Remarks by Elder Erastus Snow, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Wednesday Afternoon, October 7, 1857.

I have listened during the progress of this Conference with very great satisfaction. Everyone that speaks bears testimony to us that our God has not forsaken us, and that the prayers of this people are still acceptable before him, and, notwithstanding our weaknesses and our sins, that we are a blessed and a happy people, and that our God is near at hand to multiply his blessings upon us.

I have rejoiced in listening to my brethren who have recently returned from their missions. I feel that I am one of them, and I thank my heavenly Father for that good Spirit which has so bountifully attended their labors and returned with them.

I do not believe that it has ever fallen to my lot, since we have been a people, to hear, at any one time, so large a number of our returned missionaries stand forth before the people to give in their testimony and speak of the dealings of God with them, as we have heard during this Conference. They universally bear the same testimony, rejoicing in their labors, manifest the goodness of our God upon them and upon the people where they have labored; and it is evidence to my mind of the increased favor of God upon this people, and that it is the faithful prayers of this people that sustain our sons and our brethren who are sent forth by the voice of this people as their representatives to preach the Gospel to the nations.

It appears that there is no one who lifts up his voice to speak in the midst of this people but is constrained to speak good for Israel. There seems to be no doubt upon the minds of the people—no forebodings of distress in the hearts of the Elders of Israel. What there may be lying in our path—I was going to say, we neither know nor care; but we do know that the straightforward path is strewed with blessings, glory, honor, exaltation, and eternal lives. Let us not, therefore, turn either to the right or the left from the path our God has marked out, whatever there may be of trial alongside of the path.

I feel firmly convinced of this, whatever may be by some accounted trials, that when we reach them, if the light of the Lord is in us, we shall pass them without stopping to consider whether they are trials; and we shall look back upon them and count it all joy. To us it will be glory, honor, and exaltation, and steppingstones to that which we are seeking for—the very means, in the hands of God, of preparing us to receive all that he has in store for us.

Is it not enough for us to know that our Father in Heaven will suffer nothing to come upon us, only that which is to prepare us to receive the good he has in store for us? Ask this people, Are the soldiers coming in here? Are we going to have a fight this fall? Are they coming in on our Emigration Road, or going round by Fort Hall? What will the United States do? Will they raise 50,000 volunteers next spring? Shall we burn up what we have got and take it Indian fashion? What is to be the result of all these things?

Ask anybody to tell you; and who is there that will describe the course God will mark out before this people and the course our enemies will take towards us, or the precise details of the program that is before us. Who is there that can tell us?

Ask this or that Elder if he has any revelation on the subject, or appeal to the congregation of the Saints; and who is there that can answer it? I confess I cannot answer it, nor have I ever heard it answered by anybody else in detail; and I conclude the Lord will take his own course; and doubtless he will show us the program as fast as we are prepared to act it, and that will be fast enough.

The Lord hath shown us both ends of the drama. As to the particular scenery of the different parts of the drama, it will be made manifest from time to time. When the curtain is raised, we shall see it, if we are on hand to play our part. I am fully persuaded we have a good manager, and he is our God: it is he that is moving upon the checkerboard of nations, and he understands the game and will make the right moves.

Go back and take a retrospective view of this people and the dealings of God with us from the time of the organization of this Church, the persecutions through which this people have passed in Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and the various places where we have been located; and when has the Lord beforehand made known all the particulars of the scenery through which we were destined to pass? He has always given us general items and sufficient to encourage every faithful man to do his duty and trust in him for the result. But if all the details were made known unto us—if we could see every minutia portrayed, would there be a chance for the exercise of our faith in the same degree as now? Would there be a chance for the faith of this people to be shown in the same degree?

For my own part, I feel perfectly satisfied to leave it in the hands of our God, where it is, and where it should be, to make manifest unto us just as much from time to time as he sees is necessary to bear up and sustain this people.

It is through faith that the Lord performs his wonders among his people; and in enduring that trial of their faith he gives a blessing; and often the Lord shapes trials in a manner different from our expectations. We, in our limited capacity, may mark out in our minds a program; and when he moves upon the checkerboard, he does not move the men we have in our minds, but he shapes and moves in another way; and we should be satisfied with the result. He will get the game, and in the end will move into the king row and be able to move both ways,

I feel first-rate. All is right with the Lord; all is right with his kingdom, and with everybody that is right. And may the Lord help us to keep his commandments forever! Amen.

Remarks by Elder Lorenzo Snow, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Wednesday Morning, October 7, 1857.

There is one thing, brethren, that I reflect upon, that pleases me very much; that is, to see, under our present circumstances, the feeling of calmness and serenity which manifests faith in the Lord. The calmness and serenity that is in the minds of the Saints in regard to the circumstances of war and threatenings that are around us at the present time is a principle that we, as the people of God and as wise men and wise women, need very much to inculcate within ourselves. We should be perfectly calm and serene, without excitement, otherwise we will be excited and consider that the circumstances around us are of a dangerous nature, and thus shall not be able to act prudently and in a way that would be pleasing in the sight of our Father in heaven.

Sailors and mariners become wise, useful, and qualified for their stations only by experience. Storms, tempests, and hurricanes have to occur in order to give them that experience. If all was calm, and storms never arose at sea, where would the mariner get the experience that is necessary for him to have, that when storms do occur and difficulties arise, when the ship sails out upon the ocean, he shall be prepared to manage and guide his vessel safely into port. If there are individuals on board that have never experienced storms, or perhaps have never ventured away from land before, when storms arise, you see that trepidation of spirit that you do not witness in those that have had experience.

So it is with ourselves in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we have to learn by the things that take place around us and act in the stations assigned us by the circumstances that transpire and the experience we gain.

As a general thing, I presume to say that the people before me today feel that all is well—that all is right, notwithstanding an armed force is only about 147 miles distant from us, full of their hellish designs for our destruction, and have formed their schemes for the purpose of entering into our settlement for the destruction of the principles of righteousness and to gratify their hellish lusts. The least idea never entered their hearts that the people would be found here that would dare to oppose them. I presume the Saints feel that all will be well as a general thing, and to see these feelings existing in the bosoms of the Saints this day is pleasing and gratifying to my feelings; and I feel assured that whatever shall take place—whatever course shall be pursued by our enemies or be taken by ourselves, all will terminate for the glory and exaltation of the Saints of the living God. The kingdom of our God is bound to prosper and to go forward.

While we are here studying the interests of Zion—of the honest in heart among the nations of the earth—how we can gather them together, that the fetters under which they are now laboring may be broken—while we are doing this, on the other hand our enemies are scheming for the destruction of these righteous principles, for the purpose of binding the yoke more strongly upon our neck—of destroying those pure and holy principles that have been revealed for the salvation of the honest in heart—principles that are calculated to exalt, to happify, and glorify.

Such principles have been revealed—such principles have been restored—such principles have been held forth by the Elders among the nations as you heard yesterday. For these principles this people have been driven several times; they have forsaken their homes; they have forsaken their enjoyments and the privileges they might have had among the nations; and they would now willingly burn up their dwellings, if they were so commanded. We understand, from the feelings of our bosoms, and we find, as a general thing, that the people are willing to continue their efforts for the promotion of these principles, that they may still remain upon the earth, and that the honest in heart may be delivered. For the dissemination and final triumph of these holy principles, all that is required on our part is to sustain and support them, so far as the God of heaven shall lead us by his Holy Spirit. Where the Lord plants us there we are to stand: when he requires us to exert ourselves for the support of these holy principles, that we are to do; that is all we need to trouble ourselves about; the rest our Heavenly Father will take care of. But it need not surprise us that difficulties and storms arise—that we see hurricanes playing about us—that we see war clouds gather thick and fast about us; this need not be surprising. Where there is no trial there can be no deliverance; where there is no temptation the power of God cannot be made manifest to any great extent.

You, brethren, that have been baptized for the remission of your sins, receive the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost has been poured out upon you, did you not have to make your sacrifice? Did you not have to give up some things you had formerly held dear to you? Did you not have to come to this place that you might receive the blessings of God? And after you had done all this, did you not receive what you had anticipated and been promised?

Take the children of Israel from the days when they were called from Egyptian bondage, and take ourselves from the day we were organized through brother Joseph as the kingdom of God upon the earth; you will see that in every instance his power and deliverance were manifest to a greater extent than we could have anticipated. Take it individually or take it collectively, we have suffered and we shall have to suffer again; and why? Because the Lord requires it at our hands for our sanctification.

In the days of brother Joseph the mob came and took individuals: brother Joseph suffered them to take him; he suffered them to take possession of the brethren’s houses—to come in and shake hands with him, as traitors; and in every instance, they sacrificed every principle of virtue, of honor, and purity.

This course of conduct continued year after year. We suffered them to come upon us in Jackson County, and they there sacrificed every principle of virtue and righteousness. In Nauvoo, also, the devils incarnate were there again laying their hellish plots for the destruction of every holy principle; and after the death of Joseph the Prophet, President B. Young and others of the servants of God swore that if their enemies laid their hands upon them they should die. But the brethren never declared this until they had suffered from their enemies until forbearance was no longer a virtue.

We suffered these things day after day and year after year; and why? Because the Lord suffered it and required it of us. Men may be good and righteous; yet the Lord causes them to undergo trials to a certain extent. And when the Lord gave us the privilege of giving away our lives and letting the enemy have power over us, our enemies never troubled us.

When we kindly, generously, and with the utmost courtesy asked the President of the United States, if he could, possibly, to let us choose rulers out from amongst ourselves; and if that was not agreeable, to go so far as to let us have kind, decent sort of men—men that have some interest here—men that would themselves obey the laws which they came to administer; the Government were offended, and hence they are sending an army—men that wear epaulettes. Probably these are the citizens which they consider will be interested in our welfare.

The power of the Almighty bears record in every heart that the position for us to take is not to suffer them to come in here; and this is the universal feeling in this community; and it is the power of the Holy Ghost which testifies to every man and to every woman that this is our position.

The Lord has preserved us in every position; and although we have suffered, he has been with us by the power of his Spirit. He has suffered us to give up our arms and to exhibit his mercy. He did this in Far West and in Nauvoo. He suffered brother Joseph to give himself up, and now we see what they have done. But now it is altogether different; we are in a different position from what we were then. The Lord has revealed to brother Brigham to take the stand which we are taking.

I was speaking yesterday of the contrast between this people and the world. We are here in the capacity of a Conference; we are laboring, striving, and struggling for the deliverance of the honest in heart throughout the world; we are laboring for the establishment and continuance of holy principles.

There are men on this stand whose testimony you have heard; and those very men would suffer themselves to be cut in pieces, inch by inch, before they would suffer those principles to be trampled upon. It is their business to make people happy—to put them in possession of eternal life, so that sorrowing and crying may cease from the earth.

Look 147 miles eastward; there our enemies are contemplating what they may do—how they may come or send an armed mob here. They would hire and bribe a posse, if they could, to come and take President Young; and they are all the time plotting and scheming how they may subvert this people. When our brethren were amongst them, they were all the time singing their lustful songs and damning those holy principles which we have embraced. Look across the wild sage plains—over the deserts to the United States, and the same spirit is there; they are studying how they may rid the United States of the principles of righteousness. Now, which will prevail?

[President B. Young: “Truth will prevail!”]

Yes, the truth will; the Saints of the Most High will prevail. It is the Lord Almighty that has called his Saints; he has chosen his sons and daughters.

It is not our work, but it is the work of our Heavenly Father, and we are called to be engaged in it. The storms must arise—the oppressor must lay his hand upon the people, or it could not be taken off. And you, brethren and sisters, whose husbands are yonder in the canyons, who have gone forth to defend Israel, pray for them that they may be victorious, and pray that you may be united unto each other.

I think, as Elder Hyde observed here the other day, that probably the greatest unpleasantness may be found in families. Now, you sisters, just unite your hearts together; and if there is dissension in your midst, get rid of it, and put away those hard feelings; then you can bow together as the children of God and as the wives of your husbands, united together in all things; you can then call upon the Lord, and he will give you power to obey your husbands; and then you pray that they may be able to execute the designs of the Almighty, and that the enemy may have no power over them.

If you have difficulties, go and settle them, and do your duties as the Saints of God, and pray that the Holy Spirit may rest upon your husband; and that will nerve him up more than your flour—more than your extra shirts. Just tell him that you are calling upon God in his behalf—that you are praying that the enemy may have no power over him. Sisters, be united in these things, and the blessings of Israel’s God will be upon you; your husbands will come home safely, they will be full of the Spirit of the Lord, and the wicked will fear and tremble to see the calmness and serenity that rests upon the people of God.

May the Lord bless you, brethren and sisters. It is a time of rejoicing: never did I feel better than I do this day. Everything signifies that the day of our deliverance is at hand. If there should be a little difficulty in getting the child born, all will be perfectly right. I tell you the child is bound to pass through its childhood, its boyhood; and whatever it may cost, the victory must be ours. A man or a woman is just as well on the other side of the veil as here; it does not matter a particle in relation to their going forward in the principles of exaltation.

