Remarks by President John Taylor, delivered in the Tabernacle, Ogden, Sunday Afternoon, July 20th, 1884.

We are occupying a very peculiar position in the world, and in many respects different from the position that is occupied by any people that at present live upon the earth. Our ideas, and views, theories and doctrines; our principles and our mode of life generally are very distinct from that of other people. We look at things from another standpoint to that which the world generally do. Our ideas are predicated upon the work that God has commenced, by the ministration of holy angels, by the opening of the heavens, by the voice of God, and by the revelation of His will to the human family; in which all mankind, whether they comprehend it or not, are very much interested. The Lord has been pleased to make known unto us certain things of which we were ignorant; and certain things of which also the world of mankind are ignorant; and of which we know nothing, and could know nothing, only through the revelation of God to man.

The Gospel, we are told, brings “life and immortality to light”—life for ourselves, life for our families, for our wives and children, life for our progenitors, and life for our posterity; and consequently it is pregnant with greater events than anything that has yet transpired upon the earth. It goes back, back, back into the eternities that were, it unfolds things that now exist, and are on the eve of fulfillment, and it develops things which are to come. Consequently, as I said before, we are in a different position from that of other people. We do not look at things from the same standpoint which they do. We have other ideas and feelings and anticipations, and are in possession of another spirit and principle of intelligence other than that which is generally diffused in the world. Men in the world talk about the Gospel, but they do not comprehend it. We as Latter-day Saints talk about the Gospel, yet we understand only very little about it. Just in proportion as we live our religion and possess the Holy Spirit, do we comprehend the position that we occupy and no more.

We read, in the Scriptures, of a dispensation of the fullness of times, when God would gather together all things in heaven and all things in the earth—that is, a certain dispensation which would include everything that has existed in other times, and in other dispensations, and would embrace in one dispensation what has been scattered throughout the world in different dispensations, from the commencement of time until the present. Hence this is a matter that affects the earth and the heavens; it is a matter in which those who are in the heavens are concerned, and also those that are upon the earth. It reaches back to the commencement of time and goes forth to the final winding-up scene of all things pertaining to this earth whereon we dwell. Hence, as I said, we occupy a very peculiar position before God, and also before the world. The world do not comprehend our position, and hence they reason very strangely and very vaguely about us, and they get some very strange notions pertaining to us. That is not surprising. It is as much as we can do ourselves to comprehend our position. It is as much as the Elders of this Church can do to magnify their callings. It is as much as the Apostles or the Presidency of the Church can do to comprehend their positions, and it needs continual watchfulness, and prayer, and self-abnegation, and devotion to God, and the continual guidance of His Spirit, that we may comprehend the relationship which we sustain to each other, to our heavenly Father, to the world in which we live, to the nation with which we are associated, to the world of mankind generally, and the duties and responsibilities that devolve upon us pertaining to all of these matters, both to the living and the dead.

We have a fight to fight. We have a faith to contend for. We have principle to learn, and to develop to others. We have our relationship to God, and to holy angels, and to the world to maintain. We have duties and responsibilities devolving upon us that mankind, and that we ourselves comprehend only very little. It has been thought generally that if men could secure in some way or other their salvation, and get to heaven, as it is called, that they were doing a great work. We have, however, got a great deal more than that to do. We have first to learn ourselves the way of life; and then to teach others that way. Hence, what mean our Seventies and our High Priests, our Elders and our Apostles and men holding the Priesthood of God? What mean those various missions they take to the nations of the earth? What mean our gathering together here, and the efforts that we make for that purpose? What mean the building of Temples and the administering therein? What mean some of those things that we begin to have a slight glimpse of regarding certain duties and responsibilities resting upon us, pertaining to the dead as well as the living? What mean those Scriptures that speak about saviors upon Mount Zion? What mean our dedications to God, and the ordinances that we administer in His house? What means the development of those great principles pertaining to eternal lives that begin to enter into our minds partially?

Man is a dual being. He possesses a body and a spirit. He is connected with eternity as well as time. He existed before he came here. He exists here. He will exist after he leaves here. Before he came here he had to do with intelligences; he has here, if he will only fulfill his part; and he will have to do with them hereafter. We are here on a mission. What does that consist of? That is the question. Some of us have to go to the ends of the earth and preach the Gospel to every creature under the heavens. That is something which God requires at our hands. Some of us have to assist in establishing the Kingdom of God upon the earth. Some of us have to aid in purifying the Church of God. We have the same kind of material now that they had in former ages for this very purpose. In former times God placed in His Church Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers and Evangelists for the perfecting of the Saints. These officers were requisite to the Church then, and they are requisite now. We all have our follies and weakness. We all need the assistance of the power and Spirit of God.

We talk sometimes about the world, we Latter-day Saints, and we are very flippant in referring to their follies and foibles. We have enough follies of our own; and I often very much question whether they do not live as near to their religion as we do to ours. “How is that,” says one, “we are a much more moral people than they are?” We ought to be. We make greater professions than they do. They do not talk about having revelation. They do not talk about having any special mission to the nations of the earth, and we do. They do not talk about any celestial glory, and know nothing about it. We profess to know a little about it. They do not aim at a celestial glory, for they do not know what it is; and we understand a very little about it. One thing we do know; one thing is clearly told us, and that is if we are not governed by the celestial law and cannot abide a celestial law, we cannot inherit a celestial kingdom. What is it to obey a celestial law? Where does the celestial law come from to begin with? From the heavens. Very well. What have the people here to do with it generally—that is, outsiders? Nothing. They do not say they have had any revelation. They have had no principle of that kind unfolded to them. They are living under what might be termed a terrestrial law; and many of them, I think, under the circumstances, do quite as well as we do under our circumstances. We profess to be moving on a more elevated plane than they are. We profess to have come out from the world; to have separated from the ungodly. We profess to be under the guidance of Apostles and Prophets, Pastors and Teachers, etc., and to be living under the inspiration of the Most High. They do not profess anything of the kind.

These are some of the things we profess to believe in; and some of the things that the world do not believe in. We have, however, enough to do in attending to the duties of our Priesthood and calling without troubling ourselves with the follies and foibles of those who are not of us. As I have already said they do not profess what we do. We profess to be governed by higher principles and nobler motives, and by more exalted ideas. Let us try and live up to our profession. So far as the people of the world are concerned, I look upon them very charitably, myself. I do not entertain any vindictive feelings toward them. “Well, say you, “have they not got curious ideas pertaining to religious matters?” Yes, they have; but they have as much right to their ideas as I have to mine. I have no right to interfere with them. They have a right to worship whatever kind of a God they please, or in any form that suits them. If a man has a mind to worship a red dog it is none of my business. It is for me and for my brethren to fulfill the duties that God has placed upon us. He has revealed certain principles to us from the heavens for the benefit of the whole human family, and we will do that which God has commanded us. Will they persecute us? No matter about that. God has told us to do certain things, and we will carry them out, persecuted or not persecuted. We must perform our duty. At the same time we have rights and privileges that belong to us in common with everybody that lives in the United States. We have as many rights in these United States as any other people have, and no man has the right to deprive us of them. They are trying to deprive us of them all the time. That makes no difference. The principle is still the same, and it is for us to look after our rights. God has given us a goodly land here, and we have paid for it. It is ours by right of purchase and possession. If we have got farms, or city lots, or inheritances of any kind, we have paid for them according to the laws of the United States. We have complied with all the requisitions of the United States that are constitutional, and mean to do that all the time. We simply contend for our rights. We simply contend for the principles of human liberty, not only in behalf of ourselves, but in behalf of thousands who are in these United States. There are thousands of honorable men in these United States—in the Senate and House of Representatives, and all through the land—who are quite willing men should have the rights and privileges of free men, and then there are thousands, and ten of thousands, and millions of others who want to trample the principles of freedom under their feet and deprive men of their liberties. In relation to the people of the United States, I have nothing myself but kindly feelings. I feel sorry for them. I am sorry to see people act under wrong influences, influences that will lead them to destruction. The people of the world are placed under influences that they do not comprehend. What is the matter with them? I have numbers of prominent men call upon me from the United States, and from all parts of Europe, prominent men of all classes and grades, and when we meet together they talk very kindly and very pleasantly. They admire our beautiful city and improvements, and they do not believe one-hundredth part of the stories that are circulated about us broadcast throughout the earth. They say, “We know better than that.” There are a great many honorable men among the peoples of the earth, and we do not want to get a spirit of enmity and hatred against anybody because of the infamous acts of a few unprincipled men. We are here as saviors upon Mount Zion; and the time will come, and it is not very far distant, when, in consequence of the evils, the corruptions, the adulteries and licentiousness that prevail throughout the land, that God will bring the people to judgment. Then the time will come, and it is not very far distant, when the sinners in Zion will be afraid, when fearfulness will surprise the hypocrites.

We are here to build up the Zion of God, and not to build up ourselves. We are here to establish righteousness, and to establish it first within ourselves; to feel that “as for me and my house we will fear God.” We should prepare ourselves for glory and for eternal lives, that we may associate with the Gods in the eternal worlds. We are the sons of God; but we occupy a different position in many respects to the rest of the world, because we have obeyed the new and everlasting covenant; been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and had hands laid upon us for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and have lived up to our privileges, many of us. Consequently we are aiming, as I said before, at a higher exaltation and a greater glory than the world know anything about, and that we ourselves at present comprehend, but very little. But we shall improve from time to time and become better instructed in the laws of life and in the principles of eternal truth. We are gathered together for that purpose.

Well, brethren and sisters, God bless you and lead you in the paths of life, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Discourse by Joseph F. Smith, delivered in the Ogden Tabernacle, Saturday Afternoon, July 18, 1884, being the Quarterly Conference of the Weber Stake of Zion.

I am pleased to see so many of the Saints assembled here on this the opening day of conference, and I certainly hope that those who have taken the trouble to come to conference on the first day may be amply repaid for so doing.

We ought, I think, to be very willing to perform any duty that may be required of us as Latter-day Saints, on the Sabbath day, and at other times appointed for the gathering of the Saints. We should come together for the purpose of being spiritually strengthened and encouraged, that our faith may be increased, and that we may learn the duties devolving upon us as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We are not nearly as united as we ought to be. If the people of Huntsville, whose Bishop has been reporting them, had been united as Saints should be, and as I trust they will be some day, the probability is that they would have been much better off financially than they now are.

Cooperation is a principle that President Young was very much concerned about, and that he endeavored, with his brethren, to impress upon the minds of the people throughout the land. Under his administration our cooperative institutions were established, and by his efforts, many of the people, especially in the southern part of Utah and in Arizona, became united together in organizations that were called “the United Order.” The object was cooperation, that the principles of union in labor as well as in faith might be developed to its fullest extent in the midst of the Saints. We all believe in being united in faith. We all profess to believe that there is one God, one faith, one baptism, and that we should be one people; but notwithstanding we profess this, our individuality stands out very prominent. Many of us cannot see just the same as our brethren see, and we cannot possibly be wholly united with them. We do not expect—I do not expect at all events—that the people will come to see eye to eye all at once. I believe this to be a work of great importance, and one that will not be accomplished without years of experience, and perhaps we will have to suffer many chastisements and reproofs before we are brought to a unity of the faith. Yet we ought to try to see eye to eye as far as possible. Our being united does not destroy our individuality at all. We can be just as strong in our in– dividuality when united in regard to the purposes and designs of the Almighty, as we can possibly be when in opposition to these purposes and designs, and to our brethren who are united in regard to the things of God. Indeed I think it evinces a stronger characteristic of individuality for men and women to bring themselves into harmony and union with the purposes of the Almighty than to be divided against them or separate from them. Of one thing I am certain, and that is, that we ought to seek to become acquainted with the principles of economy. We ought to use the best wisdom, judgment and understanding we can obtain in our temporal as well as in our spiritual affairs and concerns. You take a community like the community of Huntsville, or any community of Saints in a Ward, isolated, perhaps, in a little valley, and if there is union and cooperation in their midst, thousands and tens of thousands of dollars can be saved in their own pockets; while, on the other hand, if individuals are left to do as they please, thousands of dollars will go out of their pockets into the pockets of speculators and others. I know that to be true. As Bishop Hammond has very truly said, there is in Huntsville from half a dozen to a dozen mowing machines, when two or three would be ample to do all the work which is required to be done in that place with these machines. This being the case, as stated by the Bishop, then all the thousands of dollars which have been expended upon these superabundant machines and other implements, have gone out of the possession of the people into the pockets of outsiders and strangers; whereas if they had been contented with having just enough, they could have devoted the balance of their means in other directions, or have placed it in such a position as that it would bring them interest, instead of being operated and used by their enemies, perhaps, for their political or religious destruction. There is no reason why the principle of unity should not operate in the midst of the Latter-day Saints, except that we are too selfish. It should not be “every man for himself;” but we are many of us covetous. We desire in our hearts to have everything our neighbor has, whether we need it or not. In order to be like our neighbor; in order that we may associate with him, and that our daughters may associate with his daughters, and our sons with his sons, we must have as fine a house, as costly furniture, as many horses, as many plows, reaping and mowing machines, and headers, as many cows, as many sheep, and as many luxuries, whether we can afford it as well as our neighbor can or not. Now, all this is extremely foolish. It is wrong. We see a vehicle which costs $200, more or less, and we do not absolutely need it—only we must have it to be like our neighbor—would it not be better to put that money in the bank, or lend it to somebody in business, and thus while benefiting others with our capital, secure interest upon it for ourselves. Certainly it would. In that way the money would be a help to you; whereas if you purchase the wagon you do not require, in addition to paying an exorbitant price in the purchase which is generally the case, the wagon will very likely be left exposed to the sun and wet—as wagons too frequently are left by a great many of the people—and soon becomes useless. Some men think nothing of buying a very nice carriage, spring wagon, or other wagon of some kind, and treating it in this way until it is ruined and worthless. The same with valuable agricultural machinery; too much of it is bought and used for two or three days, or two or three weeks in a season, or for a whole month in a year—say a reaper, or a mower, and where is it the rest of the year? Outdoors, in the sun and rain, and before it can be used next season, it must be taken to a blacksmith’s shop for repairs; for through exposure it has become rusty, the wood season checked, every joint loosened. This is the way some people use their agricultural implements whereas with very little trouble they might be stored away in the shed, kept dry and secure, and ready for service when the next season came round. But the better way of all is—in a small community where every man knows his neighbor, and where all are on neighborly terms, to consult together, and to form into cooperative bodies for the purpose of transacting the business necessary to be transacted outside of their little community. By thus consulting together, and using the combined wisdom of the community as to the number of reapers, mowers, etc., they will need to do the work of the community, a great deal might be saved. One man need not own the machinery. They could all join together, each contributing a certain sum towards its purchase, which they could use to mutual advantage, and see that it is well housed and taken care of when out of use. In this way a community could save thousands of dollars year after year, and I know the principle is a correct one for the people of Zion. It is a principle of economy. Money is something which a man ought to be able to take care of, and use wisely if he has it; if he does not know how to take care of it, it will escape from his pockets, it will take the wings of the morning and flee away.

I think we ought to be united in all these things, in the purchase of machinery and of the vast amount of merchandise that we consume, that we do not manufacture or produce among ourselves. The very foundation of all real prosperity is home industry and home manufacture. This lies at the foundation of the prosperity of every permanently prosperous community. It is the source of wealth. I think, therefore, we ought to encourage home industry. We ought to cooperate together, if there is any kind of business in which there is a profit, let us operate together and have the benefit of that profit among ourselves, instead of giving it to strangers. Why should we encourage the stranger to come here and import wagons to sell to us when we have got the brains and the money to sustain that business among ourselves? Why should we not rather do such things ourselves, and supply business and employment for our own people, many of whom are idle, and be independent of the world, and if there is a profit in it, put that profit in our own pockets, and use it for the comfort and happiness of our wives and children? It is a fact—at least it was reported to me as a fact by a person who is supposed to be acquainted with the business—that one man who deals in wagons and agricultural implements in Utah Territory, put $30,000 into his pocket in one year, and he is only an agent for the company he deals with. I presume that the company put an equal amount into their pockets as the result of his labors; but the agent, as I was informed, put $30,000 in his own pocket as the result of his business. Who is it that buys the wagons, the plows, the harrows, the reapers, the mowers, etc., in Utah Territory? Is it the Gentiles? No, it is the Latter-day Saints. Those who are not Latter-day Saints are not engaged in agriculture as a rule. If there are any of them tilling the ground they are exceptions to the rule and they are very few and far between. They are not the people who use the wagons. They may it is true, use some of them at the mines in hauling, etc., etc. The vast bulk of this class of merchandise is consumed by the Latter-day Saints. The result is that the Latter-day Saints put that $30,000 into the pocket of the man I allude to. That same man sat on a Grand Jury and helped to indict a man for marrying, acknowledging and maintaining his wives. That same man stands head and shoulders above many of his fellows in opposition to the Latter-day Saints, and in using his power abroad as well as in Utah against the interests of the people from whom he gets his money.

I do not feel that the Latter-day Saints are using their best wisdom, or acting upon the principle of the highest intelligence, when they sustain and patronize such men, especially when they have got the skill, the intelligence and the means to do all such business independent of all strangers or foreigners. I know they can do it if they will only cooperate together and do business upon business principles. Our honesty with the world is proverbial. It is the universal testimony of outsiders that trade with us here, that the Latter-day Saints are the most honest and best paying people they ever did business with. I believe this is true. If a Latter-day Saint owes a Gentile and also a brother, it is said, he will pay the Gentile every time in preference to his brother. Well, I do not know that this is right. I think if he cannot pay the full amount to both, it would be proper to pay each a proportion. Would not this be just as honest—instead of paying all to the Gentile and leaving your brother without anything? I think so. I do not know that we do this sort of thing to any extent; but I have sometimes heard of people that were thought to be very good payers to the outsiders, but were not so prompt in paying their brethren. I do not think that is exactly right. I think we ought not to go in debt at all beyond what we can pay. The Lord commands this. We ought to live within our means if possible, and if it is not possible and we keep living beyond our means, it is only a question of time when we won’t even have credit, our friends won’t trust us, and we will have to live within our means or die, or steal, as someone has added. When it comes to that kind of thing I feel as Dr. Johnson did when the beggar accosted him, “Why don’t you go to work?” said the Doctor. “I cannot get any work, I cannot get anything to do, and you know, Doctor, I must live.” “Well,” said the Doctor, “I don’t see the least necessity for it.” (Laughter.) When a man won’t pay his debts, or will not live within his means, when he knows what his income is: when a man will continue to get in debt to his neighbors as long as he has got any credit, knowing all the time that he cannot pay his way—well, I do not know that there is much necessity for that man to live. Perhaps the world would be as well off if he should pass away quietly somewhere. Every Latter-day Saint ought to learn—and especially every youth in Israel ought to learn—that everyone of them should try to make the world a little better for their being in it, if they possibly can. We all ought to try to do some good. If we will do that, then there is some necessity for our living. God will bless us in our labors and efforts; and if we will cooperate together in our temporal affairs and conduct our business on correct principles, the world will be better for us, and we will be better off in the world. We will have more means to build up the kingdom of God; we will have more to use for the gathering of the poor, for the building up of Zion, for the benefit of the Saints, and for our own benefit, and we will have much more power in the world. Money is a powerful agent in this degenerated age. It is said that knowledge is power. Knowledge should stand above money or wealth. But in the present condition of the world money takes the lead.

This ought not to be the case with us. The Lord says in the scriptures, “make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness.” What for? Obviously that you may have power and influence with the unrighteous.

Now, if we had wealth—and we are bound to have it by and by—those who worship wealth would either covet it and hate us and try to destroy us to get it, as some are doing, or else they would be bound to acknowledge the power we could wield through the possession of wealth. Well, now, we need not be at all afraid of the former. They cannot destroy us; for the Lord is our friend, and we are His friends. He will not suffer them to rob and plunder us; and take away from us our possessions; or if He does, he will give us more abundantly; because if we possess riches they will be the Lord’s. We will dedicate them to Him, if we do our duty, and they will belong to Him, and surely the Lord will protect His own. We should not despise these things, but should endeavor to use them for the accomplishment of the all-wise purposes of the Almighty. The Lord has said, Zion shall become the richest of all people. The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness of the earth is His. The cattle upon a thousand hills are His. The gold and the silver and all the mineral wealth of these vast mountains belong to the Lord. And although the wicked may get possession of them for a little while, yet they will perish by and by, and leave all their wealth behind. They cannot take it beyond the grave. By and by the Lord will overrule these matters in such a way, that the righteous, those who love God more than they love the world, and will use their means to the honor and glory of God, shall be made possessors of the earth and the fullness of it. It will be theirs to use for every purpose that is right and legitimate—to manipulate armies if necessary—to manipulate nations, or the world if necessary, to the carrying out of the purposes of Almighty God. We do not want to lavish it upon the lusts of the flesh. We should not desire it for that purpose.

If we do, God will withhold it from us, I hope; for no man should have wealth to gratify the lusts and desires of the flesh. We should use it to the honor and glory of God’s name, and to the building up of His Kingdom.

