Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, August 3, 1862.

The way of life and salvation is mapped out so plainly in the Old and New Testaments that any man may read and understand, yet people do not understand. The most approved geography and map fail to give a description and delineation of any people or country so perfectly as to exclude all possibility of more being known by personally visiting and examining the country or people described. A mere geographical description has a claim only upon our belief, but to gain a perfect knowledge of the country or people described it is necessary to visit that country and people; having obtained this know– ledge, you in turn become a witness to others of what you have seen, heard, handled, or felt. So it is with the Gospel.

We may read the history of the life of Christ, admire his moral and religious teachings, be impressed with awe by the description of the character and works of the Father and God of the universe, be made acquainted with the means he has devised to prepare mankind to enter his presence, but it is necessary that we should follow Christ, put into actual practice the lessons of Christ, and obey the ordinances of Christ, to know for ourselves the saving effects they produce in mankind. A mere theory amounts to but little, while practice and obedience have to do with stern realities. In this way the ancients obtained a knowledge of the true God. “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.”

Although the character of God is plainly described in the Scriptures, yet mankind do not understand it, but have imagined to themselves a God without form or location. It is written in the Scriptures, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” Again, “But the natural man (or as we now use the language, the fallen or sinful man) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.” In no other way can the things of God be understood. Men who are destitute of the influence of the Holy Ghost, or the Spirit of God, cannot understand the things of God; they may read them, but to them they are shrouded in darkness.

We try to tell the people how to be saved; and if we have not the fulness of the Gospel, it is not upon the face of the earth. If we have not the Priesthood of Heaven, it is not possessed by any people upon earth. The Priesthood of the Son of God to the children of men is a perfect system of government—a heavenly institution among men—designed to bring them back into the presence of God to partake of the fulness of his glory. The power of all truth dwells in the bosom of our Father and God, which he dispenses to his children as he will, by the means of his eternal Priesthood. He is enthroned in the light, glory, and power of truth. He has abided the truth, and is thereby exalted, and his power, light and glory are eternal. The Gospel and the Priesthood are the means he employs to save and exalt his obedient children to the possession with him of the same glory and power, to be crowned with crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal lives.

“We alone have the words of life,” is a great saying; who can hear it? “If you Latter-day Saints are the only people who have the words of life, why are you so despised, hated? Why have you been under the necessity of leaving your homes and possessions?” For no other reason than the following—“God ministered unto him (this first Elder) by an holy angel, whose countenance was as lightning, and whose garments were pure and white above all other whiteness; And gave unto him commandments which inspired him; And gave him power from on high, by the means which were before prepared, to translate the Book of Mormon; Which contains a record of a fallen people, and the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles and to the Jews also; Which was given by inspiration, and is confirmed to others by the ministering of angels, and is declared unto the world by them—Proving to the world that the holy scriptures are true, and that God does inspire men and call them to his holy work in this age and generation, as well as in generations of old; Thereby showing that he is the same God yesterday, today, and forever. Amen.” This is all the reason that I know of.

“Have the Mormons been persecuted for their evil deeds?” If they have, shame on their persecutors, for if any Latter-day Saint breaks the law of his country he is amenable to that law, and it provides a suitable penalty. The Latter-day Saints live and always have lived in a land of law, and if they have transgressed the law, shame on a community, like the people that live under the Government of the United States, to persecute them instead of prosecuting them. An instance cannot be found upon the records of any court in the United States where the leaders of this people have been legally convicted of a breach of law and order.

Joseph Smith was arraigned before Judge Austin A. King, on a charge of treason. The Judge inquired of Mr. Smith, “Do you believe and teach the doctrine that in the course of time the Saints will possess the earth?” Joseph replied that he did. “Do you believe that the Lord will raise up a kingdom that will fill the whole earth and rule over all other kingdoms, as the prophet Daniel has said?” “Yes, sir, I believe that Jesus Christ will reign king of nations as he does king of Saints.” “Write that down, clerk; we want to fasten upon him the charge of treason, for if he believes this, he must believe that the State of Missouri will crumble and fall to rise no more.” Lawyer Doniphan said to the Judge, “Damn it, Judge, you had better make the Bible treason and have done with it.”

I was not in Missouri at the first of our people’s going there, but I have searched diligently to find whether any of the Latter-day Saints have ever been convicted in any of the courts of Missouri for transgressing the law, and, so far as I could learn, such an instance cannot be found on the court records of that State. “Then why are you persecuted?” Because the Lord has committed unto us the words of eternal life to deliver to the world, which, if they will obey, will bring them back into the presence of the Father and the Son.

The world will not receive the Gospel, unless they can have it on their own terms, and will persecute the few that do receive it. We preach the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, and this gives offense to the wicked; they become angry with God, with Jesus Christ, and with his Saints; God and Christ they cannot reach, but the Saints they can persecute as long and as much as they are permitted.

“But were you not persecuted for teaching that odious doctrine called polygamy?” No. We were planted in these valleys before it was publicly made known to the people. Only a few of Joseph Smith’s intimate friends knew it previous to its being published to the world, which was several years after his death. We have not been driven from our homes since it was published.

“Do you not aggravate your enemies by your close communion habits?” I speak for myself; I acknowledge that I do not fellowship much of their conduct, nor do I expect to, unless it is better than some of it has been; and I will say further, it is hard for me to fellowship the conduct of some who profess to be Latter-day Saints.

Polygamy in Utah and polygamy among the Christian nations of the world at the present day are very different. Polygamy in Utah is an honorable transaction for we marry our wives, and openly acknowledge them and their children. It is a very different matter elsewhere; women are seduced and secretly kept as mistresses as long as they please their unprincipled seducers, when they are cast off to meet, if it were possible, a worse fate; their children are not acknowledged, but are thrown upon the world unprotected, and left exposed to be carried away by the dark and turbid stream of crime, to end their wretched lives in prison, upon the gallows, or in some other violent manner.

Did the Devil believe that Joseph Smith was an impostor? He knew that Joseph Smith was a true Prophet. Did the first priest who persecuted Joseph Smith, when Joseph was about nineteen years of age, believe that Joseph was an impostor? No. The Devil and his emissaries are not afraid of an impostor; for the world is full of imposition. Men who lecture against God, Jesus Christ, and the Bible, are not persecuted, but figure in what is called the best society. This proves one saying of the Savior, that the world loves its own; and those that the Lord has chosen out of the world, they hate and persecute. Infidelity, under some popular name, makes its way to the altars of Christian sanctuaries, and its supporters receive the honor of this world. But when Joseph Smith came before the world bearing testimony that Jesus lived, that he had seen him, declaring that he was his witness, and that Jesus was the Savior of the world, that he had spoken from the heavens and had revealed in these days the fulness of the Gospel for the salvation of men, that the Old and New Testament were true and contained the plan of human redemption, he was cast out, and the cry—“False Prophet, false Prophet, away with him,” was almost universal.

Who can justly say aught against Joseph Smith? I was as well acquainted with him, as any man. I do not believe that his father and mother knew him any better than I did. I do not think that a man lives on the earth that knew him any better than I did; and I am bold to say that, Jesus Christ excepted, no better man ever lived or does live upon this earth. I am his witness. He was persecuted for the same reason that any other righteous person has been or is persecuted at the present day.

The world have the Gospel preached of them, but they do not receive it, and they wish to drive the Priesthood and its supporters from the earth. “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” Had Jesus Christ been an impostor and of the world; the world would have loved its own. Had Joseph Smith been an impostor and of the world, the world would not have hated him, but would have loved its own. Had Joseph Smith made political capital of his religion and calling, and raised up a political party, he doubtless would have become celebrated and renowned in the world as a great man and as a great leader.

The world fears a concentration of feeling and union of action. We say that we live in a Republican Government, and we hold that we have the best national constitution in the world; but a wicked people will corrupt themselves and do wickedly under any government, and, in so doing, will sooner or later be destroyed. The most excellent human or divine laws are of no use to earthly or heavenly beings, unless they are faithfully observed. Law is for the protection of the law-abider; and the penalty of the law is for the lawbreaker. God cannot acknowledge a divided government as his, wherein some are of Paul, some of Apollos, &c.

The Church of Jesus Christ could not exist, and be divided up into parties. Where such disunion exists in any government, it ultimately becomes the means of the utter overthrow of that government or people, unless a timely remedy is applied. Party spirit once made its appearance in heaven, but was promptly checked. “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” They were cast out; and if our Government had cast out the Seceders, the war would soon have been ended. This placed the Spirit of Evil on the earth. Those evil spirits are not permitted to receive tabernacles of their own, and that is their condemnation and punishment. They have been known to take possession of the bodies of men and women, and rather than to be without a body, they have entered the bodies of brutes. All such spirits and all embodied spirits who violate wholesome laws and abuse the rights and privileges guaranteed unto them will be hurled down to hell.

The people in the States have violated the Constitution in closing their ears against the cries of the oppressed, and in consenting to shedding innocent blood, and now war, death, and gloom are spread like a pall over the land, which state of things will sooner or later spread all over the world. The world is at war against the truth, and against those who propagate it. Are they opposed to canting hypocrites in the garb of parsons? No. Will they ridicule a black-attired blackguard and pelt him with mud and rotten eggs, even though he should lecture against God, Christ, and the Holy Scriptures? No, but they will fight against the truth which has been reveled from heaven, “And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” The wicked hate the light because it maketh manifest their evil deeds, and they love to dwell in darkness, thinking to cover their sins from the public gaze and from the eye of God; but in the due time of the Almighty their deeds will be exposed upon the housetops. This is the reason why the religious and political factions of this land united their energies to slay the Prophet Joseph Smith, and to banish the religion of Jesus, because they saw that it would instruct, inform, and unite the people.

It may be said that the Roman Catholics are as much united as the Latter-day Saints, but is it in righteousness? No. I have not read that the Roman Catholics of late years have taken patiently the spoiling of their goods and suffered the loss of all things for their religion. Though this may not be positive proof of the truth of any religion, for it is well known that fanatics will suffer horrible torture for a false and foolish religion, more than is required of the Lord for true Christians to suffer for their religion, except in cases when his providences may require for certain wise purposes. Votaries of false systems of religion will at times court persecution, with a view to establish their religion and give it notoriety. The most effectual way to establish the religion of Heaven is to live it, rather than to die for it. I think I am safe in saying that there are many of the Latter-day Saints who are more willing to die for their religion than to faithfully live it. There is no other proof can be adduced to God, angels, and men, that a people faithfully live their religion, than that they repent truly of their sins, obey the law of baptism for the remission of sins, and then continue to do the works of righteousness day by day.

Some few who profess to be Latter-day Saints have been unruly and froward, not respecting the rights and property of others. The army that was quartered in our vicinity introduced more corruption and iniquity than had been made manifest for years. Whether to be thankful or sorrowful for this, sometimes I am at a loss to know. The wicked that were among us have been made manifest, and many of them have left; this is a result we have no cause to mourn over. There are still a few who are impatient of control, will go their own way, will steal, lie, swear, get drunk, &c. Their works make them manifest, and we know them. We also know upon whom we can depend in a time or trouble; a good sailor is always found at his post, both in calm and storm. The good soldier is ready to resist the enemy, and not to shake hands with him and be tamely taken prisoner. The time of storm, and trouble is the time to prove ourselves to God and to one another.

We desire to be a great deal better than we are as individuals and as a people, and if we are faithful, we shall be. Praise to the faithful Latter-day Saints, who are striving to serve God with all their hearts. Let all Latter-day Saints learn that the weaknesses of their brethren are not sins. When men or women undesignedly commit a wrong, do not attribute that to them as a sin. Let us learn to be compassionate one with another; let mercy and kindness soften every angry and fretful temper, that we may become long-suffering and beneficent in all our communications one with another. No man can ever become a ruler in the kingdom of God, until he can perfectly rule himself; then is he capable of raising a family of children who will rise up and call him blessed. On the other hand, if the Elders of Israel do not pay attention to this and improve themselves in every possible way, their families will see their weaknesses and follies, can have no confidence in them as leaders, and will scatter away from them and join themselves to more substantial, wise, and reliable fathers and leaders.

Shall we as a people ever become popular in the world? Yes, when righteousness reigns triumphantly on the earth. In the end, when the judgment is set and the Judge of all the earth makes his appearance, he will place upon his right hand Abraham and Abraham’s seed, and all those who have obeyed the Gospel of his Son, and they will inherit the earth and its fulness, while the sinner and the ungodly will be cast into prison to pay the uttermost farthing.

May the Lord help us to live so that we may be accounted worthy of all the glory our Heavenly Father has in store for us. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, July 13, 1862.

I will use, for the foundation of my remarks, words found in Rev. 11th chap., 15th verse—“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.”

How near to this text I shall preach, I know not; there is enough in it to answer my purpose, and it is one upon which a great deal can be said.

The plan of salvation cannot be told in one discourse, nor in one day, one month, or one year, for it is from everlasting to everlasting, like the Priesthood of the Son of God, without beginning of days or end of life. The Gospel we declare unto you leads to eternal life, and this kingdom is the kingdom of God which he has promised, by the mouths of his Prophets, that he would set up in the last days—a kingdom that must triumph over all the ills that afflict the family of man, and usher in everlasting righteousness.

Man has wandered far from his Maker—far from the path of rectitude his Heavenly Father has marked out for his feet—and is walking in a way strewn with dangers; he has left the true light, and is walking in darkness; rejected the wisdom and intelligence that is from Heaven, and has become benighted in ignorance and unbelief, neither knowing God, nor the object of his own existence upon the earth. This darkness and ignorance must be dispelled by the preaching of the Gospel, and as many as will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and walk in all the ordinances of God blameless, will be numbered with his Saints and be gathered into his kingdom, to be further taught the principles of eternal life.

The kingdom of God in the latter days must triumph upon all the earth, subdue every species of sin, and destroy every source of sorrow to which downtrodden humanity has been subject. The work of making the kingdoms of the world the kingdom of God and his Christ has commenced; and all the inhabitants of the earth, without exception, will yet acknowledge Jesus to be the Christ, to the glory of God the Father. All mankind are individually interested in this Latter-day Work, for all have a future, whether glorious or inglorious.

