A Discourse by Elder Jedediah M. Grant, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Feb. 19, 1854.

I have been pleased with the remarks of Elder Hyde this afternoon. I am myself more or less familiar with the doings of the Spirit Rappers, having had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with them when I was last in New York and Philadelphia; and I am satisfied now, and was then, that they are manifestations of spirits; and startling are the sentiments, developments, and doctrines they have made known. It has been treated as a bubble upon the wave that soon would burst asunder; but I am satis– fied the result of the manifestations of the spirits (wicked spirits) will be to combine their forces in as systematic an order as they are capable of, to successfully resist the Priesthood upon the earth.

I am aware that even some of the Latter-day Saints are slow to believe in relation to the power of Lucifer, the son of the morning, who was thrust from the heavens to the earth; and they have been slow to believe in relation to the spirits that are associated with him; but from the first revelations of the Almighty to brother Joseph Smith, not only revelations in relation to the deep things of the kingdom of God, and the high things of heaven, and the depths of hell, but revelations showing him the power of Lucifer, the opposite to good, that he might be aware of the strength of his opponent, and the opponent of the Almighty—I say, from perusing these revelations, I have always been specially impressed with the doctrine relating to the power of Satan, as well as with the doctrines relating to the power of God.

I have always felt that no Saint fully comprehends the power of Satan as well as God’s Prophet; and again I have thought that no Saint could fully understand the power of God unless he learn the opposite. I am not myself acquainted with any happiness that I have not learned the opposite of. You may perhaps enjoy a great deal, the opposite of which you know nothing of, you may be constituted different to me, your feelings may be different, you may have learned to enjoy without first experiencing the opposite; but I may say with safety, nearly all the blessings I enjoy and highly prize are most appreciated after I have learned their opposite; and I am of opinion that all Saints sooner or later will have to learn the opposite to good, they will have to partake of the bitter in order to properly appre– ciate the sweet, they will have to be impressed with pain that they may appreciate pleasure.

In relation to spirits, for it seems to be the subject introduced today, I have this idea, that the Lord our God absolutely gave Lucifer a mission to this earth; I will call it a mission. You may think it strange that I believe so good a being as our Father in heaven would actually send such an odd missionary as Lucifer. You may call him a missionary, or anything else you please, but we learn he was thrust out of heaven, the place where the Lord dwells, to this earth; and his mission, and the mission of his associates who were thrust down with him, and of those whom he is successful in turning away from God’s children who have tabernacles, is to continue to oppose the Almighty, scatter His Church, wage war against His kingdom, and change as far as possible His government on the earth. He could take the Savior upon the pinnacle of the temple, and show him the kingdoms of this world, and could perform many wonderful works in the days of Jesus. When the Priesthood of God is upon the earth, then the priesthood of the devil may be seen operating, for he has got one. When the kingdom of God is on the earth, you may expect to see a special display or manifestation of the opposite to the Gospel of the kingdom, or of the Priesthood of God.

If you read the Book of Mormon, the Bible, and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, you read about the power of Satan upon the earth—the manifestation of wicked spirits. When was this special power of Satan more particularly made manifest? It has always been when the power of the holy Priesthood and the kingdom of God were upon the earth. In the days of Moses, in the days of the Patriarchs, in the days of the Prophets, and in the days of Jesus and his Apostles, and while his Church remained upon the earth, the opposite of the principles of heaven were specially made manifest, causing a lull in the public mind. The world is more or less controlled all the time by influences that Lucifer evidently is not opposed to; he has little objection to the present organization of human society, from the fact that everything passes along in the wake that agrees with his religion, and rather tends to forward his purposes.

Now some suppose if they can see a miracle, as they call it, that is, something beyond that which is ordinary with man, they are bound to believe; but I am of opinion that Lucifer and his associates can show as many miracles as the people desire to see; they can show as many as were exhibited in Egypt in the days of king Pharaoh. I believe Lucifer has just as much power to make lice now as ever he had, he has just as much ability to display his power in making a serpent to oppose a Moses as ever. Has he lost his power during the last two, three, or four thousand years? We do not believe he has. If, then, he possesses the same power as he once did, why is he not able in this dispensation to make manifestations corresponding to those in previous ones?

I wish to come down to our own day, for you know I am fond of rooting, grubbing, building, fencing, and doing the things needed right here at home. Let us then confine our remarks to this dispensation, when the Prophet Joseph Smith was visited by an holy angel, clad in robes of light, who authorized him to sound the trump of the Gospel of peace, and receive the sacred records from the earth, and the Urim and Thummim, and who laid hands upon him and gave him the Holy Ghost, and authorized him to baptize for the remission of sins, and organize the kingdom of God on the earth. What do we see at this time? We see the manifestations of the power of Satan immediately after the revelations of the angel to Joseph. For instance, there were spirit mediums in Kirtland, when the Church was first organized there by brother Parley P. Pratt and others; but when Joseph went with the Priesthood, the devil had to leave, for he had learned the power of Lucifer; and Joseph organized the Church, established the Priesthood, and set everything right.

I might go on with a long routine of manifestations of the power of God, and of the power of the devil; but you who have come from the old country, and some of the first Elders that went over there—Presidents Young, Kimball, Hyde, and others, recollect manifestations of the spirits of the devil in that land. They attacked those brethren by hundreds and by thousands, and the spirits were actually visible. If you could call up brother Willard Snow and converse with him, I have no doubt that he would tell you he was attacked by them, and they overcame his body.

I am not surprised to see these manifestations increased upon the earth; but where is the anchor to the faith of the Saints? Where is the surety of the Saints against these manifestations? Inasmuch as the world would not listen to the Prophet Joseph, and receive the word of God through him, I look for the Lord to fulfil His word, and send them strong delusion, inasmuch as they believe not the truth, and will permit them now to believe a lie, that all who have pleasure in unrighteousness may be damned. I anticipate seeing strong delusion among the wicked in the day in which we live, but where is the anchor for the faith of the Saints? I will tell you where mine is.

When Joseph Smith was alive, his declaration to me was as the voice of Almighty God. Why? Because he had the Priesthood of God on the earth; the Priesthood that is without father, without mother, without beginning of days or end of years, which is God’s authority, the eternal power and right of the government of God upon the earth. I was subject to that government in the days of Joseph. Men used to talk on this wise—“But would you believe in the Prophet if he should demand all your property?” Lucifer would suggest this idea to them. “No,” says another, “I would not.” “Suppose he should come to you, and tell you, you must sell your farm in the east, and go to Kirtland, and consecrate your property to the Lord, would you do it?” “No,” answers his neighbor, “the Lord has no use for my property, I would not do it.” “Well,” says one, “do you think Joseph is right to dictate in temporal matters?” “No.” There were quite a majority, I believe, in the days of Joseph, who believed he had no right to dictate in temporal matters, in farms, houses, merchandise, gold, silver, &c.; and they were tried on various points.

When the family organization was revealed from heaven—the patriarchal order of God, and Joseph began, on the right and on the left, to add to his family, what a quaking there was in Israel. Says one brother to another, “Joseph says all covenants are done away, and none are binding but the new covenants; now suppose Joseph should come and say he wanted your wife, what would you say to that?” “I would tell him to go to hell.” This was the spirit of many in the early days of this Church.

If you maintain the fact that the Priesthood of God is upon the earth, and God’s representatives are upon the earth, the mouthpiece of Jehovah, the head of the kingdom of God upon earth, and the will of God is done upon earth as it is in heaven, it follows that the government of God is upon the earth. I allude to the Church which it dictates; and then to the whole earth which it will dictate. Satan may succeed for a season to curtail the extent of this government, and the free working of its machinery, but if the Lord Almighty has organized a government upon the earth, and has committed the keys and Priesthood of it to His Prophet, that Prophet holds jurisdiction over the earth, the same as Adam did in the beginning. And righteous men in every dispensation since the creation, if they had any keys, had the keys of the kingdom of God; and they extended over this wide world wherever God had a people and a government; and just as far as the Priesthood exercised its authority, just so far the rule of the Almighty reached.

If Joseph had a right to dictate me in relation to salvation, in relation to a hereafter, he had a right to dictate me in relation to all my earthly affairs, in relation to the treasures of the earth, and in relation to the earth itself. He had a right to dictate in relation to the cities of the earth, to the natives of the earth, and in relation to everything on land and on sea. That is what he had a right to do, if he had any right at all. If he did not have that right, he did not have the Priesthood of God, he did not have the endless Priesthood that emanates from an eternal being. A Priesthood that is clipped, and lacks length, is not the Priesthood of God; if it lacks depth, it is not the Priesthood of God; for the Priesthood in ancient times extended over the wide world, and coped with the universe, and had a right to govern and control the inhabitants thereof, to regulate them, give them laws, and execute those laws. That power looked like the Priesthood of God. This same Priesthood has been given to Joseph Smith, and has been handed down to his successors.

I do not care how many devils rap, it is no trouble to me. I say, rap away, and give as many revelations as you please, whether you are good spirits or bad ones, it does not trouble my cranium. Rap away, for I trust in the anchor of my soul that is sure and steadfast, in the Priesthood of God upon the earth.

What would a man of God say, who felt aright, when Joseph asked him for his money? He would say, “Yes, and I wish I had more to help to build up the kingdom of God.” Or if he came and said, “I want your wife?” “O yes,” he would say, “here she is, there are plenty more.”

There is another main thread connected with this, that I have not brought out. You know in fishing with the hook and line, if you draw out suddenly on the line when you have got a large trout, you may break your line; you must therefore angle a little, and manage your prize carefully. I would ask you if Jehovah has not in all ages tried His people by the power of Lucifer and his associates; and on the other hand, has He not tried them and proved them by His Prophets? Did the Lord actually want Abraham to kill Isaac? Did the Prophet Joseph want every man’s wife he asked for? He did not, but in that thing was the grand thread of the Priesthood developed. The grand object in view was to try the people of God, to see what was in them. If such a man of God should come to me and say, “I want your gold and silver, or your wives,” I should say, “Here they are, I wish I had more to give you, take all I have got.” A man who has got the Spirit of God, and the light of eternity in him, has no trouble about such matters.

I am talking now of the present day. There was a time when we could be tried pretty severely upon these points, but I now could pick you out hundreds of men that cannot be tried in this way, but they will hand over everything they possess. They understand the nature of such doctrines, and the object of such requirements. They know it is to prove the people, both men and women, and to develop what they will do. How can the Priesthood judge the people, if it does not prove them?

If ever you are brought into the presence of God, and exalted to a seat in His celestial kingdom, it will be by virtue of the Holy Priesthood, therefore you have got to be proved, not only by being tempted by the devil, but the Priesthood will try you—it will try you to the core. If one thing won’t try you, something else will be adopted, until you are like the passive clay in the hands of the Potter. If the Lord our God does not see fit to let the devil loose upon you, and mob you, He will employ some other means to try you as in a crucible, to prove you as gold is tried seven times in the furnace.

The world philosophizes about the “Mormons,” about their leaders, and the life they are living. There are a thousand conjectures among them in relation to the “Mormons.” The grand secret is told in a few words; the fact is, the Almighty God has spoken from the heavens, sent heavenly messengers, and organized His Church, restored the Holy Priesthood, established His government on the earth, and exerted his power to extend it, and send forth His word. And that Priesthood understands the principles and motives by which men are actuated, and it understands the workings of the devil on the earth; that Priesthood knows how to govern, when to strike, and when not to strike.

Some things in this Church start up at times, that you would think the whole Church would be rent asunder, like the clans of Scotland. Clanism, and “Mormonism” are like that [putting his fingers across]; “Mormonism” is one, it is governed by one head, one President, and that head representing God on earth. If Joseph Smith held the keys of the kingdom of God on earth, of the Apostleship, does not his successor possess the same? Does he not have a right to give laws, to instruct, to control and rule the people of God?

I might still go on, and explain to your understandings exactly what I mean by rule. If this Priesthood is upon the earth, and you are controlled thereby, and listen to its counsels, you will be united as one people. I know the time was that many of this people believed that if a man was adopted here and there, one man would hold this way, and another that; but the fact is, in the kingdom and Church of the Lord they are all in one pile. I do not care how many of you have been adopted here or there; that is the doctrine to me.

Let the devils rap, then, and let them talk, and mutter, and have their mediums; what do I care, so long as the Priesthood is upon the earth, and the Apostleship is upon the earth, and the government of God, and the light and influence of the Holy Ghost, are upon the earth? Can they shake the Saints? No. But let a man lose the Spirit of God, and depart from this Church, and from the men that hold the Priesthood of God on the earth, and I have no doubt that Lucifer will reveal a great many truths to him, and teach and advocate principles and sentiments that will agree with doctrines of this Church. And they will even imitate Joseph Smith’s handwriting, and the handwriting of brother Hyrum, of Bishop Partridge, and of Bishop Whitney, and others; and they will give you flaming revelations, and the light they emit will blaze like a comet.

Now Lucifer has philosophy enough and religion enough to suffer his agents to run along with the truth hand in hand, and make himself appear like an angel of light, and teach hundreds of true principles, if he can only thereby get you to swallow one item of false doctrine. But the grand story is, the devil may rage as long as he pleases, and use all the cunning and craft that he may, yet he never can overreach those who hold the keys of the Priesthood, nor succeed in deceiving them. This Joseph taught the people, but they were slow to believe. But now the energies of the people move as one man; and if they want to build a Temple, they can build it, and whatever they want to accomplish they can do.

The Priesthood is a power we should respect, reverence, and obey, no matter in whose hands it is. Let Lucifer mix in truths with error, and work great signs and wonders to deceive the very elect, but it is not possible. Why? Because they have learned the Priesthood, and they possess the power thereof that cannot be shaken. Let the Rappers go ahead, then, for it is not possible for them to deceive the elect of God; and let the witch of Endor, and all other witches and wizards, with the prince and power of the air at their head, do their best, if we keep the commandments of God we shall continually soar far above their power and influence.

I want to have nothing to do with Satan. I desire not to shake hands with him, nor to do anything that will bring me in contact with him, for he is powerful, and if he once gets you in his grasp and shakes you, you will think you are less than a grasshopper. Let us rally round the standard of God, and when we are in the circle of truth, then let the devil and the enemies of the Church of God fire their loudest guns, and wage their war, and marshal their strength, yet, armed with the armor of righteousness, clothed with the Priesthood and generalship of the Almighty, we shall successfully resist, and triumphantly conquer Satan and all his allied forces of the earth and hell. They will then find out whether Joseph had a right to rule this earth by the power of the Priesthood. They will then find out that the “Mormons,” notwithstanding their curious bumps, for they have got some curious bumps, are authorized to preach the Gospel of God, gather Israel, build up Zion, bind Lucifer with a chain, and establish the reign of peace on earth.

My prayer is that the Saints may understand that they are safe as long as they listen to the Priesthood authorized of heaven, are united in one, and not divided into clans, but become one great clan, under one head. Then let all the clanism of the world rally against us, and we are as firm as the rock of ages, that supports the throne of Jehovah.

May God bless you with the truth as it is in Himself, and save you in His kingdom, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, December 18, 1853.

I love to hear my brethren speak. Their testimony yields joy and consolation to my heart. But notwithstanding the pleasure it would give me to sit and hear them continually, it is obligatory upon me to occupy the position I do, and let my voice be heard in connection with theirs.

We all occupy diversified stations in the world, and in the kingdom of God. Those who do right, and seek the glory of the Father in heaven, whether their knowledge be little or much, or whether they can do little or much, if they do the very best they know how, they are perfect.

It may appear strange to some of you, and it certainly does to the world, to say it is possible for a man or woman to become perfect on this earth. It is written “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Again, “If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.” This is perfectly consistent to the person who understands what perfection really is.

If the first passage I have quoted is not worded to our understanding, we can alter the phraseology of the sentence, and say, “Be ye as perfect as ye can,” for that is all we can do, though it is written, be ye perfect as your Father who is in heaven is perfect. To be as perfect as we possibly can, according to our knowledge, is to be just as perfect as our Father in heaven is. He cannot be any more perfect than He knows how, any more than we. When we are doing as well as we know how in the sphere and station which we occupy here, we are justified in the justice, righteousness, mercy, and judgment that go before the Lord of heaven and earth. We are as justified as the angels who are before the throne of God. The sin that will cleave to all the posterity of Adam and Eve is, that they have not done as well as they knew how.

I will apply this to myself, and it will apply to you, and to every man and woman upon the earth; of course including brother Morley, who spoke to you this morning. If he has done the best he could in the late Indian difficulties in the district where he lives, and acted according to the judgment and light of the spirit of revelation in him, he is as justified as an angel of God.

Though we may do the best we know how at this time, can there be no improvement made in our lives? There can. If we do wrong ignorantly, when we learn it is wrong, then it is our duty to refrain from that wrong immediately and forever, and the sin of ignorance is winked at, and passes into oblivion.

An inquiry was made this morning, if we know who we are, what our situation is, and the relationship we sustain to each other, to our God, and the position we occupy to the human family. I can answer the question. No, we do not. Do the people understand all the obligations they are under to each other and to their God? They do not. Again, do they try to know, as far as it is in their power? They do not. Are there individuals among us who seek with all their hearts to know and understand the will of God? Yes, many. But as a people, do they, with an undivided heart, endeavor to know the will of God in preference to every– thing else upon earth? They do not.

There is a reason for this. Brother Morley wanted to know if we had learned ourselves. We have not. When he referred to the spirits in the world, and what we could witness in the infant child in its mother’s lap, at this moment like a little seraph, and in the next, more like a demon with passion and rage, I thought we need not confine ourselves to the child for example, for this picture of good and evil is exhibited as frequently in the parent, and even in the greyheaded sire, as in the child. If men and women understood perfectly their position before God, angels, and men, the place they occupy, and the sphere they act in, they would know they are as independent in their organization as the angels, or as the Gods. Yet, in consequence of sin entering into the world, darkness, wretchedness, folly, weakness of every kind, and the power of temptation surround the children of men, as well as the power of God. I say the greyheaded father, and the aged matron will give way to the power of evil, when it comes upon them, as readily, in many instances, as the infant child upon its mother’s lap.

I speak what I know, and say, shame on those who are subject to such weakness, when they have had time and opportunity to learn better. Brother Morley says, “Such spirits will be damned.” Bless your souls, they are damned already. The reason they act as they do, in a manner so diametrically opposed to the angels and Gods in the eternities that are, is because they have been in a miserable condition since they have been upon the earth.

When men and women give way to these wicked spirits, it is a proof they have not learned their organization, and what they were made for.

As for this people knowing their true position before God, in the midst of the nations of the earth, it is certain they have not yet learned it. Shall we ever learn it? We shall. And further, we shall be obliged to learn it; and further still, we shall be COMPELLED to learn it. How? By flattery? By blessings? By the kind smiles of Providence? By the bountiful fulness of the invisible hand of our heavenly Father bestowing every blessing upon us? Now some of us are ready to say, this will not bring us to an understanding of our true position, and prepare us for what is before us. If the mercies and blessings of our kind and indulgent heavenly Parent will not produce the desired effects upon His people, He will certainly chasten them, and make them know, by what they suffer, how to govern and sanctify themselves before Him.

We ought to pursue the same course with our children when we wish them to obey our commands. It is reasonable and right, after you have held out every kind of inducement possible, to bring them to their senses, and to obedience, if they still continue refractory, to try the rod, and chasten them until they become obedient. That is what our Father in heaven will do for this people, if they will not learn by His blessings and loving kindness.

Do you inquire if I think we are about to be afflicted? If we are not good children, we shall be. We must learn to love righteousness, and hate iniquity, and then we can chasten ourselves, and bring ourselves to the sphere we were designed to fill in our existence, and govern and control ourselves in it, preparatory to power being put into our hands. We should never have but one desire, but one determination; our will should be perfectly centered upon the one object, viz., to find out the will of God, and do it. Let every individual thus school, chasten, prove, view, and re– view himself, taking himself into custody as a prisoner to be subjected to a severe examination, until his will is perfectly subservient to the will of God in every instance, and you can say, “No matter what it is, let us know the will of the Father in heaven, and that is our will.” Then we shall be able to train, school, and practice upon ourselves, until we can control, and bring under subjection, the wicked influences that surround us; we can then begin to pave the way, or throw up an highway of holiness to the rising generation.

This we have to do. It is our business. It is the labor of the Latter-day Saints, which, if carried out, will run through all the various changing scenes of mortal life. It is in every act and dealing, both with ourselves, our families, and strangers. It fills every avenue of human life, from beginning to end. To gain the spiritual ascendancy over ourselves, and the influences with which we are surrounded, through a rigid course of self-discipline, is our first consideration, it is our first labor, before we can pave the way for our children to grow up without sin unto salvation.

No man, in a short hour or two, can tell everything that is in his heart, when it is filled by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. But I will continue my remarks, and give you a little more.

All persons are surrounded with circumstances peculiar to their location, station, and situation in life. A portion of our old associates believe we are controlled entirely by circumstances; but this people have learned enough to know they have the ability and power to control circumstances, to a certain extent; they will control us more or less, but not entirely. We can lay the foundation in the midst of this people for a train of circumstances to surround the rising generation with a divine influence. We can also produce a train of circumstances that will work their certain destruction. This is in our power, and the first is the labor of the Latter-day Saints.

Some, when their minds are opened to behold the purity of a God of eternity—the purity of heaven, and understand that no impure thing can enter there; when they can realize the perfection of the redeemed and glorified Zion, and then look at the people now, and their actions, and how they are overcome with their weaknesses, how they cannot go out and come in without coming in contact, in some way, with their neighbors; when they look at the universal sinfulness of mortal man; are ready to exclaim, “We shall all go to destruction, salvation is impossible.” I do not believe a word of it. If we do the best we know how, and yet commit many acts that are wrong, and contrary to the counsel given to us, there is hope in our case.

The Savior has warned us to be careful how we judge, forgiving each other seven times seventy in a day, if we repent, and confess our sins one to another. Can we be more merciful and forgiving than our Father in heaven? We cannot. Therefore let people do the best they can, and they will pave the way for the rising generation to walk up into the light, wisdom, and knowledge of the angels, and of the redeemed from this earth, to say nothing of other earths, and they will be prepared to enjoy in the resurrection all the blessings which are for the faithful, and enjoy them in the flesh.

It is our duty, and to this we are called so to frame and control circumstances in our lifetime, as to bring blessings upon the rising generation, which we can never attain to while we are in the flesh. But when the vision of our minds is opened to behold the immaculate purity, perfection, light, beauty, and glory of Zion, the heaven of eternity, the place where Saints and angels dwell in the eternal worlds, then salvation for us poor erring mortals seems almost impossible; it seems that we shall hardly be saved. This, however, is verily true, we shall hardly be saved. There never was any person over saved; all who have been saved, and that ever will be in the future, are only just saved, and then it is not without a struggle to overcome, that calls into exercise every energy of the soul.

