Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, Great Salt City, August 12, 1860.

I fully understand that all Saints constantly, so to speak, pray for each other. And when I find a person who does not pray for the welfare of the kingdom of God on the earth, and for the honest in heart, I am skeptical in regard to believing that person’s religion to be genuine, and his faith I should consider not the faith of Jesus. Those who have the mind of Christ are anxious that it should spread extensively among the people, to bring them to a correct understanding of things as they are, that they may be able to prepare themselves to dwell eternally in the heavens. This is your desire, and is what we continually pray for.

Brother J. V. Long’s discourse this morning was sweet to my taste; and the remarks of brother T. B. H. Stenhouse were very congenial to my feelings and understanding. Brother Long has good command of language, and can readily choose such words as best suit him to convey his ideas.

Brother Stenhouse remarked that the Gospel of salvation is the great foundation of this kingdom—that we have not built up this kingdom, nor established this organization—we have merely embraced it in our faith; that God has established this kingdom, and has bestowed the Priesthood upon the children of men, and has called upon the inhabitants of the earth to receive it, to repent of their sins, and return to him with all their hearts. This portion of his remarks I wish you particularly to treasure up.

If the angel Gabriel were to descend and stand before you, though he said not a word, the influence and power that would proceed from him, were he to look upon you in the power he possesses, would melt this congregation. His eyes would be like flaming fire, and his countenance would be like the sun at midday. The countenance of a holy angel would tell more than all the language in the world. If men who are called to speak before a congregation rise full of the Holy Spirit and power of God, their countenances are sermons to the people. But if their affections, feelings, and desires are like the fool’s eyes, to the ends of the earth, looking for this, that, and the other, and the kingdom of God is far from them, and not in all their affections, they may rise here and talk what they please, and it is but like sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal—mere empty, unmeaning sounds to the ears of the people. I cannot say this of what I have heard today.

Those faithful Elders who have testified of this work to thousands of people on the continents and islands of the seas will see the fruits of their labors, whether they have said five words or thousands. They may not see these fruits immediately, and perhaps, in many cases, not until the millennium; but the savor of their testimony will pass down from father to son. Children will say, “The words of life were spoken to my grandfather and grandmother: they told me of them, and I wish to become a member of the Church. I also wish to be baptized for my father and mother and grandparents;” and they will come and keep coming—the living and the dead; and you will be satisfied with your labors, whether they have been much or little, if you continue faithful.

Brother Long remarked that before he gathered to Zion he had imbibed an idea that the people were all pure here. This is a day of trial for you. If there is anything that should give us sorrow and pain, it is that any of the brethren and sisters come here and neglect to live their religion. Some are greedy, covetous, and selfish, and give way to temptation; they are wicked and dishonest in their dealings one with another, and look at and magnify the faults of everybody, on the right and on the left. “Such a sister is guilty of pilfering; such a brother is guilty of swearing,” &c., “And we have come a long distance to be joined with such a set: we do not care a dime for ‘Mormonism,’ nor for anything else.” The enemy takes the advantage of such persons, and leads them to do that for which they are afterwards sorry. This is a matter of great regret to those who wish to be faithful. But no matter how many give themselves up to merchandising, and love it better than their God, how many go to the gold mines, how many go back on the road to trade with the wicked, or how many take their neighbors’ wood after it is cut and piled up in the canyons, or steal their neighbors’ axes, or anything that is their neighbors. You live your religion, and we shall see the day when we shall tread iniquity under foot. But if you listen to those who practice iniquity, you will be carried away by it, as it has carried away thousands. Let everyone get a knowledge for himself that this work is true. We do not want you to say that it is true until you know that it is; and if you know it, that knowledge is as good to you as though the Lord came down and told you. Then let every person say, “I will live my religion, though every other person goes to hell. I will walk humbly before God, and deal honestly with my fellow beings.” There are now scores of thousands in this Territory who will do this, and who feel as I do on this subject, and we will overcome the wicked. Ten filthy, dirty sheep in a thousand cause the whole flock to appear defiled, and a stranger would pronounce them all filthy; but wash them, and you will find nine hundred and ninety pure and clean. It is so with this people: half-a-dozen horse thieves tend to cause the whole community to appear corrupt in the eyes of a casual observer.

Brother Long said that the Lord will deal out correction to the evildoer, but that he would have nothing to do with it. I do not know whether I shall or not; but I shall not ask the Lord to do what I am not willing to do; and I do not think that brother Long is any more or less ready to do so than I am. Ask any earthly king to do a work that you would not do, and he would be insulted. Were I to ask the Lord to free us from ungodly wretches, and not lend my influence and assistance, he would look upon me differently to what he now does.

You have read that I have had an agent in China to mix poison in the tea, to kill all the nations; that I was at the head of the Vigilance Committee in California; that I managed the troubles in Kansas from the beginning to the end; that there is not a liquor shop or distillery but what Brigham Young dictates it: so state the newspapers. In these and all other accusations of evildoing, I defy them to produce the first show of evidence against me. It is also asserted that President Buchanan and myself concocted the plan for the army to come here, with a view to make money. By-and-by the poor wretches will come bending, and say, “I wish I was a ‘Mormon.’” All the army, with its teamsters, hangers-on, and followers, with the judges, and nearly all the rest of the civil officers, amounting to some seventeen thousand men, have been searching diligently for three years to bring one act to light that would criminate me; but they have not been able to trace out one thread or one particle of evidence that would criminate me. Do you know why? Because I walk humbly with my God and do right, so far as I know how. I do no evil to anyone; and as long as I can have faith in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to hinder the wolves from tearing the sheep and devouring them, without putting forth my hand, I shall do so.

I can say honestly and truly, before God, and the holy angels, and all men, that not one act of murder or disorder has occurred in this city or territory that I had any knowledge of, any more than a babe a week old, until after the event has transpired. That is the reason they cannot trace any crime to me. If I have faith enough to cause the devils to eat up the devils, like the Kilkenny cats, I shall certainly exercise it. Joseph Smith said that they would eat each other up, as did those cats. They will do so here, and throughout the world. The nations will consume each other, and the Lord will suffer them to bring it about. It does not require much talent or tact to get up opposition in these days. You see it rife in communities, in meetings, in neighborhoods, and in cities. That is the knife that will cut down this Government. The axe is laid at the root of the tree, and every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit will be hewn down.

Out of this Church will grow the kingdom which Daniel saw. This is the very people that Daniel saw would continue to grow and spread and prosper; and if we are not faithful, others will take our places; for this is the Church and people that will possess the kingdom forever and ever. Shall we do this in our present condition as a people? No; for we must be pure and holy, and be prepared for the presence of our Savior and God, in order to possess the kingdom. Selfishness, wickedness, bickering, tattling, lying, and dishonesty must depart from the people before they are prepared for the Savior. We must sanctify ourselves before our God.

I wanted to ask brother Long a question this morning—what he had learned in regard to the original sin. Let the Elders who like speculation, find out what it is, if they can, and inform us next Sabbath. Or if you have anything else that is good, bring it along. I wish to impress upon your minds to live your religion, and, when you come to this stand to speak—not to care whether you say five words or five thousand, but to come with the power of God upon you, and you will comfort the hearts of the Saints. All the sophistry in the world will do no good. If you live your religion, you will live with the spirit of Zion within you, and will try by every lawful means to induce your neighbors to live their religion. In this way we will redeem Zion, and cleanse it from sin.

God bless you! Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, August 5, 1860.

I rejoice in the Gospel of salvation. It is the first of all things upon this earth to me and to everyone who has received its fulness and the light and glory of the Spirit that accompanies it.

I have been highly gratified with the remarks just made by brother Bywater: they were truthful and to the point. Also, to what brother Kimball has just said, my heart responds, Amen.

In teaching the ways of life and salvation, a teacher seldom fully explains all the ideas he advances, and the light of the Spirit is necessary for their comprehension. I frequently throw out a part of an idea, or an idea without explanation; and some will understand, while others do not. The Spirit of the Gospel is the fountain of salvation; the Spirit of revelation attends the Gospel, and without that Spirit no man can understand it. Brother Bywater alluded to the consistency of the system adopted by this people; yet it is a great mystery to that portion of the inhabitants of the earth who do not fall in love with the truth and embrace it in their faith.

