Remarks by Elder Orson Hyde, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 6, 1862.

Brethren and sisters, I am called upon and requested to make a few remarks to you this afternoon, in which privilege I feel thankful to my heavenly Father, and also for the privilege of meeting with the Saints in general Conference.

The representatives of every part of the Territory are here, and to be privileged to speak, though perhaps but a few minutes, still it is a gratification; and to look upon you and your countenances is a privilege that I prize. If we were prepared to enter into heaven, to do according to our ideas of heaven, or as we have been used to believe, and should get up there in the presence of God, or in the presence of the spirits that are greater than we are, and undertake to teach and instruct them it would not seem exactly in place, and yet perhaps it might be in place, for those spirits might wish to know what was in us. It is in this manner that I do it at this time; it is not with a wish to instruct those that bear rule in the kingdom of God, but I suppose that they would like to know from us who have been at a distance, to know what kind of spirit we possess. Therefore as liberty is given to speak upon whatever subject is desired by the person addressing you, it may be supposed that every speaker will speak upon some favorite theme, that our spirits may be weighed in the balances and compared with the principles of the Gospel. I feel when I contemplate the principles of our holy religion very much as I do when I go into a very nice orchard and get hold of a good ripe peach, I naturally exclaim, this is excellent! I taste another, and say that is very good; of another I say it is luscious. Then I meet with some apples; I get hold of a Rhode Island Greening in the season thereof, and of course I say this is the finest going; then I get hold of a golden pippin and I think this is the finest of all. So I think with the spirits of great and good men in the Gospel; they are all best, and I do not know which to select of the principles of life and salvation. President Young gave us a key some time ago, to certain principles, and I thought I would make a few remarks upon a principle that seems to present itself to my mind. Suppose that there is in this town a man of honor, a man who fulfils his contracts, who never was known to cheat the laborer or cut him down in his price. His character is known; you enlist in his employment, and you have no doubt but you will be rewarded, and you know he is abundantly able and qualified to fulfil his word and promise, and you have no doubt or hesitancy in regard to receiving pay for your labor. You go on working and laboring, and you are confident that you will get your pay; not the least doubt in the world. Well, really, that is no more than we should do; it is no very high compliment to us, if while trusting in that individual and believing that we will get our pay and get justly rewarded unless we turn the tables and ask the question to ourselves, “Has that individual who has employed us got confidence in us, that we will execute and perform according to his wishes?” It is good to trust in the Lord, to repose confidence in what he has said to us, but it is better to secure and be sure that we have the confidence of the Almighty. When a man that you have employed in this service has proven that he is worthy, that he is faithful, wise, discreet, and understands what belongs to his duties in every branch of his profession, and who understands well how to keep all things in order, then he can be trusted and promoted according to his master’s pleasure.

Your employer has looked down upon you and seen your wisdom and the interest that you have taken in his affairs, till by-and-by it comes to something that is wanted to be done, then the employer goes to his master and says, “Sir, how shall I execute this piece of work? In what manner shall I perform this branch of business?” “Why,” says the master, “you understand my policy, and you understand that I have full confidence in you, therefore go and do it in a manner that will suit yourself.” Now, an employer won’t say that to every individual, but he might say it to one in whom he had the most unlimited confidence. May we not arrive at a point where we can secure the confidence of the Almighty, so that he will say, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. You know my policy; I have full confidence in you, indeed the light of Heaven shines in your hearts, and with this go and do as seemeth good unto you.” Arriving at this point may we not get the entire confidence of our heavenly Father in regard to all the duties that lie before us.

Now, it would not be a very high compliment for us to trust in that wealthy man who has plenty of means and who never violated his word, still it is good to trust in him; it shows that we consider him abundantly able and willing to fulfil his contracts. It is good to trust in the Lord, but what fool would not? There are some men who would not, especially if that trust touched their pockets. The gold, the silver, and everything that we own belongs to him, and we cannot trust too much in him. It is no very high compliment for us to say that we trust in the Lord; still it is good, it shows that we appreciate his policy and goodness; but when we can take a course of life to cause the Almighty to trust in us, and whenever he can find us to be a people in whom he can trust, then all those blessings referred by the President this morning will be poured out upon us. What will he put upon us when we show our obedience to his laws? He will take from the world their sovereignty and leave only desolation and confusion, and he will take the power which they claim to have and will transfer it to his chosen and anointed ones, just so soon as he can feel safe in doing so.

Well, brethren and sisters, I just wanted to impress this idea upon our minds. I say our, because I take it to myself, and it is my determination to pursue that course in all my teachings and in all my operations that will secure to me the confidence of our heavenly Father, the Lord being my helper. My heart is fully set to secure the confidence of the Almighty, and also of all the just ones.

May this be the desire and determination of every heart, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Remarks by President Daniel H. Wells, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 16, 1862.

I feel thankful at the improved appearance of our Tabernacle this morning. The President said, “Let there be light: and there was light.” Brother Taylor said if he was going to preach he should take that for a text, but I am not in the habit of taking texts. I shall, therefore, make such remarks as may come into my mind.

Behold, light has come into the world, and the Saints are the evidence of it, because their minds have been enlightened by the truth which they have received, through the influence of which they have been gathered out from the midst of the nations of the earth, that they might build up the kingdom of God, a kingdom of righteousness where they are not in danger of being overwhelmed with the darkness and corruptions of the world from whence they came. We have come out from Babylon into these mountain valleys for this purpose. We have been brought together by the favor of the Almighty, that we might form a nucleus of strength and power on the earth to aid and assist one another, to strengthen the cause and build up the kingdom of God, to establish righteousness so that this kingdom cannot be swallowed up by the wicked and ungodly. Here, also, we can have a clearer vision and view, more light and understanding than we could in the countries that we came from. The vision is less obscured by surrounding objects.

While brother Woolley was praying that we might have light, I felt to add one sentence, which was, that we, the Latter-day Saints, might do as well as we know how, that we might be able to accomplish the work assigned us. A person may have it in his heart to do so, but he may not have if in his ability to do as well as he knows because of the controlling circumstances which surround him at the time. This doubtless, is frequently owing to the ignorance of those associated with him, and if the people cannot do as well as they would at first, let them not be discouraged, but try again, and continue their efforts, perhaps they may bring greater influences to bear and combine more power as they proceed, until, finally they will be successful. When the prayer was being offered, I felt to say, “O Lord, enable thy people to do as well as they know how,” and I doubt not but this is the feeling in the hearts of all the sincere and faithful. And they ask, what can I do? How can I best serve my Master’s cause? With the large majority of those that profess to be Saints, to know how to be the most useful in the midst of the Saints of the Most High God is the ever-prevailing desire; it is a constant thought. We have instructions from time to time, line upon line, precept upon precept given to us by our president, informing us how to eradicate evil from our bosoms, to form a union of effort, of strength, of power, of faith to combine the elements together for the advancement of the kingdom and cause we have espoused, and those instructions of late have been, in a measure, upon points of a temporal character for the temporal salvation of the people. We should depend upon ourselves and upon our own resources and exertions for the things that are necessary for our temporal sustenance.

If we wish to do anything that will be a credit to ourselves, let us now in the days of peace and prosperity, show our faith by our works, and labor to bring about for ourselves and the kingdom, those things that are necessary for our own support and existence, to manufacture our own clothing, to begin to lay aside those things that are unnecessary while they are within our reach, provided that we do it of our own voluntary act for the sake of holy and righteous principles, for the sake of doing right, then we may be entitled to a small mead of praise; but that individual who only reforms when he is obliged, is not entitled to praise. When there is an abundance of luxuries here, and we show that we can abstain from them and lay them aside to depend upon our own exertions, we thus gain strength and power, instead of waiting till the things are entirely shut out from us.

We desire to prove our integrity to ourselves and to our God. This perhaps is in the bosoms of all the Saints; they would like to show that they are willing to abide the teachings that come from the President to them, and to lay the foundation for bringing those things from the elements which they require. Let us endeavor to make a little calculation, exercise our intellects, be active and energetic, and combine together the ability which we find in our midst; let us also combine our efforts and means as well as our faith. We are frequently in difficulty to establish some mechanical branch of business. We have thus far been frustrated in our attempts to manufacture iron, not so much for want of the mechanical skill, as in consequence of a certain unrighteous ambition which some have had to be the first to bring out good iron.

The Adversary is opposed to our progress, and he will strive to subvert every enterprise, but how does it become the Saints to let the evil influence and the power of the Adversary control them to that extent that if one brother cannot accomplish what is wanted, he feels in his heart that no one else shall? How does it look when a man cannot produce iron, for him to feel in his heart to operate for the purpose of thwarting every other man, and for this purpose get up a division and a contention among the brethren? This is the spirit that has been in Iron County; it is a kind of rivalry that is engendered in hell. To let the power of the Devil enter in and produce such feelings among Saints that ought to know better, and that ought to do better, is a disgrace to a people calling themselves the people of God.

I speak of iron to illustrate this subject, because it is a case with which you are all familiar, and because it is an article of which we stand so much in need. There are other things, though perhaps of less moment, in which this kind of strife does exist. There is such a thing as a commendable rivalry, a desire to excel, and which tends to build up, but this of which I speak is a design to thwart the operations and to keep in men’s own bosoms the knowledge which would do others good; yet they appear to delight in keeping looked up in their own bosoms that knowledge which would be of service to the community. Such persons fall far short of doing as well as they know how, or of doing all they can for the building up of the kingdom of God; all such will most likely become darkened in their counsel and lose the knowledge which they possess, for the Lord has not bestowed that light and intelligence for such a purpose. If I understand the subject, we are here to use our best ability to aid with our might and power to bring about the purposes of the Almighty in the last days. Hence, when we see men continue to be actuated by such unworthy influences which we find to be both disagreeable and disgraceful, we should strive to help them in overcoming them. Perhaps we do not all think of it in this light. If we do not, let us search out and see where we do give the Evil One power over us, and how he takes the advantage and causes us to do things which hedge up not only our own way, but the way of others. I do not suppose there is any person, even the most feeble, but could do some things for the advancement and benefit of this people, if they could and would do as well as they know how. With all the intelligence which the President possesses, I have no doubt but he could at many times do a great deal better for the benefit of Israel if the people around him pos– sessed more of the disposition to exercise and bring into use the knowledge and power to do good with which the Almighty has endowed them, but owing to their lack of diligence, and command over themselves they let the Adversary get power over them, and that thwarts him in his purposes which he would otherwise accomplish. The Lord himself cannot accomplish as much with a people who are slow to comprehend, who do not resist the powers of darkness and who do not overcome the power of the Evil One, but permit Satan to rule predominant in their bosoms and throw obstacles in their way, as he could and would with a people who not only being willing and obedient but who exhibit a disposition to govern and control their evil propensities, subdue and eradicate them from their bosoms, and give free scope and power to the intelligence, light, and knowledge with which they are so graciously endowed.

Well, then, we see that here is a labor that we can perform ourselves, if we will be careful and look into our own bosoms and eradicate therefrom the evil influences which we permit to come in there and darken our own counsel and minds, and be a clog in the way of the kingdom instead of helping it along.

