Remarks by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, July 31, 1859.

I rejoice in the privilege of making a few remarks this morning, by way of explanation and exhortation.

If the Latter-day Saints assemble to worship merely because our fathers did, or because we have been so taught by our schoolmasters, we have not a correct view of the subject. The Being who organized us did so upon principles which pleased him, and can please us only through obedience to his laws. That Being placed within us a principle that has been among all the nations of men from the beginning—the principle of reverence, of worship, of seeking after something superior to what we possess. Every person possesses more or less of this principle; we all acknowledge it more or less, and all are seeking something not in our possession.

We are on this earth for an express purpose. The body is organized, the spirit takes possession of it, and here we are as finite beings in a world of sin, of darkness, and of the thralldom of iniquity; and that, too, for an ex– press purpose that cannot be accomplished upon any other principle or plan.

Eternal existence depends solely upon adopting and carrying out in our lives the principles couched in the term “holy Priesthood,” which alone tend to life and eternal duration and exaltation. We are seeking for something that we are not now in possession of; and every individual wishes to understand those true principles which will put him in possession of the right plan by which to obtain what we are seeking.

Mankind are prone to seeking after perishable things, though we in reality, if we did but realize it, are by no means doing so exclusively. The spirit and intelligence that God has placed within us prompt us to seek more or less after imperishable things. Had we worlds to command and dictate in our finite state, with the authority and power we now possess, it would not satisfy the mind.

The holy Priesthood is a system of laws and government that is pure and holy; and if it is adhered to by intelligent man, whom God has created a little lower than angels, it is calculated to preserve our tabernacles in eternal being; otherwise they will be resolved into native element. Nothing is calculated to satisfy the mind of an intelligent being, only to obtain principles that will preserve him in his identity, to enable him to increase in wisdom, power, knowledge, and perfection. And when we meet to worship, we do or should meet to speak of those principles and to strengthen our faith. But should it please the Almighty to place us in circumstances that would preclude our assembling to worship, if we understand these principles, they are as dear to us in our closets, in our homes, and when we are laboring in our fields, our shops, or in the canyons, as when we are in this Tabernacle.

We are searching for these prin– ciples, and we are laboring continually to obtain—What? You see mankind running to and fro, like ants upon an anthill—now forward, now wheeling and taking the back track; then to the right and to the left, seemingly in a perfect state of excitement and confusion. They are seeking they know not what. They possess the foundation for eternal intelligence, and they do not know how to obtain that which will satisfy their minds. Nothing can satisfy, except being perfectly subject to the law that will preserve them in their identity to all eternity, and that is the holy Priesthood.

And yet, so long as we have lived, and as much as the wisest of us have seen and learned, we are still comparatively as infants. It is by the law of the Priesthood that men are, and by that law they may maintain their eternal identity. A strict observance of those laws will secure an inheritance in that kingdom where death never enters, and all else will sooner or later pass away as a night vision.

When we undertake to worship the Lord, it is eternal principles that we desire to learn. They are taught here from Sabbath to Sabbath, a little here and a little there, pertaining to the doctrines of salvation, like explaining the civil laws of the land. Lawyers are called upon to explain the civil law, and we must be lawyers in the law of the Priesthood, to read, comprehend, and correctly teach the writings of Moses, of the Psalmist, of the Prophets and Apostles, or to tell the truth as it comes fresh from heaven, independent of reading from any book.

No one can correctly dispute that mankind are possessed of intelligence. Reflect upon the intelligence they possess in mechanism, in astronomy, &c. Did they produce that? No. I obtained the principles of intelligence that I am in possession of from the same source that they obtained theirs, and which I attribute to the Author of our existence. But they cannot tell from whence those principles came. They are searching and researching with an inherent principle that never can be satisfied without true knowledge; and that true knowledge flows through the Priesthood, to enable us to know how to order our lives, to overcome every principle that tends to the death, and to embrace every principle that tends to the life, that we may preserve our identity to all eternity, which is the greatest blessing bestowed upon man, and which we now have the privilege to place ourselves in the way to secure.

The laws given by the Almighty to the children of men, by which we can preserve our spirits and our bodies to all eternity, are what the world call “Mormonism.” Those laws are what this people believe and are in possession of. And are we obliged to falter here and falter there? If I am presented with unwholesome food, or with poison that would destroy my life, am I obliged to eat it? No, though I may be obliged to have it presented to me. If a man hands you a dose of arsenic, saying that you need it and that it will do you good, are you obliged to swallow it? Or if those who prefer sin, and roll it under their tongues as a sweet morsel, present to you principles that tend to the death, are you obliged to receive them—to join in and commit sin? Some who profess to be Latter-day Saints do so, and continue to do so.

What a pity it is! How strange it is that mankind do not better understand and conduct themselves! True, as is written, sin was introduced to the human family by the transgression of our first parents, and thereby the Adversary of all righteousness gained great power over our bodies, as we can daily see exhibited—the flesh, as the Apostle has written, warring against the spirit. So in a garden, the weeds spring up spontaneously; and if you wish to produce certain fruits and vegetables, you must carefully till the soil, because the ground is cursed to produce thorns and thistles and obnoxious weeds. The original transgression subjected the flesh to weakness and infirmities, but not the spirit; which explains how much easier it is for a person to sin than to work righteousness, by the power sin has obtained over earthly tabernacles, notwithstanding the promptings to do right, and that a person feels better in doing right than wrong.

We must have our day of trial—an opportunity to become acquainted with the bitter and the sweet. We are so organized as to be able to choose or to refuse. We can take the downward road that leads to destruction, or the road that leads to life. We can constantly act upon the principles that tend to death, or refuse them and act upon the principles that pertain to life and salvation. This is a day of trial; our faith and patience can now be tried: now is the time for your fortitude and integrity to be tried. Let the trials come; for if we should be so unspeakably happy as to obtain a crown of eternal life, we shall be like gold tried seven times in the fire. Let the fiery furnace burn, and the afflictions come, and the temptations be presented—if we wish to be crowned with crowns of glory and exalted to dwell with our elder brother Jesus Christ, we must choose the good and refuse the evil.

According to our faith, we must strive to live our religion when in the canyons getting wood and lumber, when laboring in our fields, and wherever we may be. We have to learn and practice eternal principles, to obtain eternal life; and they are the principles of the holy Priesthood. God has given man an agency, and it behooves us to understand and practice the principles of life—to live our religion and walk humbly with our God, living according to the laws and regulations of the holy Priesthood so far as it is revealed.

The principles of eternal life that are set before us are calculated to exalt us to power and preserve us from decay. If we choose to take the opposite course and to imbibe and practice the principles that tend to death, the fault is with ourselves. If we fail to obtain the salvation we are seeking for, we shall acknowledge that we have secured to ourselves every reward that is due to us by our acts, and that we have acted in accordance with the independent agency given us, and we shall be judged out of our own mouths whether we are justified or condemned.

When meditating upon matters as they are passing, I am happy and rejoice that things are as they are. You do not often see me in this building, neither do I often address you, neither do I wish at present; but I want everything to be shaken that can be shaken, that those who remain will be steadfastly determined to serve their God. As I have often said, I would rather be associated with a dozen men who would live their religion than to have the whole world for my companions to bear off the kingdom to all nations. I would rather see the people leave, until there are not ten men left in the mountains, than to see what I see and hear what mine ears have to hear—the blasphemy, corruption, wickedness, dishonesty one with another, and running after the Devil, and ready to strike hands wherever they meet him. I want to see those who will not live their religion sifted out. Let them float off, and let the few who will live their religion—who will live for God, remain until they are like the gold that is tried in the furnace seven times.

I understand that some of the people are remiss in coming to meeting. Do they stay at home to weigh themselves in the balance, to know whether they are actually in possession of the religion that we profess? Or are their eyes, like the fool’s, in the ends of the earth, looking for a good job here, and a bargain there, and a speculation yonder? You will know, by-and-by, whether you possess the religion you profess. The Lord will sift the people, and the time is not far distant when he will sift the nations with a sieve of vanity, and the time is at your doors when he will hold a controversy with the nations and will plead with all flesh, and it will be known who is for God, and who is not.

I often ask the Father to hasten his work—do you?—to hasten his Zion upon the earth, and his work upon all nations. Have you any idea what that work is? I am at times checked in my feelings, and make the inquiry, Am I prepared, with this people, to receive what will come?

Every time that my mind stretches forth to discern what the Lord is doing, to contemplate upon his goings forth among the nations, and what he is bringing about, according to all the sayings of the Prophets and the designs of his Son Jesus Christ, and to reflect upon the nations of the earth as they now are and will be, I ask myself, Am I prepared for all this? Are the people called Latter-day Saints prepared for all this? I am checked in my feelings in a moment. Are you? Or do you think that you are ready? Suppose that the Lord should make his appearance in his glory, how many in this Tabernacle could abide the day of his coming? Is there an individual in the valleys of the mountains, or upon the face of the earth, that could abide the appearance of the Son of Man in his glory—that could look upon him?

Are you prepared for the distress that is coming upon the nations? Many of you frequently think that your lot is very hard—that your trials are numerous and severe, and imagine this and that; and there is a great disposition with many of you, as well as with the rest of the world, to pity yourselves. You had better continue to pity yourselves, each and every one, lest we should not be right in all the things of God as fast as he is rolling them along. I have been driven from my home five times; I have left my houses and lands and everything I had. Do I wish evil to come upon my enemies? Every time I think of it, and when my mind is opened by the visions of the Lord to see the weeping, the wailing, and distress of the nations, that many who now live will see, there is not a person in this room that could bear it. There are no eyes looking upon me that could bear to see the awful distress that the nations are bringing upon themselves—to look upon the judgments of the Almighty that they are bringing upon themselves.

You think that you see distress. I have seen poverty; I have seen the grayheaded father and mother bowed to their graves with starvation; I have seen the middle-aged, the youth, and young children going to their graves through starvation: but I have seen nothing to compare with what I shall yet see, if I live. I shall see the distress that will be upon the nations. Look a little further and reflect upon what the Lord will do when he has revolutionized the nations and cleansed and purged this earth with fire. Are we prepared to sit down with Jesus when he comes? We had better be careful to know whether we are prepared.

We think that we have great occasion for sorrow; but how should we feel, after all our preparations, faith, labors, and looking forth for the coming of the Son of Man, to be consumed by the brightness of his appearance? We had better be purifying our hearts: that is the best occupation I can recommend to the Saints. I would recommend such a course, far beyond taking their neighbor’s cattle, breaking down their neighbor’s fences, spending their Sabbaths in the canyons getting wood, or doing anything that they should not do. Ask such persons whether they pray. “No.” A man in the Eleventh Ward said, “I prayed daily over my crops last year, and my harvest was very light: this year I have not prayed, and my crops look first-rate.” Those who think that they can succeed without praying, try it, and I will promise them eternal destruction, if they persist in that course. Some think that they can prosper by lying a little, breaking the Sabbath, and doing almost everything that they ought not to do. In the end they will learn that they have trod the path that leads to the first and second death, which will have power over them; and the time will come when they will be as though they had not been.

It is recorded that Job clung to the Lord and proved his integrity to his Father and God. The Lord, to try him, suffered his crops to be laid waste, his property to be plundered, his sons to be destroyed, and sorely afflicted him in divers ways; and so it has been and will be with thousands of other persons. And though their property, families, and friends be taken from them, yet they should trust in their God, even though he should slay them. And you will learn, by-and-by, what reward he has prepared for them.

I am striving for the crown that awaits the end of the faithful race—not alone for the potatoes and corn. Many come to me and say, “Brother Brigham, are we going to have any potatoes this year?” “I neither know nor care.” “Have you planted any?” “Yes, a great many.” “Have you looked to see whether there are any sets upon them?” “No: but it is my business to keep out the weeds, to water and till, and wait until the harvest.” I have not power to make potatoes set. If I should plant and hoe, and raise nothing, it is the same to me as though I obtained a good crop. God gives or withholds the increase.

We are all organized to seek after something that will be durable—that will not pass away like a dream. Then do not seek too much after that which will perish. Such things belong to the world. They are to be changed, and are not be relied upon. Seek for the principles that pertain to eternal life—the principles of the holy Priesthood. Let us prove ourselves to be friends of God, whether we raise potatoes or not, whether our pigs and calves live or not, whether we are blessed with much or little, or have nothing—trust in God and be his friends, and by-and-by he will put us in possession of that which will be perfectly satisfactory. Our spirits and bodies will be preserved before the Lord, and we shall be prepared to see him in his glory—to live with him in his kingdom—to associate with him. That is what we are seeking, if we did but know it.

If any wish to apostatize, they have and always have had perfect liberty to do so. Life and death are before you. You have had the words of life sounded in your ears, year after year, in these valleys, and we have been blessed with days of peace and pleasantness—days of joy and days of comfort. Have all the people served God? No. Some have been and are wicked, sinful, dishonest, and unfaithful; and the Lord wants to prove us—to prepare the righteous for his glory, and the wicked for their doom.

I exhort you all to reflect whether you are ready for what is coming, and are prepared to receive what you anticipate. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday p.m., July 31, 1859.

Brother Kimball has borne his testimony to the truth of the work in which we are engaged: he has exhorted you to faithfulness, and presented practical morality. For your satisfaction, I will present some of my views concerning the kingdom of God, and leave the subject for others to elaborate.

Erroneous traditions and the powers of darkness have such sway over mankind, that, when we speak of a theocracy on the earth, the people are frightened. The government of the “Holy Catholic Church,” from which all the Protestant churches are offshoots, is professedly theocratic, though it is directly opposed to the theocracy described in the Bible.

But few, if any, understand what a theocratic government is. In every sense of the word, it is a republican government, and differs but little in form from our National, State, and Territorial Governments; but its subjects will recognize the will and dictation of the Almighty. The kingdom of God circumscribes and comprehends the municipal laws for the people in their outward government, to which pertain the Gospel covenants, by which the people can be saved; and those covenants pertain to fellowship and faithfulness.

The Gospel covenants are for those who believe and obey; municipal laws are for both Saint and sinner.

The Constitution and laws of the United States resemble a theocracy more closely than any government now on the earth, or that ever has been, so far as we know, except the government of the children of Israel to the time when they elected a king.

All governments are more or less under the control of the Almighty, and, in their forms, have sprung from the laws that he has from time to time given to man. Those laws, in passing from generation to generation, have been more or less adulterated, and the result has been the various forms of government now in force among the nations; for, as the Prophet says of Israel, “They have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, and broken the everlasting covenant.”

Whoever lives to see the kingdom of God fully established upon the earth will see a government that will protect every person in his rights. If that government was now reigning upon this land of Joseph, you would see the Roman Catholic, the Greek Catholic, the Episcopalian, the Presbyterian, the Methodist, the Baptist, the Quaker, the Shaker, the Hindoo, the Mahometan, and every class of worshippers most strictly protected in all their municipal rights and in the privilege of worshipping who, what, and when they pleased, not infringing upon the rights of others. Does any candid person in his sound judgment desire any greater liberty?

The Lord has thus far protected and preserved the human family under their various forms and administrations of government, notwithstanding their wickedness, and is still preserving them; but if the kingdom of God, or a theocratic government, was established on the earth, many practices now prevalent would be abolished.

One community would not be permitted to array itself in opposition to another to coerce them to their standard; one denomination would not be suffered to persecute another because they differed in religious belief and mode of worship. Everyone would be fully protected in the enjoyment of all religious and social rights, and no state, no government, no community, no person would have the privilege of infringing on the rights of another: one Christian community would not rise up and persecute another.

I will here remark that we are generally looked upon as a dangerous people, and for the reason that there are thousands and millions of people who are afraid that justice will be meted out to them; and they say, to use Scripture language, that “if the Saints are let alone, they will take away our place and nation, and will measure to us what we have measured to them.” They conclude thus because they estimate others by themselves, realizing that if they had the power to deprive us of our rights, they would exercise it. “We will judge you Latter-day Saints by ourselves. If we had the power to destroy you, we would do it; and we are afraid that if you are let alone, you will have the power to destroy us and will do as we would under like circumstances.” If this people had that power today, they would not infringe in the least upon the rights of any person; neither could they, without ceasing to be Saints.