False ideas and false principles are as tenaciously adhered to by those who imbibe them in their faith as is the truth by those who love it. I presume that the worshippers of idols in China, Japan, Hindostan, &c., were we to enter their congregations and tell them that our religion differs from theirs, would be as astonished as we are that they see and understand things as they do. They are as tenacious of and as sanguine in their belief—as enthusiastic in their religion as ever a true Saint was or can be in his. When I contemplate the endless variety in the dispositions, understandings, temperaments, countenances, and organizations of people, I am not surprised that there are those who do not understand things as I do. I expect people to have their own peculiar views, forms, principles, and notions. In consequence of this great variety, we should not be astonished if all do not believe the Gospel—do not love the truth.

When Jesus was on the earth, he reproved sin, taught righteousness, strove to save the Jews, and deliver the Gospel to the nations of the earth; but the Jews could or would not understand things as they were. He came to save, not to destroy; but the Jews took a course through which they were afflicted and scattered among the nations of the earth, and brought upon themselves that which they said—“Let this man’s blood be upon us and our children,” though he was not disposed to destroy, but to save them. Stephen prayed that those who stoned him might be forgiven, as they knew not what they did. Jesus so prayed for those who assisted in and consented to his death, when he was crucified for the sins of the world. He was not astonished that all people did not believe. They would not come unto him that they might be saved; they would not come to the light that their deeds might be reproved.

It may be asked, Can people come to the light? Yes, all can, that their evil deeds may be reproved—that they may forsake their iniquities and receive the truth. But will all do so? No. Will all people believe the truth? They will not. Cannot the inhabitants of the earth submit to the Gospel? They can. Will they? No, they will not. Is there a conviction upon the minds of the people, when they have heard the Gospel preached, and where they have heard of it? Is there a conviction conveyed by the Holy Spirit that this is the Gospel of salvation? There is; and it cannot be denied without falsifying the truth. This has caused the persecution we have received. We are chastised for our sins, and by this means we are brought to understanding. We have been persecuted because there is a conviction, so far as they have heard the Gospel preached, that we have the truth. This is the cause of the opposition against us.

Would a priest of any denomination oppose “Mormonism,” if he was not convinced that it is true? No. Were a man to come into this congregation and relate something that every man, woman, and child present knew to be false, who would take the trouble to disprove it? We all know the statement to be false; consequently, we will not take pains to oppose it. On the other hand, were there no conviction in the sound of the Gospel to the minds of the people—that it is true—that it is of and from God, who would take pains to oppose it? Let a person go into a congregation of Methodists and try to prove that Jesus was an impostor, that every system of religion is false, and that the Bible is a matter of speculation got up by selfish divines expressly for their own benefit; and who in that congregation would deem it worth while to oppose views so erroneous to the minds of those who have heard, from Sabbath to Sabbath, the doctrines of the Gospel preached, so far as they understand them? No one, because to them the speaker’s views would be so obviously false.

No man can disprove a truth. This is why people are angry, and why they contend against facts. They are fearful, and say at once, “If this system is true, all others must fail.” Why not rather every man rise up and say, “Let God be true, let the truth remain, and let me know the truth; that is what I want—I will submit to it; and let every false theory and principle fall, to rise no more?” Will they do this? No, they will not.

With regard to people’s being confined—cramped—contracted, in their liberties in the midst of these people, all that is required of anyone is to cease to do evil and learn to do well. Brother Bywater observed that he had never been in the least contracted, controlled, or in any way infringed upon, with regard to doing good; neither has any man or woman in this community. But there is a certain class here that say, “We want so-and-so, such a piece of ground, or such other kind of property;” and because they are not always gratified, right or wrong, they say that they are curtailed in their liberty, and allege that they are abused. Permit them to have their way, and what do they do, or want to? Some of them wish to open grog shops, and have the people patronize them, and get drunk. They wish to put the cup to your lips and pour the strong drink down your throats, caring only for what is in your pockets. They remind me of a Methodist priest in Iowa, after a good collection. The money was on the table, and he wished the people to sing; so he struck up, “This is the God we adore.”

Others, of the class alluded to, wish to establish brothels in our settlements; and because we will not permit it, they assert that they are curtailed in their liberties and privileges. That class wish to scandalize the name of every Saint on the earth, and ridicule the name and character of the God we adore and serve; but we will not permit them to do it here. They wish to ride through our streets blaspheming, and damning everything and everybody that does not bow to their corrupt practices; and because we will not permit it, they say that they are oppressed and curtailed in their privileges. Oh, how they are oppressed! They have not the privilege of serving the Devil quite as much as they want to. They do not enjoy quite as much privilege to steal our property, our horses, &c., as they wish to.

Do our enemies love the truth? No; they love lies, and make them. It is acknowledged all the time that there are evildoers here; but are they Saints? No. I am not going to give up the ship, or forsake my religion, because there are those who do evil. I will stick to the old ship Zion until every passenger, the crew, and every officer on board are holy and live to God; and, God and good men being my helpers, we will conquer, and we will run the ship into harbor—the haven of rest. Be encouraged, all good men and women, and all you grumblers and complainers, who think that you are curtailed and oppressed, and do not enjoy liberty here, go elsewhere and get all the liberty you can. We do not want you here; but if you stay, do not take the name of God in vain, nor endeavor to corrupt and abuse everybody within your reach.

We have some drunkards who halloo in the streets, and we bear with them, and intend to as long as we can; and when we can bear no longer, we will disfellowship them. We have men who are dishonest, and are as yet obliged to have them; for the net gathers in the good and the bad. We have the meanest and the best mixed together.

The Gospel we preach is the Gospel of salvation. It is the power of God sent down from heaven. The Spirit of life, intelligence, and reve– lation is in it, and all who do not possess that Spirit do not enjoy our holy religion.

May God bless you! Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, August 5, 1860.

In instructing the people, I desire and seek to obtain the light of the Spirit of truth, and the power and assistance of God to give me words to so convey my ideas that the hearers can understand me. I have ideas that I deem very valuable, and I wish to so impart them to my fellow beings that they can comprehend them as I do, and, if they will, esteem them as I do, really feeling their worth. It is all I ask. Preachers are in the habit of reading a portion of Scripture for a text, and preaching from it, but seldom upon it. Such discourses as brother Bywater and brother Kimball gave us this forenoon, and such as you generally hear from this stand, would serve those preachers a long time, for they are all texts. We have not time to show wherein an Apostle or Prophet meant thus and so, but we pour out the words of life to the people, as did the Apostles and Prophets anciently.

No man ever preached a Gospel sermon, except by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. Without this power, there is no light in the preaching. Brother Bywater remarked that he did not desire a man of God, when he arose to speak to the people, to say, “Thus saith the Lord God Almighty,” or “Thus saith Jesus Christ.” People who require this, or who constantly require written revelation, have not a correct conception of revelation and its Spirit. What do the present professing Christian world know about the words of the Lord that came to Jeremiah, Isaiah, and other ancient Prophets? They read and hear without understanding much; they have not a true conception of the truth or principle of what they are reading. Is this the case with the Latter-day Saints? It is more or less the case with those who are continually desiring to have “Thus saith the Lord,” and more written revelations. Those who possess the Spirit of revelation know the voice of the Good Shepherd when they hear it, and a stranger they will not follow. They discern the difference between the spirit and power of the Gospel and the precepts of men. When they hear truth poured upon the people, in comparison like the cataract of Niagara, they do not want “Thus saith the Lord,” for it carries with it its own evidence, and is revelation to the believer. They understand, and the fountain within them springs up to everlasting life; they are happy partakers of the peace of God through the administration of his servants, and of the truths the Lord dispenses; and they receive truth upon truth, light upon light, which cheers and comforts their hearts day by day. If you wish to understand the true principles of revelation, live for it: there is no other way of obtaining eternal life.

Our spirits were pure and holy when they entered our tabernacles; and if they have been defiled, it has been by the influence of Satan, through the weakness of the flesh. There is a constant warfare, and in the great majority of cases the flesh overcomes the spirit. In the few cases where the spirit overcomes the flesh, it yields obedience to the whisperings of the eternal Spirit of truth, which elevates it above the power of all unholy desires and passions.

Is there anything on this earth you could not dispense with, for the sake of the Gospel? There should not be.

Our bodies are organized to derive enjoyment from their proper use. There is enjoyment in eating when you are hungry, and in resting when you are fatigued, to the extent the body rightly requires; but if appetite is so gratified that your body, when you wake, is tormented with a raging fever, where is the pleasure in eating so much of this or that delicious food? Satisfying the appetite brings to an end the pleasure of eating; and where food is partaken chiefly to gratify the pleasurable sensation derived from eating, disease is gendered, and true misery springs out of this unwise gratification. Some healthy, strong-constitutioned persons can eat large quantities of food with apparent impunity; but, in so doing, the tax they place upon their systems will ultimately bring disease and death. Those who have suffered excessive thirst while passing over plains and deserts realize that there is no blessing that is greater than cold water. When the system is thus parched for want of the proper supply of moisture to sustain the continual perspiration it is subject to, is there any luxury on the earth that can excel pure, cold water? Though, in case of excessive thirst and consequent exhaustion, care is required not to drink too freely, until the system is cooled, and becomes gradually imbued with this life-restoring element. But through the use of water, by-and-by your thirst comes to an end, and you feel as though you had not been thirsty in your lives: the enjoyment has passed away.

