teach them righteousness, and inspire
them with good sentiments and exalted feelings. And you that go on
such missions, remember you are sent to bring home the sheaves:
therefore take care of them; strengthen and encourage them in regard
to the things they should do and understand; stir up in their hearts a
spirit of obedience, and they will come in hare with the light of the
Spirit of the Lord burning brightly within them, that their passage
over the Plains may be a school to them of principle and doctrine and
truth, that they may inherit all the blessings that are in store for
them—blessings that will endure for ever.

Vol. 9, p.20
I believe I have got entirely from my text. Excuse me, and may the
Lord bless you. Amen.

Lorenzo Snow, April 7, 1861

Improvement—Restoration of the Priesthood, Etc.

Remarks by Elder Lorenzo Snow, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, April 7, 1861.

Reported By J. V. Long

Vol. 9, p.20
It is a matter of rejoicing to me, brethren and sisters, that I have
the privilege of assembling here with you in a Conference capacity,
contemplating the growth of the kingdom of the Almighty which has been
upon the earth for the past thirty-one years, and considering the
progress that this people have made in knowledge, power, and
intelligence. We meet together in this capacity from time to time.
Twice in a year we have always the same privilege.

Vol. 9, p.20
After considering the past, and seeing the improvements we have made,
as a people and as individuals, it is a matter of importance to us to
consider ourselves, to see whether we are making such progress as is
required of us—to learn if we are keeping pace with the times and the
improvements that are being made by the leading men of the Church—to
find out whether we, as individuals, are improving in the principles
of the Gospel, whether we are improving in the practice of righteous'
and holy principles, and whether we are gaining knowledge, wisdom,
virtue, and getting a more full understanding of how to make ourselves
happy, and thus prepare ourselves for that situation that we expect to
occupy in future.

Vol. 9, p.20
As has been said by our President, we can clearly see the rapid
improvements and advances that this people are making  from year to
year. It is [p.21] a pleasure to us, and we ought to feel grateful to
our Heavenly Father for the strength that he has given to this people
in consequence of the union, the knowledge, and wisdom that we are
continually gaining.

Vol. 9, p.21
We can easily see the improvements that the people are making. It is
like the babe that passes from a state of infancy to childhood, and
thence to manhood. You cannot tell the particular moments of its
growth and increase in stature; you cannot point out the particular
day, hour, or minute in which it increases; but you are all the time
perfectly aware that it is gaining, growing, becoming greater
continually. It is precisely so in regard to ourselves spiritually. If
we are doing our duty, though we cannot point out the moment, the day,
or the particular time when we receive the increase of knowledge,
wisdom, or power, yet we know and feel conscious, as we reflect back,
that we have gained. This is a blessing, and for this we should feel
deeply grateful to our Heavenly Father. We are where we want to make
ourselves happy, and the nature of the objects around us are such as
to cause us to bear some fruit, be it good or bad, sweet or sour.

Vol. 9, p.21
We are in the world, but we are ignorant. We do not know what will
make us happy, or whether we shall receive what we anticipate. We know
little or nothing about these things. We seek happiness and that which
will make us comfortable, but we do not really understand what will
make us happy for time and happy for eternity.

Vol. 9, p.21
The Priesthood has been restored. It has been bestowed upon man, that
through that medium all who would like to be good and happy might have
the privilege. The Gospel tells us how to be great, good, and happy.
The Spirit of the Gospel of Christ teaches all things that are
necessary for our present and future welfare.

Vol. 9, p.21
We have these objects in view today, and we should continually keep
them before us. Look back for twenty-five years, or look back ten
years only, and a great many have been in the Church that length of
time, and see what we have accomplished. We see farther and comprehend
things better; hence we are better prepared for the thing's that are
coming on the earth than we were ten, fifteen, twenty, or twenty-five
years ago to know how to be useful—to know how to do things as they
should be done.

Vol. 9, p.21
A man may be a very good man, and yet not have wisdom to do things
right; but we have got the Spirit that will enable us to know how to
put them ill the best channel, so that they will be best calculated to
roll on the kingdom of God, to make us happy, and prepare us for the
scenes that lie before us. Is not the Gospel a good thing? Is it not
worthy of a man losing his substance and even his life to gain the
blessings that are promised to the faithful in Israel? The man who has
the priesthood, who is filled with the Holy Ghost, is to be guided and
dictated by it in the way of happiness and life. It is very necessary
for us to have these things laid before us frequently, that we may be
put in remembrance of our duties.

Vol. 9, p.21
The organised spirit which God gave us is the one which conceives
through the revelations that are given from on high. The nature and
the character of those teachings that come from the Priesthood are
such that we comprehend them: the Spirit manifests them unto us as
they are, By it we learn our duties to God and man. We are taught by
it to shun the evil and cleave unto that which is good. We understand
this, if we are in the path of duty. It is not miracles that produce
within us that [p.22] living faith of which President Young so
frequently speaks; but we learn the nature and character of our
religion. We learn that which is calculated to enable us to shun all
evil power and to make us happy.

Vol. 9, p.22
When a man receives knowledge, he is prompted to impart it to others;
when a man becomes happy, the Spirit that surrounds him teaches him to
strive to make others happy. It is not so in the Gentile world. If a
man attains to any important position, he does not strive to elevate
others to participate in the same blessings. In this respect there is
a great difference between the Latter-day Saints and the world of
mankind. The object of the Priesthood is to make all men happy, to
diffuse information, to make all partakers of like same blessings in
their turn. Is there any chance of a man's becoming happy without a
knowledge of the Gospel of Christ? A man may make the thunders roll,
the lightnings flash; but what has that to do with making a can happy?
Nothing. Though in the world they try to make themselves happy, still
they are not successful in what they strive to accomplish. They cannot
be happy except upon one principle, and that is by embracing the
fulness of the Gospel, which teaches us not to wait till we get into
eternity before we begin to make ourselves happy; but it teaches us to
strive here to make ourselves and those around us rejoice in the
blessings of the Almighty.

Vol. 9, p.22
This, then, should be our aim and object—to learn to make ourselves
useful—to be saviours to our fellow-men—to learn how to save them—to
communicate to them a knowledge of the principles that are necessary
to raise them to the same degree of intelligence that we have
ourselves.

Vol. 9, p.22
Men may be very good, and yet they may not be very wise, nor so useful
as they might be; but the Gospel is given to make us wise, and to
enable us to get those things in our minds that are calculated to make
us happy. The time that we have to meet together here and compare
ourselves with the principles of our profession is a great blessing,

Vol. 9, p.22
We are a Territory; we have our own Government; we have our own
dispenser of light and knowledge, who is supported by our united
faith; and the Spirit within us teaches to sanction their proceedings,
and how to walk in the path of life.

Vol. 9, p.22
I dare say that some of us do not sufficiently reflect upon the good
things that are in our minds, nor do we have that gratitude that we
ought to have to our Heavenly Father.

Vol. 9, p.22
I see some of my brethren around me who hold the holy Priesthood that
has descended out of the heavens in these last days; I behold their
faces multiplied around me; I see them appointed to become saviours
among men—to be always on hand to officiate in the Priesthood. They
are destined to become saviours on the earth—rulers among the children
of men, to teach mankind how to increase in the principles and
likeness of Deity—how to increase in those principles of power that
will enable them constantly to ascend in the path of eternal life—to
be like the child that grows when in infancy, gradually increasing in
the knowledge of God.

Vol. 9, p.22
This is the condition in which they are placed, if they are acting in
their proper positions, and if they are upholding and sustaining those
who are in our midst, and who are appointed to lead and guide this
people to eternal life and exaltation. We may increase in knowledge
and power, and in our ability to build up the kingdom of God upon the
earth, and that,  too, by our diligence, our humility, and
faithfulness to the covenants we have made. We do not require miracles
[p.23] to enable as to perform the duties of to-day. We know, from
defending the teachings of the servants of God, that we are right—that
the Spirit from on high accompanies us.    We knew that we are right
as well as the Lord does. How do we know this? Because Deity is within
us, and that Spirit of Deity that is within us teaches us that we are
the sons of God; it teaches the sisters that they are the daughters of
God, and by it we are all taught that we are the children of our
Father in heaven. Therefore we know if we are in the line of our duty;
for the Spirit of the Gospel teaches every man who lives in the line
of his duty that he is in the path of right, and so it does every
woman. By it she knows she is walking in the path of truth and life.
It is this Spirit which teaches the sisters as well as the brethren
the right from the wrong; and she has a perfect fight to know the
truth of her religion—to have a knowledge for herself that the
principles of her Profession are divine. Is there anything wrong or
mysterious, in this? No. It is because she is a child of God, and
therefore she is capacitated to know as he knows—to comprehend the
principles of her religion, its divine origin, and its tendency onward
and upward.

Vol. 9, p.23
This is a good and glorious principle, and we are uniting ourselves
together, and continually striving to form a nucleus of power, and
getting round us that support that will endure forever; and we will
stand shoulder to shoulder, and break in pieces and subdue that which
would strive to overcome us, and then plant the principles of
righteousness over all the earth. This we will accomplish, for it is
given to us to do; and this is the period in which it is to be done,
and we will do it. We will gird up our loins and rejoice, in the work
given to us, and in erecting constantly around us that which will
enable us to increase in wisdom in experience, and in the knowledge of
God.

Vol. 9, p.23
Brethren and sisters, short sermons is the doctrine of the day;
therefore I say, The Lord bless you! and I bless you with all the
power that I possess President Young blesses you, his Counsellors
bless you, the Twelve Apostles bless you, the Seventies bless you, the
High Priests bless you; and we all bless each other; and hence we are
a blessed people, inasmuch us we live for each other's good, and the
building up of the kingdom of God.

Vol. 9, p.23
Brethren, who can overcome us? Who can place a stumbling block in the
way of our feet as we are wending our way to celestial glory? Is there
any need of tears? No, not much. Need we have any fear of the result?
No. There is no need of crying and mourning, for we are the saviours
of men, appointed to be the kings and queens of the earth. We cannot
always do what we would like to do, but we shall have the power to do
that which we stould do. The Lord will give us the power to do this.

Vol. 9, p.23
The Lord bless you! Amen. [p.24]

Heber C. Kimball, April 7, 1861

Appreciation of Divine Gifts and Blessings—Return to
 Jackson County—Encouragement of Home Manufactures

Remarks by President Heber C. Kimball, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, April 7, 1861.

Reported By G. D. Watt

Vol. 9, p.24
The remarks of brother Snow are all very good and brilliant to every
intelligent mind. We have to increase the same as a child that goes to
school and commences with his A, B, C. When that child obtains a
knowledge of the letters of the English language, he can then put them
together, and make words and sentences. He then wants a second reader,
and by-and-by he will call for a third, and a fourth. Upon the same
principle, you and I can improve by degrees; and there is no other way
by which any man can improve, except by experience. There is no man in
this Church who has lived his religion and walked in the light of
truth these twenty-eight years past, but who knows a hundred times
more now than he did at the beginning of his career; and that
knowledge comes by experience.

Vol. 9, p.24
We should appreciate our blessings and the gifts that God has
conferred upon us, and our affections should be stronger for the Giver
of the gifts than they are for the gift. Is it my duty to think more
of Jesus the Son of the living God, than of his Father who gave him as
a sacrifice for the, sins of the world? Which is the greatest—the
Giver of that gift, or the gift? Where people would think more of the
gift than the Giver, I have known hundreds of times of those gifts
being taken from them because they did not appreciate the Giver.
Remember the Father, in the name of Jesus, and then appreciate those
men God has given you to be your servants, and your enemies cannot
move you.

Vol. 9, p.24
Everyone that is not for God is bound for destruction; and if all our
enemies combine and come against us with all their armies and
munitions of war, they cannot hurt us, for God our Father will fight
our battles, as he has dent up tot his day. He will sustain those who
remember the originator of the great work of God in the last days. I
am now telling what I know; I am telling what I have experienced.
Sometime this month, it will be twenty-nine years since President
Young and myself were baptized.

Vol. 9, p.24
I have been all the time in the midst of this people with the Prophet,
and with the Apostles, with Patriarchs, and with sinners; and I know
all about the persecutions we have passed through as a people. All
this has given me an experience that has proved to a demonstration
that the world and all hell combined cannot budge this people one
hair, only as they please to go. God dictates them, and that you have
seen more particularly within a few years past.

Vol. 9, p.24
Did that army hurt us? No, not as a people; but there are some persons
who are injured, and will be eternally. Who injured them, the army?
No: they did it themselves; they fostered the enemy that would have
destroyed this whole people and laid the knife to President Young's
throat, mid to the throats of his friends, and all the friends of God.
But the  Lord Almighty will make [p.25] them pay for it. You will feel
the rod for this. If it is not in fifty years, it will surely come,
and you need not think you will escape it. You may do good works
enough to overbalance it, and then perhaps you will not be found
wanting.

Vol. 9, p.25
Those in the days of Joseph who were traitors to him and tampered with
the mob are guilty of his death and they will have to pay the debt
some day. You that have not done wrong, happy are ye. Do not do any
wrong in the future. You that have done right, continue to do right.
You that have not betrayed your brethren, see you do not do it; and
you that have not turned away from the Lord and from your covenants,
do not do it, but hold them sacred the few more days you have to live
in the flesh, and the Lord will let you live many days, and you shall
be the ones the Scriptures speak of, to whom the Lord Will grant long
life, even that child that shall be subject to his father and to his
mother. That is the blessing promised to them.

Vol. 9, p.25
I will say to you, young men, you children of the Saints, and you,
young women, Repent of your sins, and turn to your fathers and mothers
and listen to their counsel, if they are good and teach you good
principles; and if they are not good, but teach you good principles,
cleave unto those principles. When my son turns away from me, he turns
away from God; and if he does not turn away from God, he will not turn
away from me. I am a son of God; I came from him. I belong to the
family of Christ, and I am an heir to all the promises with my Saviour
Jesus. If, I am faithful, and do not do anything worse than I have
done, I shall come off victoriously.

Vol. 9, p.25
A great many may condemn me, and say, I am not as affable and kind as
I should be; I do not kiss you and pet you enough, and you condemn me
for it, and you would condemn me if I did.

Vol. 9, p.25
I am a branch of the vine that came out of the root that Jesus dwells
in; and when my son or my daughter turns away from me, they turn away
from God; and if they do not turn away from God, they will not turn
away from me; and when my wife turns away from me, if I am a righteous
man, she turns from the tree she is connected to; and if she has done
it unrighteously, she turns from God—she transcends her bounds, and
the Spirit of the Almighty will not dwell with her; and all you
sympathetic persons will fall in with that spirit and condemn me. Let
me turn away from President Young and this Church, should I not turn
away from God? Of course I should.

Vol. 9, p.25
It should be with a family as it is with this Church. As this Church
is compared to a vine or tree, so a family should be like a tree; they
should be one, concentrating their feelings in their head from whence
they spring; and if they cannot respect the father they came, from,
how can they respect grandfather? I am alluding to fathers and
mothers—to the Elders of Israel—to men of God that have, been anointed
with a holy anointing, to be what? To be Priests of God. Live for it,
and honour your present calling, and keep your election sure. If you
were not elected in eternity, here is the place to be elected, and to
enlist under the banner of Christ; and finally we will all be elected,
if we will only take a course that is proper. It is going to be a
difficult thing for the elect to be saved, according to the
Scriptures, and there will not any of them be saved only by taking a
course to do right and by hononring their calling and Priesthood, No
man will become a king, only by honouring his calling, and by
obtaining a crown by [p.26] experience, and continuing in welldoing.
Where is no woman that will ever be a queen except she is a good woman
and well attached to a good king.

Vol. 9, p.26
Now honour that calling and Priesthood, and that sacred endowment that
will bring you into the presence of God, if you will observe it. How
unrighteously many act that have received a holy and sacred endowment!
They will many of them violate those sacred and solemn obligations.
They have gone to the nations, and there committed adultery; and those
who have been led astray by them think that the First Presidency of
this Church and the Twelve Apostles do the same things, and they go
down to the pit; but the Lord God Almighty will raise those persons
yet, and he will make those men do it, and they will have to pay the
debt. They are not going to get through with it in this time and more
than those men who fostered that army. They have committed sin they
have kept men and women out of this Church that probably would have
been in it. We generally conclude that those who are kept out ought to
be out. I tell you that a great many that are out are better than many
that are in. And then look at your covenants, ladies! Ye mothers in
Israel, cleave unto your husbands; love them more than your lives. If
you have a kind, benevolent feeling; bestow it on them; and then, if
the brethren have any kind, benevolent, sweet, compassionate feelings,
confer them upon your wives, and appreciate your Father and God, who
gave you both, more than all the rest.

Vol. 9, p.26
I can recollect a circumstance of seeing a man and woman who had a
very fine son: the father took the son in his arms and wanted to
embrace him and carry him around and show him, he delighted so much in
his son and thought everybody else delighted in him. Because he did
this, the nether stepped forward and pulled the child out of the arms
of his father. I said, God my Father will take that child from your
arms quicker than you took him from mine, and not more than ten days
afterwards it was in its grave.

Vol. 9, p.26
Let us put everything in its proper place and nourish it properly. And
a good man that is inspired of the Almighty, a good calculator and
financier, knows how to govern and minister better than the person who
never knew anything, and never will, only to waste and destroy all a
man has got. You see things, and I do; but you say in your hearts you
do not care for anything, only my dear little self.

Vol. 9, p.26
Father says, in this book, what joy has a man in bestowing a gift upon
a person, when the receiver of the gift has no joy in the giver? The
joy should be in the giver as well as in the gift. Take the gift and
use it for the purpose for which it was designed, and do not worship
it, but worship the giver and the proper authority. Now, we will say,
here is an Elder; we will say he is a Teacher, and he says, I respect
brother Heber above all other men on the earth, and I will not submit
to anybody else but to him; and here are scores of men between him and
me that he ought to submit to; but he runs over everyone of these
choice gifts to get to me;—what will become of him? He will go down to
the pit, as sure as he came out of it. When a man is attached to a
tree, he should appreciate, honour, and respect every branch
pertaining to that tree that is honouring its calling, living its
religion, and receiving the true nourishment from the root.

Vol. 9, p.26
If you can draw any good conclusions from these few hints, receive
them and reflect upon them, if they do come from  brother Heber. He is
[p.27] just as capable of teaching the truth, when he has the Spirit
of truth as any man in the world. Supposing I communicate truth to you
by a figure, an illustration, or a representation, is it not the more
easily understood?

Vol. 9, p.27
Drs. Sprague, Dunyan, and Hovey are Thomsonians, and I like them the
best. I ask them why they put Greek names on their medicines which I
am familiar with? Does it change the nature of those herbs by coming
here to the mountains? No. Then what do you do it for? They reply,
People will appreciate a false name better than a true name; hence we
give to one man, at one time, powder-falbin; at another. May-apple;
and then mandrake. Why do they not call May-apple 'mandrake' at once?
The doctor gave it to me every way. It is mandrake, May-apple, and
then it is powder-falbin. This is done because people have an itching
for something new all the time.

Vol. 9, p.27
I may be detaining you too long; but, brethren, I feel kind to you. As
for blessing you, there is not a day of my life but what I bow before
my Father alone and before my family, and I pray, Father, bless all
Israel, from the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints to the last member connected with it, and that tells the whole
story. Let us do right, and God will lead us off victoriously.

Vol. 9, p.27
We are richer now for moving to the south than we should have been if
we had not moved. What did we save by it? It saved that difficulty
that would have brought you into sorrow, probably, all the days of
your life, if you had withstood that army and shed blood. But by that
move you saved your blood and the blood of your enemies, and in this
you did a good deed. It cost considerable, but Father booked it
against them, and he will make them pay the debt. We might have to do
such a thing again. I do not know anything about it, but I am pretty
sure of one thing —we shall go to Jackson county, Missouri; that is,
those who do right and honour their calling, doing what they have been
told to do. You will be blessed, and you will see the day when
Presidents Young, Kimball, and Wells, and the Twelve Apostles will be
in Jackson county, Missouri, laying out your inheritances. In the
flesh? Of course. We should look well without being in the flesh! We
shall be there in the flesh, and all our enemies cannot prevent it.
Brother Wells, you may write that. You will be there, and Willard will
be there, and also Jedediah, and Joseph and Hyrum Smith, and David;
and Parley; and the day will be when I will see those men in the
general assembly of the Church of the First-Born, in the great council
of God in Jerusalem, too. Will we want you to be along?

Vol. 9, p.27
I heard Joseph say twice that brother Brigham and I should be in that
council in Jerusalem, when there should be a uniting of the two
divisions of God's government. Now, you have got to live for it. What
would you not do to attain to those blessings? You would give all you
have in the world. You may give all you have got, and then keep it;
and if you keep the Commandments of God and live faithful, you shall
every one see it, and that is what will bring you to it.

Vol. 9, p.27
When you are called upon to do a thing, do it with all your heart, and
God will add a hundredfold to your glory and exaltation. When
seed-wheat is sown, if it is not too thick, one seed will produce
thirty stalks, and a head on every stalk. Like the mite that the woman
gave, it will increase to you thousands, and much more to them that
have more in proportion to the kernel.

Vol. 9, p.28
[p.28] You Elders of Israel are the very men that will have to bring
the sons and daughters of Israel from afar, and nurse them at your
side; and you mothers will have to be those very queens that will have
to take care of them when they are gathered, if you will honour your
calling. It is the pride of my heart to see this people do right, and
to do right myself.

Vol. 9, p.28
There was a man came into the mill the other day—he is a painter,
carpenter, joiner, and everything almost. He said I can tell you how
to reduce that oil and mix water with it, and no man can detect it;
and, says he, you must do it by adding lye to it. I said I would
rather have a clear conscience than all the lies in hell. Said I, You
and my brethren shall have the pure oil from the flax-seed, and it
shall be as pure and as holy as brother Brigham's gold. You need to be
a pure man to cry holiness to the Lord God Almighty. Have our gold
pure, without adulteration, have our silver and brass pure, and you
shall have the linseed oil pure from me, as pure as it is in the seed;
and I will undersell our merchants. I will do it, if I come down to a
dollar a gallon. We will stop, that leaching out of our gold, and let
all Israel say Amen.

Vol. 9, p.28
Some said there was not any oil in the flax-seed, because the Country
is dry; but I can get over a gallon of oil from a bushel of seed. If
you have money, I want it, and you shall have the oil. I will supply
the Public Works and let brother Brigham have what he wants; and if
the Gentiles bring oil here and sell it at three dollars per gallon, I
will undersell them. If you pay me money for oil, I will pay you money
for seed. If you do not pay me money, I cannot return the compliment,
but I wilt give you oil for your seed. I am going to send back and get
something I cannot, make. I will tell you what I am going to sell the
oil at—five dollars per gallon, and pay two dollars and a half per
bushel for seed, or two quarts of oil. That is fair and honourable—as
fair for you as for me. If I sake a gallon, I get two quarts, and you
two. And that is three dollars per gallon cheaper than that which
comes from the States.

Vol. 9, p.28
I believe brother Clements is selling linseed oil at six dollars; but
he cannot sell long, for he has not got it. Brother Wells has
established a nail machinery, and God has blessed him in the
operation, He has introduced the nails into market, and he is now
making them by the ton, and has put them at twenty-five dollars per
hundred; and at the same time, instead of paying their money and good
things to him, some men are carrying their money to the States to buy
the nails. Why do you not patronize brother Wells? Those I am speaking
of are men in authority. I am using the hydraulic presses brother
Taylor brought into this country, and they are performing wonders.
They will each press equal to a hundred and twelve tons weight.

Vol. 9, p.28
Now, you go to work, brethren and sisters, and get out something of
home manufacture, and be as faithful as President Young and his
counsel have been in this matter, and then you shall be blessed more
than you are. We admit you are a good people, but you can be more
useful; and the more useful you are the better you are. If you can
feel ten men, you are better than the man that can only feed himself.
Would you not rather have him for a husband, sisters, than the man
that could not feed himself? [p.29]

Brigham Young, April 7, 1861

Home Manufactures

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, April 17, 1861.

Reported By G. D. Watt

Vol. 9, p.29
I have no objections to the tenor of the remarks we have just heard
pertaining to our temporal affairs, though they are rather more
appropriate, according to custom, in such a meeting as we had last
evening with the Bishops, High Priests, &c. I wish to say a few words
on the subject last spoken of by brother Kimball. I think he will be
very successful in obtaining oil from flax or linseed. For a
beginning, and for persons that never saw oil made before, which is
the case with the workmen who are making it—they knew nothing about
making oil—I think they have done extraordinary well. If I remember
correctly, in the States five quarts of oil from a bushel of seed was
considered a good yield. There I was some little acquainted with
making oil, and very much acquainted with using it.

Vol. 9, p.29
Brother Kimball spoke of the oil that is imported to this country. I
am doubtful whether there has ever been a gallon of pure linseed oil
imported into this Territory; and the person that told brother Kimball
that he could reduce his oil so that the adulteration could not be
detected, is mistaken, for I could detect it by rubbing it between my
fingers. Before I knew anything of "Mormonism," I knew how to
adulterate oil. Brother Kimball says that alkali is often mixed with
linseed oil. In my young days I had to quit the business of painting
purely because I had either to be dishonest or quit; and I quit. I
will venture to say that, let me have the oil that is made at, brother
Kimball's mill, and have pure white lead of our own manufacture, and I
will put a coat of paint on to the outside woodwork of buildings that
will last twenty years, better than the materials we import and now
use for painting will last two years. When you buy the oil that is
imported and make putty with it and what is commonly called Spanish
white,—if you set glass in windows with that putty, in a year or two
the glass wilt be falling out; but when you use the pure oil, in two
years you could scarcely get the glass out without the use of a knife
or chisel to first cut out the putty. Let it stand ten years, and
probably you would have to cut the sash to pieces to let the glass
out. The oil we get from the East is worth but little, only for
present show. That which we make here will last in this climate.

Vol. 9, p.29
Our painters tell us that it is the climate that, destroys the paint.
I do not think there is a painter in this Territory that knows what
pure linseed oil is. They tell us that the climate destroys the paint.
That is a mistake; the paint is not good. Can you tell whether there
is alkali mixed with the linseed oil? I can. I can also tell whether
there is Spanish [p.30] white in the paint. Plaster of Paris (by some
called Paris white) is also mixed with white lead, and our houses are
painted with it. Other paints are adulterated. I pay from thirty to
fifty dollars to have a carriage painted, and in three months it needs
painting again. Let it stand six months, and you would hardly suppose
that it had been painted in sixteen years.

Vol. 9, p.30
We ought to have Spoken last night in regard to raising flax in this
Territory, and I will now say to the brethren that we wish them to
return the flax seed they have borrowed at the Tithing Office. We also
wish you to raise flax and make linen cloth. We have as good workmen
at this business as there are in the world. The American brethren do
not generally know how to raise flax for making fine linen, but they
can easily learn. Instead of sowing five peeks to the acre, sow five
or more bushels, and you will raise flax as soft as silk; from such
flax fibres can be hatcheled as fine as spinster's webs. Most of the
linen we import is more than hair cotton. The flax is put into
machines and cut and torn to pieces; it then goes through another
rotting process, is then mixed with cotton, carded, spun, and called
linen. I once in a while see a genuine piece of linen, when will as
well last six years as the most we buy will last six months, if it is
not washed to death. This you know, if you have been accustomed to
using tow doth. In clearing out brush cutting down trees, logging, and
all kinds of rough work, the one or two pairs of genuine, tow trousers
and a couple of tow frocks will last through a summer; but put on that
heavy so-called linen you buy in the stores and do nothing but come
into a pulpit, and before you have had it three months it is cut to
pieces and entirely done. But I will not detain you longer upon this
point.

Vol. 9, p.30
Brother Kimball mentioned about some of the brethren's sending to the
States for nails. Send to the States, go to the stores, buy where you
please, and do you think that you can get better nails than you can
get at our nail factory? I know what nails are; I have driven a great
many. There is not a better nail made at Boston or in Germany than
there is at this factory. I never saw a better nail, nor better nail
machinery than that which we have running.

Vol. 9, p.30
We should now make our own iron. We have already spent about one
hundred and fifty thousand dollars to make iron here, but we have
failed, not for want of ore or for want of skill. Where is the
difficulty? There has not been union enough in the men who engaged in
that work. After we had spent about one hundred thousand dollars, an
in, genious man, named Peter Shirts, would have brought out the iron
as good as ever was made, and that, too, by means of a small furnace
of trifling cost; but they ran him out of the county. The citizens
pronounced him a nuisance, confiscated his property, and drove him
out. Every man said—"I will have the name and honour of making the
first iron made in this Territory, or I will destroy the work." That
is the difficulty. We have the best of iron ore, and we have coal
close by it; and some man will go, to work, by-and-by, who is not
worth fifty dollars, and make iron. Go into Vermont, and you will
there see a farmer, when he has a little leisure, take his waggon, get
the ore, smelt it, hammer it out, and make two or three hundred pounds
of iron in a day. He takes care of it, and by-and-by some one comes
along and buys it of him. Travel through that country, and you will
find hundreds  [p.31] of such little iron forges. Men who do not
pretend even to be blacksmiths get some person to teach them how to
use a trip hammer to draw out the iron after they have put on their
blast and run out some two or three hundred pounds. On a rainy day a
farmer has his ore ready and makes iron when he cannot work in the
field. We have shown you that we can make nails. I cannot do
everything. Who has brought carding machines and other machinery here?
Who has entered into every kind of mechanism that has been started in
this Territory? Twelve thousand dollars we have spent to get the
manufacture of pottery under weigh. By-and-by some man will come
along, not worth fifty dollars, and take the felspar, which enters so
largely into our granite rock, and make the best of chinaware.

Vol. 9, p.31
We want glass. Some man will come along, by-and-by, and take the
quartz rock, rig up a little furnace, and make glass.

Brigham Young, April 7, 1861

The Gifts of God—Home Manufactures—
Word of Wisdom—Happiness

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, April 7, 1861.

Reported By G. D. Watt

Vol. 9, p.31
I wish to speak upon what pertains to our temporal affairs, which I
would very well have liked to have been brought before the Bishops
meeting without detaining a congregation like this on such matters. I
wish to urge upon the people the necessity of providing for
themselves, and not being dependent entirely upon others.

Vol. 9, p.31
The Lord has given us ability to do a great many things. What a
blessing this is! Do you ever think of it? A man has ability to take
the raw materials and build a good, comfortable habitation for the
accommodation of himself; his, wives, and children. The wife can
spread a table with wholesome food, and in a manner pleasant to the
eye, while the food is gratifying to the palate; They have the ability
to provide, if they choose, downy beds upon which to rest their weary
bodies. Do you ever think of this? I presume the greater part of the
inhabitants of the earth have lived and died without reflecting much
upon whence they derived this ability, to whom they were indebted for
the ingenuity they possess, or the capability that is organized within
them to gather around them the comforts of life. Do you, brethren,
think of it?

Vol. 9, p.31
We have ability to cultivate the earth; we know how to raise stock,
how to make clothing, and are not obliged to go naked like the
Indians. We are not obliged to lie down in the open air with perhaps a
few sage [p.32] brush around us, as do many of the natives. We have
ability to make ourselves comfortable as to the physical wants of this
life. Where did we get that ability? Are your hearts lifted to the
Donor of those blessings? Do you remember from whence your ability
came? Who organised these tabernacles? Who put into them these
thinking powers? Who has placed the spirit in the body, and organised
them together, and made us capable of reflecting? Where did you get
this ability? A well-read historian and geographical scholar can
contemplate his antipodes, and in his mind see what they are doing. He
can also behold the various exhibitions of human skill in different
nations; both in their social and political capacity; for they are in
the vision of his mind. Who gave the ability to reflect and to behold
the earth and the inhabitants thereof? Is not this a blessing? How
cheering, how comforting, how consoling, how exalting! I would be glad
if we could realise the blessings we possess.

Vol. 9, p.32
The Lord has placed in our possession the elements pertaining to this
earth. As I told the people, when we first came into this Valley in
1847, there is plenty of silk in the elements here, as much so as in
any other part of the earth. Here is also the fine linen. Were there
any sheep here when we came first here? No. Were there any silk
raisers then here? No. Were there any flax misers here? No; neither
was there a stalk of flax growing, except what was growing wild. The
elements are here. Bring the seeds, the eggs of the silkworm, raise
the trees for feeding the worms, and let us see if we cannot produce
silk here. It is in the elements. We have the elements to produce as
good wheat as grows. The elements here will produce the apple, the
peach, the pear, the plum, the apricot, the cherry, the currant, and
every kind of fruit in abundance, and every variety of plant and
vegetable we desire. Have you the ability to bring any of these things
forth from the native element? Yes; here are men who know how to raise
fruit, and here axe the women who know how to dry and cook it. Here
are the men who know how to raise sheep, and how to take their fleeces
and deliver them into the hands of their families to be manufactured.
Here are women who know how to spin, weave, and make the finest of
cloth. So with the flax, and so with every material calculated to make
us comfortable. Where did we get this ability? We got it from our
Father who is in heaven. Be thankful for these precious gifts. As
brother Kimball justly said, "Remember, first of all, the Giver;"
worship and adore the Giver. Some will lose a great deal by neglecting
the Giver and by worshipping the gift. Such will find that they will
meet with losses.

Vol. 9, p.32
I look forward to no distant period when this people, called
Latter-day Saints, will be obliged to sustain themselves. We must
prepare to gather around us every necessary of life, to make every
implement we may wish to use, and to produce from the earth every
grain, vegetable, and fruit that we need, and not go to any other
place to buy. Produce every article of clothing that we need, and stop
this importation that we are now encumbered with. We must produce all
we can enjoy. I expect that I soon shall do so.

Vol. 9, p.32
I will now make a request of the sisters—one which I wish them to
hear, remember, and put in practice. Carefully save all cast-off linen
and cotton articles of dress, all old shirts, waggon-covers, sheets,
and every article of cotton and lines fabric,  instead of letting them
go to waste in your door-yards or in the streets; for [p.33] we want
those rags to supply the paper mill we are now putting up. We have as
good machinery for making paper as there is in the United States or in
the world. We have brought it here at a heavy expense—it has cost us
some twenty or twenty-five thousand dollars. We are now putting it up,
and we want the sisters to save rags, and we want the brethren to
raise hemp, flax, &c. We want to make our own paper. The inquiry is,
"Will it pay cost?" How much paper do we want to use? There is
annually imported into and used in this Territory some thirty thousand
dollars' worth of paper. Were we making our own paper, much more would
be used, for we could then fill the Territory with school-books
printed here, and could supply all the paper required throughout; the
Territory, thereby saving a great many thousand dollars now paid for
transportation. We are not able to print a book for want of paper. Now
we are prepared to go to work and make our own paper. As I have
remarked, we have most excellent machinery; we also have good
paper-makers; and what hinders our making the best of paper, and all
the paper we want to use? Then we can print, in book form, the History
of Joseph Smith, and do it in a respectable manner. Then we can print
the Church History for ourselves and for the world, and every book we
need. To aid in accomplishing so laudable an object, I want the
sisters to gather the rags and hand them over to the Bishops, and we
will pay for them with paper. We also want hemp, flax, and every
material suitable for making good paper.

Vol. 9, p.33
There are a great many things we wish to talk about; and I do not
wish, if we could well avoid it, to bring such things before the
Conference, especially on the Sabbath. The sacrament is being
administered, and we would like to talk about the spiritual welfare of
the people; but if we cannot save ourselves temporally, we may despair
of saving ourselves or the people spiritually. The first thing is to
save our natural lives and devote them to building up the kingdom of
God on the earth.

Vol. 9, p.33
Place ourselves back ten centuries, read the prophecies, and behold by
prophetic vision what the Lord was going to do in the latter days.
"The time is coming when the Saints are to be called, and they will
assemble themselves together." "Can it be possible?" "Yes; for the
Prophets have foretold it." "The time is coming when the Lord will
speak from the heavens and send his angel to administer to men on
earth, when the Priesthood will be restored and bestowed upon the
children of men. Look forth in vision and behold these events." They
would appear far more beautiful than they appear to the natural man
while acting in them. I sometimes think that we are far beneath our,
privileges in a spiritual point of view. The Prophets and other
ancient holy men saw our day. They did not look at the human family
now upon the stage of action in all their weaknesses; they did not see
every little trifling affair, every little quarrel that more or less
embitters life; they did not see our darkness and contentions, sorrow,
pain, anguish, grief, and strife. No; they beheld the glory of God
resting upon the people, as we now enjoy it.

Vol. 9, p.33
Many sects and societies of people have at different times tried to
assemble themselves together, because it was in the prophecies that
the Saints should be assembled in the latter days—that the Lord God
would gather his people. They have tried to gather their societies,
but what have they effected? Comparatively nothing. If the Lord had,
spoken from heaven to them and revealed [p.34] only this one
privilege, and no more, that Christians might assemble themselves
together, and live, walk, talk, and commune with each other
uninterruptedly, without being obliged to mingle with the world, they
would have esteemed it one of the greatest blessings that could have
been bestowed upon them.

Vol. 9, p.34
I shall repeat my request to these my sisters. We wish you to save
every article about your house that will make paper, instead of
throwing it away. Put the rags in a way that they will get to the
paper mill, which is four rules from here. We have taken the Sugar
House and converted it into a paper mill, and we will try to make
paper, if we did not make sugar. And I urge it upon the brethren to
raise sheep, save the wool, and put it in the handset their wives and
daughters. And I enjoin it upon the sister, old and young, to make
clothing for their husbands, brothers, children, and themselves, and
stop running after imported goods.

Vol. 9, p.34
In regard to the qualify and utility of calico, by some called prints,
I can speak from actual knowledge. Take a good seamstress who has four
children, and let her sew from Monday morning until Saturday might,
and she can scarcely make up the calicos as fast as those four
children will wear it out; and let her do her washing to please her,
and she will want help in the house, or the children will have to go
dirty and ragged. What axe these imported rags good for? They are
hardly worth making up. There is not half the calico that comes here
that is worth making up, if you give it to the people free of charge,
if they could do better. Now we can do better.

Vol. 9, p.34
Raise flax, brethren. There is no place in the world where flax and
hemp will grow better than they will here, though they will not do
well in every locality. Hunt out places and soil most suitable for
flax and hemp, and there let them be grown: also raise and take care
of sheep. It is thought by some that this country is unhealthy for
sheep, but it is not. There is not a climate or soil better adapted to
sheep raising than are these mountains. Some may think that other
countries are better, but they are not, so far as I am acquainted. But
keep hundreds and hundreds of sheep in a small pen, shut them in there
nights, with hardly room to lie down, and let them remain there until
ten or eleven o'clock in the day, before they are turned out to grass,
as has been done here more or less, and it would kill every sheep in
England or Scotland. Let them have plenty of room by day and by night,
and they will not become diseased. Give them well-ventilated pens,
proper exercise, and proper food, and you will not see them diseased.
The disease that is among our sheep is not natural to the climate; it
was brought here, and has been fostered by bad management.

Vol. 9, p.34
When you lind the sell that will produce the best and greatest amount
of sugar—that best adapted to raising cane, let the cane be raised
these, and there let the molasses and sugar be made. Just now we want
our quarter-of-an-acre of cane, our quarter-of-an-acre of flax and
hemp, our proportion of wheat, corn, and everything else; but
by-and-by our labours will be systematized, and we will find the place
where we can raise the best cane, and let that place be devoted to
raising it, and make sugar, and stop importing it. The English
brethren and the brethren from the Eastern and Northern and Western
States and from the Canadas know nothing about making sugar from the
cane; and when they see newly-made cane sugar, they say if, is not
good. I have never seen a purer article of [p.35] sugar made than is
made here. Eat the new cane sugar that is made in the Southern States,
and it has a very unpleasant taste. Take our sugar and cleanse it as
they do, and let it stand until it is ripe for the market, and you
will find as good an article of cane sugar as ever was made. The
Chinese sugar cane is a better plant to produce sweet than is the cane
they raise in the South and on the West India Islands. We can make our
own sugar. We send out a large amount of money to buy sugar, and we
want this practice stopped. Now, farmers, raise what sugar you want:
you can do it as well as not. Go into the business systematically.

Vol. 9, p.35
You know that we all profess to believe the "Word of Wisdom." There
has been a great deal said about it, more in former than in latter
years. We, as Latter-day Saints, care but little about tobacco; but,
as "Mormons," we use a vast quantity of it. As Saints, we use but
little; as "Mormons," we use a great deal. How much do you suppose
goes annually from this Territory, and has for ten or twelve years
past, in gold and silver, to supply the people with tobacco? I will
say $60,000. Brother William H. Hooper, our Delegate in Congress, came
here in 1849, and during about eight years he was selling goods his
sales for tobacco alone amounted to over $28,000 a year. At the same
time there were other stores that sold their share and drew their
share of the money expended yearly, besides what has been brought in
by the keg and by the half keg. The traders and passing emigration
have sold tons of tobacco, besides what is sold here regularly. I say
that $60,000 annually is the smallest figure I can estimate the sales
at. Tobacco can be raised here as well as it can be raised in any
other place. It wants attention and care. If we use it, let us raise
it here. I recommend for some man to go to raising tobacco. One man
who came here last fall, is going to do, so; and if he is diligent, he
will raise quite a quantity. I want to see some man go to and make a
business of raising tobacco and stop sending money out the Territory
for that article.

Vol. 9, p.35
Some of the brethren are very strenuous upon the "Word of Wisdom," and
would like to have me preach upon it, and urge it upon the brethren,
and make it a test of fellowship. I do not think that I shall do so. I
have never done so. We annually expend only $60,000 to break the "Word
of Wisdom" and we can save the money and still break it, if we will
break it. Some would ask brother Brigham whether he keeps the "Word of
Wisdom." No: and I can say still further, as I told one of the
teachers in Nauvoo, I come as near doing so as any man in this
generation. It is not using tobacco that particularly breaks the "Word
of Wisdom" nor is that the only bad practice it corrects; but it is
profitable in every path of life. If our young persons were manly
enough to govern their appetites a little, they would not contract
these bad habits; but they must have some weaknesses; they must not be
perfect and exactly right in everything. It is a loathsome practice to
use tobacco in any way. A doctor told an old lady in New York, when
she insisted upon his telling her whether snuff would injure, her
brain, "It will not hurt the brain: there is no fear of snuff's
hurting the brain of anyone, for no person that has brains will take
snuff." I will say that the most filthy way of using tobacco is to
smoke it. "What is the neat way? If you are going to direct any course
for the people to use tobacco, let us know what it is. Cannot you who
have used it for years point out a neat, modest, judicious way of
using it? [p.36] The "Word of Wisdom" says that tobacco is good for
sick cattle; and widen you want another chew, down with it as you
would a pill. It may make you vomit a little, but that is soon over,
and it is good for sick cattle. That is the nearest way you can use
tobacco·

Vol. 9, p.36
I will now speak a little in regard to people's making themselves
happy. We heard something upon that subject to-day and yesterday; and
we frequently hear people preaching about heaven, paradise, and Zion;
and if there is a comfort, a felicity, and good feeling, I wast to say
a few words about them; and I shall begin upon the doctrine so much
beloved by Saint and sinner, and that is the plurality of women. The,
Saints like a plurality of wives, and the sinners like a plurality of
men and women. I will say to the sisters that I have heard but very
few women, and not a great many men, ever talk sensibly upon the
plurality of wives. When they begin to talk about it, they exhibit,
almost without an exception, passion instead of principle. Were we to
appeal to passions of the people, we should promote the doctrine of a
plurality of men and of women. But when we address ourselves to the
Saints of the Most High God, it is very different and in a different
light. It is for my sisters to be mothers of holy men and holy
women—it receive and conceive in the name and by the power of the Holy
Ghost—to bring forth their fruits to the praise and honour of the God
of heaven. But what are the people doing here? "I want another wife,"
and almost universally passion is exhibited instead of principle.

Vol. 9, p.36
If the plurality of wives is to pander to the low passions of men and
women, the sooner it is abolished the better. "How far would you go in
abolishing it?" I would say, if the Lord should reveal that it is his
will to go so far as to become a Shaking Quaker, Amen to it, and let
the sexes have no connection. If so far as for a man to have but one
wife, let it be so. The word and will of the Lord is what I want—the
will and mind of God. He has revealed his mind and will. The time is
coming when the Lord is going to raise up a holy nation. He will bring
up a royal Priesthood upon the earth, and he has introduced a
plurality of wives for that express purpose, and not to gratify
lustful passion in the least. I would rather take my valise in my hand
to-day, and never sees wife or a child again, and preach the Gospel
until I go into the grave, than to live as I do, unless God commands
it. I never entered into the order of plurality of wives to gratify
passion. And were I now asked whether I desired and wanted another
wife, my reply would be, It should be one by whom the Spirit will
bring forth noble children. I am almost sixty years old; and if I now
live for passion, I pray the Lord Almighty to take my life from the
earth.