Man is created for a glorious purpose—for a life that is eternal. A great deal is comprehended in the two words “eternal life;” they entirely exclude death. We have no death to preach, for we should never practice the principles of death, but pursue the path that leads to the continuation of the lives. The world will be revolutionized by the preaching of the Gospel and the power of the Priesthood, and this work we are called to do. In its progress every foolish and unprofitable custom, every unholy passion, every foolish notion in politics and religion, every unjust and oppressive law, and whatever else that is oppressive to man, and that would impede his onward progress to the perfection of the Holy Ones in eternity, will be removed until everlasting righteousness prevails over the whole earth. Such was the design of the preaching of the Gospel in the days of the Apostles.

It is written in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, “And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.” Using the same figure, the Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are called to right up the world. To turn it over is a gigantic work, but it will be done, for both the righteous on earth, and the sanctified in heaven are working at it, and all power both in heaven and on earth is given to the Savior by his Father. It is our business to fully comprehend the sayings and doings of the Savior in his mission on the earth, which is life to all who believe and endure to the end in the pursuit of life eternal.

A lifetime is too short to tell the extent of the mission of the Savior to the human family, but I will venture to use one of his sayings, in connection with what I have already quoted from the book of Revelation. When he was arraigned before Pilate to be tried for his life, he said to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.” Connect this saying with “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God,” and we can understand how the kingdom of Christ is not of this world, because it is established in peace, unlike all worldly kingdoms which are established in war. The motto of his kingdom is “Peace on earth and good will towards men,” and hence not after the order of worldly kingdoms.

It was remarked this morning that the Book of Mormon in no case contradicts the Bible. It has many words like those in the Bible, and as a whole is a strong witness to the Bible. Revelations, when they have passed from God to man, and from man into his written and printed language, cannot be said to be entirely perfect, though they may be as perfect as possible under the circumstances; they are perfect enough to answer the purposes of Heaven at this time.

The saying, “My kingdom is not of this world,” and the saying, “The kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of God and his Christ,” at the first glance would appear palpable contradictions; but when they are read with their proper connections and by a person whose mind is enlightened by the power of the Holy Ghost, instead of contradiction between them there is seen to exist a perfect harmony. Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the last days, had a happy faculty of reducing the things of heaven to the capacity of persons of common understanding, often in a single sentence throwing a flood of light into the gloom of ages. He had power to draw the spirits of the people who listened to him to his standard, where they communed with heavenly objects and heavenly principles, connecting the heavenly and the earthly together—in one blending flood of heavenly intelligence. When the mind is thus lit up with the Spirit of revelation, it is clearly discerned that the heavens and the earth are in close proximity—that time and eternity are one. We can then understand that the things of God are things which pertain to his children, and that the expression, form, and sympathies of his earthly children pertain to their Great Father and Creator.

It has been thought by some that the kingdom Jesus established on the earth, when he was here in the flesh, was not the kingdom Daniel saw. Pardon me, if I differ from this view and say that it was the very kingdom that Daniel saw, but it was not then the time to establish it in its fullness, it was not then the time for the kingdom of God to subdue all other kingdoms as it would in the latter days.

Jesus came to establish his spiritual kingdom, or to introduce a code of morals that would exalt the spirits of the people to godliness and to God, that they might thereby secure to themselves a glorious resurrection and a title to reign on the earth when the kingdoms of this world should become the kingdoms of our God and his Christ. He also came to introduce himself as the Savior of the world, to shed his blood upon the altar of atonement, and open up the way of life to all believers. When Jesus came to his own they received him not, but said, “This is the heir, let us kill him and seize on his inheritance;” and they caught him and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. Had the Jews received him as the heir, and treated him as such, he would have established his kingdom among them at that time, both spiritually and temporally; and they would have gathered the lost tribes that wandered from Jerusalem, would have overcome their enemies, possessed Palestine in peace, and spread to the uttermost parts of the earth and possessed the kingdom under the whole heavens.

Again, at the time the children of Israel left Egypt if they had then received the Gospel Moses had for them, the kingdom would then have been given to them, and it never would have been broken up, and the house of Israel never would have been smitten and scattered to become bondsmen among the nations. If the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, previous to the Egyptian bondage, had been faithful, they would have received the keys and power of the kingdom, and would never have gone into Egypt to suffer four hundred years in bondage, but they by their wickedness rejected the kingdom.

When God speaks to the people, he does it in a manner to suit their circumstances and capacities. He spoke to the children of Jacob through Moses, as a blind, stiffnecked people, and when Jesus and his Apostles came they talked with the Jews as a benighted, wicked, selfish people. They would not receive the Gospel, though presented to them by the Son of God in all its righteousness, beauty and glory. Should the Lord Almighty send an angel to rewrite the Bible, it would in many places be very different from what it now is. And I will even venture to say that if the Book of Mormon were now to be rewritten, in many instances it would materially differ from the present translation. According as people are willing to receive the things of God, so the heavens send forth their blessings. If the people are stiffnecked, the Lord can tell them but little.

The kingdom that Jesus came to establish is the kingdom Daniel saw, but that stiffnecked, rebellious generation would not receive the Gospel, and he did not fully establish his kingdom at that time. Could the Lord consistently have given them power over their enemies to whom they were subject while in this state of rebellion to God and his laws, they would have become more wicked than the Romans or other heathen nations of the land. Had he given them power over the Egyptians in the days of Moses, they would have become more wicked than the Egyptians, and would have used this saving power to bring upon them a more sure and terrible destruction.

The Lord called upon Moses, and he stood amid the thunders and lightnings of Mount Sinai. Moses was a good and great man, but he had lived with and so often been aggravated by a wicked, murmuring, and rebellious people that he could not look upon God in his glory, but he could hear his voice and converse with his Heavenly Father in the pillar of cloud and fire. He was, on one occasion, in company with seventy Elders of Israel, permitted to see the back parts of the Almighty. He received the law of carnal commandments for Israel from the mouth of God. I believe with all my heart that if the children had been ready to receive the Gospel in all its fulness, the yoke of carnal commandments would never have been placed upon their necks. Moses was a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, and yet he partook of the sins of the children of Israel to such a degree that he could not see the face of God.

The very kingdom that Jesus said was not of this world would in his day have been permanently established in this world, if the people could have received it, but they would not have the man Christ Jesus to rule over them; they turned away from the holy commandments, and preferred fables. When Jesus stated that his kingdom was not of this world, he did not mean to convey the idea that it had no right to be on this earth, but that his kingdom was a righteous, holy kingdom, and not like the wicked kingdoms of the world; and the wickedness of the world was such that he could not then establish his kingdom upon this earth.

When Moses went into the mountain to converse with the God of Israel, the cry was heard in the camp, “where is this Moses?” And they made a molten calf of the jewelry they had borrowed from the Egyptians, and said, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, tomorrow is a feast of the Lord. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings, and the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play.” There was as much sense in this proceeding as there is in people’s worshipping their property and money at the present day.

The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, and he wishes to establish his kingdom upon it. I do not think any person will start a single argument to prove that the Lord does not own this earth and all that is upon it. All Christians acknowledge that the earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof, and that Jesus is the Christ and heir of all things.

One excellent idea that was advanced this morning, I will venture to carry out a little further. The time was when the test of a Christian was his confession of Christ. In the first Epistle of John it is written, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” This is no test to this generation, for all men of the Christian world confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. This generation, however, is not left without a test. I have taught for thirty years, and still teach, that he that believeth in his heart and confesseth with his mouth that Jesus is the Christ and that Joseph Smith is his Prophet to this generation, is of God; and he that confesseth not that Jesus has come in the flesh and sent Joseph Smith with the fulness of the Gospel to this generation, is not of God, but is antichrist. All who confess that Joseph Smith is sent of God in the latter days, to lay the foundation of his everlasting kingdom no more to be thrown down, and will continue to keep his commandments, are born of God. All those who believe in their hearts and confess with their mouths that Joseph Smith is a true Prophet, at the same time trying with their might to live the holy principles Joseph the Prophet has revealed, are in possession of the Holy Spirit of God and are entitled to a fullness. When such men go into the world to preach the Gospel though they know not a letter in a book, they will do more real good to erring man than the great and wise can possibly do, though aided by all their learning and worldly influence in the absence of the gift of the Holy Ghost. When the spirit of the preacher is imbued with the Spirit and power of God, his words enter the understandings of the honest, who discern the truth and at once embrace it to their eternal advantage.

Every person who seeks to know right, to understand every principle of truth pertaining to the earth and the heavens, and by obedience to the laws of the Gospel to obtain the Spirit of truth from the great Fountain of truth, when he hears a truth, whether moral, religious, scientific, or mechanical, whether it pertains to God, to man, to the heavens, or to the earth, that truth is congenial to his feelings, and it seems to him that he had known it all his life. Notwithstanding the dreadful effects of the fall of man, almost all men delight in truth and righteousness. If men are not righteous themselves, as a general thing they honor and revere a righteous person more than they do the wicked and froward. A few in these latter days have ventured to stem the current of iniquity; defying the finger of scorn, they have raised their hands to Heaven saying, “we are for God.” They repeat a glorious text, “The kingdom of God or nothing.” It is with them, “Heaven or nothing.” The Lord must reign and rule.

We did not produce ourselves. We did not make the earth, nor stretch out the starry heavens. We have not sought out the wisdom of him who formed the foundations of the great deep, nor explored the vastness of his skill in the formation of the finny tribes. “Who removeth the mountains, and they knew not; who overturneth them in his anger. Who shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble. Who commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars. Who alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. Who maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades and the chambers of the south. Who doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.”

Philosophy has tried to search out God, but it stands aghast amid the great and wondrous works of the great Supreme. It acknowledges a great Designer and Framer of the universe, but how to approach him, it findeth not. This great Being is the God of the Latter-day Saints; to whom we accede the right of reigning over the workmanship of his own hands. It is his right to control the gold and the silver, the wheat and the fine flour, yea, all the elements that have been enumerated by the searching eye of philosophy and science, and those that are past finding out by mortals in their present state. Has an unholy principle, a wicked influence that leads to death, the right to control the ability and power to do good which God has placed in man? No. God alone has the right to control the intelligence that is in the human family, for he is the giver of it.

Religious people talk a great deal about doing wondrous great things for the Lord—about doing this, that, and the other for the glory of God. Every good that man performs is, firstly, for his own benefit and eternal welfare, if he continues in well doing, and secondly, for the common good of others, so far as his example and the influence of good done effects others. We may, for comparison’s sake, imagine a great king who has many kingdoms to dispose of and many sons to give them to, but one of his sons will not have his kingly father to rule over him, neither will he accept of any of his favors. Now, if anybody suffers loss in this case, it is the proud, rebellious son; the father can give the kingdom, that he otherwise would have given to his wayward son, to a more worthy subject. He is all powerful, and bestows ability to whom he will to become powerful like himself. “If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High.”

The generations of men from the beginning have refused to pay homage to their God, and to render unto him that which belongs to him. If men serve God, it is to their advantage; but they suppose that they sacrifice a great deal for God and do him a great service, and are enriching him and impoverishing themselves. Render unto God that which is God’s. I care not whether it be gold, silver, or copper. When men extract the precious metals from the earth, they breathe the air, drink the water, and eat the food that belongs to God.

I could give the reasons why the servants of God, from the beginning, have not been able to establish his kingdom on the earth, but I have not time to do so today. In these latter days, the kingdoms of this world will become “the kingdoms of our God and his Christ,” and those who have gold and silver and wealth of other descriptions, and refuse to devote it to the Lord, are blind and naked and destitute of that wisdom which comes from above. The breath that is in their nostrils is not really their own. All people live upon the bounty of the Almighty, yet they say that the precious metals are theirs, and they will devote this wealth to their own service, revel in luxury, and do as they please. Those who possess the wealth of this world, possess it by the permission of the Almighty, and then they go needlessly on in the way to destruction. How long? Until their race is run.

All must have the privilege of proving to God and angels what they will do with the talent and ability God has given them, whether they will waste their blessings in pandering to unholy appetites or use them in the way God has designed they should. This is one great reason why men are permitted to do as they do. It is an orthodox doctrine that God has decreed whatsoever comes to pass. He has decreed many things to come to pass, but not all things. He has not decreed that one man shall blaspheme his name, and that another shall often be found on his knees praying to him; this is left to the free volition of the creature. All the inhabitants of the earth have had the privilege of proving themselves before God in their lifetime whether they delighted in that which was right or that which was wrong, and according to that, those who have been without law will be judged without law. What better, in the sight of Heaven, are those who place their affections upon earthly wealth, than the children of Israel who worshipped a calf?

Those who wish to join us in this great work, must do as we have done, to obtain that which we have obtained. It is not our business to question the validity of any of the laws and ordinances of God. It is no matter to us how simple the ordinance he requires us to submit to, in order to attain a certain end. He has said, “he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” If he has instituted baptism in water for the remission of sins, it is not our business to question his right to do this, by quarrelling with the mode of this ordinance. If he had told us to dig a hole in the ground and bury ourselves for a certain length of time, it is his right to do so, and our advantage to obey. Whenever the Gospel has been preached in any age of the world, the ordinance of baptism has been in force. It had the same validity in the days of Adam, Enoch, and Noah as in the days of Jesus Christ and his Apostles, or as it has now.

An angel of the Lord visited Adam, when Adam was offering up sacrifice. The angel asked him why he was offering up sacrifice. Adam replied, “I know not, but this I do know, the Lord has commanded me, therefore I offer up sacrifice.” It may be said that Adam was very ignorant. It was designed by the Lord that his previous knowledge should pass from him.

“Jesus answered and said unto him (Nicodemus), Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mothers womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” A man must be born again before he can see the kingdom of God; and must be born of water and of the Spirit, before he can enter therein.

