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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Brethren and sisters, God bless you all! Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery, Provo, June 6, 1858.

I wish to say a few words before the close of the meeting.

You have heard me say, a great many times, and it is the experience of all men who understand wisdom, that the greatest difficulty we have to meet is what may be termed ignorance, or want of understanding in the people. If people would readily understand and practice what they are taught, they would do very well without so much teaching as now seems to be necessary; but when they have not that intelligence which leads and guides to victory in the acts of life, they should be taught to know how to overcome every difficulty and enemy they have to meet. And if people could understand things as they are, there never would be any apostasy—none would fall through lack of faith and good works. In regard to this people’s sustaining the First Presidency, they believe that they do; but still there is something beyond which many do not as yet understand: there are instances in which they do not fully sustain the Presidency. It may be asked, “Have not this people voted to sustain the Presidency?” Yes; but do they sustain them in every particular? The great majority sustain them, as far as they understand. The main difficulty is that many do not know how the Presidency should be sustained, through lack of intelligence to rightly discern and classify their acts and reflections. They will sustain, with their prayers, every department of the Priesthood as being teachers of the plan of salvation, but do not understand that there is not an act in the lives of intelligences but what has a tendency to either sustain or oppose—a tendency either for good or evil.

The Government of the United States is Republican in form, and should be in its administration, and requires a man for President who is capable of communicating to the understanding of the people, according to their capacity, information upon all points pertaining to the just administration of the Government. He should understand what administrative policy would be most beneficial to the nation. He should also have the knowledge and disposition to wisely exercise the appointing power, so far as it is constitutionally within his control, and select only good and capable men for office. He should not only carry out the legal and just wishes of his constituents, but should be able to enlighten their understanding and correct their judgment. And all good officers in a truly Republican administration will constantly labor for the security of the rights of all, irrespective of sect or party.

This people would do many things that would tend to death, if they did not listen to correct instructions; for, as yet, they have not wisdom enough to guide them under all circumstances. And although you think that you sustain your Presidency, yet many conduct themselves in some things precisely as do the people in the world. They take a course to destroy themselves politically and religiously, and they will destroy themselves; and so would many of you, if you were destitute of counselors dictated by the Spirit of the Lord to direct in all things, whether relating to religious or political government. We stand upon this platform; still we are in a measure yet like the world. There are some contentions and discords, and some are taking a course which will bring evil upon us. Do they know it? No, they do not: but their ignorance will not prevent the effects. They do not know the consequences of unwise acts; but they will produce evil, whether they understand them or not.

There are those who, it would seem, can never come to understanding: they are apparently stereotyped, never to improve any more, while others have their minds open and constantly learning and increasing in wisdom and understanding. When the people learn to partake of the Spirit which governs this kingdom, and become fully imbued with that Spirit, they will understand the objects, examples, and designs of those who are placed to counsel and direct them. Do you understand that, brethren and sisters? You must enjoy that Spirit, or you cannot walk in the same path with those who are appointed to be your counselors and teachers. But if you possess that Spirit, instead of taking various by-paths, you will be able to walk in the path that leadeth to life. Who are your leaders? The First Presidency. Who was the master spirit? Joseph. Who were his leaders? These who immediately presided over him. If we will live upon the principles which our Government professes to be built upon, we shall follow him, and not make devious paths.

All the acts we perform should be governed by the guidance of the Priesthood. Were that done, you would see blessings result from all the acts of a nation, just as we wish to see in our Republic, and as we would see, if the people of our nation would learn and practice the principles of the Priesthood. The Priesthood does not wait for ignorance: it instructs those who have not wisdom, and are desirous of learning correct principles. But our Government is controlled by ignorance; and thousands who are ignorant of the true principles of correct government are placed in important positions, and every department is more or less governed by ignorance, folly, and weakness. More imbecility has been manifested in the management of public affairs, of late, than ought to be manifested by any government.

Let those called Latter-day Saints so learn wisdom as to carry out the true principles of government, that they may be able to wisely govern and control all things. Do any suppose that we shall ever war against the principles or form of our National Government? We shall not; for we love and cherish them, and always have and ever expect to, because they are good and just. It is published from east to west, and from north to south, that the “Mormons” are opposed to the Government of the United States. That is not true, and never was. But many of the officers and people of the United States are too much opposed to their own institutions, and are taking a course to destroy the best form of government instituted by man. They lay the axe at the root of the tree, and it will fall and be as though it had not been. They do not understand the principles which will build them up. Each one strikes out and follows his own way. Do the members thereof know how to sustain their own party? No: they sap the foundation of their own party.

Such is measurably the case with a portion of this people. They wish to be saved—they desire to gain celestial glory; but their own acts sap the foundation of all their desires. This people desire to do right, and the reason why all of them do not is because all do not strive to know how. True principles will abide, while all false principles will fall with those who choose and cleave to them.

The government of this Church is based upon true principles, and the reason people fall out by the way is because of their ignorance—because they do not thoroughly canvass their acts, and wisely ponder the probable results.

Brother Wells has been speaking about many of the brethren’s being careless about going north to look after their property. I have reflected upon that, and I conclude that the brethren feel to say, “We have left our property, because the Lord in his wisdom is leading us in a way that requires us to leave our buildings and other improvements; we have cheerfully left them in the line of duty, and we do not particularly desire to go back and guard them. They have passed from our affections, and shall we turn round and cling to them? We do not feel to care how soon the Lord sees fit, in his wisdom, to require us to lay them utterly waste.” That feeling proves to me that the affections of this people are not placed upon earthly things; still there is a lack of understanding with some in regard to using them aright. If we have made the sacrifice complete in our feelings, we have been driven far enough; and I can tell the world that all earth and hell will never gain power to drive us out of these mountains, unless it is the will of the Lord, though we may be required to move from place to place. We have to learn that all the elements are eternal, though their varied earthly forms are organized to be dissolved. We must not place our affections upon these things until they are organized for eternity. If we will take that course, we shall be laying up treasures in heaven. Earthly things will be decomposed, and their reorganization will be by the power of the resurrection: then we shall begin to understand the proper use of element.

I hear some say, “Why should we wish to go to Box Elder to guard our property there?” The Lord gave us the ability to obtain what we have; and if our affections are so chastened that we can measurably realize that he gave us the power to accumulate our possessions—that he organized the elements and gave us bodies and life upon the earth—that all blessings are the gift of the Lord, then we have profited by the experience now offered; and now it is our duty to preserve that which the Lord has blessed us with, so far as circumstances will permit, and patiently await the development of future events and requirements.

Some do not understand duties which do not coincide with their natural feelings and affections. Do you comprehend that statement? I have tried to tell you; but I am sometimes at a loss to convey a correct understanding with words. I should have the language of angels to enable me to exactly convey my ideas, and that would require an audience who understand that language. There are duties which are above affection. Our enemies have driven this people from their homes until their affections are no longer placed upon the things of this world, which is more than all other communities can say in truth. No other people can truthfully say that they can handle the things of this world without having their affections placed upon them, even though many of them will endure more or less affliction for their religion. Some will throw themselves under the massive wheels of the car of Juggernaut, and be crushed to pieces, and others will endure all that is possible for their religion, no matter whether it is true or false. There is not so much difficulty in leading persons to death for the religion we profess, as there is in inducing them to live to its pure principles. There is but little trouble in inducing people to sacrifice and suffer for their religion: but who lives for it? If this people do not, no people upon this earth do. And I am happy in being able to say that they have proved that they place less value upon their farms, houses, and other comforts of life than they do upon their religion, and that so many of them try to live their religion day by day.

If you have superior wisdom in your midst for your guidance, why do you not learn that fact, and permit yourselves to be guided by that wisdom in your business transactions as well as in doctrine?—for there is no dividing between matters spiritual and temporal. There is no act of a Latter-day Saint—no duty required—no time given, exclusive and independent of the Priesthood. Everything is subject to it, whether preaching, business, or any other act pertaining to the proper conduct of this life. It takes the whole man to make a Saint: there are no exceptions in “Mormonism.” Learn so to think and direct your acts in every transaction of life, that we may overcome the evil that is sown within us. Overcome the inward enemy; then we can overcome the Devil’s kingdom. And while others choose evil principles and build upon a foundation which leads to destruction, let us build upon the principles of eternal salvation, as we have striven to do all the day long.

We are a mystery and a stumblingblock to this generation. One man will say, “What a numbhead that Brigham Young is!” and another that “this people are dupes and fanatics;” and yet no man can controvert, with sound argument, the principles we advance. No society, political or religious, can cope with us in correct principles. In the opinion of some we are the most foolish people in the world, and in that of others we are the wisest. If this people live to the principles they have embraced, they will be capable of counseling the nations; for we build upon a just foundation, and our principles are truth, righteousness, and holiness. Let us stand by those principles until they crush out folly from these valleys, and we become teachers of wisdom to the nations. It would not require a great stretch of mind to teach them now, did duty require it. A man who has wisdom to control one wife and five children can control ten wives and one hundred children; then he can control a town, a city, a state, a nation, a kingdom, or the whole world.

Understand and practice those holy and just principles that reach to the comprehending of all wisdom, until the nations of the earth look to Zion for wise counsel. Whether it be in these mountains or elsewhere, and whether it be within ten years, or fifty years, or in one day, I will do all I can to prepare for the glory of Zion. I would build a good house here, had I the opportunity, though I knew I should not enjoy it five minutes. We intend to build a Temple in these mountains, and not act upon the principle of some who have been here ten years without a comfortable dwelling. I want the Elders of Israel to know how to lay the foundation of Zion.

I will now say a few words on business affairs. A road up Provo Canyon is much needed, and we want ten or twenty companies of laborers to go to work upon it forthwith, in order to finish it in about fifteen days, so that you can go into the valleys of the Weber, where there is plenty of timber.

I understand that a company has been chartered by the Legislative Assembly to make that road; and if those men will come forward, we will take the responsibility of making it. We shall need about five hundred laborers. I also want a millrace dug some three-quarters-of-a-mile in length, and an excavation made for the foundation of a grist mill. When that is done, we will plan something else; for we want everyone to have the privilege of being actively engaged in some useful occupation. We want men to labor in every mechanical pursuit that they can; for I believe that the time will come when we shall have to depend upon our own resources; and I pray the Lord to so hedge up the way and shut down the gate, that we may be compelled to depend upon our own manufacturing for the comforts of life.

Last spring I wanted to detect some spirits that I could not make manifest to the people, only in the course I then took. There are those who, when they know that they have liberty to act in a certain manner, do not care about moving in that direction; but if you say that they cannot or shall not, they are then very anxious to do so. That class reminds me of the Frenchman who loaned his money, and upon learning that the borrower was likely to fail, asked him when he could pay him. The answer was, “Today, if you wish it.” “Why, have you got it?” “Yes.” “Oh, if you have got it, I do not want it; but if you have not got it, I want it very bad.” With the exception of a short time during the late difficulties, all persons have always had the privilege of going away from here when they pleased, and have been repeatedly invited to do so, if they wished to; and a certain class did not avail themselves of the privilege: but when I said that they should not go until I gave them permission, we learned those spirits, and they have gone.

I want the clay well ground and well worked over. I want the pure in heart to receive their blessings, and to be free from the oppressions of the wicked.

God bless you, brethren and sisters! Amen.

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 28, 1858.

One thing is very true concerning the Gospel of salvation—the revelations of Jesus Christ—the kingdom of God upon the earth: Let any people enjoy peace and quietness, unmolested, undisturbed—never be persecuted for their religion, and they are very likely to neglect their duty, to become cold and indifferent, and lose their faith. That is the experience of every person, more or less; and I wish to offer a few reflections on the propriety of the Lord’s leading this people in the way that he does. We believe, for it is so written in the Bible, that the Lord wishes a people of his own—a kingdom of his own upon this earth, which is his.

June 27, 1844, a little over fourteen years after the organization of this Church, Joseph Smith was slain. In his day there were but very few years of rest for the Saints. They occupied Nauvoo longer than any other one place: they lived there about seven years. We left Nauvoo in 1846, and from that time until now this Church has not been compelled to abandon their property and homes. We came here in the best and quickest way in our power, and have been building, fencing, planting, sowing, and making ourselves comfortable. It is now more than ten years since we first located here, unmolested and undisturbed.

If we will reflect upon our own ex– perience, and what has passed before us during that time, and notice the facts now transpiring, we cannot avoid knowing that much of the conduct of this people has been directly in opposition to our becoming the kingdom of God in its purity on the earth. Let the people consider for themselves whether we have, so far as we could have done, been taking a course to become that kingdom that we anticipate, or whether we have not been more or less dependent upon our enemies for many things that we could have produced, or done without. When persons can understand the ways of the Lord, and what he designs concerning his people, they will know that it was absolutely necessary for the Lord to take the course he has with this people, in order to bring forth that which he designs to produce in the latter times. Were we to live unmolested, uninterrupted, without persecution and hatred from our enemies, as I have told you, and it has been sounded in your ears all the day long, we might expect that we had apostatized from the truth. Persecution and hatred by those who love not the truth are a legacy bequeathed by the Savior to all his followers; for he said they should be hated of all men for his name’s sake. If we had ceased to be persecuted and hated, we might fear; but the prospect is encouraging.

For a few weeks past, so far as I have knowledge from the reports made to me, the people have never felt so well since they have been in these Valleys. The prospect of ancient “Mormonism,” of again leaving our homes, probably gives a spring to our feelings, especially since we, for the first time, have the privilege of laying waste our improvements, and are not obliged to leave our inheritances to strangers to enjoy and revel in the fruits of our labors. It is a consolation to me that I have the privilege of laying in ashes and in the dust the improvements I have made, rather than those who would cut my throat, solely for my faith, shall inhabit my buildings and enjoy my fields and fruits. Heretofore I have often left my home and the fruits of my labors for others to enjoy.

Persecution is learning us to adopt a course for self-preservation, as you will readily understand from a few circumstances I will mention. Within a few weeks, for the first time to my knowledge since we have been settled in these valleys, a sister, wife, or family in this community has taken the pains to pick up a few potatoes, that would otherwise be wasted, and make them into starch. A woman can, in an hour or two, make a pound or a pound and a half of starch from potatoes that would lie and rot. Has this been done heretofore? Not to my knowledge. And so long as brooms were brought from the States, people would not raise broom corn. And so long as traders brought in starch, would our women make it? No; though a woman can, in a short time, make a dollar and a half or two dollar’s worth from potatoes that would otherwise go to waste. Would this community condescend to make starch, so long as it was imported and they could buy it? They would not. I say it, because they did not. And if there were tons of starch here, they would find market for the whole of it, while the hard-earned fruits of the husbandman’s labor would lie and rot.

Who has controlled circumstances to learn us to sustain ourselves? Have you and I? No, not in the least; but it has been accomplished by the Providence that leads us. We have been urging the people for years and years to do these things they are now compelled to. From the time we came here, you have been told to take bran or potatoes and make starch, and not buy it in the stores. Who would have been at the trouble of making cloth, if it could be bought of Gentile traders? Do you think many in this community would? No, no more than the women would have made starch. The women had not time, though they had time to visit from one end of the city to the other. They could take time to run to the stores—to walk a mile or two shopping every day, but they never had time to make a little starch, or spin a little stocking yarn for themselves, if those articles could be bought in the stores.

I am satisfied that the people now begin to learn that they can make their own clothing, and that those who do not learn will run the risk of being uncomfortably clad. But would this people, by their wisdom, ever have brought themselves to that independence that God will, by his providence, in a seeming chastisement? I say seeming, for it is no chastisement: it is a blessing to this people, and one of the greatest that can be bestowed upon us, to cut the thread between us and our enemies, and oblige us to sustain ourselves in everything that we can produce with our labor, skill, and economy. The Lord can bring this about, or cause the Devil to do it, just as he pleases.

If we would only forsake our re– ligion, our enemies would spare us and hail us as friends; but if we will not yield that point, they will endeavor to destroy us. But the Lord Almighty rules in the heavens, and controls our enemies to a certain extent, and overrules their acts. He has his own purposes to accomplish as much now as he ever has had upon the face of the earth—as much as he had in the crucifixion of the Savior. Could he have found a righteous man on the earth who would have betrayed his only Son? He could not. Would a man with his eyes open to see, and filled with the revelations of the Lord, have betrayed Jesus into the hands of Pilate? No. God overruled and selected a hypocrite—an ungodly, base, vile wretch, and placed him among the Apostles to accomplish that purpose, as much as he raised up Pharaoh.

God never hardened the heart of Pharaoh; he never ordained that wickedness should possess any man. Judas loved wickedness from his youth. Pharaoh was raised up to do what he did, because he was wicked from his youth: wickedness and hatred to every holy principle took possession of him, and God set him on the throne of Egypt to accomplish his purposes.

So it is with the men who are at the helm of our Government: God has selected them to rule, because the people are wicked, and will not hearken to his voice. They have killed his Prophets and many of his people, and he has placed corrupt, wicked men in office to rule and bear sway—what for? To show forth his wisdom. The hand of God is in all this, and he lets loose those wicked creatures, in order to drive us to do that which his mercies fail to induce us to perform.

Let him pour gold and silver into our laps, and cause the earth to yield that abundance we desire, and would we know how to appreciate and use such great blessings?

If we constantly have plenty, pleasure, ease, and comfort, will the women make starch? No. Will they braid straw for hats and bonnets? No. How many bonnets are manufactured in this Territory? Can you see a woman here today wearing a beautiful straw bonnet, the work of her own hands? There are a few coarse ones, when you can make them either fine or coarse.

I have prevailed upon a few men to commence hat-making, and they have done something towards supplying the market; and a few are engaged in tanning leather: but if we had plenty of gold and silver and stores full of goods, would the people engage in and encourage home manufacture? No, as past experience has proved. They would be riding around in their carriages, and talking about going to California, where they can get gold and make themselves rich.

The Lord cannot save us in riches, because we do not yet know what to do with them. And when we are blessed and favored, like the children of Israel in olden times, we wax fat and kick.

It is purely in order to save the greatest possible number of this people, that circumstances have transpired as they have; and it is a marvel that the Lord has let us have so long a time of peace.

Now the sisters begin to learn that such an article as flax used to be raised and manufactured in their young days; and I hear a number saying, “If I had flax, I could work it up.” You may now hear men say, “We used to make oil from flax seed.” But if you had plenty of money, and traders brought oil here, you would never raise a seed.

Flax cultivated only for oil will pay as well as any other crop that is raised, to say nothing of the lint, which is in great demand.

Have I been able to procure a single gallon of homemade flax seed oil? No. Some of our mechanics, who were used to making oil mills, heard that I was determined to make one, and proffered their plans and services. When the new-fangled press was completed, at a cost of about a thousand dollars, it was reported, for the first time to me, that some haircloth of a peculiar kind must be procured for making sacks in which to press the seed; and we sent to New York and many other cities in the States, without success, for cloth to suit the “wedge press.” They made an expensive press; but, as yet, what is it good for? A cheap old-fashioned press could have been readily put up, and long ago we might have been using oil of our own make. I would commend a man who would begin to make linseed oil here. Had I followed my own judgment in the matter, I would have had a press and plenty of oil, without paying eight dollars a gallon for it.