Our duty is to do right here and everywhere—to keep right all the time with our God; then all is right with us, whether we are here or on the other side of the veil.

Leave things in the hands of God, and I tell you the physical conquest is ours as well as the spiritual one. Remember those little striplings who went forth some twenty or twenty-five years ago, without first learning to preach the Gospel: they had not the wisdom of the colleges nor of the schools, but they went forth not having any natural hopes of an intellectual conquest; but they went forth and they stopped the mouths of the priests, and men of learning were in dead silence before them through the power of God which attended their preaching.

The Lord said unto his servants, “Ye are not to be taught, but to teach.” (Doctrine and Covenants.) He also said, Be valiant and be diligent in laying up wisdom; but take no thought for the morrow, but all things shall be brought seasonably to your minds in the very hour that you need them. This is the work of the Lord, and it is the way the Lord works.

Well, here comes another conquest to be gained: they have forced us into this, and the result will be precisely the same in the physical as in the spiritual.

Are we studied in war? These fellows have been studying it from all the books that have been written from the days of Adam down to now, and they are full of military science as the priests were full of divinity. But remember that but a little stone from the sling of David put to death the Goliath of the Philistines; and so it will be in the deliverance of Zion. If the brethren go forth depending upon their physical arms, they cannot do much; but if they go forth depending upon the Spirit of the Almighty, I can assure you that the conquest will be as glorious as in the day when we went forth to preach the Gospel under those circumstances which I have named. I just know it, for it is God’s work.

Women will find that they hold a good deal of power and influence in relation to blessing their husbands; therefore, let your faith and your hearts be united together, and pray for your husbands and for your children, whose fathers have gone forth to fight the battles of Zion. Children, pray for your fathers, and that will cheer them up. But if a man looks back and sees that there is nothing but confusion and disorder in his family, he is apt to slacken his efforts; his heart gives way; he has not the power nor the hardihood that he would otherwise have, providing that he knew that all was peace—that all was right at his home.

Think of this, you sisters. I tell you a great deal depends upon your conduct. I presume there are persons with families, who, if called to go out to fight, would pray God that they might never return again. This should not be.

Brethren, be united; pray for brother Brigham, for brother Heber, for brother Daniel, and the brethren with him in the mountains; and the enemy can never—no, never get possession of them. It is for you and me—yea, even if it costs our life’s blood, to defend those men. If you or me saw a weapon presented at President Young, it is our business to step in and save his life, if it costs our own; and you will see the day when you will understand this; you will see the day when you will be ready to stand in the gap.

Now, if I saw a sword drawn, would I not lift my hand to prevent its injuring the Prophet of God? Yes, if it was at the risk of taking off my hand. This is right; and if this people are willing to sacrifice all for the purpose of preventing our enemies coming in here, they never will come into our midst. We are willing and ready to burn everything, and then we are in a right position; and I believe this is the general feeling, and this indicates to me that the Lord is on our side.

Some people are not sufficiently schooled to know how to make sacrifices. When we are satisfied of the course the enemy will take, that will be enough; we shall then know what to do.

The Lord bless you, brethren and sisters! Be willing to follow counsel—the counsel of President Young, also of your Bishops, and then all is well. Zion stands and prospers, and it will not be long before the enemy will melt away as before the morning sun. Zion will spread and increase until she holds dominion over all the nations of the earth.

The Lord bless you all forever, is my prayer. Amen.

Remarks by Elder Charles C. Rich, Delivered at the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Wednesday Afternoon, October 7, 1857.

Brethren and sisters, I can truly say, as others have said, that I have been edified during the Conference and greatly benefited by the spirit that has been made manifest and the testimony that has been borne by the brethren. It has cheered my heart, and I have not had a better time for years.

We have great reason to rejoice, notwithstanding some people might think that we have reason to mourn. But I do not think so, neither do I think that you feel so. I think there is but one feeling, and that is peace and joy. Notwithstanding all the appearances that are around us, we have abundant reason to rejoice; for we have something to rejoice about and in, if we comprehend our position, which I have no doubt the great majority do.

We have had the privilege of embracing the Gospel of salvation; and inasmuch as we have embraced it with honest hearts, it has been salvation to us: and what is there besides this that we should rejoice in, or that should make us rejoice? For my part, I feel, as has been expressed by some of the brethren who have spoken from this stand, that this Gospel contains all that I desire; consequently, I have no feelings nor desires to go outside of it, simply because it bestows upon you and me everything that will do us good and that will save us. All that is outside of it will damn us in time and in eternity; consequently, we have no need of that which is outside of this kingdom.

If we understand the principles of truth as we should, we shall have no desires to go after anything but what is right, simply because it would do us an injury; therefore, it will be well for us to examine ourselves, and know whether the principles that are in our bosoms are of God. If they are, they will bless us in time and exalt us in all eternity. If they are not, they will be an evil to us in time, and as long as we have them in our bosoms; consequently, it would be well for us to know something about ourselves, and what we have in our bosoms, and the principles that we practice from day to day continually.

We profess to be Saints—to have received the Gospel of salvation; and if we have embraced it with pure motives, it is salvation to us—and that, too, at the present time. When we look at the world we find them talking about being saved; but all the salvation they are looking for is a long way from this, which I think will be the case. But we receive the Gospel for the purpose of being saved. It proposes salvation to us on the onset, at the commencement, and from that day to all eternity.

If we do not embrace the principles of life and live by them, we do not partake of the principles of salvation at the time we receive them; but if we live by them, they continue to save us from that time onward.

For instance, when we heard the sound of the Gospel, it proposed to us that we should have the same Spirit that was poured out upon the ancient Saints—upon Christ’s disciples. This was the doctrine that his servants declared to us. When we received their testimony, we went forward and were baptized for the remission of sins; and what followed? I will tell you what followed: we were enabled to bear testimony that we had received the truth, and we obtained thereby a knowledge that our Father in heaven lived—that his son Jesus Christ had been crucified for the sins of the world.

But did we not discover that we were saved—saved from ignorance that had beclouded our minds? We had received something that we did not before know. We could then rejoice in the truth when the whole world were in darkness on this subject; and what further? Why, there was one truth after another made manifest to us—one truth after another revealed. Well, if we have embraced those truths that have been made manifest, we have received the blessings that are given from time to time—yes, from the time that we embraced them up to the present; and they have saved us.

The Gospel requires to be honest to our God, to ourselves, to our brethren. We should not steal, we should not commit adultery, and there are a great many things that we should not do and that the principles of eternal truth would forbid. If we had not among us any who commit any of these sins, those evils would not be in our midst. If the principles that dwell in the bosom of our God are in us, we will do nothing under any circumstances that we know to be wrong.

When some men’s evil deeds are discovered, they will say that they did not do the evil with which they are charged. They will deny it. This is a mark of the greatest degradation and infamy.

Evils are of two classes; and what are they? First, people do wrong because they do not know how to do right: second, they do wrong because they are disposed to do wrong: and do you not see that in either case they are wrongs? We are not half as well saved as we should be; consequently, to be saved, we want to learn to know what right is. If we are dishonest and want to do wrong, we are wicked. Nevertheless, it is wrong both ways; and we are not saved by pursuing such a course.

You know it is said that in the last days the knowledge of God shall cover the earth as the waters cover the great deep. We can bear testimony that the Spirit of God is poured out upon his Saints. We see it day by day and from time to time, and we are increasing in the knowledge of the truth.

Inasmuch as we are trying to be saved, we are all the time increasing in the principles of truth; we are continually treasuring them up, and we can use them for our benefit.

We may easily discover that a person cannot use that which he has not got. He must first learn a principle before he can act upon it. Well, if we do not know the truth, the best way is to get somebody that does know to lead us; and perhaps, by diligence, we may arrive at the knowledge thereof. This has been a course of safety pointed out to the Saints from the beginning, and it is the same now.

When we have learned one truth, we are prepared to learn another; for every truth seems to unfold some other truth. When a matter is presented to a person who has a knowledge of a great many truths, let him compare it with the many truths that he knows, and they will agree; for all truth will agree. If it is not truth, it will come in contact; therefore, the more truths we are in possession of, the more keys we have to test other truths by; and the longer we live in this way, the more we know of our Father and the principles that pertain to his kingdom, and the less disposition we will have to do wrong: we will be more inclined to do right, and to carry out the principles of his government. We will do this because it is the safest and best course to pursue: hence, if we have a disposition to be blest and saved, we shall be disposed to take this course.

I feel rejoiced in one principle that I see manifest among the Saints in these days, and that is, the principle of union. Of course we have, as a community, always been more united than any other people; but we still come short of that fulness of union which should exist among us. But I consider that we have done first-rate.

It is an easy matter to do right, if we only pursue the right course: at least I have always found it so. I never had any difficulty to be agreed with those I was associated with. The way that I am united with my brethren is simply this: I calculate to adopt the same policy that the Lord manifests through his servants that have a right to dictate me. I do not calculate to have anything in my heart that is not right; then you see there will be no difficulty, if I pursue this course, to be united with my brethren that preside over me.

I have been a member of the Church over twenty-five years, and I have been preaching all the time: at least, I have been a preacher, whether I have been preaching all the time or not. I have never seen the time but I have always found those who were leading me to be right; and I have never seen the time but I could bear testimony that they were right; for I knew it by the Spirit of God that was in me. I knew it was the privilege of every Saint to have this knowledge.

When we are agreed and live our religion, we are prepared to receive the blessings that are poured out upon us. We cannot claim the blessings that are in store for us, except we pursue a course that will put away all our sins and iniquities far from us.

I do not say that I am perfect, but I can say this—that I never intended to do a wrong thing. I have done the best I could. To be sure I have been away from this place most of the time among the wicked: at least I term them wicked. They say they seek after God and everything that pertains to godliness. But if ever I was glad to get home among the Saints it was this summer.

I have thought that the spirit that is among this people and the quiet feeling that seems to prevail when difficulties are approaching was most heavenly; and I have sometimes felt and queried as to whether I did not feel too well. But when the brethren have been pouring out their feelings from this stand, I have felt to rejoice. I feel that we have got further along than I thought we had before I came back here.

I have been looking for the time of deliverance, but I did not expect it so soon. But I know it cannot come too soon to meet with a hearty welcome. I have been through some of the difficulties, as some others have said, and can tell you, in all that I have passed through from the beginning, I have felt paid as I have gone along. I have always felt that the course to do right was the best, and that there would be the most joy and happiness in doing right.

So far as our enemies are con– cerned, I feel about them precisely as our brethren have expressed themselves. I do not fear them; but I feel that the Lord will take care of his Saints and of his kingdom. All we have to do is to do as we are directed, and all will be well.

A great number of the Elders have been on missions, and we have been bearing testimony to the world of mankind that this is the kingdom of God—that God has set his hand to recover the house of Israel. We have been bearing testimony of this, and we still continue to bear it, and the Spirit of God flows into our hearts when we testify to this. Have we any fears that the Lord is not able to deliver his Saints? We ought not to have any.

I will tell you how I feel. It is best for us to do right; and there will be more salvation flowing to us through doing right than pursuing any other course. This is the course of salvation. Whatever our heavenly Father dictates, that is the thing for us to do, whether it is to fight or let it alone. I have been in difficulties where there actually was fighting, where the Saints had to defend themselves against their enemies; but the time had not come for us to take the stand that we have now taken. But the Lord directed matters then, and he is directing matters now. We have seen difficulties from the beginning, from the time that the Lord established his kingdom upon the earth until the present time.

Every person that has a portion of the Spirit of God can see the manifestations of the power of God, from the time that the kingdom was established until the present. We have no need to fear for the kingdom; but it is for us to do our duty, and then all will be well with us.

I do not wish to occupy time that should be occupied by my brethren. I say that I feel well: I never felt better, and never had less fears of our enemies than I have at the present time.

That we may live so as to be sanctified through the truth—that we may secure salvation in this world, and in that which is to come, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Remarks by Elder Amasa M. Lyman, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Wednesday Afternoon, October 7, 1857.

I can say that I have been gratified, edified, and blessed in various ways since the commencement of our Conference. I have not been anything but blessed, that I know of. So far as our meeting here is concerned, I have been highly gratified in hearing from our brethren who have just returned from abroad. The spirit with which they have expressed their feelings and delivered their testimony here is a living evidence that the cause of God and of truth is onward—that it is progressive—that it is increasing in the earth.

When we were young and had but just commenced to testify of the Gospel, we could not hear the same testimony that we hear now: still the Spirit of God was always good, and the testimony of the servants of God that were inspired by it was always good, and the days that are past were very good days, and the times past were very good; but today is a better time than any other that I ever saw: the circumstances that surround us today are better than any with which we have ever been surrounded since we have been a people.