Vol. 9, p.36
I know the weaknesses of humanity, and I understand the passions of
men and women. I am sorry for them. I wish they had grace according to
their day, creating such fortitude in them that they would determine
to suffer unto death rather than violate a holy command of the
Almighty, or transgress the bounds God has set. "Is that the way you
have lived?" It is. It is the example I have set before my family from
the day the Lord opened my mind to see the Gospel. Ask these sisters
(many of them have known me for years,) what my life has been in
private and in public. It has been like the angel Gabriel's, if he had
visited you; and I can live so still. But how are we to be made happy?
There is one course—love the Giver more than the gift; love Him that
has placed [p.37] passion in me more than my passions. Let passion lie
at the feet of judgment, and let every attribute that God has bestowed
on me be devoted to the righteous cause he has commenced upon the
earth. This, and, this alone, produces happiness. He has brought us
forth, and we live and see this day that Prophets, kings, and millions
of great and good men have prayed to see, but died without the sight.
When they looked at it in vision, it cast a halo, around which was
like the dawning of heaven to their souls, and they shouted,
"Hallelujah!" beholding the spirit and glory of these times that we
now live in. And we yield to passion? I say, Shame on the individual
that says passion has anything to do with his life. It is crucified.
It lies, as it were, at the foot of the cross. That is my faith, and
it has been my life.

Vol. 9, p.37
How will you be happy? Love the Giver more than the gift. Delight
yourselves in your duties, mothers. Here are the middle-aged and the
young. I am now almost daily sealing young girls to men of age and
experience. Love your duties, sisters. Are you sealed to a good man?
Yes, to a man of God. It is for you to bear fruit and bring forth, to
the praise of God, the spirits that are born in yonder heavens and are
to take tabernacles on the earth. You have the privilege of forming
tabernacles for those spirits, instead of their being brought into
this wicked world that God may have a royal Priesthood, a royal
people, on the earth. That is what plurality of wives is for, and not
to gratify lustful desires. Sisters, do you wish to make yourselves
happy? Then what is your duty? It is for you to bear children, in the
name of the Lord, that are full of faith and the power of God,—to
receive, conceive, bear, and bring forth in the name of Israel's God
that you may have the honour of being the mothers of great and good
men—of kings, princes, and potentates that shall yet live on the earth
and govern and control the nations. Do you look forward to that? or
are you` tormenting yourselves by thinking that your husbands do not
love you? I would not care whether they loved a particle or net; but I
would cry out, like one of old, in the joy of my heart, "I have got a
man from the Lord!" "Hallelujah! I am a mother—I have borne, an image
of God!" Let your prayers ascend to God, and that continually, that he
will overshadow the child by the power of the Holy Ghost before and
after its birth—that the Holy Ghost may attend it continually. The
mother should inquire what her duty is. It is to teach her children
holiness, prayer to God, and to trust in Him. Teach them the holy
religion and the commandments that are calculated to sanctify the
people and bring them into the presence of our Father and God. But no;
too often it is passion. If my passion is served, I am in heaven. The
fire will have to burn them up. We must live by principle; and if we
do, we shall attain to perfection—to being crowned with crowns of
glory, immortality, and eternal lives. I would rather be purified here
than to live ten thousand years to attain the same point in another
existence. The man that enters into this order by the prompting of
passion, and not with a view to honour God and carry out his purposes,
the curse of God will rest upon him; and that which he seems to have
will be taken from him and given to those, that act according to
principle. Remember it.

Vol. 9, p.37
The world cries out against this obnoxious doctrine, that I should
have more wives than one. And what would they do? Destroy the virtue
of every woman in this community if they had the power. What do [p.38]
they care about virtue? With comparatively few exceptions, no more
than do the devils in hell. Most of the officers who have been sent
here would have defiled every bed in this Territory, had they have had
the power. Tell about this doctrines being obnoxious to their delicate
feelings! Yes, it is, in one sense. It keeps them at bay; it is hell
to them; it is burning them up; and I say they may burn up, and they
will.

Vol. 9, p.38
Elders of Israel, have you entered into the doctrine that has been
revealed, through passion? If you have, you will find that that course
will take that which you seem to have, and the Lord will say—"Let this
man, that man, or the other man go, for he has acted on passion, and
not on principle. Take that which he seems to have, and give it to him
that has been faithful with the five, the two, the three, or the one
talent." That is the way it will be, by-and-by.

Vol. 9, p.38
Sisters, do not ask whether you can make yourselves happy, but whether
you can do your husband's will, if he is a good man. Teach your
children; for you are their guardians, to act as father and mother to
them until they are out of your care. The teachings and examples of
our mothers have formed, to a great extent, our characters and
directed our lives. This is their right, when they act by the power of
the Priesthood, to direct the child until it is of a proper age, and
then hand it over to the husband and father, and into the hands of
God, with such faith and such love of virtue and truth, and with such
love of God and its parents, that that child can never suppose that it
is out of the hand and from under the control of the parent. Do not
call it "mine." Let your maxim be, "This is not mine," whether you
have one child or a dozen. "It is not mine, but the Lord has seen fit
to let me bear the souls of the children of men. It is from my Father
and God, and I will do my duty and hand it over to him," and have that
faith that the child can never wring itself out of the hands of a good
father and mother—can never stray away,—no, never. That is the
privilege of mothers. It is you who guide the affections and feelings
of the child. It is the mothers, after all, that rule the nations of
the earth. They form, dictate, and direct the minds of statesmen, and
the feelings, course, life, notions, and sentiments of the great and
the small, of kings, rulers, governors, and of the people in general.

Vol. 9, p.38
Now, mothers, act upon principle, and see whether you can do anything
to promote happiness in your families; see whether you can guide the
minds of your children, teach them their letters, &c. I thought to
speak upon the last-named point, but I will omit it. You can, at
least, teach your children faith, and pay attention to knitting their
stockings, making their clothing, &c.; see that the chickens, are
taken care of, that the milk is cleanly milked from the cow, and that
the children are made comfortable. And if your husband is here or
there, do not fret yourselves, whether he leaves you or not. If he is
a good man, he can take care of himself, and will safely return to you
again. The mother that takes this course will be a happy mother—a
happy woman. But where you find women jealous of each other, and "I am
watching my husband," I would ask, Where are your children? They are
nearly all the time in the mud, or in some mischief. And what are you
doing, mother? You are "watching that man." "Who is he?" "He is my
husband." I used to tell the sisters in Nauvoo that they did not care
where their children were, if they could only keep in sight of their
husbands.

Vol. 9, p.39
[p.39] A traveller in the Eastern country overtook an old gentleman
walking towards a town, and asked him, "Who is the great man of that
little town? Who is your leading man? Who is the governor and
controlling spirit of that little place?" The old gentleman replied,
"I am the king of that little town." "Really," says the traveller,
"are you the leading man?" "Yes, sir, I am king in that place, and
reign as king." "How do you make this to appear? Are you in affluent
circumstances?" "No, I am poor; but in that little village there are
so many children. All those children go to my school; I rule the
children, and they rule their parents, and that makes me king." I
frequently think of this. Let the children rule the mother, and the
mother the father, and that makes the children kings. How frequently
you find this. How is it, my brethren? When you call your families
together for prayers, where are your children? Were this question
asked me, I should say, "I do not know." Mothers, where are your
children? "We do not know; it is as much as we can do to be here." Why
do you not have your children together? It is your duty to look after
them; their should not be running at random in the streets. Some
mothers will put a ten-dollar frock on a child and let it go straight
into the mud, while they are watching the father and trying to keep
him in bounds. Take care of your children, clothe them comfortably,
and avoid all extravagance.

Vol. 9, p.39
I am ashamed, not only in my own family, but others, to see the
gewgaws that are so often put upon children, when an antelope skin or
a piece of blue factory would make much more suitable clothing for
them. Dress them in strong, durable cloth, and that, too, made by your
owen hands. But no; the finest fabrics must be put upon them to play
in. Some, if they could get it would put fifty dollars' worth on a
child, and send him, into the streets to ride upon rails, climb trees,
&c. And when prayer-time comes, the husband inquires, "Where are your
children?" "I don't know." It is your duty, mothers, to look after
them; and when you have your children in the prayer-room, tell them
that their father is coming to pray with them. Also, let it be your
delight that your children do not waste bread and other food. If you
have bread to spare, give it to the poor, and see that your children
do not destroy it. Do not let them destroy valuable clothing, but put
strong, durable cloth upon them, and save where you can, and give it
to gathering the poor. I do not rule my family with an iron hand, as
many do, but in kindness and with pleasant words; and if soft words
would teach them, they would know as much as any family on this earth.
See that your children are taught every principle of goodness and
virtue, and do not let them run uncontrolled in the streets, with
expensive food in their hands to waste and expensive clothing upon
their backs to tear and destroy. If you get a frock worth three
dollars when a two-dollar one will answer, and maybe last longer, you
might have saved a dollar to give for gathering the poor. Treat your
children like children.

Vol. 9, p.39
Some mothers try to make father believe that a child five years old
knows as much as the father. Another great cause of dissatisfaction is
that so many women are such noble women, and know so much more than
their husbands. They say, "This man is not capable of leading me."
That is a positive proof to me that that man does not know his ability
and calling. I will acknowledge that many women are smarter than their
husbands. But when people are married, instead of trying [p.40] to get
rid of each other, reflect that you have made your choice, and strive
to honour and keep it. Do not manifest that you have acted unwisely,
and say that you have made a bad choice, nor let anybody know that you
think you have. You made your choice; stick to it, and strive to
comfort and assist each other.

Vol. 9, p.40
There are other things that I would like to speak about, but I will
now stop speaking. God bless you! Amen.

Heber C. Kimball, March 17, 1861

Submission to Reproof, &c.

Remarks by President Heber C. Kimball, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, March 17, 1861.

Reported By J. V. Long

Vol. 9, p.40
The brethren and sisters may think that it is no trouble for me to
speak. It is not any trouble for me to speak the truth, but I feel
quite feeble ill body, and hence not much like speaking.

Vol. 9, p.40
We are all very apt to speak of what we have heard, and I am happy to
say this morning that what has been said to us is strictly true, so
far as I have understanding. Now, supposing that one man has light and
knowledge that will circumscribe certain arts and sciences, and
another only possessing one-third the information that he does, can
this other one be of the same service to the people as he can who has
more understanding? The Elders that will undertake to judge President
Young and his Counsellors, the Twelve Apostles, and all those men that
the Lord our God has given to guide his people, they will stumble. You
may go and read the revelation, for you cannot know the importance of
this except you have the spirit of revelation within you.

Vol. 9, p.40
I can tell you, my brethren and sisters, that it is the little things
that lead to great ones in the kingdom of God. You know the old
proverb says that it is the little foxes that spoil the vines. It
takes but very little to injure the fibres and the small roots of a
tree, and you all know by your own experience that small branches are
necessary to the perfection of a tree; so also are small members
necessary for the complete organization of the kingdom of God.

Vol. 9, p.40
If a Saint will corrupt himself with the wickedness of the world, it
is very rare that correction and chastisement will do such an one any
good. We do net call upon such persons to be watch men on the towers
of Zion, but we call upon those that are endowed with power, filled
with light and knowledge: upon such we can depend. The spirit that is
in the Church and kingdom of God will reprove and correct those that
are out of the way. There are a great many men who profess to
understand the things of the kingdom of God. They are like George W.
Harris—he professed to understand clocks and watches, but he did not,
understand anything about them; and if a man took a watch to him to be
corrected, he would cut off about one-third of the chain, and thus
render the watch comparatively useless. It is just so with many of the
Elders in this Church; they profess to understand the order and
government of God, when in reality they have great need to be taught
the first principles of the doctrine of Christ.

Vol. 9, p.40
What we have heard this morning is true, and I am now striving to
sustain those very ideas. When I see the course that  things are
taking in certain places, I feel surprised. I can see men around me
that have [p.41] cooperated together to carry out their own wishes;
and in order to do this, they will both write and speak against the
authorities of this Church; then by-and-by, when they disagree, the
shrewdest one will expose the others. This is the situation of the
world: with them there is no integrity; but this will not do among the
Latter-day Saints. We must become like the limbs of one tree, filled
with the fragrance and nourishment that arise from the roots; then we
shall be clothed with power and authority—then we shall have care one
for the other. If we do not unite our efforts in this direction, we
shall never pass through the strait gate that is Spoken of in the
Scriptures, or what I will call the narrow gate. It is the gate that
will only admit one man at a time. We are not going in all in
confusion, as the sectarians suppose.

Vol. 9, p.41
This brings to my mind the vision that Joseph Smith had, when he saw,
Adam open the gate of the Celestial City and admit the people one by
one. He then saw Father Adam conduct them to the throne one by one,
when they were crowned Kings and Priests of God. I merely bring this
up to impress upon your mind the principles of order, but it will
nevertheless apply to every member of the Church.

Vol. 9, p.41
When any of you receive a rebuke or a correction, acknowledge it at
once, and say to the one who administers it, Thank you, brother; God
bless you! and may the Almighty give me power to do good! I have heard
men say that it was one of the greatest things in a man's favour, when
the truth was told to him, to acknowledge it; and I consider it to be
a strong proof of a man's honesty and of his desire to do right. I
have heard men say a great many times that it was the hardest thing
they ever experienced, to have to acknowledge the truth of a
correction that was given to them by a servant of God. In regard to
that, I will say that those who will not do it will have that light
taken away from them that was previously given. The Lord will take
from him that hath not that which he seemeth to have, and he will give
it to him that is more worthy and more desirous to improve upon it.
Let me advise you to be like the honey bee which gathers honey from
every opening flower, but does not destroy the flower itself. I have
heard of men who are guilty of making the most extravagant assertions,
and then boasting that they never recant or take anything back. All I
have to say of such men is, that, as the Lord God lives, he will make
them take back everything that is not right to remain. I advise you to
take reproof and correction in the spirit of meekness and humility.

Vol. 9, p.41
If we had died when we were babes, we should have been heirs to the
kingdom of heaven; but since we have attained maturity, we are subject
to the law, liable to reproof and correction in the kingdom of God. I
am striving to touch upon the same principles that brother Brigham was
speaking of. The standard that you and I have come to in this Church
is one that will try us, that will sift us, and penetrate the inmost
recesses of our hearts.

Vol. 9, p.41
There is much said by the brethren about authority. Now, I do not
consider the Seventies any better than the High Priests or the Elders;
and I can tell you that, when any one of these gets out of his place,
he is not as good as the other that is magnifying his calling. If a
man makes a breach, he must repair it again, just the same as a smith
does a chain when one of the links is broken.

Vol. 9, p.42
If you do not listen to the counsel that is given, and get within you
the [p.42] good word of God, drawing wine from the pure fountain, you
will soon be in the dark. Then, when a man undertakes to disseminate
the truth, you will shut up your ears, and refuse to drink of the
waters of life. I can tell you that such a person will not advance in
the knowledge of God any more than the limb of a tree will grow after
it is severed from the main trunk.

Vol. 9, p.42
Now, then, I have a few words to say to you, gentlemen—those of you
who call yourselves gentlemen, and who drink whisky, when it is
heavily charged with arsenic and other deadly poisons, and never find
any fault with it; but you are very ready to find fault with things
that don't suit you in this kingdom. If you will observe the laws of
the kingdom of God, you will become new in your minds, fresh in your
imaginations, and powerful to do good; then God will bless you and
prosper you in all your undertakings. He will guide you by his wisdom,
that you may perform your duties acceptably.

Vol. 9, p.42
I know that God will reward me according to my works; for the
Scriptures say each one shall have his penny. You must understand,
however, that that is only bounty money, and the wages will be
according to a man's works. It is the man who sticks to the army—who
fights the good fight of faith, that will get the reward. We have all
enlisted under the banner of King Emanuel, and we invite all the world
to join it. Some people have got an idea that the man who receives the
Gospel at the eleventh hour is going to be put on an equal footing
with the man that engaged in the work in the first hour of the day;
but I can tell you that we shall only be rewarded for the labour we
perform.

Vol. 9, p.42
God bless this people, and give them strength according to their day,
that they may be led off victoriously over all their enemies. Joseph
Smith could tell the plans that were laid for his destruction, many
times when he could not prove it by any natural means. There have been
a great many trying to injure me, but I stand better to-day than ever
before, and I shall continue to increase in the favour of God, if I
keep on the race-course. That man who lives his religion will, despite
his enemies, receive nourishment from God, and eventually triumph over
every foe.

Vol. 9, p.42
Those who defile themselves will not prosper; they have injured
themselves by their own conduct. They are like Samson when he was
shorn of his locks by Delilah. With that measure that ye mete, it
shall be measured back to you again, in all circumstances of life.

Vol. 9, p.42
Now, look at the Untied States' Government. Did they not send an army
here to kill and waste away this people? Yes. Almost every priest in
the pulpit and every politician in the land had fanned the flame of
persecusion against us; but the Lord caused them to stay out in the
mountains till they got the chills in stead of the fever, and then he
led bridle. Now, what will be next? Why, you will find the judgment of
God coming upon those who blasphemed his name, and the United States
will suffer, for they will be afflicted with wars and with trouble at
home. While this is going on, the man who lives his religion and
honours his calling will be prospered and go back to Jackson county,
Missouri, with the faithful Elders, where they will receive their
inheritances. They will then have to fulfil their covenants which they
have made with the Lord their God, for these things will be required
at our hands. None will be permitted to dwell there who will not
observe the laws of the kingdom of God. And remember, there is no
other way to go to Jackson County but through Great Salt Lake City.

Vol. 9, p.42
It is very gratifying to me to speak to the Saints, especially when I
can speak to their understanding. I feel that I have spoken lond
enough at this time; and may God bless you, is my prayer in the name
of Jesus. Amen.

Daniel H. Wells, April 14, 1861

The Gospel of Salvation, &c.

Discourse by President Daniel H. Wells, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, April 14, 1861.

Reported By J. V. Long

Vol. 9, p.43
The Gospel of salvation is rich in instruction, and it is calculated
in its nature to elevate and to strengthen the human race. We see in
our experience, in passing along through life, errors, weaknesses,
degradation, and every species of evil. As the Gospel opens our eyes,
the more light and intelligence we get, the more we see, and the more
we reform in ourselves.

Vol. 9, p.43
There is nothing, perhaps, within our knowledge that is so well
calculated to elevate our minds, to bring us up out of the low,
degraded condition in which we are placed. Almost all mankind are
grovelling in the dark, and are unwilling to receive the light of
revelation that comes from heaven. The Gospel which we have embraced
is holy in its nature and in its tendency. It has caused us to
discover turpitude in our own bosoms and lives, and it inclines us to
reform, to reject the evil, and cleave unto that which is good. It is
calculated to reform every Saint —every son and daughter of Adam. The
message which has gone forth is comforting to all the world, if they
will receive it—comply with and abide by its requirements. It is free
to all the inhabitants of the earth. They can choose or reject it—they
can receive or turn away from it. It is a matter of agency, left with
them to do as they please, either to love the right or the wrong—to do
good or to do evil. Herein is the economy of heaven illustrated in the
human soul, sent forth upon the earth to perform its work either for
good or ill as it seemeth them good. If the people adhere to the
message which is sent and the Gospel which is being proclaimed, they
lay a foundation for eternal exaltation, for association with the Gods
of eternity. If they reject the good and cleave unto that which is
evil, the result will be the opposite; the consequences will be
diminishing and wasting away of life and its [p.44] blessings. There
is no increase to the wicked and disobedient; they will come to a full
stop; whereas to the increase of the righteous there shall be no end.
The righteous will continue to increase and multiply in this present
life, and also in that which is to come. That person who is wicked
does not live, according to the proper definition of the term. We may
say that he exists, but scarcely lives, except as he lives in
wickedness, which is only a temporary existence. The channel of
communication is closed up to the human soul that is wicked, while it
is extended to him that follows in the footsteps of virtue. The
enjoyment of the righteous is increase. The attributes of our Heavenly
Father's nature are only partially learned by us: We are but babes in
the science of the Gospel.

Vol. 9, p.44
The pure-minded man is more capable of receiving these great and
glorious principles which are calculated to enliven the human mind,
and to enlarge the capacity of man, and prepare him for receiving
those things which are so beautiful and glorious. These are truths
which every one will admit who reflects upon the principles of the
holy Gospel. We all know them to be true, and yet there appears to be
a predisposition in the hearts of some to do evil and not pursue that
path of life and live their holy religion as they have been taught.
They do not feel to pursue the holy path of righteousness so as to
receive the blessings, the enjoyment; and the felicity promised to the
faithful Saints. It is the privilege of the Saints to progress in the
knowledge of the principles of eternal life, and the greatest gift
that can be bestowed upon man is the gift of eternal life. It is our
privilege to progress in the knowledge of God, and to become more
instrumental of doing good in the service of our Great Master as we
increase in years, and also that we may increase in wisdom and in
intelligence, and lay a foundation for others to build upon that come
after us, that our children may benefit by our experience, and not
have to travel over the same ground that we have travelled. They will
be measurably free from the prejudices, traditions, and superstitions
under which we have been raised, and they will be enabled thereby more
easily to threw off the shackles which are calculated to trammel their
minds in the path in which we have attempted to tread; therefore still
greater glory will attend their footsteps, if faithful, because of the
greater knowledge which they will be capable of receiving. And yet we
look around and see ourselves and others to a greater or less degree
prone to do evil. Not heeding the whisperings of the Spirit which are
calculated to shield us from those evil tendencies and ways—calculated
to preserve us and attend upon our footsteps, we get into trouble and
difficulty; but if we strive to do as well as we can, and submit to
those influences which are calculated to shut out evil, we shall then
increase in knowledge and in all the gifts and graces of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ.

Vol. 9, p.44
The only way to preserve ourselves in the faith is to be diligent in
prayer and in all those duties required of us as Saints—to be faithful
in those things that we have received, and not to be dilatory in
anything that we have to perform, but be diligent and energetic in
everything that is required. It is not a sacrifice of our time, but it
is an increase of the Spirit of the Living God to the honest in heart,
if they have order, they will have more of it: in fact, attention to
duty brings an increase of every good thing that heart can wish or
desire in righteousness. It is our duty to strive to be actuated by
the  influence of the Holy Spirit, and it is [p.45] for us to
encourage within us a love of those principles which are being
revealed—to let the love of these principles be the delight of our
bosoms continually, to think upon, to act upon in our daily lives.
Obedience brings with it its own rich reward, and an increase of every
good thing, whether temporal or spiritual; and then we should discard
the evil and everything which has a downward tendency, that we may
receive edification, and thus cause union to spring up amongst us, and
encourage steeling in our hearts to do good, and strive in faith to
bring down the blessings of heaven. Faith is the gift of God; and if
we will promote that in our bosoms, we shall increase in the knowledge
of the truth and in the power of God. If we will promote faith and
confidence in our bosoms, which is said to be the basis of power, then
what is there that we desire that we cannot accomplish? Our faith and
affections once united, then see the strength and power that we should
wield in promoting the principles which we so much rejoice to see
spreading abroad upon the face of the earth.

Vol. 9, p.45
How is it that we are compelled to pray that our Father in heaven will
gather out of his kingdom the ungodly? Is it that the sinner in Zion
may be afraid and the hypocrite flee away? We are; and I expect we
shall be compelled to make this prayer to our Father in heaven so long
as there are hypocrites in the midst of the people of the Most High
God—those who call themselves Saints.

Vol. 9, p.45
We see the young people, ofttimes, walking in the ways of evil,
practising dishonesty, practising drinking, stealing, and other vices,
and those, too, who have been born in this kingdom—born of parents who
loved and received this Gospel before their birth, many of whom may be
distinguished by their names having been taken from the Book of
Mormon—young men who should have known nothing but righteous
principles. I say it is grievous to see one of these, in whom we have
placed such strong hopes, turn away from the truth and go into sin and
iniquity.

Vol. 9, p.45
It may be considered by many a wonder that we should fail in our
judgment; but I do not consider it is a wonder at all that we should
sometimes choose men who afterwards prove unfaithful, for the Almighty
will prove his servants who are called as well as those who call them;
and although the Lord may foreknow a great many things, yet he is
willing that all should have an opportunity of proving themselves.

Vol. 9, p.45
Although those who have been born in the Church have greater
opportunities than we have had in our infancy in regard to the
principles of life and salvation, yet they are subject to temptation
and to be led astray as we are. This our experience teaches us, and it
is not so wonderful that we should see this in our youth. The spirit
that is in man needs continual watchfulness. We must watch
ourselves—watch our footsteps. The young and inexperienced do not
understand this as we do who have passed further along in life's
dreary path. But they will improve when they feel by experience the
smart for walking in the ways of evil, when they see that it does not
afford that happiness which they expected, especially if their
parents, who, seek their welfare, continue to walk in the path of
right, of justice, and equity.

Vol. 9, p.45
We look upon the world from which we have come, from the lowest state
of degradation, perhaps; and we are placed here upon a platform which
is calculated to lift us above every other portion of the human race.
This is the destiny of this people and of [p.46] their children, and
all those who shall come into this kingdom, to exercise an influence
over the whole world—to exercise that power which will emanate from
heaven for the government of the human family.

Vol. 9, p.46
We are progressing; and this is truly a glorious work and mission
which this people have engaged in and upon which they have been sent.
It is to redeem the earth from sin and iniquity, to establish the
principles of righteousness upon a basis never more to be thrown down,
to establish them upon a firm and righteous basis, —principles which
all the world may learn, and by which they may be saved, if they will
obey them. And it is the only nucleus of power that will do to tie to.
There is no nucleus that can be compared with the power of this
people. So long as they will remain united, so long will they progress
and increase in the knowledge of the truth. I am proud to own this
people as my friends.

Vol. 9, p.46
Brethren, if this our holy religion be lived and acted up to, then it
is a great, high, and holy mission which we have to perform. Then act
up to it nobly. Let us instil into the minds of our children that nice
sense of honour which will prove a shield to them in after life.
Mothers can prove of great service to the children in instilling into
their minds the principles that will lead to life and salvation, and
that will keep their feet from unholy footsteps. It is a mission that
mothers can act in. It is a consolation to parents to see their
children become great, good, and holy men and women. Then they will
never forget those things that are instilled into their minds in their
infancy. I feel that there is not pains enough taken to instil that
nice sense of honour into the mind which will shield the children in
after life. I do not care how wicked they may become. the wholesome
instruction given in their youth will be like a shield—like cords that
will draw them and keep them from many an evil thing in future life;
and when they become fathers and mothers, they will reflect upon the
teachings of their childhood—of how they were trained up in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord. The conscience restrains many
persons from evil, when made to understand and know that the eye of
the Lord is upon them, whether any other person sees them or not.

Vol. 9, p.46
It should cause us to be more careful and particular than any other
influence that can be brought to bear upon us, seeing and knowing what
we can do, and how we would feel to have the Lord behold an evil in
our conduct. When we consider that, the Lord is cognizant of our acts,
should we not be more careful that we do nothing to displease Him than
we are of displeasing any other being? Is it not a joy to feel that we
have the approbation of our Father in heaven in all that we do, and to
have that peace of mind which this knowledge instils into our bosoms?
Then how careful we ought to be for our own satisfaction, to see that
we are circumspect in regard to our daily lives.

Vol. 9, p.46
I also think it is our duty, upon the principles of righteousness, to
please each other as far as we can. But I would not wish to inculcate
that we should always strive to gratify each other, but, as far as is
consistent with the principles of truth, strive to please each other,
instead of pursuing an opposite course, or one that is calculated to
harass and injure each other's feelings. I recommend this course
myself, as being productive of more good. We should not strive to
hedge up each other's way in the work of righteousness and truth; but
as we were taught by your President the duties of the Elders of
Israel, so let us correct [p.47] an evil, not through any particular
motives, excepting that it is an evil, and knowing that in all
righteousness we should seek to build each other up. We should seek to
have within ourselves that spirit and feeling which will produce the
most happiness and prosperity.

Vol. 9, p.47
The Gospel, if we will let it, will save us, old and young, bond and
free, and finally exalt us in the kingdom of our Father and God. It is
for us, then, to eschew evil and set worthy examples, strive to extend
this influence abroad among our brethren, so far as we are able, and
so far as we have it ourselves, and then cause them to extend it to
others, and so continue; and in this way seek to redeem the earth, as
well as in our labours of seeking to redeem mankind from sin and
iniquity.

Vol. 9, p.47
We offer the people the Gospel, which is calculated to save them in
the kingdom of God. We seek also to make the desert blossom as the
rose; and herein we may improve ourselves in the cultivation of the
earth. We can ornament and adorn the earth with trees, with shrubs,
and flowers; and while it is bringing forth grain of all kinds for the
sustenance of man, it will also be beautified by our industry and
taste.

Vol. 9, p.47
Israel is on a mission. The Elders are out upon a mission. The good
seed is being sown. The Lord has commenced his work in earnest, and
thousands will flock to this standard, and it will do to tie to. Yes,
thousands will do this for safety. Then it is for us to prepare to
bring forth the grain and the other products of the earth for the
sustenance of the people of God—to ornament the earth with cities and
temples, with grain, with shrubs, with trees, with fences, and every
good thing that makes it delightful to the eye of the builder, and in
this way cause our homes to become beautiful. Like every other
principle of righteousness, it is better for ourselves to do things is
this way. It is pleasing to God; it is also pleasing to every
enlightened mind, and causes the faithful in after life to look back
to their childhood, to consider certain traits in their character and
the counsel and admouitions they received. When children grow up, they
are very apt to look back to their old schoolhouses, and to certain
trees that surrounded the house, and other haunts of their childhood,
giving early and pleasing impressions. These things are calculated to
inspire the young minds with taste for that which is beautiful and
lovely. It is elevating to the mind to make and have around us and our
habitations shade trees, flowers, and shrubs; and it sets a good
example before the young, and it is calculated to instil into their
bosoms virtue, holy and righteous principles. It will circulate the
same in our Wards as in our habitations.

Vol. 9, p.47
Many people will live year after year—they will plow and sow, reap and
mow, without a tree, without a fence about their premises; they will
live in a mud hovel; whereas with a little labour an hour or two in a
day, in setting out a few trees, be the labour ever so small, it
beautifies that place on which the labour is bestowed. When you look
at a place, a house, an homestead, it seems to indicate the character
of the person that dwells there. Although our improvements may seem to
be very small, yet every little does so much towards making up the sum
of human happiness. It is our duty to improve in all those things that
will make home pleasant and desirable. It is, as I said before, our
mission to redeem the earth, by adorning it in every possible way.
Then we shall wield an influence that in time will enable us to
overcome every antagonistic power and influence on the earth that is
brought to bear [p.48] upon it. There is no doubt about this in my
mind, for I know that this kingdom must eventually triumph.

Vol. 9, p.48
The work of the Lord is progressing as fast as the Saints are capable
of standing up under it. Things are breaking to pieces in the nations.
The Lord is casting down and setting up as it pleaseth him. We can
plainly see his hand and footsteps in the midst of the nations—the
confusion which reigns and predominates among the wicked; and we can
hear the sound thereof almost from day to day. But here in these
valleys of the mountains is a grand contrast; here is peace and
happiness, and, if we have a mind to make it so, our heaven; for it
rests with ourselves. We can have just as good a heaven as we have
mind to, if we go about it in the right way. It is for us to made it
to suit ourselves. If we have any happiness here, we have it to make.
It is our privilege to have peace—to make our homes happy by living
our religion; and why don't we do it? Many of us will say we will.

Vol. 9, p.48
Here is the greatest heaven of any place upon the earth; and, God
being our helper, we will extend this heaven abroad, increase its
number of angels of peace, its usefulness, and extend its benefits to
others; for as many as choose may come and enjoy it with their hearts
and souls. It is my daily prayer that the honest in heart may come
with a heart and mind to aid in reclaiming the desert, and causing it
to blossom as the rose,—come to aid in the good cause, in the
concentration of truth, of wisdom, of power, and of every good thing,
to aid in the enlightenment of the world and in concentrating all that
is worth having of science, of knowledge, of philosophy, of mechanism,
of the cultivation of the earth,—to aid in concentrating into one
focus all human ingenuity, and all human strength and power that will
build up the kingdom of God, establish the principles of righteousness
and peace upon the earth, and thus form a barrier against the
assailing floods of wickedness and corruption which have so long
desolated the earth—a barrier which they can in no way overcome. They
may surge up against the kingdom, but the barrier will be greater and
greater, and it will eventually break the nations in pieces and grind
them to powder. As it was said by one of old, upon whomsoever that
stone shall fall, it will grind them to powder.

Vol. 9, p.48
Here is a concentration of power, governed by righteous principles,
governed by intelligence; and here is an opportunity of knowing all
that is worth knowing or having upon the face of the whole earth. And
when this power is brought to bear upon the wicked and ungodly
nations, will it not, crush them, and they be as chaff before the wind
when it shall fall upon them? Yes; and it will grind them to dust.

Vol. 9, p.48
It is for us, then, if we seek the prosperity of Zion, to be faithful,
to be diligent in our own duties, to live our holy religion day by
day, hour by hour. Did you not know that a man may do that in a moment
which he cannot redeem himself from in a lifetime, and perhaps not in
an eternity?

Vol. 9, p.48
Let us shun evil and put it under our feet—put it far from us,—yea,
even the very appearance of evil, that our pathway may be strewn with
the blessings of the kingdom of God, and that the influence of the
Holy Spirit may be in us as a well of water springing up into
everlasting life. Let us strive to do good for our own sake, and then
peace, happiness, and prosperity, both temporally and spiritually,
will be ours.

Vol. 9, p.48
I make this appeal to you, my brethren and sisters, that we may live
our holy religion, eschew all evil, [p.49] build up the kingdom of
God, that we may participate in its blessings. What greater
inducements can be placed before us than those presented in the
kingdom of our God? I know of nothing outside of the kingdom of God
that is worth having. I have no desire for anything for a moment that
I cannot obtain in the kingdom of God, and that lawfully, legally, and
rightfully, and that it will be not only my privilege to attain and
enjoy, but my right. And I am not very particular about that, if I can
only be faithful and walk humbly and obediently before my Heavenly
Father, and endure to the end; then I shall be satisfied, and then I
shall have all that I can wish.

Vol. 9, p.49
I heard a person remark one time, when travelling through our
settlements, that if he had to raise wheat on such a piece of land as
that which we were passing, he would go to some other country rather
than live here. I told him that he did not feel as I did; for I felt
that, rather than turn away from the kingdom of God, I would prefer
being chained to a bare rock all the days of my life, and have bread
and water for my food. Yes, confined, persecuted, or any fate that
might befal me, I would prefer it to, turning away from the kingdom.
That is the way I feel, and it is the feeling of all true-hearted
Saints. They feel that they have everything to hold them in the
kingdom of God, and they feel that there is nothing worth having out
of it.

Vol. 9, p.49
Brethren, many go into darkness by giving way to small matters, by
finding fault, by supposing that they see something that does not meet
their minds, or that they suppose to be wrong. I believe that most
apostates commence in that way: they do not control their thoughts,
and hence things sour in their minds, and they are apt to indulge in
and to encourage those thoughts till they will begin to express them;
and then the way and manner of returning into the favour oft he Spirit
of God begins to be hedged up, and they cannot return so easily as
they could have done before they expressed their jealousies to some
one else. After men begin to express their doubts and fears around,
one to another, they go astray fast. Their unholy sentiments begin to
be established in their darkened minds like cardinal or fundamental
principles. They think they begin to see that they have been in error
in embracing that Gospel which they profess, and the first thing they
know they are landed in the whirlpools of apostacy; they suddenly find
out that they never did believe in "Mormonism," and that if they did
believe it they were in error, for they now find out that it is all a
humbug; and thus they go on to destruction. If such persons could
control their minds in the commencing stage of apostacy, and be
humble, seek wisdom, light, and knowledge from the Lord, they could be
saved. Then they could be preserved, and not go in the way which many
who were our brethren have gone, who have sunk themselves in darkness
and misery, and finally into hell. If they would remember when they
begin to see things which they dislike and feel inclined to find
fault—if they would then remember their prayers and seek unto the
Lord, ask him to keep their minds enlightened —to give them freely of
his Spirit to guide them continually, they would be safe. But people
in this condition invariably neglect their prayers; they begin to see
faults in their brethren—to find fault with the authorities.

Vol. 9, p.49
Let any man pursue that course, and he will find out when it is too
late to walk in the paths of righteousness, when the Lord has left him
to himself, so that he cannot, return, if [p.50] he would. Let me
caution you, brethren and sisters, to nip this sprig and sign of
apostacy in the bud. It is said that the mind that will receive will
have a knowledge given to it of the truth after which it searches. The
reason that those characters do not have intelligence is because their
minds are closed against it. I say, and I admonish you to let your
minds be open continually, esteem it a favour—one of the greatest
bestowed by the Almighty—the gift of the Holy Ghost. Live so as to let
it be in each of your besoms, to inspire your hearts, to enable you to
receive the instructions that are from time to time given unto you,
that you may ever be inclined to do good and eschew evil. That Spirit
will inspire you in every good thing; it will teach you to walk humbly
and faithfully before your Father and God.

Vol. 9, p.50
I know there is that in the hearts of the people of this Church and
kingdom that responds to righteous principles; for no one that hears
the truth out knows, as a general thing, what is right; but it appears
that they are sometimes neglectful of what they do know, and that they
do not do as well as they might; and they know that this is wrong.

Vol. 9, p.50
Brethren, I feel well. I feet within my self a peculiar satisfaction
in seeing the prosperity of the people of God. I feel well in
witnessing his mighty hand and his goings forth among the nations of
the earth, as I see the day approaching when the power of the
Adversary will be weakened to that extent that he will not be able to
disturb the happiness of the Saints. When I see the Lord breaking in
pieces the nations, I feel well. When I see the Gospel going abroad,
and its principles more and more adhered to by the people of God, and
in seeing the people cleave to righteous principles and forsake all
that is evil. I pray God that we may increase in those things that are
calculated to enable us to carry them abroad, that we may have power
with our Father and God, to maintain our faith and integrity against
every opposing power and every obstacle that is put in our way, and be
enabled to draw from the elements for our support, that we may be free
and independent from this wicked and untoward generation.

Vol. 9, p.50
I pray our Father to bless us with his Spirit, that we may be able to
act Well our part, in connection with those that rule over us, that we
may sustain them by our faith and prayers, and through our diligent
efforts be instrumental in the hands of our Father in heaven in
redeeming the earth from sin and iniquity. I pray my Father in heaven
that we may be enabled to accomplish these tidings, in the name of
Jesus. Amen. [p.51]

Heber C. Kimball, April 14, 1861

Cultivation of the Spirit of Truth—Trials of the Church, &c.

Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, April 14, 1861.

Reported By J. V. Long

Vol. 9, p.51
There is scarcely a subject in regard to myself or this people that is
of any importance but I have thought of it, for I reflect much. I wish
to speak by the dictation of the Holy Ghost, and I know that will be
in proportion to the faith that dwells in you. It is a pretty hard
ease for a man to speak to this congregation, except he makes up his
mind to speak according to the light that is in the people.

Vol. 9, p.51
Many of the people have ears to hear, but they hear not, neither do
they conceive the things of the kingdom of God. For instance, when the
people come together on a Sunday morning and hear a discourse, go home
to dinner and come together in the afternoon, and they can scarcely
remember a word that has been said in the forenoon; therefore you
perceive the necessity of our being instructed from day to day, and of
our having our ears cultivated to hear the things of the kingdom. Then
we shall have hearts to understand, and minds to comprehend the
principles of eternal life. And if the word of life be in us, it will
be like a well of water springing up into everlasting life, and we
shall have our minds stored with that knowledge which is promised to
the faithful. It is necessary, and it is the imperative duty of the
Elders in Israel to strive to increase in knowledge, in wisdom, in
virtue, and in good works; for if we have good works we are bound to
have good faith: then again good faith produces good works.

Vol. 9, p.51
Ever since I embraced the Gospel twenty-nine years ago, I have felt
determined to draw near unto the Lord our God, knowing that he had
promised on that condition to draw near unto his children. In doing
this I have been blessed and comforted in all my labours. It is our
duty to learn to be men of truth in all our acts, our works, our
thoughts, and to cultivate the spirit of truth.

Vol. 9, p.51
I have frequently thought of the saying that some men are so clever
that they can turn the truth into a lie, and vive versa. Now, I would
like to know how it is possible to turn a lie into truth. I contend
that there is no such thing; but men may so mystify the truth as to
make it appear an error or a falsehood; but the truth still remains
firm and unshaken, for it is of that character that the Scriptures
speak of: it is like a two-edged sword; yes, it will cut both ways. We
should always be filled with the truth, and not only filled with
truth, but ever be ready to administer it, whether we are moving
backward or forward. We should ever be ready to administer the words
of life and salvation, and let the error alone. Let us listen to the
counsel that we have heard to-day from [p.52] brother Wells and the
other brethren. I did not hear brother Wells, but I heard Brother
George A. and President Young. What they said was truth, and I also
know that what brother Wells said was truth, for he cannot speak
anything else. There are men of whom I could not say that; but brother
Wells' mind is stored with knowledge and wisdom, and it would be hard
for a man like him to talk anything else than the truth. We often say
that we wish to speak the truth to the people, which is right and
good; but is it any more necessary that I should be a man of truth
here than I sin in my garden or with my family? No. It is necessary
that I should be a man of truth whereever I am, whatever my employment
may be. It is not wisdom for us to be as the old Quaker, who, when he
was insulted, pulled off his coat and said "Lay there, religion, till
I flog this man!" Now my doctrine is, that if I cannot flog a man and
be just as religions as I am in this pulpit, I had better let him
alone. But, unlike the old Quaker, I never had an occasion to put my
religion to the test in this way; in fact, I never had much difficulty
with any man in my life. I have had more difficulty with myself than
with anybody else. I will not do as some have done, whip a man because
I have the power and the strength. Let men act unjustly with me, and I
will endure it until that spirit which I enjoy says, You have borne
enough; and then if I have to administer chastisement unto, that man,
I will do it by the power of God. Then such a man had better be out of
my way and out of my hands.

Vol. 9, p.52
Do not, brethren, follow in the track of those who came against Jesus.
He had no friends, but he had the power of God with him, and his
enemies were struck dumb before him. This is the position we should be
in; and then what are the nations of the wicked, or the armies of the
United States, or of all the world? If we attend to our business and
let other things alone, the Lord will sustain us in all circumstances
of life. Supposing I had a dozen men employed—men who were devoted to
the truth and to my interest, I would say, Boys, attend to your
business; do what I have told you, and I will attend to our enemies; I
will see to these chaps and flog them to it; I will teach them to
attend to their duties, or stand aside. This is the character of our
Father: he will defend his own, he will defend his people, he will
defend our wives and children, these mountains, and all that cleave
unto righteousness. This is the, way I view the subject, and I presume
that all Israel will say Amen.

Vol. 9, p.52
It is our duty to pursue that course that will lead and guide us unto
eternal life. This land is blessed above all other lands: it was
foreordained to be the gathering place of the Saints, where the Lord
would hide up his people until his indignation should pass over the
nations of the earth. You have heard us say that all the world and
hell combined cannot get us out from these mountains, and I say the
same to-day.

Vol. 9, p.52
It is by our faith and works, by our integrity and righteousness, by
doing to others as we would wish them to do unto us. Jesus says—"With
what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye
mete, it shall be measured to you again." (Matt. vii. 2.) This is and
will be the case with every man in this Church and kingdom, from first
to last. All will have that reward which their works merit, whether
they be good or evil.

Vol. 9, p.52
I realize that I am a feeble man—that I am nothing more than a worm
that crawls upon the earth, except when God is with  me. The more I
[p.53] see of myself, the more I am satisfied that I am a poor, weak,
frail man. We are all poor creatures without God. If you do not
believe it, look back into the world and see the condition of things.
They have no regard for honesty among them, speaking of them as a
community; but of course there are persons among them that are
honest—individuals who are the elect of God: they will eventually be
gathered.

Vol. 9, p.53
Those who have been sent among us by the Federal Government as
officers were men who did not care for the people. They have always
manifested a great anxiety for the gold and silver, but none for the
interest through this community. Now, this should not be so with us;
our desire and labour should be to learn the principles of
integrity—to live up to our covenants made in the house of God. If we
do this, no power can overcome us, but we shall prevail.

Vol. 9, p.53
I have passed through a great many trying scenes. I have been driven
and rooted up every time that this Church has been removed from its
gathering-place by its enemies. I have also had the experience of
seeing armies come up against us in Caldwell county, Missouri, when we
could not raise above five hundred half-armed men to defend the
county, and the Governor, L. W. Boggs, ordered out as many as fourteen
thousand troops against us. At that time, it looked as though we
should be destroyed from the earth; but the Almighty was on our side.
When I saw the condition that we were in, I concluded that it would be
hot times; so I put a heavy charge in my United States musket; only
expecting to get one chance to fire, and felt determined that it
should be a dead shot to somebody. We all felt very queer, for there
was no other prospect before us than that of immediate assassination;
but of a sudden, as by a shock from all heaven, our enemies were
panic-stricken, and retreated in confusion. Brother Wells can tell you
about the Battle of Nauvoo, for he was there and took an active part
in it.

