An Address by President B. Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, June 5, 1853.

I feel disposed to say a few words on the present occasion. It is said, that “at the sight of the eyes the heart is made to rejoice.” This is truly the case with me this afternoon, when I look upon the congregation, to see this spacious hall filled with the Saints of the Most High, for the purpose of partaking of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. It is a sight which I have not had the privilege of seeing before, only on Conference days. This morning I looked around to see how the house was crowded, which was packed to that extent that scores could not be seated. I looked if peradventure I could designate any person that did not belong to the Church, that did not profess to be a Saint; but I could not see a single person of that description, that I knew of. I thought, why not be as diligent to attend the afternoon meetings, to partake of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, as to attend the morning meetings? Hitherto it has not been the case, but my heart rejoices to see the house so well filled this afternoon. I feel in my heart to bless you; it is full of blessings and not cursings. It is something that does not occupy my feelings, to curse any individual, but I will modify this by saying those who ought not to be cursed. Who ought to be? Those who know their master’s will, and do it not; they are worthy of many stripes; it is not those who do not know, and do not do, but those who know it, and do not do it—they are the ones to be chastised.

While the brethren have been speaking upon the blessings the Lord bestows upon this people, my mind has reflected upon many of the circumstances of life, and upon certain principles. I will ask you a question—Do you think persons can be blessed too much? I will answer it myself. Yes, they can, they can be blessed to their injury. For instance, suppose a person should be blessed with the knowledge of the holy Gospel, whose heart is set in him to do evil. We esteem this as a blessing, and would not the Lord consider it a blessing to bestow His favors and mercies upon any individual, by giving him a knowledge of life and salvation? But suppose He bestowed it upon persons whose hearts were set in them to do evil, who would by their wickedness turn these blessings into curses, they would be blessed too much. It is possible to bless people to death, you can bless them to everlasting misery by heaping too many blessings upon them. Perhaps this is what was meant by the saying—It is like heaping coals of fire upon their heads; it will injure them, consume them, burn them, destroy them. Suffice it to say, that people can be blessed too much. Can you bless a wise man too much? A man who knows what to do with his blessings when they are bestowed upon him? No, you cannot. Can you bless a wise people too much? No, it is impossible, when they know how to improve upon all blessings that are bestowed upon them. But the Lord does and will bless the inhabitants of the earth with such great and inestimable blessings, in the proclamation of the Gospel, that they will be damned who reject them, for light brings condemnation to men who love darkness rather than light.

Have this people been blessed too much? I will not positively say, but I think they have, inasmuch as their blessings in some instances have been to their injury. Why? Because they have not known what to do with their blessings.

While the brethren were speaking of the liberal hand of Providence in bestowing abundantly the products of the earth, it occurred to me, that this people, to my certain knowledge, had felt that they had too much, and they esteemed it as good for nothing. It is true what brother Jedediah Grant said with regard to wheat, and other grains, for I have seen it myself. I have seen hundreds, and thousands, and scores of thousands of bushels of grain lying to waste and rot, when it has not brought a great price. Many of this people have thought, and expressed themselves in language like this—“I can go to California, and get so much gold, or I can trade and make so much gold, I cannot therefore spend time to take care of wheat, nor to raise it; let it lie there and rot while I go and accumulate riches.” They were then wealthy, for their granaries and barns were full of the blessings of the Lord, but now they are empty, because they did not know what to do with their blessings.

I can tell this people how to dispose of all their blessings, if they will only allow me time enough; and if I cannot tell them how, I can show them. For instance, you who have fields of wheat, beyond the limits of grasshoppers, will have considerable crops when it is harvested, and perhaps so much that you will not know what to do with it. I know what you ought to do with it; you ought to say to your poor brethren—“Come and help take care of my grain, and share with me, and feed yourselves and your families.” If you have so much that you cannot take care of it, and have nowhere to put it, and your neighbor is not without bread, tell Bishop Hunter that you have got so many hundred bushels to lay over in the store, and you will have the benefit of it on your tithing. That is what I recommend you to do with your blessings, when you have more than you can take care of yourselves. I say, hand it over and let your neighbors take care of it for you.

This makes me think of what I saw the first year I came into this valley, the same year I moved my family, which was the next season after the pioneers arrived here. It was late in the season when I arrived, but from the ground where this house now stands, there had been cut two crops of wheat. They had harvested the first crop very early, and the water being flooded over, it again started from the roots, and produced a fair crop, say from ten to twelve bushels to the acre. That was harvested, and it was coming up again. I said to the brethren, “Let these my brethren who have come with me gather up this wheat,” but they would not suffer them to do it. Some of the brethren had gathered their crops of grain, and left a great deal wasting on the fields. I said, “Let the poor brethren, who have come in from abroad, glean in your fields.” You can bear me witness that a great many widows and poor men came here, and brought but very little with them, and there never was a man, to my knowledge, ever expressed a desire to let them glean in his field. “All right,” I said, “we can live on greens,” while at the same time there was more wasted that season than to make up the deficiency, that all might have been comfortable. Late in the fall I saw one man working among his corn; he had a large crop, more than a single man could take care of. I saw he was going to let it go to waste; I said to him, “Brother, let the brethren and sisters help you to husk your corn, to gather it and put it safely away, for so much it will benefit them and help you.” “O,” he replied, “I have nothing to spare, I can take care of it myself.” I saw it wasting, and said to him, “Brother, get your corn husked immediately, and let the brethren do it, and pay them with a portion of it.” He replied, “I cannot spare a bit of it.” I have no question of it at all in my mind, but three-fourths of his corn went into the mud, and was trampled down by the cattle; and women and children went without bread in consequence of it. That man had no judgment, he knew not what to do with the blessings the Lord had bestowed upon him.

Were I to ask the question, how much wheat or anything else a man must have to justify him in letting it go to waste, it would be hard to answer; figures are inadequate to give the amount. Never let anything go to waste. Be prudent, save everything, and what you get more than you can take care of yourselves, ask your neighbors to help you. There are scores and hundreds of men in this house, if the question were asked them if they considered their grain a burden and a drudge to them, when they had plenty last year and the year before, that would answer in the affirmative, and were ready to part with it for next to nothing. How do they feel now, when their granaries are empty? If they had a few thousand bushels to spare now, would they not consider it a blessing? They would. Why? Because it would bring the gold and silver. But pause for a moment, and suppose you had millions of bushels to sell, and could sell it for twenty dollars per bushel, or for a million dollars per bushel, no matter what amount, so that you sell all your wheat, and transport it out of the country, and you are left with nothing more than a pile of gold, what good would it do you? You could not eat it, drink it, wear it, or carry it off where you could have something to eat. The time will come that gold will hold no comparison in value to a bushel of wheat. Gold is not to be compared with it in value. Why would it be precious to you now? Simply because you could get gold for it? Gold is good for nothing, only as men value it. It is no better than a piece of iron, a piece of limestone, or a piece of sandstone, and it is not half so good as the soil from which we raise our wheat, and other necessaries of life. The children of men love it, they lust after it, are greedy for it, and are ready to destroy themselves, and those around them, over whom they have any influence, to gain it.

When this people are blessed so much that they consider their blessings a burden and a drudge to them, you may always calculate on a cricket war, a grasshopper war, a drought, too much rain, or something else to make the scales preponderate the other way. This people have been blessed too much, so that they have not known what to do with their blessings.

What do we hear from the inhabitants of the different settlements? The cry is—“I do not wish to live out yonder, for there is no chance to speculate and trade with the emigrants.” Have you plenty to eat? Have you plenty of wheat, fowls, butter, cheese, and calves? Are you not raising stock in abundance for flesh meat of different kinds? What use is gold when you get enough to eat, drink, and wear without it? What is the matter? “Why, we are away off, and cannot get rich all at once.” You are lusting after that which you do not know what to do with, for few men know what to do with riches when they possess them. The inhabitants of this valley have proved it. They have proved it by their reckless waste of the products of the earth, by their undervaluing the blessings conferred upon them by the emigration, which has administered clothing and other necessaries to them. We can see men who can clothe themselves and their families easily, go into the canyons in their broadcloth pantaloons to get wood, or you may see them take a horse, and ride barebacked until they tear them to pieces, that they are not fit to come to meeting in. They do not know how to take care of good clothing. Again, if we were digging in a water ditch tomorrow, that required all hands, in consequence of the rising of the water, I have no doubt but you would see what I saw the other day—one of our young dandies, who was perhaps not worth the shirt on his back, came to work in a water ditch, dressed in his fine broadcloth pantaloons, and a fine bosomed shirt, and I have no doubt he would have worn gloves too if he had been worth a pair. You would see men of this description, who are without understanding, whole hearted, good fellows, and ready to do anything for the advancement of the public good, commence to dig in the mud and wet, in their fine clothes, and go into the water, up to their knees, with their fine calfskin boots. This is a wanton waste of the blessings of God, that cannot be justifiable in His eyes, and in the eyes of prudent, thinking men, under ordinary circumstances. If prudence and economy are necessary at one time more than at another, it is when a family or a nation are thrown upon their own resources, as we are. But you may trace the whole lives of some men, and it will be impossible for you to point out a single portion of time when they knew how to appreciate and how to use even the common comforts of life, when they had them, to say nothing of an abundance of wealth.

Again, there have been more contention and trouble between neighbors, in these valleys, with regard to surplus property, which was not needed by this people, than any other thing. For instance, a widow woman comes in here from the United States, and turns out on the range beyond Jordan three yoke of oxen and a few cows, for she considers she is too poor to have them herded. Again, a man comes in with ten yoke of oxen; he also turns them out to wander where they please. If he is asked why he does not put them in a herd, he will tell you, “I do not want to pay the herding fee.” Another comes on with three or four span of horses, and twenty or thirty yoke of cattle. Has he any for sale? No, but he turns them all out upon the range and they are gone. By and by he sends a boy on horseback to hunt them, who is unsuccessful in finding them after a week’s toil. The owner turns out himself, and all hands, to hunt up his stock, but they also fail in finding them, they are all lost except a very few. He was not able to have them herded, he thought, though he possessed so much property, and knew nothing more than to turn them out to run at large. Thus he consumes his time, running after his lost property. He frets his feelings, for his mind is continually upon it; he is in such a hurry in the morning to go out to hunt his stock, that he has no time to pray; when he returns home late at night, worn out with toil and anxiety of mind, he is unfit to pray; his cattle are lost, his mind is unhinged and darkened through the neglect of his duty, and apostasy stares him in the face, for he is not satisfied with himself, and murmurs against his brethren, and against his God. By and by some of his cattle turn up with a strange brand upon them; they have been taken up and sold to this person or that one. This brings contention and dissatisfaction between neighbor and neighbor. Such a person has too much property, more than he knows what to do with. It would be much better for a man who is a mechanic, and intends to follow his business, to give one out of two cattle which he may possess, to some person, for taking care of the other. It would be better for those who possess a great quantity of stock, to sell half of them to fence in a piece of land, to secure the other half, than to drive them all out to run at large, and lose three-fourths of them. If there are half-a-dozen men round me, and I can put a cow in their way or anything else that will do them good, for fencing up a lot for me, the property I thus pay is not out of the world, but is turned over to those men who had not a mouthful of meat, butter, or milk; it is doing them good, and I am reaping the profit and benefit of their labors in exchange. If I did not do this, I must either see them suffer, or make a free distribution of a part of what I have among them.

It is impossible for me to tell you how much a man must possess to entitle him to the liberty of wasting anything, or of letting it be stolen and run away with by the Indians. The surplus property of this community, as poor as we are, has done more real mischief than everything else besides.

I will propose a plan to stop the stealing of cattle in coming time, and it is this—let those who have cattle on hand join in a company, and fence in about fifty thousand acres of land, make a dividend of their cattle, and appropriate what they can spare, to fence in a large field, and this will give employment to immigrants who are coming in. When you have done this, then get up another company, and so keep on fencing until all the vacant land is substantially enclosed.

Some persons will perhaps say—“I do not know how good and how high a fence it will be necessary to build to keep thieves out.” I do not know either, except you build one that will keep out the devil. Build a fence which the boys and the cattle cannot pull down, and I will ensure you will keep your stock. Let every man lay his plans so as to secure enough for his present necessities, and hand over the rest to the laboring man; keep making improvements, building, and making farms, and that will not only advance his own wealth, but the wealth of the community.

A man has no right with property, which, according to the laws of the land, legally belongs to him, if he does not want to use it; he ought to possess no more than he can put to usury, and cause to do good to himself and his fellow man. When will a man accumulate money enough to justify him in salting it down, or, in other words, laying it away in the chest, to lock it up, there to lie, doing no manner of good either to himself or his neighbor. It is impossible for a man ever to do it. No man should keep money or property by him that he cannot put to usury for the advancement of that property in value or amount, and for the good of the community in which he lives; if he does, it becomes a dead weight upon him, it will rust, canker, and gnaw his soul, and finally work his destruction, for his heart is set upon it. Every man who has got cattle, money, or wealth of any description, bone and sinew, should put it out to usury. If a man has the arm, body, head, the component parts of a system to constitute him a laboring man, and has nothing in the world to depend upon but his hands, let him put them to usury. Never hide up anything in a napkin, but put it forth to bring an increase. If you have got property of any kind, that you do not know what to do with, lay it out in making a farm, or building a sawmill or a woolen factory, and go to with your mights to put all your property to usury.

If you have more oxen and other cattle than you need, put them in the hands of other men, and receive their labor in return, and put that labor where it will increase your property in value.

I hope you will now lay your plans to set men to work who will be in here by and by, for there will be a host of them, and they will all want employment, who trust to their labor for a subsistence; they will all want something to eat, and calculate to work for it. In the first place, keep the ground in good order to produce you plentiful crops of grain and vegetables, and then take care of them.

Let me say to the sisters, those who have children, never consider that you have bread enough around you to suffer your children to waste a crust or a crumb of it. If a man is worth millions of bushels of wheat and corn, he is not wealthy enough to suffer his servant girl to sweep a single kernel of it into the fire; let it be eaten by something, and pass again into the earth, and thus fulfil the purpose for which it grew. Some mothers would fill a basket full of bread to make a plaything for their children, but I have not had flour enough in the time of my greatest abundance, to let my children waste one morsel of bread with my consent. No, I would rather feed the greatest enemy I have on the earth with it, than have it go into the fire. Remember it, do not waste anything, but take care of everything, save your grain, and make your calculations, so that when the brethren come in from the United States, from England, and other places, you can give them some potatoes, onions, beets, carrots, parsnips, watermelons, or anything else which you have, to comfort them, and cheer up their hearts, and if you have wheat, dispose of it to them, and receive their labor in return. Raise enough and to spare of all the staple necessaries of life, and lay your plans to hire your brethren who will come in this fall to fence your farms, improve your gardens, and make your city lots beautiful. Lay your plans to secure enough to feed yourselves, and one or two of the brethren that are coming to dwell with us.

When we first came into the Valley, the question was asked me, if men would ever be allowed to come into this Church, and remain in it, and hoard up their property. I say, no. That is a short answer, and it is a pointed one. The man who lays up his gold and silver, who caches it away in a bank, or in his iron safe, or buries it up in the earth, and comes here, and professes to be a Saint, would tie up the hands of every individual in this kingdom, and make them his servants if he could. It is an unrighteous, unhallowed, unholy, covetous principle; it is of the devil, and is from beneath. Let every person who has capital, put it to usury. Is he required to bring his purse to me, to any of the Twelve, or to any person whatever, and lay it at their feet? No, not by me. But I will tell you what to do with your means. If a man comes in the midst of this people with money, let him use it in making improvements, in building, in beautifying his inheritance in Zion, and in increasing his capital by thus putting out his money to usury. Let him go and make a great farm, and stock it well, and fortify all around with a good and efficient fence. What for? Why for the purpose of spending his money. Then let him cut it up into fields, and adorn it with trees, and build a fine house upon it. What for? Why for the purpose of spending his money. What will he do when his money is gone? The money thus spent, with a wise and prudent hand, is in a situation to accumulate and increase a hundredfold. When he has done making his farm, and his means still increase by his diligent use of it, he can then commence and build a woolen factory for instance, he can send and buy the sheep and have them brought here, have them herded here, and shear them here, and take care of them, then set the boys and girls to cleaning, carding, spinning, and weaving the wool into cloth, and thus employ hundreds and thousands of the brethren and sisters who have come from the manufacturing districts of the old country, and have not been accustomed to dig in the earth for their livelihood, who have not learned anything else but to work in the factory. This would feed them and clothe them, and put within their reach the comforts of life; it would also create at home a steady market for the produce of the agriculturist, and the labor of the mechanic. When he has spent his hundred and fifty thousand dollars, which he began business with, and fed five hundred persons, from five to ten years, besides realizing a handsome profit from the labor of the hands employed, by the increased population, and consequent increased demand for manufactured goods, at the end of ten years, his factory would be worth five hundred thousand dollars. Suppose he had wrapped up his hundred and fifty thousand in a napkin, for fear of losing it, it would have sent him down to perdition, for the principle is from beneath. But when he puts forth his money to usury, not to me or any other person, but where it will redouble itself, by making farms, building factories for the manufacture of every kind of material necessary for home consumption, establishing blacksmith’s shops and other mechanical establishments, making extensive improvements to beautify the whole face of the earth, until it shall become like the garden of Eden, it becomes a saving blessing to him and those around him. And when the kings, princes, and rulers of the earth shall come to Zion, bringing their gold, and silver, and precious stones with them, they will admire and desire your possessions, your fine farms, beautiful vineyards, and splendid mansions. They will say—“We have got plenty of money, but we are destitute of such possessions as these.” Their money loses its value in their eyes when compared with the comfortable possessions of the Saints, and they will want to purchase your property. The industrious capitalist inquires of one of them—“Do you want to purchase this property? I have obtained it by my economy and judgment, and by the labor of my brethren, and in exchange for their labor I have been feeding and clothing them, until they also have comfortable situations, and means to live. I have this farm, which I am willing to sell to enable me to advance my other improvements.” “Well,” says the rich man, “how much must I give you for it?” “Five hundred thousand dollars,” and perhaps it has not cost him more than one hundred thousand. He takes the money and builds up three or four such farms, and employs hundreds of his brethren who are poor.

Money is not real capital, it bears the title only. True capital is labor, and is confined to the laboring classes. They only possess it. It is the bone, sinew, nerve, and muscle of man that subdue the earth, make it yield its strength, and administer to his varied wants. This power tears down mountains and fills up valleys, builds cities and temples, and paves the streets. In short, what is there that yields shelter and comfort to civilized man, that is not produced by the strength of his arm making the elements bend to his will?

I will now ask the question again— How much must a man possess to authorize him to waste anything? Three or four years ago money was of little value in this country; you might go round exhibiting a back load of gold, and hold out a large piece to a man, I was going to say, almost as big as this bible, and ask him to work for you, but he would laugh at your offer, and tell you he was looking for someone to work for him. He would then hail another man who had been in Nauvoo, and passed through the pinches there, and had scarcely a shirt to his back, but he would reply—“I was looking for some man to work for me.” Gold could not purchase labor, it was no temptation whatever, but those times are passed. It is not now as it was then. I consequently alter my counsel to the brethren. I used to counsel you to hand over your surplus property, or that which you could not take care of, to me, and I would apply it to a good purpose, but now I counsel you to put it into the hands of men who have nothing at all, and let them pay you for it in labor.

I have never been troubled with thieves stealing my property. If I am not smart enough to take care of what the Lord lends me, I am smart enough to hold my tongue about it, until I come across the thief myself, and then I am ready to tie a string round his neck.

I have not the least hesitation in saying that the loose conduct, and calculations, and manner of doing business, which have characterized men who have had property in their hands, have laid the foundation to bring our boys into the spirit of stealing. You have caused them to do it, you have laid before them every inducement possible, to learn their hands and train their minds to take that which is not their own. Those young men who have been taken up the past season and condemned to ignominious punishment, may trace the cause of their shame to that foundation. Distribute your property. The man that thinks he requires ten yoke of cattle, and can only use one yoke, is laboring under a mistake, he ought to let nine yoke go to the laboring community. If every man would do this with the property which he is not using, all would be employed and have sufficient. This would be the most effectual means of bringing the vile practice of stealing cattle and other property to a termination, which, as I have already said, has been encouraged by covetous, selfish men, who have refused to use their property for their own good, or the community’s.

Let us hold before our mind the miser. If the people of this community feel as though they wanted the whole world to themselves, hate any other person to possess anything, and would hoard up their property, and place it in a situation where it would not benefit either themselves or the community, they are just as guilty as the man who steals my property. You may inquire—“What should be done with such a character?” Why, cut him off from the Church. I would disfellowship a man who had received liberally from the Lord, and refused to put it out to usury. We know this is right.