For the first time since we came to this country, sheep are being regarded and cared for as they should be. I brought sheep into this valley and have bought many here, and ought at this day to have forty thousand head, if I could have had men that would take care of my flocks. I have a few hundred left, which, no doubt, have cost me from twenty-five to fifty dollars each; but I persevere, and my women make cloth: you see my children dressed in homemade. And now some women begin to recollect that flax was raised in England, Scotland, Ireland, and the United States; and they have a faint remembrance of certain articles what their mothers called spinning wheels; and they really begin to think that they can spin, and many of the younger ones would like to learn to spin.

Let the calicos lie on the shelves and rot. I would rather build buildings every day, and burn them down at night, than have traders here communing with our enemies outside, and keeping up a hell all the time, and raising devils to keep it going. They brought their hell with them. We can have enough of our own, without their help.

This is the deliverance of our Father in heaven, placing us in the circumstances we now are in; and it is for the benefit, growth, welfare, and upbuilding of the kingdom of God, with us in it. Nothing else would do it.

We can raise cotton, flax, and wool for manufacturing all the cloth we need. We can make our own leather, hats, &c. And that is not all: the Lord intends we shall do it. I am thankful. How do you feel? Better, I presume, than you ever have.

There is a great deal of inquiry as to whether we shall be under the necessity of burning. We are now under the necessity of preparing for it, and that is enough for the present.

I wish union: it is stronger than buildings, and will accomplish much more for us. And I hope the Lord will suffer us to pass through enough to cleanse sin and selfishness from us. When I reflect upon it, it is almost discouraging that many who have been in this Church a score of years, and have been in drivings, mobbings, death, and affliction, are filled with covetousness, which is idolatry, and do not know what to do with blessings when they have them, nor know where they come from. I am not discouraged, but intend to persevere as long as I possess life.

The Lord is leading this people as he designs for the building up of his kingdom, and we need not worry ourselves about it. You were told, last season, when we heard that an army was on its way here, that we would rather lay waste this Territory than yield our rights to men who have no regard for, neither understand the Constitutional rights of the people; and the people said amen to that purpose. We were able, last fall, to keep them from us, and we are well able to defend this city—how long, I do not know.

If we love our improvements and property better than we love the lives of our brethren, the Lord will lead us in a way to waste us instead of our property. Can you understand that it is better to lose property than the lives of men, women, and children? But if we are so wedded to our property that we would rather fight for it than sacrifice it, if required, for our religion, then we are in a condition to be wasted, and our property would go into the hands of our enemies.

We are able to defend the city and keep out our enemies; but if we prove to our Father in heaven and to one another that we are willing to hand back to him that which he has given us (which is not a sacrifice), and that we love not the world nor the things of the world, he will preserve the people until they can become righteous.

You never heard me say that we would stick to this city; but we will defend ourselves against the floods of iniquity which our enemies wish to overwhelm us with by the introduction of a licentious and corrupted soldiery.

If we vacate the ground, that may satisfy them; but if they undertake to come in before we are ready, we will send them to their long home.

Some may marvel why the Lord says, “Rather than fight your enemies, go away.” It is because many of the people are so grossly wicked, that, were we to go out to fight, thousands of the Elders would go into eternity, and women and children would perish.

Is every man and woman wicked? No: the majority of this people are doing the best they can; but the ignorance of the people is astonishing. Be patient. The Lord is full of mercy and great kindness, and bears with our weaknesses; and he wishes to bear with us until we come to understanding—until we know how to be righteous before him. I do not want men to go into eternity clothed with unrighteousness.

We have talked about redeeming Zion, but the people are not yet righteous enough to receive and build up Zion in its purity, though they are growing to it.

I have a certain knowledge within me that the Elders of Israel will never be permitted to lay judgment to the line and righteousness to the plummet, with regard to the wicked and ungodly, until they understand righteous principles, and live to them. I do not care if we live until doomsday, and are hunted as long as we live, and go into the grave, and our sons and daughters come up after us, if they cannot arrive to the knowledge of the truth, they also will have to live in sorrow and affliction until they are worn out, and another generation shall come up after them. God is not willing that unholy hands shall carry out his judgments in the latter days.

When men go out to fight, I want them to go so full of the power of God that balls cannot hit them, and that the judgments and mercy of the Almighty may rest in their hearts: then they will know what to do.

Let this people go together, and be together, and let the women say there is such a thing as flax, and such a thing as a wheel with which to spin it. That makes me think of a young Boston lady on a visit to the country. She did not wish it known that she was at all countryfied, but wanted to appear quite delicate, and upon seeing a flock of geese, “O dear me,” said she, “what are those geese?” Some of our women are inclined to say, “What do you mean by a spinning wheel? What do you mean by a loom?” Such are female loafers, who bring up their children in idleness, and buy starch in the stores instead of making it. But now, thank God, there are no stores in which to buy; and I hope there will not be any more here, for it is the conduct of traders who have fattened in our midst that has brought an army into our Territory. I would rather see every building and fence laid in ashes than to see a trader come in here with his goods. I want you to understand that we are in favor of home manufacture in good earnest. Raise sheep and flax, and make cloth, and raise cotton, as fast as you can, and we will try to improve.

I am willing to leave this place, if I am called upon, and to take joyfully the spoiling of my goods. It is all right. It is a trouble for us to take care of the property we have; and if I knew that it was just as pleasing to the Lord, I would rather reduce it to ashes. We can move chairs, bureaus, &c. “Shall we take out such articles first?” Charge your minds with this counsel, Bishops and all Elders of Israel: The articles of food are first to be moved to safe places. Take care of the eatables, and see that they are well secured. Take care of our grain, &c., first; and see that the Indians cannot get our oxen and cows. Then we will take care of the people; and then, if we have time, we can move more or less of the valuable furniture, and cache our doors, lumber, &c. Perhaps we may come back here, and perhaps not. I would as soon be here as anywhere, and anywhere as here, wherever the Lord may require me.

With regard to doctrinal points, that which we do not understand should not be talked about in this stand; and the Elders of Israel should never contend about any point of doctrine that does not pertain to the present day’s salvation. Brother Hyde has been speaking of our Father and God. The remarks are very good; but what does the point involved in his remarks concern us? It is neither here nor there; and there are many ideas that may be advanced without enlightening our minds. When I go to where Joseph is, he will be the President of this dispensation. If he is the God that stands there, and I do not see any other, it will be right; or if Peter is God, all right, for he never will become a God, unless he is duly exalted to that station. Joseph will not be God to this people, unless he is crowned a God; and if he is, he will be like the rest of the Gods, and what will be the difference? Suppose that Enoch, Abraham, or Moses be our God, or the Prophet Isaiah, what is the difference? Who cares? There are many things the brethren talk about that are neither here nor there to us. They had better be looking after a few potatoes from which to make starch, or straw for making bonnets.

Eight years ago I told you to gather up and save your wagon covers and tents, for you would want them; and since then I have seen thousands of good cloth needlessly exposed to the elements, and rotting in our streets. Now people need the cloth they walked underfoot years ago. Who will pity them? Not I. There has been more cloth wasted, during the ten years past, than would clothe this community. The calicos, starch, sugar, candle-wicking, &c., are now gone. Are there many in this congregation who can make candle-wicking out of cotton? “Do they make it of cotton? Really I am surprised!” Do not be so ignorant, but say you can make it. A few years ago, a widow came here with five children. She was poor, and at first engaged in binding shoes, next in closing them, then in putting on the soles, and finally in making light shoes; and last fall she had apprentices, and made thirty pairs of the boots that were furnished to the Quartermaster’s Department. She has a house, a cow, and a garden—the fruits of her labor and economy, and would outstrip many of our mechanics in earning a living. She knew what leather was; and when she saw a flock of geese, she did not ask, “What are those geese?” but said, “Those are geese, and I wish I had them to pick.”

Remember the counsel you have heard today, and prepare for burning.

May the Lord bless you! You have my prayers, good feelings, and faith all the time; and I trust that the kindness and mercies of our Father in heaven are such that he will bear with us in our weaknesses until we can learn truth and righteousness, and practice it; which may God grant. Amen.

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, February 7, 1858.

Through the remarks of brothers Edward Partridge and Silas Smith, who have lately returned from their mission to the Sandwich Islands, we are made acquainted with a new variety of customs; and I must confess that, hearing a relation of the customs and traditions of the natives of those islands, I am almost led to believe that they are a people very much like ourselves—that they are entitled to the appellation of human beings. They are prone to wander—prone to weaknesses; and if they have any knowledge of God, they are prone to forget him and to turn to their idols. They are prone to be froward in all their ways, very much like ourselves.

We believe that we have been better taught, and that we are quite an enlightened people. Christian Europe and America deem themselves the most enlightened people upon the earth; and an equal self-confidence among those islanders is all that is wanting to make them believe that they know more than the Europeans and Americans. I have an idea that the Anglo-Saxon race possesses more confidence in themselves and more worldly wisdom than any other nation upon the earth; yet take the people on the Sandwich and Society Islands, and the natives of these mountains and of North and South America, or of any country where there are natives in their idolatry—those whom we call ignorant, dark, benighted, lost, possessed of little or no knowledge, and let a person understanding the Priesthood visit them, and I will venture to say that he would find more and better traits of the Priesthood of God among them than can be found among the Christians. And though it may appear surprising and a matter hardly credible, yet even we are more or less under the power of traditions similar to those of the heathen.

There is a cause for their traditions, customs, and present practices. They have grown into their present idolatry through a neglect of the truth, through a proneness to wander and forget their God and true religion. Let this people backslide—lose their present faith and knowledge, and in after generations, perhaps, a few would cling to the Priesthood with all the vigor that we do, and would understand that the people were going into darkness, and would urge them to have some custom, some form, some representation or figure of their former faith and religion. What is commonly termed idolatry has arisen from a few sincere men, full of faith and having a little knowledge, urging upon a backsliding people to preserve some customs—to cling to some fashions or figures, to put them in mind of that God with whom their fathers were acquainted, without designing or wishing the people to worship an idol—to worship stocks, stones, beasts, and birds. Idols have been introduced, which are now worshipped, and have been for centuries and thousands of years; but they were not introduced at once. They were introduced to preserve among the people the idea of the true God.

I have frequently said, and say again, that there are and always have been a great many in this Church that are not Saints. There are more “Mormons” than Saints; and there are different degrees and grades of “Mormons” and of Saints. There are many that are “Mormons” that are not Saints; and so it will be until Jesus comes to separate the sheep from the goats; or, in other language, until the Husbandman shall bid his servants gather the wheat into the barn, and the tares into bundles to be burned. This must be; this we all believe and can understand.

If we are not all Saints, the most of this people are trying to be. If we are not as perfect in our sphere as are the angels, we are trying to prepare ourselves to become so. We have not yet received our inheritances; but we are trying to prepare ourselves to be worthy to receive them. Yet it can readily be understood that if this people should backslide, they would, as others have, introduce an idolatrous worship. All Protestants accuse the Roman Catholic Church of worshipping idols. It is the practice of its members to carry a cross with them to worship the Virgin Mary. They have paintings and images in their chapels and other places of worship; and they are accused of worshipping these paintings and images, and that they are idolatrous worshippers. But those representations were introduced in the same way that a father would show his children that Jesus Christ is actually a man like their father, by showing them a figure representing Jesus as extended upon the cross, and saying, “This gives you, my children, an idea that he was a man.” Now, let those children, when saying their prayers, have that representation before them, and how long would it be before some of their neighbors’ children would tell their mothers that those children were worshipping a picture or image? This is the way that idolatry has sprung up in the world, through a method established to keep the people in remembrance of the God they once worshipped and were acquainted with.

Do the Christian world know whether God has eyes to see, ears to hear, or hands, or a body? They are as ignorant of the true God as are those islanders, and all whom we call heathen. And our traditions are such that we are yet more or less in the dark, and are under the necessity of assembling here from Sabbath to Sabbath, and in Ward meetings, and besides, have to call our solemn assemblies, to teach, talk, pray, sing, and exhort. What for? To keep us in remembrance of our God and our holy religion. Is this custom necessary? Yes; because we are so liable to forget—so prone to wander, that we need to have the Gospel sounded in our ears as much as once, twice, or thrice a week, or, behold, we will turn again to our idols. It is immaterial what the idol is, whether it is what the Californians call a slug, or whether it is a twenty-dollar gold piece, or an eagle, or half-eagle, or whether our affections and attention fasten upon our farms, houses, and other worldly goods—if we are not constantly exhorting the people and setting before them the necessity of living their religion, calling back their minds that have been wandering, and preaching and praying with them, behold, they would turn to their idols.

Were the Lord to give us peace for a few years, so that we should have no sorrow or trouble from without, with the land producing abundantly, with the fine weather and the healthy climate, how long would it be before many of you would again want to go to California to get gold, and turn away from your holy religion to worship an idol? Rather than neglect your holy religion entirely, you had better keep your images right before your eyes and say your prayers to an idol, whether it be cut out of wood or is a dog’s skull, so that you believe there is something behind that which will actually point your affections to look beyond that which you see with your natural eyes, and cause you to believe in a Supreme Being, in an Overruling Hand, in an All-wise Providence, or to worship even a god without body or parts. Are we under traditions to the same extent that some others are? Perhaps not. We do not think we are; and yet we have our traditions upon us; and if we are not careful, we are liable to become as great idolaters as there are in the world.

Brother Silas Smith has just told you that he had not been at home four days when he heard his name called for another mission; and he says that he is ready and willing, of which I have no doubt; for I never knew him when he was not willing to do anything that he was told to do. We say that we are willing to do anything required to sustain us in our religious rights—to sacrifice our all for our religion and the hope that is before us. Brother Clapp has just taught us that we are not worthy of eternal life, unless we are willing to sacrifice all. Brother Clapp, what have you to give? [“Everything I have.”] But you have not got anything. John, what are you willing to give for eternal life? You say, “Everything.” What have you got? Consider well what you have. Says he, “I live here; I have my life.” No, you have not; for it is in the hands of your Creator. “I have a wife.” She is only committed to you to enable you to prove whether you will treat her in a righteous manner: she is not yet yours. “I have chil– dren that are the offspring of my loins.” They are not yours; for you cannot produce them of yourself. “I have a farm.” No; that farm belongs to another. The Devil says that it is his; but we expect Jesus will have the whole earth. “I have horses and possessions.” Reflect well, and consider whether you really own anything. Upon reflection, you discern at once that your wife may be taken from you; your farm and your other possessions may be taken; and your gold and silver may take the wings of the morning and fly from you. If God withdraws his sustaining hand, you sink. You have no wife, children, horses, houses, nor land.

When men and women talk about giving everything for the salvation which they anticipate and live for, behold, they have nothing to give; nor have they anything to do, only to do their duty. And what is that? To improve upon that which is committed to their possession—to prove themselves worthy to their Father and God, that ere long they may be worthy to receive crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal life. Then we shall be beyond the power of Satan. We shall be where we can control death and him that has the power of death; and we shall reign triumphantly as the Gods and as the sons of God. We must inherit that power and glory before we can say that we really own anything, even the least thing in this world or in eternity.

Some persons talk about sacrificing; but we have nothing to sacrifice. All we have to do is to love and serve our God, and do everything we can to bring knowledge to ourselves and to the people—everything we can to make them happy, wealthy, strong, and numerous, so that we may overcome the powers of darkness and reign triumphantly on the earth, Jesus Christ being our head and king. That is all we have to do. Tell about houses, lands, and other property being ours, and that we have no traditions and idols! I would as soon see a man worshipping a little god made of brass or of wood as to see him worship his property. I have a number of such gods brought to me from the East Indies and from the islands; and I would as soon see one of my brethren worship one of those brass idols as to see him worship his property; and he would be as much justified in the sight of God. Does this congregation understand what idolatry is? The New Testament says that covetousness is idolatry; therefore, a covetous people is an idolatrous people.

Some of you are just as much idolaters as are the heathen, but you do not know it; neither do they realize their idolatry. Were I on the islands and seeing the natives bow before their images to be healed, I would say, “Have faith.” And instead of disfellowshipping a man for worshipping an idol, I would exhort him to have exceeding great faith in his idols, upon the same principle that I exhort the brethren here to have faith in our God. “And if your idol will not heal you, look beyond to that Being who can.” I am not for cutting people off from the Church that worship their property instead of their God, but for bearing with them until they shall gain light and knowledge so as to see their errors and turn to the God of truth. I would say to idolaters, “If you have faith in an idol, have a little more; and if you have faith enough, the Lord may work upon your minds so that you can understand the blessings he has in store for his people.” And I say to the men and women who profess to be Latter-day Saints, “God giveth and he withholdeth; at his pleasure he raises up and puts down kings, emperors, thrones, and dominions; and the power and wisdom and glory of the Almighty, who fills immensity and operates upon all things, will prevail.”

What good can our wealth do, were it not to promote the cause of God upon the earth, overcome the power of Satan, and be used to bring forth righteousness and overcome darkness? That is dedicating ourselves and all we are made stewards over to the building up of the cause of God on the earth. In so doing we can be justified. We cannot receive the glory, the kingdoms, the thrones, the wisdom, and the power that are designed for us, without a close application in our studies and in our efforts in our whole lives to build up the kingdom of God on the earth. We need to apply our minds to wisdom as strongly and closely as brother Silas Smith had to apply his mind to learn the language of the natives, that he might be able to teach them his ideas without trusting to their passing through the mouth of another. No matter how much of the Spirit a teacher has, if his words have to be interpreted by one who has not the Spirit; the people are not benefited; “For the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” No matter how much a man preaches, nor how much of the Holy Ghost he has—the spirit may be edified, but the understanding will remain unfruitful. And if we trust to some other person to bring forth the hidden things of the kingdom, if we are all the time dependent on an interpreter who has not the Holy Ghost, we cannot grow rapidly in the knowledge of the truth.

We must live so that our knowledge and faith shall reach beyond the ideal, no matter what that is; and we must have knowledge of the living God for ourselves. The people wish to know whether they cannot find out the living God. Yes, just as quickly as you are prepared; but you must cease worshipping idols. Then, when persons say they are willing to sacrifice their all for the kingdom of God, they will do it without whining. Then, if a Ward is required to perform a certain work, they will not complain about it. Then they will be apt to cast their idols behind them, and will not so worship and covet a beautiful span of horses that they will not let them go to save the whole house of Israel. But in the first place, they have nothing to sacrifice; in the second place, God has given them enough with which to benefit his kingdom; and thirdly, if it is not on hand when required, by-and-by it will be said, “Take from those persons what they seem to have, and give it to those who are worthy—who can dispose of their property to build up the kingdom of God.” It will be said of us all, unless we improve upon what we have, “Take that which they seem to have, and give to those who improve upon their talents and will gain more.”