Our prospects are brighter than ever they were before; and the clouds that gather around us, if there are any, are hardly perceptible, from the increased amount of light that is shining: they vanish, they disappear in the increasing confidence, faith, intelligence, and knowledge that exist in the people.

We need not question this, if we but for a moment contemplate the quietude, the harmony, and the peace that pervade the homes of the Saints—the place where they dwell. There is no excitement such as is generally attendant upon an expected war; but it seems the time approaches nearer that was to effect the establishing a line of division between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world—that there has been a full and corresponding increase of confidence on the part of the people in relation to the truth they had embraced; so that I can hardly see or determine, from anything that has outwardly taken place, that there is anything that has happened, except it is their progress in the truth and their advancement in knowledge.

Nobody seems to be alarmed; all seem to feel confident that the contest that is in prospect is to decide the question: it does not seem to be who will prevail; it does not seem to be asked at all who will conquer; but the matter is all settled, that Israel will prevail.

This has been written a long time ago; and we are happy if we can see it and understand it—if we can appreciate it so as to inspire within us that confidence that would be requisite to our salvation.

Now, is it because we all understand—is it because we all comprehend the truth, that we are in this position? What will be the sequel of our history? We may as well read it today as to wait for the future to reveal it. What will it be, if the confidence and quietude that we enjoy today, that pervades our souls today, is the result of our comprehension of the truth? It will be the same ever and always: the history of the future will never reveal that we have departed from the truth—that we have professed to know, to understand, to comprehend, and feel the blessings of the truth, and then have at a subsequent period of our lives departed from it.

I do not know altogether what may inspire your hearts or what may have an influence upon your minds; but I believe that I know—I feel satisfied in my own mind that I know why it is that I have no fears as to the issue of matters that we are interested in. To sum it all up and tell what it is, in the shortest possible way, would be simply to say that I cannot see any place for a failure; I cannot see any place, nor conceive of the existence of a possibility of a failure. “Why,” says one, “there is no room for a failure. The truth upon which is predicated—upon which is based the declarations of the servants of God in ancient times, that when God should set his hand to build up his kingdom, that he would build it up, that it should be established, that it should triumph over every other kingdom and stand forever, that truth is so broad, so extensive, that there is no room for a failure—there is nothing on which to hang a doubt, or on which to ground a single exception.”

I am not preaching now of what may be my fate, but I am speaking about the fate of the work we are interested in, that we are engaged in, that has brought us together, that holds us together, and that at the present moment is influencing us.

I may apostatize—I may leave. What! Could I really leave the truth? It is generally implied that if we leave anything, we get away from it; but, for my part, I do not know where to go to get away from it. I might stand still, shut up my ears, harden my heart, and say that I would not have it; but I could not get away from it.

I suppose there is no such fate for me: I hope not. But for the work of God there is nothing but victory—the triumph that has been spoken of and written about by many of the ancients.

Have we found the time when that triumph is to take place? I think we have good reason to believe that we have, if for no other reason than that we have searched for and found the place.

If Abraham went to seek a country that he knew not of, so have we been seeking a country. I do not care whether we were in the company of the pioneers who came to Salt Lake Valley first, or whether our pioneering has been in other places, preaching and calling upon the inhabitants of the earth to embrace the Gospel and trying to induce them to gather together. We have all been pioneering—we have all been exploring under the direction of our Father—for what? For a place on which to build up his kingdom upon the earth. What else have we been doing? Why, we have been doing some other things that are equally necessary as the finding of a place.

When the experience that we have gained is sufficient for the accomplishment of his work, if we have at the same time found the place at which the work could be accomplished, then two points are gained preparatory to building up his kingdom and carrying out his purposes. Without either of these, he could hardly be calculating to accomplish his work, unless he works differently from what we generally understand that he does.

When we shall in a future day look back over our travels in connection with the history of this Church, we shall not set them down as awful persecutions, as we may have regarded them in days that are past. We shall look at them as we now look at the wanderings of Israel in the wilderness between the land of Egypt, where they were held in bondage, and from which they were led to the land of Canaan, which was given to them as a possession.

Why did they not travel directly? We generally understood it was because they were rebellious; it was because they would not learn so much of the truth as was necessary to qualify them for entering into the rest of God. This prolonged their travel in the wilderness, and they traveled and traveled, and continued to travel, till there was a people that could be led—that could be controlled—that could be managed and led to possess the land, and to do the thing that was designed to be done at that time. The Lord had it in his heart to accomplish a work with the people of this dispensation in the proclamation of the Gospel—to call them to the knowledge of the truth; and then, by the revelation of his will from time to time, he taught them the things that they could believe and that they could receive, and he imparted those things that were suitable for them. The things that they could not and would not receive were withheld from their sight until other times and other circumstances surrounded them—until there was a disposition developed in the people that they would receive them; and under this kind of guidance we have traveled west, even under the direction of God; then the Devil has kicked us east, and then we have traveled west again; and finally our journeying has led us to this place—the first place that the Saints have ever occupied where the kingdom of God could be built up.

This makes me calculate that the time has come when the kingdom of God should be built up—when it should become a nation, a kingdom, a power upon the earth, whose increasing enlargement should be the diminution, the decline, the falling away of all other powers of the earth.

Well, then, should we be driven away from here, or should we be trodden down here? To admit this is to admit that this is not the kingdom and work of God. This is the work of God, and this is his kingdom; and we are here—not because the Devil would have us here, for he is very sorry that we are here; neither are we here because our enemies have desired to have us here, but because it was the design of our Father to bring us here. His own right hand has brought us here, and his Spirit has led us and dictated his people and servants until he has brought us here.

However this may appear to us, it is the Lord’s own doing. Why so? Because he could not accomplish his purposes without it. And if it is the Lord’s work, then there is no failure—then we are not to be destroyed, we are not to be driven away, we are not to be wasted anymore, we are not to be trodden down anymore by the iron heel of oppression; but we are here to gather strength, to put on power and might, and to be in the midst of the nations that our Father has designed from the beginning of his kingdom upon the earth in these last times.

What should we be driven away from here for? Has God any purpose to serve by our being annoyed—by our being again driven away? If he has, it is something that I do not know of. He has brought us here through immense labor and toil. We thought it was awfully hard when we came here: we nearly had to waste away all that we had, all that was given to us—not what we had of our own in reality, but what was given to us: we have had to lose nearly all that we had to get here, and now we are in the place where God designs we should be.

Will he build up his kingdom on the earth? Yes, he will. Well, then, we shall not be driven away. Has he found the people—the material out of which to build his kingdom? Yes, he has. We have been traveling and preaching backward and forward to prepare us for these things. Is there a people here that is capable of being governed, and not only that are capable of being governed, but capable of becoming governors?

Where did these governors come from? Why, they have been manufacturing all the time from the time that we first heard the Gospel. We have been trying to be obedient to its behests and requirements. From the time that men began to learn obedience and gain knowledge, God has been preparing and manufacturing them out of the material of which he is going to build up his kingdom.

In Nauvoo, when our enemies repealed the charter, we were better off than we were before; and I do not suppose that we have retrograded, but we have come out here and have made a Government—a State Government; and then Uncle Sam thought he would have a finger in the pie, and he made us a Territory, and we have got along very well.

I expect that the next time we are made anything, it will be the kingdom of God, and no amalgamation; and it will be made of the material that God has manufactured in the course of the training that we have had. This is what we are here for.

We have found the place and the material of which to build the kingdom; and this leads me to think that we shall not be driven away; for I can see the hand of God in our coming here; and “Why?” one may ask. Because he said, in the beginning, that this was his work—to build up his kingdom; and knowing that there must be a place to build it upon, and then seeing the Lord lead us to a place, and seeing his servants building it up through his guidance and counsel, cannot I see the hand of God in it? I can; for he told me this in the beginning.

Then is it not his hand? It is. Can you see it? Many will answer, “Yes.” Then why not be contented? This is the reason that the peace of heaven pervades the land where we dwell, and why fear is banished from our hearts.

The Spirit of truth, the Spirit of the Highest dwells in the Saints and inspires them with confidence, and victory is the song of every heart. The Saints do not sing any other song. The songs are made in prospect beforehand; but they all speak of victory—they are all songs of triumph.

Now, I do feel well: as the western man says, I reckon I do. Why do I feel so well? Because I cannot find anything to feel bad about. I have a great many things to think about; and what are they, and where are they?

If I can only maintain my relationship unbroken with the cause of God, and remain identified with it, why, then I am saved; and why? Because the kingdom of God will make me just as great as I can be, and greater than I know enough to speak of now. Why? Because I will know more then. It is all embraced in the kingdom of God.

Is not this a simple thing, that this is God’s kingdom and that he has allowed our enemies to kick us till they have kicked us to this point? And when they reached at anything else they have always been restrained; but while the Devil was kicking us to this point, the Lord was well satisfied, and he kept his hand over him and said, “Now, old fellow, do not kick too hard; these are my people: when you have kicked them so far, all well; but you must not kick any farther.”

Now the Lord has got us here, our enemies want to drive us off farther still. But now comes the declaration that meets with a hearty response—ISRAEL IS FREE!

Free from what? From labor, from toil, from watch? No, not at all. Then what are we free from? From the restraint that we have been under. Now, we are declaring boldly that we are the kingdom of God, and that in the strength of God we are determined to defend it and to defend the truth.

Now, all these things considered are among the things that make me feel well. This is the reason that I think we shall prevail—that is, in the strength of our God.

I do not feel any other way than that we are a part of the work of God, and that the decree of the Almighty has fixed it immutably and unchangeably that his kingdom shall be built up, and that as it rises in its greatness and grandeur he has fixed our exaltation and glory, if we are so happy as to maintain our relationship unchanged in harmony and beauty.

Is it so with you all? This is the way I feel; and it is this that makes this day the best day that I ever saw. This is why I rejoice; this is why I have no fears but that our cause will be triumphant; and we will triumph so long as we live with it and do not separate ourselves from it by any sin.

Brethren and sisters, this is a theme big enough to talk about a long time. There can be a great deal said about it; but I will not trespass upon the time, but conclude by saying, God bless Israel in every land and clime, that they may triumph, that God may remember our enemies, that they may not be forgotten, but that they may be remembered and have their reward in full; and if they can be taken care of without much trouble, let us be satisfied; and if the Lord requires us to take care of them, let us do as we have been doing while preaching the Gospel. This is my feeling.

May God bless you all, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Observations by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery, Wednesday Afternoon, October 7, 1857.

I rise to bear my testimony with the rest of the brethren who have spoken. Several who have lately returned from foreign missions have addressed you during this Conference. As has been observed here, we are all missionaries; and when our mission will be ended I am not able to say. I expect that in all probability our bodies will have to rest for a time, by-and-by: when they fall back to their mother earth, they will have a rest. But as for the mission being at an end with a faithful person, I do not know anything about its closing merely because the body has been laid in the grave. In this Church I have always felt myself to be a missionary, and I always desire to be ready and willing to bear my testimony to the truth. That has been about the amount of my preaching for the last twenty-six years. As for sermonizing, I have but seldom attempted it, but I have borne my testimony of the truth to the people.

I had only traveled a short time to testify to the people, before I learned this one fact, that you might prove doctrine from the Bible till doomsday, and it would merely convince a people, but would not convert them. You might read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and prove every iota that you advance, and that alone would have no converting influence upon the people. Nothing short of a testimony by the power of the Holy Ghost would bring light and know– ledge to them—bring them in their hearts to repentance. Nothing short of that would ever do. You have frequently heard me say that I would rather hear an Elder, either here or in the world, speak only five words accompanied by the power of God, and they would do more good than to hear long sermons without the Spirit. That is true, and we know it.

My testimony is that this is the kingdom of God on the earth. The people that sit before me, in connection with the many thousands that are upon the earth, are the people of God. If we have become so taught that the Lord sees that we shall be capable of managing, governing, and controlling the kingdom of God upon the earth in a more perfect manner than it has been heretofore, you may rest assured that this people are bound to victory. Just as fast as we are capable of rightly dispensing the principles of power, of light, of knowledge, of intelligence, of wealth, of heaven, and of earth, just so fast will they be bestowed upon this people. Could we in wisdom ask to have things bestowed upon us, if they would be to our injury? Every honest heart would at once say, “No.” One of the Elders observed that he prayed the Lord not to reveal too much to him, lest it should prove a stumblingblock and cause him to deny the faith. Pray that the Lord will reveal nothing to this people for their injury, and that he will only reveal that which will be for their good.

