Journal of Discourses Volume 23

 BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,

HIS COUNSELLORS, THE TWELVE APOSTLES, 
AND OTHERS.

REPORTED BY 
GEO. F. GIBBS, JOHN IRVINE AND OTHERS.

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

VOL. XXIII.

LIVERPOOL:
EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY 
JOHN HENRY SMITH, 42, ISLINGTON.

LONDON:
LATTER-DAY SAINTS' BOOK DEPOT, 19, 
SUTHERLAND STREET, PIMLICO, LONDON, S.W.

1883.[p.iii]

Preface

vol. 23, p.iii
The Twenty-third Volume of the JOURNAL OF DISCOURSES, now complete,
will, we feel assured, be considered as acceptable reading matter by
the Latter-day Saints who may be favored with its perusal. That they
may be stimulated to greater faithfulness by the valuable instructions
and exhortations therein contained is the desire of qqq

THE PUBLISHER. [p.1]

H. W. Naisbitt, May 15, 1881

The Preaching and Practice of the Gospel—Visitations of
Angels, Etc.

Delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon,
May 15th, 1881.

(Reported by John Irvine)

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 376, JOURNAL OF DISCOURSES, VOL. XXII.)

vol. 23, p.1
there have been larger opportunities for the acquisition of the
knowledge which pertains to the designs of the Creator. I think that
all thoughtful men and thoughtful women have felt within themselves
that there were a great many problems in regard to human existence
upon which they would like to have light and intelligence, they would
like to understand and to have a surety as to whether a man was
anything more than a mere animal in creation, whether it was his
destiny only "to eat and to drink, for to-morrow we die," or whether
his existence was of a continuous character; whether after having laid
down this tabernacle of flesh he would be privileged to enjoy again
the associations which have been agreeable to him on earth, whether
the family circle would be burst asunder, or whether continuing to
exist he would be divested in a great measure of the temptations which
seem to influence him on the right hand and on the left, and which
appear to lead so many thousands of the human family down to
degradation and death. It appears to me that there are questions in
connection with all these things that thousands. would like to solve,
and questions which really never can be solved by the ordinary wisdom
and knowledge which pertain to the educational facilities of mankind.
Now, in reading these prophecies concerning the future angelic
visitations that are to take place in the history of mankind, I have
no doubt that those who have pondered over these prophecies have
thought that in these visitations they would find the key which should
unlock the past, the present and the future, and be of great value in
the salvation of the human family—salvation from ignorance, from sin,
and from death. These are the things which men everywhere need. They
need to be saved from themselves; they need to be saved from each
other; they need to be saved in regard to [p.2] the future, according
to the Scriptures, and the generally received notions of the Christian
world.

vol. 23, p.2
Now, this angel that was to come in the latter times was declared to
be one who was to bring the everlasting Gospel in order that it might
be preached among all nations. Now, the everlasting Gospel, whatever
that may mean, is something that is divine in its character. It is not
conjured up by cunning and designing men. God was its author; in fact
the Scriptures say that His Son Jesus was the "author and finisher" of
the Christian faith on earth. Whenever, therefore, the revelation of
that Gospel comes it must give man an account of his origin, of the
necessity of the circumstances of the present, and something of his
future. There is one thing which strikes the reader as being very
peculiar in regard to this angel coming to the human family. It is
implied upon the surface, and in its depths also, that there would be
no necessity of sending the Gospel if the children of man had the
Gospel already, this would be superfluous. Then when this angel comes
is he to come to Christendom, or is he to come to heathendom? Is he to
come to men that have not heard of Jesus, know nothing of God, know
nothing of the way of salvation, or is he to come to the Christian
world. If he is to come to heathendom it of course would be to bring
salvation, the redemption of the soul and body of man; but if he is to
come to Christendom it would almost seem to imply that amid them even
the Gospel of redemption was unpreached or misunderstood, for in all
the creations of our God there does not appear to be anything of an
unnecessary character, there are no steps fallen in His government
that are inapplicable to the existing condition of things; but the
fact that an angel was to come in "the dispensation of the fulness of
times" naturally implies that the Gospel would not be at that time
preached on the face of the earth. Now this is rather an awkward
conclusion to arrive at when all Christendom is said to be doing so
much in regard to the building of churches, the teaching of religion,
the payment of ministers, the sending of the so-called Gospel to the
heathen, and the furnishing of Bibles to all the nations of the earth.
And on reflecting upon the visits of this angel a man would naturally
enquire, if this angel is going to bring the Gospel, in what does the
Gospel consist, and as a necessary consequence he would also begin to
enquire as to what the records say which have come down to us from
ancient times. He would look into the New Testament; he would read the
sayings of those whose names have become historic; he would read the
sayings of the Great Teacher, who was sent from heaven, even Jesus
Christ the righteous; and he would read the acts and doings in that
book of His successors the Apostles, and of the primitive church, and
from this record he would endeavor to find out what the Gospel was as
preached in ancient times, and after he had done this he would begin
to contrast the Christian organizations with which he was surrounded,
the theories which Christians hold, the doctrines which they teach and
put them side by side in parallel columns with the teachings of the
ancient Church. He would institute comparisons and so would show a
desire to understand the necessity for this angel coming expressly
from heaven to "preach" the everlasting Gospel unto them that dwell
upon the  earth, and to [p.3] every nation and kindred and tongue and
people." And in taking the New Testament for his guide, in pondering
the acts and teachings of Jesus and his Apostles, he would begin to
understand that there was method and order in connection with that
Gospel; that it consisted of a series of principles, of ideas, and
thoughts and practices, which were intended to work out some desired
end. Hence it was said that the Gospel in ancient times "was the power
of God unto salvation." It was an important thing, it was something of
value; it was something calculated to affect a man's interests in time
and in eternity, it was "the power of God unto salvation;" and I do
not think that in any other recognized record are we so likely to find
a portrayal of that Gospel in its purity and original simplicity as in
the record called the New Testament. When we come to search that, we
realize that Jesus professed to be the Son of God. He encouraged his
followers to exercise faith in his rather, and in regard to his works
he told them that he "did nothing of himself, but that which he had
seen the Father do that did he," and that which he did before his
Apostles, and which he commanded them to do, was according to the
commandments which he had received of the Father. I think the
Christian world will be willing to acknowledge that this faith in God
was a principle which was calculated to enhance the welfare of the
human family. It was calculated to infuse high and lofty thoughts into
the man or woman who accepted it; faith in the existence of God, faith
that they were his children; faith that he was alive to their
interests; faith that he was able to teach them the purpose of their
existence, and the design that he had in their creation, faith that he
was able to hear and answer their prayers. And the man who enjoyed
this faith in God after he had been taught it was a man who was likely
not only to feel higher conceptions in regard to humanity, so far as
he himself was concerned, but there would be bound to spring up in his
heart feelings, growing out of this, in regard to his brother-man, and
to his sister, woman; he would be bound to look upon them with more
regard for their interests, well-being and salvation upon the earth,
than he would have done without this conception. He would be
interested in the moral, mental and spiritual condition of his
neighbor; he would be interested in imparting to his neighbor the
truth, and thus the spirit of faith in God would begin to spread and
exercise a salutary influence wherever it was felt among those who
received it.

vol. 23, p.3
And Jesus was not satisfied only with teaching this faith in God, but
he realized that there would grow out of it these or similarly certain
principles of action with regard to the conduct of those who received
it. A man would begin to realize that inasmuch as he was a child of
God, that he had in many respects been unworthy of that position, that
he had been guilty of many acts both of commission and omission that
were derogatory to such origin, and he would naturally begin to
repent, to be sorry for having committed himself in this way and not
to be sorry only, but to lay everything of this character aside in
order that he might stand approved of God His Heavenly Father. Hence
there would grow out of faith the spirit of repentance for past sins,
and then it was found that there was an ordinance in the Gospel by
which through [p.4] divine appointment, a man was enabled to receive
the "remission of his sins," consequent on the sacrifice that was to
be offered on Calvary. That ordinance of the Church, as established by
Jesus, was the ordinance of water baptism for the remission of sins.
This was one of the principles of the Gospel, one of the principles of
salvation, one of the steps in the educational process of those who
submitted themselves to the authority of the Great Teacher, Jesus
Christ. Now there is a vast diversity of opinion in the Christian
world in regard to baptism, but this diversity we need not stop to
consider. We can take the New Testament, and see what is laid down
there upon the subject. Some think baptism unimportant. Christ,
however, evidently thought it important. In speaking to Nicodemus, he
said, "Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God." And when he commissioned his Apostles
to preach the Gospel, they went forth among the people, "baptizing
them in water, confessing their sins." Indeed, there are illustrations
in abundance of this fact, that will be familiar to all the students
of the New Testament. The great Apostle Peter, who appeared to have
been the master spirit of the Church on the day of Pentecost, when men
began to inquire what they should do to be saved, answered the
inquirers in this way, "Repent and be baptized every one of you, in
the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." This was the ancient order; this
was the order established by Jesus, and the presumption is beyond
dispute that if it was necessary for any one single member of that
primitive church, or for any of the Apostles, or for Jesus himself to
be baptized in water, it was necessary for the whole. Hence the
irresistible conclusion is, that every member of the primitive church
was baptized, "buried with him by baptism unto death, that like as
Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so
we also should walk in newness of life." This was one of the doctrines
of the ancient church, and the next doctrine that followed it in the
programme and system of the Gospel was the giving of the Holy Ghost.
Now the scriptures tell us that "the manifestation of the spirit is
given to every man to profit withal." In every land and clime, in all
conditions of the human family, of every color, among the most highly
civilized as among the most degraded, there is given to every man this
measure of the spirit of God to profit withal, and it is in accordance
with his obedience to the measure received of that spirit that he will
be rewarded in the future. But in the Christian church there appears
to have been an order that went in advance of this universal gift of
the spirit. It was called "the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on
of hands." Hence those who are familiar with the New Testament will
realize that when men were baptized they were afterwards confirmed by
"the laying on of hands," and upon that confirmation they received the
Holy Ghost. This Holy Ghost in them was the power of God. It opened up
their minds, it informed their reason, enlarged their capacity, and
enabled them to comprehend, as the scriptures say, the past, present
and future. It was a grand gift, and one essential to salvation. To
one man it gave the spirit of wisdom; to  another the word of
knowledge; to [p.5] another faith; to another the gift of healing; to
another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another
discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues, etc. It was
to them the fountain of divine intelligence and power. And these
manifestations followed the believer everywhere. It harmonized all the
conflicting thoughts and ideas that they might have had in regard to
God, in regard to the institutions with which they were surrounded, in
regard to the duties devolving upon them, in regard to their destiny
in the future. It made them one in Christ Jesus. They were baptized by
one baptism, and they enjoyed one spirit. They were rich in the unity
of the faith. And when men were thus baptized and received this spirit
it was not expected that they should stand strictly upon their own
individuality. They were not left to wander abroad to the right and to
the left, but there appeared to have been in the primitive times a
good deal of what we see in our own day. An organization grew up. they
formed what was called a church. It is called in the New Testament, in
some places "the Church of God," in other places it is called "the
Church of Christ." It was a church composed of those who had thus been
baptized, and thus received of the Holy Ghost. They were united
together for self-defense. They were united in order that they might
be taught by the authorities of that church. They were not taught by
strangers or by men who had never passed through the same gateway and
received the same spirit as themselves, but according to the New
Testament they were taught by Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers
and Evangelists, men who were engaged in the ministry of the Lord
Jesus Christ. These officers were "set in the church," according to
the New Testament, for the edifying of the body, for the training of
the members, until they all came to the unity of the faith and to the
full stature of men and women in Christ. Now, that was a glorious age.
I have heard good men and women, ever since I heard anything, wish
that they had lived in those primitive times. They have said how glad
they would have been to have the privilege of even touching the hem of
the Savior's garment, witnessing his miracles, hearing his teachings,
and to have been obedient to the principles which he taught. Men and
women have said that they would have been glad to have lived in the
Apostolic age; that they would have belonged to the primitive church;
that they would have been in their glory to share in its trials and
persecutions, to have enjoyed its spirit, to have received of its
blessings, and to have acquired the knowledge and intelligence which
accompanied the Priesthood that had control of that special church. I
believe there are thousands everywhere to-day—men who are Elders,
Deacons, Superintendents of Sunday Schools, teachers in Sunday
Schools—who, on reading the history of the past feel that they would
have been glad to have lived in the primitive times and seen the
leaders and apostles of that church. Well, now, these feelings are
natural. We realize the glory and blessing which belong to that
ancient order. But it appears that this order in a great measure has
become obsolete; it has passed away, it is not to be found anywhere in
the form in which it existed anciently. There may be a church that has
faith in God; there may be many churches that include repentance, that
practice baptism; some [p.6] may have faith in baptism for the
remission of sins; there may be here and there men who believe in the
reception of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands; but in its
beautiful primitive order it is nowhere to be found among the children
of men.

vol. 23, p.6
Now, in regard to the angel that should "fly in the midst of heaven,
having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the
earth," it is only reasonable to suppose that when the Gospel is
restored, it will be restored with all its ancient power, blessings,
ordinances, Priesthood, and everything that gave it grandeur and glory
in the primitive times. But now the query is, Has this angel come? If
he has not, are the children of men looking for him? Is there any
anticipation in the midst of the Christian world of his appearance? I
think not. But here among a small section of men and women in the
Rocky Mountains, gathered from all the nations of the earth, there is
an understanding that this angel has come, and should not the world be
pleased at the assumption; for if they are delighted in reading the
account of this angel's probable visitation, why not take comfort and
delight in the thought that angelic visitation may again become
general or partial, as the case of necessity may require. Here, then,
we have a little nucleus of men and women who say this angel has come
in the 19th century, in the "dispensation of the fulness of times;"
that he has brought with him and given to those who are preaching it,
the "everlasting Gospel" as it existed in the ancient times; that in
their practice they are in the habit of exercising faith in God, that
they have repented of their sins; that they have been baptized in
water for the promised remission; that they have laid aside their
follies; that they want to free themselves from error and from all
unrighteousness; that they have again identified themselves, as did
the ancient Christians, with the Church, possessing within itself the
ancient organization, the ancient Priesthood, the ancient authority to
teach, to lead, and to govern and control, until all the obedient come
again to the unity of the faith. Now if the Christian world take joy
and satisfaction in reading ancient history or prospective history; if
there are thousands of longing hearts in every denomination who say
they would have rejoiced to have lived in the ancient times, to have
listened to the teachings of the authorities of the primitive church,
and to have shared in its blessings, etc.; what should be the thought
when they hear again from men passing to and fro in the nations of the
earth declaring that the ancient order has been restored; what should
be the thought of men of intelligence, men of reflecting minds, men
that know the merits and demerits of the Christian world should not
these hearts leap for joy when they hear that the Gospel has been thus
restored in all its ancient glory?

vol. 23, p.6
The Latter-day Saints testify—it is a standing testimony to the
nations—that this angel spoken of by John, the Revelator, has come to
the human family, that he has brought with him the ancient Gospel, and
that all those who are willing to accept their testimony, to exercise
faith in God, to lay aside their dead works, their foolish notions and
their false traditions, to divest themselves of the errors of the
ages, and  to be baptized and receive the power of the Holy Ghost,
that they shall be as full of [p.7] assurance as were the Saints in
ancient times. For this, the Gospel of the kingdom neither was nor is
a cunningly devised fable, nor was it something got up by the
craftiness of men, but the obedient realized and know that it is "the
power of God unto salvation;" it has come to them not in word only but
in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance; and there are
thousands throughout the length and breadth of the Territory,
thousands throughout the United States, the islands of the sea, and
throughout the nations of the earth, that rejoice in this Gospel. They
are ready to testify that they know that God lives, that Jesus was the
Savior of mankind, that the Gospel in all its pristine purity and
beauty has been restored, and that in our own day all the blessings
and privileges necessary for a complete salvation are offered to
mankind. This may seem a reflection upon the intelligence of ages that
are past and gone. But it is not so. I presume that there are
thousands and millions who have passed away, that did the best they
could, they lived up to the light they had, they sought to please God
in their daily walk and conversation; but the Elders of Israel take
the liberty of pointing out "a more acceptable way," and they are free
to testify and speak of their own knowledge that God has restored the
Gospel and prepared the way for the salvation of all who are willing
to give obedience to that which has been revealed.

vol. 23, p.7
May God enable us to appreciate the day of our salvation and live
according to his design, that we may be saved in his kingdom, is my
prayer, in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Erastus Snow, February 5, 1882

The Indians—The Influence of the Elders Among Them in the
Interest of Peace, Etc.

Delivered at Logan, Sunday Afternoon, February 5th, 1882.

(Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs)

vol. 23, p.7
I am asked to occupy the few minutes yet remaining: If the Spirit
gives me liberty I will pursue the train of thought that has passed
through my mind while Brother Richards has been speaking upon the
spirit that has gone abroad upon the remnants of the house of Israel
who occupy this land, the American Indians whom we understand to be
the descendants of the Nephites, the Lamanites, the Lemuelites and
[p.8] the Ishmaelites who formerly possessed this land, whose fathers
we have an account of in the Book of Mormon. Those who are most
familiar with their history, and with the history of our settlements
in these mountains for the last thirty years—the manner in which we
have sent out our colonies to locate upon the land of the Lamanites:
the manner in which we have treated with them to obtain their consent
and approval to occupy and improve the land which they claim; the
manner in which we have moved among them to maintain ourselves and to
build the towns and cities which are now inhabited by our people
throughout this mountain region: the manner in which we have sent out
missionaries in advance of our colonies to open up the way, carrying
with them the spirit of the holy Gospel, the spirit of peace, the
spirit of love and brotherhood, to endeavor to impress them with the
belief that we were not men of blood, but that we were a people who
cherished and cultivated the spirit of peace; the course we have taken
when difficulties would arise between them and our settlements, which
occasionally would occur through the indiscretion of thoughtless and
selfish men, to settle the same in a friendly, peaceful way, thereby
avoiding bloodshed and war; and the spirit in which we have chastised
them when it became necessary to do so, not in malice nor revenge, but
as a father would chastise his wayward child, and then as soon as
possible pour into their wounds the oil and the wine to heal them up
again—those, I say, who are best acquainted with our labors in this
direction will best appreciate the results.

vol. 23, p.8
I have had much experience during the last twenty years in this
direction; and have, by means of the spirit of the Gospel, averted
much war and bloodshed.

vol. 23, p.8
Wherever our colonies have been sent in advance, their influence has
been felt for good—not alone to them, not only has it tended to
establish confidence and a bond of friendship between the natives and
our colonies, but it has also tended to restrain the uprising in their
hearts to war against the white race, and has thus promoted peace to
our General Government, the misrepresentations and the lying of our
enemies to the contrary notwithstanding.

vol. 23, p.8
We know there are to-day, as there always have been, men who are
suspicious and full of green-eyed jealousy, ever ready to misrepresent
the purest motives of the best people on the earth; and acts of
loyalty and honesty and commendation are construed to be those of
conspiracy and wickedness. And we know too that among this class of
vilifiers and defamers are realty of the clergy, some of whom have
come among us as followers of the meek and lowly Jesus, to bring to us
glad tidings: but being wolves in sheep's clothing they do the work of
their master, and, therefore, they scatter broadcast lies and
defamation. And many newspaper scribblers, who are ever ready to
pander to popular sentiment, whether it be right or wrong, who: know
not the facts in the case, take up and republish to the world those
truths and misrepresentations of the wicked men who are seeking
notoriety at the expense of truth and justice.

vol. 23, p.8
The history of Utah Territory gives the lie to all these
misrepresentations. There is no part of the American continent that
has been peopled and redeemed from its desolated condition with so
little [p.9] bloodshed as Utah. There is no other State or Territory
where the general government has expended so little force, or where so
few lives have been lost in settling a country and maintaining peace
with the Indians as Utah. To-day the American nation is indebted for
the spirit of "Mormonism" that has been diffused through this
mountainous country in the maintainance of peace, and the saving to
the nation of millions of treasure as well as thousands of lives.

vol. 23, p.9
And the wisdom of the Lord, through His servant Brigham Young, in
sending colonies into Arizona, and on the several branches of the
Colorado, also into the San Juan country, as well as on out eastward
borders, may be witnessed to-day in the influence that is exerted by
our people to check the spirit of war and bloodshed among the Navajoes
and the Utes and the Apaches. The wars that have troubled the country
during the last four or five years in Colorado, New Mexico and
Arizona, have been, to my certain knowledge, greatly mitigated by the
presence of our colonies on their borders, and by the labors of our
missionaries among the Indians. During those two years I have spent
considerable time in visiting those colonies, and have, therefore,
been brought in contact with many of the nations of the different
tribes when they have been visiting colonies and missionary stations.
And so has Elder Woodruff and some others of the Quorum of the Twelve.
And I am a witness to this fact, that in every instance where the
influence of our missionaries and our colonies has been exerted upon
these fallen people, their chiefs have been imbued with the spirit of
peace, and they in turn have exerted their influence on the side of
peace to allay the uprising of their more bloodthirsty brothers. And
when they have been almost on the point of joining distant war-like
bands engaged in hostilities against the Government, and have come to
us to know our views and to seek our counsel, our advice has always
been in the interest of peace, in the spirit of kindness; we have
always taught them to restrain their hostile feelings, and have
portrayed to them the benefits of peace, forbearance and
longsuffering, and advised them to endure what they considered wrong
rather than to attempt to redress their wrongs in their feeble,
helpless condition, by taking up arms against the strong and powerful
government of the United States; and besides, that it was displeasing
to God our heavenly Father, that they should shed the blood of man.
Such is the character of the teachings and counsels of our leading men
of the various settlements to the Indians, and of our missionaries who
are sent among them.

vol. 23, p.9
And I have had the testimony, during the last two years, of many of
our presiding Elders and Indian missionaries—and they are men, I know,
whose word may be relied upon, and who are themselves, I know, the
true friends of the Indians, and are laboring for their welfare—they
assured me that had it not been for this influence, the young men of
the Navajoes would have been fighting with the Utes in Colorado during
the last war, and that many more of the Apaches would have been on the
war-path with the late Victorio in new Mexico.

vol. 23, p.9
And here let me say, the last outbreak of the Apaches last fall, was
forced upon them by the foolish and ruthless procedure of some of the
officers at Camp Apache, greatly to [p.10] the disgust of every
thinking man acquainted with the affairs of that country. It was no
more nor less than an attempt to make a great national affair out of a
little, harmless, religious enthusiasm that sprang up among that
tribe. Once in a while the indians become very much excited over some
local prophet; and it was merely an event of this nature that led to
the late Apache war; the interference of the troops to quell their
religious enthusiasm. And I want to say that a general war all through
these eastern mountains and Arizona was imminent last September and
October, and have no doubt would have broken out, had it not been for
the presence and influence of our colonies extended along their
immediate borders, which are presided over by careful, wise men, and
their intercourse and labors among the Indians; and for the
conservative influence of those chiefs and leading Apaches that
Brother Woodruff visited and preached the Gospel to two years ago, and
whom I and some half-dozen of our brethren visited and labored with
three years ago last summer, which had the tendency to restrain the
uprising of their more hot-headed brethren and of quelling it. They
did more than all the troops from California, New Mexico and Eastern
Arizona in bringing about peace.

vol. 23, p.10
The influence of those friendly Indians, who had listened to the
counsels of our missionaries and our leading men in that country, and
to Brother Woodruff, who went through the mountains to hunt up the
bands that had hidden, and who were procuring ammunition and otherwise
preparing for war—I say, their influence was felt for good, as was
fully attested by their success in bringing the hostiles in by
hundreds in the vicinity of Cooley's ranch and elsewhere, and in
allaying the warlike spirit among the Indians generally around Camp
Apache; and thus in a quiet way bringing about peace and preventing a
general war.

vol. 23, p.10
I know these things are true. I was posted every day, being at the
time on the Little Colorado, and in company with President Jesse N.
Smith, who was in communication with our brethren on the borders of
those hostile Indians, who had messengers going and coming every day
to and from them bearing counsels of peace; and I know that the
prayers of our people ascended to the Father in the interest of peace,
that the counsels of peace might prevail among them; and I know too
that our prayers, together with the good influences that had been
exerted, did prevail on behalf of the Saints of that region of
country. And I know and can testify that the influence of our
interpreters and discreet, Indian men and missionaries, whom we have
located on the San Juan River, between the Navajoes and the Ute
reservations, who have been there during the last three years, as also
those on the south of the Navajoe reservation, and between the
Navajoes, and the Apaches on the various branches of the Little
Colorado, I know that their influence and the effect of their
teachings and counsels upon the Lamanites is in the interest of peace
between the white race and the Indians of that country.

vol. 23, p.10
I feel it a pleasure to be able to speak knowingly of these things,
and hope that this spirit of peace may extend throughout the land.
Amen. [p.11]

John Taylor, November 9, 1881

The Settling of Southern Utah—Building of the Temple, Etc.

Delivered in the St. George Tabernacle, Wednesday Evening,
Nov. 9th, 1881.

(Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs)

vol. 23, p.11
I feel pleased to have the opportunity of again meeting with you.
There are many things that if I had time, I should like to talk about.
However, there were one or two statements, that I made yesterday,
which I will further explain. In speaking of the position of the
people and of their settlements in this southern country, I then
stated that President Young did not make any mistake in laying out a
city here, nor in building a Temple here; that it was quite as
important a move as any that could have been made in the interests of
the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth. If I were to enter into
the details of that move I should speak of it perhaps in a two-fold
capacity; but I will speak for a short time, at least, upon some of
the leading features associated with the position that we occupy here
in these valleys of the mountains.

vol. 23, p.11
We are quite a long distance from the outside world. It is true there
are railroads and more are being made; and it is right there should
be. That is their part of the business. In this way, and in many
instances, they are assisting us to build up the kingdom of God, but
they don't know it. If they did they would not like to do it.

vol. 23, p.11
The position that we occupy in these valleys of the mountains, is a
very peculiar one. When we came up here the first place that was
designated was Salt Lake City. President Young said that he had a
manifestation that that was the place. There was a valley, a very good
valley, a comparatively rich valley, a valley that was well watered, a
valley that could be irrigated without much labor, where the streams
were quite easy of access and where a small community could easily
raise their sustenance; and this we did. Now, had we landed in a place
like this at first, it would have been more difficult, people would
have become more discouraged, and some of them felt very much
discouraged as it was—some going to California because everything
looked so forbidding. Yet others thought it would be a pleasant place
to reside in, a place where a living could be as easily obtained as in
most other places, except we go to some of the rich lands of Missouri,
Illinois, Iowa, etc. But there were other circumstances associated
with these things that would have made it difficult for us to sustain
ourselves even in those places. For instance we lived in a rich land
back in Missouri. Everything there seemed to grow at a very rapid
rate, everything increased very fast. I have heard some [p.12] people
tell such big stories about the productiveness of that country that I
have sometimes been afraid to tell what I myself knew of it, for fear
that people would not believe me. For instance, I have seen fields of
corn that a regiment of soldiers could ride into and they would be out
of sight; and I have seen beans grow where corn has been planted where
the corn stalks have served as bean poles; and I have seen pumpkins
and squash grow among them, three crops growing the same year and at
the same time. That country, nevertheless, has many drawbacks. In that
country we were very unhealthy. We were subject to what is called
fever and ague every year; in fact, in the spring we used to think we
did well if we didn't happen to die off in the fall. Why could we not
stop there? Because the land was too good, and we were easy of access
to men desirous to possess our property, and they told us to move on,
and we had to go. We had to leave Missouri, and I suppose God intended
to try the Saints, to let them pass through certain kinds of
experience and place them in a position that they would have to lean
on Him. Some of the people rebelled against these things in their
feelings. Among the rest, I remember being much shocked at the remarks
of Sidney Rigdon after he had been imprisoned with the Prophet Joseph
in Richmond jail, as well as many others. I visited them in jail, and
Sidney Rigdon made a remark soon after he got out, to the effect that
if God did not care anything more about us than He seemed to do, that
if He allowed us to be hauled around as we had been, he did not care
about serving such a God. That is, he found the trials were heavier
for him than he was capable of bearing, notwithstanding that he had
seen the Lord and had had visions pertaining to the celestial,
terrestial and telestial kingdoms, in which he had seen the position
of men in the future, and the purposes of God regarding the nations of
the earth, and had borne testimony of it in connection with Joseph
Smith, as we find recorded in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. Yet
when trials came his knees faltered, and the knees of many others have
faltered in the same way. Now, we talk about lands, good rich land.
Why did we not stay in Missouri? Because people would not let us. It
was just so in Illinois. Why did we leave there? Because, as I have
heard Brother George A. Smith say, we left because we could not help
ourselves; at least, that was the purport of his saying. I think the
Lord was very merciful to us in Salt Lake Valley. I believe we landed
just in the right place. The people commenced to establish themselves;
they began to find that they could raise crops there, and that the
land was very productive. We stayed there for a while and began to
make little settlements and little excursions out into the surrounding
country. The people had all kinds of difficulties. I remember once, in
Bountiful, there were three or four families went up to settle there,
and they felt that there was not enough water, and that they could
hardly get along. They got to quarreling about water rights, as we do
sometimes. I do not know of much quarreling down here; I do not think
you have as much water to quarrel over as they had. Afterwards
President Young was moved upon to begin to make settlements in  other
places. We had now obtained a foothold. We had a place where we could
raise all the grain [p.13] necessary for our sustenance, where we
could raise sheep, cattle, etc. We pushed out to Ogden on the one hand
and to Provo on the other, and then occupied some of the best places
in Salt Lake Valley, in Utah Valley, and on the Weber. We began to
increase; more immigrants came in, and others began to come from
above. Things went on. A Temple was started there, but it seemed to
progress very slowly; as well it might when, we consider the
substantial nature of the building. When we started, we had nothing
but wagons to haul the rock on, and they were very big rock, if you
remember. Those rocks had to be hauled about 17 miles in those wagons,
and owing to the liability of the wagons to break (town, this work
gave us a great deal of trouble. To-day, and right along for a number
of years past, since the railroad has been built, it is not uncommon
to bring in some three or four car loads at a time, delivering the
rock in the Temple yard. Then it was thought best to commence down
here. Why? Let me tell you some other things and show you about the
settlements north and south, and especially south. If you remember,
Brother Geo. A. Smith, as much as 25 years ago—I don't remember
exactly how long—came down and made a settlement at Parowan, and
another at Cedar—and here is Brother Henry Lunt present, who was one
of that number. He came to Cedar at that time, and they tried to start
iron works at that place. And then Brother Joseph Horne and some
others were sent down to see if cotton could not be raised in this
district of country in the hope that something could be done whereby
we might produce the raw material for the manufacture of our clothes,
and they stayed a little while somewhere not far from here, some five
miles south on the Santa Clara, I am told. There was a rich little
settlement up there. Some time after, a great deal of it was washed
away. I remember the struggles Brother George A. used to have. He
labored under difficulties, being so very heavy, and not as active as
most men; but he was a man of great energy. He would come down here
and bring a few men, and would settle them down and go back again. By
and by he would bring some more down, all that he could pick up that
would volunteer. By the time he came down again, he would find half of
the others had gone. They did not want to stop. They thought the land
was set up on edge and had never been finished, and they had all kinds
of notions. Then he would return to the city, and drum up a few more
recruits, and take them down; and by the time he got here he would
find that a good many of those he left had also gone. Finally, they
became weeded out and left, until he got a lot of folks who, if they
had considered it a duty to go on to a barren rock and stay there
until they should be instructed to leave, would have done it. It
needed just such an element to come to this country. What Brother Snow
said here, referring to the sad fact of there being such a number of
widows in this place whose husbands had gone to their graves through
having worked themselves to death, was perfectly true; but, then, we
don't want to cry about it. We may as well laugh as cry about the
past. You have done a great deal of hard work. In coming down from
Pine Valley we found immense dugways in the most forbidding places,
and it has required all the perseverance, energy, intelligence [p.14]
and faith of even those men who were capable of living on a dry
rock—it required the combined energy of the whole to accomplish these
things, and a good deal of faith too.

vol. 23, p.14
Still President Young urged forward the people; Brother Geo. A. Smith
and Brother Erastus Snow urged them forward, and others urged them
forward, and there was a general feeling to build up this southern
country. Finally it was found that our Temple in Salt Lake City would
take such a long time to build, it was thought best to erect one down
here. Why? Because there was a people living here who were more worthy
than any others. Who were more worthy of the blessings of a Temple
than those who had displayed the self-abnegation exhibited by the
pioneers of the south? God inspired President Young to build a Temple
here because of the fidelity and self-abnegation of the people; and,
furthermore that there might be an asylum here for those living
further south to be administered to in the holy ordinances of God. I
speak this for your credit—not that all of you are of that class, but
let those that are worthy take the credit, and those that are not,
need not take it. This Temple was built and we went into it, and a
great many thousands of people have been administered to, and for,
within its walls. People have administered for themselves and for
their progenitors. Over 150,000 people, Brother McAllister says, have
been administered for in this Temple. Don't you think it is worth
while building a Temple where such a work can be done? If life is
worth anything, if salvation is worth anything, if the life of our
friends and brethren with whom we shall be associated in the kingdom
of God, is worth anything, then I think a good work was done in the
building of this Temple. In other words, it was a wise move. Why?
Because it helped to sustain this part of the country. Means were
brought from other places down here to supply the people with means
and labor, thus it has been a blessing both to the living and the
dead. You men who comprehend things aright, you would not take in
exchange anything that could be conferred upon you for the blessings
you have received in that Temple.

vol. 23, p.14
There were then blessings of a temporal nature, as well as of a
spiritual nature, connected with the labor performed in the building
of that house. There was another thing. In establishing the kingdom of
God it was necessary that there should be a strong place somewhere
here between the land south and the land north. It was necessary that
there should be a foothold here all through these valleys of the
mountains between Salt Lake City and north of Salt Lake City clear
away, as you have heard President Young say, on the backbone of the
American continent. And why? We make remarks sometimes, but I always
like to get at the bottom of them. Why is it better for us to be here
than to be somewhere else? If we had been in Missouri we should have
been mobbed and robbed long ago. If we had been anywhere in Central
America or South America where we could have been reached, our
Christian friends would have come there and stolen what we had from
us. But, furthermore, President Young, who was governed by the
inspiration of the Spirit of God in leading the people forth in the
way he did, expected that these railroads that are now coming would
come along. Years ago I expected the same thing, because I saw them at
work here,  [p.15] and clear away into Mexico. I had it manifested to
me, and Brother George Q. Cannon, here has heard me speak about the
matter. Did'nt you Brother Cannon? (Brother Cannon: Yes, sir.) At that
time I was very sick. I told President Young of some things that I
then believed would take place, among the rest was this railroad
building. And if there had not been some pretty strong places, such as
a settlement on Salt Creek, a settlement at Beaver, a settlement at
Parowan, a settlement down here, etc., we never would have been able
to carry out the will of God, and we should have been in a different
position with regard to other settlements further south than we are
to-day. Now your young men are beginning to say, they want room. There
is plenty of room south. Here is Brother Snow, who has been working
like a beaver, and there are others, who are doing the same,
establishing settlements in the various valleys south, in Arizona, in
Colorado, and all through this southern country, until we now occupy,
as I have stated in other places, some 800 miles of country in a
direct line, running north and south.

vol. 23, p.15
What did we have when we left Nauvoo? Not much. Any property to spare?
I think not. I think many of us would have gone without shoes, without
clothing, unless God had interposed in a miraculous manner in sending
down—I was going to say, a shower of clothing. You remember that
Brother Kimball prophesied at a certain time that clothing would be as
cheap here as in the East. Regarding this some people felt a good deal
like the man did when Elijah prophesied about a measure of meal being
sold for so much. Says one man; if the heavens were to open this could
not happen; but it did happen; and the other happened that Brother
Kimball talked about. When the gold fever burst out, people brought
clothing by the wholesale and sold it for a mere song, and let you
sing the song; until the wants of the people were all supplied. Who
supplied them? These men. Did they want to do it? No, it was the Lord
who controlled these matters. He started up this feeling which brought
the people here, and they acted more like crazy men than any I ever
saw. They were ready to give us their goods almost for nothing. The
Saints at that time in Salt Lake City were supplied with all the
necessaries of life brought by traders whom they knew nothing about,
and they traded off their cattle and their horses and anything these
people could pack away. Here was a manifestation of the work of the
Lord, of the will of God, and the protecting care of our heavenly
Father over His Saints.

vol. 23, p.15
As I told you yesterday we have traveled among the Saints and found
thousands of happy homes, good farms, good gardens and orchards,
cattle, sheep, horses, etc., and that the people generally are now in
a very prosperous condition. What has it originated from? We certainly
did not bring it about. God has blessed our labors on the land and
increased the water for our sake.

vol. 23, p.15
Now, having said so much upon this subject I will turn to our
political position. We have already made in Salt Lake City numbers of
very nice places. You have also got some very beautiful buildings
here. I am sorry to see so much saleratus yet in the land; I wish you
had a little easier times; but while I am inclined to sympathize with
you, yet I do not want my sympathy to  overcome my [p.16] judgment
about matters of this kind.

vol. 23, p.16
Now we have really the foundation for a prosperous State. We started
with nothing a little while ago. I think we have made pretty well at
it. You have had hard times; still you are living and thriving: there
are none of you naked or without shoes, hats or bonnets. You seem to
be provided with a great many of the good things of this life. You
seem to be doing tolerably well. I know very well that you have a hard
struggle to make two ends meet; I understand it. gut there is one
advantage you have—no one will want to steal away your place from you;
will they? (Laughter.) I do not think they would want to carry it off.
I do not think they would want to drive you away because of your
extraneous wealth; consequently; you are free from this trouble. That
is not the fix of the nations of the earth. Go to some of the nations
to-day and look at their condition. Take England for instance; they
are prospering very well, but look at the trouble they have had in
Ireland. They have tried to benefit that people in one way or another,
but they seem to spurn those benefits, and are inclined to stir up
commotion which is not unlikely to end in bloodshed. We are not
troubled in that way. In Russia, look at the horrible condition they
are in. They have secret societies, as spoken of in the Book of
Mormon. They are engaged in all kinds of plots, plans and
calculations. They have tried to kill their present Czar, after having
asassinated his father. There seems to be a feeling of uneasiness and
trouble among the nations. Then again, in Turkey, they have had a
great deal of trouble there. It has leaked out lately that the Sultan,
who was said to have died a natural death, was strangled, and they
have lately been prosecuting his assassins. There are terrible
forebodings among the nations of the earth because of troubles that
seem to be threatening them. Here we have had our own President
killed, and a little while ago President Lincoln was assassinated, and
there seems to be a spirit of that kind rampant, and it will grow
worse and worse. Not long ago in Pittsburg there was a shocking state
of things, where they burnt up and destroyed property to the amount of
three millions of dollars or more. We have apparently prosperous
times. There is now a lull in the storm, but it is only a lull to
burst out more violently by and by. You will see it. There are
elements at work to uproot the government and destroy the foundation
of society, and to take away the rights of men and pull down the
bulwarks of this government, and scatter to the four winds the
principles by which it has been governed, and to let loose the wildest
passions of men. These are some of the things that are taking place.
These are the elements that are at work to-day. They are running
around, and through, and among the people almost everywhere. And it
will not be long before there is trouble again in the United States.
These inflated times will by and by bring about a great reaction, and
then there will be trouble and difficulty; and so these things will
continue to increase.

vol. 23, p.16
Now, we are here in the tops of the mountains, far away from these
things. We are here learning· the laws of life and the principles of
truth, and we are here as saviors upon Mount Zion, operating in the
interests of humanity, sending forth missionaries to the nations of
the earth, gathering people together; [p.17] and when they are
gathered together, we build temples and administer in them. We are
here, forming closer connections with the heavens, with God our
Heavenly Father, with Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, and with
the ancient Apostles, Prophets and men of God. We are here
participating in some of the greatest blessings that ever were
conferred upon mankind since the world was formed. We are here as
those that God has selected from the nations of the earth, that He may
plant among us the principles of eternal truth, and that we may
operate with Him and with the Priesthood behind the vail in the
interests of all humanity that have ever lived upon the face of the
earth. We are a blessed people if we could only comprehend our
position. And we need not be too anxious about the affairs of the
world. Men of wealth, men of standing, men of position, men who stand
in high places, are beginning to tremble and quake everywhere. They
are looking forward with terrible forebodings to something that they
fear is coming upon the earth. They do not know what it is, but it
will burst upon them and their forebodings will be realized.

vol. 23, p.17
But we will look at this matter again. Could we be in a better place?
I think not. Let me show you the reason for that. We are a very small
people, and we are in the midst of a very large people. We occupy
these valleys among these rugged mountains, and we dwell in deserts,
and in many of the most forbidding places. We see people living in
little places, on little streams of water trickling along, and
perhaps all of it would go through an inch pipe without much pressure,
 and they are professing to farm and raise fruits, vegetables and
vines in such places, wrenching their living from the barren desert
soil. And they do live, but it is hard sledding, and there is a great
deal of it here. Now then, go over the ground we have traveled to get
here, say starting from Utah County to Juab, from Juab to Fillmore,
from Fillmore to Beaver, from Beaver to Parowan, and so on down
through here, and among these rocks where little settlements are
placed, and up and down your rivers, how very, very few comparatively
they are. Yet what an extent of land, is there not? We occupy the
country it is true; but I tell the people sometimes that our mountains
have very large feet, and that our deserts occupy very large tracks of
land. But wherever there is a habitable place, Latter-day Saints are
living on it, and consequently living in these little places they
control the mountains and the country. Is not that a fact? And suppose
we did not have these little forbidding, barren places, the little
springs and little rivulets that come along reminding one of oases in
the deserts—if we did not have them we could not have the country, but
we have them and God has given us possession of them. If we had not
possessed these narrow valleys and defiles they would have been in the
possession of bands of Gadianton robbers, who would have preyed upon
the people and their property, as "cowboys" and guerillas are now
doing in Arizona. But our possessing them gave strength and protection
to our more important settlements.

vol. 23, p.17
We have paid for what we have got. I expect your land is all entered
here?

vol. 23, p.17
Answer—Yes, sir.

vol. 23, p.17
You have paid for the land then, and you have paid for it up here in
Pine Valley. There is a big [p.18] mountain between, and you own that
in the bargain, and all those sane ridges and rough places, including
Jacob's Twist are thrown in for nothing. You own the country here and
there and all the way through. How far is it from these mountains to
Kanab?

vol. 23, p.18
Answer.—About 80 miles, sir. 

vol. 23, p.18
The most of it is mountainous. But there are little places here and
there which enable you to control all of it; the mountains are thrown
in as chips and whetstones. It is the same all the way from here to
Nephi; there are little places here and there; we own them and have
got our titles for them, and we are the owners of the soil and the
mountains are thrown in. So that owing to the small quantity of land
we have been compelled by circumstances to go into Idaho, Arizona and
Colorado. We cannot hide from ourselves that these things give us some
political rights in these places; but who are we injuring, whose
political or religious liberties are infringed upon by us? Nobody's!
If we live on and conquer those forbidden districts we ought not to be
begrudged the limited influence that those positions naturally award
us; and while we do not interfere with others and their political
arrangements, we think we ought to possess that meagre share that
these forbidding circumstances place in our possession.

vol. 23, p.18
There is another remarkable thing. Who is it that we are to thank for
this? The Lord. Did he inspire President Brigham Young in these
things—to occupy these places! Yes. Is it right for us to occupy them?
Yes. Is it right for us to build temples? Yes. Is it right for us to
administer in them? Yes. Is it right for us to seek to establish the
kingdom of God on the earth? Yes. Is it right for us to seek wisdom
from God to do it? Yes. That is what we have been doing for a great
many years and we are doing it to-day. Here is Brother Cannon. He is
going to Washington as our representative in the general government.
Only think about it. Here is a Territory several hundred miles long
and I do not know how wide. Let me see (the speaker turning and
addressing himself to President Cannon) George, how many
representatives have they in Congress?

vol. 23, p.18
Answer: 293 representatives and 9 delegates.

vol. 23, p.18
And then there is the Senate? 

vol. 23, p.18
Answer: 76 members.

vol. 23, p.18
And we, a little people in the valleys of these mountains, right in
the tops of these mountains, in the midst of 50 millions of people,
all the representation we have is just one delegate, and he has not a
right to vote! And yet what have they done to us? Not much. Have they
been plotting against us? Yes, they have. Are they seeking to injure
us to-day? Yes. Who? All classes of men, and especially the religious
kind. Our feeling is to save people, not to curse them. It must be a
miserable feeling for men to have when they are seeking to destroy
their fellow-men, yet they are doing it. It is because they have not
the intelligence to cope with the principles that God has revealed to
us, that they want to drag the strength of the government to put down
by arms that which they have not the power to do by argument or on any
just or regular principle. I would be ashamed if I were one of them; I
would be ashamed if I could not do something else besides praying to
destroy a few, weak people in the tops of the mountains of Utah, far
away from everybody, and [p.19] pretending that we are so awfully
corrupt that they are afraid we shall demoralize them. God save the
mark! They themselves are killing off their own children by tens of
thousands and by hundreds of thousands before they are born. That is
the feeling that is growing up among them. It is adultery,
fornication, lasciviousness that is undermining the constitutions of
the people. They are rotting by thousands and tens of thousands, and
they will come here and preach morality to us. We do not want them. We
tell them to go among their own lepers and cleanse their own social
evils, sweep out their own Augean stables, and purify themselves from
their own corruptions, and then come and talk purity to us. That is
what I would say to those people. We understand them as well as they
understand themselves, and for that reason we do not want any of that
kind of hypocrisy here.

vol. 23, p.19
Now, then, we come to ourselves. We are here. Could we have been
placed in any better position than we are today? No. What has been the
object of God for sometime? In the first place He operated upon
Columbus to come and find this land. He then operated upon the
Puritans and other men in England and other places to come to this
land, and many of them were good, honorable, high-minded, virtuous
people. The grandfathers and grandmothers of this nation were not
murderers; they did not murder infants; they were honorable people who
cherished human life, and considered it a blessing to have a large
posterity and to take care of them. The spirit of the early fathers
was, if their land was poor they could raise men. What are they doing
now? Raising murderers and murderesses. From among those people and
from Europe and other parts the Saints have been gathered. The Lord is
gathering them together, and His kingdom is spreading and growing, and
it is our privilege to grow and expand with it, and we should be true
to ourselves, be true to our religion, be true to God, and operate in
the interests of humanity. We could not find a better place for
Latter-day Saints than in these valleys of the mountains, nor in those
rugged parts further south. We expect to go on and to increase and
seek to the Lord for his guidance, protection and sustenance, while we
must learn to do right and observe his laws and keep his commandments.
The kingdom of God is onward. It is accelerating in its speed. God has
called the First Presidency, the Twelve, High Priests, Seventies,
Elders, Bishops, High Councilors, Priests, Teachers and Deacons—he has
called upon them to devote themselves to him. He expects us to be
willing in the day of his power. He expects us to be true to our
integrity, and having taught us eternal principles, he expects that we
shall have the law of God written in our hearts and be valiant for the
truth and for God. God and all the intelligences that he is surrounded
with are on our side and are enlisted in our protection and for the
sustenance of this people; and for the rolling forth of his work, and
the accomplishment of the objects that he designed in the introduction
of the Gospel in the last days, even in the dispensation of the
fulness of times, when he would gather all things into one. Being
called to live in a land like this, in the midst of rugged mountains
and barren deserts we will sing, "For the strength of the hills we
bless thee, our God, our fathers' God;" for the wisdom Thou hast
[p.20] displayed we praise Thee, O God, our fathers' God. And we will
be true to God, to our religion and will keep our covenants; we will
maintain strict integrity to our vows which we have vowed in sacred
places; we will follow the guidance of the Holy Priesthood, and God
will lead us from strength to strength, from victory to victory, from
power to power, until the kingdom of God shall be established, and no
man can stay its progress to-day, God being our helper. Let us go to
him and put our trust in him, and all will be well with us in time and
through all eternity.

vol. 23, p.20
Brethren: God bless you, and prosper you in all your journeyings, and
enable you to accomplish your object, and frustrate all the designs of
your enemies, and let all the congregation say, Amen [the congregation
responded, Amen.] May God bless this people. Hold on a little longer,
for this motto which I see in your house will be fulfilled, "After the
cloud there will be sunshine." Amen.

John Taylor, December 11, 1881

Travels of the First Presidency and the Twelve—Temporal and 
Spiritual Condition of the Saints—Their Educational
Progress—Temple Building, Its Object—Organization of the 
Priesthood, Its Duties—The Gathering and General Duties 
of the Saints of God, Their Ultimate Destiny.

Delivered in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City, 
Sunday After-Noon, December 11, 1881.

