Discourse by Apostle Erastus Snow, delivered at the General Conference, Salt Lake City, Friday Afternoon, April 7, 1882.

I regard the mission of the Latter-day Saints as the most important that has fallen to the lot of man because we, as the people of God, live in the most important period of the world’s age—the dispensation of the fulness of times, in which the God of heaven has set his hand a second time to recover his people, the house of Israel; to lay the foun– dation of the fulfillment of the promises made to the fathers through Moses and the Prophets, and to bring to pass the covenants made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and those made with Joseph the son of Jacob, concerning his seed. The Book of Mormon gives a brief history of a portion of the house of Joseph who came to this land from Palestine, their native land; and, it not only gives an account of this people but it foretells their future. A great future lies before this people in connection with the Latter-day work.

Our mission is not a mission of blood; it is not a mission of war, of strife or contention, but a mission of peace on earth and good will to men; a mission to bring life and salvation unto the children of men who will receive it; a mission to make known the things that God has revealed for the happiness, glory and exaltation of his children, both in this world and the world to come. And what God has revealed to us, which we call our religion, is not only theoretical but eminently practiced. It could not be otherwise and be the Gospel of life and salvation. A religion that is exclusively theoretical, that is merely a matter of faith producing no legitimate works or fruits of that faith is dead. There are many dead forms of religion in the world; and as a matter of course they are without force and effect. But the Gospel of the Son of God revealed anew from heaven in our age and time, and which his people have espoused, is a living faith, producing in its votaries its legitimate fruits—love, joy, peace and good works. I am sorry to say, however, that we are not all examples of that living faith to the extent that God requires at our hands. In this respect it is with us as it was with others who preceded us; some of the seed lies fallen by the way side, producing little effect in them that received it; some has fallen in stony places, and as anciently, such rejoice for the time being, but alas! when tribulation or persecution arises, they having not much depth of soil, are easily uprooted. Some again has fallen among thorns, and the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. But blessed are those who break up the fallow ground of their hearts, thereby preparing themselves by suitable reflection, meditation, humility and prayer, overcoming the evil that is in them by the good, that the seed when sown, may take deep root and spring forth and bear precious fruit, some thirty, some sixty, and some one hundred fold, according to the depth of the soil and the strength and cultivation of the mind.

I said our religion was eminently practical, as true religion cannot be separated from true practice. It teaches us to visit the fatherless and the widow in their affliction, and to keep ourselves unspotted from the world; it teaches charity and love one toward another, and to assist to bear each other’s burdens, and be one in Christ Jesus. Just before the Savior was offered up upon the cross he prayed to his Father in behalf of his disciples and those who should believe on him through their ministrations, that they might be one with him as he was one with the Father.

Now it is quite a fine thing in the estimation of the Christian world to preach about Jesus and his doctrines; but when it comes to practice it is quite another thing. One of the main objects of the Latter-day Saints is to become united, both spiritually and temporally. The clergymen of America who have been foremost in working up the late furor against the “Mormon” people, who have met in solemn conclave and dictated resolutions and gotten up memorials to Congress, and who have traveled and visited the noted cities as lecturers, among whom may be mentioned the celebrated Parson Newman and the celebrated—what shall I say?—well, Mr. Schuylar Colfax, and others, have aroused the nation and moved the members of Congress to hostile legislation against the Latter-day Saints. Their general declaration has been that polygamy—though polygamy was the war-cry—was not to be dreaded like “Mormon” unity. They term it priestly influence, or the influence of the “Mormon” hierarchy. In reflecting upon this declaration which was freely expressed on numerous occasions during last winter and spring, in the tirades made against the Latter-day Saints, it has caused some curious reflections. What would have been the result if the Methodists, the Presbyterians, the Baptists and all the prominent denominations of America, had been true disciples of Christ, and had come under that rule laid down in the Savior’s prayer—if they had all become one in Christ as he was one with the Father? What would have been the result? Methinks things would be very different in the history of American government from what we now see. We will refer, for example, to the condition of things prior to the late civil war, and about the time the republican party incorporated in their platform at the Philadelphia convention in 1856, the celebrated plank known as the twin relics—in which they pledged themselves to exterminate the twin relics, slavery and polygamy. What was the condition of the religious sects of America at that time? Those who are familiar with the history of those times will remember that preparatory to that great struggle which resulted in the great civil war, there had been a complete separation and two distinct organizations of all the prominent sects of America. The Methodist church was divided into the Methodist church north and the Methodist church south; the Presbyterians were divided into the Presbyterian Church north and the Presbyterian church south; the Baptists, the Campbellites and the other various sects were divided in like manner, the Mason and Dickson line, as it was called, was the line of division between the churches north and the churches south; and substantially the same line marked the boundary between the southern confederacy and northern. States during the war, for the division commenced in the churches, and it was the various religious sects of America that worked up the war. They divided one against another, and brought on the war. And when the Northern and Southern armies were marching against and slaying each other by hundreds of thousands, every regiment and division of the army on both sides were encouraged by the prayers and preaching of their respective chaplains of the various sects on both sides, each praying for the success of their arms, that each side might succeed in using up the opposite side.

Now imagine them, for a moment, to be the true disciples of Christ, Ministers of the true and everlasting Gospel holding power and authority from him. What would have been the result if the Lord had heard the prayers of the religious elements of these two contending parties? The only thing we can think of as expressing the idea, is the old fable of the Kilkenny cats, which, it is said, fought each other and devoured each other all but the tails, and they began to jump at each other. From the results one would suppose that the Lord heard the prayers on both sides to a con– siderable extent. But it is too serious a matter to be treated in a jocose style. And, yet, one can hardly resist the temptation, it is so ludicrous to see people professing the same holy religion, to be followers of the meek and lowly Jesus and his righteousness, and preachers of his Gospel arrayed on each side, stirring up the people to war, urging them on, and praying to the same God for the success of each others’ arms. Now, I ask, is this an ensample of Christian unity such as the Savior prayed for, when he asked the Father that all that should believe on him through the words of his disciples might become one even as he and the Father were one?

The Latter-day Saints, as I have before remarked, are far from being as yet what the Lord requires them to be. But that spirit which accompanies the fulness of the Gospel, and which the Latter-day Saints have received through the preaching of the Gospel and through obedience to its requirements, has so far made their hearts as one, causing them to see eye to eye, and to gather together upon this land of Joseph, that they might learn more fully the ways of the Lord and walk in his paths, and cultivate the Christian unity which the Savior prayed for. And this appears to be the head and front of our offending. Polygamy is ostensibly the cry; but what reflecting man that is posted in the history of the times, believes that this has a particle of influence upon our statesmen? They admit, according to their own showing, that there is more immorality, depravity, whoredom, and the terrible consequences of the social evil in one of the great cities of the Union in a single year than has been in Utah ever since it has been founded. They know this full well. They know that we are a people of energy, of industry and honest labor, a people who do not labor with a view and desire to build ourselves up at the expense and ruin of our neighbors; but a people who labor to gather from the elements around us, producing the comforts of life for ourselves and families. They recognize in us a people who have planted a flourishing commonwealth in the heart of the great American desert, and made it possible to populate the surrounding Territories.

In 1847, the standard of the American nation was planted on this Temple block. I assisted in planting it; and many around me today participated in those early scenes. At the same time the country lying west of the Sierra Nevada and between it and the Pacific Coast, was held under the American flag by the Mormon Battalion, who under General Kearney captured the State of California from the Mexican government and held it for the United States government until this country was ceded to the United States by treaty on the 22nd of February, 1848. The stars and stripes were planted between the Rocky Mountains on the east and the Sierra Nevadas west by “Mormon” colonies, and west to the Pacific coast by the “Mormon Battalion,” and, the country held for the American government. We proceeded to the establishment and organization of civil government. This great basin country between the mountains was incorporated into the State of Deseret, a provisional government was organized for the State of Deseret, a republican constitution was framed and adopted by the people; the country was divided into counties and precincts, local government was organized, laws adopted and delegates sent to Congress to ask for admission into the Union. At the same time the gold hunters were flocking to California after the “Mormon Battalion” revealed the first gold which they brought to light while dragging Captain Sutter’s mill race. Some of the men are still in our midst who brought about these results, who first revealed to the astonished world the gold of California, and who raised the first furor, which resulted in thousands flocking to the Pacific coast. And mark you, the first colony of settlers upon that Pacific coast after the capture of that country through the valor of the “Mormon Battalion,” was a “Mormon” colony shipped from the New England States, who took with them a printing press, and planted their feet upon the shores of San Francisco, and there issued the California Star, in 1847, which was the first publication in the English language west of the Rocky Mountains—the first free press hailing the American flag and proclaiming American liberty, the principles of free government; and at the same time we planted a free press in this city, whence was issued the DESERET NEWS, proclaiming those principles to all the world.

Both California and Deseret presented themselves at the same time, through their delegates, knocking at the door of Congress, praying for admission into the Union. The prayer of California was accepted; that of Deseret was rejected.

Jesus had occasion to ask this question of the Jews: If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will ye give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? It might ill become me perhaps, to apply these words to our national government; but the facts are that when we presented ourselves as the State of Deseret, precisely on equal footing with that of California, with equally a democratic government and republican constitution, both of which States had been organized out of the old Mexican States of Upper California, and which had been recently captured from the Mexican government, and presented themselves to Congress on equal footing; one was accepted, the other rejected. Instead of granting to Deseret a State government, Congress gave us a territorial form of government under the Organic act of 1850. It is true it extended to us certain rights of self-government, but to a limited extent. We had the right of representation in the Legislative Assembly, but those rights were clipped by the absolute veto of a Federal Governor; nor, indeed, is the absolute veto of a Federal Governor the only veto held over the Territorial Legislature, Congress itself reserving to itself a right to annul the acts of the Legislative Assembly, though receiving the signature of the Governor. But if the Governor chooses to withhold his signature no matter how wholesome or necessary the measure, it cannot become law, nor would he be, under the Organic Act, required to assign any reason for it. The mere whim of a man, a stranger to our country who has but little, if any, practical knowledge of our needs, and who himself is not a taxpayer, probably may deprive a whole community of people of their legal rights. Such is the territorial form of government, not of all Territories, for with the exception of Utah and New Mexico, this absolute veto power does not exist on American soil. Other Territories as well as the States, and the United States, may, through a two-thirds vote of their legislature, pass any measure over the veto of its executive.

But what does this signify? It says to us, “we are not willing to trust you with the rights and privileges of self-government in common with other American citizens; and it is deemed advisable that we should hold this check upon your legislature.” But notwithstanding we have been shut out from Statehood, we have prospered and grown into a flourishing community of people.

On several occasions we have renewed our efforts by appealing to Congress for the rights of self-government; but on every occasion we have been put off. But we have continued to prosper, and yet we have received no aid from the general government in establishing and maintaining schools, as other portions of the country have. We have built our schoolhouses and maintained our schools, and educated our children as best we could. And here let me say that Utah will compare favorably in educational matters with any portion of the United States, even the older and richer States; and while the number of children is three times that of other populations, yet, they are all enjoying the benefits of a common school education at least; and as the higher schools are being established the facilities for more extensive education are accessible.

We have opened up farms and established towns and cities over this vast country, of 500 miles in extent. We have established mills and have produced the various cereals and vegetables and fruits, and raised the beef and mutton, and the wool to supply our factories, and cotton, to manufacture to a considerable extent, the clothing that we wear; and we have manufactured to a considerable extent our farming implements, and yet we are under the necessity of largely importing manufactured goods. And, today, Utah enjoys prosperity equal, if not superior to any other Territory, and, indeed, some of the Western States.

Now these are facts patent to the world. And with such facts can they in their inmost souls look upon this people as a vicious people, or as a wicked, licentious people, as a people who are influenced by worldly considerations and fleshly lusts? Are these the works of the licentious and dissolute? We invite the people of the United States to attend our Sabbath School Unions and attend the public gatherings of the people where they congregate; we invite their statesmen and honorable men and women of all classes to come and visit us and learn facts as they exist, instead of swallowing greedily the malicious calumnies and misrepresentations set afoot concerning us by those who know little or nothing about us; or if they have known anything about us, they have sold themselves to the Devil long since, and they are of their father the Devil, who was a liar from the beginning, and his works they will do; and when honest people come among us we ask them not to sit themselves down and allow themselves to be corralled by the lying hypocrites that are fanning the flame of persecution, and never come in contact with the people they desire to know and understand. Why is it that honorable men should act as though they were ashamed to learn the truth? Why is it they do not come and hear and see for themselves both sides?

We are accused of disloyalty. We are accused of being governed by priestcraft, and that we are subjects of the one-man power. Here we would pause and respectfully say, in the language of Scripture, “Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” Where, I would ask, could we look for a more decidedly marked expression of the one-man power than in the case we have recently had in Utah, in which the Governor gave the certificate of election to the man for whom the insignificant number of 1,300 votes was cast, withholding it from the rightful representative of the people for whom 18,000 votes were recorded? The persistency with which he and his friends, the enemies of this people, have sought to fasten this fraud upon the people in this Territory, not to say anything about the one-man power provided for in the organic act! A federal governor, a stranger sent among us with an absolute veto, possessing the power to wipe out the doings of a whole session of the people’s representatives!

I will further direct attention to all reflecting men to the scenes in the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States when the Edmunds’ bill was put through under what is called the gag law of the previous question, cutting off amendments and limiting debate. I will appeal to every honest man—if there be an honest politician in the land—by asking, Who among them possesses the freedom of speaking and acting only in obedience to the party lash, and what Senator or Representative dare try to air his sentiments or vote contrary to the dictum of his party leaders? Shame upon them when they talk about the exercise of one-man power in Utah! If there is a people upon the earth that exercise greater freedom of speech or action than the Latter-day Saints, I hope and pray that we may grow until we become their equals at least.

Every principle in our holy religion tends to freedom, or in the language of the New Testament, the Gospel is the perfect law of liberty. The reason that it is so is, because it lifts the spirits of man above the law, or, in other words, it teaches him to work righteousness and thereby escape the penalties of the law, and enables him to enjoy that perfect freedom which God has ordained for all flesh—the freedom to do right, but there is no liberty to do wrong without incurring the penalty of that wrongdoing, therefore, every one who does wrong must accept of the consequences of that wrong, and may expect to suffer the penalty either in time or in eternity. The Gospel then extends to us the freedom to do right, and the laws of our common country used to extend this right and privilege to its citizens. This was declared by the fathers in the famous Declaration of Independence, and which was consolidated by the fathers of the Constitution of our country, which was one of the fruits of their great struggle.

This famous declaration enunciated the doctrine that “all just powers of government are derived from the consent of the governed;” and upon this principle are the institutions of our country founded; and it is only through the guarantees of this fundamental doctrine underlying our institutions that there can be any freedom. This declaration of the fathers embodied in that celebrated instrument, signed on the 4th of July, 1876, is the embodiment of the principles of civil and religious liberty, such freedom as God has ever taught and sought to establish among his children from the beginning of the world. And whenever there has been a people who have listened to the voice of God, they have been made free, and oppression has been a stranger to them. The careful student of the Bible will at once perceive that everything which God sought to establish among his people, tended to freedom and the enjoyment of the common rights of humanity. Never did ancient Israel enjoy as free and happy a government as under the reign of the judges, from the time Moses led them out of Egyptian bondage until they clamored for a king. For 430 years they triumphed over their foes, and they dwelt in peace and unity, and love and freedom existed, and every tribe was a commonwealth managing its own local affairs, while they all sustained a central power which counseled and directed them; and their rulers were judges inspired of God, were prophets, seers and revelators, who judged in righteousness, and exercised no control over the liberties and consciences of men. The same principle is observed in reading the history of the American continent. The Book of Mormon is replete with testimony in this direction. And during the palmy days of the Nephites there was no king among them; and that long and happy period that preceded the coming of the Savior, and for hundreds of years that followed during the reign of the judges among the Nephites, liberty and freedom and happiness prevailed. And although they had at one time in accordance with their pronounced and persistent desire, a king—King Benjamin and King Mosiah—yet, these were kings more in name than in fact; they were only patriarchs or fathers among their people, and the term they apply to them might quietly have a tendency to cause them to augment power to themselves and to exercise oppressive jurisdiction over the people, and foreseeing this King Mosiah beseeched the people to abolish the office, and establish and maintain free government, and elect their chief judge or governor by the voice of the people. He reasoned and explained to them the dangers which would result to them by having a ruler who was not elected by the people. When Israel began to fall into darkness and transgression, in the days of Samuel, and they clamored for a king to lead them to war and thus be like the Gentile nations around them, it grieved Samuel the Seer to his heart; and he besought the people to desist from their determination, and he warned them of the dangers that would follow, telling them that it would lead to oppression and tyranny, and that taxes would be levied and heavy burdens would be laid upon the people grievous to be borne, and that it would finally lead to war, bloodshed and bondage. But they would not listen. And when the prophet inquired of the Lord what he should do, he answered and said to Samuel: “Hearken unto the voice of the people in all they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.”

Furthermore, the Book of Mormon tells that God will cause a free government to be established upon this land in the latter days, and inasmuch as the people will serve the Lord they shall forever be a free people. And in the Doctrine and Covenants is contained a revelation which was given to the Latter-day Saints in the early history of the Church, commanding us to uphold and maintain the principles of freedom and liberty, as claimed by our fathers and consolidated in the Constitution of the United States, and in which is written this remarkable declaration: “Let no man break the laws of the land, for he that keepeth the laws of God has no need to break the laws of the land;” and we are further told that we should uphold and maintain that law which is the Constitutional law of the land; for, the Lord said, the Constitution was established by wise men whom he raised up for that purpose, after the land had been redeemed by bloodshed. This doctrine was taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith, in the early days of this people, and cannot be separated from the religion we have embraced; and by the help of the Lord we mean to maintain those principles to the end, notwithstanding that some of our American statesmen wax wanton in their feelings and tyrannical in their acts and expressions, while religious bigots and political demagogues are undermining the foundations of our American institutions. They commence today upon Utah; but it is not the first time. From the time the declaration was made in Philadelphia by the republican party there have been divers departures from those principles embraced in our American Constitution. Had the people of America listened to the voice of the Lord through the Prophet Joseph Smith, they would have long since freed their slaves in an amicable, an honorable and economical manner without the shedding of blood. But they disdained the counsels of the Lord. The Prophet Joseph published his views in pamphlet form on the powers and duties of the national government on the then much-mooted question of slavery, in which he treated upon the compact of the United States as between the North and South on this question of slavery; and proposed an easy and honorable plan of settling the question without violating that compact or encroaching upon the rights of each other; and that was, to negotiate with the Southern States for the gradual emancipation of their slaves, the consideration to be met by the national treasury, and fixing a time after which all children should be born free, thus providing for a gradual emancipation, and that they might not feel that they were robbed, and by their being gradually emancipated they would have been prepared gradually for free government and free labor, and thus the ill and unpleasant consequences would have been measurably averted, at least, of turning loose a horde of uncultivated people who were totally unprepared for American citizenship. Had they listened to this proposition, less than a tenth part of the cost of the war would have freed all the slaves, and that too without bloodshed, and the utter devastation of the Southern States would have been spared.

But we have seen it. And following the war has been inaugurated an era of degeneracy in public morals, degeneracy in politics and religion, a degeneracy in the minds of our statesmen which has shown itself in a desire on their part to tamper with the sacred rights of man, to tamper with every part of the government, not even excepting the Supreme Court, which, up to the time of the civil war, was looked upon by the American people as almost beyond temptation, and beyond the probability of being corrupted or bribed. But alas! the Supreme Court itself has been tam– pered with. And for many years, almost from the commencement of that effort to break down the barriers of the Constitution and to settle this vexed question of slavery by violence—from that time politicians have sought to sustain themselves in violent, revolutionary and unconstitutional measures by foisting into the Supreme Court partisans who are already imbued with extreme political notions and ideas, whose carrying them with them on the bench has resulted in many decisions which after ages will greatly deplore and point out as the stepping stones to the destruction of our free institutions. But it remains for the Congress of the United States in 1882 to strike the blow at human freedom which places a vast people who have enjoyed their freedom in part only for 35 years in these mountains, at the disposal of a returning board to be sent here by the President. This is the object of the Edmunds’ bill. Its framers, its advocates and supporters scarcely expect anything from it toward the extinguishing of polygamy; but they do expect from it the transfer of our flourishing Territory into the hands of the enemies of the “Mormon” people. And they expect to disfranchise whom they will, and decide who may vote and who may hold office, who may become members of the Legislature, etc., and vice versa; and then dictate what laws they shall make, and then dictate how the people shall be taxed to pay their salaries and expenses, unless forsooth, Congress shall, according to the recommendation of President Arthur, reconsider that part of the law and make provision for their salaries.

It is not my purpose to attempt to foretell the consequences of this class of legislation. We shall all see for ourselves; but if our neighbors, our Gentile friends can stand it, we can; and if our nation can stand it, we can; and if our statesmen and the people who elect them and countenance their acts can stand it, we can; and if merchants, miners, bankers, agents, speculators, etc., among us can stand it, we can. If the taxes should be doubled up, and burdens put upon the people, and they can stand their share of it, we can stand ours, because we are used to it, and they are not. If they can confine themselves to one woman, I know we can. (Laughter.) The proof of the pudding you know, is in the eating. We do not intend to be worried; we have already passed through many very trying places, and we still expect to find an outlet. I am reminded often of our experience when traveling through some of the narrow gorges in our mountains; it often appears that our road has come to an end against a mountain, but when we get close up to it, we find a turn, and we keep traveling; and this is sometimes often repeated in a day’s travel, until, at last, our road opens out and a broad, beautiful valley is in sight, which never fails to bring feelings of relief to the weary traveler, especially if he is not familiar with the road. Such has been our experience in the pilgrimage of life up to the present time, and we confidently expect that He who has led us, through His Holy Priesthood, will continue to open up our way, and He will do so if we keep our covenants with Him. Amen.

Discourse by Apostle Wilford Woodruff, delivered in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, March 26, 1882.

I feel disposed to read a few verses from section 43 of the Doctrine and Covenants, a book containing the revelations of God to the Latter-day Saints, communicated through the prophet Joseph Smith.

(The speaker then read the whole of the section, commencing at the 17th verse.)

There is one thing I wish to say to the congregation, and I would say the same to the whole world if I had the power—it is this: I have heard the Prophet Joseph Smith say on several occasions when speaking on the agency of man, and the liberty and rights of men, that if he were emperor of the earth, having control of the whole human family, he would give every man, woman and child the right to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience, leaving them to be responsible alone to their Creator for their individual acts. These are my sentiments, and they are the sentiments of this people today, and have been from the beginning of the organization of this Church, and I trust will be to the end of time. And this we believe to be a principle emanating from heaven; and while we accord this right to our fellow men, and while we declare it to be a heaven-born right guaranteed unto all American citizens through the Constitution of our country, we claim the exercise of the same right ourselves; and we claim this right and privilege under the Constitution under which we live, and we claim it by the laws of God to man. And whenever any people rise up and attempt to make war upon the rights of men because of their religion, they go beyond their right, they transcend their own powers, whether their power be derived either from God or man.

You may wish to know why I make these remarks. I will tell you. Because God himself grants this right to every human being upon the earth irrespective of race or color; it is part of the divine economy not to force any man to heaven, not to coerce the mind but to leave it free to act for itself. He lays before His creature man the everlasting Gospel, the principles of life and salvation, and then leaves him to choose for himself or to reject for himself, with the definite understanding that he becomes responsible to Him for the results of his acts.

