Discourse by Elder John Taylor, delivered at the Semi Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Wednesday, October 7, 1874.

I am happy to have the opportunity of meeting with the brethren and to talk over the affairs pertaining to the kingdom of God in this Conference. We are engaged in a work in which all of us are interested, individually and collectively. It is a work that differs from any– thing else that exists at the present time on the face of the earth, and in many respects it differs from anything that ever has existed. I do not know that we are in any wise responsible for this, or for the position in which we find ourselves. The circumstances with which we are surrounded are not, particularly or specially, of our own making, nor the principles in which we believe. We have an abiding faith, as we heard referred to this morning, in certain principles which have emanated from the heavens; and we find ourselves on the earth at this particular time, in this peculiar dispensation, and engaged in a work that is dependent, I was going to say, altogether upon the Almighty, and which is part and parcel of that program which existed in his mind before the world rolled into existence.

There have been different dispensations existing in the various ages of time, as the purposes of God have rolled on in relation to this earth; all of them, more or less, partook of the same principles that have been revealed unto us, that is so far as the Gospel is concerned, but all of them more or less differing.

The first command given to man was to be fruitful, to multiply and replenish the earth; in other words, an earth had been created, and it was necessary, as it had been brought into existence and man placed upon it, that his seed should be propagated, that there might be bodies prepared for spirits to inhabit, that they together might accomplish certain purposes, in the designs of God, pertaining to the creation of the earth.

By and by we find the people departing from the principles of truth, from the laws of the Gospel, repudiating the fear of God, grieving his Holy Spirit and incurring his displeasure. Then a flood came and the inhabitants of the world, with the exception of a very few, were swept from it, after the Gospel had been preached to all who then lived and all had had an opportunity to believe in and obey it. A few of them did so and lived in the fear of God, and, according to the revela– tions which we have, they were translated and caught up, they had a separate existence from those who lived upon the earth, and occupied the position of translated beings and were necessarily governed by other laws than the denizens of the earth. This was one peculiarity of the dispensation before the flood. Then came the flood, which many people, unacquainted with things as they existed in the bosom of God and with his purposes and designs, consider was a great cruelty, an act of tyranny, evincing a spirit of outrage and oppression upon the inhabitants of the world. Skeptics reason in this manner sometimes, the only reason of their caviling being that they do not understand God or his laws and designs in relation to the earth and the inhabitants that live upon it, and being ignorant of these things they are not competent judges as to the fitness of things generally, and the course pursued by the Almighty in relation to the inhabitants of the earth, hence they arrive at all kinds of foolish conclusions. The fact is there were certain ideas connected with the destruction of the world that were good, proper and merciful. Mankind had committed unto them certain powers, among which was the power to perpetuate their own species, of which they could not according to the laws of nature be deprived while living. And they had a certain agency of their own, which they could act upon, and the people who were destroyed in the flood had departed from the laws of God. Man has a dual being, not only a body or mortal tabernacle, but a spirit, and that spirit existed before he came here; and if men before the flood had been allowed to go on in their iniquities, and if, with every thought and imagination of their hearts, which were all unlawful and evil, they had been allowed to perpetuate that kind of existence, of course God would have had very little to do with the operations of the earth and the inhabitants thereof, it would therefore have been unjust to the spirits created by our Father in the eternal worlds to force them to come and inhabit the degenerated bodies which they must have received from such characters as the generation drowned in the flood; and hence God took away their agency by destroying them from the face of the earth, because they were prostituting their powers to an improper use and not only injuring themselves by defying the law of God, but also inflicting an evil upon unborn generations by perverting their own existence and by their powers of procreation entailing misery upon millions of spirits that had a just right to look for protection from their Father. The Almighty therefore took this awful method to redress this aggravated wrong and he had a right to do it. Why, our stockraisers act upon that principle a good deal. I was talking to one of them a little while ago who had a large flock of sheep, and he told me that he had got some better stock, and was going to kill off the poor ones in order that he might raise only good stock and a better breed than he then had. I suppose that God had as much right to do this as sheep raisers and cattle raisers have, and thus by cutting off that wicked generation from the earth he deprived them of the privilege of propagating their own species. And what then? Oh, they were all damned. No, they were not quite, yes they were in part and partly not. God understands all these things and manages matters according to the counsel of his will, and hence he provided a way whereby the people who were then drowned, who would not listen to God’s law and who had departed entirely from the precepts of Jehovah, might hereafter have a chance of obeying the laws of life and salvation. Well, were they not all tee-totally doomed to go and be roasted in flames forever and ever. Not quite; for we read that Jesus, when he was put to death in the flesh, was quickened in the spirit, by which he went and preached to the spirits in prison that sometime were disobedient in the days of Noah, when once the long-suffering of God waited upon them in those days. Hence we see that instead of being eternally damned, Jesus went to preach the Gospel of life and salvation to those whom God, in the days of Noah, swept off by the flood, in order that he might introduce another state of things, and try to raise up a people who would listen to his laws and obey his precepts.

The Scriptures say that Jesus went and preached to the spirits in prison, the same as he had preached to others on the earth. What did he preach? Do the Scriptures say what he came to preach? Yes, they say “he came to preach the Gospel to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to set at liberty those who were bound, and to open the prison doors to the captive.” That is what he came to do, and he did it.

We are not connected with a something that will exist only for a few years, some of the peculiar ideas and dogmas of men, some nice theory of their forming; the principles that we believe in reach back into eternity, they originated with the Gods in the eternal worlds, and they reach forward to the eternities that are to come. We feel that we are operating with God in connection with those who were, with those who are, and with those who are to come.

We find that after the days of Noah an order was introduced called the patriarchal order, in which every man managed his own family affairs, and prominent men among them were kings and priests unto God, and officiated in what is known among us as the Priesthood of the Son of God, or the Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek. Man began again to multiply on the face of the earth, and the heads of families became their kings and priests, that is, the fathers of their own people, and they were more or less under the influence and guidance of the Almighty. We read, for instance, in our revelations pertaining to these matters, of a man called Melchizedek, who was a great high priest. We are told that “there were a great many high priests in his day, and before him and after him;” and these men had communication with God, and were taught of him in relation to their general proceedings, and acknowledged the hand of God in all things with which they were associated. Noah and his descendants for a length of time, did that which was right in the sight of God to a very great extent, but by and by they departed from his law, and Abraham was raised up as a special agent in the hand of the Almighty to disseminate correct principles among the people, and as a medium through which God would communicate intelligence and blessings to the human family. He went through a very rigid course of discipline, and was tried in almost every possible way, until, finally, he was called upon to offer up his son; and then, when he attempted to do that, and the Lord had fully proved him, the Lord said—“I know that Abraham fears me, that, he has not withheld his only son from me, and I know that he will command his children after him to fear my name.” After God had tried Abraham, he took him on to a mountain and said unto him—“Lift up thine eyes eastward and westward, and southward and northward, for to thee and thy seed after thee will I give this land; and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” That was a great blessing, and it placed Abraham in a most prominent and important position before God, before the people, and before the world. Now, although God made that promise unto Abraham, yet Stephen, who lived some two thousand years afterwards, said that “God gave him none inheritance in that land, no not so much as to set his foot on, yet he promised that he would give it to him and to his seed after him.” There was something peculiar about all these men—being in possession of the everlasting Priesthood, which is without beginning of days or end of years, they measured things with the eye of the Almighty, by the principle of faith, by the knowledge and intuition which the Spirit of God gave them, and the revelations which it imparted, and they felt like one of old who said—“When a man dies shall he live again? All the days of my life to my appointed time will I wait until the change come.” Inspired by the Spirit of the living God, in possession of the principles of revelation, holding the keys of the everlasting Priesthood, which unlocked the mysteries of the kingdom of God, they looked forward and backward, and felt that they were a part of the great program which God designed to accomplish in regard to the earth. It was not for the immediate possession of some temporary good; not for the grasping of something that they could hold for the time being that they were anxious; but they were after riches, exaltations, glory and blessings that would continue “while life or thought or being lasts or immortality endures.”

From the loins of Abraham a great many great Prophets, seers, revelators, men of God, kings, princes and authorities descended; and they raised up a nation that was powerful in its day and generation. But they, like others, finally departed from the laws of God and from the principles of eternal truth, and then the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood was withdrawn from them, and the law was added because of transgression, and although they became a numerous, great, wealthy, wise and intelligent people, yet they lost for a long time the power, intelligence, life and light of revelation which the Gospel imparts.

Then came the time when Jesus appeared on the earth. He was “a lamb slain from before the foundation of the world,” and he came to accomplish things which had been planned by the Almighty before the world was. He was the Being to whom the antediluvians, and Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob, and the Prophets, Patriarchs and those who were filled with the Spirit of God and the light of revelation referred to, and to whom they looked; to him pointed all their sacrifices and the shedding of the blood of bulls and goats, heifers, lambs, &c. Jesus introduced the Gospel, and if the people would have received and obeyed the principles which he taught, the kingdom of God would have been established, the dispensation of the fullness of times brought in, and in the Temple at Jerusalem the baptisms for the dead would have gone on, and the redemption of the living and the dead would have proceeded. But the people could not receive the teachings of Jesus. Here was a dis– pensation different from any of the others.

There was an Elias to come, who was to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers, and the hearts of the fathers to the children; and when it was asked Jesus—“Art thou the Elias which was to come, or do we look for another?” it was told them, “This is he if ye can receive it.” But they could not, and consequently they beheaded John the Baptist and crucified Jesus, and it was declared that not one stone of their magnificent Temple should be left upon another without being thrown down, which was literally fulfilled, and the ground upon which it stood was ploughed over. Jesus told his disciples that when they saw “Jerusalem encompassed about with armies they were to flee to the mountains.” One of the Prophets, in speaking of the affairs that were then to take place, said that a certain power should arise which should make war with and prevail against the Saints, and that that power should seek to change the times and the laws, and that they should be given into his hand, for a time, and times and the dividing of times. Very well, these things have taken place.

We now turn our attention to this continent, and find that God transplanted a people who were of the seed of Abraham, from Palestine to this continent. Here they passed through all kinds of vicissitudes and changes, sometimes abounding in iniquity and vice, at other times full of virtue; sometimes they acknowledged the hand of God, and at other times disregarded it; sometimes they were chastened by the Almighty, and at other times permitted to go on in their iniquities. At one time there was a people on this continent who lived for nearly two hundred years in the fear of God, under the direction of his spirit, governed by the laws of the Gospel, and they had all things common among them, and we are informed that there never was a more united, happy and prosperous people upon the face of the earth.

These are some of the changes that have taken place here. And now, we are living in another age and under other circumstances. The world is waxing old; myriads of people have lived upon it, generation after generation have come and gone, some good, some bad, some very wicked, some very righteous; some pure and holy, others to the contrary, embracing every kind, and all the peculiar phases that have been developed by the human family. They have come into existence and they have died, and what of them? What of the good and what of the bad? What of the righteous and what of the unrighteous? What of their standing before God, and what of the nations that have existed, that do exist and that will exist? These are things, which, as intelligent, immortal beings, demand our consideration. And what of us as part of them? We need to reflect, and it is proper that we should understand something in relation to these things. We have our part to perform. We find ourselves in the world in this day and age, which is that which was spoken of by Paul—“the dispensation of the fulness of times, when God would gather together all things in one, whether they be things in the heavens or things on the earth.” There is something very remarkable, very peculiar in that expression. What the gathering is in the heavens it is not for us to say at the present time; what the gathering is on the earth we have some little idea of from the things with which we are associated. There is a peculiarity about it. As I said before, we find ourselves living in this day, and we are called upon to perform a certain work in connection with the economy and designs of God pertaining to the earth we live on, pertaining to ourselves, to our progenitors and to the whole human family that have existed upon the face of the earth. We are here to do a certain work which God has set us to do, and, as I have said, we have had very little to do in bringing about the matter. We did not originate it. We talk sometimes about Joseph Smith, he did not originate it. He told us about a great many things that we talk about, and unfolded many principles unto us. But how did he know them? God called him and set him apart as he called Noah in his day, and as he called Enoch, Abraham and Moses in their day, and as he called the Prophets and Jesus in their day, as he called Nephi, Lehi, Moroni and Alma in their day upon this continent. He has called us, and has introduced to our view certain principles, and we have been learning these principles gradually. The first thing was to get baptized, a very simple affair, a very little thing, nevertheless it was an ordinance of God, he appointed it, and we went and were baptized. Then we had hands laid upon us for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and we partook more or less of its influence, according to our faithfulness and diligence in keeping the commandments of God.

We had not anything to do with originating this work; neither had Joseph Smith, neither had Oliver Cowdery, nor Brigham Young, nor any of the Twelve, nor the first Council, nor the Bishops, nor any other man living. God has his work to perform, and at the proper time and in his own way he will fulfill his own purposes and build up his kingdom. He commenced it at his own time, and he called Joseph Smith and gave him revelation. He told him about the ancient history of the people of this continent and enabled him to translate it, he gave him a key to all these things. He could not have done it without any more than you or I could. He was indebted to God, just as much as you and I are, and so were his brethren who were with him. Joseph Smith had many revelations, but who gave them to him, by what spirit and intelligence were they unfolded and communicated to his mind? God revealed them to him, he obeyed the behests of Jehovah. When God called him and set him apart he was obedient, just the same as you and I were. When the Elders of Israel came forth to preach the everlasting Gospel we obeyed it and, through obedience, we obtained the Spirit of God, and that brought us into the position which we occupy at the present time.

And now about the gathering, who understood anything about it? The ancient Prophets prophesied about it, but what did we know about it, or what do the world today know about it? Nothing, only as it has been revealed. If God had not revealed it we should have been as ignorant as the rest of mankind are. And so we should about our sealings, and the covenants that men and women make with one another, that the fools around us do not comprehend; they think we are fools, but we know they are; that is the difference between us. We know they are ignorant, brutish, foolish and know not God nor his laws, nor the principles of truth; but we know something about these things, because God has revealed them to us.

We heard this morning that this was a time in which to build Tem– ples, and you know that we are now engaged in a work of that kind. Why are we thus engaged? Is it for our sakes only? God forbid. The Gospel that we preach is not for ourselves only. We have not preached it these many years that we might make money by it. I have traveled a great many thousands of miles to preach this Gospel without purse and without scrip, and I see many men around and before me who have done the same thing. Was it for ourselves? No. Was it because it was pleasant? No, but God had revealed certain principles to us pertaining to the salvation of the world in which we live; he had committed a dispensation of the Gospel to us, and it was woe unto us if we preached not that Gospel, whether we liked it or not. But we did like it, and we went forth in the name of Israel’s God, and God went with us and sanctioned our testimony by his Spirit, and by the gift of the Holy Ghost. We could not have done these things or I will acknowledge that I could not, neither could any of my brethren, unless God had been with us, we had not sufficient faith and intelligence; but God imparted his Spirit, his intelligence and the gift of the Holy Ghost to the Elders of Israel, and they went forth bearing precious seed, the seed of eternal life, and they came again rejoicing and bringing their sheaves with them, and here they are gathered into the garner. What for? For ourselves? No, we are, or ought to be co-workers with God in the accomplishment of his purposes in relation to the world in which we live, and people that have lived before us, and those that shall come after us. The principles which we are in possession of emanated from God. The Priesthood which God has revealed emanated and originated with the Gods in the eternal worlds; it is the principle by which they are governed and by which God governs all things which exist, and we, as the servants of God, acknowledge the hand of God in all these things. Can I preach, do I have any intelligence? God imparted it. Can my brethren preach? have they intelligence? God imparted it. Did Joseph Smith or Brigham Young have intelligence? God imparted it. Have we been delivered at various times, and has the hand of God been manifested in our behalf? Yes, or we could not have been here today, the powers of darkness would have prevailed against us, the enemies of Zion would have put their feet upon our necks, and would have trampled us to the dust of death long ago. We talk about the intelligence that has been manifested in connection with this work. Where did it come from? It came from God. As you heard this morning, God, in answer to the prayers of thousands, has inspired his servants and has given them intelligence to carry on his work, and it has been carried on under the influence, guidance and direction of the Spirit of God. Without that none of us could have done anything more than the rest of mankind. Who led us? God. Who has sustained us here? God, and who will continue to sustain us? The Almighty. These fools who think they can trample under foot the servants of God, and overthrow the kingdom of God are reckoning without their host, they are pushing against the buckler of the Great Jehovah, and they will find that he will put a hook into their nose and lead them in a path they know not of. Israel will rise and shine, and the power of God will rest upon his people, and the work that he has commenced will roll forth “until the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and his Christ, and he shall rule for ever and ever.” The purposes of God are not going to be thwarted by the folly, vanity and ignorance of men; and as we had very little to do with introducing these things, we have really very little to do with carrying them on. Somebody was speaking this morning, in reference to certain men who thought that, if they left the Church, the work would not go on; that is perfectly ridiculous. There are certain things that have to be accomplished in the economy of God, and no man or combination of men can stop them, no influence that the world can exert can hinder them, for God is at the helm, and he will roll forth his own work. Hear it, you men of the world, you cannot go further than God will let you, any more than the Latter-day Saints can. It is in God’s work that we are engaged. There is nothing really selfish about our operations when we come right down to the bottom of the work; for we are all engaged with God, and with the spirits of just men made perfect, and with the Priesthood that have existed before us, and with the intelligences that surround the throne of God; with all these intelligences we are united in the grand work of rolling forth the designs and purposes of God. You do not have the Latter-day Saints only to fight against, but you have to fight all the just and good who have lived and died on the earth, and who live again; and besides these you have to fight with God and his angels and the intelligences who surround his throne.

As Latter-day Saints, we are sometimes apt to think that we must look after ourselves individually. We are a good deal like the man who, when praying, said—“God bless me and my wife, my son John and his wife, us four and no more, amen.” There was no philanthropy, benevolence or kind feeling towards the rest of mankind there, and too many of us feel a good deal in the same way. As Latter-day Saints we ought to feel—and when we feel right we shall feel—that we are the representatives of God upon the earth, that we are engaged in building up his kingdom; that we are living in an age when God designs to accomplish certain purposes, and we are desirous of cooperating with him in that labor, and it is our mission to help to save the living, to redeem the dead and to bring to pass the things spoken of by the Prophets. This is the position that we occupy, and a great many things have yet to be introduced before these things can be accomplished.

We are commencing to build Temples, and hence, as I said before, our dispensation differs from others which have preceded it. It is kind of a time for settling up accounts. You know when a man goes to work on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, he keeps account of what he does, and when Saturday comes it is a kind of settling-up day. It is so with us, it is so with the world, our day is a kind of settling-up day. The Elders have been forth and gathered together a few of the people to whom they have preached; others are gathering, and now we, at home here, are engaged in building Temples. What for, for ourselves? Yes. For somebody else? Yes. For our friends who have lived? Yes. For other people’s friends who have lived? Yes, and to feel after all nations who have lived, for we are interested in the welfare of all the peoples who have ever existed on this earth, and like God, we are feeling after them with a fatherly, kind, generous and philanthropic feeling. That is why we are building our Temples, that is why men are called upon to labor upon these Temples, for we desire to enter therein and to officiate and administer for the living and the dead.

“Well, but it takes a little money.” Oh, does it? Never mind, the gold and the silver are the Lord’s, the cattle on a thousand hills are his, and we shall get a little of his gold and silver, and in using it in building temples to the name of the Lord we are taken into partnership with him, we unite with God, and with the angels, and with the spirits of just men made perfect, with the priesthood that existed anciently and with the Gods. We all unite together for the accomplishment of God’s purposes, and we will feel after the inhabitants of the earth. If people are foolish around us we cannot help that; let them go on and exhibit their folly, God will take care of us, he is as much interested about us as we are, and a good deal more, and he is as much concerned about the rolling forth of this work as we are, and a good deal more. The ancient Nephites who lived on the earth, those men of God who, through faith, wrought righteousness, accomplished a good work and obtained exaltation, are as much interested in the welfare of their descendants as we are, and a good deal more; and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and those ancient men of God who once lived on the earth, and who yet live, are as much interested in the accomplishment of God’s purposes as we are, and a good deal more. Well, then, what have we to do? Why to fulfill the duties devolving upon us as they come along day by day, and to introduce every principle that is calculated to save the living and redeem the dead. We are not alone in these things, others are operating with us, I mean all the men of God who ever lived, and they are as much interested as we are, and a good deal more, for they know more, and “they without us cannot be made perfect,” neither can we be perfected without them. We are building temples for them and for their posterity, and we are going to operate in these temples, as we have done heretofore, for their welfare and for the welfare of their posterity. And then they are operating for us behind the veil with God and the intelligences which surround his throne; and there is a combination of earthly beings and of heavenly beings, all under the influence of the same priesthood, which is an everlasting priesthood, and whose administrations are effective in time and in eternity. We are all operating together, to bring about the same things and to accomplish the same purposes.

