Journal of Discourses Volume 13

BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG, 

HIS TWO COUNSELLORS, 
AND THE TWELVE APOSTLES.

REPORTED BY D. W. EVANS AND 
JOHN GRIMSHAW.

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

VOL. XIII

LIVERPOOL:

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY 
HORACE S. ELDREDGE, 42, ISLINGTON.

 LONDON:

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

1871.[p.iii] 

Preface

Vol. 13,  p.iii
THE Thirteenth Volume of the "Journal" contains discourses upon a
great variety of subjects of interest to all Saints, and is well
worthy of being carefully preserved and frequently referred to for
instruction and encouragement in their endeavors to live by every word
that proceedeth from the mouth of God, through His servants who hold
the Holy Priesthood.

THE PUBLISHER.[p.1] 

Brigham Young, April 7, 1869

Responsibility for Teachings—the Word of 
Wisdom—Co-Operation, Etc.

Remarks By President Brigham Young, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, April 7, 1869.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 13,  p.1
I think I shall not be under the necessity of talking long, as there
has been a great deal said to the people this afternoon. I will
commence by saying to the Latter-day Saints and to all the inhabitants
of the earth that I am responsible for the doctrine I teach; but I am
not responsible for the obedience of the people to that doctrine. My
position in the presence of God, before the Angels and upon the face
of the earth, is that it is easier and more delightful to serve God
than to serve ourselves and the devil.

Vol. 13,  p.1
There has been considerable said this afternoon with regard to
redeeming and building up Zion, the Order of Enoch, &c. I see men and
women in this congregation—only a few of them—who were driven from the
central stake of Zion. Ask them if they had any sorrow or trouble;
then let them look at the beautiful land that the Lord would have
given them if all had been faithful in keeping His commandments, and
had walked before Him as they should; and then ask them with regard to
the blessings they would have received. If they tell you the
sentiments of their minds, they will tell you that the yoke of Jesus
would have been easy and his burden would have been light, and that it
would have been a delightful task to have walked in obedience to his
commands and to have been of one heart and one mind; but through the
selfishness of some, which is idolatry, through their covetousness,
which is the same, and the lustful desire of their minds, they were
cast out and driven from their homes. We have been driven many times;
but each time, if they who professed to be the servants of God had
served Him with an undivided heart, they would have had the privilege
of living in their houses, possessing their lands,[p.2] attending to
their meetings, and spreading abroad on the right and the left,
lengthening the cords of Zion, and strengthening her stakes until the
land had been dedicated to the Gospel of the Son of God. Well, I have
been with the rest and I expect I have been covetous like them, and
probably I am now; but if I am, I wish somebody would tell me wherein.

Vol. 13,  p.2
Brother Pratt, in his discourse, had considerable to say with regard
to the property of the Saints. I would like very much if the time was
now when the Lord would say, "Lay down your substance at the feet of
the bishops," and find out who in this Church would be willing to give
up all. This co-operative movement is only a stepping stone to what is
called the Order of Enoch, but which is in reality the Order of
Heaven. It was revealed to Enoch when he built up his city and
gathered the people together and sanctified them, so that they became
so holy and pure that they could not live among the rest of the people
and the Lord took them away.

Vol. 13,  p.2
Ask any Christian in the world if he thinks the Lord rules and reigns
supreme in heaven, and he will tell you, "Yes." Is it right for the
Lord to reign? "Certainly it is." Ask him if he would delight to live
in a place where one character rules and reigns supreme, and he will
answer, "Yes, if I could go to heaven." Why? "Why, the Lord reigns
there." Just ask the Christian if he knows the Lord, and he will tell
you, "No." Did you ever see him? "No." Can you tell me anything of His
character? "No, only He is something without body, parts, and
passions." One of the apostles says that "God is love, and they who
dwell in God dwell in love." Ask the Christian world if their know
anything about God, and they will tell you they do not. Ask if He has
eyes, and they will say, "No,—yes, He is all eyes." Has he a head?
"Yes, He is all head." Has he ears? "Yes, He is all ears, He is all
mouth, He is all body, and all limbs;" and still without, body, parts,
or passions. Why what do they make of Him? A monster, if He is
anything; that is what they make of Him. Would you like to go to
heaven? "O, yes," says the Christian, "the Lord reigns there." How do
you know you would like the place and the order when you get there? Do
you think you will have your farm and your substance by yourself, and
live in the gratification of your selfish propensities as you now do?
"O, no, we expect to be made pure and holy." Where will you begin to
be pure and holy? If you do not begin here, I do not know where you
will begin. "O," says the Christian, "if we are going to heaven, where
God and angels dwell, and live where one-man power prevails, we should
all be satisfied, I expect." We, Latter-day Saints, say so, too. We
like to see that power manifested by those whom God calls to lead the
people in righteousness, purity, and holiness. This opens up a subject
that I am not going to talk about.

Vol. 13,  p.2
Brother Orson has spoken on the Word of Wisdom. The people have done
pretty well in keeping it for the last year or two. But are they going
to continue, or will they return to their old habits like the dog to
his vomit, or like the sow that is washed, to her wallowing in the
mire? The sale of tobacco, tea, and coffee is increasing in the midst
of this people at the present time. What does this prove? It proves
that, stealthily or openly, the people are eating and drinking that
which is not good for them. Hot drinks, tobacco, and spirits [p.3] are
not good for them. Will the people continue to keep the Word of
Wisdom, or will they become like the brutes in the parable, or, like
fools, return to that which will injure and destroy them? The elders
of Israel have talked a great deal to the people upon the principles
of life and about the course they should pursue to lay a foundation
for health. Let a mother stimulate her system with tobacco, tea,
coffee, or liquor, or suffer herself to hanker after such things at
certain times, and she lays the foundation for the destruction of her
offspring. Do they realize this? No, and in very many instances they
care nothing about it. With all the teachings given to this people I
think they are very much like the rest of the world, or like the dumb
brute beasts that are made to be taken and destroyed. And it almost
seems that the last comparison is the most appropriate, for
intelligence is given us to preserve ourselves, to preserve our health
and prolong our natural lives, preserve our posterity, preserve and
beautify the earth and make it like the Garden of Eden. But what is
the disposition of the people? It is true we are in advance of the
world, but we are only just commencing to learn the things of God. I
know that some say the revelations upon these points are not given by
way of commandment. Very well, but we are commanded to observe every
word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Vol. 13,  p.3
I cannot say that my family is clear in this respect. They want a
little of this and a little of that that it is not wise to use, and I
suppose it is the same in other families. Every man, I expect,
indulges his wife and children and allows them to take this or that
when he knows it is not the best for them. But we, in and of
ourselves, ought to be independent; every son and daughter in Israel
should say, we will keep the "Word of Wisdom" independent of father,
mother, or any elder in the church; we know what is right and we will
do it. By so doing this people will increase health in their systems,
and the destroying angel, when he comes along, will pass them by. Will
you take this course? I, as the leader and dictator of this people,
feel disgraced when I think they are becoming slothful and negligent
and are returning to their former foolish and useless habits; and,
refusing to hearken to the least counsel, are turning away to the
counsel of the Evil One and doing that which leads to death.

Vol. 13,  p.3
I want to say a few words still further to the people with regard to
their faith in temporal things. If the people called Latter-day Saints
do not become one in temporal things as they are in spiritual things,
they will not redeem and build up the Zion of God upon the earth. This
co-operative movement is a stepping stone. We say to the people, take
advantage of it, it is your privilege. Instead of giving it into the
hands of a few individuals to make their hundreds and thousands, let
the people, generally, enjoy the benefit arising from the sale of
merchandize. I have already told you that this will stop the
operations of many little traders, but it will make them producers as
well as consumers. You will find that if the people unitedly hearken
to the counsel that is given them, it will not be long before the
hats, caps, bonnets, boots and shoes, pants, coats, vests and
underclothing of this entire community will all be made in our midst.
What next? Shall we have to run to London, Paris, or New York for the
fashions? When I see the disposition among the Latter-day Saints to
follow the [p.4] fashions and customs of the world, I think, why do
you stay here? You had better go back again. I am tired of this
everlasting ding-dong about fashions. If I happen to have a coat on
that is not what is called fashionable, some of my wives will be sure
to say, "Husband, or Mr. President, may I give this away;" or, "I wish
it was out of sight, it is not fasbionable." If I were to tell the
truth I should say, who cares for the fashions of the world? I do not;
if I get anything that is comfortable and sits well, and suits my
system, it is all I ask. I do not care who wears a bonnet that is six
feet above the head behind, twelve feet in front, or that sits close
to the crown of her head, or whether it is three straws thrown over
the head with ribbons to them. But to see a people who say, "We are
the teachers of life and salvation," and yet are anxious to follow the
nasty, pernicious fashions of the day, I say it is too insipid to talk
or think about. It is beneath the character of the Latter-day Saints
that they should have no more independence of mind or feeling than to
follow after the grovelling customs and fashions of a poor, miserable,
wicked world. All who do not want to sustain co-operation and fall
into the ranks of improvement, and endeavour to improve themselves by
every good book and then by every principle that has been received
from heaven, had better go back to England, Ireland, France,
Scandinavia, or the Eastern States; we do not care where you go, if
you will only go.

Vol. 13,  p.4
I will take up my text again—I am responsible for the doctrine I
teach. I will say to this people, as I have said ever since I
commenced to lift up my voice to the inhabitants of the earth, I will
read to them out of the Book of Life. If they will hear it, well; if
they will not, I am clear of their blood. I read to the Latter-day
Saints out of the Book of Life, and I can give them lessons that will
lead them back to the presence of God in the celestial kingdom. But
oh, the slothfulness, negligence, and the low, groveling feelings in
the midst of this people are a disgrace to them. Will we improve? Yes,
let us try and redeem the time and commence anew.

Vol. 13,  p.4
Yesterday we explained a little with regard to co-operation; we can
explain just as far as the people wish to hear and know. Those who
rise up against this or any other measure do it because darkness and
the spirit of the Evil One reign within them. There is not a man and
woman in this Church and Kingdom, who is in possession of the Holy
Ghost, but what will lift up their hands to heaven and say, "Blessed
be God, there is somebody to lead and improve the people," when they
contemplate this movement and the results it will work out; and they
who fight against it and feel to murmur are actuated by a spirit from
beneath.

Vol. 13,  p.4
I frequently think of the difference between the power of God and the
power of the devil. To illustrate, here is a structure in which we can
be seated comfortably, protected from the beat of summer or the cold
of winter. Now, it required labour, mechanical skill and ingenuity and
faithfulness and diligence to erect this building, but any poor,
miserable feel or devil can set fire to it and destroy it. That is
just what the devil can do, but he never can build anything. The
difference between God and the devil is that God creates and
organizes, while the whole study of the devil is to destroy. Every one
that follows the evil inclinations of his own natural evil heart, is
going to destruction, and sooner or later he will be no more. I pray
you Latter-day Saints to live your religion. Amen.[p.5] 

Erastus Snow, February 28, 1869

The Axe is Laid to the Root—Exhortation to Faithfulness

Remarks By Elder Erastus Snow, Delivered in 
the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, February 28, 1869.

(Reported by David W. Evans.)

Vol. 13,  p.5
I am requested to occupy a little time this afternoon prior to my
departure for my field of labour in the South, and if I can have your
faith and prayers, I will try to speak upon a few subjects. A certain
very expressive passage of Scripture, contained in the New Testament,
has been passing through my mind since I have been sitting here. I
will repeat it:—

Vol. 13,  p.5
"Now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees; therefore every
tree which bringeth forth not good fruit is hewn down and cast into
the fire."

Vol. 13,  p.5
This figure of the fruit tree, though spoken in reference to the
followers of the Saviour in his day, is equally as applicable to us as
to those to whom it was addressed. There are many other sayings of the
Saviour of a similar character, applied to the people of God in
reference to the diverse doctrines and teachings of men; also warning
them against false prophets and those who might come to them in
sheep's clothing, but inwardly were ravening wolves. He said to his
disciples, "By their fruits shall ye know them," for every tree that
bears good trait is a good tree; but a corrupt tree did not bring
forth good fruit.

Vol. 13,  p.5
Now this figure of the axe being laid at the root of the tree, and
every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down and
east into the fire, being equally as applicable to God's people in
these days as to His people in the days in which it was spoken, is
very impressive, and should be retained in every mind; every heart
should reflect upon it, and every one should inquire, "Am I a subject
for the burning, or am I bearing good fruit?"

Vol. 13,  p.5
To answer these questions satisfactorily we must be instructed in the
things of God, so that we may understand our duties and know what God
requires of us, we must become acquainted with the Kingdom of Heaven
and the fruits thereof.

Vol. 13,  p.5
The people of olden times, to whom this saying of the Saviour was
addressed, were a peculiar people: they and their fathers before them
for many generations had claimed to be the people of God. To their
forefathers God bad sent His prophets, revealed His word, and he had
made His covenant with them, and had blessed them with many blessings.
Yet in the days of the Saviour, as a nation, they had apostatized and
had fallen from their high position; they had become divided into
sects and parties, proud, covetous, self-righteous and very conceited;
and the Saviour pronounced many woes upon them. He illustrated their
condition in a very noted parable concerning a certain vineyard, which
the husbandman [p.6] rented or let out, and then took his journey into
another country. At the proper season the lord of the vineyard sent
his servant to receive his share of the fruit, of the vineyard; but
instead of the men who had leased the vineyard paying up frankly and
faithfully what they had stipulated to pay, they refused to pay at
all, and also cast the servant out of the vineyard. The lord of the
vineyard then sent other servants to seek his share of the fruit of
the vineyard, but they were treated in like manner, some of them being
beaten, whipped, cast out and slain. Last of all the lord of the
vineyard said, "I will send my son; peradventure they will reverence
him and have respect to their agreement, and render to him the fruits
of the vineyard. But, when the son came, the husbandmen said among
themselves, "This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the
inheritance shall be ours." And they seized the son, cast him out and
slew him. "Now," said the Saviour to the people to whom He addressed
this parable, "what will be done unto these husbandmen? They answered,
"He will miserably destroy those wicked husbandmen, and will let out
his vineyard unto other husbandmen, who shall render him the fruits in
their seasons." Said the Saviour in effect, "This is a very righteous
judgment; even so shall it be done unto you. I blessed your fathers
and established my covenant with them; sent my prophets and revealed
my word unto you, their children, and have called upon you all the day
long, but you have not brought forth the fruits of the kingdom; you
have rejected and slain my prophets, and lastly, you have rejected the
Son, therefore I say unto you, the kingdom shall be rent from your
hands, and given to another people, who will bring forth the fruits
thereof."

Vol. 13,  p.6
Such was the fate of the Jewish people, because they rejected the
prophets who were sent unto them, and, last of all, the Saviour. The
Saviour revealed himself first to that people, and first established
his church in their midst. He sent his disciples to preach, not to the
Gentiles, but to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel." They were
commanded to confine their labours to these; but they to whom he first
sent his disciples did not, as a general thing, listen or obey the
message they delivered to them. There were a goodly number who
believed and were baptized, and from their midst the priesthood with
the Gospel and its ordinances were carried to the Gentile nations, and
the Jews, as a nation, were given over to unbelief and hardness of
heart, their government destroyed, their towns, cities, and provinces
absorbed by surrounding nations, their devoted capital city laid in
ruins, and of their beautiful temple not one stone was left on
another. So complete was the ruin of their chief city that,
subsequently, the very ground upon which it stood was broken up end
ploughed like a field.

Vol. 13,  p.6
The apostles and servants of God who were called to be witnesses of
Jesus went abroad to the surrounding nations, and everywhere baptized
and built up churches, grafting the Gentile nations into the "tame
olive tree." Israel was likened by one of the ancient prophets to a
tame olive tree and the Gentile nations to a wild olive tree. It is
said by the Apostle Paul that the branches of the tame olive tree were
cut off because they were barren and unfruitful, and that the branches
of the wild olive tree were grafted into the [p.7] mother stock and
brought forth good fruit. So it was in the preaching of the Gospel;
the Gentiles accepted with greater freedom and gladness the testimony
of the disciples of Christ. It is not my purpose to enlarge upon the
cause why the Jewish race continued to persecute and hedge up the way
of the disciples and followers of Christ. Through the mercy of God our
Father, salvation came unto many Gentile nations, because they
believed the testimony of Jesus proclaimed to them by his disciples;
and they were baptized into Christ, and became the seed of Abraham by
adoption, while the lineal descendants of Abraham were rejected of God
because of their unbelief. They did not bring forth the fruits of the
kingdom of God, therefore the kingdom was taken from them and given to
another people according as Jesus had predicted.

Vol. 13,  p.7
Now, why was all this? Was it simply because of the sins of their
rulers and chief priests, or was it because of the general corruption,
unbelief, and wickedness of the whole people? I answer, it was not
only the wickedness of their rulers and the corruption and hypocrisy
of their priests, but of the whole people, priests and rulers
included. In the language of one of the prophets, their teachers
taught for hire; their judges judged for reward; their prophets
divined for money, and "my people love to have it so, and what shall
be the end thereof?" The people had lifted themselves up in pride;
they loved gold and silver and precious things, and set up gods whom
they might adore. If they did not actually set up graven images and
gods of wood and stone, they set up teachers and priests like unto
themselves. Their judges and priests took bribes, and their public
servants could be bought with money. They sought honour one of another
and sought set honour which comes from God alone. In short they lived
for the present life only, and did not know how to enjoy it properly,
for the fruit of evil doings is always evil, though it oft-times
appears tempting and alluring to the inexperienced and thoughtless,
and its fruits may be sweet in the mouth, but in the belly they are
invariably bitter. The fruits of righteousness are joy, peace, and
contentment in this life, and life hereafter; while the fruits of
unrighteousness are misery, grief, sorrow, and death. There is nothing
more certain than the saying in Scripture." that the wages of sin is
death." That is as true to-day as it was in the day when it was
spoken. No man or woman can do a wrong thing, whether ignorantly or
with the intent to do wrong, without sooner or later reaping the
bitter fruits of that wrong doing. It is true that the mercy and
loving kindness of God our Father comes to the aid of all who sin
ignorantly, and lightens their punishment because they sinned
ignorantly, and as soon as they were enlightened they turned away and
repented before the Lord in sorrow. It is written that he who knoweth
his master's will and doeth it not shall be beaten with many stripes;
but he who sins ignorantly, though he may do things worthy of many
stripes, shall be beaten with few if he forsakes his evil course when
he understands it, inasmuch as his spirit is not defiled thereby. He
who consents to and approves of a wrong in his heart, or becomes the
alder and abettor of those who do wrong, though he may not be the
personal doer of that wrong, may be more culpable and more deserving
of punishment than the one who is actually guilty, for the latter,
ignorant of the consequences, [p.8] may be influenced by the former,
who knows the results and effects of the wrong done. In such a case
the prompter of the evil would be punished far more severely than he
who actually committed it. It is a consolation to the righteous to
know that God judges not by the sight of the eye, but by the secret
thoughts and intents of the heart. The final judgment of the human
race is deferred to their next estate, that God may judge the spirit
according to the deeds done in the body, His judgment not being passed
upon the body, but upon the spirit, the body having paid the penalty
of its own faults and errors by death. The spirit is held responsible
for the acts done in the body. No spirit can plead, before the bar of
Jehovah, the weakness of the flesh as a justification of sin; the
latter may be urged in palliation, but not in justification. Our
Father is full of mercy, but he cannot look upon sin in any individual
with the least degree of allowance; but every spirit must be held
responsible, and will have to answer at the bar of God, and will there
receive a just and righteous judgment for the deeds done in the body.

Vol. 13,  p.8
But it will be found, in the language of Paul, that some men's sins
have gone to judgment beforehand; others will follow after. In other
words, some men will have their accounts balanced and settled in time,
before the time for the final reckoning arrives, and when that time
comes they will have enough on the credit side of their account to
balance the debtor side, and they will stand square, free, and
accepted; while these whose sins follow them to judgment will have a
long list of accounts unadjusted and a heavy balance against them,
with nothing to set off against it.

Vol. 13,  p.8
What class of beings are they who are so highly favoured as to have
their sins go to judgment before them? Why, they are they who have
repented of their sins, and have ever kept the law of God, and not
been anxious to run in debt again. There are many people who, in both
spiritual and temporal things, as long as they can have an open book
account, are ready to ran up bills. But prudent, wise, and careful men
and women like to have short reckonings and to know pretty often how
they stand and to keep their accounts square. They never lay
themselves down to rest, or rise in the morning, without communing
with their God and learning the position they occupy in His sight. In
our communings with our Father it is our privilege to learn this
lesson, and it is one that every Saint should learn. If we live
continually so as to enjoy the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God, it
will hold the mirror before our eyes, and enable us to understand our
positions before God as plainly as we behold our natural faces in the
glass; and if we have been heedless or negligent in the performance of
our duties, it will be presented to our minds, and we will learn our
faults, and if we sincerely repent, the whisperings of the Holy Spirit
will prompt us as to the course we should take to make things right.
If you have slandered, given place to envy or jealousy, or have
indulged in backbiting, evil speaking, fault-finding, criticising, or
have used an evil influence concerning your brother or sister, the
Spirit will say to you, "Go and make that right, ask your friends who
have suffered by your folly to be merciful to you and to let your
fault be buried." You will thus pour in the oil, and, as far as in you
lies, heal the wound you have inflicted. And when you have thus
obtained your brother's forgiveness you can look up to your [p.9]
Father in Heaven and with confidence ask for His forgiveness.

Vol. 13,  p.9
No individual can wrong another without that wrong being thrown back
upon himself. This is just as sure as that your face is reflected in a
camera when the light shines upon it. You go into a photographic
gallery to have your likeness taken; you sit down opposite the camera,
and the effect of the light upon the instrument is to make it reflect
an exact likeness of yourself. It is precisely similar with every evil
action—they exemplify the truth of the well-known maxim that, "curses
come home to roost." This is universally true. No person can, with
impunity, put his fingers in the fire; neither can any person violate
the laws of life and health without suffering pain and sickness in
consequence. Though the Lord is long-suffering and full of loving
kindness, the penalties attending the violations of His laws are sure
to overtake the offender sooner or later, and foolish is the man or
woman who fosters the delusive hope that it will be otherwise.

Vol. 13,  p.9
The foundation and the seeds of dissolution and death are sown in our
tabernacles. The passions of human nature work, ultimately, the
overthrow and dissolution of our bodies; and this is no more true than
that the spirit, in like manner, works out its own dissolution, that
is, whosoever suffers the second death, which is a spiritual death,
suffers that death as the legitimate fruit of his evil doings as
certainly and as naturally as the body suffers death through the
violation of the laws of its own organization. Whether we violate the
laws of our organizations ignorantly or otherwise, the results are the
same. The child who runs innocently into the fire, ignorant of its
power to injure him, is burned just as quick as the grown person who
does. You overload the stomach of a child who knows not the capacity
of his system, and he suffers the consequence just the same as if he
had understood all about it.

Vol. 13,  p.9
The purpose of the Gospel of Christ is to enlighten the mind upon all
these subjects, and inasmuch as we are willing to receive instruction
we, through it, may learn how to prolong our physical existence here,
and how to secure everlasting life in the world to come, or in other
words, to enter upon our third estate, which will be glorious and
immortal; and in which they who are privileged to enter upon it will
be prepared to exercise the highest functions of their existence and
to enlarge, increase, and extend for ever, until, like Abraham of old,
to their increase there shall be no end, and when the stars of the
firmament or the sands of the sea-shore shall be less numerous than
their creations. Incomprehensible as this may be to our finite minds,
it is a faint view of the glories of the third estate. If we would
secure a right to such inestimable blessings, it must be by obedience
to the laws of life which God has revealed to us. If we sin wilfully,
after having been enlightened as to the consequences of our sin, there
remains, says the Apostle Paul, no more sacrifice for sin, but '"a
certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which
shall devour the adversaries." But if we err in ignorance, and, after
having been instructed, we repent of our sins, there is a door of
mercy opened for us, and we shall be beaten with few stripes. Such
persons, when they have wronged a brother or sister in ignorance,
will, upon being convinced of it, go straightway and rectify that
wrong. If they have oppressed the hireling in his wages, when they
become convinced of the fact, they have gone straightway [p.10] and
made it right, paying him fourfold if necessary. After pursuing such a
course the Father forgives them. He says if we do not forgive one
another, neither will He forgive us. This principle is laid down in
the Scriptures in that beautiful and simple prayer which Jesus taught
to his disciples—a specimen of honest, childlike brevity and
simplicity. In another place the Saviour says, "Moreover, if thy
brother shall trespass against thee, tell him his fault between thee
and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother."
If thy brother is not convinced of his wrong doing, do not be
discouraged at the failure to convince him; but try again. Get some
brother, who is filled with faith, love, and charity, to go with you
to use his influence with him, and if you do not succeed in melting
the icicle from your brother's heart, your friend will, at least, be
your witness before the Lord that you have fulfilled your part; and
your unforgiving brother, will be held accountable. Our account is
then settled, inasmuch as we obey the ordinances of the House of
God—the conditions upon which the children of men may find favour with
God. If we have wronged our brother, stolen his property, swindled him
out of it unrighteously, or obtained it without having the means to
pay him for it, we should repent and make restitution, even if we have
to become his servant until he is satisfied, then our Father, who is
the judge between us, will "say it is enough. The same principle will
hold good with regard to any other evil. If we, through covetousness
for filthy lucre, have oppressed the hireling, or have neglected to
relieve the wants of the sick and destitute, the Lord's poor will rise
up in judgment against us. They will say, "I was naked, and ye clothed
me not; I was sick and in prison, and ye visited me not." And Jesus
himself will be the accuser of such. He has said that he will place
such persons at his left hand among the goats, and will say unto them,
"Depart from me, I know you not." Many of them may expostulate and
inquire, "Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a
stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto
thee?" But Jesus will answer, "Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the
least of these, ye did it not unto me."

Vol. 13,  p.10
There were some anciently who seemed to obtain light enough to
appreciate these sentiments, and who, in accordance with the counsels
of the Saviour, forsook their evil ways and sought to make friends of
the mammon of unrighteousness, and by doing good with their ill-gotten
gains, they, in some measure repaired the wrongs they had done. These
good deeds will stand on the credit side of their accounts.

Vol. 13,  p.10
There is in the human breast a constant tendency to the allurements of
this life. The wants of the present are over forcing themselves upon
our attention; while that which is in the future we are apt to put off
till another day. The cravings of the stomach must be looked after
today; these shivering limbs we must clothe to-day before another
storm. Says one, "I must erect this house over the heads of my wives
and children before next winter." And thus the wants of the present
constantly impel us to action, while things pertaining to eternity are
neglected, forgotten, or laid over till a more convenient opportunity.
This procrastination—"the thief of time"—we should guard against; and
whenever we detect ourselves with an inclination to neglect our duties
to God or each other, and think only of self, [p.11] we should
instantly cheek the uprising of this passion, and should never fail,
when we have it in our power and the opportunity presents itself, to
administer to the wants of the poor and needy; or, what is still
better, devise ways and means which will enable them to administer to
their own necessities. The latter is always preferable. Those who are
the Lord's poor always prefer to provide for their own necessities
than to be dependent upon others. They who are able to provide for
themselves, but would rather have others bear the burdens of life for
them, are not the Lord's poor, they are the devil's poor. They covet
their neighbour's property—his food, house, horse and carriage, and
peradventure his wife. They desire that which he possesses, without
going to and earning them as he has done. It is not he who is most
successful in gathering around him the goods of this life, who is
always the most covetous.

Vol. 13,  p.11
I refer to these things, which have been so often spoken, by way of
reminding us of that which is written, and to which the spirit of the
Lord continually urges attention. Let us then, my brethren and
sisters, beware of pride, test we become like the Nephites of old. it
seems from reading their history that a very few years sufficed for
them to rise from a state of humility, enjoying the favour of God, to
one of haughtiness and pride. There is a continual tendency to this
state of feeling in the human mind. In the days of our humility we
feel after God; but when prosperity comes, too many of us are apt to
forget Him, and to feel that all our wants are supplied. A sister
says, "I have a good husband, who prays for me and my children, and
provides for our wants; he is a guide sufficient for me." She forgets
to pray for herself, or for husband and children. Is she saved because
of her believing and faithful husband? It is true that his prayers,
good works, and the good spirit continually with him, are blessings
thrown around her to aid her in her onward path to glory and
exaltation; but unless she herself improves these favourable
circumstances she, in the end, will sink while he rises. On the other
hand, a sister who is faithful to her God, her covenants, her husband,
children, and friends, who ceases not to call upon the name of the
Lord though her husband may neglect to pray with his family, and to
magnify his calling as a man of God, the day will come when he will
sink, while she will rise and be given to a faithful man. So with
children who, beholding the evil deeds of father and mother, follow
the good counsels of friends who feel after them, and call upon God
continually and do His will, while father and mother perish out of
their sight for ever and ever; God will exalt them and may give them
to good men and women who, perhaps, were never blessed with children.

Vol. 13,  p.11
Those who plant good seed will surely eat the fruit thereof; while
those who neglect to cultivate good seed will surely go down to
perdition; for, in the language of the Scripture I first repeated,
"Every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast
into the fire."

Vol. 13,  p.11
May God Almighty bless us, and help us to remember these things, and
to live them as Saints of God should, is my prayer, in the name of
Jesus. Amen.[p.12] 

John Taylor, March 14, 1869

Religious Confliction in the World—
the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Discourse By Elder John Taylor, Delivered in the Old 
Tabernacle Salt Lake City, March 14, 1869.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 13,  p.12
We meet together from time to time to hear of things pertaining to the
Kingdom of God on the earth. We have our own peculiar views in
relation to many things that occupy the minds of men, and we have been
in the habit of investigating the principles of the Gospel, and our
minds are more or less occupied with affairs connected with the
welfare of humanity, whether associated with the present life or that
which is to come.

Vol. 13,  p.12
There is a common tendency in the minds of men generally to take very
little trouble in relation to religious matters; and men of all
nations seem more disposed to let others think and act for them in
such matters than to do so for themselves; hence, those who are
disposed to prey upon the credulous, have every opportunity to
accomplish their ends. Another point upon which men do not reflect
much, is the fact that between this and the spirit world there is a
veil drawn, which can only be penetrated through the medium which the
Scriptures unfold. There we are told that "no man can understand the
things of God but by the Spirit of God;" hence, though men may reason
upon natural principles, and speak logically on most of the common
affairs of life, when they attempt to investigate the principles of
religion, and the nature of our relationship to God, they seem to be
at a loss; and not being willing on the one hand to acknowledge their
own weakness, ignorance, and imperfection, nor on the other hand, to
acknowledge the hand of the Almighty, they know not what course to
pursue. On account of these various feelings in the world a great many
errors of every kind have crept in and have led the human mind astray.
The Christian portion of the world are apt to look with contempt upon
what is called the heathen, and wonder how men possessing any degree
of intelligence can be led to worship stocks and stones and gods of
their own making. Yet millions, under the influence of priestcraft do
this, and they think they are right and that they are on the high road
to Heaven. The Christian world, too, feel that it is all right with
them in reference to a future life; in fact, they feel, in respect to
religious matters, about as the Athenians did about the goddess
Diana—that she had descended from Heaven and that all the world knew
it. The various sects of the Christian world—Methodists, Baptists,
Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Church of Rome, and others, no matter
what their peculiar creeds or forms of worship may be—entertain the
idea that they are all on the highway to Heaven. They build
magnificent churches and pay [p.13] thousands of ministers; they are
also very zealous in missionary labours, and contribute largely for
the support of charitable institutions. But it is very few of them who
reflect upon first principles; they do not like to trouble themselves
on such matters.

Vol. 13,  p.13
I have travelled a great deal, and have come in contact with
professors of every creed; but they almost invariably like to assume,
without contradiction, that they are right and that their fathers
before them were. They do not like the idea to be entertained for a
moment that the principles, doctrine, and ordinances they believe in
and obey may be wrong, or that there is any possibility of the whole
so-called Christian church having departed from the faith and
ordinances as laid down in the Gospel by Jesus Christ.

Vol. 13,  p.13
The Methodists, for instance, could not for a moment suppose that John
Wesley was not competent to judge all matters pertaining to salvation.
Wesleyan ministers will hardly permit his doctrines to be questioned;
they must be swallowed without investigation. In fact, I have heard
some of them say that he was a man of such erudition, talent, and
piety that they would not have his doctrines questioned in their
hearing. The Protestant Germans and a great many others are just the
same with regard to Luther; yet in some of his ideas and principles
the great Reformer was as foolish as any other man. The Scotch are a
good deal so with John Knox; they think that he was everything good,
praiseworthy, and amiable, and, in fact, that he was the pink of
perfection. The Roman Catholics will not for a moment admit that they
are not the true church; and theft will maintain that they have held
the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven from the days of Peter until now,
and that they still have the pure doctrines of the Gospel, and have
power to bind on earth and in Heaven, and to loose on earth and in
Heaven. You may ask a great many who have seceded from the Church of
Rome, and you would and that they have similar ideas about their own
infallibility, only they are a little better than those from whom they
seceded; they have made some improvements and are a little nearer the
celestial kingdom.

Vol. 13,  p.13
Feelings of this kind obtain not only among religionists, but also
among philosophers, for some Christian philosophers have brought in
philosophy to their aid in order to prove the truth of the Christian
religion. Paley and Dick, very prominent Christian philosophers, have
examined the works of nature, and have endeavoured to prove that the
God of nature who controlled all these things must be a Being full of
love, intelligence, and power. In their investigations they have
examined the anatomical and visceral systems of man, beasts, birds,
and insects, and have deduced therefrom many arguments which are
interesting and incontrovertible. But when they apply their reasoning
to the Christian religion they swallow it at one gulp without
investigation. Their arguments go to prove the existence of a Supreme
Being, a God; but they do not prove the truth or falsity of the
Christian or any other system of religion—they have nothing at all to
do with them.

Vol. 13,  p.13
People generally are apt to accept the various religious systems of
the day without reasoning or investigation. When I was a little boy I
used to ponder over such things; and I do so still. Finding myself an
inhabitant of the world, surrounded by ten thousand conflicting
opinions on religious subjects, I want to know 'what is truth?' Who
has it in [p.14] his possession? Where shall we find it? If I were
among the heathen, and had been taught to worship an alligator, I
should not think it right to worship a cat; and if it was right to
worship a cat, it would not be to worship a bull; and if a bull, it
would not be to worship a snake; and if a snake, it would not be to
worship a monkey; and if a monkey, it would not be to worship sun,
moon, or stars. Were I among the Christians I would think if the
Baptists are right the Presbyterians are not; if the Presbyterians are
right then the Baptists are not; if the Church of England is right
then the others are wrong; if the Roman Catholics are right then
others are wrong; and if any of the others are right the Roman
Catholics are wrong. I cannot conceive of two ways to go to Heaven and
both right. I cannot think of a God of intelligence, who has created
the whole human family, and who has organized every living thing, and
adapted them to the varied positions which they occupy, being the
author of the confusion that exists in the world in relation to the
forms of worship. But if God is not the author of it, who is? Where
did it come from? I know that men generally are not inclined to
investigate these subjects.

Vol. 13,  p.14
When I was a boy I used to be connected with the Church of England.
Theirs is a pleasant kind of religion. I liked it very well when I was
connected with it. They pay the parson for preaching and pay the clerk
for saying "Amen." No difficulty about the matter, everything moved
along pleasantly. Nobody thought of questioning the parson. They
considered the whole system correct, and that they were all on the way
to Heaven. The Roman Catholics feel a good deal the same way, only
their religion is not quite so easy. They have to do penance
sometimes; if they do wrong they may get absolution, but they have to
pay for it.

Vol. 13,  p.14
In talking with Church of England ministers I have sometimes asked
them where they got their authority from, That is a kind of question
they hardly deem admissible, but they would say, "Well, if we must
confess, we got it from the Roman Catholics." Where did they get it
from? "From Peter." But, unfortunately, you Episcopalians say that the
Roman Catholics are in error. "Yes, they are in error." Well, if that
be the case, how could they confer power upon you? Do not the
Scriptures say if a tree is bad its fruit will be bad? "Oh," say they,
"they might retain their power even if they had lost their virtue."
Oh, indeed; you admit that much. Well, if they had power to bind on
earth and to bind in Heaven, they had power to loose on earth and to
loose in Heaven; and if they had power to give the priesthood they had
power to take it away, and if they cut you off you have no authority.
They do not like to reason upon these things; but I do. I like to know
the "whys" and "wherefores" in all such things, and to understand
their foundation, especially in matters pertaining to man's eternal
welfare. I have generally taken the liberty of applying the word of
God to principles of religion whether taught by the Methodists, Church
of England, Roman Catholics, or any others; and when "Mormonism" was
presented to me my first inquiry was, "Is it Scriptural? Is it
reasonable and philosophical?" This is the principle I would act upon
to-day. No matter how popular the theories or dogmas preached might
be, I would not accept [p.15] them unless they were strictly in
accordance with the Scriptures, reason, and common sense.

Vol. 13,  p.15
I used to be told when investigating religious principles that it was
dangerous to do so, and I had better let them alone; but I did not
think so. I believe it is good to investigate and prove all principles
that come before me. Prove all things, hold fast that which is good,
and reject that which is evil, no matter what guise it may come in. I
think if we, as "Mormons," hold principles that cannot be sustained by
the Scriptures and by good sound reason and philosophy, the quicker we
part with them the better, no matter who believes in them or who does
not. In every principle presented to us, our first inquiry should be,
"Is it true?" "Does it emanate from God?" If He is its Author it can
be sustained just as much as any other truth in natural philosophy; if
false it should be opposed and exposed just as much as any other
error. Hence upon all such matters we wish to go back to first
principles.

Vol. 13,  p.15
If I am a man, where did I come from, and what is the nature of my
existence and being here? I want information on these points, if
anybody can give it. If I had an existence before I came here I want
to know something about it. If there is a God and anybody on the earth
ever knew anything about Him, I want to know something about, Him. If
there are wise, intelligent, and learned men anywhere who can tell me
anything about Him, about my own existence and future destiny, I want
to know it. These desires are reasonable; why should they not be
gratified? You go to the heathen and inquire about God, and they have
thousands of them in every form. Go to the Christians and they have
one God, but he has neither body, parts, nor passions; his presence is
everywhere, but he exists nowhere. They have never heard nor seen him,
and they do not know anybody who ever did, not even their ministers,
whom, they claim, are sent of God. They are equally as ignorant in
relation to their own existence and the ends of their creation. They
say they are going to Heaven, but all they can tell you about it is
that it is beyond the bounds of time and space.

Vol. 13,  p.15
This kind of doctrine does not suit me. I can read in the Scriptures
that men used to converse with God, and that angels conversed with
them; that others had visions and could read the purposes of God as
they were unfolded before them. But come to the present day when,
according to their own account, the most intelligent people that ever
were upon the earth are now in existence, and they know nothing about
God or His purposes. I care nothing about such knowledge and wisdom.
In the language of the old prophet I say, "My soul, enter not thou
into their secret." I want something that is intellectual and true,
and that will bear investigation.

Vol. 13,  p.15
When I turn to the Gospel as taught by Jesus, I find that he sent his
disciples into all the world and commanded them to preach the Gospel
to every creature, saying, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." This Gospel was no
pliant thing, as in this day, that men could receive or refuse as they
pleased, or that they could tinker to suit their own notions; but when
preached, it involved the salvation or damnation of those who heard
it.

Vol. 13,  p.15
When the apostles commenced to preach the Gospel, Jesus said it was
necessary for him to go away, for if he went away he would send them
the Comforter—the Holy Spirit—which [p.16] should call all things to
their remembrance and show them things to come. This was something
very important; a religion that would do this was a religion fit for
immortal men. Why should men, made in the image and after the likeness
of God, be ignorant of themselves, of their pre-existence, and their
future destiny? The religion that Jests came to teach instructs men in
relation to these subjects and puts them in possession of correct
information. Well, then, I do not want to go to any of the old
doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, or to the Episcopalians,
Calvinists, or Lutherans. I want the doctrines that were promulgated
by the disciples of Jesus on the day of Pentecost, through obedience
to which men may gain the power and inspiration that were enjoyed by
them, in accordance with the premises which Jesus had, made. On that
day we read that the disciples began to speak with other tongues as
the Spirit gave them utterance. People from different nations heard
them preach the Gospel in their own tongues, and they marvelled and
thought they were drunken with new wine. Peter told them that it was
not so, "but," said he, "this is that which was spoken by the prophet:
It shall come to pass in the last days that I will pour out my spirit
upon all flesh, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young
men shall see visions, and upon my servants and handmaidens I will
pour out my spirit and they shall prophesy." It was the pouring out of
the Spirit of God in fulfilment of this prophecy. It was the
revelation of God to man; it was the introduction of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ; it was the power of the Lord God manifested through
obedience to the Gospel.

Vol. 13,  p.16
When the people saw these wonderful manifestations, they said, "Men
and brethren, what shall we do?" I have often reflected upon this
saying. If men were to ask this question now among the Methodists they
would tell them to come to the mourner's bench and be prayed for. Some
of the other sects would tell them pretty much the same thing. I have
seen operations of this kind take place. When their preachers get
people excited, they get them to the mourner's bench and they commence
praying, and tell the people to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The
mourner may say, "I do believe;" but his only answer will be, "Well,
you must believe." "I do believe," says the mourner again. "Well, you
must believe," is the reply again, and that is about all the minister
or the people know about it. Some will say the believer must be
baptized; but upon the mode of baptism they are very much divided in
opinion. Some say they must be sprinkled; others say the water faust
be poured upon the believer; while others say that immersion is the
correct method. The Methodists are very pliable on this point—they
give a man a chance to have which method he pleases; their ministers
do not know which is right, so they give the sinner the privilege to
take which he likes.

Vol. 13,  p.16
I have reflected upon these matters a good deal. It was very different
in former days. When they asked on the day of Pentecost what they were
to do to be saved, said Peter, "Repent and be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins, and
you shall receive the Holy Ghost." This was the command to all—to the
doctors, lawyers, Pharisees, and pious people, as well as to the
harlot, publicans, and thieves. This was the doctrine of the Apostolic
Church. The question with me is, "If this [p.17] was the true Gospel
1800 years ago, is it not the same to-day?" This is a question I have
often put to priests when I was very young, and they would tell me not
to trouble myself about such things, they were for the consideration
of wiser people. But when I investigated further I found that these
"wiser people" knew nothing about it.

Vol. 13,  p.17
The Methodists, Presbyterians, and others tell us they have the Gospel
and the Holy Ghost. I am glad if they have, but if they have, they
will be able to show the fruits of the Gospel, for it will produce the
same results now as then. Eighteen hundred years ago, if a man sowed
wheat it produced the same as to-day; and if be sowed barley or corn,
he reaped the same, for what a man sows that shall he reap. The animal
called a horse in those days is not a jackass or a mule now, but is a
horse still. Two and two made four then the same as to-day. The Gospel
of Jesus Christ produced certain results then, and it will produce the
same to-day, or it is not the Gospel. This is the way I reason.
"Well," the inquirer may say, "if the Gospel does not exist anywhere
but among you Latter-day Saints, where did you get it from?" We
believe God has spoken. Joseph Smith said an angel came and
administered to him and revealed the Gospel to him as it existed in
former days, and Joseph declares further, that he was ordained by holy
angels, and was commanded to go forth and preach the everlasting
Gospel. I find in reading the Bible that there is a prophecy in
relation to this matter. John says in his revelation, "I saw another
angel flying in the midst of Heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to
preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation, kindred,
tongue, and people, crying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory
to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come, and worship Him that
made the heavens, earth, the seas, and the fountains of water."

Vol. 13,  p.17
What is meant by the everlasting Gospel? I know that some people think
there was no Gospel until Jesus came; but it is a great mistake. Adam,
Noah, Abraham, and Moses had the Gospel; and when Jesus came he came
to offer himself a sacrifice for the sins of the world, and to bring
back the Gospel which the people had lost. "Well," says one, "do yea
mean to affirm that the men you have just named had the Gospel?" I do,
and hence it is called the everlasting Gospel. "How do you know?" Why,
the Scriptures say the Gospel held the keys of the mysteries of the
revelation of God. Now, Adam was in possession of these things; he was
in possession of the spirit of prophecy and revelation. He talked with
God. and it was through the medium of the Gospel he was enabled to do
it. Enoch also conversed with and had revelations from God, and
finally he was not, for God took him. Noah conversed with God, and God
told him to build an ark, and gave him revelations about the size of
it and the kind of animals, he was to introduce into it. And wherever
the Gospel existed there was a knowledge of God. Moses had the Gospel
and so had Abraham, and they communicated with Him from time to time.
And by what medium was this done? It was through the medium of the
Gospel. "Do you mean to affirm," says the objector, "that Moses had
the Gospel?" Yes; let us take the Bible for it; we all believe in
that. In that book we read that "unto us was the Gospel preached as
well as unto them." We are also told that the Gospel was preached to
them, but that it did not profit them, not [p.18] being mixed with
faith in those who heard it, therefore the law was added because of
transgression. Added to what? Why, to the Gospel, which the Scriptures
say Moses preached to the children of Israel. In the New Testament we
read, Gal. 3rd chapter and 8th verse, "For the Scripture, foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the
Gospel unto Abraham, saying, in thee shall all nations be blessed." It
was through the medium of the Gospel that Abraham obtained these
promises. Now, some people think the law of Moses, as it is called,
was given to the children of Israel as a peculiar kind of a blessing;
but it was a peculiar kind of a curse, added because of transgression.
It was as Peter said—neither they nor their fathers were able to bear
it.

Vol. 13,  p.18
We read also that Jesus came and was a priest for ever after the order
of Melchizedec. Who was Melchizedec? He was the man who blessed
Abraham, the father of the faithful, yet Melchizedec was greater than
Abraham, for verily the lesser is blessed of the greater. For
whereever and whenever the Gospel has existed there has been the
opening of the heavens, revelations and visions given to men; and
wherever the Gospel has not existed there has been no vision, no
revelation, no communication between the heavens and the earth. Hence
that which is called the Gospel in the Christian world is not the
Gospel, but a perversion of it.

Vol. 13,  p.18
When Jesus came he came to do away with the law and to introduce the
Gospel that their fathers had lost because of transgression. After its
restoration by Jesus the same results followed: the heavens were
opened, the purposes of God unfolded, and His power made manifest
among the people.

Vol. 13,  p.18
Joseph Smith's mission was to restore this same Gospel in its fulness.
He brought back the same Gospel that Jesus taught, the same faith and
repentance, the same baptism for the remission of sins, and the same
laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the same Holy
Ghost with all its powers and blessings. This is the doctrine and
these the principles we profess to believe in. We do not profess to
have received our authority from the Church of England or any other
sect: it came directly from God by the ministration of holy angels.
The Gospel that we preach is the everlasting Gospel; it reaches back
into the eternities that are past; it exists in time and it stretches
forward into the eternities to come, and everything connected with it
is eternal. Our marriage relations, for instance, are eternal. Go to
the sects of the day and you will find that time ends their marriage
covenants; they have no idea of continuing their relations hereafter;
they do not believe in anything of the kind. It is true there is a
kind of natural principle in men that leads them to hope it may be so;
but they know nothing about it. Our religion binds men and women for
time and all eternity. This is the religion that Jesus taught—it had
power to bind on earth and to bind in Heaven, and it had power to
loose on earth and to loose in Heaven. We believe in the same
principles, and we expect, in the resurrection, that we shall
associate with our wives and have our children sealed to us by the
power of the holy priesthood, that they may be united with us worlds
without end. The Gospel we preach is like the Melchizedec
priesthood—without beginning of days or end of years.

Vol. 13,  p.19
There is something pleasant in this. I do not want uncertainty [p.19]
about my eternal welfare; I do not want to dream away my existence and
be governed by somebody's ipse dixit in regard to the future; I do not
want to pay a man a few dollars to take care of my soul; I beg the
privilege of doing that myself with the assistance of my brethren in
the priesthood.

Vol. 13,  p.19
Why, these Christians, so called, cannot trust their God in anything.
To show the difference in the workings of their systems and ours I
will refer briefly to my early experience amongst them. When young I
used to attend their missionary meetings. Their preachers would get up
and tell about the dreadful state of the heathen, and in order that
they might be converted, the members of the various religious bodies
used to subscribe thousands and thousands of pounds to send them
abroad and support them while there. I have known them make
mathematical calculations about how many souls a missionary might
convert, and what it would cost to support him during the time he was
doing it; and then they would say if they could have the amounts
collected for missionary purposes duplicated, triplicated, or
increased a thousand times, there might be so many more heathen
converted. Those men would not go out as the apostles did—without
purse or scrip. Jesus commanded them to go so in order to try the
world. And when Joseph Smith sent out his apostles and disciples he
said, Go without purse or scrip. I have travelled thousands and
hundreds of thousands of miles that way; and many of my brethren have
done the same thing. Have we lacked anything necessary? No, never. The
Gospel of Jesus Christ always took good care of me, and to-day I would
rather trust in God under such circumstances than in any of the
princes of the earth. This is the way our religion has spread, and it
has progressed because God has been with and blessed the labours of
His servants; and peace, harmony, and union prevail in our midst. Many
have got angry with us, but that is nothing new; the wicked have
always shown anger when the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been upon the
earth.

Vol. 13,  p.19
Many have tried to stay the progress of the work of God, but it has
continued to roll on in spite of all the opposition with which it has
had to contend. The prophet saw a little stone cut out of the mountain
without hands, and it continued to roll and smote the feet of the
image made of clay, brass, silver, gold, and iron, and it became as
the chaff of the summer threshing floor; but the little stone grew and
increased until it became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

Vol. 13,  p.19
It will be so with this stone which God has hewn out in these last
days; and though men may combine to stay its progress and may set
themselves in array against the Lord and His anointed, yet He will
come out of His hiding place and will vex such people and nations, and
He will overturn and overturn until Truth shall prevail the wide world
over, and until His kingdom shall reach from the rivers to the ends of
the earth; until all men shall bow to the sceptre of Immanuel; until
the wicked shall be rooted from the earth, and His kingdom shall be
established and given to His Saints to possess for ever and ever.

Vol. 13,  p.20
May God help us to be faithful in the name of Jesus. Amen.[p.20] 

George A. Smith, April 6, 1869

Contributions for Emigrating the Saints—Word of Wisdom

Remarks By President George A. Smith, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, April 6, 1869.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 13,  p.20
I am glad, my brethren and sisters, of meeting with you again in
General Conference. Our Conferences form a peculiar feature in our
history, and the people in all parts of the Territory look forward to
these occasions with far more than ordinary interest, and make
calculations to participate therein.

Vol. 13,  p.20
the past six months have been a period of remarkable interest. There
has been a marked advancement in the progress of the work of the Lord
and a great increase and improvement in the knowledge, sentiments, and
feelings of the Saints since our last Conference, perhaps more so than
in the same space of time at any period in the history of the Church
since its organization. The Saints are becoming more united in their
business relations, and in all their associations for the purpose of
accomplishing the work that is before them, and if the old adage,
"Union is strength," be true, we are certainly growing stronger.

