Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, October 21, 1860.

I do not wish to be overzealous, to say the time is mine, or that I have the privilege, above others of my brethren, of speaking. I like to hear my brethren speak quite as well as to speak myself; but as there is time, I feel it my privilege to stand before the Saints and instruct, guide, and encourage them, and build them up in the faith of the holy Gospel.

The same principles and the same feelings that I imbibed when I embraced the Gospel of salvation are still within me, but in a greater degree. As you have frequently heard me say, there is nothing, except the Gospel of life and salvation—the power of God—that would ever induce me to become a public speaker. But the principles of eternal life are so engaging, so endearing, so lovely, so worthy of all acceptation, so sweet, so great, that I could not refuse; consequently, I have been striving for many years to perfect myself, with others, in the history, plan, knowledge, and ways of the Lord upon the earth, and in the holy Priesthood that is calculated to save the children of men. I delight in hearing my brethren speak. I do not know that I was ever more gratified in hearing a servant of God bring forth out of his storehouse the riches of eternity than I was, a week ago this morning, in hearing brother Hyde set forth the beautiful things pertaining to the kingdom of our God. I have been equally edified today, if I do not exactly agree with him in regard to the means for the further promotion of the kingdom of God, and bearing off his people. In the remarks I have heard from brother J. D. Ross, this afternoon, I am delighted. I drink, and I drink again, and am I still dry? I am at least still prepared for more; and the more I receive in my understanding, and the more my mind expands for the things of God, the better, seemingly, I am prepared to receive more and more.

I do not always entirely agree with some in their sayings; but my brethren, like myself, sometimes do not use the language best adapted to convey their ideas. For instance, I am not ready to confess as do some that I know nothing, and that I am a fool. I know a great many things, and I know them right. Brother Ross says that people are more willing to believe the testimony of men who have been dead many centuries than the testimony of living men. This, however, does not apply to me; for I delighted more in the voice of Joseph Smith than in all the voices of the dead Prophets I never heard. He was the living oracle of God with me; he was the medium through which the Lord spoke to me. Do you not think that his voice was delightful to me? Yes. When I read his letters, his sermons, his revelations, unless I am in the spirit by which they were dictated, they are lean to me to what they used to be when he was with us. They were rich, they were full of interest, full of good things, when I could see his face shine like an angel’s: they were then sweet as a honeycomb.

Before I had made a profession of religion, I was thought to be an infidel by the Christians, because I could not believe their nonsense. The secret feeling of my heart was that I would be willing to crawl around the earth on my hands and knees, to see such a man as was Peter, Jeremiah, Moses, or any man that could tell me anything about God and heaven. But to talk with the priests was more unsatisfactory to me then than it now is to talk with lawyers. If possible, the priests were then even more ignorant upon certain points than men are now. Did they know the first thing pertaining to salvation? No: they could not even tell that it was necessary to be baptized for the remission of sins. No man could tell me that, until I saw Joseph Smith. No man could say that the ordinances of God should be obeyed, that the same doctrine taught by Jesus and his Apostles is the only doctrine to save the people. They were divided and subdivided—split into small fragments, and every man was for himself.

I am delighted when I feel and enjoy the presence and power of that instruction given by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost: our hearts are made glad. You believed the Gospel in your native countries and took up your line of march to this desolate wilderness. If I might so speak, you have sacrificed all you have on earth that is near and dear to you for the sake of the Gospel. What made you do this? The spirit of revelation, the Spirit of God, the power of God. Is it not lovely? I am proud of, I am delighted in my religion—in my God. And when I speak of those who have persecuted this people and sought diligently to destroy us, using every endeavor and means they were master of to obliterate this people and kingdom from the earth, what do you suppose I think of them? I cannot speak it: language is too full of poverty, too obscure, too unmeaning for me to talk about it. Suppose you see two men in conversation, and one of them rises up to his Father and God with all deference, and, veiling his face, comes before him in all humility, while the other rises up and says, “Damn him, I am not afraid of him!” Which of the two would you love? And which of them would you hate? Both of them are his offspring; both of them live on his mercy, and are nourished and cherished by his bounty; and one says, “I am not afraid of him, but I will abuse his name and character, and deride his goodness!” And the other comes with his face veiled, saying, “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for thy mercy is over me continually, to preserve me; and through thy goodness I am permitted to come into thy presence!“ Which would you love the most? Language cannot express it.

When you contrast the religion that we believe with the religion that the world believes, with all their pomp, grandeur, wealth, and gaudy show, I look upon them with more disgust than I do upon the gates of hell—language cannot tell it. I am proud to say that I honor my God—that I love him—that I worship him; I am proud to call him my Father, while many are proud to deride and despise him. They are proud when they get together and curse and swear, damning and calling the name of Jehovah in vain, calling upon God to damn each other: they are proud that they have this audacity. They will sink into hell. I defy all the enemies of this work to think as diminutively of me as I do of them. There is just as much difference between their knowledge and mine as there is between light and darkness. Here we have the words of life, and do I not glory in them?

Paul gloried in the cross of Christ. Previous to that he was a poor, miserable, vain, wicked, abominable, corrupt creature, brought up as a servant in Gamaliel’s house, where they despised God and every Godlike principle. He held the clothes of the men that stoned Stephen to death, and consented to his death. The Lord appeared to him when he was on a mission to persecute his followers, and told him that he was a chosen vessel for the Lord to show forth, through him, his power. Paul gloried in the cross of Christ. He might have said that he gloried in having the privilege of paying the debt that he had contracted by his previous mean and evil treatment toward the Saints and Jesus Christ when he was upon the earth. He derided them, stoned them, laughed them to scorn, threw sticks after them in the streets, spat upon them, and was ready to raise a mob and do anything that was mean to afflict the Saints and servants of God. The Lord says—“I will show you that I have had my eye upon you, from before the foundation of the world, to make you a chosen vessel to bear my name where I would not send a man who had never persecuted my Saints.” Were I to meet brother Paul, he would say—“Brother Brigham, I have not received at the hands of my enemies more than I deserved. And when you were talking about me on the stand, on such and such a day, your eye was opened to see the path I had walked in.”

Do you not think that the Lord has his eye upon a great many? There is a passage of Scripture that reads thus—“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren,” &c. Whom did he not foreknow? I do not think there is anybody now on the earth, or that has lived before us, or that will come after us, but what he knew. He knew who would be his anointed; he has had his eye upon them all the time, as he had upon Moses, Pharaoh, Abraham, Melchizedek, and Noah, who was a chosen vessel to build the ark and save a remnant from the flood.

Did you ever hear the story of an old man that came to Noah when he was building the ark? “What, Mr. Noah, are you still at the ark? You are a veritable old fool, building an ark far away from any water! How are you going to float it?” “Wait a little while, and I will show you: by-and-by the Lord will break up the mighty deep and send forth the waters and drown the wicked.” “Oh, you are a fool, Noah! You had better build a good house, and plant and till the earth. I am going home,” &c. “Go on,” said Noah; “by-and-by you will learn that I am right.” They waited year after year, and by-and-by the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the rain began to descend. The old man came along, and Noah said to him, “What do you think now, neighbor?” “Oh, this is only a shower; it looks like clearing up; it will soon be over.” In a short time the old man came again, wading in water to his knees, when Noah said, “Well, what do you think now?” “Oh, it will soon clear away.” He came again, and that time he was paddling along in water up to his neck, and said, “Won’t you take me in, Noah?” “I have got my load; all who have received tickets are aboard, and those who have not tickets cannot come aboard. What do you think of it now, old man, is it only a little shower?” Then it was not, “Damn old Noah!” but they were crying, “Oh, Mr. Noah, take us in.” By-and-by it will be, “Mr. Smith, won’t you have a little compassion on us?” “No,” Joseph will say; “you would not take a ticket when I offered it to you by my brethren; you refused my tickets, and said it was ‘nothing but a shower, we guess it will pass off.’” According to the words of the Savior, “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the coming of the Son of man.”

“Brother Brigham, I think you talk pretty hard; for we feel very important, and we do not like to hear you speak against our charity and against our doings.” They assassinated Joseph Smith, and they drove us into the mountains, where, as they said, “the land is sterile and good for nothing,” and where the Indians would kill us, as they believed with all their hearts. They said and believed this, and prophesied day and night that the ‘Mormons’ were going, and would be starved to death or killed by Indians. We came here naked and barefoot: do you think that I shall ask any aid from them, when we are ready to go back? No. We brought our provisions, when we came here, to last us until we raised more. We brought our few farming implements, our seed grain, wives, and children, with comparative nakedness and poverty as to this world’s goods. My wives took skins and made moccasins to wear.

We have sustained ourselves, so far, in this far-off, barren region, and we shall live here. Do they want us to live here? No, nor anywhere else. Bark away; bark away; follow up the Saints; persecute the Saints. Can’t you buy them out, think you? “Oh dear, the ‘Mormons’ are getting Uncle Sam’s timber in the canyons.” Who is Uncle Sam? All of us. Get the timber out of the canyons, build houses, burn lime, cultivate the soil, and raise animals on the range, for we have a right so to do. But our enemies hunt, persecute, and make war upon us, and have done this to their sorrow. They have made war upon the Saints from the beginning, and now they will have war to the hilt, until they are used up, root and branch. In the name of Israel’s God, there will not be one of them left upon the earth. Will I hurt them? No. The Lord Almighty will lead them in a path wherein they will use themselves up. Don’t lay it to me; though, if you do, I don’t care.

It is quite interesting, is it not, for a man to rise up and make war upon one of his own children? Think how it would appear for a father to kick, cuff, and otherwise abuse the youngest and best son of twelve, never give a dime to encourage him, and then say to the eleven—“Now, boys, rise up and kill him outright.” Is not that treason of the blackest kind? It has been as much committed as it will be; and if they do not stop, they will be rubbed out. Have this people committed treason or transgressed the laws of their country? If any man says they have, he is a liar, and will go to hell, for he lies like hell. Those who say they have are of the Devil, and are his servants; they lie, and there is no truth in them; and they shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone.

They made war with us, and they have committed treason. We have received enough abuse at their hands. Would we trouble them? No. If they would only let us alone, we would only preach the Gospel, and that we will do. The Lord has called me to this work, and I feel as though I will do it. We will send the Gospel to the nations; and when one nation turns us away, we will go to another and gather up the honest in heart, and the rest we care not for until we come on Mount Zion as saviors, to attend to the ordinances of the house of God for them. The Lord will let the people know that he will rule. The Devil has had possession of the earth a great while.

It would be very tyrannical, would it not, for a king to make laws that would make people do right? Oh what an overbearing government, that would be, would it not? “Now, let that man alone; earn and eat your own food, and do not steal that man’s.” What oppression there is in Utah, when one man rises up and hinders another from oppressing his neighbor! “Oh, what oppression! I will write to Washington about it.” Write where you please: all such will meet their doom.

Stop swearing and taking the name of God in vain. Are any in the habit of lying? Stop it. Are any in the habit of bearing false witness against your neighbor? Stop it. A man rises up—“Wife, I am going to break your head!” You can’t do this in Utah. A man rises up—“I want to steal that man’s wagon, or my neighbor’s axe!” You can’t do it with impunity in this community. Those who are in the habit of getting drunk, stop it: you must not get drunk in this community. Are you in the habit of spending your time for naught, and wasting the talents God has given you, and running about the streets tattling and making mischief? Stop it; this is not allowed in Utah. Stop your evil and all your sinning, and love righteousness, for that is applauded in Utah. I glory in it; I love it: it is sweet to me, sweeter than the honey or the honeycomb. I am with it, and it is with me; I live in it, delight in it, and expect to die in it, and live to all eternity in it. The spirit and power of justice, mercy, long-suffering, patience, kindness, and good acts to all around, filling up the measure of my life here and to all eternity in doing good, is what I delight in. That is the kingdom I love—the kingdom I am in; and I pray that God may roll on his work, and that iniquity may be swept from our midst, until we overcome, gather the honest in heart from all the earth, and fill it with righteousness. That we may enjoy that day of rest—that day of peace and perfect triumph over sin and iniquity, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, October 14, 1860.

We have enjoyed interesting and intelligent remarks by brother Taylor this morning; and perhaps we may all say, with propriety, that what has been said is sufficient for the present—that we are now full and need no more. What has been presented is very true and very satisfactory. I delight in hearing my brethren speak of things that pertain to God and godliness. Brother Taylor says there is no intelligence, only that which comes from God. We might ask, Is there any valuable fact known by any person, except by the revelations that flow from the Lord Jehovah? God is the source, the fountain of all intelligence, no matter who possesses it, whether man upon the earth, the spirits in the spirit world, the angels that dwell in the eternities of the Gods, or the most inferior intelligence among the devils in hell. All have derived what intelligence, light, power, and existence they have from God—from the same source from which we have received ours.

My delight, my joy, my life consist of the very things that brother Taylor has been laying before this congregation. Those principles pertain to eternal life. It is my delight to hear the things of God brought to the understanding of the children of men. This is the beauty of the Gospel we have received. The excellency of the glory of the character of brother Joseph Smith was that he could reduce heavenly things to the understanding of the finite. When he preached to the people—revealed the things of God, the will of God, the plan of salvation, the purposes of Jehovah, the relation in which we stand to him and all the heavenly beings, he reduced his teachings to the capacity of every man, woman, and child, making them as plain as a well-defined pathway. This should have convinced every person that ever heard of him of his divine authority and power, for no other man was able to teach as he could, and no person can reveal the things of God, but by the revelations of Jesus Christ. When we hear a man that can speak of heavenly things, and present them to the people in a way that they can be understood, you may know that to that man the avenue is open, and that he, by some power, has communication with heavenly beings; and when the highest intelligence is exhibited, he, perhaps, has communication with the highest intelligence that exists.

