Journal of Discourses Volume 15

BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG, 

HIS TWO COUNSELLORS, 
AND THE TWELVE APOSTLES.

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

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

VOL. XV

LIVERPOOL: 

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY ALBERT 
CARRINGTON, 42, ISLINGTON. 

LONDON: 

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

1873.[p.iii] 

Preface

Vol. 15,  p.iii
WE take great pleasure in presenting to the Saints and the world the
Fifteenth Volume of the JOURNAL of DISCOURSES, which they will find
contains rich treasures of information concerning the glorious
principles of Eternal Life, as revealed through God's anointed
servants in these last days.

Vol. 15,  p.iii
All who read the discourses contained in this Volume are earnestly
recommended to adapt them to their lives by practice, and we can
confidently assure them that, in doing so, they are laying up a store
of knowledge that will save and exalt them in the Celestial kingdom.

THE PUBLISHER.[p.1] 

Brigham Young, April 28, 1872

The Lord's Supper—Progression—Co-Operation—Independence

Remarks By President Brigham Young, Delivered in the New 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, April 28th, 1872.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 15,  p.1
I am very happy for the privilege of meeting with the Latter-day
Saints, and I have reason to be thankful that I am able to speak a
little to them. It brings many things to our reflections and causes
many thoughts to arise. When we look over the human family what a
variety we see and especially upon the subject of religion. We take
Christianity, for instance, and as nations, as people, we believe in
and on the Lord Jesus Christ. Most of Christian professors believe in
the ordinances, or some potions of the ordinances of the house of God.
Most of Christians believe in the breaking of bread, in blessing it
and partaking of it in remembrance of the broken body of our Savior;
also in taking the cup, consecrating it and then partaking of it, in
remembrance of his blood that was shed for the sins of the world. And
then take up the hundreds of different denominations and what a motley
mass we present in our faith, feelings, sympathies, judgment, passions
and conduct; man against man, priest against priest, people against
people. Now let the Christian denominations come here: "Yes, the
Latter-day Saints believe in taking the Sacrament, it is true, but
what a pity," say they. "They profess to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh dear! I wish they did! Yes, they seem to manifest great
confidence in the atonement, in the ordinances and commandments. I
wish they were a better people! What a pity it is that they are such
an outlawed, sin fill race of beings as they are! What a pity!!" "How
we Christians do pity the Latter-day Saints." Then again, how we
Latter-day Saints do pity the Christians! What a spectacle! And see
us, as Christians, warring with each other! What for? For our pure
faith, for our holy desires, for our great charity to each other, for
the love of Christ, for the salvation of the souls of the children of
men.

Vol. 15,  p.4
Now is not this a spectacle to present to angels? Why if the Lord
Almighty [p.2] was not beyond the conception of humanity in charity
and love, in mercy and longsuffering, in patience and kindness to his
creatures, where would we have been ere this? We would have been
weltering in his wrath, we would have been drinking his hot
displeasure. But he is more merciful than we are. I have thought a
great many times I was very thankful I was not the Lord Almighty. I
should be consuming my enemies. How I should contend against those who
hate me. I am glad Ism not the Lord. And to see the Latter-day Saints
here following the example of the Savior when he took his disciples
into an upper room, and bade some of them go and prepare to partake
supper with him the last time before his crucifixion. He took the
bread and blessed and brake. "Take and eat ye all of this, for this is
my body in the New Testament." He took the cup and blessed it; "Drink
ye all of this, for this is my blood in the New Testament." Here we
are doing the same to-day. What more? Do this until I come, for I will
neither eat nor drink any more with you in this capacity until I drink
anew with you in my father's kingdom on this earth. Will he do it?
Certainly he will. "Do this in remembrance of me until I come." We are
doing this to-day. Do not other Christians do the same? They do. How
do we Latter-day Saints feet towards them? Were we to yield to the
carnal passions of the natural man and we had the power of the
Almighty we would spew our enemies out of our mouths, yes, we would
hiss them from the face of human society for their evils, their
malice, for the revenge and wrath they have towards us. But we are not
the Almighty. I am glad of it. I am happy in the reflection that I
have not the power, and I hope and pray I may never possess it until I
can use it like a God, until I can wield it as our Father in heaven
wields it, with all that eternity of majesty, glory, charity, with his
judgment, discretion, and with every faculty of compassion. I am happy
in the reflection that I do not possess the power. I am glad you
elders do not, I am really glad you do not. Will he ever grant power
to his Saints on the earth? Yes, they will take the kingdom, and
possess it for ever and ever; but in the capacity they arc now, in the
condition that they now present themselves before God, before the
world and before each other? Never, never! until we are sanctified,
until we are filled with the wisdom of God, with the knowledge of God,
will he bequeath the power that be has in reserve for his Saints;
never will the Saints possess it until they are prepared to wield it
with all that judgment, discretion, wisdom and forbearance that the
Lord Almighty wields in his own capacity, and uses at his pleasure?
How do you feel about it, brethren? Do not you wish sometimes you had
power to pinch their ears? Do not you wish you had power to stop them
in their mad career? Let the Lord Almighty do this. You think his eve
is upon the work of his hands? It is. His ears are open to the prayers
of his children, he will hear their prayers, he will answer their
desires; and when we as a people possess the abundance of that
patience, that longsuffering and forbearance that we need, to possess
the privileges and the power that the Lord has in reserve for his
people, we will receive to our utmost satisfaction. We shall not have
it now. The Lord says, "I can not give it to you now." This church has
now been traveling over forty-two years—forty-two years the sixth day
of this month since it was organized with six members. What have we
[p.3] learned? We assembled in Missouri, at the place of gathering on
the borders of the Lamanites, and there we bought our farms and built
our houses; but could we stay there? Were we prepared then to enter
into Zion, to build up the Zion of God and possess it? We were not, we
must suffer. "You Latter-day Saints, you, my children," says the Lord,
"are not prepared to receive Zion." Why, we have heard detailed by
Elder Cartington the conduct of Elders at the present time, dishonest
in the matter of a few shillings or dollars. Dishonest, covetous,
selfish, grasping for that which is not our own; borrowing and not
paying; taking that which does not belong to us; dishonest in our
deal; oppressing each other. Are we fit for Zion? I say nothing to the
Christian world with regard to this. Let them bite and devour as much
as they please, it does not belong to the Latter-day Saints at least.
Could we stay in Independence? No, we could not. What was the reason?
Here are some hearing me talk who were there—some who are aged, some
here who were then children and infants, some who were born there. But
we stayed a very few years—two or three—and we must get up and march.
Why did we leave? Why the enemy is upon us, our enemies are gathered
around us, our foes are besetting us on every hand. There goes a house
burned up; there is a man that is whipped; there is a family turned
out of doors! What is the matter with all you Latter-day Saints? Can
the would see? No. Can the Saints see? No, or few of them can; and we
can say that the light of the Spirit upon the hearts and
understandings of some Latter-day Saints is like the peeping of the
stars through the broken shingles of the roof over our heads, when we
are watching through the silent watches of the night and behold the
glimmer of a twinkling star. "Oh yes, I see, I see, that we are not
prepared to receive the kingdom." Another one says, "Yes, I can see,
we were too selfish." Another one says, "I see, the wicked must be
prepared for their doom as well as the Saints for their exaltation,
and that the wicked are a rod in the hands of God to chasten the
Saints." Here are the two classes—the righteous and the unrighteous,
and the righteous must be prepared by suffering and by rendering
strict obedience to the commandments of heaven. It seems to be
absolutely necessary in the providence of Him who created us, and who
organized and fashioned all things according to his wisdom, that man
must descend below all things. It is written of the Savior in the
Bible that he descended below all things that he might ascend above
all. Is it not so with every man? Certainly it is. It is fit then that
we should descend below all things and come up gradually, and learn a
little now, and again, receive "line upon line, precept upon precept,
here a little and there a little." But hark, do the people hear it? Do
the people understand it? Scarcely! scarcely! Do the Latter-day Saints
understand these principles, and are we prepared to receive Zion? Are,
we prepared to receive the Kingdom and are we prepared for the
blessings that God has in reserve for his children? Stop, think,
consider, look around us! How is it? Are not the sordid things of this
life before our eyes, and have they not thrown a mist before them so
that we can not see? Are we not of the earth, and still earthy?
Certainly we areal the earth and still earthy. What do we know of
heavenly things? It is very true we have the Bible; but when we come
to our elders, men of limited education and moderate reading, [p.4]
they are able to teach the whole Christian world theology. Take them
from the anvil, from the plow, from the carpenter's bench, or from any
occupation, if they possess good common ability and the spirit of our
holy religion that God has revealed in these latter days, they
understand more of the Bible and the building lap of the Kingdom of
God than all the world besides that are destitute of the priesthood of
the Son of God. And yet what do we know? Comparatively we have hardly
learned the first lesson.

Vol. 15,  p.4
Could our brethren stay in Jackson County, Missouri? No, no. Why? They
had not learned "a" concerning Zion; and we have been traveling now
forty-two years, and have we learned our a, b, c? "Oh," say a good
many, "I think we have." Have we learned our a b ab? Have we got as
far as b a k e r, baker? Have we got through our first speller? Have
we learned multiplication? Do we understand anything with regard to
the building up of the kingdom? I will say, scarcely. Have we seen it
as a people? How long shall we travel, how long shall we live, how
long shall God wait; for us to sanctify ourselves and become one in
the Lord, in our actions and in our ways for the building up of the
kingdom of God that he can bless us? He defends us, it is very true,
and fights our battles. When we were driven from Missouri and had to
leave the State I recollect very well, Gov. Boggs said, "You must
leave;" Gen. Clark said, "You must leave;" the mob said, "You must
leave," and we had to leave. And after we had signed away our
property, I'd see a widow send up her little boy to brother
Such-a-one, "Will you let me go to your timber land and get a load of
wood for my mother?" "Tell your mother that I have got no more timber
than I shall want, I do not think I can spare her a load of wood." I
recollect very well of telling the Latter-day Saints, there and then,
"I hope to God that we never will have the privilege of stopping and
making ourselves rich while we grind the face of the poor; but let us
be driven from State to State until we can take what we have got and
dispose of it according to the dictation of the spirit of revelation
from the Lord. Said I, "You will not stay here;" but long faces would
come down, you know, with a gentle, mild scrowl, "I can't spare you a
load of wood." Excuse me. When are the Latter-day Saints going to be
prepared to receive the kingdom? Are we now? Not at all! We are
prepared for some things, and we receive just as fast as we prepare
ourselves. Well, what can we do, what more can we do? We can do just
what we please to do. It is in our power to do just what we please to
do with regard to sanctifying ourselves before the Lord, and preparing
ourselves to build up his kingdom: Have we not the liberty to build
this Temple here? We have, although earth and hell are opposed to it,
and arrayed against it. Have we not the privilege of preaching the
Gospel to the nations? We have. Have we not the privilege of uniting
our faith and our efforts for the benefit of the whole community? Yes,
we have.

Vol. 15,  p.4
Now come down, for example, to our present circumstances and
condition. Year after year, I labored with our merchants to unite
their efforts together to supply the wants of the people without
taking from them everything they had got; and when I assembled these
merchants some years before we entered into our present co-operative
institution in this mercantile trade, said I, "Will you unite your
efforts and your [p.5] means, and start a business here that we can
put goods into the hands of the people that we will not take their
last sixpence? Have a calico dress at forty cents a yard when it
should be only eighteen, twenty or twenty-two, and so on and so
forth." After a long conference one of the gentlemen present got up,
walked the room back and forward, and finally said, "President Young,
if you will furnish the money we will do as you say," as much as to
say, "it is none of your business what we do with the means that we
have." I dropped the conversation and said to myself. "Well then, gull
the people, take what they have got."

Vol. 15,  p.5
You recollect, a man here in the time of the Buchanan war by the name
of A. B. Miller. He was a merchant here for Russell and Majors. Our
people were not merchandising much then. Well, the merchants met
together and wanted to put up their goods to a certain notch, a dollar
a pound for sugar, for instance. This A. B. Miller—a gambler, though
there were a great really good things about him, he just turned in and
damned them. Says he, "Gentlemen, to turn in and cut the throats of
these 'Mormons,' and take what they have got, we might do, but for
being so damned mean as to ask a dollar a pound for sugar, I will not
do it."

Vol. 15,  p.5
Now then, is this co-operative institution one step towards bringing
the people to a union? Yes, but it is a very small one, and there is
danger of it growing into a condition that will cease to be one step
in the right direction. Let men say, "Here is what God has given me,
do what you please with it," and we shall be in the path of progress.
But how is it now? "Brother, have you paid any tithing? You have made
fifty thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, one thousand or five
hundred dollars as the case may be, have you paid any tithing?" "Well,
no I have not yet, but I think perhaps, I will by and by;" and this is
said with stammering tongue, faltering voice, and covetous heart. Wife
gave you your money and possessions? Who owns this earth? Does the
Devil? No, he does not, he pretended to own it when the Savior was
here, and promised it all to him if he would fall down and worship
him; but he did not own a foot of land, he only had possessed of it.
He was an intruder, and is still: this earth belongs to him that
framed and organized it, and it is expressly for his glory and the
possession of those who love and serve him and keep his commandments;
but the enemy has possession of it.