Now, compare the greatest of earthly joys with the joys you receive in believing in Jesus Christ and obeying the Gospel he has delivered to the children of men. It is sweeter than the honeycomb; and to those who live according to it, it gives constant joy—a lasting feast, not merely for an hour or a day, but for a whole life and throughout eternity. The appetite is always keen, and there is always plenty for it to feast upon. This is my experience. The revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ are sweeter than honey or the honeycomb. We can eat, and continue to eat; drink, and continue to drink. Is there durable satisfaction? Yes. I am in the height of my enjoyment. All the pleasure and all the joy that can be bestowed upon a finite being is in the Gospel of salvation, through the Spirit of revelation, upon the creature—upon the Saint of God—old or young, male or female. Not that this comparison fully conveys the idea; for the language of mortals fails to fully portray the joys of the Gospel of life everlasting.

Cease not to do good, but let the Saints cease to do evil and live for God and God alone, and their fleshly appetites and passions will not be in their way. Learn to overcome and control self. It is impossible for me to preach the sermon contained in this text; but let all live the life of a Saint, and they will understand it by-and-by. Let each person be determined, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to overcome every besetment—to be the master of himself, that the spirit God has put in your tabernacles shall rule; then you can converse, live, labor, go here or there, do this or that, and converse and deal with your brethren as you ought. If you have a chastisement for any, you can deliver it in the spirit of meekness. If you are abused, trampled upon, or in any way imposed upon—if men take a course to injure you or your property or feelings, you can treat such conduct as you should, for you live above the channel of selfishness, pride, and every worldly vanity that some men walk in. This is the privilege of all the Saints.

Law is made for the lawless. Let the Saints live their religion, and there is not a law that can justly infringe upon them. They are subject to the powers that be, by living so pure that no law can touch them. Let them live their religion, and they keep the celestial law, so far as it is revealed. There is no law against doing good. There is no law against love. There is no law against serving God. There is no law against charity and benevolence. There is no law against the principles of eternal life. Live them, and no righteous law of man can reach you. The wicked and ungodly can injure the Saints, as they have done all through the history of this world; they can persecute and kill Saints. The wicked said there was no law that would condemn Joseph Smith, for he never transgressed the law; but, said they, Powder and ball will reach him; and they assassinated him. It is the privilege of all Saints to live as he did, that no law in heaven or upon earth can condemn them. It is our privilege to say, every day in our lives, “That is the best day I ever lived.” Never let a day so pass that you will have cause to say, “I will live better tomorrow,” and I will promise you, in the name of the Lord Jesus, that your lives will be as a well of water springing up to everlasting life. You will have his Spirit to dwell in you continually, and your eyes will be open to see, your ears to hear, and your understandings to comprehend.

I will take a text, and I want the people to preach upon it. The brethren cast the seed into the ground, and, so far as we have knowledge, the Lord has given them a bountiful increase.

Brethren and sisters, old and young, here and throughout the world wherever there is a Saint, when righteousness and peace are sown in your hearts, I ask you, for yourselves, for the inhabitants of the earth, for the good of the prosperity of the kingdom of God, and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to water the good seed sown, that the Lord may give you an increase. Let wisdom be sown in your hearts, and let it bring forth a bountiful harvest. It is more profitable to you than all the gold and silver and other riches of earth. Let wisdom spring up in your hearts, and cultivate it. Ask God to help you to live to his glory every day, and when night comes you cannot say you could have bettered it. There are thousands of this community that so live every day that when night comes, they could not have bettered it. That is a consolation. Let us induce all to live so, and we shall have power over Satan, over the powers of the earth, and over all the influences that hell wishes to pour upon us.

Shall we try to cultivate our minds, our feelings, the talent God has given us, so that we may improve continually and grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth, and cultivate wisdom in ourselves, and so live that we can truthfully say, today, that we are masters over every appetite? The person that wants the whiskey, cannot you do without it? Which would you part with first—your tobacco, your whiskey, or your religion? Your tea, or your religion? Which would you shake hands with and bid goodbye forever—your coffee, or your religion? I should think I had disgraced the man that stands before you this day, if I loved any object on the earth better than I love my religion and my God. If we are not willing to live up to every requirement of the Gospel, we more or less disgrace our profession and being.

The woman that says, “I will follow my husband to hell,” will have the privilege. The man that says, “I will follow a woman to hell, but what I will have her,” will have the privilege of following her there. It is a disgrace to a Saint to love anything that he would not drop or forsake for his religion. Love your religion better than anything else. Love your God. Life everlasting is all in all to us. Indulgence of appetite is not worthy the notice of men and women, though the body must be sustained, for that is a duty God has placed upon us.

Let us honor God, and prepare to embrace our Father and the family connection we were associated with at the time we left the spirit world to come here, and to be more familiar with them when we leave this world than we now are with one another. Live so as to enjoy each other’s society hereafter in the light of eternal day; which may God grant. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, July 29th, 1860.

Here is a congregation of Saints who have forsaken all they formerly esteemed near and dear, for the sake of the knowledge of the holy Gospel of salvation; and when an Elder of Israel rises to speak to you, how many are paying attention to what he says? People are, in comparison, like little children who have to be frequently cautioned not to throw articles into the fire—not to cut or mar the furniture, and requiring almost constant watchcare and instruction. In like manner, the young, middle-aged, and old require to be taught every Sabbath, every day, and all the time, as it is written—“Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another.”

We are but babes in the Gospel of life and salvation, take this people as a whole. What poet, who understands things as they are, would write—“Bear the cross and despise the shame?” It is a cross to the feelings of many to acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ. “Take up your cross, brother, and bear it, and you shall wear the crown.” What cross? If the eyes of a person were opened to see the eternal principles that pertain to the worlds that are, that were, and that will be, and the Gods that dwell upon those planets we behold, would he talk about a cross—about despising the shame? What is the shame? Where is it? Miserable, filthy individuals, full of the principles of death, point the finger of scorn at those who confess that Jesus is the Christ. Will you regard their scorn? No. Pity the ignorant creatures who are bound to ruin. To a man devoted to God, and endowed with the fine feelings and principles of life everlasting, the pointing, by the wicked, of the finger of scorn at one who acknowledges that Jesus is the Christ—at one who believes in God the Father and in Jesus the Mediator, is not worthy of the least regard. Do you despise those who scorn and ridicule the righteous? No; for in comparison they are no more than the dust, or the smallest insect you can behold with your best microscopes.

True, the human family are endowed with the germ of life; but who is capable of preserving that life—of preserving his identity?

When we talk about sinners, Saints, the world, Christ, men of God, men of the world, men of science, men of talent, and kings on their thrones, every person that understands the Gospel of salvation realizes that more glory and honor are attached to his character and calling than to all the man-made kings ever crowned upon the earth.

When I reflect upon these things and realize them, it is impossible for me to answer my feelings before the people. You frequently hear me express a wish that I had a voice to penetrate the heart of every being upon the earth. But if I had the power to speak to them, and the ability to convey my ideas in language so plain that children could not misunderstand, speaking to all in their own language, I should still come far short and be obliged to say, “My soul is burdened, because I have no place to pour it out.” That is the situation of angels and Prophets who have gone behind the veil. Here are persons who have been in this Church from the beginning. Do they so live that the heavens are open to them? Or are they still of the earth, earthy? Are they groveling in the darkness that covers the nations of the earth? This inquiry you may answer for yourselves. Perhaps some will say they have a reason to be discouraged. This people have not received, improved, grown, and enlarged in their capacities as fast as they should have done. I am not accusing any individual; but, as a community, we have not improved and increased in the knowledge of God and godliness according to our privileges. Am I discouraged? I am not. Does my heart fail me? Am I ready to say that the kingdom of God is broken, and there is no salvation for the people? By no means. If I live as long as Enoch lived, who walked with the Lord three hundred and sixty-five years, can I then see a people prepared to enter at once in the celestial world? No. Many may think that Enoch and his whole city were taken from the earth directly into the presence of God. That is a mistaken idea. If, within three hundred and sixty-five years, I can see a people capable of surmounting every sin, of overcoming every evil and effect of sin to such a degree as to be separated in the flesh from the sinful portion of the world and from all the effects of the fall—a great people as pure and holy as were the people of Enoch, I should not complain, and, perhaps, have no cause to. Yet, in the latter days, God will cut short his work in righteousness.