It may be asked whether any person can be saved, except those who are baptized. Yes, all the inhabitants of the earth will be saved, except those that sin against the Holy Ghost. Will they come into the presence of the Father and the Son? Not unless they are baptized for the remission of sins, and live faithfully in the observance of the words of life, all the rest of their days. “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” A question was asked Joseph Smith if all would be damned, except the Latter-day Saints. He answered “yes and most of the Latter-day Saints, unless they repent and do better than they have done.”

The glory of those who are not permitted to enter into the presence of the Father and the Son will be greater than mortals can imagine, in glory, excellency, exquisite pleasure, and intense bliss. It has not entered into the heart of man to conceive of the greatness of their glory. But the glory of those who enter into the presence of God exceeds all these in glory, as the light of the sun exceeds the light of the moon and stars. All these different glories are ordained to fit the capacities and conditions of men.

Let me say a word in praise of the congregation before me. Here I see people who have gathered from almost every nation of the earth, and they have brought with them their national customs, traditions, education, fashions and language; yet this mixed people dwell together in peace: all nationality gradually subsides, and we see a universal blending into one, possessing the same feeling and spirit of our holy religion, all being determined to promote the kingdom of God on the earth, looking forward to the day of rest. What other community less needs the services of lawyers, magistrates and judges than this community? This is a joy to me.

The Lord designs to set up his kingdom in our day, and the commandments he requires us to obey and the duties he makes obligatory for us are easy. We can perform all he requires of us, without hurting us in the least.

Some contend that there is no virtue in the water, but there is virtue in him who has made the commandment, and he has power to pardon sins. Were I to command you to wash your bodies and you refused to do so, your filthiness would cleave to you, and you alone would suffer the inconvenience.

We break the bread, which represents the Lord’s body, as he has commanded, in remembrance of him, and that he will come to earth again when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and his Christ. We pour out water or wine in remembrance of his blood which was shed, and in token of the time when he will drink of the fruit of the vine anew with us in his Father’s kingdom, when he comes again and the kingdoms of this world becomes the kingdoms of our God and his Christ. The kingdoms of this world must be prepared for his coming by the proclamation of the Gospel, or be wiped out of existence.

The whole world have lost confidence in themselves and in their God. How can it be restored? By beginning to serve God, and then trying to induce every man and woman to join heart and hand in this moral reformation. By associating with those with whom you can trust your wealth, honor, good name, virtue, and integrity, and inviting all to join you who are full of integrity and honor, and who will treat you as the angels of God would if they were here. We must restore the integrity and confidence which have been lost to the world. The kings upon their thrones have to pay for their positions, for they cannot trust themselves in the hands of their attendants, without bribery. Only the semblance of honor, integrity, and confidence are to be found in the world, and even that brings a high price; however, this general remark has its honorable exceptions. We must find men and women that we can trust with everything that is sacred to us, or the kingdom of God can never be established upon the earth. The Lord will not acknowledge a people who will falsify their word and are unvirtuous; he will not long trust a man of that kind with any of the affairs of his kingdom. He will not trust an unvirtuous people with his Holy Priesthood. He will not trust a people with property—with earthly wealth—who will covet the same and use it to pander to their lusts, and otherwise devote it to the power of the enemy of God and man.

The business of the Latter-day Saints is to bring forth the kingdom of God in the last days, morally, re– ligiously, and politically. Will they do it? I rather think they will, with the help of God. No matter what the enemies of God and his cause do with our name, or with our means; no matter how often they hurl us from our habitations and drive us from city to city, and from county to county, let every one of us be found standing upon the pedestal of truth and virtue, defiling not our persons by sin in any way. Let us esteem all that we are permitted to possess as given to us of the Lord; whether it be gold, silver, goods, houses, lands, or wives and children, they are all the Lord’s. These blessings are only lent to us. When we have passed this earthly ordeal and have proven to the heavens that we are worthy to be crowned with crowns of glory, immortality and eternal lives, then the Lord will say these are yours, but until then we own nothing.

Will all believe as we believe? I know not. I would be pleased if all men would believe the truth and practice righteousness. If they have truth in their possession, I wish them to be as generous with it as I am. I freely impart to my fellow beings all the truth I know of, and all the rules of godliness I am in possession of. My religion teaches me to embrace all truth in the heavens, on the earth, under the earth, and in the bottomless pit, if there is any there. My creed embraces all truth. If you have truth that I have not, let me know it, and it will come to where it belongs; and if I have truth which you have not you are welcome to it. There is no need of debate and contention in regard to truth and error, for debate tends to create a spirit of bitterness.

There is no need for war and bloodshed, for the earth is large enough for all. The elements of which this earth is composed are all around it. Philosophers say the at– mosphere is forty miles deep. Be this as it may, there are no bounds to the elements that compose worlds like this. This earthly ball, this little opaque substance thrown off into space, is only a speck in the great universe; and when it is celestialized it will go back into the presence of God, where it was first framed. All belongs to God, and those who keep his celestial law will return to him.

Many inquiries are made as to what will become of that portion of the world of mankind who have died without law. When we return to build up the waste places of Zion, then will the Scripture be fulfilled—“Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.” The servants of God will officiate for the dead in the temples of God which will be built. The Gospel is now preached to the spirits in prison, and when the time comes for the servants of God to officiate for them, the names of those who have received the Gospel in the spirit will be revealed by the angels of God and the spirits of just men made per– fect; also the places of their birth, the age in which they lived, and everything regarding them that is necessary to be recorded on earth, and they will then be saved so as to find admittance into the presence of God, with their relatives who have officiated for them. The wicked will be cleansed and purified as by fire; some of them will be saved as by fire. Some will be given over to the buffeting of Satan, that their spirits may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Others will receive their bodies, but cannot be saved in the kingdoms and mansions that are in the presence of God. All the children of men will receive a glory in the mansions of God according to their capacities, and rewards according to their acts in the flesh.

Brethren and friends, do you naturally despise such a doctrine as this, or does it find a response of welcome in your bosoms? My soul says, Hallelujah, every moment I think of the ample provisions God has made for his sons and daughters. They will not welter in hell to an endless eternity, but they will rise higher and higher, and continue to increase in intelligence and love of truth as they advance. There will be an eternal progress in the knowledge of God.

May God bless the people. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, July 6, 1862.

The religion of Jesus Christ gives light for darkness. The Gospel we have received is sent “to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.” The life of a Christian is said to be full of pain, tribulation, sorrow, and excruciating torments; of fightings without and fears within, of anxieties, despair, gloominess, and mourning. His path is supposed to be spread with gins, pitfalls, and uncertainties, but this is a mistake, for “The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day,” while “The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: but the just shall come out of trouble.”

The faith I have embraced has given me light for darkness, ease for pain, joy and gladness for sorrow and mourning, certainty for uncertainty, hope for despair. We talk about having grace to endure, and pray, “O Lord, give me grace to endure the pains I receive in this thorny path that leads to heaven, the scoffs and sneers of this unfriendly world, that I may bear the name of Jesus honorably while I live.” It is right to pray for grace, but let me shape this prayer a little differently, and ask God my heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, to open the eyes of my understanding, and teach me the truth as it is, then shall I see that I am walking in the light and not in darkness. “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” The true people of God are far removed from that pain which the sinner and the ungodly constantly endure. They are removed from it as a people politically, and as families, and as individuals. Compare, for instance, the colonial history of the United States with the history of the settling of the wild and desolate regions of Utah by the Latter-day Saints, and you will learn that the sufferings of the first settlers here from Indian outrages and other causes, will scarcely supply enough for a comparison. And whole companies of emigrants to California and Oregon have been massacred, their flesh given to wild animals, and their bones left to bleach upon the plains. Almost fifteen years ago one hundred and forty-six souls started from Winter Quarters (now Florence) to settle in this Valley. We arrived here in safety, stayed thirty days, returned the same season, and not a single person was lost by the way. If any of our company was taken sick, there were a hundred prayers ascending to God for the recovery of that sick person. How is it with gold hunters? Do they pray for their sick, and administer to them by the laying on of hands? No, they do not believe in any such thing, but the sick suffer and die. When any among us were taken sick we laid hands upon them and they were healed. I was told, on one occasion, by one of the camp, that Br. Taft had the mountain fever and could not live till morning; we dipped him seven times in the river, and the next day he was comparatively well.

Oh! What a great sorrow it is to be a Saint. How mournful the thought, when we contemplate the contrast between the Saint and the sinner? We have ease for pain, comfortable health for sickness, joy for mourning and light for darkness. “This is all very good,” says one, “but your religion is so unpopular in the world.” There is not another religion so popular as this in the courts of heaven. Without the garb of a Saint you cannot be admitted to the presence of the Father, and to Jesus, the Mediator between God and man. No religion is popular there but the religion of the Bible. Episcopalianism, Methodism, Quakerism, Catholicism, Presbyterianism, and all their collateral branches are unpopular in the celestial kingdom of God, while the religion of Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the patriarchs and prophets, Jesus and his Apostles, is the only acknowledged and popular system of religion with the sanctified ones in the presence of the Father and the Son. “But,” says a Presbyterian, “Abraham was a polygamist.” He was. “And you say that his religion is popular in heaven.” It is the only religion acknowledged there. I have not time now to dwell upon all the points of Abraham’s faith, but he did believe in a plurality of wives, and was a practical polygamist. And Paul says, “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Did Abraham believe in Presbyterianism? Not much. Did he believe in Quakerism? Not much. Each of the different sects of religion has some truth, and so far as they have the truth so far did Abraham believe. But is the religion of any one of the sects, as a whole, the religion of heaven? It is not. We all desire to join the popular party. Light, truth, and intelligence are the side that is popular with the heavens, and the side that will rule, govern, and control the nations. If we join that society we then all become popular with the popular party. Some people will render themselves ridiculously conspicuous on purpose to become popular. Their desire for popularity or notoriety is so great that they will not hesitate to do a mean act to gain it. The great majority want to be on the strongest, wealthiest, and most popular side, and to be connected with that family which is possessed of immense wealth, influence, and power. Many of my brethren of the Elders of Israel rise up here to speak to the people, and they cannot give utterance to their ideas. What is the matter? They are fearful of making a slight mistake in their language, which they think would make them unpopular. I wish they were as I am in this respect, and did not care what people may think or say, but pour out what the Holy Ghost shall give them to say, regardless of consequences. We all want to be on the side that will produce the most safety, the most joy, and the most sterling happiness. I can say, without fear of successful contradiction that the man or woman who believes that the religion of Jesus leads into a thorny path, does not understand nor enjoy the true religion of heaven.

We can say to all the world that the persecution which the Latter-day Saints have received, and the misery they may have suffered in consequence thereof, will not begin to compare with the misery and real suffering they are now receiving in the United States in consequence of war. In Missouri our bleeding feet stained the prairies, but now they are shedding each other’s blood to curdle and bake in the sun, or to be licked up by dogs and wild animals, while their flesh is given to vultures and wolves. We were invited to sign away our property to pay the expenses of our persecutors, and we were permitted, as a body, to take away as much of our moveable property as we could; but now the Secessionists are robbed and pillaged without mercy, their houses are burned over their heads, their barns are destroyed, their food and clothing are taken, and the women and children are left without anything to eat, drink, or wear, while their husbands, fathers, and brothers are either killed or taken prisoners. In the same manner the Secession party fall upon the Federals or Union men, and whip them, rob them, and hang them up at their own doors and in the presence of their families. Then comes a third party who are called May-walkers or Jayhawkers, but more properly they are buccaneers or land pirates, and they rob everybody that is left after the Union and Secession parties have done their worst. Have we ever suffered like that? I think not. When they come across a small settlement of Secessionists they plunder and destroy it, and when they come across a hamlet of Unionists they serve it in the same manner. Did the Latter-day Saints ever see such times? They never did. They never suffered anything in comparison to what the people in many of the States are now suffering.

It is right the brethren and sisters should have grace to sustain them in doing right, and it is right they should pray for it, but I would rather they possessed good sound common sense to begin with, and know what to do with the grace of God when they received it.

I never try any other way to please people only by pleasing myself and my God. If I can please God I can please myself; then I care very little whether anybody else is pleased or not, because if they are pleased with God and godliness they will be pleased with me. When Elders preach or lecture among the Saints or to the world, if they do so to satisfy themselves they have done well. When you have pleased yourselves it is very probable that you have pleased human beings like yourselves.

When journeying the Saints organize as perfectly as they can for safe and comfortable traveling. We appoint one man to this duty, another to that, and every man attends to his duty. If a wagon is broken the captain at once arranges to have it put into traveling order. If there is a sick person in the camp, he either goes himself or details somebody to administer to the sick by anointing with oil, laying on of hands, and prayer. Perhaps a sister is fainting by the way; she is worn out; the journey is too much for her. The captain procures for her such nourishment as can be found in camp, to give her strength and ability to endure the further fatigues of the journey; doing everything he can to restore the sick to sound health, and giving them all possible comfort and aid. Is there the same care and fellow feeling manifested in the trains of emigrants who are passing over the country in search of gold? Each person is seeking to better his condition, and they have no interest that extends further than self. It is with them as with the man that prayed, “O Lord, bless me, my wife, my son John and his wife, we four, no more. Amen.” They are for themselves, and not for the kingdom of God. They know that the world is going to destruction. They see the whole world in confusion—one party seeking to destroy another in the vain hope of building themselves up. The present Government of the United States is self-destroying, as they are now proving.

If there is one class of persons on earth who need comfort more than another, it is both the poor and rich who will not serve God. Those who serve him are comforted all the day long; they walk in the light of his salvation, dwell under the smiles of his countenance, and the works of their hands are abundantly prospered. Still some apostatize from all this light—from this great salvation—to get gold. The reason of this is not because they have to suffer so much for their religion, but because they have not enough good common sense. What is the grace of God? Who can define it? You say it is the favor of God. If you had good common sense, you never would be out of his favor. He is the Father of our spirits—the Great Ruler of the Universe. If we had enough common sense to understand things as they are, we certainly would choose to serve him, and be on the strongest side.