When the Saints of the Most High are established upon the earth, and are prepared to receive the kingdom of God in its fulness, as foretold by the Prophet Daniel, they will have power to protect themselves and all the sons and daughters of Adam in their rights. Then, when a person or community says, “I do not want to believe your religion,” they will enjoy liberty to believe as they please, as fully as we shall.

The Creator has given agency to every son and daughter of Adam, and he does not infringe upon our agency. We are at liberty to believe in him and in his son Jesus Christ, or to let it alone.

When the kingdom of God is established, we can believe in the principles of the eternal Priesthood or in something else, and be equally protected in our outward rights. My law, says Jehovah, is pure: it is the law by which the worlds are made, and by which all things are. Those laws tend to exaltation and power; but the world is observing rules that tend to death. You have the privilege of believing and practicing a law that will bring to an end, if you wish, not only to the first death, but also to the second.

Jesus has taught us not to fear those wicked persons that are seeking our lives. Do not fear those who only have power to destroy the body, and after that can harm you no more; but fear God and observe the laws he has given and will give, that evil spirits may have no power over you after the body is left to rest.

This body must die: it is so decreed by the Almighty. “For dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return;” and it matters little whether you die today or tomorrow. Do not fear the wicked, but fear him who has power to destroy both soul and body. The man that pursues principles that tend to death resigns himself unto death, and no power can hinder it.

People are afraid of “Mormonism,” as they call it. They are afraid of the Gospel of salvation, and say that we have something that others have not—that we have an almighty influence, and that influence is a mystery. Certainly that influence is a mystery to all men: it is a mystery to us. I have not time now to explain to you the reasons why it is a mystery.

When the doctrine of salvation was first preached to me, and the vision of my mind was opened, I undertook to fathom the depth of the Gospel plan; but I could not. I was familiar with the doctrines taught by the various Christian denominations, and could easily comprehend them; but I soon learned that I could not fathom the full extent of the doctrine of salvation as revealed in our day through the Prophet Joseph; for I discerned that it was incomprehensible in its extent. It was soon suggested to me—Which of all the doctrines do you now say is the most Godlike—that which you can comprehend and fathom—that which you can measure, or that which you cannot? That which I cannot.

To finite capacity there is much which appears mysterious in the plan of salvation, and there is an eternity of mystery to be unfolded to us; and when we have lived millions of years in the presence of God and angels, and have associated with heavenly beings, shall we then cease learning? No, or eternity ceases. There is no end. We go from grace to grace, from light to light, from truth to truth. But I do not want to follow that thread any further at present.

It is recorded in the Bible that in the last days the God of heaven will set up a kingdom. Will that kingdom destroy the human family? No: it will save every person that will and can be saved. The doctrines of the Savior reveal and place the believers in possession of principles whereby saviors will come upon Mount Zion to save the house of Esau, which is the Gentile nations, from sin and death—all except those who have sinned against the Holy Ghost. Men and women will enter into the temples of God, and be, in comparison, pillars there, and officiate year after year for those who have slept thousands of years. The doctrine of the Christian world, which I have already said I was familiar with, sends them to hell irretrievably, which to me is the height of folly. They do not understand what the Lord is doing, nor what he purposes to do.

It is alleged and reiterated that we do not love the institutions of our country. I say, and have so said for many years, that the Constitution and laws of the United States combine the best form of Government in force upon the earth. But does it follow that each officer of the Government administers with justice? No; for it is well known throughout our nation that very many of our public officers are as degraded, debased, corrupt, and regardless of right as men well can be.

I repeat that the Constitution, laws, and institutions of our Government are as good as can be, with the intelligence now possessed by the people. But they, as also the laws of other nations, are too often administered in unrighteousness; and we do not and cannot love and respect the acts of the administrators of our laws, unless they act justly in their offices.

Jehovah has decreed and plainly foretold the establishment of his kingdom upon this earth; and it will prove to me a shield to the ordinances of his house, in the endowments, and in all the gifts and graces of the Spirit of God with which the Priesthood, so to speak, is clothed. The municipal laws of that kingdom are designed for the protection of all classes of people in their legitimate rights; and were it now in its fulness upon the earth, and the New Jerusalem built upon this continent, which is the land of Zion, the Latter-day Saints would not alone enjoy its blessings, but all denominations and communities would be alike protected in their rights, whether they worshipped the Supreme Author of our existence, or the sun, or the moon, or, as do some of our aborigines, a white dog; and none will be permitted to infringe upon their neighbors, though every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ. The Hindoos would have the privilege of erecting their temples and of worshipping as they pleased; but they would not be permitted to compel other worshippers to conform to their mode of worship, nor to burn their companions upon the funeral pyre; for that would interfere with individual rights.

The kingdom of God will be extended over the earth; and it is written, “I will make thine officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness.” Is that day ever coming? It is; and the doctrine we preach leads to that point. Even now the form of the Government of the United States differs but little from that of the kingdom of God.

In our Government a President is elected for four years, and can be reelected but once, thus limiting the time of any one person to but eight years at most. Would it not be better to extend that period during life or good behavior; and when the people have elected the best man to that office, continue him in it as long as he will serve them?

Would it not be better for the States to elect their Governors upon the same principle; and if they officiate unjustly, hurl them from office? If a good man is thus elected and continues to do his duty, he will keep in advance of the people; and if he does not, he does not magnify his office. Such is the kingdom of God, in comparison.

When the best man is elected President, let him select the best men he can find for his counselors or cabinet; and let all the officers within the province of the Chief Magistrate to appoint be selected upon the same principle to officiate wisely in different parts of the nation. Our Father in heaven does not visit every place in person to guide and administer the law to the people, and to do this, that, and the other: he never did and never will; but he has officers, whom he sends when and where he pleases, giving to them their credentials and missions, as does our Government to our fellow men here.

Some would have us believe that God is present everywhere. It is not so. He is no more everywhere present in person than the Father and Son are one in person. The Bible teaches that doctrine precisely as it is.

The kingdom that the Almighty will set up in the latter days will have its officers, and those officers will be peace. Every man that officiates in a public capacity will be filled with the Spirit of God, with the light of God, with the power of God, and will understand right from wrong, truth from error, light from darkness, that which tends to life and that which tends to death. They will say, “We offer you life; will you receive it?” “No,” some will say. “Then you are at perfect liberty to choose death: the Lord does not, neither will we control you in the least in the exercise of your agency. We place the principles of life before you. Do as you please, and we will protect you in your rights, though you will learn that the system you have chosen to follow brings you to dissolution—to being resolved to native element.”

When the government of God is in force upon the earth, there will be many officers and branches to that government, as there now are to that of the United States. There will be such helps, governments, &c., as the people require in their several capacities and circumstances; for the Lord will not administer everywhere in person.

The world seem to be afraid of the power of God, or rather, as I observed not long since, afraid that we are not in possession of it. They need not borrow trouble upon that point; for if we are not what we profess to be, we shall certainly fail, and they will no longer be disturbed about “Mormonism.” Brother Kimball said that his friends at first limited the existence of this work to one year; and when the year passed, they extended the time to two years: they then put it off five years; and I do not know what time they have now fixed upon.

I know that the kingdom of God is in its youth upon this earth, and that the principles of life and salvation are freely proffered to the people all over the world.

Our Elders go from east to west, from north to south; and they almost invariably go without purse or scrip.

When Mr. Greeley was here, he was anxious to learn what salaries our missionaries received, and what salary this and that officer in the Church received.

I told him that our missionaries received what the people gave them after they went from here. A few have started from here with money to pay their passage across the sea, that they might not be delayed in reaching their point of destination.

He then asked me whether I did not receive a salary.

I replied, “No, my friend; I can truly say to you that I do not have the value of a cabbage-head from the Tithing Office, unless I pay for it.”

“What!” said he, “do you not have pay for your services? You devote all your time.”

I remarked that I should count myself a poor hand to dictate this people and hold the position I occupy in the providence of God, unless I was capable of maintaining myself and family without assistance from the Church, though I have had a great deal given to me by the members of the Church. The Lord has blessed me with ability to provide for my wants, and those of my family; and if he has not blessed all the Elders with like ability to sustain themselves, we will assist them when necessary; but we pay no salaries to our Elders and Bishops. My salary consists of the providences of God while I live, and eternal life when I faithfully finish this probation.

When the kingdom of God is established upon the earth, people will find it to be very different from what they now imagine. Will it be in the least degree tyrannical and oppressive towards any human being? No, it will not; for such is not the kingdom of God.

I believe in a true republican theocracy, and also in a true democratic theocracy, as the term democratic is now used; for they are to me, in their present use, convertible terms.

What do I understand by a theocratic government? One in which all laws are enacted and executed in righteousness, and whose officers possess that power which proceedeth from the Almighty. That is the kind of government I allude to when I speak of a theocratic government, or the kingdom of God upon the earth. It is, in short, the eternal powers of the Gods.

What do the world understand theocracy to be? A poor, rotten government of man, that would say, without the shadow of provocation or just cause, “Cut that man’s head off; put that one on the rack; arrest another, and retain him in unlawful and unjust duress while you plunder his property and pollute his wife and daughters; massacre here and there.” The Lord Almighty does nothing of that kind, neither does any man who is controlled by his Spirit.

Again, the theocracy I speak of is the power of the Holy Ghost within you—that living and eternal principle that we do not possess in the fulness that we are seeking. When we talk about heavenly things, and see the world groveling in their sin and misery, and loving iniquity and corruption, the heavens weep over the people, and still they will not infringe upon their rights. God has created them so far perfectly independent as to be able to choose death or life; and he will not infringe upon this right.

And then to see people running after this and that which is calculated to destroy them spiritually and temporally—to bring upon them the first death, and then the second, so that they will be as though they had not been—is enough to make the heavens weep.

When his kingdom is established upon the earth, and Zion built up, the Lord will send his servants as saviors upon Mount Zion. The servants of God who have lived on the earth in ages past will reveal where different persons have lived who have died without the Gospel, give their names, and say, “Now go forth, ye servants of God, and exercise your rights and privileges; go and perform the ordinances of the house of God for those who have passed their probation without the law, and for all who will receive any kind of salvation: bring them up to inherit the celestial, terrestrial, and telestial kingdoms,” and probably many other kingdoms not mentioned in the Scriptures; for every person will receive according to his capacity and according to the deeds done in the body, whether good or bad, much or little.

What will become of the rest? Jesus will reign until he puts all enemies under his feet, and will destroy the death that we are afflicted with, and will also destroy him that hath the power of death; and one eternal life will spread over the earth. Then it will be exalted and become as a sea of glass, as seen by John the Revelator, and become the eternal habitation of those who are so happy as to gain eternal life and live in the presence of our Father and Savior.

There are millions and millions of kingdoms that the people have no conception of. The Christians of the day have no knowledge of God, of godliness, of eternity, of the worlds that are, that have been, and that are coming forth. There are myriads of people pertaining to this earth who will come up and receive a glory according to their capacity.

A man apostatizes and comes back, and there is a place prepared for him; and so there is for all persons, to suit their several capacities and answer to the lives they have lived in the flesh.

There are many who swear occasionally; others get drunk, &c. Do you not know it? O fools and slow of heart to understand your own existence! But many indulge in such practices, and some will stumble here and there; and we must keep pulling them out of the mire and washing them all the time.

Will they be consigned to eternal damnation for such conduct? No; for these who drink too much will make good servants, if you can get them where whiskey will not cloud their brains, or where there is none. Make servants of such characters and set them to work in their different departments, and they can do something: they are not useless. They are the workmanship of God’s hands—brothers to Jesus, flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. The same Father that begat the tabernacle of Jesus on the earth brought forth the world of mankind; and we are all his children, whether we do wickedly or not. We are the offspring of one common Father.

Brother Kimball says that it is a pity there is such a quarrel in the family. In the flesh we are the sons and daughters of Father Adam and Mother Eve: we are all one family; and yet we are contending and quarreling, and have arrived at such a pass that many do not know whether they belong to one kingdom and family, or not.

There is a place for all; but those who have sinned against the Holy Ghost will become angels of the Devil, and must suffer the wrath of God.

Then I might say, O ye wicked nations of the earth, why do you quarrel with us all the time for doing you good? We want to build up Zion and bring up your fathers and mothers to enjoy a glory, and you are trying to prevent us. They are contending against their own lives—quarreling against their own salvation and being. But I can truly say to all that I am thankful that I live to see this day and what we call the Gospel of salvation, but called by our enemies “Mormonism,” because we believe in the Book of Mormon.

We are in possession of the principles of life, and I exhort you to cleave to them under all circumstances. Do not fear those who only have power to shorten your mortal existence; but fear God, our Father in heaven. Love him and keep his commandments. Love righteousness all the days of your lives. “Mormonism” is true. It is life and salvation that we proffer to all mankind, and we are now struggling against the power of death, and by faithfulness shall overcome. And still you know that our enemies are thirsting for our destruction; and why do they seek to destroy us? Because we are striving to be righteous. We have the words of life for them, to do them good, to save them and their fathers who died without the law.

With you, my brethren, I have the principles of eternal salvation; and for this cause they quarrel with us. The world say that we have principles that really lay the axe at the roots of the trees of all false creeds; and if we are let alone, their creeds will cease having followers. If they let us alone, and we are wrong and corrupt, as they say we are, we shall come to an end.

Why do they prefer to be corrupt? They do not understand true principles, otherwise they would say, “Praise God! I am thankful that you are here. Do right, prosper, and bring salvation to all the house of Israel, and to the Gentile world so far as you can.”

Let us alone, and we will build up the kingdom of God. We are striving for what all Christendom professes to be, and we will bring it forth. If they persecute us, we will bring it forth the sooner. Could all the Elders of Israel have given “Mormonism” the same impetus that the last quarrel has done? No. The Lord will bring more out of that than all the Elders could have done by any performance of theirs.

If the Devil and his servants are permitted to persecute us, why should we complain? Has not the Prophet said that the servants of the Devil would make lies their refuge, and hide themselves under falsehood? Poor, miserable, lying curses here can write lies and publish them and send them forth in every direction. Traders take our money for goods, and all the time stir up every destructive element in their power to sell our blood, destroy our lives, and pollute our society.

Should the Lord reveal to me that my work on this earth is finished, I am ready to depart this life at any moment he may require. But the time has not yet come, and I expect to live until the Lord is willing that I should die.

I expect to live until I finish my work; and what is that? To promote the welfare of mankind, and save as many of the sons and daughters of Adam as I can prevail upon to be saved. How many I shall prevail upon to be saved is not for me to say.

When I get through my work here, my body will have the privilege to rest; and I understand where my spirit will go, and who will be my associates in the spirit world.

We have more friends behind the veil than on this side, and they will hail us more joyfully than you were ever welcomed by your parents and friends in this world; and you will rejoice more when you meet them than you ever rejoiced to see a friend in this life; and then we shall go on from step to step, from rejoicing to rejoicing, and from one intelligence and power to another, our happiness becoming more and more exquisite and sensible as we proceed in the words and powers of life.

God bless you! Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, July 3, 1859.

It is good for those who profess to be believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, and to practice his doctrines, to keep his principles before them. It is good to speak often one to another concerning the things of the kingdom of God.

Man is a mystery to himself, and but few of the inhabitants of the earth inquire into their own organization—their being, their capacity, or even into principle. The nations of the earth come and go, and every person of reflection discerns a deep mystery in man. There is a spirit in man, and that spirit is more or less enlightened and instructed by a superior spirit; yet the hearts of men are absorbed in the things of time, and they wear out their lives in their efforts to preserve them. This is the reason why so many pass like a cloud. They are here; they take no thought only to subsist as long as they can, and they are gone forever.

