Journal of Discourses Volume 18

BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG, 

HIS COUNSELORS, AND THE TWELVE APOSTLES.

REPORTED BY D. W. EVANS GEO. F. 
GIBBS, AND OTHERS.

AND RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO THE LATTER-DAY 
SAINTS IN ALL THE WORD

VOL. XVIII

LIVERPOOL: 

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH 
F. SMITH, 42, ISLINGTON.

LONDON: 

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

1877.[p.iii] 

Preface

Vol. 18,  p.iii
WE now present the Eighteenth Volume of the to
the Saints, and to all lovers of the Truth.

Vol. 18,  p.iii
We feel confident that the important instructions on principle and
doctrine therein contained, relative to the building of Temples, the
salvation of the dead, the introduction of the Order of Enoch, and the
general progress and development of the great Latter-day Work, will
prove as interesting, gratifying and beneficial to the Saints and to
posterity, as those that have been previously published through this
medium.

Vol. 18,  p.iii
We regret that the circulation of the is so
limited. Its importance would warrant a thousand-fold greater
extension of this work. We anticipate a time, not distant in the
future, when a copy of the present volume will be more precious than
gold. It is even now almost impossible to obtain a complete series.
Copies should therefore be carefully preserved by all subscribers.

Vol. 18,  p.iii
We also, with feelings of regret, chronicle here, which we think a
befitting place, the death—on July 5, 1876—of Elder David W. Evans, to
whom for many years we have been indebted for the reports of the
discourses of the First Presidency, the Twelve Apostles and others.
His death being the cause of the temporary suspension of the
publication of this journal.

Vol. 18,  p.iii
In his demise the Saints have sustained the temporal loss of a
faithful and worthy brother, and the public a devoted and able
servant.

THE PUBLISHER[p.1] 

John Taylor, April 8, 1875

Man, the Offspring of God, a Dual Being—Immediate 
Revelation—Operate With the Priesthood

Discourse By Elder John Taylor, Delivered at the Forty-Fifth 
Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 
in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Thursday Morning, April 8,
1875.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

[Continued From Page 376, Vol. 17.] 

Vol. 18,  p.1
We talk sometimes about the Priesthood. Who are we? Who are these
Latter-day Saints before me to-day? Are they not the Priesthood? Are
you not, really and truly, a kingdom of Priests? Do you not belong to
the First Presidency, the Twelve, the High Priests, the High Council,
the Elders, Priests, Teachers and Deacons, or hold some office in the
Church and kingdom of God? Is not this really and truly a fact? To a
very great extent it is, not exclusively or entirely. Have you not
received this Priesthood? Are you not responsible to God to carry out
his purposes and designs, so far as they have been committed unto you,
in relation to the building up and establishing of his kingdom and the
introduction of righteousness upon the earth? Are you not engaged in
these things? If you are not you ought to be, this is your calling and
profession. What shall we do then? Humble ourselves before God, every
one of us. We all need it. Humble yourselves, repent of your sins, and
evils, and waywardness, of your iniquities, falsehood, covetousness,
pride, haughtiness and corruptions of every kind, and lay them aside,
and become men of truth, integrity, virtue, purity and honor, that
yore hearts and spirits and feelings may be pure before God. Say to
the Lord—"Search me, oh God, and prove me, and if there is anyway of
wickedness within me bid it depart, and let me live my religion, honor
my God, walk in obedience to his laws, magnify my Priesthood, and
prepare myself and my posterity for an inheritance in the kingdom of
God. Let me associate myself with those men of God who have gone
before, and with God, and with Jesus, who is the Mediator of the New
Covenant, that, all combined, we may roll on [p.2] the work of God,
and accomplish his purposes here upon the earth.

Vol. 18,  p.2
Why, some of these men you heard Elder Hyde talking about here the
other day are beginning to visit the Lamanites. Somebody asked me why
they did not come to some of us. Said I—"I do not know, but I think
that if I was the father of these folks I should go to them first,
seek after them first." But no matter, let them operate and us
operate, and God operate, and don't let us stand in the way of God.
Let us humble ourselves; let us reverence the Priesthood and honor
those who are keeping the commandments of God and managing the affairs
of his Church and kingdom on the earth. Let us operate also with the
living Priesthood of all ages; with Adam, Seth, Enoch, Noah,
Melchizedek, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the Prophets, Jesus, his Apostles,
with Ether, Jared and his brother—Lehi, Alma, Moroni, Mormon, the
Prophets and Apostles on this continent, and men that have held the
same Priesthood that we do, and with them help our heavenly Father to
establish and roll on this kingdom; to save the living and the dead
and bring in everlasting righteousness, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

George Q. Cannon, April 8, 1875

There is Cause for Rejoicing—the Hand of Divine Providence 
Over the Saints—Pleased With Being a Territory—
Maintain the Right—Be True to Principle

Discourse By Elder George Q. Cannon, Delivered at the 
Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of 
Latter-Day Saints, in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake 
City, Thursday Afternoon, April 8, 1875.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 18,  p.2
There have been a number of items of interest touched upon by the
brethren who have spoken during this Conference, and as it is a time
when we meet together for the purpose of receiving general
instructions, it seems to me very desirable that the time should be
occupied in dwelling ripen principles which immediately pertain to our
condition and present circumstances. In the remarks which I shall make
this afternoon, I trust I shall be led to speak upon those things
which immediately concern us, and which pertain to our daily lives.

Vol. 18,  p.3
I rejoice exceedingly in this opportunity, that is, the opportunity of
[p.3] being present at Conference. I believe that I can appreciate it
better than I could possibly have done had I been here all the time
during the winter. I have, however, during my absence, enjoyed myself
better than I could have expected. I have felt that the Lord has been
with us as a people, that his power has been manifested in our behalf,
and that, so far as the prospects of Zion in the future are concerned,
we have abundant reason to be thankful and rejoice. I know that the
hope is indulged in in many quarters that the Latter-day Saints are
fast losing that faith for which they have been noted, and by the
operation of which they have been enabled to accomplish the labors
that have devolved upon them in the past in this country as pioneers,
and as pioneers in the religious world. I am quite willing, myself, if
it is any satisfaction to any individual to entertain this idea, that
he should do so; but for myself, and I believe I speak the sentiments
of the people, I never, in my life, saw greater cause for rejoicing in
the cause of God than I do to-day. I am not in the least discouraged,
but, on the contrary, I feel exceedingly encouraged. I know, it seems
to me, better than I ever knew, that God is with this people, that he
hearkens to their prayers, and that he watches over them. It is true
that there are influences operating upon us at the present time that
we have only recently had to contend with, they are comparatively new
influences and, to a certain extent, the Latter-day Saints are
unaccustomed to them, especially the rising generation. But it has
been taught us from the beginning that Zion is to become a great power
in the earth, and that she will triumph; but I cannot conceive how
Zion can become that which we have expected, or that it will achieve
the destiny predicted concerning it, unless it be by passing through
ordeals such as those we already have to encounter, and others, still
greater, that are yet in the future, by which Zion will show its
superiority over every institution and power that exists on the face
of the earth.

Vol. 18,  p.3
I have expected for years that the seclusion which we sought in coming
to these mountains would be terminated. Everything in the predictions
of the holy Prophets concerning the work of God in the last days
conveyed this idea to my mind. I looked upon our retreat here as a
temporary one, for I well knew from the character of the people and
their achievements that, in a short time, we should have the world
trooping to us; we should be like a city set on a hill, we could not
be hid, and that the eyes of men would be attracted Zionward,
therefore I have not been disappointed in witnessing that which we see
around us to-day. It has come probably in some form that I had not
looked for, because I could only take a general view, the details I
did not understand, but that we should pass through ordeals that
should test us, test our faith, test our institutions, test the
character of our doctrines, test the practical value of everything
connected with us, I never had a doubt; and so far as the future is
concerned I look forward to an increase rather than a decrease of
these things, to an increase of tests, a multiplication of ordeals
that will be calculated in their very nature to test and try us and
the system with which we are identified to the perfect satisfaction of
every one connected with it. How else could we expect that Zion should
become a power in the earth? How else could we expect that that
respect should be accorded to Zion which we are led to believe [p.4]
will be the case? How else will the wisdom and power that God will
bestow upon his people be made clear in the eyes of this nation and of
the nations of the earth only by these practical tests, by these
trials, by surmounting these difficulties, and by showing a capacity
to meet, grapple with and overcome every emergency and contingency
that may arise? Can we achieve that distinction which is inevitably in
store for us as a people if the predictions of the Prophets be
fulfilled short of such an experience as this? I think not. The
enemies of this work may indulge in whatever anticipations of our
discomfiture or downfall they please, but as for us, let us take a
practical, sensible view of the work with which we are identified, and
prepare ourselves accordingly, so that when the hour of trial shall
come, be it severe or not, we may be prepared therefor, having
strength and faith sufficient to endure it, and to bear witness unto
all men that we have not cherished this faith in vain.

Vol. 18,  p.4
There is this peculiarity about this work, that no power that has yet
arrayed itself against it has succeeded in its attempts to gain
advantage over it. It is true there have been seemingly temporary
successes; there have been times when mobs and violent men have
achieved a temporary success and when they have flattered themselves
with the idea that their designs against this work have been
successful. But one peculiarity has ever marked the career of this
people, that is, that events in our history which have seemed to be
deadly blows against us and the work in which we are engaged, have
turned out to be magnificent successes for us as a community. Trace
our history from the beginning, peruse it carefully, draw the lessons
from it which I believe are intended to be conveyed by it, and what do
you see? The Church and Zion of God emerging from the difficulties,
trouble and seeming disaster sought to be brought upon it by its
enemies, brighter, stronger, more firmly planted, more untied than it
was when the difficulty commenced, or the trouble was first visited
upon us. The loss of houses and lands, expulsion from homes that were
dearly bought, had no such effect upon this people, produced no such
thrill and such deathlike sorrow in the hearts of the Latter-day
Saints as did the martyrdom of our beloved Prophet and Patriarch; had
we lost our dearest friends; had we lost everything that we valued on
earth, it seems to me it would not have compared with the poignant
sorrow, the deeps heartfelt anguish that prostrated this people in the
depths of humility when the news of the cruel murder of their beloved
leaders reached them; yet deadly as that blow was, to all human
appearance prostrating the entire people, who felt that they had lost
those who stood nearest to God and nearest to them, God in his mercy,
out of that great affliction brought forth a great triumph and raised
up a man to take the place of the Prophet, who has been in some
respects like Elisha following Elijah, possessing, as Elisha desired
it might be the case with him, a double portion of the spirit that
rested down on his master, Elijah. And God has led us, God has
prospered us, and God gave us success that seemed to be commensurate
with the depth of our anguish and sorrow, and lifted us up from the
depths of humility into which we had sunk, and placed us upon the
heights of gladness and joy, and caused us to rejoice as we could not
have done probably under [p.5] other circumstances. And so, when we
were driven out of civilization so-called; when we wended our weary
way through the wilderness, not knowing where we were going, it seemed
as though the last blow had been struck and we had been left a prey to
internal dissensions or to the violence of the savages. But God in his
mercy, out of that seemingly great affliction, has brought forth great
blessing and glory to us, and has honored us, has enriched us, has
raised us up and endowed us with blessings that we could not have had
where we lived; so that that great blow aimed at us by our enemies has
been over-ruled to be the means of great and wonderful blessings to
us, and as an entire people we rejoice today in the possession of a
land that God has given unto us, to which he led us and which he
designated by the finger of inspiration as the land which we should
occupy, and which we this day possess despite all the machinations of
the wicked and their efforts to strip us of all power herein. Until
this day he has given unto us the supremacy in this land, from north
to south, from east to west, and he has made it productive and fertile
for our sakes. When we reflect upon our history since we came here;
when we think of the many plots and schemes, of the many men who have
lent themselves to these plots, who have done all in their power
against and to entrap this people; when we reflect upon it all, so far
as I am concerned, I am filled with amazement, and with thanksgiving
to God our Eternal Father for his goodness and mercy unto us as a
people. I know, as well as I know that I live, that no human power
could have saved us time and time again as we have been rescued that
there is no wisdom of man that was equal to the emergencies in which
we have been placed; but God, in his infinite mercy and wisdom, in his
kindness and watch-care over us as a people, has, at the very moment
when salvation was needed, stretched forth his Almighty arm. He has
rescued us from the grasp of the destroyer when it seemed as though
destruction was inevitable and we could not escape. The last five
years have been as fruitful, probably, as any period in our history in
events of this character. Time and time again has it seemed as though
destruction was sure to come upon us, as though there were no way
possible for us to escape; but God has heard our supplications and has
opened the way of deliverance in a most wonderful manner, and has
rescued us from the grasp of those who would destroy us. Others may
not see the hand of God in these things; they may say that these
things come about from and are the results of natural causes, but
those who have prayed to God, whose hearts have been drawn out in
supplication to him and who have waited tremblingly for the salvation
which he has promised, have seen and they cannot but acknowledge the
hand of God in these deliverances, because, as I have said, they have
watched, waited and prayed anxiously and earnestly in the name of
Jesus for deliverance, and when it has come their faith has been
strengthened and their joy increased in the Holy One of Israel;
because he has heard and answered their prayers: and to-day the
Latter-day Saints are the people of all people upon the face of the
earth who know that God lives, because he hears and answers their
prayers. And he, it seems, is determined to have a people upon the
earth who will be compelled to put their trust in him and not in man,
because man's power would utterly [p.6] fail to save them, and no
power but his can do it. When I look at all these things it is a
matter of surprise to me that men cannot see the hand of God in this
work. Yet there are many whose hearts have been touched by the
evidences of God's favor unto us, and they have been surprised and
have expressed their wonder that we have been so signally delivered as
we have been.