Reported by John Irvine

vol. 23, p.20
I am pleased to have the opportunity of meeting with and addressing
the Saints in this place. Since our last Conference I have traveled a
great deal among the Saints in different parts of the Territory, in
part accompanied by some of my counsel and the Twelve. Personally
within a short time I have visited all the leading settlements of the
Saints both north and south, east and west, and it may not be
uninteresting to you to hear a brief statement of the position which
the Saints occupy in their various locations and settlements; because
we all of us feel more or less interested in the welfare of all. It
was in view of this that I felt a desire to visit the Saints at their
own homes, to associate with them at their own firesides, or  at least
to meet them in their public assemblies. It has been very interesting
to myself and [p.21] accompanying brethren to find out the true
position which the Saints occupy, to know what their standing is in
relation to their religious views and sentiments, and also to
ascertain their moral status and how they conduct themselves not only
religiously but socially. And then another thing that we felt desirous
to understand was the true educational condition of the Saints; and
what they were doing to enlighten the minds of the youth and to train
them in the right paths, and how far literature, science and those
principles of intelligence which are calculated to exalt and ennoble
men when under proper influences, prevailed among our people, and in
what manner they deported themselves in regard to all these things. We
have felt the more desirous to do this because many of the Saints live
far from the seat of the Presidency of the Church. I suppose so far as
we have been in this Territory, in the adjoining Territory of Idaho,
in some portions of Wyoming, and in other portions south, that we have
not traveled less than from 500 to 600 miles in a direct course north
and south, besides visiting nearly all the prominent settlements east
and west, and our feeling and impressions after visiting the whole of
the Saints in all of their locations are to us very interesting and
encouraging. So far as the temporal position of the people is
concerned, they seem to be in possession of a reasonable share of the
good things of life; their habits of industry and perseverance, their
self-abnegation, the desire to comprehend and sustain correct
principles, together with the blessing of the Almighty, have tended to
promote their welfare in a temporal point of view.

vol. 23, p.21
We do not find so really very wealthy people as there are in some
communities, but our people, so far as our observation goes (and we
have had a pretty fair opportunity of investigating all these
matters), are second to none in regard to the comforts, conveniences
and necessaries of life; and perhaps there is no place nor people (at
least, none that I have any knowledge of, and I have traveled quite
extensively myself in the world), that are better situated as a whole
than are the Latter-day Saints in this and the adjoining territories,
nor where more of the people dwell in their own homes. We find
thousands upon thousands of happy homes, and the people that inhabit
them are sober, industrious, frugal and God-fearing, feeling a strong
desire to observe the laws and keep the commandments of the Lord; and
notwithstanding the many aspersions cast upon them by wicked and
designing men, they nevertheless evince a strong desire to observe the
laws and institutions of the land. We find them in possession
generally of good houses, farms, orchards, gardens, and in many
instances, of cattle, sheep, horses, and all the appliances of life
which tend to promote comfort in a social and family capacity. We
find, too, that this season has been a very prosperous one, with very
few exceptions, throughout the length and breadth of the Territory.
The Lord has blessed our labors, exceedingly, and I presume that the
crops, as a general thing, have been increased at least 20 to 25
percent., I think we should be quite safe in saying 20 per cent.; and
this, of course, tends to make existence more pleasant and agreeable,
and to enable the people to more easily struggle in the battle of life
in its various forms and phases. In addition to this we find that they
[p.22] are generally seeking to live their religion and to keep the
commandments of God. And the various organizations which you have
among you here, in this city, prevail throughout all the settlements
of the Saints with very few exceptions, very few indeed. We find that
the Relief Societies which are so active and energetic among you here
and which are operating so creditably in looking after the interest
and welfare of the female portion of our society, also exist all over
the Territory, and that there is a creditable zeal and intelligence
without that obtrusiveness which we see among many—a desire to promote
the well-being of those with whom they are associated, and to make
themselves useful in all the affairs of life: and we feel whenever we
find a disposition of this kind, to appreciate it. We find, also, that
our Young Men's and Young Women's Mutual Improvement Associations
prevail almost everywhere, and that there is a desire to elevate the
youth and lift them up from the sloughs of ignorance and darkness, and
to implant within their minds true and correct principles, putting
them in possession of a knowledge of science, literature, and the
arts, and cultivating those principles that are calculated to elevate
and ennoble mankind, as well as to correct their morals and govern
them in their religious pursuits. We find, also, that their Primary
Associations are attended to with the same vigilance that they are
around us here, and that the most wise, prudent and intelligent ladies
are selected for the purpose of supervising their movements and in
"teaching the young idea how to shoot." We find, also, that throughout
the Territory our Sunday Schools receive that attention which we
consider all such institutions ought to merit and do merit, and that
the best of men and women are selected for their teachers, who, as we
see, take an interest in the welfare of our rising posterity.

vol. 23, p.22
It is not for me to enter into all particulars; I merely wish to give
a brief outline of these matters. All of these institutions that I
have referred to are in a very creditable position; are managed with
great care, and many of your old neighbors who used to live here in
the city, both men and women, and who were known as high-minded,
honorable persons—we find mixed in the various societies throughout
the settlements and organizations, exerting an influence which is
truly interesting to all who feel desirous to promote the welfare of
Zion and the building of the kingdom of God upon the earth. Then,
again, in regard to our scholastic affairs, we find that there is very
great progress being made in our common schools, or rather what are
termed our district schools. We find that a more intelligent class of
teachers is being employed, and that with the operations of the normal
department of the University, with the Brigham Young Academy in Provo,
and other institutions of learning, they are telling very favorably
upon our youth, and as better teachers are obtained, there seems to be
a greater desire manifested among the people to acquire intelligence
of every kind. From the best information that I am able to obtain, I
suppose there are at least thirty normal students turned out every
year. They are prepared in our University and in the other scholastic
institutions referred to, and as these teachers, coming from their own
counties and peoples, return to their several homes, properly
qualified as instructors, they do a great deal of good among the
community.[p.23] 

vol. 23, p.23
In relation to other matters, such as the building of Temples, they
are also progressing very favorably. I need not say anything about the
one we are building here; you are all acquainted with that. The one
which is being built in Logan is now covered in. A large force of
carpenters are engaged in finishing the interior department thereof,
and another year will count very favorably in the work on that
structure. It is a beautiful building, and stands in a very imposing
position on an elevated plateau in Cache County, near Logan. About 200
miles from that, in the south, in Sanpete County, there is another
Temple being built. That also occupies a very eligible position. A
very large amount of labor has been performed in preparing the site.
The point of a mountain has been removed, and a great amount of labor
has been expended on the walls which surround the Temple, forming
nearly a semi-circle. There are three terraces elevated one above
another, the same as the gallery may be elevated above the lower part
of this house; they surround the Temple, being wider, of course, at
the lower part and narrower as they approach towards the Temple. A
very large amount of means and labor have been expended in preparing
these terraces and also in preparing the Temple. The Temple itself is
a beautiful structure. They expect to have the walls up to the square
in another season. I think they have built up the wall this year some
28 feet. It is built of beautiful white rock—or at least very light,
clear rock and is hewn on the outside where the joints come together,
and presents a very beautiful and creditable appearance. It is
interesting, too, to find how strongly the feelings of the people are
drawn out in relation to these edifices. They seem to think that no
sacrifice is too great to accomplish the object which they have in
view; indeed in both of these Temple districts they seem to take very
great pride in prosecuting this labor. I was informed that the
superintendent was a little short of means a short time ago at the
Manti Temple, and he asked if he must slacken the labor. They told him
no, he was to proceed with it, and I think in a very short time a
number of people from different parts subscribed 7,000 bushels of
wheat to assist in the construction of the Temple, and there seems to
be, generally, a strong desire for the accomplishment of this work.

vol. 23, p.23
The religion that we have espoused, connects time with eternity,
heaven with earth, this world with the next, and while the Lord has
revealed unto us what is termed a new Gospel, and hence it is called
the new and everlasting Gospel—new indeed to the people of the world,
but everlasting so far as God is concerned and the interests of
mankind both living and dead; for God is interested in the welfare of
all humanity that has ever lived, that now lives, or that ever will
live. He is, we are told, the God of the spirits of all flesh, and he
has introduced principles which have been made known to us for the
benefit of all. The principles that we are associated with reach back
into eternity and forward into eternity. They are not the ideas, the
theories or notions of men, they emanate from the Almighty. And in
regard to the ideas which have been developed pertaining to the past,
the present and the future, none of us can claim ourselves to be the
founders or the originators of any one idea associated with the Church
and kingdom of God, neither was Joseph Smith, [p.24] neither was
Brigham Young, neither are any of the Twelve, nor is anybody that now
exists or has existed; all of these things come from the Lord. And
having proceded from him he has dictated the whole matter from first
to last. We did not receive our ideas from any theologian, from any
scientist, from any man of renown, or of position in the world, or
from any body or conclave of religionists, but from the Almighty, and
to him we are indebted for all life, all truth, and all intelligence
pertaining to the past, pertaining to the present, or pertaining to
the future. Therefore we feel our dependence upon him. Neither are we
indebted to any man for any doctrine that we have received, nor for
the organization of our Church, nor for the Holy Priesthood, whether
it be the Melchesidec or the Aaronic; all of these proceed from the
Almighty, and if he had not given them we should have been as ignorant
of them as others are, for they do not generally comprehend the law,
the word, the will, or the design of the Almighty; for no man knows
the things of God but by the Spirit of God; and if the Father did not
reveal them we should be very ignorant indeed, as are the rest of
mankind pertaining to these matters. But the time having come to
introduce what is termed, the "dispensation of the fulness of times,"
when God would gather together all things in one, whether they be
things in heaven or things on the earth, it became necessary, because
of the ignorance of men, because they did not comprehend God, nor his
laws, nor the principles of eternal truth, that men should be taught
of the Almighty, that God should be their instructor, and hence he
introduced through the medium of the Holy Priesthood that had existed
heretofore upon the earth, those principles which are calculated to
bless and exalt the human family, prepare them to carry out the word
and will of God, and to accomplish these purposes which he had
designed from before the foundation of the world. Hence he organized
the First Presidency and the Twelve, he organized the Seventies, he
organized Elders, Priests, Teachers, and Deacons, he organized Bishops
and High Councils and all the various adjuncts associated with the
organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And
why, it may be asked, should these institutions be introduced in our
midst? For certain obvious reasons when we reflect upon this
all-important matter. Having revealed his will to man, to Joseph
Smith, as he had done to other men in former ages, it was necessary
that that will should be made known to all nations, kindreds, tongues
and people, that men might be informed of the things that he revealed
for the salvation and exaltation of humanity. Hence the Twelve were
set apart. For what purpose? That they might introduce the Gospel to
the nations of the earth, and preach the principles of life as they
emanate from God. Then the Seventies also were ordained until we now
have upwards of seventy times seventy. What is their business? Under
the direction of the Twelve, to preach the Gospel to the nations of
the earth. Are they doing it? Yes. Have they been doing it? Yes. And
the Twelve? Yes, for these many, very many years, and are still doing
it. We still feel the same responsibility devolving upon us to spread
forth that light, that truth, and that intelligence which has emanated
from God our heavenly  [p.25] Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ.
And these men are going forth bearing precious seeds, even the seeds
of eternal life, and when the people believe the Gospel what do they
do? Their testimony to the people is that God has spoken, that the
Gospel has been restored; they explain what the Gospel is; they call
upon the people to repent and to be baptized in the name of Jesus for
the remission of sins, promising that the obedient shall receive the
Holy Ghost. Do they baptise them? Yes. Do they lay on hands for the
reception of the Holy Ghost? Yes. Do the people receive the Holy
Ghost? Yes, and you here to-day are my witnesses in relation to these
things, and you know what I say is true. And what will the Holy Ghost
do? It takes of the things of God, and shows them unto us; it brings
things past to our remembrance; it leads us into all truth and shows
us things to come. Does it do that? Yes, and it is because of this
principle that the Latter-day Saints feel as they do; having partaken
of the Holy Ghost and tasted the powers of the world to come, and
having received a hope that enters within the vail, whither Christ the
forerunner is gone, and knowing to-day that they are the sons of God,
and that they have rights and privileges pertaining not only to time
but to eternity, they feel to act and operate under the directions of
that spirit. And being partakers of that spirit, there is a
communication opened between them and their heavenly Father through
our Lord Jesus Christ, and being inspired by that spirit, their
prayers ascend unto the God of the whole earth; they learn to place
their confidence in him and to obey his laws; and then having been
baptized into one baptism; they all partake of the same spirit—that
is, those who are living their religion, observing the laws of God and
keeping his commandments, and who have not grieved the Spirit of God,
whereby they are sealed to the day of redemption. Then, that same
spirit that brought them into the Church and led them to obey the laws
of God, led them to gather together as we are here today. It is a
false idea entertained by many very ignorant men that we gather men
together on some kind of emigration principle. The people get the
principle of gathering in their own hearts by the Spirit of God, and
that draws them here. There needs no argument, no influence, no power
of suasion, or anything of the kind to bring them here. Their desire,
when they receive the Gospel, is to come to Zion. And why? That they
may learn more fully of the laws of life. As the scriptures say—"I
will take you one of a city and two of a family, and I will bring you
to Zion. And what will you do with them when you get them to Zion?" "I
will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you
with knowledge and understanding." Hence we have come together as we
are here in this city and in this Territory. Our object is to fear
God, to observe his laws, to magnify our calling, to fulfil our
destiny upon the earth, and to operate with those who are behind the
vail in the interests of humanity, to lay aside our selfishness, our
covetousness, our evils of every kind whatever they may be, and to
purge ourselves from unrighteousness, that we may be fit receptacles
for the Holy Ghost and be prepared to do the will of God on earth as
it is done in heaven. I know a great many men object to us doing this.
No matter; with God's help we will try to do it; no matter [p.26] what
the opinions and ideas, the feelings and theories of men are. God has
laid on us a mission, and in the name of Israel's God we will fulfil
it, and let all Israel say Amen. [The congregation responded aloud,
Amen]. We will try and carry out what God has given us to do, no
matter what men's theories, opinions or ideas may be. We are here,
then, for that purpose. And we feel that God is our heavenly Father;
we feel that we are his children; we feel that we are doing his work
by his assistance, we feel, too, that he is engaged just as much as we
are, and a thousand times more, in carrying on this work, and
therefore we feel easy and satisfied in our minds and know that all is
well. God our heavenly Father, Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant,
the ancient patriarchs and prophets and men of God who have lived upon
the earth years and years ago, Adam the Father of mankind, and Noah,
another great father, and Abraham the father of the faithful, and all
the Prophets, Apostles and men of God who have lived upon the earth
are interested as we are in the welfare of humanity and in seeking to
introduce and carry out the word and will of God which he designed
before the world rolled into existence or the morning stars sang
together for joy. God will accomplish his work and we will try and
help him do it. It needs the co-operation of all these men who have
held this Priesthood, who administer in time and in eternity—it needs
the co-operation of all those and of the Gods in the eternal worlds to
assist us in the labors in which we are engaged. Therefore, God has
introduced the system of things that we have been speaking of for the
purpose of gathering together a people who would listen to his voice
and they are the only people on the earth to-day who will listen
thereto, and then it is as much as the bargain for many of us to do
it. God expects to have a people who will be men of clean hands and
pure hearts, who withhold their hands from the receiving of bribes,
who will swear to their own hurt and change not, who will be men of
truth and integrity, of honor and virtue, and who will pursue a course
that will he approved by the Gods in the eternal worlds, and by all
honorable and upright men that ever did live, or that now live, and
having taken upon us the profession of sainthood, he expects us to be
Saints, not in name, not in theory, but in reality. And then he
expects us to do just what we are doing, that is, to build Temples,
and to preach the Gospel to an unthankful world. Have we done it? Yes,
we have. I have done it. I have, traveled thousands of miles to preach
this Gospel without purse or scrip, trusting in God. Did I ever lack
anything? No. Here is Brother Woodruff, and many other men who have
done just the same thing. High Priests, Seventies, Elders, and others
have gone forth to the world, bearing the precious principles of
eternal life, and have returned again, as the Scripture say, bringing
their sheaves with them. What are we doing besides? Building our
Temples. What for? That we may have places to enter into that are
dedicated to the God of the whole earth.

vol. 23, p.26
The world have forgotten that God is the fountain of all truth, the
source of all intelligence, of everything that is calculated to
elevate and exalt mankind; but we will give to God all the glory. We
are seeking to build up the Zion of our God. And shall we accomplish
it! With the help of the Lord we will; [p.27] Will we all do right ?
No, many will fall by the wayside as they have done; but the work of
God will go on and prosper and increase, and the Lord will be with
Israel if they will only cleave to the truth, obey his laws and keep
his commandments. Are all good? No, you know that many of us do many
things that are far from right. Let me say unto you that our only
safety is in obedience to the laws of God. You need not fear the
clamor that is now being raised against us, nor any of this nonsense,
this spite of the world; you need not fear the illiberality of
religionists who are clamoring to deprive you of your liberties, you
need care nothing about that.

vol. 23, p.27
You all know that they are proclaiming falsehoods against us, and that
we are misrepresented by them. No matter, they are in the hands of
God, and we are in the hands of God; and while we seek to maintain
righteous principles, virtue, purity, and the laws of the land, we can
afford to leave them in the hands of God, and let him be their judge.
Let us be for God, for righteousness, for virtue, for purity, for
truth and integrity, and if our enemies prefer to wallow in their
iniquities, and lend themselves to vice and falsehood, we can stand
these things if they can, it is better to suffer than do wrong. The
Lord will judge both them and us, and all will be well with those who
cleave to the truth. We need not be, troubled about their intrigues
and mendacity. God will protect the right and will save and bless and
deliver us despite their mendacious assertions, if we fear him,
observe his laws, and keep his commandments. They, nor any other men,
nor any power, can go further than God permits them, and when he says
stop, they must stop. He will control all things according to the
counsels of his own will. It is for us to be willing to obey his laws,
to preserve our bodies and spirits pure, to cleave to righteousness,
to honor the Lord our God, that we may always have his spirit to be
with us. And if we are faithful by and by, it will be said of us, Well
done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a
few things and I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou
into the joy of thy Lord.

vol. 23, p.27
May God bless you and lead you in the paths of life, in the name of
Jesus, Amen. [p.28]

John Taylor, March 5, 1882

The Dispensation of the Fulness of Times—Restoration of the 
Gospel—Duties of the Priesthood—the Future of Zion—
Inconsistency of the Saints' Persecutors—Incidents of
Church History, Etc.

Delivered at the Assembly Hall, on Sunday Afternoon,
March 5th, 1882.

(Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs)

vol. 23, p.28
We are living in peculiar times; we are operating in an eventful era;
we are associated with a peculiar dispensation, and we have a labor to
perform which in many respects differs from that of all other ages or
times. The dispensation that we are connected with is called in
Scripture the dispensation of the fulness of times in which, it is
recorded, God will gather together all things in one, whether they be
things on the earth or things in the heavens. There are ideas
associated with this dispensation that are in really respects
distinct, and dissimilar from those that have been enunciated and
proclaimed in former ages and dispensations; and inasmuch as the
present dispensation is to embrace everything that has been connected
with all past dispensations—all the prominent features as well as the
minor ones that characterized the Church and kingdom of God in former
days, that were essentially necessary to its growth and developments
must re-appear in connection with the work of God in this our day. If
the manifestations and developments of other dispensations have been
made known to us, we have had revealed to us doctrines, theories,
organizations and systems that have existed among the whole of them;
because it is emphatically the dispensation of the fulness of times.
If they had anything that was peculiarly characteristic in the days of
the ancient Patriarchs, we have the same revealed to us. If they had
anything prominent and important in the dispensation of Noah, we have
it, and if Noah was called upon to preach the Gospel to the world in
his day, before its destruction, so are we.

vol. 23, p.28
If in the Abrahamic or Mosaic dispensations God revealed important
principles, we have a clear knowledge of those things made known to
us, and the reasons, the whys and wherefores, pertaining to them. If
they had anything among the ancient Prophets and men of God, we have
the same principles developed. If in the days of Jesus they had
manifestations, revelations, doctrines or organizations, those things
are made known to us. Or if the people upon this continent, to whom
God revealed his will—either the people that came from the Tower of
Babel, or those who came from [p.29] Jerusalem during the reign of
Zedekiah—if anything was revealed to them, we have had it revealed
unto us. And this is why certain things exist pertaining to
organizations, etc., referred to by Brother Hatch.

vol. 23, p.29
We have here on the ceiling of this building pictured to us, Moroni
making known to Joseph Smith the plates, from which the Book of Mormon
was translated, which plates had been hidden up in the earth; and in
connection with them was the urim and thummin, by which sacred
instrument Joseph was enabled to translate the ancient characters, now
given unto us in the form of the Book of Mormon; in which is set forth
the theories, doctrines, principles, organizations, etc., of these
peoples who lived upon this continent. People talk about their
disbelief regarding these things. That is a matter of no moment to us.
I do not intend to bring any argument upon this question, caring
nothing about what people believe. We know certain things, and knowing
them we regard them as matters of fact. If we were to take the world
and its ideas and theories, we should find that there is hardly one
person in every thousand who believes the Bible. The Christian world
professes belief in the Bible; that is, they believe it when shut, but
not when open. Consequently, I do not propose this afternoon, at
least, to address myself to infidels, whether they go under the name
of Christian or any other name. I am speaking of certain principles to
a people who believe them to be true; and I wish to refer more
particularly to some events associated with the dealings of God with
his earthly children.

vol. 23, p.29
When John was on the isle of Patmos, certain things were revealed to
him that were to transpire in the last days, and he prophesied of
them. While wrapped in prophetic vision, gazing on the purposes of God
as they were to be unfolded in later times, among other things he saw
an angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel
to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, to every nation, kindred,
tongue and people; saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory
to him, for the hour of his judgment is come. This was a declaration
made by this ancient Apostle and Prophet of God while banished for his
religion, as certain men today would, if they could, banish us. We now
declare to the world that this part of the visions of John has been
fulfilled; that the angel has come and appeared to man upon the earth,
conferring upon him this heavenly charge, namely, the responsibility
of opening up a new Gospel dispensation; and we declare that God
himself took part in it, and that Jesus, the Mediator of the new
covenant, accompanied him, both of whom appeared to Joseph Smith, upon
which occasion the Father, pointing to the Son said, "This is my
beloved Son, hear him." Following this the Gospel was to be preached
to every nation. What Gospel? The same Gospel that was preached to
Adam, and to the Patriarchs and men of God of every age; the Gospel of
salvation and deliverance from sin through the atonement of Jesus
Christ, the resurrection from the dead, life immortal and all the
blessings associated therewith. And when this Gospel was first
proclaimed in this age, who knew anything about it? Nobody; it was not
and had not been among men for centuries. The world of mankind had
been left without direct communication from the heavens, [p.30] and as
a natural consequence while grovelling in the dark, they followed the
devices and desires of their own hearts; they were governed by
man-made systems, and bowed to the dictum, to the notions, the
theories and follies of men. There was no Apostle, no Prophet, no
inspired men of God, holding His Holy Priesthood to say, Thus saith
the Lord, this is the way, walk ye in it.

vol. 23, p.30
In connection with this I may allude to an incident in my personal
experience, to show the state of the world religiously some forty or
fifty years ago. Not being then acquainted with this Church, a number
of us met together for the purpose of searching the Scriptures; and we
found that certain doctrines were taught by Jesus and the Apostles,
which neither the Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians,
nor any of the religious sects taught; and we concluded that if the
Bible was true, the doctrines of modern Christendom were not true; or
if they were true, the Bible was false. Our investigations were
impartially made, and our search for truth was extended. We examined
every religious principle that came under our notice, and probed the
various systems as taught by the sects, to ascertain if there were any
that were in accordance with the word of God. But we failed to find
any. In addition to our researches and investigations, we prayed and
fasted before God; and the substance of our prayers was, that if he
had a people upon the earth anywhere, and ministers who were
authorized to preach the Gospel, that he would send us one. This was
the condition we were in. We knew all that the Methodists knew then,
and all that they know now. We knew all that the Presbyterians knew
then, and all that they know now. We knew all that the Episcopalians
knew then, and all that they know now. We knew all that the Roman
Catholics knew then, and all that they know to-day; for we made
ourselves conversant with the doctrines and examined them thoroughly,
as well as the theories of all men who pretended to have knowledge of
Gospel light. We prayed earnestly; and in answer to our prayers, the
Lord sent us Elder Parley P. Pratt, who gives an account of this in
his auto-biography which has been published since his death. Brother
Pratt, in relating the circumstances, says that Brother Heber C.
Kimball came to his house one night after he had retired; that Brother
Kimball requested him to get up, which he did, and then began to
prophecy to him. He told him there was a people in Canada who were
seeking for a knowledge of the Gospel, and they were praying to God to
send them a minister who should reveal to them the truth. Brother
Kimball then commissioned him to repair to Canada, telling him that
the Lord would bless him and open up his way. Just previous to that
time the Saints had been engaged in building the Temple in Kirtland,
Ohio, and were all very much embarrassed as to means, Brother Pratt
with the balance having devoted everything he had to spare for that
purpose. Among other things that Brother Kimball told him was, that
where he was going he would find means to relieve himself and that
many of the people would embrace the Gospel, and that it would be the
means of introducing the Gospel to England. And furthermore, said he,
your wife who is now childless shall have a son. In the course of time
she did have a son, and they named him Parley. [p.31] I do not know
but that he may be present; but I was going to say, I knew him before
he was born. [Laughter.]

vol. 23, p.31
I speak of this to show that there was at that time nobody, of whom we
had any knowledge, from whom we could obtain any information with
regard to the Gospel of the Son of God, or that could teach us the
doctrines Jesus and His Apostles taught, as contained in the
Scriptures. Brother Pratt came and found us, and he came in answer to
our prayer; at least, that is my faith in regard to the matter. And
were all these things accomplished? Yes: I was baptized myself and
others, and I baptized many others in that country; and it was the
means also of sending the Gospel to England. John Goodson, who
apostatized long ago, John Snyder, a good, faithful man who was one of
the committee of the Nauvoo House, and who died in the 17th Ward of
this City, Isaac Russell, and Joseph Fielding, uncle to Brother Joseph
F. Smith, were of our number, embraced the Gospel, and were afterwards
called to accompany Brother Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde to England
for the purpose of opening up the work in that land; and I was the
first person that wrote a letter to England on the subject of the
Gospel; I did it at the request of Brother Fielding, who got me to
write for him to a brother and brother-in-law of his who were
ministers in England. These were the men that helped to introduce the
Gospel into England in that early day. I speak of this for the
information of many of you.

vol. 23, p.31
When Brother Pratt came to me I was, perhaps, as well read in the
letter of the Bible as I am to-day, and as soon as he commenced to
talk about Prophets, I said, Yes, we believe in them. And he talked
about Apostles and I remarked, Yes, we have been looking for such men,
but we cannot find them. He talked about the organization of the
Church as it was anciently; and about the gift of tongues and the gift
of healing, etc., and we were delighted with his message, it was
something we were seeking for, and it was all new to us. We had heard
rumors about the Mormons, just as people hear rumors now-adays of us;
and the rumors we heard were not of the most complimentary character,
any more than are those that are circulated about us to-day, or those
that were circulated about Jesus and the former-day Saints. You know,
the pious, hypocritical clergy of that day put the Savior down as the
vilest creature that ever lived, and influenced the populace against
him; for said they, if he heals the sick, give God the glory, for we
know that this man is a sinner; and when he cast out devils, this,
same class attributed it to the power of Beelzebub, the prince of
devils; and they spoke of him as being a bastard, and cast all manner
of reflections upon him. The Savior in speaking to his disciples gave
them to understand that inasmuch as they had persecuted him, they
would also persecute them; and said he, further, when they persecute
you in one city, flee to another; and he also told them to be
exceeding glad when they were persecuted for righteousness' sake.
What, to be lied about by adventurers and political demagogues who
seek to rob and plunder you? Yes; that is a good and favorable sign.
If we were guilty of the infamies that they seek to lay at our door,
that would be another matter. But whilst we are not as good as we
might be, we do know that what they say and publish to the world about
us, which [p.32] has had a tendency to arouse the feelings of the
general public against us, are infernal falsehoods.  "Blessed are you
when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner
of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding
glad," etc. in this we but share the lot of the honorable of other
ages, the men of God who stood the abuse of their fellow-man, and who,
in many instances, were persecuted much worse than we are. Our present
assailants have not learned how yet; but they are trying upon a small
scale to introduce the inquisition, and may, by and by, in some
degree, succeed in carrying out their nefarious objects. This is their
work, if they can stand it we think we can. There are thousands of
honorable men who Will look down with contempt upon all such
unprincipled and mendacious efforts.

vol. 23, p.32
After the Lord had spoken to Joseph Smith, and Jesus had manifested
himself to him, and after Moroni had revealed to him the hidden plates
containing the history of the ancient inhabitants of this continent,
which, in the wisdom of God, have been translated into our own
language in the form of the Book of Mormon, and which, in connection
with the Bible, is to be the means of confounding false doctrines, the
one being corroborative of the other in principle and doctrine and in
relation to the designs and purposes of God—after this it was
necessary that the Priesthood held by men in former days should be
restored in these latter days, that people now, as men in those days,
might be authorized to act in the name of the Lord. Hence John the
Baptist, who held the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood, came and laid
his hands upon the heads of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, using
these words: "Upon you, my fellow-servants, in the name of Messiah, I
confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the
ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism
by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken
again from the earth until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering
unto the Lord in righteousness." After having been ordained to this
Priesthood which is after the order of Aaron, it was necessary that
they should have another Priesthood which is after the order of
Melchisedek, and after the order of the Son of God. And consequently
Peter, James and John came and conferred that Priesthood. Why did they
come? Because they were the last who held the keys of that Priesthood.
After this order of Priesthood was introduced, the organization which
we possess to-day was gradually effected, which is as full and
complete, perhaps, as ever existed upon the earth. How perfect it was
in the days of Enoch we are not told, but everything that they had
revealed to them pertaining to the organization of the Church of God,
also pertaining to doctrine and ordinances, we have had revealed to
us, excepting one thing, and that is the principle and power of
translation; that, however, will in due time be restored also. And if
they in their day built a Zion, we have one to build in our day, and
when this shall be done and everything is in readiness, the Zion which
the people of Enoch built and which was translated, will descend from
above, and the Zion of the latter days which this people will build,
will ascend by virtue of this principle and  power, and the former and
the [p.33] latter-day Zion will meet each other, and the dwellers in
both will embrace and kiss each other, so we are told in the
revelations of God.

vol. 23, p.33
We are indebted to no one excepting God, our heavenly Father. for the
organization which we possess; and as a little circumstance with
regard to its practical working occurs to me, I will mention it. Among
other places, we sent to Bear Lake a copy of the form of petition
which we are now presenting to Congress. I think it was on Wednesday
that it was sent out from here, and on Saturday night it was returned
with thousands of signatures. That is the way we do things here. In a
few days we had some fifty thousand signatures, and I presume before
this there are some ten or twenty thousand more from the more distant
settlements. What does it manifest Union and sympathy one with
another, all testifying to one thing, which I was very glad to see.
People have said that we know that polygamy is not a principle of our
religion; but here are petitions signed by some seventy or eighty
thousand, all of whom testify to their faith in regard to this
principle. I think the testimony of seventy or eighty thousand persons
living right among it, and most of whom are born in it, ought to be as
strong as that of a few quidnuncs who know little or nothing about it.

vol. 23, p.33
The Gospel was then revealed, what for—for you and me, or for this man
and that man? No; it was for the benefit of the world; it was in the
interests of humanity; and it was to be proclaimed to every nation,
kindred, people and tongue, by men commissioned of God to do so. That
duty belongs to the Twelve especially, to either do so in person or
see that it is done. I have traveled many tens of thousands of miles,
and so have my brethren, visiting the nations of the earth in their
most prominent cities declaring to them the principles of the Gospel
as God has revealed them. And could we find men upon the earth that
could successfully oppose us? I declare before God I never found one,
taking the Bible as a standard; neither can any one be found to, day
that can do it, and that is the trouble.

vol. 23, p.33
In that day, we are told, the meek shall rejoice in the Lord; and the
poor among men shall rejoice in the holy one of Israel. God has had
his people scattered among the nations, and his testimony was to go,
forth to all lands; and it becomes the duty of the Twelve, the
Seventies, the High Priests and Elders to carry this message and
present it to them in the spirit of the Gospel, not, to cram the truth
down the throats of men, as certain individuals would cram their
peculiar views down our throats. But when we were sent forth we were
sent to teach, and not to be taught. We could not learn anything from
them about the Gospel, for they did not know it. They could not teach
us, hence the Lord in sending out the first Elders told them they were
sent to teach and not to be taught. We went in the midst of opposition
and persecution, mobbings and drivings, and were subjected to every
insult, indignity and infamy that wicked and corrupt man could invent,
and we have put up with such things all the time, and many have had to
lay down their lives in the conflict, and they will, as others
formerly did, when the time comes, gain a better resurrection. And we
are still struggling on, in the face of a general opposition, trusting
in our God to sustain us, while we shall continue to sow the precious
seed of the everlasting [p.34] Gospel, and maintain in our own midst
the principles of life eternal, and freedom, liberty and equality to
the human race. And our sons who have grown up are now doing what we
have done; and they too are full of the Spirit, full of life, light
and intelligence, having, as we had and still have, the interests of
humanity at heart, as they move among the people as messengers of life
and salvation. Our course is onward; and are we going to stop? No.
Zion must be built up, God has decreed it and no power can stay its
progress. Do you hear that? I prophecy that in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. For Zion must and will be built up despite all
opposition, the kingdom of God established upon the earth in
accordance with the designs and purposes of God. That is true, and you
will find it to be true if you live long enough, and if you die you
will find it to be true; it will make no difference. "But shall we not
be persecuted?" Yes, and does not Jesus say, Blessed are ye when men
revile you and persecute you, etc.,—would you be deprived of that
blessing. "But we have had enough of it." O, have you? no matter, you
will have to put up with it. "But," say you, "have we not certain
constitutional rights?" Yes, on paper, but when you get through with
them, the paper does not amount to much; it is like pie-crust, easily
broken. We do not pay much attention to these things. Honorable men
will be governed by constitutions, and laws, and principles, but
dishonorable persons will not. Therefore, we have to do the best we
can, taking a righteous course that we  may be entitled to the
blessings of God. "What will be the result of this?" I care nothing
about what the result may be, it is a matter of very little importance
to me. "Do you expect  such things?" Yes, and have done for years; I
have never expected anything else associated with the Gospel. When I
first embraced it I considered it a life-long affair; and when I came
to look at it squarely in the face, if I could have satisfied my
conscience by getting along without it, I would have done so; but I
could not, and I apprehend that many of you have been in the same
situation. I believed it was true, and so did you; and after I was
baptized and had hands laid upon my head for the reception of the Holy
Ghost, I knew it was true by the operations of the Holy Spirit upon my
heart. And this is the common experience of all Saints. Some people
seem to think that we are going to throw away our religion at the
"drop of the hat." I do not know of any such feeling among this
people. There have been men who learned to endure things quite as bad
as those which afflict us. My mind runs back to Daniel who was a man
that feared God. There was a set of political plotters in his day—and
probably a fair share of religious ones associated with them—who
conspired against him, for Daniel was a man of God in great favor with
the king; and the only way they could accomplish their plans was by
laying a trap to catch him through an edict of the king. They did it
by getting the king to issue a proclamation that no man should ask a
petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of the king, that if
he did he should be cast into the den of lions. This was done
expressly to catch Daniel, but the king was not made acquainted with
the secret. Their request was granted and the decree established by
the king's  signature, which then could not be changed, according to
[p.35] the law of the Medes and Persians,  which altered not. When
Daniel heard of this, we are told that he went into his house, and the
windows of his chamber being open towards Jerusalem, he bowed down
before his God, and prayed and gave thanks to him, as aforetime, three
times a day, He did not falter, although he knew the nature of the
decree and the laws which governed it; but he knew too that the God
whom he served was able to deliver him. They watched him, of course,
and finally complained against him; and he was adjudged guilty of
violating the law. The law had to take its course, although the king,
when the thing was made known to him felt very sorrowful; and set his
heart on Daniel to deliver him. He did not feel like some feel towards
us; although there have been praiseworthy efforts made by a few to
maintain constitutional principles, and we recognize them as the
sentiments and feelings of honorable men, who wish to see correct
principles maintained in our land. There was no appeal in Daniel's
case; or as a certain class of Christians to-day would say, "Daniel
had to go." They cast him into the den of lions. The king went to the
den early the following morning, feeling much concerned about him, and
he cried out, "O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God whom
thou servest; continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?"
Daniel spoke up and said, "O King; live for ever. My God hath sent his
angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me."
Now, he dared to do that which showed there was some manhood in him.
We have another example in the three Hebrew children, who refused to
bow down to a golden image that had been set up. Shall we call it
monogamy? [Laughter.] The conditions were that if they did not bow
down to this golden image, they should be cast, into a burning fiery
furnace. They did refuse to obey this royal decree; saying, "Our God
whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace,
and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O King. But if not (said
they), be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy gods,
nor worship thy golden image which thou hast set up." This, of course,
was considered a great indignity on their part to refuse to bow down
to this God. These three men were cast into the furnace and their
persecutors in their animus and religious zeal, heated it to such a
degree—evincing in this respect the same feeling we see manifested
toward us in a different form—that the men who cast Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego into the furnace were themselves destroyed by the flames.
And it seems the King himself was curious to look into the furnace to
know of their fate, and in doing so, to his astonishment, he beheld
four persons in the midst of the flames, one of whom appeared to be
like unto the Son of God. Nebuchadnezzar then called to these three
men to come out, which they did; and even the smell of fire was not
found upon their clothing, nor was a hair of their heads singed. Such
was the faith of those young mob, and such their conduct that all
honorable men could approve and appreciate the nobility of their
course; and even the Gods could admire them; and their integrity to
God was the means of their being promoted to the favor of the King,
and to distinction in the land. Let us hope that the descendants of
those people in these days; in the trials that they [p.36] have to
pass through, which are now being enacted in Russia, in Europe, and in
other places, and apparently commencing in this land, may be found as
true to their integrity as were these noble examples of manhood and
faith in God.

vol. 23, p.36
But to return to the Christian's idol. The pious, zealous, religious
and hypocritical in our day, uniting with political demagogues, have
set up a God for us to worship, which they boastfully represent as the
embodiment of everything that is pure and virtuous, embodying the
enlightenment and civilization of the nineteenth century. Their god is
overlaid with gilt and tinsel, but inside it is pregnant with the
social evil with its twin adjuncts foetecide and infanticide. Like a
great Moloch it is crushing out female virtue, trampling upon
innocence, and prostituting and destroying millions of the fair
daughters of Eve. Yet this loathsome, filthy, debauched, degraded
monster is held up for our veneration and worship by its corrupt
Christian devotees as the essence of everything that is great and
grand, noble and praiseworthy; and we are called upon to fall down and
worship this loathsome monster under the threat of unconstitutional
pains and penalties, and the violation of every principle of liberty
and protection guaranteed under the Constitution.

vol. 23, p.36
Shall we worship this unnatural, lascivious Moloch? Shall we bow down
before the shrine of this foetid, corrupt and debauched monster? No!
We will worship the Lord our God, yield obedience to his behests, and,
if we are faithful, live our religion and keep his commandments, the
God whom we worship will deliver us out of the hands of our enemies,
and we shall triumph over all our foes.

vol. 23, p.36
There have been men living nearer our own times who could meet the
inquisition with its fagot, rack and thumbscrew, and in the midst of
their sufferings could commit themselves in all serenity and calmness
into the hands of God; and we can surely do the same. If the rulers of
this nation can afford to tamper with the sacred rights of the people
guaranteed by the Constitution of this great nation, and ruthlessly
tear down the temple of freedom erected at the cost of so much blood
and treasure, instead of anticipated glory, they will bring
destruction upon the nation and ruin and infamy upon themselves. The
sacred bulwarks of freedom once tampered with, the floodgates of
anarcy and confusion will be thrown open and dissolution and ruin will
follow in their train in rapid succession. It is for us to sustain and
maintain the principles guaranteed in that sacred palladium of human
rights—the Constitution of the United States, and to contend inch by
inch in every legal and constitutional manner for our own rights and
human freedom, leaving misrule, anarchy, violations of law and the
trampling under foot of the rights of man and constitutional
guarantees to religious fanatics and clamoring demagogues; and if they
can afford to tamper with those sacred guarantees, we certainly can
afford to have them do it. It is for us to seek more exalted ideas, to
abide by constitutional law, to maintain inviolate the principles of
human freedom, and to contend with unwavering firmness for those
inalienable rights of all men—life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness; and to seek continually to our God for wisdom to accomplish
so great, noble and patriotic a purpose.

vol. 23, p.36
One of the first things I ever [p.37] heard preached by them Elders of
this Church was that the world would grow worse and worse, deceiving
and being deceived. Should we be surprised at its coming to pass?
Another thing that I have heard from the beginning is, that people
would persecute us, commencing with neighborhoods and villages, and
then it would extend to cities and counties, and then to States, and
then to the United States, and afterwards to the world. We have got
about fifty millions of people on our backs now—and it is a pretty
heavy lead to carry, too; but the Lord will see us through. We are
acting in the interests of humanity: we are proclaiming salvation to a
fallen world, and in this we are carrying out the word and will of God
made known and manifested directly to us. We are warning the people of
their position, and we will continue to send forth our missionaries
for this purpose until God says, it is enough. And if they persecute
us in one city, we will do as Jesus told his disciples, we will flee
to another, searching out the honest in heart. Persecution has been
our lot from the beginning, and it has followed us to this day. I am
reminded of a circumstance that occurred in Missouri, which I will
mention to show the kind of feeling that Joseph Smith was possessed
of. Some 25 years ago, in Far West, a mob—one of those semi-occasional
occurrences—land come against us with evil intent, placing themselves
in position to give us battle; and there were not more than about 200
of us in the place. We had one fellow who was taken with a fit of
trembling in the knees, and he ordered our people to retreat. As soon
as Joseph heard this sound, he exclaimed, "Retreat! where in the name
of God shall we retreat to?" He then led us out to the prairie facing
the mob and placed us in position; and the first thing we knew a flag
of truce was seen coming towards us. The person bearing it said that
some of their friends were among our people for whose safety they felt
anxious. I rather think it was a case in which the wife was in the
Church but not the husband, and the mob wished these parties to come
out as they, he said, were going to destroy every man, woman and child
in the place. But these folks had a little "sand" in them, as the boys
say; they sent word back, that if that was the case they would die
with their friends, Joseph Smith, our leader, then sent word back by
this messenger, said he, "Tell your General to withdraw his troops or
I will send them to hell." I thought that was a pretty bold stand to
take, as we only numbered about 200 to their 3,500; but they thought
we were more numerous than we really were, it may be that our numbers
were magnified in their eyes; but they took the hint and left; and we
were not sorry. (Laughter.) The Lord, through simple means, is able to
take care of and deliver His people, but they must put implicit faith
and confidence in Him; and when they are crowded into a tight place
they must not be afraid to make sacrifice for the sake of maintaining
the truth, and all will be well with us whether living or dying, in
time or in eternity.

vol. 23, p.37
Well, what shall we do? We will serve the Lord; we will live our
religion; we will be true to our covenants, keep his commandments and
be one, and we will sustain one another, and not sustain men among us
who have it in their hearts to cut our throats; let them alone to
pursue their own course, and let them draw their sustenance from
[p.38] their own kith and kin; and let us pursue the even tenor of our
way, operating together as a band of brethren; and if any have sinned,
let them sin no more; and inasmuch as this people are found faithful
to God and true to themselves and their fellow-men, I will risk the
results of what our enemies may do to injure us. We are in the hands
of God, and this nation is in His hands, and he will do with us and
them according to the pleasure of His will.

vol. 23, p.38
Brethren and sisters, God bless you, and God bless the honorable of
the earth, and may the wrath of the wicked be made to praise Him, and
the remainder may He restrain. Amen.

John Morgan, December 18, 1881

Delivered in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City, Sunday After-
noon, December 18, 1881.

The Southern States Mission—Faithfulness of Young Elders— 
Opposition to the Truth—Gradual Spread of the Gospel—
Changes in Religious and Political Sentiment—Hard Times 
in the South—Vice and Degradation—The Colorado 
Settlements.

(Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs)

vol. 23, p.38
It is a very pleasant thought that we, as Elders, have when traveling
abroad preaching the Gospel, to look forward to the time when we shall
have the privilege of again meeting with our friends and loved ones in
the valleys of the mountains, to again share their love and to partake
of the spirit of those who compose the body of this Church.

vol. 23, p.38
During the past summer and until a few days I have been engaged in
missionary labor, chiefly in the Southern States. Our labors there
have been, as have been the labors of the Elders in other missions,
crowned with a certain degree of success. We have realized the
blessings of God upon us in all our labors in the midst of the people,
for which we feel to rejoice and give thanks and praise to him. The
brethren who have gone from the different parts of the Territory to
labor in the mission have as a general thing, enjoyed good health; and
they are feeling well, as a rule, temporally and spiritually; and
especially the younger brethren who have gone forth bearing the glad
tidings of salvation. There has been evinced a feeling that certainly
is most praiseworthy, a desire to emulate the example set by their
fathers in [p.39] preaching the principles of eternal truth, often
under unpleasant circumstances. Because, however much the work of God
may progress and  be received abroad there is, as there has been, and
doubtless will be, a spirit of opposition which has to be met by every
Elder in the performance of his duty. It is true our young brethren
have the benefit of the experience of their fathers and of men
prominent in the Church, to encourage them, and which is highly
appreciated by them, but after all they have to get the experience for
themselves, in order that they may know what their fathers know, and
that they may be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with them. I have
scarcely found an exception among the scores of young men who have
been called from the different avocations of life to go forth and
proclaim the Gospel, but what they were worthy bearers of glad
tidings. 

vol. 23, p.39
There is and idea entertained by the pious world, whose sympathy for
fallen humanity is so great as to be exercised towards us, that the
old and gray-headed of the "Mormon" people, "you can do nothing with,
they having becoming fossilized in their religious ideas and petrified
in their faith; but the young may be induced to depart from the faith
of their fathers." This, however, has not been the experience we have
had in the Southern States mission with our young Elders. On the
contrary, we have found their faces set like flint toward the building
up of the kingdom of God, and the proclaiming of the principles of
truth. It often occurs in our missionary labors that Elders are called
upon to pass through trying circumstances, but I do not remember of a
single instance in which a young Elder flinched from the performance
of his duty. They have always been ready and willing to add to the
extent of their ability and strength in carrying out any measures
thought necessary for the good of the cause, even to the risking of
their lives. And I am led to believe from what I have witnessed in the
young men who have come under my observation, that the great majority
of our young people, growing up in these mountains have planted in
their hearts the principles of truth, by which they will be governed
in their lives. And in, this connection there is this peculiarity. In
our travels in the South we often meet with families who were once
members of the Church, who during the trying times of Missouri and
Illinois, or at some other time in, the history of the Church, had
stopped by the way-side—and where they stopped temporally they stopped
spiritually; the cessation of their temporal work was the milestone
that marked their spiritual resting place—but notwithstanding this
falling away on the part of the parents, we found, as a general thing,
that in the hearts of their children there was a love for the
principles of eternal truth; and that if an elder was known to be in
their vicinity they would send for him and make themselves known to
him, and open their doors to him, and ninety-nine times out of a
hundred they would ask to be baptized. This being true of the children
of such families, wife are isolated from the body of the Church, we
might reasonably expect that the youth of Zion will be found true and
faithful to the precepts of truth taught to them, through the force
and benefit of example they receive from their parents who are members
of the Church.

vol. 23, p.39
In our labors we at times meet with considerable opposition, but we
notice that it, in the long run, [p.40] instead of working to our
injury, results in good. And what is true in the South in this respect
is doubtless the case elsewhere. That which our enemies inflict upon
us in the hope of breaking us up or weakening our position is, through
an overruling providence, turned to result in good by bringing the
honest in heart, the Israel of God, to a knowledge of the truth. The
widespread feeling of opposition that exists toward us throughout the
United States, arguing from past experiences, may be set down as a
good omen for the future. But notwithstanding this general hubbub
which the people seemingly have to indulge in semi-occasionally, we
find in traveling and moving among the people very many upright noble
men and women, and we find them belonging to various churches and
religious bodies; and then we meet with others who are not connected
with any sect or denomination, and who are seeking for truth let it
come from where it may. And this class, in my opinion, is not small
throughout the United States; in fact, I might with safety say, that
there are thousands of such people who have not heard the sound of the
everlasting Gospel, there being vast districts of country occupied by
hundreds of thousands of peoples who do not know whether the
Latter-day Saints believe in God or not, whether they accept the Bible
or reject it, people who are totally ignorant in regard to our views;
and among these there are many thousands of the honest in heart. We
find that the spirit of opposition that we have to meet, as a rule,
culminates in violence; said that the more success we have in
baptizing people, the more bitter the feeling manifested toward us by
our opponents.

vol. 23, p.40
We are, doubtless, traveling in the Southern States Mission, by way of
making converts as fast as it would be prudent. If our labors should
be crowned with any greater success, that is, to any considerable
extent, the opposition would be correspondingly more ripe, and the
consequence would be, we would have a bigger row on our hands than we
would care to face.

vol. 23, p.40
We find a great many prominent, leading men in our travels who are
willing to act fairly and honorably by us; men who use their influence
with their friends in our behalf by endeavoring to place in their
minds correct ideas in relation to us and our situation. To illustrate
this idea, I will relate an incident that occurred during the summer.
The Legislative Assembly of one of the States, Missouri—whose members
had been urged on by sectarian bigotry, had a bill introduced that it
was supposed would act against the "Mormons" in that State. Some of
the distinguished citizens, honorable, fair-minded people, said to
certain of the legislators: "You pass that bill and one-half of the
State will become Mormons; that will evidently be the result. Why?
Because the moment you adopt such measures you are in the wrong, let
them be what they may." There are many men of that way of thinking who
have moral courage sufficient to speak their minds; and the influence
of such men is felt for good. And here let me say to the credit of the
press that, bitter as the opposition is, we scarcely ever find a daily
newspaper of any prominence but what will open its columns for us to
vindicate our course. And in addition to what I have said in alluding
to the class of people who are liberal and cosmopolitan in their
views, we find such people ever [p.41] ready and even anxious to learn
in regard to our religious belief. And notwithstanding the fact that
among this class are found men of learning and deep research, men who
are looked up to by their fellow-men, strange as it may seem to a
people who keep pace with the age, we find the great majority of them
much astonished when they learn that we believe in the Bible, and that
we take the teachings of that Book to substantiate our doctrines.
Among this class who are so uninformed as to our theological status
are Congressman, governors, legislators and others of distinction and
character.

vol. 23, p.41
We find also in the ordinary walks of life honest-hearted people. We
find them in the churches and out of the pale of the church. We meet
with men belonging to the sects of the day who say, "If we have not
got the truth, we wish to obtain it." And we meet with others who do
not belong to any religious denomination who say, We have examined the
doctrines taught by the different churches; they will not do. Now we
are willing to investigate what you teach. But, then, we cannot help
but notice this kind of expression in their faces: "Can any good thing
come out of Nazareth?" Can any good come out of Utah? This of course,
is owing to the widespread misunderstanding in regard to our religions
views.

vol. 23, p.41
The newspapers to-day are teeming with articles in regard to the
Latter-day Saints. We are written about by editors and special
correspondents; local editors gather up items respecting us and our
labors among the people of their vicinity; reporters appear to be
greedy for an interview with a "Mormon;" ministers preach about us
from their stands, and lawyers have to allude to us from the forum;
and to such an extent is this spirit and feeling indulged by the
people of all grades and classes, that to-day "Mormonism" is a living
question in the United States. Recently some politicians endeavored to
work up an issue, and make a live question out of the tariff, and it
was rather amusing to witness after their exertions how slow the
public were to take the bait. And especially amusing did such efforts
appear to those who watch with a lively interest the progress of this
latter-day work called "Mormonism," in view of the fact that if a
couple of "Mormon" Elders go into a town, almost without any effort on
their part to make themselves known, the whole town is stirred up. In
my opinion the "Mormon" iron is red-hot, and it is a proper time for
the Elders to beat it into shape.

vol. 23, p.41
We observe changes taking place in the minds of the people
continually. Indeed, I can notice marked changes in the people of the
United States during the past six years. For instance, quite recently
I listened to a sermon preached by one of the distinguished ministers
of the United States, the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, and was very much
surprised to hear him enunciate an idea like this: "What shall be done
with all the thousands and millions of the human family who knew not,
even of the existence of the Bible. Shall they perish?" "No," said he,
"not if my God reigns in the next world." But, continued he, "what
shall be done? They will have the Gospel preached to them in the
spirit world." Another minister, the Rev. Dr. Thomas, of Chicago, of
the Methodist Church, made similar assertions; but be was not as
strong as Mr. Beecher, and they therefore excommunicated him from the
[p.42] church. But Beecher could make it, and no one dare say nay. So
we find religious ideas undergoing a change, until there is scarcely a
religious denomination to-day but what has done what the Pharisees of
old did—put new wine into their old sectarian bottles, and the
probable result will be, as Jesus said, their bottles will burst. They
are endeavoring to patch their old Sectarian clothes with pieces of
new cloth, and the result will be that riley will be obliged to keep
patching in order to keep the garment together. And thus their
religious ideas are drifting to and fro.

vol. 23, p.42
And what is true with regard to their religious views is also true
with regard to their political ideas. I had all excellent opportunity
recently to witness a remarkable change in public sentiment. Public
sentiment, you know, is a very strong argument in the minds of some
people. "Why, public sentiment is against you," they say. I remember
listening to Gov. Bross, of Illinois, who spoke in front of the
Townsend House, one night, some years ago. The foundation of his
argument was that thirty-five millions of people in the United States
were opposed to us; that in short, public sentiment was opposed to us.
I had my mind directed to the fickle nature of public sentiment quite
recently in Nashville, Tennessee. Some 25 years ago a certain race of
people were held in slavery there. Slavery was an adjudicated question
at that time. But it was claimed by the opponents of slavery that if a
negro and his wife could be taken out of Missouri through Illinois,
that they were entitled to their freedom because they were then upon
free soil. It was, however, decided in the Supreme Court of the United
States, by Chief Justice, Roger B. Tanney, that black men had no
rights that a white man was bound to respect, that, in fact, they were
chattel property. And the people of the United States almost en masse
applauded the decision, a few only dissenting, they being what were
called abolitionists. Wendell Phillips, a distinguished orator,
undertook to lecture in Boston against slavery, and learned as Boston
was, educated as Boston was, the noted lecturer was egged off the
platform, having to make his escape from the mob.

vol. 23, p.42
Twenty-five years have gone by since Phillips was mobbed, and now for
the contrast. Some four or five weeks ago I boarded a through
passenger car at Nashville, Tenn., to Cincinnati, there were seated in
the car some 25 ladies and gentlemen. After I got comfortably seated
alongside a person who proved to be a Christian minister of the
Campbellite persuasion, and an editor, we perceived a little
difficulty as the car-door. On investigation we learned that a negro
woman held a first-class ticket, and demanded admittance to a seat in
this, a first-class car. She was entitled to a seat there, having
procured a ticket, according to the provisions of the civil rights
bill; but the rule, of the railroad company would not permit it. The
manager was sent for, and after some conversation with the colored
woman, addressing himself to the passengers already seated in the car,
he said: Ladies and gentlemen, will you please take seats in the car
to the rear. We did so. It proved to be a smoking second-class car. He
then admitted the old negro woman, who occupied our car. After we had
taken in the situation and were re-seated, addressing myself  to the
gentleman whose acquaintance I formed on entering the [p.43] car, I
said, "Mr. Editor, twenty-five years ago, had a man dared to do what
this negro woman has done, you would have hung him to a lamp-post.
Now, I will dare say, there is not a paper in the city of Nashville
that will venture to write one line, in condemnation of this piece of
impudence." He acknowledged there was not. And why this change public
sentiment had revolutionized in a quarter of a century. The negro
slave of Phillip's day is the sovereign citizen of to-day.

vol. 23, p.43
These are revolutions that are occuring among the children of men that
are of a serious nature. And what is true in a political sense, is
true in a religious sense. It is a very common observation among the
people everywhere that we are not taught religiously what we were
twenty-five years ago, or ten years ago. They are drifting to and fro
religiously as well as politically.

vol. 23, p.43
Another feature associated with this: About forty years ago a number
of our Elders traveled through the Southern States—it may have been in
1844. And as they journeyed along, they scattered all over the country
tracts and books, setting forth our faith and doctrines. And to-day it
is not unfrequent, on our going into a neighborhood and talking to the
people, that they will say, "Our minister has been preaching that."
Ah, indeed. Well, can we see him?  O, yes; we will ask him to come and
see you." On our conversing with him, we have found that he has a
Voice of Warning hidden away in his saddle pockets, which he had been
reading, and believing some of its pages, he had been preaching some
of the principles of the Gospel to his own congregation, which they
would believe, and receive without even "a grain of salt." This
willingness on the part of the people to receive principle, good or
bad, from the lips of their own minister, reminds one of the same
state of things that existed in the days of the Savior, as indicated
by these words: Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye
shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in
yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in."

vol. 23, p.43
It is a self-evident fact; it is a truth patent to the most casual
observer that the teachings of Joseph Smith have revolutionized the
religious world. And the spirit that is working this change is growing
and extending, until to day there is inquiry upon the right hand and
the left.

vol. 23, p.43
As a general thing those who receive the Gospel in the Southern States
are to be from what are termed the middle classes, people who are the
owners of small possessions which, when sold, realize them sufficient
to provide themselves a suitable outfit and take them to their
emigrating point. There have been some instances, however, when their
possessions have been sold, even where they possessed good homes, that
the proceeds of the sale have been insufficient to emigrate them. This
has been due, in part, to the peculiar circumstances by which they
have been surrounded. In the first place a terrible war devastated
their country; and since that time they have been under carpet-bag
rule. And the consequence is, in many places property has depreciated,
life has been insecure, laws have been trampled under foot, and little
progress has been made.

vol. 23, p.43
The people living in Utah can scarcely sense the true situation of the
Southern States people. There has been a dreadful drouth this [p.44]
summer. I suppose the majority—I may say the entire South has not
raised sufficient grain to bread themselves to the first of April. The
corn yield will not, it is said, exceed four bushels to the acre, and
the cotton crop may be a little rising of one-third the usual harvest.
The result will be more or less suffering among the poorer people this
winter. Wages are very low. A man can be employed, a strong,
able-bodied man, either white or colored, for from $6 to $8 per month
including board; and from $10 to $12 when they board themselves. Flour
is 5 dollars per 100 pounds, and other provisions in proportion. I
noticed that dry goods were as high in Nashville as they were in our
settlements in Colorado. Wages are at such a low figure that it seems
almost impossible for the people to live, when they depend upon day's
wages for a living. In addition to this there seems to be a wasting
away of the earth, a weakening in its strength, affecting its ability
to produce abundantly. Fields that a few years ago yielded good crops,
are bordering on sterility to-day. There are hundreds and thousands of
acres of land that formerly were very prolific have to-day become
"commons," covered with edge grass and sassafras bushes. And it is
talked about by the landowners, and commented upon by the people
generally; and they believe that something is wrong, but what it is or
where it is, they do not know.

vol. 23, p.44
Monopolies and corporations have also a tight grip upon the people.
Where there are iron works, where there are railroads, where there are
factories, they are owned by a few men, and these few men hold such
power, that the people cannot make any move and succeed in it, that
would be opposed to the interest of the monopolists. And to-day, it is
one of the strongest points of opposition that we have to meet in that
mission in preaching the Gospel. Laboring men say, If I take you to my
house and receive you as my guest, these men who own this property
will turn me out; these men who employ me in their factory will drive
me away, my family will suffer, as I have nothing laid up. Under the
circumstances, they have not the faith sufficient to meet the issue;
and consequently our labors are not crowned with that success, as they
evidently would be if the people enjoyed their liberty. But even under
these circumstances, many do receive us and proclaim openly their
faith.

vol. 23, p.44
In addition to this, all experience that opposition which is as old,
doubtless, as the preaching of the truth; and this comes from the
clergy. And here let me say, that the opposition we meet with from
that quarter, to a great extent, has its foundation in Salt Lake City.
There walk the streets of our city men who produce and feed the flame
of prejudice that exists to-day in the United States; men who profess
to be the friends of their fellow-men; men who come here with a smile
on their faces pretending to do us good, pretended followers of the
meek and lowly Savior. These are the characters that send these
infamous lies abroad in regard to the Latter-day Saints. They are
prejudicing the mind of the people of the United States against our
missionaries and against the truth. When I have visited the cities
where these men came from who have come to Utah as reformers, I have
been deeply impressed, and deeply moved at the condition of their
society contrasted with that of this people.

vol. 23, p.45
[p.45] Some time last summer I had business in Louisville, Kentucky,
connected with our emigration, and was detained there two or three
days, having nothing particular to do but to walk around the city and
see what was to be seen of interest. And in walking the streets of
that city I thought that in all my travels I had never before seen
such evidences of wickedness, corruption and degradation. There are
portions of that city that seem to have become corrupted to such an
extent, that Sodom and Gomorrah would have blushed at the mention
thereof. Men and women could be seen in the most beastly state of
drunkenness, and little children, bearing the marks of the lowest
degradation—waifs of society, growing up as hoodlums, with no sense of
the difference between right and wrong excepting that which nature
itself has planted there, to furnish future material for the gallows.
I thought in contemplating the scene that presented itself in the
streets of the city of Louisville, ay, even at noonday, to say nothing
of that which the recording angels are obliged to look upon in the
darkness of the night—I thought of the reformers who come to Utah
fresh from such haunts of vice and corruption, and then I thought of
you, my brethren and sisters; and you can better imagine my feelings
than I can describe them.

vol. 23, p.45
I went to one of their hospitals and sought an introduction to one of
the physicians; on learning who I was he expressed himself pleased to
meet me, and proffered his own services to accompany me over the
building, which I gladly accepted. On passing through the different
wards I saw sights that I trust my eyes shall never be called to look
upon again. He opened his book in which was recorded the names of the
patients who had been admitted during the past twelve months, and I
had the curiosity to ask him to tell me the nature and character of
the disease of these people. He informed me that three-fourths of all
cases were, what is termed venereal disease. This is not hearsay;
these are facts that exist of which the records testify. And from the
windows of this hospital, this living monument of the morals of
Louisville, Kentucky, was pointed out to me the residence of one of
these "reformers" of the Latter-day Saints. And in conversation with
one of these "reformers" who had been here, whose acquaintance I had
formed when he was here—he recognizing me while traveling in a railway
car, and came and shook hands with me, and sat down alongside of me—he
asked me "how our friends were getting along in Utah." "Whom do you
mean," said I, "by our friends?" I mean the ministers who have gone
there," he replied. They are, I think, getting along in their way
pretty well. What have they done? They have established whiskey shops!
they have imported houses of prostitution, and they have brought
hoodlems into our midst, and they thrive under their spiritual care.
They have caused sorrow on the hearts of fathers and mothers, by
ruining the prospects of sons and daughters whom they have led astray
from the paths of honor and credit, Now is not that glorious work to
be engaged in! Do you not congratulate yourselves in having been
connected with men whose object and labor has been to turn men and
women from the truth, from bearing the fruits of morality and
righteousness, and failing in that to join hand in hand, heart and
soul, with those [p.46] whose mission is to introduce into our midst
the seeds of ruin and decay, to deprive and demoralize your
fellow-men. Certainly it is a noble calling to be engaged in. Think of
it! Latter-day Saints. Here are men engaged in the work of trying to
lead our sons and daughters astray, and they are bold enough to
publish boastfully to the world that they would rather see our young
people frequent dens of iniquity, saloons, gambling houses, and houses
of prostitution, than that they should adhere to the "Mormon" faith.
Strange as it may seem, with all the enlightenment of this the.
Nineteenth Century, with our, glorious constitution, and our
declaration of the rights of man, and the boasted civilization of
to-day, officials of the government of the United States will back men
up in this damnable work. It may be that an Elder abroad devoting his
time and ability to the conversion of souls would feel this, more
keenly than those who, are in the midst of it every day. 

vol. 23, p.46
These are some of my meditations as and Elder in the missionary field.

vol. 23, p.46
Our brethren and sisters who have emigrated to the State of Colorado;
are succeeding fairly well; they have their fields fenced in and they
harvested a pretty fair crop this year; The Railroad Companies have
been kindly disposed to them, offering them assistance in various
ways,. by way chiefly of affording them employment at remunerative
wages, and seeking after them, in fact to do their work in preference
to others. They have their organizations—the Seventies, Elders,
Priests, Teachers and Deacons' quorums; they have their young people's
Mutual Improvement Societies organized; and I had the pleasure of
attending one of their meetings in the meeting-house which the people
built two and a half years ago. I remember attending one of the first
meetings that was held in that house, and there were present not more
than 27 all told, and said to them that in the course of four or five
years this same house will not hold the people; and to-day it is
entirely too small, in fact it would not comfortably seat the young
people of Manassa. The first location was made there in the spring of
1878. Since then some two or three settlements have been organized
besides; our brethren in that quarter are spreading out and wresting
from the barren, wastes comparatively comfortable homes. Their
associations with the Mexicans are cordial While they have been kinky
disposed towards our people, our brethren have acted honrably towards
them, and hence mutual good feelings exist between them. I also spent
a few days with our brethren who are locating Sunset, Brigham City and
St. Joseph. They have had rather a bad year, as crops, on account of
high waters, the Little Colorado flooding the valleys, and destroying
to a great extent their crops. But the building of the railroad in
their borders has, through Brother John W. Young, the contractor,
furnished them with labor, and it will continue, I understand, for
some 12 or 18 months yet, so they will not suffer so much as they
otherwise would, in consequence of the loss of their crops.

vol. 23, p.46
As Elders traveling without purse or scrip; proclaiming the principles
of eternal truth, we need the faith and prayers of the Saints in our
behalf, for the devil, it would seem, is even more determined now than
ever to put it into the hearts of wicked and bigoted men to oppose
[p.47] and, if possible, hinder us in the performance of our duty. And
one item that comes to my mind I will mention. I have noticed when
abroad that if anything in the world would cheer and encourage and
Elder when far from home, it is to receive word from his family that
they were cared for, and did not want for the necessaries of life. And
there is nothing that will weaken an Elder so effectually and so
discourage him in his labor as to receive word from those whom he
holds near and dear, to the effect that they are in need of the
necessaries of life, that they are unpleasantly situated, that the
house they live in does not afford them sufficient protection from the
inclementies of the weather. In one or two instances Elders have come
to me to relieve their minds of such a burden, and, as I say, there is
nothing that I have witnessed that so effectually unfits a man for
missionary labor as the receipt of such intelligence. Therefore, in
behalf of those who have left their all to proclaim to their
fellow-men the principles of eternal truth, let me solicit the good
offices of their friends at home, in behalf of such families who may
not be so well prepared to live during the absence of husband and
father. Any little attention shown them under such circumstances not
only does good to the family, but is appreciated by him whom duty has
called elsewhere; and often, under trying circumstances, the knowledge
of such kindnesses, cheers and encourages him, and makes comparatively
easy labors that would otherwise be hard to bear. Amen.

John Taylor, April 9, 1882

Delivered at the General Conference, on Sunday 
Afternoon, April 9th, 1882.

The Gospel's Restoration—Its Priesthood and Principles—The
Saints Misrepresented—The "Mormon" War—Comparative 
Statistics—The Impending Judgments of God—Duties of the
Saints—A Warning to Their Oppressors—The Wickedness of 
the World—Exhortation to Righteousness.

(Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs)

vol. 23, p.47
In attempting to address the congregation this afternoon, I trust that
all will be as quiet as possible. It is extremely difficult to make
the congregation hear in this place, especially in so large an
assembly, when there is the least confusion. While I address you, I
wish to speak [p.48] such words as shall be interesting, edifying and
instructive, and I desire an interest in the prayers of the faithful,
that I may be able to do so intelligently, that we may be the better
for our coming, together.

vol. 23, p.48
I am aware of the position that we occupy to-day. I feel that I am
surrounded by a large number of intelligent men and women, and while I
am addressing you, I am also addressing the world, for the remarks I
make will be reported and published to the world. Therefore, I am
desirous to advance such sentiments as will be in accord with the
enlightenment of the Latter-day Saints, with the intelligence of the
19th century, and with the principles that have emanated from God.

vol. 23, p.48
Any intelligence which we may possess and which we may be able to
impart, is not of ourselves, but of God. It did not originate with us;
it did not originate with Joseph Smith, with Brigham Young, with the
Twelve Apostles, nor was it received from any institution of learning,
nor of science, either religious, political, or social. Our philosophy
is not the philosophy of the world; but of the earth and the heavens,
of time and eternity, and proceeds from God.

vol. 23, p.48
A message was announced to us by Joseph Smith the Prophet, as a
revelation from God, wherein he stated that holy angels had appeared
to him and revealed the everlasting Gospel as it existed in former
ages; and that God the Father and God the Son had also appeared to
him: the Father pointing to the Son, said, "This is my beloved Son,
hear ye him." Moroni, a prophet that had lived on this continent,
revealed unto Joseph the plates containing the Book of Mormon, and by
the gift and power of God he was enabled to translate them into what
is known as the Book of Mormon. That book contains a record of the
ancient inhabitants who dwelt upon this continent, a part of whom came
from the tower of Babel at the time of the confounding of tongues, and
another part came from Jerusalem in the time of Zedikiah, king of
Judah, 600 years before the advent of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. This beak contains a record of the dealings of God with those
people; it contains a record of their worship of their wars and
commotions, of their righteousness and iniquity, and of the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ unto them, and of His preaching unto them the
same Gospel that warn taught on the continent of Asia, attended by the
same ordinances, the same organization and the same principles.

vol. 23, p.48
I shall not attempt to bring any proof with regard to these matters
to-day; I am simply making statements, the truth of which you
Latter-day Saints know, as it would be impossible to enter into all
the details in a short discourse. Suffice it to say, that the Father
having presented His Son to Joseph Smith, and commanded him to hear
Him, Joseph was obedient to the heavenly call, and listened to the
various communications made by men holding the Holy Priesthood in the
various ages under the direction of the Only Begotten He and Oliver
Cowdery: were commanded to baptize each other, which they did. John
the Baptist came and conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood. Then
Peter, James and John, upon whom was conferred, in the Savior's day,
the keys of the Melchisedec Priesthood came, and conferred that
Priesthood upon them. Then Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Elias,
and many [p.49] other leading characters mentioned in the Scriptures,
who had operated in the various dispensations, came and conferred upon
Joseph the various keys, powers, rights, privileges and immunities
which they enjoyed in their times.

vol. 23, p.49
Again, Joseph was commanded to preach this Gospel and to bear this
testimony to the world. He was taught the same principles that were
taught to Adam, the same principles that were taught to Noah, to
Enoch, to Abraham, to Moses, to Elijah and other Prophets, the same
principles that were taught by Jesus Christ and the Apostles in former
times on the continent of Asia, accompanied with the same Priesthood
and the same organization, only more fully, because the present
dispensation is a combination of the various dispensations that have
existed in the different ages of the world, and which is designated in
the Scriptures as the dispensation of the fulness of times, in which
God would gather together all things in one, whether they be things in
heaven or things on earth. Therefore, whatever of knowledge, of
intelligence, of Priesthood, of powers, of revelations was conferred
upon those men in the different ages, was again restored to the earth
by the ministration and through the medium of those who held the holy
Priesthood of God in the different dispensations in which they lived.

vol. 23, p.49
Under the direction of the Almighty, Joseph organized a church; and
when people were called Upon to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to
repent of their sins, to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of sins and to have hands laid upon them for the
reception of the Holy Ghost, those who did believe and obey received
the attendant blessings. Then the various offices of the Priesthood
began to be conferred upon men who believed, and in due time the
quorum of the Twelve was organized, whose commission was to proclaim
this Gospel to every people, to every nation; to every kindred, to
every tongue. Then a quorum of seventy Elders was selected, known by
the name of Seventies; and we now have some 76 times 70 of those
Elders. 

vol. 23, p.49
A First Presidency was also organized to preside over the whole Church
in all the world. Then there were High Priests ordained whose office
was principally to preside as well as to preach the Gospel. Then there
were Elders, Priests, Teachers and Deacons; and this organization was
given by direct revelation, by which the Church has been governed from
that time until the present. Bishops were also appointed whose
position in the Church was clearly defined by the word of the Lord.
Then High Councils were organized for the adjustment of all matters of
difficulty, for the correction of incorrect doctrine, for the
maintenance of purity and correct principles among the Saints, and for
the adjudication of all general matters pertaining to Israel. This was
the testimony and this is our testimony to-day to the nations of the
earth. The Lord stood at the head as instructor, guide and director;
and the Elders were told to go forth and to preach the Gospel to every
creature, because confusion, disorder, sectarianism and the theories
of men had been substituted for the word and will, and the revelation,
law and power of God. These Elders were told that approached the
latter times, when God would have a controversy with the nations, and
the message which [p.50] they had to proclaim was that which was
described by John when wrapped in prophetic vision upon the Isle of
Patmos. Among other great and important events he said "I saw another
angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to
preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation and
kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God
and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come." This was
the commission given by the Lord to the Latter-day Saints. This is the
mission we have been trying to carry out from that time to the
present; and I myself have traveled tens of thousands of miles without
purse or scrip, trusting in God, to teach these holy principles, and
so have many of my brethren by whom I am surrounded.

vol. 23, p.50
When we started we were told that we were not sent to be taught, but
to teach. Why? Because the world was not in possession of the
principles of life, and therefore could not teach them. We went in
obedience to the direct command of God to us through his servant
Joseph, and we have spread forth the Gospel among the nations. And is
there anything unreasonable about it? No. Is it true? Yes. Is it
scriptural? Yes. Is it philosophical? Yes. And I say to-day, not by
way of boasting, because we have nothing to boast of (I have no
intelligence but what I am indebted to God, my heavenly Father and my
brethren for,) that while I have traveled through various parts of the
United States and the Canadas, also in England, Ireland, Scotland,
Wales, France, Germany, and different parts of the earth, among the
wise and intelligent as well as the poor and ignorant, among all
classes of men—I have stood in their halls and talked with their
professors, ministers, legislators, rulers, divines, judges and wise
men of every class, grade and position in life—but I have never met
with a man who could gainsay one principle of the Gospel of the Son of
God, and I never expect to; because truth, eternal truth, as it
emanates from God, cannot be controverted.

vol. 23, p.50
And what is the nature of the Gospel? It is the same as that taught on
the day of Pentecost by the Apostles, when they cried out to the
multitude, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost." That was the testimony which they bore to the
people. That is the testimony which the Elders of this Church bear.
There is something about this that is reasonable, that is intelligent,
and that is susceptible of proof. It was a very fair proposition for
the Apostle to make, promising the people who would obey the
requirements which the Gospel imposes upon its adherents, that they
should receive the Holy Ghost. And what should this do for them? It
was to cause their old men to dream dreams and their young men to see
visions, it was to make their sons and daughters prophecy, it was to
bring things past to their remembrance, to lead them into all truth,
and to show them things to come. This proposition was not alone of a
religious nature, but it was also strictly philosophical. The farmer
sows oats or wheat, or plants corn, and what does he expect? He
expects oats, wheat or corn, as the case may be, and nothing else.
There are laws and principles in nature, in the vegetable, the animal
and the mineral kingdoms, as well as in all [p.51] the works of God,
that are true in themselves and they are eternal. There are such
metals as gold, silver, copper or iron, each possessing certain
distinctive elements which they always did possess; and the different
bodies in their chemical relations possess principles that are always
true to unchangeable laws. It is so also in regard to all the elements
by which we are surrounded, and also in regard to the heavenly bodies.
Because of these unchanging laws, we know precisely when the sun will
rise and when it will set. We know when certain planets or comets will
appear and disappear. All their movements are undeviating, exact and
true according to the laws of nature.

vol. 23, p.51
Now here is a principle of the Gospel that will admit of as strong
evidence as anything in nature. What is it? "Repent, and be baptized
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Or in other
words, sow wheat and you reap wheat; plant corn and you gather corn.
It was a bold position to take. I remember that on these points I
questioned the Elder who brought the Gospel to me. I asked, What do
you mean by this Holy Ghost? Will it cause your old men to dream
dreams and your young men to see visions; will it bring to pass the
scripture which saith: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will
pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophecy? Yes.
Will it give you the permeating influence of the Spirit of the living
God, and give you a certain knowledge of the principles that you
believe in?

vol. 23, p.51
"Yes," he answered, "and if it will not, then I am an impostor." Said
I, That is a very fair proposition. Finding the doctrine to be
correct, I obeyed, and I received that Spirit through obedience to the
Gospel which gave me a knowledge of those principles which I simply
believed before, because they were scriptural, reasonable and
intelligent, according to that scripture which saith, "If any man will
do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or
whether I speak of myself."

vol. 23, p.51
I was ordained an Elder by the proper authorities, and I went forth to
preach this Gospel. Other Elders went forth as I did to the civilized
nations, preaching the same doctrine and holding out the same
promises. Some of them were not very learned; some were not very
profoundly educated. We send a singular class of people in our Elders.
Sometimes a missionary is a merchant, sometimes a legislator, a
blacksmith, an adobe maker, a plasterer, a farmer, or common laborer,
as the case may be. But all under the same influence and spirit, all
going forth as missionaries to preach the Gospel of light, of life and
of salvation. They have received the treasures of eternal life, and
they are enabled to communicate them to others; and they hold out the
same promises. You who hear me this afternoon, as well as thousands
upon thousands of others, have listened to those principles, you have
had held out unto you those promises; and when you obeyed the Gospel,
you received this same spirit; and you are my witnesses of the truth
of the things that I now proclaim in your hearing, and of the Spirit
and power of God attending the obedience to the Gospel, and you will
not deny it. This congregation will not deny it. When you yielded
obedience to the laws of God, obeyed [p.52] His commandments, were
baptized for the remission of your sins and had hands laid upon you
for the reception of the Holy Ghost, you did receive it: and you are
living witnesses before God. This is a secret that the world does not
comprehend. Its people have not obeyed it and they do not know it; and
the things of God, say the scriptures, no man knoweth but by the
Spirit of God; and this Spirit has imparted to us that intelligence
and that knowledge. This people have in their possession a hope that
enters within the vail, whither Christ, our forerunner, has gone. They
are living and acting and operating for eternity. God is their Father,
and they know it. Some people think we are a set of ignorant boobies,
who do not know what we are talking about, and they try to overrun the
faith of the Latter-day Saints by sophistry, falsehood and folly.
Whilst the fact is, we are in possession of the principles of eternal
life, and are operating for eternity; and then we are operating to
build up the Zion of God, where righteousness can be taught, and where
men can be protected, and where liberty can be proclaimed to all men
of every color, of every creed and of every nation.

vol. 23, p.52
Being placed in communication with God, the sophistry, nonsense and
dogmas of men have no influence upon us. We are built upon the rock of
revelation, as Peter was, and on the same principle. Said Jesus to
him, "Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" The answer was:
"Some say thou art one of the Prophets; some say thou art the Elias
who was to come," etc. "But whom say you that I am?" Peter answered
and said: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus
replied, "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath
not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven; and I
say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I
build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
What rock? The rock of revelation —upon the intelligence communicated
by the Holy Ghost to those wire obey the Gospel of the Son of God; by
this, men shall know for themselves, and stand as the rock of ages,
invulnerable, immovable and unchangeable. That is the position which
we the Latter-day Saints occupy.

vol. 23, p.52
This, then, is the religious part of the question. What do we believe
in? We believe in purity, in virtue, in honesty, in integrity, in
truthfulness and in not giving way to falsehood; we believe in
treating all men justly, uprightly and honorably; we believe in
fearing God, observing His laws and keeping His commandments. Do we
all do it? No, not quite. I wish we did. But a great majority of the
Later-day Saints are doing this; and if there are those that are not,
let them look well to their path, for God will be after them, and
their brethren will be after them, for God cannot look upon sin with
any degree of allowance. And as we are here for the purpose of
building up Zion, He expects that we will be upright and honorable in
all our dealings with one another and with all men.

vol. 23, p.52
One part of the Gospel is that we should be gathered together to a
land that should be called Zion. Have we been doing this? Yes. Some
people are very much opposed to it. Have we injured anybody by
gathering in this way? Is this indeed the land of the free, the home
[p.53] of the brave, and the asylum for the oppressed? Cannot the
people of this nation afford to listen to the principles of truth, and
allow men who are fearing God to assemble together to worship Him
according to the dictates of their own consciences? Have we violated
any law of the United States in thus gathering together and in thus
worshiping our God? Not that I know of. Have we been opposed to the
United States? No! no! no! we never have, and we are at the defiance
of all men to prove anything of the kind. There are falsehoods set
afoot by low, degraded, unprincipled men. We believe that the
Constitution of the United States was given by inspiration of God. And
why? Because it is one of those instruments which proclaims liberty
throughout the land, and to all the inhabitants thereof. And it was
because of those noble sentiments, and the promulgation of those
principles which were given by God to man, we believe that it was
given by the inspiration of the Almighty. We have always esteemed it
in this light, and it was so declared by Joseph Smith. Did we do any
wrong in coming here in the way we did? I think not. Did we transgress
any of the laws of the United States? I think not. Did we transgress
any of the laws of the nations we left? I think not. We gathered
together simply because we were told there was a Zion to be built up.
And what was that Zion? The term means the pure in heart. In
connection with our gathering, I would remark, that a short time ago,
at one of our public celebrations, there were twenty-seven
nationalities represented. This is in accordance with the scripture
which says: I will take them one of a city and two of a family, and
bring them to Zion. And I will give them pastors after mine own heart,
that shall feed them with knowledge and understanding. This is what we
find in the Christian Bible, and there is certainly no harm in
believing the Bible. The Christians send their Bible missionaries
among us to circulate it, and we are always glad to receive the Bible
and be governed by it.

vol. 23, p.53
Now, then, being gathered together, we necessarily required some kind
of social relations with each other, for when we came here we brought
our bodies with us as well as our religion, and we brought our wives
and families with us as well as our religion; and we needed to
cultivate the earth and build houses, and plant orchards, and
vineyards, and gardens, and attend to the common affairs of life. And
then as we began to increase we began to open and build farms,
hamlets, villages and cities. Is there anything wrong in this? No.
Finally, when we came here we petitioned for a State government, the
people held a convention and a constitution was framed, and forwarded
to Washington. Congress refused our application for a State, but they
gave us a Territorial form of government and named the Territory Utah;
and strange to say, how men and nations change, they are trying to
interfere with us because of our polygamy, and at that time the
government appointed a polygamous governor, Brigham Young. People
change in their sentiments and views; I suppose they call it progress.
Apostle Orson Pratt, whom you all knew, as soon as that revelation was
made public, went down to the city of Washington, and there published
the doctrine of plural marriage and also lectured upon it. The paper
he published [p.54] was called The Seer, which many of you brethren
remember very well. They were not in ignorance in relation to these
matters. It was then well understood by the nation that these were our
sentiments, and that President Young was a polygamist.

vol. 23, p.54
But passing on. Sometime after that, we had some United States
officials sent out here, who were not polygamists, but one of them
went so far as to show us what beautiful civilization they had where
he came from, and he left his wife at home and brought with him a
strumpet and took her on to the bench with him, to let the people see
how intelligent and enlightened the people were in the United States.
However, fortunately for him, there was no Edmunds bill then. Still,
we were not much edified. It might be according to some people's
system of ethics; it may be considered beautiful or æsthetic by the
admirers of this fast and progressive civilization; but we could not
appreciate it, and the consequence was, that the people felt
indignant, they looked upon him as a profligate, and that he had
defiled and disgraced the ermine. These were the sentiments of the
people then, and they are yours to-day, for you have never been taught
anything else. He and some others went back to Washington, and
reported that the "Mormons" were in a state of rebellion; that they
were a very wicked people, very corrupt and very depraved, almost as
bad as some of our truth-telling ministers make us out to be, for some
of them are not very notorious for telling the truth, nobody believes
them here; but then they have reverend put before their names and
that, of course, covers—what is at I a multitude of sins. And
therefore, the mendacious stories that they tell and circulate are
received as actual truth by thousands of blind, ignorant, bigoted
people, who, doubtless, are far more sincere and far more honest and
pure in their lives than these specimens of fallen humanity who, in
the garb of sanctity, manufacture falsehoods and prepare them
specially for the vitiated taste of the age.

vol. 23, p.54
But to return; judges and other officials were sent here, and suffice
it to say, we did not like their civilization; and, then, they were
not much enamored with ours, because whatever we may be in the
estimation of the world generally, we are utterly averse to anything
like licentiousness and debauchery; and, if there is any among us, we
are indebted to our Christian friends for it, and to our Christian
judges for maintaining and protecting it in our midst. We have no
affiliation with such flyings; they cannot exist among us as a people,
only by the force, the power and influence of this federal
Christianity that has been introduced among us. Until these people
came into our midst we had no house of ill-fame; and a lady could
travel as safely in our streets at any time of night as in the day; we
had no occasion to lock our doors to prevent thieves from preying upon
us; we had no drunkenness, ribaldry or blasphemy in our streets; all
these things have been introduced among us by our good, kind, pure,
pious Christian friends, and in scores of our remote settlements where
this civilization has not penetrated, they are free from these vices
to-day

vol. 23, p.54
Now we will go back to the statement of these men. They were believed
in Washington. What did they state? Among other things they said that
we had burned the United States library, and the court records,  and
that a dreadful [p.55] state of anarchy was in existence; and instead
of the United States sending out a commission to enquire into these
matters, they took the statement of a Lotherio and his associates, and
sent out an army to destroy us. And these troops were reduced to
gnawing mules' legs about the vicinity of Bridger, refusing salt when
we sent it to them —for we would have done them good, notwithstanding
they came as our enemies. I remember writing a letter to one of the
officers who had a letter of introduction to me, and forwarded it by a
messenger; I told him that I was very sorry, that as a United States'
officer, as an honorable man, he should be placed in the situation he
was then in; because he could not help it, as an officer, any more
than we could, as he was operating as a servant of the government
under military rule and had, therefore, to obey orders. And that while
we esteemed him and other officers as patriots and high-minded,
honorable men, who had exhibited their patriotism and bravery in
Mexico and other places, and while we heard of their excellent
military equipments, we did not like the idea of their trying the
temper of their steel upon us. I told him that republics which
reflected the voice of the people were in many instances excitable and
erratic, and that I looked for a reaction in public opinion, and that
when that change came I expected the difficulties that the government
had placed us in would be done away, and that then I would be glad to
extend to him that courtesy in our city that one gentleman should
extend to another, and would then be happy to see him. But we could
not meet then of course; they could not come to us, and we could not
very well go out to them.

vol. 23, p.55
So that the Latter-day Saints may know the truth or falsity of the
allegations made by Judge Drummond, I will have the official statement
of Governor Cumming, who came out with the army, read to this
congregation.

vol. 23, p.55
It would be unfair and disengenuous to blame one administration for
the acts of another, yet when we see a disposition to listen to the
same kind of popular clamor that then existed, we cannot but notice a
great similarity of circumstances.

vol. 23, p.55
[Elder L. John Nuttall then read the following extracts from the
official statement of Governor Cumming, which was dated Great Salt
Lake City, April 15th, 1858:]

vol. 23, p.55
"Since my arrival I have been employed in examining the records of the
Supreme and District Courts, which I am now prepared to report as
being perfect and unimpaired. This will, doubtless, be acceptable
information to those who have entertained an impression to the
contrary.

vol. 23, p.55
I have also examined the Legislative Records and other books belonging
to the office of Secretary of State, which are in perfect
preservation.

vol. 23, p.55
The condition of the large and valuable Territorial Library has also
commanded my attention: and I am pleased in being able to report that
Mr. W. C. Staines, the librarian, has kept the books and records in
most excellent condition. I will, at an early day, transmit a
catalogue of this library, and schedules of the other public property,
with certified copies of the records of the Supreme and District
Courts, exhibiting the character and amount of the public business
last transacted in them."

vol. 23, p.55
Thus it appears that the allegations made by our enemies were [p.56]
false, and the army was sent out under false representations, and
their own Governor furnishes the evidence for their own refutation.
Yet we were subjected to the indignity and outrage of having an army
sent among us, predicated upon these false statements.

vol. 23, p.56
From the above and other similar actions manifested towards us as a
people we have learned in the sad school of experience, and by the
things that we have suffered, the excitability of the populace, and
the unreasonable, savage and relentless feelings that frequently
possess the people in their antagonism towards us, to be very careful,
in all our acts among men, not to excite that feeling of hate which
seems to be implanted in the human bosom against the principles taught
by the servants of the Lord in all ages of the world.

vol. 23, p.56
Our mission is and always has been peace on earth and goodwill to man,
to all men. We have in our midst Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians,
Roman Catholics and all kinds of "ites." Does anybody interfere with
them? Not that I know of. Yet there was a man, a professed minister in
Sanpete County—[addressing President Canute Peterson of Sanpete Stake]
Brother Peterson, did you not have a man in your Stake who got up a
sensation by publishing far and wide that he had to preach the Gospel
in Sanpete with a revolver on his desk, to prevent the "Mormons" from
interfering with him—was not that the purport of his statement?
[President Peterson: Yes, sir.] Do you know the man?  [Ans.: Yes,
sir.] Is he there yet? [Ans.: No, sir.] [Laughter.] Others have stated
lately that we were in a state of sedition, and that in our different
counties there were armed bodies of men prepared to fight the United
States. The person that made and published this last statement was, as
I understand, also a minister, one of these reverend gentlemen. Do any
of you know his name? [A voice: Sheldon Jackson.] I am told it was one
Sheldon Jackson; a reverend gentleman with a big R, a pious man, of
course, and therefore what he says must be true. [Laughter.] We have a
set of people that seem to be prowling about; I suppose, however, they
are as necessary as anything else; I do not know but what they are. We
have a species of birds called buzzards, whose natural tastes are for
any kind of nauseous food; nothing suits them better than to gorge on
carrion. Like them, these defamers are fond of trying to root up
something against our people here. They themselves fabricate all kinds
of notions and opinions, similar to the above that I have mentioned,
that everybody here knows to be false, and they circulate them, and
they have fanned the United States almost into a furore. People
generally are ignorant of what these men and women are engaged in.
They think these persons are honorable men and women; and they get up
a lot of stories about some poor woman or some poor girl who has been
crowded upon by her husband, and that in this state of polygamy there
is the most abject misery, and the greatest distress that can be found
anywhere. Are they true? Some individual cases may be true. Some of
our men do not treat their wives right, and then some wives do not
treat their husbands right. We do not all do right by a great deal. I
wish we all did right. But supposing we were to go down to the places
where these people hail from, to the slums of Chicago, St. Louis,
Cincinnati, Philadelphia, New York,  and other [p.57] cities,
beginning, say, in New York, with the gilded palaces of 4th and 5th
Avenues, and trace the thing down to Five Points, and then go through
other cities in the same way, and what would we find there? Do you not
think one could get up something as dirty and filthy as the most
foul-minded person can get up about as? A thousand times more so.

vol. 23, p.57
They say we are an ignorant. people. We admit that we are not so very
intelligent, and we never boast of our learning or intelligence; but
then, they should not boast of theirs either. However, we can compare
favorably with them any day; and while they have had millions of the
public funds to sustain their educational establishments, we have been
despoiled, plundered and robbed over and over again, yet we are
prepared to compare notes with them on education, and also on virtue,
honesty and morals, any way they can fix it. And I would be ready to
say, as one said of old, Thou fool, first take the beam out of thine
own eye, that thou mayest see the more clearly to take the mote out of
thy brother's eye.

vol. 23, p.57
We will have read some figures for the information of the brethren who
come from a distance, who may not be acquainted with these matters.

vol. 23, p.57
[President Taylor then called upon his secretary, Elder L. John
Nuttall, to read some extracts from a work published by an ex-United
States official in New York City, which were as follows: ]

vol. 23, p.57
Before citing from the still incomplete census reports of 1880, let us
take that of 1870 and compare Utah and Massachusetts, the new
theocracy with the descendants of an old theocracy—priest-ridden Utah
with "cultured" Massachusetts, also adding the District of Columbia,
which has the enlightening presence of the American Congress to add to
its advantages, and is under its direct government.

vol. 23, p.57
ttt

vol. 23, p.57
"From statistics contained in the Report of the Commissioners of
Education for 1877, it is shown that in the percentage of enrolment of
her School population, Utah is in advance of the general average of
the United States, while in the percentage in actual daily attendance
at school, she still further exceeds the average of the whole Union.

vol. 23, p.57
In 1877, when the school population of Utah numbered 30,792, there was
invested in the Territory in school property the creditable sum of
$568,984, being about eighteen and one-half dollars per capita of the
school population.

vol. 23, p.57
In contrast with this, take the amount per capita of their school
population, which some of the States have invested in school property:
North Carolina, less than $0 60; Louisiana, $3 00; Virginia, about $2
00; Oregon, less than $9 00; Wisconsin, less than $11 00; Tennessee,
less than $2 50; Delaware, less than $13 00.

vol. 23, p.57
In respect to the amount, per capita, of her school population, which
Utah has invested in school property, she exceeds several other
Southern and Western States, is in advance of the great States of
Indiana and Illinois, and I believe in advance of the general average
of the entire Union.

vol. 23, p.57
Thus, in the matter of education, Utah stands ahead of many old and
[p.58] wealthy States, and of the general average of the United States
in three very important respects, namely, the enrolment of her school
population, the percentage of their daily attendance at school, and
the amount per capita invested in school property.

vol. 23, p.58
From the census of 1880 I have compiled the following: 

COMPARISON OF ILLITERACY.—

vol. 23, p.58
The United States & Utah Territory: 

	United States.	Utah.