Brother Lorenzo Snow, while he was speaking in the forenoon upon the principle of self-government—victory over every besetting sin, spoke of the inward work required to be done, as every person in his experience knows that the spirit wars against the flesh, and the flesh against the spirit. So far as our spirits by the power of God, by the Holy Ghost—by the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, are assisted to overcome every seed of iniquity and sin within us, we may expect to gain the victory over our evil passions; and in that proportion this people will gain victory in a national capacity. That is as true logic as ever was introduced in this world. This people might have been independent—might have been a kingdom, had they been capable of receiving, disposing, and controlling that kingdom to the Divine acceptance of our Father in heaven. As brother Amasa said, the Lord has a school upon the earth, and we are his scholars; and the Devil also has a school attended by a great number of scholars. While we have been learning how to sustain the kingdom of God upon the earth, the Devil and his pupils have been learning how to sustain the kingdom of darkness. From the very nature of the two kingdoms upon one planet, the crisis must come when there will be a literal open warfare, just as much as there now is a warfare within us against evil; and if we, as individuals and as a community, have gained the victory over our passions to such a degree that our Father knows that we are capable of actually sustaining the kingdom of God upon the earth, just so true we shall be a kingdom by ourselves. If we are not yet capable of maintaining and rightly managing that kingdom, it will not at present be given to us in the fulness thereof; but the time will come when it will be given and established in its perfect organization on the earth.

A great many—yes, the most of this people have kept up a spiritual warfare until they have become almost masters of their passions; yet we still see some of them who do sin. Brother Rich has said that they sin ignorantly; but I say that some sin knowingly, and others sin that would know better if they had stopped to reflect. And you will see men and women commit acts which make them appear as though every particle of thought of the honor and true dignity of humanity had left them. Keep your spirits in subjection to the principles of truth and life, and do not let evil spirits control you.

How often you hear men and women confess their sins and say, “I committed this, that, and the other wrong.” Why do they want the evil within and around them? Why do they suffer their spirits to be subject to evil influences, and their tabernacles thereby be disgraced by the commission of wicked acts? What would you give to have such acts obliterated, if there was a price set upon them and you could pay it with property? Can you keep your spirits in subjection to righteous principles all the time? Yes; but many do not.

Keep your spirits under the sole control of good spirits, and they will make your tabernacles honorable in the presence of God, angels, and men. If you will always keep your spirits in right subjection, you will be watching all the time, and never suffer yourselves to commit an act that you will be sorry for, and if you can see that in all your life, you are clear. Do not do anything that you will be sorry for.

You may take the Quorums in this Church—the First Presidency, the Twelve, the Presidents of the High Priests, the High Councilors, and the Presidents of the Seventies; and a person may go to each of those Quorums for counsel upon any subject, and he will invariably receive the same counsel. Why is this the case? Because they are all actuated by the same Spirit. Do you know why some men give counsel different one from another? Because they undertake to give counsel without the Spirit of the Lord to dictate them. But, when the Spirit dictates, then each one knows what to do, and their counsel will be the same. Adam, Seth, Enoch, Noah, all the Patriarchs and Prophets, Jesus and the Apostles, and every man that has ever written the word of the Lord, have written the same doctrine upon the same subject; and you never can find that Prophets and Apostles clashed in their doctrines in ancient days; neither will they now, if all would at all times be led by the Spirit of salvation. If men will so act as to order their lives aright and continually keep the commandments of God, they will be able to administer the blessings of the kingdom of God.

There is no clash in the principles revealed in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants; and there would be no clash between any of the doctrines taught by Joseph the Prophet and by the brethren now, if all would live in a way to be governed by the Spirit of the Lord. All do not live so as to have the Spirit of the Lord with them all the time, and the result is that some get out of the way.

We want a people that will be pure and holy; and I wish that the principle that brother Lorenzo Snow spoke of this morning could be understood and practiced by all, you would then gain your spiritual conquest. If we have not gained that, we must labor until we do. And although we cannot tell the result of all the affairs that are in motion, yet we know that the kingdom of God will prosper, that his name will be revered, that the spirits of darkness will have to give way to the kingdom of God, and that “Mormonism” will triumph, and that no power can hinder it.

But there are still many things for us to learn pertaining to our salvation.

The great stumblingblock in the midst of the people is, that their minds are not yet wholly weaned from the evil habits and practices of the world. With some, the end of strife and covetousness has not yet come. You can yet see one brother take another by the throat, figuratively speaking, and say, “Pay me what thou owest.” You may see another come up and say, “I owe you, but you need not ask me for the pay, for I will not pay you.” Which is the worst? If there is any difference, the one who refuses to pay is the meanest.

If a man is so mean as to say to you, “I owe you, but I shall not pay you,” it is best to say to him, “All right—I can live without it.”

The Lord will rule; and if we continue steadfast to the kingdom of God, it will save us; but if we do not, we shall be left off, and the old ship Zion will sail right ahead and safely carry her passengers into port. If the people could understand, they would be able to discern that we must gain that spiritual victory I have already spoken about, before we can have the privilege of proclaiming the building up of the people of God in the mountains.

We have a nation here in the mountains that will be a kingdom by-and-by, and be governed by pure laws and principles. What do you call yourselves? some may ask. Here are the people that constitute the kingdom of God. It may be sometime before that kingdom is fully developed, but the time will come when the kingdom of God will reign free and independent.

There will be a kingdom on the earth that will be controlled upon the same basis, in part, as that of the Government of the United States; and it will govern and protect in their rights the various classes of men, irrespective of their different modes of worship; for the law must go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and the Lord Jesus will govern every nation and kingdom upon the earth.

A great many have thought that every person will then be in the Church, but that will not be the case. There will then be as great a variety in religious belief as there is now; one will believe one thing, and another will believe something different, while the Devil rules among men.

Will the kingdom of Jesus triumph? It will; and the legislators of that kingdom are in this congregation and will remain, and the laws of that kingdom will be made in accordance with the revelations from Jesus Christ.

Many have thought that all will believe in the revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ when the kingdom of God is fully established; but they will not; and if those characters were in heaven, they might believe, but would not obey the revelations of Jesus Christ. There are multitudes in this Church who have not yet learned these truths; and there are multitudes in the world who would not know Jesus, were he to pass before their eyes, and would not understand what he meant, if he were to speak to them. Such will be the case in the millennium.

The kingdom of God will grow out of this Church, and the time appears to have been hastened faster than we anticipated. This is the best time we ever saw. We are happy, and we make a heaven of every place to which we go, which is the reason we are happy. How long it will be before the kingdom of God sends forth its laws, I do not know. Brother Erastus Snow remarked that no one can foretell all the events that may arise from our present difficulties; but I can tell you a part. God will reign and will bring forth victory to the humble and faithful; that I know, and so do you.

I have never found any fault with the Lord for not bringing victory sooner; for I know that if our enemies intend to try to come here by way of Emigration Canyon, we shall be ready to meet them; and if they intend to come round by the Malad, we shall be ready to meet them; and if they undertake to come by Fort Hall, we shall also be ready to meet them. If they thought that we were or would be asleep, they might undertake to come here.

I recollect a dream that my father had. He dreamed that he was traveling, and that during his journey he came to a tremendous mountain of snow and saw that his pathway was hedged up. But someone said, “Take one more step.” My father replied, “But that will be the last.” However, he took that step, and then his guide said, “Do you not, see that there is room for you to take another?” When he had taken another, his guide told him to take still another in advance; and there was a passage all the way through. So it will be with us. The Lord will not reveal all that we at times wish him to. If a schoolmaster were to undertake to teach a little child algebra, you would call him foolish, would you not? Just so with our Father: he reveals to us as we are prepared to receive, and I hope to continue to learn. There is no cessation, in time nor in eternity, to the progress and increase of the righteous. If we will but put away every selfish feeling, we can come in possession of all the blessings that are in store for us.

Some of the speakers have been exhorting you to let your prayers ascend in behalf of the brethren who are in the mountains; but your prayers cannot prevail if there is disunion among you.

The teachings given us from Sabbath to Sabbath must be learned and lived before we can enjoy the kingdom of God in its fulness.

I am thankful that I do not hear, of late, since the Spirit has been generally diffused among the people, “O Lord, give revelation through brother Brigham.” I wish to fulfil what we have received before I ask for more. I said to brother Joseph, the spring before he was killed, “You are laying out work for twenty years.” He replied, “You have as yet scarcely began to work; but I will set you enough to last you during your lives, for I am going to rest.” All I can do or ask now is to do the work, so that it will be right and acceptable to him when he comes here again. And that is not all; for you have or should have the candle of the Lord continually burning within you. Then I ask you if you still need revelation? You will say, “Yes, just as much as we need a candle to enable us to see to walk in our streets at noonday.” A person that is filled with the Spirit knows just as much as he has occasion to know; for the Spirit of our God is a Spirit of revelation.

The time has arrived when we have either to be trodden under foot by our enemies and die, or to defend ourselves and our rights; and which will it be? Every man and woman feel their hearts fail them when they think of submitting to the oppression and unlawful abominations practiced by our enemies, and sought by them to be introduced into our society; and we will not submit to such wicked and unlawful treatment, whether it comes from United States or united hell, for the terms are synonymous as the Government is now conducted. I tell you and I tell our enemies that we are here, and we intend to stay here. [The congregation responded, “Amen.”] They have a job on hand, if they persist in their efforts to deprive American citizens of their rights. I told Captain Van Vliet that I did not care how many troops they sent. “Why,” said he, “The United States, with an overflowing treasury, can send out ten, twenty, or fifty thousand troops.” I replied, “I do not care anything about that.” The Captain then asked whether I had counted the cost; and I said, “Yes, for this people. I have; but I cannot estimate it for the United States; for if they actually persist in their present tyrannical course, before they get through they will want to let the job to subcontractors.” They do not know the Captain of the armies of Israel; and although they profess to believe in him, they do not realize that he is about to hold a controversy with them for their iniquity.

Their belief reminds me what brother Joseph B. Nobles once told a Methodist priest, after hearing him describe his god, that the god they worshipped was the “Mormons’” Devil—a being without a body, whereas our God has a body, parts, and passions. The Devil was cursed and sent down from heaven. He has no body of his own; therefore he is constantly endeavoring to obtain possession of the tabernacles belonging to others. Some have grumbled because I believe our God to be so near to us as Father Adam. There are many who know that doctrine to be true. Where was Michael in the creation of this earth? Did he have a mission to the earth? He did. Where was he? In the Grand Council, and performed the mission assigned him there. Now, if it should happen that we have to pay tribute to Father Adam, what a humiliating circumstance it would be! Just wait till you pass Joseph Smith; and after Joseph lets you pass him, you will find Peter; and after you pass the Apostles and many of the Prophets, you will find Abraham, and he will say, “I have the keys, and except you do thus and so, you cannot pass;” and after a while you come to Jesus; and when you at length meet Father Adam, how strange it will appear to your present notions. If we can pass Joseph and have him say, “Here; you have been faithful, good boys; I hold the keys of this dispensation; I will let you pass;” then we shall be very glad to see the white locks of Father Adam. But those are ideas which do not concern us at present, although it is written in the Bible—“This is eternal life, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.”

What is the nature and beauty of Joseph’s mission? You know that I am one of his Apostles. When I first heard him preach, he brought heaven and earth together; and all the priests of the day could not tell me anything correct about heaven, hell, God, angels, or devils: they were as blind as Egyptian darkness. When I saw Joseph Smith, he took heaven, figuratively speaking, and brought it down to earth; and he took the earth, brought it up, and opened up, in plainness and simplicity, the things of God; and that is the beauty of his mission. I had a testimony, long before that, that he was a Prophet of the Lord, and that was consoling. Did not Joseph do the same to your understandings? Would he not take the Scriptures and make them so plain and simple that everybody could understand? Every person says, “Yes, it is admirable; it unites the heavens and the earth together;” and as for time, it is nothing, only to learn us how to live in eternity.

I will prophesy a little, and I will say that my word shall be as true as any word ever spoken from the heavens. If this people, called Latter-day Saints, will live to the truth, the thread of oppression which is cut will never be united again, and we shall have the privilege of saying, “Here is the kingdom of God, and here are the people that God owns and blesses,” and we shall reign triumphantly forever and ever. But if you do not live your religion, that period may be postponed a little longer. You know that cases sometimes rest in court for want of witnesses and documents. But if we live our religion, from this afternoon, this is the kingdom of God, and we are free and will live in it; at any rate, the kingdom will prosper.

I feel to bless this people, and they are a God-blessed people. Look at them, and see the difference from their condition a few years ago! Brethren who have been on missions, can you see any difference in this people from the time you went away until your return? [Voices: “Yes.“] You can see men and women who are sixty or seventy years of age looking young and handsome; but let them apostatize, and they will become grayhaired, wrinkled, and black, just like the Devil.

If we will stand up as men and women of God, the yoke shall never be placed upon our necks again; and all hell cannot overthrow us, even with the United States to help them. It is not pleasant to the natural feelings to be obliged to talk in this manner about fellowcitizens with whom we have been reared; but when they act like the Devil, it is impossible for us to bow to their unjust and illegal mandates without becoming as corrupt as they are. It is an honor to resist the wicked; and my name will be had in honor, and so will Joseph Smith’s, and so will your names, for not bowing to their iniquitous doings.