Vol. 18,  p.6
Now there is a great future in store for us as a people. God has said
so, and his words cannot fail in being fulfilled. There is a destiny
in store for this people that few can comprehend. We have to teach the
world lesson after lesson that they have entirely forgotten, or that
they never knew. We have to teach them and show them by our example
that there is such a thing as living faith, that there is such a thing
as trusting in God, being saved by him, that there is such a power as
faith in the land, and that prayer, when offered in faith, is
effectual in reaching him. We have to show the nations of the earth
that God with a small people can accomplish wonderful results. When I
think of our numbers, how few we are,—we are a great people in some
respects, but in numbers we are few and feeble—yet with this few
people what is God doing in the earth! What a name he is gaining for
his people, his servants! You may travel throughout the earth, in
every land, among every people, and let it be known that you are a
Latter-day Saint, and you will find that the fame of the people has
preceded you, and you will find yourselves distinguished from
everybody else. It is exceedingly wonderful that a people so small,
numerically so insignificant, a people not wealthy, but it may be said
poor, are so noted in the earth. Yet this is the fact, that God
intends to make us still more so, he intends to give us a name and a
place among the nations of the earth that shall be distinguished above
all other people. We are accused, you know, of being disloyal. This
has been a story told of us, a charge repeated against us from the
very beginning, because men have thought it would be most effective in
destroying our influence. The idea prevails in many quarters that we
are scarcely as true to the government as we should be. I have heard
it stated that were it not for these troops at Camp Douglas, Utah
Territory would rebel. By such nonsense as this do men who oppose us
seek to deceive the world at large respecting us and our motives and
feelings. I have had occasion frequently to talk upon this subject. I
have told men that, from my early boyhood, I have been taught to
believe that the constitution of the United States was revealed of
God, and that the destiny in store for the Latter-day Saints was to
uphold constitutional government upon this land; and, that being the
case, how could it be reconcilable with the idea that we were disloyal
to the Government? But there is a class of men who consider everybody
disloyal who does not dance to their tunes, and who does not re-echo
the sentiments which they express and seem to entertain. We have a
class of men among us here who talk about the one-man power and the
tyranny that exist in the Utah Territory, but at the same time if an
official were to come here and associate with citizens of this
Terrritory, "Mormon" citizens I mean, they would put him under a ban
and brand him as disloyal and unfit to hold an official position under
the Government. And why? For years here it has been considered by
certain officials as one of the best recommendations to the favor of
those in power to hate and abuse the "Mormon" [p.7] people of Utah
Territory; and if a man were to dare to associate with "Mormons," were
to speak kindly of or to associate with them, and to treat them as he
would other people he would be ostracised and banished, so far as
association with them is concerned a non-intercourse act would be
passed immediately. And these very individuals talk about the
intolerance of the Mormons.

Vol. 18,  p.7
We have these things to contend with, we have these lies to live down,
and as far as we are concerned, let them always be lies; let no man
have it in his power to say that the Latter-day Saints are an
intolerant, prescriptive or an unjust people. Never let this be said
of us with truth; but if it be said, let our enemies continue to lie
about us until they are tired of it, or until the world become
sickened with the falsehoods that are told concerning us. And for us,
let us pursue the path that God has marked out, being liberal,
truthful, upright, dealing fairly, honestly and tolerantly with every
man, so that every class of men who come into our midst may learn that
we have received a religion that admits of toleration in the broadest
sense of the word.

Vol. 18,  p.7
It has been a matter of considerable satisfaction to me to state that
in Utah Territory our pulpits, stands, tabernacles and meeting-houses
have always been open to every sect and denomination to come and
preach their peculiar views, creeds and doctrines, and that our people
have turned out in large congregations to listen to speakers or
preachers of other denominations advancing their doctrines; and that
not only have congregations of adults been furnished, but the children
of the Sunday schools have frequently been assembled in the New
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, that they might purposely hear and become
familiar with the ideas and views entertained by other religious
denominations. This stands out in marked contrast with the practice of
almost every other sect, and it gives the falsehood to the stories
which have been so frequently told about us.

Vol. 18,  p.7
Now respecting all these things that we are passing through, I
recognize the hand of God in them all. I think that we have learned
lessons of late that have been profitable to us. For instance, we now
know and, while the recollection of the past few years is vivid in our
minds we shall continue to know, how to value a just man who sits as a
judge, and it may be that it will be so impressed upon us, that when
power shall come into our midst, and come it will, as inevitably as
the sun rises in the morning over the eastern hills so sure will power
come unto us; but when it does come I trust that the recollection of
the past will be vivid in our minds and that we will always seek to
deal justly and fairly with all who may seek justice at our hands. It
has been said that when we acquire power we shall be intolerant, as
other sects have been. The Puritans, who fled from England because of
religious persecution became, in turn, themselves the persecutors when
they had the power. Roger Williams fled from them and took refuge in
what is now Rhode Island. They persecuted the Quakers and others who
came within their borders with an intolerance that was quire equal to,
if it did not exceed, the intolerance to which they themselves had
been the victims. And it has been said concerning us, that if we had
the power, we would probably tread in the same path, that persecution
would only harden us and make us deal with others with a severity
which we would not know anything [p.8] about had we ourselves not been
victims beforehand. But I think that God in his mercy will strip us if
there be any vestige of this about us; I hope he will, at any rate. If
we achieve the destiny that is in store for us, certainly to maintain
that character and to retain that power, it will be necessary that we
should be just, upright, forbearing and tolerant, and that we should
be willing that every man in this broad land should worship God
according to the dictates of his own conscience, whether his god be
the workmanship of his own hands, whether it be the sun, the moon,
some animal, or the God of heaven, with Jesus his Son, that we shall
be willing that every man should worship God according to his own
feelings upon the subject, so long as he does not interfere with us,
or with others. I think we have learned this lesson in part. I think
the lessons that have been impressed upon us have had an effect in
this direction, at least they have had the effect to broaden us; and
every lesson of this kind will have such a result as this with us as a
people, and on this account I am thankful for them. 

Vol. 18,  p.8
I am thankful to-day that we are not a State. There have been times
when I have wished exceedingly that we might be released from
territorial vassalage and be incorporated in the Union as a sovereign
state. I have desired, and labored for it; but this last winter I have
been exceedingly thankful that Utah was a territory and not a state.
We are told to acknowledge the hand of God in all things, and I do not
see why we should not acknowledge it in being kept in this condition
of tutelage and vassalage as well as in anything else. But it may be
asked—"Why do you think our condition better as a territory than as a
state?" When I heard of events in Louisiana, the federal troops
maintaining a government there, against which I was informed, and as I
believed, the mass of the people revolted, I thought to myself—Better
be an insignificant territory than a state if we cannot have the right
of choosing our own rulers and have them act in the offices to which
they are elected. Thanks to our insignificance federal troops have not
interfered with us here; but if we had been a State, with two votes in
the Senate, a vote or two in the House, and electoral votes in the
Presidential Election there might have been a temptation to have done
with Utah as with other states. But we had no vote; our delegate in
Congress had no vote; we had no senatorial representation; we had no
vote at the Presidential Election, and this denial to us of our
rights, by keeping us in a Territorial condition, has thus far helped
to save us. With such a feeling as there has been in this city and
territory, for contesting elections, when they have been
overwhelmingly on one side—twenty thousand and upward against two or
three thousand; when men will contest elections under such
circumstances, and endeavor by unjust means to wrest the power out of
the hands of the people and defeat the will of the majority; when they
will do this, as has been done in this Territory, it would not need a
very strong pretext to have them to go farther, to have thorn appeal
for Federal interference, and to try and induce the government to
say—"Those whom you call the minority are the majority, they have been
unjustly dealt with; affidavits have come here showing that the polls
have not been managed properly, the ballots have not been deposited as
they should be, and we must decide against you "Mormons" and the men
whom you have elected, and put [p.9] your opponents into power." I do
not say that this is the case in Louisiana, I do not pretend to decide
upon that question, it admits of a good deal of argument; but I have
been told by members of Congress who visited there—the Committee sent
by Congress to investigate matters, that if the federal troops had
been withdrawn from Louisiana this winter twenty-four hours would not
have elapsed until the McEnery government would have been put in
power, and the whole difficulty would have been solved. But the
presence of federal troops maintained a government that could not be
maintained in and of itself. What is the use, then, of being a State
government if the Federal government is to interfere in this manner in
State affairs? And with the causes that exist in Utah Territory to
make interference popular and a thing to be approved of by thousands,
a State government would not be so desirable. I have, therefore, so
far as my own feelings have been concerned, been very much pleased at
being a territory. I have seen the hand of God and his wisdom in this
thing, when if my wish or my will could have been gratified we should
have been a State long ago.

Vol. 18,  p.9
The Lord, in his mercy, will preserve us from these evils; in his
overruling wisdom and providence be will deliver us until the time
shall come for us to be a state if that be his will, and I doubt not
that we shall be surprised at it ourselves. I have come to the
conclusion, as one individual, that I shall not be anxious on this
subject in the future, and shall leave it to the overruling providence
of God to bring about when it shall seem good unto him.

Vol. 18,  p.9
As to some of the States in the South they are in such a condition
that we, if we were in the same, should think our lot dreadful. I have
heard stories of usurpation and tyranny by officials in those states
that have caused me to think that, notwithstanding all that we have
had to endure in Utah Territory, our lot has been a fortunate one
compared with that of others. They have drunk the cup of humiliation
to its very dregs. You know there was a time here when it seemed as
though every effort was made to bring us under military rule in this
Territory, and when the provocations endured by the people here come
to be read in history surprise will arise in the mind of the reader,
and admiration for the people who so patiently endured the wrongs that
were imposed upon them, especially when it is remembered what power we
hold here. Why, think of it, a few years ago a Governor came to this
Territory immediately after a long and bloody Indian war, in which our
citizens were masssacred, their property stolen, their settlements
robbed and their stock driven off; and immediately after that war a
Governor came here who prohibited the militia, every able-bodied man
in the Territory, from bearing arms—a most unheard of tyrannical
exercise of power; and then a Secretary, while acting governor,
afterwards repeated the santo proclamation. And this people have borne
it patiently and never lifted their hands against these contemptible
tyrants. It was doubtless hoped that we would commit some overt act to
provoke trouble, so that the federal troops could be brought in and be
placed under the control of these officials, who for once in their
lives happened to hold position. Not only this, but on one occasion
when certain citizens met together as a company, to celebrate the fact
of their band having got a new set of instruments a federal judge
committed them to a military prison [p.10] for violating this
proclamation, as though a proclamation of the Governor was law! With
as great propriety might an Executive claim that he has the power to
restore the curfew, and say—"You must have your fires extinguished by
eight o'clock at night, or we will put you in a military prison; and
you must rise in the morning at the tap of the bell, or we will treat
you as criminals." If a Governor's proclamation is law, and is to be
respected as such, where will it end? Will it end with the
imprisonment of men who act as militia men? No; if such acts of
usurpation continue, no citizen will be safe, and they will end in the
overthrow of liberty and constitutional right wherever permitted.

Vol. 18,  p.10
We have borne these things, and we have borne others, the recollection
of which, were I to recite them to you, would make our blood boil. It
is not necessary that I should do so; but in talking thus do we talk
disloyally? American citizens have the right to talk about officials
who trample upon their rights in this manner; we all have the right to
question the acts of men in power; it is a right given to us, and the
man is not worthy of the name of freeman who will not thus criticize
acts of oppression and, in a proper manner, resent them and show his
abhorrence of them. It is because they are violative of the
fundamental principles of our government that I thus talk about them:
and in any other Territory than this they would have provoked a storm
of indignation that would have overwhelmed their authors. One of the
lessons we have to learn is to have patience, but not to stop
remonstrating, not stop talking, not stop appealing, not hold our
tongues and let our children grow up with the belief that these things
are right. No, proclaim against them, let it be known that they are
wrong, that they are contrary to the law of the land, to the
Constitution and to the principles of our government; let this be
known, and let our children understand what is right, and all men
recognise the fact that we understand our rights, whether they are
denied to us or not.