It is upon this principle that we as Latter-day Saints assert our rights and endeavor to enjoy our privileges. And we are accorded this right in accepting the Gospel dispensation in which we live, and in believing in the Old and New Testaments, the records of God’s people who lived in what is called the old world, as well as in the Book of Mormon, the history of the ancient inhabitants of our land, which records are in harmony with each other, bearing witness of the one great Head and of the Gospel which He taught in Jerusalem and Judea, and which His Apostles preached after He left them. It is, in fact, the same Gospel that has been taught to man in every age and dispensation, as there is but the one Gospel, and that Gospel is adapted to the wants and conditions of all men. It is the Gospel of Truth, and truth alone can make us free, free from sin and from the power of the adversary. And this is the Gospel which we have received, and which we take the liberty of preaching to our fellow men.

I do not suppose that there has been any dispensation upon the earth in which a greater variety of evidence, or important evidence of the divinity of the latter-day work has been given than that which is occurring, and that will continue to occur until the second coming of the Son of Man. There is no man upon the earth who believes in the literal fulfillment of prophecy as contained in the Old and New Testament, but who must in his heart believe that the God of heaven will in the latter days set His hand to perform a great work and a wonder in the earth; that He will call forth His Church out of the wilderness of darkness and establish it upon the foundation of Apostles and Prophets with Christ Jesus as the chief corner stone. There is no man who believes in the Revelation of St. John who does not believe in his heart that in the last dispensation the angel as seen and described by John in his vision, will fly through the midst of heaven having the everlasting Gospel to commit to man again upon the earth, and that this Gospel is to be preached in plainness and power to every nation, kindred, tongue and people upon the whole earth. There is no man that believes in the literal fulfillment of the revelations of God through the Prophets who does not believe that the Lord will in the latter days gather a people together out of every nation under heavens and that He will also gather the dispersed of Judah—the Jews—that have been trodden under the feet of the Gentiles for the last 1,800 years for shedding the blood of the Messiah.

I wish to bear my testimony to all men within the sound of my voice and those to whom my words shall come, that we are living in that dispensation of God to man that every Prophet and Apostle that has ever breathed the breath of life has pointed to. I bear my testimony that God, in fulfillment of the Revelation of St. John, has sent the heavenly messenger to communicate to man the everlasting Gospel. And why did the Lord reveal to John that this would be done? Because the “falling away” spoken of by Paul had already commenced; because John in his exiled condition sensed keenly that the Church would be overcome and driven from the earth, and by way of encouragement to him and information to all who would believe his word, the Lord showed him what should take place in the future. The Jews had rejected the Messiah, they had crucified the Lord of life and glory and they had also persecuted and taken the life of the Apostles and others who were left to represent his cause; and John only was left, and they tried to take his life; but, in consequence of the promise he had received from the Savior prior to his death, they could not do it: and hence they exiled him on this island—called Patmos. When they rejected the Gospel, they rejected it in all its power and glory, its blessings, its gifts and graces, and also the ordinances of the Holy Priesthood—Aaronic and Melchizedek. With regard to Priesthood we differ from the Christian world. We believe there is no man in heaven or upon earth that administers in the ordinances of the Gospel without the Priesthood, and we defy the whole world to point to a single passage of scripture from the time of father Adam down to Jesus Christ, showing that any man had power to administer in any of the ordinances of the Gospel without the Priesthood. And we say as Paul said, in referring to this delegated power of heaven, that “no man taketh this honor to himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron,” and he was called of God through Moses with whom he communicated. Therefore men cannot legally and authoritatively go forth to preach the Gospel until they are sent; and men cannot hear the word and be converted by the same unless they hear it through the mouth of a preacher who is sent, and who has power to administer in the ordinances of the Gospel.

The Lord has established his Church and his kingdom; and we have been laboring now fifty years and upwards in carrying out the instructions which he has revealed unto us in connection with this work. And as men were formerly, so we have been commanded to go forth and call upon men to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and to repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins; and as they were authorized, so have we been authorized to say to all men who comply with these requirements, that they shall receive the Holy Ghost. But say the Christian sects, these things are no longer necessary, these outward ordinances are not now essential to salvation. We believe they are. In this, of course, we differ from them, and we have a perfect right to. Jesus himself went to John when he was baptizing in Jordan, and requested baptism of him. John demurred, thinking himself unworthy, but Jesus satis– fied him by saying, “Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.”

Baptism by immersion is one of the ordinances of the Gospel, and the law had to be complied with, and hence Jesus set the example. But the Jews, as a nation, rejected him and his teachings; and the Apostles were commanded to turn to the Gentiles. I say Gentiles—we are all Gentiles in a national capacity; and the same Gospel that was taught to the Jews was preached to the Gentiles. It never varied one iota; it was sent to them with all its gifts and graces, its priesthoods, powers and ordinances without any change whatever. And Paul in warning the Gentiles, told them to take heed and fear lest they fall, through the same example of unbelief; for if God spared not the natural branches, which were the Jews, why should he spare them who were the wild branches grafted into the olive tree. We all understand that the blindness in part which happened to Israel and which, Paul said, should continue until the fulness of the Gentiles come in, did befall the churches which had been built up by the Apostles, and that the Gospel, with its gifts and graces, its Prophets and Apostles, has long since ceased to exist among men. The Gentiles fell through the same example of unbelief, until today a man is looked upon as a deceiver who will rise up and declare himself a believer in the same Gospel that Jesus and his Apostles preached. Paul told the people in his day that God hath set in the Church first Apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues; and they were for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, for the perfecting of the Saints, until all come to a perfect man in the stature of Christ. But the Christian world do not believe in these things; they say they are done away, as not being needed. We believe differently, and we have a right to; we say the Lord has restored the Gospel as it was preached to the Jews and the Gentiles by Jesus and the Apostles, and we know whereof we speak. Joseph Smith received the ministration of angels, in fulfillment of the Revelation of St. John, and we know it. He received the keys of the Holy Priesthood under the hands of John the Baptist, and under the hands of Peter, James and John, and from that day, through the preaching and administrations of the Elders of this Church, God has given a testimony to hundreds of thousands, of the truth of this work. We believe this, and we have received the testimony for ourselves of its divinity.

In looking upon this congregation assembled in this beautiful building, I am reminded of the mercy and goodness of God to us as a people. On the 24th of July, 1847, I came here in company with the pioneers. At that time Utah was a barren desert, there was no mark of the white man, everything was wild and barren. Today you may travel thousands of miles through this country, and you find towns and cities, farms, gardens and orchards, temples, and tabernacles, and schoolhouses, and large congregations of the people, and hosts of children. And where did all these people come from, and what prompted them to come here? You came from your native lands, from the different civilized nations, impelled by the spirit of the gathering which God has restored in connection with the Gospel; and you came in fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah and David, and others of the Prophets who have spoken of you. The question that arises in the minds of persons who pass through our country and see the labors of this people is, are we the dupes of impostors? Was Joseph Smith a deceiver? There is a way to test this, and we have tested it to our satisfaction. The great promise made to us when we first heard the preaching of the Elders of this Church was, that if we obeyed certain requirements of the Gospel, we should receive the Holy Ghost; and this same promise is extended to the world of mankind by our Elders who are still proclaiming these glad tidings of great joy. If that promise had fallen we, my brethren and sisters, would not have been here today; and Utah would doubtless be as barren as it was when we found it in ’47. There is no question in our mind, as to the divinity of the work in which we are engaged. The Christian world questions it. This, of course, we cannot help.

I want to say to the Latter-day Saints, you are living in an important and interesting time in your history, a time when the principles of the everlasting Gospel are being brought prominently before the world, and it is but natural that they should find their opposite in misrepresentation and persecution. Jesus himself, together with every servant of God of every age, while endeavoring to bless and save mankind through teaching correct principles, made themselves unpopular and become the subjects of hatred and persecution. And there is no doctrine so unpopular today as the principles of life and salvation as God has revealed them; and there are none so unpopular as those who believe in and practice the same. Truth revealed from heaven for the salvation of mankind always was unpopular, and always will be so long as the world exists in its present state. Men do not want truth, and therefore they reject it, and they reject it today for the same reason that men rejected it formerly, because they love darkness rather than light. If the Latter-day Saints expect to become popular in this day and generation, they will find themselves greatly mistaken. There is a warfare going on between truth and error, and this warfare will continue until He shall reign whose right it is to reign.

I also want to say to the Latter-day Saints, you should exercise faith in God; you should make yourselves acquainted with the revelations of God, and with the promises He has made to His people, fully believing that all will come to pass as He has spoken it. And each man claiming a standing among this people should do his duty to the trust committed to our charge. Our responsibility is great before God and man. Any people into whose hands is committed a dispensation of the Gospel has a great responsibility. And Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and the Twelve Apostles, would have been under condemnation and would have rendered themselves liable to the curse of God if they had not gone forth into the world and borne record of this work. Paul was placed in the same position and he sensed it, as is inferred from these words: “Woe unto me if I preach not the Gospel.” And this is our position today in relation to the world.

I have been with this Church almost from its organization, and have passed through the various scenes of its early history. I have seen its rise and progress, and have witnessed the power of God manifested in behalf of this people; and I want to bear my testimony that the God of heaven has, in fulfillment of the prophecies, set His hand to establish His Church and kingdom in the earth, which means no more and no less than His rule and His government, and that He will accomplish it, and there is no power upon the earth or under the earth that can stay the progress of Almighty God. But notwithstanding this, we expect to meet with opposition, with the hatred of the world; this, in fact, is the legacy of the Latter-day Saints. Said the Savior to his Apostles, I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you; if you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. It hated me before it hated you. And what are we going to do? We are going to trust in God. I have no fears myself; I have never had since I heard the first Gospel sermon by the Elders of this Church; for I know that God lives, and that he has set his hand to establish his kingdom, and it will continue to grow and increase until it shall fill the whole earth. He has called upon us to proclaim to the whole world the Gospel of Christ, and we are doing it as fast as circumstances and wisdom permits; and we promise all men what the first Elders promised us, that is, if they yield to the requirements they shall know for themselves whether this work is of God or man. Is there, I ask, any man or set of men dare make such promises to their fellow men? I answer, nay; neither could we do it, did we not know that God would back up the word by imparting the Holy Ghost. He has done so from the beginning, and these people can bear me witness.

The question may be asked, What about the course our government is taking with us? Whatever our nation does or may do, it will be held responsible before God; and every emperor, king and ruler will be held responsible for the use they make of the power committed into their hands. The Lord inspired the men that framed the Constitution of our country, and has guarded the nation from its foundation, in order to prepare free people in which to establish his kingdom. Columbus was inspired of God to persevere as he did to discover this continent, and thus prepare the way for a class of people upon whom the Spirit of the Lord moved to follow; and when they were oppressed hard enough they declared themselves independent, and by the help of God they established and have maintained the government which God gave our forefathers, which is one of the best constitutional governments ever known among men. One of its chief and prominent characteristics is its guarantee of religious liberty, permitting every man to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience. This is a sacred right granted by God himself to all men; and when the rulers or legislators of any land undertake by enactments of law to step between man and his God, they by that act become responsible, and must sooner or later be made to answer for interfering with a divine law. This is the light in which we regard the position of our own nation in the steps they have recently taken against us, as a people. However, if I were to express my feelings to Congress and the leading men of our nation, and to our enemies and the whole Christian world, I would say, do not weep for us—and we are sensible of the fact that they will not—but rather weep for yourselves and your children, for as sure as the Lord lives the evils that men seek to bring upon us, will return in due time upon their own heads, heaped up, pressed down and running over. For it is an eternal law, and a law by which we are governed, that what measure we mete, shall be measured back to us again. Our nation knows not what awaits it; the Christian world knows not what awaits it, and the blind guides that lead the people cannot tell them, and the result will be that both the people and their guides will fall into the ditch together.

I will say another thing. The Lord never did bring judgment upon any people of any generation until he raised up prophets to warn them of the impending danger. You may read the history of the great and ancient cities of Tyre and Sidon, Nineveh and Babylon and other cities that were built to defy all time and every power but that of God; but when they were ripened in iniquity they were cut off, the Lord raised up men to warn them and to call upon them to repent; but when they rejected them the Lord brought judgment upon them and they were cut off in their sins. And so it will be with our nation and all others, when they shall be fully warned and they reject the message that is sent to them. The heavens are full of judgment, and as the prophets have said, they will commence at the House of the Lord and then go to the nations of the earth. These things are beginning to make themselves manifest and the righteous and pure in heart can see it.

I want to see the Latter-day Saints live their religion, keep their faith and do their duty, and trust in God. And if men persecute you for the sake of your religion, what can you do? You can go to God, and make your wants known to him; and that is our duty as Latter-day Saints. And as to our nation, they, as well as we, are in the hands of God; and I have nothing to say about them. God will deal with them; and what they sow they will reap, and he will deal with us upon the same principle. The history of the ancient inhabitants of this land, as it has come down to us through the mercy and goodness of God, fully testifies to this principle; as long as they did what was right the blessings of God followed them, but after they became disobedient and wicked the hand of God rested upon them. At times when I reflect upon the great change that has taken place in our own land in the morals of the people during my time, I feel in my spirit to mourn and to fear as to the consequences. I was between 20 and 21 years of age before I heard of a murder having been committed in the whole of the New England States. The first murder that was committed in our land from the time I could remember until I gained my majority, was committed in New Haven; and I well remember how the news of it shocked all New England. What effect has such news upon the people of the same region today? Throughout the whole of Christendom today, murder, whoredom, blasphemy, and their kindred evils and vices are indulged in, and unbelief reigns in the hearts of men. Men profess to believe in the Bible; but confront them with the doctrines and prophecies it contains, and they will at once either raise a doubt as to their real meaning or they will openly deny them; and the few that accept the literal meaning of God’s word, and confess him and acknowledge him in all things, do it at the risk of their reputation, and some of them, even of their rights as American citizens. What the result of all this will be is already written; and it will come to pass as sure as the Lord hath spoken it.

I rejoice in the Gospel of the Son of God as he has revealed it in this our day; I rejoice in the organization of the church and kingdom of God, and in the revelations of hea– ven. I read them with a great deal of interest, for I know they are true; and, therefore, I look forward with assurance to their fulfillment in the earth. We have but a little time to spend on earth even though we live to be a hundred years of age, and we have no time to waste. We should live in such a manner that the Spirit and blessing of God may attend us; and then when we cease our labors here we shall pass hence to continue them in the same cause of salvation and redemption, and all will be well with us. Amen.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered at the Assembly Hall, on Sunday Afternoon, March 5th, 1882.

We are living in peculiar times; we are operating in an eventful era; we are associated with a peculiar dispensation, and we have a labor to perform which in many respects differs from that of all other ages or times. The dispensation that we are connected with is called in Scripture the dispensation of the fulness of times in which, it is recorded, God will gather together all things in one, whether they be things on the earth or things in the heavens. There are ideas associated with this dispensation that are in many respects distinct, and dissimilar from those that have been enunciated and proclaimed in former ages and dispensations; and inasmuch as the present dispensation is to embrace everything that has been connected with all past dispensations—all the prominent features as well as the minor ones that characterized the Church and kingdom of God in former days, that were essentially necessary to its growth and developments must re-appear in connection with the work of God in this our day. If the manifestations and developments of other dispensations have been made known to us, we have had revealed to us doctrines, theories, organizations and systems that have existed among the whole of them; because it is emphatically the dispensation of the fulness of times. If they had anything that was peculiarly characteristic in the days of the ancient Patriarchs, we have the same revealed to us. If they had anything prominent and important in the dispensation of Noah, we have it, and if Noah was called upon to preach the Gospel to the world in his day, before its destruction, so are we.

If in the Abrahamic or Mosaic dispensations God revealed important principles, we have a clear knowledge of those things made known to us, and the reasons, the whys and wherefores, pertaining to them. If they had anything among the ancient Prophets and men of God, we have the same principles developed. If in the days of Jesus they had manifestations, revelations, doctrines or organizations, those things are made known to us. Or if the people upon this continent, to whom God revealed his will—either the people that came from the Tower of Babel, or those who came from Jerusalem during the reign of Zedekiah—if anything was revealed to them, we have had it revealed unto us. And this is why certain things exist pertaining to organizations, etc., referred to by Brother Hatch.

We have here on the ceiling of this building pictured to us, Moroni making known to Joseph Smith the plates, from which the Book of Mormon was translated, which plates had been hidden up in the earth; and in connection with them was the Urim and Thummim, by which sacred instrument Joseph was enabled to translate the ancient characters, now given unto us in the form of the Book of Mormon; in which is set forth the theories, doctrines, principles, organizations, etc., of these peoples who lived upon this continent. People talk about their disbelief regarding these things. That is a matter of no moment to us. I do not intend to bring any argument upon this question, caring nothing about what people believe. We know certain things, and knowing them we regard them as matters of fact. If we were to take the world and its ideas and theories, we should find that there is hardly one person in every thousand who believes the Bible. The Christian world professes belief in the Bible; that is, they believe it when shut, but not when open. Consequently, I do not propose this afternoon, at least, to address myself to infidels, whether they go under the name of Christian or any other name. I am speaking of certain principles to a people who believe them to be true; and I wish to refer more particularly to some events associated with the dealings of God with his earthly children.

When John was on the isle of Patmos, certain things were revealed to him that were to transpire in the last days, and he prophesied of them. While wrapped in prophetic vision, gazing on the purposes of God as they were to be unfolded in later times, among other things he saw an angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, to every nation, kindred, tongue and people; saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come. This was a declaration made by this ancient Apostle and Prophet of God while banished for his religion, as certain men today would, if they could, banish us. We now declare to the world that this part of the visions of John has been fulfilled; that the angel has come and appeared to man upon the earth, conferring upon him this heavenly charge, namely, the responsibility of opening up a new Gospel dispensation; and we declare that God himself took part in it, and that Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, accompanied him, both of whom appeared to Joseph Smith, upon which occasion the Father, pointing to the Son said, “This is my beloved Son, hear him.” Following this the Gospel was to be preached to every nation. What Gospel? The same Gospel that was preached to Adam, and to the Patriarchs and men of God of every age; the Gospel of salvation and deliverance from sin through the atonement of Jesus Christ, the resurrection from the dead, life immortal and all the blessings associated therewith. And when this Gospel was first proclaimed in this age, who knew anything about it? Nobody; it was not and had not been among men for centuries. The world of mankind had been left without direct communication from the heavens, and as a natural consequence while groveling in the dark, they followed the devices and desires of their own hearts; they were governed by man-made systems, and bowed to the dictum, to the notions, the theories and follies of men. There was no Apostle, no Prophet, no inspired man of God holding His Holy Priesthood to say, Thus saith the Lord, this is the way, walk ye in it.

In connection with this I may allude to an incident in my personal experience, to show the state of the world religiously some forty or fifty years ago. Not being then acquainted with this Church, a number of us met together for the purpose of searching the Scriptures; and we found that certain doctrines were taught by Jesus and the Apostles, which neither the Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, nor any of the religious sects taught; and we concluded that if the Bible was true, the doctrines of modern Christendom were not true; or if they were true, the Bible was false. Our investigations were impartially made, and our search for truth was extended. We examined every religious principle that came under our notice, and probed the various systems as taught by the sects, to ascertain if there were any that were in accordance with the word of God. But we failed to find any. In addition to our researches and investigations, we prayed and fasted before God; and the substance of our prayers was, that if he had a people upon the earth anywhere, and ministers who were authorized to preach the Gospel, that he would send us one. This was the condition we were in. We knew all that the Methodists knew then, and all that they know now. We knew all that the Presbyterians knew then, and all that they know now. We knew all that the Episcopalians knew then, and all that they know now. We knew all that the Roman Catholics knew then, and all that they know today; for we made ourselves conversant with the doctrines and examined them thoroughly, as well as the theories of all men who pretended to have knowledge of Gospel light. We prayed earnestly; and in answer to our prayers, the Lord sent us Elder Parley P. Pratt, who gives an account of this in his autobiography which has been published since his death. Brother Pratt, in relating the circumstances, says that Brother Heber C. Kimball came to his house one night after he had retired; that Brother Kimball requested him to get up, which he did, and then began to prophesy to him. He told him there was a people in Canada who were seeking for a knowledge of the Gospel, and they were praying to God to send them a minister who should reveal to them the truth. Brother Kimball then commissioned him to repair to Canada, telling him that the Lord would bless him and open up his way. Just previous to that time the Saints had been engaged in building the Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, and were all very much embarrassed as to means, Brother Pratt with the balance having devoted everything he had to spare for that purpose. Among other things that Brother Kimball told him was, that where he was going he would find means to relieve himself and that many of the people would embrace the Gospel, and that it would be the means of introducing the Gospel to England. And furthermore, said he, your wife who is now childless shall have a son. In the course of time she did have a son, and they named him Parley. I do not know but that he may be present; but I was going to say, I knew him before he was born. [Laughter.]

I speak of this to show that there was at that time nobody, of whom we had any knowledge, from whom we could obtain any information with regard to the Gospel of the Son of God, or that could teach us the doctrines Jesus and His Apostles taught, as contained in the Scriptures. Brother Pratt came and found us, and he came in answer to our prayer; at least, that is my faith in regard to the matter. And were all these things accomplished? Yes: I was baptized myself and others, and I baptized many others in that country; and it was the means also of sending the Gospel to England. John Goodson, who apostatized long ago, John Snyder, a good, faithful man who was one of the committee of the Nauvoo House, and who died in the 17th Ward of this City, Isaac Russell, and Joseph Fielding, uncle to Brother Joseph F. Smith, were of our number, embraced the Gospel, and were afterwards called to accompany Brother Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde to England for the purpose of opening up the work in that land; and I was the first person that wrote a letter to England on the subject of the Gospel; I did it at the request of Brother Fielding, who got me to write for him to a brother and brother-in-law of his who were ministers in England. These were the men that helped to introduce the Gospel into England in that early day. I speak of this for the information of many of you.

When Brother Pratt came to me I was, perhaps, as well read in the letter of the Bible as I am today, and as soon as he commenced to talk about Prophets, I said, Yes, we believe in them. And he talked about Apostles and I remarked, Yes, we have been looking for such men, but we cannot find them. He talked about the organization of the Church as it was anciently; and about the gift of tongues and the gift of healing, etc., and we were delighted with his message, it was something we were seeking for, and it was all new to us. We had heard rumors about the Mormons, just as people hear rumors nowadays of us; and the rumors we heard were not of the most complimentary character, any more than are those that are circulated about us today, or those that were circulated about Jesus and the former-day Saints. You know, the pious, hypocritical clergy of that day put the Savior down as the vilest creature that ever lived, and influenced the populace against him; for said they, if he heals the sick, give God the glory, for we know that this man is a sinner; and when he cast out devils, this same class attributed it to the power of Beelzebub, the prince of devils; and they spoke of him as being a bastard, and cast all manner of reflections upon him. The Savior in speaking to his disciples gave them to understand that inasmuch as they had persecuted him, they would also persecute them; and said he, further, when they persecute you in one city, flee to another; and he also told them to be exceeding glad when they were persecuted for righteousness’ sake. What, to be lied about by adventurers and political demagogues who seek to rob and plunder you? Yes; that is a good and favorable sign. If we were guilty of the infamies that they seek to lay at our door, that would be another matter. But whilst we are not as good as we might be, we do know that what they say and publish to the world about us, which has had a tendency to arouse the feelings of the general public against us, are infernal falsehoods. “Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad,” etc., in this we but share the lot of the honorable of other ages, the men of God who stood the abuse of their fellow man, and who, in many instances, were persecuted much worse than we are. Our present assailants have not learned how yet; but they are trying upon a small scale to introduce the inquisition, and may, by and by, in some degree, succeed in carrying out their nefarious objects. This is their work, if they can stand it we think we can. There are thousands of honorable men who will look down with contempt upon all such unprincipled and mendacious efforts.