I recollect well the days brother Grant was telling of, when it was so hard to raise fifty dollars for brother Joseph. I also remember we had a man for trial before the High Council, a man who had plenty of money, and refused to loan it, or use it for the advancement of the cause of truth. He would not put his money out to usury. I was going into the Council when he was making his plea, and he wept and sobbed. His name was Isaac McWithy, a man of about fifty-three years of age. I knew him when he lived on his farm in York state. He told them, in his plea, what he had done for the cause, that he had al– ways been a Christian, and had done so much for the Churches, and for the Priests, and been so liberal since he had been in this Church, which was between three and four years. Some of the brethren said—“Brother McWithy, how much do you suppose you have ever given for the support of the Gospel?” The tears rolled down his checks, and he said, “Brethren, I believe I have given away in my life time two hundred and fifty dollars.” I spake out and said, “If I could not preach as many months each year in this kingdom as you have been years in this Church, and give no more than two hundred and fifty dollars, I should be ashamed of myself.”

On one occasion, brother Joseph Young and myself had traveled more than two hours among snow, and in a piercing cold, to preach in his neighborhood one evening. Having had no dinner or supper, we went home with him, and he never asked us to eat a mouthful of supper, though he did muster courage enough to go into the cellar with a little basket, he came up with the tears almost running down his cheeks, and said with some difficulty—“Brethren, have some apples.“ He held out the basket to us, and when we were about to help ourselves, his niggardly soul made him draw it back again, for fear we should take any. I saw he did not intend us to have any apples, so I put my hand on the basket, and drew it out of his hand, saying—“Come here.” I took it on my knees, and invited brother Joseph to eat some apples. He did make out to give us some breakfast in the morning, and even then he got up from the table before we had time to half finish our breakfast, to see if we would not give over eating. Said I—“Never mind, I shall eat what I want before I stop.”

I am happy to say, through your Trustee-in-trust, that the Latter-day Saints, in the capacity of a Church and kingdom, do not owe near as much money as they have on hand. A year ago last April Conference, we owed over sixty thousand dollars, but we do not now owe a single red cent.

May God bless us, that we may always have enough, and know what to do with what we have, and how to use it for the good of all, for I would not give much for property unless I did know what to do with it.

An Address by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, May 8, 1853.

I take the liberty to occupy a short time, this morning, in addressing my brethren and sisters.

I do not profess to be extensively versed in historical lore, still I expect to be able to relate a small portion of my own history to you this morning, referring especially to the latter part of my life, say for three weeks past.

It is known by you all, that I started from this place with the intention of journeying south to the extent of our southern settlements, but I have returned short of performing that journey. I will state the reasons why, that the minds of the people may be at rest, and freed from anxiety.

We went to the city of Provo, in Utah Valley; where I had some business to attend to. We tarried there a short time before proceeding on our journey, the principal items of which I wish to lay before the brethren, in connection with some circumstances that had transpired previous to our leaving this place. These circumstances combined together, caused a suspicious feeling in my own heart. I have endeavored all my life to follow one portion of the instructions of the Sa– vior to his disciples, that is, to “watch.” I am a very watchful man.

Previous to my starting from this city, there was an express sent from Iron county, that Indian Walker manifested hostile feelings; for it seems he had drawn out his men on a small portion of our brethren, and commanded them to return home, when they were in pursuit of supposed thieves; these Indians would not suffer them to proceed any further.

This circumstance, small as it might appear to some, caused suspicion in my mind that all was not right with the Indian chief, though I expected to visit him on my journey.

After tarrying at the city of Provo a day and a night, I was accosted in a very abrupt manner by a stranger, a person that I knew nothing of, and had never seen before. I have learned since that he is an American from the State of New York, and has been living in New Mexico some years. This person came to my carriage, while I was standing upon the steps of it, arranging my luggage, preparatory to proceeding onward, and said in a rough, authoritative tone, “Is Governor Young in this carriage?” “No, sir,” I said, “but he is on the steps of it. What is wanting?” I turned round to see who addressed me, and saw this stranger, dressed in buck-skin, pretty well smoked. He said, “I have a little privacy with you.” Stepping aside, far enough not to be heard by any other person, I said, “Say on, sir.” “But I want to see you in private,” he replied. I said, “I have no privacy with strangers; if you have any communication to make to me, you can do it by letter.” He walked, and left me. That was all that passed between us. As soon as he intimated that he wanted a private conference with me, I scanned the man, and saw that his pockets were filled with deadly weapons, and of his intentions I had my own thoughts.

I went about my business, but in the meantime sent a man to reconnoitre him, to whom he made some haughty expression about Governor Young. Said he, “Governor Young need not feel so damned important, I associate with Governors when I am at home, and have money enough to buy Governor Young and all his wives.” He further said, “I have four hundred Mexicans waiting my orders, and can have as many more if I wish, besides, the Indians here are all at my command.”

I soon learned to my satisfaction, that he had come into the Territory to buy Indian children, and sell them again for slaves. Therefore I issued the Proclamation which you have no doubt read in the pages of the News, gave orders to the Lieutenant General, and he has done what he has.

We proceeded on our journey, and found that this man had been trading with the Indians. He said, “He asked no odds of the authorities of this Territory, but calculated to buy all the Indian children he could.” He was told it was against the law. He replied, “Catching is before hanging.”

When I arrived at San Pete, I learned that one hundred and fifty Yampa Utes on the west fork of the Sevier River, had come over to Walker’s camp. I did not believe that this Mexican trader had four hundred Mexicans lying on the head waters of the Sevier, for I did not think that men would patiently wait in the snow and frost for a man of his appearance. Instead of Mexicans, they turned out to be those Yampa Utes.

I sent out a reconnoitering party consisting of thirty men, to learn their intentions, if possible; also the whereabouts of D. B. Huntington, who had gone previously, but I have not heard from them, nor him, since they left us at Salt Creek, about a week ago last Tuesday morning. Amasa Lyman and Charles C. Rich proceeded on their journey, and omitted calling at San Pete. I went to San Pete to learn the situation and proceedings of the Indians. Arapeen, it appeared from some cause, had been dissatisfied, and had left. Before he left, he gave them to understand that he desired peace, and wanted to live in peace. However, I was prepared for whites, reds, or blacks, by night and by day, and always intend to be.

This is a short account of my journey. I wished to lay it before you as it was, in consequence of the different statements which have been made, that vary considerably from the truth, after passing through a few hands. After relating the simple facts as they existed, you may regard them as you please; but when you tell them over again to your neighbors, tell them as they were, or not at all.

I have heard a great many different stories since I came home, and find the minds of the people very much agitated about the probable result of the hostilities of the Indians, and the presence of the Mexicans among them. I will tell you the reason why I returned home before accomplishing the remainder of my contemplated journey—it was because I wished to return. You may inquire why I wished to return. I will tell you. I am a great coward myself, I do not wish to rush into danger imprudently. If there should happen to be any trouble with Indians, and I away from this place, there would be more trouble here than with me. Of this I was fully aware, and it was proved to my satisfaction when I returned home. Imagined danger always produces the most trouble. The Indians are very much as they say the whites are, that is, uncertain—not to be trusted. The whites may be uncertain, but I know the Indians are. I dislike to trust them far. I never wish to be injured, nor have this people injured by Indian depredations, committed upon them; and if the Saints will do as they are told, they will never suffer from that quarter in this Territory.

Take up the history of the first settling of America, and you cannot read of a colony ever being settled in the midst of savages, without having trouble, and suffering more from them than this people have in Utah. What is the reason? It is because those people did not know how to take care of themselves. We can scarcely read of one colony founded among the aborigines in the first settling of this country, wherein the tomahawk of wild Indians did not drink the blood of whole families. Here there have been no such deeds committed; because when we first entered Utah, we were prepared to meet all the Indians in these mountains, and kill every soul of them if we had been obliged so to do. This preparation secured to us peace.

Every settlement that have been made in these valleys of the mountains, have received strict charges from me, to build, in the first place, a Fort, and live in it until they were sufficiently strong to live in a town; to keep their guns and ammunition well prepared for any emergency; and never cease to keep up a night watch, if any apprehensions of the Indians being hostile were entertained. We have suffered nothing from them, compared with what we have suffered from white men who are disposed to steal; and I would rather take my chance today for good treatment among Indians, than I would among white men of this character.

I have no recollection of the Indians killing any of this community, except one man, which happened about three years ago this spring, who had started for California, on foot and alone, against counsel. The red skins found him and slew him. I have never heard of their even disturbing a family; and I do not intend that they ever shall, if watching, and praying, and being ready for them will prevent it.

I have always acknowledged myself a coward, and hope I always may be, to make me cautious enough to preserve myself and my brethren from falling ignobly by a band of Indians. I am satisfied that the men who follow Walker, who is the king of the Indians in these mountains, do it out of fear, and not because they have real regard for their leader. If he becomes hostile, and wishes to commit depredations upon the persons or property of this people, he shall be wiped out of existence, and every man that will follow him. This is my calculation, and I wish you to be ready for it.

Yesterday morning, we received a communication from father Morley, in which we were informed that Walker and Arapeen came down to pay him a visit. The morning that we left San Pete, we sent back by the hands of Arapeen’s two messengers, some little presents in the shape of shirts and tobacco. Walker said to Father Morley, “Tell brother Brigham, we have smoked the tobacco he sent us in the pipe of peace; I want to be at peace, and be a brother to him.” That is all right. But it is truly characteristic of the cunning Indian, when he finds he cannot get advantage over his enemy, to curl down at once, and say “I love you.” It is enough for me to know that Walker dare not attempt to hurt any of our settlements. I care not whether they love me or not. I am resolved, however, not to trust his love any more than I would a stranger’s. I do not repose confidence in persons, only as they prove themselves confi– dential; and I shall live a long while before I can believe that an Indian is my friend, when it would be to his advantage to be my enemy.

I wish now to put you in mind of a few things. Do you pray for Israel? You will no doubt answer in the affirmative. These Indians are the seed of Israel, through the loins of Joseph who was sold into Egypt; they are the children of Abraham, and belong to the chosen seed; were it not so, you would never have seen them with dark, red skins. This is in consequence of the curse that has been placed upon them, which never would have come upon them in the world, had their fathers not violated the order of God, which was formerly among them; for in proportion to the light they sinned against, so were they reduced by the curse of God, which has been visited upon their children for many generations. They are of the House of Israel, and the time has come for the Lord to favor Zion, and redeem Israel. We are here in the mountains, with these Lamanites for our neighbors, and I hesitate not to say, if this people possessed the faith they ought to have, the Lord Almighty would never suffer any of the sons of Jacob to injure them in the least; no never.

But I am suspicious that this people do not possess the faith they should have, therefore I calculate to carry with me proper weapons of defense, that if a man should aim a blow at my person to take away my life, before he is aware, he himself is numbered with the dead. I have always been thus prepared for years. It is a matter of serious doubt in my mind, whether this people have faith enough to control the Indians in these mountains, by that alone, without works. Again, you may pray as fervently for them as for yourselves, which I have always done; it is my business to pray for them, and seek the redemp– tion of Israel, but something more is wanted to hold them at bay.

Who are Israel? They are those who are of the seed of Abraham, that have received the promise through their forefathers; and all the rest of the children of men, who receive the truth, are also Israel. My heart is always drawn out for them, whenever I go to the throne of grace. I love Israel, I long for their salvation, and look forward with a desire full of hope and peace to the day when they will be gathered and saved; when their forefathers who enjoyed the Gospel, and through their faithfulness received great promises and blessings for their posterity, shall see them fulfilled upon their heads.

I wish you to have faith to lay hold on the promises, and claim them as your own. If you had faith like the ancients, you might escape the edge of the sword, stop the mouths of the lions, quench the violence of fire, open the prison doors, and burst asunder iron fetters—all this could be accomplished by faith. But, lest you should not have faith, we have caused to be done that which has been done, in having this people prepared for any emergency that should arise. My advice is be on the watch all the time. Do not lie down, and go to sleep, and say all is well, lest, in an hour when you think not, sudden destruction overtake you.

We will carry this out a little further. Never permit yourself to sleep in your houses until your doors are made perfectly secure, that the Indians cannot come in and kill you in your sleep. In this respect the people generally are careless, and perfectly unconcerned. Some want to be separated far from their neighbors, and own all the land around them saying, “all is right, all is peace, and the Indians are perfectly good natured, and wish us no harm;” wrapping themselves up in the mantle of security, with a few shattered boards roughly put together for a door to their houses, and that without any fastening. Were it not that the people of this city are kept stirred up continually, and teased from time to time by some person on this matter, it would not be one year before fifty men could conquer and slay the whole of the inhabitants.

Are you sure you have faith enough to bind Satan so that he can have no influence in this city? If you are not, you had better watch as well as pray. Are you sure you have faith enough to control the ungovernable nature of the Lamanites, or subdue a Gentile mob? If you have, I am glad of it, it is the first time this people ever enjoyed it. Even suppose you have faith to accomplish all this, will you add no works to your faith? And if you have the spirit of prayer to an almost unlimited degree, will you cease to watch? I have prayed many times, and had a man at the door to watch for the murderer who thirsted for my blood. Then he would pray, and I would watch. What for? To kill the bloodthirsty villain. I would not go and seek for him, but when he came to kill me in my own house, I wished to be prepared to disembody his spirit, to save my own tabernacle, and send his down to the dust, and let him go to the place prepared for murderers, even to hell.

Suppose we had faith enough to accomplish all we have been speaking of, which would be the most proper, to use prayer alone without watching, and have faith alone without works, or watch and add works to faith? I will mix works with my faith, and watching with my prayer, and reap the benefits of their united operation.

A few words more concerning Walker the Indian. He sent word to us that he was coming down to this city to trade. That is all right, it is very good. I expect he will be peaceable, and the rest of the Indians also. I have no doubt of it. Why? Because they dare not be any other way. If they dare be otherwise, I know not how quick they would be at war with us. But they will be kind and peaceable, because they are afraid to die, and that is enough for me.

If they will in the least receive the spirit of the Gospel, I shall be glad of it. There is no doubt in my mind but Walker has felt it from time to time, and I am satisfied that our faith and prayers will do a great deal of good to these wretched remnants of Abraham’s seed. We must continue our labors until we have faith to bind Satan; and if you and I do not live to do it, our posterity will step forward and accomplish it after we are gone.

When a person is placed in circumstances that he cannot possibly obtain one particle of anything to sustain life, it would then be his privilege to exercise faith in God to feed him, who might cause a raven to pick up a piece of dried meat from some quarter where there was plenty, and drop it over the famishing man. When I cannot feed myself through the means God has placed in my power, it is then time enough for Him to exercise His providence in an unusual manner to administer to my wants. But while we can help ourselves, it is our duty to do so. If a Saint of God be locked up in prison, by his enemies, to starve to death, it is then time enough for God to interpose, and feed him.

While we have a rich soil in this valley, and seed to put in the ground, we need not ask God to feed us, nor follow us round with a loaf of bread begging of us to eat it. He will not do it, neither would I, were I the Lord. We can feed ourselves here; and if we are ever placed in circumstances where we cannot, it will then be time enough for the Lord to work a miracle to sustain us.

If you wish to know what you must do hereafter, I will tell you in a few words—keep your powder, and lead, and your guns in good order. Go about your work, plough your fields, work in your mechanic shops, and be ready in the morning, at noon, or in the night, that whenever you are called upon, you can put your hand upon your musket and ammunition at the shortest notice. “Be ye also ready, for in an hour you think not behold the thief comes,” and takes away your horse from your stable.

How many complaints have been made to me by men who have had their horses stolen out of their stables, or out of their corrals, or of clothes being taken from the line. The reason why people lose their property is because they do not watch it. Have I ever complained of any such thing? No! Why? Because I watch my corral. Do I lose anything out of my barn. No. Because I lock it up, and keep somebody there to watch it. Do I lose any clothing? Not that I know of. I tell my folks not to leave out their clothing. “Why,” they ask, “is there any danger of their being stolen?” It is none of your business, they will not dry after dark, therefore take them in, and hang them out again in the morning. That is the way to live, and this is what I wish to say to you concerning these matters, that your minds may be at peace. All will be peace this summer, if you will keep on watching.

If you want to know what to do with a thief that you may find stealing, I say kill him on the spot, and never suffer him to commit another iniquity. That is what I expect I shall do, though never, in the days of my life, have I hurt a man with the palm of my hand. I never have hurt any person any other way except with this unruly member, my tongue. Notwithstanding this, if I caught a man stealing on my premises I should be very apt to send him straight home, and that is what I wish every man to do, to put a stop to that abominable practice in the midst of this people.

I know this appears hard, and throws a cold chill over our revered traditions received by early education. I had a great many such feelings to contend with myself, and was as much of a sectarian in my notions as any other man, and as mild, perhaps, in my natural disposition, but I have trained myself to measure things by the line of justice, to estimate them by the rule of equity and truth, and not by the false tradition of the fathers, or the sympathies of the natural mind. If you will cause all those whom you know to be thieves, to be placed in a line before the mouth of one of our largest cannon, well loaded with chain shot, I will prove by my works whether I can mete out justice to such persons, or not. I would consider it just as much my duty to do that, as to baptize a man for the remission of his sins. That is a short discourse on thieves, I acknowledge, but I tell you the truth as it is in my heart.

As you have heard the history of our journey south, I will now give you a little of what is going on in the world beneath us, gleaned from the eastern mail which came in last evening. I know there is a great anxiety in the minds of the people to learn the news, as it is now seven months since we had anything from that quarter.

I understand that New York is yet standing in the same place, also the cities of Philadelphia and Washington still flourish, also the old Bay States, with the Northern, Southern, and Western States, are all there yet, and Franklin Pierce is President of them. That we guessed would be the case, last year. But if the Whigs had had half the cunning that men have here, they would have beaten that party, and Franklin Pierce would not have been President; but they do not knew enough.

Brother Orson Pratt was in Washington, when he wrote last March; he is probably now in England. He has published a paper called The Seer, seven Numbers of which have appeared before the public. He also hired a Hall in that city, when he first arrived there in December last. Many came to hear him at first, but they kept dropping off, until there were so few that he gave it up, but he continues publishing.

There is influence enough there, among the priests, and the members of Congress, to keep the people away from hearing Orson Pratt. They are all well persuaded that if they contend with him, he will break up their churches. Ignorant as they are in other matters, they know enough to guard against that. The paper has a good effect. He says, “A great many who have apostatized, say, had they seen the Revelation on Celestial Marriage, years ago, they would never have left the Church. They believed ‘Mormonism;’ but supposed there was no such Revelation in existence.”

He says that hundreds of families from whom the light of truth had well nigh departed, are again reviving, and inquiring how they may get to the Valley. There is no opposition compared with what has been. The public prints burlesque the doctrine published in The Seer, which is about all the opposition there is. And what can they say? Nothing more than what they always have said. I can sum up all the arguments used against Joseph Smith and ‘Mormonism’ in a very few words, the merits of which will be found in “Old Joe Smith. Impostor, Money Digger. Old Joe Smith. Spiritual Wife Doctrine. Imposture. The Doctrine is False. Money Digger. False Prophet. Delusion. Spiritual Wife Doctrine. Oh, my dear brethren and sisters, keep away from them, for the sake of your never dying souls. False Prophets that should come in the last days. Old Joe Smith. ANTI-CHRIST. Money Digger, Money Digger, Money Digger.” And the whole is wound up with an appeal, not to the good sense of the people, but to their unnatural feelings, in a canting, hypocritical tone, and there it ends.

I have not learned anything yet of any change being made touching the Executive Officer of this Territory. Brigham Young is still the Governor of Utah. Brother Bernhisel has succeeded in getting liberal appropriations for the Territory, among which twenty thousand dollars has been appropriated for a Penitentiary. I appointed Dr. Willard Richards, Secretary pro. tem., which appointment has been honored by the General Government, and one thousand eight hundred dollars appropriated for his services; notwithstanding I rebuked the runaway Secretary in a public manner, when he and his companion publicly insulted this great people; and notwithstanding the hue and cry which they made about the “Mormons in Salt Lake Valley.” I have courage enough to tell a man of his meanness no matter whether he be a Sheriff, a Judge, a Governor, a Priest, or a King. I have courage enough to tell them of their wickedness, and expect I always shall have.

The general news you will get through the columns of our city paper.

We have a great many letters still back at Laramie; when our mail carriers left there, there were seventeen mail bags, six of which they brought away. As a general thing, the people will get their letters; as the newspaper bags were chiefly left, and the letter bags brought on.

I will say a word concerning the brethren who left here last fall. Daniel Carn had to leave Germany, and bro– ther Orson Spencer could not obtain permission to stay in Prussia. The Governor said to the brethren who went to Jamaica, that they might minister among the people; and the minister from the States did all he could to have them stay there, but they had to leave on account of the prejudices of the community, and they are now preaching in the United States. These are some of the leading items we have received per this Mail.

I now wish to say to the Latter-day Saints that which will be a great comfort to them. We laid before you our Church indebtedness a year ago, last April Conference; it now gives me great consolation to be able to say that every dime of that debt is paid, and money left, enough to answer our purpose at present. [A general expression of satisfaction in the congregation.]

The Lord has delivered us from this difficulty. I never liked to be in bondage to my enemies, but I would be as willing to owe the brethren money as not, for it is better doing good in my hand, than to be looked up in a chest, doing no good.

When the brethren go to the world to administer salvation to them, we wish them to go perfectly clean, and represent an honorable and independent people. It is a great consolation to me that we do not owe the Gentiles one red cent, or not more than one tenth part of the money we have got on hand, at the furthest.

