Discourse by President Daniel H. Wells, delivered at a Special Conference Held at Brigham City, on Saturday Afternoon, Aug. 18, 1877.

I discover it is here, as it is in other places through the Territory which we have visited, that there is an increase, a strengthening of the Stakes of Zion. The prophecy which refers to the strengthening of the stakes and the lengthening of the cords of Zion is continually being fulfilled in the efforts made in this direction by the Latter-day Saints. In the world’s history some of the greatest events that have taken place, in their inception attracted but little of the notice or attention of the children of men. The coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was known to but few people who then dwelt upon the face of the earth; and yet it was the greatest event in the history of the world. The coming forth of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, attracted but little of the attention of the masses. Of course it was considered of the greatest importance by the few, but in the course of time we shall see in this land of Zion the assembling of millions. Methinks I sometimes hear the sound of their footsteps approaching; and when they come they will be for Zion, for God and His kingdom, and they will sustain and uphold the holy and righteous principles of eternal truth which have been revealed, and the institutions of Heaven which our Father has established in this day and age of the world. And God’s purposes will be accomplished with triumph, for victory will crown the efforts of the Lord and his people.

In our day we are permitted to witness the occurring of some of the greatest events that have ever transpired since the days of Adam upon the earth. The ushering in of this great and glorious work of the last days, the coming forth of the Gospel to the nations of the earth, and the assembling of the people, the gathering together to sustain these principles, and carry out the work of the Lord, to bring to pass His great and glorious purposes and establish His kingdom in the earth, as he shall lead forth, guide, and direct from time to time. It is the great and glorious kingdom of our God that shall stand forever. In these things we are co-workers with the Lord our Father in Heaven, so far as we will let Him work with us, for He stands at the helm, He guides the ship, directing the affairs of the whole earth, as well as those of His covenant people. It has come forth in the age of the world in which He designed it; He has made no mistake in regard to this matter. I suppose the Lord knew and understood the time of bringing to pass, and commencing to bring to pass His purposes in the earth in regard to His kingdom, as well as, and no doubt a little better than, anybody else, and He also knew there were those living upon the earth who would receive it when He should reveal it unto them. All these events have their times and seasons. I expect He knew also that in the days of Jesus the word would be accepted by but few—yea, that it would be trampled out by the wicked who would gain the ascendancy; and that the Priesthood and authority thereof would be received back again to the heavens, there to remain until the times of restitution should set in, which times it is our happy privilege to live in. This is the commencement of the restitution; the Gospel has come again, but never more to be taken from the earth. It is now to be sustained and upheld, to grow, to increase and multiply and become mighty and powerful, and the way prepared for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who will rule from the rivers to the ends of the earth.

We do not fully realize, my brethren and sisters, that this work in which we are engaged is the kingdom, the government of God if you please, handed down to the children of men, with all its officers. A people, a kingdom surrounded with all the elements necessary for the advancement and prosperity of the people of the kingdom; the government being established here in the earth, men, women, and children under the gov– ernment of Heaven are sustaining and upholding and carrying it forward, with the power and might with which the God of Heaven endows them; seeking to establish the principles of truth and virtue upon His earth, here in the period of time in which it was to come forth—the set time to favor Israel. A stripling came forth with the message from Heaven, leading out, guiding, and directing the affairs of the kingdom as they were made manifest to him by the Lord from time to time, until it has grown to become a great people. It has gone forth and continued to grow until we find it as it is this day here in these valleys of the mountains—with a people dwelling in a hundred towns, cities, and settlements. Poor people? Yes, in the majority of cases; I might say in all cases. Poor people, laboring people, who have come here, a good many of them, without anything excepting their hands to obtain a subsistence; all poor alike, very little difference, to find an inheritance. I do not suppose that a parallel can be found since the God of Heaven gave Israel their inheritance in the land of Palestine. We see many people who have received inheritances; poor people that had nothing of this world’s goods have received inheritances and been blessed in a temporal point of view. I presume and believe that President Brigham Young has done more to obtain inheritances for the people, the poor among men, in the last thirty years than all the emigrating and philanthropic societies in the world, putting them all together, existing at the present time. I do not think it has been equaled since the days of Israel, when Palestine was divided out and given to the sons of Jacob. If it has I have no knowledge of it, and I read a good deal.

It is said “in that day”—looking forward to the day in which we live—that the “poor among men should rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.” Is this being literally fulfilled? Yes, it is. We have demonstrated this fact, we have fulfilled it and are fulfilling it all the time. It is one of the signs of the latter times, when the Gospel is preached to the poor. What is the Gospel to the poor? It is the power of God unto salvation. Cannot we see the power of God demonstrated to the salvation of the poor among men, that lifts them out of the poverty in which they have been brought up, and places them in a land where they can get inheritances both for themselves and their posterity? Then most assuredly this Gospel is the power of God to the salvation of all such at least. It has proven itself the power of God to this whole community, not even President Young himself excepted. We came here stripped of everything, as the poor among men; we can now lift up our hearts and rejoice in God who has wrought out His salvation, temporal as well as spiritual. We were brought here to these valleys of the mountains, a land held in reserve by Him, where He can plant the feet of His Saints and strengthen Israel. Has he done it? Witness ye this day! Here in this little nook and corner, a place passed by, by the traveler who journeys over the great highway, almost unnoticed. Yet in this little place the children were strung along the sidewalk greeting our coming, from the railroad depot to the bridge, a distance of half a mile. One would not suppose there were so many in the whole country round. Here we behold the results of the emigration from the heavens, as well as that from the various nations of the earth, a grand assembling of the Saints of the Most High. What for? Without a purpose or design? No, not by any means. The God of Heaven, our Father, never planted a single individual upon the earth without a purpose and design. Well would it be for us to find out that purpose and design concerning us, and then truly live to it and fulfil it, that our existence upon this earth might be accomplished, that our existence here might not be a failure, that we might return to our Father and receive that welcome plaudit, “Well done, good and faithful servants.”

He has given us the opportunity of filling the full measure of our creation with credit to ourselves and honor to His name. And this can be done simply by living our religion, the religion of Heaven. He is inviting everybody who will to come and partake of the waters of life freely, without money and without price. And yet it will cost you all you have; but then there is one thing also to be thought of: you did not have much when you commenced. Those who have riches are the last to receive the Gospel. They do not see anything to rejoice over in the revealed will of God to man upon the earth. If they do, they are so full of the cares and love of the world that the good seed is choked by the weeds that grow up around them, so that they cannot attend to it, and place for the word is not found in their hearts.

It is the poor who receive the words of truth, who are the most ready to do the will of God. When John sent one of his disciples to the Savior to ask Him if He was the Son of God, etc., He said tell John—“The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have the Gospel preached to them.” That is the sign he gave to John. It seems that even he was in some little doubt concerning the divinity of Jesus’ mission. The Gospel is preached to the poor; it is also preached to the rich so far as they will receive it, but they will not hear it. “O, (say they) go your way, we do not want anything to do with it or with you.” This is what they say to the Elder who bears the message of life and salvation to the children of men. It is among the poor they find the readiest access. And such are the ones that the Lord can use to bring to pass his purposes; they are the ones who need redemption, and who feel that they need it, and who obtain it. Feeling their dependence upon Him, they appreciate the great good, the blessing that God is pouring out upon them from time to time; they realize that it is he who is doing this work for them. But they could not arrogate to themselves this honor, inasmuch as they know that they are merely instruments in our Father’s hands of establishing his kingdom. The rich if they attempted to perform this work would go forth in their own power; they would say, “I have done it; it is I who have accomplished this great work.” They would not acknowledge God in all things, nor give the honor to whom it really belongs, for who does not know that they themselves only exist by God’s power and beneficence? But how is it that while the great majority feel and realize these things, there are many who very soon arrogate to themselves greatness and power, and think that they have accomplished great things, and that the Lord can scarcely get along without them; I wonder sometimes how he did happen to get along before they were born. I have seen a great many of this character. You know those who get fat quickly are very apt to kick.

What is there to hinder the bles– sings of heaven flowing to this people to the full extent of their hearts desire? I do not know of any reason, unless we are not prepared and worthy to receive it, and make a wise and proper use of it when it does come. How many do you believe there are in Israel today who, if the wealth of the world were turned towards them, would not consign it to the hands of the devil about as fast as the Lord handed it to them? Do you know that I believe there are a good many; our experience teaches us there are a good many, because they part with it just as fast as it comes to them. I will say that no Latter-day Saint has any right to dispose of the blessings that God bestows upon him; he has no right to bestow his patronage upon the outside world, and especially upon those who are in the midst of Israel, whose interests are separate and apart from ours. It only fosters an agency in our midst calculated to undermine the faith of the Latter-day Saints; it nourishes a viper in our midst; a power that is calculated to lead astray the young and unthinking. I said a Latter-day Saint had no right to dispose of the blessings that God bestows upon him; they are not given to us for any such purpose. What are they given us for? To strengthen the Zion of God upon the earth, not to destroy it; to send forth the Gospel to all nations, to build Temples to God’s holy name, wherein those who are faithful may receive the blessings of time and eternity for themselves and their dead; they are given to us to sustain and uphold righteous principles, and the institutions of heaven; to gather the poor from afar, who are seeking to be delivered from a state of bondage, to come up and participate in the blessings you and I enjoy in these mountains. And so when the Lord finds out that he has a people who will be thus zealous of good works, who will make a good use of the wealth of the world, so fast and so soon will the kingdom be delivered to the Saints in greatness and power.

It cannot be given any sooner, and should not be if it could. Then if we want to see advancement and progress, let us be diligent and faithful over the few things committed to our trust, using them for God and for his kingdom, and not distribute them to the wicked, nor sift our ways to strangers, nor to those who know not God, and who give no heed to the principles of truth he has established in the earth. It is suicidal in the highest degree for the Latter-day Saints to take such a course, and it is treasonable against the Government to which we have sworn allegiance. There is a warfare, but who institutes it? The Devil; he is against the authority of the holy Priesthood, seeking to trample it from off the face of the earth. What do the Latter-day Saints do? Nothing, only stand in their own defense, contending inch by inch for the right. The Adversary is found all the day long seeking to overthrow us, his agents are continually making their insidious approaches to undermine the faith of the Saints, and destroy the authority of the holy Priesthood, their aim and object being to drive it from the earth as they did anciently. Then for the Saints to give aid to those who would destroy them, by giving them our patronage, even the means that God has placed in our possession! Yes, we do it all the day long, we are doing it continually. The people here in Brigham City not so much perhaps as in other places. You have a better order of things I presume; yet it is done more or less everywhere. Supposing for instance, nations at war with each other should find any of their citizens giving comfort and aid to the enemy, giving munitions for war, rendering service or information, or betraying any trust whatever, such person would be strung up for treason. This is the law among the nations; and why should it be counted anything less than treason for those who have sworn allegiance to the government of Heaven to be found giving their patronage to the enemy. I tell you in the name of the Lord, you cannot do it with impunity; such acts will be counted against you, no matter who you are, and you will have to meet it! It behooves the Latter-day Saints, above all people upon the face of the earth, to stand shoulder to shoulder, presenting an unbroken phalanx for the enemy to meet, a phalanx that they cannot penetrate or destroy. It is our duty to God and to one another to fortify our walls of defense. How? By living our religion, by sustaining through our faith, integrity, and good works the government which the God of heaven has so kindly bestowed upon us. There is necessity enough for this government to be established in the earth. There was no rallying point in all the earth for the Saints, until the Lord revealed the truth. But now there is a rallying point, and the people are gathering to it. What for? To pull it down? No! but to uphold it, to keep it and to hold it, unfurling its banner to the mountain breezes, and in the strength of Israel’s God to stand by and defend it! To stand by and sustain each other in all good works, not to seek to pull each other down; but to put down sin and iniquity, and trample it out of our midst, sustaining purity and upholding and main– taining righteousness, and God and his kingdom forever. Let the wicked howl; heed them not! What matters though we are unpopular; Jesus and his disciples were unpopular in their day; but our Savior passed the ordeals. Have we any ordeals to pass? Not many. We have more or less difficulties to encounter it is true, which is all right, in fact it is the only way we can be tested. If we “fly the track” the moment a difficulty presents itself, what good are we? Where is our integrity? It is given unto us to overcome every difficulty and continue on our way rejoicing, having our hearts fixed like a flint on the prize before us; yes, no matter what devil stands in our way to prevent our onward march, or to beckon us this way or that way, let us not be moved either by fear or temptation, but exclaim like one of old, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!” Let us all, young and old, make our resolves, and then live to our resolutions, notwithstanding the inducements and allurements the evil one may bring to bear to prevent us walking in the strait and narrow way.

The Gospel incorporates everything calculated to do any good whatever, and it is the power of God unto salvation both here and hereafter; and you will not find any real pleasure or salvation outside of it. Now remember that! Both the old and the young can find suitable and satisfactory enjoyments within the purview and elements of the Gospel. Real enjoyment is such as can be participated in without offending the Lord. There is no enjoyment in taking a course calculated to injure and offend Deity. There is no real enjoyment in the intoxicating cup, it brings misery instead of joy. And so are all these things that are used to their abuse. The Gospel teaches us better things, a better way; and still it furnishes us everything necessary for our pastime and for our encouragement to go forward in the path that leads to honor and renown in time and eternity.

There is a great work to be done! The Lord has designed to accomplish a mighty work through the instrumentality of his children who do and will exist upon the earth. It is through this means he does accomplish his purposes; he always has and I expect he always will. The redemption of our dead friends, of our progenitors who never knew the Gospel; the resurrection of the dead to come forth clothed in immortality and eternal lives, will all be brought about through the Gospel. What, all the human family? Yes, pretty nearly all. It is a great undertaking; the Lord is susceptible to great undertakings. He undertook to people this earth with spirits that were begotten in heaven and who dwelt in his presence. Consider that undertaking for a moment, and perhaps it will be found to be as vast as our comprehension is of the redemption of the dead and the accomplishment of the resurrection of the dead. He is capable of great enterprises of this kind. And just as sure as he brought forth man upon this earth, organizing it for them to dwell upon, so sure will he bring them forth again in the resurrection. I do not know that one is greater than the other; however he is capable of accomplishing all. I have heard people talk about the utter impossibility of bringing about the resurrection of the dead. We read there is nothing impossible with God. I am quite sure of it in this respect. We see how natural, how easy it is to bring forth the great work of peopling the earth; and I see no reason why the other should not be just as easy for him to do as this seems to us. He has all time and eternity at his command; the heavens are full of days, and the work will continue onward when you and I rest and sleep in the dust. There is something to be done, we have the opportunity and blessed privilege of laboring in the cause; and it is well for us if we do it while the day lasts, for “behold the night cometh wherein no man can work.” Therefore we should be diligent in the performance of our duties, divesting ourselves of the errors and traditions we have imbibed, and which are in opposition to truth and righteousness according to the revelations of Jesus made known to us in this our day and generation. We should control ourselves; our passions are given to us for a good and wise purpose, not to be our masters, not to be given way to, allowing ourselves to quarrel, to speak harsh and unkind words and to mistreat our wives and children as some do. Our passions are implanted within us to give strength and energy of character, to serve a good and wise purpose; and it is expected that we hold them in proper subjection, instead of allowing them to master us. No man is able to control or is fit to govern, even a family, unless he can govern and control himself.

Let us give heed to the requirements of heaven, and perform them regardless of the consequences, trusting in God who will sustain even to the death. If we have to meet obstacles, what of it? “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him,” let this be the word in the heart and mind of every man and woman before the Lord. Because we know he is the wise giver of all good things, the wise controller of all events who does all things well. Let us put our trust in him, and go forward in the righteousness of the God of our salvation, in the performance of the work allotted to us his Saints upon the earth. If we do this and endure faithful to the end, great will be our reward; and great is our reward as we pass along. It brings peace of mind in the assurance that we are doing the Lord’s will, and taking that course which is pleasing unto him.

That the Lord may add his blessing unto us while we sojourn in the earth, and at last save us in his kingdom is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 10th, 1868.