This Gospel is my glory. Jesus said to his disciples, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Why is it so? As brother Taylor has said, it is through the love that the people should have for the Gospel, which ought to be more than their love for fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, wives, children, houses, lands, goods and chattels, or anything that pertains to this earth. The Spirit of revelation, even the Spirit of eternal life, is within that person who lives so as to bear properly the yoke of Jesus. The heavens are open to such persons, and they see and understand things that pertain to eternity, and also the things that pertain to this earth, which will pass away with it; and those who love the things of earth will pass away with it. When death takes them, all is gone.

But the person that wears the yoke of Jesus and bears his burden—who loves the cause of truth and righteousness more than all else—“Why,” says he, “Eternity is full of fathers and mothers. There is my Father enthroned in glory. He is the Father of my spirit.” God our Father, who dwells in eternity, is the Father of our spirits and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The man or woman that lives in the revelations of Jesus Christ can see and understand this. Here are our earthly fathers, the begetters of our mortal bodies; but there is the foundation of all the life that I or any other person can possess on the face of the earth, even God my Father who dwells in the heavens. There also is my mother.

I am not confined to love my father and mother here, if they do not love God, the fountain of all truth. In the heavens are fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers. Unless my father, mother, brother, sister, wife, and child, pertaining to the flesh, love God supremely, embrace the truth, and follow out the dictates of the Holy Ghost, they are not my kindred—I do not own them—I have nothing to do with them; they will perish, die, sink into forgetfulness, and be as though they had never been; they will pass away and return to native element. In heaven dwells my Father. There are the heavenly hosts—my sisters, my breth– ren, my kindred, and my friends; they are my bosom acquaintances. We behold each other with the natural eye, and that is shortsighted. But had we eyes to see as God sees, we could see our antipodes as well as we can see each other’s faces. We could see the uttermost parts of the earth and behold all creation as well at midnight as at noonday. Darkness would be no obstruction, incorporated matter, this Tabernacle, the houses, the earth, and even matter that fills space and prevents our seeing objects at great distances, would be no obstruction to our visions. Then we should behold that God is here, that our Father dwells here. We are in his presence, just as much as those who sit at the farthest side of this congregation are in my presence. There is much in my presence besides those who sit here, if we had eyes to see the heavenly beings that are in our presence.

The person that wears the yoke of Jesus, that has communication with the heavens, finds his yoke easy and his burden light; he is master of it. Wear the yoke of Jesus, bear his burden, and the revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ will show to every individual that you are not servants of anything, but that the principles of eternal life give you the mastery—the supremacy over all things in heaven and on earth. As the Apostle has said—“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” “Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” All this, and all that men can imagine and a million times more, God has in store for us. If we are faithful, all is ours. If we trample sin and iniquity under our feet, then we are the masters, which makes the yoke easy and the burden light.

As has been observed, it is hard for a person to give up his appetites, and yield his passions and will to the will of God. The son and the father, the child and the mother, the servant and the master, are all amenable to the laws of the land in which they live. They are all under law: if not, they are a law unto themselves. They know right from wrong, and are restricted from doing wrong. The Gods are under the same restriction. If people do not observe the principles by which they should be guided, they sink under condemnation. If they follow correct laws, they preserve the identity of their character to all eternity, and will dwell with the Gods, angels, and these that inherit eternity. If we yield ourselves servants to obey the principles that hold us in existence, it gives to us our exaltation, and glorifies us with the Gods, and puts all things under our feet. What a glorious law that is! There is nothing here, except the sin within us, that repels this law. Trample every feeling that is opposed to this law under your feet.

The majority of the world of mankind would rather be damned than oppose their appetites. They feel like following them at the expense of their salvation. They do not like to be under the restriction of truth and right. They want to be where they can do what they please. They obey the law of death, and will have their reward and reap the extent of their wages; for they will have death, and nobody can have life but those that inherit it from God. All that refuse the truth—the Gospel of salvation, and yield themselves obedient to the law of sin and death, will reap in full the reward of their doings. It is hard for a child to obey its parents, for a servant to obey his master, and for people to obey the laws of the land. You frequently hear some persons grumbling about the laws of this city, and about the laws of this Territory, which are wholesome and good. Why don’t such persons live as some others do? I live above the laws. They do not in the least infringe upon me. The City Council never passed an ordinance that infringed upon me or upon my rights. Our Legislature has never passed a law that infringed upon me, because I live above the law through honoring every particle of it. In this course the law is beneath my feet and is my servant, not my master. Thousands live in this way.

The laws of the Gospel are neither more nor less than a few of the principles of eternity revealed to the people, by which they can return to heaven from whence they came. A few of the laws of the Gospel have been revealed to us in the last days, by which we can begin and walk the path back into the presence of the Father and the Son, having the communication opened between the heavens and the earth to reveal the will of God to the children of men. We delight in the heavenly law—in that law that will preserve us to all eternity. We delight more in this than in everything else. Here are my fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, wives, children. “What, are there wives and children for me in the eternal worlds?” Yes.

Let me here say a word to console the feelings and hearts of all who belong to this Church. Many of the sisters grieve because they are not blessed with offspring. You will see the time when you will have millions of children around you. If you are faithful to your covenants, you will be mothers of nations. You will become Eves to earths like this; and when you have assisted in peopling one earth, there are millions of earths still in the course of creation. And when they have endured a thousand million times longer than this earth, it is only as it were the beginning of your creations. Be faithful, and if you are not blest with children in this time, you will be hereafter. But I would not dare tell you all I know about these matters, though I know but little: still I am not a fool in the things of God, neither is brother Taylor, though he saw so much to learn that he did not realize that he had learned anything. We have learned a great deal, although we are still but babes and sucklings in the things of God; yet the truth and knowledge we possess pertaining to the plan of salvation outweigh all possessed by others on the earth. Be faithful, and you will delight in the things of God, and bear the yoke—carry the burden God has placed on you to bear.

Brother Taylor lifted his arm, and asked by what power he did it. It is by that inherent divinity you call will; God has placed it in every being. When you go into the dram shops in Whiskey Street, (Elders go there!) the salutation is, “How do you do, brother? Won’t you take a glass with me?” I have power to lift a glass and hand it to my brother, and say, “Come, brother, take a little liquor.” “No; I do not drink any strong drink.” “Oh, come, take a little for friendship’s sake.” I have power to hand it to my neighbor’s lips, and my neighbor has power to dash it out of my hands. Who has given me that power? It is inherent in me. What do you do, when these are presented to you—when the cup is handed to your lips? Will you partake of it, or say (taking a glass of water in his hand), Here are my best wishes for you to do right, but you may go to the Devil with your whiskey (dashing the water upon the floor). Have I the power to do this? You call it will. It is the divinity God has placed in his intelligent creatures. It is for us to overcome every evil passion we have, in consequence of the fall.

The Devil has the mastery of the earth: he has corrupted it, and has corrupted the children of men. He has led them in evil until they are almost entirely ruined, and are so far from God that they neither know Him nor his influence, and have almost lost sight of everything that pertains to eternity. This darkness is more prevalent, more dense, among the people of Christendom, than it is among the heathen. They have lost sight of all that is great and glorious—of all principles that pertain to life eternal.

Will you overcome evil? You have power to do so, for God has given you this power. You can toss the proffered glass to the ground, dash it out of your neighbor’s hand, or drink its contents, be a fool, wallow in the gutter, and die the death of a fool. Do as you please. I do not know of anything but what I am master of, with regard to appetite, as I have often told you. If I were not, I would at once have a war with myself.

What is there that I cannot do without? Can I do without seeing my father and mother pertaining to the earth? I can. I have not seen them for many years. My mother died when I was fourteen years of age, and my father died a few weeks after I left the States for England, in 1839. After the driving from Missouri, he said that he did not want to live any longer. I have not seen him for a long time. Can I do without seeing him? Yes, and pass my time comfortably. Suppose my wives and children should say, “Husband, father, we are going to leave you, unless you do thus and so.” I would say, Leave as quickly as you please, every one of you. My children, if they are froward and will not believe and obey the Gospel, are no more to me than the children now sitting here. Here are children, that I can take to my bosom, that will love and serve God; and they are dearer to me than those I have, unless they love the Lord Jesus Christ.

I do not believe it possible, since I have been baptized into this Church, for a woman to be presented to me that I could love, were she not in the Church of Jesus Christ and did not love the Gospel. That is my feeling today, and I expect it to remain from henceforth and forever.

The discourse we have heard this morning is excellent. It seemed to me as though the heavens were here and I could talk about them with a very good feeling, and induce the people to see and understand correct principles. How quickly they would shun evil and forsake that which would drag them down to everlasting ruin, if they could but see it.

Brethren and sisters, let us treasure up in our hearts all the good we can learn, and forsake all the evil we meet with—walk it under our feet. Evil is not worthy the notice and attention of these intelligences. Heavenly things and eternal principles will exalt those intelligences in the eternities of the Gods: these principles alone are worthy of your attention.

May the Lord help us to choose the way of life and salvation, and to be prepared to enjoy his society hereafter! Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, October 8, 1860.

By the cash manifest just read by brother John T. Caine, you perceive that there has been expended, during the years 1857, 1858, 1859, and to Oct. 4, 1860, $70,204 in excess of what has been received in money and Tithing. This excess has been derived from cash received for lumber sold to the army to the amount of some 16,000 dollars or 18,000 dollars, and from the sale of sheep, horses, mules, cows, wagons, harness, &c., to various persons for cash. It has been rather difficult to raise the large amount of cash we have expended over the amount received on money-Tithing; but when it comes time to sleep, I do not stay awake contriving how we are to financier. I can understand in a very few minutes all that is necessary and possible to be done, without taking very great thought in the matter.

At times it seems as though all hell and earth are combined to keep money out of my hands. A great many of the people would give me millions, if they had it; but most of those who have it will not part with it. Those who are liberal have nothing, and they would give me all they have. Scarcely a man comes into this Church, having much of an amount of money, but what spends his money before he gathers with the Saints. Persons would conceal from Joseph that they had any money, and, after they had spent or lost it all, would come to him and—“Oh, how I love you, brother Joseph!” If you think you can keep the money from me, you will be mistaken, for I shall have what is necessary to carry on this work; and those who take a course to hedge up my way in business transactions, pertaining to carrying on this work, will go to the Devil. They shall have that promise, with my blessing. I do not curse people, but I bless that class with a plenty of devils.

For four years past we have not had much money pass through our hands. In previous years merchants here have received as much money from me yearly as you have heard read here today. During the past few years we have had to manage and plan pretty closely in our business transactions. Those who bring coal to sell want money, and the brethren who labor on the Public Works need a little money now and then. Some think that brother Wells, who is our Superintendent of Public Works, is hard and close in his public dealings; but he is not. I have explained all that is necessary in regard to this matter. We traffic and trade, we drive cattle to California, and trade here and there, and do everything we can to carry on this work. You know, and my wives and children know, that it is my mind that those who do nothing but sit in rocking chairs can live on potatoes and buttermilk, while those who do the labor should have both the substantial food and the luxuries. My friends know that this is my mind all the time.

Some may think that my individual business is so mixed and combined with the public business that I cannot keep them separate. This is not the case, as you can learn by asking brother David O. Calder, or brother John T. Caine, who has been reading a manifest to you. Hiram B. Clawson, John T. Caine, and Thomas Ellerbeck are the clerks who keep the books of my private business; and the Trustee-in-Trust has his clerks, of whom David O. Calder is the chief. Horace Whitney, Joseph Simmons, and Amos M. Musser are his associate clerks, and they keep the books pertaining to the public business. My own private business is kept distinct from the public business. If brother Calder wishes one hundred or a thousand dollars, if I have it, he borrows it of Hiram B. Clawson and pays it back; and so also brother Clawson borrows of him and returns it. The teasers who come all the time after women, and soon get tired of them and want to divorce them, I make pay ten dollars for each divorce, and that is my individual bank. If I want five dollars or fifty cents from Hiram B. Clawson, it is charged to me; and if he receives money from me, it is credited to me; and not a dollar (except what I hand out or give away out of my private purse), goes out of my office, either in private or public capacity, without passing through its appropriate set of books. I tell you this, that all may know that my private affairs are not amalgamated with the public affairs. Brigham Young and the Trustee-in-Trust are two persons in business. When you speak of Brigham Young as Trustee-in-Trust, he is one man; and when as Brigham Young, he is another; and the business between these two names is kept as strictly separate as is the business of any two firms in the world. If you want to know anything about the money, item by item, how it has been obtained and how expended, our books are open.