We can now put forth our hand and help the poor Saints, that are scattered abroad, to this place. We can now obtain articles to build the Temple we have commenced. Joseph Smith laid the foundation of the great fabric, and we have commenced to build upon it. If we do right, there will be an eternal increase among this people in talent, strength of intellect, and earthly wealth, from this time, henceforth, and forever.

I might tell you many great and good things, but I will tell you at once, if you will do your duty, and live as you ought to live before God and your brethren, you will have good with you all the time. It is our duty to apply our hearts to wisdom, and learn enough of the things of God to enable us to see the world as it is, which is one of the greatest privileges that can be granted to man. It is not only a privilege, but a duty for the Saints to seek unto the Lord their God for wisdom and understanding, to be in possession of the spirit that fills the heavens, until their eyes are anointed and opened to see the world as it really is, to know what it is made for, and why all things are as they are. It is one of the most happifying subjects that can be named, for a person, or people, to have the privilege of gaining wisdom enough while in their mortal tabernacle, to be able to look through the whys and wherefores of the existence of man, like looking through a piece of glass that is perfectly transparent; and understand the design of the Great Maker of this beautiful creation. Let the people do this, and their hearts will be weaned from the world.

If this people will pursue the course they are bound by their obligations and covenants to take, they will obtain spirit enough to see and understand all things in heaven and on earth, that are sufficient for their salvation. The cobwebs of early traditions and antiquated superstitions will be brushed away, and they will plainly see that the world is just the world, and nothing but the world, and we are no– thing but people on the world, designed to fill the measure of our creation, to bring to pass certain results that pertain to our exaltation.

Let us seek the Lord with all our hearts, then shall we be weaned from the world; no man will love this, that, or the other thing, except to do good with it, to promote the eternal interests of mankind, and prepare them to be exalted in immortality. No man can be exalted unless he be independent. I will use a comparison to illustrate this idea. If you put an animal or being not endowed with intelligence on a throne, he would be nothing but an animal still; but put intelligence into that creature, to give him knowledge how to prepare himself to reign on that throne, and fortify it with strength, then he is exalted. Mankind are naturally independent and intelligent beings, they have been created for the express purpose of exalting themselves. When they apply their hearts to wisdom, they will then get understanding. There is the fountain, go and drink at it, ask and receive all you wish, for there is an eternity of it, it will never become any less. It is for you and me to receive wisdom so as to be prepared for exaltation and eternal lives in kingdoms that now exist in eternity.

May God bless you. Peace be upon you. Be fervent in spirit, humble, teachable, and prayerful, taking care of yourselves, endeavoring to save yourselves and all you have any influence over, which is my continual prayer for you, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 17, 1853.

I will embrace the present opportunity for making a few remarks, as I expect to leave this city before another Sabbath, to be gone several weeks.

You have heard good instructions, counsel, and advice from Amasa Lyman and Charles C. Rich; I desire to profit by their sayings, and I hope this people will.

We see men before us who are old Elders in this Church, veterans in the kingdom of God; I hope they will live many years to grace our ranks. Those who have been in the Church from the beginning are men and women who have paid attention to their faith, and to the doctrine of sound common sense; they have been good scholars, and by this time must understand tolerably well what they believe. They must also be schooled in the study of man, and in matters which pertain to nations and kingdoms, and in circumstances which concern us as individuals.

The doctrine we have heard is good; we have listened to principles that pertain to life and salvation; and I repeat again what you have heard often, “Secure for yourselves first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness.” When you have done this, every good principle, every good thing, every great endowment, every peaceful influence, and all that can be enjoyed by celestial beings are and will be yours.

We may be within the pale of the kingdom of God on earth, yet we are liable to be overcome of evil. There are many spirits who have gone abroad in the world, and men are overcome by false spirits, and led astray from the path of truth. They will begin by doing some evil thing out of sight, and say, “O, it is nothing, it is a mere trifle, and the Lord is merciful, and forgiveth sin.” The sins which are considered trifles lay the foundation for greater evils, and expose men to be tempted, and buffeted by Satan, and they will be overcome little by little, until by and by they are overtaken in a fault which is more aggravating in the sight of justice, which lays the foundation for another trial more severe, and to be buffeted more by the devil, for they lay themselves more liable to his power. We might refer you to many instances of Elders of Israel becoming victims to evil—but I pass over that disagreeable matter.

God never bestows His grace upon an individual without trying it in that person, to see if the compound is good. Men do not realize this, nor think upon it as they ought; if they did they would be more careful never to speak against the Father, against the Son, against any heavenly being, or against any being on the earth.

Brethren, seek first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness, then all the blessings that brother Amasa anticipates enjoying will be yours. But no man or woman can enjoy them unless they have first secured to themselves the kingdom of heaven—unless they have secured to themselves eternal life.

Our bodies are satisfied with plenty of food, and we have property around us of various kinds, which satisfies our temporal wants for the moment. But, as I told you some time since, the king seated upon his throne wearing a glittering crown, and surrounded with all the glory of his greatness today, tomorrow may be numbered with the beggar, and his crown given to another. Today we possess riches, and tomorrow they may take the wings of the morning and leave us poor indeed.

How long shall we enjoy the happiness we now enjoy, in coming to this house to worship the Lord, and in associating in other capacities with our dear friends? Perhaps by another Sabbath many of us may be laid away, if not in the graveyard, upon a bed of sickness. We cannot trust to the certainty of mortal possessions; they are transitory, and a dependence upon them will plunge into hopeless disappointment all those who trust in them. When men act upon the principles which will secure to them eternal salvation, they are sure of obtaining all their hearts’ desire, sooner or later; if it does not come today, it may come tomorrow; if it does not come in this time, it will in the next.

If people would contemplate the stupendous works of God, and be honest and candid in their investigations, there is much to be learned that would show them how comparatively worthless are earthly things. We see the spangled vault of the starry heavens stretched over us; but little is known of the wonders of the firmament. Astronomers have, by their researches, discovered some general facts that have proved useful and instructing to the scientific portion of mankind. The phenomena of the motions of the heavenly bodies, and their times and seasons are understood pretty accurately. But who knows what those distant planets are? Who can tell the part they play in the grand theater of worlds? Who inhabits them, and who rules over them? Do they contain intelligent beings, who are capable of the happiness, light, glory, power, and enjoyments that would satisfy the mind of an angel of God? Who can tell these things? Can they be discovered by the light of science? They cannot. Let every intelligent person seriously contemplate this subject, and let the true light of reason illuminate the understanding, and a sound judgment inspired by the Spirit of Christ be your guide, and what will be your conclusions? They will be what mine are—that the Lord Almighty reigns there; that His people are there; and that they are, or have been, earths to fulfil a similar destiny to the one we inhabit; and there is eternity; and as Enoch of old said—“Thy curtains are stretched out still.”

Can any of the astronomers in the world point out the kingdom or the world where God is not? Where He does not reign? Can a kingdom be found, by worldly wisdom, study, or by any means that can be employed, over which He does not sway His scepter? If such a kingdom exists, I will acknowledge that the doctrine I taught you the other day is incorrect; and besides that, you will have to blot out some of the writings of the ancient Scriptures.

I wish to make an application of this, with the sayings we have heard from brother Amasa Lyman today.

We talk about true riches—about the eternal attributes of the Deity—and about that which He has given to the children of men. I also heard something said the other day about sanctification. This doctrine I heard taught many years ago, and I perceive that men do not fully understand these principles; even the best of the Latter-day Saints have but a faint idea of the attributes of the Deity.

Were the former and Latter-day Saints, with their Apostles, Prophets, Seers, and Revelators collected together to discuss this matter, I am led to think there would be found a great variety in their views and feelings upon this subject without direct revelation from the Lord. It is as much my right to differ from other men, as it is theirs to differ from me, in points of doctrine and principle, when our minds cannot at once arrive at the same conclusion. I feel it sometimes very difficult indeed to word my thoughts as they exist in my own mind, which, I presume, is the grand cause of many apparent differences in sentiment which may exist among the Saints.

What I consider to be virtue, and the only principle of virtue there is, is to do the will of our Father in heaven. That is the only virtue I wish to know. I do not recognize any other virtue than to do what the Lord Almighty requires of me from day to day. In this sense virtue embraces all good; it branches out into every avenue of mortal life, passes through the ranks of the sanctified in heaven, and makes its throne in the breast of the Deity. When the Lord commands the people, let them obey. That is virtue.

The same principle will embrace what is called sanctification. When the will, passions, and feelings of a person are perfectly submissive to God and His requirements, that person is sanctified. It is for my will to be swallowed up in the will of God, that will lead me into all good, and crown me ultimately with immortality and eternal lives.

There are numbers of men who can say much with regard to their faith in, and exalted views of “Mormonism;” they could converse continually about it. In a word, if “Mormonism” is not my life, I do not know that I have any. I do not understand anything else, for it embraces everything that comes within the range of the understanding of man. If it does not circumscribe everything that is in heaven and on earth, it is not what it purports to be.

I will inform you how I became a “Mormon”—how the first solid impression was made upon my mind. When I undertook to sound the doctrine of “Mormonism,” I supposed I could handle it as I could the Methodist, Presbyterian, and other creeds of Christendom, which I had paid some considerable attention to, from the first of my knowing anything about religion. When “Mormonism” was first presented to me, I had not seen one sect of religionists whose doctrines, from beginning to end, did not appear to me like the man’s masonry which he had in a box, and which he exhibited for a certain sum. He opened the main box from which he took another box; he unlocked that and slipped out another, then another, and another, and thus continued to take box out of box until he came to an exceedingly small piece of wood; he then said to the spectators, “That, gentlemen and ladies, is free masonry.”

I found all religions comparatively like this—they were so deficient in doctrine that when I tried to tie the loose ends and fragments together, they would break in my hands. When I commenced to examine “Mormonism,” I found it impossible to take hold of either end of it; I found it was from eternity, passed through time, and into eternity again. When I discovered this, I said, “It is worthy of the notice of man.” Then I applied my heart to wisdom, and sought diligently for understanding.

But the natural wisdom and judgment which were given me from my youth, were sufficient to enable me to easily comprehend the discrepancies and lack in the creeds of the day.

“Mormonism” is all in all to me; everything else in the shape of false government and false religion will perish in the due time of the Lord, or else the ancient Prophets have been mistaken. If death is not destroyed, and him that hath the power of it, and every man and woman who are not prepared to enjoy a kingdom where angels administer, then much of the Bible is exceedingly erroneous. Every kingdom will be blotted out of existence, except the one whose ruling spirit is the Holy Ghost; and whose king is the Lord. The Lord said to Jeremiah the Prophet, “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hands of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.” The clay that marred in the potter’s hands was thrown back into the unprepared portion, to be prepared over again. So it will be with every wicked man and woman, and every wicked nation, kingdom, and government upon earth, sooner or later; they will be thrown back to the native element from which they originated, to be worked over again, and be prepared to enjoy some sort of a kingdom.

Then where will be their glory—their lands—their silver and gold—their precious diamonds and jewels—and all their fine pictures, and precious ornaments? In the hands of the Saints. Will the wicked inherit them? No; they will be disinherited.

I do not wonder at the ancients marveling at the wickedness and unbelief of the people. I do not wonder at the words of the Savior, which will apply to the people generally as well now as then, when he said, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.” This generation are seeking eagerly after that which will perish in their hands; they are madly rushing forward, hazarding their eternal all, to secure transitory possessions, which, when they think they have obtained them, are not fully satisfactory; they have grasped at the walls of an airy phantom, and sacrificed an enduring substance. How foolish, in the eyes of the truly intelligent, the pursuits of the wicked appear. They set their hearts’ affections upon that which is not durable, seeking happiness where misery and all its attendant effects are sure to be realized. Jesus said to his disciples, when he was about to leave them, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Who wishes to overvalue earthly things as they are now constituted? They are made to be changed, they are subject to decay. But the earth will not be utterly destroyed; the elements of which it is composed will not be annihilated, but they will be changed. Neither shall those be consumed who can abide the day of the Lord Almighty, and stand in His presence. The earth in that great day will be renovated—cleansed from wickedness—purified from dross, sanctified, and prepared for the habitation of the Saints of the Most High.

On the other hand, the wicked shall be consumed with the Spirit of His mouth, and destroyed by the brightness of his coming. The gold, the silver, the precious stones, and all that is desirable to beautify the heaven of the Saints, will be made pure, and fit for them to handle. It is the misapplied intelligence God has given us that makes all the mischief on the earth. That intelligence He de– signed to carry out the purposes of His will, and endowed it with capabilities to grow, spread abroad, accumulate, and endeavor to enjoy greater happiness, glory, and honor, and continue to expand wider and wider, until eternity is comprehended by it; if not applied to this purpose, but to the groveling things of earth, it will be taken away, and given to one who has made better use of this gift of God.

I say again—“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness,”and in due time, no matter when, whether in this year or in the next, in this life or in the life to come, “all these things” (that appear so necessary to have in the world) “shall be added unto you.” Everything that is in heaven, on the earth, and in the earth, everything the most fruitful mind can imagine, shall be yours, sooner or later. I wish you would square your lives according to what has been said to you today, especially while I am gone.

I wish to say to all the brethren, young men, and boys, while I am gone from your midst for a season, let your conduct and conversation be such as becometh your profession in all things. I hope I shall not hear of drunkenness, confusion, and quarrelling when I return. I am never afraid of it when I am here, for I can manage such characters so completely that they do not think it worthwhile to begin. While I am gone, behave yourselves. I will preach to you the same sermon I preached to the missionaries a week ago, viz., “Walk uprightly.” When I return, and find you have done this, all will be well; if you have violated this counsel, you may expect to be chastised. Let it be said when I return, “All is right; all has been peace; and good order has prevailed in your absence.”

I wish to say a few words about some men and families in this city, called Gladdenites. We have been pretty severe upon them, but nowhere, except in the pulpit, to my knowledge. I counsel my brethren to keep away from their houses; let them alone, and treat them as courteously as you would any other person. Do you enquire whether I have any grounds for giving this advice? I answer, I have. For there are few men in this congregation who know when to stop, should they find themselves engaged in a contest with one of that class of people, therefore let them alone entirely. Those individuals are disagreeable to me, and so are their doctrines. The man they hold up is so low and degraded in his spirit, feelings, and life, I have not patience to hear anything said about him. I have known him too long, and too well, not to be satisfied of the wickedness of his heart.

You say you wish to do right, and please the Lord in all your actions; but were I to adopt an evil practice, the greater portion of this community would follow it. Why not follow me then in doing right? Righteousness, in whomsoever found, will never lead you astray; while wickedness will lead you to ruin. No man possessing the Spirit of the Lord, can for a moment believe Gladden Bishop’s writings. If it were possible, his system is more foolish than the exhibition of free masonry I have referred to.

I wish this community to understand, that what has been said here touching those men and their views, has been with no other design than to cause them to use their tongues as they ought, and cease abusing me and this people. Some of them visited me yesterday, and wished to know if it was safe for them to stay here. I told them they were as safe as I was, if they did not undertake to make us swallow, whether or not, something we are not willing to take. “We have been driven, and re-driven,” said I, “and if corrupt people stay in our midst, they have got to use their tongues properly.” They promised they would, if they might stay.

If they wish to live here in peace, I am willing they should, but I do not wish them to stir up strife. I never expected that this community would be composed entirely of Latter-day Saints, but I expected there would be goats mixed among the sheep, until they are separated. I do not look for anything else, but I wish them to behave themselves in their sphere, also the sheep; and let the goats associate with their goatish companions, and not endeavor to disturb the equanimity of the sheep in their pasture.

This comparison will apply to this people, and those men. If they wish to labor, and obtain a living, they are welcome to do so; but they are not at liberty to disturb the peace of their neighbors in any way; neither let this people disturb them, but grant them every privilege claimed by, and belonging to, American citizens. Let them meet together and pray if they please; this is their own business. Let them do as some did in a camp meeting in York State—One man met another and said, “How do you do? How are they getting along on the campground?” “Why they are serving God like the very devil,” was the reply. And the Gladdenites may serve God like the devil, if they will keep out of my way, and out of the way of this people.

The men who visited me yesterday, stated that they believed Joseph was a true Prophet, and that they were full-blooded “Mormons;” indeed they seemed to have in them an extra charge of “Mormon” blood. I asked one of them if he had any confidence in the endowment. He confessed he had no faith in it. I then asked him if he did not believe that Joseph Smith was a fallen Prophet. His reply was, “I rather think he is.”

When a man throws a stone at me, and with it dashes his own brains out, I have nothing to say. He called himself a full-blooded “Mormon,” and almost in the same breath declared Joseph was a fallen Prophet, and that he had no confidence in the endowment. How is it in reality with those men? Why they have not a particle of faith either in Joseph Smith, or in the Book of Mormon. I told one of them, who professed to be so honest, that he wanted the Lord to come down from heaven that moment and judge him, that five years would not pass away before he would be cursing, and swearing, and proclaiming blasphemously against every good principle in heaven and on earth.

They do not know what they believe, neither do they know what they have received. They think they know all about it. They think they know that you are out of the right way, and that they are walking in it. When they say this people are going to be destroyed by the judgments of God, it is to me like the crackling of thorns under the pot. Pass along, and mind your own business, is a fit reply to their declarations.

There has never been a Church of God on the earth without such characters. According to their outward appearance, they are as good men and women as you might think could possibly be. You might say with safety, “They are truly Saints,” if you were to judge by the appearance of the outside of the platter. But what does Jesus Christ say? “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Again? “For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

He that doeth the will of God, is His disciple. You may say Joseph was a devil, if you like, but he is at home, and still holds the keys of the kingdom, which were committed to him by heavenly messengers, and always will. Do you ask who brother Brigham is? He is an humble instrument in the hands of God, to keep His people in the path which He has marked out through the instrumentality of His servant Joseph; and to travel in which is all I ask of them. I said some time since on this stand, if I was not a Prophet, I certainly had been profitable to this people. I know I have, by the blessing of the Lord, been successful in profiting them. The Lord has done it through me.

There is a man named Martin Harris, and he is the one who gave the holy roll to Gladden. When Martin was with Joseph Smith, he was continually trying to make the people believe that he (Joseph) was the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel. I have heard Joseph chastise him severely for it, and he told me that such a course, if persisted in, would destroy the kingdom of God. Who else ever said that Joseph Smith was anything but an unlearned son of a backwoodsman; who had all his lifetime, ever since he could handle an ax, helped his father to support his little family by cutting wood?

Thus the Lord found him, and called him to be a Prophet, and made him a successful instrument in laying the foundation of His kingdom for the last time. This people never professed that Joseph Smith was anything more than a Prophet given to them of the Lord; and to whom the Lord gave the keys of this last dispensation, which were not to be taken from him in time, neither will they be in eternity.

I wish to see this people fulfil in every particular what Joseph told them to do, and build up the kingdom of God, and this they are doing. I give them praise today, for they are a God-blessed people. Which of these Elders that are sitting round me, if they were asked to go on a mission for five, ten, or twenty years, would not rise up and say, “I am ready,” notwithstanding all their weaknesses and foolishness?

Ask an apostate to go and preach salvation to a perishing world, and his reply would be, “I cannot go, I am too poor.” They are a perfect abomination among men. Did they ever build up the kingdom of God in any way? Never. They have done nothing but apostatize, and they will now continually try to destroy the work of God with all their might. This is all they ever did do, and it is all they ever will do. There is not a faithful Elder here who would not, if called upon, readily go forth to preach the Gospel in distant countries, though he had not a shoe to his feet, or a coat to his back. Would an apostate do it? No, they cannot do anything without money! money! money! which is their god. The faithful children of God will be faithful in preaching the Gospel, in building up the cause of their God, and in carrying salvation to thousands and millions of the fallen race of Adam, which we have done.

I wonder what apostate would do as we did when we went to England? I was better off than many of my brethren, for I had three shillings to pay my expenses to Preston. On we went to that town, and held our Conference, and from thence we started out every way, preaching the Gospel in the regions round about.

Allow me the privilege of boasting, though it is not me but the Lord that has done it. We sustained ourselves, and assisted the poor to a very large amount, and only stayed in England one year and sixteen days. This means was gathered up by faith, and we baptized over seven thousand people, gave away about sixty thousand tracts, for which I paid the money, and sent Elders out to preach in every direction. Would an apostate do this? No. But they wish to sour, corrupt, and desecrate with apostasy every Saint they come in contact with. It is not in them to do any good to the cause of truth; but out of the evil they design the Lord will bring good.

This people commenced with nothing. Joseph Smith, the honored instrument in the hands of God to lay the foundation of this work, commenced with nothing; he had neither the wisdom nor the riches of this world. And it is proven to our satisfaction, that when rich men have come into this Church, the Lord has been determined to take their riches from them and make them poor; that all His Saints may learn to obtain that which they possess by faith.