We ought; therefore, to cooperate together in our mercantile institutions. It is as much a duty to sustain these as any other duty devolving upon us, or now as at any former time. We should patronize our brethren. We ought to see eye to eye in regard to these things. We ought to be united in everything. We should cheerfully extend a helping hand to our neighbors from time to time. If our neighbor is oppressed, if he lacks knowledge or understanding or skill in the management of his affairs, you that have skill and experience and know how to husband your strength and means, ought to take pains to instruct your neighbor or brother who is not as thoroughly posted as you are. The instructions he receives in this way will benefit him and will not injure or impoverish you. We ought not to be miserly in regard to anything we possess, that is good. We can freely impart to others and not diminish our own store. We can impart our experience for the benefit of others. If our brother is about to buy something that is apparently not required, it would be a benefit to the poor man, who lacks judgment, for the Bishop or his counselors, or for his Teacher to go to him and endeavor to show him the mistake he is about to make. I think we ought to cooperate together in all these matters, be one in all respects, and not be like the world, “everyone for himself and the devil for all.” The Lord has told us in a revelation through the Prophet Joseph Smith, that except we are one, we are not His. He has said that we must be united. We must be one. We should see eye to eye. We should help each other; help our neighbor and our brother. The Savior very beautifully describes who is our neighbor in the example of the good Samaritan. Who is your neighbor? Who is your brother? Why, the man that ministers to you in the time of need; the man that is your friend in the time of adversity; the man that extends a helping hand and saves you from error; the man that gives you the benefit of his experience and of his superior intelligence—he is your neighbor, your friend and your brother. Those who have embraced the Gospel—and especially those who are endowed with the authority of the Holy Priesthood, and are called to be saviors upon Mount Zion—ought to be the first and foremost in this good work of being saviors of their neighbors, and of their fellow creatures on the earth. It is our duty to teach correct principles, to instill them into the hearts of our children, and into the hearts of our neighbors, and to see that these principles are grounded in our own hearts; for except a man has been converted himself, and has a knowledge of the truth, it is folly for him to undertake to teach others the right way. But when the principles of the Gospel are thoroughly established in our own hearts, we can then go in the midst of our fellow creatures and say, “Come and follow me.” We can do this consistently. We are called to be teachers of these principles to the inhabitants of the earth. We are called to be God’s people, not a people of the world, for we have come out of the world. We ought to be united in all things temporal as well as spiritual. With God all things are spiritual. There is nothing temporal with Him at all, and there ought to be no distinction with us in regard to these things. Our earthly or temporal existence is merely a continuance of that which is spiritual. Every step we take in the great journey of life, the great journey of eternity, is a step in advance or in retrogression. We are here in mortality, it is true; but we are ahead of that condition we occupied before we came here and took upon us mortality. We are a step in advance of our former state. What is the body without the spirit? It is lifeless clay. What is it that affects this lifeless clay? It is the spirit, it is the immortal part, the eternal being, that existed before it came here, that exists within us, and that will continue to exist, and that by and by will redeem these tabernacles and bring them forth out of the graves. This whole mission of ours is spiritual. The work we have to do here, although we call it temporal, pertains alike to our spiritual and our temporal salvation. And the Lord has just as much right to dictate, to counsel, to direct and guide us in the manipulation and management of our temporal affairs, as we call them, as He has to say one word in relation to our spiritual affairs. So far as He is concerned there is no difference in this regard. He looks upon us as immortal beings. Our bodies are designed to become eternal and spiritual. God is spiritual Himself, although He has a body of flesh and bone as Christ has. Yet He is spiritual, and those who worship Him must do so in spirit and in truth. And when you come to separate the spiritual from the temporal, see that you do not make a mistake. Some are inclined to say, “the Lord has a right to manage my spiritual affairs, but I will not allow Him to interfere with my temporal affairs.” Why, bless your soul, temporal things pertain to spiritual things. They minister to the spiritual man though they may be clothed with a tabernacle of flesh. The Bishop has as good a right to counsel the members of his Ward in relation to the purchase of merchandise or machinery, where and when he can do so wisely, as he has to counsel them in regard to spiritual matters. He has just as good a right to do the one as the other. He is a father to the people of the Ward. He is placed over the people for the purpose of leading them in the way of truth and righteousness, and it is his business to look after the temporal—if you chose to make any distinction between the temporal and spiritual—as well as the spiritual things. And President Taylor has as much right to direct the people in temporal things as he has in spiritual things. We ought to acknowledge that right, and ought to do it freely and cheerfully, because we should see that it is right. We are under no compulsion to do so if we do not see that it is right; but at the same time it is a correct principle, and every Latter-day Saint ought to have intelligence enough to know that this is the best thing for him to do—to be united, to be one with his brethren.

Now, you are going to have an election of county officers by and by. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to split tickets? Are you going to the polls to scratch off names, and put on the name of somebody else? I should hope not. I do not care who is put in office, only so far as we must obey the commandments of the Lord in these things. We must choose righteous men, good men to fill these positions. Hence if you will only get good men to fill these offices no one should care who they are, so that you have agreed upon them, and were one. We want you to be one both in temporal, political and religious things, in fact, in everything you put your hands to in righteousness. We want you to be one, one as God and Christ are one, seeing eye to eye. Do not try to crush anybody, or build yourselves up at the expense of your neighbor. Do not do it; it is a custom of the world, and it is a wrong principle. It is said in the Scriptures that the chil– dren of the world are wiser in their generation than the children of light. What does that mean? Why as I see it, when you go into Catholic communities, you will find that Catholics send their children to Catholic schools, and not to Protestant schools. You will find them patronizing Catholic merchants. They do not patronize Protestants. If there is anybody to put up for office they will put up their friends and vote for them. If you travel as missionaries throughout the world you will find this to be true. I have seen it in San Francisco, in New York, and in Great Britain, and upon the Continent, and wherever I have been, and yet it is accounted criminal for Latter-day Saints to follow this rule. We might commit treason against the United States if we did not send our children to Gentile schools, or if we did not patronize Gentile merchants. If a Gentile wanted to run for an office, and we did not vote for him, why, we are in rebellion against the government of the United States. I am going to tell you in a few words, what I think about these matters. I think the Latter-day Saints ought to send their children to be educated by those who are their friends, and not by their enemies. I think the Latter-day Saints ought to patronize their brethren and sustain them, in preference to their enemies. I believe that the Latter-day Saints ought to cooperate together and do their own business instead of asking the Gentiles to do it for them. I believe the Latter-day Saints ought to unite together in regard to all these things, and do their business upon the most wise and economical principles, instead of every individual doing it himself, wasting his means, sustaining his enemies, and getting materials he has no use for. That is what I believe in regard to these matters.

Today is Saturday, I am glad of it; for somebody would say I was breaking the Sabbath if I were to preach to you in this way on the Sabbath. But this is Saturday. It is the Jewish Sabbath. It is only unto man that there is a Sabbath. The Lord has set apart one day in seven upon which man should rest, because it is needful for the body and the mind. We should worship the Lord upon that day. Man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man.

It is for us to do our duty and live our religion on one day the same as any other. Let us serve the Lord in righteousness all the day long, and He will be our Father and Friend, and our enemies shall have no power over us. This is my testimony in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Discourses by Elder John Q. Cannon, President Wilford Woodruff and President John Taylor, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, June 29, 1884.

Elder John Q. Cannon said: My brethren and sisters and friends, it is with feelings which I am utterly unable to express that I stand before you this afternoon—feelings on the one hand of gratitude to my Heavenly Father, that after an absence of nearly three years from this city I am again permitted to meet with my brethren and sisters in this place, and with feelings on the other hand of intense timidity in standing before so large an audience. But I rely, my brethren and sisters, upon your faith and prayers during the few moments that I may stand before you, and I rely, furthermore, upon the promise which our Lord gave, when He said, “Where two or three have gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” I am satisfied, on my own part, that we, this afternoon have assembled ourselves in the name of the Lord, and I am consequently satisfied that His Spirit will be with us inasmuch as we seek for the same, inasmuch as we rid ourselves of every feeling of worldliness and come together with pure hearts to partake of the emblems of the death and suffering of our Lord, and to become instructed in the plan which He has laid down for our salvation.

It has been four days since I returned from a mission, and in six weeks it will have been three years since I left this city, in obedience to a call made upon me by the authorities of the Church. On the 9th of August, 1881, I left this city on a mission to Great Britain, in company with eleven other missionaries, who were destined for Scandinavia. We reached Liverpool in due time, and I was assigned, shortly after my arrival there, to the London Conference, where I labored with great pleasure until the 17th of March, 1882. Early in the month the then President of the European Mission—Apostle Albert Carrington—notified me that I should proceed to the German Mission, and within a few days after receiving this notice I joined my brother in North Germany. Of course in going to Germany I had to learn the language; I was utterly ignorant of it when I started and when I landed there; but the Lord strengthened my memory, and in a short time I was able to make myself understood, and pursue the real object of my mission. I labored—it is not for me to say with how much success—until relieved a short time ago to return home.

I can say, my brethren and sisters, that I have enjoyed my mission greatly. The blessing of the Lord has been with me. The promises that were sealed upon my head by the Presidency before I went have been literally fulfilled, and, to my mind, in a most remarkable manner.

Above all things I prize my mission for the testimony it has given me of the truth of this Gospel. It may seem strange to you that I make this assertion; because one would naturally think that I had a testimony before I went. I, however, confess this was not the case. I had heard what the world calls Mormonism—from my childhood up I had heard nothing else. I believed as much as it was possible that this, the Gospel as preached by the Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was the true religion, and was the path of redemption as proclaimed by Jesus Christ and His Apostles. This was my firm belief. But a direct and firm and steadfast testimony of the truth of the Gospel I had not received, and it was to obtain this testimony, more than for anything else, that I obeyed the call that was made of me. I had heard, as you had, that every man who returned from a mission and rose up in this stand or elsewhere to proclaim his testimony and to report his labors—I had heard every man say: “I know this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” And I felt within myself, if I can acquire a knowledge of the truth of the Gospel through going on a mission, I am willing to go. I valued my salvation and a knowledge of the truth of the Gospel just that much. Well, I went, and I labored with great weakness, I have no doubt. But the Lord heard my prayers. He granted unto me a testimony of the truth of the Gospel, and from the time that I received the first one until this moment, one testimony has followed another in rapid succession. I am therefore able to proclaim before you, as I have done with much pleasure before the world, that I do know that God has spoken in these our days, that He has revealed Himself and restored his Priesthood by means of which the human family—those of them who are willing to be saved and to obey the requirements which He has given—may be saved.

It was told me before I started away—the remark was made to me by my father: “My son, you will find in the world that the nations are about in the same condition as the Athenians were when Paul went to preach to them. They have temples and they have altars built, but these are dedicated to the ‘Unknown God.’” I found this to be the truth. I found the word, the written word of God was read in every church in every land, and that every family had it; but I was surprised to find that but few of them were willing to receive the truths which are therein contained. They were content with the dead letter of the law; and when I undertook or attempted to explain the principles of life and salvation, the principles which Jesus Christ taught His disciples, and which they taught all those who would listen to their testimony, I found there was a great coolness. People would not listen. They were content with what they had received. This was my general experience. On the other hand I found very many who acknowledged to me the truth of that which I had said. When I said unto them, “faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is insufficient to save you in His Kingdom;” when I said that something more was necessary than a simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and attempted to prove my position by Scripture, I found many who said, “You are right; something more is necessary according to the Scriptures; faith alone cannot save us.” But when I went on to explain the other principles of the Gospel—repentance, baptism for the remission of sins by one who has authority to baptize, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, I discovered that they said, “That may be all true, it is true, we believe, but we don’t want it.” That has been my experience and the experience of others in a great many instances. There are thousands in the world—I have spoken with hundreds I believe—who have made a similar confession—that faith, repentance, baptism, and the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost, were Scriptural principles, that they could not be denied, that the same Gospel was preached by Jesus Christ and His Apostles—but I have found among those hun– dreds very few who were willing to obey those principles. I am happy to say, however, that some few have obeyed them—that I have been the means, in the hands of God, of bringing some to a knowledge of the truth, and I am very thankful for this privilege.

It may, perhaps, interest you to know something of the present prospects of the Swiss and German mission, where I have labored for upwards of two years. We have some seventeen Elders in the field. Some of these have been laboring in Austria, one is in Italy, all the others are in Switzerland and Germany. In certain parts of Germany the laws are very strict. Public meetings of any kind are forbidden. We are, therefore, not allowed to preach. This has been brought about by the action of the Socialists, with whom we are confounded. They have held meetings, as you who read the papers know, and passed resolutions to upset governments and kingdoms, and reduce everything to chaos, if possible. In the kingdom of Prussia, however, we are at present in the enjoyment of liberty to a great extent. We have the permission of the authorities of the city of Berlin to hold our regular meetings, and we can announce these meetings in the papers if we desire. Of course our meetings are visited by detectives and policemen occasionally, to see that nothing contrary to the laws of the land is promulgated, which action, is, of course, quite agreeable to us. This is the case, however, only as regards the kingdom of Prussia. In the kingdom of Bavaria, which is strongly Catholic, we have been unable, up to the present time, to obtain any rights whatever. We have been threatened and in some cases expelled for having attempted to preach the Gospel. We have been forbidden to hold meetings of any kind. It has even been declared to us that where seven persons assemble together, that number would be considered a meeting, and if the participants were strangers they would be expelled, while natives would be heavily fined. In the Grand Duchy of Baden the same rule holds. In the kingdom of Wurtemberg, it has never been forbidden that we hold meetings, but we have as yet no official permission to do so. Of course in Switzerland we have full permission. We can hold our meetings in any house. It is not yet allowed us, or in fact anyone, to hold open air meetings. The prospects of the mission, as I look at it, are very good, and I think the day is soon coming when these rigorous laws will be broken, when all those who desire to serve God in the way that He has commanded, although it may not be in accordance with the desires of the rulers, may have the privilege. The laws of Bavaria pretend to give full freedom of worship; but the actual fact is, every person is prohibited, through pressure which is brought to bear upon him, from attending anything but the established church, which is Catholic, or the Lutheran. People are expected to attend or at least be members of one of these churches; and they are compelled to make an official acknowledgment of their belief in their work books, which are a sort of credential, containing the name, age, business, and place of residence, of every workman in the country. In this book each man must announce his religion, and if this happens to be anything but Lutheran or Catholic, he is put to great trouble and inconvenience, would perhaps find difficulty in obtaining work at all; and in case he called himself a “Mormon,” would be punished according to the regulations which some of the States have made. I do not believe that the king of Bavaria, and the rulers of the kingdoms are as bitter as some of the subordinate officials. The strongest persecution we have met with has been in the city of Nurenburg, and that has been on the part of the circuit judge, a man who in other respects is very liberal, but whose mind became prejudiced through some false reports which came into the country, and were scattered by the press just as we made a beginning. I nevertheless hope—and I believe it is the general feeling—that the day is not far distant when freedom of worship will be allowed—when the Elders can go through the country and proclaim the Gospel without fear or molestation. We pray for that day, and have great hopes that there are many thousands in those countries who will receive the Gospel.

The Elders are laboring energetically. They have spared themselves no pains to discover those who are willing to receive their testimony. They are laboring faithfully and with good results. The emigration has been quite extensive, as you know; but the number of those baptized exceeds by a considerable amount the number that have emigrated. Our branches are therefore growing continually.

My brethren and sisters: I am thankful to be able to testify to the truth of this Gospel, which is being preached in these days. I do know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, and this is a testimony which I have received for myself. It is not because my parents taught me this, or because I have heard it from others; that has given me courage to bear this testimony before others. But I have felt free in saying to all men, “Repent and be baptized and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and that will give you a testimony as it has given it to me.” That is the testimony, my brethren and sisters, that I feel to bear before you this afternoon.

I am glad to be once more in these mountains, to breathe this air, to see those with whom I have grown up, and to feel once more at home. During the three years that I have been absent, many changes have taken place, some of them very mournful to me; but I am thankful to be back once more. And now that I am home, I hope to be able to work steadfastly in the cause of God, and to do my part in helping to build up His kingdom upon the earth. This is my desire, and I pray that the Lord will help all of us to remain true to the end, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

President Wilford Woodruff then addressed the congregation. He said: We have been listening to the testimony of one of our Mormon mountain boys, who has been called in his youth to go forth to the nations of the earth to declare the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the inhabitants thereof. This is an example of this whole Mormon work in the day and generation in which we live. Joseph Smith himself was but a boy, an unlettered youth, when God called him over half a century ago, to listen to the voice of the Lord, and be an instrument in His hands to lay the foundation of His Church and Kingdom on the earth in the last dispensation of the fullness of times; and from that day to this, men have been called—some from the plow, the plane, the hammer, and from the various occupations of life—to go forth and lift up their voices and bear record to the nations of the earth of the Gospel of the Son of God. And the Lord has manifested His power, and His mercy to all who have been called to go forth and bear record of His name; and Brother Cannon (John Q.) who has addressed us, like tens of thousands of others, can bear record before God, angels and men, before the heavens and the earth, to the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which have been revealed unto us in the day and generation in which we live. It is a marvelous work and a wonder in the earth, and it is attracting the attention of the whole human family. The inhabitants of the earth marvel and wonder, and many times desire to know what the end of these things will be. The Lord called upon Joseph Smith, as a literal descendant of Joseph, who was sold into Egypt, to lay the foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church had been in the wilderness for nearly 1,800 years. The Church and Kingdom of God had fallen away. The Gentiles had followed the same example of unbelief as did the Jews when they departed from the Gospel of Christ and put to death almost every man who bore the Holy Priesthood on the earth, or who preached the Gospel of the Son of God to the world. The Jews rejected the Messiah; they put Him to death; and they labored to overthrow the Church, although it went to them in all the power and glory, and with all the keys, principles, ordinances and priesthood, that it did to the patriarchs and prophets in former generations. For this the Jews were overthrown. They had to pay the bill for shedding the blood of the Lord’s anointed; and the Lord rent the Kingdom out of their hands, and gave it into the hands of the Gentiles; and Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles, warned them strongly and faithfully to take heed and be cautious lest they should fall through the same example of unbelief. “For if God spare not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.” But all the Prophets and Apostles understood by vision and revelation that there was to be a falling away. There has been a falling away. I can say of a truth—whether the world believe it or not—that from the day the apostles and disciples and those holding the Priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ were put to death, there has not been a man on the face of God’s footstool who has had the power to administer the ordinances of the Gospel so as to have power after death. I understand perfectly well the world does not believe this, nevertheless it is true. There never was a man breathed the breath of life in any age of the world, who had power to go forth and administer the ordinances of the Gospel of Christ, only by the power of that eternal and everlasting Priesthood which Melchizedek held, which Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Elias, and all the ancient Patriarchs and Prophets held. Jesus Christ held it. He was a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, and has entered into the presence of God to plead for His brethren. The Apostles held it. No man in any age of the world had power to administer the ordinances of the Gospel without it. God himself, who has created worlds upon worlds, has created all these worlds and all those that have been saved have been redeemed by the power of that eternal and everlasting Priesthood. But as I said before, when the Prophets and Apostles and all men who held the Priesthood were put to death, the ordinances of the Gospel became without effect, and in consequence of this, the whole world has been filled with sects and parties, with false religions, and principles, until it would almost appear that there are the six hundred, three-score and six, which John the Revelator saw in his vision. And this has been the condition of the whole Christian world from the days of Jesus Christ and His Apostles until the Lord raised up Joseph Smith, and commanded him to organize this Church and Kingdom. Did he attempt to do this until he received the Priesthood? He did not. He did not attempt to administer any one of the ordinances until he received the Holy Priesthood from under the hands of the holy men who were sent unto him from God out of heaven. The first man that ordained Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to the Priesthood was John the Baptist, who was beheaded for the word of God and testimony of Jesus. Thus they were ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood. Joseph afterwards received the Apostleship under the hands of Peter, James and John, who held the keys of the Apostleship. God Almighty could not establish His Kingdom, His Church, His Zion—which the Holy Bible declares from Genesis almost to Revelation should be established in the latter days—without men bearing that Priesthood. God had to raise up such a man as Joseph Smith, and establish His Church, by which to prepare a people for the coming of the Son of Man. To this end Joseph was brought forth. He received these oracles from God. He laid the foundation of this Church and Kingdom in his boyhood, and he, like the Savior, and many of God’s other servants, spent but a short time in the flesh after he commenced his ministry. The Savior lived but three and a half years after He entered upon His ministry. Joseph Smith labored in the flesh some 14 years after the organization of the Church before he sealed his testimony with his blood, as did other Prophets and Patriarchs before him. I say, from that day until this, the Lord has called men to go forth and declare the Gospel of Christ. And Brother John Q. Cannon has testified, he knows for himself. Yes, he knows. There is no doubt of that. There are tens of thousands of this people who can bear the same testimony. It is true there is a difference with men with regard to the amount of testimony they have received to satisfy them of the truth of this work. Many men believe, but many say they require a certain amount of testimony before they know. I will say for myself: the greatest testimony I have ever received in this Church (and I have spent over 50 years of my life in it), has been the testimony of the Holy Ghost, has been the inspiration of Almighty God, has been the spirit of life and salvation, that still small voice that has rested upon me and rested upon my brethren from the time we were baptized into this Church until the present day. We lay hands upon the sick and they are healed by the power of God. We lay hands upon our brethren, and set them apart for missions. The Spirit of God rests upon us and inspires us in our words and thoughts what we should seal upon their heads. These words are fulfilled, and thousands upon thousands can testify of the truth thereof.

The Bible contains a vast amount of prophecy concerning the last dispensation and the fullness of times; concerning the building up of the Kingdom of God in the last days; concerning a kingdom which shall become an everlasting kingdom, of whose dominion there shall be no end. God showed this to Daniel and to Nebuchadnezzar, as also to Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The Prophet Isaiah has portrayed the whole history of the Latter-day Saints who occupy these mountains of Israel. He described our travels here, and our labors since we came here. These Prophets saw our day, and they spake as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and the prophecies are of no private interpretation. Their words are words of truth. Their words have had their fulfillment and will have to the end. The travels of this Church have been through deep waters, and this should not be a strange thing to the inhabitants of the earth. I will say here, without fear of contradiction, that no man, no set of men, no people, no church, no portion of the Kingdom of God can live godly in Christ Jesus without suffering persecution. You show me a Patriarch or Prophet that ever lived who taught the words of life and salvation without incurring the hatred, the wrath and the indignation of the surrounding nations, and you will show me something that I have not been able to find on the earth. But without dwelling upon this point, allow me to say that this is what ails the Mormons. This is the cause of the warfare made upon us by our nation today. God Almighty has set His hand to establish His Church and Kingdom on the earth. He has set His hand to gather His people to the mountains of Israel to build up a Zion. That Zion is here. We have made a beginning. We came here, on the 24th of July, 1847, a little handful of pioneers. We found a barren desert. It did not look as if any white men could live here. We found a few poor, miserable, degraded Indians. They would eat a pint of crickets for breakfast and supper, and this, with a few roots, was all the food they had. Today, here is a tabernacle. Today, you can travel one thousand miles throughout these valleys, from north to south, and you will find them filled with towns, villages and cities, and you will see temples, tabernacles, etc. What does it mean? It means that the God of Heaven is a God of truth. He decreed certain things, and these things are now coming to pass in spite of all earth and hell. That is what it means. Had it not been for this, Utah would have been a desert today as it was when we found it.

The testimony of the Elders of Israel is true. This is the Gospel of Christ. It is the only Gospel the Lord ever revealed to man. And Paul the Apostle says: “Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” The children of men do not believe the Gospel. They will have everything else on the face of the earth except the Gospel. The Lord has set His hand to fulfill His words and promises, and we are here to help Him in that business. We came here to these mountains by revelation, by inspiration. We were led here by Prophets, Apostles and inspired men; and this Church and Kingdom has continued to grow from the day it was organized until the present time. It will continue to grow. The Gospel of Christ is the truth. “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth,” said Paul to the Galatians, in teaching them this principle. But the truth is unpopular. The world is full of error and falsehood. It will not accept the plan of life and salvation.

