A Discourse by Elder John Taylor, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, January 17, 1858.

I feel that we are all of us in the hands of God, that we are all associated with this kingdom, and that if any people under the face of the heavens can be properly called “the Saints of the Most High,” we are that people. It certainly is a prominent position, a great title, an endearing relationship that we sustain to the Lord, if we really magnify our calling and honor our God.

When we reflect upon the myriads of human beings that crowd the earth in every nation, country, and clime, and then consider that we are the only people that do really “acknowledge the hand of God in all things;” that we are the only people that God has chosen and selected to place his name among; that we are the only people that can emphatically be called the servants and handmaidens of the Lord; that we are the only people that have a right and claim upon the promises of God; that we are the only people that entertain correct ideas pertaining to our present position and our future destiny; that we are the only people that can stretch back to ages that are past, and look forward to those that are to come, and that can act understandingly in relation to our worship and the ordinances of the house of God, having a knowledge of the past, the present, and the future; that we are the only people under the heavens that have a legitimate right to the promises and blessings of God, whether they relate to this world or that which is to come; thus we are the only people that understand anything about the present position or the cause of the organization of the world and of man, and that understand anything correctly about a preparation for a future state; that we are the only people that know how to save our progenitors, how to save ourselves, and how to save our posterity in the celestial kingdom of God; that we are the people that God has chosen by whom to establish his kingdom and introduce correct principles into the world; and that we in fact are the saviors of the world, if they ever are saved—when we reflect upon these things, there is something connected with them that is calculated to make our hearts swell with gratitude and thrill with joy; and when we feel the consoling influence of the Spirit of the Most High God resting upon us and round about us, and the visions and glories of the future that we are destined to enjoy are open to our minds, if we are faithful, and the great events that are about to transpire in the last days are manifested to our minds, there is something in them that is calculated to cause us to sing, Hosanna! Hosanna to the Lord God of Hosts!

There is something in these reflections pleasing, enlivening, animating, cheering, and something that is calculated to cause joy and rejoicing in the soul.

If we look abroad in the world, what are their enjoyments and hopes? They say, in effect, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” They say, “Give us gold, give us riches, give us honor, and give us the pomp, glory, and glitter of this world! Let us have our day now, for we know very little about the future. Let us enjoy life while we can.” These are their feelings, and hence they riot in every excess and wallow in lasciviousness and debauchery. They corrupt their bodies, debase their minds, and they are not fit receptacles for the Spirit of the living God; nor have they any among them that are capable of teaching them anything about that Spirit; but they are in the dark.

When we reflect upon these things, have we not something to be thankful for? Have we not cause of gratitude to the Most High God? I think we have; and I think, if any people are blessed under the heavens, we are that people; and we may exclaim, as the ancient Israelites used to, “Happy is that people whose God is the Lord.”

It certainly is a lamentable thing, when we come to reflect upon it, to see so many of the human family ignorant and careless, knowing nothing about God—knowing nothing of their origin or destiny. What has the Lord done for us? He has opened the heavens, and has revealed the principles of truth. He has sent his holy angels to communicate unto the children of men the things that are calculated to promote their peace and happiness in time and throughout all eternity. He has given unto us, his people, the holy Priesthood after the order of Melchizedek, which “holds the keys of the mysteries of the revelations of God,” which draws back the curtains of the invisible world, and enables him to penetrate beyond the veil, and discloses the great purposes of Jehovah pertaining to himself and to this world, as they shall roll forth in the accomplishment of his purposes.

What a contrast between this and the religion of the world! This shows man imperfectly at the present, it is true; but it will show him perfectly how to become a savior—how to redeem this world, which has been overrun with anarchy, destruction, misery, folly, and evils of every kind—how to redeem the world from the curse under which it labors and groans: it will show him how to teach the human family, that they may understand correct principles and be saved in the kingdom of God.

The religion of Jesus Christ will develop the plan of putting down the high-handed power of tyranny and oppression which now pervades the earth, and how to establish the principles of peace, righteousness, and virtue upon the earth, and how to place the world of mankind in that position which God has destined they should occupy when his kingdom shall rule upon the earth, and when “every creature in heaven, on earth, and under the earth shall be heard to say, Blessing, honor, and glory, and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.”

The germs of this peace are with us; the intelligence concerning these matters has begun to be developed, and there is a communication opened between the heavens and the earth—an unction that dwells with the Gods, an intelligence that governs all worlds and controls all nature, a particle—a spark of Deity straight from the eternal blaze of Jehovah, opening, unfolding, enlightening, and teaching. It emanates from him to the authorities of this Church, and flows through all the ramifications of the Priesthood. That spark from the bosom of Jehovah enabled them to commence that reformation that will redeem a world from the ruins of the fall.

This kingdom and this organization will save all that are governed by its principles, and it is destined by its influence and workings in the world to spread and increase until every knee shall be made to bow and every tongue confess to the glory of the Father.

These principles have begun to be developed among us; and when we live our religion, when we walk according to the light of the Spirit of God, when we purge ourselves from impurity and corruption, and the sweet whisperings of the Spirit of the Lord pours intelligence into our bosoms, broods over us, causing peace and joy to be with us, we have then, more or less, a faint glimpse of those things that are laid up for the faithful; and it is then we feel as though we and all that we have are in the hands of the Lord, and that we are ready to offer ourselves a sacrifice for the accomplishment of his purposes upon the earth.

These are our feelings, and we feel proud of our associations with the Church and kingdom of God. Why is it that our spirits are not always joyous? There may be different reasons. One reason is that we do not always live our religion. We give way to vanity, frivolity, and nonsense too much, and sometimes to dishonesty and fraud; we do things that are not right, and adopt practices that are not good; and when this is the case, the Spirit of the Lord is grieved, and it wanders from us, and we are left to grope in the dark; the visions of eternity are shut out from our minds, and we see through another medium than that of the Spirit of God. We are led, through these circumstances, to stumble and fall; and many make shipwreck of faith and of a good conscience.

We do not all of us sufficiently comprehend the great blessings that God has conferred upon us. We forget, sometimes, that we are the Saints of God; we forget that we have dedicated ourselves to the Lord, with all that we have; and we forget our high calling and our future destiny. We forget, sometimes, that we are engaged, with many others, in establishing righteousness and planting the kingdom of God upon the earth; and we condescend to little meannesses, and become forgetful of the great and glorious calling to which we are called. Many of us give way to temptation; we falter and get into darkness, and lose the Spirit of the Lord. We forget that God and angels are looking upon us; we forget that the spirits of just men made perfect and our ancient fathers, who are looking forward for the establishment of the kingdom of God upon the earth, are gazing upon us, and that our acts are open to the inspection of all the authorized agencies of the invisible world.

And, forgetting these things sometimes, we act the part of fools, and the Spirit of God is grieved; it withdraws from us, and we are then left to grope our way in the dark. But if we could live our religion, fear God, be strictly honest, observe his laws and his statutes, and keep his commandments to do them, we should feel very different; we should feel comfortable and happy; our spirits would be peaceful and buoyant; and from day to day, from week to week, and from year to year, our joys would increase.

Other causes also operate to retard the Saints in their progress. Most of us have come out of and been mixed up with the world; we have been associated with, and have received our education and ideas in the midst of corruptions of every kind, and we have sucked it in as with our mother’s milk.

Even our religion has been corrupt, and our ideas of morality have been wrong; our politics, law, and philosophy have all been wrenched, twisted, and perverted; our customs, habits, and associations have been wrong; and all that we have come out from is vanity, evil, corrupting, and damnable in its nature.

Is it surprising, then, that we should find it difficult to live according to the light and intelligence that dwells in the bosom of God and that is manifested partially unto us, his people? Is it surprising that, surrounded as we have been, and wallowing in corruption all the day long, that we should have partaken more or less of these things, and that they should still cling to us?

When Joseph Smith had anything from God to communicate to the children of men or to the Church, what was it he had to fight against all the day long? It was the prejudices of the people; and, in many instances, he could not and dared not reveal the word of God to the people, for fear they would rise up and reject it. How many times has he faltered? It was not that he was particularly afraid; but he had to look after the welfare and salvation of the people.

If the Prophet Joseph had revealed everything which the Lord manifested to him, it would have proven the overthrow of the people in many instances; hence he had to treat them like children, and feed them upon milk, and unfold principles gradually, just as they could receive them.

Was all this because it was so hard to comprehend correct principles? No; it was because we were babes and children, and could not understand.

How is it now, under the administration of President Young? Much the same, in this respect. He has often found it very difficult to make the people understand things as the Lord has revealed them unto him.

We ourselves have not got rid of our evils. We have so much professed righteousness and foolish tradition within us, that we feel indignant many times at righteous principles, when God reveals them. Have you not felt so, brethren and sisters? I know you have, and you know you have.

What is the reason of this? It is because you do not understand celestial laws, nor the principles that govern intelligences in the eternal worlds; it is because you do not understand what is best calculated to elevate, ennoble, and exalt you both in this world and in the world to come; and hence many falter and stumble and fall by the way.

In consequence of these things, we are frequently brought into darkness, bondage, and doubts, because of our consummate ignorance and the traditions by which we have been surrounded; for they all have their influence upon us, and it seems as if we could not break through the shackles again. There is something in our nature also that is mixed up with our very existence. I think the Scriptures say that man is prone to evil as the sparks fly upwards, and not only prone to evil, but to depart from God.

We are all aiming at celestial glory. Don’t you know we are? We are talking about it, and we talk about being kings and priests unto the Lord; we talk about being enthroned in the kingdoms of our God; we talk about being queens and priestesses; and we talk, when we get on our high-heeled shoes, about possessing thrones, principalities, powers, and dominions in the eternal worlds, when at the same time many of us do not know how to conduct ourselves any better than a donkey does.

Notwithstanding our talk and our short comings, there is a reality in these things, and God is determined, if possible, to make something of us. In order to do this, he has to try us and prove us, to manifest principles unto us, to develop the evils that are within ourselves, and to show us, by placing us in various positions and subjecting us to various trials, what we are—to show us our weaknesses and follies, in order that we may be made to lean and depend upon him alone. He will try men and prove them, to see if their hearts are pure; for he designs to take a course with us that will bring out the evil; and he will touch them in that part that will develop it, for he knows what part to touch in order to make us develop that which is in us.

Many of us feel like one of the kings of Israel did when the old Prophet told him he would fight against Israel, rip open women, and trample upon children. The king said, “Is thy servant a dog, that he should do these things?” The Spirit of God in the Prophet knew that such would be the case, and it was not long before he did the very things. And there are many of you who, if you had been told that you would do such and such things, would have exclaimed, “Is thy servant a dog, that he should do these things?” Yet, many of you have done things that you would have been ashamed to have your neighbors know; but you were not ashamed to have God and angels know.

The light of the Holy Ghost makes manifest men’s deeds, and the Spirit of God is like a “two-edged sword, dividing the joints and the marrow,” breaking, severing, cutting, piercing, penetrating, developing, and unfolding principles that we are almost entirely ignorant of, until they come to be developed.

When you have seen your ignorance and folly, you are inclined to say, “I thought I was a smart, good, able, intelligent man; but I have found out that I am a fool, and that I can do nothing to establish righteousness upon the earth, except the Lord God helps me to do it.” When the Spirit of the living God was poured out more copiously upon you, it developed principles that were before latent within you. That Spirit enables you to see yourselves as the Lord sees you.

No trial is joyous for the present, but grievous to be borne; but trials yield their blessings, when patiently endured. The things that are seen are temporal, but those that are not seen are eternal; and while we look at things that are seen, we are apt to neglect things that are not seen. When we see things that are by the light of the Spirit, and compare them with things that are to come, we say, “It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good.”

The world has been apostate for generations past: it has been under the dominion of the prince and power of the air, even the god of this world, who rules in the hearts of the children of disobedience. As I have stated before, they have been wrong in their national affairs, they have been wrong in political affairs, they have been wrong in their religion, and they have been wrong in everything.

What is God going to do, to set the world right? We are the people who are called to do his work; and if so, he must put us right. We are a little nucleus, a mere handful, that he has selected from among the nations, to put his name among. Yes, we are that people, with all our faults, our foibles, and vanities. We do acknowledge the hand of God; we do acknowledge the Prophet of God and the teachings of the Most High, and we do feel willing to be governed by those teachings.

Now, are we engaged in a small work? We are here in the tops of the mountains, just as the Prophet said we should be. “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the tops of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” (Isaiah ii. 2, 3.) The kingdom of God has to be established upon the earth, and the reign of righteousness introduced.

We have first to learn submission to the will of God ourselves, through various trials, persecutions, and the development of our weaknesses and imperfections, and thereby learn to appreciate the goodness and blessings that flow from him. We must see that we ourselves first learn obedience, and then teach others. But how can we teach others a lesson which we have not learned ourselves?

There is no nation now that acknowledges the hand of God; there is not a king, potentate, nor ruler that acknowledges his jurisdiction. We talk about Christianity, but it is a perfect pack of nonsense. Men talk about civilization; but I do not want to say much about that, for I have seen enough of it. Myself and hundreds of the Elders around me have seen its pomp, parade, and glory; and what is it? It is a sounding brass and a tinkling symbol; it is as corrupt as hell; and the Devil could not invent a better engine to spread his work than the Christianity of the nineteenth century.

How are the nations going to be redeemed? How is the kingdom of God going to be planted upon the earth? Will it be by preaching, or by power? Will it be by the natural course of events, or by moral suasion? Will it be by the outpouring of the judgments of God on the nations? Will it be by kingdoms being overthrown and empires crumbling to ruins? How is it going to be done? I answer, These things will be accomplished by the guidance of the Lord through his Prophets who are in our midst. Don’t you see this, brethren?

How are we going to dispose of that army on our borders? Are they going to fight us, or are they going back? Or what is going to be done? Now, who can tell us how these things shall be? These are very small things, and show unto us the imperfection of our judgment, and how little we know of the things that are around us—how very little we know of those things that are coming to pass, except God reveals them through his servants the Prophets.

If we pursue a right course and magnify our calling before God, then everything else will be right; for “surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secrets to his servants the prophets.” Then it is for us to believe what the Prophets say.

Sectarians profess to believe in the Bible, but they will not let the Lord have any Prophets. But we will listen and try to keep the commandments of our God.

I am now coming to some smaller things than those about which I have been talking. Can any of you tell me how you are going to get your next year’s clothing? No man can be independent who is dependent upon others; no nation can be independent that is dependent upon another nation for its sustenance.

Adam was thrust out of the garden after he fell, and had to take care of himself. Doubtless he was taught to spin, to weave, and to raise flax. We read that Abel used to raise sheep; so he must have known something about the use of wool. Cain was a tiller of the ground, and he went to work and raised wheat, corn, squashes, onions, beets, carrots, and such things.

What had Adam to clothe himself with at first? We are told that he and his wife had fig leaves with which they covered themselves. That was rather a poor scrape to be in! They did not have many bedclothes to put on, nor many hats or bonnets. There were no merchants to sell, or manufacturers but themselves, in those days. We are certainly as well off as he was, for we have got a start; but we cannot be independent until we can make our own shoes, dresses, shawls, bonnets, pantaloons, hats, and all such things as we need. When we can do these things, raise our own food, manufacture everything we need among ourselves, then we shall be independent of other people.

We have talked about being kings and priests; but we shall have to begin at the ABC, and learn to take care of our beef-hides, and see that they are tanned into good leather—to take care of our sheep; and not let them be destroyed as they have been heretofore; and, in connection with all these things, we have to take care that we are Saints, and look sharply after the devils.

A brother was talking to me about sheep, the other day. He stated that he believed 50 out of every 75 lambs in this Territory have been destroyed for want of being better looked after.

We have to make ourselves, our wives, and our children comfortable; and we must do this out of the elements that surround us in these valleys; and if we do not, we shall find the saying of Jesus applicable to us—“The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light.” Let us learn to take care of ourselves.

While we are dependent upon others, we are in a poor position to look at the condition of the United States at the present time. We are happily preserved from their commercial troubles. Our very isolation preserves us from broken banks and ruinous credit. Let us only use our judgment and proper care and industry, and we shall be free from a thousand contingencies to which we are liable when we depend upon others.