Of those who have leisure and means to improve their minds and make themselves very useful, there are but few who do not squander their time and means. They do not improve upon their talents; or, as brother Heywood observed, they do not improve upon the capital they possess. There is a great amount of ignorance in the world; and most people are lacking in researches concerning their own origin. Some have not the opportunity, others have not the time, and with the majority their education is such that they have not the disposition for those researches. But above all, they waste the knowledge that is naturally within them—their natural endowments. All men should study to learn the nature of mankind, and to discern that divinity inherent in them. A spirit and power of research is planted within, yet they remain undeveloped.

There is one very predominant trait in the human family—the seeking for power. The great majority constantly study to gain influence—they traverse the world over to attain it. This trait is, in a great measure, derived from their traditions. As the master acts, does, says, and believes so does the servant. As the parent marks his steps through life, so the steps of the children are measured, and the millions of consequent peculiarities have to be taken into account in dealing with the human family. Tradition seizes upon the scholar when he first commences his education, and, more or less, clings to the human family through life; and we have to deal with people according to their understanding. They are only capable of receiving a certain portion at a time.

What will satisfy the mind? Will gold? Will silver? Will houses, lands, and possessions? Search the world over, and you will at once discover that they will not. Will power and influence over their fellow beings satisfy? They will not. They may give a momentary satisfaction; but it soon passes away like a morning cloud, and the possessors are still laboring and striving to attain more. This was exhibited in the career of Alexander the Great, who conquered almost the whole of the then known world, and was still so dissatisfied with himself and with his life—with his power and possessions—that he died in debauchery at an early age. He obtained power, wealth, fame, and renown, and was still so dissatisfied that he mourned, and wept, and threw away his life ere arriving at middle age.

What would satisfy the children of men, if they had it in their possession? Only truth and the true principles and conduct flowing from its observance. True, certain classes of the inhabitants of the earth are pretty well satisfied with themselves, through their researches in the philosophies of the day, and especially in the science of astronomy, which gives the greatest scope to the mind; and yet they are not fully satisfied. What will satisfy us? If we understood all principles and powers that are, that have been, and that are to come, and had wisdom sufficient to control powers and elements with which we are associated, perhaps we would then be satisfied. If this will not satisfy the human mind, there is nothing that will.

Is there any such thing as happiness upon the earth? There is; and could people understand its beginning—its germ, they would strive to obtain truth and to increase in true knowledge: then the person calculated to receive much would have enjoyment in proportion, and one capacitated to receive but little would be satisfied therewith. Is there such knowledge upon the earth? There is. Are there true principles? There are, and we heard a portion of them this morning in the doctrine of salvation.

If people understood true philosophy—eternal philosophy, they would understand that there is an eternity of matter. Astronomers estimate that there is between us and the nearest fixed star matter enough from which to organize millions of earths like this. There is an eternity of matter, and it is all acted upon and filled with a portion of divinity. Matter is to exist; it cannot be annihilated. Eternity is without bounds, and is filled with matter; and there is no such place as empty space. And matter is capacitated to receive intelligence.

If we could so understand true philosophy as to understand our own creation, and what it is for—what design and intent the Supreme Ruler had in organizing matter and bringing it forth in the capacity that I behold you here today, we could comprehend that matter cannot be destroyed—that it is subject to organization and disorganization; and could understand that matter can be organized and brought forth into intelligence, and to possess more intelligence, and to continue to increase in that intelligence; and could learn those principles that organized matter into animals, vegetables, and into intelligent beings; and could discern the Divinity acting, operating, and diffusing principles into matter to produce intelligent beings, and to exalt them—to what? Happiness. Will nothing short of that fully satisfy the spirits implanted within us? No.

You can daily observe the operations of the spirits of men in the streets of this city. There you can now see the world exhibited as it is. You can see people hurrying from the east to the west, from the west to the east, from the north to the south, and from the south to the north. Have they an object in view? Ask the traveler whether he has; ask the bystander whether there is an object in his mind. Whether I stand or walk, whether I labor or rest, lie down or rise up, in all my acts in life there is an object. I have something in view, you have something in view, and so has the whole human family, as also all intelligence of every grade.

What principal object have human beings in view? Happiness. Give me glory, give me power, give me wealth, give me a good name, give me influence with my fellow men, give me all these, and it does not follow that I am thereby made happy; that depends altogether upon what principle those acquisitions were gained. Absolute tyranny never can produce happiness, neither can an influence unjustly gained and used; but give me influence with the children of men, and can that alone produce happiness? It cannot. What will give a man joy? That which will give him peace? What will produce joy and peace? If a man gains influence from the confidence he enjoys through his integrity, his honesty, goodness, uprightness, virtue, and truth, that influence will satisfy his mind; and influence gained in other courses cannot.

Many have been hated, despised, and hunted, on account of their influence with their fellow beings. Has anyone in our generation? Yes. Are there not scores of men and women here who are familiar with the death of our Prophet? Why did people hate him? Because of his influence. Did he gain or exercise an unrighteous influence? By no means. He possessed a righteous influence over the spirits, feelings, passions, and dispositions of all who delighted in truth and goodness, so far as he associated, and could guide them at his pleasure.

Am I hated for the same cause? I am. I am hated for teaching people the way of life and salvation—for teaching them principles that pertain to eternity, by which the Gods were and are, and by which they gain influence and power. Obtain that influence, and you will be hated, despised, and hunted like the roe upon the mountains. The way to obtain that influence is pointed out—by whom? By him through whom the worlds were created, and who has redeemed this earth and all things upon it.

He gave his life a ransom to atone for the sins of the world, and he has pointed out the way. His law is sacred, omnipotent, eternal; and that is the law to obey. Let the Lord speak, and let the people obey. That is the way to gain that happiness which all mankind are seeking, and no other course can satisfy the noble, Godlike spirit placed in man, who is formed for the express purpose of preserving his identity to all eternity. Without strict observance to the laws by which worlds were and are created —to the words of the Eternal, no being can inherit eternal lives.

These are the principles that this people, who are by many deemed to be the most ignorant, outlandish, corrupt, base, vile, and wicked people on the globe, have imbibed, and are striving to practice, and through so doing are hated all the day long. Ignorant? Yes, we are ignorant; but we are on the high road to that eternal knowledge that fills the bosoms of the Gods in eternity. If we are faithful to the end, we have the promise that we shall obtain that crown of glory and eternal life that will give us the satisfaction we are seeking. These principles are true; and let me observe to all, Saints and sinners, young and old, wise and ignorant, Do not mistake any points of doctrine you hear preached. The spirit in man is always enlightened, more or less, by the Spirit of the Holy One of Israel—that Being who gave the law.

When he pleases to bless the children of men, he is able to accomplish his purpose. If he is disposed to permit a Nebuchadnezzar to see a finger writing on a wall, it is his privilege to do so. If he is disposed to talk with an Enoch, or to show himself to the brother of Jared, it is his privilege. And if he is disposed to pour out the Holy Ghost upon the house of Cornelius before he embraced the Gospel in the usual way by baptism for the remission of sins, it is his privilege. The principle is, God must be obeyed. And even after Cornelius and his house had received the Holy Ghost, they did not, like some in our day, rise up and say, “We have no need to be baptized.” Why did not Cornelius tell Peter that he had received the Holy Ghost, and was as good a Christian as he? But, no; he must send to Joppa for one Simon Peter, who would tell him words whereby he and his household could be saved. What words? To be baptized in water. Peter did not tell them to receive the Holy Ghost, for they had received it.

They had already been endowed with the Holy Ghost, and it was the right and privilege of him who laid down his life to redeem the children of men to bestow that Holy Ghost where and when he pleased. If Cornelius had refused to have been baptized, he never would have received the influence of the Holy Ghost afterwards. He must obey the outward ordinances to secure to himself eternal lives—to attain the blessings consequent upon obedience.

Jesus of Nazareth, who appeared to Saul of Tarsus in the way, opened the vision of his mind, and conversed with him, and told him what to do. Did he tell him that he was a Christian, that his sins were forgiven, and that there was nothing more to be done? He did not. Did he intimate to him, in the least, that he was prepared to go and preach the Gospel? Not in the least. It could be said to him, “I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest;” and Paul could cry out, “Lord, what shall I do?” Go to Damascus, and you will there find a man, named Ananias, who will tell you what to do. Paul was led into the city, and immediately sent for Ananias. After the Lord told Ananias to go, he refused, for he had heard of the persecutions by Saul—of his dragging men and women to prison; but the Lord informed him that he had appeared to Saul on the way; and told him to go and converse with him, and fear not. What did Ananias tell Saul to do? To go and be baptized; for the same Jesus who appeared to you on the way told me to come and tell you what to do.

It is the Lord’s privilege to give the Holy Ghost to whom he will, and it is not for us to question him in his right, power, and privilege—in the extent of his doings. He blesses the human family; he raises up nations, kingdoms, and governments, and controls in the armies of the world. He rules in the heavens, and makes the wrath of man praise him, and gives his Spirit when and to whom he pleases. Shall I say that he has given it to his Saints all the day long? Yes; for I know that he has. Have they enjoyed the light of the Spirit of revelation? Yes; and so, more or less, has every being that has been born upon this earth. I never passed John Wesley’s church in London without stopping to look at it. Was he a good man? Yes; I suppose him to have been, by all accounts, as good as ever walked on this earth, according to his knowledge. Has he obtained a rest? Yes, and greater than ever entered his mind to expect; and so have thousands of others of the various religious denominations. Why could he not build up the kingdom of God on the earth? He had not the Priesthood; that was all the difficulty he labored under. Had the Priesthood been conferred upon him, he would have built up the kingdom of God in his day as it is now being built up. He would have introduced the ordinances, powers, grades, and quorums of the Priesthood: but, not holding the Priesthood, he could not do it. Did the Spirit of God rest upon him? Yes, and does, more or less, at times, upon all people.

Christ is the light of the world, and lighteth every man that cometh into it. Were it not for the light that is in the people, they would not hate us; they would not exclaim as they do—“We came here to cut your throats, but we cannot quite accomplish our purpose.” That is what they came for: they had no other intent, except, in addition, to plunder and destroy our property, and pollute our wives and daughters. What causes them to hate us? The light that is in them—the Spirit of the Almighty that rests on the nations; which proves the old Scriptures to be true, where they state that the report of the work that the Lord would bring forth in the last days should make the people tremble and quake. The light that is in them convicts them and teaches them that the doctrine the Elders of Israel preach among them is the Gospel of salvation; and say they, “We will not have it.” Have you not heard many of them say that they would rather go to hell than believe it? “I will not believe what you preach, though I go to hell for disobeying it.”

That Spirit that is in them—the inspiration of the Almighty which giveth understanding—convinces them that the doctrine is true. Were it false doctrine, it would be thought no more of than any other of the numerous isms in the world. They would pass by it as kindly and as easily as they do Socialism, or any other doctrine. But it convicts the people. Am I sorry for them? I am. My soul aches for them, because they cannot resolve and act in accordance with the dictates of that Spirit which ever prompts the human heart aright. But rise up and declare, “We will not believe this doctrine.” What then? You must suffer. Thousands are suffering now; ministers are groaning in pulpits, and deacons and lay members are groaning in congregations: there are groans in secret places, in public places, in highways and by-ways: everywhere people are in pain, in sorrow, in misery; and, in short, are in hell. What is the matter? “‘Mormonism’ is yet in existence—it is not destroyed.” Why can they not muster courage enough to say, “Our independent organizations we will use, and will not suffer the Devil, nor fathers, mothers, priests, neighbors, worldly reputation, riches, or anything else, to deter us from embracing and practicing the principles of eternal life?” That course would at once start them on the road to happiness. “But,” says the Devil, “if I let you go, you will get out of my power and reach, and I cannot get you again.” Suppose the world should turn round and say, “Mr. Devil, we have been co-partners long enough!”

I remember that when I made a profession of religion, after being called an infidel by the Christians, I often used to get a little puzzled. The Evil One would whisper to me that I had done this, that, or some other thing wrong, and inquire whether that looked like a Christian act, and remark, “You have missed it; you have not done right, and you know it; you did not do as well in such a thing as you might; and are you not ashamed of yourself in saying that you are a Christian? You profess the religion of Jesus Christ, and now manifest such weakness!” Said I, “Mr. Devil, it is none of your business. You may go behind, or before, or in any other direction; but you and I have dissolved partnership; and what I do, I am accountable for to a more glorious Being than you are. So long as we were in partnership, I had to give an account of my doings to you; but now it is not for you to fret yourself about my doings, for you have no interest whatever in the matter.” And thus I have acted with him from that time until now.

I have experienced and learned much since I embraced the Gospel, and have become thoroughly convinced that the world lieth in ignorance, and are wandering after a shadow—that is, false principles. There is no solid peace and joy, no permanent comfort and consolation to be found between—shall I go to the extremes? Yes, the sectarian extremes—the top of the topless throne, and the bottom of the bottomless pit. There is not a particle of permanent happiness between these two extremes to the noble spirits within us. It is only to be found in the principles of eternal life that open the gates of heaven to all believers. The man that places his affections upon the gold, the silver, the goods, chattels, and precious things of this earth, and seeks for power over his fellow man upon false principles, will never realize the happiness that the noble spirit within him is designed to enjoy.

Then cling to the principles of life that open eternity and reveal to us what we are, making known to us our relationship to God, which to the world is a great mystery.

In the year 1850, I entertained one of my Baptist friends some two or three weeks. I could not persuade him to preach, but asked him a great many questions; and I found him just where I had left them years ago. I asked him questions with regard to the doctrines taught in the Bible. Could he answer them? No: he was as ignorant as a child of the great plan of salvation. During his stay, I preached in the old Bowery; and when I came to the point that I knew he was looking for—to tell who God the Father and God the Son are—I dropped the subject. When we arrived home, he said, “Brother Young, why did you not go on a little further? You drew my whole soul out to learn something that I never had learned.” I said to him that I did not proceed further because he was there. He then remarked—“I have been preaching thirty years, and I was very anxious to learn the true doctrine upon the very point you spoke of today. I have heard much about your people, and I tarried here to learn. Why could you not have told us more?” I replied—“I wish you to teach.” “But I do not know anything about the subject.” “I will so couch my questions that you soon will. Do you believe the Old and New Testament?” “Yes.” I then asked him a few questions with regard to the coming forth of the Son of Man, as he is called in a few places. “Do you believe that he was born of the virgin Mary?—that he was the son of Mary?” “Yes.” “Do you believe that the Apostle told the truth when he said that he was begotten by the Father?” “Yes.” “Why do you dispute it, then, or throw a doubt upon it? Was he not flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone, if the history given of him is true?” “O yes.” “Whom did he look and act like? And whose errand did he come to do?” I then turned and read—“Whoso hath seen me hath seen the Father,” and inquired, “Do you believe that?” “Yes; but I never before viewed the matter in the light it now appears.” “Is he not the very express image and likeness of his Father in heaven? The Bible says he is. Do you believe the Bible?” “Yes.”

In a short time he answered my questions; and I took him back to Adam, and gave him to understand clearly who the Bible taught that he was. I learned from my Baptist friend that his sect were just where I left them twenty-five years ago.

As brother Heywood has just remarked in your hearing, the people do not improve on their capital. Every man and woman that has talent and hides it will be called a slothful servant. Improve day by day upon the capital you have. In proportion as we are capacitated to receive, so it is our duty to do. Some learn more and faster than others—more readily see and comprehend the hearings of their lessons and the relationship they sustain to their fellow beings. Then will everyone who secures an exaltation be happy? Yes. Will all be of one mind there? Yes. Should we not be one here? Yes. Should every man be a President? Should every man be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve? Should every man be the President of our Government, or a King? No; but each should possess the Spirit of the Lord; and through observing its teachings, everyone will be rewarded and enjoy according to his capacity. Each vessel will be filled to overflowing, and hence all will be equal, in that they are full.

Every man and woman will receive to a fulness, though the quantity will vary according to the extent of their capacity, and each will be crowned with glory and eternal life, if faithful. He that endures to the end the same shall be saved. Not to run for a season and then turn away; but those who endure to the end will receive a fulness of joy which will give them satisfaction.