Whether you can see it or not, I know that this people are more or less prone to idolatry; for I see that spirit manifested every day, and hear of it from nearly every quarter. We must stop worshipping idols. We are in possession of the keys of the kingdom; the eternal Priesthood is committed to this people, and we are blessed as are no other people of which we have any knowledge. This people have the words of life—the way of life and salvation: they know how to save themselves and all that will cleave to them. Now, what is demanded at our hands? Is it to pray that we may be faithful? It seems to be a burlesque. It is most disgraceful to be under the necessity of saying, “Brethren and sisters, let us be faithful.” Rather so obtain a particle of wisdom before God that we can see our own standing, what we are called to do, and understand what is bestowed upon us. You might as well pray for the angels to be faithful as for this people. If you could see and understand things as they are, your whole souls, minds, affections, lives, and everything at your control would be sealed up in God and his work. Then would it be, “You cannot take my horses, for I cannot spare them.” No. Who cares for all the horses in the world? The Devil says that he has claim on them, and he means to devote them to his use. I will see that all the horses, mules, gold, silver, clothing, and people belonging to this Church are devoted to the kingdom of Christ, God being my helper; and I will outgeneral the Devil, and baffle him in every turn, and head him in every nook and corner; and he shall be turned hither and thither as the Lord will. I am determined, in the name of Israel’s God, to see the Devil whipped from the earth, and outgeneraled and fooled in all his schemes, and whirled about by this Church until he is glad to leave the earth and go to his own place; and then we will see whether or not the Lord God has all things that belong to him.

Compare our position and situation with that of the rest of the world; look at the inhabitants of the earth, and try to understand the object of our being on this earth, the object of the forming and peopling this earth, and designing and decreeing that things should be thus and so. Try to understand why our first parents partook of the forbidden fruit, and why Jesus came to the earth to redeem fallen man. Let us try to learn why things are suffered to proceed on the earth as they do.

If you get an understanding to know the purposes and designs of our Creator in framing and peopling this earth, do you think that I should be under the necessity of exhorting you to say that you will sacrifice your all for eternal life? The idea is nonsensical. Should I be under the necessity of exhorting you to live your religion and cling to your God? If we should not come to meeting during the next sixteen years, and if we had never met since the brethren were driven from Jackson County, everyone would live his religion. If this people had understood what they ought, the early Elders might have lived in foreign nations and preached the Gospel until this day, and they would then have been better prepared to worship God acceptably than many are now; and this people would have been more cautious, better prepared, and more contented to practice what they know, instead of searching after things that do not concern them.

We know enough to damn us; and when we know enough for that, we know enough to save us, if that knowledge is improved upon. We are a happy people. We are the only people on earth that acknowledge God and truly believe in him. The Christian and heathen world profess to believe in him; and the Jews say that they believe in him: but they do not believe in Jesus Christ. The Christians profess to believe in Jesus Christ; but, if he told the truth, not one of them really believes in him. I do not doubt their honesty; but I doubt the manifestation of any knowledge they have of him; for if they were his disciples, they would do the works which he did. That alone is positive proof to me that they neither believe in him nor have any idea what he designs concerning them. They may be honest and sincere; but they are very ignorant. This people have the true knowledge; they have it not. We have the Priesthood; they have it not. We have the way of life and salvation; they have it not. We know how to be Saints—how to save ourselves and all who will hearken to our counsel; they do not.

Now, ask yourselves, is there any necessity of preaching, praying, teaching, and exhorting, to learn us our duty and make us Saints? It is almost labor lost. You heard brother Silas say that if the Elders should leave those islands, in a few years the natives who have embraced the Gospel would be as bad as they ever were. If there is nothing more of them than that—if they have no desire to do good—no power in themselves to keep them from giving way to the Devil, unless there is an Elder from Great Salt Lake to watch them, the quicker they are damned the better. I would not, in such a case, walk five rods for the whole of them. If they do not know enough, after what they have been taught, to save themselves, they will be damned, and I will not ask another Elder to wear out his strength and waste his energies in so useless a work.

Those islanders and the natives of this country are of the house of Israel—of the seed of Abraham, and to them pertain the promises; and every soul of them, sooner or later, will be saved in the kingdom of God, or be destroyed root and branch. If they do not choose in this probation to take the path that leads to life, let them go their own road. The honest in heart in all nations and generations who are worthy to receive any salvation will receive it, sooner or later; and I do not care how quick the Lord Almighty cleans the floor; for then we will build up Zion and redeem the honest in heart. But it is not for me to know the times and the seasons: it is for me to be contented in the discharge of my duty today, and let tomorrow bring forth what it will.

May the Lord bless you, brethren and sisters. Amen.

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, January 17, 1858.

We have heard much in regard to the knowledge and understanding of this people—also of the nations of the earth; and it is very true that the best of us have only commenced to learn true principles. We are but children in the kingdom of God. We understand, in a great measure, the know– ledge that is in the world: we have been brought up in the wisdom the world professes, and that we understand. But the things of God are so directly in opposition to the vain imaginations of the inhabitants of the earth, that it is hard for people to learn them. They remove our erro– neous traditions from us. At the same time, all the morality, and good works, and good thoughts and words that tend to good, that are in the world, are of the Lord. Honest hearts, the world over, desire to know the right way. They have sought for it, and still seek it. There have been people upon the earth all the time who sought diligently with all their hearts to know the ways of the Lord. These individuals have produced good, inasmuch as they had the ability. And to believe that there has been no virtue, no truth, no good upon the earth for centuries, until the Lord revealed the Priesthood through Joseph the Prophet, I should say is wrong. There has been more or less virtue and righteousness upon the earth at all times, from the days of Adam until now. That we all believe. Men who have lived without the Priesthood will be judged according to their works, as well as those who have had the privilege of it. That is our doctrine. That is what the Lord has told us, through his servants, from the beginning. No matter where they have lived, or to what nation they have belonged, all people will be judged according to the works or deeds done in the body.

Honest hearts produce honest actions—holy desires produce corresponding outward works. That is what we understand and believe; yet the traditions of the fathers are so diverse from the holy Priesthood, that it is hard for people to learn even the smaller things pertaining to the kingdom of God—one of the smallest items pertaining to life. If we should have ability to sustain ourselves here on the earth, we certainly should have to live; for if we have not the ability to live, we certainly should pass behind the veil. In that case, we could not be capable of doing good in our present organization. As you have often been told, and as we believe, good men and good women ought to live the longest on the earth and set good examples, teach good doctrines, and produce righteousness.

Individuals or a community that have not the ability to preserve themselves in this life have no power to perform works to be judged by; consequently, there is no judgment passed upon them for deeds done in this probation. The duty of a good people is to know how to preserve themselves in this life. The first revelation given to Adam was of a temporal nature. Most of the revelations he received pertained to his life here. That was also the case in the revelations to Noah. We have but very few of the instructions the Lord gave to Enoch concerning his city; but, doubtless, most of the revelations he received pertained to a temporal nature and condition. And certainly the revelations Noah received, so far as in our possession, almost exclusively pertained to this life. The same principle was carried out in the days of Moses, and in the days of his fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We may say that eight or nine-tenths of the doctrines and principles set forth in the revelations given to those men were of a temporal nature.

As soon as Moses was called upon to go and deliver Israel, the revelations the Lord gave to him were of a temporal nature, pertaining to the temporal life of the children of Israel—instructing Moses how to deliver them from bondage and lead them from the servile state in which they then were. He taught them in the same manner while they were traveling through the wilderness; and so it continued down to the days of the judges, and then to Saul, whom the Lord permitted them to make a king, and then through the teachings of the Prophets. The greatest recorded digression from that course was when the Savior came. He repeatedly alluded to a spiritual kingdom, in his sayings to his brethren. The people had become so corrupt that it was all useless to then endeavor to establish a literal kingdom of God on the earth. The children of Abraham had wandered so far from the true doctrine, the Priesthood, the principles, and ordinances that the Lord had revealed, that the Savior had not opportunity to more than drop a hint, as it were, about a temporal kingdom. Yet the idea of a temporal kingdom was so indelibly riveted upon the minds of his disciples, that they supposed he alluded to it, and that when the Savior should make his appearance, he would actually establish a literal kingdom on this earth and reign over it. The institutions and traditions which had been handed down pertained to a temporal kingdom, and they could not see that the corruptions and wickedness of the people were so great that he could not teach or suggest anything that they could understand pertaining to a temporal kingdom; therefore he alluded to a spiritual kingdom—the kingdom of God that should be set up in the heart. And those principles taught to the people and received by them would gather them together in the latter days, when he could prepare and organize a literal kingdom on the earth.

The first revelations given to Joseph were of a temporal character, pertaining to a literal kingdom on the earth. And most of the revelations he received in the early part of his ministry pertained to what the few around him should do in this or in that case—when and how they should perform their duties; at the same time calling upon them to preach the Gospel and diffuse the Spirit and principles of the kingdom of God, that their eyes might be open to see and gather the people together—that they might begin and organize a literal, temporal organization on the earth. All that has been done, has been done by the wisdom of God. The wisdom revealed through Joseph was the wisdom of our Father in heaven—it was not of himself.

The revelations to us teach us to first cleanse our hearts—to purify ourselves, in order to have our eyes sufficiently opened to see the kingdom of God; for, without the spiritual birth referred to in the New Testament, we cannot see the kingdom of God. The revelations to Joseph were—Go forth, my servants, preach the Gospel by the power of the Holy Ghost, and open the eyes of the people, that they may see the kingdom of God, and not look into eternity to see the Father seated upon his throne and the angels around him, nor seek to know what he is doing there. The people need teaching by the power of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, that their eyes may be open to see that the Lord is commencing a literal kingdom upon the earth. When they can discern that, then they have the opportunity to be born of water, to enter into this kingdom. Nearly all the teachings to us pertain to this life; and if we have not ability to preserve our lives in our present existence, what can we do here to promote the kingdom of God on the earth; or to prepare the earth or the people for the coming of the Son of Man? Nothing. Consequently our labor is chiefly a temporal labor.

Brother Taylor has enquired how we are to be clothed another year? We have either to obtain new clothes or to wear those we have now. Someone may say, “My clothes will not last another year.” Perhaps they will, if you will take good care of them.

When we first came here, the people were told, and many saw and believed it as much then as they can now, that the Lord in his providence led the people into these mountains to separate them from the Gentile world, in order that he might establish his kingdom—his laws, and commence his Zion in the mountains, where his people could have but little connection with the world. They were taught that when they first came here; and now the prospect is very fair for separating us from the rest of the world, and most of the people can see it. They were taught then as much as they are taught now, that it was necessary to go to and provide for ourselves. Do any of the brethren who came here ten years ago last July remember that you were instructed that every facility that we could need was here in the elements? That the gold, the silver, and the iron were in these mountains? That the wool, the flax, the silk, the cotton, and everything necessary to sustain man were in the elements around us? “What, is silk here?” Yes, in as great abundance as in any part of the earth; and the finest broadcloth is here, and everything to make life desirable is here.

It is for the people to go to and develop the resources surrounding us. Sugar, starch, and glue are the chief ingredients in the sustenance of man. The saccharine matter is in everything that grows here: it is in the vegetables and in the animals. We have as good beef as there is in the world, furnishing gluten—a substance that acts its part in sustaining man. We can raise as good potatoes and wheat as can be raised in any other part of the earth; also other products affording starch, and all the necessary variety and quality of articles of food. We can make sugar from the beet; but we are now cultivating the Chinese sugar cane, which produces as good a sweet as any we have imported. We have the materials for feeding the body. And as to clothing, we can produce as good wool here as they can in any part of the world; but we must have the sheep to enable us to do so. And we must sow flax and plant cotton for the manufacture of linen and cotton cloth; but the elements are here from which they all will grow.

Import silkworms and mulberry trees, and you will find that this is as good a country and climate in which to raise silk as any on the face of the earth. Do some understand this? Yes, there are persons here from the Eastern States who have raised silkworms and manufactured silk; and here are scores and hundreds of silk manufacturers from the old country. Why, then, do we not have silk? Because no man takes steps to organize certain elements into the silk. All this was told you in the beginning, and why did not men understand?

You may take the Latter-day Saints, as a whole, and they have but very little good, sound, worldly sense. Look over this congregation, and then go through the Territory, and you can find thousands that, during the first four years of our settlement here, flooded these valleys with wagons and cattle, and every facility for raising what we needed. We drove in the sheep, brought the flaxseed, and this, that, and the other useful articles. But what did we see? Men, women, and children run to California to get gold. They were then told what I can now prove. “Go to California, if you will; we will not curse you—we will not injure nor destroy you, but we will pity you. If you must go for gold, and that is your god, go, and I will promise you one thing: Every man that stays here and pays attention to his business will be able, within ten years, to buy out four of those who leave for the gold mines.” Since then some of those persons have come cringing back, and thinking, “O dear, I declare I wish the brethren could not know that I had been away! I want to appear as though I had not gone to California, and to be full of good works and faith.” Poor, ignorant, pusillanimous creatures! They come whining back and want to be considered in full fellowship, after leaving this place to which our God has led us, and after having used their means to feast and build up the Gentiles.

Brother Heber and I told the company that went to San Bernardino with Amasa Lyman, that they would never reach here again without help from this people, and we are now sending all the teams we can raise from the southern settlements to bring them back. Why? Because they cannot stay there, and they are not able to remove. They were told at the start that they would have to renounce their religion, or else come whining back to these valleys. You may take all who have unadvisedly gone from this Territory [and hundreds and thousands have so gone], and I believe that I alone am able to buy the whole of them, though when I came here I had but very little property, except what I owed for. I also believe that brother Kimball and many others who have listened to what is taught now own more property than the whole of those characters. They could not believe that I knew enough to instruct them in temporal affairs. Do they now believe that I do? They are obliged to admit it, though some think, “Really, I do not know whether it is so or not.” What are those persons good for now?

Obedience is one of the plainest, most everyday and home principles that you ever thought or knew anything about. In the first place, learn that you have a father, and then learn strict obedience to that parent. Is not that a plain, domestic, home principle? How long will it take the men and women here to learn it? You have learned, from year to year, scores, if not hundreds of principles of the Gospel taught; and one of the first principles to be learned by the Saints is to be of one heart and mind, to obey your leaders, to obey the Lord. If you have leaders who do not teach you the words of life and salvation—who do not give you the words of the Lord, why not have faith sufficient to remove them out of the way and have better men? If this people are righteous and have any leaders that are not capable of dictating you, why not stretch your faith to the heavens for God to remove them and give you men that are capable of leading you?

Could I make a brother in the Church believe, after passing through the troubles in Missouri, after again being driven from our homes in Nauvoo, Illinois, and after being led to this secret retreat and sustained all the time by the matchless power of our God, that the love of riches would have so blunted the minds of many as to cause them to run to California after gold? Why not have stayed here, where we could have improved this Territory three times as much as we have? We could have extended our settlements still farther on the right and on the left. But no; they must run and leave us. And many of those that have tarried have but a little more confidence, when they have improved upon and learned the lesson taught by those who have left.

The great majority of men and women do not know how to take care of themselves. Let me refer the whole of you to a circumstance in winter quarters. We left Nauvoo in February, 1846, made our own roads through Iowa, except some 40 or 50 miles, built bridges, cut down timber, turned out 500 men to go to Mexico, came this side of the Missouri River, and there wintered. How did you live there? Do you know how you got anything to eat? Brethren came to me, saying, “We must go to Missouri. Can we not take our families and go to Missouri and get work?” Do you know, to this day, how you lived? I will tell you, and then you will remember it. I had not five dollars in money to start with; but I went to work and built a mill, which I knew we should want only for a few months, that cost 3,600 dollars. I gave notice that I would employ every man and pay him for his labor. If I had a sixpence, I turned it into 25 cents; and a half-bushel of potatoes I turned into half-a-bushel of wheat. How did I do that? By faith. I went to brother Neff, who had just come in the place, and asked him for and received 2,600 dollars, though he did not know where the money was going. He kept the mill another year, and it died on his hands. I say, God bless him forever! For it was the money he brought from Pennsylvania that preserved thousands of men, women, and children from starving. I handled and dictated it, and everything went off smoothly and prosperously.

Can you sustain yourselves? Yes. How can you clothe and feed yourselves? Keep Gentiles out of here, and not permit any more supplies to come from them; and then you will raise sheep and take care of them and their wool; then you will raise cotton and flax, and dress the lint. We have women who know how to manufacture flax into thread and the finest cloth in this house. Why do you not make linen? “Because we can turn a calf on to the range, and after awhile sell it for 20 or 30 dollars and buy store goods.” That course is temporal ruination to this people. It is a far greater injury than benefit for us to purchase imported goods. Shut down the gate and make your own hats, bonnets, and every other article of wearing apparel. We have the furs and all necessary facilities for making every article we need. We can also make our dyestuffs, so soon as we can get a greater variety of seed. For ten years we have advertised the brethren to bring indigo seed; and I have not obtained any, only a little that brother William Willes brought from the East Indies. I have also wished them to bring madder seed, for you can raise it where you can raise corn. Do we know enough to raise indigo and cotton? Yes, when the gate is shut down.

I told the brethren, yesterday, that I was not afraid of men’s apostatizing when war and trouble are on hand, for then they will stick together. It is in calm weather, when the old ship of Zion is sailing with a gentle breeze, and when all is quiet on deck, that some of the brethren want to go out in the whaling boats to have a scrape and a swim; and some get drowned, others drifted away, and others again get back to the ship. Let us stick to the old ship, and she will carry us safely into the harbor. You need not be concerned. I want the brethren to raise flax.

I want some man, who has got the requisite spirit and nerve, to prepare a quarter-of-an-acre as they prepare ground for flax in Ireland, and then sow about a bushel-and-a-half or two bushels of seed, and let it grow as thick as a horse’s mane; if necessary, brace it up while growing; pull it at the period when the lint will be the silkiest, and prepare it for the women to exercise their skill in making fine thread. A bushel of flaxseed to the acre produces a coarse lint, suitable for making ropes and coarse cloth.

Brother Taylor remarked that about 60 out of every 75 lambs had died in this Territory. Yes, you may say that, out of every 75 lambs about 90 have died. Where were our sheep in 1848-49? I then had 100 sheep, and I would now have 40,000 if they had been taken care of as they ought; but instead of that, I have bought about 550 since; and now I have 400 or 500.

Sheep are driven into the Territory, and then they decrease. What is the difficulty? It is, “Hurrah for the gold! Hurrah for the stores! Hurrah for the merchants! Hurrah for hell! Let us have a portion of hell here.”

Elders who have been to St. Louis and had credit for a cent should not have brought a thousand or two thousand dollars’ worth of goods here and fooled them away, having fooled them out of merchants who still remain fools.

Shut down the gate, and stop bringing ribbons and foolery here. I wish the ribbons and like articles were all sunk in the bottom of the sea, rather than have them brought here. Do you know enough to clothe yourselves? Yes, when you are driven to it. It makes me think of what we passed through in Missouri, when Joseph was preaching the Consecration law for surplus property. Would any man listen to that law? No, not a man. “Will you pay Tithing?” “I cannot any way in the world, for I have not as much property as I want.”

When the army came and took away the guns, killed our cattle, fired our houses, took possession of our fields, and compelled the brethren, at the point of the bayonet, to sign away their property to pay the expenses of the war, one fellow said, “By——, see these men, how keen and fine they look! Old Joe has been trying for years to make them consecrate their property, but he could not persuade them to do it. We can make them consecrate.”