The gospel which we preach is the gospel of life and salvation. The Church which we represent is the Church and Kingdom of God, and possesses the only faith by which the children of men can be brought back into the presence of our Father and God. The Lord has set his hands to restore all things as in the beginning, and by the administration of His Holy Priesthood, save all who can be saved, cleanse from the world the consequences of the fall and give it to the hands of His Saints. I am a witness of these things. How far short we may come of being what we should be, or of improving as fast as we should, matters not; this is the Kingdom of God, this is the way of life and salvation, and all who hearken to and receive it in their faith, and live it in their lives, will have the privilege of returning to their Father and their God; and none else will come into His presence. It is true that the spirits of all people will return to God who gave them, both Saint and sinner, but as to their staying there and becoming permanent settlers in His immediate presence is another question.

The practical part of the lives of the Saints in our day, and in former days on this earth or on other earths, is another part of the great subject of salvation. The faith of the people as a general thing is correct; but the lives of many of the Latter-day Saints are far from being what they should be. To be Latter-day Saints men and women must be strictly honest; they must observe that code of moral religion which is taught in the world and which is as good as can be taught. There are numbers of the human family who profess the religions of men who live the moral code acknowledged among them as strictly as men and women can do.

When we talk of the true Church of Christ we speak of a system of theology, the principles of which will bear upon every motive and act of mankind. If there is a fault in the people, it will make it manifest; if there is a weakness, it will be made apparent, for the Lord takes this course that His children may exhibit what is in them. In the latter days He will reveal the secrets of the hearts of the children of men. He is now doing this by breaking up the people here and there. He is leading them through circumstances to try them to the uttermost. If we are not tried in all things already, there is plenty of time yet for us to be so tried, even as Abraham was. Be patient, my brethren and sisters, for we shall all have the privilege of being tried to the uttermost if we are worthy. How many trials Abra– ham had, and how severe they were we have not been fully informed. A portion of his life has been committed to paper, and handed down to us, which we can read at our leisure. Whether he was tried as we are tried, and in as many ways as the Latter-day Saints are tried, I do no know. There is no question but that he was tried sufficiently to prove before his Father and God that he was worthy of the blessings he obtained—that he was worthy of the priesthood and the keys thereof—that he was worthy to receive the articles of truth, to dispense salvation to his father’s house and to his friends and neighbors, and to all who would hearken to his counsels.

The Latter-day Saints are a very peculiar people, and they are led in a peculiar way. We are brought into circumstances so as to be a stumbling block to the nations, through the failings and weaknesses of the Latter-day Saints. Jesus was a stumbling block to the nation of the Jews, and to the generation in which he lived, and, to all that knew him, and how singular it is that Jesus Christ, at this late day, and at such a distance from the theater of his operations, should have attained such celebrity and fame; even his disciples are not only canonized, but almost deified, and looked upon as though they were gods come down to dwell with men. Every circumstance connected with the Savior’s life is looked upon as being divine. Christendom now acknowledge that Jesus was the Son of God; they look upon him as God manifested in the flesh according to the New Testament; yet the generation in which He lived did not see these tokens of divinity which this generation recognize. To them he was “a root out of dry ground”—“a stumbling block,” “a rock of offense.” So with the Latter-day Saints. They are a stumbling block to this generation. The world see all their weaknesses and faults, and see no divinity in the work in which they are engaged. Yet this is not to be wondered at, inasmuch as the world could not see it in Jesus when he dwelt in mortality. We are looked upon as a low, degraded, ignorant set of fanatics. This is the opinion of the great majority of the learned and refined world. Others say that our people are the dupes of a few. We do not claim to be very wise, but we do know that that portion of mankind called Christians in our day, who profess to be followers of the meek and lowly Jesus, are grossly ignorant of His character, and of the means and way of Salvation which He offers to the world. The Latter-day Saints, as a people, may not be so far advanced in the knowledge of many of the sciences, as their neighbors; but they are learning how to take care of themselves, which is one of the greatest arts known to man. When the most learned and scientific among men scrutinize their own lives and experience, they are under the necessity of acknowledging that they are faulty, weak, ignorant; they are “strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.”

Instead of considering that there is nothing known and understood, only as we know and understand things naturally, I take the other side of the question, and believe positively that there is nothing known except by the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, whether in theology, science, or art. The world receive information and light on great principles of science and knowledge in the arts, to subserve the hidden purposes of the Almighty, but they are ignorant of the source from whence it comes to them. They seek not to know God, whom to know is life everlasting. They seek not to know the source of their own existence, and of all light and truth. They are not willing to acknowledge His hand in anything; and for this the God of Heaven is displeased with them, and His anger is kindled against them. They have every evidence that can be asked that Joseph Smith was a prophet sent from God, yet they cannot acknowledge it; while at the same time, with the scriptures in their hands, they can but acknowledge the supremacy of the doctrine we preach over the dogmas of the age, and in the growth of this community in the time of a constant stream of abuse and persecution, gathering the poor from all nations, they must acknowledge the superior wisdom and power displayed, that cannot be attributed to man. The wisdom which God has given them teaches them better. It teaches them that a secret something, an invisible agency is evidently at work behind the curtain. What mortal has the power to call people from the ends of the earth? While Jesus Christ was in the flesh He did not manifest his power. How much power did He manifest over the people of the world in His day? Did He send His disciples to the nations and call His followers together from the ends of the earth by thousands? He did not. There is no doubt but that He had the power to call the people together; but he did not manifest it. The people saw no exhibition of this power when he was among them. But He is doing it now, and if it had been the time to do it in His day it could have been done by the power of the heavens through Him, as it is now done by the same power through Joseph Smith and his brethren. God is now displaying His power in a marvelous degree, whispering to the inmost souls of the children of men in foreign lands with a still, small voice, “flee to the mountains, for the day of the Lord is upon the wicked nations of Babylon;” and the cry: “come out other, my people” has gone throughout the world. Do we improve as fast as we should? We do not improve as fast as we might; but I am happy to know that we improve, and we can improve more if we please. Compare the progress of the Saints in the days of the Savior and His disciples, with the progress of the Saints in these days.

When a “Mormon” Elder offers evidence of this great work to unbelievers, they tell him that he is a party concerned, and his evidence cannot be taken with regard to Joseph Smith’s mission. I ask the Christian world where are your witnesses that Jesus is the Christ? Who are those who testified of His mission, and how many are there? Eight persons testified of Him, and their testimony is recorded, and they were his disciples and parties concerned; yet at this day all the Christian world is ready to receive their testimony. I testify that this work of God in which we are engaged has been commenced to gather the house of Israel and establish Zion in the last days, and has more outward and weighty evidence to prove that it is of God than there was in the days of Jesus to prove that he was the Christ. When the Book of Mormon came forth it was testified to by twelve witnesses, and who can dispute their testimony? No living person on the earth can do it; and besides the testimony of these twelve witnesses, hundreds and thousands have received a witness to themselves from the Heavens, and who can dispute their testimony? No living person on the earth can do it. This infidel world inquires, “where do you get your testimony?” We answer, we get it from the Heavens. Were we to ask them where they get the knowledge they possess, they reply, “We do not know; it came to us; we know not its source.” We have testimony that the Bible is true, that the prophecies contained in it are true, that Jesus is the son of God, and came to redeem the world. Have the so-called Christian world this kind of testimony? They have not. All the testimony they can boast of is the testimony of eight men who lived nearly two thousand years ago. The infidel world cannot receive their testimony, because they were parties concerned.

We are asked if signs follow the believer in our day as in days of old. We answer, they do. The blind see, the lame leap, the deaf hear, the gift of prophecy is manifest, also the gift of healing, the gift of revelation, the gift of tongues and the interpretation of tongues. Jesus said that these signs should follow them that believe. His Church and Kingdom always have these signs which follow the believer in all ages when the true Church is in existence. Do they follow any but believers? They do not. The gift and power of the Holy Ghost, as enjoyed by the ancient saints, and its various manifestations, are not received in the faith of modern Christian sects. They say that the gift and power of the Holy Ghost have ceased; that the canon of Scripture is full; that there is no more new revelation, no more prophecy, no more inspired visions, no more administrations of angels as in days of old, no more voice of God from the heavens, no more inspired prophets and apostles, who seal on earth and it is sealed in heaven; from whence then have they testimony that Jesus is the Christ, and that God lives? The very book which they believe to be inspired, and which they offer to the heathen and the infidel as the strongest evidence they possess for the divinity of their religion declares positively that signs shall follow the believer, and this very important declaration and promise they discard altogether. We say that signs do in our day follow the believer, and here is the witness and testimony that Jesus is the Christ.

If we speak of ourselves our testimony is nothing, but if we speak by the power of God that is within us, the same Spirit bears witness that we are the true followers of the Lord Jesus, and convinceth the world of sin and of a judgment to come. The Spirit of the Almighty is abroad among the people, and all who will listen to the truth will be convinced by the spirit of truth, and they will flow together from distant lands, and as the salt of the earth is gathered out the nations will break to pieces; and are they not at this time breaking to pieces? The honest in heart are gathering out by thousands and tens of thousands from the nations of Babylon. They are leaving their fathers, and mothers, and husbands, and wives, and children, and friends, and associations, at the call of the gospel preached by the Elders of this Church. What power, but the power of God, could stir up the world and enlighten the soul and better the condition of multitudes, teaching them to make the wilderness blossom as the rose and the desert places to be inhabited?

After the Latter-day Saints are gathered together, I repeat, that we do not improve as fast as we should. This Word of Wisdom which has been supposed to have become stale, and not in force, is like all the counsels of God, in force as much today as it ever was. There is life, everlasting life in it—the life which now is and the life which is to come. We have had this Word of Wisdom thirty-five years last February, and the whole people have not yet learned to observe it after the true spirit and meaning of it. There is within a few years past a great improvement in this, so much so that I very much doubt whether a tobacco spittle could be found upon the floor of this tabernacle after this congregation is dismissed. Tobacco is not good to receive into the human system; hot drinks are not good. We will use cold drinks to allay thirst and warm drinks for medicine. Flesh should be used sparingly, in famine and in cold. The people are beginning to listen to these things. The Spirit of the Lord is urging the people to cease from everything that is evil, and to reform in their lives; for unless the spirit urged the people to do right, we might as well talk to the sides of this house. We are urged by the spirit to refrain from articles which tend to death, to preserve this life, which is the most precious life given to mortal beings preparatory to an immortal life. It is our business to prepare to live here to do good. Instead of crying to the people prepare to die, our cry is prepare to live forevermore. These mortal houses will drop off sometime, and when they are cleansed and purified, sanctified and glorified, we shall inherit them again forever and ever. Let all the Saints pursue a course to live. Let those who fight against God’s Kingdom fall asleep; and let those who build it up live and prosper until their work in the flesh is done. We say to worldly-wise men, acknowledge the hand of God in your greatness and wisdom and in all the blessings which you receive, for you receive them all from him.

Are we improving as a people? We are. I have said, and say today, that according to the age of the people we have improved as fast as the church of Enoch. I trust we improve faster, for we have not as much time as they had. In some of the first revelations which were given to this Church the order of Enoch was given for a pattern to this people; and Enoch patterned after the heavens. The object of the School of the Prophets is to train ourselves until we can receive the order of Enoch in all its fullness. In the commencement of this Church the Latter-day Saints could not receive it, and they were driven from city to city, as the Lord said they should be through the mouth of His servant Joseph, until they should be willing to receive this order.

There is no evil in doing good, no wrong in doing right. It is the evil that people do which renders them obnoxious to the heavens, hateful to each other, and unworthy of their being upon the earth. Let the people be righteous, full of love, faith and good works, loving and serving God with all their hearts, and they are happy, and they strive to make everybody around them happy. From henceforth the wicked will become more wicked, and their wickedness will be made more manifest, and the corruptions which now lurk in darkness will stalk abroad, and confidence and safety will vanish from among men, until the good-meaning people among all nations will be willing to flee to any place to find peace and safety. Let us be obedient to the Man we serve. We believe in a one Man power, and that Man is God our Father, who lives in the Heavens. In being united with Him we can see the beauty of the order of heaven.

The written word which we have, namely, the Old and New Testament, the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants all agree in testifying that Jesus is the Christ, but no man can know this without the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy. Flesh and blood did not reveal that fact to Peter, but the Father who is in heaven. By this power do we known that Christ lives and is the Savior of the world, and has commenced His work in the last days, to gather His people, redeem and build up Zion, gather the remnants of Israel, bring the Gentiles into His covenant who will receive the gospel, restore the Jews to their land, and establish the New and Everlasting covenant, which He established with the fathers and ratified to the children. We are in this work; and we are called to be faithful and to sanctify ourselves as a people and prepare for the coming of the Son of Man. May God help us to do so. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the New Tabernacle, afternoon, April 8, 1868.

President Heber C. Kimball has exhorted the bishops to gather around them the young men and teach them the privileges which they enjoy, and try to lead them in the right way. Bishops, I wish you to hearken to this piece of good advice. I will give each of the young men in Israel, who have arrived at an age to marry, a mission to go straightway and get married to a good sister, fence a city lot, lay out a garden and orchard and make a home, and especially do not forget to plant a proper proportion of mulberry trees. This is the mission that I give to all the young men in Israel. And I say to you, sisters, if you do not know how to milk a cow, you can soon learn. If you do not know how to feed the cows, you can learn. If you do not know how to feed the chickens, get them and learn how, and if your husband takes you to live in ever so small and humble a cottage, make it neat and nice and clean, and set out flowers around the doors, and let the husband plant fruit trees and shade trees, and let wives help their husbands that they may be encouraged to take hold of more important business that will create an income sufficient to sustain their wives, and by economy and care become wealthy in a short time, and have your carriage to ride in. What a satisfaction it will be to you to know that what you possess is the result of your industry and economy. “It was not given to us by grandfather, or by father, or by mother, or any relation; but we have got these comforts by our industry, saving, and the blessings of the Lord.” By this means our young men and maidens will gain for themselves credit, respect, and a name in Israel worthy of the admiration of all good persons. How much better is this course than the opposite, to spend precious time to no profit, always being in a state of dependence. Were the Lord to speak of such conduct, he would use terms to show that He is not well pleased with it.

I have a short sermon for my sisters. I wish you, under the direction of your bishops and wise men, to establish your relief societies, and organize yourselves under the direction of the brethren, and establish yourselves for doing business, gathering up your little amounts of means that would otherwise go to waste, and put them to usury, and make more of them, and thus keep gathering in. Let this be commenced forthwith. Ask your husbands to furnish you some straw for hats and bonnets, and when you get it put more than three straws over your head, and make a hat that will shade you from the scorching sun. I have a great desire to live and see the prosperity of this people, and one thing among the rest, I would like to see the time when our sisters will take more pains to beautify their children. When your children arise in the morning instead of sending them out of doors to wash in cold, hard water, with a little soft soap, and wiping them as though you would tear the skin off them, creating roughness and darkness of skin, take a piece of soft flannel, and wipe the faces of your children smooth and nice, dry them with a soft cloth; and instead of giving them pork for their breakfast, give them good wholesome bread and sweet milk, baked potatoes, and also buttermilk if they like it, and a little fruit, and I would have no objections to their eating a little rice. Rice is an excellent food for children, and I wish some of the brethren would cultivate it in these valleys. Upland rice will flourish in this country. Train up your children to be beautiful and fair, instead of neglecting them until they are sunburned and become like the natives of our mountains. Let the sisters take care of themselves, and make themselves beautiful, and if any of you are so superstitious and ignorant as to say that this is pride, I can say that you are not informed as to the pride which is sinful before the Lord, you are also ignorant as to the excellency of the heavens, and of the beauty which dwells in the society of the Gods. Were you to see an angel, you would see a beautiful and lovely creature. Make yourselves like angels in goodness and beauty. Let the mothers in Israel make their sons and daughters healthy and beautiful, by cleanliness and a proper diet. Whether you have much or little clothing for your children, it can be kept clean and healthy, and be made to fit their persons neatly. Make your children lovely and fair that you may delight in them. Cease to send out your children to herd sheep with their skins exposed to the hot sun, until their hands and faces appear as though they lived in an ash heap. I call upon my sisters to lead out in these things; and create your own fashions, and make your clothing to please yourselves, independent of outside influences; and make your hats and bonnets to shade you. I wish you, sisters, to listen to these counsels, and place yourselves in a condition to administer to the poor. Get your husbands to provide you with a little of this and a little of that of which you can make something by adding your own labor. I do not mean that you shall apply to them for five dollars and ten dollars to spend for that which is of no profit, but manufacture something that will be useful, as well as beautiful and comely.