How many times has He made us poor? Thousands of dollars worth of property in houses and lands, which the Lord gave me, are now in the East, in the hands of our enemies. I never said they were mine, they were the Lord’s, and I was one of His stewards. When I went to Kirtland, I had not a coat in the world, for previous to this I had given away everything I possessed, that I might be free to go forth and proclaim the plan of salvation to the inhabitants of the earth. Neither had I a shoe to my feet, and I had to borrow a pair of pants and a pair of boots. I stayed there five years, and accumulated five thousand dollars. How do you think I accomplished this? Why, the Lord Almighty gave me those means. I have often had that done for me that has caused me to marvel. I know, as well as I know I am standing before you today, that I have had money put into my trunk and into my pocket without the instrumentality of any man. This I know to a certainty. Ask an apostate, if they can, in truth, bear testimony to such a thing. They cannot do it. Enough about that.

Again, I say if “Mormonism” is not all I anticipated it to be, it is nothing. If it is not in me, and I in it, if it is not all and in all to me, I am deceived in myself. It is everything in heaven and on earth to those who possess it truly; but lose this, and, as I told you the other day, what remains will dwindle, perish, decay, decompose, and be reduced to its native element, or, in other words, be thrown into the mill to be ground over.

The Lord Almighty will not let anything endure that offers hospitality to the devil and his imps. Those who suffer their bodies to be dwellings for evil spirits, must suffer loss, for devils cannot construct a house that will in any way answer their purpose; neither have they been able to do so in all the eternities there are; that is the very thing which causes us trouble continually; for they are trying all the time to get into our dwellings, because they have none of their own. Did you ever desire to take possession of another person’s tabernacle, and leave your own? No rational person owning a tabernacle would wish to do so. The devils have no tabernacles, which is the reason of their wanting to possess human bodies. If any of you have suffered any of these houseless spirits to enter you, turn them out, and they will perhaps seek refuge in the body of an ox, or some other animal, or maybe go into Jordan.

Do you think the legion we read of, that entered the swine, in the days of Christ, had bodies of their own? No; they have no meetinghouses but in ballrooms, gaming houses, brothels, gin palaces, parlors, bedrooms, and other places which they frequent in the bodies of those they lead captive; otherwise they are wandering to and fro in the earth, seeking to possess tabernacles that other spirits, not of their order, already occupy. They are in our midst watching for an opportunity to enter where they may. What will be the doom of those who give way to them, and yield to them the possession of their tabernacles? They will wander to and fro, happiness will be hid from them, they will weep, and wail, and suffer, until their bodies return to their mother earth, and their spirits to judgment.

Brethren and sisters, you are on the right track; be virtuous, humble, thankful, generous, and true to your God, and to each other, loving Him more than all things else, and making His Law your delight day and night. If I did not love the Lord enough to leave houses, lands, father, mother, wives, and children, and even be ready to lay down my life freely for the kingdom of God’s sake, I should not consider I was worthy of it. Were I to forsake all for it, I should lose nothing; for the man who honors and serves God cannot suffer loss.

The very laws which govern eternity are planned to sustain an eternal growth, gathering together and increasing; so that the true servant of God cannot possibly suffer loss, but will reap eternal gain, though he, for the cause of truth, is poor and needy through the whole of this short life. He has made truth his theme; and what is it? I will say it is that which endures; it is eternity, and its power is to grow, increase, and expand, adding life to life, and power to power, worlds without end.

May God bless you. Amen.

A Discourse by Elder P. P. Pratt, Delivered at the General Conference, in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 10, 1853.

At the request of my brethren, I rise to occupy a portion of the time. I realize that there are many present who are equally prepared to administer in the things of the Spirit of God. The time is precious, and I desire that I may have the Spirit of God, with the prayers and confidence of the people, to speak in wisdom that which is necessary, and then give opportunity to my brethren; for I love to hear them, and so do this people.

I have reflected a little upon the text that was presented to us by our President a few days since, and upon the excellent remarks made by himself and others upon the subject of heirship, or the inherent rights of the firstborn, and of election. I consider, indeed, that it opens a broad field, and that there is no danger of exhausting the subject, whatever may be said of it.

The covenants made with the fathers, and the rights of the children by reason of them, are an interesting subject to me.

In the first place, if all men were created alike, if all had the same degree of intelligence and purity of disposition, all would be equal. But, notwithstanding the declaration of American sages, and of the fathers of our country, to the contrary, it is a fact that all beings are not equal in their intellectual capacity, in their dispositions, and in the gifts and callings of God. It is a fact that some beings are more intelligent than others, and some are endowed with abilities or gifts which others do not possess.

In organizing and peopling the worlds, it was found necessary to place among the inhabitants some superior intelligences, who were capacitated to teach, to rule, and preside among other intelligences. In short, a variety of gifts, and adaptations to the different arts, sciences, and occupations, was as necessary as the uses and benefits arising therefrom have proved to be. Hence one intelligence is peculiarly adapted to one department of usefulness, and another to another. We read much in the Bible in relation to a choice or election, on the part of Deity, towards intelligences in His government on earth, whereby some were chosen to fill stations very different from others. And this election not only affected the individuals thus chosen, but their posterity for long generations, or even forever.

It may be inquired where this election first originated, and upon what principle a just and impartial God exercises the elective franchise. We will go back to the earliest knowledge we have of the existence of intelligences. We learn from the writings of Abraham and others, and from modern revelation, that the intelligences that now inhabit these tabernacles of earth were living, active intelligences in yonder world, while the particles of matter which now compose our outward bodies were yet mingled with their native element; that then our embodied spirits lived, moved, conversed, and exercised an agency. All intelligences which exist possess a degree of independence in their own sphere. For instance, the bee can go at will in search of honey, or remain in the hive. It can visit one flower or another, as independent in its own sphere as God is in His. We find a degree of independence in everything which possesses any degree of intelligence; that thinks, moves, or acts: because the very principle of voluntary action implies an independent will to direct such action.

Among the intelligences which existed in the beginning, some were more intelligent than others, or, in other words, more noble; and God said to Abraham, “These I will make my rulers!” God said unto Abraham, “Thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.”

Noble! Does He use the word noble? Yes; the word noble, or that which signified it, was used in conversation between God and Abraham, and applied to superior intelligences on earth, and which had pre-existed in the heavens.

I am aware that the term is greatly abused, in Europe and elsewhere, being applied to those titled, and to those who inherit certain titles and estates, whether they are wise men or fools, virtuous or vicious. A man may even be an idiot, a drunkard, an adulterer, or a murderer, and still be called a nobleman by the world. And all this because his ancestor, for some worthy action, or perhaps for being skilled in murder and robbery, under the false glare of “military glory,” obtained a title, and the possession of a large estate, from which he had helped to drive the rightful occupant.

Now the Lord did not predicate His principle of election or nobility upon such an unequal, unjust, and useless order of things. When He speaks of nobility, He simply means an election made, and an office or a title conferred, on the principle of superiority of intellect, or nobleness of action, or of capacity to act. And when this election, with its titles, dignities, and estates, includes the unborn posterity of a chosen man, as in the case of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it is with a view of the noble spirits of the eternal world coming through their lineage, and being taught in the commandments of God. Hence the Prophets, Kings, Priests, Patriarchs, Apostles, and even Jesus Christ, were included in the election of Abraham, and of his seed, as manifested to him in an eternal covenant.

Although some eternal intelligences may be superior to others, and although some are more noble, and consequently are elected to fill certain useful and necessary offices for the good of others, yet the greater and the less may both be innocent, and both be justified, and be useful, each in their own capacity; if each magnify their own calling, and act in their own capacity, it is all right.

It may be inquired, why God made one unequal to another, or inferior in intellect or capacity. To which I reply, that He did not create their intelligence at all. It never was created, being an inherent attribute of the eternal element called spirit, which element composes each individual spirit, and which element exists in an infinitude of degrees in the scale of intellect, in all the varieties manifested in the eternal God, and thence to the lowest agent, which acts by its own will.

It is a fixed law of nature that the higher intelligence presides over, or has more or less influence over, or control of, that which is less.

The Lord, in surveying the eternal intelligences which stood before Him, found some more noble or intellectual than others, who were equally innocent. This being so, He exercised the elective franchise upon wise principles, and, like a good and kind father among his children, He chose those for rulers who were most capable of benefiting the residue. Among these was our noble ancestor, Abraham.

I do not take up the subject in the middle of it, like the natural man who knows little of the past or future, and who judges by the things present before his eyes. Such a one might suppose that it so happened that Abraham came along, and was picked up without any particular reference to the past, or to eternal principles, and was elected to office; that it might just as well have been somebody else instead of him. But instead of this, he was chosen before the world was, and came into the world for the very purpose which he fulfilled. But, notwithstanding this pre-election in passing the veil, and entering a tabernacle of flesh, he became a little child, forgot all he had once known in the heavens, and commenced anew to receive intelligence in this world, as is the case with all. He therefore was necessitated to come up by degrees, receive an experience, be tried and proved. And when he had been sufficiently proved according to the flesh, the Lord manifested to him the elec– tion before exercised towards him in the eternal world. He then renewed that election and covenant, and blessed him, and his seed after him. And He said—In multiplying, I will multiply thee; and in blessing I will bless thee.

The Sodomites, Canaanites, &c., received the reverse of this blessing. Instead of giving them a multiplicity of wives and children, He cut them off, root and branch, and blotted their name from under heaven, that there might be an end of a race so degenerate. Now this severity was a mercy. If we were like the people before the flood, full of violence and oppression; or if we, like the Sodomites or Canaanites, were full of all manner of lawless abominations, holding promiscuous intercourse with the other sex, and stooping to a level with the brute creation, and predisposing our children, by every means in our power, to be fully given to strange and unnatural lusts, appetites, and passions, would it not be a mercy to cut us off, root and branch, and thus put an end to our increase upon the earth? You will all say it would. The spirits in heaven would thank God for preventing them from being born into the world under such circumstances. Would not the spirits in heaven rejoice in the covenant and blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in relation to the multiplying of their seed, and in every additional wife which God gave to them as a means of multiplying? Yes, they would; for they could say—“Now there is an opportunity for us to take bodies in the lineage of a noble race, and to be educated in the true science of life, and in the commandments of God.” O what an unspeakable contrast, between being a child of Sodom, and a child of Abraham!

Now, Abraham, by his former superiority of intelligence and nobility, by his former election before the world was, and by conducting himself in this world so as to obtain the renewal of the same according to the flesh, brought upon his posterity, as well as upon himself, that which will influence them more or less to the remotest generations of time, and in eternity.

Paul, the great Apostle of the Gentiles, when speaking upon this subject, testifies that the children of Israel differ much every way from the Gentiles, for to them, says he, pertains the election, the covenants, the promises, the service of God, the adoption, the glory, the giving of the law, and the coming of Christ in the flesh. He then goes on to trace the peculiar branches in which the heirship is perpetuated. Abraham had a son Ishmael, and several children by his other wives and concubines which the Lord gave unto him. They might all be blessed, but the peculiar blessings of heirship and Priesthood remained and were perpetuated in Isaac.

Again, when Rebecca, the wife of Isaac, had conceived twins, the election to these peculiar blessings ran in the lineage of Jacob, and not of Esau. True, Esau was the firstborn, and was heir to the inheritance, which always pertains to the birthright, but the election to hold and perpetuate the keys of eternal Priesthood was peculiar to Jacob, and even that which Esau did inherit was forfeited by transgression, and therefore transferred to Jacob.

The Lord blessed Ishmael in many things, because he was Abraham’s seed. The Lord blessed Esau in many things, because he was a son of Abraham and Isaac, but the peculiar things of the Priesthood, through which all nations should be blessed, pertained exclusively to that peculiar branch of the Hebrews which sprang from Jacob.

Now before these two children were born, or had done any good or evil in this life, God, who was acquainted with them in the former life, and who knew the grades of intelligence or of nobility possessed by each, revealed to Rebecca, their mother, that two nations or manner of people would spring from these twins, and that one people should be stronger than the other, and that the elder should serve the younger. When these two children had been born, and had died, and when their posterity had become two nations, then the Lord spoke by the Prophet Malachi, that He loved Jacob, because of some good he had done, and that He hated Esau, and laid his mountains waste, because of certain evils specified in the same declaration.

The Apostle Paul, in speaking of Jacob and Esau, quotes the revelation of Rebecca, before they were born and the revelation to Malachi after they had become two nations; and the two quotations, both following in immediate connection in Paul’s writings, have been mistaken by many, as if God had revealed both sayings before the two children were born; and thus the Scriptures are wrested and made to say that God hated a child before he was born, or had done any good or evil. A more false and erroneous doctrine could hardly be conceived, or a worse charge sustained against Juggernaut, than the imputation of hating children before they are born.

Here I would inquire, if it is anything inconsistent, or derogatory to the character of a good or impartial father, who loves all his children, for him to elect or appoint one of them to fulfil a certain purpose or calling, and another to fulfil another useful calling? Is it anything strange for one person to be stronger than another, for one person to serve another, or for one person to have a more numerous posterity than another? Is it anything strange or unrighteous for one person to be a farmer, a vinedresser, or a builder, and another a teacher, a governor, or a minister of justice and equity? What is more natural, more useful, or just, than for a father who discovers the several abilities or adaptations of his children, to appoint them their several callings or occupations?

God did not say that Jacob should be saved in the kingdom of God, and Esau be doomed to eternal hell, without any regard to their deeds; but He simply said that two distinct nations, widely differing, should spring from them, and one should be stronger than the other, and the elder should serve the younger. If one nation is stronger than the other, it can assist to defend the other. If the one nation serves the other, it will have a claim on a just remuneration for services rendered. If one inherits a blessing or Priesthood, through which all nations shall be blessed, surely the nation which is composed of his brother’s children will have an early claim on salvation through this ministry. I should esteem it a great privilege if, while I was serving my brother, and we were both partaking of the fruits of my labors, he should be elected to a Priesthood, through the ministry of which myself and all my posterity, as well as his own, might be taught, exalted, and eternally saved. By our mutual labors, then, we could be mutually benefited in time and in eternity. I am administering to him, and I am happy. He is administering to me, and he is happy. It is a kind of mutual service, a classification of labor, wherein each attends to the business most natural to him, and wherein there is mutual benefit. Why, then, should I find fault, or entertain envy or hatred towards my brother? Dressing a vine, ploughing a field, harvesting, or building, is just as necessary as teaching, or administering the ordinances of salvation; one acts in one capacity, and the other in another, but they are mutually blessed and benefited by their separate callings and endowments.

On the subject of hatred, I feel much as the Lord did when He hated Esau, and laid his mountains waste. When the children of Jacob were in trouble with their enemies, Esau’s descendants joined with the enemy, and did not stand by their brethren. When Jacob was unpopular, and the nations hated him because of the peculiarities of his religion, Esau forsook his brother and disowned relationship, fellowshipping with his brother’s persecutors. I also hate a traitor, who turns against me in a day of adversity, when I have claim on him as a brother.

But to return to the subject of election, and of heirship. In the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, according to the flesh, was held the right of heirship to the keys of Priesthood for the blessings and for the salvation of all nations. From this lineage sprang the Prophets, John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Apostles; and from this lineage sprang the great Prophet and restorer in modern times, and the Apostles who hold the keys under his hand. It is true, that Melchizedek and the fathers before him held the same Priesthood, and that Abraham was ordained and blessed under his hand, but this was an older branch of the chosen seed. I am speaking more fully of those who have lived since the older branches passed away, and since the transfer of the keys to Abraham and his seed. No Ishmaelite, no Edomite, no Gentile has since then been privileged to hold the presiding keys of Priesthood, or of the ministry of salvation. In this peculiar lineage, and in no other should all the nations be blessed. From the days of Abraham until now, if the people of any country, age, or nation, have been blessed with the blessings peculiar to the everlasting covenant of the Gospel, its sealing powers, Priesthood, and ordinances, it has been through the ministry of that lineage, and the keys of Priesthood held by the lawful heirs according to the flesh. Were the twelve Apostles which Christ ordained, Gentiles? Were any of them Ishmaelites, Edomites, Canaanites, Greeks, Egyptians, or Romans by descent? No, verily. One of the Twelve was called a “Canaanite,” but this could not have alluded to his lineage, but rather to the locality of his nativity, for Christ was not commissioned to minister in person to the Gentiles, much less to ordain any of them to the Priesthood, which pertained to the children of Abraham. I would risk my soul upon the fact that Simon the Apostle was not a Canaanite by blood, He was perhaps a Canaanite upon the same principle that Jesus was a Nazarite, which is expressive of the locality of his birth or sojourn. But no man can hold the keys of Priesthood or of Apostleship, to bless or administer salvation to the nations, unless he is a literal descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus Christ and his ancient Apostles of both hemispheres were of that lineage. When they passed away, and the Saints, their followers, were destroyed from the earth, then the light of truth no longer shone in its fulness.

The world have from that day to this been manufacturing priests, without any particular regard to lineage. But what have they accomplished? They have done what man could do; but man could not bestow that which he did not possess, consequently he could not bestow the eternal keys of power which would constitute the Priesthood. They have manufactured something, and called it Priesthood, and the world has been cursed with it up to this time.

But God Almighty, in fulfilment of the covenants made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and with the Prophets, Apostles, and Saints of old, raised up a Joseph, and conferred upon him the ancient records, oracles, and keys of the eternal Priesthood. If he was the impostor the world took him to be, why did he not happen to state in his book that he was a descendant of the Romans, or that he had come through the loins of Socrates, or sprung from some of the Greek philosophers, or Roman generals? Why not a descendant of some noble house of the Gentile kings or nobles? As we were ignorant of the peculiarities of election and heirship to the royal Priesthood, why did not the Book of Mormon predict that a noble Gentile should be the instrument to receive and translate it in modern times, that through the Gentiles the Jews might obtain mercy? It is true the book was brought forth and published among the Gentiles: it is also true that it comes from the Gentiles to Israel, speaking rationally; but when it predicts the name and lineage of its modern translator, “Behold, he is a descendant of Joseph of Egypt,” why should an imputed impostor be consistent in this as well as in all other items? The reason is obvious. It is because the record is true, and its translator no impostor.

Knowing of the covenants and promises made to the fathers, as I now know them, and the rights of heirship to the Priesthood, as manifested in the election of God, I would never receive any man as an Apostle or a Priest, holding the keys of restoration, to bless the nations, while he claimed to be of any other lineage than Israel.

The word of the Lord, through our Prophet and founder, to the chosen instruments of the modern Priesthood, was this—“Ye are lawful heirs according to the flesh, and your lives have been hid with Christ in God.” That is to say, they have been held in reserve during the reign of Mystic Babel, to be born in due time, as successors to the Apostles and Prophets of old, being their children, of the same royal line. They have come forth, at length, as heirs to the keys of power, knowledge, glory, and blessing, to minister to all the nations of the Gentiles, and afterwards to restore the tribes of Israel. They are of the royal blood of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and have a right to claim the ordination and endowments of the Priesthood, inasmuch as they repent, and obey the Lord God of their fathers.

Those who are not of this lineage, whether they are Gentiles, Edomites, or Ishmaelites, or of whatever nation, have a right to remission of sins and the Gift of the Holy Spirit, through their ministry, on conditions of faith, repentance, and baptism, in the name of Jesus Christ. Through this Gospel they are adopted into the same family, and are counted for the seed of Abraham; they can then receive a portion of this ministry under those (literal descendants) who hold the presiding keys of the same.

By obeying the Gospel, or by adoption through the Gospel, we are all made joint heirs with Abraham, and with his seed, and we shall, by continuance in well doing, all be blessed in Abraham and his seed, no matter whether we are descended from Melchizedek, from Edom, from Ishmael, or whether we be Jews or Gentiles. On the principles of Gospel adoption, the blessing is broad enough to gather all good, penitent, obedient people under its wings, and to extend to all nations the principles of salvation. We would therefore more cordially invite all nations to join themselves to this favored lineage, and come with all humility and penitence to its royal Priesthood, if they wish to be instructed and blessed, for to be blessed in this peculiar sense in any other way, or by any other institutions or government, they cannot, while the promises and covenants of God hold good to the elect seed.

Turn from all your sins, ye Gentiles; turn from all your sins, ye people of the house of Israel, ye Edomites, Jews, and Ishmaelites; all ye nations of the earth, and come, to the legal Priesthood, and be ye blessed. The promise is to each and all of you; do not reject it. The keys of the kingdom, of government, of Priesthood, of Apostleship; the keys of salvation to build up, govern, organize, and administer in temporal and spiritual salvation to the ends of the earth, are now restored, and held by the chosen instruments of this lineage.

I have spoken in a national capacity and in general principles. In regard to individual heirship and the rights of fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, &c., I have not the power, if I had the time; to make the subject any plainer than our President made it the other day. It is for us to learn more and more from day to day, and continue to learn and practice those principles and laws that will secure to each individual and family its rights, according to the ancient order of the government of God, which is now being restored.

The living oracles or Priesthood in our midst can develop these principles from time to time as we need them, for they minister in holy things, and soon they will enter with us into the holy temple, where we may learn more fully; and if we are still lacking, they will with us enjoy the great thousand years in which to teach, qualify, and prepare us for eternity.