Vol. 15,  p.5
Now then, a few other items, brethren and sisters. Can you do anything
for the poor? "Well I do not know, but I can give you filly cents to
gather the poor." "Brother, can you pay that debt? You recollect you
borrowed some money of a widow woman in England. Do you recollect you
borrowed a little money of such a brother? Can you pay that?" "Well
yes, I am going to." You heard what Brother Carrington said about it,
what fellowship does the Lord Almighty have for such men? I think not
the least. What fellowship do angels have for such men? I should think
not much. What fellowship do I have for them? Not, one particle. What
ought to be done with them? I will answer the question—they ought to
be disfellowshipped by the Saints: they are not fellowshipped in the
heavens, and they ought not to be here.

Vol. 15,  p.5
"Well, now then, Brother Brigham, what are you at, what do you want?"
I want you to do just that which will displease the enemies of the
kingdom of God, and that which will please [p.6] the Lord Almighty and
the heavenly host to perfection. What is that? Do as you are counseled
to do by the spirit of revelation from the Lord. What is the cry
against us? "Brigham Young has too much influence! All the people
hearken to Brigham Young! All these poor deluded Latter-day Saints
take his counsel!" I wish it was so. If this were the fact you would
see Zion prosper upon the hills and upon the plains, in the valleys
and in the kanyons, and upon the mountains. Go to with your might,
seek unto the Lord your God until you have the revelations of the Lord
Jesus Christ upon you, until your minds are open, and the visions of
heaven are plain to you. Then follow the dictations of the spirit, and
watch Brother Brigham, and see if he counsels you wrong. I hope to see
the time when I can say to the Latter-day Saints, if I preside over
them, go and do this or that, and not ask a sixpence of this man or a
dollar from that, or a hundred dollars from another. "Here is what I
have, it is the Lord's. He has given me all that I possess, it is only
committed to my charge to see what I will do with it. The heavens are
his, the earth is his; the gold and silver are his, the wheat and fine
flour are his, the wine and the oil are his; the cattle upon a
thousand hills are his. I am his, I am his servant, let the Lord say
what the wants. Here I am, with all thou hast given me." How
displeasing this is to the devil is it not? I can not help it, this is
the true track and path for the Latter-day Saints to walk in. Walk up,
O ye Latter-day Saints, and wake up! Come to the Lord, forsake your
covetousness, your back-slidings, forsake the spirit of the world, and
return to the Lord with full purpose of heart until you get the spirit
of Christ within you, that you, like others, can cry," Abba Father,
the Lord he is God and I am his servant."

Vol. 15,  p.6
Do you think it would be difficult then for us to accomplish anything
we undertook? No. Very true the enemy, this potent foe that we have to
contend with, we know but little about him, very little; but he is
watching every avenue of the heart, rapping at every door and every
window, and if there is a crevice between the clapboards, through the
roof, or the brick or adobie wall, he throws a dart into the feelings
of each and every individual. "Take care, think for yourselves, judge
for yourselves; do not be led astray, do not you wander off after
these deluded people, and their delusion. Be careful, there is danger
in believing in the Lord, there is danger in being a Saint; there is
great danger in you yielding your judgment in another man." Oh, what a
pity! Where do you get your judgment? Where did it come from? What is
your judgment? I tell you that the judgment of the world now is pretty
much for all to do just as they please if they possibly can, to the
injury of their neighbors, for their own aggrandizement.

Vol. 15,  p.6
Can I not use my judgment in doing well just as much as in doing evil?
Am I not just as independent in performing a deed of charity as a deed
of cruelty? I contend that I am, what do you say? Have I not got my
liberty just as much, and exercise it just as freely, in feeding the
poor and clothing the naked as I have in turning them out of doors, or
in lifting myself up against God and his anointed? Has a man got to
apostatize from this kingdom, from the faith of Christ, to be
independent? Am I not as independent in believing in the Lord Jesus
Christ as I am in denying him? Am I not as independent in believing
the Gospel as I am in believing in the whisperings [p.7] and
mutterings of these spirits that are floating through the air, rapping
at everybody's door, sometimes tearing the clothes off their beds,
rapping, thundering and telling this, that and the other? You hearken
to that still small voice that whispers eternal truth, that opens the
visions of eternity to you that you can discern, understand and
follow, and the foul spirits that throng the air, and that fill our
houses if we let them in, will not have power over you.

Vol. 15,  p.7
Be just as independent as a God to do good. Love mercy, eschew evil,
be a savior to yourselves and to your families, and to your fellow
beings just as much as you possibly can, and go on with your
independence and do not yield yourselves servants to obey an evil
principle or an evil being.

Vol. 15,  p.7
God bless you. Amen.

Wilford Woodruff, April 6, 1872

His Testimony—the Fulfilling of Prophecy—Advice to Mothers

Discourse By Elder Wilford Woodruff, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, April 6, 1872. 

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 15,  p.7
Through the mercy and loving kindness of our Father in the heavens we
are again permitted to meet in a general conference of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Forty-two years ago this day this
church was organized with six members, by a prophet of the living God,
raised up in these last days by the administration of angels from God,
and ordained unto all the keys and powers of the Melchizedec
priesthood and apostleship, and of the kingdom of God on the earth.
According to the best knowledge we have, 1842 years ago to-day, the
Lord Jesus was crucified on Mount Calvary for the sins of the world.
The 6th day of April is a very important day in many respects. It has
certainly been very interesting to the Latter-day Saints to watch the
history and progress of this Church and kingdom during the last
forty-two years. This is one of the most important generations that
men, or God, or angels have ever seen on the earth: it is a
dispensation and generation when the whole flood of prophecy and
revelation and vision given through inspired men for the last six
thousand years is to have its fulfillment, and especially in relation
to the establishment of the great kingdom and Zion of God on the
earth. Joseph Smith was one of the greatest prophets God ever raised
up on the earth, and the Lord has had his eye upon him from the
foundation of the world. Any man who has ever read the book of Isaiah,
which we frequently have quoted to us, can see that he, with other
prophets, had his eye upon the latter-day Zion of God. He says in one
place, "Sing O heavens, rejoice O earth, break forth into singing, O
ye mountains,[p.8] for the Lord hath comforted his people, he will
have mercy upon his afflicted. But Zion said: The Lord hath forsaken
me, and my Lord hath forgotten me;" "Ah," says the Lord, "Can a woman
forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the
son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will not I forget thee.
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are
continually before me."

Vol. 15,  p.8
The Lord never created this world at random; he has never done any of
his work at random. The earth was created for certain purposes; and
one of these purposes was its final redemption, and the establishment
of his government and kingdom upon it in the latter days, to prepare
it for the reign of the lord Jesus Christ, whose right it is to reign.
That set time has come, that dispensation is before us, we are living
in the midst of it. It is before the Latter-day Saints, it is before
the world; whether or not the people have more faith in the promises
of God now than they had in the days of Noah makes no difference, the
unbelief of men will not make the truth of God without effect. The
great and mighty events that the Lord Almighty has decreed from before
the foundation of the world, to be performed in the latter days are
resting upon us, and they will follow each other in quick succession,
whether men believe or net, for no prophecy of Scripture is of any
private interpretation, but holy men of God spake as they were moved
upon by the Holy Ghost, and what they said will come to pass; though
the heaven and the earth pass away net one jot or tittle of the word
of the Lord will go unfulfilled.

Vol. 15,  p.8
Some of us have lived in and been intimately acquainted with this
church for the last forty years, a very few more than that, and some
less; but where is the Latter-day Saint or any other person who has
ever seen this church or kingdom go backward? No matter what position
we were in, whether exterminated by the order of Governor Boggs of
Missouri, or whether we lay, sick and afflicted, on the muddy banks of
the Missouri river; whether it was Zion's Camp going up for her
redemption; whether it was the pioneers coming to these mountains,
making the roads, building the bridges, killing the snakes and opening
the way for the gathering of the people, no matter what our
circumstances may have been, this kingdom has been onward and upward
all the day long until the present hour. Will it ever go backward? No,
it will not. This Zion of the Lord, in all its beauty, power and glory
is engraven upon the hands of Almighty God, and it is before his face
continually; his decrees are set and no man can turn them aside.

Vol. 15,  p.8
There never was a dispensation on the earth when prophets and
apostles, the inspiration, revelation and power of God, the holy
priesthood and the keys of the kingdom were needed more than they are
in this generation. There never has been a dispensation when the
friends of God and righteousness are among the children of men needed
more faith in the promises and prophecies than they do to-day; and
there certainly never has been a generation of people on the earth
that has had a greater work to perform than the inhabitants of the
earth in the latter days. That is one reason why this church and
kingdom has progressed from its commencement until to-day, in the
midst of all the opposition, oppression and warfare which have been
waged against it by men inspired by the evil one. If this had not been
the dispensation of the fulness of times—the dispensation [p.9] in
which God has declared that he will establish his kingdom on the earth
never more to be thrown down, the inhabitants of the earth would have
been enabled to overcome the kingdom and Zion of God in this as well
as in any former dispensation. But the set time has come to favor
Zion, and the Lord Almighty has decreed in the heavens that every
weapon formed against her shall be broken. And if we take the history
of any man, from the days Joseph Smith received the plates from the
hill Cumorah, and translated the Book of Mormon by the Urim and
Thummim, until to-day, whoever has raised his hand against this work
has tell the chastening hand of Almighty God upon him; and I am at the
defiance of the world to show me a president, governor, judge, ruler,
priest or anybody else on the earth who has taken a stand against this
kingdom who is an exception, and you may search their whole history.
We have outlived several generations of our persecutors. Where are the
men who tarred and leathered Joseph Smith in Portage County, Ohio?
Where are the men who drove this people from Kirtland? Where are the
men who drove the Church and kingdom from Jackson County, Missouri?
Where are the men who undertook to kidnap the prophet while in
Illinois? Where are they who drove the Latter-day Saints from Illinois
into these mountains? Trace their whole history and see for
yourselves. The fact is many of them are in their graves, awaiting
their final judgment. And in the whole history of this people and
their remarkable preservation, the invisible hand of God is as plainly
to be seen as it has been in the history of the Jews from the days of
Christ until now; and it will continue until this scene is wound up.

Vol. 15,  p.9
We are led by men who are filled with inspiration. Joseph Smith was a
man of God, through the loins of the ancient Joseph who, through the
wisdom which God gave him, redeemed his father's house after having
been sold by his brethren into Egypt. All the blessings that old
father Jacob pronounced upon Joseph and upon the sons of Ephraim, his
son and grandsons have rested upon them until this day. Joseph Smith
was through that lineage. In his youth he was inspired of God, and was
administered to by angels. Under their guidance and counsel he laid
the foundation of this work, and lived long enough to receive all the
keys necessary for bearing off this dispensation. He lived long enough
to have these individuals administer unto him—John the Baptist, Peter,
James and John the Apostles, Elisha and Elijah, who held the keys of
turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of
the children to the fathers; and Moroni, who held the keys of the
stick of Joseph in the hands of Ephraim to come forth in the latter
day, administered in person to Joseph Smith, and gave him these
records and instructed him in the things of God from time to time
until he was qualified and prepared to lay the foundation of this
work. The Prophet Joseph lived to see the Church organized with
apostles and prophets, patriarchs, pastors, teachers, helps,
governments, and all the gifts and graces of the spirit of God; to
give the Twelve Apostles their endowments and to seal upon their heads
all the authority and power that were necessary to enable them to
fulfil their missions. Why did the Lord take him away? He laid down
his life, and sealed his testimony with his blood that it might be in
three upon the heads of this generation, and that he might be [p.10]
crowned with crowns of glory, immortality and eternal life; that he
might go to the other side of the vail, and there organize the Church
and kingdom in this last dispensation. He and his two brothers were
taken away into the spirit world, and they are at work there, while
Brigham Young and the quorum of the Twelve were preserved on the earth
for a special purpose in the hands of God. These things are true, and
the hand of the Lord has been over Brigham Young, although now he is
under bonds and a prisoner, and has his privileges curtailed for the
word of God and the testimony of Jesus. Yet in the midst of all this
he is calm and composed before the Lord, and has his mind open to the
things of God. He still lives in the midst of this people and will
live as long as the Lord wishes him to remain in the flesh to guide
the affairs of Zion.