You ought to enter into the cultivation of silk. Our bench lands are well adapted to the growth of the mulberry tree, the leaves of which produce the natural food for the silkworm. There is no better land nor climate in the world than we have for this branch of business. We can make ourselves independently rich at this business alone, if it is properly pursued. There ought to be a plot of land in each ward devoted to the cultivation of silk, and a cocoonery built in the center of it, and in the season thereof let the children of the wards who have nothing to do, and aged people, gather the leaves and feed the worms. The work is light and interesting, while the sales of wound silk, for which there is always a market to be found, will do much towards feeding and clothing poor persons that would otherwise be entirely dependent. If the worms are well taken care of, the season of feeding only lasts from thirty-five to forty days. If I cannot succeed in getting the sisters with their children to attend to this business, I shall be under the necessity of sending to China for Chinamen to come here and raise silk for us, which I do not wish to do. To pay people the wages they want here would prevent us from raising silk profitably. We look forward to the period when the price of labor here will be brought to a reasonable and judicious standard.

Now, sisters, go to forthwith and get you an acre of land, and get the Bishops and the brethren to fence it, and prepare it for the reception of the trees, and go and help them; but, be sure to wear a wide brimmed hat while doing it, so as not to get tanned with the sun and the wind. Go to and raise silk. You can do it, and those who cannot set themselves to work we will set them to work gathering straw, and making straw hats and straw bonnets; we will set others to gathering willows, and others to making baskets; we will set others to gathering flags and rushes, and to making mats, and bottoming chairs, and making carpets. I pray you in Christ’s stead to let gold hunting alone, and pray the Lord to cover it up in our region of country that it cannot be found. Those among us who are anxious to find rich gold deposits, are equally anxious to destroy themselves, and are no wiser than our little children are in handling sharp-edged tools. They would not only destroy themselves, but all around them if they had the power to do it. Instead of hunting gold, let every man go to work at raising wheat, oats, barley, corn, and vegetables; and fruit in abundance, that there may be plenty in the land. Raise sheep, and produce the finest quality of wool in large quantities. By the migratory system of feeding sheep in this country they will be healthy, and produce large clips of wool. I hope, by the blessings of the Lord, to demonstrate this the present season. In these pursuits are the true sources of wealth, and we have as much capital in these mountains to begin with as any people in the world, according to the number of our community. Real capital consists in knowledge and physical strength. If we know how to apply our labor, it will produce for us everything we can ask for; it will bring to us the food and the clothing we want, and every facility we need for comfort, for refinement, for excellence, for beauty, and for adornment. It will bring to us the wealth of the world, the gold and the silver, although gold and silver are not real wealth. They are useful as a medium of exchange, as foundation upon which to base a currency, and to use as ornaments and household vessels; and so gold should be regarded until there is enough of it to pave our streets. O, ye Elders of Israel who are greedy for gold, instead of wasting your time in search of it, gather around you the comforts of life, with which the elements are loaded, and make yourselves rich in all the elegancies and conveniences by means of economy and industry. I wish the sisters to lead out in the fashions. It is very little difference what fashion you produce. I would just as soon see you wear hats with wide brims as not, if you have that fashion that will give comfort and convenience and produce health and longevity. We wish to promote the longevity of the people. Tell your husbands to get you a heifer calf or two and some chickens, and you will feed them, and take care of them, instead of feeding pigs, and if your husbands have springs on their land, get them to clean them out and dam them up a little, and introduce the spawn of the best fish we have in these mountains, and collect all the information that has been printed, and which comes within your reach on the subject of raising fish. And raise your potatoes and parsnips and carrots for feeding them with, adding a little corn meal, or a little oat meal. We can raise fish here, and the cost will be one fourth less per pound than other meats. You may think that fowls are injurious to the garden; but they are not. They will pick up grubs and cut worms and other destructive insects, and the good they do in this respect will far overbalance any trifling injury they may do to young plants. They will keep your gardens clean of these pests, and fatten, giving you plenty of eggs to eat. Take care of them, and get a little patch of lucerne planted to give to your young heifer, and rear her until she gives you her increase. This is for you young women who want to get husbands. Tell the young men that you will sustain yourselves, and teach them how to sustain themselves if they do not know how, if they will only come and marry you. Now, girls, court up the boys, it is leap year. Give them to understand in some way that it is all right. You are ready, and you want to help them to make a good home, to form a nucleus around which to gather the blessings and comforts of life, a place to rally to. While you are on the move and unsettled you can get nothing that is permanent. Tell the boys what to do, and you sisters of experience, ye mothers in Israel, go to and get up your societies, and teach these girls what to do, and how to get the boys to come and marry them. The neglect and lazy habits which our boys are falling into are a disgrace to us, to say nothing about the sin of such conduct. They produce nothing, and consider themselves unable to take care of a family, and they will not marry. This conduct of theirs leaves our young women without partners; they want somebody to look to, and something that they can do to advantage and bless themselves, and have a home to go to. Young men, fit you up a little log cabin, if it is not more than ten feet square, and then get you a bird to put in your little cage. You can then work all day with satisfaction to yourself, considering that you have a home to go to, and a loving heart to welcome you. You will then have something to encourage you to labor and gather around you the comforts of life, and a place to gather them to. Strive to make your little home attractive. Use lime freely, and let your houses nestle beneath the cool shades of trees, and be made fragrant with perfumes of flowers.

These are practical teachings; they are things which this people must be taught, for if we do not learn to take care of ourselves and save ourselves who will do it for us? Will the Gentiles help us, and care for us? Will they do us good? No. And I tell you further, Elders of Israel, that you do not know the day of your visitation, neither do you understand the signs of the times, for if you did you would be awake to these things. Every organization of our government, the best government in the world, is crumbling to pieces. Those who have it in their hands are the ones who are destroying it. How long will it be before the words of the prophet Joseph will be fulfilled? He said if the Constitution of the United States were saved at all it must be done by this people. It will not be many years before these words come to pass. How long will it be before they will be coming here for bread, for the bread of life, and for the bread which sustains the body? Do you know this? You do not. This community live as it were from hand to mouth. They must learn to lay up food. Notwithstanding all that has been said to the people on this subject, not one man to thirty has bread sufficient to last him one year. As our mechanics are paid, they might have laid up their hundreds if not their thousands a year. Brethren, learn. You have learned a good deal it is true; but learn more; learn to sustain yourselves; lay up grain and flour, and save it against a day of scarcity. Sisters, do not ask your husbands to sell the last bushel of grain you have to buy something for you out of the stores, but aid your husbands in storing it up against a day of want, and always have a year or two’s provision on hand. A great abundance of fruit can be dried. There are but few families in this city who do not have the privilege of drying and laying up fruit. Yet the majority of families in this community, instead of using fruit that was dried last fall but one, are using fruit dried last year when the grasshoppers were here. A year’s supply should be kept ahead, so that families would not be compelled to eat fruit that had been injured by grasshoppers and other insects. We should accumulate all kinds of nutritive substances, and preserve them from worms, which can easily be done. If we do not take care of ourselves, we shall have a very poor chance to be taken care of. If we will hearken to the counsel that is given to us we shall know how to sustain ourselves in every particular. Mothers in Israel, sisters, ask your husbands to take care of the sheep they have got, and not willfully waste them; but multiply them and bring our wool to the factories to be manufactured, or trade it for yarn and cloth. The woolen mills which we now have in the country will work up a great deal of wool if they can get it. Who is there in our community that raises flax? Is there any attention paid to this culture? I think not, but it is, “Husband, sell your wheat, sell your oats to buy me the linen I want.” We shall in the future have flax machines here to make the finest of linen; and we can make the cotton and silk in abundance. I would urge the brethren of the southern country to plant cotton sufficient to supply the wants of the factories that are now in the country, and let us continue our labors until we can manufacture everything we want. All this is embraced in our religion, every good word and work, all things temporal, and all things spiritual, things in heaven, things on earth, and things that are under the earth are circumscribed by our religion. We are in the fastnesses of the mountains, and if we do these things, and delight in doing right, our feet will be made fast and immovable like the bases of these everlasting hills. We ought not to desire anything only on righteous principles, and if we want right, let us then deal it out to others, being kind and full of love and charity to all. My brethren and sisters, I have occupied considerable time; but I have not spoken one tenth of what I wish to say to you. By the authority that the Lord has granted to me, I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the New Tabernacle, April 6, 1868.

The items of instruction which have been laid before us by Elders George A. Smith and George Q. Cannon are very important to us, they are subjects which we have dwelt upon for years. It is generally known among us that we commenced some years ago to raise cotton in the southern portion of our Territory, and it is also known that machinery to manufacture it has been introduced into this country. All this has been done to encourage the people to become self-sustaining. I am ready to acknowledge that the Latter-day Saints are the best people, and the most willing people to do right that I know anything about. But when we take into particular and close consideration their acts, and compare them with the teaching they are constantly receiving, we think and say they are very far from taking all the counsel given them of the Lord through His servants. But were they to be counseled, for instance, to go to the gold mines, many of them would obey with alacrity. If they were to be counseled to chew or smoke tobacco, many would lift up both hands for this, and shout for joy? If the sisters many of them, were counseled to continue the use of tea and coffee they would sit up all night to bless you. When we are counseled to do that which plea– ses us then are we willing to obey counsel. Yet when I consider the pit from whence we have been taken, and the rock from whence we have been hewn, I can say, praise to the Latter-day Saints. Again, when we consider the immensity of knowledge and wisdom and understanding pertaining to the things of this life, pertaining to the learning of this world, pertaining to that which is within our reach, and ready for the use and profit of the people, and particularly with regard to taking care of ourselves, and then consider our shortcomings, and slothfulness, we may look upon ourselves with shamefacedness because of the smallness of our attainments in the midst of so many great advantages.

A thorough reformation is needed in regard to our eating and drinking, and on this point I will freely express myself, and shall be glad if the people will hear, believe and obey. If the people were willing to receive the true knowledge from heaven in regard to their diet they would cease eating swine’s flesh. I know this as well as Moses knew it, and without putting it in a code of commandments. When I tell you that it is the will of the Lord to cease eating swine’s flesh, very likely someone will tell you that it is the will of the Lord to stop eating beef and mutton, and another that it is the will of the Lord to stop eating fowl and fish until the minds of the people become bewildered, so that they know not how to decide between right and wrong, truth and error. The beef fed upon our mountain grasses is as healthy food as we need at present. Beef, so fattened, is as good as wild meat, and is quite different in its nature from stall-fed meat. But we can eat fish; and I ask the people of this community, Who hinders you from raising fowls for their eggs? Who hinders you from cultivating fruit of every variety that will flourish in the different parts of this Territory? There has not been a day through the whole winter that I have not had fresh peaches, and plenty of apples and strawberries. Who hinders any person in this community from having these different kinds of food in their families? Fish is as healthy a food as we can eat, if we except vegetables and fruit, and with them will become a very wholesome diet. What hinders us from surrounding ourselves with an abundance of those various articles of food which will promote health and produce longevity? If it is anything, it is our own neglect; or, in other words, which will answer my purpose better, the want of knowing how.

We cannot say there are loafers on our streets; still, there are persons in our community who seem to have no other aim in existence, than to pass away their time to no purpose or use to themselves or the community. They have nothing to do, and think that they cannot apply themselves to anything that will benefit themselves and their families, when they might with great propriety be engaged in laying out a garden, fencing and planting it, and laying a foundation to make themselves and their families comfortable. It is true we have taken a great share of this people from manufacturing districts, where the great masses of the people know nothing about cultivating the earth; but they can learn it soon, if they will, after they get here. Let your minds be at home, and let your attention be directed to that which the Lord has given you for honor and glory to yourself, instead of being like the fool which Solomon wrote about, whose eyes are in the ends of the earth. Consider that you are at home, and strive to make your homes happy, comfortable and delightful; let the spirit which you enjoy yourself abound therein.

What is the reason that our brethren do not progress faster in their improvements? In a great measure it is for the want of leaders. But this is not altogether so. Generally it is for lack of judgment and wisdom, tact and talent, taste, industry and prudence in our Bishops. As it has been said, as with the priest so with the people. This is the case in a great measure; and we can say, as is the Bishop so are the members of his ward. It is the duty of the Bishops to take a course to make their lives, characters, doings and sayings fit examples in all things to the people of their wards. Some of our Bishops have made no improvements for eighteen years. I have asked the Bishops to sow a little rye, to make straw for hats and bonnets. A few have done so. I have asked them to do the same thing this spring, that the sisters of their wards may have straw to manufacture. If the Bishops have not time to do this, or have not the ground, get some of the brethren to do it who have time and ground, and let there be an acre of rye sown to each ward, and then ask the sisters to gather it in the proper season. Some say that wheat straw is as good as rye, if properly prepared. Gather the straw, and make your bonnets and hats, and wear them when you come to this tabernacle; and make hats for your husbands and sons to wear, and for your brothers and your sisters, your daughters and your mothers, and let us see all the sisters and all our brethren and all our children wearing hats and bonnets of material produced and manufactured by ourselves. I have been pleading for this for years and years.

This is leap year; let the ladies take the lead in this and every other species of home industry at which they can be employed. We have asked the sisters to organize themselves into Relief Societies; I again ask the sisters in every ward of the Territory to do so, and get women of good understanding to be your leaders, and then get counsel from men of understanding; and let your fashions proceed from yourselves, and become acquainted with those noble traits of character which belong to your sex. Ever since I knew that my mother was a woman I have loved the sex, and delight in their chastity. The man who abuses, or tries to bring dishonor upon the female sex is a fool, and does not know that his mother and his sisters were women. Women are more ready to do and love the right than men are; and if they could have a little guidance, and were encouraged to carry out the instincts of their nature, they would effect a revolution for good in any community a great deal quicker than men can accomplish it. Men have been placed on the earth to bear rule and to lead in every good work, and if they would do their duty today in our own government, and then throughout the world, they would stop whining about the “Mormons” marrying so many wives, and the ladies would have somebody to protect them and they would not need to flee to the “Mormon” Elders for protection. But outside of this community they are destroying the sex, ruining all they can, and then they boast of their villainy. Shall I say that the women are shortsighted? I will say they are weak; I will say that it is in their nature to confide in and look to the sterner sex for guidance, and thus they are the more liable to be led astray and ruined. It is the decree of the Almighty upon them to lean upon man as their superior, and he has abused his privilege as their natural protector and covered them with abuse and dishonor.

I wish the whole people of the United States could hear me now, I would say to them, let every man in the land over eighteen years of age take a wife, and then go to work with your hands and cultivate the earth, or labor at some mechanical business, or some honest trade to provide an honest living for yourselves and those who depend upon you for their subsistence; observing temperance, and loving truth and virtue; then would the women be cared for, be nourished, honored and blest, becoming honorable mothers of a race of men and women farther advanced in physical and mental perfection than their fathers. This would create a revolution in our country, and would produce results that would be of incalculable good. If they would do this, the Elders of this Church would not be under the necessity of taking so many wives. Will they do this? No, they will not; and there are many who will continue to ruin every virtuous woman they can, buying the virtue of woman with money and deception, and thus, the lords of creation proceed from one conquest to another, boasting of their victories, leaving ruin, tears and death in their pathway; and what have they conquered? A poor, weak, confiding, loving wo– man. And what have they broken and crushed and destroyed? One of the fairest gems of all God’s creation. O man! For shame. If the men of the city of New York alone had done for the last twenty years as the men of this community have done, from two to four hundred thousand females from sixteen years of age and upwards, whose dishonor and ruin are mercifully covered in the grave, would now be in life and health, moving in the circles of happy homes, prayed for, respected, loved and honored.

Now, ladies, go to and organize yourselves into industrial societies, and get your husbands to produce you some straw, and commence bonnet and hat making. If every ward would commence and continue this and other industrial pursuits, it would not be long before the females of the wards of our Territory would have stores in their wards, and means sufficient to send and get the articles which they need, that cannot yet be manufactured here and which they may want to distribute.

It is an old saying that a woman can throw out of the window with a spoon as fast as a man can throw into the door with a shovel; but a good housekeeper will be saving and economical, and teach her children to be good housekeepers, and how to take care of everything that is put in their charge. I do not wish to go into detail here; I see too much; I know too much of the waste and neglect of our females to feel satisfied with them. Is this any more so with the female portion of our community than among the males? No, not at all; but the neglect, the idleness, the waste, and the extravagance of men in our community are ridiculous. They are constantly taught better; they know better; yet, in many instances, the same reckless waste is indulged in by the whole family. If we will learn to be wise and careful, we shall devote all our time in that way that will be of the greatest advantage to us and to our common cause, continually bettering our condition, and become more and more competent to do good.