We have need to learn more fully the relationship we sustain to our families, to the community, to the nations of the earth, to the house of Israel, to heaven, to earth, to time, and to eternity. We have need to learn more fully to fulfil the duties of those relationships. We must learn by degrees. Truth is not all told at once, nor learned in a few days. A little was developed by our President the other day, for which we are very glad; we will treasure it up, and as circumstances call for it, we shall receive a little more, until by degrees the law of God is learned from those who hold the keys, even every item which pertains to our own rights, and the rights of our children, so that we shall not trespass on another’s. In this manner all the good people on earth, in the spirit world, or in the world of the resurrections, may become one in love, peace, goodwill, purity, and confidence, and in keeping the laws of Jesus Christ and of the holy Priesthood. If each person has the knowledge and the disposition to do right, and then does it continually, even as he would wish others to do to him, this will not only give to each his right, but create the utmost confidence, love, and goodwill, by which a perfect union may be formed between each other, and with all good spirits and angels, and, finally, with Jesus Christ and his Father in worlds without end. Amen.

An Address by Elder Orson Hyde, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 9, 1853.

We have been listening to a very interesting discourse from brother Pulsipher. His remarks were truly appropriate when speaking upon the subject of sanctification.

I want to say a little more touching that principle. If I understand it correctly, it means a purification of, or a putting away from, us, as individuals, and as a community, everything that is evil, or that is not in accordance with the mind and will of our heavenly Father.

Sanctification has also an eye to our own preservation for usefulness—for executing, carrying forward, and perpetuating the work of the Most High God.

We have been hearing that this is a fruitful valley. The blessing of the Lord descends upon the mountains, and abundantly flows into the Valley, causing it to spring forth, and produce whatever is necessary to sustain life.

I wish to observe here, that so bountiful have been the productions of the fields of our farmers, that after they have harvested their grain, they have not taken care of it, but have thrown it together in a very loose and careless manner. From want of proper respect for the temporal blessing of heaven, hundreds of bushels of grain have been wasted, to which many who are here today can testify. In consequence of this, and some other causes, flour can scarcely be bought for six dollars per hundredweight. A short time ago it was sold in great quantities at the rate of three dollars per hundred to the stores, and now there is hardly bread enough in Israel to supply the wants of our children. Why is this waste? A little more care should be exhibited by the farmers for the products of the soil.

If God our heavenly Father has given us temporal blessings in the due course and order of nature, we ought to hold them sacred, and be as prudent and economical of them as we are of a precious truth revealed from heaven by the agency of an holy an– gel from the presence of God. I know not which to prize the most, the blessings of the earth which pertain to the sustenance of these bodies, or the blessings of heaven that give food to the mind; for they are all the blessings of heaven to me and to you. I look upon every blessing as the gift of Jehovah, as the Apostle James wrote anciently, “every good and perfect gift cometh from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning,” whether it be wheat, corn, flocks, herds, houses, lands, wives, or children; we can obtain none of these things independent of this blessing; neither can we make one hair white or black, or add one cubit to our stature, without it is by the blessing of our Father in heaven.

Sometimes for want of proper care in keeping a secure fence, cattle break through, and destroy the fruits of our toil. I hope, as the time of sowing seed is at hand, that we shall remember these things. And let me say further, that a good fence is the most effectual “Stray Pound Law” that can exist. If there are any so circumstanced as not to be able to walk up to the full extent of these instructions, let us, however, try to do a little more than we have done heretofore, and by a little extra exertion secure to ourselves an additional amount of comfort, and have a little more to contribute to the building up of the Temple of God, in which operation we may be sanctified. Brethren, bear these things in mind.

We have heard, of late, a great deal about stray cattle, stealing, dissension and apostasy. I have not spoken upon the subject, I believe, from this stand; at the same time I have my feelings and views in relation to these matters, and I wish now to express them by introducing a figure, from which you may draw your own conclusions.

Now sanctification means, not only the purifying of the heart by prayer, and by acts of obedience to God, but it means also to purify a people, and purge from their midst that which is evil. I will suppose a case, viz., that here is a large flock of sheep out on the prairie, and here are shepherds also to watch over them with care. It is generally the case that shepherds are provided with most excellent dogs, that understand their business—their duty in relation to the flock. It has been said by some, that shepherd dogs should be reared with the sheep, and suck the milk from them, and thus partake of their nature; that the child not only draws its nourishment from the woman, but from the same source conceives a strong attachment, a kindred feeling and sympathy, for the fountain of its life. How this is I cannot say; I have heard the observation, but those who understand and know concerning this matter, can properly appreciate the remark in relation to it.

Suppose the shepherd should discover a wolf approaching the flock, what would he be likely to do? Why, we should suppose, if the wolf was within proper distance, that he would kill him at once with the weapons of defense which he carries; in short, that he would shoot him down, kill him on the spot. If the wolf was not within shot, we would naturally suppose he would set the dogs on him; and you are aware, I have no doubt, that thence shepherd dogs have very pointed teeth, and they are very active, very sensitive to know when the flock is in danger. It is sometimes the case, perhaps, that the shepherd has not with him the necessary arms to destroy the wolf, but in such a case he would set his faithful dogs on him, and by that means accomplish his destruction.

Is this true in relation to the shepherd, and the flock, and the dogs? You can all testify to its truth. Now was Jesus Christ the good shepherd? Yes. What the faithful shepherd is to his sheep, so is the Savior to his followers. He has gone and left on earth other shepherds who stand in the place of Jesus Christ to take care of the flock. When that flock is out on the prairie, and the pasture range extending broad and green before them, and completely cleared of wolves, is not that sanctified and cleansed, when there is nothing to hurt or destroy them? I ask if one wolf is permitted to mingle with the flock, and unmolested proceed in a work of destruction, will he not go off and tell the other wolves, and they bring in a thousand others, more wicked and ravenous than themselves? Whereas, if the first one should meet with his just desserts, he could not go back and tell the rest of his hungry tribe to come and feast themselves upon the flock.

Now don’t say that brother Hyde has taught strong things, for I have only told you what takes place between the shepherd and the flock, when the sheep have to be protected.

If you say that the Priesthood or authorities of the Church here are the shepherd, and the Church is the flock, you can make your own application of this figure. It is not at all necessary for me to do it.

It is all the same to me whether they want to destroy the flock, or destroy, steal, and carry off the property of the flock. If you steal my team, which is my means of living, you might just as well kill me at once. It is like this—“Brother Hyde, I will not disturb, molest, or harm you, or any of the rest of your brethren; but we will take you out on the bleak and comfortless prairie, and leave you there to starve or freeze to death, and take possession of your property.” You might as well destroy us at once as take us where we should starve. It would be much better to take our heads off at once than to subject us to a lingering death. Says the Apostle, to the flock over which the Holy Ghost had made him overseer—“The time will come when grievous wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock, and even of yourselves will men arise speaking perverse things to draw disciples after them.” &c.

I will tell you a feeling that I have ever cherished, though some may think I speak contrary to my real sentiments; because in certain circumstances I spoke in defense of a certain individual, which heaven knows whether he be guilty or innocent. Perhaps my zeal carried me beyond mediocrity, if it did that will be overruled for my good, for it may show me who among my friends are my enemies. At the same time my feelings are these—the best way to sanctify ourselves, and please God our heavenly Father in these days, is to rid ourselves of every thief, and sanctify the people from every vile character. I believe it is right; it is the law and practice of our neighboring state to put the same thing in execution upon men who violate the law, and trample upon the sacred rights of others. It would have a tendency to place a terror on those who leave these parts, that may prove their salvation when they see the heads of thieves taken off, or shot down before the public. Let us clear up the horizon around us; and then, like the atmosphere after the thunderstorm has spent its fury in the tops of the mountains, becomes purified; and a calm sunshine pervades the whole. I believe it to be pleasing in the sight of heaven to sanctify ourselves and put these things away from our midst.

I have delivered the sermon I wanted to preach. I told the President I wished to preach a sermon of about twenty minutes long, and I believe I am at an end of it, inside of the time. I bequeath these remarks to you in the name of Jesus my master, with the best feelings of a heart devoted to your good. Amen.

A Sermon by Elder John Taylor, Delivered at the General Conference, in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 8, 1853.

It rejoices my heart to hear the principles that have been advanced this day by our President, because they have their foundation in truth, are based upon the principles of equity, and are calculated to promote the happiness, well-being, exaltation, and glory of man, in time, and throughout all eternity. They lead us back into eternity; they existed with us there, and in all the various stages of man’s existence they are calculated to elevate and ennoble him, and place him in a proper position before God, angels, and men. They will put him in possession of his legitimate right, save him from the grasp of the adversary, from every subtle stratagem of the powers of darkness, and place him in his proper station in time and in eternity.

I have been much pleased with and edified by the remarks that have been made upon this stand during the Conference. Wisdom has been displayed in them; from them the intelligence of heaven has beamed forth, the mysteries of eternity have been spread before our minds, and we have had a view of heavenly things, that has filled our hearts with joy and our mouths with praise. It has made us feel as though we were upon the threshold of eternity; as though we were eternal beings, and had to do with eternal things; as though the things of this world were short, fleeting, and evanescent, not worthy of a thought when compared with those things that are calculated to exalt and ennoble us in time and in eternity.

The principles of justice, righteousness, and truth, which have an endless duration, can alone satisfy the capacious desires of the immortal soul. We may amuse ourselves like children do at play, or engage in the frivolities of the dance. We may take our little enjoyments in our social assemblies, but when the man comes to reflect, when the Saint of God considers, and the visions of eternity are open to his view, and the unalterable purposes of God are developed to his mind—when he contemplates his true position before God, angels, and men, then he soars above the things of time and sense, and bursts the cords that bind him to earthly objects; he contemplates God and his own destiny in the economy of heaven, and rejoices in a blooming hope of an immortal glory.

Such have been some of our feelings, while our minds have been carried away from the things of earth to contemplate the things with which eternal beings are associated, and the glories that await us in the everlasting mansions of the Gods.

The principles that we have to do with, then, are eternal, and not simply to play a game upon the checker of mortality, on which people can win and lose for the time being. We have to do with that which shall continue, “While life, and thought, and being last,

Or immortality endures.” We seek not to build our hopes upon things that are evanescent, fleeting, and transitory.

It is not he that can play the best game at checkers, that can take the most advantage of his neighbor, that can grasp the most earthly good, or that can put himself in possession of anything his heart desires pertaining to time, that is the most happy; but it is he who does that which will last, live, and continue to abide with him while “immortality endures,” and still be on the increase worlds without end.

If we can possess principles of this kind, then we are safe, everything else amounts to an illusion or a delusion, which cannot satisfy the desires of the mind, but as the Prophet says, it is like a thirsty man who dreams he is drinking, but when he awakes, he is faint, and his soul is thirsty; he dreams that he is eating, and when he awakes his soul is empty. This is the true situation of all men who are without God in the world; and nothing but a knowledge of eternal principles, of eternal laws, of eternal governments, of eternal justice and equity, and of eternal truth, can put us right, and satiate the appetite of the immortal soul.

If we make not a just estimate of these things, it is in vain that we attempt to say, “Lord, Lord,” because we do not the things which He says. Everything associated with the Gospel of salvation is eternal, for it existed before the “morning stars sang together for joy,” or this world rolled into existence. It existed then, just as it now exists with us, and it will exist the same when time with us is no more. It is an eternal principle, and everything associated with it is everlasting. It is like the Priesthood of the Son of God, “without beginning of days or end of years.” It lives and abides forever. If there is any principle that is not eternal, it is not a principle of the Gospel of life and salvation.

There are many changes and shifting scenes that may influence the position of mankind, under different circumstances, in this state of mortality; but they cannot influence or change the Gospel of the Son of God, or the eternal truths of heaven; they remain unchangeable; as it is said very properly by the Church of England, in one of their homilies, “as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, worlds without end.” If nothing else they say is true, that is, and I can say amen to it, with all my heart. All true principles are right, and if properly understood and appreciated by the human family, to them they are a fountain of eternal good.

The principle of “heirship,” which President Young preached about today, is a principle that is founded on eternal justice, equity, and truth. It is a principle that emanated from God. As was said by some of our brethren this morning, there may be circumstances arise in this world to pervert for a season the order of God, to change the designs of the Most High, apparently, for the time being, yet they will ultimately roll back into their proper place—justice will have its place, and so will mercy, and every man and woman will yet stand in their true position before God. If we understand ourselves correctly, we must look upon ourselves as eternal beings, and upon God as our Father, for we have been taught when we prayed to say, “Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” We have fathers in the flesh, and we do them reverence, how much more shall we be in subjection to the Father of Spirits and live. I need not enter into any proof in relation to this; for it is well understood by the Saints that God is the Father of our spirits, and that when we go back into His presence, we shall know Him, as we have known our earthly parents. We are taught to approach Him as we would an earthly parent, to ask of Him such blessings as we need; and He has said, If a son ask bread of his father shall he give him a stone, or if he ask for fish, a scorpion. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give His holy Spirit to them that ask Him.

We have a Father, then, who is in heaven. He has placed us on this earth for some purpose. We found ourselves in possession of bodies, mental faculties, and reasoning powers. In a word, we found ourselves intelligent beings, with minds capable of recalling the past and launching into the unborn future with lightning speed; and were it not for this earthly tabernacle, this tenement of clay, they would soar aloft and contemplate the unveiled purposes of Jehovah in the mansions of the redeemed. We found ourselves here with minds capable of all this and more. God, who has ordained all things from before the foundation of the world, is our Father. He placed us here to fulfil His wise and unerring counsels, that we might magnify our calling, honor our God, obtain an exaltation, and be placed in a more glorious, exalted, and dignified position than it would have been possible for us to enjoy if we had never taken upon us these bodies. This is my faith; it is the faith of this people.

I have no complaints to make about our father Adam eating the forbidden fruit, as some have, for I do not know but any of us would have done the same. I find myself here in the midst of the creations of God, and it is for me to make use of the intelligence God has given me, and not condescend to anything that is low, mean, groveling, and degrading—to anything that is calculated to debase the immortal mind of man, but to follow after things that are in their nature calculated to exalt, ennoble, and dignify, that I may stand in my true position before God, angels, and men, and rise to take my seat among the Gods of eternity.

We will now come to the principle of legitimacy, which was the text given out this morning—to our rights, privileges, Priesthoods, authorities, powers, dominions, &c., &c. And as some of us are Scriptorians, and all profess to believe the Bible, I feel inclined to quote a text from it. Paul, when speaking of Jesus Christ, gives us to understand that he is the firstborn of every creature, for by him were all things made that were made, and to him pertains all things; he is the head of all things, he created all things, whether visible or invisible, whether they be principalities, powers, thrones, or dominions; all things were created by him and for him, and without him was not anything made that was made. If all things were created by him and for him, this world on which we stand must have been created by him and for him; if so, he is its legitimate, its rightful owner and proprietor; its lawful sovereign and ruler. We will begin with him, then, in the first place, in treating on the subject of legitimacy.

But has he had the dominion over all nations, kindreds, peoples, and tongues? Have they bowed to his scepter, and acknowledged his sway? Have all people rendered obedience to his laws, and submitted to his guidance? Echo answers “no!” Has there ever been a kingdom, a government, a nation, a power, or a dominion in this world that has yielded obedience to him in all things? Can you point out one?

We read of the Jews who were a nation that submitted only in part to his authority, for they rebelled against his laws, and were placed under a schoolmaster until the Messiah should come. We read also, in the Book of Mormon, of some Nephites that dwelt upon this land, who kept the commandments of God, and perhaps were more pure than any other nation that history gives any account of. But, with these exceptions, the nations, kingdoms, powers, and dominions of the world have not been subject to the law, dominion, rule, or authority of God; but, as it is expressed by one of the ancients, the prince and power of the air, the god of this world has ruled in the hearts of the children of disobedience, and led them captive at his own will. Where is the historian, the man acquainted with ancient lore, who can point me out one government, nation, power, or dominion, that has been subject to the rule of God, to the dominion of Jesus Christ, with the exception of those Jews and Nephites which I have referred to? If there has been any such nation, the history of it has escaped my notice. I have never been able to obtain such information.

What then has been the position of the world for generations past? They have been governed by rulers not appointed of God; if they were appointed by Him, it was merely as a scourge to the people for their wickedness, or for temporary rulers in the absence of those whose right it was to govern. They had not the legitimate rule, Priesthood, and authority of God on the earth, to act as His representatives in regulating and presiding over the affairs of His kingdom.

Perhaps it may be well, at this stage of my remarks, to give you a short explanation of my ideas on government, legitimacy, or Priesthood, if you please. The question, “What is Priesthood?” has often been asked me. I answer, it is the rule and government of God, whether on earth or in the heavens; and it is the only legitimate power, the only authority that is acknowledged by Him to rule and regulate the affairs of His kingdom. When every wrong thing shall be put right, and all usurpers shall be put down, when he whose right it is to reign shall take the dominion, then nothing but the Priesthood will bear rule; it alone will sway the scepter of authority in heaven and on earth, for this is the legitimacy of God.

In the absence of this, what has been the position of the nations? You who have made yourselves acquainted with the political structure and the political intrigues of earthy kingdoms, I ask, from whence did they obtain their power? Did they get it from God? Go to the history of Europe, if you please, and examine how the rulers of those nations obtained their authority. Depending upon history for our information, we say those nations have been founded by the sword. If we trace the pages of history still further back to the first nation that existed, still we find that it was founded upon the same principle. Then follow the various revolutions and changes that took place among subsequent nations and powers, from the Babylonians through the Medo-Persians, Grecians, Romans, and from that power to all the other powers of Europe, Asia, and Africa, of which we have any knowledge: and if we look to America from the first discoveries by Columbus to the present time, where are now the original proprietors of the soil? Go to any power that has existed upon this earth, and you will find that earthly government, earthly rule and dominion, have been obtained by the sword. It was the sword of men that first put them in possession of this power. They have walked up to their thrones through rivers of blood, through the clotted gore and the groans of the dying, and through the tears and lamentations of bereaved widows and helpless orphans; and hence the common saying is, “Thrones won by blood, by blood must be maintained.” By the same principle that they have been put in possession of territory, have they sought to sustain themselves—the same vio– lence, the same fraud, and the same oppression have been made use of to sustain their illegitimacy.

Some of these powers, dominions, governments, and rulers, have had in their possession the laws of God, and the admonitions of Jesus Christ; and what have they done to his servants in different ages of the world, when he has sent them unto them? This question I need not stop to answer, for you are already made too familiar with it. This, then, is the position of the world. Authority, dominion, rule, government has been obtained by fraud, and consequently is not legitimate. They say much about the ordination of kings, and their being anointed by the grace of God, &c. What think you of a murderer slaying hundreds and thousands of his fellow creatures because he has the power, and while his sword is yet reeking with human blood, having a priest in sacerdotal robes to anoint him to the kingship? They have done it. What think you of the cries of the widows, the tears of the orphans, and the groans of the dying, mingling with the prayers and blessings of the priest upon the head of the murderer of their husbands and their fathers?

It is impossible that there can be any legitimate rule, government, power, or authority, under the face of the heavens, except that which is connected with the kingdom of God, which is established by new revelation from heaven.

In a conversation with some of our modern reformers in France, one of their leaders said, “I think you will not succeed very well in disseminating the principles of your religion in France.” I replied, “You have been seeking to accomplish something, for generations, with your philosophy, your philanthropic societies, and your ideas of moral reform, but have failed; while we have not been seeking to accomplish the thing that you have, par– ticularly, and yet have accomplished it.” We began with the power of God, with the government of heaven, and with acknowledging His hand in all things; and God has sustained us, blessed and upheld us to the present time; and it is the only government, rule, and dominion under the heavens that will acknowledge His authority.

Brethren, if any of you doubt it, go into some of those nations, and get yourselves introduced into the presence of their kings and rulers, and say, “Thus saith the Lord God.” They would at once denounce you as a madman, and straightway order you into prison. What is the matter? They do not acknowledge the legitimacy, the rule and government of God, nor will they inquire into them. They receive not their authority from Him. Nations honor their kings, but they do not honor the authority of their God in any instance, neither have they from the first man-made government to the present time. If there has been such a nation, or if there is at this time such a government, it is a thing of which I am ignorant.

The kings and potentates of the world profess to be anointed by the grace of God. But the priests who anoint them have no authority to do it. No person has authority to anoint a king or administer in one of the least of God’s ordinances, except he is legally called and ordained of God to that power; and how can a man be called of God to administer in His name, that does not acknowledge the gift of prophecy to be the right of the children of God in all ages? It is impossible. These men have been grasping after power, and for this they have laid waste nations and destroyed countries. Some of them possessed it for a while, and others were on the eve of getting it when they were cut off, and down they went. What became of them afterwards? Isaiah in vision saw the kings of the earth ga– thered together as prisoners in a pit, and after many days they were to be visited.

Having said so much in relation together governors and governments, we will now notice the difference between them and Abraham of old. Abraham was a man who contended for the true and legitimate authority. God promised to him, and to his seed after him, the land of Canaan for their possession, “The Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever.” What did Stephen say, generations afterwards? That God “gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on; yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.” Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones explains this seeming contradiction. The Lord said to him, “Son of man, can these bones live?” &c. Who are they? We are told, in the same chapter, they are the whole house of Israel, and that they shall come out of their graves, bone come to its bone and sinew to sinew, and flesh come upon them, and they shall become a living army before God, and they shall inherit the land which was given to them and their fathers before them. The measuring line shall again go forth upon those lands, and mark out the possessions belonging to the tribes of Israel.