Vol. 9, p.53
When the Church was thus broken up, we used to go forth from State to
State preaching the Gospel to all who would hear. We did not preach
the gathering at those times, because there was no place to gather to:
the Prophets and Apostles themselves had to flee for their lives. In
all these trying scenes the Lord sustained us, and he gave us favour
in another county and also in another nation. These things have
existed from the organization of the Church; but in the midst of all,
I never felt discouraged, neither did I feel to shrink from any duty
that was imposed upon me. I knew that God was with us, that he was
with his Prophet, and with all good men. We were faithful at that
time, and those that continued faithful through those trials still
remain with us; and my Heavenly Father knows that I respect them, and
I ever shall respect them while I remain in the body and continue in
the spirit of my calling.

Vol. 9, p.53
Now, you all know pretty well how the Lord worked it with that army
which the United States Government sent here to scatter this people to
the four winds of heaven. They sent their minions to make war with the
house of God, and he took the battle into his own hands and kept our
enemies at bay. Some of you make remarks about our having no temple;
but what of that? Was it not so in the days of Moses? Yes, it was. The
Israelites were left with a Tabernacle and Ark of the Covenant, but
still the Lord fought their battles, he defended them against their
enemies, he brought them off  victoriously, he severely scourged their
oppressors; and he will do the same in the present dispensation, if we
are [p.54] faithful to the covenants we have made. Have not the
ungodly made war with the people of God? And was not that equivalent
to declaring war with our Father in heaven, and with Jesus Christ his
Son, and with his kingdom, with a design to overthrow it, kill his
Prophets and Apostles; and put to death his anointed ones, and also
every Saint that would not submit to their lasciviousness, to their
vices, and corrupting and damning practices? Yes, brethren, the United
States have done all this, and much more that would be painful to
recite.

Vol. 9, p.54
Some of them talk sometimes about brother Brigham crooking his little
finger, and have told that if he were to do that, no Gentile would be
permitted to live any longer among us. When the enemies of
righteousness came here, they became so afraid of the Saints that they
dared not let a man out of their ranks; they were almost terrified to
death; they went down among the cedars, and there they have been ever
since, and there they will remain until they go away, which won't be
long. How awfully they were disappointed, as well as those who came
here to rule us! They have not any of them accomplished what they
designed, for the man of the woman that falls in with such spirits is
not our brother or our sister. Who is our brother? He that doeth the
will of our Father who is in heaven, and none else.

Vol. 9, p.54
Now think of these things, reflect upon them; and so sure as you have
seen a few things, so surely will you, in the Lord's own due time, see
many more, and you will see that our Father will deliver his people
every time their enemies come upon them. Yes, it will be so from this
time forth and forever. Then, in addition to this, you will find that
this Priesthood, through those who hold it in righteousness, will rule
the nations of the earth forever and forever. Will those who hold the
Priesthood govern with a rod of tyranny? No; but it will be done by
the power of the Priesthood of the Almighty, which is compared to an
iron rod. The nations will eventually have to come and bow down before
this Priesthood and to this people, and they will be willing to lick
the very dust off their feet; yes, and they will be perfectly willing
to lick the dust from the feet of those men whom they slew in
Carthage, if they can be permitted to be in their presence.

Vol. 9, p.54
Brethren and sisters, I feel very comfortable, generous, and kind
today, and I feel that there is a good Spirit here. You will all feel
better when you get rid of your contractedness. Let the womb of your
mind be expanded to receive the words of life, and then the Spirit of
the living God will be in you as a well of wafer springing up into
everlasting life.

Vol. 9, p.54
To you, sisters, especially the young ladies, I want to say, Away with
your folly. Put away far from you all pride and all lightmindedness,
and trust in the Lord your God, and let the petition of your heart and
the supplication of your soul be life, life—eternal life!

Vol. 9, p.54
There are many good books for you to read, and that are full of good
instruction. Here are the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and Book of
Doctrine and Covenants. You will see many revelations in the last
named book that are already fulfilled, and there are others that are
still in the future. The Almighty through his Prophets foretold that
the nation would make war upon this people, and that he would come out
of his hiding place, and pour out his judgments upon those that rebel
against him, and who persecuted his people, and set themselves against
his house. Then it shall go forth like a mighty whirlwind upon the
face of the whole earth.

Vol. 9, p.55
[p.55] In this country the North and the South will exert themselves
against each other, and ere long the whole face of the United States
will be in commotion, fighting one against another, and they will
destroy their nationality. They have never done anything for this
people, and I don't believe they ever will. I have never prayed for
the destruction of this Government, but I know that dissolution,
sorrow, weeping, and distress are in store for the inhabitants of the
United States, because of their conduct towards the people of God.
Then the judgments will go forth to the nations of the earth. I have
an understanding of these things, and I sincerely hope that you
comprehend as clearly as I do. If you do, you will strive to prepare
for those things that are Coming upon the earth in these last days.

Vol. 9, p.55
I would like you all to become like a vine, or like unto a tree, every
limb, branch, twig, fibre, and leaf to be connected one with the
other.

Vol. 9, p.55
Now, in regard to the Spirit of prophecy, I will say that we may all
prophesy, if we will wait till we are sure we are right. Brethren; God
bless you with the gifts of the Spirit, and may peace be with you all,
and may the blessingsof heaven rest upon these mountains and valleys
for the benefit of the faithful Saints.

Vol. 9, p.55
When I look around, I see many things that I do not like; I do not
like to think of circumstances that have taken place within the last
few days. I do not like the idea of having thieves in our midst, but
we certainly have them, and I pray God Almighty to root them out of
the earth, and to let them go into forgetfulness, and let all Israel
say Amen. (The congregation responded Amen.)

Vol. 9, p.55
Brethren and sisters, I pray our Father in heaven to give you
liberally of his Spirit, that you may be led and guided thereby in the
way of righteousness and truth, and in the end of your probation be
claimed in the presence of the Father and the Son, which I ask for you
and all the faithful) in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Wilford Woodruff, May 12, 1861

Blessings Enjoyed By the Saints

Remarks by Elder Wilford Woodruff, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, May 12, 1861.

Reported By J. V. Long

Vol. 9, p.55
Brethren and sisters, after the congregation receiving so much
instructions, I feel that I shall make my remarks very brief. It is
truly good to sit and hear the word of the Lord, and it is truly a
good thing to believe in it; but it is still better to practise it.

Vol. 9, p.55
I have reflected to-day, as I frequently do, with regard to the mercy
of God and his loving-kindness to the children of men. The positions
that the Children of men occupy with regard to the difference there is
in the minds of men on the subject of religion and the character of
God is [p.56] an important one. I have considered the responsibility
that rests upon men in regard to these things. There seems to be very
few that really have faith in the Lord God of our fathers. If we judge
them by their works, we must certainly come to this conclusion. It is
certainly a great blessing to this people that they have faith in God
and in the promises of our Heavenly Father.

Vol. 9, p.56
Truth is one of the attributes of the Almighty, and what he promises
he will fulfil. Now, if the children of men believed this, they could
save themselves a great deal of trouble. If those who embrace the
Gospel could have confidence to abide in the truth, they would escape
many trying scenes through which the wicked will have to pass. The
trouble that awaits this nation, and that other nations have had to
pass through in various ages that are past, has been because they have
had no confidence in the Lord. They have not obeyed him, but have
turned from him—rejected the counsel given to them. It will be
precisely so with this nation when their afflictions begin to come
upon them, for the Lord will be avenged. We can now see the words of
the Lord and his Prophets fulfilling before our eyes.

Vol. 9, p.56
This is a peculiar generation—a singular time in which we live. There
seems to be a great deal of the word of the Lord fulfilling in our day
and age of the world. We profess to acknowledge the hand of the Lord
in what we see around us, and I trust we do it in our hearts. We have
read, many years ago, the promise contained in the Book of Doctrine
and Covenants concerning the nation in which we live. The Lord said,
in the early rise of this Church, in speaking of this land, that we
should hear of wars abroad; but at the same time we should not know
the hearts of the children of men in our own country. And the
commandment was to his people to prepare themselves to stand in holy
places when the indignation of the Almighty should be passing over the
earth. We now see these things coming to pass. They are plain and
clear before our eyes. We have a part fulfilled; and as truth is one
of the attributes of the Almighty, everything that he says he will
fulfil. The promise is to the whole world—"He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned."
This promise is sure; and if the Lord fulfils in one instance, he will
in another. He will save the people if they will obey him; and if they
do not he will not save them, but they will have to reap the reward
that is due them for their works.

Vol. 9, p.56
I consider that it is a blessing that I have the opportunity of
believing in the Gospel and in the word of the Lord. I believe in
them, and rejoice to know that they are true, and that they will be
fulfilled. I bear my testimony to the truth of this Gospel. I also
testify that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of the Lord. I know this as
well as I do that I exist. I know by inspiration and by the
revelations of Jesus Christ and the manifestations of the Spirit of
God from year to year and from time to time. I likewise see around me
the fulfilment of prophecy, and this tends to strengthen me, and also
every Latter-day Saint. The Scriptures tell us that there is a spirit
in man, and that the inspiration of the Almighty giveth it
understanding. It is upon this principle that we become acquainted
with the truth, and the power of the Gospel which we have received.
The principles of eternal life are manifested unto us by the
inspiration of the Holy Ghost; for that Spirit  rests upon us—it
influences our minds; and if we watch those teachings, having within
us the right feeling, [p.57] we shall comprehend things clearly as
they are. We can see the Lord speaking to the nations and vexing them
in his hot displeasure, and still many eat, drink, and are satisfied,
and do not appear to be as energetic and active as they might be. It
is our duty to be alive and wide-awake to the times, for the firings
that are transpiring are joyful, because in them we see the
accomplishment and fulfilment of the predictions of the Prophets of
God that have lived in this generation. The things we are experiencing
now are attended with salvation, and are preparing us to magnify our
callings and fulfilling the object of our creation upon the earth.

Vol. 9, p.57
I always rejoice in seeing my fellow-men come to a knowledge of the
truth by obedience to the Gospel as taught by the servants of the
Lord. When men, have gone forth in the waters of baptism, and received
the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, they receive
the same truth, the same light as we have received; and thus we become
of one heart and one mind, and follow out the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost which attend his Gospel. In preaching the Gospel and
administering the ordinances of the Lord's house, the Spirit of
inspiration of heaven accompanies those who officiate, that it will
remain ever with them, if faithful, in all the duties of life.

Vol. 9, p.57
When I hear the brethren speak of the dealings of God with the present
generation, I perceive that their minds all run together. The record
which they bear is one; they all agree in their testimony; they are
one in stating that the work of the Lord our God will prevail over all
its enemies. But it is a calamity, as we look at it naturally, for the
generation in which we live, that the Gospel is preached and by them
rejected; in consequence of which the Spirit is taken from them,
because they follow the devices of their own hearts and their wicked
imaginations. They follow the devices of the Evil One, and they spread
it broadcast, as it were, the cross which brings death and
destruction, which brings sorrow and mourning; and this is the ease
with many in the present day and age of the world. There is not a man
to-day that has the Spirit of the Lord, and that is faithful in his
calling, but what can see the state of things both in and out of the
Church. He can see them with his eyes, and hear them with his ears,
and they can see the hand of God thrown over this people to-day.

Vol. 9, p.57
I rejoice in the blessings that the Lord gives, and I feel that we
ought to be faithful. If there are anybody who are blessed of the
Lord, it is the Latter-day Saints; and if there are anybody upon the
earth who are and should be willing to obey counsel, it is the Saints
of the living God. We have reaped the benefit of it for years, and we
know that it brings forth joy, peace, and consolation to the souls of
men; and we would certainly be very foolish to turn away from the only
source that will bring us joy, salvation, and eternal life. To do
this, we should have to turn our backs upon the only friends we have,
and shut up the only source from which we draw the blessings we have
in this life.

Vol. 9, p.57
The world really do not know what they are doing; they don't
comprehend what lies before them; they judge after the hearing of the
ear, and while calamities will overtake the wicked, as the Lord has
spoken, we have something to hold on to and to rely upon. We have seen
the hand dealings of the Almighty with us; we have learned his
promises. Has he broken his promises to his people? He has not; he has
been faithful and true. I firmly believe that we shall partake [p.58]
of all the blessings of the kingdom of God by obeying the counsel of
those set over us, for I know that God has established a government to
control, to guide, and to dictate; and we shall not find so perfect a
government as this in any part of the earth, for it is the government
of heaven.

Vol. 9, p.58
I desire that we may have power and a disposition to live faithful
today, to do right, to obey counsel, that whatever we are told to do
we may unite together and do with all our hearts. If there is strength
anywhere, it is here. If it does not exist here, it does not exist
anywhere. There is no spirit of friendship in the world; it has taken
the wings of the morning and flown away from many of the nations, and
the blessings of the Lord are being withdrawn in a great measure from
the nations of the earth. The people have no disposition to obey that
which is right, or give the servants of God an opportunity of
preaching the truth for the salvation of fallen man. Those who despise
those blessings and privileges will find that the consequences and
reward will follow.

Vol. 9, p.58
I feel thankful that we are here in the valleys of the mountains; and
I rejoice that we are at peace, and not obliged to fortify Great Salt
Lake City, as the people are obliged to do in Washington; nor is our
President compelled to flee to Canada to save his life. We are safe
and in quietude. The enemies of this kingdom do not understand the
spirit and power of the Gospel. It is a spirit and a power that they
cannot cope with, and it is so with all the sectarian world. We have
the privilege of lying down and of rising up in peace; we have the
privilege of bowing in our families in peace, and getting up and
speaking our sentiments, and none to make us afraid.

Vol. 9, p.58
These are great blessings that we as a people enjoy. I bear my
testimony that these things are true and faithful. You know these
things as well as I do, and every man who lives his religion knows it.
The Lord is with his people, and this kingdom will spread abroad. And
when the Lord has destroyed the wicked, there will be room for Zion to
spread herself abroad, and to rebuild the waste places thereof. Then
all things spoken of in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants will be
fulfilled. It is good to reflect upon these principles, for the
promises will be fulfilled, whether we believe them or not.

Vol. 9, p.58
I pray God to guide us, that we may be prepared to partake of eternal
life and salvation, and share in all the benefits of the Gospel of
Christ, and of the Holy Priesthood which has been revealed to us in
our day and generation, which I ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
[p.59]

Daniel H. Wells, September 10, 1861

Building Up of the Kingdom of God—Home Manufactures

Discourse by President Daniel H. Wells, made at Logan City,
September 10th, 1861.

Reported By G. D. Watt

Vol. 9, p.59
I appear before you this morning with grateful feelings to our
Heavenly Father for the privilege we mutually enjoy in beholding the
dawning light of so good a day for Israel.

Vol. 9, p.59
Brother Kimball, when he bade me good-bye, as I started from the city
on this visit, wished me to say to the people for him, "God bless
them!" and brother Brigham blesses the people continually; our Father
in heaven blesses them; the heavens are full of blessings for, them.
Why, then, should we not, be the most happy of all people? While the
garth is full of turmoil and strife, the people in these mountains
dwell in peace, and are blessed with unparallelled prosperity. They
have that joy and peace, that satisfaction and quietness that proceeds
from God, which could not be enjoyed in any other pact of the world,
or among any other people under the most favourable circumstances.

Vol. 9, p.59
We have been called together from different parts of the world for the
great and special work of building up the kingdom of God upon the
earth, to establish a nucleus of righteousness from which shall
radiate every great, good, and holy principle to all parts of the
habitable world. It is our privilege to bear an important part in this
great work. The Gospel of salvation has been promulgated—has reached
our ears where we dwelt among different nations and countries, and has
brought us to these mountain regions. And now what is our duty? Shall
we be like the world from which we have been gathered out? If this is
our intention, we might as well have stayed in our native country,
where we could have ripened for destruction as well as here. But if we
have essayed to be servants of the Most High, to be his children, to
be his chosen and peculiar people, and for which purpose we are
gathered out from among the Gentile nations, let us not do as they do,
but let us do according to the high behest of Heaven, who has given us
an appointment, and called us forth to build up his kingdom in these
last days. Let us follow implicitly the instructions of those whom God
has appointed to guide our minds and direct our steps; or, to use
other words, let us believe our religion and faithfully live it. Do we
believe fully that God our Father has appointed men whom he influences
day by day to lead forth his people, and direct them in all their
spiritual and temporal labours? and do we so order our course as to
correspond with the instructions given us? Or do we suppose we can
entirely take our own way in temporal matters, according to the
traditions of our fathers and the dictations of the spirit of the
world, and at the same time please [p.60] high Heaven, and do our duty
faithfully in the building up of the kingdom of God? We think in
spiritual "Mormonism" we need direction and constant instruction by
the authorized servants of God; but we think we know as muck about
temporal affairs as anybody. We rejoice in the knowledge that has been
revealed from the heavens to us; we rejoice in the word of the Lord
that has gone forth; we rejoice that God has spoken, in these last
days, and that we have received these most valuable instructions—that
we have received the knowledge that leads to life and salvation, and
to exaltation in his kingdom. But do we realize that God's kingdom in
the latter days is to all intents and purposes a temporal kingdom? And
do we realize that if we had stayed in the world we could have served
him spiritually there as well as here? But what kind of a kingdom
would that have been for the Saviour to rule over when he comes? When
he comes, he is going to reign over a temporal kingdom, composed of
men and women who do his will on the earth. Everything that pertains
to us in our life, is temporal, and over us and all we possess our
Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ will reign, as well as over
all the kingdoms of the world when they become the kingdoms of our God
and his Christ.

Vol. 9, p.60
To build up Zion is a temporal labour; it does not consist simply in
teaching: teaching is to instruct us how to properly apply our labour,
the sooner and better to accomplish the end in view. Bone and sinew is
required to build up the kingdom of God in the last days. When Jesus
Christ was upon the earth, he said—My kingdom is not of this world: if
my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I
should not be delivered to the Jews but now is my kingdom not from
hence." It was not of this world then; But it remained to be in the
latter days, and then his servants will wage a warfare against the
powers of Satan, both visible and invisible. The Saints are now
engaged in that warfare; they have to fight against he evil influences
that attend upon their footsteps day by day, and then have to fight
against his inclining them to do evil, and against all evil powers,
and to root them out from their midst. They have also to contend
against the powers of darkness which appear in human beings, causing
them to come up in the shape of mobs to fight against the Saints of
the Most High. This is a temporal warfare as well in which we are
engaged. The Devil has held the control of the earth. Under his
influence the people have built up cities, colleges, and institutions
of every description, and traverse the earth and seas to amass money
to sustain them. We have been gathered out to form a nucleus of power
to take the kingdom, overcome evil with good, tread wickedness under
our feet, and exalt righteousness upon the mountain tops, that the
power, the wealth, and earthly prosperity maybe taken from the powers
of the Devil and placed within the power and control of a righteous
people where it belongs. What can we do to promote this great cause,
to redeem the earth from sin, from hell, and from the Devil, and make
it a habitation for Saints and angels? This is a question that comes
home to us all. The best answer that can be given to it is, Do
according to the instructions of him whom the Lord has appointed to
lead us. He says, "Go to with your might and build up the kingdom of
God, by quarrying the rock, by bringing the timber from the kanyons
and making it into lumber, by making adobies, mixing the mortar,
burning the lime, and drawing from the elements  around us the
material [p.61] necessary to beautify and build up, and to exalt in
every way those principles that essay to establish righteousness over
the whole earth." If the word is to build forts, build them; if to
raise grain, raise grain. It is needful to do these things because our
society is composed of men, women, and children, the same as other
communities of people. Like other people, we most have food and
raiment, houses to live in, and the common creature comforts. We have
come, to these distant valleys to improve, not to debase ourselves to
the level of the savages around us: we have come here purposely to
advance, not to take the retrograde path,—to exalt ourselves in the
knowledge of God, and seek to exalt others to our standard of holiness
and goodness. It is, then, for us to aspire constantly to a still
higher standard in the scale of human existence, exalting with us
those with whom we are associated. We need everything that other
people need, except sin, and no people need that. We need everything
else that is necessary to build up any other kingdom, and we have to
produce it from the elements with which we are surrounded. We have
been brought far from the wicked world, to give us an opportunity to
show that we will do it, or that we will not do it,—to prove our
integrity to the cause of righteousness and to God—to prove to him
that we will struggle to obtain the knowledge and the ability to
create the means of our own subsistence—that we will struggle to
subdue the elements, to sanctify the earth, chase unholiness from it,
and beautify it by building up beautiful places, ornamenting our
grounds, cultivating fruits of every variety that will flourish in our
country, and thus bless ourselves with the blessings the Almighty has
placed within our reach, and prove to him that we are willing to abide
his high behest, acknowledging that he throws in our way all these
advantages, and by our works show that we are willing to make all our
efforts point to the building up of the kingdom of God, and prove to
the world that we are more exalted in our attainments and more
elevated in our notions than they are; and finally we will make
ourselves independent of every people and nation upon the earth.

Vol. 9, p.61
When our Father in heaven finds he has got a people who stand as a
unit in favour of his kingdom, and have made themselves free and
independent, will he not be pleased with that people? It is a long
time since he has had such a people. It is our privilege to be that
people, and be acknowledged of God as his people. Then it becomes us
to be watchful, careful, energetic, and diligent in endeavouring to
bring to pass his purposes according to his mind and good pleasure.

Vol. 9, p.61
Here are the fat vallies of Ephraim. From the elements that are strewn
around us in rich profusion we can gain our entire support. We can
raise the flax, the wool, the cotton, the bread, the fruit, and sugar.
We can dig out the iron ore, and the copper, and the lead, and mould
these minerals to our wants, and make them administer to our comfort
and convenience. One can accomplish one thing, and another can
accomplish something else. When our labour is properly directed, one
man will go at this employment, and another at that, to bring forth
the things necessary for our mutual convenience and comfort. When we
are willing to abide the instructions of our leaders, and bring to our
aid the knowledge we have received in the countries from which we have
been gathered, all will then conspire to one end—namely, for the
building up of the kingdom of God. In the northern parts of this
Territory we can produce, things that [p.62] they cannot so well
produce in the southern portions. Last spring we visited the southern
settlements. There they can raise choice fruits that alone will
flourish in southern climates; they can also raise cotton better than
we can, and you can raise wool better than they. In this way we can
create an exchange of commodities between the north and the south,
make our cotton and woollen cloth at home, and not be too proud to
wear it when we have made it.

Vol. 9, p.62
In the revelations of God to Joseph Smith, jun., we read—,"And again,
thou shalt not be proud in thy heart. Let all thy garments be plain,
and their beauty the beauty of the work of thine own hands; and let
all things be done in cleanliness before me." We can get the furs in
these mountains to make the most beautiful hats, and the most durable.
From the countries north-west of us the Hudson Bay Company supply
nearly all Europe with the choicest of furs. Shall we first send the
furs to hell, and then have them freighted back to us by Gentile
speculators at a great expense, in the shape of hats for us to wear?
Get the fur and make our own hats. And so with our leather, and our
boots and shoes, and so with everything that is necessary for our
happiness and comfort.

Vol. 9, p.62
Heretofore we have been sorely taxed; our life blood has been drawn
from us—our circulating medium is continually drawn away for those
articles which we can produce ourselves. That woman that makes a yard
of cloth accomplishes a good work towards building up the independence
of the kingdom of God, and by her works her faith is made manifest.

Vol. 9, p.62
That man who raises a small patch of flax, prepares it for the
spinning-wheel, procures the wheel and loom, and is diligent in having
his wives and daughters learn to convert the flax into thread and
doth, is labouring in the right way to permanently establish the
kingdom of God. This will not only apply to flax, but wool, and every
other production natural to our country. In this way both men and
women and children are accomplishing the purpose for which they have
been gathered out from their native places into these distant valleys.

Vol. 9, p.62
I have said that we have a warfare to wage. Guns and pistols are
brought here, and can be had sometime at low prices. Such weapons are
necessary in the warfare in which we are engaged. We have attempted to
make powder, and with perseverance and skill I have no doubt a
plentiful supply can be produced here.

Vol. 9, p.62
We are now successfully making paper. You will soon receive the
Deseret News printed on paper made here. You can aid and assist in
this species of betide production by saving carefully your rags for
the paper manufactory. In the manufacture of paper we check the
outward flow of one stream of gold that has heretofore gone to enrich
the Gentiles.

Vol. 9, p.62
We are also successfully making nails. Our machinery is of the most
approved kind, mad can produce them in great quantities.

Vol. 9, p.62
We can also produce our linseed oil from the flax-seed. The oil made
here is of fine quality.

Vol. 9, p.62
President Young has imported several splendid carding machines for the
carding of wool. He has taken no little pains in importing the most
useful machinery to meet our present wants. Is it not better to spend
our means in this way than to spend it for imported goods of an
inferior quality?

Vol. 9, p.62
I wish to say a few words to those engaged in the military in this
valley. There are many who are [p.63] subject to perform military
duty. Many of them are ignorant as to the proper care, proper
handling, and proper use of fire-arms. They should be taught to handle
fire-arms in a way not to accidentally injure themselves or their
companions in arms. I care more about their knowing how to handle
their arms, and how to keep them in good condition than I do their
knowing how to perform "Eyes right, eyes left," &c. Not but what
strict discipline and a maintenance of perfect order in military ranks
is essentially necessary, as in all other departments of the
community, though I would rather they would learn to shoot correctly.
And it would not be amiss to secure a little extra supply of
ammunition to practise how to shoot, rather than trade off the arms
and ammunition that is put into their hands to use when necessary.
Learn how to clean a gun well, how to take it apart and put it
together again, and how to keep it in good condition. Learn how to
lead a gun properly, learn what is a proper charge, and then learn to
throw the ball to the spot where you wish it should be lodged. It
would be presumption to call a person to go forth bearing arms that
could not use them with proper effect: this would prove an injury
instead of a benefit. We would be relying in vain upon that person to
perform for us an important duty. We wish the military officers to
lend their instructions in this way. Teach the ignorant how to use and
take care of their firearms, and how to keep them safely, that they
may be in continual readiness, and that their families and friends may
not be injured by them. Let your military organizations be kept up,
and enrole new comers into some company, that they may know their
officers and their place when they are called upon to act. Let your
organizations be perfected as far as possible, that every man may be
ready when called upon to go on foot or on horseback.

Vol. 9, p.63
I have seen your little girls herding cattle and sheep. I would not
let even small boys do it, to say nothing of girls. It is unwise, for
the sake of the influence it has over their minds. In one sense it is
a cause of idleness. Our boys and girls would be better at school. Men
should herd stock. Those boys who are now about on horseback, with
pistols slung to their sides; who are butchering your cattle and
stealing your horses, were many of them herd-boys. Herding is a poor
school for your boys and girls to attend. They are on the wild plains,
and among the swamps and brush, away from the influence of their
parents and school teachers; and there they receive bad impressions
upon their minds, whereas good impressions should be made. Let men
herd your stock.

Vol. 9, p.63
The building up of this kingdom is a work of progress; and where some
things are necessary to be done, other things must not be neglected.
If you have a great deal of work on your hands of one kind, do a
little less of that kind, and more of some other kind, and bring all
things together. You have not time, you think, to send your children
to school, you have so much work to do. I like that you should have
plenty to do; but should you neglect to instruct your children while
you are busily engaged in other pursuits? It is not wisdom to neglect
this very important part of our duty, while at the same time it is
good to be diligent in every other duty that necessarily devolves upon
us in every department of life.

Vol. 9, p.63
We raise a great amount of wheat, and crop our land year after year
with the same crop. This is a pernicious practice for our land. It
[p.64] would be much better to introduce a rotation of crops suited to
the land and the climate. Let intelligent farmers pay attention to
this. Let crops of useful roots be introduced and fed to sheep and
other stock. It is as necessary and as profitable to raise good wool
and plenty of it as it is to raise good grain.

Vol. 9, p.64
Do not run into an extreme in raising wheat but let there be an
equality in our productions, which will give greater scope for
exchange among ourselves, and less encouragement to the importation of
foreign productions. These are a few of my ideas with regard to the
economy of living and building up the kingdom of God. This is a
life-time matter, and we must take it in hand wisely and with
moderation, so as to bear up and carry it through.

Vol. 9, p.64
We are now in our probation, and the work in which we are engaged will
reach into a world to come. Then let us act like men and women who are
determined to be for the kingdom of God or nothing, progressing
steadily, unitedly, and firmly, day by day, week by week, month by
month, and year by year, as long as we shall live, and never falter in
our feeling, in our faith, and good works. Never strike bands with the
Devil; never seek to make friends of Christ and Baal. They cannot be
friends. If we do not let go the hand of the Devil, we must the band
of Christ. Christ has long ago refused to hold communion with Satan.
We cannot hold one with one hand, and the other with the other hand.
If we try this, the first we know we shall find ourselves entirely on
the side of the Devil.

Vol. 9, p.64
What are our children given unto us for? To raise them up to be angels
to the Devil? I think not. None of us would wish that. Still, many
take that course which is calculated to lead them in that direction,
for want of understanding. We would not do this intentionally. Many a
person does a thing that will lead to death and destruction
unintentionally. They do not pay attention to the wise counsels and
excellent instructions that are almost daily given to them, in a
temporal point of view, but think they are of no particular use to
them.

Vol. 9, p.64
It is a temporal kingdom that we are engaged in building up for our
God upon the earth; and it becomes essentially necessary that we
should be one in regard to temporal matters, as well as in spiritual.
There is no disunion of feeling upon the subject of baptism for the
remission of sins, in all the valleys of the mountains, or upon the
subject of laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. We all
believe alike on these subjects. But when it comes to using your
surplus property for the building up of the kingdom of God, instead of
selling it to the Gentiles for almost nothing, when it is advised to
cease trading with them—to cease going on the road to do this and that
to build up Gentile interests, you consider it infringing upon your
liberties and rights as American citizens. You say, "Have I not a
right to dictate my own property that I have worked for?"

Vol. 9, p.64
You have nothing except that which the Lord God has intrusted to your
care. It belongs to him. The earth and the fulness thereof are his,
and we are his. There is only one principle that may be considered our
own, and that is our will. You can do as you are told, or you can
refuse to do it. You can seek good and do it, or you can seek evil and
do it. In this you are left to be your own judge. You can show to God
that you are for him, or that you are for the Devil. You can become
elect  to do evil and be an angel of the Devil, or you can become
elect to do good [p.65] and be a Saint of the Most High. For your own
sakes, be true to yourselves and live your religion which you profess
to believe, and train up your children in the principles of
righteousness which the Lord God has revealed to you, and in which the
faithful so delight, and which is so great a comfort and consolation
to them. Bring your children up so that they will be an honour and a
credit to you in your old age—so that they will walk in your
footsteps, inasmuch as you walk in all obedience before the Lord. The
Lord made great promises to Abraham. Why? "For I know him, that he
will command his children and his household after him; and they shall
keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment," &c.

Vol. 9, p.65
You can do your duty as Abraham did, and influence your children in
every possible way to work righteousness in all their days. Every
person has his agency; and how grand the idea, when the strong will of
man is used for the promotion of the kingdom of God, to set forth as
first and foremost the principles of truth and righteousness, and thus
finally lead to exaltation in the kingdom of God, with power to
preserve in it to all eternity our identity, walk into the presence of
God, and be able to bear the scrutinizing eyes of our Father in
heaven!

Vol. 9, p.65
What an exceeding great blessing to be able to do all this if we will,
and save those with whom we are associated, and go forth and become
the Gods of eternity. Let us prove to God, to angels, and to all holy
beings that we are for the kingdom that we are for God and holiness.
Let us put aside our contentions and bickerings and little notions:
they will not add any weight in the balance in our favour, but it will
weigh against us, and will continually thwart our onward progress. You
say a person has done you an injury. Suppose he has, what of it? It
should not affect you. Overlook it and pursue steadily the upward path
to righteousness, and it will not hurt you a particle; but it will
hurt the person that has inflicted the injury. It is better to suffer
wrong than to do wrong. If a person steals, anything from me, it does
not make it right for me to take something that belongs to another. If
a person gets angry with me, and I go about my business and pay no
attention to it, but rather take an occasion to soothe and control his
feelings, and finally gain the mastery over them, and over myself in
the first place, it gives me a victory, although he may have done it
on purpose to injure me.

Vol. 9, p.65
When the Almighty is blessing us with bountiful crops, how foolish it
is to quarrel with our neighbours for a little water. Perhaps it may
be we have some reason; but if we cannot obtain the water with good
feelings and kind words, let them have the water.

Vol. 9, p.65
Let us go forth in our daily transactions with an enlightened view of
things, and feel that we will not be moved from the path of
righteousness by every little thing that may cross our track. Let us
go a considerable distance round anything that would annoy us, rather
than make a fuss about it. Let us suffer a great deal before finding
fault with our brother or causing him to do wrong. Try and cherish
courtesy and good feelings to each other, that you may attain that
command over yourselves, and that elevation of sentiment and feeling
that is worthy of you as Saints of the Most High. When your Bishop or
President chooses to lead out in a certain direction in righteousness,
follow after him and sustain him. If he is not doing right and walking
in the path of his duty, let your faith be of that strength [p.66]
that will cause him to be removed, and a man placed there that will do
right. An unfaithful President cannot stand in his place long, if the
people will do right. May God bless us, and help us to do our duty,
live our holy religion, and build up his kingdom, is my prayer, in the
name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

George A. Smith, March 10, 1861

Prosperity of Zion, &c.

Discourse delivered by Elder George A. Smith, in the Tabernacle,
 Great Salt Lake City, March 10, 1861.

Reported By J. V. Long

Vol. 9, p.66
I arise before you, brethren, on the present occasion, with a heart
full of gratitude to our Heavenly Father for his manifold blessings
unto us, for our preservation and the light of his countenance that
has shone upon us to enable us to understand so much of truth as has
been taught unto us, or at least so much as we have been capacitated
to receive; that while the storms lour upon the earth, which the Lord
is about to sweep with the besom of destruction, we are enabled to
stand in the chambers of the mountains while the indignation of the
Almighty upon the wicked passes over. From the time that we entered
this valley to the present moment, I have never contemplated our
position without feeling to shout Hosannah for the place that the Lord
had preserved for his Saints, for the natural fortresses that he had
constructed, and for the principles that he had revealed to enable us
to develop and to bring from the earth the necessaries of life, and
more abundantly for the privilege of participating in the enjoyment of
the principles and blessings of our holy religion, uninterrupted by
those who are without.

Vol. 9, p.66
Our toilsome journey across the Plains, the difficulties we had to
encounter in making a settlement, were such as are unparalleled in the
history of mankind, rendered so by the necessity of conveying our
provisions over a desert for upwards of a thousand miles. You may
search the history of the whole habitable globe in vain to find a
parallel. We were guided by the hand of the Lord from the beginning of
this great work. This people commenced to radiate forth from this
place, cities began to rise up, Branches were organized, new towns
sprang up into being, new valleys have been and still are being
discovered, and other advantages gained up to the present moment, with
a corresponding ratio of increase which is truly astonishing.

Vol. 9, p.67
[p.67] The winter after the pioneers arrived here, in 1847, a
committee was appointed to examine this valley and to ascertain how
much land could be irrigated. After a careful examination, they
reported eight hundred acres was all that could be cultivated, for
want of water; and the result is, as many thousands are now
cultivated. You might inquire into the condition of other valleys, and
you would be invariably told that the whole country was a barren
desert. This was the case with Spanish Fork and various other places
that are now the most fertile. The Lord has opened our eyes, that we
can see and understand the nature of the facilities that surround us,
that we can produce the finest of grain, and make ourselves happy.

Vol. 9, p.67
In the earliest days of the Church the Elders were sent forth with a
report that those who were in the Eastern lands should flee to the
West, and we continued to flee from the Eastern lands towards the
mountains, and we have continued to do so; and at the present time we,
above all other people upon the face of the earth, have cause to
rejoice. While turmoil, discontent, and bloodshed are increasing upon
the earth, we are at peace. We present the spectacle of a people
inhabiting a country flourishing as a reward for our industry.

Vol. 9, p.67
The principles of the everlasting Gospel being established in the
minds of the people, and the people being united, there is no power in
existence that is able to interfere with or mar the community.

Vol. 9, p.67
It has been my privilege for the last six weeks to spend my time in
travelling and preaching in the southern settlements, in company with
Elder Joseph A. Young. Now, I remember the time when all the Salute in
Kirtland could have assembled in one of those little school-houses
that I have been preaching in of late, and they would not have been
crowded either.

Vol. 9, p.67
During our absence we have travelled eight hundred and fifty miles,
that is, going south and north, visiting all the settlements south of
Sanpete. We have attended some forty-three meetings. To accomplish
this; we had to make long days, travelling eighteen hours in a day, in
consequence of deep snow; and we have tasted of the variety of
temperature with which the Lord has blessed Utah, from the frigid to
the torrid zone.

Vol. 9, p.67
On our return up the Rim of the Basin, from the settlements of the Rio
Virgin and Santa Clara, we appreciated the change more than we did in
going down. The brethren are in good spirits, with few exceptions.
There were a few places where we had to stay and settle some
difficulties. They expressed a willingness to do right, and they were
very glad to see us; and, although in midwinter, they would crowd
together; and, in fact, they appeared to enjoy our visit more than if
they had known we were coming.

Vol. 9, p.67
It is generally understood that all nations are desirous of getting
under their control both a northern and a southern climate. This is
desirable in all nations. We found that the brethren in Washington
county had again raised, last year, a good quality of cotton, which
would be highly creditable in any other country. We have also soil and
climate that will produce tobacco as fine as is grown in Virginia: it
only needs to be cultivated.

Vol. 9, p.67
Now, were we to take a man from the broil prairies of Missouri or
Illinois and show him the narrow flats of the Rio Virgin, he would be
apt to describe it as a certain member of Congress described the
Louisiana purchase made by Mr. Jefferson. He [p.68] said, that it was
not a belt nor a garter, but simply a mere strip—a mere string west of
the Mississippi river. That shows how little a Congressman in Mr.
Jefferson's time knew of the valley of the Mississippi. Such is the
feeling in relation to the limited extent of arable land in the
southern part of our Territory. The field of operation for the
production of a supply of cotton is within our reach.

Vol. 9, p.68
Many of us choose to use tobacco, and we could save $60,000 from going
out, of the Territory every year, if we would raise these articles
within ourselves.

Vol. 9, p.68
I am well known as one who is in favour of letting this article of
tobacco alone, It is said that many suffered more from the want of it
than they did for bread in the time of famine. If we must have it, I
am in favour of laying plans to produce it within ourselves, seeing
that the Lord has given us the climate.

Vol. 9, p.68
Now the production of cotton in Washington county is no longer a
matter of uncertainty. It can be produced; and as men enter into the
business they will gradually learn how to manage it. Experience shows
that as we plant the seed, year after year, it becomes naturalized to
the climate, and we raise a better article and more of it every year.
This may also be said of grain in this Territory, wheat and corn in
particular.

Vol. 9, p.68
Many settlements have arisen within the last few years that are now in
a flourishing condition. I visited one, Deseret City, on the Sevier,
where they are raising an abundance of wheat and other grain. We
organized a Branch of one hundred and twelve members, and a good
feeling appears to exist there. The soil is of the best quality, and
there is a prospect of its being one of the granaries of the
mountains. There is a spirit of waking up among the people, at the
present time, to their own interests and welfare in regard to home
productions. During the last two or three years, while there has been
such a vast influx of merchandise, the goods in market being easily
obtained, that has had a tendency to cause the people to neglect home
productions; and they have exerted their ingenuity to procure means to
buy what they needed, instead of producing it. This feeling is now
dying away to some extent, and we find the people busily at work to
produce those things which they need for their own use, and they do
not feel to depend any longer upon a foreign market.

Vol. 9, p.68
Brethren and sisters, the work that is before us requires our
undivided exertions and our best economy and industry. And when we
undertake to do a work, we should do it with an eye single to the
glory of God and a determined zeal to do his will—to live in
accordance with his ordinances.

Vol. 9, p.68
In taking up the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and looking at the
commandments and promises given through Joseph Smith, I am led to
rejoice. With some there has evidently been a doubt of their
fulfilment; and the idea that there was a possibility of the Saints,
ever going to live in Jackson county!—why, say some, it is full of
Missourians, many of them possessing the most hostile feelings, which
they have nourished for years past. The driving of the Saints from
their homes by the people of Missouri and the great prosperity that
has attended this people have excited a kind of apprehension that, at
some time or other, the "Mormons" would take a notion to go back to
root them out of their homes. Fear occasionally takes hold of them,
but still there is that same deadly, hatred among them towards us
which they possessed; and in  consequence of that, many have
considered that it would be [p.69] impossible for the Saints ever to
go back to that land and inherit it, and build the temple that has
been promised and commanded to be built. Notwithstanding the
revelations that had been given to build a temple, the brethren were
prevented from fulfilling it, in consequence of the opposition of
their enemies, or foolishness, or carelessness in the breasts of many
who were called to act with the Prophet Joseph, when the Saints were
driven. When the Saints were driven from the United States, we could
not see why; but those who have any light in them can see now. If we
were in Missouri; we should be obliged to take sides in the present
lamentable strife of brother against brother. If we were there, we
should be in constant trouble. The present state of anarchy should
show us that it is impossible to settle their difficulty peaceably.
They may strive to divide and make an amicable division, but it will
end in the most awful bloodshed. It is impossible to avoid it. Their
determined will and their haired to each other are such that they
cannot be reconciled. The hatred with which they hated us has turned
upon each other, and it will continue upon them in such a manner that
they cannot avoid it. And by-and-by it will be like it was with the
Jaredites and the Nephites. When they became divided, they were
determined to exterminate each other: they resolved on the
extermination of one party or the other, and it ended in the
extermination of both. You look in the Book of Ether, in the Book of
Mormon, and you will find it. After they had slain two millions of
people, the king of one of the contending parties tried his very best
to procure peace and cease the shedding of blood. Coriantumr offered
Shiz, if he would give peace to the people, he would give his kingdom
to him; but Shiz would not consent to peace, unless Coriantumr would
come and be slain by the hand and sword of Shiz. Then the people were
again stirred up to battle, and fought until all were slain, except
him whom the Prophet of God had said should not die by the sword. From
the spirit that is now manifest, it is not impossible for like scenes
to be again enacted upon this continent. It is just as easy, I
contend, for the Lord to cause the Saints to return and build the
Temple in Jackson County as it was for the Lord to bring us into this
wilderness, or to frustrate the powers of our enemies, here in this
Territory, as most you have seen. When this people shall have learned
to do the will of our Heavenly Father, and to be united in all things,
then will be brought about the prediction that the wicked shall slay
the wicked. The time is not far distant when the distressed of all
nations will come from the east and from the west, from the north and
from the south, and claim protection from the Saints of the Most High
God.

Vol. 9, p.69
It is high time for the Saints to be awake and on hand to perform
their duties, and live up to their calling as Saints of God, doing all
things required at their hands, that the light of truth may constantly
shine in our minds. The only thing that we have to fear is that the
Saints do not realize the importance of their position, and that they
will not be awake to the duties that devolve upon them.

Vol. 9, p.69
The time is nigh at hand when thousands and tens of thousands of our
enemies and their children will come to crave protection of this
people. There are many persons who have read the revelations of Joseph
Smith that have had misgivings in relation to them, and they have
feared that they were true; but they did not feel quite willing to
believe that [p.70] they would be literally fulfilled; or, if they
did, they dared not confess it. Any persons that have looked at the
accounts published in our papers can See how rapidly and how easily
the Lord can accomplish his work. He does not wish us to go and slay
our enemies, but he wants us to be upon the watchtower. He wants us to
build towers, temples, houses, and everything that will make us
comfortable; also to plant vineyards and oliveyards, and to watch over
them. But when it comes to the wicked slaying the wicked, he has thus
far caused the wicked to slay the wicked. The Saints have been and
doubtless always will be spared this trouble, but they will have to
face dangers—in many instances to lay down their lives for the
Gospel's sake; and to such the Lord will give crowns of glory and
endless life, even to all those that live according to the principles
of eternal life. But we need not expect crowns of glory in this life.
The blessings of light and life that are in the midst of the Saints
are only to be had by living for them—by living our religion. There
are hundreds and thousands that are willing to fight for their
religion. The things that are required are for us to live our
religion, walk in accordance with the principles of honesty and
justice, that the light of the Holy Spirit may continually shine upon
us, and that our religion shall be the uppermost thing in our minds
all the day long.