But, as Jesus said, these things are spiritually discerned. And though he was diligent in teaching his disciples, their traditions were such that, after he had been with them a long time, there were many points that they did not fully understand. When the question was asked Peter, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” he replied, “Some say thou art John come to life again, and some that thou art one of the old prophets risen from the dead; some say one thing, and some say another.” “But whom say ye that I am?” “Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.” “Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven.” Why cannot you at once understand that you must imbibe in your faith and hold to that principle of revelation? Men cannot reveal the principles of eternal life to you; flesh and blood cannot; scientific books cannot; history cannot; another man’s experience cannot; no, nor the whole world, with their wisdom and power; for they must be revealed from our Father which is in heaven.

Peter was blessed, because he had eyes to see; and when he saw with his spiritual eyes, he acknowledged it. He was not so proud and highminded as to turn round and deny. If the conviction of their own minds had free course, and were not trammeled through their erroneous traditions, millions and millions would hail this day with thanksgiving. They would rather see it than to be assured that the whole Rocky Mountain range was solid gold. If all Cherry Creek bottoms, and Pike’s Peak, and the mountains around were a mass of pure gold, they would walk over it and say, “We will go to Utah and learn for ourselves, though we have to go on our hands and knees. Let us find the fountain of eternal intelligence—the way of life: let us find that which will satisfy the noble spirits God has placed in our tabernacles.”

What is their condemnation? Light—truth—the true Priesthood—has come among them. And will they receive it? No. “They choose darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil,” and their sins remain upon them. They are the ones who must suffer the loss, and not those who will be faithful.

There is not a man or woman on this earth that I hate; but I do most cordially hate their wicked acts. I am at war with false principles—with wickedness, sin, and abomination; and I expect to continue my warfare until I overcome.

Let this people continue to strive, to toil, and hold fast to the cause of their God, and they will conquer. I am for never forsaking the ship, and for never ceasing to watch the sails and the compass—for never ceasing my operations, until God shall reign King of nations, as he now reigns King of Saints.

People say, “If we only knew that this work was of the Lord, we would be satisfied.” How can you know? Yield to that Spirit that influences the heart—that Spirit of the Almighty that gives your spirits understanding and teaches you truth from error, and God will take you by the hand and lead you by the right hand of his influence and power to victory and glory. The whole world might be saved. Will they be? No.

I am at war with evil principles, and I shall contend against them, and continue to do so until I see the kingdoms of this world bow to the scepter of King Immanuel. Will any man be deprived of his rights when that is the case? No; but they will find it a Republican Democratic Government. “But we thought that the government you are talking about was a theocratic government.” It is; and it is the only true form of government on the earth—the only one that possesses all the true principles of republicanism. It puts every man and woman right, puts everything in its place, and gives to each one his due according to his works; for so will they be judged in that day.

May the Lord bless those who are inclined to do right and follow out their religion. And I pray continually that they may elude the grasp of hypocrites and ungodly men—of those who are determined to hate God and his righteousness. I intend to persevere in the path of righteousness until I overcome; and, with the help of God and the Saints, I will outgeneral the wicked. And I declare today that every person endeavoring to do right shall have his rights in due time, and rejoice in the God of freedom; which may God grant. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, June 19, 1859.

It is recorded in the New Testament, and said to be the words of the Savior while speaking of his doctrine and the things he taught, “He that heareth and doeth my sayings shall know of my doctrine, whether it is of God or men.” “Whosoever keepeth my sayings shall know of my doctrine.” I labor faithfully to instruct the people in the way of life; and the most important point of all my preaching and sayings is that they rest upon the words of the Savior. Whosoever readeth the doctrine of the Son of God and obeys it does know whether it is true or false.

Christ is the light of the world, and lighteth every man that cometh into it. No human being has ever been born upon this earth without more or less enlightenment by that Spirit and influence that flows from the fountain of intelligence. All people have been more or less taught by the Spirit of revelation; and let me say further, there never was a child born upon this earth that was not naturally endowed with that Spirit; and when we try to make ourselves believe differently, we are mistaken.

It is extensively taught that nature must be subdued, and grace made to take its place. I wish to inform you that it is nature for the child to be influenced by the Spirit of God: it is nature for all people to be influenced by a good spirit; and the evil that is spoken of is the power the Devil has gained upon this earth through the fall. He gained power to tempt the children of men, and wickedness is produced through their yielding to his temptations; but it is not nature in them. They are not “conceived in sin, and brought forth in iniquity” pertaining to their spirits: it is the flesh that is alluded in that passage. Then why not follow the dictates of the Good Spirit? We talk about it, read of it, believe in it—that Spirit which gives joy and peace to the chil– dren of men, and wishes and does no evil to any person; and that is the Spirit of the Gospel.

If people would listen to the whisperings of that Spirit, they would be led into the paths of truth and righteousness. If they would overcome temptations to evil—cause their spirits to overcome the flesh, they would bring themselves into subjection to the law of Christ, and become Saints of God.

You discern evils in your neighborhoods, in your families, and in yourselves. The disposition to produce evil, to annoy, to disturb the peace of families, neighbors, and society, is produced by the power of the enemy over the flesh, through the fall. Every person who will examine his own experience—who will watch closely the leading of his own desires, will learn that the very great majority prefer to do good rather than to do evil, and would pursue a correct course, were it not for the evil power that subjects them to its sway. In wrongdoing their own consciences condemn them. They are taught what is right, they read what is right, and at times the Spirit of the Lord is upon them teaching them what is right, and would be upon them from their youth, were it not that they give way to temptation and let the flesh overcome the spirit that God has placed within us. I feel to continually urge upon those who profess to be Saints never to grieve that Spirit that enlightens their minds, teaches them righteousness, to love God and their fellow creatures, and to do good to themselves and to all around them, to promote righteousness upon the earth, and overcome iniquity in themselves and those around them as fast as possible.

Some may imagine and really believe that I am opposed to the great majority of the inhabitants of the earth—to the religious and political parties of the day; but it is not so. To individuals, as such, I am not opposed. The doctrine I preach is not opposed to an individual upon the earth. If I am opposed to anything, it is to sin—to that which produces evil in the world. I believe that I may say with perfect safety that I am as clear as the stars that shine in the heavens with regard to opposing any mortal being on the earth, though many construe the opposing of their sins into an opposition to themselves. I do not feel opposed to an individual on the earth. I have not any enmity in my heart, or at least I should not have. If I have, I am thus far wrong. If we harbor vindictiveness, hatred, malice, and a spirit that produces evil within us, we are so far given up to the power of evil. But when I say that I am opposed to evil principles and their consequent practices, I use an expression that I think you can understand.

I am much opposed to men and women who say that they believe in God the Father and in Jesus Christ his Son, and treat their names with lightness. I am very much opposed to a dishonest spirit, and that, too, in this community as well as in the world. I am very much opposed to deception. I am very much opposed to evil speaking. Now, understand me precisely as I mean. If I should hear a man advocate the erroneous principles he had imbibed through education, and oppose these principles, some might imagine that I was opposed to that man, when in fact I am only opposed to every evil and erroneous principle he advances. His morality, so far as it goes, is good.

In the Christian world, thousands and millions of them are as close to the truth as any man that ever lived upon the face of the earth, so far as moral, Christian deportment is concerned. I can find a great many of this community who live as moral lives as men and women can. Is there anything else necessary and important? Yes—to so live as to have the light of the Spirit of truth abiding within you, day by day, that when you hear the truth you know it as well as you do the faces of your father’s family, and also understand every manifestation produced by erroneous principles.

I plead with the Elders of Israel day by day, when I have an opportunity, to live their religion—to so live that the Holy Ghost will be their constant companion; and then they will be qualified to be judges in Israel—to preside as Bishops, presiding Elders, and High Counselors, and as men of God to take their families and friends by the hand and lead them in the path of truth and virtue, and eventually into the kingdom of God. Let me now tell you, Latter-day Saints, that you do not live to your privileges—you do not enjoy that which it is your privilege to enjoy; and when I see and hear of contentions, broils, misrule, bad feelings, ill conduct, wrong in my neighbor or myself, I know that we do not live according to our profession. Why not live above all suspicion and above the power of Satan? This is our privilege.

So far as morality is concerned, millions of the inhabitants of the earth live according to the best light they have—according to the best knowledge they possess. I have told you frequently that they will receive according to their works; and all who live according to the best principles in their possession, or that they can understand, will receive peace, glory, comfort, joy, and a crown that will be far beyond what they are anticipating. They will not be lost.

I was highly gratified by a remark made by the Reverend Mr. Vaux, the gentleman who has just addressed you, that the terror of the Lord never can, neither should, in the nature of things, bring men to repentance. Those of you who are acquainted with the history of the world reflect upon the conduct of the inhabitants of the earth, and when did tyranny ever cause repentance of evil? Never. It produces crime. When men are infringed upon in their rights and tyrannized over, they are prone to rise in their might and declare, “We will do as we please, and will let you know that we will have the ruling of our own rights and dispositions.” Tyrannical power may possess the ability to behead them, hang them, or sentence them to prison; but resolute men will have their will.

Unless a ruler has the power of the Priesthood, he cannot rule the minds of the people and win their unbounded confidence and love. To illustrate my idea, I will relate an anecdote. A young man entered the ministry, but soon learned that he could not rule the minds of the people. He then turned his attention to the study and practice of medicine, and directly discovered that the power of evil had induced the people to care more for their bodies than for their souls. But that profession did not give him the influence he desired, for he found the will of the people first and foremost with them. He then studied law, and could command all the influence he desired; for their wills they would gratify in preference to either soul or body. You cannot break down the indomitable will of the human family. I have known children to be so abused and whipped as to render them almost or entirely worthless and still the indomitable will remained. How came it there? God organized us to become absolutely independent; and the will I am speaking about is implanted within us by him; and the spirit of every intelligent being is organized to become independent according to its capacity.

You cannot break nor destroy the will. It is influenced and controlled more or less by the evil that is sown in the flesh, but not in the spirit, until the body has grown to years of accountability. Then evil, when listened to, begins to rule and overrule the spirit God has placed within man.

The Apostles and Prophets, when speaking of our relationship to God, say that we are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. God is our Father, and Jesus Christ is our elder brother, and both are our everlasting friends. This is Bible doctrine. Do you know the relationship you sustain to them? Christ has overcome, and now it is for us to overcome, that we may be crowned with him heirs of God—joint heirs with Christ.

I feel to urge upon the people continually to depart from every evil. We wish to see the kingdom of God in all its fulness on the earth; and whoso beholds it will see a kingdom of purity, a kingdom of holiness, a people filled with the power of the upper world—with the power of God; and sin will be overcome, and this independent organization will be brought into subjection to that law. We call it the law of Christ: it is the law of eternal life. When we speak of the law of Christ, we speak of it as the power to keep matter in its organization.

You read of the first and second death. We witness, day by day, the dissolution of the body, and there is also a second death. Let a person observe the law of Christ as set forth in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and in all revelations God has given from the days of Adam until now, and his conduct tends to eternal life. It will not save their bodies from death, for it is the decree of the Almighty that the flesh shall die. They will be made pure and holy, and be brought into a celestial kingdom through the body’s being made pure by falling back into the dust. Sin has entered into the world, and death by sin; so death has passed upon all mankind, and there is no excuse: they must meet this change.

It may be said that Enoch and his holy city went to heaven, that Elijah was caught up, and that it is generally believed that Moses did not die; still the sentence that is passed upon all mankind will come upon them at some time or other. They must meet this change, to be prepared to enter into the celestial kingdom of our Father and God.

It has also been decreed by the Almighty that spirits, upon taking bodies, shall forget all they had known previously, or they could not have a day of trial—could not have an opportunity for proving themselves in darkness and temptation, in unbelief and wickedness, to prove themselves worthy of eternal existence. The greatest gift that God can bestow upon the children of men is the gift of eternal life—that is, to give mankind power to preserve their identity—to preserve themselves before the Lord.

The disposition, the will, the spirit, when it comes from heaven and enters the tabernacle, is as pure as an angel.

The spirit from the eternal worlds enters the tabernacle at the time of what is termed quickening, and forgets all it formerly knew. It descends below all things, as Jesus did. All beings, to be crowned with crowns of glory and eternal lives, must in their infantile weakness begin, with regard to their trials, the day of their probation. They must descend below all things, in order to ascend above all things. There could not be a more helpless child born of a woman than was Jesus Christ; yet he so grew and increased in wisdom and might, that in childhood he could confound the doctors and lawyers in his questions and answers. He increased rapidly in his mental capacity, for he was the Son of the Father who dwells in eternity, and was capacitated to receive the wisdom of eternity faster than we can. But we are capacitated to shun every evil, if we listen to the still small voice and to those holy prin– ciples that flow from the fountain of all intelligence.

Cleave to light and intelligence with all your hearts, my brethren, that you may be prepared to preserve your identity, which is the greatest gift of God. God bless you! Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, June 19, 1859.

It is recorded in the New Testament, and said to be the words of the Savior, while speaking of his doctrine and the things he taught, “He that heareth and doeth my sayings shall know of my doctrine whether it is of God or men.” “Whosoever keepeth my sayings shall know of my doctrine.” I labor faithfully to instruct the people in the way of life; and the most important point of all my preaching and sayings is that they rest upon the words of the Savior. Whosoever readeth the doctrine of the Son of God, and obeys it, does know whether it is true or false.

Christ is the light of the world and lighteth every man that cometh into it. No human being has ever been born upon this earth without more or less enlightenment by that Spirit and influence that flows from the Fountain of intelligence. All people have been more or less taught by the Spirit of revelation; and let me say further, there never was a child born upon this earth that was not naturally endowed with that Spirit; and when we try to make ourselves believe differently, we are mistaken.

It is extensively taught that nature must be subdued, and grace made to take its place. I wish to inform you that it is nature for the child to be influenced by the Spirit of God. It is nature for all people to be influenced by a good spirit; and the evil that is spoken of is the power the Devil has gained upon this earth through the fall. He gained power to tempt the children of men, and wickedness is produced through their yielding to his temptations; but it is not nature in them. They are not “conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity,” pertaining to their spirits. It is the flesh that is alluded to in that passage. Then why not follow the dictates of the good Spirit? We talk about it, read of it, believe in it—that Spirit which gives joy and peace to the children of men, and wishes and does no evil to any person; and that is the Spirit of the Gospel.

If people would listen to the whisperings of that Spirit, they would be led into the paths of truth and righteousness. If they would overcome temptations to evil—cause their spirits to overcome the flesh, they would bring themselves into subjection to the law of Christ and become Saints of God.

You design evils in your neighborhoods, in your families, and in yourselves. The disposition to produce evil, to annoy, to disturb the peace of families, neighbors, and society, is produced by the power of the enemy over the flesh, through the fall. Every person who will examine his own experience—who will watch closely the leading of his own desires—will learn that the very great majority prefer to do good rather than to do evil, and would pursue a correct course, were it not for the evil power that subjects them to its sway. In wrongdoing, their own consciences condemn them. They are taught what is right, they read what is right, and at times the Spirit of the Lord is upon them, teaching them what is right, and would be upon them from their youth, were it not that they give way to temptation and let the flesh overcome the spirits that God has placed within us. I feel to continually urge upon those who profess to be Saints never to grieve that Spirit that enlightens their minds, teaches them righteousness, to love God and their fellow creatures, and to do good to themselves and to all around them, to promote righteousness upon the earth, and overcome iniquity in themselves and those around them as fast as possible.

Some may imagine and really believe that I am opposed to the great majority of the inhabitants of the earth—to the religious and political parties of the day; but it is not so. To individuals, as such, I am not opposed. The doctrine I preach is not opposed to an individual upon the earth. If I am opposed to anything, it is to sin—to that which produces evil in the world. I believe that I may say with perfect safety that I am as clear as the stars that shine in the heavens with regard to opposing any mortal being on the earth, though many construe the opposing of their sins into an opposition to themselves. I do not feel opposed to an individual on the earth. I have not any enmity in my heart, or at least I should not have. If I have, I am thus far wrong. If we harbor vindictiveness, hatred, malice, and a spirit that produces evil within us, we are so far given up to the power of evil. But when I say that I am opposed to evil principles and their consequent practices, I use an ex– pression that I think you can understand.