Well then, what shall we do? We will build the temples. And don’t you think we shall feel a little better while we are doing it? I think we shall, for while we are so doing we shall have the approbation of God our Heavenly Father, and of all good men who have ever lived, and we may need this by and by when we get through this world. These Gentiles do not need anything of this kind, they are all going to heaven anyhow; but we want to make friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when we fail they may receive us into everlasting habitations. I want friends behind the veil. I want to be the friend of God and God to be my friend; I want to help to roll forth the Kingdom of God and to build up the Zion of the Most High, and I want to see my brethren engaged in the same work, and we will do it. In the name of Israel’s God we will do it.

We talk about the Order sometimes, well, we will do that too. What, would you? Yes, to be sure I would, or anything else that God wants of me. I am on hand, that is my feeling about these things. Well, but is there not a good many weaknesses to see? I think there is, don’t you think there is about you? Just examine yourselves and then answer the question whether you have not a good many weaknesses. I think there are a great many things among us that we ought to be ashamed of. We are covetous, grasping and grinding; there is not enough human sympathy, brotherhood and kindly feeling among us. Every man in Zion ought to feel that in every other he has a brother and a friend, and not a ravenous character who would grasp everything that he has and grind him to the dust of the earth. I want liberality, generosity, kindness and the love of God within us, and flowing around us like wells of water springing up unto everlasting life. These are the principles by which we ought to be actuated and governed. Let the potsherds of the earth strive with the potsherds of the earth, God will take care of his own affairs and manage them his own way. Zion is onward, her progress cannot and will not be retarded, I will prophesy it in the name of Israel’s God. It is onward, onward, onward, until the purposes of God shall be accomplished, until the towers of Zion shall arise, until her temples shall be built, until the living shall be saved, until the dead shall be redeemed, and until “the knowledge of God shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.”

Let us, then, cleave to righteousness and truth, lay aside our folly, vanity and nonsense, our egotism, ignorance and covetousness and everything that is wicked, sinful, narrow and contracted, and let us feel that we are servants of God, engaged in rolling forth his kingdom and accomplishing his purposes upon the earth.

May God help us to be faithful, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Remarks by President George A. Smith, delivered at the Semi-Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Tuesday Morning, October 6, 1874.

The present occasion, a Semi-annual Conference, is one which, in the history that we are making, is marked with more than ordinary importance. I always feel thankful to be permitted to meet the faces and greet the countenances of the brethren and sisters from the different parts of the Territory and elsewhere, who assemble at these Conferences; and I feel it important that, in doing so, we should lay aside the ordinary business transactions of life, and try and compare notes with ourselves as to our actual progress in the things of the kingdom. We have received the first principles of the Gospel, and we have started in their observance; and in doing so we have become obligated by our personal agreements, and covenants in the waters of baptism, and in the ordinances which pertain to the Gospel, to live in accordance with those principles which are revealed. In pursuing our daily avocations we become mixed up, more or less, with the world; we are called to battle with the world, and we have exhibitions from time to time of the weaknesses of human nature. I remember very well in the days of Kirtland, hearing men testify that they knew this was the work of God, and that they had seen visions of the armies of heaven and the horsemen thereof, as did Gehazi, the servant of the Prophet, and then, in consequence of the failure of a bank, or because some business transaction did not come out in accordance with their expectations or desires, they would apostatize and come to the conclusion that they never knew anything about it, and become infidels. This shows the weakness to which some individuals have been subject. I also remember, in the great apostasy which took place in Kirtland, that those who apostatized considered that all the talent of the Church had left it, and yet the work rolled right along, and, so far as they were concerned, they were never missed, and were soon forgotten, and nobody could tell where they went to. I have occasionally met them twenty or thirty years afterwards, and could hardly tell where they dropped out, their disappearance made no ripple. The facts are, brethren, that the work of the Lord does not depend upon us. If we go into darkness, if we let our hearts be filled with covetousness or corruption, or give way to licentiousness, drunkenness, Sabbath breaking, unbelief, or any crime that corrodes our system or organization, so that our tabernacles become unfit for the holy Spirit to dwell in, it will withdraw from us, and the light that is in us becomes darkened, and that darkness is so great that we grope as a blind man and wander hither and thither, and those who suffer themselves to be led by these blind men fall into the ditch with them, but the work rolls right along.

Now, we assemble here, and we want to review our conduct and our characters before the Lord. It is one of the weaknesses of human nature to sit in judgment on others, but on the present occasion we should bring ourselves to account, one and all, and determine whether we are living in accordance with the principles of the holy Gospel that we have received. I recollect hearing once that Satan had invented for men a certain kind of leather spectacles which, when a man looked at his own sins, made them look very small, and when he looked at his own righteous acts, made them look very large; when he looked at his neighbor’s sins they seemed very large, and when he looked at his neighbor’s righteous acts they appeared very small. Spectacles of this kind should be avoided, and we should be very careful when we are examining ourselves that we do not get them on, as well as when we examine our neighbors.

The first step, then, in relation to the business of this Conference, is to preach the principles of repentance and reformation. We should question ourselves, and determine whether we have suffered ourselves, with the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, the desire of gain, or from any other cause, to become darkened in our minds. There are many false spirits gone out into the world, and when Joseph Smith communicated the keys of the Priesthood to the servants of the Lord, he gave them the power to try these spirits, and this power was given to the Church, and no man need be led astray only as he suffers himself to lose the Holy Spirit, which is the result of sin, wickedness, neglect or transgression.

In addition to this general reformation which we wish to impress upon the minds of our brethren and sisters at the opening of the Conference, we want to take such steps as will be for the temporal and spiritual welfare of the Saints. The changes which have transpired in the world show us how uncertain a tenure our business arrangements are placed upon. From the time that the revelation was given to the Saints, commanding them to let the beauty of their gar– ments be the workmanship of their own hands, to the present time, that doctrine has been preached, and yet, it now seems more necessary than ever that, in all our settlements and associations, we should organize and take such measures as will enable us to provide, within ourselves as far as possible, the articles which we need. It is our duty to ourselves and to our God to unite our interests in such a manner that we can produce what we need within ourselves, without being hewers of wood and drawers of water to strangers. We have made a good deal of progress in this direction, as we can see by the numbers of people who come here clothed in the manufacture of their own factories or looms. Still there is room for further progress in this direction, and during the Conference instructions will be given as may be considered necessary to aid us in facilitating the work of manufacturing our own wool, leather, shoes, hats and every other article of domestic necessity, just as far as our country will admit.

We are always commanded, so says the revelation contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, given on the 19th of January, 1844, to build Temples to the holy name of our Father in heaven. We are now engaged in this work; we are building a Temple in this city and one in St. George; and if any of you ever cast an eye at the beautiful foundation that is now raised up here by the Tithes and offerings of the brethren, you can but rejoice in the idea that we are building, to the name of our Father, an edifice creditable to the work for which it is designed. We wish our brethren and sisters to remember this. It has been counseled and advised by our President, and by those in authority, that it would be a wise thing for every person in the Church to contribute a monthly donation of a half dollar in money for the Temple, that their names may be put in the book of the law of the Lord, that old and young among the Latter-day Saints may feel an interest in this matter, that on their fast days they may make this contribution to aid in supplying the necessary means to the workmen that cannot be procured without money, and the necessary materials to facilitate the work. If anybody will go and examine that foundation, and the granite blocks that are lying around, and consider the expense of quarrying them and bringing them here, and of cutting them and fitting them in that foundation, they will realize that the brethren have been very industrious, and that a great work has been done, for such edifices are not erected without great labor, time and expense. We therefore desire the brethren to take into consideration, during the Conference, such subjects as pertain to the advancement of these Temples. We also wish, during the Conference, to call the attention of the brethren to the propriety of some two or three hundred hands from different parts of the northern settlements volunteering to go to St. George this winter to work on the Temple, making a donation of their labor. During last winter quite a number of the brethren went down from Sanpete and some of the neighboring counties, and put in about three months work, and during the entire winter there were only seven and a half days they could not lay stone on the Temple, and they were mostly rainy days. Those of us who have not got anything to employ us to advantage during the winter, can go down there and put in three or four months’ work on that Temple, in getting lumber, and hauling it, in quarrying rock, and in cutting and setting it; in making mortar, providing lime and hauling it, and in aiding in all the various departments of labor necessary. We can have the walls put up and get the timber ready for the roof during the winter, while we should be doing comparatively little at home. This is one item that I wish to have considered through the Conference.

There will be some missionaries called during Conference, whose duty it will be to preach the Gospel and defend the interests of Zion in the United States, Canada, and other parts of the world.

We would invite our brethren and sisters living in this neighborhood, as long as there are vacant seats here, to come and occupy them while the Elders shall give them instruction; and we ask every man and woman who fears the Lord to lift their hearts to him in prayer, that his blessing may rest upon the Elders, that President Young may be healed of his afflictions, and have health and strength to perform the duties of his calling, and that all the Elders who rise to speak may be filled with the power of the Holy Ghost, that we may be instructed, not from the mere natural wisdom of the individual, but by the inspiration of the Spirit of the Almighty, that our testimony, our knowledge of the Gospel, the principles of salvation as revealed unto us, may be inspired unto us by the power of the Almighty, that we may know for ourselves and not for another that we have received the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These are some of the items that will be spoken of during the Conference as the Spirit may direct, as well as other matters pertaining to Zion. You remember the revelation in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, given June 22, 1834, on Fishing River, Clay County, Mo. It says:

7. “And let all my people who dwell in the regions round about be very faithful, and prayerful, and humble before me, and reveal not the things which I have revealed unto them, until it is wisdom in me that they should be revealed. Talk not of judgments, neither boast of faith nor of mighty works, but carefully gather together, as much in one region as can be, consistently with the feelings of the people; And behold, I will give unto you favor and grace in their eyes, that you may rest in peace and safety, while you are saying unto the people: Execute judgment and justice for us according to law, and redress us of our wrongs.

8. “Now, behold, I say unto you, my friends, in this way you may find favor in the eyes of the people, until the army of Israel becomes very great. And I will soften the hearts of the people, as I did the heart of Pharaoh, from time to time, until my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and mine elders, whom I have appointed, shall have time to gather up the strength of my house, And to have sent wise men, to fulfill that which I have commanded concerning the purchasing of all the lands in Jackson county that can be purchased, and in the adjoining counties round about. For it is my will that these lands should be purchased; and after they are purchased that my Saints should possess them according to the laws of consecration which I have given. And after these lands are purchased, I will hold the armies of Israel guiltless in taking possession of their own lands, which they have previously purchased with their moneys, and of throwing down the towers of mine enemies that may be upon them, and scattering their watchmen, and avenging me of mine enemies unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.

9. “But first let my army become very great, and let it be sanctified before me, that it may become fair as the sun, and clear as the moon, and that her banners may be terrible unto all nations; That the kingdoms of this world may be constrained to acknowledge that the kingdom of Zion is in very deed the kingdom of our God and his Christ: therefore, let us become subject unto her laws.

10. “Verily I say unto you, it is expedient in me that the first elders of my church should receive their endowment from on high in my house, which I have commanded to be built unto my name in the land of Kirtland. And let those commandments which I have given concerning Zion and her law be executed and fulfilled, after her redemption. There has been a day of calling, but the time has come for a day of choosing; and let those be chosen that are worthy. And it shall be manifest unto my servant, by the voice of the Spirit, those that are chosen; and they shall be sanctified; And inasmuch as they follow the counsel which they receive, they shall have power after many days to accomplish all things pertaining to Zion.

11. “And again I say unto you, sue for peace, not only the people that have smitten you, but also to all people; And lift up an ensign of peace, and make a proclamation for peace unto the ends of the earth; And make proposals for peace unto those who have smitten you, according to the voice of the Spirit which is in you, and all things shall work together for your good. Therefore, be faithful; and behold, and lo, I am with you even unto the end. Even so. Amen.”

Let us consider these things and sanctify ourselves in all humility. God has preserved us from all our enemies for over forty years since this revelation was given, and we occupy many cities, towns and settlements, and should improve in all the goodly graces of the Gospel preparatory to the great work still before us, for the promises of God are true and will not fail.

Oliver Cowdery, previous to his apostasy said to President Joseph Smith: “If I should leave the Church it would break up.” Joseph said to Oliver—“What, who are you? The Lord is not dependent upon you, the work will roll forth do what you will.” Oliver left the Church, and was gone about ten years; then he came back again, to a branch of the Church in meeting on Mosquito Creek, in Pottawattamie County, Iowa. The body of the Church had come off here to the west, but there was still remaining there a branch of about fifteen hundred or two thousand people, and when he came there he bore his testimony to the truth of the Book of Mormon and the divine mission of the Twelve Apostles, and asked to be received into the Church again, and said that he had never seen in all his life so large a congregation of Saints as the one then assembled. We loved to hear brother Oliver testify, we were pleased with his witness, but when he passed off and went among our enemies he was forgotten, and the work rolled steadily along step by step, so that, ten years after, when he came back to an outside branch, he expressed his astonishment at seeing such a vast body of Saints. Some men in their hours of darkness may feel—I have heard of men feeling so—that the work is about done, that the enemies of the Saints have become so powerful, and bring such vast wealth and energy to bear against them that we are all going to be crushed out pretty soon. I will say to such brethren, it is very bad policy for you, because you think the old ship Zion is going to sink, to jump overboard, for if you jump overboard you are gone anyhow, and the old ship Zion will ride triumphantly through all the storms, and everybody who proves unworthy to remain on board of her and jumps overboard will repent of it when it is too late, as many have done already.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is true, and the Lord has revealed this work. It has been said—“Oh what vast, what wonderful ability Brigham Young has possessed to do what has been done!” The fact in the case is, it is the Lord who has done it. He has guided and directed and has done the work, and his servants who have labored in it, have only been instruments in his hands, he has given them all the ability, wisdom and knowledge which have been manifested; and the same God has the power to still guide, control, instruct and uphold, and he will do so. Those who fall into darkness, error, folly and wickedness simply lose their position; but they who endure to the end the same will be saved. The great work which has been commenced in these last days will continue until, by and by, when the Lord sees fit, he will come to his Temple and will receive his Saints as his own.

Let us then devote our time and attention for a few days to receiving instruction and counsel, that we may have our hearts comforted and renew our testimony, for I can assure you, as the Lord God of hosts lives, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true, and all of us who fall into darkness and go astray will be the losers. Zion will ride triumphant, which may God grant for Jesus’ sake, Amen.

Discourse by Elder Brigham Young, Jun., delivered at the Semi-Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Tuesday Morning, October 6, 1874.

I have a testimony also to offer to my brethren and sisters. It is a great thing, in my estimation, to know God and his Son, to know that God has established the kingdom of the latter days, and to realize that there are men upon the earth, who are capable, through the revela– tions of Almighty God, to teach the people the way of life, to point out to them the path by which they may regain the presence of their Father and God. Such is the testimony I have had, such a testimony I have at the present time. I am aware that to some it seems incredible, and that in their ears it sounds preposterous to utter such words, and especially does it seem so to those who consider that they are living in the blaze of the Christian religion, for the large majority of that class of people will not for a moment entertain the idea that God will ever again speak to men upon the earth, or inspire them as he did anciently. They believe the day as gone by when such things can be, and that, having the Bible in their possession, it is no more necessary for God to make known his will to man. I am aware that the Christian world view it in this light, but I cannot help that, I am not responsible for them, nor they for me. I stand for myself and am supported by the evidence which I have received from Almighty God. If they can testify to me that the Christian religion is true, I can, in turn, testify to them that God has revealed himself, that he has again spoken to men upon the earth, and that they hear his voice just as much as Isaiah, Ezekiel or any of the Prophets of ancient days. This is my testimony, and I know it to be true. By the same Spirit that revealed unto Peter his Lord and Savior I know that Jesus is the Christ. This has not become knowledge with me through the testimony of others alone. I sought and received that testimony for myself. Said Jesus unto Peter, “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven;” and I testify to you this day, that that same God has revealed unto me that these things are true, that this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that this people represent the kingdom of God which Daniel and others of the ancient Prophets said should be established upon the earth in the latter days. That is the testimony which I have to offer here this morning. If I stood alone in this matter, and there was no other person who could bear the same testimony perhaps people would be justified in disbelieving me, that is, if I gave them no evidence of the truth of my words; but when the proof is positive and the evidences incontrovertible; when there are scores of thousands of people gathered from as well as scattered through the nations of the earth who can rise as one person and bear this testimony, the nations of the earth will be condemned if they reject it.

It is true that Joseph Smith was an unsupported witness in some respects of the Gospel which he had to reveal unto the human family. He came forth a boy, alone; his testimony was given to the world, and God, in his wonderful providences, fulfilled the words of that boy, and others were induced to believe what he told them. He told the people that if they would obey the will of the Father, if they would repent of their sins, be baptized for the remission of them and have hands laid upon them for the reception of the Holy Ghost, they should receive it, and it should be a witness unto them that his words were true and faithful.

Have the words of Joseph Smith been fulfilled in this and in other respects? I answer yes. He bore this mission unto the people, and it, with its promises, came to me, and I obeyed it, doing as I was told in order that I might obtain the evidences of the Holy Spirit. Did I obtain them? Yes I did; and here is a congregation before me, the repre– sentatives of a great people, who can bear witness with me this day that the words of Joseph the Prophet were true and faithful to this generation. Our testimony is not unsupported, for I have gone forth into the midst of the nations of the earth, and have stood before strangers and have said unto them—“If you desire the knowledge that the Prophets who were with Jesus on the earth possessed, if you will do those things which have been commanded you shall know of the doctrine whether I speak of myself, or of God who sent me.” I have borne this testimony hundreds of times to the nations of the earth, because I was sent forth to do it, and I had a testimony that it was my mission to testify of these things. What has been the result of the Elders going to the nations of the earth and bearing this testimony? We see before us a mighty people gathered in these mountains. There is scarcely an adult who has been gathered here who came with any other purpose but to build up the kingdom of God, because of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit which he or she received through obedience to the words which were declared unto them. If any have gathered here with any other purpose they are not in this Church or if they are they will not remain in it very long. This people have gathered here by scores of thousands, cannot those who are not of us put their prejudices to one side for a moment and take a fair and impartial view of the circumstances which surround us? Cannot the world look upon the Latter-day Saints and ask themselves—“Is it possible for men to make these promises, and yet be impostors and deceive the people to the extent they have?” Have the Elders deceived the people? It looks to me like folly in the extreme for people to entertain such an idea. Have we deceived the people? No sirs, we have not. Were those words false which were uttered by the Elders when they called upon the people to repent? No. The people verily received that testimony of the truth of this work by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost which was promised them by the Elders, and that is the reason why so many have gathered to these mountains.

But the majority of people now are like the Jews when they arraigned Jesus—they want a miracle. “Then did they spit in his face and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, who is he that smote thee.” That is exactly the same spirit that prevails now—“If you Latter-day Saints have the blessings and gifts you talk of, why don’t you rise up in power? Why does not God come out of his hiding place and preserve you from your enemies?” I can testify today that he has done so. From my earliest recollections I have been wandering with this people. I have been with them when driven before their enemies, with my father and his family in their persecutions, and I know, as I know that I live, that God has stretched out his hand and preserved this people when nothing but his providences could have saved them.