If we take care of our wheat we shall be independent in that respect, and that will be one point gained; and we must continue doing so with every other thing, until we have gained every point and accomplish what we design.

We have more manufacturing talent among us than there is in any other community of the same size that I have ever met with, and yet we are dependent.

If the Lord will tell us what to do, we will do it, whether it is to fight armies or to do anything else; and by the ingenuity there is here, we will go to work and manufacture our own clothing; and, according to the word of the Lord, we will let our adorning be that of the workmanship of our own hands.

Let us learn correct principles, that we may be enabled to govern ourselves spiritually and temporally, and instruct our children and the posterity which spring from us, that we may obtain an exaltation in the celestial kingdom of our God.

The servants of God, if we are faithful, will teach and instruct us in the things of God; and we shall grow up in virtue, intelligence, holiness, and purity, and learn to understand correct laws; and our rulers will be from among ourselves, and our Governor will be one of us—one of the Lord’s appointing—not of the Devil’s.

When Zion is established in her beauty and honor and glory, the kings and princes of the earth will come, in order that they may get information and teach the same to their people. They will come as they came to learn the wisdom of Solomon.

We have intelligence and ingenuity among us to do all that is required, and we have got to set to work; and, as the Lord gives us wisdom and revelation from time to time, we will carry out his purposes and his designs; we will perform the duties that may be required of us, and we will magnify our callings, that we may be prepared, through a long course of instruction and experience, to enter into celestial glory with the intelligences who surround the throne of God.

Brethren, I pray that God may bless us, enlighten our minds, lead us in the way of truth, and save us in his kingdom, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

A Sermon by Elder John Taylor, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, January 10, 1858.

It is always pleasing and interesting to listen to the statements of any of the servants of God who may be in possession of his Spirit, and to watch the motion and direction of that Spirit as it operates upon the human mind.

There are many things associated with the Church and kingdom of God that are very peculiar: it differs from all other churches, and is dissimilar to all other kingdoms. There is a spirit and wisdom associated with it that the world knows nothing of, and there is a power accompanying it to which mankind are entire strangers without that spirit. There is generally a great amount of obloquy and reproach associated with it; people are apt to treat the servants of God with contempt; yet there is a spirit, and power, and intelligence imparted by the gift of the Holy Ghost, that sustains his people under all circumstances, in all places, and among all nations; and hence Paul in his day said, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.”

Ordinarily speaking, Paul would have been considered a mean, contemptible fool by the world. He was whipped, persecuted, imprisoned, stoned, and had to escape from mobs, being let down in a basket over a wall, like some mean, crawling scamp that had to get out of the way of civilized society: he was despised and hated among men, together with his associates. Yet says he, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.” Why was he not? Because there was a spirit and power in it that was in nothing else. Wherever he preached that Gospel—wherever it was believed in and obeyed, there was a power and spirit accompanied it that no earthly power could impart; and those persons who received it received the gift of the Holy Ghost; and that Holy Ghost took of the things of God and showed them unto them: they partook of the same spirit that he did, were enlightened by the same intelligence, and blessed in the same manner, and, consequently, were united together in the bonds of the everlasting Gospel, and associated by the gift of the Holy Ghost, having a hope that bloomed with immortality and eternal life.

I have seen, in my wanderings over the earth, hundreds of such cases as the one we have listened to this morning. I have heard men speak in different nations—in Germany, France, England, Scotland, Wales, the United States, in the Canadas—no matter where, go where you will, and let a man receive the truth, and his heart is filled with joy and rejoicing. I see people around me here from all these parts that I have heard testify the same things as our brother this morning.

It is this spirit, intelligence, and the gift of the Holy Ghost and its operations on our minds, that has made us one. It is on that account that we speak alike, think alike, write alike, testify alike, because we are baptized into one baptism, and have all partaken of the same Spirit, and we all feel the same thing and rejoice in the same hope. Wherever the Spirit of God operates upon the human mind in any part of the earth, it is productive of the same results; and hence you see people coming in from the east, the west, the north, and the south to this place, led and impelled by the same Spirit.

Why did you leave your homes, break up your establishments, bid adieu to your friends and associates, and traverse oceans, seas, deserts, and plains, in order to come here? Because you were inspired by that same Spirit. And why were you inspired by it? How did it originate? And where did it come from? Why, the Lord has set his hand to accomplish his designs in these last days; he has opened the heavens and revealed his purposes to his servants the Prophets, and has called his people from the ends of the earth to gather together, that he might establish his Zion upon the earth, and bring to pass these things which have been spoken of by all the holy Prophets since the world was.

We have listened to the voice of the charmer—participated in all the blessings of the Gospel; and this has been the means of our gathering together in this place. Why did we come here? For the same reason this brother said he came—to serve God and work righteousness, gain intelligence, and bring salvation to ourselves, to our wives and our children, and obtain it for our progenitors. We came here to learn the principles of eternal life, and be enabled to fulfil our destiny upon the earth, and prepare ourselves and our posterity for a celestial inheritance in the eternal worlds.

It seems strange to many, perhaps, that a people like us—a people as innocent as this people are—a people who have desired to serve God as sincerely as this people have—a people who are living up to the principles of truth as near as we do—I say, it seems strange to them that we should have to meet with any difficulty, be persecuted, that our names should be cast out as evil, and we be treated with contumely and bitter reproach, as the offscouring of all things; and that even a nation like that of the United States should array itself against us. Men, you know, all profess to be honest, more or less; and if they are, this certainly has a very strange appearance.

Yet, when we come to reflect, and look back upon men who lived in other ages, whom we have been taught to believe were honest and good, as we profess to be, and see their names cast out as evil too, and that some of the best of men had to wander in sheepskins and goatskins, and dwell in deserts, and dens, and caves of the earth—that they were destitute, afflicted, tormented, whipped, stoned, imprisoned, and put to death—we see that it is only now as it has been heretofore. This has been the state of things generally in the world, so far as the servants of God are concerned in this world. With all its boasted magnanimity, with all its intelligence, with all its erudition, with all its talent, with all its pomp and glory, and professed intelligence and philosophy, there has never been a time, since the world began, but men of the most elevated character, of the most exalted natures, of the best and most moral habits—virtuous men that feared God and worked righteousness, have been persecuted, cast out, and trodden under foot.

And there has never been a time, with but few exceptions, in some isolated cases, that they had even equal rights among men, either civil, religious, or political—I say, with very few exceptions, there has never been a time that the representatives of God on the earth, his servants, his Priesthood, his people—those that carried out the principles of righteousness, and were obedient to his law, observed his statutes, and kept his commandments—that such a people possessed either their civil, religious, or political rights among men.

It is true that, on the continent of Asia, the Jews might be considered an exception in this respect. They had a government which lasted for a certain period of time; they made their own laws, and governed themselves; and yet even among this people, who professed to be God’s people, those men who really did fear God, tell the truth, and dared work righteousness, were generally trodden under foot. So far even were they fallen, that when Jesus came among them he said, “Which of the prophets have not your fathers slain—even you who profess to observe his laws—you who boast of having Abraham for your father, and have more knowledge of God than any other people?” He could ask that with impunity to a whole nation, and they could not answer him. If that was the case among them, what is the position of others?

There was a certain time on this continent, from the accounts given in the Book of Mormon, that a few people observed the laws of Jesus and his Gospel, and kept his commandments without persecution; but it only lasted for a short time: they soon departed from every principle of righteousness, and were cut off in consequence.

What has been the position of others, if this has been the case among good men? They began to persecute the Prophets and reject the word of the Lord on this continent as on the other. You read of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of the antediluvians, that every imagination of their hearts was only evil, and that continually. You read again of the abominations of Nineveh, of Babylon, of ancient Rome, and of the bestiality that was practiced among them: they were sunk in an awful state of degradation and corruption. They still are under the influence of the god of this world, who rules in the hearts of the children of disobedience, and leads them captive at his will.

Look at the world, and what does it present? Anyone familiar with the history of the nations must know that it has been nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom, power against power, dominion against dominion. The history of the world from the time of its commencement to the present is a scene of war, carnage, and desolation; and if you travel on the continent of Asia, where their history is more familiarly known than that of the inhabitants of this country, their monuments, their picture galleries, and everything represent the very thing of which I have been speaking.

You may go, for instance, into some of the galleries in France, and you may read on the canvas the history of that nation from the third century to this time, and it is a history of battles and combats, blood and destruction, wherein the fiercest passions of the human mind are developed. Here is portrayed massacres that took place at a certain time, and there the desolation and overthrow of a city at another period; the fierce struggle, the falling heroes, and the lifeless corpses are all portrayed on the canvas on the walls, showing that the shedding of human blood—that car– nage and desolation have prevailed everywhere since that nation commenced; and this is called their glory, their pride, their boast: they will point it out as the glory of their nation; and this thing has existed everywhere else, among all nations.

Go into Asia, and you will find the same thing. Histories of the Crusades furnish another example, together with the power, prowess, and bloodshed introduced by Mahomet in his day. The history of the whole world from that time to this presents a scene of war, tyranny, cruelty, and oppression—man struggling with his fellow man, trying to raise himself upon the ruin of others. The thrones of many kings have been supported by a pyramid of human carcasses slain to gratify their thirst for power and influence. There are heroes and great men—statesmen, to whom we are to look upon as examples of power, of dignity, and glory on the earth. Has right had anything to do with it? No. Talk about God and his Prophets! They never thought about any such thing; but, as the Scripture says, “God was not in all their thoughts:” that was out of the question entirely.

Now, what has to be done in such a state of things? Will they forever continue? Must the wicked always triumph? If a man dare to rise as a man of God, cut off his head and trample him under foot! What chance has the principle of truth to obtain a hearing on the earth under such circumstances? There is none. So far as national power has existed to protect right on the earth, we cannot find it anywhere. I presume the nearest approach to it was on this land a few years ago, because a number of oppressed men that struck out against oppression fled to this country to find an asylum. They maintained the principles of liberty and freedom, which they started with for some time: they had suffered the evils of religious oppression, and appreciated freedom therefrom, and were enabled to make laws to protect themselves and their principles for some time.

By-and-by the same evil began to predominate here: religious intolerance was practiced, professed witches and wizards killed, Quakers were outraged and abused, law and order began to be trampled under foot, and evil principles prevailed and began to be tolerated, instead of righteous ones.

People affect to be astonished at the present time that we should feel reluctance at having the appointees of so great and august a personage as the President of the United States to rule over us; and they have made this a cause for the cry of “Treason, rebellion,” &c. We are American citizens, and have at least some rights. Our fathers professed to have, a few years ago, when they said that all mankind had a right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

How was it that ten thousand armed men could come against us in the State of Missouri? And what for? Because we dared worship God according to the dictates of our conscience. Did the State know anything about it? Yes. A memorial was presented to them, and afterwards another to the President of the United States; and Martin Van Buren, the then President, acknowledged to the justness of our cause in the following words—“Your cause is just, but we can do nothing for you.” And so fifteen or twenty thousand American citizens were disfranchised, robbed of their inheritances, and many of them murdered in prison, many put to death, and hundreds perished in consequence of privations they had to endure; and the chief magistrate of the U.S. Government and people could do nothing for them. There is no justice for the servants of God: you must not ask for it or look for it. If it had been anybody else, they could have had it.

With these facts before us, how can any people think it odd that we should mistrust their proceedings, and not have implicit confidence in everything they do. How was it in Illinois? Under the pledge of the Governor of that State, when he pledged himself most solemnly to myself and Dr. Bernhisel, he gave us his most sacred word, if we would go there unarmed, we should be protected. He pledged his honor and the honor of the State. How was it done? Joseph and Hyrum, with myself and Dr. Richards, were cooped up in Carthage jail by mere mob violence under the immediate eye of the Governor. We made a strong protest against the proceedings at that time. Yet he left the prisoners there to be butchered by a mob, and he knew they were coming upon them to kill them. Yet we must believe every word they say, and must rely implicitly upon their word as if it was the oracles of God. They are surprised we cannot do this and feel as they do.

Those holy men were put to death and butchered in a manner that would have disgraced the Algerian pirates. What are you doing here, gentlemen? Why did you come here? Because they would not let you stop in Illinois. Who was the foremost in these things—in counseling your departure? Two United States Senators. Stephen A. Douglas was one; the name of the other I forget. And it was also recommended by Henry Clay. They recommended us to leave our homes, our possessions, and to let a beautiful city then inhabited become desolate, our gardens and fields laid waste, and 30,000 American citizens to be disfranchised. What for? Because they could not find protection in the United States; and I told them of it at that time to their face. There is no law for “Mormonism;” but yet we must have implicit confidence in them. Then, after negotiations had been made and we came away, they were so damnable, mean, and cowardly as to make war on the sick and infirm that could not leave. The poor, miserable, cursed, damned scoundrels, I pray that they may go to hell. [The whole congregation shouted “Amen.“] They now put on a smooth face: they have, perhaps, been at a class meeting, some of them, and wonder why we won’t let these officers come in here—why we won’t let the judges come here, such as they shall appoint—why we won’t let kind, gentlemanly men come here and rule over us? You know such as we have had before in our midst. Suppose we should ask a question or two about this, and reflect a little about some of the proceedings that have taken place here. Here was your Judge Drummond you had here. I was not here at the time, but I heard all about it. He was one of the appointees of the Pierce administration, that preceded this one. He came here and seemed determined to get up a fuss, if he could: that seemed to be his sole object from the time he came until he went away. He called upon a corps of men here to go out and act as a posse comitatus to take up Indians which he wanted to destroy. He was determined to hang somebody. And if he could not get hold of the guilty, he wanted the innocent: he had a thirst for blood in his bosom. He called upon the Marshal of the Territory to summons heaps of men and capture those Indians; and he sent them out in a season of the year that men would rather give anything than go. But he called upon his official powers as U.S. Judge, and threatened them with the pains and penalties of the law. They go; and after wandering the deserts, canyons, and plains, exposing their lives in the frost and snows, wearing themselves and animals, after enduring every kind of privation, and inconvenience—what next? This judge, after he had been so anxious they should go, when their bills were presented at Washington, repudiated all he had done, and says the people ought not to have a penny for what they have done, after forcing them into it by the power which he held in his hands. Thousands and thousands of dollars in labor had been expended by this people at the instance of that Judge, which, remains unpaid. Such men are infernal scoundrels, and ought to be damned; and they will be. Yet they are the representatives here of Uncle Sam, and everybody must take off their hats and bow to such mean reptiles. He is Judge so-and-so; he is such a humble gentleman! And we must be subject to such a state of things as this again! I will say, “We will be damned if we will.” That is about my feelings, gentlemen. Besides that he was such an honorable representative of the U.S., and wanted to introduce such beautiful principles among us, this very same individual was so pure, so religious and holy, so virtuous and righteous, his soul was pained in consequence of the doctrine of polygamy: at the same time, he must bring an eastern whore to sit on the bench with him, and thus insult the people of this Territory, and left his poor wife desolate and forsaken in Oquaka, Illinois. This is one of these immaculate characters they sent out here to ameliorate your condition.

We need not say anything of their squaw operations. With that matter you are familiar.

On the back of these things, the Legislature last year petitioned Congress that they would not send such men here, but send men that had some claim to decency and propriety. But this is one of the greatest insults considered to be, to petition Congress. What right have American citizens to petition? If this is a crime, you will have to blame your Legislature for it. Because they do not want such wicked scoundrels as these to govern them, they have actually sent out an armed force here, with another posse of the same kind of characters to cram them down our throats, and are determined you shall swallow them; and if you are not willing to take them, they are determined you shall have them forced upon you by the point of the bayonet.

These are some of the reasons why we act as we do. Would you like the prospect of having such a set of scamps as those to rule over you—to have them crammed down your throat, whether or not, and be obliged to swallow them and everything associated with them, and allow them to carry on their abominations here, to corrupt your wives and daughters, and spread desolation around? Do you like the picture? The great difficulty in the matter is that we are the people of God, and they are not.