I have tried continually to get this people to pursue a course that will make them self-sustaining, taking care of their poor—the lame, the halt and the blind, lifting the ignorant from where they have no opportunity of observing the ways of the world, and of understanding the common knowledge possessed among the children of men, bringing them together from the four quarters of the world, and making of them an intelligent, thrifty and self-sustaining people. This is a work that is worthy the attention of the Saints. We have gathered thousands from many nations. By the aid of the Almighty we have raised them out of penury and miserable dependence, and have taught them how to become wealthy in possessions, useful to themselves and their neighbors, good citizens, and, I trust, faithful Saints. We are still continuing our labors in gathering the poor from foreign lands, and the people are doing marvels in contributing their means for this purpose; and it is still coming, and we hope to be able to still enlarge our operations for the deliverance of the poor and downtrodden Saints of all nations. We can continue to receive and send means until July.

Now, sisters, will you commence to pay attention to the raising of silk? There are numbers of sisters in our community who could pay attention to this industry, and teach the children to gather the mulberry leaves and to feed the worms. I wish all those sisters whose hands are not tied with large families to enter into this business with heart and hand in their different wards. Plant the mulberry tree, and raise silk every year, also silkworm eggs. By pursuing this business faithfully, year by year, it will bring a yearly revenue to each ward of thousands of dollars, making the people more and more able to perform works of benevolence and mercy, and to make themselves more and more comfortable in their living.

The Kingdom of God is upward and onward, and will so continue until its power and influence extend to the relief of the honest of all nations. It is for us to look to the welfare of the Kingdom of God; for it alone will sustain us, build us up and save us now and hereafter, and prepare us to enjoy a blessed eternity. May God bless you. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, March 29th, 1868.

I am thankful for the privilege of again meeting with the Saints in this city, for the privilege of speaking to them, and of hearing others speak; and, in fact, I am happy in this life, which is a very excellent one, answering the purpose for which it has been ordained—a state of existence wherein to prepare for a better kingdom and a better life. We are now in a day of trial to prove ourselves worthy or unworthy of the life which is to come. We have reason to be thankful that the Lord has given unto us this opportunity and privilege of receiving truth and acting upon it for our own good, the privilege of increasing in knowledge and in wisdom, in understanding and in all things pertaining to this life and to that which is to come. I often think that we are dull scholars, slow to comprehend things as they are, slow to believe, and slow to act in the right. We often act without wisdom, and often speak without consideration, causing grief and sorrow to our hearts. But we are here in this life to learn; we are in a great school, and if we are diligent and faithful, and fervent in our studies, then we have hope of being prepared to enter into an existence wherein we shall receive more than we can receive in this state—where we can adopt in our lives principles of exaltation and progres– sion faster than we can here. Let us apply our minds to wisdom in this life.

The Latter-day Saints who dwell in these valleys have left their all to gather with the Saints, and for the express purpose of preparing for the coming of the Son of Man. When we consider this, and then consider how we spend our time—the precious time allotted to us in this life—to me it is a matter of astonishment. Men and women for slight causes make shipwreck of faith, lose the spirit of the Gospel, losing the object for which they left their homes and their friends. We are all searching for happiness; we hope for it, we think we live for it, it is our aim in this life. But do we live so as to enjoy the happiness we so much desire? There is only one way for Latter-day Saints to be happy, which is simply to live their religion, or in other words believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ in every part, obeying the gospel of liberty with full purpose of heart, which sets us free indeed. If we will, as a community, obey the law of God, and comply with the ordinances of salvation, then we may expect to find the happiness we so much desire, but if we do not pursue this course we cannot enjoy the unalloyed happiness which is to be found in the Gospel. To profess to be a Saint, and not enjoy the spirit of it, tries every fiber of the heart, and is one of the most painful experiences that man can suffer. Let not the Latter-day Saints deceive themselves, let them not pursue a course that will bring sorrow to their hearts instead of joy and peace. Let them not flatter themselves that they will receive salvation in the kingdom of God while living in the neglect of their duties. Unless we live our religion and sanctify ourselves by the law of God, we flatter ourselves in vain that we shall be made instrumental in the hands of God in preparing the way for the coming of the Son of Man, for the redemption of Zion according to the words of the prophets, for the redemption of the earth, for the gathering of the children of Israel to the lands of their forefathers, for the ushering in of the fullness of the Gentiles and the reign of universal peace. These are serious matters with me, and should be looked upon as such by all the people.

It is true that we are weak, feeble, frail, and prone to wander from the paths of righteousness. We are made subject to vanity, still it is our duty to bring into subjection to the law of Christ all the powers of our natures. If we thus subdue the wicked man that is within us, sanctifying the Lord God in our hearts, we may then begin to enjoy the glorious hope of joining the throng that will be gathered with the sanctified, and of being prepared for the coming of the Son of Man, when it will be said—“Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him.” Now, will we deceive ourselves and be found among the foolish virgins, with no oil in our vessels; and when the wheat and the tares are separated, shall I be found a tare or a wheat? Let us ask ourselves the question, am I a wheat or a tare? The proof as to whether we are tares or wheat may be seen in our lives, as it is written—“For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” Again, “not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” This is the proof—keep the commandments, observe the ordinances, and preserve the institutions of Christ’s Church inviolate, doing all things that are required of us, as unto the Lord, sanctifying ourselves before Him, and, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” By pursuing this course no person who is a true follower of Christ will be left without a witness, for “if any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself.” I am satisfied that no man can live faithfully according to the requirements of heaven without having the testimony of the Spirit that they are born of God; but if they do not live so, they have no such assurance, for the Lord is under no obligation to give them the witness of the Spirit, but if they live as He requires them He will fulfill unto them His promise. He is held to this according to His own word to His children that He would send unto them the spirit of promise, even the Holy Ghost, which will show them things to come.

When I speak to the Saints I include myself. I profess to be a Saint with the rest of my brethren and sisters, and my public and private life is the proof whether I am truly a Saint or not. This is not all, but the spirit which I possess and communicate to the people is another proof, and the spirit which you possess and communicate to your neighbors is the proof by which you are known, as it is with myself. If we walk in obedience to the covenants which we have made with God and one another, we have the assurance that we shall walk no more in darkness, but in the light of life—in the light of the countenance of our heavenly Father. Then we can bear witness that we are born of God, and testify of Jesus as being the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth; and we then can strengthen our brethren, and are prepared to speak the truth to a wicked world and call upon them to repent, and forsake their sins, return unto the Lord, seek salvation, and make their peace with God before it is too late.

A great many good people, who possess much of the spirit of the Lord, are naturally given to doubting, having so little self-reliance that they sometimes doubt whether they are Saints in truth or not. These often doubt when they should not. So long as they are walking humbly before God, keeping His commandments, and observing His ordinances, feeling willing to give all for Christ, and do everything that will promote His kingdom, they need never doubt, for the Spirit will testify to them whether they are of God or not. There are some who are always fearful, trembling, doubting, wavering, and at the same time doing everything they can for the promotion of righteousness. Yet they are in doubts whether they are doing the best possible good, and they fear and fail here and there, and will doubt their own experience and the witness of the Spirit to them.

As we are now partaking of the emblems of the body and blood of the Savior, I will refer to this ordinance of the house of God, and ask the Latter-day Saints to call to mind their own feelings on this subject, as a testimony regarding their faith and assurance. Do you delight to partake of the sacrament of the Lord’s supper? Would you assemble yourselves together here, Sabbath after Sabbath, for the express purpose of partaking of the broken bread, and of this water that has been prepared, as a witness to God, our Father, that we have received the Gospel of His Son, that we do delight in His words, and in keeping His commandments and requirements, thus testifying to our Heavenly Father, and to His Son Jesus Christ, that we are the disciples of Jesus? Would you leave your homes in the distant parts of the city to bear this witness and attend a meeting to observe this ordinance? The great majority of this people would do this Sabbath after Sabbath, month after month, and year after year, if they were left entirely to their own choice, without the interference of bishops and teachers, while a few would consider it not convenient to attend meeting, because the witness of the Spirit is not in them. Again, do we delight to call upon the Father in the name of Jesus—is it our joy and happiness to do so? Do we believe that He will hear our prayers, and that we shall receive benefit from our petitions to Him in the name of Jesus? Do we rely upon Him, and are we acquainted with His character in the least degree? Have we any knowledge of Him? Let us answer these questions in our own minds, that we may ascertain whether we do delight to bow down before Him to ask for the things which we need, and seek unto Him for His Spirit to guide us, and preserve us from all danger, that we may not wander into by and forbidden paths and fall out by the way, but be kept constantly in the narrow path which leads to life everlasting. Is it our pleasure to do good to our fellow creatures, by traveling far away from our homes and friends to preach the gospel to a perishing world? This applies to the Elders of Israel, and also to the mothers and daughters and sons of those Elders. Do they delight to part with their husbands that they may go and call upon the nations to repent of their sins? Is it a joy to them to bear the burdens of a family in the absence of their husbands, preserving everything they have left? Is it a pleasure for the Elders to travel among the nations without purse or scrip, traveling from people to people, and from neighborhood to neighborhood, submitting to the finger of scorn and the abuse of the wicked and ungodly?

I will here say, however, that I have been treated kindly when traveling among strangers to preach this gospel. I do not know that I ever asked for a meal of victuals without obtaining it. Still, I have seen enough from the experience of others to know the real feelings, and to understand the desires of the ungodly concerning the Elders of Israel. They do not desire them any good.

If you can answer these questions in the affirmative, it is a testimony to you that you delight in the things of God, that you delight in building up His kingdom, that you delight in the Zion of the Lord as established in latter days. The answer of every faithful heart to these questions is—Yes, I delight in these things, and these are so many evidences that they are of God. Do we delight to feed the poor and clothe the naked? We do. I am happy in my reflections, it is a source of gratification to contemplate facts as they are, and I can say of a truth that I have done more, probably a hundred times over, for my enemies in feeding, clothing, and lodging them, and doing them good than they all ever did for me. Has a minister of religion ever passed through this country and been refused the privilege of speaking in any of our places of worship? No. Can the vilest of the vile enter into a house belonging to a Latter-day Saint and complain of suffering for food, and be turned away unsupplied? It is no matter whether they are Christian, Pagan, or Jew, they can tarry overnight and be made as comfortable as the family can make them, and they can depart in peace and safety. Can the Elders of Israel say this of the world? They cannot.

Whether it is a credit to me or not, that is with the Lord, but He has given me the ability that whenever I have wished to receive favors from those who knew me not I have obtained them. I know it is the custom of many Elders to say, “I am a ‘Mormon’ Elder; will you keep me overnight?” and he is at once spurned from the doors of the stranger. Whether it is a credit to me or not, I never told them I was a “Mormon” Elder until I got what I wanted. I have thus stopped at many a house, and had the privilege of introducing the principles of our religion, and they have exclaimed, “Well, if this is Mormonism, my house shall be your home as long as you stay in this neighborhood,” when, perhaps, if I had said, “I am a ‘Mormon’ Elder” at the first they would have refused me their hospitality. I can say to the world they used me pretty well, and I have no fault to find with them in this respect. I have been abused sometimes by priests, but on such occasions I have ever been ready to defend the cause of righteousness and preach the gospel to all. The Elders of Israel have received more kindness from the infidel portions of mankind where they have traveled, than from those who profess Christianity.

Thousands of the Elders of Israel who are now occupying these valleys are now willing, if called upon, to leave their families and homes to go and preach the Gospel in all the world, and be abused, and cast out and suffer poverty and want for the Gospel’s sake. Is not this a witness that you are right before God? It is. You are willing to feed and clothe the needy, and send means out of your scanty supplies to foreign lands to gather the poor Saints from those old countries; and it is marvelous in my eyes what the people have done within a few months back. About the 5th of February last we found that we could only raise about from eight to nine thousand dollars to send to Europe for the poor. Elders Hiram B. Clawson and Wm. C. Staines started for New York on the 17th of the month. Last Conference I had faith that the Lord would favor us and multiply means. When we came to send away the means we had, we were able to send 25,000 dols. with the brethren. This means was contributed in small amounts; but it is marvelous how it came in. We have exercised faith in this matter, and now we are able to send 25,000 dols. more, and we have not touched a bushel of wheat or a hundred of flour nor an animal that has been turned in, and the means keep coming in, and it comes more and more, and they will continue to give until the emigration is over. This is a witness to the people that they are right before high Heaven in these things, that the Elders are right in going to preach, that their wives and mothers and daughters are right in preserving their means and property from wasting in the absence of their natural guardians. They are right if they delight in coming to meeting to partake of the sacrament, and to bow down before the Lord and worship Him. They are right in feeding the poor and in paying their tithing.

I will here say to the Latter-day Saints, if you will feed the poor with a willing heart and ready hand neither you nor your children will ever be found begging bread. In these things the people are right; they are right in establishing Female Relief Societies, that the hearts of the widow and the orphan may be made glad by the blessings which are so abundantly and so freely poured out upon them. And, inasmuch as we have embraced the fullness of the Gospel with honest hearts, the Lord has sworn by Himself that He will save us if we will continue to be obedient to His will. It is our privilege to seek unto Him and obtain His Spirit to witness unto us continually regarding our labors and works, that we may always know whether we are in the line of our duty or not.

This is the gospel; this is the plan of salvation; this is the Kingdom of God; this is the Zion that has been spoken and written of by all the Prophets since the world began. This is the work of Zion which the Lord has promised to bring forth. We are right when we pray for our neighbors, for our brethren and friends, and for our enemies. We are right when we are striving to become of one heart and of one mind. We are right when we are humble before the Lord, when we are as willing to forgive as we are to be forgiven. We are right in educating our children, and while we strive to be educated in every useful branch of an English education, let us also be learned in every moral and physical attainment; let us learn how to take care of and preserve ourselves and friends, how to plant, how to gather, how to build up, and how to beautify.

The Saints in these mountains are a stalwart, athletic people. They have a great capital of bone, muscle, and sinew on hand. When this is not employed in the establishment and maintenance of various industries, in prudent, economical labor, the employed doing justice to the employer, working to do good for their own benefit and the benefit of the Kingdom of God, gathering around them in abundance the comforts of life, the great capital which God has given to us as individuals and as a people is wasted. This reminds me of what I said to the people of Provo. They naturally might have expected that they were going to be made more prosperous as a city by the money which we should take there. I told them that we brought nothing but knowledge to direct them in their labors and to teach them how to employ their time. This is the greatest wealth we possess—to know how to rightly direct our labors, spending every hour advantageously for the benefit of our wives and children and neighbors. This is right and commendable; it is required by Him whom we say we serve, and it is the only true way to fill honestly the mission we have here upon earth. We should not only learn the principles of education known to mankind, but we should reach out further than this, learning to live so that our minds will gather in information from the heavens and the earth until we can incorporate in our faith and understanding all knowledge which is useful and practicable in our present condition and that will lead to life eternal.

Ye wise men of the world, ye men who profess to know how to guide the destinies of great nations, ye kings and potentates, ye emperors and rulers, who of you could take a people as poor and as ignorant in the affairs of this world as the Latter-day Saints were when they were scattered abroad among the nations, and gather them together, organize them politically and religiously, and show them how to become healthy, wealthy, and wise like this people? Statesmen and rulers can lay waste and destroy, but who of them can build up, enrich, and save the nation? They are not to be found. They give no evidence of possessing the capacity, for the proof of the ability of men to rule and manage is their works. I told them at Provo I would teach them how to get rich, in wasting no time, and wisely disposing of all ability which God has given them to do good.

I have not spoken of the wrong, and I wish never to have an occasion to do so, that I may never have occasion to find fault with Israel again. It is the good I delight to dwell upon and promote and encourage. I delight to see the inhabitants of Zion increase in good works, in faith and faithfulness, and let sin pass behind, while they go on valiant and strong in the service of God. If we will hearken to counsel we shall be the best people in the world; we shall be as a bright light set upon a hill that cannot be hid, or like a candle upon a candlestick. We declare it to all the inhabitants of the earth from the valleys in the tops of these mountains that we are the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—not a church but the church—and we have the doctrine of life and salvation for all the honest-in-heart in all the world. Who else has got it? Is it to be found in the creeds of Christendom? It is not. We have the living oracles of the Lord Almighty to lead us day by day. In consideration of these things we should be exemplary in all our actions. We may do great works for the good of the poor, we may give all our goods to feed them, and our bodies to be burned for the work of God, yet if we trifle with the sacred name of the Lord, and with our own salvation, it will profit us nothing, and we shall be found wanting, with no oil in our vessels in the great day of the Lord.