We are in the hands of God. God has called us to this labor. He has commanded us to preach the Gospel to the nations of the earth. This we have done so far as the doors have been opened to us. It seems strange to reflect upon the fact that such nations as Germany, Austria and Prussia, should put up bars as strong as iron, so to speak, against the preaching of the Gospel of Christ in their midst. Still the Lord, as we have heard from Brother John Q. Cannon, is opening up the way. There are a great many of the house of Israel in Germany; there are a great many of the honest in heart throughout the nations of the earth, and they must hear the Gospel. We have been preaching it for over fifty years. The world in a great measure has rejected it. I heard Joseph Smith say a great deal in regard to the attitude this generation would assume in regard to the Gospel. He saw the situation. Said he: “The world will fight you. The world will war against you. Towns will arise and mob you, counties will oppose you, cities will oppose you, and the United States will combine against you. The world is full of darkness. Sin and wickedness is overwhelming the world as the waters cover the great deep. The devil rules over the world in a great measure. The world will war against you; the devil will, earth will, and hell will. But you must bear testimony of me. You must preach the Gospel, do your duty, and the Lord will stand by you. Earth and hell shall not prevail against you.” “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell.” And I would say to our friends, that is the spirit that vibrates in the bosoms of tens of thousands of Latter-day Saints in these mountains. We stand upon this pedestal. This is our platform. What fear have we with regard to our enemies? Why should we fear? We are in the hands of God. We have come to this earth in this time upon a mission. We have been born on purpose in this generation to take part in this work. The Lord required an element to labor with. He will build up Zion. And I bear my testimony here to all men, and would to all the world if I had the power, that the work in which this people are engaged, small and insignificant as it may appear, is the work of God. It will roll forth. It will become a mountain. It will fill the whole earth. It will break in pieces all other kingdoms, and it will stand forever; for God Almighty has decreed it. Write it down. Watch the signs of the times. See if these things are not true. We are living in an important day. We are called to do a work for the Lord, and we are going to do it as far as we have time and opportunity. It has cost many men their lives; but men’s lives are of little consequence compared with eternal life. Give me eternal life. As for this life, what does it amount to. Why should we fear death? Why, bless your souls, a few years ago this nation sacrificed a million of lives in defense of the country. That may be all right. I have no fault to find. But is it any worse to die for the Kingdom of God than it is to die for the honor of the country? Not much. Then let us be faithful. Let us trust in God. Leave all things in His hands, and all will be right.

Now I would like to say a few words before I close, with regard to our present condition. Of course our affairs have become a national question. The eyes of all the world are looking towards us. But I will say this: it is a pitiful sight—it is a thing sorrowful to contemplate upon, that our wise Senators, yes, our wise Senators have to take falsehood into the halls of Congress to work upon to overthrow this Church and Kingdom: so with the pulpit, so with the press. Who tells the truth about Utah? Not one man in a thousand that attempts to represent this case. We have not a boy in Utah in our common schools, over twelve years of age, but knows, when he reads the statements of some of those Senators, that they are arguing on a false basis. They understand that perfectly. I am at the defiance of the world to prove that we use in our common schools anything but the textbooks of the world. We don’t even use the Bible in our common schools. To do so would almost be treason in the eyes of our enemies. Yet these venerable Senators represent us as doing this. Why do Senators argue upon false premises to overthrow this people? If people would tell the truth about us, we should be perfectly satisfied. We have to be satisfied anyhow.

Well, this is the state of the world today. We are called to preach the Gospel. We preach it. There is but one Gospel. What is it? Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; repentance of sin; baptism for the remission of sins; and the reception of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. These are the doctrines Jesus taught, and that His Apostles taught.

I feel to bear my testimony to these things. They are true. God is with this people. And we say to our nation—maintain the Constitution and we are satisfied. Give us the rights of that Constitution and we are satisfied. It is an instrument inspired by the power of God. Our forefathers were inspired when they framed it. Yet it is marvelous to reflect upon some principles that have been laid down—perhaps I ought not to allude to these things, but I am only expressing my own reflections—even by the Supreme Court of the United States. In effect it has said that we may think as we please, but must not act. I would ask, in the name of the Lord, was that all Thomas Jefferson, and others had in their minds when they framed the clause in reference to religious liberty? What about men acting? If it was only intended that men should think and not act, why not say so in the instrument? Why should it be stated that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” if men were not to be allowed to act? Why, in the exercise of their religion, men must act: and it is straining points, it is overstepping the bounds of the Constitution to pass laws taking away the rights and privileges of any people because of their religion—because they happen to differ from their neighbors. Where will such a course land our government? I will tell you what it will do. It will rend the government in twain like unto a potter’s vessel. It will lay the nation in the dust. It will overthrow the government. When they get through with the Mormons there will be somebody else to deal with. The Constitution is good enough for anybody. It is good enough for the Latter-day Saints. We have no principles but what are in accord with the Constitution of the United States and the laws of God. We are perfectly willing to trust ourselves and our interests in the hands of God, and to leave our nation in His hands also; for God will judge our nation; He will judge us; He will judge all the children of men and He will judge righteous judgment. What men sow they will reap. What measure they mete, it shall be measured to them again.

I pray God to bless this nation. I pray God to give our legislators wisdom, that they may maintain the Constitutional principles of the government, the only government on the face of God’s earth where the Lord could have established His Church and Kingdom. That we may be prepared to inherit eternal life is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

President John Taylor next addressed the congregation. He said: It is some time since I have taken the privilege to speak to the Latter-day Saints in this place. I have been visiting our settlements in different parts of our Territory. There I frequently talk to the people. You have a great many here who are capable of teaching and instructing you, hence it is very seldom that I intrude myself upon you in this capacity. But I always feel pleasure in meeting with the Saints, in hearing my brethren unfold the principles of eternal truth, and in listening to the testimonies which they have to give concerning the Gospel of the Son of God.

God has revealed unto us the principles of the Everlasting Gospel, and that Gospel brings life and immortality to light. Life and immortality can only be made known by the revelations of God, and people who do not believe in revelation cannot have any knowledge of life and immortality. It is through that principle alone that these things are or have been developed. We ourselves could have known nothing of God, from the world in which we live, nor from the teachers thereof, be– cause they do not even profess to be placed in communion with God, nor to have revelation from Him, and how could they speak of that they did not know or comprehend, or that which had not been communicated to them? It was impossible for them to do it. There have been many, very many good men in the world in the different ages when the Gospel has not existed, that have sought to do good to their fellow men, and to promote their welfare and happiness in a social, political and religious capacity, and have sought to introduce principles that would be calculated to elevate and exalt mankind in the scale of being. That is one thing, but the inspiration of the Almighty is another thing. Let me here mention a principle associated with these ideas that will explain somewhat the remarks and position of our brother, John Q. Cannon, who has addressed us this afternoon. He said he believed in the principles of the Gospel, but he did not have a testimony thereof—did not comprehend the thing, until he had obtained some further manifestation. That might be attributed to his youth and inexperience in the things of God; when he was brought face to face with the actualities of life, and came in conflict with the world he was under the necessity of applying to His Heavenly Father, who imparted unto him, through the Holy Ghost, that knowledge of which he speaks. I will mention a principle here. Outside of the Gospel, among all classes of men, among all nations, kindreds and peoples, of every color and clime everywhere, they have had given unto them a portion of the Spirit of God to profit withal. We are told this in the Scriptures, that God has given to every man a portion of His Spirit; but that is not the gift of the Holy Ghost. Where good men have followed the influence of that Spirit, it has led them to do good acts, to be charitable, to be kind, to be benevolent, to cultivate good morals and correct principles, to be governed by the principles of honor, truth, integrity and virtue, and these principles prevail to a greater or less extent among the nations of the earth and in this nation. This is the portion of the Spirit of God, as I said before, which was given to every man to profit withal. Why, those people that we talk about so much sometimes, the infidels, they have a portion of this Spirit, and many of them do many good acts. This may sound strange, I have no doubt, to many of you, but it is a fact nevertheless. He that doeth righteousness anywhere is righteous, and he that doeth evil is wicked.

Now, what is the difference between that and the other principle? Jesus said when He was upon the earth: “It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” What was the Comforter to do? “He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” Now, the portion of the Spirit of God which is given to all men does not do this thing. It does not lead them unto all truth, for there is a great diversity of opinion among them. One may be a Methodist, another a Presbyterian, one a Quaker, another a Dunker, one a Catholic, another a Protestant, one a Christian, another a Muhammadan, one a Pagan, and another an infidel, and some one thing and some another. If men were in the possession of the gift of the Holy Ghost, it would lead them into all truth, and there would be one Lord, as the Scriptures say, and one faith and one baptism. Hence one of the old Prophets, clothed upon by the Spirit of the Living God, looked through the vista of future ages and contemplated events that should transpire in the latter days, and said: “When the Lord shall bring again Zion, her watchmen shall see eye to eye.” There will be no confusion there, no difference of sentiment there. They will place themselves under the guidance of the Great Eloheim, and under His inspiration they will be enabled to speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and the Spirit of God, as it did formerly, will take of the things of God and shew them unto them. There is the distinction between the two principles.

How can we expect that people will comprehend the things of God without the gift of the Holy Ghost? The Elders when they are sent forth to preach are instructed to preach nothing but the first principles of the Gospel—to preach nothing but repentance to this generation. Why? Because the people cannot comprehend further advanced principles. I remember talking with an eminent clergyman some few years ago. He was a very gentlemanly person, well disposed, intelligent, learned, etc. I talked the Gospel a little to him, but I found he could not comprehend it. Hence I commenced talking politics, history, geography, and some little principles of science. He understood these things perfectly, and we had no difficulty in comprehending each other; but he could not comprehend the Gospel. Was he a minister? Yes; but he had not the gift of the Holy Ghost, and it was useless for me to attempt to teach him. This is the way that I understand these things.

Speaking of education, we have singular notions of education, and some people will say—and I have often said it myself—that Joseph Smith was quite an uneducated man. He was uneducated when he was a boy. He was brought up in the Green Mountains of Vermont, and he did not have any of the advantages of what we call an education. The Lord took him into His school, and He taught him things that I have seen puzzle many of the wisest scientists, profoundest thinkers, and the most learned men that I have met with in this world. Why? Because he was taught of God. What did those principles refer to? To the earth on which we live; to the elements of which it is composed; to the heavens above us; to the Gods that exist in the eternal worlds; to the principles by which the earth was organized, sustained, upheld and governed, and its relationship to other planets and systems; and speaking of governments, laws and principles, he possessed more intelligence than ninety-nine hundredths of the people of today. And he sought to teach others, and these things were introduced into the Temple of the Lord in Kirtland.

I have heard the Prophet Joseph quote from the German Bible in support of our method of baptism by immersion, showing that the German Translation of the New Testament favored this idea, and that the word “Taufen” in that language means “to dip;” the same as our term immersion does; and that when John the Baptist was spoken of as John the Baptist, it was “Johannes der Taufer,” or John the Dipper, which is correct.

I have heard him quote from the Hebrew Bible in support of a plurality of Gods, showing that the suffix “mem” in the word Eloheim or God, ought to be rendered in the plural and to read if literally translated, “and the Gods said let us, etc.” Certain it is that in our present translation the word “us” or “let us” indicates that idea; for “us” is certainly in the plural and means more than one; and while our translation makes it say: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” we are also told that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. * * And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us,” and further, that “All things were made by him,” visible and invisible. We are further told that “There be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things.”

If, as stated, Jesus was with the Father in the beginning, there certainly was more than one God—God the Father, and God the Son. Joseph Smith was reasoning upon this doctrine at the time that he made this quotation from the Hebrew Bible.

We had a discussion in this Tabernacle some years ago between Apostle Orson Pratt and Dr. Newman—the latter a very prominent religionist from the east—a Methodist I think he was—what they call a doctor of divinity. The subject of discussion was—“Does the Bible sanction polygamy?” Mr. Newman was a well-educated man. So was Orson Pratt. Mr. Newman received his education in the schools of the day—somewhere in the United States, perhaps in the Methodist order; but I am not sufficiently acquainted with his history to say anything about this; I know very little about Mr. Newman. But I know where Orson Pratt got his information. And during this discussion some Hebrew points were debated, and the original Hebrew had to be referred to. Orson Pratt was quite as well acquainted with Hebrew as Mr. Newman was. Where did he get his knowledge? He received it in the Temple at Kirtland, Ohio. In speaking of that principle, the principle of education, to several leading men only yesterday, I think, I mentioned to them, in alluding to languages, that I was a little astonished to find that an old gentleman, about 80 years of age, whom I met a short time ago, was thoroughly conversant with the Hebrew language. “Where did you learn it?” said I. “Why,” said he, “I learned it in the Temple at Kirtland;” and he informed me that he was now studying Arabic. I was rather amused at the idea of an old man 80 years of age commencing to study Arabic. But to return. I have seldom met with a man that was more intelligent in the science of astronomy than Orson Pratt. Where did he get his information? From the same source. He studied mathematics all his days, and has written works that it is very difficult for some men to comprehend. Yet his works are on record.

The religion of God is not a religion of ignorance. To whom are we indebted for the first principles contained in this book [the Bible]? To Moses. Who was he? A man of God. Who taught him those things? The Lord. By what principle? The principle of revelation; for he could not know them without. But had he not been taught in the schools of Egypt? Yes. And had he not obtained a knowledge of astronomy in those schools, too? Probably he had in part; but God taught him the leading, prominent points pertaining thereto. And who taught the Egyptians? Abraham taught them the science of astronomy, so we are informed, by late Egyptologists, and revealed unto them the principle concerning the motions of the heavenly bodies. Where did Abraham get his information from? In reading the history pertaining to this matter we are told that he says of himself that he was a follower of righteousness; that he sought after more righteousness; that he examined the history of his fathers and traced back his genealogy to the commencement of the world, and from before the commencement. Afterwards we are told in the same history that the Lord gave unto him a Urim and Thummim by which he was able to comprehend many things that others did not understand, and by which he obtained a knowledge of the heavenly bodies and of their motions. Moses was one of the first to illustrate this principle; but Abraham, who was before Moses, as also Joseph, understood it more clearly than Moses. And in those things wherein the world today are puzzled in regard to the Scriptures, and the six days that are there spoken of, Abraham speaks of those days as times, epochs, or ages, different and distinct from the days spoken of by Moses, and his record agrees precisely with many geological facts that have puzzled so many of this generation. Where did he obtain his knowledge? From God. Who controls the heavens and the earth? The Gods in the eternal worlds. Who has implanted certain principles in matter and in all creation? God has done it. All things are subject to these laws; and if men can place themselves under His guidance and find the way to approach the great Eloheim, they will know more in a very short time than all this world together know in all their lives and more than all the combined intelligence of the world, for God is the foundation of all wisdom, and the source of all intelligence and knowledge. We are told that Solomon was a wise man. Where did he get his wisdom? From God. He prayed to the Lord to give him wisdom, and the Lord told him that because he had sought wisdom he should have it, and He would also add unto him the rich treasures of the earth.

I speak of these things for the information of the Latter-day Saints, and to disabuse your minds in regard to some of those principles that men sometimes talk about. The world possesses a certain amount of knowledge and intelligence, and it has progressed very rapidly of late years. We have had many discoveries in the arts and sciences and in the researches pertaining to geology, chemistry, etc., but many of their ideas and deductions are perfectly foolish and ridiculous. We have had the introduction of railroads, gas, steamboats, manifestations of the power and use of electricity, etc. Nevertheless, these principles always existed; it needed a development of them only to bring them into practical use; and there are thousands of other things not yet made known, yet to be developed, similar to those that have been discovered. In regard to these things, some of them are important, some of them are not very important. The intelligence that the world boasts so much of, is not very profound when you come to test it by the principles of eternal truth.

In regard to the action of the Congress of the United States, which has been referred to, I want to say to you Saints, you need not trou– ble yourselves about it—you need not be the least concerned about any of these affairs. But they are acting unlawfully. That is the worse for them. When the Government begins to break down the safeguards of society, tear in pieces the Constitution of the United States, and trample under foot the liberties of man, they are only preparing the nation for an utter overthrow. There are plenty of elements of discord and disintegration all around. Congress should not be the first to exhibit examples of lawlessness and the violation of Constitutional rights. However, if they can stand it we can. We need not trouble our heads about any of these matters; there is an overruling Providence that controls the affairs of men and nations. So you can rest perfectly easy, you Latter-day Saints. We shall continue to do right. We will continue to sustain good principle. And what will you do? Just what Jesus said. We will do good for evil. What else? We will pray for them that despitefully use us and evilly treat us. Why? That we may be the children of our Heavenly Father, and act on the same principle that He does towards the human family. Does He act in that way? Yes. For he maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth His rain on the just and on the unjust. He has introduced certain laws into the system of His government that regulates all things pertaining to these matters. He does not make those little divisions that the United States are trying to make today. He is more philanthropic. He treats all alike, and places all on the same basis. Then, we will try and operate with Him and for Him, and in the interests of humanity, and in the protection of human rights, and we will try by every legal and constitutional method to maintain and sustain the principles of human rights in behalf of ourselves, in behalf of our children, and in behalf of thousands and tens of thousands of honorable men that live in these United States. We can very well afford to abide by the Constitution of the United States, and to sustain it, and we can afford to believe in the Bible and to obey its ordinances, and practice them, which they cannot do, and do not do. As I have said, we can afford to treat all men well, and to pray for those which despitefully use us and persecute us. Those who are trying to despoil us are objects more of sympathy in my feelings than anything else. I feel sorry when I see misrule abound anywhere, let it be in this nation or other nations. God would like to see peace, union and harmony. For that reason He has introduced the Gospel, and the principles of intelligence associated with it. Man is a dual being, he possesses a body and a spirit, and is connected with time and will exist in eternity, and it is for him to understand the nature of his organism, and his relation to the world in which he lives, and to God our Heavenly Father. What, then, will we do? Why, we will try and live for one another; we will try and be honest, honorable and virtuous, no matter what people can say about us. Concerning the lying about us, we need not trouble our heads. I do not think we are much better than Jesus was. The people in His day said He was possessed of devils, and worse than that, that He cast out devils by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of devils, and they killed Him saying He was an impostor and a deceiver, and because He said He was the Son of God, when they knew He was not. And His theology was altogether at fault with the learned Rabbis of that day, as ours is with the learned Rabbis of this. We cannot help that. What we know, as Brother John Q. Cannon has said, we know for ourselves. We do not ask any odds of man. I don’t. I know that God lives; I know that He has revealed the truth; I know this is the everlasting Gospel. I know that you Saints, if you are faithful, will secure to yourselves an inheritance in the celestial kingdom of God; but if you are not true to God and your religion you will not. If you go after the things of the world and depart from the principles of righteousness and trample upon the principles of honor, virtue, truth, or integrity, you will not enter that kingdom. It is not every one that saith, Lord, Lord, that shall enter the kingdom of heaven. What shall we do then? We will fear and love God and work righteousness, and send the Gospel to the nations of the earth, despite the follies, the wickedness and corruption of men; and we will pro– claim the truth in these valleys and mountains, and Zion will spread, grow and increase. God will be for Israel, and we will sing, Hallelujah! the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth, and He will reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. Let this people fear God and work righteousness, and I ask no odds of earth or hell. God is at the helm. He will manage things according to the counsels of His will. He will say to this nation and to other nations, as He did to the proud waves of the ocean, “Hitherto shall thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?” Our safety and our defense is in the Lord of Hosts. Let us put our trust in Him and obey His laws, and He will bless and sustain us in time and throughout the eternities that are to come; and we will try and benefit this nation all that we can, and all that they will let us, and if they will not let us, we cannot help it.

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

Discourse by Apostle Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, June 22, 1884.

I am thankful for the opportunity afforded me of meeting with the Latter-day Saints in this Tabernacle. Though I have been absent but a short time, yet it has been a long journey in one sense of the word. Brother F. M. Lyman and myself left this place on the 3rd of May, for the purpose of visiting our settlements in the northern part of Arizona and New Mexico. We have accomplished the object of our mission and are thankful to be at home again. We have met many friends in these distant settlements, and I might say some enemies; but we have been particularly favored in all of our meetings, and where we found enemies in some instances we left them friends; for as I understand the mission of the Elders of this Church, it is a mission of peace, to extend the olive branch to all people upon the face of the earth. I do not consider it my duty nor my privilege to make war upon individuals, or upon sects or parties in the Territories of Arizona or New Mexico, not even in the Territory of Utah. From my earliest recollections, pretty nearly, to the present time, constant persecution has followed this people. I do not feel like persecuting. I have felt sometimes that I would like to stand up for my rights and tell men, “Thus far can you go and no further;” but I have come to the conclusion that I have no desire to take that little business out of the hands of God Almighty. He has managed it excellently well thus far in behalf of this people, far better and more gloriously than any human being could have managed it; for if we had had our desires sometimes, we might have injured the cause of God. While for a little season we have suffered, in the end we have been made whole and have been greatly extended, greatly blessed, and God continues to be our friend.

In the settlements we have visited, we found our enemies in the same condition that enemies have shown themselves to be in this Territory—fighting, beating the empty air, thinking that they had a foe before them, thinking that they had somebody that they could persecute; but their anger has been turned towards each other, and God has overruled for the good of those that serve Him.

We have visited most of our settlements in the Territories I have mentioned—Arizona and New Mexico—and while one would suppose from the vituperations of the wicked that all was excitement, and that our people were frightened and about to be swallowed up, I can say that we found the Saints peacefully enjoying their homes. They were ploughing the ground, planting the corn, sowing the wheat, planting out orchards, vineyards, putting up fences, erecting new buildings, making reservoirs to retain the water, that they might have wherewith to irrigate their crops, opening up farms, clearing away the timber where they could have other farms, etc. We found all this work going on; found the people going to meeting on the Sabbath day; preaching and teaching the peaceful things of the Kingdom of God, the children attending their Sabbath schools; also their day schools, as we term them, in need of teachers in some places, but any number of pupils; and wherever we have attended conference among the Latter-day Saints, the rule has held good that one-third of the population of these settlements were under eight years of age. It is a remarkable thing, very strange indeed; but we find that in our settlements in the south, our people are greatly blessed, as elsewhere, with children, and this valuable immigration from above is extending. I do not know how long it will be before Congress will legislate against having babies; but it don’t look much like this immigration could be stopped now. These children are swelling the ranks of the Latter-day Saints, and the Saints are struggling, with what power God has given them, to provide the means of good education and to bring them up in the way that they should go. I can see no objection to this myself, others may; but God is good to this people; and we find peace and harmony and prosperity as a general thing among the Latter-day Saints in the eastern Arizona, and also in the Little Colorado Stakes of Zion. I was thankful to see all this; for it was a testimony that God is mindful of His people.

It is true that some people whom we met in the capital of Arizona Territory, urged upon us the necessity of not introducing what they believe to be our favorite doctrine into the Territory of Arizona—plural marriage. Those who were inclined to be friendly to us said: “Gentlemen, make your fight in Utah. You are in the majority there. Don’t introduce this practice into Arizona. You are few in number here, and your enemies are numerous and perfectly relentless. They don’t care to what trouble or inconvenience you are put: and while your settlements are struggling in their infancy eliminate this doctrine from your creed, that which is obnoxious to the people, and introduce only that which can be tolerated, at least until you gain strength to walk alone.” To the gentlemen who said this to me in all sincerity, in all good feeling, I made this answer: “So far as our doctrines are concerned we know them to be from God.” Yes, they are the revelations of the mind and will of God to us, and the “obnoxious doctrine” (so called) to this nation, and I might say the civilized world, we know to be a revelation from Almighty God to us. If you would have us eliminate from this book [the Book of Doctrine and Covenants], one revelation that God has given us simply because the people at large, and the majority of the people of this nation, have decided that it is untrue, which next in the category of the revelations which God has revealed must we eliminate from this book? Must we give up principle and doctrine simply to suit a majority of people? In one sense of the word our Republican institutions are supposed to place the power of success in the hands of the majority: but we have never found it so—our experience differs on this point. We have been in the minority for upwards of 50 years, and we have been crowded and apparently overwhelmed. Thousands of wealthy people sought to crush us when we were but small, but a child, as it were. But the majority did not succeed. Why? Because the infant struggling for bare existence has been led and preserved by the hand of God. They were led into a land which seemed a desert, but now flowing with all that could strengthen that child, bring it forward, and make it a full-grown man as we see the people today. I am willing, in political matters, to take that stand in the midst of this people under present circumstances, at least, to let the majority rule, and if one side is the weaker, which necessarily is the case, let it say amen in a political sense to what the stronger party may do for the government of this Territory. But in the things pertaining to conscience, no man, no set of men, no Governor, no President, can control me before my God. I must control my own heart, my own feelings. I am a free man in relation to these matters, not bowing to any majority nor to any party. So are all the Latter-day Saints. We are free to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience.