God has set his hand to accomplish his purposes, and they see more intelligence, wisdom, union, righteousness, and correct principles manifested by this people than by any other; and they are afraid it will grow into a great kingdom, and they will not be able to put it down; and they want to nip it in the bud, and pull down righteousness on the earth, that the Devil may triumph. Will they accomplish it? In the name of the Lord God of hosts, they will not. The hand of God is over them, and it will continue to be until they shall be wasted away and destroyed, and every power that is raised against Zion shall perish and be brought to naught.

Now the kingdom of God is as– suming another phase to what it has done. The Lord has set his hand to work to accomplish his purposes, and establish his kingdom, and the reign of right on the earth. Is any man that fears God and works righteousness in torment, trouble, and anxiety here? No. But if a man works iniquity, he is afraid all the time that his head is going to be taken off; and many of those mean scamps that fled from your midst went there with their eyes staring wide open: they had just escaped with their lives. It was very remarkable, but they did escape.

The sinners in Zion are afraid, and fearfulness shall surprise the hypocrite. And I will tell you upon what principle you can see it developed and made manifest, in a portion of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. It says, “When you shall go forth and deliver your testimony, men shall rage against you and tremble because of you.” How many of you Elders, when you have borne your testimony, have seen priests tremble like an aspen leaf! What makes men tremble here? Because there is a concentration of the same power, which is the power of God in opposition to the power of darkness. One thing I feel—I feel like singing Hosanna—Glory to God forever, that we have found a place where a righteous man can live and be protected in his rights. You cannot find it anywhere else.

Is there a Methodist here, a Baptist, a Presbyterian, a Jumper, a Shaker, a Spiritualist, or any other kind of religious person? They can be protected here. Who injures them? They profess in the States to protect everybody in their religious rights; but they are infernal hypocrites: they do not do it.

There is not a country in the world where there is more religious intolerance than in this boasted republic. Where is there a people that have suffered as we have, in any country, for a number of centuries back? And yet we have lived in this model republic, where they proclaim liberty to every man—where they have declared that all men shall worship God according to the dictates of their conscience.

The Lord has introduced a people, at last, among the human family that will protect the people in their rights; that is, they can have a right to do good, but not evil; and if they do evil, they will tremble. Where you see a man shaking—his nerves unstrung, if you could open his heart, you will see something black, unholy, and contrary to the principles of righteousness. But there is nothing here that will make men fear that work righteousness. But woe to the rebellious, to the adulterer, the fornicator, the thief, and the ungodly man; for the hand of God will be over such for evil, if they do not repent. They will be rooted out of Zion.

God has set his hand to work to accomplish his purposes, to gather together his people, to establish the principles of righteousness among men, and overthrow the kingdom of darkness, and establish his kingdom, and afford protection to the honest in heart among all nations, to introduce a reign of righteousness that shall ultimately prevail over the world. The Devil has had rule and dominion, and brought men into bondage, and subjected the righteous to be overthrown and trampled underfoot by evil men in every age; and they want to do it now. But Brigham Young has said, Stop, and they have stopped. Why? Because Brigham said so. When they go back, it will be said, “Well gentlemen, why did you not go into Utah?” “Because Brigham Young pointed his finger and said, Stop, and we stopped.” “Were any of you fired on?” “No.” “Their men were told not to fire on us, and they did not; but Brigham only said, Stop, and we stopped.”

It is the first time for a long while that the principles of righteousness and truth have withstood the powers of darkness, yet it has here so far. Upon what principle? Upon the principle of union, faith, purity—upon the principles of obedience to the laws of the Priesthood, which are the laws of God; and because we have honored God thus far, he has honored us. And what shall we do, to continue his protection with us? Continue to improve, progress in doing right, obey counsel, live our religion, and seek to carry out the designs of the Almighty and his representatives upon the earth. And if we do these things, in the name of Israel’s God we shall arise and flourish, and Zion will become a terror to all nations.

Do you not feel a little of it in your bones—of that spirit growing and increasing? And you feel as easy as can be. I was thinking the other night, there are those poor devils out yonder shivering and shaking in the cold, and we are acting as though there were no armies, and as though there were no United States; and we, but a little handful of people, are dancing, and rejoicing, and praising God, in security. There is a spirit of peace here, and all is right and well. How will that be maintained? By virtue, righteousness, purity, and obedience to the laws of God, and carrying out his designs.

I pray that God may bless you, and guide you on in peace, that we may be saved in his kingdom, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

A Discourse by Elder John Taylor, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, December 6, 1857.

Having been called on this morning to address you for a short time, I arise with very great pleasure to do so; for I always love to meet with the Saints, to gaze upon them, and to contribute my mite in offering instructions to them, so far as the Spirit of the Lord shall give me utterance. I conceive that, without the aid of his Holy Spirit, we as Saints can do very poorly either as speakers or as hearers. For, unless the Spirit of the Lord directs and guides us, we are all of us in a very poor position indeed. In fact, it is very difficult for any of us to understand really and positively what would be for our best good without its aid. In the world they know comparatively nothing about this. They call evil good, and good evil. They call darkness light, and light they call darkness.

Mixed up as we have been with the Gentile world, and having formed our habits and customs among them—having been accustomed to feel as they feel, to reason as they reason, and to associate with them, it is sometimes very difficult for us to understand what would really be for our benefit and advantage, whether pertaining to this world or to the world which is to come.

I presume as we obtain more of the Spirit of God—as we receive faith and intelligence that flow from him and the revelations that he imparts and will continue to impart to those who are faithful, we shall begin to understand things in a very different light from what many of us at the present time understand them. Even in temporal things there is a great difference among men in regard to their judgment, capacities, reasoning powers, and their comprehension of justice, equity, the rights of man, the duties that we owe to each other, and the various responsibilities that devolve upon us. But when we come to contemplate the things of God, the end of our existence, our origin, the position that we occupy in relation to our families, to each other, and to the Church and kingdom of God, it is very difficult sometimes for us to understand things correctly in relation to the position of the world, to the things that have been, to the things that are, and to the things that are to come—to the purposes of God in relation to the human family, and how these purposes will be best advanced. We shall find, in reflecting upon all these matters, that there is a very great difference between the reasoning of the human family upon these matters and the plan that God would adopt for the accomplishment of his purposes and for the bringing to pass the things that have been spoken of by the holy Prophets since the world began.

There is not a position that we can occupy in life, either as fathers, mothers, children, masters, servants, or as Elders of Israel holding the holy Priesthood in all its ramifications, but what we need continually is wisdom flowing from the Lord and intelligence communicated by him, that we may know how to perform correctly the various duties and avocations of life, and to fulfil the various responsibilities that rest upon us. And hence the necessity all the day long, and every day and every week, month, and year, and under all circumstances, of men leaning upon the Lord and being guided by that Spirit that flows from him, that we may not fall into error—that we may neither do anything wrong, say anything wrong, nor think anything wrong, and all the time retain that Spirit, which can only be kept by observing purity, holiness, and virtue, and living continually in obedience to the laws and commandments of God.

There was a people to whom one of the ancient Apostles said, “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things and need not that any man should teach you: because of the anointing that dwelleth in you, which is truth, and no lie.”

When men obey the Gospel with pure hearts—when they are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and have hands laid upon them for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and they receive that Spirit and live in obedience to the dictates of that Spirit, it will bring things past and present to their remembrance, lead them into all truth, and show them things to come. This is part and parcel of our belief.

What is the reason we do not always comprehend things right? Because, in many instances, we give way to temptation. We let our old prepossessions, feelings, and influences, by which we have been governed heretofore, predominate over the Spirit of God, and we fall into error and darkness; and “If the light that is within us becomes darkness, how great is that darkness!” It is not enough, then, that we are baptized and have hands laid upon us for the gift of the Holy Ghost. It is not enough even that we go further than this, and receive our washing and our anointings, but that we daily and hourly and all the time live up to our religion, cultivate the Spirit of God, and have it continually within us “as a well of water springing up unto everlasting life,” unfolding, developing, making manifest the purposes and designs of God unto us, that we may be enabled to walk worthy of the high avocation whereunto we are called, as sons and daughters of God to whom he has committed the principles of eternal truth and the oracles of God in these last days. It would be found very difficult for any individual left to himself to do right, to think right, to speak right, and to fulfil the will and law of God upon the earth; and hence the necessity of the organization of the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth, of the properly organized Priesthood, of the legitimate channel, check, bounds, laws, and governments that the Almighty has introduced into his Church and kingdom for the guidance, instruction, protection, welfare, upbuilding, and further progress of his Church and kingdom upon the earth. As in a school it requires a man more competent to be a teacher than those who are taught, so in the Church of God; and hence the various grades and positions of the Priesthood. When a President, Bishop, or those having authority live up to their religion and cleave unto God, it is expected by us at all times that they will comprehend things under their immediate jurisdiction—things that they control, know the wants of the people and the best course for them to pursue, better than the individuals they teach; and this extends throughout all the various ramifications of the Church of God, from the First Presidency down. And indeed, between the First Presidency and the Lord of Hosts there is a regularly organized channel through which the blessings of his kingdom flow unto his Saints, when they are found in obedience to his laws.

It is something like the streams that water our city. At first they come out in large streams from the mountains; then they are divided off into sections, which spread and diminish into smaller sections: but they all flow through the legitimate channel.

How could any of you water your gardens, if the City Creek should be stopped? It would not only stop the leading channel, but all the little channels. We are made thus to depend upon one another in the order and kingdom of God. Where is the necessity of all this? Because of the things I first mentioned. But have not we all the Spirit of God? We ought to have. Well, then, can we not all understand? Yes, if we live our religion, we can understand the various duties that devolve upon us as individuals—as fathers, mothers, and children, or as Elders of Israel. We can understand those several and distinct duties to a certain extent; but we cannot lead the Church and kingdom of God—we cannot point out the path for it to walk in. Why? Because that does not belong to us. It belongs to the head. One of those little streams that you get to water your garden cannot supply all this city. No: but it can supply your garden, if it flows through the proper channel.

Suppose that little stream should say, “I am independent of the fountain,” would it be so? You know it would not. It is like the branches of a tree and the root and stock of a tree. The branches flourish on a healthy stock, and one little twig on the outside, with a few green leaves upon it and a little fruit, is very productive, beautiful, and pleasant to look upon; but it is no more than a portion of the tree. It is not the tree. Where does it get its nourishment from? From the root and the stock or stem, and through the various branches that exist on the tree. It is only a small portion of the tree. It is all the leaves, twigs, branches, stem, and roots that comprise the tree. The branches do not support the tree, the root, or the stem; but the stem supports the branches, and the roots the stem; and it is through that that life and vivacity flow to the branches.

As a Saint you say, “I think I understand my duty, and I am doing very well.” That may be so. You see the little twig: it is green; it flourishes and is the very picture of life. It bears its part and proportion in the tree, and is connected with the stem, branches, and root. But could the tree live without it? Yes, it could. It need not boast itself and get uplifted and say, “How green I am! And how I flourish! And what a healthy position I am in! How well I am doing! And I am in my proper place and am doing right.” But could you do without the root? No: you bear your proper part and position in the tree. Just so with this people. When they are doing their part—when they are magnifying their calling, living their religion, and walking in obedience to the Spirit of the Lord, they have a portion of his Spirit given to them to profit withal. And while they are humble, faithful, diligent, and observe the laws and commandments of God, they stand in their proper position on the tree: they are flourishing; the buds, blossoms, leaves, and everything about them are all right, and they form a part and parcel of the tree and conduce to its life, health, symmetry, beauty, and general appearance.

But if we do not magnify our calling, what then? We become like withered branches. And what is done with them? A good gardener will cut them off, because they disfigure the tree: they are not pleasant, lovely, and beautiful to look upon. But does the most flourishing branch in the tree sustain the tree? It helps to do it; but it is not the tree: it is dependent on the larger branches, through which the sap or nourishment flows until it comes to the little twig and fruit on the outside of the tree.

This is a fit similitude of the Church and kingdom of God. We are cemented together—united in the bonds of one common covenant. We are part and parcel of the Church and kingdom of God which the Lord has planted on the earth in the last days for the accomplishment of his purposes and the establishment of his kingdom, and the bringing to pass all those things which have been spoken of by all the holy Prophets since the world began. We all stand in our proper places.

While we magnify our callings, we honor our God; while we magnify our calling, we possess a portion of the Spirit of God; while we magnify our calling, we altogether comprise the tree; while we magnify our calling, the Spirit of God flows through the proper channels by which and through which we receive our proper nourishment and are instructed in things pertaining to our welfare, happiness, and interest pertaining to this world and the world to come.

But as it is very difficult to enter into all the minutia pertaining to a tree, a shrub, or herb, so it is difficult to enter into all the duties, responsibilities, and influences brought to bear and weigh upon the Saints of God and upon his Church and kingdom on the earth. For instance, the tree requires water and good soil to nourish it; it requires congenial atmosphere and the hand of the pruner sometimes, in order to keep it right. So does the Church and kingdom of God. There are various influences that are brought to bear on it, in order that it may flourish and grow. How can we grow, as a Church and kingdom, unless we are taught of the Lord through some medium that he has appointed.

Who is there that can rise up and tell the destiny of this Church and kingdom? Who is there, for instance, that can point out the bearings and the operation of the soldiery that are now on our borders? Who can tell the Lord’s design in relation to these matters, and why it is that we are thus situated? Why we are called upon to resist them, few as we now are? Could not the Lord control it otherwise? He could. Has he not the hearts of all men in his keeping? Could he not roll them back very quickly? Yes; or he could cause them to come on here. Why is it that he has allowed them to come to a certain distance, and kept them there, placing them like some of you mothers sometimes do, when you hang up a rod, that the children can see it, and that you can point to when they are naughty?

Why is it that we have been driven and afflicted and persecuted, and our names cast out as evil, and that we have had to endure so many privations, sufferings, toils, and hardships for the last twenty years? Who can solve these questions? Who can enter into the secrets of the Most High and unravel the mysteries that dwell in mind of Jehovah?

Who can tell why these things are brought to operate as they do, and why we are placed in those peculiar circumstances in which we so frequently find ourselves as we travel through this veil of tears? Does that belong to the little twigs and branches? No. It may be a secret in the mind of the great God which is not fully developed unto us. We may comprehend a part of it, and realize in some degree the position we occupy and the dealings of God towards us; but who can tell it in its full bearings? Who can comprehend the end from the beginning? Who can see what the Lord designs towards us as individuals and towards us as a people? Or rather and more directly, who can tell what he has destined concerning his Church and kingdom upon the earth—when and how and by what means it shall progress, whether by affliction or prosperity, whether by passing through scenes of trouble and difficulty, or by elevating us and giving us peace and the prospect of a great deal of good according to our ideas of things?

Who can tell what means the Lord may make use of to benefit you or me? Does it remain for the outside twig or the little stream flowing from the fountain to unravel these matters? No. Who can point out the position we shall take in a Church capacity, in the capacity of the Priesthood, in the capacity of heads of families, in a military capacity, or in any other capacity, in relation to all these matters?

It needs a great controlling, directing influence to sustain, govern, direct, enlighten, and dictate. It needs that every branch of the tree and every twig should be in its proper place, and should receive that nourishment from the proper source, and that spirit, and that intelligence, and that direction which God has ordained according to all the laws of nature and that is interwoven in all his transactions with the human family—that there should be a great directing, controlling influence to guide and direct his affairs.

Furthermore, why is it that there is so much confusion in the world—that we have imbibed so many incorrect principles while living among them, which we find is so difficult to rid ourselves of at this time? It is because men have not been under that influence and power, but every man has done that which he has considered to be right, without any respect to the great fundamental principles of government and the laws that ought to regulate and control the human family. This has been one great cause of the calamities that have afflicted the world in a social, in a family, and in a national capacity; for nations, like individuals, have all corrupted themselves, have forsaken God, and have never been under the great governing influence that ought to regulate and control the affairs of the world.

And why is it that we sometimes feel so much of the spirit of rebellion in our bosoms and the spirit of independence, falsely so called, and feel so desirous to pursue our own course, and a latent principle within us which is so reluctant to render obedience to the laws of the kingdom of God?

