Opening Address by Elder Orson Hyde, Delivered before his Class at the Social Hall, G. S. L. City, on Tuesday evening, December 14, 1858.

Brethren and Sisters—Allow me to congratulate you upon this occasion of assembling yourselves together for the laudable and praiseworthy object of engaging in a course of studies in the science of the English language. I cannot withhold an expression of my feelings of gratitude to our Father in heaven that we are blest with peace, tranquility, and health, and also with the staple necessaries and comforts of life, I humbly hope that we are all exercised with that gratitude to our Supreme Ruler which his manifold favors extended to us so richly and fully demand.

In consequence of the troubles which you and your parents have undergone in years that are past, some, and perhaps I may say, many of you, have not met with an earlier convenient opportunity to acquire the kind of knowledge you now seek. Late, however, as the hour is, there yet remains sufficient time, if well improved, to remove the embarrassments under which you may have labored, and to embellish your minds with jewels that will render you distinguished, whether destined to move in the humble or more elevated walks of life.

A thorough knowledge of our own mother tongue is an important key to that wide field of usefulness which in this day more especially invites the energies and enterprise of the rising generation than at any former period in the history of the world. By some, the inspiration of God is considered to supersede the necessity of this and every other science. On this erroneous principle some of you may act, and require me to impart to you a knowledge of our language without any mental labor on your part. This I would not do, if I could; for I do not want this class dishonored with one drone in the hive. I intend to do my duty, and shall expect you to do yours. Although I thus speak, I do not believe that anyone of you entertains any such opinion. Persons of this faith will not come here for the object that has called you out. It is true that God generally calls upon the illiterate or unlearned to bear his name and testimony to the world. In this, the policy of our Heavenly Father differs materially from that of the world. Under his policy, none can say that the important truths which the servant of God is required to declare are the result of his great or superior learning. But the question with me is, Must the servant of God always remain an unpolished shaft in the quiver of the Almighty? I answer, No. The Spirit of God directs improvement in everything that is good and useful. If any doubt this, consider what our leading men were when called, and then consider what they now are! The inspiration of God sometimes furnishes the words, but more generally the thoughts only. Then a flow of correct language is highly useful to convey those thoughts clearly and distinctly to others. City Creek is a gracious bounty and gift of Heaven to this community; yet it requires no small amount of manual labor to conduct it in suitable portions to every citizen’s door. The candle of the Lord was never lighted up in any man’s heart to be put under a bushel. It will bring him into public notoriety, and he must of necessity communicate with others. If he understand not his own language correctly, he is often put to the trouble of applying to another to correct his sayings, and sometimes under circumstances that are mortifying and humiliating, or suffer an exposure that might be still more unpleasant and annoying to his feelings. A few months of diligent application to the study of grammar will carry you beyond the reach of all these little perplexities and embarrassments, and place you upon the summit of this science, from whence you may view at a glance the wisdom of those who are with you, and the folly of them beneath you, without a second person to explain the one or point out the other.

There are persons who profess a knowledge of grammar, and yet they pretend to say that there are no correct rules of language. Were I to attempt to pass off upon anyone of you a base or counterfeit dollar, and, being detected in my dishonesty, should attempt to justify myself by saying, “All dollars contain more or less alloy, and my bogus dollar is just as good as any other”—would my apology be satisfactory to you? No. You would naturally conclude my self-justification to be an index to a heart not wholly fortified by correct principles.

I am free to admit that, since the original language was confounded at the Tower of Babel, no perfect system of communications has existed on earth to my knowledge; and con– sequently, a perfect set of rules could not apply to an imperfect language. But is this a sufficient reason why we should condemn all the rules of syntax, which are the result of the combined wisdom and labor of ages, adapted in the best possible way to the construction and use of speech? Such sweeping declarations may generally be regarded more as an effort on the part of the delinquent to hide some radical violations of just laws than the display of any real wisdom or merit. We might just as well say that men are of no account or worth, because they are imperfect, and hence go to heaven and deal with them there as they were before they came to earth and made flesh their tabernacle. Even then, such rabid opposers to anything that has the scent of imperfection might find themselves disappointed and disgusted, even in the presence of the Holy One; for we read that “He chargeth his angels with folly.”

There are some, also, who affect to place more confidence in their own literary acquirements than many others can conscientiously do. They often resort to the Greek and Latin languages to justify any aberrations of theirs from the known and established rules of the English language. There are just as many imperfections in those languages as there are in the English—all languages inheriting similar effects from the great confusion. Hence, if you show the “cloven foot” in the English language, you cannot hide it under the folds of the Greek or Latin.

Some of you, my friends, may have a limited knowledge of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin—some a pretty fair knowledge of German, French, and Spanish: but permit me here to suggest one important rule or caution to be observed by all who wish to be thought correctly educated. Never volunteer the introduction of a foreign language in conversation with the unlearned. If you do, you may be regarded as novices, and, in the light of “Holy Writ,” as heathens and barbarians. Moreover, such pedantic or ostentatious claims to superior knowledge are palpable breaches of good manners. He that is at war with the rules of the English language cannot fail to give unwelcome evidences of the fact in his speech and writings.

We are bound, my friends, to deal with men as we find them, perfect or imperfect; and we are also bound to use their language as we find it and as they use it, if we put ourselves in communication with them, with the hope and expectation of doing them good and of guiding their actions. We are met for the purpose, my brethren and sisters, of acquiring this very kind of knowledge; and I trust that you are all sufficiently impressed with the importance of this branch of learning to stimulate you to that diligence, patience, and perseverance in applying yourselves to its acquisition that cannot fail to secure to you the object of your pursuit.

Permit me here to speak to you in much plainness. To become thorough grammarians requires much mental labor. The lazy and inactive mind cannot penetrate far into the intricacies of language. You must give to this branch your undivided attention, if you expect to progress with the rapidity that you desire. It is worthy of all the attention you can give it. How often have I heard men say—“I would give a thousand dollars to understand the rules of language, and their proper application to practical use.” Consider, now, that in the short space of fifteen weeks (a season of the year in which you can do little else to profit), you may be led by the hand of your teacher gently forward in the pursuit of this study; and at the ex– piration of the term you may continue your progress alone without an instructor to take you by the hand. Suffer no sloth, inactivity, or ordinary business to prevent your attendance at every lesson. If you will all be diligent between lessons, and labor for yourselves as faithful as I intend to labor for you, you will be able, at the close of this school, to march boldly forward, without further aid, to the most elevated heights of grammatical science.

I cannot flatter you with the expectation that you will know it all at the close of this term, lest your disappointment should so far react upon your minds as to induce you to cease your efforts to learn. There is no end to the path of science and improvement. Learn all you can in this world that is good and true, and it will only form the basis or grammar of that higher order of education that awaits you among the classified millions that have gone up to celestial institutions through the rugged and thorny way that has been sanctified and honored by the footsteps of Him who “taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

I am pleased to see you all apparently cheerful and lighthearted, buoyant with hope and expectation, indicating feelings good and true, warm and kindly. Virtue and integrity, with due respect for others according to station and circumstances, will secure to you a continuation of that glow of charity and goodwill which now animates your breasts. And when you shall bid adieu to earth, may your garments be clean and white, thoroughly washed in the blood of the Lamb, and meet with a kindly welcome in your Father’s house! I will try to be with you there. Heaven bless the pure in heart, henceforth and for ever!

Remarks by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery, Provo, June 27, 1858.

Previous to the arrival of our brethren, the lately returned missionaries, I had requested brother Harvey Whitlock to address the congregation today, for my own satisfaction; and I will give you the reason. In 1834 I went to Missouri. After the brethren had been driven from Jackson County, I saw brother Harvey Whitlock, and heard him converse only a very few minutes; and from that time I have not had the privilege of hearing him preach until today, although I have greatly desired it, from the short conversation we had twenty-four years ago.

I shall give way for the missionaries when I have said enough to satisfy my own mind.

I am very well satisfied with brother Whitlock’s discourse; but I wish to make a little addition.

The people called “Mormons” by the world have a peculiarity about them that is understood by very few. In a great degree it is not comprehended even by the Church, and yet they acknowledge it. The nature of that peculiarity is simply this: The Gospel of salvation—the Priesthood of the Son of God—is so ordered and organized, in the very nature of it, being a portion of that law of heaven by which worlds are organized, that it is calculated to enlighten the children of men and give them power to save themselves. It is of the same nature as the further principles of eternal existence by which the worlds are and were, and by which they will endure; and these prin– ciples are pure in their nature, from the fact that they are of God, who is pure: but, without the revelation of the SPIRIT OF GOD, NO MAN can understand them. That is the peculiarity there is about this mysterious work, and the whole world are astonished at the unity of this people.

“How is it that this great people can be controlled by one man?” is the question. To a certain extent they can be controlled and form a unit, though not as much so as they will when they rightly learn and practice the true principles of union. You may theorize and prove by philosophy—in fact, convince the world, theoretically, of the blessings of unity; and yet there is no union among them. What is the reason? Because they will not be governed by the Spirit of God. We may correctly say that there is no difficulty in convincing people of the truth of the work in which we are engaged. We send our Elders into the world, in the midst of all the religion and philosophy of the day, and “Mormonism” takes them up and weighs them “in the balances,” as the Prophet says of the Lord’s measuring the seas in the hollow of his hand, and taking up the mountains as a very little thing. A person who understands the truth of the principles and doctrines we preach and believe in can handle the religions and philosophy of the day as a small matter; consequently, it is not difficult to convince the world. There is but very little difficulty in convincing every person who will hearken to reason. You can convince them; but what is the difficulty brother Whitlock was speaking of? The majority of the human family do not love the truth, and many forsake it after they have embraced it.

To me it is evident that many who understand the truth do not govern themselves by it; consequently, no matter how true and beautiful truth is, you have to take the passions of the people and mold them to the law of God, and nothing less will accomplish that union and salvation which we are striving for. There is no other principle, spirit, or power that will cause people to adhere to the truth. Take this whole people: they know that “Mormonism” is true as well as they know that the sun now shines; their judgments, their feelings, and their hearts convince them that it is true. There is no saving faith merely upon the principle of believing or acknowledging a fact. Take a course to let the Spirit of God leave your hearts, and every soul of you would apostatize.

Do you think that people will obey the truth because it is true, unless they love it? No, they will not. Truth is obeyed when it is loved. Strict obedience to the truth will alone enable people to dwell in the presence of the Almighty. Do people know this?

We see men and women leaving this people—this community. Are their judgments convinced that “Mormonism” is not true? No; for they know that it is true. What did Oliver Cowdery (one of three witnesses to the Book of Mormon) say, after he had been away from the Church years and years? He saw and conversed with the angel, who showed him the plates, and he handled them. He left the Church because he lost the love of the truth; and after he had traveled alone for years, a gentleman walked into his law office and said to him, “Mr. Cowdery, what do you think of the Book of Mormon now? Do you believe that it is true?” He replied, “No, sir, I do not.” “Well,” said the gentleman, “I thought as much; for I concluded that you had seen the folly of your ways and had resolved to renounce what you once declared to be true.” “Sir, you mistake me: I do not believe that the Book of Mormon is true; I am past belief on that point, for I KNOW that it is true, as well as I know that you now sit before me.” “Do you still testify that you saw an angel?” “Yes, as much as I see you now; and I know the Book of Mormon to be true.” Yet he forsook it. Every honest person who has fairly heard it knows that “Mormonism” is true, if they have had the testimony of it: but to practice it in our lives is another thing.

When the people cleave to the Lord Almighty, receive of his Spirit, and purify themselves continually, and walk in the light of the Lord, they will never forsake their religion; they will be “Mormons” by day and by night, and forever: in other words, they will be Latter-day Saints. Every one of you know that these things are true. When men come into this Church merely through having their judgments convinced, they still must have the Spirit of God bearing witness to their spirits, or they will leave the Church, as sure as they are living beings. The Saints must become one, as Jesus said his disciples should be one. They must have the Spirit testifying to them of the truth, or the light that is in them will become darkness, and they will forsake this kingdom and their religion. I wished to bear this testimony and make this addition to what has been said by brother Whitlock.

Many of this congregation have left their homes, and, no doubt, are anxious to learn the current news. It is needless for me to rehearse the past. That we have all experienced. It is best to speak of that which is before us, for our present acts prepare us to meet the future. And, for their encouragement, I will ask the Latter-day Saints, When and where has the Lord our God deceived us? You would all answer, Never, and in no place. I would ask another question, with all due deference to the God we serve, When have our leaders—those whom God has placed to guide the affairs of his Church and kingdom upon the earth—deceived us? Let any person, if he can, rise up and point out the time and place when and where this people have been deceived by their leaders. We have not been deceived by them; for which, God be thanked. He is on Israel’s side. His arm is almighty to save, and we have a refuge that the world have not. Whether in peace or war, in poverty or wealth, the Saints have a refuge that the ungodly have not. We have the wisdom that the Almighty has incorporated in our organization.