After the Lord had spoken to Joseph Smith, and Jesus had manifested himself to him, and after Moroni had revealed to him the hidden plates containing the history of the ancient inhabitants of this continent, which, in the wisdom of God, have been translated into our own language in the form of the Book of Mormon, and which, in connection with the Bible, is to be the means of confounding false doctrines, the one being corroborative of the other in principle and doctrine and in relation to the designs and purposes of God—after this it was necessary that the Priesthood held by men in former days should be restored in these latter days, that people now, as men in those days, might be authorized to act in the name of the Lord. Hence John the Baptist, who held the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood, came and laid his hands upon the heads of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, using these words: “Upon you, my fellowservants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.” After having been ordained to this Priesthood which is after the order of Aaron, it was necessary that they should have another Priesthood which is after the order of Melchizedek, and after the order of the Son of God. And consequently Peter, James and John came and conferred that Priesthood. Why did they come? Because they were the last who held the keys of that Priesthood. After this order of Priesthood was introduced, the organization which we possess today was gradually effected, which is as full and complete, perhaps, as ever existed upon the earth. How perfect it was in the days of Enoch we are not told, but everything that they had revealed to them pertaining to the organization of the Church of God, also pertaining to doctrine and ordinances, we have had revealed to us, excepting one thing, and that is the principle and power of translation; that, however, will in due time be restored also. And if they in their day built a Zion, we have one to build in our day, and when this shall be done and everything is in readiness, the Zion which the people of Enoch built and which was translated, will descend from above, and the Zion of the latter days which this people will build, will ascend by virtue of this principle and power, and the former and the latter-day Zion will meet each other, and the dwellers in both will embrace and kiss each other, so we are told in the revelations of God.

We are indebted to no one excepting God, our heavenly Father, for the organization which we possess; and as a little circumstance with regard to its practical working occurs to me, I will mention it. Among other places, we sent to Bear Lake a copy of the form of petition which we are now presenting to Congress. I think it was on Wednesday that it was sent out from here, and on Saturday night it was returned with thousands of signatures. That is the way we do things here. In a few days we had some fifty thousand signatures, and I presume before this there are some ten or twenty thousand more from the more distant settlements. What does it manifest? Union and sympathy one with another, all testifying to one thing, which I was very glad to see. People have said that we know that polygamy is not a principle of our religion; but here are petitions signed by some seventy or eighty thousand, all of whom testify to their faith in regard to this principle. I think the testimony of seventy or eighty thousand persons living right among it, and most of whom are born in it, ought to be as strong as that of a few quidnuncs who know little or nothing about it.

The Gospel was then revealed, what for—for you and me, or for this man and that man? No; it was for the benefit of the world; it was in the interests of humanity; and it was to be proclaimed to every nation, kindred, people and tongue, by men commissioned of God to do so. That duty belongs to the Twelve especially, to either do so in person or see that it is done. I have traveled myself tens of thousands of miles, and so have my brethren, visiting the nations of the earth in their most prominent cities declaring to them the principles of the Gospel as God has revealed them. And could we find men upon the earth that could successfully oppose us? I declare before God I never found one, taking the Bible as a standard; neither can anyone be found today that can do it, and that is the trouble.

In that day, we are told, the meek shall rejoice in the Lord; and the poor among men shall rejoice in the holy one of Israel. God has had his people scattered among the nations, and his testimony was to go forth to all lands; and it becomes the duty of the Twelve, the Seventies, the High Priests and Elders to carry this message and present it to them in the spirit of the Gospel, not, to cram the truth down the throats of men, as certain individuals would cram their peculiar views down our throats. But when we were sent forth we were sent to teach, and not to be taught. We could not learn anything from them about the Gospel, for they did not know it. They could not teach us, hence the Lord in sending out the first Elders told them they were sent to teach and not to be taught. We went in the midst of opposition and persecution, mobbings and drivings, and were subjected to every insult, indignity and infamy that wicked and corrupt man could invent, and we have put up with such things all the time, and many have had to lay down their lives in the conflict, and they will, as others formerly did, when the time comes, gain a better resurrection. And we are still struggling on, in the face of a general opposition, trusting in our God to sustain us, while we shall continue to sow the precious seed of the everlasting Gospel, and maintain in our own midst the principles of life eternal, and freedom, liberty and equality to the human race. And our sons who have grown up are now doing what we have done; and they too are full of the Spirit, full of life, light and intelligence, having, as we had and still have, the interests of humanity at heart, as they move among the people as messengers of life and salvation. Our course is onward; and are we going to stop? No. Zion must be built up, God has decreed it and no power can stay its progress. Do you hear that? I prophesy that in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. For Zion must and will be built up despite all opposition, the kingdom of God established upon the earth in accordance with the designs and purposes of God. That is true, and you will find it to be true if you live long enough, and if you die you will find it to be true; it will make no difference. “But shall we not be persecuted?” Yes, and does not Jesus say, Blessed are ye when men revile you and persecute you, etc.—would you be deprived of that blessing? “But we have had enough of it.” O, have you? No matter, you will have to put up with it. “But,” say you, “have we not certain constitutional rights?” Yes, on paper, but when you get through with them, the paper does not amount to much; it is like pie crust, easily broken. We do not pay much attention to these things. Honorable men will be governed by constitutions, and laws, and principles, but dishonorable persons will not. Therefore, we have to do the best we can, taking a righteous course that we may be entitled to the blessings of God. “What will be the result of this?” I care nothing about what the result may be, it is a matter of very little importance to me. “Do you expect such things?” Yes, and have done for years; I have never expected anything else associated with the Gospel. When I first embraced it I considered it a lifelong affair; and when I came to look at it squarely in the face, if I could have satisfied my conscience by getting along without it, I would have done so; but I could not, and I apprehend that many of you have been in the same situation. I believed it was true, and so did you; and after I was baptized and had hands laid upon my head for the reception of the Holy Ghost, I knew it was true by the operations of the Holy Spirit upon my heart. And this is the common experience of all Saints. Some people seem to think that we are going to throw away our religion at the “drop of the hat.” I do not know of any such feeling among this people. There have been men who learned to endure things quite as bad as those which afflict us. My mind runs back to Daniel who was a man that feared God. There was a set of political plotters in his day—and probably a fair share of religious ones associated with them—who conspired against him, for Daniel was a man of God in great favor with the king; and the only way they could accomplish their plans was by laying a trap to catch him through an edict of the king. They did it by getting the king to issue a proclamation that no man should ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of the king, that if he did he should be cast into the den of lions. This was done expressly to catch Daniel, but the king was not made acquainted with the secret. Their request was granted and the decree established by the king’s signature, which then could not be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altered not. When Daniel heard of this, we are told that he went into his house, and the windows of his chamber being open towards Jerusalem, he bowed down before his God, and prayed and gave thanks to him, as aforetime, three times a day. He did not falter, although he knew the nature of the decree and the laws which governed it; but he knew too that the God whom he served was able to deliver him. They watched him, of course, and finally complained against him; and he was adjudged guilty of violating the law. The law had to take its course, although the king, when the thing was made known to him felt very sorrowful, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him. He did not feel like some feel towards us; although there have been praiseworthy efforts made by a few to maintain constitutional principles, and we recognize them as the sentiments and feelings of honorable men, who wish to see correct principles maintained in our land. There was no appeal in Daniel’s case; or as a certain class of Christians today would say, “Daniel had to go.” They cast him into the den of lions. The king went to the den early the following morning, feeling much concerned about him, and he cried out, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?” Daniel spoke up and said, “O King, live forever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me.” Now, he dared to do that which showed there was some manhood in him. We have another example in the three Hebrew children, who refused to bow down to a golden image that had been set up. Shall we call it monogamy? [Laughter.] The conditions were that if they did not bow down to this golden image, they should be cast into a burning fiery furnace. They did refuse to obey this royal decree, saying, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O King. But if not (said they), be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship thy golden image which thou hast set up.” This, of course, was considered a great indignity on their part to refuse to bow down to this God. These three men were cast into the furnace and their persecutors in their animus and religious zeal, heated it to such a degree—evincing in this respect the same feeling we see manifested toward us in a different form—that the men who cast Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the furnace were themselves destroyed by the flames. And it seems the King himself was curious to look into the furnace to know of their fate, and in doing so, to his astonishment, he beheld four persons in the midst of the flames, one of whom appeared to be like unto the Son of God. Nebuchadnezzar then called to these three men to come out, which they did; and even the smell of fire was not found upon their clothing, nor was a hair of their heads singed. Such was the faith of those young men, and such their conduct that all honorable men could approve and appreciate the nobility of their course; and even the Gods could admire them; and their integrity to God was the means of their being promoted to the favor of the King, and to distinction in the land. Let us hope that the descendants of those people in these days, in the trials that they have to pass through, which are now being enacted in Russia, in Europe, and in other places, and apparently commencing in this land, may be found as true to their integrity as were these noble examples of manhood and faith in God.

But to return to the Christian’s idol. The pious, zealous, religious and hypocritical in our day, uniting with political demagogues, have set up a God for us to worship, which they boastfully represent as the embodiment of everything that is pure and virtuous, embodying the enlightenment and civilization of the nineteenth century. Their god is overlaid with gilt and tinsel, but inside it is pregnant with the social evil with its twin adjuncts feticide and infanticide. Like a great Moloch it is crushing out female virtue, trampling upon innocence, and prostituting and destroying millions of the fair daughters of Eve. Yet this loathsome, filthy, debauched, degraded monster is held up for our veneration and worship by its corrupt Christian devotees as the essence of everything that is great and grand, noble and praiseworthy; and we are called upon to fall down and worship this loathsome monster under the threat of unconstitutional pains and penalties, and the violation of every principle of liberty and protection guaranteed under the Constitution.

Shall we worship this unnatural, lascivious Moloch? Shall we bow down before the shrine of this fetid, corrupt and debauched monster? No! We will worship the Lord our God, yield obedience to his behests, and, if we are faithful, live our religion and keep his commandments, the God whom we worship will deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, and we shall triumph over all our foes.

There have been men living nearer our own times who could meet the inquisition with its fagot, rack and thumbscrew, and in the midst of their sufferings could commit themselves in all serenity and calmness into the hands of God; and we can surely do the same. If the rulers of this nation can afford to tamper with the sacred rights of the people guaranteed by the Constitution of this great nation, and ruthlessly tear down the temple of freedom erected at the cost of so much blood and treasure, instead of anticipated glory, they will bring destruction upon the nation and ruin and infamy upon themselves. The sacred bulwarks of freedom once tampered with, the floodgates of anarchy and confusion will be thrown open and dissolution and ruin will follow in their train in rapid succession. It is for us to sustain and maintain the principles guaranteed in that sacred palladium of human rights—the Constitution of the United States, and to contend inch by inch in every legal and constitutional manner for our own rights and human freedom, leaving misrule, anarchy, violations of law and the trampling under foot of the rights of man and constitutional guarantees to religious fanatics and clamoring demagogues; and if they can afford to tamper with those sacred guarantees, we certainly can afford to have them do it. It is for us to seek more exalted ideas, to abide by constitutional law, to maintain inviolate the principles of human freedom, and to contend with unwavering firmness for those inalienable rights of all men—life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; and to seek continually to our God for wisdom to accomplish so great, noble and patriotic a purpose.

One of the first things I ever heard preached by the Elders of this Church was that the world would grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. Should we be surprised at its coming to pass? Another thing that I have heard from the beginning is, that people would persecute us, commencing with neighborhoods and villages, and then it would extend to cities and counties, and then to States, and then to the United States, and afterwards to the world. We have got about fifty millions of people on our backs now—and it is a pretty heavy load to carry, too; but the Lord will see us through. We are acting in the interests of humanity: we are proclaiming salvation to a fallen world, and in this we are carrying out the word and will of God made known and manifested directly to us. We are warning the people of their position, and we will continue to send forth our missionaries for this purpose until God says, it is enough. And if they persecute us in one city, we will do as Jesus told his disciples, we will flee to another, searching out the honest in heart. Persecution has been our lot from the beginning, and it has followed us to this day. I am reminded of a circumstance that occurred in Missouri, which I will mention to show the kind of feeling that Joseph Smith was possessed of. Some 25 years ago, in Far West, a mob—one of those semi-occasional occurrences—had come against us with evil intent, placing themselves in position to give us battle; and there were not more than about 200 of us in the place. We had one fellow who was taken with a fit of trembling in the knees, and he ordered our people to retreat. As soon as Joseph heard this sound, he exclaimed, “Retreat! Where in the name of God shall we retreat to?” He then led us out to the prairie facing the mob and placed us in position; and the first thing we knew a flag of truce was seen coming towards us. The person bearing it said that some of their friends were among our people for whose safety they felt anxious. I rather think it was a case in which the wife was in the Church but not the husband, and the mob wished these parties to come out as they, he said, were going to destroy every man, woman and child in the place. But these folks had a little “sand” in them, as the boys say; they sent word back, that if that was the case they would die with their friends, Joseph Smith, our leader, then sent word back by this messenger, said he, “Tell your General to withdraw his troops or I will send them to hell.” I thought that was a pretty bold stand to take, as we only numbered about 200 to their 3,500; but they thought we were more numerous than we really were, it may be that our numbers were magnified in their eyes; but they took the hint and left; and we were not sorry. (Laughter.) The Lord, through simple means, is able to take care of and deliver His people, but they must put implicit faith and confidence in Him; and when they are crowded into a tight place they must not be afraid to make sacrifice for the sake of maintaining the truth, and all will be well with us whether living or dying, in time or in eternity.

Well, what shall we do? We will serve the Lord; we will live our religion; we will be true to our covenants, keep his commandments and be one, and we will sustain one another, and not sustain men among us who have it in their hearts to cut our throats; let them alone to pursue their own course, and let them draw their sustenance from their own kith and kin; and let us pursue the even tenor of our way, operating together as a band of brethren; and if any have sinned, let them sin no more; and inasmuch as this people are found faithful to God and true to themselves and their fellow men, I will risk the results of what our enemies may do to injure us. We are in the hands of God, and this nation is in His hands, and he will do with us and them according to the pleasure of His will.

Brethren and sisters, God bless you, and God bless the honorable of the earth, and may the wrath of the wicked be made to praise Him, and the remainder may He restrain. Amen.

Discourse by Apostle Erastus Snow, delivered in the Salt Lake Assembly Hall, Sunday Afternoon, February 26th, 1882.

Since coming to the stand I have been requested to address the congregation.

I will read the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th verses of the 25th chapter of Genesis.

“And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.

But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country. And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years.

Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.”

How far I shall confine myself to the matter contained in this passage I cannot say. The present eventful period of our lives, the prejudices which now move the people of our nation concerning us, and the pressure that is being brought upon us chiefly through the religious element of the country to influence Congress to extraordinary legislation against us, are perhaps, the reasons why my mind reverts to the historical facts contained in the Scripture I have just read, which was given unto us by men of old who, until quite a recent date, have been generally revered by all Christians; and even now a large majority of the Christian sects of America respect and reverence the ancient fathers, their teachings and writings while the sacred Book is closed, but ignore in their daily lives what those worthies believed and practiced.

The word translated concubine in this Scripture must not be confounded with the modern practice which obtains so largely in the great cities of Christendom, and with the more wealthy portions of old communities. I refer to the practice sometimes called concubinage, the practice of marrying under the law one wife, and at the same time keeping privately one or more mistresses who are not obtruded upon society, having no claim to the honored name of wife—a practice which permits those who indulge in it to gratify the carnal passions at the expense of public virtue; and at the risk of entailing disease upon unborn posterity, as well as at the expense of the present and eternal welfare of their partners, I will say in sin; for no right-minded, correct-thinking person can pronounce it otherwise than it has been pronounced by the sacred writers both of the Old and New Testament—a species of lewdness and, if not classed with open harlotry, a violation of sacred marital vows. Those who have solaced their consciences or justified themselves in this departure from law and public sentiment, no doubt feel partial justification from the practices of the ancients who were looked up to and revered; but such was not the concubinage of Abraham, nor any of the ancient patriarchs, such was not the system that obtained under the law of Moses in ancient Israel.

The word translated concubinage in King James version of the Bible, is translated by Luther and is found in Scandinavia and Germany, where the Lutheran translation still prevails, as meaning an associated wife. In the Danish Bible it is huustro for wife and medhustro for concubine; the sacred name of wife is given to both classes, the preposition med connecting them together and conveying the idea of the second class being an associated wife, or a wife in a secondary or subordinate position, in contradistinction to the first. Close students of the Bible have not failed to recognize this as being the character of the plural wives of Moses and the prophets. And it was practiced as an institution of the Jewish nation down to the coming of our Savior, and, so far as any scriptures appear in the New Testament, this institution was neither abrogated nor in anywise condemned, while harlotry and promiscuous intercourse of the sexes—adultery and fornication are condemned in the severest language.

We have a great variety of views in Christendom, as to the will and mind of God pertaining to the union of the sexes as relating to each other, to the state and to our present and future happiness. The Latter-day Saints regard the intercourse of the sexes, both in time and in eternity, as regulated by sacred law given by our Father in heaven who has organized us male and female for a wise purpose in Himself, and that purpose is made manifest in the first great command given to our first parents, namely, to multiply and replenish the earth. And the saying to the woman after her transgression as written in the book of Genesis, that her desires should be towards her husband and he should rule over her—the desires planted in the breast of the woman tending to draw to the opposite sex culminating in a union, is a wise dispensa– tion of Providence for the accomplishing of the great end in view to encourage and stimulate them to multiply and replenish the earth, and take upon themselves the cares, labors, anxieties and responsibilities attending the rearing of families. And among the many different views entertained in Christendom concerning the commerce of the sexes we might say, there exists every variety of belief and practice growing out of these beliefs. We have in Christian America a religious sect—not very numerous to be sure—who held the union of the sexes to be sinful in any form whatever. This sect I hardly need say is the Shaking Quakers; and to become a member of their society—a person already married would be required to dissolve his marriage relationship; a husband and wife joining that society would be required to do the same, and to abstain from each other forever afterwards, all connection with the sexes being strictly forbidden as an evil that may be tolerated in the carnal world, but not among those who desire to appear pure and holy before the Lord. This first commandment referred to, as having been given to father Adam and mother Eve, was in the days of their purity, before their transgressions, when they were worthy to converse with God face to face; this being the case, if there was no other reason, what philosophy can condemn that command or a proper and just effort to keep it? There is no reason, to my mind, to condemn it, when regulated by law, as an act of impurity; to do so would be a direct reflection upon the wisdom and purity of God Himself.

Of course, this is the general view taken of it by Christian nations, as shown in their acts and in their laws regulating it. Although the Roman Catholic Church prohibits intercourse with the sexes to sacred orders, they being, according to the rites of the church forbidden to marry. And however much some may doubt the iniquity of their holy vows, it is a matter too well known to call in question. The more general sentiment of Christians recognizes the purity and uprightness of marriage of a man to one woman; and they quote the following words of the Apostle Paul to testify to it, “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled; but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.” But the majority of modern Christians consider that for a man to marry more than one wife while she lives and is his wife is sin. Now I will undertake to say respecting the two conditions of marriage, single and plural, that where the duties and obligations are the same, and the husband is equally honorable, just and virtuous, faithful and true to his wives and children, that there is not necessarily any greater impurity existing between such a man and his plural family, than between a man and his single family; that there is not necessarily a defilement of the marriage bed, that there is not necessarily defilement of the body or spirit. When the institution of marriage is founded in religious sentiment and is confirmed by the enduring love of husband, wives and children and the responsibilities attending that relationship, as we find it in many of the ancient worthies, there is not necessarily any defilement in plural marriage. There was not necessarily defilement in father Abraham and other ancient patriarchs and prophets who took to themselves a second or a third or a fourth wife, any more than there was in those who confined themselves to one wife. Nor have I ever heard from any creature and I have read and heard much and reflected much, because our institution of marriage has invited discussion and reflection upon this subject. I have never yet heard an argument that, to my mind, appeared sound against the marriage of an honorable man to two women any more than to one. And the only argument that has ever been presented that has had a semblance of soundness is the generally admitted fact of the near equality of the sexes which would seem to foreshadow the general purpose and design of providence that one man should have only one wife. I have never heard an argument relating to the physical effects of the institution, nor as relating to the state of society that could not be applied just as appropriately to monogamy. The opposers of plural marriage make many declarations against us which are untrue, which they do not understand because they accept the reports of certain persons who give way to a lying spirit, and misrepresent and belie people far better than themselves. The selfishness and weakness of human nature, the evils which manifest themselves from time to time between families and between husband and wife, and between wives and children are quoted as evils greatly to be deplored as growing out of this system. I will only say in regard to this, that those best acquainted with the intact workings of the system among the Latter-day Saints throughout all of their settlements, if they testify honestly and truthfully as to the result of their careful observations extending over a period of over thirty years—the time that this system of plural marriage has been practiced by us in these mountains, they would, in effect, say, that there is less discontent, less strife and fewer family broils and less divorce, and less casting off wives and casting upon the community of children without care, than would be found in the same number of monogamic families. And I may here say, that statistics will bear me out in making this assertion. To those who are not posted in the matter this may appear incredible; and the majority of the Christian world would think it impossible judging from their standpoint; and what they see and hear among themselves, and judging by the spirit by which they are animated, they would, I admit, pronounce this a thing impossible. But it is simply because they are not imbued with the faith of the Latter-day Saints, and this being the case they cannot understand the motives that prompt us to enter into this relationship. They cannot comprehend the spirit that governs us, the devout Godfearing spirit of self-sacrifice which leads us onward to all that is noble, forbearing and long-suffering, that teaches us to love one another and to be charitable to all men, and which teaches us that the relationships which we make through the marriage covenant are but the foundation of eternal glory and exaltation in the worlds to come; and it also teaches us that the glories of the future that open up before us are greatly dependent upon the faithfulness of our relationships and associations in this life; and that a man must be found capable to properly govern and guide his family and preserve in time the wives and children that are given to him, leading them in the way of life and salvation, and rearing his children in all that is pure and praiseworthy, so that he can receive them in the morning of the first resurrection, there to have the Father confirm upon him his wives and children, the foundation of his individual kingdom which will exist forever and ever. The outside world cannot comprehend this, and simply because they cannot believe it. It is this same religious sentiment that prompts women and the best of women, the most devout women, women of the purest motive and character to enter into this sacred relationship, and to cause them to determine in their own minds that they would sooner be associated with a man who has proven himself a man of integrity, a man of strict virtue and honor, who can be relied upon by God and man—they would rather trust themselves with such a man than to be the only wife of a man devoid of these qualifications, a man who, perhaps, for the want of such high motives would be the victim of many vices, of whoredom of concubinage or illicit intercourse with the sexes, and defile himself and destroy the confidence of his family in him, or he would perhaps indulge in drunkenness and other kindred vices which would be the means of producing the same result. And such has been the experience of many women in monogamy. And I do not say that the weaknesses of mankind do not manifest themselves in plural families; I do not say that there are not some who may be urged on by fleshy lust, but if there are it results in their making shipwreck of their faith and becoming, in time, a lasting disgrace to themselves. But where there is one example of this kind, under our polygamic system, there are at least two under the monogamic order that might be cited, who make shipwreck of their faith, who sacrifice their honor, and whose family send forth a wail of grief for the loss of confidence in husband and father. Adultery, fornication, whoredom, God will judge; every form of licentiousness He has condemned in His word from the beginning of the world to the present. And if follies are manifested by some who profess to be Latter-day Saints in this direction, so we may cite similar weakness manifested by ancient men of God; not, however, to justify such cases but merely as examples of human weaknesses.

