Discourse by President George A. Smith, delivered at the Adjourned General Conference, held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 7, 1874.

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” This passage will be found in the 5th and 6th verses of the 4th chapter of the Prophet Malachi.

The Latter-day Saints were driven from their homes in Jackson County, Missouri, about forty-one years ago. A portion of the mob commenced the outbreak in June or July, and among their first deeds of violence was the destruction of the printing office, plundering the storehouse, and the tarring and feathering of Edward Partridge, the Bishop. This was followed by whipping and killing the people and burning their houses, and finally culminated, on the 13th of October, in driving some fifteen hundred persons from their homes, on the public lands which they had purchased and received titles for from the United States. The people thus driven went into different parts of the State, the great body of them, however, taking shelter in the County of Clay.

The settlements in Jackson County were commenced on the principle of the law of consecration. If you read the revelations that were given, and the manner in which they were acted upon, you will find that the brethren brought, before the Bishop and his counselors, their property and consecrated it, and with the money and means thus consecrated lands were purchased, and inheritances and stewardships distributed among the people, all of whom regarded their property as the property of the Lord. There were, however, at that period, professed Latter-day Saints, who did not see proper to abide by this law of consecration; they thought it was their privilege to look after “number one,” and some of them, believing that Zion was to become a very great city, and that being the Center Stake of it, they purchased tracts of land in the vicinity with the intention of keeping them until Zion became the beauty and joy of the whole earth, when they thought they could sell their lands and make themselves very rich. It was probably owing to this, in part, that the Lord suffered the enemies of Zion to rise against her.

The members of the Church at that period were very industrious, frugal, and law-abiding, and there was no possibility of framing any charges or claims against them by legal means, and the published manifesto, upon which the mob was collected, boldly asserted that the civil law did not afford a guarantee against this people, consequently they formed themselves into a combination, a lawless mob, pledging to each other “their lives, their property and their sacred honors” to drive the “Mormons” from their midst. From that hour the heart of every Latter-day Saint has been occasionally warmed with the feeling—may I be permitted to live until the day when the Saints shall again go to Jackson County, when they shall build the Temple, the ground for which was dedicated, and when the Order of Zion, as it was then revealed, shall be carried out! And it has been generally understood among us that the redemption of Zion would not occur upon any other principle than upon that of the law of consecration.

Forty years and more have passed away since these events took place. We have been driven five times from our homes; five times we have been robbed of our inheritances. Our leaders and presiding officers have been killed, and not in a single instance, in any State or Territory where we have lived, has the law been magnified in the protection of the Latter-day Saints, until we were driven into these mountains. In 1834, Daniel Dunklin, the Governor of Missouri, said the laws were ample, and the Constitution was ample, but the prejudices of the people were so great that he and the other authorities of the State were powerless to execute the law for the protection of the Mormons. We have had one protector—our Father in heaven, to depend upon; but governors, judges, rulers, officers of any kind, high or low, have utterly failed to extend protection to the Latter-day Saints. God alone has been our protector, and we acknowledge his hand in every deliverance we have hitherto experienced.

Several times the Church has made advances to organize the Order of Enoch as it was revealed in the Book of Covenants in part, and in the ancient history of the Zion of Enoch; these advances, however, the Saints did not seem prepared to receive. We have been gathered from many nations, and we have brought many notions and traditions with us, and it has seemed that with these notions and traditions we could not dispense. In 1838, an attempt was made in Caldwell County, Mo., the Latter-day Saints owning all the lands in the county, or all that were considered of any value. They organized Big Field United Firms, by which they intended to consolidate their property and to regard it as the property of the Lord, and themselves only as stewards; but they had not advanced so far in this matter as to perfect their system before they were broken up and driven from the State. I understand that three hundred and eighteen thousand dollars in money was paid by the Saints to the United States for lands in the State of Missouri, not one acre of which anyone of us has been permitted to enjoy or to live upon since the year 1838, or the Spring of 1839; though at the time of the expulsion, the Commanding General, John W. Clarke, informed the people that if they would re– nounce their religious faith they could remain on their lands. He said that they were skillful mechanics, industrious and orderly, and had made more improvements in three years than the other inhabitants had in fifteen, and if they would renounce their faith they could remain. But they must hold no more meetings, prayer meetings, prayer circles or councils, and they must have no more Bishops or Presidents; and in view of their refusal to comply with these conditions, the edict of banishment, issued by the Governor of the State, was executed by this general with an army at his heels, and the Latter-day Saints were driven from their happy homes, and thousands of them scattered to the four winds of heaven.

Since our arrival in these valleys, sermons have been preached from year to year, to illustrate to us the principles of oneness. We find that we are one, generally, in faith. We believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; we believe in the first principles of the Gospel—the doctrines of repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins, the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost and the resurrection of the dead; we readily receive, by the power of the Holy Spirit, manifested to us through the Prophets, the doctrine of baptism for the dead, the holy anointing and the law of celestial marriage. This principle came in opposition to all our prejudices, yet when God revealed it, his Spirit bore testimony of its truth, and the Latter-day Saints received it almost en masse. In order to make a step in the right direction, and to prepare the people to return to Jackson County, the principles of cooperation were taught and their practice entered into; and for the purpose of instructing and encouraging the minds of the people upon the benefits of united action, from the earliest settlement of this Territory to the present time, the presiding Elders of the Church have, every Conference, endeavored to impress upon their minds the necessity of making themselves self-supporting. We have looked forward to the day when Babylon would fall, when we could not draw our supplies from her midst, and when our own ingenuity, talent, and skill must supply our wants. The effect of all this instruction is, that we have made some progress in many directions, but not so much as could have been desired.

The cultivation of cotton was introduced in the South. Sheep breeding has been extensively adopted, numerous factories have been erected to manufacture both the wool and the cotton produced. Several extensive tanneries have also been established for the manufacture of hides into leather, and various other kinds of business have been introduced with a view to making ourselves self-supporting.

Within a few years the railroad has been constructed through our Territory, and the expense of freighting has been greatly reduced. Mines which, before the railroad was built, were perfectly worthless, have been developed and made to pay, and the minds of many of the people seem to have been impressed with the idea that we may expect some regular, general business to grow out of the production of the mines, and a great many have been led to neglect home manufactures, and to depend upon purchasing from abroad. Some settlements have, however, exerted themselves considerably to produce clothing, and many articles within themselves. These circumstances are all clear before us. You go through Utah County, today, and say to a farmer, “Have you got any sorghum to sell?” “No, haven’t raised any for two or three years; sugar got so cheap, we could not sell it.” “I suppose you have plenty of sugar?” “No, we are out of sugar, we haven’t any money to buy it with.” This is the position which our course of life has led us to, and which we already begin to feel.

There is another principle connected with this matter which we should consider, and that is, when we as a community, in the valleys of the mountains, provide for our own wants, we are not subject to the fluctuations and difficulties that result from a money panic, or an interruption in the currency. When we came to this Conference a great many of us came with the determination to take such measures as should place us as a people on an independent footing, and hence we propose through our brethren, to go to work and organize a united order. There is at present a deficiency in our organization so far as our business relations are concerned. Of course, in every settlement, there are many industrious men, then there’s some who are schemers; and as each man looks out for himself, that good principle which the Savior taught so strongly, that a man should love the Lord his God with all his heart, and his neighbor as himself, is in a great measure forgotten, and a few gather up the property, while many of the laboring men, who do most of the work, come out at the end of the year behind, without a full supply of the necessaries of life. To avoid this, a United Order would organize a community so that all the ingenuity, talent, skill, and energy it possessed would inure to the good of the whole. This is the object and design in the establishment of these organizations. It is perfectly certain that there is in every community a sufficient amount of skill and energy and labor to supply its wants, and put all its members in possession of every necessary and comfort of life, if all this skill and energy be rightly directed. We propose to take measures to direct aright the labor that we have in our possession, and lay a foundation for comfort, happiness, plenty and the blessings of life within ourselves.

We, further, do not believe that Latter-day Saints, in the service of the Most High, can enjoy that high degree of respect in the presence of the Almighty to which they are entitled, when they are biting, devouring, shaving, skinning, and maneuvering, and outmaneuvering and getting the advantage of each other in little petty deals. We want to see these things cease entirely, for we know that we can never be prepared for the coming of the Savior only by uniting and becoming one, in temporal as well as in spiritual things, and being prepared to enjoy the blessings of exaltation.

The principles of life, which we now present for the consideration of the Latter-day Saints were carried out in times past, as we read in the Book of Mormon, among the Nephites and Lamanites, who each enjoyed over a hundred years of unity, peace, happiness and plenty, as the result of adopting this system of unity; and if we will unite in one, acting in good faith, every man esteeming his brother as himself, regarding not what he possesses as his own, but the Lord’s, all carrying out these principles, the result is certain—it is the enjoyment of the Spirit of the Lord, it is the light of eternity, it is the abundance of the things of this earth; it is an oppor– tunity to provide education for our children, amusement and interest for ourselves, a knowledge of the things of the kingdom of God, and all sciences which are embraced therein, and an advance in the work of the last days, preparatory to the redemption of the Center Stake of Zion.

Brethren and sisters, think of these things, and as the spirit of the Almighty was in your hearts when you received the laying on of hands and the baptism of the Holy Spirit, bearing testimony that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was true, seek with all your hearts, and know, by the same spirit, that the establishment of the United Order, is another step towards the triumph of that great and glorious work for which we are continually laboring, namely the dawning of the Millennium and the commencement of the reign of Christ on the earth.

This is the work of the Almighty. These principles are from God; they are for our salvation, and unless we remember and abide in them our progress will be slow. If we are slow to learn and progress, but try to carry out the purposes of God, He will not cast us off. He has been very patient with us these forty years, and he may continue to be so. But understand that the hearts of the fathers must be turned to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers. A unity must exist, the Latter-day Saints must love one another, they must cease to worship this world’s goods, they must lay a foundation to build up Zion and to be one, in order that they may be prepared for the great day that shall burn as an oven.

I bear my testimony to you of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, of the Book of Mormon, of the ministry of Joseph Smith and of his servants the Elders that were called of the Lord by him, Brigham Young and the Apostles and Elders who have borne these testimonies to the nations of the earth, and I say, brethren, give diligent heed to these things, lest by any means we should let them slip and come short of entering into rest.

May the blessings of Israel’s God be upon you forever. Amen.

Discourse by Elder John Taylor, delivered at the Adjourned General Conference, held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 7, 1874.

Those things which we have been listening to are of very great importance to the Latter-day Saints. Situated as we are, entertaining the views that we do, in possession of the light and intelligence that have been communicated unto us, we stand, in these respects, in an entirely different position from that of the world with which we are surrounded; and, as has already been stated, it is necessary that we begin to reflect a little upon that which has been revealed to us, that we may understand our position and relationship to each other, the duties and responsibilities that devolve upon us as fathers, as mothers, as children, as Elders of Israel, and in all the various relationships of life, and that we may comprehend the requirements made of us by our heavenly Father. Some of those things which have been presented before us are obvious to every reflecting mind, there is nothing strange, anomalous or peculiar about them; they are things which have been more or less advocated by different statesmen among the various nations of the earth, and, according to circumstances, they have been adopted, more or less, by a great many people, and we, the Latter-day Saints, have approached nearer to them than many of us seem to have any idea of. There would not be time, at present, to enter into an elaborate detail of the various plans, ideas and workings involved in the principles which have been presented before us this morning; but in taking a cursory view of our position, we shall find that it is very different from that of any other people. We have already carried out a great many of those things which have been referred to, that is, a great many of us have; not all. The position that we have occupied in this nation, in the States of Missouri and Illinois, and in the various countries of those States, and the history of this people has been a very peculiar one. It is true, as has been said that if we would give up our religion, and act and feel as others act and feel, we should be hail fellows well met with the world, and we could have the fellowship of the devil and all his imps. We could have this all the time if we would conform our ideas to theirs. But what are their ideas? Who can describe them? They are simply a babel of contrarieties, contradictions, confusion, ignorance, darkness, speculation, mystery, folly, vanity, crime, iniquity and every kind of evil that man can think of, and if we were willing to join in with this it would be all right, and we should be hail fellows well met. But we do not propose to do that. God has spoken from the heavens; the light and intelligence which exist in the eternal worlds have been communicated, the heavens have been opened and the revelations of God given to man, and we have participated in them in part, and the light thus received has enabled us to look at the world as it is; it has opened to our view the visions of eternity; it has made us acquainted with our God, with the principles of truth, and we would not barter that for all the world has to give us. We rejoice, therefore, and thank God for the light and intelligence that he has communicated to us, and so far we have measurably been one, and we could not have helped ourselves and prevented it, if we had desired to, for the world was determined to make us one, or make hypocrites of us, like themselves; one of the two. We had either got to be one, or deny the principles that God has implanted in every honest man’s soul, and we would not do that. No man will barter his independence, no man will barter his convictions, no man, who is intelligent and honorable, will barter his religion or his politics at the caprice of any other man. God has implanted certain principles in man, and as long as manhood is retained they cannot be obliterated, they are written there as in letters of living fire, and there they will remain so long as we retain our manhood and standing before God. What has been the result of this, so far as it has gone? Why, when the people in Missouri proposed that we should live among them in peace if we would leave our religion, did we do it? Not quite. What did we do? We clung to our religion. And what did those honest, generous, gentle, intelligent, Christian people do? Robbed us of nearly all we possessed, and with the balance we agreed to help one another to get to some place where men could worship God according to the dictates of their conscience, if such a place could be found in republican America. Well, we left. Did we unite? Yes, we did; and every man that had a team, a wagon, two, three or four horses, two, three, four, five or six yoke of cattle, or bread, money or clothing, distributed among his brethren, and we helped one another out until every man who wanted to leave had left. There might have been a few miserable “skeezeks,” such as we have among us here, a few miserable hounds left, but what of them? Why, nothing at all, they did not think anything of themselves, and nobody thought anything of them.

We commenced again in Illinois, just on the same principle. There we built a Temple, and performed the ordinances of God in his house; there we attended to our sacraments, entered into our covenants, and commenced anew to worship God according to the dictates of our own consciences, and there again we found a lot of Christians, just the same as in Missouri, who did not like our religion. Said they—“Gentlemen, we do not like your religion; but if you will be like us, you can live among us; if you do not believe and worship God as we do, you cannot stay here.” Well, we could not quite come it then, any more than we did before; and they killed Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith, burnt our houses, destroyed our property, and let loose mobs upon us, and deprived us of the rights of American citizens; and finally we had to leave the States and come out among the red men of the desert, that we might find that protection among the savages that Christendom denied us. How did we get here? We helped one another. In the Temple that we had erected, and dedicated to the Most High God, we lifted up our hands before God, and covenanted before him that we would help one another to leave that land, so long as there was one left in it who desired to leave. Did we keep this covenant? We did. Why? Because we felt an interest in the welfare of our brethren; we believed in our religion, in building up the kingdom of God, and in carrying out his purposes and designs. The Christians object to all this? Of course they do, but who cares about them? I do not, not one straw; we have had so much of their tender mercies, that they take no effect now upon us. Again, we pay our Tithing. Some may inquire—“Do not the Priest– hood rob you?” I do not know, I do not think we are robbed very much, or that we are very much injured. We do not do enough of it to be injured very much, we are something like what the boy said of his father. A man asked a boy—“Are you a Mormon?” “Yes.” “Is your father a Mormon?” Said the boy—“Yes, but he don’t potter much at it.” There are a great many of us who do not potter much at it, but still we make the attempt.

What have we done since we came here? Before the railroad was made we sent from here, year after year, as many as five hundred teams to help the poor who were unable to help themselves. Hence you see that a good deal of this unity of action has been carried out among us, but we have only pottered a little at it, we have not got right into the matter, only in part.

Our Ladies’ Relief and other societies and organizations have done a good deal of this kind of thing, and they are looking after the interests of the poor, the widow and the fatherless. What is the business of our Bishops? Why, to attend to these things. Do they do it? They do. And then, if there is any enterprise, or anything required, the people are ready to take hold and do it, independent, say, of these covenants we have heard spoken of. A short time ago, in St. George, they commenced to build a Temple. Men were called upon from different parts, some from this city, a great many from Sanpete County, and from the different settlements, to go and assist down in that locality in building the Temple. Did they do it? Yes. Was there much grunting about it? I have not heard that there was. I happened to be in a meeting a short time ago, and it was said they wanted a little means to help to clothe these men, and to furnish them certain things, and in a very little while there were some ten or twelve hundred dollars subscribed, without any grunting. There is a feeling of sympathy in the hearts of Latter-day Saints towards one another, and for the upbuilding and advancement of the kingdom of God. But yet some of us are a little startled when we hear about uniting our properties, &c. I am amused sometimes to see the manifestation of feeling by some on this subject. We have been praying a long while that we might go back to Jackson County, and build up the Center Stake of Zion; that we might enter into the United Order of God, and be one in both temporal and spiritual things, in fact in everything; yet when it comes along it startles us, we are confused and hardly know what to think of it. This reminds me of an anecdote, which I will relate to you. Among the passengers on a steamer crossing the Atlantic, was a very zealous minister who was all the time preaching to those on board about the glory and happiness of heaven, and how happy they would all be when they got there. During the voyage a very heavy storm arose, and the vessel was drifted from her course and was in great danger of striking on a reef of rocks. The captain went to examine his chart, and after a while returned with a very sorrowful face, and said—“Ladies and gentlemen, in twenty minutes from this time we shall all be in heaven.” “God forbid!” said the minister. Many of us are a good deal like this minister; for years we have been talking about a new order of things, about union and happiness, and about going back to Jackson County, but the moment it is presented to us we say—“God forbid.” But then on sober, second thought, another feeling seems to inspire us, and wherever we go a spirit seems to rest upon the people which leads them almost unanimously to embark in these things; and when we reflect, saying nothing about our religion, an extended system of cooperation seems to agree with every principle of good common sense. Is there anything extraordinary or new in the doctrine that it is well for a community to be self-sustaining? Why, the Whigs, you know, of this country, have contended on that principle from the time of the organization of the government, and they have sanctioned it and plead in its behalf before Congress, in political caucuses, and before the people up to the present time. There is nothing new in the doctrine of a people being self-sustaining. The first Napoleon introduced into France what is known as the “Continental system,” which encouraged the production of all necessary articles at home, and it is the results of this system which today gives stability to France, and has enabled her, after the severe trials of the late war, to pay off her indebtedness and stand independent among the nations.

Now, for instance, we require a great many things in connection with human existence. We need boots and shoes, stockings, pants, vests, coats, hats, handkerchiefs, shirts, we need cloth of various kinds, and dresses, shawls, bonnets, &c., and in every reflecting mind, the question naturally arises, Is it better for us to make these things ourselves at home, or to have somebody abroad make them for us? Is it better for each man to labor separately, as we do now, or to be organized so as to make the most of our labor? We have a large number of hides here in this Territory, what do we do with them generally? Send them to the States. We raise a large amount of wool here, what do we do with it? We export a great deal of it to the States. We have got a large amount of excellent timber here, what do we do for our furniture? We send to the States for a great deal of it. Where do we get our pails and our washtubs, and all our cooper ware from? We send to the States for it. Where do we get our brooms from? From the States; and so on all the way through the catalogue, and millions on millions of dollars are sent out of the Territory every year, for the purchase of articles, most of which we could manufacture and raise at home. This is certainly very poor economy, for we have thousands and thousands of men who are desirous to get some kind of employment, and they cannot get it. Why? Because other people are making our shoes, hats, clothing, bonnets, silks, artificial flowers, and many other things that we need. This may do very well for a while in an artificial state of society; but the moment any reverse comes that kind of thing is upset, and all our calculations are destroyed.

I believe in organizing the tanners and having the hides tanned at home. When the hides are tanned I believe in organizing the shoemakers, and manufacturing our own shoes and boots, I believe in keeping our wool at home, and in having it manufactured in our own factories, and we have got as good factories here as anywhere. They should work up all the wool in the country, and if there is not enough raised to keep them running, import more. Then I believe in organizing men to take care of our stock—our cattle and sheep, and increasing the clip of wool, that we may have enough to meet the demands of the whole community. Then, when our cloth is made, I believe in organizing tailors’ companies to manufacture that cloth into clothing—pants, coats, vests, and everything of the kind that we need. Then for our furniture, I believe in going into the mountains and cutting down the timber, framing it into proper shape, and then manufacturing the various articles of furniture that we need; if we require another kind of timber, import that, but make the furniture here. When we talk about cooperation, we have entered but very little into it, and it has been almost exclusively confined to the purchase of goods. There is not much in that. I wish we would learn how to produce them instead of purchasing them. I wish we could concentrate our energies, and organize all hands, old, middle-aged and young, male and female, and put them under proper directions, with proper materials to manufacture everything we need to wear and use. We have forgotten even how to make sorghum molasses, and our memories are getting short on other points. We can hardly make a hat or coat, or a pair of boots and shoes, but we have to send to the States and import these paper ones, which last a very short time and then drop to pieces, and you have your hands continually in your pockets to supply these wants, and by and by your pockets are empty. It is therefore necessary that we right about face, and begin to turn the other end to, and be self-sustaining.

The President said he would like the Elders to give both sides of the question; but there is only one side to this question, and that is union in all our operations, in everything we engage in. They started a little thing like this in Box Elder County some time ago, and I was very much pleased to see the way things went there. I have spoken about it once or twice in public. They have got their cooperative store, it is true; but that is only a small part of it. Sometime ago I asked them—“You have a factory here, haven’t you?” “Yes.” “Well, do you sell your wool, send it to the States to mix up with shoddy and get an inferior article, or do you make it up yourselves?” “We make it up ourselves.” “Then you don’t sell your wool, and keep your factory standing idle?” “No, we don’t, our factory has never stood idle a day for want of wool since it was organized.” Said I—“That looks right. What do you do with your hides? Do you send them off?” “No, we have got a very good tannery and we tan them, and make them into leather for shoes, and for harness and for other purposes.” “Oh, indeed!” “Yes, that is the way it is.” “Well, then, what next?” “Why, when we get our shoes made, we have a saddlers’ organization, and they make all the saddlery and harness we want.” “And what do you do with your cows? Do you let them run on the plains, and live or die, just as it happens, without making any cheese or butter?” “No, we have a cooperative dairy, and we have our cows in that, and we receive so much from them all the time regularly.” “Well,” said I, “that looks right. And are you all interested in this?” “Well, about two-thirds or three-fourths of us are all engaged in these matters.” “How about your store, does it run away with the best part of it?” “No.” “Does the factory get the cream of it?” “No.” “Does some keen financial man get his fingers in and grab it?” “No, we are all mutually interested in everything, the profits as well as the losses.” I have learned, since I was there, that they have made it a great success.

Now, then, if you can organize one little thing in that way, everything can be done in the same way. I was talking with President Lorenzo Snow, and he told me that they pay their men every Saturday night; they have a money of their own, and they pay their hands with it, and that is good for everything they require. And they make their arrangements unitedly, and they operate together for the general good. Said I—“How do they feel about this United Order?” “Oh,” I was told, “They are ready for anything that God may send along.” That is the feeling among the Saints, I believe, generally. I was, I think, at the biggest meeting I ever attended in Ogden City, along with some of the Presidency and Twelve and others, and I never saw more unanimity among the people on any question than on this one. That big Tabernacle was full, and the aisles were full, and everything was jammed to overflowing, and when a vote was called, nearly every hand went up. I thank God that his Spirit is operating upon the Latter-day Saints, and is leading them to a union in regard to these things.