When people are dictated by the power of the Holy Ghost, there is but little danger of that people or that community being led wrong: the danger consists in your own neglect of your duty.

With some the question arises, Are we in danger from our enemies? No; there is no danger, only in our neglecting the duties of a Saint. Are we in danger now? No. Have we been? No. Shall we be? No, we shall not.

It has been written that many should be slain for the testimony of Jesus; and, in my humble opinion, there have already been enough slain to fulfil that prophecy. If I can live until I am one hundred and thirty-five years old, I shall be perfectly satisfied to die a natural death, and to believe the revelation fulfilled, without being slain by my enemies. I strive to live to do good on this earth; and I have all the time asked my Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus, to let me depart, when I cease to do good; for I do not want to live any longer than while I continue to do good. I want to live to oppose wicked men and devils, until the last one of them are righteously disposed of, though at times it is pretty hard work to get faith enough to desire to live to stem such floods of ignorance and sin.

We are not in opposition to anything in earth or hell, except the principle of death. God has introduced life, and it is the principle of life that we are after. The power of the enemy is all the time trying to destroy this life, and I am opposed to that power. I am at war with it, and expect to be. I do not expect to cease my exertions in a million of years hence, no more than I do today; but the world is seeking that which will cause them to perish.

We are striving for eternal life, and are opposed to those who love and have the power of death. We have the influence and the power of life, and that necessarily brings us in opposition to those who prefer the principles of death.

I do not wish to say anything in regard to the life and conduct of this people: those things are before the world. And, as we have often published, we challenge them to prove that we are not loyal subjects of this Government and the kingdom of heaven. We have everything that produces peace and comfort, and will advance all men in life and happiness, so far as they will permit us.

Let this suffice, and I will give you the news. What is the present situation of affairs? For us the clouds seem to be breaking. Probably many of you have already learned that General Johnston passed through Great Salt Lake City with his command under the strictest discipline. Not a house, fence, or sidewalk has been infringed upon by any of his command. Of course, the camp followers are not under his control; but so far as his command is concerned while passing through the city, he has carried out his promises to the letter.

We told Commissioners Powell and McCulloch, in Conference and in answer to questions, that we most assuredly believed all they said and all that President Buchanan dictated them to say, so far as their interest was concerned. We said that we believed that President Buchanan would fulfil his words, when his own interests prompted him so to do. We did not say whether he would, or not, in opposition to his interest.

We have reason to believe that Colonel Kane, on his arrival at the frontiers, telegraphed to Washington, and that orders were immediately sent to stop the march of the army for ten days. That savors of an anxiety for peace. I expect to see, if the late advices of the Government are carried out, that portion of the United States’ army now here have the privilege of going when the interest of the country demand them, and the portion that was to start for this place ordered in other directions. And when we hear certainly that there are no more troops coming here, we will believe that the Government means peace, just as their Commissioners have told us.

I can say, so far as the moves have been made since the President sent his messengers of peace, that everything bids fair for the fulfillment of so desirable a result, and that the President is doing all he can to correct past bad management.

We have no shirt-collar dignity to sustain, for we have no character, only such as our friends and enemies give us. It is only a shadow, and we are willing that they should have the shadow, and make the name of our President honorable, if we can. They are welcome to traduce our character, if they choose; but they must not undertake to walk us underfoot, contrary to every principle of the Constitution, right, and law. The character of those who are such sticklers for it will perish, for they are taking the downward road to destruction. They will be decomposed, both soul and body, and return to their native element. I do not say that they will be annihilated; but they will be disorganized, and will be as though they never had been, while we will live and retain our identity, and contend against those principles which tend to death or dissolution. I am after life; I want to preserve my identity, so that you can see Brigham in the eternal worlds just as you see him now. I want to see that eternal principle of life dwelling within us which will exalt us eternally in the presence of our Father and God. If you wish to retain your present identity in the morn of the resurrection, you must so live that the principle of life will be within you as a well of water springing up unto eternal life.

I frequently think, when our enemies try to destroy us, and are afraid that “Mormonism” is going to overrun the country, what a pity it is that they cannot see that “Mormonism” is the very principle that preserves them. They cannot understand that. If they could see things as they are, they would change their present course and be the disciples of the Savior. They would say, “We will be one with you, for we wish to dwell in all eternity and enjoy our rights and happiness without molestation.” All beings in the world might have that privilege, for it is offered to all without money and without price. We can prove by our Elders that we have offered them salvation. They can accept and follow good or evil, just as they please, and we desire the same privilege.

So soon as General Johnston finds a place to locate his command—when we get news what he is going to do with his troops—we will go home. Women, do not induce your husbands to go home just yet, but wait until the proper time. It will not be long first. How would it have been if this community had been at their homes at the present time? It is just as much as can be done; day by day, to bear the reflection that gamblers and corrupt men of every kind are coming into these valleys. Do you not know that you are much better here than you would be if you were nearer to them? The Government has been prejudiced against the Saints because we would not submit to such corruption; and for that alone we have been cast out and driven to these mountains. I am happy in being able to say that gamblers and robbers have never dared to establish themselves here. We can dwell in safety and in peace in these mountains, if the people, who should be our friends and who nourish and cherish such characters, would let us alone. We will never permit any such practices in these mountains, God being our helper.

There has been much prejudice raised against us on account of Indian depredations, notwithstanding the great trouble and expense to which we have been subjected in preventing them, and without which no person could have traveled across these mountains and plains. What is the reason the Indians have acted so badly? Because of the practice, with many emigrants, of killing the Indians wherever they could find them. I can say to the nations of the earth that they may take these Indians, with all their ignorance, and their not being brought up to labor, and their being taught from their infancy to steal, and there are as noble spirits among them as there are upon the earth. In this there is one man in the Senate of the United States who, I think, agrees with me, if there is nobody else; and that one is General Samuel Houston. He has had experience, and has good sense. You will find as fine natural talent among these Indians as among any people; and often, when one of them, who has as kind a heart and good appearance as need be, walks up to an emigrant camp with kindly feelings, he is shot down; and because they are ignorant, they commit the error, in wreaking vengeance, of confounding the innocent with the guilty.

Brethren, tarry where you are for a short time, and make yourselves comfortable. If any of the sisters say they have not a house to live in, they can go a short distance from their wagon, and get bushes, and make a comfortable shade. What! Sisters go and get bushes? Yes. The women can get bushes and make shades, and look as well, in my estimation, in doing that, as in going round to gossip with their neighbors. We came to these mountains about ten years ago; and have you not as good kitchens, parlors, and bedrooms as there were then? I can offer to you what I offered to Judge Snow, when he came into G. S. L. City. He came to me and said—“Governor, I would like to rent a house to comfortably shelter my family.” I replied—“I will offer you the same kitchen and parlor that I came into when I first came here. I had a large room, canopied by the sky and walled by these mountains; and if you can find any place that the people do not occupy, you are welcome to it; but as for my hunting a house for you, I have not time to do it. You can take the same liberty I did, and have the same privilege I had when we first came here.”

Brethren and sisters, God bless you all! Amen.

A Lecture by Elder Orson Hyde, at the opening of his School in the Council Chamber, Great Salt Lake, January 22, 1855.

Ladies and Gentlemen—The subject that has called us together this evening, to me, is a very interesting and an important one; and I trust that it will be no less so to you, after you shall have understood its import and nature. It is the Science of the English Language.

As this language has been more highly honored in our day, by the Supreme Ruler above, than any other, in that he hath chosen it as the most beautifully grand and impressive medium through which his mandates could be conveyed to mortal beings here on earth, can we be justified if we remain in a state of indifference with regard to its beauty, its richness, and its strength?

The English language is chiefly derived from the Saxon, Danish, Celtic, and Gothic; but in the progressive stages of its refinement it has been greatly enriched by accessions from the Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, and German languages. The number of words which it at present consists of, after deducting proper names, and words formed by the inflections of verbs, nouns, and adjectives, may be estimated at over FORTY THOUSAND.

This heterogeneous mass of words, as found in the English vocabulary, when drawn out in line of discourse according to the laws of syntax, and embellished by the force of rhetorical elocution, has made nations to tremble and empires to quake. More glorious conquests have been achieved and victories won by the force and power of language than by all the armed legions that ever marched into the battlefield to meet the foe in deadly conflict. No widow’s tear nor orphan’s sigh detracts from the splendor of the former; no aching heart is left to curse the brutal policy that bereft it of its dearest earthly object. No plaintive notes from the deathbed of thousands of brave and generous warriors to wrap a nation in garments of deeper mourning; and it remains to be disproven that our future destiny, for weal or for woe, is suspended upon our very language. “By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”

It is too true that this science has been lightly spoken of by men of years and experience; and I must say that it is never pleasing to me to hear anything by way of jest, or in sober earnest, that may be calculated to beget in the rising generation a dislike for this most important branch of education. Should such an influence prevail among our youth, it needs not a prophetic eye to foretell the results. When the present actors have played their parts and retired from the stage, our successors, in the persons of our children, will not be able to keep a proper journal of the events of their time, to speak or write correctly, or to manage and conduct a periodical for the diffusion of that knowledge which it has pleased an all-wise Creator to shed forth from the heavens in our day for the benefit and salvation of man, without foreign aid.

You have, undoubtedly, heard the drunkard speak against drunkenness, the thief against theft, and the profane and profligate person against his course of life, because he has weltered under the smart and sting of his own immoral and criminal acts.

But you never heard the enlightened grammarian speak of this science in terms of the slightest disrespect; and I here predict that you never will, while language remains the agent for the transmission of thought.

The person unacquainted with the science of music, who has no taste or ear for it, might indulge in many slight and ludicrous remarks on hearing a class exercise in some of the first rudiments and rules of the science. But to the skillful musician, his remarks prove no inconsistency or impropriety in the science, but, on the contrary, that he himself is ignorant of it, and also of the path that leads to its attainment. The charms of music consist in the union and harmony of its parts; and when executed by scienced performers, it swells into a melody that holds in spellbound admiration all the finer and more elevated feelings of the soul. But the path that leads to the summit where the flowery charms of this science are wafted on the breath of our most skillful performers, and fall on your ears with such pleasing accents, is winding, steep, and rugged; and it requires patience, perseverance, and industry to gain the eminence.

The music of language consists in the union and harmony of the various parts of speech of which it is composed; and when tastefully selected to clothe a useful thought or valuable idea, and that thought or idea borne to your ear in that dress, awakens emotions almost as vividly pleasing as the maid of your choice, when presented, entwined with the bridal wreath, to receive your most sacred vow.

We are met this evening, ladies and gentlemen, to consider our inclination, strength, and ability to commence or recommence our journey up the rugged steeps of the “Hill of Science.”

The child from five to ten years of age has little or no use for scientific knowledge, from the fact that his childhood bars him against those responsibilities which he is destined to inherit in the progressive periods and stages of his life. But as his mind becomes stronger and more developed by the force of unavoidable circumstances, he is the better qualified to acquire those principles of science which will enable him more successfully to stem the current of opposition in his upward course to moral and spiritual excellence.

Were I now to refer you to our highly-esteemed Governor and President, whose ear for music and language is, perhaps, more acutely discerning than that of any other gentleman present, and ask him if he has not more use for scientific knowledge now, since the increased cares and responsibilities of both Church and State are resting upon him, together with the planning of public works, machinery, and fortifications against Indians, &c., than when he first embraced this Gospel, some twenty-five years ago, and went preaching without “purse or scrip;” and what do you imagine would be his answer? Apply, then, this same principle and course of reasoning to the Church, and what do we discover? When she was in her infancy, she did not attract the attention and gaze of the world. She had little use for scientific knowledge, and little or no time to acquire it; but having become stronger in her intellectual and physical organization, by the force of unavoidable circumstances, such as mobocracy by earth’s degenerate sons, and the bounteous blessings of a generous Providence upon the loyal subjects of his eternal laws, she begins to have greater use for science, and is more eligibly situated to acquire it in these peaceful valleys than when buffeted in the States upon the waves of political strife and religious intolerance, where, perhaps, the first house erected for educational purposes was lighted up by the torch of the incendiary, whose lurid flames cast a sickly glare upon our prospects for scientific pursuits in that country.

We are fast growing into importance, and the eyes of our nation are upon us. Our words and our acts are duly scanned by her officials in private; but if this were all, we should have little to fear. There is, however, a Power above, high over all, that scrutinizes all our acts and doings with an eye that never sleeps. We are not only watched over with fatherly care at home, but other nations cast an occasional glance at us. Their kings and their queens dream of us, and God showeth them some things as they are and as they will be. There will be Daniels and Mordecais in their courts, and, no doubt, Hamans too.