Vol. 13,  p.20
The teachings during this Conference will, as a matter of course, have
a tendency to increase this union, to enlarge the understandings and
judgments of the Saints, and to banish certain antiquated ideas which,
more or less, have been woven into our being, and have formed part of
our existence, enable us to free ourselves from the shackles of
tradition and ignorance and to move forward more effectually in the
discharge of those duties devolving upon us in connection with the
great and glorious work which God has entrusted to our charge. It will
also be necessary for us to take into consideration tire different
points pertaining to the progress of that work.

Vol. 13,  p.20
It was a saying of Joseph Smith, that he taught the people correct
principles and they governed themselves. A feeling has been engendered
and sent abroad that the Latter-day Saints are subject to bondage; but
instead of this being so, they are controlled wholly on the principle
to which I have just referred, as having been enunciated by
Joseph—they are taught correct principles and then govern themselves.
When the elders of Israel have succeeded in informing the minds of the
Saints in relation to any topic pertaining to the work of God in the
last days, they have accomplished a great work, and that work is
followed by a feeling of willingness and obedience to carry out that
principle on the part of the great mass of the Saints.

Vol. 13,  p.20
Last year we made an effort to bring home the Saints froth the Old
World, and a pretty strong emigration was the result. It will be
remembered that when the matter was first agitated, it seemed as if
there was but a small amount of means to be obtained. Many of the
brethren in the wards felt that they could do but little, but they
went to work and [p.21] brought home some five thousand Saints. This
same work is still before us, and appeals to our sympathy, and we
still have occasion to call the attention of each other to the
importance of the work of bringing home to Zion our brethren and
sisters in foreign lands who are deprived of the privileges that we
enjoy because of their inability to gather. An appeal is to be made
from this Conference to the Saints generally throughout the Territory,
to contribute again of their substance to bring home the Saints from
foreign lands.

Vol. 13,  p.21
The facilities for gathering the Saints are far greater than they have
been heretofore. We wish to say to any of those who are already
gathered, who may be indebted to those who are left behind. that they
should remember and discharge their obligations. We also advise the
Saints to write to their friends abroad and inform them how things are
progressing here. I am aware that when the people land here there are
many inconveniences with which they have to contend, and they have to
struggle for a time before they can again make a start in the world;
but they should not, on that account, forget the brethren and sisters
they have left behind, and especially those who may have advanced
means to aid them in emigrating. One of our first great duties should
be to square our accounts and to stand honourably with our
fellow-beings.

Vol. 13,  p.21
Although a great advance has been made within the last two years in
the observance of the "'Word of Wisdom," there is yet room to talk on
that subject. We find that the tobacco trade is still very
considerable in this Territory, and we cannot yet lose sight of the
fact that we are compelled to pay a tribute to the Emperor of China
for tea, and to the Emperor of Brazil for coffee; and there are still
men in Israel who do not seem to realize the importance of observing
the "Word of Wisdom." It is, therefore, necessary to preach, teach,
and exhort, and to enforce upon the Saints the importance of its
observance, for it is preparatory to great blessings which God has in
store for the faithful. The elders will instruct us in relation to
these matters as the Spirit of the Lord may dictate.

Vol. 13,  p.21
It has been my privilege this last month to visit most of the branches
in the southern part of the Territory. At a large portion of those
branches I have attended meetings, and have seen many of the brethren
and sisters, and I feel to testify that in all my travels in Zion, I
have not found a better spirit, a more united determination, or a
warmer feeling with regard to the work of the Lord, and to build up
His kingdom, than I found on this visit. I felt thankful to learn that
our brethren in the cotton country were filled with the spirit and
were zealous for the accomplishment of their work, and that they were
progressing very satisfactorily in the accomplishment of their
mission, or at any rate that portion of them who have taken hold of it
with the zeal which becomes men who are honoured with the privilege of
labouring in any department for the building up of Zion. The testimony
of the work of the Lord in the hearts of the Saints is a living and
abiding testimony. While the work is progressing we must be alive to
the fact, and we must not get behind, we must be faithful, live humble
before the Lord, observe His counsels and laws, not; even forgetting
the principles contained in the "Word of Wisdom." If we take this
course the blessings of life and peace will continue to abide with us,
which may God grant in the name of Jesus. Amen.[p.22] 

Daniel H. Wells, April 7, 1869

Co-Operation—Merchandizing and Productive 
Businesses—Doing the Lord's Will

Remarks By President D. H. Wells, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, April 7, 1869.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 13,  p.22
After our usual custom we have met in a general council of the church
to receive instruction in those things which are necessary for the
government and well-being of the people, and to be instructed in that
which is calculated to promote our best interests. At our Conferences
a general interchange of thought and feeling in the midst of Israel
takes place. At these meetings we receive great blessings; rich
treasures of knowledge and understanding are opened up, and made known
to the people throughout the valleys of the mountains. We come here to
be instructed; we gather from the nations of the earth that we may be
taught in the ways of the Lord and that we may learn to walk in His
paths.

Vol. 13,  p.22
We can see a glorious future before us; we can dwell upon the words of
the holy prophets and picture to ourselves great things in time to
come concerning the beauty and glory of Zion, when she shall be built
up. We can talk of exaltations in the Kingdom of God, of thrones,
dominions principalities, and powers, but how are we going to attain
to these things? It seems as though, when we receive the Gospel and
our hearts are lit up with the spirit of truth, we expect, without any
particular effort on our part, at some time in the future, to attain
to these great excellencies and glories. We are a good deal like
children. We tell them of reading and writing, but they will never be
able to do either, unless they take the trouble to learn. We often
hear it said that if we wish to have a heaven we shall have to create
it for ourselves. There is considerable truth in this. In the days of
Joseph could he have accomplished with this people what can now be
accomplished in the days of Brigham? No; it would have been
impossible. I remember hearing him talk, and seeing his endeavours to
establish merchandizing on a similar footing to that which has been
recently introduced among the Saints; but there were difficulties in
the way.

Vol. 13,  p.22
In those days there was a tendency of feeling that each should share
alike in everything, so much so that it was impossible for any man to
do business in the mercantile line. A good brother who was needy would
think it was selfish if he could not go to a store and get what he
wanted without paying the money for it. It was a good deal so when we
first came here. Let a brother commence the mercantile business, and
the first thing he knew his whole capital stock was credited out to
the brethren. He could not refuse to credit a brother. O, no! if he
did it was said at once that he was selfish and was no friend to the
poor. I have never seen the time when cooperation could have been
established [p.23] in the midst of the people until the present. Some
will doubtless find fault with it now; but we do not expect to be
clear of fault-finders. We have to be instructed; and the Lord has
been merciful and kind. He has sought all the day long to train us in
the way we should go. We never can learn the principles pertaining to
the building up of the Kingdom of God while scattered abroad; hence,
the necessity of gathering together that we may be instructed in the
ways of the Lord.

Vol. 13,  p.23
There is a great tendency among the people to go into the business of
trading, and to shun the more laborious pursuits and avocations of
life. A great many seem to think that trading or merchandizing is more
genteel, and that it is more gentlemanly not to learn some profitable
trade or business. A considerable number who have been engaged in
mercantile pursuits, owing to this change in our system of business,
will no doubt be thrown out of employment; they will have to seek
other avocations. Some persons who possess capital will have to seek
other avenues in which to invest that capital. In a new country like
this there is a variety of ways open to them for its safe and
profitable investment.

Vol. 13,  p.23
A man may invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in goods and put
them on his shelves, and in his warehouses, and dispose of them again
to other parties; but what does such a man produce or create with his
means that is beneficial to his fallow creatures? Nothing; it is
merely an interchange. It is useful and necessary in its way and
place, and it is all well enough; but sufficient should be dane and no
more than sufficient. Trading is overdone; there are too many employed
in this kind of business; they should seek employment in some other
way, and find other channels for investing their capital that are
better calculated to produce something from the earth, and bring forth
from the elements that which is necessary for the comfort and
well-being of man and beast. Just think how many things could be
raised and manufactured here, that, if we had them to-day, would fetch
very remunerative prices. Butter, for instance, that at the present
time is selling for a dollar and a quarter a pound, in a country like
this should not bring more than twenty-five cents. Cheese the same.
These two articles are imported twelve or fifteen hundred miles, and
then the Territory is not near supplied. Wool and flax, too, might be
raised profitably; not near enough of these is raised; and in these
articles our surplus means might be safely and profitably invested.
There is not near enough grain raised in the Territory. Wheat is
selling to-day at four dollars a bushel, when it should not be more
than half that price, and even then would well remunerate the
producer. It is so with every other article of our own consumption and
that is required for the sustenance of our animals; and the same may
be said of the animals themselves. Stock raising offers a profitable
avenue for the investment of means. Here are many avenues in which
they, who have been overturned in their mercantile pursuits, can
invest their means, which will pay larger profits, and which are far
less liable to fluctuation, because mercantile pursuits are often
subject to great depression through being overdone, or through
scarcity of money and other causes. If a person has a farm his produce
will keep until he can obtain remunerative prior, and he is more free
and independent than the merchant; for the earth being his banker, he
is not called upon to meet his bills and [p.24] obligations by any
particular and specified time, as the merchant is. By turning our
attention in these directions our capital may be safely and profitably
invested, and many who are now but little better than idlers in Israel
might be remuneratively employed.

Vol. 13,  p.24
I should say let every young man, and woman too, learn some way to
procure their own subsistence, and to promote their own independence;
this is incumbent upon all. No person should be above learning some
useful occupation, trade, or business that is calculated to produce
something for his own and the general benefit. Hundreds and thousands
of articles are imported here that might just as well be made in our
midst, and if they were made here it would render us, as a people, a
great deal more independent and comfortable than we are now. That man
only is truly rich who knows how to provide for himself and his
household. I do not care how much means he has in his possession, he
only is independent who has the means of subsistence within himself,
who has the capability of going forth, and, by his own industry,
drawing from the elements those things which are necessary for his own
subsistence.

Vol. 13,  p.24
I remember reading an anecdote of Stephen Girard and of a young man he
had had in his employment a long time, who had received some
encouragement, and had large expectations from him, that when he had
attained his majority he would set him up in business. When that time
arrived, instead of giving the young man a draft for a certain amount
of money, he told him to go and serve an apprenticeship to some useful
trade, by which, in case of a reverse of fortune, he would be enabled
to earn his own subsistence. The young man went and bound himself to a
cooper and learned that trade. In a year's time he went back to his
patron with a barrel of his own make. The old gentleman examined the
barrel, and asked the price he could afford them at, and was told "a
dollar each." Mr. Girard said it was a good article, and worth the
money, and if he could make as good barrels as that for that price, he
had insured to himself a living in any event that, might happen. For
his obedience in going and learning a trade as the old gentleman had
directed him, he was rewarded with a check for twenty-five thousand
dollars to set him up in business.

Vol. 13,  p.24
In case of any reverse of fortune this man had something to fall back
upon. I have always thought this was a very good principle to act
upon. I would like to see all of our young men learn some useful trade
or occupation which would produce for them an honourable living by
their own industry; and if they acquire this in early life, habits of
industry and order become natural.

Vol. 13,  p.24
By industry we thrive; industry, in the mechanical and agricultural
pursuits, is the foundation of our independence, and they who obtain a
livelihood by habits of industry are far more honourable members of
society than they who live by their wits.

Vol. 13,  p.24
I heard recently of a city that the outsiders are endeavouring to
start, called Corinne, which it is said is to be the great city of the
interior West. Who are going there to expend their labour? Can cities
be built without labour? I think not. I have no idea that a great city
will be built in the location designated, unless a different class of
people go there than is to be found in such places generally. I have
no doubt that the soil is rich, and that by industry the elements
necessary for the building up of a great city could be developed. But
[p.25] any person who expects that a large city is going to be reared
without industry and hard labour reckons without his host. There may
be a rush there, for a short time, of speculators, loafers, and
rowdies; but if these are the only classes of people who go there—as
there is good reason to believe—this great city that is to be, like
others of the same class, will soon die out, and the people be
scattered to some other places.

Vol. 13,  p.25
Can men be industrious and follow the various avocations and pursuits
of life and still be servants of God? Yes, such things are conducive
to good morals. It is said that an idle brain is the workshop of the
devil, and it is far more likely to be so than the brain of a person
who is occupied with some useful employment. Can a person work on the
railroad, for instance, and be associated with the wicked without
being contaminated by them? O yes, if he is so disposed. An elder of
Israel should wrap himself as with a mantle, from sin, whether he goes
to preach the Gospel to a wicked world, or whether he goes to labour
among the wicked. Such a man will lose nothing, but he will gain the
esteem even of the wicked themselves, by being faithful and true to
his calling, keeping the commandments of God, and observing the Word
of Wisdom; and no matter what society he may be in he will be
respected, and will be far more likely to be so for the strict
observance of the principles of the religion he professes than he will
be if he does not observe them. I do not know that it is any excuse
for a man to smoke, chew, drink whisky, take the name of God in vain,
swear, or drink tea or coffee because he mingles with those who do
such things. Do you think your associates would respect you the more
for it? No, not a whit; but they would respect you more for not doing
such things. They would have greater confidence in you, and if they
had money they wished to entrust to the care of any one, they would
sooner entrust it to the care of a man who was faithful to the
principles of his religion than to their associates who get drunk,
gamble, swear, and commit every abomination.

Vol. 13,  p.25
This people have been awakened to a sense of their duty in keeping the
Word of Wisdom, yet many of them think it a sufficient excuse for them
to use hot drinks, if they happen to be where others use them; in this
way they are falling back to the use of tobacco, and are smoking their
pipes or cigars, and are drinking tea and coffee or a little whisky
now and again, and are letting those old habits grow on them again.
This is wrong; they should not do it. I mention this in order to stir
up your pure minds by way of remembrance. We should not forget that we
have entered into covenant not to do so. Latter-day Saints should
remember that there is not a day, hour, or moment in which they can
afford to lay aside the armour of righteousness; there is no time but
what the adversary is at their elbows ready to enter in, take hold,
and lead them into forbidden paths. It is and ever has been a struggle
with this people to trample the wickedness of the world under their
feet. It rises before us continually and we are never without it. We
do not expect to be without it in our midst if this is the kingdom of
God. I suppose Jesus had as good an idea of what constituted the
kingdom of God as any of us, and he said it was like a net cast into
the sea which brought forth all kinds both good and bad; therefore let
no one say this cannot be the kingdom of God because there are some
who are not righteous in our midst. Because [p.26] the wicked and
unrighteous are in the world, must we be partakers of their
wickedness? By no means; it is not at all necessary that it should be
so. Let us endeavour to eradicate from our own bosoms all sin. It is
not a matter of enthusiasm, to last for an hour, a day or a week and
then die out; it is in this way that people forget God and do
wickedly. You know that the Scriptures inform us that they who do
wickedly, and all the nations who forget God, shall be turned into
hell. The paths of virtue and truth are the paths of peace. The paths
of union, that the leaders of this people are striving incessantly to
introduce among us, are calculated to create excellence, greatness and
power in our midst. By pursuing these paths we shall grow in every
virtue and excellence until we shall attain to those great glories
that are for the faithful, about which we sing and pray, and the
contemplation of which always lights up our minds with so much joy and
bliss. By faithfully observing the counsels given to us we shall
actually come into possession of these things as naturally as a child,
by constant instruction, comes to attainments in learning. It will be
done by gaining item by item, by living our holy religion day by day,
hour by hour, and all the time.

Vol. 13,  p.26
Blessed is that person, man and woman, who can retain, from youth up,
a good, holy and righteous influence; who have never committed an
overt act, preserving themselves righteously before the Lord in all
good faith and conscience all the days of their lives. I say blessed
are such persons. Persons are liable to be overtaken in liquor; but in
Zion we should be free from these practices to a far greater extent
than in the world. It is to overcame the evils that exist in the world
that the Lord is gathering His Saints together. Why, if every man and
woman who gathers to Zion were determined to follow their own ways,
the state of things that exists in the world would soon be established
here, and the object of the Lord, in gathering His people together,
would be frustrated. Yet there are many people here who cannot see
this; and they feel themselves infringed upon. Why, such persons are
greater than the Saviour of the world in their own estimation! He came
here to do his Father's will, and in his greatest agony he prayed that
the cup might be taken from him, if it wore possible, "Nethertheless,"
he said, "not my will, but Thine be done." His own will was swallowed
up in the will of his Father; and yet we, poor, miserable mortals can
stick up our noses and say, "We will do as we please," if anything is
brought forth by the inspiration of the Almighty that seems to cut our
corners. Are we a band of brethren, standing shoulder to shoulder
under the banner of Emanuel --him who said, "Let not my will, but,
Thine be done?" If we are, we shall walk in the path marked out for us
by the Captain of our salvation. "Oh? says one, "I think I understand,
comprehend, and know better than any one else; I am not going to do as
such a one tells me--my Bishop, President, or some one else in
authority over me; he does not know as much as I do." Perhaps not, the
sequel will show who know most.

Vol. 13,  p.26
If we have a proper conception of the counsels given to us, we shall
never utter such sentiments, or let them have place in our hearts. It
is difficult sometimes to get into our ears and hearts what is
required of us, hence the amount of instruction that has to be given
to the people. It was years and  years before we got [p.27] the people
to take hold of the Word of Wisdom. There have been such things as
reformations in the midst of the people of God, I suppose because of
the proneness of the people to relapse into the ways of the world.
Hence, it becomes necessary every once in a while to arouse Israel to
a sense of their duties, that they may sustain the Kingdom of God.

Vol. 13,  p.27
There are a great many people who cannot see the Kingdom of God,
although the events, long since foretold, which should transpire in
connexion with that Kingdom are actually transpiring before their
eyes. The people of the world are blind, they cannot see the Kingdom;
and a great many Saints, and pretty good at that, who should see the
Kingdom of Heaven in the introduction of a new principle, oftentimes
fail to do so. Is the Word of Wisdom of the Kingdom of Heaven? Yes. Is
co-operation of the Kingdom of Heaven? Yes. Is union in the midst of
this people of the Kingdom of Heaven? Yes. Is the one-man power, with
which the world find so much fault, and talk about so much, of the
Kingdom of Heaven? Yes, if God is our Father and is at the head of it,
it is. Then why should there be so much dread and fear of the Lord
establishing His government in the world? Did it ever do anybody any
harm? O, no. Did it ever do anybody any good, or is it calculated in
its nature to do anybody any good? Yes, the greatest good. Then why so
much dread and fear of it? Because the people cannot see the Kingdom
of God in it. But is it not very far from them; God is not very far
from them, nor from any of us, and His work is established and is
transpiring right before our face and eyes. The government of God is
being established on the earth, and the world does not know it; yet it
is like a city set on a hill for everybody to gaze upon and
investigate. Yet they treat it as if it were of no moment to them.
Time will show that it is of the utmost importance to them. Let no
person pass it by as an idle tale, for time will disclose that it is
of the utmost importance to every son and daughter of Adam. They had
better, at least, give it a passing notice and investigate it with
honesty of purpose. Our hopes for the present and future, our
happiness and prosperity, and even existence itself, are bound up in
the Kingdom and government of God. What else is there now upon the
face of the earth but what has a tendency to destruction? Look at the
stream of vice and corruption that is flowing on, bearing its votaries
to the gulf of despair. Who can stem the torrent? People can see it,
but can they stop it? No, it bears them along on its surface, and they
are lost for ever. Is it not time that some standard should be erected
on the earth, around which those who are disposed to do right, may
rally, where they will be safe from this great gulf-stream of
destruction? I think it is time, because the Lord has thought so, and
He has commenced His work; He has erected His standard, and is calling
to the people and pointing the way to safety. Not that He or any one
else expects this stream to be checked or stopped in its mad career;
it will bear its onward course until, finally, it finds its depths.
But we may save one here and another there, and so the Lord may get to
Himself a people. It is like being snatched as brands from the
burning. He will bring them to a place where they can be instructed.
This has been the case with us. The Lord has brought us together and
He is seeking to instruct us, that we and our children after us may
escape those great evils which are so prevalent in[p.28] the world. I
need not mention them, they are patent to the eyes of all. The people
have forgotten God; they do not not know His ways, although there are
many well-intentioned people who are seeking to do their duty and are
living in the hope of a blessed reward hereafter. They will obtain it.
They are trying to stem the torrent of evil as far as it is in their
power; but they do not know "the only true and wise God and Jesus
Christ whom He has sent," "whom to know is eternal life;" and another
evil is, they do not try to know Him, or they would investigate and
try to find out God and His Kingdom.

Vol. 13,  p.28
The Lord is not responsible for all the evil of which I have been
speaking, neither for all the diversities of religion in the world. He
created man upright, but man has sought out many inventions. If the
people would seek after the Lord and be content to walk in His ways,
do you think the diversities in regard to religion that now exist
would be known? By no means; we should all come, then, to a unity of
the faith.

Vol. 13,  p.28
The Latter-day Saints have great cause to rejoice, because they are
blessed above all other people. They are learning the ways of the
Lord; and more blessed are they still, if they follow in them. They
are laying a foundation that will stand for ever. There is no
principle of virtue, truth, holiness and righteousness but what is
calculated to exalt man in time and for ever and ever. Those who build
not on these principles are building on sand, and their superstructure
will be washed away when the tempest comes; while they who build on
the rock of truth will be able to withstand all opposition, and they
will eventually obtain that glory and exaltation that the Saints now
talk about.

Vol. 13,  p.28
These principles are true and can be depended upon. God is their
author; He is at the helm. He is our Father and we may come to
exaltation in His presence if we will live for it; and in this earthly
probation we can be co-workers with Him in the establishment of His
kingdom on the earth if we will serve Him and keep His commandments.
We may come to Him on His own platform, on His own terms, but not on
our own. That is the trouble with Christendom, and the world at large.
They are trying to make the Lord's ways correspond with theirs. Why,
they would tear Him to pieces if they could have their wishes carried
out; they would dethrone Jehovah and overturn His power and kingdom.
Could He exist if the world could have their own way? A great many
called Latter-day Saints feel a little the same way; perhaps they do
not know it, but it amounts to no less. I have known people come for
counsel when they bad their own minds made up about the course they
intended to pursue. All they wanted was to receive counsel that
corresponded with their notions. If they received that, all right;
otherwise it would not do. All the world is after is to try to make
the Lord come to their terms; He cannot do it.

Vol. 13,  p.28
It would be well for as, sometimes, if we could see a few of our own
in. consistencies, and what we require of the Lord. the plan of
salvation is amply sufficient to save to the uttermost. How? In our
own way? No, in the way that the Lord has devised. If we are saved in
His Kingdom we shall have to bow to His laws; we cannot be saved
without. He has a right to dictate; He has done so, and it is for us
to do His bidding.

Vol. 13,  p.28
We are blessed in having the living oracles in our midst, and in
having a standard erected around which we [p.29] can rally. The Bible
is good, and we believe in it more than any other people. The Book of
Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants are the word of God, and
they contain many precious gems; every line is full of knowledge,
intelligence, and truth, and is calculated to be a benefit to us; but
yet, above and far beyond all, we have the living oracles in our midst
to tell us what to do to-day. A great portion of the Scripture we have
was the living oracles to the people in the day in which it was given,
and it has become Scripture because it was given by the inspiration of
the Almighty. It was applicable to the day in which it was given. We
have the living oracles in our midst to give us that which is
applicable to our day. Let us make our ways correspond to the Lord's,
for we read that "as high as the heavens are above the earth so are
His ways higher than our ways, and His thoughts than our thoughts." We
are blessed in having His ways made known to us, because He knows
best. He has more knowledge and understanding and greater ability, and
can perform and accomplish more than any other power that exists; and
that people only may be said to be blessed who walk in His ways and do
His bidding.

Vol. 13,  p.29
I feel sometimes as though I had never lived, in reality, until I
became acquainted with the principles of the Gospel; I feel as though
my whole existence had been a waste, In one sense it has. I did not
know how to serve God acceptably in His sight. I did not comprehend
righteousness, neither did I know how to sanctify myself before Him.
We are taught that obedience is better than sacrifice, therefore let
us go to, brethren and sisters, with our heights to serve God and keep
His commandments, so shall we come, finally, to inherit those
blessings which are promised to the faithful, which I pray we may
ultimately attain for Christ's sake, Amen.

Brigham Young, April 8, 1869

Gathering the Saints—Continuous Faithfulness—
Women and Fashions

Remarks By President Brigham Young, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, April 8, 1869.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 13,  p.29
I understand that many of the brethren and sisters in the old country
lent money to their friends now here to assist them to emigrate; quite
a number of letters have been sent, stating that those friends
covenanted before leaving that they would repay that means with the
first money they earned after arriving here, and that they would also
send more than they had borrowed, in order to assist those who had
previously assisted them.[p.30] A number of our elders who have been
from here on missions to England and other countries, have been in the
habit of borrowing money, or of getting it in some way. Some of these
elders, when asked to refund what they had borrowed, have said, "We
did not borrow it, it was a gift to as." I wish to say to such elders,
return the money with interest. If it was a gift, return the gift,
that it may go back and help many instead of one.

Vol. 13,  p.30
I do not wish to spend much time on this subject, I wish to give
instruction, and to tell you my mind with regard to those elders who
have borrowed money from the Saints in Europe. They may pretend to say
that it was given to them to excuse themselves for not repaying it,
but if they do not refund it, they are unworthy of the fellowship of
the Saints, and I ask their bishops to cut every one of them from the
Church, without favour or affection. If the bishops do this, they will
be doing their duty. Disfellowship them, they are not worthy of a
standing in the Church and Kingdom of God.

Vol. 13,  p.30
I wish to ask my brethren, the elders of Israel, to give liberally to
help home our brethren and sisters who are now in bondage in the old
countries. We have not said anything to the people for a long time
with regard to donations. A year ago last fall we commenced a
subscription to bring home the Saints. By the following February the
amount reached, I think, some nine thousand dollars. Our agent left
here about the 27th of February, and about ten days before he started
we gave notice that he was going, and between that time and the time
he left, the nine thousand had swelled to about thirty thousand; and
in the course of three months from then the amount had increased to
seventy-six or seventyseven thousand dollars. With this amount a great
many were helped here who could only rinse part means, some were
brought all the way. The brethren and sisters continued to give
through the summer, and if I recollect rightly, we have now over
thirty thousand dollars in money to help home the poor. Most of this
has been sent to Liverpool, but we have some in this city. Now we wish
the charity of the brethren and sisters to be extended to bring horne
the poor Saints, and perhaps it would be as well for me to commence
the list. I will say to our clerk he may put down two thousand dollars
for Brother Brigham; also one thousand for William H. Hooper, our
delegate in Congress, who told me before he went away that he would
give another thousand. Now we are ready to receive your thousands or
your hundreds, and we will not refuse a five-dollar bill. We got a
great many of them from the sisters last fall, more than the people
would imagine; if the list were read of the sisters who put in five
dollars, ten dollars, and some twenty-five, it would astonish you.
This is a short sermon on this subject. The brethren here from the
settlements throughout the Territory can carry it home, and it will
become generally known.

Vol. 13,  p.30
I have thought of proposing certain conditions in relation to those
who are helped here from abroad; but whether it would be prudent and
consistent to do so, I leave the Latter-day Saints to judge. The
cogitations of my mind on the subject of bringing home the Saints are
somewhat strict. I have thought it would be as well, before helping
the poor to emigrate, to have them covenant that after arriving here
they would be Saints in every sense of the word. Now, to
particularize, I will say that we gather a family here, consisting
[p.31] of father, mother, four, eight, or twelve children, as the case
may be. They are Latter-day Saints; they wish to gather to Zion and to
enjoy all the blessings of Zion; they are anxiously waiting for every
gift and blessing God has in store for the faithful, and to be
numbered with the Church of the Firstborn; but when they reach here,
if we go into their houses, we shall very often find, if they have the
means to do it, that they will perfectly soak their systems with tea
and coffee, and are perhaps chewing tobacco and doing a little
tippling, a little swearing, and so on. This is the way with some who
were gathered last year. Now, whether it is better to leave such
people to die in the faith in their native lands, or to bring them
here to apostatize and deny their Lord and Master, is a question. I
think, if I had the knowledge and the power, I would never gather
another member of the Church who would apostatize; but I have not this
knowledge. I cannot say to a man, you stop and let your family come to
Zion. I cannot say to a woman, you stop where you are, you are in the
faith now, but if you gather you will apostatize; but your husband and
family can gather, they will stick to the faith. I cannot say this, I
have not the power, and hence we see many after they arrive here turn
away from the holy commandments. I do not know but what it would be
perfectly reasonable to make every man and woman, before leaving their
native lands, covenant before God to observe the Word of Wisdom, let
liquor alone, use no language unbecoming a Saint, and, in a word, live
their religion after arriving here. Whether it would be reasonable and
consistent to lay such injunctions on the people before assisting them
to gather I do not know. If we were to say to them, before leaving
their homes, "Now if we gather you home, will you live your religion?"
they would jump up, clap their hands together, shout "hallelujah," and
say, "Yes, we will do anything you require if you will only gather us
to Zion."

Vol. 13,  p.31
Do you not see that I am perfectly tied up? and so are all the elders
of Israel in this respect. We may lay all these injunctions on the
Saints, and some would break them all. All these things are turned
over in my mind, and I look at every side of the question, sound every
principle and behold the people as they are. Well, what is to be done?
I do not know any better way, perhaps, than to gather the Saints and
try to sanctify them after they are gathered together, for when they
are baptized they virtually covenant to observe all these rules. When
we see the course that the Saints, or those professing to be such,
have taken in feeding, clothing and making our enemies rich here in
our midst, it makes me feel that it is time to cease gathering those
who will not be Saints indeed. I know, as well as I know that I am a
living being, that there is not one professing to be a Latter-day
Saint, who has the spirit of his calling, who would not cease this
course as quick as he would draw his hands out of the fire, if he
thoroughly knew and understood that it tends to the overthrow of the
Kingdom of God; and the fact that he helped to sustain the enemies of
the Kingdom of God must be attributed to his ignorance. The people
have eyes, but they see not; they have hearts, but they do not
understand. I will ensure that there are scores, and perhaps hundreds,
looking at me while I am speaking, who think, "Brother Brigham, you
are a fool; we have as good a right to trade with one man as another;
and we will go to what store we [p.32] please, and do what we please
with our means, and we will trade with those who will do the best by
us." Yet there are hundreds who, and in fact the most of the people,
understand the folly of this course, as the experience of the past six
months has proved. During that period we have done wonders in guiding
the minds and the movements of the Latter-day Saints. Still there are
some who seem to have no understanding. I will venture to say they are
the foolish virgins. I was going to say they are like the foolish
virgins; but they are the foolish virgins, and by and by they will
find they have no oil in their vessels, and nothing to prepare them to
go and meet the bridegroom, and they will be found wanting. But so it
is, and we must cultivate the wheat with the tares; the sheep and the
goats have to run together. Here I am thinking of exacting a covenant
from men and women before they are gathered, that they will be Saints
indeed afterwards; but while I have such feelings the question stares
me in the face, how do you know whether they will be or not? You see
men and women here who have been in the Church thirty years, and the
most trifling, frivolous, foolish little circumstance imaginable will
throw them off the track, and they will go to the devil. It is
astonishing, it is marvellous! When I think of these things it recalls
a saying that I have sometimes made, that I do my swearing in the
pulpit, for they make me think that we have those in our midst who
profess to be Latter-day Saints, but who are damned fools. You may say
that is swearing; but they are damned, and the wrath of God is upon
them, just as much as it was in the days of the old apostles. Men and
women would take a very different course if they could see and
understand things as they are. But I will take back the expression "if
they could see and understand." I say they can see and understand, if
they have a mind to cast out of their hearts the love of the world,
the love of riches, and the little frivolous traits of character they
so often manifest. The love of fashion, for instance, which darkens,
beclouds, and casts a shade over the spirits of our sisters. They
cannot have this, and they do not like that, and the next thing anger
creeps into their hearts and they feel revengeful, and "I wish I could
do somebody an injury; I wish I could come up with my husband; I wish
I could do something or other to mar his peace, inasmuch as mine is
marred, because I cannot follow somebody else's fashion." Such little,
trifling, contemptible, frivolous, things cast a dark shade over their
feelings, and the first thing they know they give way to a revengeful,
vindictive, wicked spirit, which leads them to destruction.

Vol. 13,  p.32
Now, I will go back again to my text—whether we should exact the
injunctions I have named of the Saints before gathering, or whether we
should not? I leave it to the people, for I do not care much about it,
for the simple reason that I do not know enough to decide, and yet I
know as much as anybody else. I might pick up this man and that woman,
and this family and that family, and leave others because I might not
think them worthy, when those who are left behind would probably stick
to the faith, while those who are gathered might apostatize. I do not
know how to do any better than we are doing, unless the Lord reveals
it. I will say to the brethren and sisters, we are ready to receive
your donations. Open your hearts and your purse strings. I leave this
matter now for your action. 

Vol. 13,  p.34
I spoke a little here yesterday and [p.33] the day before; but I have
not really said what I wish, and whether I shall be able to answer my
own feelings with regard to our success in our cooperative system of
merchandising I do not know. I want to say to the Latter-day Saints we
have wrought wonders. It was observed here by one of the brethren that
to guide the minds of the people and to govern and control them is a
greater miracle than to raise the dead. That is very true. The Lord
Almighty could resuscitate a corpse lying before us a thousand times
easier than He could control the congregation in this house. He has
the material on hand, and He knows every process, and He could give
life to a lifeless being, with ease, by the elements lie would operate
upon and with. This is a great miracle in our estimation; but it would
be no miracle at all to the Lord, because He knows precisely how to do
it. There is no miracle to any being in the heavens or on the earth,
only to the ignorant. To a man who understands the philosophy of all
the phenomena that transpire, there is no such thing as a miracle. A
great many think there are results without causes; there is no such
thing in existence; there is a cause for every result that ever was or
ever will be, and they are all in the providences and in the work of
the Lord. It would be no particular miracle for the Lord to
resuscitate a person whose breath had left the body. By bringing the
elements to bear on the system, He could make that system breathe
again and live, but to control this people can only be done by
persuasion. We have the privilege of choosing, refusing, acting,
rising up, sitting down, doing this or not doing; we are just as
independent in our sphere as the Gods are in theirs, and our agency is
our own, and we can do as we please. We can govern and control
ourselves, and when we do this by the law of truth it produces life
within us and leads to eternal life; but when we take the opposite
course and yield to principles that tend downward the result is death
and destruction. Now I will make the application, that you and I have
done just as we please. We have traded with whom we please. We shall
do so as far as we can. We cannot all do just as we please, because a
great many times we want to and cannot, and that is what produces
misery, which is called hell. We have done as we please with regard to
trading. We requested the people last Conference in this room to cease
trading with their enemies. Do you see the effects of this? Yes, they
are apparent to every inhabitant of this Territory; they are apparent
to the passer-by, to the transient person and to the world; and the
commercial world has said, "This is the first thing we have ever seen
in the character of you Latter-day Saints, that manifested that you
knew enough to take care of yourselves." It tells also upon our
enemies. Suppose we had not checked this trading with outsiders, and
had not turned the stream into another channel, you would have seen,
perhaps, one hundred merchants in this city now more than last year.
They would have brought their clerks and friends and a great number
who would have operated against us. Not but what there are many here
now, and have been, who have been very gentlemanly and kind; but where
is their friendship? Is there a man who does not belong to this church
who would not vote for a man out of the church for mayor of the city,
and for men who do not belong to the church for aldermen and
councillors? No, there is not one amongst them but what would do this.
And what would they not do? They would not do right and [p.34]
righteously, that is what they would not do. But anything on the face
of this earth to remove power and influence from the Latter-day
Saints, and to remove them from their homes, many of them would do. We
have been able to check this, and it is for our advantage. Many of us
have suffered the loss of all things several times. I have been broken
up five times and left a handsome property, and have taken the
spoiling of my goods just as patiently as I could. I do not want to
see these things enacted again. I know how to avert them. If the
people will hearken to the counsel which God gives through His
servants, they will never experience any such thing again; but if they
will not, they will, perhaps, suffer just as they have heretofore—the
good with the bad, the righteous through the evil deeds of those who
profess to be righteous and are not; the simple, the honest and the
good will have to suffer with the hypocrite and the wicked. I am
thankful to God that the ears of the Latter-day Saints have been open
to hear and their hearts open to receive and act upon good counsel as
far as they have been.

Vol. 13,  p.34
The sisters in our Female Relief Societies have done great good. Can
you tell the amount of good that the mothers and daughters in Israel
are capable of doing? No, it is impossible. And the good they do will
follow them to all eternity. If we get the sisters on our side with
regard to trading in stores, with regard to donations, or with regard
to improvement, we have gained all that we can ask. What do men care
about fashion? You will not find one man in a thousand that cares
anything about it. Men have their business before them, and their care
and attention is occupied with that. You will find that the farmer,
the blacksmith, the carpenter and even the merchant, were it not that
he is compelled to appear decently in society, care nothing about
fashion. They want the dollars and the dimes. The lawyer cares nothing
about fashion, only to gain the feelings of the people and have
influence over them, that he can bring them one against another, so
that he may get their dimes; that is all he cares about fashion. The
doctor cares nothing about fashion. If he can make the people believe
that he knows it all, and that they know nothing, he would as soon
wear a hat with a brim six inches wide, and the crown an inch and a
half high, as he would wear one with the crown six inches high and the
brim an inch and a half wide. He cares no more for fashion than that,
if he can only get the purses of the people, that is all he cares for.
I speak now in general terms, for there are exceptions in every class.
It is the ladies who care for fashion. They are looking continually to
see how this and that lady are dressed. But if we can enlist their
feelings and interests in business matters, then victory is sure. The
mothers and daughters in Israel have better judgment, and they do know
more than females in the world. They do understand the true principles
of comfort, and how to adorn their persons so that they may present an
attractive appearance to their husbands, families, friends and
neighbours; and if we can make them believe this, I reckon that, by
and by, they will begin and make fashions to suit themselves, and will
not be under the necessity of sending to Paris or to the East to find
out the fashions or to find out whether they shall make their Grecian
bends one-half, two-thirds or one-third as large as in New York; or
whether they shall cut a frock so as to show their garters every step
or to drag yards on the ground behind them. I think [p.35] that, after
a while, they will consider that they know a little of something as
well as other people, and if we can enlist their sympathies and
judgments, tastes and abilities with regard to trading, fashion, etc.,
the battle is won.

Vol. 13,  p.35
The sisters have already done much good, and I wish them to continue
and go ahead. Have a Female Relief Society in every ward in the
mountains; and have a Co-operative store in every ward, and let the
people do their own trading. There are some of the brethren around who
have asked me whether they shall trade at the Parent Store or whether
they shall send East for their goods. They cannot see and understand
things; after a while they will. You take the Lehi Co-operative Store,
for instance: Bishop Evans started it there last summer. Suppose he
had sent East for his goods in July; if he had had the same luck that
others have had, they would have been landed about this time, and some
of them by and by, and when they had been operating three months what
would they have made? Nothing. But they came down here and bought
their goods and took them home, only a thirty miles' drive, and put
them on the shelves, and they were soon bought up. They sent to Salt
Lake City about once a week to replenish their store, and when five
months had passed away they struck a balance sheet and every man that
had put in twenty-five dollars—the amount of a share—had, in addition
to that amount, a little over twenty-eight dollars to his credit. Have
any of our city merchants who have traded from here to New York, made
money like this? Not one, and yet the people here have paid one-third
more for their goods than the people had to pay in the Co-operative
Stores. I understand the brethren in Cache Valley are going to send
East for their goods. Well, send for them, and you will get a little
knowledge; but you will buy it; however bought wit is pretty good, if
you do not pay too dear for it.

Vol. 13,  p.35
Recollect that in trading there is great advantage in turning over
your capital often. Suppose the Cooperative Stores were to send to New
York for their goods, they might turn over their capital once a year;
then instead of making anything they would run under.

Vol. 13,  p.35
I want to impress one thing on the minds of the people, which will be
for their advantage if they will hear it. When you start your
Co-operative Store in a ward, you will find the men of capital
stepping forward, and one says, "I will put in ten thousand dollars;"
another says, "I will put in five thousand." But I say to you,
bishops, do not let these men take five thousand, or one thousand, but
call on the brethren and sisters who are poor and tell them to put in
their five dollars or their twenty-five, and let those who have
capital stand back and give the poor the advantage of this quick
trading. This is what I am after and have been all the time. I have
capital, and have offered some to every ward in the country when I
have had a chance. I would take shares in such institutions. I am not
at all afraid; but nobody would let me take any, except in Provo and
in the wholesale store here. I will say to Bishop Woolley, in the 13th
ward, do not let these men with capital take all the shares, but let
the poor have them. I say the same to the 14th ward and to every ward
in the city; and you bishops, tell the man who has five thousand or
two thousand to put in, to stand back, he cannot have it. If your
capital is doubled every three months, it would make him rich too
fast, and he cannot have the [p.36] privilege; we want the poor
brethren and sisters to have the advantage of it. Do you understand
this, bishops and people?

Vol. 13,  p.36
The capitalists may say, "What are we to do with our means?" Go and
build factories and have one, two, or three thousand spindles going.
Send for fifty, a hundred, or a thousand sheep and raise wool. Some of
you go to raising flax and build a factory to manufacture it, and do
not take every advantage and pocket every dollar that is to be made.
You are rich, and I want to turn the stream so as to do good to the
whole community.

Vol. 13,  p.36
I am delighted every time I hear a company say, "We do not want your
capital, we have plenty." I know what to do with mine. I have been the
means, in the hands of God, of starting every woollen and cotton
factory there is in the Territory, and almost every carding machine.
We are going to build a large factory at Provo. Some say we have not
wool to carry on the business. Yes, we have, and we have plenty of
capital. Suppose we send to the States and buy a hundred thousand or
five hundred thousand pounds of wool; we are as well able to do it as
others; or suppose we send to California or Oregon and buy fifty
thousand pounds of wool, and ship it on the railroad and work it up.
Will the people wear it? Yes, just as quick as we get the women to
tell their husbands to wear home-made instead of broadcloth, they will
do it. I would not even wear out the cloth that has been given to me
were it not that my wives and daughters want me. If they were to say,
"Brother Brigham, wear your home-made, we like to see you in it," I
would give away my broadcloth, but to please the dear creatures I wear
almost anything. Only let us get the sisters into this mind, and
home-made clothing will soon become the fashion throughout the
Territory. I had a present sent me the other day of some home-made
linen for a coat, and I calculate to wear it this summer. I wear my
home-made a great deal, but I have not got it on to-day; if I could
only get my wives to say, "Brother Brigham, your home-made is very
nice, and we should like to see you wear it," I should certainly wear
it.

Vol. 13,  p.36
When the first merchants came here I foresaw all that we have passed
through. I knew the foundation was laid for the destruction of this
people if they were fostered here, and I know so to-day. We have
turned the current, and we are controlling it, and the sisters are
helping us. Now, sisters, if you will continue to help us, and will
trade with none but Latter-day Saints, just hold up your hands. [The
vote was unanimous.] Now, I will tell you why we bother you women,
though I acknowledge that if we did not go to see the women they would
come and see us; but we are so anxious to see you that we follow you
up. But the reason why we are so anxious to have you sisters on our
side in regard to these trading matters, is because we know if you
will only say whom you will trade with and with whom you will not
trade, that we shall follow you.

Vol. 13,  p.36
What I have been saying with regard to these ward co-operative stores
doubling their capital once in three months, is for the encouragement
of the poor, and to induce them to invest their little means and do
something for themselves. Here is the 10th and the 5th and 6th wards,
which are looked upon as the poorest wards in the city, though I
believe the bishop of the 3rd ward feels that his ward is the poorest
in the city; but I will venture to say that [p.37] if these wards will
each establish a store and concentrate their influence, they will
double their capital every three months. I know that the 10th ward,
which started with 700 dollars, three weeks afterwards had a thousand
dollars worth of goods paid for and considerable money in the drawer.
Think of that, in that poor little ward, though I will give it the
praise of being one of the best wards in the city. It has one of the
finest bands of music in the city, and they make one of the best
turn-outs when they exhibit themselves.

Vol. 13,  p.37
I have talked long enough. I will turn again to my starting point. Let
us have your money to bring home the poor Saints. I feel also to urge
upon my brethren and sisters to observe every word that the Lord
speaks. Observe the counsel that leads to life, peace, glory and
happiness, but do not observe that which leads to contention, ruin and
destruction. Amen.

George A. Smith, October 8, 1869

Celestial Marriage—Bishops and Deacons Should 
Be Married—Divorce

Remarks By President George A. Smith, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, October 8, 1869.

(Reported by John Grimshaw)

Vol. 13,  p.37
It is a difficult undertaking to address this immense audience. If a
man commences speaking loud, in a short time his voice gives out;
whereas, if he commence rather low, he may raise his voice by degrees,
and be able to sustain himself in speaking some length of time. But
with children crying, a few persons whispering, and some shuffling
their feet, it is indeed a difficult task to make an audience of ten
thousand persons hear. I have listened with pleasure to the
instructions of our brethren from the commencement of our Conference
to the present time. I have rejoiced in their testimonies. I have felt
that the elders are improving in wisdom, in knowledge, in power, and
in understanding; and I rejoice in the privilege, which we have at the
present day, of sending out to our own country a few hundred of the
elders who have had experience—who have lived in Israel long enough to
know, to feel, and to realize the importance of the work in which they
are engaged—to understand its principles and comprehend the way of
life. They can bear testimony to a generation that has nearly grown
from childhood since the death of the Prophet, Joseph Smith.

Vol. 13,  p.37
The Lord said in relation to those who have driven the Saints that lie
would visit "judgment, wrath, and indignation, wailing and anguish,
and gnashing of teeth upon their heads [p.38] unto the third and
fourth generation, so long as they repent not and hate me, saith the
Lord your God."

Vol. 13,  p.38
I am a native of Potsdam, St. Lawrence County, New York—a town
somewhat famous for its literary institutions, its learning and the
religion and morality of its inhabitants. I left there in my youth,
with my father's family, because we had received the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, as revealed through Joseph Smith; and followed with the Saints
through their drivings and trials unto the present day.

Vol. 13,  p.38
I have never seen the occasion, nor let the opportunity slip, from the
time when I first came to a knowledge of the truth of the work of the
Lord in the last days, that I understood it was in my power to do good
for the advancement of this work but what I have used my utmost
endeavours to accomplish that good. I have never failed to bear a
faithful testimony to the work of God, or to carry out to all intents
and purposes, the wishes and designs of the Prophet, Joseph Smith. I
was his kinsman; was familiar with him, though several years his
junior; knew his views, his sentiments, his ways, his designs, and
many of the thoughts of his heart, and I do know that the servants of
God, the Twelve Apostles, upon whom he laid the authority to bear off
the Kingdom of God, and fulfil the work which he had commenced, have
done according to his designs, in every particular, up to the present
time and are continuing to do so. And I know, furthermore, that he
rejoiced in the fact that the law of redemption and Celestial Marriage
was revealed unto the Church in such a manner that it would be out of
the power of earth and hell to destroy it; and that he rejoiced in the
fact that the servants of God were ready prepared, having the keys to
bear off the work he had commenced. Previous to my leaving Potsdam,
there was but one man that I ever heard of in that town who did not
believe the Bible. He proclaimed himself an atheist, and he drowned
himself.

Vol. 13,  p.38
The Latter-day Saints believe the Bible. An agent of the American
Bible Society called on me the other day and wanted to know if we
would aid the Society in circulating the Bible in our Territory? I
replied yes, by all means, for it was the book from which we were
enabled to set forth our doctrines, and especially the doctrine of
plural marriage.

Vol. 13,  p.38
There is an opinion in the breasts of many persons, who suppose that
they believe the Bible, that Christ, when he came, did away with
plural marriage, and that he inaugurated what is termed monogamy; and
there are certain arguments and quotations used to maintain this view
of the subject, one of which is found in Paul's first epistle to
Timothy (3 chap. 2 v.), where Paul says: "A bishop should be
blameless, the husband of one wife." The friends of monogamy render it
in this way: "A bishop should be blameless, the husband of but one
wife." That would imply that any one but a bishop might have more. But
they will say, "We mean a bishop should be blameless, the husband of
one wife only." Well, that would also admit of the construction that
other people might have more than one. I understand it to mean that a
bishop must be a married man.

Vol. 13,  p.38
A short time ago, the Minister from the King of Greece to the United
States called on President Young. I inquired of him in relation to the
religion of his country, and asked him if the clergy were allowed to
marry. It is generally understood that the Roman Catholic clergy are
not allowed to marry.[p.39] How is it with the Greek clergy? "Well,"
said he, "all the clergy marry, except the bishop." I replied, "You
render the saying of Paul differently from what we do. We interpret it
to mean—a bishop should be blameless, the husband of one wife at
least;" and "we construe it," said he, "directly the opposite."

Vol. 13,  p.39
Now this passage does not prove that a man should have but one wife.
It only proves that a bishop should be a married man. The same remark
is made of deacons, that they also should have wives. Another passage
is brought up where the Saviour speaks of divorce. He tells us that it
is very wrong to divorce, and that Moses permitted it because of the
hardness of their (the children of Israel's) hearts. A man should
leave his father and his mother and cleave unto his wife, and they
twain should be one flesh. That is the principal argument raised that
a man should have but one wife.

Vol. 13,  p.39
In the New Testament in various places, certain eminent men are
referred to as patterns of faith, purity, righteousness and piety. For
instance, if you read the epistle of Paul to the Hebrews, the 11th
chapter, you find therein selected those persons "who through faith
subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped
the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge
of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in
fight, turning to flight the armies of the aliens;" and it is said by
faith Jacob blessed the two sons of Joseph, and that he conferred upon
them a blessing to the uttermost bounds of the everlasting hills. Who
was Joseph? Why, Joseph was the son of Rachel. And who was Rachel?
Rachel was the second wife of Jacob, a polygamist. Jacob had four
wives, and after he had taken the second (Rachel), she, being barren,
gave a third wife unto her husband that she might bear children unto
him for her; and instead of being displeased with her for giving her
husband another wife, God heard her prayer, blessed her, worked a
miracle in her favour by opening her womb, and she bore a son, and
called his name Joseph, rejoicing in God, whom she testified would
give her another son. The question now arises, were not Rachel and
Jacob one flesh? Yes. Leah and Jacob were also one flesh. Jacob is
selected by the Apostle Paul as a pattern of faith for Christians to
follow; he blessed his twelve sons, whom he had by four wives. The law
of God, as it existed in those days, and as laid down in this book
(the Bible) makes a child born of adultery or of fornication a
bastard; and the same is prohibited from entering into the
congregation of the Lord unto the tenth generation.

Vol. 13,  p.39
Now, instead of God's blessing Rachel and Jacob and their offspring,
as we are told He did, we might have expected something entirely
different, had it not been that God was pleased with and approbated
and sustained a plurality of wives.