May God help us, and lead us in the right path, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, May 3, 1874.

It is nearly time to close this meeting, but I desire to speak a few words. I have very much that I wish to convey to the Latter-day Saints, but I can only say, in as few words as possible, a little at a time, upon a few subjects which I wish to lay before the Saints. First, looking upon the Latter-day Saints, the inquiry within myself is—Do you know whether I am leading you right or not? Do you know whether I dictate you right or not? Do you know whether the wisdom and the mind of the Lord are dispensed to you correctly or not? These are questions which I will answer by quoting a little Scripture, and saying to the Latter-day Saints what was said to the Saints in former times, “No man knoweth the things of God, but by the Spirit of God.” That was said in the days of the Savior and the Apostles, and it was no more true then than it is now, or than it was in the days of the Prophets, Moses, Abraham, Noah, Enoch, Adam, or in any and every age of the world. It requires the same manifestations in one age as in another, to enable men to un– derstand the things of God. I have a request to make of each and every Latter-day Saint, or those who profess to be, to so live that the Spirit of the Lord will whisper to them and teach them the truth, and define to their understanding the difference between truth and error, light and darkness, the things of God and the things that are not of God. In this there is safety; without this there is danger, imminent danger; and my exhortation to the Latter-day Saints is—Live your religion.

Among all intelligent beings upon the earth there is a great mistake in regard to dispensing to others the knowledge they possess. In the political world, right here, and through our government and other governments, there is a great desire in each and every one, who is prominent and influential, to manage their political affairs by and with their friends, and to keep their enemies from knowing anything about them, which creates a party feeling, and parties promote distrust and jealousy, which lead to discord and strife. Such is also the case in the financial world. In our trading and trafficking we wish to confine the knowledge of our business in as small a limit as possible, that others may not know what we are doing, lest we should lose our good bargains and fail in our schemes.

It is more or less the same in the religious world. We wish to know a great deal, and do not want our neighbors to know as much as we do, but wish them to believe that we know it all. This trait of character is very common, both here and through the whole world. We all wish to know something that our neighbors do not know. With scientific men you will often find the same trait of character: “My studies and my researches are beyond those of my neighbors; I know more than they know; I treasure this up to myself, and I am looked upon as a superior being, and that delights me.”

I say to the Latter-day Saints, and to all the world, this is all wrong. We are here upon this earth as the children of our heavenly Father, who is filled with light and intelligence, and he dispenses that to his children as they can receive and profit by it, without money and without price. Is not this a fact? It is. Go to every department of life, to the mechanics, to the manufacturers, to those learned in all the arts and sciences, throughout the world, and not one of them possesses an item of knowledge or wisdom but what has come from God, the fountain of all wisdom and knowledge. The idea that the religion of Christ is one thing, and science is another, is a mistaken idea, for there is no true religion without true science, and consequently there is no true science without true religion. The fountain of knowledge dwells with God, and he dispenses it to his children as he pleases, and as they are prepared to receive it, consequently it swallows up and circumscribes all. This is the great plan of salvation; this is the “bugaboo” that the Christian world hoot at so much, and which they call “Mormonism”—it is the Gospel of life and salvation.

Confidence is lost in the hearts of the nations of the earth. Confidence is lost one towards another, among the religious sects of the day; confidence is lost in the scientific and mechanical world; in the financial and in the political world, and it must be restored. I make this statement, and there is not a scientist or divine on the earth who can truthfully controvert it.

There is a great deal being said and rumored about what we are teaching the people at the present time with regard to being one in our temporal affairs as we are one in the doctrine that we have embraced for our salvation. I will say to you that erroneous traditions at once begin to present themselves. Why we have received these traditions, those who reflect, read and understand can pass their own decision. You cannot find a sect anywhere that strictly believes in the New Testament. Read over the sayings of the Savior to his disciples, those of the disciples one to another, and of the people, with regard to being one; and then bring up the fact that they believed in this doctrine, and that they taught and practiced it so far that the believers sold their possessions and laid the proceeds at the Apostles’ feet. Now, what is the tradition on this point? To sell your houses, your farms, your stores, your cattle, and bring the means and lay it down at the feet of the Apostles, and then live, eat, drink and wear until it is all gone, and then what? Do without? Yes, or be beggars. Our traditions lead us to this point, and that throws us into a dilemma, out of which we know not how to extricate ourselves. To the Latter-day Saints, I say, all this is a mistake; these are false ideas, false conclusions. I am here to tell you how things are, and, as far as necessary, to tell you how they were, and then to tell you how they should be, and how they will be. To begin with, we will unitedly labor to sustain the kingdom of God upon the earth. Shall we sell our possessions, have all things in common, live upon the means until it is gone, and then beg through the country? No, no. Sell nothing of our possessions. True, the earth is at present in possession of the great enemy of the Savior, but he does not own a foot of it; he never did, but he has possession of it, and they say that possession is nine points of the law, and it seems to be so. Well, if I have a foot of land that I have dedicated and devoted to my heavenly Father for his kingdom on the earth, I never dispose of that. I have owned a great deal of land, and I now own a great deal of land in the United States, and I have never yet sold a foot of it. I say to the Latter-day Saints, keep your land, dedicate it to God, preserve it in truth, in purity, in holiness; pray that the Spirit of the Lord may brood over it, that whoever walks over that land, may feel the influence of that Spirit; pray that the Spirit of the Lord may cover our possessions, then gather around us the necessaries of life. Dispose of nothing that we should keep, but continue to labor, praying the Lord to bless the soil, the atmosphere and the water. Then we have our crops, our fruit, our flocks and herds to live upon, to improve upon, and then go on and make our clothing, build houses, improve our streets, our cities and all our surroundings and make them beautiful; beautify every place with the workmanship of our own hands. Keep what is necessary, dispose of what we may have to dispose of. To whom? To those who are operating in our mines to develop the resources in our mountains, and to all who have need. By such a course the wasting of our substance, as has been too much the case, will be stopped; and when we labor, let our labor count something for our benefit. We ask concerning the rich, Do we want your gold and your silver? No, we do not. Do we want your houses and lands? We do not. What do we want? We want obedience to the requirements of wisdom, to direct the labors of every man and every woman in this kingdom to the best possible advantage, that we may feed and clothe ourselves, build our houses and gather around us the comforts of life, without wasting so much time, means, and energy. And instead of saying that I shall give up my carriage for the poor to ride in, we will direct the poor so that every man may have his carriage, if he will be obedient to the requirements of the Almighty. Every family will have all that they can reasonably desire. When we learn and practice fair dealing in all our intercourse and transactions, then confidence, now so far lost, but so much needed, will be restored; and we will be enabled to effectually carry out our operations for the friendly and profitable cooperation of money and labor, now so generally and so injuriously antagonistic.

It has been said that, a few evenings ago, in the 20th Ward, I made use of the expression that the cooperative stores would be used up or spoiled; if I did use such an expression, it must have been in connection with others to qualify it. The question was asked, “What are you going to do with the cooperative stores?” “Why, use them up,” and some of the brethren got the idea that the destruction of these stores was intended, because, to many, the idea of using a thing up, is to destroy it; but this was not the meaning I wished to convey. But I say swallow them up, or circumscribe them or incorporate them, from time to time, in more extensive cooperative plans. By way of comparison, suppose a rope with seven strands, and someone is suspicious of its strength and we add a thousand strands, to it, who then can suspect its strength? Now, comparing our present mercantile and stock-raising institutions, our factories and everything else we have in cooperation, instead of weakening this cord of seven strands, we throw around it a thousand other strands, and weave them in to strengthen it, is not the first cord swallowed up? Yes, it is, in one sense, used up, we cannot see anything, of it; and so we shall make our additions of thousands of strands to every cooperative institution we have established, and, instead of having a few of the people sustain this parent cooperative store, or the ward store, we will have the support of the whole people. That is the difference; can you understand it? How careful we should be in the use of language, to prevent, so far as possible the drawing of false conclusions, and the going abroad of erroneous impressions.

This is a comparison with regard to our cooperative stores and every cooperative institution we have; we expect that the whole people will support them and give them their influence; that the whole people will work for the whole, and that all will be for the kingdom of God on the earth. All that I have is in that kingdom. I have nothing, only what the Lord has put in my possession. It is his; I am his, and all I ask is for him to tell me what to do with my time, my talents and the means that he puts in my possession. It is to be devoted to his kingdom. Let every other man and woman do the same, and all the surplus we make is in one great amount for accomplishing the purposes of the Lord. He says, “I will make you the richest people on the earth.” Now, go to work, Latter-day Saints, and make yourselves one, and all needed blessings will follow.

I will now briefly notice a trait in the Christian world in regard to their continually misrepresenting us, which they most emphatically do. Wherever we go they misrepresent us. They do not stop to reason, or for the introduction of good sound logic. They do not stop to know their own minds, and to ask themselves questions with regard to facts as they exist, but are wholly uninfluenced by their erroneous traditions. We Christians are divided and subdivided, but we all believe that there are good people among all the sects of the day. As a “Mormon” or Latter-day Saint, I believe this just as much as any sectarian believes it, but I do not believe it as the sectarians believe it. We all believe that good people do live and have lived among the Christian sects. Says one, “My father was a good man; or, My mother or my sister was a good woman, my brother was a good man, my neighbor was a good person; they lived and died believing in their several faiths; some of them holy Catholics, who died shouting and rejoicing that the time had come for them to be released from this tenement of clay. Others were good Protestants, and they rejoiced and were exceeding glad when the time came for them to lie down and rest their weary bodies, and they were happy.” Now, I, speaking as one of the Christian world, when a man says to me, “Unless you are born of the water and of the spirit you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven,” reply, “My dear friend, my father and my mother were just as good Christians as ever lived on the face of the earth, and they died as happy as they could be, and their souls were full of glory. Tell me that they have not gone to heaven! It is all nonsense, it is folly; I do not believe a word of it; you must be one of those deceivers that the Savior taught should come in the latter days.” This erroneous tradition is planted in the bosoms of the Christian world, and from this they take the liberty of saying that the doctrine preached by the Latter-day Saints cannot be true, for if it is their fathers and mothers are not saved. Would you not like to know the truth on this point, O Christian world? Yes, yes, the honest ones would; I cannot say so much for the bread and butter Christians; but when you meet an honest person, he says—“I wish I knew the truth about this. Our beloved brother and father in the Gospel, the father of the Methodist Episcopal Church, John Wesley, was he not a good man? Tell me that he is not saved!” The Christian world cannot endure such an idea. “John Knox not saved! and thousands of others not saved!” They cannot endure the thought. I can say to them of a truth, but it will need explanation, there is not one of these men who lived according to the light that he received, and up to every blessing God bestowed upon him, but what is happier today than he ever expected that he could be. But the Christian world imbibe the idea that, if these good men, who have died, have not gone into the presence of the Father and the Son, and are not in the kingdom of heaven, they must be in the depths of hell. This is folly in the extreme; but the Christians do not know how to comprehend this, how to understand the words of life. I can say this for all good people, I do not care where they lived and died, they will be far happier hereafter than they ever conceived of while here. Do you think that the good Chinaman and Hindoo will be saved? Yes, as much as the Methodist. But erroneous tradition prevents the Christian world from seeing and understanding this. They ought to stop and reflect, and ask the question—“Do we understand the Scriptures when we read them?” I say that they do not, if they did they would see that we have the words of eternal life, and would receive our teachings with joy. I have not time to fully explain this, but I can say that this erroneous tradition palliates, in a measure, the conduct and views of the Christian world when their prejudices arise like towering mountains against these poor Latter-day Saints.

We shall labor and go forward, as long as we live, to redeem the world of mankind. This is the labor the Savior has undertaken. The earth was committed to him by the Father, who said, “My Son, go and redeem the world and all things upon it; pay this debt, and your brethren, who believe on you and who are one, as the Father and the Son are one, will be co-workers in this great and eternal work, until all the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, that can be saved, will be saved in a kingdom of glory,” and all will be saved, except the sons of perdition.

Can the Christian world understand this? No. There is not a priest in the pulpit, nor a deacon that sits under the pulpit, but what, if he knew the facts as they are, would give glory to God in the highest, that he lived in this day and age of the world, and thank the Father that he has revealed his will from the heavens.

I thank you for your attention, brethren and sisters. I have detained you a little longer than I intended to do. God bless you.

Discourse by Elder John Taylor, delivered in the Meetinghouse, at Nephi, Juab County, Sunday Morning April 19, 1874.

We have heard a good deal since we have assembled, in relation to what is called the Order of Enoch, the New Order, the United Order, or whatever name we may give to it. It is new and then it is old, for it is everlasting as I understand it. I am asked sometimes—“Do you understand it?” Yes, I do, no, I do not, yes I do, no, I don’t, and both are true; we know that such an order must be introduced, but are not informed in relation to the details, and I guess it is about the same with most of you. We have been talking about an order that is to be introduced and established among the Saints of God for the last forty-two years, but we have very little information given us concerning it, either in the Scriptures or in the Book of Mormon. The fullest detail that we have of it is in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and that is the case with almost everything pertaining to the kingdom of God on the earth; and hence I have said, and say now, that I believe that Joseph Smith revealed more in relation to the kingdom of God, and was a greater Prophet than perhaps any other man who ever lived except Jesus. I do not know how far Enoch and perhaps some others on this continent went; if we had further records from the Book of Mormon they might throw more light on subjects with which we are not at present very well acquainted.

We occupy a very remarkable position; we are living in a peculiar day and age of the world, in the dispensation of the fullness of times. When the President communicated with us a little before starting from the south, about this new order, I really did not know what shape it would assume or how it would be introduced, but it had got to come; and then, on the other hand, I do not know that we need have very much anxiety in relation to the matter, for if it be of God, it must be right, and its introduction is only a question of time. As to the modus operandi, that is another question. I have sometimes thought, to tell the truth, that we might have different orders, perhaps the patriarchal order, perhaps the order of Enoch, and perhaps an all-things-in-common order, all operating under one head; but I do not know anything definitely about it, and it is not my business. I have had reflections of that kind running through my mind, inasmuch as it is “the dispensation of the fullness of times when God will gather together all things in one.” The greatest embarrassment that we have to contend with at the present time is not in knowing what to do, but knowing how to do it, and the circumstances with which we are surrounded, not so much among our own people as outsiders, and then again among our own people, for we find all kinds of persons amongst us now, as we always have done. Some will start right into anything of this kind, perhaps with a determination to do right, or at least half right; but when they get started in the operation, something or other comes up and they back up, break the traces and play the devil generally. I expect there will be a good deal of the same kind of thing associated with this, as there has been with other things that have been started. I do not expect that every one that is loud-mouthed and seemingly very anxious that this thing should be introduced is going to stick by it forever and ever, any more than many others have done in other things. At the same time I think it is very proper that the servants of God should be brought under an influence which emanates from him, and that that influence should govern them in all things, temporal as well as spiritual. For my part, I cannot see why it is that men should be so much attached to the things of this world, and why they are so extremely desirous to have their own way in relation to them; that is a thing I never could understand. We like freedom, God has put it in our bosoms; and as I said to President George A., the other day, in talking about this matter, in organizing the Order of Enoch, as it may be called, we want on the one hand the most perfect union; and on the other hand the most extended personal liberty that it is possible for men to enjoy consonant with carrying out the principles of unity. Not the liberty to trample on other people’s rights; not the liberty to take from people that which belongs to them; not the liberty to infringe upon public interests or the public benefit, but personal liberty so far as we can enjoy it. These are my ideas and feelings in relation to these matters, based upon the principles of truth and, as it is said—“If the truth shall make you free, then shall you be free indeed, sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.”

In relation to religious matters I would not have a religion that I could not sustain, and that God would not sustain me in; I do not want it, nor to have anything to do with it. One thing I have always felt proud of, and that is, that the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ were so plain, clear, pointed, definite and incontrovertible that they defied the whole world, and so far as I have gone, and the servants of God around me, no man has ever been able to successfully gainsay one solitary principle connected with the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth, that is, in regard to what we term sometimes spiritual things. I want to see the same principle established in relation to our temporal matters, and I believe, from what little conversation I have had with the brethren, that that is their feeling. In relation to these matters I do not want to see one solitary principle that an honest, honorable man cannot sustain; but let everything be so that it can be dragged right forth to the daylight, and turned over and over and over and examined all sides up, and inside out, and see that it is true, good, honorable, upright and honest in every particular. That is the kind of thing we want, as honest men, and we want to get at things in that kind of a way; and if they will not bear investigation of that kind, I should have just the same opinion of them as I have about unsound religious matters, and I should not want anything to do with them. I do not want anything that cannot be sustained in the face of open day, and in the face of God, angels, men and devils.

It is asked—“Well, what is the Order?” We do not know exactly, we know it in part; it is just as Paul said in his day—“We see in part, and we prophesy in part” &c. But to begin with, unless some change does take place in relation to our temporal matters, our situation is anything but pleasant. The fact of the matter is, we are all of us on the highway to financial or temporal ruin. The world is going to the devil just as fast as it can go. Corruption, fraud, chicanery, deception, evil and iniquity of every kind prevail, so that you cannot trust a man in any place, you cannot rely upon his word, you cannot rely upon any instrument of writing that he gets up, and there is nothing you can rely upon. Every day’s news brings accounts of defalcations, frauds, infamies, rottenness and corruptions of every kind, enough to sink a nation from the presence of God and all honorable beings. And this is not only so in the United States, but other nations, in ours especially.

We, as a people, have come out from Babylon, but we have brought a great amount of these infernal principles with us, and we have been grabbing, grasping, pinching, squeezing, hauling, horning and hooking on every side, and it seems as though every man was for himself and the devil for us all. That is about the position we are in today. We want a change in these things. We have come to Zion. What to do? Why to do the will of God, to accomplish his purposes, to save ourselves, our progenitors and our posterity, and we have come because the Spirit of God led us here through the instrumentality of the holy Priesthood of God. Jesus says—“My sheep hear my voice, and they know me and they will follow me, and a stranger they will not follow, because they know not the voice of a stranger.” We who have gathered here have been going in a curious, crooked kind of a way, but we have nevertheless started to build up the kingdom of God and to establish correct principles upon the earth and to help to redeem it. Can we accomplish this by continuing in the course we have hitherto pursued? No, verily, no. But I will tell you how I have always felt, both in Joseph’s day and since then, whenever the Lord has wrought upon the man who stands at the head of his people to introduce anything for the welfare of his kingdom, it is time to look out, and to carry out the counsels that are given; and yesterday, after I arrived here, and had seen President Young, and conversed with him, and then heard him and others speak on these principles, I said to him, “The old fiddle is in tune, the sacred fire is glowing and burning;” and I think so still. The old fiddle is in tune, the right feeling, spirit and influence are operating, and we all feel them.

A great deal has been said about the evils that exist, and we might talk for days about the necessity of something being introduced for the welfare and happiness of the Saints of God here in Zion. I suppose, on a reasonable calculation, that there are ten thousand men out of employment in this Territory, perhaps for five months in a year. Now, if they were at work, and only got one dollar a day, there would be ten thousand dollars a day earned, which in five months would make a very large sum, one million three hundred thousand dollars I think. We are bringing in here all kinds of things that we ought to make ourselves. What are our broom makers and coopers doing? What are you doing with your molasses mills, and where do you get your cloth, shoes, hats, shirts and things of this kind from? It takes quite an amount to supply them, they must come from somewhere, and the question is, where do they all come from? At a Bishops’ meeting in Salt Lake City I said I wanted to get a well bucket, but I could not tell where to get it, and I wished some of them would tell me where; but they could not tell me, although there were a good many Bishops present. This is a pretty state of things. It is true that we have made some advances in some branches of manufacture. There is a big factory in Provo, some near Salt Lake City, one at Ogden, one at Box-Elder and one in the South. It has required great efforts on the part of President Young and others to establish these institutions, and when we get them we do not want the cloth. We do no not want our shoes made here—we would rather send off our hides, and get somebody east to make them, they can make shoes so much better there than here. Then we do not want leather shoes here, we must send off and get a lot of paper things, with heels high enough to put anybody’s ankles out of joint.

Well, my opinion is, that with home labor properly directed and applied, we shall have all the bread, butter, cheese, shoes, cloth, hats, bonnets, shawls and everything that we need, and I think, as the President has said, if we behave ourselves, we shall get pretty rich. That is all right enough, though riches are only a little thing, in comparison to the great principles of eternal lives and exaltation in the kingdom of God, the riches of eternity. But my time has expired and I must close. Amen.

Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Meetinghouse in Nephi City, Juab County, Saturday Morning, April 18, 1874.

I am thankful that I enjoy the privilege of meeting with the Saints here this morning. While I attempt to speak, I pray that I may have the spirit of the holy Gospel, and have strength to proclaim its teachings to my own and to your satisfaction. I also pray that you may give strict attention. This prayer is offered to you, my brethren and sisters. Pray for the Spirit to open your minds, enlighten your understandings, strengthen me, and so help me, that I may speak the words of truth to you, and that your hearts may be prepared to receive them.

My remarks this morning I design as a text for my brethren and sisters to speak and act upon. We have not come to you with any new doctrine, nor with a new Bible, not by any means. Yet the doctrine we are now preaching, in order to bring about a union among the Saints, seems to be about as new to them as the preaching by the Elders when they first came to their several neighborhoods and called upon them to hear and obey the first principles of the Gospel of Christ. I can say, with all thankfulness and gratitude, that we have never seen the day, from the time we first became acquainted with Joseph and the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth, when the hearts of the people were so well prepared to receive the greater blessings of the kingdom as they are now. We are happy in saying this, for it is true; this is encouraging, and fills me with hope and consolation, that, after laboring and toiling with Joseph, and since his death, to unite the Latter-day Saints, this is the first time that we have seen that we can bring their hearts into a union. This should be encouraging to each and every Latter-day Saint, and should teach us that the Lord is merciful to us, that he still remembers us, that he is still feeling after us, and that he is sending forth his voice—the voice of his Spirit, into the hearts of his people, crying unto them—“Stop! Stop your course! Cease to bring in and build up Babylon in your midst.” It is the duty of each and every one of us to reflect upon the office and calling we possess, and see whether we are doing the will of the Lord, and, if we are not, we should stop and begin anew to establish the kingdom of God upon the earth.

I will now read a portion of Scripture from the 14th chapter of the Revelation of John, beginning at the 6th verse: “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” I will also read from the 18th chapter of Revelation, commencing at the 4th verse: “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.”