It is good for us to follow the example of those who have attained unto salvation; consequently if I wish to be saved, and be an instrument of pointing out the way to others, let me not only preach the doctrine of salvation, but set the example in my conduct, and plead with them to follow it. If our faith is one, and we are united to gain one grand object, and I, as an individual, can possibly get into the celestial kingdom, you and every other person, by the same rule, can also enter there.

Though our interest is one as a people, yet remember, salvation is an individual work; it is every person for themselves. I mean more by this than I have time to tell you in full, but I will give you a hint. There are those in this Church who calculate to be saved by the righteousness of others. They will miss their mark. They are those who will arrive just as the gate is shut, so in that case you may be shut out; then you will call upon someone, who, by their own faithfulness, through the mercy of Jesus Christ, have entered in through the celestial gate, to come and open it for you; but to do this is not their province. Such will be the fate of those persons who vainly hope to be saved upon the righteousness and through the influence of brother Somebody. I forewarn you therefore to cultivate righteousness and faithfulness in yourselves, which is the only passport into celestial happiness.

There is another thing I wish to notice, viz., touching the man brother Morley spoke of this morning, who put away his wife which he had lately taken. He began to tell you how mean it looks to him to trifle in this manner with the greatest blessings of heaven to man. To men who will ask for blessings, and jewels of great price, and seek to cast them away tomorrow, it will be said by and by, “Take that and give it to the man who is more worthy.” And what shall be done with the other? Let him scrub the floor, clean shoes, and make soap. I mean this to be understood spiritually. Of course we shall be so clean in the heavenly Zion, we shall not need anybody to wash for us. When I say we will set such characters to work in the garden, to clean our stables, to curry our horses, or work in the cellar kitchen, it is to be understood spiritually.

You may get jewels of great price, and trifle with them, and think them nothing, but by and by they will so far outshine you, that you cannot look upon the blaze of their glory without being struck with blindness. The words of the Savior will be fulfilled on such persons, “Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.”

That which they think they possess, they only seem to have. It is put in their hands for a few days, to see if they have wisdom sufficient to use it to the glory and honor of God, that they may have more blessings added to them. When they have proved themselves unworthy, that which they seemed to have will be taken away, and given to another who is more worthy, that he may have more abundantly.

As it respects the wicked actions of the people, while brother Morley was speaking, I thought I could tell you things about some men, that you would not want to hear. To satisfy my own feelings by way of comparison, I will give you a faint idea of how they look to me.

Imagine all the carcasses of the people who have died of the cholera, and of other loathsome diseases, heaped up to rot in one general mass, under the rays of a southern sun, and the stench of such a mass of corruption would not begin to offend my nostrils, and the nostrils of every righteous man, so much as those men do. On the other hand, if every man will do the best he can, and as far as he knows how, it will be well with him, and he will be blessed until there is not room to contain the blessings which will be poured upon him. Sin consists in doing wrong when we know and can do better, and it will be punished with a just retribution, in the due time of the Lord.

Have this people been blessed? They have. Why can they not understand, that they are organized and formed for the express purpose of becoming independent in and of themselves, that they may begin to guard against any evil principle, or the suggestions of evil? But you will readily say, “That is in all men, it is natural to them.” So Paul thought. He was surrounded with spirits of evil, and was wonderfully troubled with them, so much so, that when he would do good, evil was present with him. I would have kicked them out of doors. He was a righteous man, and died for the Gospel’s sake, and it was right for him to die, if it were for nothing but taking care of the clothes of those who stoned Stephen to death. “Now,” says Paul, “I would do good to that man, but evil is present with me.” Why did he not kick that evil out of the way of his doing good? Was he bound to be troubled with it? No, no more than you and I are.

Are those who are drinking and carousing today (and there may be some doing so who profess to be brethren) obliged to break the Sabbath, and make themselves drunkards and gluttons? No. If the brethren who profess to be Saints, and do wrong, would reveal the root of the matter, and tell the whole truth, it would be, “I have a desire to do a great deal of good, but the devil is always at my elbow, and I always like to keep the old gentleman so that I can put my hand upon him, for I want to use him sometimes.” That is the reason why men and women are overcome with evil.

Again, I can charge you with what you will all plead guilty of, if you would confess the truth, viz., you dare not quite give up all your hearts to God, and become sanctified throughout, and be led by the Holy Ghost from morning until evening, and from one year’s end to another. I know this is so, and yet few will acknowledge it. I know this feeling is in your hearts, as well as I know the sun shines.

We will examine it a little closer. Many of you have fearful forebodings that all is not right in the organization of this kingdom. You shiver and shake in your feelings, and tremble in your spirit; you cannot put your trust in God, in men, nor in yourself. This arises from the power of evil that is so prevalent upon the face of the whole earth. It was given to you by your father and mother; it was mingled with your conception in the womb, and it has ripened in your flesh, in your blood, and in your bones, so that it has become riveted in your very nature. If I were to ask you individually, if you wished to be sanctified throughout, and become as pure and holy as you possibly could live, every person would say yes; yet if the Lord Almighty should give a revelation instructing you to be given wholly up to Him, and to His cause, you would shrink, saying, “I am afraid he will take away some of my darlings.” That is the difficulty with the majority of this people.

It is for you and I to wage war with that principle until it is overcome in us, then we shall not entail it upon our children. It is for us to lay a foundation so that everything our children have to do with, will bring them to Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel. If we lay such a foundation with all good conscience, and labor as faithfully as we can, it will be well with us and our children in time and in eternity.

What kind of a sensation would it produce in my heart, should I hear at the close of this meeting that the Lord had suffered the devil to destroy my houses, my wives, and my children, and committed every particle of my property to the devouring flames—that I am left destitute, and alone in the world? I wish you all to apply this interrogation to yourselves. What would such a circumstance produce upon this people, provided they did not know the Lord was going to send a judgment upon them, as He has done in former times (though you need not be afraid of it)? How would you feel? Would there not be murmuring, and fault finding, and writing and plotting with apostates, and some fleeing to California, and some running back to the States?

Or suppose, when you arrive at home from this meeting, you find your neighbors have killed your horses and destroyed your property, how would you feel? You would feel like taking instant vengeance on the perpetrator of the deed. But it would be wrong for you to encourage the least particle of feeling to arise in your bosom like anger, or revenge, or like taking judgment into your own hands, until the Lord Almighty shall say, “Judgment is yours, and for you to execute.”

Brother Morley wished to know if anyone could tell the origin of thought. The origin of thought was planted in our organization at the beginning of our being. This is not telling you how it came there, or who put it there. Thought originated with our individual being, which is organized to be as independent as any being in eternity. When you go home, and learn that your neighbors have committed some depredation on your property, or in your family, and anger arises in your bosom, then consider, and know that it arises in yourselves.

On the other hand, suppose some person has blessed you when you return home, brought you a bag of flour, for instance, in a time of great scarcity, and some butter, milk, and vegetables, thoughts would at once spring up to bless the giver. The origin of thought and reflection is in ourselves. We think, because we are, and are made susceptible of external influences, and to feel our relationship to external objects. Thus thoughts of revenge, and thoughts of blessing will arise in the same mind, as it is influenced by external circumstances.

If you are injured by a neighbor, the first thought of the unregenerate heart is for God to damn the person who has hurt you. But if a person blesses you, the first thought that arises in you is, God bless that man; and this is the disposition to which we ought to cleave. But dismiss any spirit that would prompt you to injure any creature that the Lord has made, give it no place, encourage it not, and it will not stay where you are. You can let the black man, or the white man into your house, as you please; you can say, “Walk in,” to both of them.

This is a figure. When the white man presents himself, you know him at once by his complexion; the same when you see darkness and blackness advancing, you know it is from beneath, and you can command it to leave your house. When the good man comes, he brings with him a halo of kindness which fills you with peace and heavenly comfort; invite him into your house, and make him your constant guest.

I have often told you from this stand, if you cleave to holy, godlike principles, you add more good to your organization, which is made independent in the first place, and the good spirit and influence which come from the Father of lights, and from Jesus Christ, and from the holy angels add good to it. And when you have been proved, and when you have labored and occupied sufficiently upon that, it will become, in you, what brother Joseph Smith told Elder Taylor, if he would adhere to the Spirit of the Lord strictly, it should become in him, viz., a fountain of revelation. That is true. After awhile the Lord will say to such, “My son, you have been faithful, you have clung to good, and you love righteousness, and hate iniquity, from which you have turned away, now you shall have the blessing of the Holy Spirit to lead you, and be your constant companion, from this time henceforth and forever.” Then the Holy Spirit becomes your property, it is given to you for a profit, and an eternal blessing. It tends to addition, extension, and increase, to immortality and eternal lives.

If you suffer the opposite of this to take possession of your tabernacles, it will hurt you, and all that is asso– ciated with you, and blast, and strike with mildew, until your tabernacle, which was created to continue throughout an endless duration, will be decomposed, and go back to its native elements, to be ground over again like the refractory clay that has spoiled in the hand of the potter, it must be worked over again until it shall become passive, and yield to the potter’s wish.

One power is to add, to build up, and increase; the other to destroy and diminish; one is life, the other is death. Let us, then, lay a foundation for the rising generation to grow up without being trammeled and hindered in their onward course to glory and happiness by the superstitions, tradition, and ignorance that have blinded and hurt us. Let us do the best we can, and if we make a mistake once, seven times, or seventy times seven in a day, and are honest in our confessions, we shall be forgiven freely. As we expect to obtain mercy, so let us have mercy upon each other. And when the evil spirit comes let him find no place in you.

I recollect telling the Latter-day Saints that no man could judge the nature of a spirit without first testing it; until then, he is not capable to judge of it. Brethren, love righteousness, and hate iniquity.

May God bless you forever. Amen.

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered at Great Salt Lake City, December 5, 1853.

Myself and my brethren frequently rise to address the congregation in this place, not knowing precisely what may prove the most beneficial and instructing. The same weakness is in me, that is common to the most of my brethren who address you from this stand, that is, a degree of timidity, which arises from a sense of the importance of the work in which we are engaged; but my resolution overbalances this.

Can anything be taught that will edify this congregation like the principles of the Gospel? It may be said the life and existence of man, with the varied avocations of his life, from birth to death, are an interesting subject, as much so as the Gospel. But this is connected with the Gospel of salvation, as well as everything else that is associated with his being. The whole mortal existence of man is neither more nor less than a preparatory state given to finite beings, a space wherein they may improve themselves for a higher state of being. The labor of man in this existence seems to be almost wholly directed to procure a mortal subsistence; this is more particularly the case with those who have not learned the order of heaven, and that it is necessary to direct our ener– gies, during our time here, in a channel to secure salvation in the kingdom of God.

Mankind, in general, do not stop to reflect, they are pressing headlong to grasp the whole world if possible; each individual is for himself, and he is ignorant of the design the Almighty had in his creation and existence in this life. To obtain a knowledge of this design is a duty obligatory upon all the sons and daughters of Adam.

The Latter-day Saints realize that there is no period of man ‘ existence not incorporated with the plan of salvation, and directly pointing to a future existence. Consequently, when we stand here to speak to the people, let every man speak what is in his heart. If one of our Elders is capable of giving us a lecture upon any of the sciences, let it be delivered in the spirit of meekness—in the spirit of the holy Gospel. If, on the Sabbath day, when we are assembled here to worship the Lord, one of the Elders should be prompted to give us a lecture on any branch of education with which he is acquainted, is it outside the pale of our religion? I think not. If any of the Elders are disposal to give a lecture to parents and children on letters, on the rudiments of the English language, it is in my religion, it is a part of my faith. Or if an Elder shall give us a lecture upon astronomy, chemistry, or geology, our religion embraces it all. It matters not what the subject be, if it tends to improve the mind, exalt the feelings, and enlarge the capacity. The truth that is in all the arts and sciences forms a part of our religion. Faith is no more a part of it than any other true principle of philosophy. Were I to give you a lecture today upon farming, would I be speaking upon a matter that transcends the bounds of our religion? Agriculture is a part of it as well as any other truth. Were I to lecture on business principles of any kind, our religion embraces it; and what it does not circumscribe, it would be well for us to dispense with at once and forever.

This language may come in contact with the prejudices of many people, and I will add, of all people, unless they have been schooled in “Mormonism.” It comes in contact with the traditions, prejudices, and feelings of former years, when the alpha and omega of our religion consisted in singing, preaching, exhorting, and shouting “Glory, hallelujah, praise the Lord!” And when Monday morning came, we would go to our farms, to our merchandise, to our mechanism, and to what we called our dull business of life, which we considered did not belong to our religion. These are the traditions of the world, but it is not so with us; we have learned the Gospel better.

I am aware how easy it is for the mind of man to become entangled with the deceitfulness of riches, for I am somewhat experienced in the spirit of the world. How easy it is for the love of the world to take possession of the hearts of the human family! How easy it is for their minds to become darkened by the god of this world, and, become like the eyes of the fool, which are in the ends of the earth, seeking for gold and silver, and for the riches, grandeur, popularity, and titles of this world. If the religion we possess does not control and reign predominant over every other principle and feeling, we have not been schooled in it so as to learn our lessons correctly—we are not masters of this heavenly science. If the Latter-day Saints have not been schooled enough to realize that all things which pertain to this world—riches, honors, worldly grandeur, and worldly titles, are not wholly subservient to their religion, they are not fully skilled in their profession. Are you aware of this? Do the Latter-day Saints individually realize the circumstances in which they are placed, the position they occupy in human society, in the midst of the Church of Jesus Christ? How many are there here today who realize as they ought their standing with God and man, and who understand precisely their position in life, their relationship with angels, and the destinies of Providence? Here are many who have been in the Church for years—are they masters, or are they yet only scholars? Are they fathers, or yet only babes? Have they need to be taught what are the rudiments of the doctrine of Christ, or are they capable of teaching them to the human family, pointing out the way of life and salvation? Many are capable. If we have learned our lessons well, while we teach the way of life and salvation to others, we shall exemplify it in our own lives. How many of my hearers possess the mastery over themselves, can keep the angry spirit of wrath under the empire of reason, and cannot be prejudiced against their brethren? Select the men or women who are capable of judging a righteous judgment, who can weigh exactly the life and conduct of their neighbors in the balance of justice, mercy, and truth? Are there any? I hope there are many.

How many of the Latter-day Saints, who have been in the Church from fifteen to twenty years, have learned the Gospel sufficiently to be masters of their passions? How many have learned the nature of things, as well as of men, the use of gold and silver, and the elements that are around us, so as to enjoy the life of the world, and understand the nature of it well enough to devote all the treasures of the east, did they possess them, to the building up of the kingdom of God, and to have no will but the will of the Lord? Who is proof against the influence of a good name, and worldly renown? How many have learned the lesson so perfectly as to defy the depths of poverty, distress, and misery to move them, or in the least shatter their integrity? The congregation can answer these questions at their leisure, each one for himself. I can assure you we have to learn such lessons, if we have not learned them already.

The mysterious and invisible hand (so called) of Providence is manifested in all the works of God. Who of this congregation can realize for one moment, that the Lord would notice so trifling an affair as the hairs you have combed from your heads this morning? Yet it is so, not one hair has fallen to the ground without the notice of our Father in heaven. To convince the ancient Apostles of His care over them, Jesus selected the most trifling things, in their estimation, to illustrate to their minds that the least thing escaped not His notice. Said he—“Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without the knowledge of your Father. But the very hairs of your head are numbered.”

Can we realize how this Providence governs and controls the nations of the earth, and marks out the destinies of individual man? If we have not learned these lessons they are before us, and we have them yet to learn. If we have not yet learned that poverty, sickness, pain, want, disappointment, losses, crosses, or even death, should not move us one hair’s breadth from the service of God, or separate us from the principles of eternal life, it is a lesson we have to learn. If we have not learned how to handle the things of this world in the light of salvation, we have it yet to learn. Though we have mountains of gold and silver, and stores of precious things heaped up, and could control the elements, and command the cattle on a thousand hills, if we have not learned that every iota of it should be devoted to the building up of the kingdom of God on earth, it is a lesson yet to learn.

Our religion embraces every truth pertaining to mortal life—there is nothing outside the pale of it. It is no matter what persons do, if they keep within the bounds of truth and righteousness, of the Gospel of the Son of God. Can they step beyond these bounds? They can. I will tell you how easily. When Saints start to cross the plains to this place, no matter where they start from, they are full of faith and religion, they are full of prayer and humility, and O how they desire to get to Zion! They cross the Atlantic, travel on the waters of the Mississippi and Missouri, and commence their journey over the plains, but before they have traveled over half the distance, they enter into temptation, some of them so far as to say, “When I get to the Valley I shall go on to California.” Some will step out of the way far enough to curse and swear at their cattle, and others will cruelly treat them, in a rage of madness. Those who do these things know they are beyond the bounds of what they have been taught is right, even by the traditions of the fathers. We have been taught from our childhood, that passion, anger, strife, and malice are wrong. Our former traditions, in a great many instances, have been as true, and as much in accordance with the Gospel, as they could be given. We have been traditionated not to swear, and the spirit within us forbids it. If we maltreat our animals, or each other, the spirit within us, our traditions, and the Bible, all agree in declaring it is wrong. When the Saints arrive in Salt Lake Valley, how easy it is for them to wander from the right way! I could point out scores of cases, had I time. On the other hand, I can point out men who have been with us for years in the depths of poverty, and some from the beginning, and they never saw the time they could feed their families with sufficient food, nor clothe them, and yet they are full of faith and humility. Should this people partake of the blessings of the Lord as freely as He is willing to bestow them, it would destroy them. They do not realize they are to be tried in all things. They would say, “I acknowledge I am blessed, but I have blessed myself;” and forget it is the Lord who has blessed them, and given them their gold and silver, their houses and lands, their horses and carriages, and all things they possess.

If the Latter-day Saints have not learned to handle the good things of this world, acknowledging the hand of God in putting them into their possession, they have this lesson yet to learn. When those who can bear poverty are blessed with prosperity, they are apt to rise up in their own strength and wisdom, and forget the God who has blessed them, and make shipwreck of faith. Again, there are those who have been prospered in their life, when they are brought to poverty and want, turn away from the truth, like the young man in Nauvoo, who sat down to breakfast from a Johnny cake alone; says he, “I do not ask a blessing upon this; if God does not give me better food than this, I shall never ask him to bless it.” I said, “You will make shipwreck of faith.” The spirit he manifested was an apostate spirit; he had forgotten there was a providence in the very circumstance he spurned, and he went to destruction. Mysterious as it may appear to the children of men, God is in and round about all things.

To do right, can be reduced to perfect simplicity in a few words, viz., from this time henceforth, let no person work, or transact any kind of business whatever, that he cannot do in the name of the Lord, and let him sink wholly into His will, whether it oppose his prejudices, or not, or is decidedly objectionable to his feelings. The Lord will ultimately lead such persons into the fulness of His joy by a way that may sometimes appear dark to them. But there are thousands who will say, “Lord, we believe in your name, in your name we have been baptized, and we have prophesied, and have cast out devils in your name; do you not remember we laid hands on a person in yonder city, or in that house, and cast a devil out of him?” Such persons, that have healed the sick, or cast out a devil, sooner or later, take strength to themselves, if they are not careful, and believe they have power of themselves to do what they please. Boast not of these matters. You hear many say, “I am a Latter-day Saint, and I never will apostatize;” “I am a Latter-day Saint, and shall be to the day of my death.” I never make such declarations, and never shall. I think I have learned that of myself I have no power, but my system is organized to increase in wisdom, knowledge, and power, getting a little here and a little there. But when I am left to myself, I have no power, and my wisdom is foolishness; then I cling close to the Lord, and I have power in His name. I think I have learned the Gospel so as to know, that in and of myself I am nothing. In the organization of my system, however, is a foundation laid, if I rightly improve upon it, that will secure to me the independence of the Gods in eternity. This is obtained by strictly adhering to the principles of the Gospel in this life, which will lead us on from faith to faith, and from grace to grace. This is the way, I think, I have learned the Lord.

Shall we ever see the time we shall be perfectly independent of every other being in all the eternities? No; we shall never see that time. Many have fallen on as simple ground as this, and were I to use a Western term, I would, say, “they were troubled with a big head.” Such persons think they have power to do this, that, and the other, but they are left to themselves, and the Lord loves to show them they have no power.

We hear some saying—“I will get out of this community as soon as I can.” Why? “Because I bought a wagon of one of my brethren, and he wants me to pay for it.” Or, “I rode a brother’s horse to death, and he thinks I should make it good.” “It is a damnable community, and I will not stay in it.” I do not hear these things myself, but I can hear of them. I know it is so. What ails such people? They have taken strength to themselves, and forgotten the Lord their God. They do not call upon His name, and trust in Him to direct them in all their ways. They forget they are doing as they used to do, viz., serve the Lord on the seventh day, and take six to themselves. They will traffic, trade, labor and heap up riches six days, and go to meeting on Sunday to serve the Lord one day. About such a religion I am ignorant, only I know it is good for nothing. My religion must be with me from one Monday morning to the next, the year round, or it will not answer me. You can see how easy it is for Latter-day Saints to step out of the path of duty.

Those who step out of the way do not know themselves, they are unacquainted with the nature of the human family, and with the principles of the kingdom we are engaged in building up. When the Latter-day Saints make up their minds to endure, for the kingdom of God’s sake, whatsoever shall come, whether poverty or riches, whether sickness or to be driven by mobs, they will say it is all right, and will honor the hand of the Lord in it, and in all things, and serve Him to the end of their lives, according to the best of their ability, God being their helper. If you have not made up your minds for this, the quicker you do so the better.

Persons who cannot control themselves, and hold in subjection their feelings, and lustful desires, and appetites, know no better than to run distracted after the perishable things of this world. They say they “are going to California;” and I thank the Lord they are. Why? Because I would rather be in this community with one hundred families of poor, honest-hearted Saints, than one hundred millions who mix up with devils, and go to California. And how long will they be there before they are begging of some Gentile merchant to bring them back again? But I say, “let them lie there in hell, until they are well burnt out, like an old pipe.” I would not move my finger to help them back now, for they would only corrupt the community. After awhile, when they are purified, then we will bring them to Zion, if they wish to come and serve the Lord; but if they wish to serve themselves, let them serve themselves, and if the devil, let them serve him.