Vol. 13,  p.39
While we are considering this subject, we will inquire, did the
Saviour in any place that we can read of, in the course of his mission
on the earth, denounce a plurality of wives? He lived in a nation of
Jews; the law of Moses was in force, plurality of wives was the
custom, and thousands upon thousands of people, from the highest to
the lowest in the land, were polygamists. The Saviour denounced
adultery; he denounced fornication; he denounced lust; also divorce;
but is there a single sentence asserting that plurality of wives is
wrong? If so, where is it? Who can find it? Why did he not say it was
wrong "Think not," said he, "that I am [p.40] come to destroy the law
or the Prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Not one jot
or one tittle shall pass from the law and the Prophets; but all shall
be fulfilled." Of what does the Saviour speak when he refers to "the
law?" Why, of the Ten Commandments, and other rules of life commanded
by God and adopted by the ancients, and which Brother Pratt referred
to yesterday, showing you from the sacred book that God legislated and
made laws for the protection of a plurality of wives (Exod. 21. 10),
and that He commanded men to take a plurality under some
circumstances. Brother Pratt further showed that the Lord made
arrangements to protect to all intents and purposes the interests of
the first wife; and to shield and protect the children of a wife from
disinheritance who might be unfortunate enough not to have the
affections of her husband. (Deut. 21. 15,) These things were plainly
written in the law—that law of which the Saviour says, "Not one jot or
one tittle shall pass away." Continuing our inquiry, we pass on to the
epistles of John the Evangelist, which we find in the Book of
Revelations, written to the seven churches of Asia. In them we lind
the Evangelist denounces adultery, fornication, and all manner of
iniquities and abominations of which these churches were guilty.
Anything against a plurality of wives? No, not a syllable. Yet those
churches were in a country in which plurality was the custom. Hundreds
of Saints had more wives than one; and if it had been wrong, what
Would have been the result? Why, John would have denounced the
practice, the same as the children of Israel were denounced for
marrying heathen wives, had it not been that the law of plurality was
the commandment of God.

Vol. 13,  p.40
Again, on this point, we can refer to the Prophets of the Old
Testament—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others. When God called those
men He warned them that if they did not deliver the message to the
people which He gave them concerning their sins and iniquities that
His vengeance should rest upon their heads. These are His words to
Ezekiel, "Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of
Israel, therefore hear the word at my mouth and give them warning from
me. When I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die, and thou givest
him not warning nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way to
save his life, the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity but his
blood will I require at thine hand; yet if thou warn the wicked and he
turn not from his wickedness nor from his wicked way, he shall die in
his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul." (Ezek. 3. 17, 18,
19.) How do we find these Prophets of the Lord fulfilling the
commandments of the Almighty? We find them pouring out denunciations
upon the heads of the people—against adultery, fornication, and every
species of wickedness. All this, too, in a country in which, from the
King down to the lowest orders of the people, a plurality of wives was
practiced. Do they say anything against plurality of wives? Not one
word. It was only in cases where men and women took improper licence
with each other, in violation of the holy law of marriage, that they
were guilty of sin.

Vol. 13,  p.40
If plurality of wives had been a violation of the seventh commandment
those prophets would have denounced it, otherwise their silence on the
matter would have been dangerous to themselves, inasmuch as the blood
of the people would have been required at their hands. The opposers of
Celestial Marriage sometimes quote [p.41] a passage in the seventh
chapter of Romans, second and third verses, to show that a plurality
of wives is wrong; but when we come to read the passage it shows that
a plurality of husbands is wrong. You can read that passage for
yourselves. In the forcible parable used by the Saviour in relation to
the rich man and Lazarus, we find recorded that the poor man Lazarus
was carried to Abraham's bosom—Abraham the father of the faithful. The
rich man calls unto Father Abraham to send Lazarus, who is afar off.
Who was Abraham? He was a man who had a plurality of wives. And yet
all good Christians, even pious church deacons, expect when they die
to go to Abraham's bosom. I am sorry to say, however, that thousands
of them will be disappointed, from the fact that they cannot and will
not go where any one has a plurality of wives; and I am convinced that
Abraham will not turn out his own wives to receive such unbelievers in
God's law. One peculiarity of this parable is the answer of Abraham to
the application of the rich man, to send Lazarus to his five brothers
"lest they come into this place of torment," which was—"they have
Moses and the prophets, let them hear them; and if they hear not Moses
and the prophets neither would they be persuaded though one rose from
the dead." Moses' law provided for a plurality of wives, and the
prophets observed that law, and Isaiah predicts its observance even
down to the latter days. Isaiah, in his 4th chap. and 1st and 2nd
verses, says, "Seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, we will
eat our own bread and wear our own apparel, only let us be called by
thy name to take away our reproach. In that day shall the branch of
the Lord be beautiful and glorious and the fruit of the earth shall be
excellent."

Vol. 13,  p.41
A reference to the Scriptures shows that the reproach of women was to
be barren, Gen. 30 chap. and 23 v.; Luke 1st chap. and 25 v.

Vol. 13,  p.41
We will now refer to John the Baptist. He came as a fore-runner of
Christ. He was a lineal descendant of the house of Levi. His father
was a priest. John the Baptist was a child born by miracle, God having
revealed to his father that Elizabeth who had been many years barren
should bear a son. John feared not the world, but went forth preaching
in the wilderness of Judea, declaiming against wickedness and
corruption in the boldest terms. He preached against extortion;
against the cruelty exercised by soldiers and tax gatherers. He even
was so bold as to rebuke the king on his throne, to his face, for
adultery. Did he say anything against a plurality of wives? No; it
cannot be found. Yet thousands were believers in and practised this
order of marriage, under the law of Moses that God had revealed.

Vol. 13,  p.41
In bringing this subject before you, we cannot help saying that God
knew what was best for His people. Hence He commanded them as He would
have them act. The law regulating marriage previous to Moses,
recognized a plurality of wives. Abraham and Jacob and others had a
plurality. These are the men who are referred to in Scripture as
patterns of piety and purity. David had many wives. The Scripture says
that David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord and turned
not aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his
life, save in the matter of Uriah the Hittite, 1 Kings. 15th chap. 5
v. "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart
which [p.42] shall fulfil all my will. Of this man's seed hath God,
according to His promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus." Acts
13th chap. 22nd and 23rd verses. Did David sin in taking so many
wives? No. In what, then, did his sin consist? It was because he took
the wife of Uriah, the Hittite—that is, violated the law of God in
taking her. The Lord had given him the wives of Saul and would have
given him many more; but he had no right to take one who belonged to
another. When he did so the curse of adultery fell upon his head, and
his wives were taken from him and given to another. We will now
inquire in relation to the Saviour himself. From whom did he descend?
From the house of David a polygamist; and if you will trace the names
of the families through which he descended you will find that numbers
of them had a plurality of wires. How appropriate it would have been
for Jesus, descending as he did from a race of polygamists, to have
denounced this institution of plural marriage and shown its
sinfulness, had it been a sin! Can we suppose, for one moment, if
Patriarchal marriage were wrong, that He would, under the
circumstances, have been silent concerning it or failed to denounce it
in the most positive manner? Then if plural marriage be adultery and
the offspring spurious, Christ Jesus is not the Christ; and we must
look for another.

Vol. 13,  p.42
All good Christians are flattering themselves with the hope that they
will finally enter the gates of the New Jerusalem. I presume this is
the hope of all denominations—Catholics, Protestants, Greeks and all
who believe in the Bible. Suppose they go there, what will they find?
They will find at the twelve gates twelve angels, and "names written
thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of
Israel." The names of the twelve sons of Jacob, the polygamist Can a
monogamist enter there? "And the walls of the city had twelve
foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the
Lamb;" and at the gates the names of the twelve tribes of Israel—from
the twelve sons of the four wives of Jacob. Those who denounce
Patriarchal Marriage will have to stay without and never walk the
golden streets. And any man or woman that lifts his or her voice to
proclaim against a plurality of wives, under the Government of God,
will have to seek an inheritance outside of that city. For "there
shall in no wise enter into it., anything that defileth, neither
whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie, for without are
sorcerers, whoremongers, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." Is
not the man that denounces Celestial Marriage a liar? Does he not work
abomination? "I Jesus have sent mine Angel to testify unto you these
things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of (the
polygamist) David, the bright and the morning star."

Vol. 13,  p.42
May God enable us to keep His law, for "blessed are they that do His
commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life and may
enter in through the gate into the city." Amen.[p.43] 

George Q. Cannon, December 5, 1869

The Right and Authority of President Brigham Young

Discourse By Elder George Q. Cannon, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, December 5, 1869.

(Reported by John Grimshaw)

Vol. 13,  p.43
I desire to read, this afternoon, a portion of two revelations, which
were given to the Prophet, Joseph Smith, in February, 1831. The first
is paragraph 4 of section XIII:

Vol. 13,  p.43
"Again I say unto you, that it shall not be given to any one to go
forth to preach my Gospel or to build up my Church, except he be
ordained by some one who has authority, and it is known to the Church
that he has authority, and has been regularly ordained by the heads of
the Church."

Vol. 13,  p.43
Also paragraphs 1 and 2 of section XIV:

Vol. 13,  p.43
"O, hearken ye elders of My Church, and give an ear to the words which
I shall speak unto you; for behold, verily, verily, I say unto you,
that ye have received a commandment for a law unto my Church, through
him whom I have appointed unto you, to receive commandments and
revelations from my hand. And this ye shall know assuredly that there
is none other appointed unto you to receive commandments and
revelations until he be taken, if he abide in me.

Vol. 13,  p.43
"But verily, verily, I say unto you, that none else shall be appointed
unto this gift except it be through him, for if it be taken from him,
he shall not have power except to appoint another in his stead; and
this shall be a law unto you, that ye receive not the teachings of any
one that shall come before you as revelations or commandments; and
this I give unto you that yon may not be deceived, that you may know
they are not of me. For verily I say unto you, that he that is
ordained of me shall come in at the gate and be ordained as I have
told you before, to teach those revelations which you have received,
and shall receive through him whom I have appointed."

Vol. 13,  p.43
It is a good thing for us, as a people, to let our minds dwell upon
the principles which God our Heavenly Father has given unto us by
revelation in this, as well as in preceding ages. The Lord, in His
goodness and mercy unto His children, has not left them in ignorance
concerning the plan of salvation, nor the manner in which He intends
His Church to be built up. He has revealed unto us many principles for
our guidance, and they are essentially necessary to enable us to grow
and increase in the things of His kingdom; for in these days, as well
as in preceding days, as the apostle has said, there are many spirits
gone forth into the world and there are many influences brought to
bear upon the minds of the children of men. There are many creeds,
doctrines, and views propagated industriously by those who entertain
them, and unless we cling to the truth and pursue the path which our
Heavenly Father desires His children to walk in, with all our claims,
and the [p.44] promises which have been made unto us, we are as liable
to go astray as any other people. If we treat these things as matters
of no importance, and are careless and negligent in relation to that
which we believe, and to those whom we follow, we are sure to err.

Vol. 13,  p.44
There are some principles which have become firmly rooted in the minds
of the Latter-day Saints. It is a difficult thing to cause them to
doubt in relation to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance of
sin, baptism for the remission of sins and the laying on of hands for
the gift of the Holy Ghost. These principles seem to be clearly
understood, and in them the people are apparently fully indoctrinated;
and though men may deny the faith, in one sense, and turn away from
the path of righteousness, and dissolve their connection with the
Church, yet they will cling, in most instances, to what we term the
first principles of the Gospel of Christ; and it is a very rare thing
to see those who have been members of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints turning away and joining what we call sectarian
churches. If they leave this Church, it is an exceedingly difficult
thing for them to connect themselves with other denominations, because
the Scriptures are so familiar to them, the principles contained
therein are so plain to their understanding that, unless there is some
speculation, some mercenary or other end to be gained by their
alliance with people of other creeds, they are very apt to stand
aloof; that is, where they have a thorough understanding of the
principles of the Gospel.

Vol. 13,  p.44
But there are other principles more advanced with which the people are
not so familiar, and of this the adversary seeks to take advantage;
and when men deny the faith, they are apt to deny these principles;
and when they get into the dark, there is probably no point upon which
they differ more frequently than that which relates to the authority
that is exercised in presiding. This is a point that the adversary
always aims at. I suppose it was so in ancient days. We read of false
prophets then, and also of men turning away; and there is no doubt but
what the rock upon which they split was the question of the right and
authority of those presiding over them.

Vol. 13,  p.44
It seems as though the adversary, in the day in which we live, seeks,
by every means in his power, to undermine the influence and the
authority of the man whom God has called to preside over His people.
If you will observe, you may perceive in what direction the shafts of
the adversary are aimed. In the days of Joseph, he was the man against
whom all the enemies of truth hurled their malicious shots; his life
was sought, his character assailed, and his influence was decried. He
was the target at which every arrow of calumny and hatred was aimed,
and the man to whom all eyes were directed. He was held up before men
as an object worthy only of their hatred and derision, to be scoffed
at, despised and killed.

Vol. 13,  p.44
Did anybody hear then of others who are now prominent? Yes. President
Young's name was talked about, but not as at present; but Joseph's
name occupied every tongue. His deeds, or rather his misdeeds, as his
enemies were pleased to call them, occupied every one's attention. His
actions were scrutinized and misrepresented, and everything pertaining
to him was made the subject of comment and reproach. It was the case
from the hour that he received the plates of the Book of Mormon, until
the day of his death. All those who were members of the Church [p.45]
during his lifetime can bear testimony to this. Other elders were
comparatively lost sight of; they were merely looked upon as
satellites. He was the great object of suspicion. His name was the
watch-word of the foes of the Kingdom of God; and mobs banded
themselves together in unholy compacts, in order that they might bring
to pass his overthrow and shed his blood, imagining that, if they
could only kill him, this work, which men call "Mormonism," would
crumble to pieces, because there would not be cohesivehess enough in
the system to hold it together after the master-mind had disappeared.
But no sooner did he pass away than all this hatred, all the derision,
animosity, calumny and slander, which bad been directed to Joseph, was
transferred to Brigham Young, and he was made the object of
vituperation, and the target at which every wicked man should shoot.
His deeds and character were paraded abroad, and everything pertaining
to him was canvassed and held up, in many instances, to public scorn
and ridicule. Such has continued to be the case from the days of the
Prophet Joseph up to the present time.

Vol. 13,  p.45
There were others during Joseph's day, who professed to have the
authority which he possessed, or, as they said, which he had once
possessed. At one time, in the early days of the Church, there was a
number of elders among whom were some of the Twelve Apostles and one
or two of the First Presidency, who banded themselves together and
declared that Joseph was a fallen prophet, that he had taught correct
doctrines, that he had been the instrument in the hands of God, of
revealing the truth and of bringing forth the Book of Mormon,
restoring the holy Priesthood and of organizing the Church; but that
he had fallen. The doctrines which he had first taught were correct,
they said, and the position which he first assumed was acceptable in
the sight of God; but through some cause, he had strayed from the path
and had become a fallen prophet. Said they, "We now have the right and
the authority which he once had. We have the right to organize the
Saints, to build up the Church and carry out the work of which Joseph
was the founder, but which, through transgression, he has forfeited
the right to lead."

Vol. 13,  p.45
There was one peculiarity, however, connected with these pretenders,
which distinguished their course from that pursued by Joseph. Instead
of being the subject of all the evil remarks, all the calumny, all the
hatred, slander, bloodthirstiness and denunciations applied to the
Prophet Joseph, singular to state, when you take into consideration
the pretensions of those men, the wicked hailed them as brethren,
consorted with them, became very brotherly, very fraternal, and looked
upon them as very good, clever fellows. But the hatred towards Joseph
did not diminish, in fact their conduct only tended to increase it and
to make his life and his every deed more odious in their estimation,
and in the estimation of those to whom they published his deeds. This
was also a peculiarity which attended all who aimed to lead the Church
without having the authority so to do.

Vol. 13,  p.45
At Joseph's death a crop of these pretenders sprang up. There was
Sidney Rigdon, who contended that he had the right to lead the people.
The Church was fourteen years of age, he said, and it had the right to
choose a guardian, to lead the people, and conduct its affairs as its
President, and he would be that guardian. James J. Strung also aimed
at the same object. He had angels, he said,[p.46] to visit him; I do
not know but he told the names of the angels; but, if my memory serves
me right, he affirmed that Joseph appeared to him, blessed him and
bestowed upon him the keys and the authority. He also showed a letter
bearing the postmark of Nauvoo, which he pretended had been written by
Joseph, giving him (Strang) the authority to preside over the Church,
in the event of anything happening to him. Others stood up in a
similar manner: John E. Page, Lyman Wight, William Smith, and
afterwards, Charles Thompson.

Vol. 13,  p.46
All these men arose, claiming that it was their right and privilege,
by ordination or by special appointment, to take charge of the Church.
But the Church then, as on many occasions previously and since that
time, was able, through the light which its members possessed, to
discriminate between the voice of the true and false shepherd. Still
this peculiarity—being hailed as brethren by the wicked, characterized
them in Nauvoo, as their predecessors in New York, Kirtland and
Missouri. Instead of being hated and calumniated, and men seeking
their lives and persecuting them, they were hailed with seeming
pleasure and satisfaction. Men bade them "God speed" and urged them
forward to claim the rights they called their own. But against Brigham
Young, our President, the old feeling of animosity, that had been
entertained against Joseph, existed with as great bitterness and
intensity in the minds of the enemies of the Kingdom of God as it had
existed during the lifetime of Joseph against him.

Vol. 13,  p.46
President Young, according to the statements of the wicked, re-enacted
all the evil deeds, as they were termed, that had been attributed to
Joseph, and for which they killed him. Brigham became the inheritor of
all that animosity and hatred that had been manifested towards Joseph
during his lifetime; and when Joseph slept in a bloody grave, the
enemies of the Church turned their attention to Brigham Young, his
legal successor.

Vol. 13,  p.46
If the Saints had wanted evidence in relation to who was the right man
and who had the authority, the very fact that the world hated, reviled
and persecuted Brigham should have been sufficient evidence that he
was taking the path which Joseph had trod, and that his course was
pleasing in the sight of Heaven, and consequently hateful in the sight
of hell.

Vol. 13,  p.46
There are rules, my brethren, which were given in the early days of
the Church, respecting the Presidency of the Church. In the revelation
which I have just read in your hearing, the Lord plainly sets forth to
the Church what course He would have it take in relation to the keys
that had been bestowed by Peter, James and John upon Joseph; and that
we may not be deceived He gives this rule:

Vol. 13,  p.46
"But verily, verily, I say unto you, that none else shall be appointed
unto this gift except it be through him, for if it be taken from him,
he shall not have power except to appoint another in his stead; and
this shall be a law unto you, that ye receive not the teachings of any
that shall come before you as revelations or commandments; and this I
give unto you that you may not be deceived, that you may know they are
not of me. For verily I say unto you, that he that is ordained of me
shall come in at the gate and be ordained as I have told you before,
to teach those revelations which you have received, and shall receive
through him whom I have appointed."

Vol. 13,  p.46
The Lord here made express provisions as to who should hold the keys
of the kingdom, and how those [p.47] keys should be held, and the
manner in which the authority should be exercised. Men have pretended
that angels have visited them, and that, in consequence they must have
authority. This was the pretence made by James J. Strang. But he did
not understand that the oracles had been given through Joseph,
according to the revelation given in March, 1833, to the Church.
Others had also had the keys given unto them to enable them to
exercise the power and authority which Joseph held. Now we may come to
this conclusion; that God, having once bestowed the keys of the holy
Priesthood on man here on the earth for the up-building of His Church,
will never take them from the man or men who hold them and authorize
others to bestow them. If you will read the history of the Church from
the beginning, you will find that Joseph was visited by various
angelic beings, but not one of them professed to give him the keys
until John the Baptist came to him. Moroni, who held the keys of the
record of the stick of Ephraim, visited Joseph; he had doubtless,
also, visits from Nephi and it may be from Alma and others, but though
they came and had authority, holding the authority of the Priesthood,
we have no account of their ordaining him, neither did Joseph ever
profess, because of the ministration of these angels, to have
authority to administer in any of the ordinances of the Kingdom of
God. He never baptized anybody, nor attempted to lay on hands for the
reception of the Holy Ghost; and, in fact, he never attempted, that we
have any account of, to exercise any of the functions of the holy
Priesthood. He was a prophet, it is true, but a man may be a prophet
and yet not have authority to administer in the Priesthood. The
prophetic gift, to some extent, is distinct from the Priesthood.
Joseph had received the prophetic gift and he exercised it and he
acted as such prior to his ordination. But when the time came for him
to be baptized, then a man who held the keys of that Priesthood came
to him and laid his hands upon Joseph's head, and upon Oliver Cowdery,
and set them apart, and gave them authority to officiate in the
Aaronic Priesthood, which Priesthood held the keys of baptism and so
forth.

Vol. 13,  p.47
John had the right to baptize when he was upon the earth; he held the
keys of that Priesthood. He baptized Jesus by virtue of the Priesthood
which he held; and those keys had not been taken from him. At the time
when Joseph Smith was ordained, there was no man on the face of the
earth that held the keys of the Priesthood and the authority to ordain
him. If there had been a man in the Greek, Roman, Presbyterian,
Methodist, Baptist, Episcopal or any other church extant upon the face
of the earth, who had the keys of the Priesthood, Joseph Smith would
not have been ordained by an angel, because the keys would have been
here and been bestowed by the man who held them. But you might have
searched from pole to pole and traversed the wide expanse of the earth
from continent to continent, and visited all the nations of the earth
and enquired of them if there was a man in their midst who had the
keys of the holy Priesthood and who claimed the authority which was
exercised in olden times by Peter, James and John, and the rest of the
servants of God; but you would have heard no response in the
affirmative. None would have stood up and said, "I have this
authority." Throughout Christendom, throughout the entire Mahomedan
and Pagan world, you could not have [p.48] found a man who professed
to have this authority. No; it had been driven from the midst of
mankind by the violence of wicked men, who shed the blood of those who
held those keys and that authority; and it had gone back to God who
gave it, and dwelt there; for the men who held it dwelt in the
presence of the Almighty.

Vol. 13,  p.48
Hence, when Joseph Smith desired baptism, though angels had visited
him and had ministered unto him, though he had heard the voice of God
and Jesus Christ, though he had been called to be a prophet, he had
not the right and the authority to go forth and administer the
ordinances of baptism, neither had any living soul, to do it
legitimately. It was necessary that he should be ordained; it was
necessary that those keys should be restored; and hence how proper it
was that John, who held the keys and had been beheaded by a wicked
king, should come and restore them? Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery
testified that John came and laid his hands upon their heads and
bestowed upon them the power and authority to administer in the holy
ordinances of the Gospel.

Vol. 13,  p.48
When they were baptized, and had received the authority to administer
in that ordinance they did not attempt to lay on hands for the
reception of the Holy Ghost; that was a separate and distinct power
from the Aaronic Priesthood. John says, in the 3rd chapter of Matthew,
11th verse, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but He
that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy
to bear, He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire."

Vol. 13,  p.48
John did not profess to have the authority to lay on hands for the
reception of the Holy Ghost. We read in no part of the Scriptures of
his exercising any such authority. He had the authority to baptize,
the power which pertained unto his Priesthood, being a descendant of
Aaron, and baptism was one of the ordinances which pertained to the
Aaronic Priesthood; but he had not the right to lay on hands for the
reception of the Holy Ghost. It was necessary that that authority
should be conferred; but who held that power in ancient days? Why,
Peter, James and John, who had been ordained by Jesus to the
Melchisedec Priesthood, or the Priesthood after the order of
Melchisedec, and having exercised that authority while on the earth in
the flesh, they came bearing the keys of that Melchizedec Priesthood,
and laid their hands upon Joseph Smith and ordained him to the power
which he subsequently bold, as the President or head of this great and
last dispensation of the fullness of times. By virtue of those keys he
was empowered to lay hands on those who were baptized in the name of
Jesus, by legal authority, and to confirm upon their heads—upon the
heads of the honest in heart—the blessings of the Gospel, and by
virtue of these keys they had the right to build up the Church of God
in all its ancient purity and glory, and to preach the Gospel in its
fullness, with its gifts and blessings, and to send men abroad as
ministers of life and salvation to the nations of the world, the same
as Peter and those associated with him. Said Jesus, "Thou art Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the
Kingdom of Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be
bound in Heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be
loosed in Heaven." Peter therefore [p.49] held those keys. What
wonderful consistency on the part of the Lord, that He should descend
from Heaven and confer those keys on men here on the earth!

Vol. 13,  p.49
There are men who say that Joseph was an unlearned impostor; but how
strange it is that, if an impostor, he should take the exact course,
established in the economy of Heaven for the salvation of mankind; and
that he should claim the authority, throngh the administration—first
of John the Baptist, and then of Peter, James and John, the apostles.

Vol. 13,  p.49
The keys of this Priesthood were bestowed never more to be taken from
the earth; hence, in the revelation I have read, provision was made by
the Lord that Joseph, in case he should fall, should ordain another in
his stead, and he should have authority only to lay hands on and set
apart some one to act in his place, in case he should prove unworthy.
Thus, even from the beginning, the Lord seems to have held constantly
before him the possibility of his falling away. He was a young man,
and like every man, he was apt to get lifted up in the pride of his
heart; therefore, God reminded hint that he only held the keys as long
as he should be faithful to the truth. But in a subsequent revelation,
the Lord informed him that he should hold the keys in this life and in
the life to come, and they should never be taken from him.

Vol. 13,  p.49
By virtue of the ordination he received, Joseph had the right and the
authority to confer this Priesthood upon others. He called twelve
Apostles, and they were ordained under his authority by the direction
of the Lord, and those twelve were endowed with the keys. Previous to
his death, the Prophet Joseph manifested great anxiety to see the
temple completed, as most of you who were with the Church during his
day, well know. "Hurry up the work, brethren," he used to say, "let us
finish the temple; the Lord has a great endowment in store for you,
and I am anxious that the brethren should have their endowments and
receive the fullness of the Priesthood." He urged the Saints forward
continually, preaching unto them the importance of completing that
building, so that therein the ordinances of life and salvation might
be administered to the whole people, but especially to the quorums of
the holy Priesthood; "then," said he, "the Kingdom will be
established, and I do not care what shall become of me."

Vol. 13,  p.49
These were his expressions oft repeated in the congregations of the
Saints, telling the brethren and sisters of the Church, and the world
that he rolled the Kingdom on to the Twelve, and they would have to
round up their shoulders and bear it off, as he was going to rest for
awhile, and many other expressions of a like nature, the full meaning
of which the Saints did not realize at the time.

Vol. 13,  p.49
Prior to the completion of the Temple, he took the Twelve and certain
other men, who were chosen, and bestowed upon them a holy anointing,
similar to that which was received on the day of Pentecost by the
Twelve, who had been told to tarry at Jerusalem. This endowment was
bestowed upon the chosen few whom Joseph anointed and ordained, giving
unto them the keys of the holy Priesthood, the power and authority
which he himself held, to build up the Kingdom of God in all the earth
and accomplish the great purposes of our Heavenly Father; and it was
by virtue of this authority, on the death of Joseph, that President
Young, as President of the quorum of the Twelve, presided over the
Church.

Vol. 13,  p.50
The enemies of the work of God had done their worst in murdering
[p.50] the Prophet in cold blood, and they supposed that in killing
him and taking him away their actions would prove a death-knell to
what they called "Mormonism;" but they little knew or understood that
God bad left the same power on the earth which Joseph wielded with
such potent effect. The reins had been transferred to others, who were
prepared to wield that power, and to step forward and take the
responsibility upon them of carrying forward the work of God. Hence,
there was no diminution of hatred, slander and persecution on the part
of mobs and those who wished to shed the blood of the Saints.

Vol. 13,  p.50
After the death of Joseph, while the Twelve were in the East, there
was seemingly a slight relaxation of bitterness towards the Saints, on
the part of the enemies of truth; but it was only for a few days. When
the Twelve returned, and it was found that the same power which Joseph
had held still existed, persecutions on the part of mobs recommenced
with renewed vigor and bitterness, and they swore out several charges
against the brethren of the Twelve. So warm did this persecution
become, that the houses of President Young and his brethren had to be
guarded, and each bad to take care of himself, as his blood, and
particularly President Young's, was sought with just as great
eagerness and blood-thirstiness as Joseph's had previously been. This
ought to have been an evidence as to who held the authority.

Vol. 13,  p.50
When the Saints were driven from Nauvoo and were told that it was the
will of God that we should forsake the land of our inheritance and
take our journey across the Mississippi and through the then Territory
of Iowa into the far distant West, every Latter-day Saint in the land,
who had the Spirit of God, knew the voice of the true shepherd, and
those who were in the East made preparations, some to go round by sea
and some to go by land, and join the camp of Israel on its westward
march. The land to which we were hastening was new and unknown to us.
The masses of the people did not know whether it would be in the wilds
of the desert, on the tops of the mountains or in some place that
would be delightful for man's habitation. These were subjects that did
not concern the people who were thus called to forsake their homes.
The Saints sold what they could, which, however, was very little
indeed, for their enemies took possession of their property, and they
started westward, following the man whom God had chosen, and whom they
recognized as God's anointed.

Vol. 13,  p.50
There were those who went back to Pittsburg with Sidney Rigdon, and to
Voree, Wisconsin, with Strang; and also those who tarried in Nauvoo
with Win. Smith and John E. Page. There were others who followed
Thompson and other pretenders; but the main body of the Saints were
not to be deceived by these pretended shepherds. They knew the voice
of him whom God had chosen, and followed him, confident that they
would be led aright and brought to a place of safety; and though they
were in deep poverty, and it seemed as though the prince of the power
of the air had exerted all his malignity to make their travel
difficult, the land being deluged with water; yet they did not faint
by the wayside, for God was with them, His angels were round about
them, and His Spirit was poured out upon them, and they had a
testimony which gave them the conviction that they were in the right
path; and when history records that wonderful deliverance and march,
it will be a matter of the utmost surprise and wonder to posterity
that it was [p.51] ever accomplished, and that the people of the
world, in seeing it, were not smitten with a conviction of the truth
of the work, and of the divine authority of the Priesthood which led
the people in a pathway of safety, through the wilderness, at that
time. The songs of Zion ascended from the camps of Israel and peace
brooded over the people. Barefooted, and in many instances hungry,
they travelled on with their faces westward, their faith failing not;
for, as I have said, the angels of God were round about them and His
spirit was upon them; and at no period of their history was the power
of God more exhibited than during that trying time when God led His
servant to this then wild and forbidding region.

Vol. 13,  p.51
Since we have been here, He has blessed us as a people. He has spread
us abroad, and caused us to extend North and South, and His peace and
blessing have attended the labors and the administration of the elders
in our midst. The keys of the Priesthood have been fully honored, not
by man alone, but they have been honored by God; and the exercise of
that authority which God bestowed on Joseph Smith by the ministration
of holy angels, has been a blessing to many thousands in this land. We
have had peace, we have had good government, and the songs and prayers
of the Saints have ascended up from their habitations unto the Most
High God, and Heaven has been moved in our behalf, to bless and
preserve us and give us victory and deliverance in every time of
trouble; and when we have been threatened with any difficulty or
calamity, God has always overruled and controlled it, for our good and
for the salvation of His people. Is it any wonder, then, that
Latter-day Saints should have confidence in the man whom God has
chosen? Many men wonder and say, "You Latter-day Saints are bowed down
in tyranny and are groaning under despotism. Why are you not free to
exercise your liberty? Why don't you do as you please? Why do you
always do as your prophet and leader tells you?" Because we have
proved during twenty-five long years, that God has blessed him in
everything he has told us to do, and we have been blessed of God in
carrying out his counsels. When we have prayed to the Almighty to give
us wisdom and humility to obey the counsels of His servant, He has
given unto us His Holy Spirit and witnessed unto our hearts that this
course was pleasing and acceptable in His sight. Rebel against him and
his authority! as well might we rebel against Jehovah Himself, or
against Jesus! Not that President Young is to be worshipped, not that
Joseph Smith was to be worshipped, not that Peter or Moses was to be
worshipped. There is a difference between obedience and idolatry, or
worship. There is a difference between submission to the will of
God—at least, I can perceive a difference—and obeying, God's counsels
through a man, and idolizing the man himself, and we have perceived
this difference.

Vol. 13,  p.51
God chooses men as guardians and shepherds over His people· We are all
of one great family; we are all the children of God, and are all alike
before Him. "Yes," says one, "we are all alike, and therefore there is
no distinction between us." But let me suppose a case. Suppose a man
who has a large family of sons and daughters, were to be called on a
mission to go abroad to preach the Gospel of Christ, and had to be
absent for years; the members of the family during his absence would
be left to themselves. But suppose he had a choice son whom he loved,
and who had been implicitly obedient to him all the days of his life,
[p.52] and whose course had taught him to respect his judgment, his
honesty, his truthfulness and the integrity and justice of his
character, and that in the most trying circumstances he had never
failed to honor himself, God, his family, and to honor his father.
Now, as be is going away to a far distant land, he takes this son
aside and says to him, "I will place you in charge of my family, and
leave you to watch over their interests in my absence, that while I am
gone they may have some one to look up to who can act the part of a
father to them." And then turning to the family he says, "My sons and
daughters, I have chosen this son, your elder brother, to act in my
place while I am absent. I wish you to obey him and respect and honor
him as you would your father, and to submit yourselves to his
dictation in all things." The family consent. They say, "We will do as
you desire, father. We will honor your judgment and choice by honoring
and obeying our brother whom you have chosen to watch over us during
your absence."

Vol. 13,  p.52
It might be argued that those children, by complying with the wish of
their father in this matter, would sacrifice their agency. Do they not
exercise that volition just as much by obeying that son as they would
by each one taking his or her own course, and saying, "I will judge
for myself, as to the correctness of what you say and will differ from
you whenever I please." Let me ask you as parents and as children,
brethren and sisters, do you not think you could exercise your agency
just as much by obeying the son as by disobeying him? I cannot
conceive how it can be otherwise. I cannot see why I, for instance,
should not exercise my agency just as much by obeying him as by
disobeying him. This is precisely my position to-day. 

Vol. 13,  p.52
Brigham Young, our President, has been chosen by God as His
representative here on the earth, among His sons and daughters. He has
been selected for this special calling. The Father is not present in
person; Jesus is not present in person; but God is here through the
Holy Ghost and the holy Priesthood, through the power which tie has
bestowed, and in the same position precisely as the son in the figure
which I have used does the President of the Church act for us, his
brethren and sisters. We are all alike before God; He loves us all
alike; we are all the creatures of His care; but there must be rule,
there must be government; there must be order, or this would not be
the kingdom of God. The Lord chose President Young to rule and dictate
in the affairs of His Church when His servant Joseph was taken from
the earth.

Vol. 13,  p.52
Look at the singular combination of circumstances which caused Brigham
Young to be President of the Twelve. Reflect on the remarkable
combination of events which made him the leader of Israel, showing
plainly, in my mind, that long before he was born, yes, probably
before the earth was organized, Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were
chosen, the same as Jeremiah was. The Lord said to Jeremiah: "Before I
formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou camest forth
out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto
the nations." This is my opinion about the leaders of Israel in the
latter days. I believe they were chosen to act in this capacity; and
God, knowing their integrity, and afterwards proving them to the
uttermost in the flesh, has greatly blessed them. See the blessings
that have followed the administrations of these men in our midst. Who
would exchange the peace, the joy, and the knowledge we have
concerning the Gospel of the [p.53] Lord Jesus Christ for the meagre
and vague ideas of God and His kingdom that prevailed before the
people became acquainted with it? God has given unto us those precious
blessings. He has gathered us together from the nations of the earth;
He has multiplied upon us abundantly, joys more precious than gold or
silver, namely, the riches of eternity; He has given unto us wisdom
and knowledge and peace; He has proved to us most effectively that
there are riches more precious and far more estimable in the sight of
God and good and virtuous men than the perishable things of this
world. He has built up a kingdom in which these things will be held at
their true value, for He will cleanse from the midst of His people
those who idolize riches.

Vol. 13,  p.53
Let me assure you, brethren and sisters, if there is anything in our
hearts that interferes with our complete love of God and our reverence
for Him and His work, we shall have to banish it, or sooner or later
we shall lose our standing in the Church of God; for He wants a people
who will render implicit obedience to His laws and the requirements of
His Gospel, and who will love Him better than any earthly thing, and
place a higher value on the gifts of the Spirit than on worldly
possessions or even life itself.

Vol. 13,  p.53
The Lord has proved to us, in the midst of the many trials and
difficulties with which we have had to contend during our brief
existence as a Church, when surrounded by mobs, when our lives were in
danger and the lives of our leaders were threatened when the
persecutors of the Saints were howling like a pack of ravening wolves
for the blood of this people, that there is something far more
precious and estimable than mere eating and drinking and the pleasures
and enjoyments of life; although these things are very good and
necessary in their place. He has given us His Gospel and this Gospel
is being carried to all the nations of the earth, and a kingdom is
being established.

Vol. 13,  p.53
Jesus said that this Gospel should be preached as a witness to all
nations, and then should the end come. What Gospel? Why, the same
Gospel Jesus had and to which he referred; the same Gospel that his
apostles had: a Gospel of power, a Gospel of blessings, whose
Priesthood had power and authority from God. It is the same Gospel
that is now being taught, and which has to be preached as a witness to
all nations, and then shall the end come. God is sending forth His
messengers to accomplish this object. Our Elders have gone to the
Eastern States by hundreds to lift up their warning voices to the
people concerning the things which God is doing and is about to do in
the midst of the inhabitants of the earth. For this purpose they go to
Europe, to the West, to the Islands of the Pacific, to Asia and
Africa, and they will yet traverse every country on the face of the
whole earth. The millions of Asia will yet hear the glad tidings of
salvation from the Elders of Israel. The yoke of bondage is being
broken and the nations are being freed from the grasp of despotism and
tyranny. Japan now opens her ports; China begins to extend her
invitation to western civilization, and the time is near at hand when
the sound of this Gospel, proclaimed by the Elders of Israel, will
re-echo from one end of the earth to the other, for it must be
preached as a witness unto all nations.

Vol. 13,  p.53
We may engage in this work with all our hearts in view of the glorious
reward that is promised unto the faithful; or we may fight against it
and use our every power to consummate its overthrow; it makes no
difference. The word of the Lord [p.54] Almighty has gone forth to the
people of this generation, and it will not remain unfulfilled. It
matters not, therefore, who band together and plot in secret, who
unite and say we will spoil the plan and destroy the influence of the
work of God. The Lord will expose their secret plots and schemes, and
He will stand by His servant whom He has chosen, so long as He lives,
as He did by His servant Joseph. He told him that he would save him
though he should be slain.

Vol. 13,  p.54
The Lord permitted the enemies of the Kingdom of God to take away the
life of His servant Joseph, as He did of His servants in ancient days.
The blood of the testator was shed, and now the testament is in full
force. Joseph had lifted up his voice in solemn warning to the
inhabitants of the earth, and declared that God had spoken in these
latter days. But his blood and that of other holy men and Saints was
shed by wicked men, and their blood, mingled with that of the martyred
Saints of past ages, cries unto the Lord for vengeance. The very earth
itself groans under the weight of wickedness and corruption that
abound on its surface, and the Lord has declared that it shall be
delivered. But before the great day of vengeance shall come, when
wickedness shall be utterly swept from off the face of the earth, it
is necessary that the Elders should proclaim the Gospel to every
nation, kindred and tongue on the face of the earth, that the honest
in heart may be gathered out and that a people may be found who shall
be prepared to meet the Lord at His coming.

Vol. 13,  p.54
For this preparation we should give our whole time and labor to the
purifying of our hearts and households. We should labor to purify our
cities and settlements, labor to promulgate the principles of
righteousness and to establish truth on the earth and seek to bring to
pass the Zion of God in its fulness and perfection.

Vol. 13,  p.54
These are the labors which devolve upon us. Think not, my brethren and
sisters, because God has chosen earthly vessels to hold this power and
authority, that therefore you can treat lightly the holy Priesthood. I
have noticed from my boyhood, and it has been a constant lesson to me,
that those who speak against the authorities and lift their hands
against the holy Priesthood of this Church invariably deny the faith.
I have never seen it otherwise. You may trace the history of this
people from the beginning and you will find that every man who has
indulged in this spirit has always come out and denied the faith. Such
men, when Joseph lived, said that he had fallen. Since his death they
excuse their conduct by saying that Brigham has gone astray.

Vol. 13,  p.54
But when the Lord spoke to Joseph about falling, he said he would have
authority to appoint another in his stead, and that no one would have
the right to act except he was ordained by authority, or came in
through the gate. You may know by the revelation I have read that no
man can get the authority elsewhere. It must come through the holy
Priesthood. Men may say they have heard the voice of Jesus, or heard
this, that or the other; but you will find that the power of God will
attend the keys, and His blessing will follow the administration of
His servants who hold the authority.

Vol. 13,  p.54
Paul said, "Do ye not know that the Saints shall judge the world?" On
one occasion Jesus said, "Ye who have followed me in the regeneration,
when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye [p.55]
also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel."

Vol. 13,  p.55
In a revelation given through Joseph Smith, the Lord says:

Vol. 13,  p.55
"And again, verily, verily, I say unto you, and it hath gone forth in
a firm decree, by the will of the Father, that mine apostles, the
twelve, which were with me in my ministry at Jerusalem, shall stand at
my right hand at the day of my coming in a pillar of fire, being
clothed with robes of righteousness, with crowns upon their heads, in
glory even as I am, to judge the whole house of Israel."

Vol. 13,  p.55
This is the authority which Jesus said they should wield. The same
authority has been renewed in these days. Says one, "I do not like
this sort of thing; it is priestly rule and dominion, and I object to
it. I am too much of a democrat in my feelings to submit to it." Yet a
man can be a democrat and a lover of freedom and liberty and enjoy
them to the fullest, and honor the Priesthood. There is a difference
between priestcraft and Priesthood. Priestcraft builds up itself, it
is not authorized of God. Priestcraft oppresses the people; but the
Priesthood of God emancipates men and women and makes them free. Jesus
says his yoke is easy and his burden light.

Vol. 13,  p.55
We talk of power, and object to the undue exercise of authority. But
think of the power given in ancient days, and which has been restored
in these days, that man exercises when he goes forth into the water
and baptizes a person! Do you ever think of the greatness of the power
thus exercised? And further, when the candidate for baptism emerges
from the water and has hands laid upon him for the reception of the
Holy Ghost, do you think of the power that God has entrusted unto men
on earth when they exercise that holy ordinance? Do you think of the
power exercised in remitting the sins of men and women through
baptism, the ordinance which God has set in His Church for the
remission of sins, and conferring upon them the Holy Ghost? If God
sends such mighty power, shall we question the bestowal of a higher
power when God shall choose to give it? Shall we murmur and contend
against it? God forbid, and forbid that we should ever turn aside and
fight against Him or His cause in any manner.

Vol. 13,  p.55
My brethren and sisters, my prayers are that God will bless us as a
people and sanctify us to walk in all humility and meekness before
Him, honoring His laws; for when we honor His laws we honor the laws
of righteousness and the laws of the land in equity and truth. We will
honor men in their place; we will honor the Government and everything
that is just and honorable and true. That God may sustain us and help
us to sustain the Priesthood, and to follow its requirements, that
eventually we may be saved in His kingdom, is my prayer in the name of
Jesus, Amen.[p.56] 

Brigham Young, July 18, 1869

Obeying the Gospel—Recreation—Individual Development

Discourse By President Brigham Young, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, July 18, 1869.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 13,  p.56
I will say to my friends—those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ—"I
beseech you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God." Treasure up
every truth that you hear, practice it in your lives, for this will
lead you to Jesus. The words that we have heard this afternoon, with
regard to the character of the Son of God and the plan of salvation,
are true so far as they have gone. We, the Latter-day Saints, take the
liberty of believing more than our Christian brethren: we not only
believe part of the Bible, but the whole of it, and the whole of the
plan of salvation that Jesus has given to us. Do we differ from others
who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? No, only in believing more; we
are one with them as far as they believe in him. Do we differ with
regard to the practice of the Gospel that he has delivered to us? No,
not as far as they really believe in and practice the doctrines taught
by him. We believe all that any good man on the earth need believe. We
believe in God the Father, in Jesus Christ His Son, our Savior. We
believe all that Moses spoke and wrote of him, all that the apostles
said of him, and all that Jesus himself has said, which was penned and
has been left on record by his apostles and servants.

Vol. 13,  p.56
Our Lord and Savior has been beautifully described and set before us,
by the gentleman who has addressed us this afternoon, but I will take
the liberty of saying to every man and woman who wishes to obtain
salvation through him (the Savior) that looking to him, only, is not
enough: they must have faith in his name, character and atonement; and
they must have faith in his father and in the plan of salvation
devised and wrought out by the Father and the Son. What will this
faith lead to? It will lead to obedience to the requirements of the
Gospel; and the few words that I may deliver to my brethren and
sisters and friends this afternoon will be with the direct view of
leading them to God.

Vol. 13,  p.56
How am I to know whether I have passed from death unto life? The
apostle says by loving the brethren. How shall I know the brethren?
They are my brethren who have received and obeyed the Gospel of the
Son of God. This is just as easy to test as it is to test a man who
says he is a citizen of the United States. A man may declare that he
is so, but upon inquiry we find that he has never taken the oath of
allegiance nor even declared his intention of becoming a citizen; but
his sole claim to be considered a citizen rests on the fact that he
lives in this country and has property, perhaps a farm or a store.
This will not entitle any foreigner to the rights and privileges
enjoyed by the humblest citizen. He must first declare his intention,
take the oath of [p.57] allegiance to this Goverment and renounce it
to his former one, and then receive his papers of citizenship. It is
just the same in the kingdom of God. However much we may profess
attachment to God and His cause we are not entitled to the blessings
and privileges of His kingdom until we become citizens therein. How
can we do this? By repenting of our sins, and obeying the requirements
of the Gospel of the Son of God which has been delivered to us.
Hundreds and thousands of people have believed on the Lord Jesus
Christ and repented of their sins, and have had the Holy Spirit to
witness unto them that God is love, that they loved Him and that He
loved them, and yet they are not in His kingdom. They have not
complied with the necessary requirements, they have not entered in at
the door, and Jesus says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that
entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some
other way, the same is a thief and a robber." He says also, "I am the
door: by me if any man enter in he shall be saved." Jesus has taught
us how we may enter this door and become citizens of his kingdom, and
there is no excuse for our neglecting to do so. Herein we exceed and
go further than our former brethren. We read in this book (the Bible)
of a certain man who came to Jesus by night and asked him what he
should do to be saved. This man, in his own estimation, had beer a
strict observer of the law, but Jesus said to him, "Verily, verily, I
say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God." My firm belief is that thousands have been born of the Spirit
and have seen the kingdom, but not having been born of the water they
have never been permitted to enter that kingdom, for Jesus says,
"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into
the kingdom of God." This is why we say it is necessary to obey,
fully, the Gospel which Jesus has left on record for us; and to do
that we must repent of our sins, be baptized for the remission of
thorn, and then receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands.

Vol. 13,  p.57
Do we believe in the Holy Ghost? Yes. Do our former brethren in the
Christian world? They say they do. They should believe in it, they
preach and teach it. What will the Holy Ghost do for those who possess
it? It will bring to their remembrance things past, present and to
come, and will teach them all things necessary for them to understand,
in order to secure salvation. Is this the office and ministry of the
Holy Ghost? Jesus says:

Vol. 13,  p.57
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send
in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to
your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."

Vol. 13,  p.57
"Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you
into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he
shall hear, that he shall speak: and he will shew you things to come."

Vol. 13,  p.57
Then if we receive the Holy Ghost we shall know and understand things
as they are, we shall be able to read the Scriptures by the Spirit,
with which they were written, and if we continue faithful we shall be
led to a knowledge of God and Jesus whom He has sent, which the
apostle says "is eternal life."

Vol. 13,  p.57
Some believe or conceive the idea that to know God would lessen Him in
our estimation; but I can say that for me to understand any principle
or being, on earth or in Heaven, it does not lessen its true value to
me, but,[p.58] on the contrary, it increases it; and the more I can
know of God, the dearer and more precious He is to me, and the more
exalted are my feelings towards Him. Therein I may be different to
some others.

Vol. 13,  p.58
If we embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ, rendering obedience
thereunto as he has directed, it will lead us into the kingdom of God
here on the earth. We have started to build up this kingdom. The Lord
has revealed His will from the heavens, and we have faith in Him. Is
there any proof of this? Certainly, there is every proof that is
necessary. I recollect reading in the New Testament that Jesus gave a
mission to his apostles in these words, "Go ye into all the world and
preach the Gospel to every creature, he that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these
signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out
devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up
serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them;
they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover."

Vol. 13,  p.58
This Gospel is for all the children of men, and it will save all who
will believe and obey it. Do this people believe in this Gospel? Yes.
Is there any proof of this? Yes. Here before me I see men who have
left their homes and families; women who have left their homes and
families; parents who have left their children, and children their
parents; husbands who have left their wives, and wives their husbands,
and all to gather with the Saints of the Most High. Is this any
testimony that they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Yes; and this is
not all. They speak with new tongues, they lay hands on the sick and
they do recover. In these particulars we differ from those with whom
we formerly fellowshipped in the Christian world, who say they tell
the people how to come to God and be saved. But if they ever have done
that. I have never heard them. In my young days I have been called an
infidel for talking thus, for there was no man who could tell me
anything about the plan of salvation; but I never saw the day but what
I would have walked on my knees across this continent to have seen a
man who could have told me the first thing about God and Heaven. It is
true that the feelings and attention of the people may be moved and
attracted by beautiful descriptions of Him and Heaven and with
beautiful illustrations of His power and goodness, such as we have
heard to-day; but where is God? Who is He? Who is Jesus Christ? Where
do they live? What is their power and character, and their connection
with the people of the earth? In my scanty experience with the divines
of the day I never yet found the first that could describe the
character of God, locate His dwelling place, or give the first correct
idea with regard to the Father and the Son; but to them they are
hidden in impenetrable mystery, and their cry is, "Great is the
mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh." To us it is simple,
plain, glorious and divine, and it is worthy the attention of every
intelligent being that dwells on the face of the earth, for it is
eternal life to know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.

Vol. 13,  p.58
In these respects we differ from our Christian brethren. We are the
very men and women that have come out from the Mother Church and her
daughters, Methodists, Calvinists and almost every other persuasion on
the face of the earth, the Pagans not excepted. We never learned from
them, [p.59] however, how to be saved; but we know how to save
ourselves, for the Lord has revealed to us a plan by which we may be
saved both here and hereafter. God has done everything we could ask,
and more than we could ask. The errand of Jesus to earth was to bring
his brethren and sisters back into the presence of the Father; he has
done his part of the work, and it remains for us to do ours. There is
not one thing that the Lord could do for the salvation of the human
family that He has neglected to do; and it remains for the children of
men to receive the truth or reject it; all that can be accomplished
for their salvation, independent of them, has been accomplished in and
by the Savior. It has been justly remarked this afternoon that "Jesus
paid the debt; he atoned for the original sin; he came and suffered
and died on the cross." He is now King of kings and Lord of lords, and
the time will come when every knee will bow and every tongue confess,
to the glory of God the Father, that Jesus is the Christ. That very
character that was looked upon, not as the Savior, but as an outcast,
who was crucified between two thieves and treated with scorn and
derision, will be greeted by all men as the only Being through whom
they can obtain salvation.