Do we intend to make our final abode in hell, or in heaven? If we mean to be in heaven we must become faithful Latter-day Saints; if in hell, we may be anything we please, no matter what. I profess to be a Latter-day Saint. I believe that the Old and New Testaments were given by the inspiration of God, and since much adulterated by uninspired translators, which makes it necessary for one to have the Spirit of revelation from God to read and understand them. I believe the doctrine that the Lord taught to Adam in the garden, and that Adam taught to his children, that Enoch taught to his city three hundred and sixty-five years, preparing a people to go into the presence of God the Father. I believe the doctrine taught by Noah, who was instructed of God to build an ark to save himself and family from destruction in the great flood. I believe the doctrine Abraham taught, that Isaac, Jacob, and the Patriarchs taught. I believe all the doctrine Moses taught to be the word of the Lord. I believe in the law of carnal commandments as he did; it was for them, and not for us. It was a yoke placed upon their necks because of their disobedience to the higher law of the Gospel. Jesus Christ removed that yoke, and told them to follow the law of the Gospel. Some Christians throw away all the Old Testament except some portions of the Prophets; but Moses had the Gospel; Jethro had the Gospel, and the house of Jacob were urged to receive it, but they would not; so the Lord told Moses to give them a law of carnal commandments that would be grievous for them to bear.

The people generally would not have the revelations which the Lord delivered to Joseph Smith, unless he would give them a law of carnal commandments like that which he gave to the children of Israel, and how long was it before they were in conversation with the spirit world, being led to destruction by strong delusion which God sent them, because they would not receive the truth? “And when they say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God?” They would not receive revelations from God, but, as they were told, God suffered them to have revelations that they would believe, that they might believe lies and be damned. Moses tried to give the children of Israel the law of the Gospel, but they would not receive it. The Gospel was revealed in those days, as much so as in the days of Christ and his Apostles. They had the Melchizedek Priesthood, and were entitled to all the promises and blessings then as in the days of the Apostles.

When Jesus came to preach the will of his Father, he came to his own, but they would not receive him. He said to them, “I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.” The Jews wanted to make laws to guide God and his children. They believed many of the doctrines that Abraham believed and taught. They practiced polygamy, as did Abraham, the Patriarchs, Moses, David, and the Prophets down to the days of the Apostles.

Monogamy, or restrictions by law to one wife, is no part of the economy of Heaven among men. Such a system was commenced by the founders of the Roman empire. That empire was founded on the banks of the Tiber by wandering brigands. When these robbers founded the city of Rome, it was evident to them that their success in attaining a balance of power with their neighbors, depended upon introducing females into their body politic, so they stole them from the Sabines, who were near neighbors. The scarcity of women gave existence to laws restricting one wife to one man. Rome became the mistress of the world, and introduced this order of monogamy wherever her sway was acknowledged. Thus this monogamic order of marriage, so esteemed by modern Christians as a holy sacrament and divine institution, is nothing but a system established by a set of robbers.

The Congress of the United States have lately passed a law to punish polygamy in the Territories of the United States and in other places over which they have exclusive jurisdiction. In doing this, they have undertaken to dictate the Almighty in his revelations to his people, and those who handle edged tools, unless they are skillful, are apt to cut their fingers; and those who hand out insult to the Great I Am, in the end, are apt to get more than they have spoken for.

Why do we believe in and practice polygamy? Because the Lord introduced it to his servants in a revelation given to Joseph Smith, and the Lord’s servants have always practiced it. “And is that religion popular in heaven?” It is the only popular religion there, for this is the religion of Abraham, and, unless we do the works of Abraham, we are not Abraham’s seed and heirs according to promise. We believe in Jesus Christ the Mediator of the new covenant, who has introduced the Gospel for the benefit of the human family, to happify, exalt, and glorify them in the presence of the Father, not to make them miserable, not to torture them, nor cause them to walk in the gloomy path of grief all their days. We rejoice in this Gospel, it is all glory, hallelujah, peace, and comfort. We believe in following the admonitions and instructions of the ancient Prophets and Apostles, and of all good men in this our day.

I do not make these remarks to cast reflections upon any being, but we should strive to know the mind and will of God and to be filled with his Spirit. I wish the Saints to be filled with the Spirit of understanding; and I never want to again hear a Saint say, “Oh, how we suffer for the religion of Jesus! We suffer more than the wicked,” while at the same time, we are better clad, better fed, and better looking, and our hearts are filled with joy, while the hearts of the wicked are filled with sorrow and mourning. All the cheerfulness, gladness, comfort, exuberance of spirit, joy, bliss, peace, and brightness of expression that can be bestowed upon individuals are possessed and enjoyed by the sanctified in heaven, and if we are prepared by the principles of eternal life, the same halo will shine through our countenance and make our faces bright with glory.

Whatever leads to vanity, lightness, and worldly-mindedness is not the joy of heavenly beings, but the nonsense of the wicked world. There are men in this kingdom who cannot discriminate between that which is of God and that which is not of him, and who are at a loss to know how far to go and not sin. The very moment you have a doubt upon your mind that what you do is not exactly right, then stop and pursue that course which you know is right, and in which you can enjoy the clear, warm, cheering, peaceful influence which cometh from God as an earnest that you are doing right, then shall you be blessed in all your works here below, and fill up your days in usefulness. I heard a man say, the other day, who is in the evening of his days, that if he had never done much good, he had never done any evil that he knew of. God will receive all such in the heavens, when they put off this mortality.

I feel to bless and not curse. Had I the power I would rather avert an evil that I saw coming upon any individual or people, and see them led into the path of blessings, though it should cause my words to fail.

May God bless you. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, June 15, 1862.

I love to speak to the Saints, when I am blessed with ability to speak in a manner to please myself. I have proved that when I can become fully satisfied with my own actions, and am well pleased with myself, then I please and satisfy my neighbors. People ought always to be pleased with themselves when they do the best they can.

It is fully proved in all the revelations that God has ever given to mankind that they naturally love and admire righteousness, justice, and truth more than they do evil. It is, however, universally received by professors of religion as a Scriptural doctrine that man is naturally opposed to God. This is not so. Paul says, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of God,” but I say it is the unnatural “man that receiveth not the things of God.” Paul, in another place, says, “if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” That which was, is, and will continue to endure is more natural than that which will pass away and be no more. The natural man is of God. We are the natural sons and daughters of our natural parents, and spiritually we are the natural children of the Father of light and natural heirs to his kingdom; and when we do an evil, we do it in opposition to the promptings of the Spirit of Truth that is within us. Man, the noblest work of God, was in his creation designed for an endless duration, for which the love of all good was incorporated in his nature. It was never designed that he should naturally do and love evil.

When our first parents fell from their paradisiacal state, they were brought in contact with influences and powers of evil that are unnatural and stand in opposition to an endless life. So far as mankind yield to these influences, they are so far removed from a natural to an unnatural state—from life to death. Adam and Eve did not sin because it was in their nature to love sin, but, as Paul says in his Epistle to Timothy, “Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.” The enemy of all righteousness deceived the woman, and Adam went with her that man might be, and that she might be saved in childbearing.

I hold that it is easier to do right than wrong, and that it gives more real satisfaction, more sterling happiness, and more self-respect to any person to do a good deed than to do an evil deed. “Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward,” and that in consequence of sin’s being in the world.

Brother G. D. Watt has exhorted us to let truth be the standard to all our sayings and actions. While he was so fervent for the truth I thought of the harlot Rahab who, by faith, perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. It appears that this ancient harlot told the king of Jericho that the two spies went out of the city when it was dark, about the time of the shutting of the gate, while at the same time she had hid them on the roof of her house under some stalks of flax. This is an instance where a slight departure from the truth produced more real good than a strict observance of the facts in the case would have done, for by screening the two spies from the custody of the King of Jericho the harlot saved herself and her father’s house. We call simple facts, truth; but the truth must be held in righteousness. “Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.” It is more natural for a person to tell the truth than to lie. All the works of God are founded in truth, and that truth must be held in righteousness.

You remember that a few weeks ago the Elders of Israel were advised to practice what they preach, and not do a thousand things they are glad the people do not know. There are many acts of some of the best of mankind that they are thankful are not known in the streets and in their families. I would not be willing to say that this is the case with all men, or that it is so in the midst of this people, because the best of this people do as well as they know how, and live lives they need not be ashamed of before God and the hosts of heaven and hell. A great many wrongs are committed more from mistake and ignorance than design; and in judging of wrongs done it is more just to judge according to design than according to the exterior appearance or the sight of the eye.

It is much easier to live the life of a Saint than to live the life of a sinner. There is more real good obtained and more real profit gained in being honest and in telling the truth as it is, than in taking the opposite course. If you are selling an animal and it is a little faulty, deceive not the purchaser to get from him more than the animal is worth, but reveal its faults and ailings, and deal upon upright principles. I will explain this by relating a circumstance. When I was quite young, a man by the name of Hezekiah Wales, a great horse jockey, traded upon this principle. He had a horse that seemed to be the embodiment of every wrong way. A traveler rode up on a worn-out animal and must have that very horse, and would exchange in the trade the one he was riding. Mr. Wales wanted five dollars and the worn-out horse for his animal. The traveler thought this was rather too much, and asked Mr. Wales what his horse was good for: “Will he work in harness?” “No.” “Is he a good riding horse?” “No.” “Can he do anything at all?” “Yes; if he has a mind to.” “Is he worth anything?” “No, not a cent.” The traveler could not be beat off, and made the exchange. This circumstance also illustrates a leading trait in the character of man, he will not be turned aside from his purpose, if it is within his power to accomplish it. Should he undertake to travel to the south, east, west, or north, a recital of all the dangers that lie in his path will not turn him from his purpose, he will follow the bent of his own inclination, should he lose his life in so doing. This is human.

I will take the liberty of differing with many of my brethren with regard to how we should conduct ourselves towards our wives. I am a great lover of good women. I understand their nature, the design of their being, and their worth. I have been acquainted with hundreds of men, before I came into this Church, who before that, if they did not dictate every five dollars or fifty cents that they had in their pockets, their wives were ruling over them. On this point I shall differ with all who differ with me. If I have five dollars and I can spare it, and my wife wants it, I tell her she is welcome to it. What do you want to get with it, wife? “Oh, something that pleases me.” I do not believe in making my authority as a husband or a father known by brute force; but by a superior intelligence—by showing them that I am capable of teaching them. If I have a wife that wants to be humored with five dollars, yes, take it; I would humor her. If I commit wrong towards my family, it is because I let them use what they should not, or that which I might bestow upon the poor. I may humor them too much. I will humor a child with everything I consistently can. Does not God, in his providences, bear and forbear with us in our weaknesses and sins? How many times shall I forgive a brother, and bear with weaknesses in him that are common to all men? So long as he does not intend to commit willful sin.

When our little children handle things that are in their way, the knives, forks, pins, needles, anything, and scatter, waste, and lose them, and these little faults are committed every few minutes throughout the day, shall we forgive the children or whip them? We will always forgive them until they are taught better, and learn to know good from evil, right from wrong. Our Father in heaven deals with us his children upon this principle. Do I believe in humoring too far? No. My Priesthood and calling as a minister of salvation must be honored; and if the Lord has placed me to be the head of a family, let me be so in all humility and patience, not as a tyrannical ruler, but as a faithful companion, an indulgent and affectionate father, a thoughtful and unassuming superior; let me be honored in my station through faithful diligence, and be fully capable, by the aid of God’s Spirit, of filling my office in a way to effect the salvation of all who are committed to my charge.

When I was first married I was told that my wife would rule over me, because I was too indulgent; I do not think that she did. Wife, when you spin you may set the wheel where you please; and when I come in to sleep if you have moved the bed from the northeast corner of the room to the southeast corner it is all right, if you are pleased. This course is much more manly than to quarrel with her because she has moved the bed without your permission, or has put the shovel and the tongs on the left instead of on the right hand side of the fireplace, at the same time giving her to understand that you are the master of the house. But wife, I have made you a good water bench, and a sink, and under the sink have made a place for the swill pail, and I would like to have you to keep the pails in their respective places. If you will put the swill pail where the water pail should be, I must go somewhere else to drink water, and not run the risk of drinking out of the swill pail in the night. I can show you wife, where to put everything in your house. If she wants so many tucks in her dress, yes, put in as many as you want, for you have to spin and weave the cloth; make the dress as you please, that is your business; and if I have five dollars that is not otherwise appropriated you are welcome to it. But if I have five dollars in my pocket that I owe and have promised to pay tomorrow morning, it must be paid.

If a woman can rule a man and he not know it, praise to that woman. They are few who know well the office of a woman from that of a man. Imbecility is marked upon the people of the present age. All who have their eyes open to see and their minds enlightened to understand things as they are, will subscribe readily to this declaration. When the servants of God in any age have consented to follow a woman for a leader, either in a public or a family capacity, they have sunk beneath the standard their organization has fitted them for; when a people of God submit to that, their Priesthood is taken from them, and they become as any other people.

I shall humor the wife as far as I can consistently; and if you have any crying to do, wife, you can do that along with the children, for I have none of that kind of business to do. Let our wives be the weaker vessels, and the men be men, and show the women by their superior ability that God gives husbands wisdom and ability to lead their wives into his presence. I want the brethren and sisters to kindly manage their affairs indoors and out, taking good care of that which belongs to them, and being contented in their lots and stations.

God bless the righteous, and I do not care how soon the wicked are overthrown. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, June 8, 1862.