My prayer for you, this morning, is, that you may be servants of the Most High God; but if any of you find men or women who will not serve the Lord, do not lay a straw in their way to hinder them from serving the devil, but give them a dollar, or help them to a wagon, to speed their way out of this community. It would be better to do so than to keep them here, when they have no disposition to love and serve the Lord. We are better without them.

Judge not, that ye be not judged. Let no man judge his fellow being, unless he knows he has the mind of Christ within him. We ought to reflect seriously upon this point; how often it is said—“Such a person has done wrong, and he cannot be a Saint, or he would not do so.” How do you know? We hear some swear and lie; they trample upon the rights of their neighbor, break the Sabbath by staying away from meeting, riding about the city, hunting horses and cattle, or working in the canyons. Do not judge such persons, for you do not know the design of the Lord concerning them; therefore, do not say they are not Saints. What shall we do with them? Bear with them. The brethren and sisters from the old countries frequently place great confidence in the American Elders who have been their pastors, but some trifling thing occurs that does not appear right to them, and they say in a moment, “That Elder is not a Latter-day Saint.” Judge no man. A person who would say another is not a Latter-day Saint, for some trifling affair in human life, proves that he does not possess the Spirit of God. Think of this, brethren and sisters; write it down, that you may refresh your memories with it; carry it with you, and look at it often. If I judge my brethren and sisters, unless I judge them by the revelations of Jesus Christ, I have not the spirit of Christ; if I had, I should judge no man. This is true doctrine. Now let the newcomers especially remember not to judge their brethren and sisters. A great many sit in judgment upon me, and upon this people, and I have a right to judge as well as they. Were I to pass my judgment upon those who judge me and this people, I would do it in the language of Joseph, in the Dialogue we have in print. In it a question is put to Joseph as follows—“Joseph, are you Jesus Christ?”—“No; but I am his brother.”

Will all the people be damned who are not Latter-day Saints? Yes, and a great many of them, except they repent speedily. I will say further, that many of the Latter-day Saints, except they learn their lessons better, will be judged in the same way. That is my candid opinion. There are families with us here with whom I have been acquainted from the beginning, who have ideas of the things of this world that appear strange to me. They have a strange conception of the good things of the earth. Upon this item especially, I wish the Saints of God to concentrate their minds, and learn this important lesson right, that they enter not into temptation. We will suppose, for instance, a small Branch of the Church raised up in a district where they are generally well off as to earthly substance. They sell their property, and gather with the Saints. Say there are ten families in the Branch, and allow them to be worth ten thousand dollars each. Nine of the ten lose their property by lawyers, by their brothers, by their fathers, or by some person who robs them on the way, and they have only enough left to get here. One of the ten is fortunate enough to save his property, and has it in gold. He, however, lends one man a hundred dollars, buys a team for another, and pays the passage of this or that poor family until he expends all his money, and he also arrives here naked. Now, take these ten families and put them together; from the lips of the nine, whose property has gone into the hands of the wicked, you will not hear one murmur or complaint, where you will hear a hundred from him who has disposed of his money to help the poor Saints to gather to Zion. I am now telling you what I know to be true, for I have watched this item of human life from the beginning.

Allow me here to say to the Saints, that I have accumulated a great amount of wealth in my time; and I call upon all who are acquainted with me, to bear witness, if they can, that I have ever distressed a man for what he owes me, or crowded any person in the least. Have I ever turned the widow and the orphan empty away, or the poor man hungry from my door or purse, if I had a dime in it? Have I ever taken a brother by the throat and said—“Pay me that thou owest me?” No. But I have stacks of notes against them, amounting to over thirty thousand dollars. I boast not of this, but present the picture as an example for you to follow.

When poor, miserable curses, who would cut our throats, get means from a member of this Church, it hurts my feelings. How much better would it be to hand it over to the proper person, saying—“Take this, feed the poor Saints, and do good with it?” Who can realize that the Lord can put a great amount of property in his hands in a short time, or take it from him again? I can realize this to a considerable degree. I may have thousands of wealth locked up today, and hold checks for immense sums on the best banking institutions in the world, but have I any surety that I shall be worth a cent tomorrow morning? Not the least. The Lord Almighty can send fire and destruction when He pleases, destroying towns and swallowing up cities in the bellowing earthquake. He can set up kingdoms, and make communities wealthy, and bring them to poverty, at His pleasure. When He pleases, He can give them wealth, comfort, and ease, and, on the other hand, torment them with poverty, distress, and sore afflictions. Who can realize this? All the world ought, and especially the Saints.

I wish to impress another thing upon your minds. An Elder, who is willing to preach the Gospel, borrows a hundred or a thousand dollars from you, and you never breathe the first complaint against him, until you came home to this valley, but after you have been here for a few days, you follow me round and fill my ears with complaints against this brother, and ask me what he has done with your money? I say, “I do not know.” Thus you are distressed and in misery, all the day long, to get it back again. If an Elder has borrowed from you, and you find he is going to apostatize, then you may tighten the screws upon him; but if he is willing to preach the Gospel, without purse or scrip, it is none of your business what he does with the money he has borrowed from you. The doctrine of brother Joseph is, that not one dollar you possess is your own; and if the Lord wants it to use, let it go, and it is none of your business what He does with it. Should it be laid out to pamper the lazy? No; but you can see those who have been out on missions, working in the canyons, and traversing the country right and left, trying to get a living by the work of their hands.

But you say, “What has he done with my money?” He has, perhaps, helped that poor family to gather with it, or they would not have been here. If you murmur against that Elder, it will prove your damnation. The money was not yours, but the Lord Almighty put it into your hands to see what you would do with it. The gold, the silver, the wheat, the fine flour, the buffalo, the deer, and the cattle on a thousand hills, are all His, and He turns them whithersoever He will; and He turns the nations whithersoever He will, casting down one nation and setting up another, according to His own pleasure. All there is of any worth or value in the world is incorporated in our glorious religion, and designed to exalt the minds of the children of men to a permanent, celestial, and eternal station.

No man need judge me. You know nothing about it, whether I am sent or not; furthermore, it is none of your business, only to listen with open ears to what is taught you, and serve God with an undivided heart.

Perhaps I have detained you long enough. In my remarks I have not transcended the bounds of my religion. If I had told you about the Latter-day Saints’ new spelling book, my religion embraces it, and all the good we see from one year’s end to another.

Will you try to be Saints in very deed? I do not pray the Lord that you may, but my prayer is offered to you, and I pray you, in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God, and serve Him with an undivided heart, to the end of your lives. And I pray my Heavenly Father to enable you so to do. And may God bless you. Amen.

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Oct. 23, 1853

I wish to bear my testimony, before this congregation, to the religion which is called “Mormonism,” and preached by the Elders of the same profession in all the world; and that, we believe, is the Gospel of salvation, and calculated to save all the honest in heart who wish to be saved.

This is my testimony concerning it—It is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe and obey it. The words “obey it,” I have added to the text as it is given to us by King James’ translators. To say it is the power of God unto salvation to them that believe, and that be the end of it, then the people could not be saved by it. It is quite possible some may argue the point as it is held out in the New Testament reading, and in their own estimation justly. But to me one argument is sufficient to lay the matter at rest in my mind—a person who disobeys the Gospel, and operates against it, may not only believe it, but know it to be true. Therefore I read the Scripture thus—“This Gospel that we preach is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe and obey it.”

My testimony is based upon experience, upon my own experience, in connection with that obtained by observing others. To me it has become positively true—no doubt remains upon my mind, whatever, as to the power of the revealed will of Heaven to man upon the minds of the people, when the principles of salvation are set before them by the authorized ministers of heaven. The heavenly truth commends itself to every person’s judgment, and to their faith; and more especially to the senses of those who wish to be honest with themselves, with their God, and with their neighbor. Yet I must admit that all men are not operated upon alike; the evidence of truth comes more forcibly to the understandings of some than others. This is owing to numerous influences. The Gospel may be preached to an individual, and the truth commend itself to the conscience of that person, creating but a little faith in its truth, to which there may be an addition made. If persons can receive a little, it proves they may receive more. If they can receive the first and second principles with an upright feeling, they may receive still more, and the words of the Prophet be fulfilled. He, seeing and understanding the mind of man, and the operations of the different spirits that have gone abroad into the world, and knowing the ways of the Lord, and the vision of his mind being opened to those things we call mysteries, said—“Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.” That is, He gives a little to His humble followers today, and if they improve upon it, tomorrow He will give them a little more, and the next day a little more. He does not add to that which they do not improve upon, but they are required to continually improve upon the knowledge they already possess, and thus obtain a store of wisdom. It is plain, then, that we may receive the truth, and know, through every portion of the soul, that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, that it is the way to life eternal; still there may be added to this, more power, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. The Apostle does not say, grow in grace, and in the knowledge of the truth, as Jesus did; no, but it reads, “Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” which implies a growing in strength, wisdom, and understanding, as he did.

It is the privilege of all Saints to grow and increase in understanding, and to spread abroad. If they receive a little, it is their privilege to improve upon that little, and so receive more, until they become perfect in the Lord—knowing and understanding perfectly His ways. Then the manifestations of His providence among the children of men cease to be a mystery to them. Kingdoms and thrones, princes and potentates, with all their earthly splendor, may be hurled to the dust, and revolution upon revolution may spread scenes of affliction and blood among the inhabitants of the earth, yet their eyes are open to see the handiwork of the Lord in all this. They realize that He is capable of endowing His ministers and servants on the earth with the same power as He possesses in Himself, that He scrutinizes every particle of His work, and that not a hair of their heads can fall to the ground without His notice.

I bear my testimony that the Gospel you have embraced is the way of life and salvation to every one that believes it, and then obeys it with an honest intent. The inquiry may arise in the minds of some, as to how far they shall obey it. Every son and daughter of God is expected to obey with a willing heart every word which the Lord has spoken, and which He will in the future speak to us. It is expected that we hearken to the revelations of His will, and adhere to them, cleave to them with all our might; for this is salvation, and anything short of this clips the salvation and the glory of the Saints. Consequently, we are here today, engaged in the administration of the ordinance of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. How does it appear to you, and what are your sensations, when the servants of the Lord present to you the emblems of His body? Do you believe you receive life? Do you realize that you receive any benefit? Do you feel that you will receive fresh strength, or additional knowledge, through this holy ordinance? Or, do you do it because others do it? Do you partake of these tokens of the love of the Redeemer because it is a mere custom? Suffice it to say, varied are the feelings among the human family upon this subject.

If you ask a certain class of the priests of Christendom what they think of the bread and wine administered for the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, they will declare that the bread is the actual flesh, and the wine the real blood, of him who was slain for the sins of the world.

If you ask another class of men what benefit they derive from partaking of the Sacrament, from eating and drinking the emblems of the body and blood of Christ, they reply, “It is merely a token of our fellowship with each other.” Is there any life, any power, any real and substantial benefit to be obtained by adhering to, and obeying faithfully, this ordinance? What do the Latter-day Saints think about it? Do they understand the true nature of this ordinance? Perhaps they do, and again perhaps they do not.

It is an easy matter for me to understand the information the Lord has imparted to me, and then communicate the same to you. Will the bread administered in this ordinance add life to you? Will the wine add life to you? Yes; if you are hungry and faint, it will sustain the natural strength of the body. But suppose you have just eaten and drunk till you are full, so as not to require another particle of food to sustain the natural body; you have eaten all your nature requires; do you then receive any benefit from the bread and wine as mere articles of food? As far as the emblems are concerned, you receive strength naturally, when the body requires it, precisely as you would by eating bread, and drinking wine, at any other time, or on any other occasion.

In what consists the benefit we derive from this ordinance? It is in obeying the commands of the Lord. When we obey the commandments of our heavenly Father, if we have a correct understanding of the ordinances of the house of God, we receive all the promises attached to the obedience rendered to His commandments. Jesus said—Verily, verily I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of God, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Again, “He that eateth me,” “shall live by me.” Again, “Whose eateth my flesh, and drinketh, my blood, hath eternal life.” “For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.”

Can you understand these sayings of the Savior? These sayings are but isolated portions of the vast amount of instructions given by him to his followers in his day. Had a thousandth part of his teachings to them been handed down to us, and all his doings been faithfully recorded and transmitted to us, we should not have known what to do with such a vast amount of information. The Apostle says, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.”

Allow me to explain this text. The Apostle could not possibly mean what the language of the quotation implies—that the whole earth would have been covered with books to a certain depth; no, but he meant, by that saying, there would have been more written than the world of mankind would receive, or credit. The people then were as they are in this day—they are continually reaching after something that is not revealed, when there is more written already than they can comprehend. Instead of saying the world could not contain the books, we will say there would have been more written than the people would carry out in their lives.

I will now tell you what the Savior meant by those wonderful expressions touching his body and blood. It is simply this—“If you do not keep the commandments of God, you will have no life of the Son of God in you.” Jesus, as they were eating, took the bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” What were they required to drink it for? What are we partaking of these emblems for? In token of our fellowship with him, and in token that we desire to be one with each other, that we may all be one with the Father. His administering these symbols to his ancient disciples, and which he commanded should be done until he came, was for the express purpose that they should witness unto the Father that they did believe in him. But on the other hand, if they did not obey this commandment, they should not be blessed with his spirit.

It is the same in this, as it is in the ordinance of baptism for the remission of sins. Has water, in itself, any virtue to wash away sin? Certainly not; but the Lord says, “If the sinner will repent of his sins, and go down into the waters of baptism, and there be buried in the likeness of being put into the earth and buried, and again be delivered from the water, in the likeness of being born—if in the sincerity of his heart he will do this, his sins shall be washed away.” Will the water of itself wash them away? No; but keeping the commandments of God will cleanse away the stain of sin.

When we eat of this bread, and drink of this water, do we eat the literal flesh of the Son of God? Were I a priest of the Roman Catholic church, and had been trained from my youth in that faith, I might believe fully, with my whole heart, that my prayers would transform the bread of the eucharist into the literal flesh, and the wine into the literal blood, of the Son of God. But notwithstanding my faith on that matter, the bread and wine would be just the same in their component parts, and would administer to the mortal systems of men, or of beasts, the same amount and kind of nutriment that the same quantity of unblessed bread and wine would. If bread and wine are blessed, dedicated, and sanctified, through the sincerity and faith of the people of God, then the Spirit of the Lord, through the promise, rests upon the individuals who thus keep His commandments, and are diligent in obeying the ordinances of the house of God. So I understand all the ordinances of the house of the Lord. You know we used to get down upon our knees and pray for the remission of sins; and we would pray until we got peace of mind, and then we thought our sins were forgiven. I have no fault to find with this, it is all right. Many in this way have been made to rejoice in the hope of eternal life, to rejoice in the gift of the Spirit of the Lord, and in the light of His countenance. Many received heavenly visions, revelations, the ministering of holy angels, and the manifestations of the power of God, until they were satisfied; and all this before the ordinances of the house of God were preached to the people. They obtained those blessings through their faith, and the sincerity of their hearts. It was this that called down heavenly blessings upon them. It was their fervency of spirit, and not their obedience to the celestial law, through which they received such blessings; and it was all right. What is required of us when the law comes? We must obey it, as old Paul did. He was a servant of God in all good conscience, when he took care of the clothes of those who stoned Stephen to death; but when the law came, sin revived in him, and he said, “I died.” That is, his former notions of serving God, his former incorrect traditions, all appeared to him in their true light, and that upon which he had trusted for salvation as baseless as a dream, when the law of the Lord came by Jesus Christ; and in it he found the promises and the gifts and the blessings of the holy Gospel, through obedience to the ordinances. That is the only legal way to obtain salvation, and an exaltation in the presence of God.

In this light do I view all the ordinances of the house of God. I do not know of one commandment that may be preferred before another; or of one ordinance of the house of God, from the beginning to the end of all the Lord has revealed to the children of men, that is not of equal validity, power, and authority with the rest. So we partake of bread and wine, obeying the commandments of the Lord; and by so doing we receive the blessing.

But how do the people feel? Perhaps you will refer the answer of this question to myself. Were I to answer it, I should say, they feel every way. Permit me to refer particularly to the brethren and sisters who have lately come to this place—they have all the variety of feelings that is common to the human heart. They know how they feel; they are my witnesses. The most frivolous and trifling circumstance that can transpire, will produce in them the most keen and cutting trial. What can we say about it? For one I will say, let them come, the small trials and the large ones; let them be many or few, it is the same; let them come as the Lord pleases. Brother Heber C. Kimball was speaking this morning about this people being driven from pillar to post, and he told the cause of their many trials. I will ask a question concerning this matter. If you had not been driven from York State, and the persecution become so hot as to send you up to Kirtland, Ohio, would you have known as much as you now know? Persecution did not commence in Kirtland, nor in Jackson County, but it commenced at the time Joseph the Prophet sought the plates in the hill Cumorah. It did not commence after I came into the Church, but I found it at work when I entered the Church.

Suppose Joseph had not been obliged to flee from Pennsylvania back to York State, would he have known as much as he afterwards knew? Suppose he could have stayed in old Ontario County in peace, without being persecuted, could he have learned as much as he did by being persecuted? He fled from there to Kirtland, accompanied by many others, to save their lives. There are men now in this Church whom I see before me and in full fellowship, who haunted my house for days, weeks, and months to kill me, and I knew it all the time; and Joseph had to flee to Missouri.

Would he have known as much if this persecution had not come upon him, as he afterwards did by its coming upon him? When the people left Kirtland they went to Jackson County, Missouri, and Joseph commenced to lay out a city to be called Zion; and not now, but after a time, when the Lord has accomplished His preparatory work, it will be built, even the New Jerusalem. The brethren were persecuted also in Jackson County, and driven out; they had trial upon trial, persecution on the right hand and on the left. Suppose, when they went to Jackson County, all the people of Missouri had hailed them as brethren, fellow citizens, and as neighbors, and had treated them accordingly, and they had been protected in their religious liberty, would the people that were driven from Jackson County have known as much as they now know? Could they have gained the knowledge and wisdom they have obtained by means of their persecutions? You can answer these questions to suit your own minds. When they had to flee from Ohio to Missouri, it certainly gave the people an experience they could not have obtained in any other way. When they were driven from Jackson County, and went to Clay, Ray, Caldwell, and Davies counties, persecution still followed them, and every man and woman who acknowledged Joseph Smith to be a Prophet, had to leave the State forthwith.

I feel inclined now to give some of you a gentle touch on the left side. Brethren, how glad I am to see you; how pleased I am to see you; where have you been these few years back? Where have you been living? Where did you go after you left Missouri? “Why I stayed there.” I say, there was not a man who would say that Joseph Smith was a Prophet, could stay there; they had all to leave the State; and you will now show yourselves at this late day, and try to have us believe you are first-rate Latter-day Saints. My thoughts are, “YOU POOR DEVILS!”

I hope I do not hurt any of your feelings. If you will do right from this time henceforth, and help with your mights to build up the Kingdom of God, I will hold you in fellowship after you have thus proved yourselves. But you may regard it as an established fact, that I have no fellowship for you yet; and I have as much as the Lord has. Still, if I have anything to fear, it is that I fellowship people too much, when they are not worthy; that is, I reflect—“Can I be more merciful than the Lord?” But I have not got light enough nor wisdom enough to fellowship men who lived in peace with those who sought to kill us.

Ask yourselves whether you think this people would have received as much as they have received, if they never had been persecuted. Could they have advanced in the school of intelligence as far without being persecuted, as they have by being persecuted? Look for instance at Adam. Listen, ye Latter-day Saints! Supposing that Adam was formed actually out of clay, out of the same kind of material from which bricks are formed; that with this matter God made the pattern of a man, and breathed into it the breath of life, and left it there, in that state of supposed perfection, he would have been an adobie to this day. He would not have known anything.

Some of you may doubt the truth of what I now say, and argue that the Lord could teach him. This is a mistake. The Lord could not have taught him in any other way than in the way in which He did teach him. You believe Adam was made of the dust of this earth. This I do not believe, though it is supposed that it is so written in the Bible; but it is not, to my understanding. You can write that information to the States, if you please—that I have publicly declared that I do not believe that portion of the Bible as the Christian world do. I never did, and I never want to. What is the reason I do not? Because I have come to understanding, and banished from my mind all the baby stories my mother taught me when I was a child.

But suppose Adam was made and fashioned the same as we make adobies; if he had never drunk of the bitter cup, the Lord might have talked to him to this day, and he would have continued as he was to all eternity, never advancing one particle in the school of intelligence. This idea opens up a field of light to the intelligent mind. How can you know truth but by its opposite, or light but by its opposite? The absence of light is darkness. How can sweetness be known but by its opposite, bitter? It is by this means that we obtain all intelligence. This is “Mormonism,” and it is founded upon all truth, upon every principle of true philosophy; in fact, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only true philosophy in existence. There is not one particle of it that is not strictly philosophical, though you and I may not understand all the fulness of it, but we will if we continue faithful.

Let the brethren who have been persecuted and driven from city to city, inquire of themselves if they like it. Some of you may give a negative to this inquiry. You recollect brother Taylor telling about a woman in Far West who had her house burnt down some four or five times; she finally said, “she would be damned if she would stand it any longer.” If her eyes had been opened to see, she would have thanked the Lord for that, more than for anything else; that persecution was more precious to her than riches, because it was designed to teach her to understand the knowledge of God. Do I acknowledge the hand of the Lord in persecution? Yes, I do. It is one of the greatest blessings that could be conferred upon the people of God. I acknowledge the hand of the Lord in leveling His people to the dust of the earth, and reducing them to a state of abject poverty.

Time and time again have I left handsome property to be inherited by our enemies.

Suppose we were called to leave what we have now, should we call it a sacrifice? Shame on the man who would so call it; for it is the very means of adding to him knowledge, understanding, power, and glory, and prepares him to receive crowns, kingdoms, thrones, and principalities, and to be crowned in glory with the Gods of eternity. Short of this, we can never receive that which we are looking for.

For example, I will refer to your crossing the plains. How could you in any other way have known the hardships incident to such a journey? And do you not feel ashamed for getting angry at your cattle, or for letting passion arise in your bosoms? Suppose you were rolling in wealth, and perfectly at your ease, with an abundance around you; you might have remained in that condition until Doomsday, and never could have advanced in the school of intelligence, any more than Adam could have known about the works of God, in the great design of the creation, without first being made acquainted with the opposite? “Is there evil in the city and I have not done it, saith the Lord.” There is no evil that is not known to the Lord. He has been perfectly acquainted with all the persecutions the Saints have passed through. His hand was there, as much so as it is in building up and tearing down kingdoms and thrones on earth; and even the moth we trample upon is not overlooked by Him. Everything is under His watchful eye; he understands all the works of His hands, and knows how to use them to His own glory. He has given the children of men the privilege of becoming equal with His Son Jesus Christ, and has placed all things that pertain to this world in their hands, to see what use they will make of them.