In the first place, it is because of our early associations—of our former habits of thought and reflection. In the second place, it is because we do not cultivate sufficiently the Spirit of the Lord, which, if we did, would show unto us the right way and enable us to appreciate the privileges we enjoy. It is, perhaps, one of the hardest things for those associated with the Church and kingdom of God, or for the human family, to render obedience to the laws that regulate that kingdom and to the Priesthood which God has placed in his Church to govern it. Why? Because of our former associations and habits, and because of the power of the prince and power of the air who rules in the hearts of the children of disobedience, and goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

We are apt to look at things in too narrow a compass, like a little twig on the end or furthest branch of a tree. It is very flourishing; its buds and blossoms are very elegant and fragrant, because it is in a healthy position. But then it would be very foolish for that little twig to say it knew all about it, when you could not cut it from the tree a single day but it would wither and die, and all its beauty and fragrance would depart.

Have we any light, any intelligence, any knowledge? Have we advanced in the principles of truth communicated to us? Yes. How did we get our intelligence? Tell me, ye wise men of the world—you that have mixed with the world and have studied their laws, principles of government, usages, habits, and customs, and have made yourselves familiar with their erudition. What do you know of the relation and fitness of things, of the position man occupies to his Maker? What do you know in relation to yourselves as individuals? What do you know in relation to the purposes and designs of God? What do you know about the first principles of the Gospel of Christ? I do not think you know anything about them. If you do, you are wiser than men I have come across in my travels through the world. Just as that little twig is indebted for its life and vigor to the tree, so are you indebted entirely to the Lord for the light and intelligence you have received on every subject. You are indebted to the Spirit of God for your wisdom and intelligence, as much as the little twig is indebted to the tree for its vitality, leaves, buds, and fragrance.

If that is the case so far, how much more will it be so in the future? Who is there that can contemplate the mind of God and unravel the designs of Jehovah? Who can foretell the destiny of the human family? Who can point out the path that we as a people shall walk in? Who shall say, in regard to any of the dealings of God with us, that this is right and that is wrong—that such a thing is for our benefit, and another thing is for our injury? Who can mend, alter, or change these events, and make them better than they are? If we cannot tell all these things, let us be reminded of another thing—never to find fault with things as they transpire—with things that we cannot improve. Some of us may say, “Well, it is a little hard that we should be placed as we are at the present time; and if we had been in Egypt, it might have been better with us. However, if we were now in Egypt, we could not say we were eating the leeks and onions, for we are now eating them. Our enemies are on the outside. But we might say we are thrown into awkward circumstances. We have had to go out in the inclement season of the year to face a foe, because of our religion; and if we had been somewhere else we might have avoided it.” You might, and you might have not: that would altogether depend on circumstances.

If you had been among those fellows out eastward, you would have been worse off a great deal. I would rather be in our position than be in theirs. “But the future!” say you: “How do we know but next spring they will come in here and swallow us completely up?” Brother Brigham says, “We shall have to be greased first.” And there is no grease on their cattle to do it at present. What do we know about these things? I speak so that we may reflect upon them. “We would a little rather those men were away somewhere else.” I do not know that I would. I feel, notwithstanding our inexperience, and the many blunders we make, and the various evils many of us fall into, that we are the best people under the face of the heavens, and that God has called us, and set us apart, and placed his name among us, and given unto us the oracles of God to reveal unto us his mind and will, that by us he may establish his kingdom on the earth.

In relation to anything that has or may transpire, I feel that we are in the hands of God, and all is right. “But we would like to have whipped those fellows out”—so say some of us. “We would like to see them turn tail too and go off their own way.“ But I would not, because the Lord would not. I feel perfectly easy that I am in the hands of God, and everything I have; and so are you. We are his people, and he is our God, and his Spirit dictates, rules, controls, and governs; and while we do right, and keep the commandments of God, and live up to our privileges, we have a right to claim the Spirit of God and live in the enjoyment of it every moment of our life.

As it regards his kingdom and purposes, I would rather risk his judgment and plan than my own. I feel myself so incompetent, and I believe you are the same, and know so little about the future designs of God and his purposes pertaining to the human family, and what will most conduce to our individual welfare and to our welfare as a people, that I do not want to put my hand to steady the ark.

I will say, “It is the Lord, and let him do what seemeth him good.” If he has a mind to let the Devil send up one thousand, ten thousand, or five hundred thousand men against us, all right. I was going to say, Who the devil cares? We are in the hands of God. And while we are willing to do his work and fulfil the duties that devolve upon us, it is his business to take care of his Saints. He has said it is, and I feel like saying amen to it.

I want to learn what my duty is, not only for one day, but every day, and then to try to do it. This is a feeling we ought all to have, as I understand it. A great work has to be established on the earth.

We read and talk about things and reflect upon what the Lord is going to do. He is going to build up his kingdom, and all kingdoms, powers, and dominions will be brought into subjection to the kingdom of our God; and “every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.”

These are very nice words, and the prospect is very pleasing indeed. But, the question is, Can we acknowledge the hand of God? Can I acknowledge his dealings with my family? If you reflect back, some of you were in better circumstances than you are now: you were better clad and provided for in many respects. While you reflect on this, and find that you have many hard things to cope with, can you say, “It is the hand of God; let him do as seemeth him good?” If you have to go out into the cold storms and snow, and if your wives are troubled about it, you sisters, can you say, “It is the hand of God, and let him do as seemeth him good?”

Can you feel that you are the children of God, associated with his kingdom, and that it is one thing to talk about a thing, and another to do it? Can you feel that you are willing to do your duties, magnify your callings, submit to whatever the Lord places upon your shoulders, and say, “It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good?” If we, who profess to be Latter-day Saints—we, who have taken upon us the name of Christ—we, who have been baptized in his name for the remission of sins and had the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost—who have received our washings, and anointings, and teachings from the mouthpiece of Jehovah—we, who have lived under the sunshine of the light and intelligence that flowed from the mouth of God—if we, who have partaken of so great and precious privileges and blessings, cannot do these things, how long will it be before every creature in heaven, on the earth, and under the earth will be heard to say, “Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him,” &c.? It is necessary for us to reflect upon these duties and responsibilities, and try, each one of us, so to live, act, move, and obey, and so to fulfil the laws, commandments, and ordinances of God, that in every position we occupy we shall move along like a well-organized piece of machinery, or like a tree whereon every branch, stem, leaf, twig, and blossom will be found to flourish, that we may all magnify our God and flourish before him.

Do you not think the Lord will take care of his own tree or people? And do you not think he will do just what is right? Some of us would have liked to have killed a lot of those soldiers. I would, if the Lord had said so; and if he did not want it, I did not. It is rather a dirty business anyhow; and if he has a mind to use some other means and let them wiggle themselves out their own way, I have no objections to it. I would rather go out in the canyon and live on bread and beef than go to work at killing men. If the Lord can make use of us in that way, it is all right.

I do not remember having read in any history, or had related to me any circumstance where an army has been subjugated so easily, and their power wasted away so effectually without bloodshed, as this in our borders. If this is not the manifestation of the power of God to us, I do not know what is. Has any man’s life been lost in it? No—not one. It is true our brethren have been fired upon; but their balls failed of doing the injury that was expected. Our brethren were told not to retaliate, and they did not do it. Where is there such a manifestation of the power of God?

Suppose you or I had had the dictation of this matter, we should have been firing clear away on the Sweetwater, and killed a lot of them before they got here. It was not we, then, that directed this matter. No. Who was it? Why, it was those who are placed over us; and those very things that seemed hard for us to do at that time have really accomplished one of the greatest things that history has yet developed. The power of God never was made more manifest.

Where did it take place, and how? Out of the fountainhead. It flowed through the stem of the tree: it came from City Creek Canyon, to go to one of our former figures, and through the proper channels. My judgment would have said, “Go and kill them off,” long ago. I should have said, “Holloa, here!—150 men drive those teams in here that are on Ham’s Fork before the soldiers arrive, and then we will kill off the scoundrels by piecemeal.” And that would have been the judgment of most men: it would have been according to natural reasoning. But God does not see as men; he reasons not as man. Although we may partially comprehend our individual duties, we do not understand how to regulate the Church of God. It needs the regular organization and the Spirit to direct through the proper channels; and hence the result of these events that are manifest now before our eyes.

Would you like the soldiers away? I do not know that I would; I do not care anything about it. Perhaps the Lord may have hung them up there, like the mother hangs up the rod and points to it. Does the mother want to hurt the child? No. Neither does she want to be continually scolding. The Lord may not be angry at us, but he does not want us to be continually disobeying his authority and going contrary to his law.

Suppose Uncle Sam should rise up in his red hot wrath, and send 50,000 men here—[President Brigham Young says his own fire would burn him out]—who of us can tell the result? I speak of these things that we may reflect. Who can tell what will come next? Who knows about the future? You see the position we are placed in—that we are dependent on the Lord and on his counsel, and all that we can do or say will be according to that from this time henceforth and forever. Zion begins to rise, her light being come. The glory of the Lord is rising upon us.

Will the law of God go from Zion, and his word from Jerusalem? Will he rebuke strong nations afar off and manifest his power through his Priesthood? How, when, and in what manner will these things be brought about? Who can say? Do you not see that we are just as ignorant today in regard to many of the events that pertain to the kingdom of God as we were on the day we were baptized? At the same time, we were then ignorant in relation to many principles that are now plain and familiar to us. And so it will be from this time forward. It needs a guiding hand—a man filled with the Spirit of God, and not only that, but the Lord to communicate with, that he may comprehend the designs of God and lead forth Israel in the paths they should go.

What shall we do, then? Shall we begin to fret, and whine, and grunt, and groan about this and that, and because we think things are in a very bad fix? We ought to feel that we are in the Church and kingdom of God, and that God is at the helm, and that all is right and will continue to be. I feel as easy as an old shoe.

What if we should be driven to the mountains? Let us be driven. What if we have to burn our houses? Why, set fire to them with a good grace, and dance a jig round them while they are burning. What do I care about these things? We are in the hands of God, and all is right, Brother Brigham says we are used to it, and we shall not feel it hard.

Brethren, we are eternal beings and are associated with eternal principles: we are in the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth, and that kingdom is an eternal kingdom, and we are bound by and associated with eternal principles: we are beginning to live forever, and are acting not only for time, but for eternity. And as our minds expand and the things of God unfold themselves unto us from time to time, we shall see the fitness of things and the wisdom, guidance, and protection of Jehovah, just as much as it has been manifest unto us in the events that have lately transpired. And if we go to sleep or die, it is only the starting point to live forever.

We have got within us the principles of eternal life. If our bodies shall crumble into the dust, we shall move in another sphere and associate with other intelligences that are connected with the same kingdom and government, and continue to live and roll forth the purposes of God. And if we should have a war and a few things like this, never mind: who cares? Just grin and bear it. Do right and cleave to God, and all will go off well.

These ideas lead us to reflection and to consider the designs of God; and if we are faithful, they will tend to purify us. No trouble for the present is joyous, but grievous; yet it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness to those who are exercised therewith; while we look not at the things that are seen, but things that are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

How many evil propensities yet remain in our bosoms! How prone are we to depart from the right path! How liable are our spirits to rebel against the order and government of God! How many feelings are in us that do not accord with those principles that dwell in the bosom of Jehovah and cannot associate with those intelligences that are associated with him in the eternal world! How necessary it is that we should have faith, teaching, instruction, and a whole train of events to keep our minds awake to the subject of our existence as eternal beings, that we may honor our calling on the earth, honor our God, fulfil our destiny, to prepare us for a celestial exaltation in the eternal world! Do you not see the necessity of these trials and afflictions and scenes we have to pass through? It is the Lord who puts us in positions that are the most calculated to promote the best interests of his people. My opinion is, that, far from these things that now surround us being an injury to us and the kingdom of God, they will give it one of the greatest hoists that it has ever had yet; and all is right and all will be right, if we keep the commandments of God. What is the position, then, that we ought to occupy—every man, woman, and child? Do our duty before God—honor him, and all is right. And concerning events yet to transpire, we must trust them in the hands of God, and feel that “whatever is is right,” and that God will control all things for our best good and the interest of his Church and kingdom on the earth. If we live here and prosper, all right; if we leave here, all right; and if we have to pass through affliction, all right. By-and-by, when we come to gaze on the fitness of things that are now obscure to us, we shall find that God, although he has moved in a mysterious way to accomplish his purposes on the earth and his purposes relative to us as individuals and as families, all things are governed by that wisdom which flows from God, and all things are right and calculated to promote every person’s eternal welfare before God. May God bless you and guide you in the way of truth continually. Amen.

A Sermon by Elder John Taylor, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, November 1, 1857.

I shall take the liberty, this afternoon, of selecting a text. In the Second Epistle and last verse of the Gospel according to St. Brigham to Colonel Alexander, will be found the following words—“WE SAY IT IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD OR NOTHING.”

We revere the testimony of ancient men of God, as recorded in what are often termed “the Scriptures of divine truth;” and it is quite common for men to refer to what the Prophets have said and to reason from their words. Now, I have been of the impression, for some length of time, that the sayings of modern men of God are of as great importance as the sayings of ancient men of God, and a great deal more applicable to our condition.

In looking at the Epistle to Colonel Alexander, and considering the important things said in it, I was particularly struck with the last words, which compose my text—“The kingdom of God or nothing.”

In other days, men have had their theories and their ideas about Christianity, Paganism, &c., which were referred to this morning. But we believe in living Priesthood—in present revelation—in the Church and kingdom of God as it now exists on the earth, as well as in things that were spoken of by ancient Prophets: consequently we believe in adapting our lives and actions to the position that we now occupy as servants of the true and living God—as God’s representatives on the earth—as those who are destined to lay the foundation of that kingdom which shall stand forever.

What is the kingdom of God? This is a question that is in almost everybody’s mouth. Every Saint is interested in this question. We need not go into the nonsense of sectarianism: we will let it go entirely, hook and line; for we know enough about it to care nothing about it, nor about the absurd ideas entertained by sectarians of the kingdom of God.

The question is, What is the kingdom of God? How do we stand related to it? What is our position and what are the duties devolving upon us today, tomorrow, and every day of our lives, as servants of the living God?

In the Epistle I have referred to, there is something said about the struggles we have endured, the privations we have suffered, the difficulties we have passed through, the wrongs and indignities that have been heaped upon us continually, and the persecutions that have been multiplied upon us as a people, even from the day of the organization of this Church to the present. There was in it a strong, marked, and determined expression. It gave Colonel Alexander and whomsoever it concerned to understand that it was time that these things should cease—that this people as well as every other people should have their rights, and these rights they were bent upon having at all events, not fearing the result—that we, as a people, are determined to be free; for with us it is—“The kingdom of God or nothing.”

When we talk about kingdoms, we talk about governments, rule, authority, power; for wherever there is a kingdom, these principles exist to a greater or less extent. The kingdoms of this world have their powers, authorities, rule, regulations, lawgivers, &c., according to the kind of government they adopt. Hitherto we, as a people, have been amalgamated to a great extent with other nations. It is true we have had a Church government, Church laws, Church discipline, and by the holy Priesthood associated with this Church we have governed the people. Still we have been subject to another government, power, and authority, to Gentile rule, Gentile dominion, Gentile laws, to Gentile usages and customs, to which we have been willingly subject, so far as they were righteous; and it was told us by the Lord, that if we observed the laws of God, we need not break the laws of the land.

The laws of man we have kept faithfully, adhering tenaciously to the principles of the Constitution of the Government, under which we have lived. We have not transgressed them in one iota, but have maintained our relationship honorably with the nation we have been associated with.

The first thing we did when we came to this land was to organize a government for our protection, which was according to the pattern set us by our neighbors—Oregon, for instance; then represented our case to the United States.