Who are they who smite this people? Are they righteous men, men who are seeking to benefit the human family? Are they men who are turning their whole attention to benefit their fellow men, or building up principles of righteousness and truth, to sustain the poor, and to gather them from the nations of the earth to a land where they can possess those comforts and blessings which should surround the sons and daughters of our God? No, they do not busy themselves about such things as these, they have business on hand, which they think is more important; they have the Latter-day Saints to persecute. They do not have time to turn their attention, nor their minds to such trifles as bringing the poor from the nations of the earth or developing the resources of this great country. They have no time for this, they have a far greater work on hand, opposing the progress of this people and the fulfillment of the prophecies of men of God who have lived upon this earth. That is the view I take of it from my standpoint. Of course I do not expect others, outside of the Church, to look at it as I do. But this people are engaged in what? First, at the present time, in defending themselves, trying to secure their lives and property from men who are seeking to deprive them of both; they are also continuing their efforts to bring the downtrodden of Europe and every other nation, to this land of America, where they can enjoy freedom and religious liberty, and have a home and not be servants of those who are more wealthy than themselves. This people are expending millions of dollars to gather the poor from the nations of the earth that they, with us, may enjoy the blessings of religious liberty, and the blessings of this free land.

Why don’t these men who are persecuting us, and all the time telling how mean and contemptible we are as a people turn their attention, not to our sins, but to their own shortcomings, and pick the beam out of their own eyes before attending to the mote in ours, and then try and do something to ameliorate the condition of the human family? These are simply my views on this subject, and I would to God that every man in this great nation would do right himself and not seek to persecute his neighbors because he thinks they are doing wrong! A man might do a thing in which, according to his conscience, he would be perfectly justified, but from my standpoint it would be very wicked. A heathen might be justified in doing that which I should consider a great crime. Shall I go to work and persecute an individual that does not see exactly as I see? Should I be justified in doing this? No. If I see a person in the wrong I am justified in going to him and trying to teach him the principles of the Gospel which I find contained in the Bible, and which God has revealed to the human family for their salvation; in other words, I should be justified in trying to lead him in what I believe to be the path of righteousness, but I should not be justified in trying to drive him.

Is this the course that is being pursued with us? By no means. The spirit manifested towards us continually is—“If you don’t do as we say we will force you.” Nobody comes here to persuade us, their object is to compel us to bow to their wishes. They wish to make us forsake that which we revere and consider holy, simply because they despise it, and deride it as something that ought to be put down by force. It is not a Christian spirit that induces persecution, not at all. Why not take the example of Jesus, whom they profess to worship? If this people are wrong, convince them of their error. “Oh,” say they, “we can’t do it.” It is like the King of Denmark, Frederick the Seventh, if I mistake not. The Priests complained to him and said that they could not put down the Latter-day Saints, and that they were proselyting in spite of all they could do. Said the King—“Why don’t you take the Bible, and confound them and let the people see their errors?” The Priests said—“We have tried that, but have not succeeded, they have more arguments in the Bible than we have.” “Well,” said the King, “I think yours is the poorest religion of the two, I will let the Latter-day Saints go on, and shall not interfere with them.” I would like this position to be taken by those in this nation who are opposed to us. But they will not assume this position, for we can correct them with the Scriptures of divine truth. Why do they not use the word of God in their operations against us, instead of the carnal weapons which they happen to have because they belong to a certain party? Why not imitate the example of Jesus and try and persuade us if we are in the wrong, and put us in the right. We desire to be saved; it is salvation we hope for. It is the desire for salvation in the kingdom of God that prompts me to say these things; and as long as God shows to me that I am right, as long as I have an approving conscience before Him in carrying out the doctrines which I believe in, so long, with the help of God, will I advocate them, let the issue be what it may. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, September 20, 1874.

I will read the 3rd and 4th verses of the 29th chapter of Isaiah:

“And I will camp against thee round about, and I will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.

“And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.”

[The speaker also read the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 18th verses of the same chapter.]

It will be forty-seven years the day after tomorrow since the plates, from which the Book of Mormon was translated, were obtained by the Prophet Joseph Smith, and as there may be persons in this assembly who are unacquainted with the circumstances of the finding of this book, I will relate some circumstances in relation to the beginning of this great and marvelous work.

Joseph Smith, generally known in the world as “Old Joe Smith,” was a boy about fourteen years of age at the time the Lord first revealed himself in a very marvelous manner to him. The circumstances were these: This boy, in attending religious meetings that were held in his neighborhood, seemed to be wrought upon in a very wonderful manner, and he felt great concern in relation to the salvation of his soul. Many young people were wrought upon by the same spirit, and they commenced seeking the Lord, and professed to be converted. Among this number were several of the Smith family, who united themselves with the Presbyterians. During the progress of this revival a sort of rivalry sprang up among the various denominations, and each one seemed determined to obtain as many of the converts as possible, and have them unite with his particular religious order. This boy, Joseph Smith, was solicited and advised to unite himself with some of the religious denominations in that vicinity, but being of a reflecting turn of mind, he inquired in his own heart which among these several religious bodies was right. I presume that many of you, at some period of your existence, have been wrought upon in the same manner, because you have been anxious to join yourselves to the true church of God, if you could only find which was God’s church. It was not, therefore, at all strange that this young man should have these ideas passing through his mind; but how to satisfy himself he did not know. If he went to one denomination they would say, “We are right, and the others are wrong,” and so said all the others. Like most boys of his age, Joseph had never read the Bible to any great extent, hence he was unable to decide in his own mind, as to which was the true church. When he saw several denominations contending one with the other, he naturally enough supposed that some of them must be wrong. He began to search the Bible in his leisure time after his work was done upon the farm; and in perusing the New Testament, he came across a passage which is very familiar indeed to most of my hearers; the passage reads thus—“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.” Mr. Smith really believed this passage. He did not read this as one would read a novel, thinking that it was all imaginary; but, from his heart, he believed that it meant what it said, and he said to himself—“I certainly lack wisdom in relation to my duty. I do not know which of these denominations is correct, and which is the church of Christ. I desire to know, with all my heart, and I will go before the Lord, and call upon his name, claiming his promise.” He therefore retired a short distance from his father’s house, into a little grove of timber, and called upon the Lord, claiming this promise, desiring to know his duty and to be informed where the true Church of Christ was. While thus praying, with all his heart, he discovered in the heavens above him, a very bright and glorious light, which gradually descended towards the earth, and when it reached the tops of the trees which overshadowed him, the brightness was so great that he expected to see the leaves of the tree consumed by it; but when he saw that they were not consumed he received courage. Finally the light rested down upon and overwhelmed him in the midst of it, and his mind at the same time seemed to be caught away from surrounding objects, and he saw nothing excepting the light and two glorious personages standing before him in the midst of this light. One of these personages, pointing to the other, said—“Behold my beloved Son, hear ye him.” After this, power was given to Mr. Smith to speak, and in answer to an inquiry by the Lord as to what he desired, he said that he desired to know which was the true Church, that he might be united thereunto. He was immediately told, that there was no true Church of Christ on the earth, that all had gone astray, and had framed doctrines, and dogmas, and creeds by human wisdom, and that the authority to administer in the holy ordinances of the Gospel was not among men upon the earth, and he was strictly commanded to go not after any of them, but to keep aloof from the whole of them. He was also informed that, in due time, if he would be faithful in serving the Lord, according to the best of his knowledge and ability, God would reveal to him still further, and make known to him the true Gospel, the plan of salvation, in its fulness.

Mr. Smith had this vision before he was fifteen years old, and, immediately after receiving it, he began to relate it to some of his nearest friends, and he was told by some of the ministers who came to him to enquire about it, that there was no such thing as the visitation of heavenly messengers, that God gave no new revelation, and that no visions could be given to the children of men in this age. This was like telling him that there was no such thing as seeing, or feeling, or hearing, or tasting, or smelling. Why? Because he knew positively to the contrary; he knew that he had seen this light, that he had beheld these two personages, and that he had heard the voice of one of them; he also knew that he had received instruction from them, and therefore, to be told that there was no such thing as revelation or vision in these days, was like telling him that the sun did not shine in these days. He knew to the contrary, and he continued to testify that God had made himself manifest to him; and in consequence of this, the prejudices of the different denominations were aroused against him.

Why should they feel such concern and anxiety in relation to his testimony as to persecute him, a boy not quite fifteen years of age? The reason was obvious—if that testimony was true, not one of their churches was the true Church of Christ. No wonder, then, that they began to persecute, point the finger of scorn, and say—“There goes the visionary boy.”

In the year 1823, Mr. Smith, being not quite eighteen years old, was meditating in his heart concerning the former vision, and was feeling great anxiety that the promise might be fulfilled to him, that he should, at some future time, have revealed to him the Gospel in all its fulness. He retired to his room one Sunday evening, in September (1823), and commenced to pray with all the earnestness and faith that he could possibly obtain, that the Lord would fulfill the promise that he had made to him. While thus praying, he discovered that a light seemed to be breaking into his room, growing brighter by degrees, until he saw a personage, apparently an angel, standing before him. This personage wore a white robe, and his countenance had the appearance of lightning, but yet appeared of an innocent expression. This personage did not stand upon the floor of the room, but his feet were a short distance above the floor. He informed this boy that the Lord had sent him as a messenger, in answer to his prayer, in order to impart unto him further information. And then he commenced telling him that this great American continent was once occupied by a numerous people, the descendants of the house of Israel, most of them the descendants of a remnant of the tribe of Joseph; that they came here from Jerusalem by the direct guidance of the Almighty, some six centuries before Christ; that in a vessel, which they built by the command of God, they came round by the Gulf of Arabia, crossed the Great Pacific Ocean, and landed on the western coast of South America; that the descendants of these people had many Prophets among them, and that after they had been on this continent about a thousand years, during the progress of which they had become divided into two distinct nations, they fell into great wickedness, and that God threatened them with overthrow; the people of one of these nations were called Lamanites, from Laman, one of the colony which came out of Jerusalem; that the people of the other nation were called Nephites, taking their name from Nephi, the brother of Laman; that between three and four centuries after Christ these two nations occupied the two great wings of this continent, the Lamanites occupying South America, and the Nephites North America; but the Nephites, at that time, having apostatized from the religion of their fathers, and many of them having become exceedingly wicked, the Lord threatened them with an overthrow. And he commanded one of the last Prophets, named Mormon, to make an abridgment of all the records of former Prophets who had been raised up on this land, an abridgment of the history of the nation from the time that they left Jerusalem until that time. He did so, and committed the abridged record, written on plates of gold, into the hands of another Prophet, his son Moroni. The original records, from which the abridgment was made, were hid up by Mormon in a hill called Cumorah, in the interior of what is now called the State of New York, but the abridgment was still in possession of the Prophet Moroni. About this time, or a little before this time, there had been a fifty years war between the inhabitants of North and South America; and finally the Lamanites of South America drove the Nephites from the Isthmus, and continued to burn their towns, cities and villages, and they destroyed hundreds and thousands of the Nephites; and ultimately they were driven into what we now call the State of New York. Three hundred and eighty years after the birth of Christ they entered into terms of peace, or, in other words, an armistice, for the space of four years, during which time the two nations gathered together all their forces into one vicinity, near the hill Cumorah. And when the four years of peace, or armistice, had expired, they came together in battle, in which the Nephites were overpowered, and hundreds of thousands of them killed, including women and children. Moroni, who was among the few Nephites who were spared, and in whose possession was the abridgment which had been made by his father, Mormon, was commanded to hide up that abridgment in the hill Cumorah, near the town of Manchester, Ontario County, State of New York. The Lord commanded him not only to hide up the record, but also to deposit with it the Urim and Thummim, an instrument used by the ancient seers who dwelt on this Continent. The Lord promised Moroni that, in the latter days, he would bring forth that book out of the ground, that it should whisper out of the dust; that it should speak unto the living as if it were from the dead, and when he should bring it forth this Urim and Thummim, deposited with it, should enable the finder to translate it into the language of the people who should then inherit the land.

I have now given you a brief statement of these things, in substance, as they were taught by the angel of God who administered to Joseph Smith in September, 1823. After giving this instruction the angel disappeared; and as Mr. Smith continued to pray and call upon the name of the Lord, the angel appeared the second time, and made the same narration in relation to the Lamanites and Nephites as he made on his first visit. When conversing with Mr. Smith about these records, the vision of his mind was opened so that he was enabled to see where the records were deposited, and he was told by the angel that, if he would be faithful and do according to the commandments of the Lord his God, he, in due time, should have the privilege of bringing the records forth, and that he should translate them for the benefit of the people.

The angel again departed, and Mr. Smith, being unable to go to sleep, continued to pray, and the vision was renewed again; the angel, on his third visit, not only reiterating his previous statement, but also declaring many things that were then in the future in relation to the marvelous work and wonder which the Lord was about to perform upon the earth. When he had withdrawn for the third time, daylight began to appear in the east, and Mr. Smith had not slept the whole night; but he nevertheless went to work with his father in the field, at their usual early hour. But the visions of the night wrought upon his mind to that degree, that his natural strength began to fail, and his father, noticing that he looked pale, advised him to return at once to the house. He started to do so, but had only gone part of the way, when he again saw the light in the heavens, and the angel of God came down and stood before him, and commanded him to return to his father, and relate the visions of the previous night to him. He did so; and the old man commanded his son to be obedient to the heavenly messenger, believing with all his heart that the vision was from the Almighty. On this last occasion the angel told Mr. Smith to go to the hill Cumorah, which had been shown to him in vision the previous night, which was about three miles from his father’s house, and there he should have the privilege of beholding the records. He, after having spoken to his father, accordingly went, and beheld the records. He knew the place as soon as he saw it. He saw the crowning stone of the stone box that covered the records. It was oval in form, and was partially bare, the edges being under the sod. He immediately removed the turf that covered the edges of this stone, and, with a lever, succeeded in lifting off the upper stone, which was cemented to four others, in the form of a box, within which he saw the plates and the Urim and Thummim. He was about to put forth his hand to take the plates, when lo! the angel of God appeared again, and told him that the time had not fully come for these records to come forth; that he (Joseph) was yet inexperienced, and needed strength, and that if he would be obedient to the commands which he would give to him, and which the Lord would impart from time to time, he should, in due time, be permitted to receive these records, commanding him at the same time to come there one year from that date, and that he would appear again to him, and give him further instructions; and thus he should do from year to year, until he should receive the plates, provided that he should prove himself worthy before God; for the angel said unto him, that these plates could not be obtained by any person for speculative purposes; that they contained records that were sacred, prophecies and doctrines that were written by ancient Prophets, and that the Lord God had promised that these prophecies and revelations should go forth to all people, nations and tongues, and that they could not be entrusted with anyone to get gain.

From that time, Mr. Smith, on the 22nd of September each year, continued to visit this place, until the year 1827, he being then not quite twenty-two years old. On the morning of the 22nd of September, in the year 1827, the angel of the Lord permitted him to take these records, with the Urim and Thummim, and he carried them to his father’s house. The people in that neighborhood, having learned about these things, sought by every means in their power—by persecution, mobs, and every other means that they could bring to bear, to find these plates and take them from him. But the Lord gave him directions, through the Urim and Thummim, what he should do with the plates, where he should hide them, and gave him all the information that was necessary to keep them out of the hands of the mobs.

Finally, the persecution became so great, that this young man was obliged to leave his father’s house, and proceed to the Susquehanna River, in Pennsylvania, and there he commenced to transcribe or make a facsimile of some of the characters or words that were written on these metallic plates; and the transcript, then made, was taken by a man named Martin Harris to the city of New York, and exhibited to the learned, to see if they could translate them. Remember, it was not the plates that were taken to the learned, but it was the words of the book, transcribed from the plates, and the learned were requested to read them. But Mr. Harris could not succeed in finding any person who was able to translate them; although he found one man—Professor Anthon—well known through the United States, and in European nations, as a great linguist, who said that he would assist, according to his best ability and judgment, in translating the transcript presented to him by Mr. Harris, and he gave a written promise to that effect. “But,” said he, “where did you get these records?” Mr. Harris informed him that they had been revealed by an angel of God to a young man named Joseph Smith. Mr. Anthon then said to Mr. Harris, “Give me that paper I have given you.” Mr. Harris handed it back to him, and he tore it in pieces, saying—“There is no such thing as the ministering of angels in these days, but bring the record here, and we will see what we can do in relation to assisting in translating it.” Mr. Harris replied that a part of the record was sealed, and that only one portion of it was permitted to be translated at the present time. This learned man said—“I cannot read a sealed book,” thus fulfilling the words I have read—“And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, ‘Read this I pray thee,’ and he saith, ‘I cannot for it is sealed, I cannot read a sealed book.’” The next verse says—“And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying—“Read this I pray thee;” and he saith—‘I am not learned.’”

When Martin Harris reported to this boy, what the learned had said, and how they had proceeded in relation to this matter, the Lord God commanded this young man to translate the record himself, through the aid of the Urim and Thummim. But he made this excuse—“I am not learned.” And the Lord answered him in the very words of Isaiah, as recorded in the next verse—“Wherefore the Lord said, inasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth and with their lips do honor me, and have removed their hearts far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precepts of men, therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.” That is the answer that the Lord made this young man, commanding him to read the book.

It was marvelous that a man who did not possess the ordinary education, obtained in the common schools of the country, and who could barely read, and could write but very little; a man who had only read the bible a very little, and who knew but little about the various theological doctrines of the day; I say that for such a man to be called of the Lord God, and commanded to translate from an ancient record and to bring forth a book for the benefit of all nations, kindreds, tongues and peoples, was marvelous in the extreme, and it did literally cause the wisdom of the wise to perish. “And I will raise forts against them, they shall be brought down, and shall speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust,” &c.

Now this record is as if one spoke from the dead; it is the voice of the ancient dead Prophets who once inhabited this great continent; it is the voice of the dead to the living, a warning voice, the everlasting Gospel in all its plainness and purity, speaking out of the ground, whispering out of the dust, just as this passage of Scripture declares. Not the book, but the words of the book were sent to the learned; and, lastly, the book itself was commanded to be translated by the unlearned. All this is marvelous.

The eighteenth verse, which I read, says—“And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book.” What book? We answer, the one that the Prophet had been speaking of, the one that was to speak out of the ground, and that was to be translated by the unlearned. “In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.”

This book, that has thus been marvelously translated, is for the benefit of the meek and the poor among men. When Jesus came in ancient days, and preached the Gospel to the learned and the unlearned, we are told that on one occasion, the disciples of John came and asked him if he was the true Messiah, or should they look for another? And he said unto them—“Go and tell John that the dead are raised, that the blind see, and that the poor have the Gospel preached to them.” So, in these latter days, when the Lord God causes a book to come forth out of the ground, and to whisper from the dust, it is for the benefit of the poor among men, and they are to rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

Has this ever been fulfilled literally? It has. We have lifted up our voices for forty-four years and upwards among the inhabitants of this nation, and also for many years among the inhabitants of other nations, bearing testimony to all people that the Lord God has sent his angel, according to the promise made in the fourteenth chapter of the Revelation of St. John, flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to every nation, kindred, tongue and people that dwell upon the face of the earth. We have borne testimony, faithfully and diligently without purse or scrip, for these many years among the inhabitants of the earth, to the rich as well as the poor. But the rich will not obey it; no, they have their riches to look after. One says—“I have a yoke of oxen that I have just bought, I must go and try them.” Another says—“I have invested so many hundred thousand dollars in merchandise, I must attend to that.” Another says—“I have some other business, I must look after that.” But the poor among men, whose hearts are pure and meek because of the oppression that they have received from the monopolist, and from the rich, are humble, and they receive this work, hence they have gathered out from among the various nations, where they are no longer oppressed or under taskmasters, and have accumulated homes of their own, and lands, and flocks and herds of their own, which neither they nor their fathers in the old countries inherited from generation to generation. The poor among men, when they shall hear the words of the book, shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

To show more fully the time when this book should be brought to light, let me say that it is a latter-day work, and to prove it, I will read the following verses. “The poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel, for the terrible one is brought to naught, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off; all that make a man an offender for a word, or that lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, or that turn aside the just for a thing of naught.” All these are to be cut off. When? When they have heard the words of this book, when the proclamation has been sounded in their ears. When they are become fully ripened in iniquity, they will be cut off according to the declaration of the Prophet Isaiah. But their times must first be fulfilled; their fulness must come in, before these terrible judgments and destructions shall lay waste the nations of the Gentiles. But is there no hope for Israel, when this book comes forth? When I speak of Israel I mean the literal Israel, the descendants of the twelve tribes, whose fathers inherited ancient Palestine. Is there no hope for them when this great and marvelous work shall be accomplished? We will read the next verse. “Therefore, thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob. Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale; but when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.”