Joseph could not have been perfected, though he had lived a thousand years, if he had received no persecution. If he had lived a thousand years, and led this people, and preached the Gospel without persecution, he would not have been perfected as well as he was at the age of thirty-nine years. You may calculate when this people are called to go through scenes of affliction and suffering, are driven from their homes, and cast down, and scattered, and smitten, and peeled, the Almighty is rolling on His work with greater rapidity. But let you and me live and die in peace, and in our lives we send the Gospel to the nations, from kingdom to kingdom, and from people to people, will it advance with the same speed if it receive no persecution? If we had received no persecution in Nauvoo, would the Gospel have spread as it now has? Would the Elders have been scattered so widely as they now are, preaching the Gospel? No, they would have been wedded to their farms, and the precious seed of the word would have been choked. “Brother Joseph, or brother Brigham, do not call upon me to go on a mission, for I have so much to do I cannot go,” would have been the general cry. “I want to build a row of stores across this or that block, and place myself in a situation to make $100,000 a year, and then I can devote so much for the building up of the kingdom of God.” The Elders would have been so devoted to riches, they would not have gone to preach when the Lord wanted them. But when they have not a frock to put upon the backs of their children, or a shoe for their feet, then they can go out and preach the Gospel to the world.

Well, do you think that persecution has done us good? Yes. I sit and laugh, and rejoice exceedingly when I see persecution. I care no more about it than I do about the whistling of the north wind, the croaking of the crane that flies over my head, or the crackling of the thorns under the pot. The Lord has all things in His hand; therefore, let it come, for it will give me experience. Do you suppose I should have known what I now know, had I not been persecuted? I can now see the hearts of the children of men with the same clearness as I can your persons in the light of day. I know we have been sunk in the depths of poverty and wretchedness, by the hands of our enemies, but in this we have seen the works of the Lord, and the works of darkness intermingled; this has taught us to discriminate between the two, that we may learn to choose the good, and refuse the evil; or in other words, to separate the chaff from the wheat.

I am a witness that “Mormonism” is true upon philosophical principles. Every particle of sense I have proves it to be sound, natural reason. The gospel is true, there is a God, there are angels, there are a heaven and a hell, and we are all in eternity, and out of it we can never get; it is boundless, without beginning or end, and we have never been out of it. Time is a certain portion of eternity allotted to the existence of these mortal bodies, which are to be dissolved, to be decomposed, or disorganized, preparatory to entering into a more exalted state of being. It is a portion of eternity allotted to this world, and can only be known by the changes we see in the composition and decomposition of the elements of which it is composed. The Lord has put His children here, and given them bodies that are also subject to decay, to see if they will prove themselves worthy of the particles of which their tabernacles are composed, and of a glorious resurrection when their mortal bodies will become immortalized. Now if you possess the light of the Holy Spirit, you can see clearly that trials in the flesh are actually necessary.

I will refer again to the brethren and sisters who have lately come over the plains. My counsel to them today is, as it has been on former occasions to all who have come into these valleys, Go and be baptized for the remission of sins, repenting of all your wanderings from the path of righteousness, believing firmly, in the name of Jesus Christ, that all your sins will be washed away. If any of you inquire what is the necessity of your being baptized, as you have not com– mitted any sins, I answer, it is necessary to fulfil all righteousness.

I have heard of some of you cursing and swearing, even some of the Elders of Israel. I would be baptized seven times, were I in your place; I would not stop teasing some good Elder to baptize me again and again, until I could think my sins forgiven. I would not live over another night until I was baptized enough to satisfy me that my sins were forgiven. Then go and be confirmed, as you were when you first embraced the religion of Jesus. That is my counsel.

Furthermore I counsel you to stop and think what you are doing, before you commit any more sins, before you give way to your temper. The temper, or the evil propensities of men, when given way to are the cause of sinning so much. The Lord is suffering the devil to work upon and try His people. The selfish will, operated upon by the power of Satan, is the strongest cord that vibrates through the human system. This has been verified a thousand times. Men have sacrificed their money, their health, their good names, their friends, and have broken through every tender tie to gratify their wills. Curb that, bridle the tongue, and then hold the mastery over your feelings, that they submit not to the will of the flesh, but to the will of the Holy Ghost; and decide in your own minds that your will and judgment shall be none other than the will and judgment of the Spirit of God, and you will then go and sin no more.

Many of the brethren who have led companies through this season are scattered through the congregation. I will tell a story you will scarcely believe. In the first place, I will remark, it has been very common for the companies crossing the plains to send into the city for provisions to be sent out to them. Again, many of you newcomers have suffered for want of food on the plains. Would you have suffered as you did if you had been in possession of the experience you now have? “No,” you reply. “No,” says this father, and that mother, and this man that brought through a company, “had we the experience we now have, when we left the Missouri River, we could have come through, and none have suffered for food, and less of our stock would have been destroyed.” This experience is good for you. It helps you to learn the lessons of human life, for the Lord designs His people to understand the whole of it—to understand the light and the darkness, the height and the depth, the length and the breadth of every principle that is within the compass of the human mind.

Now for the hard saying. Brother David Wilkin’s company, Joseph Young’s company, John Brown’s company, and other companies, had more provisions for their journey, when they left Missouri River, by a great amount, than the first emigrants had who started to come to this valley, not knowing whither they went, carrying with them their farming implements into a country where they could obtain nothing to sustain themselves in life until they raised it from the ground. When you started for this place, you had more provisions, according to your numbers, than the first Pioneer companies had who came here six years ago. Can you believe this statement? I can prove it to you. Here are hundreds who can testify to the truth of this statement. And you complain of suffering! If you suffer, it is for want of experience. This is positive proof to you, that were it not that the Lord turns us into these difficulties, and leads us into these trials, we could not know how to be glorified and crowned in His presence. If these companies were again to cross the plains, they would have plenty, and some to spare to feed the poor, and take up the lame, and the halt, and the blind, by the way, and bring them to Zion, and then have a surplus. Are you to blame? No. If you are to blame for anything, it is for complaining against the providence of God, instead of feeling thankful for the knowledge and intelligence the Lord has given you in this experience. When you are in the like situation again, you can save yourselves, and those associated with you. Your experience is worth more to you than gold.

Brother Kimball referred to Zion’s camp going to Missouri. When I returned from that mission to Kirtland, a brother said to me, “Brother Brigham, what have you gained by this journey?” I replied, “Just what we went for; but I would not exchange the knowledge I have received this season for the whole of Geauga County; for property and mines of wealth are not to be compared to the worth of knowledge.” Ask those brethren and sisters who have passed through scenes of affliction and suffering for years in this Church, what they would take in exchange for their experience, and be placed back where they were, were it possible. I presume they would tell you, that all the wealth, honors, and riches of the world could not buy the knowledge they had obtained, could they barter it away.

Let the brethren be contented, and if you have trials, and must see hard times, learn to acknowledge the hand of the Lord in it all. He directs the affairs of this world, and will until He reigns King of Saints. The veil which is over this people is becoming thinner; let them be faithful until they can rend it asunder, and see the hand of the Lord, and His goings forth among the people, with a vision unobstructed by the veil of ignorance, and bless the name of the Lord.

Brethren and sisters, inasmuch as I have the right and privilege, through the Priesthood, I bless you in the name of the Lord, and say, Be you blessed. These are my feelings to the Latter-day Saints, and would be to all the human family, if they would receive my blessings, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

An Address by Elder George A. Smith, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, at the General Conference, Oct. 7, 1853.

It is with pleasure that I have listened to the remarks of President Kimball. The sentiments he has advanced are true and just, and I am certain no person can have listened to them without having felt edified and instructed.

There is no doubt that a great proportion of the people who have been here in these valleys for years past, can bear witness to the counsel and instructions that have been given, for the preservation of the settlements, and the establishment of the stakes of Zion within the limits of these mountains. Perhaps those persons, when they see me arise to occupy the stand, will at once say within themselves, “We are going to hear something in relation to enlarging the new settlements, making entirely new ones, establishing iron works, or some other thing of that nature, to draw our feelings out of the channel they have run in,” for it is so really certain, that I have scarcely attended a single Conference since I have been in the Valley, without having something of this kind to present during the term of Conference. I think, however, for the last year, it has not been my lot to address an assembly in this place, perhaps more than once or twice, and as I had been noted for short sermons and short prayers, my addresses have also been few. But although my voice has not been heard from this stand, I have not been silent, neither have I been idle.

I was appointed to preside over the affairs of the Church in the county of Utah. I have also made two trips annually through the southern portions of the territory, visiting all the Branches, taking considerable time and a great deal of interest in the affairs of Iron County, besides making as many missions to this place as were necessary, to obtain counsel, and acquire information to carry on the work entrusted to my charge.

Any man that knows the country, and is acquainted with the business that has been placed before me, will be aware, that, lazy as I might be, I have had plenty to occupy my thoughts, and to give me active exertion, at least for the past year, in the exercise of my ministry and calling.

I present myself before you, then, to offer a few reflections upon what I feel to be important for this Conference to consider for the safety, welfare, and protection of the Saints in the valleys of these mountains. I have been made familiar with the condition of our settlements south, and am aware somewhat of the condition of our settlements in other parts of the territory.

In the commencement of my remarks, I will say, that the people almost universally do not realize the importance of listening to the voice of God through His servant Brigham. My heart has been pained by the things that are past, when I have been traveling and laboring in different parts of the territory; it has been pained to see the carelessness and indifference with which the words of the Almighty, through His servant, have been received.

Numbers were counseled to go to Iron County, and make there a strong settlement, sufficiently so to enable the people to protect themselves, and establish iron works. Many started in that direction, and succeeded in making the distance of from thirty to seventy miles, and concluded they had traveled far enough on good land without settling upon it.

Last spring, when President Young made his visit through the settlements, the county of Utah was very flourishing in appearance. Many splendid farms had been opened, and men were living upon them with the same security and carelessness as heretofore the people have done in the State of New York, where they need not fear the attacks of hostile Indians. The President had previously counseled them to settle in forts, and not scatter asunder so as to render themselves in a state of helplessness in the case of attack by the red men. Forts had accordingly been surveyed, and cities had been surveyed, where the people could gather together and fortify themselves; yet the great mass, I may say, or, at any rate, all the wealthy portions of them, had selected good farms, and were building good buildings, and making improvements upon them, and were dwelling safely, scattered all over the valley; a great many of them had lately come from England, and different parts of the world, and were in a flourishing condition; cattle were increasing around them, corn was growing in abundance, and fruit and all things seemingly were beginning to flourish exceedingly.

On viewing this state of things, I said to myself, “Is this to be the order of things? Are the people going to prosper in this way, while in open violation of the counsels that have been given, namely, to gather into forts?” I knew that that state of affairs would not continue a great length of time, and can call the men and women in every settlement to bear witness that I have publicly testified that that order of things could not remain; for when God has a Prophet on the earth, and that Prophet tells the people what to do, and they neglect to do it, they must suffer for it. I bear witness before you, this day, in the name of the Lord God of Israel, that no people can treat lightly the sayings of a Prophet of God, whom He places on the earth to direct His people, and prosper. I know it is impossible. I have borne this testimony to the settlements, in my preachings, when I have visited them. In reply, the folks would say, “There is no danger, brother Smith, if we do live in the country, upon our farms, for it is so unpleasant to live in town.”

When President Young was going south last season, in one of the large meetings he addressed at Palmyra, in Utah County, he bore testimony, in the name of the Lord God of Israel, that if the people did not gather into cities and forts, and fortify themselves, they should be driven out of these mountains. If God had come down upon one of these mountains as He did upon Mount Sinai, and kicked up a tremendous thunderstorm, I could not have been impressed with the truth of those remarks one particle more than I was on that occasion. I knew Brigham to be a Prophet of the Lord, and esteemed his words as the voice of God to the people.

I straightway commenced to encourage the people, and preached to them, and proposed laying out a fort for them, when they would perhaps turn round and say, “Really, brother Smith, do you think there is any danger?” I would say within myself, “Here are hundreds and thousands of brethren that have never been proved; they have never borne the heat and burden of the day, but they are picking up the fat valleys of Ephraim, and selecting good farms, and securing to themselves beautiful situations, and making splendid improvements, and living in peace, and eating of the fat of the land, and forgetting their God. Can this state of things remain?”

I went to every settlement, and attempted to encourage them to fort, but failed to accomplish anything towards getting them to obey the word of the Lord on this matter. Some of them said they would move into forts in the fall of the year.

Sometime in the summer, however, a man, known in these mountains by the name of Walker, found that the people cared nothing about God, or the instructions of brother Brigham, and brother George A., so he said, “I wonder if you will mind me;” and in less than one solitary week, he had more than three hundred families on the move, houses were thrown down in every direction, and I presume one hundred thousand dollars worth of property was wasted.

Had the people listened to the counsel of President Young, in the first place, and put their property in a proper place, it would have been protected. In the counties of Utah, Juab, and San Pete, the houses were vacated, and the Indians got into them, and shot the brethren, so they had to be entirely demolished, which rendered it necessary for great numbers to move into forts. This has been affected by brother Walker. That bloodthirsty Indian, in this matter, had more influence to make the Saints obey counsel than the Presidency of this Church had, and could actually kick up a bigger fuss in a few days than they could by simply telling the people the will of the Lord.

When God places a man on the earth to be His mouth, he says this or that is the law, and this is the thing for the people to obey. “Well, but,” says one, “I cannot make as good a living in town as I can away out on a farm, where I can keep a great many cattle.” It appears probable to me, you might make more by going to parts of California, or Australia, than you can make even out on a farm in this country. If your object is to make as much earthly gain as possible, why not go where you can get the most of it? This business of having one hand in the golden honeypots of heaven, and the other in the dark regions of hell, undertaking to serve both God and Mammon at once, will not answer.

Aside from the settlements in San Pete, I believe I have, more or less, been with nearly all the settlements south, and I have also visited the San Pete settlements two or three times, and I do know, that if the counsel and instructions of President Young could have been observed, it would have saved the people at least one hundred thousand dollars. And I do further know, to my satisfaction, that if the counsel of President Young had been observed, not one of the Saints would have lost his life by an Indian. I am certain of these facts; and yet occasionally some man falls a prey to some cruel savage, and whole villages have to be removed, and farms vacated, and tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage is done all the time, because men will not live according to the instructions given to them by the Prophet of God. If you ask men to build in a fort, they will say, “It is a free country, and we can build where we please.” I admit that a man is free to serve the devil if he thinks proper; but let me tell you, it is the cheapest in the end to do right.

There was no more necessity of having this Indian war than there is of our going out to kill the cattle on the plains of Jordan, and leave them for the wolves to devour. If we had taken the course that was marked out to us, and observed the advice given to us, all our past troubles would not have occurred. I know this language will hurt the feelings of a great many.

But I will talk about Iron County, as I am the “Iron Major;” I am advancing in the ranks. They used to say, in Utah, I was a pretty good sort of a fellow until I got to be a Colonel, and then I became more savage. Be this as it may, I do know, that if the people of Iron County had listened to the counsel given to them, they would have saved to themselves in that little settlement—not over eight hundred strong, not less than twenty-five thousand dollars, which they have actually lost, or I may more properly say, wasted, in consequence of the disposition to do as they pleased. When we first went to iron County, we went with the same instructions the people had in all the other settlements, and accordingly we laid out forts as well as we were capable of. We will admit that those efforts were not planned as well as they might have been, but they were planned as well as we knew how to plan them at the time. A considerable number of men went to work at building forts, and those who did so were subjected to very little loss. But almost every time I have visited any settlement in Iron County, from the time it first commenced, up to the present, and I have been through a great proportion of them, I have had from one to fifty applicants saying, “Brother Smith, may I not go further, this way or that way, to make me a farm? Or, to the other place, to make me a ranch?” And so it would be almost continually—asking for privileges to do things that they knew were contrary to counsel. My answer would be, “Yes, of course, just as soon as the settlements are strong enough to secure to you protection; but it will not do to venture out, and separate far from each other, for two or three years. Until the settlements get strong, we must stay together, lest some evil influence should stir up the Indians, and destroy our settlements entirely.”

With all the influence I could use in those parts of the country, some of the brethren broke through and established several posts for cattle ranches, and commenced to open farms, but it was afterwards found necessary to gather these distant posts in, and those who were living on large farms, and erecting fine buildings, which either had to be removed away or entirely abandoned. All this trouble and loss of property could have been prevented, only for that reckless disposition—“I want a little more liberty to go a little further off.”

As I had the honor to preside over Provo, I take the liberty to talk about my own place, and tell its history, and I want all the newcomers to profit by it. In the first place, there was a number of men wanted to go to Provo and make a settlement, and have a chance to fish in the waters, and trade with the Indians. They accordingly begged of the President to let them go in accordance with their wishes. He finally gave them the privilege of going there, if they would build a fort for their protection. They went, and made a beginning; they built something, but I never knew what it was. I have passed there, but not being very well acquainted with the science of fortification, nor with the science of topography, I never could find or frame a name for the thing which they built.

They then petitioned for the privilege of laying out a city with small lots, and living in the capacity of a town, as it is so much more convenient to live in a town than in a fort. The President gave them the privilege, because he was afraid, I presume, if he had not granted it to them, some of their own careless boys, or the Indians, would set their hay on fire and burn up the whole concern. They went to work and laid out a city. The President of that company is one of the most righteous men I ever was acquainted with; there is not a man living, I presume, would say any evil of him, and I am the last man to do it on any account; but he wanted to set an example, you know; for it is generally expected that Presidents and Bishops love to set an example to the flock of Christ; so he went off up the creek, and found a splendid piece of farming land. He took his cabin from the miserable huddle they meant for a fort, and put it on this piece of land, and said, “Now, you poor brethren (if he did not say it, I always thought he did), you stay in town, and I will remain here, and when I get rich I will remove into town, and build me a fine house, for these log cabins will not look well in town.” Every man that wanted to get rich went up the creek to what we technically call “the Bushes,” and pretty much all the property went into the bushes, and there it remained until Walker spoke, and it was not a week after before this good President, and all who followed his brave example, came bundling into town, after he had put up a thing up the creek among the bushes, that I call one of the mysteries of the kingdom.

Now if that man had taken the good and wholesome advice that was given him, he would now have been well off, it would have been over two thousand dollars in his pocket, and so it is with all the balance of the people who have acted as he has. They have had to sacrifice all this property by taking their own way.

The Indian war is the result of our thinking we know better than our President, the result of following our own counsel instead of the counsel of Brigham Young. It has been the cause of almost all the loss of life and property that has been sustained from the Indians; that is, in the southern departments. Understand me, I do not pretend to say anything about matters this side the Utah mountains, but I will tell you what I think: I think that all the forting I have seen in Great Salt Lake County—it is true I have not seen much of it, but the most of what I have seen amounts to nothing more than a humbug; and if ever an Indian war comes upon you, you will be no better off than the distant settlements, unless you make timely calculations for it beforehand, and make them right. Such a war will cost you nearly all you possess. I do not know that you will ever have one, but I should think, allowing me to judge, that you have one on your hands now. And if I had a family scattered out on any of these creeks, or living in any of these unfortified settlements, I should think it prudent for me to move them into the city, or into a fort, and do it the first thing I did. After the Indians have come and peeled your heads clean, murdered your wives, killed off your children, burnt your houses, and plundered your property, then you can move into forts, and it will be all right. That appears to me to be the kind of forting I can observe in the thinly settled parts of this county; in the cities the people are more wide awake.

I expect, brethren, I shall preach here again, if I live, and I shall probably preach about the Indian difficulties, about the Indian war, if they did say I was the biggest coward south of the Utah mountains, and that I dare not go out anywhere, not even for my cows, without my gun, and generally with somebody with me; and consequently, being so nervously afraid, I shall say to the newcomers, especially if they want to be preserved and to save their property, and labor to preserve the lives of their families, they have got to take the counsel of President Young, and that is, to SETTLE IN FORTS—and have fortified cities; and not only to settle in forts and cities, but to go armed, and not be overtaken and murdered by the way, in the manner that some have been.

You might suppose, because I am so cowardly, that I am very anxious to kill the Indians; but no man ever heard me undertake to advocate the business of killing Indians, unless it was in self-defense; and in no orders that I have issued (and I have issued a great many under different circumstances since the war commenced, being the “Iron Colonel”), have I ever given license of this kind, but to act in defense of ourselves and property. For I do believe, if the people can be made to listen to President Young’s counsel, we can close the war without bloodshed. I have believed it all the time, and I have acted upon it. With the exception of a few bloodthirsty individuals that may have to be punished for their crimes, the great body of the Indians that have been affected, can be brought to peace and duty, if the people themselves will observe their instructions.

I know not what my friends may think of me for talking as I have today; but I have expressed freely my candid sentiments, and I can express nothing else; at the same time I do not consider that the Indians have had any provocation in any shape or manner, to cause them to commence this war upon their friends. I believe it was commenced through the influence of some corrupt individuals who were fired with a desire for plunder; and that it never would have been commenced at all, if the people had all been in forts, as they ought to have been, notwithstanding this influence. But when the Indians saw property scattered all over the plains, thousands of cattle and horses, with grain and everything spread before them, in an unprotected condition, those that were evil minded among them coveted our property, and thought we could not defend it. And sure enough we could not, for we have more property than we can defend, we have more cattle than we can take care of; Indians can steal from us all the time, and we cannot take care of that which God has given us, because we have so much of it; and for want of its being brought under a proper organization, it is badly scattered and exposed; and until we make proper provisions to take care of our stock, evil-minded persons will plunder us.

If we had built our forts, established our corrals, and taken care of everything we had, according to the instructions that all the new settlements received, this Indian war never would have commenced, because the Indians would have discovered there was no chance for plunder. They had no idea we would move into forts as we have done.

I advised one individual, before he built a house out on a farm, to build in the city. O no, he must have more room; and he built in one of the most dangerous positions in the mountains. By and by the Indians drove him in. I absolutely did know, if I let that man’s house stand, his family would sooner or later be murdered, which might have occurred any day; so I issued an order for it to be removed. He durst not trust me to remove it, for fear I should break something; and don’t you think the poor miserable fellow broke two joists in removing it himself, which did not appear so small a matter to him as it does to us. He lost considerable, because he would not build in a safe place. His house was situated in a position to completely command the mouth of a canyon, and at the same time a more dangerous place did not exist in the district; the safety of the settlement actually required its removal.