Abraham was a man who dared fear God, and do honor to His authority, which was legitimate. God tried and proved him, the same as He has tried many of us, and felt after his heartstrings, and twisted them round. When He had tried him to the utmost, He swore by Himself, because He could swear by no greater, saying, “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed.” “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” Abraham obtained his dominion by legitimate authority; his Priesthood was obtained from God; his authority was that which is associated with the everlasting Gospel, which was, and is, and is to come, that liveth and abideth forever. And the promises made to him will rest upon him and his posterity, through every subsequent period of time, until the final winding up scene of all things. Will he ever obtain them? Yes. For we are eternal beings, and I am now talking as though we were in eternity. We shall wake up in the morning of the resurrection, attain to all the blessings which have been promised to us, and strike hands with Abraham, and see him inherit the promises. Abraham and all his children will then inherit the promises, through the principle of legitimacy. And there are many of the sons and daughters of Abraham among us at the present time; these will be baptized for their dead brethren and sisters, and by this means bring them unto Christ, beginning on the outside branches of the tree, and so progressing to the main stock, and from that to the root. And it shall come to pass that all Israel shall be saved. Why? Because it is their legitimate right. And they are Israel who do the works of Abraham.

Thus it is, then, with Abraham. The old man feels perfectly easy about the matter; and if he does see many of his descendants existing as a cursed race on account of their transgressions, many of them enjoying no higher avocation than crying “Old clothes,” still the time of their redemption will come, and by means of the eternal Gospel and Priesthood, they with us will be made perfect, and we with them. While the faithful are operating in heaven to bring this about, the Saints are operating on earth; and by faith and works we will accomplish all things, we will redeem the dead and the living, and all shall come forth, and Abraham will stand at the head of his seed as their ruler. This is his legitimate position.

We will now notice those men who are contending for it without any authority, and make a contrast between the two. We see them gathering their forces, and using their influence to destroy the poor among men. How long will the kings and rulers of the earth do this? Until they are dead and damned. And what then? They will be cast down into a pit. Isaiah saw them there, along with many other scoundrels, murderers, and scamps. After many days they will be visited, but they have got to lie in prison a long time for their transgressions. The one is legitimacy, and the other is illegitimacy; the one is the order of God, and the other is the order of the devil.

Such is the position of things in relation to the world, to legitimacy and illegitimacy, in regard to things that are right and things that are wrong. Jesus Christ created all things, and for him were they made, whether it be principalities, powers, thrones, or dominions. Now the question is, is he going to be dispossessed of his right because scoundrels exist in the world, and stand in power and dominion; because his subjects have rebelled against him from time to time, and usurpers have taken his place, and the dominion is given to another? Verily, no. But the time will come when the kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven will be given to the Saints of the Most High, and they will possess it forever and ever.

We will now notice some of the acts of God, and some of the acts of those who have been under the dominion of Satan, those who have had dominion over the world—the proud and haughty usurpers, and the shedders of innocent blood. These are they that have lived in the world, and possessed all the good things of it. And what has been the situation of the Saints in every age? All those who dared acknowledge that God lived, that this kingdom belonged to Him, that it was His right, and that He would without doubt possess it, have been trodden under foot, persecuted, cast out, hated, killed; “they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, and tormented.” As one of old says, in speaking of the Jews—Which of the prophets have not your fathers killed, who testified before of the coming of the Just One.

This was the case in ancient days, and has been carried on in modern times. I have, with my own eyes, seen holy Prophets expire, who were killed by the hands of a murderous gang of bloodthirsty assassins, because they bore the same testimony that the holy Prophets did in days of old. How many more of their brethren who dared acknowledge the truth, have fallen beneath the same influences—have been shot, whipped, imprisoned, and put to death in a variety of ways, while hundreds of others, driven from their homes in the winter, have found their last bed; they were worn out with suffering and fatigue, the weary wheels of life stood still; they were obliged to forsake the world, in which they could no longer remain, because of the persecution heaped upon them by the enemies of the truth.

The reason of all this vile outrage upon innocent men, women, and children, is because there is no legitimate rule upon the earth. God’s laws and government are not known, and His servants are despised and cast out.

Legitimacy and right, whether in heaven or on earth cannot mix with anything that is not true, just, and equitable; and truth is free from oppression and injustice, as is the bosom of Jehovah. Nothing but that will ultimately stand. What has been the position of the world generally, among themselves? You see men marshalling armies, and making war with one another to destroy each other, and take possession of their territory and wealth. One man who is in possession of wealth, power, and authority, sees oppression exercised by kings; so he follows the example, as do rulers who exercise authority under their sovereign; then others in a still lower degree do the same; thus oppression treads upon the heels of oppression, and distress follows distress. You will find this to exist in a great measure through every grade of society, from the king on his throne, down to the matchmaker, or the chimney sweep.

To ameliorate the condition of man, there are a great many institutions introduced into the world in the shape of Tract Societies, Bible Societies, and many more too numerous for me to name. Many of them are founded by sincere men, but commencing on the wrong foundation, they keep wrong all the time, and fail to accomplish the object desired. If any one of these different institutions were to carry out their own principles, they would not only fail in accomplishing the object they have in view, but ultimately destroy themselves.

There are Peace Societies among the rest; their object is to bring peace into the world, without the Spirit of God. They see plainly that peace is desirable, but they wish to graft it onto a rotten stock. In Europe they had a “Peace Congress,” and sent their representatives to all parts of the world; and of course this “Congress of Peace” wished to regulate the world, make an end of war, and bring in universal peace.

Talk about peace, when rancorous discord makes its nest in the councils and cabinets of all nations, and the hearts of their statesmen are steeped in hatred one to another. Jealousy, animosity, and strife, like the influence of a deadly contagion, may be found in almost every family; brother rising up against sister, sister against brother, the father against the mother, and the mother against the father, etc. We can find discord reigning even in the “Peace Society” itself.

Jesus Christ says, “My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you,” &c. Wherever this peace exists, it leaves an influence that is comforting and refreshing to the souls of those who partake of it. It is like the morning dew to the thirsty plant. This peace is alone the gift of God, and it can only be received from Him through obedience to His laws. If any man wishes to introduce peace into his family or among his friends, let him cultivate it in his own bosom; for sterling peace can only be had according to the legitimate rule and authority of heaven, and obedience to its laws.

Everything is disordered, and in confusion in the world. The reason is because no legitimate authority has been known or acknowledged on the earth. Others have been trying to build up and establish what they supposed to be the kingdom of God. The socialists of France call themselves religious people, and they also expect to bring about a reign of glory through a species of Robespierreism. I was told by a man well acquainted with matters of fact in relation to these things, that if they gained the ascendancy in France, their first object would be to erect a statue to Robespierre. They were going to cut off thousands of people, to accomplish their designs: and had not Napoleon taken active measures to head them, bands of men were ready on a moment’s warning to cut off the heads of thousands, and among these, I was informed, fifty thousand priests were doomed.

These are some of the principles and ideas that exist in the world, among the various nations and institutions of men, which are framed according to illegitimate principles. A change of government changes not the condition of the people, for all are wrong, and acting without God.

Our ideas are, that the time has come to favor God’s people; a time about which Prophets spoke in pathetic strains, and poets sung. These men of God looked through the dark vista of future ages, and being wrapped in prophetic vision, beheld the latter-day glory—the time of the dispensation of the fulness of times, spoken of by all the holy Prophets since the world began; for they all looked forward with joyful anticipations to the things which have commenced with us; they all had their eye upon the time when legitimacy would obtain its proper place upon the earth, in the shape of the kingdom of God established in the world, when all false rule and dominion would be put down, and the kingdoms of this world would become subject to God and His Christ. These are the ideas that they had, and these are the things we are seeking to carry out.

If we look at what illegitimacy has done in former times, we shall see the absolute necessity of the restitution spoken of by the Prophets, for it has filled the earth with evil, it has caused the world to groan in bondage, laid millions in the cold embrace of death, and caused disease to spread its pestiferous breath among the nations, leaving ruin, misery, and desolation in its path, and made this fair earth a howling wilderness. And nothing but the wisdom and intelligence of God can change it. The kingdom of God will establish truth and correct principles—the principles of truth, equity, and justice; in short, the principles that emanate from God, principles that are calculated to elevate man in time and through all eternity. How shall this be? It will be by a legitimate rule, authority, and dominion.

Who have we for our ruling power? Where and how did he obtain his authority? Or how did any in this Church and kingdom obtain it? It was first obtained by a revelation from the Lord of the Universe, by the opening of the heavens, by the voice of God, and by the ministering of holy angels. It is by the voice of God and the voice of the people, that our present President obtained his authority. Many people in the world are talking about misrule and misgovernment. If there is any form of government under the heavens where we can have legitimate rule and authority, it is among the Saints. In the first place, we have a man appointed by God, and, in the second place, by the people. This man is chosen by yourselves, and every person raises his hand to sanction the choice. Here is our President, Brigham Young, whom we made choice of yesterday, who is he? He is the legitimate ruler among this people. Can anybody dispossess him? They cannot, because it is his legitimate right, and he reigns in the hearts of the people. He obtains his authority first from God, and secondly from the people; and if a man possesses five grains of common sense, when he has a privilege of voting for or against a man, he will not vote for a man that oppresses the people; he will vote according to the dictates of his conscience, for this is the right and duty of this people in the choice of their President, and other leading officers of the kingdom of God. While this is being done here, it is being done in every part of the world, wherever the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a footing. Is there a monarch, potentate, or power under the heavens that under– goes a scrutiny as fine as this? No there is not; and yet this is done twice a year, before all the Saints in the world. Here are legitimacy and rule. You place the power in their hands to govern, dictate, regulate, and put in order the affairs of the kingdom of God. This is, Vox Dei vox populi. God appoints, the people sustain. You do this by your own act; very well, then, it is legitimate, and must stand, and every man is bound to abide it if it takes the hair off his head. I know there are things sometimes that are hard, tough, and pinching; but if a man is a man of God, he has his eyes upon eternal things, and is aiming to accomplish the purposes of God, and all will be well with him in the end.

What advantage is there, then, between this government and others? Why, we have peace, and as eternal beings we have a knowledge of eternal things. While listening to the remarks made on this stand, what have we not heard—what have we not known? The curtains of heaven have been withdrawn, and we have gazed as by vision upon eternal realities. While, in the professing world, doubt and uncertainty throw their dark mantle over every mind.

Let us now notice our political position in the world. What are we going to do? We are going to possess the earth. Why? Because it belongs to Jesus Christ, and he belongs to us, and we to him; we are all one, and will take the kingdom and possess it under the whole heavens, and reign over it forever and ever. Now, ye kings and emperors, help yourselves, if you can. This is the truth, and it may as well be told at this time as at any other.

”There’s a good time coming, Saints,

A good time coming,

There’s a good time coming, Saints,

Wait a little longer,“

Having said so much on this point, we will return to the principle of legitimacy. God is our legitimate Father, and we are His children, and have a claim upon Him, and He has a claim upon us. We have come into this world to accomplish a certain purpose, and we have come in the dispensation of the fulness of times, when God decreed to gather all things together into one, whether they be things in heaven or on earth; and everything that has been in existence in any age of the world, or that is, or will be, which is calculated to benefit and exalt man, we shall have; consequently it is for us to look after anything and everything that ever has been true, or that has ever been developed in any period of the history of man, for it all belongs to us, and has got to be restored, for restitution means bringing back that which is lost. If the Antediluvians enjoyed anything that was good, true, and eternal, which is not yet made known to us, it has to be restored; or if anything existed among the ancient Patriarchs and Prophets, that has been lost, it has to be restored. If there are any people of God upon any detached part of this world, they with it have got to be restored. God’s word will also be gathered into one, and His people and the Jews will hear the words of the Nephites, and the Ten Tribes must hear the words of the Jews and Nephites, and God’s people be gathered and be one. All things will be gathered in one, and Zion be redeemed, the glory of God be revealed, and all flesh see it together. God’s dominion will be established on the earth, the law go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and the kingdoms of this world will become subject to God and His Christ.

As eternal beings, then, we existed with our Father in the eternal worlds. We came on to this earth, and obtained tabernacles, that through taking possession of them, and passing through a scene of trial, and tribula– tion, and suffering, we might be exalted to more glory, dignity, and power, than would have been possible for us to obtain had we not been placed in our present position. If any of you do not believe this, let me refer you to a passage of Scripture or two. How was man created at first? We are told that God made man a little lower than the angels; then says Paul, “Know ye not that we shall judge angels.” What through? It is through the atonement of Jesus Christ, through the taking of our bodies, the powers of the holy Priesthood, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ that we shall obtain a higher exaltation than it would have been possible for us to enjoy, if we had not fallen. To do right in our present state, then, we must carry out the principle of legitimacy according to a correct rule, and, if we profess to be subjects of the kingdom of God, we must be subject to the dominion, rule, legitimacy, and authority of God. No person can escape from this, unless he apostatizes, and goes to the devil, like a fool. He must be a fool who would barter away eternal life, thrones, principalities, and powers in the eternal world, for the paltry trash which exists in the shape of wealth and worldly honor: to let go his chance of heaven and of God, of being a King and Priest unto Him, of living and reigning forever, and of standing among the chiefs of Israel. I cannot help calling such men fools, for they are damned now in making such a choice, and will be hereafter.

I will say a little more on legitimacy and right to rule. What would be the position of a man who would take a course to rob his neighbor, or take advantage of him in the case of his legitimacy, which you have heard of this morning? Such a man must be a greater fool than the other. For instance, a good man dies, who has served God in righteousness all his days; the weary wheels of life stand still, and he goes to the world of spirits. He believed in the principles of justice, equity, righteousness, and truth, and that his rights would be held sacred to him by his brethren after he was gone. But some professed man of God comes to his widow, and wants to steal her away from him; he would rob the dead with impunity, under the ostensible garb of justice to her and her dead husband; he will tell her he is doing it out of pure love to them both, and he is going to exalt them in the kingdom of God. We read of the kingdom of God suffering violence; if violence is ever attempted, it is in a case of this kind. It is bad enough to steal from a man his earthly property, his oxen, his cow, his horse, his harness, his wagon wheels, and other paraphernalia; but what think you of a man that would rob the dead of a treasure which he holds the most dear, and prized as the most precious thing he possessed on earth—his affectionate wife! Such a person will assuredly miss his figure.

You will find in the ancient laws of Israel, there were proper rules in relation to these matters; one was, that if a man died without a child, his brother or the nearest relation of the husband should take the widow; and raise up seed to her husband, that his name might be continued in Israel, and not be blotted out. Where did these laws come from? We are told they came from God. But instead of doing this, suppose he should try to steal this woman away, and rob his brother—how would he get along, I wonder, with such a case against him, at the bar of justice? The laws and ordinances that exist in the eternal world have their pattern in the things which are revealed to the children of men on earth. The Priesthood as it exists on the earth is a pattern of things in heaven. As I said in a former part of this discourse, Priesthood is legitimate rule, whether on earth or or in heaven. When we have the true Priesthood on earth, we take it with us into the heavens; it changes not, but continues the same in the eternal world.

There is another feature of that ancient law which I will mention. It was considered an act of injustice for the nearest relation not to take the wife of the deceased; if he refused to do it, he was obliged to go before the Elders of Israel, and his brother’s wife shall loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, “So shall it be done unto the man that will not build up his brother’s house; and his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him who hath his shoe loosed.” If the restitution of all things is to be brought to pass, there must be a restitution of these things; everything will be put right, and in its proper place.

There is another thing which is most grievous, afflicting, and distressing to contemplate. When a man takes to himself a woman that properly belongs to another, and defiles her, it interferes with the fountain of life, and corrupts the very source of existence. There is an offspring comes forth as the fruit of that union, and that offspring is an eternal being—how can it be looked upon? To reflect upon it, wounds the finest feelings of human nature in time, and will in eternity. For who can gaze upon the degradation of their wife, and the corruption of their seed, without peculiar sensations? How much more is this feeling enhanced when the wronged man considers that he has been robbed by one who professed to be his friend? This thing is not to be trifled with, but is of the greatest importance; hence the necessity of the sealing powers, that all things may be pure, chastity maintained, and lasciviousness be rooted out from among the Saints. Why so? That we may have a holy offspring, that shall be great, and clothed with the mighty power of God, to rule in His kingdom, and accomplish the work we propose they shall fulfil; and that when we go to sleep, we may sleep in peace, knowing that justice will be administered in righteousness. We shall know that we have a claim upon our own in the first resurrection; we shall know that our wives and our children will be there to join us, justice will be administered, and we shall have a claim upon them in the eternal world, and that no unprincipled scoundrel will be permitted to set his foot on another, or rob him of his just claims. Why is a woman sealed to a man for time and all eternity? Because there is legitimate power on earth to do it. This power will bind on earth and in heaven; it can loose on earth, and it is loosed in heaven; it can seal on earth, and it is sealed in heaven. There is a legitimate, authorized agent of God upon earth; this sealing power is regulated by him; hence what is done by that, is done right, and is recorded. When the books are opened, everyone will find his proper mate, and have those that belong to him, and everyone will be deprived of that which is surreptitiously obtained.

Let us do righteously, and you who would seek to injure another and take advantage of one who was just and faithful to his God in his day, how would you like, when you get a few years older and drop into eternity, for somebody to come and serve you the same? You could not expect anything else, you could not die without being menaced by this supposition, and your dying pillow would be made unhappy, you would know you had done wrong, and would expect somebody to measure to you the same measure pressed down, shook together, and running over.

We have been told to preach confidence—correct principles and just dealings alone will inspire it. If a man speaks that which is not true about another, can you have confidence in him? No. If a man defrauds another, can you have confidence in him? No, But if you would, through a principle of covetousness, seek to sap the foundation of another’s happiness, by trying to wrench from him those sacred rights which pertain to his interest in the eternal world, how much greater will be your condemnation? Nothing but truth, integrity, virtue, honor, and every pure principle, will stand in the great day of God Almighty. If such a person happens to get through this world, he will find barriers in the next, and probably miss a chance of obtaining a place in the first resurrection. Nothing contrary to the authority, rule, and government of heaven, will stand in time or in eternity; and if any man wants to be blessed and honored, and to obtain a high place in the eternal world, let him pursue a course of honor, righteousness, and virtue before his God; and if he wants to find himself amongst usurpers, defrauders, oppressors, and those in possession of illegitimate claims, let him take an opposite course. If time would permit, much more might be said about social, family, and individual legitimate rights; but as time hastens, I forbear for the present.

Well, brethren and sisters, may God bless you. Amen.

A sermon delivered by Elder P. P. Pratt, before the conference at Great Salt Lake City, April 7, 1853.

I was led to reflection on this subject, not only by my acquaintance with the present state of the world, and the movements and powers which seem new to many, but because this text, written by Isaiah so many centuries since, and copied by Nephi ages before the birth of Jesus Christ, seemed as appropriate, and as directly adapted to the present state of things, as if written but yesterday, or a year since.

“Should not a people seek unto their God, for the living to hear from the dead?” is a question by the Prophet, and at a time when they shall invite you to seek unto those familiar with spirits, and to wizards, &c., or in other words, to magnetizers, rappers, clairvoyants, writing mediums, &c. When they shall say these things unto you, then is the time to consider the question of that ancient Prophet—“Should not a people seek unto their God, for the living to hear from the dead?”

We hear much, of late, about visions, trances, clairvoyance, mediums of communication with the spirit world, writing mediums, &c., by which the world of spirits is said to have found means to communicate with spirits in the flesh. They are not working in a corner. The world is agitated on these subjects. Religious ministers are said to preach, editors to write and print, judges to judge, &c., by this kind of inspiration. It is brought into requisition to develop the sciences, to detect crime, and in short to mingle in all the interests of life.

In the first place, what are we talking about, when we touch the question of the living hearing from the dead? It is a saying, that “dead men tell no tales.” If this is not in the Bible, it is somewhere else; and if it be true, it is just as good as if it were in the Bible.

The Sadducees in the time of Jesus, believed there were no such things as angels or spirits, or existence in another sphere; that when an individual was dead, it was the final end of the workings of his intellectual being, that the elements were dissolved, and mingled with the great fountain from which they emanated, which was the end of individuality, or conscious existence.

Jesus, in reply to them, took up the argument from the Scriptures, or history of the ancient fathers, venerated by reason of antiquity, in hopes, by this means, to influence the Sadducees, or at least the Pharisees and others, by means so powerful and so well adapted to the end in view.

Said he, God has declared Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living; as much as to say that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were not dead, but living; that they had never been dead at all, but had always been living; that they never did die, in the sense of the word that these Sadducees supposed, but were absolutely alive.