I am much opposed to men and women who say that they believe in God the Father and in Jesus Christ his Son, and treat their names with lightness. I am very much opposed to a dishonest spirit, and that too in this community as well as in the world. I am very much opposed to deception. I am very much opposed to evil speaking. Now understand me completely as I mean. If I should hear a man advocate the erroneous principles he had imbibed through education, and oppose those principles, some might imagine that I was opposed to that man, when, in fact, I am only opposed to every evil and erroneous principle he advances. His morality, so far as it goes, is good.

In the Christian world, thousands and millions of them are as close to the truth as any man that ever lived upon the face of the earth, so far as moral, Christian deportment is concerned. I can find a great many of this community who live as moral lives as men and women can. Is there anything else necessary and important? Yes—to so live as to have the light of the Spirit of truth abiding within you day by day, that when you hear the truth, you know it as well as you know the faces of your father’s family, and also understand every manifestation produced by erroneous principles.

I plead with the Elders of Israel day by day, when I have an opportunity, to live their religion—to so live that the Holy Ghost will be their constant companion; and then they will be qualified to be judges in Israel, to preside as Bishops, presiding Elders, and High Councilors, and as men of God, to take their families and friends by the hand and lead them in the path of truth and virtue, and eventually into the kingdom of God. Let me now tell you, Latter-day Saints, that you do not live to your privileges; you do not enjoy that which it is your privilege to enjoy; and when I see and hear of contentions, broils, misrule, bad feelings, ill conduct, wrong in my neighbor or myself, I know that we do not live according to our profession. Why not live above all suspicion and above the power of Satan? This is our privilege.

So far as morality is concerned, millions of the inhabitants of the earth live according to the best light they have—according to the best knowledge they possess. I have told you frequently that they will receive according to their works; and all who live according to the best principles in their possession, or that they can understand, will receive peace, glory, comfort, joy, and a crown that will be far beyond what they are anticipating. They will not be lost.

I was highly gratified by a remark made by the Reverend Mr. Vaux, the gentleman who has just addressed you, that the terror of the Lord never can, neither should, in the nature of things, bring men to repentance. Those of you who are acquainted with the history of the world reflect upon the conduct of the inhabitants of the earth; and when did tyranny ever cause repentance of evil? Never. It produces crime. When men are infringed upon in their rights and tyrannized over, they are prone to rise in their might and declare, “We will do as we please, and will let you know that we will have the ruling of our own rights and dispositions.” Tyrannical power may possess the ability to behead them, hang them, or sentence them to prison; but resolute men will have their will.

Unless a ruler has the power of the Priesthood, he cannot rule the minds of the people and win their unbounded confidence and love. To illustrate my idea, I will relate an anecdote. A young man entered the ministry, but soon learned that he could not rule the minds of the people. He then turned his attention to the study and practice of medicine, and directly discovered that the power of evil had induced the people to care more for their bodies than for their souls; but that profession did not give him the influence he desired, for he found the will of the people first and foremost with them. He then studied law, and could command all the influence he desired, for their wills they would gratify in preference to either soul or body. You cannot break down the indomitable will of the human family. I have known children to be so abused and whipped as to render them almost or entirely worthless, and still the indomitable will remained. How came it there? God organized us to become absolutely independent, and the will I am speaking about is implanted in us by him; and the spirit of every intelligent being is organized to become independent according to its capacity.

You cannot break nor destroy the will. It is influenced and controlled, more or less, by the evil that is sown in the flesh, but not in the spirit, until the body has grown to years of accountability; then evil, when listened to, begins to rule and overrule the spirit God has placed within man.

The Apostles and Prophets, when speaking of our relationship to God, say that we are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. God is our Father, and Jesus Christ is our Elder Brother, and both are our everlasting friends. This is Bible doctrine. Do you know the relationship you sustain to them? Christ has overcome; and now it is for us to overcome, that we may be crowned with him heirs of God—joint heirs with Christ.

I feel to urge upon the people con– tinually to depart from every evil. We wish to see the kingdom of God in all its fulness on the earth; and whoso beholds it will see a kingdom of purity, a kingdom of holiness, a people filled with the power of the upper world—with the power of God; and sin will be overcome, and this independent organization will be brought into subjection to that law. We call it the law of Christ: it is the law of eternal life. When we speak of the law of Christ, we speak of it as the power to keep matter in its organization.

You read of the first and second death. We witness, day by day, the dissolution of the body; and there is also a second death. Let a person observe the law of Christ as set forth in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and in all revelations God has given from the days of Adam until now, and his conduct tends to eternal life. It will not save their bodies from death, for it is the decree of the Almighty that the flesh shall die. They will be made pure and holy and be brought into a celestial kingdom, through the body’s being made pure by falling back into the dust. Sin has entered into the world, and death by sin; so death has passed upon all mankind, and there is no excuse: they must meet this change.

It may be said that Enoch and his holy city went to heaven, that Elijah was caught up, and that it is generally believed that Moses did not die; still the sentence that is passed upon all mankind will come upon them at some time or other. They must meet this change, to be prepared to enter into the celestial kingdom of our Father and God.

It has also been decreed by the Almighty that spirits, upon taking bodies, shall forget all they had known previously, or they could not have a day of trial—could not have an opportunity for proving themselves in darkness and temptation, in unbelief and wickedness, to prove themselves worthy of eternal existence. The greatest gift that God can bestow upon the children of men is the gift of eternal life; that is, to give mankind power to preserve their identity—to preserve themselves before the Lord.

The disposition, the will, the spirit, when it comes from heaven and enters the tabernacle, is as pure as an angel. The spirit from the eternal worlds enters the tabernacle at the time of what is termed quickening, and forgets all it formerly knew. It descends below all things, as Jesus did. All beings, to be crowned with crowns of glory and eternal lives, must in their infantile weakness begin, with regard to their trials, the day of their probation: they must descend below all things, in order to ascend above all things. There could not be a more helpless child born of a woman than was Jesus Christ; yet he so grew and increased in wisdom and might, that in childhood he could confound the doctors and lawyers in his questions and answers. He increased rapidly in his mental capacity, for he was the son of the Father who dwells in eternity, and was capacitated to receive the wisdom of eternity faster than we can. But we are capacitated to shun every evil, if we listen to the still small voice and to those holy principles that flow from the Fountain of all intelligence.

Cleave to light and intelligence with all your hearts, my brethren, that you may be prepared to preserve your identity, which is the greatest gift of God. God bless you! Amen.

An Address by President Brigham Young, Delivered at the Funeral of his Sister, Fanny Young, June 12, 1859.

Were we to conform to the traditions of our fathers, the brothers of sister Fanny would not be permitted to speak on this occasion. But is it wrong for a father to preach the funeral sermon of his child? Or for a husband to preach the funeral sermon of his wife? Or for a brother to officiate in like manner for a sister? If so, wherein is it wrong or sinful? Four of sister Fanny’s five brothers are here today, and I wish them to do all the preaching to be done on this occasion.

Our father long since departed to the spirit world: he is not here to give counsel to his children. Brother Phineas resides in this city, but he is not here; and we, the four brothers who are present, have designed to say what is to be said, and to perform the funeral ceremonies of our sister, in this respect.

It would gratify me to spend an hour or two to express in part the numerous principles, ideas, inductions, and connections between the spirit world and our present condition, that frequently fill my mind on such occasions as this. Many of you know that I especially delight to dwell upon such subjects; but I do not wish to occupy so much time now. We will make our exercises short and to the point, while we perform the last act of kindness that can be bestowed upon mortals.

It is customary to pay great respect to the dead. This I do; but how do I pay it? It is very fashionable and customary to mourn deeply for the dead; and it is customary in some countries to hire mourners, and observe much ceremony upon the death and interment of relatives and friends. I wish to pay, in a strictly fitting and decent manner, the respect due to the remains of my sister Fanny—due in reference to the resurrection of the very dust that will molder in the coffin before us.

If I am faithful to my religion, I shall see the component parts that organized the body together. When those parts are gathered together from the elements, they will appear as sister Fanny, not in mortal flesh, but in an immortal state. When I meet her in the morning of the resurrection, she will hail me as one who has acted the part of a brother, son, and protector; she will hail me as her benefactor; and I now wish to pay respect to her departure from this sphere of action. We have made her as comfortable as we could through life; we will honor her in death, and hope to be present when she is resurrected. Now her body is subject to decomposition, and will return to its mother earth, to remain until it shall be called forth again.

The organization of the human tabernacle is a great mystery; but it would not be, if we could see and understand. Could the veil between us and the spiritual existence be rent, we should behold a greater mystery in the organization of the spirit.

As has been observed here touching the ideas that men have of the principles of eternal life, mankind have been veiled in utter darkness, in which the great majority remain at this day. The wicked world inquire for the man who can inform them how and by what means the mortal body and the immortal spirit are so intimately united. To say nothing of their organization, the wisest and greatest physiologists have failed to supply the information so earnestly sought upon this subject. We see life spring into existence all around us. Where is its fountain? And how is it originated? It exists for a day, a night, a year, or an age, and it is gone; and who can say where? Who can tell what has become of the life that dwelt in that tabernacle, causing it to think—that lit up the eye with living fire, and caused the mouth to utter forth wisdom? Can mortal man tell? Not unless he is inspired by the Almighty, and understands eternal things. The origin of all things is in eternity. Like a cloud passing across a clear sky—like a bird that suddenly flits across our path—like a pure gushing stream from a hidden fountain, that soon sinks in some mountain chasm—so, apparently, life flashes into this mortal existence, and passes away.

I do not mourn for sister Fanny: I rejoice. She has lived upwards of threescore years and ten, and exhibited the retention of sound sense to her last days with us here. She said to her sister Nancy, a short time ago, “If you hear of my being dead before you come to see me again, let the first thing you say be ‘Hallelujah!’” That remark, to me, evidences the retention of sound judgment. It also appears to me that very many of the Latter-day Saints are as far from good wholesome ideas and principles, touching their heavenly privileges, as the east is from the west. They covet the riches of this world, craving to serve themselves—to satisfy the sordid disposition within them. Had they the sense of an angel, and were they in possession of mountains of gold, heaped up higher and deeper, broader and longer, than these mountains on the east and west of us, they would say, “That vast amount of gold is as nothing when compared with the privilege of even living in this day and age of the world, when the Gospel is preached.”

And when the Lord has committed his holy Priesthood to men on earth, without which no mortal being can be prepared to enter into the celestial kingdom of God, how do many of the Elders treat it? That question I do not wish to answer; but I really wish that such persons would learn a little good sense. Generations have come and gone without the privilege of hearing the sound of the Gospel, which has come to you through Joseph Smith—that was revealed to him from heaven by angels and visions. We have the Gospel and the keys of the holy Priesthood.

Sister Fanny has been faithful: her spirit is now in the spirit world. Where do you suppose that world is? We used to think and talk a great deal about this subject, inquiring where heaven is, and where is the heaven of heavens. Let me tell you that sister Fanny cannot dwell there until she obtains her resurrection; neither can any other being. The spirit world I now refer to pertains to this earth, so far as spirits who have tabernacled or may hereafter tabernacle here are concerned.

Sister Fanny was baptized for the remission of sins, and received the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost. She lived according to the precepts and ordinances that God has revealed through his servant the Prophet, by which men can be saved and brought back into his presence. But is her spirit in the third heavens? No. Will it go there? Not until she again possesses her body. Can she see the Lord? Yes, if he unveils himself. Can she converse with angels? Yes, if they are sent to converse with her. Is she in paradise? Yes. Where do the spirits of the wicked go? To the same place or kingdom pertaining to this earth. They do not go to the depths of hell, neither can they until they become angels of devils.

Is a Saint subject to the power of the Devil in the spirit world? No, because he has gained the victory through faith, and can command Satan, and he must obey. How is it with the wicked? The Devil has power over them to distress and afflict them: they are in hell. Can the angels of heaven administer to them? Yes, if they are sent to do so. What can be done for them? The spirit of sister Fanny and the spirit of every man and woman who has died in the faith of the Gospel, since it has been restored, will have the power to teach those wicked spirits and all who have gone to the spirit world without having heard the Gospel in the flesh, and say to them, If you will now repent and believe, the Lord will even now provide the means that you may be officiated for on the earth in those ordinances that must be attended to here. Sister Fanny can do good in her capacity and calling as well as Joseph the Prophet can in his. He will hold the keys: he will rule, govern, and control all things in the spiritual world pertaining to this dispensation, until he has finished his work.

I do not wish to occupy much of the time; but when I am led to speak on these points I am much interested. How few there are who understand how hard it is for a man’s eyes to be opened! How few of the Elders of this Church prefer the interests of the kingdom of God to their worldly interests! With far too many it is, “My family!—my farm is going to wreck!—my store is neglected!—my business must be attended to!” and let the kingdom of God take care of itself. Such men will remain in darkness.

To possess and retain the spirit of the Gospel, gather Israel, redeem Zion, and save the world must be attended to first and foremost, and should be the prevailing desire in the hearts of the First Presidency of the Elders of Israel, and of every officer in the Church and kingdom of God.

The Lord commands, controls, and governs. A little more faith in the name of Jesus Christ, and I can say to my enemies, Be thou rebuked and stay thou there. I then can say to the power of the Devil, Be thou rebuked; and to evil spirits, Come not within these walls, and they could not enter. A little more faith, and, by way of comparison, I can say to my wheat and corn, Grow, and command the heavens to shed forth rain.

Suppose that the whole people could see things as they are, they would soon be able to control the elements by the power of their faith. This people, since we believe that they are in the kingdom of God, must so live as to gain power and faith to control all things of a perishable nature, and thus prepare themselves to endure forever and ever; while every other creature will, ere long, return to its native element.

I am very much obliged to my friends for calling to pay their respects to the living and the dead. We did not expect many here, for I have not a house large enough to hold all the relations of our sister Fanny. To convene them in a building, we should have to go to the Tabernacle. She has many relatives, and I am increasing the number of mine every day, through inducing people to increase in faith. The spirit of the holy Gospel is going to the east, the west, the north, and the south, and no power can hinder it; and the feelings of many are taking hold of the principles of eternal life, and there is no power that can hinder it. And all those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with all their hearts, and believe that Joseph Smith was sent of God, repent of their sins, are baptized for the remission of sins, and then live their religion, the same are “my father, my mother, my sister, my brother.” In reality I have no other connections on the face of this earth. If my blood kin would not believe the Gospel, I should be as much alienated from them in my feelings as I am from the people of the Chinese nation. There are thousands in the Church now, and we are brethren and sisters.

I say, Bless the people! God bless my brethren and sisters! I ask my Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, to bless you every day. I am looking for the time when I shall say, Be thou blessed, and we shall be blessed, and the powers of earth and hell will stand afar off and be rebuked at the command of the Priesthood.

How far we are beneath our privileges! What! Rejoice when a Saint dies? Yes. Mourn when a Saint dies? No. There is no feeling of mourning within me, though every living friend, wife, child, brother, sister, cousin, aunt, and uncle of mine were lying before us, as sister Fanny does now. I would shout, Hallelujah! “Would you not mourn?” No. The world is before me, and I can gather all the fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, wives, children, and friends that I wish around me. That is the way I feel. Glory! Hallelujah!

Sister Vilate Kimball knows that I felt so when I buried Miriam, my first wife. Heber C. and Vilate Kimball were as kind to me at that time, when I was a stranger and penniless, as I have been to sister Fanny. My heart said, “Hallelujah!” because the Priesthood is here, and the way opened up from earth to heaven; and my wife was going there.

God bless you! When I have the power, I will bless you so effectually that you will not be afflicted by the Devil as you now are. Amen.

A Sermon by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, June 5, 1859.