It seems then, that Jacob was to be scattered and dispersed, and made ashamed, his face was to wax pale, and he be counted a hiss and a byword among the people, until the set time should arrive, until God should rise up in his majesty and power in the latter days, and should set his hand according to the words of the Prophets, a second time to recover his people from the four corners of the earth. And when he should commence this great work, he would bring forth the words of them that have slumbered in the dust, should whisper out of the ground, and their speech should be low out of the dust; and Israel, after that time, should no longer be made ashamed, neither should their faces wax pale. Why? Because they must be gathered from the four quarters of the earth by means of that book.

There is another object expressed in the next verse, the last verse of the chapter, for the bringing forth of this book. “And they also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.” How many hundreds of thousands of good, upright, moral people among all the nations of Christendom, have erred in spirit because of the false doctrines that have been promulgated, from generation to generation, in their midst; doctrines of form without any power? Doctrines that exclude all communications with the heavens, that shut up the voice of the Almighty in continued silence; that closed up the heavens as brass over their heads; that proclaimed in all their creeds, articles of faith, and discipline, that the Bible contained all that God would ever reveal to the children of men. Millions have erred in spirit because of these doctrines; others have murmured because of them, and have found fault, and said, “How can we know the true doctrine, or the true church, when we find several hundred all teaching different, each one going his own way, each proclaiming his own dogma, creed and discipline? Contradicting and quarrelling with one another? Christian nations fighting against Christian nations,” etc. They have murmured about it; and many have begun to think that there is nothing in revealed religion. It has made thousands on thousands of infidels; and it is not to be wondered at; for instead of taking the Bible as their guide, and comparing ancient Christianity with the truth, they have taken this Babel of confusion, called modern Christianity, and have asked if that could be from heaven? And they do not believe in it. They do not believe that God is the author of confusion, and they have murmured, contended and complained. But when this book should come forth, “they that murmured should learn doctrine, and they that erred in spirit should come to understanding.” How? In what way? Because this book, translated from those plates, contains the doctrine of Christ in such perfect plainness, that no two persons who read that doctrine disagree in relation to it. It is plain, and easy to be understood. For instance, let me mention in relation to one ordinance about which there is much contention among the sects of Christendom, namely the ordinance of baptism. One says it must be by pouring, another by sprinkling, another by immersion; a fourth says you must be baptized three times, once in the name of the Father, once in the name of the Son, and then in the name of the Holy Ghost. And thus they quarrel, and contend, and have their different views about that one doctrine.

Now, when you take up the Book of Mormon, and read, in the latter part of the book, concerning this ordinance, you find that our Lord and Savior, after his resurrection, descended to the northern part of what we call South America, and stood in the midst of a large congregation of people who saw him descend, and who also beheld the wounds in his hands and in his feet, and they heard him teach his gospel, and he commanded them that they should no more offer sacrifices and burnt offerings on this American continent, as their fathers had been accustomed to do, but that they should do away with these things. And he taught them his gospel, and commanded them to believe and repent with all their hearts, and to come down into the depths of humility, like little children, and be baptized in his name for the remission of their sins, and promised them, if they would do so, that they should be filled with the Holy Ghost. And he called twelve disciples on this American continent, the same as he called twelve apostles in ancient Palestine. And after he had called and ordained these twelve disciples, he commanded them to baptize all penitent believers, and he gave them the pattern, saying unto them—“You shall go down and stand in the water and, in my name, you shall baptize them. And now, behold, these are the words which you shall say, calling them by name—’Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen,’ and then shall ye immerse them in the water, and shall come forth again out of the water. And after this manner shall ye baptize in my name, for behold the Father and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one,” etc.

Now, let me ask, who could draw any two conclusions from words as plain as these? No person could; and there could be no two churches differing, or built up upon the principle of baptism as here revealed. So it is in regard to every other point of doctrine relating to the plan of salvation revealed in this book; they are all just as plain as the one to which I have called your attention. Hence, when people understand, and comprehend by the power of the Holy Ghost, that this record is divine, and when they can once put their confidence in it as such, they never after that need be at a loss concerning the points of the doctrine of our Lord and Savior. “They that erred in spirit shall come to understanding; they that murmured shall learn doctrine.”

Again he says—“The deaf shall hear the words of the book.” Has this been literally fulfilled, or must it be spiritualized? “The eyes of the blind shall also see out of obscurity and out of darkness in that day.” Does this mean those who are blind spiritually, or does it mean literally? I think it means both. Those who have been blind spiritually are seeing out of obscurity and out of darkness, and those who have been deaf spiritually are beginning to hear. But this is not the entire meaning. Do not the greater part of this congregation, now sitting before me, know of a surety that the Lord God has, since he sent forth the proclamation of this Gospel among the people, caused the eyes of the blind—those blind physically, born blind—to be opened? Do they not know that the ears of some who were so deaf that they could not hear the loudest sound have been literally opened? Yes; you know this, for it has been done in the four quarters of the earth. Not in some obscure corner, where a few individuals have seen it, but among the nations and kingdoms where this gospel has been preached; therefore, the Lord God has indeed fulfilled, to the very letter, these predictions, uttered by the ancient prophets in relation to the great work that should be performed on the earth in the latter days, when he should bring forth this book, and should cause the earth, as it were, to open and bring forth salvation.

This agrees with the testimony of David the Prophet; for not only Isaiah, but David says, in the 85th Psalm, when enquiring about the long captivity of Jacob—“Lord wilt thou not bring back the captivity of Jacob, that Israel may rejoice, and that thy people may be glad?” The Lord, in answering this prayer of David, tells him how he will do it. Says he—“I will cause truth to spring out of the earth and righteousness shall look down from heaven, and they shall go before us, to set us in the way of his steps.” Yes, by bringing forth this work out of the earth, and by raising up his church, by the divine authority which he restored again, and by pouring out the Holy Ghost from heaven, by sending down righteousness from heaven, and by truth, which has sprung forth out of the earth, the Lord has set us again in the way of his steps. And Israel will truly be made glad, and the house of Jacob, when this work shall go forth to them, will no longer be made ashamed.

This agrees with another prophecy, where the Prophet Isaiah, in looking after the consolation and redemption of Jacob in the last days, says—“Let the skies pour down righteousness, and let the earth open and bring forth salvation. It seems then that the earth was to bring forth truth and salvation, and the skies at the same time were to pour down the blessings of eternity upon the heads of the people, and by this means the Lord God would save the nations of the earth, and redeem Israel from the four quarters thereof. But alas! for the wicked in that day. Let us see what is to become of them. I have already quoted one passage stating that they were to be cut off in a terrible manner, and be brought to naught, the scorner being consumed, and all that watch for iniquity being cut off. Let us read another passage, in this same 29th chapter—“The multitude of all nations that fight against Zion shall be as a hungry man who dreameth and behold he eateth, but he waketh and his soul is empty; or as when a thirsty man dreameth and behold he drinketh, but he waketh, and behold he is faint, and his soul hath appetite. So shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion.”

Has that ever been fulfilled upon the nations of the earth? It does not matter how many of them there are, they are in the hands of the Almighty, and by the blast of his nostrils they can be consumed, and swept away by the breath of his lips, and they will become like a hungry or a thirsty man who dreams that he has something to eat or to drink, and behold it is all disappointment; for he wakes and his soul is thirsty and hath appetite. So it will be with all people that fight against the great latter-day work; for, saith the same Prophet, “they shall be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder and with earthquake, with great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.” It will be a day not of destruction by a flood of waters, but by various judgments, ending with the flame of devouring fire, which will sweep the earth, and destroy the wicked out of it. Behold the day will come, and is close at hand, when Malachi’s prophecy will be fulfilled, that shall burn as an oven; when all the proud and they that do wickedly shall become as stubble, and they shall be burned up, saith the Lord of hosts. That day shall leave them neither root nor branch. No branches of the wicked left, no roots left among the nations, but the earth, and all the fulness thereof, will be given into the hands of the Saints of the Most High, as was predicted by Daniel the Prophet, that “the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heavens, shall be given into the hands of the Saints of the Most High.” A King shall reign in righteousness in those days and his name shall be the Lord of Hosts, Jesus of Nazareth, the great Messiah. The King of kings and Lord of lords will reign over the nations in those days, as he now reigns king of Saints. And behold this is the preparatory work. This book that has now come forth will be sounded among the various nations and kingdoms of the earth. They who hear the words thereof, and repent of their sins, and turn away from all unrighteousness, and will receive the fulness of the everlasting gospel, will be gathered together, and the sons and daughters of God will come from the ends of the earth, even every one that is called by his name.

We might go on still further, but this is sufficient for the time being. Amen.

Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Meetinghouse, at Lehi City, Sunday Afternoon, August 9, 1874.

There are a few ideas and reflections that I wish to give to the people. I shall have to make my remarks brief in order to be prepared for our journey northward. You hear a good deal from time to time, and you think a good deal, about the condition of the Latter-day Saints, and what we are trying to do with them concerning the United Order. I wish you to understand that this is no new revelation; it is the order of the kingdom where God and Christ dwell; it has been from eternity and will be to eternity, without end, consequently we have nothing particularly new to offer you, but we have the commandments that have been from the beginning. With regard to those who wish to have new revelation they will please to accommodate themselves and call this a new revelation. On this occasion I will not repeat any– thing particular in respect to the language of revelation, further than to say—Thus saith the Lord unto my servant Brigham, Call ye, call ye, upon the inhabitants of Zion, to organize themselves in the Order of Enoch, in the New and Everlasting Covenant, according to the Order of Heaven, for the furtherance of my kingdom upon the earth, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the salvation of the living and the dead.

You can accommodate yourselves by calling this a new revelation, if you choose; it is no new revelation, but it is the express word and will of God to this people.

How many do you think would like and have hearts to enter into this Order? Let me ask you a question. You sisters as well as the brethren who have read the Bible and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, whether you have read the Book of Mormon and the sermons or not, who is there among you who does not know and understand that the people called the Saints of the Most High, or the disciples of the Lord Jesus, must be of one heart and of one mind? I do not think there are any of you who do not know, feel and understand this just as I do, and yet perhaps you do not realize it. We can see that it does not sit upon the hearts and take hold of the affections of the people; it does not break up every particle of the fallow ground of their hearts so that they can receive this into their affections and bring forth fruit to the glory of God. If those now before me, brethren and sisters, who profess to be Latter-day Saints, were of one heart and of one mind in the sense of the Scripture that is given to us, revealed in days of old and in our day, we never should have to say to them—Pay your Tithing; but the feeling of every heart, and the language of everyone who has come to years of discretion would be if there is a Temple to be built—“What can I do to forward this Temple? Do you want my work? I have abundance for my family to eat, they are capable of clothing themselves with a little help from me, I can spend all my time;” and the sisters would say—“We can make the stockings and the shirts, and we can make up the cloth, if you will give it to us, for the hands, and we can make their hats and, if necessary, we can make their shoes.” If this was in the hearts and affections of the people it would no longer be Tithing alone, but the inquiry would be—“What do you want? We have abundance.”

We ask nothing but the labor of the people, and if the Latter-day Saints felt the importance of the mission that is upon them, and of fulfilling the requirements of heaven that are resting upon them, you would see Temples rising here like magic; it would be nothing but a breakfast spell for us to build a Temple. How do you think those feel who do understand the mind and will of the Lord, and view the condition of the Latter-day Saints as it really is? Unless you see it by the Spirit, you know nothing about it.

We can say to the Latter-day Saints, it is the mind and will of God that we organize according to the best plans and patterns and system that we can get for the present. We can do this, and thus far give to the Latter-day Saints the mind and will of the Lord; but we cannot make a man or a woman yield to the will of God unless they are disposed to. I can plant, I can water, but I cannot give the increase; I cannot cause the wheat and corn to grow. It is true I can break up and prepare the ground and cast the seed therein, but I cannot cause it to grow, that can only be done by the people having willing hearts, ready minds, and a disposition to go forth with a firm determination and a willing hand to build up the kingdom. I will do my part—I have done it. Brother Erastus Snow has made certain eulogistic remarks about my career in the Church, but I will say this with regard to Brother Brigham—I do not know anything about what he has earned, I never inquired about that or about what he deserves. All I have to do is to take good care of everything that the Lord gives me, improve upon every means of grace and every talent he gives me, improve upon the visions of the Spirit and speak the word of the Lord to the people. My mind has been and it is today, that there is not an Elder in all Israel that can do his duty in declaring the things of God to the na– tions of the earth unless he declares those truths by the power of revelation. He must speak by the power of God or he does not magnify his calling. The theory of our religion will not answer the purpose of saving us. I can call upon the people, but will they organize themselves? Some inquire, “Is this exactly the order that the Lord requires? It is just exactly what the Lord requires.”

I will say to you with regard to the kingdom of God on the earth—Here is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, organized with its rules, regulations and degrees, with the quorums of the holy Priesthood, from the First Presidency to the teachers and deacons; here we are, an organization. God called upon Joseph, he called upon Oliver Cowdery, then others were called through Joseph, the Church was organized, he with his two counselors comprised the First Presidency. In a few years the Quorum of the Twelve was organized, the High Council was organized, the High Priests’ quorum was organized, the Seventies’ quorums were organized, and the Priests’ quorum, the Teachers’ quorum and the Deacons’. This is what we are in the habit of calling the kingdom of God. But there are further organizations. The Prophet gave a full and complete organization to this kingdom the Spring before he was killed. This kingdom is the kingdom that Daniel spoke of, which was to be set up in the last days; it is the kingdom that is not to be given to another people; it is the kingdom that is to be held by the servants of God, to rule the nations of the earth, to send forth those laws and ordinances that shall be suitable and that shall apply themselves to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; that will apply themselves to the mother Church, “the holy Catholic Church;” they will commend themselves to every Protestant Church upon the earth; they will commend themselves to every class of infidels, and will throw their protecting arms around the whole human family, protecting them in their rights. If they wish to worship a white dog, they will have the privilege; if they wish to worship the sun they will have the privilege; if they wish to worship a man they will have the privilege, and if they wish to worship the “unknown God” they will have the privilege. This kingdom will circumscribe them all and will issue laws and ordinances to protect them in their rights—every right that every people, sect and person can enjoy, and the full liberty that God has granted to them without molestation.

Can you understand me? This Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is organized for the building up of this Church alone; it is not for the building up of Catholicism, it is not for promoting any or all of the dissentients from the Mother Church, it is alone for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and for no other body of people. When we organize according to these laws and ordinances we make this people one, but we do not bring in the Methodists, Presbyterians or Calvinists, they are independent of themselves. But the kingdom of God, when it is established and bears rule, will defend the Methodists in their rights just as much as Latter-day Saints, but it will not allow them to infringe upon the rights of their neighbors; this will be prohibited. These sects may want to afflict the Saints just as now; they may want to persecute each other just as they now do; they may want to bring everybody to their standard just as they do now. But the kingdom of God, when it is set up upon the earth, will be after the pattern of heaven, and will compel no man nor woman to go contrary to his or her conscience. They would compel us to go contrary to our consciences, wouldn’t they? I recollect when there were but few Methodists, when they were poor, and when there was scarcely a college-bred minister on the continent of America in the Methodist Church. I recollect them in their infancy, but what would they do now? Then they were persecuted, and thought they bore a great deal for Christ’s sake. Perhaps they did.

Now I want to give you these few words—the kingdom of God will protect every person, every sect and all people upon the face of the whole earth, in their legal rights. I shall not tell you the names of the members of this kingdom, neither shall I read to you its constitution, but the constitution was given by revelation. The day will come when it will be organized in strength and power. Now, as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we work our way along the best we can. Can you understand this?

A few words upon the organization of this United Order. We regret that we are not in a capacity to make our own laws pertaining to our domestic affairs as we choose; if we were in a State capacity we could do so. The legislature could then pass laws by which we would have the right to deed our property to the Church, to the Trustee-in-Trust, if we chose, or in any other way the people would like to deed their property to God and his kingdom. But we cannot do this now, we are not a State. We are in the capacity of servants now, where we have to bow to the whims and caprices of the ignorant, and to the prejudice of willful, ignorant sectarianism; consequently we are under the necessity of getting up our constitution or the articles of our association so that they will agree with existing statutes and be legal, that we can carry on business as we wish without being infringed upon or molested by anybody.

Some have complained, and say—“This does not incorporate the whole, we want articles of agreement under which we can give all that we have got.” Let me say to you that our articles of confederation, agreement or association will allow us to deed every particle of property that we have got to this cooperative institution—our houses, farms, sheep, cattle, horses, our labor, our railroad stock, bank stock, factories, and everything that we have we can deed to the trustees of this association. Whatever you have here in Lehi that you wish to deed over to those you have selected to be a board of trustees you can deed to them to take the supervision of it, and then you will put it out of the hands perhaps of unruly froward children and spendthrifts, and do good by so doing. And if you can put in every particle of your property, and have this governed and controlled by the best men you have here, why not do this just as well as to deed it to George A. Smith, the Trustee-in-Trust? Does not this answer every purpose? It does. Look at the reason of it if you wish to. If it is the word and the wish and the will of the organization here to deed only part of the property, I expect they will take the liberty of doing so; but this would not suit me. If I had property here in this place I should wish to deed every particle of it to this association. I wish to deed every particle of my property in Provo, just as quick as there is an opportunity, and have it done in a way that it will be beneficial to the people. I am laboring under a certain embarrassment and so are many others, with regard to deeding property, and that is to find men who know what to do with property when it is in their hands. I will relate a circumstance here, which I related to some of the brethren the other day. There was a very excellent good man in this Church who found it very hard to get along with his large family. He received a very fine present, for which he was very thankful to the donor; but after it was given to him, he said he did not know what to do with the elephant now that he had got it. He called his present an “elephant” on his hands; he could not plow with him, he could not ride him to meeting, he could not harness him to a carriage, and in fact he could not do anything with him, the “elephant” was too large for him to handle. When this factory at Provo can go into the hands of men who know what to do with it, it will go; when my factory in Salt Lake County can go into the hands of men who know what to do with it, it will go. There is my beloved brother James W. Cummings, who has worked my factory ten or twelve years; he counts himself A No. 1 in all financial business. I have offered the factory to him and his workmen on the cooperative system, in the order that we wish to adopt. I said to him—“Take it and manage it, you are welcome.” Said he—“If I only had plenty of money to furnish it I suppose I could do it.” Have not I furnished it without money? Yes, I had not the first sixpence to begin with. I furnished my factories, and I have built what I have built without asking how much they cost, or where I was to get the money to do it. When we find somebody that knows what to do with property, somebody who knows how to handle the “elephant,” we will give them charge of it. If I had him I would make the “elephant” get down on his knees to me and keep him there until I allowed him to get up, and then teach him to get up with his burden on his back, and carry it where I said. As quick as we can find men who know what to do with the “elephants” we will put the “elephants” into their hands; but here, as elsewhere, you will find, in all these business transactions, that the greatest difficulty will be to find men who know what to do with money or means when they have it. Can you understand this? I want to say to you who have a little money, a farm or other property, seek first to know where God wants you to put that property. That is the word of the Lord to you. Hearken and hear it, men and women, seek to know where God wants you to put it, and if it is into a factory where you will not get a farthing for ten years, put it there, and in the end the Lord will bring out more means to you than if you let it out at twenty four percent. You will make by it. “How do you know, brother Brigham?” I know by my own experience; my character and my life have shown that from the first time I had fifty cents after I came into the Church my first desire was to know what to do with it. In the days of Joseph where we lived and worked, it was harder then to get fifty cents than it is for a poor man to get a hundred dollars now, but if Joseph came along, and said—“Brigham, have you got fifty cents?” “Yes, I have.” “I want it.” “You can have it always and forever.” If it was a hundred dollars, or two hundred dollars, he had it, and had it freely, and I never asked for it again. And if ever I could work at home and get fifty cents in money to buy a little molasses for my family to sop their johnny cake in, if Joseph wanted it he always had it, and I got rich by it, and I can say so of all who take the same course; while the covetous, those who are striving continually to build themselves up in the things of this life, will be poor indeed; they will be poor in spirit and poor in heavenly things.