Vol. 9, p.70
We frequently suffer ourselves to be bound by earthly considerations,
so that we neglect our duties and attend to some small matters, and we
thereby become careless and indifferent. But of this we should be very
careful.

Vol. 9, p.70
When I first settled at Parewan, in the county of Iron, the nearest
settlement to it was Payson; and I believe there were only some three
or four families in Payson. There were also a few in Sanpete. The fall
after, the location was made at Cedar City. From that day to the
present there has been a continual increase and extension of our
settlements in that direction; and although it appears to be a great
distance from here, settlements are rising up so fast that a man can	
stop at a settlement every night.

Vol. 9, p.70
In 1858 I was told at Toquerville that it was impossible to make a
road to the valleys up the Rio Virgin, and they were calculating that
they would have to carry their seed-grain and ploughs over the
mountains upon pack animals. I told them that in a few years I would
ride over in a carriage. Brother Joseph A. Young and myself visited
the two settlements there, and passed over the ground I am speaking,
of, with four animals to our carriage, and brother Joseph remarked
that this road, which is very steep and crooked, was so crooked that
it was difficult to see the lead animals. The pass has the name of
Johnson's Twist.

Vol. 9, p.70
The people are raising cotton and grain; they are cultivating the
earth and are enjoying excellent health, and the water is of good
quality. These two places (Pocketville and Grafton) are certainly in a
flourishing condition.

Vol. 9, p.70
We also visited the settlement at Minersville, Beaver county. It is
composed of some twenty families. They are engaged in digging for
lead, and they are trying to bring it into use. Evidence exists that a
supply may be had from that quarter.

Vol. 9, p.70
We organized a few families that live on Corn Creek into a Branch of
the Church. We also found a small company of men on Cove Creek, who
are commencing to make a settlement there. Those two seetlements
obviate the necessity of camping  out at nights between Fillmore and
Beaver, and the settlements in Round [p.71] Valley and at Chicken
Creek prevent the necessity of camping out between the cities of Nephi
and Fillmore. This will be a great convenience to travellers.

Vol. 9, p.71
Our country is a very extraordinary one, indeed; and if the Lord
should see fit to send rain to prevent or do away with the necessity
of irrigation, it is capable of sustaining a dense population; but as
it is, the people are obliged to live in cities located above the
fields, in order to secure to themselves pure water, and then go out
and farm a patch of land with much labour and toil in the shape of
ploughing, digging, irrigating, and weeding; and must so continue
until the springs are made to rise up in the deserts, or the vapours
descend from the clouds to aid in the better cultivation of the soil.

Vol. 9, p.71
When I was at Washington, in the year 1856, I was asked by Senator
Douglas if I did not think that, if skilful farmers were out in Utah,
the land might not be made to produce abundantly without irrigation.
That showed me how ignorant Congressmen were at Washington in regard
to this country. When the Lord sees proper to break down the barriers
that exist and cause the rain to descend upon the land, he can do it;
but until then, he has very wisely provided that we shall take the
streams in the mountains to irrigate the soil. If the mountains were
covered with beautiful timber, and plenty of grain could be raised
without irrigation, there is no doubt but our enemies would overrun
us, or at least make us a great deal of trouble; but as it is, we
inherit the chambers of the mountains: the reeks are our protection,
and the oases of the desert our homes. Here we learn the arts of
cultivation and of building; we learn to irrigate the land; we also,
in many respects, prepare ourselves for a day when we shall go to the
place that has been appointed for the building up of the city of Zion
and for the building of the house which shall be a great and glorious
temple, on which the glory of the Lord shall rest—a temple that will
excel all others in magnificence that have ever been built upon the
earth. Who is there that is prepared for this movement back to the
centres take of Zion, and where the architects amongst us that are
qualified to erect this temple and the city that will surround it? We
have to learn a great many things, in my opinion, before we are
prepared to return to that holy land; we have to learn to practise the
principles that we have been taught; we have to study to fill up every
hour of our time in industrial pursuits and the acquisition of
knowledge, and by economy and patience prepare ourselves as good and
skilful workmen, as builders in the great building which our Father
has prepared. And let me remind you that it is predicted that this
generation shall not pass away till a temple shall be built, and the
glory of the Lord rest upon it, according to the promises.

Vol. 9, p.71
There is nothing in this country that is very prepossessing or
encouraging to strangers, and especially to those who come with a bad
spirit. When a man loses the spirit of his religion, he wants to leave
the country. In a moment he sees it is a hard country—a miserable,
barren, God-forsaken country. I have known many men come in here poor,
and even destitute of the necessaries of life, in a situation to need
help in order to enable them not merely to stay here, but to get food
sufficient to sustain life. In three or four years, these individuals
would, by industry and good luck, become measurably  wealthy; they
would become disatisfied, all at once discover that "Mormonism" was a
hoax, and [p.72] resolve to leave the country in disgust. Still they
were perfectly independent of any assistance, and they were only
leaving the country, they said, because they were so oppressed.
Notwithstanding they had risen from poverty and degradation to
comparative affluence, wealth, and independence, so that they could
leave the country, into which they were brought by the Poor Fund, with
plenty of mules, horses, waggons, carriages, cows, and many of them
with money, yet they say that such oppression they could not endure!

Vol. 9, p.72
I heard a missionary who came into this Territory by way of California
say that on his way he met some seven families. They were apostates,
of course, and each one went to work to tell him what they had
apostatized for. They gave details of the causes and the reasons they
had for apostatizing from the Church. Finally, the brother turned to
one of the company who had not been talking at all, and said to him,
What did you leave for? He replied very candidly—"I have been trying
to think, and I have come to the conclusion that I was treated too
well. When I first entered the Valley, I saw Elder Kimball, and he
gave me a house to live in, rent free. He supplied me wood to burn. He
said he would employ me. When I wanted to work, he told me to make
myself comfortable until I had rested, and then be would employ me. I
went to work, but was discontented. I went to work; but, not being
satisfied, I considered the matter over and concluded that I was
treated far too well." Now, I consider that man a pretty honest
apostate, and I rather think that he will come back again to the
Church.

Vol. 9, p.72
I have heard men say that the reason why they apostatized was because
they were not well treated. Now, I have often thought, when I have
been reflecting that this was the work of the Lord—the only means of
exaltation, that the loss of such individuals would be felt vastly
more by themselves than by anybody else. What a gratification it would
be for such persons, when they lift up their eyes in hell, being in
torment, to think that they might have been in a better place, if they
had only been well treated! What a comfort, what a consolation; what a
balm, especially to one who is lost forever! To overcome such
temptations was not an impossibility. But so far as we are concerned,
whether our brethren treat us well or not, if we keep the commandments
of God, keep ourselves in the path of rectitude, and our feet do not
slip, if we pursue a straightforward course, if our raiment is clean,
though we encounter many difficulties in getting along while in this
life, yet we may trust in the Lord our God, who will exalt the
faithful. If we set out in the work of the Lord for time and all
eternity, we set out for everlasting increase, for a salvation among
the blessed, and for an eternal exaltation. If the principles of life
are worth anything, they are worth everything that man can possibly
sacrifice or suffer to attain to the reward that is promised. I
remember, when in Kirtland, having heard Jared Carter say that he had
sacrificed everything that ever would be required of him. He said, I
have sacrificed all my property once, but I will never do it again.
Where is that man? He is numbered in the long catalogue of apostates.
If a man should sacrifice all that he has, and then say "I will do no
more," it is equal to saying I will stop serving the Lord. A man who
intends to attain to eternal glory must be constantly awake to the
discharge of his duty. He must not suffer his lust for gold, his
thirst for wealth, or his desire for  gain to fill [p.73] his heart
with covetousness, which is idolatry. We can pass over the pages of
Church history and see the incidents that have transpired during the
days of Joseph, and see the fate of every Elder who suffered lust or
love of filthy lucre to tempt him from the path of virtue. Their fate
should be a warning to all good men. We can see the career of many,
and behold their conduct and its results. Men took him by the hand,
saluted him with a kiss, called him brother, and then betrayed him;
yet I can see their career of hypocrisy, their apostacy, and their
consummate villany. I can mark out their path. They were men who did
not live their religion; they were not honest with God and their
brethren; they were hypocrites; they corrupted themselves and became
traitors to that man whom God had inspired to guide Israel. Some of
them we regarded as very smart men that had great talents. They
laboured a little while in the cause, but they were not true to
themselves; they were not true in their integrity; they were dishonest
and corrupt; and in consequence of this, they fell into darkness, and
lifted their hands for the destruction of the Saints of God, and fell
from that exaltation which they had aspired to attain to.

Vol. 9, p.73
The blessings of Providence have been over us from the commencement of
this Church; the protecting hand of the Almighty has been visible over
us all the day long: every step has bean guided in wisdom. To take a
people from amongst the nations of the earth and locate them in the
midst of these mountains was one of the greatest achievements over
natural obstacles ever accomplished upon earth. To organize a State in
the midst of a vast desert:—one that could sustain itself and bear up
against the powers that endeavoured to destroy it, was a feat
unequalled by anything recorded in the annals of history.

Vol. 9, p.73
When I was in Washington and in the library of the Capitol, I was
asked if the "Mormons" would fight. I replied that the people that
would have the energy to form a powerful State in the midst of a
desert would have energy to defend it. To take persons, of various
habits, possessing education of different kinds and degrees, men and
women speaking different languages, coming from almost every part of
the earth,—to bring them here and organize them into a peaceful and
united people, loyal to the Government and laws of our country, was
certainly no small task. Then take the Saints that were assembled at
Nauvoo, that had been driven from their possessions, hurried away from
their homes, and robbed of all they possessed, driven away with a
design on the part of their enemies that they should perish in the
wilderness,—to take this remnant that was left and bring them with the
rest to this land, that was pronounced uninhabitable,—to make it
produce the rich provisions of the earth, and to organize a powerful
State in the midst of this desert country, shows the power and wisdom
of the Almighty, manifested through the man that leads, guides, and
instructs the people. It is of such a character that the leading of
Israel through the wilderness by Moses bears no comparison. You go to
the Book of Exodus and you find the children of Israel made the most
crooked paths, whereas we find that we came straightforward through
the mountains right into the land of promise. We have straightened the
mountain passes; we have made the the rough places plain and smooth:
the mountains, as it were, are melting away at our presence. The
Prophet of the Lord  showed all this beforehand by the power of God
that was in him.

Vol. 9, p.74
After a few years in these [p.74] mountains, we hear members of
Congress waking up, as did Mr. John Thompson, of New York, in 1858,
being from the same State as the Prophet Joseph, and was probably in
that State when the Church was organized. This astonished Congressman,
having opened his eyes, said—"Mormonism is a stern, ugly fact, and it
is halfway between us and the Pacific Ocean, and it stands there with
ten thousand bayonets daring you to the contest." He had suddenly
awaked out of his slumber probably by the remarks of Mr. William W.
Boyce, of South Carolina, who said—"There are two ways of settling the
Mormon imbroglio; one is peace, and the other war: the first is the
most humane, the cheapest, and consequently the best. If we choose the
second, we make a hell of the passes in the mountains between the
Pacific and the Atlantic for the next thousand years.

Vol. 9, p.74
They were just opening their eye to behold what they had done by
driving the Saints from the United States, and refusing to allow them
to lodge Upon the banks of the Missouri. They drove them into the
wilderness, and hoped never to hear of them again.

Vol. 9, p.74
The day has passed for us to submit to be mobbed and driven about from
pillar to post by our enemies: they have now got something else to do.
The sword is now passing back and forth amongst them. I recollect,
when I was a school-boy once, the master gave two of us a stick and
set us to whip each other: the master was compelled to stop us on
account of our severity. Our enemies would not take the advice of the
Prophet; this nation refused to listen to his counsels; they would not
hearken to the word of the Lord which he proclaimed unto them; they
killed us and drove us away from our possessions; and now the Lord
will suffer them to punish each other for their sins, even as the
schoolmaster did the boys, until he gets ready to stop them.

Vol. 9, p.74
I am very much pleased with the privilege of addressing you. I feel
that I am awake to the truth, and I try to live my religion, to bear
my testimony to the work of God, and sustain the influence of my
brethren in rolling on this great and glorious work. My testimony is
as it has always been. It is the work of the Almighty, and his hand
has guided it, and will continue so to do henceforth and forever, and
no power can stay its progress, and he will guide it until it will
overcome all opposing forces. It is the little stone cut out of the
mountains without human hands, and it will roll forth and grow until
it becomes a great mountain and fills the whole earth.

Vol. 9, p.74
When the Prophet Joseph Smith was before the court of Judge Austin A.
King at Richmond, Missouri, they wanted to prove the charge of treason
against him. It was stated in evidence that he had preached from the
prophecy of Daniel, where it speaks of the great image and the little
stone, and had stated that the stone would strike the image upon the
toes and feet and break it to pieces,—that then it would become a
great mountain and fill the whole each. Judge King inquired of the
witness if Mr. Smith did not say that the little stone spoken of was
the Mormon Church. The witness answered in the affirmative. Judge
King, turning to the clerk, said, "Write that down; that is treason."
According to this decision, the doctrines taught in the Bible were
actually treason. General Doniphan replied, "By G—d, Judge, you had
better make the Bible treason, and done with it." They of course
believed that the kingdom spoken of is a figurative kingdom; but we
know that God has organized that kingdom, and it will roll forth with
[p.75] power and might until it overcomes all obstacles, and fills the
whole earth. Then it will grant shelter and protection to all who are
honest and upright, and protect them in their religious sentiments,
whatever they may be. This will bring about a reign of peace and
happiness that the world has long looked for.

Vol. 9, p.75
Men may speculate and write their squibs; they may undertake to write
this way or that; yet the Lord has commenced his work, and it will
spread itself abroad until the laws of Zion are sent forth among all
nations; for this work and this people will eventually have the
dominion, and no arm can hinder it. Every man that is fool enough to
be blinded by Satan will miss the honour, the glory, and the
exaltation that await those who shall be sanctified and be prepared to
enter in through the gates into the city, while those who adhere,
faithfully to the servants of God that are always on hand to build up
Zion, seeking first to build up the kingdom of God and to learn his
righteousness, will rise in majesty, glory, exaltation, and dominion.

Vol. 9, p.75
May this be our case, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Heber C. Kimball, June 24, 1860

Salutation By Works

Remarks by President Heber C. Kimball, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, June 24, 1860.

Reported By J. V. Long

Vol. 9, p.75
I have no desire to detain you here and weary you, for there has been
more said now than you can retain in your minds. All the items that
have been advanced by brother Young are very good. When you reflect
and take into consideration the religion of Jesus Christ, viewing it
from the beginning to the present time, you can easily see that it is
for you and I and every man upon the face of the earth to be wide
awake to our duties, to be Saints, to be righteous, virtuous, pure,
and holy men and women. It is all to be comprehended in the words of
James the Apostle. He says, "Faith without works is dead, being
alone."

Vol. 9, p.75
Now, our position is such that we are required to manifest that which
is in us by our works. The following reasoning by the Apostle James is
excellent upon this subject:—"What doth it profit, my brethren, though
a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? If a
brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you
say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled;
notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the
body; what doth it [p.76] profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works,
is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have
works. Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my
faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest
well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain
man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father
justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith
made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham
believed, God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness; and he
was called the friend of God. Ye see, then, how that by works a man is
justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the
harlot justified by works when she had received the messengers and had
sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead,
so faith without works is dead also." (James, chap. 2, verses 14-26.)

Vol. 9, p.76
Can you tell me about anything that has been accomplished without
works? It matters not how much faith you have got, except you have
works with it. We read in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants that men
can accomplish much by faith; but of course that faith must be
accompanied by works. Whenever a man of God undertakes to do anything,
he does it by the power of faith and works. Upon this principle the
Lord brings about his purposes, and there never was anything of any
moment accomplished upon any other principle. The Almighty has said
that in the latter days he will send forth his angels to inflict
punishment upon the wicked, and that a certain angel, shall blow his
trumpet, proclaiming that time shall be no more. An angel will also be
sent forth to destroy the wicked, or, as the Scriptures say, to reap
down the earth."

Vol. 9, p.76
There is virtue in the words of a man of God; and when he rises to
address the people, he tells them his message plainly, commands them
to repent of their sins and to be baptized for the remission of them;
after which he promises them the gift of the Holy Ghost. Then, when
persons are received into the Church, they begin their lives anew, as
though they had never sinned, and thus go on unto perfection.

Vol. 9, p.76
We are told to work out our salvation by our faith, and with fear and
trembling. And cannot you readily see that works are required at the
beginning of our career, and from that time to the end of our lives?
Where is there a man in the world that ever raised a crop of grain
without works? If a man wishes to raise a crop of wheat, he first
ploughs the ground, then he drags it; he next sows the wheat; and when
the dry season comes on in this country, he irrigates it; when it is
ripe he reaps it, hauls it home, stacks it; and when he gets ready,
thrashes it, takes it to the fanning mill, from there to the grist
mill, where it passes through the smutter; it is then ground, bolted,
and taken home ready for use. And every process that the wheat passes
through is controlled by works. And it is so with us: we are required
to perform works of righteousness all the day long.

Vol. 9, p.76
Brethren, you are required to be very diligent and cautious; and, as
brother Joseph said, Be careful not to put in anything that will sour
and destroy the good that you do. Take good care of all the good you
get; increase in faith and in good works; for, as James says, "Faith
without works is dead, being alone."

Vol. 9, p.76
Then go on with your works of righteousness; be diligent and [p.75]
faithful in all things committed to your charge. Let the Elders be at
their posts, and be ready to administer in the ordinances of the house
of God whenever duty requires it of them. If the Elders will be
faithful, the power of God will attend them in their administrations;
but if the people to whom they administer have not repented, they will
not receive the remission of their sins, nor the gift of the Holy
Ghost; for that Spirit will not dwell with that person who does not
honour his calling, and who is not sincere and truly penitent before
the Almighty. You may go to meeting and sit from one day's end to
another, and it will not profit you anything, if you do not perform
the works of righteousness required by the law of heaven.

Vol. 9, p.77
I can live my religion, whether at home or abroad, whether I sit here,
preach to the people, or do anything else that pertains to my calling
and position. If it is necessary for me to preach, I rejoice in doing
it, or in the performance of any other duty. If I do not confess, I
shall be condemned.

Vol. 9, p.77
I have noticed that there are not many of those "counter-jumpers" come
to meeting: the saloon keepers are not much better. It is hard times
with them; there is not much money stirring now; the business is
almost done on credit now-a-days. What do you think I think of old
grey-headed men who sell whisky all the week, and then come to meeting
on Sunday? I do not fellowship such men, be they young or old; I
disfellowship them all. I cannot fellowship the old men who have loved
it from their youth, and then go and give it to young men, and lead
them to destroy their bodies and defile the earth. It is drunkenness
that leads to whoredom and abominations of every kind, and brother
John Alger,  senior, who sits before me, knows it as well as I do. He
knew me when I was a mere boy, and there was not a drunkard in all
that district of country; but now they are nearly all drunkards in
that part of the State; yes, men and women are leading each other to
destruction. Then who can have any feelings against me for talking
against these things?

Vol. 9, p.77
I wish now to speak of works. Let us consider those principles and
ordinances that lead to life. The doctrines we teach are good and
wholesome, and every man and woman that will observe them will be
saved; they will be at peace at home and abroad. Do you think it will
inspire a man who is already honest to become a Latter-day Saint? No;
I am just the same in that respect now as I was before I embraced the
Gospel. I was honest then, and I am honest now, and brother Alger
knows it. The man that will be dishonest with what we call Gentiles
will rob me, if I give him an opportunity. You should be as honest
with those comers and goers as you are with me. God has never given
you the right to be dishonest. There are too many such characters in
our midst. Sometimes I am sorry, sometimes I am glad, and sometimes I
am ashamed of what I see and hear. How long will such things continue?
Not many years, I can tell you. Our Father will sweep them from the
land, and that man who is honest, although he does not profess
religion at all, will be saved; but those who profess and do not
possess the spirit of their profession, and who do not live up to
their privileges, will be east out. None can stand or endure the
trying day, except those who are active and diligent in the discharge
of their duties.

Vol. 9, p.77
There are some people who think I am very hard, and occasionally
pretty rough in my sayings; but I can tell you that I am not as severe
as I ought [p.78] to be, considering the persons and cases I have got
to deal with. When I see people taking a course to lead them to
destruction, I feel anxious to save them from falling. I know that I
am a poor frail mortal, liable to err; but I know better than to cheat
or rob a neighbour, and so does every man that has been baptized into
this Church; but men give way to temptation. If men steal, they know
they are doing wrong and sinning against God.

Vol. 9, p.78
In regard to trials that brother Joseph was speaking of, I consider
that I never had any that affected me; and if anybody ever rejoiced in
tribulation, I did when I had to break up and go and make a new home.
When the proper time comes, we shall all have the privilege of
attending to the ordinance necessary for the salvation of our dead. My
brothers and sisters and all my relatives almost died before the
Gospel was revealed; and when we get a Temple built, I will go forth
and be baptized for them, and bring them to enjoy that which is their
right. At present I have to say to you, brethren and sisters, Live the
life of the righteous, do that which is required for the benefit of
the living, and the day will come when you can go through the
ordinances of the house of God for the dead.

Vol. 9, p.78
I am free to acknowledge that a great majority of this people are
improving, and I am sorry to say that a few of them are retrograding.
Some have become contaminated by associating with this army. They are
responsible for this themselves, for God never suffered an army to
come here to corrupt the people, but to try them—to prove them in this
as well as in other things. It is true the army has been a curse to
many, more so than any previous influence with which they have come in
contact. We have to be tried, and this has been suffered, to see what
we would do. Many who have come here, would, if they had an
opportunity, debauch our families—seduce our wives and daughters.
There are some honourable exceptions to this, and those who would not
do it here would not do it at home.

Vol. 9, p.78
There are many enemies of ours that look upon us as the outcasts of
all creation, because of our religion. I expect to see the day when
they will have to come and be our servants, and they cannot avoid
this.

Vol. 9, p.78
This is the Church and kingdom of God, and the religion we have
embraced is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it will ere long prevail
over the whole world, and the wicked cannot prevent it. Do you think
they believe it? Yes, the Congress of the United States have more
trouble about us than they have about the whole world besides.

Vol. 9, p.78
This is a day of judgment; hurricanes are passing over the land and
terrifying the inhabitants of the earth; and this is not the end. Many
persons who profess to know have been predicting that in the year 1861
more events of a marvellous character would take place than in any
previous year; but whether this is the case or not, I know that the
judgments of God will pass over the earth.

Vol. 9, p.78
In conclusion, I feel to bless this land, these valleys, mountains,
waters, also our herds and flocks; I feel to bless all the righteous,
and predict judgments upon the wicked. Let the Elders who meet to pray
after the holy order of the Priesthood ask the Father to hasten the
consummation of his work; that the Saints may inherit the earth.

Vol. 9, p.78
God bless you all forever! Amen. [p.79]

Daniel H. Wells, September 16, 1860

Building Up the Kingdom of God, &c.

Discourse by President Daniel H. Wells made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, September 16th, 1860.

Reported By J. V. Long

Vol. 9, p.79
I feel to rejoice this day in what I have heard. The kingdom of God is
independent, and so are the servants of God. They should act so
always, and not be afraid to tell the truth.

Vol. 9, p.79
I rejoice particularly in the overturn of affairs suggested by our
President this morning in regard to assisting the Elders from this end
of the route.

Vol. 9, p.79
This is a good day for Israel—the very best day they have ever seen.
They are prospered; they are becoming wealthy in the good things of
life; they are comfortable, and they have peace in all their borders.
They go forth upon the right hand and upon the left, and they are
building up the kingdom of God. They did more yesterday than the day
before, and they are continuing to do so every day, and thus the
kingdom is increasing.

Vol. 9, p.79
How fully we should realize (and perhaps many of us do partially
realize) the greatness of the work in which we are engaged—the
magnitude of the work of this last dispensation. What else should
occupy our attention equal to it? There are scarcely any, be they rich
or poor, but what have these feelings, and they have come here in
consequence of them, and some few may have come for other motives. But
I take it for granted that those who come here do so because their
hearts have been touched with the light of truth.

Vol. 9, p.79
This is the beauty of the revelations and principles that have been
revealed in these last days. They that have embraced them desire to
build up and exalt righteousness upon the earth, and to walk
wickedness and every species of abomination under their feet; and for
this cause have they assembled themselves together in these valleys of
the mountains. There is less of wickedness and of those who desire
unrighteousness and to roll it as a sweet morsel under their tongues:
their desire is to exalt the principles of truth with which they have
fallen in love. They have crossed the great seas and plains, and many
of them have striven for years to come to these mountains to associate
with those that have pursued the same course, stimulated by the same
influence. We have great reason to rejoice that there is a nucleus
formed here that we can gather to. It should be the feeling of every
heart, not to build up ourselves, but to build up the kingdom of our
God. How is this to be accomplished? We are to be united as the heart
of one man. We have difficulties to contend with, as the people of God
always had. We need food and clothing, but we do not need the
wickedness which other people revel in, or the wastefulness with which
others trample under their feet the good things bestowed upon them by
our Heavenly Father; but we require that wisdom that will enable us to
live and accomplish the most good, in the best way, in the work in
which we are engaged. It is our business to provide for ourselves
[p.80] and our households those things that are necessary to make them
comfortable. It is our duty to teach them how to pray, and how to
practise economy, and do all things for the building up of the kingdom
of God. How shall we use the bounties of nature so as to build up this
kingdom? We must go to work with spirit and energy to do those things
that are necessary for our existence, and to give us greater ability
for the rolling forth of the work of the Lord. Let virtue and truth
control us in all things. Are we not living in an age of revelation?
Do we not have revelation day by day, week by week, and month by
month, pertaining to our salvation? Suppose that one of you were
living in some dark corner of the earth, and the light of revelation
and truth should reach and penetrate your understanding, and leave a
testimony in your bosom higher in value and more to be coveted than
gold; would it not be more appreciated than it is now?

Vol. 9, p.80
If we cultivate the Spirit and influence that was spoken of to-day,
and if we notice and observe its operations, it will be like the voice
of the true shepherd speaking unto us. If we clothe ourselves with
that Spirit, we shall be blest with its guidance and inspirations from
time to time; we shall have line upon line and precept upon precept.
If this influence and Spirit were to control us continually, we should
see, feel, and appreciate it; we should know that it was from
heaven—the voice of the Almighty unto us. I have heard many say that
they required not "Thus saith the Lord," because they knew the words
of the servants of God to be true, by the Spirit and influence that
accompanied them. This satisfies any one who has the light of truth
within him. And this is what we all, can have: we can all attain to
it, if, we have this Spirit. When this is our guide, we know what is
the true voice from heaven: we can then tell when anything emanates
from the right source, and we can see the beauty there is therein, and
the propriety of following out the dictates of wisdom and the
instructions which we receive from day to day. We should strive to
appreciate and understand the things we hear, and then go and practise
upon them. We should love the truth for the truth's sake, as we were
told this morning, and do all that lies in our power for the
advancement of the cause of truth. We should labour for the attainment
of this object with perseverance and energy, and work humbly and
diligently, that hundreds and thousands more may be brought to an
understanding of the same glorious principles that we now rejoice in.
We should also strive to learn more of everything that is necessary
for our benefit, and that we may be useful in the kingdom in which we
are engaged; and thereby we shall learn to be diligent in the work of
the Lord.

Vol. 9, p.80
Have we any need to see any idle times in our experience in this
Church and kingdom? I have not found any peace in my experience where
I could be idle for one moment; and if I have not had my mind and
hands employed, I have always felt that I was idle and unprofitable.
And I will here remark that I think, if we are willing, we have plenty
to do; and I think it would be so with all, if they had the right
spirit.

Vol. 9, p.80
Let us all strive to be in the way of our duty, and ready to jump into
any piece and work. No matter what is to be accomplished, do it with
an eye single to the glory of God and the advancement of his kingdom.
My soul delights in seeing any measure adopted, which has a tendency
to roll on the great work of the Lord. I rejoice that the metres of
the  Church are now going to be [p.81] husbanded and kept for the
gathering of the Saints, instead of being expended for fine clothing
and other unnecessary articles, which is almost equal to squandering
the money away. I know the feelings of President Young upon this
subject, and have for years. He has been borne down under this for
some time, and all Israel ought to rejoice in this movement; for it is
lifting a great burden from the people abroad as well as from the
Presidency; and I consider that the Saints in these valleys ought to
be thankful for the opportunity of doing something for the spread of
the Gospel. Have you not seen many precious opportunities for doing
good, and neglected them, and afterward regretted that you have let
them pass? If you have, remember now, and consider that you will
regret more if you let the present redeeming chance pass without doing
something to aid in sending forth the Gospel to the nations of the
earth. I would likewise advise you to make your deposits towards
gathering the poor. Remember that it is one of the chief duties of the
Saints to gather Israel, in building up the kingdom of God; and
everything we do should conspire to this end.

Vol. 9, p.81
It is for this purpose that we gather together, and that we may have
greater power and put our means together to accomplish it in a greater
degree, and that we may see how we can best operate to bring forth
more fully the kingdom of God and the gathering of Israel.

Vol. 9, p.81
I am told that in the old country they have a saving fund, into which
they east their spare pence for the gathering of the poor Saints. They
pray and watch; they also fast, believing that their deliverance will
come, if they are faithful in putting by a little every week for the
purpose of bringing the poor to Zion. You that have been there and
passed through the ordeal know about this better than I do. I
understand how anxious they feel to gather with the Saints to these
mountain fastnesses, and I will ask how you feel, who have left
brothers and sisters in those lands. Do you not think that they feel
to long for the hour to come when they can have the blessings which
you enjoy in these valleys of the mountains? Do they not long to
contribute to the building up of the kingdom of God.

Vol. 9, p.81
It is a duty incumbent upon this generation of the Saint's of God to
impart freely of their substance for the gathering of scattered
Israel, and also to aid in dispensing the words of life to all
nations, that those who sit in darkness may have an opportunity of
embracing the Gospel of salvation that has been revealed in this
dispensation. This Gospel must be proclaimed to every creature, that
they may receive it, if they see proper; and if they do not, they will
be under condemnation. This is an obligation resting upon the Saints
of God. Who are there that would not be glad to gather their friends
together and encircle them around them—I mean those whom they know to
be as honest as themselves? They would certainly like to have their
relatives participate in the same blessings that they themselves
enjoy. We all wish our friends to have the privilege of exercising
their own agency in regard to the Gospel, as well as in any other
matter. I suppose there are none but that have these feelings for
their friends and acquaintances.

Vol. 9, p.81
We are here living in the midst of the Saints, participating in all
the blessings of the kingdom of God. And suppose we do not have all
the luxuries we desire, what of that? How often do the Saints abroad
go without a meal's victuals for the sake of saving something for the
Mission and for the spread of truth? I have [p.82] heard the Elders
say when they were gathering money to assist the brethren to go to
India, that many of the poor would go to meeting without anything to
eat for the sake of contributing something to help forward the work of
the Lord. Who is there here that has done without a meal of victuals
for the sake of the Gospel? Let us think of these things, brethren and
sisters, and do all we can for this or any other enterprise that may
be suggested by our President. Let us see how ready we can be to man
the ship Zion, and to push on any enterprise that he has set on foot;
and in this way we can test ourselves and see if we are as ready as we
were in the first place to assist in the work of the Lord, and to
yield of the things of, the world and everything else for the cause's
sake.

Vol. 9, p.82
Economy and prudence in our deal and management is a thing touched
upon by brother Kimball this afternoon. Now, you all know that
speculation is rife in our midst. What do speculators care about our
principles? Nothing whatever. They run here to line their pockets with
the golden god in the mountains. Yes, they come one after another to
offer their worship at the shrine of the golden god. If this is not
idolatry, I would like to see it, and to know where it is. Where does
this idolatrous worship prevail so much as it does in the Christian
world? Among the nations it seems to be the object of both merchants
and ministers to get the people's money.

Vol. 9, p.82
When I have heard that some of the Elders of this Church made it their
special object to get people's money, and that their preaching has
been MONEY, MONEY, money, every day of their ministry, I have been
grieved in my spirit; and then they would come upon this stand, when
they returned, and misrepresent their labours. I have been ashamed of
their conduct. Then, again, I have heard the Elders tell that they had
to gather money for such and such a fund, and that half their
preaching was about money. I have felt anxious to see some change.
This movement, then, I hail as a great blessing; to the British
Saints. What a blessing it will be when they are relieved from this
great burden! I rejoice in it, and I trust we shall all feel united in
responding to the call.

Vol. 9, p.82
I will also call your attention to something else in addition to the
Missionary Fund. Let us do something towards emigrating the poor
Saints at this end of the route. I feel interested in it. We have had
a great many come to us to know how they could manage to get their
friends from the old country. Many of them are out of employment, and
they do not know how to get out of bondage. The friends of such
persons come to us and want us to help them; but what have we to
assist them with? Who of you have paid your Tithing for the last two
years? (President Young: "They do not know what it means.") You have
almost forgotten the meaning of the word: this is through
carelessness. Let us rub up a little, and see if we cannot learn what
tithing means. Will you rob the Lord of tithes and of offerings?

Vol. 9, p.82
These are not my words, but they are in the Bible. The Prophet said to
the Jews—"Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say,
Wherein have we robbed thee? In In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed
with a curse; for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye
all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine
house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will
not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a  blessing, that
there shall not be room enough [p.83] to receive it. And I will rebuke
the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of
your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in
the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you
blessed; for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts."
(Malachi, chap. 3, verses 8 and 12.)

Vol. 9, p.83
Let us apply these things to ourselves, ponder over them, and seek to
do better, and live better every day, and strive to increase in our
ability to do good.

Vol. 9, p.83
I have striven diligently to do what I could for this kingdom, and I
find that the more I do the more ability the Almighty gives me. I hope
ever to be free with what means I have, and the Lord knows that I
cherish nothing in this world in comparison with the success and
prosperity of this kingdom. When I joined the Church, I joined with
all I could control, and I rejoice in the continuation of this feeling
within me. Let us all live and feel that it is a duty and privilege
for every one of us to be upon the altar, and to do all we can to
promote the interests of the kingdom of God upon the earth. In that
our interests are combined and circumscribed. If we wish to appeal to
a selfish motive, we shall find that motive fully satisfied in
pursuing that course in which I have endeavoured to direct your minds.
The best investments and bargains that you can make and the best thing
you can do for yourselves here while in time and for eternity is to
let the kingdom absorb all your interests and all that pertains to
you. It is the best bargain that any son and daughter of Adam can
make, to consecrate their time, their talents, and all that they
possess to the advancement of the cause of our Redeemer; for by it we
shall obtain all that is good for us here and all we desire in the
future. Through that channel we shall attain eternal riches, and
through that channel we shall preserve our identity before our Father
and God, and insure our salvation in his kingdom.

Vol. 9, p.83
Let us be obedient and humble, and listen to the whisperings of the
Spirit of God. There are not many people in the world but who hear the
whisperings of the Spirit at times, and you Latter-day Saints have a
claim upon it constantly, if faithful. I have remembered the
whisperings of the Spirit to me for years after they were given, and
they have come to my mind at times and seasons when they have been
very acceptable. I know that it came to me by the power of the Spirit
with regard to the truth of this work.

Vol. 9, p.83
I can bear the same kind of testimony as brother Pratt, who addressed
you this morning, although he has been an Apostle for many years, and
was one before I was baptized. This causes me to rejoice, because we
have all the privilege of receiving a testimony for ourselves.

Vol. 9, p.83
"This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ: go and be baptized for the
remission of	your sins," was the whispering of the Spirit to me. I
soon went forward and and embraced it, and I have been thankful ever
since that I followed the dictates of the Holy Spirit. It is true I
did not think as much of it at that time as I have done since, but I
know it was the whispering of the Spirit of the Lord to me.

Vol. 9, p.83
Many times when I heard President Joseph Smith teaching the people the
principles of the Gospel, I have had this same influence whispering to
me that what he said was true, and I often desired in my heart that
the time might come when I could go forth and be baptized and dwell
with this people; and the Lord has answered my prayer. I feel [p.84]
thankful to him, and I rejoice exceedingly in the work in which I am
engaged.

Vol. 9, p.84
These are good days and glorious times in which we live, and I feel to
thank God and give praise to his holy name for the blessings poured
out upon me—blessings and honours unexpected and unsought for by me. I
can truly say, in this connection, that I feel grateful for the
blessings I enjoy and the position I occupy; and I know of no other
way to do the will of my Heavenly Father than to do as I am told by my
file-leaders. I will throw myself before this people as an example. I
have been prospered in all things I have undertaken and the Lord knows
that I have never sought these temporal blessings; but I have been
prospered, notwithstanding, in all things that I have put my hands to
in this kingdom. But I have sought his wisdom that I might be useful,
and I have tried to be so. This has been the predominating desire of
my heart all the day long, and these blessings have come through
having that desire, as a reward from the Almighty.

Vol. 9, p.84
I rejoice as much as any man can rejoice, with the same degree of
knowledge, in the privilege of laying a good foundation for time and
for eternity. I know that my brethren have blessed me and prayed for
me, and so have the Saints generally, weak and unworthy as I feel. I
feel to bow down and weep before the Lord because of my poor ability.
I have often felt that I have been required to do things that I
thought I had no ability to perform; but my motto has been—"O Lord,
assist me to do this." And my desire has been to see and know and
carry out his good will and pleasure. I err a great many times, I
doubt not, and wound brother Brigham's feelings; but my desire is to
do whatever he desires me to do.

Vol. 9, p.84
I do not think of talking upon this subject, but I felt led in this
peculiar strain, or I should not have pursued it. While I have been
standing before you, I have been led to advance these ideas; and
perhaps it is well for me to say a few words more, and express a few
sentiments in regard to how I came in possession of these blessings.

Vol. 9, p.84
I never look for pay for anything I do, and I do not care anything
about it; but when I have heard the Elders preach about the future
reward and enjoyment, I have said that I did not know, neither did I
care anything about it; for I have always believed that the Lord would
give me all and more than I could desire or receive. I have no trouble
or doubt about the reward. I know that I shall not go short, neither
will you or any man who will strive to do the will of his Heavenly
Father. It is the duty of all of us to take the right course, to do
right in all things. It is the only principle by which any man can
stand in this Church. Let the people impugn a man's motives as much as
they please; if he pursues a righteous course, it will bring him out
right at last. People may try to injure others as they please, but
that son and that daughter that takes the right course, and do not do
anything to grieve the Spirit of the Almighty, will come out right in
the end, if they will be faithful. Although dark clouds may be louring
around at times, let the Saints look up, and let them get a character
with their God. Remember that you are citizens in the kingdom of God.
Citizenship in the United States is highly prized by some, and rightly
too; but what is it to be a citizen born in the world, to that of
being born in the kingdom of God?

Vol. 9, p.84
Let me now call the attention of, parents for a few moments; for there
are doubtless a great many here, and [p.85] perhaps there are some who
are accountable for having put the intoxicating cup to their
neighbour's lips, and more especially for having put it to the lips of
their sons. It seems to me that there should be some restraining
influence thrown around the rising generation, as well as on this
practice of men introducing liquor to others. I suppose that a man is
responsible who takes liquor into his system; but I would rather it be
some one else than me who throws the first temptation in the way of
any man. It is my desire to throw around my family and friends a good
influence—to instil into their minds something better, higher, and
nobler. Parents can do this whose minds are steady, and who have the
light of truth in them like a well of water springing up unto eternal
life. Let us throw around those that have a wild disposition a
salutary influence, and endeavour to cause them to forsake the paths
of vice—throw something around them that will be calculated to exalt
them and bring them into the presence of their Father and God. How
joyful that family would be if they could save a soul! How joyful
would they be if they could see their sons taking a wise course, being
moral and sober,—to see them growing up in this kingdom in
righteousness, and to have the assurance that they were raising up
families imbued with righteous and holy principles! What encouragement
it would be to press on in the paths of virtue, and to shun the path
of immorality! How pleasing would it be to see our sons and daughters
pursuing the path that leads to life, and avoiding the one that leads
to degradation and death! I hope that we shall see an improvement in
this respect in the future.

Vol. 9, p.85
I will not occupy your time any longer. I feel well, and I rejoice in
the Gospel of salvation, and I feel to bear my testimony that this is
the Church and kingdom of God, and that the servants of God have borne
a faithful testimony all the day long. You have had so much of their
preaching that you do not appreciate it; you have had it like a
surfeit; the words seem to bound back; they are like the tinkling
cymbals, as the President remarked. And it will be so, unless you have
the spirit to appreciate the teachings of the servants of God. A
greater blessing could not be poured out upon you, and it comes in
such a way that you cannot appreciate it. For instance, it is a common
thing for people to say, "Oh, I have heard that before!" and hence the
people pay no attention, nor do they give heed to the teachings that
are given here. This is because they are blessed with them so
frequently. But is that the way to do? It is the way you do. But I
look for a reformation in many things. The work is not going to stop;
it is going to be propelled with immense force, and there are
sufficient people to make it roll with greater rapidity.

Vol. 9, p.85
This people have been prospered and blessed, and have got the comforts
of life; and if they do not keep them in their possession, it is their
own fault. It is within the power of every one to get them: they are
offered for labour on every hand. Those who can lay up for their
families should do so, and their is no necessity for any one going
short of bread. It is offered in the streets for sale very cheap, and
the supposed surplus is going out of the Territory. The people can get
it for their labour, and they had better keep it and treasure it up
against a time of need.

Vol. 9, p.85
May the Lord bless us all, and keep us faithful, and enable us to be
useful in his kingdom, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen. [p.86]

Brigham Young, May 7, 1861

Priesthood

Remarks made by President Brigham Young,
Mill Creek Ward, May 7, 1861.

Reported By G. D. Watt

Vol. 9, p.86
In order to come to a proper understanding—to see eye to eye—it is
necessary that we be instructed, that we may be workmen that need not
be ashamed before God and his holy angels. I pray for you continually,
that the wisdom of God may rest upon you and upon all his Saints. I am
happy for the privilege of meeting with you, and can say, according to
the best of my knowledge, that there is a great improvement in the
midst of the Saints: they are increasing in understanding. The little
apparent difficulty you seem to have here is no difficulty at all. In
the rise of this Church, and for years afterwards, if four men had
been appointed to live in the capacity of a neighbourhood, there would
have been more real difficulty in one month than there has been in
this Ward since brother Miller has been its Bishop. This proves that
the people are learning to let things alone that they do not know to
be right, and wait until they know what right is. This is a great
lesson to learn. It is also a precious gift, that some people seem to
be possessed of, to have knowledge enough not to talk until they can
say something to advantage and benefit to themselves, or others, or
both.

Vol. 9, p.86
The instructions some of you need here I presume would be good for
all. It is not always an easy matter for persons to understand the
true position they really hold before God and before their brethren.
People do not seem to understand fully their position and the duties
they are called upon to perform; but when a person comes to
understanding, he will not go amiss. There are so many traits in the
lives of the people possessing the Priesthood, that, touch it where
you will, you cannot touch it amiss; and if you know and understand
it, it is to you a source of great satisfaction, while those who do
not understand are still left in the dark.

Vol. 9, p.86
When brother Miller was at the Seventies' meeting in the city, a week
ago last Saturday, I made some remarks on the items of doctrine before
us, and the clerk wrote down a few of them. I took, I think, the
purport of these remarks, and published them in the last week's News.
I then and there stated that a Bishop, in his Bishopric, cannot try
any individual for error in doctrine. In reflecting upon this, let me
ask, how do we understand doctrine? By revelation. What are the
privileges of a Bishop? Has he the privilege of the administration of
angels? Yes; this belongs to the lesser Priesthood. Has he the
privilege of using the Urim and Thummim? Yes. The breastplate of Aaron
that you read of in the Scriptures  was a Urim and Thummim, fixed in
bows similar to the one Joseph Smith found. Aaron wore this Urim and
[p.87] Thummim on his breast, and looked into it like looking on a
mirror, and the information he needed was there obtained. This earth,
when it becomes purified and sanctified, or celestialized, will become
like a sea of glass; and a person, by looking into it, can know things
past, present, and to come; though none but celestialized beings can
enjoy this privilege. They will look into the earth, and the things
they desire to know will be exhibited to them, the same as the face is
seen by looking into a mirror.