High Councilors, do you have any trials before you? “Yes.” Have the brethren complained of each other? “Yes.” Are their feelings alienated one from the other? Is there a party spirit manifested in the Council? “Sometimes.” Do the brethren go off satisfied with the decisions of the Council? Bishops, do you have any trials? Are the feelings of the brethren in your Wards alienated? “Yes.” What should they do in such cases? They should follow the rules laid down, and be reconciled to their brethren forthwith. I think that it can be shown that the great majority of difficulties between brethren, arises from misunderstandings rather than from malice and a wicked heart, and instead of talking the matter over with each other in a saint-like spirit, they will contend with each other until a real fault is created, and they have brought a sin upon themselves. “Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art in the way with him, lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily, I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.” When we have done good ninety-nine times and then do an evil, how common it is, my brethren and sisters, to look at that one evil all the day long and never think of the good. Before we judge each other we should look at the design of the heart, and if it is evil, then chasten that individual, and take a course to bring him back again to righteousness.

I want you to learn all you possibly can, and teach your neighbors, giving them all the information you can. When I see a brother or a sister refuse to impart knowledge, I know there is something wrong in the heart of that person. I am here to do good, and to teach my brethren and sisters to sanctify themselves, to get their food, to build cities and make farms, to teach them to accumulate knowledge, and then dispense it to all.

I hope to see the time when we shall have a reformation in the orthography of the English language, among this people, for it is greatly needed. Such a reformation would be a great benefit, and would make the acquirement of an education much easier than at present. I say to fathers and mothers, never say a word that you would not be willing your son and daughter should say, or commit an act you would not sanction in your son or daughter, and so walk before your children that they may be prepared by your example to walk in the ways of life everlasting, and they will not depart from them; and if they, notwithstanding your example, should become froward in their feelings, and unruly, they will soon see the folly of their ways and turn to their parents and acknowledge their faults and again wish to be feasted at their father’s table. Parents should never drive their children, but lead them along, giving them knowledge as their minds are prepared to receive it. Solomon has written, “He that spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.” I do not think that these words of Solomon will justify the ruling of children with an iron hand. Chastening may be necessary betimes, but parents should govern their children by faith rather than by the rod, leading them kindly by good example into all truth and holiness.

Our children who are born in the Priesthood are legal heirs, and entitled to the revelations of the Lord, and as the Lord lives, his angels have charge over them, though they may be left to themselves occasionally. We should learn our own nature, and live worthy of our being. When Jesus Christ was left to himself, in His darkest hour, he faltered not, but overcame. He was ordained to this work. If we should ever be left to ourselves, and the Spirit withdrawn from us, it will be to try the strength of our integrity and faithfulness, to see whether we will walk in His ways even in a dark and cloudy hour. At times our children may not be in possession of a good spirit, but if the parent continues to possess the good spirit, the children will have the bad spirit but a short time. Parents who are Latter-day Saints are the ruling power; they are the kings and queens. Rule in righteousness, and in the fear and love of God, and your children will follow you. May God bless you. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Old Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, February 16th, 1868.

I am thankful that I have the privilege of meeting with you; I am thankful for the blessings of this day, and that I live in this age of the world. The beginning of this dispensation of the fullness of times may well be compared to the commencement of a temple, the material of which it is to be built being still scattered, unshaped and unpolished, in a state of nature. I am thankful that the way is being prepared, and that we have the privilege of erecting a spiritual and moral superstructure—a temple of God. I am happy to be a member of this community; it is my joy, my delight to perform the little services which God has given me ability to do for the temporal and spiritual welfare of the children of men, for the establishment of the kingdom of God upon the earth, and for the bringing forth of His laws.

We have been gathered to the valleys of these mountains for the express purpose of purifying ourselves, that we may become polished stones in the temple of God, for it is written, “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out.” Christ is represented as a living stone, chosen of God and precious, and the Apostle represents the Saints “as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” We “are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the Saints and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone, in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth into an holy temple in the Lord.” Then my brethren, “what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” We are here for the purpose of establishing the kingdom of God on the earth. To be prepared for this work it has been necessary to gather us out from the nations and countries of the world, for if we had remained in those lands we could not have received the ordinances of the Holy Priesthood of the Son of God, which are necessary for the perfection of the Saints preparatory to His coming.

The great work of the gathering in the last days was plainly seen by the ancient Prophets and Apostles, and the glory of Zion was portrayed to them by the Spirit; but the sufferings and labors and toils and travels of the Saints to bring about the grand results which they saw they have not particularly described, for very likely the minutiae were not revealed to them; still they plainly saw by the spirit of revelation that the Saints would be gathered in the last days to be perfected and sanctified to become the bride, the Lamb’s wife. I suppose that the visions of the Lord and the revelation of His Spirit given to His faithful people in former times, relating to the Zion of the last days, were much the same as they are when given to His people in our days. When we first receive the Spirit of the Gospel we receive great joy therein, great peace, and great satisfaction to our minds; and we are carried away in the Spirit to behold the beauties of Zion, and to contemplate the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Our brethren and sisters far away among the nations, when they received the gospel, and the spirit of revelation came upon them, delighted to contemplate the gathering of the Saints, it was a matter of joy to them to dream about it and think about it when they would awake from their slumbers. They would reflect upon it through the day, and talk about it in their prayer meetings, and in their prayer circles at home, the subject of gathering to Zion was constantly before them if they lived so as to enjoy the spirit of their religion. This spirit caused their hearts constantly to rejoice; it was not the journey across the sea and across the plains that gave them joy, but it was the contemplation of Zion in its beauty and glory, for they could not see the troubles and disappointments, perplexities and vexations they would have to pass through in gathering to Zion, nor did they think of the hardships they would have to endure after they were gathered. So the ancients viewed the glory of Zion in the last days.

We cannot now administer the further ordinances of God in the fullest sense of the word legally unto the people, neither shall we be able to do so until we have a temple built for that purpose. Some may consider that I am notifying our common foe in saying this, but it is true, notwithstanding, and our common foe knows it. We must be situated in local circumstances wherein we can efficiently administer in those ordinances of the house of God that cannot be administered to a people while they are scattered abroad among the nations of the wicked. The Apostle John no doubt saw in vision, by the spirit of revelation, Zion in her beauty and perfection, and that Zion would have to be built up by the gathering of God’s people out of Babylon. Under the influence of the same spirit the Psalmist exclaims—“Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.” “He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people. Gather my Saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” The High Priest Caiaphas, under the influence of the same spirit of prophecy, foretold that Jesus should die for the nation; “and,” as John says, “not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.” The gathering previously foretold is now being accomplished, and wherever the children of men are, if there are individuals among them who would delight to be disciples of the Lord Jesus, forsake sin and sinful company and practices, they are called upon to gather out from the wicked and assemble themselves together at some place designated by the finger of the Almighty. This work the Lord commenced over thirty years ago, and it is still progressing; the call is still to His people among the nations of the earth—Gather out of her my people, be not partakers of her sins lest ye receive of her plagues. When the righteous are thus gathered they will then be prepared for the coming of the Messiah.

It was remarked by Elder Woodruff that he did not think it would be a hundred years before the Savior will come. It is no matter about when he will come; I do not think the Father has yet been pleased to reveal it to any man upon the earth, and I do not known that He has revealed it to the angels. He had not done so in the days of the Savior, and I do not think that He has yet revealed it. Whether He comes today, tomorrow, this week, next week, this year, or next year, it matters not; we should be prepared for His coming, and this should satisfy us. It is our duty to make a close application of the requirements of heaven to our lives, and qualify ourselves to accomplish the work which the Lord has committed into our hands. How can we perform this work? Can we do it by every man turning to his own way, and by following the vain imaginations of his own heart? No, we will all decide at once that we never can perform this labor without being guided and directed by the Lord himself, through the means which it pleases Him to use to bring about the perfecting of His people, to prepare them for the glory which is to follow. I would not question the truth of the statement that the people ordered their lives before the Lord and their neighbors while they were scattered among the nations more perfectly than they do here in many instances, for there they had nothing to try them only the com– mon enemy, and the finger of scorn pointed at them by unbelievers, which made them cling closer to their God; they had not the trials to undergo which the Saints have here. If it is necessary for us to be tried in all things, then weep not, mourn not because we are tried, neither let us object to the Lord directing our course in that path wherein the trials necessary for our perfection lie. If it is in sailing across the sea in ships, in being sick and cast down, in witnessing the sorrow of our dear friends, in receiving temptations and trials to which we have before been strangers; if it is in crossing the country from the United States to this place, by railroad or by ox team, no matter how, the Lord leads His people in this way expressly to give them trials which they have not passed through before, and which it is necessary they should have. While it is necessary that we should be tempted and tried, it is not necessary that we should give way to temptation.

The Latter-day Saints are often drawn into circumstances that are most peculiar, and sometimes very trying, yet there exists no other people on the earth who enjoy the privileges and the freedom that we do. Our laws are often trampled upon with impunity, and the offender goes free. The members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints often commit sins that if they were to commit in the world would cut them off from the church antichrist, yet we retain them as members of the Church of Christ in mercy, and in consideration of the weaknesses of poor human nature, and they pass along unscathed, receiving the fellowship of their faithful brethren and sisters with the hope that they will reform and learn to live their religion more faithfully.

It is absolutely necessary that the Saints should receive the further ordinances of the house of God before this short existence shall come to a close, that they may be prepared and fully able to pass all the sentinels leading into the celestial kingdom and into the presence of God. Our brethren and sisters who are scattered abroad must be gathered to be tried, and then to be blessed with a preparation for a glorious reward. This people will be tried more or less while they remain in the flesh; they may even be called as Abraham of old was to offer up that which is the most dear to them of all earthly objects for the Gospel’s sake. Some have already forsaken all and followed Christ; they have left their children, their husbands, their wives, their brothers and sisters and dear friends, some hoping again to see them, and many never expecting to see them again in this life. We shall be tried in all things, and the Lord is now disposed to try us by calling upon us to be of one heart and of one mind, to submit to be guided and dictated, governed and controlled by Him through the constituted authorities of His kingdom. We should not consider this a trial above what we can bear.

Is the wife tried because her husband wishes to dictate her and give her good and wholesome advice? Is somebody tried because his bishop wishes to control him for his good? Your bishop is very likely doing the best he can to advise the members of his ward for their best good. Does he advise you to do wrong? All the members of that ward who are full of faith and the power of God will be of one heart and mind with their bishop, and will go with him in all things, and while union continues in the Lord, He will cause every move they make to culminate for the greatest good to that people and the cause of truth. If a bishop counsels the people of his ward to swear shall they swear? No. If he counsels them to steal shall they steal? No. If he counsels them to lie and bear false witness shall they do these wrongs? No. If he teaches them to break the Sabbath shall they break the Sabbath? No. If a bishop or any other officer in this Church shall counsel the people to violate any of the laws of God, and to sustain and build up the kingdoms of this world, I will justify them, and the Lord will justify them in refusing to obey that counsel. But if they counsel you to do right, which they do, take their counsel. Instead of supporting antichrist we have agreed to give our time, our talent, our substance, our all, for the building up of the kingdom of God.

Do right, and you will be tried all you wish to bear, and if you overcome, being made perfect through suffering, your reward will be eternal life in the kingdom of God. Do wrong, and continue in doing wrong, and you will have trials more than you can bear, and be damned at last. When we receive chastisement let us not be discouraged, but be more faithful, enduring temptation, hardship, and perplexity, trusting in God, and walking in the light of His countenance day by day and hour by hour. By pursuing this course our life will be a cheerful and happy one even in the midst of severe trials. We have now some little trial to endure, but not much. We are part of a great nation; it has been one of the happiest and best nations that has ever existed with regard to liberty, the greatness of its institutions, and the land which it occupies. The Lord says—Let my servants and handmaidens be sealed, and let their children be sealed. This great and happy government under which we have lived so long says we shall not perform the ordinance of sealing. This may be a small trial to us for the moment. We shall see who will conquer—whether God will have His way in making manifest His purposes and having them fulfilled, or whether the wicked will have their way. They have had it, and have succeeded many times in overcoming the Saints and destroying them to that degree, causing them to apostatize, and putting them to death, that the Priesthood was taken from the children of men; but this is the last dispensation, and we shall see whether they succeed in this kind of proceeding now as they have formerly done.

The Lord has revealed His will for His servants to take more wives than one. Our government says that a man shall not have but one wife, though he may have as many mistresses as he pleases; he may ruin and destroy as many of the daughters of Eve as he pleases; but he is forbidden to acknowledge but one as his wife. The government says you shall only have one wife; the Lord says take unto yourselves wives; and Saints obey the Lord, and we shall see who will come off victorious. The ordinance of sealing must be performed here man to man, and woman to man, and children to parents, etc., until the chain of generation is made perfect in the sealing ordinances back to father Adam; hence, we have been commanded to gather ourselves together, to come out from Babylon, and sanctify ourselves, and build up the Zion of our God, by building cities and temples, redeeming countries from the solitude of nature, until the earth is sanctified and prepared for the residence of God and angels.

Our enemies say we shall not do this, and here will be a trial, as it has been for a long time past. One of the first objections that was urged against Joseph Smith was that he was a money digger; and now the digging of gold is considered an honorable and praiseworthy employment. They are hunting for gold all over the country, doing the very thing which they condemned in him. The next fault they found with Joseph and the Saints was that they were stirring up the slaves to rebellion against their masters; and this was published abroad. Have they not done, and are they not now doing, the very thing for which they falsely blamed the Saints? The next accusation was that the Saints took more wives than one. Whether they will make one grand sweep of it in the future, and all conclude to take more wives, I cannot say. I wish they might; I do not, however, wish this for any private benefit it will be to me or to God’s people, but that they may make women honorable wives whom they now destroy, and conduct themselves more like human beings who bear the image of God than they now do before Him. It is for their own sakes that I wish this, and for the sake of the unfortunate females whom they outrage. I would like you to behold your little darling sisters and daughters here throwing themselves in the way of the Gentiles. Any Mormon brother or father who can suffer this to go on without reproof or advice must be ignorant of the consequences. The Lord says to the sons of Israel, take the daughters of Israel to wife, and make them honorable, and let them multiply and replenish the earth, and fill up the measure of their creation, that their names may be had in honorable remembrance to the latest generation on earth and in eternity. Supposing that the Latter-day Saints had possessed the city of New York for the last twenty years, as they have these valleys of Utah, and the young women of that city from sixteen years of age to twenty-one had been in the hands of Mormon Elders as wives, how many would have now been living and honorable mothers of a bright, intelligent, and vigorous race of men and women, that have met an untimely grave, husbandless, childless, friendless, disgraced, and forgotten? Under such circumstances there would have been now living in honor, according to moderate calculation, from two to four hundred thousand females, whose filthy and corrupted remains are now mingling with the dust of that sinful city.

This is a waste of life. Who will be answerable to God in the day of judgment for such acts? The voice of the Lord is gather out from her, my people, that ye partake not of her sins nor of her plagues, and build temples to My name, and seal up My sons and daughters to eternal life, to prepare them for My coming, for “the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion; and also the Lord shall have power over His Saints, and shall reign in their midst, and shall come down in judgment upon Idumea, or the world.” For, behold, the days are coming in which they shall say—“Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the paps that never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, fall on us, and to the hills, cover us. For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” Devouring flames have already taken hold of the dry tree, and the hand of God in judgment is beginning to be felt by this nation, and soon will be upon all nations under heaven. Who will acknowledge the hand of God in the sufferings, travails, and deliverance of this people from the hands of their persecutors, and His handiwork in sustaining them in the wilderness, through sorrow, affliction, poverty, and wretchedness? All the faithful Saints will do it; but how few outsiders, as we call them, will stop to pray to God in the name of Jesus to know if this work is true; they pass it by as a thing of nought, as unworthy of their attention; they are so absorbed in the affairs of this world that the preparation for the next scarcely enters into their thoughts, and many of this class are honorable men.