I will ask the Latter-day Saints, Do we, as a people, believe that the angel referred to in the 6th verse of the 14th chapter of John’s Revelation, has flown through the midst of heaven, that he has been to earth, called upon Joseph, delivered the revelations of the Lord, restored the Priesthood, &c.? Do we, as Latter-day Saints, believe that this angel has been to earth, and that he has committed the Gospel unto the children of men? We certainly should not be here today, if we did not believe this, and that, too, with all our hearts. This is the answer given, for himself and herself, by every Latter-day Saint, “We believe, most firmly, that the Gospel has been revealed in these last days unto and through Joseph Smith the Prophet; that the Priesthood and its keys were bestowed upon him, and through him upon others; and that the proclamation has gone forth to the nations of the earth—’Come out of her, my people,’ &c., as mentioned in that portion of Scripture contained in Revelation, 18th chap. and 4th verse.”

Has this proclamation been heard by any of the inhabitants of the earth? Yes, the Latter-day Saints most assuredly believe that this Scripture was fulfilled in the rise of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. By and by the cry will be, as prophesied by John the Reve– lator, “Babylon is fallen.” This is in the future; but this people believe that the voice of the angel has been heard, calling upon the honest in heart in every nation, to come out from confusion and discord, and from the transgressions of the children of men. The cry has come to them—“Separate yourselves from sinners and from sin.” If we, as a people, had not believed this, we should not have been here this day. “Be not partakers of her sins, lest ye receive of her plagues, for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” This we believe, consequently I have to say to the people, we have not come with any new doctrine; we have believed this ever since we were baptized for the remission of sins. Have the people come out from the nations? Yes. Have we separated ourselves from the nations? Yes. And what else have we done? Ask ourselves the question, Have we not brought Babylon with us? Are we not promoting Babylon here in our midst? Are we not fostering the spirit of Babylon that is now abroad on the face of the whole earth? I ask myself this question, and I answer, Yes, yes, to some extent and there is not a Latter-day Saint but what feels that we have too much of Babylon in our midst. The spirit of Babylon is too prevalent here. What is it? Confusion, discord, strife, animosity, vexation, pride, arrogance, selfwill and the spirit of the world. Are these things in the midst of those called Latter-day Saints? Yes, and we feel this.

I now ask my brethren and sisters who enjoy the Spirit of the Lord, if we have not traveled as far as we should travel on this road—the high road to destruction, the great highway, the broad gate through which so many pass? The gate is wide, the way is broad, and many there be that go in thereat; and many calling themselves Latter-day Saints are scrambling to see how quick they can get in. The spirit of confusion is in the midst of this people, and we have traveled this road just as far as we can travel it and be Saints. Is this the experience of the Latter-day Saints? I can answer that it is; and now, that the Lord is moving upon his servants to bring the Saints to a oneness, there is a spirit resting upon them, and if you talk with them, they will say, at once, “Yes, this is right, we must be one. This is the doctrine that Joseph taught, and the revelations that were first given through Joseph were for the Church to gather together. We were then commanded to come out from the wicked and to consecrate what we had, lay it at the feet of the Bishops, receive our inheritance, improve thereupon, and be one—be as the family of heaven upon earth.” This is the spirit of the people, and they say: “Thank the Lord, I have prayed for this for years and years. I have looked for and expected it, and I am exceedingly thankful it has come.”

I will now quote another portion of Scripture, which I think you are pretty well acquainted with, if you read the Bible. It is one of the last petitions that the Savior presented to his Father in heaven, while he was upon the earth—a short prayer which he made on behalf of his disciples. He had but very few, for, notwithstanding his many miracles and wonderful works, very few seemed to cling to and have confidence in him at all times and under all circumstances; but there were a few who wished to and who did remain with him until his death, that is, they stood a little way off; they said—“We are going to see what they are going to do with him.” But before Peter denied him, and before he was taken by the soldiers, he offered a brief, simple prayer to his Father. He had been talking with and exhorting his brethren, and showing them the necessity of living according to the faith that he had taught them, and he offered up this petition—“Father, make these my disciples one, as we are one, I in thou, thou in me, and I in them, that we may all be one; and I pray not for these only, but for all who believe on me through their testimony.” This is a simple prayer. Did he who offered it mean anything, or did he not? If he meant anything, what did he mean? How much did he mean, and how did he calculate his disciples to construe this short prayer in their lives, in their walk, faith and practice after he was taken from them? How far, how much and wherein did he want them to be one? Can any of you show to us exactly what he meant? If you say he meant that everyone who believed on him should be one in their belief, that is sectarianism. Take the mother Church—the “Holy Catholic Church”—and the prayer of its members is that all may be Catholics: “Father, I pray thee to make the people all holy Catholics.” This is the faith and prayer of the Catholics, and the meaning they give to the petition of Jesus. The same with the Calvinists; and when they present themselves before the throne of grace, the burden of their petition is—“I pray thee, Father, make these people one as we are one; influence them to leave the Catholic Church, to revolt and come out from that wicked mother, that wicked harlot, that wicked Church, and declare themselves believers in that pure and holy doctrine that God has decreed all things that take place.” Go to those who believe in the doctrine of free will, which, you know, comprehends many of the so-called Christian societies of the world, and they come up with a double and twisted storm—“God Almighty, make them all Methodists! Yes, let’s all be Methodists.” I pray thee, Father, to take away the veil from the minds of this people, that they may see it is free grace and free will! God be praised, let’s all be Methodists.” This is how the sectarians explain and define the meaning of that memorable prayer of the Savior that his followers might be one; and you will excuse me for my manner of illustrating it—I did this to illustrate facts just as they are.

Did Jesus mean this, or did he not? Had he any allusion whatever to one here on the right, and to another on the left, each crying—“Lo! here is Christ, and lo! there is Christ, He is not yonder?” And another one pointing this way, and another that way, and so on to every point of the compass? What does all this portray before the mind of the rational being, the philosopher, one who has the spirit of revelation, and who understands the words of life and has the keys of life to the people; and to all who believe in the revelations of the Lord Jesus in the latter days? Confusion upon confusion, discord, strife, animosity, vexation, perplexity, warring to the knife and slaying each other. Oh, the number of Christian wars there have been upon the face of the earth! We can very readily and truthfully say that true Christians—the members of the true Church of Christ on the earth—never take the sword unless to defend themselves.

Brethren and sisters, we want to understand what the Savior meant when he prayed that his disciples might be one. One in faith? Yes. One in doctrine? Yes. One in practice? Yes. One in interests? Yes. One in hope? Yes, and all concentrated in the kingdom of God on the earth and the establishment thereof, the fulfillment of the Scriptures, the gathering of the Saints, and the salvation of the inhabitants of the earth. This is the oneness and the union the Savior meant. Let me here ask the question, Did the Savior design that we should be one with regard to faith in him, repentance of sin, baptism for the remission thereof, the imposition of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, the gifts and graces of the Spirit of the Lord, that there might be in the Church first Apostles, then Prophets, pastors, teachers, helps, governments, diversities of tongues, the gift of prophecy, the gift of discernment of spirits; also the gift of faith, so that if poison be administered it should not hurt the believer; and if there should be a necessity to take up serpents, it should be done without danger? Yes, all this is included in the oneness prayed for by the Savior; and some of the gifts I have enumerated have been witnessed by most of us. I myself have seen rattlesnakes handled as you would handle a piece of rope. I remember one night, when going to Missouri, in the year 1834, I was spreading our blankets on the tall prairie grass, which was pretty thick and heavy, that a rattlesnake was under my hands and warned me of his presence by his rattles. I called to one of the brethren who was helping, and turning back the blanket said to him—“Take this snake and carry it off and tell it not to come back again; and to say to its neighbors do not come into our camp tonight, lest some one might kill you.” He took up the snake and carried it off several rods from the camp, and told it to stay away, and to tell its neighbors not to come into the camp, for they might get killed if they did. Many such circumstances have transpired in the experience of the Elders of this Church; but we need not stop to relate them, for it is well known that the gifts of the Gospel are in this Church, such as healing, faith, speaking with tongues, discerning spirits, prophecy, &c., and I need not dwell upon them now.

I will now ask the question, where is the individual who can draw the line and show us that, when Jesus prayed that his disciples might be one, he meant a oneness only in spiritual things, and that it was not to extend to temporal affairs? Will any of you draw the line and tell us? For I am certain that I have not wisdom enough to define the line between spiritual and temporal things. I know nothing about faith in the Lord, without works corresponding therewith; they must go together, for without works you cannot prove that faith exists. We might cry out, until the day of our death, that we love the Savior, but if we neglected to observe his sayings he would not believe us. We have his own words to prove this. There were a great many who pretended to think considerable of him while he was here in the flesh; but he said to his disciples—“If you love me, keep my commandments.” This was the proof he demanded, then works and faith went together. The same principle holds good with parents and children. If any of you have a child which says—“I love you, mamma, Oh, I love you dearly;” you, to test the sincerity of the child’s professions, say: “Well, then, my child, you will desist from doing that which displeases me. Come here, and I will give you a little work to do;” or, “I wish you to sit down on that chair, and let that crockery alone;” or, “Do not tear up that cloth, my daughter; if you love me, come and sit down by my side.” “Oh, I love you dearly,” says the little girl, but she keeps tearing up the cloth, or sticking pins and needles into the flesh of the other children. “Mamma, I love you most dearly.” “Well, then,” says mamma, “you must not afflict or give pain to your sister, or your brother; you are naughty to do so, and you must stop this mischief.” But the child continues her naughtiness, still declaring that she loves her mother, though she will not do one thing her mother wishes her to do. Such a child needs chastisement; if soft words will not answer, severity must. Is not this a fact? You have older children who profess to be very fond of you; they will say: “Father, I think everything of you,” and yet they will take a course that is grievous, annoying and disagreeable, and quite contrary to your feelings and wishes. Will a father believe the professions of such children? Not much, I think. To use another comparison: Suppose a young lady dearly loves a young gentleman, who states to others that he is equally as fond of her, and would be very glad to express to her his feelings, but he never calls to see her; now though he may declare to others how much he loves her, the young lady will say—“I do not believe a word of it, for I know that he would make it known to me, if he did.” He might declare until doomsday, that he loved her, but, unless he told her so and proved it by his works, she would say—“That is all folly, he does not mean what he says.” Neither will you or I believe that anybody loves us and wishes to promote our joy and comfort, so long as that person acts contrary thereto; neither will Jesus. And unless these Latter-day Saints stop now, and go to work and prove by their acts that they are the disciples of the Lord Jesus, He will spew them out.

We have gone just as far as we can be permitted to go in the road on which we are now traveling. One man has his eye on a gold mine, another is for a silver mine, another is for marketing his flour or his wheat, another for selling his cattle, another to raise cattle, another to get a farm, or building here and there, and trading and trafficking with each other, just like Babylon, taking advantage wherever we can, and all going just as the rest of the world. Babylon is here, and we are following in the footsteps of the inhabitants of the earth, who are in a perfect sea of confusion. Do you know this? You ought to, for there are none of you but what see it daily; it is a daily spectacle before your eyes and mine, to see the Latter-day Saints trying to take advantage of their brethren. There are Elders in this Church who would take the widow’s last cow, for five dollars, and then kneel down and thank God for the fine bargain they had made.

I have come to this conclusion, which I have preached for years and years and years, and Joseph preached it up to the time of his death, that the people must leave Babylon and confusion behind them, and be the servants and handmaidens of the Lord; they must be His family. They have gathered out from Babylon, and they must prepare themselves to stand in holy places, preparatory to the coming of the Son of Man. I have been watching and waiting, just as steadily, and as earnestly and faithfully as ever a mother watched over an infant child, to see when this people would be ready to receive the doctrine, or the first lessons or revelations given when the Center Stake of Zion was first located to consecrate their property, and be indeed the servants and handmaidens of the Lord, and labor with all their hearts to do His will and build up His kingdom on the earth; and I have never seen the time when we could organize one little society, or one little ward; but, thank God, the time has come, the Spirit of the Lord is upon the people.

Is it a new doctrine to us that God’s people should and must be one in everything? It is an old doctrine; shall I say it is as old as the hills, as old as the mountains, as old as this world? Yes, I can say it is as old as my Father in heaven; it is an eternal doctrine; it is from eternity to eternity. Ask yourselves the question, Do you expect to go to heaven when you depart this life? “Yes, yes, I am going to the Paradise of God; I am going to dwell with the Saints of the Most High in the presence of the Father and the Son.” How many interests will there be there? How many locations, or central places of deposit for the affections, labors and wealth of all who dwell there? All in one, all for God, all for his glory and his kingdom, and the extension of his dominions through the immensity of space, kingdoms on kingdoms, every heart and every breath, every voice and every eye, and every feeling for the glory of God. Then ask ourselves—Is the Lord going to have a Church upon the earth? Is the Lord going to have a kingdom on the earth? Certainly, Daniel saw this in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, and gave a description, or rather a hint, in regard to the establishment of that kingdom, when the kingdoms of this world would be handed over to the Saints of the Most High, and they would possess the kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom forever and ever.

Are we going to enter into the kingdom? Are we going to be prepared for the coming of the Son of Man? Are we going to be prepared to enter into the fullness of the glory of the Father and the Son? Not so long as we live according to the principles of Babylon. Now we are every man for himself. One says: “This is my property, and I am for increasing it.” Another says; “This is mine,” Another: “I will do as I please; I will go where I please and when I please; I will do this, that, or the other; and if I have a mind to raise grain here and take it to market and give it away, it is none of your business.” It will be said to all such persons, who profess to be Latter-day Saints—“I never knew you; you never were Saints.”

Now I wish to give you a little of our late experience with regard to the Savior and his doctrines. We have organized in this United Order, commencing at St. George. A thousand thoughts rise in my mind, looking at the subject generally. “St. George! Are you going to send me down to St. George? Why, it is like sending me out of the world!” But I must not talk about this: suffice it to say that St. George is one of the most beautiful places on this little farm—this world that we occupy—this little farm of the Lord’s, one of the choicest places on the face of the earth. I see more wealth in that small place than in any other location, of its size, in this Territory, or in these mountains; and I always have.

We have organized a small Branch there, or, rather, I may say a tolerably large one. I preached a good deal in St. George. It seemed to be the only place we could begin our work; they were the only people we could organize; but we did organize there. God designs to make the people of one heart and one mind from Monday morning to Monday morning again, and that everything they do on the earth shall promote His cause and kingdom, and the happiness and salvation of the human family. “Well,” said they, “we do not understand; we believe we ought to be one, and that we ought to go into the order of Enoch. We understand very well that Enoch was so pure and holy that his city was taken, and the saying went abroad that Zion is fled. This we believe as firmly as you can.” Then some others would say, “There will not be one ward organized after the brethren go over the rim of the basin.” We organized every ward or town south of the rim of the basin, and left them in tolerably good working order, so far as they had advanced. The only trouble with them was, “they did not understand.” They would say, “It is right, and the Scriptures tell us about it; but we do not understand the mode of its operation.” One man came to me, an old “Mormon,” whom I have known over forty-two years, just as we were organizing and said—“Brother Brigham, I have preached for you all the time. I did the same for brother Joseph. Brother Joseph preached this doctrine; is it not strange that the people do not see it?” “Then,” said I, “you are ready to put down your name?” His answer was—“I will think about it.” You do not fully understand your own faith, nor the doctrines you preach to the people, if you do not understand this doctrine; and are not as ready to enter it as you would be to lay down this mortal body and enter heaven if God should call you, or to do any other duty. Suffice it to say, God will establish this order on the face of the earth, and if we do not help Him, others will, and they will enjoy the benefits of it.

When we came this side the rim of the basin, we found the people more willing than south of the rim of the basin to come forward and organize, for they felt that we have traveled as far as we can on our present road, without going to destruction. One Bishop wrote to me—“Please come and organize us. I am glad you are coming this way, we want to be organized. I know that we have to consecrate to somebody, and I would rather consecrate to the Lord than to the devil. We have to consecrate to one or the other, and very soon too.” He is a very good Bishop; he is full of the spirit of this work, and cannot keep from talking about it.

We now want to organize the Latter-day Saints, every man, woman and child among them, who has a desire to be organized, into this holy order. You may call it the Order of Enoch, you may call it co-partnership, or just what you please. It is the United Order of the Kingdom of God on the earth; but we say the Order of Enoch on the same principle you find in the revelation concerning the Priesthood, which, to avoid the too frequent repetition of the name of the Deity, is called the Priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. This order is the order of heaven, the family of heaven on the earth; it is the children of our Father here upon the earth organized into one body or one family, to operate together.

As individuals we do not want your farms, we do not want your houses and city lots, we do not want your horses and your cattle, we do not want your gold and your silver, nor anything of the kind. “Well, then, what do you want?” We want the time of this people called Latter-day Saints, that we can organize this time systematically, and make this people the richest people on the face of the earth. If we are the people of God, we are to be the richest people on the earth, and these riches are to be held in God, not in the devil. God tells us how we may accomplish this, as plainly and as surely as he told Joshua and the people of Israel how to cause the downfall of the walls of Jericho. They were to march around the walls once a day for seven days, then seven times in one day, and the last time they went round the walls they blew their horns with all their might, and down fell the walls of Jericho. We do not understand all about this, if we did, we should understand that it was as simple as any of the acts of the Lord: as simple as being baptized for the remission of sins. We want now to organize the people. Says one—“Don’t you want my money and my goods?” We want you to put them into the kingdom of God, into the vaults that are prepared, into the archives, the safe, the institution, to help to increase means for the kingdom of God on the earth. And what are we to have when we enter this order? What we need to eat, drink and wear, and strict obedience to the requirements of those whom the Lord sets to guide and direct; that our sisters, instead of teasing their husbands for a dollar, five dollars, twenty-five dollars, for a fine dress, bonnet, or artificials for themselves or their daughters, may go to work and learn how to make all these things for themselves, being organized into societies or classes for that purpose. And the brethren will be organized to do their farming, herding and raising cattle, sheep, fruit, grain and vegetables; and when they have raised these products, every particle be gathered into a storehouse or storehouses, and everyone have what is needed to sustain him. But the people will stop going here, there, and yonder, and saying—“I am after the gold,” “I am after the silver,” or this, that and the other. They will stop this folly and nonsense, for they have already impoverished themselves too much by taking so unwise a course. Looking at matters in a temporal point of view, and in the light of strict economy, I am ashamed to see the poverty that exists among the Latter-day Saints. They ought to be worth millions and millions, and millions on millions, where they are not worth a dollar. Should they spend their means in folly and nonsense? No, not a dollar of it, but put all into the general fund for the benefit of the kingdom. Organize the brethren and sisters, and let each and every one have their duties to perform. Where they are destitute of houses, and it is convenient, the most economical plan that can be adopted is to have buildings erected large enough to accommodate a number of families. For instance, we will say there are a hundred families in this place who have not houses fit to live in. We will erect a building large enough to accommodate them all comfortably, with every convenience for cooking, washing, ironing, &c.; and then, instead of each one of a hundred women getting up in the morning to cook breakfast for father and the large boys, that they may go to their labor, while the little children are crying and needing attention, breakfast for the whole can be prepared by five or ten women, with a man or two to help. Some may say—“This would be confusion.” Not at all, it would do away with it. Another one says—“It will be a great trial to my feelings, if I am obliged to go and breakfast with all these men and women. I am faint and sick, and do not eat much, and I want my breakfast prepared in peace.” Then build side rooms by the dozen or score, where you can eat by yourselves; and if you wish to invite three or four to eat with you, have your table, and everything you call for is sent to you. “Well, but I do not like this confusion of children.” Let the children have their dining room to themselves, and let a certain number of the sisters be appointed to take charge of the nursery and see that they have proper food, in proper quantities and at proper times, so as to preserve system and good order as far as possible, that a love of order may be established in their youthful minds, and they learn how to conduct themselves. Then let there be good teachers in the schoolrooms; and have beautiful gardens, and take the little folks out and show them the beautiful flowers, and teach them in their childhood the names and properties of every flower and plant, teaching them to understand which are astringent, which cathartic; this is useful for coloring, that is celebrated for its combination of beautiful colors, &c. Teach them lessons of beauty and usefulness while they are young, instead of letting them play in the dirt, making mud balls, and drawing the mud in their hats, and soiling their dresses, and cultivate their mental powers from childhood up. When they are old enough, place within their reach the advantages and benefits of a scientific education. Let them study the formation of the earth, the organization of the human system, and other sciences; such a system of mental culture and discipline in early years is of incalculable benefit to its possessor in mature years. Take, for instance, the young ladies now before me, as well as the young men, and form a class in geology, in chemistry or mineralogy; and do not confine their studies to theory only, but let them put in practice what they learn from books, by defining the nature of the soil, the composition or decomposition of a rock, how the earth was formed, its probable age, and so forth. All these are problems which science attempts to solve, although some of the views of our great scholars are undoubtedly very speculative. In the study of the sciences I have named, our young folks will learn how it is that, in traveling in our mountains, we frequently see seashells—shells of the oyster, clam, &c. Ask our boys and girls now to explain these things, and they are not able to do so; but establish classes for the study of the sciences, and they will become acquainted with the various facts they furnish in regard to the condition of the earth. It is the duty of the Latter-day Saints, according to the revelations, to give their children the best education that can be procured, both from the books of the world and the revelations of the Lord. If our young men will study the sciences, they will stop riding fast horses through the streets, and other folly and nonsense which they are now guilty of, and they will become useful and honorable members of the community.

I have been very much interested of late with regard to the studies and researches of the geologists who have been investigating the geological character of the Rocky Mountain country. Professor Marsh, of Yale College, with a class of his students, has spent, I think, four summers in succession in the practical study of geology in these mountain regions. What is the result of his researches? There is one result, so far, that particularly pleases me. There are some here who know a man by the name of John Hyde, from London, formerly a member of this Church, who apostatized and went back; and his great argument against the Book of Mormon was, that it stated that the old Jaredites and, perhaps, the Nephites, who formerly lived on this continent, had horses, while it is well known that horses were unknown to the aboriginal inhabitants of America when it was discovered by Columbus, and that there were no horses here until they were imported from Europe. Now, since Professor Marsh and his class began their investigations, they have found among the fossil remains of the extinct animals of America no less than fourteen different kinds of horses, varying in height from three to nine feet. These discoveries made Professor Marsh’s students feel almost as though they could eat up these mountains, and their enthusiasm for studying the geology of the regions around Bridger’s Fort was raised to the highest pitch. In their researches among these mountains they have formed the opinion that there was once a large inland sea here, and they think they have discovered the outlet where the water broke forth and formed Green River. Here in these valleys and in these ranges of mountains we can follow the ancient water line. This discovery of Professor Marsh is particularly pleasing to us “Mormons,” because he has so far scientifically demonstrated the Book of Mormon to be true.

Here is the kingdom of God; do you want to enter into it, or not? Do you want the future blessings of this kingdom, or do you not? Have your choice; but whomsoever you list to obey, his servants you will be, whether it is Jesus or the devil; please yourselves, have your choice. But all know we cannot serve two masters acceptably; if we love one, we shall hate the other, and if we hold on to one, we shall despise the other. We must either be for the kingdom of God, or not. But we shall organize this holy order here before we leave. We give the invitation to all of you to come and get organized. Let us be one; let us carry out the order that God has established for the family of heaven.

God bless you.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered at the Forty-Fourth Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Monday Morning, April 6, 1874.