We came out here because we were disfranchised, exiled, robbed of our rights as American citizens, and forced to wander in the wilderness to seek among the savages of the forest that freedom denied us by Christianity. Did we in this transgress any laws of the United States, depart from any usage, or act contrary to any established custom or law of the Government? We did not. We applied for the sanction of Congress to our doings, and it was a matter of astonishment and surprise that we should take such steps, after the usage we had received. Our course was applauded by statesmen, senators, members of Congress, and the authorities of the United States generally; and all our transactions, constitution, and laws were approved gladly, considered right, and according to the usages and laws of the United States.

By-and-by we petitioned for a Territorial Government and obtained it. Our enemies have all the time been complaining of us that we have infringed upon the Constitution and laws of the United States. But I ask, Wherein have we done it? Who appointed our Governor? The President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, according to the usage which exists, but indeed contrary to any right they possessed; still he did it. Who appointed our Judges, United States Marshal, Secretary of State, and Indian Agency? The President of the United States.

Has there been another Governor appointed? I suppose there has; but he has not yet been qualified. No man has authority to act in the gubernatorial capacity in this Territory at the present time, according to the laws of the United States, but Governor Young. No Governor has a right to act here, although he may have been appointed by the President of the United States, until he comes here and is qualified. No man has ever come yet to be qualified, and consequently Governor Young stands legitimately in that place.

What law have we transgressed? I have tried to find out. We have examined the Constitution of the United States and the laws pertaining to these matters; and if anybody here or elsewhere can point out any law that we have transgressed as American citizens, they know more about it than I have been able to learn; and I should like such a person to put me in possession of that information.

What next? Why, on the back of this, after lying about us, slandering, abusing, and imposing upon us, trampling upon our rights, and sending the meanest curses among us that ever disgraced the footstool of God—men they are ashamed of themselves, they have now sent an armed force contrary to law and right and to the principles that ought to prevail in the United States. They have no more right to do this than I have to cut any of your throats.

There is no authority guaranteed to the President of the United States to perpetrate so diabolical an act as the one he has engaged in. Why is it that this is done? Is it because we are worse than other people? No. After raking up everything they could, before I left the States, the only thing they could find against us as a people was that we had burned some books belonging to the United States’ Court; and since that I have seen published affidavits, totally denying any such thing, by the Clerk of that Court.

The President of the United States has now taken upon himself the responsibility of sending into this Territory an armed force to trample upon the rights of 100,000 American freemen, on purpose to subserve a political interest, for the benefit of his own party. It becomes a serious question with us what to do under these circumstances.

Shall we lie down and let those scoundrels cut our throats? is the first question. Shall we untie our neckcloths and tell them to come on and cut and carve away as they please, and knock down, drag out, and introduce their abominations among us—their cursed Christian institutions—to prostitute our women and lay low our best men? Shall we suffer it, I say?

There are certain things that are sacred to us and to every man and woman. If we submit to a thing of that sort, we submit to see the very institutions of our own nation trampled under foot—the Constitution of our country desecrated and rent in pieces. We submit to see the bonds severed that have bound this nation together, and blood, anarchy, and and confusion prevail.

If they have a mind to cut each other’s throats, we have no objections. We say, Success to both parties. But when they come to cut ours, without ceremony, we say, Hands off, gentlemen. We are not so religious as to sit down meekly and tamely submit to these things. We understand something of the difference between what some call treason, or treasonable acts, and base submission to the will of a tyrant, who would seek to bring us into servile chains—into perfect submission to his sway.

We are engaged here in protecting ourselves, our wives, and families—in guarding everything that is sacred and honorable among men from invasion and oppression of some of the most corrupt wretches that ever disgraced the footstool of God.

“This is pretty plain talk,” say you. I meant to talk plain: I do not wish to be misunderstood. I have lately been conversant with some of their proceedings, having been in their neighborhood for some time recently. Some of our brethren, who went among them with messages, have said that such was the filth and obscenity of their language—cursing, swearing, and every meanness, that, rather than stay all night with them, they chose to go off some distance and lie on the ground. If these are the feelings of our brethren, some of whom are rough and uncouth in their manners, we know not how our sisters would feel in such delectable society.

We will not submit to such a state of things forever. If you, our enemies, are determined to invade our rights, trample upon our liberties, snatch from us the rich boon we have inherited from our fathers, to make us bow in vile subservience to your will, we will resist you: we will not submit to it. We will say, Stand back and give us our rights. We will act the part of freemen, and we say it shall be, “The kingdom of God or nothing.”

Why is it that we are persecuted? It is because we believe in the establishment of the kingdom of God upon the earth—because we say and know that God has established his kingdom—because the principles of righteousness are introduced among the children of men, and they expose the evils, corruption, priestcraft, political craft, and the abominations that everywhere exist. They lay naked before all men the abominable acts of the human family. It is not because there is evil among us, but because there is goodness, truth, holiness. It is because God has spoken, and his word has had effect on our hearts, to govern and influence our conduct.

It is because of these things that the present crusade has been set on foot against us, and no doubt it began to rage at the very time that you were humbling yourselves before God, when you commenced the reformation and were repenting of your sins and making restoration. At the time the Spirit of God began to be manifested among you, the spirit of the Devil began to rage among them against you, stirring them up to pluck you down, root you up, and destroy you from the face of the earth.

Why was it that you had the reformation among you, that you were stirred up to repent of your sins and make restitution? It was because you had the holy Priesthood in your midst—the spirit of prophecy and revelation—because you had men among you who could commune with the Most High and contemplate his purposes and designs towards the human family. It was because they saw evils existing among you and dare tell of it, and the Spirit of God pointed the word at your hearts, which brought you to repentance.

If we had corruption, grog holes, rowdyism, and every kind of pollution among us, and were this place permitted to be a perfect sink of iniquity, where the gambler, horse racer, blackleg, and every evil character would be tolerated, then we should be hail fellows, well met, with our enemies. The wicked would bow and scrape to us all over the earth: they would call us gentlemen everywhere, and we should be respected. It would be as it was with a few of our brethren who had to play a ruse upon some of the Missourians. The “Mormon” boys were flying from a mob and had to pass a meetinghouse when the people were coming out from their prayers. These pious souls suspected that the brethren were “Mormons.”

“You are ‘Mormons,’ damn you,” said they.

“We are not, damn you. Let go of my horse, or I will knock your damned head off.”

“Oh, we discover you are not ‘Mormons,’ gentlemen: we are under a mistake;” and they let them go.

Who is it that is acquainted with this people and does not know that they are better, more pure, more virtuous and true to their God and his laws, and more faithful to the laws and Constitution of their country than any other people? I know the difference, for I have been among others and seen their actions.

What is the cause, then, of the evil planned against us? It is because we are the Church and kingdom of God. Have we ever left our houses to interfere with other people anywhere? Did you ever hear of a crusade by a set of “Mormons” upon any other people? Did the “Mormons,” when in Nauvoo, go to Carthage, La Harpe, Warsaw, or to any place, and interfere with the rights of anybody? Have we done it here? Have we gone to Mexico, California, Kansas, Nebraska, Oregon, Minnesota, or to any of the surrounding districts, to interfere with their business or rights?

If there has been such a crusade, I have remained altogether ignorant of it, as to when it took place, who were engaged in it, and how many.

If we do not interfere with anybody else, what right has anybody else to interfere with us? I speak now as an American citizen. I speak, if you please, as a politician. On this ground I ask what right any people or number of people have to come and interfere with us? There is no such right in the catalogue, gentlemen.

They, however, do interfere with us; and what is the cause of it? It is because of the kingdom of God—because of the truth of God—because of the Spirit of God and certain principles that exist among this people. And what are they? It is polygamy that they are so incensed against. They need not draw down such a long face about that, for they themselves do a thousand times worse than that, were it even as heinous a crime as they say it is.

It is not polygamy that they are so horrified at. I know their meanness and abominations, and have told them of them scores of times. There have been from the foundation of the world two principles and powers—the principles of darkness and the principles of light, the principles of truth and the principles of error, the Spirit of God and the spirit of the Devil—and there has been a mighty struggle between these two principles and powers.

Hitherto the good, the virtuous, the pure and upright, the men of God, the Saints of the Most High have been trampled under foot and cast out—have wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, dwelt in deserts, dens, holes, and caves of the earth, of whom the world was not worthy; and the spirit and power of darkness have prevailed over the powers of light, error over truth, and the spirit of the Wicked One over the Spirit of God, to a certain extent; so much so, that truth, equity, and righteousness have always been at a discount, and men of God have been deprived of their rights and robbed of their inheritances.

God has had a certain design to accomplish, associated with the human family; and I suppose that everything which has taken place has been just. I am not going to find fault with God or the Devil. I suppose the Devil is as necessary as any other being, or he would not have been.

The righteous have been trampled under foot, but it is well with them. It was not their day. The time for them to reign and have dominion was not come. While wrapt in prophetic vision, they could view the events that were to transpire in the last days, and prophesied of a kingdom that should be set up and stand forever. They looked with joyful anticipation to this day. They expected a time when a certain power would exist on the earth, that would be more powerful than the powers of darkness, when the righteous should no more be trodden underfoot, cast out, and oppressed—when the kingdoms of this world should become the kingdoms of our God and his Christ, over which he should rule forever.

Men in our day have got hold of many odd ideas. The Millerites, for instance, have talked about Christ’s coming to reign on the earth at a certain time; and they were all going to be transfigured, changed, caught up, &c. In France and elsewhere, they had their social systems; but they knew no more about God, Christ, or anything of this kind than the Devil, I was going to say; but they did not begin to know as much as the Devil about God and his ways. These Socialists talked about a great millennium, and people went to them, expecting them to be a very righteous, praying people. They were something like the man whom the Indian thought was a “Mormon;” but when the Indian found out that he did not pray, that convinced him to the contrary. They did not regard God or his laws, but took up a little twig of Christianity and planted it onto their infidelity. They were going to ameliorate the condition of the human family and bring about the millennium.

In relation to the kingdom of God, what is it? Is it a spiritual kingdom? Yes. Is it a temporal kingdom? Yes. Does it relate to the spiritual affairs of men? Yes. Does it relate to the temporal of men? Yes. And when it is fully established upon the earth, the will of God will be done upon the earth precisely as it is done in heaven.

It is the will of God we are trying to do at the present time, in trying to fulfil his law, submit to his ordinances, and obey his commandments—not in one little item, but in every action of our lives, seeking to be perfectly submissive to the admonitions of the Almighty.

Was the kingdom that the Prophets talked about, that should be set up in the latter times, going to be a Church? Yes. And a State? Yes, it was going to be both Church and State, to rule both temporally and spiritually. It may be asked, How can we live under the dominion and laws of the United States and be subjects of another kingdom? Because the kingdom of God is higher, and its laws are so much more exalted than those of any other nation, that it is the easiest thing in life for a servant of God to keep any of their laws; and, as I have said before, this we have uniformly done.

Who made this earth? The Lord.

Who sustains it? The Lord.

Who feeds and clothes the millions of the human family that exist upon it, both Saint and sinner? The Lord.

Who upholds everything in the universe? The Lord.

Who provides for the myriads of cattle, fish, and fowl that inhabit the sea, earth, and air? The Lord.

Who has implanted in them that instinct which causes them to take care of their young, and that power by which to propagate their species? The Lord.

Who has given to man understanding? The Lord.

Who has given to the Gentile philosopher, machinist, &c., every particle of intelligence they have with regard to the electric telegraph, the power and application of steam to the wants of the human family, and every kind of invention that has been brought to light during the last century? The Lord.

Who sets up the kings, emperors, and potentates that rule and govern the universe? The Lord.

And who is there that acknowledges his hand? Where is the nation, the people, the church even, or other power that does it? You may wander east, west, north, and south, and you cannot find it in any church or government on the earth, except the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

What is the cause of all the darkness, confusion, and misery that abound, the imprisonment and chains, and the thousand evils that afflict mankind, embracing all the wars, bloodshed, and distress of nations? It is because they do not acknowledge the hand of the Lord in all things, nor understand his will. They pursue their own course, and do not seek the wisdom and intelligence of God.

Why is it that thrones will be cast down, empires dissolved, nations destroyed, and confusion and distress cover all people, as the Prophets have spoken? Because the Spirit of the Lord will be withdrawn from the nations in consequence of their wickedness, and they will be left to their own folly.

Who has a right to rule the nations, to control kingdoms, and govern all the people of the earth? Are you a father? Have you wives and children? Do you feed, clothe, and provide for them? Yes. Have they a right to rebel against you? If they did, what would you think of such children?

Such is the position of the whole human family; such is the position of the whole world—of every society, religious, political, social, or otherwise; and none of them acknowledge God or are obedient to his laws.

Now, then, suppose you had a farm, and you put people on it to work—you fed and clothed them, and expected them to be obedient to you; but instead of that, while you were feeding, clothing, and taking care of them, they were abusing you, departing from your laws, transgressing your precepts, and listening to somebody else who was your enemy, instead of listening to you—would you let them remain forever on your farm, or would you by-and-by put somebody else in their place that would be more faithful to you?

The transactions of men are even more outrageous against the Lord, and the only excuse for them is their ignorance. What! Are Christians ignorant? Yes, as ignorant of the things of God as the brute beast.

Let us look at it a little further. If you wished the welfare of your family, would you not chastise them? You would, if they did wrong. Would you not try to make them submit to your law? You certainly would; and if they would not, after you had pleaded with them and chastised them, you would disinherit them. The Lord said of Abraham, “I know he will fear me and command his children after him to do it.” It was this principle that recommended him to the favor of God.

What would you think of the conduct of a God who would let the human family continue forever to transgress his law without interfering? You would think he was getting foolish and in his dotage—that he did not understand himself nor correct principles in allowing a lot of bad boys to rise up and increase around him, letting evil principles exist instead of righteous ones, and the wicked afflict and persecute the good with impunity.

The time was to come, and is now, that God has set up his kingdom upon the earth, and he is determined that men shall be in subjection to his laws. Can the Lord go to any other people but this and declare his will? He cannot. There is not a nation, kingdom, power, or people—there is not a political, moral, social, philosophical, or religious society in the world that would receive the word of God, except this people.

If there cannot be a people anywhere found that will listen to the word of God and receive instructions from him, how can his kingdom ever be established? It is impossible! What is the first thing necessary to the establishment of his kingdom? It is to raise up a Prophet and have him declare the will of God; the next is to have people yield obedience to the word of the Lord through that Prophet. If you cannot have these, you never can establish the kingdom of God upon the earth.

What is the kingdom of God? It is God’s government upon the earth and in heaven.

What is his Priesthood? It is the rule, authority, administration, if you please, of the government of God on the earth or in the heavens; for the same Priesthood that exists upon the earth exists in the heavens, and that Priesthood holds the keys of the mysteries of the revelations of God; and the legitimate head of that Priesthood, who has communion with God, is the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator to his Church and people on the earth.

When the will of God is done on earth as it is in heaven, that Priesthood will be the only legitimate ruling power under the whole heavens; for every other power and influence will be subject to it. When the millennium which we have been speaking of is introduced, all potentates, powers, and authorities—every man, woman, and child will be in subjection to the kingdom of God; they will be under the power and dominion of the Priesthood of God: then the will of God will be done on the earth as it is done in heaven.

This places man in his true relationship to the Most High; and while others are boasting of their own intelligence, powers, authority, rule, greatness, and might, our boast, glory, might, strength, and power are in the Lord. Do we have any temporal blessings? We acknowledge the hand of God in it. Do we have spiritual blessings? We acknowledge the hand of God in it. Do we do wrong and receive chastisement? We acknowledge his hand in it, and consider it a blessing. Are we in difficulties? We acknowledge the hand of God therein, and consider that it is necessary we should be tried and proved in all things, that we may be counted worthy to associate with the intelligences that surround the throne of God. Do we have prosperity? We acknowledge the hand of God in it, and pray him for wisdom to use properly what he has put in our hands. Do we possess scientific knowledge—knowledge on agriculture or any other kind of knowledge? We acknowledge his hand in it. Are we here in these mountains, surrounded, as a people, by the barriers of the everlasting hills, brought out from our enemies to inherit these valleys? We acknowledge the hand of God in it. Does an army come to make war on us? We acknowledge the hand of God in it. We feel that we are in his hands, and say, “It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth good unto him, and we will seek to do what is right on our part.” Have we to go to war? We will acknowledge the hand of God in it. If we are told not to kill our enemies, we will not kill them, but cultivate a spirit of meekness and humility, doing what the Priesthood of God dictates—what the servants of the living God tell us. In peace and prosperity, war and adversity, we will lean on the hand of God, and acknowledge it, and say, “Hallelujah! The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.”