The brethren felt well: but suppose they had been required to sign a deed of trust to the kingdom of God on the earth, would they have done it? No; they would have suffered themselves to be damned before they would have done it. Can you not see the ignorance of the people in those things? And to this day you can see men come here penniless, and hear them say, “We had plenty of money where we came from.” Then why did you not gather when you had money? “We wanted to make more, to bring a great amount into the kingdom.” Thus men come here penniless, and feel well about it. Enquire into the matter, and you will often learn that last year they had several thousand dollars, but it has gone into the hands of the Gentiles.

Suppose a poor Elder, while on a mission, should borrow ten dollars of such a person, that person will come here and be ready to apostatize, unless that money is paid; but if the devils get it, “Oh, it is all right.” Such feelings are in the hearts of some men and women now before me. With them it is, “If my enemies get my property, all well; but I don’t want the kingdom of God to have it.” Ask them whether they want the kingdom of God to have their property, and they will reply, “O yes; ourselves and all we have are in the kingdom of God:” but touch a dollar of theirs, and they will squirm.

We are trying to become Saints, and by-and-by we will actually become Saints. When men are Saints, they will bring their thousands and lay them at the feet of the Bishops, Apostles, and Prophets, saying, “Here is my money; it is now where it should be.” But now what do you see? If an Elder has borrowed a little money, or been helped in any manner, he must be chased home and made to pay the uttermost farthing, or there is dissatisfaction. Fortunately that is not the case with all. A portion of the principle of darkness is in the hearts of the people; but it is fast going out, and they are coming to a knowledge of the truth.

One of the first and plainest principles to be believed and practiced is to put ourselves and all we have into the kingdom of God, and then be dictated by the Lord and his servants. Is there any danger? Some are ready to say, “Yes, we are afraid to trust ourselves and our means here and there.”

Brother Taylor has just said that the religions of the day were hatched in hell. The eggs were laid in hell, hatched on its borders, and then kicked on to the earth. They may be called cockatrices, for they sting wherever they go. Go to their meetings in the Christian world, and mingle in their society, and you will hear them remark, “Our ministers dictate our souls’ salvation;” and they are perfectly composed and resigned to trust their whole future destiny to their priests, though they durst not trust them with one single dollar beyond their salaries and a few presents. They can trust their eternal welfare in the hands of their priests, but hardly dare trust them with so much as a bushel of potatoes. Is that principle here? Yes, more or less.

Can we feed and clothe ourselves? Yes, we can, as well as any people on the earth. We have a goodly share of the genius, talent, and ability of the world; it is combined in the Elders of this Church and in their families. And if the Gentiles wish to see a few tricks, we have “Mormons” that can perform them. We have the meanest devils on the earth in our midst, and we intend to keep them, for we have use for them; and if the Devil does not look sharp, we will cheat him out of them at the last, for they will reform and go to heaven with us.

We have already showed the invading army a few tricks; and I told Captain Van Vliet that if they persisted in making war upon us, I should share in their supplies. The boys would ride among the enemy’s tents, and one of their captains ran into Colonel Alexander’s tent one night, saying, “Why, Colonel, I’ll be damned if the Mormons won’t be riding into your tent, if you don’t look out.”

We have the smartest women in the world, the best cooks, the best mothers; and they know how to dress themselves the neatest of any others. We are the smartest people in the world. But look out, pertaining to taking care of and sustaining ourselves, that the children of this world are not smarter than the children of light. I say that they shall not be; for we will beat them in every good thing, the Lord and the brethren being our helpers. The Lord bless you! Amen.

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, December 27, 1857.

It is a great privilege to know the way of life and salvation, and to know how to walk therein; yet we are still, more or less, under the traditions of our fathers: they are woven around us as a garment in which we are clothed.

It would be a great blessing for a people to be brought to actually realize that all they can comprehend—all they can see with their eyes, hear with their ears, or understand with their hearts, is the creation of God, from the mighty globes that roll in the immensity of space to the smallest mote that helps to compose this world. It would also be a great blessing for a people to really understand that the eye of the Lord is upon all his works—that nothing escapes his notice, and that all is composed, organized, and brought forth for the glory, benefit, and use of intelligent beings. There is no true enjoyment in life—nothing that can be a blessing to an individual or to a community, but what is ordained of God to bless his people. If we could at all times strictly realize this, do you not think that God would be continually in all our thoughts? Could we but behold and realize the handiwork of the Lord in all his doings, and that he has created and ordained everything for the benefit of his creatures, would not that bring us to sense, realize, and understand the hand of the Lord in all things? In consequence of the darkness and traditions that have been over us, many look upon things, acts, and blessings, not knowing whether they flow from the Lord or proceed from some other power.

Who would be deprived of the blessing of sight or of hearing? What amount of money would hire an individual to part with those senses? The light of the sun to cheer the face of nature—to light up the path that we may walk safely therein without stumbling, who would be deprived of? Who gave it to us? Who gave us affection? Who has ordained the passions of the mind and the body, which constitute the soul? Who should control them? To whom should they be devoted? If the veil of the covering that is over us and the nations of the earth were so removed that we could behold the glory, the excellency, the beauty of the attributes that are dispensed by the children of men—for they are appointed by the Lord who has ordained all these things—would not God be in all our thoughts?

We are now blessed with the privilege of coming to that understanding of being taught and of teaching ourselves to come into subjection to the celestial law of Christ, so that every passion, every sensation, and faculty that God has bestowed upon us may be devoted to his glory, to our advancement in knowledge, to our perfection in this probation, and to a preparation for perfection in his celestial kingdom. This is a blessing indeed! In the course of life there are many of our thoughts, words, and acts that appear to be of minor consequence—so much so, that we would hardly consider that the Lord would notice them, and are apt to forget that he watches every movement of his creatures, to know whether they appreciate their gifts and blessings which flow from him, or whether they treat them as a thing of naught.

We have the privilege, while the majority of the inhabitants of the earth are deprived of it, of learning the ways of God. He is in the acts, and directs and guides all the affairs of this world, and we have the privilege of understanding his ways in so doing. We have the privilege of learning the principles that pertain to God and godliness. We have the privilege of learning the weakness, ignorance, blindness, and all the evils that sin has brought upon the children of men—of so understanding correct principles that we can discern the things that are of God and the things that are not of him, and of learning the great wisdom displayed by the Almighty in causing intelligent beings to dwell in a sinful world.

Brother Woodruff, in his remarks, alluded to the priests of the so-called Christian world. Were you to summon the priests of the day, not only those that consider themselves full of wisdom, but also those from the heathen nations (and there are hundreds of thousands, and, probably, millions that are performing the labor of officiating as messengers from a superior or supreme Being to enlighten the minds of the children of men and instruct them in things pertaining to eternity, to lead their minds, as they say, from sin and the power of darkness), you would at once learn that there is not knowledge enough among them all to give you the correct reason why God suffered sin and blindness to enter into this world. That knowledge has not been upon the earth for centuries, until the Lord revealed it through the Prophet Joseph Smith—at least not to our knowledge, and we have a pretty good understanding of this world and its inhabitants. There are but very few places in the north, south, east, or west, on the islands or on the continents, that are inhabited by intelligent beings, but what have been penetrated. Missionaries have visited them and men of learning and scientific research; and they have not only learned the geography, but have actually sounded the intelligence of the inhabitants of the whole globe, so far as we yet know, going from west to east, and in the south and north as far as man can penetrate; and among them all, aside from the revelations in our day, there is not knowledge enough to tell you why God suffered sin to come into the world. You have been told the reason why—that all intelligence must prove facts by their opposite.

No organized beings are prepared to become associated with or crowned heirs in the celestial kingdom, until they have passed through these ordeals and have drank of the bitter cup to the dregs, so that they know and understand good from evil. There was not knowledge enough in the whole world to tell us even that, until it was again revealed through Joseph the Prophet. The very best of them would marvel why God suffered Lucifer or the serpent to tempt mother Eve. That always has been a great mystery to the world, and is to this day, with the exception of the knowledge that has gone forth from the Lord through his Prophet Joseph, and then through the Elders of Israel, who have plainly taught many doctrines that were previously a perfect mystery to the people, though they have now adopted many of them into their faith; but they will not give us credit for them.

Before the Gospel revealed the introduction of sin to this planet, it was a great marvel even to the most learned, and they would ask, “Why was it so? Is it not strange?” and would rest with the expression, “It was suffered to be so.” While reasoning or familiarly conversing with one another, let the question be asked, “Why was Eve suffered to partake of the forbidden fruit?” and the invariable reply was, “I cannot answer that question: it seems that it was so, and it appears to be a great pity.” That is all the knowledge there is in the world on that point. The starting point they have not learned, that no intelligent being could be exalted with the Gods without being subjected to the temptation of sin, that he might know and understand the power of the adversary, the opposite to goodness; for it is written that, “There must needs be an opposition in all things.” The world have not yet learned that simple truth.

I remember hearing a debate between brother Alfred Cordon, one of our Elders, and a sectarian priest, when I was in England; and I presume there were a score or two of priests ready to put questions and answers into the mouth of their speaker. They expected to be able to use up the Book of Mormon upon the point of Adam’s partaking of the forbidden fruit from the hand of Eve; but the answer that the woman was found in the transgression, and not the man, came so quickly that it hushed them up at once, so that they could not argue further. Brother Orson Pratt whispered to brother Cordon the answer. Many of even these my sisters who are before me today have seen the wisdom that is in the Christian world, while they have been conversing with their former priests, and have answered some little question that was a perfect mystery to a priest—a little question which they understood, and the priest did not, and have seen the priests thrown completely off their guard, become dizzy in their heads, and unable to continue the conversation. It is written in this Bible that the woman was found in the transgression, and not the man; and that plain doctrine has baffled all the learning of the priests.

We have the privilege of coming to understanding—of knowing that everything in heaven, on earth, and in hell is ordained for the benefit, advantage, and exaltation of intelligent beings; therefore there is nothing that is out of the pale of our faith. There is nothing, I may say, good or bad, light or darkness, truth or error, but what is to be controlled by intelligent beings; and we should learn how to take into our possession every blessing and every privilege that God has put within our reach, and know how to use our time, our talents, and all our acts for the advancement of his kingdom upon the earth. These principles are hid from all other people in the world; but we have the privilege of learning them. We should apply our hearts to wisdom and learn the things of God.

The Lord asks a question, through the Prophet Amos, “Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?” Is there anything that passes with the children of men that the Lord does not control to his glory? That is what the Lord wants every man and woman to understand. If there is good, the Lord is there to dictate it. If there is power, has he not power over all the power there is upon the face of the earth? If there is evil, if there is sorrow, if there is trouble, if there are trials for his people, is he not there to dictate those sorrows and troubles? All that passes upon the earth is under his eye; he dictates in the affairs of nations. If a mighty king and kingdom are raised up upon any portion of the earth, the Lord has done it. And when a mighty nation crumbles in its power, the Lord has touched their pride and strength. He raises and casts down; he dictates in the light and in the darkness, at his pleasure; he makes the thick darkness his chariot and rides upon the clouds; and he is also the brightness of the sun. We have the privilege of learning that God dictates, controls, and manages all to his own glory.

With many, even in this Church, the question arises, “If God dictates all these affairs, to whom shall sin be attributed? Am I to blame, if God always dictates and controls?” You should keep before you, as Latter-day Saints, other principles besides those you may be able to hear or read at any one time. No man can tell you everything in one short discourse. You understand that you have organizations endowed with a certain portion of divine intelligence, which is supreme, absolute, and independent in its sphere. You are organized expressly for the purpose of being exalted, of preserving your identity before the Lord, and being prepared to enter into celestial glory, to be crowned, to receive kingdoms, thrones, and dominions—to design and act as do the Gods. These principles you are well acquainted with, and they should be continually before you. All intelligent beings are also endowed with certain inalienable rights, privileges, and powers inherent in them. When God organized intelligent beings, he organized them as independent beings to a certain extent, as he is himself. And whether we see an evil act or a good one performed by an intelligent being, that being has performed the act by his will, by his own independent organization, which is capable of doing good or evil, of choosing light or darkness, of performing that which will promote life, or that which will promote death, or a dissolution of his organization. Then, without the evils being placed before us, we should not be capable of refusing it; without darkness had come into the earth, we should never have learned how to appreciate the light. Then all the family of Adam and Eve would have been mere machines, as a portion of the inhabitants of the earth profess to believe that God has foreordained all the acts of the children of men from all eternity, and that they are obliged to act as they do. But we have learned that in our organization we are as independent as the angels are in theirs, or as any heavenly being that dwells in eternity.

If a nation transgresses wholesome laws and oppresses any of its citizens or another nation, until the cup of its iniquity is full, through acts that are perfectly under its own control, God will hurl those who are in authority from their power, and they will be forgotten; and he will take another people, though poor and despised, a hiss and a by-word among the popular nations, and instil into them power and wisdom; and they will increase and prosper, until they in turn become a great nation on the earth. God does that; and all within our power, that we have any understanding of, is ordained for the use, benefit, and control of his intelligent creatures.

You remember that a year ago this people were in the height of what they called a reformation. You also well recollect my teachings and my feelings upon the subject, and that to my mind the necessity for a reformation among Latter-day Saints was a disgrace, and beneath our calling; for it belongs to sinners and the ungodly, and not to Saints, to be getting up a reformation, though continually improving belongs to the calling of every Saint. Suffice it to say, there has been a great improvement in the midst of this people. A great many have confessed their sins; but much fewer have forsaken them. I would that all had forsaken their sins, their transgressions, their wickedness in every particular, and followed their iniquitous ways no longer; but such is not the fact: there has been more confessing than forsaking. This winter brings a new scene before us. Many of the brethren have been deprived of the privilege of laboring at home during the past fall: they have been in the cold and storms, and have but lately returned. For about two weeks past it has been, “Brother Brigham, may we have a dance in our Ward? Brother Brigham, may I get up a party for my Quorum?” Bishop Hunter will come and say, “Several Bishops have written to me to ask you whether their Wards may have a dance, or a few parties?” But I do not believe that there is a single Bishop, or President of a Stake, or President of any of the Seventies or of the High Priests, or any officer of this Church and kingdom, who has, during that time, asked me whether they could have the privilege of serving God with all their hearts.

In a word, here is the difficulty: Many of my brethren and sisters who are now before me believe, to this day, if they were to go into a room prepared for music and dancing, they have stepped aside from serving God, and are serving somebody else. I have answered all Bishops and all Presidents and all this people, with regard to their dancing, that I am willing that those who live their religion every day, hour, and minute of their lives to the glory of God shall dance all they wish to; but I have not yet given my consent for any other class to do so, and I want you all to understand it. If your minds have been wrought up by too much anxiety—if you have had wakeful hours when you ought to have been asleep, in consequence of the threatened danger and troubles—if you have been afflicted in spirit, and your minds are worn down, which they can be, so long as they are connected with the body, which is apt to wear out, reasonable recreation may be beneficial. The mind, being inseparably connected with this body, becomes tired: I acknowledge that mine does. I sometimes feel that I have not a pound of strength left, just from sitting and thinking. You may judge whether there has been a labor upon me, when you reflect that I realize that God holds me responsible for the salvation and safety of this people. You hold me responsible, every one of you, as standing between you and God, to guide you safely—to dictate and direct the affairs of this Church and kingdom; and then you may judge whether my mind labors or not. My mind becomes tired, and so do your minds, if you are Saints.

The mind of a man who is wholly devoted to the Church and kingdom of God on the earth is powerfully exercised, and he feels all that I can, in proportion to his standing and calling. The minds of such men are exercised from morning until morning again, and they labor more unhealthily than a person does at mowing or chopping wood, and their minds become weary. What do they need? A little relaxation. If you want to dance and rest your minds, dance. But a man or woman that intends, when they go into a room prepared for music and dancing, to serve the Devil a little while, I would to God that they would go to California, where they may serve the Devil all they desire to.

I would rather have a hundred righteous men with whom to face all hell, and the world at its back, than to have all this great community, unless they serve the Lord.

Those who cannot serve God with a pure heart in the dance should not dance; though dancing is not an ordinance, except we say it is an ordinance of folly and weakness. I have not the privilege of going to the canyon to chop and load wood and logs. I do not go to the joiner’s bench, as I used to, and toil until my body is nearly wearied to death. But my mind is from eternity to eternity—from the beginning of the creation to the end thereof: it is not confined to the length of a twelve-foot board.

My mind becomes tired, and perhaps some of yours do. If so, go and exercise your bodies, and thank God, and say that it is a blessing and a privilege that he has given you for his name’s glory and for your benefit and the advancement of the righteous, the holy, the godly, those who have kept their covenants with their God and with one another.

If you wish to dance, dance; and you are just as much prepared for a prayer meeting after dancing as ever you were, if you are Saints. If you desire to ask God for anything, you are as well prepared to do so in the dance as in any other place, if you are Saints. Are your eyes open to know that everything in the earth, in hell, or in heaven, is ordained for the use of intelligent beings?

It is like words in the wind to talk about the sweetness of the honeycomb to those who have not tasted the opposite. You may talk about the glory and comfort of the light to those who never knew darkness, and what do they know about it? Nothing. You might as well preach to those lamps. If we can realize that everything in all the eternities that ever were and ever will be is ordained of God for the benefit and glory of intelligent beings, we can understand why he said to Joseph, “Against none is my anger kindled, only those who do not acknow– ledge my hand in all things.” Do I acknowledge his hand? Yes. I told you in your afflictions, drivings, persecutions, and all that has been grievous to be borne, that the hand of God was in that as much as it was in bringing forth his revelations and the Priesthood through Joseph. I will acknowledge the hand of God, not only when our Government is arrayed against this little handful of people, but also when the whole world take the same stand. I am going to acknowledge the hand of God every time.

The wicked kick at “Mormonism,” but they will find it somewhat like the old man’s stone wall that he built five feet high and six feet thick, to prevent the boys from stealing his apples; and when the boys in their anger tipped it over, behold it was higher than it was before. So with “Mormonism:” every time they give it a kick, it rises in the scale of power and influence in the world. I am also going to acknowledge the hand of the Lord when I see the day, and I pray that I may, when I can say, Let our Elders pass and repass peaceably, or I will attend to you: let them preach the Gospel, as you do others; and if you can put them down by the Scriptures—by good, sound philosophy and argument, then give no heed to their teachings; but do not mob them, or I will attend to your injustice. I want to see that day. [Many voices, Amen!] And I will acknowledge the hand of God the same as I do in the way he has handled the crowd that has lately come into our Territory.

We here enjoy a goodly share of the common blessings of life; and you see a body of men and women filled with intelligence, and yet you see and hear of some persons who cannot control themselves. God has so ordained that you may learn to control yourselves and work righteousness. It is ordained that you may prove yourselves worthy of every principle and power that are in the Gods to control in eternity.