Do you understand that what the Lord will perform in the latter days will be done quicker than in the former days? He suffered Noah to occupy one hundred and twenty years in building the ark. Were he to command us to build an ark, he would not allow so long a time for completing it. On account of the work’s being hastened in our time, I have good reason to urge upon the people the necessity of their living their religion every moment—of their increasing in faith, in wisdom, in knowledge, and in power to forsake all bad habits—to say to all who are in the habit of doing wrong, of getting angry, of contending with their neighbors, and abusing them with their tongues, and abusing themselves, Refrain from your evil ways. “We will,” say they; but in a very short time many are engaged in their former evil practices, like the child’s whittling the furniture. It appears as though such persons were glued to the world, and will love and worship it. When they learn the truth, they will learn that it is a folly for a man to love gold and silver, goods and chattels, or any other kind of property and possessions. One that places his affections upon such things does not understand that they are made for the comfort of the creature, and not for his adoration. They are made to sustain and preserve the body while procuring the knowledge and wisdom that pertain to God and his kingdom, in order that we may preserve ourselves, and live forever in his presence.

When the Elders address you from this stand, how many of those who seem to be listening hear and understand? Are most of the congregation thinking about what they design to do tomorrow? Are the sisters planning their weaving and spinning for tomorrow? Are the brethren planning to go to the canyons tomorrow? Do you know that it is your privilege to so live that your minds may all the time be perfectly within your control? That you may be so well schooled in the knowledge of your religion, that your minds are as perfectly under your control as are your bodies, except when they are nervous? Persons taking too strong tea or coffee, or too much whiskey, have not that control over themselves that they should have, because they become too weak. Study to preserve your bodies in life and health, and you will be able to control your minds. And when you come to meeting, bring your minds with you. After all our experience and the knowledge the Lord has given us, but few can take their minds to meeting. Others have their minds here before them; their affections and feelings are at the assembly of the Saints, and they want their bodies there also, to enjoy themselves. That class come here to pay attention, and to understand all that is said to them. Others come here with their bodies, but where are their affections? Upon the labors of the coming week. “I do not know how I shall get my adobies tomorrow, or how I shall get my timber out of the canyon.” Or, “I have a fence to build, to secure my field before the crop is destroyed,” &c., &c.; and the mind is not in the meeting.

Can you understand that we are behind our privileges? I know the argument that arises in the minds of the people—“I am bound to provide for myself.” I wish that obligation rested stronger on some than it does. “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” That is the argument, and yet some will sell their last bushel of wheat, and then come to me, or to others of the brethren, and beg. They will peddle off every particle of substance God has given them for their sustenance. It is our duty to be economical, to go to meetings, to the canyons, and to build, plant, and do everything required of us to build up the kingdom of God on the earth; but the first duty is to learn how to sustain ourselves. The people have not yet learned that, though they are learning it. One may plough, plant, water, and till, but have no increase. Another person sows a field with wheat, but cannot get water for it, and goes to this neighborhood and that to attend to a little Church business; and when harvest time arrives, he reaps an abundant harvest. The man who took the water has no wheat, and the one who labored, as his Bishop called upon him, for the benefit of the people, has a good crop. This is a lesson the people are learning, that God gives the increase.

How the world hate us! How they despise the kingdom of God! How they have sought to destroy it! How they exclaim—“What ignorant, degraded beings the Mormons are!” The insignificant, low, degraded, contemptible opinion they have of the Latter-day Saints does not reach the depth of the low, miserable degradation that they themselves are in. But do we despise them? No; we pity them. “Pity them?” Yes, pity them. They are flesh of your flesh, bone of your bone. God “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth;” consequently, they are flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone. They profess to despise us, but they are not able to think as meanly of us as we know them to be, and we pity them. We seek to do them good. They are endowed with capacity to learn and practice principles that will preserve them on the earth, in the world of spirits, and after the resurrection; but they are abusing their talent, and they are to be pitied.

All who understand the principles of eternal life look upon their fellow beings with a watchful eye, and their hearts are filled with deep anxiety for their welfare. They anxiously desire that people would see and understand what pertains to eternal life. It is highly gratifying to the Lord, to angels, and to all good men, to see intelligent beings organized to receive a great amount of intelligence—seeking to possess eternal life. On the other hand, how sad it is to see them wasting their time with trifles, and directing their steps to eternal death! How delightful it would be to see them pursuing the way of life—to preserve both the body and spirit, and in the resurrection to see their noble spirits reunited with their bodies and coming into the presence of God to live forever! There are men here who look upon us as being of an organization inferior to that of the generality of the people of the world. If I did not pity them, I should be chagrined at myself.

Contrast the course this people are pursuing with that of the world. All ye inhabitants of the earth, hearken and hear! God has, in our day, spoken from the heavens; he has bestowed his holy Priesthood on the children of men; he has called upon all people to repent; and here are the few who have left all for the sake of the eternal life proffered to them, and their course is upward and onward to eternal increase. Do this people know more than they did a few years ago? Yes; every day’s experience adds to your amount of knowledge: you are treasuring up knowledge and wisdom. The children raised in this Church are more than a match, in spiritual matters, for the kings, princes, governors, senators, representatives, and all the reputed wise men of Egypt. And the boys from twenty to twenty-five years of age, who have been raised in this community, who have enjoyed the teachings of the Prophet Joseph, will outweigh, in intelligence in relation to national policy, the Congress of the United States, with the President at their head.

Your course is onward and upward, although you do not improve as rapidly as you should. You should walk continually in the light of God’s countenance, and no more walk in darkness. Were such the case, would you hear of any contention—of those little, frivolous, trifling difficulties that now too frequently occur? Would you hear, “The world is something to me!” “My farm is something to me!” “My goods are something to me!” “My heart is upon the things of this world!” “I must provide for my family,” &c.? There are but few of this people, in comparison, who yet know how to provide for a wife and two children. What of the world? Are they any more capable of providing for themselves than are this people? In the world you will find many more, in proportion, who know less, and are less capable of taking care of themselves.

I wish you to thoroughly under– stand economy, and how to preserve your bodies. I wish you to fully understand the principles of natural life. How necessary it is that you should know them for your own benefit, and that you may be able to teach them to your children, which you should do all the time. Be careful of your bodies; be prudent in laying out your energies, for when you are old you will need the strength and power you are now wasting. Preserve your lives. Until you know and practice this, you are not thoroughly good soldiers nor wise stewards. Learn how to do good—how to do right. Work righteousness, and build yourselves up in the faith of the Gospel.

In the ordinance we here attend to in the afternoon, we show to the Father that we remember Jesus Christ, our elder brother: we testify to him that we are willing to take upon us his name. When we are doing this, I want the minds here as well as the bodies. I want the whole man here when you come to meeting. “Is that the way you come?” Yes, it is the way I go everywhere, when I go from home. When I leave home, I dismiss it from my thoughts. “Is not your mind upon your family?” When I pray, I ask God to bless and preserve them; and then, whether he does or not, it is all the same to me. I do not trouble my mind about anything but the business before me. That is the way for us to conquer this weakness in us, and take our minds with us. Then, when you come to meeting, you know what is said, and what this ordinance is for. Then, when you are baptized, you know what it is for. Whatever duty you are called to perform, take your minds with you; and apply them to what is to be done. You may leave your selfishness when you start to meeting, but take yourselves. And if your minds are reaching after this, that, or the other, tell those ideas to stay away. You may feel anxious about your fields, about your crops, or about going to the canyons; but bid those thoughts depart, for you want to go to meeting to worship the Lord, and wish to drop all care while at meeting. Then, when the time comes, go to the canyons and to your other avocations, and do not let anything else interrupt you. That is the way to live.

May God bless you! Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, July 22, 1860.

It is a great privilege to enjoy the society of the Saints. We are in possession of great blessings and privileges, if we can but realize it. No person can realize the blessings, or understand the providences of God, unless he has the light of the Spirit of God. Without that Spirit, a person is dissatisfied, though he be constantly privileged with the society of the Saints, and all his transactions and associations are with them. With that Spirit, a person placed in the society of the wicked, unless duty requires it, is sorrowful, uneasy, and unhappy: he is not filled with the joy and peace he delights in. He desires to see the face of a Saint, to hear the voice of a Saint, and to be associated with those who love God.