In all measures which need our help, we should strive to see the utility of them, if possible as soon as those that have set about to do the work, and let our faith be to go about the labor required of us; let us go about it unitedly, with one heart and one voice. Then, cannot we ac– complish things as the Lord wants? Yes, we can, and then we shall soon see the kingdoms of this world tremble and fall to pieces. There are some portions of this community, I am aware, that feel right about the temporal progress of this kingdom.

I am speaking of these matters that you, my brethren and sisters, may lend a helping hand and let the kingdom increase, that we may all see the work of our God roll forth and increase with greater power and magnitude. Our President desires it, and so does the Almighty, and he will bestow his blessings upon his people and cause them to prosper exceedingly.

I presume there is no person living, who, if it had been possible twelve years ago to have looked forward to this time, and seen the vast increase of this mighty work and its magnitude, but would have considered it the most glorious scenery that could be exhibited to their view. No person could have imagined it, unless the Lord had shown it to him by opening the vision of his mind to see it.

We have truly attained to great blessings, still greater are before us, and we can rejoice more abundantly in the faith as we witness the development and progress of the great work in which we are engaged. We see great and important events before us, and duties to perform that are of great importance. Let us take hold with a will and with our whole heart, that we may progress more abundantly than we have hitherto done, which is my prayer and exhortation in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Remarks by Elder Ezra T. Benson, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, March 8, 1862.

I do not arise with any desire to interfere with the call of brother George A. Smith for brethren to go to the cotton district of our Territory, for I am very much in favor of brethren going to locate in the different settlements of Washington County to raise cotton and such other staple articles as are necessary for the welfare and prosperity of the Saints, and for the building up of Zion in the last days.

I live in the north part of the Territory, in Cache Valley, as most of you are aware, and I wish to say to those who are not wanted to go south, that if any of you feel like moving into the country, we would like to strengthen the settlements in our valley, and especially in the northern part of the County. By way of inducement we can promise you plenty of bread, if you will go there and help to till the earth and put in the seed in the season thereof, paying proper attention to your crops in the season when irrigation is required. It is a new country, possessing good facilities for stock raising, and in fact every facility for making home and friends comfortable and happy.

So far as I am individually concerned, it matters not to me what part of the Territory I go to labor or to reside in, if I can know and feel that I am doing the will of Heaven and carrying out the counsel and instruction of my brethren who preside in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. From the experience I have had in traveling with the President on his last mission south, I am able to say in all sincerity before God and my brethren, that all my prejudices are removed, and I feel perfectly willing to labor in any part of the Lord’s vineyard wherever my services are required.

Now we want about a hundred good sturdy fellows that feel themselves able to go to work to raise wheat and cattle, and to do all that is necessary for the beautifying and building up of Zion. It is a good place to raise flax, hemp, and vegetables. To be sure the altitude is considerably greater than it is in many other parts of the Territory, but this should not prevent us from performing our duties. If we are called to labor there that is the place for us to exert ourselves. It is sometimes argued that there is too much water there, and others will urge that there are too many Indians there; but, my feeling and the feeling of the brethren up there is to follow the counsel of our President and leader, and to labor in concert with all those who are set to guide our footsteps in the building up of Zion. We feel perfectly satisfied in doing this, for we know that while we pursue this course we are performing the duties that devolve upon us as Saints of God. We feel satisfied with our lot and place, and rejoice in the blessings that are bestowed upon us in that portion of our mountain home, and we feel to pray that we may ever be so in whatever position we may be called to labor for the accomplishment of the purposes of the Almighty.

May the Lord our God bless us and enable us to carry out the instructions that have been given us this day. This conference has been a happy time, and I can truly say that I have never felt better in our holy religion than I do today, and I know that the counsel that has been given to us is for our salvation.

You all know when you feel well, and you all know the Gospel of the Son of God, and there is nothing will give you satisfaction but the doctrines taught by the servants of God.

I bear my testimony to the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed by the Prophet Joseph, and to the correctness of the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; also to the revelations given through the prophets of God both ancient and modern.

May God Almighty preserve us in the faith, enable us to round up our shoulders, and assist in bearing the burden of the kingdom. When we have anything to say to our families let it be according to the counsel of the Spirit of God, that union may prevail. We all know that there is plenty for the Saints to feast upon, but some are too apt to look upon the dark side of the picture, instead of remembering the blessings promised to us by the Prophets of God. Why should we shrink from our position for one moment, when we have so many glorious blessings promised unto us?

Let us strive to be of one heart and one mind and all will be well with us. God bless you, my brethren and sisters, is my sincere prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Remarks by President Daniel H. Wells, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 6, 1862.

I feel thankful to be with you today, to sit and listen to the teachings we have heard, to be associated with the Saints of the Most High. Like our brother who has just spoken, I do feel thankful that I am here and have a part and lot in this great world in which we are all engaged; it is a work capable of filling the utmost desire and capability of the human mind, or wish or thought of that individual whose mind has been ripened into an understanding of the principles which lead to eternal life and exaltation in the kingdom of God. Man, in this kingdom, is placed upon a basis, upon a foundation by which he can cultivate himself with the graces and the attributes of a God. It is a work of progression. We are caught in the world by the Gospel net in the condition in which people of all other communities are found.

We are found in the world in sin, ignorance, and degeneracy, surrounded by all the influences of evil, having our traditions in common with the rest of mankind, and from all this the Gospel is capable of reclaiming us; from all that is hateful, such as strife, discord, dissension, and every species of sin and iniquity, our religion is calculated and designed to save and redeem us, if we will let it, by availing ourselves of its power.

This is the work which lies before each and every one of us as Saints of the Most High God. We have this privilege within ourselves if we choose to cultivate it.

It has been said by some, and I suppose it to be true doctrine, that God is truth, but that does not prove that truth is God; for truth like love, wisdom, and goodness, is an attribute and not a person. All these attributes of Deity lie in our pathway, and they are strewn around us to be laid hold of, and are calculated in their tendency to improve and exalt us as well as the Gods, and we have the privilege of assuming a position in which we can clothe ourselves with the blessings which lead to life everlasting, or we can disgrace ourselves with the excesses and deformities of the wicked, and all those things that lead to destruction, and which do not continue. The principles of eternal life are laid before us, both good and evil are present with us; we have the power of rejecting those good and wholesome principles, or, on the other hand, we have the privilege and the power of controlling our volition and directing it in that channel which will clothe the mind with the graces and beauties of the Gospel, which are calculated to bring us up into that position where we shall have a right to these blessings which emanate from heaven, and which will make the society where we dwell beautiful and glorious, and ultimately lead on to exaltation in the eternities to come. Eternal life is here my friends, my brethren and sisters; we are in a part of that existence which is eternal. True, we are passing through that portion which is called time, but is not this a part of eternity?

We have nothing in our possession but what is lent or given to us to improve upon for eternity, no, not even our present lives. We do not pay sufficient attention to the life that we at present enjoy, or we should understand that it is as much eternal life as any that we shall ever attain to, for surely at the present time we have no existence in all of the eternities but in this. We may not have to pass through changes in the life which is to come as we do here, but it is for us, while here, to comprehend and appreciate the beauty and glory which lie in our pathway. We may have to labor and dig and delve in the earth, but, if so, we should remember that there is a dignity in labor when that is directed by the intellectual power, with which, in all the creation of God, only man is endowed, for the development and combination of the elements with which he is surrounded for the use and the benefit of the world in which he lives.

It is true that evil is strewn in our pathway, but we should labor to get all evil thoughts from our minds, and strive to cultivate those graces which come through faith, and which are calculated to eradicate from our being those things which lead downward, instead of leading us in the path which is unto eternal lives and eternal progression while here as well as in the world to come.

To live here and perform the duties of today is the present business of the Latter-day Saints, and to lay a foundation that will carry us safely through this and prepare us for that life which is to come, and it is also our duty to obey those principles which are revealed through obedience to the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we will continue to be faithful and seek after those principles that will tend to exalt us here, then we will be exalted hereafter; but it is of no use thinking of being exalted in the eternal worlds unless we apply those principles in our conduct here.

If we suppose that we can go through this life straight into the kingdom of God, and attain to exaltation by being clothed with hypocrisy and falsehood, we are simply mistaken; such a course of life is not calculated to lead to that end. If we are exalted, it must be by putting in practice those principles which are exalting in their tendency, and which are given us through the inspiration of the Almighty. Thus will be formed a character in this life that will endure in that which is to come.

I can endorse the sentiment expressed by brother Bayliss, who was speaking before me, that it is our duty to do all we can for the spread of truth, and to ornament our minds with the truths of the Gospel, that we may combine those principles to form that character and connection with the heavens which we have the opportunity of doing more abundantly here, in these sequestered vales than in the scattered condition of the Saints in the midst of the nations of the earth.

Witness the power that we can wield in the earth, by gradually spreading abroad those principles which we have received, until finally righteousness shall spread over and cover the whole earth, put an end to the power of the wicked, bind Satan and cast him from the earth, as has been spoken by the inspired writers.

I suppose it will be accomplished this way, by filling up the measure of our creation in union, truth, and oneness, and by officiating in those ordinances of the Priesthood which shall seem good unto the Almighty. It is for us to prepare to walk in that way which shall be marked out, and to go and perform every act as we shall be dictated through the instrumentality of the servants of God, whom he has appointed to dictate and guide in order that his purpose may be accomplished at least in the valleys of the mountains, where he has provided an asylum for his people.

This kingdom is established to the extent of the power that is now wielded, and there is no other place upon the face of the earth to which good men who desire to promote virtue and establish justice can rally except to this, and it is accomplished through the instrumentality of the Gospel we have embraced. Others have their institutions, some of which are very good, but there is more than an overbalancing amount of corruption, from which those who would do good, have not the power to disenthrall themselves.

There is such unlimited power to do evil, which the wicked use for the oppression of the feeble, to oppress the poor, the honest in heart, whom they rule by priestcraft, kingcraft, and every other wicked craft that mankind in their degeneracy can devise, so that it would seem almost impossible even for the Almighty to establish his kingdom and save his people, without withdrawing them from the wicked nations.

People come here and have full liberty to do or not to do; to live their holy religion or not to live it; to be honest, faithful, and true, or to reject those principles and clothe themselves with that which is evil; they have the freest volition to exercise their right of will. We expect, however, that those who come here are those who have elected and chosen for themselves to do the will of God, and to follow the counsel of him whom he has chosen to rule in his Church and kingdom. We have reason to believe this, but then when we reflect upon the past, we are satisfied that others must have come with a different motive. Some of us are apt to forget that we should furnish and adorn our own minds, with a comprehensive knowledge of the Gospel; that we should furnish the material rather than expect that some greater and more powerful influence will do it for us. We sometimes find that people are careless in regard to their duties in this respect, and Satan is always ready to step in and take the advantage of such an opportunity. Now we should not be indifferent and lay down the armor of the Gospel, and say this is no advantage to me. No, my dear brethren, it will be an advantage and a blessing to all of us, if we honor the kingdom of God and live its principles, and if we do not, it will still roll on, whether we go with it or not.