Forty-four years ago today, the Kingdom of God was organized on this earth, for the last time, never to be broken up, never to be confounded or thrown down, but to continue from that time, henceforth and forever. This kingdom was not organized by man, nor by the wisdom of man, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ, he having guided and directed, by revelation, everything in regard to its organization, and bestowed authority upon his servants to perform the work, and they being only agents or instruments in his hands.

All other Christian denominations for many long centuries, have been organized without revelation. The organizers of these various denominations did not even pretend that God had given them any information from Heaven; they did not even pretend that there was one sentence which had been received in their day from the Lord, in relation to the organization of their institutions. In this respect the Latter-day Saints differ widely from all Christian denominations! It is an essential difference, a peculiar characteristic, and one of the utmost importance. Every person with a little reflection, can see that without divine information, man is utterly unable to organize the Kingdom of God on the earth. He may organize kingdoms, empires, republics and various kinds of civil government and a great variety of governments in a religious capacity, and when he has organized them they are without foundation and authority. The Lord communicates nothing to them, but they are compelled to ponder over that which had been revealed in former ages, and get all the information they can from what God spake formerly. But how impossible it is for people to learn their duties from what God said formerly to somebody else. We might as well, in the organization of a civil government, say, “the canon of laws is sealed up, we need no legislators or Congressmen.” If the question be asked why we do not need them, the answer is, “Oh, we depend upon the laws which were made by our fathers; they are sufficient for our guide.” Just fancy the people of this great republic being governed by the laws enacted in the first Congress after the revolutionary fathers framed the constitution. Only think of all the people now appealing to those ancient laws, made before any of them were born, and having nothing further to govern them!

This would just be as consistent as it would be to suppose that God some eighteen hundred years ago, gave all the information that he ever intended to give in relation to the government of His kingdom and His affairs here on the earth. You know that in civil governments laws are continually required, circumstances call them forth. Laws made last year are not always suitable to the circumstances of this year, and those made ten years ago, might be altogether unsuitable for events now happening, and hence the necessity of something new, direct from the lawmaking department. So in regard to the kingdom of God. God spake to the ancients, but many of the words he spake then are not binding upon the people now. Some few of the great moral principles revealed to the ancients are binding forever, but the great majority of the revelations from Heaven were only suited to the individuals to whom they were given. Take, for instance, the case of Abram. He was living in Chaldea, the land of his fathers. The Lord spake to him, and commanded him to arise and leave his native country, and journey to a strange land, which was promised to him for an inheritance. Now, I ask, was any other people upon the face of the whole earth bound to obey this divine law given to Abraham? No; it was suited to him and to him only. If we were all under this ancient law, then every one of us would have to go to Chaldea; and after we got there we should have to leave that country and go to some land which we should expect to receive for an inheritance, which would be the very height of absurdity.

Again, when God led forth Abraham into the land of Palestine, we find that he not only communicated laws to him, but that he also made precious promises relating to him and his seed, which did not pertain to all the nations and kingdoms of the earth. God commanded Abraham on that occasion to arise, and to pass through the length and breadth of the land, and to go out on to a certain high place and to cast his eyes eastward and westward and northward and southward, for said the Lord unto him, “All this land which thou seest shall be given to thee, and to thy seed after thee for a possession.” Under this law have I been commanded to go to the land of Palestine and walk through the length and breadth of the land? Never. Have you been commanded to do it? Never. It is not a law that is binding upon us, neither was it binding upon future generations after the days of Abraham.

Again, when God made the promise to Abraham that he should have that land for a possession, and his literal seed after him, he did not mean you nor me, nor the generations of the earth who are not the literal descendants of Abraham.

Again, when God revealed himself to Moses, and told him to go down into Egypt and deliver Israel from bondage, that was a law binding upon Moses and Moses alone. The Latter-day Saints are not under that law, neither are any other people. So we might continue to multiply instances by thousands where God spake to individuals, and they, and they alone, were the persons who were to give heed to his laws. Again, where he spoke in some cases to the nation of Israel, Israel and Israel alone could obey those laws. But sometimes he would reveal to an individual or to a people certain great moral principles that were binding upon them and upon all people unto the ends of the earth, when they were made manifest unto them. Such laws are everlasting in their nature. Sometimes God revealed ordinances as well as commandments and laws. These ordinances were binding just as far as God revealed them for the people to attend to. For instance, the law of circumcision was binding upon Abraham and his seed, and was to be continued for a certain season, but by and by it was to be superseded by some other. God also revealed, in the days of the introduction of the Gospel, many eternal laws, different from those that had been revealed in former times. He revealed many things afresh and anew when he came personally on the earth, which had also been revealed prior to his day. For instance, we will take the law of faith, and repentance. These principles were taught in every dispensation, and were binding upon all people in the four quarters of the earth, and in all generations before Jesus came; they were eternal principles, and were to be continued forever. We will take, again, the law of baptism for the remission of sins. Wherever the Gospel was preached this ordinance was binding upon the people. Wherever men were sent forth with the fullness of the plan of salvation to declare to the children of men, the law of baptism accompanied that message, and all people, as well as Israel, were required to obey that sacred ordinance.

In the latter days, when God establishes his kingdom on the earth for the last time, there will be thousands and tens of thousands of precepts and commandments revealed to certain individuals, which will be binding upon them alone. Then there will be other commandments that will be adapted to all the Church, and they will be binding upon the Church and upon the Church alone. Then there will be certain commandments that will be binding upon all nations, people and tongues, and blessed are they who give heed to the commandments and institutions and ordinances which pertain to them and which are adapted to their circumstances, and which are given for them to obey. But we will return again to the Church and kingdom.

Forty-four years have rolled over our heads since God gave commandment to a young man, a youth, to organize baptized believers into a Church, which was called the kingdom of God, not organized in its fullness, for there were not materials enough at that time to institute all the officers that were needed in that kingdom. The kingdom needed inspired Apostles, Seventies, High Priests after the order of Melchizedek; it needed the Priesthood of Aaron—the Levitical Priesthood, which the ancient Prophet said should be restored in the latter days. The kingdom needed all the appendages and blessings of these two Priesthoods, and there were not a sufficient number then baptized to make the organization perfect and complete; but so far as there were individuals the organization was commenced, although there were then only six members. Two of these were Apostles, called of God to be Apostles; called by new revelation to be Apostles; called by the ministration of angels to be Apostles; ordained by the laying on of hands of immortal personages from the eternal worlds. Hence, being ordained by this high authority, called by this high and holy calling, and chosen to go forth and organize the kingdom, and to preach the message of life and salvation among the children of men, they were obedient; and the other four individuals were organized in connection with them, upon the foundation that had been laid by the Lord himself, and not upon a creed that had been concocted in some council of uninspired men; not upon some articles of faith that were framed by uninspired men to guide and govern them; but what they received was by direct revelation. Not one step was taken without obtaining a revelation in regard to the manner of proceeding in relation to the laying of this foundation.

How very different this from the Methodists, the Baptists, the Presbyterians, the Church of England, and the various societies and denominations that exist throughout all the Protestant world; not one of them was organized in that way! Supposing that some of these Christian denominations should happen to get the form pretty nearly correct, and yet not have the authority, that would make all the difference. The form with the authority is one thing, and the form without the authority and divine appointment and ordination is another thing. One has power, but the other has not; one is recognized by the Lord Almighty, but the other is only recognized by man. I think we can see the difference between man’s churches and God’s Churches, between man’s organization and God’s organization. In the first place there never were a people, since Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden to the present day, who were acknowledged of God, unless they were founded and directed and counseled by him; unless there were a Priesthood having authority from him; unless God spake to them, and sent his angels to them. There never was a people, in any age of the world, whom God recognized as his people, without these characteristics. Says one, “How very uncharitable you Latter-day Saints are! You exclude the whole of us, you do not except one of our churches or good Christian denominations, and there are very good, moral people in them.” We do not dispute but what they are a very good, moral people; that is one thing, and a Christian Church is another. Morality is good in its place, and it must be in the Christian Church. Morality may exist outside of the Christian Church, but both cannot exist together without God organizes the Church.

Perhaps I have spoken sufficiently long upon the subject of the organization of the Church. I might enter fully into the investigation of these matters, and give you the particulars about the angels of God who descended from heaven and conferred the authority upon chosen vessels. I might tell you about the day which God set apart, and upon which he commanded that his Church should be organized, for the very day was mentioned by revelation. I might also relate to you many instructions that were given at that time to all the members of the kingdom of God. But I have other subjects upon my mind that seem to present themselves before me.

There have been probably scores of revelations given from time to time during the last forty-four years, which are not binding now, neither were they binding upon all the people at the time they were given. For instance, God gave a revelation, through his servant Joseph, on the 14th day of November, 1830, to your humble servant who is now speaking, commanding him to go forth and preach the Gospel among the nations of the earth, preparing the way of the Lord for his second coming, and to lift up his voice, both long and loud, and cry repentance to this crooked and perverse generation. I ask this congregation if there is an individual present here, but your humble servant who is under this direct command? No. If you have been commanded to do the same, you have been commanded by a distinct revelation. The revelation given to me was not given to any other individual, and was not binding upon any other. So in regard to the gathering up of the Saints. We were dwelling in the State of New York, and on the second day of January 1831, God commanded that all the Saints in that State, the State in which the Church was organized, and all who were dwelling in all the regions round about, should gather up to the State of Ohio. Is that a commandment binding upon any of this congregation? Not one of them, it was only suited to the circumstances that then extend, and when fulfilled it was no longer even binding upon them. The Lord gave a commandment after we had gathered up to the land of Kirtland, that some of his servants should go forth, two by two, preaching through Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Missouri, that they should meet together in general Conference on the western boundaries of the State of Missouri, and that the Lord God would reveal unto them the land which should be given unto them for an everlasting inheritance. These persons were commanded to do this. This commandment was binding upon them and them alone. They were the individuals who were commanded to do this work—it was not required of the rest of the Church. They fulfilled their appointment—as many as were faithful went through, two by two, on different routes, preaching and calling upon the people to repent and be baptized, confirming them by the water side, and organizing Churches. Finally those persons thus commanded assembled in August and September, on the western boundaries of the State of Missouri, in Jackson County. Then the commandment was fulfilled; and it was no longer binding upon those to whom it was given. Thus you see that what is suitable for this month is not always suitable for next month, and what is suitable for today is not always suitable for tomorrow. It needs new revelation.

When these missionaries assembled in Jackson County, the Prophet Joseph, being with them, inquired still further, and a commandment was given on that occasion, before the Church had gathered, except one small branch, called the Coalsville Branch, and that commandment was to be binding upon all the Latter-day Saints who should gather up to that land. What was it? That all the people who should gather to Jackson County, the land of their inheritance, should consecrate all their property, everything they had—they were to withhold nothing. Their gold and silver, their bedding, household furniture, their wearing apparel and everything they possessed was to be consecrated. That placed the people on a level, for when everything a people has is consecrated they are all equally rich. There is not one poor and another rich, for they all possess nothing. I do not know but you might call that poor; but they have something in common, namely, that which they have consecrated, and this brings me to an item which I happened to think of just about half a minute before I arose.

I will now read to you what took place on this American continent thirty-six years after the birth of Christ. Jesus appeared here on this continent and organized his Church. He chose twelve disciples and com– manded them to go and preach the Gospel in both the land south and the land north, and they did so. This extract gives us a little information about the repentance of the people—

“And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another. And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift.”

Now, was not that a marvel? Perhaps you may ask how it was that they were all so easily converted. That would be a very natural question to arise in the minds of many, for they must have been a very different people from those living nowadays. We have preached, year after year, and have only converted here and there one. But all those millions, inhabiting both North and South America, were converted unto the Lord. Was not that a wonderment? If I explain a little what took place beforehand, it will clear up the wonderment a little.

Just before Christ was crucified in the land of Jerusalem, the people on this land had become exceedingly wicked, and it was foretold to them by their Prophets that, when Jesus, their Savior, should be crucified in the land of their fathers, there should be great destruction come upon those who were wicked in this land, and that many of their cities should be destroyed—they should be sunk and burned with fire, and God would visit them in great and terrible judgments if they did not repent and prepare for the coming of their Savior, for they expected him to appear after his resurrection. The wicked did not repent, and all those destructions came, just as the Prophets foretold. Darkness covered the face of this land for three days and three nights, while at Jerusalem it was only three hours. Three days and three nights they suffered darkness upon all the face of this land, and very many of their cities, which were great and populous, were sunk, and lakes came up instead of them; a great many were burned with fire, a great many were destroyed by terrible tempests, and a great destruction came upon the wicked portions of the people, who had stoned and put the Prophets to death, and only the more righteous portion of the people were spared.

In the latter part of the year in which Jesus was put to death, he descended among a certain portion of the people on this continent, gathered in the northern part of what we term South America. He descended from heaven and stood in their midst; and on the next day, when a larger multitude were gathered together, he came a second time and there were a great many thousands on that occasion. He often appeared to them after that period, within the course of one or two years, and he chose twelve disciples, and so great was the power made manifest before those thousands, that when they went forth into the north and south and preached the word, according to the commandments of God, the more righteous portion of the people, who had been spared, and who had humbled themselves and partially repented, but did not understand the fullness of the Gospel, were easily converted, and that is the reason why all the people in North and South America were converted unto the Lord; and in the thirty-sixth year, reckoning from the birth of Jesus, they were not only all converted upon the face of this whole land, but they were all organized upon a common stock principle, and there were no poor among them, and they dealt justly one with another.

Says one, “They did the same thing in the land of Jerusalem.” Yes, but they did not keep it up in the land of Palestine—they seem to have failed, for we have no account that this common stock principle, as at first organized, continued among the Saints on the Asiatic Continent. Churches were built up in various parts of Asia and Europe, one in one place, another in another, and they all seem to have had property of their own; and I believe, myself, that they were unprepared, in their scattered condition, to enter into this order of things. There was too much wickedness at Ephesus, in Galatia, at Corinth, and in the various places where small branches were organized, to enter into this common stock principle, and carry it out successfully. But on this continent there was a fine opportunity for all the people, millions and millions of them were in the same faith. How easily, then, could they be guided and directed, and put in their property, and organize it as a common stock fund; and they did so, and were exceedingly blessed and prospered in their operation. And I will tell you how long it existed—about one-hundred and sixty-five years. But in the year two hundred and one after the birth of Christ, the people began to be lifted up, on this continent, in pride and popularity, and began to withdraw their funds from this common stock, and take them into their own hands, and call them their own, and they continued to do this, until the great majority of the people had corrupted themselves and withdrawn from this order. Then, after having broken up this common fund in a great measure, only a few individuals here and there still holding on to it, they became proud and highminded, and lifted up in their hearts, and looked down upon those who were not so prosperous as themselves, and in this way a distinction of classes was again introduced, and the rich began to persecute the poor; and thus they continued to apostatize, until, about three hundred and thirty-four years after Christ, they began to have great and terrible wars among themselves, which lasted about fifty years, during which millions of them were destroyed. Finally, they became so utterly wicked, so fully ripened for destruction, that one branch of the nation, called the Nephites, gathered their entire people around the hill Cumorah, in the State of New York, in Ontario County; and the Lamanites, the opposite army, gathered by millions in the same region. The two nations were four years in gathering their forces, during which no fighting took place; but at the end of that time, having marshalled all their hosts, the fighting commenced, the Lamanites coming upon the Nephites, and destroying all of them, except a very few, who had previously deserted over to the Lamanites.

Before this decisive battle the Nephites, who had kept records of their nation, written on gold plates, hid them up in the hill Cumorah, where they have lain from that day to this. Mormon committed a few plates to his son Moroni, who was a Prophet and who survived the nation of the Nephites about thirty-six years, and he kept these few plates, while all the balance of them were hid up in that hill; and then, Moroni, being commanded of God, hid up the few plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated.

I make mention of these circumstances for the purpose of showing you that, when people have been once enlightened as the Nephites were, and have had all things common, and have been blessed with an abundance of the riches of the earth, working together in harmony, until riches were poured out upon them in vast abundance, and then withdraw themselves from the order of God, they soon bring swift destruction upon their heads. We see the Nephites, after taking this course, descending lower and lower in their wickedness, going into idolatry, offering up human sacrifices unto their idol gods, and committing every species of abomination that they had ever known or heard of, all because they had been once enlightened and had apostatized from the truth, and withdrawn from the order of God, in which their forefathers had had a long experience.

The Lord gave a caution to the Latter-day Saints, when he told them, in a revelation, given in 1831, to enter into the same order pertaining to our possessions in Jackson County. Prior to that, he gave us a promise, saying, that if we would be faithful we should become the richest of all people; but if we would not be faithful in keeping his commandments, but should become lifted up in the pride of our hearts, we should, perhaps, become like the Nephites of old. “Beware of pride,” says the Lord, in one of these revelations, “lest you become like the Nephites of old.”

I have no doubt that you Latter-day Saints are the best people on the face of the earth. God has gathered you out from among the nations; you were the only people, to whom the message of life and salvation was sent, who received the missionaries of the Most High when they came to your respective nations. You not only received the Gospel of repentance and baptism, but you hearkened to those missionaries and the counsels of God, and gathered to this land. Hence, you have done better than all other people, and you have been blessed above all other people. But there is danger, after having been made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and having had the gifts of the Spirit made manifest more or less according to our faith, if we become lifted up in the pride of our hearts and think, because we have gathered an abundance of the wealth of this world, that we are a little better than our poor brother who labors eight or ten hours a day at the hardest kind of labor. Any person having the name of Latter-day Saint who feels that he is better than, and distinguishes himself from, the poor and supposes that he belongs to a little higher class than they, is in danger. “Beware of pride, lest you become like unto the Nephites of old.”

In order that this pride may be done away, there must necessarily be another order of things in regard to property.

Why does pride exist at all? Let us make a little inquiry about this. Do you know the reason? It all arises out of the love of riches. This is what generally constitutes pride. Now supposing you were all brought on a level in regard to property by a full consecration of everything that you have into a common stock fund, would there be among that number one who should thus consecrate all that he had, who would have anything to boast of above his neighbor? Not at all. He might have the use of property, one man might have perhaps a hundred times more than another, to use as a steward or agent for this general fund; but when he has used it he has his living out of it—his food, his raiment, the necessaries and comforts of life, whether he handles hundreds of thousands or merely a small stewardship, for the man that takes charge of a great manufacturing establishment would require more funds than he who has a small farm, but the funds would not belong to him, he only has his food, raiment and the necessaries and comforts of life. But here is another branch of business, just as important, as far as it goes, as this large manufacturing establishment. What is it? To make mortar, to lay up our buildings, for without them we should soon suffer. The man who makes mortar, then, is just as honorable as the man who takes charge of a large establishment which requires five hundred thousand dollars to carry it on. But in both cases, the surplus of their labor, after taking therefrom the necessaries of life, goes to the common stock fund; and the man who has had charge of the large establishment has nothing that he can boast of over the man who makes mortar—one is just as rich as the other.

But I know there are many Latter-day Saints who have formed an erroneous idea or opinion in regard to this common stock fund. Some for want of reflection, may suppose that every man and every woman must have the same fashioned houses to live in, or there would not be an equality; they must have the same amount of furniture, or there would not be an equality. Some may suppose that all must have the same kind of bedding and everything precisely alike or there would be no equality. But this is not the way God manifests himself in all the works of his hands. Go to the field, the pasture or meadow, and learn wisdom. Search from one end of the pasture to the other and see if you can find two blades of grass that are exactly alike. It cannot be done, there is a little deviation, a little variety, and hence we see from this that God delights in variety. But because one blade of grass might be formed a little more pleasing to the eye than another, would the first have any right, if it could reason, to say, “I am above that other?” Not at all. It was made for a certain purpose, and so in regard to everything else. No two men upon the face of the earth have the same features. We have the general characteristics of the human form, and we do not look like the original of man according to Darwin’s idea; we do not look like the monkey or baboon, from which Darwin says man originated. Men the world over, have many features bearing a general resemblance, and their form is molded in the image of the Most High. But when you come to scan the features of man minutely, you will see some deviation in the countenances of all men throughout all creation. Now, are they not equal? Do those little distinguishing characteristics in the features make them unequal? Not in the least. Then, because it might fall to my lot to make mortar, and to another man’s to take charge of a great store of merchandise, both of us being agents, that does not make the mercantile agent any better than the man who makes the mortar, and I should not expect to wear the same kind of apparel that the man did who was behind the counter. If I was making mortar I should not want on broadcloth, silk, or satin; I should want apparel adapted to the particular class of labor I was engaged in. Hence, there will be a distinction in these things.

Then again, do you suppose that when we come together it would be pleasing in the sight of God for every man and every woman to have on a Quaker bonnet or dress, or to pattern after the Shaking Quakers; that each of the ladies should have on a ribbon that should come under the bonnet, and be of just the same length? Not at all. God delights in variety; we see it throughout all the works of his hands, in every department of creation. Therefore men and women will dress according to their tastes, so far as they can get the means.

You draw your means from the common stock fund, and if you have stewardships set apart to you to manage, and you make little in the stewardships, the Bishops who take charge of these matters will not begin to inquire of you, “Well, brother, what kind of a hat have you worn? Was it straw, and was the straw just so fine or just so coarse, or was it a palm leaf hat you wore? I should like to know what kind of a hat band you have had? Was it a hat band having a bow knot, and, if so, was it any longer than your neighbors?” No such questions as these will be asked; but each man, each family in the stewardship, whatever they make, can exercise their own judgment in regard to many of these things, as they do now; and when you come together on Sunday, it is not expected that every man’s and every woman’s tastes would be to dress precisely like their neighbors, but have variety, and that out of the means of your stewardship.

But when you come to render up an account of that stewardship to the Bishop at the end of the year, there may be some prominent, leading questions asked, but not about these little matters. It will be asked if you have squandered your stewardship unnecessarily; have you been very extravagant in things unnecessary, and neglected other things of importance? If you have done these things, you will be counted an unwise steward, and you will be reproved; and perhaps, if you have gone too far, you may be removed out of your stewardship, and another person more worthy may step into it, and you be dropped because of doing wrong. But there never will be any Bishop, who has the Spirit of the living God upon him, who will inquire whether you have the same size stoves in your house, and the same kind of plates, knives, forks, and spoons as your neighbor; but you will have to give an account of those prominent items. That is the way I look at this common stock operation.

Then again, I do not know that the common stock operation which God commanded us to enter into in Jackson County, Mo., will be suitable in the year 1874. I commenced my discourse by showing that what was suitable one year was not always suitable the next. I do not know but here in Utah it may be necessary to vary materially from the principles that were commanded to be observed in Jackson County, Mo. I do not know but we may be required here to not only consecrate all that we have, but even ourselves as well as the property we possess, so that we may be directed by the Bishops and their counselors, or whoever may be appointed, in regard to all our daily avocations. I do not know how it will be. I have not heard. Down in Jackson County they were not thus directed. Every man got his stewardship, and he occupied it, and rendered an account of the same from time to time. But I do not know but it may be necessary here in Utah that we should be directed oftener than once a year, it may be that we shall be told weekly, and perhaps in some cases daily; and perhaps the Bishop or overseer may say today, “Here, brother, I would like you to do so and so today,” and tomorrow he comes along and says, “I would like you to stop that now; we have something else on hand; come with me, I will put in my hands as well as you, for, although you have selected me by your own voice to take charge, I am no better than you are, therefore I will take hold with you and do all I can in connection with you, and let us go at this business today.” Tomorrow there may be something else, and the next day something else, perhaps, according to the judgment of the Bishop and those who are appointed with him. In this way we could, perhaps, more effectually carry out the mind and will of God here in this desert country, than we could if we tried to imitate the pattern which was given to us in another country.