The political world is about to fall and crumble in pieces, in consequence of the great amount of repulsion which its parts possess. The religious world also, like Babel’s mighty empire, or like the millstone which the angel cast into the sea, will sink in the whirlpools of conflicting interests and sentiments, and her remains be “like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done.” As saviors on Mount Zion, and as restorers of every just and holy law, whether emanating from heaven, from nature, or from the legislative councils of earth, let us become qualified to act well our part in the great and eventful scenes that will open to our view, and not sacrifice our birthright at the shrine of an unpardonable indifference in relation to qualifications that come within our grasp.

The rising generation are destined to act a more important part in this drama before us. I therefore call upon them to awake and prepare to do honor to their station, whatever or wherever it may hereafter be, while we yet remain in the chambers of the Almighty, with the ensign of peace gently waving over our heads, and plenty in our garners, and our storehouses full.

Think not, my young friends, that you can spend the prime and vigor of your days in the vanities and pleasures of life, and in your more advanced years store your minds with wisdom and knowledge; but let your youthful energies now be devoted to the acquisition of literary and scientific knowledge, that when you arrive to manly strength, dignity, and wisdom, you may call into immediate requisition the fruits of your youthful labors and toil.

Suffer not a sluggardly or indolent mind to induce you to postpone the period for the commencement of scientific pursuits, with the vain and delusive hope that, by-and-by, the principles of education will become so simplified that you can pick them up with as little labor and trouble as you can pick up the cobblestones of the streets. All the education you can acquire in this easy way will not be as valuable to you even as the cobblestones; for the latter, when collected and laid up into a fence, form a secure and impenetrable fortress, as is clearly proven by reference to the wall in progress of erection around President Kimball’s dwelling. But the former will prove too flimsy and spurious to safely fortify your minds against a thousand evils that will beset you on all sides. The value of an object is often (and not improperly) estimated by the amount of labor and toil required to obtain it. The precious metals are not often found in the streets or highways; but in bye and sequestered places, deeply imbedded in the crevices and subterraneous caverns of the earth. If you will have them, you must dig for them. They will cost you much time and labor; but when obtained, they will richly reward you for all your toil. The gems of the ocean are not found floating upon the flood or ebb tides, but in the bed of the deep blue sea. They are hid from the vulgar gaze of the multitude, and only sought by the few who know their value, and who have courage and resolution enough to embark in the enterprise. Scientific knowledge is hid up in the elements, in the caverns, and storehouses of nature, and is only found by those who seek it with all their heart.

The man who neglects to discipline and train his mind in the science of religion knows but little about God or angels, or the glory of the sanctified. What little he does understand, he has borrowed from the labors and toils of others.

The Presidency of this Church are the lovers of learning; and, in my opinion, you, who need it, can take no step in education to please them more than to engage in the study of your own native language. It is the joy and pride of their hearts to see the attention of the people being turned to education. They do not want you to trust to it, however, as to God; but through it they want you to be able to present those truths that Heaven reveals, in that interesting and engaging light that will reflect honor upon you as the agent, upon God as the Author, and upon the Church as the body to be exalted. Lay hold, then, upon education! If you can get it easily, I have no objections. If, upon any principle, you can acquire it in a more easy manner than has been generally adopted in times gone by, you are doubly guilty if you do not attend to it forthwith. Show me one person that ever did jump into a brilliant education without labor and toil in self-application, and then I may be converted to the easy method of obtaining it. But lest I may be wrong in some of my views, I would say—If you can get education easily, get it, and be thankful to God for it. If it should prove a laborious task for you, do not be discouraged or relinquish your exertions.

Language, being the science through which the knowledge of all other sciences is communicated, demands our first and most candid consideration; and as the English language combines, in its genius and construction, both strength and beauty to an extent far surpassing that of any other language now in use, we ought, as students of that language, to apply ourselves with a zeal and perseverance commensurate with the superior powers which it possesses.

There are few persons in the world who care not for the appearance of their dress. They generally want their garments of a good material, and to fit them in a becoming manner. Our ideas and thoughts are also entitled to a becoming dress; and it should be our pride to clothe them with the most chaste and beautiful language, that they may hang around our person as jewels of unfading beauty, even as “apples of gold in pictures of silver.” We, however, may know the meaning of thousands of the most beautiful words in our language; yet if we cannot discover the legitimate relation they bear to one another, and arrange them in a sentence according to the laws of syntax that govern them, we come as far short of the knowledge of the science of language as the architect of the knowledge of his profession, if he understand not where to place his timbers in a building, after they are furnished at his hand.

Grammar, well understood, enables us to express our thoughts fully and clearly; and also in a manner that will defy the ingenuity of man to give our words any other meaning than that which we ourselves intended them to convey.

In justification of a neglect to acquire a grammatical knowledge of the English language, some have argued that the best grammarians differ in their views of the science; and if the most enlightened upon that subject cannot agree, what evidence can be shown that there is any particular good in it? It is true, that our best grammarians may differ in their views touching some immaterial or technical points in the science. But this cannot disturb or interrupt the great channel or laws of language. Allow me to prove this to you right here. The Utah Library perhaps contains the productions of some hundreds of the best authors of which many countries can boast. These authors all wrote under different circumstances, at different times, in different countries, and upon different subjects; and very probably no two of them could have been brought to a perfect agreement upon every point and principle of grammar. But will the most learned gentleman in this city go into that Library and point out one grammatical error in the writings of any of them? He may, perchance, do it; yet I seriously doubt it. There may be typographical errors found, which may have produced indirect grammatical ones; but a manifest grammatical error can hardly be found. This argument ought to silence every cavil on the subject, in my opinion.

There is no science so universally applicable to practicable purposes as that of grammar. Arithmetic, geography, astronomy, botany, penmanship, chemistry, and philosophy are highly profitable in their respective places. But there is no condition or circumstance in life in which grammatical knowledge is not essential, wherein mental action may be involved. We cannot think, write, or speak correctly upon any subject, without a knowledge of the laws of language.

Some persons, who possess not this knowledge, are vain and confident enough to think that they can detect and correct any error in language by the ear. It is true that persons of a naturally refined taste may, by carefully reading the productions of good authors, and by conversing with the learned, acquire that knowledge of language which will enable them to avoid those glaring errors that are particularly offensive to the ear; but there are other errors, equally gross, that have not so harsh a sound, and cannot be detected without a knowledge of the laws that are violated.

I can hold out no reasons or inducements for you to believe that you can acquire a knowledge of this science by giving it only a casual thought, or by looking carelessly over your lessons. But I tell you, and tell you plainly, that unless you can resolve to make it a steady and laborious occupation, and carry that resolution into effect, you never can understand the merits of this science. Yet, if you will cast parties out of your minds, with all the gossip about fashions, trash, and other nonsense, that too often check the progress of the most laudable and beneficial pursuits, and allow me to have full control of your minds for thirty evenings, from six until nine o’clock, and faithfully and truly comply with my instructions touching your duties between schools, I will insure that you will have progressed far enough to enable you to prosecute your studies in this branch successfully to any extent you may desire, without a teacher, even if you know not one part of speech from another at this time, pro– vided you possess that degree of intellect and susceptibility for improvement which are common in society.

Remember, my friends, that you live in a progressive age—an age in which the inspiration of the Almighty is resting upon the world to disclose the principles of science, and bring them into requisition to fulfil his purposes, and they know it not! Remember that to us is committed a more sacred charge—a charge to disclose and proclaim to the perishing nations the principles of eternal life and exaltations, and to gather the ripened sheaves, preparatory to the “feast of the HARVEST HOME.” Remember that knowledge is power, and that you now have a little time to acquire it. Forget not that “God helps those who help themselves.” Secure learning and virtue, and you will be great. Love God and honor him, and you will be happy.

An Address by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered at the General Conference, in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1854.

We have heard a very beautiful relation from Elder T. D. Brown, of the mission at the South. It seems that everything we undertake in righteousness prospers, and the Devil and his agents cannot help themselves, if we are faithful.

The Zion’s ship that was spoken of today, which runs in Snag harbor, has prospered from the first day it was launched, and every man and woman who stick firmly to that ship will prosper from this time henceforth and forever. That I know, for I have been on board that ship, and am now sailing upon it.

The first time I went to England, I was on board of Zion’s ship, and Joseph came to me while I was sailing, and put into my hand a rod; and I presume, if I have dreamed once of being aboard of that ship, I have dreamed it a hundred times. I have been in it in the midst of dangers and in the most dangerous places. I have seen trees and stumps, mountains and rocks, and everything else that could be placed in her course thrown before her to stop her in her course; but she can sail through a mountain or on dry land as well as upon the water. I have this in dreams; and I will say to the brethren, Just so long as you keep aboard of that ship you will prosper. I do not care whether it is in the midst of the Lamanites or among the Jews—whether it is in Italy or in Denmark, in Europe or in America, we will prosper, and I know it. That is my testimony.

As brother George A. Smith was saying, there are some who want to enjoy ancient “Mormonism”—that is, as “Mormonism” used to be when it was a small sapling. But it is now becoming a lofty tree, and its branches are beginning to shoot forth all over the nations of the earth; ancient “Mormonism” has grown to such a degree. Many have been in the background, and have left the tree, and it has grown to that extent, they do not know it. That is the trouble with them: they don’t know what “Mormonism” is. But this is “Mormonism,” and this is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and President Young is the true and legal administrator and delegate sent from God, and we are his brethren, and he is on board of Zion’s ship, and he is the captain; and if we will stick to it, we shall never run foul of the rocks; and whoever he tells to take hold of the helm, he will tell them in what direction to steer; and she is such a good sailor, and so true to the helm, she will run right between or over all snags.

Do you believe it, you old “Mormons?” [“Yes.”] Well, then, why don’t you grow with the tree, and with the branches thereof? Brother Brown would grow faster living on bread and water, and water and bread, with a little milk. Gentlemen, if you don’t look out, the ship will get out of reach, and the tree will grow out of your knowledge, so that you will forget what manner of a tree it was; because, as the tree grows, it changes in size and appearance, just the same as a child as it grows to manhood; and if you had not been with him all the time, you would not know him, although he were your own son.

The text that President Young gave us bears upon my mind considerably, and it is a thing we ought to take into consideration; not me alone, but every man and woman that belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; not only those who are indebted to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund, but all ought to throw in their mites and enlarge this Fund. The means can be paid in here, and the poor can be brought out from the nations. Hundreds have come on this year on the strength of this Fund. It is the duty of those who have been brought out by it to go and work forthwith for means to pay their indebtedness. It does not belong to you, but it belongs to those who have made the Fund: it belongs to that Company, and to every individual, if they have not placed in it any more than a picayune or a halfpenny.

Look at the poor in old England. I have heard that some have feelings against me, because I have spoken of the poverty of the people in that country. I know more about its poverty than the natives of the country do. Those who come from there don’t know as well about it as we do. In the last letter that came from my son William, he wrote that, “I feel to weep and mourn and lament, when I behold the poverty of the people: they are starving to death, and there are scores and hundreds of my brethren in the poorhouses of the country: the husband is put in one poorhouse, the wife in another, and the children in another.”

That is the case with our brethren there; and while you are here in the midst of luxuries—while you are enjoying these blessings of the Lord, can you see your own brethren afflicted? It is not only so in England, but in Ireland, in Scotland, in Denmark, and in Sweden, and in all the nations of the earth. Do they enjoy what we enjoy? No. Although there are some who want to return to their native country, to enjoy their own habits and customs, yet there is no rational man or woman who wants to return.

Brethren, did you ever reflect upon these things, and try to find out what you could do? Supposing there were not any more Saints than what are in this room today, if we were to put forth our hand as one man, what could we accomplish? There are people enough in this congregation to accomplish more than the whole Church has, if they would only believe and act upon the instructions given them. Solomon says, “The liberal man deviseth liberal things; and by his liberality shall he live.” I have proved the truth of this saying to my fullest satisfaction and to my astonishment, time and time again. When I have been poor and penniless, and could not raise five dollars, I have gone to work, by the counsel of my President, and built me a good house, and furnished it; and says brother Brigham, “You shall build that house, and you shall have your fit-out.” I did it according to his word, and it was clear of debt, and I had a good fit-out.

I have done the same here upon the same principle; and said the President, “Brother Kimball, take one load of rock, and a load of sand, and a load of clay, and say to the masons and joiners, Go ahead; for I never built a house yet, but I was better off when I had done it than when I began.” And brethren and sisters, that is the reason I keep on building. [Voice; in the stand: “You will get poor if you stop.”] Therefore I go ahead. Many will sit down and count the costs—how much it will cost to put a potato in the ground, and then how much it will take to raise a hill around it; and they find out the expense is so great, they will never plant a potato nor make a hill, and they never will accomplish anything. Do you know that is true?