We are the happiest people when we have what are called trials; for then the Spirit of God is more abun– dantly bestowed upon the faithful. If the Lord requires it, I would as soon consume all I have and go into the mountains with my family as to do a good many other things. The women and children might suffer a little; but, as I told you the other day, we are upon the backbone of the continent, and we intend to enjoy that freedom which is our right. If our enemies will behave themselves, all right; and if they do not, they may take what follows. We could have used up those now in our borders, and have taken their trains; but we do not wish to hurt one of them: but let them undertake to come in here, and they must abide the consequences. And in reality, instead of their speaking against my character, they ought to send in presents for having lived till now.

The question now is, Shall we close Conference today? I know that many of you have much work to do. I do not know how soon you will be needed in the mountains. I deem it most prudent for all to go to their work and to be always prepared with five days’ rations; and then, when the word comes, you are ready for the mountains, and the women and children will be safe here.

If you now wish to close this Conference, all right; and if you want to continue it another day, you are at liberty to do so; and I am willing to do as I have a mind. The last missionary who spoke said that a captain could not please everybody; but I have tried to first please my Father in heaven, and have not cared so particularly about the will of the people. I have said, “Father, let me know your will, and I will do it.” And there is not a person in this congregation but will do my will, if he will do the will of his Father in heaven. If all would do so, they would be free from those little nasty sins that some are occasionally guilty of and that I am ashamed of.

If you say, “Adjourn this Conference now,” all right. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, Delivered at the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Tuesday Morning, October 6, 1857.

Quite a goodly number have assembled to our Conference to transact business in a Church capacity. We shall first present and attend to the business, and then to such instructions, teachings, exhortations, &c., as may come before the Conference.

I think there are quite a number of brethren present who have lately returned from their fields of labor. We would like to have them come to the stand, and we will give them the privilege of occupying a portion of the time. I think brother Jacob Hoffheins has not been on the stand since his return; and I see several others who have not.

We shall first present the autho– rities of the Church to the Conference this morning, though such has not been our general practice. I believe the brethren are pretty much in readiness, and have all got their guns ready for shooting. We will first attend to the business, so that if it is necessary to repair to the canyons we can do so.

I do not know how long we shall hold this Conference, and therefore no one needs to ask me. There is a time for all things; and I never saw a better time than now to secure potatoes and other crops, and thus do our preaching in the season thereof and digging potatoes in the season thereof. And I could almost wish that our Conference would be dismissed this morning, and all hands go and secure the potatoes, squashes, corn, &c.

We have heretofore spent a great deal of time in Conferences unmolested, and we shall again have a great deal of time to spend in this capacity undisturbed. We must have what is good for us—that which puts us in mind and brings to us principles that are free. Should we live in peace, year after year, how long would it be before we were glued to the world? Our affections would be so fastened to the things of the world that it would be hard for us to spend a little time in Conference; it would be hard to go on missions; it would be contrary to our feelings to attend to anything but our own individual concerns to make ourselves rich.

It seems to be necessary for the Lord to bring this people into circumstances to show them that the things of this world are mere nothingness in their present state—are but a shadow. They are today, and tomorrow they are not. This shows to us that all things pertaining to this world are subject to change, and such changes as we cannot control. We find that kings are raised up and emperors placed in power, and then they are hurled down. We see men who are popular, wealthy, and rich become poor. History and our own experience prove all this, and that riches take the wings of the morning and fly away. Today we are rich—tomorrow we are poor. Next week we may be rich, and the week after poor again. It is the Lord that gives and the Lord that takes away; and it is a blessing that we have the privilege of this experience in our present condition.

Look at ourselves—run over our own experience, and we shall discover that ourselves, our neighbors, our friends, our acquaintances, and all people do not always know when they are happy. In other words, if you could crowd an individual or a community into heaven without experience, it would be no enjoyment to them. They must know the opposite: they must know how to contrast, in order to prize and appreciate the comfort and happiness, the joy and the bliss they are actually in possession of. Can you realize this? How many there are who will exclaim, “If I had but known it, I was happy in such a situation! How happy I might have been, if I had only known that I was happy.”

You will see individuals who are easy and comfortable, that would like to change their situations; and when they change, they find that they have changed for the worse. They then turn round and say, “How happy I could have been, if I had known how to appreciate my own happiness! I had nothing to annoy me; I was in comfortable circumstances; I enjoyed good health, and had all that I could ask for to make life desirable; but I did not know at the time that I enjoyed one of the comforts of life.”

Is that the experience of any of you? I know that it is of a great many of you. Then learn to be happy when you have the privilege. For many years we have had the privilege of living in peace and making ourselves comfortable in these valleys of the mountains; and do you recollect that but a short time ago it seemed as though almost everyone had wandered his own way? The people had almost forgotten and lost sight of the principles of truth and righteousness, of the religion that we have embraced; and the whole plan of salvation. They had almost lost sight of the redemption of the nations of the earth, and each one had turned to his own way. Can you recollect that situation of the people?

We have reason to be thankful that we have forsaken backslidings and returned to the Lord in a great measure; but we are still far from being as we should be, taking every individual, though the great majority of the people are doing the best, or about as well as they know how. This I believe with all my heart; and they feel very anxious to live so that they can enjoy more and more of the knowledge of God: they are very anxious to know how to obtain more of the revelations of Jesus Christ; and some are fearful that the people are not doing right, and that they do not live up to their privileges.

Some of the brethren were conversing in my office the other day, and I discovered that a part of them had a great anxiety for us to know more of godliness, and had a feeling that this people must do better—must more strictly refrain from evil and walk more humbly before their God. I said to them, “Brethren, I will take you for an example, with myself; and I tell you, for one, that I do not know how to do any better than I do; and if the Lord wants me to do any better, he must let me know it; for I cannot do any better of myself. Can you say the same?” They said they could. So it is with the people: the most of them are doing the best they know how. There are a few who sin, and a few who will do wrong—do things that they ought to be ashamed of. They are scarce: but there is once in a while one of that class in this community; and we expect that there will be, just so long as the wheat and the tares grow together. There is once in a while one that we would like to be rid of—would love to have leave us and this community.

It is astonishing that any should prefer to act wickedly, and yet there is a reason for all this. We expect it—at least I do: I look for it. I do not look for anything else but that there will be tares in the field until the time of burning. I will just say, for your consolation and mine, that I think the field is now pretty well weeded out, though the roots are here, and they will spring up occasionally, and once in a while things are done that are disgraceful. Some will do things that the Devil would be ashamed of and would not think of doing. But I am thankful that there are but few of that class here; and I pray that the evils may be lessened and that the people may be purified before the Lord.

It is truth—it is God’s truth—it is eternal truth, if people did but know it, that it is much better to be honest, to live here uprightly, and forsake and shun evil, than it is to be dishonest. It is the easiest path in the world to be honest—to be upright before God; and when people learn this, they will practice it. If they could only believe this, it does appear to me that they will forsake every evil practice, every evil thought, and banish them from their minds, and try to practice virtue and truth, and to live in that way that they will overcome every evil disposition, and live so that they can control their reflections, and that their reflections will tend to virtue, truth, and holiness; for this is our privilege, until we become pure in our hearts, and find that the prin– ciples of righteousness dwell within us. Then, as it was said by the Savior to his disciples, He will be in us a fountain of living water, springing up into everlasting life.

That is the principle—the fountain that Jesus our elder brother dwells in; and we can have the same privilege of overcoming sin in ourselves until we have no desire to do anything but right—no desire only to build up His kingdom upon the earth, and have the Spirit of the Lord Jesus to be in us a fountain of living water. Let us do so, and thereby be prepared for every emergency that shall come upon us.

Let us secure our crops. I feel to exhort the brethren to secure their crops so as to be ready, if our enemies come upon us, to defend ourselves. Let us obey our officers, not loving the world nor the things of the world above our duties. The Lord will prepare the way and provide all things necessary for us; and if we suffer a little, it is good for us. If we suffer for food, for raiment, it gives us an experience that we will know how to appreciate the comforts of life when we have them in our possession.

We will attend to the business of the Conference first, and then dismiss until afternoon.

[After putting the motion for himself to be sustained as “Prophet, Seer, and Revelator,” the President remarked—]

I will say that I never dictated the latter part of that sentence. I make this remark, because those words in that connection always made me feel as though I am called more than I am deserving of. I am Brigham Young, an Apostle of Joseph Smith, and also of Jesus Christ. If I have been profitable to this people, I am glad of it. The brethren call me so; and if it be so, I am glad.

A Discourse by Elder Orson Hyde, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday morning, October 4, 1857.

Brethren and Sisters—I feel to occupy a portion of the time allotted to us this morning, in calling your attention to some matters which I hope and trust may be for our benefit, for our security, and for our prosperity.

We are all aware, or should be, of the condition that we are in and the circumstances by which we are surrounded. We have duly considered them, for we have had time for reflection: we have had time to weigh the matter in our own minds; and it is now for us to be fixed and firm in our purpose, that we deviate not in our actions, neither in our feelings from the path that is marked out for us, but cheerfully, resolutely, and patiently pursue that track. There is no doubt at all but that we shall have trials to pass through—all, perhaps, that we are able to bear; for all strength that is given to us will be tested, and will be tried, and will be proven.

It is now for us to avoid one fatal rock, I may say, upon which the Israelites of old wrecked to a certain extent; and that is, that when they were gloriously delivered by the hand of our God and brought into the wilderness by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm, they murmured against Moses and they murmured against God because they could not enjoy the luxuries—the good things of Egypt, such as they were wont to enjoy while in bondage.

How soon did they forget the mighty miracles that were wrought for their deliverance! There was a time that the Israelites could do nothing. They had come to the shores of the Red Sea: they could not advance; their enemies were in their rear, and they could not advance. When they looked forward, it seemed impossible for them to pass onward; and when they looked back, destruction awaited them; and in the midst of this they exclaimed, perhaps, “What shall we do?”

It appears that there was nothing to be done, and hence the word was to them to stand still and see the salvation of God. In due time Moses was directed to smite the waters of the Red Sea: the waters were divided and Israel bade to go forward.

It appears that the Lord will open the way wherever he requires his Saints to go, however dark and hedged up it may seem. Yet, when the time comes for us to take one step, the way will open; and it is not likely that we can see the final issue or the result of our journey at first. If we could see the end, there would be no trial of our faith; but all the time we must walk by faith, and not by sight.

It is a good deal in this respect as it was with the disciples of old: it was required that they should take no thought what they should eat, what they should drink, or wherewithal they should be clothed.

It was also required that they should take no thought what they should say, for they were told it should be given unto them in the very hour what they should speak; and so it will be given to the faithful and pure before the Lord in this age of the world in the very hour that it is required and in the very time that it is needed.

They will see how to take one step and where to place one foot; and if they cannot see where to put the second, they must wait till they can see where to put it.

This was the case with the children of Israel when they were bade to go through the Red Sea; for whether they could see the track open all the way across is very questionable with me; but as they saw where to take one step, so they were required to advance all the way through that mighty deep, and they went through dry-shod; and the very means ordained for their salvation were the very means for the destruction of their enemies.

But after the children of Israel had such a glorious triumph and sang the songs of deliverance, how soon they murmured against the authority of God and the Holy One who was appointed to lead them. They wanted the flesh, the leeks, and onions of Egypt; and the Lord was forced to come out of his hiding place and cut them off from the face of the earth; and there fell in one day three-and-twenty thousand. This is written for our example, that we through faith and patience of the Scriptures might have comfort.

It is written, “A prophet shall the Lord our God raise up like unto me:” that is Moses speaking: “And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people.” I am not going to say who that Prophet is; but I am going to present some few things for your consideration, and you may draw your own conclusions. Did Jesus Christ ever lead forth the people of God like unto Moses? Did he not say, “How often would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not?” Did he lead them with an outstretched arm? He wrought miracles and did all the good he could; but I cannot see that Jesus ever led the people as did Moses. He performed his work and fulfilled his mission: but a Prophet was to be raised up like unto Moses; and hence I draw the conclusion that this is the only Prophet or the only dynasty of Prophets through whom the Lord would speak.

I know that some think the Lord is going to establish his kingdom through other prophets than those amongst us. Well, if the law is to be given through others, why is the responsibility placed upon us to go and preach the Gospel to all nations? If it is not to proceed from this Priesthood wholly, why should the Twelve Apostles be required to open the Gospel to all the nations of the earth, if there were other channels through which the Gospel might be preached? By this I come to the conclusion that whosoever will not hear this Prophet will be destroyed from among the people.

This is the only people who profess to have Prophets of this character, even like unto Moses; and the word is that whosoever will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people. A Prophet shall be at the head to lead, as it was with Israel when Moses led them. Did he not say, “I will take and lead you as in days of old?” Well, then, the ministration and signs of Moses are to be enacted again. Joel shows us how they are to be. Read the 2nd chapter of Joel all the way through, and that will show you how things are to be.

“Why,” says the Lord, “I sent my angel before my people hitherto; but I have said that in the last days I will go myself before my people.” He has declared that he will utter his voice before his army, for his camp is very great.