There were several men wounded through leaving their houses and not throwing them down, for they became a barricade for the Indians; so I took upon me the responsibility of removing such dangerous places as would give shelter to our enemies, while they pierced us with their bullets.

Some men would tell me such a course was not strictly according to law. I told them I should save the lives of the people. And if they had not been gathered up, scores of men, women, and children would have been butchered before now.

I presume I have talked to you long enough. It is a matter I feel considerable about. I know men are careless, women are careless; and if there is not greater care taken, women will be carried away prisoners; and their children will be murdered, if they wander off carelessly and unprotected. I tell you, in a country like this, where women are scarce and hard to get, we have great need to take care of them, and not let the Indians have them.

Walker himself has teased me for a white wife; and if any of the sisters will volunteer to marry him, I believe I can close the war forthwith. I am certain, unless men take better care of their women, Walker may supply himself on a liberal scale, and without closing the war either.

In conclusion I will say, if any lady wishes to be Mrs. Walker, if she will report herself to me, I will agree to negotiate the match.

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, at the General Conference, October 6, 1853.

I wish to call the attention of this Conference to an invitation I shall give them, and wish to extend it to the Saints in this valley and elsewhere. I allude to the gathering of the poor Saints.

Many of us are acquainted with the circumstances of the Saints when they came to this valley six years ago, also five and four years ago. Were we to go through this community and search out the men, women, and children who have come here on their own resources, and those who have been helped here by the Perpetual Emigrating Fund, and by private individuals, it would be seen that a large proportion of the community have been brought here through the assistance of others. I will not say a majority have come here under those circumstances, but there are thousands who have. Thousands of men, women, and children have been helped here by the Perpetual Emigrating Fund alone.

This is the subject to which I wish to call the attention of the Conference, and the community at large. I wish all to hearken to it, to reflect upon it, and contemplate it seriously.

I call upon those who have not yet put forth their hands to assist in gathering the poor, to give us their names and their means, during this Conference, that we may raise a few thousand dollars to be applied to this purpose. Suppose we should try to raise as much as we did four years ago, when we were in the midst of our greatest poverty and distress—we had just arrived here, and had scarcely sufficient to sustain life; notwithstanding these straightened circumstances, at the first Conference we held in the old Tabernacle, this subject was agitated, and $5,700 in gold was raised, and sent to gather in the poor. Dare I venture to flatter myself that we can raise $5,000 or $6,000 this Conference, to be applied to the same good purpose? The people are better able to raise $50,000 now, than they were to raise $5,000 then. Suppose we raise $15,000 or $20,000 to send for our poor brethren and sisters, who long to be here as much as any of you did, before your way was opened. This amount can be raised now, and not call forth an unusual effort.

We might ask you to reflect upon the days that you have spent in yonder distant land, where you could seldom walk the streets or enter a shop, like another citizen, without the finger of scorn being pointed at you, without suffering the malignant taunts and sneers of the ungodly, for the sake of your religion. Let me refer your minds to the time that the Gospel was first introduced to you, and the light and glory of it opened up to your understandings; when eternity and eternal things reflected upon your benighted minds, and your conceptions were aroused to see things as they were, as they are, and as they will be. What were your feelings and meditations, when Zion and its glory burst upon your vision? When the people of God appeared to you, assembled together, preparatory to the coming of the Son of Man? Again, what were your feelings, when in every direction that you turned your eyes, they were met with scenes of wickedness, and your ears saluted with deep dyed blasphemies of every description? Were there any that feared the Lord? No. The most pious could do nothing more than some did in the days of the Apostles; they could erect an image to the unknown God, and worship somebody, or something, but they knew not what. What were your feelings and reflections, under such circumstances, when you first heard of the latter-day work? Of the Gospel in its fulness? When you first learned that the Lord had a Prophet, and Apostles, who held the words of life for the people? What was there you would not have sacrificed in a moment for the privilege of assembling with the Saints? Of mingling your voices and conversation with theirs, day by day? Of visiting, journeying, doing business, laboring, and spending your lives with those who know and love the Lord, and will serve Him? Is there anything you would not have sacrificed? Verily, no!

If you can remember your own feeling then, you can know how others feel, you can realize how thousands and scores of thousands feel at this present moment. There is no hardship they would refuse to undergo, no danger they would not endeavor to surmount, if they could assemble with us here this day. No trial would be too keen for them; there is no sacrifice that they would not readily and willingly make for the privilege you enjoy this day. Brethren and sisters, can you realize this?

Let us now read a chapter on the other side of the page, and we find the hearts of men and women, by crossing the ocean, by traveling a few weeks or months by water and land, appear to become partially closed up, and they lose sight of the object of their pursuit. It seems as though the hardships they pass through, in coming to this land, banish nearly every particle of the light of Christ out of their minds.

If you started on your journey with the influence of the Holy Spirit warming your hearts, who prevented you from retaining it every day of year life? You may say it was the devil that robbed you of it. But what business had you with the devil? Was there any necessity that you should enter into fellowship with him, or into partnership with the works of darkness? “No,” you reply, “I had forsaken him and all my old associates and feelings, and had given myself to the Lord, had embraced His Gospel, and set out to build up His kingdom, and wished to gather with the Saints at the gathering place.”

Suppose the devil does tempt you, must you of necessity enter into part– nership again with him, open your doors, and bid him welcome to your house, and tell him to reign there? Why do you not reflect, and tell master devil, with all his associates and imps, to begone, feeling you have served him long enough.

Says one, “I did not know that I could possibly come here with unruly cattle, without getting wrong in my feelings;” or, “this brother did wrong and marred my feelings; I was irritated, and the cares of the journey bewildered my mind, and hurt me so that I do not really know whether I have got to where I started for, or not; things are different here to what I expected to find them, &c.”

This is a representation of the feelings of some who have crossed the plains this season. My advice to you is, go and be baptized for the remission of sins, and start afresh, that temptation may not overcome you again; pause and reflect, that you be not overcome by the evil one unawares.

In the first place, if you are rebaptized for the remission of sins, peradventure you may receive again the spirit of the Gospel in its glory, light and beauty; but if your hearts are so engrossed in the things of this world, that you do not know whether you want to be rebaptized or not, you had better shut yourselves up in some canyon or closet, to repent of your sins, and call upon the name of the Lord, until you get His Spirit, and the light thereof, to reflect upon you, that you may know the nature of your offenses, and your true condition; that you may realize and appreciate the blessing you enjoy in being here with the Saints of the Most High.

Let me lead your minds a little further. I wish to tell you something which you may perhaps know as well as I do, but you may not have realized it. When the Lord Almighty opens the vision of a person’s mind, He shows him the things of the Spirit—things that will be. If any of you had a vision of Zion, it was shown to you in its beauty and glory, after Satan was bound. If you reflected upon the gathering of the Saints; it was the spirit of gathering that enlightened you; and when your minds were opened in vision to behold the glory and excellency of the Gospel, you did not see a vision of driving cattle across the plains, and where you would be mired in this or that mud hole; you did not see the stampedes among the cattle, and those of a worse character among the people; but you saw the beauty and glory of Zion, that you might be encouraged, and prepared to meet the afflictions, sorrows and disappointments of this mortal life, and overcome them, and be made ready to enjoy the glory of the Lord as it was revealed to you. It was given to you for your encouragement. Recollect that.

You will recollect my exhortation to those who have means; we want them to give the Perpetual Emigrating Fund a lift. Bring in your tithes and offerings, and we will help a great many more to this place in the future than we have this year. We wish to double our diligence, and treble the crowd of immigrants by that Fund.

I wish to show you a little of the philosophy of human nature in its fallen and degraded state; you may consider it in the Gospel or out of it; in the light of the Holy Spirit, or without it; as you please. The philosophy of mankind, in their daily avocations, you may all know for yourselves, by your own observation and experience. I wish to mention a portion of it that has come under my notice. I could mention names, but I will content myself with naming circumstances.

We pick up, say 200 persons, in England and convey them across the water, and across the plains, and set them down in this valley. They commence to labor, and in a short time they make themselves comfortable. They can soon obtain plenty of the best kind of pay for their labor, such as bread—the staff of life, butter, cheese and vegetables. When a man gets these things, without the fancy nicknacks, he does well.

Suppose we pick up a company of these poor Saints in England, whose faces are pale, and who can scarcely tread their way through the streets for want of the staff of life; you may see them bowed down from very weakness, with their arms across their stomachs, going to and from their work; the greater part of them not enabled to get a bit of meat more than once a month; and upon an average only about one tablespoonful of meal per day, for each person in a family, without butter or cheese, by working 16 hours out of the 24; and when they go to their work and return from it, they need a staff in their hands to lean upon. We bring 200 of them here; instead of their being obliged to work for two or three pence per day, they can get a dollar and a dollar and a half per day. With one day’s wages they can purchase flour and meat and vegetables enough to last a moderately sized family one week.

They have not been here long when they may be seen swelling in the streets with an air of perfect independence. Ask one of these men if he will pay you for bringing him here; and he will reply, “I don’t know you, sir.” You ask another if he will work for you, for bringing him out to this place; and he will appear quite astonished, saying, “What have I had from you?” Another will say, “If I work for you, what will you give me? Can you give me some adobies? For I am going to build a fine house, or if you have any money to pay me, it will answer as well.”

How does such language and ingratitude make the benefactor of that person feel? Why, his heart sinks within him. I can find thousands of just such men and women in this territory. When they are brought to this place, they do not know their benefactors, who saved them from death, but they are a head and shoulders above them, when they meet them in the streets.

Do you know the conclusion that is natural to man, when he is treated in such a manner by his fellow man? It is, “I wish I had left you in your own country.” I wish so too. I say, let such persons starve to death, and die Christians, instead of being brought here to live and commit the sin of ingratitude, and die and go to hell; for while they remained in their poverty, they were used to the daily practice of praying for deliverance; and I say it is better for them to die praying, and go into eternity praying, and the Almighty to have bowels of compassion and mercy towards them, than for them to come here, and lose the Spirit of God through ingratitude, and go into eternity swearing.

I can pick up hundreds of men who have passed by their benefactors, and if they should speak to them, would turn round and say, “I really don’t know you.” Or if they do, they will speak everything against them their tongues can utter, or can be allowed to; and they will swear falsely about them—about the very men who have saved them from starvation and death.

I frequently refer to facts that come under my own observation. When I came into this Valley, we had notes amounting to $30,000 against brethren we had assisted, which no person will pay one cent for. We have helped men, women, and children from England, to over the amount of $30,000. Except one individual, and that is a man by the name of Thomas Green, who lives in Utah, and one young woman, who came from Eng– land, there has never been a single person who has paid one dime towards canceling a debt amounting to over $30,000, besides other notes, accounts, and obligations which we hold.

Do I mean to be understood that no person pays their passage? By no means. My remarks will not hit those, neither are they directed to them who are thankful to their benefactors, and who do, and are willing to pay. But as far as I am concerned, before we came into this Valley, with the exception of one man and woman, no person has offered to pay us one dime, and eight-tenths of them have turned away from the Church, and a number of them joined the mob, and sought to dye their hands in our blood.

Now do you see the philosophy of human nature, and I will say of divine nature? Let me help a man who makes an evil use of the assistance I render him, and endeavors to injure himself and me, and his neighbor with it, what does the Spirit of the Lord teach me in such a circumstance? What would the Lord do, provided He was here himself? Do you not think He would withhold the thing from him? Do you think an angel would help a man who would turn round and destroy that angel and himself? I do not, neither do I think the Lord would, and no good man would if he knew it, unless it were done with a view to prove a person. I do not think a bad man would distribute his means to another individual, or to individuals, who would use them to his injury.

It is the evil actions and covetousness in the hearts of the poor that shut up the bowels of compassion in the rich, and they say they will not help the poor. We could have gathered hundreds of thousands more of the poor, were it not that the rich have been so biased, and still continue to be. Say they, “We do not wish our means to be applied to an evil use.”

If you wish to know what I mean by all this, it is that if any men or women refuse to pay their passage to this place when they are in circumstances to do it, let them be cut off from the Church, and then sue them at the law, and collect the debt. Sever those limbs from the tree, and then make them pay their honest debts. That is to the poor.

We now want the rich to turn in their means, that the poor, the honest poor, may be delivered. Some of you may inquire if we wish to send the means now to England? Yes; we want the means now, which you can pay into the Tithing Office, and have it recorded on the books, to answer the means we have there, which can be used for next season. We want to give a heavy lift to the emigration of the poor, next season. We have brought out a considerable number this season, but it is hardly a beginning to what we wish to be brought out next season.

The first duty of those who have been brought out by the Perpetual Emigrating Fund is to pay back what they have received from it, the first opportunity, that others may receive the same benefit they have received. We wish you in the first place to get something to eat, drink, and wear; but when you are in any way comfortable, we wish you to pay that debt the next thing you do, and replenish the Fund. It is built upon a principle, if carried out properly, and the debts punctually refunded, to increase in wealth. The $5,000 that was sent for the poor four years ago this fall, if every man had been prompt to pay in that which he received, would have increased to $20,000.

We are the greatest speculators in the world. We have the greatest speculation on hand that can be found in all the earth. I never denied being a speculator. I never denied being a miser, or of feeling eager for riches; but some men will chase a picayune five thousand miles when I would not turn round for it, and yet we are preachers of the same Gospel, and brethren in the same kingdom of God. You may consider this is a little strong; but the speculation I am after, is to exchange this world, which, in its present state, passes away, for a world that is eternal and unchangeable, for a glorified world filled with eternal riches, for the world that is made an inheritance for the Gods of eternity.

The plan is to make everything bend to the revelations of God; this is the object of our Priesthood—to bring into requisition every good thing, and make it bear for the accomplishment of the main point we have in view; and when we get through we shall reap the reward of the just, and get all our hearts can anticipate or desire. To lay plans for the attainment of this, is just as necessary as for a merchant to lay plans to get earthly riches by buying and selling merchandise. It is for us to lay plans to secure to ourselves eternal lives, which is just as necessary as it is for the miser to lay plans to amass a great amount of gold upon the earth; and it is for us to engage in it systematically.

I say to the poor, pay your debts to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund; and to the rich, help the poor; and this will bring wealth and strength, by each one, according to his ability, calling, and means, assisting in every point and place in this great speculation for kingdoms, thrones, principalities and powers. It is said union is strength; and that is enough; if we get that, we shall have power. This is the plan for us to work upon, and I wish the brethren to whisper this around among their neighbors, when they go out of this tabernacle, and say, “What can we give to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund? Can we give anything this season?” We will not refuse help from the sisters. Do you ask how small an amount we will take? We will take from a pin to a bed quilt; but be sure, when you bring a pin, that you have not many other things in your trunk that would be useful, more than you at present need; for if you bring a pin under such circumstances, you cannot receive a blessing, and the reward it is entitled to. If the clothing you wear each day is all you have, and you have need to borrow a shawl to go out in, and you have only a pin to bestow, bring that, and you shall receive a blessing.

We think it is not necessary to give you the report of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund this Conference. It is doing well, but we want it to do a great deal better. We want to swell the operation, and bring the poor from the nations by scores of thousands instead of by hundreds. This embraces what I wished to lay before the Conference upon this point.

Before the Conference is concluded we shall call for quite a number of Elders. It was anticipated that our missionaries would have been called at the August Conference of this year, but we will call a considerable number this Conference. You need not inquire where we want you to go, for it will be told you when you are ready. Prepare your mind and circumstances against that time, for we wish to send the Gospel to Israel.

May the Lord bless you. Amen.

A Discourse by President Orson Hyde, Delivered at the General Conference Held in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Oct. 6, 1853.

At the commencement of our Conference, it has fallen to my lot to make a few remarks.

If you will indulge me with your prayerful attention, I will try to communicate to you a few words, which I hope and trust may prove, not only edifying to you now, but a source of comfort and consolation in time to come.

Be it as the Lord will, I shall use my best endeavors for this; and if I fail in it, it will be for want of ability, and not for want of a disposition.

I discover before me many strange faces; I presume they are our friends from the different settlements, South, North, East, and West, who have no doubt assembled here for the purpose of obtaining instructions and information respecting the prosperity of the Church, the duty of its officers, and what is to be done in the important period in which we now live.

It is a peculiar and interesting time with us. In the first place, our brethren from abroad, who are unaccustomed to a mountain life, or a life in this Valley, are emigrating to this place; and when they arrive here, they do not find everything, perhaps, as they anticipated, or they find things different from what they have been accustomed to in the places from which they came. Everything seems new and strange, and it takes a little time, as we say in a familiar phrase, “to get broken into the harness.”

Not only so, but we have had some little disturbance with the red men this season, and this is a cause of some digression from the common path of duty we are accustomed to move in.

Under all these circumstances, as we have business of importance to transact during this Conference, it becomes necessary that our minds should become united in one, as far as possible, that we may act in accordance with the mind and will of our Father which is in heaven. Let me here observe, that the people of God can be united only upon that principle that vibrates from the very bosom of heaven. If we are united, if we can touch one point or principle upon which all can strike hands, by that union we may know that our will is the mind and will of God; and what we, in that state, bind on earth, is bound in heaven, for the action is reciprocal, it is the same.

Hence, after so long a separation, we have come together again, under circumstances somewhat peculiar. It is necessary that we seek to be united. How shall we be united? Around what standard shall we rally? Where is the beacon light to which our eyes shall be directed, in order that our actions may tend to the accomplishment of the same purpose and design? The beacon light is he whom our heavenly Father has ordained and appointed to lead His people, and give them counsel, and guide their destiny. That is the light to which the eye should be directed. And when that voice is heard, let every bosom respond, yea and amen.

But, says one, “If this be correct, it is giving to one man almighty power. It is giving to one man supreme power to rule.” Admit it. What are we all aiming for? Are we not aiming for supreme power? Are we not aiming to obtain the promise that has been made to all believers? What is it? “He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” Are we not all seeking for this, that we may overcome, that we may inherit all things? For says Paul, “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.” Well, then, if all things are ours, we should be very insensible to our best interests if we did not seek diligently for that which Heaven promises as a legacy to the faithful. It is our right, then. Do we not all expect to be armed with almighty power? Is there a Latter-day Saint under the sound of my voice, whose heart is fired with celestial light, but that seeks to be in possession of supreme power (I had like to have said) both in heaven and on earth? It is said, we are “heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.” Does Jesus Christ possess all power in heaven and on earth? He said, when he rose from the dead, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Are we heirs of God, and joint heirs with that illustrious character? He has so declared! If we are, do we not, in common with him, possess the power that is in heaven and on earth! If one individual, then, is a little ahead of us in obtaining this power, let us not be envious, for it will be our time by and by. We ought to be the more thankful, and glorify God that He has armed one individual with this power, and opened a way that we may follow him, and obtain the same power. Instead of it being a cause of envy, it ought to be, on the contrary, a matter to call forth our warmest thanksgivings and praise to God, that He has brought back that power again to the earth in our day, by which we may be led step by step to the point we hope to attain.

After reflecting a little this morning, a passage of Scripture occurred to my mind—the words of John the Revelator, or the promise made to him. It says, “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out; and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem; which cometh down out of heaven from my God; and I will write upon him my new name.”

In the course of my travels in preaching the Gospel to different nations, I have often heard it remarked by the people, in days gone by, “We have heard your testimony; we have heard your preaching; but really, why does not Joseph Smith, your Prophet, come to us and bear testimony? Why does he not come to us and show us the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated? If we could see the Prophet and the plates, then we should be satisfied that the work is genuine, that it is of God; but if we cannot see him and the ancient records, we are still in doubt with regard to the genuineness of the work.”

My reply to them was something like the followings—“Joseph Smith cannot be everywhere, and the plates cannot be presented to every eye. The voice of Joseph Smith cannot be heard by every ear.” And I have said to them, “You that have seen me have seen Joseph Smith, for the same spirit and the same sentiments that are in him are in me, and I bear testimony to you that these things are verily true.”

It is generally the case, and I think I may say it is invariably the case, that when an individual is ordained and appointed to lead the people, he has passed through tribulations and trials, and has proven himself before God, and before His people, that he is worthy of the situation which he holds. And let this be the motto and safeguard in all future time, that when a person that has not been tried, that has not proved himself before God, and before His people, and before the councils of the Most High, to be worthy, he is not going to step in to lead the Church and people of God. It never has been so, but from the beginning someone that understands the Spirit and counsel of the Almighty, that knows the Church, and is known of her, is the character that will lead the Church.

How does he become thus acquainted? How does he gain this influence, this confidence in the estimation of the people? He earns it by his upright course and conduct, by the justness of his counsels, and the correctness of his prophecies, and the straightforward spirit he manifests to the people. And he has to do this step by step; he gains influence, and his spirit, like an anchor, is fastened in the hearts of the people; and he is sustained and supported by the love, confidence, and goodwill of the Saints, and of Him that dwelt in the bush. This is the kind of character that ought to lead God’s people, after he has obtained this goodwill and this confidence.

What then is he to do? Is he to go abroad to the nations of the earth and preach the Gospel; to leave his home and the people of his charge? May we not count him as first and foremost in the ranks of them that overcome? I think so! Well then, “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out.” All those who approach the nearest to that standard, we expect will remain in the temple of God at home, and not go abroad to the nations of the earth.

Says one, “If an angel from heaven would descend and bear testimony that this work was of God, I would believe it. Why may I not receive the testimony of angels, as well as Joseph Smith or any other person? For God is no respecter of persons! If I could receive it, I would be satisfied then that the work is true.” But let me here remark again—suppose the Omnipotent Jehovah, that sits upon His throne of glory and power, was to descend and bear testimony, what further credence would you then want? You would want someone to tell you that it was really God Himself that had visited you, that you might be satisfied it was not an angel of darkness in the similitude of a heavenly personage.

Remember that God, our heavenly Father, was perhaps once a child, and mortal like we ourselves, and rose step by step in the scale of progress, in the school of advancement; has moved forward and overcome, until He has arrived at the point where He now is. “Is this really possible?” Why, my dear friends, how would you like to be governed by a ruler who had not been through all the vicissitudes of life that are common to mortals? If he had not suffered, how could he sympathize with the distress of others? If he himself had not endured the same, how could he sympathize and be touched with the feelings of our infirmities? He could not, unless he himself had passed through the same ordeal, and overcome step by step. If this is the case, it accounts for the reason why we do not see Him—He is too pure a being to show himself to the eyes of mortals; He has overcome, and goes no more out, but He is the temple of my God, and is a pillar there.