How many are there here who do not like to pass by a camp of emigrants, but much prefer, if they could do so with impunity in regard to the feelings of their brethren, to go into the camp, sit down and chat, apparently with a filial feeling towards those who regard not the things of God—who treat lightly everything that is sacred? The name and character of the Being we worship they hold in derision; and yet how many of this community delight in such society? They do not realize the blessings conferred upon them. How many desire to mingle with the ungodly?

It may be asked, and with pro– priety, “Is it not reasonable, right, and our duty to associate with the wicked?” Yes, when duty requires it. I presume that Jesus had no hesitancy in his feelings or in his faith, when the time came, to fill his mission to the dark and benighted spirits in prison. But do you think that he visited those spirits because he delighted in their society? Every person will at once answer, “No.” He did not visit those spirits, nor have a desire to preach to them, until his body lay in the grave. That was the appointed time, and he refused not, but said, “Not my will, but thine, O God, be done: now is the time for me to preach to the spirits in prison.”

But you can see persons who call themselves Latter-day Saints composedly listening, and that, too, with apparent delight, to those who are blaspheming the name of God. How do you feel about such conduct? Take this community, as they are, and place them in heaven, and do you think they would be satisfied to stay there? They would be in complete misery; and yet we are called Saints. It is easy to see that this people are not yet prepared to enter into the fulness of the glory, power, exaltation, and excellency of the knowledge, wisdom, light, and intelligence of heavenly things that they expect to enjoy when Jesus will be revealed from heaven. A father says, “I cannot part with my son,” when the son is a miserable, drunken, swearing thief; and a son, who has a beastly, low, and debauched father, says, “I must have my father with me.” Do you not see, at a glance, that if the Savior was now here, those persons would prefer to walk hand in hand, and then must join hands with some others of like character, and they must join with a crowd worse still, and they with another still worse, until they muster in the hosts of hell, and march with them; they will not part from each other. Do you not, then, see the situation of many in this community?

Who among you realizes the blessings we are privileged with? Glory, immortality, eternal wisdom, and eternal existence are on one hand; darkness, night, death, pain, damnation, and hell are on the other; and some would like to join those opposing principles, and are striving to do so.

The Elders exhort you to refrain from every evil, to be careful, prudent, faithful, and wise, and to learn how to sustain your mortal career—how to preserve your bodies. Will you give heed? Not all of you. The Elders of Israel may preach themselves to death, and still fools will sell their last kernel of grain for whiskey, or for a song, and, so far as they are concerned, let their families die of want. I greatly desire to see you all so live that you can understand the blessings God bestows on us, the organization of the spirit and the body, and the germ of eternal intelligence that is planted within us to increase. I would like to have all understand that the Lord has sent forth the plan of salvation expressly to enable mankind to overcome the sin sown in the flesh, and exalt themselves with the faithful who have gone before to dwell with angels and Gods.

We cannot alter our position, only as we live for such change as we desire, and prevail upon our friends to follow our example. Here are thousands of the brethren who are anxious to preach the Gospel to the world, declare what they understand pertaining to eternal life, and gather their scores and thousands, with what result? The saving of a portion of the whole number, while the rest will be prepared for eternal destruction. Is it not grievous? How many there are who have been taken like infants, as it were, from foreign countries and from the States, and been helped, fed, clothed, and nourished, and yet have turned round and become our greatest enemies! Is not such folly sickening to the soul, and an abhorrence to every feeling? Mankind have the privilege of eternal life—the privilege to prepare themselves to dwell in the presence of the Father and Son—to dwell in eternal burnings, where all is pure and holy. No sin—no corruption can dwell there. Sin came through the fall, and death by sin; and they are warring against our spirits now in tabernacles, which warfare continues from childhood to death; and who will overcome?

A propensity to evil seems to be sown more strongly in the natures of some than it is in others. One seems to love strong drink better than he loves his life; it is sweeter to him than is the cooling stream, and he is overcome through the weakness of the flesh. Who has the greatest reason to be thankful to his God—the man that has no strong passion or evil appetite to overcome, or the one that tries day by day to overcome, and yet is overtaken in fault? The power of his strength, faith, and judgment is overcome, and he is found in fault through his evil propensities, though he is striving, day after day, and night after night, to overcome. Who has reason to be the most thankful? The being that has comparatively no strong passion to overcome ought constantly to walk in the vale of humility, rather than boast of his righteousness over his brother. We are under obligation, through the filial feeling and ties of humanity, to more or less fellowship those who do evil. We must endure this until the Lord shall see fit to separate the wheat from the chaff—until the righteous are gathered out, and the wicked are bound in bundles prepared for the burning—until the sheep are separated from the goats. Those who have not strong passions to contend with, day by day, and year by year, should walk in the vale of humiliation; and if brethren and sisters are overtaken in fault, your hearts should be filled with kindness—with brotherly, angelic feeling—to overlook their faults as far as possible.

Where persons wish to go to the States, to California, or elsewhere, to gather riches and return, they still have a desire to drink of the bitter cup and mingle with the ungodly that will give them sorrow. If understood, to associate with the Saints is one of the greatest blessings we can enjoy upon the earth. I should be much pleased, and so would you, were we to never again hear the name of God taken in vain. And I have thought, for years and years, that if the Lord had plenty of labor for me to do in the midst of the Saints, I would be well satisfied to never again place my eyes upon a human being who hates God and righteousness. Why not live perfectly satisfied to look only upon the Saints—upon our brethren and sisters—the old, the young, the middle-aged, and the children, whose faces smile and glow with that heavenly expression through which the Spirit of the Lord is beaming? I would be well satisfied not to be required to ever again see the face of a devil. Why not so live in time, and through eternity? A certain class would refrain from mingling with the wicked, while others delight to mingle with them: they long to know what is in the world, and present plausible arguments for their desire. Our children plausibly state, “We know nothing of the world; we know nobody but ‘Mormons.’” It is sufficient to mingle with the wicked when duty requires.

The providences of God are over all the works of his hands, and it is our privilege to so live that we can understand those providences, and understand his design in the creation of all things. His watchcare is over all his work, and he turns, overturns, and changes at his pleasure. It is our privilege to understand this; and if we do, and practice in accordance therewith, we are the best people upon the face of the earth. We enjoy privileges that no other people on earth enjoy; and the greatest of all is to enjoy communion with our Father and his Son Jesus Christ. There is no blessing equal to that, whether it is enjoyed in palaces or in prisons, in wandering in the mountains, or passing our time pleasurably in great cities. Whoever the Lord Almighty enlightens and fills with the joy of the upper world is happy: the Spirit, the joy, the peace, and the comfort are within them.

We are to learn how to enjoy the things of life—how to pass our mortal existence here. There is no enjoyment, no comfort, no pleasure, nothing that the human heart can imagine, with all the spirit of revelation we can get, that tends to beautify, happify, make comfortable and peaceful, and exalt the feelings of mortals, but what the Lord has in store for his people. He never objected to their taking comfort. He never revealed any doctrine, that I have any knowledge of, but what in its nature is calculated to fill with peace and glory, and lift every sentiment and impulse of the heart above every low, sad, deathly, false, and groveling feeling. The Lord wishes us to live that we may enjoy the fulness of the glory that pertains to the upper world, and bid farewell to all that gloomy, dark, deathly feeling that is spread over the inhabitants of the earth.

My brother Joseph, before “Mormonism” came to us, was a man of a sad heart, seeking to find in the Bible the principles of eternal life. He once said to me, “Brother Brigham, there are no Bible Christians upon the face of the earth, and I do not see any possible escape for the human family. According to the writings of the Old and New Testaments, all must go to perdition.” I do not suppose that he had a smile on his countenance for years. I said to him, “You and I believe in God and in the Bible. We suppose the Bible to be true, or at least the most of it. I admit it to be true, and admit that there is a God. We have always been taught so, and that we have a just God, if we have any. I believe in a just, holy, equitable Being; and if the Gospel is not on the earth, my feelings are to do about the best I can; and when I am through, I shall be in the hands of the same God in whose hands I have been all the time, and I will risk it. I did not produce myself—I did not cause my existence. A being superior to me has done this; and if I do as well as I know how, I will then risk all in his hands, and be perfectly contented and satisfied. I shall go with a cheerful countenance, and shall pass through the world as cheerfully as I can, making the best of it.” But there was more or less of a gloom over my feelings from the earliest days of my childhood that I have in any recollection, until I heard the everlasting Gospel declared by the servants of God—until I heard men testify, by the power of the Holy Ghost, that the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith is a true Prophet of the Lord, who had revealed the holy Priesthood from heaven, had established his Church, was going to gather Israel, and was coming to judgment. Under that preaching the gloom vanished, and has not since troubled me for a moment.