What is it we are seeking to do? Is it to get a farm, a house, or a possession of any kind? Who is anxious about such things, which are here today and gone tomorrow? They are well enough in their place.

Some of you are tried because you do not have many things you would like to have. If you had those things, you would not be tried in that point, and it is therefore necessary you should be placed in that position. It may be necessary, after awhile, that you should be tried with more of the things of this life than you know what to do with.

With none is the Lord God angry except those who do not acknowledge his hand in all things. What does it matter whether we are farming, building, planting, fighting, or anything else, if we are doing as we are told? Who cares? I do not. Let matters come in whatever way they have a mind to, it is all right, if we do right.

As eternal beings, associated with eternity that was and with eternity that is to come—beings that dwelt in eternal light before we came here, we are now seeking for salvation, preparing for celestial inheritances in the eternal worlds. This is what we are after: we are trying to lay a foundation for ourselves, for our progenitors, and for our posterity, that will endure and extend while countless ages roll; and we are taught the principles by which we may obtain this salvation by the holy Priesthood—by the revelations of God communicated to us through that Priesthood.

And now, having been forced from the United States, after having been driven time and time again from our homes by our murderous enemies—having fulfilled all the requirements that God or man could require of us, and kept every law necessary for us to observe—after all this, and more, I say, shall we suffer those poor, miserable, damned, infernal scoundrels to come here and infringe upon our sacred rights?

[”NO!” resounded throughout the Tabernacle, making the walls of the building tremble.]

NO! It shall be, “The kingdom of God or nothing” with us. That is my text, I believe; and we will stick to it—we will maintain it; and, in the name of Israel’s God, the kingdom of God shall roll on, and all the powers of earth and hell cannot stop its progress. It is onward, ONWARD, ONWARD, from this time henceforth, to all eternity.

[Voices of “Amen.“]

“Are you not afraid of being killed?” you may ask me. No. Great conscience! Who cares about being killed? They cannot kill you. They may shoot a ball into you, and your body may fall; but you will live. Who cares about dying? We are associated with eternal principles: they are within us as a well springing up to eternal life. We have begun to live forever.

Who would be afraid of a poor, miserable soldier—a man that gets eight dollars a month for killing people, and a miserable butcher at that—one of the poorest curses in creation? Mean as the Americans are, they will not, many of them, hire for soldiers. But the Government must hire foreigners for eight dollars a month to come out here to kill us! Who is afraid of them? Let them come on or stay and wiggle, it is all right.

We are the Saints of God; we have the kingdom of God, and the devils in hell and all the wicked men on the earth cannot take it from us. We shall rule and have dominion in the earth, and they cannot help themselves. They can take their own course. They may fight against us, if they like, or they can back out and leave us; but the kingdom will go on. They may take what course they please: the kingdom is ours, and we are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

It is for us to live our religion, keep God’s commandments, and we shall be saved: we shall thus have the honor of doing something for the kingdom of God, in rolling back the flood of darkness that is enveloping the universe, and preparing ourselves for dominion on the earth and eternal exaltation in the kingdom of God forever.

God bless you and preserve you in purity and holiness before him, that you may inherit all you anticipate, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ! Amen.

A Discourse by Elder John Taylor, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, September 20, 1857.

I listened with very great pleasure to the remarks made this morning both by President Young and President Kimball, and it always affords me pleasure to listen to anything that is associated with the kingdom of God and its interests; and, on the other hand, I feel as ready and willing to communicate anything that the Lord may have committed unto me.

[Asked a blessing on the bread.]

In relation to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it is something that is full of importance and information, and is associated with our present and eternal welfare: it enters into all the ramifications of life where we can understand it. It is not a sing-song sort of a thing, such as we hear taught among the sectarians; but there is something tangible about it: it consists of eternal principles, unfolding light and intelligence, and is adapted to the nature of man as a mortal and immortal being—principles that affect us in time and in eternity, in life, in health, in sickness, in death, and which lead to life everlasting.

We heard some remarks made this morning upon education—about words and language, and so forth. In relation to the education of the world generally, a great amount of it is of very little value, consisting more of words than ideas; and whilst men are verbose in their speaking or writing, you have to hunt for ideas or truth like hunting for a grain of wheat among piles of chaff or rubbish. It is true that a great amount of it is really valuable, and it is for us to select the good from the bad.

The education of men ought to be adapted to their positions, both as temporal and eternal beings. It is well to understand the arts and sciences; it is well to understand language and history; it is well to understand agriculture, to be acquainted with mechanics, and to be instructed in everything that is calculated to promote the happiness, the well-being, and the comfort of the human family.

That education which but amounts to a little outward appearance and applies only to a few conveniences of this life is very far short of that education and intelligence which immortal beings ought to be in possession of. The education of the present day is generally misapplied; indeed, men have misapplied the education which they have received for generations and generations.

The priests in Egypt had mysteries immediately associated with themselves, and the calculation was to keep their people ignorant of those things which they knew, that they might govern them the more readily and that they might reign and tyrannize over them. Among the various nations in different ages, their sages and wise men held their intelligence as a secret mystery to be divulged almost or altogether to their disciples, who generally conveyed it in unknown characters, symbols, or hieroglyphics. The Egyptians had their priests, the Assyrians their magi and astrologers, the Greeks their philosophers, and the Jews their wise men, and all more or less mysterious or cabalistic.

This was a misapplication of information, or that which they might possess; although, in many instances, the information amounted to nothing in reality.

The same is applicable, in a great measure, to our lawyers, doctors, and priests: they make use of terms that nobody can understand but the initiated. If you study medicine, law, or botany, and many of the sciences, you must study Latin first, because the doctors and professors make use of that language to convey their ideas in; and the calculation is for all except men of science or linguists to be befogged and bewildered—yes, all except the initiated few who have been able to bestow the same amount of time as they have in learning some of the dead languages.

Whom does their learning benefit? Certainly not the multitude. I will tell you my idea of true intelligence and true eloquence. It is not as some people do—to take a very small idea and use a great many grandiloquent words without meaning—something to befog and mystify it with—something to tickle the ear and please the imagination only: that is not true intelligence. But it is true intelligence for a man to take a subject that is mysterious and great in itself, and to unfold and simplify it so that a child can understand it. I do not care what words you make use of, if you have the principles and are enabled to convey those principles to the understandings of men.

It is true, at the same time, that a man who has a good use of language can present his ideas to better advantage than one who has not, in some instances, and in some he cannot; for the Lord gives some men a natural talent and powers of description that others do not possess and cannot acquire. But the great principle that we have to come to is the knowledge of God, of the relationship that we sustain to each other, and of the various duties we have to attend to in the various spheres of life in which we are called to act as mortal and immortal, intelligent, eternal beings, in order that we may magnify our calling and approve ourselves before God and the holy angels: and if we obtain knowledge of this kind, we shall do well; for this is the greatest good of the whole: it embraces everything that we want.

In relation to the principles of eternal life, we are told that these treasures we have in earthen vessels were given of the Lord and retained in those vessels through our faithfulness.

Now, then, if men, without much of the advantage of what is termed education in this world, are filled with the Spirit of God, the revelations of the Holy Ghost, and can comprehend the relationship of man to God, can know their duties, and can teach a people, a nation, or a world how they may be saved and obtain thrones, principalities, powers, and dominions in the eternal worlds—if men can understand these principles by the gift of the Holy Ghost and the revelations of the Most High, and are enabled to place them before the people so that they can comprehend them, then, I say, these are the men of education—the men of intellect—the men who are calculated to bless and ennoble the human family. This is the kind of education that we want; and the more simple those principles can be conveyed the better: they are more adapted to the wants and intelligence of the human family.

Here is the difference between us at the present time and the priestcraft and kingcraft and the craft of the various systems among the nations. They have tended to befog, bewilder, bind down, and lead the masses into ignorance; but the principles of the Gospel are calculated to expand the mind, enlarge the heart, unfold the capacity, and make all men feel their relationship to God and to each other, that we may be all partakers of the same blessing, that we may all be intelligent, that we may all be learned in the things of the kingdom of God, and all be prepared for the celestial inheritance in the eternal worlds. This is the difference between the system that we have embraced and the systems of the world—they are of men, this is of God. Among the Gentiles, they tread upon one another and ride into power and influence on the ruin of others; and they do not care who sinks, if they swim. The kingdom of God exalts the good, blesses all, enlightens all, expands the minds of all, and puts within the reach of all the blessings of eternity.

Do you repudiate education, then? No—not at all. I appreciate all true intelligence, whether moral, social, scientific, political, or philosophical; but I despise the folly that they hang on to it and the folly that they call education.

What did any of us know as rational, eternal beings, until we were educated in this Church?

It is true that we are eternal beings; but did we know or understand anything about the principles of eternal life? Nothing. Yet we have believed that we were going to live forever. But did we know anything about where we came from, or what was our origin, or what was the object of our creation? We did not know anything about where we were going. We had a dreamy idea of heaven—of a God without body, parts, and passions—of a heaven beyond the bounds of time and space; and the hell we believed in was a bottomless pit. We had a dreamy idea of these things; but what did we know? Was there any authority, religion, or philosophy that could unravel these mysteries? No, not any.

Then of what practical use is their philosophy or religion to us? It did not unfold unto us our position; it did not show us how to obtain eternal life: it could not do it. Of what use was our intelligence as applied to our position?

How many times have you listened to preaching from a speaker who was considered quite an eloquent man? He would study his sermons well, and perhaps write them. They were full of words—the language was eloquent; but, after all, it was mere verbosity, empty sound, and barren in ideas. Then you would go away and say, “What an eloquent sermon Mr. So-and-so preached! He preached the best today I ever heard him. It was such a treat—so rich, so great, and so deep!” “What was it about?” “Oh, it was so deep that I could not understand a word of it,” as brother Brigham says.

“Well, what was it about?” “I do not know; but I heard it, and it was so deep and so profound that I could not understand it.” “But how was it that you could not understand what he was preaching about, when he was so eloquent, so refined, and made use of such elegant language?” Shall I tell you? The man did not know what he was preaching about himself; and as he could not understand it himself, he could not explain it to you. How could he lead others to comprehend that which he did not know himself? These are facts: this is the education of the world. If you examine the philosophy of France and Germany, and other parts of the earth, you will find them to be on a par with the religious world: they are going to ameliorate the condition of mankind and to perform wonders, according to their professions. If you attempt to reason with them about their philosophy, like the Paddy’s flea, when you attempt to put your finger on them, they are not there.

[Voice: “All the difference is, there is nothing there.“]

All their philosophy is mere chimeras of the brain. I met with so much of it in those countries that I was sickened with it.

A gentleman came to me in Paris—an Englishman, and, pointing to a species of very light cake, asked me what it was called. (It is a kind of bread that is so light that a man can eat all the time and not fill himself, and you could blow it away with a puff of your breath.) I told him I did not know what they called it, but I would give it a name; I will call it fried froth, or philosophy, just which you please—fried bubbles, or the bubbles of learned men; for it reminded me of their philosophy.

I believe in the solid bread, and I do not care if it comes in big chunks; for then it is better than when there is not enough to satisfy the appetite. Truth and intelligence have a tendency to enlarge the capacity, to expand the soul, and to show man his real position—his relationship to himself and to his God, both in relation to the present and the future, that he may know how to live on the earth and be prepared to mingle with the Gods in the eternal worlds.

Now, if men will teach me these principles, I do not care what words they use. If truth comes, tail or head foremost, I am not very particular.

It is the principles of truth which cement us together and make us act in union and strength: it is those principles that buoy up our feelings, animate our souls, and make us feel joyous and jubilant under all circumstances. It is light, it is truth, it is intelligence, it comes from and leads to God, exaltation, and celestial glory. We feel joyous because we have the principles of eternal life within us. It is because we have partaken at the fountain of life, and know our rela– tionship to the Lord, and have a position in his Church and kingdom.

Being, then, in possession of the truth—of a knowledge of those principles which develop the revelations of God, and knowing that he has given unto us the Holy Priesthood, restored Prophets, Apostles, and Revelators to give revelation unto his people, therefore have we confidence in our God and our religion.

And what is that revelation, this order, and this organization for? They are to enlighten us, to enlarge our minds, to teach us all principles associated with our present and eternal welfare. This revelation is the word of God, the eternal truths of heaven, the everlasting Gospel, the word of life and salvation.

No matter what words are used, it is the principles we are after, and our religion interests and affects us in all the ramifications of life: it does not set up God as some austere being that we cannot approach, but it tells us he is our Father, and that we are his children, and that he cherishes in his bosom a paternal regard for us; and we have experienced something of the feelings that exist between father and son, mother and daughter, parents and children; but we could not apply that unto our God and consider that he was our Father before we embraced the Gospel.

We have been taught by the simple principles of the Gospel to go to our Father who is heaven, and that he will hear us. We have also been taught that if we, as earthly parents, will not give our children stones when they ask for bread, and that if we will not give them scorpions when they ask for fish, God, as our Father, will not give us one thing when we ask another, but that he feels as much concerned about our welfare as we possibly can do about that of our children.

This is the way that we now regard our God; but this is not the way we used to look at him: we used to be all the day long subject to bondage, through the fear of death. Do we feel anything of that now? No, we do not: that feeling is taken away. Now we feel that if it is required of us to die, it is well; if to live, it is well. We feel that we are eternal beings and have laid hold of eternal life, and therefore all is well. We feel altogether different to what we did before we heard this Gospel: it teaches us our duty to each other; it teaches us to reverence God’s name, and not blaspheme it as the Christians do.

I will tell you how it is in the world. In the world the masses do not care what the devil they do, if men do not see them; and I am sorry to say that we also are cursed with a few such scoundrels. They do not care about God seeing them, for they have not the fear of God before them, but they have fear of men.

We never ought to do a thing that we would be afraid of God seeing us do; and if we are not afraid of God seeing us, we should not be afraid of man seeing us.

Well, then, we are taught our duty to our God by our brethren. And who are our brethren? The officers and authorities of this Church—the servants of the living God. Who is President Young? The mouthpiece of God to this Church and to the world. Has God any other? Yes, lots of them appointed by him, but he is the head.

[Blessed the sacramental cup.]

Formerly every man used to take his own way: we used to claim a great many rights, privileges, and immunities that belonged to us individually. Well, we enjoy many of them yet; but we did not acknowledge the authority of God, and we could not do it, for the simple reason that we knew nothing of it.

There was no one to come with “Thus saith the Lord”—no man that could go forth and say he was commissioned of Jesus Christ; therefore there was no authority. There was no umpire—no standard of truth to go to, to decide any doctrine that you might have in your mind. But now we have, “Thus saith the Lord God.”

Is there any other place under heaven where there is anybody to say, “Thus saith the Lord?” If there is, I have heard nothing about it; I have not read nor heard of it, and I am satisfied there is no such thing.

I suppose there are in the neighborhood of from 1,000,000,000 to 1,200,000,000 of inhabitants upon the earth; and nowhere but in this place can there be found a man to say, “Thus saith the Lord God”—nowhere but here, or where those are who have been sent from here.

Are there men of intelligence in the nations? Yes, as to the world’s intelligence—as to the intelligence associated with the arts and sciences, natural philosophy, and mechanism, they are as intelligent as any that can be found, without God. There are also many learned professional men, princes, statesmen, and potentates. The latter have the power to govern the nations over which they rule, and yet among the whole of them not a man can be found that can say, “Thus saith the Lord God.”

Well, if this is the case in relation to them, and if this is the position of the world, is it not time for the Almighty to interfere? I speak of them, for many of the thousands who are now before me are come from the different nations, and they comprehend what I say, and they know that this is true.