I rejoice when I contemplate the work of the last days, and survey the Saints in their possessions in Utah. I have but one text which I desire to keep before them—it is to forsake their sins and become united as one man in the purpose of all their temporal acts, that their labors may all center in the building up and sustaining of God’s kingdom instead of building up the kingdoms of this world.

For their consolation I will say to my brethren and sisters that we have had a very happy time on our short visit in the south, and I think I never experienced greater peace, sweeter peace, than I have done on our short visit to Provo a week ago. We left the city a week ago last Friday, and returned again to this city on the Tuesday following. We had a most excellent meeting at American Fork, and everybody and everything seemed to cry peace on earth and good will to men. When we returned home we found rumors that there had been difficulty in Provo, and some of the brethren had been killed. Br. Heber C. Kimball, in conversing upon this subject in the School of the Prophets, remarked that the brethren voted that we should go to Provo and that the angels of the Lord should accompany us, but he did not expect that they would all go with us and leave you without any. There are good Saints in Provo, and they want to be better Saints; they may have committed errors, but when you arrive at the truth of the matter, they wish to be Saints. We are all called to be Saints, to be filled with the purity of God, and with the power of the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus—the spirit of revelation—we are called from darkness into light, from error to truth, from the power of Satan to the living God, we are called from the kingdoms of darkness to the kingdom of God and light, and, by and by, we shall be chosen because we are worthy, and it will be said to us: “You have lived the life of a Saint, now you are chosen to be an heir of the celestial kingdom of our Father and God.” Let us not forget, my brethren and sisters, the gathering of the Saints for sanctification and preparation to inherit all things. Let us live closer to our duty, that we may be sanctified and be prepared to dwell together in the celestial kingdom, which may God grant. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered at Provo, Saturday, February 8th, 1868.

I am happy in the privilege of meeting with you. We have come here to lay before you matters pertaining to the building up of the kingdom of God upon the earth. The remarks which you have just heard from Brother George A. Smith are to the point. As far as I am acquainted with the inhabitants of Provo I think they are as good a people as those who dwell in Salt Lake City or in any other settlement in Utah Territory. I think much of Provo; it is a very favored locality. We have established a school of the prophets in Salt Lake City. It is written in a revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, August, 1833—“Be hold, I say unto you, concerning the school in Zion, I, the Lord, am well pleased that there should be a school in Zion.” And when speaking of the President of that school, it is written—“And I will bless him with a multitude of blessings, in expounding all scriptures and mysteries to the edification of the school and of the Church in Zion.”

When the school of the prophets was inaugurated one of the first revelations given by the Lord to His servant Joseph was the Word of Wisdom. The members of that school were but a few at first, and the prophet commenced to teach them in doctrine to prepare them to go out into the world to preach the gospel unto all people, and gather the elect from the four quarters of the earth, as the prophets anciently have spoken. While this instruction prepared the Elders to administer in word and doctrine, it did not supply the teachings necessary to govern their private or temporal lives; it did not say whether they should be mer– chants, farmers, mechanics, or money changers. The prophet began to instruct them how to live that they might be the better prepared to perform the great work they were called to accomplish. I think I am as well acquainted with the circumstances which led to the giving of the Word of Wisdom as any man in the Church, although I was not present at the time to witness them. The first school of the prophets was held in a small room situated over the Prophet Joseph’s kitchen, in a house which belonged to Bishop Whitney, and which was attached to his store, which store probably might be about fifteen feet square. In the rear of this building was a kitchen, probably ten by fourteen feet, containing rooms and pantries. Over this kitchen was situated the room in which the Prophet received revelations and in which he instructed his brethren. The brethren came to that place for hundreds of miles to attend school in a little room probably no larger than eleven by fourteen. When they assembled together in this room after breakfast, the first they did was to light their pipes, and, while smoking, talk about the great things of the kingdom, and spit all over the room, and as soon as the pipe was out of their mouths a large chew of tobacco would then be taken. Often when the Prophet entered the room to give the school instructions he would find himself in a cloud of tobacco smoke. This, and the complaints of his wife at having to clean so filthy a floor, made the Prophet think upon the matter, and he inquired of the Lord relating to the conduct of the Elders in using tobacco, and the revelation known as the Word of Wisdom was the result of his inquiry. You know what it is, and can read it at your leisure.

So we see that almost the very first teachings the first Elders of this Church received were as to what to eat, what to drink, and how to order their natural lives, that they might be united temporally as well as spiritually. This is the great purpose which God has in view in sending to the world, by His servants, the gospel of life and salvation. It will teach us how to deal, how to act in all things, and how to live with each other to become one in the Lord. There is no question but that the waste places of Zion will be built up, that temples of God will be reared, and the Elders of Israel will enter into them and perform ordinances for the redemption of their dead friends back to Adam; but do you know the method of operation by which this will be brought about? Do you understand the workings of this great machinery of salvation to accomplish the great end for which we are looking? With all of our experience we have but a very scanty or partial knowledge of this great work. We say that we will enter into this business or that business to suit our own tastes and notions, without thinking whether our proceedings will advance the kingdom of God or not, and when strangers come into our midst we are too apt to strengthen their hands, to destroy the very Zion which we are trying to build up. It may be that those who do this are not aware of the evil which they commit in taking this course; for while we encourage and strengthen those who are not of us, at the same time we firmly believe that scripture of the revelator respecting the separation of the Saints from the wicked—“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.”

We have met in these valleys of the mountains with an eye to the perfection of the Latter-day Saints as individuals or as a community, that instead of every man turning to his own way, all should be willing to be controlled by the God of heaven. We have established a school in Salt Lake City for the instruction of the Elders of Israel in the doctrines which are contained in the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Book of Doctrine and Covenants, etc., and that is also the place where questions may be asked, and instructions given touching all doctrines and principles that may be entertained by them. That is also the place where correction may be given and explanations be made upon all matters which pertain to the temporal and spiritual lives of the Saints. It is about two months since that school was established.

There have been petitions presented to the Legislature and much said concerning the division of this county. While cogitating upon this matter in our class, it came to me very forcibly to make a proposition for a few men to go to Provo and comfort the hearts of the brethren here, to show them the necessity of becoming one, of laying aside all individual bickerings, of overlooking and forgiving the weakness of one another, and of uniting our faith together to make this one of the most beautiful and lovely cities of Zion. Why not do this, brethren? I believe I made the motion myself before the class for President B. Young and President H. C. Kimball to go to Provo and make homes there, and live there a portion of the time; others were also named to do the same. If the brethren of the city of Provo are willing for us to dictate and guide them, and make our homes with them, we will try to do them good, and teach them the ways of life and salvation, and show them how to overcome the darkness so natural to the human mind, and give them extended ideas on the building up of the kingdom of God on the earth.

I have been informed by your presiding Bishop that this day was set apart for the people to make nominations for their municipal election. At the meeting for this purpose the people will have an opportunity of expressing their views and of making their nominations. If we would live according to the laws of God, be contented to live according to the rules and regulations of the Holy Priesthood, we should have but little use for probate courts, district courts, or supreme courts in our Territory; their existence here would only be in a name and form, for the people would live above the laws of man. We should have very little use for anything else in the shape of Government but the Priesthood, which is after the order of the Son of God. The Jews and Gentiles have of late brought some of their difficulties before the High Council in Salt Lake City for adjudication, in preference to going before the District Court; and the High Council, I believe, has invariably given satisfaction when such cases have been brought before it. This is a step in the right direction—to settle all matters without having recourse to law, which would do away with the necessity of employing and paying lawyers, court fees, etc. If we could ever see the time when we will live according to the laws of the Lord as given to us, and never suffer ourselves to transgress the wholesome, just, and righteous principles and rules which they inculcate for our guidance, we could live within ourselves, sustain ourselves, and make ourselves rich—rich in the knowledge of God and in the possession of this life. If we could learn to sustain one another and the interests of the kingdom of God, we would advance in the wealth of this world much faster than to sustain those who have no interest whatever with us. I would delight much to see a people who would actually live the principles of the Holy Gospel in every respect. But we are careless and thoughtless; we are not ignorant of the fact that we are continually making ourselves poorer by our unwise proceedings. This is grievous to behold. If every man in this Church would consent to be guided by the dictations of the Holy Priesthood in all their business transactions, dealing honestly with one another, giving to every man his due, instead of making a few rich and a great many poor, we would all become rich together, and have every convenience and appliance which is calculated to give comfort and happiness to man. We have got now about ten thousand dollars for the gathering of the poor, and a number of cattle of various kinds and ages, which we shall sell as soon as possible for money. If we had the money which the people have squandered by their injudicious trading, and by wrongly applied labor, we should have means sufficient to gather every poor Saint in the old world.

I can see the foolishness of the Elders of Israel in wandering here and there with their produce to make gain, and trying to undersell each other; they have always lost by this proceeding, whereas if they had stayed at home they would have made money. Every man who has property and means should live so as to obtain wisdom to know how to use them in the best possible way to produce the greatest amount of good for himself, for his family, and for the kingdom of God; but instead of taking this course it does appear that the great majority of the Elders of Israel are crazy to run here and there to get rid of what they possess at any price. What for? Do they do this to build up the Kingdom of God? “Have you built a good house?” “No.” “What have you got?” “Folly, folly, weakness, and poverty.” When we can get the people to stay at home, and observe the law of God, we have the things of God for them, and the things of the world too as soon as they are prepared to receive them and make a good use of them. It grieves me to see the people take such special pains to make themselves foolish and miserable. I am speaking of the community, and it is the one man, the one woman, and the one child multiplied that makes the great nation or people. Let us learn wisdom and govern ourselves accordingly.

We shall hold meeting among you today and tomorrow, and I hope the people of Provo will be benefited by our visit, and I pray that they will apply their hearts to understand, receive, and treasure up, and bring forth truth to the glory of God. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Old Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, January 12th, 1868.

I feel happy for the privilege of again speaking to the Latter-day Saints in this city; and I am also happy for the privilege of being a member of this Church. In this I am exceedingly blessed, and I can say of a truth, that my soul drinketh of that “river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.” I am full of peace by day and by night—in the morning, at noon, and in the evening, and from the evening until the morning. I am extremely happy for the privi– lege of living with those who are seeking to do the will of God. We are gathered together in the tops of these mountains for the express purpose of building up Zion, the Zion of the last days, the glory of which was seen by the prophets of the Almighty from the days of old. “And they shall call thee,” says Isaiah, “The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.” “The Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.” We are removed far away from those who bore rule over us and oppressed us, and who deprived the Saints of their constitutional rights. The Lord has led His people to a land where they can enjoy as much liberty as they are disposed to live for. There is no oppression here; there is no people on earth who have as few encumbrances upon their spiritual and temporal rights as the Latter-day Saints in these mountains. We have all liberty, yet we are not at liberty to do wrong in this community, and have it sanctioned, although many do wrong, which wrongs are in many cases overlooked and forgiven.

The law of liberty is the law of right in every particular—that is, if we understand it to mean the privilege of doing anything and everything to promote the peace, happiness, and well-being of mankind, whether in a national, State, Territorial, county, city, neighborhood, or family capacity, with a view to prepare them for the coming of the Son of Man, and to have a place in the presence of their Father and God. Shall we say that we enjoy this law of liberty to the fullest extent? We do, in fact, and no power can deprive us of it. We have a good and wholesome government, when it is administered in righteousness and equity, and its laws scrupulously obeyed; and it guarantees to all their political, religious, and social rights. We have the privilege of worshipping God according to the dictates of our own consciences, and according to the revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is true our consciences are formed more or less by circumstances and by the effects of early teachings, until we enter upon the stage of action for ourselves. Parental influences upon the growing organization of the unborn infant have much to do in giving character to conscience. But we always have the privilege of answering a good conscience. We have the privilege of praying as many times a day as we please; we have the privilege of praying from morning until evening and from evening until morning without anyone to molest us. We have the privilege to meet in a congregational capacity in our great public meetinghouses, or in our ward meetinghouses, to attend to our sacraments and fasts, and there to tarry, when we are thus assembled, as long as we please without any restrictions whatever.

There are circumstances in which it would be right to restrict a person even in prayer and worship. For instance, if a man should hire another to work for him so many hours a day, for which he agrees to pay him so much, the employed is thereby bound by the conditions of the agreement to work the number of hours stipulated, that he may justly collect his pay, for he is not paid for praying, nor for holding religious meetings and religious conversations with his fellow workmen. If this may be called a restriction upon the free exercise of religion, it is a just one, for the restriction itself becomes a religious duty in order that mistaken notions of religious freedom may be corrected. In such a case we would not say that a person is in the least degree abridged in the free exercise of his religious privileges, but rather, by keeping him to a faithful observance of his agreement, he is made to exemplify one of the foremost principles of true religion—namely, honesty. If a man has sufficient to supply his wants, and the wants of those who depend upon him, and can, without infringing upon the rights of others, afford to pray all the day long and then all the night long, he is free to do so.

A great many instances might here be introduced to illustrate wherein men should not be permitted to do as they please in all things; for there are rules regulating all good societies and the business intercourse of men with each other, which are just and righteous in themselves, the violation of which cannot be countenanced either by civil or religious usages. It is not the privilege of any man to waste the time of his employer under any pretence whatever, and the cause of religion, good government, and humanity is not in the least degree advanced by the practice, but the contrary is really the case. Men should be abridged in doing wrong; they should not be free to sin against God or against man without suffering such penalties as their sins deserve.

I have looked upon the community of the Latter-day Saints in vision and beheld them organized as one great family of heaven, each person performing his several duties in his line of industry, working for the good of the whole more than for individual aggrandizement; and in this I have beheld the most beautiful order that the mind of man can contemplate, and the grandest results for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God and the spread of righteousness upon the earth. Will this people ever come to this order of things? Are they now prepared to live according to that patriarchal order that will be organized among the true and faithful before God receives His own? We all concede the point that when this mortality falls off; and with it its cares, anxieties, love of self, love of wealth, and love of power, and all the conflicting interests which pertain to this flesh, that then, when our spirits have returned to God who gave them, we will be subject to every requirement that He may make of us, that we shall then live together as one great family; our interest will be a general, a common interest. Why can we not so live in this world? This people have been gathered together for a further purpose than to prepare them to be one in the faith of the doctrine of Christ, to be one in the proclamation of the Gospel in all the world; to be one in our obedience to the ordinances of the house of God. All this we could have done in the different countries from whence we have been gathered out. We could have lived and died there, as many have, in faithfulness to the spiritual requirements of our religion, if the Lord had not had in view a great spiritual and temporal purpose in gathering His people from the four winds. The order of God among men is not complete without a gathering. Hence Jesus says—“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.” And because they would not be gathered and avail themselves of the great blessings consequent upon it, their house was left unto them desolate, etc.

We are gathered together expressly to build up the kingdom of God. We are not gathered together to build up the kingdom of this world. The voice of God has not called us together from the uttermost parts of the earth to build up and enrich those who are diametrically opposed to His kingdom and its interests. No, but we are gathered together expressly to become of one heart and of one mind in all our operations and endeavors to establish Christ’s spiritual and temporal kingdom upon the earth, to prepare for the coming of the Son of Man in power and great glory.

When the everlasting gospel is preached by the power of the Holy Ghost, the minds of those who are honest and worthy of the truth are opened, and they see the beauty of Zion and the excellence of the knowledge of God which is poured out upon the faithful. Such men and women have seen in the revelations of the Spirit that God would gather His people even before the gathering was taught to them by the servants of God; and they understood the great object of the gathering, they saw that the people of the Lord could not be sanctified while they remained scattered abroad among the nations of the Gentiles. When the people first receive the Spirit you may ask what you will of them, and they will yield it in a moment; their submission to God and the counsels of His servants is almost complete. They are ready to give their substance, their houses and lands, they are ready to leave all and follow Christ; they are ready to leave their good, comfortable, happy homes, their fathers and their mothers, and their friends; and some have left their companions and their children for the gospel’s sake, and all this because of the vision of eternity which has been opened to their minds so that they beheld the beauty of Zion, and they sacrifice all to gather to the home of the Saints.