The principle of pure affection is the gift of God, and it is for us to learn to control it and exercise proper dominion over it; and if we are faithful, we shall see the time when we can say, as our Father in heaven says, I am angry with the wicked; I hate their works, and my anger is kindled against them. Is there any malice or wrath there? No; for it is written that the Lord is angry, but sins not. And one of his servants, learning something about this principle, writes to his brethren, “Be ye angry and sin not;” but it would be a sin to take a course to destroy that which is calculated for good. If you sin not, it is in destroying the evil works, and saving that portion that is ordained for exaltation: that is being angry and sinning not.

We ought to control our passions. God has given us judgment and discretion. Every qualification of man is ordained of God, as well as good and evil. Light and darkness are here; the power of God and the power of the enemy are here. It is for us to bring into right subjection every act of our lives and all around us. It is for us to see the hand of God and acknowledge it in all things.

If you want to dance, run a footrace, pitch quoits, or play at ball, do it, and exercise your bodies, and let your minds rest.

The blessings of food, sleep, and social enjoyment are ordained of God for his glory and our benefit, and it is for us to learn to use them and not abuse them, that his kingdom may advance on the earth, and we advance in it. That is our errand in the world, and we have no business but to build up the kingdom of God, and preserve it and ourselves in it. Whether it is ploughing, sowing, harvesting, building, going into the canyons, or whatever it is we do, it is all within the pale of the kingdom of God, to forward his cause on the earth, to redeem and build up his Zion, and prepare ourselves, that when the Lord shall usher in the morning of rest we may enter into our labors to officiate for our dead friends back to Adam.

All that have lived or will live on this earth will have the privilege of receiving the Gospel. They will have Apostles, Prophets, and ministers there, as we have here, to guide them in the ways of truth and righteousness, and lead them back to God. All will have a chance for salvation and eternal life. What do you think of that Gospel? No one will be denied the privilege of having it. Where is there a sectarian that can tell you anything about the power of the Gospel?

Brethren and sisters, if you have understood my mind with regard to your recreations, I am happy. But understand that there is not a man or woman professing to be in this Church and kingdom that has any liberty to drink to excess, to lie, deceive, cheat, steal, or do anything that is wrong; and those who do such things have not my sanction to join the others in the dance. There are some who practice stealing to this day—who are dishonest, and will lie; and such persons have not my consent to participate in dancing.

Those that have kept their covenants and served their God, if they wish to exercise themselves in any way, to rest their minds and tire their bodies, go and enjoy yourselves in the dance, and let God be in all your thoughts in this as in all other things, and he will bless you; and I bless you all, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, November 29, 1857.

I have the same diffidence in my feelings that most public speakers have, and am apt to think that others can speak better and more edifying than I can. There are but few public speakers but what feel more or less timidity. That is probably not so much a man-fearing spirit as it is a natural delicacy or timidity. All of you have doubtless to some extent realized the same feeling, either in large or small assemblies, and also in social conversation. People generally are more or less disturbed and thrown off their balance by the sound of their own voices, especially when speaking to an audience, even after being much used to addressing assemblies. Some of our most eloquent and interesting speakers would rather do almost anything than speak to the congregations that assemble here. That diffidence or timidity we must dispense with. When it becomes our duty to talk, we ought to be willing to talk. If we never exhibit the knowledge within us, the people will not know really whether we have any. Interchanging our ideas and exhibiting that which we believe and understand affords an opportunity for detecting and correcting errors and increasing our stock of valuable information. I have frequently thought that I should be very happy if I could hear the Elders of Israel speak their feelings and impart their knowledge pertaining to their fellow beings, to earthly things, to heavenly things, to godliness, and God.

I am sensible that people are not gifted and capacitated alike. There is not that depth of understanding and intensity of thought in some that there is in others, neither is there the same scope of perception. Some are quick to apprehend, while others are slow. Also while a speaker is communicating his opinions, views, and feelings, a portion of so large a congregation as this will perhaps be giving the most strict attention, while the minds of the other portion are wandering at the moment he may be advancing rich ideas, clothed in language choice and eloquent. That inattention by some leads to a difference of understanding among the people, through a misapprehension of the speaker’s meaning. True, some persons may use language that a portion of the congregation are unacquainted with; consequently, they could not be expected to readily apprehend the idea designed to be communicated, though that is by no means a common incident in teachings from this stand.

If a congregation wish to be instructed so as to understand alike and alike receive an increase of wisdom and knowledge, their minds must be intent on the subject before them. They must not suffer their thoughts to be roaming over the earth; they must not permit their minds to be scanning and traversing their everyday duties and avocations. If they do, they are not blessed with that store of knowledge they otherwise might obtain through paying that attention necessary to enable them to clearly understand. I acknowledge that it is a masterwork to school our minds so as at all times to exercise complete power over them. If the people would so educate themselves as to control their thinking powers, they would derive a great advantage from it. They could improve much faster than they now do.

Many years ago, the Prophet Joseph observed that if the people would have received the revelations he had in his possession, and wisely acted upon them, as the Lord would dictate, they might, in their power to do and understand, have been many years ahead of what they then were. Experience has taught us that it requires time to acquire certain branches of mechanism, also all principles and ideas that we wish to become masters of. The closer people apply their minds to any correct purpose the faster they can grow and increase in the knowledge of the truth. When they learn to master their feelings, they can soon learn to master their reflections and thoughts in the degree requisite for attaining the objects they are seeking. But while they yield to a feeling or spirit that distracts their minds from a subject they wish to study and learn, so long they will never gain the mastery of their minds. So it is with persons who yield to temptation and wickedness.

There are individuals who yield to that unruly member, the tongue; and after yielding once, they have not the same strength to resist as at first. They become more and more weakened every time they yield to temptation, until they are unable to control themselves, when they are tempted either to speak unadvisedly or to run into any species of wickedness. So every faculty bestowed upon man is subject to contamination—subject to be diverted from the purpose the Creator designed it to fill. If a man permits himself to make use of language calculated to wound his spirit and infringe upon his better judgment, and does not try to resist that practice, when he is again tempted upon the point he is more likely to give way and to have less compunction of conscience than before. If he continues day after day to yield himself a servant to the uncontrolled whims of his own nature and the evil influences that may be exercised upon him from without, in a few years he will be so steeped in sin as to be entirely given over to the error of his ways. The sooner an individual resists temptation to do, say, or think wrong, while he has light to correct his judgment, the quicker he will gain strength and power to overcome every temptation to evil.

Let the people study to bring their thinking or reflecting faculties into subjection. We are preaching principles that belong to this subject every day of our lives. Last Sabbath I spoke upon the concentration of faith, of action, of feeling, of reflection. That is a matter I often reflect upon, because I am called into circumstances that bring it before me every time I hear a man pray. Am I as yet so master of my thoughts and reflections that no thought or desire of my heart is trying to forestall the speaker in uttering his sentiments and wishes? Have I the power to hold my mind directly upon his words and desires, asking continually that he may be directed by the Holy Ghost? I acknowledge that I am not yet perfect in this point. I have not yet that power over myself; but, to the praise of the name of the God I serve, I do actually gain upon it. When my mind has betrayed me, and I detect a desire different from that which is uttered by my speaker, I feel to retract and offer my desire to the throne of grace, that I may have power to hold my faith with the man that is appointed to pray. Those who think and reflect upon this matter can realize what I wish of myself and what I wish of the people. Unthinking persons may not fully realize the importance of these remarks; but every person who has a realizing sense of the duties devolving upon him—of the way of life and salvation—of what we are called to in the holy Gospel, must be aware of the importance of this subject to all who are determined to live their religion.

You are all acquainted, or profess to be, with the Gospel of salvation. You have entered into covenant with God—have received the ordinances of the Gospel; and if you have not received the Holy Ghost, you should have received it. You have the history of the administration of the Holy Ghost as given by the Apostles in the days of Jesus, and it is referred to in all sacred writings. This people profess to be more or less acquainted with the principles developed by the administration of the Holy Ghost. We will admit that you understand it. Now, ask yourselves whether you believe that the Holy Ghost ever commenced to produce a work or an effect before it was in the heart and mind of that Being we call our heavenly Father. Do you think that the Holy Ghost ever thought of dictating that Being we call our God? This whole people have learned enough upon this subject to answer at once, that we do not believe that the Holy Ghost ever dictated, suggested, moved, or pretended to offer a plan, except that which the Eternal Father dictated.

With regard to this particular point, I will say that you shall judge the matter and be my witnesses. Have we not learned enough with regard to the character of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to at once believe, admit, and affirm that the Holy Ghost always has and always will operate precisely according to the suggestion of the Father? Not a desire, act, wish, or thought does the Holy Ghost indulge in contrary to that which is dictated by the Father. We all sense this in a degree, because it has always been taught to us. It is taught in the Bible, in the revelations given through Joseph, and in the preaching by the Elders of Israel. It is our tradition, education, and experience in the kingdom of God. The Holy Ghost, we believe, is one of the characters that form the Trinity, or the Godhead. Not one person in three, nor three persons in one; but the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one in essence, as the hearts of three men who are united in all things. He is one of the three characters we believe in, whose office it is to administer to those of the human family who love the truth. I have stated that they are one, as the hearts of three men might be one. Lest you should mistake me, I will say that I do not wish you to understand that the Holy Ghost is a personage having a tabernacle, like the Father and the Son; but he is God’s messenger that diffuses his influence through all the works of the Almighty.

We believe that we have a correct idea of the character of the Son from the writings of the Apostles, so far as they learned it. But while he was tabernacling in the flesh, he was more or less contaminated with fallen nature. While he was here, in a body that his mother Mary bore him, he was more or less connected with and influenced by this nature that we have received. According to the flesh, he was of the seed of Adam and Eve, and suffered the weaknesses and temptations of his fellow mortals. He was hungry and thirsty, weary and faint, and had to eat, drink, and sleep. In him were developed all the traits pertaining to mortal man. According to the scanty history that we have of the Savior, as near nothing at all as well can be from the time of his birth to the time of his entering on his ministry at the age of thirty years, he administered his Gospel for about three years and a half among the people, and raised up his Church, ordained his Apostles, and established his kingdom; and of that limited time we have but a scanty history. According to that history—according to all you have learned, and to all the Holy Ghost has ever borne testimony of to you concerning him, let me ask you the same question in regard to him as I did concerning the Holy Ghost; and what would you say? That he did nothing of himself. He wrought miracles and performed a good work on the earth; but of himself he did nothing. He said, “As I have seen my Father do, so do I.” “I came not to do my will, but the will of Him that sent me.” We must come to the conclusion that the Son of God did not suggest, dictate, act, or produce any manifestation of his power, of his glory, or of his errand upon the earth, only as it came from the mind and will of his Father. Do you not all firmly believe that the whole soul, heart, reflections, thoughts, and all the being of the Son of God were operated upon and did show forth that all he did manifest and bring forth pertaining to his mission was according to the word and will of his Father? Certainly you do.

Jesus offered up one of the most essential prayers that could possibly be offered up by a human or heavenly being—no matter who, pertaining to the salvation of the people, and embodying a principle without which none can be saved, when he prayed the Father to make his disciples one, as he and his Father were one. He knew that if they did not become one, they could not be saved in the celestial kingdom of God. If persons do not see as he did while in the flesh, hear as he heard, understand as he understood, and become precisely as he was, according to their several capacities and callings, they can never dwell with him and his Father. That same principle stands out as the most prominent item of teaching in all the teachings and revelations that have ever been given from heaven to men on the earth. That thread of faith, of feeling, of hope, of joy, and of action may be found through all the instructions that have ever come from heaven to earth, in order to bring the children of God—that is, the whole of the human family—the children of our Father, and we as brethren and sisters, parents and children, all emanating from one parentage, back again into the presence of the Father and the Son, to bring up the whole posterity of father Adam and mother Eve to enjoy the light, glory, intelligence, power, kingdoms, thrones, and dominions that are prepared for exalted beings, which could not be until they had taken upon them tabernacles. They could not be exalted unless they were prepared for an exaltation; and upon no other principle could they be prepared, without taking tabernacles of flesh and being made subject to vanity. The whole of the Divine teachings, from the days of Adam until now, have been to teach the human family to yield to the teachings, dictations, influence, and power of the holy Gospel to make them one. Without that oneness, there is no salvation for us in the celestial kingdom of God.

Were we to particularize in regard to the different organizations of the human family, we would learn that some are not capable of the same exaltation as are others, arising from the difference in the conduct and capacities of people. There is also a difference in the spirit world. It is the design, the wish, the will, and mind of the Lord that the inhabitants of the earth should be exalted to thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, according to their capacities. In their exaltation, one may be capable of presiding over ten cities, while another may not be capable of presiding over more than five, another over only two, and another over but one. They must all first be subjected to sin and to the calamities of mortal flesh, in order to prove themselves worthy; then the Gospel is ready to take hold of them and bring them up, unite them, enlighten their understandings, and make them one in the Lord Jesus, that their faith, prayers, hopes, affections, and all their desires may ever be concentrated in one. That is the design and the wish of the Father.

You may ask, “Did he foreknow that they would be saved?” I have seen many in the world that never have been able to discern the difference between foreknowledge and foreordination. I thought that I could always discern the difference. If I know that an act will transpire tomorrow, it by no means follows that I had decreed it. It is the design, wish, desire of our Heavenly Father that every soul in this congregation should be crowned in the celestial kingdom. Will they be? No. I know that some will not. But does it follow that some are ordained to go to hell? No. It is the design of the Gospel to save this congregation, all the Latter-day Saints, and all the world besides that will believe the testimony of Jesus and become obedient to the Gospel of salvation. And none need to turn round and say, “If it is the design of the Lord, I shall be saved;” for its being the will and design of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and of every Saint that ever was or ever will be, that you should be a Saint, will not make you one, contrary to your own choice. All rational beings have an agency of their own; and according to their own choice they will be saved or damned.

Inasmuch as the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one, the desire of the Savior, as manifested in his sayings and teachings, is, that his people should also be one, even as he and his Father are one. If we had the heart, feeling, and faith within us that Jesus had while here in the flesh, should we be scattering in our faith? Should we be divided in our interests? No: we should become one. I have not time to tell you why this people are not identically one; but to the discerning mind the Holy Spirit will manifest the reason in a moment—will lay it before you like an open vision, and you will at once be able to discern thousands of reasons for it. Are they capable of being one? Yes, if they will in all things bring their wills into subjection to the will of the Father.

If any are in the habit of taking the name of God in vain, cease doing so today, tomorrow, and throughout the coming week, and so continue, and you will soon gain strength to entirely overcome the habit; you will gain power over your words. Some are in the habit of talking about their neighbors, of vending stories they know nothing about, only that Aunt Sally said that Cousin Fanny told Aunt Betsy that old Aunt Ruth said something or other, or somebody had had a dream; and by the time the story or dream reaches you, it has assumed the semblance of a fact, and you are very foolishly spending your time in talking about things that amount to nothing, or that you have no concern with. A report is started that such a one has done wrong, and, by the time it has gone its round, has become anointed with the salve of the backbiter and talebearer—become endowed with their spirit. One and another falls in with it and says, “That is true—your cause is just, you are exactly right, and the other is surely wrong,” when they know nothing about the matter; thereby engendering entirely groundless ill feelings against each other. Before we condemn, we should wait until the Heavens clearly indicate a fault in a father, brother, sister, wife, husband, or neighbor. And if Heaven declares a fault, wait until the Holy Ghost manifests to you that such is a fault. Let the Father reveal to you that the person you are thinking or talking about is actually wrong. Traduce no person. When you know what right is, and are capable of correcting a person that is wrong, then it is time enough for you to judge.

I have but recently told you that some people think they are capable of judging everybody but themselves. Let us judge ourselves. And if any are disposed to let that unruly member, the tongue, do that which will wound the heart, darken the spirit, and bring us into subjection to an evil practice, resist such a disposition—throw it from you. If you will do that, you will find that the wicked will forsake their wickedness, and those who are inclined to think evil will cease doing so, and those who are inclined to utter evil words about their neighbors will cease that habit, and it will not be long before the people have perfect control over themselves. If you first gain power to check your words, you will then begin to have power to check your judgment, and at length actually gain power to check your thoughts and reflections.

By close application and study with regard to ourselves and the require– ments of Heaven upon us, we shall be able to school ourselves, until, when we call upon an Elder to open our meetings, there will not be a desire, word, sentence, feeling, or impulse of spirit one hair’s breadth in advance of the one selected to be mouth. Do you believe that we can do that? We can. I have already told you that I am yet imperfect in that point; but I am trying to make myself perfect in that particular, so as to become fully master of my thoughts.

I will now ask a question. Do you think that a man can pray wrong, when the hearts of perhaps over two thousand persons are ascending to God, in the name of Jesus Christ, to dictate the man who is praying, and desiring the Lord to let them know his will, and they will strive to do it? Could a man pray here for things he ought not, when the faith of two thousand is concentrated in the sincere desire that God will dictate in all things pertaining to his kingdom? He cannot ask amiss, for the faith of this people is concentrated through him to the throne of grace. That is a true principle—as true as the heavens.

Our faith is concentrated in the Son of God, and through him to the Father; and the Holy Ghost is their minister to bring truths to our remembrance, to reveal new truths to us, and teach, guide, and direct the course of every mind, until we become perfected and prepared to go home, where we can see and converse with our Father in heaven. That is what we want to attain—that we can all the time have the word of the Lord for ourselves.

You have often heard me and my brethren say that if the people in the capacity of a Ward, for instance, would let their faith be perfectly united, and their whole desires rise to the Father, through the name of Jesus Christ, and hold their Bishop in his calling between God and them, it would hardly be possible for that Bishop to do wrong, for he would be filled with wisdom. Some of the brethren, in conversation, this morning, were likening the ministrations of the Holy Ghost to the mode of distributing gas throughout a city. The gas is led through a main pipe from the gasometer or reservoir, and thence through sidepipes and lesser and lesser branches, until it is so distributed as to furnish light to all who require it. I will liken the Bishops to some of those sidepipes laid down to conduct the gas. Take a joint of one of those pipes up, which in the comparison we will call a Bishop, and how are the inhabitants of that Ward to receive the light? Place him on one side—despise his counsels, and how are you to be taught? Will you teach each other? You are not called to do it in that capacity. Your Bishop is laid down by the master workman as the conductor of the Holy Ghost to you. If you put that conductor out of its place, the connection is broken between you and the fountain of light. If you see a Bishop and his Ward in contention and confusion, you may understand that the pipe or conductor which conveys the light of that people is out of its place. Instead of the Bishop’s being wrong, and the people right, or the people wrong, and the Bishop right, they are all wrong: there is little or no right there.

Take any man in this kingdom, and if the people say that they will make him a President or a Bishop, or elect him to fill any other office, and the faith of the people is concentrated to receive light through that officer or pipe laid by the power of the Priesthood from the throne of God, you might as well try to move the heavens as to receive anything wrong through that conductor. No matter whom you elect for an officer, if your faith is concentrated in him through whom to receive the things which he is appointed to administer in, light will come to you. Let a presiding officer or a Bishop turn away from righteousness, and the Lord Almighty would give him the lock-jaw, if he could not stop his mouth in any other way, or send a fit of numb palsy on him, so that he could not act, as sure as the people over whom he presided were right, that they might not be led astray.