The miracles wrought in the days of Moses for the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage, as they are recorded in the Old Testament, appear to be wonderful displays of the power of God. I need not here rehearse the history of the children of Israel, with which the majority of this congregation are well acquainted, but I wish to say that if all instances where the power of God has been displayed through the Elders of this Church were written, we should find that as great and wonderful miracles have been wrought among this people as have been wrought among any people in any age of the world, and yet this Church is only in its infancy. The children of Israel, it is written, were brought out of Egypt with an high hand and an outstretched arm, to inherit a land flowing with milk and honey; we have assembled in these distant valleys for the trial of our faith. They were delivered out of a dreadful bondage, leaving none behind; we have willingly sold and otherwise left our possessions, at the same time leaving friends, parents, companions, &c., behind. The distance to their land of promise was but a few miles from the country of their bondage, while a great many of this people have traversed over one-half of the globe to reach the valleys of Utah.

Brother Goddard spoke this morning in relation to the words of the Lord pertaining to the saving of paper rags. His remarks were amusing, and had he coupled some of the ancient revelations and sayings, recorded as the Lord’s, with his remarks concerning paper rags, those remarks would have been still more amusing; such for instance, as “If a bird’s nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young: But thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days.” Again, “Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass together.” Again, “Thou shall make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself,” &c., &c. Seeing many such instances as these in the Bible, we cannot marvel at a man’s talking about paper rags in a religious meeting, and saying that it is the word of the Lord or at least the word of wisdom that we should save our rags.

Let us realize one fact in addition to the great miracles that have ever been exhibited among God’s people. From the beginning of the world to this time, when the Lord has gathered together a people to be a chosen people to him, he has always begun to educate them by instructing them in the little things pertaining to life, which he never does when his people remain mixed with the wicked. Before the Lord, through Moses, called upon the children of Israel to leave Egypt, he had no such instructions for them as we have quoted; he had nothing to say to them about governing themselves, nor about driving out their enemies before them, nor taking a course to sustain themselves: in fact, they were far below this people in the scale of independence and civilized life. In righteousness this people far excel the ancient Israelites; indeed, I would not wish to compare the righteousness of the children of Israel with the righteousness of the Latter-day Saints, for multitudes of the Latter-day Saints will enter into the rest of the Lord, but only two persons out of the hosts of Israel were permitted to do so.

While the meek of the earth remain scattered among the wicked, the Elders of this Church can go forth with the Old and New Testament in their hands, and show what the Lord is going to do in the latter days, the great miracles he will perform, the gathering of his people, the saving of his Saints, the building up of Zion, the redeeming of the house of Israel, the establishing of the New Jerusalem, the bringing back of the ten tribes, and the consuming of their enemies before them, overthrowing kingdoms, &c., &c., and this is proclaimed to both Saint and sinner. But when the people of God are gathered out to one place, they are then taught the so-called little things that pertain to every day life, which they cannot be taught while they are in a scattered condition. Many come here under a mistaken impression; they think they are gathered to this place to be told how people live in heaven, to receive a minute description of the inhabitants of heaven, to be told how they asso– ciate together, whether they live in cities, of what the houses are built, what kind of architecture prevails there, how the cities are laid out, and how the heaven of heavens is built, who dwells there, where the inhabitants came from, their stature and complexion, whether God is a personage of tabernacle or not, what means for locomotion he uses when he visits his friends, what he eats for breakfast, how often he changes his clothes, what style of clothing he wears, of what kind of material it is made, whether they have winter and summer in heaven, seed time and harvest, &c., &c. But no, my brethren, this is not what you have come here for; the Lord has called the people together expressly to teach them the things which pertain to this world and to this life, that they may know how to honor the life he has given them here.

The inhabitants of the earth are ignorant with regard to the design of their being; they are as ignorant in this respect as the wild animals that roam over the plains. They may be very religious, but the religion that is popular in the world now is entirely another thing from the ways of the Lord. Many of their traditions are good, and many of the people possess much good moral religion; I may say, so far as morality goes, that they are just as good as people can be, but they are not taught how to govern and control themselves, they are not taught the worth of their present life. The whole drift, labor, and exertions of the priests of the day among the people are to prepare them to die. I never had such a mission given to me, nor received such a calling from the heavens; I have been called to preach life, and not death. It is my business to teach mankind how to live, how to honor their present existence, how to treat their bodies so as to live to a good old age on the earth, and have power to do good and not evil all their days, and be ready to enter into the rest prepared for the Saints.

Almost any Elder in this Church can preach the Gospel, if he is humble before God; he can tell all that the wicked would need to hear from the Old and New Testament. Many of the Elders are scholars, and when they preach we expect to hear almost a Bible and a half preached before they get through; they can carry you through the historical portions, repeat the sayings of the old prophets, dilate largely upon the doctrinal portions of the New Testament, gauge the morality of the present age by repeating verbatim the moral lessons of the Savior, are at home among the beasts of the Apocalypse and the prophetical heads and horns of Daniel, are thoroughly posted in the time, times, and half-a-time, know the contents of all the vials, when they will be poured out, can delineate to a nicety the different parts of Daniel’s metal image—in a word, they are paragons in Bible lore, but if you ask them whether they know how to raise potatoes to feed their wives and children, their answer is “No.” Do you know how to raise grain for your bread? “No.” Do you know how to raise watermelons? “No.” Do you know how to raise pigs for your meat? “No.” Do you know how to raise chickens? “No.” Do you love to eat them? “Yes.” Do you know how to raise calves? “No.” You may give them a cow and calf, and two years will not pass before they have neither cow nor calf. Do you know how to improve your fruit? “No.” and thus they live without trying to produce for themselves these necessaries and comforts of life. Finally, what do you know? “Why, we know that we must prepare to die.” There are people who have been in this city twelve years, and have not planted in their gardens a single fruit tree. The Lord wishes us to know how to provide for ourselves all things necessary for our comfort in bread, fruit, and clothing.

Sisters, do you know how to make woolen cloth, linen cloth, or cotton cloth? Probably a few of you do. Almost any female can knit a stocking, for this seems to be their employment when they sit down to rest. Children are taught to knit, but the majority never progress any further than this in the art of manufacturing. In addition to this, needlework is generally understood by the female portion of the community, but as a general thing what do they know about making cloth? Very little. They need to be taught; yet they know as much about these matters as the children of Israel did. They also need to be taught, when their husbands bring into the house a hundred weight of flour, not to throw it out of the door; and when they make bread of it to make it light, palatable, and healthy, instead of making cakes as indigestible as a whetstone, that when your husbands come from work and your children from school they may have bread to eat that will sit easy on their stomachs. Many husbands are made sick and many children are sent to an untimely grave through eating badly prepared food, the result of ignorance or carelessness.

This is the place to become acquainted with this knowledge. It is for the husband to learn how to gather around his family the comforts of life, how to control his passions and temper, and how to command the respect, not only of his family but of all his brethren, sisters and friends. It is the calling of the wife and mother to know what to do with everything that is brought into the house, laboring to make her home desirable to her husband and children, making herself an Eve in the midst of a little paradise of her own creating, securing her husband’s love and confidence, and tying her offspring to herself, with a love that is stronger than death, for an everlasting inheritance. There is a saying that a wife so disposed can throw out of the window with a teaspoon more than her husband can throw into the door with a shovel. I am sorry to say that this is too much the case. A good housewife disposes of her cooking utensils, dusters, towels, floorcloths, barrels, buckets, &c., in a neat, cleanly, and labor-saving manner. A good mechanic has a place for every tool, and when he has done using a tool it is returned to its place as by magic, without any apparent effort. I have watched our mechanics here, and, take them first and last, their ways, if not strewed to strangers, are strewed to nonsense. A good farmer takes care of his implements of husbandry. Instead of leaving them scattered all over the farm, they are carefully gathered together, properly cleaned and greased to defend them from rust, and put in a safe place until they are wanted.

There are very few of our farmers that know how to prepare the ground and plant the seed in a way to secure a ready germination and quick growth. I told my farmers this spring how to prepare the ground for sugar cane, and to plant the seed three-fourths of an inch deep. I waited ten days for the plants to show themselves, when I found the seed was put away six inches below the surface, and I thought well laid away from the frost of the winter of 1862-3. It is now beginning to show itself, five weeks since it was planted.

I would that people knew more than they do about these important matters, but we are where we can be taught. Will the people be taught? Will they cheerfully receive instruc– tion and profit by it? I hire the best gardeners I can find, and they are ignorant of their business; they scarcely know one apple from another or one fruit tree from another. If I spend five hundred dollars to have a strawberry-bed made, I may perhaps get a quart or two of the fruit; I may safely say that I shall not receive enough fruit to half cover the outlay. I can instruct any man how to improve seedling fruit, and have it as good as the imported kinds. The best fruit that ever grew will deteriorate under bad management and neglect. I advise farmers and gardeners to understand their business and make it profitable; also to mechanics would I give the same advice. And I would advise the sisters not only to save their paper rags, but to learn how to properly and profitably dispose of new cloth when they get it.

Cleanliness and neatness of person are desirable and good to see, but this may be carried to an extreme that is both tiresome and expensive; there is a class that is more nice than wise. Nothing less than linen pocket-handkerchiefs by the dozen will answer for some of our ladies. “Husband, don’t get me less than three dozen handkerchiefs, for I must have from three to half-a-dozen a day, it is so nice to be clean.” When they have used a handkerchief twice or three times, it is thrown into the washtub to be rubbed to pieces and wasted away. In this way you get no good of your money; the article is not worn out in service, but it is washed out. Then, when you hang and pin your clothes on the clothesline, they are left to be whipped to pieces in a high wind, and are more used up in one operation of this kind than if they had been worn three months. It is useless for husbands to suggest to them the expediency of taking the clothes in, for they will let them remain notwithstanding, and be worn out. Go into the kitchens of these very nice, neat wives who can nurse a pocket-handkerchief to a charm and apply it to their nasal protuberances with such refined grace, and you hear Sally asking Sue for the dishcloth. “Where is the dishcloth?” It is found stuffed into a mousehole, or Jim has just come in from the canyon and is washing his feet with it. Then there is an outcry for the knife they cut meat with. “Where is the butcher knife?” Billy has had it out of doors, and has left it in a neighboring ditch. They may have bread and meat, a bread knife and a meat knife, but neither of these articles has a recognized home in the house, and you are just as likely to find them in one place as another. “Where is the bag of flour?” “I don’t know; I think I saw it under the stairs this morning when I was rummaging about.” It is at last found stuck in a dirty corner, with dirty clothes thrown over it, and perforated with mouseholes. The bread pan is lost; the rolling pin and board cannot be found, and when the board is found it has been converted into a checkerboard, and then used in the chicken coop; and when the broom is wanted little Jack is astride of it in the street, deliberately walking through a mud hole. Instead of their houses being houses where order and economy reign, confusion, disorder, and waste prevail.

Some of our professed good housekeepers, in my opinion, come far short of really deserving that character, at least I should think so, were I permitted to see them cook breakfast. There are potatoes to boil, bread to bake, meat to cook, and fruit in stew. Perhaps the first thing that is done is to put the tea to steeping, then fry the meat, then prepare the potatoes for boiling, and about the time the potatoes are done the bread must be mixed; while the bread is baking the tea is spoiling, the meat and potatoes are getting cold and unfit to eat; when the bread is ready, as likely as not the fruit is forgotten, and a great effort has to be made to prepare the fruit; much bustle, confusion, labor, and time have been expended to get the food ready, and when it is served up the tea is not worth drinking, the potatoes are tough, watery, and cold, the meat is dry, hard, and unpalatable, the biscuits are baked too much on the outside and not enough in the inside, while the fruit is only half-cooked; and taking it altogether, it would be better for the stomach to reject such a meal of victuals, if there existed a prospect of dining upon a more wholesome and better prepared meal at noon.

We have been gathered together in these valleys to be taught. We must first learn to control ourselves before we can think to control our fellow creatures. The Lord has given extensive lines of operation to both Saint and sinner, but when he gathers his family he expects them to first master these so-called little things; he wishes us to learn to live with each other, and to surround ourselves with all the common necessaries and comforts of life. Until this is done we are unprepared to receive the greater blessings, for if we had them now we should not know what to do with them. It is our business to live, to learn how to preserve our lives, and labor to make the earth into a Garden of Eden; unless we do this, we are unworthy to possess eternal life. “And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant, because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.” He that is not faithful in the things of this world, who will commit unto him the things which pertain to eternity?

All things belong to the Lord, and we belong to the Lord, and if we are faithful until we have passed the ordeal and proved ourselves worthy before the heavens to receive our crowns, then we shall receive a deed of that which the Lord gives to us. Until then, that which we hold we hold only as stewards for the Lord. It is our privilege to grow and increase continually, to receive knowledge upon knowledge, and prepare to enter upon the higher duties of eternal life. We thus proceed from one step to another until we merge into immortality. We do not become another kind of beings in passing through the resurrection, but we are more refined through the application of the laws of the Gospel to our lives and passing through the grave. The grave will take away every deformity from the mortal organisms of the faithful, and they will be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect.

We have now space to prove ourselves worthy to receive the glory that God has in store for the faithful, but we have to learn the little things first. We are brought here expressly, in the first place, to raise potatoes, grain, fruit, wool, flax, and every other necessary and mortal comfort we can produce in this climate. Some of our Elders will preach until they preach the people blind, and will die in their ignorance and go to hell, unless they learn what their lives are worth and how to preserve them. I am speaking to the Saints. If we do not learn what God has brought us here for, and the nature of the mission he has given us, we may preach the Bible until we are blind and old as Methuselah, and die and be damned at last. It is our duty to learn how to govern ourselves, and how to conduct ourselves pleasingly in the sight of heaven towards our friends, families, and neighbors, building up cities and towns, opening farms, planting vineyards and orchards, and improving our country, until finally, we shall be ready to rule.

May God bless the faithful, and overthrow the wicked and ungodly, and establish his kingdom no more to be thrown down is my daily prayer. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, May 25, 1862.

Our mortal existence is a school of experience. Could we improve every hour of our time in the best possible way until we attain a ripe old age, there will be still much to learn pertaining to this world, pertaining to our natural lives, to the organization of our bodies and spirits, to the object and design of our existence, and the will of Heaven concerning us.