Vol. 13,  p.59
We differ from our Christian brethren, and have long been separated
from them; but we are here in these mountains through
necessity—because we were not permitted to live with them. But we were
never hated, despised and derided as Christ was; we have never been
crucified and been such outcasts as Jesus, though our prophet and
patriarch were slain; hut not in such an ignominious manner as Jesus.
Who will believe our testimony? "If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to
them that are lost." Who will believe our testimony? Who will believe
the testimony that has been delivered here this afternoon? I believe
and know it is true; and that, too, by the revelations of that very
character who was lifted up on the cross. How are we to blame for
believing so much? Why, the Scriptures say we are to "prove all
tilings and hold fast that which is good." I frequently think that the
only way for a man to prove any fact in the world is by experience. We
go, for instance, into an orchard and some one says there is a sweet
apple tree, and he may say the same of other trees, but without
tasting how shall I know they are sweet? Unless I taste of them I
cannot know it. I may take the testimony of others who have tasted
them, as to whether they are sweet, sour or bitter, but without
tasting it cannot be proved to my senses that they are so. Now, as I
understand it, it is the same with all facts that have come to the
knowledge of all beings in Heaven, or on earth—all facts are proved
and made manifest by their opposite. Sin has come into the world, and
death by sin. I frequently ask myself the question: Was there any
necessity for sin to enter the world? Most assuredly there was,
according to my understanding and reasoning powers. Did I not know the
evil I could never know the good; had I not seen the light I should
never he able to comprehend what darkness is. Had I never tried to see
and behold a thing in darkness I could not understand the beauty and
glory of the light. If I had never tasted the bitter or the sour how
could I define or describe the sweet? Consequently, I let all these
things pass, being according to the wisdom of Him who has done all
things for the benefit and salvation of His children here on the
earth. And when we contemplate [p.60] and realise that He is our
Father and that Jesus is our elder brother, and that we have the
privilege of overcoming sin and death, by faith in Jesus and obedience
to His Gospel, and of being exalted into the presence of the Father
and the Son, the thought should fill our hearts with gratitude, praise
and humility.

Vol. 13,  p.60
I extend my religion further than a great many do. I say it is far
beyond the religions of the day; they consists mainly, of forms and
ceremonies, never revealing to their votaries the object of their
creation and existence, or preparing them to fulfil their high calling
and destiny; but ours incorporates the whole life of man. Our religion
incorporates and includes all the duties devolving upon us every day
of our lives, and enables us, if we live according to the spirit of
it, to discharge those several duties more honorably and efficiently.
I do not think there is as good a financier on the earth as my Father
in Heaven is; I do not think there is a being among the whole human
family who understands the principles of finance as well as He does.
And I believe the same with regard to any other branch of human
knowledge, or of anything which affects the peace, happiness, comfort,
wealth, health and strength of body, and in fact the entire welfare,
whether political, social or physical, of the children of men,
consequently I would like to have Him dictate my affairs. Why? That I
might become the possessor of power, wealth, and influence, for all
the influence the children of men ever possessed they have received
from the Father. Every kingdom that has been set up on the face of the
earth has been set up by the will of the Father. He sets up a kingdom
here and pulls down another there at His pleasure. He gives influence
and power to this one and takes them from another; and so we see
nations come and go. Some individuals live on the earth rich, noble,
powerful and influential; while others are in the depths of poverty.
All this is permitted by the Father, and is according to His decree.
Every act of the children of men is the result of their own will and
pleasure, but the results of these acts God overrules.

Vol. 13,  p.60
Our religion incorporates every act and word of man. No man should go
to merchandising unless he does it in God; no man should go to farming
or any other business unless he does it in the Lord. No lawyer, no,
hold on, I will leave the lawyers out; we do not want them, we have no
use for them. No man of council should sit to judge the people but
what should judge in the Lord, that he may righteously and impartially
discern between right and wrong, truth and error, light and darkness,
justice and injustice. Should any legislature sit without the Lord? If
it do, sooner or later it will fall to pieces. No nation ever did live
that counseled and transacted its national affairs without the Lord,
but what sooner or later went to pieces and came to naught. The same
is true of all the nations that now live or ever will live.

Vol. 13,  p.60
Our work, our every-day labor, our whole lives are within the scope of
our religion. This is what we believe and what we try to practice. Yet
the Lord permits a great many things that He never commands. I have
frequently heard my old brethren in the Christian world make remarks
about the impropriety of indulging in pastimes and amusements. The
Lord never commanded me to dance, yet I have danced; you all know it,
for my life is before the world. Yet while the Lord has never
commanded me to do it, He has permitted it. I do not know that He ever
commanded the boys to go and [p.61] pay at ball, yet He permits it. I
am not aware that He ever commanded us to build a theatre, but He has
permitted it, and I can give the reason why. Recreation and diversion
are as necessary to our well-being as the more serious pursuits of
life. There is not a man in the world but what, if kept at any one
branch of business or study, will become like a machine. Our pursuits
should be so diversified as to develop every trait of character and
diversity of talent. If you would develop every power and faculty
possessed by your children, they must have the privilege of engaging
in and enjoying a diversity of amusements and studies; to attain great
excellence, however, they cannot all be kept to any one individual
branch of study. I recollect once while in England, in the district of
country called the "Potteries," seeing a man pass along the street,
his head, perhaps, within sixteen or eighteen inches of the ground. I
inquired what occupation he had followed for a living, and learned
that he had never done anything in his life but turned a tea cup, and
he was then seventy-four years of age. How do we know, but what, if he
had had the privilege, he would have made a statesman or a fine
physician, an excellent mechanic or a good judge? We cannot tell. This
shows the necessity of the mind being kept active and having the
opportunity of indulging in every exercise it can enjoy in order to
attain to a full development of its powers.

Vol. 13,  p.61
We wish, in our Sunday and day schools, that they who are inclined to
any particular branch of study may have the privilege to study it. As
I have often told my sisters in the Female Relief societies, we have
sisters here who, if they had the privilege of studying, would make
just as good mathematicians or accountants as any man; and we think
they ought to have the privilege to study these branches of knowledge
that they may develop the powers with which they are endowed. We
believe that women are useful, not only to sweep houses, wash dishes,
make beds, and raise babies, but that they should stand behind the
counter, study law or physic, or become good book-keepers and be able
to do the business in any counting house, and all this to enlarge
their sphere of usefulness for the benefit of society at large. In
following these things they but answer the design of their creation.
These, and many more things of equal utility are incorporated in our
religion, and we believe in and try to practice them.

Vol. 13,  p.61
I will say, now, to the Latter day Saints, sometimes you know, if a
word be dropped unguardedly, we are threatened with an army; if we
speak a word out of the wrong side of the mouth we are threatened with
a legalized mob just as we were in the States. Hence, we must be
careful of what we say, for our enemies are ready to "make a man an
offender for a word, and to lay a snare for him that reproveth in the
gate." I will say, however, that if you, Latter-day Saints, will live
your religion there will be no necessity whatever to fear all the
powers of earth and hell, for God will sustain you. Jesus is king of
this earth and he will sustain those who walk humbly before him,
loving and serving him and keeping his commandments. I pray the
Latter-day Saints to be faithful; love and serve the Lord, keep His
commandments, refrain from evil and walk humbly before him. When we
were in the Christian world, and were without the Priesthood, we
believed in every good word and work, in every moral principle, in
everything that tended to promote peace, happiness, morality and
virtue, in fact in [p.62] every good principle that man could teach.
Let us live as consistently now as we did then; let us live so that
God will bless us and enable us to overcome and be saved in His
kingdom, which may He grant for Christ's sake. Amen.

Orson Pratt, December 19, 1869

Revelations and Manifestations of God 
and of Wicked Spirits

Discourse By Elder Orson Pratt, Delivered in 
the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, December 19, 1869.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 13,  p.62
There is a passage which will be found in one of the epistles of John,
the substance of which I will repeat: "Every spirit that confesses not
that Jesus is the Christ is not of God." I may not have given you this
passage word for word, as it is recorded, but I have given you the
substance of it as laid down in the Scriptures. It is well known by
all readers of the Scriptures, that in every age of our world mankind
have had to contend against a power which is in opposition to the
Almighty. It seems that our world is infested with those spirits of
darkness which were, in the beginning, cast down from the Almighty, in
consequence of their rebellion against Him; and in every age of the
world these wicked spirits have manifested themselves, and especially
when the Priesthood has been upon the earth and a dispensation has
been committed from Heaven to man; then all hell has seemed to be in
an uproar, and the power of all the fallen angels made manifest.
Hence, it is written, somewhere in the New Testament, that "we wrestle
not against flesh and blood merely, but against spiritual wickedness
in high places." We not only have to meet with wicked men, and the
power of the devil manifested in them, but the Saints of God have
always had to meet with manifestations of power from beneath—powers
not ordained of God, and which are calculated, if possible, to deceive
the very elect.

Vol. 13,  p.62
Now there are in existence two great powers: one is of God, including
all the heavenly host—the angels and celestial beings who dwell in the
presence of God and partake of His glory, holding power and authority
from Him to go forth and minister according to His command. The other
power is an enemy to God; it is the power of that being who rebelled
against Him in Heaven, and sought to take possession of the throne of
the Almighty. According to the history that is given of this event, a
general council was held in Heaven about the time of the creation of
this earth. In that council there was a personage called an angel, who
stood in authority in the presence of [p.63] God; and when the
question was asked, "Who shall go forth and redeem mankind?" Lucifer,
the Son of the Morning, this angel who stood in the presence of God,
answered and said, "Here am I, send me; I will go forth and redeem all
mankind, that not one soul shall be lost." But the only begotten Son
of the Father, who was with the Father from the beginning, replied and
said, "Father, Thy will be done, and the glory be Thine for ever." And
here a rebellion rose up between Satan, the Son of the Morning, and
the Son of the living God, as to the redemption of mankind. One sought
to destroy the plan of God and the agency that the Lord intended to
give to intelligent beings, and to redeem them whether they would be
redeemed or not; and because he considered that his plan was so good
before the heavens, and so much superior to the plan that God had
devised, said he, "Surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor,
which is the power of God." That is, he sought to obtain the throne of
the Almighty, and to carry out his own purposes in preference to
yielding to the purposes and power of the Almighty. This rebellion
became so great, and the influence of it spread so rapidly among the
heavenly host, that one-third part of the heavenly throng, I mean the
spirits, rebelled against God and followed the evil design and purpose
of this angel. No doubt some of them thought that they could
accomplish their design; for they had not a knowledge of the future
designs and purposes of God only in a small degree, and consequently
they supposed that their plan was better than that of the Almighty;
and in this great rebellion the Lord caused Satan, or Lucifer, the Son
of the Morning, and those who followed him, to be cast out of Heaven.

Vol. 13,  p.63
We may form some little calculation of the vast numbers thus thrown
out of Heaven, when we consider that they were one-third of all the
spirits that were born, intended for this creation. Only two-thirds
kept their first estate, and they have the great privilege of coming
here to this creation and taking bodies of flesh and bones,
tabernacles wherein their spirits may dwell, to prepare themselves for
a more glorious state of existence hereafter. If, then, only
two-thirds of the hosts of Heaven are to come to our earth to
tabernacle in the flesh, we may form some idea of the vast number who
fell, Already our earth has teemed for six thousand years with
numberless millions of human beings whose spirits existed before the
foundation of the world. Those who now exist probably number one
thousand or twelve hundred millions. Twelve hundred millions of
spirits now dwelling in mortal flesh! Think of the immense numbers who
must have preceded us and the myriads who are to come! These are the
two-thirds who kept their first estate. Their numbers, probably,
cannot be less than two hundred thousand millions, leaving, as an
approximate estimate, one hundred thousand millions of rebellious
spirits or devils who were cast out from Heaven and banished to this
creation, having no privilege of fleshly tabernacles.

Vol. 13,  p.63
It was in the Garden of Eden that the devil, or one of those foul
spirits, entered into a certain animal or beast, called a serpent, and
came before our first parents and beguiled them, and they suffered
themselves to partake of the forbidden fruit. If, then, they were in
the earth as early as the Garden of Eden, no doubt, they have been
here from that day to this, and that the earth is the place of their
habitation. They wander to [p.64] and fro in the earth seeking whom
they may devour! Only think of a hundred devils to every being that
now exists on the earth.

Vol. 13,  p.64
Though these spirits had not the full knowledge of the Almighty;
though they had not that superior knowledge that reigns in the bosom
of the Son of God, and of many that stood in His presence, yet they
had great information before their fall. They had stood in the
presence of God, and had, no doubt, learned really things from His own
month. How long they had been in His presence it is not for us to say,
God has not revealed it. But they had great experience. I am speaking
of the knowledge and the cunning that these enemies of God possessed
when they were east down here to the earth. They have cunning beyond
what you have ever seen manifested by the children of men. They can,
at times, apparently, be perfect gentlemen when they enter the
tabernacles of the children of men. They can become, apparently, very
pious, and, if you could not discern spirits, you would think, from
the manifestations of devils, when in the tabernacles of many
individuals, that they were perfect angels on earth.

Vol. 13,  p.64
The devil operates in every conceivable form, and this is what the
apostle meant when he said, "We do not merely wrestle against flesh
and blood, but also against principalities and powers." We have
enemies far more powerful than men to contend against. The devil has
not the power to take full possession of the tabernacles of human
creatures, unless they give way to him and his influence to that
degree that he gets power over them. But we have not time now to trace
the history of the powers of darkness in early ages; but will briefly
state, that they did show forth their power in ancient times.

Vol. 13,  p.64
Moses was called of God and ordained to the holy Priesthood after the
order of Melchizedec, by the hands of his father-in-law, Jethro, and
sent forth with power and authority into Egypt to seek after the
welfare of the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in bondage there.
Just as soon as the Almighty began to manifest Himself through the
power of the legal Priesthood, so soon these opposite powers began to
work whenever they could find a chance; and the individuals through
whom they worked were the principal men of Egypt, the most popular men
they had in their midst—the priests, magicians, and astrologers were
the ones through whom Satan manifested this opposite power. His
design, no doubt, was to frustrate or destroy the influence of the
miracles, signs and wonders that were made manifest by Moses among the
people of God for their redemption. Hence when Moses came before
Pharaoh he cast down his staff and it was turned into a serpent, or
into something having the appearance of a serpent, and was full of
life and animation. That was a great miracle that the Lord saw proper,
on that occasion, to manifest before this wicked king, that he might
have what he had desired, for he had asked for a sign, and the Lord
granted it. But immediately others were called by the king—the
magicians, soothsayers and those whom Satan had gained power and
influence over—and they were commanded to show what they could do.
They cast down their rods and they likewise became serpents.

Vol. 13,  p.64
Now, here was a manifestation of similar power—Moses' rod became a
serpent and the rods of the magicians also became serpents; but by and
by Moses' rod swallowed up the rods of the magicians. What did that
prove? In the estimation of wicked men like [p.65] the King of Egypt
and his subjects, it was nothing more than the extending of this power
had in possession by the magicians. They did not look upon it as a
distinct and separate power, because they had not the spirit to
discern, the Spirit of the Lord was not with them, and they could not
discern the difference. But there were manifested on that occasion two
distinct and separate powers, so similar in their effects, that none
but those who lived near unto God and understood the workings of the
Holy Spirit, could detect the difference between them.

Vol. 13,  p.65
A succession of wonderful manifestations of the power of God was made
through Moses, and in all, save two or three instances, the magicians
did likewise. What would naturally be the conclusion at which wicked
men would arrive under such circumstances? They would naturally say,
"Here is Moses, who has been brought up in all the learning of the
Egyptians and he is more advanced than our magicians; he has learned
lessons that they have not yet acquired," consequently men of that
stamp would decide that it was all by the same spirit, and they would
not acknowledge the finger of God in it.

Vol. 13,  p.65
That may be a sample to all people in future generations in the
manifestations of these powers. The wicked cannot discern and
comprehend the difference between these two powers. If we believe that
there is a God and a heavenly host standing in His presence, ready to
do His behests, we must believe in the manifestations of divine power;
and if we believe that there are fallen spirits who have been cast
down to this earth, we must also believe that they will manifest their
power just as far as they are suffered or permitted. But we do not
wish to dwell too long upon the history of past ages, we want to come
down more immediately to our own time.

Vol. 13,  p.65
I now appeal to the aged and to the middle-aged in this assembly, and
I will ask them this one question, "What was the condition of the
world forty years ago in regard to miraculous manifestations of power,
and to new revelation?" I am now speaking of the Christian world at
large. Did they believe that God would perform any miracles in our
day? The old and the middle-aged know that the whole world had come to
the conclusion that there was no such thing as supernatural power to
be made manifest in our times. That was the almost universal belief
among the children of men. When you talked to them about new
revelation, they considered the very idea of such a thing a folly.
Tradition had taught them and their fathers for many generations, that
the book called the Old and New Testaments contained all that God ever
did reveal or ever would reveal to the human family. This notion was
not peculiar to some few classes of Christian society, but it was
almost universal throughout Christendom. Such a thing as new
revelation was discarded by them, all over the world. Said they, "The
canon of Scripture is full, it is complete, and it is the very height
of blasphemy to suppose that God would give any more!"

Vol. 13,  p.65
This was the condition of mankind before this Church arose, forty
years ago. By and by an obscure individual, a young man, rose up, and,
in the midst of all Christendom, proclaimed the startling news that
God had sent an angel to him; that through his faith, prayers, and
sincere repentance he had beheld a supernatural vision, that he had
seen a pillar of fire descend from Heaven, and saw two glorious
personages clothed upon with this pillar of fire, whose countenance
shone like the sun at noonday; that [p.66] he heard one of these
personages say, pointing to the other, "This is my beloved Son, hear
ye him." This occurred before this young man was fifteen years of age;
and it was a startling announcement to make in the midst of a
generation so completely given up to the traditions of their fathers;
and when this was proclaimed by this young, unlettered boy to the
priests and the religious societies in the State of New York, they
laughed him to scorn. "What!" said they, "visions and revelations in
our day! God speaking to men in our day!" They looked upon him as
deluded; they pointed the finger of scorn at him and warned their
congregations against him. "The canon of Scripture is closed up; no
more communications are to be expected from Heaven. The ancients saw
heavenly visions and personages; they heard the voice of the Lord;
they were inspired by the Holy Ghost to receive revelations, but
behold no such thing is to be given to man in our day, neither has
there been for many generations past." This was the style of the
remarks made by religionists forty years ago.

Vol. 13,  p.66
This young man, some four years afterwards, was visited again by a
holy angel. It was not merely something speaking in the dark; it was
not something wrapped up in mystery, with no glory attending it, but a
glorious angel whose countenance shone like a vivid flash of
lightning, and who was arrayed in a white robe, and stood before him.
This young man saw the countenance of the angel; he saw his person and
his glory and rejoiced therein. This angel revealed to him some great
realities; not mysterious or dark sayings, covered up without any
particular information, light or knowledge, but certain realities were
made manifest to him concerning the ancient inhabitants of this land.
This angel told him that they were a branch of the House of Israel;
that they kept sacred and holy records; that those records were kept
by prophets and inspired men; that they were deposited, some fourteen
centuries ago, after the nation had fallen into wickedness, by one of
their last prophets, and that the time was at hand for this record to
be brought forth by the gift and power of God.

Vol. 13,  p.66
Here, then, was a reality—something great and glorious, and after
having received from time to time, visits from these glorious
personages, and talking with them, as one man would talk with another,
face to face, beholding their glory, he was permitted to go and take
these plates from the place of their deposit—plates of gold—records,
some of which were made nearly six hundred years before Christ. And
then, to show still further a reality, something tangible, the Urim
and Thummim, a glorious instrument, used by ancient seers, was also
obtained with the record, through which, by the gift and power of the
Holy Ghost and by the commandment of Almighty God, he translated that
record into our language, and the book was published in the fore part
of the year 1830.

Vol. 13,  p.66
During the translation, before the book was published, when the
prophet came towards the latter part of the record, he discovered that
the ancient inhabitants of this continent were baptized in a certain
way, by those having authority from Almighty God. He felt anxious to
know how he, in connection with his scribe, Oliver Cowdery, might
participate in the blessings of this holy ordinance. They very well
knew, from what God had revealed to them, and from what they had
understood by translating the main portion of the record, that there
was no man in all Christendom [p.67] that had authority to baptize
them. They were anxious to know how they might be baptized, and how
the authority might be restored. They went out into a grove, and
joined in secret prayer, and the Lord sent a holy angel to them, a man
who once dwelt on the earth, and held the Priesthood of his fathers,
according to the promise of God to the lineage of Aaron. John the
Baptist, the fore-runner of Christ, who was beheaded by Herod—John who
preached repentance and baptism for the remission of sins, came to
Joseph and Oliver Cowdery, as a ministering angel.

Vol. 13,  p.67
Perhaps you may inquire here Was John without a tabernacle Was he a
spirit or was he a personage of tabernacle, of flesh and bones? We all
know that he was beheaded before the crucifixion of Christ; and if you
wish to know the condition of John when he came to Joseph and Oliver,
read the appendix to the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and you will
find that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and many others, who are named
there, among whom was John the Baptist, were with Christ in his
resurrection; that is, they came forth in the first resurrection, at
the tired that Jesus received his body. About that period the graves
of the Saints were opened and many of them came forth. John was
amongst them; and he held, legally, the power, keys and Priesthood,
bestowed upon the lineage of his father, Aaron.

Vol. 13,  p.67
What did John do, when he appeared to brothers Joseph Smith and Oliver
Cowdery? He did not go forth into the water to baptize them, as he did
anciently in the Jordan; but he gave the authority to them to
baptize—he laid his hands upon their heads and ordained them. Thus the
hands of an immortal being—a man sent from Heaven—were laid upon their
heads! They were ordained to that same Priesthood that John himself
held, with the promise and prediction that that Priesthood should not
be taken from the earth while the earth should stand.

Vol. 13,  p.67
They were commanded to be baptized, and having received the authority
to administer the ordinance, they went forth and baptized each other,
on the 15th of May, 1829, nearly one year before the rise of this
Church, which took place on the 6th of April, 1830. Prior to the last
mentioned date the Lord bestowed authority upon His servants to
officiate in still higher ordinances than those pertaining to the
Aaronic Priesthood. That Priesthood could administer baptism for the
remission of sins, but it had no power or authority to administer the
Spirit. But there was a Priesthood that had that power and authority.
John speaks of another Priesthood greater than that which he held.
Said he, "There is one coming after me mightier than I. He holds a
Priesthood greater than that which has been bestowed upon me, namely,
the Priesthood of Melchisedec. He shall baptize you with fire and the
Holy Ghost. I can only administer in the outward ordinance; I have not
the right to administer to you this higher ordinance." It was so with
Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery: they could only baptize with water
until they received a Priesthood greater than that which John the
Baptist held. And when the Lord was about to organize His Church, He
prepared them by sending men who had once been here on the
earth—namely, Peter, James and John, to bestow upon them this higher
Priesthood.

Vol. 13,  p.67
How did these celestial personages come? Did they come manifesting
themselves by a mere voice, or behind [p.68] some screen as it were?
No, they carne personally, in their glory. They not only manifested
their persons and their glory, but they also spoke and gave them the
Melchisedec Priesthood, and the holy apostleship, which is equivalent
to that Priesthood, and commanded them to organize and build up the
Church of God on the earth, and to administer by the laying on of
hands to those who were sincerely baptized in water, that they might
be baptized with the greater baptism—of fire and the Holy Ghost.

Vol. 13,  p.68
Here, then, was a succession of manifestations of power from the
celestial abode. God did not suffer, in those days, Satan to make
manifestations of his power in a very great degree. No such things as
spirit rappings in those days! No such thing as planchette—a little
heart-shaped wooden thing that the devil makes use of in giving
revelations, in those days. No such thing as tables dancing about the
room by the power of Satan in those days! No such thing as a power
seizing upon the hands of a man and using them independent of his
control to write out what were termed revelations, in those days! But
why didn't the devil manifest these powers long before that time?
Because God would not suffer him: the devil is under the control of
the Almighty in some respects. He has fallen, and the Lord will not
suffer him to go any further than He permits; and when the people have
not the Gospel and Priesthood in their midst, and light and knowledge
from the heavens, He will not suffer the devil to show forth his power
to deceive and lead them astray; therefore He determined that the
preliminary manifestations should come from the celestial world, and
that the Priesthood with its power and authority should be given from
on high, before He would suffer the devil to come in and manifest his
strong delusions!

Vol. 13,  p.68
Suffice it to say, the Church was organized, individuals were baptized
by water and with the Holy Ghost, and when they were filled with the
Holy Ghost they were oftentimes, in those early stages of the Church,
covered with a pillar of fire. They were immersed in and clothed upon
with fire, and the Holy Ghost entered their hearts and they were
filled with the spirit of prophecy, and with the gift of tongues, and
in process of time with the gift of visions, and had power to heal the
sick and cast out devils in the name of Jesus Christ, to build up the
kingdom of God and establish righteousness upon the face of the earth,
so far as they could gain influence over the hearts of the children of
men. But wherever these servants of the Most High went persecution
followed them. There was a howl from the pulpit from Maine to Texas
and from one extremity of the Union to the other, crying out against
new revelation. All the papers and periodicals of the day, far and
near, published articles against the idea of receiving new revelation;
there seemed to be a perfect flood coming from all quarters of the
land testifying to the supposed absurdity of receiving new
communication from the Almighty. By and by persecution became so great
that scores and scores of the Saints were put to death in Missouri;
and this was followed up until the Prophet and Patriarch of the Church
were martyred and the people driven from their homes, their property
destroyed, and every means in the power of the enemy used to uproot
and destroy the fullness of the Gospel and the Priesthood out of the
earth.

Vol. 13,  p.68
What was the matter in those days, and why were they so embittered
against this people? "You [p.69] have," said they, "brought us
something so strange! You pretend to visions! You pretend to new
revelations! You pretend that God has spoken! You pretend that angels
have come! You pretend that God has revealed another record, another
Bible! You pretend that you have received the Priesthood and the
apostleship, and for these things you are not worthy to dwell in our
midst! You must be persecuted from city to City, you must be driven
from your houses and lauds, your property must be confiscated and
destroyed, and there is no power in this country of ours that can
protect you in those views which you have so strangely advanced in the
midst of this Christian country."

Vol. 13,  p.69
Was there any polygamy in those days among the Latter-day Saints? No;
God had not revealed and established this practice among them in those
days; they were not persecuted for any such thing, it was not named;
but we were persecuted because we believed in the same principles that
the ancient apostles and Christians believed in. But by and by, after
having shed the blood of the prophets, and the Saints had been driven
from their lands and from one city to another. and their property
destroyed, when the wicked had ripened themselves in iniquity, and
prepared themselves in a great degree for the overwhelming judgments
of the Almighty, and when they found that the people were not to be
put down by persecution, and that we would continue publishing these
new tidings, far and wide, the devil took another turn. What was it?
Said he, "I see they cannot be put down with persecution, they go
forth and the people will believe them more or less; we cannot destroy
them, and if we destroy their property and drive them from place to
place it makes no difference, so I will show them that the world can
have revelation enough," and he commenced. But instead of calling upon
men and beginning something great and good, in a godlike manner, he
called upon certain females, residing not far from where the plates of
the Book of Mormon were found, where the people had been warned,
perhaps, longer than in any other portion of the United States. These
ladies, Misses Fox by name, began bringing forth supernatural
manifestations. Others did the same in a short time, and they have
continued until the present day and have spread over the whole United
States and many other arts of the world. If you go forth and make
inquiries in regard to these manifestations, you will find that there
are several millions of people in this country that believe in them.
What a change between now and forty years ago! Then you could scarcely
find one in the whole Christian world that would admit the probability
of new revelation or supernatural manifestations; now there are
millions in the United States alone!

Vol. 13,  p.69
Do these manifestations affect, for good, those who believe in them?
Do they cause them to repent of their sins? No; they who blaspheme the
name of God almost with every breath, and that will cheat and take
every advantage possible of their brethren; they who will lie and
steal and do every species of wickedness and abominations are the very
ones that the devil works through; still the whole Christian world,
apparently, are now willing to admit new revelation. Oh, yes! They
have forgotten how they persecuted the Latter-day Saints because they
believed in new, revelation, and they can now believe in revelation by
wholesale! They will not believe in records given through the medium
of the prophets;[p.70] but they are ready enough to believe if a
wicked man who will blaspheme the name of Jesus is the medium and is
made a participant in this great power. Such characters do not need
any organization from God, they do not need any baptism, ordinances or
Priesthood.

Vol. 13,  p.70
The devil has invented various names for his manifestations in order
to get the people to swallow them down; the same as the doctors. When
they wish to administer some nauseous kind of medicine, they sweeten
it up a little. So the devil has sweetened up these things in such a
way that he has got almost all these manifestations under the name of
science. If you want to see a species of devilism made manifest, it
comes out under a scientific phraseology, under the specious name of
electrobiology, animal-magnetism, or some such popular name—names that
have been given to real sciences, which have their laws, founded in
nature, are now given to these supernatural manifestations. Why does
Satan use these artifices? Because the people at the present day have
become naturally scientific, or a great many of them have; and the
devil thinks if he can only invent a real, nice, beautiful name, with
some resemblance to a scientific name, a great many of these persons
will swallow it down, and think it all right.

Vol. 13,  p.70
Several years ago, about the time of the commencement of the war,
Brother Erastus Snow and myself were down in New York City.
Spiritualism, at that time, was all the order of the day. Almost all
those old members of the Church that had been in Nauvoo and Kirtland
and had apostatized, had fled into New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis,
and throughout the Eastern cities; and in going through any of these
cities, if you heard anything about these apostates, you would hear
about them being great mediums: there was scarcely a case but what
they were spiritual mediums. Some of the worst kind of
apostates—apostates who had turned away from everything good, from
every principle of righteousness, had become great mediums. Some of
them were writing mediums; some of them would work with a table; some
would have manifestations in one way and some in another.

Vol. 13,  p.70
While brother Snow and I were in New York, a very learned judge, a man
very noted for his great attainments and who had been a judge in the
City of New York, I think his name was Edmunds, gave us an interview.
We promised to meet him early in the evening. I think we stayed until
nearly twelve at night and talked with that man. He had written a
great many works in relation to spiritualism, and had lectured at New
York and other places to very large assemblies in regard to its truth.
We were very glad to have an opportunity of hearing from his own mouth
something about these supernatural manifestations. We did not expect
to gain any particular light, any further than this—while travelling
on a mission abroad we wished to know how to detect the devil on his
own ground, in relation to those things we had continually to meet
with. Mr. Edmunds told us about the mediums speaking in Greek and in
Latin; about persons who had never learned to write and had never
written a word in their lives, whose arms had been taken possession
of, and their writing a great variety of writing; also about bells
being carried about the room and rung. He also informed us that many
persons had not only seen and heard these manifestations, but they had
actually seem [p.71] the personages, by whom they were made,
especially their faces, arms and hands.

Vol. 13,  p.71
We inquired of him, if they believed in any Priesthood? Oh, no. "Do
they generally believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world?"
"Oh no, he was a very good man, no doubt, and wrote a good many good
precepts; he was not much better than other good men, only he happened
to have some precepts beyond the age in which he lived. But this age
is far superior to that, and consequently all those things that Jesus
and his apostles revealed are thrown in the shade. They belonged to a
semi-barbarous age, but we have a system and dispensation far superior
to that." This was the tenor of this gentleman's conversation in
regard to these things. He also told about different spheres of glory,
and different orders of angels, the latter, we were told, being
personages from different spheres. They required no Priesthood, no
authority, no ordinances, no such thing as baptism or organization.

Vol. 13,  p.71
When we heard these things we saw, truly, that as the devil did
manifest his power in ancient times among the Egyptians, because they
had persecuted the people of God, put to death their young infants,
and shed innocent blood, even so, directly in the midst of our nation,
his evil power was again manifested in strong delusion. Having
persecuted the Saints of God, and having shed the blood of His
prophets and Saints and driven them from place to place, and banished
them beyond the Rocky Mountains, thinking that they had certainly got
rid of them, and that they would perish there. Having become so
exceedingly wicked, we saw that the devil was showing forth his power
on the right hand and on the left, for their delusion and destruction.

Vol. 13,  p.71
Now let us again speak of the apostates. Apostates seem to be the
greatest mediums in Spritualism, where they have neither order,
church, nor Priesthood. These apostates, generally, had fallen into
the idea that Jesus, and the apostles and prophets of ancient times,
were living in barbarous ages, far behind the civilization of our day,
but that they were called upon to open up a wonderful dispensation,
and to reveal light far superior to that which had ever been revealed
by any prophet who ever lived on the earth. This seems to have been
the general idea of those apostates called mediums. I do not know but
I am taking up too much time, but I must now come a little nearer
home.

Vol. 13,  p.71
You have no doubt heard and reflected upon what is termed a very great
and wonderful "movement"—something that is going to build up Zion in
purity, taking place in our midst. The "movement" was commenced by a
few individuals who had been cut off by the highest authority of the
Church and kingdom of God, and expelled because of teaching and
publishing things contrary to the order of this Church. Now what do
you suppose is the real foundation on which these few individuals are
working? I will tell you, and what I tell you, I will tell you as a
person that has heard from their own months; I would much rather have
it from their own mouths than from a secondhand source. I have seen
Messrs. W. S. Godbe and E. L. T. Harrison once since they were cut off
from the Church. I went to see Mr. Godbe, but he was not at home. I
was invited to take a seat in the presence of Mr. E. L. T. Harrison,
and heard him, for an hour or two, relate his spiritual
manifestations. Mr. Godbe, hearing that I had been to see him, sent me
a letter requesting me to meet again with them. I met with [p.72] him
in a private room, separate from any of the rest, and I had a long
conversation with him. My object in meeting with these gentlemen was
to see if it were possible to point out to them their foolishness and
the foolishness of their conduct and the course they were taking, what
it would lead to and how much misery it would make them in time to
come if they did not repent. I did not know, before going to see them,
that they were so fully wrapt up in Spritualism, or what I term
Spritualism, for it is a species of this same kind of Spiritualism of
which I have been speaking. They both, separately, one on one evening,
the other on another, related to me their supernatural manifestations,
commencing some fifteen months before. They told me they had had
interviews, by hearing a voice without seeing any person, with Heber
C. Kimball, who taught them a great many things which, according to my
ideas, conflicted with the instructions contained in the Doctrine and
Covenants, such as sending men on missions etc. The tenor of the
instructions he received on this subject was that no person, when
called on a mission need go unless he got the light of the Spirit
thereon in his own heart, to tell him whether it was right that he
should go; in other words they need not go because of being appointed
by the voice of the Priesthood or the general Conference of the
Latter-day Saints. Now, who does not know, except those who are
infatuated and overcome by false spirits, that that is directly in
opposition to the Book of Doctrine and Covenants? The Lord says there,
"Whomsoever you shall lay your hands upon and ordain and send forth, I
will be with them and bless them; I will go before their faces and
will be on their rearward, and my Spirit shall be in their hearts." It
is not, therefore, for every man, when he is commanded by the voice of
the Priesthood, to think he is to be his own judge whether he is to go
forth on that calling or not and still remain in fellowship. That is
not the way of Heaven, for the Lord says in the same book that "all
things"—remember this is very broad in its nature—"all things shall be
done by the voice of my people and by the voice of my servants whom I
have appointed, pertaining to the calling and missions of the
Priesthood;" and all things pertaining to the building up of the
kingdom of God are to be done in this way. Now these spirits have
taught them directly to the contrary of this. They named over to me
other individuals who came to them. They said that Joseph Smith came
to them; that Peter, James and John came to them; they also said that
Jesus, himself, came to them, and that Solomon came to them, and he
was rather against the idea, recorded in the Book of Mormon, about his
concubines; he said he never had any concubines, but that all his
women, so far as he understood the subject, were wives. This
repudiates not only the Book of Mormon but the Scriptures also, for in
the latter we are told that he had seven hundred wives and three
hundred concubines. The Book of Mormon does not number the concubines
and wives that he had; but the record, contained there, seemed to
touch the feelings of the old gentleman, and he desired to get out of
it and to explain the matter. He said the things contained in the Book
of Mormon and Scriptures were not to be received just as they were
spoken, and that he felt himself justified in contradicting that
saying of Jacob in the Book of Mormon. So much for Solomon's visit.

Vol. 13,  p.73
They also said that James, in connection with Peter and John, gave
[p.73] them many instructions, which Mr. Godbe read to me; he also
read to me many instructions purporting to have come from Heber C.
Kimball and Joseph Smith, and he told me there was a great devil more
that they did not let me see. Probably I was not strong enough in the
faith to see it. These statements were made to me in the most perfect
plainness. I told them, "I do not believe in the truthfulness of your
manifestations. I believe you have had manifestations, just as you
say, but I do not believe that Peter, James, John, Solomon, Joseph
Smith, Heber Kimball or Jesus has been to you. I do not believe one of
them has been to you, it is the devil, just the same as he has
manifested himself in the world." "Oh," said they, "here is the
difference between us and them: we believe in the Priesthood; we
believe in plurality of wives; we believe in the order of the Church,"
and so on. Said I, "Don't you know that the devil would be very
foolish, if he wished to lead astray men who had been in this Church,
who had been taught for years to believe the principles you believe
in, if he should undertake to lead them astray by telling them there
was no truth in all these things? The devil can adapt himself to the
belief of any person. If you believed in plurality he would make you
think it was all right. If he could get you to swallow down one or two
great lies that would effect your destruction, and which you would
preach and destroy many others, he would not mind how many truths you
might believe. He would be willing that you should believe a great
many things absolutely true if he could only deceive you and lead you
astray and get you to reject some of the fundamental principles of
your salvation, and the salvation of the people." "But O," said they,
"how happy we feel! We do not feel any animosity to any one; no anger
in our bosoms. We love the President and his council; we love the
Twelve and the whole Church."

Vol. 13,  p.73
"Now," said I, "supposing, for argument's sake, that you really
believe these manifestations were from God, but that the personages
calling themselves Peter, James, John, Joseph, Jesus, Heber C. Kimball
were not those personages at all, so long as your faith was fixed
float they were what they represented themselves to be, what would be
your feelings about it? You would die for it, just the same as the
Pagans will do for their idol worship; just the same as thousands have
done among the false sects of Christendom in ages past. They were
sincere, they had joy in their works, but by and by, as the Book of
Mormon says, 'the end comes and they are hewn down and cast into the
fire.'"

Vol. 13,  p.73
So those men have joy in their works; they are as happy as happy can
be, apparently, because they believe in these simple, foolish, vain,
false spirits that have taken advantage of them to lead them astray.
Said I, "The true reason that I do not believe in any of your
manifestations is, that your 'manifesto,' that you have published and
sent forth among the people, contains things so absolutely in
opposition to the Beck of Doctrine and Covenants float I know no good
angel or spirit ever revealed them to you." Mr. Godbe wanted to know
in what respects. I pointed out a number of things where they come out
in opposition to that book. In order to get around this he told me
that the spirits had manifested that it (the Book of doctrine and
Covenants) was not to be relied upon in the fullest sense of the word,
in our present state of light and knowledge; that those revelations
and [p.74] commandments were given in our weakness; but that God had
greater light to give us now, hence we must not take them exactly as
they are.

Vol. 13,  p.74
I referred to the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, in opposition to
their "manifesto," to show how the Lord and His Priesthood were to
govern and control in temporal as well as in spiritual things; "but,"
said I, "your spirits teach that they must only teach the spiritual
things, and have no business to assume control in temporal concerns,
but let every man follow the bent of his own mind." "This," said I,
"proves to me that your spirits never came from God." I was very
gentle with them; did not express myself harshly, but in a plain and
pointed manner.

Vol. 13,  p.74
I have taken up this subject, of false and true spiritual
manifestations, and laid it before this congregation on the spur of
the moment. I inquired of brother Brigham, as I came on the roland, on
what subject I should speak, and he said, "Every spirit that confesses
that Jesus is the Christ is of God, and every spirit that does not
confess this is not of God." The nature of these spirits, in their
manifestations, is to lessen the power and authority of the great
Redeemer, as our God and the Lord of this creation. You go among the
Spiritualists abroad and you can scarcely find one individual that
will acknowledge the power, glory and greatness of our Redeemer. So it
is with those who manifest themselves here. They dare not come out all
at once; but, as I told them, "You are so infatuated, so led astray by
these false manifestations, and you believe them so firmly, I see no
possible hope for your recovery, until, perhaps, at some future time
the revelations that you will get may be so absurd as to stagger your
own faith; then you may go into infidelity."

Vol. 13,  p.74
I expect this. I find that this is the case with these manifestations
abroad. The mediums will work at, them for a season, but they find so
many absurdities and contradictions, that they finally relinquish
them, and turn to infidelity, and say, "There is no truth in
anything."

Vol. 13,  p.74
Pardon me for speaking so plain. I did not pledge myself when Messrs.
Harrison and Godbe spoke to me about their manifestations that I would
hold my peace. I told them I had spoken very pointedly against their
principles, and I intended to do so in the future, believing, with all
my heart, and knowing that they were not from Heaven.

Vol. 13,  p.74
Did they see any of these personages? Both of them say they saw none
of them; it was merely a voice that they heard. They pretended to have
seen a light when Jesus came; after he had talked a little while they
say they saw a little light, but no personage.

Vol. 13,  p.74
How very different were the manifestations I have laid before you,
when Jesus ministered to Joseph Smith, and when the angels came to
him! He not only heard their voices but saw their persons and their
glory, and how they were dressed; and he was inspired to build up the
kingdom of God and bring forth the records of the Book of Mormon, How
very different from this is this covering themselves up in the dark to
deceive! The whole spirit world in the lower orders is full of
deception, and unless you have something to detect end understand the
true from the false you are liable to be led astray and destroyed.

Vol. 13,  p.74
I do not know that I need say anything further about these two powers,
only that all evil powers will go to their own place; and, unless
these men repent, the same being that has power over them here [p.75]
in the flesh will hold them incaptivity in the next world; unless they
repent, the same being who gives them revelation here will hold the
mastery over them there, and will control them; and if they do not
find a dictating and controling power in the Priesthood, they will
find it among those beings to whom they have yielded themselves
subject to obey; and so will every other person that yields to false
influences: they will be overcome and Satan will destroy them, unless
they repent. Amen.

Brigham Young, December 10, 1868

Synopsis of Remarks By President Brigham Young, at the 
Funeral or the Late President Daniel Spencer, on Thursday, 
December 10th, 1868, at the 13th Ward Assembly 
Rooms, Great Salt Lake City

Vol. 13,  p.75
"Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord: yea, saith the spirit,
henceforth they rest from their labors;" or, in other words, blessed
are those who have received the Priesthood of the Son of God, and have
honored it in their lives. Those who have honored their calling and
Priesthood to the end die in the Lord, and their works do follow them.
Our brother has lived faithful during his life, and has gone to his
rest. We do not mourn as others do. We can truly say that we have a
hope—a knowledge. The way of life and salvation has been revealed to
us, giving us knowledge of the present and future. We rejoice. Shall
we rejoice that we have the opportunity of paying the last respects
due to this lifeless clay, which a few days ago was alive and active,
full of spirit, attending the High Council, giving decisions full of
knowledge? Yes, we will rejoice. It is a matter of rejoicing more than
the day of his birth. It is true it is grievous to part with our
friends. We are creatures of passion, of sympathy, of love, and it is
painful for us to part with our friends. We would keep them in the
mortal house, though they should suffer pain. Are we not selfish in
this? Should we not rather rejoice at the departure of those whose
lives have been devoted to doing good, to a good old age? Brother
Spencer has lived beyond what is counted to be the common age of man
some four or five years; his judgment was as active as it was
twenty-five years ago. He has been faithful in this holy war. He
instructed all with whom he met in the way of life. He never gave
counsel but what marked the way to life everlasting.

Vol. 13,  p.75
I say to the wives and children and relations, we have more reason to
rejoice for Daniel Spencer to-day, than on any day of his mortal life.
He lives—he has gone on a mission. We are taking steps to the very
place he has gone to. That which was made subject to sin through the
fall, has fled to its eternal place. This is only a mystery to those
who do not understand. But we have joy in the dissolution of the body.
While the spirit remains in the body, it is liable [p.76] to sin and
overthrow. We are only preserved by the grace of God and our own
faithfulness. Brother Spencer was, while in the body, subject to
temptations and the vanities that are in the world. So with us. That
silent clay is consigned to rest, and the spirit is free—gone to God
who gave it. How far had he to go to get to the Lord? According to the
ancients, he is dwelling there. David says, "If I were to flee to the
uttermost parts of the earth, thou art there." God is everywhere by
His Spirit, and his spirit is free—it can see the Lord as well in this
room as to travel millions of miles away. If he is watching us now, he
has not the privilege of speaking to us. God has placed the spirits of
the departed subject to bounds, and they are controlled by certain
laws. They have not the privilege of joining with us in our mental
exercises; yet brother Spencer is in the presence of the Lord. Shall
we be in the presence of God, as brother Spencer is? Yes, if we are
faithful, for we have the privilege of being crowned with immortality
and eternal lives. All people have their guardian angels. Whether our
departed dead guard us is not for me to say. I can say we have our
guardian angels.

Vol. 13,  p.76
I say to the family of brother Spencer, there is no cause to mourn.
This body is sown in mortality. This tabernacle is from the elements
of the earth. We are of the earth, earthy, yet this tabernacle,
through faithfulness whilst here in the flesh, has the promise of a
glorious resurrection. If the spirit brought into subjection the whole
man, bringing every portion of the flesh subject to the law of God, it
has the promise of a resurrection. All the component parts of this
body, which now lies before us, will be resurrected, and be prepared
to enter into the presence of the Father and the Son. Some have
supposed that it matters not what particles we receive again. In this
they are mistaken. The parts which have been honored by the
faithfulness of the spirit in this life will be joined in the life to
come.

Vol. 13,  p.76
It has been the idea of many that the spirit goes directly to God who
gave it. Does it remain there? Go on the great battle-field of the
past, and if they could be seen the spirits of the slain are hovering
around their dust. They stay about this earth until there is another
call for them. The kingdom and place where brother Spencer is called
to dwell, he will be in. Every departed spirit is subject to the laws
that govern the spirit world. What do we gain by being faithful to the
Gospel of the Son of God? We gain life and salvation. Salvation in
this world and the world to come. When they leave the body those
spirits are free from the power of the enemy. There are wicked men in
the spirit world. Millions of them will have the privilege of
receiving the Gospel in the spirit, that they may be judged according
to men in the flesh, and no doubt but many will reject the Gospel
there. Jesus went to preach to the spirits in prison. The faithful
Elders who leave this world will preach to the spirits in the spirit
world. In that world there are millions and millions to every Elder
who leaves here, and yet every spirit will be preached to that has had
a tabernacle on the earth and become acountable.

Vol. 13,  p.76
This is the plan of salvation. Jesus will never cease his work until
all are brought up to the enjoyment of a kingdom in the mansions of
his Father, where there are many kingdoms and many glories, to suit
the works and faithfulness of all men that have lived on the earth.
Some will obey the celestial law and receive [p.77] of its glory, some
will abide the terrestrial and some the telestial, and others will
receive a glory. Our brother is living to-day, and is bright with
intelligence to preach the Gospel in the spirit world. We know where
his remains are. They are here. But where is his spirit? He is in the
line of his duty, and prepared to do more good than if he were upon
the earth. As quickly as the spirit is unlocked from this house of
clay, it is free to travel with lightning speed to any planet, or
fixed star, or to the uttermost part of the earth, or to the depths of
the sea, according to the will of Him who dictates. Every faithful
man's labor will continue as long as the labor of Jesus, until all
things are redeemed that can be redeemed, and presented to the Father.
There is a great work before us. We plant the seed in the ground and
it comes forth, being warmed by the sun and nourished by the earth. By
the same great laws of God the earth and its fullness have been
produced, giving various degrees of intelligence. The Lord is raising
a crop, and He will continue to labor until the work is finished.

Vol. 13,  p.77
May we all be faithful as brother Spencer was. I say to his family,
God bless you. You have cause to rejoice. In 1840 he was ready to go
into the grave with consumption, but he embraced the Gospel, health
was restored to him, and he has lived to a good old age and has done a
good work. May God bless you. Amen.

George A. Smith, June 20, 1869

Historical Discourse By President George A. Smith, Delivered 
in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, June 20, 1869.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 13,  p.77
When Joseph Smith was about 15 years old there was, in the western
part of the State of New York, a considerable excitement upon the
subject of religion. The various denominations in that part of the
country were stirred up with a spirit of revival. They held protracted
meetings and many were converted. At the end of this excitement a
scramble ensued as to which of the denominations should have the
proselytes.

Vol. 13,  p.77
Of the family of Joseph Smith, his mother, his brothers Hyrum and
Samuel, and sister Sophronia, became members of the Presbyterian
Church. Joseph reflected much upon the subject of religion, and was
astonished at the ill-feeling that seemed to have grown out of the
division of the spoils, if we may so use the term, at the close of the
reformation. He spent much time in prayer and reflection and in
seeking the Lord. He was led to pray upon the subject in consequence
of the declaration of the Apostle James: "If any of you lack Wisdom,
let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth
not." [James, 1st chap., 5th [p.78] verse.] He sought the Lord by day
and by night, and was enlightened by the vision of an holy angel. When
this personage appeared to him, one of his first inquiries was, "Which
of the denominations of Christians in the vicinity was right?" He was
told they had all gone astray, they had wandered into darkness, and
that God was about to restore the Gospel in its simplicity and purity
to the earth; he was, consequently, directed not to join any one of
them, but to be humble and seek the Lord with all his heart, and that
from time to time he should be taught and instructed in relation to
the right way to serve the Lord.

Vol. 13,  p.78
These visions continued from time to time, and in 1830 he published to
the world the translation of the book now known as the "Book of
Mormon," and on the 6th of April of that year, having received the
authority by special revelation, organized the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, which was composed of six members—namely, Joseph
Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Hyrum Smith, Peter Whitmer, jun., Samuel H.
Smith and David Whitmer.