You have heard me say, a great many times, that there is not that man or woman in this Church, and there never was and never will be, who turn up their noses at the counsel that is given them from the First Presidency, but who, unless they repent of and refrain from such conduct, will eventually go out of the Church and go to hell, every one of them; and I expect one thing will be true that Joseph said when living. A gentleman came to see him and asked him a great many questions, and among the rest he said—“I suppose you calculate that you are just right, and that you “Mormons” are all going to be saved and everybody else will be damned.” Said Joseph, “Sir, I will tell you this one thing, all the rest of the world will be damned, and I expect that most of the “Mormons” will be unless they do better than they have done.” The man did not stop for an explanation. What Joseph meant by being damned was that people will go into the spirit world without the Priesthood, and consequently they are under the power of Satan, and will have to be redeemed, or else they will be forever under his power. That is all there is about that.

Now Latter-day Saints, I want to say this to you, when a man lifts his heel against the counsel that we give him, I know that man will apostatize, just as sure as he is a living being, unless he repents and refrains from such conduct. Brother George A. Smith has been reading a little out of the revelation concerning celestial marriage, and I want to say to my sisters that if you lift your heels against this revelation, and say that you would obliterate it, and put it out of existence if you had the power to nullify and destroy it, I say that if you imbibe that spirit and feeling, you will go to hell, just as sure as you are living women. Emma took that revelation, supposing she had all there was; but Joseph had wisdom enough to take care of it, and he had handed the revelation to Bishop Whitney, and he wrote it all off. After Joseph had been to Bishop Whitney’s he went home, and Emma began teasing, for the revelation. Said she—“Joseph, you promised me that revelation, and if you are a man of your word you will give it to me.” Joseph took it from his pocket and said—“Take it.” She went to the fire-place and put it in, and put the candle under it and burnt it, and she thought that was the end of it, and she will be damned as sure as she is a living woman. Joseph used to say that he would have her hereafter, if he had to go to hell for her, and he will have to go to hell for her as sure as he ever gets her.

You sisters may say that plural marriage is very hard for you to bear. It is no such thing. A man or woman who would not spend his or her life in building up the kingdom of God on the earth, without a companion, and travel and preach, valise in hand, is not worthy of God or his kingdom, and they never will be crowned, they cannot be crowned; the sacrifice must be complete. If it is the duty of a husband to take a wife, take her. But it is not the privilege of a woman to dictate the husband, and tell who or how many he shall take, or what he shall do with them when he gets them, but it is the duty of the woman to submit cheerfully. Says she—“My husband does not know how to conduct himself, he lacks wisdom—he does not know how to treat two wives and be just.” That all may be true, but it is not her prerogative to correct the evil, she must bear that; and the woman that bears wrong—and any number of them do in this order—patiently, will be crowned with a man far above her husband; and the man that is not worthy, and who does not prove himself worthy before God, his wife or wives will be taken from him and given to another, so the women need not worry. It is the man who has need to worry and watch himself, and see that he does right. Where is the man who has wives, and all of them think he is doing just right to them? I do not know such a man; I know it is not your humble servant. If I would only be dictated by women I should make a hell of it; but I cannot be, I can humor them and treat them kindly, but I tell them I shall do just what I know to be right, and they may help themselves the best they can. I do not say that in so many words, but that is what I mean, and I let them act it out.

It is time to close this meeting. I say to the brethren and sisters, peace be with you, and may God bless you. If you walk humbly before Him so as to enjoy his Spirit, it will lead into all truth. I have one little sermon to the Bishops, Bishop Young and all the rest of them, and to the Elders. I want to see a pattern set for this holy order, and, I give to each one of them a mission to go and call together five, ten, twenty or fifty families, and organize a complete organization, and show the rest of us how to live.

Discourse by Elder John Taylor, delivered at the Funeral Services of Elder Thomas Williams, in the Fourteenth Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, July 19, 1874.

We are met this morning to attend to one of those ceremonies that are intimately connected with hu– man existence. People generally feel reflective on sorrowful occasions like the present, and there is some– thing about the manner in which this, our beloved brother, was taken from us, that rather tends to increase this feeling of commiseration, not for the departed, but for his family, friends and associates. Taken away in the bloom of life and health, without a moment’s warning, snatched off in the face of his family and ushered, as it were, immediately from this world into another state of existence, it produces feelings that are more easily imagined than described. However, my ideas in relation to this matter are that so long as we are prepared to live or to die, so long as we are living in the fear and favor of the Almighty, so long as we are fulfilling the various obligations, duties and responsibilities that devolve upon us, it is a matter of very little importance how or in what manner we leave this world and go into another. It is appointed for man once to die, and we cannot evade the fiat which fate has decreed. No persons have yet been able to avoid the operations and summons of the grim monster whenever his call has been made. And when we reflect upon the position that we occupy upon the earth it is analogous, in this respect, to that of myriads of human beings who have existed before. In various parts of the world there have been a variety of opinions about the resurrection and about the state of man after death; but there has been very little difference of opinion about death itself. The myriads of human beings who have lived upon this earth have all gone in the same way, that is more or less. Some have died peaceably and quietly in their beds; others have been submerged in the ocean, and drowned far from friends and homes, some in the violent struggles of the battlefield, and some have departed this life after enduring the agony and pain of lingering disease. There are phases associated with human existence and the departure of humanity from this world that are more pleasant than others, and we should like generally, if we could have our way, to make all preparations, have everything arranged, and to leave this world, bidding adieu to our friends and companions as quietly and easily as practicable. We should all like this if we could have our own way about it. But we do not have our choice. “God moves in a mysterious way,” we are told, and the dispensations of Providence are inscrutable. Nor is it a matter of very much moment, according to my ideas, how, or in what way, we leave this world; the great object is and the great questions for us to solve are, are we prepared? Have we formed a union with God our heavenly Father? Have we obtained the forgiveness of our sins? Are we living our religion? Are we keeping the commandments of God? Have we made arrangements for our everlasting associations with beings in the eternal worlds? If we have, if this is our position, it matters but little how or when we leave this world, that must be left for the Almighty to regulate and to decide upon.

God, in his eternal decrees, has ordained that all men must die, but as to the mode and manner of our exit, as I said before, it matters very little. As part of the household and family of God, as beings associated with eternity as well as time, it behooves us to reflect, and that calmly and deliberately, upon our present position, and our relationship and standing before God our heavenly Father. These are important questions for us to solve, and if we can solve them satisfactorily, then all is right.

These events that are continually transpiring around and among us convince us of the fallacy of all earthly enjoyments as associated merely with this life. No matter what our acquirements—no matter what our talents or abilities, no matter what our wealth, position or circumstances in life, we all have to submit to the same grim monster, hence the question naturally comes to our minds, why are we thus situated? We seem attached more or less, to this world. We are struggling, and striving, and grappling and grasping to possess the things of this world. Of what use are they now to this brother whose lifeless remains lie before us? And yet our whole lives, and thoughts, and energy, and talent are generally bent on their acquisition. In a short time, the body now lying here, with whose face we have been familiar, and whose company we have enjoyed, will be lying up there, enclosed in mother earth. Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, the worms preying upon his system, and his spirit gone into another state of existence. That which we see here today, will be our case in a short time. Myriads who have lived before us have gone the same way. Where are the statesmen, warriors, orators, princes, potentates, emperors, philosophers, and great men whose names are found upon the pages of history? They have gone! gone! gone! and we are all sliding down the plane of time and hurrying into eternity. This is the position of all men that ever have lived on the face of the earth. Is this our abiding place then? Is this the land of our immortal, eternal inheritance? Not until a change takes place. And what of the affairs of the earth—the baubles, tinsel, glitter and show, the empty name and ap– pearance of earthly things? Why, just as a great and very sensible man expressed himself: Said he, “When I am gone you will build a monument over me, and you will write upon it—

“Here lies the great—

but if I could rise from the tomb, and could again speak, I would say—

“False marble, where? Nothing but poor and sordid dust lies there!”

So it will be with all of us, with me with you, we shall soon all be in that position. I do not care what our hopes, aspirations or position in life may be, we have all got to go through the dark valley of the shadow of death. We have all got to appear before the tribunal of a just God to give an account of the deeds done in the body, whether those deeds have been good or evil.

And in the various changes that have taken place, in the cycles of time as they have rolled forward, and as they will continue to take place, what of the earth, what of the men who have lived and died and live again, and what of us? What are our position, ideas and prospects? We believe that God has spoken; we believe that light has emanated from the eternal worlds; we believe that God has given us revelation for our guide in time, and to prepare us for an eternal inheritance. For this the Gospel has been preached; for this the Elders of the Church and kingdom of God have gone abroad; for this we have gathered from distant lands; for this we build our Temples and our Tabernacles; for this we preach and pray daily that God may inspire our hearts with the spirit of revelation that emanates from him, and that the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of truth, may rest upon and dwell within us, that when we get through with this time, we may be prepared, with our progenitors and our posterity, to inherit an eternal exaltation in the celestial kingdom of our God.

And what is anything without this? Do I mourn over that man? No, I do not, I feel sorry for his family, I do not mourn over him, not a particle. I would not shed a tear over him. He was a good man, a man who feared God, loved his religion, kept the commandments of God and walked humbly before him; he was a man who was honored and respected by the good, respected and honored of God and of holy angels, and it is all right with him. Do I mourn that he is taken away? No, we would like to have our good men stay among us, but perhaps they have something to do in another sphere. Perhaps the services of brother Williams are required somewhere else. There are other positions for men to occupy besides this earth. We had an existence before we came here. We came here to do a certain work. He has done his and gone. Perhaps God required him and has taken him away. All right, we will say, it is the Lord, let him do what seems him good.

In regard to ourselves, that is another thing that we have individually and personally to do with. It is all right with him, how is it with us? I talk to the living, to those who are in existence, who have their volition, who have the power of action and their reasoning faculties, and I say unto them, look where you will be in a short time, and ask yourselves are you prepared, like him, to meet your God, and to have an inheritance in the celestial kingdom of God? These are the questions that I would ask, and I would say that no matter what your position, what your wealth, what your prospects or ideas pertaining to this world, they are none of them worth anything except sanctified by God and appropriated for the building up of his kingdom and the establishment of righteousness upon the earth.

But the question is, are we the friends of God? Is God our friend? Are we living and walking in the light of his countenance? Do we feel that our spirits, feelings and consciences are right before him, that we have consciences void of offense towards God and towards man? These are some of the thoughts and reflections that we have to do with, and it is for us to think seriously, calmly and deliberately upon these things, and to act as wise, prudent, intelligent beings, that we may keep the commandments of God, live our religion and obtain an inheritance in the celestial kingdom of God when we shall have got through with the affairs of time, with which we are surrounded.

May God help us to be faithful and keep his commandments, in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered at the Funeral Services of Elder Thomas Williams, in the Fourteenth Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, July 19, 1874.

I do not wish to detain the congregation, for I realize that it is very warm and uncomfortable; but on this occasion I feel to offer a few reflections, and pray that they may be instructive to the living, and encourage us in the faith of the holy Gospel, strengthen us in the little faith that we now possess, and open up to our minds the future prospects and blessings that the Lord has in reserve for the faithful.

We call this a solemn occasion, for we have met together to pay our last respects to one who has lived with us, and with whom we have associated, and we delight to show our respect to the mortal remains of those who, in life, have been near and dear to us. But for me to address a lifeless lump of clay would be useless, while to address the living, who have ears to hear and hearts to understand, may be profitable. I requested the brethren to speak who have already addressed you, and there are more here who would like to speak on the present occasion.

The testimony that has been borne concerning the character of our beloved brother, whose body is now a lifeless mass of clay before us, is true, and more we can say than what has been said.

The scene that we are now called to witness is painful to near and dear friends—it is a scene calculated to wring the very heart—the inmost heart. Such scenes are always painful, still we witness them day by day, and when we contemplate the vast number of souls that come into existence and inhabit bodies here on this earth, and the vast number that are departing, almost every moment, it is nothing strange or new. Except this plant die it cannot be quickened; except this mortality is put off it cannot put on immortality; except this body that we have received from the earth returns to mother earth, it cannot be brought forth in the morning of the resurrection. This we know and understand; yet how strange it is, and yet we may say it is not strange, that the living, with all that they witness concerning the departure of the living to another state of existence, how few there are who lay it to heart, how few there are who profit by it, how few there are who seek unto God for wisdom, knowledge and understanding to enable them to acquit themselves well here preparatory to this change. There are some who do, but very few, and though we mourn at the loss of our friends, when our natural feelings have passed away, and our hearts have ceased to mourn, cheerfulness takes the place of these mournful feelings, and we think no more of it. This is the common condition of the children of men, those who profess to be Christians, and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world. They have made many inquiries with regard to this passing from one state of existence to another. It seems to be a great mystery to them. A great deal has been said and a great deal has been written, and there have been many reflections—more than has been spoken or written, and yet it is one eternal mystery to the world. Why? Because they have not eyes to see, nor ears to hear, and they do not understand the providences of God; and if they read the word of the Lord—the revelations that he has given concerning the living and the dead—they do not understand them, and so the world is left in darkness, to grope their way like the blind man by the wall. Thus it is with the children of men, taking the whole of the Christian world.

It is true the Latter-day Saints have received a little more—they have received something beyond the imagination of the heart. We have facts before us, we have experience that is satisfactory, and we can rejoice in the hope that God has given us. But if we will be prepared, as this our beloved brother was prepared, to go at a moment’s warning; if we live in this way, we live just as we should live. No person who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ has a right to spend a day, an hour, or a minute of his life or her life in a manner unbecoming the profession of a Saint; they should be ready to depart this life any moment. I say that those who understand the things of God have no right, neither have they any wish, to live only so that they may enjoy the light of his Spirit, enjoy communion with God, with his son Jesus Christ and with the Holy Ghost, so that they may be instructed day by day how to walk in the path that lies before them, the path that leads to life everlasting. But how easy it is for those who profess to be Saints, to be of the earth, earthy, and to seek after and love the world, and fall into the spirit of the world. How easy it is for them to receive the spirit of the world, and to forget the spirit of salvation that has been in their hearts. If we could keep constantly in our minds and before us what we really know, what the Lord has taught us, what we have read and what we have received by the whisperings of the Spirit, this would be satisfactory; but many do not retain these things, they pass from them, and when they have passed away doubt seizes their minds, and they are at a loss to determine whether they ever understood anything or not.

In the great providences of God, in bringing forth worlds into existence, as he has this, which worlds are continually coming into existence and passing from one state to another, inhabitants come forth; every living creature that we have any knowledge of God sends forth upon the earth that he frames, there to live and to enjoy, or to endure all that his providences bring forth upon the earth, that they may have an experience, that they may be prepared for another change. These changes are taking place continually, and have been from the beginning. In the vegetable and in the mineral kingdoms, as well as in the animal kingdom, these changes are continually going on. Man comes on to this stage of action, and he is continually undergoing a change until the time of his departure. He comes here—he knows not how. We know we are here; but who is it understands how we came, and the design and purpose of our Heavenly Father in sending us here? Here is the mystery to the Christian and scientific world; they do not understand it. “Would that we could” say the inhabitants of the earth, and especially those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. “How glad I should be to know where Jesus lives!” “How glad I should be to know whether I am going to him when I leave this world! But it is a mystery.” Why should it be a mystery? Because the curtain is shut down before us, and the vision of our minds is closed up for a trial for us, for us to prove ourselves, and to show whether, while passing through darkness and affliction, in ignorance and with clouds of unbelief over us, after being made acquainted with the things of God, we will persevere and be firm to our faith, and so prove ourselves worthy to receive a glorious resurrection, a change to a more exalted state of being than we can possess and enjoy here on this earth.

We are made expressly to dwell with those who continue to learn, and who receive knowledge on knowledge, wisdom on wisdom; we belong to the family of heaven. I am looking now upon a body of divinity. Every face that I see sheds forth a certain amount of the divinity I worship—my Father in heaven. Here we are, we are God’s children, and we are brought forth to give us an experience, that we may know good from evil, light from darkness; that we may know how to serve God; that we may know why and wherefore we should refuse the evil and choose the good. I ask the philosophers—and I think it is probable there are some here today—how do you prove facts? By their contrast. How do you know this or that? By its contrast. We know and prove things by their opposite; we understand the evil because the good is present with us, and the Lord sends forth his intelligent children on the face of the earth to prove whether they are worthy to dwell with him in eternity.

How frequently the question arises in the minds of the people—“I wish I knew where I was going!” Can you find out? Well, you will go into the spirit world, where brother Thomas now is. He has now entered upon a higher state of being, that is, his spirit has, than when in this body. “Why cannot I see him? Why cannot I converse with his spirit? I wish I could see my husband or my father and converse with him!” It is not reasonable that you should, it is not right that you should; perhaps you would miss the very object of your pursuit if you had this privilege, and there would not be the same trial of faith to exercise you, not so severe a path of affliction for you to walk in, not so great a battle to fight, nor so great a victory to win, and you would miss the very object you are in pursuit of. It is right just as it is, that this veil should be closed down; that we do not see God, that we do not see angels, that we do not converse with them except through strict obedience to his requirements, and faith in Jesus Christ. When we contemplate the condition of man here upon the earth, and understand that we are brought forth for the express purpose of preparing ourselves through our faithfulness to inherit eternal life, we ask ourselves where we are going, what will be our condition, what will be the nature of our pursuits in a state of being in which we shall possess more vigor and a higher degree of intelligence than we possess here? Shall we have labor? Shall we have enjoyment in our labor? Shall we have any object of pursuit, or shall we sit and sing ourselves away to everlasting bliss? These are questions that arise in the minds of people, and they many times feel anxious to know something about hereafter. What a dark valley and a shadow it is that we call death! To pass from this state of existence as far as the mortal body is concerned, into a state of inanition, how strange it is! How dark this valley is! How mysterious is this road, and we have got to travel it alone. I would like to say to you, my friends and brethren, if we could see things as they are, and as we shall see and understand them, this dark shadow and valley is so trifling that we shall turn round and look upon it and think, when we have crossed it, why this is the greatest advantage of my whole existence, for I have passed from a state of sorrow, grief, mourning, woe, misery, pain, anguish and disappointment into a state of existence, where I can enjoy life to the fullest extent as far as that can be done without a body. My spirit is set free, I thirst no more, I want to sleep no more, I hunger no more, I tire no more, I run, I walk, I labor, I go, I come, I do this, I do that, whatever is required of me, nothing like pain or weariness, I am full of life, full of vigor, and I enjoy the presence of my heavenly Father, by the power of his Spirit. I want to say to my friends, if you will live your religion, live so as to be full of the faith of God, that the light of eternity will shine upon you, you can see and understand these things for yourselves, that when you close your eyes upon mortality you wake up right in the presence of the Father and the Son if they are disposed to withdraw the veil, they can do as they please with regard to this; but you are in the spirit world and in a state of bliss and happiness, though we may call it Hades or hell. It is the world of spirits, it is where Jesus went, and where all go, both good and bad. The spirits of the living that depart this life go into the world of spirits, and if the Lord withdraws the veil it is much easier for us then to behold the face of our Father who is in heaven than when we are clothed upon with this mortality. I have not time at present to follow these reflections further.

Then we should be encouraged, we should strengthen our faith by our hope, we should seek unto the Lord until our hope is made perfect, that we may have power to bear like Saints all the afflictions we meet with here on the earth. If we do this, when we have crossed the dark valley of the shadow of death it will be so easy to turn round and behold the path that we have walked, wherein we have had the privilege, the same as the Gods, of learning the difference between good and evil.