Total population	 50,155,783	143,963
Total over 10 years of
age who cannot read	   4,923,451	    4,851
Percentage who cannot
read, 10 years & over	            9.82	      3.37
Total over 10 years of
age who cannot write	  6. 239,958	    8,826
Percentage who cannot
write, 10 yrs. & over	         12.14	      6.13
Total white population	43,402,970	142,423
Total white population
over 10 years of age
who cannot write	 3,019,080	    8,137
Percentage of white
population who can-
not write, 10 years &
over 	          6.96	      5.71

vol. 23, p.58
Of all the States and Territories in the Union there are but thirteen
showing a lower percentage of total population who cannot read,
Connecticut having the same 3.37. The rest range all the way up 32.32.
per centage of total population in South Carolina

vol. 23, p.58
We will now produce some evidence with regard to crime, etc., drawn
from official sources:

vol. 23, p.58
The population of Utah by the census of 1880 is about 144,000, divided
as follows:

vol. 23, p.58
Mormons ..............		120,283
Gentiles .................	14,155
Apostate Mormons.	  6,988
Josephites ..............	     820
Doubtful ................	  1,717
		  23,680

	Total ........................ 	143,963

vol. 23, p.58
"It will be seen that the "Gentiles" constitute only ten per cent. of
the population, yet from this small minority are taken the incumbents
of nearly every position of influence and emolument. They have the
Governor, with absolute veto power, Secretary, Judges, Marshals,
Prosecuting Attorneys, Land Register, Recorder, Surveyor-General,
Clerks of the Courts, Commissioners, principal Post-office Mail
Contractors, Postal Agents, Revenue Assessors and Collectors,
Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Indian Agencies, Indian Supplies,
Army Contractors, express, railroad and telegraph lines, the
associated press agency, half the jurors in law, but at least
three-fourths and always the foreman in practice, in fact, every
position not elective.

vol. 23, p.58
Last winter there was a census taken of the Utah penitentiary and the
Salt Lake City and County prisons, with the following result: In Salt
Lake City there are about seventy-five Mormons to twenty-five
non-Mormons. In Salt Lake County there are about eighty Mormons to
twenty non-Mormons. In the city prison there were twenty-nine
convicts, all non-Mormons; in the county prison there were six
convicts, all non-Mormons. The jailer stated that the county convicts
for the five years past were all anti-Mormons except three.

vol. 23, p.58
In Utah we have seen that by the United States Census the proportion
of orthodox Mormons to all others is as eighty-three to seventeen. In
the Utah penitentiary there were fifty-one prisoners, only five of
whom were Mormons, and two of the five were in prison for imitating
Father Abraham in their domestic menage, so that the seventeen per
cent, "outsiders" had forty-six convicts in the penitentiary, while
the  eighty-three per cent, Mormons had but five! The total number of
Utah [p.59] lockups, including the penitentiary, is fourteen; these
aggregated one hundred and twenty-five inmates. Of these one hundred
and twenty-five, not over eleven were Mormons, several of whom were
incarcerated for minor offences and polygamy; while if all the
anti-Mormon thieves, adulterers, black-legs, perjurers, murderers and
other criminals who are at large, were sent to prison, the Mormons
claim that their prisons could not hold them.

vol. 23, p.59
In 1878 a Mormon publication made the following boastful statement:

vol. 23, p.59
Out of the twenty counties of the Territory, most of which are
populous, thirteen are, to-day, without a dram-shop, brewery, gambling
or brothel-house, bowling or billiard-saloon, lawyer, doctor, parson
beggar, politician or place-hunter, and almost entirely free from
social troubles of every kind; yet these counties are exclusively
'Mormon;' and with the exception of a now and then domestic doctor or
lawyer, the entire Territory was free from these adjuncts of
civilization (?) till after the advent of the professing Christian
element, boastingly here to 'regenerate the Mormons,' and to-day every
single disreputable concern in Utah is run and fostered by the very
same Christian (?) element. Oaths, imprecations, blasphemies,
invectives, expletives, blackguardism, the ordinary dialect of the
"anti-Mormon," were not heard in Utah till after his advent, nor till
then, did we have litigation, drunkenness, harlotry, political and
judicial deviltries, gambling and kind red enormities.

vol. 23, p.59
This is what the Mormons assert. Let us see how the case stands today,
and what the facts attest.

vol. 23, p.59
Out of the two hundred saloon, billiard, bowling alley and pool table
keepers, not over a dozen even profess to be Mormons. All of the
bagnios and other disreputable concerns in the Territory are run and
sustained by anti-Mormons. Ninety-eight per cent. of the gamblers of
Utah are of the same element, Ninety-five per cent. of the Utah
lawyers are Gentiles, and eighty per cent. of all the litigation there
is of outside growth and promotion.

vol. 23, p.59
Of the two hundred and fifty towns and villages in Utah, over two
hundred have no "gaudy sepulchre of departed virtue," and these two
hundred and odd towns are almost exclusively Mormon in population. Of
the suicides committed in Utah, ninety odd per cent. are non-Mormon;
and of the Utah homicides and infanticides, over eighty per cent. are
perpetrated by the seventeen per cent. "outsiders.

vol. 23, p.59
The arrests made in Salt Lake City from January 1, 1881, to December
8, 1881, are classified, as follows:

vol. 23, p.59
Men ...........................................................	
782
Women ......................................................	  200
Boys ..........................................................	
38

	Total ....................... 	1,020

Mormons, Men & Boys ......	163
       "      , Women ...............	    6	   169
Anti-Mormon-Men & Boys-	657
       "                 Women ......... 194	    851

	Total ........................     1,020 

vol. 23, p.59
A number of the Mormon arrests were for chicken, cow and water
trespass, petty larceny, etc. The arrests of anti-Mormons were in most
cases for prostitution, gambling, exposing of person. drunkenness,
unlawful dram selling, assault and battery, attempt to kill, etc.

vol. 23, p.59
If the seventy-five per cent. Mormon population of Salt Lake City were
as lawless and corrupt as [p.60] the record shows the twenty-five per
cent. anti-Mormons to be, there would have been 2,443 arrests made
from their ranks during the year 1881 instead of the comparatively
trifling number of 169 shown on the record; while if the twenty-five
per cent. anti-Mormon population had as law-abiding and upright a
record as the seventy-five per cent. Mormons, instead of the startling
number of 851 anti-Mormon arrests during the year, there would have
been but 56 made."

vol. 23, p.60
I give these statements of facts for the information of the brethren
who are here from a distance; but, then, they know them as facts; that
is, they know how these soi disant regeneraters act, but many of them
do not know what their civilization is here, and what is sought to be
introduced among us, and the infamous statements circulated concerning
us. We are ready, as I said before, to compare notes with them or the
people of this or any nation at any time. And then again, we ought to
be more pure and virtuous than they, for we do profess to be the
Saints of the Most High God. With this view, when this Edmunds bill
was being canvassed, and there was a prospect of its passing—although
we thought at first it was impossible that such a concern could pass
through Congress; but when we saw the falsehoods that were being
circulated, the furore that was being raised and fanned by religious
fanatics and political demagogues, petitions were gotten up by the
people here, one of them representing the male class, another our
Relief Societies, another our young men, and another our young ladies'
Improvement Societies. All of them represented that we were a virtuous
people—that polygamy was a religious institution; and the young people
asserted that it had been taught to them by their parents from their
youth up, and that the principles of purity, virtue, integrity and
loyalty to the government of the United States had been instilled into
their minds and hearts since their earliest childhood; and further,
that they had been taught and understood that chastity was their
greatest boon, far above jewels or wealth, and more precious than life
itself. In a few days we had 165,000 signatures, and they were
forwarded to Washington. The request was that Congress would not act
as the government had before—first send out an army and then send
commissioners to require, but that they would send commissioners first
to require into the facts of the case. But they did not choose to
listen. In fact, there has been a great furore in the United States in
relation to these matters, and that has originated to an extent
through our Governor. Now I am very much averse to talking about
official men; I do not like to do such things. They ought to be
honorable men; the most charitable construction I could put upon his
acts would be to say that his education had been sadly neglected, and
that he was not acquainted with figures. He might have learned to read
and write perhaps, but I would question his having gone so far as
arithmetic; because he did not apparently know the difference between
1,300 votes and 18,500 votes. It does denote a lamentable absence of a
knowledge of the rudiments of a common education; but then, a man
should not, perhaps, be blamed for that which he does not know. And,
indeed, it would seem that some of our lawmakers in  Washington are
not educated. With all due respect to them, with these facts before
them [p.61] and condemned throughout the United States, they did not
think it was any crime for a man to be thus ignorant, or they would
not have sent him back again. We hope the Commissioners will be better
educated, that they will be men who can tell the difference between
1,300 and 18,500. Now we may be very ignorant—and we do not boast much
of our intelligence, but when such people perpetrate such palpable,
flagrant outrages, we have to resort to a political phrase in order to
express our disgust towards them by saying, "There is something rotten
in Denmark." I have to be a politician as well as everything else.

vol. 23, p.61
Still, in the midst of these things, what are you going to do? Do the
very best we can. Are you going to rebel? That would please our
enemies, but we do not have much of that spirit in us. We feel to
sympathize with people who have no better judgment than to adopt so
suicidal and dishonorable a course as that which has been pursued
towards us. Yet notwithstanding this, we are unshaken towards the
principles of our government and believe that we have got the best on
the earth, these evils arising from the corruptions of men and
maladministration. It is said that error and falsehood will run a
thousand miles while truth is putting on its boots, but truth
ultimately will triumph, as according to the old adage, "Truth,
crushed to earth, will rise again." And what will you do? Contend for
constitutional principles, or lie down and let the vicious, the
mendacious and unprincipled run over and overslaugh you?

vol. 23, p.61
We have peacefully, legally and honorably possessed our lands in these
valleys of the mountains, and we have purchased and paid for them; we
do not revel in any ill-gotten gain. They are ours. We have complied
with all the requisitions of law pertaining thereto, and we expect to
possess and inhabit them. We covet no man's silver or gold, or
apparel, or wife, or servants, or flocks, or herds, or horses, or
carriages, or lands, or possessions. But we expect to maintain our own
rights. If we are crowded upon by unprincipled men or inimical
legislation, we shall not take the course pursued by the lawless, the
dissolute and the unprincipled; we shall not have recourse to the
dynamite of the Russian Nihilists, the secret plans and machinations
of the communists, the boycotting and threats of the Fenians, the
force and disorder of the Jayhawkeers, the regulators or the Molly
Maguires, nor any other secret or illegal combination; but we still
expect to possess and maintain our rights; but to obtain them in a
legal, peaceful and constitutional manner. As American citizens, we
shall contend for all our liberties, rights and immunities, guaranteed
to us by the Constitution; and no matter what action may be taken by
mobocratic influence, by excited and unreasonable men, or by inimical
legislation, we shall contend inch by inch for our freedom and rights,
as well as the freedom and rights of all American citizens and of all
mankind. As a people or community, we can abide our time, but I will
say to you Latter-day Saints, that there is nothing of which you have
been despoiled by oppressive acts or mobocratic rule, but that you
will again possess, or your children after you. Your rights in Ohio,
your rights in Jackson, Clay, Caldwell and Davis counties in Missouri,
will yet be restored to you. Your  possessions, of which you have been
fraudulently [p.62] despoiled in Missouri and Illinois, you will again
possess, and that without force, or fraud or violence. The Lord has a
way of His own in regulating such matters. We are told the wicked
shall slay the wicked. He has a way of His own of "emptying the earth
of the inhabitants thereof." A terrible day of reckoning is
approaching the nations of the earth; the Lord is coming out of His
hiding place to vex the inhabitants thereof; and the destroyer of the
Gentiles, as prophesied of, is already on his way. Already the
monarchs of the earth are trembling from conspiracies among their own
people; already has one Czar of Russia been destroyed and another
holds his life by a very uncertain tenure through the perpetual
threats and machinations of an infuriated populace; already have the
Emperor of Germany, the King of Italy, the Queen of England, the King
of Spain, the Sultan of Turkey, and many others of the honorable and
noble rulers of the earth had their lives jeopardized by the attacks
of regicides; already have two of the Presidents of this Republic been
laid low by the hands of the assassin; and the spirit of
insubordination, misrule, lynching, and mobocracy of every kind is
beginning to ride rampant through the land; already combinations are
being entered into which are very ominous for the future prosperity,
welfare and happiness of this great Republic. The volcanic fires of
disordered and anarchical elements are beginning to manifest
themselves and exhibit the internal forces that are at work among the
turbulent and unthinking masses of the people. Congress will soon have
something else to do than to proscribe and persecute an innocent,
law-abiding and patriotic people. Of all bodies in the world, they can
least afford to remove the bulwarks that bind society together in this
nation, to recklessly trample upon human freedom and rights, and to
rend and destroy that great Palladium of human rights—the Constitution
of the United States. Ere long they will need all its protecting
influence to save this nation from misrule, anarchy and mobocratic
influence. They can ill afford to be the foremost in tampering with
human rights and human freedom, or in tearing down the bulwarks of
safety and protection which that sacred instrument has guaranteed. It
is lamentable to see the various disordered and disorganized elements
seeking to overthrow the greatest and best government in existence on
the earth. Congress can ill afford to set a pattern of violation of
that Constitution which it has sworn to support. The internal fires of
revolution are already smouldering in this nation, and they need but a
spark to set them in a flame. Already are agencies at work in the land
calculated to subvert and overthrow every principle of rule and
government; already is corruption of every kind prevailing in high
places and permeating all society; already are we, as a nation,
departing from our God, and corrupting ourselves with malfeasance,
dishonor, and a lack of public integrity and good faith; already are
licentiousness and debauchery corrupting, undermining and destroying
society; already are we interfering with the laws of nature and
stopping the functions of life, and have become the slayers of our own
offspring, and employ human butchers in the shape of physicians to
assist in this diabolical and  murderous work. The sins of this
nation, the licentiousness, the debauchery, the [p.63] murders are
entering into the ears of the Lord of Sabbaoth, and I tell you now,
from the tops of these mountains, as a humble servant of the living
God, that unless these crimes and infamies are stopped, this nation
will be overthrown, and its glory, power, dominion and wealth will
fade away like the dews of a summer morning. I also say to other
nations of the earth, that unless they repent of their crimes, their
iniquities and abominations, their thrones will be overturned, their
kingdoms and governments overthrown, and their lands made desolate.
This is not only my saying, but it is the saying of those ancient
prophets which they themselves profess to believe; for God will
speedily have a controversy with the nations of the earth, and, as I
stated before, the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way to
overthrow governments, to destroy dynasties, to lay waste thrones,
kingdoms and empires, to spread abroad anarchy and desolation, and to
cause war, famine and bloodshed to overspread the earth.

vol. 23, p.63
Besides the preaching of the Gospel, we have another mission, namely,
the perpetuation of the free agency of man and the maintenance of
liberty, freedom, and the rights of man. There are certain principles
that belong to humanity outside of the Constitution, outside of the
laws, outside of all the enactments and plans of man, among which is
the right to live; God gave us the right and not man; no government
gave it to us, and no government has a right to take it away from us.
We have a right to liberty—that was a  right that God gave to all men;
and if there has been oppression, fraud or tyranny in the earth, it
has been the result of the wickedness and corruptions of men and has
always been opposed to God and the principles of truth, righteousness,
virtue, and all principles that are calculated to elevate mankind. The
Declaration of Independence states that men are in possession of
certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness. This belongs to us; it belongs to all humanity.
I wish, and the worst wish I have for the United States, is, that they
could have liberality enough to give to all men equal rights, and,
while they profess to have delivered the black slaves, that they
strike off the fetters of the white men of the South, who have been
ground under the heel of sectional injustice, and let them feel that
we are all brothers in one great nation, and deliver all people from
tyranny and oppression of every kind, and proclaim, as they did at the
first, liberty throughout the land and to all people. That is the
worst wish I have for them. And when I see them take another course I
feel sorry for it. I would like if I had time to talk a little upon
constitutional rights; I would like a little to discuss the
uuconstitutionality of that Edmunds bill; but it was ably done by many
senators of the United States, and by others in the House of
Representatives. Very ably done; and I honor the men who maintain such
sentiments. It is true that most of them apologized and said that they
were as much opposed to polygamy as anybody. Well, that is a matter of
their own; they have a right to their opinions as much as I have a
right to my opinion. Would I deprive them of that right? No, I would
not. I preach the Gospel to the world. What is it? Force, tyranny and
oppression? No: it is all free grace and it is all free will. Is
anybody coerced? Did anybody [p.64] coerce you, Latter-day Saints? Are
any of you forced to continue Latter-day Saints if you do not want to?
If you think you are, you are all absolved to-day. We know of no such
principle as coercion; it is a matter of choice. The principle that  I
spoke of before—that is, men receive the Holy Ghost within themselves,
is the cementing, binding, uniting power that exists among the
Latter-day Saints. What right have I to expect that members of the
House of Representatives or the people of the United States should
advocate polygamy? They would not understand it. Nor would it be
reasonable for us to expect it at their hands; but what I admired in
those Senators and Members was their fealty to the government, to the
Constitution and the maintenance of the freedom and the inalienable
rights of man, of every color, creed and profession.

vol. 23, p.64
I will relate a little conversation that I had with President Hayes,
when he was here, on the subject of polygamy. I said to him, we are
not generally understood by the people of the world, by the outsiders;
and I call look with very great leniency upon the action of members of
the House of Representatives and the Senate, the governors, and others
who have expressed strong indignation against this principle. From
your standpoint, you think we are a corrupt people; you think it is a
part or portion of the thing you call the social evil, that permeates
all classes of society, and is sapping the foundation of the life of
so many throughout the land. You think that we are trying to introduce
something that is encouraging licentiousness and other kindred evils
among the people, and to legalize these things by legislative
enactment and otherwise, and trying to popularize and make legal those
infamies. I continued, that is a false view to take of the subject.
Mr. President, I have always abhorred such practices from the time I
was quite young; when I have seen men act the part of Lotharios,
deceiving the fair sex and despoiling them of their virtue, and then
seeing those men received into society and their victims disgraced,
ostracised and esteemed as pariahs and outcasts, I could not help
sympathising with a woman that was seduced, I looked upon the man who
seduced her as a villain; I do so to-day. Said I, when Joseph Smith
first made known the revelation concerning plural marriage and of
having more wives than one, it made my flesh crawl; but, Mr.
President, I received such evidence and testimony pertaining to this
matter, scriptural and otherwise, which it was impossible for me as an
honest man to resist, and believing it to be right I obeyed it and
practised it. I have not time now to enter into all the details; but
in regard to those honorable gentlemen in the Senate who maintained
the principle of constitutional rights and who declare, as I declare
to-day, that that instrument which was then gotten up was
unconstitutional in several particulars, I could not expect them to
advocate my religion; it is not their business, but is mine and yours.
They can take what religion they please; we do not with to force our
religion nor our marital relations upon them, nor have we ever done
it, nor could we do it if we wished, for this principle is connected
with the Saints alone, and pertains to eternity as well as time, and
is known to us by the  appellation of "celestial marriage" It does not
belong to them, nor does [p.65] it pertain to all of our own people.
None but the more pure, virtuous, honorable and upright are permitted
to enter into these associations. Now I speak to the Latter-day
Saints, who are acquainted with what I say. If I state untruths, tell
me, and I will consider you my friends, and the friends of this
community. Should we preach the doctrine of plurality of wives to the
people of the United States? No; you know very well that it is only
for honorable men and women, virtuous men and women, honest men and
women who can be vouched for by those who preside over them, and whom
they recognize as their Presidents; it is only such people as these
that can be admitted to participate in this ordinance. You know it. I
know it, you Presidents of Stakes know it and the people know it.
There are any number of people in this Territory who are good people
in many respects, but who cannot come up to that standard. That is the
position we occupy in relation to this principle. 

vol. 23, p.65
If the United States were to ask us if we could give to them the same
ordinance, we would say, No; no, we cannot. Why can you not? Because
it is a religious ordinance, as I have stated; because it connects men
and women together for time and for eternity; because it associates
people of this world in the next; because it makes provision: for our
marital associations in the other world, and that while we have our
wives here we expect to have them in eternity; and we believe in that
doctrine that reaches beyond time into eternity. Others make their
marital relations to end in death; their covenants last only till
death does them part. Ours take hold of eternity, they enter into the
eternal state of existence, and contemplate an eternal union of the
sexes worlds without end.

vol. 23, p.65
We believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life in the world
to come; and not only in the resurrection of the male, but also of the
female. We believe also in eternal unions, union on earth and in
heaven, And as the heavens declare the glory of God, and the stellar
universes roll on according to eternal laws implanted in them by the
Deity, and perform their revolutions through successive ages, so will
man progress and increase—himself, his wives, his children—through the
eternities to come. Who is injured by this faith? Cannot a great and
magnanimous nation afford the privilege to enjoy these principles
without passing bills of pains and penalties for the belief and
enunciation of such divine, ennobling and Godlike principles qqq

vol. 23, p.65
Man is a dual being, possessed of body and spirit, made in the image
of God, and connected with Him and with eternity. He is a God in
embryo and will live and progress throughout the eternal ages, if
obedient to the laws of the Godhead, as the Gods progress throughout
the eternal ages. Is it a thing incredible in this generation that God
shall raise the dead? Is it a thing incredible that the finest and
most exalted ties and sympathies of humanity, sanctified by family
relations—pure undefiled love, should continue in the resurrection qqq

vol. 23, p.65
We have no fault to find with our government. We deem it the best in
the world. But we have reason to deplore its maladministration, and I
call upon our legislators, our governors and president to pause in
their career and not to tamper with the rights and liberties of
American citizens, nor wantonly tear down the bulwarks of [p.66]
American and human liberty. God has given to us glorious institutions;
let us preserve them intact and not pander to the vices, passions and
fanaticism of a depraved public opinion. 

vol. 23, p.66
Cannot the enlightenment, civilization and statesmanship of the
nineteenth century in this great American nation find a more worthy
object than to fetter human thought, to enslave its own citizens, to
forge chains for the suppression of human progress, to bind in
Cimmerian darkness the noblest aspirations of the human soul, to tear
down the pillars of the temple of liberty, to inaugurate a system of
serfdom and oppression, and to copy after Egypt, Russia, and the late
practices of this nation in enslaving and brutalizing humanity,
tearing to pieces that great Palladium of human rights, the
Constitution of the United States? Can they afford to do this? If
there are supposed wrongs, can they not find a legal and
constitutional way of correcting these wrongs? Surely the tearing down
of the bulwarks, the very temple of freedom, will not aid them in the
solution of this, to them, vexed question, for if they tear away the
strongholds of society, they themselves will perish in the ruins.

vol. 23, p.66
But with regard to those not of us, I will tell you what I believe
about the matter. I believe it would be much better for them to have
even polygamy in their state of existence than this corroding,
corrupting, demoralizing and, damning evil that prevails in their
midst, We look upon, it that polygamy is the normal condition of man;
but that has nothing to do with Mormon plurality of wives, or what is
termed "celestial marriage." I would state also, that when we speak of
its being the normal condition, it has so existed throughout all ages.
And when we talk about polygamy, I have read the speeches of men in
Congress when speaking about the Mormon position, telling us that the
British in India put down suttee, which is the burning of widows on
the funeral pile of their husbands; casting children into the Ganges,
etc.—that the British put that down by force of law. But the British,
if my memory serves me right, have about two hundred millions of
polygamists under their jurisdiction, and they can afford to treat
them right and to give them the protection of law; but our free
government cannot. And when we talk about the suttee, that is the
destruction of life, while polygamy means the propagation of human
life. One tends to destruction and death, the other to the propagation
of life. I will guarantee to-day, without fear of contradiction, that
there is more of the suttee in the United States to-day pertaining to
infants than there ever was in India among the same number of
population. It has become unfashinable in the east for women to have
large families. I have heard remarks like this: one lady was asked,
How many children have you? One or two. Is that all? What do you take
me for, do you think I am a cow? Why no, you are not a cow, for cows
do not murder their offspring. What a terrible tale is here told! What
a horrible state of affairs is here exhibited. And I am told that some
of these iniquities are being introduced here. I tell you, in the name
of God, if you do we will be after you. I am told of physicians who
are acting as they do in the east—as the  butchers of infants. Let us
look after these things, you Bishops, and if you do find it out,
[p.67] bring them up. As God lives we will not permit such infamies in
our midst; you will not commence your fashionable murders here. And I
will say now, Wo to this nation and to the nations of Europe, or any
people among any nation, that sanctions these things. Have you not
read that no "murderer hath eternal life abiding in him?" What shall
be thought of those unnatural monsters, the slayers of their own
offspring? This revolting, unnatural, damnable vice may be
fashionable, but God will require this crime at their hands. Wo to men
and to women that are licentious and corrupt, depraved and debauched,
and especially wo, tenfold wo, to the murderers of helpless innocence.
I tell you this in the name of the Lord. If these things are not
stopped, God will arise and shake the nations of the earth and root
out their infamies.

vol. 23, p.67
Now then what shall we do?

vol. 23, p.67
We do not wish to place ourselves in a state of antagonism, nor to act
defiantly, towards this government. We will fulfil the letter, so far
as practicable, of that unjust, inhuman, oppressive and
unconstitutional law, so far as we can without violating principle;
but we cannot sacrifice every principle of human right at the behest
of corrupt, unreasoning and unprincipled men; we cannot violate the
highest and noblest principles of human nature and make pariahs and
outcasts of high-minded, virtuous and honorable women, nor sacrifice
at the shrine of popular clamor the highest and noblest principles of
humanity!

vol. 23, p.67
We shall abide all constitutional law, as we always have done;but
while we are Godfearing and law-abiding, and respect all honorable men
and officers, we are no craven serfs, and have not learned to lick the
feet of oppressors, nor to bow in base submission to unreasoning
clamor. We will contend, inch by inch, legally and constitutionally,
for our rights as American citizens, and for the universal rights of
universal man. We stand proudly erect in the consciousness of our
rights as American citizens, and plant ourselves firmly on the sacred
guarantees of the Constitution; and that instrument, while it defines
the powers and privileges of the President, Congress and the
judiciary, also directly provides that "the powers not delegated to
the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
States, are reserved to the States respectively or to the people."

vol. 23, p.67
I have heard it boasted by British statesmen, that as soon as a slave
planted his foot on British sail, his fetters were broken and he was a
free man. It is the proud boast of Americans that her flag floats for
all; and while Congress claims the right of dominion and legislation
over territories, with that same right is associated the right of
manhood, freedom and American citizenship. We need have no fears, no
trembling in our knees, about these attempts to deprive us of our
God-given and constitutional liberties. God will take care of His
people, if we will only do right. I am thankful to say that you are
doing pretty nearly as well as you know how. There are many things
among us that are wrong, many things that are foolish, but generally
you are seeking to fear God and keep His commandments. Now, treat your
wives right, but do not subject yourselves to the infamous provisions
of the Edmund's act more than you can help, avoid [p.68] all harsh
expressions and improper actions, act carefully and prudently in all
your social relations. Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. A
gentleman in Washington told another, who related it to me, in answer
to the question, What will the "Mormons" do with their wives and
children when this bill passes? he was told: Turn them out in the
streets as we do our harlots. I say in the name of God we will not do
any such thing, and let all Israel say Amen. [The vast congregation,
amounting to from 12,000 to 14,000 persons, responded Amen.] We will
stand by our covenants, and the Constitution will bear us out in it.
Among other things, that instrument says that Congress shall make no
law impairing the validity of contracts. You have contracted to be
united with your wives in time and in eternity, and it would not do
for us to break a constitutional law, would it? [Laughter.] Others may
do it, but we cannot. We cannot lay aside our honor, we cannot lay
aside our principles; and if people cannot allow us freedom, we can
allow freedom to them and to all men. We will be true to our wives and
cherish them and maintain them, and stand by them in time, and we will
reign with them in eternity, when thousands of others are weltering
under the wrath of God. Any man that abuses his wife, or takes
advantage of this law to oppress her, is not worthy of a standing in
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and let the
congregation say Amen. [The immense congregation responded by a loud
Amen.]

vol. 23, p.68
Now, what will we do in our relations with the United States? We will
observe the law as we have done, and be as faithful as we have been.
We will maintain our principles and live our religion and keep the
commandments of God, and obey every constitutional law, pursuing that
course that shall direct us in all things.

vol. 23, p.68
Brethren and sisters, God bless you and lead you in the paths of life,
and give you wisdom; be calm and quiet; all is well in Zion. You need
not be under any fears about anything that may transpire, as though
some strange thing had happened. We have met such things before; we
can meet them again. God has delivered us before. He will deliver us
again, if we put our trust in Him and remain true to the covenants we
have made with Him. Our trust is in God. You have heard me say before,
Hosanna, the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth; and if this congregation
feels as I do we will join together in the same acclaim. Follow me.

vol. 23, p.68
[The speaker then repeated and was followed by the congregation:
Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna! to God and the Lamb, for ever and ever
worlds without end, Amen, Amen and Amen.] [p.69]

Joseph F. Smith, April 9, 1882

Delivered at the General Conference, on Sunday,
April 9th, 1882.

The Laws of God and the Laws of the Land—The Saints An 
Obedient and Law-Abiding People—Their Persecutions 
Productive of Prosperity—Their Past and Prospective 
Experience and Eventual Triumph.

(Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs)

vol. 23, p.69
Nearly all the brethren who have spoken at this Conference have
referred to the circumstances in which we, as a people, are now
placed; and it would seem unnecessary for me to make any further
reference to this all-prevailing subject with which the people
generally are more or less familiar, and in which we necessarily are
considerably interested. But while the brethren who have spoken have
merely referred to some of the sayings of the Prophet Joseph, and to
items in the revelations through him, to the Church, I feel impressed
to read in the hearing of the congregation one or two passages from
the revelations previously referred to. I will, therefore, call the
attention of the congregation to a verse or two in the revelation
given in 1831, which will be found on page 219 of the Doctrine and
Covenants:

vol. 23, p.69
"Let no man break the laws of the land, for he that keepeth the laws
of God hath no need to break the laws of the land.

vol. 23, p.69
Wherefore, be subject to the powers that be, until He reigns whose
right it is to reign, and subdues all enemies under His feet.

vol. 23, p.69
Behold, the laws which ye have received from my hand are the laws of
the Church, and in this light ye shall hold them forth. Behold here is
wisdom."

vol. 23, p.69
The following I quote from a revelation given December, 1833, page
357:

vol. 23, p.69
"According to the laws and the Constitution of the people which I have
suffered to be established and should be maintained for the rights and
protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles.

vol. 23, p.69
That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to
futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto them,
that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of
judgment.

vol. 23, p.69
Therefore it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to
another.

vol. 23, p.69
And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land,
by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and
redeemed the land by the shedding of blood."

vol. 23, p.69
Again, in a revelation on page 342:[p.70]

vol. 23, p.70
"And now, verily I say unto you concerning the laws of the land, it is
my will that my people shall observe to do all things whatsoever I
command them.

vol. 23, p.70
And that law of the land which is constitutional, supporting that
principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges, belongs to
all mankind, and is justifiable before me.

vol. 23, p.70
Therefore I, the Lord, justify you and your brethren of my Church, in
befriending that law which is the constitutional law of the land;

vol. 23, p.70
And as pertaining to law of man, whatsoever is more or less than these
cometh of evil.

vol. 23, p.70
I, the Lord God, make you free, therefore ye are free indeed; and the
law also maketh you free;

vol. 23, p.70
Nevertheless, when the wicked rule, the people mourn;

vol. 23, p.70
Wherefore, honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently,
and good men and wise men ye should observe to uphold; otherwise,
whatsoever is less than these cometh of evil.

vol. 23, p.70
And I give unto you a commandment, that ye shall forsake all evil and
cleave unto all good, that ye shall live by every word which
proceedeth out of the mouth of God;

vol. 23, p.70
For He will give unto the faithful, line upon line, precept upon
precept; and I will try you and prove you herewith;

vol. 23, p.70
And whose layeth down his life in my cause, or my name's sake, Shall
find it again, even life eternal;

vol. 23, p.70
Therefore, be not afraid of your enemies, for I have decreed in my
heart, saith the Lord, that I will prove you in all things, whether
you will abide in my covenant, even unto death, that you may be found
worthy;

vol. 23, p.70
For if ye will not abide in my covenant, ye are not worthy of me."

vol. 23, p.70
This, as I understand it, is the law of God to the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints in all the world. And the requirements
here made of us must be obeyed, and practically carried out in our
lives, in order that we may secure the fulfilment of the promises
which God has made to the people of Zion. And it is further written,
that inasmuch as ye will do the things which I command you, thus saith
the Lord then am I bound; otherwise there is no promise. We can
therefore only expect that the promises are made and will apply to us
when we do the things which we are commanded.

vol. 23, p.70
We are told here that no man need break the laws of the land who will
keep the laws of God. But this is further defined by the passage which
I read afterwards—the law of the land, which all have no need to
break, is that law which is the Constitutional law of the land, and
that is as God himself has defined it. And whatsoever is more or less
than this cometh of evil. Now it seems to me that this makes this
matter so clear that it is list possible for any man who professes to
be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to make
any mistake, or to be in doubt as to the course he should pursue under
the command of God in relation to the observance of the laws of the
land. I maintain that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
has ever been faithful to the constitutional laws of our country. I
maintain also, that I have a right to this opinion, as an American
citizen, as one who was not only born on American soil, but who
descended from parents who for generations were born in America. I
have a right to interpret the law in this manner, and [p.71] to form
my own conclusions and express my opinions thereon, regardless of the
opinions of other men.

vol. 23, p.71
I ask myself, What law have you broken? What constitutional law have
you not observed? I am bound not only by allegiance to the government
of the United States, but by the actual command of God Almighty, to
observe and obey every constitutional law of the land, and without
hesitancy I declare to this congregation that I have never violated,
nor transgressed any law, I am not amenable to any penalties of the
law, because I have endeavored from my youth up to be a law-abiding
citizen, and not only so, but to be a peacemaker, a preacher of
righteousness, and not only to preach righteousness by word, but by
example. What therefore have I to fear? The Lord Almighty requires
this people to observe the laws of the land, to be subject to "the
powers that be," so far as they abide by the fundamental principles of
good government, but He will hold them responsible if they will pass
unconstitutional measures and frame unjust and proscriptive laws, as
did Nebuchadnezzer and Darins, in relation to the three Hebrew
children and Daniel. If lawmakers have a mind to violate their oath,
break their covenants and their faith with the people, and depart from
the provisions of the Constitution where is the law human or divine,
which binds me, as an individual, to outwardly and openly proclaim my
acceptance of their acts?

vol. 23, p.71
I firmly believe that the only way in which we can be sustained in
regard to this matter by God our Heavenly Father is by following the
illustrious examples we find in holy writ. And while we regret, and
look with sorrow upon the acts of men who seek to bring us into
bondage and to oppress us, we must obey God, for He has commanded us
to do so; and at the same time He has declared that in obeying the
laws which He has given us we will not necessarily break the
constitutional laws of the land.

vol. 23, p.71
I wish to enter here my avowal that the people called Latter-day
Saints, as has been often repeated from this stand, are the most
law-abiding, the most peaceable, long-suffering and patient people
that can to-day be found within the confines of this republic, and
perhaps anywhere else upon the face of the earth; and we intend to
continue to be law-abiding so far as the constitutional law of the
land is concerned; and we expect to meet the consequences of our
obedience to the laws and commandments of Godlike men. These are my
sentiments briefly expressed, upon this subject.

vol. 23, p.71
Now I desire to read another passage in a revelation given in 1834,
which will be found on page 364 of the Doctrine and Covenants,
commencing at the first verse:

vol. 23, p.71
"Verily I say unto you, my friends, behold I will give unto you a
revelation and commandment, that you may know how to act in the
discharge of your duties concerning the salvation and redemption of
your brethren, who have been scattered on the land of Zion.

vol. 23, p.71
Being driven and smitten by the hands of mine enemies, on whom I will
pour out my wrath without measure in mine own time;

vol. 23, p.71
For I have suffered them thus far, that they might fill up the measure
of their iniquities, that their cup might be full;

vol. 23, p.71
And that those who call themselves after my name might be chastened
for a little season with a sore and  grievous chastisement, [p.72]
because they did not hearken altogether unto the precepts and
commandments which I gave unto them.

vol. 23, p.72
But verily I say unto you, that I have decreed a decree which my
people shall realize inasmuch as they hearken from this very hour,
unto the counsel which I, the Lord their God, shall give unto them.

vol. 23, p.72
Behold they shall, for I have decreed it, begin to prevail against
mine enemies from this very hour.

vol. 23, p.72
And by hearkening to observe all the words which I, the Lord their
God, shall speak unto them, they shall never cease to prevail until
the kingdoms of the world are subdued under my feet, and the earth is
given unto the Saints, to possess it for ever and ever. But inasmuch
as they keep not my commandments, and hearken not to observe all my
words, the kingdoms of the world shall prevail against them.

vol. 23, p.72
For they were set to be a light unto the world, and to be the saviors
of men.

vol. 23, p.72
And inasmuch as they are not the saviors of men, they are as salt that
has lost its savor and is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast
out and trodden under foot of men.

vol. 23, p.72
But verily I say unto you, I have decreed that your brethren which
have been scattered shall return to the land of their inheritances,
and build up the waste places of Zion."

vol. 23, p.72
It is somewhere written as the word of God, that the enemies of the
people of  Zion can do nothing against but for Zion. Now let us review
for a few moments the history of the Church, and see how far the acts
of the enemies of this people have gone towards nullifying those
words.

vol. 23, p.72
When Joseph first looked upon the face of the Father and the Son in
1820, until the Book of Mormon was translated and published to the
world in 1829, his enemies did not cease their efforts to destroy him;
they sought his life continually; they blackened his character; they
maligned and proscribed him, and his name was cast out as evil among
all men. But mark you, at the beginning of this period Joseph was a
lad of a little over fourteen years of age; and during the nine years
of persecution he was but a boy; he had no vast congregation as we see
before us this morning to sustain, encourage, or cheer him in his
ministry and labors. He stood alone in the world, friendless and
despised, cast out, maligned and persecuted on every hand. But did the
work cease? Did his enemies prevent him from performing the mission
which he had been sent to accomplish? They tried and they did their
utmost. They not only made frequent attempts to imprison him under the
law, but they made several attempts to take his life, and thus stop
the progress of the work in which he was engaged. They spared neither
pains nor means, nor did they shrink front hypocrisy, falsehood and
misrepresentation to accomplish their purposes; but they signally
failed, and he continued to steadily pursue his course, and performed
his work, translated the plates, published the Book of Mormon, and in
1830 organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
according to the law of the land.

vol. 23, p.72
When the Book of Mormon was published and the Church organized, did
they cease their endeavors? did the hatred of the world diminish? did
the wicked stop their persecutions? did they refrain from slandering,
misrepresenting, and otherwise attempting to obstruct the progress of
this work? No, they did not, but on the contrary, [p.73] as the work
developed, as the Church increased in numbers and began to spread on
the right and on the left, the feeling of hatred, animosity,
bitterness and persecution increased proportionately, and as the
Church became stronger, her enemies become more numerous and gained
strength. But notwithstanding, we moved on; built a Temple in
Kirtland, Ohio, from whence we colonised Jackson County, Missouri. We
were afterwards driven into Clay, Caldwell and Davies's Counties,
Missouri, where we founded new colonies. Like the snowball starting
from the summit of the mountain which gathers not only in bulk but in
velocity, so did the work of God increase in the midst, of the
opposition, persecution and hatred of the world. In the midst of all
the powers that were exerted to stop it, it moved right on. But did
they succeed in expelling our people from Jackson County, and finally
from the State of Missouri? Yes, they drove the Saints from their
homes, deprived them of their rights as citizens and freemen, murdered
many of them in cold blood, while others they confined in dungeons
feeding them on the flesh, (as those heartless wretches themselves
boasted) of their own brethren; and they dispersed the people, as they
supposed, to the four winds of heaven, rejoicing in the belief that
they had finally consummated the destruction of the "Mormons." But
like the phoenix rising from the ashes of its supposed destruction,
they gathered like swarms of bees in Illinois, founded a city, and
built another Temple, which cost a million dollars the most beautiful
structure in the Western States at that time; and they continued to
thrive. Here they gained something which they never possessed before,
a city charter granted to them by the State government of Illinois,
They soon became notable for their union and their tenacity to the
principles which they had espoused, for their faith in God and in His
servant the Prophet, for their unconquerable, irrevocable will to
prosecute what they knew to be the work of God, and to accomplish, so
far as in their power lay, His purposes and designs, concerning this
great latter-day work.

vol. 23, p.73
In all these vicissitudes and during all the persecutions of fourteen
years which were as ceaseless against the Prophet Joseph as the forces
of nature are endless, did they diminish the numbers of Saints? Did
they break the Saints to pieces? Did they destroy them? No; you know
they did nob and it seems that our enemies themselves are fully aware
of this fact. But when they thought they had torn up "Mormonism" by
the roots and cast it out to dry up and wither under the parching,
blighting influence of hostile public sentiment, behold, they had only
transplanted the tree into new and better watered soil. Instead of
destroying our confidence in the promises of God to us, it had the
tendency to strengthen our faith, to increase our knowledge and
experience, thus fitting and preparing us for the future that lay
before us.

vol. 23, p.73
Finally they succeeded in taking the life of the Prophet and that of
his brother; and they shed the blood of our honored President who sits
here to-day upon this stand. They thought then they had accomplished
their hellish work, they thought then the head and front, or root and
branch of "Mormonism" was destroyed. But was it? No; it only made us
stronger in faith and more united in purpose. "The blood of the
martyrs became the seed of the Church."[p.74]

vol. 23, p.74
They next drove us from our homes in Nauvoo. I remember the
circumstances, although at the time I was but a lad. I also remember
my thoughts on the day the mob besieged the City of Nauvoo. My widowed
mother had been compelled a day or two previously to take her children
and ferry them, in an open flat boat across the Mississippi river into
Iowa, where we camped under the trees and listened to the bombardment
of the city. We had left our comfortable home with all the furniture
remaining in the house, together with all our earthly possessions,
with no hope or thought of ever seeing them again; and I well remember
the feelings I had when we made our camp on the Iowa side of the
river. They were not feelings of regret, sorrow or disappointment, but
of gratitude to God, that we had the shelter of even the trees and the
broad bosom of the "father of waters" to protect us from those who
sought our lives; I felt to thank God that we still possessed our
lives and freedom, and that there was at least some prospect of the
homeless widow and her family of little ones, helpless as they were,
to hide themselves somewhere in the wilderness from those who sought
their destruction, even though it should be among the wild, so-called
savage, native tribes of the desert, but who have proved themselves
more humane and Christlike than the so-called Christian and more
civilized persecutors of the Saints.

vol. 23, p.74
After the expulsion of the Saints from Nauvoo, and from the State of
Illinois, our enemies thought surely the "Mormons" are now broken up,
and that this would be the last of "Mormonism." But it is strange how
hard we are to kill; it would seem that we object to being killed:
there is something dreadful in the thought of being
destroyed—annihilated. We naturally recoil from such a doom and seek
to preserve and perpetuate our existence. The fact is, we think we
have a right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," so long
as we do not interfere with the rights of others; we therefore most
decidedly object to being demolished; we do not like nor do we intend
to be destroyed. Not that we presume to be able to defend ourselves
unaided by divine power, against our numerous and unrelenting foes;
but knowing in whom we trust, and the nature of the work in which we
are engaged, we are not slow to believe, neither are we afraid to
openly maintain that we were born to live and to uphold truth, to
defend virtue, to establish righteousness, and to stand by the right,
and by the help of God we intend to fill the measure of our creation.

vol. 23, p.74
Let us follow the wanderings of the Latter-day Saints across the
plains to these mountain valleys, and look at our condition to-day
compared with our condition in Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, or New York,
or compared with our condition at any period of our existence as a
church. What do we see to-day? We see the promises of God made on
certain conditions fulfilled; and that is an evidence to me that the
majority of the people have complied with the conditions, although
many may not have done as they should have done. We have prevailed
thus far, in accordance with the word of God. And what of the future?
So far as the ultimatum of this work is concerned, there is no man in
Israel who has a spark of the inspiration of the Almighty in his heart
who does not know just as well as he knows that God lives or that he
[p.75] himself lives, that it will be triumphant. But I do not suppose
it would be wisdom in God to show us all the vicissitudes and changes,
the trials and persecutions through which we may have to pass in order
to reach this consummation, because if He did we might get
fainthearted before we were prepared to enter into that trial. We may
have to be driven again. I do not say we shall be driven; I do not
believe we shall—but what has been done may be done again. And
supposing we were driven again, what would be the result? Is it not
fair to presume—have we not good grounds to believe from the
experience of the past, that if we should be again driven and
despoiled of our homes, we should rise up somewhere else, many fold
greater and more numerous than we are now? The enemies of God can do
nothing against, but much for, the work of God. Is it not written that
the God of heaven has set His hand for the last time to establish His
kingdom upon the earth, never more to be thrown down, and no more to
be left to another people? Are we not assured by the word of God,
ancient and modern, that its destiny is onward and upward, until the
purposes of God concerning this great latter-day work are consummated?
This seems to be a point difficult for many to comprehend; but when
comprehended it is a key to the whole matter. What God has decreed
cannot be annulled by the learning, wisdom, wealth, power, numbers or
cunning of man! There is no power beneath the celestial kingdom that
can stop or impede its progress one iota. Its destiny is onward and
upward—man may fail, but the purposes of God will not. All His
enemies, combined with the cunning and perfidy of the infernal spirits
by which they are moved to hate bound, and pursue him unto death,
failed, signally failed, even in the crime of murdering him, to
prevent Joseph Smith from accomplishing his mission; he filled his
destiny and sealed his testimony with his blood. And his blood is upon
this nation and upon all the nations that have consented to that
terrible deed inasmuch as they do not repent of their sins and obey
the Gospel of salvation which is being preached unto them.

vol. 23, p.75
My childhood and youth were spent in wandering with the people of God,
in suffering with them and in rejoicing with them. My whole life has
been identified with this people, and in the name and by the help of
God it will be to the end. I have no other associations or place of
abode. I am in this respect like Peter when the Savior, on seeing the
people turn away from Him, asked him, Will ye go also? Said Peter,
Lord, if I leave Thee whither can I go, Thou hast the words of eternal
life. We have nothing else to do save to keep in the narrow path that
leads back to God our Father. That is the channel He has marked out
for us to pursue, and it is our duty to press on; we cannot turn
aside, we cannot switch off; there is no side track, it is a "through
train" and its destiny is already fixed and mapped out. We have got to
meet opposition as it presents itself, battling against it with the
weapons of truth which God has placed in our hands. And we must make
up our minds that this world with all its pleasures is as dross
compared with the excellency of the knowledge of God. He intends to
try us and prove us, and He has a right to do it, even to the death if
need be, and only those who endure to the end, who will not [p.76]
flinch, but will maintain their integrity at the risk and sacrifice of
their all, if need be, will gain eternal life, or be worthy of the
reward of the faithful.

vol. 23, p.76
I am thankful to God that circumstances are as well with us as they
are. He has delivered His people thus far and blessed them from the.
beginning. His word has been fulfilled concerning them, and will be
fulfilled from this time henceforth until His purposes shall be
accomplished with regard to them, providing they keep his
commandments, which, that they may do, is my prayer, in the name of
Jesus. Amen.

Wilford Woodruff, March 26, 1882

Delivered in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City, Sunday After-
noon, March 26, 1882.

Man's Free Agency—The Gospel Restored—Opposition to God's 
Work—Increase of Wickedness—The World Warned of 
Retribution—The Saints Exhorted to Righteousness.

(Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs)

vol. 23, p.76
I feel disposed to read a few verses from section 43 of the Doctrine
and Covenants, a book containing the revelations of God to the
Latter-day Saints, communicated through the prophet Joseph Smith.

vol. 23, p.76
(The speaker then read the whole of the section, commencing at the
17th verse.)

vol. 23, p.76
There is one thing I wish to say to the congregation, and I would say
the same to the whole world if I had the power—it is this: I have
heard the Prophet Joseph Smith say on several occasions when speaking
on the agency of man, and the liberty and rights of men, that if he
were emperor of the earth, having control of the whole human family,
he would give every man, woman and child the right to worship God
according to the dictates of their own conscience, leaving them to be
responsible alone to their Creator for their individual acts. These
are my sentiments, and they are the sentiments of this people to-day,
and have been from the beginning of the organization of this Church,
and I trust will be to the end of time. And this we believe to be a
principle emanating from heaven; and while we accord this right to our
fellow-men, and while we declare it to be a heaven-born right
guaranteed unto all American citizens  [p.77] through the Constitution
of our country, we claim the exercise of the same right ourselves; and
we claim this right and privilege under the Constitution under which
we live, and we claim it by the laws of God to man. And whenever any
people rise up and attempt to make war upon the rights of men because
of their religion, they go beyond their right, they transcend their
own powers, whether their power be derived either from God or man.

vol. 23, p.77
You may wish to know why I make these remarks. I will tell you.
Because God himself grants this right to every human being upon the
earth irrespective of race or color; it is part of the divine economy
not to force any man to heaven, not to coerce the mind but to leave it
free to act for itself. He lays before His creature man the
everlasting Gospel, the principles of life and salvation, and then
leaves him to choose for himself or to reject for himself, with the
definite understanding that he becomes responsible to Him for the
results of his acts.

vol. 23, p.77
It is upon this principle that we as Latter-day Saints assert our
rights and endeavor to enjoy our privileges. And we are accorded this
right in accepting the Gospel dispensation in which we live, and in
believing in the Old and New Testaments, the records of God's people
who lived in what is called the old world, as well as in the Book of
Mormon, the history of the ancient inhabitants of our land, which
records are in harmony with each other, bearing witness of the one
great Head and of the Gospel which He taught in Jerusalem and Judea,
and which His Apostles preached after He left them. It is, in fact,
the same Gospel that has been taught to man in every age and
dispensation, as there is but the one Gospel, and that Gospel is
adapted to the wants and conditions of all men. It is the Gospel of
Truth, and truth alone can make us free, free from sin and from the
power of the adversary. And this is the Gospel which we have received,
and which we take the liberty of preaching to our fellow-men.

vol. 23, p.77
I do not suppose that there has been any dispensation upon the earth
in which a greater variety of evidence, or important evidence of the
divinity of the latter-day work has been given than that which is
occurring, and that will continue to occur until the second coming of
the Son of Man. There is no man upon the earth who believes in the
literal fulfillment of prophecy as contained in the Old and New
Testament, but who must in his heart believe that the God of heaven
will in the latter days set His hand to perform a great work and a
wonder in the earth; that He will call forth His Church out of the
wilderness of darkness and establish it upon the foundation of
Apostles and Prophets with Christ Jesus as the chief corner stone.
There is no man who believes in the Revelations of St, John who does
not believe in his heart that in the last dispensation the angel as
seen and described by John in his vision, will fly through the midst
of heaven having the everlasting Gospel to commit to man again upon
the earth, and that this Gospel is to be preached in plainness and
power to every nation, kindred, tongue and people upon the whole
earth. There is no man that believes in the literal fulfillment of the
revelations of God through the Prophets who does not believe that the
Lord will in the latter days gather a people together out of every
nation under heavens and that He will also gather the dispersed of
Judah—the Jews—that [p.78] have been trodden under the feet of the
Gentiles for the last 1,800 years for shedding the blood of the
Messiah.

vol. 23, p.78
I wish to bear my testimony to all men within the sound of my voice
and those to whom my words shall come, that we are living in that
dispensation of God to man that every Prophet and Apostle that has
ever breathed the breath of life has pointed to. I bear my testimony
that God, in fulfillment of the Revelations of St. John, has sent the
heavenly messenger to communicate to man the everlasting Gospel. And
why did the Lord reveal to John that this would be done? Because the
"falling away" spoken of by Paul had already commenced; because John
in his exiled condition sensed keenly that the Church would be
overcome and driven from the earth, and by way of encouragement to him
and information to all who would believe his word, the Lord showed him
what should take place in the future. The Jews had rejected the
Messiah, they had crucified the Lord of life and glory and they had
also persecuted and taken the life of the Apostles and others who were
left to represent his cause; and John only was left, and they tried to
take his life; but, in consequence of the promise he had received from
the Savior prior to his death, they could not do it: and hence they
exiled him on this island —called Patmos. When they rejected the
Gospel, they rejected it in all its power and glory, its blessings,
its gifts and graces, and also the ordinances of the Holy
Priesthood—Aaronic and Melchisedek. With regard to Priesthood we
differ from the Christian world. We believe there is no man in heaven
or upon earth that administers in the ordinances of the Gospel without
the Priesthood, and we defy the whole world to point to a single
passage of scripture from the time of father Adam down to Jesus
Christ, showing that any man had power to administer in any of the
ordinances of the Gospel without the Priesthood. And we say as Paul
said, in referring to this delegated power of heaven, that "no man
taketh this honor to himself, but he that is called of God, as was
Aaron:" and he was called of God through Moses with whom he
communicated. Therefore men cannot legally and authoritatively go
forth to preach the Gospel until they are sent; and men cannot hear
the word and be converted by the same unless they hear it through the
mouth of a preacher who is sent, and who has power to administer in
the ordinances of the Gospel.

vol. 23, p.78
The Lord has established his Church and his kingdom; and we have been
laboring now fifty years and upwards in carrying out the instructions
which he has revealed unto us in connection with this work. And as men
were formerly, so we have been commanded to go forth and call upon men
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and to repent and be baptised for
the remission of their sins; and as they were authorized, so have we
been authorized to say to all men who comply with these requirements,
that they shall receive the Holy Ghost. But say the Christian sects,
these things are no longer necessary, these outward ordinances are not
now essential to salvation. We believe they are, In this, of course,
we differ from them, and we have a perfect right to. Jesus himself
went to John when he was baptizing in Jordan, and  requested baptism
of him. John demurred, thinking himself unworthy, but Jesus [p.79]
satisfied him by saying, "Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh
us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him."

vol. 23, p.79
Baptism by immersion is one of the ordinances of the Gospel, and the
law had to be complied with, and hence Jesus set the example. But the
Jews, as a nation, rejected him and his teachings; and the Apostles
were commanded to turn to the Gentiles. I say Gentiles—we are all
Gentiles in a national capacity; and the same Gospel that was taught
to the Jews was preached to the Gentiles. It never varied one iota; it
was sent to them with all its gifts and graces, its priesthoods,
powers and ordinances without any change whatever. And Paul in warning
the Gentiles, told them to take heed and fear lest they fall, through
the same example of unbelief; for if God spared not the natural
branches, which were the Jews, why should he spare them who were the
wild branches grafted into the olive tree. We all understand that the
blindness in part which happened to Israel and which, Paul said,
should continue until the fulness of the Gentiles come in, did befall
the churches which had been built up by the Apostles, and that the
Gospel, with its gifts and graces, its Prophets and Apostles, has long
since ceased to exist among men. The Gentiles fell through the same
example of unbelief, until to day a man is looked upon as a deceiver
who will rise up and declare himself a believer in the same Gospel
that, Jesus and his Apostles preached. Paul told the people in his day
that God hath set in the Church first, Apostles, secondarily prophets,
thirdly, teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps,
governments, diversities of tongues; and they were for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, for the perfecting
of the Saints, until all come to a perfect man in the stature of
Christ. But the Christian world do not believe in these things; they
say they are done away, as not being needed. We believe differently,
and we have a right to; we say the Lord has restored the Gospel as it
was preached to the Jews and the Gentiles by Jesus and the Apostles,
and we know whereof we speak. Joseph Smith received the ministration
of angels, in fulfilment of the revelations of St. John, and we know
it. He received the keys of the Holy Priesthood under the hands of
John the Baptist, and under the hands of Peter, James and John, and
from that day, through the preaching and administrations of the Elders
of this Church, God has given a testimony to hundreds of thousands, of
the truth of this work. We believe this, and we have received the
testimony for ourselves of its divinity.

vol. 23, p.79
In looking upon this congregation assembled in this beautiful
building, I am reminded of the mercy and goodness of God to us as a
people. On the 24th of July, 1847, I came here in company with the
pioneers. At that time Utah was a barren desert, there was no mark of
the white man, everything was wild and barren. To-day you may travel
thousands of miles through this country, and you find towns and
cities, farms, gardens and orchards, temples, and tabernacles, and
schoolhouses, and large congregations of the people, and hosts of
children. And where did all these people come from, and what prompted
them to come here? You came from your native lands, from the different
civilized nations, impelled by the spirit of the gathering [p.80]
which God has restored in connection with the Gospel; and you came in
fulfilment of the prophecies of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah and David,
and others of the Prophets who have spoken of you. The question that
arises in the minds of persons who pass through our country and see
the labors of this people is, are we the dupes of impostors? Was
Joseph Smith a deceiver? There is a way to test this, and we have
tested it to our satisfaction. The great promise made to us when we
first heard the preaching of the Elders of this Church was, that if we
obeyed certain requirements of the Gospel, we should receive the Holy
Ghost; and this same promise is extended to the world of mankind by
our Elders who are still proclaiming these glad tidings of great joy.
If that promise had fallen we, my brethren and sisters, would not have
been here to-day; and Utah would doubtless be as barren as it was when
we found it in '47. There is no question in our mind, as to the
divinity of the work in which we are engaged. The Christian world
questions it. This, of course, we cannot help.