Vol. 15,  p.10
I will say to the Latter-day Saints that we have been more blessed in
this land than has any other dispensation or generation of men. The
Lord has been at work for the last three hundred years preparing this
land, with a government and constitution which would guarantee equal
rights and privileges to the inhabitants thereof, in the midst of
which he could establish his kingdom. The kingdom is established, the
work of God is manifest in the earth, the Saints have come up here
into the valleys of the mountains, and they are erecting the house of
God in the tops thereof, for the nations to flow unto. A standard of
truth has been lifted up to the people, and from the commencement of
this work the Latter-day Saints have been fulfilling that flood of
revelation and prophecy which was given formerly concerning this great
work in the last days. I rejoice in this, and also because we have
every reason to expect a continuation of these blessings unto Zion. We
have always had a vail over us, we have had to walk by faith all the
day long until the present time: this is the decree of God. When we
were driven from Jackson County, Clay County, Caldwell County,
Kirtland, and finally from Nauvoo into these mountains, we did not see
and understand what lay before us: there was a vail over our faces, in
a measure. It has been the same with the people of God in all ages. At
that time we could not see this tabernacle, and the five hundred miles
of villages, towns, cities, gardens, orchards, fields, or the desert
blossoming as the rose as we see them to-day. We came here and found a
barren desert: we were led hither by inspiration, by a law-giver, by a
man of God; the Lord was with him, he was with the pioneers. If we had
not come here we could not have fulfilled the prophecies which the
prophets have left on record in the stick of Judah as well as in the
stick of Ephraim—the Bible and the Book of Mormon. We have done that,
and we can look back twenty-four years and see the change that has
been effected since our arrival; but who can see the change that will
be effected in the next twenty-four years? No man can see it unless
the vision of his mind is opened by the power of God. The Lord told
Joseph Smith to lay the foundation of this work; he told him that the
day had come when the harvest was ready, and to thrust in the sickle
and reap; and every man who would do so was called of God and had this
privilege.

Vol. 15,  p.10
The Lord has sent forth the Gospel, and it is offered to the children
of men as it was in ancient days; men are required to have faith in
Jesus Christ, repent of their sins, and to be baptized for the
remission of them, and the promise is that they shall receive the Holy
Ghost, which [p.11] shall teach them the things of God, bring things
past to their remembrance, and show them things to come.

Vol. 15,  p.11
What principle has sustained the Elders of Israel for the last forty
years in their travels? They have gone forth without purse or scrip,
preached without money or price; they have swam rivers, waded swamps,
and traveled hundreds of thousands of miles on foot to bear record of
this work to the nations of the earth. What has sustained them? It has
been this power of God, this Holy Ghost, the spirit of inspiration
from the God of Israel that has been given to his friends on the earth
in these latter days. The blood of Israel has flowed in the veins of
the children of men, mixed among the Gentile nations, and when they
have heard the sound of the Gospel of Christ it has been like vivid
lightning to them; it has opened their understandings, enlarged their
minds, and enabled them to see the things of God. They have been born
of the Spirit, and then they could behold the kingdom of God; they
have been baptized in water and had hands laid upon them for the
reception of the Holy Ghost, and they have received that Holy Ghost
among every Gentile nation under heaven wherever the Gospel has been
permitted to be preached; and here they are to-day, from all those
nations, gathered in the valleys of the mountains. And this is but the
beginning; it is like a mustard seed, it is very small; but the little
one is to become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation. The
Lord will hasten it in his own time. Zion shall be called a "City
sought out." The Lord is watching over us.

Vol. 15,  p.11
I wish to say to the Latter-day Saints, we must not forget our
position, nor the blessings that we hope for. All that we expect, we
have got to inquire of the Lord for. Some of our brethren, as has been
said here, have suffered a little through the spirit of bigotry and
persecution that is in the world. I wonder many times there is not a
great deal more of it. the Lord Almighty is going to make a short work
in the earth; lest no flesh should be saved he will cut his work short
in righteousness. The Lord is putting his hook into the jaws of the
nations. He holds Great Babylon in his hands as well as Zion. He will
control the children of men; and, as the Lord God lives, if the
Latter-day Saints do their duty—live their religion and keep their
covenants, Zion will arise, put on her beautiful garments, be clothed
with the glory of God, have power in the earth, and the law will go
forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Then let our
prayers ascend into the ears of the Lord God of Sabbaoth, for he will
hear them, that the wisdom of the wise may perish and the
understanding of the prudent be hid. Our weapons are faith, prayer,
and confidence in God, for he is our friend if we have any, and we are
his if he has any on the face of the earth. The Lord will work with
us, and we should work with him; therefore, brethren, let us live by
faith, walk by faith, overcome by faith, so that we may enjoy the Holy
Spirit to guide and direct us. All the institutions pertaining to the
work of God in these latter days are going to progress, Zion is bound
to arise, and to arrive at that position in our great future that the
Prophets have seen by prophecy and revelation.

Vol. 15,  p.11
I want to say a few words to the sisters, who have been referred to
this morning—the Female Relief Societies. Our mothers, sisters, wives
and daughters occupy a very important position in this generation, far
[p.12] more so than they realize or understand. You are raising up
your sons and daughters as plants of renown in the house of Israel in
these latter-days. Upon the shoulders of you mothers rests, in a great
measure, the responsibility of correctly developing the mental and
moral powers of the rising generation, whether in infancy, childhood,
or still riper years. Your husbands—the fathers of your children, are
messengers to the nations of the earth, or they are engaged in
business, and can not be at home to attend to the children. No mother
in Israel should let a day pass over her head without teaching her
children to pray. You should pray yourselves, and teach your children
to do the same, and you should bring them up in this way, that when
you have passed away and they take your places in bearing off the
great work of God, they may have principles instilled into their minds
that will sustain them in time and in eternity. I have often said it
is the mother who forms the mind of the child. Take men anywhere, at
sea, sinking with their ship, dying in battle, lying down in death
almost under any circumstances, and the last thing they think of, the
last word they say, is "mother." Such is the influence of woman. Our
children should not be neglected; they should receive a proper
education in both spiritual and temporal things. That is the best
legacy any parents can leave to their children. We should teach them
to pray, find instil into their minds while young every correct
principle. Ninety-nine out of every hundred children who are taught by
their parents the principles of honesty and integrity, truth and
virtue, will observe them through life. Such principles will exalt any
people or nation who make them the rule of their conduct. Show me a
mother who prays, who has passed through the trials of life by prayer,
who has trusted in the Lord God of Israel in her trials and
difficulties, and her children will follow in the same path. These
things will not forsake them when they come to act in the kingdom of
God.

Vol. 15,  p.12
I want to say to our mothers in Israel, your children are approaching
a very important day and age of the world. In a few more years their
parents will pass away. We will go where our brethren have gone—to the
other side of the vail. Our children will remain and will possess this
kingdom when God's judgments await the nations of the earth, when war,
calamity, sword, fire, famine, pestilence and earthquake will stalk
abroad and distress the people. Our children should be prepared to
build up the kingdom of God. Then qualify them in the days of
childhood for the great duties they will be called upon to perform;
and that God may enable us to do so is my prayer for Christ's sake.
Amen.[p.13] 

George A. Smith, April, 7, 1872

Persecution—Missionaries—Emigration

Remarks By President George A. Smith, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, April 7, 1872.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 15,  p.13
We are again assembled this morning to continue the duties and
services of our Conference, and I am requested by President Young to
state that he is in the enjoyment of comfortable health and in
excellent spirits. He regrets very much the circumstances which render
it inexpedient for him to meet with you this morning, and hopes the
time may soon come when he will again enjoy theft privilege, also the
privilege of bearing testimony to the glorious work of the last days,
in the public congregation. He desires and appreciates the prayers and
faith of the Saints; he thinks that it is quite proper that any man
before he is thoroughly qualified to rule shall learn to be
ruled—that, he shall learn to obey before he learns to command. All
these lessons in their time and in their season are proper for us to
learn.

Vol. 15,  p.13
When we realize the malignity of the spirit of persecution which is
aimed at the Latter-day Saints in these valleys, we need not wonder
that we have to contend with vexatious lawsuits and with illegal and
unjustifiable prosecutions, for the influence of the pulpit and the
press when controlled by the spirit of lying is very great for evil,
but God is greater—his power is more omnipotent; and although
thousands of prophets, priests and wise men in the earth have been
compelled to lay down their lives for the cause of Zion, and for the
sake of the principles of the gospel of peace, and in doing so they
have acquired honors that could not be attained in any other way;
their reward is certain, eternal and sure.

Vol. 15,  p.13
I wish to call the attention of the elders who have been in years
past, on missions, to one important item of duty. It is well known
that our emigration annually brings some thousands of persons among
whom our missionaries have labored and with whom they are acquainted,
and among whom are many who still look to them for fatherly advice and
encouragement, but many of the elders who return immediately forget
that they have been missionaries. When they reach home they perhaps
find their affairs a little deranged, business having stopped in their
absence, money making or procuring the means of living having gone
rather behind hand, they drop right into a groove as it were to catch
up, and they forget their duties, and the people whom they have been
acquainted with and who have treated them with kindness and generosity
are also frequently forgotten and neglected. The emigrants come into
these valleys and fall perhaps under influences that are wrong and
wicked, for men inspired with a spirit of hostility to the [p.14] work
of God will take more pains to poison their minds than those who feel
all right do to give them correct information. I wish to say to all
such elders and to all the brethren, that when they get home their
mission is not consummated, and that when new comers arrive we should
take pains to look after their welfare, give them counsel and
instruction, aid and comfort, and realize that we are missionaries all
our lives, and that it is our duty to instruct such in the things of
the kingdom, to encourage them and set before them principles of
intelligence, such as will be for their benefit.

Vol. 15,  p.14
I wish further to say to the Elders and to the brethren who have
emigrated, that they should remember their friends they visited before
they came here, or when they were on missions in the old world.
Remember the poor family that went without their provision, perhaps,
to give you a feast, or the family that to make you warm and
comfortable gave up their beds to you, themselves enduring cold,
discomfort and inconvenience to do so; or the family that opened their
doors to shelter you from the storm when their neighbors hooted and
scouted them, as it were, for entertaining a stranger. You
missionaries in your experience have all met with such families, and
many of them are there yet without the means to get here. Perhaps they
have said to you, "Will you help me when you get home?" and you may
have given them a look of encouragement, a half promise, or expressed
a hope that you might be able to do so. Have you forgotten it? Perhaps
a little effort on your part and on the part of your neighbors might
bring these families to this country and place them in a position to
acquire lots, farms, and homes of their own, redeem them from thraldom
and bondage worse than slavery, and place them in a position of
independence on their own soil, enjoy the fruits of their own labors
and help to build up and develop the rising, spreading glory of Zion.

Vol. 15,  p.14
I have heard there is an Elder who, when on a mission borrowed some
money of a widow that had not means enough to get away, but had a
little she could spare until she could acquire enough to bring her
family here; and that Elder, peradventure, has forgotten to pay it. I
have heard there is such an Elder in Utah. Shame on him if there is!
Under such circumstances we should not only pay punctually and
faithfully what we owe, with good and reasonable interest, but all of
us European missionaries should be prepared to do something handsome
annually to help those from the bondage and thraldom in which we found
them, and where they must remain until means are obtained to deliver
them. I am calling now for the donation to the Perpetual Emigration
Fund. A hundred thousand Latter-day Saints in Utah, and can we riot
help a few thousand that yet remain in the old missions, and bring
them here? "Well," some may say, "they will apostatize if they come."
That is all right, they must have the privilege. I understand that we
have brought some men here with the Fund that have apostatized,
betrayed the Saints and done all in their power to stain their
garments in the blood of the prophets; but that is not our fault, it
is theirs. We should gather the Saints and they themselves are
responsible for the use they make of the blessings which God bestows
upon them, even if they come through our hands and exertions. Look at
the tens of thousands of families now in Utah in comfortable
circumstances with houses, farms, wagons, cattle [p.15] and horses of
their own, many of them with carriages, and these families taken by
the contributions of the Latter-day Saints from the most abject
servitude and poverty from the bowels of the earth, from within the
walls of factories, where but for this fund they must have remained
for their lives; but now they are in comparative independence and
enjoying the blessings of freemen.

Vol. 15,  p.15
After President Young returned from St. George for the purpose of
voluntarily placing himself in the custody of United States Officers,
as is well known, I received a letter from an eminent gentleman in the
State of Massachusetts, who said that the prosecution against him
could be nothing more nor less than a put-up job, and that the people
of the country understood it as such; "and the fact is," said he,
"Brigham Young has done more for the benefit of large bodies of people
than any other living man on the earth." That is true. By the
inspiration of Almighty God through his servant Brigham Young, this
Fund was organized, and he has been the President of it, and through
his energy and enterprise and the aid of the Latter-day Saints—his
friends—he has gathered tens of thousands that could never have owned
a rod of ground or a house as long as they lived, but would have been
at the mercy of employers who looked upon them only as a portion of
their property, and the question with them has been how much of this
man's labor can I get for the smallest pittance; but through the
exertions and counsels of President Young and his brethren they have
been delivered from this bondage and placed in comparative
independence. I say God bless such a man, (Congregation said Amen) and
God bless every man and every woman who will contribute to carry out
this glorious purpose.