Some of our speakers, in their public addresses, express themselves as seeing great reason to be thankful for the improvements we are making in self-government, and our rapid advancement towards the fountains of knowledge. Others have a long experience to relate of constant trials, tribulations, difficulties, and disappointments which they have now to pass through, and gloomy forebodings of more in the future; they dwell upon how we are tried with each other, and become dissatisfied with each other and with ourselves, &c. Now, this is all good, and if properly received is for our mutual edification and advancement, giving us much to reflect upon, and lessons to learn from the experience of each other. But should our lives be extended to a thousand years, still we may live and learn. Every vicissitude we pass through is necessary for experience and example, and for preparation to enjoy that reward which is for the faithful. Others consider it a lamentable fact that we have to send abroad and preach the Gospel, and gather the people, and then they will apostatize. We only understand in part why we are required to pass through those various incidents of life. There is not a single condition of life that is entirely unnecessary; there is not one hour’s experience but what is beneficial to all those who make it their study, and aim to improve upon the experience they gain. What becomes a trial to one person is not noticed by another. Among these two thousand persons I am now addressing there cannot be found two that are organized alike, yet we all belong to the one great human family, have sprung from one source, and are organized to inherit eternal life. There are no two faces alike, no two persons tempered alike; we have come from different nations of the world, and have been raised in different climates, educated and traditioned in different and, in many instances, in opposite directions, hence we are tried with each other, and large drafts are made upon our patience, forbearance, charity, and good will—in short, upon all the higher and godlike qualities of our nature—for we are required by our holy religion to be one in our faith, feelings, and sentiments pertaining to things of time and eternity, and in all our earthly pursuits and works to keep in view the building up of the kingdom of God in the last days. Our work is to bring forth Zion, and produce the Kingdom of God in its perfection and beauty upon the earth.

The impulses of our different natures present an almost endless variety of pursuit, manner, and expression, yet all this under a wise and judicious direction will accomplish the great end of our existence and calling as ministers of the Most High. “Br. Brigham teaches that it is essentially necessary to improve every moment of our time in some useful and profitable labor, and by frugality and honest care obtain property by cultivating the earth, raising useful animals, &c., and thus make ourselves wealthy and independent, surrounding ourselves with everything to please the eye, gratify the taste, and gladden the heart.” Now, both you and I are aware that there are persons in our midst who do not understand this kind of religion; but we hail them as good brethren. When they address us they are full of faith that the time will come when the earth and its fulness will be given to the Saints of the Most High, yet, should the Lord hand out a small portion of it now, they cannot endure it.

We believe the earth is to be renovated, purified, glorified, celestialized, and prepared for the habitation of the Saints, who will possess not only the silver and gold now held by the wicked nations of the world, but every good thing, for “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.” This “any good thing” will embrace horses, chariots, houses and lands, gardens and orchards, promenades and places for recreation, and everything to amuse and delight the heart of man. We are now beginning to get these things together and devote them to God, but, as I have remarked, some of this people cannot endure this kind of blessings. It is written, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” Again, “And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: his glory is the fulness of the whole earth.” He will give this fulness to the Saints. But the actions of some of this people speak in language like the following: “If you give me any of this riches and glory, Lord, I will apostatize; if you fill my lap with gold, I will cease serving you, and go to the Devil.”

The revelation that Br. James Cummings read is true. The people, at the time that revelation was given, were slow to remember the Lord in the day of their prosperity, and were covetous. I was not there, but was acquainted with many who were. I knew them before they went there, and I know they were covetous and filled with greediness. I know, if the Lord had blessed them with the good things of this earth, which he had prepared for the Saints at that day, not any of them would have stood. It would have been as Joseph said to me in Kirtland, “Brother Brigham, if I was to reveal to this people what the Lord has revealed to me, there is not a man or a woman would stay with me.” In the day of prosperity now the people are slow to follow the Lord. If he were now to bless this people with gold and silver, houses and lands, with everything to make them wealthy and comfortable here in Deseret or Utah, a great many would turn away from him to worship their idols.

“But,” says one, “this will not do for us; if we are the children of God we must be poor, we must see sorrow and affliction, and pass through much tribulation.” I have no fear but that every child of God will receive all the suffering he can bear while passing to his exaltation. Those who have suffered from sore eyes, I am satisfied, are contented not to suffer another moment with that dreadful malady, should they live on the earth a thousand years. The sisters who have been afflicted with sick headache never want to suffer from it another moment. Do you wish to have any more toothache? No, you think that you have suffered enough from that ache, and never wish to have it again while you live. So we may say of fevers, pains, aches, and diseases of every kind to which the human body is subject. I might inquire of the Nauvoo Saints whether they ever want to endure another chill and fever while they live. I am satisfied there is not one of them that would wish to pass through another day of their Nauvoo experience in sickness. Again, I ask the brethren who have come from the different nations of the earth, who have there suffered hunger, nakedness, cold, and oppression, are you satisfied with what you have suffered, without passing through the same in this land? I think you are. I have seen the time that I had not food to satisfy the craving of my nature, and I have suffered enough in this line of suffering. I know what it is to be hungry, and need not suffer hunger again to give me that kind of experience. I know what it is to be in poverty, and to be destitute of the raiment necessary to keep anybody warm. Many of you have also had this kind of experience, and we do not wish to pass through it again. Many of us know what it is to be in the midst of false brethren, which is the most hateful thing of all. Are you satisfied with what you have suffered from tattlers and busy bodies? Yes. Do you wish any person to bear false witness against you, to take away your liberty, and turn you out from your houses and possessions, and thirst for your life? Do you wish to see the Prophets and servants of God imprisoned, bound in chains, and sacrificed in blood? When you are brought face to face with suffering, you see nothing in it that is desirable, then why cultivate a morbid desire for suffering? You will find all you can bear, though you surround yourselves with all the comforts and conveniences of life, and enjoy them as gifts from the Lord, acknowledging his hand, offering unto him constantly the incense of a grateful heart. Leave this kingdom, and I will promise you more suffering than the tongue of man can utter, until you are consumed soul and body—until you are wasted away—the body in the death pronounced upon it, and the spirit in the awful sufferings and torments attending the second death. Then stick firmly to the kingdom, and be satisfied with the pains, aches, and afflictions you have already suffered.

The time has come for us to begin to glorify our Father in Heaven with the earth and its fulness, and let the gold and the silver, and the fruits of the earth, and all precious things produced by the industry of man praise God, and let all men acknowledge his name, honor his character, bow to his divinity, glory in his supremacy, and admire the wonders of his providence over the earth and its fulness. The time has come for us to put forth our best efforts to bring forth the Zion of God and gather all things in one, even in Christ Jesus.

There is a great variety of talent among this people, but as a people they know but little as to the uses of the world in which they live, and the design of God in its creation. There is not one in a million of mankind that is filled with that intelligence that an intelligent being should be filled with, but they pass from this stage of action, are no more, and are apparently forgotten. This is decidedly the case with the world outside, and, very much so with many of this people who have been gathered out from the world. Here they have to think and do a little for themselves, which gives them a course of useful experience. This is not so much so with the outside world, for the great masses of the people neither think nor act for themselves, but are acted upon, and act accordingly; and think as they are thought for; it is, as with the Priest so with the people. I see too much of this gross ignorance among this chosen people of God.

I will now portray a little of the feelings and conduct of the laboring classes. When a man can only earn a dollar a day, and has no way of increasing his finances only by his labor, he is obliged to be frugal, if he is honest, and he manages to keep a wife and a few children comparatively comfortable. By-and-by the times improve and wages rise so that he can earn ten dollars per week instead of six. “Now, wife, we will allow a little more for the bread, and more for the meat, and more for the tea, the coffee, sugar, fruit, spices, &c. We must buy our daughter a pair of fine shoes, and our little boy must have a whistle, and the baby a doll, and you shall have a new bonnet by-and-by, and I must have a pair of fine boots, and a new coat and other things in keeping, for you know, wife, I am now getting ten dollars per week, and by-and-by I may yet double or treble that amount.” In this way they manage to live out all their means. This is a peculiarity in the majority of the old country people, and you can see the same thing here. You say you would rather hear something else than this. I would rather hear this. I am as far ahead in the Gospel and power of God as any of you, I know as much about it as any man in the Church, yet I need to know more. I think it is necessary, however, that you should learn to live today, and tomorrow, this year, and next year, and learn to honor your lives continually. We must prepare for that which is coming, and be ready to receive that which the Lord has in store for us.

I know how you live. Do we see poverty here? We do. How many are there who declare that they cannot pay their emigration expenses, and cannot give anything to bring their friends? You could, if you had a disposition to try. Use just enough of your earnings to make your bodies and your families happy and comfortable, and save the residue. I probably support more than any ten men in the Territory or in this State. I feed and clothe multitudes of men, women and children—and I like the man that gets me in debt to him. I consider that such a man has calculation and management, and is preparing himself to be useful, and to have something in his hands to use and to devote to noble purposes. But I pay men nine, ten, twelve, and twenty-five dollars per week, and when the year comes to a close they are owing me hundreds of dollars, when, if they had managed properly, there would have been a large credit in their favor. There is a class of men here who do not know but what they will apostatize by-and-by, and they do not wish anybody in debt to them, nor do they wish to owe anybody. You had better be about square, the whole of you that wish to apostatize and go off, for you cannot leave the country with your debts unpaid. The better way is to keep in the faith, and pay your debts. When some men are doing well they will become anxious for a change, and they want to raise stock, or possess a farm in Weber or Cache Valley; they go and stay year after year until they are reduced to poverty in consequence of their inexperience in that class of industry, and by-and-by they come back deploring their lack of sense in not knowing when they were well off. I have such persons here to deal with, and I have to keep along with my brethren at this slow rate of progression, until we know how to gather the heavens and the earth.

If there was impatience in heaven they would be impatient with the slothfulness of the Latter-day Saints. The heavens are waiting to be gracious, and are ready to shed forth all the blessings heaven and earth can bestow on the Saints, as soon as we can receive them and make use of them to the glory of God. If we do not first learn the little things, we cannot learn the greater things. “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?”

Every moment of human life should be devoted to doing good somewhere and in some way. We are all dependent upon a Being greater than ourselves, and we owe our talent, time, and every pulse of our nature to the Supreme of the Universe. We have nothing of our own, and ought to devote ourselves to usefulness; we ought to learn to be economical, which, coupled with industry, will make us wealthy. And while we are handling the things of this world, let us not neglect to become rich in faith, in humility, and to learn the ways of God, and be constantly and actively devoted to his service and the building up of his kingdom upon the earth, or the riches of this world will do us no good.

I heard it said to a young lad, “I will give you a dollar and a half a day and board you.” After a little reflection the young lad said, “If you will pay me three dollars a day, I think I will work for you a spell.” The principle of the thing flashed before me, like a flash of light, that such a course would be ruinous to this people. I could see, under such circumstances, that the lad could not live here two years before he would not know how to secure himself a pair of pantaloons; he might receive great wages, and yet be in the depths of poverty; he might be paid more than he earned, and still be needy. “I am getting three dollars a-day,” says a brother. What next? He must have as fine a pair of boots as any man wears in this community, and he will have them. When I was a boy a young man in our neighborhood went into a hat shop to buy a five dollar beaver. He said to Mr. Merrill. “Have you any five dollar hats?” “No, but I have some very nice three dollar hats.” The young gent did not want such a hat; he would not wear such a hat, but said, “I want a five dollar hat.” “Can you make me a five dollar hat?” “Yes.” “When shall I call for it ?” “In two weeks.” Merill took a three dollar hat that fitted the young man, marked it, and put it by. In two weeks the young man called for his hat, when the hatter reached down the same hat the young man had tried on before, saying, “that is a five dollar hat.” “Ah, that is the hat I want; what is the price?” “Five dollars.” He paid five dollars for a three dollar hat, and was perfectly satisfied. That is the case with hundreds of my brethren; they do not know the difference between a three dollar and a five dollar hat. I do not wish to tantalize anyone’s feelings, though I know that I often use extreme cases in comparison.

We have had to feed, clothe, and find house, room, firewood, &c., for quite a number of people in this community. The first place we set apart and devoted to the poor, was a house built by Enoch Reese, in the 13th Ward; we bought that place, and the Bishop prepared it for the poor to live in. We appointed Dr. Doremus to take care of that house. Could we get anyone to occupy it? No, but “if you will build us a house close by the Temple block we will live there, otherwise we will live with our neighbors where we can, and be at liberty to go where we please; we will not have your charity unless we dictate.” Is this not about so, Bishops? (Voices, “Yes.”) Unless a Bishop will suffer himself to be dictated by those who need his aid, they will not have his charity. This, I know, is the extreme in such cases.

What causes poverty among this people? It is the want of discretion, calculation, sound judgment. I am paying men more or less by the day, and where do you see those who get the least wages? Seated back in the barber’s chair three or four times a week. Next at a store to get a box of blacking to put upon fifteen dollar boots, if they can get them. They must have four or five dollar hand– kerchiefs, as fine things for their wives and children, and as much in quantity as any other man has. At the end of the year there are two or three hundred dollars on the debit side of their accounts. This is not good policy in them. Suppose that they want to go on a mission to California after gold, or to apostatize and go away, they have debits upon them that will perplex them. Other poor men want a yoke of cattle, and must have the best yoke that can be had; they want the best wagon that can be bought; and there goes two hundred dollars more. Then they must hire a man to drive the team, and the hired man goes to the canyon with the model team and wagon, and returns home with one of the wheels on the gearing, and a pole under the axletree. “Well, where is the wood?” “Oh, it is yet in the canyon.” “Where is the new axe I bought?” “I forgot it, it is up in the canyon, I expect.” It costs him ten dollars to get the wagon repaired, he pays his teamster a dollar and fifty cents a day, has lost a new axe, and has no wood.