What is our position? Are we not favored ten thousand times more than any other people under the heavens? Are we not put in a position to have communication with the Lord? Have we not the principles of life given unto us from day to day and from week to week? Have we not the opportunity of hearing the word of the Lord from his chosen servant—the only mouthpiece to lead the people that he has under the heavens?

Can we appreciate this and realize our position? Can we really appreciate our blessings? Do we really feel as we ought to in relation to these matters? Why, we begin to experience, in part, the riches of eternity. They begin to be unfolded before we can fully appreciate them.

We are favored at the present time, but we cannot comprehend our blessings fully: we can only see in part, comprehend in part, and shall not fully comprehend until the fulness of the blessings of God shall be revealed; then we shall be able to appreciate our position, our relationship to God, and the great blessings we enjoy, as servants of the Most High.

We are only little children now. This is the way I feel. I feel as a little child, and I pray to God, O God, expand my mind that I may understand and comprehend the things of God, and not act the fool, but be a wise man, and be able to comprehend the blessings that are around me.

Why, the kingdom of God is established, the Prophet of God and his servants are among us, and we are now enjoying the very things that Prophets prophesied of as they looked through the dark vista of ages unborn and contemplated these blessings that we enjoy.

They told about the time when the kingdom of God would be established upon the earth, when he would restore the ancient order of things, when his Spirit would be poured out, when light and revelation would be communicated, when his purposes would be developed, and when the little stone would be cut out of the mountain without hands. They saw, in vision, that a little nucleus here in the moun– tains would arise, and that the mountain of the Lord’s house would be established above the hills, and that all nations should flock to the standard, as doves to their windows.

They saw the things in visions that we are now doing; they sang and prophesied and rejoiced at what we have now commenced—the building up of the kingdom of God.

Well, now, can we really appreciate these things? Do not we often feel as we did in the Gentile world? We used to say, “I will be damned if I do not have my own way.” I tell you that you will be damned if you do.

But how much of that feeling exists? I could not but think of it when I heard the remarks of brother Kimball this morning. They led me to reflect upon this subject. Some of us think we are smart men; some of us think we know what is for our good as well as our leaders, and that our judgment is quite as good as theirs; and some feel like saying, “We will be damned if we submit to them.” But you will be damned if you do not.

Now, I will suppose that you were God, and that you had inspired some men to go forth and preach the Gospel, to gather the people, to establish a kingdom upon the earth—that you had got a few together, and they gathered others; finally, you issued your will and your law to the people: what would you think if they turned round and said they would do as they pleased? Says one, “I do not know;” and says another, “I do not know.” Supposing they should say, “We think we understand better than you do,” how would you, as God, regulate the affairs of the earth? What could you do with a people that would not be obedient to your law? Just the same as God did with the antediluvians, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, or the Jews. If you could not do anything with them, how could God?

The Presbyterians used to say that people ought to thank God for the privilege of being damned. But I would not thank anybody for being damned; but I think, however, that such men as would not submit to his authority and rule ought to be damned, whether they like it or not. Nothing but obedience to his law, obedience in families, obedience to Bishops and to the Priesthood in all its ramifications, and especially to President Brigham Young as the head, to carry out his law to the whole people, can accomplish the purposes of God or our salvation as a people.

If the Lord can have a people to listen to his law, there may be a chance to establish his kingdom upon the earth: if not, the only way he can establish his kingdom is to remove them from the earth, or give up his kingdom until another time; for it is impossible to establish his kingdom without having a people obedient to him.

What does that obedience imply? Obedience in all things—that the Twelve should be obedient to the Presidency, the Seventies to the Twelve, and so on through all the ramifications of the Priesthood—obedience of wives to husbands, children to parents—and that a general order of this kind should be established in every neighborhood, in every house, and in every heart.

Well, this is the feeling that ought to exist; and where this feeling does not exist the Spirit of God does not exist; and where there is not a feeling of obedience, the Spirit of God will be withdrawn: people cannot retain it and be in rebellion against the authorities and counsels of the church and kingdom of God.

When the kingdom of God is established and his word is listened to, the spirit of obedience extends through the ramifications of the body of Christ, even as the sap extends through the trunk of a tree till it reaches to the ex– treme branches and twigs, and to every part of it. It is just like some of those large streams issuing from the mountains and dividing into smaller streams until they reach to every field and garden throughout the city.

Well, now, suppose some of you should say, or suppose a branch should say, “I want to be independent, and I will not be dependent upon the larger branches.” I ask, how will you help yourselves, except you take a course to be cut off? And then where will your sap come from? You will wither and wilt down.

Suppose you undertake to water the garden, and you say that you will not be dependent upon that larger stream. “It is true,” say you, “that I got my water from that stream; but I will not have anything to do with it now.” Will your vegetation flourish, if you discard the larger stream from whence you get your water? It will not. So in regard to the water of life, and so in regard to a tree. Jesus said, “A branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine;” nor can you do anything without obedience, for the moment you rebel you are in this position.

If we, as a little company gathered together on the tops of these mountains, in possession of the great and glorious privileges that we enjoy—if we cannot magnify our calling and honor the Priesthood conferred upon us, how do we expect salvation to flow to the world? How can we expect men to do what we do not do? To listen to and obey us, if we do not obey our superior officers?

Furthermore, as the servants of God here living in these mountains, the Lord is determined to try to prove us in every way; and we are, as it were, just broken loose from the old barren stalk. The old ship is about being launched, and we are thrown upon God and our own resources, both in a governmental and a mental capa– city. The Devil will be enraged—the powers of hell let loose upon us.

Now, let me ask how we are going to stand, except we are guided by the revelations of God? And let me further ask how you are going to get the revelations of God, except you live your religion and obey those set over you? Let me further ask, What is the use professing to be the people of God if we do not live our religion and magnify our calling?

I speak of these things merely for argument’s sake. I believe that, so far as I have seen, the general feeling among this people is to do right; but I merely speak of them, for it is necessary that we should have line upon line, precept upon precept: it is necessary that we should understand our true relationship.

For instance, there is an army coming up here. Can any of you tell what will be the result, except the proper authorities dictate? Do you know what will be the best? But suppose we get through with this, and I suppose that some of you may begin to guess for this year: but can you for next? Is there a man here that can tell how and where to hide his family and his grain? Are there any in this congregation who know anything about it and that give counsel to this people either for present or coming emergencies? This is bringing things to a focus. Now, you wise men, or men of education and literary attainments, or philosophers, speak and display your wisdom. If you cannot, and if we have not any knowledge in this matter, what next? Why, we have got to be dependent upon the authority that is over us; and if we cannot submit, how can we be governed by it?

This principle pervades all, whether in a civil or military capacity or in any other capacity. We used to have a difference between Church and State, but it is all one now. Thank God, we have no more temporal and spiritual! We have got Church and State together, and we used to talk of baptism and repentance, and we used to whip out sectarian priests with their own Bible, and we thought that we were tremendous fellows.

But in what part of the Bible do you find what we are to do this year or the next? This will be part of a new Bible, for when it takes place it will be written, and then that will be a Bible, and then the world will find that we shall have a “Mormon Bible.”

Men have been opposed to the Book of Mormon because it was a new Bible. The poor fools did not know that wherever there was a true Church there was revelation, and that wherever there was revelation there was the word of God to man and materials to make Bibles of. We are all of us now in the harness, and the issue is fast rolling upon us: it is therefore necessary that we understand our position. We have all had the opportunity of going away from here; but I do not know that you can have that opportunity now, for I see a proclamation here, and you cannot go without permission.

We have no vague theories: you have now to ask leave to go. The time has come for decisive action; and whether you are called to act in a religious, civil, or military capacity, it is all in the kingdom of God and the will of God is to be done upon the earth as angels do it in heaven.

We are not fit to occupy our places in the kingdom, either as High Priests, or as Seventies, or as Apostles, or as anything else, except we are willing and obedient: and the same thing applies to our families. Then let us seek to submit ourselves to the law of God and do it.

I do not know but I have talked long enough. God bless you, in the name of Jesus! Amen.

Remarks by Elder John Taylor, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, on Sunday Morning, September 13, 1857.

It is rather a strange anomaly, particularly in the estimation of the world, that a people so numerous as the Latter-day Saints should be gathered together in one place, having the one faith, and believing in the same doctrines. It is the more strange because there have been various social and political movements, aided by philosophy, established among men in various ages of the world; and almost, if not all of these have signally failed.

Among the number of social movements in our day, there is that of Robert Dale Owen, who thought he could ameliorate the condition of mankind by a sort of communism, having a fellowship of goods among them—a sort of common stock principle. Everything pertaining to this speculation, however, has flatted out; and in all his schemes and movements, whether in England or in this country, they have signally failed.

It is so also with Fourierism—a species of French philosophy, established by one Fourier, a Frenchman, and advocated by Greeley of the New York Tribune. They had tried it in France, and then came over to this country; and not far from New York a society of this kind was established. They had a good deal of property, and I am informed they established something of the nature of what is called the free love principle; but within twelve months back, while I was residing in New York, everything they had was sold under the hammer.

Mr. Cabet commenced lecturing in France, and had very extensive societies there. About the time we left Nauvoo to come to this land, Mr. Cabet, with a company of his men, came there. This is a species of communism; they are called “Communists,” believing, with Mr. Owen, in a community of goods. They published a newspaper in Nauvoo, and one or more in France. I baptized one of their editors while in Paris on my mission—a man who is now in this valley, by the name of Bertrand.

Mr. Krolokoski, who was also an editor of the same paper with Mr. Bertrand, came to me to have a conversation about the first principles of the Gospel. After a long conversation, he said, “Mr. Taylor, do you propose no other plan to ameliorate the condition of mankind than that of baptism for the remission of sins?”

I replied—“This is all I propose about the matter.”

“Well,” he said, “I wish you every success; but I am afraid you will not succeed.”

Said I, “Mr. Krolokoski, you sent, some time ago, Mr. Cabet to Nauvoo. He was considered your leader—the most talented man you had. He went to Nauvoo when it was deserted—when houses and lands were at a mere nominal value: he went there with his community at the time we left. Rich farms were deserted, and thousands of us had left our houses and furniture in them, and there was everything that was calculated to promote the happiness of human beings there. Never could a person go to a place under more happy circumstances. Mr. Cabet, to try his experiment, had also the selection in France of whom he pleased. He and his company went to Nauvoo, and what is the result? You have seen the published account in the papers. We were banished from civilized society into the valleys of the Rocky Mountains to seek for that protection among savages which Christian civilization denied us—among the peau rouges, or red skins, as they call them. There our people have built houses, enclosed lands, cultivated gardens, built schoolhouses, opened farms, and have organized a government and are prospering in all the blessings and immunities of civilized life. Not only this, but they have sent thousands and thousands of dollars over to Europe to assist the suffering poor to go to America, where they might find an asylum. You, on the other hand, that went to our empty houses and farms—you, I say, went there under most favorable circumstances. Now, what is the result? I read in all of your reports from there, published in your own paper in Paris, a continued cry for help. The cry is to you for money, money: ‘We want money to help us to carry out our designs.’ The society that I represent comes with the fear of God—the worship of the great Eloheim: they offer the simple plan ordained of God—viz., repentance, baptism for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. Our people have not been seeking the influence of the world, nor the power of government, but they have obtained both; whilst you, with your philosophy independent of God, have been seeking to build up a system of communism and a government which is, according to your own accounts, the way to introduce the millennial reign. Now, which is the best—our religion, or your philosophy?”

“Well,” said he, “I cannot say anything.”

He could not, because these were facts that he was familiar with.

What has become of that society? There are very few of them left. They have had dissensions, bickerings, trouble, and desertions, until they are nearly dwindled to nothing.

I might enumerate many societies of a similar nature, commenced in different parts of the world and at various times. The results, however, would be proved to be the same: they commenced in the wisdom of man, and ended as speculative bubbles. Truth, based on eternal principles, alone can stand the test.

If Owen, Fourier, Cabot, and other philosophers have failed—if all the varied schemes of communism have failed—if human philosophy is found to be at fault, and all its plans incompetent, and we have not failed, it shows there is something associated with this people and with “Mormonism” that there is not with them.

Now the question is, What is this principle? Why is there a difference?

The first account I ever heard of this Gospel was simply preaching what are termed the first principles of the Gospel of Christ. There was nothing very ostentatious about it—nothing very grand—no great pomp or parade. The Elders were in many instances uneducated: they had no particular advantages among men; but they had received certain principles, certain doctrines, that were plain and easy to comprehend—things that were childlike and simple, and that recommended themselves to every intelligent, unblessed mind.

What was it we first learned in relation to this Gospel? Was it something very profound and philosophical, that some sage either in this or some other country had dis– covered—the plan of some politician or statesman?

Verily no; it was no such thing. What was it? It was a proclamation made, declaring that a holy angel from heaven had appeared—that he had revealed himself unto a young man that was born in the backwoods of America—a farmer’s son, without any particular educational advantages; that this angel, having appeared unto him, had revealed unto him an ancient record that gave an account of the aboriginal inhabitants of this country; that in this record there was an account of Prophets having existed on this continent in former days, of Jesus having appeared, and of angels having administered unto them—an account of their having been in possession of the Gospel, having the same doctrines, the same blessings, the same privileges and powers that were associated with the Gospel on the Asiatic continent; and that this record agreed with the Bible in doctrines, ordinances, teachings, and blessings.

And furthermore, these men referred us to the Bible, and showed us that this book was spoken of—that it was to come forth—that it was the “stick of Joseph,” and that it was to be one with the “stick of Judah,”—one in prophecy, one in revelation, one in unfolding the purposes of God, and one in bringing to pass the great events that were to transpire in the last days.

We heard of these things, and to many of us they seemed foolish. We heard the cry of “False prophet and deceiver!” The first thing that I heard from a priest, after hearing this Gospel preached by Parley P. Pratt, some twenty years ago, was the cry of “Delusion!” I was immediately informed that “Joe Smith was a money-digger,” that he tried to deceive people by walking on planks laid under the water, and that he was a wicked and corrupt man, a deceiver, and one of the biggest fools in creation, and so forth. I heard every kind of story; and the priests have kept up the same things, pretty much, to the present day.

I remember, when I first had an Elder introduced to me, I said to him, “I do not know what to think about you ‘Mormons.’ I do not believe any kind of fanaticism: I profess to be acquainted with the Bible; and, sir,” said I, “in any conversation we may have, I wish you to confine yourself to the Bible; for I tell you I shall not listen to anything in opposition to that word.”

From the report which I had heard of “Mormonism,” I thought it was anything but a religious system. I was told about the French prophets—I was told about Matthias, Johanna Southcote, and of all the follies that had existed for centuries; and then they put “Mormonism” at the end of them all.

In my researches, I examined things very carefully and critically. I wrote down six of the first sermons I heard preached by Parley P. Pratt, in order that I might compare them with the Bible, and I could not find any difference. I could easily controvert any other doctrine, but I could not overturn one principle of “Mormonism.”

I have traveled to preach these doctrines in most of the United States and in the Canadas; I have preached them in England, in Scotland, in Wales, in the Isles of Man and the Jerseys, in France, Germany, in the principal cities of America and Europe, and to many prominent men in the world; and I have not yet found a man that could controvert one principle of “Mormonism” upon scriptural grounds. If there is a man, I have yet to find him.

The first proclamation by the Elders was, that the ancient Gospel had been restored. We had had Methodism, Presbyterianism, Dunkerism, Shakerism, Catholicism, Quakerism, and every other ism that you could think of; but there was none that had the ancient Gospel—no, not one.

I was, however, well acquainted with theology. I consider that if ever I lost any time in my life, it was while studying the Christian theology. Sectarian theology is the greatest tomfoolery in the world.

There are certain principles in reason which are unalterable. Two and two made four 1,800 years ago, and they still make the same. Two parallel lines never would meet: they will not now. A Gospel that was true 1,800 years ago could not be false now. If they, then, have the same Bible, and profess to have the same Spirit, and to be educated men, why do they not see alike? If there are any of whom we have spoken possessed of good common sense, it would lead them to union, and not to discord; for the scriptures tell us, there is “One Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God, who is above all, in you all, and through you all.”