Vol. 15,  p.15
I am very anxious to wake up the Elders to labor at home, to keep
alive in the hearts of the Saints the spirit of truth. While all those
who so desire are free to apostatize, it should not be for the want of
proper information, care and instruction, or in consequence of the
neglect of the Elders to do their duty. I exhort the Latter-day Saints
to unite in carrying on the work of gathering. A few years ago we
thought that we would gather them all. When we had raised what means
we could, and had expended it, we found the Elders were baptizing
about as fast as we were bringing the Saints away. That is all right.
Let us get the old and faithful Latter-day Saints away, and keep
baptizing all that desire to be baptized. In the Scandinavian Mission
the number of baptisms keep up, and some years a little more than keep
up, with the emigration. There are families from year to year that can
be brought away by a little assistance; they have part means, and only
need a little more to emigrate. I do think that the history of the
Perpetual Emigration Fund is a wonderful one. The Latter-day Saints in
Utah sent from here two hundred wagons one year, three hundred another
year, four hundred the next, arm for two years five hundred wagons
each year, each wagon having four yoke of oxen, or their equivalent in
mules and horses, and bore all the expenses consequent upon bringing
people across the Plains, bringing from one to four thousand persons a
season. This is certainly creditable, and it has been done through the
influence of Brigham Young and the united efforts of a free-hearted
and noble people. We have got a railroad now and do not have to send
the wagons; the business assumes another shape. The emigration is
brought here with less [p.16] labor and in less time, but with more
outlay.

Vol. 15,  p.16
I have now laid before you my views on the emigration of the poor
Saints from abroad. Consider upon and think about them. Make your
calculations, and feel in your pockets and contribute to help on the
work, and carry with you to all the settlements of the Saints a spirit
that shall bring home to Zion the brethren and sisters from abroad. In
that way the work can continue. May God bless all who aid in this
glorious work is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Brigham Young, April 28, 1872

His Imprisonment—Emigrating the Poor—the 
Use of Riches—Tithing

Remarks By President Brigham Young, Delivered in the 
New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, April 28, 1872.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 15,  p.16
A word to the Latter-day Saints. Good morning. (Congregation
responded, "Good morning.") How do you do? (Congregation replied,
"Very well.") How is your faith this morning? ("Strong in the Lord,"
was the response.) How do you think I look after my long confinement?
(Congregation replied, "First rate.") I do not rise expecting to
preach a discourse or sermon, or to lengthen out remarks. I spoke a
few minutes yesterday in the school, but I found that it exhausted me
very soon. I will say a few words to you. The Gospel of the Son of God
is most precious. My faith is not weakened in the Gospel in the least.
I will answer a few of the questions that probably many would like to
ask of me. Many would like to know how I have felt the past winter,
and so much of the spring as is now past. I have enjoyed myself
exceedingly well. I have been blessed with an opportunity to rest; and
you who are acquainted with me and my public speaking can discern at
once, if you listen closely to my voice, it is weak to what it used to
be, and I required rest. I feel well in body and better in mind. I
have no complaint to make, no fault to find, no reflections to cast,
for all that has been done has been directed and overruled by the
wisdom of Him who knows all things.

Vol. 15,  p.16
As to my treatment through the winter, it has been very agreeable,
very kind. My associate, my companion in tribulation, I will say, has
acted the gentleman as much as any man could. I have not one word, one
lisp or beat of the heart to complain of him. He has been full of
kindness, thoughtful, never intruding, always ready to hearken and, I
think, in the future, will be perfectly willing to take the counsel of
his prisoner.[p.17] So much for Captain Isaac Evans. I will say this
to you, ladies and gentlemen, you who profess to understand true
etiquette, I have not seen a gentleman in my acquaintance that
possesses more of the real spirit of gentility, caution and of true
etiquette than Captain Evans. He has passed the window where I have
lodged through the winter every morning to his breakfast and every
afternoon; he has walked in the street in front of my office and on
the opposite side, and he has never yet been seen gazing and looking
at my buildings, or to see who was at the window, or even look at my
window. He has never looked into the second room in my office unless
invited there—never. Can you say that for other gentlemen? They are
very scarce; there are very few of them.

Vol. 15,  p.17
I have no reflections to cast upon these courts. How much power,
ability or opportunity would I have to possess, do you think, if all
were combined, to disgrace them as they have disgraced themselves? I
have neither the power nor the ability, consequently I have nothing to
say with regard to their conduct. It is before the world; it is before
the Heavens continually. The Lord has known the thoughts of the hearts
of the children of men, and he has overruled all for his glory, and
for the benefit of those who believe and obey the truth in Christ. I
will say this: when they started out with a writ for your humble
servant, and I had news of it before it was served, I told my brethren
that all their efforts would avail them nothing, and that they would
end in a grand fizzle. Do you think we have come to it? I think we
have.

Vol. 15,  p.17
Have you nothing to say, brother Brigham concerning the Supreme Court
of the United States? A few words. I am happy to learn that there are
yet men in our government who are too high-minded, too pure in their
thoughts and feelings to bow down to a sectarian prejudice, and to
hearken to the whinings and complaints of prejudiced priests, or those
who are wrapped up in the nutshell of sectarianism; men of honor,
nobility, judgment and discretion; men who look at things as they are
and judge according to the nature thereof without any discrimination
as to parties or people. I am thankful that this fact does exist. Have
they decided in favor of the Latter-day Saints? Yes. Why? Because the
Latter-day Saints are on the track of truth; they are for law, for
right, for justice, for mercy, for judgment and equity, consequently
they are for God. Would I admire the conduct of a jurist on the bench
who would decide for a Latter-day Saint if he were guilty? If he would
justify a Latter-day Saint and condemn a Methodist? No, I would
despise hint in my heart. I might look upon him with pity, it is very
true, and without malice, anger or bitterness, and pity him in his
ignorance; but if he was a man of knowledge and understanding I would
condemn him as quickly for justifying a Latter-day Saint, or one
called a Latter-day Saint, in evil, as I would a Methodist. And a man
who sits as President of the United States; as a Governor of a State
or Territory, or as a judge upon the bench, or a member of a
legislative assembly, who would reduce himself to the feelings, and
narrow contracted views of partyism, is not fit for the place. As I
said before a gentleman here, I think it was last summer, who was
stamp-speeching through the country and proclaiming his right to the
Presidency "He that most desires an office is the least fit for it."
Perhaps I made a mistake in that declaration, for though on general
principles it is true, it may not be true in every case. Some may
[p.18] desire an office for the sake of the good work that they
perform, seeing that others have abused it. This is as much as I wish
to say upon these subjects.

Vol. 15,  p.18
As I shall probably desire to speak a little in the afternoon, I shall
soon bring my remarks to a close. I will say a few words with regard
to the Perpetual Emigration Fund. Perhaps you have bad a good deal
said to you in the course of this Conference concerning gathering the
poor, but if you have I have not learned it. I have not heard of any
man coming forward and putting down his name for a thousand or two
thousand dollars. At the commencement of the Conference I donated two
thousand dollars for the gathering of the poor, but I have not heard
of anybody adding another figure to mine or placing one under it. How
is it? It is very true we gather the Saints; and when they get here
and gather around them the comforts of life, and become the possessors
of a little wealth, the spirit of the world enters into a few of them
to that degree that it crowds out the Spirit of the Gospel. They
forget their God and their covenants, and turn to the beggarly
elements of the world, seek for its riches and finally leave the
faith. But we had better gather nine that are unworthy than to neglect
the tenth if he is worthy. If they come here, apostatize and turn our
enemies, they are in the hands of God, and what they do will be to
them everlasting life or everlasting condemnation. For the good, for
the wise, or for the froward and the ungodly, it is our duty to do all
we can. It is our duty to preach the Gospel to the nations of the
earth, to gather up the pure in heart, and to lend a helping hand to
the poor and needy; to instruct, guide and direct them, and when they
are gathered together to teach them how to live, how to serve their
God, how to gather around them the comforts of lifes, and glorify
their Father in heaven in the enjoyment of the same.

Vol. 15,  p.18
When I cast my eyes upon the inhabitants of the earth and see the
weakness, inability, the shortsightedness, and I may say, the height
of folly in the hearts of the kings, rulers, and the great, and those
who should be wise and good and noble; when I see them grovelling in
the dust; longing, craving, desiring, contending for the things of
this life, I think, O foolish men, to set your hearts on the things of
this life! To-day they are seeking after the honors and glories of the
world, and by the time the sun is hidden by the western mountains the
breath is gone out of their nostrils, they sink to their mother earth.
Where are their riches then? Gone for ever. As Job says, "Naked I came
into the world." Destitute and forlorn, they have to travel a path
that is untried and unknown to them, and wend their way into the
spirit world. They know not where they are going nor for what. The
designs of the Creater are hidden from their eyes; darkness,
ignorance, mourning and groaning take hold of them and they pass into
eternity. And this is the end of them concerning this life as far as
they know. A man or a woman who places the wealth of this world and
the things of time in the scales against the things of God and the
wisdom of eternity, has no eyes to see, no ears to hear, no heart to
understand. What are riches for? For blessings, to do good. Then let
us dispense that which the Lord gives us to the best possible use for
the building up of his kingdom, for the promotion of the truth on the
earth, that we may see and enjoy the blessings of the Zion of God here
upon this earth. I look around among the world of mankind and see them
grabbing, scrambling, contending, and every one seeking to [p.19]
aggrandize himself, and to accomplish his own individual purposes,
passing the community by, walking upon the heads of his neighbors—all
are seeking, planning, contriving in their wakeful hours, and when
asleep dreaming," How can I get the advantage of my neighbor? How can
I spoil him, that I may ascend the ladder of fame?" That is entirely a
mistaken idea. You see that nobleman seeking the benefit of all around
him, trying to bring, we will say, his servants, if you please, his
tenants, to his knowledge, to like blessings that he enjoys, to
dispense his wisdom and talents among them and to make them equal with
himself. As they ascend and increase, so does he, and he is in the
advance. All eyes are upon that king or that nobleman, and the
feelings of those around him are: "God bless him! How I love him! How
I delight in him! He seeks to bless and to fill me with joy, to crown
my labors with success, to give me comfort, that I may enjoy the world
as well as himself." But the man who seeks honor and glory at the
expense of his fellow-men is not worthy of the society of the
intelligent.

Vol. 15,  p.19
Now, a few words to my friends here—my colleagues the lawyers, and
others. I gave a little counsel here, I think it is a year ago this
last sixth of April, for the people of this Territory and through
these mountains not to go to law, but to arbitrate their cases. I will
ask if they do not think they would have saved a good deal of money in
their pockets if they had taken this counsel? And to see our streets
lined with lawyers as they are! Why they are as thick as grogshops
used to be in California. What is the business of a lawyer? It is the
case with too many to keep what they have got, and to gatheraround
them wealth, to heap it up, but to do as little as possible for it; to
give a little counsel here, and a little counsel there. What for? To
keep their victims in bondage. Say they: "Let us stick to him as long
as he has a dollar in his pocket."

Vol. 15,  p.19
I will tell you a story. A man was going to market, a pretty wicked
swearing man, with his cart full of apples. He was going up hill, and
the hindbeard as the Yankees call it—the Westerners call it the
hindgate, slipped out of his cart, and his apples rolled down the
hill. He stopped his team and looked at the apples as they rolled down
the hill, and said he, "I would swear if I could do justice to the
case, but as I can not I will not swear a word." I will not say a word
more than to class dishonorable lawyers with other dishonest men.

Vol. 15,  p.19
Now what are the facts? Why this world is before us. The gold, silver
and precious stones are in the mountains, in the rivers, in the
plains, in the sands and in the waters, they all belong to this world,
and you and I belong to this world. Is there enough to make each of us
a finger ring? Certainly there is. Is there enough to make us a breast
pin? Certainly there is. Is there enough to make jewelry for the
ladies to set their diamonds and precious stones in? Certainly there
is. Is there enough to make the silver plate, the spoons, platters,
plates and knives and forks? There is. Is there enough to make the
goblets to drink out of? There is. There is plenty if we want to make
the wine casks of gold, there is plenty of it in the earth for all
these purposes. Then what on earth are you and I quarrelling about it
for? Go to work systematically and take it from the mountains, and put
it to the use that we want it, without contending against each other,
and filching the pockets of each other. The world is full of it. If it
goes from my pocket it is still in the world, it still belongs to this
little ball, this little speck in God's creation, so small that from
the sun I expect you would [p.20] have to have a telescope that would
magnify millions of times almost to see it; and from any of the fixed
stars I do not expect that it has ever been seen only by the
celestials—mortals could not see this earth at that distance. And here
people are contending, quarrelling, seeking how to get the advantage
of each other, and how to get all the wealth there is in the world;
wanting to rule nations, wanting to be president, king or ruler. What
would they do if they were? Most of them would make everybody around
them miserable, that is what they would do. There are very few men on
the earth who try to make people happy. Occasionally there have been
emperors and monarchs who have made their people happy but they have
been very rare. But suppose we go to work to gather up all that there
is in the bosom and upon the surface of our mother earth and bring it
into use, is there any lack? There is not, there is enough for all.
Then do look at these things as they are, Latter-day Saints, and you
who are not Latter-day Saints, look at things as they are. And I do
hope and pray for your sakes, outsiders, and for the sakes of those
who profess to be Latter-day Saints, that we shall have good peace for
a time here, so that we can build our furnaces, open our mines, make
our railroads, till the soil, follow our mercantile business
uninterrupted; that we may attend to the business of beautifying the
earth. I see around me a few of my neighbors who are beautifying their
gardens. How beautiful! There is one herein the Seventh Ward—Mr.
Hussey's, I never drive out but I want to drive by it. How much better
that looks than it would Be for him to quarrel with his neighbors!
Beautify your gardens, your houses, your farms; beautify the city.
This will make us happy, and produce plenty. The earth is a good
earth, the elements are good if we will use them for our own benefit,
in truth and righteousness. Then let us be content, and go to with our
mights to make ourselves healthy, wealthy, and beautiful, and preserve
ourselves in the best possible manner, and live just as long as we
can, and do all the good we can.