vol. 23, p.80
I want to say to the Latter-day Saints, you are living in an important
and interesting time in your history, a time when the principles of
the everlasting Gospel are being brought prominently before the world,
and it is but natural that they should find their opposite in
misrepresentation and persecution. Jesus himself, together with every
servant of God of every age, while endeavoring to bless and save
mankind through teaching correct principles, made themselves unpopular
and become the subjects of hatred and persecution. And there is no
doctrine so unpoplar to-day as the principles of life and salvation as
God has revealed them; and there are none so unpopular as those who
believe in dud practice the same. Truth revealed from heaven for the
salvation of mankind always was unpopular, and always will be so long
as the world exists in its present state. Men do not want truth, and
therefore they reject it, and they reject it to-day for the same
reason that men rejected it formerly, because they love darkness
rather than light. If the Latter-day Saints expect to become popular
in this day and generation, they will find themselves greatly
mistaken. There is a warfare going on between truth and error, and
this warfare will continue until He shall reign whose right it is to
reign.

vol. 23, p.80
I also want to say to the Latter-day Saints, you should exercise faith
in God; you should make yourselves acquainted with the revelations of
God, and with the promises He has made to His people, fully believing
that all will come to pass as He has spoken it. And each man claiming
a standing among this people should do his duty to the trust committed
to our charge. Our responsibility is great before God and man. Any
people into whose hands is committed a dispensation of the Gospel has
a great responsibility. And Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and the
Twelve Apostles, would have been under condemnation and would have
rendered themselves liable to the curse of God if they had not gone
forth into the world and borne record of this work. Paul was placed in
the same position and he sensed it, as is inferred from these words:
"Woe unto me if I preach not the Gospel." And this is our position
to-day in relation to the world.

vol. 23, p.80
I have been with this Church almost from its organization, and have
passed through the various [p.81] scenes of its early history. I have
seen its rise and progress, and have witnessed the power of God
manifested in behalf of this people; and I want to bear my testimony
that the God of heaven has, in fulfilment of the prophecies, set His
hand to establish His Church and kingdom in the earth, which means no
more and no less than His rule and His government, and that He will
accomplish it, and there is no power upon the earth or under the earth
that can stay the progress of Almighty God. But notwithstanding this,
we expect to meet with opposition, with the hatred of the world; this,
in fact, is the legacy of the Latter-day Saints. Said the Savior to
his Apostles, I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
hates you; if you were of the world, the world would love you as its
own. It hated me before it hated you. And what are we going to do We
are going to trust in God. I have no fears myself; I have never had
since I heard the first Gospel sermon by the Elders of this Church;
for I know that God lives, and that he has set his hand to establish
his kingdom, and it will continue to grow and increase until it shall
fill the whole earth. He has called upon us to proclaim to the whole
world the Gospel of Christ, and we are doing it as fast as
circumstances and wisdom permits; and we promise all men what the
first Elders promised us, that is, if they yield to the requirements
they shall know for themselves whether this work is of God or man. Is
there, I ask, any man or set of men dare make such promises to their
fellow-men? I answer, nay; neither could we do it; did we not know
that God would back up the word by imparting the Holy Ghost. He has
done so from the beginning, and these people can bear me witness.

vol. 23, p.81
The question may be asked, What about the course our government is
taking with us? Whatever our nation does or may do, it will be held
responsible before God; and every emperor, king and ruler will beheld
responsible for the use they make of the power committed into their
hands. The Lord inspired the men that framed the Constitution of our
country, and has guarded the nation from its foundation, in order to
prepare free people in which to establish his kingdom. Columbus was
inspired of God to persevere as he did to discover this continent, and
thus prepare the way for a class of people upon whom the Spirit of the
Lord moved to follow; and when they were oppressed hard enough they
declared themselves independent, and by the help of Goal they
established and have maintained the government which God gave our
forefathers, which is one of the best constitutional governments ever
known among men. One of its chief and prominent characteristics is its
guaranty of religious liberty, permitting every man to worship God
according to the dictates of his own conscience. This is sacred right
granted by God himself to all men; and when the rulers or legislators
of any land undertake by enactments of law to step between man and his
God, they by that act become responsible, and must sooner or later be
made to answer for interfering with a divine law. This is the light in
which we regard the position of our own nation in the steps they have
recently taken against us, as a people. However, if I were to express
my feelings to Congress and the leading men of our nation, and to our
enemies and the whole Christian world, I would [p.82] say, do not weep
for us—and we are sensible of the fact that they will not—but rather
weep for yourselves and your children, for as sure as the Lord lives
the evils that men seek to bring upon us, will return in due time upon
their own heads, heaped up, pressed down and running over. For it is
an eternal law, and a law by which we are governed, that what measure
we mete, shall be measured back to us again. Our nation knows not what
awaits it; the Christian world knows not what awaits it, and the blind
guides that lead the people cannot tell them, and the result will be
that both the people and their guides will fall into the ditch
together.

vol. 23, p.82
I will say another thing. The Lord never did bring judgment upon any
people of any generation until he raised up prophets to warn them of
the impending danger. You may read the history of the great and
ancient cities of Tyre and Sidon, Nineveh and Babylon and other cities
that were built to defy all time and every power but that of God; but
when they were ripened in iniquity they were cut off, the Lord raised
up men to warn them and to call upon them to repent; but when they
rejected them the Lord brought judgment upon them and they were cut
off in their sins. And so it will be with our nation and all others,
when they shall be fully warned and they reject the message that is
sent to them. The heavens are full of judgment, and as the prophets
have said, they will commence at the House of the Lord and then go to
the nations of the  earth. These things are beginning to make
themselves manifest and the righteous and pure in heart can see it.

vol. 23, p.82
I want to see the Latter-day Saints live their religion, keep their
faith and do their duty, and trust in God. And if men persecute you
for the sake of your religion, what can you do? You can go to God, and
make your wants known to him; and that is our duty as Latter-day
Saints. And as to our nation, they, as well as we, are in the hands of
God; and I have nothing to say about them. God will deal with them;
and what they sow they will reap, and he will deal with us upon the
same principle. The history of the ancient inhabitants of this land,
as it has come down to us through the mercy and goodness of God, fully
testifies to this principle; as long as they did what was right the
blessings of God followed them, but after they became disobedient and
wicked the hand of God rested upon them. At times when I reflect upon
the great change that has taken place in our own land in the morals of
the people during my time, I feel in my spirit to mourn and to fear as
to the consequences. I was between 20 and 21 years of age before I
heard of a murder having been committed in the whole of the New
England States. The first murder that was committed in our land from
the time I could remember until I gained my majority, was committed in
New Haven; and I well remember how the news of it shocked all New
England. What effect has such news upon the people of the same region
to-day? Throughout the whole of Christendom to-day, murder, whoredom,
blasphemy, and their kindred evils and vices are indulged in, and
unbelief reigns in the hearts of men. Men profess to believe in the
Bible; but confront them with the doctrines and prophecies it
contains, and they will at once either raise a doubt as to their real
meaning or they will openly deny [p.83] them; and the few that accept
the literal meaning of God's word, and confess him and acknowledge him
in all things, do it at the risk of their reputation, and some of
them, even of their rights as American citizens. What the result of
all this will be is already written; and it will come to pass as sure
as the Lord hath spoken it.

vol. 23, p.83
I rejoice in the Gospel of the Son of God as he has revealed it in
this our day; I rejoice in the organization of the church and kingdom
of God, and in the revelations of heaven. I read them with a great
deal of interest, for I know they are true; and, therefore, I look
forward with assurance to their fulfilment in the earth. We have but a
little time to spend on earth even though we live to be a hundred
years of age, and we have no time to waste. We should live in such a
manner that the Spirit and blessing of God may attend us; and then
when we cease our labors here we shall pass hence to continue them in
the same cause of salvation and redemption, and all will be well with
us. Amen.

Erastus Snow, April 7, 1882

Delivered at the General Conference, Salt Lake City, Friday 
Afternoon, April, 7, 1882.

The Last Dispensation—The Saints' Religion Practical—Hostility 
to God's Work—Divisions in Sectarian Churches—Unity of 
the Saints—Early History of Utah—"Mormon" Thrift and 
Enterprise—The One-Man Power—God's People a Free People
—Increase of Corruption—The Saints Hopeful.

(Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs)

vol. 23, p.83
I regard the mission of the Latter-day Saints as the most  important
that has fallen to the lot of man because we, as the people of God,
live in the most important period of the world's age—the dispensation
of the fulness of times, in which the God of heaven has set his hand a
second time to recover his people, the house of Israel; to lay the
foundation of the fulfilment of the promises made to the fathers
through Moses and the Prophets, and to bring to pass the covenants
made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and those made with Joseph the son
of Jacob, concerning his seed. The Book of Mormon gives a brief
history of a portion of the house of Joseph who came to this [p.84]
land from Palestine, their native land; and, it not only gives an
account of this people but it foretells their future. A great future
lies before this people in connection with the Latter-day work.

vol. 23, p.84
Our mission is not a mission of blood; it is not a mission of war, of
strife or contention, but a mission of peace on earth and good will to
men; a mission to bring life and salvation unto the children of men
who will receive it; a mission to make known the things that God has
revealed for the happiness, glory and exaltation of his children, both
in this world and the world to come. And what God has revealed to us,
which we call our religion, is not only theoretical but eminently
practiced. It could not be otherwise and be the Gospel of life and
salvation. A religion that is exclusively theoretical, that is merely
a matter of faith producing no legitimate works or fruits of that
faith is dead. There are many dead forms of religion in the world; and
as a matter of course they are without force and effect. But the
Gospel of the Son of God revealed anew from heaven in our age and
time, and which his people have espoused, is a living faith, producing
in its votaries its legitimate fruits—love, joy, peace and good works.
I am sorry to say, however, that we are not all examples of that
living faith to the extent that God requires at our hands. In this
respect it is with us as it was with others who preceded us; some of
the seed lies fallen by the way side, producing little effect in them
that received it; some has fallen in stony places, and as anciently,
such rejoice for the time being, but alas! when tribulation or
persecution arises, they having not much depth of soil, are easily
uprooted. Some again has fallen among thorns, and the cares of the
world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes
unfruitful. But blessed are those who break up the fallow ground of
their hearts, thereby preparing themselves by suitable reflection,
meditation, humility and prayer, overcoming the evil that is in them
by the good, that the seed when sown, may take deep root and spring
forth and hear precious fruit, some thirty, some sixty, and some one
hundred fold, according to the depth of the soil and the strength and
cultivation of the mind.

vol. 23, p.84
I said our religion was eminently practical, as true religion cannot
be separated from true practice. It teaches us to visit the fatherless
and the widow in their affliction, and to keep ourselves unspotted
from the world; it teaches charity and love one toward another, and to
assist to bear each other's burdens, and be one in Christ Jesus. Just
before the Savior was offered up upon the cross he prayed to his
Father in behalf of his disciples and those who should believe on him
through their ministrations, that they might be one with him as he was
one with the Father.

vol. 23, p.84
Now it is quite a fine thing in the estimation of the Christian world
to preach about Jesus and his doctrines; but when it comes to practice
it is quite another thing. One of the main objects of the Latter-day
Saints is to become united, both spiritually and temporally. The
clergymen of America who have been foremost in working up the late
furore against the "Mormon" people, wire have met in solemn conclave
and dictated resolutions and gotten up memorials to Congress, and who
have traveled and visited the  noted cities as lecturers, among whom
may be mentioned [p.85] the celebrated Parson Newman and the
celebrated—what shall I say? —well, Mr. Schuylar Colfax, and others,
have aroused the nation and moved the members of Congress to hostile
legislation against the Latter-day Saints. Their general declaration
has been that polygamy —though polygamy was the war-cry —was not to be
dreaded like "Mormon" unity. They term it priestly influence, or the
influence of the "Mormon" hierarchy. In reflecting upon this
declaration which was freely expressed on numerous occasions during
last winter and spring, in the tirades made against the Latter-day
Saints, it has caused some curious reflections. What would have been
the result if the Methodists, the Presbyterians, the Baptists and all
the prominent denominations of America, had been true disciples of
Christ, and had come under that rule laid down in the Savior's
prayer—if they had all become one in Christ as he was one with the
Father? What would have been the result? Methinks things would be very
different in the history of American government from what we now see.
We will refer, for example, to the condition of things prior to the
late civil war, and about the time the republican party incorporated
in their platform at the Philadelphia convention in 1856, the
celebrated plank known as the twin relics—in which they pledged
themselves to exterminate the twin relics, slavery and polygamy. What
was the condition of the religious sects of America at that time?
Those who are familiar with the history of those times will remember
that preparatory to that great struggle which resulted in the great
civil war, there had been a complete separation and two distinct
organizations of all the prominent sects of America. The Methodist
church was divided into the Methodist church north and the Methodist
church south; the Presbyterians were divided into the Presbyterian
Church north and the Presbyterian church south; the Baptists, the
Campbellites and the other various sects were divided in like manner,
the Mason and Dickson line, as it was called, was the line of division
between the churches north and the churches south; and substantially
the same line marked the boundary between the southern confederacy and
northern. States during the war, for the division commenced in the
churches, and it was the various religious sects of America that
worked up the war. They divided one against another, and brought on
the war. And when the Northern and Southern armies were marching
against and slaying each other by hundreds of thousands, every
regiment and division of the army on both sides were encouraged by the
prayers and preaching of their respective chaplains of the various
sects on both sides, each praying for the success of their arms, that
each side might succeed in using up the opposite side.

vol. 23, p.85
Now imagine them, for a moment, to be the true disciples of Christ,
Ministers of the true and everlasting Gospel holding power and
authority from him. What would have been the result if the Lord had
heard the prayers of the religious elements of these two contending
parties? The only thing we can think of as expressing the idea, is the
old fable of the Kilkenny cats, which, it is said, fought each other
and devoured each other all but the tails, and they began to jump at
each other. From the results one would suppose  that the Lord heard
the prayers on both sides to a [p.86] considerable extent. But it is
too serious a matter to be treated in a jocose style. And, yet, one
can hardly resist the temptation, it is so ludicrous to see people
professing the same holy religion, to be followers of the meek and
lowly Jesus and his righteousness, and preachers of his Gospel arrayed
on each side, stirring up the people to war, urging them on, and
praying to the same God for the success of each others' arms. Now, I
ask, is this an ensample of Christian unity such as the Savior prayed
for, when he asked the Father that all that should believe on him
through the words of his disciples might become one even as he and the
Father were one qqq

vol. 23, p.86
The Latter-day Saints, as I have before remarked, are far from being
as yet what the Lord requires them to be. But that spirit which
accompanies the fulness of the Gospel, and which the Latter-day Saints
have received through the preaching of the Gospel and through
obedience to its requirements, has so far made their hearts as one,
causing them to see eye to eye, and to gather together upon this land
of Joseph, that they might learn more fully the ways of the herd and
walk in his paths, and cultivate the Christian unity which the Savior
prayed for. And this appears to be the head and front of our
offending. Polygamy is ostensibly the cry; but what reflecting man
that is posted in the history of the times, believes that this has a
particle of influence upon our statesmen? They admit, according to
their own showing, that there is more immorality, depravity, whoredom,
and the terrible consequences of the social evil in one of the great
cities of the Union in a single year than has been in Utah ever since
it has been founded. They know this full well. They know that we are a
people of energy, of industry and honest labor, a people who do not
labor with a view and desire to build ourselves up at the expense and
ruin of our neighbors; but a people who labor to gather from the
elements around us, producing the comforts of life for ourselves and
families. They recognize in us a people who have planted a flourishing
commonwealth in the heart of the great American desert, and made it
possible to populate the surrounding Territories.

vol. 23, p.86
In 1847 the standard of the American nation was planted on this Temple
block. I assisted in planting it; and many around me to-day
participated in those early scenes. At the same time the country lying
west of the Sierra Nevada and between it and the Pacific Coast, was
held under the American flag by the Mormon Battalion, who under
General Kearney captured the State of California from the Mexican
government and held it for the United States government until this
country was ceded to the United States by treaty on the 22nd of
February, 1848. The stars and stripes were planted between the Rocky
Mountains on the east and the Sierra Nevadas west by "Mormon"
colonies, and west to the Pacific coast by the "Mormon Battalion,"
and, the country held for the American government. We proceeded to the
establishment and organization of civil government. This great basin
country between the mountains was incorporated into the State of
Deseret, a provisional government was organized for the State of
Deseret, a republican constitution was trained and adopted by the
people; the country was divided into counties and precincts, local
government was organized, laws adopted and delegates sent to Congress
to ask for  [p.87] admission into the Union. At the same time the gold
hunters were flocking to California after the "Mormon Battalion"
revealed the first gold which they brought to light while dragging
Captain Sutter's mill race. Some of the men are still in our midst who
brought about these results, who first revealed to the astonished
world the gold of California, and who raised the first furore, which
resulted in thousands flocking to the Pacific coast. And mark you, the
first colony of settlers upon that Pacific coast after the capture of
that country through the valor of the "Mormon" Battalion, was a
"Mormon" colony shipped from the New England States, who took with
them a printing press, and planted their feet upon the shores of San
Francisco, and there issued the California Star, in 1847, which was
the first publication in the English language west of the Rocky
Mountains—the first free press hailing the American flag and
proclaiming American liberty, the principles of free government; and
at the same time we planted a free press in this city, whence was
issued the DESERET NEWS, proclaiming those principles to all the
world.

vol. 23, p.87
Both California and Deseret presented themselves at the same time,
through their delegates, knocking at the door of Congress, praying for
admission into the Union. The prayer of California was accepted; that
of Deseret was rejected.

vol. 23, p.87
Jesus had occasion to ask this question of the Jews: it a son shall
ask bread of any of you that is a father, will ye give him a stone?
or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? It might ill become
me perhaps, to apply these words to our national government; but the
facts are that when we presented ourselves as the State of Deseret,
precisely on equal footing with that of California, with equally a
democratic government and republican constitution, both of which
States had been organized out of the old Mexican States of Upper
California, and which had been recently captured from the Mexican
government, and presented themselves to Congress on equal footing; one
was accepted, the other rejected. Instead of granting to Deseret a
State government, Congress gave us a territorial form of government
under the Organic act of 1850. It is true it extended to us certain
rights of self-government, but to a limited extent. We had the right
of representation in the Legislative Assembly, but those rights were
clipped by the absolute veto of a Federal Governor; nor, indeed, is
the absolute veto of a Federal Governor the only veto held over the
Territorial Legislature, Congress itself reserving to itself a right
to annul the acts of the Legislative Assembly, though receiving the
signature of the Governor. But if the Governor chooses to withhold his
signature no matter how wholesome or necessary the measure, it cannot
become law, nor would he be, under the Organic Act, required to assign
any reason for it. The mere whim of a man, a stranger to our country
who has but little, if any, practical knowledge of our needs, and who
himself is not a tax-payer, probably may deprive a whole community of
people of their legal rights. Such is the territorial from of
government, not of all Territories, for with the exception of Utah and
New Mexico, this absolute veto power does not exist on American soil.
Other Territories as well as the States, and the United States, may,
through a two-thirds vote of their legislature, pass any measure over
the veto of its executive.[p.88] 

vol. 23, p.88
But what does this signify? It says to us, "we are not willing to
trust you with the rights and privileges of self-government in common
with other American citizens; and it is deemed advisable that we
should hold this check upon your legislature." But notwithstanding we
have been shut out from Statehood, we have prospered and grown into a
flourishing community of people.

vol. 23, p.88
On several occasions we have renewed our efforts by appealing to
Congress for the rights of self-government; but on every occasion we
have been put off. But we have continued to prosper, and yet we have
received no aid from the general government in establishing and
maintaining schools, as other portions of the country have. We have
built our school-houses and maintained our schools, and educated our
children as best we could. And here let me say that Utah will compare
favorably in educational matters with any portion of the United
States, even the older and richer States; and while the number of
children is three times that of other populations, yet, they are all
enjoying the benefits of a common school education at least; and as
the higher schools are being established the facilities for more
extensive education are accessible.

vol. 23, p.88
We have opened up farms and established towns and cities over this
vast country, of 500 miles in extent. We have established mills and
have produced the various cereals and vegetables and fruits, and
raised the beef and mutton, and the wool to supply our factories, and
cotton, to manufacture to a considerable extent, the clothing that we
wear; and we have manufactured to a considerable extent our farming
implements, and yet we are under the necessity of largely importing
manufactured goods. And, to-day, Utah enjoys prosperity equal, if not
superior to any other Territory, and, indeed, some of the Western
States.

vol. 23, p.88
Now these are facts patent to the world. And with such facts can they
in their inmost souls look upon this people as a vicious people, or as
a wicked, licentious people, as a people who are influenced by worldly
considerations and fleshly lusts? Are these the works of the
licentious and dissolute? We invite the people of the United States to
attend our Sabbath School Unions and attend the public gatherings of
the people where they congregate; we invite their statesmen and
honorable men and women of all classes to come and visit us and learn
facts as they exist, instead of swallowing greedily the malicious
calumnies and misrepresentations set afoot concerning us by those who
know little or nothing about us; or if they have known anything about
us, they have sold themselves to the Devil long since, and they are of
their father the Devil, who was a liar from the beginning, and his
works they will do; and when honest people come among us we ask them
not to sit themselves down and allow themselves to be corralled by the
lying hypocrites that are fanning the flame of persecution, and never
come in contact with the people they desire to know and understand.
Why is it that honorable men should act as though they were ashamed to
learn the truth? Why is it they do not come and hear and see for
themselves both sides?

vol. 23, p.88
We are accused of disloyalty. We are accused of being governed by
priestcraft, and that we are subjects  of the one-man power. Here we
would pause and respectfully say, in [p.89] the language of Scripture,
"Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and
then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's
eye." Where, I would ask, could we look for a more decidedly marked
expression of the one-man power than in the case we have recently had
in Utah, in which the Governor gave the certificate of election to the
man for whom the insignificant number of 1,300 votes was cast,
withholding it from the rightful representative of the people for whom
18,000 votes were recorded? The persistency with which he and his
friends, the enemies of this people, have sought to fasten this fraud
upon the people in this Territory, not to say anything about the
one-man power provided for in the organic act! A federal governor, a
stranger sent among us with an absolute veto, possessing the power to
wipe out the doings of a whole session of the people's
representatives!

vol. 23, p.89
I will farther direct attention to all reflecting men to the scenes in
the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States when
the Edmunds' bill was put through under what is called the gag law of
the previous question, cutting off amendments and limiting debate. I
will appeal to every honest man—if there be an honest politician in
the land—by asking, Who among them possesses the freedom of speaking
and acting only in obedience to the party lash, and what Senator or
Representative dare try to air his sentiments or vote contrary to the
dictum of his party leaders? Shame upon them when they talk about the
exercise of one-man power in Utah! If there is a people upon the earth
that exercise greater freedom of speech or action than the Latter-day
Saints, I hope and pray that we may grow until we become their equals
at least.

vol. 23, p.89
Every principle in our holy religion tends to freedom, or in the
language of the New Testament, the Gospel is the perfect law of
liberty. The reason that it is so is, because it lifts the spirits of
man above the law, or, in other words, it teaches him to work
righteousness and thereby escape the penalties of the law, and enables
him to enjoy that perfect freedom which God has ordained for all
flesh—the freedom to do right, but there is no liberty to dc wrong
without incurring the penalty of that wrong-doing, therefore, every
one who does wrong must accept of the consequences of that wrong, and
may expect to suffer the penalty either in time or in eternity. The
Gospel then extends to us the freedom to do right, and the laws of our
common country used to extend this right and privilege to its
citizens. This was declared by the fathers in the famous Declaration
of Independence, and which was consolidated by the fathers of the
Constitution of our country, which was one of the fruits of their
great struggle.

vol. 23, p.89
This famous declaration enunciated the doctrine that "all just powers
of government are derived from the consent of the governed;" and upon
this principle are the institutions of our country founded; and it is
only through the guarantees of this fundamental doctrine underlying
our institutions that there can be any freedom. This declaration of
the fathers embodied in that celebrated instrument, signed on the 4th
of July, 1876, is the embodiment of the principles of civil and
religious liberty, such freedom as God has ever taught and sought to
establish among his children from [p.90] the beginning of the world.
And whenever there has been a people who have listened to the voice of
God, they have been made free, and oppression has been a stranger to
them. The careful student of the Bible will at once perceive that
everything which God sought to establish among his people, tended to
freedom and the enjoyment of the common rights of humanity. Never did
ancient Israel enjoy as free and happy a government as under the reign
of the judges, from the time Moses led them out of Egyptian bondage
until they clamored for a king. For 430 years they triumphed over
their foes, and they dwelt in peace and unity, and love and freedom
existed, and every tribe was a commonwealth managing its own local
affairs, while they all sustained a central power which counseled and
directed them; and their rulers were judges inspired of God, were
prophets, seers and revelators, who judged in righteousness, and
exercised no control over the liberties and consciences of men. The
same principle is observed in reading the history of the American
continent. The Book of Mormon is replete with testimony in this
direction. And during the palmy days of the Nephites there was no king
among them; and that long and happy period that preceded the coming of
the Savior, and for hundreds of years that followed during the reign
of the judges among the Nephites, liberty and freedom and happiness
prevailed. And although they had at one time in accordance with their
pronounced and persistent desire, a king—King Benjamin and King
Mosiah—yet, these were kings more in name than in fact; they were only
patriarchs or fathers among their people, and the term they apply to
them might quietly have a tendency to cause them to augment power to
themselves and to exercise oppressive jurisdiction over the people,
and foreseeing this King Mosiah beseeched the people to abolish the
office, and establish and maintain free government, and elect their
chief judge or governor by the voice of the people. He reasoned and
explained to them the dangers which would result to them by having a
ruler who was not elected by the people. When Israel began to fall
into darkness and transgression, in the days of Samuel, and they
clamored for a king to lead them to war and thus be like the Gentile
nations around them, it grieved Samuel the Seer to his heart; and he
besought the people to desist from their determination, and he warned
them of the dangers that would follow, telling them that it would lead
to oppression and tyranny, and that taxes would be levied and heavy
burdens would be laid upon the people grievous to be borne, and that
it would finally lead to war, bloodshed and bondage. But they would
not listen. And when the prophet inquired of the Lord what he should
do, he answered and said to Samuel: "Hearken unto the voice of the
people in all they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but
they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them."

vol. 23, p.90
Furthermore, the Book of Mormon tells that God will cause a free
government to be established upon this land in the latter-days, and
inasmuch as the people will serve the Lord they shall forever be a
free people. And in the Doctrine and Covenants is contained a
revelation which was given to the Latter-day  Saints in the early
history of the Church, commanding us to uphold [p.91] and maintain the
principles of freedom and liberty, as claimed by our fathers and
consolidated in the Constitution of the United States, and in which is
written this remarkable declaration: "Let no man break the laws of the
land, for he that keepeth the laws of God has no need to break the
laws of the land;" and we are further told that we should uphold and
maintain that law which is the Constitutional law of the land; for,
the Lord said, the Constitution was established by wise men whom he
raised up for that purpose, after the land had been redeemed by
bloodshed. This doctrine was taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith, in
the early days of this people, and cannot be separated from the
religion we have embraced; and by the help of the Lord we mean to
maintain those principles to the end, notwithstanding that some of our
American statesmen wax wanton in their feelings and tyrannical in
their acts and expressions, while religious bigots and political
demagogues are undermining the foundations of our American
institutions. They commence to-day upon Utah; but it is not the first
time. From the time the declaration was made in Philadelphia by the
republican party there have been divers departures from those
principles embraced in our American Constitution. Had the people of
America listened to the voice of the Lord through the Prophet Joseph
Smith, they would have long since freed their slaves in an amicable,
an honorable and economical manner without the shedding of blood. But
they disdained the counsels of the Lord. The Prophet Joseph published
his views in pamphlet form on the powers and duties of the national
government on the then much-mooted question of slavery, in which he
treated upon the compact of the United States as between the North and
South on this question of slavery; and proposed an easy and honorable
plan of settling the question without violating that compact or
encroaching upon the rights of each other; and that was, to negotiate
with the Southern States for the gradual emancipation of their slaves,
the consideration to be met by the national treasury, and fixing a
time after which all children should be born free, thus providing for
a gradual emancipation, and that they might not feel that they were
robbed, and by their being gradually emancipated they would have been
prepared gradually for free government and free labor, and thus the
ill and unpleasant consequences would have been measurably averted, at
least, of turning loose a horde of uncultivated people who were
totally unprepared for American citizenship. Had they listened to this
proposition, less than a tenth part of the cost of the war would have
freed all the slaves, and that too without bloodshed, and the utter
devastation of the Southern States would have been spared.

vol. 23, p.91
But we have seen it. And following the war has been inaugurated an era
of degeneracy in public morals, degeneracy in politics and religion, a
degeneracy in the minds of our statesmen which has shown itself in a
desire on their part to tamper with the sacred rights of man, to
tamper with every part of the government, not even excepting the
Supreme Court, which, up to, the time of the civil war, was looked
upon by the American people as almost beyond temptation, and beyond
the probability of being corrupted or bribed. But alas! the Supreme
Court itself has been [p.92] tampered with. And for many years, almost
from the commencement of that effort to break down the barriers of the
Constitution and to settle this vexed question of slavery by
violence—from that time politicians have sought to sustain themselves
in violent, revolutionary and unconstitutional measures by foisting
into the Supreme Court partisans who are already imbued with extreme
political notions and ideas, whose carrying them with them on the
bench has resulted in many decisions which after ages will greatly
deplore and point out as the stepping stones to the destruction of our
free institutions. But it remains for the Congress of the United
States in 1882 to strike the blow at human freedom which places a vast
people who have enjoyed their freedom in part only for 35 years in
these mountains, at the disposal of a returning board to be sent here
by the President. This is the object of the Edmunds' bill. Its
framers, its advocates and supporters scarcely expect anything from it
toward the extinguishing of polygamy; but they do expect from it the
transfer of our flourishing Territory into the hands of the enemies of
the "Mormon" people. And they expect to disfranchise whom they will,
and decide who may vote and who may hold office, who may become
members of the Legislature, etc., and vice versa; and then dictate
what laws they shall make, and then dictate how the people shall be
taxed to pay their salaries and expenses, unless forsooth, Congress
shall, according to the recommendation of President Arthur, reconsider
that part of the law and make provision for their salaries.

vol. 23, p.92
It is not my purpose to attempt to foretell the consequences of this
class of legislation. We shall all see for ourselves; but if our
neighbors, our Gentile friends can stand it, we can; and if our nation
can stand it we can; and if our statesmen and the people who elect
them and countenance their acts can stand it, we can; and if
merchants, miners, bankers, agents, speculators, etc., among us can
stand it, we can. If the taxes should be doubled up, and burdens put
upon the people, and they can stand their share of it, we can stand
ours, because we are used to it, and they are not. If they can confine
themselves to one woman I know we can. (Laughter.) The proof of the
pudding you know, is in the eating. We do not intend to be worried; we
have already passed through many very trying place, and we still
expect to find an outlet. I am reminded often of our experience when
traveling through some of the narrow gorges in our mountains; it often
appears that our road has come to an end against a mountain, but when
we get close up to it, we find a turn, and we keep traveling; and this
is sometimes often repeated in a day's travel, until, at last, our
road opens out and a broad, beautiful valley is in sight, which never
fails to bring feelings of relief to the weary traveler, especially if
he is not familiar with the road. Such has been our experience in the
pilgrimage of life up to the present time, and we confidently expect
that He who has led us, through His Holy Priesthood, will continue to
open up our way, and He will do so if we keep our covenants with Him.
Amen. [p.93]

George Q. Cannon, November 20, 1881

Delivered in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City, Sunday After-
noon, November 20th, 1881.

Peace and Prosperity of the Saints—Growing Importance of the 
Church From Its Organization—The Work of God and not 
of Man—God's Blessing Upon the Righteous; His Curse Upon 
the Unrighteous—The Liberty of the Gospel—The Saints 
Preserved From War and Bloodshed—Their Union and 
Universal Goodwill.

(Reported by John Irvine)

vol. 23, p.93
There is a passage in the Book of Mormon which has suggested itself to
my mind, which I will read. It contains the words of Alma unto his son
Helaman, and were among the last words which he spoke unto him. They
will be found recorded on page 368 of the new edition, namely:

vol. 23, p.93
"And it came to pass that after Alma had said these things to Helaman,
he blessed him, and also his other sons; and he also blessed the earth
for the righteous' sake;

vol. 23, p.93
And he said, Thus saith the Lord God: cursed shall be the land, yea,
this land, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, unto
destruction, which do wickedly, when they are fully ripe; and as I
have said so shall it be; for this is the cursing and the blessing of
God upon the land, for the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least
degree of allowance.

vol. 23, p.93
And now when Alma had said those words he blessed the Church, yea, all
those who should stand fast in the faith from that time henceforth."

vol. 23, p.93
President Cannon then continued: In rising to speak unto you this
afternoon, my brethren and sisters, I do so with a desire in my heart
that that which I may say may be prompted by the Spirit of God, and
may be for your edification and comfort as well as my own. I am glad
to have this opportunity of meeting with you—not so much for the
privilege of speaking as of being here.

vol. 23, p.93
Some of us, as you know, have been traveling considerably of late,
visiting the various settlements, and I believe President Taylor and
party, when they return to this city, will have completed the entire
round of the Territory and of all the Stakes outside of Arizona—that
is so far as Utah and Idaho are concerned. We have found the people in
a very prosperous condition and feeling exceedingly well. In almost
every settlement the crops have been larger than they have been known
to be before. And the people are prospering in their temporal
circumstances and of course are feeling well, and I believe I do not
[p.94] overstate the matter when I say that they are as attentive to
their duties generally as I have ever seen them. Good health has
generally prevailed. I think probably we have had more sickness in
this city and neighborhood than in any other part of the Territory.
The people are increasing and spreading abroad, taking root in the
land. In the southern part of the Territory they are not prospering to
so great an extent as they are in the middle and northern part, owing
to various causes. Still there is an excellent feeling throughout all
these settlements, and they are looking hopefully to the future.

vol. 23, p.94
I have often thought in looking at the calmness and serenity of the
people, and the peace which prevails in their hearts, and in their
habitations and settlements, that it is not among the least wonderful
features of this organization that a people, who are so much maligned,
attacked and threatened as are the Latter-day Saints, should be found
living so undisturbed by these things and apparently enjoying
themselves as they do. There is scarcely a week passes, or has passed
for years in which there have not been some threats uttered and
circulated against us. "Terrible things going to be done with the
Mormons; we are going to have them all disposed of now; we shall have
this Mormon question all settled, and the problem so thoroughly solved
that it will never require to be meddled with again."

vol. 23, p.94
Threats of this character have been in circulation now for years, and
every time they have been alluded to it seemed to those who made them
as though their plans would be likely to be successful. In the case of
any other people it would repress all energy and development, it would
frighten everybody, and, in fact, no one would want to live in a
community that was in such constant jeopardy. But so far as my
observation has extended the people, as I have remarked, are full of
peace and quiet, undisturbed by the prospects for the future. In fact
they feel quite happy and rejoice that they are counted worthy to have
their names cast out as evil. It is one of the most remarkable
features connected with this work that a people so few in number,
naturally so quiet and inoffensive, molesting no one, interfering with
no one's peace or enjoyment, threatening no one, minding their own
business, peacefully pursuing their varied pursuits, should create
such a stir in the world as we are doing. It might be thought that the
150,000 people who live in the Territory of Utah, would be such an
insignificant people and so utterly beneath the notice—so far as
numerical strength is concerned—of the world at large, that they might
be permitted to pursue the course which is marked out for them without
interference and without so much agitation respecting them. But I was
told yesterday by a federal official who had just returned from the
east—and I suppose it is true—that there was no subject to-day that
seemed to have the importance in men's minds that Utah had, and that
wherever he went, when it was known that he was from Utah, everybody
wanted to talk with him about its affairs and its people. Newspaper
reporters were after him to find out what he could tell them about us,
and I am informed that members of Congress and other leading men are
making the "Mormon question" a special study. I hope they will
thoroughly investigate it while they are at it; [p.95] I think the
investigation will prove profitable to them, if it is only done in the
right spirit; but the object, I suppose, in making it a special study
is to do something, to deal with its imaginary evils, to devise some
plan that will reach this system that appears to be so hateful. Well,
now, I call this a remarkable feature of this work. I think it is
exceedingly wonderful that so small a people—a people whom every one
must admit who visits this country, are peaceful —should create such a
disturbance in the earth and be the cause of so much thought, so much
writing and speech making. And it has not been the case in Utah alone,
that is, since the Latter-day Saints came to Utah, but it has been a
peculiarity of this work—the work of God—from the day of its inception
in these last days until the present. And what is still more
remarkable, it was predicted that this would be the case about it when
it first started and before it, in fact, had an organization.

vol. 23, p.95
Doubtless the most of you remember that when Joseph Smith was visited
by an angel of God when he was quite a youth, it was said to him by
the angel that his name should be known for good and evil throughout
the earth, and most wonderfully has that statement been fulfilled in
his case and in the case of all those who have embraced the
everlasting Gospel. This was said before the Church was organized; it
was published directly after the organization.

vol. 23, p.95
Doubtless you are all familiar—or most of you are—with the letters of
Oliver Cowdery to W. W. Phelps, in which this was published among the
earliest writings that were sent forth by this Church, and when to all
human appearances there was not the least probability of it being
fulfilled, except a man should have the spirit of revelation to
discern the future. But when the Church was organized it created a
sensation in the neighborhood—it attracted attention—men's minds were
drawn towards it. As it increased the excitement spread, and among the
earliest predictions that I remember hearing, connected with this
work, was, that it had called forth the attention of townships and of
counties and of States, and it was said of it, that it should spread
until it would attract the attention of the United States and of the
world. This was one of the earliest predictions that was uttered
connected with the work, and it was also predicted concerning it, that
its missionaries should go to every land and to every people, and
carry the glad tidings of salvation, and should be the means of
gathering out of every nation, kindred, tongue and people, the honest
in heart, who should gather together in one place, and should be known
by the name of Zion. I often think of this. The wonderful manner in
which this people called Latter-day Saints dwelling in Utah have been
gathered together is a subject of never-ceasing interest to me.

vol. 23, p.95
Before the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, Joseph Smith received revelations which he said were
revelations from God. They are now embodied in this book, which we
call the Book of Doctrine and Covenants and among the earliest of
these revelations is found a statement given by the Lord Jesus Christ,
through Joseph Smith, to the effect that he intended to bring forth
and establish Zion, and that He would gather together the people who
would obey His Gospel. This  prediction is particularly [p.96]
noteworthy, because at the time when the first of these revelations
was given, there was no such organization as the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints upon the earth; it did not have an
existence; and in the September following its organization—that is
five months afterwards—another revelation was given, in which it was
stated still more plainly who were to be gathered, and the purposes
for which they were to be gathered, and this, too, before there was a
place designated as a place of gathering. I have often said that if
the Prophet Joseph Smith had no other evidence to show to the world of
the divinity of his mission, and of his prophetic office, than that
revelation alone, it was sufficient in and of itself to establish it;
for this reason; that at the time it was uttered, as I have said there
was no organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints; there was no gathering place; no person had ever witnessed
such a proceeding as a people belonging to one church gathering
together and dwelling together in one organization. There was nothing
of the kind known; there was no organization among the children of men
that could have given a hint of the possibility or probability of such
a great event taking place. If other churches had done the same, then
it might have been thought that the Prophet Joseph Smith could easily
have predicted that the people that he would be the means of gathering
together, might do so also. But there was no acsessible record extant
of the gathering together of any people in this manner at the time
that Joseph proclaimed this principle. Yet he, inspired of God, dared
to make this statement to the world, and to publish it, and to-day, we
who are here are living witnesses of its fulfilment —not of its
complete fulfilment, but sufficiently to make it one of the strangest
events that has ever been witnessed among men. There have been many
circumstances surrounding the people which have been of such a
character as to operate against their gathering. It is not long since
a Secretary of State issued a circular to the nations of Europe to
check this very business of gathering. I do not suppose that he knew
that Joseph Smith had made such a prediction, or that God had inspired
him to give such a revelation, or that he ever imagined for a moment
that the word of God was recorded upon this subject; but he thought it
would be a good thing to stop the immigration of "Mormons." Mobs have
also done their part to accomplish the same end, by endeavoring to
break up the community and scatter its members and frighten those who
had not gathered, so that they might be deterred from coming. But
notwithstanding all these influences which have been operating from
the beginning—commencing as I said in a township, then spreading to a
county, afterwards to a State, and to States, and then the Secretary
of State of our nation taking the matter in hand—notwithstanding all
these influences which have been operating to cheek the gathering of
the people together, they have gathered as we see them to-day, and are
still gathering, because God has said they should, and there is no
earthly power that can prevent their gathering together, though it
need not surprise you if more thorough measures than ever have been
should be taken to prevent the Saints from obeying this command.

vol. 23, p.96
When the Elders of this Church first went out, they went out without
[p.97] the ordinary advantages that men who call themselves ministers
possess. They were men selected from the various avocations of life.
Joseph Smith himself was a farmer. He was not a man that was schooled
for the ministry. He had had no education to fit and qualify him as
men are ordinarily supposed to be qualified in these days who teach
their fellow men what is called the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He did not
go to a theological seminary. But inspired of God, having been
ordained of God to the everlasting Priesthood (that authority that had
been withdrawn from the earth in consequence of the wickedness of men;
and been restored to the earth and bestowed upon him by angelic
agency) he stood up in the midst of his fellow-men and proclaimed the
truth, and by the power of God he was the means of bringing many to
its knowledge; and, as I have said, inspired of God, he selected
others and laid his hands upon them, that being the ordination
necessary to qualify them to preach the word of God. They were taken
from the plow, they were taken from the blacksmith's shop, from the
mechanic's bench, from the counting room, and from all the vocations
of life in which they were found; they were taken and were thus
ordained and sent out to preach the Gospel, without purse and scrip,
without salary, without that which the world had considered
necessary—an education, an education suited to the calling. In this
way they went forth and preached the Gospel—not in men's wisdom, not
in their own strength, but calling upon God in the name of Jesus to
bestow His Holy Spirit upon the people and to carry their words by
that spirit to their hearts, and to help them find the honest, the
meek, and the humble. This is the way in which they went. They could
not glory in man. They could not take glory to themselves, for there
was nothing about them in which they could glory. And the result was
that wherever they went they met honest-hearted people—people who were
waiting to receive their message; and these people as soon as they
were baptized were seized with a desire to gather together with the
people of God, without knowing what God had said upon the subject.

vol. 23, p.97
Now, when God does a work he does it in his own way, and he is
determined—he always was apparently from all we read—to have the glory
of that work. If a man were to go forth qualified by education and
preached by the power of education and of learning, who is it that
gets the glory? Why, you will find it everywhere that man is
glorified. If there is a fluent preacher, if there is a successful
orator in what is called the Christian Church, he gets the glory of
it, and he gets a salary in proportion to it. Commencing, as some of
them have done, to preach in humble places, the fame of their oratory
has spread, and they have had calls to the ministry from other places,
such calls being accompanied by an increase of salary, and a man goes
from one place to another according to the addition he receives in his
salary until he becomes noted as many are to day. The fame of their
oratory goes throughout the United States. Who is it that gets the
glory for this? Why, it is the men themselves, and they get the
salary, too. They not only get the glory of men, but they get their
pay. Man's education is praised, the college where he received it
receives credit for it according to the ability that he may display,
and God is very [p.98] little thought about in the matter, and
certainly the Holy Ghost gets no credit, for it is supposed that the
Holy Ghost has nothing to do with it. Well, now, God has taken a
different method in our day, and he is showing forth his power. He is
taking the meek and the lowly and the humble men who are desirous to
keep his commandments, and he is making them mighty through his power.
But they cannot give any glory to any one but the Almighty for this.
Let a man attempt to travel without purse and scrip, as the Elders of
this Church have done, and as the ancient Apostles did, and if he is
successful he is successful through faith, through his reliance upon
God through keeping his commandments, through being humble, meek and
lowly of heart, and if he reaches the hearts of the honest, the only
way he can hope to do it is by having the Spirit of God, and having
that power accompanying his words. He cannot do it in any other way.
And who is there in this Church that gives Joseph Smith the glory of
this work? Yet it is the most wonderful organization ever beheld among
men. There is nothing like it. There is no limit to the power
connected with it; there is no limit to the union connected with it;
there is no limit to the capacity for expansion connected with it. You
may expand it and make it as wide and broad as you please, and the
organization is equal to it. If it only consisted of six members it
answered the purpose; if it consisted of six thousand it answered the
purpose. If it were to consist of six millions it would answer the
purpose; if it should embrace the whole world it would be found equal
to the necessity. No man can look upon the organization of this Church
and examine it in its details without being wonderfully impressed—if
he be a man who does not give glory to God—with the ability of the man
who framed it; but if he be disposed to give glory to God, he cannot
examine it without praising God in his heart for giving so wonderful
and so simple an organization on the earth for a church. But though
this is the case, who is there that gives any glory to Joseph Smith?
Who is there that gives any glory to Brigham Young? I have been told
repeatedly that we do not honor our men enough, we do not give them
praise enough; but it is a fact, the people look behind the
instrument. Joseph Smith was a man; yet we have been falsely accused
of worshiping Joseph Smith in the place of the Savior, and the same
has also been said of Brigham Young. But the true feeling is to look
behind Joseph Smith and Brigham Young to the power who raised them up,
to that Being who gave them all their gifts and endowments, who
inspired them and who made them perform the work that they did. And
when Elders in this Church are successful there is very little
disposition to give them the glory or the praise therefor. The praise
is given to God, who is the author of these blessings and of the
gathering of this people together. The world say it was the shrewdness
of Joseph Smith that first suggested this, and that it was the
executive ability that Brigham Young had that carried it out. They do
not recognize God in it; it was Brigham Young. But, my brethren and
sisters, you know who it was. You know that it was no power of man
that could have touched your hearts and made you desire to leave your
homes and  come to Zion. This makes every man and woman in [p.99] this
Church, who comes from the nations of the earth, a living witness for
himself and for herself, not depending upon the Elders, for the Elders
could not do this, they could not offer the inducements, but every man
and every woman becomes an interested person, a witness himself and
herself to the truth of these things, and especially to the doctrine
of gathering. Why the desire is so strong and has been in the hearts
of the people that if it were necessary they would walk on foot any
distance to join the gathered Saints. If they could walk on the water
they would do it. They would push hand-carts across the plains if they
could not come across in any other way, carrying their packs on their
backs. Why? Because the Spirit of God was poured out upon them, and it
filled their hearts with this desire that I said is irrepressible.
They could not be content to stay away.

vol. 23, p.99
In this way God has built up this Church. It did not, as we have often
heard, depend upon one man. Men thought if they killed Joseph Smith
they would destroy the keystone; that his existence was the means of
upholding the work and giving it solidity. But he was killed, and
still the work prospered, and it will prosper if every man that is now
in position in the Church should be killed or should die. The
testimony of Jesus is in the hearts of the people. You travel
throughout the Territory, and call the people together and ask them:
"What influence brought you here?" Every one who is an adult, and has
retained the faith, will tell you that it was the Spirit and power of
God. No other influence nor power could have done this but that. Well,
now, men will fight it, men are fighting it. It is strange to-day to
see people who call themselves religious, advocating all manner of
means to be brought against this people to destroy them. To shed their
blood is thought to be justifiable the killing of people in order to
destroy an organization that they think is so full of menace; and yet
we are told in the Bible—and we have been taught it from childhood,
that the righteous never persecute the wicked, but it has always been
the case that the wicked persecute the righteous; and we are told by
the Savior himself that his followers should be hated of all men, and
that men in seeking to kill them would think they were doing God's
service. It was not the Apostles of Jesus who persecuted the wicked,
it was not the righteous who hated them and who sought their
destruction. There were no petitions went out from the humble
followers of Christ against the Pharisees and against the religious
sects of that day to have them destroyed, to have governmental aid to
assist them in extirpating their heresies; nothing of this kind has
ever been witnessed, but here we find to-day the professedly
righteous, the ministers, advocating the most dreadful measures. Why I
heard here a few days ago from one of our returned missionaries that
the sermon of a notorious preacher in the East, delivered some time
since, in which he advocated the wiping out of the Latter-day Saints
by the use of arms and cannon and weapons of war—I was told that the
sermon when it reached England was re-printed and distributed
gratuitously at the doors of the churches. People rejoiced over it,
thought it an excellent scheme, and yet you tell those people they are
not Christians and they would be shocked, feel insulted and think
themselves terribly abused [p.100] by such a statement, and at the
same time were rejoicing over the prospect of the Latter-day Saints
being killed and the system being broken up by violence.