Vol. 13,  p.78
The family of Joseph Smith were in moderate circumstances. They were
very industrious, and had held a respectable position in society; but
on this occasion the tongue of slander was pointed at them, and very
soon after the organization of the Church, vexatious lawsuits were
commenced, and Joseph was arrested and taken before a magistrate and
dismissed. He was again arrested and taken to an adjoining county and
treated contemptuously, spit upon and insulted in various other ways.
His case was investigated and he was again dismissed. This time the
mob resolved to treat him to a coat of tar and feathers, from which,
however, he was shielded by the officers in whose custody he had been
held. It was looked upon, by many in those days, as a species of fun
to treat Joseph Smith or the Elders of the Church, wherever they went,
in a contemptuous manner. The pulpit and the press almost invariably
joined in the outcry against the new Church, and the predictions were
that in a few days it would be annihilated.

Vol. 13,  p.78
After a few months a Conference was organized and missionaries started
towards the West, Joseph having been commanded, by revelation from the
Lord, to establish a gathering place near the western boundary of
Missouri. He accordingly sent missionaries in that direction, among
whom were Oliver Cowdery and Parley P. Pratt. On their way across the
State of Ohio they visited a society known as the Campbellites, led by
Sidney Rigdon. They preached to them and baptized Rigdon and about a
hundred members of his church, many of whom, and their children, are
citizens of this Territory to-day. After this they continued their
journey westward to Independence, in the vicinity of Jackson county.
Soon after this the Saints who were scattered in various parts of
Western New York removed, part to Missouri and part to Kirtland, in
Geauga, now Lake, county, Ohio, where they founded a city and built a
Temple. In Jackson county, Missouri, they purchased land, built mills,
established a printing office, the first one that was established in
the western part of the State of Missouri, and opened an extensive
mercantile house. They introduced the culture of wheat and many other
kinds of grain, for the inhabitants of that locality were principally
new settlers, and they cultivated chiefly Indian corn. The Saints also
commenced the culture of fruit, and although they came there with
little means, the heads of families [p.79] were generally able to buy
from forty acres to a section of land, and in a few months, by their
untiring industry, they began to prosper and flourish in a manner
almost astonishing.

Vol. 13,  p.79
In about two years, however, they met with opposition; a mob assembled
and tore down their printing office, broke open their mercantile
house, scattered their goods to the four winds. They also seized their
Bishop and presiding Elders, and inflicted upon them personal abuse,
such as whipping, and daubing them with tar and feathers, while others
were mutilated and killed, which finally resulted, in the month of
November, 1833, in the expulsion from the county of Jackson of about
fifteen hundred people; about three hundred of their houses were
burned to ashes.

Vol. 13,  p.79
During the period of the residence of the Saints in this county there
had never been a lawsuit of any description instituted against any of
them; if there had been any violation of law amongst them, there were
ample means to have had the law enforced, because the officers, both
civil and military, were not of their faith. But the real facts of the
case were, the Saints were regarded as fanatics; and one of the main
points in a declaration published against them was, that they
"blasphemously professed to heal the sick with holy oil." in
accordance with the instructions of St. James, contained in his
epistle, 5th chap. and 14th verse, it has ever been a practice in the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from its organization,
when any are sick among them, to send for the Elders of the Church to
anoint such with oil and pray for them, believing the Apostle James,
"that the prayer of faith will save the sick." This item of faith is
still practiced in all the branches of the Church, and thousands and
tens of thousands bear testimony at the present time of the miraculous
healings that have been effected by the power of God through these
administrations. Yet at that period it was made a crime, and was one
of the principal charges on which the Latter-day Saints were expelled
from Jackson county.

Vol. 13,  p.79
From this county the Saints were driven to Clay county, and most of
them remained there about three years, during which time they
performed a great amount of labor for the people of Clay county, for
the inhabitants were mostly new settlers who possessed nothing
seemingly in the way of property save Indian corn, hogs and cattle.
They hired the Saints to labor, who made brick, built fine houses, and
enlarged their farms, erected mills, and, in fact, acquired
considerable property by industry in laboring for the people in Clay
county. The mob of Jackson county endeavored to stir up the people of
Clay against the Saints, which culminated in a request on the part of
the people of Clay that the Latter-day Saints would leave. They
accordingly hunted out a new county without inhabitants and almost
without timber, called Caldwell county, and moved into it, purchasing
land and occupying it, of which they were the sole inhabitants. They
also spread out into the adjoining new counties, on to the unoccupied
land, and purchased and improved it.

Vol. 13,  p.79
From the best of my recollection the Latter-day Saints paid the United
States Government some $318,000 for land in the State of Missouri, but
yet, in the winter and early spring of 1839, they were expelled from
that State, with the entire loss of their lands and improvements and
most of their personal property, under an exterminating order from
Lilburn W. Boggs, Governor of that State, requiring [p.80] them to
leave under pain of extermination. But they were told that any of them
who would renounce their religion would be permitted to stay. The
result was that about fifteen thousand persons were expelled from
Missouri and their property, to most of which they still hold the
titles; and when the day arrives that the Constitution of the United
States becomes absolutely the supreme law of the land, so that all men
can be protected in their civil and religious rights, they and their
children will go back and enjoy their cherished homes in the State of
Missouri.

Vol. 13,  p.80
After leaving Missouri they located themselves in the State of
Illinois. There was a town known as Commerce—noted for being
unhealthy. The location was very beautiful, but the place was
surrounded with swamp lands to a considerable extent. Attempts had
been made to settle it, but there were a great many graves in the
burying ground, and but very few living people in the vicinity. The
Saints went there and purchased property. They drained the swamps and
cleaned them out, and converted the whole vicinity into gardens, and
continued to improve and enlarge the place until February, 1846. The
commencement of the settlement in Commerce, Hancock county, Illinois,
was in the summer of 1839.

Vol. 13,  p.80
June 27, 1844, Joseph and Hyrum Smith, the Prophet and Patriarch of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, were murdered in
Carthage jail, in Hancock county, Illinois, while under the pledge of
the Governor, Thos. Ford, who had plighted the faith of the State, at
the time of their arrest, that they should be protected from mob
violence, and have a fair trial in the lawfully constituted courts of
the State. They were confined in jail on a trumped up charge of
treason upon the affidavit of a drunken vagabond. They were murdered
by about 150 persons with blackened faces, some of them persons of
high position in society. I will here say that in all these
transactions—I refer to the outrages committed by the mobs on the
Latter-day Saints—there never was a single instance of the guilty
parties being brought to justice under the laws of the State where the
occurrence transpired.

Vol. 13,  p.80
The city of Nauvoo and vicinity had probably about 20,000 inhabitants.
They were remarkable for their industry, and the city was conspicuous
for peace, quietness and good order, and for the rapid manner in which
improvements had been made. They continued to build up the city though
they were constantly harassed by mob violence, and warned from time to
time that they should be driven away. They finished the Temple, which
was one of the most beautiful structures in the Western States, and
dedicated it unto the Lord. They were progressing with other large
buildings, establishing factories and making many improvements, when
the efforts of mobocracy culminated in their expulsion from their
beautiful city and Temple.

Vol. 13,  p.80
That they might not act hastily nor unadvisedly, a committee of
Latter-day Saints prepared a petition and sent it to the Governor of
every State in the Union, except the Governor of Missouri, and also to
the President of the United States, asking them for an asylum, and to
afford them that protection which was extended to other religious
bodies. All the States, except one, treated their application with
silence. Governor Drew, of Arkansas, wrote them a respectful letter,
in which he advised them to seek a home in Oregon.

Vol. 13,  p.81
Previous to the death of Joseph Smith, he had selected twenty-five
[p.81] men—most of whom now reside here—to explore the Rocky
Mountains, with the view of finding a place where they could make a
location that would be out of the range and beyond the influence of
mobs, where they could enjoy the rights guaranteed to them by the
Constitution of our common country. The premature death of Joseph and
Hyrum Smith, however, prevented their departure; the result was that,
during the year 1845, it devolved upon the Twelve to carry out this
design. But in the course of that year the mob broke upon them with
more than their usual fury. They commenced by burning the farm-houses
in the vicinity of Lima; they burned 175 houses without the least
resistance on the part of the inhabitants. The sheriff of Hancock
county issued orders for the "citizens who were not Mormons" to turn
out and stop the burning; but none obeyed his order. He then issued a
proclamation calling upon all, irrespective of sect or party, to turn
out and stop the burning. The burning was accordingly stopped, but
there was a general outcry against the "Mormons," and immediately nine
counties assembled in convention and passed a decree that the
"Mormons" should leave the State. Governor Ford said it was impossible
to protect the people of Nauvoo. The Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, Gen.
John J. Hardin and several other gentlemen repaired thither and made a
kind of a treaty with them, in which it was agreed that mob violence
and vexatious lawsuits were to cease on condition that the people of
Nauvoo would leave the State, and that they would assist the Saints in
the disposal of their property. It was also agreed that if a majority
would leave, the remainder should be permitted to remain until they,
by the sale of their property, were able to get away. The Saints then
organized themselves into companies of a hundred families each, and
established wagon shops for every fifty. They took the green timber
out of the woods and boiled it in brine and made it into wagons. Their
supply of iron was very limited, but with what little means they could
control they purchased iron, and exhausted the supply of all the towns
on the upper Mississippi, and made up the deficiency with raw hide and
hickory withes.

Vol. 13,  p.81
On the 6th of February, 1846, the Saints commenced crossing the river.
They crossed first on flat boats; but in a few days the river closed
up and something like a thousand wagons crossed over on the ice,
moving out west into the sparsely settled district on the eastern
borders of Iowa; the settlements extending back from fifty to seventy
miles. From that point it was a wilderness without roads, bridges, or
improvements of any kind. They moved off, however, into this
wilderness country in winter, and continued through the spring amid
the most terrific storms and suffering from cold and exposure. In
their progress to Council Bluffs they bridged thirty or forty streams,
among which were the Locust and Medicine rivers, the three forks of
the Grand River, the Little Platte, the One Hundred-and-Two, the
Nodaway, Big Tarkeo, and the Nishnabatona. Bridging these streams,
constructing roads, and breaking and enclosing three large farms
required immense labor, which was done for the benefit and sustenance
of those who would follow. In consequence of this and the inclemency
of the weather they did not arrive at Council Bluffs on the Missouri
river until late in June. The wagons and tents were numbered by
thousands. The camps were spread out on the [p.82] prairie for three
hundred miles, moving in companies of tens, fifties, and hundreds.

Vol. 13,  p.82
While the advance companies were crossing the Missouri, they, on the
1st of July, were called upon by Captain James Allen, of the United
States army, who was the bearer of an order for the enrolment of five
hundred volunteers. They could ill be spared in their condition, but
the number was made up in a few days and they proceeded on their
journey to Fort Leavenworth and thence by way of Santa Fe to
California, where they, among a number of our countrymen, were
instrumental in adding this large domain to the United States.

Vol. 13,  p.82
The families of the volunteers who formed the battalion, being thus
left without protectors, entailed much additional responsibility and
labor upon those left behind, and rendered it impossible for the
companies to proceed to the Rocky Mountains that season. They encamped
at Winter Quarters, the place now called Florence, in the Omaha
country, where they built 700 log cabins and 150 caves or dug-outs, in
which a great number of the people resided through the winter. Some
two thousand wagons were scattered about in the Pottawattamie country,
on the east side of the Missouri—a country then uninhabited except by
Indians—which, by a treaty of purchase, came into the possession of
the United States the ensuing spring.

Vol. 13,  p.82
The winter of 1846-7 was one of great suffering among the people. They
had been deprived of vegetable food; their diet, to a great extent,
had consisted of corn meal and pork, which they had purchased from the
Missourians, in exchange for clothing, beds, jewellery, or any other
property that would sell. Yet they had sold comparatively none of
their real estate and valuable property; in fact, most of the land
remains unsold to this day. Under these circumstances the people
suffered a great deal from scurvy; the exposure they had undergone
also brought on fever and ague, hence their stay in Winter Quarters
and the region round about is a memorable period in their history,
from the sufferings, difficulties, and privations with which they had
to contend. However, they made the necessary preparations for their
departure, and in the spring of 1847—early in April, 143 pioneers, led
by Brigham Young, started to explore and make a road to the Great Salt
Lake Basin.

Vol. 13,  p.82
There was not a spear of grass that their animals could obtain for the
first two hundred miles of the journey, and they had to feed them on
the cotton-woods that grew on the banks of the Platte river and other
small streams. In this manner the pioneers worked their way, making
the road as they went along. They travelled on the north side of the
Platte, where no road had been before until they reached Laramie; they
then crossed the North Fork and took the old trappers' trail and
travelled on it over three hundred miles building ferry boats on North
Platte and Green rivers, and then constructed a road over the
mountains to this place.

Vol. 13,  p.82
During this journey they looked out a route where they were satisfied
a railroad could be built, and were just as zealous in their feelings
that a railroad would follow their track as we are to-day.

Vol. 13,  p.82
They arrived here on the 24th of July, 1847. They had some potatoes
which they had brought from Missouri; they planted them not far from
where the City Hall now stands. In a few days after their arrival the
Mississippi Company, which had [p.83] wintered on the Arkansas river,
a few of the sick and some families left by the Mormon Battalion,
being unable to proceed with them to the Pacific—numbering altogether
about 150—arrived here. They then began to feel that they were quite a
populous settlement, as they counted in the neighborhood of some four
hundred persons. They laid out this Temple Block, and dedicated it to
the Lord. It really was one of the most barren spots they ever saw.
However, they asked the Lord to bless the land and make it fruitful.
They built a dam and made irrigation ditches. Some of their number
lacked faith under those trying circumstances, and subsequently turned
away and went to other parts of the world.

Vol. 13,  p.83
That fall—the fall of 1847—there carne in here 680 wagons loaded with
families. They built the fort commenced by the pioneers on the land, a
portion of which is now occupied by A. O. Smoot in the 6th Ward of
this city, the whole only covering about thirty acres. They dwelt in
this contracted space that no temptation should be presented to the
Indians to commit depredations.

Vol. 13,  p.83
During the winter they prepared a systematic plan for the irrigation
of the land, for they knew nothing about it previously. They were
compelled to ration out their food in small allowances, for they had
no way to get more until it grew, and it required a great deal of
faith on the part of the people to remain here and run the risk of
procuring supplies from the earth. In the winter one or two hundred of
the brethren from the West arrived almost without provisions, having
been discharged from the Mormon Battalion without rations or
transportation to the place of their enlistment. They explored a new
route from California. Some of them passed on to their families in
Winter Quarters, suffering much for the want of provisions by the way.
Many of them remained here, using as food everything that possibly
could be used. The Saints divided with the battalion their scanty
allowance of food. During the next spring many hundred acres of land
were planted. There was, however, a pest here that they had never seen
anywhere else. After the nursery of twenty thousand fruit trees had
come up and the fields were green and there was a good prospect of
grain being raised, there came down from the mountains myriads of
large black crickets, and they were awfully hungry. The nurseryman
went home to dinner, and when he returned he found only three trees
left; the crickets had devoured them. The brethren contended with them
until they were utterly tired out, then calling on the Lord for help
were ready to give up the contest, when just at that time there came
over from the Salt Lake large flocks of gulls, which destroyed the
crickets. They would eat them until they were perfectly gorged, and
would then disgorge, vomiting them up, and again go to and eat, and so
they continued until the crickets had entirely disappeared, and thus
by the blessing of God the colony was saved. I believe the crickets
have never been a pest in this vicinity to any serious extent since.
This we regard as a spectral providence of the Almighty.

Vol. 13,  p.83
The early settlers did not know how to irrigate the crops properly and
the result was that their wheat, the first year, was most of it very
short, so short that it had to be pulled up by the roots; but
singularly enough there was considerable grain in the ear, and they
raised enough to encourage them to persevere in their experiments, for
their labors were only experiments at that early day [p.84] and also
enabled them to diffuse information on the subject, which proved of
general benefit. This location is so high in the mountains, the
latitude about 41° and the altitude so great that nearly every one
thought it was impossible to raise fruit, but some continued to plant.
In the second year of their arrival here their settlement was
increased by nearly a thousand wagons from the East and a few from the
West. The third year the immigration continued. In 1849 a handsome sum
of money was contributed as a foundation for the Perpetual Emigration
Fund, and Bishop Edward Hunter went East to aid those to emigrate who
could not do so by their own means. While the Saints were surrounded
by their enemies on every hand in Illinois, they entered into a solemn
covenant within the walls of the Temple at Nauvoo that they would
exert themselves to the extent of their influence and property to aid
every Latter-day Saint that desired to gather to the mountains. This
covenant they did not forget, and the very moment they began to gather
a little surplus they commenced to use it to aid their brethren and
sisters left behind. At first they purchased, in the East, cattle and
wagons necessary to bring the emigrants here; but in a few years they
raised cattle here, and sent their teams to the Missouri river year
after year, sometimes two hundred and sometimes three hundred, and
they have sent as many as five hundred teams, for several successive
seasons—a team being four yoke of oxen (or their equivalent in horses
and mules), a wagon, a teamster, also the necessary officers and night
guard for each company of fifty wagons. In this way they continued to
bring their brethren not only from every part of the United States,
but also from Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australasia. This system of
emigration is continued up to the present time, and has resulted in
bringing many of the Saints together, and has materially increased the
population of Utah.

Vol. 13,  p.84
In the early settlement of the Territory, the Latter-day Saints had
other obstacles to contend with besides those already referred to. In
1849, and for several years after, a considerable number of men passed
through here on their way to the gold mines in California. Numbers of
them would have perished had it not been for the provisions and
supplies unexpectedly obtained here. They knew not how to outfit
themselves for such a journey, and were unwilling to abide the
restraints of organization necessary for their own preservation on the
Plains. Hence they wore out their teams and quarreled with each other,
and arrived here in every conceivable stage of destitution. Upon their
arrival here they were treated as friends, employed, and furnished
with the necessary outfit as far it could be obtained. I may say that
tens of thousands received the assistance necessary to enable them to
proceed to California to realize, if possible, their visions of gold.
While the Latter-day Saints were pursuing this course, they too were
tempted with a spirit of going to the gold mines. The counsel given to
the brethren by President Young was to stay at home, make their farms,
cultivate the earth, build houses, and plant gardens and orchards. But
many preferred to go to the mines, and they went; but I believe that
in every instance those who went returned, not having made as much as
if they had followed the counsel given. There was this difference: the
men who went to California could dig a hole and take a little gold out
of it; but after a time the supply of gold [p.85] would be exhausted,
and then, after paying their expenses, the most of them had nothing
left but a hole in the ground; but the men who went to work here on
their five or ten acre lots, or even on their city lots of an acre and
a quarter, in the course of a year or two had a snug little home. The
result was that those who remained at home and diligently attended to
agricultural pursuits were the most successful.

Vol. 13,  p.85
But among the strangers travelling through the Territory to the mines
were many men of desperate character, and they would cause trouble by
killing Indians near the settlements. One difficulty occurred here in
the north—a band of men from Missouri shot some squaws who were riding
on horseback, and took their horses; in revenge for this the Indians
made an attack on our northern settlements. Similar occurrences took
place in the south. The result was we were troubled with expensive
Indian wars, caused by the acts, not of our own people, but of those
over whom we had no control, and in some instances through the acts of
men who would rather entail trouble upon us than not. In consequence
of outrages inflicted on the Indians, we were under the necessity of
keeping ourselves armed and having in our midst a vigilant militia. In
the year 1853 the inhabitants found it necessary to encircle this city
with a wall of earth, at a cost of $34,000, which they did for the
purpose of preventing the Indians stealing their horses, and to enable
the small police force to protect the city from their depredations.
From that period the Indians have made very little inroad on the
property inside this city. There is, among the Indians in these
mountains, an innate principle to steal anything and everything that
lies unguarded in their way. When the number of horses, sheep, and
cattle, that the people throughout the Territory have raised, is
considered, the number stolen by the Indians is surprisingly small.
Yet some of the outside counties have suffered severely and are
suffering to-day from thieving bands from neighboring Territories. In
their intercourse with the Indians they have acted on the principle
that it is cheaper to feed them than to fight them. In all cases they
have treated them with the strictest justice as far as possible, and
have maintained their relations with them in a manner truly
astonishing.

Vol. 13,  p.85
We look around to-day and behold our city clothed with verdure and
beautified with trees and flowers, with streams of water running in
almost every direction, and the question is frequently asked, "How did
you ever find this place?" I answer, we were led to it by the
inspiration of God. After the death of Joseph Smith, when it seemed as
if every trouble and calamity had come upon the Saints, Brigham Young,
who was President of the Twelve, then the presiding Quorum of the
Church, sought the Lord to know what they should do, and where they
should lead the people for safety, and while they were fasting and
praying daily on this subject, President Young had a vision of Joseph
Smith, who showed him the mountain that we now call Ensign Peak,
immediately north of Salt Lake City, and there was an ensign fell upon
that peak, and Joseph said, "Build under the point where the colors
fall and you will prosper and have peace." The Pioneers had no pilot
or guide, none among them had ever been in the country or knew
anything about it. However, they travelled under the direction of
President Young until they reached this valley. When they entered it
President young [p.86] pointed to that peak, and said he, "I want to
go there." He went up to the point and said, "This is Ensign Peak.
Now, brethren, organize your exploring parties, so as to be safe from
Indians; go and explore where you will, and you will come back every
time and say this is the best place." They accordingly started out
exploring companies and visited what we now call Cache, Malad, Tooele,
and Utah valleys, and other parts of the country in various
directions, but all came back and declared this was the best spot.

Vol. 13,  p.86
I have travelled somewhat extensively in the Territory, and I bear my
testimony this day, that this is the spot, and I feel confident that
the God of Heaven by His inspiration led our Prophet right here. And
it is the blessing of God upon the untiring energy and industry of the
people that has made this once barren and sterile spot what it is
to-day.

Vol. 13,  p.86
We have struggled with all our power and might to maintain that
morality and uprightness which pertain to the kingdom of God, and to
place all men and all women in that high position which God designs
them to occupy, and to prevent them being led astray by the immoral
tendencies which are abroad in the world; but while doing so we have
had to contend with obstacles of every kind. The Latter-day Saints
have built commodious school-houses in every ward of the various
cities and through all the settlements of the Territory. They have
done all they could to promote education, but they have received no
assistance from any source on earth. Almost every newly settled
country has received certain donations in land and money to aid them
in support of their schools, but in this Territory we have never
received a cent. The money that has been expended for the furtherance
of education in this Territory has been by the voluntary will of the
parents. Oregon received donations in land to encourage its
settlement, and persons who made the earlier settlements were
permitted to occupy 640 acres of land, others who settled later 320,
and subsequently 160, and liberal donations of land were made
available to promote the cause education. Utah has had no such
encouragement. But it is my opinion to-day that had Congress been as
liberal with us as with Oregon, and had given 640 or 320 acres of land
to each, it might have hindered our progress under the circumstances.
Most of our farmers cultivate from five to thirty acres of land, very
few of them cultivating forty; and it requires tolerably good Saints
not to quarrel about the water while irrigating in a dry time even on
small tracts of land close together; but how would it have been if our
agriculturists had each possessed 640 acres, or even half or quarter
of that, if they were compelled by law to live upon and cultivate the
same or forfeit it? Most of the water would have been wasted by
evaporation and soakage because of the lengthy ditches which extensive
cultivation would have rendered necessary. I verily believe that if
"Gentiles" lived here they would fight and kill each other with their
hoes in a dry time over the water dithes.

Vol. 13,  p.86
The brethren will pardon me for devoting my time on the present
occasion to this brief sketch of the history of the Church and of the
Territory with which they are so well acquainted. In consequence at
there being so many friends and strangers present, I felt inspired to
give a little detail of the circumstances that led us here, and of
some at the incidents since our arrival in this Territory.

Vol. 13,  p.87
I feel to bless God for the many [p.87] privileges that we enjoy, and
among others that we are now permitted to buy our lands and obtain a
title to them. I feel thankful to the rulers of our nation for showing
a disposition to extend to us the privileges which are enjoyed in this
respect by our fellow-citizens in the other territories.

Vol. 13,  p.87
As early as 1852 our Legislative Assembly memoralized Congress for a
national railway, which was subsequently endorsed by immense mass
meetings in this and other counties. We have done all in our power to
hurry it on. Many looked on it at the time, and since, as if it were
work for a hundred years; but the work is completed, and men can come
from the States in a few hours. When I came here with my family, in
1849, I was one hundred and five days driving oxen from the Missouri
river across the Plains to this place. Now a man can come with his
family in a few days. This is a great progress, thank the Lord for it.

Vol. 13,  p.87
We are still at work with all our power developing in the new
Territory everything that is useful for the sustenance of its
inhabitants, for the establishment of manufactures, the promotion of
agriculture, and everything that will tend to build up, strengthen,
and benefit mankind. I fully believe that there is no one hundred
thousand people in the United States who have done more actual service
for their country than we have; for what benefits a nation is to take
its worthless desert domain and endow it with beauty and wealth, by
the strong hands of a loyal people.

Vol. 13,  p.87
May God help us to fill out our days with honor is my prayer, in the
name of Jesus. Amen.

Brigham Young, Jaunuary 2, 1870

Latter-Day Saint Families—Preaching the 
Gospel—Building Up the Kingdom

Remarks By President Brigham Young, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, January 2, 1870.

(Reported by John Grimshaw)

Vol. 13,  p.87
After contemplating what you have been hearing, I want to say, for the
consolation of these my sisters before me, I give you my word for it,
if your children were counted and their number compared with that of
the children born in the healthy city of Boston, that you do not lose
three where they lose five; and I think the ratio would not vary much
from three to six. I want to say this for the consolation of those
sisters who live in Utah and bear children.

Vol. 13,  p.87
As for what has been said here of our children and their state of
health and general appearance, and how they present themselves to
strangers and to friends, I am perfectly willing [p.88] to compare
ours with any in the world; and if the result is not favorable to us,
I would be willing to part with them; but if the contrary be the case,
let us have theirs.

Vol. 13,  p.88
This revelation about our children came through Anna Dickinson. When
she came here I was not at home. She stayed here one day and one
night; I understood she was riding a good part of the night with a
stranger, for the benefit other health I suppose. These great
statements about the children of Utah have come through the great
wisdom and experience of Anna Dickinson. How much does she know about
family affairs here? She stayed here at the Townsend House, I suppose,
nearly twelve hours. Did sister Townsend make the statement which Anna
Dickinson gives to the world? Anna may say so, but I do not believe
it. I will give you one specimen of her knowledge with regard to the
ladies of this city. In one of her statements she says that Brigham
Young will look after the young ladies, and on becoming acquainted
with them will find some of them are his own daughters. Her researches
in this community were immense. But let me tell you she is hired by
some lackeys to lecture against "Mormonism" and the "Mormons." I say
go ahead, lecture away until you get into—; and then continue your
lectures, and afterwards hire men to lecture. They may hire lecturers
to say this, that and the other about this people; I do not know that
it makes the least difference to you and me. It matters not to us what
the press says, or what that judge or this officer, or what Congress
says. We are here in these mountains; the Lord has called and led us
here and sustained us and given us strength.

Vol. 13,  p.88
I know more about the rising generation than most of the people who
live in this city. I travel a great deal, and as I go into a small
town and see the children strung out a quarter of a mile, I often say:
"Have you borrowed these children? Where did you borrow them from?" I
am answered: "I guess we own them here." I go to the next settlement
and see another group, stretching perhaps halfs mile in length, ready
to receive us with their banners and flags and their merry greetings.
I go to another and see them by hundreds and thousands. Go through
this Territory and what do you see? That which you cannot find
elsewhere on the face of the earth with regard to children; not only
in numbers, but in intelligence, strength, power of mind and general
scholastic ability. Suppose some one says it is not so; does that make
any difference to us? No; not the least.

Vol. 13,  p.88
I have never feared but one thing in regard to the Latter-day Saints
in the persecutions they have received or that are in prospect: and
that is, that we shall come short of doing our duty. It is only when
we live short of our privileges, when we neglect to serve our God and
to do as we should do, and as the Lord our God requires of us, that I
have any apprehensions for this people, and I have certainly seen just
about as much with regard to persecutions as any other man that lives
in this Church. Still, I never had but this one fear: Are the people
doing their duty? Are they neglecting their privileges or are they
living so as to have the Spirit of the Lord constantly in their
hearts? If we are right before the Lord, it is no matter how we appear
before the wicked. We are just as obnoxious now as we can be. Why are
we so? Is it because we have drunkenness in our midst? No. Is it
because we have houses of ill-fame? No. Is it because we are a
gambling people? No. Do we horse-race, bet, drink, [p.89] quarrel and
go to law with one another from Monday morning to Saturday night? No;
nothing of this kind is claimed against us. Then what is the matter
with the Latter-day Saints? Our enemies cry out, "Polygamy." It is a
false idea. Very many of them believe in polygamy down yonder East; I
won't even except the leaders of our country, only they believe it on
the sly, while we have our wives and acknowledge them. Anything that
is unlawful is swallowed by them. Anything that is in opposition to
the law of God goes down with them. Anything that tramples under foot
the ordinances of God is all right with them.

Vol. 13,  p.89
But we love our God, we honor His laws, we obey His precepts, and we
honor our father Abraham and perform his works. We should live to the
best of our ability in accordance with the revelations God has given
to us.

Vol. 13,  p.89
But why need the wisdom of the nation trouble itself about the
"Mormons?" The whole cry, according to the newspapers, is about this
people. Religious teachers, scribblers, public speakers and everybody
join in this murmur against the Latter-day Saints. Let us keep the law
of God and the laws of cur country and preserve ourselves in these
mountains without much quarreling and contention, and where is the
great fault that can be found with the Latter-day Saints? We observe
the law of God and it makes us one. It is the Priesthood they are
opposed to. The wickedness of the whole world is opposed to the
Priesthood of the Son of God. It was opposed to Jesus when he was here
on the earth in the flesh. It appears that the whole world of mankind
was opposed to the Gospel in the days of Noah. Who believed the
sayings of Noah? His family. Who else. Nobody. What was the result?
Why, Noah kept crying to the people for a hundred years that the Lord
certainly would avenge Himself upon the nations unless they repented.
Who believed the Gospel in the days of Enoch? A few, who gathered
together and built a city to the Lord. Who believes in the Gospel now?
Just a few. This Gospel is the Gospel of order and rule; it is the law
of God brought forth to the children of men, by which they can save
themselves by hearkening to its counsels. Who love it? The righteous.
Who hate it? The wicked.

Vol. 13,  p.89
We have been hearing about the Latter-day Saints preaching. I think if
our Elders were to go without purse or scrip and had nothing to fall
back upon, and could not write here for means, but were obliged to
take their valise in their hands and preach the Gospel as we used to
do, they would be much more successful than they are and would find
many more who would be willing to listen to their testimonies I used
to travel without purse or scrip, and many times I have walked till my
feet were sore and the blood would run in my shoes and out of them,
and fill my appointments—go into houses, ask for something to eat,
sing and talk to them, and when they would commence questioning,
answer them. Converse with them until they have given you what you
want, bless them, and, if they wish, pray with them, and then leave,
unless they wish you to stay longer. if you have an appointment, and
are obliged to go here and there on your mission, go like
Saints—humble before the Lord, full of faith and the power of God, and
you will find the honest in heart, for the Lord is going to save a
great many.

Vol. 13,  p.89
It is near twenty-five years since we left the confines of the United
States. Go back there and you will [p.90] find hundreds, and perhaps
thousands, who are ready to receive the Gospel. Only carry it to them
as they are prepared to receive it. But while we go and ride in our
silver carriages, many never inquire into our principles; they are
looking for something else. The meek and lowly Jesus sent his
disciples without purse or scrip; and when the honest in heart see our
Elders go in the same manner that Jesus' disciples did, with the
doctrine that he delivered to his disciples, and preach without purse
or scrip, our Elders will find plenty of honest-hearted persons who
will receive their testimony. But when the Elders go into the great
cities, hire large halls and hire carriages to ride to their pulpit
in, the people say it is a speculation, and such Elders do not have
much of the Spirit of the Lord to preach to the people.

Vol. 13,  p.90
Our Elders who are in the States will do us good; there is no question
about it. But they will do themselves and the people good if they will
go without purse or scrip. If they travel without purse or scrip, when
they land in the midst of a community, or wherever they want to
preach, and go into the peoples' houses and talk with them, pray with
them and sing with them, teaching them the way of life and salvation,
they will find there are plenty who are willing to receive them. Many
of the Latter-day Saints go and say, "I am a 'Mormon' Elder, will you
take me in and give me shelter and feed me?" "No," says the owner of
the house, "get out of my house, I do not want any 'Mormons' here." If
you go and say, "I am a servant of God and want to tarry over night,"
and sing and pray, you will find many honest in heart ready and
willing to receive you.

Vol. 13,  p.90
But here is the place to sanctify the people. They come here as
ignorant as babes; they do not know their first lesson. They believed
the sound of the Gospel. They have been baptized for the remission of
sins and have had hands laid upon them for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
But what do they know about the kingdom of God? They are mere babes;
they know nothing, and they come up here to be instructed and to be
taught how to live and walk before the Lord and each other. When they
come here they need this teaching, and we are here to teach them; and
the people are improving.

Vol. 13,  p.90
Let any of you sisters get out into the world, where you used to live,
and what you used to see there will have quite another aspect to you.
It will appear quite different to your minds and feelings. Learn how
they feel towards His people; learn what is the state of the world;
and then look back upon the people of God in these mountains, and you
will see them lifted up and perceive that they are pure in heart in
comparison. with the world, and are striving with all their might and
main to build up the kingdom of God on the earth. You who are here do
not understand it and cannot see it, because all things are proved by
their opposites. Were it not for darkness, could you give any
description of light? Ask the individual who never saw light, and see
if he can give you any description of it. He cannot do so from actual
knowledge.

Vol. 13,  p.90
Those who come here find a pretty good people, but in their estimation
we should be just as holy as angels. We are pretty good, and we are
trying to be better; trying to devote ourselves more and more to the
building up of the kingdom of God; trying to overcome our passions,
subdue our tempers within us; trying to sanctify ourselves, our
children, our friends and families, and seeking to [p.91] become
Saints in deed. The people are pretty good, and if they were gathered
together so that we could see the difference between those who have
been here for years and those who have just come, you would understand
the comparison brother Kimball used to make of the clay that is thrown
into the mill and has been grinding for years and prepared to make
vessels of honor of; but in comes a batch of new clay, and you must
grind again; and when it is taken out of the mill it is cut to pieces
to see if there is anything in it that should not be. The impurities
that are in the clay may destroy the vessel. You will therefore gather
all out that should: not be in it and throw it away. So it is with the
Saints. Some keep leaving and this renders the clay purer and purer.

Vol. 13,  p.91
We talk a good deal about building up the kingdom of God upon the
earth, according to the knowledge and understanding we have in regard
to the kingdom of God; it requires several things to constitute a
kingdom. If there is a kingdom, there needs a king, ruler or dictator;
some one to govern and control the kingdom. What else does it signify?
It says, in language that cannot be misunderstood, you must have
subjects; if there is a kingdom there must be a king and subjects; and
there must be territory for the subjects to live upon. Well, now, if
we are in a kingdom, do you think we are in a kingdom without law? No;
the strictest law ever given to mankind is the law of God. If we
transgress the law of God, we cannot be sent to the penitentiary, to
stay a few years in there; it is before the Lord, and tie will judge
according to our works, and judge righteous judgment. We cannot pay a
fine of one dollar, five or five hundred and then be forgiven; if
persons neglect to obey the law of God and to walk humbly before Him,
darkness will come into their minds and they will be left to believe
that which is false and erroneous; their minds will become dim, their
eyes will be beclouded and they will be unable to see tilings as they
are. Why? Because they know not the laws of God. There are a thousand
ways by which persons can lose the Spirit of God. They neglect their
duties, fall away into temptation and are overcome by Satan, the
wicked one.

Vol. 13,  p.91
Among the sayings of Jesus there is a parable about a man who went out
to sow. He had good seed to sow in the field. Some of it, however,
fell upon stony ground and some among thorns. That which was sown on
stony ground came up very quickly, but it was so tender that the rays
of the sun were too powerful for it and it dwindled away and died. It
was so with this people; they are not prepared for all that comes to
them. In some instances the word of God seems to be like seed cast
upon stony ground. Some of the seed was sown among thorns; but the
cares of the world choked it; and same was sown upon grad ground where
it took root firmly and brought forth fruit, yielding "some thirty,
some sixty, and some a hundred fold." These are the ideas which Jesus
brought forth to show the people wherein they might fail, and the
danger of receiving the word unless they did so into good and honest
hearts. Look upon the inhabitants of the earth. Whenever any of you go
and preach the Gospel to them, they must acknowledge that every iota
of it is true. Truth, reason, judgment, teach them so. The revelations
the Lord has given teach it. Do they believe it? Some will say they
believe it. They receive the truth, but do they receive the love of
the truth? If persons receive [p.92] the love of the truth and are
faithful to the laws God gives to them, they will make them selves the
elect through their faithfulness; and they will be the elect of God.

Vol. 13,  p.92
It was observed here this morning, in relation to the building up of
the kingdom of God, that many think they have the privilege of doing
just as they please. We have only the privilege to do right. There is
not an iota in the revelations, from Adam down to the present day, but
what requires strict obedience. They who cannot abide a celestial
law—the law that God has revealed for the sanctification of His people
to prepare them to enter into the presence of the Father and the Son,
should try and abide a lesser law, but they must expect a lower glory,
a secondary glory. If they cannot abide the celestial law, and can
abide a lesser law, then. they will receive the blessings of that law,
and whatever law they abide they will receive the blessings thereof.
The Lord has been pleased to reveal unto the people His law by which
they can be sanctified and return into His presence. Latter-day Saints
observe this law. What shall we say to them? Teach them the law of
God. How easy it is? Is it easy to be understood! Yes, very easy; it
can be summed up in these words: Do right, love God and keep His
commandments. Take the moral code that the Lord has revealed and let
it be strictly followed out; and what man or woman would ever infringe
upon the rights of his or her neighbor? They would never do it; they
would do good to their neighbor all the day long. If we would observe
the moral law which God has given us, we would be honest with our
neighbors and ourselves; and every man and woman belonging to the
kingdom of God would speak truly and honestly. Would they be honest
with regard to their dealings? Yes. If we give our word, it should be
just as good as a bond that can be ensured and be made strong and
powerful by securities. Our word should be just as good as all the
words that can be spoken, or all the names that can be written. If we
write what we say, we will keep that word. Will we oppress the widow
and the fatherless? No. The hireling in his wages? No; we will give
them all that they can do or earn and then a little more; and if any
one comes to us that is poor, in distress and in want, turn him not
away empty handed. "Give to him that asketh, and from him that would
borrow turn thou not away."

Vol. 13,  p.92
This people do this pretty well There is not much complaint on this
score. I do not think there is a house in these mountains where a
Latter-day Saint lives, that a person can go to and ask for a meal of
victuals, where he would not get it if the people living in the house
had it in their possession. I do not think he or she could ask to stay
over-night and be refused the privilege. That is saying a good deal
for a community. Would we be honest in returning that which we have
found to the owner? We would. Would we ever take that which is not our
own? We would not. Would we be honest in our labor? We would. Would we
be honest in our merchandizing? We would. Would we be honest in every
respect? We would. Would we take usury? I hope to see the day when
there will be no such thing as one man taking usury from another. But
it is not so now; people do not come to this; we do not expect them to
do so while they follow the spirit of the world. But these are things
they have to learn when they gather together. Will there be any
extortion, any selling our goods for a [p.93] hundred to five hundred
per cent. in advance of cost? No. The time will come when this
co-operative system which we have now partially adopted in
merchandizing will be carried out by the whole people, and it will be
said, "Here are the Saints." The time will come when we can give all
into the store house of the Lord and have our inheritances given out
by those who will be appointed; and when we have had sufficient for
the support of our families, the surplus will be given into the store
house of the Lord. Will there be any rich or poor then? No. How was it
in the time of Enoch? Had they some rich and some poor? Did some ride
in their silver carriages, as I do? No. If I had my way, we would foot
or ride together, and we shall see the day when we shall do it. Do you
think we will relinquish our claims pertaining to oneness in action?
No. I do not calculate, as far as I am concerned, to yield one
particle. I have asked the Latter-day Saints to go to and become one
in all things; the Lord requires this, but until they do, I do not
expect to yield, not the least. Let us hold on to all that we can. The
enemy of all righteousness is determined to own and possess this world
and govern and control it as far as he possibly can; and he will do it
until Jesus and his Saints drive him out.

Vol. 13,  p.93
Whatever the Latter-day Saints have gained has been obtained by sheer
wrestling and unconquerable resolution. We would never have been
permitted to own a foot of land on this earth if the devil had had his
own way. But we have the land and can build our temples and endowment
houses and then sanctify our inheritances, sanctify ourselves, our
families, and sanctify the Lord our God in our hearts, that we may be
prepared to build up His kingdom.

Vol. 13,  p.93
I wonder what the Latter-day Saints would say, to-day, in this matter.
Do you think we had better hold on to the ground we have already
gained from the enemy? We have gained a little in this co-operative
system. We feel for each other and try to assist each other. But let
me tell you what I am going to do. I do not expect to merchandize with
our enemies to any great extent, but to cut it off just as fast as we
can. I expect us to raise our own silk here. I would have had plenty
for hundreds of silk dresses this year if I could hays been blessed
with some person who would have taken care of my silk worms and done
justly by me. Raise your own silk, I will raise mine. Raise your own
wool, work it and then wear it, and stop going anywhere to purchase
goods. Let us sustain ourselves, for by and by Babylon will fall. What
will be the result? The merchants will stand and look at one another
worse than they do in this city. No man will buy their merchandize;
and they will look here and there for a customer; but there will be no
one to buy their merchandize, and the cry will be, "Babylon is fallen,
is fallen!" Is this day coming? Yes; just as sure as we are now
living. We are hastening it with all possible speed, as fast as time
and circumstances will admit, when it will be said, "Babylon is
fallen, is fallen!"

Vol. 13,  p.93
Are you going to prepare for it? We say we are the people of God and
are building up the kingdom of God. We say we are gathered out of the
nations to establish Zion. Let us prove it by our works, and we will
then manufacture that which we wear. Do we make clothing enough for me
and you to wear? Yes; plenty.

Vol. 13,  p.93
Let us live so that we can say we are the Saints of God; and when the
finger of scorn is pointed at us and [p.94] we are held in derision
and the nations talk about us, let us show an example before them that
is worthy of imitation, that they cannot but blush before all sensible
and intelligent persons when they say, "There is a people that sin;
there is a people that are corrupt;" and with shame-facedness they
will look upon each other and condemn themselves. Let them howl and
bark against us as much as they please, but let us live so that they
will have no reason to say a word. Some people say, "Why don't you
contradict this and that? I have been proclaiming the Gospel almost
forty years, and a few have come forth and received and obeyed it.
What do you think the leading men among our Christian neighbors said
about us? They lied about us until we thought they ought to be
satisfied and we were tired of hearing them and we found it was no use
contradicting them. Yet these professed to be good, pious Methodists
and Baptists. There is a world of liars. It is said that a lie will
pass out of the key-hole and travel a thousand miles before truth can
get out of doors. The whole tribe of scribblers and everybody else,
almost, are ready to contradict every truth and make a lie of it;
ready to ridicule every just and holy truth; and the individuals that
say children born in polygamy are feeble, have no knowledge of the
human race or else they belie themselves. Let them study physiology
and human nature. Let them study their own bodies. What do you see
among them? You see children that are born into the world sickly, weak
and unable to walk for years; they are poor, emaciated little things,
almost without flesh on their bones. It is from such that the cry
comes about the "Mormon" children. Why, one of our children at three
months old has much more flesh on its bones than theirs have at ten;
and, on an average, they have more marrow in their bones and energy in
them than theirs do. They do not know anything about human nature or
the organization of human beings, nor of the beasts. To make any such
declarations proves they are ignorant, or they belie themselves. These
are harsh expressions; I need not have used such harsh words; I might
have said they tell that which is not true, they slightly diverge from
the truth. How soft it would be! But I say they will be destroyed; and
all the nations that follow their corrupt practices will go down to
hell; and we will go onward and upward. All we have to do is to
perform our duty and keep the law of God, and our course is onward and
upward. God overrules the acts of the wicked and the righteous.

Vol. 13,  p.94
I recollect when the army of '57 was coming here, a young man named
Thomas Williams wrote to his father, saying, "God favors great guns
and great armies!" What did those great guns and great armies do? They
took two "Mormon" elders into their camp—brother McDonald, at Provo,
and brother Kearns, who now lives at Gunnison. What a howl they
raised! the whole camp howled to think they had two "Mormon" elders.
But there was too much faith; the Saints were praying for those elders
and they came out unscathed, unhurt and all right. What power there
was! What a magnanimous camp it was! "the flower of the army," sent to
destroy the "Mormons!" When they blow out the sun and stop the moon
from shining and the earth from revolving on its axis, they may talk
about "wiping out" the "Mormons" or the Gospel, but not until then.
This is the way I feel. I am as unconcerned and just as happy as a man
can be. It [p.95] is no matter if the whole world is against us, God
is for us. Could not they kill you? Yes, if it be the Lord's will. If
it be the will of the Lord for the people to live, they will live. If
it had been the will of the Lord that Joseph and Hyrum should have
lived, they would have lived. It was necessary for Joseph to seal his
testimony with his blood. Had he been destined to live he would have
lived. The Lord suffered his death to bring justice on the nation. The
debt is contracted and they have it to pay. The nations of the earth
are in the Lord's hands; and if we serve Him we shall reap the reward
of so doing, If we neglect to obey His laws and ordinances, we shall
have to suffer the consequences.

Vol. 13,  p.95
Well, brethren and sisters, try and be Saints. I will try; I have
tried many years to live according to the law which the Lord reveals
unto me. I know just as well what to teach this people and just what
to say to them and what to do in order to bring them into the
celestial kingdom, as I know the road to my office. It is just as
plain and easy. The Lord is in our midst. He teaches the people
continually. I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the
children of men, that they may not call Scripture. Let me have the
privilege of correcting a sermon, and it is as good Scripture as they
deserve. The people have the oracles of God continually. In the days
of Joseph, revelation was given and written, and the people were
driven from city to city and place to place, until we were led into
these mountains. Let this go to the people with "Thus saith the Lord,"
and if they do not obey it, you will see the chastening hand of the
Lord upon them. But if they are plead with, and led along like
children, we may come to understand the will of the Lord and He may
preserve us as we desire.

Vol. 13,  p.95
Let us, then, you and me and all who profess to be Latter-day Saints,
try to be Saints indeed. God bless you, Amen.

George Q. Cannon, April 6, 1869

The Order of Enoch—Socialistic Experiments—
the Social Problem

Discourse By Elder George Q. Cannon, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, April 6, 1869.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 13,  p.95
I look upon this Conference as one of the most important, in many
respects, that we have ever had the privilege of participating in,
for, to my view, there are more interesting and important events
connected with the work of God at the present time than have ever been
developed before in our history. We are undergoing a great change, a
great revolution is [p.96] in progress in our midst—a revolution
foreshadowed by the predictions of both the ancient and modern
prophets, but which we, as yet, have scarcely been prepared for.

Vol. 13,  p.96
Nearly 37 years ago the Prophet Joseph, or rather the Lord, through
him, gave revelations upon the Order of Enoch. Those revelations were
taught to the people in plainness so far as they went. They were
simple and easily understood; but they embodied within themselves what
might have been termed new principles, and indicated a new course of
action and a new organization of society. I say new, because they were
new so far as this generation is concerned. The principles taught by
those revelations were as old as eternity; and the Order sought to be
introduced by their means was called the "Order of Enoch," in
consequence of its having been revealed to and practised by Enoch; and
through its practice he and his people were prepared for translation
and, as we read in the Scriptures, were taken from the earth.

Vol. 13,  p.96
The Lord inspired the Prophet Joseph Smith to once more communicate
these principles unto the children of men; but, as I have remarked,
the people were not prepared to carry them out. They, to some extent,
could see and understand their beauty and consistency, but in the
practical part they were deficient. As a people the Latter-day Saints
are like their fellows in many respects. We are very progressive in
theory, but our theories are far ahead of our practice. The teachings
of the elders are of that character that years of practice on the part
of the people is required before they come up to them in their
every-day life. It is so with mankind generally. They can comprehend
the theory and realize the importance of practically observing certain
principles long before they are sufficiently advanced to carry them
out in everyday life. But we may say, without boasting, that as a
people we excel the world in carrying out in our lives the principles
that we teach.

Vol. 13,  p.96
Those principles to which I have been referring were received and
admired by the people, but it required faith, knowledge and experience
to enable them to carry them out. For years they have remained in the
Book of Doctrine and Covenants to be read by the curious or by those
who had a desire to search after the principles of life and salvation;
but, not being a part of our practice in our lives, they have been
practically a dead letter.

Vol. 13,  p.96
I speak, now, generally; of course, there have been exceptions in
regard to this, as there have been with regard to the "Word of
Wisdom." There have been men and women who have endeavored to carry
out the latter strictly and truthfully so far as their knowledge
extended. And so with the principles contained in the revelations
touching the "Order of Enoch"—there have, doubtless, been men in the
Church who have lived in accordance with them so far as it was
practicable under the circumstances; but the entire people have not
carried them out. But though thirty-six or thirty-seven years have
elapsed since these principles were first revealed, they have never
been lost sight of by the President and those associated with him. It
has been their aim from the day they were given until to-day, the 6th
of April, 1869, to bring the Latter-day Saints to such a, condition of
union, faith and knowledge that they would receive these principles
and carry them out in their lives.

Vol. 13,  p.96
The labors of the elders to accomplish this have been incessant; they
have ever felt to impress them upon [p.97] the minds of the Saints,
but more particularly within the last four or five years. It is
essentially necessary that we should receive them now, for upon the
reception and proper carrying out of this Order hinges the prosperity,
development and triumph of the kingdom of God on the earth; and unless
we as a people arrive at such a standard of faith and perfection as to
practically carry them out, we are assured, on the best of authority,
that we cannot be permitted to go back and build up the Centre Stake
and fully accomplish the redemption of Zion. The consequences involved
in not being able to accomplish that are familiar to the minds of
those who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ, especially if
they are old members. One of the greatest calamities that could be
thought of by us as a congregation, or a Church, to-day, would be to
learn from the Lord through His servants that we should not, be
permitted to go back to build up the Centre Stake of Zion. The edict
pronounced by the prophet Moses when he told Israel that not one who
had arrived at the age of twenty-one years should ever enter the
"Promised Land," had not a greater effect upon Israel than the
prohibition I have just referred to would have upon the Latter-day
Saints. We can realize then, the importance of adopting and carrying
out the principles that will prepare us for that great work.

Vol. 13,  p.97
It is not to be expected that we shall attain to perfection in the
carrying out of such principles at once. That is not the way we have
progressed in the past; our progress has been gradual. It has been
from principle to principle, from knowledge to knowledge, one step
after another until we have reached the point for which we have aimed.
And so it will be with the principles pertaining to the "Order of
Enoch"—we shall take step after step, progressing from one point to
another until we have reached the point that God, our Heavenly Father,
has designed us to attain to.