We shall be led into straitened places—into tried places; and now it is for us to prepare ourselves, to fortify our hearts, to fortify our spirits, that we never murmur against God nor against the Moses that he has given us; for I tell you that the man that God has raised up is no more responsible than we are; and I have thought not so much.

Can he make one erroneous move? If our prayers are offered up to the Lord in his behalf—if our hearts are set upon doing that which we know to be right, then we are right; but if not, we are wrong. If he is wrong, our prayers are not heard.

Well, then, you see, the weight of responsibility reaches back upon our shoulders; and we are the ones to take that responsibility and to have faith in the words and in the prayers which we utter before the Lord.

Brethren and sisters, be agreed in this respect, and be sure that when you ask for a thing you do not doubt it; but hold on to it and believe that you receive the things you ask for, and you shall have them. What mind of spirit is it that comes and says, “Now, I will go and ask for this or that; I do not know whether I will get it; it is a question whether my prayers are heard; but I will pray because it is my duty?”

Now, a double-minded man is not a man of faith. We should consider what we want and what is the mind and will of God to grant us. Say, “So and so is the mind of God,” and satisfy yourself that the prayer you are about to offer is really the mind and will of your Father in heaven; then bow down and ask for that thing or for those very things. And when we have asked for any blessing, never let a doubt arise in our minds as to whether we shall receive the blessing, but believe that our prayers are heard, and then they will be answered.

Let me say, brethren and sisters, do not pray for too many things at once. What would you think if your son were to come and say, “Father, I want a yoke of oxen, I want a cow, I want a horse, I want some money, I want this, and I want that?”

“Why,” says the father, “you ask for so many things that I cannot give you anything at all.” That son is covetous; he reaches for everything, and I cannot give them to him; and hence the father concludes that he won’t give him anything; when, if the son had come and said, “Father, if you can let me have a cow, I shall be glad,” and then stop at that, the father would say, “Yes, I will give you a cow;” and he is pleased to do it. The son takes care of her, and by-and-by he comes and says, “Father, won’t you give me a horse ?” “Yes,” says the father. And so, you see, he gets all that he wants, but not all at once.

Our Father in heaven says, “Where two or three of you agree as touching one thing, and ask in the name of the Son, it shall be given. “Our Savior had his eye upon this when he said, “If thy eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light; but if thy eye be evil (some say double), thy whole body shall be full of darkness.”

If your affections are divided, can you love two individuals or two objects alike? Water, when its power is concentrated, turns machinery; but when you divide it and apply its force upon many wheels at the same time, it accomplishes little; whereas its condensed force upon one wheel will effect the desired object.

This is true in relation to prayer; but is it true in relation to the plurality of wives? Can a man really love more than one wife at the same time? I may answer this question in the negative or in the affirmative, and either may be considered correct according to circumstances.

It was the prayer of Christ that his disciples, though many, might be one—that is, to have no mind or will of their own, but all partake of his spirit and his mind; and thus, they being one in him, he could easily love them all. But if one set up a will of his own—rebelled in his feelings against a union with each other and with his legitimate head also, he might pity the folly of that rebellious one, but could not love him as those who rebelled not.

If a man have forty wives, and they all receive his mind and spirit, and are thus one in him, he can as easily love them all (because they are one), as a father can love a half-score of children who copy his mind and spirit. But if a woman rebel in her feelings against a good man, and yield to the temptations of the Devil, she may know that her husband may pity, but cannot love her, because she has ceased to be one with him and to partake of his mind and spirit. If, therefore, your husband be a good man, and you copy his mind and his spirit, he cannot help loving you, though he have forty other wives in the same situation.

Now, you wives, partake of the spirit of your husbands, and you will be loved; but you set up a standard and a spirit aside from his, and he never will love you; no, he never will. I speak to the knowledge and experience of some: yes, too many know that this is true.

And ye husbands, drink into the Spirit of your God and of your superiors in the Priesthood on earth; and if your wives are good women, they will love you; but if you do not, they will not love you; they won’t have confidence in you.

You husbands, go to work by your own spirit and set up a standard independent of the Holy Ghost, and will God love you? No, he won’t. If you do not drink into the spirit of your superiors, will they love you? Will they have confidence in you? No, they won’t.

Well, you see it is all flowing in our legitimate channel. If God has ten thousand children, or a million, or ten millions, and all partake of one spirit, and they are one, does he not love them all? Yes, he does. But if one steps aside from the path marked out, will he love him? No, he won’t. But if the ignorant sin and go astray, he may send a messenger after them and get them back. He may rejoice over them and pity them when they are away, and rejoice over them when they come back.

Now, brethren and sisters, consider these principles: weigh them well in your minds; for the greatest evil that I know of in this people is the little bickerings in families. I am happy to say that even this evil is diminishing; yet there should be none at all.

The spirits of men and women should ever be guided and tempered by the Holy Ghost; and I believe that the desire and intention of a large majority of the people are to keep the spirit of their superiors and of their God—to drink it and live by it.

Would to God that all the women that are adopted into families would partake of the spirit of their husbands, if they are upright men. They have no right to an independent standard, anymore than I have a right to a standard independent of the Holy Ghost. I should have an independence to turn away from all sin; for that is the Spirit of God, and that is the right kind of independence, and that is the only kind that is justifiable.

I feel, brethren and sisters, that I should not go amiss—that I should not go astray from the path of duty, were I to call upon families to repent of their sins in this respect. I have laid before you, this morning, some of the greatest evils there are in families—an unwillingness of the members of those families to keep the spirit of their head. Some of them are unwilling to do it: it is too much the case. I only direct these remarks where they are applicable; and therefore those to whom they do not apply will not take them: and perhaps there will be some to whom they are applicable that will say, I do not believe that doctrine. To such I would say, You are the very one; you are the very character to repent and submit yourself to the proper government of God.

In relation to murmuring against God, brethren and sisters, do you not know that the Israelites were reproved and that they were slain because they murmured against their God? Well, now, in the same light do families stand who murmur against their head and partake not of the spirit of their head; for, say the Scriptures, “Whoso will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.” Remember that it is by patient continuance in welldoing that we seek for honor, happiness, and eternal life—by patient continuance all the time, and not when we come into trying places to turn aside; but to abide in the covenants and be patient, seeking for honor, immortality, and eternal life.

Well, now, you brethren, do not you go home and say that just suits me—that is my doctrine, and take liberty thereby to tyrannize over your families. If it just suits you, and if it is your doctrine, all right. But one thing let me tell you—Seek the spirit of your head; and if you will do that, you will never take advantage of the remarks of the servants of God to mistreat your women. But, at the same time, the principle must be laid open before you, so that you can understand it. No doubt you all know it and understand it perfectly well; but it is necessary once in a while to “stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance.” Do not murmur against God, against Moses, nor against your legitimate head: no, do not do it; for “Whoever will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people.”

Well, now, brethren and sisters, these are about the remarks that I wanted to make. There are a great many things in which we have improved; and in respect to the things of which I have spoken, there is no doubt but you have greatly improved; but I tell you there is room for a mighty stride of improvement in this respect. This is the way I feel about it.

I do not wish to divide your attention upon a thousand things, but I wish to call your attention to this thing and say, Repent of all your deviations from the path of duty; and I believe that you know this is a true doctrine—that you are satisfied that it is true. Cast away from you every feeling of rebellion and of murmuring that will lead you to oppose your legitimate head, and drink down the spirit of your superiors, and abide by it; and then you are one: and when you are one, God can love you all at the same time. Why, when I love a person, I not only love the head, but I love the face, the hands, the feet, and all the members of that body. Well, then, if we are all members of the body, does not God love us all? Certainly he does. Then away with the idea that a man cannot love but one object at a time: away with this, I say, and let us all be one. Then if any part of us is loved, we are all loved. I believe that I have said all that I wanted to say. May God bless you and save us all in his kingdom! Amen.

There is one word more that I want to say, and it is right in connection with what I have said. I won’t turn your minds away from what has been spoken; but I want to tell you that brother Brigham, brother Heber, and brother Daniel’s responsibilities laid upon them make them feel more than any other men can feel. They are enough to burst iron hearts, aside from their family responsibilities. Pray, therefore, that their strength may be equal to their day; and while you pray for them, work to your prayer. And if you ask, “How shall I work to it?” I will tell you. If you get some little difficulty on your mind, you Bishops, you Elders, you members, do not run to brother Brigham, to brother Heber, nor to brother Daniel. You have prayed to God that their burdens may be lightened; then do not throw your troubles upon them, but pray to God to nerve their bodies and their spirits, and to give them power and strength sufficient for their day.

You would not say to the mule or jackass that is bending beneath his burden, “Oh! Poor animal!” And then jump on to him yourself: you would not do that. Then, when you see the Presidency of our Church—our leaders—when you see them bowed down, if you cannot go to do them any good, do not go to them with any of your petty troubles and difficulties. We want all these miserable petty cases put away or settled between parties and their Bishop, and mercifully relieve our head from unnecessary, petty, and vexatious troubles.

God bless us and enable us all to do so, through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday, October 4, 1857.

I will say a few words before the congregation is dismissed.

As but few can be in our offices to learn the news that is brought in, I will say that on the 2nd, Friday last, a messenger arrived with intelligence that the soldiers were going up Ham’s Fork.

Previous to that I had sent by Lieutenant-General Wells a copy of the Proclamation proclaiming martial law, and ordering the troops not to come here. They treated it as I presumed they would. They say that they are sent by the President, are subject to superior officers, and intend to abide their instructions; and I expect that they will, until some other power checks their progress.

The brethren are well, and the spirit of peace and contentment rests upon them. They are doing their duties—living to and serving their God.

Keep the “‘Mormon’ creed,” and especially just now in regard to the remarks made by brother Spencer. Some may think they will have to deviate in attending to digging their neighbors’ potatoes; but this is now the very business for the brethren to do. This is now their duty, and what the brethren ought to do.

I do not know that anybody’s heart burns, except it is to get a little nearer to our enemies and for the troops to undertake to come in here. Well, we are in the hands of the Lord our God, and he will overrule things just as he pleases.

Many want to know what the result will be; and they want the Lord to give them revelation. Get revelation, if you can. I have told you before, and I can tell you now, that the result will be that “Mormonism” will be higher and greater in power and influence than ever it was before. Our enemies will sink, while we will increase in power and strength, and enjoy an influence that we never enjoyed before; and the Lord will have his own way in bringing about these things. I know that all will be made right; and an allwise, overruling Providence will bring us off victorious. He has led us to victory and peace, and has given us power and influence that we can sustain ourselves; and I believe that it is the calculation of all to sustain themselves against all that can come to annoy, destroy, desolate, and drive the Saints of God. God will fight our battles; and he will do it just as he pleases.

You know that it is one peculiarity of our faith and religion never to ask the Lord to do a thing without being willing to help him all that we are able; and then the Lord will do the rest.

The main object I had in coming to meeting this morning was to let you know that my health is better. Last Sabbath I did not think it prudent to come out; but I am at my post, and God is at the helm.

Let us walk in the precepts of our Savior—those that he has marked out for us, and God will bless us; and I bless you, my brethren and sisters, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I mean to save my brethren and sisters, God being my helper. God bless you! Amen.

Remarks by Elder Erastus Snow, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, October 4, 1857.

I feel like offering a few of my reflections in connection with those remarks we have heard this morning from Elder Hyde. I feel that they are timely and good for the congregation of the Saints to reflect upon and treasure up. I would not say anything to draw the minds and reflections of the people from those sentiments which have been presented by Elder Hyde this morning, but rather to enforce and impress them upon the minds of the congregation, that every person capable of understanding may be able to treasure them up, that these principles may abide in our hearts; for, says the Savior, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, they shall be in you as living water, and ye shall bear much fruit.”

Now, this people are not perishing for lack of knowledge: they have not a lack of the words of the Lord. But if this people perish for lack of knowledge at all, it is because they do not retain the word of the Lord which is delivered to them: it is not because it is not planted in our hearts, but because our ground is not properly broken up. The ground of our hearts is not prepared, that the word that is sown may bring forth fruit. This is the trouble and the reason why we do not advance and bring forth more fruit, and grow more thrifty in the work of the Lord our God, and increase in faith, in power with God, in unison with him and with those whom he has set over us, and with one another.

The trouble is not in our God, neither is it in our fellowservants—those whom he has set to be our leaders, our teachers; for God is with them, and he would be with them much more abundantly, if we as a people were more ready to listen to them, and there was place found in us for their words, and their words take effect in our hearts. Then his Spirit and power would increase upon us, and there would be no lack. The lack is in us—in the people, and always has been, and is not in our God. He is waiting and anxious to pour out blessings, and glory, and honor, and exaltation upon his people, far more than we have ever received, and far more than we are capable of receiving; and the only reason we have not received it long ago is because there was no place found for it.