What is a pillar? It is that power which supports the superstructure which bears up the edifice; and if that should be removed from its place, the edifice is in danger of falling. Hence, our heavenly Father ascended to a throne of power; He has passed through scenes of tribulation, as the Saints in all ages have, and are still passing through; and having overcome, and ascended His throne, He can look down upon those who are following in the same track, and can realize the nature of their infirmities, troubles, and difficulties, like the aged father who looks upon his race, upon the smallest child; and when he sees them grappling with difficulties, his heart is touched with compassion. Why? Because he has felt the same, been in the same situation, and he knows how to administer just chastisement, mingled with the kindest feelings of a father’s heart. So with our heavenly Father; when He sees we are going astray, He stretches forth His chastening hand, at the same time He realizes the difficulties with which we have to contend, because he has felt the same; but having overcome, He goes no more out.

When the world was lost in wretchedness and woe, what did He do? Did He come here Himself? No. But, says he, I will send my son to be my agent, the one who is the nearest to my person, that is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh; I will send my son, and I will say, he that heareth him, heareth me. Go then, my son. He came, and how did he look? He looked just like his Father, and just as they treated him they treated his Father in heaven. For inasmuch as they did it unto him, they did it unto his Father. He was the agent, the representative, chosen and sent of God for the purpose. When it was necessary that the Savior of the world should have help and strength, should be sustained in the darkest hour, did God Himself in person come to his aid? No, but He sent His angel to succor him. When the Savior was born, the spirits around the throne of God were ready to fly to his protection, when the kings and rulers of this lower world sought his destruction. What did they say to the wise men of Israel on that eventful occasion? “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

When he fasted forty days and forty nights, the angels appeared and strengthened him. His heavenly Father did not come Himself, but, says the Savior, he that hath seen me hath seen the Father also; I am just like him, the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person. The same spirit that is in the bosom of the Father is in me. I came not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me. Then the character that looked upon the Savior, looked upon the Father, for he was a facsimile of Him; and if they would not believe the Son, they would not believe the Father.

The Savior, in the performance of his mission, laid down his life for the world, rose from the dead, and ascended up on high. And few and blessed are the eyes that have seen him since! It is sometimes the case that the veil of mortality has been rent, and the eye of the spirit has gazed upon the Savior, like as did Stephen of old, when he was stoned to death. In his expiring moments, in the agonies of death, what did he say? He said, “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” Stephen saw him in that trying hour.

True it is, that in the most trying hour, the servants of God may then be permitted to see their Father, and elder brother. “But,” says one, “I wish to see the Father, and the Savior, and an angel now.” Before you can see the Father, the Savior, or an angel, you have to be brought into close places in order to enjoy this manifestation. The fact is, your very life must be suspended on a thread, as it were. If you want to see your Savior, be willing to come to that point where no mortal arm can rescue, no earthly power save! When all other things fail, when everything else proves futile and fruitless, then perhaps your Savior and your Redeemer may appear; his arm is not shortened that he cannot save, nor his ear heavy that he cannot hear; and when help on all sides appears to fail, my arm shall save, my power shall rescue, and you shall hear my voice, saith the Lord.

“Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God,” &c. The Father has overcome, the Savior has overcome, and the angels are overcoming like we are. But let me here observe, it is a good deal with the angels, in my opinion, as it is with us.

We who have been in the Valley some length of time, feel that we are at home, and in a goodly place, chosen of God, a secret habitation surrounded by mountains, walled in by natural barriers, where we are secluded from the world, and inhabiting a little world by ourselves. We know the world is opposed to our doctrine. Now if one of us were required to go abroad among the nations, a spirit of patriotic devotion to the interests of God’s kingdom, would stimulate us to forego all the pleasures of domestic life, to earn a crown of glory, and shine as stars in the firmament forever and ever; when, if we consulted our own individual feelings and interest only, we would say, “O that we might remain at home, and not go out and be buffeted by a cold and heartless world!” We would rather remain with our friends, and bask in the sunshine of their goodwill and favor, and enjoy life as we pass along; but to go out into the world, and meet its scoffing sneers, it is alone for the cause and kingdom of God’s sake; and for the sake of this, we not only long to go abroad to the nations of the earth, but to do everything that is laid upon us to do.

Look at the angels of heaven. If there are so many millions of them, and they manifest such an interest for the welfare of mortals, why do they not come, and visit us more? They may have the same feeling in relation to coming to this earth, that we would have in going to the nations of the world. If they are sent, they will go; but if not sent, it is very likely they will stay at home, as we will. If we are sent, we will go; if we are not sent, we are glad to stay at home. This, then, I presume, is their feeling; hence it has become proverbial in the world, that angels’ visits are few and far between. And let me here observe, that when a servant of God, clothed with the spirit of his calling, enters a house, a town, or a country, he feels the spirit in a moment that prevails in that house, country, or people among whom he comes. For instance, if he lands upon the shores of a foreign country, the moment his feet press their soil, their spirit presses his heart! He senses it; and if the spirit that reigns in the country is diverse to the Spirit of God; he feels it painful to his heart; and it is upon this principle that the Savior said to the disciples, “And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again.” Then when a servant of God enters a strange place, and he feels the son of peace there, let his peace come upon that people, house, and city. If he feels there is an adverse power that holds the sway there, his peace must return to him, and he must go his way after he has faithfully discharged his duty.

I recollect once in a certain place in England, when traveling along with brother Kimball, it was in a country town called Chatburn, where the people were humble, simple, and honest; they loved the truth, and were seeking for it—when we went there, their hearts and doors were opened to receive us, and our message. What were our feelings? We felt that the ground upon which we stood was most sacred, and brother Kimball took off his hat, and walked the streets, and blessed the country and the people, and let his peace come upon it. These were our feelings. Why? Because the people were ready to receive the word of our testimony, and us for Christ’s sake.

We had been to other places, where the very moment our names were sounded, and it was known we were in a house, there was a similar spirit manifested as there was in the days of Lot, when the Angel came to his house to warn him to flee from Sodom; for a mob was raised at once, and demanded the strangers to be given up to them. We have been in places where the mob demanded us to be given up to them; but we were shielded by friends, and God always opened a way of escape for us. Wherever there is a spirit congenial with the Spirit of God, and a loyalty to the kingdom of the Most High, you will find a hearty welcome, and you are glad to go there.

If we, whose sensibilities are benumbed by this veil of flesh which is around us, have discernment to discriminate where the son of peace is, the angels, who are not clogged as we are, whose sensibilities are keener than ours, do you not think when they approach the world, they know where the son of peace is? In the last days, I will take peace from the earth, saith the Lord by one of the ancient writers, and they shall kill one another. And there was given a great sword unto him that sat on the red horse. And the nations will be armed against each other. The angels are not fond to descend to this world, because of the coldness of the spirit that reigns in it; they would rather remain in heaven around the throne of God, among the higher order of intelligences, where they can enjoy life, and peace, and the communion of the Holy One. When they are sent, they will come; but they are tolerably well advanced among them that overcome.

These are some of the reasons why they do not mingle with us, why we cannot see them. But, let me tell you, brethren and sisters, if we will be united as the heart of one man, and that general union of spirit, of mind, be fastened upon the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall draw down celestial intelligence by the Spirit of God, or by angels who surround the throne of the Most High. It is an electric wire through which and by which intelligence comes from heaven to mortals; it is only necessary for the word to be spoken, and the power of it is at once felt in every heart.

“Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God,” &c. Do we ever wish to see the time when we can retire from the scenes of everyday life, to the temple of God, and go no more out? Are we looking for a period of this kind? Yes, when we shall be made pillars in the temple of our God. We know when a pillar is placed in a building, it is placed there to remain, pillars are not often removed. All pillars are considered permanent; they are not to be taken away, because the removing of them endangers the safety of the building. In order to be made pillars in the temple of our God, what are we to do? We must overcome.

Let it be remarked, that the disposition so prevalent in the hearts of many, not to abide the counsel of their superiors, has to be overcome; it must be slain, and laid prostrate at our feet; and we must say we came not to do our own will, but the will of him that sent us. We came to do the will of him to whom we have plighted our faith, to uphold him as our leader, lawgiver, and Seer. We have got to overcome the inclination to revolt at the idea, and be brought into complete submission, and union of spirit.

“O,” says one, “how does this look, to be slaves, to have no mind or will of our own, but be swallowed up in the will of another, and thus become tools, machines, slaves, and not free men, and independent like other people!” Well, my dear friends, I will tell you how it was in heaven. There was a disposition once in heaven that preferred to be independent enough to chalk out its own course. The rebellious angels undertook it, and what became of them? They fought against the throne of God, and were cast down, to be reserved in chains of darkness, unto the judgment of the great day. Yes, they are reserved there, and that is their glory, and the honor that is attached to them for being independent, and declaring in the presence of God their independence—instead of deriving any advantage from this course, down they went to their reward.

I will advance a sentiment by Paul the Apostle, showing that we were there at the time that notable controversy was going on, and no doubt we took an active part with them who sustained the throne of God, and we were therefore permitted to come to this world and take upon us bodies. The devils that fell were not permitted to enjoy this privilege; they can– not increase their generation; glory to God, they cannot do it, but we have the power of multiplying lives; this is what they are angry about. Says Paul, “Do ye not know that the Saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?” Is it possible that these Elders and servants of the Most High, who are going abroad among the nations, will have power to judge the nations of the earth? Says one, “God will do it, and not man.” Now, for instance, I am building a house, and it is said Solomon built a temple, but do you suppose Solomon quarried the rock, laid it up, &c.? No, but he gave directions to others, and it is said Solomon built a temple; so God will judge the world. The Almighty Ruler will instruct His servants to do it, and the Saints will give the grand decision, and the nations that have slain them will have to bow to their word.

What says the good Book again? “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations; And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers; even as I received of my Father.” Do we not expect to overcome and have power over the nations? Yes. Says Paul, the Saints shall judge the world; not only this, but they shall judge angels. “Why,” says one, “I thought that angels were greater in might and power than we, and is it possible that we, the servants of God, are going to judge angels? You are surely exalting yourselves above all that is called God; for God shall judge the world.” How is it that we do not recollect anything now that took place before we took upon us these bodies? When we lay them off we shall remember everything, the scenes of those early times will be as fresh in our view as the sun was this morning when he rose over the mountains. The Saints will say to their fallen brethren, You were arrayed under the command of Lucifer, and fought against us; we prevailed, and it now becomes our duty to pass sentence against you, fallen spirits. You have been reserved to this condemnation, and bound with a chain. With what chain? That you could not multiply your race. There were limits put to you that you could not increase. It was never said to you, Go forth into hell and multiply; but it was said to man, Go forth and increase on the earth. Here were stakes set they could not go beyond, and this is what they are angry about, this makes a hell to them, because they “can’t do it.” They see the superiority of the Saints who have kept their first estate, and they are envious, and now it becomes the Saints’ duty to pass sentence upon them. The Saints shall judge angels, even those spirits who kept not their first estate, and have been a long time in chains like criminals who are kept in bondage to await their sentence. It will be the prerogative of the servants of God to pass a decision upon them, and not only upon them, but upon the world among whom they have been associated, and having combined in them the judicial power, and power of witness, they will have power to judge and determine, for the Saints shall judge the world.

How will the wicked feel when they come up at the last day (or at some day, be it last or middle), how will they feel when they see, perhaps one whom they have persecuted, one whom they have killed as an impostor, or because they said he was an impostor, when they see that person exalted upon the judgment seat, and they themselves arraigned before him, and compelled to hear from his lips their sentence? Sadly will they be mistaken. Says the Savior, “If they have persecuted me they will also persecute you.” They knew him not, neither did they know his disciples. Well did the Savior say at one time, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” They did not understand the power that was lodged in the breast of their victim; but when the day of his wrath will come, they will say to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?” It will not only be the Lamb that will come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, but his angels and Saints that have gone before him; these are they that will come with him; myriads of spirits will come, wafted as it were through the air to earth’s cold regions to call the sons of men to an account for their doings.

Now, “him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God,” and “he that overcometh to him will I give power over the nations.” Do you want to overcome this worldly ambitious spirit that is ever burning to be independent, that is, self sufficient and proud? Overcome this, and bring every power and faculty of the soul into subjection to the power of the Most High, and you are safe. What have you to overcome next? You have to overcome that untiring disposition to do wrong, to overreach your neighbor, that thereby you may acquire for yourselves a paradise or heaven in this world, while in its fallen state. Remember this one thing, if you want to be free from the curse. You know it is said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Who then can be saved? Again, says the Savior, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Let me show you the philosophy of this, why it is impossible for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. God said in the beginning, “Cursed be the ground for thy sake;” that is, earth and earthly things are cursed. Now the man who has the most of it has the greatest amount of the curse; therefore if a man acquire a great deal of earthly things, he acquires a great deal of this curse. For they that will be rich are made to pass through many sorrows, and they have to harden their hearts and their faces, and oppress the poor to acquire it; and when they have acquired it, what have they got? It is to them something like a red hot ball in the hands of a child, it burns; they have acquired it, and have got a great curse along with it. It is hard for such to enter into the Kingdom of God. The gate is narrow, and the curse is wide, so if they wish to go in at that gate, they must be stripped, and become destitute of the love of this world’s goods. I recollect a beautiful illustration of this in the case of the rich man, and Lazarus that was poor, and full of sores, and who lay at the rich man’s gate. There was the rich man clothed in fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day. By and by he died, and went to hell, and saw Abraham afar off with the same poor Lazarus in his bosom. Says the rich man, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” He was so humbled as to accept one drop of water from Lazarus, who while he lay at the rich man’s gate was ready to eat the crumbs that fell from his table. How reverse the scene. Abraham, with the kind feelings of a father, at the same time with that justness and dignity which is ever the characteristic of the upright, said, “Son, remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.” His arm was too short to reach that one drop of water to him, for there was “a great gulf fixed; so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.” The scene was changed. This is enough to admonish us, and to make us adopt the advice of the Savior, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

When should we want to be rich? When the curse is taken from the earth. We do not want the earth while it is cursed, for “cursed be the ground for thy sake,” &c. Let the world that love darkness rather than light, be heirs of the curse if they will; but do not let us seek after it with too greedy hearts, until the curse is taken away; and when the curse is rebuked, and the earth undergoes such a change that it will shine forever and ever, and there is no night there, then we may have it, and it will do us good. It is like this—We say that wheat and barley are excellent when we use them in their native state; but when we extract the spirit from these grains, and drink it, it intoxicates; when they are used in their native state, they make bread which gives life to the body, while in the other state, they destroy. So the earth, when the curse is taken away, will sustain an endless life. Though the figure is not altogether correct, still it serves to illustrate the principle. The Savior did not say the Saints should inherit the earth while the curse was upon it, but he said, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” He will not give them something to destroy them, but they have got to stay until the earth has fulfilled the measure of its creation; and then the angel will raise his hand to heaven, and swear that time shall be no longer. What becomes of the earth then? Why, says the prophet, it shall “reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again.” If the earth falls, which way will it go, up or down? Tell me, ye wise men, ye philosophers. Will not the greatest and most powerful planet attract it whether it goes up or down? For the greater bodies attract the lesser. If the earth falls, and is not to rise again, it will be removed out of its present orbit. Where will it go to? God says He will gather all things into one; then He will gather the earth likewise, and all that is in it, in one. The gathering will be upon a larger scale in time to come; for by and by the stars of Heaven will fall. Which way will they go? They will rally to a grand center, and there will be one grand constellation of worlds. I pray that we may be there, and shine among those millions of worlds that will be stars in the Almighty’s crown.

The earth will have to be removed from its place, and reel to and fro like a drunkard. The fact is, it has got to leave the old track in which it has roamed in time passed, and beat a new track; and saith the Lord, “come up here.” What is He going to do with it? Why, take it where the sun will shine upon it continually, and there shall be no more night there; and the hand of God will wipe away the tears from all faces. “Come up here, O earth! For I want the Saints who have passed through much tribulation to be glorified with you, and then I will give the earth to the meek. For I will take the curse from it, and rebuke the destroyer for your sakes, and bring all things in subjection to you, and you shall dwell in everlasting light.” Now it is half day and half night, but I tell you it is not going to be half and half, but there will be no night there. We have but one sun to shine upon us, but when the earth is taken out of this orbit, it will come in contact with the rays of other suns that illuminate other spheres; their rays will dazzle our earth, and make the glory of God rest upon it, so that there will be no more night there.

Is it possible, then, that there are worlds reserved in eternal night, in an eternal eclipse, rolling in the shade? What is their use? They are the homes of them that love darkness rather than light; and it shall be said unto them, Depart, ye cursed, into outer darkness. There are planets that revolve in eternal darkness, that you who love darkness rather than light may go and find your own home. There is a place prepared for everybody, no matter what their character. Says the Savior, “I go to prepare a place for you.” There is a place for every person. There is a place for everybody that comes into this Valley, if they can only find it. So there is a place in yonder world for every person; but to him that overcometh will I give power over the nations, and he shall be a pillar in the Temple of my God, and go no more out.

If there is anything in this world my soul desires the most, it is that I may overcome, and be made a pillar in the Temple of my God, and remain at home in the society that is continually warming my spirit, encouraging my feeling, with that which is congenial with every principle of my nature; let me bask in their goodly presence, live in their affections, dwell forever in the midst of their society, and go no more out. And may God in His mercy help us all to overcome every obstacle, and endure hardships like good soldiers of the Lamb, and dwell eternally in the mansions of light; which may God grant for Christ’s sake. Amen.

An Address by Elder Franklin D. Richards, Delivered at the General Conference, Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1853.

Brethren and Sisters—It seems to have fallen to my lot this afternoon to speak to you. Whether I may speak lengthily, or occupy but a short time, will be as I am led and dictated by the Holy Spirit.

I rejoice in the opportunity, for many reasons. The first and greatest is it is a blessing for a man who is called of God to teach the people, to exercise himself in his office and calling, and try to magnify it, for he is thereby made a blessing to the people, and is himself edified, often, yea, I may say generally, quite as much as they are.

I rejoice this afternoon in the privilege of meeting so many of my brethren who have just arrived from the old country. I behold faces in the congregation with whom I have within a few years past been wont to assemble in England, in Scotland, in Wales, and in other places. There we used to rejoice together. The Spirit and power of God rested upon us while we contemplated the things of God, that are calculated to pre– pare us for the life which is to come.

I feel to congratulate you, my brethren, who have newly come in, and who constitute so goodly a number of my hearers this afternoon, upon your safe arrival in these beautiful valleys; for you have now accomplished one of the greatest undertakings of your lives. Once, had you been told that you would forsake father, mother, brethren, sisters, kindred, and friends, and that you would do it under the stigmatized appellation of “Mormon”—to come so great a distance, to traverse one-third of the circumference of the globe, it would have been as incredible to you as to any of us. While you were near the close of this great task, doubtless some felt that had it been one hundred miles further, they scarcely could have endured to the end of the journey; yet, to some of us, this wonderful, great undertaking is but a small thing; we have done it several times, and expect to do it many times more. I congratulate you, however, on your having accomplished the task, and feel, as your brother in the Lord, to welcome you here in the midst of God’s people, and to pray with sincerity that the spirit of Zion may rest upon you.

You have come to this place with feelings and views as varied as the degree of faith in, and knowledge you have of, the Gospel, and the measure of spirit in which you walk. There are some who, in their own estimation, are well qualified and fully prepared to judge of the propriety and impropriety of everything that exists here; and such, while they may find some few things answer pretty well, will find many things which, in their opinion, are not right, and really need reformation.

Brethren, you who have just arrived in the Valley, I wish to direct my words to you this afternoon, to sound a word in your ears that may not be lost upon you, and it is worth your while to hearken to it. You may dwell in this society, and never know what manner of spirit you are of, nor the power of God that dwells in the Priesthood in your midst; and, on the other hand, you may come here in a right frame of mind, and hearken to the Spirit of God through the man whom He has appointed to watch over us, and know that the words of all God’s servants are the words of life to you; and their faces will shine with wisdom in your eyes. If you possess this frame of mind, you will be prepared to drink in intelligence from day to day, from their counsel and examples, that will lead you on in the bright and shining way that was discoursed upon this morning.

In the first place, I will offer a word to all, whether they are mechanics or common laborers. No matter what calling you may follow in life, you have need, at this juncture of your existence, to observe and treasure up one thing carefully and faithfully in your minds, namely, if you live a proper life before the Lord, you know that you have the fellowship of His Spirit, so that you know your prayers are heard and answered, because you receive the things you ask for. If you live so as to always have the witness of the good Spirit, you will be saved today and every day, and thus it will constantly be well with you. But if you are heedless of this day, and calculate on tomorrow, you have no assurance that you will realize your hopes tomorrow. The only certain stepping stone to the great good you may have tomorrow in the midst of this people is, that you be faithful to your covenants with God, and secure thereby the fellowship of the Spirit, and walk in the counsels of it today; if you do this, you will have the good that is for you tomorrow.

If you have come into this place nearly penniless, and, in many respects, comparatively destitute, and with no one to take you by the hand, or your friends are not here, or, if they are, and do not hail you as you think they ought, be of good cheer, and let not your hearts be sad, knowing you are doing right, and have gathered according to the word of the Lord.

If you look about you and see the Saints who have been here some years, and the choice locations taken up by them, and you are still at the foot of the hill apparently, do not fret your souls; remember that those brethren made the roads to this place, killed the snakes, or gently turned them out of their path, made the bridges, opened the canyons, made the fences, ploughed the ground, and worked in the wet and cold, in the midst of hunger and privation, to the best of their ability, more than any portion of this people have. Have they not worked to obtain what they have now got? If you look at it with a single eye, it is marvelous to see the kingdom of God at this day. After being here only six years; after being driven from Nauvoo, and suffering the toils of a wilderness life among savages and wolves, to see it at the present time is indeed comforting and cheering; the aspect is promising beyond all we could have anticipated, or almost what could have been wished. Does it not make your souls rejoice in the Lord, that He has established His people, and to realize that you are blessed above measure in having a name and a place in this city or territory? You are better off this afternoon in this place, in rags, and begging your bread, than in England, Scotland, or Wales, earning one hundred pounds per annum. You would there be dwelling among the cloudy mists of Babylon, where you dare not say your souls were your own. You could make but little advancement in your holy religion there; but here you can receive words of life from those whom God has appointed to lead His people into the way of salvation. Be careful now, that the good Spirit which has accompanied you in the old world, and dwelt with you in the ship across the sea, and has sustained you and your teams while crossing the plains—be careful that you retain it, and make it your counselor here.