Vol. 15,  p.20
Now, brethren and sisters and friends, I have said a few words about
lawyers; but; I could pick up other classes of men just as bad, and we
can find fault with all. Let us be honest, let us be upright, full of
charity one toward another; and live as agreeably as we possibly can
here on this earth that the Lord has given to man to cultivate and
improve for his own benefit, and to prepare it for an everlasting
inheritance. There is a great deal before us, and it is for us to live
so that we will be able to perform our part well in this great work.
And I say to the Latter-day Saints, it is for you to put forth your
hands this season in emigrating the poor. We will receive any amount.
If it is not more than a hundred dollars or so, we will be willing to
receive it. Talk about this people being poor, why we will get so rich
by and by that we will refuse to pay our taxes; we have got so rich
now that we cannot pay our tithing. The rich do not pretend to pay any
tithing, or but very few of them. I think I have mentioned one fact
with regard to our merchants. A few years ago in the other tabernacle,
I said that our merchants who lived on the business part of East
Temple street and professed to be Latter-day Saints, if they were not
very careful, would deny the faith and be damned, and it would be by
the skin of their teeth if they ever got into heaven. How is it with
the rest of us? About the same. No matter about this. But here is one
of our merchants—William Jennings—about whom a great many have remarks
[p.21] to make. Well, it is no matter about his trade. I want to say
to the rest of the merchants that he has paid a good many thousand
dollars tithing, more than all the rest of them put together. That is
for William Jennings. We are paying our tithing in the Co-operative, I
would not consent to go into the business on any other terms only that
the tithing should be paid on all we made. But the other merchants, if
they pay tithing on what they make it has to come hereafter, for they
have never done it yet; and I think the more they make the less
tithing they pay. But you are welcome to give something to the poor;
if you will help us a little with regard to the emigration we will be
very much obliged to you, but you will have to trust in God for the
future blessings.

Vol. 15,  p.21
God bless you, Amen.

John Taylor, April 7, 1872

Revelation—Former and Latter-Day Dispensations—the 
Sure Triumph of the Cause of Zion

Discourse By Elder John Taylor, Delivered in the New 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, April 7, 1872.

(Reported by David W. Evans.)

Vol. 15,  p.21
We are again met, in our Annual Conference, for the purpose of hearing
the words of life, and of being instructed in the various duties and
responsibilities that rest upon us, and that we, as Latter-day Saints,
may be taught principles pertaining to our holy faith, and be
instructed in the duties devolving upon us in the various positions
that we occupy; that by a unity of faith, purpose and action, we may
be able to accomplish something that will promote truth, advance the
interests of Zion and the establishment of the kingdom of God upon the
earth.

Vol. 15,  p.21
We are told that it is not in man to direct his steps, and we stand
here in a peculiar position under the guidance and direction of the
Almighty. The Lord has seen fit to reveal unto us the everlasting
Gospel, and we have been enabled, by the grace of God, to appreciate
that message of life which he has communicated unto us, and we have
been gathered from the nations of the earth under the influences and
auspices of that Gospel. We are gathered here for the accomplishment
of certain objects relative both to ourselves and others, the great
leading principle of which is—to help to fulfil the designs that
existed in the mind of the Almighty before the world was, relative to
the earth and humanity; and I presume that that exhortation which was
made eighteen hundred years ago to certain Saints, would be just as
applicable to us to-day as it was to them. They [p.22] were exhorted
to "contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the Saints."
That, no doubt, sounded very strange to them in that day and age of
the world; they had had Jesus among them, he had preached his Gospel
unto them; the light of eternal truth had been made manifest, and they
had participated in the blessings of the Gospel; and yet, under these
peculiar circumstances, blessed, as it were, with the light of
revelation, with Apostles in their midst, with a complete Church
organization, with everything that was calculated to enlighten,
instruct and lead them on in the path of righteousness, they were told
to contend earnestly for that faith once delivered to the Saints.

Vol. 15,  p.22
It seems that in the different ages of the world in the past, there
has existed, as there does to-day, a species of self-righteousness,
self-complacence, a reliance upon the wisdom, intelligence and virtue
of man. In that day the Scribes and Pharisees, the lawyers and
doctors, the great Sanhedrim, the pious men, thought they were the
peculiar elect of God, and that wisdom would die with them. Jesus came
among them and told them very many unpalatable truths; among others,
that they were "whited walls and painted sepulchres; that they
appeared fair on the outside, but inwardly there was nothing but
rottenness and dead men's bones." He told them that for a pretence
they made long prayers; not that they had any reference to God at all,
for God had very little to do with them. They did it, he told them, in
order that "they might be heard of men." They made broad their
philacteries, (that is a species of writing which they bound on all
their garments,) with certain passages of Scripture. They made them
very broad, that they might he considered extra pure, virtuous and
holy. Jesus called these very pure, holy, virtuous people, painted
sepulchres.

Vol. 15,  p.22
But there is something else associated with these matters very
peculiar. Jesus taught the principles of life and salvation—the
everlasting Gospel. He introduced men into the kingdom of God; he
organized a pure Church, based upon correct principles, according to
the order of God. Men were baptized into that Church; they had hands
laid upon them for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and they received
it. They had among them Apostles and Prophets, Pastors and Teachers,
Evangelists and inspired men. The Church enjoyed among themselves the
gift of tongues, visions, prophecy; the sick were healed, the blind
received their sight, the deaf heard, and the lame leaped for joy; the
visions of heaven were unfolded to their view, and they had a
knowledge of many things pertaining to eternity; and yet, with all
their light, intelligence and blessings, with all their Apostles, with
the fulness of the Gospel in their midst, they were advised to contend
earnestly for the faith once delivered to the Saints. The Lord has
revealed to us many blessings, and I sometimes think that we hardly
appreciate the light of truth which has been developed, the glory that
is connected with the Gospel which has been restored, the light of
revelation which has been communicated, the position that we occupy in
relation to God, angels, our posterity and our progenitors, the hope
that the Gospel has implanted in the bosom of every faithful
Latter-day Saint, which blooms with immortality and eternal life; and
sometimes, when exposed to the various trials with which we are
encompassed, to the opprobrium and reproach frequently heaped upon us
by ignorant and evil disposed persons, [p.23] some of us, perhaps,
think that our religion is something like that with which we are
surrounded. We sometimes forget our prayers, responsibilities, duties
and covenants, and we give way in many instances to things which have
a tendency to darken the mind, becloud the understanding, weaken our
faith, and deprive us of the Spirit of God. We forget the pit whence
we were dug, and the rock from which we were hewn, and it is necessary
that we should reflect on the position that we occupy, upon the
relationship we sustain to God, to each other and to our families,
that our minds may be drawn back again to the God who made us—our
Father in the heavens, who hears our prayers, and who is ready at all
times to supply the wants of his faithful Saints. And it is sometimes
necessary that we should reflect upon the position we hold in relation
to the earth on which we live, to the existence that we had before we
came here, and to the eternities to come. We should not be sluggish
and dull and careless and indifferent; but as the ancient Saints were
exhorted, so let us exhort you to-day—contend earnestly for the faith
once delivered to the Saints.

Vol. 15,  p.23
The religion of the everlasting gospel did not originate with any man
or any set of men. It is wide as the world and originated with the
Great Eloheim. It is a plan ordained by him before the world was for
the salvation and redemption of the human family. It is a thing that
men, in various dispensations, under the influence and inspiration of
the Almighty, have possessed more or less; and it is to that that we
are indebted for all the knowledge, and the light, and all the
intelligence in relation to eternity. The gospel which you have
received you received not of man, neither by man, but on the same
principle as they received it in former days—by the revelation of
Jesus Christ, by the communication of God to man, and any religion
that has not this for its foundation amounts to nothing, and any
superstructure built upon any other foundation will fade and vanish
away like the baseless fabric of a vision, and leave not a wreck
behind.

Vol. 15,  p.23
One of old in speaking of these things said: If any man build with
wood, or hay, or stubble, or anything perishable, the day would come
when it would be burned up and there would be left neither root nor
branch. But we, as eternal beings, associated with an eternal God,
having a religion that leads to that God, are desirous, as the
ancients were, to know something about him, to be brought into
communication with him, to fulfil the measure of our creation and our
destiny on the earth, and to help the Lord to bring to pass those
things that he designed from before the foundation of the world, in
regard to the human family. God has designed to redeem the earth
whereon we live. Mankind were placed on this earth for a certain
purpose, and however erratic, foolish and visionary the course of man
may have been, the Almighty has never altered his purpose, never
changed his designs nor abrogated his laws; but with one steady,
undeviating course from the time the morning stars first sang together
for joy, until the earth shall be redeemed from under the curse and
every creature in heaven and on the earth shall be heard to say:
"Blessing and glory, honor and power, might, majesty and dominion be
ascribed unto Him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb for ever;"
and throughout all the successive ages that have been and that will
be, his course is one eternal round. He has had one object in view,
and that [p.24] object will be accomplished in regard to man and tide
earth whereon he lives. The only question with us is whether we will
co-operate with God, or whether we will individually work out our own
salvation or not; whether we will individually fulfil the various
responsibilities that devolve upon us or not; whether we will attend
to the ordinances that God has introduced or not; for ourselves to
begin with, for our families, for the living and for the dead. Whether
we will co-operate in building temples and administering in them;
whether we will unite with the Almighty, under the direction of his
holy priesthood, in bringing to pass things that have been spoken of
by the holy prophets since the world was; whether we will contend
earnestly for the faith once delivered to the Saints. These things
rest with us to a certain extent. God has communicated to the
Latter-day Saints principles that the world are ignorant of, and being
ignorant of them they know not how to appreciate our feelings. They
call good evil, light darkness, error truth, and truth error, because
they have not the means of seeing the difference between one and the
other. "But you are a chosen people, a royal generation, a holy
priesthood," separate and set apart by the Almighty for the
accomplishment of his purposes. God has ordained among you presidents,
apostles, prophets, high priests, seventies, bishops and other
authorities; they are of his appointment, empowered and directed by
him, under his influence, teaching his law, unfolding the principles
of life, and are organized and ordained expressly to lead the people
in the path of exaltation and eternal glory. The world know nothing
about these things—we are not talking to them to-day, they can not
comprehend them. Their religion teaches them nothing about any such
things—they are simply a phantasm to them. They have not any
revelation, they do not profess it. All that they have is their Bible
given by ancient men of God, who spoke as they were moved upon by the
Holy Ghost. They repudiate the Holy Ghost, not in name, but in
reality. Many of them are very sincere; we give them credit for that.
That is all right, but they do not understand our principles, views,
or ideas. They could not do as we have done; they could not trust in
God as our Elders do. Their ideas are more material. Ask any of them
to go to the ends of the earth, as these Elders have done, without
purse or scrip, trusting in God, would they do it? No, they would not,
they would see the gospel damned first, and then they would not. They
do not understand the principle by which we are actuated, we have done
it and we will do it again, and we will keep doing it; we believe in a
living God, in a living religion, in the living, vital, eternal
principles which God has communicated; this is the reason why we act
as we do, why we talk and believe as we do. Men are not supposed to
understand our principles. The Scripture says that no man knows the
things of God but by the Spirit of God. And how are they to get that?
Just as you got it. And how was that? By repenting of your sins, being
baptized in the name of Jesus for their remission; by having hands
laid upon you by those having authority for the reception of the Holy
Ghost. This is the way God appointed in former days, this is the way
he has appointed in our day.

Vol. 15,  p.24
And what brought you here? Why the light of revelation—the light of
truth, the gift of the Holy Ghost, the power of God. That is what
brought you here. The Gospel you [p.25] received you received not of
men, but by the revelations of Jesus Christ; and consequently how can
men outside comprehend these things? They can not do it, it is beyond
their reach. They can reason on natural principles; they have their
own peculiar ideas, but they cannot comprehend the Latter-day Saints.
"Mormonism" is an enigma to the world. Why, the United States have
been trying to solve the problem of "Mormonism" for years and years;
but with all their sagacity and intelligence they have not made it out
yet; and they never will. Philosophy can not comprehend it; it is
beyond the reach of natural philosophy. It is the philosophy of
heaven, it is the revelation of God to man. It is philosophical, but
it is heavenly philosophy, and beyond the ken of human judgment,
beyond the reach of human intelligence. They cannot grasp it, it is as
high as heaven, what can they know about it? It is deeper than hell,
they cannot fathom it. It is as wide as the universe, it extends over
all creation. it goes back into eternity and forward into eternity. It
associates with the past, present and future; it is connected with
time and eternity, with men, angels, and Gods, with beings that were,
that are and that are to come.