Now if intelligent beings, who once inhabited flesh, such as our fathers, mothers, wives, children, &c., have really died, and are now dead in the sense of the word, as understood by the ancient Sadducees, or modern Atheist, then it is in vain to talk of conversing with the dead. All controversy, in that case, is at an end on the subject of correspondence with the dead, because an intelligence must exist before it can communicate. If these individuals are dead, in the sense that the human body dies, then there is no communication from them. This we know, because of our own observation and experience. We have seen many dead bodies, but have never known of a single instance of any intelligence communicated therefrom.

Jesus, in his argument with the Sadducees, handled the subject according to the strictest principles of ancient and modern theology, and true philosophy. He conveyed the idea in the clearest terms, that an individual intelligence or identity could never die.

The outward tabernacle, inhabited by a spirit, returns to the element from which it emanated. But the thinking being, the individual, active agent or identity that inhabited that tabernacle, never ceased to exist, to think, act, live, move, or have a being; never ceased to exercise those sympathies, affections, hopes, and aspirations, which are founded in the very nature of intelligences, being the inherent and invaluable principles of their eternal existence.

No, they never cease. They live, move, think, act, converse, feel, love, hate, believe, doubt, hope, and desire.

But what are they, if they are not flesh and bones? What are they, if they are not tangible to our gross organs of sense? Of what are they composed, that we can neither see, hear, nor handle them, except we are quickened, or our organs touched by the principles of vision, clairvoyance, or spiritual sight? What are they? Why, they are organized intelligences. What are they made of? They are made of the element which we call spirit, which is as much an element of material existence, as earth, air, electricity, or any other tangible substance recognized by man; but so subtle, so refined is its nature, that it is not tangible to our gross organs. It is invisible to us, unless we are quickened by a portion of the same element; and, like electricity, and several other substances, it is only known or made manifest to our senses by its effects. For instance, electricity is not always visible to us, but its existence is made manifest by its operations upon the wire, or upon the nerves. We cannot see the air, but we feel its effects, and without it we cannot breathe.

If a wire were extended in connection with the equatorial line of our globe in one entire circle of 25,000 miles in extent, the electric fluid would convey a token from one intelligence to another, the length of the entire circle, in a very small portion of a second, or, we will say in the twinkling of an eye. This, then, proves that the spiritual fluid or element called electricity is an actual, physical, and tangible power, and is as much a real and tangible substance, as the ponderous rocks which were laid on yesterday in the foundation of our contemplated Temple.

It is true that this subtle fluid or spiritual element is endowed with the powers of locomotion in a far greater degree than the more gross or solid elements of nature; that its refined particles penetrate amid the other elements with greater ease, and meet with less resistance from the air or other substances, than would the more gross elements. Hence its speed, or superior powers of motion.

Now let us apply this philosophy to all the degrees of spiritual element from electricity, which may be as– sumed to be one of the lowest or more gross elements of spiritual matter, up through all the gradations of the invisible fluids, till we arrive at a substance so holy, so pure, so endowed with intellectual attributes and sympathetic affections, that it may be said to be on a par, or level, in its attributes, with man.

Let a given quantity of this element, thus endowed, or capacitated, be organized in the size and form of man, let every organ be developed, formed, and endowed, precisely after the pattern or model of man’s outward or fleshly tabernacle—what would we call this individual, organized portion of the spiritual element?

We would call it a spiritual body, an individual intelligence, an agent endowed with life, with a degree of independence, or inherent will, with the powers of motion, of thought, and with the attributes of moral, intellectual, and sympathetic affections and emotions.

We would conceive of it as possessing eyes to see, ears to hear, hands to handle; as in possession of the organ of taste, of smelling, and of speech.

Such beings are we, when we have laid off this outward tabernacle of flesh. We are in every way interested, in our relationships, kindred ties, sympathies, affections, and hopes, as if we had continued to live, but had stepped aside, and were experiencing the loneliness of absence for a season. Our ancestors, our posterity, to the remotest ages of antiquity, or of future time, are all brought within the circle of our sphere of joys, sorrows, interests, or expectations; each forms a link in the great chain of life, and in the science of mutual salvation, improvement, and exaltation through the blood of the Lamb.

Our prospects, hopes, faith, charity, enlightenment, improvement, in short, all our interests, are blended, and more or less influenced by the acts of each.

Is this the kind of being that departs from our sight when its earthly tabernacle is laid off, and the veil of eternity is lowered between us? Yes, verily. Where then does it go?

To heaven, says one; to the eternal world of glory, says another; to the celestial kingdom, to inherit thrones and crowns, in all the fullness of the presence of the Father, and of Jesus Christ, says a third.

Now, my dear hearers, these things are not so. Nothing of the kind. Thrones, kingdoms, crowns, principalities, and powers, in the celestial and eternal worlds, and the fullness of the presence of the Father, and of His Son Jesus Christ, are reserved for resurrected beings, who dwell in immortal flesh. The world of resurrected beings, and the world of spirits, are two distinct spheres, as much so as our own sphere is distinct from that of the spirit world.

Where then does the spirit go, on its departure from its earthly tabernacle? It passes to the next sphere of human existence, called the world of spirits, a veil being drawn between us in the flesh, and that world of spirits. Well, says one, is there no more than one place in the spirit world? Yes, there are many places and degrees in that world, as in this. Jesus Christ, when absent from his flesh, did not ascend to the Father, to be crowned, and enthroned in power. Why? Because he had not yet a resurrected body, and had therefore a mission to perform in another sphere. Where then did he go? To the world of spirits, to wicked, sinful spirits, who died in their sins, being swept off by the flood of Noah. The thief on the cross, who died at the same time, also went to the same world, and to the same particular place in the same world, for he was a sinner, and would of course go to the prison of the con– demned, there to await the ministry of that Gospel which had failed to reach his case while on the earth.

How many other places Jesus might have visited while in the spirit world is not for me to say, but there was a moment in which the poor, uncultivated, ignorant thief was with him in that world. And as he commenced, though late, to repent while on the earth, we have reason to hope that that moment was improved by our Savior, in ministering to him that Gospel which he had no opportunity to teach to him, while expiring on the cross. “This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise,” said Jesus, or, in other words, this day shalt thou be with me in the next sphere of existence—the world of spirits.

Now mark the difference. Jesus was there, as a preacher of righteousness, as one holding the keys of Apostleship, or Priesthood, anointed to preach glad tidings to the meek, to bind up the broken hearted, to preach liberty to the captive, and the opening of the prison to them that were bound. What did the thief go there for? He went there in a state of ignorance, and sin, being uncultivated, unimproved, and unprepared for salvation. He went there to be taught, and to complete that repentance, which in a dying moment he commenced on the earth.

He had beheld Jesus expire on the cross, and he had implored him to remember him when he should come into possession of his kingdom. The Savior under these extreme circumstances, did not then teach him the Gospel, but referred him to the next opportunity, when they should meet in the spirit world. If the thief thus favored continued to improve, he is no doubt waiting in hope for the signal to be given, at the sound of the next trump, for him to leave the spirit world, and to reenter the fleshly tabernacle, and to ascend to a higher degree of felicity. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, departed from the spirit world on the third day, and reentered his fleshly tabernacle, in which he ascended, and was crowned at the right hand of the Father. Jesus Christ then, and the thief on the cross, have not dwelt together in the same kingdom or place, for this eighteen hundred years, nor have we proof that they have seen each other during that time.

To say that Jesus Christ dwells in the world of spirits, with those whose bodies are dead, would not be the truth. He is not there. He only stayed there till the third day. He then returned to his tabernacle, and ministered among the sons of earth for forty days, where he ate, drank, talked, preached, reasoned out of the Scriptures, commissioned, commanded, blessed, &c. Why did he do this? Because he had ascended on high, and been crowned with all power in heaven and on earth, therefore he had authority to do all these things.

So much then for that wonderful question that has been asked by our Christian neighbors, so many thousand times, in the abundance of their charity for those who, like the thief on the cross, die in their sins, or without baptism, and the other Gospel ordinances.

The question naturally arises—Do all the people who die without the Gospel hear it as soon as they arrive in the world of spirits? To illustrate this, let us look at the dealings of God with the people of this world. “What can we reason but from what we know?” We know and understand the things of this world, in some degree, because they are visible, and we are daily conversant with them. Do all the people in this world hear the Gospel as soon as they are capable of understanding? No, indeed, but very few in comparison have heard it at all.

Ask the poor Lamanites who have, with their fathers before them, inhabited these mountains for a thousand years, whether they have ever heard the Gospel, and they will tell you nay. But why not? Is it not preached on the earth? Yea, verily, but the earth is wide, and circumstances differ very greatly among its different inhabitants. The Jews once had the Gospel, with its Apostleship, powers, and blessings offered unto them, but they rejected it as a people, and for this reason it was taken from them, and thus many generations of them have been born, and have lived and died without it. So with the Gentiles, and so with the Lamanites. God has seen proper to offer the Gospel, with its Priesthood and powers, in different ages and countries, but it has been as often rejected, and therefore withdrawn from the earth. The consequence is that the generations of men have, for many ages, come and gone in ignorance of its principles, and the glorious hopes they inspire.

Now these blessings would have continued on the earth, and would have been enjoyed in all the ages and nations of man, but for the agency of the people. They chose their own forms of government, laws, institutions, religions, rulers, and priests, instead of yielding to the influence and guidance of the chosen vessels of the Lord, who were appointed to instruct and govern them.

Now, how are they situated in the spirit world? If we reason from analogy, we should at once conclude that things exist there after the same pattern. I have not the least doubt but there are spirits there who have dwelt there a thousand years, who, if we could converse with them face to face, would be found as ignorant of the truths, the ordinances, powers, keys, Priesthood, resurrection, and eternal life of the body, in short, as ignorant of the fullness of the Gospel, with its hopes and consolations, as is the Pope of Rome, or the Bishop of Canterbury, or as are the Chiefs of the Indian tribes of Utah.

And why this ignorance in the spirit world? Because a portion of the inhabitants thereof are found unworthy of the consolations of the Gospel, until the fullness of time, until they have suffered in hell, in the dungeons of darkness, or the prisons of the condemned, amid the buffetings of fiends, and malicious and lying spirits.

As in earth, so in the spirit world. No person can enter into the privileges of the Gospel, until the keys are turned, and the Gospel opened by those in authority, for all which there is a time, according to the wise dispensations of justice and mercy.

It was many, many centuries before Christ lived in the flesh, that a whole generation, eight souls excepted, were cut off by the flood. What became of them? I do not know exactly all their history in the spirit world. But this much I know—they have heard the Gospel from the lips of a crucified Redeemer, and have the privilege of being judged according to men in the flesh. As these persons were ministered to by Jesus Christ, after he had been put to death, it is reasonable to suppose that they had waited all that time, without the knowledge or privileges of the Gospel.

How long did they wait? You may reckon for yourselves. The long ages, centuries, thousands of years which intervened between the flood of Noah and the death of Christ. Oh! the weariness, the tardy movement of time! The lingering ages for a people to dwell in condemnation, darkness, ignorance, and despondency, as a punishment for their sins. For they had been filled with violence while on the earth in the flesh, and had rejected the preaching of Noah, and the Prophets which were before him.

Between these two dispensations, so distant from each other in point of time, they were left to linger without hope, and without God, in the spirit world; and similar has been the fate of the poor Jew, the miserable Lamanite, and many others in the flesh. Between the commission and ministry of the Former and Latter-day Saints, and Apostles, there has been a long and dreary night of darkness. Some fifteen to seventeen centuries have passed away, in which the generations of man have lived without the keys of the Gospel.

Whether in the flesh, or in the spirit world, is this not hell enough? Who can imagine a greater hell than that before our eyes, in the circumstances of the poor, miserable, degraded Indian and his ancestors, since the keys of the Gospel were taken from them some fifteen hundred years ago? Those who had the Gospel in the former dispensations, and were made partakers of its spirit, its knowledge, and its powers, and then turned away, and became the enemies of God, and of His Saints, the malicious and willful opposers of that which they knew to be true, have no forgiveness in this world, neither in the spirit world, which is the world next to come.

Such apostates seek, in all dispensations, to bring destruction on the innocent, and to shed innocent blood, or consent thereto. For such, I again repeat, I know no forgiveness. Their children, who, by the conduct of such fathers, have been plunged into ignorance and misery for so many ages, and have lived without the privileges of the Gospel, will look down upon such a parentage with mingled feelings of horror, contempt, reproach, and pity, as the agents who plunged their posterity into the depths of misery and woe.

Think of those swept away by the flood in the days of Noah. Did they wait a long time in prison? Forty years! O what a time to be im– prisoned! What do you say to a hundred, a thousand, two thousand, three or four thousand years to wait? Without what? Without even a clear idea or hope of a resurrection from the dead, without the broken heart being bound up, the captive delivered, or the door of the prison opened. Did not they wait? Yes they did, until Christ was put to death in the flesh.

Now what would have been the result, if they had repented while in the flesh at the preaching of Noah? Why, they would have died in hope of a glorious resurrection, and would have enjoyed the society of the redeemed, and lived in happiness in the spirit world, till the resurrection of the Son of God. Then they would have received their bodies, and would have ascended with him, amid thrones, principalities, and powers in heavenly places.

I will suppose, in the spirit world, a grade of spirits of the lowest order, composed of murderers, robbers, thieves, adulterers, drunkards, and persons ignorant, uncultivated, &c., who are in prison, or in hell, without hope, without God, and unworthy as yet of Gospel instruction. Such spirits, if they could communicate, would not tell you of the resurrection or of any of the Gospel truths, for they know nothing about them. They would not tell you about heaven, or Priesthood, for in all their meanderings in the world of spirits, they have never been privileged with the ministry of a holy Priest. If they should tell all the truth they possess, they could not tell much.

Take another class of spirits—pious, well-disposed men; for instance, the honest Quaker, Presbyterian, or other sectarian, who, although honest, and well disposed, had not, while in the flesh, the privilege of the Priesthood and Gospel. They believed in Jesus Christ, but died in ignorance of his ordinances, and had not clear conceptions of his doctrine, and of the resurrection. They expected to go to that place called heaven, as soon as they were dead, and that their doom would then and there be fixed, without any further alteration or preparation. Suppose they should come back, with liberty to tell all they know? How much light could we get from them? They could only tell you about the nature of things in the world in which they live. And even that world you could not comprehend, by their description thereof, any more than you can describe colors to a man born blind, or sounds to those who have never heard.

What, then, could you get from them? Why, common chit chat, in which there would be a mixture of truth, and of error and mistakes, in mingled confusion: all their communications would betray the same want of clear and logical conceptions, and sound sense and philosophy, as would characterize the same class of spirits in the flesh.

Who, then, is prepared, among the spirits in the spirit world, to communicate the truth on the subject of salvation, to guide the people, to give advice, to confer consolation, to heal the sick, to administer joy, and gladness, and hope of immortality and eternal life, founded on manifest truth?

All that have been raised from the dead, and clothed with immortality, all that have ascended to yonder heavens, and been crowned as Kings and Priests, all such are our fellow servants, and of our brethren the Prophets, who have the testimony of Jesus; all such are waiting for the work of God among their posterity on the earth.

They could declare glad tidings if we were only prepared to commune with them. What else? Peter, James, Joseph, Hyrum, Father Smith, any, or all of those ancient or modern Saints, who have departed this life, who are clothed upon with the powers of the eternal Apostleship, or Priesthood, who have gone to the world of spirits, not to sorrow, but as joyful messengers, bearing glad tidings of eternal truth to the spirits in prison—could not these teach us good things? Yes, if they were permitted so to do.

But suppose all spirits were honest, and aimed at truth, yet each one could only converse of the things he is privileged to know, or comprehend, or which have been revealed to his understanding, or brought within the range of his intellect.

If this be the case, what then do we wish, in communicating with the eternal world, by visions, angels, or ministering spirits? Why, if a person is sick they would like to be visited, comforted, or healed by an angel or spirit! If a man is in prison, he would like an angel or spirit to visit him, and comfort or deliver him. A man shipwrecked would like to be instructed in the way of escape for himself and fellows from a watery grave. In case of extreme hunger a loaf of bread brought by an angel would not be unacceptable.

If a man were journeying, and murderers were lying in wait for him in a certain road, an angel would be useful to him in telling him of the circumstance, and to take another road.

If a man were journeying to preach the Gospel, an angel would be useful to tell the neighbors of his high and holy calling, as in case of Peter and Cornelius. Or would you not like to have angels all around you, to guard, guide, and advise you in every emergency?

The Saints would like to enter a holy temple, and have their President and his assistants administer for their dead. They love their fathers, although they had once almost for– gotten them. Our fathers have forgotten to hand down to us their genealogy. They have not felt sufficient interest to transmit to us their names, and the time and place of birth, and in many instances they have not taught us when and where ourselves were born, or who were our grandparents, and their ancestry. Why is all this? It is because of that veil of blindness which is cast over the earth, because there has been no true Church, Priesthood, or Patriarchal order, no holy place for the deposit or preservation of the sacred archives of antiquity, no knowledge of the eternal kindred ties, relationship, or mutual interests of eternity. The hearts of the children had become estranged from the fathers, and the hearts of the fathers from the children, until one came in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the keys of these things, to open communication between worlds, and to kindle in our bosoms that glow of eternal affection which lay dormant.

Suppose our temple was ready, and we should enter there to act for the dead, we could only act for those whose names are known to us. And these are few with the most of us Americans. And why is this? We have never had time to look to the heavens, or to the past or future, so busy have we been with the things of the earth. We have hardly had time to think of ourselves, to say nothing of our fathers.

It is time that all this stupidity and indifference should come to an end, and that our hearts were opened, and our charities extended, and that our bosoms expanded, to reach forth after whom? Those whom we consider dead! God has condescended so far to our capacity, as to speak of our fathers as if they were dead, although they are all living spirits, and will live forever. We have no dead! Only think of it! Our fathers are all living, thinking, active agents; we have only been taught that they are dead!

Shall I speak my feelings, that I had on yesterday, while we were laying those Corner Stones of the Temple? Yes, I will utter them, if I can.

It was not with my eyes, not with the power of actual vision, but by my intellect, by the natural faculties inherent in man, by the exercise of my reason, upon known principles, or by the power of the Spirit, that it appeared to me that Joseph Smith, and his associate spirits, the Latter-day Saints, hovered about us on the brink of that foundation, and with them all the angels and spirits from the other world, that might be permitted, or that were not too busy elsewhere.

Why should I think so? In the first place, what else on this earth have they to be interested about? Where would their eyes be turned, in the wide earth, if not centered here? Where would their hearts and affections be, if they cast a look or a thought towards the dark speck in the heavens which we inhabit, unless to the people of these valleys and mountains? Are there others who have the keys for the redemption of the dead? Is anyone else preparing a sanctuary for the holy conversation and ministrations pertaining to their exaltation? No, verily. No other people have opened their hearts to conceive ideas so grand. No other people have their sympathies drawn out to such an extent towards the fathers.

No. If you go from this people, to hear the doctrines of others, you will hear the doleful sayings—“As the tree falls, so it lyeth. As death leaves you, so judgment will find you. There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge in the grave, &c., &c. There is no change after death, but you are fixed, irretrievably fixed, for all eternity. The moment the breath leaves the body, you must go to an extreme of heaven or of hell, there to rejoice with Peter on thrones of power in the presence of Jesus Christ in the third heavens, or, on the other hand, to roll in the flames of hell with murderers and devils.” Such are the doctrines of our sectarian brethren, who profess to believe in Christ, but who know not the mysteries of godliness, and the boundless resources of eternal charity, and of that mercy which endureth forever.

It is here, that the spirit world would look with an intense interest, it is here that the nations of the dead, if I may so call them, would concentrate their hopes of ministration on the earth in their behalf. It is here that the countless millions of the spirit world would look for the ordinances of redemption, so far as they have been enlightened by the preaching of the Gospel, since the keys of the former dispensation were taken away from the earth.

Why? If they looked upon the earth at all, it would be upon those Corner Stones which we laid yesterday; if they listened at all, it would be to hear the sounds of voices and instruments, and the blending of sacred and martial music in honor of the commencement of a temple for the redemption of the dead. With what intensity of interest did they listen to the songs of Zion, and witness the feelings of their friends. They were glad to behold the glittering bayonets of the guards around the temple ground, and they longed for the day when there would be a thousand where there is now but one. They wish to see a strong people, gathered and united, in sufficient power to maintain a spot on earth where a baptismal font might be erected for the baptism for the dead.

It was here that all their expectations were centered. What cared they for all the golden palaces, marble pavements, or gilded halls of state on earth? What cared they for all the splendor, equipage, tides, and empty sounds of the self-styled great of this world, which all pass away as the dew of the morning before the rising sun? What cared they for the struggles, the battles, the victories, and numerous other worldly interests that vibrate the bosoms of men on either side? None of these things would interest them. Their interests were centered here, and thence extended to the work of God among the nations of the earth.