We cannot work here as we could in Jackson County, Mo. In that country we did not have to irrigate. We could settle on a piece of rising ground there, and the rains of heaven watered it. We could settle in the valley, and there were no ditches to be made. We could settle in any part of the county, or of the counties round about, and the rains of heaven would descend and water our land. And furthermore, there was timber all around, groves of timber, and we could go out before breakfast and get a load of wood, and in the course of a few days split rails enough to fence considerable of a patch of ground. Here we have to labor under other circumstances. Here we have not timber so that every man can fence his little farm or stewardship; we have not strength enough. If we happen to farm on some of these high grounds, it is very difficult to dig canals and water ditches to water our little steward– ships. What shall we do, then? Join in together, be of one heart and one mind, and let there be a common stock fund, so far as property is concerned, and so far as our own individual labor is concerned. Consequently, we need not think, because we may not be organized precisely according to the law that was adapted to Jackson County, that this counseling is void of the Spirit of God. Do not let any person begin to think this. You need to cooperate together in your labors. This is necessary in fencing a great many of our farms. You need to cooperate in getting out your water from your water ditches to water your land, and you need to do it in a great many other respects.

For instance, these mountains, which rise so majestically on the east and on the west, are full of rich minerals, this is one of the richest countries in the world. Will not some of the Latter-day Saints eventually be required to act in the department of mining as well as in the department of agriculture? Yes. Can one individual do as well as half a dozen, or as well as a hundred, at mining? It may require the experience of a vast amount of labor in order to develop the resources of these mountains, and in that case cooperation will be absolutely necessary.

“But,” says one, “the Gentiles have already done that.” But very little, I will assure you. Here and there they have opened a mine, but not one thousandth nor one ten-thousandth of that which exists and which will be developed hereafter. Now, in all these departments the Latter-day Saints must learn to be united, and I am glad to see, I rejoice exceedingly to hear, that the President has been moved upon, not only before he left Salt Lake City to go down South, but while he has been there, to alter the order of things that has existed for many years here in these mountains, among the Latter-day Saints. In what respect? To bring about a united order of things in regard to their property and labor, and the development of the resources of our farming land; in regard to raising flocks and herds, building, and developing the mineral resources of our mountains. In all these respects the President has seen the necessity of beginning to bring about, gradually, as the way may open, a different order of things that will strike the axe at the root of this pride and distinction of classes. I am glad; I rejoice in it. Several of the Branches of the Church south have already entered into this order.

Inquires one, “What is it, what kind of an order is it? Tell us all about it.” I would tell you as much as I thought was wisdom, if I understood it myself; but I do not; I have had but very little information about it. Suffice to say that I know that the order of things that could have been carried out successfully in Jackson County cannot be carried out here, on the same principle, without a little variation. It cannot be done—circumstances require different laws, different counsel, an order of things suited to the condition of this desert country.

“Are all the people going directly into this thing at once.” “Yes, if they choose;” but you may depend upon it that in all cases whenever God has moved upon his servants to introduce anything for the good of the people, it takes time for the people to receive it—they do not receive it all in a moment. The Lord is long-suffering—he bears with the weaknesses and traditions of the people for a long time. When, by the mouths of his servants, he counsels the people to do this, that, or the other, and they are a little backward about it, he does not come out in judgment as he did to ancient Israel, and cut them off by thousands and tens of thousands. He does not do that, but he bears with them, waits year after year. How long he has borne with all of us! Forty-three years ago we were commanded to become one in regard to our property. Forty-three years we have been in disobedience. Forty-three years have rolled over our heads, and we are far from oneness still. God has not cut us off, as he did ancient Israel, but he has borne with us. Oh, how patient and long-suffering he has been with us, perhaps thinking, “Peradventure, they will, by and by, return, reform, repent, and obey my commandments that I gave them in the first rise of the Church. I will wait upon them, I will extend forth my hand to them all the day long, and see whether they will be obedient.” That is the way the Lord feels towards us. Should we not pattern after him? If this order of things should reach Salt Lake City, if these different wards should begin to be organized in some measure, and the people begin to be divided, some entering into the order and others refusing, should we not bear with those who do not? Yes, bear with them, just as the Lord has borne with us, and not begin to think that we are better than our neighbors who have not entered into the order, and flatter ourselves that we are above them, and revile and persecute them, and exercise our influence against them, saying, “Oh, they do not belong to the united order of God, they are outside of it, and consequently we have not much respect for them.” We must not do this, for perhaps, though we may think we are on a firm foundation, it may slip from under us, and we also may be brought into straightened circumstances. If we exercise patience, long-suffering, and forbearance with the people until they learn by experience what God is doing in our midst, many of these rich people may come into the order, who now say in their hearts, “We will wait and see whether this thing will prosper.” If they are honest in heart, they will finally come to the conclusion that the people in the united order are a happy people; they are not lifted up in pride one above another, and they will say, “I think I will go there, with all I have; I will become one of them;” and in a little while they will come along, while others, perhaps, will apostatize entirely. However, if they want to go, let them go, they are of no particular benefit if they feel to apostatize from anything which God has established for the benefit of the people. May God bless you. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Hyde, delivered in the Fourteenth Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt Lake City, Sunday Evening, Feb. 8, 1874.

I rejoice very much, brethren and sisters, at the opportunity we enjoy tonight of meeting together to worship the Lord our God, and to wait upon him, that we may renew our strength. It is the desire of my heart to do all I can to inspire in you a living faith in God, and I am sorry to say that there are those in our midst, against whom I have no particular charge to make, but who, by reason of the favors which fortune or this world has bestowed upon them, have become weak and sick in the faith, and who, I may say, have almost no faith at all. I feel on this occasion that if wealth would destroy what little faith I have I would rather that it would take to itself wings and fly beyond my reach. I have no faith to boast of, but what little faith I may possess I think more of than I do of the wealth of this world, for the wealth of this world will not carry me successfully through the dark valley of the shadow of death; it will not open to me the portals of bliss, but real and genuine faith in God will accomplish this. I remember once, in Nauvoo, when we felt ourselves happy and fortunate if we could get half a bushel of meal to make mush of, the Prophet Joseph Smith, talking to some of us at the house of brother John Taylor, said—“Brethren, we are pretty tight run now, but the time will come when you will have so much money that you will be weary with counting it, and you will be tried with riches;” and I sometimes think that perhaps the preface to that time has now arrived, and that the Saints will soon be tried with riches; but if riches would kill our prospects of eternal life by alienating us from the Priesthood and kingdom of God, I say it would be far better for us to remain like Lazarus, and that all our fine things should perish like the dew, and we come down to the bedrock of faith, and trust in the true and living God. The question is whether we have to come there in order to inherit eternal life. I will read a little of the words of our Savior, as recorded in the 6th chapter of Matthew. Said he—“Take no thought, saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed, for after all these things do the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knoweth ye have need of these things, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

There are many Saints at this time who are laboring to acquire wealth; and the kingdom, in the hearts of a good many, has become a secondary consideration; if we were to reverse this order of proceeding and seek the kingdom of God first, we could then put our heavenly Father to the proof whether all these things shall be added to us, and thus also test the truth of our religion, and I believe that this would be a legitimate way to test it to our satisfaction.

I have heard several very able discourses, by good men, showing that unless our exports equal our imports, we are not making headway financially. This is all very good so far as it goes, but reasoning of that kind is not our Savior’s, it is the reasoning of this world, and so far as this world is concerned, their reasoning, if correct is just as good as any other reasoning; but if it is not correct, and we are swerved by its force and power from the line marked out for us to walk by, we shall become the losers. I wish now to refer you to certain events that have transpired in days gone by, and then any of you may tell me by what financial calculations these things happened, and whether they were brought down to the very nicety of worldly reasoning, or whether they were left open to the providences of our God.

Once on a time there was a great famine in Samaria, and so sore was that famine that a mule’s head sold for four score pieces of silver in the market, and a cab of dove’s dung sold for food in the market, I cannot recollect for how much. We should consider it pretty much of a task or penalty to be compelled to use an article like that for food; but the people of Samaria were sorely distressed with famine, and which way to turn to save themselves they knew not. About this time, the King of Syria, with a large army, came to besiege the city, and there was a mighty host of them, and they brought everything in the shape of food that was necessary for the comfort and happiness of man; and although the famine was so sore among the Samaritans, the old Prophet, Elisha I think it was, told them that on the next day meal should be sold in the gate of their city at very low figures, lower than it had ever been known to be sold before. A certain nobleman, who heard the prophecy of Elisha expressed his doubt of its truth, and he said that if the windows of heaven were opened and meal poured down from above it could not fall to such low figures. Now see what he got by doubting the words of the Prophet—said Elisha to him—“Your eyes shall see it, but you shall not taste it.” That night the Lord sent forth the angels of his presence and they made a rustling in the trees, and sounds like horses’ hoofs and chariots, as if the whole country had combined to go out to battle against the Syrians, and they did not know what to make of it, and they were frightened, and fled, leaving almost everything they had brought with them in the borders of the town; and as they went, the rustling of the trees and the noise of the horses and chariots seemed to pursue them, and in order to make their burdens as light as possible, they threw away everything they had with them, and their track was strewed with everything good and desirable. The next morning the people of Samaria went out and brought the spoils into the market, and it was overstocked with provisions, and the word of the Lord through the Prophet was fulfilled.

Now, you see, the Lord knew they had eaten mules’ heads long enough, and that they had need of something more palatable; he had had the matter under advisement, no doubt, when the crusade was inaugurated against the people of Samaria, and he, in all probability, inspired them to take abundant supplies, that they might feel all the more confident on account of their great numbers being so well provided for. They no doubt calculated that they had the sure thing, little thinking that God was making them pack animals to take to his people what they needed. Their Father in heaven knew that they had need of them, and he sent them, and the people of Samaria brought them into market, and behold and lo the multitude rushed together just as hungry people will, and this nobleman came out also, and he was trodden down under foot and stamped to death—he saw it but he never tasted it. That is the reward of those who disbelieve the Prophets of God; it was so then, and if the same thing does not occur in every instance something of a similar character is sure to take place. There was no living faith in that man, he could not believe the testimony of the Prophets, and in this he was like some of our—what shall I say, great men, whose faith is weak and sickly, and they think they know it all, and can chalk out right and left that which would be best for building up the kingdom of God.

Well, after the flight of Sennacherib and his hosts, the starving multitudes of Samaria had an abundant supply of food. By what financial calculation was this brought about? Was it by worldly financiering, or was it by the bounteous dispensation of kind Heaven, who, disregarding worldly technicalities, sent a full supply to administer to and supply the wants of those who put their trust in Him, for at that time the people of Samaria stood fairly before him, and he plead their cause.

Said the Savior—“Take no thought what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, or wherewithal ye shall be clothed, for after all these things do the Gentiles seek.” Have the Gentiles come here to make money and to become wealthy? They say they have; I am told that that is their sole errand. I have not the least objection to it, but I have an objection to my brethren and sisters adopting their spirit by which their faith withers and becomes like a dried reed. The Lord said to Joseph Smith once—“As I live, saith the Lord, I give not unto you that ye shall live after the manner of the world.” Are we seeking to live after the manner of the world by our trading and trafficking? I do not know, however, that there is anything objectionable about legitimate, honorable trading, and I am not going to speak against it; but in these days it is a pretty rare thing to find an honorable dealer. There may be, and undoubtedly there are, men who do nothing but honorable business transactions, but most business men are eager to lay up a fortune, and to get rich in a short time. Some of our merchants think they ought to get rich in from five to ten years, and then retire; but in honorable business transactions it takes almost a lifetime to amass a fortune. I will not, however, speak of things that occurred in old times, but will come down to our own experience.

I recollect when we were forced away from Nauvoo, at the point of the bayonet, and when we crossed the river to the Iowa side there were hundreds of our people camped along the shore, and what had they to eat, or to make themselves comfortable with, in the scorching sun and burning with fevers? Nothing. We wanted meat and other comforts, but we had not the means to procure them, and the Lord in mercy sent clouds of quails right into camp. They came into the tents, flew into the wagons, rested on the wagon wheels, ox yokes and wagon tongues, and our little children could catch them, and there was an abundant supply of meat for the time being. Who financiered that, and by what calculation of two and two make four did it happen? It was the mercy and generosity of kind Providence. After the people arrived here in Salt Lake, they had pretty hard times. I was not one of the honored ones first here, but I arrived soon after, and I can recollect very well hearing of the hard times, when the brethren and sisters were forced to dig roots, and boil up thistletops, and anything that could be converted in the seething pot into food for the stomach. In those days the rations of our people were very short indeed. The Lord was aware of the position of the Saints in these times, he knew that they craved and had need of the necessaries and comforts of life, and he provided a way for them to obtain them. He opened the mines of California, and he caused the news to fly eastward, and this inspired the people of the East, almost en masse, to go to the Eldorado of the West to secure the precious metals. I happened to be on the borders at the time the excitement was in progress, and having crossed the Plains once or twice, people came to me to know what they should load with. I told them to take plenty of flour, for that would be good anyhow, and if they took more than they could carry they could trade it with the Indians to good advantage for something that they needed. I also told them to take plenty of bacon, the very best that they could bring; plenty of sugar, and also plenty of coffee and tea, we were not quite so conscientious in those days about using tea and coffee as we profess to be now. I also told them to take plenty of clothing, such as shirts, overcoats, blankets and everything that would keep the body warm; and I told them that tools of every kind would be very convenient and almost indispensable, such as spades, shovels, planes, saws, augurs, chisels, and everything that a carpenter needs, for said I—“When you get to the end of your journey you may not find everything to your hand that you want, and these things will be very convenient for you to build with.” And I gave them this counsel in good faith, for I thought if they did not feel disposed to carry all these things through, they could very readily exchange them in our valley for something that our folks could spare and which the emigrants would find useful.

Well, they fitted up train after train with these staple articles, and to use a steamboat phrase, they loaded to the very guards, and when many of them reached here, having been retarded by their heavy loads, it was so late that they said—“If we attempt to go through to California with this outfit, we shall be swamped in the snows of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and so we must leave it here.” They had brought it just where God wanted it, for said he—“I knew you had need of these things;” and while many of those who brought them along were good, honorable men, it so happened in the providence of God that his people were abundantly supplied.

Did not brother Kimball prophesy here once, in a time of the greatest strait, that goods and merchandise of every kind would be so cheap and plentiful within a certain time, that they would have to be piled up on the wayside? Yes, and his prediction came true, and the merchandise had to be placed by the wayside because there were not houses enough to put it in. Well, when the emigrants got here with their jaded teams, they were glad to trade them off. Said they—“Here gentlemen, are the dry goods, merchandise, tools, and other things we have brought along, they are at your service, give us a pack mule and a pack saddle, a lariat and a pair of spurs that we may go on our way.” This was the way matters were arranged in many instances, and there was no fault to find, we did the best we could under the circumstances, and they did the best they were obliged to for us.

Who financiered that? Was that on the principle of two and two make four? I do not object at all to that principle, but one is the result of human skill and wisdom, the other is based upon unshaken faith in God. That is what I am coming to—unshaken faith in God, which in this case, in our own experience, brought deliverance to the Saints, for they were well supplied with tools, wagons, clothing and all they needed to make them comfortable. Our community was small then, a few trains heavily laden were sufficient to supply it, but now it would take a number of railroad trains. We are growing and increasing, and I fear that we are growing beyond our faith, we are taking thought for tomorrow too much.

To illustrate this matter I will suppose that I say to my sons—“Here, my boys, I want you to go and plough, take care of the stock, or make the garden beautiful;” and they reply—“Father, we want some boots, pants and hats.” “I tell them I know they have need of these things, but I want them to attend to what I require of them without first receiving the boots, pants and hats.” What would you think of these boys if, because father did not give them what they thought they needed just at the time, they should say “we will strike out on our own hook, for we must have, and are determined to have these things?” How many of us are there now who feel as though we could chalk out and financier our own course irrespective of what the Prophet says? Perhaps some would be grieved if their faith in the ordinances of the Gospel and in the servants of God were questioned; but, as I said in the start, to come down to the bedrock, leaving fiction out of the question, how many of us are there who are ready to strike hands with the Prophet of God and to hang on to him blow high, or blow low, come coarse or come fine? There are some men who have acquired fortunes and who are rich, and I have reason to believe, though perhaps good men in every other respect, there will be a divorce between them and their silver and gold, or I fear they may not enter the kingdom of God. The rich man may say—“Divorced! Is it possible that I must be divorced from that to which I am so devotedly attached—my riches—in order that I may obtain life everlasting?”

In further illustration of the subject we have under consideration, I will quote the saying of the Savior, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust can corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust can corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal.” If heaven be beyond the bounds of time and space, as some of our religious friends believe, it would require a long arm to deposit our treasures there; but I apprehend that the heaven here referred to is not so far away. I believe it is near, and that when I yield my treasures to the powers that govern the kingdom of God I lay up treasure in heaven. Whenever I see the hungry and feed him, the naked and clothe him, the sick and distressed and administer to their wants I feel that I am laying up treasure in heaven. When I am educating my children and embellishing their minds and fitting them for usefulness, I am laying up treasures in heaven. I would ask that little boy, who is well educated and well trained, “What thief can enter in and steal the knowledge you have got?” It is beyond the power of the thief to steal, it is out of his reach, that treasure is laid up in heaven, for where is there a place more sacred than the hearts of the rising generation which beat with purity, and with love to their parents, and with love to God and his kingdom? What better place can you find in which to deposit treasures than that? But all our obligations are not pointing to one source or quarter, there are many ways in which we can lay up treasures in heaven by doing good here on the earth.

The Bible says, “Take no thought beforehand, what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, or wherewithal ye shall be clothed.” Says one—“If we are to take no thought beforehand I would like to know how the farmer will ever contemplate sowing his seed if he does not look with an eye to the harvest, if he does not take some forethought?” I do not see any necessity for this. I know that the times and seasons roll around, and when Spring comes my natural senses tell me then is the time to plough, and I go and plough, because I know it is my duty to plough. I keep on ploughing day after day until I get through, and then I commence sowing seed. It is no use for me to give myself any anxiety about the harvest—I have no control over that, as the Scriptures say—“Paul may plant and Apollos water, but God giveth the increase,” and I, with all my figuring, cannot swell the kernels of wheat and cause them to germinate. I can do my duty in the time and the season thereof, but I must leave the issue with God. When I see that the grain wants watering I can turn on the water, but never mind tomorrow, let that take care of itself. As each day rolls around I can do the duties thereof, but tomorrow is beyond my reach or control. We, however, are looking to great results from our present labors as Latter-day Saints, and perhaps there is no particular harm in this; but it is far safer for us to do the duties of today than to neglect them by dreaming of the glory that is to be revealed in the future. That is in safekeeping. The hands of the Lord are strong and true, they will keep the reward in reserve for the faithful, and none can rob them of it. Let us do the work of today, then, and our heavenly Father knoweth that we have need of all these things.

There is one very peculiar saying of our Savior in the New Testament which I believe I will quote. Said the Savior, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” This is a saying which very few people who live now seem to believe, for, apparently, the main object for which most people labor is to get rich, and hence, according to the saying of Jesus, to keep themselves out of the kingdom of God. I know men in this Church whom I would have gladly seen here tonight, but I do not see them. I suppose they have so much riches they have no time to attend meeting. Maybe they are here, I hope so, my sight is not very keen, and I cannot see all over the room; but I do hope and pray that I shall never get so much wealth that I shall have no time to attend meetings, or so much as to keep me busy taking care of it, so that I shall not have time to enrich my heart with the knowledge of the Lord our God by putting myself in the way to obtain it. “Easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Said the disciples “Who then can be saved?” The Savior answered, “That which is impossible with man is possible with God.”

Now I want to look a little at the possibilities and impossibilities of the matter, not that I claim to understand everything, but sometimes a train of thought comes through my mind which cheers and does me good. That man who claims to be under the jurisdiction of an authority that he professes to believe is paramount with God, and yet is engaged in this way, that way and the other way, in getting rich so that he has no time to honor it, the question is, Can that man enter into the kingdom of God? I am not going to say, but I will bring up another case that, perhaps, may have a bearing on, and serve to illustrate this subject.

There was a certain rich man who fared sumptuously every day. He had abundance of everything that was good. Then there was a poor man named Lazarus, who lay at his gate, and the dogs came and licked his sores. This poor man would have been glad of the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. By and by poor Lazarus died and was carried by angels into Abraham’s bosom. I was once conversing with a Presbyterian minister on the subject of polygamy. Said I to him—“My dear sir, where do you expect to go when you die?” He said—“To some good place, I hope.” “To heaven, I suppose?” “Yes,” said he, “I hope to go there.” Said I—“Right into Abraham’s bosom.” Well, he said, figuratively, that was correct. Said I, “If you go right into Abraham’s bosom there will be on one side Sarai and on the other Hagar, and if you make a deadshot right into Abraham’s bosom how do you expect to dodge polygamy? If you get into Abraham’s bosom you get into a curious place.” By this time his argument was exhausted and our conversation closed. But Lazarus went to Abraham’s bosom, I suppose he has a pretty large bosom and a large heart, large enough to embrace all the faithful from his day down to the end of time, for in him and his seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

By and by the rich man died, and it is said that he lifted up his eyes in hell, or in torment, and he saw Abraham afar off with Lazarus in his bosom: Said he—“Father Abraham, send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water that he may cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.” Abraham replied, and he spoke to him very kindly and fatherly, “Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted and thou art tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that they who would pass from hence to you cannot, neither can they pass to us who would come from thence.” Here, then, we see illustrated the fate of the man who obtained wealth independent of the Lord Almighty. He obtained wealth and enjoyed it, and down he went to hell, while that poor man who, in this life, lay at the rich man’s gate and desired to be fed with the crumbs that fell from his table, was carried by angels into Abraham’s bosom. Probably, in life, this rich man had oppressed and dealt wrongfully by that poor man, I cannot tell how that was, but at any rate he went to hell.