vol. 23, p.100
How shall we feel respecting these matters? I have said that the
people, so far as my observation has extended throughout this
Territory, were rejoicing and feeling contented. How shall we feel?
Shall we be disturbed? The man or woman who entered into this Church
who was old enough to understand these matters, and expected anything
different to this, was not properly informed. When I became old enough
to understand the character of this work I made up my mind that it
might cost me everything before I got through. I did not know what
might be involved in it, what consequences; but I knew that others who
had started out for salvation had been slain, and that Saints of God
in every age have had to lay down their lives for the truth and that
my Lord and Master Jesus Christ, had been crucified, and if I expected
to live and reign with Him, that I must also be prepared to endure all
things. The salvation that God has promised unto us is worthy of all
this, or it is worth nothing. If we cannot sacrifice everything there
is upon the face of the earth, that men hold dear to them, then we are
unworthy of that great salvation that God has promised unto the
faithful. The man that cannot bring every appetite into subjection to
the mind and will of God, that cannot forego everything of this kind,
and that is not willing to sacrifice houses and lands, and father and
mother, wives and children and everything that men hold dear to them,
is unworthy that great salvation that God has in store for His
faithful children. When I hear people say that they are Latter-day
Saints, and will drink with the drunken; when I hear men talk about
being Latter-day Saints who will not conquer their appetites, and will
not bring them in subjection to the mind and will of God, I think very
little of their professions. If we value this salvation as we should,
there is nothing that will stand between us and it. We may love our
wives as we love our own lives; we may love our children as we do
ourselves; we may be willing to step between death and our wives and
children and say, "If any be killed, let us be killed; if there is to
be any hardship, let us endure it;" we may have this feeling, but at
the same time we must love the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
the cause that He established, better than we do our wives and our
children, better than we do our own lives. There is nothing upon the
face of the earth that we should love as we do the Gospel. God
requires this of us. Therefore, if we are Latter-day Saints, what
difference does it make what is brought against us? Suppose armies
should be launched against us; suppose the measures urged by some so
called divines, should be carried out; will it make any difference in
regard to us and our future? Shall we be disturbed because of these
threats being fulminated against us? Not in the least; for the reason
that God is our Father—He stands at the head, and not one hair of our
heads shall fall to the ground without His notice. Nothing can occur
that He does not take cognizance of. He watches over us as well as the
rest of the human family, and He will overrule everything for our
good. We should, therefore, be the happiest people—as I fully believe
we are—on the  face of the earth. We may [p.101] be persecuted,
maligned and threatened, it ought not to make the least difference to
us in regard to our enjoyment. Our trust should be in something higher
than man. There is one Being whom we call our Father, and that is God,
whom we should fear; we should hold Him in reverence and be so afraid
that we would never do anything to offend Him or to grieve His Holy
Spirit. But as for man! What is man? What is there about man that we
should fear him? We have seen men in the plenitude of their power
array themselves against the work of God, and they have passed away
one after another; but the work of God lives and will live. Opposers
may fight it, rave against it; organizations may be formed for the
purpose of crushing it, but they will pass away just as sure as God
has spoken and as we live. This work that God has established will
roll forth. The power connected with it cannot be crushed. Men may
apostatize, as many have done, but it will not affect the work. The
three witnesses of this Book of Mormon, from which I have read—Oliver
Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris—two of them are now dead
—testified all their days that an holy angel came and showed them the
plates from which this book was translated—even they fell away. They
disagreed with the Prophet Joseph, and fell away from the Church, one
of them at least, because of unchastity, the cause most fruitful above
all others of apostacy. When a man indulges in unchaste desires or
practices he cannot stand in this Church, he will apostatize sooner or
later unless he repents. One of the witnesses—Oliver Cowdery—upon
whose head, with that of Joseph Smith, the hands of John the Baptist
were laid, upon whose head, in company with Joseph Smith, the hands of
Peter, James and John were laid, even he fell away from this Church,
and yet he never denied his testimony of the truth of this work, nor
did Martin Harris, David Whitmer, the only surviving witness, is in
the same condition. He, too, fell away from the Church during Joseph's
lifetime, and became Joseph's enemy; but he never denied the truth of
his testimony connected with the Book of Mormon, and still bears
testimony to it to-day. These men, it might have been supposed, would
have shaken the Church. Oliver Cowdery had the idea, notwithstanding
the revelations he had received, that when he fell away the Church
would receive a great shock. There were twelve men chosen as Apostles
from the midst of the people, and of these twelve six fell away from
the Church and ranged themselves against the Prophet of God. They were
determined to destroy the work if they could. This reminds one of the
parable of the ten virgins. There were five wise and five foolish;
one-half of them were unprepared to go out and meet the bridegroom. So
with the Apostles, half of them fell away. But did the Church stop?
no; and if all the Apostles had apostatized it would not have arrested
the onward progress of this work, for God has spoken concerning it,
and His word will be fulfilled. And shall we fear man? Shall we fear
earthly organizations? Shall we fear threats? Shall our knees tremble
and our hands and our hearts falter because men array themselves
against the work of God? If we do, then we mistake entirely its
character. No such feeling enters into the heart of any faithful man
or woman connected with this Church.[p.102]

vol. 23, p.102
 Now, my brethren and sisters, the Lord has made great promises unto
us. I have read you one from this Book of Mormon. This land is a
blessed land unto all the inhabitants of the earth who will act
righteously, but is and will be cursed to those who will not. There is
a curse and a blessing upon the land. No nation can prosper in this
land that works unrighteousness, and it is a painful thing to say that
our own nation, unless it repents, will meet with disasters sooner or
later. It pains us to say this, but it is true. God has said it. It
will be true about us. This land can only be blessed to us if we work
righteously. Let us turn round and oppress the weak and do wrong, and
God will curse the land to us. There will be trouble in the land among
the inhabitants of the earth as long as they work wickedness, just as
sure as God has spoken. There has been no nation prospered as our
nation has. No government was ever framed by man that is so strong and
so good and well adapted to the happiness of human beings as our
government is. There never was a better instrument framed for the
happiness of man than the Constitution of the United States. The men
who framed it were inspired of God. The men who fought the battles of
the Revolution were the same. Washington was inspired of God; he was
sustained by the almighty arm of God; and the defeats that the mother
country received were in accordance with the plan of God. This land
was kept for this purpose. For centuries it was hidden from all the
nations of the earth. It was not until the 15th century that God
inspired Columbus to go forth and seek a passage across the Atlantic,
and land upon some of the islands adjacent to this continent. His
track was followed by others. All this was in the mind of God. We have
it all plainly stated to us in this book (the Book of Mormon), and the
reasons for it, the best possible reasons that could be given. It is
said that the Norwegians had visited this country and that the stone
tower at Newport is evidence of it. The Scandinavian antiquarians
claim that it was thus discovered; but if so, it was not peopled. It
remained hidden until the 15th century, and there was good reason for
it. This land would have been overrun by other nations had it been
discovered earlier, and there would have been no place for that which
we now behold. But God preserved it; and He has said in the Book of
Mormon, that so long as the inhabitants of this land serve the God of
the land, who is Jesus Christ—they shall prosper and no nation shall
have power over them. The Lord has also said that there shall be no
kings upon this land. The attempt of Maximillian is an evidence of the
truth of it. Backed as he was by the power of France and Austria,
particularly by France, he was killed for his attempt; for the Lord
has said there shall be no kings upon this land, and that it shall be
a land of liberty unto the inhabitants thereof as long as they serve
the Lord. And the prosperity that has attended the land thus far is
due to this blessing. Those who contended for liberty in early days
were men who desired to serve the Lord. They may have been mistaken in
many things, but they were zealous in this and devoted to it, and many
of them were willing that every human being should have the rights
that they contended for themselves. But this is all changed to-day.
There is a great change. You and I cannot worship God as we  desire,
[p.103] without being in danger. We are told that it is because we are
polygamists. Why, the earliest privations which we had to contend
with, the scenes which are seared in the memories of these aged
people, and these of middle age, were all passed through by us when
polygamy was not known. When we chose to worship God, and said He was
a God of revelation to-day, the same as He was 1800 years ago. There
were men then, and there are men to-day, who would destroy us because
we exercise that belief. Hence, I say, prosperity cannot attend a
people who will trample upon liberty in that manner, and the party
that arrays itself against the work of God cannot prosper.

vol. 23, p.103
When men have power and do right they will be sustained; but when they
do wrong they go against the eternal principles of justice and against
God. There are many thousands of men who know that Utah has not been
fairly treated, but they have not the courage to say so, because with
many who hold office it might cost them position. Visitors come here
and are impressed with what they see, but many of them yield to the
force of public opinion and say what they do not believe in their
hearts. Thus it is that the tide of calumny has swelled and there is
no one to throw obstacles in its way; we have endured its full three
as it has rolled upon us, and must still stand up and endure it.
Although it is so painful, it is not without profit; it teaches us
many valuable lessons. I hope it will have a good effect upon us. I
suppose it is to chasten us and to keep us humble, and if it will
teach us to be liberal and not to oppress others, I shall be glad:
liberty for every man in the land and every woman—liberty to the
fullest possible extent for all, as long as they do not trespass upon
the rights of their fellows. If a man wishes to worship an idol or an
animal, a bull, a calf, a dog, or a serpent or anything else—liberty
to do so as long as his worship does not interfere with the rights of
his fellows. If he wishes to worship the God of Heaven, all right, he
should not be interfered with. God has blessed the land in the words
that I have read in your hearing, and if we were driven out of it, in
five years it would return to its original desolation. This land of
desolation God has changed into a fruitful field, because of the
blessing on the land, and as long as the Latter-day Saints live
righteously the land shall be blessed to them. The climate will be
ameliorated; the soil will be fertilized; fruits will grow as they
have done in this valley.

vol. 23, p.103
When we first came here I remember the thoughts of many. They did not
believe that we could raise any fruit here, and the man who first set
out peach stones was laughed at because of the idea he entertained
that they would grow. Very few believed they would grow. And to-day
where can you find a better land for fruit than this? I suppose when
we came funny thought if we could raise bread enough, it would be as
much as we could do, there being frost every month of the year. But
now it is so charming a place that many covet it. When they got up
that raid against us a few years ago, I was credibly informed that
there were certain men here who actually went round and selected the
places they would occupy! They indicted Brigham Young, Daniel H.
Wells, and others for alleged crimes, and the hope was that we would
scare away from here and then places [p.104] could be had for the
choosing. 

vol. 23, p.104
But we came here to stay, here we expect to stay, and here we shall
stay as long as we do right. And we shall not only stay here, but we
shall spread abroad, and the day will come—and this is another
prediction of Joseph Smith's—I want to remind you of it, my brethren
and sisters, when good government, constitutional government—liberty
—will be found among the Latter-day Saints, and it will be sought for
in vain elsewhere; when the Constitution of this land and republican
government and institutions will be upheld by this people who are now
so oppressed and whose destruction is now sought so diligently. The
day will come when the Constitution, and free government under it,
will be sustained and preserved by this people. This is saying a great
deal, but it is not saying any more than is said concerning the growth
of this work, and that which is already accomplished. I have just
turned to the revelation upon this subject, which says: 

vol. 23, p.104
"And it shall come to pass, among the wicked, that every man that will
not take his sword against his neighbor, must needs flee unto Zion for
safety. And there shall be gathered unto it out of every nation under
heaven; and it shall be the only people that shall not be at war one
with another." 

vol. 23, p.104
This revelation was given on the 7th of March 1831. We have already
beheld and are now beholding its fulfilment: the righteous are being
gathered and they are coming with songs of everlasting joy: and this
was given before there was a gathering place, and only eleven months
after the Church was organized. And it is a remarkable fact that
to-day—I do not say it out of any improper feeling—our hands as a
people, by a singular providence, are free from the blood of our
fellow-men. We were driven out of this land. Our enemies were not
content to let us remain in the States, on the land that we had
purchased, they would not permit us to occupy the homes we had built,
but compelled us to leave, and we came to the Rocky Mountains. And
when the civil war broke out President Lincoln sent a communication to
Governor Young, asking him if he could send troops to guard the
continental highway and preserve it from the attacks of Indians. He
responded by sending out companies of cavalry. They spent the time in
guarding the mail route against the indians, and thus, as I have said,
our hands to-day as a people, are free from the blood of our
fellow-citizens by this singular providence, through the acts of our
enemies. Had we remained in the State of Illinois, or in Missouri, we
should have been compelled—unless we had chosen to occupy a very
anomalous position—to have taken sides in this fratricidal war, a war
which Joseph Smith in the year 1832, predicted would take place. The
revelation was printed in 1850—though known to the church long
before—stating that the war should commence between the north and
south, at South Carolina. I suppose there is not a boy who has been
brought up in this community who did not know of the revelation years
before it was published, and, still longer, before it was fulfilled. I
know I was taught concerning this revelation, when a boy, and I knew
the time would come when there would be a bloody war between the north
and south and that it would commence in  South Carolina. Did it
commence there? Yes. Joseph Smith predicted it 28 years [p.105] before
it occurred. And in the manner to which I have alluded, we were driven
out and occupied a position where, though we did not go to the war,
our loyalty to the Union could not be questioned, for we responded to
every call that was made upon us. Though we deplored the war, and did
all we could by our preaching, counsels and warnings to avert it, we
were true to our obligations; and yet at the same time —though we have
men among us who took part in the war—as a people our hands are clean
from the blood of our fellow-men. Our Church has not been divided into
a church north and a church south. It is a church that belongs to the
whole people of the north and of the south, and there are no sectional
heart-burnings in our midst. God in his providence had made this a
place of refuge from the north and from the south. They can come here
without heart-burnings and without prejudice; no civil broils, no
disunion; they have nothing to remember or forget connected with us.
It is a church that is adapted to all. The black man is welcome, and
he is entitled to the rites of the Gospel, though the Lord has shown
that to his race the Priesthood is forbidden. The red man, and the
yellow man and every man of every race and of every kindred and of
every tongue, has a light in this Church and will be received into it
and have place in it, just as sure as God has spoken. And we shall be
preserved from future broils and disunion when they break out; we
shall stand in places where we can maintain our loyalty and our
truthfulness and our honor, and at the same time not interfere with
the rights of any human being.

vol. 23, p.105
I have talked longer than I intended to. It is probably the last
opportunity I will have of addressing you for some little time. I
expect to leave for Washington before another Sunday comes. I desire
earnestly in my heart that I may have your faith and prayers. I have
felt greatly strengthened by the knowledge that I have had your faith,
your confidence, and your prayers, and I go out now hoping I shall
still have these, for they are more valuable to me than anything else.
I should go weak indeed if I did not have the faith and prayers and
confidence of my brethren and sisters. I do not believe there is
another representative in the world, it may be said—and certainly not
in our nation—who has more cause for thanksgiving in this respect than
I have. I know I am backed and sustained by my entire constituency; I
know I have their love and affection; I know their hearts go with me,
and their feelings and affections are always towards me; I know in
almost every household prayers are offered in my behalf; it gives me
strength; and when I am assailed and when our people are assailed and
our Territory, it gives me strength to know we are united, and that
when I am in Washington, though I may be alone—which I am in one sense
of the word—I have an influence and a power attending me, in
consequence of this, that others do not have. God has preserved us,
and he will preserve us and overrule evil for good. I feel hopeful and
cheerful: this is a blessing God has given unto me. In the midst of
the darkest hours I have always felt exceedingly cheerful: fear has
been taken away from me.

vol. 23, p.105
I pray that you may be blessed exceedingly of the Lord; that His Holy
Spirit may be poured out upon you; that peace may be given [p.106]
unto you and union fill your hearts: I ask this in the name of Jesus
Christ. Amen.

F. D. Richards, April 8, 1882

Delivered at the General Conference, Salt Lake City, Saturday 
Morning, April 8, 1882.

The Lord's Work—Warfare not Required of the Saints—An 
Overruling Providence—Corruption and Perjury in High 
Places—Violation of the Constitution—False Accusations 
Against the Saints—Words of Comfort and Exhortation

(Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs)

vol. 23, p.106
The greatly increased numbers of Israel, and the greatly diversified
and multifarious necessities which are occurring, and which increase
like the branches upon a great tree, call upon us each and all, to
seek continually for the mind of the Lord, that in all our varied
ministrations, labors and duties, we may perform the same acceptably
to him and profitably to all of his children; not only to the Saints
but to the inhabitants of all the earth, inasmuch as they will hearken
to his word.

vol. 23, p.106
We have a vast number of witnesses and evidences of the mercy, the
favor and blessing of God unto us, as a people, as well as to
ourselves individually and as families, it being the privilege of all
who live faithfully in Christ Jesus to see and acknowledge the hand of
God in all things throughout their checkered lives.

vol. 23, p.106
This morning I am reminded of some choice, precious promises which the
Lord has made to us in the dispensation in which we live, having a
peculiar application unto us, though like blessings may have been
promised to people in former generations, those now referred to were
given especially to the Saints of the last days. There is one very
significant saying in the revelations, you will find it in the
Doctrine and Covenants, section 103, beginning at the 19th verse. It
is as follows:

vol. 23, p.106
"Therefore let not your hearts faint, for I say not unto you, as I
said unto your fathers, mine angel shall go up before you, but not my
presence, but I say unto you, mine angel shall go before you, and also
my presence, and in time ye shall possess the goodly land."

vol. 23, p.106
Here is a very definite and positive assurance that this work is His,
that [p.107] he is particularly to figure in it himself; that he has
not entirely committed it, even to angels; as represented in the
parable, so beautifully expressed in the Book of Mormon, where the
husbandman calls upon his servants to come and help him to prune his
vineyard for the last time; we are given to understand that so we are
called to be helpers to the Lord our God, to prune his vineyard for
the last time.

vol. 23, p.107
We should not allow the cares or corruptions of the world to lead us
to forget that the work in which we are engaged is the Lord's work; we
should never forget that the work to which all are called, God has
undertaken to direct Himself; especially as it was commenced in former
dispensations, but, for obvious reasons, remains to be consummated and
perfected in the dispensation of the fulness of times in which we
live. The Lord has also told us specifically in his revelations that
it is his business to provide for his people. Most encouraging
words—calculated to increase confidence in the hearts of all those who
walk by faith before him.

vol. 23, p.107
Furthermore, he has condescended to tell us in the revelations given
through the Prophet Joseph Smith, "For behold I do not require at
their (the Elders) hands to fight the battles of Zion; for as I said
in a former commandment, even so will I fulfil. I will fight your
battles." Doctrine and Covenants, section 105, verse 14.

vol. 23, p.107
One after another passages might be repeated relating to the designs
and purposes of God, all going to show that he has not let out the
work to be done by chance or to be controlled by others, but that he
will direct it himself.

vol. 23, p.107
Have we not evidence of these facts? We have as pointed and conclusive
evidence of these things, already before us, as the Apostle Paul had
when he told the Hebrews that, through faith the worlds were framed by
the word of God; through faith Abraham, when he was called to go out
into a place which he should afterwards receive for an inheritance,
obeyed; by faith he sojourned in the land of promise, etc. Let us look
at two or three prominent features of our history for evidences of his
divine favor in overruling affairs for our welfare according to the
counsels of his own will.

vol. 23, p.107
In former times there was much destruction of life and a great deal of
contention between the enemies of God's work and his people. The
latter have at different times gone forth, and that by the holy
command of heaven, to mortal combat. The Lord has told us in his
revelations of the last days concerning the laws which governed
warfare in the days of Abraham, of Lehi and Nephi, etc., which are
detailed very minutely in the Doctrine and Covenants. He says:

vol. 23, p.107
"Behold this is the law I gave unto my servant Nephi, and thy fathers
Joseph, and Jacob, and Isaac, and Abraham, and all mine ancient
prophets and apostles.

vol. 23, p.107
And again, this is the law that I gave unto mine ancients, that they
should not go out unto battle against, any nation, kindred, tongue or
people, save I, the Lord, commanded them. (Doctrine and Covenants,
sec. 98, verse 32, 33.)"

vol. 23, p.107
For an account of the laws that, justify warfare the Saints can read
this section from the 23rd verse to the end.

vol. 23, p.107
In those days there was more contention or mortal combat permitted and
required, in order to maintain the rights of God's people and
establish righteousness before his [p.108] face, when idolatrous and
all manner of worship, except that of the true and living God,
prevailed among the nations generally. But it is not given unto us
that we should contend with weapons of war; that inasmuch as we serve
him, he will fight our battles for us. How has he done this? Have we
forgotten how he managed to keep us out of the late terrible
fratricidal war, when our great country was divided in a sanguinary
struggle? How did he graciously regard us? It was by telling us to
arise and go hence.

vol. 23, p.108
Some of you well remember in what haste we gathered our little
remaining substance in Nauvoo, leaving our homes in the winter season,
and how we crossed the river on the ice. History attests the fact that
we left none too soon to escape the dire necessity of taking up
weapons of war against our fellow-man. The great reason why David was
not allowed to build a house to the Lord, was because he had been a
man of blood. He had commenced to gather his thousands of talents of
gold and silver together, and was ready to build, but the Lord told
him he should not, that he had been too much a man of war, had shed
too much blood; but that he might get the materials together, and that
Solomon, his son, should build a temple to his name. It is plainly to
be seen, in the wisdom of God, that the Saints are not to take that
course; but on the contrary, the Lord requires of them that they
preserve to themselves pure hearts and clean hands to build His
Temples. Was not this a great and wonderful manifestation of his
loving kindness, was it not a demonstration to a great people of his
tender mercy in preserving us from that fratricidal strife that arose
in the nation. Where is the heart that cannot be thankful for this?
Here is one great, we may say, worldwide demonstration of his kindness
and goodness to provide for his people, and to preserve them from dire
calamities, the direst of calamities that overtake the human family.
Let us then sense the feeling and spirit of the ancient prophet Isaiah
when speaking of the judgments of the latter days, that the watchmen
should lift up their voices and speak comforting words to Zion. And
what should they say? "Thy God reigneth." That is the word to us,
brethren and sisters. "Thy God reigneth. Let us learn to know and
sense it, put our trust in him, and learn that it is he that builds up
nations, and it is he that levels them to the dust; that it is he that
raises up and makes rulers and people to become mighty in the earth,
and that it is he that permits them to go down into insignificance,
shame and contempt. 

vol. 23, p.108
How has it been when our enemies in our midst, in violation of a
sacred principle of the Constitution, have said that we should not
bear arms, which we had been wont to do in celebrating the anniversary
of our national independence, and for our own protection in this new
and Indian country, and that too in accordance with a provision of the
Constitution; when we submitted in silence to this indignity, what has
been wrought out in our behalf? As if the heavens took momentary
record of it, from that day to this the enmity that has existed among
the unprincipled, low and degraded Lamanites upon our borders has been
hushed to silence; the manner in which we have dealt with them has
been felt for good. Terrible wars have been prevented by the [p.109]
influence of the Latter-day Saints among them, until to-day it is not
necessary that any, in this region of country, should have arms to
protect themselves unless it be from professed friends. Is there no
God in this? Look all around us, God has made even our adversaries to
be at peace with us. He has made the blessings of peace to be
multiplied around us, until the very occasion for weapons of defence
is removed. The wicked had no sooner forbidden us to bear arms when
God in his tender mercies and parental solicitude removed the very
occasion of defence, leaving us at peace with all around us. The
glorious tidings, "peace on earth and good will to man," have come
sounding to us through the ages, and they are being echoed and
re-echoed to us by the voice of those who hold the keys of the
kingdom, and we see it not only in word but in power and demonstration
of truth.

vol. 23, p.109
These are none other than the blessings of God unto us, my brethren
and sisters. We ought to think of these things; we ought to
acknowledge in gratitude this dispensation of his providence; and we
should make it our business to sanctify ourselves before him; yea, let
the man that has taken to his cups depart from them; and let he who
has drunk of the spirit of the world, and who fraternizes with the
ungodly, turn from the error of his ways, wash himself from the filth
of unrighteousness and purify himself before God, and call upon his
name that he may forgive and extend his pardoning favor. It is to be
deplored that there are so many that are so easily to be civilized by
this damning "civilization" that has come among us; it is an occasion
of sorrow to the Latter-day Saints that so many are so easily drawn
away to affiliate with the ungodly. When we remember the mercies and
blessings of God to us, it is a fitting time to turn and seek his face
and favor afresh, and renew our covenants before him, and become
worthy in his sight.

vol. 23, p.109
I might enumerate many other instances of the goodness and mercy of
God unto us, how he fed the suffering Saints with quails on the banks
of the Mississippi, how he sent gulls to rid us of the crickets when
they threatened us with starvation here.

vol. 23, p.109
I must refer to the time when the Lord permitted the United States to
send an army to Utah. It was told to us that there were a million of
bayonets in the States ready to be turned toward Utah. We did not
count them, but we know the details of their coming and how the
soldiery arrived here. They came with their mouths full of ribaldry,
full of threatenings, full of animus and destruction towards
President; Young, his family, the Apostles, and towards all that were
immediately associated with them, threatening to hang them like Haman
upon a tree. But God in his mercy before they got here very much
cooled their ardor; and when they arrived they came as harmless as any
4th of July celebrators. They marched in quiet through our streets, no
man daring to commit an indignity as they passed.

vol. 23, p.109
Our Heavenly Father sanctified this to our good, for while they
scattered much means among us, scarcely an act of hostility was
committed, and, when the time of terrible destruction came they
marched away to the violence of death. Is not the hand of God to be
seen in this? If so, should we not acknowledge with thanksgiving his
mercy in thus making us the objects of [p.110] such care. We ought to
bestow the best efforts and energies of our lives to build up his
kingdom, establish his righteousness, and make him our friend for time
and eternity.

vol. 23, p.110
I would not dwell too lengthily upon these things, although they show
the divine goodness and tenderness. Is there a loving father that
deals more affectionately with his children than this? Could the Lord
deal more lovingly with us? It is to be feared that his tender mercies
are so abundant, and we become so used to them as to grow ungrateful.

vol. 23, p.110
A few words in regard to the fundamental law established for the
guidance of the people of this great nation, called the Constitution
of the United States, that instrument was framed by our forefathers,
who purchased the power to do so with their blood; they were men who
went into the revolutionary war pledging their lives, their fortunes,
their sacred honor, and placed everything they possessed upon the
altar of liberty. The Constitution they adopted has been admitted by
European statesmen to be the grandest Palladium of human rights known
upon the earth. The flag of our nation has commanded respect in every
part of this habitable globe, whether on land or sea.

vol. 23, p.110
All representatives and officers of the government, state or national,
from the highest to the lowest, lift up their hands to heaven and
swear that they will observe that Constitution and the laws of the
nation or State, as the office may require, to the best of their
knowledge and ability, so help them God. When Congress so far descends
as to make special laws, and send forth its legislative missiles to us
bearing the odor, power, and character of attainder, and ex post facto
laws; when they can provide, directly or indirectly, for conviction
without trial by jury; when they frame and pass measures having for
their object the deprivation or spoliation of rights common to all
citizens, and that in direct opposition to the provisions of the
Constitution, as appears on the face of the Edmunds' bill, they
themselves violate that oath of office which they took before God and
their country. They may, standing in high places, think that it does
not become citizens to question their acts; but citizens of this
Republic are the sovereigns of the nation; and when the Constitution
was created it was provided that every power not granted by that
instrument was retained by the people. Public men, in the true spirit
of the Constitution of our government, are the servants of the people,
put in office to administer the will of the people as defined in that
instrument.

vol. 23, p.110
When men in high places forget themselves, and in violation of their
oaths dictate or forbid what shall or what shall not be observed as
religious rites, they become amenable to the higher laws, and will
have to answer to the charge of perjury to an immortal court, from
whose decisions mortals have found no mode of appeal by any bill of
exceptions.

vol. 23, p.110
The principles upon which our government is founded are most
excellent, and to all intents and purposes most satisfactory. The
great and learned Webster, Clay, and their contemporaries, considered
them a standard of liberty—far above that of any other country upon
our globe; something that every  American had cause to be proud of. If
the American nation will be governed by its doctrines, it [p.111] will
extend to the whole human family the precious boon of liberty, and
will make this land in reality an asylum for the oppressed of all
nations. But we have come to a time when Congress has undertaken to
dictate our ethics, to declare what we may or may not accept as tenets
of religion. This is a right or power that is not conveyed in the
Constitution; but on the contrary, Congress is expressly prohibited
from making any law establishing any form of religion or preventing
the free exercise thereof; this right of worshiping God according to
the dictates of one's own conscience is the right of every American
citizen.

vol. 23, p.111
Aside from what may be pronounced legal, there is an equity side of
the court to which all God-fearing people have recourse. One principle
of which the courts of the nation seem to have taken no consideration,
but which the Latter-day Saints cannot afford to pass unnoticed, is
this: Wherein it is given in the Constitution that the States shall
make no law to impair the obligation of contracts. I wish to ask the
people, not in the legal sense, but in the sense of equity, of
righteousness and eternal truth, if the marriage relation is not to
all intents and purposes a contract? Do we not enter into a covenant,
a contract, an agreement with our wives. Yes; not only a contract, an
agreement of a civil nature, as it is regarded in the world, but our
contracts are of a higher order, of a more sacred nature extending as
they do in perpetuity from time into eternity. Now, if it is a
violation of States rights to pass a law impairing the obligation of
contracts in common financial matters, is it not a graver and more
serious violation of the Constitution to pass a law impairing the
obligation of contracts as between man and wife? It is laid down by
the most eminent law writers of our country that properly maintained
marital relationship is the true basis of all human society; it needs
the solemn covenants of husband and wife to be taken into account, and
then what follows? The reasons why contracts and faith in them should
not be violated is because of vested rights that accrue under those
contracts; and have you any vested rights, my brethren and sisters,
under the contracts that you have made with your wives and husbands,
have you not acquired under those covenants and contracts the most
precious of vested rights—those of sons and daughters given you in the
flesh? These are possessory rights, the value of which bear no
comparison with any thing that can be called goods or chattels. We
look upon the increase of our families, as the foundation of our
eternal dominion, we cannot but look upon any hand impairing the
obligation of these contracts as striking at the very root of our
prosperity. Our children are our vested rights growing out of these
holy relations, rights not only of a temporal but of an eternal, and
finally immortal character, and of the highest possible consideration.

vol. 23, p.111
I apprehend while I talk upon this subject, that it is very improbable
that the courts of the world would regard these matters in any such
light, but they are matters which pertain to the laws of the living
God before whose court we shall all appear and our rights be
vindicated; those who have undertaken to deprive us of these rights
will also appear and on such a writ of errors as will bring them
effectually within the jurisdiction of the court.[p.112] 

vol. 23, p.112
The Lord has given unto us these rights, which we are learning to
appreciate, but which the world know nothing of. Is it to be wondered
at that they do many things, as did those who slew the Savior,
concerning whom he said, "They know not what they do?"

vol. 23, p.112
The rulers of our land have undertaken to set snares for our feet, to
bring us into subjection to the political will of the Republican party
to teach us how to promote party discord, be oppressed with heavy
taxes and become burdened with debt. Let us put our trust in the
living God, and see that while we violate no law of man unnecessarily,
that we do not violate any of the laws of God, so that we may be
entitled to His protection and that his blessing may abide with us.

vol. 23, p.112
Not desiring to occupy too much time, I would exhort my. brethren and
sisters to renew their diligence in trying to honor the Lord by
keeping his commandments, remembering our obligations to each other;
that we continue preaching the Gospel to the nations, gathering the
honest in heart who receive the word through the ministrations of the
Elders; and inasmuch as this is God's work we have no need to fear.
There are those who dwelt here in 1848-9, who for days and weeks,
scarcely tasted bread. Those who have passed through these scenes will
never fear anything that may come upon us again. I often think of the
peculiar circumstances of the Savior when upon the earth, who when
Herod the Great sent word to him, inquiring who this Jesus of Nazareth
was; the answer of the Savior being, Go tell him that the birds of the
air have nests, and the foxes have holes, but the Son of Man hath not
where to lay His head. Think of it my friends; He by whom the worlds
were created, who gave the law upon Mount Sinai; He who communicated
with the brother of Jared, directing him to cross the sea and people
this continent; He who was and is our great Ruler came and dwelt in
the flesh, instead of making himself the possessor of houses and lands
and earthly substance, had not; where to lay His head. And after
passing through a life of sorrows he was tried for His life, when the
judge washed his hands, saying, he found no fault in Him. The fact was
He was above the law, He was without sin, and of the things of which
they tried to convict him he was not guilty, wherein he said he was
the Son of God, which they, in their blind ignorance, looked upon as
blasphemy.

vol. 23, p.112
Now, we are charged with blasphemy, because we believe and declare
that the holy Priesthood has been restored to us from heaven. It is
made blasphemy to believe that Peter, James and John were sent from
heaven to earth to ordain Joseph and Oliver, and because, as they had
been instructed to do, they ordained others to the same Priesthood,
and then commissioned them to go to all the world and preach the
Gospel. This is put forth and published as once of the blasphemies
that we believe in which has made us to incur the displeasure and
wrath of this self-righteous generation. While we contemplate that the
Prophets of God have been slain, their blood ruthlessly shed, and the
nation has never made an expression to exculpate themselves from the
act, they have never even expressed their disapproval of it, but, on
the contrary, multitudes have said, they were glad of it, but that
they disliked the way in which it was done. 

vol. 23, p.112
While this is upon the nation and [p.113] until they wash their hands
of it, we can but look upon them with sorrow and apprehension and
dread for thus acquiescing in breaking and overriding the fundamental
laws of the land; for if these things can be inflicted upon us they
can be done to others. And they have been to others. Do you not
recollect when the army came here, it was the nation's first effort
against the "Mormons," against what they were pleased to term a "twin
relic"—polygamy; and having extirpated the "twin relic" of the
south—slavery, which was deemed necessary to secure the triumph of the
republican arms, now the attack is made again upon the people
representing the remaining "relic." They and we are in the hands of
God, and it becomes us to move on in all our duties quietly, peaceably
and prayerfully. The nation, of course, can cause us a great deal of
bodily and mental suffering if God permits. They have already shown
what they are capable of doing by their deprivations and arbitrary
rule in the south; and we have every reason to believe they would do
as much for us were it the pleasure of the Almighty to permit them.

vol. 23, p.113
The few men now sitting in Congress, from the Southern States, who had
the manhood and the moral courage to protest against the measure,
which has since become a law, aimed directly at our liberty and
rights, knew from experience the effects of military law, and those
usurpations which have tended to ruin their country after the
desolation caused by the war. They had been through the furnace, they
could feel anew the burnings of the fire, and they could see the grief
into which we are to be crowded.

vol. 23, p.113
The question with us is, are we sufficiently devoted to the interests
of the kingdom of God to enable us to confidently believe, without a
doubt, that he will sustain us in all that we may be called upon to
pass through? If we are he certainly will not permit any more to come
upon us than we can endure and that will be for our good; because he
is that God who is nearer to us than a friend or a brother.

vol. 23, p.113
He had told us that those who kept his commandments had no need to
break the laws of the land. We made no law nor passed any ordinance
contrary to the laws of the land; the law-makers of the nation made
the law which brought us in conflict with our government; and,
therefore, we must look to him to overrule this conflict, and trust
that he will do better for us than we know how to ask or even to think
for ourselves; provided, we pursue the path of duty faithfully and
steadfastly.

vol. 23, p.113
I pray that we may so take consideration of our ways that we shall not
feel vindictive to those who are vindictive towards us; but, on the
contrary, rise above such a feeling upon the more elevated platform
which was introduced by theSavior, in which he taught his disciples to
do good to them who despitefully used and persecuted them. This is a
lesson that we have not fully learned.

vol. 23, p.113
May the Lord bless and proper all who seek to do his will, and may his
mercy be multiplied to all nations until the ends of the earth shall
see the salvation of our God, and until the kingdoms of this world
become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ; may we live and our
generations after us to perform efficient and faithful service in
bringing about his purposes. Oh, that our enemies might see the error
of their ways, repent as in dust and [p.114] ashes and place
themselves in a condition to receive the favor of God, and thereby
escape the terrible judgments that must sooner or later overtake those
who wilfully battle against the truth.

vol. 23, p.114
It remains for us to continue to bear our testimony to the world, to
build our Temples, in which to perform the work for ourselves and our
dead, essential to salvation and exaltation in his kingdom, and to
build up a Zion to the glory of God. That this may be our determined
purpose to a faithful consummation, I humbly pray, in the name of
Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

George Q. Cannon, April 3, 1881

Delivered at the General Conference, Salt Lake City, Sunday 
Afternoon, April 3, 1881.

Modern Fulfillment of Ancient Prophecy—Rise of Joseph the
Prophet—Organization of the Church of Christ—Persecutions 
of the Saints—Their Undying Faith in God—The
World Proving Joseph Smith a Prophet—Satan Busily at 
Work—The Gospel of Liberty and Humanity

(Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs)

vol. 23, p.114
It is with great pleasure that I meet with you, my brethren and
sisters, in Conference to-day. And though in some respects I am not
feeling very eager to address so large a congregation as has assembled
this afternoon, still we all know that if we can get the influence and
assistance of the Spirit of the Lord, there is no difficulty in
speaking or advancing such thoughts and suggestions as are suitable.

vol. 23, p.114
It seems to me that of all men I ought to be most thankful. I
certainly feel exceedingly happy in being in your midst, in beholding
your faces, in sharing in your meetings, in partaking of your spirit;
I am thankful I have this privilege, for such I esteem it.

vol. 23, p.114
I have been absent, as you all know, for some sixteen weeks. During my
absence I have enjoyed myself very much, that is, considering the
circumstances. I have had excellent health, and I do not know that I
ever felt better in my life, under the circumstances, than I have
during the past winter. Of course there has been considerable [p.115]
discussion upon our cause and question, and considerable has been said
about us; but so far as my individual feelings have been concerned, I
have not been disabled, not for a single second. There is an
excitement about this warfare, and the consciousness that victory will
eventually perch upon our banners and that we are on the winning side,
that makes such a contest pleasurable. I know this, that when
everything is still—when the stream is quietly flowing along without a
ripple—I begin to be uneasy. I expect you do. We have been accustomed
now for so many years—in fact it may be said from the beginning—to
contending with the turbulence of the elements; to battling with angry
waves, that it seems to be the natural condition for us to be in. At
any rate, we know when this is the case that somebody is a little
disturbed about us, and that some think it necessary to be stirring up
opposition against us. With the activity which prevails at home in the
curious departments of the work, the zeal that is being manifested
among the Saints by the leading men in the various Stakes of Zion:
with the labors of the home missionaries, the Young Men's and Young
Women's Mutual Improvement Associations, the Relief Societies, the
Sunday Schools, and the various organizations which have taken shape
in our midst, together with the union of the people, and the sending
of missionaries abroad in such numbers with all these things at work,
tending to consolidate the people, to make them of one heart and one
mind, to preach the principles of truth, to declare to the inhabitants
of the earth the salvation of our God, and to leave them without
excuse for rejecting the truth; I say, with all these activities at
home and abroad, together with the building of Temples—a great work
which devolves upon us as a people; with all these things, it is no
wonder to me that opposition should be fierce, and that there should
be a great deal of talk about the "Mormons." We have been taught from
the beginning that this would be the case; the earliest teachings that
I can remember were to this effect, leading me forward, as you were
led forward, to anticipate just such things, just such a warfare as
that in which we are involved. Year by year, as this work develops, as
the purposes of God unfold, do we see the literal, the definite
fulfillment of the predictions that were uttered years and years ago
concerning the work of God.

vol. 23, p.115
The Prophet Joseph Smith's name has been known for good and evil among
all the inhabitants of the earth, being regarded by some as a man
divinely inspired, a prophet of the living God, his words treasured up
as the words of a prophet should be; and by others, he is looked upon
as an impostor, an ignoramus, a man in fact too bad to live. This
Joseph Smith, who is thus known and has this repute among various
people, is gradually being lifted up and made prominent, and through
his being lifted up and made prominent the name of our God, whose
servant he was, is being glorified. Thus Joseph Smith, whose
predictions were uttered fifty years ago, and from that time down
until he sealed his testimony with his blood nearly 37 years ago—this
Joseph Smith is being proved to be a prophet, not by the Latter-day
Saints alone—for we are doing comparatively little towards the
vindication of his prophetic views, of this divine calling; for we are
a feeble people; we are a people few in [p.116] number, but the
inhabitants of the earth, numerous as they are, by their words and
acts, are establishing the divinity of his mission and proving that he
is the man that we have testified he was from the beginning.

vol. 23, p.116
To me the ways of the Lord are very wonderful when I thus contemplate
them. How wonderful are the Lord's works! How wondrous are His doings
in the midst of the inhabitants of the earth! How strangely, and by
what singular means he brings to pass his great and glorious purposes,
using men, using nations, using governments, as seems good to him, to
effect his divine purposes! Those of us who have been brought up in
this Church who can remember the days that are past, the days of our
weakness, the days of our oppression, the days when we were a broken
and a peeled people, can call to mind how unlikely it was that the
teachings we have received concerning this work would ever be
fulfilled. We had faith that they would be. But it required the eye of
faith and a heart of faith to see or to comprehend that they would be,
as they have been, developed through the years that have intervened
until the present time. The fulfillment of these teachings and
predictions has brought to us confirmation of our faith; brought to us
more and more with the greatest impressiveness the truth of that which
we were told, and which, as I have said, was so unlikely to be
fulfilled.

vol. 23, p.116
In the beginning, this work, before it was an organized body, that is
when it was in its embryo, when but a few men had any knowledge
concerning the purposes of God connected with it, excited hatred and
brought forth contention. An obscure young man, without worldly
influence, without advantageous surroundings, declared that God had
again spoken from the heavens and that angels had again descended to
the earth; testified that the Church of Christ was about to be
re-established with its old powers, and that the everlasting Gospel,
the old plan of salvation was to be again restored in its original
purity, and with it the old authority, the everlasting Priesthood, by
means of which men and women could be inducted into the Church of God
by the administration of the old ordinances, and receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost, with its attendant powers and blessings. The mere
declaration of these things by a young man who was thus obscure,
without influence, without the prestige of education or birth,
immediately excited a fever in the neighborhood; an excitement was
aroused, and men began to persecute him; they began to tell lies about
him; they began to bring false charges against him. There was a
restlessness begotten that could not he accounted for upon natural
principles, or upon anything they could see with their natural eyes;
it was entirely unaccountable. His family was calumniated; he was
calumniated and slandered; every act of his life was turned over and
made evil of, and charges of wrongdoing were hurled against him of
which he was entirely innocent, and for which there was not even the
color or semblance of truth.

vol. 23, p.116
On next Wednesday, fifty-one years will have elapsed since the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized. It then consisted
of six members. Not very numerous; you can count them on your fingers.
It might be thought that so insignificant a body of people would
escape attention. Not so,  however. The whole countryside was aroused.
A terrible thing had [p.117] taken place. This Joseph Smith had dared
to organize a Church. He had found some gold plates, had a "golden
Bible." He had been a money digger; and he had done a great many
things, and at last his audacity had culminated in the organization of
a church. As I have said the whole countryside was in a flame.

vol. 23, p.117
"We cannot endure this; it is a disgrace to our city, our country, our
township, to let such a vile fellow as he palm his impositions on the
public. We must put a stop to it."

vol. 23, p.117
The result was, accusations, criminal accusations. Joseph Smith was
brought before officers of the law upon every conceivable complaint.
The papers heralded his disgrace throughout all the neighborhood, as
far as they had circulation, determined to lie him flown. There are
certain fabulous attributes incorrectly ascribed to the creature
called the octopus—or devil-fish. It is said that when it wants to
devour its victims, it ejects an inky substance that fills the whole
water around so that it can the more easily capture its prey. It was
something in this manner that the press and pulpit endeavored to
stifle the truth and to destroy those who testified that they had
received it. The whole country was filled with every kind of slander.
Human imagination was racked to invent stories. They said that Joseph
Smith had tried to establish his divine calling by attempting to walk
upon the water, with cunningly arranged planks placed a short distance
beneath the surface of the water, but that, fortunately, he had been
detected in his imposition. They said he had tried to raise the dead,
and that the man whom he tried to raise nearly died, because the
apparatus which he had arranged for him to get air became accidently
deranged. There was no end of stories told by ignorant people, vile
people, deluded people, wicked people, and even by men who called
themselves ministers of the Gospel. You cannot think of anything that
was not told, that was not sworn to—any number of witnesses could be
obtained to testify to the truth of these falsehoods. At the same time
it was said it would only be a little while until the system of which
he was the head would burst up. "We have only to wait a while and it
will disappear." But it did not disappear.

vol. 23, p.117
The Elders went forth regardless of the slanders, regardless of the
falsehoods, regardless of the calumnies, preaching the word of God,
preaching it in the spirit and power of God. Regardless of all these
things they went—persecuted, derided, their names cast out as evil.
Men considered it almost a disgrace to talk to them; if they received
them into their houses their neighbors looked upon them as though they
were entertaining lepers. "What, have you got a 'Mormon' in your
house? Do you know what these people are?"

vol. 23, p.117
Traveling without purse or scrip, as their predecessors had done in
primitive days of Gospel purity, from town to town. from village to
village, from hamlet to hamlet, bearing all kinds of insults and
persecutions and hardships, they traveled the land, lifting up their
voices everywhere where they had the opportunity, testifying in all
humility that God had again spoken from the heavens; that God had
again restored the truth in its ancient purity and power; that God had
restored the ordinances of the Gospel as they once existed upon the
earth; and declaring unto the inhabitants of the earth [p.118] that
God is a hearer of prayers and that he will answer their petitions
when they call upon him in faith. Thus they went, traveling through
the United States and Canada, and afterwards crossing the ocean to the
Old World, proclaiming there the same truths. A strange thing to be
heard in Great Britain—Great Britain! who had been sending out her
missionaries by thousands to the remotest parts of the earth; who
considered herself as dwelling in the blaze of Gospel truth, and
occupying the foremost rank among civilized and enlightened nations! A
strange tiring for men from the wilds of America to come and preach to
them the truth of heaven, to tell them the contents of their Bible.
Presumptuous as it seemed, the Elders, nevertheless, did this. They
had received the dispensation of the Gospel, and, like Paul, they felt
it would be woe unto them if they did not preach it. And they went
from land to land until every continent, almost every land, has been
visited by them.

vol. 23, p.118
While the missionaries were .thus engaged, the work at home did not
cease. Persecution at home was not arrested. Mobs continued to gather
together as they had done before the Elders crossed the ocean; and it
was not then the cry that "these Mormons were introducing patriarchal
marriage, which we think hurtful to our civilization;" that was not
the charge. In the early days the charges urged against the Saints
when they went out West to the limits of the Republic, were, that they
believed in anointing and in laying hands upon the sick; that they
believed in revelation; that they believed in prophets; that they
listened to the counsels and teachings of those prophets. Was not this
very dangerous? But this was not all. It sounds very queer in these
days to think that one of the gravest charges made against the
Latter-day Saints by the mob that drove them from their homes in
Jackson County was that they were Yankees and abolitionists! Designing
men, seeking for pretexts that would answer the purpose of inflaming
the minds of ignorant people, seized and used this as a good ground
upon which to base designs for expulsion. Missouri was a slave State,
and the Latter-day Saints were in the main New England people; they
who were not were from New York, Pennsylvania and other middle States.
But they were known as Yankees, and, as their enemies asserted,
abolitionists—a suitable people to be pounced upon and driven out.
They were driven out from Jackson County, and finally, to get rid of
them, Lilburn W. Boggs, governor and commander-in-chief of the militia
of the State of Missouri, issued an exterminating order, threatening
the Latter-day Saints with extermination unless they left the State.
There was one alternative left to them if they remained in the
State—apostacy. But Missouri's favor was not so desirable to the
Latter-day Saints as the favor of their God, and they chose to abandon
their homes and they marched out of the State as best they could. Now,
during all these years, and subsequently, when we were being mobbed,
plundered, and driven, the Latter-day Saints had an abiding faith,
based upon the revelations that God had given through brother Joseph
Smith, that the day would come when we should be a great people, when
our virtues would be recognized, when our patriotism would be
vindicated, when our loyalty to truth and to the  principles of virtue
and of good government, of pure [p.119] republicanism would be
established and the work of God with which we are connected become
universal. Brother Joseph had predicted this. The Elders, the Saints,
the people old and young believed it with all their hearts. The hatred
of mobs, the burning of houses, the destruction of property, the
expulsion from homes never weakened their confidence in the truth of
these predictions, and their eventual fulfillment. That feeling had
been implanted there by the Almighty; the Spirit of God had borne
testimony to it in their hearts, and they never doubted it. Hated by a
township, they foresaw the time when they would be hated by a county;
hated by a county, they foresaw the time when they would be hated by a
State; hated by a State, they foresaw the time when they would be
hated by men who constituted a party who, it might be said, were the
representatives of the nation; hated by a nation, they foresaw the
time when they would be hated by other nations, until, as I have said,
their loyalty to truth, to virtue, to good government, to good order
and everything that is pure, holy and God-like, would be vindicated
and established in the eves of all men—by the nations at large, as
well as their fellow-citizens.

vol. 23, p.119
How unlikely a thing to have been when there were but six persons
composing this church! Yet the revelations given previous to that
organization, the word of God as it has come down to us embalmed in
that sacred book which contains the revelations given through the
Prophet Joseph Smith, foretells in plainness just such results as
these that I have alluded to. The spirit of this work, its character,
the results which should follow it were plainly mapped out beforehand
as though all the events connected with it had already taken place and
were written by the pen of the historian, instead of that of the
prophet. The historian can delineate with no greater accuracy (though
he may give more details) when he writes the history of this people
and the results of the labors of the elders of this Church, than it
has been written for half a century.

vol. 23, p.119
The inhabitants of the earth, contrary to their will, and despite
their wishes, are contributing to establish the prophetic calling of
Brother Joseph Smith, and to fulfill the revelations of God given
through him. Hated as he has been; despised as he has been; derided as
he has been, this is the result of their actions. The destiny of this
people has been clearly foretold. Here are men whom I see around me,
whose heads are whitened with years, whose bodies are frail and
trembling, and women, too, who have been connected with this Church
from its earliest days, who know of the truth of what I am stating,
who know that there is nothing that they behold to-day that they did
not behold by the spirit of prophecy and with the eye of faith years
and years ago. And many things that are yet unfulfilled, that yet
remain in the womb of time, to be yet brought, forth. The destiny, as
I have said, of the people, is written in heaven, it is enrolled in
the archives of eternity. God has spoken it; the eternal fiat has gone
forth, and it will never be revoked. We play our part; we figure as
actors in these scenes. By and by others will come; the column of
humanity will march on; the column from the eternal worlds will
continue to descend. Myriads of the just are watching with, I might
say, eagerness, the development of this work [p.120] and they are
doing their part, and unborn myriads are looking forward to the future
of this work, small as it is to-day, insignificant as it is to-day. It
is no enthusiasm or fanaticism that inspires these words; but it is
the plain truth not half told; it is merely to hint of that which will
be. For this is the work of the eternal Jehovah, the work spoken of by
all the holy prophets since the world began; the great work that is to
prepare the earth and its inhabitants for the coming of the Son of
God. Who that reads this sacred book, the Bible, does not know that
Prophets and Apostles, Seers and Revelators—all looked forward to the
time when a great work should be done in the earth? They predicted it,
they dwelt upon it, in inspired strains. Poets, too, who never laid
claim to inspiration, have looked forward to the "golden age," have
dwelt with delightful language and, it may be said, with inspired pen,
upon that great time that should come in the history of our race.