We have been assembled together from among all nations to be corrected in our lives and manners, and for purification before the Lord. We have come up to these mountains through trials and tribulations and perplexities, and what do we see when we come here? The fatigues of the journey have proved and tried the souls of many, so that they have faltered in their faith; the light of the Spirit within them has become darkened and the understanding benighted. They look for perfection in their brethren and sisters, forgetting that in the vision of the Spirit they saw Zion in her perfection and beauty, and that this state must be obtained by passing through a strict school of experience. When they arrive here they find the people like themselves, subject to many weaknesses of the flesh, and some giving way to them every day. The great majority of the people are apt to lose the Spirit they at first possessed through the cares of the world and the many afflictions they pass through in gathering together from the distant nations of the Gentiles, and through looking for perfections in others which they do not find and which they themselves do not possess. Notwithstanding this there exists no other community so dissimilar in their education and training, and yet so agreed in theological and civil polity as we are.

What does the Lord want of us up here in the tops of these mountains? He wishes us to build up Zion. What are the people doing? They are merchandising, trafficking and trading. I wish to view them as they are and where they are. Here is a merchant—“How much have you made this year, 1867?” “I have made sixty thousand dollars.” “Where did you get it? Did the merchants in the east or the west give it to you?” “No.” “Who did give it to you?” I answer that this poor people, the Latter-day Saints, who have gathered together in their penury, have put this means into the hands of the merchant. He has got it from a people, a great number of whom have been helped here by the means of others; and when they get a dime, a dollar, ten dollars, they carry it at once to the merchant for ribbons, artificials, etc., making him immensely rich. We all have our pursuits, our different ways of supplying ourselves with the common necessaries of life and also its luxu– ries. This is right, and the possession of earthly wealth is right, if we follow our varied pursuits, and amass the wealth of this life for the purpose of advancing righteousness and building up the kingdom of God on earth. But how easy it is to wander from the path of righteousness. We toil days and months to attain a certain degree of perfection, a certain victory over a failing or weakness, and in an unguarded moment, slide back again to our former state. How quickly we become darkened in our minds when we neglect our duties to God and each other, and forget the great objects of our lives.

The purpose of the Lord is to get the Saints together, and then preach to them the doctrines of the kingdom of God by the voices of His servants, and it is the duty and the privilege of all His people to conform to them in their lives, in all their daily pursuits, until they became one in all things, in every day’s operations in life, for the obtaining of our bread and meat and clothing of every description, being one in the exercise of our ability in gathering together the various comforts of life around us, sustaining ourselves and the household of faith, and still being kind to the stranger. The Lord has not called us here to make our enemies rich by giving to them our substance for considerable less than it has cost us to produce it from the elements. They would use that means for our destruction. This course is against the mind of the Holy Spirit, against the mind of the angels who watch over us, against the commandments of the Almighty, against the mind of every faithful and true Latter-day Saint, and against the cause of God and truth. As Elder Orson Hyde has said, I would that all the inhabitants of the earth would repent of their evil ways and become righteous, and then work the works of righteousness all their days.

As Latter-day Saints it is our business, morning, noon, and night, all the day long, all the week long, all the month long, all the year long, and all our life long, to sustain those who sustain the kingdom of God. Does not the religion which we have embraced incorporate everything which is in heaven and earth and under the earth? Yes, if there is a truth among the ungodly and wicked it belongs to us, and if there is a truth in hell it is ours. Everything that will produce good to the people is within our religion. With our religion we have embraced all good, but we have not engaged to sustain the powers of Satan and the kingdoms of this world. We have left them and engaged to sustain the good—the wine and the oil—until we become one, and act as with one voice in maintaining every temporal and spiritual interest of the political kingdom of our God on earth, whose officers shall be peace and whose exactors shall be righteousness. Our judges will be of our own selection, who will deal out justice and righteousness to the people. We are looking forward to this state of things. We expect to see the day when there will be none in our midst but those who are for God and truth and who are valiant for His kingdom on earth. As the Prophet has said—“Thy people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.” We are longing for this state of things, then why not begin to work for it today? Why not commence the work today by ceasing to do evil, by ceasing to give strength to the hand which would pierce us through with many sorrows? Why not begin today by sustaining those who will sustain the kingdom of God? This is my text for the Latter-day Saints, and I wish it to be constantly held before them until they exemplify it in their lives, by becoming of one heart and of one mind in all things in righteousness and holiness before the Lord.

To observe the Word of Wisdom is nothing more than we ought to have done over thirty years ago. Touching this matter, I tell the people the will of God concerning them, and then they are left to do as they please in obeying it or not. It is a piece of good counsel which the Lord desires His people to observe, that they may live on the earth until the measure of their creation is full. This is the object the Lord had in view in giving that Word of Wisdom. To those who observe it He will give great wisdom and understanding, increasing their health, giving strength and endurance to the faculties of their bodies and minds until they shall be full of years upon the earth. This will be their blessing if they will observe His word with a good and willing heart and in faithfulness before the Lord.

I am talking to the bishops continually almost, giving them instruction and advice, but it is hard for them to get the people to be guided by them. Now, for example, we will take the least ward in the city, and suppose the people all consent to be guided and controlled by the word of the Lord in all things, to be faithful in their labor and in the discharge of every duty, being economical, prudent, and industrious in all their labors, taking care of everything, abstaining from the use of spirituous liquor, tea, coffee, and tobacco, etc., also to let doctors alone, and faithfully abide the word of the Lord relating to the sick, manufacturing what they need to wear, and raising what they need for food; saving their dollars as they happen to get them by the sale of some of their products, sustaining themselves in all things, wanting only what they can produce in the country from the elements and the labor of their hands—suppose, I say, they were to take this course, three years would not pass away before the people of that ward would be able to produce everything they need in life. Thus, by a union of purpose and a concentration of action, that little ward would soon be able to buy out their neighboring wards, who would persist in pursuing the opposite course; and perhaps fifteen years would not pass away before this prudent ward would be able to buy out and own this whole city, if they continued to do as they were desired to do, and the rest of the wards pursued their own way. I pray my brethren the Bishops, the Elders, the Seventies, the Apostles, yea, every man and woman and child who has named the name of Christ to be of one heart and of one mind, for if we do not become of one heart and mind we shall surely perish by the way.

Before I close my remarks I will again remind my brethren and sisters that we have a duty to perform in sending for our brethren and sisters who are in foreign lands. We wish to gather them together. As to whether they will stick to the faith after they are gathered I know not, neither do I care. It is better to feed nine unworthy persons than to omit feeding one who is worthy among the ten. So it is with clothing the needy and sending for the poor. They must have the same opportunities for salvation that we have, for the neglect of which they will be held accountable in the day of judgment as we will also be. Let us send for the poor. We are doing consi– derable, though we are not doing as much as we should do. If I could only have power sufficient with God I think I should accomplish the desire of my heart in this matter and that of my brethren and sisters. We do desire to have our friends relieved from their bondage, and brought to these valleys of the mountains to share with us the blessings we enjoy. It would be a blessing to the poor if we could only exercise the faith that Elijah had in the case of the widow’s meal and cruse of oil, that the little we do get for the emigration of the poor may accomplish, under the blessing of God, much more than is natural for us to expect from it. If we can only obtain faith to multiply the means we do get, we may make a little reach out so far as to accomplish the desires of our hearts.

May God bless you. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Old Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, December 29th, 1867.

It is said that short visits make long friends, and short sermons perhaps make interesting meetings. I am sure this is the case sometimes. I am thankful for the privilege of being instructed, and of meeting with a people who manifest by their lives a desire for improvement. I am thankful that we have the privilege of meeting in this tabernacle from Sabbath to Sabbath. Last Sabbath I referred to the meager congregations that generally attend in the morning, and today I really expected to see every seat in this house occupied. I cannot think that the people are sleigh riding, for there is no snow; neither can I conclude that they are in the canyon, for the roads cannot be traveled. I do not think that they are fishing at this season of the year; neither can they all be in attendance at Sabbath schools. Then what are they doing? Are they praying, resting, sleeping, or wasting their time in frivolous and unprofitable employment? We are happy to see large congregations of the Saints in the afternoons. This is the only public meetinghouse in which meetings are held in the morning and afternoon on the Sabbath day in this city. The people of Great Salt Lake City make to one point to attend meeting in the morning and afternoon, unlike the people of the large cities of the world. I have seen them go to meeting in some of those cities, and I cannot compare them to anything that will describe them as they appeared to me better than the inhabitants of an ant hill. They run in all directions, the Methodists jostle against the Baptists, and the Baptists against the Presbyterians, and the Presbyterians against the Quakers, &c.

Let the people come to meeting, and hear what is said, and if any of you are not instructed to your satisfaction, be so kind as to send up a card to the stand, intimating your desire to speak, and we will give you an opportunity of doing so, to display your wisdom; for we wish to learn wisdom and get understanding.

We are in a great school, and we should be diligent to learn, and continue to store up the knowledge of heaven and of earth, and read good books, although I cannot say that I would recommend the reading of all books, for it is not all books which are good. Read good books, and extract from them wisdom and understanding as much as you possibly can, aided by the Spirit of God, for without His Spirit we are left in the dark. I have very frequently urged upon the people to live so that they can enjoy the spirit of revelation, even that intelligence which proceeds directly from heaven—from the fountain of all intelligence. Do this people live so? Yes, measurably. We improve slowly, and as brother George A. Smith has said, we do not improve fast enough. I acknowledge that this people are improving, and I am proud of it. When I address the throne of grace in prayer, I am happy to be able to thank God that the Latter-day Saints are striving to order their lives correctly before Him. I am pleased, I am happy, I am full of comfort, of joy, of peace, because of the progress this people are making; and yet I see how easy it is for a person to slide backward, and get into darkness and blindness of mind. We are prone to wander, and do that which our inclinations bid us do; like the boys with their sleds, we go up hill very slowly, but rush quickly down again. We are too apt to be slow to learn righteousness, and quick to run in the ways of sin. The adversary of our souls is constantly watching to decoy us from the path of truth and duty to God, until we become reckless in our disobedience to His commandments and to the counsels of His servants. There is one path—one line to follow to obtain and continue in the love and light of the Lord, which is, as it were a compass to direct the Saint to the haven of safety, and it will not vary, for its directions are sure.

We have many duties to perform, and a great work is before us. We have Zion to build up, and upon this we are all agreed, but we differ more or less respecting the modus operandi for we wish, in the majority of instances to follow the dictates of our own inclinations. We do this too much for our good. If the people will live so as to be directed continually by the light of the Spirit of the Lord, they never will go much astray. In many instances our anxieties, our desires, and our wills are so great that we actually plead with the Lord to allow us to bend duty a little particle for the purpose of accomplishing what we wish. We are pleased to do this, and to do evil also, hence “man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.” We are very prone to wander. Let the people watch themselves lest they take a course that will lead them into darkness, and they know not the things of God, and be left to believe a lie instead of the truth. What is that which turns people away from this Church? Very trifling affairs are generally the commencement of their divergence from the right path. If we follow a compass, the needle of which does not point correctly, a very slight deviation in the beginning will lead us, when we have traveled some distance, far to one side of the true point for which we are aiming. When men take upon themselves strength, depending upon their own wisdom, light, and knowledge, saying—“I am right, and I care not what anybody else says;” and, “I will do thus and so on my own responsibility,” asking no odds of God and His servants. “If I wish to go to the north, south, east, or west, or follow this or that employment, or pursue this or that course to obtain the necessaries of life, it is my affair, and I cannot see that any other man has anything whatever to do with it.” I say, if we thus arrogate to ourselves strength, wisdom, and power, and think that we can judge for ourselves in all things independent of God and His servants, then are we liable to be led astray. Every man and woman who walks in the light of the Lord can see and understand these things for themselves; but through our anxiety, and over desire to have our own way, we often swerve and turn to the right or to the left of the true line of our duty. How often have we sealed blessings of health and life upon our children and companions in the name of Jesus Christ and by the authority of the Holy Priesthood of the Son of God, and yet our faith and prayers did not succeed in accomplishing the desires of our hearts. Why is this? In many instances our anxiety is so great that we do not pause to know the spirit of revelation and its operations upon the human mind. We have anxiety instead of faith. When a man prophecies by the power of the Holy Ghost, his words will be fulfilled as sure as the Lord lives; but if he has anxiety in his heart, it swerves him from the thread of the Holy Gospel, from the true thread of revelation, so that he is liable to err, and he prophesies, but it does not come to pass, he lays his hands upon the sick, but they are not healed. It is in consequence of not being completely molded to the will of God. Do we not realize that this is so? And do we not realize that we should constantly strive to live in the counsel and light of God day by day, and hour by hour? If we do this we shall certainly make sure to ourselves a celestial inheritance.

We have gathered the best people from among the nations of the earth, and yet we are not so good as we should be. Why are we not as good as we should be? Because we have eternal light and knowledge here, and no person is deprived of the privilege of asking and receiving of God for himself, but we do not all avail ourselves of this great privilege. We are not like others who are called by men to go on missions to the world, we are called of God, and carry with us true credentials, not the credentials of Paul, Peter, or any of the old Apostles and servants of God, who used them a thousand years ago, but we have the living oracles and the Holy Priesthood restored in our day, giving authority to men in the nineteenth century as in days of old. Having this authority, and these great advantages, we should be better than anybody else. We have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have received in our faith the fullness of the gospel, we have yielded obedience to God’s commandments, obeyed the ordinances of His house, receiving them in our faith and practice, and these we have received through apostles and prophets, called of God, in our own age, as was Aaron. These blessings and callings the Almighty has revealed in this as in all ages for the benefit of finite beings, that through obedience to the gospel, eternal life in the presence of God might be brought upon all who endure to the end in righteousness. By obeying the ordinances of God, mankind glorify God, but if they do not obey Him, they do not detract one particle from His glory and power. Although all His children should wander from the holy commandments, God will be glorified, for they are left to choose for themselves, to choose death instead of life, darkness instead of light, pain instead of ease, delight, and comfort. This liberty all beings enjoy who are created after the likeness and image of God, and thus they become accountable for their own actions. The commandments of God are given to us expressly for our benefit, and if we live in obedience to them we shall live so as to understand the mind and will of God for ourselves, and concerning ourselves as individuals. This is a subject upon which a great deal can be said, but I shall not follow it at this time.

I exhort my brethren continually to live so that they may have the light of the Holy Spirit in them, to know their duty, and when they know their duty fully it will be to follow truly those whom God has placed over them to lead them as a community, as a people, as a kingdom of God; it will be to obey the counsel that is given them from time to time. What does the man who understands the spirit of his religion believe with regard to his own affairs, with regard to his life, with regard to his business transactions, &c.? He believes that it is his privilege to be dictated by the constituted authorities of the church of God and the spirit of revelation in all things in his mortal life. There is no part of his life that he will consider exempt from the guidance and dictation of the Priesthood of the Son of God.

We wish the Latter-day Saints to meet at their respective houses, erected for that purpose, on the day appointed for a fast, and take with them of their substance to feed the poor and the hungry among us, and, if it is necessary, to clothe the naked. We expect to see the sisters there; for they are generally first and foremost in deeds of charity and kindness. Let the hearts of the poor be made glad, and let their prayers and thanksgiving ascend unto God, and receive an answer of rich blessings upon our heads. I think I told you last Sabbath that I would mention this subject again today.

If you would be healthy, wealthy, full of wisdom, light and knowledge do all you can for the kingdom of God. I expect that there are brethren who are well to do, who can command their thousands, who consider that their business crowds them this year, and they do not see how they can give anything for the gathering of the poor Saints. I have a word of consolation for such. You, merchants, mechanics and farmers; yea, everyone; let me console you, and say to you, keep your money, and pay your debts, and buy your teams, and your farms, and your goods. You think I am speaking to you ironically. Well, I acknowledge to you that I am. You keep all, and do not apply one dollar for any purpose outside of your business, and I will promise you, in the name of the Lord, that you will be poorer than you would have been if you had given of your substance to the poor. Do you consider these hard words? They are true words. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the gold and the silver are all his; and he throws up the precious metals to view whenever he pleases, and when he pleases he sends his messengers to hide them in the bowels of the earth, beyond the reach of man. He also closes the eyes of wicked gold hunters, that they cannot see them; but they walk over them, and leave them for the righteous to gather in the due time of the Lord. Now, you who think that you must keep your means and that you cannot spare a portion to gather the poor another year, remember that you will not get rich by so doing. You may ask what I am going to do? I am going to get rich, for I calculate to give considerably more to gather the poor than any other man; because I want to be richer than any other man. I want more, because I believe I know what to do with it better than most of men.