You recollect that it was said in ancient days, to her that we call Mother, “Your eyes will be opened if you will eat of this fruit, and you will know as the Gods know, good from evil.” This probation is given us that we may learn this lesson, and if we are faithful in it we shall learn how to succor those who are tempted and tried as we are, when we have the power to rescue them from the ravages of the enemy.

This earth is our home, it was framed expressly for the habitation of those who are faithful to God, and who prove themselves worthy to inherit the earth when the Lord shall have sanctified, purified and glorified it and brought it back into his presence, from which it fell far into space. Ask the astronomer how far we are from the nearest of those heavenly bodies that are called the fixed stars. Can he count the miles? It would be a task for him to tell us the distance. When the earth was framed and brought into existence and man was placed upon it, it was near the throne of our Father in heaven. And when man fell—though that was designed in the economy, there was nothing about it mysterious or unknown to the Gods, they understood it all, it was all planned—but when man fell, the earth fell into space, and took up its abode in this planetary system, and the sun became our light. When the Lord said—“Let there be light,” there was light, for the earth was brought near the sun that it might reflect upon it so as to give us light by day, and the moon to give us light by night. This is the glory the earth came from, and when it is glorified it will return again unto the presence of the Father, and it will dwell there, and these intelligent beings that I am looking at, if they live worthy of it, will dwell upon this earth.

As for their labor and pursuits in eternity I have not time to talk upon that subject; but we shall have plenty to do. We shall not be idle. We shall go on from one step to another, reaching forth into the eternities until we become like the Gods, and shall be able to frame for ourselves, by the behest and command of the Almighty. All those who are counted worthy to be exalted and to become Gods, even the sons of God, will go forth and have earths and worlds like those who framed this and millions on millions of others. This is our home, built expressly for us by the Father of our spirits, who is the Father, maker, framer and producer of these mortal bodies that we now inherit, and which go back to mother earth. When the spirit leaves them they are lifeless; and when the mother feels life come to her infant it is the spirit entering the body preparatory to the mortal existence. But suppose an accident occurs and the spirit has to leave this body prematurely, what then? All that the physician says is—“it is a still birth,” and that is all they know about it; but whether the spirit remains in the body a minute, an hour, a day, a year, or lives there until the body has reached a good old age, it is certain that the time will come when they will be separated, and the body will return to mother earth, there to sleep upon that mother’s bosom. That is all there is about death.

Brother Thomas Williams is no more dead than he was a week ago. His clay is simply dead; and inasmuch as he honored this tabernacle that lies before us, it will take a sleep in the dust, to come forth immortal in the day of the first resurrection.

This will be the case with us all; if we honor our being here. This is our path, and our great object should be to honor our calling here. We have bodies which, in infancy, childhood and youth, are just as pure as the angels, and if we honor these bodies, and preserve them in chastity, purity and holiness, they are just as good as the bodies of those that dwell in endless life, and they will be prepared to come forth in the glorious resurrection, and be crowned with glory, immortality and eternal lives. This is the privilege of all, and the work that the Savior has undertaken is to save all that will come unto him; none will be eternally lost except the sons of perdition; and the great work that God has brought forth in the latter days in restoring the Priesthood is for the living and for the dead, to bring them up that they may enjoy a glorious resurrection.

Brother Thomas has honored his body here, and he now goes into his glory, that is, as far as he can in the spirit world. He goes where he can do more good. He has gone where he can preach to those who have lived and died on the earth without the Gospel, that they may have the privilege of receiving and obeying it, that they may be judged according to men in the flesh, and have the privilege of a glorious resurrection.

This is the work of the Latter-day Saints, and if we are hated for anything, it is for trying to save the people; if we are persecuted it is for trying to do good to those who are living and those who are dead. I say, then, to the Saints, pursue your course, live your religion and be ready at a moment’s warning. Brother Thomas Williams, while he sat at table eating his dinner, had not the privilege of speaking a word. A blood vessel broke, and his mouth and throat were instantly filled with blood to that degree that he could not speak a word. He tried to swallow a little salt and water, and probably he got a little down, but I doubt it very much. The blood gushed most probably from both stomach and lungs. The vessels were ripe and prepared to break, and the blood within him gushed out so copiously that he never spoke another word. How could he repent of his sins if he had not been prepared? What kind of a confession could he have made if he had wished to? None at all. He could not ask a Priest to pray for him if he had wanted to do so; no, he was prepared to go; he never spoke a word, but committed his soul to God without a moment’s warning. I try to so live that my work is always done; I have done everything that can be done up to the moment, just as he did it. I wish our business men would take pattern by him who lies before us. He was our paymaster in the Parent Branch of Z.C.M.I., and attended to this Branch of the financial business of the Institution, and there was not an order that was to be paid or filed, but what he had written a description of it and pinned it on to that order before he went to his dinner. In all his business there was not one scratch of the pen wanted to be done by other clerks, but every iota was done just as much as though he had known that he was going to breathe his last in twenty minutes.

Saints, I wish you would take pattern by this man, and live your lives as he lived his life. I pray you in Christ’s stead live your religion. If you want to know whether I live mine judge by my works, judge from my daily walk and conversation. You have the right to judge, but you be sure and live so that you will know whether I do or not. I live so that I know whether you do or not, exactly. Latter-day Saints live your religion and honor your God.

I say to this family, the wives and children of brother Williams, God bless you and comfort your hearts; and I say, will you please live your religion so that you may be prepared to meet him? If you do not live so as to honor your Priesthood, you will come short of meeting him in the resurrection, I assure you. Now live your religion. God is not to be mocked, the laws of God are to be honored, and all of his ordinances and requirements are to be filled and fulfilled. He requires strict obedience of his children, and if we are not obedient we shall come short of that glory that we anticipate now.

I hope and pray that the Lord will bless you all. Amen.

Discourse by Elder George Q. Cannon, delivered at the Funeral Services of Elder Thomas Williams, in the Fourteenth Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, July 19, 1874.

While Elder Taylor was speaking of the future condition of the departed, the words of a writer in the Book of Mormon came to my mind, and I think that, probably, reading it will be as appropriate on the present occasion, to refresh the minds of the Saints in relation to their faith, and if there should be strangers present, it will give them an idea of the faith of the Latter-day Saints in relation to the resurrection. I think, I say, it would be as appropriate as anything I could say. They are the words of Jacob, the brother of Nephi, and are recorded in the second book of Nephi and sixth chapter. Speaking to a people who were there, Jacob says—

“Behold, my beloved brethren, I speak unto you these things that ye may rejoice, and lift up your heads forever, because of the blessings which the Lord God shall bestow upon your children. For I know that ye have searched much, many of you, to know of things to come; wherefore I know that ye know that our flesh must waste away and die; nevertheless, in our bodies we shall see God. Yea, I know that ye know that in the body he shall show himself unto those at Jerusalem, from whence we came; for it is expedient that it should be among them; for it behooveth the great Creator that he suffereth himself to become subject unto man in the flesh, and die for all men, that all men might become subject unto him. For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfill the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord. Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man, must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.

“O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more, our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more. And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder, and all manner of secret works of darkness.

“O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit. And because of the way of the deliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this death, of which I have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its death; which death is the grave. And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel.

“O how great the plan of our God! For on the other hand, the paradise of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous, and the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect. Wherefore, we shall have a perfect knowledge of all our guilt, and our uncleanness, and our nakedness; and the righteous shall have a perfect knowledge of their enjoyment, and their righteousness, being clothed with purity, yea, even with the robe of righteousness.

“And it shall come to pass that when all men shall have passed from this first death unto life, insomuch an they have become immortal, they must appear before the judgment seat of the Holy One of Israel; and then cometh the judgment, and then must they be judged according to the holy judgment of God. And assuredly, as the Lord liveth, for the Lord God hath spoken it, and it is his eternal word, which cannot pass away, that they who are righteous shall be righteous still, and they who are filthy shall be filthy still; wherefore, they who are filthy are the devil and his angels; and they shall go away into everlasting fire, prepared for them; and their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever and has no end.

“O the greatness and the justness of our God! For he executeth all his words, and they have gone forth out of his mouth, and his law must be fulfilled. But, behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and their joy shall be full forever.

“O the greatness of the mercy of our God, the Holy One of Israel! For he delivereth his saints from that awful monster the devil, and death, and hell, and that lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.

“O how great the holiness of our God! For be knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it. And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam. And he suffereth this that the resurrection might pass upon all men, that all might stand before him at the great and judgment day. And he commandeth all men that they must repent, and be baptized in his name, having perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God. And if they will not repent and believe in his name, and be baptized in his name, and endure to the end, they must be damned; for the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has spoken it. Wherefore he has given a law; and where there is no law given there is no punishment; and where there is no punishment there is no condemnation; and where there is no condemnation the mercies of the Holy One of Israel have claim upon them, because of the atonement; for they are delivered by the power of him. For the atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all those who have not the law given to them, that they are delivered from that awful monster, death and hell, and the devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment; and they are restored to that God who gave them breath, which is the Holy One of Israel.”

There is much more in this chapter of a similar character, very instructive to those who read and have faith to believe the testimony of this man.

In speaking to you, my brethren and sisters, who are familiar with the life of him whose remains are in our midst this morning, I need not say to you scarcely what our views and hopes are concerning him. We know when a man dies, inasmuch as he dies faithful to the truth, hav– ing kept the commandments of God and obeyed the ordinances of the house of God as far as they have been revealed and as he has had an opportunity, that he is secure, that his future is assured. He goes, as we are taught, to the Paradise of God, there to await the morning of the first resurrection. We know that his body will be called forth from the dust and from the tomb, and that his spirit will reanimate it, and he enter upon that glorious condition of existence concerning which so many promises have been made. In this respect the faith of the Latter-day Saints is not a chimera, it is something tangible.

While I sat here and listened to the words of our brother the reflection came across my mind—how often we are called upon to participate in sad scenes like the present, and yet throughout all this Territory, among all the Latter-day Saints, there is this peculiarity, which was not witnessed in the case of our brother because of the suddenness of his taking off; but I have never yet found, in any instance where people have been summoned hence by death, that there were death and sorrow, and feelings of pain and anguish, and dread concerning the future as I have witnessed elsewhere. In the early days of this Church God promised unto the Latter-day Saints that their deaths should be peaceful, and that the dread of death should be taken away from them, and after forty-four years’ experience we, today, and in all the years that are passed, have realized the truth of this promise.

There is something tangible about the faith which God has revealed. If I go forth believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, and am baptized for the remission of my sins, and receive the Holy Ghost, I know that I have done that which God requires at my hands, and if I should die at such a time what have I to fear? If the Holy Ghost has descended upon me it is a witness and evidence to me that I have received a remission of my sins, and that the promise of God has been fulfilled to me, and that the man who administered that holy ordinance to me was an authorized servant of Jesus Christ.

That was the case with brother Williams. His testimonies were of the most remarkable character. I have heard him speak about the evidences of its truthfulness he had when he joined this Church, and I have been almost overpowered with joy that I lived in a day and age of the world when God revealed his mind and will unto man as he did in ancient days. A more powerful testimony, probably, could not be heard than has been borne so repeatedly by our deceased brother. And then what? Why the Spirit of God rested upon him and impelled him to leave his friends and his former home and associations and gather with the Saints. Did he do this because some “Mormon” Elder told him it was right to do it? No, he did this because the Spirit and power of God rested upon him and impelled him to do it. He was filled with joy and peace in obeying this commandment of God, and it was so after he came here in all the works that devolved upon him. Only the day before he died we had a long conversation about these things together, and I trust I shall never forget the spirit that rested upon him and myself while talking. Speaking about the unfaithfulness of men, he did not say in these exact words, but he conveyed the idea to me that he would rather die, rather lay down his life than prove recreant to the principles of the Gospel which he had espoused, he valued them so highly, more than life and everything else on the face of the earth. He has done all that he could do. That power which God promised, or which Jesus rather gave unto Peter, when he said that he should have the power to bind on earth and it should be bound in heaven, and the power to loose on earth and it should be loosed in heaven, has been exercised in behalf of our deceased brother. He took a wife and she was sealed to him by the power of the holy Priesthood, and he entered into this holy ordinance and obeyed celestial marriage as it was revealed to him in the fullness of his faith, although it was a trial to him. But he was impelled to do so by the power which rested down upon him, and he knew he did that which was right. He went forward in obedience to the commandments, putting his trust in God, and I know, as he knew and still knows, though gone behind the veil, that he has secured to himself, so far as his own works could secure, through the grace and atonement of Jesus Christ, his eternal exaltation in the presence of God our heavenly Father.

It is not a strong assurance or hope that the Latter-day Saints have, that they will receive these blessings in the eternal worlds; but when the promise is sealed upon their heads that they shall come forth in the morning of the first resurrection and be crowned with glory, immortality and eternal lives, there is a testimony from God, our eternal Father in the heavens above, which rests down upon them and confirms the truth of these words upon the soul of a faithful man or woman, and they know, when words are pronounced upon them by a man who has the authority, sealing upon them blessings, keys, thrones, principalities, powers and exaltations in the eternal kingdoms of God our Father, I say they know, by the testimony of the Spirit of God which rests down upon them at such times, that these words are not the words of men, but that they are the words of the Spirit of God inspiring that man, and that God takes a record of that ordinance in the heavens, and that it is sealed upon them and upon their children, and that they will actually come forth in the morning of the first resurrection, according to the promise, hence, there is no fear of death in the minds of the Latter-day Saints. If the stake was standing before us, prepared for our execution—if we had that faith that we should have, and which animated the Saints of God in ancient days, we would walk as calmly to that stake and be bound to it as we would walk to eat a meal of victuals, knowing that God, our heavenly Father, will bestow all the blessings that have been sealed upon us.

This was the faith which animated the ancients and sustained them in the midst of persecutions, and this is the faith that we should cherish and cultivate as a people and as individuals. Woe to the man who has lost that faith! Dreadful is his condition if he has not that faith living within him. Woe to that man, for his condition is far worse than his first condition, that is before he had these blessings sealed upon him.

My associations with our brother who has gone have been of the most tender character. I have known him as I have known a brother. Our associations have been very intimate from the day I first made his acquaintance, on the Missouri River, in 1860, until the present time. I have watched his course, and have been pleased with his faithfulness. A more amiable, more kind-spirited or more loving man I scarcely ever met. I do not know that I ever met one more so. He has been beloved by all who have known him. A modest, unobtrusive man, never setting himself forward, but faithful and diligent, performing the labors assigned to him without any parade but with the greatest devotion and zeal.

That God may bless his wives and his children, and pour out upon them the spirit of consolation, that he may preserve his little ones, that they may grow up in the truth, and tread the straight and narrow path which he has trodden to the end, and like him be crowned with glory, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the Old Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, July 19, 1874.

I hope the congregation will give their attention and pray for the Holy Spirit to be shed forth upon all those who are upright in heart, that we may be edified and instructed by the inspiration and power thereof, for this is one of the objects which we have in view in assembling ourselves together, from Sabbath to Sabbath, to be instructed in the things pertaining to the kingdom, and also to partake of the emblems of the death and sufferings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We find ourselves here, upon this creation, intelligent beings, and questions no doubt arise in the minds of almost every man and every woman in relation to the future destiny of the human family, and what is the object of our being placed here on this earth for a short season and then passing away. It is a question not only asked by intelligent beings who believe in divine revelation, but the heathen and semi-barbarous nations, in fact all people reflect, more or less, concerning the object of their existence here, and what awaits them in the future. Mankind gain very little light on this subject unless through the medium of divine revelation, hence we find among all people a great variety of views in relation to this matter. Our American Indians have some ideas of a future state of existence—they cannot persuade themselves to believe that man is destined, when he lays aside this mortal tabernacle, to be annihilated, but they look forward to a future state, and the pleasures they will hereafter enjoy in their happy hunting grounds. Some people believe one principle and some another in relation to this matter, and the only way man can be satisfied on a subject of so great importance is by receiving revelation from that order of beings—far in advance of us—who have a knowledge of the future state and condition of man.

We find recorded in the revelations of the Most High, called the Bible, as well as in the Book of Mormon and the various modern revelations which God has given, that man is destined to live forever. God having revealed this fact to ancients and to moderns, raised up witnesses to bear testimony to the children of men that they are immortal beings, and that this change which comes upon them, denominated death, is not an annihilation of their being or an end of their existence, but it is merely a casting off or laying aside of the mortal tabernacle; that man lives in the eternal world even after he appears to be dead, and that, if a righteous man, he has joy and happiness, but if a wicked man, he has the gnawing of conscience, and misery, and wretchedness; and that he expects, according to divine revelation, to receive again, in due time, the tabernacle that he has thrown off for a moment. It is sown in weakness, says the Apostle Paul, it is raised in power; it is laid down as a mortal body, it is raised up as an immortal body.

If we, by study or research, could discover some method or principle by which we could remain in this world and live in this tabernacle forever, we should be willing to do so with all the inconveniences of the present order of things, and still be joyful in our hearts. If any man could by research or learning discover some kind of a way, or means or medicine that would give immortality to the children of men, even in their present state, he would be considered one of the greatest men that ever lived, and the one who had bestowed the greatest blessing upon his fellow creatures; he would be lauded to the very skies, and his name would be handed down among all people and nations as one of the greatest benefactors of mankind; so earnestly do we feel to cling to life and desire to live, that we would be very willing to put up with the inconveniences of the present state if we could only remain and the monster death have no power over us. But it is in the order of God that man should die. Man brought this upon himself by transgressing the laws of heaven. By putting forth his hand and partaking of that which God had forbidden, he brought this great evil into the world. Death not only came upon our first parents, who committed the first great transgression, but the curse has been inherited by all their generations. None can escape the curse so far as the mortal body is concerned.

I think, perhaps, this broad assertion may be contradicted in the minds of some. They may tell us of Enoch, who was translated to heaven; they may speak of Elijah, who was caught up in a chariot of fire, and say, “Here, at least, are two exceptions to the general rule.” But what do we know concerning translation? What has God revealed in all the revelations contained in the Old and New Testaments in relation to a translated being? Are we assured that such beings never will have to undergo a change equivalent to that of death?

Our new revelations that we have received inform us of a great many individuals that were translated before the flood. We read that a great and mighty Prophet of the Most High God was sent forth in the days of Adam, namely Enoch, the seventh generation from Adam, who lived contemporary with his ancestor Adam; that in his days a great number of people heard the plan of salvation preached to them by the power of the Holy Ghost that rested upon Enoch and those who were called with him; that they received this plan of salvation and gathered themselves out from among the various nations of the earth where they had obeyed the Gospel; that they were instructed, after they assembled in one, in righteousness, for three hundred and sixty-five years; that they learned the laws of the kingdom, and concerning God and every principle of righteousness that was necessary to enable them to enter into the fullness of the glory of heaven; they were instructed to build up a city, and it was called a city of holiness, for God came down and dwelt with that people; he was in their midst, they beheld his glory, they saw his face, and he condescended to dwell among them for many long years, during which time they were instructed and taught in all of his ways, and among other things they learned the great doctrine and principle of translation, for that is a doctrine the same as the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, which is among the first principles of the plan of salvation; and we may also say that the doctrine of translation, which is intimately connected with that of the resurrection, is also one of the first principles of the doctrine of Christ. They were instructed in relation to this government, the object of it, &c.

According to the light and knowledge which the Latter-day Saints have upon this subject, revealed in the revelations given through Joseph Smith, we find that those people, when they were fully prepared, having learned the doctrine of transla– tion, were caught up into the heavens, the whole city, the people and their habitations. How much of the earth was taken up in connection with their habitations we are not informed. It might have been a large region. You may ask—“Where was this city of Zion built in ancient days?” According to new revelation it was built upon this great western hemisphere. When I speak of this western hemisphere I speak of it as it now exists. In those days the land was united; the eastern and the western hemispheres were one; but they dwelt in that portion of our globe that is now called the western hemisphere, and they were taken up from this portion of the globe. No doubt all the region of country occupied by them was translated, or taken away from the earth.