Vol. 18,  p.10
I expect to see the day when the Latter-day Saints will be the people
to maintain constitutional government on this land. Men everywhere
should know that we believe in constitutional principles, and that we
expect that it will be our destiny to maintain them. That the
prediction will be fulfilled that was made forty-four years ago the
seventh of last March, wherein God said to Joseph Smith—"Ye hear of
wars in foreign lands; but behold I say unto you, they are nigh, even
at your doors, and not many years hence ye shall hear of wars in your
own lands;" but the revelation goes on to say that the day will come
among the wicked, that every man that will not take his sword against
his neighbor, must needs flee unto Zion for safety. A portion of that
revelation has been fulfilled, the remainder will be. The causes are
in operation to bring it about. We are not alone in the thought that
the republic is drifting steadily in that direction; that we are
leaving the old constitutional landmarks, and that the time is not far
distant when there will be trouble in consequence of it, when there
will be civil broils and strife; and, to escape them, we believe, men
will be compelled to flee to the "Mormons," despised as they are now.
Does this seem incredible? Why, look you, to-day, throughout our
Union, the Latter-day Saints are the most lightly taxed of any people
upon the face of this continent. I do not know a community as free
[p.11] from debt as we are. There are one or two States I believe free
from debt, but they have had to tax heavily to free themselves. But as
a Territory we have never been in debt, and although we have had many
temptations to drift in that direction, not a bond belonging to the
Territory has ever been issued; not a dollar is owing that cannot be
paid. Our cities are out of debt; our counties are out of debt, and I
hope they will continue so. Our legislators, county courts and city
officers will doubtless take special pains to keep down expenses and
let us be burdened as little as possible with taxation, so that we may
be a happy and a free people. Let taxes accumulate, and there is a
constant temptation for officers to steal your taxes; there must be
men elected to take care of your taxes, and there will be hundreds of
leaks by which your means will go without benefit to the community,
therefore, let us be a lightly taxed people. We are that to-day, and
that is one evidence of the good government there is in this
Territory. We have peace here, and we should have little or no
litigation if it were not forced upon us, and our courts, so far as
litigation is concerned, would have very little to do from the
Latter-day Saints; we would settle our difficulties by arbitration,
and prevent litigation and money being spent therein. All the
tendencies of this people are towards peace, and their aim is to
preserve peaceful relations with each other and with the outside
world, and we have shown this all the day long.

Vol. 18,  p.11
What is the case elsewhere? Why corruption stalks through the land,
and taxation and debt are increasing. It is considered a light thing
for a man to get his hand into the government treasury; that is all
right, and if so he steal the funds of a city, county or State, they
do not call it stealing, however: O no, that is a vulgar name; it will
do for the man who robs his neighbor's hen roost, but they have more
fashionable language for the acts to which I refer.

Vol. 18,  p.11
Men in public life, under the present reign of extravagance, can not
meet their expenses, therefore they are exposed to temptation and are
led to take advantage of their position. This is not always the case,
there are many exceptions; but this is the case too frequently, and
good men mourn over and regret it, and they would like to stem the
tide and arrest this downward tendency.

Vol. 18,  p.11
This is a lesson that we have to profit by; our officials must be
careful, and we must maintain a standard of honesty that does not
exist anywhere else. It will not do for the idea to prevail that
because a man has an office he has the right to enrich himself from
that office. This has not been the case in this Territory thus far;
and we may reasonably expect it will not be.

Vol. 18,  p.11
Now, my brethren and sisters, let us live for the destiny that is in
store for us. Let us remember that God has a great future for this
people, and that how soon it will be granted unto us depends upon
ourselves. If we were prepared for it I know that that time would soon
come, and we should have opportunities given us of doing good that we
do not have to-day. But I am told that one of the effects of this
ordeal through which we are passing, is that there are some young men,
and possibly young women, who yield to certain temptations. Young men,
who formerly would have been ashamed to be seen smoking on the streets
or entering a billiard, a gambling, or a drinking saloon, are now seen
in such places, and they do not scruple to use the name of God in
vain, or to swear and be profane, and there are some [p.12] who seem
to imagine that it is an evidence of independence and smartness to
indulge in these things; and it may be that they go a little further
and are guilty of other acts of greater turpitude than these.

Vol. 18,  p.12
No man loses credit by being true to his principles. If he is a
Latter-day Saint, let him act out his principles wherever he goes. If
he does not believe in drinking intoxicating drinks, let him refrain
from doing so everywhere; if he does not smoke, refrain from smoking;
if he does not swear—which no man ought to do—let him refrain from it,
no matter where he is, and let him be true to the principles of his
religion always and under all circumstances, and he will gain
influence that he would not have otherwise. Let us as a people take a
course of this kind. But there is this tendency—"O, we must be like
somebody else." You, can see that tendency at the present time in many
things besides men's conduct. There are men here who would change our
city and make it like places they know. They would cut down our
streets until they would not be fifty feet wide, and cut down our city
blocks until they were like other city blocks, and would narrow our
sidewalks, cut down our shade trees, and completely change the
character of everything there is about us. They would rob the city of
every distinctive feature, and fill the city with nest holes of vice.
You can see this tendency here to imitate and do as somebody else
does, instead of ourselves being the standard; instead of recollecting
that. God has chosen us and placed his name upon us, that he has
called us to be his Saints, and that it is our duty to maintain our
principles, and carry them out in our lives, doing that which is
right, regardless of whether it may suit other people or not. It is
our duty to have some mind of our own, and if we have a good thing not
to be willing to part with it because other people make sport of it. I
like our city, our sidewalks and the width of our streets; others may
not, but that is the pattern and plan upon which the city was laid
out. I would like to see everything connected with our city—and I
speak of this because it is a case in point, and I merely speak of it
to illustrate everything else—I would like to see us carry out that
which is right ourselves. If we have ideas of our own, cling to them,
and not abandon them, because they do not happen to be popular. And so
with our practices. A man who does not smoke is not any worse for it;
he is no less a gentleman when he goes into company because of that.
He is no less a gentleman because he does not drink or because he does
not swear, because he does not go into a gambling house or a house of
ill-fame; and how can a man who calls himself a Lather-day Saint,
think that he is any more of a gentleman or any better a man because
he can do these things when he, in and of himself, knows they are
wrong. God has taught us that it is not good for us to do these
things; he has given us counsel, he has given us a word of wisdom, and
the man who thus disregards the word of God and his counsel does not
show very great respect to him, and I do not imagine that God is going
to show very great respect to him.

Vol. 18,  p.12
Let us be true to our principles; men admire sincerity, truth and
uprightness, and they admire a Latter-day Saint who abides by his
principles much more than they admire one who is not true to that
which he professes; and you will never lose anything by telling who
you are and what you are in a respectful manner, and maintaining that
which is right.[p.13] Of course we need not be bigoted or offensive,
or run to any extremes.

Vol. 18,  p.13
May God bless you, my brethren and sisters, fill you with the Holy
Spirit, and with desires to teach your children the ways of
righteousness, and enable you to bring up a generation that is
healthy, pure, virtuous and full of integrity in this land which God
has given unto us. That he may thus bless and preserve us is my prayer
in the name of Jesus. Amen.

George Q. Cannon, April 9, 1875

Co-Operation a True Principle—Saints Must Be Self-Sustaining—
Patronize Home Manucacturers—Home Industrial Institutions

Remarks By Elder George Q. Cannon, Delivered at the 
Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of 
Latter-Day Saints, in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake 
City, on Friday Afternoon, April 9, 1875.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 18,  p.13
We have abundantly proved in our experience that if we do not sustain
ourselves, no other people will sustain us, and that we must be
united, as was said this morning, in our temporal as well as in our
spiritual affairs; and that if we would build up and strengthen
ourselves in the earth, it must be by union of effort, and by
concentrating our means in a way that shall produce the best results
for the work with which we are identified. Co-operation, or a union of
effort, has been proved in our experience, when properly carried out,
to be most successful. With small means and limited incomes we can
accomplish, by wisely uniting our efforts, great results, and to bring
about greater union should be our continual effort. As has been said,
there may be failures and mismanagement occasionally, but the
principle itself is a true one, and it recommends itself to every
reflecting mind. We, however, in our mercantile operations in this
city and Territory, have been more than ordinarily successful. I have
heard reproaches indulged in, or rather reflections cast, upon our
general co-operative institution. I think it has been one of the most
successful establishments and institutions that we ever have had among
us, and I do not know that it has been equalled anywhere, when we
reflect that in the short space of three years those who invested
[p.14] their means in that institution made one hundred per
cent.—doubled their original stock; and when the financial crisis came
in the east—the panic as it was termed, and many strong houses went
down before it, our institution was able to withstand the storm, and
tide over, and has met every dollar of its indebtedness promptly, or
at least to the satisfaction of its creditors. We have been subjected
to a great deal of expense in various ways; but the experience of the
past few years enables us to see now how this expense can be
curtailed; and profiting by this wisdom and experience, as a community
we should take the necessary steps to establish, or rather to arrange
it so that it will give the greatest satisfaction. A good deal might
be said on this subject in this connection, but as we shall have a
meeting very shortly in relation to our co-operative business affairs,
probably that would be the proper place for remarks of this character.
But I would say, as one individual, to all the Saints—Let us by every
means in our power, that is, by collecting the little means that we
have, seek to build up and strengthen these institutions in our midst,
and they will prove profitable to us, and be a great blessing to the
entire community and to Zion.

Vol. 18,  p.14
At this afternoon's session of the Conference the authorities of the
Church will be presented, and it is desirable that there should be a
general attendance of the members of the Church, as far as they can
possibly come.

Vol. 18,  p.14
To refer again to this subject of co-operation. We have seen its good
effects in the settlements throughout the entire Territory. I consider
that if it had not been for our institution regulating prices and
governing and controling the mercantile interests of this Territory,
we should have lost, by having to pay high prices, thousands and
thousands of dollars that we have saved. In Brigham City particularly,
judging by accounts that we have heard, have the principles of
co-operation been exceedingly beneficial to the people, because of the
perfection to which they have been carried out. The great difficulty
with us heretofore has been that, as a people, we have not had capital
to achieve any very great results. No one man, until quite recently,
has had sufficient means to carry on any great undertaking; but by the
masses of the people uniting under a co-operative plan, and putting
their funds in the hands of those who are judicious and good business
men, we can establish every kind of manufacture that is necessary in
this country to make us self-sustaining. The manufacture of iron into
hollow-ware, and every thing of this character that is made of iron;
the manufacture of rails for our railroads, of woolen goods of the
best character, the establishment of sheep and cattle herds, of cheese
factories and tanneries, and of every branch of manufacture that is
adapted to our climate and Territory can be carried on upon this
principle, and efforts should be made by us as a people to establish
and make them successful. I took down with me, when I went to
Washington last fall, a suit of clothes manufactured here in this
Territory—the wool was grown here, the cloth was made at President
Young's factory, and the clothes were made by our tailors. There was a
good deal of discussion in the early part of the session concerning
the resumption of specie payments. I remarked to a good many of my
friends that if I were a believer, as some of them were, in the power
of the General Government to make laws respecting such [p.15] matters,
I should be in favor of making a law that would prevent the
importation into this country of anything that we could make
ourselves; and I believe that specie payments will be postponed until
there is a stop to the extravagance which reigns throughout the
country. The stream of gold which ought to be setting in the direction
of the United States, in consequence of the multiplicity of our
productions and the greatness of our trade, is constantly flowing
toward Europe; and while this is the case, we may struggle in vain to
get back to specie payments. That which is true concerning a nation is
true concerning us as a Territory. If we would be independent, if we
would keep the circulating medium in abundance in our midst, we must
stop the stream that is flowing from the Territory, and every dollar
that we spend here in sustaining a home institution, for making
clothes, paying the cloth manufacturer for his cloth, the wool-grower
for his wool, the tanner for his leather, or the shoemaker for making
that leather into shoes and boots, is that much saved to the entire
community. One very prominent free-trade member of the House, during a
discussion on this subject last session, remarked that the suit of
clothes he had on cost him but a comparative small amount, and that he
had them sent from Canada. Some one replied, by way of joke, that he
had probably bought a second hand suit; but there is no doubt the
clothes were new. But suppose they cost less in Canada than the same
suit would in the States, can not you and every body see, without
lengthy reflection, that that money all went into foreign hands, and
did not benefit the people of this country? The producer of the wool,
the manufacturer of the cloth, and the maker of the clothes in Canada
received the benefit. But supposing that thirty-five or forty dollars
had been paid for that suit of clothes in the United States, or in the
community where the purchaser lived, you can readily perceive that by
the circulation of that money in his immediate vicinity, he, himself,
if he were in any business, would receive the benefit of the
expenditure, and that the extra cost would not be an entire loss to
him like paying it out to a foreign community. And so it is with our
own manufactures. We talk about brooms and about cheese, butter and
other things which can be brought from the east at lower figures than
we can produce them; but it is better for us to pay twenty-five per
cent. more, and I do not know but even a larger per centage, for our
home productions, than to send the money away to a distant community
where it is circulated and we receive no benefit from it. If we bought
home made cheese, and had to pay ten or fifteen cents a pound more for
it (which, however, we are not required to do) than if it were brought
from abroad, it is not an entire loss to the community, for we all
derive some benefit from the means so spent, because it is circulated
amongst us, and if we have anything to sell we get prices in
proportion for it, and thus we sustain ourselves. Men may say that
such and such things can be bought cheaper abroad than they can be
bought at home, and therefore it is better to buy them; but I say that
it is suicidal for any community to pursue such a policy, and we, with
the experience that we have had in this country on these points for
upwards of a quarter of a century, should begin to learn wisdom, and
begin to foster home manufactures and home institutions. Our
co-operative [p.16] institutions should take into consideration the
people's good, and, if there is ink, matches, cloth, leather or
anything else to sell that is manufactured in this country, they
should give the preference every time to the home manufactured article
so far as possible, and endeavor to stimulate and foster home
production and not operate against it.