But, says one, you are breaking the laws. How do you know we are breaking the laws? I think someone has written, and it used to be taken for sound doctrine, that a bad law is no law at all. But it is not so now. A bad law must pass current for a little season, and it may last a good while if the wicked rule; but, thank God, there are honest men to be raised up to rule the country who will administer justice and equity in the midst of the people.

In our settlements in Arizona, and New Mexico, we found the same feelings predominating that we find here in Salt Lake and in the settlements in this Territory. We find the good are growing better, their faith is increasing, they are laboring more assiduously to promote the interests of Zion; while those that are weak are growing weaker, those that are bad are growing worse; and I have always believed that the Kingdom of God could never be strengthened by numbers when those numbers were of a mixed character, the good with the bad. If, as we believe and testify, this is the Church and Kingdom of God, the wheat and the tares will grow together for a little season, until those that are, or may be termed, the wheat, may be strengthened, and the tares may be plucked up and bound in bundles, ready for the burning. I was thankful, however, to witness the fact that the Latter-day Saints, at least the majority of them, are growing better, becoming firmer in the principles of the everlasting Gospel. They strive to practice what they preach, and the Saints in the South are no exception to this rule. They are seeking to live their religion, to serve God, to perfect themselves in the knowledge of the truth, and to build up a Zion here in this Territory. The golden rule which has been laid down, and this people have adopted it, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you,” has been changed a little in some districts which we have visited, not among our people, but among those of the world. They have changed it, and say, “Do unto others as others would have you do unto them.” It is a brass rule, a counterfeit, it is not the golden rule; but the Latter-day Saints in all of their troubles and trials in these extended regions which we have visited, have adopted the golden rule, and are seeking to put it into practice, not only towards each other, but towards those who are inimical to their interests.

As I have said, the settlements are in a prosperous condition. Some of them have even profited greatly by certain laws which have been enacted, in the Territory of Arizona, particularly. I found in one settlement that the people were receiving school tax money to exceed all of their other taxes put together. There was refunded to them from the Territorial school tax, more money than they paid out for all their taxes. I was surprised at this: but it simply proved this fact: that the Latter-day Saints had children in excess of other settlements in the Territory. I thought Zion is growing. If those who desire can succeed in placing us at the mercy of our enemies, I presume these things will be changed; but at present Zion is growing. I have never seen among the people of the Latter-day Saints greater progress both in secular and spiritual matters than I witnessed in the settlements we have visited in the last two months. One would suppose from what is said in the papers, and the coldness that is exhibited by even fair-minded men in relation to the cause of this people—one would suppose that it would at least check our progress; that under the present pressure the Latter-day Saints would begin to weaken in their faith, and in laboring to establish such unpopular doctrines and principles as they are undertaking to establish, but all this seems to make the Saints more zealous in their labors.

Persecution has done us no harm. In fact it seems to me that we need about so much persecution—that we need to carry great loads to make us remember our God. If all was prosperity and peace, I presume we would lose our faith, just as the ancient Christians did when they became popular. But I pray that the time may never come that we may be popular with a people who foster such institutions as are found in Christendom today.

With all this persecution upon us, the Latter-day Saints are doing what may be rightfully termed a stupendous labor. Look abroad upon what the people are doing. Go to the settlements; see the improvements they are making upon their farms, in their dwellings, in everything. Behold these temples that are being reared, costing millions of dollars! Who is doing this labor? Is it any rich man worth millions of dollars? No. It is a few poor people, comparatively speaking, who are rearing these temples at such an immense cost. What are they doing it for? The question may well be asked, What are we expending these immense sums of money for? We are preparing for the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, just as truly as the world is ripening in iniquity and preparing to receive His judgments when He does come. That is a pretty bold saying, but it is true. We are doing this labor, and we have got all Christendom to carry on our shoulders with their special legislation, with their persecution, and with their antagonism, all aiming to destroy us. Hence, with all this, we have our hands as full as any other people upon the face of the earth. Our labor for the dead alone, which is occupying so much of our attention, is more than all Christendom ever dreamed of—for the amelioration of the condition of their progenitors. They don’t know anything about it, though their own Bible speaks of this principle. Who are we laboring for? Ourselves alone? No. We are laboring for the sires of those men who are persecuting us today, for the men who would trample us in the dust and destroy the institution which God has revealed. We are laboring to carry the Gospel to those that are in prison to whom Jesus preached, and to those that have died without a knowledge of the Gospel. We are struggling, I say, with superhuman effort to erect temples wherein this work may be done. It is for their fathers and their mothers that we are laboring. We are striving to tell the people of the world what we are doing. I as an individual cannot shirk it. I have my part to perform. So have these men and these women throughout the length and breadth of the Territories and States we occupy. I wish Christendom knew what we are doing. I wish they knew what God has commanded us to do. They would take the yoke from our necks so far as they are concerned. And still what would we amount to without opposition? Nothing. We must have the opposition of the world. If we were of the world the world would love us: but we have come out of the world, therefore the world hate us. That is true in every sense of the word.

God help us to carry our load faithfully, earnestly, sincerely, with the integrity which God alone can give, being kind to all men, and seeking with every effort and every energy of our natures to follow the example that Jesus gave, that we may attain to salvation in the Kingdom of God, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Remarks by President George Q. Cannon, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, June 22, 1884.

I have listened with much interest—as no doubt all of you have—to the remarks which have been made by Brother Young. It is very interesting to hear respecting the people in distant settlements, their faith, their growth, and their development in things spiritual and temporal. It is very encouraging to hear that the Latter-day Saints in distant places, far removed from this city, are alive to their duties, and to the performance of those obligations which rest upon them. I well remember the time—and doubtless very many of you here today also remember it—when it was thought that if we increased to any extent, and the people got beyond the influence of their leaders, who are supposed to be so astute and cunning as to manage them and all their affairs, that what is called Mormonism would soon dissolve, and either fall a prey to internal dissensions or break to pieces through some other cause. The Elders of this Church from the beginning have testified unto the world that if men and women would receive the doctrines of which they were the bearers, in the spirit in which they were taught, they should have a testimony for them– selves respecting their truth, and that by means of that testimony they would be enabled to stand and bear up against all pressure and all assaults that might be made or brought to bear upon them.

Mormonism, as it is termed, has been upon its trial from the beginning. The inhabitants of the earth are testing it, and we who are connected with it are obtaining knowledge concerning its adaptability to meet all the wants and requirements of all circumstances in which we may be placed.

The great duty that devolves upon us, my brethren and sisters, is to live that religion which we profess. I confess to you today that if I am ever assailed with fears or with doubts respecting the result of the machinations of the wicked against us, and of legislation hostile to us; if I am ever troubled, I say, with any doubts or fears, they have their origin in myself, my own inability, or, perhaps, the inability of my brethren and sisters, and their carelessness in carrying out the commands of God. For no other reason, am I ever troubled with fear respecting us as a people, or the results of the plots that are devised against us. I know, as well as I know I stand here, that the Latter-day Saints will emerge triumphant from every difficulty in which they may be involved, from every trial to which they may be subjected, if they will only live the religion they profess, and carry out its principles strictly in their lives. I know this, I say, as well as I know that I am here today, and am speaking to you. If we should be unfaithful, if we should neglect to serve our God with that faithfulness and zeal which He requires of us, then we may expect to be scourged, we may expect to have difficulty and trouble, we may expect that those who oppose us will gain, as they at least think, victories over us. God will use them to whip us into line, to bring us to a sense of our duties, to stir us up to diligence and faithfulness in keeping His commandments. He will use them in this direction and for these purposes. It, therefore, is a matter of great importance to us that we should be attentive to our duties; that every man in this Church who has a family should put his family into such a condition, as far as he can, that God will approve of them; that every Teacher in this Church whose duty it is to visit the houses of the Latter-day Saints and give them instructions concerning their duties, to see that there is no difficulty existing, no dissensions, no quarrelling—that these men should attend strictly to their duties; and that every officer in the Church in his place and station should be prompt and zealous in looking after the affairs of the Latter-day Saints; that no drunkenness is permitted, that no blasphemies are permitted, that no Sabbath breaking is permitted, that no speaking evil and bearing false witness are permitted, that fornica– tions and adulteries are not permitted, and that those who are guilty of any of these offenses are strictly dealt with, that there shall be no causes of this character existing among us as a people to bring forth the displeasure of our God. I feel myself that this is the time for us to be alive to our duties. We have no other defense than this. Our numbers are insufficient: our wealth, and our strength, and our worldly influence are entirely insufficient to give us victory. We can only hope to prevail by reason of the strength which our God will give unto us, by reason of the protection which He will extend unto us, and we cannot hope to succeed upon any other principle or by any other means. It is this that has given us victory in the past; it is this that will give us the victory in the future; it is this that will make us strong and mighty in the earth.

We are working out a great revolution, it may be said. Today we are disproving most effectually that remark that has become so trite among men, that God, or Providence, is on the side of the strongest artillery, and upon the side of the greatest numbers. We are disproving this. Our case illustrates most perfectly that when God is upon the side of a people—they may be feeble, they may be poor, they may be despised and be exceedingly unpopular—they will most assuredly gain triumphs and victories over all who oppose them. And I am thankful this day, in the presence of our God, I am thankful this day in your presence, my brethren and sisters, that God has, in His infinite mercy and kindness, spoken once more from the heavens and revealed Himself to men. Persecution! Who cares for it? Who fears it? What is there connected with it to make us tremble or to weaken us in the least degree if we are possessed of the knowledge which God has restored, that He lives, that He is the same today that He was 1,800 years ago, that He was in the days of the Prophets and Patriarchs—the same kind, beneficent, merciful, all-powerful Being? This knowledge God has restored, and we rejoice in its possession. We would that all men would listen unto His voice and be entreated of Him. We would that all men would seek unto Him and obtain for themselves this knowledge He is so willing to bestow. Our persecutions would be joyous to us—if they may be called persecutions—if such results as these could be wrought out, or would be the results that would attend these persecutions. While Brother Brigham was speaking about persecution, the thought passed through my mind that that which we term persecution is only the discipline necessary for our development. There is a great destiny in store for this people, and they never can attain unto it unless they pass through just such scenes as they have passed through in the past, and such scenes as they doubtless will have to pass through of a more trying character in the future. This is the discipline that is necessary to purify us, to prepare us in every respect for the fulfilling of that high destiny that awaits us. For just as sure as God lives, so sure will the people called Latter-day Saints become a great and mighty power in the earth. A people possessed of their qualities must, in the very nature of things, accomplish mighty results. A people united, a people believing in one doctrine, a people temperate and frugal, virtuous, industrious and enterprising, possessing every quality of greatness, they must, in the very nature of things, if they are true to themselves and to their religion, achieve distinction in the earth, and God designs it for us. But we must put ourselves in a way to be taught of Him. We must put away evil far from us. We must cleanse ourselves from everything that is offensive in His sight. We must live the religion that we profess—make it practically a part of our every day lives. This is incumbent upon us individually as well as collectively. A religion of profession amounts to nothing. A religion to be used only on Sundays is valueless. We want a religion that will go with us into our fields, into our workshops, into our habitations, and into our everyday dealings one with another. This is the kind of religion we want, and this, I am happy to say, is the kind of religion we have got. If we will live it as we should do, we shall witness these results to a greater extent than we have yet witnessed them. God has tried us in many respects in the past. There are additional ordeals yet before us. We have been told from the beginning that the time would come when not only would the people of a county be opposed to us, but the people of a state would oppose us; and as we increased opposition would increase, until the Government of the United States would pronounce against us. It is a remarkable fact—not known, probably, or if known not believed by the Congress of the United States, or by the members of Congress, who pass inimical measures against us—that Joseph Smith predicted years and years ago, when it was as improbable as anything that is yet unfulfilled, that the time would come when our nation through its Congress, would do the very thing that is now being done, that we have witnessed this last week for instance, in the passage by the Senate of the Edmunds-Hoar bill. Little do they think that by such actions as these they are strengthening the faith of the Latter-day Saints, because they see in these actions that they are fulfilling the words of a man whom they believe to be a Prophet of God. And not only were we told that this would be the case, but that the time would come when the fear of the Kingdom of God would be so great that other nations would array themselves in like manner against the Latter-day Saints.

So, Latter-day Saints, if any of you think that we will immediately have a time when persecution, trial and difficulty will cease, and we will have smooth sailing, you had better be undeceived, for that is not in the program; it is not designed of God that we should have any such future before us. The time will come, but it will be when Satan is bound, when the Kingdom of God will prevail on the earth, and peace, righteousness and truth will have sway; but until that time we may expect to have troubled seas, tempests, times of trial and difficulty, to test us and train us, and to fit and prepare the earth, as we have been told this afternoon for the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are only testing our strength in these things. The Edmunds law became a law upwards of two years ago. What has it amounted to? Why, we have had an opportunity of showing our strength, our union. Now, this bill that has been passed by the Senate—suppose it should become a law. What then? Will it have the effect that is expected of those who have framed it? If we do our duty, certainly not. If we live our religion, certainly not. It will fall harmless at our feet. There is no law that can be devised by human wisdom that can reach this case—that is, as those who devise such measures desire. It is an impossibility. No mobocratic scheme ever injured us. When the Governor of the State of Missouri issued his exterminating order against the Latter-day Saints, declaring that if they did not leave the State they should be exterminated, he thought, doubtless, that he was dealing this system a deadly blow. We were broken up into fragments, it might be said, in the depths of inclement weather. The people were compelled to flee for their lives. What was the result? Why, in a short time the system became a greater power than before. When we were driven out by violence, by bloodshed, from the State of Illinois, and compelled to launch forth into the wilderness, for a while it was thought that we were certainly placed in a position where we should be ruined. What has been the result? It has had the effect of causing us to spread until throughout these mountain valleys the Latter-day Saints are numbered by thousands. Every measure that has been taken against us since then, designed for our overthrow, has only taught us our strength. It has compelled us to go to the fountain of all strength, to God our Eternal Father. Feeling our own inability, our own incapacity, our own weakness, we have been compelled to go to a higher power. We have invoked the heavens. From the habitations of the Saints throughout these valleys the prayer of faith has ascended unto the God of heaven imploring Him to protect and preserve the people in their innocence—notwithstanding the malignant falsehoods that have been circulated against them—im– ploring Him to defend them, and to save them from the hands of those who would destroy them. And abundantly have these prayers been answered. We have had deliverances wrought out that have been most extraordinary. Men have looked upon this system and said, “What crafty leaders, what astute leadership; you have got a very cunning lot of men as Mormon leaders”—giving the glory to men, as though men could preserve the people in this matter, ignoring the God of heaven, denying His power, and asserting that God had done nothing, but that it is all attributable to the management of the leaders in holding the people together, as though it had all been done by the strength of their impostures.

Now, these deliverances which have been wrought out in the past will be repeated. These trials are necessary. It is just as necessary that we should have these things to contend with as that we live. I do not dread their effects nearly as much as I do something else. Hostile legislation and opposition of this character have but one tendency as a rule, that is, to drive us closer together, to make the cause a common one, to cause us to feel united. You have seen a cooper putting hoops on a barrel; driving them down has the effect of tightening the staves and making the barrel strong. So it is with these measures. The more they are driven the tighter it brings the people together, solidifies them, makes them one, and it gives them a consciousness of strength; because when they emerge from these trials victorious they feel better able to cope with greater difficulties and greater oppression when they are brought to bear upon them. And they are necessary, as I have said, for our development. But let us have ease, let us prosper in worldly things, let the world smile upon us and bid us welcome and treat us as they treat those whom they love; let the world do this, and how long should we be united? Why, the influence would be towards disintegration. Worldly influence would creep in. That is more to be dreaded than persecution. Prosperity is far more to be dreaded under circumstances such as we are placed in—what I mean by prosperity, I mean worldly prosperity, worldly sympathy, worldly favor; these are more to be dreaded than the disfavor of the world and the tyranny that may be brought to bear upon us because of our being obnoxious to them.

Therefore, I look upon these measures and other measures that are proposed as only a part of the program. Shall we have measures that will be hostile to us? Yes. We may make up our minds for this; but we may also rest assured that that God who has delivered us so frequently in the past will still continue to deliver us, and we shall not fall a prey, if we do our duty, to our enemies. He will preserve us. He will make our feet fast in these mountains. He will throw around us His arm of power, and when the worst comes to the worst He will interpose in our behalf in a miraculous manner to free us and place us upon a sure foundation. In fact, it is all miraculous. The existence of this people is a miracle. The growth of this people is a miracle. The attitude of this people is a miracle. It is all contrary to what are called natural causes, and therefore miraculous, contrary to the laws that pass current among men respecting peoples, communities and individuals, such as we are, and such as all are.

My brethren and sisters: We have every reason to rejoice so long as we are doing right. It is this that we have to console us. If we were vicious the world would not war against us. It is not against vice that the war is being made. Man may say so, but God knows it is not so. Our enemies know that it is not so. They know that it is not vice in us that provokes this warfare. Where is vice to be found in our cities? Nowhere. It finds no favor with us. We cherish virtue, the virtues of humanity, everything that is Godlike, and we frown down everything that is vicious and unholy. If we had our way there would not be an adulterer in these mountains. If we had our way there would not be a seducer in these mountains. Every woman would either be a virtuous maiden or a married woman, or a widow. We would take care of family virtue, preserve it as we would life; for it is more precious than life itself, and should be valued as such, and every man that would do anything to degrade a woman ought to be and will be damned. If we had our way there would be no drunkenness in all these mountains, no lying in these mountains; the name of God would not be taken in vain, no profane words would be heard. We would suppress these things, and in their place cherish virtue, industry, integrity, honesty and every virtue that men love and that God loves. No, it is not because we are vicious; it is not because we love vice; it is not because we are the most corrupt and depraved of mankind that we have enemies. Why, the drunkard, the gambler, the whoremonger, the villains of various dyes, who fight against us, would welcome us if we were like them. But we are not. We have come out of the world and are determined to serve God accord– ing to the dictates of our conscience, and according to the revelations that He has given us.

The warfare will go on as it has done in the past, only with this difference: that in our age and to us God has made promises, that this kingdom, that is, the Holy Priesthood that He has restored to the earth and the authority that He once had among men; the promise is to us that it shall not be taken from the earth again; but that this kingdom shall roll forth, continue to grow and increase, until it will encircle within its pale all the virtuous and honest of the nations of the earth. This is the destiny of this work; not to exclude anyone, but to include everyone; and as it gains strength, influence and power, it will continue to aggregate to itself all that is good in mankind. The day will come when our own nation will be convulsed with intestine strife. The civil war that is past is not the only war that will take place in this land. It is a matter of regret to think it should be otherwise. But God has spoken. There will be intestine strife in our own nation. Already we can see, as it were, the seeds of this germinating and sprouting in the midst of neighborhoods and of communities, and it will break out after a while, and men will flee to Zion. The prediction was made 52 years ago by Joseph Smith, that the time would come when those that would not take up their sword to fight against their neighbor in this blessed land (the most favored of any land under the heavens, so favored in government, so favored in climate, so favored in every element of wealth, and in all its surroundings), they would be compelled to come here for protection, for we will be the only people that will be at peace on the continent. That prediction was made 52 years ago. It will be fulfilled just as sure as God has spoken it.

My brethren and sisters, I am happy in this reflection: that notwithstanding the threatening aspect of affairs—I speak now in relation to legislation—there is a spirit of peace, calmness and serenity, prevailing throughout our settlements and throughout our families, so far as I have been able to discern, that has shown we are undisturbed, that we are conscious of the fact that God is with us. Continue to cherish this spirit, let it rest upon you, impart it to your children, extend it as far as you can; and may the blessing of our Father and God rest down abundantly upon you and upon all the honest everywhere throughout the wide earth, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered in the Tabernacle, Cache County, Sunday Afternoon, June 15th, 1884.

I have been very much interested while listening to the remarks made by the brethren who have addressed us, and certain thoughts have passed through my mind associated therewith, which it may not be amiss, in part at least, to make known.

There are certain circumstances which take place in our associations with the things of God that tend to lead our minds to reflection and thought. We have been building a temple here. We have exerted ourselves for a number of years for the accomplishment of that object. We have completed it, it has been accepted by the Lord, and we are now administering therein. In these administrations there are many things that tend to lead men to thought and reflection. We meet in our congregations as we are doing here today, and in thus meeting we pass along through the common routine of religious duties which devolve upon us; but when we go into those sacred places there are certain requirements made of us, that, whether we may have thought about these things before or not, are then brought to our remembrance. In the first place people desirous to go and attend to ordinances in these houses, must have a recommendation from their Bishop. That is one of those—I was going to say—ugly facts. That is, ugly to those who are not prepared to pass through that ordeal, whose lives have been careless, whose actions have been improper, and whose standing perhaps is precarious—that is one of those facts that must be faced. Then when they have obtained this recommendation from the Bishop, it must be endorsed by the President of the Stake, and after that have the sanction of the President of the Church. This is quite an ordeal for many men to go through. For men and women who are upright, virtuous and honorable, it is a very simple matter; there is no difficulty in their way at any time; but to those who have been careless of their duties, who have departed from the laws of God, and who have tampered with, or violated the ordinances of the Gospel—to such people it is a critical time. However, there is something far more difficult than that yet to come. That is only a starting point in these matters. The things that are ahead are a great deal more difficult to accomplish. What are they? The time will come when we shall not only have to pass by those officers whom I have referred to—say, to have the sanction and approval of our Bishop, of the President of the Stake and of the President of the Church—but we are told in this book [the Book of Doctrine and Covenants] that we shall have to pass by the angels and the Gods. We may have squeezed through the other; we may have got along tolerably well, and been passed and acted upon, and sometimes a “tight squeak” at that; but how will it be when we get on the other side, and we have the angels and the Gods to pass by before we can enter into our exaltation? If we cannot pass, what then? Well, we cannot, that is all. And if we cannot, shall we be able to enter into our exaltation? I think not. What do you think about it?