The great labor of the Lord and of all his servants is to prepare the hearts of the people, to concentrate the feeling of the people, to concentrate their faith, and to make them one, and to prepare their hearts to bring forth the fruits of the kingdom of God. This is the labor of preaching and praying, of exhorting, inviting, and beseeching all the time—to move upon the hearts of the people and convince them of the necessity of union—to impress it upon them, that they may remember all those principles which alone can exalt them. And, as was said by Elder Hyde, the responsibility of our conduct rests upon ourselves, and not upon our leaders. The responsibility that is resting upon our leaders is alone the responsibility of doing what the Lord wants them to.

The responsibility of what befalls this people is no more upon brother Brigham than it is upon me, and no more upon me than it is upon you; and every individual soul in all Israel has his own responsibility to bear, and he cannot throw it off. Whether it be good or evil—whether it be joy or sorrow—whether it be affliction or blessings, the responsibility thereof rests upon us individually.

Brothers Brigham, Heber, and Daniel, who are they but our fellowservants—those that the Lord has given us to be our leaders and the mouthpieces of the Lord unto this people—the legitimate channel through which to lead, govern, and control this people? But are they responsible any more than you or I? No, not one whit. When they have discharged their duties, they are as free from responsibility as you or I. When they have done what lies in their power to do, they are exonerated before their God, although they feel as no other men on earth can feel, because there are no others placed in their condition; and it is impossible for any others to feel as they feel and have the same interest they have for the welfare of this people.

It is God who rules and leads; it is God who controls the destinies of all men. Every man is in his hands, to be used as he will. Whithersoever this people are led, they will be led through that channel he has intended; and whether they go to the east, west, north, or south—whether they burn their dwellings and flee to the mountains, or remain here—whether they fight the Gentiles, or turn their backs upon them—whatsoever they have to do, it will be the Lord Almighty that does it; but he will do it through the channel he has appointed.

But will the responsibility of thousands be upon those men that are set over us to lead us? No, it will not. I am well aware that there are a great many people who in their childish simplicity feel that any act that they do is nothing to them.

So far as taking thought or having trouble in our spirits about what is to come or what will be the result of things, it is well that we should set our hearts at rest and be at ease and feel quiet, and our spirits calm as a summer’s morning and resigned, and our feelings prayerful and peaceful. But as far as feeling indifferent and like throwing off the responsibility from our shoulders upon our leaders, this should not be; neither should we claim exemption from the responsibility of anything in Israel. Everyone should have a share of that responsibility, and they cannot throw that responsibility off; for upon my head devolves the responsibility of directing my hands and my feet and other members of my body in their exercises. It is equally the duty of every other member of the body to administer to the head. The hands have to feel the head, and the head has to be properly guarded and shielded, that it may be active and the brain vigorous, that every movement may be wisely directed and every energy of the body directed in proper channels.

Our God deals with us as a people. He does not deal with brother Brigham, brother Heber, or brother Daniel separately and distinctly from this people, or the people distinct from them. We cannot be separated; we are one. We are the Twelve Apostles, the High Priests, the Seventies, the Elders, the Priests, the Teachers, the Deacons, the Bishops. Every quorum of the Priesthood, every man in Israel, and every woman in Israel are members of the same body—branches of the same vine, and partake of the same spirit, unless they are branches that are withered and dried up. God will deal with us as a whole all the time.

How was it with Israel of old, as has been referred to by Elder Hyde? They were led by the hand of God all through the wilderness. God led Moses. Sometimes they were led in one direction, and sometimes in another. They were brought up against the Red Sea; and did not they, in their blindness, chide with Moses because he had led them thus? Looking at things naturally, they could say, “You might have gone round and avoided this snare: we might have taken another road, instead of running right into this canyon, between these two mountains, and against the Red Sea, where there is no chance to dodge; and so we are to perish by the armies of Egypt close in our rear and the sea before us.” These were the feelings of a great many weak in faith and ignorant people among them; and they were ready to pick up stones to stone Moses because he had done it.

There are a great many instances of the same kind during their forty years’ sojourning in the wilderness. Sometimes they were led into the wilderness when they might have followed some streams of water, had the Lord have led them in that channel. And when they were led into different circumstances there were always some who complained and threw the responsibility upon Moses, exonerating themselves.

Some wished to turn back unto Egypt, and a great many plans were in view to extricate themselves from difficulties; except fleeing to the Almighty, who had led them into those difficulties; and time and again the Lord rebuked them and manifested his power to deliver them. But who led them? Did Moses lead them? No. The Almighty led them. Moses was his servant, and led them as the Almighty directed him.

Why did not the Almighty direct him to lead them round the Red Sea instead of through it? And why did he not lead them to follow the streams, instead of taking them across the desert? Why did he not lead them a straight course from Egypt to Canaan, instead of keeping them forty years in the wilderness? Who was most to blame for it? Was the responsibility upon him, or was it upon the people? Why was it upon the people? Because they were a stiffnecked people, a hardhearted people, and an ignorant people.

We read in the Scriptures that they were so stiffnecked as to provoke the Lord, and he came out upon them in his wrath and consumed them from his presence—sometimes by fire that came forth from his presence, at other times by causing the earth to open and swallow them up by thousands, at other times by pestilence, and at other times by fiery flying serpents which came among them and bit them that they died.

Why was the anger of the Lord kindled against them? Because of the hardness of their hearts and the stiffness of their necks. It was not because of Moses. Only in one instance did Moses offend. That was not in any of his movements in leading and controlling Israel, but because he did not sanctify the Lord God of Israel before their eyes when he smote the rock of Horeb. This was the only instance in which the Lord condemned Moses; but he directed Moses how to lead Israel, and Moses led them in the way he was directed; and they were tried forty years in the wilderness, until most of them were worn out and perished.

Were they a wicked people above all other people, that their carcasses should thus fall in the wilderness? What think you, brethren and sisters—ye that are called Latter-day Saints, were they, as a people, more wicked than the rest of mankind, that God should have dealt with them thus? I answer, No. But of a truth they were the best people upon the face of the earth, and the only people that had the Priesthood of God among them.

They were the people whom God had delivered from Egyptian bondage with an outstretched arm; and by his power, they were the only people God could make use of. They had faith sufficient that he could govern and control them; and so far from being the worst, they were the best people upon the earth; but upon them rested the responsibility, and they did not improve upon their privileges and appreciate their blessings as they ought to have done; and for this reason were they set forth as examples to all who should live after; and the responsibility of their carcasses falling in the wilderness, the responsibility of their being led into the desert, the responsibility of all their trials and troubles was not upon Moses and their leaders, nor upon their God, but upon themselves; for, had they been pliable, submissive, willing, and obedient, and had their spirits been pliable before the Lord, willing to be molded and fashioned, they could have been led forth conquering and to conquer, and been planted in Canaan just as well in two years as in forty. And if this people were capable of receiving it, the Lord could as well give them the kingdom today as forty years hence. And if the people of the United States would have hearkened to the voice of the Lord, given through the Prophet Joseph, they might have been a more prosperous and powerful nation today.

The history of all religious generations and dispensations is similar, and shows this fact to us, that human nature is the same in every age of the country, and among every country, and among every people—that all men are subject to like weaknesses and have to be taught gradually.

Children grow from infancy to manhood; and whether God leads our footsteps in correct paths or not, he is only leading us to school: he is only directing our course in a round of experience by which he trains us, and makes us one, cements our hearts together, and rids our spirits of iniquity and abomination. He wants to teach men and women how to walk together in union and be great—to teach this people how to be bound to him and to those that he sets over them, and to teach his Saints how to reign in the house of Israel as his servants.

I do feel conscious that if the men of Israel do their duty and live their religion, reformation will go forth from them through their families, and it cannot be stayed; and every branch of every family in Israel will feel the effects of that reformation: every woman and all her children will feel it.

If a man of God lives his religion and is controlled only by the Spirit of Zion in his family, and if he has a turbulent, disobedient spirit in his family, that spirit will be subject or that individual will be separated from his family, upon the same principle that turbulent persons that repent not are severed from this Church by the vote of this people; and when that turbulent person is severed, he will dry up and wither, and will be gathered and burned with the ungodly.

It may be that heretofore the fanning-mill has blown out more of the men than it has of the women; but if it has done this, it is because the sieve is not quite fine enough. But as the work of reformation goes forward, it will sift to the very bottom; and every member of every family in Israel will feel the effects of the driving element that will sanctify them for the Lord Almighty or separate them from this people.

Every man in Israel is responsible in a certain degree for the conduct of his wives and children. He has covenanted that he will assume that responsibility; that is, he will assume the responsibility of the sins of his wives, if he fails to discharge his duties towards them in teaching and leading them in the ways of life and salvation.

I assume the responsibility of the acts of my wives and children so far as they are obedient to me; and when I discharge my duties to them, reprove them in their transgression, set a godly example before them, live my religion, and show forth the spirit thereof in my course with my family, and they will not drink into the same spirit and receive good at my hands, those consequences shall roll from me upon them; and it becomes my duty to separate myself from those sins and from the rebellious members of my family, that we may not all be cursed because of the transgression of one or two individuals.

But if I do not discharge my duties towards them, admonish them when they are out of the way, instruct them in their duties, and walk as a man of God before them, the consequences and responsibility of every individual’s transgressions, even those of every wife and every child I have, and of every evil that is done in my house, shall rest upon me. God has laid it upon me.

Sometimes we may err by being remiss in duty—too lenient in our families, and some of us may be under condemnation by being too careless about transgressors in our families; for if we hold fellowship with transgressors and spirits that are in rebellion against God and that will not repent and humble themselves—if we close our ears to it and go to sleep while wickedness is stalking unrebuked through our habitations, we become partakers in that transgression, and the consequences thereof will stick to us.

But if the head of a family reproves iniquity and seeks to purge it from his presence—from his family, then his hands are free from stain of guilt; he is not a partaker in the transgression, and by his doings he says he will no longer hug to his bosom that individual—he will no longer eat and drink with him or her as a member of the body of Christ—he will no longer be held responsible for their sins.

So should every man and every family rid themselves of evil and transgressors in their midst; for God deals with every family as a whole, as he deals with this people as a whole; and every man in Israel is responsible, and that responsibility he assumes when he assumes the responsibility of a family.

If there is no sieve fine enough yet to separate the dross from the wheat of the female portion of this community, I tell you, in the name of Israel’s God, there is a fine one preparing, and it will separate the chaff from the wheat from every family in Israel, as sure as there is a God in Israel, until the families of Israel shall be sanctified before the Lord—until they shall be one, even all the families in Israel, that the Lord God shall accept and not be ashamed of them.

There are many ways by which this may be accomplished; but the Lord in his own due time will bring it to pass. We naturally cling to our families, loving and cherishing them; so does every man that feels the weight of his responsibility—that is set over this people to administer in any department thereof: he feels his heart full of compassion, and he desires the salvation of every member thereof. So does our Father desire the salvation of every member of his family.

Many among us, in their ignorance, manifest a weakness of soul in training up their offspring. Their weakness is such that they cannot administer chastisement unto their children; but they love them with a foolish, blind, ignorant love, that gratifies every desire and allows them to have their own way and pursue the channel of their own inclinations unrebuked, unchastened, until they grow up wild, as it were, without any proper impulse being given to their minds. If I feel satisfied in thus allowing my offspring to follow the bent of their own inclinations, God will hold me responsible for their evil acts.

If any man have members in his family whom he cannot control by the principles of the Gospel, far better were it for him, if they want to go to the States or to any other country, to give them a good outfit and send them off, get them out of the way, and let them go their own way: far better this than to harbor them where they were like a viper in his bosom, corrupting and corroding in the midst of his family.

The female portion of this community have to bear their share of this responsibility; and we know they are the best set of women that exist upon the earth; and that all the world will bear witness to, when they talk about plurality.

Men of some discretion in the Gentile world ask questions about the operations of the plurality of wives among us. “How many wives live in each house? How do they get along in their associations? Are they all the time quarrelling and fighting?” A man said to me once, “My wife would not stand it five minutes, if I should bring a woman into my house to have a share of my company and my affections: I should have a hell upon earth, and no house that I could build would be big enough to hold my wife. It is marvelous to me how you can live, and how it is you are not killed.”

They cannot understand it, because they are governed by their passions, and not by principles; and it is the hardest thing in the world for them to be convinced that this people are governed by principle. This is the doctrine we have been preaching abroad, and it is the very thing the Gentiles will not receive; and they marvel and wonder that we do not tear each other’s eyes out. They say this would be the case with them: in a little while they would be bald and blind and full of wounds, bruises, and putrifying sores; or, like the Kilkenny cats, use each other up all but the tails, and then the tails would jump at each other. So it would be among them indeed; for there is no law of the Lord that would keep the people together a minute in the peace and order that exist here.

Existence among this people is of itself one of the greatest privileges. The world of mankind may soon know that God is with us, and that he is at the helm, that he is the founder of this work, and that the women as well as the men are the best upon the earth, and that we are determined to live and be governed by principle and not passion.