Vol. 13,  p.97
When we look abroad among the nations of the earth we see a great many
evils in existence—evils that have existed for many centuries; in
fact, they have existed from the earliest ages of which we have any
account until the present time, in every nation and among all people.
Our own nation is a case in point. When the foundations of the
Government were laid, and liberty proclaimed throughout the length and
breadth of the land, it was anticipated that this nation would grow to
a pitch of glory and attain to a greatness and power that no other
nation on the face of the earth had ever attained. Everything was
favorable to this: a free Government had been established; a continent
of almost illimitable extent spread itself before the people, and all
that was necessary to develop its boundless resources was population,
and industry on the part of that population. But little over ninety
years have elasped since the foundations of our Goverment were laid,
and in that time we have grown to be a great people; but that which
has been enacted in other nations has been re-enacted here. The evils
that have flourished so long in what is called the Old World have been
transplanted to this land. If Western men travel through the Eastern
States they are struck with the great distinction of classes that
exist there. There is an aristocracy of wealth fast growing up there;
and at the same time there is another class in degradation and
poverty, utterly unable to obtain the blessings and comforts of life.
This is owing to various causes, the chief of Which is the incorrect
organization of society. It is so in Europe and in [p.98] Asia, and,
in fact, wherever wealth abounds.

Vol. 13,  p.98
Many men have risen from time to time, who have seen and deplored
these evils, and they have sought with all the wisdom and knowledge
they possessed to correct them. Doubtless many of the Latter-day
Saints recollect an instance of this kind at Nauvoo. After the Saints
evacuated that place, a community of Socialists, called Icarians,
whose leader was Mr. Cabet, came to Nauvoo and settled there. There
were the houses, gardens, farms and orchards of the Latter-day Saints;
the country was a healthy one when compared with what it was when
first settled by the Saints. Many philanthropic men in France were
interested in this experiment, and were anxious to have it succeed.
They forwarded their means with considerable liberality to sustain the
settlement; but, despite their efforts and exertions, it fell to
pieces. Yet the object they had in view was a good one, and the means
they used were effective, so far as they went. But there was a lack of
cohesive power in the system; there was a lack of union, and a lack of
wisdom in the management of the affair. They sought to ameliorate the
condition of mankind and to diffuse the blessings of life equally
among the people, so that hunger, poverty and wretchedness and the
dreadful consequences which follow in their train might he removed
from the midst of mankind and a better elder of things established.
But with all the advantages of which I have spoken, their attempt was
a signal failure: the society was broken up and to-day has no
existence.

Vol. 13,  p.98
This is a case in point with which many of you are familiar. Similar
experiments, having the same ends in view, have been tried at other
places at various times, but like results have attended them.

Vol. 13,  p.98
It has been seen by thinking men that there is something radically
wrong in the organization of society in this respect, but they have
not known how to remedy the evils. It is so in the religious world.
Religionists have to mourn and deplore the divisions that exist among
the so, called followers of Christ; and reformers have risen one after
another endeavoring to bring about greater union and to develop a
greater amount of love, but with what success let the history of the
various sects of Christendom answer. They are split up into
innumerable parties, and the effort of every reformer has only
resulted in the increase of religious sects. He has been unable, and
his inability has been confessed by himself, to unite the Christian
world and bring about that oneness which characterized the followers
of Christ in the early days of Christianity. It required the Lord our
God to stretch forth His arm to bring this to pass. It required the
revelation of the Gospel in its purity from the heavens; it required
the restoration of the holy Priesthood to the earth in the plentitude
of its power to bring it about; and as soon as the Priesthood was
restored, as soon as the Gospel was given again in purity to man, and
the Church of Christ was again organized, then the object for which
these reformers labored in vain began to be accomplished—oneness began
to prevail, union began to manifest itself, love was diffused, the
Holy Ghost was bestowed, its gifts were enjoyed, and men and women
from various nations and from the midst of various churches were
gathered together in one as we are here to-day. It required the
wisdom, power and Spirit of the Almighty to restore this [p.99]
condition of things for which many men had so long labored in vain.

Vol. 13,  p.99
And so it is in relation to the social organization of society. It
requires the wisdom of Almighty God to correct the evils under which
mankind groan. Men may labor and devise schemes, expend means and do
all that is possible for human beings, not directed by the Spirit and
power of God, to do, and after they have done it all they are
compelled to confess that they are weak and fallible, and incapable of
accomplishing that which they have aimed at. But with God to aid them,
with His wisdom to guide and His Spirit to direct, and His blessings
to smile upon them they can accomplish all that is necessary to redeem
and save the human family, both in a physical and spiritual point of
view. God has chosen His people, the Latter-day Saints, to solve these
knotty problems that have troubled the brains and affected the
children of men for so many centuries.

Vol. 13,  p.99
The Lord has said that "if ye are not equal in earthly things, ye
cannot be in obtaining heavenly things" He has revealed a plan by
which this equality can be brought about. Yet, He does not design to
make us of equal height; He does not design that we should all bare
the same colored hair or eyes, or that we should dress exactly alike.
This is not the meaning of the word "equality," as as it is used in
the revelation; but it means to have an equal claim on the blessings
of our Heavenly Father—on the properties of the Lord's treasury, and
the influences and gifts of His Holy Spirit. This is the equality
meant in the revelations, and until we attain to this equality we
cannot be equal in spiritual things, and the blessings of God cannot
be bestowed upon us until we attain to this as they otherwise would.
As a people we are expecting the day to come when Jesus will descend
in the clouds of Heaven; but before this day comes we must be prepared
to receive him. the organization of society that exists in the heavens
must exist on the earth; the same condition of society, so far as it
is applicable to mortal beings, must exist here. And for this purpose
God has revealed this Order; for this purpose He is bringing us into
our present condition.

Vol. 13,  p.99
A great many of the Latter-day Saints scarcely understand the
persistency with which the Presidency of the Church has labored to
bring about the oneness of the people in temporal things; and this
co-operative movement is an important step in this direction and is
designed to prepare them for the ushering in of this Order to which I
have been alluding. It has already produced greater union, and it will
produce still greater union than anything that has been witnessed
among us; and if we carry it out in the spirit in which it has been
taught to us it will produce immense results. The Lord will bless us;
He will increase our means and pour into the laps of this people
everything necessary for their greatness in the earth. For be it known
unto you and to all people than God designs to make of the Latter-day
Saints the head; He intends to place in their hands and keeping the
wealth of the world. But before blessings of this description can be
poured upon us we must be prepared to receive and use them aright.
Suppose these things were to he poured upon us in our present
condition, what would be the result? Every one can answer flits
question for himself. Each one knows his or her own heart, and the
feelings by which it is animated. We know that if the whole people
were to be made rich it would be an exceedingly difficult mattter to
control them; even with the little means we [p.100] have to-day it is
one of the most difficult things to control the people in regard to
the disposition and correct use of that means.

Vol. 13,  p.100
In a revelation given on this subject in the year 1834 the Lord says—

Vol. 13,  p.100
"I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens and built the earth as a very
handy work, and all things therein are mine, and it is my purpose to
provide for my Saints, for all things are mine; but it must needs be
done in mine own way, and behold, this is the way that I, the Lord,
have decreed to provide for my Saints, that the poor shall be exalted
in that the rich are made low; for the earth is full and there is
enough and to spare. Yea, I prepared all things and have given unto
the children of men to be agents unto themselves; therefore if any man
shall take of the abundance which I have made and impart not his
portion, according to the law of my Gospel, unto the poor and the
needy, he shall with the wicked lift up his eyes in hell, being in
torment."

Vol. 13,  p.100
In another revelation on the same subject given in 1832, the Lord
says—

Vol. 13,  p.100
"For Zion must increase in beauty and holiness; her borders must be
enlarged; her stakes must be strengthened; yea, verily, I say unto
you, Zion must arise and put on her beautiful garments: therefore I
give unto you this commandment that ye bind yourselves by this
covenant, and it shall be done according to the laws of the Lord.
Behold, here is wisdom also in me for your good. And you are to be
equal, or in other words you are to have equal claims on the
properties for the benefit of managing the concerns of your
stewardships, every man according to his wants and his needs, inasmuch
as his wants are just, and all this for the benefit of the Church of
the living God, that every man may improve upon his talent, and every
man may gain other talents, yea, even an hundredfold, to be east into
the Lord's storehouse, to become the common property of the whole
Church, every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all
things with an eye single to the glory of God.

Vol. 13,  p.100
"This order I have appointed to be an everlasting order unto you, and
unto your successors, inasmuch as you sin not; and the soul that sins
against this covenant, and hardeneth his heart against it, shall be
dealt with according to the laws of my Church, and shall be delivered
over to the buffetings of Satan until the day of redemption."

Vol. 13,  p.100
While I am reading I will read another extract, that you may get the
idea more fully in your mind. After speaking of the Treasury that
shall be appointed, in which shall be preserved the sacred things in
the Treasury for sacred and holy purposes, which shall be called the
Treasury of the Lord, the Lord continues—

Vol. 13,  p.100
"And again, there shall be another Treasury prepared and a treasurer
appointed to keep the Treasury, and a seal shall be placed upon it;
and all monies that you receive in your stewardships, by improving
upon the properties which I have appointed unto you, in houses, or in
lands, or in cattle, or in all things, save it be the holy and sacred
writings, which I have reserved unto myself for holy and sacred
purposes, shall be cast into the Treasury as fast as you receive the
moneys, by hundreds, or by fifties, or by twenties, or by tens, or by
fives; or in other words, if any man among you obtain five talents,
let him east them into the Treasury; or if he obtain ten, or twenty,
or fifty or an hundred, let him do likewise, and let not any man among
you say that it is his own, for it shall not be called his, nor any
part of it, and [p.101] there shall not any part of it be used or
taken out of the Treasury, only by the voice and common consent of the
Order. And this shall be the voice and common consent of the
Order—that any man among you say unto the treasurer, I have need of
this to help me in my stewardship; if it be five talents, or if it be
ten talents, or twenty, or fifty, or an hundred, the treasurer shall
give unto him the sum which he requires, to help him in his
stewardship, until he be found a transgressor, and it is manifest
before the Council of the Order plainly, that he is an unfaithful and
an unwise steward; but so long as he is in full fellowship, and is
faithful, and wise in his stewardship, this shall be his token unto
the treasurer, that the treasurer shall not withhold."

Vol. 13,  p.101
From these extracts which I have read in your hearing you can form an
idea of the Order which God, our Heavenly Father, intends to establish
among us as soon as we are willing to enter upon it. It is not the
design of God that we should fall a prey to the evils that have
existed and that have worked out such misery and ruin among other
people. It is God's design to save and redeem us from the evils that
others have endured. It has been frequently remarked to me by men out
of our faith, when conversing upon our principles and the success
which has attended their proclamation: "Mr. Cannon, as long as the
Latter-day Saints are poor you will do very well; as long as you are
persecuted you will stand; but you will be like other people when
wealth increases in your midst—when you grow up into classes and some
are wealthy and some are poor, and your Church becomes popular, you
will be very likely to fall into the same evils and errors that have
characterized other churches." If God did not preside over this
Church, such expectations and predictions would doubtless be
fulfilled. But God presides; it is His Church, and He has provided
remedies for every one of these evils, by which the Church can be
preserved, and by which wealth can be increased in the midst of the
Latter-day Saints and yet not work out the injurious results that we
see elsewhere where it abounds. God has provided a way to prevent
this, and that way is to be found in the revelations that were given
unto us upwards of thirty-six years ago, and we can read and
understand them.

Vol. 13,  p.101
"Well," says one, "if such an Order as this you speak of be
established, will not the careless and indolent enjoy a share in the
blessings of those who are industrious? and will it not weaken the
hands of the energetic?" Not in the least. The man who is energetic
and faithful will receive the reward of his faithfulness. If he has a
large surplus Of means he has more to put into the Treasury to help to
forward that kingdom he loves, and he is credited with it. In the day
of the Lord Jesus we are told He will say to him, "Thou hast been
faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many," and
such individuals will receive a reward in proportion to their
faithfulness. But if they hide up their talent in a napkin and bury it
in the ground, that which was given to, them will be taken from them.
They who use their talents righteously and faithfully will have them
increased, but the unfaithful will be deprived of that which he seems
to have.

Vol. 13,  p.101
This Order will not have the effect that some anticipate, but it will
be a blessing to all who are engaged in it. There will not be any
temptation to seek for wealth for the sake of aggrandizing one's self
or to place one's [p.102] heart upon riches, as there is now. This
temptation will be removed. I shall be able to love my neighbor. Why?
Because if I make off him in a trade I know that whatever I make goes
into the treasury and becomes the property of the whole Church,
therefore what inducement would there be to soil my soul and bring a
blot on my character by taking advantage of my neighbor when it is not
going to specially benefit me?

Vol. 13,  p.102
I look upon this principle as one of the greatest principles to save
people from avaricious and sordid feelings that God has ever revealed.
It will bare a tendency to check dishonesty and remove want. It will
have a tendency to stop stealing and to cure the evils under which
mankind have groaned from the beginning until now. In the Gospel of
Jesus Christ there is a remedy for every evil that exists among men.
Here is the "social problem," that troubles the minds of all nations
to-day. The cities of Christendom are crowded with prostitutes; their
young men are destroyed in the dawn of their days by the terrible
crime of prostitution. How shall these fearful evils be cured? Has
there been sufficient wisdom found among men to do it? No; they have
confessed their utter inability to cope with it. It is overwhelming
them and sweeping them off like a fiord throughout the length and
breadth of the land, until physicians say that half the diseases that
prevail among mankind in Christendom are directly traceable to this
devouring evil, What is to correct it? I answer, the Lord, through His
people—the Latter-day Saints—is revealing the remedy. You travel
throughout the Territory of Utah, from Bear Lake in the north to St.
George in the south, and what do you see? You see a people free from
secret diseases, you see a people free from the dreadful curse of
prostitution. Our young men and maidens grow up in all the vigor of
health and there is nothing to sap that vigor and lead them to a
premature grave. Then what is to correct these evils in the world? The
plan which God has revealed. It will bring about a pure condition of
things. If it were universally adopted the "social evil" would be
removed, and prostitution would soon cease to exist on the face of the
earth.

Vol. 13,  p.102
Will this plan—this glorious Order which God has revealed—correct the
other evils with which the world is afflicted? Yes, when that Order is
universally established there will no longer be any temptation to
steal, defraud one's neighbor or to commit any wrongs of this kind,
for it is said, and truly, that the love of money is the root of all
evil. The Order of which I speak will correct these evils because
there will be a treasury in the midst of the people, from which those
who are worthy can get that which they need to sustain them in their
stewardship, and into which all who have a surplus will pour their
wealth until it will become the common property of the church; and the
church under this organization which God has revealed will become a
great and mighty power in the midst of the earth.

Vol. 13,  p.102
We have great power now, though not numerically strong; we are not a
very great people so far as numbers are concerned, but we are strong
because we are united. The more wealth we have the greater is our
power, because the President of this Church can control this people,
therefore the people have power, and when our wealth shall be
controlled by the President of this Church, we shall have greater
power in the earth than we have to-day. But will that power [p.103] be
used for hurtful purposes? No; it will be used for beneficial ends,
for the amelioration of the condition of the human family, for the
practical inauguration of these great and glorious principles which
God has revealed; and it is to bring you to this condition that the
elders are laboring as they are; it is to bring you to this oneness
that they labor as they do continually—that they travel and preach to
and exhort the Saints all the day long to listen to the counsels of
God.

Vol. 13,  p.103
Although it has been deferred a good while it will yet be accomplished
and fulfilled and the people brought to a condition that is desired.

Vol. 13,  p.103
Much more might be said on this subject; but I am intruding on your
time. May God bless you, my brethren and sisters, and prepare us, as a
people, to receive the revelations of His will, which are true and
perfect and intended to elevate and exalt us, and to bring us back
into His presence, there to be crowned with glory and immortality:
which I pray may be the case with us all in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

George A. Smith, October 8 and 9, 1868

Historical Address By President George A. Smith, 
Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake 
City, October 8th and 9th, 1868.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 13,  p.103
The circumstances by which we are surrounded are such as to cause
feeling of no ordinary character. In all the Conferences held
hitherto, in this city and in Nauvoo, we have enjoyed the society of
our late lamented President, Heber C. Kimball; and his being called
away from a useful field in which he had long labored, should remind
us that each of us, at any moment, may be called to close our career
here for time, and to await our reward in the resurrection. We can but
rejoice that our brother, in his long life and labors in the Church,
was a pattern of humility, faith and diligence, and was instrumental
in the hands of God in bringing many thousands to a knowledge of the
truth. The blow which has fallen upon us in being deprived of his
company, counsel and instruction, should remind us of the necessity of
diligence in the discharge of all our duties, that, like him, we may
be prepared to inherit celestial glory, and to associate with Joseph
and Hyrum Smith and David Patten, and the martyrs who have gone
before.

Vol. 13,  p.103
The incidents that have been brought to our notice by our brethren who
have spoken during the Conference, give rise to a series of
reflections in relation to our early history as a people, which, I
presume, it would be well for us all to review. There are some in this
Territory who have been in the Church thirty-six,[p.104] thirty-seven
or thirty-eight years, but a great many of the people have been in
only a few years. A very large portion of our population have been
reared here, and consequently a brief sketch of the early incidents of
our history may not be unprofitable to any.

Vol. 13,  p.104
When Joseph Smith took the plates of Mormon from the hill Cumorah, he
was immediately surrounded by enemies, and though he was a young man
of unexceptional character, he was compelled to go from place to
place, while translating the work, to avoid persecution. The press and
the pulpit denounced him as an impostor and his followers as dupes. As
soon as he preached the doctrine of baptism for the remission of sins,
and organized a Church with six members, he was arrested and brought
before a magistrate, honorably discharged by him, and immediatly
arrested again and hurried into an adjoining county, where he was
insulted, spit upon, and kept without food during the day, and then
given crusts of bread and water. The next day he was taken before
magistrates who, after a rigid examination, found no fault in him. A
mob resolved to "tar and feather" him, but through the instrumentality
of the constable, who previously treated him roughly, but who now
became his friend, he made his escape in safety. All these proceedings
were instigated by clergymen and professors of religion in high
standing. A similar spirit of persecution was manifested in a greater
or less degree in every place where the Gospel was proclaimed, not
only against Joseph Smith, but also against other Elders who preached
the word.

Vol. 13,  p.104
This system of persecution continued, especially in the shape of
vexatious law suits, numbering some fifty in all, up to the day of his
death, and in all of which a most vicious and vindictive spirit was
manifested outside of judicial questions. In every case he was
honorably acquitted, and upon the charge of treason upon which he was
detained in Carthage gail, when murdered, he had not even been
lawfully examined before a magistrate. In all these trials except one
he had been before persons religiously opposed to him—his enemies were
his judges—and all this while every act of his life was prompted by a
firm desire to do good to his fellow men—to preach, the Gospel of
peace, to magnify the high and holy calling he had received from the
Lord, and thereby lead back to the ancient faith of Jesus Christ his
fellow beings who had fallen into darkness.

Vol. 13,  p.104
Vexatious law suits not accomplishing the work to the satisfaction of
the persecutors of the Saints, mob violence was resorted to, as being
more effective. On the 25th day of March, 1832, in Hyrum, Portage Co.,
Ohio, Joseph Smith was dragged from his bed and carried to the woods,
daubed with tar and feathers, and otherwise ill-treated. The following
is his account of the outrage:

Vol. 13,  p.104
"On the 25th of March, the twins before mentioned, which had been sick
for some time with the measles, caused us to be broke of our rest in
taking care of them, especially my wife. In the evening I told her she
had better retire to rest with one of the children, and I would watch
with the sickest child. In the night she told me I had better lie down
on the trundle bed, and I did so, and was soon after awoke by her
screaming 'murder!' when I found myself going out of the door, in the
hands of about a dozen men, some of whose hands were in my hair, and
some had hold of my shirt, drawers, and limbs. The foot of the trundle
bed was towards the door, leaving only room enough for the door to
swing. My wife [p.105] heard a gentle tapping on the windows, which
she then took no particular notice of (but which was unquestionably
designed for ascertaining whether we were all asleep), and soon after
the mob burst open the door and surrounded the bed in an instant, and,
as I said, the first I knew, I was going out of the door in the hands
of an infuriated mob. I made a desperate struggle, as I was forced
out, to extricate myself, but only cleared one leg, with which I made
a pass at one man, and he fell on the door steps. I was immediately
confined again; and they swore by God they would kill me if I did not
be still, which quieted me. As they passed around the house with me,
the fellow that I kicked came to me and thrust his hand into my face,
all covered with blood (for I hit him on the nose), and with an
exulting horse laugh, muttered, 'Ge, gee, God damn ye, I'll fix ye.'

Vol. 13,  p.105
"They then seized me by the throat, and held on till I lost my breath.
After I came to, as they passed along with me, about thirty rods from
the house, I saw Elder Rigdon stretched out on the ground, whither
they had dragged him by the heels. I supposed he was dead. I began to
plead with them, saying, 'You will have mercy and spare my life, I
hope,' to which they replied, 'God damn ye, call on your God for help,
we'll show ye no mercy;' and the people began to show themselves in
every direction; one coming from the orchard had a plank, and I
expected they would kill me, and carry me off on the plank. They then
turned to the right and went on about thirty rods further, about sixty
rods from the house and thirty from where I saw Elder Rigdon, into the
meadow, where they stopped, and one said, 'Simonds, Simonds,'
(meaning, I suppose, Simonds Rider,) 'pull up his drawers, pull up his
drawers, he will take cold.' Another replied, 'Ain't ye going to kill
'im, ain't ye going to kill 'im?' when a group of mobbers collected a
little way off and said, 'Simonds, Simonds, come here;' and Simonds
charged those who had hold of me to keep me from touching the ground
(as they had all the time done), lest I should get a spring upon them.
They went and held a council, and, as I could occasionally overhear a
word, I supposed it was to know whether it was best to kill me. They
returned after a while when I learned they had concluded not to kill
me, but pound and scratch me well, tear off my shirt and drawers, and
leave me naked. One cried, 'Simonds, Simonds, where's the tar bucket?'
'I don't know,' answered one, 'where 'tis, Eli's left it.' They ran
back and fetched the bucket of tar, when one exclaimed,' God damn it,
let us tar up his mouth;' and they tried to force the tar-paddle into
my mouth; I twisted my head around, so that they could not, and they
cried out, 'God damn ye, hold up your head and let us give ye some
tar.' They then tried to force a vial into my mouth, and broke it in
my teeth. All my clothes were torn off me except my shirt collar, and
one man fell on me and scratched my body with his nails like a mad
cat, and then muttered out, 'God damn ye, that's the way the Holy
Ghost falls on folks.'

Vol. 13,  p.105
"They then left me, and I attempted to rise, but fell again. I pulled
the tar away from my lips, so that I could breathe more freely, and
raised myself up, when I saw two lights. I made my way towards one of
them, and found it was Father Johnson's. When I had come to the door,
I was naked, and the tar made me look as though I had been covered
with blood; and when my wife saw me she thought [p.106] I was mashed
all to pieces, and fainted. During the affray abroad, the sisters of
the neighborhood had collected at my room. I called for a blanket,
they threw me one, and shut the door. I wrapped it around me and went
in." History of Joseph Smith, Mill. Star, vol. 14, page 148.

Vol. 13,  p.106
I will add that the exposure of the child above referred to, to the
night air, caused its death This murdered child was doubtless the
first martyr of the last dispensation.

Vol. 13,  p.106
In a revelation given Sept, 1831, the Lord said, "It is my will that
the Saints retain a strong hold in the land of Kirtland for the space
of five years."

Vol. 13,  p.106
The Saints owned several farms in Kirtland. Mr. Lyman, a Presbyterian,
also owned a grist mill there, and many of us got our grinding done at
his, mill, although our brethren owned mills two or three miles
distant. We had commenced building the Kirtland Temple. A portion of
the city site had been surveyed, and many of the Saints who had
recently come in were building houses on the lots. Mr. Lyman
associated himself with a combination to starve us out. The
authorities proceeded to warn all the Latter-day Saints out of the
township, and formed a compact not to employ us or sell us grain,
which was scarce at the time. Mr. Lyman had 3000 bushels of wheat, but
refused to let us have it at any reasonable price, and it was believed
we were so destitute of money that we would have to scatter abroad.
The warning out of town was designed to prevent our becoming a
township charge, the law of Ohio being that if a person, who had been
warned out of town, applied for assistance, he was to be carried to
the next town and so on till he was taken out of the State or to the
town from which he formerly came.

Vol. 13,  p.106
We were obliged to send fifty miles for grain, which cost us one
dollar and six cents per bushel delivered in Kirtland. Mr. Lyman's
grain remained unsold and his effort to starve us taught us better
than to longer patronize his mill, although it cost us the trouble of
going two or three miles to mills belonging to our brethren. We built
a magnificent temple and a large city. We paid our quota of taxes and
we were as noted and remarkable for our industry, temperance, thrift
and morality there, as our people are at the present day. We also
patronized a Mr. Lyon, who was a gentlemanly outside merchant, but the
moment he got an opportunity he united with our enemies to oppress us.

Vol. 13,  p.106
We sent our children to school to Mr. Bates, a Presbyterian minister,
who soon after went into court and bore false witness against the
Elders, and further testified on oath that every "Mormon" was
intellectually insane. This lesson did admonish us not to longer
intrust the education of our youth to canting hypocrites.

Vol. 13,  p.106
For several years we had used the paper of Geauga Bank at Painesville,
as money. A loan of a few hundred dollars was asked for by Joseph
Smith, with ample security, but was refused, and Elder Reynolds Cahoon
was told they would not accommodate the "Mormon Prophet," although
they acknowledged the endorsers were above question, simply because it
would encourage "Mormonism." So much of their specie was drawn by
Joseph Smith during the three succeeding days, as greatly improved
their tempers, and they said to Elder Cahoon, "Tell Mr. Smith he must
stop this, and any favor he wants we are ready to accord him."

Vol. 13,  p.106
Subsequently application was made to the Legislature of the State for
a bank charter, the notes to be [p.107] redeemed with specie and their
redemption secured by real estate. The charter was denied us on the
grounds that we were "Mormons," and soon I a combination of apostates
and outsiders caused us to leave Kirtland, the most of our property
unsold; and our beautiful Temple yet remains a lasting monument of our
perseverance and industry. The loss sustained through this persecution
was probably not less than one million dollars.

MISSOURI

Vol. 13,  p.107
On the 20th day of July, 1831, at Independence, Jackson county, Joseph
Smith set apart and dedicated a lot as the site of the Temple of the
centre stake of Zion, ground having been purchased for this purpose,
and it still is known as the "Temple lot." The Saints entered lands in
different parts of the county, built houses, opened farms, constructed
mills, established a printing office (owned by W. W. Phelps and Co.,
and the first in Western Missouri), and opened a mercantile
establishment, the largest, in the county, owned by Messrs. Gilbert
and Whitney.

Vol. 13,  p.107
In July, 1833, a mob was organized by signing a circular, which set
forth that the civil law did not afford them a sufficient guarantee
against the "Mormons," whom they accused of "blasphemously pretending
to heal the sick by the administration of holy oil," and consequently
they must be either "fanatics" or "knaves." Under the influence of
Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian ministers, they tore down the
printing office of the Evening and Morning Star, which cost some
$6000. They stripped and tarred and feathered Bishop Partridge and
Elder Charles Allen, and seized several other Elders and cast them
into prison, compelled Gilbert and Whitney to close their store, and
soon after broke it open and scattered their goods to the four winds.
They tore down twenty houses over the heads of the inmates, and
whipped and terribly lacerated with hickory withes many of the Elders,
killed Andrew Barber, and severely wounded many others; robbed the
houses of their property, and finally expelled fifteen hundred people
from the county. They also destroyed some two hundred and sixteen
dwellings, and much of the land, being valuable timber land, became
public plunder. The Saints were robbed of most of their horses,
cattle, implements of husbandry, etc. The total loss in these
transactions is estimated at half a million dollars.

Vol. 13,  p.107
"Horrible to relate, several women thus driven from their homes gave
birth to children in the woods and on the prairies, destitute of beds
or clothing, having escaped in fright. It is stated on the authority
of Solomen Hancock, an eye witness, that he, with the assistance of
two or three others, protected one hundred and twenty women and
children for the space of ten days, who were obliged to keep
themselves hid from their pursuers, while they were hourly expecting
to be massacred, and who finally escaped into Clay county, by finding
a circuitous route to the ferry."

Vol. 13,  p.107
They could be traced by the blood from their feet, on the burnt
prairie. This occurred in the month of November, and is a specimen of
the kindness that law-abiding Latter-day Saints received at the hands
of those who had power over them. The Saints were so law-abiding that
not a single process had been issued against any member of the Church
in Jackson county up to the organization of the mob, although all the
offices, civil and military, were in the hands of their enemies.

Vol. 13,  p.108
Prominent in these cruelties as actors and apologists were the
Revds.[p.108] Isaac McCoy and D. Pixley, the former a Baptist and the
latter a Presbyterian missionary to the Indians.

CLAY COUNTY

Vol. 13,  p.108
The arrival of the Saints in Clay county was a blessing to the
inhabitants, who had just opened small prairie farms and planted them
with Indian corn, much of which was unharvested. They had cattle on
the bottoms and hogs in the woods. The majority of the people received
the Saints with gladness and gave them employment, and paid them in
corn, pork and beef. The wages were low, but sufficient to supply the
more pressing wants of the people. From time to time Joseph Smith
forwarded money from Kirtland to Bishop Partridge to supply the most
needy. The mob in Jackson county sent committees to stir up the
feelings of the people of Clay against the Saints. For some time their
oft-repeated efforts to do so were unsuccessful Parties of the mob
would come over from Jackson and seize our brethren and inflict
violence upon them. The industry of our people soon enabled them to
make some purchases of land, and then their numbers were increased by
arrivals from the east. The mob of Jackson county continued their
endeavors to stir up dissatisfaction among the people of Clay county
against the Saints. At length the citizens of Clay county held a
public meeting and requested the "Mormons" to seek another home, when
the Saints located in the new county of Caldwell, which contained only
seven families, who were bee hunters As the county was mostly prairie,
their business was not very profitable, and they gladly embraced the
opportunity of selling their claims.

Vol. 13,  p.108
Caldwell county, being nearly destitute of timber, was regarded by the
people of upper Missouri as worthless. Every Saint that could raise
fifty dollars entered forty acres of land, and there were few but what
could do that much, while many entered large tracts. The Saints
migrated from the east and settled Caldwell in great numbers.

Vol. 13,  p.108
In three years they had built mills, shops, school, meeting and
dwelling houses, and opened and fenced hundreds of farms. Our industry
and temperance rendered our settlements the most prosperous of any in
Missouri, while they embraced all of Caldwell, most of Davis, and
large portions of Clinton, Ray, Cartel and Livingston counties, when
the storm of moboeracy was again aroused and aided by the Governor of
the State, Lilburn W. Boggs, who issued the order expelling all the
Latter-day Saints from the State under penalty of extermination. This
caused the loss of hundreds of lives through violence and suffering.
Houses were plundered, women were violated, men were whipped, and a
great variety of cruelties inflicted, and a loss of property amounting
to millions was sustained, while any one that would renounce his
religion was permitted to remain.

Vol. 13,  p.108
Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Alexander McRae, Lyman Wight and others were
for several months thrust; into prison, and in one instance, while
there, were fed on human flesh and tantalized with the inquiry, "How
they liked Mormon beef"—it being the flesh of some of their murdered
brethren.

Vol. 13,  p.108
The Lord softened the hearts of the people of Quincy, Illinois, and
while the hundreds of Saints were fleeing over the snow-clad prairies
of Missouri, not knowing where to go, the people of Quincy were
holding public meetings, raising subscriptions and [p.109] adopting
measures to give the fugitives employment and succor, for which our
hearts overflow with gratitude.

Vol. 13,  p.109
As soon as the Saints were all expelled from Missouri, Joseph Smith
went to Washington and laid the grievances of the people before the
President and Congress of the United States. Mr. Van Buren said, "Your
cause is just, but we can do nothing for you." Mr. Clay, when appealed
to, said we "had better go to Oregon." Mr. Calhoun informed Mr. Smith
it would involve the question of State rights, and was a dangerous
question, and it would not do to agitate it. Mr. Cass, as chairman of
the Senate committee, to which the petition was referred, reported
that Congress had no business with it.

Vol. 13,  p.109
Elder John P. Green went east, and published an appeal in behalf of
the Saints, holding public meetings in Cincinnati and New York, and
received some small contributions for the assistance of the most
needy.

Vol. 13,  p.109
As soon as Joseph Smith escaped from Missouri to Illinois, he
purchased lands at a place known as Commerce, in Hancock county, and
commenced the survey of a city which he called Nauvoo, the word being
derived from the Hebrew, meaning beauty and rest. Although the
situation was handsome, it was famed for being unhealthy. There were
but few inhabitants in the vicinity, but many graves in the burying
ground, and much of the subsequent sickness was the result of exposure
and the want of suitable means of nursing the sick. The swamps in the
vicinity of Nauvoo were soon drained, and the lands around put under
cultivation. Numerous dwellings and several mills were erected, and
thrift and prosperity, the invariable results of industry and
sobriety, were manifest.

Vol. 13,  p.109
Demands were made from Missouri for the persons of Joseph and Hyrum
Smith. Joseph was arrested and tried at Monmouth, before Judge Stephen
A. Douglas, and honorably discharged. His principal attorney in this
case was the Hon. O. H. Browning, now U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
This suit cost him upwards of three thousand dollars. He was soon
again arrested on a demand from Missouri, and discharged by Judge
Pope, of the U.S. District Court. This time it cost him twelve
thousand dollars. Not long after this second acquittal he was again
arrested in Lee County, Illinois, and an attempt made, in the face of
the State authorities, to kidnap him into Missouri. Nauvoo sent out
three hundred men and rescued him. He was afterwards discharged by the
municipal court of that place, and Thomas Ford, Governor of Illinois,
sanctioned his discharge.

Vol. 13,  p.109
In 1844 Joseph and Hyrum were arrested on a charge of treason, under
pledge of the executive that they should have a fair trial, but they
were murdered by one hundred and fifty men with blackened faces;
merchants and men that we had sustained in business, and apostates,
took a leading part in bringing this about.

EXPENSES ATTENDANT UPON THE ARREST OF JOSEPH SMITH

Vol. 13,  p.109
Joseph Smith, the Prophet, was subjected, during his short ministerial
career of fifteen years, to about fifty vexatious law suits. The
principal expense was incurred in liquidating lawyers bills, and the
brethren's time and expenditure in attending courts to defend the
Prophet from mob violence.

Vol. 13,  p.109
Magistrates court expenses were generally one hundred dollars. The
Prophet paid Generals Doniphan and Atehison for legal services at
Richmond, Mo., in 1838-9, sixteen thousand dollars; but this amount
was [p.110] fruitlessly expended, as the benefits of the law were not
accorded to him, because of the predominance and overruling power of a
mob.

Vol. 13,  p.110
At the Prophet's trial at Monmouth, Ill., in 1841, before Judge
Douglas, the lawyers' fees and expenses amounted to three thousand
dollars.

Vol. 13,  p.110
His next trial was before Judge Pope, U.S. District. Court, in 1842-3,
the expenses of which may be reasonable estimated at twelve thousand
dollars.

Vol. 13,  p.110
Cyrus Walker charged ten thousand dollars for defending Joseph in his
political arrest, or the attempt at kidnapping him at Dixon, Ill., in
1843. There, were four other lawyers employed for the defence besides
Walker. The expenses of the defence in this trial were enormous,
involving the amounts incurred by the horse companies who went in
pursuit to aid Joseph, and the trip of the steamer Maid of Iowa, from
Nauvoo to Otawa, and may be fairly estimated at one hundred thousand
dollars.

Vol. 13,  p.110
When the mantle of Joseph Smith fell upon Brigham Young, the enemies
of God and His kingdom sought to inaugurate a similar career for
President Young; but he took his revolver from his pocket at the
public stand in Nauvoo, and declared that upon the first attempt of an
officer to read a writ to him in a State that had violated its
plighted faith in the murder of the Prophet and Patriarch while under
arrest, he should serve the contents of this writ (holding his loaded
revolver in his hand) first; to this the vast congregation assembled
said, Amen. He was never arrested.

APPEAL TO THE GOVERNORS OF THE STATES

Vol. 13,  p.110
In 1845, the storm of mobocracy raging around us, we sent an appeal to
the President of the United States, and to the Governor of every State
in the Union, except Missouri, of which the following, addressed to
Governor Drew, of Arkansas, is a copy to the Governor, he being the
only one from whom an answer was received—

"To His Excellency Thomas S. Drew, Governor of Arkansas.
"Nauvoo, Ill., May 1, 1845.

Vol. 13,  p.110
"Honorable Sir,—Suffer us, sir, in behalf of a disfranchised and long
afflicted people, to prefer a few suggestions for your serious
consideration, in hope of a friendly and unequivocal response, at as
early a period as may suit your convenience, and the extreme urgency
of the case seems to demand.

Vol. 13,  p.110
"It is not our present design to detail the multiplied and aggravated
wrongs that we have received in the midst of a nation that gave us
birth. Some of us have long been loyal citizens of the State over
which you have the honor to preside, while others' claim citizenship
in each of the States of this great confederacy. We say we are a
disfranchised people. We are privately told by the highest authorities
of this State, that it is neither prudent nor safe for us to vote at
the polls; still we have continued to maintain our right to vote,
until the blood of our best men has been shed, both in Missouri and
the State of Illinois, with impunity.

Vol. 13,  p.110
"You are doubtless somewhat familiar with the history of our
extermination from the State of Missouri, wherein scores of our
brethren were massacred, hundreds died through want and sickness,
occasioned by their unparalleled sufferings, some millions of our
property were confiscated or destroyed, and some fifteen thousand
souls fled for their lives to the then hospitable and peaceful shores
of Illinois; and that the State of Illinois [p.111] granted to us a
liberal charter, for the term of perpetual succession, and under its
provisions private rights have become invested, and the largest city
in the State has grown up, numbering about twenty thousand
inhabitants.

Vol. 13,  p.111
"But, sir, the startling attitude recently assumed by the State of
Illinois forbids us to think that her designs are any less vindictive
than those of Missouri. She has already used the military of the
State, with the Executive at their head, to coerce and surrender up
our best men to unparalleled murder, and that, too, under the most
sacred pledges of protection and safety. As a salve for such unearthly
perfidy and guilt, she told us, through her highest Executive officer,
that the laws should be magnified, and the murderers brought to
justice; but the blood of her innocent victims had not been wholly
wiped from the floor of the awful arena, where the citizens of a
sovereign State pounced upon two defenceless servants of God, our
Prophet and our Patriarch, before the Senate of that State rescued one
of the indicted aurora in that mournful tragedy from the sheriff of
Hancock county, and gave him an honorable seat in her halls of
legislation. And all others who were indicted by the grand jury of
Hancock county for the murders of Generals Joseph and Hyrum Smith, are
suffered to roam at large, watching for further prey.

Vol. 13,  p.111
"To crown the climax of those bloody deeds, the State has repealed all
those chartered rights by which we might have defended ourselves
against aggressors. If we defend ourselves hereafter against violence,
whether it comes under the shadow of law or otherwise (for we have
reason to expect it both ways), we shall then be charged with treason,
and suffer the penalty; and if we continue passive and non-resistant,
we must certainly expect to perish, for our enemies have sworn it.

Vol. 13,  p.111
"And here, sir, permit us to state that General Joseph Smith, during
this short life, was arraigned at the bar of his country about fifty
times, charged with criminal offences, but was acquitted every time by
his country, or rather his religious opponents almost invariably being
his judges. And we further testify, that as a people we are
law-abiding, peaceable, and without crimes; and we challenge the world
to prove the contrary. And while other less cities in Illinois have
had special courts instituted to try their criminals, we have been
stript of every source of arraigning marauders and murderers who are
prowling around to destroy us, except the common magistracy.

Vol. 13,  p.111
"With these facts before you, sir, will you write to us without delay,
as a father and friend, and advise us what to do? We are, many of us,
citizens of your State, and all members of the same great confederacy.
Our fathers, nay, some of us, have fought and bled for our country,
and we love her dearly.

Vol. 13,  p.111
"In the name of Israel's God, and by virtue of multiplied ties of
country and kindred, we ask your friendly interposition in our favor.
Will it be too much to ask you to convene a special session of your
State Legislature, and furnish us an asylum where we can enjoy our
rights of conscience and religion unmolested? Or will you in a special
message to that body, when convened, recommend a remonstrance against
such unhallowed acts of oppression and expatriation, as this people
have continued to receive from the States of Missouri and Illinois? Or
will you favor us by your personal influence, and by your official
[p.112] rank? Or will you express your views concerning what is called
the Great Western Measure, of colonizing the Latter-day Saints in
Oregon, the north-western Territory, or some location, remote from the
States, where the hand of oppression shall not crush every noble
principle, and extinguish every patriotic feeling?

Vol. 13,  p.112
"And now, honored sir, having reached out our imploring hands to you
with deep solemnity, we would importune with you as a father, a
friend, a patriot and statesman; by the constitution of American
liberty; by the blood of our fathers, who have fought for the
independence of this Republic; by the blood of the martyrs which has
been shed in our midst; by the wailings of the widows and orphans; by
our murdered fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, wives and
children; by the dread of immediate destruction from secret
combinations now forming for our overthrow; and by every endearing tie
that binds men to men, and renders life bearable, and that, too, for
aught we know, for the last time, that you will lend your immediate
aid to quell the violence of mobocracy, and exert your influence to
establish us as a people in our civil and religious rights, where we
now are, or in some part of the United States, or at some place remote
therefrom, where we may colonize in peace and safety as soon as
circumstances will permit.

Vol. 13,  p.112
"We sincerely hope that your future prompt measures towards us will be
dictated by the best feelings that dwell in the bosom of humanity; and
the blessings of, a grateful people, and of many ready to perish,
shall come upon you.

"We are, sir, with great respect,
"Your obedient servants, 
"Brigham Young, Chairman.

"W. Richards,	|
"Orson Spencer,	|
"Orson Pratt,	|	Committee.
"W. W. Phelps,	|
"A. W. Babbit,	|
"Jno. M. Bernhisel,	|

Vol. 13,  p.112
"In behalf of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at
Nauvoo, Ill.

Vol. 13,  p.112
"P.S.—As many of our communications postmarked at Nauvoo, have failed
of their destination, and the mails around us have been intercepted by
our enemies, we shall send this to some distant office by the hand of
a special messenger."

Vol. 13,  p.112
The following reply was received from Governer Drew:—

"Executive Office, Little Rock, 
Ark., May 27, 1845.

Vol. 13,  p.112
"Hon. Brigham Yonng, President of the Committee of Twelve of Christ's
Church of Latter-day Saints at Nauvoo, Ill.

Vol. 13,  p.112
"Sir,—Your letter of the 1st inst. has been received, and claims my
earnest attention. I must acknowledge my inability to serve your
people by calling an extra Session of the General Assembly of this
State for the object contemplated. And although I do not know that
prejudice against your tenets in Arkansas would weigh aught against
the action of that body, in refusing to furnish within our borders an
asylum from the oppression of which you so sorely complain; yet I am
sure the representatives of the people would long hesitate to extend
to any class of citizens exclusive privileges, however innocent their
motives, aims, objects or actions might appear, when the prospects of
collision, from causes of which in your case I know nothing, appear so
evident from the two very recent manifestations presented in the
States of Missouri and Illinois. I have no [p.113] doubt Illinois,
prompted by the kindest of sympathies for your people in the late
struggle and overthrow they encountered in Missouri, extended a
liberal helping hand, but to repent her supposed folly. Could
Arkansas, after witnessing the same scene re-enacted in Illinois,
calculate on anything short of a like catastrophe?

Vol. 13,  p.113
"I am not sufficiently informed of the course taken against you by the
authorities of the State of Illinois, in the difficulties detailed in
your communication, to justify a recommendation from me to the
Legislature to remonstrate against the acts of Illinois—the detailed
statement of facts afforded me by your communication being of an ex
parte character. But were I regularly informed of all the facts from
both parties, and felt able to form a correct opinion as to the
justice of the course pursued by the State of Illinois, yet I am of
opinion that this State would not have, nor would I have as its chief
Executive officer, the right to interfere in the least with the
internal concerns or police of the State of Illinois, or of any other
neighboring State, where its operations do not distract or in any way
affect the good order of the citizens of the State of Arkansas. There
are instances, but they are rare, where the interposition of one State
to arrest the progress of violence in another, would be at all
admissible. Such, for instance, as where the public authorities of the
State affected are palpably incompetent to quell an insurrection
within her limits, and the violence is likely to extend its ravages
and bad influence to such neighboring State, or where a proper call
has been made for succor.

Vol. 13,  p.113
"Nor can I afford to exercise my official rank as chief Executive of
this State, in behalf of a faction in a neighboring State; and I
humbly conceive that my personal influence would add nothing to your
cause, unless it should prove to be a just one, in which event public
opinion will afford you support of a character more lasting in the eye
of an enlightened public, than wiser and greater men than your humble
servant—than official rank, or force backed by power. It is true that
while prejudice may have the ascendency over the minds of the
neighboring community, your people may be exposed more or less to loss
of life and destruction of property; I therefore heartily agree with
you in the proposed plan of emigration to the Oregon Territory—or to
California—the north of Texas, or to Nebraska; thereby placing your
community beyond the reach of contention, until, at least, you shall
have had time and opportunity to test the practicability of your
system, and to develop its contemplated superior advantages in
ameliorating the condition of the human race, and adding to the
blessings of civil and religious liberty. That such a community,
constituted as yours, with the mass of prejudice which surrounds and
obstructs its progress at this time, cannot prosper in that or any of
the neighboring States, appears very evident from the signal failures
upon two occasions under auspices at least as favorable as you could
reasonably expect from any of the States.

Vol. 13,  p.113
"My personal sympathies are strong for the oppressed, though my
official station can know nothing but what is sanctioned by the
strictest justice, and that circumscribed to the limited jurisdiction
of my own State; and while I deplore, as a man and a philanthropist,
your distressed situation, I would refer you to the emphatic and
patriarchal proposition of Abraham to Lot; and whilst I allude to the
eloquent paraphrase of one of Virginia's most gifted sons, wherein
[p.114] he circumscribed the bounds of our domain within to the great
valley of the Mississippi, I would only add that the way is now open
to the Pacific without let or hindrance. Should the Latter-day Saints
migrate to Oregon, they will carry with them the good will of
philanthropists, and the blessing of every friend of humanity. If they
are wrong, their wrongs will be abated with many degrees of allowance,
and if right, migration will afford an opportunity to make it manifest
in due season to the whole civilized world.

Vol. 13,  p.114
"With my hearty desires for your peace and prosperity, I subscribe
myself respectfully yours,

"THOMAS S. DRAW."

Vol. 13,  p.114
This correspondence shows us the necessity of our being united in
sustaining the Latter-day Saints, that we may not build up, by our own
acts, a power to renew persecution again in our midst.

EXPULSION FROM ILLINOIS

Vol. 13,  p.114
In September, 1845, the mob commenced burning the houses of the Saints
in the southern part of the county of Hancock, and continued until
stopped by the sheriff, who summoned a posse comitatus, while few but
Latter-day Saints would serve under him. The Governor sent troops and
disbanded the posse. The murderers of Joseph and Hyrum had a sham
trial and were acquitted. A convention of nine counties notified us
that we must leave the State. The Governor informed us through General
John J. Harding and Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, that we could not be
protected in Illinois. We commenced our emigration west on the 6th of
February, 1846. During that month some twelve hundred wagons crossed
the Mississippi, many of them on the ice. Everybody that was able to
leave continued to do so until late in the summer, and the outfits
with which they left were insufficient, while the winter and spring
weather was inclement, which caused a great deal of suffering.

Vol. 13,  p.114
While the strength of Israel had gone westward, the Illinois mob
commenced their hostilities with redoubled fury. They whipped,
plundered and murdered men, abused women and children, and drove all
the scattering ones into Nauvoo, then laid siege to the place and
bombarded it for three days, killing several persons and wounding
others, and peremptorily expelled the remainder across the river into
Iowa, after robbing them of the remainder of the property they
possessed, and leaving them on the shore to perish.

Vol. 13,  p.114
Their encampment was probably one of the most miserable and distressed
that ever existed. All who were able, by any possible means, had got
away; those left were the poor and the helpless. Great numbers were
sick, and they were without tents or conveniences of any kind to make
them comfortable. Encamped on the foggy bottoms of the Mississippi
river, they were scorched with fevers, without medicine or proper
food.

Vol. 13,  p.114
In this helpless condition a merciful Providence smiled on them by
sending quails, so tame that many caught them with their hands; yet
many perished within sight of hundreds of houses belonging to them and
their friends, which were under the dominion of the Rev. Thomas S.
Brockman and his mob legions, who viciously trampled the constitution
and laws of Illinois, and the laws of humanity, under their feet.

Vol. 13,  p.114
The victims continued to suffer until the camps in the west sent them
relief. For a more full description of these scenes, I read from the
historical address of Col. (now General) Thomas L. Kane, who was an
eye witness.[p.115] 

Vol. 13,  p.115
"A few years ago," said Colonel Kane, "ascending the Upper
Mississippi, in the autumn, when its waters were low, I was compelled
to travel by land past the region of the Rapids. My road lay through
the Half-breed Tract, a fine section of Iowa, which the unsettled
state of its land-titles had appropriated as a sanctuary for coiners,
horse thieves, and other outlaws. I had left my steamer at Keokuk, at
the foot of the Lower Fall, to hire a carriage, and to contend for
some fragments of a dirty meal with the swarming flies, the only
scavengers of the locality.

Vol. 13,  p.115
"From this place to where the deep water of the river returns, my eye
wearied to see everywhere sordid, vagabond, and idle settlers, and a
country marred, without being improved, by their careless hands. I was
descending the last hill-side upon my journey, when a landscape in
delightful contrast broke upon my view. Half encircled by a bend of
the river, a beautiful city lay glittering in the fresh morning sun;
its bright new dwellings, set in cool green gardens, ranging up around
a stately dome-shaped hill, which was crowned by a noble edifice,
whose high tapering spire was radiant with white and gold. The city
appeared to cover several miles, and beyond it, in the background,
there rolled off a fair country, chequered by the careful lines of
fruitful husbandry. The un-mistakeable marks of industry, enterprise,
and educated wealth everywhere, made the scene one of singular and
most striking beauty. It was a natural impulse to visit this inviting
region. I procured a skiff, and rowing across the river, landed at the
chief wharf of the city. No one met me there. I looked, and saw no
one. I could hear no one move, though the quiet everywhere was such
that I heard the flies buzz, and the water-ripples break against the
shallow of the beach. I walked through the solitary street. The town
lay as in a dream, under some deadening spell of loneliness, from
which I almost feared to wake it, for plainly it had not slept long.
There was no grass growing up in the paved ways; rains had not
entirely washed away the prints of dusty footsteps.