Vol. 9, p.87
The office of a Bishop belongs to the lesser Priesthood. He is the
highest officer in the Aaronic Priesthood, and has the privilege of
using the Urim and Thummim—has the administration of angels, if he has
faith, and lives so that he can receive and enjoy all the blessings
Aaron enjoyed. At the same time, could Aaron rise up and say, "I have
as much power and authority as you, Moses?" No; for Moses held the
keys and authority above all the rest upon the earth. He holds the
keys of the Priesthood of Melchisedek, which is the Priesthood of the
Son of God, which holds the keys of all these Priesthoods, dispensing
the blessings and privileges of both Priesthoods to to the people, as
he did in the days of the children of Israel when he led them out of
Egypt. This Priesthood has been on the earth at various times. Adam
had it, Seth had it, Enoch had it, Noah had it, Abraham and Lot had
it, and it was handed down to the days of the Prophets, long after the
days of the ancients. But the people would not receive the Prophets,
but persecuted them, stoned them and thrust them out of their cities,
and they had to wander in the wilderness and make dens and caves their
homes. The children of Israel never received the Melchisedek
Priesthood; they went into bondage to enjoy it in part, but all its
privileges and blessings they never would receive in full, until Jesus
came, and then but a few of them would receive it. This High
Priesthood rules, directs, governs, and controls all the Priesthoods,
because it is the highest of all.

Vol. 9, p.87
What ordination should a man receive to possess all the keys and
powers of the Holy Priesthood that were delivered to the sons of Adam?
He should be ordained an Apostle of Jesus Christ. That office puts him
in possession of every key, every power, every authority,
communication, benefit, blessing, glory, and kingdom that was ever
revealed to man. That pertains to the office of an Apostle of Jesus
Christ. In the last week's News I published a portion of a revelation,
showing the authority of the First Presidency of the Church, composed
at first of Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams.
When this revelation was given, the two last named brethren were
Joseph Smith's counsellors, and this First Presidency possessed the
power and authority of building up the kingdom of God upon all the
earth, and of setting the Church in order in its perfection. You read
in the revelation alluded to that when the Twelve were called and
ordained, they possessed the same power and authority as the three
First Presidents; and in reading further you find that there must
needs be appendages and helps growing out of this Priesthood. The
Seventies possess the same power and authority; they hold the keys of
establishing, building up, regulating, ordaining, and setting in order
the kingdom of God in all its perfections upon the earth. We have a
Quorum of High Priests, and there are a great many of them. They are a
local body—they tarry at home; but the Seventies travel and preach; so
[p.88] also do the High Priests, when they are called upon. They
possess precisely the same Priesthood that the Seventies and the
Twelve and the First Presidency possess; but are they ordained to
officiate in all the authority, powers, and keys of this Priesthood?
No, they are not. Still they are High Priests of God; and if they
magnify their Priesthood, they will receive at some time all the
authority and power that it is possible for man to receive.

Vol. 9, p.88
Suppose that Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams had been taken
away or had apostatized, as one of them did soot after the revelation
I have referred to was given, and there had been only Joseph Smith
left of the First Presidency, would he alone have had authority to set
in order the kingdom of God on the earth? Yes. Again: Suppose that
eleven of the Twelve had been taken away by the power of the
Adversary, that one Apostle has the same power that Joseph had, and
could preach, baptize, and set in order the whole kingdom of God upon
the earth, as much so as the Twelve, were they all together. Again: If
in the providence of God he should permit the Enemy to destroy these
two first Quorums, and then destroy the Quorum of Seventy, all but one
man, what is his power? It would be to go and preach, baptize,
confirm, lay on hands, ordain, set in order, build up, and establish
the whole kingdom of God as it is now. Can we go any further? Yes; and
I think you will see the reason of it, and how easy it is to be
understood, and see the propriety of it. I really believe, and it is
my doctrine, that if I speak to the brethren by the power of the
Spirit of my calling, the evidences are commended to those who hear,
and the reasons they see in the spirit of the remarks I make. Suppose
the Enemy had power to destroy all but one of the High Priests from
the face of the earth, what would that one possess in the power of his
Priesthood? He would have power and authority to go and preach,
baptize, confirm, ordain, and set in order the kingdom of God in all
its perfection on the earth. Could he do this without revelation? No.
Could the Seventies? No. Could the Twelve? No. And we ask, Could
Joseph Smith or the First Presidency do this without revelation? No;
not one of them could do such a work without revelation direct from
God. I can go still further. Whoever is ordained to the office of an
Elder to a certain degree possesses the keys of the Melchisedek
Priesthood; and suppose only one Elder should be left on the earth,
could he go and set in order the kingdom of God? Yes, by revelation.

Vol. 9, p.88
How came these Apostles, these Seventies, these High Priests, and all
this organization we now enjoy? It came by revelation. Father Cahoon,
who lately died in your neighbourhood, was one of the first men
ordained to the office of High Priest in this kingdom. In the year
1831 the Prophet Joseph went to Ohio. He left the State of New York on
the last of April, if my memory serves me, and arrived in Kirtland
sometime in May. They held a General Conference, which was the first
General Conference ever called or held in Ohio. Joseph then received a
revelation, and ordained High Priests. You read in the Book of
Doctrine and Covenants how he received the Priesthood in the first
place. It is there stated how Joseph received the Aaronic Priesthood.
John the Baptist came to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. When a
person  passes behind the vail, he can only officiate in the
spirit-world; but when he is resurrected he officiates [p.89] as a
resurrected being, and not as a mortal being. You read in the
revelation that Joseph was ordainded, as it is written. When he
received the Melchisedek Priesthood, he had another revelation. Peter,
James, and John came to him. You can read the revelation at your
leisure. When he received this revelation in Kirtland, the Lord
revealed to him that he should begin and ordain High Priests; and he
then ordained quite a number, all whose names I do not now recollect;
but Lyman Wight was one; Fathers Cahoon and Morley, John Murdock,
Sidney Rigdon, and others were also then ordained. These were the
first that were ordained to this office in the Church. I relate this
to show you how Joseph proceeded step by step in organizing the
Church. At that time there were no Seventies nor Twelve Apostles.

Vol. 9, p.89
Twenty-seven years ago, on the 5th of this month, in the year 1835, a
company started for Kirtland to redeem the land of Zion. Brother Heber
C. Kimball and my brother Joseph were in that camp. There had got then
been ordained any Twelve Apostles, nor any Seventies, although there
was a revelation pertaining to the Apostles and Seventies. There were
High Priests, but no High Priests' Quorum. I am relating this as a
little matter of history that will no doubt be interesting to those
who were not there.

Vol. 9, p.89
After we returned from Missouri, my brother Joseph Young and myself
had been singing after preaching in a meeting; and when the meeting 	
was dismissed, brother Joseph Smith said, "Come, go down to my house
with me." We went and sung to him a long time, and talked with him. He
then opened the subject of the Twelve and Seventies for the first time
I ever thought of it. He said, "Brethren, I am going to call out
Twelve Apostles. I think we will get together, by-and-by, and select
Twelve Apostles, and select a Quorum of Seventies from those who have
been up to Zion, out of the camp boys." In 1835, the last of January
or in February, or about that time, we held our meetings from day to
day, and brother Joseph called out Twelve Apostles at that time. He
had a revelation when we were singing to him. Those who were
acquainted with him knew when the spirit of revelation was upon him,
for his countenance wore an expression peculiar to himself while under
that influence. He preached by the Spirit of revelation, and taught in
his council by it, and those who were acquainted with him could
discover it at once, for at such times there was a peculiar clearness
and transparency in his face. He followed up that revelation until he
organized the Church, and so along until the baptism of the dead was
revealed.

Vol. 9, p.89
I relate these circumstances to show you that a person who is ordained
to the office of an Elder in this kingdom has the same Priesthood that
the High Priests, that the Twelve Apostles, that the Seventies, and
that the First Presidency hold; but all are not called to be one of
the Twelve Apostles, nor are all called to be due of the First
Presidency, nor to be one of the First Presidents of all the
Seventies, nor to be one of the Presidents of a Quorum of Seventies,
nor to preside over the High Priests' Quorum; but every man in his
order and place, possessing a portion of the same Priesthood,
according to the gifts and callings to each. Does not this clear up
the subject? [Voices: "It does."] This will explain it to you so that
you can understand it. When we find where our callings and positions
are in the midst of the people of God, and every person [p.90] willing
to act in the discharge of his duty, there is enough for us all to,
do. All persons can have all they desire to do to promote the kingdom
of God on the earth; they can exercise themselves in all that God has
granted to them to prove themselves worthy before God and the people.

Vol. 9, p.90
I will again refer to the office of a Bishop. If you will look over
the revelations and search the Scriptures, you will find that the
office of Bishop was bestowed upon Aaron, Moses' half-brother, for
certain services he had performed, which Priesthood was to continue
with Aaron's posterity. We have not the literal descendants of Aaron
in the Church to fill the Bishopric, but the Church is mostly composed
of the literal descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who are
entitled to the Melchizedek Priesthood, that holds the keys of all the
Priesthoods ever delivered to the children of men. But we want Bishops
in the Church. Here are brethren settling in different neighbourhoods,
and we learn that the office of a Bishop is to attend to the temporal
affairs of the Church—to see that the poor are taken care of—to see
that the brethren judiciously and wisely conduct themselves in the
capacity of a community. The President of the Church cannot attend to
these temporal affairs in all the different settlements, and the
Twelve Apostles are away preaching, and the Seventies are away
preaching, and the High Priests are scattered here and there in their
local capacity; and we want men who are literal descendants of Aaron
to act in the Aaronic Priesthood, to which pertains the Bishopric but
we have not got them. Under these circumstances, we take a High Priest
and ordain him to the office of a Bishop, to which he is not entitled
by lineage; but in his calling he possesses the keys and power of the
holy Priesthood of the Son of God on the earth, and this qualifies him
to officiate in all the lesser offices. We take this man and set him
apart to be a Bishop. "What! ordain a High Priest to the lesser
Priesthood?" No; we call it ordaining a Bishop; and though we say, "We
ordain you to be a Bishop, with our hands upon your head," it really
and virtually means, "We set you apart to officiate as a Bishop in the
midst of the people of God, by virtue of your holy Priesthood, which
is after the order of Melchizedek, which is after the order of the Son
of God. We set you apart to officiate in this office of the Aaronic
Priesthoods, blessing you with all the keys and, authority of the
same." This Bishop can call two men to be his Counsellors, but it
would not be so if we had a literal descendant of Aaron. When we find
such a man, and he is ordained to act or is set apart to act in his
lineal Priesthood, he is to all intents and purposes a Bishop, and
needs no Counsellors. This seems to be a great curiosity. A man who is
a Priest, and cannot hold any higher office, can preside as a Bishop
over a community of people where he is appointed to preside, and
dictate the temporal affairs of the people of God, and that too
without a Counsellor from among his brethren; but a High Priest cannot
act in this office without two Counsellors. Is not this a novel
thing—a strange peculiarity? It requires three High Priests to perform
the duties, fill the office, and attend to the callings of a literal
descendant of Aaron, who cannot hold a higher Priesthood. That is the
order, and what Joseph did is according to the revelation he received.

Vol. 9, p.90
When we take a High Priest and set him apart to officiate in the
office of a Priest as a Priest or as a Bishop, while he is  acting in
this calling do we expect him to officiate as a High [p.91] Priest?
When Bishop Miller finds that the Seventies in his Ward are teaching
doctrine that he does not believe in, he has nothing to do with the
matter while acting in the capacity of a Bishop. He would say, "I
stand here as your Bishop, and I have nothing to do with the
doctrines, you teach. I cannot control the higher Priesthood, while in
my present calling. I cannot officiate here as an Apostle, as a
Revelator, as one who has authority to say  'Thus saith the Lord' to
the people concerning spiritual things." The Doctrine and Covenants
teaches us whom they are to be decided by. Though brother Miller, as a
Bishop, should say nothing on controverted points of doctrine, yet he
can meet with his brethren of the High Priesthood who may be in his
neighbourhood. Three High Priests form a Quorum; five form a Quorum;
seven form a Quorum; twelve form a Quorum. Let a Quorum of High
Priests go into an upper room, and there appear before the Lord in the
garments of the holy Priesthood, and offer up before the Father, in
the name of Jesus, the signs of the holy Priesthood, and then ask God
to give a revelation concerning that doctrine, and they have a right
to receive it. If you cannot get the information in any other way,
suppose you were upon the islands of the sea, far away from the main
body of the Church, you are entitled to the administration of angels
who administer in the terrestrial kingdom; and they have a right to
receive administrations from the celestial. In this capacity you could
ask for revelations pertaining to doctrine.

Vol. 9, p.91
In the capacity of a Bishop, has any person a right to direct the
spiritual affairs of the kingdom of God? No. In that capacity his
right is restricted to affairs in a temporal and moral point of view.
He has a right to deal with the transgressor. I do not care what
office a transgressor bears in the Church and kingdom of God, if he
should be one of the Twelve Apostles, and come into a Bishop's
neighbourhood, and purloin his neighbour's goods, defile his
neighbour's bed, or commit any breach of the moral law, the Bishop has
a right to take that man before himself and his council, and there
hold him to answer for the crime he has been guilty of, and deal with
him for his membership in the Church, and cut him off from the Church
to all intents and purposes, to all time and eternity, if he will not
make restitution and sincerely repent. "What! one of the Seventies?"
Yes." One of the High Priests?" Yes." One of the Twelve Apostles?"
Yes, anybody that happens to come into his neighbourhood and
transgresses the moral law. On the other hand, can the Seventies try a
Bishop? No. Can the High Priests try him? No, unless they call twelve
High Priests in the capacity of a High Council; and then you must have
the Presidency of the Melchisedek Priesthood to preside over the
council, and there you can try a Bishop. How curiously it is all woven
together to make the fabric so strong that no one man or set of men
can rend it asunder! The Lord has so effectually woven it for the
salvation of the people, that it takes tremendous power to destroy it
from the earth. All this is designed to guard against evil. A Bishop
can try a man for a breach of moral conduct, but he cannot sit in
judgment on controverted points of doctrine, for they are to be
referred to those who hold the keys of the higher Priesthood, and
their decision is the end of all strife.

Vol. 9, p.91
In trying all matters of doctrine, to make a decision valid, it is
necessary to obtain a unanimous voice, [p.92] faith, and decision. In
the capacity of a Quorum, the three First Presidents must be one in
their voice—the Twelve Apostles must be unanimous in their voice, to
obtain a righteous, decision upon any matter that may come before
them, as you may read in the Doctrine and Covenants. The Seventies may
decide upon the same principle. Whenever you see these Quorums
unanimous in their declaration, you may set it down as true. Let the
Elders get together, being faithful and true; and when they agree upon
any point, you may know that it is true.

Vol. 9, p.92
I will now say a few words upon the callings of men in a neighbourhood
or Ward capacity. Some of the High Priests may be ordained officiate
in callings pertaining to the Church in Ward capacities. Now I will
ask the Bishop of this Ward if he has a right to neglect this Ward to
meet with the High Priests' Quorum in their meetings. He has no such
right—he has no right to neglect this Ward one minute for the sake of
such meeting. That is not his right and calling when his services are
required here as Bishop. There is a poor widow, a sick family,
business is going at random here and there, and he has no right to
believe that he has the privilege of leaving all his Ward to look out
for themselves, and say, "If you do well, it is well: and if you do
ill, I cannot help it, I am going to my Quorum meeting." It is his
duty to devote his time, from New Year's morning to New Year's morning
again, for the benefit of his ward. He is placed to preside over it,
and he will dictate all in his Ward. If he sees a Seventy or a High
Priest squandering his property, or if he sees any getting drunk,
gambling, or long about, wasting their time, he has a perfect right to
call them to account.

Vol. 9, p.92
We have mass Quorums of Seventies in most of the settlements in the
Territory; and I have frequently thought, if the brethren did not
improve pretty fast, the title would have to be altered a little; but
as they have improved, we do not see any necessity for making the
application and calling them muss Quorums. Joseph Smith never would
permit the Seventies to get together and believe themselves a separate
body from the rest of the Church. I never cared much about this, for I
was not a particle afraid that their would get any power that truly
does not belong to them; for, if they did, I was always satisfied that
is would be blown to the four winds. I want to inform the Seventies
living in Bishop Miller's Ward, (and what I now say applies to all the
other Wards and Bishops,) if he calls on them to act as Teachers, it
is their imperative duty to act as Teachers, seeking to benefit and
bless the people by enlarging their understandings, that they may
prove themselves before God and one another. There is a World of
intelligence to impart, and the Priesthood (in its various callings,
appointments, helps, and governments,) is the means, through its
ministers, of imparting it to the people. It is not the duty of a
Seventy or High Priest, who is appointed a Teacher or a Bishop; to
neglect the duties of those callings to attend a Seventies' or High
Priests' meeting. Attend to the wishes of your Bishop, and never ask
who has the most power. The man who has the most power with God will
wield it, and earth and hell cannot hinder it. Talk about power, and
"I want you to give me influence!" There are but few things, that
offend me more than to have men come to me and say, "Brother Brigham,
give me influence, for I am a great man in this kingdom." And what
would he do with it? He would take himself and all who would follow
him to the Devil. [p.93] Every man who has true influence has obtained
it before God through faithfulness, and in all such cases there is not
the least danger but what he will have it before the Saints. It is the
man who converses with the heavens, who delights in doing so, and
knows for himself that this is the kingdom of God, who has true
influence.

Vol. 9, p.93
As I said last Sabbath, the greatest proof and the least to prove that
this is the kingdom of God, consists in its embracing every truth and
rejecting every error, and that embraces God and heaven and all holy
beings. Who, then, has the greatest power? Those who best do the will
of God. When a Bishop calls upon a man to officiate as an assistant to
him, he does not call upon him as a Seventy or as a High Priest, but
as one of his own family—as a member of his Ward. You know what the
Spirit of the Lord teaches me, to see that the widows go not hungry,
that the orphans are clothed, and every able-bodied man is judiciously
and profitably employed, and that every man is doing his duty,—to see
that the cattle and waggons are got together when they are wanted; and
it is as much the duty of the Seventies to look after these matters as
it is the duty of any of their brethren. When the Bishops say, "Go and
drive that team, do this, or do that," "Oh yes," Says a Seventy, "with
all my heart." Bishop, we thought we would meet once a week as
Seventies or High Priests; can we have your permission?" "Yes; go to
the school-house and sound life eternal to the people."

Vol. 9, p.93
Told by their President to have a muss Quorum meeting here! No; no
such power is vested in the Seventies anywhere. No man gets power from
God to raise disturbance in any Branch of the Church. Such power is
obtained from an evil source.

Vol. 9, p.93
Now, High Priests and Apostles, go to with your might and assist your
Bishops in providing for the widows and fatherless.

Vol. 9, p.93
If Bishop Miller is not responsible for this Ward, to dictate all this
Ward, who is? He is the man that is appointed here to preside, and as
a High Priest he has a right to meet with his brethren of that Quorum,
and to baptize, confirm, bless children, administer to the sick, and
perform all other duties pertaining to the office and calling of a
High Priest. His being a Bishop does not take away any of his
Priesthood or power.

Vol. 9, p.93
May God bless you! Amen. [p.94]

Daniel H. Wells, September 30, 1860

Privileges and Responsibilities of the
Saints—Building Up the Latter-Day Kingdom

Discourse by President Daniel H. Wells, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, September 30, 1860.

Reported By J. V. Long

Vol. 9, p.94
I arise, my brethren and sisters, being ever willing to give my
testimony in behalf of the goodness of God and the work in which we
are engaged, even the Latter-day Work, the building up of the kingdom
of God upon the earth. I know it is the desire of my heart to meet
every engagement, appointment, and duty incumbent upon me by reason of
my calling, and in undertaking to become a Latter-day Saint.

Vol. 9, p.94
When I made my covenant by baptism, I did it with an understanding,
and with a desire to do the will of our Heavenly Father in this
generation. I did it with a determination that I would from that time
forth do the will of Him whom I then covenanted to serve, and that I
would do all those things that should be required at my hands—that I
would perform every duty according to the best understanding I had,
constantly looking to the Lord to give me better understanding,
greater light, and more extended knowledge of the things of his
kingdom. These were my feelings then; they have been my feelings ever
since, and I hope and trust that I shall ever be guided by the same
Spirit. I have ever felt that it was good to have the testimony. of
Jesus in my soul. It is for me, and I consider it is for all of us, to
respond to every call that shall be made, whether temporal or
spiritual; and I desire that we may feel to respond to and do whatever
we shall be dictated to do with glad hearts, be thankful for the
opportunity, and esteem it a high privilege to have a part in this
work.

Vol. 9, p.94
We should strive to get faith in everything that pertains to this
work, and feel that it rests upon our shoulders to perform, and that,
it behoves each one of us to live in that way that will promote our
own interests therein, and give us light and knowledge, which will
enable us to cultivate that Spirit in our bosoms which has been
promised, as a well of water springing up into everlasting life, to
all the faithful Saints.

Vol. 9, p.94
There is a consolation in our religion which goes to every heart, and
by it every man, woman, and child may receive joy and satisfaction,
while acting under the sweet influences of the Holy Spirit, having it
within us to dictate and guide us in the path of virtue and truth.
When the Spirit of the Lord influences any man, especially the true
and faithful Saint, it fills him with joy and peace, and makes him
humble in the performance of duties. The Spirit of the Lord carries
with it its own reward. A person deprived of this influence meets with
difficulties upon every hand. It is only by being obedient and
submitting to the counsel of God in all things, that we can fully
enjoy that good Spirit. By acting upon this principle  in a family
[p.95] capacity and in managing our individual concerns, (for it is in
thus acting upon the principles of obedience that families are
united,) that Spirit will unite, connect, and cause the Elders to see
eye to eye, and thus promote the advancement and prosperity of the
cause we have all espoused. We cannot fulfil our engagements with the
Almighty without we have that Spirit with us. We should so live as to
acknowledge the Good Spirit continually. We cannot do this unless we
let the Spirit of God rule in temporalities as well as in spiritual
matters.

Vol. 9, p.95
When he whom the Lord has called to stand at the head of his Church as
the mouthpiece of the Almighty speaks to us, let us find out the
spirit that leads him and follow its dictation, and then we shall be
well off and do well. How often, instead of cherishing the head and
letting that dictate the whole body—how often, I say, do we seek to
avoid it, perhaps for the purpose of having it some other way, or
passing off in some other direction. This is not right. We should let
the Spirit of the Lord rule, and the law of God abide in our hearts.
If we have the law of God dwelling in us, and if we practise
righteousness and live by correct principles, we may have it, and will
increase in light and in power with the heavens and with all good men.
We should cherish that law, let it abide in us, govern and control us
in all we do and say. Let us square our ideas, feelings, and spirits
to it, and bear in mind that this is what preserves us and connects us
together in the strait and narrow way that leads unto life eternal.
Let us nourish that kind Spirit in our bosoms, get light from the pure
fountain, and not grieve it away by our unwise and sinful conduct. We
frequently do things according to our feelings and opinions, until we
in a great degree lose the light of the Spirit which, should control,
and which would, if we would let it, be a guide to our path and lead
us in all that we do and say; and certainly we need it constantly to
guide us and to enable us to render ourselves useful, and be the means
of doing great good in the kingdom of God. Offer a kind word to them
that are cast down, buoy up the drooping spirits, and do all we can to
sustain each other in the trials and difficulties through which we
have to pass in this state of existence.

Vol. 9, p.95
It is a consolation and a great assistance to a man who tries to be a
Saint to receive a word of encouragement from a friend. It prepares
the heart for the warfare of life; it makes a man feel stronger in the
Lord. He is thereby prepared to perform his duties as a member of the
kingdom of God upon the earth. We all have a great variety of duties
to perform; some are required to act in one way, and some in another.
None can say that they have no part or lot in the matters in this
kingdom.

Vol. 9, p.95
The Gospel embraces every branch of business that is useful—every
department of literature, whether science or classics, everything that
is useful in the world. All is necessary to its accomplishment and the
bringing about of the purposes of God in the last days. All that is
good and true is necessary to the completion of this mighty work. In
this kingdom there is scope for the mind; there is room for the
exercise of all the physical powers of mankind. There is some labour
for each and every one to perform. The people may have to change from
their old customs; they may have to go from one kind of labour to
another, by reason of their being put in different circumstances and
coming From one country to another. This with the faithful Saint makes
but little difference. Let us all do the things that are before [p.96]
us with an eye single to the glory of God and the building up of his
kingdom. By pursuing this course we shall be able to accomplish
whatever shall be appointed unto us that will fend to the gathering of
Israel and the bringing about of the great Latter-day Work.

Vol. 9, p.96
The world that is now transpiring is in fulfilment of prophecy, and in
this we should have joy; and if we need anything to strengthen us in
our holy religion and to buoy up our feelings, the things transpiring
around us should be sufficient to do this and to stimulate us to
further action. People are brought from every nation, kindred, tongue,
and people, by the instrumentality of this Priesthood and the power
that accompanies the testimony of the servants of God. We have as
great a testimony as any of the ancients in regard to the work in
which we are engaged, and we have increasing testimony day by day that
should convince the most sceptical. We see the hand-dealing of the
Almighty from time to time, and the Spirit is bearing witness from day
to day that this is the truth of heaven, and that we have the oracles
of divine truth in our midst. The Lord has not left himself without a
witness. If there had been nothing written, there is sufficient
manifested to prove that this is the work of God in which we are
engaged to induce us to learn our duties and perform them, and to be
ready and willing to turn our hands to this, that, and the other
purpose as shall be necessary to enable us to obtain our sustenance,
to cultivate the soil, beautify the earth, and cause the wilderness to
blossom as the rose. If we are actuated by the, right spirit, we shall
go forth building up the the kingdom, having our eye single to the
glory of God, instead of gathering together for our own particular
benefit and to suit our natural wants.

Vol. 9, p.96
For my part, when I embraced this Gospel, I felt that I had no affairs
of my own for the future. I felt that I could live anywhere and
anyhow, if I had the society of the Saints. I then expected to have a
rough passage. I had not then seen "Mormonism" as we have since seen
it. For a few years previous to that tithe, I had seen turmoil,
trouble, and strife. I had witnessed what has now become the history
of the Saints, and I have seen and known it since we have arrived in
these valleys of the mountains. Here it has been comparatively peace
and prosperity with this people. This came the more acceptably to me
because I had looked for something different. I embraced the Gospel
with that view, and felt that I was determined to cling to the rope,
feeling satisfied that the tighter I clung to it the less it would
burn my fingers. Suffice it to say that I have ever felt as I now
feel, to hold fast to the ship Zion.

Vol. 9, p.96
We can generally see other people's faults much quicker than we can
our own. You all remember, no doubt, the account which Patriarch John
Young gave of the Devil's looking-glass. The glass was represented as
one in which a man could see his neighbour's faults instead of his
own. Now, who is there among us but can see our neighbour's failings
sooner than our own? I will guarantee that we can all see the follies
of others, and at the same time be blind to our own; but we should be
a great deal better employed in looking into our own hearts, in
governing ourselves, controlling those pernicious feelings and notions
that rise in our bosoms, and in eradicating every such influence from
our hearts, instead of busying ourselves with looking into the affairs
of others. I know from experience that it is a very good lesson for me
to  look into my bosom. Them is the flatterer, and by studying
ourselves we can easily perceive how [p.97] liable we are to neglect
ourselves and look into affairs with which we have nothing to do.
People do not look into their own hearts rigidly enough, and therefore
they do not see what has been the prompting or leading motive that has
caused them to judge others instead of themselves. The inward monitor,
if we will let him have full play, will teach us many things that are
applicable to ourselves. And if we inquire more fully into ourselves,
we shall find that we are not always acting, from the best of motives,
those things that we do in regard to others, for we often come across
their notions.

Vol. 9, p.97
There are a great many persons who consider their own way the best
—yes, much superior to any other person's. If we will compare that
with an unprejudiced mind and liberal soul, we may reject our own
bantling, and learn that there are others whose ways are preferable to
our own. We will take it for granted that we are actuated by the best
of motives. Even then, some would go to work in one way, and some in
another, to build up the kingdom of God; but we should all feel
interested in taking that course that will promote our interests. If
each one is to have his own way and carry out his own notion, then
there will be no effort to concentrate; hence no union. Every one
should seek that which is best, and be submissive to the will of God
in all things, and not strive to follow his own peculiar notions. We
live to learn, and should so conduct ourselves as to make good use of
what we experience.

Vol. 9, p.97
I have had a great many ideas myself upon subjects as they have passed
before me; but after they are consummated, I always find that, if I
had had my way, it would not have been near so well. Those who have
more light, greater comprehension, and who am appointed to do those
things which we are required of this people, can do so with better
understanding; hence I say we should readily yeild to that wisdom and
strive to see a propriety in carrying out.. In this way we can soon
learn to see what is right and best for this people. We cannot
possibly believe that the Almighty will suffer those whom he has
appointed to lead his people to go astray. We have all confidence in
this, and shall have, if we do our duty. Then let that Spirit which we
so much desire to have in our hearts, control and govern us; permit it
to eradicate every vile principle and influence; and do not let our
notions and traditions stand in the way of our yielding a ready assent
to the rolling forth of God's kingdom in the last days. The law of God
should be our joy. The study and the knowledge of it are blessings
that have been vouchsafed unto us in this generation. The Lord has
conferred this holy Priesthood upon us; be has opened up a
communication between us and his throne, by which we ourselves can
open and find out in regard to the principles which have been taught
from this stand, as well as those taught by the Prophet Joseph.

Vol. 9, p.97
This is a great and important era in the world's history: it is a
great privilege given in the experience of the human race. God has
shown himself no respecter of persons. The other portions of the human
race have or will have this Gospel laid before them. It has already
been presented to a great extent; and the people might have embraced
it, if they had been disposed to do so. If their minds had been
inclined, they could have seen the kingdom of God upon the earth; for
it has not been an exclusive matter. The Lord has scattered the seed
upon the whole earth. In communities from which we  have come, our
neighbours and friends, by whom we have been surrounded from [p.98]
our infancy, have had the same opportunity that we have had. The only
difference is, we have received it, and they have rejected it; or, in
other words, they hate not seen proper to receive it, although it was
sent as much for their benefit and for their salvation as it was for
ours. The Lord, I repeat, has conferred this great blessing upon the
human family in these last days, and it is for those whose hearts are
touched with the Spirit of the Living God, who can see that this is
the kingdom spoken of by the Prophets in olden times, who have
gathered together for the purpose of establishing the principles of
righteousness permanently upon the earth, and who do not forget those
things committed unto them, and who remember, when they come together
before the Lord, the world that they have come from. It be, hoves them
not to forget the wickedness by which they were surrounded, nor the
motives that brought them together. If you do not bear in mind these
things, why did you not stay where you were? If you wish to serve the
Devil your, own way, why aid not you stay in the world where you had
that liberty, which, we might say, is the least desirable upon the
footstool of God? There are many in the world, who are associated with
this Church, who think it would be the greatest privilege they could
enjoy to be freed from the wickedness that stalks abroad at noonday;
but when such come to Zion, how soon do they forget the condition of
others whom it is their duty to remember, because they are in
circumstances similar to those which surrounded them before they were
enabled to gather home.

Vol. 9, p.98
We should remember that we have been collected, from the nations,
through the same motives which now inspire our brethren and sisters in
other lands, to establish righteousness upon the earth, to put down
iniquity, and to hate the report thereof. You will see this manifest
in the correspondence of our brethren who are still among the nations.
It was formerly manifest in ours, and each of us was accustomed to
exclaim," Oh that I could be delivered from Babylon!" We were finally
enabled to come up here, and to get deliverance from that great
wickedness which was an eyesore to us every day. Then how do we act?
Do we hanker for the wickedness of the world? Our traditions are still
thick upon us; and if we do not remember our covenants and strive to
see things by the light of the Holy Spirit, we shall soon be led to
find fault with things which we see around us.

Vol. 9, p.98
Perhaps those who thus become disaffected may not say anything about
it for a time; but they will say in their hearts and souls that they
do not like this, they disapprove of that, and they despise the other.
They do not at first speak of these things, but the next thing they do
in the path to ruin is to neglect their prayers, to neglect their
every duty, and finally they are led captive by the Devil. They ask if
that spirit that has actuated them in their early experience, and that
has been the motive-spring in times gone by, sanctions what they see
around them. Darkness gradually gets into their minds, and the first
thing they know they are led back to love the wickedness of the world.

Vol. 9, p.98
This is because they forget that upon themselves rests the
responsibility of making that Zion about which they talked, prayed,
and preached. It is because they forget that it is their business to
labour for the establishment of righteous principles, and to walk
wickedness under their feet.

Vol. 9, p.98
This is the duty, and this should be the labour of all that come up
here. They should let the law of [p.99] of the Lord be the delight of
their souls day by day. They should let the principles of our holy
religion absorb every other feeling. If this comes in contact with
their previously received opinions, let it be eradicated from their
souls by the Spirit of the Living God; and the quicker they can do
this the better it will be for them.

Vol. 9, p.99
The work in which you have thus far been engaged, brethren and
sisters, is worth everything you possess; and if actuated by righteous
motives, you will seek by industry and economy to establish good
principles, to promote righteousness, and to do that for which you
have been called into the fold of Christ; you will endeavour to do
that which is necessary to amalgamate your sentiments and efforts for
your own comfort and the comfort of those around you; you will
endeavour to build up; you will work diligently in that sphere in
which you are called to labour, and the kingdom of God and its
righteousness will be the first thing in your minds. Whatever you may
have to mourn about, you will have a joy in labouring for the kingdom
of God.

Vol. 9, p.99
It should be the delight of every man and woman to strive to
accomplish the greatest amount of good in whatever sphere they are or
may be called to act.

Vol. 9, p.99
We are exhorted in the Sciptures not to be covetous; therefore we
should not let covetousness get into our hearts, for that will drown
the best affections of, our nature; it will ruin any man or woman that
encourages it. It is idolatry to worship the creature instead of the
Creator; hence covetousness becomes idolatry. I could wish there was
not any of it with us.

Vol. 9, p.99
This, you must remember, is no argument in favour of wastefulness,
neither does it authorize us to neglect the cultivation of the ground,
or to be careless with the things which the Lord puts into our hands.
We should strive to make the soil produce for the benefit of ourselves
and the advancement of the interests of the kingdom of God. The
mechanic also should be as diligent as he can; and whatever the labour
appointed shall be, all should be diligent therein, and not say that
because they are not to be covetous, they will therefore go and waste
away that which the Lord has given them. [President; Brigham Young:
They will be cursed if they do it.] It is displeasing in the sight of
God, for it is doing a discredit to him who has created these bounties
of nature for the use of man and for the benefit of all his creatures.

Vol. 9, p.99
Let us have no other object in view than the building up of the
kingdom of God. I have heard persons say that we should not give our
means away, but we should go and do this or that; and in fact I have
frequently thought such persons seem to be extravagant and wasteful on
purpose to squander their means, and thus prevent those who are
appointed to take charge of the kingdom of God on the earth from
controlling it. Whoever does this scattering, destroying, and wasting
away is actuated by the spirit of the Devil.

Vol. 9, p.99
The Lord Almighty is willing to bless the Saints, we are informed, if
they are willing to take care of and and use that which he puts into
their hands in that way that will best promote the interests of his
kingdom upon the earth. As we were told here this morning, the earth
is full of good things, and whom will they belong to? We are here now;
but everything we have is borrowed—our lives, the breath that is in
our, nostrils, and all that we now seem to possess. This is not our
abiding place. In this our present capacity we are in a state of
probation or mortality, and [p.100] we have borrowed everything that
we possess. Nothing belongs to us that we now enjoy; it is merely
loaned to us. If we are faithful to those things given unto us, and
make a wise use of them, the promise is that we shall be made rulers
over many things. We are nothing here; We are as it were lent to
ourselves for a season, and it is expected of us that we will make
ourselves worthy to receive everlasting habitations, which have been
prepared for us from before the foundation of the world. The Father
has many mansions, as Jesus said—"I go to prepare a place for you,
that where I am ye may be also."

Vol. 9, p.100
We have a great deal to do to destroy wickedness and establish
righteousness upon the earth, and to prepare ourselves for the
establishment of Zion, that she may become the head upon the earth.

Vol. 9, p.100
Will we bear correction and proper tutorage? Will we bear chastisement
and throw aside our own faults and frivolous actions? Will we live our
religion, or will we give way to every foolish thing that comes in our
path, and thus let our minds be drawn from the pure steam into byways,
and thus bring about our ruin? Will we seek to hide the light from our
brethren and sisters who feel an ardent desire to gather with the
Saints, that they may possess the same blessings that we this day
enjoy? Do we feel that we will do right and hold ourselves and all
that we possess upon the altar of the kingdom of God? Do we feel that
we should be diligent and economical, that we should seek unto the
elements that we are surrounded with, and take that course that will
make us the most independent people upon the earth? If we should bless
the earth and ask God to bless it, that it may bring forth for our
support and sustenance, and that we may have power to draw forth and
combine the elements, and thus make us independent of every nation,
kindred, tongue, and people.

Vol. 9, p.100
It is my faith that this is the ruling kingdom upon the earth; I feel
satisfied that it will ere long be so. In it are bound up my hopes of
salvation and of success in this world and that which is to come.
Besides this, I know that every other nation and kingdom will be
broken to pieces, and this will become the head of the nations. If
ever righteousness is established, it will be upon this footing; and
so far from dreading it, the people should rejoice that it will be so,
for their own governments and kingdoms are rotting to pieces and
tumbling down. When this kingdom is fully established, there will be
no oppression, but people will be put in possession of a full
enjoyment of their own principles, and be left to act according to the
dictates of their own consciences, and none will be deprived of this
privilege. Our Father and God will never force a man's conscience, but
every man will have this power and privilege of receiving or
rejecting. But there is one thing they will not be permitted to do,
and that is to infringe upon each other's rights.

Vol. 9, p.100
Man is an independent being in his agency, to do right or wrong, and
has the liberty of doing as he pleases; but I qualify this by saying
that he has not the right to do wrong or to infringe upon the rights
of another individual. This is the law of society, and it is also the
law of heaven. We live together, we have been brought forth upon this
earth, and we dwell together in communities. Men must respect the
rights of each other, and it will be so in all nations upon the earth
under the government of God. I feel as though I want to see this
kingdom triumph, and I feel that the whole world will see it.
Wickedness and corruption will be controlled, and [p.101] eventually
be eradicated and extinguished from the earth. Many will yet cling to
righteousness, and it will finally triumph.

Vol. 9, p.101
If we have been enabled to form a nucleus here, we ought never to
forget the inestimable privilege. We ought to let those little foolish
things that have transpired with us pass from our minds, and cling to
the principles of salvation.

Vol. 9, p.101
This is the way I feel, and I pray God to enable us to hold on, to be
humble and faithful all the days of our lives—to be faithful in this
great work; for it is not only a lifetime for us, but for our children
and our children's children for ever, so far as we can control and
instruct them, so that when we are gone down into our graves, they may
have a foundation to build upon. I pray God to help us to train up our
children that they may command their children after them, that this
work may be perpetuated by them. I have no fears with regard to its
being accomplished; but I have a desire that we should have a part in
it, and our children also, that we may meet again, and, after having
been faithful over a few things, that we may be made rulers over many;
which I pray the Lord may grant, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Brigham Young, January 5, 1860

Sufferings of the Saints—Overcoming Evil With Good, &c.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, January 5, 1860.

Reported By G. D. Watt

Vol. 9, p.101
Referring to the ideas advanced by our brother who has just sat down,
in regard to the suffering of the children of men upon the earth, I
will say it is a subject worthy of reflection. Have the enemies of the
kingdom of God on the earth the power to bring suffering upon the
people who love and serve him, that they have to bring suffering upon
themselves? I answer, They have not. We cannot find, in all the
history extant, that mankind have ever exerted themselves more to
destroy the kingdom of God from the earth than they have to destroy
themselves. All their endeavours to overthrow the	holy Priesthood
of heaven and its righteous rule among men have always tended a
hundredfold more to their own overthrow and utter destruction. Like
the leaves of autumn, they have fallen to the ground and are
forgotten. It was prophesied by Joseph the Prophet that the bones of
those who drove the Church from Missouri, and killed men, women, 	
and children, should bleach upon the Plains. This has been fulfilled.
Did they sutter more than the people of God whom they drove from their
homes—from their firesides in winter—from their fathers and mothers
and friends, and the land [p.102] of their nativity? Yes, there is
scarcely a comparison. Their sufferings in crossing the Plains to the
gold regions of California have been greater by far than ever the
sufferings of the Saints have been in crossing the Plains to Utah.
These are facts that are present with us. The bones of those who drove
the Saints from Independence, from Jackson County, then from Clay and
Davis Counties, and last of all from Caldwell County, from whence they
fled into Illinois, have been scattered over the Plains—gnawed and
broken by wild beasts, and axe there bleaching to this day, while the
Saints who have died on the Plains have, without an exception, had a
decent burial where they have died,—have had friends to condole with
and comfort them in their dying moments, and to mourn for a season
with their bereaved relatives. These comforts and blessings were
denied the murderers of Joseph and Hyrum Smith and of scores of the
Saints, and they were left in the bitterness of death without a friend
and without mercy. They suffered immensely more than did the Saints
whom they persecuted; they received that which they sought to bring
upon the Saints, and that too in good measure, pressed down, and
running over.

Vol. 9, p.102
I have said and will say that there never was a colony settled on this
continent, since its discovery by Columbus, with so little suffering
as have had the Latter-day Saints who settled these valleys.

Vol. 9, p.102
I will now leave these ideas, and turn my attention on to the remarks
made by brother Lorenzo Snow in the the forenoon. The principles and
doctrine couched in those remarks are of great interest to the human
family. I will take the liberty to treat upon the same principles, but
shall carry the ideas still further, though in my own language and
style of delivery. I will use a few words of Scripture concerning the
evil that now exists and has existed upon the earth, referring to
certain characters who have always been upon the earth and are still
upon it, who are actually, to a great extent, "lording over God's
heritage." I would plant my remarks here; and then for the context, I
will use another saying—"For it is God which worketh in you both to
will and and to do of his good pleasure." I have but little time to
expound and explain minutely, but will start at the beginning. God has
created man in his own image, upright. Man in his creation is but a
very little lower than the angels. In what degree and capacity is he
lower than the angels? Angels are those beings who have been on an
earth like this, and have passed through the same ordeals that we are
now passing through. They have kept their first estate far enough to
preserve themselves in the Priesthood. They did not so violate the law
of the Priesthood and condemn themselves to the sin against the Holy
Ghost as to be finally lost. They are not crowned with the celestial
ones. They are persons who have lived upon an earth, but did not
magnify the Priesthood in that high degree that many others have done
who have become Gods, even the sons of God. Human beings that pertain
to this world, who do not magnify or are not capable of magnifying
their high calling in the Priesthood and receive crowns of glory,
immortality, and eternal lives, will also, when they again receive
their bodies, become angels and will receive a glory. They are single,
without families or kingdoms to reign over. All the difference between
men and angels is, men are passing through the  day of trial that
angels have already passed through. They belong to the same family
that [p.103] we do; but they have proven themselves worthy only of an
exaltation to the state of angels, whereas we have the privilege of
obtaining not only the same exaltation they enjoy, but of going
further until we become Gods, even the sons of God.

Vol. 9, p.103
My next reflections are upon the state of mankind, their position
before God in their creation and being upon the earth in the
connection of the spirit and tabernacle, and the influences that
surround them. There are certain influences that we have no control
over: man is controlled by surrounding influences in a greater or less
degree. For instance, we cannot avert the consequences of the fall as
it is called, of Adam, which came through his transgressing certain
words or laws given to him by his Father and God. In consequence of
this, sin came into the world, and death by sin. We are more or less
controlled by the influences that have been introduced into the world
by the power of Satan upon the children of men, and will be so long as
we live in the flesh.

Vol. 9, p.103
Permit me to diverge a moment from the legitimate chain of the subject
before us. I do not myself wish, nor do I ask any man in the world to
create a spirit of reformation to sing and shout ourselves "away to
everlasting bliss." There never was any such reformation desired by
me. All I have ever asked for or contended for is a reformation in the
life of this people; that the thief should stop his stealing, the
swearer his swearing, the liar his lying, the deceiver his deceiving,
and the man who loves the world more than his God and his religion
wean his affections from those objects and place them where they of
right belong. I do not wish anybody to cherish a wild enthusiasm, so
common in the world, which is produced by the excitement of animal
passions, and makes people weep and cry out in an insane manner. I
wish the people to make themselves acquainted with facts pertaining to
God, to heaven, to mankind upon the earth, their errand here, for what
they are created, the nature of their organization, who has power over
them, who controls them, how much they can control themselves, &c.,
&c.; and then let us see whether we can be men and conduct ourselves
like Saints, or live and act like the wicked.

Vol. 9, p.103
My reflections led me to inquire who it is that has influence over us.
Can you inform me why people do wrong when they know the path of right
and can walk in it as easily as we can walk home in broad daylight? Is
the cause of this to be found in the heavens? No. Is it to be found in
the spirit God has placed in our tabernacles? No. Where is it to be
found? In the power of the Enemy of all righteousness, who holds
dominion over our flesh, which flesh is intimately connected, with the
spirit God has placed within it. Herein is a warfare.