Vol. 15,  p.25
The Saints of God in all ages had the kind of faith that we have
to-day. You Latter-day Saints know it, but other men do not. They will
talk about their nonsence, their ideas and theories, and call it the
religion of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Well, I am quite
willing they should enjoy their notions. It is all right; we would not
interfere with them if we could. Our feelings in regard to that are
just the same as the Lord's. And what are his? His ideas are not bound
in a nutshell, there is nothing contracted about the Almighty. He
makes his sun shine on the evil and on the good; he sends his rain on
the just and on the unjust. He is liberal, free, generous,
philanthropic, full of benevolence and kindness to the human family,
and he hopes and desires that all men may be saved, and he will save
them all as far as they are capable of being saved. But he desires
that his people shall contend earnestly for the faith once delivered
to the Saints, that as immortal beings they may act in unison with the
Almighty, that they may be inspired by the principle of revelation;
that they should comprehend something of their dignity and manhood; of
their relationship to eternity, to the world that we live in as it is
and as it will be, and to the worlds that are to come. The Lord has no
such idea as some of these narrow, contracted sectarian people have
that we read of. They remind me of a prayer of a man I once heard of,
who in his prayer said: "Lord bless me and my wife, my son John and
his wife, us four and no more, amen." I do not believe in any such
thing as that. I think the world on which we live was organized for a
certain purpose. I think that man was made for a certain purpose, and
so do you as Latter-day Saints. We think that the spirit of man,
possessing a body, will through the medium of the everlasting Gospel,
be exalted; and that man, inasmuch as he is faithful, will, by and by,
be associated with the Gods in the eternal worlds; and while we plant
and sow and reap, and pursue the common avocations of life, as other
men do, our main object is eternal lives and exaltations; our main
object is to prepare ourselves, our posterity and our progenitors for
thrones, principalities and powers in the eternal worlds.

Vol. 15,  p.26
This is what we are after, and what the ancient Saints were after.
This [p.26] is what Adam, Noah, Enoch, Abraham and the Prophets were
after, that they might fulfil their destiny on the earth, and, as one
of the old Prophets said, "stand in their lot in the end of days,"
when the books should be opened, when the great white throne should
appear and he who sits upon it, before whose face the heavens and the
earth fled away; that we and they, and they and we might be prepared,
having fulfilled the measure of our creation on the earth, to
associate with the intelligences that exist in the eternal worlds; be
admitted again to the presence of our Father, whence we came, and
participate in those eternal realities which mankind, without
revelation, know nothing about. We are here for that purpose; we left
our homes for that purpose; we came here for that purpose; we are
building temples for that purpose; we are receiving endowments for
that purpose; we are making covenants for that purpose; we are
administering for the living and the dead for that purpose, and all
our objects, and all our aims, like the object and aim of inspired men
in former days, are altogether with reference to eternal realities as
well as to time. We have a Zion to build up, and we shall build it. We
shall build it. WE SHALL BUILD IT. No power can stop it. God has
established his kingdom, it is in his hands, and no influence, no
power, no combination of whatever kind it may be can stop the progress
of the work of God. You Latter-day Saints know very well that you have
not received a cunningly devised fable, concocted by the wisdom,
ingenuity, talent or caprice of man. All of you who comprehend the
Gospel comprehend this; you all, male and female, if you are living
your religion, know this. Men of old knew it as well as you; and by
and by we expect to live and associate with them, with Patriarchs,
Prophets and men of God, who had faith in him, the accomplishment of
his purposes in former times, and we are contending for the faith
which they possessed. For instance old Moses and Elias, you know, came
to Peter, James, John and Jesus while they were on the mount. They did
not think they were very old fogies that it was not worth while to
listen to; but said they, "Let us make three tabernacles, one for
thee, one for Moses and and one for Elias. It is good to be here, why
here is old Moses, and old Elias." Who was Moses? A man who had the
ancient Gospel in former times. Who was Elias? A man who had the
ancient Gospel in former times. They came and administered unto Jesus,
and his Apostles would have liked to stay with them for ever. But they
could not do it at that time.

Vol. 15,  p.26
Then again we read of John on the Isle of Patmos. You know he was in
vision, and the Lord revealed unto him many great things, and there
was a personage appeared, one of the old Prophets that used to be led
around probably by a marshal. John thought he was an angel, and he was
about to fall down and worship him after he had unfolded to him the
glories of eternity. "But," says he, "do not do it." "Why?" "Because I
am one of thy fellow-servants, the Prophets; I am one of those old
fellows that used to have to wander about in my day in sheepskins and
goatskins. The priests, hypocrites, &c., of that day persecuted me;
but now I am exalted, and have come to minister unto you John."

Vol. 15,  p.26
While the world was wrapped in superstition, ignorance and darkness,
the angels of God came and ministered to Joseph Smith, and unfolded to
him the purposes of God and made [p.27] known his designs. Joseph told
it to the people, and through this means you are gathered together as
you are to-day. What did men, the best of them, know about the Gospel,
or about Apostles or Prophets, when the Prophet Joseph made his
appearance? Nothing at all, and yet there have been good men. Old John
Wesley, for instance, in his day, was very anxious to see something of
this kind, but he could not see it. Says he—

Vol. 15,  p.27
"From chosen Abraham's seed,
The old apostles choose,
O'er isles and continents to spread
The dead reviving news."

Vol. 15,  p.27
He would have been glad to see something of that kind, but he could
not. It was reserved for Joseph Smith and the Latter-day Saints; it
was reserved for our day. Well, then, what will we do? Fulfil the
measure of our creation; go to work and redeem those men who had not
the Gospel, be baptized for them, as the Scriptures fell us, and bring
them up, for they without us can not be made perfect, neither can we
be made perfect without them. And we will fulfil and accomplish the
purposes of God, and bring to pass the things which were spoken of by
the Prophets.

Vol. 15,  p.27
This is what we are after, and we shall accomplish it, and no man can
stop it, no organization, no power, no authority, for God is at the
helm, and his kingdom is onward, onward, onward, and it will continue,
and grow and increase until the kingdoms of this world shall become
the kingdoms of our God and his Christ.

Vol. 15,  p.27
May God help us to be faithful, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

George A. Smith, May 19, 1872

Patriarchal Marriage—the Settlement of Utah

Discourse By President George A. Smith, Delivered in the New 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday, May 19, 1872.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 15,  p.27
And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We
will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel: only let us be called
by thy name to take away our reproach.

Vol. 15,  p.27
In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious,
and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that
are escaped of Israel.

Vol. 15,  p.27
And it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion, and he that
remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is
written among the living in Jerusalem.

Vol. 15,  p.27
The portion of the prophecy of Isaiah which I have read indicates that
at a certain day and under certain circumstances, spoken of by the
Prophet as being holy, seven women would claim to be called by the
name of one man. Most of us have a different opinion with regard to
the application of this prophecy. God inspired the Prophet, and it
might be necessary, peradventure, to inquire what it all means. Seven
women [p.28] are to lay 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." What is the meaning of this last sentiment?
We will let the Bible explain it. You remember that when Rachel, the
second wife of Jacob, the father of the tribes of Israel, found
herself barren, while the other wives of her husband were bearing
children, she prayed to the Lord that he, in his abundant mercy, would
give her children, and when God heard her prayer and worked a miracle
in her favor, causing her who was barren to become fruitful and bring
forth a child, she said, God had taken away her reproach. This
illustrates the meaning of the text. I did not make the prophecy,
neither had I anything to do with making the history of Rachel, or
even chronicling the event named.

Vol. 15,  p.28
In relation to Father Jacob, it is true he had four wives, and they
bore him twelve sons, and their descendants are the twelve tribes of
Israel. We are told by the Apostle John that the names of Jacob's
twelve sons—the sons of a polygamist and his four wives—will be
written upon the gates of the holy Jerusalem; and there are none of us
who expect to enter in through those gates but will have to
acknowledge the truth of that doctrine. It is true that the principle
of plurality of wives was adopted by the Church of Latter-day Saints
in consequence of the revelation and commandment which God gave to
Joseph Smith, and which, through him, were laid upon the heads of this
people; and we quote the passages that we do quote, in relation to the
principle of celestial marriage from the Old and New Testament, to
prove that God is consistent with himself; that if he revealed to his
Saints in the last days, the doctrine of plurality of wives, it was in
fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah and others of the Prophets, and
in accordance with the example which was set by Abraham, Jacob, Moses,
and by holy men of ancient days.

Vol. 15,  p.28
In relation to the word "reproach" in our text, I will make another
reference. In the first chapter of Luke's Gospel, verses 23 and 24, we
find Elizabeth rejoicing because God had taken away her reproach. She
though she had been barren, became the mother of John the Baptist.

Vol. 15,  p.28
These passages tell in so many plain words why it was that seven women
wished to be called by the name of one man—it was that they might have
the privilege of bearing children.

Vol. 15,  p.28
Now, if God brings to pass this prophecy in the glorious day which our
text speaks of, when holiness and righteousness are to rule, and when
truth is to have dominion, and peace dwell in the earth, although all
the world may have been opposed to it, we can not be responsible.
Until some person can find a passage in the Old or New Testament that
definitely forbids a plurality of wives, with the many incidents of
history, items of law, and declarations of Prophets in relation to the
practice by the ancient Saints of that doctrine, we are able to assert
that the Bible is a polygamous book, and that no man can believe it
without believing plurality of wives, under some circumstances to be
correct. I know it has been said that the Old Testament permitted
plurality of wives, but the New forbids it. The Savior said he came
not to destroy the law but to fulfil it, and that not a jot or tittle
of the law or Prophets should pass away, but all should be fulfilled.
The new dispensation did not annihilate the principles of law and
right, as revealed in the Old. Both John the [p.29] Baptist and the
Savior denounced all sins with an unsparing hand, and especially
adultery, fornication and divorce; and not a sentence is found in the
New Testament which prohibits plurality of wives, though the Savior
and his Apostles lived in a country where it was practised; and it is
impossible to believe that if it were a sin it would have escaped
definite rebuke and absolute condemnation.

Vol. 15,  p.29
The petition to Congress which has been read here to-day is a perfect
wonder, I presume, to those who have heard it. It is astonishing to
me, and doubtless to all who listened to it, and especially those who
reside here, that such a statement could be got up by any individual
whatever, that any imagination could be so tortured as to manufacture
so unmitigated a tissue of utter and absolute falsehoods; and much
more that persons could be found who would think so little of their
reputation as to sign such a statement. We understand, however, that
many of the persons whose names are on that petition did not see the
original. Many of them thought they were simply signing a petition
against the admission of Utah as a State, without bringing personal
charges against a people among whom they have lived in perfect safety,
and in a country where peace and order have prevailed, and where all
have enjoyed the uniform protection which our Territorial laws and the
general organization of society give. I regret exceedingly that such a
document should be made public; but as it is, with the list of names
attached to it, was published by order of the United States Senate, it
was thought proper to read it to the congregation that all might have
a chance to know what it was and judge for themselves.

Vol. 15,  p.29
I came to this valley in 1847, being one of the 143 pioneers who
searched out and made the roads from the Missouri river here. The
ample property we possessed in Illinois we had left there; and we made
the roads, about 300 miles, or nearly across the State of Iowa,
bridging about thirty streams, and passing through a wilderness
totally uninhabited save by a few scattered Indians. That was as far
as we could get the first year. The second year—1847—we made the roads
from what we termed Winter Quarters, about five miles above where
Omaha is now situated. We traveled on the north side of the river,
established our ferry across the Elkhorn, and made our road, striking
the old Oregon trail, as it was called, at the mouth of Ash Hollow;
that is, we went up on the north side of the Platte to the north fork;
while Independence road went up on the south side, and struck the
north fork at Ash Hollow, probably a hundred and eighty miles below
Fort Laramie. We thought some of crossing the river and taking the
trapper's trail, but we found it difficult, so we continued making a
new road on the north side until we reached Fort Laramie. There we
crossed and made a road a portion of the way, and followed the old
trail a portion of the way through to Fort Bridger. On this route we
encountered some companies who were going to Oregon, and being unable
to get across the Platte and Green Rivers we got up the means of
ferrying, and ferried them across both these rivers, and they
proceeded on the route to Oregon, while we worked our way across this
Wasatch range into this valley.

Vol. 15,  p.29
When we reached here we found the place very barren; but it was the
best prospect we had seen for five hundred miles. The creek we now
call City Creek came out of the mountains, and divided into
branches,[p.30] and finally sank down into the ground, apparently
without reaching Jordan river. It had about its sinks some green spots
of rushes and grass, but except that the country was very naked and
barren. The city plot here did not even bear good sage; and there was
a little grass, but it was very dry. Along the stream were a dozen or
so of serubby cottonwoods and a few willows. The rest of the ground
was naked, except being nearly covered with immense numbers of large,
black crickets, which had devoured most of the leaves of the
cottonwoods and willows; and when we went to work to cut a ditch to
carry the water down to the place known as Old Fort block, where we
first built our fort, so dry was the soil of the ditch that it took
the whole stream two and a half days to reach the desired point.