Vol. 18,  p.16
By this means we build ourselves up, and the people themselves, where
they are ignorant, will soon perceive the propriety and the advantage
of taking this course; whereas if we pursue the old and opposite
course we shall be impoverished and stripped of our means, and, having
no branches of home manufacture, we shall continue to be a poor,
dependent, helpless people.

Orson Pratt, April 11, 1875

Gathering of Israel—the Work of the Father Commenced—
Three Nephite Apostles Never to Taste of Death—the Ten 
Tribes Come to Zion From the North Countries

Discourse By Elder Orson Pratt, Delivered in the New 
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, April 11, 1875.

Reported by David W. Evans

Vol. 18,  p.16
If the congregation will give their attention I will read a few
passages from the last chapter of Isaiah, commencing in the middle of
the 18th verse. [The speaker read from the 18th verse, commencing—"It
shall come," &c., unto the end of the 20th verse.]

Vol. 18,  p.16
There are some very great and important events predicted in these few
lines which I have read, concerning the gathering of all nations and
tongues, but more especially the gathering of the house of Israel, a
sign being promised—that when that period shall arrive, in the
purposes of God, a sign shall be given to the children of men, that
they may know when these great events are to take place. In this
passage we are not told what the sign shall be, we merely have it
promised; but we would naturally draw the conculsion that it will be
something of a peculiar character, something that can be distinguished
by the nations, kindred and tongues of the earth preparatory to the
great gathering that is promised in the Scriptures of truth, "I will
set a sign among them." And after setting this sign he will send
missionaries to Tubal, to Javan, [p.17] to the isles that are afar
off, to Tarshish, Pul and Lud, and to them that draw the bow." And it
is said concerning the missionaries who are thus sent forth, that
"they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles." Then, when the sign
is set, the missionaries are sent forth and the glory of God begins to
be declared among the Gentiles, the Lord will bring about the
gathering of his people Israel, bringing them upon horses, in
chariots, in litters, upon swift beasts and upon mules to his holy
mountain in Jerusalem; and he will gather all nations and tongues when
that dispensation shall come.

Vol. 18,  p.17
The Lord has set that sign; the Lord has sent forth the messengers
here spoken of to the various nations, as predicted, and already the
voice of these messengers is heard in the uttermost, parts of the
earth, declaring the word of the Lord among the Gentiles, preparing
them for the great event predicted by the mouth of Isaiah the Prophet.

Vol. 18,  p.17
Do this people desire to know what the sign predicted by the mouth of
Isaiah means? Do you wish to know the nature of that sign? Let me
refer you to the words of the everlasting God that have been uttered
from the heavens, declared in this record brought forth in the last
days, the Book of Mormon. Let us refer to a prediction uttered by the
mouth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, when he appeared personally
upon this great western continent, and taught the ancient nations of
America. He has told us by his own mouth what the sign should be for
the gathering of all the dispersed of his people, the house of Israel.
I will read the words of our Savior to the ancient inhabitants of this
western continent. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, all these
things"—the things which he had been speaking about to the
multitude—"shall surely come, as the voice of the Father hath
commanded me. Then shall this covenant which the Father hath
covenanted with his people be fulfilled; and then shall Jerusalem
begin to be inhabited with my people, and it shall be the land of
their inheritance. And verily I say unto you, I will give you a sign
that you may know the time when these things shall be about to take
place, that I shall gather in from their long dispersion, my people, O
house of Israel, and shall establish again among them my Zion. And
behold this is the thing which I will give unto you for a sign, for
verily I say unto you that when these things which I declare unto you,
and which I shall declare unto you hereafter, of myself, and by the
power of the Holy Ghost, which shall be given unto you of the Father,
shall be made known unto the Gentiles"—that is, when this book, called
the Book of Mormon, should be made known unto the Gentiles—"that they
may know concerning this, my people, who are a remnant of the house of
Jacob, and concerning this, my people, who shall be scattered by them
in the latter days. Verily I say unto you when these things shall be
made known unto them of the Father, and shall come forth of the Father
from them unto you."

Vol. 18,  p.17
Now, such is the sign. First, this work will be made known to the
Gentiles, and will come forth from the Gentiles unto the Indians. "For
it is wisdom in the Father that they should be established in this
land, and be set up as a free people by the power of the Father, that
these things might come forth from them unto a remnant of year seed,
that the covenant of the Father may be fulfilled which he has
covenanted with his people, O house of [p.18] Israel. Therefore when
these works, and the works which shall be wrought among you
hereafter"—that is, the works which were performed during the first
three or four centuries of the Christian era on the American
continent, recorded in their records called the Book of Mormon—"when
these works and the works which shall be wrought among you hereafter
shall come forth from the Gentiles unto your seed, which shall dwindle
in unbelief because of iniquity."

Vol. 18,  p.18
Now this dwindling in unbelief of the American Indians is very evident
even to the antiquarians of our country, all of whom will admit that
once a civilized nation dwelt on this continent. No learned man living
disputes this. Why do they suppose any such thing? The ruins of their
ancient cities, palaces and temples, proclaim in the ears of all
living that once there dwelt on this hemisphere a great and powerful
people, who were civilized and understood the art of constructing
beautiful and substantial buildings. But now, O! how degraded, fallen
and sunk into the very depths of darkness are the descendants of that
once great, powerful and exalted people! "They shall dwindle in
unbelief because of iniquity;" because they rejected the Gospel. In
the fourth century of the Christian era they apostatized from the
religion of their fathers; they were cursed by the Almighty, a skin of
darkness came upon them; they were cursed in all that they set their
hands to do, and the withering curse of the Almighty has been upon
them from generation to generation, until the present day. They were
to dwindle in unbelief because of iniquity.

Vol. 18,  p.18
"For thus it behooveth the Father that it should come forth from the
Gentiles, that he may show forth his power to the Gentiles, for this
cause, that the Gentiles, if they will not harden their hearts, that
they may repent, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, and
know of the truth of my doctrine that they may be numbered among my
people, O house of Israel."

Vol. 18,  p.18
Such is the object of bringing this work forth to the Gentiles first.
That is why God prepared the way for a great and powerful nation, free
from all other nations under heaven, to be established here on this
continent. The great purpose which God had in view was to set up a
kingdom in the latter days in which there should be full and complete
religious liberty and freedom of conscience, that the kingdom might go
forth unto the ends of the earth; "and when these things shall come to
pass, that thy seed"—the American Indians—"shall begin to know these
things. It shall be a sign unto them, that they may know that the work
of the Father hath already commenced, unto the fulfilling of the
covenant which he hath made unto the people, who are of the house of
Israel."

Vol. 18,  p.18
Now then, here is a prediction in Isaiah, that before the Lord gathers
Israel he would set up a sign, showing not only to us but to all
people, nations and tongues in the four quarters of the earth that he
is about to gather together all the people of the house of Israel.
That sign is when these American Indians shall begin to know the
Gospel taught and practiced by their ancient fathers. "When that day
shall come it shall come to pass that kings shall shut their months,
for that which had not been told them shall they see, that which they
had not heard shall they consider; for in that day, for my sake, shall
the Father work a work which [p.19] shall be a great and marvelous
work among them; and there shall be among them which will not believe
it, although a man shall declare it unto them. But behold, the life of
my servant is in mine hand," &c.

Vol. 18,  p.19
We will now pass on to the next page. "And then shall the work of the
Father commence at that day, even when this Gospel shall be preached
unto the remnant of this people"—unto the Indians—"verily I say unto
you, at that day shall the work of the Father commence among all the
dispersed of any people, yea even the tribes which have been lost,
which the Father hath led away out of Jerusalem, yea the work shall
commence among all the dispersed of my people, with the Father to
prepare the way whereby they may come unto me; that they may call upon
the Father in my name, and then shall the work commence with the
Father among all nations in preparing the way whereby his people may
be gathered home to the land of their inheritance. And they shall not
go out in haste, nor go by flight, for I will go before them saith the
Father, and I will be their rearward."

Vol. 18,  p.19
Forty-five years have passed away since God brought forth this sign,
the Book of Mormon, and sent missionaries to the nations—to Tarshish,
Pal, Lud, Tubal, Jayan, and to the islands afar off, that have not
heard his tame neither have seen his glory and these missionaries have
declared his glory among the Gentiles. Forty-five years of
proclamation to the nations of the Gentiles! Forty-five years of
warning to all nations and tongues! Now after so long a period has
elapsed since God brought forth this wonderful sign, he has begun to
work among the remnants of the house of Israel the American Indians,
upon this continent, by his own power. What is it that has stirred
them up to believe in this work? Has it been your exertion? Not
altogether; yet, no doubt, you, in some small degree, as far as your
faith would permit, have helped on the work among these wild tribes.
You have sought to recover them, you have fed and clothed them to some
extent; you have told them occasionally about the records of their
fathers; you have tried to bring them to repentance; but, after years
of labor, you have said—"Alas! alas for them! What can be done to
reclaim a people so tar fallen into the depths of ignorance and
corruption?" Your hearts have been almost discouraged so far as your
own labors were concerned. But how soon and how marvelously, when the
time had come, has the Lord our God begun to operate upon them as
nations and as tribes, bringing them in from hundreds of miles distant
to inquire after the Elders of this Church. What for? What do they
want with the Elders? They want to be baptized. Who told them to come
and be baptized? They say that men came to them in their dreams, and
spoke to them in their own language, and told them that away yonder
was a people who had authority from God to baptize them; but that they
must repent of their sins, cease their evil habits and lay aside the
traditions of their fathers, for they were false; that they must cease
to roam over the face of the land, robbing and plundering, and learn
to live as the white people.

Vol. 18,  p.19
Who are these men who have been to the Indians and told them to repent
of their sins, and be baptized by the "Mormons?" They are men who
obtained the promise of the Lord, upwards of eighteen centuries ago,
that they should be [p.20] instruments in his hands of bringing about
the redemption of their descendants. The Lord God promised them the
privilege of working for and in behalf of their descendants in the
latter days; and they have begun the work. All this was foretold in
this record, the Book of Mormon.

Vol. 18,  p.20
Now I will read a little for the benefit of the Latter-day Saints, for
though they have this record lying upon their shelves, I fear there
are some who are careless about reading its contents, and perhaps do
not understand the signs of the times, and the fulfillment of the
purposes of God, which are here so clearly set forth. Jesus appeared
on this American Continent soon after his resurrection, three
different times that are recorded, and how many other times that are
not recorded, I do not know. But be showed himself to them and brake
bread with them. But the third time he came to the Twelve whom he had
chosen on this land,—as he was about to leave them he put a very
important question to them. He said unto his twelve disciples,
speaking unto them one by one—"What is it that you desire of me, after
that I am gone unto the Father?" And they all spake save it were
three—"We desire that, after we have lived unto the age of men, that
our ministry wherein thou hast called us may have an end, and that we
may speedily come to thee in thy kingdom." And he said unto
them—"Blessed are ye because ye have desired this thing of me;
therefore after that ye are seventy-two years old, ye shall come Unto
me in my kingdom, and with me ye shall find rest." And when he had
spoken these words unto the nine, he then turns to the three and said
unto them—"What will ye that I shall do unto you when I am gone to the
Father?" And they sorrowed in their hearts, for they dare not speak
unto him the thing which they desired. And he said unto them—"Behold I
know your thoughts, and you have desired the thing which John, my
beloved, who was with me in my ministry before I was lifted up by the
Jews, desired of me, therefore more blessed are ye, for ye shall never
taste of death." These three men had the promise that they should
never taste death; "but," said the Savior unto them—"ye shall live to
behold all the doings of the Father unto the children of men, even
until all things shall be fulfilled according to the will of the
Father, when I come in my glory with the powers of heaven. Ye shall
never endure the pains of death, but when I shall come in my glory ye
shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to
immortality; then shall ye be blessed in the kingdom of my Father. And
again ye shall not have pain while ye shall dwell in the flesh,
neither sorrow, save it be for the sins of the world; and all this
will I do because of the thing which ye have desired of me; for ye
have desired that ye may bring the souls of men unto me while the
world shall stand; and for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy,
and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea your joy shall
be full, even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy; and ye shall
be even as I am, and I am even as the Father, and the Father and I are
one; and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and the
Father giveth the Holy Ghost unto the children of men because of me."