Let us go to work now and enlarge this Fund, and let us do it at this Conference; and let those who are indebted to it go to work immediately and pay up. We shall probably hold this meeting for a time, and your hearts shall be enlarged; and if you could only go home while they are enlarged, and all the puckering strings loosened, and back the thing right up, the Perpetual Fund would be rich. I know that men and women have consciences that want to screw this way, and twist that way, and every way under God’s heavens, before they can come to the right thing. If you want to grow and thrive, and want to have the Spirit of the Lord, and the Holy Ghost to be with you, and have dreams and visions, and gold and silver, and herds and flocks, wives and children, and every other good thing, go ahead in every duty, and never falter one moment, and tell the Devil to kiss your foot.

The Devil is on the puckering line, and he will pucker every Saint and every man there is upon the earth, so that they would let their fellow beings lie down in a furrow of the field and starve to death; and these are your brethren and sisters, if you only but knew it, just as much as your brethren and sisters are according to what you call the flesh. This is the feeling of many—“Well, if I could only get dad, and mammy, and granddad, and uncle John, and aunt Nancy, and Sally here, I would not care a damn for all the rest.” Who cares about having only Nancy and Sally? Let us have Susan and Polly and Timothy and Andrew out, too. What do you say? [Voice in the stand: “Let us bring them all out.”] Yes, let us bring them all out. The wars, distress, and confusion among the nations are increasing the value of provisions. It was just as much as you could do to live, when you were there.

What do you say, brethren and sisters? I do not want you to say anything, unless you go ahead and do what you say. Shall we go ahead and enlarge these funds, and pay up our debts? [Voice in the stand: “Aye.”] Well, all who are in favor of paying up your debts to the Fund, to the Church, and everybody else, I want you to signify it by raising your right hands, and then say, “Aye.” [“Aye.”] And when you come tomorrow, bring along your pennies, and let us keep gathering and enlarging the pile, and keep enlarging it, and gather the Saints together from the four quarters of the earth. We are the persons to do that business; and when we have accomplished our part as servants in the flesh, God will send angels he has had in reserve to accomplish what we cannot accomplish. But he will make us buckle up to the work; and if we should happen to lie down and sleep before we have done all we might do here, he will tell us to awake and go about our business, and accomplish that we might have done while we were in the flesh. You have got to do it, as sure as the sun ever rose and set; you may wait as long as you have a mind to before you begin.

My feelings are for us all to concentrate our energies with the head of this Church, and put the wheel in operation, that, when another year comes, we may see a hundred times more come out by the Perpetual Emigrating Fund than we have ever seen.

I believe I have stuck to the text pretty well. May God bless you, and help you to be faithful and fulfil your covenants, from this time henceforth and forever. Amen.

An Address by Elder George A. Smith, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1854.

I can say, in connection with brethren who have addressed you in the former part of the day, that it is with the greatest pleasure I arise at the present Conference to cast in my mite, and offer a few reflections upon the things of the kingdom as they are rolling before us.

Our beloved President, at the close of the forenoon service, gave us a text he wished to have considered.

It has been my lot to be somewhat conversant with the Saints who dwell in the Valleys of the Mountains, or especially those who reside south of this city. My acquaintance with them has been very great for the last five years. There is no doubt but that a feeling of carelessness and indifference has been manifested by many in these valleys in relation to bequeathing their debts to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund for the assistance they have received. It is not only an indifference which has been felt towards the Perpetual Emigrating Fund, but also to individuals who have expended their means to help their friends, neighbors, or brethren to this valley. They have frequently been treated with indifference and neglect, and I may say almost with cruelty, by some persons who have thus been helped. They are unwilling, until they can be very comfortable themselves, to assist those who have helped them. I have had my feelings hurt by instances of this kind which have been laid before me.

Now, then, if I understand the text, it amounts to about this—namely, our Savior’s golden rule—“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do you even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” Or, to use this expression of the Savior’s, in connection with that of our President, which would be, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, under like circumstances; for this is the law of the Prophets.”

There is no object on the face of the earth more to be desired, than to bring the poor and honest Saints from the condition in which they are placed in the Old World, and set them down here in the midst of these mountains, where, by their own industry, economy, and prudence, they can provide for their wants and for the wants of their children. The difficulties which surround the Saints in the Old World are increasing. The great wars are involving the principal nations of the earth at this time in very serious expenses, which are taking from the laboring masses millions and millions of dollars to supply the fighting hosts with weapons of death, and engines for the destruction of their enemies and the prosecution of their ambitious designs. While the Allied Powers are thus engaged, they are consuming the very source upon which the millions of the poor and needy are depending for their bread—for their existence.

If, during the time of peace that has prevailed in Europe for the last ten years, it was necessary to help the poor and the needy away, it becomes tenfold more so under the present circumstances, when the nations are involving themselves in very expensive and disastrous wars.

It may be supposed that I am a little partial to some particular parties that are connected in this war. I am referring more particularly to the Allied Powers; but really I feel very little interest in the matter, any further than wherever Britain carries her sway the Gospel can follow in her liberal wake. To be sure, when a boy, my playmates used to say, “Two upon one is one too many;” and consequently, if there is any sympathy, it would be in favor of Russia, as they are the weaker party, and are likely to have the worst of it. Then, as far as the contest is concerned, there may be a very great feeling of indifference in the minds of many whether Turkey is actually devoured by the Russian bear, or carved up by the lion of the west of Europe. The event is precisely the same, let it turn which way it may, as far as it affects us in our emigration movements: it serves to stop the channel of trade, and consequently affects the interests of the laboring classes of Great Britain, and a great proportion of the members of our Church are of this class.

I would say to those who are in arrears to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund, who know themselves to be such—If you have got houses, lands, cows, sheep, farms, or property of any description, come forward like honest men and settle up to the uttermost farthing, and begin again to amass property; and if you have been owing to this institution for one year; or from the first of its operations, give a liberal interest for the capital you have held, and which could not be used or increased by the operations of the Fund. That would be my advice upon this subject; and then, if you are able to subscribe enough in addition to bring one or two families, do that also. My advice to those who have just arrived is that they fall not in the rear, as it has been this day complained of; but let them make it their first business to square off with the Fund that brought them here—to furnish this means as soon as it is in their power, to bring somebody else out from distant countries; and then you can take a fresh start in this mountain world. Even if you are a little behind when you have done this, scramble until you catch up again; for the facilities are a thousand to one in these valleys to what they were seven years ago.

When the Pioneers came here, it looked a hard chance. There was not a single house to rent; and as to there being any prospect of having any, it looked very slim. But there have been slight changes since, and a very great change in relation to breadstuff. We have bread in abundance now; but then the only prospect of supply we had was millions of black crickets. The change has been effected, and persons who land here with nothing but their hands, their bone and sinew, if they are indebted to the Fund or to persons for bringing them, they can soon pay these debts; and not only that, but they can soon establish themselves comfortably, and be prepared to help others.

I have noticed, in the course of my travels, an occasional individual, which, I presume, had lost by some of those who have not been willing to pay up. Be that as it may, I have come across individuals who would lurk among the Saints. “Why,” say they, “what can be the matter? Something is dreadfully wrong: this is not ancient ‘Mormonism’—this is not the old religion we used to have years ago in the days of Joseph: something is entirely wrong. I do not see things as I used to; I do not understand them.” And they finally begin to complain, and find fault, and murmur; and so it goes on from one time to another, until they wonder if they could not get a better location in California. I have heard men murmur when they were surrounded with plenty, with peace, and the blessings of heaven. What is the cause of this? The cause is in themselves. Do you who have crossed the Plains this season expect to find the inhabitants of these valleys perfect? I think, from all accounts, you were ill prepared to associate with them, if you had found them perfect: there would have been room, at least, for a doubt whether you could have been admitted at all. The great fault lies in individuals not doing right themselves, but undertaking to make others do right, or to find fault with others for not doing right.

It is some time since I read the New Testament; but I believe, if I recollect rightly, there is a passage, somewhere in the Gospel according to St. Mark, which says, “So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed in the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.” Well, I met a man that in the days of Joseph Smith used to be a very great man, in his own eyes at least—very spirited in the Church—tremendously so; and he tells me that things are going wrong. “Why,” says he, “things are not now as they used to be.” We will admit it: things are entirely different to what they were twenty years ago. Did any of you ever raise Indian corn in your lives? If so, you remember, when it is six inches high, it is very beautiful to the eye; it looks green and lovely; and it will grow very rapidly, if you will only keep the weeds out of it: it will grow so rapidly that you can almost see it growing from day to day, and it is a pleasure to cultivate it. Suppose a man should go into a cornfield when the corn is six, eight, or ten inches high, who had not been raised in a country where it was cultivated, but in some corner of the earth where it did not grow, and he had never seen such a plant before, and let him employ himself a few days in hoeing it and admiring its beauty—suppose by some means he becomes perfectly blind for two or three months, and then goes into the field after he has received his sight, he now beholds corn seven, eight, and ten feet high, with large ears upon it—he would exclaim, “What is this? Who has destroyed the beautiful plants that were here two months ago? What has become of them?” He is told it is the same corn. “Oh, it cannot be, for the corn is little stuff, and only grows eight or ten inches high, and very unlike this awkward stuff.”

This compares well with some of our “Mormons,” who are a little afflicted with the grunts: they do not know that the work of the Lord has been spreading rapidly, and growing stronger, and become more formidable than it was twenty years ago. There has been considerable advance since we used to gather around Joseph and Hyrum, in Kirtland, to keep the mob from killing them.

I remember on a certain occasion the brethren were called together to prepare to defend Joseph against the mob, who were coming to destroy him, if possible. Brother Cahoon was appointed captain of one of the largest companies, and it had ten men in it: it was the biggest company we could raise but one, and that contained fourteen men. Brother Cahoon gave us some advice: he advised us, if the mob came, and we were obliged to fire, to shoot at their legs. But, should they advance upon us now, we would shoot higher than that: so, if anybody will look at it candidly, they will see that we have grown and improved considerably in our ideas. To shoot at the legs of a mob is now altogether behind the times in “Mormonism.” After brother Cahoon had advised us, brother Brigham rose and said that if the mob tackled him, he would shoot at their hearts; and some of the company nearly apostatized. We must remember that we are in the advance; for the Lord has said, in these days, he has commenced to do a great work, and called upon his servants to lay the foundation of it. The foundation being laid, then the work has to be done. In order to be participators in this, we must be honest with ourselves, with our brethren, and with the poor among the Lord’s people. If we are, the blessings of God will flow upon us, and our knowledge will increase, and all the light and intelligence that we desire from God will be poured out upon us, and our means will increase, and our substance will be blessed unto us. But if we adopt the other principle, although men do it from covetousness, it is the identical way to become poor. The Prophet said, The liberal deviseth liberal things, and by his liberality he shall stand. This is the truth: it has been so among all generations, and with this people from the beginning.

It was customary, before we entered this Church, to hear a great deal of text preaching. The learned ministers would select a text or passage of Scripture, measure it by a theological rule, divide it into heads, and then preach from it, preaching about everything in the world but the thing in the text. After they had gone through this kind of maneuvering long enough, they would then appeal to the congregation to know if they had not preached to them the doctrine laid down in the text. Well, if I have preached from the text, excuse me.

I will close my remarks with the old-fashioned appeal; and if I have not preached the doctrines contained in the text, let me advise my friends to give heed to those doctrines anyhow.

A Discourse by President H. C. Kimball, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, July 16, 1854.

There can be no person, who is at all acquainted with the Scriptures, but must be satisfied that the remarks that brother Herriman has made this morning are strictly true. They are fully substantiated by the Bible, which you all profess to believe, and which the professing world say they believe.

Brethren and sisters, let your minds be composed and settled down in the Spirit of the Lord, and have his Spirit to be with you always, and especially when you come to the house of worship.

It is a common thing, not only in this Church, but in the churches of the sectarian world, for people to say, “Come, let us go to meeting today, and try if we cannot get warmed up in our hearts and refreshed by the Holy Spirit.” Now, that is customary among all religious people. Well, whom do you expect to refresh you here, if you are not refreshed when you come to meeting? For you should always have your hearts warmed up, and your bodies pure, when you visit the house of the Lord. Make not the outside of the cup and the platter clean alone, but also the inside. People who keep the inside of the cup and platter clean are very apt to wash the outside of it. You all hate to eat food from a filthy dish, and to drink water out of a dirty cup; but you love to eat out of a clean dish, and sleep in a clean bed. Every person naturally loves to see a clean house and clean garments, if they themselves are filthy.