Did Joseph, in the spirit world, think of anything else, yesterday, but the doings of his brethren on the earth? He might have been necessarily employed, and so busy as to be obliged to think of other things. But if I were to judge from the acquaintance I had with him in his life, and from my knowledge of the spirit of Priesthood, I would suppose him to be so hurried as to have little or no time to cast an eye or a thought after his friends on the earth. He was always busy while here, and so are we. The spirit of our holy ordination and anointing will not let us rest. The spirit of his calling will never suffer him to rest, while Satan, sin, death, or darkness, possesses a foot of ground on this earth. While the spirit world contains the spirit of one of his friends or the grave holds captive one of their bodies, he will never rest, or slacken his labors.

You might as well talk of Saul, king of Israel, resting while Israel was oppressed by the Canaanites or Philistines, after Samuel had anointed him to be king. At first he was like another man, but when occasion called into action the energies of a king, the spirit of his anointing came upon him. He slew an ox, divided it into twelve parts, and sent a part to each of the tribes of Israel, with this proclamation—“So shall it be done to the ox of the man who will not come up to the help of the Lord of hosts.”

Ye Elders of Israel! You will find that there is a spirit upon you which will urge you to continued exertion, and will never suffer you to feel at ease in Zion while a work remains unfinished in the great plan of redemption of our race. It will inspire the Saints to build, plant, improve, cultivate, make the desert fruitful, in short, to use the elements, send missions abroad, build up states and kingdoms and temples at home, and send abroad the light of a never-ending day to every people and nation of the globe.

You have been baptized, you have had the laying on of hands, and some have been ordained, and some anointed with a holy anointing. A spirit has been given you. And you will find, if you undertake to rest, it will be the hardest work you ever performed. I came home here from a foreign mission. I presented myself to our President, and inquired what I should do next. “Rest,” said he.

If I had been set to turn the world over, to dig down a mountain, to go to the ends of the earth, or traverse the deserts of Arabia, it would have been easier than to have undertaken to rest, while the Priesthood was upon me. I have received the holy anointing, and I can never rest till the last enemy is conquered, death destroyed, and truth reigns triumphant.

May God bless you all. Amen.

An Oration by Elder Parley P. Pratt, Delivered on the Northeast Corner Stone of the Temple at Great Salt Lake City, after the Twelve Apostles, the First Presidency of the Seventies, and the Presidency of the Elders’ Quorum had laid the Stone, April 6, 1853.

“And when they shall say unto you: Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and mutter—should not a people seek unto their God for the living to hear from the dead?”

The foregoing text was copied by Nephi, from the Book of Isaiah, about six hundred years before Christ, and is now contained in the second Book of Nephi, chap. ix.

For the last few years the world has been disturbed very much by alleged communications from the world of spirits. “Mesmerism,” “Clairvoyance,” “Spiritual Knockings,” “Writing Mediums,” &c., are said to be channels of communication between the living and the dead. How often one meets with an invitation to seek to some “medium”—to someone “familiar with spirits,” in order to hear from a deceased father, mother, husband, wife, or other relative or friend.

On the other hand, these alleged communications from the spirit world are zealously opposed, on the ground that there is no such philosophy in nature; that there can be no medium of communication between the living and those who have passed the veil of death; and that, therefore, all alleged communications from that source must necessarily be false.

It becomes the Saints to be able on this, as on all other subjects, to judge correctly and understandingly, by their knowledge of the principles of true philosophy, and of the laws of God and nature.

If on the one hand we admit the principle of communication between the spirit world and our own, and yield ourselves to the unreserved or indiscriminate guidance of every spiritual manifestation, we are liable to be led about by every wind of doctrine, and by every kind of spirit which constitute the varieties of being and of thought in the spirit world. Demons, foul or unclean spirits, adulterous or murderous spirits, those who love or make a lie, can communicate with beings in the flesh, as well as those who are more true and virtuous.

Again—The spirits who are ignorant, uncultivated, and who remain in error, can communicate through the same medium as those better informed.

To illustrate this subject, we will consider the telegraphic wire as a medium of communication between New York and Boston.

Through this medium a holy Prophet or Apostle could communicate the holy and sacred words of truth; while through the same, could be communicated words of truth in relation to news, business transactions, the sciences, &c.; and also every species of lie, error, imposition, fraud, &c. Hence, if the people of New York should submit to the guidance of beings in Boston, who communicate with them by telegraph or other mediums, they would be guided by a mixture of intelligence, truth, error, falsehood, &c., in every conceivable variety. So with communications from the spirit world, if we once credit the philosophy or fact of an existing medium of communication.

If, on the other hand, we deny the philosophy or the fact of spiritual communication between the living and those who have died, we deny the very fountain from which emanated the great truths or principles which were the foundation of both the ancient and modern Church.

Who communicated with Jesus and his disciples on the holy mount? Moses and Elias, from the invisible world. Who bestowed upon the Apostles the commission to preach the Gospel to every creature in all the world? He that had passed the veil of death, and had dwelt in the spirit world, yea, he that had ascended far on high above the realms of death, and far beyond all the principalities and powers of the spirit world, and had entered, and been crowned, in the mansions of immortal flesh.

Who communicated with the beloved disciple on the Isle of Patmos, and revealed those sublime truths contained in his prophetic book? He that liveth and was dead, through his angel, who declared to John—Behold, I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, that have the testimony of Jesus.

Who communicated with our great modern Prophet, and revealed through him as a medium, the ancient history of a hemisphere, and the records of the ancient dead? Moroni, who had lived upon the earth fourteen hundred years before. Who ordained Joseph the Prophet, and his fellowservant, to the preparatory Priesthood, to baptize for remission of sins? John the Baptist, who had been beheaded! Who ordained our first founders to the Apostleship, to hold the keys of the kingdom of God, in these the times of restoration? Peter, James, and John, from the eternal world. Who instructed him in the mysteries of the Kingdom, and in all things pertaining to Priesthood, law, philosophy, sacred architecture, ordinances, sealings, anointings, baptisms for the dead, and in the mysteries of the first, second, and third heavens, many of which are unlawful to utter? Angels and spirits from the eternal worlds.

Who revealed to him the plan of redemption, and of exaltation for the dead who had died without the Gospel? And the keys and preparations necessary for holy and perpetual converse with Jesus Christ, and with the spirits of just men made perfect, and with the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn, in the holy of holies? Those from the dead!

Again—How do the Saints expect the necessary information by which to complete the ministrations for the salvation and exaltation of their friends who have died?

By one holding the keys of the oracles of God, as a medium through which the living can hear from the dead.

Shall we, then, deny the principle, the philosophy, the fact of communication between worlds? No! Verily no!

The spiritual philosophy of the present age was introduced to the modern world by Joseph Smith. The people of the United States abandoned him to martyrdom, and his followers to fire, and sword, and plunder, and imprisonment, and final banishment to these far-off mountains and deserts, simply because a medium of communication with the invisible world had been found, whereby the living could hear from the dead. No sooner had the people and nation, thus guilty of innocent blood, completed the banishment of the Saints from their midst, than they began to adopt some of the same principles of spiritual philosophy, although in a perverted sense of the word.

Editors, statesmen, philosophers, priests, and lawyers, as well as the common people, began to advocate the principle of converse with the dead, by visions, divination, clairvoyance, knocking, and writing mediums, &c., &c. This spiritual philosophy of converse with the dead, once established by the labors, toils, sufferings, and martyrdom of its modern founders, and now embraced by a large portion of the learned world, shows a triumph more rapid and complete—a victory more extensive, than has ever been achieved in the same length of time in our world.

A quarter of a century since, an obscure boy and his few associates, in the western wilds of New York, commenced to hold converse with the dead. Now, vision, new revelation, clairvoyance, mediums, oracles, &c., are talked of and advocated as far as the modern press extends its influence, or steam its powers of locomotion.

An important point is gained, a victory won, and a countless host of opposing powers vanquished, on one of the leading or fundamental truths of “Mormon” philosophy, viz.—“That the living may hear from the dead.”

But, notwithstanding these great victories of truth over error, ignorance, and superstition, in certain points of spiritual philosophy, yet much remains to be done, ere pure, uncontaminated truth will reign triumphant, and darkness and error surrender their last stronghold on the earth.

The fact of spiritual communications being established, by which the living hear from the dead—being no longer a question of controversy with the well informed, we drop that point, and call attention to the means of discriminating or judging between the lawful and the unlawful mediums or channels of communication—between the holy and impure, the truths and falsehoods, thus communicated.

The words of the holy Prophet in our text, while they admit the principle of the living hearing from the dead, openly rebuke, and sharply reprove, persons for seeking to those who have familiar spirits, and to wizards that peep and mutter, and remind us that a people should seek unto their God for the living to hear from the dead!

By what means, then, can a people seek unto their God, for such an important blessing as to hear from the dead?

And how shall we discriminate between those who seek to Him, and those who seek the same by unlawful means?

In the first place, no persons can successfully seek to God for this privilege, unless they believe in direct revelation in modern times.

Secondly, it is impossible for us to seek Him successfully, and remain in our sins. A thorough repentance and reformation of life are absolutely necessary, if we would seek to Him.

Thirdly, Jesus Christ is the only name given under heaven as a medium through which to approach to God. None, then, can be lawful mediums, who are unbelievers in Jesus Christ, or in modern revelation; or who remain in their sins; or who act in their own name, instead of the name appointed.

And moreover, the Lord has appointed a Holy Priesthood on the earth, and in the heavens, and also in the world of spirits; which Priesthood is after the order or similitude of His Son; and has committed to this Priesthood the keys of holy and divine revelation, and of correspondence, or communication between angels, spirits, and men, and between all the holy de– partments, principalities, and powers of His government in all worlds.

And again—The Lord has ordained that all the most holy things pertaining to the salvation of the dead, and all the most holy conversations and correspondence with God, angels, and spirits, shall be had only in the sanctuary of His holy Temple on the earth, when prepared for that purpose by His Saints; and shall be received and administered by those who are ordained and sealed unto this power, to hold the keys of the sacred oracles of God.

To this same principle the Prophets Isaiah and Micah bear testimony, saying, that in the last days all nations shall go up to the house (or Temple) of the Lord, in order to be taught in His ways, and to walk in His paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, &c. Now it is evident that the people of all nations in the last days would be utterly unable to learn the ways of the Lord to perfection, in any other place except in a holy Temple erected among the mountains. For if the oracles, and most holy ordinances, and the keys or the mysteries, could be had elsewhere, or in any and every place, the people would never take the pains to resort to one house amid the mountains in order to learn of His ways, and to walk in His paths.

It is, then, a matter of certainty, according to the things revealed to the ancient Prophets, and renewed unto us, that all the animal magnetic phenomena, all the trances and visions of clairvoyant states, all the phenomena of spiritual knockings, writing mediums, &c., are from impure, unlawful, and unholy sources; and that those holy and chosen vessels which hold the keys of Priesthood in this world, in the spirit world, or in the world of resurrected beings, stand as far aloof from all these improper channels, or unholy mediums, of spiritual communication, as the heavens are higher than the earth, or as the mys– teries of the third heaven, which are unlawful to utter, differ from the jargon of sectarian ignorance and folly, or the divinations of foul spirits, abandoned wizards, magic-mongers, jugglers, and fortunetellers.

Ye Latter-day Saints! Ye thousands of the hosts of Israel! Ye are assembled here today, and have laid these Corner Stones, for the express purpose that the living might hear from the dead, and that we may prepare a holy sanctuary, where “the people may seek unto their God, for the living to hear from the dead,” and that heaven and earth, and the world of spirits may commune together—that the kings, nobles, presidents, rulers, judges, priests, counselors, and senators, which compose the general assembly of the Church of the Firstborn in all these different spheres of temporal and spiritual existence, may sit in grand Council, and hold a Congress or court on the earth, to concert measures for the overthrow of the “mystery of iniquity,” the thrones of tyrants, the sanctuaries of priestcraft and superstition, and the reign of ignorance, sin, and death.

Saints! These victories will be achieved, and Jesus Christ and his Saints will subdue all opposing powers, and attain to universal empire in heaven and on earth, as sure as innocent blood was ever shed on Mount Calvary, or the official seal broken on the door of the tomb of the Son of God. This day’s work, in laying these Corner Stones for a Temple amid the mountains, is one advancing step in the progress of the necessary preparations for these mighty revolutions.

Let Zion complete this Temple, let it be dedicated to, and accepted by, the Almighty, let it be preserved in holiness according to the laws of the Holy Priesthood, and Zion shall not want for a man to stand before the Lord, and to receive the oracles, and administer in His holy sanctuary, and to administer the keys of His government upon the earth,

While sun, or moon, or stars shall shine, Or principalities endure.

If the Saints accomplish these things, and fail not to keep the commandments of Jesus Christ and the counsels of his servants, the kingdoms of the world shall never prevail against them from this time forth and forever.

But remember, O ye Saints of the Most High! Remember that the enemy is on the alert. That old serpent and his angels, who have ruled this lower world, with few exceptions, for so many ages, will not tamely, and without a struggle, submit to have the kingdom, and seat of government, and sanctuary of our God, again erected on our planet, no more to be thrown down or subdued, till every square yard of the vast dominion shall be re-conquered by its rightful owners. No! From the moment the ground was broken for this Temple, those inspired by him [Satan] have commenced to rage; and he will continue to stir up his servants to anger against that which is good; but, if we are faithful, the victory is ours, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

By George B. Wallace, Delivered on the Northwest Corner Stone of the Temple, at Great Salt Lake City, after the Presidency of the High Priests’ Quorum, and the Presidency and the High Council of the Stake had laid the Stone, April 6, 1853.

Righteous and merciful God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, we consecrate and dedicate this Stone unto thee, even the Northwest Corner Stone, which we have laid as part of the foundation of a Temple to be built unto thy great and holy name. We pray thee, O God, to accept this offering from our hands; and may thy peace and blessing be and abide here, that this spot of ground may be holy unto thee, and never be polluted by those who are unholy, or by any unclean thing.

May this foundation be firm as the foundations of the everlasting hills that cannot be moved, that the superstructure which shall be reared upon it may never be shaken, that the people may receive their blessings therein, to qualify them to pass through the veil, into celestial happiness.

We pray thee, O Lord, to let thy peace be upon those who labor upon these works; may their hearts be inspired by the Holy Ghost, to realize that they are working to build a House to thy name, that immortal beings may come and administer in the ordinances of salvation, and teach thy servants things that are beyond the veil, to prepare them to enter into that rest which is prepared and promised to thy Saints. We pray thee to cement this Corner Stone in a bond of indissoluble union with the other three, that they may stand firm as the eternal Priesthood which has been given unto men, even thy servants, that never can be moved out of its place, but will stand, from this time henceforth and forever.

Bless the people that are congregated together this day; may it be to them a day long to be remembered; let thy Spirit prevail in their midst and every heart be filled with unutterable joy. Let the visions of eternity be opened unto them, that they may behold things new and precious, and rejoice in the holy principles of the Gospel of God, that has been brought to light in this dispensation, by the administration of angels to thy servants, even in the latter days.

Let our enemies be taken in their own snare, and fall into the pit they dig for thy people. Let confusion come upon them; may they be turned backward, and have no power from this time henceforth and forever, to prevail against the Saints and the Lord’s anointed. Inspire the hearts of thy servants that are scattered abroad among the nations of the earth, and upon the islands of the sea; may their eyes be inclined towards us this day, and let their hearts be lifted up in joy and rejoicing before thee. Strengthen them, and give them great prosperity in their missions, and return them with honor to see the Capstone of this Temple brought on with shouting grace unto it.

We now dedicate ourselves, our wives, our children, our flocks and herds, unto thee, O God the Eternal Father, and pray thee to accept of us, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

By President Orson Hyde, Delivered on the Northeast Corner Stone of the Temple at Great Salt Lake City, after the Twelve Apostles, the First Presidency of the Seventies, and the Presidency of the Elders’ Quorum had laid the Stone, April 6, 1853.

Almighty Father—Thou who dwellest in the heavens, and who sittest upon the throne of thy glory and power, we beseech thee to behold us, in great mercy, from thy celestial courts, and listen to our prayers which we this day offer to thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, thy Son. Although thou art exalted in temples not made with hands, in the midst of the redeemed and sanctified ones, yet deign thou to meet with us in our humble sphere, and, as we have laid, help thou us to dedicate unto thee, this Corner Stone of Zion’s earthly Temple, that in her courts thy sons and daughters may rejoice to meet their Lord.

Everlasting thanks are due to thee, O God of our salvation, for thy manifold blessings and mercies extended unto us—that since we have been compelled to flee to the valleys and caves of the mountains, and hide ourselves in thy secret chambers, from the face of the serpent or dragon of persecution, red with the blood of the Saints and martyrs of Jesus, thou hast caused the land to be fruitful—the wilderness and desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose. Known unto thee is the history of our career. Our merits and demerits have been open to thy view, and our wisdom and folly have not been hid from thine eyes. Thou hast comprehended our strength and our weakness, our joys and our sorrows, and also our sufferings and persecutions for thy name’s sake; and the martyrdom of thy servants!

Remember us, Oh Lord, and let the radiance of thy favor, like the rainbow of peace, encompass thy people while we sojourn here, and remain tenants at will in these frail bodies, the abodes of our spirits. And remember, likewise, our enemies who, through cruel jealousy, and malicious intent, have compelled us to find homes in these distant regions, and in the more lonely grave, or wander as strangers and pilgrims on the earth without an abiding city or resting place. Reward them according to their works, and let them eat the fruits of their own doings, inasmuch as they repent not.

The Twelve Apostles of the LATTER-DAYS, to whom has been committed the pleasing task to lay the Northeast Corner Stone of this Temple, even the last Corner Stone of the building, are here convened to discharge their duty before thee, in the midst of the authorities of thy Church, and of the assembled thousands who are come to witness the solemn ceremonies of the occasion.

We, therefore, implore thy blessings upon our heads, on this lovely day, while the sun of heaven, on his annual visit to his northern dominions is changing the very heart of nature and lighting up her face with the smiles of welcome. The snows of the everlasting mountains are made to yield at his approach, and to flow down in crystal streams of living waters, spreading life and verdure over all the plain.

From the very hour that the ground was broken to prepare for this foundation, Satan has been more diligently engaged in stirring up the hearts of his children to hate the servants and people of our God. But, O Lord, the work is thine, and thine arm is able to execute and defend it.

We now, in the name of Jesus Christ, our great High Priest and Lawgiver, dedicate and consecrate this Corner Stone unto thee, asking that the walls to be reared upon this foundation may steadily rise, by the persevering industry of thy people, under thy providential care and blessings, and the protecting and fostering arm of the Angel of thy presence.

Whosoever, O Lord, shall bless and aid the building of this Temple, with their faith, goodwill, and means—with their silver and their gold, with their labor and toil, with their horses, their cattle, their sheep, and their grain, or with any or all of their products, necessaries, or availables—may they rise in wealth and influence, and in the confidence and favor of God and His servants; and may the blessings of this Temple be extended unto them, whether they be Jews or Gentiles, bond or free, male or female. And whosoever shall attempt to hinder, oppose, or obstruct the progress of this building, or that shall hate or blaspheme the same, or that shall, in any way or manner, knowingly, willfully, or intentionally destroy, injure, mar, or deface any part or portion of the work, let such not only be powerless, and clothed with shame, disgrace, and condemnation, but receive the very same kind of treatment in their own persons, in the course of thy providences, as they may manifest or desire to manifest towards this edifice.

Hasten thou the period, O Lord, when this thine House, in the midst of the mountains, shall receive the Topstone with the shouts of gladness, and be completed, and nations flow unto it—when many people shall say, “Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law,” making manifest every false and delusive spirit, every true principle, and also the errors that have involved nations in broils and contentions, in strife, in darkness, and in sin; and that will remove the veil of the covering that has been cast over all people; and the Gentiles shall come to the light of Zion, and kings to the brightness of her rising. Roll on the hour, Eternal Parent, when the intelligence and knowledge obtained by thy servants, on this consecrated spot, shall prove a beacon light to the nations who are floating on the sea of time in a dark, cloudy day.

O God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, overrule, we pray thee, every act and movement of the power of the world, to further the interests of the Redeemer’s kingdom, and to prepare the way for his triumphant reign on earth. Bless every honest-hearted ruler in the governments and kingdoms of men, and, though they may be ignorant of thy purposes and designs, yet make them the agents to bring about and accomplish the very intentions formed in thy bosom, and decreed in thine heart.

Holy Father, bless, we pray thee, the Presidency of this thy Church, and prolong their days, that we may long enjoy their counsels, and avail ourselves of their wisdom. Remember the Twelve Apostles also, with the Presidents of the Seventies, who now call upon thy name with our voices. May none of us ever fall by transgression, or bring dishonor upon thy cause, or a stain upon our reputation. But preserve us in thy fear, in the light of truth, in the favor of our God, in the confidence of one another, in the estimation of our superiors, and in the favor of the just.

As we have laid and dedicated this Corner Stone, with our best wishes, most lively hopes, and unshaken faith that the building may be speedily erected and finished, we ask thee that we may become pillars in thy spiritual Temple, and go no more out, but sustain and uphold in connection with all the faithful, the grand superstructure and edifice reared by infinite wisdom, power, and goodness, in which to gather, in thine own due time, every son and daughter of Adam’s fallen race. And to God and the Lamb be ascribed everlasting honors, praise, dominion, and glory, both now and forever. Amen.