A great many things of this kind are continually presenting themselves before me. All kinds of cases are brought to my attention, and some of them are of a very serious nature. I had a case only this morning. I am not going to mention names, nor to expose persons; but it was a case of a sister who had been married to a man, actually sealed to him, in the Endowment House. The man, from what I was given to understand—of course I do not know all the details of the case, it will have to be inquired into by myself and others in authority—the man had frequently one leg in the Church, and the other out; sometimes doing well, and sometimes not doing well; sometimes in good fellowship, making acknowledgements, etc., and sometimes not in good fellowship. The woman had quite a large family by this man, and finally, a little before his death, the man became very careless; very indifferent, and very negligent pertaining to his duties, and he died in that condition. Now this woman comes along and says, “What am I to do? I have borne quite a large family to this man. He was a tolerable good man in some things, but he did not magnify his calling nor honor his God. Now, what shall I do?” Here are some very singular questions, and they will come to all of us in some shape or another, and we might as well begin to look at them now as at any other time, for it is written: “Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after;” hence the reason I mention this matter. It is a sample of a great many others, sometimes with the man and sometimes with the woman, and the question is: How far are we prepared to say to such a woman, “You are not safe for eternity with the husband that you have been associated with in time.” These are serious questions. That man was dreaming, perhaps, for a long while that he was on his way to heaven and that all was right; that he had been baptized and been received into the Church, and attended to some of the ordinances thereof, but he was negligent, careless and indifferent about the fulfillment of his duties, neglected his children, did not act right towards his wife, and did many things that were wrong and improper. Now, what shall be done? The woman felt unsafe with such a man. But is it not said, says one that all manner of sins and blasphemy shall be forgiven (except the sin against the Holy Ghost, which is the shedding of innocent blood), and that they shall come forth, if they have had certain blessings sealed upon them “in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resurrection in the next resurrection.” But the question is: If a woman is expecting a man to exalt her, and to lead her forth to thrones and principalities, powers and dominions, is she safe in that expectation? She may have been sealed to him, and he have had these things pronounced upon him, but he may have been destroyed in the flesh, because of his iniquities, which very many have been, although we could not always tell the reason why. There are certain things that men may commit according to the Scriptures, and to that which has been revealed in our day, which render them subject to be turned over to the buffetings of Satan, “for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (See 1st, Corinthians, verse 5; also Doctrine and Covenants, Section cxxxii, 26.) There are other sins that they may commit, whereof it says they shall be destroyed, whether men or women, that do these things. Now, it may be well enough to fix up our own affairs as we think they ought to be fixed, to make our own calculations, and to settle our own accounts; but these accounts have yet to be supervised and settled before those that have the right to do it before we get through, and we must not only pass by, as I have said, our Bishops, and our Presidents of Stakes, and the President of the Church, but we must pass by the angels and the Gods also.

Some of the brethren mentioned that we are now on a more elevated plane than we were a while ago. We ought to be. We do not expect to remain in the position that we were. We ought to be increasing in intelligence and in knowledge, and be preparing ourselves for those things that are to come. Yet we find men that are careless, such as the person I have referred to. By and by death comes along, they pass out of existence; and while it is the feeling and desire to do the dead man justice, and all men justice, and to act upon correct principles in regard to all, it would scarcely seem just under some of those circumstances to carry our charity so far that we would unite a woman with a man, who, when he came forward and wanted to pass by the angels and the Gods, they said to him, “Stop! and take another course. You have not yet paid the penalty of your wickedness, and the contempt of God’s laws and His kindness. You cannot come forth in this first thousand years; you must wait for the second.” Then what of the children, and what of the wife who perhaps has been faithful, and might have been in very different circumstances, if she had not attached herself to a man of that description?

These are things for us to reflect upon. We shall not have everything our own way about these matters. When we pass out of this world we are left at the mercy of somebody else. If we are resurrected it will be because Jesus is the resurrection, and there are eternal laws and principles that will have to be met by us all, and that cannot be avoided. Jesus says: “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” Certain ones will come forth in the first resurrection, and others will not come forth until the second. For the path of the just is upward and onward all the time, while the path of the unjust is downward.

These are questions, I say, for us to reflect upon. If we are the Saints of God, it is necessary we should begin to learn to do the will of God on the earth as it is done in the heavens: for it is not every one that saith, Lord, Lord, that shall enter into Christ’s kingdom, but he that doeth the will of the Father who is in heaven. We think sometimes we can do as we please. We may do as we please, and then God will do as He pleases; and for every word and for every secret thought we shall be brought to judgment, we are told.

Some of these things when we reflect upon them are matters of very great importance. We are not here to do our own will, but the will of our heavenly Father. Some men who think they are doing pretty well, and doing, according to their own expression, “as they darned please,” will wake up to find they have not been doing the will of God. They may have thought that they had wives and children, but they will wake up to find that they have not got them, and that they are deprived of many of those great blessings they anticipated enjoying. With all of our mercy, kindness and tender feeling towards our brethren and sisters, and towards all people, we cannot violate the law of God, nor transgress those principles which He has laid down with impunity. He expects us to do those things that are acceptable before Him, and if we don’t we must pay the penalty of our departure from correct principle.

These are things that are of very great moment, and this building on the hill [the Temple] is one of those things which brings us face to face with many very important facts associated with the present, with the past and with the future. Whatever we may think about it, all things are open and naked before Him with whom we have to do. As it is written: “Hell is naked before Him, and destruction hath no covering,” and how much more the hearts of the children of men?

We are here to accomplish the purposes of God, to build up His Zion, and to establish His Kingdom upon the earth, and He expects us to do it. He expects that we will begin to do His will upon the earth as it is done in the heavens—here in this land of Zion among the Latter-day Saints. If we do not do it we shall, as has been remarked by Brother Cannon, dishonor ourselves. It is proper, therefore, for us to consider well and ponder the path of our feet. It is well for us to find out the standing we occupy in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is well for us to realize how we stand, first, with our God, secondly with the Holy Priesthood, thirdly, with our families, with our wives and children, or with our husbands and children, as the case may be, and furthermore that we deal justly and righteously with all men. We cannot run our own way and have the blessing of God. Everyone who attempts it, will find he is mistaken. God will withdraw His Spirit from such, and they will be left to themselves to wander in the dark, and go down to perdition. It is expected of us that we shall move on a higher plane, that we shall feel that we are the children of God, that God is our Father, and that He will not be dishonored by disobedient children, or by those who fight against His laws and His Priesthood. He expects us to live our religion, to obey His laws and keep His commandments.

This Temple, as I have already said, is a place where among other things, eternal covenants and obligations are entered into, and the question is, How and in what manner shall they be performed, and who are worthy and who are unworthy. There are some things that we find it exceedingly difficult to decide upon. Why? Because the parties that are dead are not here to speak for themselves, and we cannot have them misrepresented or robbed of their rights in any shape. But if they have violated the laws of God, what then? Now, here comes a question to which I desire to draw the attention of the authorities of this Stake. There are many of those men (if what we hear about them is correct) who ought to have been cut off from the Church. But they have not been; the Bishops have been negligent, the Teachers have been negligent, and perhaps the President of the Stake has been negligent. I am not speaking particularly of this Stake; I am speaking in general terms. I speak of it to draw the attention of Presidents of Stakes, Bishops, Elders, Priests, Teachers and Deacons, and those who officiate in the Church of God, and all men who are set to watch over the fold of Christ. If some of these men, that I have referred to, had been brought up on certain occasions, they might have repented of their sins and placed themselves right; but because these officers did not do their duty themselves, and did not see that other men did theirs, things have passed along out of order, and the parties in question have gone behind the veil. What account can we give of ourselves if we are found thus negligent? If people do wrong let them be brought up, and let the Teachers, Priests, and Bishops clear their garments of them, and feel that they have done their duty and purified the Church so far as they could. The Presidents of Stakes should see that these things are carried out according to the laws of God. This is a standard we must attain to, so that when people say, “Can we go into the Temple of the Lord?” we may know exactly their status, what position they occupy, and what to do with them, without having to take up the records of the dead. These are responsibilities devolving upon us. Our Elders go abroad to preach the Gospel and to gather in the people. When they are thus gathered the Presidents of Stakes, the Bishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons are expected to watch over them, and see that they are fulfilling their obligations, or that they are not fulfilling them. If they fail to do their duty, let them be brought to account; let them be dealt with according to the laws of God. If they repent, forgive them; but it is expected that all who have taken upon them the name of Christ will obey the laws of God, and walk in obedience to His commands. These are some things that we all of us have to be responsible for, and therefore I, occupying the position that I do, feel it my duty to lay these things before you and to require them at your hands—that is at the hands of the President of the Stake and his Counselors, at the hands of the Bishops and their Counselors, at the hands of the High Council, and at the hands of the Priests, Teachers, and Deacons; for I don’t want to carry myself the sins of the people. God expects us to purge ourselves from iniquity, that we may become the chosen of the Lord, and our offspring with us, not in name or in theory, but in deed and in truth, and according to the laws of life, and the spirit that dwells in Jesus Christ, our Savior, which every one of us ought to have dwelling in us and dwelling and abiding in our habitations, that we may feel that we are devoted to our God, blameless before the Lord, and keeping His commandments.

These are things that it is proper for us to reflect upon. We enter into obligations here as young men or young women, or as old men or old women, as the case may be, no matter what or how we enter into covenants before God, holy angels and witnesses, and pledge ourselves in the most solemn manner to be true to these covenants, and if we violate these covenants, and trample under foot the ordinances of God, we ought to be dealt with by the Church, and either repent of our sins or be cut off from the Church, so that by purging the Church from iniquity, we may be acceptable before God. For the Gods spoken of, are not going to associate with every scalawag in existence; scalawags are not going where they are; and if men do not live according to the laws of a Celestial kingdom, they are not going into a Celestial glory; they cannot pass by the angels and the Gods, who are set to guard the way of life. Straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it.

Is God merciful? Yes. Will He treat His children well? Yes. He will do the very best He can for all. But there are certain eternal laws by which the Gods in the eternal worlds are governed and which they cannot violate, and do not want to violate. These eternal principles must be kept, and one principle is, that no unclean thing can enter into the Kingdom of God. What, then, will be the result? Why, the people I have referred to—people who do not keep the Celestial law—will have to go into a lesser kingdom, into a Terrestrial, or perhaps a Telestial, as the case may be. Is that according to the law of God? Yes. For if they are not prepared for the Celestial kingdom, they must go to such a one as they are prepared to endure. Certain principles have been developed, and a great many have not. But we are here in a school to learn, and it is for the El– ders of Israel who are desirous to do the will of God, and keep His commandments, to put themselves in the way of doing so, to seek to the Lord for His guidance and direction, to repent of their follies, their nonsense and wickedness of every kind, and to come out for God and His kingdom, and to seek to build up the Zion of God and the kingdom of God upon the earth, and if we do this, God will bless us and exalt us in time and throughout the eternities that are to come. Amen.

Discourse by Apostle Erastus Snow, delivered in the Stake Meetinghouse, Ephraim, Saturday Afternoon (Quarterly Conference), May 31st, 1884.

Truly we are a blessed people. Of all people upon the face of the earth we have most reason to be thankful that the Lord our God has been mindful of us, and has set His hand the second time to recover Israel.

The prophet Isaiah in the 11th chapter of his book says:

“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:”

“And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;”

“And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:”

“But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.”

I understand this to have reference to our Savior who, after the flesh, was a descendant of Jesse, Jesse being the father of King David. Out of the stock of Jesse came the royal house that not only ruled in Israel anciently, but the Savior, who is appointed of His Father to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords, because He is anointed to be the Savior of mankind, and when He comes the second time, according to the revelations of St. John, He will have the name I have mentioned.

“And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:”

“But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth.”

This, too, is a lesson for all his people—for His Servants who minister on the earth, for the judges in Israel, the Bishops, High Councils—not always to judge after the sight of the eye nor to “reprove after the hearing of the ear, but with righteousness shall he judge the poor.” Sometimes we find the poor oppressed, though this is not common among the Latter-day Saints, who are influenced, generally, by a spirit of charity and love; but sometimes in our midst, as in the world, people are accused wrongfully, things are misrepresented, and for this reason the prophet speaks of the Savior as he does. We are not always able to determine with certainty the character of any transaction—that is to say, of the spirit and motive that influence and promote action—merely from what we see, nor yet from what somebody may tell us. It is necessary that we become enlightened by the Holy Spirit, to enable us to see as God sees, and to understand the motives, purposes and designs of the hearts of our fellow men. God judges us all according to the motives and designs of the heart. If our purpose is to do good, and that which is right in His sight, he judges us accordingly, though we may, through our weakness, or through circumstances that we are not always able to control, do things that are not strictly in their outward appearance right and correct, or we may neglect to do that which we should do. The Lord judges all men according to the motives that prompt the action, rather than from the action itself. It is not murder in the sight of heaven always, when a man is killed, for sometimes he brings his blood upon his own head by thrusting himself upon some other one to destroy him and is himself slain in the attack, and his blood is therefore upon his own head, and it is not counted murder to the man that slew him. The one who only saw a part of the transaction might accuse the other of murder; but when it comes to be sifted to the foundation, and both hearts can be scanned, and the cause that resulted in the conflict discovered, it is found that the man that slew is innocent, and the man that was slain is the guilty one. I refer to this as a sample. So with many of the transactions of life. So also we may neglect duties that we should attend to, but we neglect them in our ignorance, when we are uninformed, and the Lord does not lay it to our charge until we are better instructed and our defects pointed out to us. Then if we neglect them He holds us responsible for that neglect. So also we may do things that in themselves are not right, not strictly correct, and yet if we are not posted and are ignorant of the evil of the transaction, it is not imputed to us as evil. This is the doctrine that Jesus laid down. “That servant, which knew his Lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes.” That is, a few stripes shall be meted out to him merely to vindicate the law, and to make an impression upon him that what he had done was wrong, though he was ignorant of it before; but a little punishment is meted out, just enough to satisfy and vindicate the law, and to correct the impression upon the individual, to show him that he must be careful, for he had trodden upon forbidden ground. This is a rule that our Father is governed by in judging His children, and it is a rule that we should strive also to be governed by in regard to one another, and especially those who are called to be judges in Israel, or whose calling and duty it is to settle difficulties and assist in adjusting differences among their brethren and sisters.

“And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.”

I understand this to be a figurative expression of the Prophet Isaiah: the rod of His mouth by which He should smite the earth. I understand that to be the word that proceeded out of His mouth, the words given of His Father; for His word was that which He received from the Father, and that which goeth forth among the children of men, conquering and to conquer. It is that word that has made impressions upon the Latter-day Saints in other lands and countries where they were born, and brought them to believe and obey the Gospel, and gathered them to this land. And it is that word also which condemns the wicked, and therefore the prophet says:

“With the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.”

For the Gospel of life and salvation is a savor of death unto death, or of life unto life. So says the Apostle Paul. It was so in his days, in the days when Jesus and His Apostles first proclaimed this Gospel to the Jews in Palestine; when they went among the Gentiles it was the same. It is the same today. It has been the same in all ages of the world. When the Gospel is sent forth, the word of God among the people, it is a savor of death unto death, or of life unto life. Therefore while the righteous are governed and exalted and blessed through the word, the wicked perish. This is illustrated in another form of expression by the Apostle Paul, when he says that he was slain through the law. Says he:

“For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.”

He is using this illustration to the Jews—“Sin revived, and I died”—that is, when the law was made known—when the will and commandments of God were revealed and made known, woe! be unto those who should hear and disobey, for if they disobeyed condemnation would follow. This illustrates the principle contained in this verse I have read from Isaiah:

“With the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.”

And this is equally true of his fellow laborers and servants who have the word of God in faith, and speak in the name of the Lord, and by the power of the Holy Ghost, and have authority so to speak and act. Their testimony, their words, and the counsels of God that go unto the people through them, are a savor of life unto life, or of death unto death. The Gospel exalts those who receive it, and brings condemnation and destruction upon those who refuse to obey it. But without the Gospel being sent out by authority and power from God, the inhabitants of the earth could not be ripened for destruction. We read in many places in the Scriptures concerning the destruction of the wicked in the last days. But we read also in other Scriptures, that the Lord destroys them only when they are ripe in their iniquity. Jesus, in prophesying of His second coming, and the destruction that shall fall upon the wicked, speaks in this wise—that they shall fill up the cup of their iniquity. This principle we see referred to and illustrated in the days of Abraham. The Lord promised unto him the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession. Nevertheless, his seed must be brought into bondage in Egypt, and remain there until those who dwelt in the land of Canaan had filled up the cup of their iniquity. The people were not yet ripe for destruction, and therefore the Lord could not displace them and put Abraham and his seed in possession of his land.

So the Lord has dealt with nations and generations from the beginning, and so will He in the latter times. We need not marvel because the Latter-day Saints are everywhere spoken against, and the wicked conspire to overthrow them. We need not marvel that even in this boasted land of freedom and liberty, statesmen, rulers and judges should place the iron heel of oppression upon the Latter-day Saints, and seek by every way in their power to bring evil upon them, to discourage them, to hedge up their way, and to destroy them. They must needs do these things. They must needs harden their hearts against the Lord and against His commandments. They must needs do many things that are wicked in His sight and oppressive to His people, in order that God may judge them, and that they fill up the cup of their iniquity. And it must needs be that the Saints, too, should be tried in all things even as Abraham was tried when he was commanded to offer up his only son. It must needs be that when the Gospel found us in our scattered condition mid the nations of the earth, and we yielded obedience to it, that we should be despised of our fellow creatures, that we should be reviled, so that we should feel it a pleasure to leave our fatherland, the graves of our ancestors, the home of our youth and childhood, and gather to Zion. Were it not for these two things that are working in the earth we should not be gathered together; we should not be willing to do it; we should love the home of our ancestors and the country that gave us birth. But because of the persecutions and hatred of the wicked we are weaned from them. As the Savior said on a certain occasion:

“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I come not to send peace, but a sword.”

“For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

“And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”

At first thought it would seem a strange idea that the Prince of Peace, whose birth was announced by angels to the shepherds saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men”—I say, at first thought it would seem strange that the Prince of Peace so announced should say:

“I come not to send peace, but a sword * * * I am come to set a man at variance against his father, etc. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”

But it is all easily explained by our experience and observation, and by considering His teachings and the effects thereof and the words of the Apostle concerning the preaching of the Gospel being a savor of life unto life, or of death unto death. We go out into the Gentile world, and we find a great variety of religious opinions and many different religious sects. We find Catholics, Protestants, and various denominations and sects of Protestantism. They are all laboring together in the same field, preaching different doctrines and items of faith, and all professing to be the religion of Christ. All their teachers profess to be preachers of the Gospel, and their followers all profess to be Christians, and yet there is not power enough in all the doctrines and systems that they are teaching and establishing to produce a separation between the righteous and the wicked. They all continue to harmonize together—at least so far that they all count each other Christians, and it is very difficult to distinguish the Christian from the infidel, unless it be that the Christian is the worst. But not so when the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached. It always did produce a separation between the righteous and the wicked. It drew the line of distinction. It was always like putting yeast into a beer barrel. It sets it to working, and whoever has examined a beer barrel while the beer is working in it under a microscope, will see the way that the beer works itself clear. It is by the different properties it contains running in different directions. You will see the liquid full of little animals running in different directions, and it continues to work in this sort of a way until it becomes clear. Well, the working of beer in a barrel reminds me of the preaching of the Gospel in the earth. It sets Saints to running together. It works out apostates from among us, and they take the opposite direction. It draws the line of distinction between the righteous and the wicked, and that work begins from the moment the Gospel is sounded among the people. The Spirit of truth operates upon the hearts of those who are open to receive it. It draws them to the fountain of life and light. It draws them into the water and then to Zion, and then keeps drawing them nearer and nearer to God; while with those that reject the Gospel, they keep going further and further from the Lord and His people. They harden their hearts more and more against them, and give way to wickedness and all manner of corruption. But while the wicked on the one hand are thus filling up their cup of iniquity, the righteous, on the other hand are called to sanctify themselves and be prepared for the glorious coming of the Savior. It is for this cause that we build temples, and that God reveals to us the ordinances for the sanctification of His people and further glory and exaltation.

The ordinance of baptism, simple as it is, is appointed by the Father as the firstfruits of repentance—that is, baptism in water for the remission of sins. He did not appoint Presbyterian baptisms and Roman Catholic baptisms, sprinkling a little water on the forehead and calling that baptism. God never appointed these. There is no place in the Bible to indicate that He ever sanctioned such a thing. The Savior set the example to the human family himself, in going down into the water and being immersed in the river Jordan by John the Baptist. But this same order of baptism had been revealed before this: but that there needs be no mistake the Savior set the example before all the people, and then continued himself to baptize for a season in the same manner and ordained His Apostles to continue the work. And He has appointed that all those who receive this ordinance in His name may receive also the resurrection of their bodies, and baptism, or immersion in water, is in the likeness of the death and burial and resurrection of our Savior. By this ordinance we show forth unto the Lord that we lay off and bury the old man of sin in the waters of baptism, and by rising out of the waters of baptism we show forth unto the Lord that we put on the new man after Christ Jesus, and walk henceforth in newness of life. All those, therefore, who believe the Gospel, and yield obedience to its requirements, and are baptized in water for the remission of their sins, upon this act, if they continue to maintain this faith, they are entitled to be raised in the likeness of the glorious resurrected body of Christ. And yet, to consider this ordinance in the abstract, or as the unbelieving world look at it, we might ask what virtue there is in this ordinance of baptism? We might say, as did Naaman, the Syrian, to Elisha, when he came to be healed of his leprosy. The Prophet told him to go and wash himself seven times in Jordan. But Naaman rose up in a rage and said, in substance, “Have I not washed myself many a time in my rivers at home, and did it ever do me any good? Is there any more virtue in the waters of Jordan than the waters of my native place?” He did not believe the Prophet, and he turned to go away with a sorrowful heart. But his servant followed him and said: “My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?” This caused Naaman to reflect; and he went and dipped himself seven times in Jordan. He was not healed when he dipped himself once, nor twice, nor thrice; but when he had dipped himself seven times he was cleansed of his leprosy. Was it the waters of Jordan that healed him or is it the waters of the brook that we are immersed in that cleanses us from our sins? Not at all. It is the blood of Christ that was shed for the sins of the world that cleanseth us from our sins; but the water is the emblem and the means by which we comply with the commandment of God.