If we wish to be taught, to receive, and understand, we must train ourselves. We are looking forward to the period when we shall be in the presence of the Father and the Son—when we shall realize that we are indeed the sons of God, and be crowned with glory, immortality, and eternal lives. “Then,” you say, “we shall be perfect.” You will be no more perfect in your sphere, when you are exalted to thrones, principalities, and powers, than you are required to be and are capable of being in your sphere today. The man that may be called a perfect man is perfect in every calling and sphere, as the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost are in theirs, and as the angels are in theirs, which makes a perfect order from first to last—from beginning to end.

In this probation, we have evil to contend with, and we must overcome it in ourselves, or we never shall overcome it anywhere else. Were you to let your minds stretch out, you would learn that the whole kingdom, with its principles, powers, authority, glory, and everything pertaining to it, is combined in the organization of man ready to be developed. We must commence and school ourselves, and so bring our reflections into subjection, that we can make our minds one in faith. Then, let me ask you, when you pray God to so hedge up the way of our enemies that they never shall be able to come to this Territory, will not your prayers be very likely to be answered? If the faith of this people, called Latter-day Saints, had been united in one, as it should have been four months ago, when they asked the Father, in the name of Jesus, to stop our enemies on the other side of the South Pass, I can assure you as the Lord God lives, they never could have seen this side of it. But they are in the Territory. When we are united and ask God to let the wicked slay the wicked as they ripen in iniquity, it will be done, and they will not have power to overcome this handful of people in the mountains. He will place between them and us a barrier which they cannot surmount. He will build a wall between us such as they have never thought of, and they will fall upon each other and slay each other.

I know where the difficulties are, but I have not time now to explain them. If we are one and are concentrated in the Father, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the chain and thread drawn out for us to follow up, we will find the fountain head; and then, if I should ask this people to pray for a certain thing, they would pray for it. But do they now? No: they pray for everything else. I have made that request until I am tired of making it. Many will pray for this, that, and the other, different from what I had advised them only twenty minutes before. Their faith is not concentrated, as I have frequently told you, though they are improving and will come to a knowledge of the truth.

The First Presidency have of right a great influence over this people; and if we should get out of the way and lead this people to destruction, what a pity it would be! How can you know whether we lead you correctly or not? Can you know by any other power than that of the Holy Ghost? I have uniformly exhorted the people to obtain this living witness each for themselves; then no man on earth can lead them astray. It is my calling and office to dictate in the affairs of the Church and kingdom of God on earth. That is what you have chosen me to do for many years, with brother Heber and others for my Counselors, two of whom have passed behind the veil; and I now have a third—brother Daniel H. Wells, who is as good a man as ever lived. You have asked me to tell the people what to do to be saved—to be the mouth of God to this people. Does your faith agree with your profession? Let me continue to exhort you, until you can train your hearts, your feelings, and your affections to such a degree, that when I ask you to pray for a certain object, you can think of it when you go home.

Brethren and sisters, may God bless you! I bless you all the time. Hallelujah! Praise the name of Israel’s God; for my soul exults in his name. We are happy and free from the yoke of bondage. The breath of the Almighty can scatter our enemies to the four winds and blow them into oblivion, if we have the faith. You can read how the kings, prophets, and mighty men in Israel used to slay their fellow beings—required so to do, because of the wickedness of those very men who stood at the head of Israel. If they had been sanctified and holy, the children of Israel would not have traveled one year with Moses before they would have received their endowments and the Melchizedek Priesthood. But they could not receive them, and never did. Moses left them, and they did not receive the fulness of that Priesthood. After they came to the land of Canaan, they never would have desired a king, had they been holy. The Lord told Moses that he would show himself to the people; but they begged Moses to plead with the Lord not to do so. Moses was angry at the sins of the people and did wrong, insomuch that when the Lord showed himself to him, he hid him in a cleft in a rock, and only let him see his hinder parts.

Through the conduct of the people, Moses sometimes felt like fighting. After he had been with the Lord forty days in the mountain, he came down and saw the idolatry of the people, and smashed to pieces the tables that were written by the finger of God, and ground up the golden image they were worshipping, and scattered it to the four winds; and the Lord slew many of the idolaters.

I want to see this people so full of the power of God that they can ask and receive. God help us so to do! Amen.

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, November 22, 1857.

Much has been said here today with regard to that class who are unruly and forward—who are subject to do evil. I presume the great majority of this congregation have concluded to place all those remarks upon those who do not come to meeting. Doubtless the few—yes, the very few characters that have been referred to by the brethren today are at home studying mischief. It is very seldom that you will find a thief in this house—a person that plunders his neighbors. But if you will go into the streets, you will find certain persons in the different Wards who have an excuse for not attending meeting. Some are so very industrious that they cannot attend meeting. I would not doubt much but what we could now go to several houses and find women at work; they are so very industrious. And it is often the case that some men are so industrious that they cannot find time to get a load of wood without going for it or returning with it on Sunday. That is really the case with those who do not love “Mormonism:” they have embraced it because they know it is true and think it will shield them in their iniquity. It is seldom that such persons come to meeting. I conclude that the remarks which have been made today are designed for those persons who are disposed to do evil; but there is probably only a very few or none of that class present, and we shall have to depend upon you to tell them what has been said about them. I am thankful that it is my honest conviction that there are but a very few of that class in our community.

There are a great many people who do wrong because they have not the standard of right and wrong within them, but permit themselves to be governed by the prejudices and education they have received among the different nations and neighborhoods where they have been trained. You may find some persons who have within them the standard of right and wrong: they can tell when they do right—what is right, and judge themselves as easily as they can others; but of this class there are but a very few. And were I to say that there are none who are entirely free from the prejudices and prepossessed ideas gathered in their youthful days from their parents, teachers, and friends, I should say what is strictly true. Still, we are studying and trying to learn how to discern between the evil and the good, the right and the wrong—between that which is of God and that which is not of him.

This people are mostly gathered from what are termed the laboring and middle classes. We have not gathered into this Church men that are by the world esteemed profound in their principles, ideas, and judgment. We have none in this Church that are called by them expert statesmen. How frequently it is cast at the Elders, when they are abroad preaching, that Joseph Smith, the founder of their Church and religion, was only a poor illiterate boy. That used to be advanced as one of the strongest arguments that could be produced against the doctrine of salvation by the wise and learned of this world, though it is no argument at all. The Lord should have revealed himself to some of the learned priests or talented men of the age, say they, who could have done some good and borne off the Gospel by their influence and learning, and not to a poor, ignorant, unlettered youth. Not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble, speaking after the manner of men, are called; but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty; and base things of the world—things which are despised by the world; hath God in his wisdom chosen; yea, and things which are not to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence.

Men were too wise in the days of the Savior to receive the Gospel, and we see the same disposition exhibited in our day. The world spurn the idea of receiving truth from a person they look upon as inferior to them in the talent, learning, and cunning of the present generation. Perhaps they might bow to the requirements of Heaven were an angel to personally visit them individually, and exalt them to high places, and give them the influence, power, and glory that are of this world. We have none of those men here: we are all of the laboring and middle classes. There are but few in this Church who are not of the laboring class, and they have not had an opportunity to cultivate their minds, to search into the history of the nations of the earth, to learn the prejudices that are upon the people, their education, feelings, and customs. We have mostly come from the plough and the furrow, from the mechanic shops and the loom, from the spinning jenny, the kitchen, and washroom. This people have not been educated in the deviltry and craft of the learned classes of mankind, and consequently possessed honesty enough to embrace the truth. That is the character of the class of people before me today.

Who is capable of judging? We do not look for that talent and great judgment from the common people that we would naturally expect from those who are called the refined and educated. There must be an opportunity given them for improvement before we can expect the same refinement and classical attainments which the higher classes, so called, boast of. The higher classes have nothing to do only to study the nature of man, their own dispositions, and those of their fellow beings. We can look upon them as they really are, and truly we are compelled to conclude that the deviltry, mischief, dishonesty, craft, corruption, &c., that are taught and practiced among the higher classes, have prevented them from receiving the Gospel. But the poor, half-starved laborers, those who feel as though they want a friend, who look around for some source of happiness, for some arm to lean on, for some eye to pity them, are the ones who have honesty enough to receive the truth.

What should we expect from such a class of people? I have my reasons for justifying and my reasons for condemning; I have my reasons for liking this people and my reasons for disliking the conduct of some; and I believe that I look upon them very much as the Lord does. He pities the human family; they are objects of his mercy and commiseration. There are men in this community who, through the force of the education they have received from their parents and friends, would cheat a poor widow out of her last cow, and then go down upon their knees and thank God for the good fortune he had sent them and for his kind providences that enabled them to obtain a cow without becoming amenable to any law of the land, though the poor widow had been actually cheated. We see that trait of character in mankind. Are such persons capable in all things of rightly discerning between truth and error? No. But they, through their traditions, can judge every person but themselves: they can weigh every person in their scale of justice; but they never think of trying themselves. That proceeds from the force of education and false tradition upon their minds, and some still remain ignorant of many of the true principles of right and wrong, although they have embraced the Gospel.

Brother Kimball told the truth this morning with regard to many of our mechanics. I have not built a house since I have been in this place but what I have furnished many more pounds of nails than I would have to do for the same piece of work in the States. I knew that some of the workmen took them, and I told them so. They need not undertake to deceive me, for I know precisely what they do. Since the days of reformation, I have had many a one come to me—honest men to all appearance—men that you would almost have sworn were as holy as an angel, and confess that they had stolen nails from me, or a wagon, &c. But they have not yet become honest enough to bring the stolen articles back. In what condition are they, after such a confession, without making restitution, compensation, or some kind of satisfaction? Just as they were before. To me, taking and keeping another’s property, without leave, is stealing; but to many, they consider it a godsend to have another’s nails to carry home in their pockets. That often is the consequence of tradition, rather than an innate disposition to steal. I will relate a circumstance to corroborate that statement. I once knew a man in this Church who told me that, when he was in the old country, he would, if possible, spoil his work, in order to be employed to do it again. He was a plumber and glazier. As soon as he had finished a fine window or a large sash for a hothouse in a gentleman’s garden, he would place it in a situation where it would be sure to be broken to pieces, that he might thereby secure employment; and when he received the second job, he would thank God for his kind providences toward him. To him, in his tradition, and amid the oppression of the laboring classes, that was just as honest as anything could be. But here they are not so oppressed.

To this day, if you employ masons to do a valuable piece of work, many will so do it that the wall or building will last only a few years, and then believe that to be honesty, whereas I believe it to be dishonesty. And joiners, with few exceptions, will so hang doors, put up mantelpieces, put on roofs, and lay floors, that in a short time all their work is out of repair or good for nothing. Very many, through the power of erroneous education, do not know what honesty and dishonesty are, and are not capable of judging. Observe the artisans in any branch of mechanism, and you will learn that what I have stated is true. Then you may take the class called merchants, also the doctors, the priests in the various sects, the lawyers, and every person engaged in any branch of business throughout the world, and, as a general thing, they are all taught from their childhood to be more or less dishonest.

Those who have their eyes opened to see and understand where honesty and uprightness are, what righteousness is, and to discern between that which is right and that which is wrong, often rise here and talk about it. I do so myself; and when I speak of dishonesty among the people, I look at them as they are, whether I tell it or not. This is the most honest people on the earth. There is more honesty in this community than in any other community on the earth—that is, that we have any knowledge of. The great majority of this community are as honest as they know how to be. I have stated that I had not found a man honest enough to bring back what he had taken from me; but those persons are poor and can make a reasonable excuse. One of the best men I ever hired to labor for me—one whom I paid well for all he did for me, took some of my tools; that is to say, he borrowed them and never brought them back. Well, he is poor. Will I forgive him? Yes. They may steal from me as much as they please, and I will forgive them as far as they ought to be forgiven. They may say, “You have plenty, brother Brigham.” That is true; and, so far as I can remember, I have never stolen a pin’s worth in any way, shape, or manner, except the taking a few melons or a little fruit, once in a while, when I was a boy. Have I cheated any of you, or wronged any of you in any way? If I have, I would be glad to have you tell me wherein. Have I oppressed the laborer in his wages? If I have, let the man come and tell me of it.

Some think that I am very close and economical. I am; and I will tell you wherein. When a man comes to labor for me—one who will only leisurely do two or three hours’ work in a day, and wants as much pay as a man who will do six times as much, I am not willing to pay him for idling away his time. If I have a man labor for me who can do six days’ work in one, did I ever refuse to pay him for the amount of labor he performed? Ask Isaac Hunter if I ever refused to pay him wages to the full amount of labor he could perform in a day. In this valley we have esti– mated laying rock in a wall to be worth one dollar a perch. Ask any mason, when he laid ten perches in a day, if I ever refused to pay him ten dollars. But if a man wanted three dollars and a half for laying one perch, I am not willing to pay him at that rate. I will suppress dishonesty, but I never oppress honesty.

I have tried to suppress dishonesty in individuals, and have tried thereby to make them honest. If I hire a carpenter and pay him three dollars a day, and he is three days in making a six-panel door that a good workman can make in one, or even a door and a half, I do not want to pay him three dollars a day for that labor. Yet some who are here have no more judgment, discretion, or idea of right or wrong, than to want to be paid for labor they do not perform; and that they consider to be honesty: but it is just as dishonest as anything in the world.

I am willing to pay men for what they do. I am anxious that all should have that which belongs to them, and wish them to let that which belongs to me alone. If I furnish nails to build a house, the workmen have no right to carry them off. When using nails, the mechanic often has more or less in his pocket. At quitting time he forgets to take them out, and carries them home. He goes out to chop a little wood and says, “Dear me, these nails”—some twenty or thirty, or perhaps more—“are quite a burden to me,” and he puts them out of his way. By-and-by he wants to build a pigpen, or to build a little addition to his house, and feels quite thankful that he has the nails to do it with, and will praise the name of the Lord for the manner in which he has blessed him. I do not want blessings on such grounds, and I never expect them in that way, because I have the natural sense to know better. Others also will have it, if they will continue to try to find out how to judge between right and wrong in themselves as they do in another individual.

You may go to High Councils, though we do not have many in these days, and to Bishops’ Courts, and hear a trial between parties that have quarreled with each other, and you will readily perceive that if those individuals could judge themselves as they judge each other, there would have been no difficulty between them; they would have settled their affairs between themselves, and the best of feelings would have been established for each other. But people cannot judge themselves as they can others, nor look upon their own conduct as they do upon the conduct of others. We must learn to look at ourselves, to judge ourselves, and know how to deal with ourselves, and that will enable us to bring ourselves into perfect subjection to the law of Christ.

Are the people striving to do right? Yes, they are. It has been observed that we are pretty clear from those unruly spirits that have been in our midst. So we are; but you need not flatter yourselves for a moment that the Devil has left us. You will find that he marshals his forces more particularly against this people; and if we are now clear from those unhallowed spirits and the tabernacles they occupied, you may expect that he will, if possible, find somebody here in whom he can have a resting place. You will learn that the wicked disembodied spirits have not left this people, though the most of those wicked persons who sought to destroy the Saints have left us. There are myriads of disembodied evil spirits—those who have long ago laid down their bodies here and in the regions round about, among and around us; and they are trying to make us and our children sick, and are trying to destroy us and to tempt us to evil. They will try every possible means they are masters of to draw us aside from the path of righteousness.

Do you not think that we need to watch and pray continually—that we need all the time to keep a guard over ourselves, that we may preserve ourselves in the love of the truth? We do. It should be our constant study to guard ourselves on every side against every attack of the enemy of all righteousness.

Cease looking at others. Cease to judge each other. Go into a family where there are two women belonging to one man, and from that to as many as you can find, and you will soon learn that almost every woman can judge all the family but herself; and that she thinks that whatever she does is just right: she would not do a wrong for the world. Then go to the next woman that was said to be so out of the way, and with her it is, “I am exactly right, and the other is wrong.” They do not rightly look at their own failings, views, and passions. If they were all capable of straightening themselves, they would not come in collision with each other, but would all conclude to walk together in the straight and narrow path, whereas now they are at times almost diametrically opposed to each other. Is that the case? Judge ye for yourselves. That is not the case with every family, to my certain knowledge; but it is so with too many. It is just so with the brethren. You find more or less of the same difficulty everywhere you go. It is, “I am right, and you are wrong.”

You have been taught the standard of right. Now subdue your rebellious passions, dismiss everything that you know or consider to be wrong, and embrace that which is better. Get wisdom and all the light you possibly can, and never live another twenty-four hours without the Holy Spirit of the Lord, and that will give you joy, peace, comfort, light, and intelligence, by which you can grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. I cannot reach these attainments, neither can you, only by the light and intelligence which flow from heaven. You may say, “Brother Brigham, you are like the rest of us: we see our faults, but we do not like to acknowledge them; we like to have them covered up and kept out of the sight of our neighbors.” If you find a secret fault, dismiss it secretly. Let your faults go behind you; turn them overboard, and forever disown them. If no person but yourselves has seen your faults, you are blessed. You may then get rid of them without their being made manifest to others.

If men and women, and more especially women, for they love chit-chat, when they feel in any way bad, or a little cross, or feel as though somebody is out of the way, and feel like finding fault with their neighbor and exposing this one’s fault and the other one’s fault, would only be as secret on the faults of others as they are on their own, it would be beneficial to their welfare and that of their neighbors. When a person opens his mouth, no matter what he talks about, to a person of quick discernment, he will disclose more or less of his true sentiments. You cannot hide the heart, when the mouth is open. If you want to keep your heart secret, keep your mouth shut.

Some say, “I feel as though I must boil over, and I must talk to relieve myself.” All hell is boiling over; but does that make it any better? No. If you let your tongue run, and it scatters the poison that is in you, it sets the whole being on fire. The Apostle James says, “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” And again, “But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” Are you aware of this, sisters and brethren? If you keep silent, you can master your feelings, can subdue your passions, and ultimately become masters of them and banish them from you. If you give way to your unbridled tongues, you increase anger within you, and the first you know your blood is boiling with wrath. That is what the Apostle meant when he wrote, “It setteth on fire the whole course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” It is hell that sets it agoing. If you find that you cannot keep your tongue still, get some India-rubber and chew it with all your might. Do as brother Joseph Sharp did when he assisted in conveying Mrs. Mogo to the soldier’s camp. He considered that the soldiers rather imposed upon him and his brother Adam, and he was for fight; but Adam, who is not so impetuous, coaxed him into the wagon, where he laid down on his face, and in two hours chewed up almost a whole plug of tobacco. In such cases a good piece of India-rubber is better, cheaper, and will last longer; though it would be better for you to chew up a whole plug of tobacco than to have a real quarrel with your tongues. You would not in a long time get over the effects of a quarrel: it would be like a cankerworm to your souls.

There is not a person on the earth, that has sense enough to know what experience is, but what, if they would bridle their tongues and subdue their passions, could say, “I have not injured anybody—no, not even myself.” It is no matter how you are tempted, if you do not give way to temptation; but if you give way to temptation, it carries you to destruction. If you give way to your angry feelings, it sets on fire the whole course of nature, and is set on fire of hell; and you are then apt to set those on fire who are contending with you. When you feel as though you would burst, tell the old boiler to burst, and just laugh at the temptation to speak evil. If you will continue to do that, you will soon be so masters of yourselves as to be able, if not to tame, to control your tongues—able to speak when you ought, and to be silent when you ought.