Now, let me ask you who the man is who may be rich, and still enter into the kingdom of God. There was father Abraham himself, none of you will dispute that he was a rich man while here, yet there he was, on the other side of the great gulf, prepared to welcome Lazarus to happiness and heaven. But how did Abraham get rich? Was it by cheating and defrauding, by calculating and financiering? Or did he get it by doing his duty and trusting in God to bestow upon him what he saw fit. He trusted in the Lord, and the Lord gave to him all the Land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession and promised him that his seed should be as numerous as the stars in the sky, or the sands on the seashore. The Lord made Abraham rich, Abraham did not do it himself; he did not cheat anybody, but in the providences of God he was elevated and made rich. Why, there are some men who cannot sleep nights for laying plans to get rich, but I would advise them, if they want to get riches that will last forever, just to lay plans to build up the kingdom of God, or in other words take the advice of Jesus—“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all things else shall be added unto you.” I used to think—I cannot get married until I get rich, for I cannot support a wife; and it was not half so hard to support a wife in the days when I married as it is now, because there was not half the pride or fashion to support then that there are now. Then I did not make money very fast, and I thought that if I waited until I got rich before I married I should wait too long, and finally I concluded that I would marry and take hold with my wife and we would work together. It is certainly better to have two oxen than one, for if one is yoked up at one end the other end of the yoke drags, and when one wheel is off and the other is on, the point of one axle drags in the sand, and it is a complete nothing at all, that is just what it is. Well then I would give the same advice to my young brethren and sisters that I acted upon myself, and that is—Get married and get rich afterwards, and dispense with this fashion that so many are anxious to follow. We cannot very well, unless we are born princes, heirs or millionaires, sup– port the fashion of the present day and prosper, and we had better dispense with it. I like to see everybody cleanly and comfortable, but all this display and paraphernalia that fashion demands of its votaries seems to me like clogging the wheels and creating discomfort rather than comfort. When I was in the old country, I recollect hearing a lady say—“Some people wrap themselves up and put on so much that they are completely clogged. If you draw a net over a fish, how can it swim in the water? It is freedom they want, and it is a light covering we want, especially in warm weather.” I like to see persons neat and clean, and would rather see them thus than adorned in fine feathers, dresses, caps and jewelry. I believe God’s people will be so. I have no particular fault to find, I am only telling what I think would be good.

The man that goes along and does his duty, and, without straining a point, picks up honestly and fairly the blessings and means that God strews in his pathway, can appreciate and do good with his means; and as long as he keeps an open heart and is willing to do good, God will continue to put wealth in his way, and wealth obtained in this way, no matter how much, if it swells as large as the mountains on the east here, cannot keep its possessor out of the kingdom, because it is the gift of God, and not the fruits of overreaching dishonesty. God is not going to keep me out of his kingdom because I have wealth, no matter how much, if I obtain it honestly in his sight, and strive continually to do good with it. The reason why men of God were rich in old times was, that they were willing and desirous that God should rule, govern and control them and their means, while the miserable calculators after the fashion of the world shut God out of the question altogether. Such men are a stink in the nostrils of the Almighty, and he will hurl them from his presence, and they will find that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for them to enter into His kingdom. This is my faith, and I hope it will last me all the way through and forever, that if we will keep the commandments of God, build up his kingdom, and lay up treasure in heaven by doing good with whatever means and ability God may entrust us with here, wealth will roll in upon us from quarters we are not aware of, and in a way that eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man to conceive. All the world is for the Saints, and if they only take the right course and do as they are required, wealth will roll in upon them and cannot go anywhere else. The world say the Latter-day Saints are the lowest of all people, and just for argument’s sake we will grant it; but then, if we are so, that fact is only a proof of our excellence, for everything that has weight and worth rolls down and finds the center, the froth only rises to the top. I will venture to say that if you take a dollar and place it on the edge of a nice washbasin, it will roll down to the center, and if we are there, we shall all be in the right place. It is the meek and lowly who are to inherit the earth and the kingdom of God, and enjoy the gifts of heaven.

I have spoken once today before pretty freely, and I begin to feel a little sore about the sides, and I do not think I shall talk to you much longer on this occasion. I was talking this afternoon about the antediluvians. How strong they were in their own estimation! They were able to carve out their own destiny, and to amass and spend their own fortunes; but when the flood came they and their wealth went together. They were not in the ark, they had no interest in it whatever. I suppose they were a good deal as some people are at the present day. I saw a little ticket out here—I did not stop to read it—but in passing I read the words—“Not one cent for Tithing.” I suppose that was the motto of the antediluvians. “Not one cent for Tithing,” not one iota to build up the kingdom of God. Well, they went to destruction.

I wish to say to my brethren I have had considerable experience in the kingdom of God, and I have had some experience that a man never ought to have, and let me here ask my brethren and sisters if everything could be arranged to suit all, where under the heavens would there be any trial of our integrity? There would be no such thing. As the Methodist say—“When I can read my title clear to mansions in the skies,” and neither stumblingblock nor obstacle in the way, I shall begin to think that I am on the wrong road, for I do know that in the way of exaltation and eternal life there are stumblingblocks and difficulties to overcome, and if I keep in that way I shall have some things to swallow that are unpleasant and uncomfortable. But they will appear smaller and less difficult to overcome, if we swallow less whiskey. I would advise all my brethren to avoid it, and to have no connection with it; and if we see those who are feeble in faith, and more inclined to find fault than they are to approve, let us labor with them and do all we can to bring them back to a sense of their obligations.

“Take no thought for the morrow, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, nor wherewithal shall ye be clothed,” but go to, and do just as God, through your brethren, tells you, and never be the means of administering a blow or doing one act that shall cause a division among the Saints of God, for says Jesus—“Except you are one you are not mine,” and how many are there in this city and throughout the country who are kind of half Jew and half Ashdod, and more Ashdod than Jew in many instances? Do not understand me to apply this to the body of the Saints, but to them that are pairing off, the disaffected and dissatisfied, and those who seem as if they had just swallowed a dose of fishhooks, and were choking over it. I would advise such to grease it well, and it will go down. Let the oil of the grace of God be applied, and there is no obstacle that we cannot overcome. I say then, let us never allow ourselves to be the entering wedge to divide the people of God. If we cannot overcome a little difficulty or a little trial, how much faith have we got? Not much. I say to my brethren—God bless you; and to the weak, the Lord, through the Prophet, says, “Be strong.” Be as weak as you have a mind to, but when there is need of strength put it on. If we have the right spirit, the more strength we need the more we shall have, but keep the fire burning, and may the Lord God of heaven bless you.

I could say many more things, but I have said as many as I should say. May the Lord bless you here in the 14th Ward. I used to know all the people who were here, but now I do not know a tithing of them; they have either grown up out of my knowledge, or else there is another set, or else we have lost our faith and our countenances are changed. I do not know which. Well now, let these pipes and tobacco alone, and let whiskey alone; and sisters, let tea and coffee alone. I know I am touching you in a vital place, but will you do it? “Oh dear, I shall die if I cannot have some.” Well, we have got to die once, and it had better be in a good cause than in a bad one. Then let us keep the Word of Wisdom, and keep ourselves unspotted from the world and live to the honor and glory of God, that when we have got through, having really complied with the will of heaven, we may see opening before us fields of everlasting bliss, and crowns and dominions beyond calculation opening in the wide expanse of eternity. Oh, shall we come short, or shall we not?

Brethren and sisters, live to God, and may God bless you. I want to live until the power of God will be felt and acknowledged in this world, and that day is not far remote. May God bless us forever, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by Elder John Taylor, delivered in the Fourteenth Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, Feb. 1, 1874.

I have had a note forwarded to me since I came here, by a party who is a stranger to me, requesting that I would speak on our leading doctrines. There are so many great principles developed in the eternal truths of God that we believe in, that it is a somewhat difficult task to attempt, in so short a time, any adequate exposition thereof, and if I touch upon any of these principles, it must be very lightly. The request reminds me of an anecdote which I read a short time ago. A lady met with a gentleman who had traveled very extensively over the world. He was a statesman, a philosopher, and quite a celebrity. He and the lady were going to take dinner together, and some ten or fifteen minutes before dinner was served, the lady said to him—“Mr.—, I am very happy to have the privilege of seeing and speaking with you, and now while they are preparing dinner, we shall have ten or fifteen minutes, will you please tell me all you know and ‘have seen in your travels?’”

In regard to our religion, I will say that it embraces every principle of truth and intelligence pertaining to us as moral, intellectual, mortal and immortal beings, pertaining to this world and the world that is to come. We are open to truth of every kind, no matter whence it comes, where it originates, or who believes in it. Truth, when preceded by the little word “all,” comprises everything that has ever existed or that ever will exist and be known by and among men in time and through the endless ages of eternity; and it is the duty of all intelligent beings who are responsible and amenable to God for their acts, to search after truth, and to permit it to influence them and their acts and general course in life, independent of all bias or preconceived notions, however specious and plausible they may be.

We, as Latter-day Saints, believe, first, in the Gospel, and that is a great deal to say, for the Gospel embraces principles that dive deeper, spread wider, and extend further than anything else that we can conceive. The Gospel teaches us in regard to the being and attributes of God; it also teaches us our relationship to that God and the various responsibilities we are under to him as his offspring; it teaches us the various duties and responsibilities that we are under to our families and friends, to the community, to the living and the dead; it unfolds to us principles pertaining to futurity; in fact, according to the saying of one of the old disciples, it “brings life and immortality to light,” brings us into relationship with God, and prepares us for an exaltation in the eternal world. There is something grand, profound and intellectual associated with the principles of the Gospel as it stands connected with the salvation and exaltation of man. A man in search of truth has no peculiar system to sustain, no peculiar dogma to defend or theory to uphold; he embraces all truth, and that truth, like the sun in the firmament, shines forth and spreads its effulgent rays over all creation, and if men will divest themselves of bias and prejudice, and prayerfully and conscientiously search after truth, they will find it wherever they turn their attention. But in regard to the leading principles of the Gospel, there are some distinctive features connected therewith, which, like all the laws of nature and of nature’s God, require implicit obedience and compliance therewith in order to insure a realization of the results which flow therefrom. The earth on which we live, the matter of which it is composed, the elements with which we are surrounded, as well as the planetary system, have certain inscrutable, eternal, unchangeable laws connected with them that cannot be departed from.

We talk sometimes about the great discoveries men have made connected with electricity, steam, light and its properties, and a variety of other principles that exist in nature; all those principles are governed by certain specific laws, which are immutable and unchangeable; and all of the great discoveries which men have made, have only developed certain properties that have always existed. They have not created anything, and their discoveries are nothing particularly worth boasting of. A child, in its infancy, possesses certain reasoning faculties, but they are only developed by a long course of training and experience. It possesses arms, legs, feet, a head and body, eyes, ears, nose, &c., but it is unconscious of this; by and by, when its reasoning faculties begin to be developed, it discovers that it has hands. It had them before, but it did not know it. It is a good deal so with us and the generations which have preceded us—we live, and have lived in a world in which from the beginning there have existed principles, organisms and systems—all that are now known or that ever will be discovered, but we have been ignorant of them, and only become aware of their existence by what is called the progress of science and the discoveries of scientific and ingenious men. And as earthly things are governed and controlled by unchanging laws, so it is with heavenly things. In optics certain lenses are needed for the reception and refraction of light; in chemistry a certain combination of elements is necessary to produce magnetism or electricity, and you may have these elements ever so perfect, and without the wire you cannot use them to convey intelligence; and you may have the wire without the necessary combination of chemical elements, and the result is the same. I have a watch; if I wind it up it will tell the time, if I neglect to do that it will stop. You have your steam engine, if you shut up the valve you turn off the steam, and it ceases to move. You have a water wheel possessing certain power, but turn off the water from that wheel and its power ceases. It is just so in regard to all the operations of nature—they are governed by certain laws which are understood by those who study them.

There are laws pertaining to eternal things—the things of God—that are just as immutable and unchangeable as those of which I have been speaking, and to realize the results they are calculated to produce, you must submit to and obey them. God has distinctly told us in his revelations that “no man knows the things of God but by the Spirit of God, even as no man knows the things of man but by the spirit of man that is within him,” then how can men obtain a knowledge of the things of God except they first take the course which he has pointed out? They cannot do it. If the laws which govern terrestrial things are immutable, the laws which govern celestial things are certainly not less so, and this brings me to the consideration of some of the first principles of the Gospel which we as a people believe in.

We believe that it is necessary for man to be placed in communication with God; that he should have revelation from Him, and that unless he is placed under the influence of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he can know nothing about the things of God. I do not care how learned a man may be, or how extensively he may have traveled; I do not care what his talent, intellect or genius may be, at what college he may have studied, how comprehensive his views or what his judgment may be on other matters, he cannot understand certain things without the Spirit of God, and that necessarily introduces the principle I before referred to—the necessity of revelation. Not revelation in former times, but present and immediate revelation, which shall lead and guide those who possess it in all the paths of life here, and to eternal life hereafter. A good many people, and those professing Christians, will sneer a good deal at the idea of present revelation. Whoever heard of true religion without communication with God? To me the thing is the most absurd that the human mind could conceive of. I do not wonder, when the people generally reject the principle of present revelation, that skepticism and infidelity prevail to such an alarming extent. I do not wonder that so many men treat religion with contempt, and regard it as something not worth the attention of intelligent beings, for without revelation religion is a mockery and a farce. If I cannot have a religion that will lead me to God, and place me en rapport with him, and unfold to my mind the principles of immortality and eternal life, I want nothing to do with it.

The principle of present revelation, then, is the very foundation of our religion. The Christian world reject that, and say the Bible is all-sufficient. I can remember in my younger days searching its contents very diligently. It is a glorious book to study, and I earnestly recommend it to the attention of our young men and young women, and of our old men and old women. “Search the Scriptures,” was the command of Jesus, “for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they that testify of me.” I would not only search the Scriptures that we now have, but I would search also every revelation that God has given, does give, or will give for the guidance and direction of his people, and then I would reverence the Giver, and those also whom he makes use of as his honored instruments to promulgate and make known those principles; and I would seek to be governed by the principles that are contained in that sacred word.

Now then let me look back a little, and examine things as they have existed. What kind of a Gospel was it that Jesus introduced? We are told that it was the Gospel; but what sort of an organization did his Church have? Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers and Evangelists—inspired men—men who had the ministering of angels, the spirit of prophecy, and the principle of revelation; men who had the heavens opened to them, so that they could contemplate the purposes of God as they should roll along throughout every subsequent period of time until the winding up scene. Whence did they obtain this knowledge? They obtained it through obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and hence it is very properly said that “life and immortality are brought to light by the Gospel.”

Well, who were the ancient Apostles? They were men chosen and selected by Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Who were these Prophets? Men who were in possession of the spirit of prophecy; and you show me a man who is called and inspired of God to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I will show you a Prophet, for we are told that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy;” and if a man has not the spirit of prophecy and revelation he is not the man to teach the things of God, for that is the principle by which all God’s chosen and authorized ministers in every age have been inspired, and by which they have taught the things of eternal life to the children of men.

How was it with Jesus? He said that “he came not to do his own will; but the will of the father who sent him;” and said he—“The words that I speak I speak not of myself; but the Father which dwelleth in me, he doeth the work.” When the disciples went forth to preach the Gospel, Jesus told them to go without purse and scrip, trusting in him; and he told them that when they were brought before kings, rulers and governors, they were not to think beforehand what they should say, for it should be given to them in the selfsame hour that they needed it. Paul said that the Gospel that he preached “he received not of man, neither by man;” but he received it of God, and the words that he spake were not his own, for he told the people definitely and distinctly that their words came to them “not in word only, but in power and in the demonstration of the Spirit of God, and with much assurance.” They were under the inspiration of the Almighty.

And where did we get our Bible from? “No Scripture is of any private interpretation,” we are told, “but holy men of old spake as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost,” and while under that inspiration they uttered the word of God, and that word became the Scripture of truth, as we here find it. It was given by dreams, visions and revelations, and that which was thus communicated to man was written, and has become what we call the Bible.

When the inspired revelations which we call the Gospel were given to men there were Apostles and Prophets, pastors, teachers and evangelists; and how did Jesus tell his disciples to teach his Gospel? He told them to “go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature,” the promise being that “he that believed and was baptized should be saved.” And it was also said that certain signs should follow them that believed: they should cast out devils in the name of Jesus, “they should lay hands on the sick and they should recover,” &c., showing that there was a living, vital, energetic power associated with the Gospel that was enunciated by Jesus Christ and taught by his Apostles. It was not connected alone with the Apostles, as some suppose. It does not read “these signs shall follow the Apostles who believe, or the disciples who believe,” but the signs would follow them that believe wherever the Gospel was preached in all the world. The Gospel and its blessings were not restricted either to time, person or place; but were to be enjoyed in all the world by all who believed.

Paul tells us that Apostles, Prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers were placed in the Church, for what? For the establishing of Christianity? No, it does not read in that way. For the benefit of the Apostles and those immediately surrounding them? No. To convince the pagan Gentiles and unbelieving Jews? No, he tells us they were placed in the Church “for the perfecting of the Saints,” that they who believed in and obeyed the Gospel might go on from strength to strength and be enabled to endure faithful to the end. It was for the perfecting of such persons, that, as immortal beings, they might increase in light, intelligence and truth, and be prepared to dwell with the Gods and the sanctified hosts in the eternal worlds.

These officers were for the perfecting of the Saints then; were they for anything else? Yes, “for the work of the ministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ.” Why? “That they should be no more children, tossed about by divers winds of doctrine and the craft of cunning men whereby they lie in wait to deceive;” but that they might “be built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone:” that they might have a knowledge of the truth of the Gospel for themselves, glowing in characters of living fire written in their hearts, which no man, influence or power could obliterate; but that it might dwell there like a fire upon the altar eternally burning and from thence spread its radiant effulgence glowing, increasing and spreading. This is the kind of Gospel the ancients preached and believed in, and which we, the Latter-day Saints, preach and believe in.

But where is the necessity of a new revelation, some may inquire, to restore this Gospel, seeing that it is the same Gospel that is recorded in the Scriptures? The Catholics would tell us there is no need of it, for they obtained it from God in ancient times, and have retained it, and it has been handed down in regular succession to the present day. I am not going to investigate all these theories today, there would not be time, suffice it to say that they are mere fallacies, neither Catholics, Greeks, or Protestants have retained the Gospel and the power to administer it. When we come to the Protestant world there is a great deal of credit due to them for the course they have taken. But has the Gospel been continued among them in its purity from the time that Jesus lived on the earth? Is there any man who has the hardihood to say so? I do not think you can find one. Whence originated these notions, opinions, theories, principles and dogmas that exist among men in the religious world at the present day? Did they originate with God? We are told that “he is not the author of confusion, but of order.” Did he inspire men with all these various dogmas and theories? Certainly not. Who did; where did they come from? Why, men, in various ages, many of them very good men, have tried to stop the flood of evil, false doctrine, error and crime, and in doing so, unaided by inspiration, they have made very great blunders. When the pope, through the instrumentality of Loyola, was selling indulgences in a shameful and disgraceful manner, Martin Luther and other reformers rose up and denounced it as an evil, and they were right in that, for it was an evil, and a crime and an outrage upon society, for it was bartering that for money which God never intended or authorized. Inquires one—“Did not Jesus give to his disciples ‘the keys of the kingdom of heaven,’ and say that ‘Whose soever sins they remit should be remitted, and whose soever sins they retain should be retained?’” “Yes.” “Then why did not others have that power?” They did, if they obtained it legitimately; but not in that kind of a way. Peter never possessed power to sell forgiveness of sins. In the days of the Apostles there was a certain man who saw the power of God made manifest through their administrations, and he offered them money to confer the same power upon him, but he was told that, inasmuch as he had thought the gift of God could be purchased with money, his money should perish with him. “But did not Peter and the other disciples possess the power to forgive sins?” Yes. How did they exercise it? The Scriptures are very plain on that point. Read the account of Peter, on the day of Pentecost, addressing thousands of people who were assembled at Jerusalem on that occasion. They cried out to Peter and the rest of the Apostles—“Men and brethren, what shall we do to be saved? We believe your statement, we believe we are sinners, we believe we have consented to the death of the Son of God, now what shall we do?” Did he say—“I will forgive you your sins?” No, no such thing. Did he have the power? Yes. How did he exercise it? Said he—“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the Holy Ghost,” and they took them and led them down into the water, and baptized them, and their sins were forgiven. That is the way the Apostles forgave sins, it was not by selling indulgences.

Martin Luther introduced some good principles, but did he bring back the Gospel Jesus brought? No, verily no. Did Melancthon? No. Zwingler? No. John Knox? No. Did Calvin? No, none of them brought back the Gospel of Jesus. They went about teaching good principles of morality, and the Gospel as far as they knew it. But God did not impart to them the light of revelation which the ancient Saints enjoyed, and as each of those reformers had his peculiar views and ideas in regard to the Gospel, they were the originators of the multitudes of sects and parties now existing in the Christian world. Luther promulgated his views very extensively in Germany, Calvin, who differed from him in regard to the doctrine of free will, and was a believer in the doctrine of fate, election or reprobation, promulgated his views extensively, and so with others. If they had had the light of revelation this variation would not have existed, the Spirit of God would have led them into all truth and brought them to the unity of the faith, and they would have seen eye to eye, as the Scriptures say men will do “When God brings again Zion, and with their voice together will they sing.”

We will refer to some of these seceding churches, but first for a moment will notice the Greek church. This church seceded from the Latin church, or the Latin from the Greek. I do not care which way you take it. There was a schism between these two bodies, and each pursued its own peculiar course, and that course has been very erratic, foolish and far from the principles of truth. Then there is the Episcopal Church. How did it originate? Through Henry the Eighth. How was it that he started a church? History informs us that it was simply on this ground—he was desirous of having a divorce from his wife and the Pope would not grant it. Before this Henry had written a book or pamphlet in defense of popery and in opposition to the Reformation, for which the Pope styled him “Defender of the Faith;” but when the Pope would not consent to grant the English king this divorce he became angry, and determined to start a church of his own; and fortunately or unfortunately he had two pliant tools, ecclesiastics in the Catholic church, and to gratify their sovereign they lent themselves to him to assist in carrying out his plan, and together they started the Church of England, or the Episcopal Church as it is now called. When Henry had got a priesthood of his own he got the divorce he wanted, and went on his way rejoicing I suppose, at least in his way.

We will now come to some others among the reformers. There was John Knox, in Scotland a very zealous and very intolerant man, nothing very pleasant about him, some traits of his character I never admired, and I have read some things in his works that are not very pleasant, gentle or amiable; but he was no doubt a very sincere and zealous Christian in his way, and sought to do good. Then there was Calvin, another tolerably sincere man in my opinion, and judging from what history tells about him, he was desirous of stemming the torrent of evil and advancing good principles as far as he knew how. But who among them brought back the Gospel which Jesus taught? Not one. Leaving Calvin, Knox, Luther and the early reformers we come down to later times, and we find that in the Church of England there were some things which the conscientious portion of its members could not sustain, and a reformation was inaugurated by John and Charles Wesley, and a Mr. Fletcher. They taught many good principles; but they did not bring back the Gospel of Jesus Christ, although they were very zealous and very desirous of doing good, and I think there was something very creditable in their efforts to stem the current of evil and to resist and unmask the corruption that was creeping in under the name of religion and to unmask the hypocrisy that existed; but they did not restore the Gospel, and one of them, in singing said he looked forward to and hoped the time would come when—

“From chosen Abraham’s seed The new Apostles choose O’er isles and continents to spread The dead-reviving news.”

They did not have it, however he knew that, and although he was desirous of having such a state of things restored, he was not able to introduce it, for God had not called upon him to perform that work.