We have no right to be indifferent to any principles revealed in this kingdom, but we should feel an interest in everything that is laid before us, that we may be of some use and benefit to the Church, fill up our days in usefulness in any department of the kingdom of God in which we may be called to act. I pray God to help us to do this; to help us by giving us of his Spirit to strengthen our minds that we may overcome the evil; that we may seek to do everything that is good; that we may secure that aid and assistance that will enable us to bring our spirits back pure and holy, into the presence of him who gave them unto us, that we may not give Satan the power over us, not strengthen those chains which he has, through the agency of the fall, obtained over the human family, but that we may overcome that evil as far as possible, even to the obtaining that knowledge and intelligence which was said to have been obtained by the brother of Jared, whose faith was so great that the Lord could not prevent him from looking within the veil. Why? Because he had clothed him– self with those principles which lead to exaltation, so that he could see beyond the vision of human ken, and the Lord could not keep him from penetrating behind the veil.

If we are going to have anything excellent it is for us to look after it, and not let the Devil rule over us, but ornament our minds by our own virtuous acts and our bodies with the workmanship of our own hands. If we take this course the Lord will help us by placing the elements that are for the welfare and comfort of mankind within our reach. During the travels of the children of Israel, he showered down provisions upon them that they might not have to labor in the wilderness, and ordained that their clothing should not wear out, but otherwise than that, and a few other such instances, I do not know that he ever helped a human being except by placing within his reach the elements for him to combine therefrom for his support. He has put into our hands the power to combine the elements and to provide ourselves with those things that we need, and as I said in the commencement of my remarks, there is a dignity in labor, in drawing from those elements things necessary for our own benefit and advancement as intelligent beings. Let us therefore endeavor to improve the earth upon which we live, and make it pleasant to the sight of God and man.

May God help us to comprehend and obtain those great blessings which he has in store for his faithful Saints, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Remarks by President Heber C. Kimball, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, February 9, 1862.

We have had a few remarks from brother Joseph Fielding, and I can say, with the best of feelings, that they are good and true. I am witness that this is the road that brother Fielding has traveled in this Church and kingdom, striving to do right all the time. It was in the spring of 1838 that he was ordained a High Priest, and it will be twenty-four years next April since we left England, after performing the first mission that was ever sent out to England. He was ordained a Priest, I think, in Canada, and he traveled with me on that mission to England. His life has been an upright one, and I know that he has made a statement of facts, and he has told the things that are in him, and his determinations are good, and they are dictated by the right spirit. I take pleasure in making these statements, and I would say in my heart, and my prayer is, that every man here may live in the manner that he has done and be as good a man as he is. His salvation is sure, if he continues in welldoing, and everything that he is capable of presiding over will be given to him, and this will be the portion of every other good man. It is goodness that makes about all the difference between one man and another. You find one man a little better than another, and one woman a little better than her neighbor. What is it that makes us better? It is the righteous acts that we perform, and that we work out before God. Jesus says, “Work out your salvation as it is my will to work within you.” Then, again, we are commanded to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. All that hinders us and prevents us progressing faster, and going on from one step to another even as it was with our Father, even the Father and God pertaining to this earth, is our lack of confidence in the Almighty, and our slothfulness in the things of God. Joseph the Prophet said that our heavenly Father went on from one degree of knowledge to another until he obtained the knowledge that made him God. So also will it be with us, we shall have to advance from one degree of faith to another until we get that knowledge that will prepare us for exaltation in our Father’s kingdom. But we must first prove ourselves in this state of probation, then we rise from step to step till we reach that position that is promised to the people of God.

Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and light; and I and my Father are one.” On one occasion the widow came and begged that her two sons who were with Jesus might sit one at his right hand and the other at his left, and Jesus asked her if they could walk with him in the regeneration, for said he, “Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with.” Those who can walk with Jesus in the regeneration now, will receive the great blessings that are promised to all the faithful children of God. What is regeneration? It is a cleansing, purifying process, by which persons are enabled to advance in the knowledge of God and grow stronger in the principles of eternal life, to become better, more truthful, more worthy of a benefactor’s blessing. Then, we may ask, what is degeneration? It is departing from the good old way, imbibing evil, becoming impregnated with falsehood and all other evils that are calculated to produce a deterioration in both the body and spirit of man.

This is a wicked and adulterous generation in which we live, and but few of them know what they are doing for themselves. To me it appears that they are taking every possible step to degenerate themselves and those around them. I know what the world is; I understood it to a great extent before I came into this Church. It was a common saying among the good people where I lived, that it was impossible for a man to be honest and get a living. How did they get a living, think you, where they did not believe in being honest? By living in deceitfulness, by lying, by pilfering from their neighbors. That was the way they managed, and it is so managed at the present time. There are but few things but it is possible to adulterate in this age of the world. Our tea is adulterated, our ginger and pepper, and almost everything that we have to purchase is treated in the same manner, and I think we may safely conclude that this is an adulterous generation, and by their evil practices they are bringing upon themselves swift destruction. They have commenced the work of their own extermination, and who can help it? No one, except the Almighty. They are now doing that upon each other which they had in their hearts to do to us; they have got the same hatred towards each other which they formerly had towards us, and the Lord will let them have their full share.

I noticed the other day when reading about the war, that one man said the war could be completed and wound up in thirty days, everything settled and the South entirely subdued. They think that the great number of men which they have in the field are going to wind it up quick. But I can tell you that they do not take the right course to accomplish that; they let the Devil lead them, that is what I mean. If you are looking forward for peace and thinking that peace will soon be made, you are mistaken. The Lord is permitting things to be prolonged as they are, for the purpose of getting his people out from Babylon, just as he did with Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plains that were round about them; for he kept back the destruction till he got Lot out, and so it is now in these days.

Well, now, what course shall we take as Saints? It is for us to do our duty in all things; to do our best for the spread of truth, for the gathering of the poor. If we were to do our best we could send a thousand teams this season to gather the poor; but I can say that we shall do all that is required of us, and that will be satisfactory and pleasing to our heavenly Father.

Some say it is rather discouraging to gather this people, because so many of them apostatize and deny the faith, but we should remember that Jesus says—“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”—Matthew xiii., 47-50.

Now, supposing I should be at the expense of gathering ten persons and bringing them home to Zion, and by so doing I save one righteous man, will not that secure me a reward hereafter? I say it will. What did the Lord say to Oliver Cowdery about laboring all the days of his life in preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a dark and benighted world? The following is from a revelation given in June 1829, to Joseph Smith, Jun., Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer—

“And now, Oliver Cowdery, I speak unto you, and also unto David Whitmer, by the way of commandment; for, behold, I command all men everywhere to repent, and I speak unto you, even as unto Paul mine apostle, for you are called even with that same calling with which he was called. Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him. And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance. And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth! Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people. And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

“And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me! Behold, you have my gospel before you, and my rock, and my salvation. Ask the Father in my name, in faith believing that you shall receive, and you shall have the Holy Ghost, which manifesteth all things which are expedient unto the children of men. And if you have not faith, hope, and charity, you can do nothing.” [Doc. & Cov., s., xliii, p. 3, 4.]

These are my feelings and always have been since I became acquainted with the principles of eternal life; and I know that this is the spirit that rests upon President Young, and also upon all faithful men and women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is our duty to feel for those that are scattered abroad in the world, and that are poor, but who desire to gather to the promised land. We used to pray, O Lord, put it into the hearts of thy people to do unto us as we want to have them do. Now it is our turn; we are gathered home to Zion, and we are able to assist our poor brethren that are poor and unable to bring themselves. Where is there a people upon the face of the earth that are blessed like unto us; and then, again, I may say that a great many do not realize nor appreciate the blessings they enjoy, but they consider this a hard country to live in. There are very few people in this country but are much better off than they were in the country where they came from. There are hundreds and thousands, and I think I may say tens of thousands that were poor and penniless, and that were dependent upon their everyday labor for their living, and if they did not labor six days in each week they had to go without something that was actually necessary to make them comfortable, and unless they were at their work every day they could not get enough to eat. Scarcely any of them ever owned a cow, a horse, a sheep, pig, or chicken in their lives. Brother George D. Watt here knows this to be true, for he has seen enough of the poverty of his native country to understand exactly how it is. Is it any crime to be poor? No, it is not; I have seen the day when I was just as poor as I could possibly be as regards the comforts of this life, and I honestly consider that it would be a pretty hard case for a man to be poorer than I have been. Some people when they come here think it rather shameful to speak of how poor the people are over in the old country. Bless you if you had not been poor and oppressed—down in the depths of poverty, you would not have heard us at all when we went to proclaim the Gospel. That is the case with those who are well-off as a general thing. But if you were not all poor when the Gospel found you, I will guarantee that you have been since. I never knew a man who came into this Church rich but who had to become poor, that he might rise up with the rich and be exalted in the kingdom of God.

We have been led here by the hand of the Almighty, and settled in a barren wilderness a thousand miles from everybody that are called civilized. We came here because we were driven from our homes; hence, we came to these mountains because we were compelled to, for we could not live in the United States any longer, and you that have been driven from the days of Kirtland to the present time know that we could not live any longer among the enlightened and civilized of the United States. After Joseph and Hyrum were mobbed and slain by their enemies, there was no longer any home for the Saints in the States. We could not stay in Kirtland to make a permanent home there, although we succeeded in building a Temple, and in it received our blessings from the Almighty. Here is President Young, myself, and others that used to lie upon Joseph’s floor every night to preserve his life from his enemies, and that too among the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and devils, and there are a great many men and women who know it. We had to flee and leave all we had behind; brother Joseph, brother Brigham, and many others, father Smith among the number; and some of us had to watch while Luke Johnson helped the old man out of the window. Then how much safety was there in Missouri, Illinois, or anywhere else in the Eastern States? Could we stay there, gentlemen? No, no better than we could be in a smelting furnace without burning. Was there any revelation that we should come to the mountains? Yes, and there were predictions in the old Bible that we should come here, and now we are here we are comfortable and blessed above all other people upon the face of the earth, I do not care where you look. You may look to the east, to the west, to the north, and to the south, and in all nations you will find them ready to go to war with each other. And you may calculate that there will be war upon war, and that things will gradually grow worse; therefore we should always endeavor to do right.

When I reflect upon the instructions of President Young, who is our leader, I see the importance of our sustaining him in all his plans and designs, for he is God’s delegate, and he represents the authority of Heaven; and we Elders and Apostles are his associates, called to represent Heaven, to preach the righteousness of Christ, and to strive to do here on the earth as it is done in the heavens, and, hence, we should so live as to be the true representatives of Heaven, of happiness, glory, immortality, and eternal lives, for we have those principles to teach. All these things are before us, and one man can go forward and attain these things just as well as another, and one man can obtain these blessings of life, of peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost just as well as another.

Some may think that they are kings and priests, others that they are queens and priestesses, and put others down as servants, and thus make themselves judges of their brethren. But I am now speaking more particularly of men that are unrighteous, of those who will tread the poor man under their feet; and what will be the consequence of oppressing the poor? I would rather be in the place of the oppressed a hundred times than in that of the oppressor, “For with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” These are the words of Jesus, and although uttered many years ago they are still in full force, and I know it; and that saying will be fulfilled to the very letter, I have seen it in a thousand instances, and I know it will always be fulfilled. I never knew a man get a prejudice against his brother unrighteously but went the downward road, and the other against whom the prejudice existed invariably rises up above his enemies, for there is no other way to carry out the principles of righteousness, than to do unto others as we want others to do unto us, and thus fulfil the law of Christ.