We do not ask anybody to pay Tithing, unless they are disposed to do so; but if you pretend to pay Tithing, pay it like honest men. And Bishops who have it in their power to gather money-Tithing, it is their duty to do it; and if they do not, they do not magnify their calling. And brethren that have money, pay your Tithing on it while you have it; and when you turn your property, upon which Tithing is due, into money, pay your Tithing in money. Here are thousands of men wearing good hats, coats, pantaloons, &c., &c., that I have paid the money for. And women with costly ribbons on their bonnets, I pay the money for these ribbons; and I pay the money for the slippers on their feet, for their stockings, their garments, &c. I have paid the money for these articles, year after year. Is it not your duty to see that I have a little money? Were the Lord to reveal to me where the ancient Jaredites hid their hundred of millions of dollars’ worth of treasure, I should not take it and hand it out to the people, unless the Lord directed me to do so; otherwise, it would perhaps seal the damnation of many; for at present you are better off without those treasures than you would be with them.

If I am under obligation to see this Gospel carried to all the nations of the earth, so also is every Elder of Israel. If it is my duty to see the poor gathered, so it is the duty of every Elder. There is no excuse for any man: everyone ought to put forth his hands and means, and do according to his ability.

We have often told you that we want to build a Temple, but not for convening promiscuous congregations. I inform you, long before you see the walls reared and the building completed, that it will be for the purposes of the Priesthood, and not for meetings of the people: we shall not hold public meetings in it. I should like to see the Temple built, in which you will see the Priesthood in its order and true organization, each Quorum in its place. If we want a larger building than this Tabernacle for public exercises, here is the ground already planned, and has been for years. We can, if we choose, build a Tabernacle that will accommodate fifteen thousand people. The Temple will be for the endowments—for the organization and instruction of the Priesthood. If you want to build a Temple on these conditions, you can have the privilege. But I never again want to see one built to go into the hands of the wicked. I have asked my Father to give me power to build a Temple on this block, but not until I can forever maintain my rights in it. I would rather see it burnt than to see it go into the hands of devils. I was thankful to see the Temple in Nauvoo on fire. Previous to crossing the Mississippi River, we had met in that Temple and handed it over to the Lord God of Israel; and when I saw the flames, I said, “Good, Father, if you want it to be burned up.” I hoped to see it burned before I left, but I did not. I was glad when I heard of its being destroyed by fire, and of the walls having fallen in, and said, “Hell, you cannot now occupy it.” When the Temple is built here, I want to maintain it for the use of the Priesthood: if this cannot be, I would rather not see it built, but go into the mountains and administer there in the ordinances of the holy Priesthood, which is our right and privilege. I would rather do this than to build a Temple for the wicked to trample under their feet.

There are great and glorious things yet to be revealed. We are but babes and sucklings in the knowledge of God and godliness. With all we know and understand by the Priest– hood here in the midst of this people, we are mere infants before the angels in heaven. We want to instruct the people and prepare them to enter into the presence of the Father and the Son. We want to gather the poor, send the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth, and do a great many other good things; and we will do so. We will turn the world right side up, for it is now wrong side up, and we want to turn it over, prepare it, and present it to Him who owns it, in a more goodly form and attitude than it has been for many centuries.

[Here Elder John T. Caine read a list of the subscriptions to the Missionary Fund.]

We will send our Elders forth to preach, and will furnish, as we have now, wagons, mules, harness, &c., to those who are not able to provide those things for themselves. When our Missionaries reach the frontiers, they will place a fair valuation upon their animals, &c., the money will be paid to them, and they can at once proceed to their different fields of labor. I pay them the money for the property they have at the frontiers, and when they return I want them to come home as poor as they go away. If anyone wishes to get rich, let him stay here and get rich, and not enrich himself from the labors and means of the poor Saints abroad. You may think that I am severe on that course. I am, and I mean to be, until I stop it. It has been growing and growing, becoming tall—almost ungovernable and out of my reach; but my foot is set upon it, and I will walk it under and the influence of anyone who promotes such a principle. If I want to become wealthy, I will stay here and accumulate property. If brother Heber C. Kimball, Daniel H. Wells, or the Twelve Apostles want to accumulate wealth, stay here and do it, and not go into the world to become rich. When you go into the world, go to preach the Gospel; and if you have a sixpence, give it to the people. Give your time and talent to the people; and if the Lord puts money into your pockets, it is not yours, only for you to use to save the people spiritually and temporally.

We are going to fit out our Elders from here, asking no odds of the world: we have proved them enough. The gold and the silver belong to the Lord Almighty, and he will hand it over to us as fast as we know how to use it to his name’s glory. Some say, “If we had a gold mine, we would do well.” If I knew where there was a gold mine, I would not tell you. I do not want you to find one, and I do not mean that you shall; or, if you do, it shall be over my faith. We have gold enough in the world, and it is all the Lord’s, and we do not deserve more than we get. Let us make good use of that, and send out the Elders.

Brother Woolley stated, yesterday, that he wished to see men and women who are too lazy to cook their victuals come with handcarts. They are the ones that will not come with handcarts; they have to be conveyed in wagons; and when they arrive here they will apostatize. It seems impossible to have them to do so anywhere else; and we want them here as soon as possible, that they may apostatize and leave—get out of our way—that we may go on with our labors; and in this we are making a few devils for future use, to carry on our kingdoms.

Let the brethren who pretend to be Bishops be so indeed, and gather Tithing. And if the people pretend to pay Tithing, pay it properly and fairly, so far as you do pay, or let it alone entirely. Keep your dollars and cents, your horses and mules, your grain, &c., if you choose; but if you pretend to pay Tithing, pay it like men: act like men and Saints. We want to build a Temple on this block. Don’t you think that hell will howl? What did we tell you when we laid those foundation walls? We told you that all hell would be on the move. That has transpired, and still they say, “We have not persecuted you;” but they are liars. Who among them have stepped forward and said, “Let those men alone?” Only a few. Our friend who came here in the dead of winter, having left his wife sick nigh unto death, is one of those who will yet have a celestial crown; he is on the road to it. When Judge Kinney was in Washington, he spoke well of this people. So far as I know, he has never spoken evil of this people, but every time he met an Elder in Washington he received him as a friend, spoke to him kindly, and was not ashamed to walk arm-in-arm with him in the streets of that city. There is a kingdom for him—a kingdom of glory. When they wanted him to come here as a Governor, I am told that he said, “Yes, if you send no soldiers there.” He has a heart; and I say, God bless him and every other good, honest man, whether he is a “Mormon” or not. Who ever walked more correctly in his sphere of business than Judge Shaver? No man. He was as upright as a man could be. He came here as a Judge, and he honored the people, he honored his office, he honored the President in his appointment, and he honored the laws of the Territory and the laws of the Government. There is a kingdom for him; he will have his reward.

There is a great difference between persecuting this people and the people of other sects. God will make persecutors pay every debt they contract with this people. This is the Priesthood of the Almighty. God has set his hand the second time to gather the people. It will not do to trifle with this people. “Touch not mine anointed,” saith the Lord. O ye inhabitants of the earth, be careful how you infringe upon the Latter-day Saints. They are the anointed of the Lord, and are like the apple of his eye, and he will bring you into judgment for every act and move you make against them. This nation will be shivered to pieces. There is no cohesion in the particles that compose it. If you touch it, it will fall to pieces, for it is shattered from its center to its circumference. They think it so strange that the “harmonious democracy” can divide. You might as well try to put out the sun as to make them united. God is working with them; he is taking his Spirit from them. They are like water spilled upon the ground; there is no soundness nor stability left in them; they are devoid of good sense. God has called away the intelligence he bestowed upon them, and every move they make will sink them deeper and deeper in the mire, until they are lost and gone forever. We wish them no evil; we heap no coals of fire on their heads, only by doing them good and exhorting them to refrain from meddling with this people. The time is nigh when every man that will not take up his sword against his neighbor must needs flee to Zion. Where is Zion? Where the organization of the Church of God is. And may it dwell spiritually in every heart; and may we so live as to always enjoy the Spirit of Zion! Amen.

Remarks by Elder Orson Hyde, made at the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, October 7, 1860.

Feeling thankful for the opportunity of meeting with you, this morning, in the capacity of our Semi-Annual Conference, I cannot but express my gratitude to God that I am a member of that Church which is everywhere spoken against, even the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am thankful to God, my Heavenly Father, that he has revealed the everlasting Gospel in its fulness, and made me, as well as many of you, the honored instruments to proclaim it to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, wherever our lots may be cast.

Of all people upon the face of the whole earth, none have so great reason to be thankful as we. We are brought into the school of Christ to be instructed in the laws, spirit, and policy of his kingdom.

Many of you will bear in mind that at our last Conference, six months ago, many of the speakers bore powerful testimony to the truth and certainty of the cause in which we are engaged; and you will also recollect that I told you then that that testimony would seriously affect all nations and people—that it would be felt throughout the entire world—that it would be borne by an invisible hand, and its influence, like the frosts of autumn, blight the growing and flourishing prospects of all political and worldly schemes and enterprises. Contemplate now, through the glass of the public newspapers and journals, the condition of the nations of Europe, of Asia, and of America! Our own favored land is in commotion. The political elements are heavily charged with electricity, and the louring storm clouds are gathering in our horizon, threatening to avenge the blood of martyred Prophets and Apostles, and the inhumanity and cruelty practiced upon the Saints of God. None of those things are forgotten. They are written with imperishable characters in the memory of this people, and their cries and their prayers have transmitted them to the sacred records above, to be answered in their behalf by storms, by tempests, by whirlwinds, by earthquakes, by famines, by the sword, and also by flames of devouring fire.

The testimony of the servants of God, before alluded to, forcibly reminds me of a certain class of men spoken of in the Revelation of St. John, who overcame by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. When our testimony goes forth from this stand, we cannot always tell exactly where it may take effect; but we know that it will not return void. It must fall somewhere. It is like the seeds of plants and flowers, which are often carried high in the air and wafted on the breeze to a remote distance; yet the laws of gravity will ultimately compel them to a resting place, where their effects may be seen.

For me to testify to you that “Mormonism” is true—to declare its destiny and final triumph—would be like telling you that the sun shines. It is something that you see, and consequently know; yet it is not at all likely that the sun now shines in the eyes of all people. Hence I volunteer my testimony. You may regard it in the light of a ship of war taking in her shot and shells at a home port, that are designed to batter down an enemy’s walls on a foreign shore.

What is called “Mormonism” by the world is the fulness of the everlasting Gospel—the truth of God—the only way of salvation for all people to whom it is made known or in any way declared, and destined to rule the world. While on this branch of my subject, allow me to introduce a testimony given me, not long since, under other and peculiar circumstances. Hear it, all ye people! “Mormonism will win its way through the world, and triumph in the face of any and all opposition. There is a God that never sleeps, an eye that never slumbers, and an arm that never becomes feeble. This God is our God, and through our agency he has decreed the triumph of his cause. ‘Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’ There is no man on earth, no people on earth, no nation on earth, no kindred or tongue on earth, or the whole combined, that raises the hand or voice against the kingdom of God or its policy as now established, but that will be rejected of God, dishonored of men, and go to ruin with the wrath of Heaven upon them.”

Having the spirit of our calling, we wax bold in our testimony. When a few more Conferences shall have been held by this people, compare the coming history of nations with this my testimony, and you will be satisfied that I now tell you the truth.

The liberty of the Gospel, with your indulgence, will allow me to give some political matters a passing and respectful notice. I am no politician, and it cannot be expected that I shall treat such subjects as Messrs. Douglas, Bell, Breckenridge, or Lincoln would. In such matters they are workmen. I am but a bungler; yet in times of general election, when political speeches are flaming all around, it is not to be wondered at that even a novice should attempt to fire up a little on the importance of the times.

First and foremost, I will briefly allude to some aspirants to office and honors in the Church of which we are members. There have been aspirants to the Presidency of this Church ever since the death of Joseph Smith, and even before. It may be regarded as lost time to allude to these things at all by which any portion of the day is consumed. But, brethren, bear with me. I have read the writings of every aspirant to the presiding Priesthood in this Church since the days of Joseph. I have marked their cold, dry, technical, husky, and spiritless reasonings from the Book of Mormon, from the Doctrine and Covenants, Bible, &c., quite voluminous, resembling the bile ejected from a disordered stomach. I have never discovered one burst of the Spirit of God in all their claims or publications.

Who has ever read Brigham Young’s writings in which he has labored to establish his right and claim to the Presidency of the Church? No one. God pleads his own cause through Brigham, because he obeys him; but man has to plead the cause of man who is sordid, illiberal, murmuring, and corrupt.

In the month of February, 1848, the Twelve Apostles met at Hyde Park, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, where a small Branch of the Church was established; and I must say that I feel not a little proud of the circumstance, and also very thankful, on account of its happening in my own little retired and sequestered hamlet, bearing my own name. We were in prayer and council, communing together; and what took place on that occasion? The voice of God came from on high, and spake to the Council. Every latent feeling was aroused, and every heart melted. What did it say unto us? “Let my servant Brigham step forth and receive the full power of the presiding Priesthood in my Church and kingdom.” This was the voice of the Almighty unto us at Council Bluffs, before I removed to what was called Kanesville. It has been said by some that Brigham was appointed by the people, and not by the voice of God. I do not know that this testimony has often, if ever, been given to the masses of the people before; but I am one that was present, and there are others here that were also present on that occasion, and did hear and feel the voice from heaven, and we were filled with the power of God. This is my testimony; these are my declarations unto the Saints—unto the members of the kingdom of God in the last days, and to all people.