Vol. 18,  p.20
What a glorious promise was made to these three men! Did they receive
any change? Yes, they did; not to immortality however, but a change
sufficient was wrought in their [p.21] bodies that death should not
have power over them. But let us read a little further, it is very
interesting. "And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these
words, he touched every one of them with his finger save it were the
three who were to tarry;" that is, he touched the nine who were to
preach until they were seventy-two years old and who were then to be
taken home to God, "and then he departed, and behold the heavens were
opened and they (the three) were caught up into heaven, and saw and
heard unspeakable things. And it was forbidden them that they should
utter; neither was it given unto them power that they could utter the
things which they saw and heard; and whether they were in the body or
out of the body they could not tell, for it did seem unto them like a
transfiguration of things." That is the way that they received their
partial change. "But it came to pass that they did again minister upon
the face of the earth; nevertheless they did not minister of the
things which they had heard and seen, because of the commandment which
was given them in heaven."

Vol. 18,  p.21
Now these men lived in the first century of the Christian era on this
continent; and when that generation all passed away they also lived in
the second century of the Christian era, and ministered to the ancient
inhabitants on this land. And when the second century had all passed
off the stage of action they also lived in the third century; and in
the fourth century the Lord took these three men from the midst of the
remnant of Israel on this land. Where did he take them? I do not know,
it is not revealed. Why did he take them away? Because of the apostacy
of the people, because the people were unworthy of the ministration of
such great and holy men; because they sought to kill them; because
they cast them into dens of wild beasts twice; and these met of God
played with these wild beasts as a child would play with a suckling
lamb, and received no harm from them. They cast them three times into
a furnace of fire, and they came forth therefrom and received no hurt.
They dug deep pits in the earth and cast them therein, supposing that
they would perish; but by the power of the word of God that was in
them, they smote the earth in the name of the Lord, and were delivered
from these pits. And thus they went forth performing signs, wonders
and miracles among this remnant of Israel, until their wickedness
became so great that the Lord commanded them to depart out of their
midst. And ;he remnant of Israel, from that day to the present—between
fourteen and fifteen centuries—have been dwindling in unbelief, in
ignorance, and in all the darkness which now surrounds them; but
notwithstanding their darkness and misery, the three Nephites, for
many generations, have not administered to them, because of the
commandment of the Almighty to them.

Vol. 18,  p.21
But are they always to remain silent? Are there no more manifestations
to come from these three men? Are they never again to remember the
remnants of the House of Israel on this land? Let us read the promise.
"Behold I was about to write the names of those who were never to
taste of death, but the Lord forbade; therefore I write them not, for
they are hid from the world; but behold I have seen them." Mormon saw
them nearly four centuries after they were caught up into heaven, and
after they received their partial change. Mormon saw them and they
administered unto him. He says—"Behold I have seen them and they
[p.22] have ministered unto me; and behold they will be among the
Gentiles, and the Gentiles knoweth them not." They will, no doubt,
call them poor deluded Mormons, and say that they ought to be hooted
out of society, and that they ought to be persecuted, afflicted, and
hated by all people. "They will he among the Gentiles and the Gentiles
knoweth them not. They will also be among the Jews, and the Jews shall
know them not. And it shall come to pass when the Lord seeth fit, in
his wisdom, that they shall minister unto all the scattered tribes of
Israel, and unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, and shall
bring out of them unto Jesus many souls, that their desire may be
fulfilled; and also because of the convincing power of God which is in
them; and they are as the angels of God. And if they shall pray unto
the Father in the name of Jesus, they can show themselves unto
whatsoever man it seemeth them good; therefore great and marvelous
works shall be wrought by them before the great and coming day when
all people must surely stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Yea
even among the Gentiles shall there be a great and a marvelous work
wrought by them, before that judgment day."

Vol. 18,  p.22
Now, having read these things, let us come back again to this
spiritual movement that we hear of among the remnants of Jacob, in
these western deserts, in the northwest hundreds of of miles, in the
west and in the southwest. It is not confined to hundreds, but
thousands testify that men have appeared individually in dreams,
speaking their own language and, as Brother Hyde said last Tuesday,
these men tell their descendants what their duties are, what they
should do, and how they should hunt up this people, repent of their
sins, be baptized, etc. And the parties who have been thus instructed
time and time again, have fulfilled the commandments that they
received, and some of them have come hundreds of miles to be baptized,
and they are now desirous of laying aside their savage disposition,
their roaming habits, and they want to learn to cultivate the earth,
to lay down their weapons of war, cease stealing and to become a
peaceable good people.

Vol. 18,  p.22
The work thus commenced will not stop here. The Book of Mormon
says—"When thy seed shall begin to know these things, it shall be a
sign unto them, that they may know that the work of the Father hath
already commenced unto the fulfilling of his covenant which he hath
made with his people who are of the House of Israel." This remnant,
the American Indians, do not comprise all Israel, they are but a small
remnant of one single tribe, namely the descendants of that Joseph who
was carried into Egypt. Away in yonder north countries, where I do not
know, but away in those regions are ten tribes of the house of Israel.
How do you know they are in the north country? Because this Bible has
told us that in the latter days they should come out of the north
country, and if they were not in the north country they could not come
from there. Jeremiah says in his thirty-first chapter—"Behold I will
bring them from the north, the blind and the lame with them, and the
woman with child; they shall come, a great company out of the north
countries." Where will they go to? Will they go immediately to
Palestine, where they formerly had their inheritance? No. Jeremiah
tells us where they will go; he tells us there is to be a place called
Zion before these tribes come out of the north countries, and when
they [p.23] come with a great company, the blind and the lame with
them, and the Lord God leads them with supplication and with tears and
with prayers, bringing them forth from those dreary, desolate, cold
arctic regions: when that day shall come there shall be a Zion
prepared to receive these ten tribes, before they finally go back to
Palestine. Is there anything in the Scriptures about this? Yes. In the
same chapter of Jeremiah we read that "they shall come and sing in the
height of Zion." Zion, then, will have to be built up before they
come; Zion will have to be reared somewhere and prepared to receive
them; and it will be a holy place, and it will be a holy people who
will build up Zion, so much so that the Lord will bring these ten
tribes in to the height of Zion, into the midst of it.

Vol. 18,  p.23
What will then take place? They shall flow together to the goodness of
the Lord, for the wheat, the wine, the oil, for the young of the
flock; their souls shall be as a watered garden, and they shall not
sorrow any more at all. Why? Because they have got among a good
people, where there is no need to sorrow; they have come up into a
land that is choice above all other lands, a land that brings forth
wheat, and grapes for the producing of wine, where flocks, herds, &c.,
are multiplied, and their souls will be like a watered garden, and all
the sorrows they have experienced for twenty-five hundred years, in
the cold regions of the north, will be done away; and they will not
sorrow any more at all.

Vol. 18,  p.23
This same thing is predicted in the sixteenth chapter, as well as in
the thirty-first of Jeremiah. The Lord says in the sixteenth
chapter—"Behold the days shall come when it shall no more be said the
Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of
Egypt;" but instead of that saying, there will be another more
glorious saying, namely, that "the Lord liveth who brought up the
children of Israel from the north country, and from all other
countries whither he has driven them." But will that do away the
former saying—"The Lord liveth who brought up Israel out of the land
of Egypt?" Yes. Some may suppose that as the Jews retain that saying
to this day it never would be done away. The Jews, wherever they may
be scattered, whether in Christian lands, or among the heathens where
they are anxious to convert them to idolatry, say, "We worship that
God who brought up our fathers out of the land of Egypt, and wrought
signs, wonders and mighty deeds in bringing them forth, leading them
through the waters of the mighty deep into the Promised Land,
Palestine." But notwithstanding they have retained this saying, it
will be one day done away, superseded by the manifestations of God's
power in bringing Israel from the north country and all other
countries whither they have been scattered, and gathering them to
their own land. The Israel of the latter day has got to cross the sea
dry shod, just as ancient Israel did. It is thus predicted in the
eleventh chapter of Isaiah. After saying that the Lord would lift up
an ensign for the nations, he declares, "I will gather the outcasts of
Israel and the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth,
and I will cause them to pass through the river in its seven streams,
and I will smite the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and an highway shall
be cast up unto Israel that was left from Assyria, like as it was to
Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt." They shall go over
dry shod. They will not have to [p.24] refer back three or four
thousand years to the miracles wrought anciently by the God they
worship, but they will tell of things wrought in their own day, which
have taken place while they themselves live. "The Lord liveth that
brought up Israel out of the north country; the Lord liveth who, in
our day, smote the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and also the river Nile
in its seven mouths; the Lord liveth who, in our day, cast up a
highway in the midst of the great deep, for his chosen to come over."

Vol. 18,  p.24
Now I will quote a parallel prophecy, delivered to Joseph Smith, one
of the greatest Prophets who has lived on the earth in any generation,
save it be our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Some forty-three years
ago, in speaking of the lost ten tribes of Israel, the Lord says—"They
who are in the north countries shall come in remembrance before the
Lord, and their Prophets shall hear his voice, and shall no longer
stay themselves; and they shall smite the rocks, and the ice shall
flow down at their presence. And an highway shall be east up in the
midst of the great deep. Their enemies shall become a prey unto them,
and in the barren deserts there shall come forth pools of living
water; and the parched ground shall no longer be a thirsty land. And
they shall bring forth their rich treasures unto the children of
Ephraim my servants. And the boundaries of the everlasting hills shall
tremble at their presence." To show that they come with power, they
come on a highway cast up for them; the ice feels the power of God and
flows down, making room for them; and the barren deserts of the north,
wherever they may go and need water, will yield forth pools of living
water to quench their thirst. As they come to sing in the height of
Zion, the everlasting hills, this great Rocky Mountain range,
extending from the arctic regions south to the central portions of
America, will tremble beneath the power of God at the approach of that
people. Then will be fulfilled the saying of David, that the mountains
shall skip like rams, and the little hills like lambs, before his
people. The very trees of the field will clap like hands, as the
Psalmist David has said. Then will he fulfilled the passage that was
quoted yesterday by brother Woodruff—"Sing O heavens, be joyful O
earth, and break forth into singing O mountains, for the Lord hath
redeemed his people," &c. And when they get to Zion they will begin to
say—"The place is too strait for me, give place to me that I may
dwell;" then the saying will go forth—"Behold I was a captive. Zion
was a captive, moving to and fro, tossed to and fro, and not
comforted. Behold I was left alone." But where have this great company
been, where has this mighty host come from? They have come from their
hiding place in the north country; they have been led thence by the
Prophets of the Most High God, the Lord going before their camp,
talking with them out of the cloud, as he talked in ancient days with
the camp of Israel, uttering his voice before his army, for his camp
will be very great. So says the Prophet Joel, trod his prophecy will
be fulfilled. When they return to Zion to sing in the height thereof,
"They will fall down there and be crowned with glory by the hands of
the servants of the Lord, even the children of Ephraim."

Vol. 18,  p.24
Now what does this mean? A people that have had such mighty power, a
people before whose camp the Lord of hosts has been seen, and his
glory by day and by night; a [p.25] people before whom the mountains
and the hills tremble and flee; shall a people of that description
fall down and be crowned by another people? Who are this other people,
that is, these highly favored children of Ephraim? What particular
blessing has the Lord for Ephraim? He holds the birth-right. "Ephraim
is my first-born," saith the Lord in the 31st chapter of Jeremiah. The
first-born in the great latter-day work, holding the keys of blessings
for all the twelve tribes of Israel. God has an order in his kingdom.
Certain blessings can be received in one way; other blessings are
ordained to be received. in another form, by certain authorities that
are appointed, and who hold the keys pertaining to these blessings.
God did not take away the birth-right of Reuben, the first-born of
Israel, and tranfer it to the heads of the sons of Joseph for a
purpose that was of no particular account; but he transferred the
birthright from Reuben to Joseph that they might hold it as the
first-born among all the tribes of Israel, to bless them in the latter
days.