Now, in the doctrine and practice of plurality, one woman will sometimes think that she is queen, and that the others have no right to speak or to do anything without her consent. If I had a case of that kind to adjudicate, I should be very apt to say to the woman, “Serve her faithfully, bear with her patiently, and the day will come when you will sit above her, no matter where she is now.” And so it is with the Elders of Israel, he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. The Lord will rule that which is righteous, and if he does not give you your rights in all things in time he will in eternity.

If you will look in the revelations, you will find the principle taught just as I teach, and I can say further, that there is not a hymn composed by the Saints but teaches some principle of truth just as clearly as the Bible teaches truth. Therefore, let us be alive to these things, and remember that we are exhorted to be one. Jesus prayed that his disciples might all be one, as he and his Father were one. Then, let us step forward and do this without waiting to be commanded, without any compulsion, otherwise we shall be considered slothful servants.

Well, now, this is the course for us to take. Let us be one in all things, that the blessings of the heavens and of the earth may be upon us continually.

If you want to know my views in reference to merchants and their goods coming here, I will tell you that I wish there could not any more goods be brought here. Why, can you get along without them, brother Kimball? I can, by the help of God; I want but little to be independent of every merchant that comes into this city. Why, this last year my family have made over eight hundred yards of cloth, and that will clothe a great many people; and dresses made of that kind of cloth are as far ahead of those you buy in the store as your silks are of the Indian blanket. Then consider what a blessing it is to the poor of this community to be able to sleep in nice, comfortable, warm woolen blankets; how much better than either the cotton or linen that is brought from the States. Then there are the coverlids, the bonnets, and many other necessary articles that can be made at home just as well as not. You can see ladies with the nearest kind of bonnets on of their own make; and if they want a new bonnet for the baby, they know how to make it. There are their undergarments, worn by the people here generally; they are made of wool, and that is produced here. What a blessing it is to be able to supply ourselves with so many of the necessaries and comforts of life here in these mountains! Some of you have got an idea that wool will not do; but let me inform you that when Peter came and sat in the Temple in Kirtland, he had on a neat woolen garment, nicely adjusted round the neck. What do sheep wear next the skin? Wool, of course. What do goats wear? Hair, for that is their nature. These are facts that are apparent to all who will look.

To return to the subject of the garments of the Holy Priesthood, I will say that the one which Jesus had on when he appeared to the Prophet Joseph was neat and clean, and Peter had on the same kind, and he also had a key in his hand. John also came and administered unto Joseph Smith, and remember that Peter, James, and John hold the keys pertaining to their dispensation and pertaining to this, and they came and conferred their Priesthood and authority upon Joseph the Seer, which is for the gathering together of all who seek the way of life. What is there that we cannot make within ourselves? There are but few things. If we have a desire to be released from bondage and oppression, we shall labor to produce what we need. I intend to have cloth, that has been made here, from head to foot. What are we going to do? A great many may say that they always wish to have their carding, spinning, and weaving done so as to be ready for the winter, and be at liberty to go to the parties. That is very good. But there is one other matter I wish to speak of in this connection, and that is that President Young wants this people to bring up some carding machines from the States, so that we can go forward and be in a short time perfectly independent of the world. This is the course for you and I to take; and, also, to lay aside our vanity and foolishness, and that which destroys the body. I have observed a great deal of the follies of people in my experience. If we will do right, our children will be a great deal stronger than we are in body, limb, joint, and muscles, for many of us have been weakened by folly, just as the present generation of young people are ruining themselves with their foolish fashions.

I have often had my feelings hurt when I have seen men grunt and grumble at every little trial, and then to see their wives, and many in fact that are not wives, murmur and find fault with their circumstances. It is true that some are doing all they can for the good of the community, but it is not so with all. Let us all labor and strive the best we can to build up the kingdom of our God here on the earth.

May God Almighty bless you, my brethren and sisters, may the blessing of peace be with you that you may enjoy the good Spirit, a spirit of integrity and faithfulness, and may that Spirit rest upon all the Saints in the mountains and throughout the world, is my prayer. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Wilford Woodruff, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, December 1, 1861.

Brethren and sisters, I have been called upon and requested to occupy a portion of the time this morning, and I can truly say that I always take pleasure, when I have an opportunity, to bear my testimony of the work of the Lord in which we are engaged. I hope that what little time I may speak I may be blessed with the Spirit of the Lord, that I may speak of such things as will be edifying to you; for there is certainly not much advantage in talking to the people for the sake of occupying the time, unless it will be beneficial to us.

I know that it is our duty in this Church and kingdom to live in such a manner that we may feel interested in the things of the kingdom of our God. I reflect a great deal upon the blessings which we are enjoying here in the valleys of the mountains, and I often think that I do not fully prize the blessings the Lord has imparted unto me. When I bring these things to bear upon my mind, I realize to a great extent the necessity of prizing the gifts of the Holy Spirit bestowed upon me, and the same duty devolves upon all the Saints of God. If we can be made to rightly value the gifts which the Almighty bestows upon us, we shall certainly not do anything that is wrong; we shall not walk where we ought not to walk, but we shall be devoted to the building up of the kingdom of our God. If our eyes were opened to see things as they are, we should live and act as men of God. When my mind is quickened by the Holy Spirit to comprehend the things of God, I feel very thankful for the light and intelligence bestowed upon me by the Almighty. I feel satisfied that our President and leader would not be inspired to reprove and correct us as a people, as he is often moved upon to do, if we were living to our privileges. We should not be exhorted to turn from the course that we are in to some other, if we were all doing just right. But I can say truly, brethren and sisters, that we are a blessed people; yes, we are blessed above all other people upon the earth. We have the kingdom of God here with us; we live in a dispensation and generation in which the kingdom has been built up, and it will be permanently established, never more to be thrown down. In this dispensation the Lord has anointed men to preach the Gospel to every creature. In every other dispensation the powers of darkness have in a great measure overcome the kingdom of God, or, in other words, have had dominion—so much so that the kingdom could not live but a little while. It could not grow and spread itself upon the earth; and finally that power which was acting through the agency of the children of men, even the holy priesthood, was taken home to God, and it has remained there from generation to generation, and the world have been without these blessings for many hundreds of years. This has been the difficulty ever since the creation of the world. Even when Christ came and established the Gospel upon the earth, it was here but a little season before the Devil, the archenemy of the kingdom of God, overcame those who held the Priesthood, so that the Priesthood and authority of the kingdom was taken from the earth, and the Church went into the wilderness, leaving the people without any inspired men to say, This is the way, walk ye in it. From that time until the introduction of the fulness of the Gospel by the Prophet Joseph Smith in our own day and age of the world, there has been no Peter or Philip or any other man to teach the people the way of life and salvation; but they have had to live by the best laws of morality which they knew. Hence the division and contention that has existed in the sectarian world.

But we have had the privilege of living in the dispensation in which the Lord has promised that he would establish his kingdom, and perfect it ready for the appearance of the Great Bridegroom.

This is the privilege that we enjoy as Latter-day Saints. When the time had come, according to the decree of the Almighty, an angel visited the earth and committed the Priesthood to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, and gave them instructions and a promise that they should be inspired to lay it before the people. We have embraced this Gospel, and the Spirit of God enlightens our minds, so that we comprehend, by the inspiration of the Almighty, those principles that are necessary for our present and eternal salvation; and by receiving the principles of life in our minds, we were led to come to the Valleys of the Mountains. We can all now comprehend that this is the Church and kingdom of our God that he has established, to remain forever. Therefore, instead of being given up to those evil principles and practices that reign in the hearts of the children of men, we are walking in the path of life, and those truths are now uppermost in our minds. We are constantly striving to spread abroad this truth, that the hearts of the children of men may be inspired to take hold and help this kingdom to take root and spread abroad until it shall entirely overcome that power which has always in past ages overcome the kingdom of God. It is a blessing to us, to the whole house of Israel, and to the Gentile nations; it is a blessing that the world never before have enjoyed. It is true that other dispensations have had their Prophets and Apostles, but they never enjoyed the privilege that we do of having the kingdom of God continue upon the earth until it triumphs over all other kingdoms upon the face of the earth and stands forever. Former Apostles and Prophets had the unpleasant reflection that the Church which they had built up would fall away, or be overcome by the power of the Devil and wicked men, and that when they passed off the earth and went behind the veil, they would have to take the Priesthood with them, because there would be none living worthy to receive it from under their hands. They will be crowned with the Savior according to the promises, but in their lifetime they never had the opportunity of planting on the earth a kingdom that should remain until Jesus should reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. Lucifer has gained possession of the earth by overcoming the children of men; but it does not belong to him, although he has had possession of it for a great many generations. I rejoice that the day is dawning when the principles of righteousness and truth will bear rule and bring forth fruit, until the kingdom and the dominion shall be given to the Saints of the Most High, and the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ.

The very idea of our becoming coworkers with Jesus Christ ought to inspire every one of us with a determination to aid all we can in the dissemination of those great and glorious principles that are calculated to exalt the human family from their low and degraded positions to the favor of God, angels, and men. This is the way I feel in relation to the Church and kingdom of which we are members.

These blessings are above the blessings of the riches and comforts of life that we are all seeking after; they are far more valuable and more lasting than any other blessing in this life. Man may have earthly wealth and honor, but his life is not his own; he has not the power to prolong his life one day; and when he dies, his honor, his wealth, and all that he possesses in this life passes away. He receives nothing in this world of riches or honor that he can carry with him; and, except he stores his mind with knowledge and obeys the fulness of the Gospel, he cannot have the blessings of a clear conscience and the comforts of the Holy Ghost. The rich man, the rulers of the land, the kings and potentates of the earth, no matter what they possess, when they die, they can take nothing with them. They came into the world naked, and they go into the spirit world as poor as the poor man who lives and dies in rags. Then all their acts of greatness and affluence sink into oblivion; but still the Lord may hold the kings, rulers, and potentates of the earth responsible for their official acts.

When an Apostle, or President, Bishop, or any man holding the Priesthood officiates, he administers by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ; then that Priesthood has effect, and all the blessings that a servant of God bestows upon the children of men will take effect both in this life and in that which is to come. If I have a blessing given to me by the holy Priesthood, or if I receive a blessing from a Patriarch, those gifts and blessings will reach into the other world; and if I am true to my covenants through this life, I can claim every blessing that has been conferred upon me, because that authority by which they were conferred is ordained of God; and it is that by which the sons of the Most High administer unto the children of men the ordinances of life and salvation; and those official acts will have their effect upon those persons beyond the grave as well as in this life. These are the true riches; they are riches that will last to all eternity, and we have power through these blessings, conferred by the Gospel, to receive our bodies again, and to preserve our identity in eternity. Yes, we can claim this by virtue of the holy Priesthood; but it is not so in the world. There is not a priest in the world that has administered one of the ordinances of the Gospel since the Priesthood was taken away, because, properly speaking, there can be no ordinance of the Gospel administered without the authority of the Priesthood. Hence I say that, from the time the Priesthood was taken from the earth until Joseph received it again from the angel of the Lord, there were no Gospel ordinances legally administered. I admit, however, that all men will be rewarded according to the deeds done in the body, and they will be judged according to the light which was given to them. This will be the condition of all who are not called and ordained of God, notwithstanding they may have administered what they believe to be the ordinances of the Gospel; yet their ad– ministrations will have no effect beyond the veil.