These are a few words of consolation to the brethren who wish to keep their riches, and with them I promise you leanness of soul, darkness of mind, narrow and contracted hearts, and the bowels of your com– passion will be shut up, and by and by you will be overcome with the spirit of apostasy and forsake your God and your brethren.

I see around me a great people. Joseph Smith was called of God, and sent to lay the foundation of this latter-day kingdom. He presided over this people fourteen years. Then he was martyred. Since that time your humble servant has presided over and counseled this people; he has directed the Twelve Apostles, the Seventies, the High Priests, and every quorum and department of the Melchizedek and Aaronic Priesthoods, guiding them through the wilderness where there was no way into a dry, barren land. For the space of twenty-four years he has watched over their interests, holding at bay their enemies, teaching them how to live, and redeem this country from the barrenness and desolation that have, for many generations, made it unfit for the habitation of man. What man or woman on the earth, what spirit in the spirit world can say truthfully that I ever gave a wrong word of counsel, or a word of advice that could not be sanctioned by the heavens? The success which has attended me in my presidency is owing to the blessings and mercy of the Almighty. Why I have referred to this is to show you that I realize the importance of obeying the words of the Lord, which he gives through his acknowledged servants. When revelation is given to any people, they must walk according to it, or suffer the penalty which is the punishment of disobedience; but when the word is, “will you do thus and so?” “It is the mind and will of God that you perform such and such a duty;” the consequences of disobedience are not so dreadful, as they would be if the word of the Lord were to be written under the declaration, “Thus saith the Lord.”

Now, I say to the people, will you gather the poor? To the Elders I say, will you carry the Gospel to all the world? Blessed are they who obey when the Lord gives a direct commandment, but more blessed are they who obey without a direct commandment. For it is written: “It is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward. Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in no wise lose their reward. But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with a doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned.” I say this that you may understand that I feel just as patient, and just as kind towards the Latter-day Saints as a man’s heart can feel, and am careful to take every precaution in directing their steps to the possession of eternal life in the presence of God that none may be lost. My course is not to scold, but to persuade and entreat the people to do their duty, holding before them the reward of faithfulness. It requires all the care and faithfulness which we can exercise in order to keep the faith of the Lord Jesus; for there are invisible agencies around us in sufficient numbers to encourage the slightest disposition they may discover in us to forsake the true way, and fan into a flame the slightest spark of discontent and unbelief. The spirits of the ancient Gadiantons are around us. You may see battlefield after battlefield, scattered over this American continent, where the wicked have slain the wicked. Their spirits are watching us continually for an opportunity to influence us to do evil, or to make us decline in the performance of our duties. And I will defy any man on earth to be more gentlemanly and bland in his manners than the master spirit of all evil. We call him the devil; a gentleman so smooth and so oily, that he can almost deceive the very elect. We have been baptized by men having the authority of the holy Priesthood of the Son of God, and consequently we have power over him which the rest of the world do not possess, and all who possess the power of the Priesthood have the power and right to rebuke those evil spirits. When we rebuke those evil powers, and they obey not, it is because we do not live so as to have the power with God, which it is our privilege to have. If we do not live for this privilege and right we are under condemnation.

I know that the Bishops in this Church are improving, and are better men, and they should lead and dictate their Wards still better than they do.

It may be asked, should not brother Brigham lead the people better? No doubt he should. Will you hearken to one little saying? I can say, follow me as I follow Christ, and everyone of us is sure to go into the celestial kingdom of our God, God being our helper. Can all the Bishops say this? I think not in every case. But are they improving? They are and that is not all, they will continue to improve, and they will become wise leaders of the people. They should be fathers to their Wards. They are looked upon as such by the people; and their example has its effect for better or for worse, and they should be foremost in every good word and work, to be successful in leading the people into the celestial kingdom of God.

Here is a great people, and we have called upon them to contribute of their substance to gather the poor Saints from abroad another year. It is now nearly three months since we commenced to call upon them for means to apply in this way. Means for this purpose does not come in so readily as we think it should. Now, I will mention a single circumstance in this city to show you that there is money in the country. One mercantile house in this city traded in one month forty-one thousand dollars. If one house can sell this amount of goods in a month, surely we can gather considerable for so laudable a purpose as the gathering of our poor brethren and sisters to a place where they can be fed and clothed, and taught further in the things of God. Yet, for all this, we are improving as a people; but do we serve God with a perfect heart and a ready and willing mind? We do not. If the Latter-day Saints will put into my hands one-twentieth part of the means that go into the hands of their enemies, I think we can gather up every poor saint there is in the old country. Will they do this? I do not expect they will. My brethren are willing to go and preach the gospel in all the world. I would like to see them just as willing to assist in gathering them home. The kingdom of God is the safest institution on earth in which to invest means. We are citizens of His kingdom and members of His church, and we realize that we have to suffer all things for the gospel, but it will make us richer than we can possibly be in any other work. May God bless you. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Old Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, November 17th, 1867.

We have great reason to be thankful for the blessings we enjoy as individuals and as a people. There is no other people on the earth, that we have any knowledge of, who are blessed to the same extent as this people called Latter-day Saints. If we are blessed more than others, we should be more thankful than others. The blessings and bounties of the Lord upon us are bestowed according to our faithfulness and obedience to the requirements made of us. We have seen times in our history as a people, that if the hand of God had not been immediately over us, we must have perished. But to secure His blessings the Lord requires the strict obedience of His people. This is our duty. We obey the Lord, Him who is called Jehovah, the Great I AM, I am a man of war, Eloheim, etc. We are under many obligations to obey Him. How shall we know that we obey Him? There is but one method by which we can know it, and that is by the inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord witnessing unto our spirit that we are His, that we love Him, and that He loves us. It is by the spirit of revelation we know this. We have no witness to ourselves internally, without the spirit of revelation. We have no witness outwardly only by obedience to the ordinances.

About the time I was preparing myself to embrace the gospel, there were great reformation meetings, and many professed to be converted. Those were very stirring times. The cause of religion was the great topic and theme of conversation, and preachers were full of zeal to bring souls to Christ through repentance and faith in His name. I recollect very distinctly that if I permitted myself to speak in any of their meetings, the spirit forbade me mentioning or referring to the testimony of Jesus, only in a superficial way. A few who believed in the everlasting gospel which had been revealed through Joseph, the prophet, testified in their meetings that they knew by the spirit of revelation that God had done thus and so, and they were hooted at immediately by those reformers. If I spoke at all in their meetings, I had to guard every word I uttered, lest I should offend those who professed to understand the gospel of life and salvation, but who did not. Gradually we broke through this fear, and ventured to utter the sentiments of our hearts, in faith before God, delivering that to the people which the Lord had revealed to us. Such is the condition of the professed religious portions of Christendom today. They refuse to receive the testimony of Jesus through revelation from His spirit; but they believe in the mutterings, whisperings, and rappings of low, foul, degraded spirits, who delight to lead astray rather than to guide to the truth. They “Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter; should not a people seek unto their God for the living to the dead?” Unless we are willing to be guided by the revelations of the spirit of the Almighty, by obeying and living up to the principles of His gospel, we are as apt to believe one thing as another, and to be influenced by, and follow the dictations of a bad spirit as a good one. We have the same testimony as the faithful followers of the Lord Jesus had anciently.

The scriptures made use of by Elder George A. Smith this morning, show the way in which the former Saints became the sons of God. “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” Who did receive Him and believe on His name? Did the Jews as a nation? No. Did the Gentiles as nations? No. A few Jews and a few Gentiles only received Him and believed on His name. When the gospel was preached to the Jews and to the Gentiles, a few had ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts that understood by the spirit of revelation; they believed the sayings of the Savior, and received the Lord Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah. It is written, “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do; for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth.” Again, it is written, “For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me.” The disciples believed the words of the Savior, and proved to Him and to His apostles that they were sincere and honest in their belief. Thus they were entitled to the spirit of revelation through their obedience. They asked and they did receive, “not the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father. The spirit itself bearing witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.” While the same Holy Spirit, or comforter, becomes the testimony of Jesus to all true believers, “He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment;” for in the days of the Savior many who did not receive the gospel were pricked in their hearts, and they did perish, although convinced of its truth. And so it is today; wherever the gospel is preached by the Elders of this Church many are pricked in their hearts, and they testify in their own conscience that it is from heaven, and yet they will not receive the gospel, and perish in their sins. They smother the spirit of conviction within them, and go into greater darkness than before. “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” When a man or woman anciently renounced the Jewish religion, or any of the sects of it that then existed among the Jews, forsaking every mode of worship excepting that which Jesus introduced, it was regarded as a sufficient testimony that they were honest—that they were born of God—and all the sincere and honest believers received the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy, and received power to become His sons.

I think, however, that the rendering of this Scripture is not so true as the following, namely: “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to continue to be the sons of God.” Instead of receiving the gospel to become the sons of God, my language would be—to receive the gospel that we may continue to be the sons of God. Are we not all sons of God when we are born into this world? Old Pharaoh, King of Egypt, was just as much a son of God as Moses and Aaron were His sons, with this difference—he rejected the word of the Lord, the true light, and they received it. For “this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.” Then we receive not the gospel that we may become the sons of God, but that we may remain the sons of God without rebuke. Inasmuch as all had apostatized, they had to become the sons of God by adoption, still, originally, all were the sons of God. We receive the gospel, not that we may have our names written in the Lamb’s book of life, but that our names may not be blotted out of that book. “For,” saith the Lord, “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life.” Why? Because he had overcome through his faithfulness. My doctrine is—that there never was a son and daughter of Adam and Eve born on this earth whose names were not already written in the Lamb’s book of life, and there they will remain until their conduct is such that the angel who keeps the record is authorized to blot them out and record them elsewhere. These are my views on that intricate point, but we are satisfied to use this Scripture as it is rendered by our translators.

I now wish to make an application of this to our own day. By what means shall the people of this generation become the sons and daughters of the Almighty? By believing on the Lord Jesus Christ? Yes. How shall they know that they believe in Him? By yielding obedience to the gospel as it is revealed to us in this generation, at the same time believing in all that has been revealed to others until now, concerning the children of men, the character of God, the creation of the earth, the ordinances of the Lord’s house, the oracles of truth—believing in all things that have been revealed to mankind from the time that the Lord first began to reveal His will to them. Now, we say to the people of the nineteenth century, and we speak the truth and lie not, whosoever believes that Joseph Smith, Jun., was a prophet sent of God, and was ordained by Him to receive and hold the keys of the Holy Priesthood, which is after the order of the Son of God, and power to build up the kingdom of God upon the earth, to gather the house of Israel, to guide all who believe and obey to redemption, to restore that which has been lost through transgression—whosoever believes this, believing in the Lord, and obeying His commandments to the end of their lives, their names shall not be blotted out of the Lamb’s book of life, and they shall receive crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal life. This is for the nineteenth century, for the generation of people now living, and who lived thirty or thirty-seven years ago. I am not now preaching to a congregation of unbelievers, but to the Saints; and I now say to you, Saints, and to the unbelievers, that all who reject the gospel, who despise the principles of life and salvation that have been delivered to us, they must taste of the second death if they do not repent. There may be some, however, who are so ignorant that repentance is yet left for them. This is the gospel that we preach, the testimony which we send forth to the world, inculcating strict obedience to the requirements of heaven, which is expected from all who embrace this gospel. For example, Joseph, the prophet, said to the Colesville branch, “sell your farms.” So he said to other branches, “gather up and let us go to the Ohio,” and they went, and from the Ohio to Missouri. Before we went to the Ohio, Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer Jun., Parley P. Pratt, and Ziba Peterson started in the fall of 1830 to visit the land where the Center Stake of Zion was afterwards located. When Joseph went up he located the city. Those who had farms and stores were instructed to sell out, to forsake all, to give to the poor, and to impart of their substance to sustain this elder, clothe another elder, and to send another on his mission, which they did, and up they got, and to the Ohio and to the Missouri they moved. What other people would have done this? They are not to be found in Christendom. While in Missouri they moved from county to county, and then back east into Illinois; for, thus said the Lord, through the prophet Joseph, return to Illinois, and there the prophet was killed. Then the word of the Lord to us was: gather up my people, and flee to the mountains, and hide yourselves, and there wait until you shall see the hand of the Lord made bare, and the wrath of the Almighty poured out upon the wicked nation that has consented to the death of my prophets. Impart of your substance, was the word of the Lord to them, and who were there in all those trains of Saints that did not impart of their substance? When we left Missouri we covenanted before the Lord that we never would cease our endeavors until the last man, woman, and child should be brought out of Missouri to Illinois who wanted to be moved. A few tarried in Missouri and apostatized. When the persecuted and driven Saints reached Illinois, the word of the Lord through the prophet Joseph was—gather up to Commerce, which was afterwards named Nauvoo. We did not lose sight of one Saint in Missouri, and gave our means to gather out the last and least Saint that would leave. When the word came—“gather to the mountains from Nauvoo”—we agreed before we left that city that we would use our means and our influence to gather the last Saint to the mountains. I have sent, time and time again, to inquire if there was a Saint in Nauvoo who wished to be gathered to these mountains. If there are any, let them come, for we have means and teams to bring them. This proves that we have kept our covenants. Now the word of the Lord is go forward—press on. The kingdom of God is onward and upward. The proof of this declaration is before me today.

Who believes Joseph Smith to be a prophet? These my brethren and sisters who are now sitting before me. They entertain no doubts on this subject. They may sometimes be tempted and tried, and neglect their prayers, until they hardly know whether “Mormonism” is true or untrue. The cares of the world, we know very well, flood in upon them; but let me tell you one thing—and I want you to seriously remember it—if you are in darkness, and have not the spirit of prayer, still do not neglect your prayers in your families in the morning. You, fathers and husbands, get down on your knees, and when the cares of this world intrude themselves upon your devotions, let them wait while you remain on your knees and finish your prayers. Brother Daniel D. Hunt’s blessing over a dinner in Missouri, when he and Benjamin Clapp first met, is a very good prayer for us all. It was: “O, Lord, save us from error.” If you can say no more than this very short but comprehensive prayer, go down upon your knees and say it. When you have labored faithfully for years, you will learn this simple fact—that if your hearts are aright, and you still continue to be obedient, continue to serve God, continue to pray, the spirit of revelation will be in you like a well of water springing up to everlasting life. Let no person give up prayer because he has not the spirit of prayer, neither let any earthly circumstance hurry you while in the performance of this important duty. By bowing down before the Lord to ask Him to bless you, you will simply find this result—God will multiply blessings on you temporally and spiritually. Let a merchant, a farmer, a mechanic, any person in business, live his religion faithfully, and he need never lose one minute’s sleep by thinking about his business; he need not worry in the least, but trust in God, go to sleep and rest. I say to this people—pray, and if you cannot do anything else, read a prayer aloud that your family may hear it, until you get a worshipping spirit, and are full of the riches of eternity, then you will be prepared at any time to lay hands on the sick, or to officiate in any of the ordinances of this religion. I do not recollect that I have seen five minutes since I was baptized that I have not been ready to preach a funeral sermon, lay hands on the sick, or to pray in private or in public. I will tell you the secret of this. In all your business trans– actions, words, and communications, if you commit an overt act, repent of that immediately, and call upon God to deliver you from evil and give you the light of His spirit. Never do a thing that your conscience, and the light within you, tell you is wrong. Never do a wrong, but do all the good you possibly can. Never do a thing to mar the peaceable influence of the Holy Spirit in you; then whatever you are engaged in—whether in business, in the dance, or in the pulpit—you are ready to officiate at any time in any of the ordinances of the House of God. If I commit an overt act, the Lord knows the integrity of my heart, and, through sincere repentance, He forgives me. Before Joseph’s death he had a revelation concerning myself and others, which signified that we had passed the ordeal, and that we should never apostatize from the faith of the holy gospel; “and,” said Joseph, “if there is any danger of your doing this, the Lord will take you to Himself forthwith, for you cannot stray from the truth.” When men and women have traveled to a certain point in their labors in this life, God sets a seal upon them that they never can forsake their God or His kingdom; for, rather than they should do this, He will at once take them to Himself. Probably this is so with many of the elders who are taken from us, and over whom many ignorantly mourn. I say, to God give thanks, for who knows but that had they lived there might have been trials to pass through which they could not overcome. It is all right, blessed be the name of the Lord.

May the Lord bless you. Amen.