There have been various other isms besides those I have mentioned, in some instances arising more from personal pique, prejudice and contradictions and personal interests of men than for the glory of God and for the good of mankind, and I am afraid their originators cared more about preaching the Gospel according to certain men, rather than the Gospel according to Jesus Christ. In such a state of things what is to be done? We are living in a world in which the spirits who have dwelt in the bosom of God are coming into and leaving this state of existence at the rate of about a thousand millions in every thirty-three years; and here are thousands of so-called ministers of religion with an inefficient Gospel, that God never ordained, trying to ameliorate the condition of mankind, and sending what they call the Gospel to the heathen, and they are continually calling for the pecuniary aid of their fellow Christians to assist them in this enterprise. But if they have not the truth themselves how can they impart it to others? How can blind leaders lead people in the way of life and salvation? Was it not necessary, in view of the ignorance and blindness of the people everywhere, in regard to the principles of salvation, that something should be done to ameliorate the condition of a fallen world? The Christian world, by their unbelief, have made the heavens as brass, and wherever they go to declare what they call the Gospel they make confusion worse confounded; but who shall debar God from taking care of his own creation, and saving his creatures? Yet this is the position that many men have taken. But notwithstanding the unbelief so prevalent throughout Christen– dom, God restored his ancient Gospel to Joseph Smith, giving him revelation, opening the heavens to him, and making him acquainted with the plan of salvation and exaltation of the children of men. I was well acquainted with him, and have carefully examined the revelations given through him, and notwithstanding all the aspersions that have been cast upon him, I believe that, with the exception of Jesus Christ, there never was a greater Prophet upon this wide earth than he; and to the revelations he made known are we indebted for the glorious principles that God has communicated to the world in these last days. We were as much in the dark as other people were about the principles of salvation, and the relationship we hold to God and each other, until these things were made known to us by Joseph Smith. A great deal is said at the present time about the relation of husband and wife; but where is there a man outside of this Church who understands anything about this relationship, as well as that of parents to children? There is not one, and the Latter-day Saints knew nothing about it until it was revealed by Joseph Smith, through the Gospel. It is the Gospel that teaches a woman that she has a claim upon a man, and a man that he has a claim upon a woman in the resurrection; it is the Gospel that teaches them that, when they rise from the tombs in the resurrection, they will again clasp hands, be reunited, and again participate in that glory for which God designed them before the world was.

[To Be Continued On Page 1, Vol. 17.]

Discourse by Elder John Taylor, delivered in the Fourteenth Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, Feb. 1, 1874.

[Continued From Page 376, Vol. 16.] John the Revelator, when on the Isle of Patmos, wrapt in prophetic vision, said—“I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell upon the earth, to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, crying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come.’” He also saw a time when a certain power “would make war with the Saints, and prevail against them, and they should be given into his hand until a time, times and the dividing of a time.”

Well then, to come back, to accommodate my strange friend, whoever he may be, I will say that we, the Latter-day Saints, believe this Gospel just as Jesus taught it. We believe in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that we should reverence him as the Son of his heavenly Father and our Father. We believe in the ordinances that he introduced, and that were practiced by his disciples; we believe in the same Spirit and revelation that they believed in. I do not wish to argue these matters, or to go into details, for time would fail on the present occasion; but the Scriptures are before us, and I shall only attempt to touch upon some of the principles that Jesus enunciated, and which were taught by him and his disciples; and it is for believing in God and Jesus Christ, in prophecy and revelation, that we are continually arraigned before the world as impostors and deceivers. We believe in being honest to ourselves and with everybody, whether they are with us or not; we believe in men acting all the time as though they were in the presence of God and holy angels, and that for all their acts they will be brought to judgment, for we believe that God will bring men into judgment “for every word and every secret thought.” We believe a good deal as David says—Who is he that can dwell with devouring fire, and among everlasting burnings? That man who has feared God in his heart, and who has not lied in his heart, that man who will swear to his own hurt and change not, a pure, virtuous, holy man who regards the rights of others as he regards his own; a man who will concede to others all that he would ask for himself, and who seeks to promote the welfare of the human family.

The Elders of this Church have been called, as the disciples of Jesus were in former times, to go and preach the Gospel without purse and scrip. I have traveled hundreds and thousands of miles on this errand myself, and I see men all around me here who have done the same. What for? To benefit mankind, to tear away the veil of ignorance, to combat error, to reveal truth, to make known the Divine will, to tell to the human family that God has spoken, that angels have appeared, that the heavens have been opened, that light and intelligence have been communicated to man, that the everlasting Gospel has been restored, and that we, in this age, can enjoy the same blessings that the Saints enjoyed in former days, and to point out to them the way of life and salvation. We have received this commission from our God, and we have endeavored faithfully to fulfill it, so that our blood may be clear, and that when we come to stand before the Great Eloheim, when all nations shall be gathered together, we can say, “Oh God, we have finished the work which thou gavest us to do.”

What else? We are standing now rather in a political capacity. How is this? We cannot help ourselves, the Gospel told us to gather together. Do the Scriptures say anything about it? Yes; but if they did not, and God gave us that command, the silence of the Scriptures would make no difference at all. But they do, for the ancient Prophets had a view of the gathering of the Saints in the latter days; they saw them flocking to the mountains like doves to the windows; and through them the Lord declared that he would gather his people “from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.” It is said—“I will take them one of a city and two of a family and bring them to Zion, and give them pastors after my own heart, who will feed them with knowledge and understanding;” and in speaking of the calamities of the last days he says that “in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance.” But we gathered because the revelations given through our Prophet commanded us to do so, these revelations agreeing with those given on the same subject formerly.

Standing in this capacity, we form a large body of people. We have lived in different places, and as the believers in the Gospel in other ages were persecuted, so have we been; and having been persecuted and driven we have come here, as Geo. A. Smith said on a certain occasion, “because we could not help it.” We could not live in Nauvoo, yet we neither injured nor robbed anybody, neither did we interfere with anybody’s rights. They drove us from Missouri and from Illinois, and here we are, and what now? We were on Mexican territory when we arrived here, having been forced to flee from the United States because we could not have protection. Why was it? Who can tell why it was that people who strewed their garments and spread branches of palm trees in the path of Jesus, crying, “Hosanna, blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord,” should cry, a short time after—“Crucify him, crucify him?” Said Pilate, “I wash my hands of this just man’s blood;” and the people said, “let his blood be upon us and our children.” Terribly have they realized that invocation, for the avenging hand of the Almighty has been heavy upon them, and in every nation in which they have sojourned, they have been robbed, stripped, their property confiscated, and they have been deprived of all the rights of men. The time will come when God’s wrath will be satisfied towards them, and when they will again be his elect people and gathered to their own land, even to Jerusalem, where, as the Prophet says, “The measuring line shall go forth, and little boys and girls shall again play in the streets of that city;” and when the Son of God will descend and “set his feet on the Mount of Olives, and it will cleave in twain, and there will be a great valley, and they will flee from before him like as they fled in the days of Uzziah, King of Judah;” and “the Lord our God,” we are told, “will come and all his Saints with him,” and there will be “deliverance in Zion and in Jerusalem in the remnant whom the Lord our God shall call.”

Well, we are here in a political capacity, inhabiting a Territory, and forming an integral part of the United States. Whom do we interfere with? Nobody. Do we rob or pillage anybody, or interfere with the rights of any? No. Do we make incursions on the citizens of surrounding Territories? No, we interfere with the civil or religious rights of no persons in this or any other city or Territory; we never did, we do not now; but we cannot help being in the capacity that we occupy today. We form a body politic, and have necessarily become a Territory, and we could not help ourselves if we would. But we do not interfere with anybody, we observe all good and wholesome law. People will lie about us; but that makes no difference, they lied about Jesus. Our enemies say—“You are a bad people, and that is the reason we persecute you.” That is what the enemies of Jesus said about him; it was not because he was good; you never saw a religious persecution got up on that account, all such persecutions have been “because of the wickedness of the people.” The Scribes and Pharisees, after seeing Jesus heal the blind man, said—“Give God the glory, for we know this man is a sinner, it is true that he cast out devils, but he does it through Beelzebub, the prince of devils.” Well, if they persecuted the Lord of the house, they will persecute the members of his household; if they do these things in the green tree, what will they do in the dry? The fact is, there is, and always has been, and always will be, an antagonism between truth and error, light and darkness, between the servants of God and the servants of the adversary. The devil is called the father of lies, and he delights therein. What difference does that make to us, what do we care about it? Very little. But suppose we are oppressed. We have stood it before and we can stand it again. Suppose they should pass proscriptive laws against us. All right, if the nation can stand it we can. I will risk upholding and standing by correct principles which emanate from God. We will cleave to truth, honor, holi– ness, and to all the principles that God has revealed to us, and we will go on increasing in every good.

This nation and other nations will be overthrown, not because of their virtue, but because of their corruption and iniquity. The time will come, for the prophecies will be fulfilled, when kingdoms will be destroyed, thrones cast down and the powers of the earth shaken, and God’s wrath will be kindled against the nations of the earth, and it is for us to maintain correct principles, political, religious and social, and to feel towards all men as God feels. He makes the sun to shine on the just as well as on the unjust; and if he has enlightened our minds and put us in possession of more correct principles than others have, let us be thankful and adore the God of Israel. Let us thank our heavenly Father for his goodness towards us in making us ac– quainted with the principles of the everlasting Gospel, and let us go on from strength to strength, from purity to purity, from virtue to virtue, from intelligence to intelligence; and when the nations shall fall and crumble, Zion shall arise and shine, and the power of God shall be manifest among his people. No man can overturn or permanently hurt those who do right. They may kill some of our bodies, but that is all they can do. We shall live and shout among the assembled throng, in the eternal heavens, “Hosanna, blessed be the God of Israel,” and his kingdom shall grow and increase until the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and his Christ, and he will rule and reign forever and ever.

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

A Lecture by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered before the Young Men’s Literary Association, Ogden City, Tuesday Evening, January 27, 1874.

I have been requested by brother Richards to address the Young Men’s Literary Association, organized here in Ogden, together with such individuals as should be present on the occasion. I do so cheerfully, al– though, I must say, in the commencement of my remarks, that I have had no time whatever to digest the subject I propose to speak upon this evening; other duties have been so numerous, including those in the Legislative Assembly, that I have scarcely had a moment’s leisure to devote to its consideration. The subject upon which it has been proposed that I should address you is, The Increased Capacities and Powers of Man in his Future State. It is a subject which is theological in its nature, and cannot be treated altogether in a scientific point of view for all that we know concerning the future state of man is by divine revelation, and in no other way; hence we shall be under the necessity, from the very nature of the subject, to appeal to the revelations which God has given, both ancient and modern, in relation to the future state of man, and the capacities with which he will be endowed in the world to come. However, there may be connected with this subject many scientific ideas by way of illustration.

We find ourselves here in this world in the enjoyment of intelligence, light and truth in some measure far above any creatures which God has made. Placed here upon the earth among the myriads of its creatures, man seems to be prominent, in fact the masterpiece of creation, a being endowed with intelligence and reasoning powers, and with more or less power over all other beings and creatures upon the face of the earth. But still, notwithstanding his intellectual powers and faculties, man, in his present condition, is a poor, weak, frail, fallen being, subject to afflictions, pains, accident and sickness, and after a while he passes off from this stage of action.

The inquiry naturally arises among all people, whether this being called man exists after this body crumbles back to its mother earth, and whether the intelligent part of man continues to exist, or whether it dies with the body? There are many reasons to suppose that man will exist in a future state. Those who believe in a Supreme Being, capable of producing man and the earth upon which he dwells, might almost without the aid of revelation, naturally conclude that man, being the workmanship of the hands of that Supreme Being, was not intended to pass away and be forgotten with the termination of this brief existence, but that he was intended to live hereafter. But when we search the sacred records on this subject, we find an abundance of evidence and proof to thoroughly satisfy ourselves that when we lay down these bodies to rest in the grave, if we are Saints, we lay them down with the expectation and with the full assurance and hope that they will be resuscitated and will again live, in a more perfect form than what they exist at the present time. We look for this, we hope for it, we pray for it, we seek with all our hearts to be prepared for this future state of being and the first resurrection.

When we examine divine revelation upon the subject of the resurrection, we find that every part of this mortal tabernacle that is laid down in the grave, so far as needful to constitute a perfect body, will be resurrected. We are informed to this effect in various revelations, but more especially in the Book of Mormon; and I suppose that the young men who organized this Association believe in that sacred and divine record as well as in the Bible, and also in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, therefore I shall address my– self to them as to persons who are believers therein.

In the Book of Mormon we find Alma discoursing upon the resurrection of the dead, and also Amulek, and they both testify that the bodies we lay down in the grave will come forth again, that every part will be restored to its perfect frame; both those Prophets declare that every limb and joint will be restored, though the body crumble back to mother earth, and the bones—the most solid portions of the human system, will be dissolved and return again to the dust. They declare that the materials will be brought together and reconstructed, that bone will come to its bone, and that the flesh that now clothes these bones, and the sinews and skin which cover the flesh will also be restored. Ezekiel the Prophet, in the 37th chapter of his prophecy, says that bones and flesh, sinews and skin will all come forth and be made out of the dust into a perfect tabernacle, and everything will be restored to its perfect frame; and so particularly do the Prophets Amulek and Alma discourse upon this subject, that they declare that not even one hair of the head shall be lost.

Some, perhaps, might suppose that, as the human tabernacle is composed of certain familiar elements, such as hydrogen, oxygen, carbon and the various elementary principles that exist around us when the body is dissolved and those various elements are scattered and driven to the four winds, as in the case of the burning of a body, and those elements enter into the composition of vegetables, and the vegetables are eaten by animals, serving to increase their flesh, and again, these animals are eaten by human beings, that these continual transfers of matter from one state and condition to another would preclude the idea of the resurrection of the same body again. But there are several things to be considered in relation to this matter. We have a revelation in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, called “The Olive Leaf,” which says—“Ye which have been quickened by a portion of the celestial glory, shall in that day receive even a fullness, even ye shall receive your bodies, which are the same bodies that you now have.” This seems to be so plain that we are obliged to admit that we shall receive the same bodies.

Now the fact that the particles which compose our bodies undergo so many transmutations after we leave this mortal existence, entering into the flesh of animals, then helping to build up the bodies of human beings would almost seem, especially to the minds of infidels in opposition to the idea of a resurrection; and I do not believe that every particle that is ever incorporated in the systems of human creatures will be resurrected with them, I have no such idea. But a sufficient amount of the particles which have once been incorporated in the system will be used by the Almighty in the resurrection to make perfect and complete tabernacles for celestial spirits to dwell in. The idea that every particle that ever entered into the composition of our mortal bodies will be resurrected is inconsistent; for who does not know that a man often changes in weight? For instance, when he is an infant he weighs but a few pounds; he continues to increase in flesh through the food that he partakes of, and not only in flesh but also in the size of his bones until he attains perhaps a hundred and ninety pounds in addition to the ten or twelve pounds that he weighed in infancy. Then again he wastes away by some long lingering sickness, and after having been several months brought down he weighs himself and finds that he has lost sixty or seventy pounds of flesh. Where has it gone? Somewhere; it has disappeared. Again he revives from his sickness and he begins to recruit by partaking of various kinds of nourishment, and by and by he weighs perhaps two hundred pounds. Another fit of sickness overtakes him and he loses fifty or sixty pounds in weight again, and thus in the course of a long life, by intervals of sickness and health, perhaps some twelve or fifteen hundred pounds of matter have departed from his body, and been renewed again through the food that he has eaten.

Then again, we are in the habit of taking knives or razors and paring our nails every little while, so much so that we can safely say that in the course of a year we cut off or pare from our fingers and toes, as the case may be, perhaps an inch of nail, at this rate, a man who lives to be seventy-two years of age would pare off seventy-two inches of nail, which would be six feet. Now can we suppose than when a man rises from the dead that he will come forth with nails six feet long? (laughter), I cannot conceive any such thing, and yet this is a portion of the body, and men, in the resurrection, will have nails the same as they have here, but I expect they will be of a reasonable length, and a sufficient portion of the nails of his fingers and toes will be resurrected to make handsome comely nails on the fingers and toes, while all the rest will be surplus and unnecessary.

Then again, we are in the habit of having our hair shingled. This custom is generally commenced in childhood, say three or four years old, and continued through life, and in the course of a year perhaps four or five inches of hair may be cut from the head and cast away. Now, in seventy-two years, if a man did not lose his hair altogether, he would perhaps cut off something like twenty-four feet of hair and beard. Can we suppose that in the resurrection we shall come forth with our hair and beard a rod long? I do not look for any such thing. When, therefore, we read in the Book of Mormon that every hair of the head shall be restored, I do not expect that the whole of the matter that has been incorporated in the hair or in the beard will be restored, but I look for a sufficient quantity of the material once existing in the hair and beard to be restored to make one appear comely, for the hair is an ornament.

It is said by some, whether true or false I shall not pretend to say, that, independent of sickness and losing and regaining our flesh, a robust man once in seven years, throws off the greater portion of the materials of his body; that even the very bones of our bodies give out material which is thrown off, and so much so that when a part of a bone is taken away it is replaced by the ordinary process of partaking of food, &c. This may, or may not be so, I do not pretend to say, although it is generally believed by scientific men, physicians and those who have made experiments that this is the case. Now supposing it is true, a man who lives to be seventy-seven years old would change his entire body eleven times during the course of his life. Do we suppose that, when man comes forth in the resurrection, he will possess all the flesh he has gained and lost by sickness and regained in health, and all that he has lost and recovered in these septennial changes? If so he would possess one or two tons of matter in his physical system as a tabernacle for the spirit to dwell in. I do not for a moment suppose any such thing, but all this, except the amount really necessary to make a perfect proportionate tabernacle for the spirit to dwell in, will be surplus matter.

What becomes of this surplus matter? The beasts, fowls and fish and all living creatures are to be resurrected, and if man has had incorporated in his system in the course of his mortal life nine-tenths more matter than it needs to make a perfect resurrected body, why not let that surplus matter go where it belongs—to the beasts of the field, to the fowls of the air and the fish of the sea, that they may receive their tabernacles, and be resurrected? It is said by some that there are certain portions of the body which do not dissolve. If there are, I do not know anything about it. The bones dissolve, and the flesh, sinews, skin, teeth and hair, and every part of the human body with which we are acquainted returns to dust. If such be the case there must be a restoration, for if the body did not dissolve, there could not be a restoration.

We will now pass along, and ask, in regard to the condition of the body after its resurrection, will it then be subject to pain, sickness and sorrow? No, we are told in Scripture, upon which we found our arguments, that when the new heavens and the new earth are made, God will make all things new, and there shall be no more sorrow nor pain, neither shall there be any more death, but pain, sorrow, weeping and death will be done away; consequently the immortal body will be free from all those evils that have come by the fall. Let us examine another thing in regard to the immortal body. Will it be absolutely necessary to receive nourishment by food? I do not ask whether immortal beings will partake of food—that is another subject—but will it be necessary to partake of food to sustain and preserve the immortal body? We read that immortal beings have eaten food, that even our first parents, Adam and Eve, before they fell, while they were yet immortal, were permitted to enter into the Garden of Eden, and that they had food to eat of a vegetable nature, that they were permitted to eat of all the fruits of the garden except one. But was that absolutely necessary that they might remain immortal beings? I doubt it very much. Immortality was stamped upon their very systems, and they would have been this day alive had they not transgressed the commandments of God whether they had eaten food or not. In the beginning the beasts of the field fed upon vegetables. In the first chapter of the Book of Genesis we read—“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat.” In those days, while Adam and Eve were immortal, the beasts, fowls and fish did not destroy each other, which would indicate immortality. If in those days the lion would eat the lamb, the wolf, the kid, and ravenous beasts would devour their fellow beasts, it would have been an indication that mortality existed then in the earth; but there was no such thing as mortality when man was first placed in the Garden of Eden. Neither beast of the field, fowl of the air nor fish of the sea was then subject to death, but all, like man, were immortal, and yet they partook of food, but their food was of a vegetable nature.

We read that, after Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to his disciples while they were out fishing, and he called them to the shore and said—“Children, have ye any meat?” They soon discovered that it was the Lord who had appeared to them, and they came to the shore, and broiled some fish on a fire of coals, and Jesus partook with them, yet he was an immortal being. But whether it was necessary for him to eat in order to sustain himself is another question. But can immortal beings live without food? Yes, even the children of mortality can live without food when the Lord sees proper. For instance, Moses, on two different occasions, when he went up into the mount, was there forty days and forty nights, and the Scripture says, expressly, that he neither ate nor drank during that time. Now, if a person in mortality could be sustained forty days and forty nights, on two occasions, as Moses was, why would it be necessary for an immortal personage to eat to preserve life. I think they eat, perhaps, because it is a pleasure, and, it may have certain beneficial tendencies that we know nothing about; but as they are raised to immortality it scarcely seems probable that that immortality will be dependent upon eating and drinking for its preservation. In the testimony of our Savior to his Apostles, we learn that resurrected beings will eat and drink, for says he—“Ye that have followed me in the regeneration shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel, and ye shall eat and drink at my table.” When will that be? During the Millennium, after the resurrection of those twelve Apostles, and when Jesus descends from heaven they will descend with him, and when he sits upon his throne in one of the apartments of the Temple, the twelve Apostles will sit upon their thrones, each one having a separate tribe of Israel over whom he will reign; and when dinner is ready, or supper, as the case may be, they will sit down at the Lord’s table, and will eat and drink in his presence. We might say much more in relation to this matter, but if there is anything revealed to prove that immortality is dependent upon eating and drinking, the same as our mortal lives are dependent upon, I am not aware of it.

There is another subject that naturally arises in reflecting upon the future state of man, and his physical and mental capacities in that state, and that is, Will man, after the resurrection, require sleep? I think not. Many, perhaps, will argue that things of this life are typical of those which will take place in the world to come. I deny it in some things. There are many things as they were originally designed and organized, which were typical of things to come or as they will exist hereafter; then there are many things that are not typical of the world to come. For instance, we die here; is that any evidence that we shall die hereafter? Oh no, death is a consequence of the imperfections introduced by the Fall; it was not in the body when our first parents were placed in the Garden of Eden. Man brought death upon himself, and it and other evils introduced by that event will be done away, and hence in a future state will not exist. Sleep refreshes us here in this life, and we spend about one-third part of our time in that condition, and it is absolutely necessary to our existence in mortality; for without it we should soon perish and die. But because that is the case here, shall we say that it will be necessary in a future state? I think not. It looks inconsistent to me, and like an imperfection in the great work of the Creator, to suppose that for about one-third part of all future eternity intelligent beings are to forget even their own existence in slumber, knowing nothing that is transpiring around them in the one-third part of the thousands and millions of ages to come. It does not look reasonable.