And so with every other ordinance of the Gospel. So with the laying on of the hands of the Elders of Israel. The wicked will ask what virtue there is in the imposition of the hands of the Elders? Why, the virtue consists in obeying the commandments of heaven. For through the laying on of hands the sick are healed. Through the laying on of hands the Holy Ghost is given. Through the laying on of hands the Priesthood is conferred upon those who are counted worthy to receive it. Herein is the hiding of the Lord’s power. It is this that the Prophet Habakkuk refers to when he speaks of the Lord coming in glory, and says: “He had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power.” Horns we know in the Scriptures are often used as figures to represent power. Horns in the Apocalypse and in the prophecies of Daniel represent kingdoms and dynasties, and when one horn fell, another came up in its place, thus representing the fall of one dynasty and the rising of another. And so on. And the same may be said of the Priesthood: the ruling power that God bestows for the salvation of the human family, is that which is given by the laying on of hands. But does this apply to the wicked, to the disobedient, or to the unbelieving? No, not at all; nor does remission of sins come to the wicked and unbelieving by merely being baptized. We have an example of this kind in the New Testament when Philip baptized the people of Samaria, and Simon the sorcerer, was baptized also; but he was a hypocrite and a corrupt man, and he only sought to gain power whereby he might hoodwink and deceive the people and filch money from them. And when Peter and John came down and prayed with the people, and laid their hands upon them, they received the Holy Ghost. When Simon saw this, he offered them money saying, “Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.” This he sought, as I have said, that he might obtain power to carry on his craft and to make money; but Peter answered him saying, “Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. * * * I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” There are other similar instances. But remission of sins cometh by baptism to those who believe and repent of their sins with all their hearts; the Holy Ghost is received by the laying on of the hands of the Elders; and the powers of the Priesthood are conferred in the same manner. Simple as the ordinances are, simple to look upon and to think upon, there is power in them, power accompanies them, power is made manifest among the people. The people are gathered together; the people are made one; the differences that existed among us depart. The traditions of the fathers are cast away. We are united in receiving the light and truth from above. Our hearts are made as one, no matter where we were born, or what race of people we have sprung from. This spirit working among the people, and going abroad in the earth is accomplishing what the Lord and His servants have predicted. It is preparing a people for the coming of the Savior.

Persecution begins, as I said, when the Gospel is sounded in our ears in various lands and countries of our home and birth. It follows us up. When we were a small people organized resistance and persecution commenced by townships in the United States. As we grew and became a stronger people, more extensive organizations were arrayed against us by counties or larger communities. At first the Latter-day Saints were driven from their homes in the State of New York, and they fled to Kirtland, Ohio, where persecution was again waged against them, until by and by the opposition was combined to such an extent in all the surrounding country, that they were obliged to flee from that region to Missouri. Here opposition became still more extensive until the whole State rose up against them—rose up and became a mob, even Governor Lilburn W. Boggs, of Missouri, became a sort of Solicitor General for the mob, and issued an exterminating order against the Saints, as utterly illegal as the decree of any tyrant that ever lived. In that order he called upon his aids and principal generals to rally the militia of the State to execute the order of extermination that he issued. They despoiled us of our goods. They compelled us to sign a deed of trust of lands, houses and possessions to defray the expenses of the “war,” as they termed it. That is, they robbed us, and drove us out of the State, and then compelled us to give them what we had, to pay them for doing it. Persecution still followed us in the States of Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri, and finally the Saints fled to these Rocky Mountains where there was nobody to oppose us, save the savages who roamed throughout the country. Here the Lord has planted our feet and made us strong. But it was predicted in early times that we should not only be persecuted by townships and counties, but by and by States should rise against us, and at last the whole United States would rise up against us. But in the midst of it all we have continued to grow, we have waxed strong. It is the power of God and not of man. It is by the word of God that we thrive. It is by the word of God that we are multiplying and increasing in the land; and the same God who commands the Elders of Israel to take the daughters of Israel to wife and who says “multiply and replenish the earth”—that same God sends the fruit and multiplies the sons and daughters of Israel in the land; as, when you sow the seed in the soil He sends the rains and gives a bountiful crop in your fields. It is the blessing of God that is resting upon the people. His people are multiplying in the land, and they are spreading abroad and possessing it in Idaho and Montana in the north, and Arizona and New Mexico in the South. The wicked are determined to persecute and drive us. Where will they drive us to? They say the “Mormons” must go. Where shall we go to? We have become like a city that is set on a hill, we cannot be hid. We have become a strong people, and they do not know what to do with us. Every drop of innocent blood which they shed, will spread the Gospel the faster. Every time they persecute us they will assist the work of God. “Mormonism” is like the mustard plant whose seed is ripe: when shaken it spreads the faster; or like the man I read of when I was a boy. When Canada thistles began to spread in the eastern States, this man was determined that he would put an end to them so far as his farm was concerned. So when the first thistle made its appearance he built a log heap over it and burned the pile. He thought he had squelched the thing; but to his horror and dismay the whole heap, the next year, was a dense mass of Canada thistles. So with “Mormonism,” the more they “squelch” it, the faster it grows.

God bless you in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by President George Q. Cannon, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, May 25th, 1884.

President Cannon commenced by reading the 4th chapter of Malachi, after which he said:

In rising to address you this afternoon, my brethren and sisters, I do so relying upon the assistance of your faith and prayers, that the remarks which I may be led to make may be such as shall be adapted to your circumstances, and as shall prove a benefit to us all.

As you know, we have just returned from dedicating the Temple that has been completed at Logan. We have had during our absence and our meetings there a most delightful time. I think that everyone who was present felt it to be such, and that we have been greatly favored of God in being permitted to finish one more temple in which the ordinances of life and salvation can be attended to. There has been great rejoicing over its completion, and those who have been engaged in it have labored very assiduously. They have been untiring in their efforts and exceedingly liberal in furnishing the necessary means to accomplish the great work.

It is very encouraging to think that, in the midst of the assaults which are being made upon the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the threats that are in circulation concerning us and our future fate, there is faith enough found in the midst of the people to pursue, without discouragement and without cessation, the great work which we feel that our Father has laid upon us. We have not been situated as we were in Nauvoo, when we finished our temple there, for then the workmen who labored upon it, were like the Jews in the days of Nehemiah, when they undertook to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and had to labor a portion of the time at least, and a great portion of it too, with their instruments of labor in one hand, and weapons to defend themselves in the other. We were surrounded by mobs, and living in a constant state, it may be said of fear, because of the threats which were made and the combinations which were formed, and the attacks upon our outlying settlements in the burning of houses, in the destruction of grain, in the shooting down of cattle, and in the driving out of the people from their homes. But while we have not been in this condition through the years that we have been engaged in the erection of the Logan Temple, we have not been free from attacks and from threats and from combina– tions for our destruction. Had we been prompted by the ordinary faith of man, the hands of the people would have been weakened in this great work, and they would have hesitated in its performance. But no such feeling has been manifested or expressed. Undismayed and undiscouraged by all the surrounding circumstances, the people have pressed forward the work, and have now the joy and satisfaction of witnessing its completion. It seems as though in the performance of such labor there is a degree of faith required, an unusual degree; for if our views be correct, it is an important work, an important part of the work of the great God, the building of temples by His direct command. And this being the case, undoubtedly such work will be met by opposition on the part of him who is determined to do everything in his power to retard the work of God. By the revelation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the two forces which have been arrayed against each other since the beginning of the earth have been brought out unto, it may be said, extraordinary prominence. No sooner did the sound go forth that God had again spoken from the heavens than an antagonism and an opposition was aroused, such as the world for a long period had seemed to know nothing of. The power of evil was brought to light, brought into active exercise, and the saying of the Savior was exemplified where He said: “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I come not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.” And that has con– tinued from that day until the present time, gathering strength, increasing in volume and intensity against the work of God, and to those who have had no faith, it has seemed as though it would take but a short period for the waves of opposition to overwhelm and completely submerge this work that our God has founded in the earth. But this work being of God, the promises which He made concerning it, have not failed. Every word thus far has been fulfilled. It seemed like a feeble light in the beginning. It seemed as though a small puff of wind would extinguish it; but it has continued to enlarge, it has continued to increase, until its blaze illumines the horizon, and is watched with interest from afar.

When we look back at the inception of this work, at the promises that were made concerning it, and the labors of those who were engaged in founding it, it is most interesting in this day to mark and ponder upon that which was then done, and that which was then promised unto us. Men wonder why it is that the Latter-day Saints believe in this work, why it is that they believe in the claims of Joseph Smith as a Prophet of God. Wonder is expressed because we entertain faith in the doctrines which form our religion; but to me it is most extraordinary that men, possessed of the powers of reason, of the faculty of judging between truth and error, should with the light there is upon this subject, with the extraordinary evidence in favor of the divinity of this work, doubt its truth, or that they should hesitate to accept it. It has always seemed from my boyhood, since I was old enough to comprehend these principles, extraordinary that such should be the case. God made promises in the beginning of this work, concerning its growth and future, every word of which has been fulfilled. The evidences are before the world. When the Prophet Joseph first received his manifestations concerning the coming forth of this work, he was but a boy of fourteen years of age. When he received the plates containing the Book of Mormon, he was but twenty-one years of age. When this Church was organized he was but twenty-four years of age. The revelations which were then given, and which are embodied in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants concerning the organization of the Church are such that if I were not a Latter-day Saint, and were to read them and know as I do know concerning the man through whom these revelations came, and through whom this organization was effected, I would be compelled to admit that there was a power connected with the organization of this Church, that there was a light and an intelligence connected with the revelations that were then given, that could not have emanated from any other source but God. It would be harder for me to reject this idea and this view, than it would be to entertain it. The weight and preponderance of argument would be more in favor of that view than of any other. Let any man read the revelations which Joseph received prior to the sixth of April, 1830. Let him read the revelation that was given on that day concerning the organization of this Church, and if he can do so without being impressed that God is in this, then he must indeed be an extraordinary specimen of unbelief, and of hardness of heart. A church organized precisely upon the pattern of the ancient church, with doctrines precisely similar, varying in no single particular from the doctrines of the ancient church, and these revealed in extraordinary plainness and power by an unlettered youth who had had no chance of education save that which the common schools of the country afforded. There has never been a day since this Church was organized until this day of our Lord, 54 years and upwards, that an Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ever failed to maintain the divine authenticity of the doctrines which he had been sent out to preach when brought in contact with the most learned men of the day, the most skilled theologians. At no period in our history has this not been the case. Sending out unlettered men, sending out men not taught in the schools of theology, sending out men from the fields, the bench and workshops, as the Savior sent out His disciples from the lowest walks of life, with the Bible in their hands, to preach the Gospel as God has restored it; and wherever they have been brought in contact with the clergy of the day, in controversy or otherwise, they have always been successful in maintaining their doctrines from the Scriptures. Let any man examine the system that Joseph taught, the organization of the Church itself, with all its officers, the ordinances and the doctrines, and he will be compelled to admit as was admitted to me by a prominent Member of Congress, who was one of our bitter enemies, that it is the greatest organization on earth. Said this gentleman: “Mr. Cannon, I have examined the organization of your Church: I am familiar with the Catholic organization; but your organization is the most magnificent of anything I have ever had my attention directed to. It is superior to every other organization on the earth. Where did you get it?” Of course he was not willing to give God any credit for it. I give Him all credit, and not Joseph Smith, nor Brigham Young, nor any other man who has been identified with this Church of Christ.

But there are other points to which my mind is led this afternoon, in connection with this subject. Joseph Smith received the ministration of angels; so he testified. He testified that an angel came to him and taught him the doctrines that he afterwards taught to the people. If I can find the place I will read a little:

“While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light appearing in the room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor. He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant. His hands were naked, and his arms also, a little above the wrist; so, also, were his feet naked, as were his legs, a little above the ankles. His head and neck were also bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing on but this robe, as it was open, so that I could see into his bosom.

“Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright as immediately around his person. When I first looked upon him, I was afraid; but the fear soon left me. He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people. He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants. Also, that there were two stones in silver bows—and these stones, fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called the Urim and Thummim—deposited with the plates; and the possession and use of these stones was what constituted “seers” in ancient or former times; and that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating the book.”

I will not read the remainder. Three times during that night, was this youth visited by this angelic messenger, and at each interview the same things were repeated to him. Numerous passages of Scripture were quoted to him, and the doctrines of the Gospel of Jesus Christ unfolded to him. The next day he was again visited, and again instructed: so that it appeared to be the mind of the Lord that he should be deeply impressed, so deeply impressed that he would never forget that which was then told to him. There is this remarkable statement made, a statement which was published in the early days of the Church, long before its fulfillment:

“That God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people.”

Certainly no truer words could be spoken than these; for everywhere throughout the civilized world, already has the name of Joseph Smith been known for good or evil. No name, probably, next to that of the Son of God, our Redeemer, is held in such veneration by the thousands and hundreds of thousands who believe in the Gospel of the Son of God; next to that name in which we approach the Father, the name of Jesus—next to that in the minds of all who have received the Gospel stands pre-eminently the name of the Prophet Joseph Smith. But with an intensity of hatred equal to that of the love borne by the Latter-day Saints to that name, is the feeling entertained towards it by those who have rejected the Gospel as taught by him. A more complete fulfillment of a prediction is not to be found anywhere throughout the earth in ancient days, or at any time when God had Prophets upon the earth. And so it has been with many other predictions which were made at that time. Joseph Smith foresaw with certainty and predicted with accuracy the growth of this work; that the Elders of this Church should carry the Gospel to the nations of the earth; that they would be successful to the extent they have been successful and no more. No man was led to expect there would be any great conversions of the people by the Elders of this Church. Joseph Smith, enlightened by the Spirit of God, made no such prediction, and led no one associated with him to anticipate such results. On the contrary, he endeavored to the extent of his ability to prepare the people for such persecution as had never been witnessed upon the face of the earth since the days of the Son of God. He never taught the people that their lives would be easy and pleasant, that they would have smooth sailing, that they would have no interruption, or that they would become popular with the world at large. On the contrary, he constantly enjoined upon those whom he sent out, to bear it in mind that they would have persecution as an inevitable consequence of the proclamation of the Gospel. He sent them forth, and they in their turn, whenever they went and bore testimony to the restoration of the Gospel, warned those who embraced it that they might expect to lose everything they had, their good name, their property, their friends, and perhaps life itself, before they got through. He foresaw plainly that this would be the character of the opposition they would have to contend with. God had revealed it to him in the beginning. The very first night that this angel visited him he told him that his name should be had for good and for evil among all people, and he knew full well that it would be the case. And when the Elders went forth, they went as gleaners of grapes after the vintage was over. They were not told that they would find people by hundreds or by thousands, ready to espouse the truth. No; but they were told that they would find a few here and there, a few honest-hearted people ready to receive the truth, a few waiting for the Gospel to come to them; but they would not effect any great conversions among the Gentile nations. But they were told, as it was predicted in the Book of Mormon, that among the Lamanites, as they are termed in that book, that is, among the descendants of the house of Israel, as the Indians are, their success would be exceedingly great. This has been fulfilled to the very letter.

Fifty-four years experience in preaching this Gospel among the various nations of Christendom has proved to us how correctly the man of God foresaw the character of this work. We have gathered the people, through the blessing of God, from the various nations of the earth; but we have gathered them by small handfuls, as it were. There has been no great influx into the Church from these nations; but, as I have said, it has been exactly like a gleaning of grapes after the vintage is over. And it is a remarkable fact that the great bulk of the people who form this Church—that is, those who were adults when they became members of this Church—were anxiously waiting the arrival of some such message as the Elders brought. Our venerated President, who sits on the stand, was one of a company of men—himself a Wesleyan Methodist preacher—awaiting the time when God would reveal something from the heavens, or would send some message that would be more in accordance with the ancient Gospel than that which they had. A company of them were earnestly praying to God to send more light and more power; that power which was manifested in the days of the Apostles. At the time when Elder Parley P. Pratt carried the Gospel to the city of Toronto he fell in with this company. And here sits Brother Wilford Woodruff. I have heard him relate that in his early days he has gone out in secret and besought God to restore the ancient Gospel, to restore the ancient gifts, to restore the ancient power, and he received a promise from God before he ever heard of the Latter-day Saints, or ever heard of the organization of this Church, that the time would come when the true Gospel would be restored, and that he should have the privilege of being identified with it. And the thousands that compose this Church today, who joined it when they were adults were, the most of them, in a similar condition, a similar state of mind. Dissatisfied with existing creeds, members, in many instances, of existing Churches, but conscious that there was an absence of that divine power and of those heavenly gifts which characterized the Church in ancient days; dissatisfied with this condition of things, they besought God earnestly, fervently, and anxiously, to restore His Gospel to the earth, or to send some message of life and salvation unto them. They were thus prepared for the Gospel when it came, and received it gladly, because their hearts were prepared, and it is those few who have been gathered from the nations of the earth, with others who are also open, because of the honesty of their hearts, to receive the truth. Joseph Smith said that this should be the character of this work. But it is a remarkable fact—and I wish before leaving this point to call your attention to it, that, wherever we have gone among those people whom the Book of Mormon tells us are the descendants of the house of Israel, we have had no trouble in converting them by hundreds, and it may be said by thousands, to the truth. They were ready to receive it without any difficulty whatever. It seemed as though their hearts had been prepared by the God of heaven, and all that has been necessary has been to tell them the truth, and they were natural Latter-day Saints, natural believers in the Gospel of the Son of God.

I myself went as a missionary, as many of you know, to the Sandwich Islands, the natives of which I believe to be either a branch of the Indians of this continent, or of some other portion of the house of Israel. There was no trouble in baptizing them, and there is no trouble in baptizing any of the Polynesian races. They are ready to receive the Gospel, ready to be baptized; very different in this respect from us Gentiles; for there is a spirit of unbelief among the Gentile race; there is a hardness of heart; there is a want of faith that prevents the blessings of God from descending as they did in ancient days upon His covenant people. Gentiles are naturally unbelievers. It is difficult to convert them, difficult to control them, difficult for them to receive the truth in plainness and simplicity.

Now God has said in this chapter, that He would send Elijah, the Prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. A very singular prediction, a remarkable prediction especially when we consider that in this day and age, men do not believe in the ministration of angels; and the office of that Prophet should be “to turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” Elijah was to come for a specific purpose. I do not know how Christendom is going to arrange to have this angel come. If he came, I do not suppose Christendom would believe he came. But it is on record in our sacred books that the Prophet Elijah has come. Permit me, in connection with this subject, to read a little upon this point. After the completion of the Kirtland Temple, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery testified that they beheld the Son of God. It is a most remarkable testimony in this age of unbelief; but they solemnly testify that they beheld the Son of God, and that after beholding Him, they were visited by three glorious personages, among whom was the Prophet Elijah. These are the words that they have left on record:

“After this vision had closed, another great and glorious vision burst upon us; for Elijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us, and said:

“Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come—

“To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse—

“Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors.”

Now, I can imagine how those who are opposed to this work might say, “Why, it is a very easy thing for Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to make such a statement as that, because it seems to correspond with what Malachi has said, and their making the statement is merely in anticipation of that which the Bible has said would be the case.”

But there is this that is remarkable in connection with this statement: the coming of the prophet Elijah was to be attended with certain results—it was to turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest the Lord should come and smite the earth with a curse.

The question arises, after the visitation of Elijah to those two men, were the hearts of the fathers turned to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers? The very fact that we are building temples to the Most High God, is evi– dence of it. There never was a greater proof of the truth of any statement than that which is furnished in the acts of the Latter-day Saints upon this point. The people that comprise this church, before joining it, knew nothing about the plan of salvation, except that which they had derived from their teachers, who themselves were very ignorant; but God in His mercy has restored to us certain principles and knowledge concerning the dead. He has informed us that during the time the body of Jesus slept in the tomb, that the Savior went and preached to the spirits that were in prison. I refer now to what Peter says, that while His body lay in the tomb, “He went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah.” He preached the Gospel to them. Isaiah says that one of the objects of his mission should be to unlock the doors of the prison to them that were bound, and He undoubtedly did so on this occasion. I believe the Episcopalian catechism admits that Jesus descended into hell. He certainly did, and visited those spirits that were in prison. After His resurrection, when Mary came forward to salute her Lord, and to embrace Him, He said: “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” During the interval between His death and resurrection He had been engaged in preaching to the spirits in prison. He had unlocked the prison doors to them that were bound; thus showing that though the punishment of the wicked may be eternal punishment—God’s punishment being eternal punishment—the Lord does not subject His fallen creatures to suffer that punishment throughout the endless ages of eternity, as has been falsely taught by so-called Christian ministers. There comes a day of release. Jesus preached redemption to those spirits who were disobedient in the days of Noah. They had lain in torment from the days of Noah—upward of 2,000 years—until the Son of Man turned the keys of their prison house, and preached to them the Gospel of repentance, that they might repent of their sins, though in the spirit, and be judged, as Peter says, according to men in the flesh. God has revealed this doctrine to the Latter-day Saints, and it is for the purpose of carrying it out that we build these temples, that you may go in and officiate vicariously for those who have not had that privilege in the flesh.

It has been a question that has agitated many minds, when they have been told that the name of Jesus is the only name given under heaven whereby man can be saved—“What, then, has become of the millions of Pagans who never heard the sound of the name of Jesus?” They are dying by thousands today. Nations are perishing who have never heard the name of the Son of God. This question has been asked of us many times when we have been preaching the Gospel of salvation that God has restored. People have said: “Is it possible that those who do not believe your doctrine will be damned? If so, what is to become of our ancestors? I had Christian parents who loved the Lord, and you say that those who are not baptized according to your method and by one having authority, cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.” Many people have been tempted to reject the testimony of the servants of God, because of this, forgetting that Christendom has taught a sim– ilar doctrine respecting the heathen nations. The Christian world have believed that all these nations would be sent to a place of endless torment, that they go to hell and can never be redeemed. Most abhorrent doctrine! So inconceivably cruel that it is enough to make men reject God and everything connected with Him, if it is supposed that He could be the author of such teaching as this; as though God would consign men to hell for ignorance—conceal from them the Gospel, and then damn them through all eternity, because they had not known that which might have been revealed to them. No, there is no such doctrine in the Book. There is no such doctrine in the Gospel of salvation. Those heathen nations, like our ancestors, who died in ignorance of the Gospel of Christ, will yet hear the voice of salvation. Jesus and those associated with Him will minister to them; for we are all the sons and daughters of God. What shall we do throughout the ages yet to come, the eternities lying before us? Shall there be no salvation extended to the ignorant, and to the erring, and to those who would have done better could they have known the plan of life and salvation? Why, certainly. The little space of time we live here upon the earth, important as it is to us, compared with the eternities of our God, is only like one grain of sand out of the immensities of grains that are upon the seashore. Our God is endless and eternal. His Gospel is endless and eternal, and as long as there is a soul to be saved, He, and Jesus, who died for all, and all associated with them who have the same Priesthood, will labor anxiously until every soul will be brought back who can be brought back, who has not committed the unpardonable sin by sinning against light and knowledge, as Judas did in betraying the Lord of life and glory; every soul other than these will be felt after throughout the eternities of our God. Hell itself will be sought; every crevice of it, every part of it will be penetrated by Jesus, and by the Saints of God, in search of the souls of the children of men, until from every crevice and from every recess in the regions of the damned they will be brought forth to light and glory, if they will obey the glorious Gospel of the Son of God, if they will bow in submission to the scepter of King Immanuel. That is all they have to do—to repent of their sins, repent of them whether in this life or in the life to come, and put them away far from them. This is the Gospel of glad tidings. It is not a Gospel that consigns the majority of the human family to an endless condition of torment. That is not the Gospel of Christ.