Vol. 18,  p.25
How long will they who come from the north countries tarry in the
heights of Zion? Sometime. They have got to raise wheat, cultivate the
grape, wine and oil, raise flocks and herds, and their souls will have
to become as a watered garden. They will dwell in Zion a good while,
and during that time, there will be twelve thousand chosen out of each
of these ten tribes, besides twelve thousand that will be chosen from
Judah, Joseph, and the remaining tribes, one hundred and forty-four
thousand in all. Chosen for what? To be sealed in their foreheads. For
what purpose? So that the power of death and pestilence and plague
that will go forth in those days sweeping over the nations of the
earth will have no power over them. These parties who are sealed in
their foreheads will go forth among all people, nations and tongues,
and gather up and hunt out the house of Israel, wherever they are
scattered, and bring as many as they possibly can into the. Church of
the first-born, preparatory to the great day of the coming of the
Lord. One hundred and forty-four thousand missionaries! Quite a host.
All this has got to take place. There are persons in this congregation
who will be in the midst of Zion, when the ten tribes come to Zion
from the north countries, and will assist in bestowing the blessings
promised by the Almighty upon the heads of the tribes of Israel. There
are servants of God in the midst of this congregation who will lay
their hands upon many of each of these twelve thousand, chosen out of
the ten tribes, and set them apart as missionaries to visit the
nations of the earth and hunt up the remnants of the seed of Jacob.

Vol. 18,  p.25
Having spoken concerning the gathering of the ten tribes, I will refer
again to their Prophets. "Their Prophets shall hear his voice." Do not
think that we are the only people who will have Prophets. God is
determined to raise up Prophets among that people, but he will not
bestow upon them all the fulness of the blessings of the Priesthood.
The fulness will be reserved to be given to them after they come to
Zion. But Prophets will be among them while in the north, and a
portion of the Priesthood will be there; and John the Revelator will
be there, teaching, instructing and preparing them for this great
work; forte him were given the keys for the gathering of Israel, at
the time when he ate that little book while on the Isle of Patmos. At
that time, John was a very old man; but the Lord told him [p.26] that
he must yet prophesy before many kingdoms, and nations, and peoples,
and tongues, and he has got that mission to perform, and in the last
days the spirit and power of Elias will attend his administrations
among these ten tribes, and he will assist in preparing them to return
to this land. Whether missionaries will be sent from Zion to hunt up
these dispersed tribes in the north I do not know; but one thing I do
know, from that which is reported by those who have tried to find a
passage to the pole, that there is a warmer country off there, and
that birds of passage go north to find a warmer climate. That I know
from the writings of intelligent men who have been on voyages of
discovery. And I know, furthermore, that they have crossed by means of
dogs and sledges a certain portion of this great band of ice and have
come to an open sea, which proves that there is a warmer country
further north. There is a tract of country around the pole, some seven
or eight hundred miles in diameter, that no man among the nations.
that we are acquainted with, has ever explored. But how much of that
land may be fit for habitation I am not prepared to say, for I do not
know. I know it would be a very easy matter for the Lord God, by the
aid of great mountain ranges encircling them around about, to produce
a band of ice which would prevent other nations and people very easily
reaching them. I also know that it would be a very easy matter for the
Lord God to cause deep and extensive valleys, very deep in comparison
with high ranges of mountains around them, where the temperature would
be comparatively mild, the same as in these mountains here. We see all
the rigors of an arctic winter on our eastern ranges of mountains,
while at the same time here are deep valleys in which there is a
comparatively warm climate, which makes me think of that which was
spoken by the mouth of Isaiah the Prophet in referring to the
latter-day work. He says that "when it shall hail, Coming down upon
the forests, the city shall be low in a low place," where the climate
is warm.

Vol. 18,  p.26
Let me say a few more words in regard to certain things that have
already taken place, predicted in the Book of Mormon by our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, when he appeared on this western hemisphere and
taught this remnant of Israel. He told them of certain events which
should transpire before the remnants of Joseph should be converted. He
says—"Verily, verily, I say unto you that I have other sheep which are
not of this land"—meaning America—"neither of the land of Jerusalem,
neither in any parts of that land round about whither I have been to
minister. But they of whom I speak have not as yet heard my voice,
neither have I at any time manifested myself unto them; but I have
received a commandment of the Father that I shall go unto them and
they shall be numbered among my sheep, and there shall be one fold and
one shepherd, therefore I go to show myself unto them." After leaving
this continent, he went to the lost tribes and placed one measure of
leaven in the meal that was in that country, having already planted a
little leaven among the Jews at Jerusalem, and another little portion
of leaven here in America, after which he goes to the lost tribes, and
plants leaven in the third mess of meal, and left it to work. He
says—"I command you that you shall write these sayings after I am
gone, that if it so be that my people at Jerusalem, they who have seen
me, and been with me in my ministry, do not ask the Father [p.27] in
my name, that they may receive a knowledge of you by the Holy Ghost,
and also of the other tribes which they know not of, these sayings
which ye shall write shall be kept and shall be manifested unto the
Gentiles, that, through the fulness of the Gentiles, the remnant of
their seed who shall be scattered upon the face of the earth because
of their unbelief, may be brought in, or may be brought to a knowledge
of me, their Redeemer. And then will I gather them in from the four
quarters of the earth, and I will fulfill the covenant which the
Father hath made unto all the people of the house of Israel."

Vol. 18,  p.27
Now I want you to take particular notice of the following paragraph,
or a portion of it, which I will read. "But woe, saith the Father,
unto the unbelieving of the Gentiles"—having reference more
particularly to the Gentiles of this great nation—"for notwithstanding
they have come forth upon the face of this land, and have scattered my
people who are of the house of Israel, and my people who are of the
house of Israel have been cast out from among them, and have been
trodden under foot by them, and because of the mercies of the Father
unto the Gentiles, and the judgments of the Father upon my people who
are of the house of Israel, verily, verily, I say unto you, that after
all this, and I have caused my people who are of the house of Israel
to be smitten, and to be afflicted, and to be slain, and to be cast
out from among them"—just as our forefathers have done for two or
three generations past in smiting, destroying, casting out and driving
the poor American Indians—"thus commanded the Father that I should say
unto you at that day, when the Gentiles shall sin against my
Gospel,"—meaning sinning against this fullness of the Gospel, that is
the Book of Mormon, when it shall be sent forth in the latter
days)—"when the Gentiles shall sin against my Gospel, and shall be
lifted up in pride above all nations, and above all the people of the
whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings and deceit,
and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and
priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations, and if they
shall do all these things, and shall reject the fulness of my Gospel,
behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my Gospel from
among them."

Vol. 18,  p.27
This prophecy has been fulfilled. It was delivered and in print before
there was any Latter-day Saint Church in existence. Now how did Joseph
Smith, a farmer's boy, know naturally anything about the Lord's taking
this work—the Book of Mormon—and this people who believe in the
fullness of the Gospel and the bringing of them out from this Gentile
nation to these solitary regions? How did he know this so far back as
the year 1830? How did he know this before the Church was organized
with six members? Yet it has all come to pass. How unlikely it was for
such a thing to come to pass, if there was no God in it! If the
Gentiles should reject this Gospel which the Lord has brought forth by
his power; "and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above
all nations, peoples, kindreds and tongues, and shall be filled with
all manner of lyings, deceits, mischiefs, hypocrisy, murders and
whoredoms, and shall reject the fulness of my Gospel, Behold, saith
the Father, I will bring the fulness of my Gospel from among them."

Vol. 18,  p.27
For twenty-seven years the Lord has been fulfilling this directly
before the eyes of all this nation. Little did they think when they
came upon [p.28] us in Nauvoo, and drove us out from our homes and
firesides and told us to flee away beyond this great chain of rocky
mountains, that they were fulfilling this great prophecy uttered
before this people had an existence. "I will bring the fulness of my
Gospel from among them;" and mark the next sentence—"and then I will
remember my covenant." When? When he gets the people out from the
midst of this nation. "Then I will remember my covenant which I made
unto my people, O house of Israel, and I will bring my Gospel unto
them." Has it been fulfilled? Yes. It is over a quarter of a century
since the Lord brought us out, and laid a foundation for us to live
here; and we have been enabled by his power to erect towns villages
and cities, to open up farms, add begin to live, and we have got a
broad foundation laid; and now, the next thing is—"I will bring the
fulness of my Gospel unto thee, O house of Israel;" that is, unto the
Indians; in other words—they shall come unto a knowledge of the
fulness of my Gospel. "Yet if the Gentiles will repent and return unto
me, saith the Father, behold they shall be numbered among my people,
the house of Israel."

Vol. 18,  p.28
That is the only hope that we Gentiles have. No hope for us whatever,
no hope for this great and powerful nation, only by being numbered
with these poor, degraded, despised, outcast, dark, and benighted
Indians. Are you willing to be numbered with them? In what respect?
Not to come down to their customs and habits, their uncleanness,
filth, wickedness, darkness and ignorance; but be numbered with them
in the inheritance of this great continent, which was given to them by
promise, the same as Palestine was given to Abraham and Isaac. God
gave it by the mouth of Jacob, who pronounced it upon the head of his
son Joseph, it was promised that he should have a separate land from
that given to Abraham and Isaac. Read it in the 49th chapter of
Genesis. The Lord gave North and South America to these Indians,
nearly six hundred years before Christ. And he promised that the
Gentiles, in the latter days, who should come upon the face of this
land, if they would repent when this Gospel should come forth unto
them, they should have the privilege of receiving their inheritance in
common with this remnant of Israel—these Indians. But if they did not
repent there is another decree. And what is that? "They shall be
utterly cat off from among my people." Thus it is predicted and you
have read it for forty-five years. In another place the Lord says—" If
they will not repent, behold I will cut off the cities of their land,
I will throw down all their strongholds, and I will cut off their
horses out of the midst of them, and I will execute vengeance and fury
upon them such as they have not heard of. In another place, which I
have not time to turn to and read, it says—"And it shall come to pass
that every soul that will not repent of their sins and come unto my
beloved son, will I cut off from among my people, O, house of Israel,
and it shall be done unto them even as Moses has said, they shall be
cut off from among my people."

Vol. 18,  p.28
Now Moses has told us of that time, and it is repeated again in the
3rd chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, that the Lord would raise up
a Prophet, and it should come to pass that every soul that would not
hear that Prophet should be cut off from among the people. We are told
that that Prophet was Jesus, and we believe it. Jesus Christ was that
Prophet, [p.29] and the day is to come, as sure as the Lord lives in
yonder heavens, when every soul that will not repent, and receive his
work, will be literally cut off from among the people, just as Moses
has predicted. And it shall come to pass that "kings shall shut their
mouths, for that which had not been told them shall they see, and that
which they have not heard shall they beheld," a marvelous work and a
wonder, a work that the Lord would perform in the latter-days. A
strange work, a strange act, so-called by Isaiah the Prophet.

Vol. 18,  p.29
O that I had time to go into the numerous prophecies in the Book of
Mormon, and point out the desolations that are to come upon this
nation and this generation, if they do not repent! But every jot and
every tittle that has not been fulfilled since the coming forth of the
Book of Mormon, will be fulfilled to the very letter. Zion will arise,
clothed with the glory of her God; the Lord will be her defence; he
will be her shield and her buckler; and the power of his own right
hand will protect his people. And it shall come to pass that every
nation, and every kindred and tongue and people that will fight
against the people of God, and against his Zion, will perish out of
the earth, and all nations that "fight against Mount Zion shall become
as the dream of a night vision. Like a hungry man who dreams and
thinks that he eats, but he wakes and his soul has appetite;" so, in
the latter-days, it shall be with not only one nation but all the
nations that fight against Mount Zion. God has stretched forth his
hand to exert, the powers of the heavens, and he will fulfill and
accomplish his work; and there is no power beneath the heavens that
can stay his almighty hand.—Amen.

Wilford Woodruff, June 27, 1875

Little Children Are Innocent, and All Will Be Saved—God, 
a Personage of Tabernacle—the Life of the Savior, a 
Life of Suffering—Second Coming of Christ

Discourse By Elder Wilford Woodruff, Delivered June 27, 1875, 
in the Second Ward School-House, Salt Lake City, at the Funeral
Services 
of John Houseman, Aged Six Years, and Willie Franklin, Aged Four 
Years, Sons of William and Ann Wheeler, Burned to Death at 
Warship, Summit County, U. T., June 24, 1875.

(Reported by David W. Evans)

Vol. 18,  p.29
I am entirely dependent this morning upon the Spirit of the Lord to
guide and direct me in what I may say upon this painful occasion.
Those who have assembled here—Brother and Sister Wheeler, and their
[p.30] friends who mourn with them, are dependent upon the same source
for comfort in their serious bereavement; and in fact we are all
dependent upon the blessing and Spirit of the Lord in all the labors
of life, and I hope that, in our services this morning, a large
measure of that Spirit will be imparted unto us.