We said nothing about the matter in those times, but kept it still. [After seating myself in the stand, I was reminded of one circumstance that occurred, which I omitted in my discourse. Men, women, and children came running together where we were, and asked us what was the matter. They said that their houses shook, and the ground trembled, and they did not know but that there was an earthquake. We told them that there was nothing the matter—not to be alarmed; the Lord was only whispering to us a little, and that he was probably not very far off. We felt no shaking of the earth or of the house, but were filled with the exceeding power and goodness of God.] We knew and realized that we had the testimony of God within us. On the 6th day of April following, at our Annual Conference, held in the Log Tabernacle at Kanesville, the propriety of choosing a man to preside over the Church was investigated. In a very few minutes it was agreed to, and Brigham Young was chosen to fill that place without a dissenting voice, the people not knowing that there had been any revelation touching the matter. They ignorantly seconded the voice of the Lord from on high in his appointment. (Voice from the stand: “That is Vox Dei, vox populi.”) Yes, the voice of God was the voice of the people. Brigham went right ahead, silently, to do the work of the Lord, and to feed his sheep, and take care of them like a faithful shepherd, leaving all vain aspirants to quarrel and contend about lineal descent, right, power, and authority.

Some persons say that Brigham does not give revelations as did Joseph Smith. But let me tell you, that Brigham’s voice has been the voice of God from the time he was chosen to preside, and even before. Who that has heard him speak, or that has read his testimonies, or that is acquainted with his instructions, does not know that God is with him? Who does not know, Jew or Gentile, that has come in contact with his policy, that he possesses a power with which they are unable to compete. He possesses skill, wisdom, and power that trouble wise men and rulers. God will make him a greater terror to nations than he ever has been.

I will now quote a few passages from the revelations of God as contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants—“My words shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice out of the heavens, or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.” Again, concerning his servants—“Whatsoever you shall speak by my Spirit shall be scripture—shall be the word of the Lord, the will of the Lord, the mind of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation.” Again, from the New Testament, Jesus says, “Whosoever heareth you (whom I send) heareth me.” You men of business do not empower and send an agent to transact business for you unless you intend to honor his words and his doings. The law will compel you to do this. The God of heaven does not send forth his servants upon the earth but with the fixed purpose to honor their words when they abide in the instructions given them.

I will now pave the way for my political manifest. Jesus says, “Whosoever falleth upon this stone shall be broken.” What stone does he refer to? The Lord says to his disciples, “Whom say ye that I am?” Peter answers—“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus indicated to Peter that he had spoken truly by saying unto him, “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” This stone or rock was the word of God revealed unto Peter. Present revelation from God, then, is the stone or rock which our Savior spoke of. Any church or any people built upon this foundation cannot be prevailed against by any power, for one obvious reason: whenever a people are built upon this foundation and they get into trouble and difficulty, they will ask the Lord to show them the way out; and being built upon present revelation and in communion with God, he will tell them what to do. His wisdom is greater than the cunning of the Devil, and consequently the gates of hell cannot prevail against them. Any people built upon this foundation are hard to head, though their numbers may be small. The ancient church was never overcome until they lost this principle of present revelation. Then they were prevailed against and fell away, because they ceased to build upon this foundation—the stone or rock of present revelation. Solomon says—“Where no vision is, the people perish.”

Many churches are built up in the world, professedly, unto the name of Christ. But have they present revelation? No, they have not. They despise the idea of present revelation, and kill the Prophets that give them, and persecute the people that believe them. Will the gates of hell prevail against such? To whom will our Savior say—“Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity; I know you not?” Will it not be to those who are not built upon this rock? Now for politics.

To send the army to Utah was the measure and policy of a Democratic administration of the United States Government. This Democratic administration was the only legitimate power that could send it here. It was the official channel through which the flood was poured in upon us. Merchants, gamblers, whoremasters, thieves, murderers, false writers, drunkards, and, to cap the climax, a drunken, debauched judiciary, with plenty of bayonets to enforce their decrees. Some decent men came, most likely; yet I know not one with whom I could safely trust the virtue of any female in their power. They came to gratify their basest passions; and they will leave, if they leave at all, with the wrath of God upon them, candidates for damnation. They have burned strange fire upon the altar of God, and with strange fire such will be consumed. The Democracy of the country fell upon this stone by the military arm of their power. Are they now broken? Let us see.

On the 25th day of December, 1832, the Lord spoke to Joseph Smith, and said—“Verily, thus saith the Lord concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls; The days will come that war will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at that place.” The Democratic party found it necessary to call a convention of delegates to nominate a successor to President Buchanan. No place but Charleston, South Carolina, could be agreed upon as the place for that body to assemble in. A most unlikely place, indeed!—entirely out of the political center—a small town of about twenty or twenty-five thousand white inhabitants, accommodations very limited for such a body of men, and at a half-dozen prices. But to South Carolina they must go; for the prophecy, twenty-seven years before, said that the serious troubles of the land should begin at that place. The Democratic party or administration fell upon that stone of present revelation, and, according to our Savior’s words, they must be broken. They had to go to Charleston to break. They did go there, and there they did break into several pieces—split asunder. It was said by the ancient Prophet—“Out of Egypt have I called my son.” Joseph and Mary took the young child by night and fled into Egypt to elude the cruelty of Herod, and God called his son out of Egypt. It was necessary, equally, that the Democratic party go to South Carolina, being urged there by a silent prophetic influence; and though they had hearts to understand, they understood it not. They had eyes to see, but they saw it not. There they broke—there the trouble began, “which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls.” They sent their army to fall upon this stone—to fall upon God and upon his people and upon their policy. They sent their corrupting influence—their demoralizing principles and practices—among us; and God will make the nation heirs to the penalty for all these offenses. “It must needs be that offenses come,” but God grant us grace that we may endure manfully to the end.

This is my political speech to the Saints of God. Will the Democracy continue in power? The sequel will show. They are trying to “fuse,” but the iron and miry clay will never permanently unite. But they are in the hands of God, and they know it not; they are under his influence, but they acknowledge not his hand.

What was the immediate outside pressure that caused the army to come to Utah? Was it not the multitude that wanted to speculate out of the army—out of the citizens of the territory, traders, freighters, merchants, and sutlers, doctors, lawyers, and devils? Anybody may answer these questions. How many have got rich at it? How many have realized the object of their hopes and wishes in anything? God blesseth not unrighteous designs. Is the whole train of speculators broken? They fell upon this stone, or were ready to back those that did. Are they broken? If they are not, they are almost. Their creditors in the East will find this out in due time. Our gold, our virtue, and our blood is what most of them came to traffic in, and their reward is sure. This outside pressure cannot be confined, in truth, to the class of men alluded to. What was the voice of the nation through their public journals, priests, and people? What the popular clamor? Crucify him! Crucify him! Away with him! The “Mormons” are not fit to live! Let the race be exterminated! With the exception of now and then a Joseph of Arimathea, this was the popular cry. Will the nation be broken? It has fallen upon this stone to all intents and purposes. The signs in the heavens and upon the earth, the political feuds or factions, the seditious tendency of the people, were never more portentous over Jerusalem, previous to its destruction, than they are now over the United States of America. Who so blind as not to see it?

This picture is held up as a mirror to reflect the condition and fate of any and every other nation or people that slays the Lord’s anointed—that persecutes his people—that sends its armies to corrupt, annoy, or lay waste the heritage of God. I have no apologies to make. I tell you that God Almighty sits upon the throne of his kingdom. He has decreed its onward march, and it will march onward; and the power to stay it exists not on the earth. We were driven out into this wilderness, and here we are. Our friends will find us here, and our foes also. They made us cross the Mississippi pretty lively. They pressed us and pricked us with their bayonets. Was there any mercy shown to the sick, aged, or infirm—to women and children? No. The fever of frenzy and rage had dried up the fountain of compassion in their hearts. We had to fly, and to what place Heaven only knew. The timid wife, the tender daughter, the widowed mother and her children were forced into the flatboat like so many cattle or swine. By casting an eye back to their once pleasant and peaceful habitations, they could mark the lurid flame and smoke curling up to heaven from the crumbling walls of their desolated homes. One widowed lady, while seeking her little boy among the mob on the margin of the river, was cursed and damned because she was not sooner aboard of the boat. When she found her child, she went aboard, and, turning round and looking them full in the face, said to her persecutors—“You shall yet dearly pay for all this.” I dined with that same lady not ten days since, and she told me that she should live to see her prediction fulfilled. I said, God grant it. Jesus says—“With the same measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” God will not speak to them much more by Prophets, for they have persecuted and slain them. But he will speak unto them yet more. It will be, however, by the voice of thunder, by the voice of lightnings, by the voice of whirlwinds, tempests, and tornadoes—by the voice of hail, fire, flood, and famine—by the voice of hostile forces in deadly combat—by the wailings of widows and orphans—by pestilence and decrease of both man and beast. The horrors of the scenes will be lighted up by the incendiary’s torch. In this way will God make requisition for the blood of his anointed, and for the cruelty practiced upon his people. With these arguments will God plead his cause at the nation’s bar until the builders seek the stone which they have rejected, even present revelation, and place it at the head of the corner. This will be the Lord’s doings, and it will be marvelous in our eyes. The Supreme Creator of all, the Almighty Sovereign of the universe will assert his rights and maintain them, and reign King of nations as he now does King of Saints. The power that attempts to check his designs will be ground to powder.

The present aspirants to presidential honors in the nation appear to be in good heart and firm in faith that they shall triumph. They seem to spare no labor or effort; they lack no zeal, and are full of hope, full of expectation, strong in spirit, strong in will, and strong in assurance. But the days are near at hand when all such will be weak as water. Their voices will be feeble, their arms palsied, their knees tremble, and they will no sooner aspire to that station than they would to the berth of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. They will no sooner aspire to that summit of fame than would the Israelites approach the crest of Mount Sinai when the thunders of heaven rolled in awful majesty, and the lightnings flashed in forked lines as arrows from the bow of the Almighty. At the appointed time in Heavens’s will, the capstone, long rejected, will be brought forth with shouting, crying Grace, grace unto it! Remember the words of the Lord where he says—“All my words shall be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice out of the heavens or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.” And again—“He that heareth whomsoever I send heareth me.” Forget not these things.

I covet no man’s silver, gold, or apparel; neither his goods, wares, or merchandise. I covet not the honors of this world, neither the good opinion of ungodly men; but I do covet the Spirit of the living God. I covet grace equal to my day, and earnestly pray God, my heavenly Father, in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, that I may have power to honor my priesthood and calling, to bear a faithful testimony to the truth, and by no act spot or stain the testimony which I bear.

God bless the people and his servants, and roll on his mighty work, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, October 7, 1860.

You have heard the testimony of brother Hyde: it is full of spirit, full of matter, full of marrow. He has spoken words of truth—the words of the Lord.

There are hundreds and thousands of Elders who would be glad to bear their testimony to the truth. Be faithful, walk uprightly before God, deal justly with all, love mercy, shun every appearance of evil, and magnify your Priesthood, and you shall have the opportunity of speaking, bearing rule, dictating, guiding, and directing, to your full satisfaction, the things that pertain to the kingdom of God. This promise is to all who are faithful. They shall receive a fulness of kingdoms, thrones, principalities, powers, dominions, and all the fulness pertaining to the Godhead, to their full satisfaction and capability. This should be a satisfaction to all.

At the first impression, the testimony of one man is equally valid with that of another; but when people are filled with understanding to discern and comprehend the principles by which the worlds were made, and by which they are governed and controlled, they realize that there is a vast difference between the man who assumes his authority and the one who is appointed by his master, to go and transact business. Suppose that a number of individuals having no appointment, credentials, or authority, should come from any foreign country to the capital of our nation, and pretend to be ministers of the govern– ment from whence they came, what attention would be paid to them by our Government? None, officially; though they would probably be treated kindly, and as gentlemen, if they behaved themselves. But when a minister from the English or any other European court comes with his appointment, credentials, recommends, &c., the President of the United States, the Congress, and officers of state are ready to receive him with the respect due to his position. So it is in the kingdom of God, and in regard to this people.

Our persecutors have supposed that they persecuted us upon the same principle that the Reformers were persecuted in the days of Martin Luther and others; but in this they are mistaken. Tell the world—sound it in the ears of kings and rulers, that they are persecuting a people to whose God they will have to pay every debt they contract: they will be brought into judgment for every act against this kingdom. This is the kingdom of God; these are the people of God, as are all who receive the truth and follow its principles. As to parentage, we are no more the children of God than are the rest of the inhabitants of the earth. Originally, as to our parents, as to our organization and that which pertains to our life, we are all the children of one Father, whether we be Jew or Gentile, bond or free, black or white, noble or ignoble. The difference we see arises in consequence of the different use made of the agency given to man. Be careful, all the world, and touch not the anointed of the Lord. Afflict not the people who have the oracles of salvation for all the human family. Will the world believe this statement? They can if they choose; but the great majority of the inhabitants of the earth will reject life and salvation when it is presented to them, and in the end it will be like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done. A few here and a few there will receive the truth, and the Lord will empty the earth of the wickedness that now dwells upon it.