Does this prove that they were immortal beings from the time of their translation? No; it does not prove any such thing. How are we to know anything about it? We cannot learn anything in relation to it, except by revelation. God has revealed to us that they are held in reserve, in some part or portion of space; their location is not revealed, but they are held in reserve to be revealed in the latter times, to return to their ancient mother earth; all the inhabitants that were then taken away are to return to the earth.

Some five thousand years have passed away since they were caught up to the heavens. What has been their condition during that time? Have they been free from death? They have been held in reserve in answer to their prayers. What were their prayers? Enoch and his people prayed that a day of righteousness might be brought about during their day; they sought for it with all their hearts; they looked abroad over the face of the earth and saw the corrup– tions that had been introduced by the various nations, the descendants of Adam, and their hearts melted within them, and they groaned before the Lord with pain and sorrow, because of the wickedness of the children of men, and they sought for a day of rest, they sought that righteousness might be revealed, that wickedness might be swept away and that the earth might rest for a season. God gave them visions, portrayed to them the future of the world, showed unto them that this earth must fulfill the measure of its creation; that generation after generation must be born and pass away, and that, after a certain period of time, the earth would rest from wickedness, that the wicked would be swept away, and the earth would be cleansed and sanctified and be prepared for a righteous people. “Until that day,” saith the Lord, “you and your people shall rest, Zion shall be taken up into my own bosom.” Ancient Zion should be held in reserve until the day of rest should come, “then,” said the Lord to Enoch, “thou and all thy city shall descend upon the earth, and your prayers shall be answered.”

They have been gone, as I have already stated, about five thousand years. What have they been doing? All that we know concerning this subject is what has been revealed through the great and mighty Prophet of the last days, Joseph Smith—that unlearned youth whom God raised up to bring forth the Book of Mormon and to establish this latter-day Church. He has told us that they have been ministering angels during all that time. To whom? To those of the terrestrial order, if you can understand that expression. God gave them the desires of their hearts, the same as he gave to the three Nephites, to whom he gave the privilege, according to their request, of remaining and bringing souls unto Christ while the world should stand. Even so, he granted to the people of Enoch their desire to become ministering spirits unto those of the terrestrial order until the earth should rest and they should again return to it.

Joseph inquired concerning their condition, whether they were subject to death during that period, and was informed, as you will find in the history of this Church, as printed in the Millennial Star and other publications thereof, that these personages have to pass through a change equivalent to that of death; notwithstanding their translation from the earth, a certain change has to be wrought upon them that is equivalent, to death, and probably equivalent also to the resurrection of the dead. But before that change comes they minister in their office unto those of another order, that is the terrestrial order. Strangers will not understand perhaps what we mean by the terrestrial order. If they will take the opportunity of reading the doctrines of this Church, as laid down in the revelations given through Joseph Smith, they will learn what our views are in relation to this matter. God revealed by vision the different orders of being in the eternal worlds. One class, the highest of all, is called the celestial; another class, the next to the celestial in glory, power, might and dominion, is called the terrestrial; another class, still lower than the terrestrial in glory and exaltation, is called the telestial. This middle class, whose glory is typified by the glory of our moon in the firmament of the heavens as compared with the sun, are those who once dwelt on this or some other creation and, if they have had the Gospel laid before them they have not had a full opportunity of receiving it; or they have not heard it all, and have died without having the privilege. In the resurrection they come forth with terrestrial bodies. They must be administered to says the vision, and God has appointed agents or messengers to minister to these terrestrial beings, for their good, blessing, exaltation, glory and honor in the eternal worlds.

Enoch and his people understanding this principle sought that they, before receiving the fullness of their celestial glory, might be the instruments in the hands of God of doing much good among beings of the terrestrial order.

We read in the New Testament concerning certain angels that are in the eternal worlds, and the question is asked by the Apostle Paul—“Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation?”—not for those who were already heirs of salvation, but for those who shall be—those who were to be redeemed, that were to be brought forth and exalted. Enoch and his people were appointed to this ministry, holding the Priesthood thereof, with power and authority to administer in order that those beings may be exalted and brought up, and inherit all the glory that they are desirous to receive.

Much might be said concerning these different orders of glory, but we feel to pass on, and we will speak a few words now concerning the resurrection from the dead of those who have fully prepared themselves for the highest glory, the glory of the celestial kingdom, the highest of all, the holiest of all, the kingdom where God the Father sits enthroned in glory and in power, ruling and governing all things. There is a certain law, which God ordained before the foundation of the world, an irrevocable decree that those who would obey that law should have this great and most glorious of all the resurrections, be raised to celestial power, thrones and exaltations, where they could dwell in the presence of their Father and their God, throughout all the future ages of eternity.

Do you enquire what this law is which God revealed, and which was foreordained in the counsels of eternity, to be made manifest unto the sons and daughters of men for their exaltation to this highest heaven? Do you desire to know the road, the ordinances, the principles, by which we may attain to that highest of all exaltations? I will begin and say to all, that every individual that ever attains to the fullness of that glory, I mean those who have come to the years of understanding and maturity not referring at all to little children—must be born of the water and of the Spirit in order to be prepared to enter that highest glory of all. No one gets there upon any other principle. No ordinances, principles, laws or institutions laid down by the children of men that vary from that principle, will ever bring us into the celestial kingdom. We have the words of Jesus on this subject, when speaking to Nicodemus—“Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born of the water and of the Spirit, he can in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.” It is an impossibility, because the word of the great Jehovah has gone forth, and will not be revoked, and unless we are born of the water and of the Spirit, we cannot enter there.

What do we understand by being born of the water? What we understand, what God has revealed to us, as well as to the ancients, is, that we must be laid under the water and be brought forth out of the water, typical of birth, for this is a birth of the water. Who is a fit subject for this birth of the water? None but those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world; those who believe that he died to redeem the world and that he shed his blood to atone for the sins of the world; those who believe this and truly repent of all their sins are the only subjects who are justified before God in going down into the waters of baptism, being immersed in the water and brought forth again out of the water, which is the new birth of the water. It will do no person any good to be baptized a hundred times if his baptism is not connected with true faith in God and in Jesus Christ, and in his revelations and commandments; and unless he sincerely and truly repents of his sins, reforms his life and enters into a covenant with God to serve him in all righteousness, humility, meekness and lowliness of heart, his baptism would be good for nothing, it would not be acknowledged in heaven, it would not be recorded in the archives of eternity to his justification in the great judgment day. Let me go still further, and say, that if we have repented of and been baptized for the remission of our sins, if we do not seek after the birth of the spirit also, our baptism will avail us nothing; they must go hand in hand—the birth of the water first and then the birth of the spirit.

What do we understand by the birth of the spirit? I answer, that there is a birth of the spirit, in other words, those persons who receive the Holy Ghost are filled with it, are immersed within it, they are clothed upon therewith, and consequently are born anew of it, and they are without desires to do evil, their desires to do that which is wrong are taken away, and they become new creatures in Christ Jesus, being born of the spirit, as well as being born of the water. Here then are certain laws, ordinances or principles, as a beginning or starting point, by which we may gain an entrance into that highest glory of which I have been speaking.

Another thing to be considered in receiving these ordinances—I may be ever so sincere and humble and ever so willing to repent of my sins; I may have ever so much faith in God and in his Son Jesus Christ, and yet if I am not baptized by a man holding divine authority from God, having the right to baptize me in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, my baptism will not be legal, it will not be the new birth, and I cannot enter into the kingdom of God, according to the words of Jesus. What then does it require to constitute a man having divine authority? Can anyone by a mere impression upon his mind consider that he has divine authority to baptize his fellows? No; it needs a call from heaven, it needs a new revelation cotemporary with the individuals that act, a revelation from God calling the persons by name, setting them apart, ordaining them and calling them to officiate, commanding them to administer. Any other person who attempts to administer baptism will not be acknowledged in heaven. But a man holding the right by virtue of his divine calling and ordination, and by virtue of the power that God has bestowed upon him and the commandment that God has revealed to him, can go down and administer the baptism of water, and it will be recognized in heaven; it will not only be recorded on earth among the Saints in the Church here on the earth, but it will be recorded in the books of eternity, the records that are kept on high, and in that day, when all men shall be judged out of the books that are written, it will be found that the books kept here on earth will accord with those books that are kept in heaven, and by these books will parties be justified, and by these books will the legal ordinances that have been administered be acknowledged and recognized in heaven.

This calls forth another query by the world—“Why is it that you Latter-day Saints are so exclusive in the administration of the ordinances that you will not admit me, a Baptist, to join your society on my old baptism? I have been immersed,” says the Baptist; “I was sincere, I repented of my sins, and yet you Latter-day Saints will not receive me into your communion and to become a member of your Church unless I am baptized by one of your authorities.” The answer is, we do not recognize, as I have already stated, the authority of the Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Roman Catholics, nor of any Christian society upon the whole face of our globe to administer in the sacred ordinances, unless God has called them by new revelation, even as Aaron was called in ancient days. Have they been thus called? Ask them, and they will tell you no. Ask them if there has been any later revelation than the Old and New Testament, and all these societies will tell you that God has not given any revelation, raised up any Prophets or inspired Apostles, sent any angels, or given any visions, since the day that John the Revelator, the last of the Apostles, closed up his writing. Oh what an awful condition they must be in if this is the case! And who, with the exception of the Latter-day Saints, I ask again, among all nations, kindreds, peoples, tongues, and religious denominations, upon the face of our globe, has any divine authority? Not one, hence their baptisms are illegal, their administrations of the Lord’s Supper are illegal, and all their administrations in ordinances are not recognized in heaven. If God has not said anything since the days of the ancient Apostles, no wonder that he commanded, in these latter days, that we should not receive any into our Church unless they came in by the door of baptism.

But we have only told you some of the first principles of the Gospel of the Son of God, which are necessary to prepare the human family to enter into that highest glory that is spoken of by the Apostle Paul—the glory of the celestial. He says in the fifteenth chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians—“There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for as one star differs from another star in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead.” The glory of the sun is the highest, it is called by Paul the celestial, and I have told you some of the first principles of the celestial law. If you would inherit a celestial glory you must be willing to abide by the celestial law, otherwise you will come short. But do we stop with these first principles? No, there are many other great and glorious principles, connected with the celestial law, which God has revealed, and set forth as necessary for his people to receive, in order to prepare them to enter into that glory. I will name one—marriage.

We know very little about the order of heaven, so far as marriage is concerned, and all that we do know God has revealed. He has told us in the New Testament, “What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.” It seems then that there is a marriage wherein God officiates, or in other words, he officiates by his power and authority, he officiates in the uniting of men and women in marriage, hence it is called joining them together of God—what God joins, not what man joins. It is a divine institution, it cannot be administered by the lawmaking department. There may be marriages under the civil law; Congress, or the Legislatures of the various States and Territories may pass laws regulating the marriage institution, and marriages performed according to the provisions thereof would be legal, so far as the laws of man are concerned. But has God anything to do with these marriages? Just as much as he has with baptism when it is administered illegally. I have already shown you that a baptism administered by a man without authority is good for nothing; and a man and woman united in marriage by any civil law ever framed since the world began, are illegally married in the sight of heaven; to be legal there, it must be performed by a man called by revelation and ordained and commanded to celebrate that ordinance.

Now I want to say a few words to our young people who dwell in different parts of the Territory. I have heard that some of them, perhaps through a want of understanding of the laws of God, have suffered themselves to be married by the civil law—for instance, by a justice of the peace, alderman or judge. That will do very well so far as the laws of the land are concerned, but has God anything to do with such marriages? Nothing at all. Has he ever authorized marriages to be solemnized after this order? Not at all. Are children born of such marriages your legal sons and daughters in the sight of heaven? Not at all; they are in one sense bastards. That is a pretty hard saying, is it not? They are actually bastards. For instance, there are many old people who never heard of the divine appointment and authority which God has sent forth from heaven in relation to marriage, who have been married according to the laws of the countries in which they resided before they heard of this work. They complied literally with their laws, and so far as the law was concerned that was all right. But were they, legally, in the sight of God, husband and wife? Just as much as I would be a son of God and born of water, if I were sprinkled by a sectarian priest, or baptized by a Baptist priest, just as much. Could we claim a celestial glory, and all the privileges and blessings and exaltation that God has ordained from the foundation of the world to be bestowed upon those who comply with the celestial law, unless we complied with this law? Could our children, in the morning of the resurrection, come up and say unto us—“We claim you as our legal parents;” “I am your son,” “I am your daughter, and you are my parents, and therefore I claim the privilege of partaking of all the glory that you partake of, and of receiving thrones and dominions and kingdoms and powers and principalities in heavenly places in Christ Jesus?” They could not claim any such thing; neither could the parents have a claim upon these children; neither could they be gathered together and organized into a family capacity. Why? Because the celestial law has not been attended to. Inquires one—“Do you mean to make us all out bastards?” Not in the eyes of the law, but in the eyes of heaven. I am pointing out the difference now between the two laws—the law of man and the law of God, or the celestial law. Parents, if you would have your families connected with you in a social capacity hereafter, you must take steps to secure them by obeying the celestial law.

Inquires one—“Is there any remedy for these illegal marriages that we entered into before we heard the Gospel?” Yes, God has ordained from before the foundation of the world, laws and institutions adapted to the condition of all the human family, which, when revealed, if they are attended to by the children of men, will bless and exalt them, and consequently the propriety of gathering. God has not revealed a law in relation to marriage which may be officiated in everywhere, at random, without any record; he has ordained that in the last days, in Zion and in Jerusalem, and in the remnant whom the Lord our God shall call, there shall be deliverance. Deliverance from what? From all our former foolish traditions, and from the powers of darkness and everything evil. For this reason the people are gathering up from the nations of the earth, that they may be taught the law of deliverance; that they may be taught, legally and properly, how to become connected as husbands and wives in the sight of heaven; and inasmuch as our children have been born unto us under the covenants of the civil law, that our marriages may be renewed under the new covenant that God has revealed, and be recorded and sealed on earth and in heaven for the benefit of our children and their posterity forever and ever. You will find, when you learn further concerning the celestial glory, Paul’s words to be true, that in that glory, those who are in God must themselves be connected in marriage; for says the Apostle Paul, “the man is not without the woman in the Lord, and the woman is not without the man in the Lord.” This is an eternal principle, an eternal law pertaining to that glory. You may try to get the fullness thereof singlehanded, but you can’t do it, for God has made this a point of order and law, that all beings who are exalted to that highest glory shall be united in the Lord, as husband and wife.

Inquires one—“Do you mean that such relationship is going to continue after this life in the eternal worlds?” Yes, that which God has appointed and ordained in eternity, in relation to the creations and worlds that he has made, must be fulfilled. There is no such thing as a woman dwelling separately and independently, and inheriting a fullness of the glory of heaven, or a man either; they must be united together in the Lord.

Now you begin to understand a little of the principle of marriage, as believed in by the Latter-day Saints. We might point out a great many other principles of the celestial law, necessary to observe in order to attain the highest glory, but as the heat is intense, it would not be wisdom to detain you. Let me say to my young brethren and sisters, do not transgress the law of heaven. These things could be done without any very great condemnation by people abroad, but when we are at the place where we can be taught and instructed in the ways of the Lord, if we then, with our eyes wide open, go and get our marriages celebrated by the civil authorities of the land alone, we shall find ourselves under great condemnation. God will judge the people according to the light they have, and if you have been properly instructed in regard to his laws and ordinances do not transgress them, but attend to them according to the order of heaven, as you are instructed. Let all your marriages be, not for time only, according to the Gentile system of marriage, but let them be covenants for eternity, and let them be sealed upon you by a man of God having authority to do these things; and let them be recorded, and let these records be such that, when the books are opened, they will be found to accord with the records of heaven, then, if you are faithful, you will be entitled to your wife and your children, to all eternity, by virtue of the covenants which you have entered into, and which have been sealed on earth, by divine authority, and sealed in heaven in your behalf. Amen.

Discourse by Elder George Q. Cannon, delivered in The New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, July 12, 1874.

I rejoice, today, in the opportunity which I have of meeting with my brethren and sisters, but it would give me much greater satisfaction to sit and look upon their faces, and to listen to the voice or voices of others, than to occupy the time myself. I am thankful, however, that I am in your midst, and that circumstances are so favorable with us as they are.

I expect, from all I have heard, that this past season has been one of some degree of anxiety on the part of the Latter-day Saints in the Territory of Utah. But I do not believe that your happiness has been much interfered with, if I am to judge of your feelings by my own. We have had so many things to contend with all the days that we have been asso– ciated with this work, and we made calculations when we espoused it upon the character of the opposition to be contended with, that when we meet it there is no disappointment. In this respect the Latter-day Saints differ from every other people with whom I have met. If any other people in this government were assailed as the Latter-day Saints have been, and were to have so many intolerant and sweeping measures suggested for legislation by the Congress of the United States, real estate would be of very little value, and all kinds of business would be unsettled and ruined. But I cannot perceive that values, business, or your faith in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ has been in the least disturbed.

I have been questioned a good many times since I returned, as to my feelings during my absence. My reply has been that I never felt better in my life than during the past eight months. I have been absent from home a good many times, and I have traveled in a good many lands, and mingled with many people under a variety of circumstances, but I can say truly this day, that at no period in any of my travels, or under the different circumstances in which I have been placed, have I ever felt better than I have during my recent absence from home.

This may surprise some who are not acquainted with this work, and, in fact, it may excite some degree of surprise in the breasts of those who are familiar with it; but my theory is that when a man is conscious, or a people are conscious, that he or they are in the path of duty, doing that which is right in the sight of God, they should always be happy, no matter what the circumstances may be which surround them. I think that God has created us to be happy, and my belief is that he has placed happiness within the reach of all, and it is man’s own fault if he is not happy and does not enjoy himself every day of his life. This is one of my reasons for liking my religion, this system called “Mormonism,” because it bestows full happiness and joy upon its believers. They can be happy in the midst of the most adverse circumstances; they can rejoice when surrounded with enemies, and when their lives are imperiled. During my absence my feeling has been that God was with his people; I also felt that the faith of the Latter-day Saints was greatly exerted in my behalf, and that it was sustaining and strengthening me.

In some respects my position as delegate from this Territory was not an enviable one, and from the time that I reached Washington until the close of Congress there was one paper, at least, which poured out unlimited abuse upon myself and upon my constituents. Scarcely a day passed that some falsehood was not circulated or some vile slander or charge published about the people in these mountains, or about myself. Appeals of every imaginable character were made to the Congress of the United States, that is, to the House particularly, to take instant measures to expel me, and when, as these writers thought, a disposition was manifested not to comply with their demands, recourse was had to the charge of bribery—that we were spending money, and that members of Congress were paid to prevent their action upon my case. In this respect the condition of a delegate might be considered an unenviable one, but I felt a strength, I felt a power, I had an influence, or thought I had, at least, that no other member of the House of Representatives possessed. For instance, the members of the House generally were constantly harassed with the thought as to what their constituents would think of them, how they would view their action, how they would like their votes, &c., whether they would be displeased with such and such a measure, &c. Their future election, they knew, depended upon their having a popular record, and to secure this required considerable thought and ingenuity upon the part of many. I was divested of this fear, I had no thought as to what my constituents would think of me, it never cost me a single moment’s reflection, because I knew that I had the entire confidence of the people whom I represented; and I knew that whatever I did, so long as I did the best I could, I should be sustained in doing it by you and by all the people throughout these valleys, and in this respect I had a strength which no other one had. I often told members, when it was convenient and appropriate to speak in this strain, that I had the faith of the entire people, and that they were praying for me. This would amuse a good many, but I have never failed, during my absence, to convey, whenever I could, the idea that we were a people who believed in and prayed to God, and that we had faith in our prayers. One of the great lessons that we have to teach the world today is faith in God, and though a member of Congress, dealing with political questions and matters which are considered foreign to religion by the great majority of men, I have not thought that religion was like a Sunday garment, to be worn on Sunday in the meetinghouse, tabernacle, chapel or church, and to be laid aside again on Monday morning. I have never had that idea of religion, I do not have it now.