Referring again to Abraham, and his wife Sarai. They are held up in sacred Scripture as models of noble character, purity of purpose, piety, devotion and superior integrity to God, who hesitated not to obey Him at all hazards even to the sacrifice of that which was nearest and dearest unto them. This Sarai, one of the noblest of women, received the promise of her son Isaac while in old age, a promise made to her by the angel of God, and this because of her barrenness and because too of the integrity of her heart towards her husband and her willingness to sacrifice her womanly feeling in giving to her husband other wives. And after she had given to Abraham Hagar, that she might bear him children, mark the Scripture: It was for the purpose that he might not be childless because she was childless. It was after she had thus sacrificed her womanly feeling, thereby manifesting her love and integrity to her husband, that the Lord had compassion upon her and granted the desire of her heart, promising her that she should in course of time bring forth a son, and telling her that his name should be Isaac, in whom and in whose seed all the nations of the earth were to be blessed. And it was after this lad was partly grown, that God commanded Abraham to take this promised child on to the Mount Moriah, and there build an altar and offer him up as a sacrifice. Abraham in this was tried as few men ever were tried; for his love was great for his son whom he would naturally regard as a special gift of the Lord to him, through whom no less a personage than the Messiah himself should come. Yet Abraham doubted not, he paused not to consider what the possible result might be of keeping this command; but he trusted in God as Paul said of him, “that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.” He trusted in God and doubted not; and proceeded to Mount Moriah and there built an altar, and when everything was in readiness he bound the lad, and while in the act of raising the deadly knife, he heard a voice saying, “Abraham, Abraham, lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.” And then the Lord went on to say, that because of this willingness on the part of Abraham to obey Him even to the sacrificing of his only son, “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the seashore,” etc. Now, I will give back unto you your son, and in blessing I will bless him and multiply him, and in him and his seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. It was because of this precious promise, no doubt, that he desired to give his sons opportunities to develop and to make manifest among the surrounding tribes the character that was in him, that he divided out his goods and gave gifts to the sons of the other wives and sent them away, but gave his chief inheritance to his son Isaac.

While contemplating this I can hardly refrain from dropping a word of exhortation to my brethren who may be drawing near the close of life, not to neglect to make such disposition of their worldly effects as will suitably provide for their wives and children while they (the brethren) yet live, following the example of Abraham, not that by any means would I encourage this example in all particulars; for it is not always as it was in the case of Abraham that God has made choice of one particular son in whom their seed shall be called; but common justice and equity requires of every father to deal fairly with each wife and child according as God has dealt with him in this world’s goods, that he may retain their esteem after he shall have departed from them. Nor should he trust too much to the uncertainty of courts at the present time; for we have in too many instances seen to our sorrow that federal courts, whenever they have had it in their power, or wherever they could, either by strained construction of the law, or by omissions of the law, wrong a plural family by giving to the first wife and her heirs that which should have been equitably divided among all the family, they have never missed the opportunity of doing it, thinking that by bringing oppression and injustice to bear they will succeed in discouraging the practice of this system of marriage. There is nothing in the faith of the Latter-day Saints or in the laws of God touching this matter that would prompt aught but justice and equality to all the wives and children. The duty of the husband is plain in this respect. And the duty of all wives and chil– dren is to love each other and the husband and father; all cherishing that love of the Gospel which binds our hearts together, and which alone can carry us through the trials and tribulations of life, and lift us up at the last day.

One would suppose from the hue and cry abroad in the land, which emanates chiefly from the clergy, that they are afraid the institutions of the Latter-day Saints will contaminate the whole land. What hypocrisy! I can hardly exercise patience sufficient to treat it with any degree of sobriety.

I am a native-born American; I was reared in the State of Vermont. In my early days the doctrine taught to our first parents, to multiply and replenish the earth, was popular; but during the period of my life that has elapsed, it has been almost totally ignored by the social circles of New England. When I last visited the old homestead, an old aunt nearly ready to go into her grave, told me that it was irregular for people nowadays to have large families. And it seems that this is the prevailing sentiment of that region; for in traveling through New England it was rarely I saw a woman with more than two or three children. Any of the older families, those honored matrons of New England, who lived contemporary with my mother, thought it honorable to raise large families; but my old aunt who was one of the last of that stock, has, by giving way to allowing the influence of death, has imbibed false notions; and when she thus expressed herself to me I knew she was not speaking the honest sentiments of her heart. Today infanticide and feticide are popular. Modern doctors and doctresses have arisen, men and women who are skilled in what are called the diseases of women, whose special practice is preventing fecundity, thereby securing to husband and wife the pleasures of self-gratification without bearing the responsibilities of maternity, and the trouble and expense of rearing children. These doctors and doctresses and the American students who have learned to practice their hellish arts, are today engaged in undermining the constitutions of wives and mothers; yes, child murder, this damnable doctrine of devils has become popular throughout New England, and is fast spreading over the American continent. And now it is the Irish woman, who believes in raising children, the foreign element that comes to the country that are considered the vulgar people; and were it not for this flood of foreign immigration the staid New England element would soon become extinct, and I say, in the name of Israel’s God, the sooner the better unless they repent of their murders, their whoredoms and their abominations that ascend to the heavens and are a stench in the nostrils of the Almighty. And, yet, it is this New England element whose garments are stained with the blood of innocence, that has found its way through our western States, thus has worked heart and soul with the hireling priesthood in firing up the national heart, and that is urging on hostile legislation against the best and purest people that exist upon the American continent. Is it public morality they seek? Is it the cause of public and private morality they champion? If so, we may repeat what we have so often said, which is so extremely unwelcome for them to hear: Weed your garden first at home, and then let your virtues be directed to the crying evils and sins of your large cities; and let child murder cease, and hang those infernal doctors who by means of their hellish arts are destroying the life of your offspring, and thus preventing the fulfillment of the first great command that God gave to our first parents; first petition Congress to pass laws to deal with the murderers and murderesses of the nation, the adulterers and adulteresses and all those who deal in shame, through whose wickedness the seeds of decay and death are transmitted to posterity. But methinks I hear one say, if this were done, and the laws were enforced, the large majority of the nation would be convicted. And it reminds me of a remark made recently by a gentleman in Congress. It was proposed that the bill, now being urged in Congress against polygamy, be so amended as to include adultery; the gentleman to whom the proposition was made was at first inclined to endorse the amendment, but on reflection, he turned to his friend and said, if that be done it would leave us without a quorum in the House. No, my friends, it is not adultery they wish to punish; it is not whoredom they wish to punish; it is not the cause of public or private virtue they champion; it is merely the hue and cry of the bigotry of our time against a people who are aiming at a higher morality than now exists, who are aiming to do away with and effectually destroy out of their midst the evil that is sapping the strength and vitality of our nation—a community that does not seek to shun the responsibility and the cares and labors and expense and trouble of rearing families and of educating them and making their children honorable men and women, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, citizens of the state and defenders of human liberty.

We are accused of being governed by priestcraft, and priestly influence. I do not believe there is any portion of this community in any part of the land who are moved by priestly influence to half the extent that Judge Edmunds and the advocates of the bill that he champions against us are; and their consciences must teach them that they are hypocrites, and that they are but pandering to bigotry, and that their acts are not the acts of statesmen, but the acts of cringing politicians and demagogues. The priesthood of the Latter-day Saints belongs not to the lords but the commons; to men who have helped make the roads, to build the bridges and to kill the snakes; to men who have battled with the difficulties of a new country, and who by their hardihood and toil have subdued the wastes and redeemed the desert; men who have turned the mountain streams out of their course on to the new and virgin soil, making the land fruitful with fields and farms, gardens, orchards and vineyards; men who build houses, mills and factories, schoolhouses and churches, and who raise families and who take care of and educate their children. These are the men who hold the Priesthood, and who wield an influence in the midst of this people; and this class of men is properly represented in the legislature now in session, and they are asked to step down and out and let the government of the country pass into the hands of adventurers. Not that I would insinuate that there are not a goodly number of honorable men among us who are engaged in legitimate business pursuits, men who could be trusted to administer the government affairs of the Ter– ritory if they would follow their own hearts and consciences, and not allow themselves to be bulldozed as certain members of Congress are by the hireling Priesthood of the age. We could trust the judgment of such men; we could trust their natural good sense, and their business habits; but there are few who can be trusted to stand like a towering rock in the midst of the raging ocean, proof against the waves and surges of popular prejudice that pass over the land. And because of this the Latter-day Saints have been chary with regard to whom they exalt to power; and the few that have their confidence in this respect, are men who have never robbed or betrayed them. And honorable business men, bankers, merchants, miners, railroad men, etc., who have no political or religious standing to jeopardize are satisfied that the affairs of our Territory have been administered honorably and honestly.

Tricksters and adventurers clamor for free schools, but how many of them and those whose sentiments they voice really want to support them? A hobby is a nice thing to ride, and such people have many, but they must be hobbies that do not cost much. It is rumored throughout the land that the children of the Latter-day Saints are growing up in ignorance; those who utter those statements either know nothing of what they say, or they willfully and deliberately lie. Some may think these are hard words; it is language admissible under the circumstances, and it is easy to understand, plain and right to the subject, and I mean every word of it. The statistics of the country bear me out in it; and whoever will examine the census for the last decade may satisfy themselves on this point, namely, that percentage of illiteracy in Utah is less than one-half of that of the whole United States. They say the offspring of plural marriage tends to idiocy as well as illiteracy, which, however, is fallacious and clearly without foundation in fact. Let men of discernment and honor pass through our land, examine our schools and see the turnout of our forty thousand children at our Sabbath schools, and hear the questions put to them and their answers to the same; let them attend our children’s jubilees in our Tabernacle and look upon fifteen thousand faces radiant with youth and beauty, and hear their songs and other exercises, and they may at once satisfy themselves whether the children of the Latter-day Saints are either ignorant or idiotic. The late census shows that Utah’s percentage of idiocy, as well as illiteracy, is more than fifty percent less than that of the United States; it may also show that nowhere upon the American continent is there a place of the same age as Utah that has so many common schools in which are taught the common branches of an English education, and that too without a dollar’s aid from the general government. And our numerous children are all well cared for; and if we cannot indulge in all the excesses of fashion that are common in aristocratic circles, we are content to know that we are doing well; we are content where our wives are well housed, well fed and well clothed with fair advantages of education, self reliant and loving one another. And we are satisfied that ere long they will be a tower of strength in the land, not to menace the institutions of our country as enemies, as foolish men and women insinuate; not to menace public morality or private virtue; but to the contrary, when the nation, ripe in sin and iniquity, led on by reckless demagogues and politicians, shall applaud the acts of the legislators and judges and leading men in laying the axe deep in the tree of liberty, until they shall sap the juices that give life to our institutions, and thus undermine the foundation of good government, it will be sons and daughters of polygamous Utah, that will be found the true friends of human liberty, the true friends of that heaven-born freedom that has come to us through the fathers of our nation. The love of liberty is born in them, and human liberty is a part of the everlasting gospel; and God Almighty has decreed—and let Judge Edmunds and Congress and all the world hear it—that the gospel of the kingdom is established, never more to be thrown down or given to another people, that its destiny is to grow and increase and spread abroad until it shall fill the whole earth, and no power in earth or hell can stop it. “O, but,” say they, “we are going to imprison you polygamists and disfranchise you.” Supposing you do stop our voting, will that stop our tongues? “O, but we’ll imprison you.” Imprison and be damned, [Amen, by voices in the congregation] for you will be damned anyhow. [Laughter.] “We will imprison your wives, too, and we will not only stop from voting the men who have more than one wife, and we will not only stop the second or third, but also the first wife from voting.” And why? Because she, like Sarah of old, gave to her husband other wives. Some of the lawmakers of our nation would not only imprison Abraham were he living now, and also his plural wives, but they would disfranchise and imprison Sarah, his first wife, because she consented to his marrying other wives.

Well, this war is not a war of flesh and blood. We are not going to fight it with swords and cannons and weapons, but by the power of truth, by the word of God, and the eternal principles that our fathers fought for and established upon this American continent, and which God has decreed shall prevail upon this land. And blessed are they whose lives are bent on maintaining the principles of civil and religious liberty, for they will reap their reward, if not in this life, in the hereafter.

In all ages when the people of God listened to the voice and counsel of apostles and prophets, they enjoyed the blessings growing out of human freedom, and the tyranny and oppression of kings and rulers was impossible. There never was a kingly power placed over ancient Israel except against the remonstrance of the prophets; and it will be remembered, especially in the case of Israel when they openly clamored for a king to rule over them and to lead them to battle, how that Samuel warned them and plead with them, foreseeing, as he did, what the results would be. And the students of the Book of Mormon know how the Nephites progressed in establishing the principles of civil and religious liberty, and how that freedom extended throughout their borders, and how that prosperity and greatness attended their administrations under the counsels and teachings of the wise and just men who lived in their day.

Those who suppose that prisons and penalties are going to stop the spirit of truth in its onward march to triumph and greatness, or the influence and power of the truths of heaven which God has established in the hearts of the Latter-day Saints, comprehend not the designs of God, nor the spirit by which this people is actuated, that spirit which is leading them on and which enabled them to take joyfully the spoiling of their goods in Missouri and Ohio, and which still will enable them to sacrifice their all for the sake of the liberties of the everlasting Gospel, if God shall permit it to be so. What are houses and lands, what are goods and chattels, what is this city or thousands of cities like this compared with the liberties of the Gospel, the principles of worshipping and serving God according to His revealed will? God still lives who has led us all our life long to these valleys, and He will guide and direct our steps. But oh how strange that men pretending to be statesmen should read history so poorly as to suppose that by might and power, by bonds and penalties they can chain men’s thoughts or prevent them from acting according to their convictions. The power of might may destroy me—destroy you; it may break up homes and demolish cities, but it will be like the Canada thistle when it first made its appearance in New England. This weed was a great pest to the farmers, and it became a question among that class how to prevent its spreading. Some attempted to dig the thistles out, but they would spring up again all around the old stalk, and it was conceded by others that they could not be controlled. There was one man who owned a plantation who was determined to work vigorously for their extinction upon their first appearance on his land; and so determined was he that when he first discovered their whereabouts upon his plantation he built a log heap over them and set fire to it, leaving a pile of ashes to mark the spot where the thistles appeared. On the following season, to his great surprise, he found that where the log heap stood there was a perfect bed of Canada thistles, that the ashes left from the fire was just the food for the thistle to thrive on. So you will find it will be with us. After political demagogues and hireling priests and adventurers shall have expended their strength in trying to dig up and fire out of the land what they term “Mormonism.”

May the Lord help us to prove true to the trust that He has reposed in us, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City, February 12th, 1882.

It is well sometimes for us to reflect upon the position we occupy before God; it is well for us to understand the relation we sustain to each other; it is well for us to comprehend the relation that we sustain to the Church and Kingdom of God; it is also well for us to know the position that we occupy in relation to the world in which we live. As intelligent beings it is for us to comprehend all truth so far as we are capable of understanding it.

The Gospel is spoken of as being light; and when it was introduced by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ it was then said, that light had come into the world. But while light had come into the world there was a certain class of people that loved dark– ness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. Jesus, in alluding to himself, said: I am the true light. And He is spoken of as being the light that enlightens every man that cometh into the world. And again it is said of Him: the light shineth in darkness, but the darkness comprehendeth it not. There are many very significant sayings on the same subject, that afford food for thought and reflection.

The Gospel of the Son of God has always been obnoxious to a great portion of the human family. In it there is too much light, too much truth, too much intelligence; for the bulk of mankind; its principles are too pure, too noble, too elevating to accord with the general feelings of humanity and with that spirit that proceeds from the powers of darkness, and which rules in the midst of the children of disobedience. And hence people generally have been opposed to it, and they are opposed to it today. People oppose it, but they do not comprehend it. They speak against it; but they speak of that which they know not of. And while they think we are superstitious and ignorant, we know that they are; there is no doubt on that question. We know that they “understand neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.” Therefore to us they are objects of commiseration more than anything else.

Talk of Christianity and of the Gospel of the Son of God, in all the ages of the world, whenever and wherever it was proclaimed, there was a spirit of hostility and antagonism manifested towards it from the very first. We may go back as far as the days of Cain. We read that Adam had two sons, named Cain and Abel. Cain lent himself to the enemy of all righteousness, and became what is termed in Scripture, the father of lies. He rebelled against God, and rebelled against his father, and instigated by the spirit of enmity which proceeds from the evil one, he killed his brother.

These things are not always understood nor the reasons for them. But it has been revealed unto us that Cain loved Satan more than he loved God, and that he placed himself under his influence. And when Cain and Abel offered up their sacrifice, Cain offered his at the instigation of the devil; and his sacrifice, of course, was not accepted. God knew his heart and the feelings by which he was actuated, and therefore rejected his offering. Then came Lucifer, the devil, and says to Cain, “I told you the Lord would treat you wrong; He has treated me wrong;” and he instigated him to kill his brother, which he did. And why? Because his brother believed in God, and obeyed God; and because he believed in the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, which had been made known to them; because he believed these principles, and because Satan was opposed to them, he instigated Cain to kill his brother.

It looked a rather awkward thing for the world under these circumstances. As we read it—there were two sons, one of them righteous, the other wicked; the wicked killed the righteous, and the world was left under these influences to a certain extent. But then Adam had other sons and other progeny, and he himself was there; and he believed in God, and blessed God for having revealed the Savior, and the plan by which he and his children were to be redeemed from the fall, which he had been an active participator in bringing about, which, probably, was all right that it should be brought about. And from that time the spirit of antagonism existed between the two principles; the power of God and the power of the adversary. It had commenced, in fact, before that time. Lucifer and those that were associated with him were cast out of heaven because they rebelled against God their Heavenly Father. They were not willing that He should carry out the plan of redemption and salvation which He had devised before the world was; and having been cast out of heaven, he, with them, became full of wrath and of hostility against the purposes and designs of the Almighty in regard to the salvation and exaltation of the human family. And this spirit continues to grow and extend; and the descendants of Cain multiplied as did the other descendants of Adam.

By and by another seed was raised up to Adam, namely Seth, to stand in the place of Abel. “For God (said Eve) hath appointed for me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.” And he became the representative of God, as Adam was the representative of God. He took Abel’s place as the representative of God and the laws of God; and he had revelation, and the Priesthood, and the Gospel, and was acquainted with the principles of truth. Finally, there was a number of prominent men of whom we read, but of whom a very short account is given; no matter, it is not necessary to enter into details on these subjects, but I wish to touch upon some of the leading points thereof.

After a while wickedness had spread very extensively upon the face of the earth; so much so, that we read that the thoughts of men were evil and that continually; and it became inexpedient to the Lord to permit the people to live to perpetuate their corruptions and infamies. And, therefore, God decreed that He would cut them off from the face of the earth, that they should not have the power to perpetuate their species, and thus become the fathers and mothers of lives and be the media through which the intelligent, pure spirits that existed in the eternal world should receive bodies or tabernacles. They were to be deprived of that privilege.

But before this was done the Lord sent messengers among the people proclaiming to them what was about to befall them if they did not repent and turn from their evil ways. Enoch was one of these; he stood at the head of that dispensation. He, as we are doing, sent out missionaries among the people who had become very numerous. Their mission was to call upon the people to repent and to obey the Gospel and to believe in the Son of God and to obey His law; and to tell them that God had prepared a scourge for those who would not repent, that they would be destroyed from off the face of the earth by a flood; and the people thus destroyed should be cast into prison, a prison which God had prepared on purpose for them. And when these men went to preach this doctrine many believed on them and they were gathered together, as we are, unto a place which they called Zion. And they were placed under the direction of the Holy Priesthood, men who were inspired of God, with whom He communicated; and whom he taught in all the principles pertaining to the Gospel of the Son of God; and they continued in this condition for a length of time. And as they gathered out from among the people, the Spirit of God was withdrawn from among the people; and they became exceedingly angry, angry at Enoch and angry at those who preached the Gospel to them. And the nature of men is just about the same now as then. They spoke all manner of evil against the servants of God who ministered among them; they rejected their testimony, and not only that, but, like some of the very pious people in our day do towards us, they thought it would be doing God service to sweep these men off the face of the earth. And they thought so in earnest for they gathered together their armies for that purpose. The Saints were under the immediate direction and guidance of the Lord, and were, therefore, governed by revelation, and the power and Spirit of the Lord rested upon Enoch. And he rose up and prophesied and told the wicked of the fate that awaited them; and the power of God rested upon him in a marvelous manner, so much so, that the mountains trembled and the earth shook, and the people were afraid and fled away from his presence, because they could not endure it. Their armies were scattered, and they failed to accomplish that which they in their wickedness had designed to do.

But still the same spirit that animated them continued to grow and increase. And finally after the Saints of that day had become sufficiently taught, they and their city—that is, the great majority of them and their city, ascended up to heaven. We are told in the Scripture—which is a meager account of it, that—“Enoch was not, for God took him.” And we may add, Enoch’s city and Enoch’s people were not, for God took them; they were translated. The principle of translation was a principle that at that time existed in the Church, and is one of the principles of the Gospel, and which will exist in the last days.

Many of these that were left, continued to bear testimony to the truths taught by their predecessors; and they themselves were caught up from time to time, according to certain revelations communicated through the Prophet Joseph Smith.

The spirit of antagonism to the truths of God, and to the order of God, and to the law of God, and to the Priesthood of God and the Gospel of the Son of God, continued to exist. By and by the flood came, and the things spoken of by the men who had preached among them, were fulfilled, and the people swept from the face of the earth. They were shut up in prison, in the prison house which had been prepared for them. A few people were left, eight only—Noah and his wife, and his three sons and their wives.

One of the great evils that existed among the people was that the sons of God married the daughters of men; or, in other words, many who were connected with the Church mixed themselves up with those who were not; and thus their hearts were drawn away from God, and in the sight of God they were no better than those who rejected His servants; and consequently they perished with the disobedient and wicked.

There is something associated with these things that it may be necessary to refer to. It is necessary there should be opposing principles, light and darkness, truth and error, virtue and vice, good and evil, etc. It is necessary that man should go through a state of probation and trial, that he should have the opportunity of receiving or rejecting correct principles, or the Gospel of the Son of God. And it is a further development to us, that if men have not had this opportunity upon the earth, they will still have it. There is a further principle exhibited here in relation to this matter. Those very men who rejected the Gospel in their day were visited by Jesus after He was put to death in the flesh and was quickened by the Spirit; He went, we are told, and preached to those spirits in prison who had been disobedient in the days of Noah. And connected with that there is another principle; it is to place all mankind on the same footing, that all men of every age and nation may have the same privilege. And we are informed they will have. And hence, the Gospel is an everlasting Gospel; the Priesthood is an everlasting Priesthood; the work in which we are engaged commenced with our Father in heaven, it has been revealed from time to time to man upon the earth, and it will continue in all its power, fullness and glory in the eternal worlds, until all things that God has designed pertaining to the welfare and exaltation of the human family will be accomplished.

In relation to these things there are some remarkable passages contained in the Bible. For instance:

“As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

“For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

“And knew not until the flood came and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

This is a very significant Scripture, and if correct is pregnant with the greatest consequences to the human family; if not correct then everything we believe in is a phantom and our worship and religion are vain, and not only ours, but every– body else’s. But if such a personage as Jesus existed, and if he spoke those words, He most assuredly spake the truth, and they will most assuredly be fulfilled.

Now, in speaking of the two great principles, the two opposites, it must needs be that there be opposition in all things; that is, darkness as opposed to light; error as opposed to truth; evil as opposed to good, etc. We are told by one of the old Apostles that the “Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance;” and the spirit of evil is envy, hatred, malice, lying, slandering, uncharitableness, etc. We are told also in the Book of Mormon the same things precisely. Whenever we see lying, slandering, enmity, hatred, malice, we see the fruit of the spirit of darkness, no matter how pious the people are who profess these sentiments and who operate therein. And this is carried out still further in the revelations of John; the Lord through him says: “For without [the city] are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.” Such characters have no place within; but those who fear God and work righteousness, who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, they will be introduced into the presence of God, to participate with Him in the glories there referred to.