Vol. 15,  p.30
It was in this desolate place—1034 miles from the Missouri river, and
thirteen or fourteen hundred from Nauvoo—the place whence we had been
expelled, that we commenced our location. It was understood that a
party had undertaken to cross west here, some year or two before, and
had perished. The name of the man who led the party was Hastings, and
the route west is called Hastings' cut off. It is said that John C.
Fremont had been in this valley the fall previous, but we had no
report of his explorations. We had an account of him visiting the
north end of Great Salt Lake, and the south end of Utah Lake; but so
ignorant was he at the time of the country between the two lakes that
his map, published after his return from his exploration, shows Salt
Lake and Utah Lake to be one body of water, whereas there is a river
about fifty miles long between them.

Vol. 15,  p.30
In a few days after we reached here another party arrived, increasing
our numbers to about four hundred. We had but very little provisions,
which we had brought with us. The country was destitute of game, and
the most rigid economy was necessary in order to subsist. We remained
about a month, when a portion of the pioneers, myself among the
number, started back for our families, who were still encamped at
Winter Quarters, on the Missouri river; and on our way back we met
about seven hundred wagons with families moving on for this place.
These families came in late, and enclosed themselves in the Old Fort
block, and the two blocks south of it, where they lived in security
from the Indians, and during the winter they succeeded, partially, in
enclosing a field, making preparations for irrigation, and sowing
several thousand acres of grain. They found it necessary to ration
themselves on account of the scarcity of their provisions, and I
believe that almost every family allowanced themselves to half a pound
of flour a day, that is, if they had it, many to less; and they went
over these hills digging the sego—a wild, bulbous root, sometimes
eaten by the Indians, and everything that they could get that had any
nutriment in it. In those days the animals that were killed, having
crossed the plains, were generally very poor; but they were used with
the greatest economy, hides, feet and tail, all being eaten. I believe
they tell a story of a certain rule among the Mahomedans, in relation
to eating swine's flesh. Some of them refuse it, but as a general
thing the various classes of them only refuse certain portions—some
reject the snout, some the ear, others the feet, others the tail, and
so on; but among the whole Mussulman race they "go the whole hog."
Among the earliest settlers in this valley there was no rejection; and
[p.31] there are some, who lived here the first two years after our
arrival, who will now say that they never tasted any food so sweet as
boiled rawhide. About the time our first crop began to head out, the
crickets made their appearance, and devoured the greater portion of
it. This was awfully discouraging. Our nurserymen had collected their
seeds, and planted them, and some twenty or thirty thousand trees had
got up, may be five or six inches high, and one day, while the
nurserymen had gone to dinner, a swarm of crickets came down and
destroyed all the trees but three. That was the commencement of our
nursery business in this city. It is believed, fully, by the
Latter-day Saints of that time, that God delivered them from utter
starvation by sending flocks of gulls from the lake, which ate up the
crickets, and saved a portion of their crop. The crickets have not
troubled the agriculturists in the valley, materially, since, but the
flying grasshoppers have come in immense numbers, and in 1855 reduced
all the families in the Territory to half the allowance of food they
needed; and for several years back this plague has probably destroyed
from one-third to one-half the fruits of the farmer's labors. These
are very material drawbacks to our prosperity with which we have had
to contend here in Utah. Persons unacquainted with the manner and
difficulties of irrigation can not realize the immense labor, care and
attention that are necessary to commence this work. Friends come in
and look over our city, and say, "Why, how nice this water is that
runs through all the streets? But the fact is, there is not a tree,
bush, or spear of grass grows in these low valleys without being
irrigated naturally or artificially, and there is only very few and
very small spots where natural irrigation is attainable. By natural
irrigation I mean that the water is so near the surface of the ground
as to moisten it sufficiently to make it produce vegetation, and these
places are only found about the sinks of creeks. Just turn the water
that passes through these streets back into the original channel, and
next fall would see most of the trees dead. All the results you see
here, in the way of agriculture, were made, are held by main strength
and constraint and continued diligence.

Vol. 15,  p.31
During the days of our early settlement, it was necessary that
measures be taken to supply the wants of those who were without food,
and for years a fast was held every month, and sometimes every week.
The amount of food that would have been consumed by a family during
that fast was presented to the needy, and in this way, struggling for
three years in succession, the people were sustained, and nobody
perished. When we did finally succeed in raising the necessaries of
life, thousands of strangers came pouring in here, a great many of
them destitute of bread. They had started for the gold mines without
knowing how far it was, what outfit to take, or how to take care of
themselves; and great numbers of them, when they reached here, had to
be assisted on their journey, and there were thousands who went to
California during the early days of the gold excitement there, who
must have perished had it not been for the assistance they obtained
from the settlements of these valleys.

Vol. 15,  p.31
We came here full of enterprise, and our only hope for subsistence was
in agriculture. We found mines of lead, and minerals of various kinds;
but we could do nothing with them. The Legislative Assembly
memorialized Congress for a railroad and a [p.32] telegraph line
across the continent, and they set forth in that petition, in 1852,
that the mineral resources of these mountains could never be developed
without a railroad; and that if they would build a railroad, or make
the necessary arrangement for one, the trade of China and the East
Indies would pass through the heart of the American States. We have
lived to see these predictions fulfilled.

Vol. 15,  p.32
You may pass, friends, over the Territory at your leisure; go from the
north to the south, and you will find the inhabitants, generally,
industrious, temperate, moral, straightforward, diligent and honest,
very few spending their time about gambling hells or drinking saloons;
in fact very few villages support such establishments, and wherever
you find them you may be sure that modern civilization has made
inroads there. When you see a gang of men standing round, loafing
about a place, smoking cigars, drinking whisky, and looking for
something to turn up, you may generally set it down there is no
Latter-day Saint there, or if there is a "Mormon" mixed up with them
he is becoming demoralized. If the faith of the Latter-day Saints be
adhered to as it should be, men would be temperate and moral, and they
would avoid using profane language; and one of the injunctions of
their religion is that the idler shall not eat the bread of the
laborer.

Vol. 15,  p.32
We have fed thousands and tens of thousands of strangers who have
passed through here without means, and no person has been permitted to
go hungry in our midst if we knew it, admitting at the same time that
our means of subsistence were limited, and all that we have wrenched
from the soil has been by main strength.

Vol. 15,  p.32
I would like to draw a little comparison: I moved my family in '49. I
came out in '47, and went back again and made arrangements to get back
with my family, the earliest possible, which was in '49. I brought in
two hundred pounds of flour a head for the family, which I ran out in
short allowances to each one of them, and I divided some to the
neighbors, there being numbers of them around who had got out of food,
and we eked it out little by little, little by little. If a friend
called and had his dinner with us, why, we had to shorten our
allowance of bread. There was no place we could go and buy a little
flour or a little beef, for nobody had any but what they wanted
themselves, and what they must have themselves, and if we divided our
little out we, ourselves, must go hungry. If we lived fast to-day, we
must starve to-morrow, and in this way we stretched the matter along.
God, in his mercy, blessed us with good health; we had good health,
hard work and short allowance of food. There was one thing we were
very thankful for: We had been mobbed a number of times—five times
driven from our homes. We had left our inheritances in Missouri and
Illinois, and had got nothing for them, and here, whatever other
things we lacked, we had the privilege of worshiping God according to
the dictates of our consciences, and we could go to meeting, and
preach and pray without anybody interrupting us; for although there
were thousands and thousands of strangers constantly passing through
our territory, they generally treated us with kindness and
consideration. How is it now with us with regard to the necessaries of
life? If a man is out of bread he can hardly find a house but what, if
he enters and says, "I am hungry, give me something to eat," the reply
will be, "Yes, we have plenty." And there are thousands of men and
women who have [p.33] come from the States and from Europe. We have
contributed immense sums, and sent our teams by the hundred to the
Missouri river to bring them here; and when they got here, their
labor, industry and economy would enable them at once to obtain food
and the necessaries of life, plain, to be sure, but an abundance of
such as the country afforded. No one that is hungry can go to a house
or a family and ask for bread and not obtain it. Look at the contrast;
and it has been effected by years of fasting and united industry,
poverty and toil, by the pioneers of this country. To be sure we have
had plenty of. the sayings of the Savior upon our heads to satisfy us
that we were right in one particular. He says: "Blessed are ye when
men shall persecute you, and say all manner of evil concerning you,
falsely, for my sake."

Vol. 15,  p.33
We bid welcome to our friends. The fields are wide and open, and the
mountains are, no doubt, fall of mineral. At any rate, every man has
his chance, if he will dig for it. Dig for the treasures, and open the
fields and the farms, but do not trespass on the rights of your
neighbors. Worship God according to the dictates of your conscience,
observe the law of heaven, but never, under any circumstances, intrude
upon the rights of others. These are the principles which rule here.
Look at these things, and realize that it is to the efforts of the
inhabitants of this country, their labors, toils and sacrifices, that
we owe our present comfort. We commenced by hauling carding machines
and printing offices across the mountains; we built factories, and
undertook to raise wool; we labored to produce flax and hemp, not very
successfully, but we did all we could. Thousands of our brethren did
not believe it possible ever to raise fruit; but God tempered the
climate, and, although in the tops of the mountains, we have raised
abundance of fruit in many of our settlements. Our sheep have become
productive, our herds have increased, and we have laid a foundation
for plenty; and any pilgrim who comes along, who wishes to obtain food
and raiment, can obtain it, for it is here; and he can go into the
mountains, and if fortune favor him he may strike something which he
may desire, though I must honestly confess that, so far as I am
concerned, I believe the plan for any man to pursue who wishes to lay
a foundation for future independence, is to procure a piece of land
and make a farm. He might, peradventure, strike an "Emma" mine; but I
think that kind of luck will be the exception instead of the rule;
but, as a general thing, the man who labors industriously to make
himself a farm, creates around him a good, comfortable home in a few
years. Of course, if men go prospecting for minerals, they know it is
a good deal like a lottery. Our railroad is going south, and as it
progresses, new mines and new mining interests will, without doubt, be
opened and developed; and as a result of the labors of developing the
resources of the Territory, I realize that millions will be
benefitted.

Vol. 15,  p.33
There is one thing that our friends do not realize. When they come
here they make up their minds that "Mormonism" is a humbug, and their
mistake is, it is true. Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, and the
plan of salvation revealed through him is the Gospel of Jesus Christ;
and every man and every woman who rejects it, rejects the truth, and
will be responsible for it; and every man and every woman who walks in
obedience to its precepts will receive [p.34] glory, honor,
immortality and endless lives. I am not talking something I guess, I
know these things are true; and it is the wisdom and prudence, the
light and the intelligence of the Almighty, revealed through his
servants to the Latter-day Saints, that have gathered a hundred
thousand people from the four quarters of the earth and planted them
down in comfortable homes in Utah, and it is only the inspiration of
the father of lies that circulates the false reports and the abuse
concerning them.

Vol. 15,  p.34
May God bless you my friends. You are welcome in this land. Go and be
blessed; and as you go to your homes, to the four winds of heaven,
tell the truth about the Latter-day Saints. May God enable us to
overcome and be faithful in all things, that we may finally inherit
his kingdom, through Jesus our Redeemer. Amen.

Brigham Young, May 26, 1872

Riches—Hurry—Fashion—Helping Tide Poor—Mysteries

Discourse By President Brigham Young, Delivered in the 
Tabernacle, Ogden City, Sunday Afternoon, May 26th, 1872.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 15,  p.34
I am happy for the privilege of standing before this congregation and
speaking to them. I am thankful to see the spirit that is manifested
by the people to inquire after the truth, to learn the way of life. I
rejoice to see the disposition manifested by the Latter-day Saints to
attend places of worship. But this is a small part of our faith. I
wish to say to the Latter-day Saints that the Gospel of life and
salvation is the best institution that we, as mortal beings, can
invest in. Go into the financial circles of the world, and you will
find men gather and project their plans for business, for railroads,
for ship companies, for merchandizing, and various other pursuits. You
will see those engaged in these companies associate together, confer
with each other, lay their plans before each other, investigate them,
scan every branch, and every part and particle of their business. We
are engaged in a higher-toned branch of business than any merchants or
railroad men, or any institution of an earthly nature, and it is
pleasing to see the Latter-day Saints meet together to talk over this
matter, and to learn the course they should pursue to gain the object
of their pursuit. If an inquiry arises in any of your minds with
regard to this, I will answer it by saying that we are in pursuit of
all there is before us—life, light, wealth, intelligence, all that can
be possessed on the earth by mortal man, and then in a higher state,
[p.35] where there will be a more perfect development of the
smattering of knowledge than we received here, and all that can be
enjoyed by intelligent beings in the celestial kingdoms of our God. Is
this our object? Certainly it is. We are not in the same attitude that
the people were a few thousand years ago—they were depending on the
Prophet or Prophets, or on having immediate revelation for themselves
to know the will of the Lord, without the record of their
predecessors, while we have the records of those who have lived before
us, also the testimony of the Holy Spirit; and, to the satisfaction of
all who desire a testimony, we can turn to this book and read that
which we believe, learn the object of our pursuit, the end that we
expect to accomplish—the end of the race as far as mortality is
concerned—and the fullness of the glory that is beyond this vale of
tears; consequently we have the advantage of those who lived before
us. We are in pursuit of knowledge; and when you meet together, if you
have a word of prophecy, a dream, a vision, or a word of wisdom,
impart the same to the people.