Vol. 13,  p.115
"Yet I went about unchecked. I went into empty workshops, rope-walks
and smithies. The spinner's wheel was idle; the carpenter had gone
from his work-bench and shavings, his unfinished sash and casing.
Fresh bark was in the tanner's vat, and the fresh-chopped lightwood
stood piled against the baker's oven. The blacksmith's shop was cold;
but his coal heap and lading pool, and crooked water horn were all
there, as if he had just gone off for a holiday. No work-people
anywhere looked to know my errand.

Vol. 13,  p.115
"If I went into the gardens, clinking the wicket-latch loudly after
me, to pull the marigolds, heartsease, and lady-slippers, and draw a
drink with the water-sodden well-bucket and its noisy chain; or,
knocking off with my stick the tall, heavy-headed dahlias and
sunflowers, hunted over the beds for cucumbers and love-apples—no one
called out to me from any opened window, or dog sprang forward to bark
an alarm.

Vol. 13,  p.115
"I could have supposed the people hidden in the houses, but the doors
were unfastened; and when at last I timidly entered them, I found dead
ashes white upon the hearths, and had to tread a tip-toe, as if
walking down the aisle of a country church, to avoid rousing
irreverent echoes from the naked floors. On the outskirts of the town
was the city graveyard; but there was no record of plague there, nor
did it in anywise differ much from other Protestant American [p.116]
cemeteries. Some of the mounds were not long sodded; some of the
stones were newly set, their dates recent, and their black
inscriptions glossy in the mason's hardly dried lettering ink. Beyond
the graveyard, out in the fields, I saw, in one spot hard by where the
fruited boughs of a young orchard had been roughly torn down, the
still smouldering remains of a barbecue fire, that had been
constructed of rails from the fencing around it. It was the latest
sign of life there. Fields upon fields of heavy-headed yellow grain
lay rotting un-gathered upon the ground. No one was there to take in
their rich harvest.

Vol. 13,  p.116
"As far as the eye could reach they stretched away—they sleeping, too,
in the hazy air of autumn. Only two portions of the city seemed to
suggest the import of this mysterious solitude. On the southern
suburb, the houses looking out upon the country showed, by their
splintered wood-work and walls battered to the foundation, that they
had lately been the mark of a destructive cannonade. And in and around
the splendid Temple, which had been the chief object of my admiration,
armed men were barracked, surrounded by their stacks of musketry and
pieces of heavy ordnance. These challenged me to render an account of
myself, and why I had had the temerity to cross the water without
written permit from a leader of their band.

Vol. 13,  p.116
"Though these men were generally more or less under the influence of
ardent spirits, after I had explained myself as a passing stranger,
they seemed anxious to gain my good opinion. They told the story of
the Dead City; that it had been a notable manufacturing and commercial
mart, sheltering over twenty thousand persons; that they had waged war
with its inhabitants for several years, and had been finally
successful only a few days before my visit, in an action fought in
front of the ruined suburb; after which they had driven them forth at
the point of the sword. The defence, they said, had been obstinate,
but gave way on the third day's bombardment. They boasted greatly of
their prowess, especially in this battle, as they called it; but I
discovered they were not of one mind as to certain of the exploits
that had distinguished it, one of which, as I remember, was, that they
had slain a father and his son, a boy of fifteen, not long residents
of the fated city, whom they admitted to have borne a character
without reproach.

Vol. 13,  p.116
"They also conducted me inside the massive sculptured walls of the
curious Temple, in which they said the banished inhabitants were
accustomed to celebrate the mystic rites of an unhallowed worship.
They particularly pointed out to me certain features of the building
which, having been the peculiar objects of a former superstitious
regard, they had, as a matter of duty, sedulously defiled and defaced.
The reputed sites of certain shrines they had thus particularly
noticed; and various sheltered chambers, in one of which was a deep
well, constructed, they believed, with a dreadful design. Beside
these, they led me to see a large and deep chiselled marble vase or
basin, supported upon twelve oxen, also of marble, and of the size of
life, of which they told some romantic stories. They said the deluded
persons, most of whom were emigrants from a great distance, believed
their Deity countenanced their reception here of a baptism of
regeneration, as proxies for whomsoever they held in warm affection in
the countries from which they had come. That here parents 'went into
the water' for their lost children, children for their parents,
[p.117] widows for their spouses, and young persons for their lovers;
that thus the Great Vase came to be for them associated with all dear
and distant memories, and was therefore the object, of all others in
the building, to which they attached the greatest degree of idolatrous
affection. On this account, the victors had so diligently desecrated
it, as to render the apartment in which it was contained too noisome
to abide in.

Vol. 13,  p.117
"They permitted me also to ascend into the steeple, to see where it
had been lightning-struck the Sabbath before; and to look out, east
and south, on wasted farms like those I had seen near the city,
extending till they were lost in the distance. Here, in the face of
the pure day, close to the scar of the divine wrath left by the
thunderbolt, were fragments of food, cruises of liquor, and broken
drinking vessels, with a bass drum and a steamboat signal bell, of
which I afterwards learned the use with pain.

Vol. 13,  p.117
"It was after nightfall when I was ready to cross the river on my
return. The wind had freshened since the sunset, and the water beating
roughly into my little boat, I edged higher up the stream than the
point I had left in the morning, and landed where a faint glimmering
light invited me to steer.

Vol. 13,  p.117
"Here, among the dock and rushes, sheltered only by the darkness,
without roof between them and the sky, I came upon a crowd of several
hundred human beings, whom my movements roused from uneasy slumber on
the ground.

Vol. 13,  p.117
"Passing these on my way to the light, I found it came from a tallow
candle in a paper funnel shade, such as is used by street vendors of
apples and peanuts, and which, flaming and guttering away in the bleak
air off the water, shone flickeringly on the emaciated features of a
man in the last stage of a billious remittent fever. They had done
their best for him. Over his head was something like a tent, made of a
sheet or two, and he rested on a partially ripped open old straw
mattress, with a hair sofa cushion under his head for a pillow. His
gaping jaw and glazing eye told how short a time he would monopolize
these luxuries; though a seemingly bewildered and excited person, who
might have been his wife, seemed to find hope in occasionally forcing
him to swallow, awkwardly, sips of the tepid river water, from a
burned and battered bitter-smelling tin coffee-pot. Those who knew
better had furnished the apothecary he needed; a toothless old
bald-head, whose manner had the repulsive dullness of a man familiar
with death scenes. He, so long as I remained, mumbled in his patient's
ear a monotonous and melancholy prayer, between the pauses of which I
heard the hiccup and sobbing of two little girls, who were sitting
upon a piece of drift wood outside.

Vol. 13,  p.117
"Dreadful, indeed, was the suffering of these forsaken beings; bowed
and cramped with cold and sunburn, alternating as each weary day and
night dragged on, they were, almost all of them, the crippled victims
of disease. They were there because they had no homes, nor hospital,
nor poor-house, nor friends to offer them any. They could not satisfy
the feeble cravings of their sick; they had not bread to quiet the
fractious hunger-cries of their children. Mothers and babes, daughters
and grand-parents, all of them alike, were bivouacked in tatters,
wanting even covering to comfort those whom the sick shiver of fever
was searching to the marrow.

Vol. 13,  p.117
"These were Mormons, in Lee county, Iowa, in the fourth week of the
month of September, in the year of our Lord 1846. The city—it was
[p.118] Nauvoo, Ill. The Mormons were the owners of that city, and the
smiling country around. And those who had stopped their ploughs, who
had silenced their hammers, their axes, their shuttles, and their
workshop wheels; those who had put out their fires, who had eaten
their food, spoiled their orchards, and trampled under foot their
thousands of acres of un-harvested bread; these were the keepers of
their dwellings, the carousers in their Temple, whose drunken riot
insulted the ears of the dying.

Vol. 13,  p.118
"I think it was as I turned from the wretched night-watch of which I
have spoken, that I first listened to the sounds of revel of a party
of the guard within the city. Above the distant hum of the voices of
many, occasionally rose distinct the loud oath-tainted exclamation,
and the falsely intonated scrap of vulgar song; but lest this requiem
should go unheeded, every now and then, when their boisterous orgies
strove to attain a sort of ecstatic elimax, a cruel spirit of
insulting frolic carried some of them up into the high belfry of the
Temple steeple, and there, with the wicked childishness of inebriates,
they whooped, and shrieked, and beat the drum that I had seen, and
rang in charivaric unison their loud-tongued steam-boat bell.

Vol. 13,  p.118
They were, all told, not more than six hundred and forty persons who
were thus lying on the river fiats. But the Mormons in Nauvoo and its
dependencies had been numbered the year before at over twenty
thousand. Where were they? They had last been seen carrying in
mournful train their sick and wounded, halt and blind, to disappear
behind the western horizon, pursuing the phantom of another home.
Hardly anything else was known of them; and people asked with
curiosity, 'What had been their fate—what their fortunes?'"

OCTOBER 9TH

Vol. 13,  p.118
The rear of the camp of the Saints that were driven out of Nauvoo, as
we left them last evening lying on the banks of the Mississippi—a very
uncomfortable and distressing situation—were frequently annoyed by the
firing of cannon from the opposite side of the river, many of the shot
landing in the river, but occasionally some would pass over into the
camp. One of them, picked up in the camp, was sent as a present to the
Governor of Iowa.

Vol. 13,  p.118
The Rev. Thomas S. Brockman, leader of the mob who expelled the Saints
from Nauvoo, said when he entered the city, that he considered he had
gained a tremendous triumph; but there is no language sufficient to
describe the ignominy and disgrace that must attach, in all time to
come, to him and his associates, in the accomplishment of so brutal a
work on an innocent and unoffending people on account of their
religions opinions.

Vol. 13,  p.118
The settlements of Iowa on the west side of the Mississippi river were
scattering, extending back about seventy miles. We passed through
these settlements on our journey westward, that is, President Young
and the party that left Nauvoo in the winter. We diverged a little
from the regular route in order to be in the vicinity of the
settlements of Missouri. Our brethren scattered wherever there was an
opportunity to take jobs from the people, making rails, building log
houses, and doing a variety of work, by which they obtained grain for
their animals and breadstuff for themselves. We were enabled to do
this while moving slowly. In fact, the spring rains soon rendered the
ground so muddy that it was impossible to travel but a very short
distance at a time. Soon after, when the grass grew, this divergence
from the road southerly was discontinued, [p.119] by pursuing a
direction further north, until we reached a point on the east fork of
Grand River, where the President's company commenced a settlement
called Garden Grove, then another called Pisgah was commenced on the
west fork of the same river. These streams and a number of others had
to be bridged at a heavy expense, which was done by the advanced
parties. Our travel west of the settlements, before we reached the
Missouri river, was about 300 miles. The country was in the possession
of Potawattamie Indians. They, however, had sold their lands to the
United States, and were to give possession the following year. We were
delayed building ferry boats and crossing the Missouri river. A large
portion of our people crossed at a point now known as Omaha city; some
crossed a little below, at Bellevue, or what we sometimes termed
Whisky Point, there being some missionaries and Indian traders there,
who occupied their time in selling whisky to and swindling the
Indians.

Vol. 13,  p.119
We were met there by Captain James Allen, of United States dragoons,
with an order from the War Department to enrol five hundred volunteers
for the war in Mexico. The volunteers were enrolled in a very few
days. A portion of our wagons had crossed the Missouri at this time,
and the residue of our people, from whom the volunteers were drawn,
were scattered on the way two hundred miles towards Nauvoo. The men,
however, volunteered, leaving their families and teams on the prairies
without protectors, and very materially weakened the camp, because
they were the flower of the people. They marched direct for
Leavenworth, and there received the arms of infantry, and then marched
for California by way of Santa Fe. Their commander, Lieutenant-Colonel
Allen, died at Leavenworth, and they were subsequently placed under
the command of Lieutenant-Colonel P. Saint George Cooke. They made a
march of 2050 miles, to San Diego. History may be searched in vain for
a parallel to this march of infantry. During a portion of this route
they were on three-quarter rations, a portion on half rations, and a
large portion of it on quarter rations of bread, their only meat being
such draught animals as were unable to proceed further. They were, at
one time, temporarily relieved from this pressure through an encounter
with a herd of wild bulls. These men were discharged on the coast of
California; but the Government, finding it necessary to maintain some
show of force in the southern part of California, requested a company
of them to re-enlist, which they did, and served for a term of six
months.

Vol. 13,  p.119
The departure of all these men from our party, left a great burden on
the shoulders of those who remained. President Young gathered them
together to a place now called Florence, which we denominated Winter
Quarters. While there we built seven hundred log houses, one
water-power and several horse mills for grinding grain, and some
hundred and fifty dug-outs, being a kind of cave dug in the earth, or
houses half underground.

Vol. 13,  p.119
We gathered up the families of the battalion the best we could, but a
great many were sick. Our exposures through the season, being deprived
of vegetable food, and the overwork through so much bridge and road
making, brought on sickness; and all who were in Winter Quarters
remember it as being a place where a great many persons were
afflicted, and many died.

Vol. 13,  p.120
Our brethren who were on the other side of the river established camps
in [p.120] various localities. There were probably two thousand wagons
scattered about on the east side of the river in different parts of
the Potawattamie country, each grove or camping ground taking the name
of its leader. Many of those names are still retained, the various
camping grounds being known as Cutler's, Perkins', Miller's, &c.

Vol. 13,  p.120
Elders Orson Hyde, P. P. Pratt and John Taylor, left the camp and went
on a mission to England. Brother Benson, accompanied by other
brethren, went to the east to solicit donations from our eastern
friends. I am not aware of the exact amount that was donated, but it
was only a trifle. There were a few old clothes also contributed,
which I believe were scarcely worth the freight. Christian sympathy
was not very strong for the Latter-day Saints. But we feel very
thankful to those who did contribute, and shall ever remember with
kindness their generosity towards the Saints.

Vol. 13,  p.120
We were here visited by Col. Thos. L. Kane, of Philadelphia, an
extract from whose historical address was read yesterday. He visited
our camp and saw our condition, and was the only man, I believe, who
by words and deeds manifested that he felt to sympathise with the
outraged and plundered people called Latter-day Saints. It may be that
he was not the only man, but he was the only man who made himself
conspicuous by his sympathy towards us. It is true that we have had
men come here, as merchants and officers, who have expressed to us
that they did have great sympathy with us at that time. It does us a
great deal of good now to hear them say so, we did not know anything
about it then.

Vol. 13,  p.120
In the spring of 1847, President Young, with one hundred and
forty-three pioneers, started in search of a place of settlement. We
started early, before there was a particle of grass in the Platte
valley. We carried our food with us, and fed our animals on the
cottonwood bark, until the grass grew, and managed to get along,
making the road for six hundred and fifty miles, and followed the
trappers' trail about four hundred miles more until we arrived in this
valley. The whole company arrived here on the 24th of July, 1847.
There were a few bushes along the streams of City Creek, and other
creeks south. The land was barren; it was covered with large black
crickets, which seemed to be devouring everything that had outlived
the drouth and desolation. Here we commenced our work by making an
irrigation ditch, and planting potatoes, which we had brought from the
States; and late as it was in the season, with all the disadvantages
with which we had to contend, we raised enough to preserve the seed,
though very few were as large as chesnuts. For the next three years we
were reduced to considerable straits for food. Fast-meetings were
held, and contributions constantly made for those who had no
provisions. Every head of a family issued rations to those dependent
upon him, for fear his supply of provisions should fall short.
Rawhides, wolves, rabbits, thistle roots, segos, and everything that
could be thought of that would preserve life, were resorted to; there
were a few deaths by eating poisonous roots. A great deal of the grain
planted here the first year grew only a few inches high; it was so
short it could not be cut. The people had to pull it. A great many got
discouraged and wanted to leave the country; some did leave. The
discovery of gold mines in California by the brethren of the
battalion, caused many of the discontented to go to that paradise of
gold.

Vol. 13,  p.121
During all these trials President [p.121] Young was firm and decided;
he put on a smile when among the people, and said this was the place
God had pointed out for the gathering place of the Saints, and it
would be blessed and become one of the most productive places in the
world. In this way he encouraged the people, and he was sustained by
men who felt that God had inspired him to lead us here.

Vol. 13,  p.121
President Young went back to Winter Quarters the first season, and in
1848 returned with his family. John Smith, my honored father, who was
subsequently Patriarch of the whole Church, and who had been President
of the Stake in Nauvoo, presided during the absence of President
Young. I think that, for a man of his age and health, it was, in many
respects, a very unpleasant position to be placed in, for all the
murmuring, complaining, fault-finding, distress, hunger, annoyances,
fears and doubts of the whole people were poured into his ear. But God
inspired him, although a feeble man, to keep up their spirits, and to
sustain the work that was entrusted to him until the arrival of the
President next season.

Vol. 13,  p.121
In three years—1850, the idea of a man issuing rations to his family
to keep them from starving had passed away; but the grasshopper war of
1856 inflicted upon us so great a scarcity, that issuing rations had
to be resorted to again. Through all these circumstances no one was
permitted to suffer, though all had to be pinched. I shall not attempt
to give a detailed account of all the circumstances connected with our
position in those trying times. But when our brethren arrive here by
railroad and see a country smiling with plenty, I think they can
hardly appreciate how it looked when we came.

Vol. 13,  p.121
When I first sat down on this ground, in 1847, I was dressed in
buckskin, having torn most of my clothes to pieces. I had rawhide
soles on my feet, and had a piece of hard bread and a piece of dried
antelope meat to eat. I lay down, took my pistol in my hand, and held
on to my horse by a lariet while eating my meat and biscuit, for fear
the Indians might take a notion to my hair, of which I was always very
choice. I took that meal near where our City Hall now stands. There
has been quite an improvement since then.

Vol. 13,  p.121
The first year of our settlement here the crops were greatly injured
by crickets, and many of the people gave up all hope, and it seemed as
if actual starvation was inevitable for the whole colony. God sent
gulls from the Lake, and they came and devoured the crickets. It
seemed as if they were heavenly messengers sent to stay the famine.
They would eat until they were filled, and would then disgorge; and so
they continued eating and vomiting until the fields were cleared, and
the colony saved: Praise the Lord! During the time of scarcity, when
there was a short allowance of bread, the people were remarkably
healthy, more so than they were afterwards when food became more
plentiful.

Vol. 13,  p.121
In 1847 it was the counsel for every person leaving the Missouri river
to be provided with three hundred and sixty-five pounds of bread
stuff; many, however, came with less. The next season they were to
bring three hundred pounds, the season after two hundred and fifty
pounds; but in 1850 the people came with just enough to serve them
during their journey across the Plains. In 1849, President Young
founded the P. E. Fund. We had covenanted while in Conference in the
Temple at Nauvoo, that we would never quit our exertions to the extent
of our influence and property, until every man, woman and child of the
Latter-day [p.122] Saints who wanted to come to the mountains had been
gathered. In 1849, notwithstanding all our poverty, a large sum in
gold was contributed by the brethren for emigration purposes, and
Bishop Edward Hunter went back and commenced the work. We also
recommenced the work of missions, which for a short time had been
partially suspended. Missionaries were sent to Denmark, Sweden,
Norway, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and the islands of the
Pacific.

Vol. 13,  p.122
The first commercial house established here by strangers was
Livingston and Kinkead's. Mr. Livingston had about eight thousand
dollars, which was all the money the firm had to invest. Kinkead was
taken in as a partner, and they obtained credit in the east for twenty
thousand dollars' worth of goods, freighted them here and opened their
store. They reported to their creditors that on the first day of
opening they received ten thousand dollars in gold. They remained here
until they made themselves fortunes, and carried gold from this
Territory, perhaps to the amount of millions, and established
themselves elsewhere. They were an honorable business house, but I
have often reflected upon the bad policy that we, as servants of God,
adopted at that time in sustaining strangers. If the ten thousand
dollars which were paid into that house the first day, had been
handled by some of our experienced merchants in a co-operative
institution, it would have been just as easy to have furnished our own
merchandize as to have bought their's. Bishop N. K. Whitney, who was
then living, or Bishop Woolley, and numbers of others were well
acquainted with mercantile business; but they had been robbed of all
they had, and had no capital. It only wanted unity and willingness on
the part of the people to sustain their brethren in their business
relations, to have laid the foundation to supply all that was ever
supplied by Livingston and Kinkead.

Vol. 13,  p.122
I would like every one to inquire for himself—What would have been the
result if, instead of sustaining Livingston and Kinkead and other
merchants, our people had sustained Latter-day Saints? The result
would have been, that large sums of money would have remained here and
been used for building up the country; and when a dark cloud had
lowered over us, our brethren with this means in their possession
would have been on hand to aid the Saints in defending and preserving
their lives and liberties; while, as it was, the influence of the men
we had enriched was turned against us, they believing they could make
more money out of the Government, and get rich quicker through war,
than they could by continuing their honest, legitimate business with
the people here. This firm is but one; several other firms might be
mentioned who pursued a similar course.

Vol. 13,  p.122
As soon as it was known in Christendom that the Latter-day Saints were
not dead, but that they were alive and flourishing, and were gathering
their people to the mountains at the rate of from two to five thousand
a year, and that they had succeeded in reclaiming the desert, and in
making grain and grass grow where nothing would grow before, it seemed
as though all hell was aroused again. Federal officers were sent here,
and they thought it policy to join in the general hue and cry, or at
least some of them; there were a few honorable exceptions. But the
majority of them raised a hue and cry against us, and it was thought
so much of, that one of the rotten planks in the platform of the great
rising party which contested [p.123] the elevation of James Buchanan
to the Presidency, was the destruction of polygamy. This brought to
our country immense armies, more men being concerned in the matter
than in some of the principal battles of the revolution, or even in
the war of 1812. Some six thousand regulars were marched in this
direction, while teamsters and hangers on increased this number to
about seventeen thousand. There were also several thousand freight
wagons, and everything on the face of the earth, seemingly, that could
be done to hurl into this country destruction and vengeance, was done.
But God overruled it. When they got here they found that they really
had been deceived. They went and established themselves at Camp Floyd,
and spent their time in destroying arms and ammunition, and breaking
up the property of the United States, until forty million dollars, the
reported cost of the expedition, had been wasted. The armies then
scattered to the four winds of the heaven. This expenditure of the
Government money laid the foundation of these outside mercantile
establishments which have been nursed by us to so great an extent from
that time to this.

Vol. 13,  p.123
It has been believed that great benefit, financially, accrued to the
Saints through this expedition; but I think that as a whole it has
been a hindrance to our real progress. Very little of the money came
into the hands of the Saints, but some merchandize at high prices,
which might have been a temporary convenience. But it caused our
people to relax their energies in producing from the elements what
they needed, such as flax, cotton and wool; and also turned their
attention from the manufacture of iron. The burning of wagons, the
bursting of shell, and the destruction of arms, furnished much of the
latter at comparatively nominal prices; hence a present benefit worked
a permanent injury. The speculators who made vast fortunes at the
expense of the nation soon squandered them, and part of this army, and
even its commander, and many of the officers, were soon found arrayed
against the flag of our country, and taking an active part in the
terrible war between the North and South, the results of which are
being so severely felt at the present time.

Vol. 13,  p.123
Scandalous sheets have been issued here for years, and, as far as
possible, sent to all parts of the world, filled with lies, defamation
and abuse, and everything that would tend to rouse the indignation of
the Christian world against us, and to get up an excuse for our
annihilation. These sheets have been sustained by men in the
mercantile business whom we have sustained by our trade, and
consequently have been supported indirectly by our money. I have been
horrified at such a use of our means, and have felt that it was our
duty, as Saints, to stop supporting these slanders, lest,
peradventure, should they continue until they produced the designed
effect, our blood should be upon our own heads.

Vol. 13,  p.123
What did we cross the Plains for? To get where we could enjoy peace
and religious liberty. Why did we drag hand-carts across the Plains?
That we might have the privilege of dwelling and associating with
Saints, and not build up a hostile influence in our midst, and place
wealth in the hands of our enemies, who use it to spread abroad
defamation and falsehood, and to light a flame that will again have
the direct result, unless overruled by the almighty power of God, of
bringing upon the Latter-day Saints here the same sorrow, distress and
desolation that have followed them elsewhere. For my part [p.124] I do
not fellowship Latter-day Saints who thus use their money. I advise
the Saints to form co-operative societies and associations all over
the Territory, and to import everything they need that they cannot
manufacture, and not to pay their money to men who use it to buy
bayonets to slay them with, and to stir up the indignation of our
fellow-men against us. Our outside friends should feel contented with
the privilege of paying us the money for the products of our labor,
and we should exact it at their hands, as a due reward for our
exertions in producing the necessaries of life in this desert.

Vol. 13,  p.124
Some may say, "We are afraid the brethren are making money too fast,"
or, "We do not like to trade with them, they charge us too high."
Suppose they do, you need not buy of them; but do not go and buy of
men who would use that money to cut your throats, or to publish lies
about you, and endeavor to induce all men to come here and dispossess
you of your homes. Do not be so mad as that. "Well," says one, "I
really want some little article that I cannot buy elsewhere." Man's
wants are very numerous, but his necessities are really very few, and
we should abridge our wants, and go to work and manufacture everything
we can within ourselves; and what we cannot manufacture we can import,
and save ourselves the 40, 120, 400, or 1000 per cent. that we are now
paying for our merchandize, and so stop building up those who are
laying a foundation, openly and above board, for our destruction. And
furthermore, cease to fellowship every man that will not build up
Zion. Amen.

Orson Pratt, April 10, 1870

The Latter-Day Kingdom of God—Divine Authenticity 
of the Book of Mormon—External Testimony

Discourse By Elder Orson Pratt, Delivered in 
The Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, April 10, 1870.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 13,  p.124
It has fallen to my lot to speak to the congregation this afternoon,
and I humbly hope and trust that, through your faith and prayers, I
may be assisted by the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, in speaking to your
edification; and I ask my Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus
Christ, that He will pour out upon me that Spirit which giveth
utterance and enlighteneth the understanding, that I may be able to
edify all who hear me.

Vol. 13,  p.124
Forty years have passed away since the Church was organized. We held
Conference here on Wednesday last, in commemoration of that eventful
period in the history of our race, for it is a period that we consider
very [p.125] eventful in our history and in the history of the world;
and we have no doubt in our own minds that the Lord looks upon it in
the same light, for He is interested more than any other person
possibly can be in the salvation of the human family. And as He has
set times in His own mind for the performance of His own purposes, He
no doubt chose the 6th day of April, 1830, as the set time for the
organization, or the beginning of an organization or kingdom that
should have no end.

Vol. 13,  p.125
All the governments which have hitherto had a place on our earth,
excepting those now in existence, have had an end. Human governments
have been very changeable in their nature. The Lord has raised up a
nation here and a nation there, a kingdom here and a kingdom there,
and He has suffered them to live and flourish for a few centuries, and
some, perhaps, even for one or two thousand years; then He has caused
them to pass away. But He spoke to His ancient servant, who is called
Daniel, whose prophecy is written in this book (the Bible), and said
that in the latter days He would set up a government or kingdom which
should have no end. This government will differ from all preceding
governments set up from the Creation down to the period of its
establishment. Daniel says it shall become universal and shall cover
the whole earth. He calls the citizens of that government Saints. He
beheld that the stone cut out of the mountain without hands should
roll forth and become a great mountain and fill the whole earth, and
that all earthly governments, kingdoms and empires should become like
the chaff of the summer threshing. floor, and no place should be found
for them; while the stone that was cut out of the mountains should
have dominion over the whole earth, and the Saints of the Most High
should have dominion under the whole heaven.

Vol. 13,  p.125
Now there will have to be a beginning to that work. The Lord will not
make such a wonderful revolution as the one I have named, all in one
day, or in one year. Jesus made his appearance on the earth in the
meridian of time, and he established his kingdom on the earth. But to
fulfill ancient prophecies the Lord suffered that kingdom to be
uprooted; in other words, the kingdoms of this world made war against
the kingdom of God, established eighteen centuries ago, and they
prevailed against it, and the kingdom ceased to exist. The great beast
that John saw made war with it and prevailed against it, and human
institutions, without prophets or inspired men, usurped the place of
the ancient kingdom of God. But God has promised that the latter-day
kingdom shall stand for ever. Though the heavens and earth be wrapped
together as a scroll and pass away, yet the kingdom that was to be set
up in the latter days will have no end, but will prevail among all
people under the heavens and will have dominion for one thousand
years. After that, when the earth passes away, the kingdom will be
caught up; it will not perish, be annihilated or overcome, but be
caught up into the heavens while the earth is undergoing its last
change; and when the Lord shall resurrect the earth, the same as He
will our bodies, and make it a new earth, wherein shall dwell
righteousness, He will then bring down out of Heaven to the new earth
this latter-day kingdom, with all the former kingdoms that He has
built up in other dispensations, and they will stand for ever, for the
new earth will never pass away.

Vol. 13,  p.126
The destiny of all governments [p.126] established by human wisdom is
to pass away. The great nation of the United States, one of the best
governments ever organized by human authority on the earth, so far as
our knowledge goes, must pass away in many of its features. The only
way for safety to the people of the government of the United States is
to repent of their sins, turn away from all their iniquities, receive
the Gospel of the Son of God and become citizens of that kingdom which
is to endure for ever; then all the great and glorious principles
incorporated in this great republic will be incorporated in the
kingdom of God and be preserved. I mean the principles of civil and
religious liberty, especially, and all other good principles that are
contained in that great instrument framed by our forefathers will be
incorporated in the kingdom of God; and only in this manner can all
that is good in this and in foreign governments be preserved.

Vol. 13,  p.126
The time will shortly come when thrones will be cast down and empires
will fall; and all republics and empires will eventually fall and
become like the dream of a night vision—they will vanish away; but the
kingdom of God will grow, flourish, spread abroad and become stronger
and more powerful, until its King shall come in the clouds of Heaven,
crowned in all the glory and power of his Father, bringing the
celestial hosts with him, to sit upon his throne in Jerusalem and also
in Zion, to reign over his people here on the earth for the space of a
thousand years, before the destruction of the earth.

Vol. 13,  p.126
This is what we believe; and it is the sincere belief and faith of the
Latter-day Saints that we are in that kingdom. It is true that our
King is now absent: he is in the heavens. But we expect him again; we
look for him and he will come in his own due time. The day when he
will come he has not revealed to any of the inhabitants of the earth,
neither will he do so, for the Lord has told us in a certain
revelation, recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants, that no one should
have it revealed to them; but this much God has revealed—that this
kingdom which He has organized on the earth has been organized
preparatory to the day of the coming of our Lord from the heavens.
Hence in organizing this kingdom He has restored all the essential
characteristics of His kingdom in its embryo, or its beginning: such
as inspired men, inspired prophets, inspired leaders, called by
revelation to act in different positions.

Vol. 13,  p.126
Now there is something very peculiar indeed in setting up the kingdom
of God in regard to the time. I told you in the commencement of my
remarks that the Lord generally had set times to accomplish His
purposes. It can be reasonably inferred, according to the revelations
that we have in the Book of Mormon, that God organized His kingdom,
precisely to a day, 1800 years after the crucifixion. Of course we do
not learn this directly from the Book of Mormon; but we learn enough
there of data on which to found a calculation. We learn not only from
this book, but also from the antiquities of the Jews, from the New
Testament, from historians and from some of the Mosaic rites that
Jesus was crucified about the time of the Passover, and that happened
some time after the vernal equinox; and that 1833 years had passed
from the time of the birth of our Savior before the organization of
this latter-day kingdom.

Vol. 13,  p.126
The way we come at this is by the account given in the Book of Mormon.
We find that the ancient Israelites on this continent had a sign given
of the [p.127] exact time of the crucifixion and a revelation of the
exact time of the Savior's birth, and according to their reckoning,
they made him thirty-three years and a little over three days old from
the time of his birth to the time that he hung upon the cross. There
is no doubt that the year of the ancient Israelites, who inhabited
this continent, differed a little in length from our years; for they
probably reckoned their's somewhat after the manner of the Jews, at
Jerusalem, and the Jews had formed their reckoning from the Egyptians,
among whom they dwelt some four hundred years. The Egyptians reckoned
three hundred and sixty-five days to the year; but the ancient
Israelites on this continent, according to the records of the early
Spanish historians, did not consider that three hundred and sixty-five
days made up a full year, and hence at the end of every fifty-two
years they added thirteen days, which is equivalent to adding one day
every four years, the same as we do. If such were the reckoning of the
ancient Nephites, then thirty-three years and three days of their time
had passed away between the time of the Savior's birth and
crucifixion. Now these thirty-three years and three days would,
according to our reckoning, lack five days of thirty-three years. When
we come to trace back all these authorities, we find that this very
day, on which I am speaking, would be the close of the year, and that
to-morrow, the 11th day of April, would be the anniversary of the very
day on which Jesus was born; and the 6th day of April the very day on
which he was crucified precisely eighteen hundred years prior to the
organization of this Church.

Vol. 13,  p.127
I have made mention of this, not bringing all the evidences and proofs
that might be advanced, but merely to show, in a very brief manner,
that God has a set time to perform and accomplish His work, and that
the commencement of the organization of His kingdom took place
eighteen centuries after the time that the Savior groaned and suffered
on the cross.

Vol. 13,  p.127
There are a great many, of course, in the world, who disbelieve this
record which is received as divine by the Latter-day Saints. A great
many do not believe that the Book of Mormon is true, and the reason
they do not believe it is because they never have examined the
evidences. I consider that there are some evidences, that never have
been sufficiently put forth before the public, to prove the divine
authenticity of the Book of Mormon, quite as strong as those which
have been adduced. We have often referred to the Old Testament to
prove that a work of this nature was to come forth in the latter days.
The ancient prophets have spoken of it in many places, sometimes under
the term of a book. Speaking of the manner in which it should be
translated, you will find it referred to in the twenty-ninth chapter
of Isaiah. It is referred to in other places as sticks, written upon,
one for Judah and one for Joseph, that should be united together by
the power of the Lord in the latter days preparatory to His coming. In
other places it is referred to as truth which, in the latter days,
should come out of the ground, and that, at the same time,
righteousness should come down out of Heaven, and that this should be
a preparatory work for the salvation of Israel and for the coming of
the Lord.

Vol. 13,  p.127
But we will pass over all these Scriptural evidences, and name one
which, perhaps, our Elders themselves have not dwelt upon to any very
[p.128] great extent to prove the divine authenticity of the Book of
Mormon.

Vol. 13,  p.128
This book, the Book of Mormon, informs us that the time of day at
which Jesus was crucified, I mean the time of day here in America, was
in the morning; the New Testament tells us that Jesus was crucified in
Asia in the afternoon, between the sixth and ninth hour according to
the Jews' reckoning. They commenced their reckoning at six o'clock in
the morning, and consequently the sixth hour would be twelve o'clock
at noon, and the ninth hour three o'clock in the afternoon. Jesus,
from the sixth to the ninth hour, in other words from twelve o'clock
to three, was hanging on the cross. Now the Book of Mormon, or the
historians whose records it contains, when relating the incidents that
transpired at the time of the crucifixion—the darkness that was spread
over the face of the land, the earthquakes, the rending of rocks, the
sinking of cities and the whirlwinds—say these events occurred in the
morning; they also say that darkness was spread over the face of the
land for the space of three days. In Jerusalem it was only three
hours. But the Lord gave them a special sign in this country, and the
darkness lasted three days, and at the expiration of three days and
three nights of darkness, it cleared off, and it was in the morning.
That shows that, according to the time in this country, the
crucifixion must have taken place in the morning.

Vol. 13,  p.128
Says one, "Is not this a contradiction between the Book of Mormon and
the New Testament?" To an unlearned person it would really be a
contradiction, for the four Evangelists place it from twelve to three
in the afternoon, while the Book of Mormon says in the morning. An
unlearned person, seeing this discrepancy, would say, of course, that
both books cannot be true. If the Book of Mormon be true the Bible
cannot be; and if the Bible be true the Book of Mormon cannot be.

Vol. 13,  p.128
I do not know that, anybody ever brought up this objection, for I do
not think they ever thought of it. I do not think that the Prophet
Joseph, who translated the book, ever thought of this apparent
discrepancy. "But," says one, "how do you account for it being in the
morning in America and in the afternoon in Jerusalem?" Simply by the
difference in longitude. This would make a difference of time of
several hours; for when it would be twelve at noon in Jerusalem it
would only be half-past four in the morning in the north-west part of
South America, where the Book of Mormon was then being written. Seven
and a half hours difference in longitude would account for this
apparent discrepancy; and if the Book of Mormon had said the
crucifixion took place in the afternoon we should have known at once
that it could not be true. This is incidental proof to learned or
scientific men that they cannot very well reason away, and especially
when the instrument who brought forth the Book of Mormon is
considered. It must be remembered that he, was but a youth, and
unlearned; and, when he translated this work, I presume that he was
unaware that there was any difference in the time of day, according to
the longitude, in different parts of the earth. I do not suppose that
Joseph ever thought about it to the day of his death. I never heard
him or any other person bring forth this as confirmatory evidence of
the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon; I never thought of it
myself until years after Joseph's death; but when I did reflect upon
it, I could see the reason why the Lord, through His servants, has
said in the Book of [p.129] Mormon, that the crucifixion took place in
the morning.

Vol. 13,  p.129
But we will pass over this and will say a few words in regard to the
object of this great work. The Lord has brought forth the Book of
Mormon in order that all the nations, kindreds, tongues and peoples on
the face of the earth may be warned of the great events which are
about to take place. This book contains prophecies which affect every
nation under Heaven, prophecies that will be fulfilled oil their
heads. Can we read the future of this great American nation—or great
republic? Yes, we can learn a great many features within its pages
concerning this nation and government that we never should have
learned without its aid or the spirit of revelation. From it we learn
that two great and powerful nations formerly dwelt on this continent.
One nation, or rather the colony which founded it, came from the Tower
of Babel soon after the days of the Flood. They colonized what we call
North America, landing on the western coast, a little south of the
Gulf of California, in the south-western part of this north wing of
our continent. They flourished some sixteen hundred years. When they
first colonized this continent from the Tower of Babel, the Lord told
them if they would not serve Him faithfully, but became ripe in
iniquity, they should be cut off from the face of the land. That was
fulfilled about six hundred years before Christ, when they were
entirely swept off, and in their stead the Lord brought a remnant of
Israel, a few families, not the ten tribes, but a small portion of the
tribe of Joseph. He brought them from Jerusalem first down to the Red
Sea. They travelled along the eastern borders of the Red Sea for many
days, and then bore off in an eastern direction which brought them to
the Arabian Gulf. There they were commanded of the Lord to build a
vessel. They went aboard of this vessel and were brought by the
special providence of God across the great Indian and Pacific Oceans,
and landed on the western coast of South America. This was about five
hundred and eighty years before the coming of Christ. Eleven years
after the Lord brought this first colony of Israelites from Jerusalem,
He brought another small colony, headed by one of the sons of
Zedekiah, a descendant of King David. They left Jerusalem the same
year that the Jews were carried away captive into Babylon, were
brought forth to tilts continent and landed somewhere north of the
Isthmus. They wended their way into the northern part of South
America. About four hundred years after this the two colonies
amalgamated in the northern part of South America and they became one
nation.

Vol. 13,  p.129
The first colony brought with them the Jewish Scriptures, on plates of
brass, containing an account of the Creation and the history of their
nation down to eleven years before the Captivity, or six hundred years
before Christ. These brass plates were kept among them during the
period of their righteousness, and were preserved by the hand of the
Lord. The second colony that came from Jerusalem came without the
Scriptures, and having no copy of the sacred writings they soon fell
into wickedness. in four hundred years time they disbelieved in the
being of a God, but uniting with the other branch of Israelites they
were converted. Their language had become much corrupted, but through
their conversion their language was restored in a partial measure by
means of the records which were possessed by the other colony.[p.130] 

Vol. 13,  p.130
About forty-five years before Christ a very large colony of five
thousand four hundred men, with wives and children, united themselves
together in the northern part of South America, and came forth by land
into North America, and travelled an exceedingly great distance until
they came to large bodies of water and many rivers, very probably in
the great Mississippi Valley. In the next ten years numerous other
colonies came forth and spread themselves on the northern portion of
the continent and became exceedingly numerous.

Vol. 13,  p.130
You may inquire, "Did all these different colonies have the
Scriptures?" Yes. "How did they get them?" They had a great many
scribes in their midst. The Book of Mormon informs us that they had
not only the Scriptures which they brought from Jerusalem, but those
given by the living prophets among them; and that a great many copies
were written and sent forth into all of these colonies, so that the
people in all their colonies were well acquainted with the law of
Moses and with the prophecies of her prophets in relation to the first
coming of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Vol. 13,  p.130
"But," some may inquire, "have you any external evidence to prove what
you are now saying?" I think we have. Thirty years after the Book of
Mormon was put in print, giving the history of the settlement of this
country, one of the great mounds south of the great lakes near Newark,
in Ohio, was opened. What was found in it? A great many curiostries,
among which were some copper pieces, supposed to be money. After
digging down many feet, and carrying off many thousand loads of stone,
they at length found a coffin in the midst of a hard kind of fire
clay. Underneath this they found a large stone that appeared to be
hollow; something seemed to rattle inside of it. The stone was
cemented together in the middle, but with some little exertion they
broke it open, when another stone was found inside of it, of a
different nature entirely from its covering. On the stone taken from
the inside was carved the figure of a man with a priestly robe flowing
from his shoulders; and over the head of this man were the Hebrew
characters for Moshe, the ancient name of Moses; while on each side of
this likeness, and on different sides of the stone, above, beneath,
and around about were the Ten Commandments that were received on Mount
Sinai, written in the ancient Hebrew characters. Now recollect that
the Book of Mormon had been in print thirty years before this
discovery. And what does this discovery prove? It proves that the
builders of these mounds, south of the great lakes in the great
Mississippi Valley in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, New York, etc., must
have understood the Hebrew characters; and not only that, but they
must also have understood the law of Moses. Otherwise how happened it
that they should write on this stone the Ten Commandments almost
verbatim as they are now contained in King James' translation of the
Bible. It proves that the builders of these mounds were Israelites,
and that their illustrious dead, buried in these mounds, had these
commandments buried with them, in accordance with the custom of many
of the ancient nations, especially the Egyptians, who were in the
habit of consigning their written sacred papyrus to their great tombs.
In Egypt many of these ancient manuscripts have been exhumed and, in
many instances, pretended to be translated. So the Israelites followed
the customs of these Eastern nations, and buried [p.131] that which
they considered most sacred, namely, the Ten Commandments, thundered
by the voice of the Almighty in the midst of flaming fire on Mount
Sinai in the ears of all the congregation of Israel.

Vol. 13,  p.131
I have seen that sacred stone. It is not a hatched up story. I heard
tell of it as being in the Antiquarian Society, or rather, as it is
now called, the Ethnological Society, in the City of New York I went
to the Secretary of that Society, and he kindly showed me this stone,
of which I have been speaking, and being acquainted with modern
Hebrew, I could form some kind of an estimate of the ancient Hebrew,
for some of the modern Hebrew characters do not vary much in form from
the ancient Hebrew. At any rate we have enough of ancient Hebrew, that
has been dug up in Palestine and taken from among the ruins of the
Israelites east of the Mediterranean Sea, to form some kind of an
estimate of the characters that were in use among them; and having
these characters and comparing them, I could see and understand the
nature of the writing upon these records. They were also taken to the
most learned men of our country, who, as soon as they looked at them,
were able to pronounce them to be not only ancient Hebrew, but they
were also able to translate them and pronounced them to be the Ten
Commandments. This, then, is external proof, independent of the
Scriptural proofs to which I have alluded, in testimony of the divine
authenticity of the Book of Mormon.

Vol. 13,  p.131
Now, our modern Hebrew has many points; it has also many additional
characters not found in the ancient Hebrew. These additional
characters have been made since these colonies left Jerusalem. Do you
find on these ancient writings any of these modern characters that
have been introduced during the last two thousand four hundred years?
Not one. Do you find any Hebrew points representing vowels? Not one;
and all the new consonants that have been introduced during the last
two thousand four hundred years were not found upon this stone to
which I have referred, showing plainly that it must have been of very
ancient date.

Vol. 13,  p.131
Five years after the discovery of this remarkable memento of the
ancient Israelites on the American continent, and thirty-five years
after the Book of Mormon was in print, several other mounds in the
same vicinity of Newark were opened, in several of which Hebrew
characters were found. Among them was this beautiful expression,
buried with one of their ancient dead, "May the Lord have mercy on me
a Nephite." It was translated a little different—"Nephel." Now we well
know that Nephi, who came out of Jerusalem six hundred years before
Christ, was the leader of the first Jewish colony across to this land,
and the people, ever afterwards, were called "Nephites," after their
inspired prophet and leader. The Nephites were a righteous people and
had many prophets among them; and when they were burying one of their
brethren in these ancient mounds, they introduced the Hebrew
characters signifying "May the Lord have mercy on me a Nephite." This
is another direct evidence of the divine authenticity of the Book of
Mormon, which was brought forth and translated by inspiration some
thirty-five years before this inscription was found.

Vol. 13,  p.131
But I said I would tell you some of the objects that the Lord had in
view in bringing forth this sacred record. It is in order to prepare
the people for the day of His coming, in order to establish the true
Church and [p.132] kingdom of God upon the earth, with all its
ordinances, gifts, powers and blessings, that the people might have
the old, ancient religion, even the fulness of the blessings of that
Gospel that was preached eighteen hundred years ago.

Vol. 13,  p.132
Another object that the Lord had in view was to gather His people out
from all nations before the coming of the great and terrible judgments
which are pronounced in this ancient record of the Nephites. God has
said, concerning the nation which should inherit this land in the
latter days, when this work should be brought forth, it they would not
repent of their sins and hearken to the servants of God who should be
sent forth among them, if they would reject this divine record which
He should bring forth by His power, if they would fight against His
Church and His Zion, that when they were fully ripened in iniquity
they should be cut off from the face of this land. And for this reason
He would gather out from their midst His people and assemble them in
one.

Vol. 13,  p.132
This is all predicted in the Book of Mormon. And remember this was in
print before the organization of the Church took place. The Church was
organized on the 6th of April, 1830, and consisted of six members
only; but the Book of Mormon was in print before that. How did Joseph
Smith, if an impostor, as he is represented to be by a great many of
the world, foretell events that have been taking place during the past
forty years? How could he know that this book would be received beyond
his own neighborhood, or ever extend beyond the limits of the State of
New York? How did he know it would go beyond the limits of this
continent and across the ocean and spread forth among many nations?
"Well," says one, "he might have guessed it." Yes, but guesses are
very uncertain indeed. Many people may conjecture, and think that such
and such things will be the case; but when it comes to enumerating
particulars in regard to the future, if a man is not inspired of God,
how liable he is to fall into ten thousand errors!

Vol. 13,  p.132
Now this book predicted, not only the spread of this work among this
people or nation, but also that it would go forth to all people,
nations and tongues under the whole heavens. Forty years only have
passed away, and how much of this has been fulfilled already! This
book has been translated into eight different languages and spread
forth upon the islands of the sea—the Sandwich Islands, the Society
Islands, Australia, New Zealand, Hindostan, and has gone forth to the
nations of Europe and has penetrated to almost every nation under
heaven in the course, only, of forty years.

Vol. 13,  p.132
Has there been any gathering, according to the predictions of this
book? far it not only predicts the organization and rising up of the
kingdom of God in the latter days when it should go forth, but it also
speaks of the great gathering together of His people. Has this been
fulfilled? What do I now see before me? Several thousand people
listening to me in the midst of one of the most frightful deserts of
the North American continent; that is, it was frightful, so much so
that Fremont and others could not traverse it, with any degree of
safety, unless a large company was with them; and even, with all the
means he had at his command, Fremont could not travel through these
deserts without losing a great many of his men. It was a parched up,
dry and sterile country, and it looked as though an agricultural
people never could possess it with any degree of advantage. This
[p.133] was the alescription given by those who explored a small
portion of this country before the Latter-day Saints settled it. But
what do I now see? Not only this large congregation now before me, but
as I travel to and fro in the Territory I see four hundred miles of
desert reclaimed, and over one hundred towns, cities and villages
incorporated and organized, cultivating the earth, and numerous flocks
and herds being raised by peaceable settlers. Who are these settlers?
Those who believe in the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon;
those who believe that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and thus have
fulfilled his predictions. Is it not another testimony in favor of the
divine authenticity of this record when we see things transpiring
that, to all natural appearance, never could have transpired? What did
our enemies say when this book was first printed? "O, it is only
destined for a year or two; two years at longest will see the end of
'Mormonism.'" By and by, when two years had passed away, and they
began to see that their prophecies were failing, they concluded to
extend the time for the extinction of "Mormonism," and they would say,
"Watch five years more, and 'Mormonism' will have an end." Why it was
so inconsistent in their opinion that God should again speak from the
heavens, and have inspired men on the earth; that He should restore
all the gifts of the ancient Gospel; that He should send an angel with
the everlasting Gospel in fulfillment of the predictions of John the
Revelator and the testimony of many of the ancient prophets. It was so
foreign to their minds that any such prophecies should he fulfilled in
their day, that they predicted that this work would have an end in
five years. That was the way the natural man viewed the matter.

Vol. 13,  p.133
But God, who can foresee all events among the children of men, had His
eye fixed on the gathering of His children before the Church was
organized, and He predicted that they should come out of every nation
under Heaven. Not only from the settled portions of the Gentile
nation, but they should be brought forth out of the midst of that
Gentile nation, just as we have been.

Vol. 13,  p.133
If you want to learn particularly concerning that prophecy, read the
saying of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon, when he
descended in the northern part of South America, soon after his
resurrection, and ascension to heaven. He descended in the sight of a
large congregation of two thousand five hundred men, women and
children, a little south of the Isthmus, at a place where they had
built a temple. After making his appearance in their midst, he taught
them many things, and showed them the wounds in his hands, in his feet
and in his side. In his instructions on that occasion he commanded
them to do away with the law of Moses, so far as the ordinances,
sacrifices and burnt offerings were concerned, and he commanded them
to receive the Gospel which he taught them. After he had done all
this, he commenced to prophecy to them, and his prophecies are in this
record; and one of them has been fulfilled during the last forty
years. He said he would bring forth their gold plates, which they then
had in their midst. He declared that the Father should bring them
forth unto the Gentiles in the latter days. The prophecy says, "If the
Gentiles will not receive the fulness of my Gospel which shall be
contained in that book, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the
fulness of my Gospel from among them." These are the words of Jesus,
as recorded in this book.[p.134] 

Vol. 13,  p.134
Has this prophecy been fulfilled? How could the Lord have brought the
Saints from among the inhabitants of the great nation of Gentiles,
called the United States, any more effectually than He did
twenty-three years ago when He located us in these mountains? Was
there any other part of this continent on which this prophecy could
have been so effectually fulfilled? Nowhere. We did not come here
altogether of our own accord, that is, all of us did not; some few
did, because they understood the mind and will of the Lord in regard
to the gathering of the Saints from among the Gentiles; but a great
many were so attached to their farms and homes in the East that they
had to be driven away before they would come. It was not indeed a
pleasurable thing to any of us, only to these who understood the mind
and will of God in relation to the matter. the Lord brought us some
twelve hundred miles from the settled portions of the United States,
and planted us in one of the most wild and isolated regions on the
face of the whole continent.