vol. 23, p.120
It is true as I have said, that from the beginning calumny and slander
of every conceivable kind have been circulated concerning this work.
It is so to-day. It goes the rounds of the country, and is believed in
by the great masses of the people. The Latter-day Saints are looked
upon by many as guilty of every conceivable crime. Their true
characters are so befogged by misrepresentation, that strangers almost
come into our borders as though they were about to enter a den of
thieves —that is, strangers who do not know better. Murder, outrage,
robbery, perjury, villany of every kind is attributed to this people.
Why should such a world-wide notoriety be given to a people who number
no more than we? Why should such lengths be gone to in falsifying an
innocent people? It might be thought that we, being so insignificant
numerically, might escape notice; or at least such prominent notice;
it might have been thought in the beginning that Brother Joseph Smith
and his compeers would have escaped notice. It might be thought that
when they were few in numbers and their influence did not extend
beyond a township, that they might have escaped notice. But no, the
world has seemed determined in a way that to the natural eye seems
unaccountable, to uplift this people to importance, to give them a
world-wide reputation, to advertise them throughout the earth. And why
is this? The Latter-day Saints ought to understand it, and many of
them do understand it. You know the powers that are at work—the same
powers that blackened the Son of God, that made him appear so hideous
that men in crucifying him thought they were doing God service—and
were perfectly willing to have all the consequences fall upon them and
their children; the same influence that caused an Isaiah to be sawn
asunder, that caused a Daniel to be thrust into the lion's den, and
that caused the death of nearly all of the prophets, and that produced
the martyrdom of eleven of the Twelve Apostles, according to
tradition; it is that same influence that never rested until every
inspired man was destroyed from the face of the earth, that is still
busy. This Satanic power has kept at work slaying the servants of the
Almighty, including the holiest being that ever trod the earth—the Son
of God.

vol. 23, p.120
Is it not astonishing that the world cannot see these things? Think of
the long list of martyrs, coming  down through the ages from [p.121]
Abel; the best and the holiest men killed by their fellows, not
because they thought them virtuous, not because they thought them
holy, not because they looked upon them as pure; but because they were
considered too dangerous to be suffered to live.

vol. 23, p.121
I wonder when I know that this has been the case that the world cannot
see to-day, that the same spirit is abroad in the earth. It is not
usual for wicked people to kill wicked people, that is, in the way the
prophets and apostles were killed.

vol. 23, p.121
Here is a feeble people in these mountains who have come here fleeing
from persecution, carrying with them when they left their native
States and launched forth into an untrodden and unknown wilderness, a
love for the principles of liberty for which their fathers, many of
them, had fought. Notwithstanding their persecutions and the vile
treatment they had received at the hands of their fellow-citizens,
they did not allow that feeling to dominate in their hearts; but
loving the flag, the stars and stripes; loving the republic; loving
the institutions of freedom, loving the Constitution, loving the laws,
and carrying with them that love into the heart of the wilderness, and
there laying the foundation of a great commonwealth they sought for
admission as a State, and to have in that State every human right
fully guarded and civil and religious liberty secured for people of
every creed, and of no creeds, not seeking for alliance with Mexico,
whose land they occupied, not seeking alliance with Great Britain, who
was their neighbor on the north; not seeking alliance with the wild
races, or endeavoring, or seeking to set up an independent republic,
but their hearts going back fondly to the home of their fathers, to
the land which their fathers had helped to redeem and make free, to
the Constitution upon which the government of the land was founded, to
the flag for which their fathers had fought and bled, they showed to
the world that persecuted as they might be, hated as they might be,
despised as they might be, and driven as they might be, they could not
extinguish within them the love of liberty, the love of true
republicanism. This was the testimony which this people bore to the
inhabitants of the earth: and it might be thought, as I have said,
that the people who had done this, working with unceasing toil to
reclaim the waste places and make them habitable and beautiful and a
fit abode for themselves and their children; sending out missionaries
at untold sacrifice to the nations of the earth to proclaim the Gospel
and gather in the honest from their own land and from the remotest
nations of the earth; doing this for years, until gradually, as we
see, the stately structure of a great commonwealth rises up around us;
law executed; liberty preserved; the utmost freedom extended to every
human being throughout the length and breadth of these mountain
valleys; life and property as secure here as they ever were in any of
the States of the Union; strangers coming in here before the railroad
was built, weary and foot-sore, received with hospitable kindness.
This tabernacle, after it was erected, and before this was erected,
the old tabernacle, and before that was erected, the bowery, opened to
preachers of every denomination, men of every creed united to proclaim
their tenets, to give us their views; women protected throughout this
land with such sacredness that they, old or young, beautiful or
homely, could traverse [p.122] every valley and pass through every
town north and south, night or day, without hearing a word that would
be improper, without ever witnessing  a gesture that would annoy them;
emigrants with their wagons coming in and leaving them in town
unguarded, and not a thing harmed or taken;—I say, it might be
thought, viewing and witnessing these results —the virtue, the
temperance, the good order, the frugality, the industry, the
enterprise, the liberality, the honesty of the people, that somebody
would think and say:

vol. 23, p.122
"What do all these attacks mean? Why is this crusade being waged
against a people of this kind. Surely fifty millions of people with
all the advantages of the age—the press, telegraph wires, pulpit, day
and Sabbath schools, the wonderful improvements that are being brought
out,—everything in fact, in their power, including the wealth of the
world at their command, surely these fifty millions of people should
suffer a few thousands of people in Utah, to dwell in some degree of
peace without constantly urging on the dogs of war against them;
without hounding on every vile fellow in the nation to rob them and to
engage in crusades against them, with the assurance that they will be
justified in doing so."

vol. 23, p.122
But no, this is not to be; it is not thus written; it is not the
destiny of this people. We would never he the people God intends and
designs us to be if we were to be let alone. The warfare must go on;
it, is an unceasing one; the powers are arrayed one against another,
with God on one side and the Adversary on the other. The devil is not
going to relinquish his ground. He has tried falsehood from the
beginning, and tried it successfully in many instances. It has been
said of him that he was a liar from the beginning; and it is certain
he has not lost his old characteristics. He has succeeded by means of
murder many times in the history of our race. He has contrived by this
agency to maintain his foothold in the earth for a long time. He
thinks, like men think who steal things and keep them for a long time,
that he is the owner of the stolen property. The man who jumps another
man's land or claim, the longer he possesses it, the more assured he
becomes that he ought to have it. Satan is imbued with this same idea;
and he has recourse to the old method of warfare—lying; and lies are
being circulated until the ear is tired listening to them. Every
conceivable falsehood! Then he supplements lies with violence, and
even murder has been resorted to. He thinks, if he can kill a man that
puts an end to him; if he can kill a people that destroys them and
their influence. But this time it is another sort of a work. God has
spoken concerning this work; this is the last work that the Prophets
or the Apostles have called the dispensation of the fullness of times.
There was to be a time when Satan should have to recede inch by inch,
step by step. That time has come. The column of the righteous, of the
true is pressing onward; there is an irresistible power behind it. It
will go forward gathering into its ranks the honest and virtuous from
every nation; just as sure as we live this will be the case. It will
gather people from every nation. It seems like a very strange t hind
to say, but on all proper occasions I say it with a great deal of
pleasure, at home and from home, that I have been  taught from early
life that the day would come when republican institutions would be in
danger in this [p.123] nation and upon this continent, when, in fact,
the republic would be so rent asunder by factions that there would be
no stable government outside of the Latter-day Saints; and that it is
their destiny as a people, to uphold constitutional government upon
this land. Now, a great many people think this is a chimera of the
brain; they think it folly to indulge in such an idea; but the day
will some nevertheless. There are those in this congregation who will
witness the time that the maintenance of true constitutional
government upon this continent will be dependent upon this people,
when it will have to be upheld by us.

vol. 23, p.123
We are battling all the time for human rights. We did so in the States
before we were driven out; we have done so throughout these mountains,
and are doing so to-day, contending for our rights. Even before the
great tribunal of our nation, Congress, the contest is going on; for
attempts are constantly being made to wrest from us our liberties, as
citizens; and we are standing our ground as best we can, pleading for
our rights, pleading for liberty of conscience, pleading for that
freedom which belongs to the country, which God has guaranteed through
the Constitution; not for ourselves alone, but for every creed, for
every member of the human family. We do not want liberty for ourselves
alone; we desire every man to have it: liberty for Ingersoll, and all
who believe as he does; liberty for the followers of Mohammed and all
who believe in the Koran; liberty for Beecher and for those of his way
of thinking; and even Talmage who has talked so badly about us, we
would have him enjoy liberty; yes, and permit him to say what he
pleases about us, to take what view he pleases of our belief and
practices, and to tell everybody what he thinks about them. We would
give him the utmost liberty to do this, and every other man, to say
what they please about us or about anybody else, as long as they do
not interfere with the rights and the liberties of the people against
whom they are opposed, protesting always, however, that men in
criticising others, should confine themselves strictly to the truth,
or he held responsible to the laws for slanders and falsehood. All
sects and all people should have this liberty, that is, liberty of
conscience, liberty of speech and liberty of the press, as long as it
does not degenerate into license, and interfere with the rights of
others. We claim this for ourselves; we contend for it, and we shall
contend for it, until it is gained.

vol. 23, p.123
Now, my brethren and sisters, I forgot that it is Sunday; I do not
know, however, but what this is as good Gospel as I can declare; it is
the Gospel of humanity; it is the Gospel of truth. And I hope that you
will ever be true to these principles. It makes no difference really
whether you will or not, so far as this great work is concerned; but
it is a glorious reflection to know that we, are striving to
accomplish these ends.

vol. 23, p.123
When I look at the wonderful deliverance that has been wrought out for
us, it is a subject of amazement to me. Still our enemies continue to
plot and get up machinations. It is all right, let them have their
agency, let them do as they please; it ought not to disturb us or
cause us a moment's uneasiness. Let them do as they please as long as
they keep hands off.

vol. 23, p.123
I pray God to bless you and fill you with His Holy Spirit, and to
bless His servants who may address us during this Conference, in the
name of Jesus. Amen. [p.124]

Wilford Woodruff, May 14, 1882

Delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday, May 14, 
1882.

Liberty of Conscience—Man Accountable to God—The Fall of 
Adam and Eve Preordained—Redemption and Resurrection—
The Gospel in Ancient and in Modern Times—Fulfillment 
of Prophecy—A Falsehood Refuted—Patriarchal Marriage
 —Its Purity and Its Eternal Purpose.

(Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs)

vol. 23, p.124
I feel disposed to read a chapter  in the Bible; the chapter that I
shall read contains, perhaps, a stronger chain of truth concerning
life and death, the fall and redemption of man, the redemption and
resurrection of the dead, than any other I know of in the Bible.

vol. 23, p.124
The speaker then read the 15th chapter of 1st Corinthians, and said:

vol. 23, p.124
Before proceeding to make any remarks upon this chapter, I wish to say
that there is no person who knows, before entering this building, who
is going to address the assembly, and, therefore, we have no prepared
sermons to deliver, it may be a miller, or it may be a mason, it may
be a carpenter, or it may be a farmer, a lawyer, a merchant, or
otherwise; this practice is peculiar to the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, and the tendency is to make the speaker, whoever he
may be, depend upon the spirit of inspiration to guide his thoughts
and dictate his remarks. And, as a general thing if God, through this
means, gives us nothing to say, we mean say nothing to instruct the
people.

vol. 23, p.124
I have often expressed my views with regard to the position we occupy
before heaven and earth, before God, angels and men, and the views of
Jesus and His Apostles and Elders, as they have come down to us, give
a key to what I wish to say upon this subject. If there is an Emperor,
a King, a President, a ruler of any nation or people, whether a
monarchy, kingdom or republic—that takes away from any of his subjects
or fellow-citizens the right to worship God according to the dictates
of their own consciences, he deprives them of a right which the God of
heaven has guaranteed unto them. These are the sentiments of the
Latter-day Saints. We believe in giving to all men freedom, freedom in
spirit and action; we believe in religionists of every creed and faith
enjoying the liberty to worship God according to the dictates of their
own consciences, which right is guaranteed unto them by God himself;
and the man or set of men that would deprive their fellows of this
God-given right, assume a responsibility that they must answer for
before the bar of God.  If I had the power and [p.125] control of the
whole world I would never think of depriving any man, woman or child
of this natural, this inherent right, whether their religious views
were true or false. Can you find from history that God at any time
forced any man to heaven or hell? No, you can not. And we as
Latter-day Saints claim this right and privilege for ourselves to
worship God, to believe in God, and to believe in the records of
divine truth—the Bible. the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants
and the Revelations of God.

vol. 23, p.125
A public speaker, a teacher of the people is held responsible before
God and his fellowmen for the doctrine he teaches; if he teaches any
other gospel that that laid down in the Bible and taught by the
ancient Prophets and Apostles he is under condemnation, no matter who
he may be. Paul realized this fact so keenly that he, in speaking
about it on one occasion, said: "Though we or an angel from heaven,
preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto
you, let him be accursed;" and he repeats this sentiment two or three
times over.

vol. 23, p.125
I wish to say a few words on one of the verses I have read, the 22nd:
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."
The world, more or less, has found a great deal of fault with Mother
Eve and with Father Adam, because of the fall of man; what I have to
say with regard to it, I express as my own opinion. Adam and Eve came
to this world to perform exactly the part that they acted in the
garden of Eden; and I will say, they were ordained of God to do what
they did, and it was therefore expected that they would eat of the
forbidden fruit in order that man might know both good and evil by
passing through this school of experience which this life affords us.
That is all I want to say about Father Adam and Mother Eve. Adam fell
that man might he, and men are that they might have joy; and some have
found fault with that. It has been said that God commanded Adam to
multiply and replenish the earth; and it has been said that Adam was
not under the necessity of falling in order to multiply and replenish
the earth, but you will understand that the woman was deceived and not
the man; and according to the justice of God she would have been east
out into the lowly and dreary world alone, and thus the first great
command could not have been complied with unless Adam had partaken of
the forbidden fruit. We acknowledge that through Adam all have died,
that death through the fall must pass upon the whole human family,
also upon the beasts of the field, the fishes of the sea and the fowl
of the air and all the works of God, as far as this earth is
concerned. It is a law that is unchangeable and irrevocable. It is
true a few have been translated, and there will be living upon the
earth thousands and millions of people when the Messiah comes in power
and great glory to reward every man according to the deeds done in the
body, who will be changed in the twinkling of an eye, from mortality
to immortality. Nevertheless they must pass through the ordeal of
death involved in the change that will come upon them. The Savior
himself tasted of death; He died to redeem the world; His body was
laid in the tomb, but it did not see corruption; and after three days
it arose from the grave and put on immortality. He was the first fruit
of the resurrection. There was no prophet, no saint or [p.126] sinner,
from the days of Father Adam to the days of Jesus that ever rose from
the dead through the keys and power of the resurrection. Although we
read of some who were restored to life, but this was not what is
termed the resurrection.

vol. 23, p.126
With regard to redemption, Paul said: All the children of Adam are
redeemed from the fall by the stoning blood of Jesus, and all infants
.are redeemed as well as other people. There is no infant or child
that has died before arriving at the years of accountability, but what
is redeemed, and is therefore entirely beyond the torments of hell, to
use a sectarian term. And any doctrine, such as the sprinkling of
infants or any religious rite for little children is of no effect
whatever neither in this world nor in the world to come. It is a
man-made doctrine, and therefore not ordained of God; and I will defy
any man to find in any of the records of divine truth any ordinance
instituted for the salvation of little innocent children; it would be
unnecessary on the face of it, and the only thing that can be found is
where Jesus took the little ones in his arms and blessed them, which
is and would be perfectly right to do according to the order of God.
But the sprinkling of infants or the doctrine that infants go to hell
under any circumstances, is a doctrine ordained of man and not of God,
and is therefore of no avail and entirely wrong and displeasing in the
sight of God. So much about the infants. I will say again they are
redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and when they die, whether of
Christian, Pagan or Jewish parentage, their spirits are taken home to
God who gave them, and never go to suffer torments of any kind.

vol. 23, p.126
Another subject I wish to say a few words upon: "In Christ all are
made alive." Since the day that sin entered into the world men have
been held accountable for their own acts, and it has been known upon
this earth from the day, at least, that Cain slew his brother Abel.
And sin has presented itself in different grades; there axe murder,
blasphemy, lying, stealing, whoredom, and abominations of many
different forms, which have followed man from generation to
generation. For there was a power that dwelt upon the earth in the
form of thousands and millions of fallen spirits, one-third of the
hosts of heaven, which had been cast out of heaven with the devil in
the great rebellion, who remain in that condition and who do not
possess tabernacles, and they make war upon the Saints of God,
wherever or whenever they are found upon the earth, and upon all men;
they seek to destroy the whole human family, and have done so from the
beginning until the present day, and they have not ceased their
labors, nor do they intend to while Satan remains unbound. All the
children of men who arrive at the years of accountability are guilty
of sin, all being inclined to do evil as the sparks are to fly
upwards. "What shall we do to be saved" was the cry of the people who
heard the preaching of Peter on the day of Pentecost, and the same may
be said to be applicable to all men in every generation. The answer
would be, obey the law of the Gospel. This is the safe means given for
the salvation of the human family. The law of God, the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, which Gospel contains the laws of God; it contains the
ordinances, it contains the commandments, and any man that breaks them
is guilty before God. And I will here say, as I wish to be understood
by all men, that [p.127] our faith is, there never has been but one
Gospel upon the earth, though to-day there are six hundred three score
and six different; religious faiths, all more or less diverse one from
another; but there is but the one true and everlasting Gospel, and
never will be any more, and it is the same Gospel that was taught to
Adam, to Noah, to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the Patriarchs, and which
Jesus and the Apostles preached; it never did vary in the least in one
single instance, nor never will. And I say, if we teach any other
Gospel than that which was taught by Jesus and His Apostles, we teach
a false Gospel and shall be under condemnation before God, angels and
men.

vol. 23, p.127
What is the Gospel as taught by Jesus himself? The very first
principle was faith in the Messiah; this was the first principle ever
taught to man. When Adam, after being driven from the garden of Eden,
went to Adam-ondi-Ahman to offer sacrifice, the angel of the Lord
asked him why he did so. Adam replied that he did not know, but the
Lord had commanded him to do it. He was then told that the blood of
bulls and goats, of rams and lambs should be spilt upon the altar as a
type of the great and last sacrifice which should be offered up for
the sins of the world. The first principle, then, ever taught to
Father Adam was faith in the Messiah, who was to come in the meridian
of time to lay down his life for the redemption of man. The second
principle was repentance. And what is repentance? The forsaking of
sin. The man who repents, if he be a swearer, swears no more; or a
thief, steals no more; he turns away from all former sins and commits
them no more. It is not repentance to say, I repent to-day, and then
steal to-morrow; that is the repentance of the world, which is
displeasing in the sight of God. Repentance is the second principle.

vol. 23, p.127
I have heard many men say, no ordinances are necessary, that belief
only in the Lord Jesus Christ is necessary to be saved. I have not
learned that myself from any revelation of God to man, either ancient
or modern. But on the contrary, faith in Christ, repentance, and
baptism for the remission of sins were taught by patriarchs and
prophets and by Jesus Christ and His Apostles. Baptism for the
remission of sins is an ordinance of the Gospel Says one, baptism is
not essential to salvation. Jesus not only taught it but rendered
obedience himself to that requirement, not that He was baptized for
the remission of sins—but, as He said, "to fulfill all righteousness,"
thus in this, as in all other respects giving the example far all who
follow. When these principles of the Gospel are complied with a man is
then a fit subject to receive the Holy Ghost; and this holy gift is
bestowed to-day as it was anciently, by the laying on of hands by men
possessing the authority to administer in the ordinances of the
Gospel. These are the first principles of the Gospel which we
Latter-day Saints believe in and teach to our fellow-men.

vol. 23, p.127
Joseph Smith received the ministration of Angels, and he by revelation
organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he was
taught by those who ministered unto him what to teach to the people,
which was the everlasting Gospel.

vol. 23, p.127
Again, men received the Holy Ghost through the imposition of hands,
after being baptized for the remission of sins. The Holy Ghost was
imparted in that way, according [p.128] to the promise of those who
preached the Gospel. Joseph Smith when he organized this Church in
1830, organized it by revelation; and while we had hundreds of
churches and systems and religions, not a single denomination upon the
earth at that time preached the Gospel as taught by the ancient
prophets and apostles, or had a church organized on the earth, with
Prophets and Apostles, or with signs following the believers as in
ancient days. Can you tell of one? I never heard of one until I heard
the Elders of this Church preach the Gospel and set forth the order of
God. When God commanded Joseph Smith to go forth and organize the
Church, what authority had he to do so? None at all until he was
ordained under the hands of those who had held the keys of the
Priesthood upon the earth. And I will say to this assembly in the days
of Jesus Christ, he taught these principles to the Jews; he brought
the Gospel to the Jews, and established his kingdom among them, and it
came with all its gifts, graces and powers: the sick were healed;
devils were cast out; the gifts were manifested among them. But the
Jews rejected him, and they finally put him to death,—He and His
Apostles. He came to His own Father's house but He was not received;
and then, according to command, this Gospel went to the Gentiles—we
are all Gentiles in a national capacity, we are not Jews, the Jews are
another class of men; they put the Savior to death, and have suffered
for 1800 years in consequence,—they have been trodden under the feet
of the Gentiles even until the present day. Those that took part in
that deed and those who sanctioned it, said, Let His blood be upon us
and our children after us. The Gentile Judge was willing to release
Him because he could find no fault in Him; but the feeling and
sentiment of the Jews was, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" What infidel is
there, no matter who he is, who does not believe in God, let him read
the revelations of heaven and see the fulfillment of prophecy from the
beginning of Genesis to our day, and he will see them fulfilled to the
very letter. There is nothing that has been predicted by Jesus or the
Apostles, but what has already been fulfilled to the very letter as
far as time will admit, and what has not will be. When, I say, the
Gospel was preached to the Gentiles, it went to them in all its power,
its beauty and glory, Priesthood and ordinances as it was offered to
the Jews. And Paul, in writing to the Romans, told them not to be
highminded, but to fear; for if God spared not the natural branches,
who were the Jews, because of their unbelief, how could he be more
merciful to the unnatural branches, who were the Gentiles? Has there
been the true Church of Christ upon the earth since the Apostles were
slain? Can you find a Church upon the earth organized as it was in
that day? No, not one. The Gentiles followed the example, of the Jews
in their unbelief, and in putting to death those who bore the holy
Priesthood; and instead of the Church of Christ has sprung up every
kind of Church during the last 1,800 years. But in these the last
days, God has again restored the everlasting Gospel; and any man who
believes the Bible. must believe the fulfillment of revelation, and he
cannot believe in the fulfillment of prophecy without believing that
God would send again to the earth  angels to deliver that Gospel. And
why send an angel [p.129] for this purpose? Because the Gospel was
taken from the earth in consequence of the unbelief of the Gentiles,
and the powerful opposition that was brought against the comparative
few who represented it. And in fulfillment of the revelation of St.
John, John the Baptist came to Joseph Smith and conferred upon him,
after a period of preparation on his part, the Aaronic Priesthood,
which authorized him to preach and to baptize for the remission of
sins, and to administer the sacrament, but not to lay on hands for the
reception of the Holy Ghost. In due time, however, Peter, James and
John appeared to him also and conferred upon him the Melchisedek order
of Priesthood and Apostleship, which gave him the power to organize
the kingdom of God upon the earth. These are truths whether the world
believes them or not. It makes no difference; it is the work of
Almighty God, and he is the originator of it. How is it with the
Elders of Israel? God has called men from the plow, the hammer and
anvil, from the carpenter's bench, etc., unlearned and weak mortals,
and they have been sent out to the world to bear record of this new
and everlasting Gospel restored in our day. And what have they said to
the Methodists, the Baptists, and all other religionists and classes
of men. God Almighty has given unto me a dispensation of the Gospel
and I offer it to you; he that believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
that I am his servant having His Gospel message to declare to all
those to whom I am sent, and repents and is baptized for the remission
of his sins, shall receive the Holy Ghost. This has been the purport
of the message we have borne to men and nations for the last fifty
years. And now if God has nothing to do with this, how is it that we
have been able to gather together thousands and tens of thousands from
about all nations under heaven by the simple proclamation of the
Gospel-message? How long would it be before Joseph Smith or any other
man who would go forth bearing the message that we do, and making the
promises that we make, would be found out to be an imposter unless the
promises he made were genuine and looked upon in such a way as to give
entire satisfaction to those who hearkened to his word? The whole
secret of our success as far as making converts is concerned is, that
we preach the same Gospel in all its simplicity and plainness that
Jesus preached, and that the Holy Ghost rests upon those who receive
it, filling their hearts with joy and gladness unspeakable, and making
them as one; and they then know of the doctrine for themselves whether
it be of God or man. And this Gospel of Christ which we offer is what
has led this Church from its first organization until to-day. And, as
I have often said, had it not been for the Gospel revealed to us, we
might have labored until we were as old as Methusaleh, and Utah to-day
would have been as barren as it was in 1847, when we first came to
these valleys. At that time we found a barren desert, yes, as barren
as the desert of Sahara, with no mark of the Anglo-Saxon race. But
travel through Utah to-day, and we find houses and cities, gardens and
orchards, meeting-houses and tabernacles and school-houses and
dwellings, with the blessing of God attending the labors of the
people; and a community of people from almost every nation taken from
the various sects and parties, and they are here through the
inspiration of [p.130] Almighty-God, and I know it. We have not had
power of ourselves to influence any man or woman with regard to these
things. They have been influenced by the testimony of Jesus Christ,
and by the Gospel of the Son of God. These are principles by which all
men are saved. All men are saved by and through the blood of Jesus
Christ, through obedience to the Gospel.

vol. 23, p.130
I realize our condition and the position occupied by this generation.
I know we are looked upon as a bad people, and we are considered a
very ignorant people. There never were more epithets heaped upon Jesus
Christ and the Apostles than upon the Latter-day Saints. Why is this?
Are we so much worse than the world? No, we are not. What then is the
matter? The Lord Almighty has set His hand to gather His people, and
to build up his Zion and to establish his Church in these the last
days; and the world do not like the doctrine we teach, as it lays the
axe at the root of the tree, and consequently we have been persecuted
from the time that this Church was organized until today; and the
persecution will continue more or less until He reigns whose right it
is to reign, until the Lord Jesus Christ comes in the clouds of heaven
to reward every man according to the deeds done in the body. 

vol. 23, p.130
Now I want to say to the Latter-day Saints, we are called to a certain
work, and we have been called of God, and we as Elders, have gone
forth whithersoever we were sent, taking our lives in our hands,
traveling hundreds and thousands of miles without purse or scrip. I
have waded swamps and swum rivers, and have asked my bread from door
to door; and have devoted nearly fifty years to this work. And why was
there gold enough in California to have hired me to do it? No, verily;
and what I have done and what my brethren have done, we have done
because we were commanded of God. And this is the position we occupy
to-day. We have preached and labored at home and abroad, and we intend
to continue our labors, by the help of God, as long as we can have
liberty to do it, and until the Gentiles prove themselves unworthy of
eternal life, and until the judgments of God overtake the world, which
are at the door. Does this generation know what awaits them? Does our
own nation? No, the world is ignorant of what must, sooner or later,
befall them.

vol. 23, p.130
Here is the Christian world professing to believe the Bible, can you
show me wherein any of the predictions of the prophets, whether those
of Jonah to the city of Nineveh, or those of Isaiah to Israel, or to
Tyre and Sidon and other ancient cities and peoples, have fallen
unfulfilled? No, there is no man can point to a single prophecy of the
servants of God that has failed in its fulfillment. Does not the
Christian world know that the Bible is full of revelation pointing to
this day and age of the world? Let them read the revelations of St.
John given him while upon the Isle of Patmos and they will know what
judgments await this generation before the coming of the Son of Man.
There is a work for somebody to perform. But when we undertake to
declare in all seriousness that God has anything to do with the work
in which we are engaged they will laugh you in the face, and the
reason is, they have departed from God and are entirely unable to
comprehend his ways or his purposes; and instead of believing the
plain and literal  meaning of the word of God, they spiritualize it to
suit themselves. Daniel was [p.131] prepared to enter the den of
lions; the three Hebrew children were not afraid of the fate that
awaited them; the Apostles were valiant for the truth and shrank not
from death for its sake, and why could those men and others under
similar circumstances stand by their convictions without flinching?
Because, in the first place, they had the truth and they knew it for
themselves; and in the second place, the Holy Ghost, the Comforter,
sustained them as that power alone can in all the trying scenes
through which the people of God are called to pass. And this is so
to-day. What the Latter-day Saints have done by way of preaching the
Gospel under all kinds of difficulties, building up cities and
subduing waste lands, and establishing themselves in the earth, they
have done by the revelations and commandments of God to them.

vol. 23, p.131
I will say a few words concerning a certain principle, and why I say
it is because we cannot help looking at the signs of the times as they
appear to-day. I was reading in the news last evening a speech
reported to have been made by Joseph Smith, son of the Prophet Joseph
Smith, in which he accuses us of pursuing an entirely different course
from that of his father; that his father had nothing to do with the
endowments which form a part of our religious faith; and that his
father had nothing to do with the patriarchal order of marriage; and
he accuses our bishops of polluting the women of their several wards
so that they are not fit for wives. This last accusation is so
palpably false and so utterly mendacious as to be entirely unworthy of
our notice, and I believe I ought to apologise to this congregation
for referring to it at all. But it shows how weak must be the hope and
faith of men who pretend to be teachers among the people when they
descend to traduce the character of innocent men by wilfully lying in
the hope of bolstering up and establishing their own peculiar cause.
And with regard to the others: I wish to say, that Joseph Smith utters
falsehoods when he says what he is reported to have said about his
father: for I bear record to this congregation, and I ask our young
people to bear it in mind after I am gone, that Joseph Smith first
made known to me the very ordinances which we give to the Latter-day
Saints in our endowments. I received my endowments under the direction
of Joseph Smith. Emma Smith, the widow of the Prophet, is said to have
maintained to her dying moments that her husband had nothing to do
with the patriarchal order of marriage, but that it was Brigham Young
that got that up. I bear record before God, angels and men that Joseph
Smith received that revelation; and I bear record that Emma Smith gave
her husband in marriage several women while he was living, some of
whom are to-day living in this city, and some may be present in this
congregation, and who, if called upon, would confirm my words. But lo
and behold, we hear of publication after publication now-a-days,
declaring that Joseph Smith had nothing to do with these things.
Joseph Smith himself organized every endowment in our Church and
revealed the same to the Church, and he lived to receive every key of
the Aaronic and Melchisedec priesthoods from the hands of the men who
held them while in the flesh, and who hold them in eternity.

vol. 23, p.131
I feel to say to the Latter-day Saints everywhere, brethren and
sisters, do good and you will reap good; what you sow you will also
[p.132] reap. What our nation sows that it will also reap, and what it
measures to others will be meted back to it heaped up, pressed down
and running over. I have peculiar feelings in reflecting upon the
condition of our own nation. Here are the Methodists and Presbyterians
and others all combining to use their influence religiously and
politically to put down "Mormonism," which they say is an abomination
in the land, and a great stain upon our nation's escutcheon. "O, my
God," I feel to say, "I would our nation could see and understand
things as they really are." I want to ask a question. When the sixth
angel sounds his trump revealing the secret acts of men to an
assembled world, which will include us, what will be the feelings of
the present generation and the rulers and leading men and women of our
nation as well as those of other nations, and the leaders of the
Christian world when that angel declares unto all those who have
condemned and cried against the Latter-day Saints, especially those
who have taken a leading part, saying, "You yourselves are defiled
with women, and your own acts which are recorded on high will rise in
judgment against you. I say to this nation, and especially to those
who are actively engaged in bringing about a crusade against us under
the cloak of religion, "Sin lies at your own doors, and what you
measure unto us will, according to the eternal law of retribution, be
meted back to you, and you cannot escape it." We declare to all men
that the God of heaven commanded Joseph Smith to introduce and
practice the patriarchal order of marriage, including the plurality of
wives. And why? Because it was the law given to Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob for certain purposes; that holy men might have their wives and
children with them in the morning of the first resurrection in their
family organization to inherit kingdoms, thrones, principalities and
powers in the presence of God throughout the endless ages of eternity.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Latter-day Saints are not the people you
think they are; they are not guilty of the crimes and wickedness they
are accused of, but on the contrary, they are as a people, free from
the sins and abominations of this generation. We are represented as
being a community of adulterers, and as being murderers. We are no
more guilty of such crimes than were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. What
God has revealed unto us, and that which we know ourselves to be right
and true, we cherish and revere; and the covenants that we have
entered into in consequence of the revelations of God to us, we hold
sacred. Our wives and children we love and respect, and we could no
more deny them their claims upon us as husbands and fathers, than we
could deny our God.

vol. 23, p.132
Another thing, there is no man that has ever lived who can claim a
wife or child in the resurrection unless he and she were married and
sealed by divine authority by a man delegated of heaven to perform the
ordinance of marriage. All contracts not ordained of God entered into
by men, end with this life, and are therefore without binding effect
in the world to come. And herein is the difference of the position of
the Latter-day Saints and of the Christian world with respect to the
married state. The nature of our marriage covenant is sacred and
binding both for time and eternity, and I would just as soon think of
denying my  God as to sever the relationship existing between me and
[p.133] my wives and children. Our plural wives and our children are
just as dear to us as the one wife and the children of the Gentiles
are to them; and what is more, we have married our wives by command of
God, and by authority of His Holy Priesthood, which has been restored
again to earth; and if we prove faithful and true to Him and to one
another, we shall claim our wives and children in the world to come.
Amen.

George Q. Cannon, November 14, 1880

Delivered at the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City, Sunday After-
noon, November 14, 1880.

How the Gospel is Preached By the Elders—Value of the 
Training They Receive—Historical Compilation of Experiences 
of the Elders Would Be Interesting—Prospects of the 
Rising Generation—Faith of the Ancients 
Restored—Fulfillment of the Destiny of the 
Church Cannot Be Hindered—The Saints Purified By Trial

(Reported by John Irvine)

vol. 23, p.133
It is exceedingly pleasing to me—and I have no doubt it is to all the
Latter-day Saints—to hear the testimony of the servants of God who
have gone forth as missionaries to the nations of the earth, and have
returned bearing a faithful testimony concerning the work of God, and
giving their experience in declaring the word unto the people.

vol. 23, p.133
The labors of the Elders of this Church are, in some respects, the
most extraordinary of all the labors of the children of men with which
I am acquainted. The preaching of what is called the Gospel is not
uncommon. There are thousands upon thousands of men who profess to be
ministers of life and salvation, and to be servants of the Lord Jesus
Christ, who devote their lives to the proclamation of those principles
which they esteem necessary to salvation. But it is not a common thing
for men to go forth, putting their trust in God and relying upon him
for that sustenance which is necessary to enable them to live and to
perform their missions. We have missionaries of various denominations
who have come here, as they say, to enlighten us, to dissipate our
errors, to put us on the right path and to point out to us a [p.134]
better plan of salvation than that which we possess. But they come
here because they are paid to come. They make their living by coming.
It is a profession like that of the physician or surgeon, who comes
here to administer to our physical ailments. In this respect the
Elders of this Church differ from all others. They go out without
purse and scrip, relying upon the Lord, putting their trust in him,
devoting their time, their energies, and the ability that God has
given unto them for the purpose of enlightening their fellow-men
concerning that which they know to be the truth. I do not know any
greater evidence than this that men could give to their fellow-men of
their sincerity. And when men go forth in this way they are very
likely to live so that the spirit of the mighty God of Jacob will be
with them, they are likely to feel after it, to seek in faith to
obtain God's blessing. When a man is hungry, when he is without money,
when he has no friends, he is very apt to feel after some Being that
has power; if he has any faith in God he is very apt to exercise it,
and by the constant exercise of that faith, if he did not know before
he went upon his mission that God lives, that God is near, that he
hears and answers prayer, he would be very likely to learn these
things before a great while, and so become strengthened in his faith
so that he would ask, believing when he did ask that he would receive
the very thing that he desired. God in his mercy has commanded his
people to take this course. He has commanded his Elders to go forth
and preach his Gospel, not for a salary, not for hire, not for the
sake of enjoying pleasant times and the favor of mankind, but that
they may be the means in his hands of saving the world and of bearing
such a testimony to the world concerning this Gospel, that it will be
left without excuse, at the same time promising his servants that he
would raise up friends to them that they should have their needs
supplied. It is one of the most remarkable things connected with this
Church, that from the day it was founded until the present time no man
has gone forth called of God to proclaim the Gospel in faith, but he
has returned bearing testimony that God has opened his way, that God
has fed him, that God has clothed him, that God has put it into the
hearts of people to assist him, that he has traveled by sea, traveled
by land, traveled amongst strangers in lands where strange languages
were spoken—yet at no time has he ever lacked for food, raiment, or
any of those things which were necessary to enable him to accomplish
the mission upon which he had been sent.

vol. 23, p.134
As a people, brethren and sisters, we do not appreciate the value of
this training. I am satisfied that we ourselves scarcely comprehend
the blessing there is in such educational conditions. In an age of
almost universal skepticism it is of the utmost value to us as a
people that we should receive the training that our Elders get when
they go abroad among the nations of the earth preaching the Gospel.
Without it we should lack opportunities of testing the Lord, of being
tested ourselves in regard to our faith, of proving to our own
satisfaction that God lives, and that God hears and answers prayer,
and that he does interpose in behalf of the humble, the weak and the
insignificant when they approach him in faith in the name of  Jesus
and ask for this interposition. A perusal of the [p.135] journals of
the Elders of this Church who have kept daily record of that which
they have endured and witnessed, and the various incidents of their
missions would be as interesting as the acts of the Apostles in the
New Testament; for God has manifested Himself in the most
extraordinary manner in their behalf. Many of this people, before they
heard of the organization of the Church, read the acts and teachings
of the Apostles and of the Savior, and also Paul's Epistles, and their
souls yearned for a day of such power upon the earth. Many who are
here to-day, many thousands throughout this Territory, who are now
connected with this Church, have wished that they could have lived at
a time when these acts were being performed, when such men as are
described in the New Testament had an existence upon the earth. But
the history of the Elders of this Church—the miracles and
manifestations of God's power which they have witnessed and been the
instruments in performing—would make a book far larger than any record
we have handed down to us.

vol. 23, p.135
To-day, the existence of God may be said to be only known by personal
experience, to comparatively few people. Thousands throughout
Christendom think they know, because of their traditions, that God
lives and that Jesus is the Son of God. Their fathers, their mothers,
their priests, their school teachers, have indoctrinated them with the
idea that there is such a Being as God, and that Jesus his Son is the
Savior and redeemer of the world, and they fancy they know and
understand these things. But how many are there who can testify, by
personal experience that they know that God lives? How many can say
that they have asked for and received, through imploring in the name
of Jesus, the very blessings that they desired and needed?
Comparatively few people out of the masses that live upon the earth.
Hence it is that God has removed himself far from them, and they say
there is no use in calling upon God, there is no use in inculcating a
belief that he will hear and answer prayer, that he will interpose in
behalf of individuals, or that he will suspend—to use another phrase
—great natural laws to accomplish certain results. Yet God does not
suspend natural laws when he interposes in behalf of his people. We
are told in the New Testament that Jesus ascended in the sight of
certain individuals into heaven. The law of gravitation apparently may
be said to have been suspended, or the law which confines bodies to
the earth—the law by which we are governed; but the Savior understood
a higher law; he understood laws by which he could accomplish this,
and at the same time not interfere with the general law that governs
human bodies, and so in all these matters God can interpose his power;
he can hear and answer the prayers of those who are humble and seek
unto him. He can give unto them the desires of their hearts in a way
that is his own; He can operate by unseen influences upon men's minds,
and lead them to to certain things that will result in the fulfillment
of the desires of others, concerning which they have offered their
prayers unto the Lord. In this respect the Latter-day Saints occupy,
so far as I know a unique position.

vol. 23, p.135
Brother Nicholson remarked that he could see among the young men who
had gone forth to preach of late years, a wonderful zeal, and growth
in faith. This will be more [p.136] and more the case. The agencies
that are now at work in our midst, our Sunday Schools the scholars of
which number upwards of thirty thousand—our Young Men's and Young
Women's Associations—the members of which are numbered by
thousands—are doing a vast amount of good. The young are being trained
in the reading of the Scriptures. And who can read the Scriptures
without believing that God is, and that he hears and answers prayers?
What is there in the Bible to lead a reader to believe that faith
shall not be exercised to-day as much as at any time in the world's
history, or that revelation from God shall not be enjoyed to-day as
much as 1800 years ago? He who reads the Bible and believes in the
equality of man, believes in the justice of God, and his unchangeable
character, that he is the snare yesterday, to-day, and forever, will
have faith spring up in his heart concerning the possibility of having
knowledge from God, and of God's speaking, of sending his messages to
the earth to-day as well as he did in ancient days. I do not believe
that a child can be found who, if the New Testament be given to him or
to her, and he or she read it without the bias which comes from the
interposition of friends and the comments of teachers, will not have
faith in God, and will not desire to know why it is that God does not
work miracles in these days, and why God's power is not manifested now
as it was in ancient days. These inquiries will naturally spring up in
their hearts, and their desire to share in these blessings will be as
natural to them as any other thoughts would be. Certainly, they will
have no idea unless they are taught it, that these gifts and blessings
are no longer to be enjoyed by men upon the earth. It is false
teaching that generates such ideas in the mind of the children of men,
not the Bible itself, not the New Testament, not anything that is
written within either of those books, but they are ideas that come
from outside of the Bible. But it is said if these things have not
ceased, if it was not the will of God that they should cease, why is
it that we do not have these manifestations now as they had in ancient
days? Why is it that God does not speak now? Why is it that angels do
not minister unto men now? Why is it that the Holy Ghost is not poured
out now? Why are there no persons possessing the gift of healing, and
other manifestations of the power of God? Why is it that Christendom
has been for ages without these blessings and gifts in their midst?

vol. 23, p.136
These are very reasonable inquiries, and the answer to them is to be
found in the history of the Church, in this fact: that mankind would
not permit a servant of Jesus to live in their midst who did such
things, from the days of himself and his apostles down to the days of
the restoration of the Gospel in its purity to the earth. Inspired men
have not been permitted to live in their midst. Even men who professed
to have a little light, who did not profess to have received
revelation, but who claimed that it was their privilege to seek unto
God and to find him and obtain knowledge from him, to a certain
extent, were persecuted unto death. Read the history of the various
reformed churches from the days of the Apostles down until the present
time, or to within fifty years, and you will find that this has always
been the result. Mankind have  been determined that a reformed
religion, and [p.137] certainly revelation from God, should not be
introduced in their midst. They would not have it. We have seen it in
our own age, in this enlightened nation, occupying the foremost rank
of all the nations of the earth, prominent for liberty, and for the
freedom of its government, laws and institutions.

vol. 23, p.137
Joseph Smith, the Prophet of God, did not arrogate to himself any
superiority over his fellows, but he said that every man might be a
prophet of God, might have the testimony of Jesus Christ, if he would
live for it. He did not go among the people and say, "I have been
chosen and elected to be something superior to all the rest of you; I
have received blessings which no other man can receive." This was not
his doctrine nor his teaching, but he said that every man that would
obey the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and have the ordinances
administered to him by one having  authority, should receive the Holy
Ghost, and that would make hint a prophet, it would fill him with the
Spirit of God, which is the spirit of prophecy; and because he
declared this, because he declared the equality of man before God,
because he contended that the souls of men in the nineteenth century
were as precious in the sight of God as they were in the first century
of the Christian Era, or at any time anterior to that era; because he
declared that God was the same in these days as he was in ancient
days; because he declared that God was not a God who made distinction
among his creatures; that he did not manifest light to one generation
and refuse it to another who were equally faithful in seeking for
it—because he declared these doctrines in this nation and in this age
his life was sacrificed. Our existence today in these mountains, the
existence of Utah as a Territory in its present form, is due to
religious intolerance, and is due also to the fact that a community
has grown up who contend for religious equality before God, who claim
that they are as good as their fathers in the sight of God, who
contend that, however weak and fallible they may be, they at least are
the children of God, and the heavens are open to them, if they have
equal faith, as they were to their fathers who lived 1,800 or 2,000 or
3,000 years ago. Utah became an organized territory because of this
fact; that there had been begotten in the hearts of the people the
feeling to seek after God as their fathers did, to seek for him that
they might find him and obtain knowledge from him for themselves, not
content to read of the blessings, of the powers, and gifts, and of the
ordinances of salvation that were extended to others, thousands of
years ago. The mere reading of these things would not satisfy this
people. Nothing short of the actual realization of the blessings would
satisfy the yearnings of their soul. And they stand today as a living
protest against religious intolerance, and in favor of the old faith
that existed upon the earth thousands of years ago, seeking for the
old paths, teaching their children that God is the same today that he
ever was, and that they must seek unto him as they did in ancient days
to obtain knowledge of him and from him. And we began in this way: The
Lord commanded us to go without purse or scrip—a good way of testing
us to see whether our desires to know him were real or not—to go out
in the midst of a cruel and unfeeling world, opposed to us, opposed to
the ideas we entertained, priests feeling as they did in ancient days,
that their craft was in danger. "Why," [p.138] said they, "here are
men who will destroy all our creed. We shall have no pay for our
preaching if this becomes popular, our profession will be destroyed,"
and from the day that proclamation was made to the present time the
strongest opponents of this Church and of this people have been men
who preach for hire, and whose creeds have been in danger by the
proclamation of these truths. To-day religious conventions cannot be
held without "Mormonism" being introduced and advanced as something
against which the power of the nation should be directed.

vol. 23, p.138
The Lord has been with us and has helped us or we could not have done
what has been done. It has been his blessing, it has been the
manifestation of his power, that has shielded and upheld this people.
His word has gone forth concerning this work. It will not return
unfulfilled. Commencing with six members, this Church has increased
until it is a power in the earth, and there is no nation which has not
heard of this strange people living in the midst of the Rocky
Mountains. The ideas we have taught are revolutionizing the earth,
silently and slowly in some respects, but nevertheless as thoroughly.
We are few in number, but the power and influence of the ideas which
we advocate wield a power that we here do not fully understand. This
will increase. As I have said to you and to others, the qualities that
are possessed by the Latter-day Saints will never die. They cannot die
unless you kill the people themselves. Talk about destroying this
work! When you destroy the Church of Christ, and virtue, union,
industry, frugality and temperance from the face of the earth, the
world will destroy "Mormonism," as it is called. But a people with
such qualities as we exhibit, as God has developed within us, cannot
be killed. Ideas have been begotten and given birth to that will
continue to grow and increase until they fill the whole earth, because
they are true and divine. If there were only half a dozen men left
alive who had this organization and held these principles, they would
continue to grow and gather adherants and spread on the right hand and
on the left. The principles are indescribable in their character. A
faith has been begotten, a faith been born that will continue to live
and increase and spread abroad, from the very fact that it is true,
and truth always finals a lodgement in the hearts of the honest. There
is no way to destroy this unless those who entertain a belief in it
are destroyed. That can be done, but it is not likely to be done. It
was done in the days of the Apostles, for the reason that the churches
were scattered abroad, here and there. They were surrounded by their
enemies. Satan had power in the earth. The Apostles were slain one
after another. Every man that raised his voice in favor of divine
revelation from God, or contended for the equality of man before God,
and the unchangeableness of God, was slain. The Church was scattered
abroad. Paul built up branches throughout Asia Minor. Other Apostles
built branches of the Church wherever they could find a place where
the people would receive the truth. But they were surrounded by
adverse influences, and the Apostles and Saints were not allowed to
live. And we in this day would be destroyed if we were alone, if these
influences were left to operate against us. You surround a few people
by  multitudes who are actively hostile and [p.139] aggressive against
them, and how difficult it is for them to maintain their foothold!
This was the condition of the churches in the days of the Apostles.
They were scattered abroad throughout Europe, Asia and Africa, and on
many islands. The Apostles had gone forth wherever they could find an
opening. Thousands had been organized into the Church, and in these
various branches there were men who had inspiration from God, who had
the authority of the Holy Priesthood, who could ask of God and receive
from him knowledge for the guidance of the people. While these men
remained the Church continued to grow. But persecution sought the
lives of men of this character. They were singled out and slain until
not one was left, until a universal silence reigned. Throughout all
the nations of the earth, not a voice was heard to disturb the
silence, no heavenly messenger, no voice from the eternal world, no
man that had the authority to say, "thus saith the Lord." The heavens
became as brass over the heads of the children of men, all
communication was cut off, and of course the Church fell, the
Priesthood departed, the ordinances were changed, and those who
survived with a little faith accommodated themselves to the
circumstances surrounding them. That was the condition in early days.

vol. 23, p.139
But how the condition has changed! God in his mercy concealed this
continent from the eyes of the world. For ages it remained here a
secret place. Neither the Atlantic nor the Pacific could be penetrated
until the set time came. Then a man was found who was moved upon by
the Spirit of God. He became possessed of an idea that would not die,
and his idea prevailed eventually. Ships were launched upon the great
ocean, and the continent of America was discovered. God has revealed
the reason this continent was concealed for so many ages. If it had
been known to early ages, it would have been overrun, and there would
have been no room for the great work of the last days. But he
organized a government upon this land. He sustained the men who
founded it. He filled them with His Spirit and enabled them to fight
all the battles necessary to establish religious, social and political
freedom, and a system of government was formed under which his kingdom
could be set up, with all its institutions, without interfering in the
least with the Constitution. In the Lord's own due time this Church
was brought forth. The messengers of life and salvation were sent to
the nations of the earth proclaiming that God had established His
Church, and inviting them to come to a land of liberty. Thousands have
been gathered here from that day to this, fulfilling in a most
remarkable manner the predictions of the prophets concerning the
gathering of the people in the last days. The circumstances which
surrounded us are very different from those which surrounded our
predecessors. We are a compact body. We believe in gathering; we
believe in one people of one faith living together, worshiping God
according to the dictates of their own consciences. This presents a
solid phalanx against opposition and persecution. We cannot be slain
to-day in detail as our brethren were 1,800 years ago. The ideas we
believe in are being disseminated among our children. We are
increasing. The teachings of history are that a people like us have a
destiny,  and they cannot be [p.140] prevented from fulfilling it. You
take two communities, one a multiplying community and the other only
partially multiplying, and what will be the result? But I need not
dwell upon this. There is a line of thought connected with this which
you can reflect upon at your leisure.

vol. 23, p.140
God has given unto us the conditions that are suitable for the
accomplishment of the great work that he has said shall be established
and carried forward in the last days, and we are connected with it;
and there is this to distinguish it from all others—it is not a
man-made system. Men may say and think what they please about it, but
from the President of the Church down to the last man who has entered
into the Church in sincerity there is a faith and a knowledge that
this work is of God, and the Presidency believe this as much as the
humblest man in the Church and more too. It is this that gives power,
it is this that gives influence. It is because they are filled with a
knowledge concerning it that they have lived it, that they have
contended for it, that they have passed through persecutions to
establish it, that they are not unwilling to die for it, if it should
be necessary. And this is the case with the whole people. Why? Because
they are deluded? Because they are dupes? Because they are deceived?
No, but because God has opened the heavens and poured out His Holy
Spirit upon them and given them a testimony for themselves of the
truth of this work. The Norwegian, the Swede, the Dane, the native of
Switzerland, or the German, Frenchman, Irishman, Englishman, or the
American, together with the Icelanders, Sandwich Islanders—all receive
it in their own lands, all bearing testimony in the self-same words,
that God has given them a testimony of the truth of this work. Destroy
it! You might as well try to destroy the heavens themselves, or to
overthrow the throne of Jehovah. It is true. It will live. Men may
fall away—for men are weak mortals—man may deny the faith, man may say
this is all a delusion; men may die, but the grand truth still lives.
It has found a lodgement in the hearts of honest men and women. And
they are increasing. Their children are multiplying. They are
spreading abroad on the right hand and on the left; living virtuous,
temperate, frugal, industrious lives, loving God and loving their
neighbors.

vol. 23, p.140
Are there exceptions? Yes, we are human. The devil still lives, and he
has power to tempt. Therefore we have exceptions in our midst.
Nevertheless those qualities are increasing and multiplying. Men are
found who possess them, and those growing up to manhood and womanhood
are also found to possess them. They know God and ask Him, believing
that they will have the desires of their hearts granted unto them. And
thus the work of God is spreading abroad throughout the earth, finding
a place in the hearts of people, humble, it is true, but people who
are independent—people who are the noblest of earth's sons, for the
reason that they are not afraid to embrace that which is unpopular.
The work of natural selection is going on in that way. This Gospel is
naturally selecting the best of the people from the midst of the
earth—men and women in humble station, from the lower ranks of life,
in the most of instances, although there are some exceptions, some
noble exceptions; but notwithstanding the lowliness of their origin
and  their surroundings, they [p.141] are people of independent
thought, people who dare embrace a truth though it be unpopular, and
cling to it in the midst of all the influences that are brought to
bear against them. Out of such materials the Lord is building up a
Church, building up a people, bestowing His blessings upon them.

vol. 23, p.141
It would not do for His people to be anything else but valiant, and
when they pass through the ordeal they will be like gold seven times
purified. In days gone by it was the mob, it was the burning of
houses, driving the people from their lands, and this has been
followed by ordeals just as trying in their character, as far as
testing the people is concerned. By this process the people are
becoming stronger in the Lord. Their feet are planted upon a rock.
They have proved God for themselves, known him for long years in the
midst of trials, temptations and vicissitudes such as no other people
on the face of the earth know anything about.

vol. 23, p.141
I thank God for this. I thank him every day that I live for this
Church. I thank him that I am a Latter-day Saint. If I can only have a
name among this people I feel as though I could have no greater
comfort. I wish to be associated with a people of this kind, a people
who love the Lord and am willing to do anything to show their faith in
and their love for him, and if it were necessary, to lay down their
lives for the truth. I cannot help loving a people of this kind. They
have weaknesses and faults. I have them too. We are alike in this
respect. If they will bear with me I will strive to bear with them. I
know this is the Church and Kingdom of God. I know that those who
cling to it will, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, receive glory
and exaltation at his right hand. I know that people who love him, as
the Latter-day Saints do, and are willing to make sacrifice, will not
be forgotten by him. He will not forget them in the day that he makes
up his jewels; he will bless them and honor them.

vol. 23, p.141
That we may remain faithful and true unto the end, and be counted
worthy to receive an exaltation in the kingdom of our God is my
prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. [p.142]

George G. Bywater, June 4, 1882

Delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, 
June 4, 1882.