The dark shade of the valley of death is over the nations of the earth; the veil of the covering is over them; they are hid from the presence of the Lord. They do not behold his glory—they do not understand his providences; the fear of death is over them, and it is a dark shadow. That was over me, and I made the best of it. But “Mormonism” has opened up light. Removing the curtain from the broad sunshine, it has lighted up the souls of hundreds of thousands, and they have been made to rejoice in the light of truth. Continue to be faithful to your calling. It is your privilege and duty to so live as to be able to understand the things of God. There are the Old and New Testaments, the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, which Joseph has given us, and they are of great worth to a person wandering in darkness. They are like a lighthouse in the ocean, or a fingerpost which points out the road we should travel. Where do they point? To the fountain of light. Joseph has gone to the spirit world: he is on his way to his glory and exaltation, and all his sayings, from first to last, lead us to the fountain of light, where we can understand for ourselves and walk in the light. That is what these books are for. They are of God; they are valuable and necessary: by them we can establish the doctrine of Christ. I never asked for any book when I was preaching to the world, but the Old and New Testaments to establish everything I preached, and to prove all that was then necessary—that it was the duty of the people to throw off their sins, cast evil from them, return to the Lord their God, embrace the fulness of the Gospel, be baptized for the remission of sins, receive the Holy Ghost, and then go forward in all the commandments and requirements of heaven, walking in the light of eternal truth.

Our duty is to make the best of our present position. We have the Gospel of life and salvation, to make bad men good and good men better. We are to preach, exhort, expound, continue in our duty, be fervent in spirit, bearing and forbearing with our brethren, being filled with love and kindness; and we will yet, perhaps, get some of our froward connections into heaven. Jesus said, when the woman caught in adultery was brought to him, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” We are all sinners, and it is our duty to cast sin from us when we learn what it is. If we are a little good, become a little better; if we have a little light, get a little more; if we have a little faith, add to it; and by-and-by we shall be prepared to build up and beautify Zion, and to be exalted to reign in immortality and be crowned with the Gods.

God bless you! Amen.

Remarks by President Heber C. Kimball, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, July 15, 1860.

The truth is the same when preached by one man as another. If an idolater should come here and present the truth, its being delivered by him would not make it any less true. What has been said today by brother James W. Cummings is the Gospel of Christ, and salvation to everyone that hears and obeys it. Is the Gospel the power of God unto salvation to everyone that heareth it? No; but he that heareth these words of mine and doeth them, says Jesus, the same shall be saved.

If I should preach the Gospel as Jesus did when he said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have com– manded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world”—well, now, he that believeth and is baptized—does that save the man? No. But there are ten thousand commandments that are connected to that. The Apostle says, Go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works.

This is for you and me to do, and we are required to do it today and tomorrow, next year and continually, and live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, and practice it in our lives, in our conversation, at our homes, and when we are abroad.

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: that is only one principle. Baptism alone will not save a man, but the fruits of righteousness will. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; and when you have taught them, and got them into the fold, then teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you to teach them. Teach them to do everything that pertains to righteousness, and to abstain from everything that is wicked.

When I was baptized, I had heard the Gospel and believed it. Then I went and submitted myself to it in humility. I began to pray before I was baptized. As soon as I heard this Gospel, I began to inquire of the Father, in the name of the Son, if it was true. I received a testimony of it, and bore testimony for months to my neighbors and to the inhabitants in the country where I lived, and told them it was true. A great many of them believed it; and as soon as we received it and had the authority, I administered to others. Many more received it, being baptized for the remission of sins. When I received the truth, I commenced a new life, and I have endeavored to live it from that day to this. Do I realize that I am a poor creature? I do, and the more light I have the more I see this; and the less light a man has the less he sees and knows his imperfections. The more light and knowledge a man has the more he sees he is nothing without God.

I am preaching the Gospel in connection with brother James Cummings. What he said is true; and if you observe and practice it, you shall know these things, whether he spoke of himself or whether he spoke of the doctrine of Christ. He talked about famine, and pestilence, and earthquakes, and hurricanes, and mighty winds, in the States. These things are raging in the countries where Joseph dwelt, and those that exulted in the death of Joseph and Hyrum, David and Parley, and hundreds of our fathers and mothers, and our brothers and sisters, will suffer for it. They said to the nation and to the army, Go there and make a desolation of that people, and as God liveth he will make a desolation of them. [The congregation responded, “Amen.“] God has revealed this to me, and I know it will come to pass. You may call this prophecy or anything else you please, it matters not to me. What I know I understand as well as anybody else. Have not they done this? They have practiced it upon us. God will put a hook in their jaws and lead them, and has done from that day to this, and he will continue to do so from this day henceforth and forever. He will lead the whole of the nations of the earth, and they cannot help themselves, and I know it.

The Eastern papers give a full account of the great winds, and the great destruction occasioned by them. Such winds are horrible that will lift off the road ten baggage trains loaded with from five to ten tons weight each, and smash them as a reed, and take off tops of houses, blow down chimneys, tearing them asunder, and burying them in the earth. Whole cities are laid desolate, and not a whole piece of furniture is to be found.

The Lord and his angels are at work to measure to the inhabitants of the earth as they measured to his people. This will be done, and they cannot help it. Jesus says, “With that measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” These words are true, and will never fail; they cannot be avoided, if God is just. He will not reap where he has not sown. If I reap where I have not sown, I reap another man’s crop. Where we sow the word of life, there we shall reap; and if we bring forth the fruits of righteousness, we shall reap to our joy, and shall be satisfied.

To him that hath he will give more, and from him that hath not he will take away that which he seemeth to have, and give it to him that will improve upon his talents. Let us be faithful and keep the commandments of God, and leave the event with him. The majority of this people are trying to do right, and are improving in righteousness to my certain knowledge. On the other hand, it gives me pain when I go into this place and that, and suppose I am talking to Latter-day Saints, and I find I am conversing with thieves and robbers; and here they are right in your midst. “How do you do, brother James, George, or Brigham? How glad I am to see you,” and at the same time they are laying the axe at the root of the kingdom of God to destroy it. They are in our midst. They are to be found in the grog shops and in all public places, watching and hearing what is said, and you and I and all the rest are sitting down to go to sleep.

I want to refer to what brother James has said this morning. He told you the truth. Receive it, practice it, live it, and enjoy it, that the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost may take up their abode with you. Where the Father takes up his abode, there will the Son be; and where the Father and the Son dwell, there will the Holy Ghost dwell also, because they are one. We should be one like unto them. A great many neglect their prayers. Should they do this? No. A great many women that live by themselves neglect their prayers, and God forsakes them, and Satan takes possession, and they have no power over themselves; the light of God leaves them, and they are stupified: when they hear they heed not, and when they see they believe not. Jesus says—“He that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a man that built his house upon a rock; when the winds blew and the floods came, it fell not, because it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them not, I will liken him unto a foolish man that built his house upon the sand; and when the winds blew and the floods came, it fell, because it was built upon the sand.” They go down to hell—to that which is beneath. That which is from God cometh from heaven.

I will not say much more about grain: you can do as you please. I might just as well say nothing about it, for I know none will listen to it but good Saints, men of God, and men that have an experience, and can see things as they are: they are the men that will save this people. If one to fifty proves a savior in the end, I shall think that things are much better than I expected to find them. And those who have not skill, power, and wisdom, and salvation enough to save themselves and families temporally, what are they going to do with the spirit? The spirit goes into the spirit world, and then has to be taken by some Bishop—some man that has power to feed them, to lead them, and teach them in the ways of salvation. We are not going, then, as some suppose, in a hurry.

God bless the righteous brethren, and your righteous wives and children, and your children’s children, forever. Can I say God bless the thief and the robber, the whore and the whoremonger, and those that love and make lies? No. I will leave them just where they are; for they will meet the demands of justice, and they will welter and wallow in that pit they have dug for themselves; and they cannot avoid it. I feel to bless every man I meet that is a good man; and if I was oil, I would run through him. But when I see a wicked man and woman running after the Gentiles to be contaminated with their cursed lies, I say, You have damnation enough in yourselves. I will not say a word to them. You poor miserable creatures, trying to bring desolation upon the people—upon the Israel of God, you are building a fire big enough to burn you up, and I know there will be an end of you some day. God bless the righteous, and peace be with you! And God bless the righteous throughout the world, and all those who believe in the words of Jesus Christ, and on the servants of the living God! Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, July 15, 1860.