Vol. 18,  p.30
I feel disposed to read the first chapter of Job as a preliminary to
any remarks I may make. [The speaker read the first chapter of the
Book of Job.] We also see in reading the history of Job that the devil
did not finish with him there, as it seems the devil had another
conversation with the Lord on this subject, in which he informed the
Lord that a man would give anything for his life and that if he, the
devil, touched Job's flesh, he would certainly curse God. And it seems
from reading this history that the Lord put Job into the hands of the
devil, to do as he pleased with him, only to spare his life. Of course
the history is familiar to you all who have read the Bible, and you
are aware that the devil smote Job, and he was covered with boils from
the crown of his head to the soles of his feet, so that he was in
great distress, trouble and tribulation, yet in the midst of it all he
did not sin, but acknowledged the hand of the Lord.

Vol. 18,  p.30
I may say with regard to the case which has brought us together this
morning, it is a little similar to that of Job. We meet with some
strange things in the history of our lives in the dispensations and
dealings of God with men. In the case before us we are called to mourn
the loss of two children taken from Brother and Sister Wheeler, we may
say as suddenly and, in one sense of the word, as miraculously, as
were the sons and daughters of Job. His affliction consisted not only
in the loss of two children, but of all his children and also of all
the possessions that he had, yet still, under all this he said—"Naked
came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither; the
Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the
Lord."

Vol. 18,  p.30
I know very well it is hard for any person to be called to pass
through the scenes that we sometimes are called to pass through in
this life, it is so in the case before us this morning. The loss of
these little children, taken away as they were, is certainly painful,
not only to the parents, but to every person who reflects; and it is a
very hard matter for any of us to enter into and appreciate the depth
of sorrow which parents feel on occasions like this, it is difficult
to bring the matter home to our own hearts unless we have been called
to pass through similar affliction and sorrow. At the same time there
is no doubt that we all sympathize with our friends when called to
pass through trials and bereavement. And I will here say to Brother
and Sister Wheeler, and to all my friends, there are a great many
worse things in this world than the case we are now called to mourn.

Vol. 18,  p.30
Our children are taken away from us in infancy and childhood, and they
are taken away as Job's were, in one sense of the word, through the
dispensations of Providence, causing us severe trials. This we will
acknowledge; but, as I have already said, there are many things in
this world that are far more painful and afflicting than to have our
children burned to death. My friends may ask—"What is Brother Woodruff
driving at in this remark?" I will tell you. I have lived in these
valleys twenty-seven years, since the pioneers came here. I have seen
a whole generation of men and women grow up in [p.31] these valleys of
the mountains, and they have become parents. I have seen some, I will
not say a great many, but I have seen some young men, I say nothing
about maidens, who have met with untimely deaths and who have gone to
the grave disgraced, and a dishonor to themselves and to their
parents. Circumstances of this kind are far more painful to any parent
in the world than it is for their children to meet with sudden death
by accident or any other way. I do not make these remarks to apply to
Brother and Sister Wheeler, for none of us know what course our
children will take. We set good examples before them, and we strive to
teach them righteous principles, but when they come to years of
accountability they have their agency and they act for themselves.

Vol. 18,  p.31
Many things are transpiring in the earth to-day which we should regard
as great calamities and as grievous to be borne if we had to pass
through them. Think of these late earthquakes in South America, eight
thousand people out of ten thousand in one city sunk in the earth in a
few moments. And then, the tremendous floods that are sweeping over
France and other parts of the earth, causing the death of hundreds and
thousands of men, women and children. All these things are in
fulfillment of the revelations of God, and of the judgments which he
has promised should come upon the earth in the last days. One of the
purposes which the Lord has in view in gathering his Saints to the
valleys of the mountains is that they may not share in the sins or
partake of the plagues of Babylon; therefore we have reason to rejoice
before the Lord because of his mercies and blessings unto us. And with
regard to a case like this before us this morning—the loss of those
children—I want to say a few words for the consolation of those who
are sorrowing. In the first place these children are innocent before
the Lord; as to their death and the cause thereof, that is in the
hands of God, and we should not complain of the Lord or his
dispensations any more than Job did. These children have been taken
away very suddenly, and in such a manner as to cause great sorrow and
distress to their parents, but there is this consolation connected
with the matter—they are innocent, they are not in transgression. They
have paid the law of death which God passed on Adam and all his
posterity; but when their spirits left their bodies and got into the
spirit world their trouble and affliction were over. Their death was a
very painful one, but their suffering is now over, and in a few years
from now they will come forth out of their graves in the morning of
the resurrection, not marred by fire or any element, but clothed with
glory, immortality and eternal life, in eternal beauty and bloom, and
they will be given into the hands of their parents, and they will
receive them in the family organization of the celestial world, and
their parents will have them for ever. They will live as long as their
God lives. This, to Latter-day Saints, who believe in the
resurrection, should be a source of comfort and consolation.

Vol. 18,  p.31
Why our children are taken from us it is not for me to say, for God
never revealed it unto me. We are all burying them. I have buried
one-third of the children that have been given unto me. I have had
some thirty children born to me, and ten of them are buried, all of
them young. The question may arise with me and with you—"Why has the
Lord taken away my children?" But that is not for me to tell, because
I do not know; it is in the hands of the [p.32] Lord, and it has been
so from the creation of the world all the way down. Children are taken
away in their infancy, and they go to the spirit world. They come here
and fulfill the object of their coming, that is, they tabernacle in
the flesh. They come to receive a probation and an inheritance on the
earth; they obtain a body or tabernacle, and that tabernacle will be
preserved for them, and in the morning of the resurrection the spirits
and bodies will be reunited, and as here we find children of various
ages in a family, from the infant at the mother's breast to manhood,
so will it be in the family organization in the celestial world. Our
children will be restored to us as they are laid down if we, their
parents, keep the faith and prove ourselves worthy to obtain eternal
life; and if we do not so prove ourselves our children will still be
preserved, and will inherit celestial glory. This is my view in regard
to all infants who die, whether they are born to Jew or Gentile,
righteous or wicked. They come from their eternal Father and their
eternal Mother unto whom they were born in the eternal world, and they
will be restored to their eternal parentage; and all parents who have
received children here according to the order of God and the holy
priesthood, no matter in what age they may have lived, will claim
those children in the morning of the resurrection, and they will be
gives unto them and they will grace their family organizations in the
celestial world.

Vol. 18,  p.32
With regard to the future state of those who die in infancy I do not
feel authorized to say much. There has been a great deal of theory,
and many views have been expressed on this subject, but there are many
things connected with it which the Lord has probably never revealed to
any of the Prophets or patriarchs who ever appeared on the earth.
There are some things which have not been revealed to man, but are
held in the bosom of God our Father, and it may be that the condition
after death of those who die in infancy is among the things which God
has never revealed; but it is sufficient for me to know that our
children are saved, and that if we ourselves keep the faith and do our
duty before the Lord, if we keep the celestial law, we shall be
preserved by that law, and our children will be given unto us there,
as they have been given here in this world of sorrow, affliction, pain
and distress. It has no doubt been a marvel many times, in the minds
of men and women, why God ever placed men and women in such a world as
this, why he causes his children to pass through sorrow and affliction
here in the body. The Lord has revealed something to us concerning
this matter, and we have learned enough about it to know that this
thing is necessary. We know that we are created in the image of God,
both male and female; and whoever goes back into the presence of God
our eternal Father, will find that he is a noble man, a noble God,
tabernacled in a form similar to ours, for we are created after his
own image; they will also learn that he has placed us here that we may
pass through a state of probation and experience, the same as he
himself did in his day of mortality. And time and again it has been
revealed in the revelations of God given in our day, as well as in the
Bible and Book of Mormon, that these things are necessary in order to
enable us to comprehend good and evil, and to be prepared for glory
and blessings when we receive them. As the Apostle argues very
strongly in the Book of Mormon—"If we never taste the bitter how will
we know [p.33] how to comprehend the sweet? If we never partake of
pain how can we prize ease? And if we never pass through affliction,
how can we comprehend glory, exaltation and eternal blessings?"

Vol. 18,  p.33
The Lord has said concerning Jesus, that he descended below all things
that he might rise above all things, and comprehend all things. No man
descended lower than the Savior of the world. Born in a stable,
cradled in a manger, he traveled from there to the cross through
suffering, mingled with blood, to a throne of grace; and in all his
life there was nothing of an earthly nature that seemed to be worth
possessing. His whole life was passed in poverty, suffering, pain,
affliction, labor, prayer, mourning and sorrow, until he gave up the
ghost on the cross. Still he was God's firstborn son and the Redeemer
of the world. The question might be asked why the Lord suffered his
Son to come here and to live and die as he did. When we get into the
spirit world, and the vail is withdrawn, we shall then perhaps
understand the whys and wherefores of all these things. In the
dispensations and providences of God to man it seems that we are born
to suffer pain, affliction, sorrows and trials; this is what God has
decreed that the human family shall pass through; and if we make a
right use of this probation, the experience it brings will eventually
prove a great blessing to us, and when we receive immortality and
eternal life, exaltation, kingdoms, thrones, principalities and powers
with all the blessings of the fulness of the Gospel of Christ, we
shall understand and comprehend why we were called to pass through a
continual warfare during the few years we spent in the flesh.

Vol. 18,  p.33
It certainly does require a good deal of the Spirit of the Lord to
give comfort and consolation to a father and mother mourning for the
loss of their children; and without the Gospel of Christ the
separation by death is one of the most gloomy subjects it is possible
to contemplate; but just as soon as we obtain the Gospel and learn the
principle of the resurrection, the gloom, sorrow and suffering
occasioned by death are, in a great measure, taken away. I have often
thought that, to see a dead body, and to see that body laid in the
grave and covered with earth, is one of the most gloomy things on
earth; without the Gospel it is like taking a leap in the dark. But as
quick as we obtain the Gospel, as Soon as the spirit of man is
enlightened by the inspiration of the Almighty, he can exclaim with
one of old—"Oh grave, where is thy victory, Oh death, where is thy
sting? The sting of death is sin, and the gift of God is eternal life,
through our Lord Jesus Christ." The resurrection of the dead presents
itself before the enlightened mind of man, and he has a foundation for
his spirit to rest upon. That is the position of the Latter-day Saints
today. We do know for ourselves, we are not in the dark with regard to
this matter; God has revealed it to us, and we do understand the
principle of the resurrection of the dead, and that the Gospel brings
life and immortality to light. We have received the Gospel, and if we
are true to the principles of that Gospel as long as we live, we shall
be made partakers of immortality, exaltation and glory.

Vol. 18,  p.33
I know very well that the loss of their children in this terrible
manner is a sad affliction to brother andsister Wheeler. It was a sad
affliction for Job when his children and [p.34] possessions were taken
from him in an hour, but yet he had sense or knowledge enough to
understand and say that when he came into the world he possessed
neither children, houses, lands, horses, oxen, camels nor asses, lint
that all his wealth had been given to him by the Lord, and that the
Lord had taken them away and blessed be his holy name. I will say to
our mourning friends, your children are taken away and you can not
help it, we cannot any of us help it; there is no censure to be given
to parents when they do the best they can. A mother should not be
censured because she can not save her sick child, and we have to leave
these things in the hands of God. It will be but a little time until
they will be restored to us; in a little time brother and sister
Wheeler will again have the children whose loss they now mourn.