Having said this much in regard to the immortal body and its increased powers and faculties, let me inquire still further, Will this tabernacle, after the resurrection, be subject to the same universal laws of nature that now regulates terrestrial things, and not only terrestrial but celestial, that is the heavens and planetary system above us? Will mankind, in other words, be chained down and limited by those laws that now prevail? Will heat burn an immortal being and produce pain as it burns the tabernacle of mortality? I think not. Even here in this world children of mortality have been placed in conditions where they have been subject to the most intense heat, as in the case of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the three Hebrew children, who were placed in a furnace where the fire had been made seven times hotter than it was wont to be; probably the most intense heat they knew how to produce was prepared for these men of God, so great indeed was it that those who cast them into the flames were consumed by it while so doing, but the three Hebrews were not affected by it. Now if children of mortality can so far prevail against the element of fire that it has not power even to scorch a hair of their heads, how much greater will be the power of those who are immortal! Hence, I do not believe that heat will have any tendency to dissolve, destroy, injure or to produce any unpleasant effects upon them, as it has with us here in this world. Here then will be an increase of power and capacity, so far as the body is concerned, over and above that which we have in this life.

Again, we find that here in this life we are chained down by another law, namely the law of gravitation, which has such power and influence over us that with all the exertions we can make with our bodily energies, we can only rise a few feet, by a spring, above the surface of the earth, and by bringing into activity some of the elements of nature, for instance, inflating a balloon with hydrogen gas, or some gas that is much lighter than the common atmosphere that we breathe, a person is enabled to ascend some six or seven miles into the air. But this is in obedience to certain laws with which we are well acquainted, bringing into requisition certain materials lighter than the atmosphere, which it buoys up as it does smoke. Now will the children of immortality be subject to the law of gravitation? When they please to walk upon the earth—an act performed by virtue of the law of gravitation—they can do so. We have an example of this in our Savior walking after his resurrection, with two of his disciples, and conversing with them on many subjects; also when he descended on this American continent and walked around among the Nephites, going a little way and kneeling down upon the ground and praying to his Father, showing that, for the time being, he was subject to the law of gravitation, that is, he permitted it to have power over him. But he had a superior power given to him, by which he could control the law of universal gravitation just as he pleased, as in the case of his ascension from the Mount of Olives contrary to the laws of gravitation, and a cloud receiving him from the sight of his disciples who stood gazing on the scene.

Again, we find that, besides the immortal Savior, mortal men have had power over gravitation, so that they could mount up, as the Prophet Isaiah has said, “on wings as eagles.” We have an instance in the case of Philip, who baptized the eunuch: as soon as he had performed that ordinance he was caught away by the Spirit of the Lord, and he found himself at Azotus. This was no doubt a miracle, which was performed before the celebrated man who had just been baptized to confirm his faith, for in seeing a man thus caught away, he would undoubtedly be convinced that he was a man who had some Godlike powers connected with him.

Again, we have an instance in the case of Nephi, who lived on this continent just before the coming of Christ. He was commanded to go forth and warn the people of the terrible judgments that were about to befall them if they did not repent; and the Lord gave him power that if he should say to this temple—“Be thou rent in twain,” it should be done; and if he should say to this mountain—“Be thou removed,” it should be done; and whatsoever he should seal upon the earth should be sealed in heaven, and whatsoever judgment he pronounced in the name of the Lord upon that people, it should be done even according to his word. He went forth in the midst of the Nephites, from city to city, and so great was their wickedness that they would not repent of their sins, but sought to destroy him; but as often as they gathered in multitudes to rush upon and destroy him, the Spirit of the Lord took him up, and carried him away to another place, that he might warn them also. Now, if a man in a state of mortality can gain such power and influence with God as to prevail against and overcome the law of gravitation, which chains us down to the surface of the earth, how much more power will immortal beings have!

Again we, by the laws which surround us, are limited in our hearing. What man ever heard a sound fifty miles off? There may have been such instances, but as a general thing there are, I presume, very few men on the surface of our globe who ever heard a sound that came thirty miles through our atmosphere; hence the faculty of hearing, through the organs of the mortal tabernacle, through the medium of the atmosphere, which transfers the sound, is extremely limited in its action. But will that faculty be thus limited in the immortal state? I think not. I think there will be facilities for hearing, not only at a greater distance, but also through a more perfect medium, transferring sound with immensely greater velocity than it now travels through our atmosphere. We all know that sound is transferred, at sea level, where the air is dense, about eleven hundred and eighty feet in a second, taking almost five seconds to travel a mile, which is very slow motion, yet, very swift compared with the motion of our railway cars. Experiment has de– monstrated that with a more perfect medium for conveying it, sound will travel very rapidly. For instance, place your ear over a tube, the other end of which is under water, and let a bell be struck, stationed under water at some miles distance, and it will be found that the sound will travel through the particles of water much more rapidly than through the atmosphere.

Again, let a succession of timbers be joined, extending one or two miles, and let a sound be made at the end of the wood farthest from you, and you will find that it will reach your ear at a much quicker rate than that at which sound travels through the atmosphere. Again, you take metal rods and connect them together, and let a sound be made at the end remote from you, and it is found that, in some metals, the sound will travel many times faster along the metal rods than it will through the atmosphere; hence you see that the velocity of sound is really dependent upon the nature of the elements or substance through which it is conveyed.

Now how do we know but what the immortal body may be so constructed that there may be certain fluids—fluids, perhaps, with which we are not acquainted—intervening between world and world, and between one star and another—certain thin elastic fluids, so subtle in their nature that we cannot see them with the natural eye, or perceive them by any of the sense of the mortal body, yet the immortal ear may be so constructed that this refined substance would transmit sound with the velocity of light itself. There may be such things in nature; we cannot say they do not exist. We do know, so far as light is concerned, that it is transferred from world to world by the vibrations of the waves of a luminous ether intervening between world and world; consequently, if these waves can proceed forth for thousands and thousands of millions of miles, it proves to us that all space is filled with an ether, which we cannot see, and yet we know it must exist, in order to transfer light.

Now, supposing that this same kind of ether, or some other substance, which might not in all cases affect the eye, but which would yet be susceptible to the impressions of sound, then sounds, voices or noises in one world might be transferred through that medium to the immortal beings in another world. There is nothing inconsistent in this. It may be inconsistent according to our limited ideas; but it is not inconsistent with the power of that Almighty Being who controls all these materials. To prove this to you, let me refer you to that revelation in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants called the “Olive Leaf.” We read there that when the first angel among the seven shall sound his trump, all nations and kindreds and tongues of the earth shall hear it. Will it be so much louder than any sound we now hear, that it will go to all the nations and tongues of the earth and all men hear it? “Every ear,” the revelation says, shall hear the sound of that trump; it will be something that all the kindreds, peoples, tongues and nations upon the face of the whole earth will be able to perceive and understand. Now, there must be some medium through which this sound is transferred, different from our atmosphere; or, in other words, the Lord, by his miraculous power, will cause this sound to proceed forth through the atmosphere in a different manner from what it now proceeds, for if it took the sound of that trump five seconds to go a mile, it would require a long time for it to travel eight, ten or fifteen thousand miles, so as to reach the ears of the different nations of the earth. Does not this prove then, that God will, at that time, either effect the ear of man or act upon some materials in connection with our globe, so that sound will be more rapidly conveyed than it is at the present time? Now, if this change is effected among the children of mortality, what may we not expect among the children of immortality? Is it not reasonable to believe that among them there will not only be enlarged capacities of hearing, but enlarged facilities by which the Lord will communicate with the people of different worlds?

Again, we will take the sense of vision. Although that sense is not limited like hearing, yet it is limited so far as opaque bodies are concerned. What man, of all the children of mortality, without the miraculous power of the Spirit of God resting upon him, is able to see into the depths of our globe? No man living, naturally, can see through anything that is opaque, and no man, naturally, can penetrate with his powers of vision into the interior of the earth. It is not transparent to the visual organs of mortal beings, no light, apparently, proceeds therefrom, and affects the optic nerve of man, so as to produce the sense of seeing. Man, in this state, can only see those objects from which light can be radiated or reflected. Shall we be thus limited in our perceptions when we receive our immortal bodies? By no means. Immortal beings will have their capacity for seeing so much enlarged, that they will be able to see down into the earth just as easily as they can see things around about them, or the bodies that revolve in space. I will refer you to modern revelation to prove that immortal beings will be able to see through opaque bodies, and into materials from which the natural light does not radiate, as is the case here among the children of mortality. You among my hearers who are acquainted with the little work called “The Pearl of Great Price”—a very precious book, because it contains many important ideas given by revelation—will recollect the revelation given to Moses. He inquired of God concerning the creation of this heaven and this earth, and obtained the information now contained in the Book of Genesis respecting the creation of the world. But before this he had a great vision in relation to the earth, the revelation informing us, in substance, as follows: “Moses was again clothed upon with the glory of God, and he beheld every particle of the earth, and there was not a particle of it which he did not behold, discerning it by the Spirit of God.” Now, this was a very extended vision. He saw something which you and I have never seen, unless we have had a similar vision. Only think of a man, here in a state of mortality, being permitted to look down into the earth, which is about eight thousand miles in diameter, and seeing not only large portions of its interior, but discerning every particle of it. There was not a particle of it that he did not behold, discerning it by the Spirit of God.

Now, how do we know but what the Spirit of God which exists in connection with the elements, is able to quicken the sight of an individual so that he can see even to the very center of the solid earth with all the apparent ease with which he can see objects near him on its surface? Now, for instance, what human being ever saw an ultimate particle of the elements of nature? We can see their compounds; we can see the particles when united in sufficient bulk to affect our vision. We can construct instruments which will magnify a common house fly’s eye and make it appear twelve feet in diameter; we can look into a drop of water and see creatures apparently two or three inches long floating there, while with the naked eye we cannot see anything. If, then, no man living, without the aid of the Spirit of God, has ever been able to detect even one of these elementary atoms or particles of matter, how great must have been the enlargement of the vision of Moses—a man still in mortality—to enable him to discern every particle of the earth, inside as well as on its surface! If a man in a state of mortality could have his vision so enlarged that he could see all these particles at once, what may be expected when we are immortal, and entirely freed from all the defects of mortality? We may expect that the immortal being will have his vision so enlarged that he can, not only look with all ease upon every particle of this earth, but on the particles of millions of worlds like this. I can see nothing that would hinder an immortal being from having his vision enlarged far beyond the enlargement which the mortal Moses received before he obtained a knowledge of this creation.

Another thing occurs to my mind in connection with this. You read in that same “Pearl of Great Price” concerning the vastness of the number of the creations of the Almighty. The language is something like this—“Enoch beheld the Lord and the heavenly hosts weeping over the fallen inhabitants of this world, and he marveled at it, and he said unto the Lord, ‘How is it that thou canst weep, seeing that thou art holy and from all eternity to all eternity, and were it possible that man could number all the particles of this earth and millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations, and thy curtains are stretched out still, and yet thou art there, and thy bosom is there, and out of all the creations which thou hast made, thou hast taken Zion to thine own bosom.’” The Lord gave Enoch a reason why the heavens wept and shed forth their tears like rain on the mountains; he told him that it was in consequence of the wickedness of the inhabitants of the earth. And the Lord said—“Man of Holiness is my name, and Endless is my name, and I can stretch forth mine hand and hold all the creations that I have made, and mine eye can pierce them also.”

Do you not see, then, the increased powers and faculties which the Almighty has? His creations are so numerous that the number of particles composing this earth would not be a beginning to them, yet the Lord’s eye can pierce all these creations, and he can hold them, as it were, in his hand. Not physically, not hold them in the hollow of his hand as we can a ball or an orange; but by the power which he possesses he can hold them and his eye can pierce them. Would not this be a far more extensive vision than that which Moses had, when under the influence of the Spirit of the Lord? Why, yes; he was enabled to see the particles of this one creation, a mere speck among God’s works, while the Lord was able to pierce all these creations which Enoch speaks of. Does it not show an increased capacity in those who are immortal in a future state? In other words, among those who dwell in the celestial worlds? It certainly does.

Now, shall we be made like the Lord, or are we some other species of beings, so far disconnected with him that we never need expect to reach this high standard? How is it? Who, are we? We are told by Divine revelation that we are the sons of God; we are told in the vision received by the Prophet Joseph, concerning these different creations, that “the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.” Indeed! Begotten sons and daughter unto God? The inhabitants of these creations? Yes. This agrees with what the New and Old Testaments, and the various revelations which God has given, clearly declare—that God is the Father of our spirits. A writer in the New Testament says—“Beloved, now are we the sons of God”—that is, in this life—“but it does not yet appear what we shall be, but when he shall appear we shall be like him.” Not unlike him, not so far separated from him that the one will be finite and the other infinite; but “we shall be like him.”

This is consistent and reasonable. Every species of being with which we are acquainted begets its own kind, and the young thereof, whether man, quadrupeds, fowls or fish, finally grow up and become like their parents. This is a universal law of nature, so far as we know; therefore if we are begotten sons and daughters of God, if we are his offspring, he is our Father, and why separate man from all the rest of creation, and say that he can never become like his Father? If all other beings become like their parents, why not we attain to the same? And if our Father and God can pierce all those creations mentioned by Enoch, and his eye discern what is going on in the midst of them all, why may not his children become like him in this respect? This is what the beloved disciple John the Revelator, one of the Apostles of Christ, meant. He says—“Now, we are the Sons of God, it does not yet appear what we shall be, but when he shall appear we shall be like him.” He knew that much, though he did not comprehend all of the perfect capacities of man in this state. Though we are chained down here by the laws of nature, yet realizing that we are the children of that Almighty Being who controls universal nature, and all the worlds that are spoken of, we expect to come up, and that the attributes which our eternal Father possesses will be fully developed in us, and that we also shall be able to penetrate the immensity of space and gaze upon the workmanship of our Father’s hands.

It is said concerning us that we shall be in the presence of God when we become immortal and perfect beings. We are now not in his presence; the Fall has let down a veil between us and our Father and God. This veil does not prevent the eye of the Almighty from seeing and discerning the conduct of his children, but it prevents us, while in this state of mortality, from beholding his presence, unless we rend the veil by our faith and obedience and, like the brother of Jared, are permitted to come back into his presence. But to be in the presence of God is it absolutely necessary that our earth should be wafted away from its present orbit in the solar system and carried off to some immense distance in space? Is this really necessary? What are we to understand by being in the presence of God? Is it necessary, to do so, that we should be in the same vicinity or within a few yards or feet of him? I think not. We are now laboring under the imperfections of the fall, and because of that fall a veil shuts us from his presence; but let the effects of the fall be removed and mankind be able to again look upon the face of their Father and Creator, and they will be in his presence.

Will the spirits of men, before they receive their resurrected body, return into the presence of God? Yes. Read what Alma said to his son Corianton on this subject, describing the state of the spirit between the time of death and the resurrection. He says—“It has been made known to me by an angel that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are dead, whether wicked or righteous, shall return home to that God who gave them life;” that is, they go back into his presence. The wicked, however, are again cast out into outer darkness, the light of the countenance of their Lord is again withdrawn from them, a veil is let down between them and their Father and God. But how is it with the righteous? When they go back and behold the face of their Father they will continue in the light of his countenance, and have the privilege of seeing him. They have returned to their ancient home, to that God who gave them life, to the mansions and familiar places where they dwelt ages and ages before they came here. They have gone back to meet with familiar acquaintances, and their memories will be so increased and perfected after they leave this body that the things of their former state and condition will be fresh to them, and they will look upon this little speck called time, in which they have dwelt seventy, eighty or ninety years, as but a dream or night vision during which the things of former ages were shut from their memories; but when they get back to their ancient home they will have a bright recollection of all these things, and of the familiar countenance of their Father, and the countenance of his only begotten Son, and the countenances of the millions on millions of their brother and sister spirits, with whom they once lived. And the memories of the wicked, after they leave this body, will be so increased that they will have a bright recollection, Alma says, of all their guilt. Here they forget a good many things wherein they have displeased God; but in that condition, even before the resurrection, they will have a bright recollection of all their guilt, which will kindle in them a flame like that of an unquenchable fire, creating in their bosoms a feeling of torment, pain and misery, because they have sinned against their own Father and their own God, and rejected his counsels.

To go back then, into the presence of God, is to be placed in a condition wherein his presence can be seen. It does not mean, in all cases, that people who return into his presence are immediately placed within a few yards or rods, or within a short distance of his person. Is there any revelation to prove this? Yes. I have already quoted what the Lord said in relation to all these creations. He said that from the whole of them which he had made he had taken Zion to his own bosom. Now if he has taken Zion to his own bosom from all these numberless creations, can they all be concentrated in a little spot of a few rods in diameter in order to get into his presence? Why no. If each Zion did not occupy any more space than one particle of our globe, yet inasmuch as the worlds are more numberless than the particles of millions of earths like this, how could they all get into so small a space as to get near to the person of the Lord? They could not do it. But suffice it to say the veil is removed, and no matter how distant a redeemed world may be, it will be in the presence of God.

In order to make it familiar let me bring up an illustration well known among the children of mortality. For instance, we have, within the present century, invented methods of communicating by telegraph, by means of which, with the proper facilities, we in this room in Ogden can converse with the people in London, and they, by means of the wires laid on the bed of the great Atlantic Ocean, can reply in about two seconds. This wonderful invention has, in some measure, diminished the distance between the inhabitants of Ogden and those of London, has it not? The people of the last century and of centuries preceding would have had to wait for a long period of time, before they could get a communication from London; but now a few seconds are all that is necessary. We will suppose that it was within the scope of man’s power—which it is not—to hear as well as to converse through the aid of the telegraph line. Supposing that by such means we could hear the people in London; or that there was a facility for so doing, such as is mentioned in the Doctrine and Covenants, when the first angel shall sound, by which the people of all the earth will hear the words that he speaks: I say, supposing there was such a principle brought into operation so that we could actually hear the words spoken by the people in London, would not that also diminish the impressions of distance? Now, supposing still further, that there was a principle differing from our natural light, a principle of light of a more refined nature, that could penetrate from London to this point, so that it would affect our eyes, enabling us to see persons there, then we could both see and hear them at eight or nine thousand miles distant. Would we not be in their presence? Would it be really necessary for us to travel eight or nine thousand miles to get into the same room with them, in order to get into their presence? We should consider ourselves in their presence if we could see them; and if in addition to this we could communicate with and make them hear us, we should feel all that familiarity and sociability that we should if we were within a few steps of them. I look upon the condition of things in this respect in a future state as somewhat similar to that. If you or I lived upon one of the most remote stars that has ever been seen by the most powerful telescopic instruments invented by man, from which it would take light, traveling at the immense rate of one hundred and ninety-two thousand miles every beat of the pulse, six hundred thousand years to reach this planetary system; I say, suppose we were living on one of these very remote bodies, and suppose there was a principle pervading all space that would transmit to the immortal eyes much more swiftly than the natural light, and that 192,000 miles a second would be considered a very slow motion compared with that still more refined light that shines forth from the personage of our Father and God; and supposing that our eyes were so constructed and adapted that we could behold the light of his countenance without traversing this space, or in a time much less than six hundred thousand years, but still taking a certain length of time to go all that distance, would we not be in the presence of God? If every world has got to be removed into his presence one by one, and all the inhabitants thereof, how many millions on millions of ages would it take, before all these successively could enter into his presence so as to be nearby him? If each world should roll into his presence successively, and then give place to others, we should be out of his presence almost continually, for all those worlds I have named are not a beginning, not even a beginning to the number of his creations, and yet if they had to come along and be successively rolled into his presence, so as to be near him personally, if each one stayed there only five minutes, there is no man who could calculate or realize anything about the almost infinite duration that would have to elapse before they could come round a second time into his presence. Hence there is something more perfect in the construction of the works of the Almighty that lets man into his presence whatsoever part of the universe he may exist in—we may have the veil removed, and his presence become visible.

Can they converse with him when situated at these immense distances from his person? Yes. How? Through those more perfect faculties which God will give to immortal man. It is as easy for his children when they are perfected and made like him, to converse with him at these immense distances and for their eyes to pierce all these creations as it is for their Father and God to do so.

Thus we see that man is a God in embryo, agreeing with that which the Lord has revealed to us in the vision given to Joseph—“They shall be Gods, even the Sons of God,” growing up like their Father, their bodies fashioned like his glorious body. The attributes and faculties with which man is endowed in a mortal state are Godlike in their nature, but they are weakened and incapable of any very great expansion by being shut up in this frail mortal body; but when we are freed from mortality we have the promise that we shall become like him, and if he can grasp in his comprehension and vision all these numberless crea– tions, so will those who are made like him be able to do the same.

There are many other things that would be profitable to dwell upon in discussing the increased capacities and powers of man in his future state besides the physical qualities I have spoken of. There is his increased knowledge and the proportionate increase of power that will accompany it; the great creative principle, the mechanical work which was performed by our Father and God in constructing creations, and in redeeming and glorifying them; that great, principle of knowledge by which our Father and God can call forth from a shapeless mass of dust an immortal tabernacle, into which enters an immortal spirit. All these principles of wisdom, knowledge and power will be given to his children, and will enable them to organize the elements, form creations, and call forth from the dust intelligent beings, who will be under their charge and control. These things might be spoken of, had we time this evening; indeed it is a subject that is almost inexhaustible in its nature. When we commence to speak upon it, we scarcely know where to begin, and having launched out upon it, we scarcely know where to end, for there is no end to it.

Man is destined for all future duration—destined to act in the capacity of a celestial being. The faculties he now possesses in embryo are but little understood, yet we occasionally see them developed among holy men, as in the case of Enoch, Moses and Abraham, who had the Urim and Thummim, and who were able to behold many of those creations of which I have spoken. Among the many attributes and powers which man will possess in a future state, I will mention that of being able to comprehend more than one thing at a time. Here we are chained down to one thing at a time, and while a man is attending to and trying to comprehend one thing he almost loses sight of everything else, except it be some few things that are very familiar to him. If he undertakes to work a mathematical problem, he cannot, at the same time, work out a hundred problems more, and come to a conclusion in regard to them. He has to concentrate his mind on one subject and bring forth the demonstrations step by step in order to arrive at certain conclusions.

Will man in a future state have increased faculties in regard to this? Yes. Our Heavenly Father notices every hair of the heads of the children of men that falls to the ground; not one of your hairs shall fall to the ground, says Jesus, unnoticed by your Father which is in heaven. If he were noticing a hair falling from my head, could he notice at the same time the falling of a hair from your head? Yes; and if the hair were falling from the heads of every individual on the earth at the same instant he could notice the whole of it, for he has this increased faculty by which he can grasp in his vision myriads of things at once.

We might also speak of the faculty of going back into the past ages of eternity, and comprehending works that have been millions of ages in progress, also the faculty of seeing and comprehending that which will take place in the future ages of eternity, for millions of years to come. Here we prophesy in part, and here we have knowledge in part; here we gaze upon one thing at once; here we can comprehend the future in some measure. But we “see through a glass darkly,” then we shall see face to face; then knowledge in part will be done away, for the past, present and future, and millions on millions of creations will come before us and be alike comprehended by the vision of immortal man.

I will not detain you any longer. God bless this Association, and we hope that it may exert a salutary influence not only over the young men of Ogden, but over the young ladies also, and over the middle-aged and old, and that they may seek every opportunity to develop the godlike qualities with which they are endowed, that in a time to come the young men here, being filled with the spirit of wisdom and understanding and the knowledge of God, may be able to bear off His kingdom victoriously, and be prepared for the time when the knowledge and glory of God shall cover the earth as the waters cover the great deep. Amen.