With us the Bible is the first book, the Book of Mormon comes next, then the revelations in the book of Doctrine and Covenants, then the teachings of the living oracles, yet you will find, in the end, that the living oracles of God have to take all things of heaven and earth, above and beneath, and bring them together and devote them to God, and sanctify and purify them and prepare them to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Gold and silver, houses and lands, and everything possessed by the Saints will be purified and cleansed by the power of God, and prepared to enter into the new Jerusalem when the earth is sanctified. We have to learn to handle all things which pertain to the heavens and earth in a way to glorify God, and devote all to the building up of his kingdom, or we cannot magnify our Holy Priesthood and calling.

Some go away because they are poor, some because there is no revelation, some because they have too much revelation, and others because they have gathered gold and silver and enriched themselves by filching from the Saints. I say to all such, go, but first pay your debts, and then steal nothing.

May God bless the righteous. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 27, 1862.

I have been highly gratified at the few remarks I have heard this morning from the brethren who are about to leave us to fulfil their Missions. They have a great deal of talk in them, and they will soon be in their fields of labor where they can free their minds.

Brother George Sims’ remarks created considerable empty levity. I like to be pleased myself; I like to be filled with joy, but if I cannot be filled with joy and gladness that is full of meat and marrow, or, in other words, full of meaning and sense, I would rather retain my gravity.

There is but one step between life and death, between faithfulness and apostasy, between the sublime and the ridiculous. We preach the Gospel and gather the Saints, but are all Saints when they are gathered? No, we gather the goats with the sheep. We gather people here, and then the most trifling incidents that may occur in their lives, contrary to their wishes, will turn them aside, and they will forsake their religion and their God. I am sorry for this.

Never give way to vain laughter. I have seldom laughed aloud for twenty or thirty years without regretting it, and I always blush for those who laugh aloud without meaning.

I am often full of joy and gladness, and were I to give way to the promptings of my nature at such times, it would lead to unreasonable levity which would be a source of mortification and sorrow to me. I noticed that the brethren gave way to that laugh which I choose not to hear. I hope they will accept of this caution, and watch, govern, control and subdue their passions. I am satisfied that those persons who stamp, clap hands, whistle, and make other noisy and boisterous demonstrations in the theaters so untimed and uncalled for, have but little sense, and know not the difference between a happy smile of satisfaction to cheer the countenance of a friend, or a contemptuous sneer that brings the curses of man upon man.

I am rejoiced, my brethren, when I hear the Elders of Israel speak as they did this morning. I care little for a man’s language, if his spirit proves to me that he has the love of God within him. Brother Erastus Snow remarked that the time would come when the law of God would be written on the hearts of the people. A Pharisee and a lawyer asked Jesus Christ a question, tempting him, saying, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” When we can keep these two commandments, do you not think that the law of God will be written in our hearts? Yes, and it will never be erased. When I have a manifestation, through the brethren that speak, that the love of God is planted in their souls, that God rules and reigns in their affections, I care not what language they make use of to express their ideas, there is joy, peace, and solid satisfaction in listening to the words of their mouths.

Brother Erastus Snow has been preaching since he was fifteen years of age, and has been a faithful Minister to preach the Gospel from that day to this, and yet he is troubled with the same diffidence that others are troubled with. When we look upon the human face we look upon the image of our Father and God; there is a divinity in each person male and female; there is the heavenly, there is the divine and with this is amalgamated the human, the earthly, the weaker portions of our nature, and it is the human that shrinks in the presence of the divine, and this accounts for our manfearing spirit, and it is all there is of it. Many public lecturers, by faithful application in their studies and constant practice in public speaking, have overcome to a great degree what is usually called a manfearing spirit.

I am now looking upon beings who are expressly created to inhabit the celestial kingdom of our Father and God. They are the children of God, the brethren and sisters of Jesus Christ, of the same family and descent. My best efforts are too feeble to portray before you the worth of the life we now possess. Probably there is not a single person upon the earth that properly magnifies his life to the fullest extent, or, as it was designed he should, to prepare him to dwell with God and holy angels. Many passages of Scripture can be produced showing how the ancients complained of the folly and wickedness of mankind, but they never undervalued life. The first life must be magnified as a preparatory step to the enjoyment of the second. Those immortal and glorified beings that inherit higher spheres understood this principle, have magnified their mortal existence and passed on to immortality, to possess exaltations in eternal life. We ought not to speak lightly of and undervalue the life we now enjoy, but so dispose of each passing day that the hours and minutes are spent in doing good, or at least doing no harm, in making ourselves useful, in improving our talents and abilities to do more good, cultivating the principle of kindness to every being pertaining to our earthly sphere, learning their uses and how to apply them to produce the greatest possible amount of good; learning to conduct ourselves towards our families and friends in a way to win the love and confidence of the good, and overcome every ungovernable passion by a constant practice of cool judgment and deliberate thoughts.

I feel continually to say God bless the people. God bless the brethren who go on Missions to preach the Gospel, and those who are already in their fields of labor. I desire to see righteousness prevail, this is my whole delight; I have no other business on hand; I wish to have no other. I have no other joy or affection for anything, only the perfection of the kingdom of God, and to see righteousness reign triumphantly. I delight to see my brethren and sisters live in a way to promote that life which will never end. Instead of preparing to die, prepare to live in the midst of all the exaltations of the Gods. I do not mean to leave this world, God being my helper, until sin and iniquity are banished from it, and the reign of everlasting righteousness is introduced, and Jesus Christ comes and reigns king of nations as he does king of Saints, and the earth with all the Saints that dwell upon it are brought into the presence of the Father and Son, there to dwell forever.

God bless you. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 8, 1862.

I wish to inform all the inhabitants of the Territory of Utah, Jew and Gentile, bond and free, male and female, black and white, red, copper-colored, and yellow, that, in organizing a State Government, we shall not infringe in the least upon the Constitution of our country, upon any principle contained in the Declaration of Independence, nor upon any constitutional law that has been enacted by the Congress of the United States. Will this step bring upon us the disapprobation of the Government of the United States? That is not for me to say; it will be as God may direct.

As the kingdom of God rises and advances upon the earth, so will the power of Satan increase to impede its progress until God shall purge that power from the earth, and so give the Saints the victory, that they can bear off his kingdom triumphantly in spite of the powers of Satan and wicked men. But so far as the power of Satan extends, just so far will be seen his operations to overthrow all righteousness. There is nothing that would so soon weaken my hope and discourage me as to see this people in full fellowship with the world, and receive no more persecution from them because they are one with them. In such an event, we might bid farewell to the Holy Priesthood with all its blessings, privileges and aids to exaltations, principalities, and powers in the eternities of the Gods.

I can say with confidence, if we will live so as to enjoy the revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ to ourselves day by day, overcoming every passion, feeling and desire that has been sown in our nature through the fall, overcoming all that is contrary to the law of Heaven and the principles of salvation that is purchased by Jesus Christ for us, which is the plan God has devised to exalt the human family to immortality and eternal lives, if we will let that Spirit and power of God reign within us; we shall never be afflicted more than we can bear, and that is as far as I can promise.

We have seen the power and wisdom that have been displayed by our enemies since we have been in these mountains, which has all amounted to but little toward accomplishing what they desired. No more will be accomplished than has been.

Brother Orson Pratt’s remarks on the powers of the Congress of the United States are strictly correct. It is well known that the Congress of the United States has no power granted in the Constitution to organize a Territorial Government, and every power that is not named in the Constitution for Congress to act upon is reserved to the people. But Congress assumes powers that does not belong to it, and if it continues to do so, soon the last vestige of the free, independent, Republican and Democratic Government we have enjoyed will be merged in a military despotism, if there is anything left.

Our Government is at present engaged in an expensive war. It has been supposed that the South would soon be subjugated, that they would yield the point and submit. They will not, and the war has scarcely commenced.

The slave States do not as yet appear to be whipped or conquered. Both North and South are in the hands of the Lord, and so are we.

Let us from this time strive more diligently to overcome our own evil passions. We may talk about Priesthood, about power and authority, about blessings and exaltations, about the kingdom of God upon the earth, about gathering the house of Israel, about redeeming Zion and enjoying its fulness, about preparing for the coming of the Son of Man and enjoying celestial glory with him, but all this is vain if we do not sanctify our– selves before God, and sanctify the Lord our God in our hearts. We wish you fully to comprehend this; and when you go from this Conference, we do not wish to hear of contentions. And as soon as Elders have wisdom sufficient to magnify their calling and Priesthood, we will give to every Branch, no matter how small the Ward, both a Bishop and a President.

It is our privilege and duty to sanctify our own hearts. Perhaps I have as much acknowledgment to make as anybody for sometimes suffering my feelings to be a little ruffled. I cannot say that I felt entirely free from vexations at remarks made, by one of the speakers this morning, upon the impurity of seeds in our Territory. Notwithstanding so much has been said upon that subject, there does not seem to be care enough in the heads of Israel to provide even for themselves, to say nothing about setting a proper example to the people. If it were left to such men, there never would be a grain of pure sugar cane seed in the country. Where is your care for Israel? You will preach the spiritual things of the kingdom, and let your bodies and the bodies of the people go into the grave. Before you preach to a starving man to arise and be baptized, first carry him some bread and wine; first unlock his prison house and let him go free. Is there a Bishop in this Territory that knows whether there is a particle of pure cabbage seed in the Territory, or in his Ward? Whether there is a bushel of pure buckwheat, or California barley? Whether there is a peck of clean, pure flaxseed, &c. Bishops, how much flaxseed is going to be sown in your respective Wards this season? “Don’t know.” How much wheat, oats, and barley? “Don’t know. I have a little speculation on hand, and I wish to provide for my own family, for the convenience and comfort of my own household, for this I esteem to be my first duty.”

There was a Bishop in Far West, who, as Trustee-in-Trust, held the property of the Church; no other man had the means he had to help the poor Saints. I tried to get my voice to his ears for days, and could not. At last I accosted him and said—“Bishop, what are you going to do toward helping the poor Saints out of the State of Missouri, as we agreed?” He was irritated in a moment. I supposed that he thought it was none of my business, but I knew that it was, and calculated to attend to it. He did not speak good naturedly, although naturally a mild-tempered man. At last he said, “I am going to take my family and leave the State, and the people may take care of themselves.” Many of our Bishops feel like that; they will plant their potatoes, take care of their calves and themselves, and the people may go to the devil for ought they care.

I, perhaps, ought not to find fault about such things; but why not my brethren of the Twelve take an interest in such matters, and not leave everything of that kind for me and my Counselors to attend to?

I ask the Agricultural and Manufacturing Society of this Territory, if they have one ounce of pure cabbage seed on hand, or know who has. It is doubtful whether an affirmative answer could be given to this question. But if you have a few excellent peaches, or a basket of choice apples to give them to eat, they will be as proud as a little boy with a new top, and boast long and loud about what nice things we have in this Territory. I cannot complain of the vigilance of the tasting committee, but what do they do for the benefit of the people? To eat the people’s fruit and praise them for raising it, calling them “beloved brethren, and won’t you bring us in a little more next fall?” &c., may be well enough, but what does this Society do? What do the Twelve and the First Presidency do in teaching this people to sustain themselves? We all take care of ourselves, do we not? Is that all? No. There is not a thing my eye is not upon, that will enhance the welfare of this people. Who imported the first carding machine to this country, and the only good ones that have been brought here? Who imported the nail machines, the paper machine, steam engines and other valuable machinery? I use everything I can rake and scrape together for the interest of this people. I only need a little food and a small amount of clothing, and as for the rest the people are welcome to it.

I wish the other brethren to look after the welfare of the people, as well as myself. I do not wish to again hear any of the leaders of Israel complain that there is not any pure sugarcane seed, flaxseed, cotton seed, &c., in the country, but I wish them to be fully informed as to where pure seeds of all kinds can be had, and as to what is going on among the people in every part of each Ward or district; and then I want to inform the Bishops, and direct their tongues to speak and their hands to act. I wish this particularly to apply to those who preside where the First Presidency do not go.

The Agricultural Society ought to make arrangements to have and keep on hand the best varieties of all kinds of garden seeds, the best varieties of fruits, of grain, and every useful product of the soil, that all may be able to procure the purest and best seeds, scions, fruit and shade trees, shrubbery, &c. Brother T. W. Ellerbeck and a few others have done considerable in introducing several valuable varieties of fruits and seeds.

Brother Lorenzo Snow says that the Lord will bless my brethren and sisters. He says that all the mules in the Territory cannot haul away the gold that is concealed in these mountains. Riches do not consist of gold and silver. It may be said that with them we can buy all the comforts we need for the body. That may be so under certain circumstances; still gold and silver are merely a convenient means of exchange. Earthly riches are concealed in the elements God has given to man, and the essence of wealth is power to organize from these elements every comfort and convenience of life for our sustenance here, and for eternal existence hereafter. The possession of all the gold and silver in the world would not satisfy the cravings of the immortal soul of man. The gift of the Holy Spirit of the Lord alone can produce a good, wholesome, contented mind. Instead of looking for gold and silver, look to the heavens and try to learn wisdom until you can organize the native elements for your benefit; then, and not until then, will you begin to possess the true riches. All the riches, wealth, glory and happiness that we shall ever possess in heaven will be possessed on and around this earth when it is brought up into the presence of God in a sanctified and glorified state; and the sanctified ones who enter through the gate and pass the sentinel into the New Jerusalem, and into the presence of the Father and the Son, are the ones who will inherit the new heavens and the new earth in the presence of God, for here is the eternity, the glory and the power. When we possess all things, it will be when we possess power to organize the native elements that fill the immensity of space, bringing forth and organizing, bringing forth and organizing, again and again, dealing out the providence of God, dictating, guiding, and directing the kingdoms that will be made forever and forever. This is eternal riches—it is eternal life.

“What, did Jesus mean, when he said, Lay up treasures in heaven, &c. What mortal ever went there to lay up treasures? Is there an apartment, a business house there, a Dr. and Cr. account, &c.?” Ask the Lord yourselves, what he meant by that expression, and if you have the Spirit of Christ, you will find out the truth. I think that the Savior referred particularly to laying up in pure and sanctified bodies, holy principles that belong to the heavens, until we are brought back into the presence of the Father, and we, with the earth upon which we stand, are cleansed and sanctified beyond the power of Satan.