Human Rights—Origin, Duty and Destiny of Man—Correct 
Knowledge Due to Divine Revelation—Truth Ever Absolute 
and Unwelcome to the World-God's Authority Unrecognized
—The World's Present State and Future Prospects

(Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs)

vol. 23, p.142
Among the loftiest conceptions of the world of mind, relative to the
purposes and being of man, has, in human wisdom, been formulated to be
the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This
sentiment has found an echo in every age, when the intelligence with
which man is inherently endowed has been favored with a development to
a degree adequate to this conception. And although this principle in
the general bearing upon human interests is accepted by the
intelligence of all countries and all peoples, we discover that our
principles and sentiments are in advance of the moral and intellectual
culture requisite to their full and complete development. But wherever
and whenever the best cultivated minds have been moved to pronounce
their conceptions upon the destiny of man, they have ever incorporated
those principles and those rights in their constitutional manifestoes.
And amid the multitudinous concerns and divine interests, in which the
human mind is engrossed, there is always a sacred spot reserved for
the welcoming and christening of those principles in the human heart.
Moreover, whenever these principles have been invaded and the sanctity
of the conditions involved in them has been imposed upon by ignorance
and superstition or unbridled and uncultivated passions, they have
ever resulted in sorrow, distress and anguish to the family of man.

vol. 23, p.142
In speaking a few Sabbaths ago I made reference to the genesis or
origin of things, and quoted an inquiry which was very beautifully put
by the intelligent individual who made the inquiry, namely, "Whence
are all things, and whither do all things tend?" and then remarked
that the highest and loftiest aim of man must necessarily be to obtain
the conception of his origin and his final destiny. Short of this, his
life would be an aimless life, and his acts would be acts without
intelligent motives; they would be disconnected: they would bear no
reference to the past, no reference to the future, but would be acts
produced as the result of the force of circumstances, urging an
acquiescence and recognition of the pressure by which he was
surrounded, and yielding to the authority of that force.

vol. 23, p.142
But to the free and intelligent man and woman who ascend above [p.143]
the narrow zones and stratas of human life, who rise to a higher plain
of intellectuality and who begin to perceive the vast extent over
which human interests are spread and the undoubted right of
association of those interests to go in one grand fraternal whole, in
one bond of human unity, they must be led to inquire into those
matters, and in doing so to satisfy themselves, at least, according to
their highest standard of knowledge, and their widest scope of
experience and observation, so that they might have in view an object,
a mark, a prize towards which they should aim, a prize for which they
should run a race, a work to be performed for which they should
receive a reward; impelled by the eternal, heaven-born endowments
which, under favorable influences and proper circumstances, they would
feel awakened within them, impelling them, urging them to advance to a
higher standard of moral and intellectual excellence, and be able to
perform a work for the advancement of their race, for the amelioration
of the condition of human society, that they might leave the world, in
some small degree though it may be, the better for their living in it.

vol. 23, p.143
We conceive, my brethren and sisters, that these are motives that no
well-directed line of thought can escape, that these are feelings that
no heart imbued with the genuineness: Of its nature, which we inherit
as the patrimony of our Father and God can entertain, without being
moved thereby; and we certainly could not become oblivious to these
considerations whatever may be the conditions or conceptions in which
we find ourselves and those with whom we are more immediately
associated in the fabric of human society—we must feel that this
great, grand, dominating principle is ever presenting its modest claim
upon our allegiance, that we should not only desire to enjoy the right
to life but the right to liberty, and the right to pursue happiness
according to our highest conceptions of that happiness and that
liberty.

vol. 23, p.143
As Latter-day Saints we feel that this is our prerogative; we feel
that the words which I have quoted, although I stated that they were
formulated by human wisdom, but I beg to qualify that statement by a
word or two to convey my meaning more clearly to you upon this
subject. It is true that we draw a line of demarcation between human
wisdom and wisdom from above—between the human and divine; that we
draw a broad line by which we distinguish the one from the other; but
when we express ourselves in harmony with the common principle which
enters into the structure of our faith, as Latter-day Saints, we find
that this line becomes more and more attenuated; we find that it loses
that distinctness which we once thought should ever exist between what
we call temporal and spiritual, and we find ourselves, being guided by
the inspirations of our faith and the principles which we have
espoused, coming nearer and nearer into a union, and more closely in
harmony with that sentiment expressed by one of the ancient prophets:
"Fear God and keep his commandments: this is the whole duty of man."
This sentiment was uttered long centuries ago, when men, according to
modern writers and speakers, were supposed to enjoy only the light of
Paganism, guided by the government of barbarism in the lower stages of
the scale of human elevation—in the dark ages. But, my friends, if
there is a sage or [p.144] philosopher that has ever uttered a
sentiment or declared a principle or enunciated a law by which he
would give birth to his conception of the philosophy of life, of the
purpose of human existence, that could express it more forcibly, more
philosophically or in stricter harmony with the principles of exact
science than this ancient Prophet, then I know not his name nor am I
acquainted with him as an author.

vol. 23, p.144
Permit me, in a few words, to illustrate my meaning upon this
principle. We will suppose that a master builder has conceived a plan
for a magnificent structure, for a beautiful residence, for a temple
of worship, for a temple of science, for a temple of freedom, a temple
of truth; and he would embody, as the result of his deep and practical
investigation into the wants and necessities embodied in his
conception, a necessary provision to meet those wants, to supply those
necessities, and to accord with the character of the work, or the
results to be produced after the work should be completed, that there
was no part of the plan conceived as being unnecessary or beyond what
was called for, or any part of the structure that was built for
nought, and that might as well be disposed of as to have it; but he
would feel that he had completed his ground plan, the several floor
plans, even to the topmost stone or the last elaborate and artistic
touch of the painter's brush or mechanic's chisel, according to the
genius of decorative art, that it was all necessary to carrying out
the external principles and character and importance of the work to be
performed and of the results to follow the completion of this labor.
If this be true in works of art, if this be true also in the various
labors of life, in the domain of agriculture as well as the domain of
art, in every department of nature as well as in every department of
art, we see design and purpose, we see invention and system, we see
the indelible mark of intent upon every part designed to constitute
the entire and perfect whole; and we would say that the man who would
conclude that the work of such an architect, of such a master builder,
was unnecessary, was simply an utterance of mind that was unfavorable
to more mature investigation of such matters, and consequently could
not be considered a competent judge upon such a subject.

vol. 23, p.144
We regard man as the highest form of intellectual and moral existence
with which we are acquainted. We regard man as the most perfect
embodiment of all the creations of nature with which we are
acquainted. He possesses the highest development of a nervous system,
the most complex organization in all its parts, the most fruitful
brain, producing the grandest results witnessed in every form of
animated existence; and if this be true—and I have never yet seen a
man who could be considered by his best friends to be sane who doubted
it—then we must admit that if man who is created with a complement of
capabilities, with a capacity for advancement in knowledge of a
variety of degrees and kinds, and that he is adapted in his mental and
moral nature to perform works that are productive of the highest
possible good, not only to himself as an intelligent, being, but to
all subordinate or inferior forms of life with which he is surrounded,
we certainly cannot fail to come right into the presence of this
inquiry: "Whence are all things, and whither do all things tend?"

vol. 23, p.144
Many and wide are the [p.145] speculations indulged in by men who feel
free to give themselves the most unbounded latitude in their
speculations, forming theories not only devoid of ingeniousness, not
only devoid of truth and symmetry, but possessing some features of
fascination for the intellectual and good among mankind; yet, where do
we find in the whole realm of mind, where through all the ages that
have gone by, men that have wandered and gleaned information from
every open avenue among the various civilizations which the words of
history give unto us a knowledge of, is there a more rational and
consistent solution of this question than is found in the writings of
the most ancient historian and primitive lawgiver, Moses: "God made
man in his own image; in the image of God created he him; male and
female created he them."

vol. 23, p.145
If then, my friends, we have an origin—and there is no doubt but that
we have; and there are very few men with whom I have come in contact
that have ever hesitated to admit man's origin. It will therefore be
rational to enquire whence are we. But to trace back through the ages
that have elapsed and, take a retrospective gaze into the past and
endeavor to unearth the history of lost civilization; to exhume from
the buried ruins the intelligence that existed upon the surface of
this globe during the long, long centuries that have gone by, and
there glean the very cream and gather together the most precious
sentiments ever enunciated by sage or philosopher, can we find
anything superior to this? No, we cannot, my friends; there is none on
record. Pardon my freedom in making so broad and conclusive a
statement; but I speak after many years reflections, and after
considerable research.

vol. 23, p.145
And although, my beloved brethren and sisters, many grand and
cherished principles have been brought to light by man's will and
power of investigation, by seeking to open nature's temples and
explore her departments and endeavor to comprehend law through
phenomena, and formulate the laws of nature in harmony with the
connected and continuous occurrences of events, with the uniform
appearance and re-appearance of her operations, and they have been
gratified with the glorious results which have followed the earnest,
the honest and indefatigable labors of good men, men who have
sacrificed friends and homes and associations, who have bid adieu to
their dearest friends on earth, sacrificing all the comforts and
luxuries with which they were surrounded to embark on the ocean of
peril and uncertainty in pursuit of principles which they felt were to
be discovered, and results to be attained by persistent and
indefatigable labor. They have traveled to earth's utmost bounds; they
have endured hardships, and many of them have sacrificed their lives
in order to accumulate a fund of human knowledge to add to those
experiences which seem indisputably necessary to build up society upon
its more enduring basis. Yet, my friends, have they ever brought to
light by their researches, without naming those worthies for whom I
entertain profound respect, a great many of them, have they ever
introduced to the human family such a plain, such a clear, lucid and
satisfactory explanation of the principles of which I have spoken, and
to which I am now alluding—the design of man and his final destiny
upon the earth—as is given in the records of revelation. It is true
that the scientific man is satisfied that there is a [p.146] high
destiny awaiting man; that there is an ultimatum pertaining to his
being that science cannot unfold, that philosophy cannot teach, that
man's experience and observation cannot gather the materials for the
solution of; but they see a grandness in the structure of the human
frame, they see a profoundness in the constitution of his mind; they
see such a variety of adaptations and combinations in his person that
augurs for him a higher life and nobler results and grander purposes,
than are presented within the narrow realm of his mortal sphere, in
which he now sojourns. But to say what that life is, to explain what
will be his future destiny and the future destiny of the human family
at large, the earth and the universe, who can tell? The wisest of men
here bow their heads in humility, their countenances become more or
less suffused with expressions of humiliation. They stand in the
presence of the future, the effect of which they feel, but the
character of which they do not comprehend; and they will say with
Professor Proctor and others, that whatever may be the laws that will
bring to pass the resurrection of the world, as the prophets have
said, it will die and pass away; what will be the laws and powers and
forces that will make themselves manifest in the resurrection or
regeneration of matter, they do not know, but they believe that there
exists in nature an intelligent power which will conduct her
operations to eternal perpetuity.

vol. 23, p.146
My friends, we are indebted to revelation as the source of knowledge;
we are indebted to God and angels, and the spirit of revelation, for
our understanding of those divine principles which afford a clear and
final solution to these important and vital inquiries. As Latter-day
Saints we appeal to this source; and while we do not ignore any truth,
come from where it may, or wherever found, whether upon Christian or
heathen ground, we hail the light of the everlasting Gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ which has been revealed in our day and dispensation
as the only unerring, as the only truthful and unqualifiedly certain
mode of interpretation by which we can attain to a knowledge of these
things. We may say, the works of God and the word of God both
constitute the avenues of human information, and that whoever ignores
the one deprives himself of much of the benefits which flow from
accepting the other; that there are two doors which open to the temple
of truth, and they are both indispensably necessary to engage man's
full capacity and to endow him with the principles of knowledge, and
with the purposes of his being here upon the earth, together with his
origin and final destiny.

vol. 23, p.146
My beloved friends, I feel grateful for a knowledge of these things; I
feel thankful that God has restored again the fulness of the Gospel of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and that we are living in the
dispensation in which God has foretold through his ancient servants
the prophets that he would make known his mind and will concerning the
earth and its inhabitants, and his purposes in relation to them; and
that he will bring to pass all of his great and grand designs as they
have been foreshadowed in the volumes of revelation from the earliest
period of his speaking to the children of men to the present hour. And
as Latter-day Saints we rely especially and entirely upon him for
absolute truth. Although men deny  this, they say there is no such
thing as absolute truth, that all truth is [p.147] relative. But we
have learned, through the revelations of God, and taking them as a
standard, that there is a great deal of false reasoning here. Truth is
absolute in its nature. Man's apprehension of it may be only partial
and imperfect; he may know two few of its sides, comprehending it not
in its entirety; and, therefore, to form a perfect and unerring
judgment as regards its force and power and character requires a
thorough application of its elements. I aver that truth is absolute.
It is admitted by our wisest men that the existence of God is an
absolute existence; we accept this admission, and say that whatever
truth emanates from him, is an absolute truth. It may be beyond our
comprehension. Truth may come unto man in relative quantities. It may
be revealed in the form of line upon line, precept upon precept, here
a little and there a little. It nevertheless comes to us in the
character and absoluteness of his character, and this, we say, is
stamped upon every principle that emanates from his divine presence.

vol. 23, p.147
As a community of people we have received this Gospel; we have
embraced its first principles. We have gathered ourselves together to
these mountain valleys in fulfillment of prophecy to be further taught
of him. We are entering into the development of that work which has
been the theme and burden of the prophetic song of men who lived long
ages ago. We live in an age of revelation. We live in an age of
Prophets and Apostles and inspired men. But who believes this? Here is
a question, who believes it? It was asked in the day of the Savior,
When the Son of Man cometh shall he find faith on the earth? When and
where, I ask, has a dispensation of God to the children of men found a
universal acceptance? We know of no time in the world's history when
the intelligence of the masses of mankind has been of that advanced
and refined culture as to accord the right to the Creator of the
universe to dictate a government for the children of men. They have
ever assumed the role en masse or in the great majority, that they had
the right to dictate to themselves. This is strikingly illustrated in
the parable of the Savior, in which is represented a vineyard and the
giving charge of it to stewards to cultivate it and take care of its
fruit. This having been done, the Lord of the vineyard sends his
servants or messengers to investigate as to the management and working
of their stewardship. But when they came, making known their business
to those in charge, were they received as they should have been? No,
but on the contrary, they agreed among themselves that it was their
right to manage their own affairs according to their own will and in
their own way, and that it was their right to dictate to themselves.
Vox populi, vox dei. We are the voice of God; we know what is best for
ourselves, etc. And they took the messengers that were sent unto them
by the master and owner of the vineyard, and beat one and stoned
another, etc.; and they returned and reported the cruelties that had
been inflicted upon them. By this act they ignored the right and
authority of the Master to make any inquiries as to the management of
affairs. Finally the Lord of the vineyard said: "I will send my Son,
surely they will reverence my Son." He came, and they recognized him;
said they, "He is the heir, let us kill him."

vol. 23, p.147
My beloved brethren and sisters, and friends, this is a very truthful,
[p.148] a very forcible illustration of the spirit that has been
manifested by the generation of the children of men in our own age,
when God has again sent a divine messenger, crying repentance to the
people and inviting them to forsake their sins and return to the Lord
their God, and recognize his right to dictate to them the form of
government they should live by.

vol. 23, p.148
How is it to-day in this nation, that boastingly iterates and
reiterates from one part of our common country to the other the rights
of men which are embodied in the noble Constitution of the country,
and expressed in the words I quoted, "Life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness." Do they recognize God's right to rule? No, my friends,
and I must say, pardon the allusion, in the sarcastic though too
truthful article of Mrs. Gail Hamilton, with regard to the power and
effects of science and the power and effect of the Christian world in
their prayers for our late lamented President Garfield, when she
tauntingly throws up to them that they have no faith; that the prayers
of the whole world were turned, that the whole Christian world bowed
itself, asking and pleading with heaven to save unto us our President;
but the only prayer answered was that of the wretched and despised
Guiteau, the assassin. There is too much truth in this sarcasm. Would
we rule God out of the government; would we rule Him out of the
Constitution, claiming the right to rule ourselves and dictate the
conditions upon which we would live, or would we say with one of old,
that "to fear God and keep his commandments is the whole duty of man."
It is with regret that we haw to record the admission, that the
general sentiment of to-day, is, that God has nothing to do with human
affairs, which only expresses the real state of things as they now
exist. But then this is merely a fulfillment of a prophetic utterance.
In the latter-days, said Timothy, many false prophets should arise and
also false teachers, who would teach the doctrine of devils.
Forbidding to marry, (but tolerating prostitution); that men would
become "covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, that they would be
"without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers,
incontinent, fierce, despisers of them that are good." That they would
also be traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure more than
lovers of God. "Having a form of godliness but denying the power
thereof."

vol. 23, p.148
What is the state, not only of our own glorious Republic, but of the
governments of the world—whither are we drifting? We have eyes, but,
whether we can see enough of the circumstances that are to constitute
the grand panorama spoken of in Holy Writ, is another question. It may
be that they are too close to our doors to be seen distinctly, and
that we are unable in consequence to comprehend their magnitude and
foretell their results. Be that as it may, we nevertheless are right
in the presence of these sorrowful facts of human history.

vol. 23, p.148
May we, as Latter-day Saints, be faithful, trusting in God. May we be
like Daniel of old, though the king should forbid we should pray;
though princes and rulers should tell us we shall not worship God only
as we are permitted to, that we must accept and abide by popular
opinion and bow in deference to. popular prejudices, shaping our
convictions after the ethics and theories of men, may we still trust
in Him, and still be found at the post of duty. and devotion.[p.149] 

vol. 23, p.149
Is this the age of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Is this
the age when we are to enjoy those immunities and guarantees which the
highest conservators of human wisdom, the founders of our great
Constitution were enabled to give unto us, to bequeath unto us as
their patrimony? Alas! alas! It is in this instance as in that
expressed by Oliver Goldsmith:

vol. 23, p.149
Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men decay.

vol. 23, p.149
When men will tell you that the constitution is not sufficient; that
we have grown beyond it—that there is no sacredness to be attached to
any institution that comes short in its provisions to supply means by
which party purposes and popular prejudices can be fostered and
carried into execution, that all these things must go by the way—I
fear for my country; I fear for any nation and any people so situated.
For remember, this is not the only age that mankind has lived. We go
to Egypt, we go to Chaldee and to Central Arabia, and we find these
relics of an ancient civilization, many phases of which would put to
the blush the vanity and pride of the intelligence of the age in which
we live. They have gone; the generations then living have melted away.
And the generations that now live will pass away; but God lives and
rules, and his purposes will roll on. And, pardon me, I will close my
remarks with another couplet:

vol. 23, p.149
"Yet I doubt not through the ages
	One eternal purpose runs,
And the thoughts of men are widened
	By the process of the suns."

vol. 23, p.149
And by the development and the upholding of the principles of nature
God is consummating his designs, which will terminate in the salvation
of man and the perfection of the earth as a residence for the redeemed
of all past ages, when the light of the sun will not be needed, for
the glory of God will be the light, and intelligence and truth shall
flow as the mighty ocean, and knowledge shall cover the great deep,
and no man then need say, Know ye the Lord, for all shall know him
from the least to the greatest; and every man in every place will meet
a brother and a friend.

vol. 23, p.149
May God in His own due time hasten these things, and we, His children,
be prepared for every dispensation of His providence, is my prayer, in
the name of Jesus, Amen. [p.150]

Lorenzo Snow, April 7, 1882

Delivered at the General Conference, Friday, A.M., April 7th, 
1882.

Ancient and Modern Israel Compared—God's Work 
Progressive—His Overruling Providence.

(Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs)

vol. 23, p.150
The speaker read the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th verses of
the 14th chapter of Exodus, and then said:

vol. 23, p.150
There is an important lesson contained in these verses, and the lesson
is not only applicable to this community as a whole, but to each
individual. It appears that the children of Israel at the time
referred to in the passage I have read, were not very well acquainted
with the Lord, or with his ability to carry out his purposes. They,
however, had not the opportunities of becoming acquainted with him, as
have the Latter-day Saints. They had seen some of the works of the
Lord wrought in the presence of the Egyptians as well as in their own
presence; but their hearts had not been touched, neither had their
understandings been enlightened by the intelligence of the Holy
Spirit, as has been the case with the Latter-day Saints, and
therefore, when they were brought to face the Red Sea, which, to all
human appearance, was impassable, and with the armies of the Egyptians
pressing close upon them, their hearts failed them.

vol. 23, p.150
The Latter-day Saints in latter days have been placed in circumstances
very similar. I well remember in my own experience the Latter-day
Saints being placed in situations were it became very necessary for
them to rely upon their knowledge of the things of God and their faith
in His power to carry out His purposes.

vol. 23, p.150
It is not at all strange that the Israelites at that time, possessing
the little knowledge they did, should be considerably alarmed, or that
they should display a great amount of ignorance and folly, having
expressed themselves to Moses as being in doubt as to the propriety of
attempting to deliver them from their fettered condition,
notwithstanding the Egyptians had been so severe upon them, and had
taken the lives of their children, yet they had so little faith in the
word of the Lord through their deliverer, Moses, that they were
willing to still continue slaves rather than place themselves under
the direction of the Almighty. They wished to know of Moses if there
were not sufficient graves in Egypt that it became necessary for them
to be destroyed by the army of Pharaoh in the wilderness, and chided
Moses for the course he had pursued, and wished themselves back in
bondage.

vol. 23, p.150
I do not think the Latter-day [p.151] Saints in any period of their
history have displayed such weakness and lack of faith; however trying
our circumstances may have been, we have never been guilty of such
pronounced ingratitude to God. At the time the mob came against us in
Missouri there were but a few of us, and the circumstances were such
it was impossible to expect deliverance except through the
intervention of the Almighty. There may, it is true, have been some
persons at that time whose hearts failed them under the very trying
circumstances in which we were placed; but they were very few. The
Latter-day Saints had received the Gospel accompanied by the Holy
Spirit; and it was in consequence of that miraculous influence and
power that was and had been upon them at various times, which caused
them to have faith in their deliverance. They did not display the
weakness and folly that we see manifested in the children of Israel on
the occasion referred to in the verses I have read, as well as on many
other occasions. There were a few, however, that wished to turn back
to Babylon and give up their faith, the ordeal being too severe. In
reading ecclesiastical history we find that even the prophets on
certain occasions, displayed more or less weakness; and I have thought
that Moses exhibited a little on this occasion, that is, if the
translation be strictly correct. He saw the difficulties, and although
he had more faith and knowledge in his bosom than all the faith and
knowledge of the people put together, yet there seemed to be a
feebleness in the course that he advised on this occasion. With the
Red Sea in front and the army of Pharaoh pressing closely in the rear,
the state of affairs, of course, seemed critical, and it was apparent
to all: and while the people were bewailing their condition Moses gave
instructions, saying, "Fear ye not"—now that part of it was excellent,
and may apply to the Latter-day Saints, and will always be applicable
in whatever condition they may be placed; but the after part of the
instruction I would scarcely think was exactly applicable on that
occasion, and it certainly would not be to the Latter-day Saints in
any situation or circumstance, namely, "Stand still, and see the
salvation of the Lord." It appears from this verse which I will read,
that Moses began to cry unto the Lord for deliverance; and the Lord
answered him saying: "Wherefore cryest thou unto me? Speak unto the
children of Israel that they go forward." There was no standing still;
there never has been since the day that the Almighty commenced to
establish His work, the people have always been required to move on
and never stand still. Although the Lord will work and accomplish
wonders in regard to the deliverance of His people when impediments
arise in the path of their progress and no human power or ability can
remove them, then God by His power will do so, but it is the business
of those who profess to be engaged in His work to move on, to go
forward, and that too without murmuring or having to be urged; so long
as there remains a step forward to be taken, that step should be
taken. As in this case it was not wisdom for the people to stand still
to see the salvation of the Lord, but the word was, move on, go
forward, have faith, so that when they should come to the water's edge
and place their feet therein, that then the Lord would either move
upon the Egyptians to stay the hand of destruction, or show His power
in [p.152] delivering them in some other way; but so long as they
could make a move in the direction that God through Moses had
appointed, it was their duty to do so.

vol. 23, p.152
It may appear through our ignorance in not understanding fully the
ways of the Lord and His purposes, that in our onward march in
carrying out the programme before us, we sometimes come to a stopping
place for the time being, but the fact is, there is no such thing the
programme, and there cannot be providing the people continue their
labors putting their trust in the promises of God. The Apostles,
notwithstanding the opportunities they had of acquainting themselves
with the purposes of the Almighty, through personal converse with the
Son of God, thought there was a time when they would have to stand
still, and cease their labors as ministers of God. When they saw the
Savior hanging upon the cross in the agonies of death, their hearts
failed them, and they concluded that all was over with them. They had
thought that Jesus was to be king of Israel, and deliver them from the
Gentile yoke, but now their hopes seemed vain and all was lost; now
said their leader, let us go a fishing. Was there a cessation of the
work of God, when Jesus was suffering upon the cross? No, the work was
still going on, but the Apostles did not understand it; they did not
seem to comprehend the act that the purposes of God were being carried
out when He was suffering upon the cross; but when Jesus appeared to
them after He arose from the tomb, He gave them to understand that in
His suffering and death the words of the prophets were being fulfilled
and He opened their understanding that they might understand the
Scriptures. But the High Priests of the Jewish faith, and all those
who were foremost in the crucifixion of the Savior, believed they had
accomplished their purpose in putting to death Him whom they feared
would take away their name and nation, and doubtless felt satisfied
with their work, especially as He failed to come down from the cross,
when they cried out, If He be the Son of God let Him come down from
the cross.

vol. 23, p.152
There is no standing still with the Latter-day Saints. When we were
driven from Kirtland and Jackson County by mob violence, the purposes
of God were being fulfilled and the work was undergoing changes
necessary to its growth and progress, and the trials and afflictions
incident thereto were necessary to the proving of the Saints and the
establishment of the kingdom of God upon the earth. And I would say,
let the motto be to every Elder in Israel, and to every person worthy
to be called a Saint. Fear not, and never stand still, but move on.
Let the farmer go forward making improvements, plow and sow and reap;
and those engaged in proper and useful enterprises continue to do what
seems good according to the Spirit of God that may operate upon them,
and let every matt be faithful and very diligent in keeping the
commandments of God, and cultivate the desire to do good to those
around him; and if, in reflecting on the past, we find we have not
acted strictly in accordance with the dictates of our consciences and
duty, let us make ourselves right before God and man, that we may be
prepared for every event that may transpire. Let the work of building
temples and houses of worship go on; let Israel continue to educate
their children and bring them up in the fear of the Lord, and let the
Gospel still [p.153] be carried to the nations afar, and Israel be
gathered and the people always be found moving on as the purposes of
God continue to be fulfilled. Do not stand still and expect to see the
salvation of God, but move on so long as there is a step to be made in
the direction that he has commanded, and then see the salvation of the
Almighty. This is the work of God, and he is directing its course and
progress in the earth, and this work should ever be uppermost in our
minds; and so long as we are found in the path of duty we can surely
remain fixed and unmoved and determined in our purpose, and thus
exhibit to the world our faith and devotion to the principles of truth
which God has revealed, as did the Saints when they were driven from
their homes as recorded in the history of the Church. And because of
this exhibition of faith God blessed us wonderfully and miraculously
after we had passed through the trims which followed in the
accomplishment of this work, trials which seemed indeed to the world
almost unbearable. However we regard those afflictions, they were not
so very disagreeable. When the three Hebrew children, for instance,
had been brought to a certain position, cast into the fiery furnace
because of their undying faith and integrity, they could not after all
perhaps have been placed in more pleasing and agreeable circumstances.
A holy being, it is said, appeared and walked with them, side by side
in the midst of the flames; and so with Daniel under similar
circumstances. Did they wait to see what God would do for them? No; it
was "move on" with them. They knew that in the hands of their Master
were held the issues of life and death, and that to die in Him is to
live, live eternally, to go on, on to perfection until they should
become even like unto Him; and having a living, an abiding faith, and
a knowledge of the true and living God they were ready to live and
they were ready to die for the truth. It was not with those men as it
was with the children of Israel of whom I have read. They were in
possession of knowledge through the operation of the Holy Ghost which
prepared them for any circumstances in which they might be placed. And
so with regard to the Latter-day Saints: When compelled to sign over
our property to the mob in Missouri, we were advised to disperse and
mix up among the people and not attempt to gather together again; and
yet under these circumstances the Lord moved upon the legislature of
the State of Illinois to grant us a city charter in which there were
favorable provisions that were not found in any other charter. And
this was as he had told us he would do, namely, that he would soften
the hearts of rulers from time to time that they should show favor to
his people. I do not believe, as some do, that no good can come out
from Nazareth. We talk sometimes rather harshly about some of the
politicians of our country, and deservedly, too; but notwithstanding
the illiberal and unjust policy they show towards us, I believe they
can do us a great deal of good provided the Lord operates upon the
hearts of ruling men, as he has done in the past, and as he will do in
the future, which will result in their showing and granting us favors
and blessings that many now little imagine.

vol. 23, p.153
The circumstances under which we came to those mountain valleys are
well known; they need not be recited now. After we had passed [p.154]
through the chastisement, the Lord moved upon our national government
to bestow favors upon the people of God. They gave us what is called
the Organic Act, a bill of rights as good as we could expect from
their hands, and what was more, they conferred political favor upon
our leader, our Prophet and President, Brigham Young, by making him
Governor of the Territory. And who would have thought of such a thing?
Any man that would have predicted such a thing at the time we were
being driven from Missouri, would have been considered to say the
least, an enthusiast. And besides that, one of our United States
judges was a Mormon Elder; the Secretary of the Territory was also a
Mormon Elder. And who, let me ask, did this? Was it the Congress or
the President of the United States? Well, now, I would dislike very
much to say anything that could be construed into ungratefulness on
our part or in failing to recognize all the good that our nation has
designed to do us, for we recognize it as our uncle, and sometimes it
has been a pretty good uncle; but, notwithstanding, we see in all this
the hand of our God who through them, has wrought out this good and
this deliverance for his people, while we are ready and willing to
acknowledge an overruling Providence in the good that comes to us; and
for one I am ever ready to acknowledge that good also can come out of
Nazareth. We can certainly afford to suffer a little when at times we
perceive magnanimity displayed towards us by our government, which has
been the case in the past, and which I firmly believe will be in the
future despite the pressure that is being brought to bear against us
and the nature of the means that are being now employed.

vol. 23, p.154
The Lord moved upon rulers in former generations; he moved upon
infidel kings to favor his people, and he is the same God now as then.

vol. 23, p.154
We talk about the Edmunds bill, what it is going to do I do not
pretend to say, neither do I think that its framers and abettors know
what is going to come of it. One thing I have noticed, and that is
that Congressmen themselves differ widely with regard to certain of
its previsions; and that being the case it would perhaps, become us to
wait and watch. But there is one singular feature about it relating to
plural marriage. And about that allow me here to say, I happen to have
some knowledge of it as a principle of revelation belonging to the
religion we have espoused. I was personally acquainted with Joseph
Smith during twelve or fourteen years and, of course, through him I
first learned what I now know about that principle. And as to his
being a man of truth and honor I, nor any one else that knew him, have
any reason to question for a moment. But then I never went forth to
preach the principles of this Gospel depending entirely upon any
information I received through him or any other man; but I believed on
his words, coming as they did to me as the words of truth, from an
inspired man of God; and from that hour the Spirit of God, the Holy
Ghost which all men may receive and enjoy, has confirmed the truth of
what he had told me, and it became knowledge to me of that nature
which no man can give or take away. And now, as there is good, more or
less, to be found elsewhere, the Edmunds bill is not without its good;
and, therefore, I say, let us accept the good and feel thankful
therefor. That  extraordinary bill legalizes the issue of plural
[p.155] marriage up to the 1st day of January, 1883. Now, who could
have expected so much good to come out of Nazareth? Uncle Samuel is
now and then a pretty good uncle after all. (Laughter). And, mark you,
the framers of the Bill have been to considerate as to distinctly
provide that the children thus legalized must be the offspring of
marriages performed according to the rites and ceremonies of the sect
known as the Latter-day Saints. In the language of the small boy I
say, "good enough." (Laughter.) Now, if any of our Gentile friends
have been indiscreet, or should hereafter be guilty of bigamy, their
offspring of course are not so favored. (Laughter.) We ought to be
thankful for this unexpected favor, and indeed I have no doubt we are.
I really never expected that the law-makers of our nation would ever
legalize plural marriages as performed for the last thirty years or
more. If the Lord is able to do a thing of this kind through men who
framed that strange and singular bill, our open and avowed enemies,
what is he not able to do? What may we not expect if we remain
faithful and true to the trust reposed in us?

vol. 23, p.155
The Lord very possibly may cause a heavy pressure to hear upon us,
such as will require great sacrifice at the hands of his people. The
question with us is, will we make that sacrifice? This work is the
work of the Almighty, and the blessings we look for which have been
promised, will come after we have proven ourselves and passed through
the ordeal. I have no special word to this people that there is, or
that there is not, before them a fiery ordeal through which they will
be called to pass; the question with me is, am I prepared to receive
and put to a right and proper use any blessing the Lord has in store
for me in common with His people; or, on the other hand, am I prepared
to make any sacrifice that he may require at my hands? I would not
give the ashes of a rye straw for any religion that was not worth
living for and that was not worth dying for; and I would not give much
for the man that was not willing to sacrifice his all for the sake of
his religion.

vol. 23, p.155
Well, I close my remarks by saying to one and all, Move on! move on,
and see the salvation of the Lord, and not stand still. Amen. [p.156]

Chas. W. Penrose, June 4, 1882

Delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday, 
June 4, 1882.

How to Find Out God—How Man May Know Himself—Necessity 
of Divine Revelation—How and By What Means Received—
Testimony of the Latter-Day Saints—The Nature and Origin 
of Man—His Mortal Experience and Its Purpose—The Fate 
of the Wicked—The Lot of the Righteous—Eternal Life and 
How It May Be Attained

(Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs)

vol. 23, p.156
It is written in the Scriptures, that "man by searching cannot find
out God;" and the experience of all ages has proven the truth of this.
We are living in an age of great intelligence, at a time when the wise
things which have been said and written by sage, philosopher and
prophet centuries ago can be read and reflected upon; and when men can
bring to bear their own researches, their own experience and the
facilities which they have for gaining information, upon the
investigation of the subject of Deity; yet, we find that people who
now live are as much at sea in regard to this matter as any people who
lived in former times. If we take up the works of the wise men who
live upon the earth in our times and read their remarks concerning
God, we are forced to the conclusion that they, like the people for
whom they write, know little or nothing of the subject upon which they
touch.

vol. 23, p.156
Many years ago certain divines of the Church of England, chosen for
the purpose, endeavored to formulate a creed in which they tried to
explain to the people what God is. And after making a number of very
contradictory and foolish assertions, they came to the conclusion that
God is "incomprehensible." Man, by searching cannot find out God, the
only way whereby man Can come to the knowledge of God is by
communication from God, and if the people receive what he does
communicate they may find out clearly and truthfully what he is, and
what are his designs and purposes in relation to them.

vol. 23, p.156
"Man know thyself," is another saying; not in the Holy Scriptures, but
just as good as though it were. Man cannot know himself, cannot
comprehend himself any more than he can comprehend Deity by his own
reflections. Unless the Creator who made him, and who comprehends what
he was made for reveals it to him, he cannot comprehend even his own
being. Who is there that understands the nature of that intelligent
spirit which inhabits the tabernacle of man? A good surgeon can take
the human body. and  dissect it; point out its various parts [p.157]
and their relation one to another. and name every bone and every
muscle and every sinew and every nerve. But there is something even
pertaining to the body, (leaving out the spiritual part of man) that
gives the body life, which he cannot grasp or comprehend. The vital
force that gives animation to the body is beyond his ken. And every
man who has studied himself to any degree whatever, knows that there
is something about himself besides the life of the body; that there is
something superior to the body, and to that vital force which animates
the human frame. How did that intelligent being get into his physical
nature, and where did it come from? Did it come into existence with
the earthly body, or did it exist before? When the common lot of
humanity comes and we "shuffle off this mortal coil" and our bodies go
into the ground, each part separating from the other, and the elements
go back whence they came, does this spiritual, this intelligent being
which inhabited the body still exist, or does that also separate into
particles? Who knows of himself, and who can comprehend this by his
own reflections? No man. Unless we get some information from the Being
who made man, we cannot comprehend ourselves, much less can we of
ourselves comprehend the Being that made us.

vol. 23, p.157
The inhabitants of the earth in the different ages have had a great
many duties; they have formed ideas concerning God in their own minds,
and they have worshipped that which seemed to them the clearest
representation of Deity. Some of the idols which men have worshipped
appear very foolish to us; they are no doubt indications of the low
degree of development of the people who set them up as objects of
worship. But here, in the 19th century, among people called
Christians, we hear a great deal about God, the God of the Bible, the
God that made man, the God that rules the universe, and when we
inquire of the wisest men we have in Christendom in regard to this
Being, they tell us that he is incomprehensible; they tell us that he
is an immaterial being whose centre is everywhere and whose
circumference is nowhere: that he has no body and no parts and no
passions; that there is nothing which can represent him; there is
nothing like him in the heavens above or in the earth beneath, and
that man's mind cannot grasp anything about him. They say he is one,
and yet he is three; that he is not three but is one. That there are
the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost—three separate substances, and
yet not three but only one. They say that one of these three beings
without a body had a body; that one of the three parts of this
partless being had both a body and parts, and that he, the Son, was in
all things like the Father, and was also like us excepting that he was
without sin, but had passions as we have. This is the result of the
attempt on the part of the wise men of Christendom to find out God for
themselves. It is impossible, and is so laid down in Holy Writ; "man
by searching cannot find out God." The only way that can be relied
upon whereby man can find out God is by obtaining information from the
Almighty Himself. "Well," say the people, "but he does not communicate
anything to any of the inhabitants of the earth." Why not? Has he not
power to manifest Himself to mortals? Is He so great and almighty and
so far above the human family that He cannot reveal [p.158] Himself to
humanity? "No. He used to do so hundreds of years ago." And why does
he not do it now "Because the day of revelation has gone by," they
say. Who told them so? The fact is that for a long period the people
have not been expecting to receive revelations from God. They have not
sought for them and, therefore, have not obtained them. But we find in
the Old Scriptures a promise something like this: "Return unto me and
I will return unto you, saith the Lord: Even from the days of your
fathers you have gone away from mine ordinances and have not kept
them," you have "transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances and
broken the everlasting covenant;" now "return unto me and I will
return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts."

vol. 23, p.158
We also find in the scriptures the declaration, that God changeth not,
that he is "the same yesterday, today and forever." And we may
reasonably infer that if God was a God of revelation hundreds of years
ago, he is the same God of revelation to-day, only the people do not
inquire of him, they do not seek unto him in the right way that they
may obtain communications from him. The Apostle James declares, If any
of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth to all men
liberally, and upbraideth not and it shall be given him. But let him
ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of
the sea driven with the wind and tossed."

vol. 23, p.158
It appears then that God may be approached; that we may ask of him,
but if we do ask of him we must ask in faith. We must believe. If we
do not believe we will not obtain. This principle of faith seems to be
the means of approaching the Almighty. If we take up the Bible and
read how the ancients received revelation, we find that they
approached God by faith. And further, we learn that when God
communicated anything to them they tried to carry it out in their
practice; they tried to embody in their lives those instructions and
communications. As Brother Bywater, who preceded me this afternoon,
has quoted: "Fear God and keep his commandments. This is the whole
duty of man." Those holy men of old, when they learned anything from
God were willing to carry it out, no matter what the cost might be.
God held communion with them by means of the Holy Ghost, which seems
to be the natural means of communication between God and man.

vol. 23, p.158
The word and will of God were revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith.
Why should we not receive this blessing of heavenly communication in
our day? As Latter-day Saints we have our names cast out as evil,
simply because we believe in this doctrine of receiving communication
from God. We are simple enough to believe that God will speak to
people now if they will approach him in the right way. Men have borne
testimony that they have received communication from above, and have
made known the same to us; and having believed on their word and done
exactly as they directed us, God has confirmed the truth of their
words upon our hearts, with signs following. And now we can say
ourselves we know that God lives, that he communicates to men; we know
the channel of communication is opened up between the heavens and the
earth, and that the people of the nineteenth century, by taking a
proper course and exercising faith [p.159] in the right way, and being
humble enough to carry into effect the commandments which the Lord
gives when he does manifest himself unto them, can obtain
communication from on high by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost, by
dreams and visions, and by the visible manifestation of God's power in
the midst of his people.

vol. 23, p.159
This is our testimony to the world, and it is for this that we are
opposed; this is the ground work of the opposition applied to us in
what is called the Christian world. For if the fact be admitted that
the Latter-day Saints are the people of God and those who preside over
them are the servants of God, that they receive communications from
him, and that this is His Church, that would be to admit also that all
other churches are the churches of men and not of Christ; that those
who minister in them are not delegated of heaven and that the
doctrines they teach are merely the doctrines and commandments of men.
Thus our faith comes in contact with the established systems of
Christendom.

vol. 23, p.159
Now, the Lord has made known to us a few simple truths in regard to
our being—who we are, where we came from, what we are here for, where
we are going to, and what is to be our final destiny. These things in
our minds are not mere articles of faith, they are not myths, they are
not mere opinions or sentiments, but they are to us, to use the
language of Brother Bywater, "absolute truths;" they have been
revealed from the Almighty, and are his word to us and not the say-so
of men. God has borne testimony of the truth of them in our own
hearts; and to us they have become absolute truths. We are not left in
doubt about them; they are to us facts as palpable as the fact of our
existence.

vol. 23, p.159
I have not time to dwell upon this subject, but I will mention two or
three facts that God has made known to us, and will leave them for the
reflection of the congregation. God has made known to us, in the first
place, that we—the real beings, the intelligent spirits which are
entabernacled in these mortal frames—are the offspring of Deity, the
children of God, as much so as our bodies are the offspring of the
children of men; that just as men and women are the sons and daughters
of men, so far as their earthly bodies are concerned, so the spirits
which inhabit these bodies are beings born of the Almighty God in the
eternal worlds. This spark of intelligence that exists in the human
form is stricken off from the eternal flame of Deity; the children of
men are the offspring of God. And when Jesus told his disciples, in
addressing the throne of grace, to say, "Our Father who art in
heaven," he said that which was absolutely true, not in a spiritual or
Methodistical sense, but as an absolute fact. God is our Father, and
we are his sons and daughters. Our earthly bodies are framed in the
image of God; they are framed to fit our spirits which are the
offspring of Goal, which are therefore in his image, according to the
law that every seed brings forth its own kind. A comprehension of the
offspring of God will therefore lead to an understanding of God
Himself.

vol. 23, p.159
These spiritual beings now sojourning upon the earth in mortal
tabernacles, dwelt in the bosom of eternity and were with the Eternal
Father "when the morning stars sang together and the sons of God
shouted for joy" on beholding the organization of this earth. We were
there and we joined in the heavenly chorus. Said the Apostle [p.160]
John: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear
what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be
like him; for we shall see him as he is." By that time we will be able
to comprehend God, notwithstanding the assertion of the learned of the
world to the contrary. We were sent down upon the earth to dwell for a
time that we might learn the laws which govern this lower sphere, that
we might have a portion of it framed as a body in which we should
dwell, that in it and through it we might become acquainted with sin
which is the transgression of law, and learn that only by obedience to
law is happiness possible for the offspring of God; that only by
obedience to eternal laws and wholesome regulations can man be made
happy in time and in eternity. And by becoming acquainted with
darkness we can appreciate the light; by becoming acquainted with pain
and sorrow we can appreciate perfect bliss and happiness: by coming in
contact with death, and understanding it through experience we may
comprehend the blessings of life, preparatory to an endless existence
in the presence of the Father to dwell in perfect submission to his
eternal laws. We are here for experience, and while we dwell in
mortality there are lessons to be learned and that must be learned, if
needs be through suffering. It is our privilege, while here in the
school of experience and adversity, far from our ancient home, to
struggle up to the light from whence we came, and by the power of the
Holy Spirit to obtain knowledge of the past, a comprehension of the
present, and an unfoldment of the future; for "when the spirit of
truth is come he shall guide you into all truth, and he shall take of
the things of the Father and of the Son and show them unto you; he
shall show you things to come, and shall bring to your remembrance
things that are past, he shall give you knowledge of the present and
shall unfold to you the future." This is the office of the Holy Ghost
in bestowing its gifts and blessings upon men.

vol. 23, p.160
Now we can learn our duty, we can learn what is the mind and will of
God concerning us. The Lord has manifested a great many things to us
while in mortality which has had the effect of stirring up the
opposition of the world and the, powers of darkness against us. This
is a necessary experience as it tends to develop our being, and so
long as we have this warfare to fight, if we carry out strictly the
commandments of God, we shall have more present joy, more present
satisfaction and more present pleasure than if we were in accord with
the world, as we have the consciousness that, we are doing what is
right, and we also have the gratification of knowing that the Lord
will plant our feet upon the rock of eternal truth and in his own time
will bring us up to mingle and dwell with those who have overcome, and
who move in a higher sphere of intelligence. Our duties are pointed
out and made known to us as fast as we are prepared for them. We have
the means whereby we can learn the will of God, line upon line,
precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, as fast as we
develop and grow up to the comprehension of higher truths; and in
every man's heart who walks in the w