As brother Hyde has stated, the “harmonious democracy” that undertook to destroy this people, broke in pieces in the State where the Lord, twenty-eight years ago, on the 25th of next December, revealed to the Prophet Joseph that the nation would begin to break. But I do not wish to make a political speech, nor to have anything to do with the politics and parties in our Government. They love sin, and roll it as a sweet morsel under their tongues. Had they the power, they would dethrone Jehovah; had they the power, they would today crucify every Saint there is upon the earth; they would not leave upon the earth one alive in whose veins runs the blood of the Priesthood. Yet they are our brethren and sisters—bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh—sprung from one parentage. God is our Father—Jesus Christ is our Elder Brother. If the world would understand this, and take warning, and be cautious, it would be far better for them. Will they? No: they do not and will not realize facts as they exist, and we cannot help it. All we can do is to plead with them, preach to them the words of eternal life, and offer it to them as it has been offered to us. If they receive it, blessed are they. If they reject it, it is their privilege. The powers and faculties of their organizations are for themselves to use as they elect; for they, as well as we, are agents before God, and can choose or refuse according to their own pleasure. But they are broken in pieces. Do I wish to predict this? No, for it was predicted long ago. The nation that has lifted itself against the kingdom of God is already shivered to pieces. Touch it, and it will crumble under your touch. The cohesiveness of its particles is gone—they cannot cling together, and they will be sifted as with a sieve of vanity. God’s controversy with them has commenced; he has commenced with this nation, and in its turn he will sift every nation there is upon the face of the earth.

In the beginning, after this earth was prepared for man, the Lord commenced his work upon what is now called the American continent, where the Garden of Eden was made. In the days of Noah, in the days of the floating of the ark, he took the people to another part of the earth: the earth was divided, and there he set up his kingdom. Did they receive his kingdom? No; they rejected it. Afterwards he called a man, and ordained him, and showed to him the inhabitants of the whole earth, and gave to him a promise that his offspring should be the people of God. He spoke to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their children, as his covenant people. The Jews rejected Jesus Christ, who came to redeem the world. They cried—“Crucify him, crucify him! Let his blood be upon us, and upon our children!” God has removed the kingdom from Jerusalem again to Zion, and here he will wind up the scene. Righteousness will go forth, and the wickedness upon the earth will be swept from it. Will I prophesy evil? No; let us prophesy good. But the justice and mercy of God must have their demands. Let everything have its place and its just due, both the good and the evil; and we will not curse the wicked, for they are already cursed; the wrath of the Almighty does not slumber upon their track; their condition is lamentable. They live and flourish, and may have a few days of prosperity, as the enemies of the Prophets did anciently. They flourish like a green bay tree, and may so flourish for a few days; but they will become withered and dried and prepared to be cast into the fire, while the kingdom of God will stand; and if we do not remain faithful, others will take our places.

This is the kingdom of God, set up for the last time; and whosoever persecutes it persecutes the Son of God and the Father who sent him. Here is the Priesthood (the keys of power and wisdom) that unlocks the storehouse of knowledge. These keys and this power the world know nothing of. It is marvelous to the world that the things that are known here—the very things that God reveals here—are often at once known by portions of this kingdom in other nations. To many it is marvelous that intelligence can be so rapidly communicated by means of the electromagnetic telegraph, but our method of communication is from heaven.

We know and understand the nations of the earth, the power by which they exist, and their rise and downfall: the facts are before us. Reflect upon those powerful nations that have existed, but are now nationally as though they had never been: so it will be with the nations that now exist—they will pass away, others will come, and God will reign King of nations as he now does King of Saints. It is a glorious thought, my brethren—a thought that should touch the heart of every being on the face of this earth, that God is going to reign Lord of lords and King of kings—that he is coming to the earth again. His kingdom is growing, and his grace is bestowed upon his children, and they are coming to understanding and growing in grace.

It is not pleasing to a potter, after he has a batch of clay mixed, ground, and made smooth and pliable for working into vessels, to have an apprentice throw rough, unbroken, unground stuff into the prepared clay; but, comparatively speaking, we have to bear this. When we are getting the clay into fine condition, a mass of unprepared material is mixed up with it, and it is our business to continue to grind, to prepare the whole of the mass together. I suppose the Lord wants to prepare all the good clay that can be found upon the face of the earth, that when he comes he can make up his jewels. Then you who have oil in your vessels will go and meet the Bridegroom. Are we going to be prepared? Let every soul of us strive to be found among those who will be counted wise at his coming, for we can go into the highways and hedges and find plenty of the foolish. Let us try to be wise—to obey the servants and commandments of the Almighty, doing his will continually, that we may be prepared to enter at the marriage supper.

The scripture concerning the five wise and five foolish virgins will be fulfilled, as will also the revelation that was given to Joseph about the nations breaking to shivers. I wish some of the world’s learned theologians would tell us what became of the foolish virgins. Call up the wisdom and knowledge there is in Christendom, and learn whether they can tell anything about those foolish virgins. I have not time now to tell what became of them, but I think they did not go to the bottom of the bottomless pit. Is it not a glorious thought that there are kingdoms, mansions of glory, and comfortable habitations prepared for all the sons and daughters of Adam, except the sons of perdition? All will not have part in the first resurrection, and perhaps many will not appear in the second; but all will be resurrected, and, except the sons of perdition, enter kingdoms, the least of which I presume is more glorious than ever John Wesley saw in vision. All the inhabitants of the earth will enter a glory, except the sons of perdition, or angels to the Devil. But where will they dwell? What shall be their fate before they are prepared for a kingdom of glory? They will be cast into prison, and there remain until they have paid the debt they have contracted; wherefore it is better to make peace with the officer while in the way with him, as Jesus has said. After they have been thrust into prison and paid the uttermost farthing, then perhaps they will receive a life, a glory, a kingdom that will be in accordance with their feelings, desires, and doings while they were on the earth.

The kingdom that this people are in pertains to the celestial kingdom; it is a kingdom in which we can prepare to go into the presence of the Father and the Son. Then let us live to inherit that glory. God has promised you, Jesus has promised you, and the Apostles and Prophets of old and of our day have promised you that you shall be rewarded according to all you can desire in righteousness before the Lord, if you live for that reward. As Patriarch Joseph Smith, the father of Joseph the Prophet, said—“If I have not promised blessings enough on your head, and stated enough in the blessing I have given you, sit down and write every good thing you can think of, and every good thing your neighbor can think of, and put all into your blessing, and I will sign it and promise the whole to you, if you will only live for it.” But suppose a person does not live for the promised blessings, will he receive them? No. And we say to the Elders of Israel, Be faithful, and you shall see the day when you will have all the power you can wield and manage to advantage. I can call Thos. B. Marsh, who is now in the congregation, to witness: he was once the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Soon after the selection of that Quorum, brother Marsh felt to complain. I said to him, brother Thomas, if we are faithful, we will see the day, in the midst of this people, that we will have all the power that we shall know how to wield before God. I call him to witness if I have not already seen that day. Look at the rest of my brethren, and have they not all the power they can wield?

Brother Hyde, in his remarks, spoke about the voice of God at a certain time. I could tell many incidents relating to that circumstance, which he did not take time to relate. We were in his house, which was some ten or twelve feet square. The houses in the neighborhood shook, or, if they did not, the people thought they did, for they ran together and inquired whether there had been an earthquake. We told them that the voice of God had reached the earth—that they need not be afraid; it was the power of God. This and other events have transpired to satisfy the people—you, and all who belong to the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth.

When I met Sidney Rigdon, east of the temple in Nauvoo, I knew then what I now know concerning the organization of the Church, though I had told no man of it. I revealed it to no living being, until the pioneers to this valley were returning to Winter Quarters. Brother Wilford Woodruff was the first man I ever spoke to about it. Said he—“It is right; I believe it, and think a great deal of it, for it is from the Lord; the Church must be organized.” It then went to others, and from them to others; but it was no news to me, for I understood it then as I understand it now.

The policy of God is not the policy of man: his wisdom and power are above the wisdom and power of man. Be faithful to your calling and magnify it. The kingdom and the greatness thereof under the whole heaven are ours. The yoke is broken, the fetters are burst, and the Lord Almighty will assert his right; and his will will be done by the Saints on this the land of Zion, to purify and cleanse it. And those who are expecting to receive the benefit and blessings of Zion never will, but will receive the judgments of Zion, unless their hearts are as pure as the angels. The man that is acting according to his ability, as are the angels, must be pure and holy in heart, must not have an evil wish or desire reigning in his mortal body, but must be sanctified through the truth to the God of heaven. What do you think, Elders—will any of you receive blessings upon any other grounds? No, not one of you.

There are a great many who profess to be still in the faith, neglecting to gather, and waiting for the time when Zion will be redeemed. George W. Harris, whom many of you remember, was going to wait in Kanesville until we returned. Brother George A. Smith told him that the nearest way to the Center Stake of Zion was through Great Salt Lake City. Harris has gone to the spirit world, and where his circuit will be I neither know nor care, though I am well convinced that brother George A. Smith was right.

Where is the Center Stake of Zion? In Jackson County, Missouri. Were I to try to prevent you from going there, I could not do it. Can the wicked? No. Can the devils in hell? No, they cannot. Zion will be redeemed and built up, and the Saints will rejoice. This is the land of Zion; and who are Zion? The pure in heart are Zion; they have Zion within them. Purify yourselves, sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and have the Zion of God within you, and then you will rejoice more and more. Pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks. Is it not a hard task to live this religion without enjoying the spirit of it? Such a course worries the feelings, fills a person with sorrow and affliction, and makes him miserable. The easiest life to live, by any mortal being on the earth, is to live in the light of God’s countenance, and have fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ. I know this by my own experience. In this course there is no darkness, no sorrow, no grief. The power of the Spirit of God has preserved me in the vigor of youth, and I am as active as a boy. How is it with you who do not enjoy the spirit of your religion? It is a hard life for you to live; and you had better, from this day, take a course to enjoy the Spirit of the Lord; then you will be numbered with the wise. Let us all so live as to have oil in our vessels, our lamps trimmed for lighting, and be ready to go in with the Bridegroom to the marriage supper. I could tell you the meaning of that portion of Scripture, but I have not time now.

The most ignorant of our Elders, with the Spirit and power of God upon them, can, in knowledge of Scripture, lead the smartest of the Gentile priests into deep water, and dip them under, and draw them back again at their pleasure, and confound the Scripture knowledge of the priestcraft that is on the earth. During our return from England, brother Heber C. Kimball was beset by a number of Baptist priests who had been attending a conference. He read them all down out of the New Testament. Brother George A. Smith sat beside them with a pocket Bible, and brother Heber would say—“Brother George, turn to that.” “Oh,” said the priests, “you need not turn to it, for we recollect it,” when there was no such passage in the Bible. He sat for two hours and advanced much Scripture that never was in the Bible, as did Benjamin Franklin, when he was conversing with a man who opposed him upon the subject of charity, and was particularly in favor of justice. “You remember the Scripture,” said Franklin, “where it reads like this—Once on a time an old man came at eventide to Abram’s tent. Abram bid him welcome, but as he entered the tent he gave not God thanks. He said to Abram, Canst thou give me meat? And Abram said, Thou art not a servant of God, and thou shalt not have meat. The old man said, Let me have meat, that I may live and not die. And the voice of the Lord came to Abram in this wise: Abram, Abram, beholdest thou this aged servant of mine, with whom I have borne ninety-nine years, and canst thou not bear with him one night?” When Franklin got through, the man had yielded the point, and asked him where he read that; to which Franklin replied, “You will find it in the 51st chapter of Genesis!” and there are only fifty chapters in that book. Our Elders may tell the priests that there are fifty-one chapters in Genesis, and but few of them, if any, will know that there are only fifty. With regard to true theology, a more ignorant people never lived than the present so-called Christian world.

Saints, live your religion faithfully, and you will enjoy life; and when you are as old as I am, your hair will be as bright as mine is. If I live to the first day of next June, I shall be sixty years old, though I do not look or feel as though I had reached that age. What preserves me? The spirit of my religion—the power of God that is upon me and through me. I love it; it is better to me than meat and drink—than my temporal life. Many a man will lay down his life for his religion, but will not live it one day. Live your religion, and have no desire but to build up the kingdom of God on the earth. The love of God is bestowed upon this people, and what is its effect? Persons in foreign lands, for the Gospel, for the sake of Jesus and the kingdom of God, have left fathers, mothers, children, wives, husbands, and every other relative they had, and come to this distant region. The Gospel will take two of a city, and, once in a while, one of a family; it will take one here and another there. Fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters are no more to me than are any other persons, unless they embrace this work. Here are my fathers, my mothers, my sisters, and my brethren in the kingdom, and I have none outside of it, neither in any part of the earth, nor in all the eternity of the Gods. In this kingdom are my acquaintances, relatives, and friends—my soul, my affections, my all.

I will carry this idea a little further, for the sake of those who are unmarried. Since I was baptized into this Church and kingdom, if all the female beauty had been simmered down into one woman not in this kingdom, she would not have appeared handsome to me; but if a person’s heart is open to receive the truth, the excellency of love and beauty is there. How is it with you, sisters? Do you distinguish between a man of God and a man of the world? It is one of the strangest things that happens in my existence, to think that any man or woman can love a being that will not receive the truth of heaven. The love this Gospel produces is far above the love of women: it is the love of God—the love of eternity—of eternal lives.

May God bless you! Amen.

Remarks by Elder George A. Smith, made in the Tabernacle, October 6, 1860.

It is about thirteen months since I had the privilege of rising and speaking in your midst. It is therefore with a heart filled with thankfulness to our Heavenly Father that I now enjoy the privilege of bearing my testimony on the present occasion of the things which pertain to the kingdom of the Most High. In his kind providence we are enjoying a great multitude of blessings.