I will now say that we wish to go on with the Temple this year; we shall also send out teams to bring home the poor, send Missionaries to the nations, &c., &c. If the hearts of this people are right, if they are filled with faith in God; if they act with an eye single to his glory and the building up of his kingdom on the earth, they will lock up their teams, secure their seed grain and farming utensils, will look and live for rain, for water in abundance to irrigate their lands, for sunshine, for day and night and everything, that will give us a fruitful season this coming summer. What will you do with the increase of your fields? Will you strew it to strangers? Some complain at the hand of Jehovah for giving them wheat. I have heard it said, “It is a curse to us; it annoys me to see so much wheat.” There never has been a land, from the days of Adam until now, that has been blessed more than this land has been blessed by our Father in heaven; and it will still be blessed more and more, if we are faithful and humble, and thankful to God for the wheat and the corn, the oats, the fruit, the vegetables, the cattle, and everything he bestows upon us, and try to use them for the building up of his kingdom on the earth.

There will be no lack of teams for doing our work, if we will go to with our mights to bring the poor Saints here and to build this Temple. There will be teams to bring us the rock from the quarries; and let the young men come and learn to cut stone. I wish to hurry the building of the Temple, for I would like to have it completed before we are called to more important duties.

God bless the righteous. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 7, 1862.

This is the place to give items of instruction to the people. I am satisfied that it is my duty to improve this opportunity, and should be very happy if I could speak with ease; if I could do so I should talk a great deal more than I do.

Ask a Bishop by what authority he is acting as a Bishop; “I suppose I am a Bishop according to the Priesthood.” By what Priesthood do you act as a Bishop? “I really cannot answer that question.” Are you a High Priest? “Yes.” Why do you so officiate? “Because I have been ordained to so officiate; the First Presidency ordained Bishop Hunter to ordain me a High Priest, and set me apart to be a Bishop in this district.” After a person is ordained a High Priest he then has authority to act in all the duties of the lesser Priesthood, when called upon by the proper authority so to do. Some of the Bishops understand their true position and some do not, for which reason a few remarks in addition to those I made this forenoon will, perhaps, not be amiss.

There is no retrograde movement in ordaining a High Priest to the office of a Bishop, for, properly speaking, he is set apart to act in that office. When we ordain a man to officiate in a branch of the Church as a Bishop, he does so according to the best of his knowledge; and now and then one believes that he has a right, when ordained as a Bishop, to officiate and preside over every temporal and spiritual interest in his district by virtue of his Bishopric; he believes that he ought to go into a Seventies’ Council in his Ward and preside because he is a Bishop: and under this impression he dictates, guides and directs all things in his district; he baptizes, confirms and administers the sacrament as a Bishop, performing, under this impression, every spiritual and temporal duty. Were we to inquire of the Bishops of this Church what duties are assigned to the Aaronic Priesthood they hold, and what are assigned to the Melchizedek, those who could answer correctly are in the minority. I am satisfied of this, for I have been placed in positions that made it necessary to propound questions to some of our most intelligent Bishops relating to misunderstandings and difficulties that have occurred in their districts touching their authority, when their answers convinced me that they knew little about it; perhaps from not having an opportunity of finding out, or, in a word, they have not so lived that the heavens have been opened to them to teach them so fully and effectually their duties that they need no man to teach them. The duties and powers of a Bishop cease the very moment he steps over the Aaronic Priesthood, which is to officiate in temporal things; when he passes this he immediately begins to officiate by the authority and power of the Mel– chizedek Priesthood, though he may not know it.

We have scores of branches of this Church in different parts of this country, and had we better now place officers, helps and governments in these branches, or wait till the people come to understanding, and learn to appreciate and honor such appointments? It is chiefly because of the ignorance of the people that we often concentrate in one man these different offices and callings, but when the people are sufficiently informed and have advanced further in the knowledge of the truth, it will not be so, but every branch will have its full quota of officers—a Patriarch, President, Bishop, High Council, and all officers that are necessary for the work of the Ministry, and the edifying of the body of Christ. Until the people can receive and honor these helps and governments, and be benefited by them, the different offices will be concentrated in as few men as possible, for men will contend for power, and as to which shall be the greatest, until they are better informed.

If the people fully understood and would observe the relationship these offices have to each other, there would never be a word of altercation. In this city we have no altercation about authorities. We but seldom get up a trouble for a High Council case. When the people come to sufficient understanding, we shall not put the onerous task upon one man to act both as President and Bishop, but we will give you a full organization of helps, governments, &c.; but at present we shall take a course to confine the offices of the Church in such a manner as to give the least cause for contention and trouble. There are men who have a contentious disposition; they will contend against a Bishop, a Magistrate, a Judge, or any man holding an office; in short, they wish to destroy every power in Heaven and on earth that they do not hold themselves. This is the spirit of Satan that was made so visibly manifest in Heaven and which proved his overthrow, and he now afflicts this people with it; he wants to dictate and rule every principle and power that leads to exaltation and eternal life, and those whom he influences wish to walk underfoot every person who stands in authority over them.

I now wish to say a few words about assisting the mail and telegraph companies. It has been asked, “Shall we assist these companies? Shall they be supplied with grain and that help which is necessary to facilitate the expeditious and safe carrying of the mail?” I say, yes. Shall the telegraph company receive favors at our hands? Yes. I do not know of two greater temporal blessings of the kind that can be bestowed upon this people. If we happen to lay in bed a little later than usual, by the aid of the telegraph wires we can read the news of the morning from Washington and New York; and by-and-by we may be favored with the news of yesterday from London, Paris, and St. Petersburg, and all the principal cities in the old world. We are among the people of this world; our bodies are of the earth, and our spirits are like the spirits of other people and from the same source, only we are trying to establish the kingdom of God on earth, to introduce righteousness, and prepare the people for the reign of Jesus Christ on the earth. One man says, “I have agreed to do thus and so.” Then go and do it. Fulfill your contracts and sacredly keep your word.

What should be the course of this people in these matters? Let them act by the counsel of the men who understand such things better than they do. When I say supply so much labor, or so much grain, or do so much hauling, you will be justified, otherwise you will not. If I might dictate this matter and get my pay for it, I would fill this whole mail route with “Mormon” boys who would labor faithfully, conduct honorably, and see that the mails were carried safely and promptly. If it were left to me, I would fill this whole route, as we would have done a few years ago if the contract had not been unjustly taken from us, with a line of conveyances, wherein men might sleep by day or by night in perfect safety as to their persons and property; and if a pocket book dropped out of a pocket it would be as safe as though it were under lock and key, so far as its being stolen is concerned. How is it now?

If A, B, and C say they will begin to sell whiskey, then if it is right for them to sell whiskey in the streets of this city, it is right for me. Whiskey is useful in making vinegar, and we need it for cutting camphor gum, for medicine, washings, &c., but is it necessary to keep a whiskey shop? No. And if it is right for one man to keep a whiskey shop, it is right for another, until all become whiskey peddlers and whiskey drinkers, and all go to the devil together. It does not require much illumination of mind to comprehend that unless the selling of spirituous liquors is managed by proper persons, it will result in the ruination of many of the community. So with the selling and disposing of our produce to outside interests; for those who expend their means and labor in a way that does not enrich and build up Zion will apostatize and go out of this kingdom, sooner or later. When you are appointed to haul grain here or there, you will feel justified. Or, if you wish to drive a train, or to go as a guard on the mail route, or to attend to this or that, and the counsel is yes, go, and be honest and upright before God and man and deal justly with everybody, and if you do not so conduct, you will be brought home and dealt with, then, if you go in this way, you will be justified. Whatever is done let it be done by counsel and common consent; then we can be paid for our labor and our produce; wealth will increase around us, which we can put to use in gathering home the poor Saints from all nations by hundreds and by thousands. In the course the people have taken they will make themselves poor, while we might be rich. I feel very friendly towards Mr. Street and many others connected with the telegraph line. They have treated this community as gentlemen will. I have rendered them some assistance, and am ready to render them more; and they have been very accommodating to us. The Overland Mail company brings our letters, books, magazines, &c., and is as great an accommodation as can well be until we have a railroad through here, which I hope we shall have ere long, if it is right. They should be assisted, and that by the Counsel of the Kingdom of God in these mountains; and let it be done by common consent, or no longer say that we are one with the interests of this kingdom. If you are one with the vine, you are one with the main branch; if you are not thus one, you will be severed from the vine and will wither and die.

May the Lord bless the Latter-day Saints, is my prayer all the time. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 7, 1862.

Without revelation direct from heaven, it is impossible for any person to fully understand the plan of salvation. We often hear it said that the living oracles must be in the Church, in order that the kingdom of God may be established and prosper on the earth. I will give another version of this sentiment. I say that the living oracles of God, or the Spirit of revelation must be in each and every individual, to know the plan of salvation and keep in the path that leads them to the presence of God.

How true is the text that brother George A. Smith has quoted. There are thousands of our Elders who ought now to be teachers, and to know enough to commence the kingdom of God on the earth, and establish it, and continue to lead, guide, and direct it, leading the people directly through the gate into the celestial kingdom of our Father and God, and yet they need to be taught like children.

From what has been remarked it appears that, in some instances, the President and the Bishop of a Branch infringe upon the rights of each other, perhaps honestly; and they think that they possess this power and that authority, and thereby contention arises in the midst of this people, creating alienation of feeling and apostasy. What a pity it is that such circumstances should exist; they create sincere regret in the soul of every person who desires to see the kingdom of God prosper on the earth.

The spiritual and the temporal cannot be separated, and, in the economy of the Framer of the Universe, are not designed to be. For example, were we a congregation who had not heard the plan of salvation and knew nothing of the kingdom of God upon earth, and were listening patiently to a stranger opening the plan of salvation to us, our hearts would be touched by the fire in the speaker, the eyes of our understandings would be opened, and we would begin to comprehend, admire, and rejoice in the truth. This is a spiritual work, an internal work, a work upon the heart and affections. This is what we call spiritual impressions. The speaker has portrayed before our minds the beauties of the kingdom of God on earth so rationally, and in a manner so congenial to the feelings of all honest persons, that they are all influenced to believe the Gospel. What is the next step? You next ask the preacher to baptize you, and here you commence a temporal labor with both body and spirit. The preacher has been laboring with his body, exercising his lungs, and his whole spiritual and temporal system, and this labor produces a spiritual and temporal benefit on those who believe and practice his teachings. It is so extremely nice a point to draw the line of demarcation, between the temporal and spiritual acts of man, that it is impossible to separate the two. There is a class of men who do not believe anything in religion to be temporal; they are baptized in their hearts, partake of the sacrament in their hearts, preach in their hearts, and worship the Lord in their hearts, while their bodies are constantly scrambling after the dimes. To be baptized, change your wet clothes for dry ones, go to meeting to worship the Lord, and to bring the body into subjection to the will of Christ, is all a temporal labor aided by the Divine Spirit.

I will say a few words with regard to a Bishop. Except we find a literal descendant of Aaron, a man has to be ordained to the High Priesthood to administer as did Aaron and his sons. Suppose we then place the same man also as a President in a Branch, how are we going to divide his duties and labors? I said a few words in this subject last year, and can say more about it. Can the Bishop baptize the people, according to his Bishopric? He can. When the people he has baptized assemble for confirmation, can he confirm them? He cannot, under the power of his Bishopric; but as he has been ordained to the office of a High Priest, after the order of Melchizedek, to prepare him to act in the office of a Bishop in the Priesthood of Aaron, when he has baptized the people under the authority of his Bishopric, he has a right as a High Priest to confirm them into the Church by the laying on of hands. Bishops begin a contention in their Branch, where they operate in their calling, when they amalgamate with their Bishop’s office the office of the High Priesthood, when they try to bring the authority of the High Priesthood in the kingdom of God down to the capacity of the Priesthood that belongs to the office of an acting Bishop; here they make a grave mistake, and fall into perplexing errors.

What are the duties of a President and a Bishop? We will first notice a duty that belongs to a President. For instance, he wishes a comfortable place prepared for the people to meet in, and he calls on the Bishop to marshal his forces to gather the material to build a house, and the house is prepared for the comfort and accommodation of all. In this instance you observe the duty and office of a Bishop is attended to. In his capacity the Bishop knows nobody only as a member of the kingdom of God, and in the performance of this duty he calls upon the President and everyone else to aid in accomplishing the wishes of the President, to go to the canyon to get out timber, to quarry rock, make adobies, &c., &c., for everybody is entitled to pay Tithing. When the house is put up according to the President’s direction, then the President calls on the Bishop to see that it is well seated, lighted, and warmed, for the convenience and comfort of the congregation. Then in like manner he sees that the sacrament is prepared and administered, for it is the right, and privilege, and duty of the President to baptize, and confirm, and administer the sacrament, and do all things for the spiritual building up of the kingdom of God; and also it is the right of the Bishop to preach, baptize, and administer the sacrament.

On Monday morning the Bishop calls upon the President and everybody it concerns, to send their Tithing to the General Tithing Office. The President, who officiates as presiding officer on Sunday, is as subject to the Bishop on Monday as anybody else. My Bishop has just as good a right to come to my house and demand of me my Tithing, as he has to demand it of any other person in his ward, also to inquire into the state of my family, whether I attend to my prayers, whether I have contention with my neighbors, &c., in his capacity as a Bishop.

So these callings and Priesthoods are interwoven one with another, for the convenience and furtherance of the kingdom of God, in the absence of a literal descendant of Aaron. A Bishop sometimes officiates as a High Priest, and sometimes as a Bishop. In his High Priesthood he can act, when called upon so to do by the proper authority in every calling in the Church, except that of an Apostle; there are still keys and powers that can be conferred upon him; but when a man is ordained to the office of an Apostle, he is ordained to the fullest extent a man can be on earth.

May the Lord bless you. Amen.