Vol. 13,  p.134
How completely were the words of Jesus fulfilled! "If the Gentiles in
that day do not receive the fulness of my Gospel, which shall be
translated from the Record, beheld, saith the Father, I will bring my
people, my Priesthood, my Gospel, and my Saints from their midst."
Twenty-three years that prophecy has been fulfilling, and I think it
has been accomplished to the very letter.

Vol. 13,  p.134
What next has the Lord predicted? He has predicted that if the
Gentiles do not repent in that day, "Behold, saith the Father, I will
sweep them from the face of the land, as I did the nation that I
brought from the Tower of Babel. So shall they be swept off from the
face of the land, when they are fully ripened in iniquity."

Vol. 13,  p.134
I do not know when this will be fulfilled; but we are all the time in
expectation. The Lord does not generally do things in a hurry. He
gives the people plenty of time to ripen themselves in iniquity, if
they will not repent. It does not take some people a very great time
to ripen, for you know this is a fast age, and things are done in a
great hurry now-a-days, and when they get on the downward course, into
all manner of wickedness, they seem to rush with lightning speed into
all the corruption that can be named. What a difference between our
fathers, who lived forty years ago, and the present generation! Every
one can see it. The rising generation are proud, haughty, high-minded,
lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; fighting against His
people; given to whoredom and prostitution and all manner of iniquity
and abominations; guilty of all the abominations named by the apostle
that should characterize the false churches of the latter days, having
a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. That is, denying
the gifts of healing, miracles, prophecy, revelation, the ministering
and discerning of spirits. All these things were denied when the Book
of Mormon came forth. Of course the devil saw that it was not policy,
with all the Scriptures staring them in the face, and all the
Latter-day Saint Elders quoting these Scriptures to show the necessity
of the gifts, to keep them denying these gifts; hence he introduced
them under the name of Spiritualism. As soon as the Book of Mormon
came forth, the counterfeit then spread like the counterfeit gifts
exercised by the old magicians of Egypt. When Moses went down with the
power and authority of Heaven, the counterfeit sprang up in order to
delude the Egyptians, and make them think the [p.135] power of Moses
was the same in character as that exercised by the magicians. When
Moses threw down his rod it became a serpent; the rods of the
magicians did the same. When Moses brought up frogs on the land, they
did the same; when he turned the rivers of water into bleed, they did
the same; and thus they deluded the Egyptian nation, and made them
believe that if the power of Moses was superior to theirs, it was only
because he had learned the magic art more thoroughly than they had.

Vol. 13,  p.135
Well, it seems as if the Lord our God is giving the nation a pretty
thorough warning. He told this nation by revelation, twenty-eight
years before it commenced, of the great American war. He told all
about how the Southern States should be divided against the Northern
States, and that in the course of the war many souls should be cut
off. This has been fulfilled.

Vol. 13,  p.135
I went forth before my beard was gray, before my hair began to turn
white, when I was a youth of nineteen, now I am fifty-eight, and from
that time on I published these tidings among the inhabitants of the
earth. I carried forth the written revelation, foretelling this great
contest, some twenty-eight years before the war commenced. This
prophecy has been printed and circulated extensively in this and other
nations and languages. It pointed out the place where it should
commence in South Carolina. That which I declared over the New England
States, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and many other parts in the
East, when but a boy, came to pass twenty-eight years after the
revelation was given.

Vol. 13,  p.135
When they were talking about a war commencing down here in Kansas, I
told them that was not the place; I also told them that the revelation
had designated South Carolina, "and," said I, "you have no need to
think that the Kansas war is going to be the war that is to be so
terribly destructive in its character and nature. No, it must commence
at the place the Lord has designated by revelation."

Vol. 13,  p.135
What did they have to say to me? They thought it was a Mormon humbug,
and laughed me to scorn, and they looked upon that revelation as they
do upon all others that God has given in these latter days—as without
divine authority. But behold and lo! in process of time it came to
pass, again establishing the divinity of this work, and giving another
proof that God is in this work, and is performing that which He spoke
by the mouths of the ancient prophets, as recorded in the Book of
Mormon before any Church of Latter-day Saints was in existence.

Vol. 13,  p.135
This same book says, "In that day the blood of the Saints shall cry
from the ground for vengeance on the heads of the wicked." What! in a
free and enlightened nation and government like the United States,
which holds forth, in the first amendment to the Constitution,
liberty, and freedom of conscience! A Constitution that protects
religious societies in their belief! A Constitution that guarantees to
all the right of having whatever kind of religion they choose! A
Constitution that guarantees liberty of the press, and liberty to all
to serve God according to the dictates of their own consciences! Can
it be that such a prophecy will be fulfilled in the midst of such an
enlightened nation? The Book of Mormon declared it, and that, too,
before the existence of the Latter-day Saints' Church. It has been
printed and sent to all the world, that in that day, when that book
should come forth, the blood of the Saints should cry to the Lord from
[p.136] the ground of these United States for vengeance upon the heads
of their persecutors and murderers. Has this been fulfilled? In the
history of this people and Church during the last forty years I read
concerning our drivings from Jackson county, Missouri; from Kirtland,
Ohio; of our drivings from Clay county, Missouri, and from Caldwell
county to Ray, and out of many counties in the western part of
Missouri into Illinois.

Vol. 13,  p.136
The word concerning the driving of the people from Illinois, westward
to the Rocky Mountains, in the article of the treaty got up by the
mobocrats, was that "we must not stop short of the Rocky Mountains,
but that we must go beyond them." Were any lives lost in those
terrible persecutions, or was it merely property taken away from the
Saints, without paying them a cent, in the shape of thousands of acres
of land which they had paid the Government for, and comfortable
houses? If it had been only our houses and lands it would have been
bad enough; but lives were taken—innocent men, women and children were
shot down. I might go on and relate some of the circumstances, but I
dislike to dwell on the subject; it is apt to kindle up old nature in
one's heart, therefore I will leave that topic. Suffice it to say that
the blood of hundreds, and I might almost say thousands, will be
required at the hands of this nation unless the people repent.

Vol. 13,  p.136
Where is our prophet who translated this book, that noble youth whom
God raised up when only between fourteen and fifteen years of age?
Where is that noble boy to whom God sent His angel, and to whom He
gave the Urim and Thummim, and to whom He entrusted the original
golden plates from which this book was translated? He fell a martyr to
his religion under this free Government of the United States. Where is
the Patriarch of our Church, the brother of our Prophet? He, too, was
shot down at the same time. By whom? By people who were painted black
for the occasion, and who boasted of their bloody deeds in Hancock
county, Illinois. Some of them are still alive in that county, and to
this day boast of their bloody deeds in persecuting the Latter-day
Saints.

Vol. 13,  p.136
Many scores of our people were wasted away, and their blood soaks the
soil of this great government, crying aloud to the heavens for
vengeance on those who shed the blood of the martyrs, and who
persecuted God's people and sent them forth, as they supposed, to
perish in the heart of the Great American Desert.

Vol. 13,  p.136
Not only will they who committed these deeds be brought to judgment,
but those also who stood back behind the screen and said, "How glad I
am, Joe Smith is now dead, the Mormon Patriarch Hyrum Smith is shot
down, and we have killed many of their followers, men, women and
children. They have been driven five times from their locations and
settlements and been robbed of millions of dollars' worth of property
and we are enjoying it, and it is all right. Joe Smith ought to have
been killed before, long ago."

Vol. 13,  p.136
This seemed to be the feeling of a great many people in the American
nation. They sanctioned the shedding of innocent blood, if they did
not actually shed it themselves and God will require it at their
hands. Will He require anything at the hands of our nation, in a
national capacity, in regard to this matter? Was it not within their
power to protect us on the lands which we purchased from the General
Government? We did not purchase, to any extent, land [p.137] from the
Missourians, but we took up land that belonged to the General
Government. We paid our money into that Government Land Office. Did
they protect us in the possession of that land which they guaranteed
by their deeds to us and our seed or heirs for ever? They did not. Did
they protect us in our citizenship? No, they did not. Did we appeal to
them for protection? Yes, we laid our case before them. What was their
reply? Martin Van Buren, who sat at the head of the Government at that
time, said, "Gentlemen, your cause is just, but I can do nothing for
you." He saw the testimony; there was no getting away from it. His
reply indicated that he thought we had been persecuted so many years
that they had the right to persecute us; and when we asked, "Can you
protect us according to the Constitution, in our just rights? can you
not restore us our property—our houses and lands?" the reply was, "No,
we can do nothing for you."

Vol. 13,  p.137
Then, according to our ideas of the justice that dwells in the bosom
of the Almighty, who is the Judge of all the earth, we must suppose
that He will not only hold the actual murderers of the Saints
responsible, but all who sanctioned the deed, and the nation for not
punishing those murderers and for not protecting us in our rights, and
suffering us to be exiled unjustly to a foreign territory, for Utah
then belonged to Mexico. When we could not find safety in the United
States we fled to Mexico for protection; but we ultimately assisted in
redeeming the land we now occupy from the Mexican Government and
securing it to the United States Government. After sending five
hundred of our men to redeem this country, the United States formed a
treaty with Mexico, and this became United States territory.

Vol. 13,  p.137
By and by, after having secured this soil to our Government by the
Mormon Battalion, and having redeemed it from its sterility, and built
upwards of a hundred towns and settlements, it was sold to us. Did we
find fault at having to pay for it? No. When the land office was
opened in this Territory two or three years ago, we considered it all
right, and we were willing to pay our money for it. But what now? A
bill is before Congress the object of which is to deprive us of the
lands which we have paid for. The Government has got our money in its
Treasury for lands we have bought and paid for, and for which it
bargained to give us a deed and entered into a compact that we and our
children after us should possess this land for ever, and now Congress
has got up a law to deprive every man in this Territory, whose
religious faith happens to differ from Congress, of these lands.
Because we happen to differ on certain religious points with the
General Government, we are to be deprived of our homestead rights,
guaranteed to us and to the people of all the Territories of the
United States, by the laws of Congress.

Vol. 13,  p.137
Does this look like justice? Is this even-handed justice? It does not
seem to agree with my ideas of justice any more than the proceedings
of the mobocrats in Missouri, Ohio or Illinois. When, therefore, the
American nation, as a nation, by the voice of her Representatives,
Senators and President, sanctions a law to deprive American citizens
of their citizenship, to rob them of their houses and lands, and then
deprive them of their liberty, because of a difference of religious
belief and practice, I think the nation is pretty well ripened, and
that it [p.138] will not take much more to prepare them for the
fulfilment of the prophecies which I have been repeating. I do not
know how long-suffering the Lord is. It is a good thing that He has
wisdom, knowledge and understanding, that He is not a human being, or
He would get wrathy and swallow up the people in a moment. It is a
good thing that you and I do not have people to deal with according to
our feelings. God is a long-suffering being. He has fulfilled a great
many things pertaining to this people during forty years past. There
are a great many more to be fulfilled in relation to us, and in
relation to the nation which is persecuting us; but whatever the final
result may be, whether the American Congress pass laws to persecute us
or not; whether they rob us of our houses and lands or not; whether
they imprison us and send us for five years to a Penitentiary or a
military camp or not, there is one thing sure—as sure as the sun
shines forth in yonder heavens, so sure will the Lord fulfil one thing
with regard to this people. What is that? He will return them to
Jackson county, and in the westerns part of the State of Missouri they
will build up a city which shall be called Zion, which will he the
head-quarters of this Latter-day Saint Church; and that will be the
place where the prophets, apostles and inspired men of God will have
their head-quarters. It will be the place where the Lord God will
manifest Himself to His people, as He has promised in the Scriptures,
as well as in modern revelation.

Vol. 13,  p.138
"Do you believe that?" says one. Just as much as we believed, long
before it came to pass, what has taken place. The world can believe
what has taken place, because it has been fulfilled. The Latter-day
Saints believe in prophecies before they take place. We have just as
much confidence in returning to Jackson county and the building of a
great central city that will remain there a thousand years before the
earth passes away, as the Jews have in returning to Jerusalem and
re-building the waste places of Palestine. In fact we have more faith
than they have; for they have been so many generations cast out of
their land that their descendants have almost lost their faith in
returning. But the Latter-day Saints are fresh, as it were. There are
many of the old stock, who passed through all those tribulations I
have named, still living, whose faith in returning to Jackson county,
and the things that are coming, is as firm and fixed as the throne of
the Almighty. We know the future destiny of this kingdom as well as we
know its past history, that is concerning the general events which are
to transpire.

Vol. 13,  p.138
I am taking up too much of your time. May the Lord bless us as a
people; bless us with wisdom, with understanding, with power with the
heavens, with union, with peace among ourselves; bless us with
righteousness, and joy in the Holy Ghost; bless us with the spiritual
gifts of His kingdom, multiply His favors upon us and upon our
generations after us, forever and ever, is my prayer in the name of
Jesus Christ. Amen.[p.139] 

Brigham Young, July 18, 1869

The Lord's Supper—Miracles and Manifestations 
of the Power of God—the Gospel and the 
Gifts and Blessings Thereof

Discourse By President Brigham Young, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, July 11, 1869.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 13,  p.139
I need the attention of the congregation and the faith of those who
have faith; I need the wisdom of God and His Spirit to be in my heart
to enable me to speak to the edification of the people. Although I
have been a public speaker for thirty-seven years, it is seldom that I
rise before a congregation without feeling a child-like timidity; if I
live to the age of Methusaleh I do not know that I shall outgrow it.
There are reasons for this which I understand. When I look upon the
faces of intelligent beings I look upon the image of the God I serve.
There are none but what have a certain portion of divinity within
them; and though we are clothed with bodies which are in the image of
our God, yet this mortality shrinks before that portion of divinity
which we inherit from our Father. This is the cause of my timidity,
and of all others who feel this embarassment when they address their
fellow beings.

Vol. 13,  p.139
While we are administering the sacrament I will read the 16th verse of
the 10th chapter of Corinthians, where Paul, speaking of the
administration of this ordnance, says, "The cup of blessings which we
bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which
we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?"

Vol. 13,  p.139
There are many passages of Scripture which refer to the administering
of the sacrament. A saying, direct from the lips of Jesus, has not
been understood by all those who have believed in his name. When he
was about to take his departure from this world he called his
disciples into an upper room and he took bread and brake it and
blessed it and gave it to his disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is
my body." He then took the cup and blessed it and gave to his
disciples, saying, "Drink ye all of it." If we were to stop here, I
think it would be more difficult to understand than if we were to read
the rest of his sayings on this subject. This is my body which is
given for you; this is my blood of the New Testament. This do in
remembrance of me; I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the
vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's
kingdom.

Vol. 13,  p.139
We do this in remembrance of the death of our Savior; it is required
of his disciples until he comes again, no matter how long that may be.
No matter how many generations come and go, believers in him are
required to eat bread and drink wine in remembrance of his death and
sufferings until he comes again. Why are they required to do this? To
witness unto the Father, to Jesus and to the angels that they are
believers in and desire to follow him [p.140] in the regeneration,
keep his commandments, build up his kingdom, revere his name and serve
him with an undivided heart, that they may be worthy to eat and drink
with him in his Father's kingdom. This is why the Latter-day Saints
partake of the ordinance of the Lord's Supper.

Vol. 13,  p.140
I know that in the Christian world sermon after sermon is preached on
this subject; yet people there differ in their belief concerning these
emblems. The Mother Church of the Christian world believes that the
bread becomes the actual flesh of Jesus, and that the wine becomes his
blood; this is preposterous to me. It is bread, and it is wine; but
both are blessed to the souls of those who partake thereof. But to be
followers of the Lord Jesus more is required than merely to partake of
the bread and wine—the emblems of his death and suffering—it is
necessary that strict obedience he rendered to his requirements.

Vol. 13,  p.140
On one occasion when the Savior was speaking to his disciples he gave
them a mission, saying, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the
Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned And these signs shall
follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils; they
shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents, and if they
drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on
the sick, and they shall recover." These are the words spoken by Jesus
when he sent his disciples forth to preach the Gospel.

Vol. 13,  p.140
In the search after truth, those who are unconverted might say with
propriety that where the signs follow believer's there is the Gospel.
Yet, in the Christian world, it is generally conceded that signs are
no longer necessary, and that miracles are not needed now, and were
given in the days of Jesus merely to establish the validity of the
Gospel he preached and the authenticity of his mission from heaven to
earth. I do not so understand it. I think if I had lived in the days
of Jesus my mind would bare been led very much as it is now. I do not
want to see a miracle to confirm the truth of any doctrine or saying
that is revealed to me. If I can see that it is calculated to purify
the hearts of the people and to sanctify their affections, and to
reconcile them to God and to His law and government, it satisfies me;
and so far as this goes I might say that I am like the Christian
world, in the belief that miracles are no longer needed. But I believe
that miracles are as absolutely necessary now as they ever were. Yet I
wilt say with regard to miracles, there is no such thing save to the
ignorant—that is, there never was a result wrought out by God or by
any of His creatures without there being a cause for it. There may be
results, the causes of which we do not see or understand, and what we
call miracles are no more than this—they are the results or effects of
causes hidden from our understandings.

Vol. 13,  p.140
This, in my own mind, is argued out perfectly, upon natural
principles. It is natural for me to believe that, if I plough the
ground and sow wheat, in the proper season I shall reap a crop of
wheat; this is the natural result. It was precisely so with the
miracles that Jesus wrought upon the earth? At the wedding in Cana of
Galilee, when they had drunk all the wine they went to the Savior and
asked him what they should do He ordered them to fill up their pots
with water, and after having done so they drew forth of that water and
found that it was wine.[p.141] I believe that was real wine; I do not
believe that it was done on the principle that such things are done in
these days by wicked men, who, by means of what they term psychology,
electro-biology, mesmerism, &c., influence men and make them believe
that water is wine, and other things of a similar character. The
Savior converted the water into wine. He knew how to call the
necessary elements together in order to fill the water with the
properties of wine. The elements are all around us; we eat, drink and
breathe them, and Jesus, understanding the process of calling them
together, performed no miracle except to those who were ignorant of
that process. It was the same with the woman who was healed by
touching the hem of his garment; she was healed by faith, but it was
no miracle to Jesus. He understood the process, and although he was
pressed by the crowd, behind and before, and on each side, so that he
could scarcely make his way through it, the moment she touched him he
felt virtue leave him and enquired who touched him. This was no
miracle to him. He had the issues of life and death in his power; he
had power to lay down his life and power to take it up again. this is
what he says, and we must believe this if we believe the history of
the Savior and the sayings of the apostles recorded in the New
Testament. Jesus had this power in and of himself; the Father
bequeathed it to him; it was his legacy, and he had the power to lay
down his life and take it again. He had the streams and issues of life
within him and when he said "LIVE" to individuals, they lived. The
diseases that are and ever have been prevalent among the human family
are from beneath, and are entailed upon them through the fall—through
the disobedience of our first parents; but Jesus, having the issues of
life at his command, could counteract those diseases at his pleasure.
The case of the Centurion's servant is a striking instance of this.
The Centurion sent and besought Jesus to heal his servant. "Say in a
word," said he, "and my servant shall be healed." Jesus, seeing the
man's earnestness and solicitude, said, "I have not found so great
faith, no, not in Israel." And it is said that they who were sent,
returned to the Centurion's house and found the servant healed. Jesus
counteracted the disease preying upon the system of this man, but to
himself, knowing the principle by which the disease was rebuked, it
was no miracle.

Vol. 13,  p.141
But these miracles or manifestations of the power of God, though not
believed in by the Christian world, are necessary for you and me and
for all who wish to be blessed by their means. Some may say, "How are
we to obtain them?" I answer by obedience to all the commandments of
God in the Gospel of life and salvation. After obedience to these
requirements an individual is entitled to and may enjoy the blessing
of miracles just as well as Jesus did. To the same degree? Perhaps
not. Very few on the earth have ever had power to raise the dead. We
read that Peter did. But it was a common thing for Jesus to raise the
dead, heal the sick, make the deaf to hear, the blind to see and the
lame to walk; and every person is entitled to those things according
to the obedience and faithfulness inherent in him. When do we need
them? I will tell you when I need them—when my family is sick, and
they need something to counteract the principle of death working in
their systems. Under such circumstances some might want to administer
[p.142] an emetic to the sick, which might be very well if they lacked
faith; but if we have faith to feel that the issues of life and death
are in our power, we can say to disease, "Be ye rebuked in the name of
Jesus, and let life and health come into the system of this
individual, from God, to counteract this disease;" and our faith will
bring this by the laying on of hands by administering the ordinances
of the holy Gospel.

Vol. 13,  p.142
I am happy to say I have never been under the necessity of calling a
doctor to my family for forty years. I have had them in my family, but
not from necessity. I like them when they are gentlemen; when they are
wise and full of intelligence I am very fond of them; but I do not ask
them to doctor my family in any case; and there are no circumstances
under which I think them necessary except in case of a broken bone, or
where skilful mechanical or surgical aid is necessary. But to call a
doctor to my family to administer physic to them, I am not under the
necessity of doing it. Is this so? Yes, it is; and if the experiment
could be tried, independent of the Gospel and of faith, in any
community, I care not where, nor for what length of time, of having
any number of persons, with regularly qualified physicians to attend
them; and the same number without such physicians, but who will doctor
themselves according to nature and their own judgments, among that
portion without doctors there would be less sickness and fewer deaths
than among those who had their doctors. The experience of the
Latter-day Saints in Utah confirms this. When we first came here we
had no sickness, and we had no sickness until we had doctors. When
they began to obey the Gospel they did not want to dig in the field,
hoe potatoes, go to the kanyon for lumber or wood, to secure for
themselves and families the necessaries of life; but they wanted to
live by doctoring the people, and from that time on, as we got richer
and built warm houses, and have lived more richly, indulging in sweet
cake, plum pudding, roast beef and so on, we have had more or less
disease among us. Perhaps I have said enough about doctors.

Vol. 13,  p.142
I say, again, however, that it is absolutely necessary that we all
possess the gift God has seen fit to bestow upon His children to
counteract, the power of death. How long? To live for ever? O no, men
must die; it is the decree of the Almighty that all men shall die
within the thousand years. Said He, "In the day that thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die." This body must sleep in the bosom of
mother earth; this is the decree of the Almighty, hence it is
necessary that all must die of disease or old age, but for all that,
to my certain knowledge, the sick in hundreds of instances are healed
by the power of God through administering the ordinances of His
Gospel.

Vol. 13,  p.142
The first principle of the Gospel is faith in God—faith in a Supreme
Being. This is a point that meets the infidel, and is one upon which I
have reflected and talked a great deal, and I have come to this
conclusion—that good, solid, sound sense teaches me never to judge a
matter until I understand it, and infidels should never pass their
opinion with regard to the character of a Supreme Being until they
know whether there is one or not. If this principle were an article in
the creed of the infidel world, I think they would not be quite so
sceptical as they are; I think we should not meet with any person who
would deny the existence of a Deity. The infidel looks abroad and sees
the works of nature, in all [p.143] their diversity—the mountain
piercing the clouds with its snowy peaks, the mighty river,
fertilizing, in its course to the sea, the valleys and plains in every
direction, the sun in his glory at mid-day, the moon in her silvery
splendor, and the myriad organizations from man to the minutest form
of insect life, all giving the most irrefutable evidence of a designer
and creator of infinite wisdom, skill and power, and yet he says there
is no Deity, no Supreme Ruler, but all is the result of blind chance.
How preposterous! Now, here is a book called the Bible. It is enclosed
in what we call the cover, consisting of boards, paper and leather.
Within the covers we see a vast amount of writing—syllables, words and
sentences; now if we say there never was a person to compose, write,
print or bind this book, but that it is here wholly as the result of
chance, we shall only give expression to the faith, if faith it can be
called, of those who are termed infidels; in fact this is infidelity.
I do not want to say much about it, it is too vain! In my travels and
labors I have met a great many persons who have desired to contend
about the principles I taught, though I am happy to say I have passed
through the world thus far without a discussion. My grounds have
always been, when out preaching, "If you have a truth and I have
errors, I will give you ten errors for one truth just as long as we
have any to exchange; and if in setting my views before the people you
say that any portion of the principles I preach is untrue, you must
prove it or be for ever silent; and if I affirm that anything you have
to deliver to the people is false, I must prove it or for ever hold my
peace." On these grounds I have been free from discussions. So much
for infidelity and debating.

Vol. 13,  p.143
The Gospel that we preach is the power of God unto salvation; and the
first principle of that Gospel is, as I have already said, faith in
God, and faith in Jesus Christ His Son our Savior. We must believe
that he is the character he is represented to be in the holy
Scriptures. Believe that he told the truth when he said to his
disciples, "Go ye forth and preach the Gospel to every creature; he
that believeth and is baptized shall he saved, but he that believeth
not shall be damned." We must believe that this same Jesus was
crucified for the sins of the world, that is for the original sin, not
the actual individual transgressions of the people; not but that the
blood of Christ will cleanse from all sin, all who are disposed to act
their part by repentence, and faith in his name. But the original sin
was atoned for by the death of Christ, although its effects we still
see in the diseases, tempers and every species of wickedness with
which the human family is afflicted. Again, if our Gospel be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost. There is not a spiritually minded man in
the world who reads the Bible but will acknowledge that the Elders of
Israel, the Latter-day Saints, proclaim the Gospel, precisely, as
Jesus and his apostles proclaimed it. Is this heresy? I pause and ask
the question of the Christian world, is this heresy? Do not my
brethren believe in the Bible? Do not all the Christian world say that
they believe in the Bible? They do. Then if we preach Jesus and him
crucified as the apostles did, and as they have left it on record,
what more can be said? Is there any harm or sin in this? No; for this
pertains to the Gospel of life and salvation. Jesus set in his Church,
so say his apostles, firstly, apostles. Now I will ask the religious
and philosophical world if they have ever obtained any information
[p.144] or revelation about Christ having taken them out again? No,
they have not; and if there are no apostles, there is no Church. Jesus
set in his Church, according to Paul's words to the Corinthians,
firstly apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that
miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of
tongues. Again I will ask the question: has there been any revelation
from heaven that God has taken these gifts out of His Church; and if
so through whom and when? Many persons think if they see a prophet
they see one possessing all the keys of the kingdom of God on the
earth. This is not so; many persons have prophecied without having any
Priesthood on them at all. It is no particular revelation or gift for
a person to prophecy. You take a good statesman, for instance, he will
tell you what will become of a nation by their actions. He foresees
this and that, and knows the results; this is what makes a statesman,
and no man is a good statesman unless he can foresee the results of
any line of policy that may be pursued. To be a prophet is simply to
be a foreteller of future events; but an apostle of the Lord Jesus
Christ, has the keys of the holy Priesthood, and the power thereof is
sealed upon his head, and by this he is authorized to proclaim the
truth to the people, and if they receive it, well; if not, the sin be
upon their own heads.

Vol. 13,  p.144
I have already said that Christ set in his Church apostles and
prophets; he also set in his Church evangelists, pastors and teachers;
also the gifts of the Spirit, such as diverse tongues, healing the
sick, discernment of spirits, and various other gifts. Now, I would
ask the whole world, who has received revelation that the Lord has
discontinued these offices and gifts in his Church? I have not. I have
had revelation that they should be in the Church, and that there is no
Church without them. I have had many revelations proving to me that
the Old and New Testaments are true. Their doctrines are comprized in
the Gospel that we preach, which is the power of God unto salvation to
all who believe. What are the traits of this Gospel when it is
received into the heart of an individual? It will make a bad man good,
and a good man better; it increases their light, knowledge, and
intelligence, and enables them to grow in grace and in the knowledge
of the truth, as the Savior did, until they understand men and things,
the world and its doctrines, whether Christian, heathen or Pagan, and
will ultimately lead them to a knowledge of things in heaven, on the
earth or under the earth. I will say one thing more about, the Gospel
as taught by the Latter-day Saints, and I will quote the words of
Jesus—this Gospel will eventually lead all who faithfully observe its
precepts to a knowledge of the "only wise and true God, and Jesus
Christ whom He has sent, whom to know is life eternal."

Vol. 13,  p.144
Now I would ask the Christian world a question, and in doing so I do
not mean to reflect upon, or cast an insinuation in the least
derogatory to, all Christians, or to any who believe in God; but I
would ask them, what do you know of God? Take all the divines on the
face of the earth and place them in this stand, and beyond the
attributes of God they know nothing of Him; they are entirely ignorant
of His person. There is the difference between the various religious
sects of the Christian world and the Latter-day Saints. We do know
God, and we know Jesus Christ We understand why Jesus came to [p.145]
the earth; we know the design of the Father in sending him. We also
understand the earth, and the nature of the earth, and why God
permitted Mother Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit. We should not
have been here to-day if she had not; we could never have possessed
wisdom and intelligence if she had not done it. It was all in the
economy of heaven, and we need not talk about it; it is all right. We
should never blame Mother Eve, not the least. I am thankful to God
that I know good from evil, the bitter from the sweet, the things of
God From the things not of God. When I look at the economy of heaven
my heart leaps for joy, and if I had the tongue of an angel, or the
tongues of the whole human family combined, I would praise God in the
highest for His great wisdom and condescension in suffering the
children of men to fall into the very sin into which they have fallen,
for He did it that they, like Jesus, might descend below all things
and then press forward and rise above all. Our spirits once dwelt in
the heavens and were as pure and holy as the angels; but angels have
tabernacles and spirits have none, and they are anxious to take
tabernacles and they come to the meanest, lowest and humblest of the
human race to obtain one rather than run any risk of not doing so. I
have hoard that the celebrated Mr. Beecher, of Brooklyn, once said
that the greatest misfortune that could ever happen to than was to be
born; but I say that the greatest good fortune that ever happened or
can happen to human beings is to be born on this earth, for then life
and salvation are before them; then they have the privilege of
overcoming death, and of walking sin and iniquity under their feet, of
incorporating into their daily lives every principle of life and
salvation and of dwelling eternally with the Gods. I would hardly dare
say this, but Jesus said, "Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye
are Gods? If He called them Gods, unto whom the word of God came, and
the Scripture cannot be broken; say ye of him whom the Father hath
sanctified, and sent into the world, thou blasphemest, because I said
I am the Son of God?" The Apostle Paul has also said, "For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God." "And if
children then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ." And
all who are faithful to the precepts of the Gospel will see Jesus and
be as he is.

Vol. 13,  p.145
I recollect once, not long after we came to the Valley, I think it was
in 1851, a Baptist preacher came here; he put up at my house; I kept
him while he stayed in the city. He was a gentlemen, very kind and
very good. I preached one day on the character of the Deity, and when
I reached a certain point, a point where he could learn nothing
further, I left it. When we reached home he said to me, "Brother
Young, why did you not proceed with your discourse? I would have given
anything in the world if you had, for I should then have learned your
belief with regard to our heavenly Father." I said to him, "Do you
believe the Bible?" "O yes," he replied. I then quoted to him the 26th
and 27th verses of the 1st chapter of Genesis, in which we find the
following words: "And God said let us make man in our image, after our
likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God
created man in His own image, in the image of God created[p.146] He
him; male and female created He them."

Vol. 13,  p.146
I also referred to the visit of the Lord to Abraham in which Abraham
said, "My Lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away,
I pray thee, from thy servant. Let a little water, I pray you, be
fetched and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. And I
will fetch a morsel of bread and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye
shall pass on." I also referred to where the Lord, talking to Moses,
says, "Behold there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a
rock. And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I
will put thee in a cliff of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand
while I pass by: and I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my
back parts, but my face shall not be seen."

Vol. 13,  p.146
All of these passages, said I, to the reverend gentleman, go to prove,
if they prove anything at all, that man is made in the image of his
Maker, and that he is His exact image, having eye for eye, forehead
for forehead, eyebrows for eyebrows, nose for nose, cheekbones for
cheekbones, mouth for mouth, chin for chin, ears for ears, precisely
like our Father in heaven." "Well," said he, "I have been for
twenty-nine years a preacher of the truth, and never thought that man
was created in the exact image of his Father; I always had the idea
that God was a being without body, parts or passions." He admitted,
however, that he had never gained that idea from the Bible. And
notwithstanding the Scriptures dwell upon this point with such force
and clearness, the idea entertained by this gentleman is that
entertained by the Christian world in general. We are told that Jesus
was "the express image of his Father's person." Think of it! Was Jesus
a man? Yes. Clothed upon as we are? Yes. Did he pass for a man the
same as others? He did. When he did not wish to be known he could pass
through a crowd, and from house to house, neighborhood to
neighborhood, town to town, without the people knowing who he was. He
had this power; and yet he was like other men, having eyes, forehead,
nose, eyebrows, mouth, cheekbones and chin like we have, and the
Apostle tells us that he was the express image of his Father's person;
and if the saying is true, that to know the only true and wise God and
Jesus Christ whom He has sent is eternal life, we have eternal life,
for we know them.

Vol. 13,  p.146
I have talked a great deal about what we believe as far as spiritual
things are concerned; but the result of our faith I have not done
with. The faith of the Latter-day Saints, so far as moral excellence
is concerned, leads them to adopt in their lives, the practice of
every moral principle believed in by the Christian world. It leads
them to do good to each other and to all their fellow beings, and to
injure none. It leads us to honor our beings upon the earth as sons
and daughters of the Almighty; to honor Him that created us, to
observe every true principle, everything that produces peace and
happiness, for everything that has this tendency is of God The Gospel
of Jesus Christ teaches him that has stolen to steal no more; it
teaches the swearer to swear no more; him that has borne false witness
to do it no more; him that has dishonored his being to do it no more;
and, in fact, there is no height, depth, length or breadth in moral
conduct believed in and practised by the Christian world but what we
are one with them; and we go so far beyond them in the things of God
that they [p.147] are lost, and yet they think we are lost. I have
smiled thousands of times within myself to hear them talk; they are
ignorant, but they think we are. Besides being far ahead of the
Christian world in the things of God, I will say that in their morals
and their recreations the Latter-day Saints will compare favorably
with any of them. The question arises sometimes in me, Is there
anything immoral in recreation? If I see my sons and daughters
enjoying themselves, chatting, visiting, riding, going to a party or a
dance, is there anything immoral in that? I watch very closely, and if
I hear a word, see a look, or a sneer at divine things or anything
derogatory to a good moral character, I feel it in a moment, and I
say, "If you follow that it will not lead to good, it is evil; it will
not lead to the fountain of life and intelligence; follow, only, the
path that leads to life everlasting." Where is it? God has it.

Vol. 13,  p.147
Not only does the religion of Jesus Christ make the people acquainted
with the things of God, and develop within them moral excellence and
purity, but it holds out every encouragement and inducement possible,
for them to increase in knowledge and intelligence, in every branch of
mechanism, or in the arts and sciences, for all wisdom, and all the
arts and sciences in the world are from God, and are designed for the
good of His people. If I had only seen in my young days an interest
manifested by those who had wealth, power and influence to reach down
a hand to take the suffering, ignorant poor and elevate them to the
standard they occupied, and to place them in possession of every
comfort, it would have been a matter of great joy to me. But it was
not so then, neither is it now. Men generally use their wealth for
selfish purposes, and do not seek to devote it to God and to the glory
of His name. In the kingdom of God only will the poor and the ignorant
of the children of men be purified and elevated and prepared to hold
the positions God has designed for His children.

Vol. 13,  p.147
I have heard a great many tell about what they have suffered for
Christ's sake. I am happy to say I never had occasion to. I have
enjoyed a great deal; but so far as suffering goes I have compared it
a great many times, in my feelings and before congregations, to a man
wearing an old, worn-out, tattered and dirty coat, and somebody comes
along and gives him one that is new, whole and beautiful. This is the
comparison I draw when I think of what I have suffered for the
Gospel's sake—I have thrown away an old coat and have put on a new
one. No man or woman ever heard me tell about suffering. "Did you not
leave a handsome property in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois?" Yes. "And
have you not suffered through that?" No, I have been growing better
and better all the time, and so have thin people. And you may take the
history of the world from the days of Adam down, and I am at the
defiance of any historian to prove that the Saints have ever suffered
as much as the sinners. This is my belief about the religion of Jesus
Christ. Some may say, "Did not the children of Israel suffer?" Yes.
"Why?" Because of their iniquity. They transgressed the laws God has
given them; they changed the ordinances and broke the everlasting
covenant, and for their sin and disobedience they were led into
captivity. If they had been obedient, I reckon they would have been
led direct to the Holy Land and stayed there. Some may say, "Now, Mr.
Speaker, you have been driven from your home, was it [p.148] for
righteousness?" No, I expect not. I expect it was to chasten me and
make me better. I never attributed the driving of the Saints from
Jackson county to anything but that it was necessary to chasten them
and prepare them to build up Zion. They were driven from Ohio to
Missouri, from Missouri to Illinois, and from Illinois here, only for
the advancement of Zion and the work of God on the earth. I do not
complain of persecution. I have left a great deal of property in
different States, considerable in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. Do I
care anything about it? No, we have more land here than we can occupy.
God led us from a sickly to a healthy country, and I thank him for it.
Were the Latter-day Saints driven time after time on account of their
sins? One of the first revelations that God gave to Joseph Smith was
for the gathering of Israel, and when the people came to Jackson
county, Missouri, they were as far from believing and obeying that
revelation as the east is from the west, and a great deal further, for
the east joins the west; but the people were so far from obeying that
revelation that they scarcely complied with it in one instance. They
were ignorant and had neither eyes to see, ears to hear, nor hearts to
understand, and God suffered their enemies to drive them. What were we
driven for? Was it because of polygamy? No, for that was not known
generally until after our arrival in these valleys, although we
received the revelation years before. The accusation brought against
the Latter-day Saints was that they tampered with the slaves in
Missouri, with the design of setting them free, and because of this
the people were driven, and the Lord suffered it. But I ask did the
Latter-day Saints ever suffer in Missouri as the Missourians did in
the late struggle? No, not a drop in a bucket compared with it. The
Missourians have been driven from their houses and hung up, their
property confiscated, their women and children murdered, and every
conceivable evil has been heaped upon them. Did we ever suffer like
that? In very few instances; and it is a shame for the Latter-day
Saints ever to talk about suffering.

Vol. 13,  p.148
What are we doing here, for the people that we are gathering from the
nations? The majority of those that we gather are from the poorest
that can be found; we gather a few scientific and learned men, but the
great majority are the poor and the ignorant. We take them and we
calculate to make them rich; we have taken the foolish and we
calculate to make them wise; we take the weak and we calculate to make
them strong. We calculate to build up this people until they know as
much as any other people on the face of the earth, in mechanics, in
the arts and sciences, and in every true principle of philosophy. All
true wisdom that mankind have they have received from God, whether
they know it or not. There is no ingenious mind that has ever invented
anything beneficial to the human family but what he obtained it from
that One Source, whether he knows or believes it or not. There is only
one source from whence men obtain wisdom, and that is God, the
fountain of all wisdom; and though men may claim to make their
discoveries by their own wisdom, by meditation and reflection, they
are indebted to our Father in heaven for all.

Vol. 13,  p.148
We calculate to make this people just as wise and prudent as they will
be made and just as humble as they will be made. When I look at the
world of mankind and see their pomp, splendor, covetousness and
[p.149] worldly-mindedness, I think what a shame! What have you got to
be so proud of? They have gold, silver, houses, lands and possessions,
and they feel, "O, we are kings, potentates, or men of great
influence, because of our wealth." But where did they get their
wealth? They will say they have been fortunate and have gathered it
together; or it was bequeathed to them by their father or grandfather.
But none of them have aught but what came from Him who lives and
reigns in the heavens—the God whom we serve, who alone bestows
blessings upon His children, the sons and daughters of Adam.

Vol. 13,  p.149
I have heard a great many sermons, prayers and exhortations for people
to go and get religion and have their names written in the "Lamb's
Book of Life." I want to inform the whole world, all the sons and
daughters of Adam, that their names are written there, and there they
will remain to all eternity unless they by their evil acts blot them
out. I want to inform everybody of this fact.

Vol. 13,  p.149
I want now to say a few words on political matters. First, I will say
we are a very religious people; the world knows that; and it was our
religion that influenced our minds to leave our homes and parents, and
in many instances our companions and children. Are we a political
people? Yes, very political indeed. But what party do you belong to or
would you vote for? I will tell you whom we will vote for: we will
vote for the man who will sustain the principles of civil and
religious liberty, the man who knows the most and who has the best
heart and brain for a statesman; and we do not care a farthing whether
he is a whig, a democrat, a barnburner, a republican, a new light or
anything else. These are our politics. If we could have got men to
control the affairs of the nation who had sufficient foresight and
forethought to know the results of their own actions, it would have
been better for the nation than it is at present. But we are just as
we are; no matter what brought about the present condition of things.
I leave the people to judge whether it is righteousness or sin that
has brought upon the nation the evils it has been called to endure. Of
one thing I am sure: God never institutes war; God is not the author
of confusion or of war; they are the results of the acts of the
children of men. Confusion and war necessarily come as the results of
the foolish acts and policy of men; but they do not come because God
desires they should come. If the people, generally, would turn to the
Lord, there would never be any war. Let men turn from their iniquities
and sins, and, instead of being covetous and wicked, turn to God and
seek to promote peace and happiness throughout the land, and wars
would cease. We expect to see the day when swords shall be turned into
ploughshares, spears into pruning hooks, and when men shall learn war
no more. This is what we want. We are for peace, plenty and happiness
to all the human family.

Vol. 13,  p.149
A great deal could be said about our peculiar faith, and our peculiar
internal institutions, as the world terms them. I do not want to say
anything about them; I act them out. I have got a family, and a pretty
large one. I am willing to compare them with any family on the face of
the earth when the privileges they have enjoyed are considered. I
think that so far as I myself am concerned, when it is remembered that
I never went to school but eleven days in my life, and that until I
commenced to preach the [p.150] Gospel I had to work hard every day
for my bread, I have made some improvement. I think this people are
improving; and I think we shall continue our work until the whole
human family will give up all notion of going to war with each other.
I expect to see the time when this people will possess every good
thing. All knowledge and wisdom and every good that the heart of man
can desire is within the circuit and circle of the faith we have
embraced. The day will come when the Gospel will be presented to the
kings and queens and great ones of the earth; but it will be presented
with a different influence from that with which it has been presented
to the poor, but it will be the same Gospel. We shall not present any
other Gospel; it is the same from everlasting to everlasting. No man
will be saved and come into the presence of the Father only through
the Gospel of Jesus Christ—the same for one as the other. The Lord has
His cause, His ways, His work; He will finish it up. Jesus is laboring
with his might to sanctify and redeem the earth and to bring back his
brethren and sisters into the presence of the Father. We are laboring
with him for the purification of the whole human family, that we and
they may be prepared to dwell with God in His kingdom.

Vol. 13,  p.150
God bless you. Amen.

Brigham Young, November 14, 1869

Building Up Zion—Temperance in Eating and Drinking

Discourse By President Brigham Young, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, November 14, 1869.

(Reported by John Grimshaw)

Vol. 13,  p.150
If the brethren and sisters will give their attention, I will try to
talk a few minutes. I preach a great deal to the people; but the
exertion of addressing such large congregations as assemble here in
the city bears a little too much on my stomach and lungs, especially
when laboring under a severe cold as I am at present.

Vol. 13,  p.150
A few of us have recently been on a visit South. We visited twenty
settlements, and, in eleven days, held twenty-seven meetings; and
universally there was a good turn-out, the largest meeting houses
being always filled to overflowing. It is a tolerably easy matter to
speak to the people in a small house, much more so than to address a
congregation like this.

Vol. 13,  p.150
We found the people very much engaged in their religion, and striving,
apparently, to put in practice the faith that they profess. Still, it
is a difficult matter to establish the principles of the kingdom of
God in the hearts of the people. This is for the want of
understanding. Our traditions are strong upon us. We have [p.151] been
taught that, if we will believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, repent of
our sins and exercise faith in his name, all will he well with us and
we shall be brought into the presence of our Father and God. This was
our former tradition. But there are Latter-day Saints who have almost
come to the conclusion that if they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
repent of their sins, and are baptized for the remission of them and
have hands laid upon them for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and
partake of the Sacrament or Lord's Supper, they have accomplished just
about all that is required of them in order to establish the kingdom
of God on the earth. Herein lies the difficulty which the servants of
God have to encounter. The people come short of understanding
precisely the order of the establishment of the kingdom of heaven;
consequently it is a labor that needs a great deal of attention, and
one that requires the influence of the Priesthood over the minds of
the people to get them to draw nigh unto God and His cause.

Vol. 13,  p.151
As we have just beard remarked, in relation to the love of the world,
a great many Latter-day Saints, after receiving the Gospel, seem to
run well for a time and then turn again to the love of the world in
its awful, fallen state, lusting after the things that are perishable.
Still, if they could but understand true doctrine and correct
principles, they would find that there is nothing pertaining to the
elements of this earth, but what, in and of itself, is good and of
God. Some may exclaim, "Sin excepted." To this I would say that God
permits sin, or it could not be here. All the creations are His work
and they are for His glory and for the benefit of the children of men;
and all things are put into the possession of man for his comfort,
improvement and consolation, and for his health, wealth, beauty and
excellency.

Vol. 13,  p.151
We should also understand what to do with the things which God has
placed in our possession, We should also desire to understand and
should seek to know the object for which the earth was framed; and
then we wish to comprehend His object and design in placing His
children on it. We should also desire to understand how our Heavenly
Father wishes us to act now we are here; how we should devote our time
and talents, our daily labor and whatever means He puts into our
hands, for the building up of His kingdom on the earth. We want to get
the Saints to think of these things. If we could only get to the
affections of the people and could plant within them the principles of
the kingdom of heaven, it would be an easy matter to bring their hands
to join in the establishment of the Zion of God upon the earth. But,
herein lies our labor. the weakness and short-sightedness of man are
such, and he is so prone to wander and give himself up to the
grovelling things of the world, having had so little knowledge with
regard to God and godliness for hundreds of years, that it is
literally a breaking up of the fallow ground of his heart to prepare
him to see the Italy city that the Lord will establish.

Vol. 13,  p.151
The Latter-day Saints gather together for the express purpose, they
say, to establish Zion. Where is Zion? On the American continent.
Where is the gathering place? For the present, in the mountains. What
are you going there for? To help to build up Zion.

Vol. 13,  p.151
We find a great many trying to be Saints and endeavoring to understand
how they may be of the most benefit in building up the kingdom of God
on the earth. My brother Joseph [p.152] says it is an easy matter to
be a Saint. So I say. And taking another view of it, again, it is a
hard matter. This is true. It is not an easy thing to serve God and
mammon. If the Saints comprehend what they have to do in order to
establish Zion, and go to work with ready hands and willing hearts. to
accomplish the labor, they will find it a comparatively easy matter;
but unless there is a unity of action on the part of those who are
engaged in the work it is not very easily performed. When there is a
great work to be accomplished, and there are but few hands to perform
it, the burden weighs very heavily on those who are engaged in it. If
we have a farm of six hundred acres to fence, and there is only one
man engaged in getting the poles and lumber from the kanyon, we find
it a slow and tardy work; but if we have a hundred men engaged it is
much easier and pleasanter; if a thousand, still more so. So it is in
regard to establishing the kingdom of God in the hearts of the
children of men. It is not a very hard matter to prevail on a person
to put his treasure where his heart is. Our difficulty is in not
understanding the principles of the kingdom of heaven sufficiently to
enter into it with our whole hearts.

Vol. 13,  p.152
Many of our brethren who have come here when in their own land worked
under ground, and probably seldom saw the light of day, but spent year
after year of their lives digging out coal. If you chanced to ask
them, "Are you ever going to America?" the answer would invariably be,
"Yes, I am going to Zion." If you asked the wife and children would
they like to go to Zion, the reply would be, "Yes, with all our
hearts. We would do anything to got there; if necessary we would be
the slaves of those of our brethren who have gone there if we could
only go." Yet these same persons when they reach here are not
satisfied. If you ask them if this is Zion, they will say, "I do not
see much that looks like Zion." When they received the work perhaps
their minds were open to see Zion in its beauty and glory; but when
they come here and call this Zion they feel disappointed. They have
not the least idea in relation to establishing this kingdom. They
thought they were going to a Zion whose towers would reach the clouds,
with streets paved with gold and the Tree of Life growing on every
block. They say, "I do not like this place; I am not exactly suited
with it." What do you want? "I do not know exactly what I want; I want
something else; I do not like this place." The disposition of some of
these murmurers reminds me of the children of some families I have
seen while travelling in the world. It is something like this:
"Darling, will you have a piece of bread and butter?" "No, ma'am, I
don't want it." "But, my dear, shall I put some honey upon it?" "No, I
don't like it." "Well, then, will you have a little mince pie, love?"
"No, I can't eat it." This is about how the matter stands.

Vol. 13,  p.152
The Saints are full to overflowing with the words of eternal life, yet
they do not know what to do with them; and when we come to preach, it
seems as though the people were surfeited with much doctrine,
persuasion and counsel, and they do not like it very well. This was
evident by the many vacant seats this morning. There ought to be ten
thousand persons at these meetings, both in the morning and afternoon.
But how many do you see? The tabernacle not half filled. Why not come
to meeting and fill all the seats. I do not like to see this lack of
interest [p.153] in attending meetings. Those professing to be
Latter-day Saints have the words of life and do not know it; the
brethren read from the Book of Life and they do not know it, and the
words of God are given them in great abundance and they trifle with
them. Is this the fact? It is. If the people would live their
religion, there would be no apostacy and we would hear no complaining
or faultfinding. If the people were hungry for the words of eternal
life, and their whole souls even centred on the building up of the
kingdom of God, every heart and hand would be ready and willing and
the work would move forward mightily and we would advance as we should
do.

Vol. 13,  p.153
It is frequently remarked that there is too much of a sameness in this
community. True, we do not have the variety they do in the world,
drinking, carousing, quarreling, litigation, etc. But if you want a
change of this kind, you can get up a dog fight. I think that would be
about the extent of the quarreling you want to see. It would be as
much as I would desire to witness. I have seen enough of the world,
without even desiring to behold another drunken man. I never wish to
see another lawsuit. I feel perfectly satisfied without it.

Vol. 13,  p.153
If the people would like something by way of a change, I will propose
something to them, as I did to sister Horne, the President of the
Female Relief Society in the 14th Ward, who was at Gunnison, about one
hundred and thirty miles south of this place, when we were there. I
invited her, widen she returned, to call the sisters of the Relief
Society together, and ask them to begin a reform in eating and
housekeeping. I told her I wished to get up a society whose members
would agree to have a light, nice breakfast in the morning, for
themselves and children, without cooking something less than forty
different kinds of food, making slaves of themselves and requiring
three or four hired girls to wash dishes. Prepare your breakfast
something like they do in England, bread and butter, a lit