Upon the same principle, inasmuch as we will repent of our sins and turn from them, and then go down into the waters of baptism—into pure water, and be immersed—overwhelmed in the same, that our sins may be remitted—washed away (not, however, for the washing away of the filth of the flesh, but to answer a good conscience before God and man), and then receive the imposition of hands by a man having authority, that we may receive the Holy Ghost—I say, the Holy Ghost, being a pure spirit or influence, even after all this is done, will have an objection to perform his office in an impure tabernacle. That is the reason why a great many never receive the Holy Ghost, because they say they are pure, and lie to God, and also to the Holy Ghost.

This is the Gospel that was taught you by the first Elders who bore the joyful message to foreign nations; and the moment the Holy Spirit rested upon you in your first introduction into this Church, you actually felt the Spirit of prophecy and revelation. I know this to be a fact when we introduced the Gospel into old England. Here is brother George D. Watt, our reporter, for instance. I never told him anything about gathering to the land of America—that it was the promised land. One night, we met with a small company of the new members in Preston, Lancashire, and brother George commenced reading the Book of Mormon. After a little, he rose up and said, “The land of America is the promised land; it is Zion, and we shall be gathered there, although you have not told us anything about it.” He prophesied that within two weeks after he was baptized. The Holy Ghost dwelt in you to show you things to come. It showed brother George that this was the land of Zion, and that the Saints in all nations had to be gathered there: it brought it to his remembrance, if he had ever thought of the thing before and forgotten it. This is the effect it had upon you. I presume there is not a single individual but what can exclaim, “It was really so.”

That same Holy Ghost inspired you to speak in new tongues, to prophesy, to interpret tongues, to see visions, and have dreams to edify and comfort you. It was with you when you went out, and when you came in—when you lay down, and when you rose up. That is the office of the Holy Ghost—to dwell and abide with those who keep the commandments of the Almighty in faith believing. He delights to dwell with such; but he does not delight to dwell in unholy temples. You know that naturally, because there is not one of you, unless you make a practice of being filthy and dirty yourselves, that ever wishes to go into a filthy place.

Now, if these are your feelings, for heaven’s sake do not ask the Holy Ghost to dwell with you, when you do not pursue a course to cleanse the body, not only internally, but externally, from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet. You know this is what I believe to be sanctification.

I have heard brother Gifford talk about sanctification, and I understand the principle of sanctification was laid before you by President Young. What would sanctify you and prepare you to enter into the presence of God, and to enjoy his Spirit?

We read in the Bible that the Lord told Joshua to sanctify Israel; for, says he, “there is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel.” And on the morrow they sanctified themselves by stoning to death Achan, the son of Carmi, who stole the wedge of gold and the Babylonish garment. They also stoned to death his wife and his children, his oxen and his asses, and burnt them with fire, together with his tent, the silver, the gold, and the garment, in the valley of Achor.

Thus all Israel put to death the transgressor, and sanctified themselves before the Lord. Would it not be an excellent course to pursue with this people, to sanctify them to the fullest extent of the word? There are individuals in these valleys who profess to be Latter-day Saints; but do they by their works make their profession honorable? No; their works and their profession are very dissimilar indeed. I think it would be an excellent thing for this people to be sanctified from such persons, and have them cleansed from our midst, by making an atonement.

You may say, “You might put this into practice; but it would extend to many who are passing through here, who steal and plunder, and drive away cattle and horses.” But let me inform you that there are many instances of that kind, where they are encouraged, or property is put into their hands by characters who dwell here and profess to be Saints.

When you undertake to prune a diseased tree, you commence your operations at the root of the evil, and continue to trim it out to the top of the tree, or as far as it extends, and throw the diseased branches into the brush heap and burn them, as I used to do when I was logging, and then take the ashes and make potash and soap with them, and then cleanse away filthiness with it. This is what I call sanctification.

So you see I am in full fellowship with my brethren, though I was not here last Sunday when the subject was introduced. I can bear testimony to every word they said as being true, because I never knew them to tell a lie. My feelings are, I wish to God wickedness was done away from our midst. My brethren and myself have often reflected and remarked upon the happiness we should enjoy when we could fully separate ourselves from the world, from wicked men, wicked women, and wicked practices.

Previous to our coming to these valleys, I wished and prayed that, when we went to the valleys, there would not any of the wicked persons follow us who are eternally hanging on our skirts. These are my feelings and desires now, and the earnest wishes of hundreds and thousands of men and women who dwell in these valleys.

I know there is a good people here—a better people than dwells in any other portion of the world. And the emigrants who are going to California are perfectly astonished, when they arrive here, to see that we are a civilized people. They are astonished beyond measure as they gaze upon this people, whom they supposed to be a poor, miserable, outcast race of beings. Did any of them ever go into a city where there were more peace and prosperity, and as few loafers, since they were born? We never saw any loafers in our streets until they came. I am not saying anything against them, but I am noticing the views they entertain about us. They have expressed it many times, that they never were so astonished as when they came into these valleys and found a civilized and industrious people—a people who knew how to build up a city, and incorporate it, and enforce the laws. And a day will come when we shall put them in force more strictly. God is only waiting upon you in his compassion, that peradventure you may repent of and forsake all evil, and turn to him.

We are the people of God; we are the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the foundation of which, in these last days, was begun by the Almighty sending an holy angel to Joseph Smith to reveal to him his will and establish the everlasting Gospel that was preached in the days of Jesus, even faith, repentance, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the ordaining of Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, Evangelists, Pastors, Patriarchs, Bishops, Deacons, Priests, and Elders. This is the true Church of God, although there may be a few in the valleys who do not live up to their holy profession; but because they are unfaithful to their God and to their religion, it does not affect in the least the truthfulness of the principles of heaven. I see some turn away from this Church because of the conduct of others. This has nothing to do with our faith; but we are to have our faith grounded. It is for us to dig deep, and lay our foundation upon a rock, that when the winds blow, and the storms and hurricanes beat upon us, we may still find ourselves firmly established upon the rock of truth.

I will tell you, gentlemen (I address myself to those who have nothing to do with us as a people), this is the Church and kingdom of our God; and the day will come, eventually, when the nations and kingdoms of the earth will become the “kingdoms of our God and his Christ.” This doctrine is found in this good old book, the Bible, which all of you profess to believe, and have to kiss to give validity to your oaths, when you are sworn before a magistrate to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

We believe in every man having his rights, and being sustained in them. And we wish you to understand that we are not exactly such a people as many suppose.

It is believed in the world that our females are all common women. Well, in one sense they are common—that is, they are like all other women, I suppose; but they are not unclean, for we wipe all unclean ones from our midst: we not only wipe them from our streets, but we wipe them out of existence. And if the world want to practice uncleanness, and bring their prostitutes here, if they do not repent and forsake such sins, we will wipe the evil out. We will not have them in this valley, unless they repent; for, so help me God, while I live, I will lend my hand to wipe such persons out; and I know this people will.

Such things cannot exist here. The civil authorities will never make a law admitting of prostitution in the City of the Great Salt Lake: it never can be permitted while we live. We know it is the custom among some nations to authorize by law such abominations, giving licenses to houses of ill fame. But remember, if ever it is allowed among this people, it will be when righteousness has ceased to dwell in their midst. It never can be allowed in this community in male or female, whether they belong to the Church or not; and we will wipe out such abominations, the Lord being our helper.

That is sanctification. Our holy religion is to purify, purge, cleanse, and sanctify this people. We care not what people think or say about our course in this respect; it is our religion, and we will not have corruption where we dwell, if we can help it. That is one reason we were not permitted to live in the States: we were determined, by the help of God, to be virtuous men and women. So they drove us, from time to time, and from place to place, until they drove us into the mountains; and I assure you, I, for one, feel thankful to my God that I live in these mountains, and that there is no man or woman who loves righteousness but what will feel as I do.

The Lord has led us upstairs until we have entered into the chamber; and, for heaven’s sake, let us not pollute it, for fear we should be led downstairs again. We are now high up towards the presence of the Lord, and he feels to bless us, and his hand is over us for good; and he will curse every hand that is raised against us, if we will do right; and our enemies will go backwards and not forwards.

My prayer is, by night and by day, that every man and woman that bless this people, and desire to do them good, may be blessed of the Lord God; and I know he will bless them. But every man and woman who shall raise a weapon against this people, or devise evil against them, my prayer is, that they may be cursed; and they certainly will be cursed, and God will frustrate all their designs, and he will lead his people on from victory to victory, until they triumph over all their enemies.

What do you say, brethren and sisters? Do you not think it best for us to do right, each person individually being led by the dictations of the Holy Spirit, listening diligently to those who are appointed to lead, govern, and dictate this people? You know what I mean by this. President Young is our governor and our dictator. It is for me to walk with him, and for you to walk with those who go before you.

I know how it is in the world, for I have lived there. I was born in Ver– mont, and raised, the most of my days, in the State of New York, Ontario County, and so was President Brigham Young; yet many emigrants who came through our valley thought we were moose, camels, or dromedaries. They did not know what we were; they, no doubt, thought we had horns on our heads: they had no idea we had eyes and legs like human beings; but they supposed we were some kind of nondescript animal. I know this is so: I have been in the world, and they cannot think we are human!

However, whether we are human beings or not, I know that I was born in Vermont, among the rocks, and have lived the greater portion of my days among those who are without God in the world; and I know their corruptions—yes, as well as they do. I know the wickedness in their cities, in their synagogues, and in their high places. I understand it all. Still they calculate that we, who have more than one wife, shall not have land in proportion to our families. Well, we are ready to buy what we need, when it comes in market.

This we learn from the public prints; so there can be no harm in my talking about what is published all through the United States. If a law was put in force throughout the Union—namely, that no grant of land shall be given to any except those who have but one wife, and no mistresses, many of the first class of the nation would have to console themselves with as little land as the “Mormons.”

Our wives are publicly acknowledged by us, and we sustain them as such, and we hold them sacred. How is it with the world? Do they have mistresses for illicit intercourse, hired and sustained to satiate their wanton appetites? We cannot have any land, because we honorably marry and sustain our wives; but others are entitled to privileges, notwithstanding their secret abominations.

We are a people who want to purify ourselves, and be clean from such characters, and bring up our children in the way they should go. One of my sons and brother Brigham’s oldest son went to England this season through the United States. They never knew what was in the world before, for they never were there under the same circumstances. In their letters to us, they wrote something like this—“My God, my God, help us to get safely back again to the mountains; for we had no idea of the awful corruptions of the world we live in, until we traveled through the United States.” And they have yet seen only a small portion of the ungodliness, wickedness, and corruption of the New and Old Worlds. The old countries are corrupt indeed; but the new are not a whit behind them in the blackness of their wickedness.

These are my views, and the Lord knows that I believe in the principles of sanctification; and when I am guilty of seducing any man’s wife, or any woman in God’s world, I say, sever my head from my body. These have ever been my feelings from the days of my youth. This is my character, and the character of President Brigham Young. It was the character of Joseph Smith and of Jesus Christ; and that is the character of the Apostles of Jesus, and that must be sustained by this people.

If we pursue that course, do you not think we are bound to rise and to prosper—that is, in Jesus Christ? Yes; and we will stand to him, and to his cause, and to him who is placed to govern and dictate the kingdom of God on the earth. By taking this course continually, subjecting ourselves to the Priesthood, we never shall fall—no, never. We shall never get into a difficulty but what we can get out again. But let us be careful to get into it lawfully, and we shall prosper, and shall rise triumphantly over every difficulty, on that principle; and on the ship of Zion we shall bravely live through every storm, though they may be heavy; and though rocks and quicksands and the Devil and the world may be in our way, they cannot move us from our path.

Let us do right, and sanctify ourselves before the Lord God, and purify our habitations (I mean the tabernacles of our spirits), and then our houses, and our children, and our servants, and our handmaidens, and everything there is about us with which we have to do, and then use all with clean hands and pure hearts. If we take that course, do you not suppose God will stand by us? There is not one of you but what knows this naturally.

Now, when you go home, everyone of you begin to live as you were told last Sabbath and the Sabbath before, and do right, and seek to build up the kingdom of God; pay attention to all things that God requires of you by his servants.

Many wish for the time when President Brigham Young and his brethren will be relieved from attending to temporal matters, and attend to spiritual matters altogether. You will have to wait for this until we get into the spiritual world and have to deal with spirits. All things pertaining to this world, both spiritual and temporal, will be dictated by the Prophet of God—by our President. He dictates how to build a Temple—how high, how wide, how many rooms it must contain, whether it shall be of this, that, or the other form; and the Tithing House and all public works pertaining to this people are dictated by him. Some wish to rid him of having anything to do with temporal matters. That cannot be, in the nature of things; for, as one of the ancients said, “As the body is dead without the spirit, so is faith without works, being alone.” So, as long as the body, which is temporal, is joined to the spirit, he must have to do with temporal things.