When we bring this subject home and consider the difference between the blessings of the Gospel as revealed in its fulness and purity, and being shut out from the light of heaven, from the revelations of the Almighty, from the administration of angels, and from the voice of God, we ought to prize our privileges and blessings as Saints far more than we have done heretofore. Mankind in all ages search for happiness; they desire social and domestic peace; and when they think of the vast future, they desire to participate in the blessings that are spoken of as pertaining to that state of existence; but they know not how to obtain them, except a servant of God comes along and points out the way of life. We have the way open before us, and the gift of eternal life, which is the greatest gift of God, is promised unto us on condition that we will continue in welldoing; but we can attain to that through no other means than strict obedience to the commandments of God.

I refer to these things, brethren and sisters, because I think we do not sufficiently prize the great responsibility that we are under to God and to this generation. It is indeed a great responsibility which the Lord lays upon a man when he calls him to the ministry and sends him to declare to the people that he is commissioned to preach the Gospel and administer the ordinances by which they can be saved, secure a part in the first resurrection, and inherit thrones and dominions in the presence of God and the Lamb. We have received this Gospel, and many of the Elders have gone forth, having been called of God as was Aaron, and they have offered the truth to the nations of the earth. A few have received the message, but the vast majority have rejected it, and they are condemned. The Lord told Oliver Cowdery that if he labored in the vineyard and brought in but one soul, his reward should be great. Then consider how great our reward will be when you see hundreds and thousands gathering into these valleys every year—people who have been brought to a knowledge of the truth by the labors of the Elders that are now before me. Our brethren have preached the words of life to millions of people, and many thousands have given heed to their warning voice; still they are but few, compared with the vast multitudes who have been commanded to repent of all their sins, be baptized for the remission of them, and have hands laid upon them for the gift of the Holy Ghost. We are truly blest in the agency which God has given us to receive or reject whatever is presented to us, but we should remember that we shall be held responsible for the use we make of the teachings of the servants of God.

It does not make any difference how the Lord makes known his will, whether by the whisperings of the Holy Spirit, the administration of angels, or by his own voice; it is all the same; and he has told us emphatically that his words shall not pass away, but all shall be fulfilled which has been spoken of by the Prophets since the world began.

We have but a little time to labor and to exert ourselves in this kingdom. Thirty years have already passed away since the organization of this Church, and we see a numerous generation rising up before us that have been born in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is almost a generation, according to the usual reckoning of mankind, since John the Baptist came and conferred the Aaronic Priesthood upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery; and the kingdom has kept growing from that time to the present—perhaps not as fast as it might have done if all the Elders had been as faithful as our President has been; but still it is progressing rapidly, and it is where the Prophet had his eye upon when he said—“O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!” How much the Elders have talked of this and of the little stone cut out of the mountain without hands, that was to roll forth until it filled the whole earth. We are now fulfilling those predictions. We are planted here in the mountains in fulfillment of the promise of the Almighty.

In the early days of this Church the Lord told those who were first called to the ministry that they were laying the foundation of a great work, but they knew it not. They did not then understand the nature of the work to which they were called; still they felt, by the inspiration of the Almighty, and their minds were opened to see that they were called to take part in a great work—called to a high and holy calling; but still there was a veil over their eyes, so that they could not comprehend it in its magnitude and greatness, as we now do. If the Prophet Joseph had arisen up in 1831, 2, 3, or even 1834, when we went up to Jackson County in the State of Missouri—had he then told the people that this Church would be built up, and that this people would become a great kingdom, and that the United States would, in less than one generation, be in the lamentable position that we now find them, it would have required a stretch of our faith to have believed him. Our minds were not then open to that extent that we could fully comprehend the future. But we can now see that the words of ancient and modern Prophets are being fulfilled. This kingdom is rising in these Valleys of the Mountains, and it will eventually spread itself abroad through the length and breadth of North and South America. We may now look forward into the great future that lies before us, and it will require just as much of a stretch of faith now as it did in the beginning to look at the kingdom of God upon the earth as it is to be built up in this dispensation, so that the word of the Lord may go forth from Zion, the servants of God be clothed with the power of the Priesthood, to give counsel and to preside over the nations of the earth, when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of our God and his Christ. It is our duty to live in that way that we can have power to unlock and comprehend the mysteries of the kingdom of God; and we have got this to do in order that we may see that the Lord is at work among the nations for his own glory and for the permanent establishment of his own kingdom.

We ought to be enabled to understand that there is not a single law that has ever been issued from the great Eloheim but what will be fulfilled to the letter, and that not one of those Prophets who have spoken concerning the kingdom of God in the latter days and the overthrow of wickedness and establishment of righteousness will fail in their predictions in reference to the dispensation of the fulness of times. When we look back for thirty years, we can see the vast change that has taken place.

With regard to Babylon and the wicked nations of the Gentiles, I will say that all those things that have been spoken concerning them will be fulfilled. We profess to be the children of God, the friends of God; and if the Lord has not got some friends in these the Valleys of the Mountains, I would like to know where his friends are. I have spoken upon these things, and in reference to the position we occupy before the heavens and before this generation, that we may be stirred up in our minds and be awake to our duties. If we can be made sensible of that which is required of us by our leaders, we shall go to work and do those things that we know will be for our benefit and good, and for the advancement of the cause of the kingdom of God upon the earth. If we are faithful through this warfare in which we are engaged, we shall be satisfied with the reward and with the crown that will be bestowed upon us, and also with the place that we shall occupy when we pass from this stage of existence.

I will say then, brethren and sisters, with regard to those things we have been exhorted to attend to by President Young from day to day and from time to time, Let us attend to them. He has a desire to see the people in such a position that will secure to them the favor and approbation of the Almighty. We ought to strive to understand our high destiny—to learn the mind and will of our Father in heaven, that the heavens may be opened to us, that we may be filled with light, with truth, and be clothed with the power of God. It is with this desire and design that our President calls upon us to lay aside everything that has a tendency to prevent us enjoying the Spirit of the Lord and comprehending those great and glorious principles that we are seeking after. We all ought to make an exertion, when he makes a request upon us, and strive to lay aside all those things that are contrary to the principles of our holy religion; and then we ought to take hold with him and back him up, and sustain with him all the authorities of the Church, striving at all times to do whatever the Lord requires at our hands. If we do this, we shall be blest; and if we do not, we shall meet with a loss. Let us strive to be more attentive to our duties and to listen to the words of the Lord, remembering that if we have not got the Spirit of the Lord with us, we have not got the power of God with us.

Let us lay aside all evil practices—all those habits which will prevent our communing with God. We have not yet got power to occupy a throne and to govern according to the laws of heaven. Of this we are all sensible. Then if these little things have a tendency to hinder our enjoyments and debase us in the eyes of the Lord, we ought to lay them aside, and manifest a determination to do the will of our Father in heaven, and to accomplish that work which is laid upon us to perform. When we have any exhortation from those who lead us, we should ever be ready to carry it out, remembering that the Lord holds President Young responsible for the way in which he manages and directs this kingdom; and if we obey him, we shall be blest and prospered. But if he gives us commandments and we do not listen to them, the Lord will not hold him responsible for our acts. I think upon these things when I hear our leader giving us commandments to do thus and so, and I feel that I shall lose the Spirit of the Lord if I do not comply. We have got to rise up, as a people, and have the power of God constantly with us, or we shall not accomplish that which is required at our hands; for it requires faith, temperance, purity, holiness, and the power of God to be with this people, in order to fulfil our mission and perform the work of God. When our Prophets and leaders command us to do a thing, let us obey, and then we shall gain the victory.

I have often heard it remarked, when we have had preaching against merchandising, that the next day the merchants have taken three dollars to where they had previously only taken one. I hope this will not be the case with those who make a practice of drinking whiskey, and have been counseled by President Young to let it alone.

Brethren and sisters, I do not feel that I want to occupy much more of your time; but, before I conclude, I will say that when I do anything that prevents me from enjoying the Spirit of the Lord, as soon as I ascertain that, I immediately throw it aside, so that the Spirit of God may govern and control me in every act of my life. We came here to build up the kingdom of God, and we should feel the responsibility that is upon us. This is our home; and who of us appreciates the blessings bestowed upon us? We should appreciate them a great deal more than we do. If we were set down in New York or South Carolina for awhile, we should appreciate our home; for here we are not troubled with any of the difficulties which they experience in the States. We can meet together and worship God in peace. It is truly a great blessing to be assembled in these chambers of the mountains.

Let us try to prove ourselves worthy of our high calling as Saints of God. I pray that the Lord will give us power to lay aside everything that is wrong, to magnify our callings, and build up the kingdom of God. I feel to ask this blessing in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Discourse by Elder George A. Smith, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, October 20, 1861.

I regard it a distinguished privilege conferred upon me, whenever I have the opportunity of arising in this congregation and speaking to my brethren and sisters. The Priesthood which the Lord has conferred upon my head through his servant, and which in his abundant mercy he has enabled me thus far to magnify, is my joy, my theme, and the thoughts and reflections of my soul are how and by what means I may in the best possible manner make honorable all those blessings and ordinations which have been conferred upon my head. It is and ever has been, since I entered into this Church, my desire to be found among those who are valiant for the truth.

The light of the fulness of the everlasting Gospel which, through the voice of the servants of God in the last days, called through the instrumentality of Joseph Smith the Prophet, has been caused to shine or to glimmer in every part of the earth, gives me joy. It is still shining forth, and has caught the attention of thousands that are now here in this Territory, and caused them to come to Zion for the purpose of worshipping God under the instruction of the Prophets, that they might learn more fully the mind and will of Heaven, and the ordinances of the Gospel that are necessary for the living and the dead.

“And it shall come to pass in the last days,” saith the Prophet, “that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”—Isaiah, chap. 2, verses 2 and 3.

It is for this purpose that we may be taught of the ways of the Lord, and that we may walk in his paths that we have gathered from almost every nation under heaven.

It is well understood that the human race have been traditioned to the utmost extreme that tradition could possibly be impressed in the human breast, in the practice of covetousness, the worship of money, the love of earthly goods, the desire to possess property, to control wealth, has been planted in the breast, soul, and heart of almost every man in the world from generation to generation. It has been the great ruling Deity, and the object worshipped by the whole Christian world. It has found its way into the pulpit, into the monastery, into the cloister, and into every department of life. No man seems to desire an office, or is called upon to fulfil an office for the public good, but the first thing to be considered is, What will it pay? How much can we make? “Is there money in it?” The god of this world has dominion over the souls of men to an unlimited extent. Let an Elder go among them to preach without purse or scrip, and tell them so, and they will immediately say, “We can believe your religion a great deal better than we can believe that you come to preach without having your salary paid. Why, the assumption is ridiculous; do not think to stuff us with such a doctrine as that.”