Vol. 15,  p.35
Let me ask you, my brethren and sisters, Do you want wealth? If you
do, do not be in a hurry. Do you want the riches pertaining to this
world? Yes, we acknowledge we do. Then, be calm, contented, composed;
keep your pulses correct, do not let them get up to a hundred and
twenty, but keep them as nigh as you can, ranging from seventy to
seventy-six; and when there is an appointment for a meeting be sure to
attend that meeting. If there is to be a two-days' meeting in Ogden,
come to it; spend the time here and learn what is going on. Watch
closely, hear every word that is spoken, let every heart be lifted to
God for wisdom, and know and understand every word of prophecy, every
revelation that may be given, every counsel that may be presented to
the people, that you may be able to weigh, measure, comprehend and
decide between that which is of God and that which is not of God.
Refuse the evil, learn wisdom, and grow in grace and in the knowledge
of the truth. If there is a meeting appointed for the Seventies, let
them come together, and let no man say "I am in a hurry in my work,
and have not time to attend." Every man that belongs to these quorums
should be on hand at the time appointed, and not say, "I will work to
the last minute, before I start for the meeting." Take time, prepare
yourselves, be at the place of gathering promptly, to the minute, that
you may hear the first word, then you will hear every word that is
spoken and every counsel that is given.

Vol. 15,  p.35
If there is a Bishop's meeting, let every Bishop, Priest, Teacher and
Deacon attend, and no man among them say, "I must go and water my
grain," "cut my hay," or "gather my harvest;" but attend the meeting,
sit until it is out and hear every word. If you have to speak, speak;
if you are to hear only, hear every word that is said. If there is a
prayer meeting appointed, go to that prayer meeting; go to the ward
meetings, attend every meeting that is appointed. I am telling you
this, so that you can get rich.

Vol. 15,  p.35
I will say to the Latter-day Saints, there can not that community be
found on the face of the whole earth that, as a community, is as well
off as we are here in these mountains. There are more women and
children, with their husbands and fathers, sleep under their own roof
in the midst of the Latter-day Saints than in any other community; on
the face [p.36] of this earth, in civilization; and less women and
children go without food and clothing than in any other community in
Christendom. Looking around among the Latter-day Saints I will ask,
How many are there who have been taken from cellars, from pits under
ground, or from their little rooms, where one pound, or five dollars,
would buy everything they possessed on the face of the earth, and
brought to this country and taught how to plant their potatoes, beans,
beets, carrots, how to raise their cucumbers and squashes, their corn
and their wheat, how to milk a cow; feed a calf, take care of the
chickens; how to build a pig-pen and put a pig in it; to take the
offals of the house and give to the pig, and how to raise a calf or a
colt, experience they never had before in their lives? Yet they have
learned this economy, and some of them, I am sorry to say, lift their
heel against the Almighty and his anointed. I am happy to say,
however, that the large per-centage of those who have been thus
rescued from poverty, and placed in circumstances of comfort and
independence, are still in the faith. How many are there here today
who never owned a chicken or a pig, and could not keep a eat because
they had nothing to feed one on, who now ride in their wagons, have
their carriages, horses, fine harness, fine stock of cows, and have
butter, milk, cheese and wool at their command, and granaries full of
wheat, and their barns, if they have them, full of hay? Do not the
facts which present themselves before us, prove that this very
desirable change has taken place in the circumstances of many? Then
come to meeting. Appoint your meetings, Elders, and call the Saints
together and instruct them in the things of the kingdom of God. We
have missionaries that are traveling through our settlements, and no
people need preaching more than the Latter-day Saints. They know the
way, but they are forgetful, and they want somebody or other to come
along and holloa to them, and say, comparatively, "I will warm your
ears, my lady;" "Brother, I will warm your ears." "Wake up!" "What are
you doing? Are you after this mine? Are you after that job? Are you
after that piece of work? Did you pray in your family this morning?"
"No." "Why?" "I was in too much of a hurry." Stop! Wait! When you get
up in the morning, before you suffer yourselves to eat one mouthful of
food, call your wives and children together, bow down before the Lord,
ask him to forgive your sins, and protect you through the day, to
preserve you from temptation and all evil, to guide your steps aright,
that you may do something that day that shall be beneficial to the
kingdom of God on the earth. Have you time to do this? Elders,
sisters, have you time to pray? This is the counsel I have for the
Latter-day Saints to-day. Stop, do not be in a hurry. I do not know
that I could find a man in our community but what wishes wealth, would
like to nave everything in his possession that would conduce to his
comfort and convenience. Do you know how to get it? "Well," replies
one, "if I do not, I wish I did; but I do not seem to be exactly
fortunate—fortune is somewhat against me." I will tell you the reason
of this—you are in too much of a hurry; you do not go to meeting
enough, you do not pray enough, you do not read the Scriptures enough,
you do not meditate enough, you are all the time on the wing, and in
such a hurry that you do not know what to do first. This is not the
way to get rich. I merely use [p.37] the term "rich" to lead the mind
along, until we obtain eternal riches in the celestial kingdom of God.
Here we wish for riches in a comparative sense, we wish for the
comforts of life. If we desire them let us take a course to get them.
Let me reduce this to a simple saying—one of the most simple and
homely that can be used—"Keep your dish right side up," so that when
the shower of porridge does come, you can catch your dish full.

Vol. 15,  p.37
I am not going into the details, to instruct my brethren particularly
how to get wealth; but in the first place, do not be in a hurry. I
make that as a general remark. Do you want your house neat and clean?
Do you want to keep your children neat and clean? Do you wish to see
every portion of your dwelling, from the cellar to the garret, from
the wood-house to the parlor, neat and clean? Certainly, every sister
wishes this; then do not be in a hurry. I shall tell you a little
circumstance that occurred some eighteen years ago, when we had been
on a visit to the Indians. We had reached Farmington, on our way home,
and stopped at a certain house. I think there were twelve of us in
company. Our teams were taken care of. When I alighted from my
carriage I looked at my watch and we went in, sat down, and chatted
with the master of the house, while his wife prepared dinner for us. I
noticed this lady. She whispered to a little girl to take her baby out
of doors and amuse it; then, when her baby was out of the way, she
moved about without the least noise—not a word was heard from her. She
brought everything she needed from the buttery and cellar to the
kitchen where she spread her table, and she mixed and baked her bread,
cooked her fruit and meat, and from the time we alighted from the
carriage until she came and whispered in the ear of her husband,
"Dinner is ready," it was just fifty-five minutes. Said I to myself,
"There is a housekeeper." I could not help but see this; every time
she walked back and forth she accomplished a certain amount of
business. I saw this and was gratified. Now, sisters, you may do
likewise, if you are not in too big a hurry. Instead of shouting,
"Sally, where's the dish-cloth?" "Susan, where's the broom?" or,
"Nancy, have you seen the holder? I want the holder," be calm and
composed; you are in too much of a hurry. Hold on, be easy, never let
your nervous system rise above your judgment and the collection of
your thoughts, and have a place for everything, and every thing in its
place. Let your judgment be master, and when you start to do a thing
you will know exactly what you want to do. I have seen hundreds of
ladies fly to the cupboard, and then say, "Well, now, I declare I
don't know what I came for." They were in too much of a hurry. It is
just so with men. I see them through the world, I have watched their
progress for many years, and I see that many of them are too much in a
hurry. If we are not in too much of a hurry we can attend these
two-days' meetings, and talk to each other. Are you full of faith? You
can tell whether I am or not by looking at me. You can tell whether
the brethren who have been speaking to you are full of faith in the
Gospel by the look of their countenances. You can see this if there is
not a word spoken; we can tell by our feelings when we look at a
congregation whether they have faith or not. I see there is a great
amount of faith in the midst of the Latter-day Saints, and I wish
there was a little more patience and obedience.[p.38] Perhaps I have
said enough with regard to these meetings. Elders, appoint your
meetings, and invite the people to come to them. I want now to go to
other matters.

Vol. 15,  p.38
I will tell you, my brethren, my own feelings with regard to the
conduct of the Latter-day Saints. In the first place I will say that
we are governed and controlled too much by the feelings and fashions
of the world. We lust after the leeks and onions; we yield ourselves
to the spirit of the world too much. You will excuse me, for I must
say a few words with regard to this. It is true we are bound, and it
seems that men's bounds are set by each other, more or less. If I, for
instance, were to have a coat made to suit my own taste, I do not know
any of my family and perhaps my friends, and especially the tailors,
merchants and business men, but what would say, "You are an oddity,"
and they would think, "You are not fit for society, because you do not
fashion and pattern after others." I commence here, you know, at
myself. Well, I will say that I am bound, I can not accomplish my own
wishes in these things altogether. Perhaps others can not. I go to a
tailor and say, "I have a piece of cloth, and I want you to make me a
coat." He cuts that coat to suit himself. I do not see a fashion that
suits me. What use or comeliness is there in putting the legs of the
pantaloons on my coat?" Well, perhaps the tailor will be a little
moderate, and will cut it down considerably; but if I were my own
tailor I certainly should leave off—what shall we call them?
"Bustles," "Grecian Bends," or what shall we call them? Though these
coat sleeves and not exactly like the sleeves of the frocks or dresses
worn by the ladies forty or fifty years ago, which they used to call
mutton-legged sleeves, shaped just like the ham of a mutton. I
recollect there used to be considerable said about them. Sometimes a
paper would come out and tell of the wreck of a ship, on board of
which were a hundred and fifty passengers; but, they would say,
"Thanks be to kind Providence, the ladies took all the male passengers
into the sleeves of their dresses, and went ashore." Such narrations
as these, you know, were only meant as a satire upon the fashions of
the day. Now I am corning right to the point, and I wish to say to
some of my sisters, not to all, that if I were my own tailor I should
cut my own coat to suit myself. "What would be your fashion" says one?
I will tell you. I have a coat here which you can see—if I were to
take hold of a swill-pail, this part of the skirt must drop in; and if
I took hold of a milk-pail I must take the coat around by the other
end; and hold it, or else it is in the milk. I see no convenience or
beauty in it. That which is convenient should be beautiful; and I want
my coat cut so that when I lift a pail of water, or a milk or swill
pail the skirts shall not fall into it; and so with the pockets, I
would have them convenient. If I were a lady and had a piece of cloth
to make me a dress, I would cut it so as to cover my person handsomely
and neatly; and whether it was cut according to the fashion or not,
custom would soon make it beautiful. I would not have eighteen or
twenty yards to drag behind me, so that if I had to turn around I
would have to pick up my dress and throw it after me, or, just, as a
cow does when she kicks over the milk pail, throw out one foot to kick
the dress out of the way. That is not becoming, beautiful or
convenient—all such fashions are inconvenient. Take that cloth and cut
you a skirt that will be [p.39] modest and neat, that does not drag in
the dirt nor show your garters, but cut it so that it will clear the
ground when you walk, when you are passing over the floor it will not
drag everything on the floor, or in the street as you pass along. Put
enough into the skirt to look well, and if we are to go into
particulars, of course, we would have to say, we must use enough to
cover the person. I do not expect mother Eve even did this. We could
relate some little incidents of our past experience, that perhaps
would not entertain the people, and still, perhaps, they might learn
something from them. For instance, in some circles it has been
fashionable for a lady to wear, perhaps, twelve yards in the skirt of
her dress, but when it came to the waist, I guess three-quarters of a
yard would have been enough. I will relate a circumstance of which I
heard, that took place in the metropolis of our country. A gentleman,
a stranger, was invited to a grand dinner party there. The ladies of
course were dressed in the height of fashion, their trails dragging
behind them, and their—well, I suppose there was a band over the
shoulder to the waist, but I do not recollect whether the gentleman
said there was or not; but one gentleman present, who knew this
gentleman was a stranger, said to him, with all the loveliness and
elegance in his heart that one could imagine—"Is not this beautiful?
Did you ever see the like of this?" "No sir," said the party
questioned, "never since I was weaned." Well, all this, you know, is
custom and fashion.

Vol. 15,  p.39
Now, I wish to say to my sisters, If you will be just a little more
moderate, I should like it very much. Some of you, and especially the
young sisters, may say, "Why, Brother Brigham, how do your daughters
dress?" I will say, to my shame, many of them, and many do not. Then I
must have a great many, for if I have many that do and many that do
not, that will amount to a great many. But I guess I will let it go.
Some of them are modest, delicate, neat, and look beautiful, and do
not want twenty-four yards for a dress, nor seventeen. But this is
uncomely, uncouth and ill-looking. What shall I call it? A camel's
back? You will say they go from the lady to the camel, and from the
camel to the lady, and so o