The testimony which has been given to us this morning of the power and manifestations of the Spirit of God in the midst of Israel is calculated to make us rejoice. The Lord speaks unto us in his own way, and after his own manner, and in our language, and after our understanding, and the light of his Spirit which shineth in our minds, inasmuch as we will suffer it to do so; but if our hearts are clogged with the things of this world—if our souls are suffered to become enamored of the earth and the objects that are sought after by the wicked world, we lose the Spirit of the Lord, and by that means do not understand when we are taught and instructed in the way of life.

The object of obtaining wealth and the desire to handle or control a considerable portion of this world’s goods have blinded the eyes of many Elders, and caused them to go astray in the ways of extravagance and folly. It has decoyed them from the path of virtue, and by that means they have become totally estrayed from the path of truth. If we can keep in view the one great principle, to build up the kingdom of God, proclaim the fulness of the everlasting Gospel, to labor for the sustenance of Zion, make that our first, our great, our only object, and fear not for the earthly things we may need, we shall have the Spirit of the Almighty to enlighten our minds and guide our feet in the true path.

When the Presidency bear their testimony to us, our spirits will then meet with theirs, and we shall feel and enjoy the truth of the principles they proclaim to us. But while our minds become concentrated upon earthly objects, we are dark, and we begin to think we know better than other people; we begin to feel that we can do something independently of God or his servants.

I will relate an instance that occurred in 1849. I was talking with one of the brethren who had been many years in the Church. He told me he wanted to situate himself so that he could leave his family and be prepared to go preaching. I said, “Are you not pretty well situated now you have a large farm, plenty of cattle, and other property, and your family are able to take care of themselves?” He said he did not feel as though he had ready means enough to go. “I want to get myself in condition so that I can leave home; and in order to do it, I have determined to go to California; and I think in the course of five or six months I can there raise ten thousand dollars, and on that means I can go to the southern part of California, buy 1,000 head of horses, and bring them to Salt Lake, and next year sell them for one or two hundred dollars each. With that means in my hands I shall be able to leave my family and go preaching.” That was the design he laid out. I may say the plan was very tempting: he went to California, but the tremendous results anticipated were never realized. There are a great many men in the midst of Zion that have lost their power and ability to perform those works they seem to wish to perform by endeavoring to take a wild goose chase to place themselves in possession of wealth on their own responsibility. The circumstances which have transpired in our midst for the last few years have been calculated to try many men.

In reviewing the history of ourselves as a people, we have encountered many things which have been calculated to try some men. They have been compelled many times to submit to the most cruel exactions—seeing their friends murdered, their families driven from their possessions, and yet bearing up under it splendidly. They have had to pioneer into the midst of a barren and hitherto unknown desert, make settlements, rear their families in the midst of want, and toil, and bear it patiently. Yet, after a few years of prosperity, you will see those very men, when they become better situated, surrounded with the blessings and comforts of life—they begin to feel as though they were not doing quite well enough, and their thoughts begin to wander like the fool’s eye to the ends of the earth. In some instances the scenes of the last few years have caused them to turn again, as President Kimball expressed it, like the hog to the mire after he had been cleanly washed.

It puts me in mind of a compliment paid to Queen Elizabeth by an English farmer. Her Majesty was out on a ride, and was caught in a storm. The farmer was very much rejoiced that the Queen had called upon him, and she was pleased with his rough hospitality. Being just after the defeat of the Spanish Armada, he complimented her on the success of her arms by saying—“The King of Spain got the wrong sow by the ear when he made war with your Majesty.” The Queen was much amused at this vulgar comparison.

Though, really, the dream related by brother Kimball, describing the multitude of hogs that were in the city, was so perfectly illustrated at the time the town was so tremendously full of soldiers, teamsters, gamblers, and camp followers, and they floated off so suddenly, that it could almost be said it was dreamed awake. That is the best way to dream: a man can many times dream wide awake straighter than when asleep.

I remember once (when in Zion’s camp), I was very thirsty, hungry, and tired, that I dreamed when I was walking on the road I could see a loaf of bread, a bottle of milk, and a spring of water. It was one of the pleasantest dreams in the world, and I dreamed it while walking along the road. At the same time a great many dreams, as men consider, are no more nor less than open vision, and a great many dreams are the result, perhaps, of fatigue—of overexercise—of overeating before retiring to rest, or some other cause.

When a man’s mind is illuminated by a dream, it leaves a vivid and pleasant impression: when it may be guided by the Spirit of God, it leaves the mind happy and comfortable, and the understanding clear.

I have regretted, for the past year, that I have not been permitted to speak to you, that my testimony to the truth might be heard in the midst of Israel, and in this city particularly. It was owing simply to an accident which lamed me in such a manner that I could not walk about—could not stand up, though after a while I got so much better that I could ride. I have rode about the Territory, and talked to the brethren in the settlements, generally sitting down; and many of them heard my testimony, which is the same as it has been for the last twenty-eight years—a testimony to the truth of the revelation of the fulness of the Gospel to the Saints in these last days. It is the work of the Lord, and the hand of God is visible in everything that is passing before us; his hand and power have been over us. He has shielded us from the political machinations of evil-designing men, and preserved us from the wrath of our enemies. He has given wisdom to our President to guide, to counsel, to direct us; and if ever revelation guided a people on the face of this earth, this people has been guided by special revelation ever since we came into these valleys. The power of the Almighty has been with us, his hand has been over us here, his wisdom has directed us, his inspiring Spirit has been on our Presidency, his revealed will has been given from the lips of him God has given to lead us. Fear not to do right ourselves, and let us be fully aware of our own follies and weaknesses and corruptions, and listen to the watchmen of Zion, and we shall overcome and inherit the blessings of glory. We shall rise above our enemies, light and truth will shine upon us, peace will be on our path and the lamp of life will guide us to eternal glory.

This is my testimony. You have it as I feel and realize it and know it, for these things are of God. And may his blessings attend us, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1860.

Last spring we called upon some of the Bishops to furnish a few teams to go to the Missouri River and back this season, to prove to the people a fact that several of us were convinced did exist. We obtained twenty teams from the Wards; I also sent a few, and they have successfully performed the journey to Florence, N.T., and back, under the charge of Elder Joseph W. Young. Bishop Woolley also went down with some mule and ox teams, and returned with the ox train. I want to hear them both speak this afternoon on the subject of freighting with teams sent from here.

The handcart system has been pretty well tried; and if a handcart company start in proper season, and manage properly, I will venture to say the most of them can come in that way more pleasantly than they generally come with wagons. But drawing their provisions, &c., is a hard task, and it would be more satisfactory, if we could manage it, to bring in wagons the freight and those who are unable to walk.

In 1834, a company of us were called upon to go to Missouri, and in that trip the labor of walking, so far as we averaged in a day, was very fatiguing. A great many of that company walked, and we cooked by the way as much as do those who travel across the Plains, and we carried a greater weight than is generally carried by those who walk from the Missouri River to this city. This I know, for I was one of those who walked the whole distance. In less than three months I walked two thousand miles, as far as to Florence and back; and others of the company did the same. And instead of having a healthy climate to walk in, we passed through one of the most deathly and sickly climates in the United States, which proved to me that most people can walk, if they will try.

We now contemplate trying another plan. If we can go with our teams to the Missouri River and back in one season, and bring the poor, their provisions, &c., it will save about half of the cash we now expend in bringing the Saints to this point from Europe. It now costs in cash nearly as much for their teams, wagons, handcarts, cooking utensils, provisions, &c, for their journey across the Plains, as it does to transport them to the frontiers. We can raise cattle without an outlay of money, and use them in transporting the Saints from the frontiers, and such freight as we may require. Brethren and sisters, save your fives, tens, fifties, a hundred dollars, or as much as you can, until next spring (considering yourselves, as it were, a thousand miles from a store), and send your money, your cattle, and wagons to the States, and buy your goods and freight them. Twenty dollars expended in this way will do you as much good as several times that amount paid to the stores here.

If we can convince the brethren that it is a successful operation, we shall endeavor to engage in it largely next year. We wish to send two or three hundred wagons, with two or three yokes of cattle to a light Chicago wagon. If you have not the wagons, you can send the money and buy them. In this way, where we could emigrate a hundred from Liverpool to this place by the old method, we can emigrate some two hundred by going to the frontiers and bringing them. This will facilitate, by almost half, the gathering of the Saints, and at the same time enable us to procure, at cheap rates, such articles as we do not produce. I wish the brethren to grasp in their faith the facts that will be presented, and believe that we can do all that we can, and then be ready to do it. We have plenty of cattle and can send them, and they will perform the journey as well as horses or mules, with far less risk of their being stolen on the Plains.

I wish the Bishops to improve upon the counsel I gave them this morning, receiving it as kindly as it was given; for we only desire to turn the current of our business transactions into the channel that will most conduce to the welfare of the Saints. I also want them to present to their Wards the plan of sending teams to the frontier; and I want the men who think and write to send to the Editor of the Deseret News articles about sending teams to the States to bring our poor brethren and our freight, and to take out and bring back our Missionaries.

Last spring our Elders went down with the trains at a saving of some two thousands dollars in cash, and on reaching the frontier were prepared to go on their way rejoicing. And when they return, I anticipate the honor of our teams bringing them back as poor as they went—that they will not return as merchants; for if they do, from this time forth, the curse of God will rest upon them, and they will lose the spirit of their religion and apostatize. I want them to respect their missions, themselves, their brethren, their religion, and our God, as to return poor in regard to gold, silver, &c., but rich in gathering the souls of the children of men to this place, where we can chasten them and prove whether they are Saints or not, and where the Lord will have the privilege of proving them either to be Saints or unworthy of the kingdom.

I will now call upon brother E. D. Woolley to preach a sermon about ox-trains going to the States.

God bless you! Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1860.

I feel quite thankful for the comfortable circumstances we enjoy—for our blessings, spiritually and temporally, which I realize to be the free gift of our Father and God. All the wisdom, ability, and talent displayed among the children of men are the gift of God to them. He has given us ability to make ourselves comfortable and happy, for which I am extremely thankful.

I am happy in hearing the voices of the brethren, and would be very much gratified if we had time, and it would meet the minds of the brethren, to give them an opportunity to speak as the Spirit might dictate, and bear their testimony. It has been a source of comfort to me to hear the speeches of my brethren, and to observe the variety of capacity, of reflection, and manner of communication displayed by them. I should be very glad if we could have the privilege of hearing many of them speak during this Conference. Whether we shall or not, I am not now able to say. Our Conference commences today. Tomorrow is the Sabbath, and probably many who have come from the country will wish to return home on Monday. Whether we shall continue our Conference longer than tomorrow, I do not know. We shall continue it until we finish the business to be transacted and fully answer our feelings, and then we will close. I wish to present several ideas; but I have been more edified in hearing the music in brother Kimball’s remarks this morning than I would have been in speaking myself.

When the authorities of the Church are present, if we are possessed of the true spirit, we are ready to sustain the faithful, and to wish them to continue in the faithful discharge of their duties. And the brethren who rise to testify of the things of God, if they enjoy the Spirit of the Lord, know that “Mormonism” is true. No person can receive a knowledge of this work, except by the power of revelation.

All the world are ready to tell you that this work is not of God. Kings, princes, dukes, lords, and other great men of the earth are all combined in this testimony. Why do they fear this work, if it is the work of men? The very sound of it carries conviction to all the inhabitants of the earth—a conviction that it is ordained of God. Were this not so, you would not see it contended against by the priests in the pulpit, who are bitter against it, and are most vigilant in circulating all manner of falsehood concerning it, picking up the sayings of corrupt, debased, abandoned characters to swell their catalogue of lies against it, which they publish throughout the world. All this would sleep, if this work was not of God. They would never think enough of it to say one word about it. But they are pricked by the conviction of its truth when they hear the sound of it. When false reports go out against Joseph Smith and his brethren, against the Book of Mormon, and the kingdom of God, a conviction goes with them to the hearts of the people that this is the work of the Almighty. Were this not so, we should not have been persecuted—we should not have been driven as we have been. But we have been driven for the last time, thank God my heavenly Father. But our persecutions are a subject that I do not wish to speak about. We have the power in our own hands, if we live with our lives hid with Christ in God. We are here where the Lord wants us to be; and if we will be as he wants us to be, the kingdom is ours—the greatness, the glory, power, excellency, light, intelligence, and eternity of the kingdom of God are ours, and no power can hinder it.

When men lose the spirit of the work in which we are engaged, they become infidel in their feelings. They say that they do not know whether the Bible is true, whether the Book of Mormon is true, nor about new revelations, nor whether there is a God or not. When they lose the spirit of this work, they lose the knowledge of the things of God in time and in eternity; all are lost to them. Contemplate the things of God and his kingdom, this earth, man in his present condition, and you may clearly comprehend that we are now in the midst of eternity. When we preach, or pray, or exhort each other to good works, if we could realize it, we are in the midst of the kingdom of God, and his all-searching eye is here. You may readily comprehend this; for, when I look at you as you are now assembled, I can see several hundred faces at once. Now, suppose that I had power to see as the Spirit sees, I could then look through the earth and see our antipodes as well as I can look through what some term empty space. My eyes would be eternal, and I could see the vast eternities of God as I can now see your faces. God sees us; and if we had eyes like his, we could behold him as we sit here as easily as we can now see each other’s faces—no matter where he dwells, whether in Kolob or anywhere else; for his glory and light fill the sun, and we could behold it as we now behold each other’s faces. God has the power to look at his vast works; and if we had power and eyes like his, we could behold him as he does us. He is in the midst of eternity. His kingdom is here, a portion of his glory is here, eternity is here, and we are in the midst of them. Let us live worthy of them, and not dishonor our being upon the earth.