Some of the questions propounded by brother Clements, in his remarks, produced in me rather a humorsome feeling—especially the inquiry of the lady as to why she was not a man; and I perceived that it had the same effect upon the congregation. In the first place, permit me to answer that inquiry according to the spirit that passed over the congregation. It brought to my mind a conversation concerning a certain gentleman who has been in high office in the United States. The person I was conversing with placed much stress upon the circumstance that both those gentlemen and myself were Yankees. I thought that I was tolerably well acquainted with his character. I deemed him to be a good, kind, affa– ble, and honorable man. After much conversation, I told the person that I had but one fault to find with that gentleman, and that was not really a fault—only a slight mistake. He ought to have come into the world a woman. And, perhaps, the lady brother Clements has referred to should have been the officer, and the officer should have been that lady.

Pardon my humorsome remarks, for I feel a little, perhaps, as I should not, after hearing so serious and good a discourse as we have this morning. At times there is a spirit in me to treat things according to their nature, and then my style must of necessity be somewhat in accordance with the subject. I will treat the question in a more serious manner.

Who the lady is I know not, and I have seen a great many like her, and I think there would be much more sound judgment and true, sound philosophy exhibited, if persons would inquire why about three-fourths or seven-eighths of the men are not women. Why so? Because of the imbecility in the brains of men. Look through Utah and over the world, and how many who have beards are men in their capacities in the common avocations of life, to say nothing about kings, rulers, statesmen, presidents, and governors? How many men are there capable of sustaining themselves, a wife, and two or three children? Men who from their youth have been taught the strictest economy are incapable of sustaining themselves and a small family, aside from ability to govern and control a people, a nation, or a kingdom. Hundreds of thousands—yes, millions of men, do not exhibit the mental ability that one might suppose women should possess and exhibit. In our own community there are plenty of ladies who, give them the entire control of their own domestic affairs, will make a better living, live in better style, and rear their families better than at present.

Search among the various nations, and you can find men of very respectable talent—men learned upon various subjects, skilled in mechanism, philosophers of various grades, and historians; but can you find a man that is capable of rightly dictating a nation? You may ask the wisest men in a nation if there are great statesmen now living among them, and they will tell you that their real statesmen have all gone to the silent tomb. Have we any? Where can you now find statesmen in the United States possessing the ability that Daniel Webster and many others had—men who can foresee the results of the acts of individuals, of legislators, and of Congress fifty years hence? Where is there a nation that has been able to preserve its organization from the early ages of the world until now? As you have been often told, the providences of God are with them, though they know it not. He sets up a kingdom here, and casts down another there, and overrules the acts of the people to produce the results he desires. In regard to ourselves, there is not a man or woman in this kingdom, if they possessed the true principle of knowledge and wisdom, but what would know at once that they are not yet capable of magnifying any higher station than they now occupy. There is not a man or woman here but occupies a position in which they have full liberty, freedom, and opportunity to dispense their skill and knowledge to benefit themselves and the community: they are not coerced to lose one particle of time and ability.

If I find a man, as I do once in a while, who thinks that he ought to be sustained in a higher position than he occupies, that proves to me that he does not understand his true position, and is not capable of magnifying it. Has he not already the privilege of exhibiting all the talents he has—of doing all the good he is capable of in this kingdom? Is he curtailed in the least, in anywise or place, in bringing forth his wisdom and powers, and exhibiting them before the community, and leading out? No, not in the least. Are any of you infringed upon or abridged in the least? Is there a sister who has not the privilege of exhibiting all the talent and power she will, or is capable of, for the benefit of her sisters and her children? Are the sisters deprived of any liberty in displaying their taste and talent to improve the community?

When I hear persons say that they ought to occupy a station more exalted than they do, and hide the talents they are in possession of, they have not the true wisdom they ought to have. There is a lack in them, or they would improve upon the talents given.

I can say to the sisters, if you have superior talents, arise and let your light shine. Prove to your neighbors and the community that you are capable of teaching those sisters whom you deem to be ignorant or neglectful. I have placed a low estimate upon the standing and capacity of men; and now let me take the privilege to say a few words to you—to the ladies who have reached the age of thirty years. According to my view of the subject, there is not one in a hundred that knows how to keep a house as it should be kept. I should judge, from what I have seen, that there are many who do not know the swillpail from the milkpail. Others do not know how to make butter and cheese, nor how to keep their children clean. Others, again, do not know how to teach their children as they should be taught.

I will not say, as do many, that the more I learn the more I am satisfied that I know nothing; for the more I learn the more I discern an eternity of knowledge to improve upon. There is an eternity of knowledge; and the little I have gained, through the blessings of the Lord, I wish to improve upon. I can teach you how to become wealthy in gold and silver, in silks and satins, and in all worldly possessions—also in the riches of eternal life. All I ask of you is to believe that I tell you the truth, and then carry it out.

Let me throw the lash at the “Mormon” Elders a little. Many of you will exchange your last bushel of wheat with the stores for ribbons and gewgaws when you really need it for bread. And, with shamefacedness I say it, some will take the last peck of their grain to the distillery to buy whiskey, and then beg their bread.

I will now answer another question propounded by brother Clements, when he said he could not answer all questions, stating that baptism was instituted, but he could not tell why. You remember reading, in the last book of the New Testament, that in the beginning God cursed the earth; but did he curse all things pertaining to it? No, he did not curse the water, but he blessed it. Pure water is cleansing—it serves to purify; and you are aware that the ancient Saints were very tenacious with regard to their purification by water. From the beginning the Lord instituted water for that purpose among others. I do not mean from the beginning of this earth alone; and although we have no immediate concern in inquiring into the organization of other earths that do not come within reach of our investigation, yet I will say that water has been the means of purification in every world that has been organized out of the immensity of matter.

The Lord has instituted laws and ordinances, and all have their peculiar design and meaning. And though we may not know the origin of the necessity of being baptized for the remission of sins, it answers that portion of the law we are now under to teach the people in their ignorance that water is designed for purification, and to instruct them to be baptized therein for the remission of their sins. If the people could fully understand this matter, they would perceive that it is perfectly reasonable and has been the law to all worlds. And this world, so benighted at present, and so lightly esteemed by infidels, as observed by brother Clements, when it becomes celestialized, it will be like the sun, and be prepared for the habitation of the Saints, and be brought back into the presence of the Father and the Son. It will not then be an opaque body as it now is, but it will be like the stars of the firmament, full of light and glory: it will be a body of light. John compared it, in its celestialized state, to a sea of glass.

Brother Clements inquired why we used bread and wine in the ordinance of the Lord’s supper. I will not teach a doctrine not found in the Old and New Testaments. Bread is the staff of life: it answers to the nourishment necessary to sustain the body of man and preserve its organization. When Jesus took the bread and blessed it, he gave it to his disciples and said, “This is my body.” You eat the sacramental bread—what for? What good does it do? What is it? Nothing but bread. You bless it and partake of it as the staff of life that Jesus Christ has given you, and emblematical of his broken body. He is the organizer of your bodies; he is the author of this earth—the heir of it from his Father, and has purchased it with his blood, which the juice of the grape was instituted by him to represent. He poured out his blood freely to redeem a fallen world—the wine answering to the blood which Jesus spilled, if you partake of it in faith; for it is the faith that brings the blessing of life to you. It is through obedience to the ordinance that God bestows renewed life upon you. By this means the children of God have life within them to live and not die.

The wine answers to the blood of Christ, and the bread to his body. His blood was poured out as we pour out wine, and his body was broken as we break bread, to redeem a fallen world and all things pertaining to it, so far as the curse had fallen.

The blood he spilled upon Mount Calvary he did not receive again into his veins. That was poured out, and when he was resurrected, another element took the place of the blood. It will be so with every person who receives a resurrection: the blood will not be resurrected with the body, being designed only to sustain the life of the present organization. When this is dissolved, and we again obtain our bodies by the power of the resurrection, that which we now call the life of the body, and which is formed from the food we eat and the water we drink, will be supplanted by another element; for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

In his remarks, brother Clements reasoned, touching persons forsaking the faith, and urged the necessity of man studying himself. If we could comprehend ourselves—could fully comprehend what our organization is, and understand the power, wisdom, and magnitude of intelligence it is capable of attaining, we should entertain many ideas very different from what we now do. To make a nice distinction, there is but a hair’s breadth between the vulgar and sublime. There is but a hair’s breadth between the depths of infidelity and the heights of the faith of the Gods. Man is here like a feather trembling between the two, liable continually to be operated upon by the power of the enemy; and it is through that power that the children of men are made to doubt the evidences of their own senses, when, at the same time, if they would reflect for a moment and listen to the intelligence which God has placed within them, they would know, when they saw what is termed a miracle, the power by which it is wrought: they would know when they have seen with their eyes and felt with their hands, or when they have had a heavenly vision.

Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of God, were afterwards left to doubt and to disbelieve that they had ever seen an angel. One of the Quorum of the Twelve—a young man full of faith and good works, prayed, and the vision of his mind was opened, and the angel of God came and laid the plates before him, and he saw and handled them, and saw the angel, and conversed with him as he would with one of his friends; but after all this, he was left to doubt, and plunged into apostasy, and has continued to contend against this work. There are hundreds in a similar condition.

In comparison, there is but a hair’s breadth between the depths of infidelity and the heights of the faith of the Saints; and the organization of man is perfectly independent in its sphere. Life and death, truth and falsehood, light and darkness, good and evil, the power of the Devil and the influence of God, the things of God and the things of the Devil, all these inducements and powers are interspersed among the children of men; and they of necessity must undergo this ordeal to prove themselves; and in the absence of the Spirit of revelation, let their sound judgments arise and declare, “Though he slay me, I will not forsake him.”

Some of the brethren come to me and say, “Brother Brigham, is it my duty to pray when I have not one particle of the spirit of prayer in me?” True, at times men are perplexed and full of care and trouble, their ploughs and other implements are out of order, their animals have strayed, and a thousand things perplex them; yet our judgment teaches us that it is our duty to pray, whether we are particularly in the spirit of praying or not. My doctrine is, it is duty to pray; and when the time for prayer comes, John should say, “This is the place and this is the time to pray: knees bend down upon that floor, and do so at once.” But John says, “I do not want to pray; I do not feel like it.” Knees, get down, I say; and down bend the knees, and he begins to think and reflect. Can you say anything? Can you not say, God have mercy on me a sinner? Yes, he can do this, if he can rise up and curse his neighbor for some ill deeds. Now, John, open your mouth and say, Lord, have mercy upon me. “But I do not feel the spirit of prayer.” That does not excuse you, for you know what your duty is. You have a passion, a will, a temper to overcome. You are subject to temptation as other men; and when you are tempted, let the judgment which God has placed within you and the intelligence he has given you by the light of the Spirit be the master in this case.

If I could not master my mouth, I would my knees, and make them bend until my mouth would speak. “But the cattle are in the corn.” Let them eat; you can attend to them when you have finished praying. Let the will of the man be brought into subjection to the law of Christ—to all the ordinances of the house of God. What, in his darkness and depression? Yes; for that is the time to prove whether one is a friend of God, that the confidence of the Almighty may increase in his son. We should so live that our confidence and faith may increase in Him. We must even go further than that. Let us so live that the faith and confidence of our heavenly Father may increase towards us, until he shall know that we will be true to him under any and all circumstances and at all times. When in our darkness and temptation we are found faithful to our duty, that increases the confidence of our God in us. He sees that we will be his servants. To use a comparison, the sandbars are numerous over which the people of God have to pass, and I have not time now to notice them. You have heard an excellent, heavenly discourse: remember it, brethren and sisters; treasure it up in your hearts: treasure up every good and forsake every evil, and learn to work the works of righteousness continually, regardless of what wicked men and devils may say.

But many think and others say that it is very hard to submit to everything, and retaliation is begotten in every bosom. I often find it so in my own. When we are lied about—when every kind of falsehood is uttered and printed against us that can be invented by the millions of devils that prompt the children of men to lie, it is sometimes difficult for me to repress the spirit of retaliation. But I have experienced that retaliation is seldom of any benefit. Then let them lie: they cannot escape suffering the consequences. If they tell nothing but the truth, all is right, and they will discover the kingdom of God still to prosper—still to increase and grow, until Jesus, whose right it is to reign, will rule King of nations, as he now reigns King of Saints.

How does he rule? If we believe in the providences of our God—in the supremacy of his dealings, is he not merciful? Yes. Does he cut down the children of men because they do not look at things and believe as I do? No. Will the Priesthood, when it bears rule upon the earth, ever interrupt an individual or community for not embracing the religion of that Priesthood? Never—no, never. What is the difficulty at present? It is as much as we can do to keep the Christians of the nineteenth century from cutting our throats because we differ from them in our religious belief. That is, in fact, all the difficulty. Not that the Latter-day Saints ever endeavored to interrupt any person in their faith and worship; and on this point I will call to witness all men who have been acquainted with us. True some Elders in this Church have been foolish; but brother Clements has just told you that he never crammed “Mormonism” down any man’s throat, nor strove to do so, neither has any Elder while faithful to his calling. Has your humble servant ever attempted such a thing?

Here is truth—here are life and salvation. Will you have them? If you say, “Nay,” all right; for you have the privilege of making your own choice. It has never altered my feelings towards individuals, as men or as women, whether they believe as I do or not. Can you live as neighbors with me? I can with you; and it is no particular concern of mine whether you believe with me or not. But my Christian brother says, “You must lay down your religion and embrace mine or I will persecute you.” Have I ever offered to persecute a person, or have this people? No. But others say, “You ‘Mormons’ must forsake your religion.”

All I ask is for the grace of God to enable us to endure to the end and be saved, and others are at liberty to make their choice. No matter whether a person is killed or not, be faithful to your lives’ end, and obtain a glorious resurrection. But a few days only will pass before our mortal career will be ended, whether we are “Mormons” or not. Those only have the promise of salvation who endure to the end; and all I ask is that we may have faith to endure. Many have lifted the sword to cut down “Mormonism” in the bud, and for more than thirty years past they have striven to overthrow it, and have not accomplished their purpose; but it has grown and increased, and will continue to grow and increase, until it reigns triumphantly on the earth, and it will deal justice to all. Even the rights of devils will be respected—also the rights of all men occupying every grade and of every capacity. And those who have striven during so many years, and so faithfully, to kill this people, they will be judged according to the deeds done in their bodies. If they never had the Holy Ghost, they can never be angels to the Devil to suffer the wrath of God to all eternity. And those of them who have lived according to the best light they had (and this will apply to all sects and parties of professing Christians, and to pagans and barbarians in all kingdoms, nations, and countries), will enjoy a glory hereafter that will be commensurate to their lives and the way in which they have improved upon their advantages; and by-and-by they will be freed entirely from the power of the Devil. They will be shut out from the presence of the Lord, which the ancients compared to hell; but no person can enter into the presence of the Father and of the Son to dwell, unless he be sanctified.

To enter into the presence of God, we must be qualified. What confidence could we have that he is the Father, only through our qualifications? As brother Clements has said, were he to appear to an unqualified person, he would have to appear as a man, and that person would want the evidence and testimony of a third person to convince him that he was not laboring under a grand deception; and then he might, with the same propriety, call for the evidence of a fourth, a fifth, etc., and never be satisfied. God is a spiritual being, and no mortal being can behold him in his glory and live, though his mind may be caught away in vision, as was Paul’s. But man has a capacity given him to have the vision of his mind open to discern heavenly things, and to treasure up wisdom and knowledge by that means, until he is prepared to receive the kingdom of heaven. May God bless you! Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, May 29, 1859.

I have been very much interested in the remarks by brother Z. Snow, and wish to impress upon the minds of all that in our capacity and organization, without the aid of a superior influence upon the mind, and that directly from the Fountain of wisdom, mankind are very liable to what the Apostle calls “vain philosophy.” Depending solely upon human reasoning leads many into vain and serious errors; and self-imbibed and self-argued notions are often so tenaciously riveted upon the mind that it is almost impossible for another to convince his fellow man of their erroneousness. To be correct in our reasonings, in our doctrines, in faith towards God, and clear in our understandings of his plan of salvation, nothing short of Divine revelation can convince of and fasten upon the understanding the truth that God has revealed from heaven for the salvation of his children.