Often in the Tabernacle the congregations were crowded, but there is room under this bowery for more than are here today. If the brethren and sisters do not wish to come to meeting, knowing what they know, they have the privilege of staying at home. While Bishop Hunter was relating his feelings with regard to the people, and speaking of his great interest for their welfare, an anecdote occurred to me—one which many of you, perhaps, have heard. Many of you have heard of Lorenzo Dow and his oddities. He would go into the woods, get onto a stump, and preach without a soul being near to hear him, and probably leave an appointment to preach in the same place a year from that day. I have seen him. He was as odd looking as were his acts. When traveling in the State of New York to fill an appointment, as he neared the foot of a bad hill, he overheard a man cursing and whipping his team, and rode on carefully until he overtook the swearing man, and said to him—“If you will swear as wickedly as you can until you reach the summit of the hill, I will give you a dollar.” The man agreed, and added to his own condemnation by striving to earn the dollar, which Dow handed to him, and rode on his way.

How many of you will stay away from meeting for a dollar? This people delight in attending meetings.

If any Elder dislikes to hear others preach, come to the stand yourself, full of the Holy Ghost, and preach the everlasting Gospel to the people, and they will come to hear you again. But when you spend your time foolishly, and your hearts and affections are, like the fool’s eye, to the ends of the earth, after speculation, if you come here and speak to the people, you are like “sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.” Though a man should say but a few words, and his sentences and words be ever so ungrammatical, if he speaks by the power of the Holy Ghost, he will do good. The people want the shepherd to feed the sheep, though it is not prudent to feed them too much at a time. Brother Kimball says that he holds the salt tight, and lets the sheep lick it through his fingers, and they run after him; but if you throw down a large quantity at once, they will eat until they are cloyed, and will not follow you. Improve upon even a small portion of what has been taught, and you may grow day by day, which you cannot so well do when surfeited with good things.

Unless you improve upon it, every correct principle advanced through the authority of the holy Priesthood becomes to you a dead letter. But if you have the life within you, you will grow, whether you stay at home or come to meeting; and every true principle, power, and manifestation that God gives you, you will improve upon and treasure up in your hearts. Ask the Father, in the name of Jesus, to help you to treasure every true principle in good and honest hearts, that it may produce to your own advantage and that of others. Then your capacity and ability will increase, your faith in Christ will increase, and the light of Christ will increase within you.

As I have before mentioned, I heard brother John Taylor preach in the Tabernacle one of the most heavenly discourses ever spoken, upon the principle of Jesus Christ being in man a well of living water. If people will live to the light they have, and to every manifestation from God, they will arrive at such a state of perfection that God will dwell in them a well of everlasting life—a fountain of living water that will dispense life wherever they go. Whatever they do, every act, thought, and word will be full of life, and they will grow into eternal lives in the kingdoms of our God. It is your privilege to so live that you are constantly filled with the light of revelation, that Jesus Christ may be within you as a fountain of living water continually springing forth and yielding life eternal.

God bless you! Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, July 15, 1860.

The words of eternal life, the holy Priesthood of the Son of God, with its keys, powers, and blessings, are committed to us. If they and the God who gave them are honored by this people, great peace and joy are ours, through the Holy Spirit of this Gospel. Great peace have they who love the law of the Lord and abide in his commandments.

It has been said this morning that those who turn away from the Lord are dark—very dark and benighted. Every principle of true philosophy convinces a person who understands the spirit of the Gospel and has received the good word of life, that the darkness is in proportion to the light that has been forsaken. Rear a child in a cell which only admits a small glimmer of light, and the child will pass its time with some degree of satisfaction, when a person accustomed to the bright light of day could not at first see anything. And the greater the light bestowed upon an individual or upon a people, the greater the darkness when that light is forsaken.

The light of the Spirit reflects upon the understandings of those who have not passed the day of God’s favor, and teaches them whether they are walking in the truth or violating the commandments they have received of the Lord. If persons reach a period when the Spirit of truth ceases to reflect upon their understandings, then they know nothing of the commandments of the Lord, but follow the lusts of the flesh and of the mind, and are bound to perdition. So long as persons are in a position that it is possible for them to return to the Lord, after having once received the love of Christ—after having once been enlightened by his Spirit, there will be times when they will be taught whether they are walking in the truth or not.

Truth is the opposite of error—it is a matter of fact—no matter where it is found. A man, though he has not received authority from heaven, but is convinced by the light he has received that the nations have wandered far from God, and that his associates—members of the same profession or community—are not walking according to the revelations given in the New Testament, rises up and declares that he feels bound in his faith and conscience to go forth and raise up a pure church unto Christ. He goes forth and preaches to the people, calling upon them to be Saints of the Most High. He calls upon the people to return to the Lord with all their hearts—to become truly the children of God by faith—teaches many good and wholesome principles, many of the commandments of the Lord, and the revelations given in the New Testament, knowing nothing further. Revival after revival and seceder after seceder follow in the footsteps of the reformer. He professes to teach purer and holier doctrine than has been taught; and the question arises, who is under obligation to obey that man’s mandate? The Lord has not called him; Jesus has not appeared to him; Peter, James, and John have not met with him and conferred upon him the keys of the holy Priesthood; he has no communication with the heavens, only through the spirit of conviction.

Such is the situation of the Christian world. They are convinced by the traditions of their fathers, and by that portion of the light of Christ that lighteth every man that cometh into the world, that they are under obligation to a Supreme Being, and him they are naturally inclined to adore, reverence, honor, and worship. Under that impression they build up churches, professedly unto Christ on their own responsibility. Who is under obligation to obey their words? When truth is presented, it matters not whether by a deist, atheist, professor of religion, or a person of no such profession, it belongs to the people of God. Were Lucifer to present a truth to this people, they have a right to take it, for it is theirs. But if he demands obedience to the truth, are people under obligation to hearken and obey through his word? Not in the least.

When a man merely from a spirit of conviction goes forth to build up the kingdom of God—to reform the nations of the earth, he can go so far as morality operates upon and enlightens him; but he is without authority from heaven. Let such a person come here and teach one truth, or ten or a hundred truths, he is only handling that which does not legally belong to him unless he obeys the commandments of the Lord. That property is ours. It is for us to receive all truth. But we are under no obligation to obey any man or being in matters pertaining to salvation, unless his words have the authority and sanction of the holy Priesthood.

All truth belongs to the Saints of the Most High. They inherit it through obedience to his commands. It does not belong to the hypocrite—to those who disobey the commandments of the Lord or turn away from them; it belongs to the faithful Saints—to those who love and revere the name of God and keep his commandments. All truth, every good and holy principle, the fulness of the heavens and of the earth, and all time and all eternities that ever were, or are, or are to come, belong to the Saints of the Most High. Do those blessings belong to others, if they take an opposite path—if they disobey the commandments of the Lord? No; but they, as well as the faithful, will reap the reward of their doings. If they take the road that leads to destruction, they may expect to be destroyed. If they take the road that leads to dissolution, they may expect to be dissolved. If they take the road that leads to ruin, they may expect to be ruined. The words given to us in the Bible and Book of Mormon, and the words of the Savior, through his servant Joseph Smith, will all be verified and fulfilled. How do the Saints feel in regard to this matter? Is there faith and power among them? Do they feel grounded upon the Rock of Ages? Do they feel that the words of Prophets will be fulfilled? There are times, perhaps, when men are measurably left to themselves, and when they are somewhat in doubt. But when they are active in the faith of their calling, are they sure and steadfast, and do they feel built upon the rock of eternal truth, the rock of ages, the rock of revelation? Do they realize that all the words of the Lord will be fulfilled? Those who read and hear, and do so understandingly, can comprehend for themselves. But how can people understand? They may read and hear the words of truth—the words of life, and yet the natural man in his natural state cannot understand them. Mankind must have revelation, either through a preacher or some other source, and must enjoy the Spirit that should always attend the preaching of the Gospel, to enable them to understand what they hear.

“Do you think there is calamity abroad now among the people?” Not much. All we have yet heard and all we have experienced is scarcely a preface to the sermon that is going to be preached. When the testimony of the Elders ceases to be given, and the Lord says to them, “Come home; I will now preach my own sermons to the nations of the earth,” all you now know can scarcely be called a preface to the sermon that will be preached with fire and sword, tempests, earthquakes, hail, rain, thunders and lightnings, and fearful destruction. What matters the destruction of a few railway cars? You will hear of magnificent cities, now idolized by the people, sinking in the earth, entombing the inhabitants. The sea will heave itself beyond its bounds, engulfing mighty cities. Famine will spread over the nations, and nation will rise up against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and states against states, in our own country and in foreign lands; and they will destroy each other, caring not for the blood and lives of their neighbors, of their families, or for their own lives. They will be like the Jaredites who preceded the Nephites upon this continent, and will destroy each other to the last man, through the anger that the Devil will place in their hearts, because they have rejected the words of life and are given over to Satan to do whatever he listeth to do with them. You may think that the little you hear of now is grievous; yet the faithful of God’s people will see days that will cause them to close their eyes because of the sorrow that will come upon the wicked nations. The hearts of the faithful will be filled with pain and anguish for them.