There are many of the Bishops here today, and my advice to them is for them to be honest with me, to be honest with their God, to keep their covenants sacred, and to make a clean breast of all their business transactions, that their consciences may be void of offense towards God and man. I am not searching only the course of the Twelve, or that of the High Priests and Seventies, but I am searching after all the authorities whose conduct is not in accordance with the best interests of the Church; and from this time forth, if they do not do different from what many have done, they shall do wrong knowingly, with their eyes open. I want the Bishops to remember the counsel I have given them. I shall learn whether they are strictly honest or not; and if they are not honest, I will expose them. If they come out and own things as they are, and honestly prove that their past errors have proceeded from the head, and not from the heart, they can be placed upon the right track and magnify their calling. Some may not understand the cause of these remarks concerning the Bishops, and I will explain. For instance, when tithing chickens, butter, &c., are brought in, a Bishop says to his clerk—“You need not trouble to take an account of these chickens; my wife will keep an account of them;” and the Bishop’s wife takes the chickens, the ham, the butter, the cheese, &c., and puts them away; and when the clerk wants to know what has been brought in by such a brother, “O never mind,” says the Bishop; “my wife will give an account of it;” and the wife forgets it. “Are such things done?” Yes, more or less, all the time. This example was set long ago, and some of the Bishops have followed it.

At the death of Joseph, when the Twelve returned to Nauvoo, to use a comparison, the horses were all harnessed and the people were in the big carriage, and where were they going? They did not know. Who would gather up the lines and guide the team? No man would step forward, until I did. There was not one of the Twelve with me when I went to meet Sidney Rigdon on the meeting ground. I went alone, and was ready alone to face and drive the dogs from the flock. When I got hold of the lines, and began to direct the team, I found tithing butter spoiled, potatoes rotted in the cellars, and pork spoiled in the barrels, while the brethren at work on the Temple would come to their labor without breakfast, and pork, butter, beef, &c., rotting under the feet of the Temple Committee. Said I, “Empty these barrels, or I will walk into your cellars and empty them for you: let these workmen have something to eat.” “Oh,” said the committee, “we are afraid there will not be enough to last a year.” Then, if we starve, we starve together; and if we live, we live together. I ordered the wheat, the pork, the butter, &c., to be issued to the workmen. Too many of the Bishops here have taken pattern from those who have gone before. I have been to Bishops’ houses when they had hams and eggs during months in the year, while our hands on the works were not able to get one; for the Bishops had eaten all the hams, every egg and chicken, and all the butter. I will trace out those who conduct in this manner and expose them, unless they honestly report their transactions and strive to do right. Brethren, you may think that I am a little extravagant in my talk; but time will prove.

When a good, handsome cow has been turned in on tithing, she has been smuggled, and an old three-titted cow—one that would kick the tobacco out of the mouth of a man who went to milk her—would be turned into the General Tithing Office, instead of the good cow. If one hundred dollars in cash are paid into the hands of a Bishop, in many instances he will smuggle it, and turn into the General Tithing Office old, ringboned, spavined horses, instead of the money. I am inquiring after such conduct, and will continue until I cleanse the inside of the platter.

Brother Heber has been speaking about discipline. Elders in Israel, I am as willing and ready to be closely examined and scanned as I am to examine and scan you. Walk into my office, examine my books, and scan every act of my life. I am as ready to have it done as I am to search into your practices. You may say that you have not been dishonest, or, if you have been, that you were ignorantly so. I am glad, if such statements will prove to be correct. I never saw the day in this Church that I could consider it honest to take one cent of tithing and turn it out of its legitimate channel; but some of our smart men do not know as much as that, though they would seem to know more of the great things of the kingdom than I do. I want to instruct you in the little things. It is the little foxes that spoil the vine; it is the little acts of men that make up the sum of their lives and form their characters for eternity.

Some may think that I am rather too severe; but if you had the Pro– phet Joseph to deal with, you would think that I am quite mild. There are many here that are acquainted with brother Joseph’s manner. He would not bear the usage I have borne, and would appear as though he would tear down all the houses in the city, and tear up trees by the roots, if men conducted to him in the way they have to me.

I am required by those who sit here today and by the whole Church to bear off this kingdom, to see that it is preserved inviolate, and that the Priesthood is honored; but it seems, on the right hand and on the left, as though there is a concerted plan among nearly all the Elders and High Priests to keep every dime of money out of my hands, make me pay the debts of the Church, do the work, and they keep the means and use it for their own purposes. The ancient Apostles and ministers of Christ could not live without eating. They had to eat, drink, and wear—to have sustenance while on earth. So do I, though I do not require the rich luxuries of life. I am not so fond as many are of high living, but I have to eat and rest. And when a Church debt comes from England, New York, Missouri, St. Louis, or elsewhere, the money has to be paid. I cannot chew paper and spit out bank bills that will pass in payment of those debts, neither shall I undertake to do it. I want the gold and silver that are paid on tithing, and the identical horses, cows, and young stock that are brought in on tithing; or, if stock and other products are retained, give us better than what you keep, and not keep the good and give us the bad. Neither do I wish a person owing tithing to offer an old hipped horse at forty dollars, and ask me to pay him twenty dollars in cash and let the balance go to pay tithing, when the old animal is not worth ten dollars.

Pour means into the storehouse of the Lord, and prove him, and see whether he will not pour out greater blessings than you can contain. You have not room enough this year in which to store the abundance of grain the Lord has given you: you have to store it in wagon boxes, &c., and much of it goes to waste, and the people are not blessed for it. You ought to carefully save every kernel. As for prophesying that a famine will come upon you, I shall not do so. Should it come, we will do the best we can. We have had a light famine here, and dealt out provisions to the brethren as long as we could, and got along very well.

May God bless you! Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, September 30, 1860.

I feel the force of the ancient saying—“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.”

I realize all that has just been said in regard to the blessings of heaven being ready to be poured out upon this people, if they were prepared to receive them, and that too in a far greater degree than has ever entered into the heart of man to conceive; for the heart of man is incapable of fully comprehending the blessings that God has in store for the faithful, unless he has revealed those blessings to them by the revelations of his Spirit. The natural man is contracted in his feelings, in his views, faith, and desires, and so are the Saints, unless they live their religion. If they live their religion, all that has been said this morning they will fully realize to be true.

It may be asked, “Shall we go to the world for wisdom?” They have none, so far as pertains to the plan of salvation. To be sure, they have considerable knowledge of the arts and sciences; but in those do they understand all that has formerly been understood? I have no idea that they do. Do they know anything of the things of God? No. Brother Taylor observed, “Go to the priests of the day, and they cannot inform you.” There is a good reason why—because they know nothing directly in regard to the things of the kingdom, and they are equally ignorant with regard to the design of their present existence, to say nothing of either their prior or future existence. They are a mystery to themselves, and do not even understand the things which they see; still they are searching and researching, and studying and striving with all their powers to understand the things they see every day, and come short of doing that. How, then, can they understand the invisible things that pertain to eternity? There is no knowledge of these things in the so-called Christian world, in comparison with what they should possess, in consideration of the advantages which have been granted to them, neither is that knowledge among those denominated heathen. There are only a few dark traditions—a few incorrect and garbled ceremonies and ordinances remaining of the true system that was once possessed by mankind.

We are in the kingdom of God, and must yield obedience to it. We say that we do—we feel that we do, but when will this people fully see and understand things as they are? I may answer in the future, and all I can now say is that they are learning —growing in grace and in the knowledge of the truth; but to say we are perfect, we cannot. When brother Taylor referred, in his remarks, to our leader and dictator, with regard to his perfections and imperfections, I felt that I could almost say that I did not want him to be perfect yet. I remember Joseph Smith’s saying, “If I were as pure and holy as you wish me to be, I could not stay with you; I should not be here to guide and direct you, for the Lord would take me from you.” He did take him; the people were not worthy of him. The people required him to be as holy as the Almighty himself, and to never make a mistake. Wherein the First Presidency and the Twelve do wrong, it is not in the ability of the people to detect them in those wrongs. They are far advanced, and they know enough more to lead out; and if they commit an error, it is passed over, and the people cannot tell wherein or when, nor how to correct it.

The Christian world are all looking for a day of perfection, and are donating their money and sending out Missionaries—they have also a great many Tract and Bible Societies, &c., &c., expressly to convert the world and bring forth the day the ancient Prophets have written about—a day of rest, the millennium, or any other term you please to apply to it, but it is a day when the Saints who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ shall see eye to eye, when all shall come to the knowledge of the truth, and the law of the Lord shall be written in the hearts of all, and none shall need to say to his neighbor, “Know ye the Lord,” for all shall know him, &c. All Christendom is looking for that day. I will inform this congregation and the whole world that they will never come to perfection—never can commence the great work of reformation in them– selves and with each other, until the superior knowledge can take the inferior and direct it, and, if need be, chasten it, and remove its errors, and give it the truth.

During a few weeks past much has been said in relation to the folly, feelings, and doings of Elders of Israel. Joseph Smith was a rod in the hands of the Lord to scourge the Elders of Israel; he was the mouthpiece of the Almighty, and was always ready to rebuke them when requisite. You who were acquainted with him know his course and life. He had a word of comfort and consolation to the humble and faithful, and a word of rebuke to the froward and disobedient. But for a few years past, in the midst of the Elders of Israel, they have treated each other with what may be called silken words spoken with velvet lips; and what you have lately been hearing about has produced this course of life and feeling among the Elders not to chasten or rebuke each other. If they wished to correct, they would preach a long sermon, and tell how miserable they themselves were, how wicked they had been, how much evil they had done, and how many times they had transgressed and been out of the way; and after they had painted their own characters as black as darkness, they would say, “Brethren, do you not think that you have done wrong in what you have done? I am afraid you have; but my own evil works are so much greater than yours, that I dare not mention it.” This conduct is connected with other things; in fact, the whole experience of man and the whole plan of salvation are so interwoven that it is hard to draw out and divide one subject from another, though it may be done in some instances. Men become darkened in their minds; they say that the Elders of Israel, they believe, have fallen from grace and have received the spirit of the world. Those Elders are not willing to acknowledge this, but almost every track they make proves it; almost every deed they perform proves that they have become lukewarm, and they preach with silken lips, and do not pour the truth of God upon the people as the Lord wishes them to, nor cause the overt acts of the ungodly to feel the wrath of justice and the weight of truth. This is what I see, and what I have seen for a long time.

People become covetous. The whole world is more or less covetous; and when the questions are asked, “Where shall we go for wisdom—for strength? To whom shall we apply for knowledge? Where shall we seek for life?”—there is but one source, and that is the God who organized us. When will we become entirely independent? Never, though we are as independent in our spheres as the Gods of eternity are in theirs. When will we lead out and act for ourselves? When we have overcome, and that is not yet. Jesus has not yet overcome; he has not received his kingdom from the Father. He has to contend against the enemy—against the power of the Devil, until he overcomes death and him that has the power of it. If he is successful, and we believe that he will be, when he overcomes and subdues all enemies and puts them under his feet, he will present the kingdom to the Father; and then he will be crowned, and not until then. When will we be crowned? Not until we pass through ordeals preparatory to receiving those crowns. We are not our own. We have our existence, but it is not our own.

That which we seem to possess is not our own, but is owned and controlled by a superior power. Even the power of the Devil can take money from one man’s pocket and place it in another man’s pocket, to say nothing of what the power of God can do. Some men seemingly possess much riches, as did Job, and how long may it be before they have not a farthing’s worth of property, or a wife, or child? In a few weeks the Lord took almost all from Job; he spared to him a wife, who, as recorded in the Bible, seemed to taunt Job’s trust in his God—his fidelity to his Maker. “Now,” says she, “you had better curse God at once and die. I told you that he would not stand by you.” I presume Job felt like saying, “Go to the Devil your own road.”

Who does have true power? Those who have overcome and sat down with the Gods in eternity, and who have committed to them the keys that are prepared for them. Then they can reign triumphantly, for they have perfect control over death and him that has the power of death, and over all evil: then they control life.

I frequently reflect upon how much power we need. You hear the Elders of Israel praying for power to overcome their enemies: they want power to strike them blind and to strike them dead. We have seen times, within a few years back, when we would have been glad to have had power to destroy our enemies. Have you power, independently, to make a kernel of wheat grow, or any vegetable with which to feed yourselves? No; you have not power to control those lesser powers that pertain to the elements.

What does the Lord want of us? To build temples, raise potatoes, wheat, &c., and preach the Gospel to and gather the poor. The Elders of Israel do not thoroughly know how to do this; yet they want to rise here and tell how the Gods are made. They had better learn how to raise potatoes, and how to take care of them after they are raised. Some do not know even this, but would let the potatoes rot before they are half used up. If they had an abundance of gold and silver, they would not know what to do with it. Are not the people reaching after that which does not belong to them? That is the reason why the whole world do not receive the Gospel; it is too low and humble for them. They are looking after something in the future; they are like the fool, whose eyes are wandering to the ends of the earth; like some of the Elders who rise here to preach and want to tell what is going to be in the millennium, and what has been long before the creation of the world, but never think of inquiring as to their duty today. Learn first to obtain power over the smaller objects and principles around you. Learn to control yourselves and that which is immediately around you, and always keep in view that the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms—the earth and its fulness—will all, except the children of men, abide their creation—the law by which they were made, and will receive their exaltation.