I repeat that I have been highly interested with the remarks by Judge Snow. We have formerly heard him speak many times in this building, and those of you who have been acquainted with him can judge of the effect of his late mission to Australia, to which he referred. I will judge, for one, that it has been worth worlds to him; and all present who enjoy the spirit of revelation can readily discern that the philosophy and doctrine just advanced by him are excellent.

When men are in the habit of philosophizing upon every point, only relying upon what we call human reason, they are constantly liable to error. But place a man in a situation where he is obliged or compelled, in order to sustain himself, to have faith in the name of Jesus Christ, and it brings him to a point where he will know for himself; and happy are those who pass through trials, if they maintain their integrity and their faith to their calling.

As was observed here last Sabbath, all intelligence is the gift of God, whatever use is made of it. All valuable inventions and works of mechanism are produced by a Spirit that flows from the Fountain of intelligence, and no excellent and magnanimous work can be produced without that Spirit.

Men are apt to stray from truth—are apt to imbibe false notions, principles, and ideas, if they do not cling closely to that Fountain of intelligence and acknowledge the hand of God in all things. This principle every person should watch closely, and be very careful that they never imbibe any notion, doctrine, or idea that causes selfishness in their hearts; but let their hearts be open to conviction, to receive light and intelligence through every manifestation from above, that they may rightly discern between things that are of God and those that are not of him.

Many, in their acts, seem closely to agree with the expression in holy writ, that “God is not in all their thoughts.” We might readily conclude that many, though they use the name of the Supreme Being more frequently than any other name on earth or in heaven, never carefully reflect upon the character of that Being. He is the fountain of all intelligence; and without the power of the Holy Ghost shed forth in the hearts of the people, they are liable to be led astray.

As has been told you frequently with regard to the proof of the truth of a man’s religion, it is not his faithfulness to it—it is not his close observance of it, nor the sacrifices he makes for it, but it is that intelligence which leads men from earth to heaven, which opens the gates of heaven and reveals to the children of men heavenly things, to lift their minds and affections above the things of this earth, and cause them to view it and its inhabitants in their proper light.

The children of men are in ignorance and darkness, with their superstitions, prepossessed notions, feelings, education, and traditions. Look at them as they are—placed here for the express purpose of proving themselves before their God. Darkness and sin were permitted to come on this earth. Man partook of the forbidden fruit in accordance with a plan devised from eternity, that mankind might be brought in contact with the principles and powers of darkness, that they might know the bitter and the sweet, the good and the evil, and be able to discern between light and darkness, to enable them to receive light continually. Christ is the light of the world, and lighteth every man that cometh into it. No son or daughter of Adam ever lived on the earth, or ever will, but has had or will have the light of Christ within them.

What do many parents virtually say to their children? That to believe in revealed religion is nonsense. How frequently we have heard prayers offered in public that God would make one in their midst—that the Holy Ghost would rest upon them while they endeavored to worship the Lord Almighty; and, as soon as the prayers were over, endeavor to prove that the Holy Ghost is not given in our days as anciently—that the Spirit of revelation is not on the earth—is not among the children men! What inconsistency! God is here; his influence fills immensity. He has his messengers throughout all the works of his hands. He watches every one of his creatures: their acts, their affections, and thoughts are all known to him; for his intelligence and power fill immensity. Not that his person does, but his Spirit does; and he is here teaching, guiding, and directing the nations of the earth, notwithstanding their darkness, ignorance, and weakness; and he will make the wrath of man praise him. Why, then, should we not acknowledge his hand in all things? Why not believe in revelation? Why not acknowledge that God whom we profess to serve? Why not seek unto him for counsel? It should be in the hearts of all to seek unto the Lord with all their might and affections, and so live as to have him guide them, that they may never fall—that they may attain the goal they are anticipating.

All people desire to be happy. You cannot find an individual that does not wish comfort and ease. You can obtain happiness in no other way than by unreservedly submitting yourselves to your God. Let him lead us through paths of affliction and cause suffering and trouble to come upon us, still there is that consolation and comfort within that the world cannot give nor take away. That is the only solid comfort there is in this life. Men cannot enjoy comfort and satisfaction in the accumulation of wealth. Wealth never was the source of happiness to any person. It cannot be: it is not in the nature of things; for contentment exists only in the mind. In the mind there is happiness—in the mind there is glory. Place a man in extreme poverty, and let him possess the sweet, benign influences of the Spirit of the Lord, and you will find a happy man and a cheerful countenance; while the man who does not possess the Spirit of heaven, though he may possess all this world can afford beside, is almost constantly in sorrow and trouble.

Brethren and sisters, it is your privilege to enjoy the spirit of revelation as much as any person or people that ever lived on the face of this earth. As it was observed here last Sabbath, you see men and women falter and depart from their God and religion: but does God first forsake them? No; they forsake their God: they take such a course that the Spirit of the Lord cannot dwell with them; consequently they are left in darkness and uncertainty, and do not know what truth is. How can you know what truth is? You can only know by the spirit of revelation. This knowledge is not obtained in any other way.

How can you know the Latter-day Work to be true? You can know it only by the spirit of revelation direct from heaven. How can people prove that it is not true in any other way than by the revelations of Jesus? Can you hear of any person’s railing about it being untrue, and convincing a congregation that it is untrue by the spirit of revelation? No. All arguments, conversations, sermons, discourses, and lectures delivered against it are delivered in darkness—are not delivered in the Spirit of the great God who organized the Latter-day Work. What proved this work true to you in England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, France, the United States, &c.? Was it not the spirit of revelation that rested upon you? Then why should you lose the spirit? You should add to it day by day; you should add as the Lord gives—a little here and a little there, and treasure up truth in your faith and understanding, until you become perfect before the Lord and are prepared to receive the further things of the kingdom of God.

You must have the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to the knowledge of the truth and teach you things as they are. Let every man and woman, without exception, obtain that Spirit through an exemplary life; and if they do not adhere to the spirit of revelation that is felt by all who are partakers of this work, they will fear and fall; for the Prophet has said that the Lord would work a great work and a wonder in the last days,—that the report thereof would make all nations tremble and fill them with fear.

Is it darkness? No. Is it ignorance? No. Is it weakness? No. What is it? It is light, intelligence, the power of God that makes the wicked tremble and wish “Mormonism” out of the way. If it were a false doctrine or a false theory, the Devil would not endeavor to disturb it, wicked men would not fear it, Heaven would not smile upon it, nor give a revelation to any man or woman to believe it, and we should have poor success; and Heaven forbid that we should have success or gain influence upon any other principle than the revelations of Jesus Christ.

May God open your eyes and the eyes of every honest person, that we may see things as they are and secure for ourselves that eternal rest we are looking for. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday afternoon, May 22, 1859.

I am very happy for the privilege of bearing my testimony to the principles of the Gospel of salvation. It is the only doctrine by which people can be saved in the celestial kingdom of our God, and should concern all people, as it is the government of God on earth. People have reason to fear a bogus or spurious theocracy. There are but few upon the earth who do not in their hearts acknowledge a Supreme Being, and also believe that Being to be holy; and if they could be dictated by that Being and be sure that they were directed by the influence from him, there are but few who would object to that influence and that government.

The wickedness of the children of men is what influences them to fear. They are not afraid of their own laws, because they originated from themselves: they can manage them and blot them out of existence whenever they wish. But when that which is said to be the kingdom of God, or the theocracy of heaven, is upon the earth, many of the inhabitants thereof tremble, and fear that it is not correct.

What is the proof of the existence of the Priesthood of God upon the earth? How would you find the positive proof that the Lord Jesus has his Church upon the earth? As I observed to you in the forenoon, it is not exhibited by the learning or the implicit faith of its followers. I have never believed for a moment that the proof of the Christian religion was established by a close adherence to it by any sect or any person. We, as Christians, are divided and subdivided into many systems varying in doctrinal points. This one says, “I am right;” and that one says, “I am right;” another rises up and varies, more or less, from the doctrines of the Church he has left, and says he is right.

What proof have you, and what proof is there now upon the earth that this is the kingdom of God? If we had miracles to establish it, would they be positive proof? No, they would not. They will not satisfy me, nor have I ever seen the day when they would. Were I to see the sick healed, the eyes of the blind opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped, that would not satisfy me. For me, the plan of salvation must be a system that is pure and holy in all its points; it must reveal things that no other Church or kingdom can reveal; it must circumscribe the knowledge that is upon the face of the earth, or it is not from God. Such a plan incorporates every system of true doctrine on the earth, whether it be ecclesiastical, moral, philosophical, or civil: it incorporates all good laws that have been made from the days of Adam until now; it swallows up the laws of nations, for it exceeds them all in knowledge and purity; it circumscribes the doctrines of the day, and takes from the right and the left, and brings all truth together in one system, and leaves the chaff to be scattered hither and thither. That is the proof to me, and has been from the beginning, that the principles are pure and holy; and every person living to them will attain through them sanctification.

Truth will endure forever and forever, and every man that preaches the Gospel of salvation may take the old text that some of us took in the commencement of the building up of the kingdom of God upon the earth in the last days. I took truth for my text, salvation for my subject, and the whole world for my circuit, to go as far as I could and talk all I could about it. It takes every truth from every sect and party. What! In a civil capacity also? Yes. All law, all powers, all kingdoms, and all thrones—in fine, all things are under the control of God.

There is no nation or kingdom that has not received its power from him, whether it be much or little—whether for a day, an age, or century. Whether they make good or bad use of it, all power is ordained of God and is in his hand. He sets up a kingdom here, and pulls down another there at his pleasure. He breaks the nations like a potter’s vessel; he forms a nucleus, and around it builds up a kingdom or nation, permitting the people to act upon their own agency, that they may do right, or corrupt themselves, as did the children of Israel; and after they have become ripe for destruction, they will be scattered to the four winds. If the people of God in ancient days had continued holy, they would have continued in power and authority to this day.

There is not a despot upon the earth whose power has not originally sprung from the Priesthood, and there is not a law in the Priesthood but what is founded on the revelations of Jesus Christ. These are the laws upon which all governments were originally based. Truth will endure forever, and every person that cannot abide truth will fail in obtaining eternal life. Truth is what we have. Let us live to it, and we shall abide forever, and no power can prevent it.

Be faithful, brethren and sisters. If you have light, acknowledge the hand of God in it, and improve upon it, and acknowledge his hand in all things; for his providence overrules all things, and he will triumphantly bring forth his kingdom, organize his people, and prepare the earth for his angels to dwell upon, and it will be given into the hands of his Saints when they are made pure and holy.

I told you in the forenoon that it has ever been my prayer never to have influence to lead men wrong, but that I would to God I had power to make them refrain from evil and do that which is right, that they may live forever and ever. You are organized independent beings, framed to become Gods, even the sons of God; and yet it is astonishing to see the use many make of their ability: they corrupt themselves and continue to do wickedly until they are prepared to go down to perdition. Why not turn away from their sins and love righteousness, that they may endure forever, and that all things may be given into their hands?

May the Lord help us to take that path that will lead us to victory and glory. Amen.

A Sermon by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, May 22, 1859.

I wish to inform you that I am here and doing what many years ago I resolved to do—the best I can. Watch for the signs of the times. All is right, and the Devil is not dead; for which we have great reason to be thankful. If you do not know whether “Mormonism” is true or untrue, I am perfectly willing that the Devil should assail you until you learn for yourselves.

As brother Orson Pratt has just observed, the Elders of Israel have labored long and arduously to preserve this people in the faith and in purity. Notwithstanding all this, some men and women, when they have an opportunity to join heart and hand with the thoroughly corrupt, make it their meat and their drink to turn their backs upon every upright principle and practice. We wish that such persons would leave our society, for we do not feel willing to fellowship them.

I will say, for your consolation, that as soon as the time arrives when this people have been proven sufficiently to satisfy justice, mercy will interpose, peace be fully restored, and the valleys of the mountains resound with the joyful voices of the Saints. Until then I am perfectly willing that the people do without preaching. I will pray with them and for them: what for? To keep the devils, the corrupt, the hypocritical, the ungodly, and those that love and work iniquity in the kingdom of God? I say, God forbid.

I am accused by our enemies and by the enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ of possessing great influence over the people of this Territory; and I would to God that I had sufficient influence to make every man and woman work righteousness and cease iniquity, and so live that angels and the Spirit of the God of peace would dwell with them day by day. But that influence I have not. I have an influence; but I have only what the Lord has given me. No man will gain influence in this kingdom, save what he gains by the influence and power of the Holy One that has called him to truth, holiness, and virtue. That is all the influence I have, and I pray God that I may never have any different influence.

If I should lose my faith, forsake my God and my religion, I hope, and it has always been my prayer, that I may never have influence over a wife, child, friend, or neighbor to drag them down to hell. If I go there, let me go alone. It has ever been my prayer that if I have influence over the people, it shall be exercised to induce them to forsake their sins and cleave to righteousness. I seek for an increase of that influence, and seek to the proper source. It is my constant prayer that I may have influence over the spirits of the children of men to lead them from the power of Satan to the living God. But we must be tried in our faith and in our patience. The whole man must be tried to know whether he is for God or for the powers of darkness—whether he will cling to that which is a hater of righteousness, or to his Father and Savior.

There are thousands in this kingdom who are willing to die for their religion, but are not willing to live it. This is a great difficulty. The most ignorant, blind, and superstitious pagan upon the earth will die for what we call their nonsense, though to them it is as true and sacred as our religion and God are to us. What a man will suffer for his religion is no proof whether it is true or false. Brother Pratt, in his remarks, said that we should not be governed by tradition. Yet we are, and so are the whole world, more or less; and those who are traditioned in a false religion are as willing to die for it as men and women are for a true religion and Priesthood. That a man is willing to die for his religion is no proof of its being true; neither is it proof that a religion is false when one of its votaries apostatizes from it. Our religion teaches us truth, virtue, holiness, faith in God and in his Son Jesus Christ. It reveals mysteries, it brings to mind things past and present—unfolding clearly things to come. It is the foundation of mechanism; it is the Spirit that gives intelligence to every living being upon the earth. All true philosophy originates from that Fountain from which we draw wisdom, knowledge, truth, and power. What does it teach us? To love God and our fellow creatures—to be compassionate, full of mercy, long-suffering, and patient to the froward and to those who are ignorant. There is a glory in our religion that no other religion that has ever been established upon the earth, in the absence of the true Priesthood, ever possessed. It is the fountain of all intelligence; it is to bring heaven to earth and exalt earth to heaven, to prepare all intelligence that God has placed in the hearts of the children of men—to mingle with that intelligence which dwells in eternity, and to elevate the mind above the trifling and frivolous objects of time, which tend downward to destruction. It frees the mind of man from darkness and ignorance, gives him that intelligence that flows from heaven, and qualifies him to comprehend all things. This is the character of the religion we believe in.

Our ecclesiastical government is the government of heaven, and incorporates all governments in earth and hell. It is the fountain, the mainspring, the source of all light, power, and government that ever did or ever will exist. It circumscribes the governments of this world; and when men and women are filled with the power of God, they can comprehend what the Prophet means when he speaks of the Lord’s weighing the earth as in a balance; and measuring the waters of the great deep as in the hollow of his hand: that is, He comprehends all things; and so can men who are filled with the Holy Ghost comprehend all things needful for their salvation and exaltation. All human governments and policies are weighed by them as gold is weighed in the balance: they are comprehended by them with the same facility and clearness that a farmer or mechanic comprehends his particular pursuit. And no being possesses intelligence, in any degree, that he has not received from the God of heaven, or, in other words, from the Fountain of all intelligence, whether he acknowledges his God in it or not. No man, independent of the Great Ruler of the universe, is capable of devising that which we see and are well acquainted with. All mechanism, good government, wholesome principle, and true philosophy, of whatever name or nature, flows from God to finite man. What for? To determine what he will do with it. It is for his improvement and advancement in the arts of civilized life, morality, and true religion. This has been taught you from the beginning as the unmistakable features of our holy religion.