Now, as I have said, the Lord promised that Elijah should come before the great and dreadful day. He has sent him, and the hearts of the Latter-day Saints have been turned to their fathers who have died in ignorance of the Gospel of the Son of God, and we have the warrant of Scripture to believe that the hearts of the fathers in the eternal worlds, those who have lived upon the earth, are turned to their children who now live here, and who can officiate vicariously for them, and answer the purpose that God has designed in attending to those ordinances which they themselves have not the power to attend to. Certainly this has been fulfilled. It is not the testimony of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery alone; but this whole people. These Latter-day Saints throughout all these mountains, can bear testimony that this spirit has rested upon them, and their hearts have been turned to their fathers, and the hearts of their fathers have without doubt been turned to them. And it is a strange fact connected with the Gospel, that contemporaneously with the revelation of the doctrine to Joseph Smith a spirit seemed to take possession of the people in Eastern lands to hunt up their genealogies, and Genealogical Societies have been formed in many places, for what purpose no one can exactly tell, unless it be a Latter-day Saint. Genealogies have been hunted up with wonderful industry, saving us a great amount of labor in these matters. It was a strange spirit that took hold of the American people, especially the people of New England, about that time. It was a common thing in the Western States when I was a boy, for men not to know the names of their grandfathers; and I have known many intelligent men who could not tell the names of their uncles and aunts, their fathers, and mothers, brothers and sisters. This arose from the fact that in moving West, emigrants had left their kindred behind, and had not kept up in their children’s minds the recollection of their names. But within the last 40 years a different spirit has taken possession of the people, and many are industriously engaged in searching out the names of their ancestors. Many volumes have been published in connection with this subject, and in the Historian’s Office are to be found many books containing the genealogies of the families of many whose members are in this Territory. Such books have been invaluable to us, in carrying out this work. Thus, these societies and people have unwittingly helped to fulfill the words of the Lord, through Malachi, and to strengthen the evidence that Joseph Smith was indeed an inspired Prophet of God. In the persecution that this Church has received; in being driven from their homes: in everything that is now being done by the Congress of the United States against the Latter-day Saints, and in this genealogical work that I have just alluded to, men outside of this Church have contributed to prove that Joseph Smith was indeed an inspired Prophet of God; for there has been no action taken by Congress, nothing has been done to us by mobs, or by any combination, that has not been predicted by Joseph Smith the Prophet, and we have the record of it, and know that it is true. We know whereof we speak. Joseph Smith, years and years before the breaking out of the war in South Carolina, predicted that such a war should take place, and he designated the spot where it should commence. And the wicked by their own acts proved to the world, to God, and to angels, that Joseph Smith was an inspired Prophet of God, and that He foretold that which should take place.

God bless you, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered at the time of the Dedication of the Temple, in the Tabernacle, Logan, Cache County, Sunday Afternoon, May 18th, 1884.

Since we assembled in this place we have had a very interesting time. It has been our desire that all who could be properly recommended by their Bishops should have an opportunity to visit the Temple, whether it be the residents of this Stake, and the Stakes of this Temple district, or the residents of other Stakes, because we have felt that it is due to those who have assisted so liberally in building the Temple in this place, that they should have a full and fair opportunity of seeing it. For that purpose we have already had two dedication services, and we intend to have another in the Temple, commencing at half-past ten o’clock tomorrow morning, tickets for which can be obtained from President Geo. Q. Cannon, at the close of this meeting.

We are living in a very important day and age of the world, in a time which is pregnant with greater events than any other period that we know of, or any other dispensation that has existed upon the earth. It is called “the dispensation of the fulness of times,” when God “will gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth;” for the heavens, the Gods in the eternal worlds, the Holy Priesthood that have existed upon the earth, the living that live upon the face of the earth, and the dead that have departed this life, are all interested in the work in which we are engaged. Consequently, it is of the greatest importance that everything we do, that every ordinance we administer, that every principle we believe in, should be strictly in accordance with the mind and word, the will and law of God.

I have heard some remarks in the Temple pertaining to these matters, and also here, and it has been thought, as has been expressed by some, that we ought to look for some peculiar manifestations. The question is, What do we want to see? Some peculiar power, some remarkable manifestations? All these things are very proper in their place; all these things we have a right to look for; but we must only look for such manifestations as are requisite for our circumstances, and as God shall see fit to impart them. Certain manifestations have already occurred. When our Heavenly Father appeared unto Joseph Smith, the Prophet, He pointed to the Savior who was with him (and who, it is said, is the brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image of His person) and said: “This is My Beloved Son, Hear Him!” So that there was an evidence manifested through His servant to the world, that God lived, that the Redeemer, who was crucified and put to death to atone for the sins of the world, also lived, and that there was a message which had to be communicated to the human family, and that the Son was the personage through which it should be communicated. The key thus being turned, authority given by the highest source in the heavens in relation to the purposes of God on the earth, the Holy Priesthood began to be developed. Why? Because there was no Priesthood on the earth; there was nobody who was authorized to operate and officiate in the name of the Lord, therefore John the Baptist came as the representative of the Aaronic Priesthood, having held the keys thereof in his day; and he placed his hands upon the heads of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, and said: “Upon you, my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.” John the Baptist having thus come and imparted the Aaronic Priesthood, which like the Melchizedek Priesthood is an eternal Priesthood—it being already conferred it is not now necessary that John the Baptist should return for the accomplishment of that purpose. He had delivered his testimony, he had turned the key, he had introduced the power and authority to administration in that Priesthood, so that those upon whom it was conferred were able to perform the several duties associated therewith.

Then Peter, James and John appeared and conferred upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery the Melchizedek Priesthood, which, as you all know, differs from that of the Aaronic. The Melchizedek Priesthood, according to the Scriptures, is after the order of the Son of God, and after the power of an endless life. It places men in communication with God our Heavenly Father, whereby through its influence, ordinances, powers and blessings, they can approach the presence of God, the Eternal Father, and come, as it was said by one of old, “To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” It is that Priesthood through the Gospel, that brings life and immortality to light, that places man in a position whereby he can obtain, through faithfulness and adherence to the laws of God, all the rich blessings associated with the eternal worlds, of which we are allowed to partake while we dwell here upon the earth, or hereafter in the heavens. It is not necessary that Peter, James and John should come again to do the thing that is already done. The Priesthood has been restored, with which is connected all the blessings that ever were associated with any people upon the face of the earth; and if we know today so little in regard to the things of God, and the principles associated with eternity, with the heavens and with the angels, it is because we have not improved our privileges as we might, nor lived up to those principles which God has revealed unto us, and because we are not yet prepared for further advancement.

Jesus in His day, said to His disciples: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. * * * * Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” What did He mean? Just what he said, precisely. If He went away He would send them another Comforter, the Spirit of truth, which should abide with them forever, and teach them all things, and bring all things pertaining to the past to their remembrance; the Comforter was also to lead them into all truth, and show them things to come.

This same Comforter has been given, in connection with the Gospel in these days, for our enlightenment, for our instruction, for our guidance, that we may have a knowledge of things that are past, of the dealings of God with the human family, of the principles of truth that have been developed in the different ages, of the position of the world and its relationship to God in those different ages, of its position in years that are past and gone, and of its present status. It is also given for our enlightenment, that we may be enabled to conduct all things according to the mind and will of God, and in accordance with His eternal laws and those principles which exist in the heavens, and which have been provided by God for the salvation and exaltation of a fallen world; also for the manifestation of principles which have been and will be developed in the interest of man, not only pertaining to this world, but also to that which is to come; through which medium the Lord will make known His plans and designs to His Priesthood and His people in His own due time.

After these things had been introduced, the people in Kirtland, Ohio, by the command of God, through Joseph Smith, the Prophet, some 49 years ago (without being particular as to dates), commenced to build a house unto the Lord wherein certain preliminary ordinances were introduced, and that house was built under very trying circumstances to the Saints, but they accomplished it. Most of the Saints then devoted all the time they could possibly spare for the accomplishment of that object; it was not in little donations, but they had to exert their undivided energies and means to its accomplishment. When they had finished it, it was dedicated to the Lord, God accepted their sacrifice, and Jesus appeared in that Temple, of which appearance you will find a description in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants (Section 110). Before this they had had the Aaronic and the Melchizedek Priesthoods presented to them, and Moroni, and other personages had appeared unto Joseph Smith. When this Temple was erected for preparatory ordinances—for it was not like the Temples we now have, nor like the Temple that was in Nauvoo, the Lord appeared, and then Moses appeared. They had already the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood, and of the Melchizedek; and as Moses had held the keys and authority of the gathering of the children of Israel, from the land of Egypt, in a former dispensation, so he was now sent to confer these said keys upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. It is said, that after this vision closed—that is the vision of the Savior manifested to Joseph and Oliver in the Kirtland Temple—that:

“The heavens were again opened unto us; and Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north.”

Here then were the keys committed associated with the gathering. Why is it that you are here today? And what brought you here? Because the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four quarters of the earth have been committed to Joseph Smith, and he has conferred those keys upon others that the gathering of Israel may be accomplished, and in due time the same thing will be performed to the tribes in the land of the north. It is on this account, and through the unlocking of this principle, and through those means, that you are brought together as you are today. I have heretofore mentioned a circumstance, and I will mention it again here, as there are so many present to show you how those things operate. What I refer to is this: Soon after we were driven from Missouri, the Twelve were sent to England. There was no place then for the Saints to gather to; the Prophet therefore said to the Twelve: “When you go to England, until you get further information, do not say anything about the gathering.” Consequently we did not; but we could not keep the spirit of it from the people. Why? Because we had the Gospel, and the Gospel brings life and immortality to light, and those that receive the Gospel receive the Holy Ghost, and a knowledge of the things associated with the Gospel. And hence I remember a sister coming to me in Liverpool, England, where I had raised up a church, and says she, “Brother Taylor, I had a very remarkable dream or vision, I don’t know which, and it was something like this: I thought that the Saints were gathered together on the Pier Head [that is the place where the vessels then used to sail from], and there was a ship about to sail. The people said they were going to Zion, and they were singing what they called the songs of Zion, and rejoicing exceedingly; you were among them, and you were going also. Now I want to know if you can tell me what it means.” “Yes,” said I, “I know what it means, and I will tell you when the time comes”—just the same as I have to say today that there are many things that I know of which I can only tell you when the time comes.

By and by, Joseph Smith sent word that the Saints were to gather to Nauvoo; that they had a gathering place there, and the Saints were to be directed to that land. I then went and told this sister the interpretation of her dream or vision. I mention this to show that you cannot prevent these manifestations: they are associated with the Gospel. If men and women receive the Spirit of God and the gift of the Holy Ghost, it reveals those things unto them. It was said by one of old, that through its influence “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;” and although Joseph had told us not to say anything about the gathering, yet he could not prevent the Lord from revealing it to the people. He did reveal it, and a great many, as well as the sister referred to, had a knowledge of it.

That is the principle which brought you here. If that key had not been turned; if Moses had not come to introduce it, you would not have been here, and Joseph Smith would not have known anything about it, nor anybody else until God revealed it in His own appointed way.

But as I stated before, the Father said, “This is My Beloved Son, Hear Him!” He manipulates the Priesthood in the heavens and on the earth. He manages the affairs associated with the redemption of the human family. “Hear Him!” And when He was prepared to send forth these messengers, as we send forth messengers to accomplish certain purposes—when He saw that the time had come, He said, “Go Moses, and attend to this matter. They have built a Temple; from now they will begin to gather the Saints, and it is necessary that they should have proper instructions and information relating to these matters.” And Moses came.

Now, that was one thing. Then we read that:

“After this, Elias appeared, and committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, saying that in us and our seed all generations after us should be blessed.”

That was the promise made to Abraham some 3,500 years ago. It was not a promise made to Abraham alone, but through him to others. He and his seed were to be the instrumentality, the media through which mankind should be blessed; they were to be the special instruments in the hands of God for the accomplishment of these purposes. Hence the Priesthood began to be organized—the Bishopric and all pertaining to the Aaronic Priesthood including Priests, Teachers and Deacons; and associated with the Melchizedek Priesthood, the First Presidency, the Twelve, the High Council, High Priests, Seventies and Elders, and all those occupying their own particular place; and hence in that small Temple, as we should now call it, that was erected in Kirtland, they had the same organization of the Priesthood, and the same arrangements of the stands for the seating of the Priesthood as we have here. Why? Because the Priesthood had been introduced after the order of Aaron, and after the order of Melchizedek, which is after the order of the Son of God, and after the power of an endless life, and that officiates and operates in time and in eternity, and by which Priesthood and through which authority the worlds were framed by the power of God. Things as they existed in the heavens again began to be introduced upon the earth. Hence, that His servants might be properly instructed and comprehend correctly the great principles which He designed to unfold to the human family, He sent those several messengers holding those various keys that they might unlock the doors and place His servants in communication with the heavenly Priesthood in the eternal worlds.

Do you want anything more than this, you Latter-day Saints? This was the position in which they were placed, and the position in which we find ourselves today.

Then we are told that another personage appeared, as stated:

“After this vision had closed, another great and glorious vision burst upon us; for Elijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us, and said:

“Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come—

“To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse—

“Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors.”

What means this? What means this Temple that you have built here on the hill? Why have you built it? Why have you expressed such anxiety in the erection of that Temple? Why have such crowds of our brethren and sisters from distant places come here to the dedication of this Temple? Why is it? It is because those keys were turned of which I have just read in your hearing.

“Behold the time has fully come * * * to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse—

“Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors.”

What does this mean? It means that there was a great and comprehensive plan designed by the Almighty in his economy connected with the salvation of the human family who are His children; for He is the God and the Father of the spirits of all flesh. It means that He is interested in their welfare, in their prosperity, in their happiness, and in all that pertains to their exaltation in time and throughout the eternities that are to come. Being thus in– terested, and so little of the Gospel having been revealed in the different ages, and so much of the power of darkness and iniquity having prevailed among men, it was necessary that something should be done for the dead as well as the living. God is interested in the dead as well as the living. Adam, who is the Ancient of Days and the father of the human family; Seth, Enos, Enoch, Mahalaleel, Methuselah, Noah, and all the prominent leading men of God, as well as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, the Prophets, Jesus and His Apostles, together with the Prophets and Apostles who lived on this continent, and who stood at the various times or epochs as the representatives of the nations, and as thousands of these peoples have passed away having held and now holding the Priesthood; all these ancient fathers feel interested in this great work, and their hearts are turned toward the children, being interested in their welfare, happiness and exaltation; and their children who now have received the Gospel have their hearts, through this instrumentality, and the keys and principles which were introduced by Elijah, turned towards the fathers through the inspiration of the same Gospel, which Gospel as spoken of in the Scriptures, is an everlasting Gospel, being associated with the everlasting covenant, which principle wherever it has existed, brought life and immortality to light.

When Jesus came, He came to do a work in many particulars similar to that in which we are engaged, and when He got through with His work here, He stood as the Savior of the world, and of the human family. He came to preach the Gospel to the poor, to open the prison doors to those that were imprisoned, to set at liberty, and to proclaim the acceptable hour of the Lord, etc. This was a work connected with the people who lived at the time of the flood, and were destroyed and kept in prison until the Lord should see proper to extend manifestations of His mercy to them. Hence, as we read, “Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached to the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah.” He having finished His work upon earth for the living, went and performed a work for the dead; as we are informed, “He went and preached to spirits in prison; that had sometime been disobedient in the days of Noah.”

It is reserved for us to do a work for those who have passed away, who have not obeyed or had the Gospel in their lifetime. We are here to do a work connected with the redemption of the dead. When the Temple was commanded to be built in Nauvoo, after the Temple had been built in Kirtland, and after so many keys had been turned, and after so many manifestations, visions and ministrations had been had, yet it was said then that there was not a place upon the earth in which to perform the ordinance of baptism for the dead, and Joseph was commanded to build a house for that purpose. But who knew anything about these things until God revealed them? Nobody. Men talk and boast of their intelligence and their knowledge—why, there is not a man breathing on the earth, outside of this Church, who has any knowledge of those things to which I have referred, and nobody in this Church either, only as God has revealed it. We are all of us indebted to the revelations of God, through the medium of the Holy Priesthood, for these things. Joseph Smith, before his death, was much exercised about the completion of the Temple in Nauvoo, and the administering of ordinances therein. In his anxiety and for fear he should not live to see the Temple completed, he prepared a place over what was known as the brick store—which many of you who lived in Nauvoo will recollect—where to a chosen few he administered those ordinances that we now have today associated with endowments, so that if anything should happen to him—which he evidently contemplated—he would feel that he had then fulfilled his mission, that he had conferred upon others all the keys given to him by the manifestations of the power of God.

At first these things were only partially made known to him, and as they were partially developed he called upon the Twelve that were then living—many of you greyheaded people will remember it—to commence and be baptized for the dead, and they were baptized in the Mississippi River. Immediately after these baptisms, the Prophet had a revelation which more clearly developed the order in relation to such baptisms. According to that revelation it appeared that, notwithstanding all the visions, revelations, keys, etc., that had heretofore been given, there was not a place, not even in the Kirtland Temple, wherein those things could be carried out, and hence a font, such as we have in this Temple, was built in the temple at Nauvoo, and it was there, under proper circumstances and proper administration, and according to the principles that he had laid down, that those ordinances were admin– istered then, and are administered now.

I now come to another subject that opens a wide and expansive field, broad as the world in which we live, and expansive as the universe, and which affects all the inhabitants of the earth living or dead. Why is it that there is such a feeling, as I have said, concerning your Temple and other Temples? It is because those keys have been turned, and you have received, like the woman I spake of, a knowledge of the gathering dispensation. You have laid out a great amount of means, done a large amount of labor, and you have built a house that is creditable to you, and which God will sanction and approve and does sanction and approve. You have made it very nice, pleasant and beautiful. We ought to build Temples to the Lord, for we are His offspring and He is our Father, and He has revealed unto us those things and implanted those principles in our bosoms. They are developed within us, and this Temple is a proof of it, just the same as we are a living proof of the gathering dispensation. We have received the gift of the Holy Ghost, and a knowledge, so far as we have progressed, of the things of God. You have been baptized, you have had hands laid upon you for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and you that have lived your religion have received this Holy Ghost, and I want, as an evidence before God and this people—I want to see how many of you can bear testimony to that. All who can, hold up their right hands. [A perfect forest of hands was held up.] We know, by the power of the Holy Ghost, and by obedience to His law, so far as we have obeyed it, that God lives. But then, we have been poor, weak, erring creatures, surrounded by infirmities. Yet God has conferred upon us great, inestimable and eternal treasures, even the gift of eternal lives, and upon many of us are conferred these promises of thrones, principalities, powers and dominion in the eternal worlds. God has conferred those rich and precious treasures upon us, but we have them in earthen vessels. We have to wrestle against flesh and blood, against the powers of darkness, the Adversary, who rules in the hearts of the children of disobedience, and leads them captive at his will, and against the power of wickedness in high places. We have not all of us learned to obey those principles that God has revealed. We have not all of us learned to say in our hearts, “Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.” We have not all of us learned to submit our will to the law and word of God, yet God is introducing Temples and ordinances and blessings, and light, revelations and intelligence, to lift us up, to exalt us, that we may be a city set upon a hill that cannot be hid; that we may progress from intelligence to intelligence, from knowledge to knowledge, until we shall see as we are seen and know as we are known.

We are living, as I have said, in an important day and age of the world. We have gathered to this land because God has decreed it. He has reserved us for the latter days, that we may perform that work which He decreed from before the foundation of the world. If there have been any blessings enjoyed by men in former dispensations of the world, they will also be given to you, ye Latter-day Saints, if you will live your religion and be obedient to the laws of God. There is nothing hidden but what shall be revealed, says the Lord. He is prepared to unfold all things; all things pertain– ing to the heavens and the earth, all things pertaining to the peoples who have existed, who now exist or will exist, that we may be instructed and taught in every principle of intelligence associated with the world in which we live, or with the Gods in the eternal worlds.

Having said so much on some of these subjects, let me now talk a little upon some other things.

We have finished our Temple. What is it for? Not a building to look at; not a house to brag about; for before we get through we shall have built some Temples so much better, that you will not feel to boast about this Temple. The Temple that the people built in Kirtland, was only a small building compared with this one, and they were a very small and poor people who built it, yet it was built in accordance with the commands of God. In Nauvoo, also, the people were very poor. They had just been driven from the land of Missouri, yet they were commanded of God to build it. What was obtained in these Temples? In the Kirtland Temple Jesus appeared, and Moses, Elias and Elijah appeared also, and all these things that I have read to you and spoken about, transpired on that occasion. Communication was opened between the heavens and the earth, between the Priesthood in the heavens and the Priesthood on the earth, and the Keys of that Priesthood imparted to Joseph and others on the earth. It was left to those in this world to keep open those communications, to see that the road was clear, and that there was no barrier interposed between earth and the heavens, and to lead forward and progress in other principles yet to be developed; we operating, in our part here in their behalf, and in behalf of their children who are our fathers; while they, in their exalted position, are operating for them and us in the heavens; thus forming a connecting link between the Priesthood on the earth and the Priesthood in the heavens.

We have now finished this Temple, and some people inquire, what is it for? For many things: that our sealings and ordinances may be performed in a manner that will be acceptable before God and the holy angels; that whatsoever is bound on the earth according to the laws of the eternal Priesthood shall be bound in the heavens; that there may be a connecting link between the living and the dead, between those who have lived, all those ancient fathers of which I have spoken who are interested in the welfare of their posterity; that there may be a royal Priesthood, a holy people, a pure people, a virtuous people on the earth to officiate and operate in the interests of the living and the dead; not looking so much after themselves, but after God, after the work of God, and after the accomplishment of those things which God has designed to be carried out in “the dispensation of the fulness of times” when all things are to be united in one, and that they may be prepared to operate with the Priesthood in the heavens in the redemption of the inhabitants of this world from the days of Adam unto the present time. It is also intended to introduce the higher branches of education—literary, scientific, linguistic, philosophical and theological; for we are told to obtain a knowledge of laws, languages, governments, justice, equity, rule, authority, dominion, and all those great cosmopolitan principles exhibited in the laws of nature and among the peoples, by the wisdom, prescience, power and intelligence of “nature’s God.” That we may thus be acquainted with earthly and heavenly things, in accordance with everlasting laws that have existed in the heavens and on the earth from the beginning; and that all those great and eternal principles by which the worlds are governed may be comprehended by us.