With these traditions firmly imprinted upon our minds we have been gathered, and have brought along our schooling and notions that we have imbibed while at school; but with all these things we brought along a feeling in our souls to build up Zion, and to be faithful in all things so long as we remain in this life, that we may inherit blessings in the life which is to come. We came here inspired with a feeling to awaken in our breasts an unlimited desire to labor for the building up of Zion, and this desire exists in a great many Elders. Some of the brethren have desired to go to different parts of the earth to preach the Gospel, part of them for the sake of making it a matter of profit: yes, men who have been ordained to the Priesthood will dare to ask how much they can make of a Mission, when their business is to labor for the building up of the kingdom of God. This feeling of speculation has gone so far as to engross the attention of men in the ministry, so that wherever they have gone they have levied grievous contributions upon the people, and it seems to have been the first thing about which they have planned, and that every step they have taken has been with a view to a reward in gold! In some instances the poor have been taxed, those to whom the Gospel should have been preached freely, without money and without price, to furnish money to gratify the ambition that reigned in the breasts of certain Elders; I hope they are not many, but there are a few instances no doubt.

On the other hand, the Elders that have remained at home ever since the Church was driven from Jackson County, and that have continued to farm and perform different services at their business, have not by any means been idle spectators, but they have been pillars in the Church. For as soon as the Church was organized, Bishops, Councilors, and Teachers were necessary to give counsel and to preside in the temporal affairs of the Church, thereby sustaining the kingdom; and while these and many other Elders have not been conspicuous as Elders traveling abroad, they have yet been pillars at home in constructing and building up the kingdom of God on the earth.

While we take this into consideration we will again review, for a moment, the present acts of the Elders generally, for very few of the whole body of the Elders can be pointed out as having done a great work at a particular place. What the world call having done a great work, or big things, is somewhat different from the kind of work that the Elders in this Church are expected to do. For instance, it is said that Saint Patrick went to Ireland and banished all the toads and frogs, and then converted the whole of Ireland, and that he not only converted the people, but the best of it is that the greater part of them remain firm to the faith of Catholicism until the present day.

There are a few Elders who have baptized their thousands, and an account may be found in the records of the Church of some who have gone on Missions and baptized their hundreds; but as a general thing it is hard to find but few who were very distinguished in this respect. Constant labor, diligence, and humility may and does gather many; they are baptized and receive the fulness of the Gospel. But only a portion of those who have embraced the Gospel under the auspices of those successful Elders, have had faith and energy enough to gather with the Saints to take part in helping to build up Zion. By-and-by subdivision takes place, and the people spread themselves abroad upon the right and upon the left, forming new settlements all through this great desert. In this way the work has attained its present position, and the kingdom is being built up. It is like the laborer with his spade and wheelbarrow, who commences on a large hill and digs, and finally wheels it away. Well, says the passerby, that is small business; but by-and-by you pass that way and the hill is removed, and a fine city is on its site.

The Elders are steadily and quietly operating for the spread of truth and the advancement of the kingdom of God, and before the world are aware of it, their rotten dynasties and corrupt governments will be undermined and crumble to dust. You notice a bee, it carries a little honey to the hive, and continues to do so from week to week and from month to month, and lays up a store of the most delicious of earthly substance and the choicest of earth’s sweets, and this is the result of the little busy bee. So it is, and so it should be with the Elders in Zion. It is not that we are required to do and perform everything in a minute, but by using the minutes to do the little things that are within our reach, and striving always to do them properly. Zion is silently spreading her curtains, strengthening her stakes, and lengthening out her cords, and she will so continue until her wisdom, her influence, and her power circumscribe the globe. Who is doing this? The Lord is doing it and it is marvelous in our eyes. But in all this we have to contend with our tradition, we have to contend with the god of this world—the love of money—with our covetousness, and we have to contend above all with our ignorance. Men can sit in the congregation and be taught by the Presidency; yes, be taught to the easiest lessons ever taught, year after year, and these teachings seem to make no impression upon them. Those valuable instructions are, to a great many, like pearls cast before swine. Again there are numbers of our brethren who have had to go to the States and to California, in order to see the difference between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of the Devil. Then after a few years they come back and say, well I declare I never saw things in such a condition before, how wicked the world is becoming now to what it was before I came into the Church. We have another class of men who can go to ward meetings and say they would labor to build up the kingdom, and even to build a city upon a rock, and farm upon naked land, and settle upon the highest peaks, if counseled to do so. But there are extremes of expression and thought. To go forth and preach the Gospel, teaching faith, repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins, and to contend against the arguments presented by the Gentile world, has been and still continues to be one of the most laudable employments in the kingdom of God, but a comparatively ignorant man can do it. It is not the learned, nor the wise men the Lord called to do this, but it is the reverse; he calls the weak things of this world to confound the wise and the mighty. It reminds me of a story that Bishop Hardy tells about Luke Johnson. When he went to preach the Gospel in Massachusetts, he was plainly dressed, his trousers were strapped down to his cowhide boots, because they were not quite long enough. One man said, have you seen the Mormon? No, was the reply, have you? Yes, said the man, I saw one and heard him preach, and he said, “the Lord hath called the weak things of this world to confound the wise and mighty, and by mighty I thought so.” It was but a little while till the only argument used against this doctrine was mobocracy, a row at the meeting, a coat of tar and feathers, a shower of mud or the lighted torch.

The man that exerts his power, his influence and understanding to guide Zion at home, to develop our resources, to shape, bend, and make useful the elements and facilities which lie dormant in these surrounding hills, has to possess superior wisdom, a greater degree of knowledge; and the Holy Spirit influences the leaders of this Church, those that are called to act as Trustees, or in any other department of the home affairs of Zion. It is required of us to seek wisdom out of the best books, that a foundation may be laid and all things properly prepared for the great future, that our institutions may be rendered permanent and self-sustaining, that all things may be properly carried on, according to the mind and will of Heaven. It is in this respect that the leaders of the people called Latter-day Saints have shown themselves to be the wise men upon the earth, and it is in this respect, too, that a large portion of the people have failed to see the grandeur and magnificence of the Counsels of the First Presidency, but have suffered themselves to remain in ignorance and stupidity.

I presume now that in speaking at the present time, I am addressing a considerable portion of those brethren who have been called on to strengthen the stakes of Zion on the southern borders of our Territory. The Twelve being called to act a part in organizing this Mission, has caused me to fall in company with a considerable number of those brethren who are counseled to go south and raise cotton, and I can realize to a great extent the feelings which exist in some of their breasts. A man who has come into this Valley to make Zion his home, has gone to work and by untiring industry has surrounded himself with comforts, and probably with wealth and an abundance of this world’s goods; he can proclaim himself an Elder in Israel who is ready for anything. Such a man would go into the mountains to hedge up the way of our enemies, go abroad and preach the Gospel, and in fact he will find himself constantly called to assist in establishing Zion.

The word of the Presidency is, brethren, it is necessary to strengthen the southern border of our thriving Territory, and this is for the general good of all. Now you go down south and raise cotton and you will be blessed more than you ever have been heretofore, and know that in doing this you are doing your part to build up Zion. But some do not feel so. Why, I have seen faces look as long as a sectarian parson’s face, comparatively speaking; I have seen diseases appear in men that had heretofore been considered healthy, and that too as soon at they heard they were wanted to perform any unpleasant mission. I have sometimes argued the case, and tried to persuade them, in regard to this mission that it would do them good. Oh, but they will reply I have always been sick in a warm country. Well, I have told them, we can, in the cotton country, in a few hours riding, give you any climate from the torrid to the frigid zone. But this is not the difficulty. This cotton mission rouses up covetous feelings, for it must be remembered that the prospects for a large farm are not very good there. We can make more here; we can get more wealth and get along faster if we stay here, than we can raising cotton in Washington County. And in fact a few of the brethren feel disheartened about going south to raise cotton, indigo, and such other articles as we cannot raise in this part of the Territory. A brother came into the office the other day and volunteered to go south to the cotton country, then he came in the next day and said he had been too fast in volunteering, that he had not got sufficient clothes to wear. I told him that it was a great deal warmer in that country than it is in this, and consequently he could do with less clothing. But he felt that he must go to work and get more clothing for his family before he could go. I replied that I considered the best thing he could do was to raise a quarter of an acre of cotton. I showed him some cloth that my wife had been spinning and weaving. Then he said his wife did not know how. I told him mine did not until she learned.

It has been my lot to take part in the starting of settlements in the southern portion of this Territory; I have assisted in settling the country from the cotton district in Washington County to Utah mountain. It used to be nearly as much work to get a man to go to Iron County as it was for Jetta Bunyan in the Pilgrim’s Progress to get poor Christians into heaven. When I got them started south, they would meet at every settlement on the road, men who would discourage them by saying, “you are going to a poor country, Oh how I pity you, you will starve in that miserable country, here is a good piece of ground close by me, you had better stop, I can sell you all the grain you will want for seed and to eat; you are going away out of the world.” In this way hundreds of those who were counseled to go to the far south were stopped in Utah County, or turned aside from fulfilling what was desired of them. When I led the first company to Parowan, some of the brethren insisted there was not grass enough to keep their cattle through the winter, when in reality there was an abundance of feed for thousands of stock, and in a few weeks they hardly knew their own cattle, they had improved so much. These incidents have been a lesson to me, and I felt that I wanted to preach to the brethren upon the subject of going south. We are going down there to raise cotton, and the Presidency want men who are called to go upon this Mission to let it have their undivided attention.

There are a few that have always allowed themselves the indulgence of whining and finding fault whenever they pleased. This is very wrong. A spirit to find fault is an enemy to your peace and comfort, and also to the happiness of those around you. It is a key to your destruction. It is so in our home affairs, when you go abroad and exercise this influence among the people you sow a spirit of dissension in the midst of Israel. If you have a portion of Priesthood upon you; you disgrace it in doing so. If you have been baptized for the remission of sins you dishonor that baptism in doing this. Some will grumble and quarrel, until they go into partnership with Satan to oppose the kingdom, lose the spirit and deny the faith. It is Satan’s business to oppose the Saints, but those professing to be Saints should labor for the good of the kingdom of God.

The southern settlements were at first considered rather orderly, more so than some of those nearer this city, but in the spring of 1858, there was an influx from California of a large number of persons, who had gone there because they were not contented to live in this country, and who could not enjoy the liberty that was here. Many of them went to California to get rich, but a spirit came over some of them that the Lord was going to destroy all the Gentiles, and that if they came up here for a while they could go back after the Gentiles were killed off, and find better diggings, and many others thought their brethren were in trouble, and if they could not live Mormonism they would fight for it anyhow. Several hundred persons came into the southern counties under these and similar influences, and intended to stay, no doubt, until the vengeance was over and the Gentiles swept off from the earth, then some thought they could go back and keep tavern. A man who had been among the Gentiles and served the Devil for several years, would come up to this Territory and expect to be respected as much as those who stayed at home and attended to their own business and labored for the good of the kingdom, when it was as much as an Elder could do who had stayed at home and helped to build up Zion, to retain the Spirit of the Lord and magnify his calling. In this way there was grumbling, and a kind of daredevil influence scattered all through the settlements. We saw much of it here, but where the settlements were small, an influence of this kind took deeper hold and had a far more powerful effect. The spirit of avarice was not gratified, the Lord had not designed to cut off the wicked to please a few avaricious Mormons. He designed those who professed to be Saints to live good and upright lives, and to exercise a holy influence over the children of men, that all who loved the truth might be converted and saved in the kingdom of God. As soon as this was ascertained many went back again.