Let the mechanics and all others try to improve as you have. There has a great improvement taken place in the midst of this people, and we will still continue to improve. Let us seek unto the Lord for wisdom, until we can rightly judge all matters that come before us—until we can judge ourselves and our neighbors with equal justice, and so continue to improve, until we come up to the standard of truth in all our acts and words; so that when I employ a mason to lay me up a wall, he will do it honestly, and so on with every other workman. Then if a man does not earn his wages, he will not ask them or take them. Now it is—“I want all I can get.” Honesty never comes into the hearts of such persons; their rule is to keep what they have got, and to get all they can, whether honestly or not, and pray for more.

When the eyes of your understandings are opened to deal righteously with each other, then my axes, shovels, &c., will all be safe, if they are left in the barn. But it has been so that my harness was taken, my picks and shovels, my wagon, wheels, and tire, and everything else that could be was carried off. When we have attained the improvement I anticipate, I can lie down in peace at night and enquire, “Wife, have you brought in those clothes that were hung out?” “No.” “All right—no person, will meddle with them.” I would rather persons who are destitute would come to me and say, “We need a pair of pantaloons, a hat,” &c., and give me a chance to assist them. But when they steal, I cannot trust them.

I would rather give a woman a dollar than have her come to my house saying, “Do you want to buy a pound of butter?” “Yes. What do you want for it?” “Twenty-five or thirty cents,” as the case may be, and then stop with my family and eat a great deal more butter than she sold to me. If they would come to me and say, “Brother Brigham, I want to sell this butter, for I have no way of living only by my labor,” it would be another thing. If a poor woman should come to me and say, “I want fifty cents to purchase dyestuffs,” here it is; you are welcome to the money, but do not undertake to sponge on me.

Let my nails, tools, and other property remain where they belong. Work honestly and deal honestly one with another. Evil practices in a great degree spring from the traditions of the people; they are so educated. They have been taught, in different parts of the world, that if they found a thing, though not many yards from the door of the owner, it belonged to them. “This belongs to me now, for I have found it.” Did you earn it? “No; I found it.” That and a thousand other traits of human life tend to lead the people astray. They seldom stop to think whether they are right or wrong.

We need to learn, practice, study, know, and understand how angels live with each other. When this community comes to the point to be perfectly honest and upright, you will never find a poor person: none will lack; all will have sufficient. Every man, woman, and child will have all they need just as soon as they all become honest. When the majority of a community are dishonest, it maketh the honest portion poor, for the dishonest serve and enrich themselves at their expense. You know that I think that this people are the best people that there are; yet we need to train ourselves, to study ourselves, and study the principles of truth and righteousness, until we can discern that which is right from that which is wrong in the least particular within ourselves; and you will find that to answer every purpose, without judging our neighbors as much as many do.

As to this people being a good people, I say, God bless you all the the time! Who else will do as this people do? Nobody else. All you have is on the altar, ready to be offered up for the kingdom of God. You could hardly find a man or woman in this congregation but what would take the clothing from their backs to promote this kingdom.

We are telling you all the time to do as you are told; but do you do it to that extent which you will in a few years to come? No. Why? Because you do not know how. I know that this people are doing a great deal better than they did years ago. Could Joseph do with this people as I and my brethren now can? No. Were this people in the situation they now are when Joseph was alive? No. Joseph was running the gauntlet among his wicked enemies all the time. He hardly knew a man in the kingdom that he could put confidence enough in to call for a dollar to help him out of a difficulty. He did not know how many would stand by him when a mob gathered against him. He had a few faithful, tried friends; but he had many around him who would betray him into the hands of his enemies.

I am not afflicted with such persons in the midst of this people; but there is confidence and a concentration of faith; and we will so improve, that, when a man rises here to pray, there will not be a desire from the heart of a man or woman but what is uttered by the one who is mouth. When we come to understanding, there will not be as many desires and prayers as there are people, while one is officiating as mouth for the whole; but when he who is mouth prays, every heart will wait until he utters a sentence, and that embodies what they also desire. When the sisters meet together and appoint one of their number to pray, they will never let a desire escape from the heart until they know what the mouth is praying for. Then they all will desire the same and pray for the same. This people are hastening to that degree of perfection.

I thank the Lord all the time, and I bless the name of Israel’s God that I live in this day and age of the world, and that I am associated with such a people. Is there any misery, sorrow, and affliction here? I do not know what trouble or sorrow is. Do I feel for others? Yes, all I ought to feel.

I know what the sorrow of the world is. It works death, and I have long ago bid goodbye to it. If I am sorry for anything, I try to have a godly sorrow to benefit me. My heart is cheerful; I am happy and thankful all the day long; and I believe that I am in the light. I have not asked for a lantern, only from the Almighty; and I know that the whole people are daily progressing, ascending, and increasing in good works and in faith and knowledge, even the knowledge of God; and we are doing the works he desires at our hands.

It would do you good to look out yonder in the mountains and see our brethren warmly clad and well provided for. The brethren and sisters here and in the neighborhoods round about have liberally answered to our calls, and every time have supplied more than was called for. Will they part with everything, if it is called for? Yes. I have heard but of one man, since the brethren went out to watch the enemy—a man up north, who really wished the brethren to spare his ox; but they butchered him before his eyes. I said amen to it. If his god can be slain as easily as that, it is an excellent thing for him. If any of you have gods in horses, or in oxen, make an offering of them forthwith, and tell the boys who are going out that they are welcome to them. They are welcome to all mine. If you don’t believe it, try it.

We are a blessed people, and we shall be preserved from our enemies, if we will continue to do right, and the Lord will sustain us. And I can tell you that this people will do right and God will sustain us. Ere long Zion will triumph and the glory and knowledge of God will cover the earth, and we will still be in the old ship Zion and ride all wicked opposition down to destruction. May God help us so to do. Amen.

A Sermon by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, November 15, 1857.

I am happy for the privilege of standing before the Saints. It is a great pleasure to me to associate with those whose feelings are concentrated in the establishment of peace and righteousness upon the earth.

Before I heard the Gospel as again revealed in its purity through Joseph the Prophet, I was tolerably well acquainted with the spirit, disposition, tact, and talents possessed by the children of men; and though I was then but about thirty years of age, I had seen and heard enough to make me well acquainted with the people in their acts and dealings one towards another, the result of which was to make me sick, tired, and disgusted with the world; and had it been possible, I would have withdrawn from all people, except a few, who, like myself, would leave the vain, foolish, wicked, and unsatisfying customs and practices of the world. Sorrow, wretchedness, death, misery, disappointment, anguish, pain of heart, and crushed spirits prevail over the earth; and apparently, the whole of the intelligence of mankind is directed in a way to produce cruel and unnatural results.

Since I have been in this Church and kingdom, I have endeavored to learn and treasure up wisdom and good understanding, and then not to forget them. I have endeavored to gather to myself every principle that would promote righteousness in me and those who would hearken to my counsel.

Read the history of any kingdom or nation, and trace through all the channels from the history of nations and kingdoms to that of families and individuals who have not known God nor observed his commandments, and you will find that sorrow and disappointment have been intimately mingled in all the gaiety, luxuries, and pretended enjoyments of their mortal lives. They have found a bitter sting in their happiest moments and a deadly poison in their cups. There is no man or woman on the earth who can enjoy solid satisfaction—unalloyed peace and comfort, but in the holy spirit of our religion—in the Gospel of salvation: that is the only source of true happiness. Read the history of those who can command the wealth of the world to minister to their happiness, and they find it not in authority, station, nor wealth. From the monarch upon his throne to the most degraded beggar upon the streets, all who enjoy not the Gospel are destitute of the source of true happiness. It is not to be found among them.

When the portals of heaven are opened and the Priesthood of God is given he so blesses the people that they can truly understand the principles that tend to peace, to glory, immortality, and eternal lives. That and that alone can give true satisfaction to our spirits, which are organ– ized to receive and continue to increase in principles of light, intelligence, power, and glory—organized to be preserved to eternally associate together—to have the privilege of beholding each other’s faces—of enjoying each other’s society and the society of holy beings who have been tried as we have and have to be, and to enjoy, love, converse with, and look upon the faces of those beings who have been glorified throughout all ages that are countless to us. Their identity has been preserved, and they enjoy the smiles of their friends and associate with their companions who have in a mortal state passed through the same ordeals they endured while in this existence. Fathers and mothers associate with their children, children with their parents, brothers with sisters, and sisters with their brothers—all in their family circles dwelling in the midst of the glorified. What else can satisfy a truly intelligent human being—the immortal spirit that is tabernacled in a mortal tenement? Nothing.

What would induce an intelligent individual to suffer his eyes to be put out and to live without seeing objects around him—the faces of his family, friends, and connections? Would money? What would hire an intelligent person to be deprived of the sense of hearing? Could money buy his hearing? What would hire you to suffer the destruction of the organ of speech, or to be deprived of any of the more important members of your organization? The things of this world could not induce you to suffer the destruction of any of the vital powers of your organization; yet the world are seeking after the paltry, perishable things of time and sense. They are their glory—their pretended comfort—their god, and their daily study and pursuit. But the members which God has placed in our tabernacles are worth all the world to us. We have the power of seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and feeling, enabling us to converse and associate with each other; and money cannot buy these blessings from us.

Stop then, and consider what use you will make of these powers. Will you go wild after the things of this world, as do the majority of the inhabitants of the earth, with whose ways you are well acquainted? How long will they endure? Their breath is in their nostrils: today they are—tomorrow they are not. What prospects have they for futurity? Have they any promise? Yes. What is it? Death. Have they the promise of life eternal? They have, upon certain conditions; but they care no more about those conditions than did certain characters that Paul wrote about: they are even like the dumb beasts that are entirely ignorant of futurity. Fatten an ox and lead him to the slaughter, and he knows nothing of what awaits him. So it is with the great majority of the inhabitants of the earth: they have no knowledge of their future condition; they merely know that death will terminate their present career. We are blessed with the words of eternal life, with the everlasting Priesthood, and the keys thereof, with principles that, if rightly acted upon, will secure to us those blessings we now enjoy, and which you hear the brethren often speak about.

I am happy; I am full of joy, comfort, and peace: all within me is light, for I desire nothing but to do the will of my Father in heaven. I delight not in unrighteousness, but in righteousness and truth. I seek to promote the good and happiness of myself and those with whom I am associated. We have the privilege of securing to ourselves that eternal bliss that can never fade away, and of preserving our identity, that, when millions of ages have rolled away, we can then behold each other as we do today, and can converse together. One thousand years hence, probably many of this congregation will talk over difficulties we are now passing through.

You hear some of the brethren surmise that we are going to have trouble. You need not expect any trouble, except you take a course to bring it upon you. You need never expect to see sorrow, unless your own conduct, conversation, and acts bring it to your hearts. Do you not know that sorrow to you can exist only in your own hearts? Though men or women were in the mountains perishing—though they be in overwhelming depths of snow, freezing to death, or be on a desolate island starving to death for want of food—though they perish by the sword or in any other way, yet, if the heart is cheerful, all is light and glory within: there is no sorrow within them. You never saw a true Saint in the world that had sorrow, neither can you find one. If persons are destitute of the fountain of living water, or the principles of eternal life, then they are sorrowful. If the words of life dwell within us, and we have the hope of eternal life and glory, and let that spark within us kindle to a flame, to the consuming of the least and last remains of selfishness, we never can walk in darkness and are strangers to doubt and fear. Yet we see people among us who are still selfish, and that principle we must abandon: we must strip off selfishness, and put covetousness far from us. We must become of one heart and mind, in order to fully enjoy the blessings we anticipate.

Brother Phineas correctly observed, in his remarks, that if ten men are united in these mountains, they are not to be overcome by their enemies. Are this whole people perfectly united? I fear not. When I undertake to present before this people the true principles of the Priesthood, I almost shudder, because so many do not yet understand them and cannot receive them. I go into my room where we have our prayer circle, and among twelve men there will perhaps be twelve different prayers offered up—one praying for one thing and another for another thing. You may reduce the number to three, and let them be clothed for secret prayer; and while one is praying aloud, each of the others will be praying for that which the one that is mouth is not praying for, unless they are better taught in regard to prayer than is the Christian world. Ask the people if they understand the principle of prayer, and many reply, “We do not know: we pray with all our might;” and at the same time it is a scene of confusion and distraction of mind.

We are in a land of liberty; and our fathers have taught us—especially those born in America, that every man and woman and every child old enough to speak, argue, read, reflect, &c., must have minds of their own, and not listen to anybody else. They are taught to shape their own opinions, and not depend upon others to direct their thoughts, words, or actions. That system of teaching reminds me of the old saying, “Every man for himself, and the Devil for them all.” Such views, though entertained by the human family at large, must be checked in this people. Yet when I undertake to strip off the garb of erroneous tradition, and to teach the people true principles of faith, prayer, and obedience, there are many who cannot receive those principles in their understanding and hearts. I have told you, and will now tell you again, that you have to bring your minds right to the authority of the Gospel—to the true Gospel line. Let an Elder pray here, and then ask a brother in the congregation what has been prayed for, and he cannot tell you. Ask a sister what has been prayed for, and she cannot tell you. She may say, “I was so fervent in prayer myself that I did not hear what was prayed for.” And so it is with hundreds of people who congregate here. And I think that I may venture to say that you will scarcely find an individual in the whole congregation that can tell what the person who prays has prayed for. Do you not know that to be a fact? I will appeal to your own minds.

When a man opens or closes a meeting with prayer, every man, woman, and child in the congregation who professes to be a Saint should have no desire or words in their hearts and mouths but what are being offered by the man who is mouth for all the congregation. If all would follow out that principle, where would it lead the people? They would act with one heart and mind in all their acts through life, and promote the kingdom of God on the earth.

How many times I have attended prayer meetings among the Methodists, in my youthful days, when perhaps one hundred men and women would all be praying aloud at once? I did not then know but that it was all right. I neither said nor cared anything about it. It often used to be father Joseph Smith’s custom, when he took the lead of a fast meeting, to request all present to pray aloud at the same time, and there would be as many different prayers as there were persons. Where was the concentration on a single and united thread of faith? It is like the cable that holds the ship. Unwind a cable, and you will find several hundred small cords; unwind the small cords, and you will find fourteen strands in each cord; unwind each strand, and there are thousands of fibers; and you have parted the cable of a ship fastened to a sure anchor, and the ship is free and wafting unmanageable before the furious tempest. So it is with prayer. You say you want to be united and want the blessings of heaven.

How many times have I said here, within the last three months, I pray that God would so lead us and our enemies that there will be no blood shed? And how many have come to meeting and prayed in their hearts that “our enemies would come on, for we want to slay them, for we have been mobbed and hunted enough;” and another would pray the same prayer, with a disposition to desire the spoil. One of the brethren prayed in camp that the snow might fall 40 feet deep on our enemies. I am satisfied if it falls only four or five feet deep.

I will tell you my faith in regard to the brethren now in the mountains. General Wells takes the charge; and when I write to him, I counsel him to do as the Holy Ghost shall dictate him, and inform him that whatever he may order and perform, he has my faith and influence to sustain him.

I pray God to turn away our enemies, to put hooks in their jaws and turn them wherever he will, with their gold, their horses, and all they possess. They do not know the “Mormons;” they are strangers to this people, and are full of wrath and malice towards us; but they know not why. They know not that they are stirred to anger against us by the enemy of all righteousness. Should those who instigated the sending of this army undertake to come here, there will be another scenery, for they are more or less acquainted with us and know that we are the most upright people on the earth; and they will not be able to shield themselves in the garb of ignorance. I will not talk about them, for you know their history, and you know and have seen much of the squalid wretchedness of the wicked inhabitants of the earth. Is there honor or virtue among them? Where is the man or woman among them that is to be trusted? If there is here and there any semblance of goodness or virtue, it is at once overcome by every fiendish art in their power. Women are overcome by sycophants, by those who rule the nation, and those who have power and influence in the various States, parties, and religious sects. Man is overcome by man; they cuddle, and wink, and gamble, and run to and fro in abominations of every grade, and lift their voices for and against each other, as did the Paddy in his petition to the king for an office, wherein he stated that he would vote for or against him, fight for him or fight him, just as he wished it.

Colonel Alexander—probably one of the best men in the army now near Bridger ruins, told one of our messengers, when replying to a piece of advice I had given him to resign his commission rather than be found operating against an innocent people, that he was compelled to remain in the army; for, if he resigned, he knew not how to manage to sustain his family. He said, “I have no other means of support: I cannot throw up my commission, for then I should have no means to support my wife and children.” As an American, shame and confusion would overwhelm me, were I to even think of trying to sustain my family by siding with tyranny and oppression. That is the only circumstance I wish to name. They are sent ostensibly to civilize this people. But I do not wish to talk much about such nonsense. The whole world are wrapt up in the garment of corruption, confusion, and destruction; and they are fast making their way down to hell, while we have the words of eternal life.

How ought we to live? Look at yourselves and see whether your faith is concentrated with those who are appointed of the Lord to lead you and have rule over you. See whether all your desires are one with theirs. If not, it must come to that point. Let every Saint, when he prays, ask God for the things he needs to enable him to promote righteousness on the earth. If you do not know what to ask for, let me tell you how to pray. When you pray in secret or with your families, if you do not know anything to ask for, submit yourselves to your Father in heaven and beseech him to guide you by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and to guide this people, and dictate the affairs of his kingdom on the earth, and there leave it. Ask him to put you just where he wants you, and to tell you what he wants you to do, and feel that you are on hand to do it. These are a few of my reflections upon that point, and only a very few of them.

Let this people be brought to the straightforward thread of the Gospel; and what more have we than what has been taught us from the beginning of this work? Nothing. And the only difficulty there has been is, that we were not prepared to receive it. Do you know how to direct your own minds? Where is there an honest man or woman on the face of this earth—one who has any knowledge of the Supreme Being, any feeling of the operation of an invisible agency, but what pleads with that God, whether they know him or not, to dictate their minds, affections, and conduct? Where is there an honest man or woman on the earth, but what that is their desire?

Many do not know what to pray for. They need someone to dictate them. Will the Lord come and personally dictate them? You know that he will not. Will he send his holy angels to talk with you? You could not endure their presence: you are in a sinful world. What do you need? That invisible agency, called the Spirit, to dictate your minds.

The whole world are sadly in want of what they call a master-spirit. That is what the Government of the United States are deprived of. There is not one to be found among them, neither in the Cabinet of the President nor in the Senate of the United States. They are all gone, and there is no one in their midst competent to lead and dictate in the affairs of our General Government; but, as they say, it is with them a period of mediocrity. It has been acknowledged by Great Britain that the master-spirits are fled: there are none in the British Parliament, and they know not what to do. Let this people come to that condition, and say that they have no person capable of dictating and leading them, and you will be in the whirlpool of delusion. It will be every man for himself, and you would not know what to do: you would not know how to dictate your own affairs. It is this which overwhelms the world in confusion and makes it Babylon, while the Priesthood elevates mankind and dictates the husband, the wife, and the children, and all they have.