Hence, while these things here upon the earth make men feel exceedingly unpleasant, exceedingly unhappy and uneasy, when they get through and expect to get to heaven they will find themselves outside the city, because the pure would not have such society among them, neither would they here. It is necessary, I say, that those princi– ples should exist in order to test men, to try and prove them. It was necessary that Jesus should be tried in this way. We are told that “it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through suffering.” And again, when John saw an innumerable company clothed in white, one was heard to ask, “What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?” The answer was: “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple.”

There is something very interesting for Saints to reflect upon in relation to these matters. And there is something that goes a little further than we think about sometimes; and that is, while we profess to be followers of the Lord, while we profess to have received the Gospel, and to be governed by it, a profession will amount to nothing unless we have washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. It is not enough for us to be connected with the Zion of God, for the Zion of God must consist of men that are pure in heart and pure in life and spotless before God, at least that is what we have got to arrive at. We are not there yet, but we must get there before we shall be prepared to inherit glory and exaltation; therefore a form of godliness will amount to but little with any of us, for he that knoweth the master’s will and doeth it not shall be beaten with many stripes. It is “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.” These are doctrines of the Gospel as I understand them. And it is not enough for us to embrace the Gospel and to be gathered here to the land of Zion, and be associated with the people of God, attend our meetings and partake of the Sacrament of the Lord’s supper, and endeavor to move along without much blame of any kind attached to us; for notwithstanding all this, if our hearts are not right, if we are not pure in heart before God, if we have not pure hearts and pure consciences, fearing God and keeping His commandments, we shall not unless we repent, participate in these blessings about which I have spoken, and of which the Prophets bear testimony.

However, to proceed in relation to these matters I said that it was necessary there should be opposing powers, and that men should be tested and tried as Jesus was, and just as other people have been. And why? Having passed through this ordeal that we may overcome the evil with the good; for it is to him that overcometh, saith Jesus, that I will grant to sit down with me upon my throne, as I have overcome and sit down upon my Father’s throne. It is not to him that puts on the armor only, but to him that fights the good fight of faith, and overcomes the world, the flesh and the devil; for him there is laid up a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give unto Him.

That power and spirit that disturbed the elements and affected the people of the old world still operates among the children of men, and it is—I was going to say a necessary adjunct to the Gospel, in order that men may be tried and proven. Jesus, of course, understood these things when He said, “If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” Said He, “Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you, falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” There is something very pleasing in reflecting upon these things. To be thrown into a world of evil where strife and corruption exist, and to be mixed up with it; and then to have sent to them the principle of truth, a spark of intelligence descending from the throne of God, the light of the everlasting Gospel, which if men receive in their hearts will bring them into communication with God their Heavenly Father, and make them to feel that they are fighting on the side of God and the right, for everything that ennobles and has a tendency to exalt man. There is something worth striving for in a battle of this kind, and there is something glorious in being able to conquer. It tries men’s souls sometimes. Peter, you know, trembled under it; but Jesus said, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell.” I say unto you fear Him; never mind the other power. You have drank from the river the streams whereof make glad the city of our God. The light of eternal truth has beamed upon your minds, and your hearts have been glad in the hopes of eternal life which have been presented to you when under the influence of the Spirit of God. You have rejoiced in the hope that blooms with immortality and eternal lives. Filled with this Spirit you feel that you are an eternal being having the principles of the everlasting Gospel within you; that you have received the everlasting Priesthood, that you are associated with principles that will exalt and ennoble man in time and throughout the eternities to come. There is something pleasing about it.

And when these miserable “dogs” howl and the coyotes yelp and exhibit their folly and nonsense—I was going to say, who the devil cares? Some people would think it is impious to say a thing like that. Yes, and the same people think it very honorable to lie in order to oppose the truth. No matter what men think of these things. I am not very precise in choosing my words in reference to such matters.

But then, did we expect to get along much better? People are very much exercised about us. Well, let them exercise themselves. They are very much troubled. Let them trouble themselves. I am pleased to witness the spirit of calmness and quiet and unconcern that exists among the Saints of God. It is the Spirit of God and the Gospel of the Son of God that gives that. And it is for us to continue to do right and keep the commandments of God; and let us be careful that when men tell these horrible stories about us, that they are not true. Blessed are you when men revile and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you, falsely, for Christ’s sake; but if they should speak evil of us, and that evil be true, then there would be no blessing connected with it. We could tell a great many things truthfully against these same people that slander and lie about us; but it is a dirty business, a business that reflects no credit upon anyone that is engaged in it. Let them take their course. We can afford to move upon a higher plane, doing good to them that injure us; and we can pray for those who evil entreat us; that we may be the children of our Father in heaven, who makes His sun to shine on the evil and the good, and His rains to descend on the just and on the unjust. Who, let me ask, were to be pitied during the time of the flood? The people that disbelieved and disobeyed the Gospel, or the people that were caught up to heaven? Would you feel very sorry for those who were connected with the Zion of God, or would you feel sorry for those poor, miserable, little-souled, ignorant people who rejected God and His law, and who in consequence had to be swept off from the face of the earth—which class would solicit your commiseration?

Today God has revealed to us great principles; and he is desirous that we should do right and obey His law, and keep His commandments.

Among other things there is a great hue and cry about what they call polygamy and what they call bigamy; but our plural marriage is no more their bigamy than white is black or than light is darkness, but seemingly neither they nor their judges nor legislators either can or do want to comprehend the difference between the two, great as it is. It would seem that they either do not know or do not want to know the difference between a man’s marrying a second wife without the consent or knowledge of the first wife, and in doing so deceiving the one he marries, who believes him to be a single man; and a man’s marrying a second wife with the knowledge and consent of the first wife, and living with his wives in honorable wedlock, performing the duty of a husband to them and of a father to their children, and maintaining sacredly his marriage vows. I would suggest either a little gas or electric light be turned on, and that it be allowed to shine upon the visions of their dull understandings; it may help them some. But it is evident that men do not want the truth, therefore they must believe as they choose in regard to these things; it is really a matter of no moment to us. But for the information of such people, if there be any, let me say, their bigamy is deception and fraud and a breach of the marriage covenant; while our polygamy, as it is called, is the fulfilling of the marriage covenant, it is honorable and the fruits of it are good; theirs is done clandestinely, ours openly; we acknowledge ours, they repudiate theirs. They judge us from their own standpoint, and their eye being evil, of course they see nothing but evil in us. With them a man may have his wife and also be mixed up with other women, and while he may be rolling in wealth, at the same time, perhaps, his poor, unfortunate offspring, the product of his vice and corruption, may be sweeping the crossings of the streets of our large cities, begging from his father a penny to help to support a miserable existence. This is compatible with their high state of civilization and purity. God save us from such “Christianity,” from this time, henceforth and forever. [“Amen” from voices in the congregation.] We do not want it. We would say in relation to that what a Prophet said on a certain occasion, “O my soul, come not thou into their secret; into their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united.” We expect to be associated with more honorable principles, and with more honorable people in time and throughout all the eternities to come.

There is one thing I wish to say, we do not preach to them this very obnoxious doctrine of polygamy for them to practice. Our Elders are sent forth to preach faith, repentance, and baptism for remission of sins. The doctrine of plural marriage does not belong to people who are governed by such principles as they are, people who break their marriage vows and who wink at those who do it, people who violate their sacred honor with the opposite sex and trample upon and destroy millions of the daughters of Eve, and drag them down to death and destruction—it does not belong to such people; it belongs to the people who have obeyed the Gospel of the Son of God, the people who are in possession of the principles of life, and who are keeping the commandments of God; it does not belong to Latter-day Saints even unless they are pure and virtuous; unless they are honorable and worthy they cannot be associated with any such thing, much less can the class that I have referred to who are making so much noise about it; so they need not trouble their heads.

These things you Latter-day Saints understand. When President Hayes was here, in conversing with him I told him that it was not our intention to crowd our peculiar ideas upon the religious world; that we had received the doctrine of plural marriage as a part of the Gospel, and that it was only for pure men and pure women, that class, and that class only, could receive it and practice it, and make it honorable; it was not for the licentious and corrupt, but for those who feared God and worked righteousness, who were true to themselves and true to the female sex, and who would stand by and sustain them and preserve them in purity and honor. There is quite a difference, you perceive, between the one and the other.

We are seeking to carry out the word and will of God, according to the revelations which he has given unto us, all of which are based upon truth, virtue, purity and holiness, principles that are eternal, that always have existed and always will exist. The Christian world make their covenants for time only; we for time and for eternity. They expect to be associated with their wives “until death do them part.” We expect to be associated with ours not only for time but for eternity. They not entering into any covenants for eternity, assume no obligations beyond this life; but I am sorry to say, it is quite a common thing among them to violate the covenants they make pertaining to this life. But that I may not be misunderstood let me say further with regard to this, there are many honorable people in our nation as well as other parts of the world, men who regard strictly the honor of their social ties, men who feel interested in the welfare of society, who are desirous to see correct principles prevail; but with the understanding they have of us—they believing that we are corrupt and are introducing religious tenets for the purpose of gratifying the sensual passions of man; that all are vile and corrupt at heart, and that we take the ground that we do for the purpose of defending our position and of making it statutory—I do not wonder at such men entertaining the feelings they do against us, because believing the lies that are circulated about us, they, of course, think that we are introducing that which will corrupt and demoralize society; and they know the state of society now, and so do we. And they are desirous to stop a thing of this kind. The clergy, too, are very much exercised, as a class, about us, and they appear to be the most incapable of all classes to tell the truth concerning us; these pious people circulate all kinds of falsehood about us under the name of religion. I need not refer to those things, the fact is well known to you.

Is it then to be wondered at that people generally who do not comprehend the true situation should come to the conclusions they do about us? I think not. Should we feel angry at such a feeling? No. Should we feel angry at those falsifiers? No; they are to be pitied because they yield themselves to work iniquity; they, therefore, become subjects of compassion. What did the same class of persons say of Jesus? If he healed the sick, or opened the eyes of the blind, they persuaded the people to give God the glory for, said they, “we know this man is a sinner.” If He cast out devils, this pious class said, He did it through Beelzebub the Prince of devils. And even when he was condemned to die and the people were asked whether He should be released or whether Barabbas, the thief, should be released, it was “the chief priests and elders,” the pious clergy of that day, that led the popular clamor, that “persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus.” The same spirit that moved upon the religious teachers of that day to incite the populace against Jesus and the Apostles, is moving upon the same class today to do the same towards us; and they are doing all they can do. They, notwithstanding their piety, are of their father the devil whose works they do. And what shall we do? “Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

Do we want to force the Gospel upon them? No. All religious classes, the Methodists, the Presbyterians, the Baptists, the Catholics, and all others have the right to worship God as they please, they have the right to either receive or reject the Gospel of Christ. If we had the power to force it upon them we would not do it; freedom of the mind, and the free exercise of the rights of men is part of our religious belief; therefore, we would not coerce them if we could. And if I would not coerce them in that I certainly would not crowd upon them the doctrine of plural marriage, for it is well known that after men join our Church they must prove themselves sometime before they are considered worthy of it.

When I reflect upon the terrible degradation that exists in the land, and the dens of vice and infamy that flourish and keep pace with our boasted enlightenment, I am not surprised that honorable people should feel horrified at the misrepresentations and lies that have gone forth concerning us. I received a letter not long ago from Brother Cannon, in which he states that he was approached on the subject by a gentleman, a member of Congress, who had visited here. He told Brother Cannon that when he was here he was told some very strange stories about the Mormon people, and he had made up his mind when he should meet Brother Cannon to speak to him about it. He said that a gentleman, or at least, a person that had the appearance of respectability, told him when he was here that doings akin to a Saturnalia were quite a common thing among the people—the promiscuous mixing of the sexes indulging in unrestrained license. This gentleman says that this was told to him in the most solemn manner, and that too by a resident of this city. He told Brother Cannon too that he was glad to hear him contradict it. You know Latter-day Saints whether such a condition of things exists among us or not; and yet such willful falsehoods are fabricated and circulated by persons who pass themselves off as our friends. It cannot be wondered at that honorable men should feel exercised in their feelings against us; but when this class of people—and there are thousands and tens of thousands and millions of such people—are correctly informed, they will feel differently toward us. But then, it matters not really what men’s ideas and feelings may be; and I do not feel that we are called upon to contradict all the infamous lies and misrepresentations that are circulated about us by men and women who are living in our midst. I say now, as I said to a gentleman not long ago who remarked, that a great racket was being made about us, meetings were being held and resolutions were being passed, etc.—I said, they may work as they please and “resolute” as much as they please, this we could easily stand, but hands off.

We are accused of being degraded and ignorant. I find that there is nearly twice the amount of illiteracy in the whole of the United States pro rata, as there is in Utah; and this fact exists notwithstanding they have had millions of dollars to sustain their institutions of learning while we have not had a penny. I am grateful to God our Heavenly Father, that we stand in as favorable a position. Let us continue to go on in every good word and work. Let our young people’s improvement associations, and our Sunday and day schools receive our encouragement and aid; and let our children be taught by our friends and not our enemies. Latter-day Saints, will you send your children to be taught of people who would teach them enmity to their fathers and mothers, and who would sow in their young hearts the seed of enmity to the principle of religious liberty, men who, if they had the power, would destroy the altars of freedom that the fathers of this country fought for? We do not want our children to be instructed by persons whose mission among us is to endeavor to instil into their young hearts enmity to the Gospel of the Son of God as revealed by Him through His servant Joseph Smith. We have men quite as capable to teach as they are. We stand on a platform as elevated as theirs, and a great deal more so. And by and by we expect to be as far ahead of them in science, art and literature, and everything calculated to ennoble and exalt a people and a nation, as we are now ahead of them in regard to religious matters. But as to their religious matters, you may wrap up the whole of them in a thimble and put it in your vest pocket, and hardly know it was there. [Laughter.] Any ten-year-old boy of ours who could not meet any of their ministers on matters of religion, I should consider very ill-informed.

Well, it is for us to keep the commandments, to train up our children in the fear of God, to live unto God, and I will risk the balance. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Erastus Snow, delivered at Logan, Sunday Afternoon, February 5th, 1882.

I am asked to occupy the few minutes yet remaining: If the Spirit gives me liberty I will pursue the train of thought that has passed through my mind while Brother Richards has been speaking upon the spirit that has gone abroad upon the remnants of the house of Israel who occupy this land, the American Indians whom we understand to be the descendants of the Nephites, the Lamanites, the Lemuelites and the Ishmaelites who formerly possessed this land, whose fathers we have an account of in the Book of Mormon. Those who are most familiar with their history, and with the history of our settlements in these mountains for the last thirty years—the manner in which we have sent out our colonies to locate upon the land of the Lamanites: the manner in which we have treated with them to obtain their consent and approval to occupy and improve the land which they claim; the manner in which we have moved among them to maintain ourselves and to build the towns and cities which are now inhabited by our people throughout this mountain region: the manner in which we have sent out missionaries in advance of our colonies to open up the way, carrying with them the spirit of the holy Gospel, the spirit of peace, the spirit of love and brotherhood, to endeavor to impress them with the belief that we were not men of blood, but that we were a people who cherished and cultivated the spirit of peace; the course we have taken when difficulties would arise between them and our settlements, which occasionally would occur through the indiscretion of thoughtless and selfish men, to settle the same in a friendly, peaceful way, thereby avoiding bloodshed and war; and the spirit in which we have chastised them when it became necessary to do so, not in malice nor revenge, but as a father would chastise his wayward child, and then as soon as possible pour into their wounds the oil and the wine to heal them up again—those, I say, who are best acquainted with our labors in this direction will best appreciate the results.

I have had much experience during the last twenty years in this direction; and have, by means of the spirit of the Gospel, averted much war and bloodshed.

Wherever our colonies have been sent in advance, their influence has been felt for good—not alone to them, not only has it tended to establish confidence and a bond of friendship between the natives and our colonies, but it has also tended to restrain the uprising in their hearts to war against the white race, and has thus promoted peace to our General Government, the misrepresentations and the lying of our enemies to the contrary notwithstanding.

We know there are today, as there always have been, men who are suspicious and full of green-eyed jealousy, ever ready to misrepresent the purest motives of the best people on the earth; and acts of loyalty and honesty and commendation are construed to be those of conspiracy and wickedness. And we know too that among this class of vilifiers and defamers are many of the clergy, some of whom have come among us as followers of the meek and lowly Jesus, to bring to us glad tidings: but being wolves in sheep’s clothing they do the work of their master, and, therefore, they scatter broadcast lies and defamation. And many newspaper scribblers, who are ever ready to pander to popular sentiment, whether it be right or wrong, who know not the facts in the case, take up and republish to the world those truths and misrepresentations of the wicked men who are seeking notoriety at the expense of truth and justice.

The history of Utah Territory gives the lie to all these misrepresentations. There is no part of the American continent that has been peopled and redeemed from its desolated condition with so little blood– shed as Utah. There is no other State or Territory where the general government has expended so little force, or where so few lives have been lost in settling a country and maintaining peace with the Indians as Utah. Today the American nation is indebted for the spirit of “Mormonism” that has been diffused through this mountainous country in the maintenance of peace, and the saving to the nation of millions of treasure as well as thousands of lives.

And the wisdom of the Lord, through His servant Brigham Young, in sending colonies into Arizona, and on the several branches of the Colorado, also into the San Juan country, as well as on our eastward borders, may be witnessed today in the influence that is exerted by our people to check the spirit of war and bloodshed among the Navajos and the Utes and the Apaches. The wars that have troubled the country during the last four or five years in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, have been, to my certain knowledge, greatly mitigated by the presence of our colonies on their borders, and by the labors of our missionaries among the Indians. During those two years I have spent considerable time in visiting those colonies, and have, therefore, been brought in contact with many of the nations of the different tribes when they have been visiting colonies and missionary stations. And so has Elder Woodruff and some others of the Quorum of the Twelve. And I am a witness to this fact, that in every instance where the influence of our missionaries and our colonies has been exerted upon these fallen people, their chiefs have been imbued with the spirit of peace, and they in turn have exerted their influence on the side of peace to allay the uprising of their more bloodthirsty brothers. And when they have been almost on the point of joining distant warlike bands engaged in hostilities against the Government, and have come to us to know our views and to seek our counsel, our advice has always been in the interest of peace, in the spirit of kindness; we have always taught them to restrain their hostile feelings, and have portrayed to them the benefits of peace, forbearance and long-suffering, and advised them to endure what they considered wrong rather than to attempt to redress their wrongs in their feeble, helpless condition, by taking up arms against the strong and powerful government of the United States; and besides, that it was displeasing to God our heavenly Father, that they should shed the blood of man. Such is the character of the teachings and counsels of our leading men of the various settlements to the Indians, and of our missionaries who are sent among them.

And I have had the testimony, during the last two years, of many of our presiding Elders and Indian missionaries—and they are men, I know, whose word may be relied upon, and who are themselves, I know, the true friends of the Indians, and are laboring for their welfare—they assured me that had it not been for this influence, the young men of the Navajos would have been fighting with the Utes in Colorado during the last war, and that many more of the Apaches would have been on the war-path with the late Victorio in New Mexico.

And here let me say, the last outbreak of the Apaches last fall, was forced upon them by the foolish and ruthless procedure of some of the officers at Camp Apache, greatly to the disgust of every thinking man acquainted with the affairs of that country. It was no more nor less than an attempt to make a great national affair out of a little, harmless, religious enthusiasm that sprang up among that tribe. Once in a while the Indians become very much excited over some local prophet; and it was merely an event of this nature that led to the late Apache war; the interference of the troops to quell their religious enthusiasm. And I want to say that a general war all through these eastern mountains and Arizona was imminent last September and October, and have no doubt would have broken out, had it not been for the presence and influence of our colonies extended along their immediate borders, which are presided over by careful, wise men, and their intercourse and labors among the Indians; and for the conservative influence of those chiefs and leading Apaches that Brother Woodruff visited and preached the Gospel to two years ago, and whom I and some half-dozen of our brethren visited and labored with three years ago last summer, which had the tendency to restrain the uprising of their more hotheaded brethren and of quelling it. They did more than all the troops from California, New Mexico and Eastern Arizona in bringing about peace.

The influence of those friendly Indians, who had listened to the counsels of our missionaries and our leading men in that country, and to Brother Woodruff, who went through the mountains to hunt up the bands that had hidden, and who were procuring ammunition and otherwise preparing for war—I say, their influence was felt for good, as was fully attested by their success in bringing the hostiles in by hundreds in the vicinity of Cooley’s ranch and elsewhere, and in allaying the warlike spirit among the Indians generally around Camp Apache; and thus in a quiet way bringing about peace and preventing a general war.

I know these things are true. I was posted every day, being at the time on the Little Colorado, and in company with President Jesse N. Smith, who was in communication with our brethren on the borders of those hostile Indians, who had messengers going and coming every day to and from them bearing counsels of peace; and I know that the prayers of our people ascended to the Father in the interest of peace, that the counsels of peace might prevail among them; and I know too that our prayers, together with the good influences that had been exerted, did prevail on behalf of the Saints of that region of country. And I know and can testify that the influence of our interpreters and discreet Indian men and missionaries, whom we have located on the San Juan River, between the Navajos and the Ute reservations, who have been there during the last three years, as also those on the south of the Navajo reservation, and between the Navajos, and the Apaches on the various branches of the Little Colorado, I know that their influence and the effect of their teachings and counsels upon the Lamanites is in the interest of peace between the white race and the Indians of that country.

I feel it a pleasure to be able to speak knowingly of these things, and hope that this spirit of peace may extend throughout the land. Amen.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City, Jan. 1, 1882.

Brother Lyman on rising wished you a happy New Year; I will continue the compliment by adding a hundred thousand happy New Years and as many more as you wish.

A remark of this kind would sound rather peculiar in the ears of many individuals who do not look at things in the light which we do. But there are principles associated with the Gospel of the Son of God, which reach beyond this life into that which is to come; and we are simply here acting and operating in a state of probation. And if we act well our part here, the principles of the Gospel will place us in a position whereby we shall be enabled to act well our part in another world, and in another state of existence.

We occupy a peculiar position before the Lord. God is our Heavenly Father; and we are told that he is the God of the spirits of all flesh. We are told moreover that when men leave this earth, the spirit returns to God who gave it. And if we are faithfully performing our part, and attending to the duties and responsibilities which devolve upon us, as Saints of the Most High, then we shall be in a position whereby we shall have a right and a claim upon an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in the heavens for us. But we are here subject to the trials and vicissitudes pertaining to humanity, to prepare us for this inheritance referred to. And if we are faithful and diligent, as has been referred to by Brother Lyman, in regard to the various duties and responsibilities of life, we shall have a legitimate claim to the blessings that the good and the faithful expect to enjoy. But if we do not conduct ourselves aright, if we do not fulfil the requirements which the Lord makes of us, if we do not obey the commandments of Jehovah, we shall have no claim upon those promises that are made to the righteous, to those who fulfil His laws and keep His commandments. This is the way that I look at these things. Hence we are called to occupy a peculiar position in the world.