Vol. 9, p.103
Brother Lorenzo was striving to lay before the people the necessity of
their letting good overcome evil, instead of letting evil overcome
good. His remarks supplied to me a number of texts, showing the
precise situation of mankind before the Father and his angels, and
before all the heavens. Men try to lord it over God's heritage. I
understand that saying in this wise: The spirits that are in men axe
as pure as the Gods are: then why do they consent to do evil? Because
of the influences of evil that are in the flesh. Over it the Enemy of
all righteousness has held dominion, has exercised a right, and has
apparently triumphed. When mankind give way to evil and suffer the
flesh to rule and contaminate the pure spirit tabernacled within it,
they lord it over God's heritage. When men consent to evil, the spirit
within them do [p.104] not answer approvingly. Though the inhabitants
of the earth are in darkness and blindness, yet they are not so
ignorant as they represent themselves to be. There is a spirit in them
that reproves them continually when they do wrong, until they have
sinned away the day of grace, and a mantle of darkness is thrown
around them to shut out for ever the light of God. Until then, they
are checked continually, are taught, and chastened or justified as the
case may be.

Vol. 9, p.104
When people do fight, they rest upon their beds, sleep sweetly, and
rejoice in righteousness in their secret moments. When they do evil,
it brings sorrow and deep pain to them in their private reflections.
"But there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty
giveth them understanding." In every man there is a candle of the Lord
which burns with a clear light; and if by the wickedness of a man it
is extinguished, then farewell for ever to that individual. The people
say they do as well as they know how. This may be true. It is also
true that there is a great amount of ignorance. But who among this
people does an evil without knowing it? Is there a man in this kingdom
who betrays his God and his brethren, without being perfectly
conscious that he does an evil? I think not. Is there one who treats
the name of the Deity with lightness, using his name in vain, that
believes himself justified? I think not. Is there one who takes
advantage of his neighbour or a fellow-being, deceiving and wronging
him, that believes he does right? I think not. When men do wrong, they
know that they do wrong. Is there a person in this community that can
lie, and feel justified in the belief that he is telling the truth?
Does the thief feel justified in doing right when he steals his
neighbour's goods? No. The blackest vagabond, and renegade that walks
the streets of this city or Territory is conscious when he does right
and when he does wrong. Notwithstanding all this, there is a great
deal of ignorance.

Vol. 9, p.104
Just as long as we live within the purview of the reconciliation of
the Spirit of God, that visits us from time to time, revealing the
truth and and the righteousness of our God, and yield to that and
never cast it from us, whether we live or die, there is a salvation
for us. There is a salvation for all the sons and daughters of Adam
and Eve, no matter where they have lived or when, nor whether
Christian, Mussulman, Jew, barbarian, or Gentile, that do not deny the
power of God and sin against the Holy Ghost. You may discover that I
am a Universalist. I am; and I am also a Calvinist, for the Almighty
decreed all this before the worlds were. As I progress in my remarks
you can see plainly that a widely extended field opens to our minds.

Vol. 9, p.104
Is every man and woman capable of receiving the highest glory of God?
No. We are surrounded with circumstances that control us to a certain
degree. My father and mother moved into the State of Vermont, and it
happened that I was horn there. I cannot help that. They might have
stayed in Massachusetts, close to Boston. If they had, I should have
been born there, and I could not have helped that. My father's name
was John Young, and my mother's maiden name was Nabby How. I cannot
help that; My father was a poor, honest, hard-working man; and his
mind seemingly stretched from east to west, from north to south; and
to the day of his death he wanted to command worlds; but the Lord
would never permit him to get rich. He wanted to command all, and that
too in righteousness. I cannot help all this; I have no power  to
control such circumstances. When [p.105] I was about twenty months
old, my father moved from Vermont into the State of New York, where I
lived with him until I became a man. I cannot help that. There are a
thousand circumstances I cannot help or control that are thrown around
me without any action of my choice.

Vol. 9, p.105
I cannot help being here. We might have gone to Vancouver's Island;
and if we had, we should probably have been driven away or used up
before this time. But here we are in the valleys of the mountains,
where the Lord directed me to lead the people. The brethren who apex
in foreign countries desire to gather to the gathering-place of the
Saints, and they have for the present to come to Great Salt Lake City.
They cannot help that. Why did we not go to San Francisco? Because the
Lord told me not: "For there are lions in the way, and they will
devour the lambs, if you take them there." What now can we do? Why,
instead of being merchants, instead of going to St. Louis to buy
goods, we can go down to our Dixie land, the southern part of our
Territory, and raise cotton and manufacture goods for ourselves. These
are circumstances we are creating with which to surround our children,
and to form the foundation of the future prosperity of this community.
They will be more or less governed by the circumstances we create for
them. They will make their own bonnets, ribbons, hats, coats, and
dresses of every kind. While we are governed and controlled by
circumstances over which we have no power, still we possess ability
and power in our different spheres of action to call into existence
circumstances to surround ourselves and our children, which will more
or less control them; and, if they are planned in righteousness, will
tend to lead us and our children to heaven. I have power to call upon
the brethren to go south and raise cotton and indigo, the olive, and
the grape. I have done it. In doing this, it throws them under the
influence of new surroundings and new circumstances. They in their
turn can, by perseverance and faithfulness, under the dictations of
the Spirit of truth, bring forth a train of happy circumstances to
bless them, to bless their wives, to bless their children, and to`
bless the kingdom of God.

Vol. 9, p.105
I have power to send brethren to the east or to the west to buy our
goods. I have power to say, John, William, or Thomas, Go and find a
gold mine; but I am not disposed to exercise this power in that way.
God has given this power to me. Let the brethren who have been called
to go south go willingly, with their heads up and glory, hallelujah!
in their hearts; for they are pioneers of future greatness, power, and
independence to Israel. They possess power to do this. When the
husbandman goes into his field, he has power to plough up the soil.
When it is ready, he has power to plant corn in rows or otherwise; he
has power to sow wheat or oats in drills or broadcast, and harrow in
or cover the seeds, that they may grow. What we sow we shall also
reap. We have great power committed unto us, and yet we are confined
by certain laws that we cannot avert or control.

Vol. 9, p.105
The power of choice all intelligent beings inherit from the Gods of
eternity; it is innate. This statement might even be applied to the
brute creation; but it is not my purpose to extend my remarks in that
channel to-day. The Latter-day Saints can take the road that leads to
life everlasting, if they choose; or, if they choose, they can take
the road that leads to apostacy. As individuals, we must guard our
affections from becoming contaminated [p.106] with the love of earthly
riches, or anything that is of earth, whether animate or inanimate.
Uncertainty is strewed around us, and disappointment is the constant
companion of those who worship at the shrine of the god of this world.
If we centre our affections upon any earthly object, whether within
our reach or out of our reach, should we be bereaved of that object,
we are left to mourn and lament in darkness because of our ignorance
and folly. Let our love be for God and truth, righteousness and peace,
being contented and happy with present endowments; and as the way
opens to further progression, greater possessions, walk forward in the
light of God and hold what we obtain for him and his cause, coveting
not what we possess, and not with an avaricious desire reaching after
what we cannot possess. If we do opposite to this, our whole existence
will be craped with disappointment and mourning. Then let us keep the
world and its allurements aloof from our affections. We may have the
ability to build for ourselves beautiful houses, to plant choice
orchards and vineyards, to adorn our grounds with flowers and
sweet-scented shrubs, and have lovely families, and possess horses and
chariots, silver and gold, this, that, and the other, in abundance.
But if our affections are placed upon these things, we shall either go
out of the kingdom of Christ and miss being exalted sons of God, or
will see our error, repent of our folly, learn to control our
affections, desires, and passions, and willingly let "God rule within
us to will and to do of his good pleasure," having no mind only that
which is of heaven.

Vol. 9, p.106
Have we a will? Yes. It is an endowment, a trait of the character of
the Gods, with which all intelligence is endowed, in heaven and on
earth,—the power to accept or reject.

Vol. 9, p.106
Then, wherever the wisdom of God directs, let our affections and the
labour of our lives be centred to that point, and not set our hearts
on going east or west, north or south, on living here or there, on
possessing this or that; but let our will be swallowed up in the will
of God, allowing him to rule supremely within us until the spirit
overcomes the flesh, and the world, Satan, and the flesh are
vanquished and lie under our feet. Then and not till then will the
righteousness of God reign triumphantly. It may be asked whether I
have any idols? Yes, I have most darling idols—my God and my religion,
and they are all the idols I wish to have. "Have you no wife that you
idolize?" If I have, let the Lord fake her and give her to somebody
else. "Have you no children that you idolize?" If I have, let the Lord
have them. I possess that which is apparently mine; but why should I
call them mine, until I have passed the ordeals mortals must pass, and
they are sealed to me by the authorities of the Gods in a way that
they cannot be taken from me? They are now in my possession, and I
hold them by the undisputed right of that possession. Anything we have
upon this earth we only seem to have, for in reality we own nothing.
No person on the earth can truly call anything his own, and never will
until he has passed the ordeals we are all now passing, and has
received his body again in a glorious resurrection, to be crowned by
him who will be ordained and set apart to set a crown upon our heads.
Then will be given to us that which we now only seem to own, and we
will be forever one with the Father and the Son, and not until then.

Vol. 9, p.106
There is a great difference in the individual capacity of people. Some
can receive much more than others [p.107] can: hence we read of
different degrees of glory. How many kingdoms glory of there are, I
know not; and how many degrees of glory there are in these kingdoms, I
know not; but there are multitudes of them. Paul speaks of three,
Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon saw three, and multitudes more have we
seen by the Spirit of revelation, according to the capacity of our
understandings. Can we so live and direct ourselves as to receive
glory, immortality, and eternal lives? We can. Then love not the
world, nor the things of the world. Desire not that which is not for
us, but desire only that which God has ordained for our benefit and
advancement in the science of eternal life; then can we advance with
accelerated speed in the things of God. 

Vol. 9, p.107
But is it not visibly manifest that the great majority want to lord it
over God's heritage. Wicked kings lord it over the consciences of
their subjects, priests over their people, and masters over their
servants; and wicked dispositions tell us to do this and to desire
that which pertains to folly: they prompt almost constantly to lord it
over God's heritage. Where is God's heritage? It is in our affections,
our love, delight, glory, and happiness. Let us honour God's heritage,
sanctify it, and bring all into subjection that surrounds it and is
connected with it, sanctifying the Lord in our affections. We see all
the world trying to loss it over God's heritage. It is in the spirit
that the evil principle and power is trying to overcome and rule over
the divine principle planted there. This constantly leads the children
of men astray.

Vol. 9, p.107
What power is legally ours? That which was given to Adam and the human
family in former days. Power? Yes. Dominion? Yes. Glory? Yes. Honour?
Yes. That which pertains to this world? Yes. That which pertains to
the next? Yes. Let us understand this power and this privilege that
God has guaranteed to the human family. He has first imparted power to
mankind to control the elements; and when this is employed faithfully
to magnify righteousness, then excellence, magnificence, splendour,
beauty, honour, glory, and Godlike power will follow as the results.
This power must be guided by the Almighty. Let the people be led by
the revelations of Jesus Christ, and the finger of God will be made
manifest before them day by day in their progress to eternal
happiness; for this is the privilege of the faithful.

Vol. 9, p.107
Shall we not choose for ourselves? Yes. Have we not rights? Yes. Have
we not power? Yes. Have we not authority bequeathed to us from the
heavens—a legacy from God to hold dominion over the elements? Yes.
Then go to like men, like angels, like Him we read of, whom we love
and serve and worship, who in his former capacity organized the
elements as we are taught to do for our own benefit, beauty, comfort,
excellency, and glory, and beautify the earth and make it like the
garden of Eden, so that the angels will delight to come and dwell
here, and Jesus Christ will delight to dwell with his brethren on the
earth. This is our right. We are not destitute of rights and
privileges. We have the right of choice. We have the right to dictate,
to plough, plant, sow, reap, gather, mow, clothe ourselves and
families, and gather around us in abundance all the comforts and
blessings of life. Have we a right to inflict evil upon our neighbour,
upon the divinity within him, or upon the divinity within ourselves?
No. God should rule in the way and manner he pleases by the
revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ, which will lead [p.108] the
Saints to victory and glory. By-and-by we will possess more rights
than we now possess, but not until they are given to us. God has
decreed from all eternity that we should have rights, power, and
authority over the elements to organize and bring them into use and
make them beneficial and subserve the wants of the human family.

Vol. 9, p.108
I wish to see this people manufacture their own clothing, and make as
good cloth as is in the coat I now have on, and as good silk as is in
the handkerchief around my neck, and as good linen as is in the bosom
and wristbands of my shirt. When we administer the sacrament of the
Lord's Supper, I wish as good wine as can be made in any country, and
that too made by ourselves from grapes grown in our own mountain
valleys. I want to see the people wear hats, boots, coats, etc., made
by ourselves, as good as ever was made in any country.

Vol. 9, p.108
If you will obey my counsel, you will constantly increase in the
riches and the comforts of life; though every time I speak upon this
subject I wish to keep in view that if we cannot handle the things of
this world without unduly placing our affections upon them, I pray God
to keep them out of our possession. I would rather have this people
clad with sheep-skins and goat-skins than to have them possess the
wealth of this world without feeling that they could trample it all
under their feet at any moment. Earthly wealth and greatness should
only be used to subserve the purposes of God upon the earth. This is
what brother Snow was speaking upon this morning. I have briefly
noticed the same subject, using my own style and language. Let the
divinity within the people overcome that wicked, corrupt hellish
influence the Devil has power to introduce.

Vol. 9, p.108
Do not imagine that I am in the least finding fault with the Devil. I
would not bring a railing accusation against him, for he is fulfilling
his office and calling manfully; he is more faithful in his calling
than are many of the people. God is not yet going to destroy
wickedness from the earth. How frequently we hear it reiterated from
the pulpit that he is going to destroy all wickedness. No such thing.
He will destroy the power of sin. When we have lived to see millions
of worlds created—yea, more in number than the particles of matter
that compose this earth and millions of earths like this, if so many
could be numerated by man, and people live on them to pass through the
ordeals we are passing through, you will never see one of them without
a devil. The work the Saviour has on hand is to reduce the power of
the Devil to perfect subjection; and when he has destroyed death and
him that has the power of it, pertaining to this world, then he will
deliver up the kingdom spotless to the Father.

Vol. 9, p.108
I have not told the Saints my feelings, but I will here say that it is
my daily prayer that God will change the power and authority of our
political Government into the hands of the just. Amen. [p.109]

George A. Smith, September 10, 1861

Difficulties With Which the Church Has Had to
Contend in Its Establishment in Utah

Discourse by Elder George A. Smith, delivered at Logan,
Cache County, September 10, 1861.

Reported By G. D. Watt

Vol. 9, p.109
I love to hear the teachings of the servants of God, especially those
whom God has appointed to preside over his people in all the world. I
love also to contribute my testimony, or to speak to the Saints by way
of encouragement, illustration, and instruction. For twenty-eight
years past, it has been the feeling of my heart that if there was
anything on the earth that I could do to advance the work of the Lord
in the last days, I wished to do it; and if I have let anything slip
that I ought to have done, it has been for want of understanding and a
proper knowledge of the circumstances at the time. I entertain the
same sentiments and determination to-day upon this subject that I have
entertained for twenty-eight years past.

Vol. 9, p.109
I am gratified and rejoice exceedingly in beholding the faces of my
brethren and sisters in this valley. From the manner which the people
here have received the President and his escort, it is plain they are
wide awake. A band of music met us on the mountain side, and they
played with a free goodwill. The drummer seemed as though he was
determined to beat the head of his drum in; and when the brethren
undertook to sing in the meetinghouse. at Wellsville, it seemed as
though their united voices would tear the house to pieces, so loud
were their rejoicings. The spirit in them inspired them to do as they
did.

Vol. 9, p.109
We do not realize to the full extent what we are doing. We are
actually settling a portion of the earth that has been considered
uninhabitable. We are reclaiming it from a desert, and building upon
it a foundation for an immense State; and that State is composed of a
united people, who are almost universally of harmonious sentiments.
The foundation of this settlement of the "Mormon" people in the
mountains really attracted the notice of the Federal Government. We
had been mobbed and persecuted and driven from place to place, from
city to city. On that kind of treatment we have flourished; our
numbers have increased, although many of our brethren have laid their
bones in the grave prematurely, and many of our wives and children
have perished through persecution; yet from their ashes have seemed to
spring thousands.

Vol. 9, p.109
When we fled into the wilderness, our enemies said, "Now, let the
Mormons alone; they will encounter so many difficulties and so many
natural objections to their growth, they must come to naught; they
will quarrel with each other, and they will soon break up, and we
shall have no more trouble with them."

Vol. 9, p.109
When James K. Polk, President of the United States, was told that the
"Mormons" had occupied the Great Basin, and were making settlements on
the borders of the Great Salt Lake, "Why," said he, "that is the key
of the continent." When the  wisdom of the venerable Senator, the late
[p.110] Secretary Cass, was brought into requisition on the subject,
"What shall we do with the Mormons?" said he. "Send a small army among
them, under the command of an intelligent officer; send good-looking,
companionable, sociable officers, and a few strong-minded women; yes,
send men who are calculated to win away their females, and thus
civilize them, by introducing among them habits of modern Christian
civilization; and in a short time you will reduce them to the
necessity of being satisfied with one wife." Colonel Steptoe was sent
here to fulfil that mission with the gentlemanly officers and soldiers
who composed his command. The object of their errand, however, was not
accomplished.

Vol. 9, p.110
In a short time afterwards they came to the conclusion that it was
necessary to take a step that should make an utter end of "Mormonism"
at once, by a decided and bold stroke of "our gallant little army."
The nation was proud of so grand an undertaking. The press lauded the
project, and the members of the Government were proud of the zeal. in
which this enterprising war was undertaken. The delusion passed
current that the "Mormons" would now be broken up. Their first hope
was that famine would reduce us to destruction; but this had failed.

Vol. 9, p.110
And while they were looking for tidings that in the hard winter of
1856 the "Mormons" had all perished of starvation, our Delegates
suddenly appeared at the Capitol, asking for admission into the Union
as a State. This astonished them.

Vol. 9, p.110
Do they not remember that from the earliest period of our history, the
nation and the different States have recognized us as a separate
people? In 1834 Daniel Dunklin, Governor of Missouri, said in an
official document that the constitution and laws of the State of
Missouri made ample provisions for the protection of the Mormons; but
the prejudices of the people of Missouri were so great against them,
that they could not be enforced, and consequently the Mormons could
not be reinstated in the possession of their lands and protected in
their rights.

Vol. 9, p.110
If my friend, Attorney-General Blair here, will allow me, I will quote
Blackstone, who says that "Allegiance is that ligament or thread which
ties or binds the subject to the sovereign, and for which the subject
is entitled to protection from the sovereign." Now, the very minute
that the sovereign, king, or government, republic, or whatever form of
government it may be, shall cease to extend protection to their
subjects, whether they be many or few they necessarily become
independent, and are compelled for self-preservation to protect
themselves and to look out for their own wants and provide for their
own necessities. That is the situation we were in in Missouri when
Governor Dunklin declared that the constitution and laws of Missouri
could not be enforced so as to protect this people. It was virtually
declaring us independent of that State, and acknowledging our right to
protect ourselves in that capacity. The truth of this position was
further illustrated by the imposition upon us of a treaty by
Major-General Lucas in the fall of 1838, which treaty was approved by
Major-General Clark, and subsequently by L. W. Boggs, Governor of the
State; and thus, contrary to our will, and at the point of thousands
of bayonets, were we compelled to be one of the high contracting
parties to a treaty—an exercise of power which belongs alone to
independent sovereignty.

Vol. 9, p.110
From that day, and I do not know how long before, so far as allegiance
is concerned, we were cast without the pale of the  jurisdiction of
the Government in which we lived. It was not we that did this: it was
forced [p.111] upon us. We were law-abiding citizens, and wanted the
protection of the laws, the constitution, and the Government of
Missouri: we wished to remain quietly in our homes, and have the
privilege of eating the bread of industry, and to rear our children in
virtue's ways. But no, "these institutions [constitution and laws] are
not for you Mormons."

Vol. 9, p.111
We found the same doctrine held good in Illinois, and the same
principle has been carried out precisely by the action of the General
Government towards us.

Vol. 9, p.111
I was told at Washington that if we were not Mormons, we should be
hailed with generosity and friendship; and the prestige of having
subdued this country and brought it into use would have placed us
foremost in the rank of Territories. But we were "Mormons." These are
the sentiments, the spirit, and the feeling all over the country and
with the Government.

Vol. 9, p.111
We look at this matter as it is. The General Government is not going
to donate land to us, while they were ready to give the settlers in
Oregon six hundred and forty acres of land each, half as much for
their wives, and a quarter as much for each one of their children.
Oregon is located on the seaboard, possessing the advantage of large
navigable rivers. It has a flourishing commerce growing up, providing
the people with exchanges at comparatively little cost.

Vol. 9, p.111
Utah is in the heart of the desert. It requires persons of the most
undaunted courage and energy to possess it at all. Then, why not give
theme chance to occupy the land? Why not encourage the settlers of
Utah, to reward them for their energy and toil in reclaiming a desert,
by giving them six hundred and forty acres of laded apiece? Because
"they are damned Mormons!" That is the reason they do not give them an
acre.

Vol. 9, p.111
What do we find in the administration of Mr. Buchanan? The very first
step he took was to gather the flower of the American army—the finest
and best appointed army that ever the United States fitted out. This
was the declaration of the members of the Cabinet and the press
throughout the whole country. The army under Washington that captured
Lord Cornwallis hardly amounted to twelve thousand men; the army that
was sent to Utah and actually marched for this Territory numbered over
thirteen thousand soldiers; buff altogether, with the attaches they
employed, it amounted to upwards of seventeen thousand men. Even this
vast army was not allowed to pass through the inhabited parts of the
Territory until the High Commissioners sent by the President of the
United States, exercising, though disclaiming the authority of the
treaty-making power, negotiated for their passage into the
settlements. Many attempts were made to violate this compact, and in
many instances they did so to a limited extent, but they found dangers
beset them. An old Frenchman said they would damn the "Mormons" when
they would get up, and when they would go to bed, when they would
drink, smoke, and gamble, and they would say, "Why not go to work and
destroy them?" Then they would reason, "We are here right in the midst
of the Mormons: there are only a few thousands of us; and if we
commence the play, we shall all go under: then the people will come
from the States and kill all the Mormons; but what good would that do
us if we were all dead." God fought our battles.

Vol. 9, p.111
To conclude the argument that we are an independent people,
acknowledged by the United States, and that our Territory was no
longer tenable to their armies, but must be evacuated, orders were
given by the [p.112] President to destroy everything that could be of
use to us here. "Burst your cannon, blow up your magazines, and waste
everything you cannot carry away and that would be of any use whatever
to the Mormon people; for in vacuating a Territory we cannot conquer.
We must let nothing go into the hands of our enemies that will in any
way benefit them." The destruction of property in this way is an
evidence of hostilities. This is the practice of nations that are at
war with each other, to destroy what they cannot carry away.

Vol. 9, p.112
We have had to protect ourselves and sustain the expense of Indian
wars, make our own laws, regulate ourselves in our own way, and no
nation, kindred, tongue, or people has the right to say, Why do you
so? This right so far has been conceded; the army has been withdrawn
from our country, and they have gone away, in a manner acknowledging
their defeat. To be sure, many of the officers went away saying, "We
will come by-and-by and wipe you out." But as God would have it, they
are employed in paying such compliments to each other as they bad
designed to inflict upon us.

Vol. 9, p.112
I have friends in what is now termed the Northern and Southern
Confederacies, for now the Federal Union is one of the things that has
ceased to be. Such a thing as the Government of the United States as
organized by our fathers has ceased to exist. The North claims to be
it; but the United States as a Government, as a nation, as organized
by our fathers, is among the things that were. Fragments of it, in the
shape of separate governments or combinations, may be able to inflict
national chastisement upon each other, or make war with foreign
nations; but it is only as a fraction, and not as a whole. The State
of Kentucky declares that neither the North nor South shall march
armies into their Territory. You find in the history of the wars of
Europe that an armed neutrality is not an uncommon thing. Kentucky is
observing the same. She is a powerful State; she may be drawn into the
great vortex of war; she may take sides with the North or with the
South, or most likely be divided on both sides; but she is no more in
connection with the General Government, as it is called, than with
Tennessee or Virginia.

Vol. 9, p.112
Turmoil and mob power rule. They are destroying each other,
demolishing public improvements: printing presses have been destroyed
in Missouri and most other States. Blackstone says that a press that
publishes falsehood and licentiousness is a nuisance, and that all
corporations should have power to abate it. We abated the Expositor in
Nauvoo according to law on this ground. Both the North and the South
have been doing the same thing: hundreds of papers have been
suppressed. Gov. Ford said it was right to abate the Expositor, but it
would have been better by mob than by municipal authority; and now mob
law rules the whole country and destroys printing presses without let
or hindrance.

Vol. 9, p.112
We will now speak of our mountain home. The Lord has smiled upon these
valleys. Colonel Fremont was in the Bear River Valley in August, 1843,
when the mercury stood at 29 degrees, showing conclusively that grain
could not be ripened here. People in the States would pick up that
report and say, "Everything will freeze to death there." A few years
passed away, and you find eight or nine hundred families of Saints in
Cache Valley, and they can raise the finest wheat,  flax, and wool. I
saw yesterday as fine a specimen of tobacco as can be raised in
Virginia. Every nation [p.113] feels it is their best policy and their
duty to adopt such a system of political economy as will provide for
their own wants, and protect themselves against the exactions of other
nations.

Vol. 9, p.113
We need not expect to get cotton from the Southern States, for they
are fighting with the North, and have not time to raise it and
communication is cut off by a blockade. We need not expect to get
tobacco from the South, for the negroes are at work digging
entrenchments and raising corn for the Southern army.

Vol. 9, p.113
We have got to provide for ourselves as a great family and as a
nation. All enlightened nations have endeavoured to get control of a
northern and southern climate. The God of heaven, in his abundant
mercy, has given us the control, in these elevated valleys, of a
northern and southern climate.

Vol. 9, p.113
There are a great many persons among us that use tobacco, and there
are some reasons why they use it. For instance, our young men seed
Gentile with a stove pipe hat on, a pair of big whiskers, and a cigar
in his mouth. Oh, it looks so pretty, think our young men; and if they
cannot get a cigar, they must have a pipe. Many of our boys see an old
man that has been educated among the Gentiles, and has contracted,
unfortunately, a habit of chewing tobacco. While walking along, he
spits upon the snow; it colours the virgin snow as though a calf had
been there. The boy looks at it, and says he, "That looks nice;" so he
gets his tobacco, and spits on the snow also. "There," says he, "that
looks as though a man had been along here." This habit has became
stubborn with many people. You may be astonished when I tell you that
it takes about sixty thousand dollars in cash out of our Territory
every year for the article of tobacco. Within the last ten years we
have paid in the neighbourhood of six hundred thousand dollars for
this one article.

Vol. 9, p.113
It is entirely against our interest to pay out this yearly sum for an
article we can raise in our own country, and a violation of the true
principles of political economy. I will appeal to our individual
pockets. I will say I have got to pay for me and my boys for
twenty-five pounds of tobacco in a year. Suppose a tax-gatherer comes,
and my tax is twenty-five dollars, I say I have not a red cent, and I
cannot pay it. It cannot be had; I cannot raise it; but twenty-five
dollars in tobacco must be raised: there are no two ways about that.

Vol. 9, p.113
Now, as a State, in this item of political economy, let us raise and
manufacture our own tobacco, and learn to think and believe that
tobacco of our own raising is just as good and a little better than
that brought from abroad.

Vol. 9, p.113
We sent brethren to the South to raise cotton in 1857. Something like
thirty-three of them went, and the next year many more went, so that
in 1858 the vote of Washington County amounted to one hundred voters.
Many of them were Southern men, who had been gathered from Texas,
Alabama, Mississippi, and other parts of the Southern States. They
were accustomed to raising cotton. The President advised them to go
there and supply the Territory with cotton. It had the appearance of a
barren country generally. The mountains were barren and bleak in their
appearance; red sandstone, and black volcanic rock, and a variety of
grey coloured clay prevailing, altogether giving it a kind of sombre,
deadly appearance. The brethren went to raising cotton in small
patches as they could find the land, and every year they cultivated it
they found the cotton improve in quality. [p.114] They raised better
cotton last year than the year before, and so they have continued
until it has become a certainty that cotton can be raised there.

Vol. 9, p.114
I have seen men load up their cotton and start this way to trade it
off. Say they, "I want to get a few bushels of wheat, and pay in
cotton." The answer has been, "I can do nothing with your cotton; but
if it was spun, I would buy it." So the cotton raiser has considered
it of little use to raise cotton, and went to raising wheat. They did
not know what to do with their cotton when it was raised. You may go
to those same persons that would not buy from the cotton raiser, and
their women say—"Husband I have got to have some cotton batting from
the store, to make some quilts of. Now, husband, you need not try to
dodge; the batten has got to come." It costs fifty cents a pound, and
one-third of it is paper when you get it. Sister, why did you not, buy
that brother's cotton the other day: you would have got two dollars
for your wheat you sell at the store for one? "Oh, his cotton was
grown at home, and that bought in the stores is made into nice sheets,
all ready for spreading in the quilt." You can raked pair of hand
cards and prepare our, home-made cotton for the quilt with but a
little trouble, and you would have the clean cotton instead of
one-third brown paper. For your bushel of wheat, after hauling it to
the store, you get a pound and a half of cotton; whereas, if you sell
your wheat to the home producer for cotton, you have laid at your door
four pounds of cotton for a bushel of wheat.

Vol. 9, p.114
To buy the foreign cotton in this manner, and discourage home
production, is very far from good political economy. Quite an amount
of raw cotton is wanted in this Territory for filling quilts and other
purposes by every family. The wool answers a good purpose, but it is
not plentiful enough; and even if it were, there are many kinds of
quilts and comforters for which cotton is far preferable. Did we only
encourage this home production of cotton to this limited extent, it
would save thousands of dollars of money that is now thrown needlessly
into the pockets of merchants to supply this article from abroad. Let
us stop this suicidal practice of sending away our money. It would be
better to braid our bed covering from oat straw, until we can supply
our wants from the elements and soil of our own mountain valleys.

Vol. 9, p.114
In 1857 the brethren had began to raise flax. I speak particularly of
Provo. In 1858 the army came, and there was a chance for a man to make
a few dollars by licking the dust of their feet and bowing down to
them; so the flax was left to rot. I can find perhaps a hundred places
now in the city of Provo where flax is suffered to go again into the
ground, while the owners considered they ought to go and do something
for the Gentiles to get money to buy clothes.

Vol. 9, p.114
Some man says, "I worked up some flax, and it was worthless—it was
rotten." It is known in all flax countries that if you get flax too
much rotted by laying it up a year or two, it will recover its
strength. In Pennsylvania, which is a good flax-raising country, some
farmers will have five or six years' flax laid up, and each year they
select out of it that which makes the best thread. When you find your
flax a little too rotten, you are at once discouraged, and straightway
make up your minds to go and work for the Gentiles to get some of
their rotten rags.

Vol. 9, p.114
A great many "Mormons," when they become wealthy, want to go back to
show their former comrades and [p.115] friends what an amount of
property they have got. But, with all this bombast and vain show, we
do not really possess anything. A man says, "I came into Cache Valley
two years ago, I got forty of acres land, and I have raised a good
deal of wheat by very hard labour, and that wheat is mine." You
ploughed the ground and watered it; but who made the seed grow that
you threw into the ground? The Lord. Then it is his: he let you have a
little of it, to see what you would do with it. Have you a right to
abuse the Lord's means which he permits you to use? No. But, as a
member in the kingdom of God in the last days, you have a right to use
it for the advancement of that kingdom, and the triumph of
righteousness, and for doing good in every possible way.

Vol. 9, p.115
I have heard men say that they have a right to do wrong. In one sense,
a man has such a right; and, in another sense, he has no such right.
We possess, in reality, very little; and that little the Lord has
given us, and that is the power of choice. We may choose to do good,
and, if we do good, we get the reward of good; we may also choose to
do evil and reap the penalty. A man may knock another down because he
has a right to, and have to pay a fine of fifty dollars because he is
obliged to. I deny that a man has a right to make thieves of his
children and prostitute his family. If he does this, the Lord is
justified in cursing him, and he will be obliged to endure it. This
power of choice goes a great way. A young man says, I have a notion to
go on the road and work for the Gentiles, carry the mail, or anything
else. All right. But your friend suggests that it would he better for
you to make a farm, build you a house, raise some flax, etc. "But I
have a right to work for the Gentiles, if I choose and lain going to."
You go and build them up with your labour. This young man comes home
after a while, he sports a cigar in his mouth among his comrades, he
has made thirty dollars per month, he has a few dollars in money in
his pocket; it has seemed to come easy, and his soul is contaminated
with wickedness. In a little while his money is gone, and he has
nothing. Then he must go again among the Gentiles and make a raise. I
hope the "Mormon" girls know how to measure such fellows. A sensible
girl would much rather marry a young man, dressed in home-spun, who
will stay at home and mind his business, and never suffer a cigar to
come near his mouth, but seek with all his might in every respect to
be a good, faithful Latter-day Saint.

Vol. 9, p.115
Speaking of cigar-smoking makes me think of an anecdote of a sick man
and his doctor. The doctor asked him how many cigars he smoked in a
day; the answer was, Six. That is too much; you must quit smoking. You
will allow me to smoke a little. Yes, you may smoke two a day to begin
with, and finally quit altogether. The next day the doctor called to
see his patient, and found him smoking a cigar two feet long. What are
you doing? inquired the doctor. Just doing as you told me; I went down
to the cigar-maker and got two made two feet long, and they answer
first-rate.

Vol. 9, p.115
When a man begins to adopt Gentile habits, a cigar two feet long is
only a patching to the extravagance he will become addicted to.

Vol. 9, p.115
I see in this valley large fields fenced out. In some places, there
have been four or five acres ploughed; in some, ten acres: pass on a
little further, and there are a few acres more. How is this, brother
Maughan? Men inclose more than they can cultivate, water, and improve,
and a very large [p.116] portion must necessarily be vacant, for it
was difficult to get water on it. Many acres of grain perish, and the
grasshoppers devoured much that remained from the drought. I advise
you, brethren, to stop this scattering method of cultivation, and
gather your farms together, and make fields well fenced, plough, and
put in your grain well, and give it a sufficient amount of water, and
you will have three times as much wheat as you got in the start of
your settlements in this valley.

Vol. 9, p.116
President Young is acknowledged by us all the master-builder in Zion
or, if you please, the master-workman. If the master-workman walks in
among the timber laid out here for your big Tabernacle as the grand
architect, planning and assorting the different sticks of timber for
certain places and purposes, he does not expect to meet with
opposition from the material out of which he designs to make a temple
of worship. He comes to a stick of timber, and says, I will make a
post of this; and the stick rises up in the dignity of its strength
and will not be made a post, but will be a sleeper, and so on with all
the timbers of the building: they are not subject to the will of the
master-builder. Will not this comparison represent a large portion of
this people? The master-builder points to the South and says, Go and
raise cotton; but many reply, It is no cotton country; it is the most
wrectched, barren, God-forsaken country in the world. This is not
submitting to the will of the master-builder.

Vol. 9, p.116
This puts me in mind of Jefferson Thompson, now a Brigadier-General in
the secession army in Missouri. After he had been in this country, his
comrades got around and inquired, Well, Mr. Thompson, how do you like
that country? Any good land there? He replied, It is the most
God-forsaken country in all creation. How did you find the Mormons
living there? How do they live? Why, they raise plenty of wheat, and
the best wheat I ever saw in my life. Can they raise anything else?
Yes. The finest potatoes, (I never saw finer,) and every kind of
garden stuff, and very good corn. Any fruit? They are beginning to
raise some fine peaches and other kinds of fruits. But you said it was
the most desolate, barren, God-forsaken country in creation: how is
it, then, that they can raise such good stuff? Well I cannot account
for it in any way, only it is a damned Mormon miracle?

Vol. 9, p.116
That is the correct idea: the Lord is doing it. I have learned that in
the county of Harrison, Western Virginia, they have not raised ten
bushels of apples, peaches, plums, or a pink of strawberries in the
whole country, although I dare say there are a thousand orchards in
it, and their crops have failed; their glory has departed. The Lord
blesses the land in proportion as they willing to do good. Last year,
the word of the Lord came to this people, Send down two hundred teams
and bring home the Saints. The teams were sent down. Some said we
could not do without them at home; if so many teams went, we could not
raise crops sufficient. But there has not been such a crop in all the
Territory as was raised this year. The very sending of the teams
seemed to be the assurance of the bountiful blessings of God on our
crops. As the President remarked this forenoon, we say all we have is
upon the altar: but let it begin to burn, and they begin straightway
to pull it off. We are all united in our faith; but when the word
comes, Brother, you have a good farm here; but the interests of Zion
seem to require you should go to Santa Clara to raise cotton. But,
says he, it is no cotton country,  and he is awfully discouraged. What
does it [p.117] matter in what part of the building the master-builder
places us? Every person is placed in a position he is the best
qualified to fill, and which he will enhance the most the interests of
the kingdom of God.

Vol. 9, p.117
As the President and his company were going down south, a brother
wanted us to go and breakfast with him: he said he could not do very
well by us, for he was sent on a mission, and he was not as rich as
some of the people. When we went to breakfast, it was not ready. An
apology was made that the women had to milk twenty cows: he had ten
more on the Plains running with their calves, and he had not time to
get them up. He said he wanted to accompany the President, but he had
only two animals up; but he had two span of mules on the Plains that
he thought would keep up with the President. I have had a hard time of
it this season, and had but little time. I had to do all my farming
with three-year, olds and four: year-olds. I sent four yoke of cattle
to the States this season; yet I have thirty acres of wheat—the best
wheat you ever saw. What a poor man! But he was on a mission, and the
idea of being on a mission made him think he was poor.

Vol. 9, p.117
If a man feels rich, and has not a dime in his pocket, if he is
righteous, he is rich indeed; but if he has a penurious disposition
and is miserly, though his hands are full of riches, he does not turn
it to a good account, and in a little while he is like the child that
takes an apple in each hand, but undertakes to hold another; he is apt
to drop the two to secure the third.

Vol. 9, p.117
When you raise flax, hemp, wheat, cattle, wool, etc., let everything
be placed in the best position to increase the creature comforts of
life. Seek the means to manufacture the textile productions into
clothing, etc., that nothing may be lost or wasted, and thus learn to
do without those things that have to come from abroad. Let us make our
own crockery. Let us be willing to drink out of a brown mug or go
without. We want to see every man and woman ready to do that which is
for the general welfare more than for the individual interest.

Vol. 9, p.117
We boast about being one, pray about it, and rejoice about it every
minute; but let the Lord's servants try to dictate us how to manage
our property in the best possible manner for the general good and the
accelerated growth of the wealth and influence of this great people,
we declare by our works they shall not touch a dollar. Zion is going
to be a great empire, and seeing God has trusted us as stewards of the
property we hold, we must use it to build up his kingdom and cause.
And when the authorities advise us to put that property into a mill or
carding-machine, into this or that, for the welfare of Israel, do it
cheerfully with a good heart and ready hand, and not with fear and
whining.

Vol. 9, p.117
I pray the Lord continually to inspire President Young with wisdom and
knowledge, and judgment above all men upon earth, to dictate the
affairs of Zion in a manner that shall be the most approved by his
heavenly Master. I really do want to see a feeling of contentment
manifested by the brethren who are sent into Washington County to
raise cotton there, and make the mission honourable, and gain for
themselves credit and the blessings of God and his servants. If a man
is instructed to raise flax, and introduce machinery to manufacture
it, I like to see him do it cheerfully. In all our works and labour,
our first great interest should be the building up of the kingdom of
God, and be so gritty that we will actually go  without buying a
[p.118] pasteboard bonnet or a pair of paper shoes, when we can have
something we can produce ourselves that will answer the purpose. All
these articles are produced by labour and ingenuity. Let the knowledge
of these arts be communicated from one to another, and be the property
of the whole to benefit the whole. There is a man in Pinto, Washington
county, that makes cheese so skilfully that he never has any trouble
with it in summer; he only has to turn it once in a while. Will,
brother, how do you make that cheese? "That is a secret."

Vol. 9, p.118
Now, brethren, if you know anything that is for the welfare of Israel,
instruct others. If a sister knows how to get her up a table-cloth,
let her show it to her sister, and let the knowledge pass round. If
she understands the process of spinning cotton and flax, communicate
that knowledge to others. Let us learn wisdom from our leaders.

Vol. 9, p.118
The power of the Almighty has been manifested in gathering this people
out of the midst of many nations. A greater miracle never existed. It
has been done by his wise counsel and fatherly care, and a nation has
been established without the shedding of blood. Zion has been
travailing and has brought forth. I have travelled this season to
preach to the Saints twenty-five hundred miles and stopped with the
Saints every night. I have preached to hundreds of congregations,
large and small, in houses and out-of-doors.

Vol. 9, p.118
May the blessing of Israel's God attend you and your crops, and herds
and flocks; and everything that pertains to you, may it be blessed
continually. Amen.

Daniel H. Wells, October 7, 1860

Duties of the Saints in Rolling Forth the Work of God

Remarks by President Daniel H. Wells, made in the Bowerty,
Great Salt Lake City, October 7, 1860.

Reported By J. V. Long

Vol. 9, p.118
I have been highly gratified during this Conference in hearing the
teachings which we have heard. I felt (as I always do when hearing of
the greatness and goodness of God, and the great work in which we are
engaged,) to rejoice in the blessings of the Almighty. This Gospel is
meat to my soul; it affords me continual pleasure; I contemplate it
with delight. If I had the tongue of an angel, or of the most eloquent
upon the earth it would be my delight to speak of the goodness of God
and of the work he is performing; for it appears very glorious to me.
The building up of Zion and the establishment of the kingdom of God
are to me interesting in the highest degree: the work in which we are
all engaged is a constant solace to my soul.

Vol. 9, p.119
I was well pleased with what I heard yesterday afternoon in regard
[p.119] to the ox-train telegraph, or whatever you may choose to call
it. Is this the Gospel of Jesus Christ that I am alluding to? It is
because it is in relation to the gathering of Israel, and that which
will accomplish the gathering of Israel is the salvation of the
people; and for this reason I was pleased with what I heard from the
President, and also from Bishop Woolley and Elder J. W. Young. The
President observed that he did not often make a requirement of the
people without giving a reason for it. I thought yesterday that the
reasons were very good, great, and numerous, why he should require the
Saints to furnish two hundred waggons and teams to go to the States
and bring home the poor and meek of the earth.

Vol. 9, p.119
We hear of the great and glorious. things of the kingdom; but when we
go home, do we look about ourselves and look after the interests of
the cause of our Redeemer? Will we receive the teachings which we hear
from this stand? Will we put forth our hands to enable the President
to roll forth this great work? This is for us all to answer and act
upon. Will the Bishops bring forth those waggons and teams, three or
four yoke of oxen to each waggon? If they will, we can then accomplish
much towards bringing the poor to these valleys next year. Will the
Bishops answer this call from Bishop Hunter, and he from the
President? The President is the Lord's mouthpiece, and it seems to me
that; be should only have to say to Bishop Hunter, We want two hundred
waggons and teams to go to the Missouri river, and it should be done.
I feel in my heart that this will be done. I believe the brethren will
take an interest in the matter. I feel satisfied that there is cattle
enough in the country, and we can easily do this. We only need to be
united, and the work will be accomplished.

Vol. 9, p.119
There is another matter of vital importance for us to consider. The
Lord's storehouse is almost empty, and we should see to this, for the
President says he wishes to begin to fill up that house, that in the
spring he may begin to build up the walls of the Temple. To carry on
this work, much means will be needed, and we shall expect that the
Lord's storehouse will be filled up with grain and provisions for the
sustenance of the hands that will be called to work upon the Temple.
We shall expect; this to be in the hearts of the people, and that they
will furnish the means to buy cloth, or the clothing ready made; also
the butter, eggs, cheese, beef, and all things necessary for the
brethren that will labour upon the Temple. Let us be gathering things
together this fall and winter, for these are things that are necessary
to help in sustaining this kingdom, and accomplishing and bringing
about the purposes of the Lord.

Vol. 9, p.119
It is meat and drink to me to see the work of the Lord roll forth and
prosper. I have no doubtful feelings in regard to the glorious future
of the kingdom to which we belong, but I feel assured that all things
that have been spoken concerning it will come to pass. I have no fears
in regard to the blessings promised to the Saints, nor anything that
pertains to the welfare of the kingdom of our God. I shall get all the
blessings I deserve, and in all probability a great many more, for I
have some confidence in the goodness of God, and I think that the will
not only give me all that I deserve, but a great deal more.