Brethren, you who are going from here have been in the habit of hearing the President, Sunday after Sunday, and where you have been considered examples, here you have acted as Bishops, High Priests, Seventies, Elders, or Teachers, and your example should be a good one and worthy of imitation. A great many Elders have been called to go on this Mission to raise cotton, and they should consider themselves as much on a Mission as if they were among the nations preaching the Gospel. I advise every man to fortify his mind against becoming like Satan in accusing the brethren, or in grumbling, in faultfinding in word, in thought, or in your hearts. If the Mission was to go and build a city on a rock, my advice would be, go at it, for if you did not choose to do that you would have a chance to choose a sandy foundation which would not be proper nor beneficial.

I wish to talk to the brethren on this principle of faultfinding. If we are disposed to find fault with the Bishop, with our wives, with our neighbors, with the Priesthood, and the general authorities of the Church, we shall have all the influences of Satan necessary to help us to carry out our design. Those who practice these things will soon be full of hell and have plenty of devils to help them to carry it on. You are called upon to go and build up a city and villages for a stake of Zion.

When you first came here you dropped down into a desert, went to work and made it blossom as the rose. Then, when you have done this, you have to go to other places and make them blossom also. You have got to lay out the streets, make fences, and build houses, and do everything that will make a city pleasant, agreeable, and inviting. We can get up in our meeting and sing—

“The cities of Zion soon shall rise.” but how are they going to rise? We are going to build them, so that they will rise far above the clouds; and to accomplish this we are going to build them on the high mountains. We are not only going to sing about building them, but we are going to do the labor requisite to carry out our designs.

Now, I do not wish a solitary man to go down there to perform this service that cannot go with his whole heart. If he has got a splendid house, a mill, or farm, or carding machine in this part of the Territory and his heart is set upon it, his soul will be here. He will be like some Elders that are sent to England on missions; they say “yes, I will go and preach,” but when they get there it is, “Oh dear if I was but at home.” If I were presiding over such a man I would send him home, so that I might get rid of the poisoning influence of his company. I want a man that is going on a Mission to say wife, children, the Lord gave you to me, I will go and do my duty, and hereby show to him and to all men that I am worthy of you.

In this case the Mission to which you, brethren, are called is to build a city; it calls for wives, children, for machinery, for mechanics, for everything that is calculated to add to the comfort and happiness of the citizens of a city. We are not going to be a great while isolated from our brethren, but we are going to assist in building up Zion. We want all necessary and important improvements, and if we build a telegraphic line from here to Santa Clara, it won’t cost more than fifty thousand dollars. But you need not be afraid of leaving headquarters, for although we cannot all live at headquarters we expect that headquarters will be connected with every part of the world, and when Zion is not big enough for us, the Lord will be willing to stretch it so as to make room for his Saints. Oh, says a brother, I am perfectly willing to go, but I understand that we are only to cultivate three acres of land each and I cultivate thirty at home. Remember the Lord has said that it his business to provide for his Saints, therefore if we cultivate a small farm when we are required to do so, he will give us a big one, for there is plenty of land in the hands of those who do not respect him, and if we are faithful we may expect to be made rulers over many things.

I want our sisters that are called to go with their husbands, to cultivate a spirit of joy, cheerfulness and satisfaction, and feel a pleasure in going. They ought to feel that they are honored in being called to go and build up the cities of Zion. This is the advice that I give to the brethren and sisters upon this subject, and I do not want the Californians in the southern settlements to say, brother George A., is this a specimen of Salt Lake City grumblers? They can beat us, who have been to California, in murmuring, for although we would rather live here than anywhere else, we should discipline our minds to live where we can be the most useful to the cause of Zion. We should manifest our joy that we have had the high privilege of helping to enlarge the borders of Zion, to inspire them with a spirit of faithfulness and industry. I was pleased when brother Spencer asked me to speak.

May the blessings of Israel’s God rest upon you all. Amen.

Remarks by President Heber C. Kimball, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, October 7, 1861.

The matter has been plainly presented before us in regard to the Temple, and the question for us to consider is, “Does this people, or this Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with all its authorities that are present here today, want to build the Temple?” (The congregation responded, “Yes.”) “Is it your feeling and desire as a people that we shall go to work and build a Temple?” (All the Conference with one united voice responded in the affirmative.) I now want to put another question, for I do not understand or know of anything that lives but what has got a spirit and a body, and I know that to separate them here on the earth is death, so it is with us without our works, our faith is dead. Now, then, I am coming to the point; “Will you pay your Tithing?” (All answered, “Yes.”) “Will you attend to the calls of the First Presidency of this Church?” (One simultaneous “Yes” burst forth in answer to this question.)

What is the use of talking about things; let us go to work and do them. We as a people must go to work, beginning at the head or root of this branch of the house of Israel. We must go to work and build a Temple, and everything that pertains to it that is necessary for this day and time that we have to stay in these mountains. Is there any lack of means? No, not a particle. (President Brigham Young: All the lack is the will, brother Heber.) If we say we will do it, God will help us to do. There is no other way for this people to prosper, except for every leading man holding the Priesthood in this Church and kingdom to go to work unitedly, and except we are one in purpose, and all of us become like clay in the hands of the potter, we can do nothing. Every vessel has to be turned and become pliable in the hands of the potter. Do you know this, brethren? I have worked at the potting business, and I have made twenty dozen milk pans in a day, and I could not make one stand for the other; but I had to take each for itself, every bowl had to stand for itself. It is so with us in the kingdom of God; if we are saved at all, it must be by subjecting ourselves to the principles of salvation and eternal life, by observing strictly the law of Christ; and it is precisely so with regard to this people and the building of that Temple. It is one of the easiest things for us to do, if we will only go to work and do it in the way that we are commanded. When we start to do it in good earnest, our means will increase in proportion to what we do. Some will turn round and say, if by building that Temple we shall be prospered, we are ready; but if I tell you that by going at it, you will be able to send four hundred teams next year, if required, you will think this is extravagant; but I see it just as it is, and that by the Spirit of the living God, even by the Spirit of revelation. I am of opinion that if President Young had not started that theater, there would not have been half so many improvements here as we now see. Men increase their efforts frequently because of the examples of others. When boys lay down a snow ball, if it is not rolled it does not increase in size; but when it is rolled then it is the time that it increases. It is so with this Church and kingdom, the progress of the work of God is in proportion to the labor performed and the diligence of the people in the Church. We are all required to be diligent and to labor faithfully for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God; we have all got an interest alike in the triumph of righteousness, and it should be our meat and drink to assist all we can in this great work of human redemption.

But to return to the subject of the building of the Temple, which is closely connected with the salvation of both the living and the dead. There is quite a quantity of rock on the ground now, about enough to make one tier all round about sixteen inches high. Now, if you will go and look at the quantity of rock there is on the Temple Block, you will think there is far more than enough to build one tier, for it looks a tremendous pile. We have to carry the walls a little over eighty feet high from the basement. The theater is forty feet high from the water table, so you can readily form an idea of the height of the Temple when completed, and you can also imagine the immense mass of stone that will be required to rear it ready for the roof, when you consider that all the stone we have got on hand will but raise the building sixteen inches. Shall Great Salt Lake City do it all? No, all the people from north to south, and from east to west, have got to take a hand in the work, and by exerting ourselves we shall be enriched tenfold in our property and in our righteousness.

By-and-by President Young will call upon us to build a Tabernacle that will hold from 15,000 to 20,000 people, and it will be so constructed that the congregation will be able to sit and hear full as well as they can in the Tabernacle behind us, and it gives us a good idea of erecting another one, for the people can hear him when he speaks at a very moderate tone of voice; he does not have to speak one third as loud in the Tabernacle as he does here. Speaking here feels as if it would destroy a man’s lungs, for the voice is scattered or wasted through the bushes, while a tight room will hold the sound. We shall commence that large Tabernacle when President Young says so. Can we build that Temple by building that Tabernacle, of which I have been speaking? Yes, I say we can, and that too much quicker than if we do not build it.

I know these things. For years I heard Joseph tell the people to put in their means to help, and he, under the direction of the Almighty, would push forward the work and make the people rich. But Joseph could not do it, for the people were not filled with the Spirit of revelation, but if the people would partake of the same attributes as the man who stands at their head, which they can do by living the religion of Jesus Christ, they will prosper abundantly. Brother Brigham may talk all the day long, expecting that we have got the same spirit, and that we are blessed with the same sap and nourishment as he is, which comes from God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. You must be alive in Christ in order to partake of his Spirit, power, and authority. The principle is true and the rule is good; just let us hand over twice as many teams to go east next year as we sent this, and then we shall be able to do more work than we have ever done in the mountains before, and we will be better off.

Now, remember, we shall want you to come on with your teams, hauling rock, and take an active part in the good work. The people in the country must remember that the workmen will require butter, eggs, meat, cheese, and lots of strong clothing.

Brethren and sisters, remember all your duties and perform them, and the Lord Almighty will bless you and prosper you in all things which you set your hands to do.

May the choicest of our Heavenly Father’s blessings attend you, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Remarks by President Daniel H. Wells, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, September 29, 1861.

It will be remembered by the brethren that, about a year ago, there was a Missionary fund started in this city, which was very liberally subscribed to. This fund was commenced for the purpose of sustaining the families of the Missionaries who have gone on Missions. The calls upon the secretary of that fund are now very numerous. The subscriptions are not all paid, but many of them have been partially paid. It is now proposed to replenish this fund; and as this is a good time for getting wood, it is a good time to bring some in for this object. Those who feel to subscribe and donate, can report to brother John T. Caine at the President’s office. This invitation has also been extended to others who have not contributed; and we now wish to give an opportunity to those who live in the adjoining settlements. We wish to give all an opportunity and a privilege of assisting the families of those who are appointed to go on Missions. Brethren, let us pay up and continue our subscriptions to the fund, that the poor may be provided for, and the hearts of the Saints made glad.