Reflect upon it. The spirit is joined to these bodies to quicken them, that we may have to do with temporal matters; for when the spirit leaves vegetable or animal organization, the body dies, or returns to the earth. There is not a being in heaven or on earth, but what has had a body, has one now, or will have. Cease your works, and then your faith is dead. I care not for a man’s faith unaccompanied by works, and his works must correspond with his faith. He must be virtuous, and enjoy the Holy Ghost, and the revelations of God, that when a man speaks, you may know it is by the same Spirit, and you will be edified; then you never will be deceived.

My prayer is for you to be faithful, active, and retain the Spirit of the Lord God, and go ahead, and fight manfully, purifying yourselves from all iniquity.

I never had a bloodthirsty spirit; for I never fought in my life, but I always yielded before I would have any difficulty with any man. But let the Spirit of God Almighty rest upon me, and see if I do not walk up to the battle’s front. I had that spirit when I was in the world, and it is never in me only when the Lord puts it there.

Let us be pure and keep the commandments of God, and let the world say and do what they please. These are my feelings all the time.

May God bless you, and help you to do right, whether other people do right or not. This is my prayer and blessing upon you, from this time henceforth and forever. Amen.

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, July 4, 1854.

I realize the nature of my position in rising to speak to an assembly of intelligent gentlemen and ladies on such an occasion as the present. I probably feel my incapability more than can be perceived by my hearers. Still my mind is active, and my understanding is fruitful, whether I have ability or not to express that which is in me.

While my friends have been speaking, I have been much amused, edified, and delighted, especially in having Whiggery and Democracy so ably illustrated. I do not think they could have been exhibited more easily, more naturally, more to the understanding of all, and more true to the spirit and universal deportment of those two leading parties of the nation, as they now exist, than they have been by my predecessor in the stand today; and I presume I am speaking the feelings of the greater part of this assembly.

While brother George A. Smith was speaking upon the rise and progress of the American Revolution, a few items ranging in the same line occurred to my mind, which I have a desire to express in the hearing of this assembly.

The revolutions made by the Government of the United States, with regard to real progression generally, are small indeed; so small that it is impossible to perceive any advancement. It is true the Constitution has been revised by the voice of the people; but wherein is it bettered? Some say it is bettered; but as to the light and knowledge that now exist with regard to the true spirit of republicanism, the revolution is on the retrograde motion. No one will question for a moment that many revolutions in the United States have become in a great degree popular, notwithstanding they have been in many instances unconstitutional and in open violation of the statute laws, and have been winked at by the most influential officers of the Government. There has been a progressive revolution since the close of the war, but not in virtue, justice, uprightness, and truth. It has become quite a custom, and by custom it has the force of law, for one party to mob another, to tear down and destroy Catholic churches, drive citizens from the ballot box, disallowing them the right of franchise, and persecute, plunder, drive from their possessions, and kill a great people. Revolution in the United States is progressing; but to the true spirit of Democracy and the science of government, the Revolution I refer to is strictly opposed.

With regard to Democracy and Whiggery, no person can exhibit them better and in a truer light than Judge Shaver has today. The General Government, as a whole, do not understand truly what Democracy and Whiggery really are.

What would my friend George A. Smith tell you with regard to these two political bodies that now rule over our country, were he to address you upon this subject? He would tell you that one of them is a monster having many heads, and the other is a monster with no head at all. The impulse that is given to the Government is like that of the animal creation: when they are hungry, they are impelled to eat, and to drink when they are thirsty. When this necessity presses upon them, all the sensitive powers are on the alert to search for food. All their natural impulses to action originate in the appetite: they receive them from the demands the interior of the animal makes upon the creature. It then becomes the duty of the head to search out a method to supply these demands with food suitable to the nature of the animal, which administers health, strength, vigor, growth, and beauty to the whole body.

What ought to be the Government of the United States? And what are Whiggery and Democracy as they now exist? Nothing, and a little less.

I believe in a true Republican government; but where is the man capable of exhibiting in their true character the principles of such a Government? I do not profess to be that man: still I believe I am as capable to search into the merits of the subject, and can understand the general principles of true Republicanism as well as any other man, though I may not be capable of setting it before the people in its perfection. I can, however, talk a little about it.

Is there a true Republican government on the earth? There is. Do you inquire, Where is that government? I answer, It is here. I am a true Republican, if I understand what the term signifies. But I put my own definition upon such terms; for in many instances our lexicographers have widely mistaken ideas, and widely disagree upon the meaning of words. They may trace the etymology of words, through the living and dead languages, to their roots, as they suppose; but there is a great probability of their being mistaken still.

A government that is perfect would be called Democratic. True Republicanism, and what is meant or understood by true Democracy, is the same; but the full extent of true Democracy cannot be told by any man at this time. In entering upon a point that I do not fully understand, and can in nowise fully explain, I shall content myself to talk about it according to the extent of my capacity and the understanding I have of the subject, and leave the little I have to say with the people. The question, What is a true Republican government? is easily answered. It is a government or institution that is perfect—perfect in its laws and ordinances, having for its object the perfection of mankind in righteousness. This is true Democracy. But Democracy as it is now is another thing. True Democracy or Republicanism, if it were rightly understood, ought to be the Government of the United States. They might have had that government long ago; but as it was said by my predecessor in the stand, “Whom the Lord would destroy, he makes mad;” consequently, he must take away the wisdom of that man, or of that people. No man or people possessing wisdom will give vent to wrath, for that is calculated to weaken, to destroy, to blot out of existence.

When the Supreme Ruler of the universe wishes to destroy a nation, he takes away their wisdom in the first place, and they become insensible to their own interests, and they are filled with wrath; they give way to their anger, and thus lay the foundation of their own destruction. To him who seeks to save, he gives wisdom, which enables any people, nation, or individual to lay the foundation for strength, increase, and power. When we look abroad upon the nations, we can see this truth verified; and when we look at home in our own nation, it is no less verified. We see that wisdom is actually departing from the lawgiver, and the knowledge and the discretion the judge possessed years ago have vanished. We discern that the very policy adopted by the nations to fortify them in strength is calculated to sap their foundations. The axe is laid at the root of the tree, and all nations are filling up the cup of their guilt.

Suppose I were speaking to the assembled millions of the inhabitants of the United States, what counsel or advice could be given to them that they might regain what they have lost? Can any temporal means be adopted to save them from the vortex of ruin into which they are fast approaching—a doom which they never can avert without sincere repentance? Yes, there is seemingly a human policy, if adopted, that would snatch them from destruction. What is it? Let the people rise en masse to lay the foundation of a wholesome, independent, free, Democratic (as the people call it), Republican government—a government which, if carried out, will be perfect in itself.

Let us look at it in another point of view. Suppose this people inhabiting these mountains are broken off entirely from the nations of the world, rendering no allegiance to any earthly power combined or isolated; free to make laws, to obey them, or to break them; free to act, to choose, and to refuse, and, in every sense of the word, to do as they please, without any fixed order of government whatever; and they wish a Constitution—a system of government for mutual protection and advancement in the principles of right, to be framed according to the best wisdom that can be found in this community—I say, let them govern themselves by a Republican system of government, selecting a man from their midst to preside over them. And whom should they select to fill so important a station? The best man they can find. Should they keep him in office only four years? Should they make a clause in their Constitution that a President shall serve at most for only two terms without a vacation in his services? That is an item that should not be found in the Constitution of the United States, nor in the constitution made by this or any other people. We should select the best man we could find, and center our feelings upon him, and sustain him as our President, dictator, lawgiver, controller, and guide in a national capacity, and in every other capacity wherein he is a righteous example. Though we find as good a man as there is in the nation, yet we should not lay facilities before him to become evil, were he so disposed. Great care should be exercised to guard against placing such a power at the command of any mortal.

Shall we give him twenty-five thousand dollars per annum, and make him superior to any other honest man in the Territory, State, or kingdom, in things pertaining to this world? Or lay inducements before him to become proud, haughty, and neglectful of the true interests of the people? No. For if he is capable of ruling the people and dictating them, he is capable of taking care of himself. If we cannot find a man willing to control and guide us without our pouring the gold and silver into his coffers and exalting him above the rest of us, then we will take one less capable, who will do it for nothing.

Do you ask why I would recommend this course? I answer, Because of the weakness of man. Were we to elect a man to preside over us in this capacity, and give him three, four, five, eight, or fifteen thousand dollars a year, the streets would be full of demagogues; you would see them perched upon every anthill, croaking out their stump speeches for this or that man to be our ruler; and the paid lackeys of each candidate for office, in the streets, in the public places, and in the houses of the citizens, would be using their influence for their employers in their respective circles, and wherever they would be listened to.

Whether such a man as a ruler will do good to the people, is not thought of, either by the candidate or by his lackeys; but the one is after the thousands of dollars, and the other after his paltry fee. The welfare of the people they do not consider. What will be the best policy to pursue for the good of the people at large is not in all their thoughts.

Let the people see to it that they get righteous men to be their leaders, who will labor with their hands and administer to their own necessities, sit in judgment, legislate, and govern in righteousness; and officers that are filled with peace; and see to it that every man that goes forth among the people as a traveling officer is full of the fear of the Lord, and would rather do right at a sacrifice than do wrong for a reward.

What would be the result, if this course was adopted by the people of the United States? It would destroy the golden prospects of those who were seeking for gain alone, and men would be sought for, in the nation, State, or Territory, who were for the people, and would seek earnestly for their welfare, benefit, and salvation. We want men to rule the nation who care more for and love better the nation’s welfare than gold and silver, fame, or popularity.

Are there any such in the United States? Yes, plenty of them among all classes of men, though they have little or nothing to say about politics. Many of them are much like one Mr. Hovey, from Cayuga County, New York, that I once asked if he was going to the election? “No,” he replied, “I will never give another vote in the United States.” I asked the reason for such a course. “Why,” said he, “they will set up the Devil as a candidate for the office of President, then set up his apostate brother, who has forfeited his inheritance, and run him in for sake of opposition.” There are plenty of men who would do that and worse. The nation, however, is not lost yet; there are as many as five righteous men in the city, at least.

Let the people lay the foundation for carrying out the Republican Government which was instituted by our fathers, instead of maintaining a government of anarchy, confusion, and strife. Were this people here an independent people, and had the privilege of selecting their own officers, and I should be chosen to dictate them in their selections, I would watch and guard faithfully their rights, and see that they selected men who had not the dimes in view. The motto should be—“If you do not labor for the good of the people, irrespective of the dimes, we do not want your services; for if you labor for the money, you seek to benefit yourselves at the people’s expense.” I make this application and turn it eastward, which you know is the way the world rolls. If the Government knew what the wants of the people were, they would take away the salaries of political demagogues, and stop their running and their stump preaching, from one end of the land to the other, to make proselytes to their cause. This would have a tendency to put an end to party names, to party jealousies, and to party conflicts forever. And the people should concentrate their feelings, their influence, and their faith, to select the best man they can find to be their President, if he has nothing more to eat than potatoes and salt—a man who will not aspire to become greater than the people who appoint him, but be contented to live as they live, be clothed as they are clothed, and in every good thing be one with them.

It is yet in the power of the people of the United States to lay a foundation to redeem themselves from the growing consequences of past errors. What would be the result, were the United States to take this course—viz., to strike out that clause in the Constitution that limits the services of a President to four years, or the term of service of any good man, and continue to revise the Constitution and laws as they become familiar with their defects; then reduce the salaries of all officers in all the departments? Would not such a course revolutionize any kingdom or government, and be very likely to produce union and prosperity?

Are there any more improvements that might be made? Yes. If we are what we profess to be—a Republican Government, there is no State in the Union but what should be amenable to the General Government holding to the old English rights in Rhode Island. Then Congress, with the President at their head, could meet and veto every act made by any department of the Government, if it was necessary. So let Congress come together when any of the States transcend the bounds of right, and hold them amenable for their actions. The General Government should never give any portion of the nation license to say they are free and independent. This should only apply to the nation as a whole. We have a little experience in this kind of independence. For instance, the Government of the United States were willing to take my money for lands in Missouri, which were in the market; but the people in that sovereign, that free, and independent State rose up and mobbed me, drove me from my possessions, and confiscated my property to themselves; and the General Government has no power to redress my wrongs. This is only one instance among many of the kind which I might enumerate to show the impolicy and downright mockery of such boasted independence. While such outrages remain unredressed, this nation never should defile the sacred term by saying they have a REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT.