This is a great work. Well might it be said to Joseph Smith, “You are laying the foundation of a great work”—so vast that very few can begin to comprehend it. We read sometimes about the millennium. But what do we know about it? It is a time when this work will be going on, and Temples, thousands of them, will be reared for the accomplishment of the objects designed, in which communications from the heavens will be received in regard to our labors, how we may perform them, and for whom. This is the work devolving upon us. We have to build up here a Zion unto God. Who are Zion? The pure in heart, and the pure in life. And be it remembered that it is not every one that saith, “Lord, Lord,” that shall enter the Kingdom of heaven, but it is he that doeth the will of the Father who is in heaven. We must be faithful to our calling, for there is a great work for all of us to perform. Some men who have been ordained to the Priesthood have remarked that they have nothing to do. I have heard some foolish remarks of that kind. They will find plenty to do before they get through. They need not be troubled on that score. There will be plenty for them to do if they are only prepared to do it. There is a great work to perform in preaching the Gospel to the nations of the earth. Then as we build our Temples we shall want a great many people to administer in them, and I have seen some people quite pleased at the idea. Some Elders, Seventies, and High Priests have said—“What can I do? I am getting old and greyheaded. Still I would like to do something.” We shall require quite a number to administer in the Temples as we get them built. I am informed there are over forty persons employed in the Temple in St. George, about the same number, I presume, will be required in the Temple here, and then forty in the one at Manti, forty or more in the one at Salt Lake, and then forty in each of the others we are going to build. Hence, we shall find places for some of you folks after a while. You need not be concerned about having nothing to do. We will find plenty for the Seventies to do. You need not think there are any too many of them. The nations of the earth have yet to be preached to. The work is not all through. It is hardly begun. We are just getting ready for the labor, and so you may prepare yourselves, you Seventies, you High Priests, and you Elders, for missions to the nations of the earth. [Here President Taylor inquired of Bishop Preston how they were progressing with the missionary farms, and was answered that they were progressing satisfactorily.] We don’t want the aged and infirm to go out to the world. For that labor it requires strong, able-bodied men, men that are able to cope with the world, the flesh and the devil, as they say. We want men who are full of vigor, life and vitality. We want men to cleave unto God, and seek for more of His Spirit, that they may go to the nations of the earth to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation to a fallen world. That is what we are gathered together for, that we may be instructed in the laws of life, and then go and teach these laws to others. Our Elders go out to preach the Gospel without purse or scrip, and when they return we help them back. But we should see when they are gone that their families are taken care of, and everything made pleasant and comfortable for them. This is quite a little thing that some of you can turn your hands to. You can assist on the missionary farms, and in this way help to take care of the families of those who are absent on missions. This is a principle we want to see extended all over the land of Zion. How are you going to be paid for this? You will just get the same pay which I used to have when I went out to preach; you will have just the same source to go to, only you will have a little more time, I expect, than some of us had. We used to go without purse or scrip. We went along trusting in God. We are now in a different position, perhaps, and can put a few dollars into the bag to help us along; but I will tell you when I was away I would rather trust in the living God than in any other power on earth, for I learned that I could go to God and He always relieved me. He always supplied my wants. I always had plenty to eat, drink and wear, and could ride on steam boats or railroads, or anywhere I thought proper: God always opened my way, and so He will that of every man who will put his trust in Him. I would rather have God for my friend than all other influences and powers outside; for in God we live, in God we move, and from God we derive our being and our existence.

Then what about the payment of those men who are to be employed in Temples? There are three or four men that will have to be provided for, and others will have to take care of themselves, find their own bread and dinner, and think it a privilege to work for God, for the interests of His Kingdom, and to act as saviors upon Mount Zion. Supposing there are forty required to labor in this Temple. Many of you are pretty well off. You have got fat, and have almost kicked, some of you (laughter). Some of you have got more means than you know what to do with, and it is a bother to you. We will have to fix upon the number of men and women—for the sisters will be required as well as the brethren—that will be needed. These can go along, leaving their farms and their merchandising, or whatever they may have in hand, and go into the Temple of the Lord, on a mission for six months, or twelve months, or two or three years as the case may be, the same as others who go out into the world. If I today were not engaged as I am I should say, “Won’t you be kind enough to give me and one of my wives, or more, as the case might be, an opportunity to officiate in the Temple?” and I should feel it an honor to be privileged to work in the house of God. Would you want pay for it? No, I would bring my own bread and dinner, and I have no doubt there are many of you who would like to do the same. I guess we could pick out the forty people thus required right in this house today, without any trouble. All you who are in favor of carrying out this idea hold up your right hands. (All hands went up.) I knew there were more than forty right here (laughter). As to the three or four whose whole time will be engaged in this labor, these will have to be provided for. In this way we shall become saviors upon Mount Zion. It is written in the Scriptures, that “saviors shall come up on mount Zion * * and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.” Now, a man is not a savior, nor a woman either, unless they save somebody. Well, we want men and women who are ready to officiate in this place. And when you get there, surrounded by the heavenly influence of the house of God, the gift of the Holy Ghost will rest upon you, which will bring joy and consolation to your hearts. When you have labored there for a while, you will desire to labor there again. You will carry this heavenly influence among your friends and throughout your neighborhood, and this we want to extend throughout all the land of Zion. We shall have, I presume, regular Temple organizations. Something of this kind may be organized among the High Priests who will look after the Temple districts. In this way we will find something for the High Priests to do. Some of them have been very much afraid that there would be nothing for them to do.

And thus we will go on, and God will assist us in the work in which we are engaged. He will yet make us the richest of all people. He will pour wealth into our laps, inasmuch as we keep His commandments. And what else is said? “Sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee.” Men shall call you the ministers of our God. And we want to minister for God in time and throughout the eternities that are to come. We have started in, and we will try by the help of God and the light of His Holy Spirit, and the revelations that he will give to us from time to time—we will try and operate and cooperate with the Priesthood in the eternal worlds, either on this earth or in the heavens. We shall operate until the work that God has designed pertaining to this earth shall be accomplished, and the living and the dead saved so far as they are capable of being saved according to eternal laws that exist in the heavens, and according to the decrees of the Almighty. Don’t you think we have something to do? I remember when I was first called to the Apostleship some 46 years ago. I looked at the calling square in the face, and said, “Well, this is a life work: this is an operation that will last a lifetime.” I have got other ideas since then, namely, that when I get through in this world I expect to officiate in the other. Hence it is an eternal operation, and that is the difference between what I then thought and what I now think. God has revealed unto us great and glorious truths, and He is prepared to reveal more if we will only place ourselves under His guidance and His direction. Let us seek to follow the principle that Jesus inculcated—to do the will of our Father who is in heaven, who said, “I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” We are here as much as He was here, and under obligations as He was to do the will of our Heavenly Father. We should subject ourselves to the law of God, the word of God, and the will of God. I say continually, “O God, lead me in the right path: O God, preserve me from all error; O God, I am a poor, feeble, weak, erring human creature, surrounded with infirmities. I need Thy help all the day long. O God, help me.” That is my feeling, and the feeling of my brethren of the First Presidency, and of the Twelve and others. We feel that we need the help of the Almighty. We will try and be humble, and be faithful and true to our covenants. And if we listen to counsel, and obey the laws of God, and do the things that He requires at our hands, He will help us and bless us, and He will bless Zion and preserve Israel, and woe to them that fight against Zion, for God will fight against them. But He will preserve us if we are faithful and true to our integrity. We will be blessed in time, we will be brought nearer to the heavens. The light of revelation will burst upon our heads, and the glories of the eternal worlds will be made manifest. We will rejoice together in the fullness of blessings of the Gospel of peace, and by and by we will be crowned with glory, honor, immortality and eternal life in the celestial kingdom of our God.

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

Discourse by Apostle F. D. Richards, delivered in the Tabernacle, Logan, Cache County, Saturday Afternoon (Quarterly Conference), May 17, 1884.

I scarcely know how to find words to express the feelings which occupy my bosom at this time. This is one of those extraordinary occasions on which the Priesthood of the Church of the last dispensation are gathered together; a great thanksgiving day for God’s people. It is an assemblage of the authorities of the Church from the Stakes of Zion. They have come together to rejoice, to give God thanks, to praise and to magnify His name because another great and peculiar blessing is bestowed upon His people—that of erecting, completing and furnishing another house unto the Lord, and of dedicating it unto Him.

The Temples, the houses of our God, when acceptably dedicated, become to us the gates of heaven. They are esteemed most holy unto the Lord of all places upon the earth; therein the faithful approach nearest unto God, and obtain the greatest fellowship and inspiration of His Holy Spirit. There the righteous perform ordinances that reach into the heavens and take effect upon their dead whom they love, whom they have loved, and who have gone before—to whom they owe a debt of gratitude, for their parentage—the authors of their being and education in the flesh; who have gone unto that other state of spiritual existence. It is fitting on such occasions that the Presidents and Bishops, with their Counselors, should come from the four quarters of the earth, if the knowledge of the Gospel and the organization of the Stakes of Zion had extended so far.

The dedication of the Temple this morning awakens anew in our souls a heavenly, family feeling. It arouses in us an interest that reaches not only over the extent of the work here upon the earth, but into the regions of eternal life in the spirit world. It inspires a feeling that we are part of them and that they are part of us, knowing that we cannot be made perfect without them, nor they without us. And it becomes like the opening up of the gate of heaven unto us, that we may view by the eye of faith, and by the light of the Holy Spirit, that portion of the family of God with whom we have before associated, and with whom we expect to be hereafter associated in greater and more glorious labors in His eternal kingdom here upon the earth; when sickness, sorrow, sin and death shall be cleansed from the face of it, and when life, salvation, peace and faith shall, as the fruits of the Spirit, be poured out upon all flesh.

While in the Temple with the chief authorities of the Church and Kingdom of God—which has now extended its operations and its labors to every continent, almost every mainland, and many islands of the sea—the reflection came forcibly to my mind that there are represented in our midst this day people from either Indies, from the Antipodes, and from the various nations of the earth; not less than twenty-five or thirty nationalities, languages, tongues and peoples are represented among us. The impression was irresistible that the fellowship of the heavens was near us, that our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ was near, and that His Spirit was largely in the midst of the congregation; that the spirit of our ancient fathers, Adam, Noah and Abraham, the father of the faithful, who the Revelations inform us has entered into his exaltation and sits upon his throne, were all earnestly interested in our offering and dedication of this Temple to the Most High God. The impression was constantly with me that we were in the presence of the Prophet Joseph, his brother Hyrum, and others who had gone before, such as Brother David W. Patten, as well as Brigham, Heber, Willard, and others of the Apostles and worthies—that their spirits must have been present with us hallowing our reflections, imparting their peaceful influence and truthful inspiration to our souls. Our spirits were awakened to a profound sense of thankfulness that we had been enabled to take another so important a step of advancement in the triumphant progress of the great Latter-day work.

We are sensible that the heavenly powers are moved on these occasions, and we know that the Saints on earth are. Indeed there is no theme that engages the human mind, and that reaches into the innermost recesses thereof as does Temple building, and the ideas associated with that work and the purposes for which they are used. It is this that animates the bosoms of the righteous and brings forth sentiments and emotions from the fountains of their souls, inspiring them with fresh resolutions to faith and good works. I thank the living God and praise His holy name that I have lived to see His work progress thus far upon the earth. I am thankful for the privilege of meeting with so many of my brethren in the Priesthood.

It is a pleasing thought, a glorious truth, that while we are here together in our persons, we are also united in spirit, we are firmly united, so far as we know, in our belief in the principles of the Gospel, and in all the labors assigned to us severally to perform. I do not recollect to have ever read in the Bible history of God’s people on the earth, when His servants and His people wrought together, with greater unanimity of faith or with a more generous use of their means than now in all the labors and duties that devolve upon them. The favorable conditions attending us as a people, the peace and plenty there is in the land—the sweet fellowship of the Spirit, the glorious promises and prospects for the future, all draw from the fountain of our souls our best emotions, our strongest faith, our brightest hopes, our most glorious anticipations.

I have reflected upon the days of ancient Israel, and wondered at their decadence, when they had arrived at the height of glory and eminence. Solomon, their king, stood vastly above all the kings of the surrounding nations; he sat safely on his throne, for God sustained him there, until he departed from His counsels and commandments. Oh, what a terrible thing to happen to God’s people, or to any of His servants! What was it that turned the scale and started the decay of that nation? It was simply because their ruler put forth his hand and took to himself wives of other nations, that God had commanded him not to. This was the beginning of the great mischief that came upon Israel, and one mischief led to another; they persuaded him to attend the sacrifices and worship of their idolatrous gods, as the Lord told him they would do, until the family of Israel had come to follow the example of their king—marrying strange women and worshipping strange gods, which brought them down to that terrible degradation that their temple, which was built in wisdom, strength and beauty most glorious, and which was acknowledged at its dedication by the presence and glory of God, had become polluted and degraded to a den of thieves. The Lord told them that their doom was sealed, and that in regard to the Temple, there should not be left one stone upon another to tell where it stood. O, what terrible consequences have followed through the ages until today! Even until now, that nation is afflicted and distressed. While it is well with us here, and we are enjoying all these blessings, it is but right, I think, that we should ask our Father in heaven that the day of their affliction and sorrow may soon come to an end, and that they may come, as we have come, with obedient hearts to help build up Zion and Jerusalem.

Our work is at present but small. It is but the beginning, the germination of the wonderfully strange work that is to affect the whole habitable globe, and not only those that are on the earth now, but all that have dwelt here or that shall come to dwell upon it, until the earth shall be made anew, and all things thereon pronounced new again from God. Although Israel had attained to great eminence and glory in the earth, yet they were brought into subjection to other nations because of their transgressions, and though Christ came to be their deliverer, they received Him not—and their Temple was not restored to those glorious and exalted purposes and uses for which it was intended; then what have been the consequences? The Savior told them what would come to pass. “Behold,” said he, “I send unto you prophets, and wise men and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, etc.” What a terrible consequence! If they could have but hearkened to His word, walked in the way of the Lord, continued in its holy course, and believed in the Savior when He came, then they might have been engaged in this work of redeeming their dead back to the beginning of the world, and there would have been a mighty work done by that generation for their dead, as well as for themselves; but it remains for those recent men and women now upon the earth and that shall come upon the earth to perform this labor.

My brethren and sisters, there is before us that which draws upon our faith and upon our prospective ambition and knowledge of Gospel labor clear back to the days of the ancients. The Lord has given us intimations in regard to all these things, and He will continue to reveal all things necessary to be made known by which His great purposes shall be brought about. Great and glorious is His work! The work of the resurrection is not far off. I am fully persuaded of this, and have reflected sometimes concerning it, with an earnest desire. Never in all my ministry have I talked much about the resurrection; but the Lord has manifested some things concerning it, and I would like to allude to them.

It is a popular sentiment among professing Christians generally, and it is believed also by many of the Saints—because of a certain saying the Savior made use of to the Sadducees on a particular occasion—that, in neither of the resurrections is there to be any marrying or giving in marriage. This is a mistaken idea. We are nowhere informed that the Savior ever said any such thing or entertained any such doctrine. He taught the doctrine of the resurrection, saying that He was the resurrection and the life, and that the day will come when all they that are in their graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth. It was because He taught this doctrine that the Sadducees sought to entangle and confuse Him concerning this principle by bringing up the case of the woman who married a man and he died without any children, then because he died childless she married his brother, which was according to the law of Moses, he also died without children, and so on, each of the brothers marrying her, until the seven brothers had her to wife, and last of all the woman died also.

These Sadducees did not believe in any resurrection, and they thought to be very crafty with the Savior, so they put the question squarely to Him: “Therefore in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.” They evidently thought they had caught the Savior then; but He replied to them saying: “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.” Now, who was He talking to? He was speaking to those Sadducees who denied there being any resurrection; who lived contemporaneously with the seven men and this woman who had lived and died among them. He was talking to a race of people to whom John the Baptist had come, and many had received his testimony; but these had not. He was talking to a people who claimed to be of the House of Israel, to whom He (Jesus) had come in fulfillment of the testimony of John the Baptist.

There had been sent among this people, whom he was now talking to, prophets who had foretold His coming and the coming of John the Baptist. He had sent His Twelve Apostles among all their cities, all of whom had testified to the coming of the Just One unto all that people, but they had rejected those testimonies, had killed the Prophets, stoned those who had been sent unto them, and were now ready to slay Him.

It was to this class of people, who were living under these circumstances, that He makes the answer say– ing, “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.” Luke the Evangelist, stating this case in his 20th chapter, says: “The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.” If we refer to the glorious vision which was shown to Joseph and Sidney on the 16th of February, 1832, as recorded in the 76th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, last edition, we shall find the promised condition of these people, that the glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of the stars is one, for as one star differs from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in the telestial world; for these are they who are of Paul, Apollos and Cephas, some of Christ—Moses, Elias and others—but received not the Gospel, the testimony of Jesus, neither the prophets nor the everlasting covenant, but are liars, sorcerers, adulterers and whoremongers, who shall not be redeemed from the devil until the last resurrection, when Christ the Lamb shall have finished His work, having subdued all unto Him. These receive not of His fullness, but of the Holy Spirit through the ministration of angels appointed to administer for them. Had they hearkened to the Prophets, the Apostles, the words of the Savior, and received the everlasting covenant, they would have been made heirs of God and joint heirs with our Lord Jesus Christ, and would have been made heirs of the celestial world, with power to increase eter– nally, being Gods, even the sons of God, but now that they would not receive the Gospel, the Prophets, nor the everlasting covenant which they might have received, they can only become as the angels in heaven, who in that world neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are equal to the angels in heaven.

These are not they who inherit the celestial world, nor those who attain to the terrestrial, but they who suffer the judgment of God in the flesh. These are they who come forth in the last resurrection; they who attain to the resurrection in that world, and are neither married nor are given in marriage, just as the revelations of God prescribe and show forth.

There is nothing in all this which says or intimates that those who come forth in either of the other resurrections shall not have the blessing in their resurrection and in their world, whether Celestial or Terrestrial, of being married and given in marriage. Let me ask what is to become of that portion of the human family that have gone down into their graves in past ages without having arrived at the age of puberty, or without having lived to years of accountability? What is to become of them? Are they not to be given the blessings of the New and Everlasting Covenant, to increase, multiply and attain to endless lives, and eternal increase in the covenant of Abraham? Undoubtedly, in the resurrection when they shall have regained their tabernacles, if they render the required obedience to the holy law of God. And who are the others that come forth in the second resurrection? Stop. Let me distinguish. The first resurrection was in the days of Jesus. Those who were resurrected with Him appeared many of them, we are told, in the streets of the holy city. That was the first resurrection. The second resurrection is the resurrection of the just, when Jesus shall come again in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, when they who sleep in Jesus will come with Him. Then will He bring the City of Enoch that has gone away in Terrestrial glory ever since it went to the heavens. Then will those children who have died in Christ—for they are redeemed in Christ from before the foundation of the world—come forth. Then, in the next resurrection, we are told, will come forth the honorable men of the earth who have lived according to the light they had. In this next resurrection will come forth the multitudes of the nations that have never had the Gospel—the heathen nations. They are candidates for the next resurrection, and when they come forth upon the earth, those of them who prove themselves worthy will they not have the opportunity to attain to all the blessings of the new and everlasting covenant? If they are not to be married and given in marriage the Lord has not been pleased to tell us so. I anticipate that in that glorious day the work of performing all the ordinances and endowments for those who have not attained unto these privileges and blessings in the flesh, either by themselves or by proxy, will have that privilege, and the work will be carried on. That blessed epoch seems to dawn upon our view—that glorious period when the righteous will come forth, and while the wicked will sleep on another thousand years.

Let me remind you of another interesting feature in this allegory, and that is this: The Savior tells us that the terrestrial glory, or kingdom, is likened unto the glory of the moon, which is not of the brightness of the sun, neither of the smallness nor dimness of the stars. But those others who have no part in marrying or giving of marriage in the last resurrection, they become as stars, and even differ from each other in glory; but those in the terrestrial kingdom are those who will come forth at the time when Enoch comes back, when the Savior comes again to dwell upon the earth; when Father Abraham will be there with the Urim and Thummim to look after every son and daughter of his race; to make known all things that are needed to be known, and with them enter into their promised inheritance. Thus the people of God will go forward. They will go forward, like unto the new moon, increasing in knowledge and brightness and glory, until they come to a fullness of celestial glory. During the Millennium multitudes of people who have not heard the Gospel will hear and receive it and go forward into this glory, while those who will not go forward to a fullness will go back to that lesser glory which is likened unto the stars of heaven, for as the Prophet Isaiah says; “There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.

I did not think when I arose that I should be led to speak in this strain; but the fact is, upon these occasions the glories of the other worlds open up before us, and we cannot help thinking of them, and dwelling upon them unless we quench the Spirit.

But says one, I thought that all marriages were to be performed in mortality? In reply to that suggestion I would ask, How was it that Father Adam and Mother Eve were married while they were immortal? And if they could be married as immortal beings, why cannot their children just as well be? It will doubtless occupy the whole of that sabbath of rest the whole thousand years, and perhaps a period after, to do the work necessary for all the vast myriads of Adam’s children, so that they may be placed in a position to be judged according to men in the flesh, or according to the deeds done in the body.

Brethren and sisters, I rejoice exceedingly with you in this glorious Gospel. If there is anything on the earth that can satisfy the human soul in its desires for excellence, virtue, exaltation and greatness, it certainly is this Gospel of the kingdom. If there is anything in the world that can satisfy the hungry soul for knowledge, it is the revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ, which open up continually line upon line, and precept upon precept; here a little and there a little; indeed there is nothing else can satisfy the longing of the human soul. This will lead to the same blessing and glory which the Prophet Joseph told us Enoch had attained unto. He taught us that he and his city had attained in his day to a terrestrial glory, that they were enjoying that glory still. They attained unto the power of translation, that they might take their bodies and their city with them. The resurrection was not until Christ came and became the firstfruits of them that slept.

This view of the subject brings me to think and to speak a word in reference to the three Nephites. They wanted to tarry until Jesus came, and that they might He took them into the heavens and endowed them with the power of translation, probably in one of Enoch’s temples, and brought them back to the earth. Thus they received power to live until the coming of the Son of Man. I believe He took them to Enoch’s city and gave them their endowments there. I expect that in the city of Enoch there are temples; and when Enoch and his people come back, they will come back with their city, their temples, blessings and powers. The north country will yield up its multitude, with the Apostle John, who is looking after them. They also will come to Zion and receive their crowns at the hands of their brethren of Ephraim. There will also be nations here on the earth that have not received the Gospel, but who will receive it, and thus the work of God will go on in all its phases, for the living and for the dead.

It is a good thing to take a glimpse once in a while into, and contemplate the glories of the future. A few years ago, when the wolf stood at our doors, when we had hardly enough of the necessaries of life to keep body and spirit together, we used to sing the song—“There’s a good time coming.” Behold! that time has come. This is one of those good times that we are celebrating today. Let us rejoice in the Lord our God. I think that every honest soul that is pure before the Lord can lift up his heart, and praise His holy name, that he has lived to see this day. The Lord help us that we may give to Him our best efforts in forwarding His work here on earth. I rejoice with all my soul and ask the blessing of the Lord to rest upon the Presidency of the Church, upon the Apostles, upon the Seventies, High Priests and all the quorums; also, that the Bishops may be filled with the spirit of justice, equity and truth. I also feel to bless you, my brethren and sisters, that the favor of God may be multiplied upon your persons, your families, your homes, your flocks and your herds, your possessions and your hopes. That we may prove faithful and attain to heaven’s proffered blessings is my desire, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.