Vol. 9, p.119
I feel to be active and energetic in the discharge of the duties I
have to perform, and not let the time and opportunity pass without
accomplishing those things that are required of me. If we omit
anything that we can do, it is an opportunity let slip that will not
return. In order to get [p.120] a reward, we should labour to
accomplish a great deal of good, try to do more, and to increase the
knowledge of God; we should strive to increase continually and to be
faithful in all things. We are connected and bound together by a
single motive—by the principles of salvation which we have received;
and why not manifest this in the building up of the kingdom of God,
and thus have an interest in all that pertains to the faithful in
Christ, till we can wield an influence in all things that will promote
the prosperity of Zion? By doing this, the nations will feel the
distant tread of Israel; the nations will know it and feel it. Israel
is on the increase, while the nations are crumbling. We can see it and
feel it.

Vol. 9, p.120
Then let the people take warning and make friends with their God and
with the people of God. It is for their interest to do so. We should
have no fears as to the final result. It is as the President said this
morning, Zion will be built up, and the laws thereof go forth to all
people; and if we were disposed, we could not hinder it. This is a
cause of offence to many. They axe angry because we rejoice in the
things which the Lord reveals unto us. It is for this cause that they
seek to destroy us from the earth, because the Lord through us
forewarns them that he will send his destroying angels to speak to
them in a way that they cannot misunderstand.

Vol. 9, p.120
We know that if the people had the influence and power, they would
dethrone the Almighty and crucify Jesus again, and that without a
cause; but what do we cry to them about it? We command them to repent
of their sins, and turn unto God with all their hearts, might, mind,
and strength; but they will not hearken.

Vol. 9, p.120
Brethren, let us be faithful and energetic in the performance of our
duties; let us go forth, conquering and to conquer. Let us draw from
the elements those things that are necessary for our support, to aid
in building up the kingdom of God, doing all things necessary
temporally as well as spiritually, work righteousness, and reject evil
from our midst. If we pursue this course, those that seek to destroy
the people of our God, who seek to tread upon the wine and the oil,
will have no influence nor power; but we shall be enabled to establish
the true principles of righteousness upon the earth.

Vol. 9, p.120
It is our mission and duty as Saints to do all that lies in our power
to build up the kingdom of our God upon the each, to overthrow error,
destroy wickedness and iniquity. These are the purposes for which we
are gathered together, and let us be diligent therein. In our own
sphere, let us act well our part as Saints of the Most High God.

Vol. 9, p.120
This is my exhortation, brethren and sisters, and these are my
feelings upon the subject. While we rejoice in the great and glorious
work of our Heavenly Father, let us be active in the performance of
the duties required of us.

Vol. 9, p.120
I pray the Almighty to give us health and strength to enable us to
accomplish the work we have before us as fast as it shalt be wisdom
for us to do so, which I ask in the name of Jesus. Amen. [p.121]

Brigham Young, February 17, 1861

Varieties of Mind and Character—Chastisement—Freedom, &c.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, February 17, 1861.

Reported By G. D. Watt

Vol. 9, p.121
I wish to address myself particularly to the Elders of Israel, for
their instruction, edification, and learning, that they, may be
profitable to themselves and others. I will appeal to the experience
of every individual, when we do as well as we know how, honour our
God, honour our calling, honour our Priesthood, honour our
tabernacles, our being upon the earth, whether it is not the feeling
of every heart to wish all persons to be just like ourselves—to wish
the ideas and acts of our brethren to be precisely like ours; and yet
we should not, look upon ourselves as an infallible standard for
others. It is no mote natural for your lungs to expand and contract in
breathing than it is for you to wish others to be like yourselves.

Vol. 9, p.121
I wish the Elders of Israel to understand mankind as they are—to go to
the people and take them as they are. Let an Elder go into the world
to preach the Gospel of salvation, and he will find some individuals
possessed of a great deal more ability than others. Stop with a
family, when you are invited to tarry over night, and you find them in
great ignorance; their minds are low and grovelling, as were the minds
of their fathers before them; they have not been taught to cultivate
the mental faculty that is within them, and they are dull and stupid.
Step into another house, and you will discern that the minds of every
member of that family are cultivated to the best of their ability and
circumstances. You will find some portions of a community diligently
studying the sciences of the day, others cultivating the arts, &c.,
each according to their tastes, means, or circumstances, while others
seem to be under no cultivation of the mind: yet in all the various
classes each wants his neighbour to be precisely like himself.

Vol. 9, p.121
You see some persons who appear at meetings on the Sabbath and on
other public occasions with their hair uncombed and their faces,
hands, and clothing uncleanly. Have they no combs nor soap? They have,
or can get them. How happens it that we behold such conduct? Probably
the parents of those persons taught them that it was pride that
prompted people to appear clean and decent. Perhaps their mothers
taught them in their infancy that if they washed their faces, and
combed and anointed their hair, and dressed themselves in comely
apparel to appear before their fellow-men, "Oh, you axe full of
pride!" Sisters, were not some of you taught in your youth that if you
wore a silk dress, you did so purely through pride? Many of you were.
I knew one sister in this Church who burned up several dresses when
she became a Methodist, because she thought it not right for her to
wear rich and costly clothing; that pride prompted costly dress, and
in it she could not come before the Lord in humility. She also thought
that if [p.122] she gave her rich dresses away, others would commit
the same sin that she would commit in wearing them; so she destroyed
them.

Vol. 9, p.122
To return to the Elders of Israel. An Elder visits a Branch, and,
unless he is on his guard, he will begin to complain that the
Presiding Elder of the Branch is not as he is, does not understand as
he does, and does not conceive of the Gospel as he does. He will find
himself saying to the members of the Branch—"You, are in the dark; you
need teaching; you ought to have a smart Elder here—a man of
understanding—to teach you." "Well, brother, will you stay and teach
us?" Perhaps, through persuasion, be will stop, and what will he do?
Break that Branch to pieces, and destroy their faith, if possible.
Why? "You are not as I am!" Elders, look to this, and think of it. We
wish you to reap some benefit from your experience.

Vol. 9, p.122
When I rise here and tell you things that pertain to other nations and
generations, and when others teach you things that pertain to other
people, it does not profit you as much as it does for us to understand
ourselves. Wherever we go, wherever our lot is east, whoever we
associate with, let the Elders have the principles of truth within
them to prompt heavenly and holy desires to do good. Is it wisdom for
each Elder to strive to mould and fashion all others precisely
according to himself in all the views and notions he possesses? Is
this the way? No, it is not. It is wisdom for the Elders of Israel to
know how to treat others according to the ability they possess, and to
treat their families according to the ability they possess. In
visiting neighbourhoods, you will find persons intelligent upon some
points, and upon other points they may be ignorant. They may be very
well informed upon certain principles pertaining to divinity, and upon
others be ignorant. Their dispositions are also different from yours
and others you associate with. What will you make of them? Good
people—Saints, so far as in your power.

Vol. 9, p.122
We are very apt, through our traditions, former associations, and
notion of things and ideas, to attribute every act of man and every
manifestation of mankind to an invisible source —the good or the evil.
God is the author of all good; and yet, if you rightly understood
yourselves, you would not directly attribute every good act you
perform to our Father in heaven, nor to his Son Jesus Christ, nor to
the Holy Ghost; neither would you attribute every evil act of a man or
woman to the Devil or his spirits or influences; for man is organized
by his Creator to act perfectly independently of all influences there
are above or beneath. Those influences are always attending him, and
are ready to dictate and direct—to lead him into truth or to lead him
to destruction. But is he always guided by those influences in every
act? He is not. It is ordained of God that we should act independently
in and of ourselves, and the good is present when we need it. If we
will ask for it, it is with us. If we yield to temptation, the evil is
present, and nigh enough to lead every son and daughter of Adam to
destruction, if they give way to it. But it is the design of the
Almighty that we should act independently. Then, when you see a person
endowed by the Holy Ghost, you need not expect him to look and act
precisely as you do. Their religious sentiments will be alike, for the
Holy Ghost does not introduce foolish traditions and the varied unwise
notions that the inhabitants of the earth have.

Vol. 9, p.122
A man will say, "If I believed that such a man or woman was a Saint, I
should despair of all good." Why? [p.123] "Because their acts and
lives are so different from mine." Now, if you will reflect upon the
traditions of the world, with which we are more or less encumbered,
you will see manifest the trait I have referred to. If I am washed and
made clean, if I am attired in comely garments, or there is anything
extra upon me to beautify, it is considered by some as the height of
folly and pride; it is looked upon as a sin of the deepest dye; and
the feeling arises, "If I could believe such a gentleman or lady to be
a Christian, I should despair of the good that is with me. I Why?
"Because I have been taught I that all this is pride." I have known
people who have lived in this Church, whom I should suppose had
concluded it to be an unpardonable sin for them to go to meeting with
clean faces and hands. What are the notions of most of the Christian
world in regard to a Prophet? They would wish to see a man with his
hair to his waist. Combed? No. He must never appear to use that
frivolous, sinful article, a comb. That would be folly in the extreme.
It would be sin. therefore, if he appears with his hair long, bushy,
snarled, dirty, and hanging carelessly about his shoulders. Are his
hands washed? [No. His finger nails trimmed and clean? No; they are
like dirty bird's claws. Is he cheerful? No; for he must wear a long
face, never suffer a smile to pass over his countenance, but go
mourning all the day long; and it is, "O Lord, have mercy upon the
people." Present a Prophet to suit the notions of many of the
sectarian world, and you have such a man as this. Will he have on a
decent suit of clothes? No; he must have a sheep-skin about his loins,
and must wear a girdle as dirty and filthy as the rags upon our
natives.

Vol. 9, p.123
Others are trained and traditionated to appear with clean faces and
dressed in decent attire—are taught to appear comely and beautiful.
All of these classes act according to their faith and traditions, and
each one of them says, "If you are not as I am, you are not right."
This is just as natural as it is to breathe vital air. I wish this
trait in the Saints to be done away. I want the Elders of Israel to
learn to take people as they are. How many do you see who have no
influence over certain spirits in this Church? Do you know how to
approach a man that is full of subtlety and self-will—with an idea
that every man on earth is wrong but himself? Do you know how to
operate to gain his affections and good, will? Do you know how to
attract that spirit and make it follow you? If you do not, you do not
fully understand your duty, calling, and Priesthood. I wish the people
to learn to have influence over themselves, and then learn to have
influence with your fellow-beings, that you may be able to attract the
spirits in the intelligent beings around you, so that these spirits
will follow you to be taught of you, and learn of you doctrine to lead
them to life everlasting.

Vol. 9, p.123
There is a certain trait in the Elders of Israel that I really want
them to get rid of, for they are better off without than with it. Not
that they are so very much to blame, or that I would condemn them;
but, according to their traditions and nature, they think everybody
ought to be like themselves. And when they chasten faulty brethren,
they often chasten them, perhaps, beyond bounds. With some spirits a
certain amount of chastisement is sufficient; and if you go beyond
that, you may drive them to distraction—you may destroys them. You
must learn to know when you have chastised enough.

Vol. 9, p.123
Do you know how to chastise your children? When they do wrong, catch
them in the act of doing wrong, [p.124] if possible, and then switch
them nicely, and tell them you have a good mind to whip them; tell
them you will chasten them, if they do not stop such conduct. Do not
let them know that they were whipped; but when you correct them, do it
so that they will remember it more than twenty-four hours; and tell
them that if they do not mind you, you will have to chasten them and
whip them. Tell the brethren and sisters, "If you do not behave
yourselves, I will chasten you by-and-by." Never try to destroy a man.
It is our mission to save the people, not to destroy them. The least,
the most inferior spirit now upon the earth, in our capacity, is worth
worlds.

Vol. 9, p.124
When Oliver Cowdery felt to complain, and wanted a little more
influence in the Church than Joseph, the Lord spoke to him through
Joseph, and said to his servant Oliver, Suppose you should labour all
your lifetime faithfully, and be the means of saving one soul, how
great would be your joy in heaven over that soul that you were the
means of saving! If to all eternity you could praise God, through
being the means of saving one soul,—I may say the least or most
inferior intelligence upon the earth, pertaining to the human family,
—if you could be the means of saving one such person, how great would
be your joy in the heavens! Then let us save many, and our joy will be
great in proportion to the number of souls we save. Let us destroy
none.

Vol. 9, p.124
I asked some brethren, a few evenings ago while in council, if they
would not do themselves the kindness from that time forth to live such
lives that, when the, books are opened, there is one source of
gratitude to them. to know that their debits do not overbalance their
credits. I then asked them why not live so that when the books are
opened there are no debits against them. It will be a pleasure to know
that we have saved all the Father gave into our power. Jesus said that
he lost none except the sons of perdition. He will lose none of his
brethren, except sons of perdition. Let us save all the Father puts in
our power. And when you are called to preside as Bishop, or to preach
the Gospel on foreign missions, are called to travel through our
settlements to regulate the affairs of the Saints, take a course to
save every person. There is no man or woman within the pale of saving
grace but that is worth saving. There is no intelligent being, except
those who have sinned against the Holy Ghost, but that is worth, I may
say, all the life of an Elder to save in the kingdom of God. Then let
us take a course to understand men as they are, and not endeavour to
make them precisely as we are, for this you cannot do. I am myself;
you are yourselves. Let us learn how to approach each other, and how
to get an influence over that intelligent portion that is within.

Vol. 9, p.124
I am not going to drive a man or a woman to heaven. A great many think
that they will be able to flog people into heaven, but this can never
be done, for the intelligence in us is as independent as the Gods.
People are not to be driven, and you can put into a that's eye all the
souls of the children of men that are driven into heaven by preaching
hell-fire. So learn wisdom, that when you behold your brethren in the
depths of poverty, but striving to do right, they are as beloved as
they would be if they were dressed in purple and fine linen. Take that
intelligent course, and learn to instruct people until they increase
in knowledge and understanding, until their traditions pass away, and
they will become of one heart and mind in the principles of godliness.

Vol. 9, p.125
If you are ever called upon to [p.125] chasten a person, never chasten
beyond the balm you have within you to bind up. I might call some of
you to witness that I chasten you, but there is not a soul that I
chasten but what I feel as though I could take them and put them in my
bosom and carry them with me day by day. They deserve chastisement,
but God forbid that I should chasten beyond the healing balm I have to
save them and make better men of them. It is not my daily study to
know what a Prophet meant in relation to things that occurred before
the flood, or will occur after the millennium, how Adam set out his
currant bushes, and in what part of the garden Eve was when she
partook of the forbidden fruit; but I want to know how to lead you
with that intelligence to enable you to live to an everlasting life,
that you may be saved in the kingdom of God. I say again. Do not
chasten beyond the balm you have within you. If you have the saving
influence within you, it is well. When you have the chastening rod in
your hands, ask God to give you wisdom to use it, that you may not use
it to the destruction of an individual, but to his salvation. Can you
save all? Yes, you can save all that will be saved. If people are not
saved, it is because they are not dispose to be saved. They act for
themselves, and act from choice.

Vol. 9, p.125
Would I compel a person to be saved in the kingdom of God that chose
to go to hell? No. If I had all the power of the Gods in the
eternities, I would not save one soul in the kingdom of God that chose
to stay out, neither will the Gods. All who wish to be saved and
desire good I wish to be saved, and Jesus will lose none except the
sons of perdition. I may be instrumental, in the providences of our
God, of saving thousands and millions in the celestial kingdom that
otherwise perhaps would not get there. We are to be like the good
physician; and if we see the sick—those afflicted with pain and
distress in the head, eyes, teeth, or in any of the limbs or other
portion of the body, it is our duty to have the medicine—the remedy to
administer to that pain, to heal, to cure, to rebuke the disease and
save the sick like a good physician, and not kill them by dosing down
the medicine as do some of our doctors. Administer the medicine in all
mildness, and with good judgment and discretion. Seek until you, learn
the medicine to administer to each patient, and how much to give to
each. There is just as much difference in the Spiritual organization
as you see in the temporal organization. You can see that eternal
variety in both. You may go to a man taken with a fever, and if you
treat him as you did a similar case last week, you may consign him to
the grave. You ought to know better.

Vol. 9, p.125
I could preach a sermon on doctoring the body, we have so many that do
not understand it among those who profess to; but it is of no use. I
would rather have the sisters walt upon me in sickness than many of
those who profess to be physicians.

Vol. 9, p.125
Elders of Israel, learn to be spiritual physicians. Carry the medicine
with you to deal out to every patient as he needs it. If a patient has
chills and fever in his spirit, you must carry the medicine to cure
it; also for the erysipelas, or the dumb ague, or the rheumatism in
the spirit, you must carry the medicine to heal. Thus learn, when you
have chastened enough, to cease; and be sure you never chasten beyond
the balm you carry in your portmanteau.

Vol. 9, p.125
I will bring our forenoon meeting to a close. May God bless you! Amen.
[p.126]

Heber C. Kimball, January 6, 1861

Observance of the Commandments of God

Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, January 6, 1861.

Reported By J. V. Long

Vol. 9, p.126
It would be very gratifying to me, this afternoon, if I could speak
freely of those things that I have been meditating upon for the last
few days. It would be a great satisfaction to me, and doubtless
instructive to this congregation, if I could lay before them those
things that are revolving in my mind; but instructions to the Saints
only appear to be given a word or two at a time, here a little and
there a little, and I do not understand that the Lord will ever
manifest his will in any other way. This is because of the weakness of
humanity and the great variety in the minds of the Saints.

Vol. 9, p.126
I can say, as I have said for years, the religion of Jesus Christ
professed by the Church of Latter-day Saints, which Church I have
entered into, and of which I have been a member twenty-nine years,—I
can truly say that it is a hundredfold more precious to me than it was
when I first embraced it. My mind was contracted at that time, and I
knew but little of the things of God. I will here remark that I do not
profess to know much now; still I understand them more perfectly, and
I take a more comprehensive view of. God and godliness than I did, or
was capable of doing, when I first received the light of truth.
Instead of becoming dark in my mind and growing stereotyped in my
ways, I have expanded with the increase of my experience; I feel more
acutely, I see more clearly, and I comprehend more perfectly the
principles that pertain to life. The older I grow in the Church, the
riper I become in my mind, and the more I discover of the beauty and
excellency of the plan of salvation.

Vol. 9, p.126
In regard to treating upon the mysteries of the kingdom and what are
commonly called the great things, or, in other words, going into the
top of the tree, or doing as some do who take the tree and cram it
down the people's throats top foremost, I do not believe in anything
of the kind, neither have I been taught so to treat the people. I
consider that the Elders of Israel should understand well and
thoroughly digest the first principles of the doctrine of Christ, for
obedience to them will prove the power of God unto salvation to every
one that believes and practises them. You know it is written that the
Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.
I can tell you something in connection with this: You may believe what
you please; it will do you no good, unless you practise it. We are
required to manifest our faith by our works, and to work out our
salvation with fear and trembling; for it is the Lord that worketh in
us to will and to do his good pleasure. If we seek him with all our
hearts, and observe those things that pertain to righteousness,
working diligently in his kingdom, he will feel after us and inspire
our hearts with his Holy Spirit, and [p.127] the influence thereof
will rest upon, us continually; it will enter into every muscle,
sinew, and fibre of the body, in proportion to our fitness to receive
it. If we render ourselves susceptible of the nourishment that is
imparted by the Spirit of God to the spirits that dwell within these
mortal bodies, we shall have sufficient light and power to enable our
spirits to dictate our bodies and lead them unto eternal life.

Vol. 9, p.127
"And behold, he that is faithful shall be made ruler over many things.
And again, I will give unto you a pattern in all things, that ye may
not be deceived; for Satan is abroad in the land, and he goeth forth
deceiving the nations; wherefore be that prayeth, whose spirit is
contrite, the same is accepted of me, if he obey mine ordinances. He
that speaketh, whose spirit is contrite, whose language is meek and
edifieth, the same is of God, if he obey mine ordinances. And again,
he that trembleth under my power shall be made strong, and shall bring
forth fruits of praise and wisdom, according to the revelations and
truths which I have given you." (Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 66, par.
4.)

Vol. 9, p.127
In the great day of accounts all men will be judged according to the
works that are wrought in their natural bodies, and it is of the
highest importance that we should consider the final result of our
acts.

Vol. 9, p.127
I am always for the consideration of these little minute things that
concern us to-day. We should always be engaged in doing the things
that belong to to-day. There is but one course that you and I can
pursue and be right, and that is, be sufficiently humble to look at
the most minute fibres. The large roots of a tree receive their
nourishment through the little fibres, and they receive it from the
fountain, and then that nourishment is sent through the main trunk of
the tree into the limbs, branches, and twigs. It is just so with the
Church of Christ. A similar figure might be made use of in regard to
people studying languages. There is no man who has got a good
education in the English, French, or German languages, but who has got
that knowledge by going into the roots, or what they choose to term
the etymology of language.

Vol. 9, p.127
It is just so with the man who becomes educated in the science of the
Gospel of Christ: he begins at first principles, be learns them
thoroughly and practically, and, by carrying them out in his daily
walk and conversation, he becomes educated in the religion of Jesus
Christ, which is the only perfect science revealed to man.

Vol. 9, p.127
When Jesus Christ was upon the earth, he taught the people, saying—"I
am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me
that beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth
fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are
clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and
I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide
in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye
are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same
bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing. If a man
abide not in me, he is east forth as a branch, and is withered, and
men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If
ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will,
and it shall be done unto you." (John, chapter 15, verses 1-7.)

Vol. 9, p.127
This is precisely the position we occupy in the Church of Christ. If
we do not abide in the vine, we shall be cast out; and all the
inhabitants of the earth that do not connect [p.128] themselves to the
true vine, Jesus Christ, will become as stubble, and they will be
burnt up, and become ashes under the soles of the feet of the Saints
that will come upon the earth to trim it, adorn it, and make it like
the garden of Eden, that they may dwell upon it forever.

Vol. 9, p.128
If we are in the vine of Christ, we shall bring forth the fruits of
righteousness, and our works will be performed daily according to the
requirements of the law of God. Except we live daily in the line of
our duty, and keep the platter clean inside as well as out, we cannot
obtain the blessings promised. If we take this course, we shall live
and prosper, and bear off the kingdom, independent of those that do
evil; for God will nourish and cherish those who do right.

Vol. 9, p.128
Supposing we compare this Church to a tree, and suppose that
one-fourth of the limbs are dead, what use are they to the tree? They
are lifeless, and consequently the sooner they are taken away the
better for the health of the tree. Is there anything lost by lopping
off those lifeless limbs? No; for the power and strength that was
formerly in the whole tree will enter into that part which is left. Do
you not go and clip off the small sprouts, and sometimes some of the
bunches of grapes from your vines, in order to make the rest of the
vine and the fruit grow larger and stronger? Upon the same principle,
this Church has to be proven, for the work of God must and will roll
on, and all the opposition in the world cannot stop it. It is a
kingdom that is established to remain upon the earth until it subdues
all other kingdoms, and brings them into subjection to the law of God.
I know this just as well as I know that I stand here to-day, and my
desire is that you may know it also, and that you may become as the
heart of one man. Jesus says, "If you are not one, you are not mine."
For instance, suppose I come into this stand and offer up a prayer, it
is the duty of all present to join with me, not only in the
sentiments, but to actually allow the very words to pass silently.
through their minds. In this way we become one, our faith is united,
and we answer the requirement of the law of God.

Vol. 9, p.128
I have frequently said in your hearing that I would give a good deal
if I could unfold to you the secret feelings of my heart, I do not
know of any better way to get at this than by comparison. I have not
language to soar above and spread myself like an eagle, but I desire
to present my sentiments in such a way that all will understand. There
are none of you but what know right and wrong just as well as I do;
and you are obliged to carry out the principles of right.

Vol. 9, p.128
Has there been any change in the first principles of the doctrine of
Christ as revealed by Jesus himself? No: that doctrine stands good,
and will forever remain so. Some suppose that the Ten Commandments
given through Moses have been done away; but I can inform you that
they are still in force. It will do no harm for me to read those
commandments, as contained in the 20th chapter of Exodus. They are as
follows:—

Vol. 9, p.128
"And God spake all those words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which
have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make
unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water
under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve
them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity
of the  [p.129] fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth
generation of them that hate me, and stewing mercy unto thousands of
them that love me and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the
name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him
guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Vol. 9, p.129
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour
and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord
thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy
daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy
stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the
seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed
it.

Vol. 9, p.129
Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the
land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou
shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear
false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbour's house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his
manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything
that is thy neighbour's.

Vol. 9, p.129
And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the
noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people
saw it, they removed and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses,
Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us,
lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not, for God is come
to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin
not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick
darkness where God was.

Vol. 9, p.129
And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of
Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. Ye shall
not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods
of gold.

Vol. 9, p.129
An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon
thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine
oxen: in all places where I record my name, I will come unto thee, and
I will bless thee. And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou
shall not build it of hewn stone; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it
thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go by steps unto mine altar,
that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon."

Vol. 9, p.129
You will find in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants that these
commandments have been renewed unto us. The Lord says in one place,
All old covenants have I caused to be done away, and this is a new and
an everlasting covenant: it is even that which was in the beginning;
it is that covenant which was made in the days of Jesus. It is that
same covenant which the Almighty revealed to Father Adam in the Garden
of Eden; but it has been renewed in these last days, and hence it is a
new and an everlasting covenant. If you would only think of it for a
little while, you would remember that we imitate many of those things
that were done in former dispensations.

Vol. 9, p.129
Jesus told the people in his day to seek to enter in at the narrow
gate, or, as the New Testament calls it, the strait gate. He also told
them to seek act to counsel God, but to walk in that path which leads
to life; for narrow is the gate that leads to life, and few there be
that enter in there at. And he further says that the wicked will come
and say, We have prophesied in thy name, and in thy name tone many
mighty works. And I [p.130] will add to this that many of them will
have to say, We have stolen hundreds of cattle from the Mormons, and
driven them from their hemes, because they preached a new religion.
Still the Lord will say, I know you not.

Vol. 9, p.130
Those covenants that we have made with God were also made in the
beginning of the creation. They are now renewed to us, and revelations
of this kind are just as binding upon you and me as the words and
counsels that come from President Young and others. We are acting in
the same capacity that the Apostles and Prophets of former
dispensations have acted, and our word will have the same effect upon
this generation that theirs had upon the generations in which they
lived. We have the same God to worship; the same Jesus lives to save,
and he has spoken and renewed this covenant to us and for us, and to
remain with us forever and forever.

Vol. 9, p.130
Brethren, reflect, look at yourselves and see what you are about.
Consider the positions you occupy, and ascertain if you are acting
well your part:—if you are speaking the truth and guarding against all
manner of evil.

Vol. 9, p.130
The Book of Mormon informs us that the Devil will come along with all
manner of deceitfulness, and persuade the people to lie a little, to
steal a little, and to rob your neighbour of anything that lies within
your reach. Such a course leads to death and dissolution, and will
cause those to mourn hereafter who follow it.

Vol. 9, p.130
These are mysteries that are worth finding out; and although you may
have read them from your childhood, and your mother may have taught
them to you from your infancy, yet still they apply to you, and it is
very important that you should not forget these small things. Some
people come to this country who have been taught these things and many
other good lessons, and when they get into these mountains they forget
all their claim to the blessings that flow through obedience to the
requirements of Heaven and the requirements of their parents. Men who
hold the Priesthood and dishonour their fathers and mothers and the
servants of God will see sorrow. But some do this and still consider
themselves good men, and they claim that they honour their calling and
Priesthood. I will, tell you how I feel. When my son turns away from
the truth and disregards my counsel, he turns away from God. Why is
this so? It is because I am a branch of the vine. I am a limb that is
attached to the great tree; and when my son disengages himself from
the tree, he dishonours me; and by dishonouring me he dishonours the
God whom I serve: It is a most excellent thing to find children
listening to the admonitions of their parents, and especially if they
are blest with good ones. Those whose parents are not in the Church
should strive to get within them the righteousness of Christ.

Vol. 9, p.130
When the Adversary begins to tempt a person, he persuades him to do a
little thing here and a little wrong yonder, and persuades him to walk
in that course that will cause the disposition to do wrong to increase
upon him. The best way to do is to let alone that which is wrong.

Vol. 9, p.130
These are some of the small things. I am down among the little roots
and little vines, entering minutely into the subject of keeping them
clean. I wish all to understand, who believe on Jesus Christ, that
they should repent of all their evil deeds; and the only way that a
man can prove his penitence is by forsaking his evil practices and
being baptized for the  remission of his sins. But what good does it
do for a man to come and be baptized—to be overwhelmed [p.131] in
water in the likeness of the death of Jesus Christ, and then go and
partake of those cursed old sins that he had just been washed clean
from? I tell you that baptism, in such cases, brings greater
condemnation. When people are baptized, they should then receive the
Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. He will show them things to
come; he will dwell with them, and comfort their hearts, and cheer up
their spirits.

Vol. 9, p.131
There never should be a limb upon a fruit tree that is not bearing
fruit. But you will see a great many members in this Church who are
not bearing much fruit. Where is there an Elder, High Priest, Seventy,
Apostle, or Prophet that is not required to bring forth the fruits of
Christ, and those that will redound to his glory? Let us pursue that
course of life that will make us the friends of our father and God,
friends of his servants Joseph, Hyrum, Peter, Paul, Jesus, and all the
Apostles of Christ, and let our friendship extend back to those who
are in the spirit-world.

Vol. 9, p.131
Do not you suppose that the Lord will send his angels to sustain this
people? Yes, he will; and if he has to knock these mountains by which
we are surrounded into ten thousand pieces, in order to accomplish his
purposes, he will do it.

Vol. 9, p.131
It is very easy to be seen that the nation that has oppressed us is
going down. The Lord revealed to Joseph Smith something about the
judgments that await the inhabitants of the earth, and he said in the
revelations that the judgments should commence at the house of God. I
will read to you parts of the revelations which speak of these
things:—

Vol. 9, p.131
"But, behold, I say unto you, that before this great day shall come,
the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall be turned into blood,
and the stars shall fall from heaven, and there shall be great signs
in heaven above and in the earth beneath; and there shall be Weeping
and wailing among the hosts of men, and there shall be a great
hailstorm sent forth to destroy the crops of the earth: and it shall
come to pass, because of the wickedness of the world, that I will take
vengeance upon the wicked, for they will not repent; for the cup of
mine indignation is full; for, behold, my blood shall not cleanse
them, if they hear me not.

Vol. 9, p.131
Wherefore I the Lord God will send forth flies upon the face of the
earth, which shall take hold of the inhabitants thereof, and shall eat
their flesh, and shall cause maggots to come in upon them; and their
tongues shall be stayed that they shall not utter against me; and
their flesh shall fall from off their bones, and their eyes from,
their sockets; and it shall come to pass that the beasts of the forest
and the fowls of the air shall devour them up; and that great and
abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth, shall be east
down by devouring fire, according as it is spoken by the mouth of
Ezekiel the Prophet, which spoke of these things, which have not come
to pass, but surely must, as I live; for abomination shall not reign."
(Doctrine and Covenants, see. 10, par. 4-5.)

Vol. 9, p.131
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, that when I give a commandment to any
of the sons of men to do a work unto my name, and those sons of men go
with all their might and with all they have to perform that work, and
cease not their diligence, and their enemies come upon them and hinder
them from performing that work, behold it behoveth me to require that
work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to accept of their
offerings; and the iniquity and transgression of my holy laws and
commandments I will visit upon the heads of those who hindered my
work, unto the third and fourth [p.132] generation, so long as they
repent not and hate me, saith the Lord God. Therefore for this cause
have I accepted the offering of those whom I commanded to build up a
city and a house unto my name, in Jackson County, Missouri, and were
hindered by their enemies, saith the Lord your God; and I will answer
judgment, wrath, and indignation, wailing, and anguish, and gnashing
of teeth, upon their heads, unto the third and fourth generation, so
long as they repent not and hate me, saith the Lord your God."
(Doctrine and Covenants, see. 103, par. 15.)

Vol. 9, p.132
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, darkness covereth the earth, and
gross darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become
corrupt before my face. Behold, vengeance cometh speedily upon the
inhabitants of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of
desolation, of weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation; and as a
whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth, saith the
Lord.

Vol. 9, p.132
And upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth,
saith the Lord. First, among those among you, saith the Lord, who have
professed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed
against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord." (Doctrine and
Covenants, sec. 104, pars. 9-10.

Vol. 9, p.132
"Let them importune at the feet of the Judge; and if he heed them not,
let them importune at the feet of the Governor; and if the Governor
heed them not, let them importune at the feet of the President; and if
the President heed them not, then will the Lord arise and come forth
out of his hidingplace, and in his fury vex the nation, and in his hot
displeasure and in his fierce anger, in his time, will cut off those
wicked, unfaithful, and unjust stewards, and appoint them their
portion among hypocrites and unbelievers, even in outer darkness,
where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Pray ye,
then, that their ears may be opened unto your cries, that I may be
merciful unto them, that these things may not come upon them. What I
have said unto you must needs be, that all men may be left without
excuse; that wise men and rulers may hear and know that which they
have never considered; that I may proceed to bring to pass my act, any
strange act, and perform my work, my strange work, that men may
discern between the righteous and the wicked, saith your God."
(Doctrine and Covenant, sec. 98, par. 12.)

Vol. 9, p.132
And do you hear it, O Israel? and have you seen it, and felt the pangs
of war, when they have sent their army to this Territory, intending to
drive us from our homes? As they commenced it upon the House of God,
it must go forth upon themselves; for as they measured out to us, it
must be measured unto them fourfold.

Vol. 9, p.132
The nations are already convulsed. Not only the United States, but
many of the European nations are feeling the effect of the judgments
of the Almighty; and they will continue to be afflicted more and more,
until the above revelations are fulfilled. There is no evading the
judgments of the Almighty; their only escape is in obedience to the
Gospel we have to preach. But do they believe what we have said? No;
they do not believe a word of it, and therefore there is but little
hope in their case.

Vol. 9, p.132
Brethren and sisters, let your hearts be open to receive the word of
truth, that the Spirit of the Most High may be in you as a well of
water, springing up into everlasting life. God bless you forever, and
all those that hear these sayings and will  render obedience unto the
law of God. Peace be upon the righteous, [p.133] that they may
multiply and increase in wisdom and knowledge. I know, as well as I
know that I am here, that the Priesthood will be taken from those who
dishonour it, for they have no power to hold the oracles of God who do
wickedly. They may not all be cut off from the tree, but they are
dead, and the Spirit of God does not dwell with them, and therefore
there is no life in them.

Vol. 9, p.133
May the blessings of the Lord our God attend you all, is my prayer.
Amen.

Heber C. Kimball, May 12, 1861

Living Our Religion—Obedience to Counsel

Remarks by President Heber C. Kimball, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, May 12, 1861.

Reported By J. V. Long

Vol. 9, p.133
I feel to-day, as I do a great many times, as though it was
considerable of a task for me to attempt to speak. There are thousands
of things to speak about for the edification of this people, and every
truth is like the root of a tree; it has many branches. Many of you
have probably observed that the top of a tree is much like the root,
in this particular; it has many branches, and from those spring
thousands of twigs and leaves; and it is just so with the truth. Then,
again, it is a good deal so with the English language. Words have
their roots, and some of our linguists can give us the etymology of
almost all the words used in the English language.

Vol. 9, p.133
In regard to the ideas that were advanced by President Young this
forenoon, they are just as true as it is that you are all here. I was
thinking what a blessing it would be if this people would keep these
things in view, treasure them up in their minds, and live so that
their conduct will correspond with the religion they profess. Then
they would honour that Priesthood which is conferred upon them. When I
reflect upon this, I pray that we may all so live that God our Father
may endow us with every necessary qualification to prepare us to
honour our calling. What powerful, what mighty men the Elders would
be, if they would live in that way! The Almighty is willing to bestow
upon us every necessary gift to enable us to honour our high callings
in an acceptable manner, and to qualify us to magnify the holy
Apostleship that is conferred upon us.

Vol. 9, p.133
Although you do not consider yourselves Apostles, yet there is not a
soul of you that holds the Priesthood but has received a portion of
the [p.134] Apostleship, for you all sprang out of the Apostleship.
This Priesthood comes from the Father to the Son, from Jesus to Peter,
James, and John, and from them to the Prophet Joseph Smith, and from
Joseph to us; and it still continues in one unbroken chain through all
the members of the body of Christ. Now, is not that directly from our
Father? Does it not originate in the heavens? It certainly does. Then
is it not necessary that we should all be like one man or one tree?
Every one of us is most assuredly connected to the Gospel tree, and we
are branches and members thereof. I merely bring up this figure so as
to bring the principle more forcibly to your minds. I wish you to
understand that we should be like a family connected to their head or
benefactor. We also should be one, as our Father and his Son are
one—all that have received the Priesthood from the beginning of
creation down to the present day.

Vol. 9, p.134
Now, the Lord has said that all old covenants have I caused to be done
away in this thing, and this is the new and everlasting covenant, even
that which was in the beginning. Where did he begin this covenant?
Why, he placed it upon Adam in the Garden of Eden. Is it not so? This
is the new covenant that is ordained and sealed upon man in the
beginning of this creation, and we are here imitating it, or should.

Vol. 9, p.134
We believe with all our hearts that Jesus is the Son of God, and we
imitate him by going into the waters of baptism and being buried in
the likeness of his death, and then being entitled to come forth in
the likeness of his resurrection. Then, when we have complied with
this, the Holy Ghost is bestowed upon us by the laying on of hands by
one having authority.

Vol. 9, p.134
These things have come to my mind, and I consider that they are very
good. And it is for you and me, when we rise from the water, to lead a
new life—to go forth walking in the newness of life. It is a birth—a
baptism for the remission of sins—a preparatory work to the receiving
of the gift of the Holy Ghost, that it may bring all things to our
remembrance that are past, and show us things to come; yea, that those
things that we have forgotten may be brought to our remembrance. Now,
I know that, when the Holy Ghost is upon me, all things look natural
to me, and as if I had been familiar with them before.

Vol. 9, p.134
By the Spirit of prophecy you can become acquainted with things to
come, and declare them to the Saints by the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost. When men prophesy with this Spirit upon them, they will come to
pass, for the Holy Ghost cannot lie. Brethren, let us take a course to
live that we need not commence again to repent from dead works; but
let us continue in the new covenant, and be faithful in all our
duties, and increase in integrity one towards another and towards our
God. This should be uppermost in our minds continually.

Vol. 9, p.134
You all remember what was said this morning. Strive and improve upon
it. The world hate us, and hated Jesus before us; and wicked men have
killed almost every Prophet that has been upon the earth. Have not the
United States done their best to make a final end of us? They have
tried all in their power to destroy this people from the earth. The
only reason they did not do it was because they had not the power: the
Lord was on our side.

Vol. 9, p.134
Brethren, it is for us now to be industrious, live our religion, lay
up our grain, and prepare for the times that are coming upon the
earth. Do any of you think that this war is going to be over in a few
days? If you do, you are greatly mistaken;  but when [p.135] it is
over, they will be ten times more fierce and wicked towards this
people than ever they were before.

Vol. 9, p.135
By fighting, they become angry, they lose the Spirit of God, and they
then take pleasure in killing and slaying each other; and when they
become hot in this way, they will combine to serve us the same way.

Vol. 9, p.135
Do not dally or trifle with President Young's words, nor with the
words of his brethren; for those who do, trifle with the Almighty.
After all that has been said about selling wheat, flour, and grain in
general to our enemies, does it stop it? No: they are still at it. And
in what condition does it place them that do it? Why, they become like
a barren tree—they bring forth nothing; whereas it is their duty to
strive to bring forth fruits of righteousness. I know thus some will
be ready to say that brother Heber is on his old strain again, but I
do not mind that. If you trifle with brother Brigham and with his
words, or with the words of the Apostles, the Seventies, or the
Bishops, by-and-by you will feel it, and learn the effects of it in
due time. You may not feel that to-day, but you will ere long suffer
for slighting the words of the servants of God. I know this people are
advancing in knowledge; they have got more light and intelligence than
they ever before enjoyed. They are a blessed people, and ought to
appreciate their privileges as Saints of the Most High. And as we are
growing in light and knowledge, the wicked are growing more wicked
every day: they are becoming ferocious; they are full of death and
destruction; they are becoming just as the Nephites of old. They got
so desperate that they would sing and howl all night for the blood of
their brethren; and it will be just as bad in the United States. When
our enemies seek to kill us, they seek the destruction of their
saviours.

Vol. 9, p.135
If this people will do as they are told, we shall soon be independent
of all importations from foreign markets. To do this effectually, we
must set ourselves to work to make everything we need ourselves; then
we shall not need to bring goods from the States, from Great Britain,
or any other nation upon the earth, excepting perhaps a few articles.
But so long as we allow ourselves to sustain a foreign market instead
of our own, we shall be poor indeed. I desire with all my heart that
the way may be shut up, so that we may be taught by experience the
necessity of clothing ourselves. See how dependent we are, when we
have got no bread, clothing, sugar, tea, or coffee; and those who
possess these articles hold us in servitude. It is the duty of every
man to go to work and raise or make what he needs for his own
consumption. This is one thing that causes President Young to go down
south, so that he may ascertain if that country is capable of
producing our cotton, sugar, coffee, and grapes. I know that we can
make the sugar as well in this country as they can in the Southern
States. The reason it is not done is because we have got men here who
are so anxious to get a large quantity of molasses from their crops of
sugar cane. I am satisfied that we can make good sugar here, if will
we only take a little time to do it. I design to do it myself, if
nothing happens to prevent. We make our flour, we saw our lumber, card
our wool, we spin a great deal of yarn, and make a great deal of
cloth; but still there are but very few of this people who dress in
home-made cloth. We are dependent upon the States and the various
nations of Europe for our clothing.

Vol. 9, p.135
Now, you all see these things just as I do, and I have an anxiety for
you as a people. I want you to take this course, for I know it to be
necessary for our salvation.

Vol. 9, p.136
[p.136] When I go to my Father and God, and to Joseph, he will say,
Come in here, sit down with us, and enjoy yourself. Would not this be
a happy time? Yes. And what would you not give to be in the society of
Joseph and Hyrum and his brethren? You would all give everything you
possess in the world. Then see that you live for this day by day.

Vol. 9, p.136
Not a man, woman, or child need to suffer in this Territory, if they
will do just as they are told. The Lord will provide for his people,
and bring them off victoriously. Industry and perseverance will enable
us to manufacture the most of what we want. At present we have but
just commenced in home manufactures; but if we are faithful and
diligent, we shall increase rapidly in our ability.

Vol. 9, p.136
One of the most grievous things we have to endure is the evil
practices of some who profess to be Saints; but I feel to rejoice that
these are only the few. Brethren, I rejoice in spirit and in speaking
to you this day. Although I am feeble in body, I am buoyant and strong
in spirit, and I feel that I am going to live a great many years yet.
But if I am called to pass behind the vail, all will be right with me.
If we are faithful and humble, the Lord will bring us off conquerors.

Vol. 9, p.136
I feel to bless this people, that their hearts may be comforted in the
things of God. I rejoice in the performance of all my duties, and I
never feel weary in doing good, in blessing and comforting my
brethren. Some seem to take pleasure in finding fault with everything
around them; but  they would not do this if they had done right. When
men neglect their prayers and other duties, they lose the Spirit of
the Lord and get into the dark.

Vol. 9, p.136
You have the privilege of saving men temporally and spiritually. Into
your hands is committed the power to become saviours of men. We have
to save ourselves and others temporally, and then spiritually.

Vol. 9, p.136
I feel to say, God bless you! Peace be with you, and peace be
multipiled to the righteous, and to their seed after them for ever!
This is my blessing upon you, brethren and sisters, in the name of
Jesus Christ. Amen. [p.137]

Brigham Young, July 28, 1861

Gathering of the Saints—Honouring the Priesthood, Etc.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, July 28, 1861.

Reported By G. D. Watt

Vol. 9, p.137
When I came into this Church, I started right out as a missionary, and
took a text, and began to travel on a circuit. Truth is my text, the
Gospel of salvation my subject, and the world my circuit. I presume I
shall not soon go all over it, but I am still preaching and travelling
occasionally. I expect to be here about every other Sabbath, as I have
been for a few weeks or months past, except when I was in the south.

Vol. 9, p.137
While I am here with you, I want to talk to the Saints. I like to look
at them; I like to instruct them, and to be instructed. We pray
continually for the redemption of Zion, for the Lord to hasten the
time when we can return and establish the Centre Stake of Zion, and
build up the great temple of the Lord upon which his glory will rest
as a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. We pray that we may
be sanctified, that we may be made pure in heart; and we pray that the
Lord will teach us his will continually, and reveal unto us precisely
his mind, so that we may have the mind of Christ, and know precisely
what to do.