The General Constitution of our country is good, and a wholesome government could be framed upon it, for it was dictated by the invisible operations of the Almighty; he moved upon Columbus to launch forth upon the trackless deep to discover the American Continent; he moved upon the signers of the Declaration of Independence; and he moved upon Washington to fight and conquer, in the same way as he moved upon ancient and modern Prophets, each being inspired to accomplish the particular work he was called to perform in the times, seasons, and dispensations of the Almighty. God’s purpose, in raising up these men and inspiring them with daring sufficient to surmount every opposing power, was to prepare the way for the formation of a true Republican government. They laid its foundation; but when others came to build upon it, they reared a superstructure far short of their privileges, if they had walked uprightly as they should have done.

What shall be done? Let the people, the whole American people, rise up and say they will have these abuses regulated, and no longer suffer political demagogues to gamble away their money, but turn them out of office to attend to their own business. Let the people make a whip, if not of good tough rawhide, of small cords at least, and walk into the temple of the nation, and cleanse it thoroughly out, and put in men who will legislate for their good, instead of gambling away their money and trifling with the sacred interests of the nation which have been entrusted to their keeping.

I would not speak so plainly, were it not that statesmen use the same privilege, and that, too, in the halls of Legislatures. We can never get a true Republican government upon any other principle. The object those have in view who look and long for the gaudy trash of this world should be removed, that men may occupy the high and responsible seats of the nation who will care for the welfare of the people, and cannot be bought with money, or that which it can purchase.

Can the Constitution be altered? It can; and when we get a President that answers our wishes to occupy the executive chair, there let him sit to the day of his death, and pray that he may live as long as Methuselah; and, whenever we have good officers, strive to retain them, and to fill up vacancies with good men, until there are none who would let the nation sink for a can of oysters and a lewd woman.

The signers of the Declaration of Independence and the framers of the Constitution were inspired from on high to do that work. But was that which was given to them perfect, not admitting of any addition whatever? No; for if men know anything, they must know that the Almighty has never yet found a man in mortality that was capable, at the first intimation, at the first impulse, to receive anything in a state of entire perfection. They laid the foundation, and it was for after generations to rear the superstructure upon it. It is a progressive—a gradual work. If the framers of the Constitution and the inhabitants of the United States had walked humbly before God, who defended them and fought their battles when Washington was on the stage of action, the nation would now have been free from a multitude of place-hunters who live upon its vitals. The country would not have been overrun with murderers and thieves, and our cities filled with houses of ill fame, as now; and men could have walked the streets of cities, or traveled on conveyances through the country, without being insulted, plundered, and perhaps murdered; and an honest, sober, industrious, enterprising, and righteous people would now have been found from one end of the United States to the other.

The whole body is deranged; and the head, which ought to be the seat of sense and the temple of wisdom, is insensible to the wants of the body, and to the fact that, if the body sinks, the head must sink also.

I want to tell a political anecdote; or, at least, I will tell it so nigh that you will guess the whole of it. Two fellows were stump speaking for office in the State of Illinois: one of them was a lawyer, of flowery, eloquent speech; and the other was a rough and ready homespun mechanic, but a man of sound sense. The lawyer made his speech in flaming language, interlarding it with expressions of sensitive regard for the people’s interests. The mechanic mounted the rostrum, and says he—“I cannot make a speech to cope with this man’s speech; but I can tell you what he and I want. He wants your votes. Now, if you will give me your votes, when I get into office, you may——and be damned.” They both felt so; and there are but few exceptions to this practice. Office seekers are full of tricks and intrigues of every kind to get an office, and then the people may——and be damned.

The progress of revolution is quite considerable in every government of the world. But is the revolution for the constitutional rights of the people in progress? No: it is on the retrograde. I know how they can be brought back to the people, and the Government be redeemed and become one of the most powerful and best on the earth. It was instituted in the beginning by the Almighty. He operated upon the hearts of the Revolutionary Fathers to rebel against the English King and his Parliament, as he does upon me to preach “Mormonism.” Both are inspired by him; but the work unto which they are called is dissimilar. The one was inspired to fight, and the other to preach the peaceable things of the kingdom of God. He operated upon that pusillanimous king to excite the colonists to rebellion; and he is still operating with this nation, and taking away their wisdom, until by-and-by they will get mad and rush to certain destruction.

Will the Constitution be destroyed? No: it will be held inviolate by this people; and, as Joseph Smith said, “The time will come when the destiny of the nation will hang upon a single thread. At that critical juncture, this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction.” It will be so.

With regard to the doings of our fathers and the Constitution of the United States, I have to say, they present to us a glorious prospect in the future, but one we cannot attain to until the present abuses in the Government are corrected.

You have heard our Judge relate an incident, which is only one more among numberless abuses perpetrated by the rulers of the nation. The particulars of this incident can be found upon our dockets, showing that the President of the United States assumes to himself power to remove a circuit Judge. I am not a lawyer; but I wish to propound a question—By what law, constitutional or statute, has the President a right to remove a United States’ Judge, except for illegal conduct or inability? It is, to say the least, a flagrant assumption of power. What business have they thus to remove our Judges? What end have they in view? I’ll tell you. It is—

“Tickle me, tickle me, O Billy, do; And, in your turn, I’ll tickle you.”

I have perhaps detained the congregation too long. May God bless you! Amen.

An Address by Elder Orson Hyde, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, July 4, 1854.

Respected Friends and Fellow Citizens—I am called upon, by the wishes and voice of many persons, to be one of your speakers on this ever memorable day. While I congratulate myself upon the honor which you have done me by this selection, I sincerely regret that I am not more amply qualified to answer your expectations. But humble as my efforts may be on this occasion, they are the more freely offered, knowing that the ears and hearts of a generous people will make every allowance for any deficiency that may appear in the style and subject matter of my discourse.

The bursts of eloquence that have thundered from this stand this morning cannot fail to have awakened in the minds of the audience notions and views so enlarged, that it becomes a very difficult task for your present speaker to sustain and carry forward the interest and excitement with which your minds have already been fired by the speakers that have preceded me.

We are met, fellow citizens, to cele– brate one of the most important events that ever embellished the pages of political history—an event of which every American heart is proud to boast, in whatever land or country he perchance may roam—I mean the bold, manly, and daring act of our fathers in the Declaration of the Independence and Sovereignty of these United States—an act worthy to be engraven in letters of living light upon the tablets of our memory, and to be transmitted to our children, with the sacred charge that they teach it to their children, and to their children’s children, till the “stripes and stars” float over every land, and are mirrored on the crest of every passing billow. They had not only the moral courage to sign the Declaration of our nation’s Independence, but hearts of iron and nerves of steel to defend it by force of arms against the fearful odds arrayed against them—the well-disciplined armies and mercenary allies of the foolish and tyrannical George the III, King of Great Britain.

The progressive spirit of the times, on the one hand, and the chains of cruelty and oppression, on the other, inspired the apostles of American freedom to raise the standard of liberty, and unfurl its banner to the world as a warning to oppressors, and as the star of hope to the oppressed. The very name of America causes a thrill of patriotic devotion to her best interests to quiver in the heart of every citizen of Utah, with a zeal and a pride for the welfare of our country that does honor to the memory of those departed heroes whose ashes are mingled in our soil, and made rich and dear to us by their own blood.

Remember Lexington, and Bunker Hill, and lastly Yorktown, with all the intermediate scenes as narrated in the history of the American Revolution! Remember the immortal Washington, chosen to lead our infant armies through the perils and hardships of an unequal contest, to the climax of victory and the pinnacle of fame! His name, embalmed in the never-dying sympathies of his grateful countrymen, will be heralded in the melody of song, “while the earth bears a plant or the ocean rolls a wave.” While Columbia’s sons and daughters regret and mourn his exit hence in accents like the following—

“Cold is the heart where valor reigned, Mute is the tongue that joy inspired, Still is the arm that conquest gained, And dim the eye that glory fired,”

They will comfort themselves and quiet the pangs of their bereaved hearts by chanting like this—

“Too mean for him a world like this; He’s landed on the happy shore, Where all the brave partake of bliss, And heroes meet to part no more.”

In those early and perilous times, our men were few, and our resources limited. Poverty was among the most potent enemies we had to encounter; yet our arms were success– ful; and it may not be amiss to ask here, by whose power victory so often perched on our banner? It was by the agency of that same angel of God that appeared unto Joseph Smith, and revealed to him the history of the early inhabitants of this country, whose mounds, bones, and remains of towns, cities, and fortifications speak from the dust in the ears of the living with the voice of undeniable truth. This same angel presides over the destinies of America, and feels a lively interest in all our doings. He was in the camp of Washington; and, by an invisible hand, led on our fathers to conquest and victory; and all this to open and prepare the way for the Church and kingdom of God to be established on the western hemisphere, for the redemption of Israel and the salvation of the world.

This same angel was with Columbus, and gave him deep impressions, by dreams and by visions, respecting this New World. Trammeled by poverty and by an unpopular cause, yet his persevering and unyielding heart would not allow an obstacle in his way too great for him to overcome; and the angel of God helped him—was with him on the stormy deep, calmed the troubled elements, and guided his frail vessel to the desired haven. Under the guardianship of this same angel, or Prince of America, have the United States grown, increased, and flourished, like the sturdy oak by the rivers of water.

To what point have the American arms been directed since the Declaration of our National Independence, and proven unsuccessful? Not one!

The peculiar respect that high Heaven has for this country, on account of the promises made to the fathers, and on account of its being the land where the mustard seed of truth was planted and destined to grow in the last days, accounts for all this good fortune to our beloved America.

But since the Prophets have been slain, the Saints persecuted, despoiled of their goods, banished from their homes, and no earthly arm to interpose for their rescue, what will be the future destiny of this highly-favored country? Should I tell the truth as it clearly passes before my mind’s eye, my friends might censure me, and I might be regarded as an enemy to my country. If I should not tell the truth, but withhold it to please men, or to avoid giving offense to any, I might be regarded, by the powers celestial, as the enemy of God. What shall I do under these circumstances? Shall I be guilty of the crime of hesitating for a moment? No. Neither time nor place to hesitate now.

Were I called upon to give evidence before a court of justice in a case to which my own father was a party litigant, the foolish might regard me as opposed to my father, if conscience, justice, and truth directed me to testify against his interest; but the wise would regard me as possessing that integrity that kindred ties could not swerve nor decoy from the truth and facts in the case. My testimony in relation to the country that gave me birth, that gave birth to my father and my father’s father, is given upon the same principle, and prompted by a similar motive.

So sure and certain as the great water courses wend their way to the ocean, and there find their level—so sure as the passing thundercloud hovers around yonder Twin Peaks of the Wasatch Mountains, and upon their grey and barren rocks pours the fury of its storm, just so sure and certain will the guardian angel of these United States fly to a remote distance from their borders, and the anger of the Almighty wax hot against them in causing them to drink from the cup of bitterness and division, and the very dregs, stirred up by the hands of foreign powers, in a manner more cruel and fierce than the enemies of the Saints in the day of their greatest distress and anguish; and all this because they laid not to heart the martyrdom of the Saints and Prophets, avenged not their blood by punishing the murderers, neither succored nor aided the Saints after they were despoiled of their goods and homes.

Would to God that we could forget this part of our experience in the land of our fathers! But we cannot forget it. It is incorporated in our being. We shall carry it to our graves, and in the resurrection it will rise with us. Had the United States been as faithful a guardian to the Latter-day Saints as the angel of God has been to them, she would never know dissolution, nor be humbled in dishonor by the decrees of any foreign powers.

I ask no earthly being to endorse this my testimony, or to adopt it as his own sentiment. A little time will prove whether Orson Hyde alone has declared it, or whether the heavenly powers will back up this testimony in the face of all the world.

When Justice is satisfied, and the blood of martyrs atoned for, the guardian angel of America will return to his station, resume his charge, and restore the Constitution of our country to the respect and veneration of the people; for it was given by the inspiration of our God.

One positive decree of Jehovah, respecting this land, is, that no king shall ever be raised up here, and that whosoever seeketh to raise up a king upon this land shall perish. The spirit of this decree is that no king shall bear rule in this country. And the islands contiguous to this land belong unto it by promise, for they are a part and parcel of the land of Joseph, and they geographically belong to it—belong to it by the covenants of the fathers: they also philo– sophically incline to this nearer and greater land.

Europe may look with a jealous eye upon the movements of this country, and contemplate the settlement and adjustment of a “Western question.” But at present there is an Eastern question pending; and it may be wisdom and policy for the United States’ Government to press the adjustment of the Western question simultaneously with that of the Eastern question. If the Western question is settled at all, now is the time for the United States to settle it to the best advantage.