A feeling exists in the minds of many of this people that they would be glad to submit to their presiding Elder or Bishop, but they do not think that he has knowledge sufficient to lead them. Says a wife, “I would be glad to submit to my husband; but I wish I had a husband that I could look upon as my superior—that I could look up to and receive his words and counsel: that would be my highest delight. O that I had a husband capable of dictating me; but, alas! I have not.” Go among some of the children, and they say, “I would be glad to mind my parents in all things, but I believe that I know more than they do.”

Go into one of our cities, and you find somebody on the whiz, whiz, like the wind passing through a broken window in December; and so it goes throughout the settlement. Somebody has imagined that the President does not understand his duty and is not capable of dictating, and that is all the Devil wants to begin with. If he succeeds in getting one toe into the stocking, he will work until he gets his whole foot in, and confusion and discord will reign predominant. How many times have you observed such instances? You have not lived in the Church one year without seeing them.

In such cases a presiding Elder may not always know but what he has done something wrong, and may be suspicious that this or that is not right. My maxim is, and it is a rule I have established in the Legislature of this Territory, never to oppose anything unless the one making the objection can present something better. Do not oppose when you cannot improve. If you are not capable of dictating your brethren, do not say that you will dictate them until you have found out a better path than the one in which they are walking. Before you oppose your Bishop as a man unworthy of your best feelings, first point out a better path to him; and then you shall have the right of going to the higher authorities to show that you know more than your Bishop.

Is there a fault in some of the presiding Elders? Yes. What is it? Some of them are subject to a feminine, pusillanimous feeling. A man rises up and says, “I will dictate and oppose my Bishop,” and some of the Bishops will dodge, and say, “I do not know but that I am wrong: wife, am I right or wrong?”—and say to every brother they meet, “What do you think about it?” and run round and get the opinion of everybody, to know whether they will sustain him or not. When men learn their duty and calling, and walk up to the best light they have, then, if they do not know precisely how to guide to the best advantage, they are right, if they do the best they can, and can tell all who find fault, “I ask no odds of you: I have done as I have, and have done the will of God, according to the best of my knowledge.” And let every man treat his wives and children in the same way; and when a wife says, “O no, my dear, I think I understand this matter as well as you do, and perhaps a little better; I am conversant with all the whys and the wherefores, and am acquainted with this little circumstance better than you are, and I think in this case, my dear, that I know better than you;” reply, “Get out of my path, for I am going yonder, and you may whistle at my coattail until you are tired of it.” That is the way I would talk to my wives and children, if they intermeddled with my duties. And I say to them, If you cannot reverence me, tell me where the man is you can reverence, and I would speedily make a beeline with my carriage and servants and place you under his care.

I told the people in Nauvoo, before they wished me to stand as their President, that if there were any Latter-day Saints that did not wish to take the counsel of the Twelve, they could go to hell their own road: we asked no odds of them, for the Twelve were capable of building up the kingdom of God on the earth. You know whether I here ask much odds or not. I also told them that if they were not Saints at that critical juncture, they ought to repent of their sins, and get the Holy Ghost, and not live another twenty-four hours without the spirit of revelation within themselves, for who knows but what you are the elect; and you know that false prophets were to arise in the last days, and, if possible, deceive the very elect, and that many false shepherds would come and pretend to be the true shepherds. Now, be sure to get the spirit of revelation, so that you can tell when you hear the true Shepherd’s voice, and know him from a false one; for if you are the elect, it would be a great pity to have you led astray to destruction. But if you are not the elect of God through the sanctification of the Spirit of truth upon your hearts, then you can go as quickly as you please, for we do not want you.

We feel just the same now. Every man and woman that will not strive to sanctify themselves before the Lord God, and to possess within themselves the spirit of revelation to know the voice of the true Shepherd from a false one, the quicker they go out of the Territory the better it will be. Take ten men whose hearts, when they pray, are upon one sentence and upon one idea at a time, when they ask God for anything, or to bring this or that to pass, do you think that the powers of hell can hinder what they ask for? No. It is as true as the heavens—as firm as the mountains that rest upon these valleys—as sure as eternity, that nothing can fail which they agree upon; for God will grant it.

What is our difficulty? When I go to my prayer room, among men who have been with me for years, there is too great a diversity of feeling and desires to be in accordance with the Gospel. There is too much of Babylon in that. When that is the case, and when I am praying for one thing and others for another, our faith comes in contact and we do not receive what we ask for. How many times have I said that I would rather have one hundred true Saints in the mountains than five millions that are not Saints, if I had to contend against the whole world? What, with the sword? Yes. Let me have the Gideonites that can kneel down and lap the water, and one will chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight. Whether the Lord will require this people to use the sword, or not, I do not know, neither do I care; but I believe that if the faith of this people were united, all hell cannot get armies in here to disturb our settlements.

How gladly I would tell the people what to pray for. But if I tell them, in ten minutes afterwards they pray for something else. It is too much so in the Quorum of the Twelve and among my Counselors. Go into meetings, and you may hear thirty different prayers, if there are so many offered up, for everything but what I tell them to pray for. You may think I undervalue you. I do not. I tell you that if we strive with all our powers, by-and-by the time will come that we will be Saints indeed. I have not said that we are Saints. We are trying to be, and we profess to have the keys that will lead us in the path of eternal life. When we become so advanced that we are no more in darkness and doubt, nor in any way under the power of the Devil, then we have a certain victory over ourselves and over every foul spirit; the Lord God is sanctified in our hearts, and we are his servants and handmaids—his children, that can never be destroyed.

Take the congregation now before me, and they pray a thousand different prayers. Tonight, mothers, wives, and little children, observe how the head of the family prays, and see if he does not pray for nearly everything but what he should pray for. Perhaps I am wrong, but I think that he will be sure not to pray for the things he ought to. He will pray that himself and family may have plenty to eat and live in peace, and probably stop at that. His prayer will be something like a certain old man’s blessing at his meals: “O Lord, bless me and my wife, my son John and his wife—us four, and no more: Amen.” You will hear the brethren pray, “O Lord, bless me, and my wife, and children; but the rest I care nothing about.” When you pray, pray for the things that the kingdom needs, and be not so very careful about yourselves. Your selfish notions ought to be out of sight. Pray God to promote his kingdom and preserve you in it, and not as I have known a tolerably good man to pray. He was so ignorant that he would cheat a widow woman out of her last cow, and then go down on his knees and thank God for his peculiar blessings to him! Do not be so abominably ignorant. Instead of thanking God that you have been able to wrong one man out of a horse, another out of a yoke of cattle, &c., pray that he will give you the disposition to make the most righteous use of the property he has entrusted to your care. Pray that this people may be preserved—that the kingdom of God may roll on—that our Elders on the islands in the Pacific, in the United States, and in foreign lands may be so blessed as to come safely home. Pray for the honest in heart, and that the ungodly may be so filled with fear and trembling that they may leave us, that we may live here as Saints, and build up the kingdom of our God, and prepare for the return of this people to the Center Stake of Zion, where we can lay the foundations for a New Jerusalem. Pray for the promotion of this cause and kingdom, instead of praying that you may be able to wrong somebody out of something.

All eternity is before you, and everything you can ask for will be given to you in due time; for the heavens and the earth are the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof. If I have horses, oxen, and possessions, they are the Lord’s and not mine; and all I ask is for him to tell me what to do with them. A great many say that the Lord takes, and gives as he pleases, and I think that if I act as the Lord does I shall do pretty well. Again, some say that the Lord is going to fight our battles, and enquire, “What is the use of our brethren being out in the mountains?” He will use his people as he pleases; and in the sequel you will find that God fought the battle, and not we.

It has also been observed that God will provide for you. Still many want to shade a little, rather than to work hard for an honest living. Such practices must be put away, and this people must become sanctified in their affections to God, and learn to deal honestly, truly, and uprightly with one another in every respect, with all the integrity that fills the heart of an angel. They must learn to feel that they can trust all they possess with their brethren and sisters, saying, “All I have I entrust to you: keep it until I call for it.” The world have no confidence in each other; but that principle must prevail in the midst of this people: you must preserve your integrity to each other.

Live your religion. How much you are exhorted—how much have we pleaded with you to live your religion—to live in the light of God’s countenance—to live with the Holy Spirit so reigning in you as never to be led astray, that you may know how to promote the kingdom of God on the earth. Let selfishness be out of sight, and ask the Lord to preserve you in the truth, and do with you as he pleases, and dispose of you to his glory.

May God bless you. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, October 25, 1857.

We have heard considerable preaching this morning; and to me, what we have heard is full of pith and marrow.

This people are to the world an object of derision and hatred; to God, of care and pity. There are but few of us, when we compare ourselves with the rest of the inhabitants of the earth. We now have a day of trial. It has been observed that the Saints feel well: they never felt better.

Some present may not know that my oldest and my youngest brothers have been preaching today. There are but three boys between those two, and we are all here on hand.

As has been observed by brother John, my eldest brother, this is the first time that we have ever had the privilege of doing anything, only submitting to our enemies. Now, for the first time since this Church was organized, we are in a position for defending those rights common to all American citizens; and our true and lawful course to abide by the Constitution of the United States in the defense of those rights will probably give the wicked a pretext for complaint; so that in measuring out oppression to us, our enemies will have a new set of pretexts, instead of feasting on infernal lies so much as they have hitherto done.

Colonel Alexander accuses us of what he terms a very uncivilized method of warfare. If we are to do as they do, we shall have to get drunk, to swear, to quarrel, to lie, and believe in lies, and indulge in many other like traits of civilization, in order to be prepared to act as they do. I do not know anything about those men that are now in the mountains, only in the capacity of a mob. I have no business to know them as anything else, neither shall I, until I have been officially notified that the Government of the United States wishes to send troops here and build stations.

I suppose that the boys have annoyed them a good deal; but at the same time, I would much rather clothe them and feed them, if they would agree to go back in the spring and leave us in peace, as they found us. We are obliged to maintain our rights; for every blackleg, horse thief, counterfeiter, and abominable character are united with the hireling priests and lying editors and wicked leaders of our Government to falsely accuse the “Mormons,” with a view to our destruction. Can they now truly accuse them of anything? Yes—of burning up a little grass, as brother Attwood told them, when they asked him why we burnt the grass—“That we may have a better crop next year,” which you are aware is customary in prairie regions. We have done that; therefore our enemies can now concentrate their power to shoot at the target they have compelled us to raise in self-defense, whereas heretofore they have shot without an object to fire at.

There is one thing in particular with regard to this people—they prove their faith by their work; and there is no other way for us to prove it. While brother John was speaking of the labor of this people to preach and send the Gospel to the nations of the earth, I thought that, take us as a people in this day, in the situation we have been in, and then look over the history of the Church of the living God on the earth from the days of Adam until now, and I will ensure that you cannot find the equal to the excessive labor of the Elders of Israel in our day in spreading the truth through the world to save mankind. I have no idea that it was done in the days of Enoch; for the human family had then spread over the earth but little, and the Elders did not have to travel scores of thousands of miles without purse or scrip among the wicked. So also in the days of Noah: they had but a short distance to travel. In the days of the Israelites, of the Prophets, of Jesus Christ, and the Apostles, what was their labor in the extent of its field, compared with that of this people? Very small. You may trace the course of their travel, and you will find that it was far less than that of the Elders of Israel in our day.

We have labored diligently, and suffered everything but death to preach the Gospel to our fellow beings; and thousands of our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, children, and connections have gone into their graves through their sufferings, from being robbed of everything we had, and scattered, to find shelter where we best could. Are we going to suffer it anymore? No, God being our helper. We are perfectly free, on condition that we do right; and upon that condition we never will be in bondage again.

You will recollect that this is the first time that this Church can say, “We are free.” Do we wish to be free from the United States Consti– tution? No. There is not a word in it but what we can subscribe to with all our hearts. Do we wish to be free from the laws of the United States? No. They are as good laws as we can ask for. Neither do we wish for any better laws than are the most of those enacted in Missouri and Illinois. What, then, was the difficulty with this people? Magistrates, sheriffs, constables, military officers, &c., walked those laws under their feet, and trampled upon them as a thing of naught, in order to get at this people and drive them from their hard-earned homes. I have said, and say it again, if those laws had been executed, they would have hung Governor Boggs and Governor Ford, with many others, between the heavens and the earth, or shot them as traitors to the Government. It is not the laws and the Constitution of our country that we wish to be free from, but it is from the power of those who profess to be lawmakers and law-executors, but who trample every wholesome law under their feet.

We are now as free from them as is the mountain air we breathe; and we could wipe the few enemies now in our borders out of existence in a very short time, if I would give the word to do so. But they will judge themselves out of their own mouths and receive their just reward at the hands of him whom they have listed to obey. I believe the Lord has wisdom enough to make them destroy themselves—though, if it were left to me solely, under the guidance of the spirit pertaining to man, probably I should have had them in eternity before now. But the Lord dictates, governs, and controls: I do not, neither do I wish to.

It is said that if we do right we shall overcome. I will tell you one mark you have got to come to, in order to do right. If you can bring yourselves, in your affections, your feelings, your passions, your desires, and all that you have in your organization, to submit to the hand of the Lord, to his providences, and acknowledge his hand in all things, and always be willing that he should dictate, though it should take your houses, your property, your wives and children, your parents, your lives, or anything else you have upon the earth, then you will be exactly right; and until you come to that point, you cannot be entirely right. That is what we have to come to; we have to learn to submit ourselves to the Lord with all our hearts, with all our affections, wishes, desires, passions, and let him reign and rule over us and within us, the God of every motion: then he will lead us to victory and glory; otherwise he will not.

Brother John referred to some persons receiving revelations. I say to such persons, Go ahead, and get all the revelations you can. If brother Joseph visits you every night, go ahead, and tell him to bring brother Hyrum, father Smith, Don Carlos Smith, St. Paul, Peter, James, and John, and Jesus Christ, if you can induce him to do so. But I could almost lay my hand on that Bible and swear that the man or woman who gets such revelations has been guilty of adultery, or of theft, or has been rebellious and apostatized in feelings, but has come back again, and now professes to have such revelations. Hell is full of such revelations; and I could almost testify that a man or woman who receives them has been guilty of some outrageous crime. I have had men come to me and tell the wonderful great dreams and visions which they have, when those very persons have apostatized heretofore, have denied their God and their religion; and I knew it. Many come to me and tell me what wonderful visions they have—that their minds are open to eternal things—that they can see visions of eternity open before them and understand all about this kingdom—many of whom have at some time been guilty of betraying their brethren, or committing some atrocious crime. I never notice them much. I sit and hear them talk about their wonderful knowledge, but it passes in and out of my ears like the sound of the wind. It is for me to see to this kingdom, that it is built up, and to preserve the Saints from the grasp of the enemy. The visions of the class I have mentioned are nothing to me. They may exhibit their great knowledge before me; but when they have done, it is all gone from me.

Some are very anxious that I should have visions. I have all that the Lord gives to me; and all that he keeps back he may; for that is no concern of mine. We are on the old ship Zion; and if God is not at the helm, the old ship will wreck and go to the Devil. As for my taking charge of the kingdom of God on the earth, exclusively and independently of direction from heaven, I shall not do any such thing. If the Lord does not direct the old ship and act as captain and pilot, it will go to destruction, and I care not how quick.

He is at the helm, and will stay there. If you and I will bring our feelings to the point I have just spoken of, he will continue to guide the welfare of Zion and all its rights.

All is right. Sing hallelujah; for the Lord is here. He dictates, guides, and directs. If the people will have implicit confidence in their God, never forsake their covenants nor their God, he will guide us right, and we are free as the air of these mountains. The yoke of the wicked is off, and I am determined it shall stay off.

If any man or woman in Utah wants to leave this community, come to me, and I will treat you kindly, as I always have, and will assist you to leave; but after you have left our settlements, you must not then depend upon me any longer, nor upon the God I serve; you must meet the doom you have labored for. If any wish to go away, come to me and I will assist you to go in peace and safety to the army or anywhere else; but if you come again with bitter feelings to this Territory, we shall meet you as we would a mob.

After this season, when this ignorant army has passed off, I shall never again say to a man, “Stay your rifle ball,” when our enemies assail us; but shall say, “Slay them where you find them.” But the army that are now upon our borders are in ignorance, and know not what they are doing, nor the spirit that prompts them, or they would ere now have been visited with swift destruction. On account of their ignorance and their being sent by rotten demagogues and corrupt speculators, I feel like letting them alone, unless they turn to come here; which if they do, sleep will depart from their eyes and slumber from their eyelids until they sleep the sleep of death or beg quarters at our hands—God being our helper.

I do not altogether know why I should not feel it right to slay them where they are. But I do not; consequently, I withhold; and if that course should be right, I believe it will be manifested to me; and if it is not so manifested to me, and anybody else can know of a surety and will take the responsibility, go ahead.

I have joy and comfort in seeing this people trying to live up to the spirit of their religion—to the spirit of the Gospel; and I should be glad to see the spirit of reformation continue among them. I would be pleased to have it within myself, and do better than I now do, or do more, or do something I do not do. But unless the Lord will reveal to me something more than he has, I cannot do any better than I am doing; for I do not know how. I have done as well as I could since I have been in this kingdom. I can hardly refer to the time when I have not done the best I knew how, and I can hardly refer to the time when I put my hand to do a thing unless I knew it to be right.

I am not a visionary character nor subject to excitement in my feelings. My life, you know, is an even continuation; and I hope it will be until I lay down this tabernacle. If we take this course and trust in the Lord, he may send armies here or not, call upon us to fight, or let us raise grain, build houses, &c., or send us to the nations; it matters not. If we bring our feelings to this, we shall never be brought into bondage to the wicked again; but we will be free.

Do you not know, brethren, that the day will come of which the Lord says, “For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron;” and yet if those things were now delivered into our hands, there would be selfishness. I have seen that spirit manifested, and I am afraid of it. I am more afraid of covetousness in our Elders than I am of the hordes of hell. Have we men out now of that class? I believe so. I am afraid of such spirits; for they are more powerful and injurious to this people than all hell outside of our borders. All our enemies in the United States or in the world, and all hell with them marshaled against us, could not do us the injury that covetousness in the hearts of this people could do us; for it is idolatry.

As brother John observed, one devil can keep all Babylon in confusion continually, because they are already so wicked; but it takes armies of devils to take care of the Saints, lest they overcome the kingdoms of darkness. The Devil’s forces are particularly marshaled against us. If I can contend against the powers of darkness and get this people to control themselves so as to have no principle or feeling about them only to do the will of our Father in heaven, I do not fear all hell. Were all the United States arrayed against us in these mountains, I would rather have ten men who are Saints, and will do more with them to overcome all our out– side enemies than this whole people, with their affections not sanctified to the Lord. Do you understand that, ye Saints? Or is it to you like some visions that are told to me—going in at one ear and out at the other? We, as a people, will be chastened until we can wholly submit ourselves to the Lord and be Saints indeed. May God bless you! Amen.