We have had a great many precious things revealed unto us, many of which have been hid from the minds of men from the foundation of the world. We are placed in a position to operate with God our Heavenly Father in the interests of humanity. He has selected, called and chosen us for this purpose. He has revealed Himself from the heavens. He has introduced the holy Priesthood, and conferred upon men power and authority to operate in his name, to act under his guidance, to be his mouthpieces to declare his will and to make known his designs to the human family. For this purpose men thus endowed and clothed have been sent forth to the nations of the earth, and are now being sent forth to spread that light, truth and intelligence which God has seen fit to reveal to the human family for their good, for their blessing, and for their exaltation in time and throughout the eternities that are to come. For this purpose he has imparted the Holy Ghost, and the light of revelation, confirming the testimony of his servants in their ministrations among the children of men. For this purpose he has gathered us together as we are here today, and as the Saints are gathered in other parts of this Territory, and in other Territories, that whilst we are pursuing the natural avocations of life, we might at the same time be taught and instructed of God, that we might learn the laws of life; that we might comprehend the object of our being and existence, and that we might in time learn to comprehend God the Eternal Father, and his purposes and designs in relation to mankind; that we might be purified from the corruptions and infamies that exist in the world, and that our spirits might be purged from everything that tends to deteriorate, injure or destroy man; and that we might be enabled to comprehend those principles which are calculated to elevate, to exalt and ennoble mankind, and to prepare them for the enjoyment of a place among the Gods in the eternal worlds. For this purpose he has organized the Church of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God, and revealed his law and his purposes to his Saints. For this purpose he has taught us of things pertaining to the future, having drawn aside the veil of the invisible world, and made known his purposes to his people, and taught us how to become saviors upon Mount Zion, that we may fulfil our destiny upon the earth, and accomplish the purposes of God, and carry out his design and will in sending us here upon the earth; that those principles which exist in the heavens and operate among the Gods may be communicated to man, and that we may be enabled to present them in all purity and in all their beauty, glory and grandeur, and that we may learn to save ourselves and then to save others. For this purpose we are building our Temples and, as they are being built, operate in them, that we may be one with God, and one with the ancient Patriarchs and Prophets and Apostles and men of God. And that while God our Heavenly Father and the holy angels and men of God who have lived in the different ages, who have been clothed upon with the Holy Priesthood, and admitted to communion with God, and have fulfilled their destiny upon the earth—are operating in the heavens with God our Heavenly Father for the accomplishment of his purposes pertaining to things upon the earth as well as to things in the heavens; it is for us to perform our parts and fulfil our duties and magnify our callings and Priesthood, and be one with them in the objects which they have in view pertaining to the welfare and exaltation of the Saints, the blessing of humanity and the salvation of the living and the dead, according to the foreknowledge and the eternal purposes of God relating thereunto. And we are here for that purpose.

We are here to establish the Church of God, that there may be a people who shall enjoy the right to serve him upon the earth in manner acceptable to him. We are here to establish the kingdom of God, that his government and rule and that an intelligent and comprehensive liberty and freedom may prevail among men and the peoples of the earth as they exist in heaven, and that we may be under the tuition and direction of our Heavenly Father, that his will may be done on earth as it is done in the heavens, and then be enabled to communicate these principles to our brethren and to the world.

These are some of the thoughts that pass through our minds when we read the word of God, and are in communion with him, when the Spirit of light, life, intelligence, and revelation rests upon us, and when the heavens and purposes of God are unfolded to our view. These, I say, are some of the thoughts that naturally flow through our minds. And talking about making new covenants on this the first of the year, why No! No! We do not wish to serve God by fits and starts, but to make his service and the obedience to his laws as the business of our lives. We love, reverence and serve God, because he loves us, and blesses and benefits us and acts as a kind and beneficent father to us. We have already entered into covenant with Our Heavenly Father; but the question is, are we fulfilling these covenants? Have we the Holy Priesthood, and do we magnify that before God and the holy angels, or do we suffer ourselves to be corrupted and demoralized, and make light of the things of God, and thus tamper with these great principles which are calculated to exalt all who are obedient thereto? These are some of the questions that we should apply to ourselves. We hear of things sometimes which make us blush for humanity. We hear of crime, corruption and debauchery spreading itself abroad throughout the world; and we hear too, sometimes, I am sorry to have to say of some calling themselves Latter-day Saints, being tainted with evils of that kind.

The great majority of the people of this city have been moved, because of drunkenness and kindred evils increasing among us, to petition the Mayor and members of the City Council to adopt such measures as will prevent this state of things. It is a shame for men professing to be Saints to be under the necessity of imploring the aid of the civil law to keep them sober; and while it is proper to guard our youth from the insidious wiles of the adversary, yet all men ought to do right from principle; and while we endorse such an act as most commendable on the part of the people, yet, in one sense, what have these dens of infamy to do with the Saints of God; or what have the Saints of God to do with the haunts of shame and disgrace? Why, if there were ten thousand of such things around, and men were living up to the spirit and power of God within them, they would say, My soul, enter thou not into their secret, mine honor, with them be not thou united, my morals, be not ye contaminated with such infamous corruptions. That would be the case if men did right and had the Spirit and power of God in them, and if they loved God and righteousness. But men who practice these infamies do not love God, nor have they a respect for his law; they do not love righteousness; they are not Latter-day Saints; they cannot be Latter-day Saints, neither can they have part or lot in the blessings and exaltations of the kingdom of God, either on the earth or in the heavens.

Let the wicked then pursue their course, and let the righteous pursue their’s. If any of our people are found mixed up with these iniquities, let them be dealt with as the law of God directs, and let them be purged from our midst. Let righteousness, truth and integrity be maintained, and let God be honored and let the Gospel be sustained and the law of God upheld, and He will stand by the righteous. These are my views and feelings in relation to these matters. And I would not give five cents for a man who had to have a law placed upon him; or someone to stand guard over him, to prevent him from going into those dens of infamy and those sinks of corruption that “civilization” has introduced into our midst. I would not give five cents for the religion of such a man, it is not worth having, the sooner he gets rid of it and comes out in his true colors, the better. And then let the transgressor be dealt with according to the law of God. Purge yourselves from them and their iniquities, and follow in the paths of righteousness. These are my feelings in relation to these matters.

We learn that in former times that there was no fellowship between God and Belial, no fellowship between light and darkness, no fellowship between truth and error, no fellowship between the Saints of God and the workers of iniquity. That doctrine is just as true today as it was when taught in former days. I speak of this because it is something which I, for one, will not bear; for one, I will not fellowship the workers of iniquity, I do not care who they are, or where they come from. And it is for us all to do right and keep the commandments of God. We talk sometimes about a man being an honest man; the reason why some are honest is because they cannot steal. But let a man be placed in a room or elsewhere with an amount of gold or other valuables within his reach, with the understanding that there was no fear of being detected, that if he appropriated any to his own use no one would know it as there was no check upon him; and if he of his own free will let it alone, I would say he was an honest man.

And in regard to drunkenness, which has been of late a prevailing topic of conversation—what a nice creature is a drunken Elder, a drunken Saint, a reeling, staggering, drunken Saint! What do you think of it? We write over our stores sometimes, “Holiness to the Lord.” We are called the Saints, or as the Germans express it, the heilige, der letzten tage or the holy of the last days. What! a drunken Elder, a drunken High Priest, or a drunken Saint? We will not have such a person associated with us; we will not be contaminated nor disgraced with the name nor with the infamy of such conduct. And as regards the sellers of intoxicating drinks, they would many of them, sell themselves. And any man who cannot let these things alone, any man that has not got manhood and respect enough to keep out of these pest-houses that disgrace our city, is not fit to associate with decent people, and respectable people ought to guard against him as they would against smallpox or any other pestiferous evil. And as the honesty of a man can only be tested by his having temptation within his reach, so no man can be considered as acting properly who cannot let liquor alone, when that is within his reach. Virtue does not consist simply in being prevented from committing evils, but in having temptations presented before us and then governing our passions and appetites. Good and evil are placed before us, no matter by whom, it is for us to resist evil and cleave to the right; we are told that it is to him that overcometh that I will grant to sit down on my throne, as I have overcome and sat down on my Father’s throne. Neither do we want excuses for any of these things, for God will condemn us if we bear them, and His wrath will be enkindled against us, and we shall find it a hard matter to pack such infamies upon our shoulders. I will not do it, I will throw them off of mine, I will have no fellowship with those who indulge in them; and I call upon all the Saints to do the same, and upon the proper authorities to take measures to root out from our midst everything that would defile and contaminate the morals of the Latter-day Saints.

About the world and their course—let them take their course. The wicked will, we expect, continue to do as they have done for years, grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. And to the evils that are among us, which have been introduced here, and which are being fostered and encouraged by wicked and corrupt men, I would say to our people, let them alone. If, however, our young men or any of the older ones should be found violating the laws of the land, let them be punished as the laws direct, it does not matter whose sons they are, or who they may be. If you should find any of mine doing it, bring them up and straighten them out, and let the penalty of the law be inflicted for their evil, pernicious practices; and if it be anybody else’s sons or fathers, do the same with them. And let us guard jealously the principles of virtue, sobriety and purity, by disfellowshipping and purging from us those who dishonor and trample them under foot. And let us be for God and for Zion, for truth and for righteousness; for we cannot drag the contaminated and corrupt into heaven, such are not wanted there; and I do not want to introduce them there whether they are my sons or the sons of anybody else. The Scripture says: “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Now, it is for us to choose what course we will pursue. I do not suppose that I am talking to any of these drunkards, they generally do not come to meeting; they would rather have a bottle with them at home, or meet in grog shops or other places where the debased and contaminated are wont to assemble. And it is proper they should seek their own company, for we do not want them here. We want men who are Saints from principle, men who love God, who keep his commandments, men who are pure and virtuous, men who are seeking to glorify God through obedience to his laws, and men who do these things because they love to do them. We do not wish to see anything approaching coercion in dealing with persons, but we wish them to understand that we will not any longer be disgraced by their infamies.

As has been referred to, we have entered into covenant with God, and it is only on the condition of our keeping our covenants inviolate that we shall be entitled to the exceedingly great and precious promises which he has made to us. And he does expect us to be true to him: he expects it of me; he expects it of my brethren associated with me as Counselors; he expects it of the Twelve; he expects it of the Presidents of Stakes; he expects it of the Bishops; he expects it of the High Councilors; he expects it of the High Priests, of the Seventies and the Elders, and of all Israel. He expects us all to be men of God, with clean hands and pure hearts, seeking to magnify our calling and to honor our God. Let us do this, and all will be right with us; and those who do not wish to do this, let them step on one side. And while we would avoid anything like harshness or precipitancy, and treat all men with forbearance and kindness, and bear, to a reasonable extent, with the weaknesses and infirmities of men, we must deal with transgressors for their fellowship, and cut them off from the Church. We must have people who will serve God and keep his commandments. And then we can go to God our Heavenly Father when our enemies conspire against us, and plead with him for protection; and he will take care of Israel and maintain and sustain his saints. But if we fellowship evil and iniquity, crime and corruption, infamies and drunkenness, debauchery and lasciviousness, and all the evils of the Christian world—if we do this we need not look for the help of God; he will leave us to ourselves to take our own course. But if we will do our duty, discountenance iniquity, obey the laws of God and keep his commandments, he will take care of Israel and sustain his people. These are my feelings in relation to this matter.

God bless you, and lead you in the paths of life, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by Elder John Morgan, delivered in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, December 18, 1881.

It is a very pleasant thought that we, as Elders, have when traveling abroad preaching the Gospel, to look forward to the time when we shall have the privilege of again meeting with our friends and loved ones in the valleys of the mountains, to again share their love and to partake of the spirit of those who compose the body of this Church.

During the past summer and until a few days I have been engaged in missionary labor, chiefly in the Southern States. Our labors there have been, as have been the labors of the Elders in other missions, crowned with a certain degree of success. We have realized the blessings of God upon us in all our labors in the midst of the people, for which we feel to rejoice and give thanks and praise to him. The brethren who have gone from the different parts of the Territory to labor in the mission have as a general thing, enjoyed good health; and they are feeling well, as a rule, temporally and spiritually; and especially the younger brethren who have gone forth bearing the glad tidings of salvation. There has been evinced a feeling that certainly is most praiseworthy, a desire to emulate the example set by their fathers in preaching the principles of eternal truth, often under unpleasant circumstances. Because, however much the work of God may progress and be received abroad there is, as there has been, and doubtless will be, a spirit of opposition which has to be met by every Elder in the performance of his duty. It is true our young brethren have the benefit of the experience of their fathers and of men prominent in the Church, to encourage them, and which is highly appreciated by them, but after all they have to get the experience for themselves, in order that they may know what their fathers know, and that they may be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with them. I have scarcely found an exception among the scores of young men who have been called from the different avocations of life to go forth and proclaim the Gospel, but what they were worthy bearers of glad tidings.

There is an idea entertained by the pious world, whose sympathy for fallen humanity is so great as to be exercised towards us, that the old and grayheaded of the “Mormon” people, “you can do nothing with, they having become fossilized in their religious ideas and petrified in their faith; but the young may be induced to depart from the faith of their fathers.” This, however, has not been the experience we have had in the Southern States mission with our young Elders. On the contrary, we have found their faces set like flint toward the building up of the kingdom of God, and the proclaiming of the principles of truth. It often occurs in our missionary labors that Elders are called upon to pass through trying circumstances, but I do not remember of a single instance in which a young Elder flinched from the performance of his duty. They have always been ready and willing to add to the extent of their ability and strength in carrying out any measures thought necessary for the good of the cause, even to the risking of their lives. And I am led to believe from what I have witnessed in the young men who have come under my observation, that the great majority of our young people, growing up in these mountains have planted in their hearts the principles of truth, by which they will be governed in their lives. And in this connection there is this peculiarity. In our travels in the South we often meet with families who were once members of the Church, who during the trying times of Missouri and Illinois, or at some other time in the history of the Church, had stopped by the wayside—and where they stopped temporally they stopped spiritually; the cessation of their temporal work was the milestone that marked their spiritual resting place—but notwithstanding this falling away on the part of the parents, we found, as a general thing, that in the hearts of their children there was a love for the principles of eternal truth; and that if an elder was known to be in their vicinity they would send for him and make themselves known to him, and open their doors to him, and ninety-nine times out of a hundred they would ask to be baptized. This being true of the children of such families, who are isolated from the body of the Church, we might reasonably expect that the youth of Zion will be found true and faithful to the precepts of truth taught to them, through the force and benefit of example they receive from their parents who are members of the Church.

In our labors we at times meet with considerable opposition, but we notice that it, in the long run, in– stead of working to our injury, results in good. And what is true in the South in this respect is doubtless the case elsewhere. That which our enemies inflict upon us in the hope of breaking us up or weakening our position is, through an overruling providence, turned to result in good by bringing the honest in heart, the Israel of God, to a knowledge of the truth. The widespread feeling of opposition that exists toward us throughout the United States, arguing from past experiences, may be set down as a good omen for the future. But notwithstanding this general hubbub which the people seemingly have to indulge in semi-occasionally, we find in traveling and moving among the people very many upright noble men and women, and we find them belonging to various churches and religious bodies; and then we meet with others who are not connected with any sect or denomination, and who are seeking for truth let it come from where it may. And this class, in my opinion, is not small throughout the United States; in fact, I might with safety say, that there are thousands of such people who have not heard the sound of the everlasting Gospel, there being vast districts of country occupied by hundreds of thousands of peoples who do not know whether the Latter-day Saints believe in God or not, whether they accept the Bible or reject it, people who are totally ignorant in regard to our views; and among these there are many thousands of the honest in heart. We find that the spirit of opposition that we have to meet, as a rule, culminates in violence; and that the more success we have in baptizing people, the more bitter the feeling manifested toward us by our opponents.

We are, doubtless, traveling in the Southern States Mission, by way of making converts as fast as it would be prudent. If our labors should be crowned with any greater success, that is, to any considerable extent, the opposition would be correspondingly more ripe, and the consequence would be, we would have a bigger row on our hands than we would care to face.

We find a great many prominent, leading men in our travels who are willing to act fairly and honorably by us; men who use their influence with their friends in our behalf by endeavoring to place in their minds correct ideas in relation to us and our situation. To illustrate this idea, I will relate an incident that occurred during the summer. The Legislative Assembly of one of the States, Missouri—whose members had been urged on by sectarian bigotry, had a bill introduced that it was supposed would act against the “Mormons” in that State. Some of the distinguished citizens, honorable, fair-minded people, said to certain of the legislators: “You pass that bill and one-half of the State will become Mormons; that will evidently be the result. Why? Because the moment you adopt such measures you are in the wrong, let them be what they may.” There are many men of that way of thinking who have moral courage sufficient to speak their minds; and the influence of such men is felt for good. And here let me say to the credit of the press that, bitter as the opposition is, we scarcely ever find a daily newspaper of any prominence but what will open its columns for us to vindicate our course. And in addition to what I have said in alluding to the class of people who are liberal and cosmopolitan in their views, we find such people ever ready and even anxious to learn in regard to our religious belief. And notwithstanding the fact that among this class are found men of learning and deep research, men who are looked up to by their fellow men, strange as it may seem to a people who keep pace with the age, we find the great majority of them much astonished when they learn that we believe in the Bible, and that we take the teachings of that Book to substantiate our doctrines. Among this class who are so uninformed as to our theological status are Congressman, governors, legislators and others of distinction and character.

We find also in the ordinary walks of life honest-hearted people. We find them in the churches and out of the pale of the church. We meet with men belonging to the sects of the day who say, “If we have not got the truth, we wish to obtain it.” And we meet with others who do not belong to any religious denomination who say, We have examined the doctrines taught by the different churches; they will not do. Now we are willing to investigate what you teach. But, then, we cannot help but notice this kind of expression in their faces: “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Can any good come out of Utah? This of course, is owing to the widespread misunderstanding in regard to our religious views.

The newspapers today are teeming with articles in regard to the Latter-day Saints. We are written about by editors and special correspondents; local editors gather up items respecting us and our labors among the people of their vicinity; reporters appear to be greedy for an interview with a “Mormon;” ministers preach about us from their stands, and lawyers have to allude to us from the forum; and to such an extent is this spirit and feeling indulged by the people of all grades and classes, that today “Mormonism” is a living question in the United States. Recently some politicians endeavored to work up an issue, and make a live question out of the tariff, and it was rather amusing to witness after their exertions how slow the public were to take the bait. And especially amusing did such efforts appear to those who watch with a lively interest the progress of this latter-day work called “Mormonism,” in view of the fact that if a couple of “Mormon” Elders go into a town, almost without any effort on their part to make themselves known, the whole town is stirred up. In my opinion the “Mormon” iron is red hot, and it is a proper time for the Elders to beat it into shape.

We observe changes taking place in the minds of the people continually. Indeed, I can notice marked changes in the people of the United States during the past six years. For instance, quite recently I listened to a sermon preached by one of the distinguished ministers of the United States, the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, and was very much surprised to hear him enunciate an idea like this: “What shall be done with all the thousands and millions of the human family who knew not, even of the existence of the Bible. Shall they perish?” “No,” said he, “not if my God reigns in the next world.” But, continued he, “what shall be done? They will have the Gospel preached to them in the spirit world.” Another minister, the Rev. Dr. Thomas, of Chicago, of the Methodist Church, made similar assertions; but he was not as strong as Mr. Beecher, and they therefore excommunicated him from the church. But Beecher could make it, and no one dare say nay. So we find religious ideas undergoing a change, until there is scarcely a religious denomination today but what has done what the Pharisees of old did—put new wine into their old sectarian bottles, and the probable result will be, as Jesus said, their bottles will burst. They are endeavoring to patch their old sectarian clothes with pieces of new cloth, and the result will be that they will be obliged to keep patching in order to keep the garment together. And thus their religious ideas are drifting to and fro.

And what is true with regard to their religious views is also true with regard to their political ideas. I had an excellent opportunity recently to witness a remarkable change in public sentiment. Public sentiment, you know, is a very strong argument in the minds of some people. “Why, public sentiment is against you,” they say. I remember listening to Gov. Bross, of Illinois, who spoke in front of the Townsend House, one night, some years ago. The foundation of his argument was that thirty-five millions of people in the United States were opposed to us; that in short, public sentiment was opposed to us. I had my mind directed to the fickle nature of public sentiment quite recently in Nashville, Tennessee. Some 25 years ago a certain race of people were held in slavery there. Slavery was an adjudicated question at that time. But it was claimed by the opponents of slavery that if a negro and his wife could be taken out of Missouri through Illinois, that they were entitled to their freedom because they were then upon free soil. It was, however, decided in the Supreme Court of the United States, by Chief Justice Roger B. Tanney, that black men had no rights that a white man was bound to respect, that, in fact, they were chattel property. And the people of the United States almost en masse applauded the decision, a few only dissenting, they being what were called abolitionists. Wendell Phillips, a distinguished orator, undertook to lecture in Boston against slavery, and learned as Boston was, educated as Boston was, the noted lecturer was egged off the platform, having to make his escape from the mob.

Twenty-five years have gone by since Phillips was mobbed, and now for the contrast. Some four or five weeks ago I boarded a through passenger car at Nashville, Tenn., to Cincinnati, there were seated in the car some 25 ladies and gentlemen. After I got comfortably seated alongside a person who proved to be a Christian minister of the Campbellite persuasion, and an editor, we perceived a little difficulty as the car door. On investigation we learned that a negro woman held a first-class ticket, and demanded admittance to a seat in this, a first-class car. She was entitled to a seat there, having procured a ticket, according to the provisions of the civil rights bill; but the rules of the railroad company would not permit it. The manager was sent for, and after some conversation with the colored woman, addressing himself to the passengers already seated in the car, he said: Ladies and gentlemen, will you please take seats in the car to the rear. We did so. It proved to be a smoking second-class car. He then admitted the old negro woman, who occupied our car. After we had taken in the situation and were reseated, addressing myself to the gentleman whose acquaintance I formed on entering the car, I said, “Mr. Editor, twenty-five years ago, had a man dared to do what this negro woman has done, you would have hung him to a lamppost. Now, I will dare say, there is not a paper in the city of Nashville that will venture to write one line, in condemnation of this piece of impudence.” He acknowledged there was not. And why this change? Public sentiment had revolutionized in a quarter of a century. The negro slave of Phillip’s day is the sovereign citizen of today.

These are revolutions that are occurring among the children of men that are of a serious nature. And what is true in a political sense, is true in a religious sense. It is a very common observation among the people everywhere that we are not taught religiously what we were twenty-five years ago, or ten years ago. They are drifting to and fro religiously as well as politically.

Another feature associated with this: About forty years ago a number of our Elders traveled through the Southern States—it may have been in 1844. And as they journeyed along, they scattered all over the country tracts and books, setting forth our faith and doctrines. And today it is not infrequent, on our going into a neighborhood and talking to the people, that they will say, “Our minister has been preaching that.” Ah, indeed. Well, can we see him? “O, yes; we will ask him to come and see you.” On our conversing with him, we have found that he has a Voice of Warning hidden away in his saddle pockets, which he had been reading, and believing some of its pages, he had been preaching some of the principles of the Gospel to his own congregation, which they would believe, and receive without even “a grain of salt.” This willingness on the part of the people to receive principle, good or bad, from the lips of their own minister, reminds one of the same state of things that existed in the days of the Savior, as indicated by these words: “Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.”

It is a self-evident fact; it is a truth patent to the most casual observer that the teachings of Joseph Smith have revolutionized the religious world. And the spirit that is working this change is growing and extending, until today there is inquiry upon the right hand and the left.

As a general thing those who receive the Gospel in the Southern States are to be from what are termed the middle classes, people who are the owners of small possessions which, when sold, realize them sufficient to provide themselves a suitable outfit and take them to their emigrating point. There have been some instances, however, when their possessions have been sold, even where they possessed good homes, that the proceeds of the sale have been insufficient to emigrate them. This has been due, in part, to the peculiar circumstances by which they have been surrounded. In the first place a terrible war devastated their country; and since that time they have been under carpetbag rule. And the consequence is, in many places property has depreciated, life has been insecure, laws have been trampled under foot, and little progress has been made.