“Mormonism” is said to be different in Utah from what it is in other countries. It should be very different. Let me explain. When the Elders go forth to teach the people that Jesus is the Christ, and to bear testimony to the truth of the Bible, though precious portions have been taken from it, that the Book of Mormon is true, and that the revelations given through Joseph Smith, the servant of God, are true, and to call upon the inhabitants of the earth everywhere to repent of their sins and be baptized for the remission thereof, and receive the imposition of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and to confer the holy Priesthood, that believers may magnify their calling until they are gathered, what then? They should find “Mormonism” more than it was taught them in foreign lands. How should they gather? With the same spirit they received when they received the Gospel. Then, when they are gathered to the fountainhead, they are prepared to receive the further things of the kingdom. Is this the true spirit of gathering? It is, and is preserved by those who come prepared to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. But the long journeys, the perplexities, perils, and temptations darken the understanding and becloud the minds of many, insomuch that when they are gathered they are not so well prepared to receive the further things of the kingdom as they were before they started. This is a pity: it is very lamentable. But such is the fact.

To some “Mormonism” appears very different here to what it did in the countries of their nativity. Why? Because their eyes have become dim and their hearts cold, so that they do not behold things by the Spirit of God as they did when they first embraced the Gospel. In comparison, they become as other Christians. The Christians of the 19th century tell you how much light they received—how they were exalted on high: “Glory! Hallelujah! How happy I felt when I first got religion!” How do you feel now? “Not so well.” That is the experience of the Christian world; and, unfortunately, it is the experience of many who are called Latter-day Saints. Some exclaim, “O that we could feel as we did when we first received the Gospel!” If you have not known and understood more than you did when you first embraced the Gospel—if you have not grown in grace and in the knowledge of the truth, it proves that you are not yet worthy to receive further blessings. How can you expect to receive blessings that you will not improve upon? Let every man and woman that believes in the redemption of Zion, the gathering of Israel, the calling of Prophets and Apostles in the last days, and the building up of the kingdom of God, no more to be thrown down, come here prepared to receive the mysteries of the kingdom and to learn the further things of eternity, to bring heaven to earth, and in their understandings be exalted to heaven; and would you see men and women going back to the States and to California, and joining hands with the most corrupt spirits that hell can spew out?

I am still here, and intend to remain; but whether I shall continue to have faith enough to carry out my desires is not for me to say, though I am one of the best hands in the world to fight dogs in flocks of sheep; and I desire to stay until the last one is kicked from off the earth, and a place prepared for the habitation of Saints, and they prepared to receive the Savior when he comes.

Jesus has been upon the earth a great many more times than you are aware of. When Jesus makes his next appearance upon the earth, but few of this Church and kingdom will be prepared to receive him and see him face to face and converse with him; but he will come to his temple. Will he remain and dwell upon the earth a thousand years, without returning? He will come here, and return to his mansion where he dwells with his Father, and come again to the earth, and again return to his Father, according to my understanding. Then angels will come and begin to resurrect the dead, and the Savior will also raise the dead, and they will receive the keys of the resurrection, and will begin to assist in that work. Will the wicked know of it? They will know just as much about that as they now know about “Mormonism,” and no more.

When all nations are so subdued to Jesus that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess, there will still be millions on the earth who will not believe in him; but they will be obliged to acknowledge his kingly government. You may call that government ecclesiastical, or by whatever term you please; yet there is no true government on earth but the government of God, or the holy Priesthood. Shall I tell you what that is? In short, it is a perfect system of government—a kingdom of Gods and angels and all beings who will submit themselves to that government. There is no other true government in heaven or upon the earth. Do not blame me for believing in a pure and holy government.

Is man prepared to receive that government? He is not. I can say to these Latter-day Saints, You are not prepared to receive that government. You hear men and women talk about living and abiding a celestial law, when they do not so much as know what it is, and are not prepared to receive it. We have a little here and a little there given to us, to prove whether we will abide that portion of law that will enable us to enjoy a resurrection with the just.

While I was in England I heard much said about the revelation touching the privilege of the living being baptized for the dead. A High Priest, who had just come from America, thinking that he could enlighten the Twelve upon the subject, said, “Brother Brigham, I heard Joseph say that baptism for the dead was one of the first principles of the Gospel, and that even the Twelve did not understand it.” His feeling was, “I am a High Priest, and the Twelve do not understand the matter.” I said to him, “My dear sir, do you understand all of the first principles of the Gospel?” When I hear such expressions from men, I know that they are very limited in their understandings about the Priesthood.

A man who has had his mind opened to the operation of the Priesthood of the Son of God—who understands anything of the government of heaven, must understand that finite beings are not capable of receiving and abiding the celestial law in its fulness. When can you abide a celestial law? When you become a celestial being, and never until then. When you hear men and women talk about living a celestial law, you may know that they are ignorant of the fact that no finite being is living in its fulness, or can. As it is written, we have line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, and it is something that accords with the capacity of finite beings, and you improve upon this, and the Lord will open your minds to receive more, and let you see the order of the eternal Priesthood; but if you do not live your religion, you cannot receive more.

Are the Latter-day Saints ready to receive Zion from above? Have they wisdom and knowledge to receive and conduct themselves properly in the society of angels? I think not. While I was in Far West, and the mob began to gather there, determined to kill Joseph, he preached to the people and said, “If you had faith and would live your religion, you would prove the revelation to be true where the Lord says, ‘I will fight your battles, and, if necessary, send down angels to save you from the wicked grasp of your enemies.’” There was an armed mob of some 3,500 arrayed against some 300 of us. They sent in a deputation, saying they wanted about three persons out of the town, for they were calculating to destroy the people and the place. Some of those self-glorious stars of “Mormonism”—stars that fell in that crisis, looked round for the angels. They did not see them, and straightway turned their backs upon their God and their religion, and joined the enemy.

I was glad that they went. I felt then as I feel now. I felt and still feel that I would rather have ten righteous men with whom to contend with the wicked of the whole earth, than to have at my command the corrupt of all creation. When I am brought to the test to fight for my religion, which I trust I never will be, I will call men who are full of the power of God for such an emergency.

Brother Pratt wishes that the miserable, dissatisfied spirits would leave; but they will not all go. The question might be asked, “Why do you wish them to go from this Territory?” We do not particularly care whether they go or stay: they are at perfect liberty to please themselves in that matter, because it is their constitutional right to stay here, if they do not infringe upon the rights of others, and observe the laws of the land as strictly as we do. The principal reason why I do not wish them to go is because they will be constantly troubling me to assist them back again. I had rather help somebody else, for we have not means to spare for bringing those who will apostatize to this country a second and third time. After they have come back once and twice, they stay awhile and want to go away again; and after they have been away awhile, they begin to learn that this is the kingdom of God, and some of them want help to come back.

My faith reaches far beyond the faith of many touching the final destiny of such persons, understanding that the Lord is more merciful than human beings; and the faith of this kingdom goes far beyond the faith of the Christian world upon this matter. There will not so many people go into that awful place that burns with fire and brimstone, where they sink down, down, down to the bottom of the bottomless pit, as the Christians say—not near so many as the Christian world would have go there. That gives me great joy, notwithstanding all the perils and persecution we have suffered through the wickedness of the wicked. Liars, sorcerers, whoremongers, adulterers, and those that love and make a lie will be found on the outside of the walls of the city; but they will never get into the bottom of the bottomless pit. Who will go there and become angels of perdition and suffer the wrath of an offended God? Those who sin against the Holy Ghost.

This kingdom progresses. Who has eyes to behold the handiwork of the Lord? The trials we have been passing through in this Territory, from our enemies, we think are terrible; but these trials are only like a drop to a bucketful, compared with what many of this people have heretofore passed through. Contrasted with Missouri, our present and late trials are very trifling, very light, and very easy upon us. You may let your hearts be comforted, those of you who can see the hand of the Lord in leading this people and re– straining the wrath of our enemies. Can any of you see? Yes, a great many. If your eyes were opened, you would see his hand in the midst of the nations of the earth in the setting up of governments and in the downfall of kingdoms—in the revolutions, wars, famine, distress, and wretchedness among the inhabitants of the earth. In these manifestations you would discern the footsteps of the Almighty just as plainly as you may see the footsteps of your children upon the soft earth.

The wonderful developments of his providence are ofttimes mysterious to us, and we exclaim, “Really, I did not expect to hear such news, nor to see such astonishing and unexpected results in the actions of the righteous and the wicked.” The Lord takes care of the whole of that, and dictates their conduct for his own purpose and glory. He makes the wrath of man to praise him, and that which he cannot bring about to promote his kingdom and his purposes he restrains. The wicked he permits to go far enough to produce a result that will serve his purpose. “For my kingdom must be established upon the earth in the latter days,” saith the Father, “and I have given it to my Son Jesus Christ. He has died to redeem it, and he is the lawful heir pertaining to this earth.” Jesus will continue to reign with his Father, and is dictated by his Father in all his acts and ruling and governing in the building up and overthrow of nations, to make the wrath of man praise him, until he brings all into subjection to his will and government. And when he has subdued all his enemies, destroyed death and him that hath the power of death, and perfected his work, he will deliver up the kingdom spotless to his Father. You may preach upon that text. It is a source of great consolation to me, for it will be fully accomplished, and all that transpires will be overruled to redound to the glory of God.

A gentleman said to me, not long ago, “You ‘Mormons’ scare us. You are here in the mountains, and this expedition would not have been sent against you, but you frighten us by taking such big strides. ‘Mormonism’ is but a few years old, and it has circumscribed the globe; it has penetrated into almost every nation under heaven, and bears down, in a remarkable manner, all opposition wherever your people go. It seems to swallow up our religion, political policies, and philosophy; and, if we do not stop you, it would appear that you will finally swallow up the world.” I replied, “If the people will let us alone, we will preach the Gospel in peace, civilly, kindly, mildly; and we will teach the people how to obtain that eternal life that is proffered to all. But will they let us alone? No. And you think we take large strides.” He rose from his chair, saying, “You take ten or twelve strides at once. While we go creeping along, you are away yonder.” “Well, you kicked us there, and we cannot help going. Every time you kick ‘Mormonism,’ you kick it upstairs: you never kick it downstairs. The Lord Almighty so orders it. And let me tell you that what our Christian friends are now doing for us makes more for the kingdom of heaven than the Elders could in many years preaching.”

The Lord Almighty will exalt “Mormonism” and sustain his Priesthood. Will he sustain wickedness? No. If we are wicked, we are wrong. We should abstain from everything that is unholy—that is unrighteous; that is the character of a true Latter-day Saint. Have we persons among us who are degraded? Yes. As I have before told you, “Mormonism” can beat the world as to the knowledge of God. The Saints know more of God and godliness than all the world: they also know more of earth and earthly things. Many are living so as to be saved in the celestial kingdom, while all who do not embrace the doctrine of full redemption will come short of attaining that glory. On the contrary, if you want to see the principle of devilism to perfection, hunt among those who have once enjoyed the faith of the holy Gospel and then forsaken their religion. We have the best and the worst. Why the worst? Because the Devil prompts men and women of the meanest and lowest grade to embrace the Gospel and get a foothold in the kingdom of God to destroy it.

Will he destroy it? He will not: that is beyond his power. Can you destroy a true religion by persecuting it? No. What destroyed the Priesthood of the Son of God from the earth in ancient days? Was it persecution? No. The Emperor Constantine embraced it and sent out a decree for all his people to embrace it. Let this people be prospered and all persecutions cease, and then every description of characters would hasten to join this Church. The Lord so orders and overrules as to keep out a share of them, though he suffers some to enter the temporal fold. We understand the root and trunk of the tree of wickedness, and we have many of its branches—more than we want. The Lord desires a pure people—a people that he can own and exalt—that he can bring into his presence; and that is what the Priesthood of God is designed to accomplish. I would to God that the people would live so as to receive the blessings of the Priesthood, increase in all godliness, have their eyes open to see, their ears to hear, and their hearts to understand, instead of falling away.

At times, seemingly good men falter in their feelings, and turn away from their God and their religion to take the road that leads to destruc– tion. This makes my heart mourn. But those who are faithful will come out triumphantly, for God has established his kingdom on the earth, no more to be thrown down. It was thought by our enemies, in the days of Joseph Smith, that if they could kill him, that would be the end of this fanaticism, as they called it, and of this fanatical race. But did that murder in the least shake this great Latter-day Work? No, brethren and sisters—no. What did it effect? The Church and kingdom of our God has risen from an individual family to a great people, and we have been looked upon as a nation by our neighbors, independent of all other people on the face of this earth; and in their dealings they have dealt with us as such. Not that we desire it, but it is so in the providence of our God. They are determined, though they know it not, that they will make the kingdom of God triumphant on the earth; and all the powers of earth and hell cannot prevent it.

If we wish to be blessed, let us live our religion. If we promote the kingdom of God, it will bear us off triumphantly. If we falter in our feelings, and say that we cannot abide this tirade of persecution, but must leave this place and people, we shall be left in darkness and sink in iniquity, and shall be left by the kingdom far behind in our sins. The person that forsakes the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ will find himself ruined for time and eternity. How are they looked upon who have received the spirit of the Gospel and forsaken it? Heaven, with all its shining hosts, despises and pities them: they will not have them, and hell is ready to spew them out. With a few exceptions, they are despised by the good and wise among men, by the noble and ignoble: all despise them, and they are in a most miserable condition.

I wish to have the blessed principles of civilization—of this Christian nineteenth century—spread over Utah. I desire to see the effect they will have on this ignorant people in the Territory of Utah. The world say, “Poor people, how sorry we are for you! It is a pity to have such intelligent men and women go to Utah to join those fanatics. Let us send our Christian brethren there to civilize them.” And here, sure enough, they have their gambling tables of civilization, and grog shops of civilization, and various other helps and aids pertaining thereto; and they are working hard to spread the principles of modern civilization. What would they do with their civilization? “Oh this polygamy! It is a dreadful evil,” when, at the same time, they would say to me, if they dare, “Look here, brother Brigham, can I have the use of one of your wives tonight?” It is not so much polygamy that they are opposed to, but they hate this people because they strive to be pure, and will not believe in whoredom and adultery, but declare death to the man who is found guilty of those crimes. This is the awful, unchristianlike conduct of brother Brigham! It appears, by our late news, that among our Christian brethren it is death to adulterers; and so say I, and I ask no odds of such characters. I am able to take care of myself, with the help of God and my good brethren.

Our faith and patience must be tried in everything, and it is not for us to take judgment into our own hands. We must be tried, to prove whether we can endure to be imposed upon and have our religion derided, and not feel as some do when their names are called in question. To illustrate, I will tell an anecdote concerning Captain James Brown. When the emigrants were passing through here and were asked by Captain Brown as to whither they were going, the answer would be—“To the gold mines, G—d d—n you;” and with them it was.” G—d d—n Joe Smith,” and “G—d d—n Brigham Young.” But when it came to “G—d d—n you, James Brown,” the Captain was then ready to fight. I wish to know how much you can bear. You can hear the name of Deity, of the Savior, and the names of all holy things abused; but when it is “d—n you, Joe, Tom, or Dick,” there is a fight on hand. You have to learn to suffer abuse, and to be patient under it as the Savior was, if they spit in your face or abuse you in any way. You have to learn to hear your own names abused as you can bear to hear the name of the Deity abused. A few years ago a person in our streets was abusing the name of Deity, and another stepped up and boxed his ears, saying to him that he should not use that name in such a disrespectful manner. But some of these good Elders can hear the name of their Savior abused with seeming satisfaction.

We are here, and we shall live and grow, and no power can hinder it. I shall stick to the kingdom, God being my helper, and shall not let go until this earth is revolutionized and all nations bow to the Savior, and I be his priest and servant.

Cease bringing the names of God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ into disrespect, and learn to reverence those names.

I have detained you long enough. May God bless you, brethren and sisters, that you may have power to guide yourselves, by the aid of the Spirit, into all righteousness, independent of any power of man on earth. I do not want any power over my brethren, only to lead them in the way of truth, and to run parallel with them in the ways of truth and righteousness.

God bless you! Amen.