The instructions given seem to turn upon political economy, and the pecuniary and temporal circumstances of this community. It is the burden of the instructions from time to time, and it seems not so much by way of gaining political advancement or influence, but those who have labored, and still are laboring to lay the foundation for a great and mighty nation, are looking and striving for the improvement of this people, to teach them how to be self-sustaining. It is the wish and desire of those who stand at the head of this people, to pursue that course which will be the most profitable to the kingdom of God, for that will be for their benefit, and that is the burden of the instructions day by day. We are counseled and taught by our brethren to prepare ourselves for self-existence, to look after those things which are calculated to make us free and independent. It appears by the great commotion in the world that we are liable to be cut off at any time from foreign trade, for we are so situated in these distant valleys, that we may be cut off at any time from all distant markets; and it seems to be in the economy of Heaven that this should be so in order that we may become free, and also that we may develop the resources of this our mountain home. By our united efforts we can produce from the elements those things that will be for our best good, and for the general interests of the kingdom of God. The burden of the instructions given by the servants of God from day to day, is for us to labor to draw from the elements for our support. Here are the richest elements that are to be found upon the face of the globe. There is no grain, no vegetables, neither anything that grows upon the face of the earth, that contains that sweetness or nourishment in a greater degree than it does here in this mountain country. The fruit, the vegetables, and all we grow, are of the sweetest and richest kind, and the most nourishing in quality. The fabrics made here will likewise be of the most refined and durable kind. If we labor for it, the finest flax, hemp, and wool, can be produced in this Territory. It is our duty to strive to raise everything we need for our own consumption. The tea, the coffee, the tobacco, and the whiskey (if we must have such articles), can all be produced and manufactured here. I am willing to make a bargain with this people to leave off all those things that I have mentioned, if all the people will agree to do likewise. These are things that we can do without; in fact, we are better without them than with them; we are better in our bodies as well as in our purses. The sugar that is needed, and other sweetening, grow here in these valleys of the mountains, and it only needs a little skill and labor to bring it into a more refined state than we have yet been able to produce. Hundreds of wagons and teams would not be able to bring the amount of sweetening from the States that will be raised and manufactured here this season, and the quantity and quality can be increased and improved every year.

It is a measure of political economy for us to strive to promote the general interest, and to study to do the most good for the community we live in. If we cannot abide the appeal to our consciences, let us abide the appeal to our pockets. (Voice: You have caught us now.) We must not suit our ways to strangers, but we must look to the welfare of Israel.

Brethren, there is a glorious work before us, and great and glorious blessings will be poured out upon us. Peace and plenty surround us, and we are far from the power and corruptions which are now disturbing the enemies of God’s people. The Almighty has wisely placed barriers in the way of his enemies, and by them they are now kept back, otherwise they would endeavor to swallow us up in their anger and rage.

We are now in a position that we can do those things of which I have been speaking. We can provide for our future necessities. We can raise up a great and mighty people, who will be led and governed by the principles of righteousness, and we have now an opportunity of doing it in these valleys. The nucleus is formed, the people are here, and we can do everything that is required if we have the disposition to labor for its accomplishment. Let us take hold like men and women of God, like those who are filled with his Holy Spirit, in order that we may accomplish the important work required at our hands. It is a work that should engage our most earnest attention. It is not a thing of a moment, and then to pass away; but it is the kingdom of God that shall remain forever and forever. This is what we are striving to build up; and let us take hold of it in such a manner as we can carry it on, and at the same time sustain ourselves. To do this, we must produce those things that are necessary for our temporal existence; and let us be careful not to destroy what the Lord has given us before we produce another supply from the elements around us. It is our business, and duty, too, to take care of all that the Lord has put into our hands, and not because a word has been said about tea, to go and burn it up or throw it away; but we should put all we are made stewards over to the best possible use.

Now, I have no objection to our keeping things in our possession that are necessary for sickness, but let the whiskey and the tobacco be put to their legitimate uses, then all will be right. Where coffee is produced, the people do not use it, but they raise it for the barbarians. In the East Indies and wherever coffee is grown, the inhabitants consider it poison and wonder that it does not poison the outside barbarians, as they term all those whom we consider the civilized and enlightened nations. Some of our physicians will, however, say and contend that it is perfectly harmless, when the facts before us show the effect of coffee, tea, opium, tobacco and other stimulants, and various other foolish and expensive indulgences to be the cause of reducing the average of human life, so that not one half of those born into the world live to attain the age of seventeen years. Apart from this, it would be a great saving to this people, for they have to bring these things from abroad. Everything that we cannot produce within ourselves, it would be best for us to do generally without, then we would have means to aid us in producing those things that are necessary to more fully develop the resources of the mountains and valleys of Utah. I mean that we could then use our means to bring the machinery here that we cannot so well manu– facture, but which, by bringing in a little, we will be able to manufacture after a while.

While we are professing to be righteous, let us take a course to prove to God, angels, and men that we are in earnest, and will live and produce those things that are needed for our own sustenance, and build up cities and make Zion the joy of the whole earth. It is not a mere theory that we have to do with, but it is the building up of the kingdom of God, and it is for those who have the principles of the kingdom in their hearts to seek to permanently establish the Zion of God upon the earth, whether they will be able to maintain the kingdom or not is the Lord’s business. We know that the Devil seeks to thwart and overthrow the kingdom, and in all the enterprises that this people engage in, they may expect his opposition.

We often see that people are frustrated and afflicted; and we frequently suffer in our health, and in things which we seek to accomplish, we meet with such opposition that we have to give them up, but still we should try again and strive to bring stronger influences to bear and thus succeed in the accomplishment of the object we have in view. There is a contention here among the influences we have around us which is—whether the Latter-day Saints will maintain themselves independent of the Devil and his co-adjutors, or whether they will forever be dependent upon their enemies.

I firmly believe that, with the blessings of the Almighty, we can produce in a short time everything we need, if we will use the proper exertions. The thing now is to commence and go ahead with an earnestness, and not allow ourselves to be easily thwarted or frustrated. If we fail at one time, let us try again, and bring greater influences and more union, strength, and power to bear, that we may succeed the next time. We have the Devil, as well as every natural obstacle to contend with, but we will finally triumph, which is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Remarks by President Heber C. Kimball, made in the Bowery, July 7, 1861.

The ideas that have been advanced by President Young are strictly true, and they will so appear to everyone who has a knowledge of the condition of this world, and they will especially appear so to those who have a knowledge of the kingdom of God as it has been established in these last days. In regard to the United States, Great Britain, and European nations generally, they have a knowledge or a history of this people.

I was in England and commenced preaching the Gospel twenty-four years ago last June, and of course there were only a few Saints in that land; but the Gospel has spread among most of the nations of Europe. It has also been sounded in Asia, Africa, Australia, and in hundreds of the islands of the sea. The people generally look upon us as a set of fanatics, and they do not consider us worthy of their attention; still there are some who occasionally become convinced and embrace the truth. When the Church was first organized in Manchester, in the State of New York, the people rose up against us, and were determined that we should not stay there, and consequently we went to Kirtland, in the State of Ohio, where we had peace for a little season. And then we went to Jackson County, Missouri; but the brethren found we could not stay there, and hence we had to move over into Clay County. We stayed there a short time, and afterwards went into Caldwell County. We re– mained in those counties but a short time before the spirit of mobocracy raged to such a degree that the people considered we were not fit to live upon the earth. Fourteen thousand troops were called out, and took a few of us prisoners, and made us sign a deed transferring all our property to our persecutors in the State of Missouri, to pay the expense of our persecutors. They commenced their cruelties, and perpetrated the most diabolical outrages upon our people that were ever known among civilized nations: men, women, and children were indiscriminately despoiled of all they possessed; they were mobbed and whipped; some were tarred and feathered, and those who could not readily escape, were massacred, irrespective of age or sex; and if the Almighty had not interfered, they would have killed us all. We then went into Illinois, and had not been there long before they began to serve us in like manner. They gave us a city charter, and then took it from us again, and that too without any just cause. They gave us a charter for a Masonic Lodge, and then went to work and killed some of the men to whom the charter was given. The rage and ferocity of our enemies did not cease there, but it soon manifested itself in mobs assembling by thousands, who finally succeeded in driving us out of that State also, leaving us in the wilderness to perish. But the Lord assisted us; his protecting hand was over us for good, and by his power we were preserved.

After all these hardships and trials we started for this country, and what did the Government then require of us? Five hundred men were called to go and take part in the Mexican war, and that too at a time when we were all living in our wagons: many were sick, and some were dying; and in fact hundreds and thousands have died in consequence of the hardships and privations brought upon them by our ruthless persecutors. Joseph Smith lost his life by the hands of assassins, and he was one of the best men that ever trod the footstool of the Almighty. He was the man called to open up this last dispensation, but the world at large would not receive him.

We have passed through many grievous trials; but I do not feel that I want to say much about our sufferings this morning, but simply to remind you of some of the prominent acts of our enemies, that you may know that we have nothing to expect from them in the future but persecution and misrepresentation. Many of you are strangers to these things, both members and Elders, because you were not baptized into the Church until afterwards; but still you can see what the world have done to us; and everything in the shape of persecution or affliction which the world have brought upon us, will come back upon their own heads tenfold, and this nation in particular will reap what they have sown, and their troubles have already commenced; but I shall live to see them broken to pieces a great deal worse than they are now, and so will thousands of you. Our sons and daughters will live to see the complete overthrow of the nation, and they will avenge our wrongs. Many of them were born while we were undergoing those afflictions, and the blood of retributive justice is in them, and I know this as well as I know that I live and dwell upon this earth.

Our enemies know not what they are doing when they persecute and mob this people. It is true they are doing no more than was done by the wicked Lamanites who once lived upon this continent, and who were a flourishing and prosperous people. They persecuted the people composing the Church of Christ, the Nephites departed from the faith, and the two parties wasted each other away until only a remnant was left, and as such we now see them wandering about in filth, darkness, and the very lowest state of degradation. The Jaredites, who preceded the Israelites upon this continent, did the same things. They fought and contended with each other until the whole people were destroyed, and we are going to live to see similar things befall this nation. Although many may fall away from the truth, and others may embrace it, yet the destruction of this nation is sealed, except they repent, which is not very probable. Notwithstanding this nation has been favored with the revelations of heaven, yet they never knew God, they never knew that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of the Most High, and they do not now know that the leaders of this people are inspired from on high.

Now, I will say one thing that is in this good old book, the book that they won’t have in the Congress of the United States, for you remember it is only a short time ago that they would neither have a priest to pray for them, nor receive the Bible as evidence. This book, the Bible, says: “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” The nation of the United States have got to reap that which they have sown, and to receive that measure which they meted out to us, pressed down and running over; and as they designed to wipe us out of existence “with the flower of the army” which they sent here, that destruction shall come upon themselves. I am perfectly willing that they should know what I think of them. That army was sent here by James Buchanan to wipe us out, but they might as well try to move the sun out of his place; still we know that that was their design, and brother Brigham declared it at the time. Yet, although you know that those poor creatures came here for the purpose of cutting our throats, you will feed them at their own price, instead of making them pay handsomely for all they get. If the brethren had acted wisely, they might have helped themselves a great deal, and have got together means for the building up of the kingdom of God upon the earth; but some were determined not to take counsel. Now, as feeble and poor a creature as I am, I would like to know where there is a man who could bring up one circumstance to show that I have ever violated the law of the land. I know that I have been true to my country, to my Masonic brethren, and also to my brethren in this Church. Are there any of my countrymen who would injure me? Yes, scores, hundreds and thousands of them.

They have now got Masonic institutions against Masonic institutions, and Presbyterians operate against Presbyterians, and Episcopalians against Episcopalians, and, finally, it will be every man against his neighbor. But while they are being divided one against another, this people are raising the standard of King Emmanuel, and we will sustain the Constitution of the United States, and also all good and wholesome laws. You may tell it to the nations, for as God lives this people will do it, and I say, Amen.