In case of a general war, nation rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, which we have every reason to expect, it will be remembered that we have an extensive coast to defend, not only east and southerly, but also in the west. The transportation of troops will be unavoidable; and the sad and melancholy fate of many destined for the western coast by sea, around the southern cape, should admonish the Government to spare no pains or expense to construct a railroad with all dispatch across the continent, passing through the head and center of Utah Territory; particularly as the transportation of soldiers and the munitions of war are among the less weighty reasons why a railroad should be constructed, connecting the Missouri River with the Pacific coast.

But to confine ourselves for a moment to things within our own Basin. Since the celebration, last year, of our nation’s birth, two of our great and good men have fallen by the hand of death—Doctor Willard Richards and Patriarch John Smith. In them the citizens of Utah have lost true and devoted friends; the country, patriots; the Church, able advocates and defenders; and large families, kind and affectionate husbands and fathers; also several most excellent men shot down by the hostile savage from his ambush. Much suffering has been occasioned by the Indian war. Many of our crops went to waste last year, by reason of it, which has occasioned rather a scanty supply of food. But thanks be to God, never have the fields of the valleys smiled with such glowing prospects of abundant harvest as at the present time.

It is true that some of our settlements lost almost every head of stock they had, by the Indians, last summer, and have been compelled to cultivate their lands with few horses and oxen; yet the extensive fields of wheat now waving in the breeze and fast ripening in the sun are almost incredible.

Praise and thanksgiving be unto our God! This year we have had peace with the red men, and plenty is about to crown the labors of the husbandman.

If the United States are dissatisfied with the expenditure of the twenty thousand dollars appropriated for the building of a State House in this Territory, because a house was purchased that was already built, instead of building one, I have no hesitancy in expressing my conviction that a Government draft on us for the amount would be duly honored ten days from sight, or ten minutes, perhaps. Our Indian wars and other necessary and indispensable drafts upon our time and money in this new country have prevented us from building a house; and we, therefore, have been under the necessity of purchasing a very good and commodious one, built before our Indian troubles were so serious. My voice would be to pay back the twenty thousand dollars! And as the expenses of the war have been wholly borne by us, without a dime’s appropriation for that purpose having yet reached us, we may expect to rely wholly on our own resources and upon the arm of our God.

If we are deemed abundantly able to foot the bill of the entire expenses of the war, pay back the twenty thousand dollars to the Government, build our own State House, or occupy the one already built, and even then support whole omnibuses full of wives and children, though proscribed as we are from the benefits of the Land Bill, the people of the United States must allow that we far excel all other portions of their population in real smartness.

God and our country, now and forever, one and inseparable!

An Address by Elder George A. Smith, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, July 4, 1854.

Gentlemen and Ladies—Fellow Citizens—I arise here to address you a few moments upon a subject which has, perhaps, been worn threadbare by orators, statesmen, and divines, for the last seventy years, in the minds of a great portion of those who have been in the habit of listening to speeches upon the battles of the Revolution, and the causes which put it in motion. The subject has become trite. Every schoolboy who reads American history is, perhaps, better versed in it than he could be with anything that I can advance, by pursuing the old beaten track, or continuing in the channel which has been so long worn. Yet I may safely say, with all that has been said, its real merits have scarcely been approached.

The causes which produced the American Revolution were so far behind the veil, that the writers of American history and the orators who expatiate on the subject on occasions like this, and on other occasions, have not acknowledged that it was the Almighty—the invisible and omnipotent hand of Him who made the heavens and the earth and the fountains of waters, who worked the secret wires, and opened up the revolutionary scene, to lay a foundation and prepare a people, with a system of government, among whom his work of the last days could be commenced upon this earth.

Persons present today may consider that no other country in the world would have allowed the persecutions and oppressions that have fallen upon the work of God in this land, of which many of you have been partakers. But in this you are mistaken; for there is no nation under heaven among whom the kingdom of God could have been established and rolled forth with as little opposition as it has received in the United States. Every species of oppression and opposition, which has aimed at the destruction of the lives and liberties of the members of this Church, has been in open violation of the laws of the country; while, among other nations, the links of the chain of government are so formed that the very constitution and laws of the country would oppose the government of God. This is the case almost without an exception.

I will say, then, the American Revolution had its beginning behind the veil. The invisible providence of the Almighty, by his Spirit, inspired the hearts of the Revolutionary Fathers to resist the Government of England and the oppressions they had submitted to for ages. When ground to dust, as it were, in their mother country, the first settlers in this land looked to the West. They fled from oppression, and planted their standard upon American soil, which was then a wilderness in the possession of savages. The climate, productions, extent, and nature of the country was then unknown to distant nations. It appeared, however, to offer an asylum for the oppressed, even at that early day.

A party escaped from oppression, and landed in Massachusetts; another party, for a similar cause, left the mother country, and landed in Connecticut; and so a number of the early States were formed by settlers who fled from their native country through religious oppression. The young colonies grew until they became somewhat formidable, and began to realize that they were entitled to some common national privileges; that they had a right to the protection of certain laws by which their ancestors were protected; and also that they had a right to an equal voice in the making of those laws.

It is my intention to notice a multiplicity of minor circumstances, to portray the tyrannical spirit that prevailed in the English Parliament, and which were only so many sparks to feed the flame of revolution. What was the greatest trouble? The right of making their own laws was denied them by the King and Parliament; and if they made laws, the King claimed the right of abrogating those laws at pleasure, and also appointed officers who could dissolve the National Assembly and levy taxes without the consent of the inhabitants of the Colonies.

These were the main causes of the Revolution. God caused these causes to operate upon the minds of the colonists, until they nobly resisted the power of the mother country. At that time Great Britain stood pre-eminent among the nations of Europe, and had just finished the wars against several of them combined. God inspired our fathers to make the Declaration of Independence, and sustained them in their struggles for liberty until they conquered. Thus they separated themselves from the parent stock; and, as an historian of that age quaintly said, when they signed that Declaration, if they did not all hang together, they would be sure to all hang separately. Union is strength.

But how does this Revolution progress? That is the question. Has the great principle that colonies, territories, states, and nations have the right to make their own laws, yet become established in the world? I think if some of our lawyers would peruse the musty statutes at large, they would find that there are several colonies of the United States who have seen proper, under the limited provisions then given them, to enact laws for their own convenience; but they suffered the mortification of having them vetoed by the General Congress. Look, for instance, at the statutes in relation to the Territory of Florida, and see the number of laws enacted by that people, and repealed by act of Congress.

It is curious to me that the progress of the Revolution has been so small, referring to that which is produced in the minds of the whole American people. Every organized Territory, wherever it exists, has the same right that the early revolutionary fathers claimed of Great Britain, and bled to obtain—that is, of making its own laws and being represented in the General Assembly as a confederate power.

This Revolution may possibly increase in the future, and is, no doubt, progressing at the present time. One individual in particular, during the present session of Congress, has become so enlightened as to say in the House, “You have no business with the domestic relations of Utah;” and, consequently, I think the principle is making headway.

The United States have increased greatly in power, majesty, dominion, and extent, having half-a-dozen Territories at once already organized, and others calling for an organization. Says the General Government to these organized bodies at a distance, “You may send a Delegate here, but he shall have no voice in the General Assembly; and if you make any laws that do not suit us, we will repeal them, and we will send you a Governor who will veto everything you do that does not exactly suit us.” I want to see the Revolution progress, so that the great head of the American nation can say to every separate colony, “Make your own laws, and cleave to the principles of the Constitution which gives that right.”

For me to rehearse the battles of Washington, and the incidents in the struggle for freedom which every schoolboy knows, would only be to consume time to little advantage. What has been the result? Our forefathers, by their blood, have purchased for us liberty; but as far as the rights of the weak are concerned, the Revolution has progressed slowly. For instance, the Territory of Oregon forms a provisional Government for itself, and then petitions Congress to receive her under their fostering care. The result is, they send them a convoy of Governmental officers, which, by-the-by, never have time to get there; and if they should happen to arrive there, they are unwilling to stay; and thus the people have been left, a whole year at a time, without a regular set of officers. They are deprived of the privilege of voting in favor of or against the officers who are appointed to rule them, and of being heard, through their Representative, in the halls of Congress. Who wants to go there, and not have a voice with the rest of them? Although we have sent a most eloquent gentleman to represent this portion of the American nation, and one who can cry “poor pussy” among them to a charm, yet, at the same time, he cannot have the privilege of voting on any question, however detrimental to liberty and the Constitution.

But the Revolution is progressing, and the time is not far distant when Territories will enjoy privileges that have been held back for the purpose of pandering to a relict of that monarchy which oppressed the American people. Is it reasonable that people dwelling thousands of miles from the parent Government should not have the same privilege of regulating their own affairs as those who live in its vicinity? It is the same kind of oppression and restraint that was placed upon our Revolutionary Fathers by the King and his Parliament. The American Government has fallen into the same errors, touching this point, as the British Government did at the commencement of the Revolution.

This is what I have to say on the rise and progress of the American Revolution. It is progressing slowly. While the nation is extending itself, and increasing in power, wisdom, and wealth, it seems, at the same time, to remain, in some respects, on the old ground occupied by the mother country in the early settlement of this land. I raise my voice against it, for I love American Independence: the principle is dear to my heart. When I have been in foreign countries, I have felt proud of the American flag, and have desired that they could have the enjoyment of as much liberty as the American people.

At the same time, we have a right to more liberty; we have a right to elect our own officers and have a voice in Congress in the management of the affairs of the nation. The time is coming when we shall have it. The Revolution will by-and-by spread far and wide, and extend the hand of liberty and the principles of protection to all nations who are willing to place themselves under the broad folds of its banner.

These are about the remarks I wished to make, and the ideas that were in my mind. May God bless us all, and save us in his kingdom. Amen.

Remarks by President Jedediah M. Grant, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, June 28, 1854.

I am pleased that this Conference convened upon the 27th, for it is a date written indelibly upon our memories.

We have been blessed in hearing the testimonies which have been borne by Presidents Young and Kimball, and Elder Taylor. I think the majority of this congregation, though they might not be able to bear as strong a testimony as those who have spoken, can bear testimony that the Lord our God, by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, has revealed to them that Joseph Smith, while he lived, was a Prophet of God, inspired by the revelations of the Almighty to unfold the eternal truths of heaven to a perishing world.

I believe that the feelings of this people respond to the testimony that has been borne today; and if we should wait here for all this people to express their feelings in relation to their confidence in Joseph Smith as a messenger of heaven, and in the revelations of God through him, we should have to wait many years.

There are some things we know by seeing, and other things we know by hearing, tasting, smelling, &c.; but the light of the Eternal Spirit that brought us out of darkness into the Church of God is the great abiding testimony of this people.

Indeed, men have apostatized after they have seen and heard Joseph, after they have seen angels, after they have seen the sick healed, and after they have spoken in tongues and prophesied, and had the interpretation of tongues. You will recollect that long since I gave you my advice in relation to the proper time a man ought to apostatize. My advice was that he should never apostatize in a dark and cloudy day—never when he felt bad—never because he felt hard towards his brother or brethren in the Church; but when he apostatizes, he should wait for a clear day, when everything around him is prospering; and then, before he apostatizes, he should ask counsel.

In relation to men’s apostatizing, I recollect in the upper room of the Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, when we were assembled there, a very noted man, by the name of Sylvester Smith, bore testimony of what he had seen of the Prophet of God, of angels, &c. He said he wanted to bear testimony, and continued to say, “I have spoken by what you call the Holy Ghost; the eyes of my understanding have been touched, and I have seen convoy after convoy of angels; I have laid hands on the lame, and they have leaped like an hart; I have spoken with tongues and had the interpretation thereof; I have seen the sick healed time after time—but let me tell you, everything I have seen and everything you have seen is the height of idiotism.” This was Sylvester Smith, after he apostatized.

This was the testimony of an apostate, which is conclusive proof to me that a man may see the hosts of heaven—the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof, and gaze on the glory of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost; and unless he retains the Spirit of God, he will apostatize. Therefore my advice to the Saints has been, and is, and whenever I give you good advice in the future, it will be the same, that you propose in your hearts never to depart from God or from his people, only when you are filled with the Holy Ghost; and then when you do it, ask counsel of his servants.

I felt glad when brother Brigham nominated John Smith, the son of Hyrum, to be our Patriarch. I have been acquainted with his father personally. I have lived with him for years, and I know the spirit that is in his son; and I know the Lord God has promised to bless his children, and that his Spirit will rest upon his son, to unfold and teach the eternal truths of heaven to bless the people of God.

I would rather have a young man to fill this office than an old man who is filled with the leaven of sectarianism. Give me a man who was raised by a “Mormon” father and a “Mormon” mother, and raised up in the faith from his childhood. That is the man I want to bless me and the people of God.