The people living in Utah can scarcely sense the true situation of the Southern States people. There has been a dreadful drouth this summer. I suppose the majority—I may say the entire South has not raised sufficient grain to bread themselves to the first of April. The corn yield will not, it is said, exceed four bushels to the acre, and the cotton crop may be a little rising of one-third the usual harvest. The result will be more or less suffering among the poorer people this winter. Wages are very low. A man can be employed, a strong, able-bodied man, either white or colored, for from $6 to $8 per month including board; and from $10 to $12 when they board themselves. Flour is 5 dollars per 100 pounds, and other provisions in proportion. I noticed that dry goods were as high in Nashville as they were in our settlements in Colorado. Wages are at such a low figure that it seems almost impossible for the people to live, when they depend upon day’s wages for a living. In addition to this there seems to be a wasting away of the earth, a weakening in its strength, affecting its ability to produce abundantly. Fields that a few years ago yielded good crops, are bordering on sterility today. There are hundreds and thousands of acres of land that formerly were very prolific have today become “commons,” covered with edge grass and sassafras bushes. And it is talked about by the landowners, and commented upon by the people generally; and they believe that something is wrong, but what it is or where it is, they do not know.

Monopolies and corporations have also a tight grip upon the people. Where there are iron works, where there are railroads, where there are factories, they are owned by a few men, and these few men hold such power, that the people cannot make any move and succeed in it, that would be opposed to the in– terest of the monopolists. And today, it is one of the strongest points of opposition that we have to meet in that mission in preaching the Gospel. Laboring men say, If I take you to my house and receive you as my guest, these men who own this property will turn me out; these men who employ me in their factory will drive me away, my family will suffer, as I have nothing laid up. Under the circumstances, they have not the faith sufficient to meet the issue; and consequently our labors are not crowned with that success, as they evidently would be if the people enjoyed their liberty. But even under these circumstances, many do receive us and proclaim openly their faith.

In addition to this, all experience that opposition which is as old, doubtless, as the preaching of the truth; and this comes from the clergy. And here let me say, that the opposition we meet with from that quarter, to a great extent, has its foundation in Salt Lake City. There walk the streets of our city men who produce and feed the flame of prejudice that exists today in the United States; men who profess to be the friends of their fellow men; men who come here with a smile on their faces pretending to do us good, pretended followers of the meek and lowly Savior. These are the characters that send these infamous lies abroad in regard to the Latter-day Saints. They are prejudicing the mind of the people of the United States against our missionaries and against the truth. When I have visited the cities where these men came from who have come to Utah as reformers, I have been deeply impressed, and deeply moved at the condition of their society contrasted with that of this people.

Some time last summer I had business in Louisville, Kentucky, connected with our emigration, and was detained there two or three days, having nothing particular to do but to walk around the city and see what was to be seen of interest. And in walking the streets of that city I thought that in all my travels I had never before seen such evidences of wickedness, corruption and degradation. There are portions of that city that seem to have become corrupted to such an extent, that Sodom and Gomorrah would have blushed at the mention thereof. Men and women could be seen in the most beastly state of drunkenness, and little children, bearing the marks of the lowest degradation—waifs of society, growing up as hoodlums, with no sense of the difference between right and wrong excepting that which nature itself has planted there, to furnish future material for the gallows. I thought in contemplating the scene that presented itself in the streets of the city of Louisville, ay, even at noonday, to say nothing of that which the recording angels are obliged to look upon in the darkness of the night—I thought of the reformers who come to Utah fresh from such haunts of vice and corruption, and then I thought of you, my brethren and sisters; and you can better imagine my feelings than I can describe them.

I went to one of their hospitals and sought an introduction to one of the physicians; on learning who I was he expressed himself pleased to meet me, and proffered his own services to accompany me over the building, which I gladly accepted. On passing through the different wards I saw sights that I trust my eyes shall never be called to look upon again. He opened his book in which was recorded the names of the patients who had been admitted during the past twelve months, and I had the curiosity to ask him to tell me the nature and character of the disease of these people. He informed me that three-fourths of all cases were, what is termed venereal disease. This is not hearsay; these are facts that exist of which the records testify. And from the windows of this hospital, this living monument of the morals of Louisville, Kentucky, was pointed out to me the residence of one of these “reformers” of the Latter-day Saints. And in conversation with one of these “reformers” who had been here, whose acquaintance I had formed when he was here—he recognizing me while traveling in a railway car, and came and shook hands with me, and sat down alongside of me—he asked me “how our friends were getting along in Utah.” “Whom do you mean,” said I, “by our friends?” I mean the ministers who have gone there,” he replied. They are, I think, getting along in their way pretty well. What have they done? They have established whiskey shops! They have imported houses of prostitution, and they have brought hoodlums into our midst, and they thrive under their spiritual care. They have caused sorrow on the hearts of fathers and mothers, by ruining the prospects of sons and daughters whom they have led astray from the paths of honor and credit. Now is not that glorious work to be engaged in! Do you not congratulate yourselves in having been connected with men whose object and labor has been to turn men and women from the truth, from bearing the fruits of morality and righteousness, and failing in that to join hand in hand, heart and soul, with those whose mission is to introduce into our midst the seeds of ruin and decay, to deprive and demoralize your fellow men. Certainly it is a noble calling to be engaged in. Think of it! Latter-day Saints. Here are men engaged in the work of trying to lead our sons and daughters astray, and they are bold enough to publish boastfully to the world that they would rather see our young people frequent dens of iniquity, saloons, gambling houses, and houses of prostitution, than that they should adhere to the “Mormon” faith. Strange as it may seem, with all the enlightenment of this the Nineteenth Century, with our glorious constitution, and our declaration of the rights of man, and the boasted civilization of today, officials of the government of the United States will back men up in this damnable work. It may be that an Elder abroad devoting his time and ability to the conversion of souls would feel this more keenly than those who are in the midst of it every day.

These are some of my meditations as and Elder in the missionary field.

Our brethren and sisters who have emigrated to the State of Colorado, are succeeding fairly well; they have their fields fenced in and they harvested a pretty fair crop this year. The Railroad Companies have been kindly disposed to them, offering them assistance in various ways, by way chiefly of affording them employment at remunerative wages, and seeking after them, in fact to do their work in preference to others. They have their organizations—the Seventies, Elders, Priests, Teachers and Deacons’ quorums; they have their young people’s Mutual Improvement Societies organized; and I had the pleasure of attending one of their meetings in the meetinghouse which the people built two and a half years ago. I remember attending one of the first meetings that was held in that house, and there were present not more than 27 all told, and said to them that in the course of four or five years this same house will not hold the people; and today it is entirely too small, in fact it would not comfortably seat the young people of Manassa. The first location was made there in the spring of 1878. Since then some two or three settlements have been organized besides; our brethren in that quarter are spreading out and wresting from the barren wastes comparatively comfortable homes. Their associations with the Mexicans are cordial. While they have been kindly disposed towards our people, our brethren have acted honorably towards them, and hence mutual good feelings exist between them. I also spent a few days with our brethren who are locating Sunset, Brigham City and St. Joseph. They have had rather a bad year, as to crops, on account of high waters, the Little Colorado flooding the valleys, and destroying to a great extent their crops. But the building of the railroad in their borders has, through Brother John W. Young, the contractor, furnished them with labor, and it will continue, I understand, for some 12 or 18 months yet, so they will not suffer so much as they otherwise would, in consequence of the loss of their crops.

As Elders traveling without purse or scrip, proclaiming the principles of eternal truth, we need the faith and prayers of the Saints in our behalf, for the devil, it would seem, is even more determined now than ever to put it into the hearts of wicked and bigoted men to oppose and, if possible, hinder us in the performance of our duty. And one item that comes to my mind I will mention. I have noticed when abroad that if anything in the world would cheer and encourage an Elder when far from home, it is to receive word from his family that they were cared for, and did not want for the necessaries of life. And there is nothing that will weaken an Elder so effectually and so discourage him in his labor as to receive word from those whom he holds near and dear, to the effect that they are in need of the necessaries of life, that they are unpleasantly situated, that the house they live in does not afford them sufficient protection from the inclemencies of the weather. In one or two instances Elders have come to me to relieve their minds of such a burden, and, as I say, there is nothing that I have witnessed that so effectually unfits a man for missionary labor as the receipt of such intelligence. Therefore, in behalf of those who have left their all to proclaim to their fellow men the principles of eternal truth, let me solicit the good offices of their friends at home, in behalf of such families who may not be so well prepared to live during the absence of husband and father. Any little attention shown them under such circumstances not only does good to the family, but is appreciated by him whom duty has called elsewhere; and often, under trying circumstances, the knowledge of such kindnesses, cheers and encourages him, and makes comparatively easy labors that would otherwise be hard to bear. Amen.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered in the St. George Tabernacle, Wednesday Evening, Nov. 9th, 1881.

I feel pleased to have the opportunity of again meeting with you. There are many things that if I had time, I should like to talk about. However, there were one or two statements, that I made yesterday, which I will further explain. In speaking of the position of the people and of their settlements in this southern country, I then stated that President Young did not make any mistake in laying out a city here, nor in building a Temple here; that it was quite as important a move as any that could have been made in the interests of the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth. If I were to enter into the details of that move I should speak of it perhaps in a two-fold capacity; but I will speak for a short time, at least, upon some of the leading features associated with the position that we occupy here in these valleys of the mountains.

We are quite a long distance from the outside world. It is true there are railroads and more are being made; and it is right there should be. That is their part of the business. In this way, and in many instances, they are assisting us to build up the kingdom of God, but they don’t know it. If they did they would not like to do it.

The position that we occupy in these valleys of the mountains, is a very peculiar one. When we came up here the first place that was designated was Salt Lake City. President Young said that he had a manifestation that that was the place. There was a valley, a very good valley, a comparatively rich valley, a valley that was well watered, a valley that could be irrigated without much labor, where the streams were quite easy of access and where a small community could easily raise their sustenance; and this we did. Now, had we landed in a place like this at first, it would have been more difficult, people would have become more discouraged, and some of them felt very much discouraged as it was—some going to California because everything looked so forbidding. Yet others thought it would be a pleasant place to reside in, a place where a living could be as easily obtained as in most other places, except we go to some of the rich lands of Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, etc. But there were other circumstances associated with these things that would have made it difficult for us to sustain ourselves even in those places. For instance, we lived in a rich land back in Missouri. Everything there seemed to grow at a very rapid rate, everything increased very fast. I have heard some people tell such big stories about the productiveness of that country that I have sometimes been afraid to tell what I myself knew of it, for fear that people would not believe me. For instance, I have seen fields of corn that a regiment of soldiers could ride into and they would be out of sight; and I have seen beans grow where corn has been planted where the corn stalks have served as bean poles; and I have seen pumpkins and squash grow among them, three crops growing the same year and at the same time. That country, nevertheless, has many drawbacks. In that country we were very unhealthy. We were subject to what is called fever and ague every year; in fact, in the spring we used to think we did well if we didn’t happen to die off in the fall. Why could we not stop there? Because the land was too good, and we were easy of access to men desirous to possess our property, and they told us to move on, and we had to go. We had to leave Missouri, and I suppose God intended to try the Saints, to let them pass through certain kinds of experience and place them in a position that they would have to lean on Him. Some of the people rebelled against these things in their feelings. Among the rest, I remember being much shocked at the remarks of Sidney Rigdon after he had been imprisoned with the Prophet Joseph in Richmond jail, as well as many others. I visited them in jail, and Sidney Rigdon made a remark soon after he got out, to the effect that if God did not care anything more about us than He seemed to do, that if He allowed us to be hauled around as we had been, he did not care about serving such a God. That is, he found the trials were heavier for him than he was capable of bear– ing, notwithstanding that he had seen the Lord and had had visions pertaining to the celestial, terrestrial and telestial kingdoms, in which he had seen the position of men in the future, and the purposes of God regarding the nations of the earth, and had borne testimony of it in connection with Joseph Smith, as we find recorded in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. Yet when trials came his knees faltered, and the knees of many others have faltered in the same way. Now, we talk about lands, good rich land. Why did we not stay in Missouri? Because people would not let us. It was just so in Illinois. Why did we leave there? Because, as I have heard Brother George A. Smith say, we left because we could not help ourselves; at least, that was the purport of his saying. I think the Lord was very merciful to us in Salt Lake Valley. I believe we landed just in the right place. The people commenced to establish themselves; they began to find that they could raise crops there, and that the land was very productive. We stayed there for a while and began to make little settlements and little excursions out into the surrounding country. The people had all kinds of difficulties. I remember once, in Bountiful, there were three or four families went up to settle there, and they felt that there was not enough water, and that they could hardly get along. They got to quarreling about water rights, as we do sometimes. I do not know of much quarreling down here; I do not think you have as much water to quarrel over as they had. Afterwards President Young was moved upon to begin to make settlements in other places. We had now obtained a foothold. We had a place where we could raise all the grain necessary for our sustenance, where we could raise sheep, cattle, etc. We pushed out to Ogden on the one hand and to Provo on the other, and then occupied some of the best places in Salt Lake Valley, in Utah Valley, and on the Weber. We began to increase; more immigrants came in, and others began to come from above. Things went on. A Temple was started there, but it seemed to progress very slowly; as well it might when we consider the substantial nature of the building. When we started, we had nothing but wagons to haul the rock on, and they were very big rock, if you remember. Those rocks had to be hauled about 17 miles in those wagons, and owing to the liability of the wagons to break down, this work gave us a great deal of trouble. Today, and right along for a number of years past, since the railroad has been built, it is not uncommon to bring in some three or four car loads at a time, delivering the rock in the Temple yard. Then it was thought best to commence down here. Why? Let me tell you some other things and show you about the settlements north and south, and especially south. If you remember, Brother Geo. A. Smith, as much as 25 years ago—I don’t remember exactly how long—came down and made a settlement at Parowan, and another at Cedar—and here is Brother Henry Lunt present, who was one of that number. He came to Cedar at that time, and they tried to start iron works at that place. And then Brother Joseph Horne and some others were sent down to see if cotton could not be raised in this district of country in the hope that something could be done whereby we might produce the raw material for the manufacture of our clothes, and they stayed a little while somewhere not far from here, some five miles south on the Santa Clara, I am told. There was a rich little settlement up there. Some time after, a great deal of it was washed away. I remember the struggles Brother George A. used to have. He labored under difficulties, being so very heavy, and not as active as most men; but he was a man of great energy. He would come down here and bring a few men, and would settle them down and go back again. By and by he would bring some more down, all that he could pick up that would volunteer. By the time he came down again, he would find half of the others had gone. They did not want to stop. They thought the land was set up on edge and had never been finished, and they had all kinds of notions. Then he would return to the city, and drum up a few more recruits, and take them down; and by the time he got here he would find that a good many of those he left had also gone. Finally, they became weeded out and left, until he got a lot of folks who, if they had considered it a duty to go on to a barren rock and stay there until they should be instructed to leave, would have done it. It needed just such an element to come to this country. What Brother Snow said here, referring to the sad fact of there being such a number of widows in this place whose husbands had gone to their graves through having worked themselves to death, was perfectly true; but, then, we don’t want to cry about it. We may as well laugh as cry about the past. You have done a great deal of hard work. In coming down from Pine Valley we found immense dugways in the most forbidding places, and it has required all the perseverance, energy, intelligence and faith of even those men who were capable of living on a dry rock—it required the combined energy of the whole to accomplish these things, and a good deal of faith too.

Still President Young urged forward the people; Brother Geo. A. Smith and Brother Erastus Snow urged them forward, and others urged them forward, and there was a general feeling to build up this southern country. Finally it was found that our Temple in Salt Lake City would take such a long time to build, it was thought best to erect one down here. Why? Because there was a people living here who were more worthy than any others. Who were more worthy of the blessings of a Temple than those who had displayed the self-abnegation exhibited by the pioneers of the south? God inspired President Young to build a Temple here because of the fidelity and self-abnegation of the people; and, furthermore that there might be an asylum here for those living further south to be administered to in the holy ordinances of God. I speak this for your credit—not that all of you are of that class, but let those that are worthy take the credit, and those that are not, need not take it. This Temple was built and we went into it, and a great many thousands of people have been administered to, and for, within its walls. People have administered for themselves and for their progenitors. Over 150,000 people, Brother McAllister says, have been administered for in this Temple. Don’t you think it is worth while building a Temple where such a work can be done? If life is worth anything, if salvation is worth anything, if the life of our friends and brethren with whom we shall be associated in the kingdom of God, is worth anything, then I think a good work was done in the building of this Temple. In other words, it was a wise move. Why? Because it helped to sustain this part of the country. Means were brought from other places down here to supply the people with means and labor, thus it has been a blessing both to the living and the dead. You men who comprehend things aright, you would not take in exchange anything that could be conferred upon you for the blessings you have received in that Temple.

There were then blessings of a temporal nature, as well as of a spiritual nature, connected with the labor performed in the building of that house. There was another thing. In establishing the kingdom of God it was necessary that there should be a strong place somewhere here between the land south and the land north. It was necessary that there should be a foothold here all through these valleys of the mountains between Salt Lake City and north of Salt Lake City clear away, as you have heard President Young say, on the backbone of the American continent. And why? We make remarks sometimes, but I always like to get at the bottom of them. Why is it better for us to be here than to be somewhere else? If we had been in Missouri we should have been mobbed and robbed long ago. If we had been anywhere in Central America or South America where we could have been reached, our Christian friends would have come there and stolen what we had from us. But, furthermore, President Young, who was governed by the inspiration of the Spirit of God in leading the people forth in the way he did, expected that these railroads that are now coming would come along. Years ago I expected the same thing, because I saw them at work here, and clear away into Mexico. I had it manifested to me, and Brother George Q. Cannon, here has heard me speak about the matter. Didn’t you Brother Cannon? (Brother Cannon: Yes, sir.) At that time I was very sick. I told President Young of some things that I then believed would take place, among the rest was this railroad building. And if there had not been some pretty strong places, such as a settlement on Salt Creek, a settlement at Beaver, a settlement at Parowan, a settlement down here, etc., we never would have been able to carry out the will of God, and we should have been in a different position with regard to other settlements further south than we are today. Now your young men are beginning to say, they want room. There is plenty of room south. Here is Brother Snow, who has been working like a beaver, and there are others, who are doing the same, establishing settlements in the various valleys south, in Arizona, in Colorado, and all through this southern country, until we now occupy, as I have stated in other places, some 800 miles of country in a direct line, running north and south.

What did we have when we left Nauvoo? Not much. Any property to spare? I think not. I think many of us would have gone without shoes, without clothing, unless God had interposed in a miraculous manner in sending down—I was going to say, a shower of clothing. You remember that Brother Kimball prophesied at a certain time that clothing would be as cheap here as in the East. Regarding this some people felt a good deal like the man did when Elijah prophesied about a measure of meal being sold for so much. Says one man; if the heavens were to open this could not happen; but it did happen; and the other happened that Brother Kimball talked about. When the gold fever burst out, people brought clothing by the wholesale and sold it for a mere song, and let you sing the song; until the wants of the people were all supplied. Who supplied them? These men. Did they want to do it? No, it was the Lord who controlled these matters. He started up this feeling which brought the people here, and they acted more like crazy men than any I ever saw. They were ready to give us their goods almost for nothing. The Saints at that time in Salt Lake City were supplied with all the necessaries of life brought by traders whom they knew nothing about, and they traded off their cattle and their horses and anything these people could pack away. Here was a manifestation of the work of the Lord, of the will of God, and the protecting care of our heavenly Father over His Saints.

As I told you yesterday we have traveled among the Saints and found thousands of happy homes, good farms, good gardens and orchards, cattle, sheep, horses, etc., and that the people generally are now in a very prosperous condition. What has it originated from? We certainly did not bring it about. God has blessed our labors on the land and increased the water for our sake.

Now, having said so much upon this subject I will turn to our political position. We have already made in Salt Lake City numbers of very nice places. You have also got some very beautiful buildings here. I am sorry to see so much saleratus yet in the land; I wish you had a little easier times; but while I am inclined to sympathize with you, yet I do not want my sympathy to overcome my judg– ment about matters of this kind.

Now we have really the foundation for a prosperous State. We started with nothing a little while ago. I think we have made pretty well at it. You have had hard times; still you are living and thriving: there are none of you naked or without shoes, hats or bonnets. You seem to be provided with a great many of the good things of this life. You seem to be doing tolerably well. I know very well that you have a hard struggle to make two ends meet; I understand it. But there is one advantage you have—no one will want to steal away your place from you; will they? (Laughter.) I do not think they would want to carry it off. I do not think they would want to drive you away because of your extraneous wealth; consequently, you are free from this trouble. That is not the fix of the nations of the earth. Go to some of the nations today and look at their condition. Take England for instance; they are prospering very well, but look at the trouble they have had in Ireland. They have tried to benefit that people in one way or another, but they seem to spurn those benefits, and are inclined to stir up commotion which is not unlikely to end in bloodshed. We are not troubled in that way. In Russia, look at the horrible condition they are in. They have secret societies, as spoken of in the Book of Mormon. They are engaged in all kinds of plots, plans and calculations. They have tried to kill their present Czar, after having assassinated his father. There seems to be a feeling of uneasiness and trouble among the nations. Then again, in Turkey, they have had a great deal of trouble there. It has leaked out lately that the Sultan, who was said to have died a natural death, was strangled, and they have lately been prosecuting his assassins. There are terrible forebodings among the nations of the earth because of troubles that seem to be threatening them. Here we have had our own President killed, and a little while ago President Lincoln was assassinated, and there seems to be a spirit of that kind rampant, and it will grow worse and worse. Not long ago in Pittsburgh there was a shocking state of things, where they burnt up and destroyed property to the amount of three millions of dollars or more. We have apparently prosperous times. There is now a lull in the storm, but it is only a lull to burst out more violently by and by. You will see it. There are elements at work to uproot the government and destroy the foundation of society, and to take away the rights of men and pull down the bulwarks of this government, and scatter to the four winds the principles by which it has been governed, and to let loose the wildest passions of men. These are some of the things that are taking place. These are the elements that are at work today. They are running around, and through, and among the people almost everywhere. And it will not be long before there is trouble again in the United States. These inflated times will by and by bring about a great reaction, and then there will be trouble and difficulty; and so these things will continue to increase.

Now, we are here in the tops of the mountains, far away from these things. We are here learning the laws of life and the principles of truth, and we are here as saviors upon Mount Zion, operating in the interests of humanity, sending forth missionaries to the nations of the earth, gathering people together; and when they are gathered together, we build temples and administer in them. We are here, forming closer connections with the heavens, with God our Heavenly Father, with Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, and with the ancient Apostles, Prophets and men of God. We are here participating in some of the greatest blessings that ever were conferred upon mankind since the world was formed. We are here as those that God has selected from the nations of the earth, that He may plant among us the principles of eternal truth, and that we may operate with Him and with the Priesthood behind the veil in the interests of all humanity that have ever lived upon the face of the earth. We are a blessed people if we could only comprehend our position. And we need not be too anxious about the affairs of the world. Men of wealth, men of standing, men of position, men who stand in high places, are beginning to tremble and quake everywhere. They are looking forward with terrible forebodings to something that they fear is coming upon the earth. They do not know what it is, but it will burst upon them and their forebodings will be realized.