How do you feel, Elders of Israel? Do you feel as though this tribulation would come soon? Would you like to have the scene commence this season, and have the vials of God’s wrath placed at your disposal? Would you like to unstop those vials and pour their contents upon the heads of those who have afflicted you and driven you from town to town, from place to place, and from city to city, until you found a home in the mountains, and have even followed us here, believing that they yet have power to destroy the last Saint? Would you like to empty these vials upon the heads of the nations, and take vengeance upon those who have so cruelly persecuted you? Do you delight in the sufferings of your fellow beings? Jesus died for those very beings. Have you ever realized that the blood of Jesus, the Son of God, was voluntarily shed for those very characters as well as for us?

Do you not think that he has feeling for them? Yes, his mercy yearns over the nation that has striven for a score of years to rid the earth of the Priesthood of the Son of God and to destroy the last Saint. He has mercy upon them, he bears with them, he pleads with them by his Spirit, and occasionally sends his angels to administer to them. Marvel not, then, that I pray for every soul that can be saved. Are they yet upon saving ground? Many of them can yet be saved, if they will turn to the Lord.

If a person with an honest heart, a broken, contrite, and pure spirit, in all fervency and honesty of soul, presents himself and says that he wishes to be baptized for the remission of his sins, and the ordinance is administered by one having authority, is that man saved? Yes, to that period of time. Should the Lord see proper to take him then from the earth, the man has believed and been baptized, and is a fit subject for heaven—a candidate for the kingdom of God in the celestial world, because he has repented and done all that was required of him to that hour. But, after he is baptized and hands have been laid upon him for the reception of the Holy Ghost, suppose that on the next day he is commanded to go forth and preach the Gospel, or to teach his family, or to assist in building up the kingdom of God, or to take all his substance and give it for the sustenance of the poor, and he says, “I will not do it,” his baptism and confirmation would depart from him, and he would be left as a son of perdition. But if he says, with a willing heart and mind, “Here is my substance; I will not only pay the tenth of it, but the whole of it is at your feet; do with it as you please,” does he not continue to be saved? Yes.

It is present salvation and the present influence of the Holy Ghost that we need every day to keep us on saving ground. When an individual refuses to comply with the further requirements of Heaven, then the sins he had formerly committed return upon his head; his former righteousness departs from him, and is not accounted to him for righteousness: but if he had continued in righteousness and obedience to the requirements of heaven, he is saved all the time, through baptism, the laying on of hands, and obeying the commandments of the Lord and all that is required of him by the heavens—the living oracles. He is saved now, next week, next year, and continually, and is prepared for the celestial kingdom of God whenever the time comes for him to inherit it.

I want present salvation. I preach, comparatively, but little about the eternities and Gods, and their wonderful works in eternity; and do not tell who first made them, nor how they were made; for I know nothing about that. Life is for us, and it is for us to receive it today, and not wait for the millennium. Let us take a course to be saved today, and, when evening comes, review the acts of the day, repent of our sins, if we have any to repent of, and say our prayers; then we can lie down and sleep in peace until the morning, arise with gratitude to God, commence the labors of another day, and strive to live the whole day to God and nobody else.

Whomsoever you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are. Do not obey the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the groveling grasping after property. There are those in this congregation who are so shortsighted, and so destitute of eternal wisdom and knowledge, that they believe that brother Brigham is after property—after the things of this world. That is a false feeling, a false view, and a false faith in such persons. I am obliged to take care of what God puts in my possession, and to make the best possible use of it. I seek not for the world, nor for the things of the world; but God heaps property upon me, and I am in duty bound to take care of it. Do you think that I love the world? I do not. Where is the man who would more willingly give up his property than I would?

Do not gather to yourselves false notions. When you imbibe that which is not true, it tends to darken your understandings. I wish you to feel right and do right. Love not the world—seek not the things of the world, but seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all things necessary will be added to us. Perhaps some of you think there is more added to me than is necessary. I do not think a single individual in this congregation knows how to take care of the things of life any better than I do.

You have been asked, today, whether you know how to save yourselves temporally. I have seen persons who were devoted, spirit and body, to their religion, and yet did not know how to hoe through a row of potatoes: they would be all over the field hoeing—a little first in one row, and then in another. One of the brethren that brought the Gospel to brother Kimball, myself, and others, happened to be by when we were raising a log house. We then, as now, believed in men’s making themselves useful in all places, and asked the minister to help us to roll up a log. He took the handspike and undertook to lift the log onto us, instead of onto the building. There are many just as ignorant as this man.

Though some persons do not know how to obtain the necessaries of life, they may know how to gain the kingdom of heaven. If the knowing ones are not faithful with the mammon of this world, who will commit unto them the true riches?

God bless you and all who love the truth! Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made at Kaysville, June 13, 1860.

I have time to say but a few words. It is three years and a few days since I was last here, and you are acquainted with the scenes we have passed through since that short time.

I am rejoiced to meet and associate with the Saints. It is one of the greatest privileges and blessings I can enjoy on the face of this earth, to gather out from the wicked world with the Saints, and be far away from the contaminating influence of the breath of the ungodly.

It is a great comfort to enjoy the privilege of passing day after day, week after week, and month after month, without hearing the name of God blasphemed. Here we have the privilege of sending the Gospel to the utmost parts of the earth, of teaching our children righteousness, of setting a righteous example before our neighbors, of associating together, of praying with and for each other, and mingling our voices in praising our God. Is not this a blessing? True, we are not entirely free from wickedness; we are in a world of sin and iniquity. All the inhabitants of the earth have wandered from the path of truth, and it is our duty to lead our children and friends towards our Father and God, to forsake the wickedness that is in the world, and promote righteousness and the principles of life—the life of the body and of the mind—the existence of the spirit and the body here and to all eternity—to dwell with our Father and our God. Life is before us.

Here are the Saints, and the words of the Savior will apply to them—“He that liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” He does not say that his body shall not crumble to dust. It will go back to its mother earth, to be raised immortal—to be brought forth to enjoy the light, glory, and presence of our Father and God, which we cannot endure while we are in this mortal tabernacle. This body must be purified and prepared to dwell in eternal burnings, for it is there where our Father and God dwells in the perfection of glory, light, and power.

Is it not a blessing to have schools in our community, where our teachers can teach our children correct principles, and impart to them education that will be useful? Is it not a blessing to associate with each other and build up the kingdom of God? Is it not a blessing to you, mothers, to raise up Prophets and Apostles—men filled with the glory of God, to go forth and extend the work of our God?

Do I not realize, day and night, that I have the good feelings, prayers, and faith of the Saints on the earth? I do. Let me enjoy the fellowship of angels, of God, and of his Saints, and I am right.

You have my prayers continually for the welfare of the kingdom of God on the earth.

May God bless you! I know that his blessings will rest upon you, if you live for them. Amen.

Remarks by President Heber C. Kimball, made in Kay’s Ward, June 13, 1860.

I have not much to say; but I feel as though I had a right in my calling, and by virtue of the holy Priesthood upon me, to bless you, and to pray the blessing of our Father and God to be with you, in connection with the blessing you have received from President Young. I feel to bless the earth, and to bless the seed you may place on the earth—you and your wives and your children, and your children’s children. I am aware that you are not fully aware of the great work that will yet spring from this people, and the great work of our Father that has to be accomplished in the latter day.

Brethren and sisters, let us go to work now and cultivate the earth. I see a great deal of land here that is vacated. I am glad of it, for some have tried to farm more than they could attend to well, and have made nothing. Let us cultivate well what we do cultivate—make gardens and adorn them, and build good houses and adorn them. What a blessing it is for this people to have the privilege of beautifying the earth and making it like it was in the beginning in the garden of Eden! It is not necessary to build such tremendous great houses, but houses that we can complete and plaster over head, and on the sides and all over, and make them beautiful.

We shall be blessed and stay in these mountains. You need not be disheartened, for we shall stay here, and all hell cannot help it. We have done as they told us, until we got into the mountains, and here we will do the will of our Father in heaven, he helping us. Let us prepare ourselves, that, when we go to Jackson County, we shall know how to do right, and make beautiful gardens, &c.

May God bless you! Amen.