Vol. 9, p.137
When will Zion be redeemed? When will the Saviour make his appearance
in the midst of his people? When will the vail be taken away, that we
may behold the glory of God? Can any of you answer these questions?
Yes, readily, when I tell you. The redemption of Zion is the first
step preparatory to the two last-named events. Just as soon as the
Latter-day Saints are ready and prepared to return to Independence,
Jackson County, in the State of Missouri, North America, just so soon
will the voice of the Lord be heard, "Arise now, Israel, and make your
way to the centre Stake of Zion." Do you think there is any danger of
our being ready before the Lord prepares the other end of the route?
Do you believe that we, as Latter-day Saints, are preparing our own
hearts, our own lives, to return to take possession of the centre
Stake of Zion, as fast as the Lord is preparing to cleanse the land
from those ungodly persons who dwell there? You can read, reflect, and
make your own calculations. If we are not very careful, the earth will
be cleansed from wickedness before we are prepared to take possession
of it. We must be pure to be prepared to build up Zion. To all
appearance, the Lord is preparing that end of the route faster than we
are preparing ourselves to go there.

Vol. 9, p.137
His grace is here, his judgments are here, his wisdom and Spirit are
here, and every qualification that Saints can require is here ready to
be poured out upon the people, if they are prepared to receive them.
Are we prepared to receive those qualifications? Are we prepared to
march back and take possession of the centre Stake of Zion, build up
the great Temple of the Lord, and gather in the nations of the earth?

Vol. 9, p.137
There are hundreds and thousands coming here this season. We are
gathering the people as fast as we [p.138] can. We are gathering them
to make Saints of them and of ourselves. Probably many of them will
apostatize, though some will not apostatize until you give them their
endowments; and then, if you do not speak out of the right corner of
your; mouth, they will apostatize; and if you do not laugh out of the
right corner of your mouth, they will go. We are gathering a few that
will be faithful in the midst of this people, and prepare themselves
to be crowded kings and priests unto God. By-and-by you will see the
Saints flock together. Will they come merely by one or two shiploads?
No; it will require many more ships than we have heretofore employed
to bring home the gathering thousands to Zion. Millions of people that
now sit in darkness—that are now, to all appearance, in the region and
shadow of death, will come to Zion.

Vol. 9, p.138
When Joseph first revealed the land where the Saints should gather, a
woman in Canada asked if we thought that Jackson County would be large
enough to gather all the people that would want to go to Zion. I will
answer the question really as it is. Zion will extend, eventually, all
over this earth. There will be no nook or corner upon the earth but
what will be in Zion. It will all be Zion. I remember that the lady
was answered by asking her whether she thought the ark was large
enough to hold those that were to go into it in the days of Noah?
"Yes," was the reply. Then of course Zion will be just large enough to
receive all that will be prepared to possess it, as the ark was.

Vol. 9, p.138
We are going to gather as many as we car, bless them, give them their
endowments, etc., preach to them the truth, lay the principles of
eternal life before them, inform their minds all we have power to do,
and lead them into the path of truth and righteousness; and those who
will not abide the truth will apostatize. A few will remain, and a
good share of them will cleave to the promises of the Lord, will be
true in every respect, and will be accounted worthy to enter in at the
strait gate. Strait is the gate and narrow is the path that leadeth to
life, and few there be that find it. Millions will come and live in
Zion when the laws of Zion reign predominant over creation; but will
all be prepared to be crowned kings and priests unto God? No. You
cannot imagine anything that will not be in Zion, except sin and
iniquity, and reviling against, God and against his kingdom. All
classes of people will come to Zion. Will there he Methodists there?
Yes; and they will have the privilege to worship a God without body,
parts, and passions, just as they do now, if they cheese to. Every
person and every community will receive according to the extent of
their capacity and ability. Every person then will be blessed, will be
filled with joy, will be filled with peace, with light, and
intelligence according to the endowments with which they are endowed.
Will all become kings and priests? No; not even all that will embrace
the fulness of the Gospel.

Vol. 9, p.138
There are only a few shiploads of Saints coming this season. They will
come thicker and faster, by-and-by, and will begin to inquire after
the wisdom that is in Zion. The Lord is coming out of his
hiding-place, and is beginning to scourge this nation with a sore
scourging, and vex it with a sore vexation. He is coming forth, and
the sound of the report of what is coming on the earth and the power
of God that is made manifest will vex the wicked and the ungodly, and
will bring great joy and rejoicing to the Saints. There are millions
of people, both among the Christian and heathen nations, that  [p.139]
are still in darkness, and exclaiming, "Oh, how glad we would be to
have some knowledge of the Gospel of salvation!" By-and-by, when the
Lord sends forth his servants and his angels to gather them, they will
be brought home to Zion and be taught the peaceable things of the
kingdom; and those that abide a celestial law will receive a celestial
glory, and those that can abide the next law in order can abide the
glory pertaining to it, and so on. Were I to enumerate thousands of
different degrees of glory and kingdoms, I probably should
over-enumerate the kingdoms God has prepared and will prepare for the
people according to their capacities, endowments, and what they can
receive and arrive to.

Vol. 9, p.139
We ought to be careful and not lay down our Priesthood. The brethren
and sisters ought to hold fast to their covenants, and walk in that
way, in that path, which is pointed out by the Gospel. Shall we love
the world? In one sense, we should. Should we love it with a divine
love? Not yet. Should we love the world and the things of the world
according to the nature of the world? We should. We axe commanded in
this Bible not to love the world and the things of the world; and then
you read a little further in the same book, and you are commanded to
love the world and the things of the world. How shall we understand
these things? With the divinity that is within us we should, love
divine things. Our spirits are born of our Parents in heaven, divine,
heavenly, angelic. Shall these spirits condescend to love an earthly
object, to worship it? If they do, they become inferior to their
calling and station before God. The body is framed for the tabernacle
or house in which the spirit has to dwell. This tabernacle is formed
expressly to hold its spirit and shield it. Should we love this
tabernacle? Yes, enough to nourish it, cherish it, and treat it
kindly, and foster and nourish and cherish it by the power of the
spirit, and make this body divine. The spirit must overcome the body
in the flesh, and the flesh become subject to the spirit in all
things; then we will love the world as it ought to be loved,—not with
a divine love, but with a human love, a moral love, loving all things
according to their worth and capacity.

Vol. 9, p.139
We love our wives and children —we love that whith is calculated to
make us happy and comfortable; but the divine spirit is to overcome
the body and continue so to do, looking forth until the body also
becomes divine; and then, when all has become divine, we may love all
with a divine affection, but not till then. After the body and spirit
are separated by death, what, pertaining to this earth, shall we
receive first? The body; that is the first object of a divine
affection beyond the grave. We first come in possession of the body.
The spirit has overcome the body, and the body is made subject in
every respect to that divine principle God has planted in the person.
The spirit within is pure and holy, and goes back pure and holy to
God, dwells in the spirit-world pure and holy, and, by-and-by, will
have the privilege of coming and taking the body again. Some person
holding the keys of the resurrection, having previously passed through
that ordeal, will be delegated to resurrect our bodies, and our
spirits will be there and prepared to enter into their bodies. Then,
when we are prepared to receive our bodies, they are the first earthly
objects that bear divinity personified in the capacity of the man.
Only the body dies; the spirit is looking forth, as you read in the
Bible concerning the souls or spirits of those who lay under the
altar, as [p.140] John saw on the Isle of Patmos, and they were crying
to God to know how long it would be before they would again have their
bodies. Were we turned out-of-doors, and not permitted to go into a
house for six months or a year, we would look forward to the time when
we could build a house, and reflect, "I wish I had a good house
wherein I could be free from the inclemency of the weather, as I once
had."

Vol. 9, p.140
When the body comes forth again, it will be divine, God-like,
according to the capacity and ordinations of the Lord. Some are
foreordained to one station, and some to another. We want a house, and
when we get it and our spirits enter into it, then we can begin to
look forth, for what? For our friends. We want them resurrected. Here
is this friend and that friend, until by-and-by all are resurrected.
And the earth is resurrected? Yes, and every living thing on the earth
that has abided the law by which it was made. Then that which you and
I respect, are fond of, and love with an earthly love, will become
divine, and we can then love it with that affection which it is not
now worthy of.

Vol. 9, p.140
Here is matter we see organized in ourselves. We look upon each other,
and we are matter organized. Look upon the brute creation, the
vegetable creation, and both are matter organized. Who knows how much
of this is going to abide the law of its creation and the law by which
it is made? Man is the only object you can find upon the face of the
earth that will not abide the law by which he is made. When he abides
this law, he is prepared for a glorious resurrection. Are my wives and
friends going to be prepared to receive this resurrection? Are my
children going to be prepared to receive this resurrection? They all
have the power of choice, the same as I have; the same power of
divinity is in them that is in me and you. I cannot love them with
that sacred, divine love, until they become immortal and prove
themselves worthy of such a supreme affection. I do not suffer myself
to love a wife or a child with that divinity that is within me, until
they, with myself, are immortalized and glorified, and they are given
to me as my own in that future state. I am fond of them; I will
nourish, cherish, and guide them, and do all I can for them, so that
they can prove themselves worthy to receive their bodies in a glorious
resurrected state, and be prepare t to enter into the joy of their
Lord with me: then they are worthy of my supreme love, and not before.

Vol. 9, p.140
When I tell the truth, that is enough, and I care not whether those
who hear it believe it or not, for that is their business. If you had
lived in the days of Jesus, Peter, John, etc., and, had seen men
called to be Apostles of the Lord Jesus; every time they taught the
people, every time they preached, every time they prayed, and every
time they administered in the house of God, if they did not do it by
the Spirit of revelation and by the power of God, they did not magnify
their calling. There are not many who know this. If we do not speak to
you by the Spirit of revelation and the power of God, we do not
magnify our calling. I think that I tell you the words of the Lord
Almighty every time I rise here to speak to you. I may blunder in the
use of the English language; but suppose I should use language that
would grate on the ears of some of the learned, what of that? God can
understand it, and so could you, if you had the Spirit of the Lord.

Vol. 9, p.140
I had brother Kimball ask me if his mode of communication pleased me.
Yes; for I know what he means. I read his spirit when he preaches;
[p.141] and if he preaches by the power of God, I can understand it,
if he speaks it back end forward, as well as if he spoke it
straightforward and in picked and choice language. The Spirit of
revelation is the best grammar you ever studied. As I was telling you
this morning, let the power of God come upon this congregation and
open the vision of your minds and an angel of God appear here, and you
would be in the light of eternity and in vision in a moment, without a
word being spoken, and volumes would be revealed to this people. What
do we care about words? Chiefly to speak and to hear others speak so
as to be understood. We have our language; but if a man speaks by the
power of God, it is little matter to me what his words are, or the
language he uses. If I understand the spirit of it, that is the way I
find "Mormonism" to be true. The brethren who came to preach the
Gospel to me, I could easily out talk them, though I had never
preached; but their testimony was like fire in my bones; I understood
the spirit of their preaching; I received that spirit; it was light,
intelligence, power, and truth, and it bore witness to my spirit, and
that was enough for me. I have received it, and I have tried to
improve upon it.

Vol. 9, p.141
If I do not speak here by the power of God, if it is not revelation to
you every time I speak to you here, I do not magnify my calling. What
do you think about it? I neither know nor care. If I do not magnify my
calling, I shall be removed from the place I occupy. God does not
suffer you to be deceived. Here are my brethren and sisters pouring
out their souls to God, and their prayers and faith are like one solid
cloud ascending to the heavens. They want to be led right; they want
the truth; they want to know how to serve God and prepare for a
celestial kingdom. Do you think the Lord will allow you to be fooled
and led astray? No.

Vol. 9, p.141
Brother Kimball said, to-day, when he was speaking, if you suffer
yourselves to find fault with your Bishop, you condescend to the
spirit of apostacy. Do any of you do this? If you do, you do not,
realize that you expose yourself to the power of the Enemy. What
should your faith and position be before God? Such that, if a Bishop
does not do right, the Lord will remove him out of your Ward. You are
not to find fault. As brother Wells has said, speak not lightly of the
anointed of the Lord. But you say they are out of the way. Who has
made any of my brethren a judge over their Bishop? You read in the
Book of Doctrine and Covenants, in a revelation to Joseph Smith,
(brother Kimball and myself were present,) that it takes twelve High
Priests to sit in council upon the head of a Bishop. Can they judge
him? No; for they must then have the Presidency of the High Priesthood
to sit at their head and preside over there. Yet many rise up and
condemn their Bishop. Perhaps that Bishop has been appointed expressly
to try those persons and cause them to apostatize. A great many will
not apostatize until they arrive here; and who knows but what the Lord
has prompted a Bishop to do so-and-so to cause somebody to apostatize.
One of the first steps to apostacy is to find fault with your Bishop;
and when that is done, unless repented of, a second step is soon
taken, and by-and-by the person is cut off from the Church, and that
is the end of it. Will you allow yourselves to find fault with your
Bishop? No; but come to me, go to the High Council, or to the
President of the Stake, and ascertain whether your Bishop is doing
wrong, before you find fault and suffer yourselves to speak against a
presiding officer.

Vol. 9, p.142
[p.142] I want you to have faith enough concerning myself and my
Counsellors for the Lord to remove us out of the way, if we do not
magnify our calling, and put men in our places that will do right. I
had the promise, years ago, that I never should apostatize and bring
an evil upon this people. God revealed that through Joseph, long
before he died; and if I am not doing right, you may calculate that
the Lord is going to take me home. He will not send me to hell, but he
will take me home to himself. "I will take you up here, Brigham, and
give you a few lessons." I am going where He is, for I have that
promise, and so have many others. I am telling you these things for
your comfort. In all this there are no new principles and doctrines,
though it is new to many of you. You must have faith in God that he
will lead his people right, in a way to preserve them from every evil.

Vol. 9, p.142
You can read in the writings of the ancient Prophets that the Lord is
going to bring again Zion. The Prophet said that very quickly: it took
him not more than half a minute. Let me ask the Latter-day Saints, How
long will it take this people to fulfil that short sentence? How can
they, unless they live in the light of revelation, and God leads them
day by day? Then can they do it in a moment, in an hour, in a week, in
a month, or in a year? No. It will take years to perform that saying
of the Prophet that he wrote down so soon. And it will take more than
one Prophet or person; it will take hundreds and thousands of them to
fulfil that saying; and they cannot begin to fulfil one part of it
without the power of revelation.

Vol. 9, p.142
You may read another text—"The Lord will empty the earth,"—I will not
say whether of wickedness or righteousness. How is this to be
understood? and how are the people going to fulfil this saying of the
Prophet? How is the Lord going, to empty the earth? Will it be done in
a week or a year? No. He has begun to do it. President Lincoln called
out soldiers for three months, and was going to wipe the blot of
secession from the escutcheon of the American Republic. The three
months are gone, and the labour is scarcely begun. Now they are
beginning to enlist men for three years; soon they Will want to enlist
during the war; and then, I was going to say, they will want them to
enlist during the duration of hell. Do they know what they are doing?
No; but they have begun to empty the earth, to cleanse the land, and
prepare the way for the return of the Latter-day Saints to the centre
Stake of Zion.

Vol. 9, p.142
Have we inheritances there? When I left the State of Missouri, I had a
deed for five pieces of as good land as any in the State, and I expect
to go back to it. Do we own anything in Illinois? Yes. In Ohio? Yes.
The Lord will call back the Latter-day Saints, although it is written
in the revelations, speaking of the Saints being driven from Jackson
County, that they should be driven from State to State, from city to
city, and buff few would remain to receive their inheritance, I did
not receive any inheritance in Jackson county, Missouri. I never was
there, and I do not think of any one present who was there, except
Judge Phelps. There are also a few others in the Territory who
received theirs. A few will remain and receive their inheritance. Will
we return and receive an inheritance there? Many of the Saints will
return to Missouri, and there receive an inheritance. This is not
worded exactly as is the revelation, but it is according to the nature
of things. The earth will also be emptied upon natural principles: it
cannot be done otherwise.

Vol. 9, p.143
[p.143] The South say, "We could not bear the insults and the
affliction heaped upon us by the North. We cannot help revolting from
the rank Abolitionists that would destroy us and our negroes; we will
not hold fellowship with the North any longer, but we will come out
from them and be separated." The Abolitionists would set free the
negroes at the expense of the lives of their masters; they would let
the negroes loose to massacre every white person: that is the spirit
of many of the Abolitionists that I have conversed with. Proslavery
men are determined to hold their negroes, and the North reply—"It is
false language to say that we are in a free and independent government
that holds four millions of persons in abject slavery: we do not
believe in it, and they shall be free." How natural it is for the two
parties to come to the sword, to the cannon's mouth, and fight. "We of
the North are fighting to emancipate four millions of people that are
in bondage," and "we of the South are fighting for our liberties;" and
the right will continue until the earth is empty. Will it be over in
six months or in three years? No; it will take years and years, and
will never cease until the work is accomplished. There may be seasons
that the fire will appear to be extinguished, and the first you know
it will break out in another portion, and all is on fire again, and it
will spread and continue until the land is emptied. Will they all be
killed? No.

Vol. 9, p.143
I shall see the day when thousands will seek succour at the hands of
this people. If you say, "Husband, I shall leave you, if you take
another wife," you had better leave now when you may stand a chance of
getting another husband. You cannot read in the, Bible that women take
the lead—that the responsibility is upon the women, for it is not so.
What was the saying of Jesus, when the woman caught in sin was brought
before him? That publicans and harlots should enter into the kingdom
of heaven before the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees. I do not
like to associate with such characters, but that Scripture will be
fulfilled.

Vol. 9, p.143
The responsibility is upon the men, and they will be used up, for they
go to war, and will fall in battle by hundreds and thousands, until
the earth is emptied. Young men, prepare yourselves; for a greater
responsibility will come upon you than you have ever dreamed of.
Millions will seek to you for salvation. Are you prepared for this?
No, you are not. There are but very few men, old or young, that are
capable of taking proper charge of themselves, to say nothing of a
Ward, a community, or a nation.

Vol. 9, p.143
It is said that woman is the weaker vessel, and that an Irishman
whipped his wife because she carried too much sail. The nations have
been led by the weaker vessel; but, by-and-by it will not be so. It is
impossible to guide ships that carry too much sail, and have too
little ballast in proportion to their hulls. I should trim off some of
the spankers. You sisters who have crossed the sea know what I mean.
You must also cut off part of the jib, and then you can guide the
vessel a little easier. When you come to the mainsail, reef it, tie it
up, and not have it quite so large.

Vol. 9, p.143
You can scarcely find a man that knows how to properly treat himself,
and it is worse when you come to his directing others. You will see
the time when thousands will seek salvation at the hands of this
people, and say, "Guide us in the way of life; the earth is emptied of
wickedness, and it has come to an end." The Lord knows whether or not
the Elders of this Church will be ready to step forward and lake upon
themselves these great responsibilities.

Vol. 9, p.143
Let these remarks remain with you; [p.144] take them home with you,
and wait and see what the result will be. The Lord is building up
Zion, and is emptying the earth of wickedness, gathering his people,
bringing again Zion, redeeming his Israel, sending forth his work,
withdrawing his Spirit from the wicked world, and commencing to build
up his kingdom. Can this be done without revelation? No. You will not
make a move, or do anything—plant corn, build a hall or a temple, make
a farm, or go to the States,—no, not a thing towards building up Zion,
without the power of revelation.

Vol. 9, p.144
May the Lord bless you, brethren and sisters. Amen.

Daniel H. Wells, June 9, 1861

Facilities in Utah for the Comfort and Prosperity of the Saints

Remarks by President Daniel H. Wells, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, June 9, 1861.

Reported By J. V. Long

Vol. 9, p.144
Brethren and sisters, I feel to bear my testimony to what we have
heard this morning. I have accompanied the President upon this trip,
an account of which he has so ably laid before you; and I do not feel
that I could add anything in regard to the description which he has
given of our journey through the southern settlements. He has given
you a full descriptive account of the journey and of the things that
have transpired, and I can truly say that I never enjoyed myself
better upon a journey or pleasure excursion that afforded me greater
satisfaction than this has done. I have accompanied him many times on
trips of this kind, and I think I have enjoyed this a little better
than any other.

Vol. 9, p.144
It seemed that new ideas and new scenes arose before us all the time;
it seemed that the Lord was multiplying and increasing the people
called Latter-day Saints. They were scattered through the country in
almost every nook and corner where they could take advantage of a few
acres of fertile land. There they were busily engaged endeavouring to
subdue it. This was pleasing to behold.

Vol. 9, p.144
We were everywhere met with kindness and hospitality, and all the
people seemed glad to see us and to have us tarry with them. When we
left one place, many of the brethren would follow us to the next, to
hear of the word of the Lord. In fact, in all of the southern
settlements, our hearts were continually rejoiced in seeing the
thousands that flocked around us, and in seeing their endeavours to
learn what would best promote the cause and kingdom in which we are
all engaged. It seems as though the Territory was enlarging and the
places fit for the habitations of men were becoming more numerous,
and, as the people have frequently been told, that when they began to
crowd together, other places  would open and fountains of [p.145]
water spring up, sufficient for the increasing wants of this people.
We now feel that it is so—that the places are multiplied—that fertile
spots and fountains of water are springing up and being discovered in
these valleys of the mountains for the habitations of the Saints of
the Most High God.

Vol. 9, p.145
This land is choice above all other lands for the Saints of God, for
there is no other land that I know of by travel, by description, or by
report, that combines so many and such great facilities and advantages
to benefit the Saints of the Most High. Here can be produced rise
things that are necessary for the comfort and benefit of man; and with
these elements that have lain dormant. so long is combined the
blessings of the most secure places and the most formidable barriers
against interruptions from any foreign foe. I feel every time I think
of it, as I stated south, that every mountain ridge, the wide and
extended plains, and even sage brush, I look upon as a friend to the
Saints, and that they are thrown around them as an insurmountable
barrier against those who desire the overthrow of the kingdom of God
upon the earth. But here we are, where can we draw from the elements
those things that we need—where we are protected from those that seek
our overthrow and destruction.

Vol. 9, p.145
The Lord our God has done this, and has brought this people to it.
Here is a land prepared for us, where we can build and inhabit,
multiply and increase, and become a great and a mighty people. My
heart has rejoiced when I have reflected upon those things—when I have
reflected and looked at the facilities put into our hands for the
improvement and advancement of this people. The olive, the cotton, and
all those flyings which come from warm climates, can be raised in
abundance. The soil is very rich, light, and loose, and suitable for
the growing of those fine provisions and commodities of life that are
grown in southern localities, such as indigo, tobacco, cotton, and
many other articles that cannot be raised in this northern part of the
Territory: they can be cultivated in great abundance in the southern
portions of Utah.

Vol. 9, p.145
It will not do to abuse it like we do heavier soils: it is light and
will easily waste away; but, if properly cultivated, it will produce
very abundantly. It is not so well adapted to wheat as the soil in
this and the other northern counties. The willow, if planted alive
like fence stakes, will grow like a hedge, and make a beautiful
appearance. That country is also very suitable for the peach culture.
True, we can raise very good ones here, but the climate is far more
suitable in Washington County. Apricots also do well there, and apples
and plums come to maturity very early. Take that in connection with
this part of the Territory, and see what we can do. We can raise the
flax, the pork, the beef, and the sheep, and we can get up an exchange
of commodities with the people in the southern settlements, and
furnish them the things which they cannot produce so easily, and in
exchange receive what they have to dispose of, and thereby establish
an international trade between the people of the north and south in
this Territory.

Vol. 9, p.145
It will not be long before there will be a string of towns and
villages on each side of the present settlements of this Territory,
from Skull Valley on the west to the Sevier Lake, Lower Beaver, and
the sink of Coal Creek to the Mountain Meadows; on the east, from the
head waters of the Rio Virgin to the head waters of the Sevier, and by
way of Sanpete to the head of the Provo; Weber, and Bear Rivers, and
to Cache Valley.

Vol. 9, p.146
There is land and locations, with [p.146] water privileges in
abundance, and then we are finding more continually: the people are
extending their settlements on all sides, making a complete cord of
settlements on the east and west of our present locations.

Vol. 9, p.146
It rejoices my heart to see Zion spread herself abroad in these
valleys of the mountains—to see her lengthening her cords and
strengthening her Stakes. What else rejoices me? It rejoices and makes
glad my heart to see that righteousness predominates in the midst of
the Saints of the living God. This, I am happy to say, is the case,
although there are some who do very little towards building up the
kingdom of God, while there are many that do things towards building
up the Devil's kingdom; but this is not as it should be. We have come
here to get rid of doing that; we have come to establish peace and
righteousness upon the earth; we have come here because the Lord
wanted us and all his people to form a nucleus where his chosen ones
could rally round and build up a kingdom.

Vol. 9, p.146
All nations are in darkness and are corrupt before the Lord, and he
has set his hand to establish a kingdom that shall be righteous—to
establish the principles of truth and virtue, that will form a nucleus
for his kingdom, which we have so much desired to see in our day and
generation. This is the nucleus in these valleys of these mountains.
The Lord has done everything upon his part that seems to be necessary.
I do not know what more he could have done, but he is willing all the
time to help us.

Vol. 9, p.146
Those who profess to be Saints of the Most High God—those whom he has
chosen to guide and dictate his people are the men that we should
uphold by our faith, prayers, and means. The Lord has said, "Here is
the land which I have preserved for my Saints, and here is my servant
Brigham whom I have appointed: he will preside over you; He will lead
you." Therefore let us abide the counsels he imparts unto us, and go
to and develop the resources of this land; and in doing this in
righteousness before the Lord we build ourselves up temporally and
spiritually, and the principles we have so dearly loved will be
sustained.

Vol. 9, p.146
Let us be united and go forth at the word as we shall be dictated to
do, and let us drop everything that is the least displeasing at the
sound of our President's voice. Inasmuch as we have done wrong
heretofore; let us do it no more, but let us get hold of the same
spirit by which he is actuated. Let us, then, follow our leader, and
not pursue any other path; for he that followeth not with us
scattereth abroad.

Vol. 9, p.146
May the Lord bless us and enable us to live our religion, is my prayer
in the name of Jesus. Amen. [p.147]

Brigham Young, January 12, 1862

Eternal Punishment—"Mormonism," &c.

Remarks by President Brigham Young made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, January 12, 1862.

Reported By G. D. Watt

Vol. 9, p.147
In the early history of this Church, our public speakers, through
their traditions, did not like to have their errors in doctrine
corrected. It hurt their feelings to be instucted and enlightened for
the furtherance of knowledge and wisdom. I am happy to say that now
the Elders, almost universally, are willing to be instructed in the
truth. It is their delight to receive intelligence and knowledge that
pertain to the heavens and the earth—the plan of salvation.

Vol. 9, p.147
Many of the Elders say that they and timid and embarrassed when they
attempt to speak before the congregated people, and are unable to
express the rich ideas and glorious principles suggested to their
minds. I frequently feel anxious to help them, and tell for them what
they would communicate. When they are, at work in their shops or in
their fields, or when going up the kanyons for wood, (if their cattle
behave well,) in their reflections, they preach many excellent
sermons; but when they try to make their secret thoughts audible
before a congregation, their thoughts desert them and they are left a
blank.

Vol. 9, p.147
Brother Jackman's mind led him to praise and thank the Lord Almighty
for one principle he revealed through Joseph the Prophet, different
from that generally believed and taught among religionists. They, you
understand, condemn all who differ from their views to hell, there to
remain in a state of the most acute consciousness of the most extreme
suffering throughout endless eternities, without one single ray of
hope that will ever be delivered. Brother Jackman wished to speak on
this point, but his heart failed him. The Lord says, through Joseph
Smith, "Again, it is written eternal damnation; wherefore it is more
express than other scriptures, that it might work upon the hearts of
the children of men, altogether for my name's glory; wherefore I will
explain unto you this mystery, for it is mete unto you to know even as
mine Apostles. I speak unto you that are chosen in this thing, even as
one, that you may curer into my rest; for, behold, the mystery of
godliness, how great is it? for, behold, I am endless, and the
punishment which is given from my hand is endless punishment, for
Endless is my name; wherefore—

Eternal punishment is God's punishment;
Endless punishment is God's punishment."

Vol. 9, p.147
The punishment of God is Godlike. It endures forever, because there
never will be a time when people ought not to be damned, and there
must always be a hell to send them to. How long the damned remain in
hell, I know not, nor what degree of suffering they endure. If we
could by any means compute how much wickedness they are guilty of, it
might be possible to ascertain the amount of suffering they will
receive [p.148] They will receive according as their deeds have been
while in the body. God's punishment is eternal, but that does not
prove that a wicked person will remain eternally in a state of
punishment.

Vol. 9, p.148
All the doctrines of life and salvation are as plain to the
understanding as the geographical lines of a correctly executed map.
This doctrine, revealed in these latter times, is worthy the attention
of all men. It gives the positive situation in which they will stand
before the Heavens when they have finished their earthly career.
Generation after generation is constantly coming and passing away.
They all possess more or less intelligence, which forms the foundation
within them for the reception of an eternal increase of intelligence.
The endowments that human beings have received from their Great
Creator are to them inestimable blessings. How wonderful and how
excellent they are! What priceless blessings and exquisite enjoyments
they secure to man, if by truth trod righteousness they are made
honourable in the sight of God. By the means of his wonderful and
Godlike endowments, man can drink at the fountain of eternal wisdom
and bask in everlasting felicity.

Vol. 9, p.148
But hundreds of millions of human beings have been born, lived out
their short earthly span, and passed away, ignorant alike of
themselves and of the plan of salvation provided for them. It gives
great consolation, however, to know that this glorious plan devised by
Heaven Follows them into the next existence, offering for their
acceptance eternal life and exaltation to thrones, dominions,
principalities, and powers in the presence of their Father and God,
through Jesus Christ his Son. How glorious—how ample is the Gospel
plan in its saving properties and merciful designs. This one
revelation, containing this principle, is worth worlds on worlds to
mankind. It is worth forsaking fathers and mothers, sisters and
brothers, wives and children, houses and lands, for the knowledge it
reveals; and this is but one item in the great plan of human
redemption.

Vol. 9, p.148
I will notice another idea. We frequently say "Mormonism," as it is
called, must be true because there are so many evidences in its
favour. We say we do positively know it is true (using the words of
brother Jackman,) "in fair weather; but when it is foul weather and
the storms beat upon our frail bark, some may conclude it is not
true." I wish you all to understand "Mormonism" as it is. We embraced
it in different parts of the world, because we considered it the best
religion we could find. Can we tell how much better "Mormonism" is
than other religions and isms of the present day? More or less truth
may be found in them all, both in civilized and barbarous nations. How
has it transpired that theological truth is thus so widely
disseminated? It is because God was once known on the earth among his
children of mankind, as we know one another. Adam was as conversant
with his Father who placed him upon this earth as we are conversant
with our earthly parents. The Father frequently came to visit his son
Adam, and talked and walked with him; and the children of Adam were
more or less acquainted with their Grandfather, and their children
were more or less acquainted with their Great-Grandfather; and the
things that pertain to God and to heaven were as familiar among
mankind, in the first ages of their existence on the earth, as these
mountains are to our mountain boys, as our gardens ate to our wives
and children, or as the road to the Western Ocean is to the
experienced traveller. From this source mankind have received their
religious traditions.

Vol. 9, p.149
[p.149] I will tell you in a few words what I understand "Mormonism"
to be. Our religion is called "Mormonism" because the ancient records
revealed to JoSeph Smith were entitled the Book of Mormon, according
to the instructions given to him by the Lord; but I will call it the
plan of salvation devised in the heavens for the redemption of mankind
from sin and their restoration to the presence of God. It is contained
in the New Testament, Book of Mormon, Book of Doctrine and Covenants,
and in all the revelations that God has hitherto given and will give
in the future.

Vol. 9, p.149
It embraces every fact there is in the heavens and in the heaven of
heavens—every fact there is upon the surface of the earth, in the
bowels of the earth, and in the starry heavens; in fine, it embraces
all truth there is in all the eternities of the Gods. How, then, can
we deny it? We cannot. Were we arraigned face to face with the terrors
of death, and called upon to deny our religion or die, we might speak
a lie and say "Mormonism" is untrue, and might continue the same
testimony all the time we were in hell; but that would make no
difference with the truth. The devils and damned spirits in hell
cannot. deny the truth of "Mormonism" and speak the truth. I wish all
those who profess to believe it did as much as the devils in hell do.

Vol. 9, p.149
"Mormonism" embraces all truth that is revealed and that is
unrevealed, whether religions, political, scientific, or
philosophical.

Vol. 9, p.149
No matter how many deny their God and their religion, God is the same,
his holy religion is the same, and all the truth is the same. There is
no plan, no device, no possible way in which we can get rid of
"Mormonism," only by taking the downward road which leads to hell,
until spiritually and temporally the whole organized being is
dissolved and the particles thereof have returned again to native
elements. We read in the Scriptures of the second death not having
power over certain ones. The first death is the separation of the
spirit from the body; the second death is, as I have stated, the
dissolution of the organized particles which compose the spirit, and
their return to their native element. The wicked spirit will have to
endure the wrath of the Almighty, until it has paid the uttermost
farthing where the "worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched."
Every debt that has been contracted by it must be cancelled.

Vol. 9, p.149
I will say a few words in regard to your belief in being led, guided,
and directed by one man. Brother Jackman has said that our enemies
hate the fact of our being led by one man. Thousands of times my soul
has been lifted to God the Father, in the name of Jesus, to make that
verily, true in every sense of the word, that we may be led by the man
Jesus Christ, through Joseph Smith the Prophet. You may inquire how we
are to know that we are so led. I refer you to the exhortation you
have beard so frequently from me. Do not be deceived, any of you; if
you are deceived, it is because you deceive yourselves. You may know
whether you are led right or wrong, as well as you know the way home;
for every principle God has revealed carries its own convictions of
its truth to the human mind, and there is no calling of God to man on
earth but what brings with it the evidences of its authenticity. Let
us take a course that leads to the perpetuity of the natural life
which God has given us, and honour it. Should we pursue this course
faithfully, and never bestow one thought for the life that is to come,
we are just as sure of that [p.150] immortal life as we are of the
life we now possess. This, in fact, is the only way in which we can be
prepared to inherit that more glorious life.

Vol. 9, p.150
What a pity it would be if we were led by one man to utter
destruction! Are you afraid of this? I am more afraid that this people
have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire
for themselves of God whether they are led by Him. I am fearful they
settle down in a state of blind self-security, trusting their eternal
destiny in the hands of their leaders with a reckless confidence that
in itself would thwart the purposes of God in their salvation, and
weaken that influence they could give to their leaders, did they know
for themselves, by the revelations of Jesus, that they are led in the
right way. Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the
Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the
path the Lord dictates, or not. This has been my exhortation
continually.

Vol. 9, p.150
Brother Joseph W. Young remarked this morning that he wished the
people to receive the word of the Lord through his servants, be
dictated by them, and have no will of their own. I would express it in
this wise: God has placed within us a will, and we should be satisfied
to have it controlled by the will of the Almighty. Let the human will
be indomitable for right. It has been the custom of parents to break
the will until it is weakened, and the noble, Godlike powers of the
child are reduced to a comparative state of imbecility and cowardice.
Let that heaven-born property of human agents be properly tempered and
wisely directed, instead of pursuing the opposite course, and it will
conquer in the cause' of right. Break not the spirit of any person,
but guide it to feel that it is its greatest delight and highest
ambition to be controlled by the revelations of Jesus Christ; then the
will of man becomes Godlike in overcoming the evil that is sown in the
flesh, until God shall reign within us to will and do of his good
pleasure.

Vol. 9, p.150
Let all persons be fervent in prayer, until they know the things of
God for themselves and become certain that they are walking in the
path that leads to everlasting life; then will envy, the child of
ignorance, vanish, and there will be no disposition in any man to
place himself above another; for such a feeling meets no countenance
in the order of heaven. Jesus Christ never wanted to be different from
his father: they were and are one. If a people are led by the
revelations of Jesus Christ, and they are cognizant of the fact
through their faithfulness, there is no fear but they will be one in
Christ Jesus, and see eye to eye.

Vol. 9, p.150
We shall not be entirely free from sin for some time yet; but so long
as it is in a state of perfect subjection, we are so far sanctified to
keep up this warfare against the power of sin until we have obtained a
perfect mastery over the evil that is within our organisms, and are
able to control it constantly until death shall end the struggle: then
shall we be prepared for a glorious resurrection. Amen. [p.151]

Heber C. Kimball, June 19, 1862

Obedience to the Commandments and Revelations of God

Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, June 19, 1862.

Reported By J. V. Long

Vol. 9, p.151
Brethren and sisters, you have all heard what has been said by
President Young and others. I can say that I agree with them in all
those things of which they have spoken. I have been very much annoyed,
ever since I came into these mountains, by those thieves that have
been prowling around and stealing our property. I cannot think what
fathers are doing to allow their children to mingle with those who are
known to be thieves, thereby creating a propensity to interfere with
other men's property. My father was not a religious man, but he always
taught his children good morals and strict honesty: he also paid due
respect to the religions of the day. He instructed them against lying,
stealing, and every species of vice; and I presume that there are not
many who have been more strictly educated in the principles of
morality than I have.

Vol. 9, p.151
When people sent their children to school in those days, they were
taught, among other things, the Ten Commandments. The principles
inculcated in those commandments were impressed upon their young and
tender minds, such as, "Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not covet any
of thy neighbour's property. Thou shalt not bear false witness." These
and many other good principles were strongly enforced upon the
children's minds, and this prevented them from being led astray. In
the Book of Doctrine and Covenants we have these things. set forth in
great plainness. Read the 5, 6, 7, and 8 paragraphs of a revelation,
given February, 1831, which is as follows:—

Vol. 9, p.151
"And again, the Elders, Priests, and Teachers of this Church shall
teach the principles of my Gospel, which are in the Bible and the Book
of Mormon, in the which is the fulness of the Gospel; and they shall
observe the covenants and Church articles to do them; and these shall
be their teachings, as they shall be directed by the Spirit; and the
Spirit shall be given unto you by the power of faith; and if ye
receive not the Spirit, ye shall not teach. And all this ye shall
observe to do as I have commanded concerning your teaching, until the
fulness of my Scriptures be given. And as ye shall lift up your voices
by the Comforter, ye shall speak and prophesy as seemeth me good; for,
behold, the Comforter knoweth all things, and beareth record of the
Father and of the Son.

Vol. 9, p.151
And now, behold, I speak unto the Church. Thou shalt not kill; and he
that kills shall not have forgiveness in this world, nor in the world
to come.

Vol. 9, p.151
And again, I say, Thou shalt not kill; but he that killeth shall die.
Thou shalt not steal; and he that stealeth and will not repent shall
be east out. Thou shalt not lie; he that lieth and will not repent
shall be cast out. Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and
shall cleave [p.152] unto her and none else; and he that looketh upon
a woman to lust after her shall deny the faith, and shall not have the
Spirit; and if he repents not, he shall be cast out. Thou shalt not
commit adultery; and he that committeth adultery and repenteth not
shall be cast out; but he that has committed adultery and repents with
all his heart, and forsaketh it, and doeth it no more, thou shalt
forgive; but if he doeth it again, he shall not be forgiven, but shall
be cast out. Thou shalt not speak evil of thy neighbour, nor do him
any harm. Thou knowest my laws concerning these things are given in my
Scriptures: he that sinneth and repenteth not shall be cast out.

Vol. 9, p.152
If thou lovest me, thou shalt serve me and keep all my commandments.
And behold, thou wilt remember the poor, and consecrate of thy
properties for their support that which thou hast to impart unto them
with a covenant and a deed which cannot be broken; and inasmuch as ye
impart of your substance unto the poor, ye will do it unto me; and
they shall be laid before the Bishop of my Church and his Counsellors,
two of the Elders, or High Priests, such as he shall or has appointed
and set apart for that purpose."

Vol. 9, p.152
In these days people act with their children as if they thought those
wholesome doctrines were done away, and they are very ready in their
ignorance to refer to Paul's saying about leaving certain principles
and going on to perfection; but the true doctrine is not to leave
those principles which we first learned, but to bear them in mind, day
by day, to do unto our neighbour as we would wish him to do unto us,
and thus go on to perfection. This is the law and the prophets. These
principles are in force upon us as much as they are upon others.

Vol. 9, p.152
You may go and read the revelations which God gave through Joseph
Smith, and you will there find repeated in each of them some of those
good old principles. From the first organization of this Church until
today, virtue, honesty, and the strictest morality have been taught in
all the revelations given through Joseph Smith and his successor.
Then, for men to introduce those hateful practices of lying, stealing,
drunkenness, and other vices into our midst, at the same time
professing to be Saints, I cannot but feel to despise their conduct,
if I do not hate them. It is taking a course to defile this community.
The tabernacles of men become corrupted by these wicked acts which
they perform while under the control of the evil spirits which dictate
them, and that tabernacle that is defiled I will destroy, saith the
Lord God.

Vol. 9, p.152
These are my feelings upon the subjects treated upon by President
Young and Bishop Woolley. As was remarked, I may also ask, Do we fear
our enemies in the world? I answer, No. I have more fear about those
corrupt individuals who dwell in our midst.

Vol. 9, p.152
Let us endeavour to live up to our privileges; then the world have
nothing more to do with us than they have with the angel of God whom
they never saw. Know ye not, brethren and sisters, that you are angels
to the present generation as well as those behind the vail? You can
read in the Scriptures that the Lord promised to make Peter and James
ministers to his servant John, whom the Lord appointed to tarry on the
earth until Jesus should come again. If Michael the archangel were to
come, he would appear as did Peter, James, and John when they appeared
to Joseph Smith. If we are the elect of God, we should be among that
number who will assist to gather the Saints in the last days. [p.153]
It won't be done again by angels that are said to have wings, but it
will be accomplished by those that have hands and feet, and who travel
about upon this earth. It is for us who are chosen to administer in
the flesh, and men behind the vail minister to us.

Vol. 9, p.153
I feel really glad in regard to what has taken place of late—that
those characters that have been prowling around, annoying their
neighbours and stealing from their best friends, have been removed out
of our midst, and placed where they can no longer afflict the
righteous. This people know enough to be righteous, honest, pure, and
virtuous; and those who will not practise that which they know to be
good will become habituated to folly and vice, just in the same way
that men become habituated to using tobacoo, to stealing, drinking,
and lying.

Vol. 9, p.153
Some have tried to hide their iniquities by saying they only stole
from the Gentiles; but I contend that a man who will steal from s
Gentile will steal from me, if he ever gets an opportunity. When the
time comes that the Lord says, "Arise, and to your tents, O Israel ;"
then men must be pure inside and out; they must be for God, or they
will have no part in the blessings conferred upon the righteous. We
sometimes talk about cutting men off from the Church. Now, I want to
know what is the use of retaining dead limbs upon a tree. If such
limbs are allowed to continue, they impart death to the branches.
Brother Brigham illustrated this subject very clearly.

Vol. 9, p.153
We are all connected with the one tree; and if one member suffers, the
others are affected. When we get intelligence, it is through the
Father having revealed himself to Jesus, and Jesus to his chosen ones
upon the earth.

Vol. 9, p.153
In the beginning of this Church, Jesus sent Peter, James, and John,
who committed the power unto Joseph; and then he engrafted it into us.
But suppose the graft die, like many which we put into trees, then we
have to cut out the graft and put in a new one, that the tree may
thrive and prosper.

Vol. 9, p.153
When I see dishonesty among this people, I feel sorrowful. If I find
men out once, I will have nothing to do with them afterward; and there
is no law in heaven or on the earth that requires me to mingle with
them; but I am required to cleave to every honest, virtuous, and
truthful man. This is the nature of the religion of Jesus Christ,
which is the power of God unto salvation.

Vol. 9, p.153
Brethren, if any of us have erred in the past, let us do better in the
future. Let those who have done wrong do wrong no more. Let us cast
out all hatred, malice, and bad feelings from our hearts. We are very
subject to be charged with false-hood—to get wrong impressions
concerning our brethren. Although we may be men of God, judges in
Israel, and have a right to the power which will enable us to judge
between truth and error, the man that tells the truth and him that
striveth to deceive, still we are apt and liable to be mistaken and to
receive false impressions. For instance, we think a great deal of our
children and of our wives, and we are apt to believe them in
preference to men of God; and in this way we become charged with false
impressions concerning our brethren. We should be very careful how we
receive the report of one person concerning another, especially if
that report be unfavourable. Brethren and sisters, it is our duty to
tell the truth and to let falsehood and misrepresentation alone. These
are my sentiments and feelings; and if ever I have gone contrary to
this, I have gone wrong.

Vol. 9, p.154
T