There is at the present time an almost entire absence of faith in God among men. I have been struck with this more than any other feature that I have witnessed during my absence. Converse with well meaning, intelligent men, men of good moral character, and you will be surprised at the extent of the unbelief there is in the world. There seems to be an idea that God our Eternal Father resides in some remote place so far removed from us that he takes no special cognizance of us or of our actions, that he governs the universe and the affairs of men by great natural and unalterable laws, that there are no special providences in favor of men, but that man prospers according to his wisdom, strength and talent, and that weak men and a weak people stand no chance in opposition to the strong; hence the remark was made to me, I may say, hundreds of times during my absence—“You people must conform to the ideas of the rest of the world, or you will go to the wall.” “You people must abandon your strange ideas and your peculiar views, or you will inevitably be overthrown.” On such occasions I would not fail to give the ideas that we believed in God, that we believed this was God’s work, that God had sustained and delivered us in the past, that we were still willing to trust him for the future, and that he would provide a way of escape. But while men would listen patiently and kindly to such remarks, you could see incredulity on every lineament of their countenance, a sort of pitying incredulity, as though they looked upon you as very well-meaning, but in this respect a very much mistaken person. The idea that prevails is that God or Providence is on the side of the strongest artillery, and that if we are weak and are warred against we must go down because of our weakness.

Of course, where this idea prevails there can be but little faith in God’s special providences. If this were a correct idea, there would be little use in prayer, in supplicating God, in entreating him for his blessing and his power to be bestowed upon us. But we have proved the efficacy of prayer so often ourselves, that there is no need for us as a people to be fortified upon this point, or to have arguments urged upon us. My own life is full of incidents—as is the life, doubtless, of every individual present who has faith in God—which are evidences of his interposition in answer of prayer, and my feeling is that one of the great duties devolving upon us is to teach the world that there is a God, and that he has power to save today, as much as in ancient days, those who are willing to trust him. It is this peculiar feature that makes everything connected with this work so incomprehensible to men. Those of you who have kept posted in relation to affairs, know how wonderfully matters have been arranged for our good. When I look back at the seven or eight months that are past and see what has been done, I am amazed, knowing how thorough have been the measures and the efforts to strip us of every right and to bring us into bondage. No less than eight or nine bills were introduced into Congress early in the session, for the express purpose of reaching the “Mormon” case. These bills were referred to various committees, and arguments had to be made upon them before these committees; but there was a determination on the part of a great many members to vote upon any bill, no matter what its features might be, that might be introduced into the House from a committee. You cannot judge, however, in every instance, of the private feelings of men by their votes. A great many members of Congress would rather not cast their votes against us if they could have their way; but the timidity of members upon the “Mormon” question is the strength of the enemies of the people of Utah, and they count upon that as a means of insuring the success of their schemes of villainy. They are well aware that there is a feeling of reluctance on the part of public men to place themselves on the record in favor of anything that would look like sustaining or giving countenance to what is called “Mormonism.” Our enemies counted upon this last session. In the beginning of the session they depended upon that as the means by which they would prevent me from taking my seat in the House of Representatives. Disappointed in that, they then commenced operations before the committee on elections and, as you are doubtless well aware, did everything in their power to precipitate that question upon the House. I need not rehearse to you how these attempts have been overruled. To my mind the hand of God is as plainly manifest in all these circumstances as is this light, or these objects which I see before me in the light of this day.

When the bills against Utah were introduced, they were referred, as I have said, to committees. They were principally copies of the bill that passed the Senate in the last session of the forty-second Congress, called the Frelinghuysen bill. One of these was introduced by the chairman of the Committee on Territories and was called the McKee bill. This bill was argued at great length before the Committee on Territories, and it was reported to the House.

To the astonishment of its reputed author, a point of order was raised upon it for which he was not prepared, and, before he scarcely knew it, the bill was taken out of his hands and referred to the committee of the whole and virtually defeated for that session. Of course, our enemies were not suited with that arrangement, they wanted some other bill passed, and hoping that the Poland bill would be the least objectionable and would pass the easiest, they brought that forward and urged its passage before the Judiciary Committee. A number of meetings were held, arguments were made for and against the bill, and finally, through laboring hard with prominent members of that committee a modification was obtained in one important section of the bill, namely, that referring to the selection of jurors. As the bill originally stood it possessed the same feature that all the rest did, giving to the Judge of the District Court, his clerk and the U.S. Marshal, the right to select all our jurors. This section was fought earnestly, and finally Judge Poland was induced to modify it sufficiently to have three commissioners appointed, who should have the selection of jurors. Eventually another change was made in that section, and the feature that now stands in the law as it passed was introduced giving the right to select jurors to the Probate Judge of each county and the clerk of the District Court, each to select alternately a juror from lists already prepared. I felt that this, itself, was a very great triumph, because as the bill originally stood it virtually left us, our lives, our liberties and all our property, at the mercy of three individuals who, judging by past experience in this Territory, would pack juries upon us without any scruples; and I felt that it was a great advantage to us that the infamous raid had been made upon us two years ago by the Judge of this district and those associated with him, for it gave me an opportunity of setting forth what had been done in the past when there was no law to sustain such operations, and to argue what we might expect if there were a law to sustain them.

When the Poland bill was brought before the House there seemed to be a forgetfulness on the part of its sponsor—not its author but its sponsor—Judge Poland, that there was a rule in operation requiring every bill that contemplated an appropriation from the federal treasury to be referred to the committee of the whole. He had forgotten the point that had been made on the McKee bill, and when his reputed bill was introduced that point was again made, and sustained by the Speaker. Judge Poland saw that he could not carry it over the decision of the Speaker and the decision of the best parliamentarians in the House and, to save his bill from being referred to the committee of the whole, he withdrew it. At this point a man who had been down there, very anxious to get legislation, and urging it with his might, met me on the floor of the House, and said—“Mr. Cannon, before you left Salt Lake you told me that God was on your side, and I’ll be d—d if I don’t begin to believe it.” I told him He was, and was on the point of telling him that he would be damned if he did not believe it, when we separated. For the moment, his fears being alive, I suppose he thought there was some power with us, as this was the second bill that had been so nearly killed for that session. Judge Poland succeeded afterwards in getting the privilege of reporting the bill to the House and having it there considered as in committee of the whole, and this saved the point of order.

As I have told you, the strength of our enemies did not consist in the justice or rightfulness of their cause; it did not consist in the strength of their arguments; it did not consist, in fact, in anything of this character that could be brought before members; but their principal reliance was upon the circulation of abominable falsehoods and slanders and the unreasoning prejudices which existed against the people of this Territory, which made members timid in dealing fairly with our question. A people who profess the characteristics of many of the residents of this Territory, and who have shown such willingness to suffer all things for what they consider the right, have difficulty in comprehending how men in power can be timid where principle is involved. But the power of members of Congress is very ephemeral. The tenure of office of many is frequently based upon slight grounds. Some have to struggle hard to get to Congress, and they struggle still harder to keep there. Viewed from their standpoint such reason in this wise: I follow politics as a profession; I expect to live by that profession; I reach Congress with difficulty, for my district is closely contested. I must vote in a way not to lessen my majority in my district, or to decrease my influence. There is a prejudice against the Mormons, and if I seem to favor them, my opponents would use it against me on the stump in the next campaign, even if I should succeed in getting a nomination from the convention of my party.

As you know, the Poland bill passed the House and was sent to the Senate. It was expected that it would pass the Senate almost instantaneously; that it would be referred, as a matter of form, to the Committee on the Judiciary and be instantly reported back for passage. But the members of the Judiciary Committee in the Senate, although the Frelinghuysen bill had passed during the previous Congress, were not disposed to pass this hastily through. There had been considerable said, a good many arguments made, and conversations held with Senators, and the true state of affairs, as far as possible, had been represented to them, and they had this fear—that this whole attempt at legislation was merely a pretext by which a raid could be made on the property of the “Mormons” in Utah Territory.

There were two very powerful aids that I had in Washington. One, that idea to which I have just referred, that all this was a scheme on the part of certain interested parties for the purpose of getting up a raid under cover of polygamy and “Mormonism” to rob the people of their hard-earned possessions. Many Senators and members had been to Utah and were aware of the increased value of property through the discovery of mines. They had no faith in carpetbaggers, hence there was a reluctance on the part of considerate men to lend themselves to anything like a scheme of this character.

The other great aid I had were the looks of the men who were urging legislation. All I had to do was to point to these men and ask Senators and members how they would like to have power put in the hands of such persons if they resided in Utah Territory? The argument was a conclusive one if they had the opportunity of seeing the persons who were urging legislation at that time. I do not exaggerate when I say that those who went down there to contest my seat and urge legislation were the best aids that could have been furnished me. Some have thought I ought to have had some help, but I tell you truly that they were the best helps that could be sent. I have been asked repeatedly what we paid one of them at least to be there. The first time the question was put to me I was a little surprised at it, and could not help expressing my surprise, not understanding exactly its drift. I said—“We pay him nothing, what do you mean?” “Well,” said the gentleman who asked the question, “if you do not pay him you certainly can afford to pay him to keep him here.” These were strong reasons on our side, and they contributed materially to help our cause.

When the bill, as I have said, came from the Judiciary Committee to the Senate, it came in its original form except the striking out of one section which extended the common law over this Territory. But there was a disposition to so modify the bill that it could not be used in the way that it was designed by its originators, and you know how it has been pruned. To me, as I have said respecting this other matter, so I can say concerning it, that the hand of God was very visible to me, and I felt that he was laboring on our side, and that he would help us and deliver us as he had delivered others in other times and in past ages; and the Lord did soften the hearts of men, cause them to feel favorable to us and to feel favorably disposed to our cause.

It has been said as an explanation of this, so I have understood, that we have used money at Washington to defeat legislation. I have not seen these statements myself, for I made it a point never to read books or papers which vilify this people. I really have too little time to read the works and papers which are instructive and pleasant to me, and with which I ought to be familiar, to spend one moment of time in reading abusive, lying and slanderous writings concerning this people or myself. While I was absent, there was a paper published in Washington that had almost daily, as I have remarked, articles against you and myself. I made it a point never to read one of them. I did not want to be disturbed in my feelings. “Where ignorance is bliss,” the poet says, “’tis folly to be wise.” I thought the scheme was a blackmailing one; I knew the influences which were put in operation to keep up this abuse and I was determined it should not annoy me. Whenever the use of money has been alluded to in the hearing of President Young he has stated, emphatically, that so far as he was concerned he would not spend one cent of money to preserve our rights, or to obtain extended liberties for us as a people. This has been his emphatic declaration, his expressed determination. His views on this subject have been accepted as every way correct.

I want to say to you here, today, my brethren and sisters, that not one cent of money has been spent with any man for the purpose of influencing him. I believe my word can be relied upon by this people; you have known me all my life, and when I say this you can put implicit and perfect reliance in what I say. We have had no aid of this kind, we have used no means of this character, we have had no lobbyist. That which has been done has been fairly and above board, and it has been the blessing of God upon us in answer to the united faith and prayers of this people that has produced the results that we have witnessed. I am thankful that we have been enabled to take this course and that we can trust in God and rely upon him, for he will save to the very uttermost.

I recollect writing home a letter some weeks ago, some weeks in fact before the adjournment, in which I said that so far as the sight of the eye, the hearing of the ear, and na– tural judgment were concerned men might be justified in thinking there would be legislation that would be very severe, and that I would lose my seat. And yet I can truly say that from the day of my election up to the time that I left Washington I never had a single doubt, not a shadow of a doubt as to my keeping my seat—it never cost me one moment’s thought. I knew when I left here that I would be admitted to my seat; I knew when the attempt was made to expel me that it would be unsuccessful; I knew further, that every attempt to get legislation such as was contemplated would be defeated, and if a bill did pass it would be in a comparatively mild form. Of course, having these ideas, I have felt, as I stated in the commencement of my remarks, very happy. I have had joy all the time, I have had peace all the time, and I have had good cause to be thankful to God our heavenly Father for his blessings upon me.

That I was not expelled from my seat, however, was not due to the absence of effort on the part of the person who wanted it. It was really amusing to hear the pathetic manner in which the poor creature and his confederates alluded to the technical and legal reply which I made (and which was published in this city), to his charges against me in his notice of contest for the place of delegate. He had piled charge upon charge against me, nothing being too false, vile or malignant to embody in these accusations, and because I acknowledged nothing, but threw the onus of the proof upon him, he murmured considerably. It would doubtless have been very gratifying to him to have had his case completed for him. As it was, recourse was had to the most despicable methods to obtain such evidence as was thought necessary. Spies pried into my domestic affairs, and from them and apostates cooked affidavits were obtained with which it was hoped the desired end would be achieved. If vile slanders, base falsehoods, false affidavits or atrocious attacks could have had the desired effect I would not have kept my seat in Congress. If grossly libelous newspaper articles, if shameless and indecent lectures, if frantic appeals to popular prejudice, or the secret circulation of documents signed by perjured affiants could have influenced Congress to take hasty and ill-considered action, the place of delegate from Utah might have been declared vacant. My opponents attacked me for being a “Mormon” of the most ultra and pronounced type; their great efforts were to prove that in the enunciation and practice of every feature of my religion I was bold though shrewd and not a whit behind the foremost, and because of this should not have a seat in Congress. This endorsement, if it had been worth anything, would have pleased me. But it did not always suit to give me this character. For circulation here, another plan was adopted. I was accused of not standing up to my principles. This charge was false but did not displease me, any more than the others pleased me. I am thankful to say that I have learned to view all such charges with complete indifference. Conscious of the propriety of my own course and that I had the confidence of my constituents, my enemies’ attacks gave me no concern. Indeed, I accepted them as compliments. I was quite willing to be investigated. I had tried to live so that I had no fear of a microscopic investigation of the acts of my life. At the same time I never conceded that Congress had the right to investigate my domestic affairs. I have no idea that I shall ever be convinced that it has that right.

So far as my personal treatment has been concerned, I have been treated with respect and consideration. A few individuals, a few members, have sought to do us injury; a few men can make a great disturbance on a question upon which men are so tender as this question of “Mormonism.” But by the great majority, by ninety-nine hundredths of the men with whom I have been brought in contact, as members of the House, as senators, as heads of departments, I could not ask any better treatment than I have received, I could not expect it. I have endeavored to deport myself as a gentleman in all the relations of life, to treat everybody with the consideration and respect that were due to them, and I have, in return, been treated in the same manner. I take pleasure in bearing this testimony, because one might imagine, from reports that have reached here, that I have been in a constant war and difficulty. It has been a constant war, but it has been a war that has been confined to fighting and counteracting the lies, the machinations, the slanders and the miserable schemes of those who have been plotting against us. And I wish to bear testimony to you this afternoon, that if you will put your trust in God he will never desert you. I never felt for a moment concerned about our affairs but once, and that was when I heard of the divisions in our elections here; that gave me concern. If these Latter-day Saints are only united, if they will keep the commandments of God and do his will, let me say to you that there is no power on earth or in hell that can injure us or retard the onward progress of this work. I know this as well as I know I stand here. But you be divided, you lose your faith, you array yourselves one against another, and then where is your strength? You are no better than any other people, and God will visit you with scourges and with disaster, and you will be punished and your enemies will have power over you. I hear of men being in doubt concerning their faith in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am astonished at it. It seems to me that every evidence that is necessary to convince people of the divinity of this work, people who examine it carefully and prayerfully, has been given unto us as a people.

I thought I knew something, before I left here, concerning the power of God; I thought I knew something of the providences of God our heavenly Father; but I never had such an experience in my life as I have had while I have been absent. I know that God is with this people. I know that God has chosen Brigham Young to be his servant, and to preside over his Church on the earth. I know this as well as I know that I live, and I might as well doubt my own existence, doubt the existence of the heavens above my head, or the earth on which I stand, as to doubt this, and I know that those who follow his counsel will be blessed and will be delivered, while those who reject his counsel will have to suffer therefore.

This may sound strange that a man should have this power given to him in these days, but it is consistent with the plan of salvation as revealed in ancient days. Recollect the power that Jesus gave to Peter—that he should bind on earth and it should be bound in heaven, and that he should loose on earth and it should be loosed in heaven. What great power this was to give to one man. Jesus said to him, “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

When God chooses a man to be his servant, he expects all his children to honor that man when they became acquainted with the character of his mission, and those who honor him He will honor, and they who despise him He will despise, and I know that the Latter-day Saints have prospered, it has been the experience of my entire life, from my boyhood up to this day, in obeying the counsel of God’s servant. During the days of Joseph, when the Latter-day Saints obeyed his counsel they were prospered; and since his death, for thirty years now, when they have obeyed the counsel of Brigham they have been blessed and prospered. And there is this evidence, which I consider one of the greatest evidences that we can have—whenever we do that which is required of us we have peace in our hearts, and when we oppose it we are disturbed in our spirits. I look upon this as one of the best guides to judge of the character of a spirit by which we may be assailed, or which may present itself for admission to our hearts. Whenever a spirit presents itself that produces disturbance of feeling, agitation, pain, darkness or doubt, we can know if we will judge as we should do, that it is not of God; but a spirit that produces peace, a spirit that produces joy, light and happiness, comes from God, and as a people we should be able to judge between these two classes of influences.

I said, in the commencement, that it is the privilege, in my opinion, of every man, every human being on the face of the earth to be happy, if he will seek happiness in the right direction. The heathen who lives up to the light God has given him can be a happy man. The idolater, no matter what his condition or belief, if he lives up to the light God has given him, can be happy if he will observe those laws which God has made plain unto all of us. Now, my brethren and sisters, there are lying spirits gone forth in the world who seek to deceive. The spirit of falsehood reigns today in the midst of the earth. Men delight in slander and in that which is false. You have proved this sufficiently, and if you are not careful you will be assailed by this spirit and partake of it before you are aware of it. How can you know a good spirit from a bad spirit? By the effect it produces upon your minds. I know that there are some who think that unless a man doubts he cannot acquire knowledge. This to me is great folly. I do not think it at all necessary to doubt or to hold controversies with the devil in order to acquire knowledge. I never saw a man who pursued that course who was not disturbed in his mind and darkened in his understanding. Seek for that which produces a good effect upon your minds; if we follow that it will bring us back to God. We need never be deceived by any spirit or influence, and we may always know the truth when we hear it. We have a guide within ourselves, which all of us carry, and that is the power to detect truth from error, right from wrong, good from evil, the spirit of light from the spirit of darkness. I want no spirit within me that produces any unhappy feeling. I want no spirit to enter into my heart that produces darkness and doubt. I want a spirit that produces peace and joy, and that will cause me to rejoice in the midst of my enemies and when threatened by danger; or if I have to walk that narrow and dreadful path that leads to death because of my faith, or any other terrible consequence, that I can walk it and have the Spirit of God, the spirit of peace, joy and resignation therein, without doubt or darkness assailing me. That is the spirit that we as a people should seek for. And when you are disturbed in your feelings and assailed with doubt and do not feel happy, withdraw yourselves from the world, leave the cares that press you, lay them aside, withdraw to your secret chamber, and bow yourselves down before your God and entreat him, in the name of Jesus, to give you his Spirit, and do not leave your chamber until you are, as it were, baptized in the Spirit of God and full of peace and joy, all your cares and troubles dissipated and dismissed. This is the course we should take as Latter-day Saints, and this will be far more profitable to us than anything else we can do during that period. There is nothing like communion with the Holy Spirit, there is no blessing to equal it. I have proved it abundantly during my absence, and I rejoice that I can bear this testimony to you today.

I expect it sounds strange for a man who has been occupied as I have been to talk in this strain; but there is nothing of greater importance to me, according to my understanding, than the salvation of the human family, temporally and spiritually, in the kingdom of God our heavenly Father; nothing of greater importance than teaching men and women how to live so as to be always in the enjoyment of light and wisdom and the peaceful Spirit of God our heavenly Father.

That God may bless you, that God may preserve you, that God may unite your hearts and make you one, and make you a people who shall prove to the inhabitants of the earth that God still lives and that he is unchanged, that he is the same today that he was yesterday, and that he will be the same forever, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.