I know how natural it is for the Saints who come from abroad to be very diligent in inspecting God’s people, to see if they are as righteous as they ought to be; but they forget they have a duty to perform to themselves. As one of old said, “the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing,” but they forget to look at themselves; the spirit of murmuring and complaining takes possession of them, and you may see them wandering about in sorrow, affliction, and grief; and what is worse than all, they have brought it upon themselves, because they have not retained the fellowship of the Holy Spirit through faithfulness of conduct, and away they go to California. I felt to speak these things to you, that you might be admonished at the present time to faithfulness, and that you might rejoice in the assembly of God’s people, that you had been brought over the mountains to this place in safety. I feel to magnify the name of the Lord to see so many of you, and pray that those who are still journeying on the plains may be safely brought in.

In coming here, you cannot, as individuals, know all things that are before you. You are now dwelling in a society that differs from any you ever dwelt in. The circumstances of life are all different, and the business arrangements different, to those you have been used to in the old country. It is necessary that you look about you for a season, find out whom you are among, and know the condition and nature of the elements and state of the society, that you may drop into business through the fellowship of your brethren and sisters, and take hold with them in the different branches of business that are carried on here for the comforts of life. You Elders, who have been in that country, preaching and building up Branches of the Church there; you that have taken up your cross, and gone from your homes, and warned the inhabitants of the earth where you have labored, the Lord went with you, when you went in the name of Jesus; His Spirit was upon you, and you were the means of building up Churches, and of doing much good in various ways; that same Spirit will be with you when you go to labor in the canyons, or do anything else, if you will nourish it, and not cast it from you. Peradventure in the canyons you may need its premonitions most when your life or limb may be in jeopardy. This, my brethren, is the rock upon which many Saints split—they leave the way of truth, they step aside from the rugged path of duty which they have been wont to walk in, and, feeling a degree of ease and safety, as they suppose, on arriving here, they forget their prayers, and that they have need to continue to increase their fellowship with the Holy Spirit; they leave off their duties, and, ere they are aware of it, they are left to themselves.

It is said that the females are the ones by whom the nations are ruled. It is certain that the females have necessarily great influence upon the whole community, and especially upon the rising generation. Allow me a word with the sisters. In your associations and visiting with those about you, when you find a sister or brother that can speak evil of dignities with impunity, and can find fault with what is being done by the Church, and cannot do any good themselves (for such folks cannot do anything themselves but bark and snarl like the dog in the manger), when you get into the society of such people, you will take notes, if you do as I do, and seek the company of those who will speak well of the brethren and sisters, and then you may expect they will speak well of you. When you associate with those who speak well of the truth, their counsels will edify you, and their words will be seasoned with grace to your edification and instruction, and the clouds of adversity that rest down upon you will vanish away.

You will find Saints living about you, that have the good Spirit, and can give you the word of comfort, and take you by the hand and pour the oil of consolation into your heart, and do you good in the name of the Lord. If you seek that kind of society, you will tend upwards towards the realms of light, in duty and intelligence. By taking this course, you will be cultivating the same good Spirit in your own hearts, that you see in the hearts, examples, and general conduct of your brethren and sisters around you, and which is most conspicuous in those who are called to lead and direct in the Priesthood. On the other hand, if you come in here, with the intention to be right down sharp, careful to watch and to criticize your brethren very closely, you will find all the evil you look for, and see imperfections which the cloak of charity and good will would have covered, had you possessed it yourself. You never were among a people where men talked as they meant, and meant what they said, so near as in this place. If you feel to take advantage of your brother or your sister, you may, but it will not be good for your soul; it will be money badly earned. But if you come here with a frank and honest heart, and prepared to speak and act without hypocrisy, and just as you feel, you will find yourselves among a community of brethren and sisters that are ready to aid, comfort, and bless you. If you look with your eyes, as I did with mine when I came home from England, you will find your brethren and sisters to be such kind of beings, whose good works you will wish to emulate.

Take the wisest course to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of the truth; and the only way is by attending diligently to your prayers, and walking in the light of God’s Spirit. You will find that condescension in the hearts of your brethren, that love and charity abounding in their bosoms that if you are in adversity and need they will extend a helping hand, and comfort you, and do you good, and will not charge you one hundred percent interest either. I have to say that if you have come to these valleys determined, as for you and yours, to serve the Lord, you will find it the easiest thing in the world to fellowship with those whose hearts run together like two drops of water, and you will be blessed, as also will those with whom you associate. You have arrived at a juncture of your life where two ways branch out; if you wish to travel downward, the great depot of that route is California; if upward, the great depot on that road is this city, these men that surround me in this stand. You do not know what you may be called upon to do. I do not know what I may be called upon to do before this Conference comes to a close, in addition to what is already laid upon me here at home. It is necessary to be always ready; and if you live as you ought, you will always be ready, and nothing will come wrong to you; and if you always live that way, you may always be as happy as you wish to be.

The work we are called unto in these last days, calls upon us not to narrow our minds down to the building of a piece of fence, to the enclosing of a piece of land, or to the putting up of a house, alone; but it is our duty while seeking to make an inheritance here, to reach out our prayers in faith and supplication for the general good, and with becoming liberality feel after those who are to enjoy the same blessings we enjoy. We have our duties to ourselves and families to perform, and our daily and hourly duties to our God; but there is a duty we owe, in common with all God’s people, to those who are not yet gathered from the house of bondage. How many of the Israel of God are there sitting in darkness, in distant nations, that have not the light proclaimed to them? Have we come home here to sit down in ease, and let them go down to the grave in ignorance? If we have, we mistake the matter, and in the end will find we shall come short of that glory and reward we anticipate. You have come here to obtain inheritances for yourselves and families, and for your generations forever, in righteousness, as God shall give you power to do. You have, in connection with this, to build up the kingdom of God, to pay tithing, and be ready to fill every office and duty that is put upon you, making the kingdom of God the first and foremost in your affections and attention, and yourselves and families a secondary consideration; and this Gospel has to be borne off among the nations of the earth.

How good it is for us to hear, by the monthly mails, how many there are continually witnessing afar off to the forgiveness of sins through the Gospel. We ought to remember them, and be prepared for whatever may be expected at our hands in those far off regions. Let us not settle down, and become sordid in our affections to anything earthly. It is our duty to seek first the kingdom of God, and the promise is that other things shall be added unto us.

The Lord has manifested His readiness, and determination of purpose, to pour out knowledge and intelligence upon His people, as fast as they are prepared to receive it. Since I left you the last time in the old country, the revelations of the Lord have been sent forth, which had never before been made public, and we have all been led along by degrees in the knowledge of life and salvation. Yet a great amount of advancement has yet to be made while we are in the flesh, greater duties are rolling upon us as fast as we can perform those we are already engaged in. We look around us here upon the house of Israel, the Lamanites, and while our hearts are opened towards them for good, they are not backward to administer death to our brethren. Is this always going to be so? No. The Lord God will work upon them in His own way, until they become one with us in building up the kingdom of God.

The Priesthood in the last days has to be manifested in sufficient power to bear off the kingdom of God triumphant, that all Israel may be gathered and saved. If all Israel will not be sanctified by the law which their Moses first offers them, they will peradventure receive a law of ordinances administered to them, not according to the power of an endless life. Men will be saved in the last days as in former days, according to their faith and willingness to receive the word of God, and walk in it.

We may speak in terms of wonder and admiration of what has been done, and yet where shall these things grow to? They must grow until they spread over all the face of the earth, and control the powers that exist upon it. There must be other revelations fulfilled in our return to Jackson County, and building up the New Jerusalem there; the Lord prepare us for that day, that we may be able to stand the exhibition of glory that will there be made manifest. Before that comes to pass, something must be done here, there is a temple to be built in this city. You, brethren, who received your blessings and endowments in the temple that was built in Nauvoo, have been made witnesses of the wisdom and power that have gone forth to the nations of the earth from that place, and of the power that was realized in the quorums of the Priesthood; no tide of oppression could be raised powerful enough to bear down the authorities of God’s kingdom; we see the wicked who came to rule us turned back to their own place, and the Priesthood appears greater than the powers of earth. The powers of the Priesthood must be made manifest before the eyes of all the world, and become transcendently above every other influence. You have sure grounds for confidence, for every step and every turn this Church makes, is calculated to increase confidence; and if we live so as to have our eyes washed with the eye water of the Gospel, we can ourselves realize the rapid growth of Christ’s kingdom, and the growth of grace in ourselves and in others necessary to lead us on to perfection. You have come here to cultivate perfection in yourselves in the name of the Lord; and if you do that, and try to be useful, and willing to do anything here or anywhere else you are instructed to do, you will be made fit for the performance of any essential good in the kingdom of God.

Well then, brethren and sisters, while all is auspicious around us, and everything calculated to encourage us to do good, let us be up and doing, and try to keep the commandments of God with all our hearts, and we shall find it easier and easier to do it. Let us be prepared always for every duty that is laid upon us, and the grace of God will be sufficient for us under every circumstance.

When I was called to preside in England, I felt as though I never could magnify that calling, it appeared too great for me. But if we feel right, we shall feel like the Prophet of old, the Spirit of the Lord will be sufficient for us in the performance of every duty. I pray that the spirit of Zion may be given to you who have newly come in, that you may go on your way rejoicing, and be able to do the will of God here and abroad. May the blessings of God be and abide upon you by day and by night, and increase you on the earth, in blessings and riches forever, is the prayer of your brother Franklin.

A Discourse by President Orson Hyde, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, September 24, 1853.

Being called upon this morning to occupy a portion of the time, I gladly arise to do so.

I am not in the habit of making many apologies, for I intend to give you the best I have on hand, and also such as may be given me, during the remarks I may make.

While I attempt to edify you upon some of the principles of salvation and eternal life, I desire an interest in your prayers, that I may speak, not according to the wisdom that man deviseth, but according to that which cometh down from above.

As a foundation for some remarks that I will make, I will read a portion of the Epistle of Jude, 3rd verse—“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”

Were I capable this morning of addressing you upon subjects that are not understood by you, that you do not comprehend, there would remain a doubt in your minds with regard to the truthfulness of what I say; but if I address you upon subjects with which you are familiar, impressing them upon your minds perhaps more forcibly than they have been for some time past—if I refresh your minds with familiar things, you will then know and understand.

The old book, the Bible, which I have read so many times, does not lose its interest by once or twice pe– rusing, but I take it up and read it over and over again, and my mind is refreshed; which is a matter of satisfaction and comfort to me. So it is with the principles of our religion; though we have often heard them, yet we desire to hear them still, and they are of that peculiar nature that they do not lose their interest to those who are seeking for eternal life.

Jude speaks of a common salvation; that it was not only necessary to write unto them of the common salvation, but while he was doing so, that he should exhort them to contend for the faith once delivered to the Saints. Now I know it is too often the case, when we speak of salvation we speak of a state of glory to be attained in the eternal world; that the matters and affairs of this world are of but little consequence, of little importance, but we are looking yonder in the heavens for our reward, for our everlasting inheritance.

I look at it in this light. The husbandman may plant seed in the earth, but if he all the time looks to the golden harvest, and pays no attention to the cultivation of the young plants on their progress to perfection, he will not reap the reward he anticipated. Then it becomes necessary for him, and it is to his interest to attend to the cultivation of the plant in its progressive stages, and encourage its growth.

Just so it is with us. It is for us to attend to the things that are present; the things that are past we are to forget, particularly those things that are of an unpleasant character; and the things that are in future are not in our hands, and subject to our control, but they are in the hands of the Almighty, and with Him they are secured. It is the present, then, with which we have to do—with the things that are immediately before us; that is, I believe, the common salvation. I do not pretend to say what the Apostle had his eye particularly fixed upon, but I shall pursue this subject as it appears unto me.

Another thing I will suggest in the outset. It is often the case that we hear men and women talk about temporal things, and about spiritual things. What are temporal things, and what are spiritual things? Can you tell me what spiritual things are? Says one, “It is a joyful feeling, that buoys us above the cares and anxieties of this world. Spiritual things are our hope of a glorious inheritance in the Kingdom of God in the future. Temporal things are the things we eat, drink, wear, and use in divers ways, to shelter and sustain this mortal body while it remains a tabernacle for our spirits.”

I look at temporal and spiritual things in the same point of light; they are to me all spiritual; I know no difference. The hand that has prepared a place in the celestial kingdom for them that are worthy of it, has also formed the earth and caused it to produce food for every living thing. We behold, in the starry firmament, the worlds that are revolving continually around us, which are made by the same Omnipotent hand, and they are all His, and they are all spiritual, because they are as eternal as God Himself, for there can be no annihilation of matter; consequently they are eternal; and nothing we may conceive or imagine of more refined substances can do more than continue forever.

Everything God has created and made, even the hairs of our heads that fall to the ground, do not escape His notice. The Almighty has not organized matter as a mere plaything, of a temporary existence, and then plunge it into the regions of utter annihilation; but everything He has done is like Himself, Eternal, and everything eternally witnesses the goodness of the Supreme Ruler, for all His works shall praise Him. If His works are to perish, where is the monument of His labor? There will be none. What He does is eternal, and remains an eternal witness of what He has done, and so His works eternally praise Him.

But we want to come to this common salvation. It is said somewhere, whether in the Bible or some other place, I do not pretend to say; but if it is not in the Bible it is nonetheless true, that “self preservation is the first law of nature.” I have reflected this morning a short time upon our condition. I contemplate the circumstances under which the Pioneers came to this valley—the circumstances that attended the early settlements and exertions made here to procure the necessaries of life.

I was not one among the honored company that first led the way to this distant region, that first plowed up the sterile soil of this valley, but I was engaged in some other country. Indeed while Pioneers were on their way to this land—while they were engaged in that arduous enterprise, I was perhaps upon the banks of the Danube, or might possibly be in England, or in Asia, I do not now recollect where I was; but I was in those eastern regions, bearing my testimony perhaps among the Austrians, Russians, or Turks, among their consuls and agents, bearing my testimony to them of the things to come. Perhaps some in those nations may now remember that an humble servant of God at a certain time bore his testimony among the people in that country, which is the most beautiful of God’s creation, spreading out in valley or plain, and which perhaps is now laid desolate, and drenched in human blood.

I was elsewhere when this valley was settled. How was it? Behold, when they arrived here, all they had to subsist upon, until they raised it from the soil, was in their wagons. There were no crops to come to; there was nothing provided to cheer them at the end of their long and toilsome journey; and the skeletons of cattle might be seen walking to and fro, without anything provided to feed them upon through a long winter. And then, when they had plowed up the soil, and sowed seed in the earth, and the fields began to show an evidence of a future supply, the crickets came in millions from the mountains, and nearly devoured all that grew; everything that germinated in the shape of food for man was eaten by the insects.

But before they had completed the work of destruction, the hand of Providence prepared agents, and sent them to destroy the destroyer; a circumstance that was rare, one that was never known to exist before, and never since to any extent—behold, the gulls came in swarms, and as clouds and eat up the crickets, and checked them in their destructive career; and there was just enough saved to feed the hungry with a scanty morsel.

There are many before me this morning who can no doubt remember well when their meal bags were perfectly empty, with only a distant prospect of their being replenished; and when a cow was slaughtered, rare as it was, they eat everything; even the hide was boiled, dressed, and eaten, and everything else, external and internal, that possibly could be eaten was eaten; there was nothing lost.

One man said to me, “I labored hard under the pangs of hunger to put up a little adobie cabin and pre– pare to live, and at the same time my wife and children, pale with want, were ranging the hills and benches to find thistles and roots to eat, which we boiled in the milk of the remaining cows the wolves had not eaten.”

Those who have come here since the Valleys have become a little fattened, think it hard if they cannot get what they want, and immediately enjoy a fulness with those who have borne the burden and heat of the day. They think it hard if they have to pass through a close place, and have to struggle a little to obtain the comforts of life. But look back to the early settlements of this place, when nothing but destruction stared its inhabitants in the face, what surety had they from the savage that was in their doors and in their tents? Here was the hostile and bloodthirsty savage, prowling around, and the early settlers knew not what hour he might pounce upon them; they were out of doors; they had not a house to live in, or to form a defense, much less a fort to protect them, until they were able to throw up something of a temporary character to shield them from the attacks of the wild man of the mountains.

This is a little of the early history of this settlement. We have prospered; we have had accessions to our numbers; to be sure we have had trouble and difficulty with the savages in various ways, but in the midst of it all we have arisen from the germ, and the tree has grown up, and begins to shoot forth its branches.

It is not the inhabitants of the little settlement in Salt Lake Valley alone that are now embraced within the walls of this Tabernacle; but three hundred miles to the south, and two hundred miles to the north, large settlements have sprung up. In the midst of these circumstances, the hand of God has been with us as a people, and prospered our labors abundantly; and I feel proud to meet you this morning in such comfortable circumstances; you all appear comfortably clad, and the bloom of health and the smile of contentment sit triumphantly upon your countenances. The hand of the Almighty is with you, to cheer and gladden you in the midst of all difficulties, and the praise is due unto Him, for He has blessed our labors, and enabled us to acquire these comforts we enjoy; and let me say, they are the staff and bulwark of our common salvation, for it is our lives we wish to prolong on the earth.

Why do we wish to do so in this toilsome and troublesome world? Why not close our mortal career, and our spirits go home to God who gave them? Because we have not done our work. It is said the wicked shall not live half their days; if they did they would only multiply their race until the principles of wickedness would become universally diffused. The Lord will give to the righteous the long end of the cord, for they shall live out their days. Then I say to the Saints, be just and true to each other, and to your God, and you will live out your days, and complete the work assigned you.

I will represent it in another point of light. Suppose a man is sent to England, or to the Continent, to Asia, Egypt, to any part of Africa, to the western islands, or to the islands of the Pacific to fulfil a mission, and he returns before he has completed it; who is ready to greet him? Who stands ready to welcome him, that understands his true position? He has not done his duty; he has not fulfilled his mission, and accomplished the work he was sent to do; and he returns, how? Filled with the Spirit of God? No, but with the spirit of darkness; and his testimony is powerless; he feels he has not done his duty like a faithful servant.

Then how important it is that every missionary that bears a portion of the Holy Priesthood, and this Gospel to the islands of the sea, should magnify it in the eyes of the people, and before his God, and return clean in spirit and in heart; and with a Spirit to bear witness with our spirits that God is with him, and has been all the day long. He is then hailed with a joyful welcome by the servants of God in Zion.

We are all on a mission to this world. We came from yonder bright sphere, and each of us have our lots assigned us; and now if we can accomplish our mission, when we return to the bosom of our Father and God, would you not suppose we shall be hailed with one universal welcome? Yes. “Ah!” says one, “I was an hungered and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger and ye took me in: Naked and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” This is the welcome.

Then it is for us to act well our part, and perform our mission faithfully, with fidelity to God and to one another, while we are permitted to dwell upon the earth. If we should not act well our part, and go home to the world of spirits, who will be ready to receive us, to extend to us the welcome hand? Every mouth is silent; no songs of praise greet the ear, or shouts of gladness to bless the heart, that a valiant soldier who has retained his laurels would receive. The unfaithful one has lost his glory, and is shorn of his laurels. What will be said to him? “Inasmuch as you knew your master’s will, and did not do it, you shall be beaten with many stripes.” He has gone to another society; he is not permitted to mingle with the righteous, but he must seek an asylum in another quarter.

Then remember we are missionaries sent to this lower world to accomplish a work. What is the work we are sent to accomplish? In the beginning it was said to our first parents, Go forth, and multiply and replenish the earth. I have been looking about, and have seen how anxious many of our farmers are to improve their stock of cattle; to make them of better blood, and thus all the time be improving; but I very seldom have heard of man seeking to improve his own species. I wish you to think of that for a moment. I have seldom heard that subject agitated, when indeed it is the most important one that was ever investigated.

Let us go a little into the philosophy of this, and see if it can be done, as much so as we can improve any other portion of the animal creation. It is said we bear the image of God, and now shall we dwindle down to the physical and mental degeneracy of the monkey? Shall we suffer our race to dry up like a parched reed? Let us look at this matter. The question is before you to investigate and understand.

Look around upon all the ranks of mankind, and we see different races, some of a high order of intellect, and some low and groveling, among all the different grades and classes of the human family. Do you suppose it is so in the spirit world? These earthly tabernacles are merely temporary houses for them to dwell in—moving tabernacles; and there are thousands and tens of thousands in the spirit world that have yet to come and take bodies here; and there are different grades of men. Some are of a high order of intellect, and others are low; some are more noble and generous, and some are less so; they all wish to take tabernacles in this world.

I will illustrate how it is possible to improve our own race. Suppose there comes into the community a noted thief and villain; where will he find a home? He will seek for a man possessing a kindred spirit; with that man he takes up his abode, for he does not find the son of peace there, but the son of villainy.

On the other hand suppose a righteous man comes into the community, would it not be natural for him to make his abode with a righteous man? for no other society would be at all congenial to him. The words of the Savior chime in with this idea. Said he to his Apostles, “And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.”

Will that thief and villain go and call upon a righteous man? The atmosphere that surrounds that devoted family is too scorching for him; he is glad to escape from it.

Now then, how shall we improve our own race? Evil communications corrupt good manners. This is as true a saying as it is common. Let every family, every parent, man and woman, set up the standard of purity and righteousness in their own families, and suffer no corrupt principle to lodge in the mind, and never practice it, but by strict integrity and righteousness maintain an atmosphere that is congenial to the good and great.

So, when those spirits come to take bodies, where will the noble and high order of them go? Will they take bodies that have come through a low and degraded parentage? No, no more than the righteous man will take up his abode with the vile and wicked. Where will he go? “Why,” says that noble spirit, that is swelling with light and intelligence, “I will take a body through an honorable parentage; I will have a body that will correspond with my mind; I will go to the place where purity and righteousness dwell.”

Where do the spirits of a lower grade go? Among the lowest, and uncultivated, where the cultivation of the principles of virtue and integrity is in part or entirely neglected. In this way the sins of the fathers are answered upon their children to the third and fourth generation.

Do good spirits want to partake of the sins of the low and degraded? No; but they will stay in heaven until a way is opened for purity and righteousness to form a channel in which they can come, and take honorable bodies in this world, and magnify their calling. Let us take that course, and if we do not draw the brightest spirits to honor our generations, it is because I do not understand, and declare unto you, the principles of true philosophy in correctness on this subject.

Try this, and your offspring will be the fairest specimens of the work of God’s hand. If the servants of God will maintain the principles of holiness and integrity, they can then have more than one wife, and by that means you can draw in your train more of those spirits that will glorify the God of Israel.