Who will possess the earth and the fulness thereof? Will those who love money, and who barter their lives and their hopes of salvation for a little gold? Those who love it in its present existence will perish. Gold is one of the most refined metals, and mankind have to be tried like gold that has passed seven times through the crucible, making it a little hotter each time, until the metal is as pure as it can be. Who will possess it? Who will possess the earth and all its fulness? Will it not be those whom the Lord has reserved to this honor? And they will come upon Mount Zion as saviors, to labor through the millennium to save others.

Are the Elders able to correct a person when he is wrong, without having personal feelings? You are not as you should be, unless you can correct every person you know to be wrong, without having personal ill feelings against them. If you cannot possess gold and silver without having one particle of love for it, you are not as you must learn to be. All that a man should have in his heart with regard to goods, and chattels, and possessions on the earth, is to know of the Lord what to do with them. If I do a wrong, let me correct that wrong, and become right; if I see a wrong in my neighbor, correct that, and remove the fault from him, and give him something better. The object of the Elders of Israel ought to be to glorify God and sanctify their feelings and affections before him. If we have anything else in our hearts, it is wrong: contending one with another is wrong.

May God bless you, brethren! Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, September 23, 1860.

I am happy in discerning from brother Calkin’s remarks that he is really expanding and improving. He could not have talked to this people before he went on his mission as he can today. I now know that he has been prompt and fervent in the discharge of his duty, and has enjoyed the Spirit of the Lord. And so far as I have learned concerning his labors, I do not know but that I am perfectly satisfied with his course during his absence. He reported himself immediately upon his arrival, before he went home, saying, “I am here, and all I have is here; now what is wanted of me?” Go home, rest, and make yourself happy and comfortable, and by-and-by we will have a long talk. I am pleased with his remarks today. He is ready to leave again tomorrow, to go here or there, east or west, north or south. This is a satisfaction to me. He feels to bless the people, and to pray for them. He has had no doubt in regard to the results of the afflictions or seeming trials that our enemies strove to bring upon us. Every heart that believes in the fulness of the Gospel of life and salvation, as it is revealed in this our day, has never had a doubt as to the good results: there is no doubt in the case. We may fail, if we are not faithful; but God will not fail in accomplishing his work, whether we abide in it or not.

I will now express a wish in relation to all who may rise here to ask a blessing on the bread and water of the sacrament, or to speak to such large congregations as assemble here. When a blessing is asked upon the bread and water by some persons, you cannot hear them ten feet from the stand, and only a few persons in this vast congregation can hear one word. I want brother Hunter to let his voice partially correspond with his body; and when brother Hardy opens his mouth, or any of the rest of the Bishops, I want their voices to correspond with the occasion; I want them to so lift up their voices that all may hear, that all may say “Amen.” When the Elders rise here to speak, I want them to so raise their voices that the people can hear them, that the audience may be able to say “Amen” to all the good; and if there is evil, refuse it. Naturally, I speak low, and use but few words; but here I see thousands of people who wish to hear what is said; and how can they hear, unless the speaker uses sufficient voice? I am often obliged to so raise my voice beyond my natural strength that it hurts my lungs and my whole frame; but I do this for the satisfaction of the people. I want my brethren to do the same, that the hearts and faith of the congregation may have an opportunity to join in the worship of God. When anyone rises to preach, pray, sing, exhort, or bless the sacramental emblems, let him do so with voice sufficient for all to hear.

I am highly gratified with brother Calkin’s report in relation to the Foreign Missions. We understand the situation of the brethren in those Missions, and one fact we wish the Saints at the gathering place to understand. How many hearts are now ready to receive what I am going to say? How many of you can receive the sentiments I will now advance, and treasure them up—make them more choice in your feelings than the pure gold? They are worth everything to us and to the people abroad. Do you know that here is the standard, the nucleus, the fountain, the head for all the exercises of the kingdom of God upon the face of the whole earth? Now, let the Saints in this congregation droop in their faith, and that spirit will spread before tomorrow morning throughout the vast domain of this creation. Every Elder that goes abroad is a witness of this fact. This spirit spreads through a telegraphic influence or force that is independent of wires. Let this people at the gathering place wake out of their slumbers, gird on their armor, and go forth like men of war against wickedness, and every Branch throughout the Church feels the influence in a very short time—it is speedily imparted to all creation. The wires, as it were, are set, the lightnings flash over them, and all feel the influence, when we are doing our duty here. It all depends upon us here. “Are we not obliged to send forth Elders?” Yes, for helps and governments, which are all necessary to God’s work.

Here is the kingdom, the Priesthood, and the power. Here are the eyes, and here is the sense; the head and the body are here, and every component part that comprises the kingdom of God upon the earth. The small Branches abroad feel the impulse of the spirit here, whether it is for good or for bad, whether it is for information, for forgiveness, for life, for faith, for light, or for power, or apostasy; the whole Church throughout the world feels the spirit that predominates here. Hear it, O ye Saints, and profit by it. We are sending forth our Elders, and do you think it is in our power to tie their hands? If the head that has sent them forth into the world to preach the everlasting Gospel goes to sleep in its armor, wallows in wealth, or in anything that is this side of the power of God, our Elders are at once tied; they feel the oppression, are trammeled and weakened, and will totter and fall, unless the head is wide awake for them.

Brother W. C. Staines, in his remarks, wished the Saints here to remember him in their prayers. Thousands here will hold him up in their faith and prayers. I wanted to add to his life on the earth, which going on his mission will do, even many years, if he does his duty. Such will be the case with brother John Needham. They are merchants, and have heard that they are sent on this mission because they are speculators. I do not know anything about that, but I feel that it is time that William C. Staines went on a mission: his life is worth more than the gold which he gathers from the sale of the goods he deals in. He is going on a mission, and is going just right. Brother Needham has been a merchant from his youth, and brother Staines has been a tiller of the soil. I have not the least fault to find with either of them; but brother Needham would probably die in a short time, were he to stay here. If he goes on this mission, he will probably live many years to do good, and be richer than if he stayed here and followed merchandising. We have called them because we want them to go, and we wish them to go their way rejoicing.

We have promised the Missionaries, if they will live according to the manifestations of the Spirit, and preach the Gospel by the power of God sent down from heaven, that they will feel more of the Spirit and power of their calling than they have ever felt before. Do you think that we are always going to remain the same size? I am not a stereotyped Latter-day Saint, and do not believe in the doctrine. Every year the Elders of Israel are improving and learning, and have more power, more influence with the Heavens, more power over the elements, and over diseases, and over the power of Satan, who has ruled this earth from the days of the fall until now. We have to gain power until we break the chain of the Enemy. Are we going to stand still? Away with stereotyped “Mormons.” I have more power than I had last year. I feel much stronger than ever before, and that too in the power of God; and I feel as though I could take the people and bring them into the presence of God, if they only hearken to counsel. Do you think that I am improving? “Yes.” Keep up, then; keep your places, and follow in the track.

The kingdom of God is all that is of real worth. All else is not worth possessing, either here or hereafter. Without it, all else would be like a dry tree prepared for the burning—it is all consumed, and the ashes are driven to the four winds. Let the brethren who go upon missions go with the power of God upon them, and shun every appearance of evil. Love the Gospel and cling to the Lord. Seek unto him by day and by night, that you may have his Holy Spirit to be with you to guide your feet and your affections, and give you wisdom to ask and answer questions; then you will not be apt to fall into temptation and be caught away in the snares of the Devil.

So far as I have learned, the brethren and sisters have most liberally responded to the call made on them last Sunday for sending forth the Elders. I have not a full list of the contributions, or I would report it to you today. A few of the Bishops have reported to me what their Wards have done, but I have not learned the full amount that has been collected. So far as I can learn, the Saints have felt the responsibility that is upon them. It belongs to us to send the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth, and it belongs to the Elders to preach it. Some may say that the Elders ought to start from here without anything, and go into the world and get their support. You who have never given anything, since you have been in the Church, for the spread of the Gospel, have an opportunity to begin now; and those who have always been on hand to help will help more; and between the two classes, we will receive enough to send the Elders abroad, and sustain their families during their absence, so far as their families need assistance.

I wish the Elders to go forth as I have taught them. If you have a clean shirt and one to be washed, then be satisfied. If you are clothed so as to be comfortable, be satisfied, and do not let your minds reach out after anything, only to preach the Gospel and gather the souls of men. That is all the business you have upon your hands—it is your whole mission; and trust in God to get home—trust in the Lord to go from place to place, and the way will be opened for you. And when you start to come home, if you have more than you need to bring you home, without bringing a dress pattern for your wife or children, and though, when you reach home, your own clothes will be worn to strings and tatters, if you have five dollars more than you need to defray your expenses on your return, help the poor Saints with it, and I will warrant you more food to eat, more clothing to wear, and more friends in heaven and on earth, more houses, lands, and possessions, than you would have, were you to bring home rich dresses for your wives and expensive clothes for yourselves, with your minds shrunk with covetousness and love of the world.

I have been striving with my brethren, all the day long, to build up the kingdom of God. As long as Joseph lived, I labored with all my might with my brethren. In the days of the Prophet it was proven to a demonstration that he could not bear off this kingdom without temporal means. If this was absolutely necessary in his day, why not now? Elders of Israel have taken a course—those who have been to Australia, to the East Indies, to California, San Bernardino, the State of New York, Philadelphia, and other places in the United States, and those who have had charge of the European Missions, to keep every dime out of my hands. I will not suffer this any longer. They require me to bear off the kingdom of God, and they would keep every dollar from me, if they could. I am satisfied with the brethren, for they seem to have supposed that this kingdom was a kingdom of merchandise. I do not say that the brethren have done as they have with their eyes open, for they are as good men as ever walked on this footstool; but they have been mistaken. This is the kingdom of God, to gather the poor, for the poor are the people of God, and they shall inherit the earth; and if you make merchandise of anything, buy the souls of the children of men, and bring them into the kingdom of God, and lay them at the feet of Jesus.

Every person who knows anything about life must know that it requires means to carry on this work; and that means I shall require, from this day forth, to be at my control, and not at the beck and call of every Elder; and at the same time they make me gather the poor and pay all the debts of the Church. We want to build the Temple walls on this block. We now support thousands of people, and wish to support thousands more. They want hats, coats, shirts, dresses, tea, coffee, and sugar. The wife wants the comforts of life to give to her husband while he is laboring hard, and for herself while she is knitting stockings, etc., for the hands. The Elders abroad are wallowing in their riches, and there are women here before me in their silks and satins that have been bought with money that belongs to my purse. They shall not do this any longer. I wrote to brother Calkin to give me a history of matters abroad: he has done so. In the emigration operations of one season Church funds were kept out of my hands by Elders, and they rolled seventy-six thousand dollars of Church indebtedness on me to pay, and that too without the least notification, until it was all transacted and done. While the Elders were buying the best silks and satins for their wives, and the most expensive clothes for themselves, with the money that I ought to have controlled (going out preachers and coming home merchants, with their pockets full of money and drafts), I have had to take the old worn-out horses, and the old toothless cows, and the potatoes, and wheat, when they would not bring money, and make a shift of a shirt, and a shirt of a shift, and a pair of breeches of a shirt, and then make another shift to get hold of money to keep the work in motion. If I were not one of the best financiers on the earth, we should have been in trouble today; and all I know, God has taught me. I have been obliged to ask brother Wells to work like a slave, to deal for me here and there, and change property, and to keep him running until he was almost run out; and now the people are teasing him all the time, for they want dresses, shirts, boots, pantaloons, etc.; and he has nothing to give them, while some are rolling in wealth.

I am going to make the Elders of Israel help to bear off this kingdom, or I will scourge them until they do. “How is it with yourself, brother Brigham?” I would rather wear gray homespun than your fine broadcloth. I have it made up; but, to please my family and the people, I wear such as I do. I would as soon wear a good homemade coat as a coat of the finest cloth in the world. As to food, my greatest luxury is roasted potatoes and a little good, clean, sour buttermilk. Such fare is good enough for Brigham.

Now, let me say to you all, and hear it, O Israel, you have either to give me the control of the Church funds, and pay your Tithing promptly, or take the responsibility of bearing off this kingdom. If the Twelve Apostles and the Presidents of Seventies and the High Priests will take the responsibility of bearing off this kingdom and sending the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth, of gathering the poor, building up Zion, and doing all that is necessary preparatory to the coming of the Son of Man, Brigham is with you to labor with you all his days, and support himself. I have fed and clothed myself from the beginning, and I am willing to do it now, and to spend all my time in the work of God, no matter in what department. If you take the responsibility, you shall have the means; but if you roll the responsibility upon me, I must have the means. If you wish me to bear off the kingdom, will you give me the means to do it with? If you will, raise your right hands. [All hands were raised. To the contrary vote, not a hand was raised.]

We all should follow our leader; and when we are perfectly united in one, we produce the best results for Israel.

God bless you! Amen.