Vol. 18,  p.34
With regard to the growth, glory, or exaltation of children in the
life to come, God has not revealed anything on that subject to me,
either about your children, mine or anybody else's, any further than
we know they are saved. And I feel that we have to put our trust in
the Lord in these afflictions, we have to lean upon his arm and to
look to him for comfort and consolation. We do not mourn under these
afflictions as those who have no hope; we do not mourn the loss of our
children as though we were never going to see them again, because we
know better. The Lord has taught us better, and so has the Gospel; the
revelations of Jesus Christ have shown us that they will be restored
to us in the resurrection of the just. And I will here say with regard
to the Gospel of Christ, that it is one of the greatest mysteries
under the heavens to me why there are so few of the human family,
whether in the Christian, Pagan or Jewish world, who take any interest
in eternal things, in the state of man after death. If we read the
Bible we learn that Noah, filled with revelation, and with the Gospel
in his hand, although he labored a hundred and twenty years, could not
gets solitary soul except his own family to go with him for salvation.
It was similar in the days of the Patriarchs and Prophets, and if we
come down to the days of Christ, we find that his testimony was
rejected by the rabbis, high priests and the great mass of the people,
and he chose for his Apostles twelve poor fishermen, and they and very
few of the people, comparatively speaking, were all that received the
teachings of Jesus and followed him through the regeneration; while
the whole Jewish nation, with these few exceptions, were ready to put
their Shiloh to death, and he was the person upon whom the salvation
of the whole house of Israel depended. It is just so to-day. The great
majority of the people reject the words of life and salvation which
are proclaimed unto them. God, in these last days revealed the Gospel
of Jesus Christ to Joseph Smith by the teachings of angels out of
heaven, and its principles are made known to the world, and there has
never been a congregation of Gentiles, from that day to this, to whom
the Elders of Israel have borne record of these things, but what the
Spirit of God has also borne record of the truth of their testimony;
and herein lies the condemnation of this generation, for "light has
come into the world, but men love darkness rather than light, because
their deeds are evil." I ask, in the name of God and humanity, why is
it that intelligent beings, [p.35] made in the image of God, take no
interest in their condition after death? They know they are going to
die, and, if they have any sense or reflection, they know they will
live after the death of their mortal bodies; still men will sell their
eternal interest for money, for a few hundred or a few thousand
dollars they will sell all the interest they have in the eternal
world; in fact, they take no interest in their eternal welfare. Their
cry is—"Give me gold, silver and honors the few years I spend here,
and eternal life may go where it pleases, I have no interest in that."
I ask again, why is it that the human family take no interest in these
things? We have preached over forty years. I have been engaged in that
work over that time, and have proclaimed the words of eternal life to
millions of people, and have traveled more than a hundred thousand
miles in so doing, and, as the Prophet has said, I have found one of a
family and two of a city who have had eyes to see, ears to hear, and
hearts to understand, and they have been gathered up from the various
nations of the earth into the mountains of Israel, and here to-day we
have a little handful of people, out of the twelve hundred millions
who dwell upon the earth, who feel an interest in building up the Zion
and kingdom of God upon the earth, and who are desirous of being saved
in that kingdom.

Vol. 18,  p.35
Now I would rather be poor all the days of my life, I would rather go
through poverty and affliction, it matters not how severe, even to the
sacrifice of my own life, than lose salvation and eternal life,
because I have faith in it and always had. I always have had faith in
the Bible and in the revelations of God since I was a boy like these
sitting on these seats, eight or ten years old, when I went to the
Presbyterian Sunday school and read about Jesus Christ. I believed
then that he was the Savior of the world; I believed that the Old and
New Testament was true. I believe it to-day. What would it profit a
man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul? What will a man
give in exchange for his soul? When he comes into the presence of God
he can't buy it. This is the position of the world. There is none of
us going to live but a little while; we shall all pass away soon, and
our eternal destiny depends upon the few days, weeks, months or years
that we spend here in the flesh. Do you not think it will pay a man or
a woman to keep the commandments of God? It will, and when we enjoy
the Holy Spirit, when we are trying to live our religion here on the
earth, we are the happiest people on God's footstool, no matter what
our circumstances may be. I do not care whether we are rich or poor,
whether in happiness or affliction, if a man is living his religion
and enjoys the favor and Spirit of God, it makes no difference to him
what takes place on the earth. There may be earthquakes, war, fire or
sword in the land, but he feels that it is all right with him. That is
the way I feel to-day.

Vol. 18,  p.35
With regard to the Gospel of Christ, it is a thing that we should all
labor to maintain the few years that we spend here. When I get through
with this life and go into the spirit world, I do not want to miss
what I have in anticipation. I have always desired to see the Savior,
Father Adam, Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and those old Prophets we
read about in the Bible. I desired this before I heard this Gospel, I
desire it to-day; and I do not wish to miss this, for nothing in this
world would pay me for such a sacrifice. But I know that it requires
constant [p.36] warfare, labor and faithfulness before the Lord in
order for us to keep in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and to live
in such a manner that we may obtain these blessings. Jesus
says—"Strait is the gate and narrow the way that leads to eternal
lives, and few there are who find it, while broad is the way that
leads to death, and many there be who go in thereat." The road to
death is broad enough to catch the whole world, and they do not like
to walk in the strait and narrow one, they do not like to keep the
celestial law. I have met with professed ministers of the Gospel, in
my travels, at whose tables I have eaten and drank, and I have given
them the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and
have talked to and labored with them, and I have known some of them
spend days and days in this warfare, trying to decide which to do,
whether to receive the Gospel of Christ and take the reproach of the
world, or reject it; and I may say that in nine cases out of ten they
have come to the conclusion to reject it. When I visited Fox Island
the first time, I went to the house of Mr. Newton, a Baptist minister;
and I stayed with him. But first I went to his church and heard him
preach, and when he got through I wanted to bear record of the Gospel,
for I had a message to that people, and I appointed a meeting for four
o'clock in the afternoon, and I preached the Gospel to them, and Mr.
Newton took me to his home and I gave him the Book of Mormon and the
Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and for ten days that man walked about
his room until midnight trying to decide what he should do. The Spirit
of the Lord bore record to him that my testimony was true, and he felt
that if he obeyed the Gospel which I had proclaimed unto him he would
lose his good name and honor among men, but that if he did not receive
it, he would be damned. Finally he rejected it, and the consequence
was that he became a vagabond, and a miserable outcast. I baptized all
his flock who owned any portion of the meeting-house, and if he had
embraced the Gospel and been gathered with them he would have been
here and saved in the kingdom of God, instead of the vagabond that he
has since become. I merely mention this to show how the minds of some
men are acted upon by the tidings of the Gospel. Some of them feel
that it would be a great reproach to obey that Gospel and to keep the
commandments of God. Bless your souls, we who obey the Gospel of
Christ are all in good company. Whenever you are persecuted for
righteousness sake, said Jesus, rejoice and be exceeding glad for so
persecuted they the Prophets and Apostles which were before you.

Vol. 18,  p.36
I will say to all, whether in the church or in the world, it will pay
you to keep the commandments of God. Here is a man who has a wife that
he thinks a great deal of; they have lovely children, and the ties of
affection bind them closely. Now should not such a man have respect
enough for God to keep his commandments and so secure to himself his
wife and his children in the celestial world after the resurrection?
But you cannot get worldlings to believe in such a principle; the
people, as I said before, have not interest enough in the things of
the kingdom of God to be Willing to keep the commandments of God.

Vol. 18,  p.36
I say to the Latter-day Saints, we should he faithful to our God. We
are blessed above all the people that breathe the breath of life upon
the earth, and we are blessed above all other dispensations and
generations [p.37] of men, for the Lord has put into our hands the
power to build up his Zion upon the earth, never more to be thrown
down, and this is what no other generation has ever been called to do.
But although this is the mission of the Latter-day Saints, we have a
continual warfare to wage—a warfare with the powers of darkness, and a
warfare with ourselves. The ancients had a similar experience to pass
through—they had their day of trials, troubles and tribulations. Enoch
labored three hundred and sixty-five years in building up Zion, and he
had the opposition of the whole world. But the Lord blessed him so
that he maintained his ground for that length of time, and gathered
together a few out of the nations of the earth, and they were
sanctified before the Lord, and he had to take them sway, and the
saying went forth—"Zion is fled." So you may trace down all the
Prophets. Read the history of Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah and others,
and you will find that it was a warfare with them all the way through.
And so with Jesus and the Apostles. But all those dispensations have
passed and gone into the spirit world, and they have their eyes upon
us, and in fact God our heavenly Father and all under him—the whole
heavenly host, have their eyes turned towards the Latter-day Saints,
because this is the great dispensation of which Adam, Enoch and all
the ancient patriarchs and Prophets have spoken, in which shall take
place the final redemption of the House of Israel, the restoration of
their kingdom, the rebuilding of their city and Temple, the
restoration of their oracles and Priesthood, of the Urim and Thummim,
and the preparation for the final winding up scene in the last days;
all these things will take place in the dispensation in which we are
permitted to live.

Vol. 18,  p.37
Let us, then, try and fulfill and perform our duties as good
Latter-day Saints. Let us bear with each other's faults, and bear the
yoke of Christ, live our religion and keep the commandments of God.
Let us try and bring up our children in the nurture and admonition of
the Lord. Let us set them good examples and teach them good principles
while they are young. They are given to us by our heavenly Father;
they are our kingdom, they are the foundation of our exaltation and
glory; they are plants of renown, and we should strive to bear them up
before the Lord, and teach them to pray to, and to have faith in, the
Lord as far as we can, that when we are passed and gone and they
succeed us on this stage of action, they may bear off the great
latter-day work and kingdom of God upon the earth. I do not believe
that the day is very far distant when the revelations which God has
given concerning the last days will have their fulfillment. I believe
there are many children now living in the mountains of Israel who will
never taste of death, that is, they will dwell on the earth at the
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. I will acknowledge that there is a
great deal to be done, and the Lord has not revealed to man the day or
the hour, but he has revealed the generation; and the fig trees are
now putting forth their leaves in the eyes of all the nations,
indicating the near approach of the second coming of the Son of Man.
It is my faith that hundreds and thousands of the children that have
been given to us will be alive in the flesh when Christ comes in the
clouds of heaven in power and great glory. The Lord will not
disappoint the inhabitants of the earth in these last days in regard
to his second coming, any more than he has with regard to other great
events and dispensations.[p.38] 

Vol. 18,  p.38
We live in a very important age and generation; we live in the day and
time when God has set his hand to fulfill a measure of prophecy and
revelation to man, in the great dispensation of all dispensations. As
an individual I do not believe that many more years will roll ever the
heads of the inhabitants of the earth before the resurrection will be
upon them, and then these children, which we are called to bury
to-day, will come forth from their graves, clothed with glory,
immortality and eternal life. You may ask why I believe this. I
believe it because the revelations of God say so. I read the
Scriptures, and I believe that the revelations and prophecies therein
contained mean what they say, and I also believe that the saying of
every Prophet or Apostle spoken under the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost will have its fulfillment, and, as Paul said, no prophecy of
Scripture hath any private interpretation, but holy men of old spake
as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost. They spake the mind and
word of the Lord, and none of their sayings will fail to be fulfilled,
for the Lord has said—"Though the heavens and the earth pass away, my
word shall not fail, but shall be fulfilled." That is the way I read
prophecy and revelation.

Vol. 18,  p.38
The Jews will be moved upon by and by, and they will return to the
land of their fathers, and they will rebuild Jerusalem. These
Lamanites here will receive the Gospel of Christ in fulfillment of the
revelations of God. The Prophets which have been shut up in the north
country with the nine and a half tribes led away by Shalmanezer, King
of Assyria, thousands of years ago, will come in remembrance before
God; they will smite the rocks and mountains of ice will flow down
before them, and those long lost tribes will come forth in your day
and mine, if we live a few years longer, and they will be crowned
under the hands of the children of Ephraim—the Elders of Israel who
dwell in the land of Zion. And by and by the testimony of the Gospel
will be sealed among the Gentiles, and the Gospel will turn to the
whole house of Israel, and the judgments of God will back up the
testimony of the Elders of this Church, and the Lord will send
messengers who will go forth and reap down the earth. The unbeliever
may say that what we term judgments have always prevailed more or less
among the nations, and that God has nothing to do with them, they are
all natural. Well, if they have always prevailed, they will prevail to
a greater extent in these last days than ever before, until everything
that God has spoken shall have come to pass. Judgments await the
world, and they await this nation, and the day is at hand when the
Lord will sweep the earth as with a besom of destruction. In the
vision which the Lord gave to Enoch, he saw the heavens weeping over
the earth because of the fall of man; and when Enoch asked the
Lord—"When will the earth rest from under the curse of sin?" the Lord
told him that in the last days the earth should rest, for then it
should be redeemed from the sin, wickedness and abominations that were
upon it. The earth is now pretty near ripe, and when ripened the Lord
will cut them off. These things are before the Latter-day Saints, but
the world do not believe in them any more than they believed in the
message of Noah or Lot.

Vol. 18,  p.38
Brethren and sisters, let us read the revelations of God for
ourselves, and when we read them, let us believe them, and try to live
in such a [p.39] way that we may be ready for whatever dispensation
the Lord may have in store for us, and so that we can acknowledge his
hand as Job did, and not find any fault with him because of his
providences toward us. If we cannot comprehend them now, we shall be
able to do so in a little while. The Lord may have purposes in view in
his dealings with us that we do not understand; I presume he has. In
fact, the whole of the dealings of God to man are a mystery. There is
a vail over the world, and it is ordained of God that it should be so,
for if it were not so, and if men could comprehend eternal things, as
God comprehends them, there is no man on the earth, no matter how
wicked he may be, but what would be willing to keep the commandments
of God, and to pass through anything that God ordained, for therein he
would see there was salvation and eternal life. But God has an order
in these matters, as he revealed unto Joseph Smith. He said unto
Joseph—"I will prove you whether you will abide in my covenant; if you
are not willing to abide in my covenant even unto death, you are not
worthy of me." And it is so with the Saints. If they are not willing
to abide in the covenants they have made with God, even unto death if
necessary, they are not worthy of him. Jesus laid down his life to