Have we all learned to be altogether thus governed? No, we have not. But we are learning it: the men and women of Israel are learning it; but some of them are very dull scholars, and would a great deal rather go off and play than take a lesson; and they whine and cry over it, and sit on the dunce block rather than study and learn their lessons; and they will be dunces, because nothing but foolishness is bound up in their hearts. But many of us are learning to be governed by principle, not passion, and learning that we must become one—that there is somebody else that has feelings besides them—that there is somebody else worthy of respect and love besides them—that there are some good qualifications in some other being—and some other woman’s children have some claims as well as mine; they are learning to let principle rule them.

Well, go on: let the good work continue. This is my prayer all the time. Are all the families of Israel and every woman striving herself to play well her part and reverence her husband as her lord; for he is her lord. Will she ever have another? No, never; and if she ever expects to have another, she has not learned “Mormonism” aright. She may tear herself loose from him and attach another, but she may have a worse one: she ought to have a worse one. If she cannot learn to honor him, the next one she gets, if she is permitted to have another, ought to be a worse one. How shall women honor their husbands? Just as we honor brother Brigham in his place, and the authorities of the Wards in their places; because upon him is laid the responsibility of that family, and he cannot get rid of it. He is in duty bound to purge them of their follies, and they are in duty bound to listen to his reproofs and honor him and pray for him, that he may be led aright.

Do the women, when they pray, remember their husbands? Do you pray for brother Brigham? Yes, you should always pray for him. But when you pray for him, do you pray also for your own husband, that he may have the inspiration of the Almighty to lead and govern his family as the lord? Do you uphold your husband before God as your lord? “What! My husband to be my lord?” I ask, Can you get into the celestial kingdom without him? Have any of you been there? You will remember that you never got into the celestial kingdom without the aid of your husband. If you did, it was because your husband was away, and someone had to act proxy for him. No woman will get into the celestial kingdom, except her husband receives her, if she is worthy to have a husband; and if not, somebody will receive her as a servant.

We have one God, the Father of us all, who is graciously kind to us; and those who call upon his name receive his Spirit; but the spirit we have got to be in is for every woman to be one with her husband, and every man to be one with those that are set over him in the Lord. Thus we become as branches of one vine, partaking of the same spirit.

Does every woman pray for her children and with her children? Does she teach them to reverence their father and honor him ? If she does not teach them thus to honor him in her own words and examples, her children learn disobedience from her. Show me disobedient children, and I will show you disobedient parents, the world over.

Where there are disobedient and rebellious children in the midst of Israel, tell me who their father and mother are, and I will point out to you disobedient, rebellious, disaffected parents; and if there is a woman in any family whose children dishonor their father, I will show you a woman that dishonors her husband and shows him disrespect, from which the children take their example.

We do not want such women in Israel: we do not want their offspring, nor anything that pertains to them, except they repent. If they will have their children learn righteousness, let them seek it themselves, and pray to God in their apartments for their little ones. It is the mothers in Israel that have the charge of chil– dren; the men of Israel are abroad among the nations of the earth to preach the Gospel and fight the battles of Zion, to go abroad and return once in a few years, perhaps, to visit their family and become acquainted with their children. God wishes the mothers in Israel to assume that responsibility, and assume it by the Holy Ghost, that there may be a generation raised up that shall be fit for the Lord to use.

Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, ye mothers in Israel, and fast, and hunger and thirst after righteousness. Pray for and with your little children in your apartments. Is it enough for a father to gather together his wives and children when he is at home, and pray with them? That is his duty; and every mother should take pattern by his example, and with their own offspring follow his example and call down the blessings of heaven upon them, and they will learn from her. While they listen to her prayers, they will learn to lisp from her mouth the words of prayer and thanksgiving to God; and faith will rest upon them, and the Holy Ghost will rest upon them, and they will be inspired with faith and power, and draw down blessings upon her and upon their father; and the blessings of God will rest upon them from their mother’s womb, if they pursue this course.

May the God of heaven help us to pursue this course, one and all, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Remarks by Elder Wilford Woodruff, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, September 27, 1857.

We are glad to see the brethren return home from their long missions or short ones. We are glad to greet them, to hear them talk, to see their faces, and to hear their testimony that the Lord has been with them. These things are a pleasure to us who remain here in Zion. There are a multiplicity of evidences that God is with this people, and that the Lord has been with his Elders, wherever they have been, from the beginning of this work.

There has been something peculiar connected with the Elders of this Church from the beginning. You may take the rest of the world, politically, temporally, spiritually, or any other way; and there never has been such an example in the eyes of heaven, earth, or hell as has been in the Elders of this Church, in preaching this Gospel to the nations of the earth. The hand of God has been in the work from the beginning, and it is in it yet; and the hand of the Lord has been with them to succor them all the time. The revelations given from heaven, through Joseph, concerning the Elders, have been fulfilled to the very letter.

There are many things that are consoling; and one is, to know that the Lord is with us—that he does reveal his mind and will in the ordinances of the house of God, and through the administration of blessings, whether by Patriarchs, or by the Twelve Apostles, or in the endow– ments. We find those blessings are fulfilled to the very letter.

The brethren today have spoken in reference to the blessings that are given to our brethren when they go out on their missions to the various nations of the earth. I remember the day very well when we blessed those missionaries that went to India and to Europe; and I must say that I never had such a variety of feelings as I had at that time.

In blessing brother Luddington, I recollect that I was mouth, and I well remember that I could see nothing but seas, waves, and storms. The seas appeared to be heaped up, and I knew that he was going to see storms and be exposed to troubles and dangers. But there was one thing that we did bless those brethren with that I rejoice in, and that is that they should return home again.

Well, our words have all been fulfilled to the very letter, and this gives us consolation. If we go forth, and have the Priesthood and Apostleship upon us, the Holy Spirit of God, though it may not be visible, does dictate to us; and it is so in ordaining: it is so in going to battle against the nations of the earth, who have given their consent to the shedding of the blood of the Prophets.

Brother Brigham feels calm and serene as a summer’s morning; and in his desire to save Israel he wishes to save also the lives of our enemies, if possible. Why is he so calm and steady? It is because God is with him; and though armies are approaching and ready, apparently, to swallow up this people, yet he and his brethren feel calm, and the Lord reveals unto them, by the Holy Spirit, how to govern and control this people. They have had a long experience in proving the Almighty God, who holds the destiny of the Saints and the sinner. And has he ever failed us? No, never.

Some of our brethren have told their trials here today, and they have said that they have not done much; but the greatest work they have done has been in saving themselves. But this is not all they have done. They have done something else; they have accomplished the purposes of God in India—as much so as though they had baptized every king and queen in those islands: they have literally fulfilled the revelations of Jesus Christ in carrying the Gospel unto them, because those nations could not have been left without excuse and the earth prepared for the judgments of God, if those Elders had not gone and preached to the people of those nations. No matter if they had not have baptized one, they are as much justified as we who first went to Herefordshire, England, and baptized twenty or thirty priests in a day. They have fulfilled the commandments in carrying the Gospel to the nations.

It is no testimony to me that a man is not faithful, because he has not baptized numbers of princes, lords, governors, and kings; not at all. The Lord has sent them there: he has tried them and put them in strait places; but has he left them? No, he has not. Has he not brought them forth? We have had the testimony of brother Musser, who is here; and we see that it is the hand of God that has been over them, and we are glad of it; and we do not expect that the Lord will send the Elders out there again until they have other missionaries and messengers that they cannot stone, tar, or feather, but messengers that will come with their sharp sickles: then they will find that they have messengers that they cannot conquer nor overcome.

I feel to rejoice in these things and to know that the Lord is at work with this people. We are living in a fast age—an age fraught with great events, and every day is bringing to pass more of the predictions; and more revelation is being fulfilled in one year, now, than has been fulfilled in centuries before. We are living in a day when that flood of revelation is coming to a focus; and that focus we stand in, and we are seeing it fulfilled day by day.

The wicked rage and the heathen imagine a vain thing; and they say, “Let us go and take a prey and a spoil; let our eye be upon Zion, and let her be defiled.” But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel. God will work for us and defend us, if we do our duty, and Zion will soon be free. We will not suffer the oppressions of our enemies as we have done.

You need not fear: all we have to do is to be passive in the hands of the Lord, and follow the counsel of our leaders, and not be particularly anxious that the Lord should reveal to you or to me his mind and will and intentions concerning our present difficulties; but pray earnestly that the Spirit of the Lord may be upon those men who stand at the head. All we have to do is to live our religion; and when the Presidency say, “Come here,”, or “Go there,” let us be on hand to obey, and all will be right.

Let the people be quiet and pray that God may reveal his mind and will to those at the head. We may have our ideas of what we should do in this or that case; but there is no man so well qualified to lead, govern, and direct for the salvation of the people as that man whom God has appointed. We have as good leaders as we need. There never was a better leader given to Israel, nor one more capable of leading this people to salvation, than Brigham Young: he is filled with the Spirit of God day by day. If the United States make war upon this people, the Lord will hold them responsible for it, and the measure they mete will be measured unto them again; and if they are ripe and the cup of their iniquity full, they will be shattered to pieces—their union broken up and destroyed. They will be visited with thunder and lightning and hail and the judgments of God; and every man that will not draw his sword against his neighbor will be obliged to flee to Zion. They are sending their armies here to destroy us; but I ask none to weep for Utah or spend their sympathy for us—not even my relatives or the priests, the doctors, lawyers, or editors; no, not even one soul—from the President of the United States down through the whole nation, who have given consent to our death; for they will have plenty to bear themselves, and they may save their weeping for themselves and their children. The Lord will teach them that their proud looks and haughty feelings will be laid low. It is right to pray and it is right to keep our powder dry. Pray for the Presidency of this Church—pray for them to have the Spirit of revelation. We have never seen a day when “Mormonism” was taking such a stride as it is at the present time. They may come over the Plains singing their songs about what they will do when they get to Utah; but many of them will find a place in hell before they get here.

There have been many truths taught here today. Many who have been here for years do not know or realize the great blessings we are enjoying in these valleys of mountains. Our granaries are filled with bread and we enjoy peace and the comforts of life. We come to the Tabernacle of God and associate with holy men, and we should be holy ourselves: if we are not, it is our own fault.

You have all the blessings which the celestial kingdom and laws of God impart unto men on the earth, while the Gentile nations have suffered ruin, wickedness, and abominations of every kind to increase in their midst until they are ripe for destruction. Do they not thirst for the blood of the Saints and every man who is righteous? Do they not delight in wickedness? They are full of wrath and anger, and they are ripe for the damnation of hell. Yes, the nations of the earth are ripe today.

Then we should be faithful and diligent in all things committed to our charge. Even though the Lord has suffered some of the brethren to go through strait places, in days which are past and gone, and he may still call us to go through strait places, yet he will sustain us when we trust in him.

The Lord has suffered some of our Prophets and Apostles to be martyred; and what for? That the cup of the iniquity of the nations might be full and that his servants might be crowned heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ to a martyr’s crown.

Through the persecutions of the enemies of truth, many of the Saints have been worn out; but, as a body, the kingdom and people have been led off as victorious conquerors. We stand now and hold the keys of the American continent; we stand in the strong chambers of the mountains; and can the Lord God give us the victory? He can and he will, and he has been preparing us for this by pouring out upon us his Holy Spirit, uniting the people who have been willing to repent and forsake their sins; and I hope we shall continue faithful to the end.

I am glad, and my soul rejoices in these things, and I believe that the people are ready to shoulder their guns and walk into these canyons and line them from here to Fort Bridger in defense of the Constitution of the United States and the rights which both the laws of God and man guarantee to us.

We have had to stoop to our enemies heretofore and bear many things from them worse than death; but if there is anything that gives us joy and consolation—at least, I can speak for myself—it was when I heard the brethren say, “You are free, brethren—you are free; and you may prove yourselves before God and men that you are willing to defend yourselves against tyrants and oppressors.”

When I heard this, I was full of joy; and who would not be? Who would not rather die than bow down to the yoke of the enemy? It would sweeten death to a man to know that he should lay down his life in defense of freedom and the kingdom of God rather than to longer bow to the cruelty of mobs, even if the mob have the name of being legalized by the nation.

I thank God and I rejoice that this people are determined to be free from mobocracy and oppression, and that they are determined to have peace, if they have to fight for it; and if the yoke is ever put on again, it will be by ourselves: and I say, God bless this people and the missionaries that have gone to the nations—no matter whether they have baptized one or a thousand, if they have done the will of God.

Notwithstanding the lightnings may flash, thunders roll, and earthquakes bellow, the Lord will extend his hand over his servants and protect them as he has done those that have returned unto us. And the Lord will remember our brethren that are on the Plains; and let us remember them in our prayers, that the Lord may be on our side; and let us be on hand and be ready at any and every call, and the kingdom will spread abroad, and it will smite the image not only on the toes but on the head; which may God grant for our sake. Amen.