Let me bring it right home to you. Suppose your children were about to go from you to some distance—would you not feel anxious they should fall into good company, into generous hands? Yes. So, when our Father in heaven, who is the Father of the spirits of all flesh (no mother up there, is there? I do not know that a man can produce his own kind without the agency of woman; I know of no such law in nature), sends spirits to earth, when they leave Him, is He not anxious they should fall into good hands? Yes. He is anxious they should have an honorable birth, and glorify His name in the flesh, reflecting honor on His character and dignity in heaven. And if there is not much said about the mother, if they honor the Father, the mother will borrow her glory from the father, it will come to her through that channel, and it is a legitimate one.

The parent has a desire that the recreant child may do well, at the same time his good desires and hopes for his welfare are weakened by despair; you commit him to the care and keeping of kind Providence; it gives you sorrow, it pains you that he will not be good, but you cannot help it, for he will not listen to the counsels of a kind parent. So it is with our heavenly Father. He wishes the spirits born to him in the eternal world to do well when they come here to take bodies. If some are not so loyal, so true and faithful as others, yet He wishes them to do well, but at the same time they must pursue their own course, prove themselves, and then receive the reward due to their works done in the body.

Now then, let us commence to improve our race. You know, to one there is given five talents, to another two, and to another one, &c. Let us improve upon the talents we have received—upon every power, ability and trust that has been committed to us. If we do not, the talents we receive may be taken from us. After all these things I have told you about improving our own race, self-preservation is the first law of nature. I have told you about the people in the Valley, about the productions thereof, how it was in the beginning of its settlement.

I wish to come to our present condition, and I want to speak justly and correctly, and if I do not, I know there is a power here that will correct me, and will not fail to do it. If I say anything that is far out of the way, it should be corrected, and I hope I may ever stand in that relation whenever I commit an error, that it may be corrected before it be too late.

This season the Lord has blessed us with abundance. I told you that all things are spiritual to me, and when I talk about potatoes, hay, wheat, &c., I am talking about things that are given to us of God. Suppose the Lord should give to me the gift of tongues, it would be the gift of God. On the other hand, suppose He should give me a loaf of bread when I am hungry, which shall I prize the most? It is all the gift of God. Then with regard to self-preservation being the first law of nature. When our brethren have a good crop given to them by the hand of Providence, coupled with their own industry, they are anxious to sell it. They want to buy many things, and press it into market, and sell it for comparatively half its value, so crazy are they to sell it.

They are like some men, when they get a few dimes in their pockets it burns them as it were, and they must spend their money, because they cannot rest until it is spent; taking comfort from the idea, “O well, we will get along the best way we can;” and when they have spent the last dime they are hard up sure enough. This is the case with many of our friends whose labors the Lord has blessed, and richly repaid them for their toil by a bounteous harvest, and now they are anxious to get rid of it.

When we descend to the matter of dollars and cents, it is also spiritual; God made the metal of which they are made; He put it in the earth. We came down so, to accommodate ourselves to the understandings of all, for I told you I should talk about things you know, and not about things that you cannot comprehend. I will venture to say, when I talk about dollars and cents, you will all understand me. For instance, you sell your hay at ten dollars per ton, your wheat at a dollar and a half per bushel, and all your other products in the same ratio to the stranger, or anybody else that will buy it from you, you are so anxious to get rid of it. But by and by, when your poor brethren come in, and have not means to buy that which they must subsist upon, but are under the necessity by days’ work first to earn capital before they can buy the farmer’s produce—by the time they get means, the price is raised from fifty to one hundred percent.

Your own brethren, who stand by you in summer and in winter, in adversity and in prosperity; your own brethren, who roam the world over to bring recruits to strengthen your forces, and make your defenses still more invulnerable; when they come fainting from the field of their labors, you make them pay an hundred percent more for your produce than the stranger that passes through your country. Is that right? Will God bless an order of things of that kind? Try it, and if you don’t dwindle into monkeys, you will dwindle into something more hideous still.

What is to be done? Shall not the stranger be fed? Most certainly. Where rests the difficulty then? If you will only sell to your poor brethren next spring at the same price you will now sell to the stranger, there is no difficulty—I have nothing more to say, but I will be perfectly quiet upon this matter. If you will not do this, raise the price to the stranger, to the same standard you will exact from your poor brethren next spring. If you will do this, you will do right.

This is the common salvation that I wanted to speak to you upon. The scales of justice should be hung upon an even balance. Who are the best able to pay? Your poor brethren, who have hardly a pittance left when they arrive here—who have nothing to bless and comfort their souls and bodies with, or those who come backed up with resources inexhaustible?

Says one, “Do you calculate to go upon the principle that he who has the most shall pay the most?” No; but he shall pay just as much in the fore part of the year, as those do in the latter part of it. I do not see any injustice in this. You now sell your hay at from eight to ten dollars per ton. Next spring, when your poor brethren who have come from Denmark, England, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and the islands of the sea, with their cattle poor, and in the winter and spring shivering and perishing around your stack yards, what will you charge these poor fellows for hay? Twenty-five dollars per ton, when in the early part of the season you sold it for ten to the stranger. When it has become scarce because of the draft made upon it in the fore part of the fall at that low price, you then exact more than double from your brethren.

How can you answer for this to the Gods who gave you a being? I will leave you to tell your own story. I say, make your prices so that they continue the same the year round, both in times of scarcity and in times of plenty. What is food for one is food for another.

By taking this course you may perhaps compel a little more money to be left in the Valley. What will be done with it? Why, money, like every other stream, will seek its own level. The water courses here find their own level. Suppose there is more money left in the Valley than we actually need—where will it go to? It will find its own level. By and by the land we occupy will come into market, and then where goes the money? Into the treasury of the United States. Has the Government lost anything? No. Has the consumer? No; he has had the value of his money. The producer has gained, but he has gained no more than his just due for encountering the danger he is exposed to, and the labor he must perform in raising produce in the shape of grain, and stock in an Indian country. When his boys go out to herd the cattle they have to be guarded against the attacks of the savage. When the producer goes into the field to labor, he is liable to be shot down by the Indian. In the midst of dangers they produce the necessaries of life, and yet they will sell their products for a mere song.

“Why,” says one, “do you wish to oppress anybody by increasing the price of the staple articles of life to the injury of the purchaser?” That is not the design. But I will tell you what it is; men who pass through here may be thankful to get them on any terms. If they had come eight years ago they would have found a waste howling wilderness. What would they have given then for a bushel of wheat? Almost any price. Who has contended with the obstacles to making things as accessible as they are now? The producers, and they are entitled to the benefit arising from their labors.

We do not wish to oppress any person, but we wish to bring everybody to one standard price. We want to see the brethren who come here cold and hungry, have as good a chance as those who come in with their abundance. I am glad we have sufficient to spare to feed the stranger, the soldier, who is the right arm of the nation’s defense; I am glad to see them share the bounties of Providence; but I say, let the scale of justice hang upon an even balance.

Do I want any person oppressed, and taken advantage of? No. But I want free trade and sailors’ rights. I want evenhanded justice all round; then I will be satisfied; for this is the common salvation. But if one party is favored more than another, it is a particular salvation. Good wheat, fine flour, beef, butter, cheese, and vegetables are good ingredients to form a common salvation upon; they prolong our lives, lengthen out our days, that we may perform our mission, and do well our work while we are upon the earth, and not die before we have lived out our days, and fully performed what is designed we should.

Now I did not preach exactly so at Dry Creek and Mountainville, but I preached nearly in this way, and when I had done I told them not to be in a hurry to sell their grain, but keep it and try to maintain an equilibrium in the market all the year through. When I had got through, I believed they would do as I told them; for they saw the wisdom of it, and everybody will act according to it only him who says, “I want to live, and I care not if all the rest go to the devil.”

What an unenviable situation a man must be in to live himself, and see everybody else destroyed! What a glory it would be to him! He could then exclaim, like Alexander Selkirk,

I am monarch of all I survey, My right there is none to dispute.

It is a glory I never want to have.

The religious world scandalize the Deity by saying He is quite alone. I once learned a piece to repeat on the Fourth of July. It began like this—

When time was not, e’er suns and planets shone; When God their mighty Maker lived alone; When men, the high born offspring of the sky, Lived but in visions to the Eternal’s eye; T’was then that freedom held her bright abode In cloudless glory in the mind of God.

I do not believe God was ever alone; for He has said Himself, it is not good for man to be alone; and if it is not good, I am sure He will not be alone.

We are created in His image and likeness, and I think He has been moving on the same track we are in, and we shall acquire the same experience if we listen to His revelations. “What!” Do you suppose He has lived in the flesh?” Paul says, we have not a God that cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Why? Because he has felt about the same as we do. The other day when brother Hyde was mixing mortar, a person came along and said, “Brother Hyde, is it possible that I see you mixing mortar?” “Yes,” I replied, “and when I stand up yonder, and see you poor fellows mixing mortar, I can sympathize with you.” I should hate to enlist under a General, and follow him to the field of battle if he had never been there; I should want him to have a little experience, and then I could follow him with some degree of confidence.

I have spoken to you freely on the common salvation. And while the Spirit is upon me, I would charge you to practice it; to set your standard prices now, and maintain them to your brethren in the spring. If you have not already set them high enough to meet your ambitious views, raise them until they will, and there let them stand. That is my advice, and who is going to be injured by it? No person. Who is going to be benefited by it? The producer, who has to go into the field with his life in one hand, and the implement of husbandry in the other. If this is done, the hand of God will strengthen the hands of the producer, and he will live in time and throughout eternity; and we shall have abundance, and rejoice in the kingdom of our God.

Contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the Saints. But if I were to branch out upon that, I should detain you too long. I will therefore leave it for another occasion, or for someone who is better able to handle it than myself.

May God bless us, and save us in His kingdom. Amen.

An Address by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Sept. 11, 1853.

After giving you a brief explanation of the feelings of those who profess to be Saints, I wish to give a little counsel—as I have frequently done before—to newcomers.

I am acquainted with the general disposition of mankind, and also considerably acquainted with the traditions under which their minds, feelings, passions, judgments, or I will comprehend the whole by saying their consciences, have been formed by parents, teachers, ministers, and others, who have exercised an influence over the young and tender mind; these things are familiar to me in a great degree, and have been for many years. I see them manifested each day I live. The branches of the tree shoot forth, and bear their fruit, and men can judge of the nature of the tree, by its fruit.

The feelings and sentiments of this people, the Latter-day Saints, are varied; they are far from being of one heart, and of one mind, of one judgment, and of one desire; but I have no doubt they come nearer to it, than any other community upon the face of the earth. This we know.

In reality, the inhabitants of the earth do not vary so much in their sentiments as they do in the explaining of them to each other. This I have good reason to believe; when feelings and ideas are explained, people vary more in language than in sentiment, yet they differ widely in their senti– ments, feelings, customs, habits, and manner of life.

With regard to the kingdom of heaven now on the earth, of which we form a part, we admit the kingdom of God has come; many of us believed that years ago, who believed Joseph Smith was a Prophet, who believed he had power and authority to establish it on the earth. What were the feelings of the people, almost universally, in the infancy of this Church? Men of science and talent in this Church believed—or they said they believed—honestly, truly, and with all their hearts, that Joseph Smith did not understand anything about temporal matters. They believed he understood spiritual things—that he understood the Spirit of the Lord, and how to build up the spiritual kingdom among men; but when temporal matters were talked of, men were ready to decide at once, that they knew more than the Prophet about such matters; and they did so decide.

Were you to ask how many times men did so, who did so, and on what occasions they did so, I could answer you, for I am conversant with every circumstance that transpired, pertaining to temporal matters, from the first of my acquaintance with Joseph Smith, as a Prophet of the Lord. The first Elders of this Church decided that Joseph did not understand temporal matters. The first Bishops of this Church said they believed with all their hearts, that they understood temporal matters far better than the Prophet Joseph. Are these the feelings of the people at the present time? They are not, but right to the reverse. I could have said then, the same that I could say now, if Joseph was living—if he could have been believed, and confidence could have been placed in him, with regard to temporal matters, wealth would have been poured into the laps of this people, to overflowing.

The remark that was made this morning is a true one, although the matter referred to is small, apparently, but it is a fact, there was not enough confidence in the people to satisfy them that the Prophet knew how to handle money, or what to do with it; they did not believe he knew how to manage temporal affairs. This lack of confidence brought poverty and distress upon the whole people.

When men came into our midst, who shut up the bowels of their compassion, and held their money with an iron fist, they were held in communion with us, our faith was exercised for them, we mingled with them, and gave them fellowship for a time, yet one man, with his covetousness, tied up the whole people. In many instances, men were cut off for their covetousness, and because they had not confidence in the Prophet, and held their substance when means were wanted to carry on the work of God, to send the Gospel to distant lands, to sustain the poor, build houses, and accomplish that which was necessary to be done. While this means was withheld, it brought the whole Church under condemnation, for this reason all had to suffer.

This was in the days of the Prophet Joseph. Have the people reformed since then? Perhaps a few of them have; and again, perhaps a great many of them have not. Many have not had an opportunity to reform, as there is a considerable portion of this community who have not had an acquaintance with the Prophet; they never associated with him, they have not had an opportunity of sustaining his hands. Again, there is a certain portion of the people who were associated with him. What would the people do now, if they by their voice could call him back to their midst? Would they be willing to lay their substance at his feet? I very much doubt it. He was poor, harassed, distressed, afflicted, and tormented with lawsuits upon lawsuits, persecution upon persecution, and thus it cost thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep him alive, which a few had to sustain. Is this affliction upon them now? It is not. The scene is reversed. And as the people once thought, that many by one man could be made poor, they now believe, by one man many will be made rich. At the present day I do not know where the opportunity is to prove the people.

There are individuals here, and members of the Church, that when they come up to this land, are very careful to leave their substance behind them. And if they have money to lend, they are very careful to lend it to persons who do not belong to the Church. There are such present today. They are fearful and unbelieving. They did not believe in the days of Joseph that he could tell them the truth. But if you asked them if they believed Joseph was a Prophet, and if God sent him to build up the kingdom, “O yes,” would be their reply; and yet they had not confidence to ask him what they should do with the thousands in their possession. These are a few facts in the life and experience of the Prophet Joseph.

How is it now? Have the people confidence? They say they have. Are they willing to take counsel? They say they are. As it was observed here this morning, when we wish anything done, the peo- ple are ready and willing to raise their hands to accede to the propositions made by their leaders. Do you remember what I told you a few sabbaths ago—this whole people are willing to receive counsel, but who of them are willing to carry it out to the very letter? The future will prove that. It is not proven by sitting on your seats and simply raising your hands, as a token, a covenant, a witness to God and angels that you are ready to take counsel, and also carry it out.

For men of principle, and seemingly of good sense, to believe the Prophet Joseph, who was inspired to build up the kingdom of God temporally as well as spiritually, did not know as much about a picayune as about God’s spiritual kingdom, about a farm as about the New Jerusalem, is folly in the extreme, it is nonsense in the superlative degree. Those who entertain such ideas ought to have their heads well combed, and subjected to a lively course of friction, that peradventure a little common sense might dawn upon their confused ideas.

Consult your own judgments in such matters. Do you think that God would set a man to lead his people, who does not know as much about a picayune or a farm, as about God’s spiritual kingdom, or the New Jerusalem? Shame on those who would entertain such ideas, for they debase and corrupt the hearts of the community who imbibe them. According to the sentiments of some of the Latter-day Saints, the Lord must have become wonderfully high minded in the last days; I should think he has become too proud according to their belief, to notice farms and merchandise, and other little affairs and transactions that pass around us. He used to notice the very hairs of our heads that fell and the sparrows; He took care or the ravens, and watched over the children of Israel, and supplied all their temporal wants; but we say now, He does not condescend to such small matters, having given us an understanding, and we know what to do. Are not these the feelings of the people? I could refer to some little things by way of example, but it would hit somebody rather too publicly.

Let me ask that brother, if you have not thought in your heart, you would not go to brother Brigham for counsel, for fear he would counsel you to go to some place you do not want to go? Still you say, “I believe this is the kingdom of God, and I do not want to come in contact with brother Brigham, I do not wish to meet him, for fear he should come in contact with my calculations, and what I have decided upon in my mind.” I could put my hand upon some of you who entertain such thoughts.

I will refer you now to the counsel I wished to give the brethren who have lately come into the city from the East. I have heretofore counseled newcomers, to go to the South, or to the North, for we have settlements 360 miles, North and South.

Many of the people here have their friends, who have come in this season, and some are still on the plains, who will be in in a few days. I have been in the habit of saying to the brethren—You take one hundred families and settle in such a place; and you take fifty and settle in yonder place; but I never have given such counsel for the guidance of the brethren, that it has not raised one continual whining, saying, “I want to go to another place, for there is somewhere you want me to go that I do not like;” or, “I rather think brother Brigham thinks I am not tried and proven sufficiently, and he wants to put me in circumstances to finish trying me.” That is the reason I want you to go here or there, and the reason why you complain; for when men are thoroughly tried, they are ready to go to any place where they are told to go, and when they are told.

My counsel now to newcomers is, to do just what you have a mind to, and go where you please, if you can. You may go and settle in any part of the Territory that you please; and furthermore, you may go to California if you wish.

I have told you what you may do, I will now tell you what you may not do. You may try to gather a little company, and go to settle a place where there are no inhabitants. You cannot, with my consent, go to any place, unless it is to a city, that is, or will be walled in. If you go from this city, go to a neighborhood where you can be defended from the ravages of Indians or other evil designing persons.

Brother David Fullmer, this morning, talked about working all our lives upon a wall, if it were necessary; but the wall we contemplate making here, is not a breakfast spell. I calculate to keep walling until the mountains around us become an impregnable defense. What we have now on hand is not a circumstance. I will venture to say, that brother Parley P. Pratt has got a job on hand infinitely more extensive than the walling in of the whole territory of Utah. His work was given to him sixteen years ago, by the Prophet Joseph Smith, in the Kirtland Temple. Parley P. Pratt has yet to build temples in old Scotland. The Scotch brethren might say, “What is the use then of our coming to these distant valleys, so far from our native country?” Had you not better write to your brethren who are still in Scotland to stay where they are, think you? He has to build temples there of greater magnitude than we have yet contemplated. When he will do it I do not know; it is certain he will do it if he is faithful; but whether he will do it after the earth is glorified, or before that time, I do not know.

I have a word to say to the sisters who have lately come into our city. Do not allow your fathers, your husbands, and your brothers, to go to any place to settle, unless it is walled in, or in some other way made perfectly capable of defending you and themselves from the attack of Indians, or those who would seek to destroy you and your property. If they want to drag you off to some place where you will be exposed to the ravages of Indians, tell them you are going to stay where you are, and then ask them what they are going to do about it. It is not my general practice to counsel the sisters to disobey their husbands, but my counsel is—obey your husbands; and I am sanguine and most emphatic on that subject. But I never counseled a woman to follow her husband to the devil. If a man is determined to expose the lives of his friends, let that man go to the devil and to destruction alone.

You have got my counsel. You need not, any of you, ask my counsel to run over to the west mountains to settle, for there are plenty alone there already. If you have not elbow room enough, rub my elbows, I can rub as hard as you can. I can tell you something you never have yet thought of. You may number all the families in this city, and with them their cattle and flocks, and there is more ground within its precincts, if properly cultivated, than would support them all from year to year. There are not inhabitants enough in the city to cultivate the land in it, as it should be. Look around and see the hundreds of acres that have not been cultivated at all; one bushel to ten has not been raised, that might have been, on the lots that the people have pretended to cultivate. Be not afraid of being too close together. The men or women who enjoy the Spirit of the Lord, never feel themselves crowded by that spirit, or by those who possess it; and they never will. When disturbance and difficulty occur, it is because of the opposite spirit, which is a contentious spirit; and those persons who possess it may expect to be crowded when they get to hell, as much or more than they are here; they will not have as much elbow room there as they have here, perhaps.

The Latter-day Saints ought not to feel so. Our cities are open, our streets are wide, and we have the sweet mountain air, and a healthy country. Do not be afraid to live together. What kind of air did you breathe, who lived in eleven, twelve, and fourteen story houses in your native country? If you could live in such confined circumstances, why cannot you live here, while breathing air as sweet, I may say, as the New Jerusalem.

I have told you my mind, you can now do as your own minds shall dictate, if you think proper, and be responsible for the same. I have frequently thought, what would be the consequence in this community, were we to be as strict now, as the authorities of the Church once were? For it used to be, if a man did not obey counsel after it was given him, he was cut off from the Church. Do you not think we are lenient, easy, and forgiving? Let us be kind to each other, and cultivate the spirit of peace, and seek diligently to know the will of God. How can you know it? In matters pertaining to yourselves as individuals, you can obtain it directly from the Lord; but in matters pertaining to public affairs, His will is ascertained through the proper channel, and may be known by the general counsel that is given you from the proper source.

I have told you heretofore what I am afraid of (and, in reality I am not afraid of anything else), which is incorporated in the idea—See that ye forget not the Lord your God. If this people will serve Him with all their heart, mind, and strength, they have nothing to fear from this time henceforth and forever. You are not to be overcome by your enemies, or put down and trampled under foot, if you will do this, and continue to be humble before the Lord your God. In doing this, no power under the heavens can disturb this people.

If I have any knowledge touching the condition of this people at the present time, and the way they are taught, led, counseled, and dictated by those who go before them to open up the way, it is directly opposite of that we saw in the days of Joseph the Prophet. He was full of sorrow, trouble, poverty, and distress; but now the people are led into riches, by the example, counsel, advice, and dictations of their leaders. They are on the highway to wealth; and there is danger in it. Here are men that never knew enough of the principles of economy to gather substance or save anything to themselves, until within a few years back; but now they are becoming rich in a moderate point of view. We do not expect to become wealthy like the Rothschilds, or some other large capitalists of Europe. This people are gathering much substance around them, which is a principle of heaven—a principle of Zion, but there is a fear within us lest it cause us to forget our God and our religion. Whether we have much or little, let it be on the altar, for it is all the Lord’s, whether this people know it or not. Joseph Smith said to this people, that all the wisdom he had was received from the hand of the Lord. All the knowledge, wisdom, economy, and every business transaction pertaining to human life in connection with the spiritual kingdom of God on the earth, is given unto us as individuals, or as a community, from the liberal hand of God.

Do you realize this? Or will some of you say, “It is my own wisdom and economy that have accomplished this or that?” If you do, beware, lest the Lord withdraw the light of His spirit from you, that you be left in darkness, and your former judgment, wisdom, and discretion be taken from you. If we receive good, it is of the Lord; then let us serve him, and love him with a true heart. As to the world, they may do as they please, for we care not for it anyhow. Let this people cleave unto the Lord, and righteous principles, and all is right and well.

May the Lord bless you. Amen.