But we will look at this matter again. Could we be in a better place? I think not. Let me show you the reason for that. We are a very small people, and we are in the midst of a very large people. We occupy these valleys among these rugged mountains, and we dwell in deserts, and in many of the most forbidding places. We see people living in little places, on little streams of water trickling along, and perhaps all of it would go through an inch pipe without much pressure, and they are professing to farm and raise fruits, vegetables and vines in such places, wrenching their living from the barren desert soil. And they do live, but it is hard sledding, and there is a great deal of it here. Now then, go over the ground we have traveled to get here, say starting from Utah County to Juab, from Juab to Fillmore, from Fillmore to Beaver, from Beaver to Parowan, and so on down through here, and among these rocks where little settlements are placed, and up and down your rivers, how very, very few comparatively they are. Yet what an extent of land, is there not? We occupy the country it is true; but I tell the people sometimes that our mountains have very large feet, and that our deserts occupy very large tracks of land. But wherever there is a habitable place, Latter-day Saints are living on it, and consequently living in these little places they control the mountains and the country. Is not that a fact? And suppose we did not have these little forbidding, barren places, the little springs and little rivulets that come along reminding one of oases in the deserts—if we did not have them we could not have the country, but we have them and God has given us possession of them. If we had not possessed these narrow valleys and defiles they would have been in the possession of bands of Gadianton robbers, who would have preyed upon the people and their property, as “cowboys” and guerrillas are now doing in Arizona. But our possessing them gave strength and protection to our more important settlements.

We have paid for what we have got. I expect your land is all entered here?

Answer—Yes, sir.

You have paid for the land then, and you have paid for it up here in Pine Valley. There is a big moun– tain between, and you own that in the bargain, and all those sand ridges and rough places, including Jacob’s Twist are thrown in for nothing. You own the country here and there and all the way through. How far is it from these mountains to Kanab?

Answer—About 80 miles, sir.

The most of it is mountainous. But there are little places here and there which enable you to control all of it; the mountains are thrown in as chips and whetstones. It is the same all the way from here to Nephi; there are little places here and there; we own them and have got our titles for them, and we are the owners of the soil and the mountains are thrown in. So that owing to the small quantity of land we have been compelled by circumstances to go into Idaho, Arizona and Colorado. We cannot hide from ourselves that these things give us some political rights in these places; but who are we injuring, whose political or religious liberties are infringed upon by us? Nobody’s! If we live on and conquer those forbidden districts we ought not to be begrudged the limited influence that those positions naturally award us; and while we do not interfere with others and their political arrangements, we think we ought to possess that meager share that these forbidding circumstances place in our possession.

There is another remarkable thing. Who is it that we are to thank for this? The Lord. Did he inspire President Brigham Young in these things—to occupy these places! Yes. Is it right for us to occupy them? Yes. Is it right for us to build temples? Yes. Is it right for us to administer in them? Yes. Is it right for us to seek to establish the kingdom of God on the earth? Yes. Is it right for us to seek wisdom from God to do it? Yes. That is what we have been doing for a great many years and we are doing it today. Here is Brother Cannon. He is going to Washington as our representative in the general government. Only think about it. Here is a Territory several hundred miles long and I do not know how wide. Let me see (the speaker turning and addressing himself to President Cannon) George, how many representatives have they in Congress?

Answer: 293 representatives and 9 delegates.

And then there is the Senate?

Answer: 76 members.

And we, a little people in the valleys of these mountains, right in the tops of these mountains, in the midst of 50 millions of people, all the representation we have is just one delegate, and he has not a right to vote! And yet what have they done to us? Not much. Have they been plotting against us? Yes, they have. Are they seeking to injure us today? Yes. Who? All classes of men, and especially the religious kind. Our feeling is to save people, not to curse them. It must be a miserable feeling for men to have when they are seeking to destroy their fellow men, yet they are doing it. It is because they have not the intelligence to cope with the principles that God has revealed to us, that they want to drag the strength of the government to put down by arms that which they have not the power to do by argument or on any just or regular principle. I would be ashamed if I were one of them; I would be ashamed if I could not do something else besides praying to destroy a few, weak people in the tops of the mountains of Utah, far away from everybody, and pre– tending that we are so awfully corrupt that they are afraid we shall demoralize them. God save the mark! They themselves are killing off their own children by tens of thousands and by hundreds of thousands before they are born. That is the feeling that is growing up among them. It is adultery, fornication, lasciviousness that is undermining the constitutions of the people. They are rotting by thousands and tens of thousands, and they will come here and preach morality to us. We do not want them. We tell them to go among their own lepers and cleanse their own social evils, sweep out their own Augean stables, and purify themselves from their own corruptions, and then come and talk purity to us. That is what I would say to those people. We understand them as well as they understand themselves, and for that reason we do not want any of that kind of hypocrisy here.

Now, then, we come to ourselves. We are here. Could we have been placed in any better position than we are today? No. What has been the object of God for sometime? In the first place He operated upon Columbus to come and find this land. He then operated upon the Puritans and other men in England and other places to come to this land, and many of them were good, honorable, high-minded, virtuous people. The grandfathers and grandmothers of this nation were not murderers; they did not murder infants; they were honorable people who cherished human life, and considered it a blessing to have a large posterity and to take care of them. The spirit of the early fathers was, if their land was poor they could raise men. What are they doing now? Raising murderers and murderesses. From among those people and from Europe and other parts the Saints have been gathered. The Lord is gathering them together, and His kingdom is spreading and growing, and it is our privilege to grow and expand with it, and we should be true to ourselves, be true to our religion, be true to God, and operate in the interests of humanity. We could not find a better place for Latter-day Saints than in these valleys of the mountains, nor in those rugged parts further south. We expect to go on and to increase and seek to the Lord for his guidance, protection and sustenance, while we must learn to do right and observe his laws and keep his commandments. The kingdom of God is onward. It is accelerating in its speed. God has called the First Presidency, the Twelve, High Priests, Seventies, Elders, Bishops, High Councilors, Priests, Teachers and Deacons—he has called upon them to devote themselves to him. He expects us to be willing in the day of his power. He expects us to be true to our integrity, and having taught us eternal principles, he expects that we shall have the law of God written in our hearts and be valiant for the truth and for God. God and all the intelligences that he is surrounded with are on our side and are enlisted in our protection and for the sustenance of this people; and for the rolling forth of his work, and the accomplishment of the objects that he designed in the introduction of the Gospel in the last days, even in the dispensation of the fulness of times, when he would gather all things into one. Being called to live in a land like this, in the midst of rugged mountains and barren deserts we will sing, “For the strength of the hills we bless thee, our God, our fathers’ God;” for the wisdom Thou hast displayed we praise Thee, O God, our fathers’ God. And we will be true to God, to our religion and will keep our covenants; we will maintain strict integrity to our vows which we have vowed in sacred places; we will follow the guidance of the Holy Priesthood, and God will lead us from strength to strength, from victory to victory, from power to power, until the kingdom of God shall be established, and no man can stay its progress today, God being our helper. Let us go to him and put our trust in him, and all will be well with us in time and through all eternity.

Brethren: God bless you, and prosper you in all your journeyings, and enable you to accomplish your object, and frustrate all the designs of your enemies, and let all the congregation say, Amen [the congregation responded, Amen.] May God bless this people. Hold on a little longer, for this motto which I see in your house will be fulfilled, “After the cloud there will be sunshine.” Amen.

Discourse by President George Q. Cannon, delivered at Meadow Creek, Millard County, October 31, 1881.

It is very interesting to meet with the Latter-day Saints as we do in the various settlements throughout these mountains, and to witness the growth, prosperity and increase of the people—a state of things which is very evident to those who travel as we are now doing.

It is very important, in fact, of the greatest importance to us that we keep before us the objects for which we have been gathered together in these mountains.

There is a large number of children growing up to manhood and to womanhood, to whom the old persecutions and drivings and the old teachings that the Church had in its early days, are unknown only as they are related and imparted to them by those who are familiar with these matters. And in consequence of this many, unless they should be taught and reminded of these things would imagine that we are here only as other people come here, and that the objects of our lives are only the same as theirs. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that we should have these things set before us in such plainness, and be reminded of them so constantly, that, we shall not forget them; and that the rising generation shall have them impressed upon their minds so that they will grow up with a knowledge of them.

It is very evident that God our Heavenly Father, did not bring us to these mountains to get rich. If that had been his idea he might have taken us to a land better adapted for the acquisition of wealth than ours is. And yet he has promised unto us that we shall be a rich people, and this promise is being fulfilled, but we shall not acquire riches, we shall not become a wealthy and powerful people upon the same basis as other people do. We shall get rich by keeping the commandments of God; we shall get rich by building up the kingdom of God. He will wean us from and make us to see the folly of old traditions which we have inherited from our fathers; and I think he is doing this very rapidly among us at the present time, and has been from the beginning. It is contrary to all the traditions of mankind to do what we are doing. I will illustrate my idea by pointing out some things that go to prove that God intends to make us a people dissimilar from the rest of mankind.

In consequence of the departure of our fathers from the truth, we have inherited lies; and we have fallen into a false method of living. For instance, you could not get any people besides the Latter-day Saints to go out and preach the Gospel as we are doing. All the traditions that belong to the race from which we spring are in antagonism to such a practice. For men to go out without purse or scrip is something new in the world in this age. It requires uncommon faith in God to enable men to do this; faith in the living God who hears and answers prayers for men to place themselves upon the tender mercies of the world as bearers of the Gospel message, which is and always has been unpopular to them, and in the women to stay at home to take care of their families during the absence of their husbands, their fathers and sons. But this faith God has given unto us, and he has taught us that he is able to supply our wants when we do that which he requires at our hands.

It may be thought that the payment, of tithing, in obedience to the law of God, would be a means of impoverishing all those who did it; that the giving of a tenth of their means would be a burdensome tax upon them. God has taught us that this law is essential to our salvation, and that if we obey it in the spirit in which it is given, he will bless us in our basket and store, and increase us in the earth.

Now, it is an apparently remark– able fact—but remarkable only because it comes in contact with our traditions and prejudices—that the men who have gone without purse and scrip, have prospered in it; and it is also a remarkable fact that those men among us who have been the most punctual in responding to the calls God, through his servants, has made upon them, are today the men who are the most prospered in the land. Illustrations of this can be easily found all around us. God, in his dealings with us, shows that he intends that we shall break away from the old traditions—for the old traditions would lead us to believe that the man who paid his tithing would not grow as rich as the man who did not pay it. But God is proving to us that he has his own method of building up his kingdom. And he is proving to us that the men who go out without purse or scrip on missions, devoting their time to the interest of this work, are the men who have been most prospered among us.

You take the men in your own settlement—for there are men in most of your settlements who have spent considerable time upon missions—and you will find, upon examining the results of their labors, that they have been more prospered, when at home, than men who have not gone upon missions, so that their absence from home has not been a loss to them. It is our experience that the men who have gone upon missions have had their absence made up to them afterwards by the Lord increasing his blessings upon them for their faithful labors in the ministry.

I speak upon this matter of tithing to show you that God intends to bring about results favorable to the Latter-day Saints, from a basis entirely different to that acknowledged and adopted by the world; and that he can control all things for the good of his people, if they put their trust in him.

It may have been thought that when we were driven from our homes, and came to these mountains, that those who stayed behind in those fertile lands would grow rich in comparison with those of the Saints who came to this wilderness. But what are the facts? The Latter-day Saints in these mountains have been prospered by keeping the commandments of God in a manner that those who live back there know nothing about; and we are richer today than the people from whose midst we were driven. I was greatly surprised, when on a visit, in company with Brother Brigham Young, Jr., some eight years ago, to Nauvoo. Upon inquiring respecting the price of land between Carthage and Nauvoo, we learned that it could be bought for $20 per acre; while in the vicinity of Salt Lake City, land sells today for $150 per acre, and much of it could not be bought at that price. This shows the difference there is in our value and theirs. God has prospered the people who came to these mountains, to this once desert land, to an extent that our enemies know nothing about. And today, in the places where our people lived, the present occupants of these land are mourning over our lost crops, while our granaries are groaning under the weight of the grain stored within them.

And there are other things very remarkable, which show that God, in his dealings with us, intends to make us a people different from any other. I allude now to our system of marriage. It is a subject of constant remark to me in Washington. Men with whom I am familiar ask in relation to the large families of our people. “Why, Mr. Cannon,” they have said, “How do you live? It is as much as I can do to keep one wife and bring up and furnish two or three children with education and the things they need. And how you people in Utah can sustain such families as you have and take care of them and bring them up as they ought to be brought up is a marvel to me.” And of course the curiosity is great of people who came here from the east, to know with regard to our domestic institutions, as to the number of our wives and children, and it is a mystery to them, they cannot understand it. It is a noticeable fact that the men among our people who have obeyed this commandment of God to us are the men most prospered in the land. I do not suppose this would be denied by anyone who has traveled throughout our Territory, that as a rule the men who are the wealthiest and most influential and the most successful in our community are those who have obeyed the command of God. It might be supposed, naturally speaking, that that would be the means of impoverishing them; that the men who marry wives take upon them burdens that would crush them and that they would necessarily have to live in poverty in consequence. But the contrary of this is the case; and actual experience has proven to us that God is determined to remove from us the old traditions of the world, and show us that he is able to build up his kingdom upon a new plan and upon an entirely different basis from the kingdoms of the world. We can see this everywhere we go.

It is frequently said at the present time in the east—and the evil, I regret to say, I sometimes imagine is growing in our midst—a young man says it is as much as he can do to take care of himself, without attempting to sustain a wife. But a young man marries a wife, and he sustains himself and his wife too. He feels as though he would not be able to sustain a wife and child; but the baby comes, and they are able to get along as well after as they did before the child came. And thus it seems the way is provided for a second child and a third. And in times past some of our young men have taken second wives, and they have got along as well, and in many instances a little better, than when they had but one wife. And as the family increases, they have been able to provide for them all.

God is building up a peculiar people, a people of faith, a people who will do that which he requires of them, although what he may require of us may be directly opposed to our traditions; and in doing his bidding in all things, he will show us that he is able to feed and clothe and take care of us. But I wish to repeat, he did not bring us here to make us a rich people; that is not the first consideration. It was to prepare us for the destiny which awaits us. God is about to perform through His Saints, one of the mightiest revolutions that has ever been effected in the earth. He is able to establish his kingdom—a new order of things, an entirely different rule and power among men.

When God inspired the leading men of this nation to seek to establish a government here that should be independent of all governments upon the earth, it was the design that men should enjoy equal rights throughout the land. This is the form of the constitution; this came to us according to the purposes of God. But throughout this nation at the present time there is oppression. And in the eastern cities the evils under which the old world groans, are increasing; so much so is this the case that men who travel in Europe can see but little difference when they come here, between the evils of the old world and the evils that are fast developing themselves in the midst of the large cities of the United States. The government has, to a certain extent been mismanaged. We are an illustration of this. We have been prosecuted and persecuted; we have been driven; we have been mobbed, and we have been robbed and despoiled of our homes and possessions, and all because we would not worship according to the dictates of other American citizens; because we chose to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience we are in these mountains. We were driven from lands that belonged to us by the right of purchase and possession, and were compelled to come into the wilderness to seek a place where we could live free from maladministration, and enjoy the rights guaranteed to us by the Constitution. Today we are a standing protest in the midst of the nation against evils that are growing, and the results of which must, sooner or later, be felt by others to their sorrow. Freedom and liberty, virtue, honesty, good government and everything, in fact, desirable among men must be nourished and cherished and maintained in our midst. We must be for sustaining these things, and, as I have said, for establishing a new order of things upon the earth. For that which God has revealed unto us meets all of our wants; it supplies every righteous desire of every heart; there is no right and proper desire of the human heart that any human being can entertain, that this Gospel does not satisfy. It is equal to all the circumstances and all the wants and all the desires of every human being, it having been designed and framed by Him who created us and who knows our wants. And having such a religion, we must of necessity be willing to extend the blessings and benefits of this religion, and of human liberty, to every person. God has raised us up for this purpose, and to establish these things on the earth and to perpetuate the reign of righteousness among the children of men. He has brought us here. These valleys of the mountains are the best, or, at least, as well adapted as any land upon the face of the earth for the home of a free people. It would be something extraordinary if a people brought up as we are in these mountains should not be a liberty-loving people; if we should not be a free people. We could not well be otherwise with such surroundings as we have. And our children will grow up filled with the love of freedom; and God designs that this shall be our home, and that we shall multiply and increase until the time shall come for us to go back, according to the revelation, to repossess the land from which we were driven.

But we have an immense work to do in these mountains. This is the foundation of that which is to be. The Lamanites must be brought into the covenant; they must receive the Gospel from us. We must be their “nursing father’s and their nursing mothers.” This, among other things, is a labor devolving upon us. We are here for this purpose; not to become rich ourselves, that when we shall pass away we may bequeath to our children large possessions for them to enjoy the good things of this world to spend upon their lusts and to gratify their carnal desires. God will not give unto us riches, neither lands nor property, for any such purpose as this; but it will be for the accomplishment of that which He has predicted by the mouths of the Holy Prophets. We have Temples to build; and these buildings will doubtless be, before long, of easy access to the entire people, and through the sealing ordinances we shall be welded together and be made one people, and also be connected with the past generations until we get to Father Adam. This is the nature of the work to which we are called. And every boy and girl in our community should be taught to look forward to it. The idea of our cultivating a little land and getting our minds concentrated upon little things that pertain to a livelihood, and think that this is all we are here for; to come and take upon us a probation merely to eat and drink like the animals; do you think for a moment, my brethren and sisters, that this is all we have been sent here to do? There is something more than this. There is an object to be accomplished of far greater and higher importance. It is of course intended that we should use that which God has given unto us, but we should use it all to right advantage. But this may be said to be of minor consideration, a matter of small moment compared with the great work with which we are identified.

Every mother should train her children to look forward to the destiny that God has in store for them, to fit and qualify them for it. And every boy should be trained in such a manner as to fit him to move in the first circles of society; and every advantage of training should be given to every son we have. He should be made as perfect as it is possible to make him. We should not be content to make our children like ourselves; that because we have lived in a certain way that they may do so also. Our children will occupy positions that we scarcely dream of, if we will do our duty by them. Our boys and girls should be cultivated and trained. Give them the best training and the best education that you can afford; and do not think that you can do too much for them in this direction. And while you are cultivating the soil and building houses and making improvements of different kinds, look forward to the future, and put yourselves in a position in which you can do far more good than you are doing at the present time. Great and glorious promises have been made to us, and we should be reaching out in the proper direction to realize the benefit of them. Of course this can only be done by the necessary work of preparation. The Lord has said that he will make us the noble of the earth, the greatest among men, the rulers and even saviors of men. This means rule and dominion; it means control. And still we should be humble and meek and lowly, and put our trust in God, and look to him as the source of our strength.

Mothers, let me beg of you to bestow all the care and training that you possibly can upon your daughters. Make them as perfect as you can; give them every facility within your power to become women of culture. And, fathers, do the same by your boys. If there is a man in your settlement who excels in any one thing, let him teach the rest. If there be among you a good penman, let him teach others this beautiful art. And if there is a woman that excels in anything, let the girls be taught in that one thing until they shall equal or surpass her. If there is a man among you who is accustomed to society, let him impart lessons to the boys, and let them imitate him. This is one thing that devolves upon us, as Latter-day Saints.

You are living in a small place, and you are apt to become narrow in your views. You have a log house for a meetinghouse, and you seem to be satisfied with it; and how many of you live in log houses? Many of your ditches I see, are wide, and your wives and daughters have either to jump them or wade through them. It is time you were building a new and better meetinghouse, and then you will erect better dwelling houses; and your ditches will be bridged, and your fences and sidewalks be improved.

Do not allow the feeling of indifference to come over you. Improve your city, make it attractive, so that when people come into your midst, they will say, “Here is a thrifty, prosperous people; this people are improving their condition, and they are seeking to excel.” This is a duty that devolves upon you. The work of improvement connected with this great, growing country which God has given unto us, which he has placed in our hands, so to speak, is our work, and we should have pleasure in improving and beautifying the places of our habitation.

Parents, you should see that your boys are taught mechanism. You need good mechanics. You need masons, you need carpenters, you need painters and other skilled workmen, and why not let the boys learn? Everything they learn of a practical nature will be useful to them some time or other during their lifetime, and workmen in the building line almost always find employment. In regard to what I have said about the training of your families, I do not mean to reflect upon you, for I expect you do what you can in this direction; at least, I hope so; but I speak of what we ought to do in regard to our families.

Our enemies are continually trying to destroy us, and we as a people should be banded together in the bonds of the Gospel. I desired to have said some things at Fillmore, and should have done so had I had another opportunity. I understand there are a great many bad influences in this county. You have apostates, among you, and your daughters—at least there have been some cases where your daughters have married into the families of apostates and your sons have married the daughters of apostates. If this is the case, it is a deplorable condition of things. When Latter-day Saints marry those who are not of their faith, I look upon it as a great misfortune to those who do so. If those barriers were to be broken down which ought to exist between us and the world I should view it as a great calamity. One of the strictest commands that the Lord gave to Israel in olden times was that they should not marry with the nations surrounding them; and this law is equally binding on us, and we should do everything in our power to maintain it inviolate. For our enemies are determined to take away from us the control of our affairs. And such people, part of whom are in Fillmore, and you may have some down here, if they had their way—or if the measures which they would vote for could be carried out, you, all of you, would be reduced to the condition of serfs; you would not even have the right to vote for a justice of the peace; you would not even have the right to vote for a constable, nor for a probate judge, nor selectman, nor for an assessor or collector; they would deprive you of the right of suffrage, and reduce you to the condition of slaves, if they could have their way. It is not only once or twice, but it has been many, many times that bills have been introduced into Congress containing these features, and leaving us the bare privilege of paying taxes, while they who live here and urge this legislation, would have the right to spend them. Now, I am told that there are people in this county who are sustained principally by the Latter-day Saints so-called, who use their influence and their means against us, who are in full sympathy with the men who make it their study and their business to destroy us, and who, if they had the power would imprison and put to death the best men among us. A man calling himself a Latter-day Saint, who would do that—that would use his means and his influence, which by the way he is indebted to God for, to destroy his work, I consider as being terribly ignorant; or if having good sense, is not worthy of a name and place among the Latter-day Saints. I feel keenly on this point, because it is a vital point; and I repeat, that the man who would put his means into the hand of the enemy, the avowed enemy of this Church, to destroy his brother is most culpable, and cannot escape the condemnation of the Lord. The man who is a free man, and who values his own liberty and that of his neighbors, will do nothing of the kind; he will jealously guard against aiding such people even to the amount of one cent. He would say, “I cannot afford to let my means, or any part of it, go to destroy my own peace or that of my neighbor, nor to deprive us of our liberty.” But there is a disposition which I have noticed among many of our folks to break down these barriers and distinctions. They would sustain men who, directly or indirectly, are pledged to do all they can against this people, against the liberties and rights of this people, against our freedom and against our religion. If they have any influence at all, it is used against us. They would take control of this Territory from the old settlers and give it to their deadly enemies. The man who would so far forget himself as to do such a thing has no part in this work, if he comprehends it at all, and unless he repents, he will sooner or later lose the Spirit of God, and go into darkness and apostasy. It matters not who the man may be, or what his standing may be among the people, such a course is bound to sever his connection with us. God has called us to build up Zion. He has called us from the world for this purpose. He has not called us to be like other people, but to become a peculiar people unto Himself a people upon whom he can pour out His Holy Spirit to enable us to accomplish His designs. And we should act in accordance with the testimony of this Spirit, and according to the instructions of his servants unto us; and if we do this all will be right. But the man who will use his influence against my brethren is not my friend; I have no fellowship with him. He may talk very nice and profess great friendship, but he is not my friend if he is opposed to my brethren and the work of God; there is no sympathy in common between us; we do not stand upon the same platform. It seems to me that this should be understood by all who consider themselves members of this Church. We must stand together: we must be united. We must exercise faith in God, and we must do that which he requires at our hands, or we shall lose that which he has given unto us. And it would be a sorry day for us if we were to fall into such a condition that God would let our enemies loose upon us, to drive us, and get control in these mountains.

I pray God to bless you, my brethren and sisters, and fill you with His Spirit, that your zeal, interest and devotion may increase in the work of God, and that your understanding may be enlarged, in the name of Jesus. Amen.