We used to quarrel with one another, when we were among the sectarians, about our peculiar doctrines. One was a brother Methodist, and another was a brother Presbyterian; and we used to fall out about which was right—whether the doctrine of free will or of fate was right; for we did not know which was right—though both were right, if we had understood them. There was also much wrangling as to whether infants that died went to hell or not. Some sent them to heaven, and some to hell, where they were to be pitched up with pitchforks, and stung with scorpions, and wasted there everlastingly.

This is the doctrine of the Catholic Church. I have got a book at home that I obtained in France, which represents sinners falling into a tremen– dous fire; and there are dragons, scorpions, serpents, and every kind of reptile searching like fiends for their prey. Naked sinners are depicted falling into devouring flames, and a great dragon with open mouth, forked tongue, and horrid teeth, ready to receive them. If they should miss it, there are scorpions, and serpents, and devils, with three-pronged pitchforks, waiting a little below, that they may get the sinners and give them a good roasting.

You are here, a conglomeration from all the different churches. The day when you came into this Church was the time when you showed your honesty. What! Are there honest-hearted Methodists and Presbyterians? Yes. And honest Baptists? Yes. Persons have been brought into this Church of all those different kinds of faith, and you are actually all one.

[President B. Young: “That scares the world.“]

Yes, as President Young says, that scares the world. Why are they not one? Because they have not the Gospel as it existed in its purity.

Peter preached it, Jesus, and James, John, and Paul preached it, and the Apostles and Elders preached it on this continent; for the Gospel in the Book of Mormon and the Gospel in the Bible both agree: the doctrines in both books are one. The historical part differs only: the one gives the history of an Asiatic, the other of an American people.

Stephens and Catherwood, after examining the ruins that were found at Guatemala, in Central America, and gazing upon magnificent ruins, moldering temples, stately edifices, rich sculpture, elegant statuary, and all the traces of a highly cultivated and civilized people, said—“Here are the works of a great and mighty people that have inhabited these ruins; but now they are no more: history is silent on the subject, and no man can unravel this profound mystery. Nations have planted, and reaped, and built, and lived, and died, that are now no more; and no one can tell anything about them or reveal their history.”

Why, there was a young man in Ontario County, New York, to whom the angel of God appeared and gave an account of the whole. These majestic ruins bespeak the existence of a mighty people. The Book of Mormon unfolds their history. O yes; but his was of too humble an origin, like Jesus of Nazareth. It was not some great professor, who had got an education in a European or an American college, but one who professed to have a revelation from God—and the world don’t believe in revelation; but nevertheless it is true, and we know it.

Those men who profess so much intelligence that they cannot listen to the word of the Lord, and have so much egotism and philosophy that they cannot listen to sound reason and common sense, cannot be edified by these things, while we, who have not such lofty pretensions, enjoy them.

Now, what did Jesus teach? He said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark xvi. 15—18.)

This is what Jesus taught: this is the Gospel that he and his disciples taught. Who teaches this Gospel now? Do the Methodists, the Presbyterians, the Dunkers, the Baptists, or the Catholics? Could you find anybody that taught the doctrines that Jesus taught his disciples to teach? I have not found them any– where; and yet the thing is so plain that he that runs may read.

Go and preach the Gospel to every creature; and he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned. “O yes, we believe that.” Well, then, read on. “O no,” they will say; “stop there if you please.” But it reads: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

“But,” say they, “you must not read that.” But it is in the Bible. “True,” say they; “but it is a spiritual thing: it means those that are sick spiritually—they shall be healed.” “It means,” say they, “the sin-sick soul.”

It is like the school-ma’m who came to a difficult word, and not understanding it herself, told the child to say “hard word,” and pass on. You must not say that which is contrary to their belief.

Now, if we look a little further, we shall find that the disciples were instructed to “tarry at Jerusalem until they were endowed with power from on high.” It was necessary that they should be qualified. Did they tarry? They did.

Why was it necessary for them to tarry? Had they not been with Jesus? And had they not ate and drank with him? Yes. Had they not seen his miracles? They had; and they were called to go and preach the Gospel. And were they not prepared? No, not until they had received the necessary qualification. It was not every upstart that could go and preach the Gospel.

There are some, nowadays that go to college; and by their learning they think they will preach a Gospel without God. There are others who go because they are fools. Now, when the Lord qualified the Apostles to go forth and preach the Gospel, he endowed them with wisdom and inspired them from on high, and they spake as the Holy Ghost gave them utterance; and the word that they spake was not the word of man, but the word of God, dictated by the Spirit of God, pointing out to the people the way of life.

Why was it necessary for those Apostles to tarry at Jerusalem? They had an important mission to perform; their testimony was going to seal the doom of nations. Their message was, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned.”

Could the Methodists, Baptists, or Presbyterians say this? No. No one professes to say that their word will seal the doom of nations, among modern Christians.

Those men, however, who stayed at Jerusalem till they were endowed with power from on high, made this profession. They assembled in an upper room, and the Spirit of the Lord God rested upon them, and they spoke as the Spirit gave them utterance. There were no Methodists, or Presbyterians, or Baptists there.

As soon as it was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and some said, “Why, these men are drunk: we have got a lot of drunken scamps here—the followers of Jesus of Nazareth.” But Peter said, “O no, this is not the case; it is but the third hour of the day.” The Jews never got drunk before nine o’clock in the morning; so that was a sufficient argument.

Peter said, “These men are not drunk as ye suppose; but this is what was spoken by the Prophet Joel—“And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” (Acts ii.) This is not drunkenness, but it is the power of God beginning to be made manifest: these are the servants of the living God, the Apostles of the Lord, set apart to preach the principles of eternal truth to the nations of the earth; and they are speaking as the Spirit gives them utterance.”

The Apostles began to tell them about Jesus, that he was the Son of God, that they had rejected him, crucified, and slain him. They testified that he was not an impostor, as the people had supposed, but that he was the Messiah.

When they heard these things, they were pricked to the heart, and cried out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

You have heard this kind of cry in those revival meetings among the sectarians: people would get convinced and under a sort of contraction of mind, and they would want to know what they should do to be saved.

Now, here was a lot of people gathered from all parts of the surrounding country, speaking different languages; and Peter was preaching to them to believe, repent, and be baptized: and while reasoning upon the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, they cried out, “What shall we do?” Did he tell them to go to the anxious seat to be prayed for? No, he did not know anything about such a seat: the Devil had not yet invented it. Did he tell them to go and put their names into a classbook, and that they would receive them on probation, and then, if they were worthy, they would be received as members? No: this is something in advance of Peter’s time; it is something of Christian civilization.

It was necessary that we should have the enlightenment of the 19th century to reveal these things. Did he tell them to pray? No, he did not. Prayer is well enough in the season thereof; but they had something else to do.

Is it not right to go into your closet and pray? Yes. But when you have ordinances to attend to, then that is your business. What did Peter say to them? He said, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

You perceive that he told the people the same that Jesus told him to teach.

“In the first place, you tell us to repent, and then to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and what then?”

To have hands laid upon you for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

“What will the Holy Ghost do for us, Peter?”

You have seen its effects upon us. It shall bring things past to your remembrance; it shall show you things to come; it shall make prophets of you; your sons and daughters shall see visions; the heavens shall be opened unto you; you shall know of your origin, comprehend who you are, what you are, where you are going to, the relationship which exists between you and your God; and there shall be a channel opened between the eternal worlds and you; and the purposes of God shall be made known unto you.

What did the Elders of this Church preach to you? The very same things which Peter taught. And have not the same effects, or signs, followed them that believe? They have, as you all know this day. (See 1st Cor. chap. xii.)

I will tell you how I felt when I was investigating the doctrines of “Mormonism.” I compared them to try if they agreed with the Scriptures; but when I tried to pick “Mormonism” to pieces, I could not do it. And now, said I to the Elders, you promise me that if I embrace the doctrines you teach, I shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost: what will this produce? They told me it would produce the same as it did anciently. If I had not experienced those things and seen them manifested around me, I would have got up and called those men impostors. I would have said, “Sirs, you promised me and others blessings which we have not experienced, and this people and you, sirs, are impostors.”

I do not call the priests of the day impostors, because they do not profess anything of the kind that I have spoken of: they are simply false teachers, “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men,” as the Scriptures say.

We read the Book of Mormon, and found it contained the same doctrines the Apostles taught on the Asiatic continent.

And what has this Gospel done? It has caused you to leave your families, your connections, your homes, and your associations in life. Many of you have left thousands and thousands of dollars’ worth of property; you have wandered over oceans, deserts, plains, and mountains; you have been mobbed and scourged from city to city, and from State to State, and you have endured all this. Why? Because of that hope which is within your bosoms, which blooms with immortality and eternal lives. You have asked this question to yourselves, “Who am I, and what is the design of my existence?” and the Gospel has unfolded these things to your understandings. You feel that you are eternal beings: you feel that you are living for eternity and not for time only.

I have heard it recommended, by some poor fools in the shape of editors in the United States, to send missionaries here to convert the people. I told them to send them, and promised they should have a hearing. They thought if they came here and introduced some of their good Christian ideas and practices and some of their pure morals, that you would see such a striking difference that you must be enamored with them, and that you would be broken up.

Why, said I, poor fools! Do you think that this people have left their friends, associations, and everything that would render life precious among men, and wandered off among those who are called fanatics and fools—those who are everywhere spoken against?—and do you think that they are going to be led astray by your poor-pussy priests?

Are you to be like the Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, and Catholics? No; you are to have one faith, one baptism, one Lord, one Holy Spirit.

You are terribly tyrannized over, according to what I hear; and many of you want to leave.

I engaged, when I was back in the States, that if they would send all to Utah that wanted to come, we would send all back that wanted to go. That would be a fair bargain, you know; but I think they would have the heaviest job on hand.

[Voices: We know they would.]

What was your object in coming here? Was it to rebel against the General Government?

[President B. Young: To get away from Christians.]

Brother Young says it was to get away from Christians—from that unbounded charity which you had experienced amongst them. In consequence of their treatment, you had to come away to seek a home in the desert wilds, and to obtain that protection among savages which Christian philanthropy denied you.

We came here because we could not help it, and now we have got an idea to stay here because we can help it: this is about the feeling.

What was it that implanted the idea of gathering and union in our bosoms? It was the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and that principle is implanted in our breasts by the power of the Holy Ghost, which earth and hell cannot eradicate.

There are certain ideas of God, and futurity, and the nature and fitness of things implanted in the human bosom, even while in the world; for there are many things which lead to reflection.

Why do this people feel so comfortable when an army is approaching? Are you not afraid of being killed? No, not a great deal. Why are you not mourning and sorrowing, and why are you not distressed and troubled? Because you have got a principle within you that cannot be conquered in time nor in eternity: you possess the principles of eternal life in your bosoms, that cannot be subdued. You know what your relationship is with the Eternal God, and his Spirit gives joy and consolation to your bosoms.

I have heard men and women rejoice in France and in Germany as much as in any parts of the world, and in their own tongue blessing and thanking God that ever he permitted the light of truth to beam upon their minds. You feel the same: you have got the treasure in earthen vessels; you have got that within you of which Jesus spake—a well of water “springing up unto eternal life.” You are looking forward to the time when thrones, principalities, powers, and eternal lives will be given unto you in the kingdoms of our God.

Again: You know that you are in the kingdom of God; for God, among other things, has revealed this to you. And while the Communists, Fourier– ites, and others have sought to bring about a reign of righteousness without revelation, God has revealed unto you a kingdom that shall abide forever, by the principles of eternal truth and by the revelations of God. You know that you are associated with this kingdom: you feel it; and no man can deprive you of this feeling, nor rob you of that Spirit.

Satan has had the dominion over the world for centuries, and no nation or people has acknowledged God or bowed to his scepter. They have anointed their kings, they have hewn down and trampled upon the rights of man, and their hands reek with blood. In this condition they have had priests to come and anoint them kings! But they are wholesale murderers and robbers.

Who has reigned by the grace of God in the nations? And who has had authority from heaven? Who has acknowledged God in all their ways? Has any kingdom or dominion under heaven? Not one! You go into any kingdom, or let a Prophet of God go into any cabinet, to any governor, or potentate, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord! and they would kick him out. [Voice: “They would kill him.”] Would they do it in the United States? They would anywhere.

To behold man, whose breath is in his nostrils, who flourishes, and is cut down like the grass that exists, and withers and dies, that expands and bursts like a bubble—poor, pusillanimous man—assume government, authority, and power, without any authority from God, to regulate the kingdoms of the earth, shows his littleness, weakness, egotism, and pusillanimity, and reminds one of boys playing marbles or building cob houses.

Why was this earth made? And who made it? We are told in the Scriptures that “all things were created by him and for him; whether they be principalities, powers, or dominions, all things were created by him, and for him.” Has he had the dominion? If so, when and where has he had it? He did partially rule for a short time among the ancient Patriarchs, and also among the Jews; but all the rest of the nations have ruled without him and taken to themselves the glory. They have assumed to themselves certain positions and powers, and, aided by their peers, lords, governors, and immediate associates, they have oppressed the human family, and brought them into bondage.

The nations have forgotten God. They have forsaken God, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out to themselves broken cisterns, that can hold no water; and like dogs, wolves, panthers, and beasts of prey, they have done nothing but tear each other to pieces.

Read the history of nations, and examine the paintings they have in their National Galleries, and you will find they represent, almost exclusively, scenes of blood, deadly struggles, triumphant victories, or sanguinary battles, and the groanings, troubles, sighs, sufferings, and death of the human family.

This has been the way that things have been carried on by kings and governors; but where and when has there been a person to save, and bless, and act as a father and benefactor to the world? And where has there been a servant of God listened to? Jesus came among his friends; but they would not listen to him. He sent his servants—his Apostles, but they put them to death. He has sent again in the last days; he has anointed his servant Joseph Smith, and afterwards Brigham Young, to speak as his mouthpiece to the people, for the government of his Saints not only here, but to all that will hear and obey the Gospel throughout the world.

God has determined to have a people that will serve him. What have you heard taught here? Nothing but the law of God and obedience to the laws of the land. Nobody but the most blackhearted villains that ever lived would have gone among our enemies and represented things otherwise.

You comprehend liberty, and you will have this boon. Many of your fathers have fought for this, and you are resolved to enjoy it. Will you endeavor to disannul the Government? No; but we will rally round the Constitution that was purchased by the blood of our fathers, and will support it.

These are our views; and while we do not trample under foot the Constitution, we will take care that others do not do it.

[The congregation responded, “Amen.”]

What has been the difficulty with you for some time past? You have had doctrines of purity revealed unto you; you have been taught principles of righteousness, to repent of all your evils, to purify yourselves, that, as Saints of the living God, you might come and receive blessings at the hands of the Almighty.

While you have been doing this, the spirit of psychology has been operating in the hearts of men, even the spirits and powers of darkness; devils have been railing, and men thundering out their anathemas; all hell has been to pay, and “no pitch hot,” and why? Because you have been adhering to the principles of truth, and been doing better than you have before.

What was the reason that they crucified Jesus Christ? Because he adhered to the truth; and those very men that persecute us would crucify him, if he was here today.

[Voices: “Yes, they would.”]

Well, what is the matter? The Lord has given to us a Prophet who receives the word of the Lord for us. These revelations have led us from principle to principle, from doctrine to doctrine, and from ordinance to ordinance, until we are found as we are at the present time.

We feel well, our spirits are light and buoyant, and our hopes strong in the God of Israel. If we could not trust in God, we should indeed be without hope. How many have gone from here to teach the principles that God has revealed? Thousands of the Elders of Israel. They were sent to do the people good, and have been more disinterested in it than any other people.

Have you, Elders, gone because you were sent by missionary societies? No, you have not. Have you gone because you had drafts and acceptances on banks and merchants? No: you have gone without purse or scrip. President Young, brother Woodruff, brother Hyde, brother Franklin, myself, and others, have traveled thousands and thousands of miles without purse or scrip, trusting in the living God.

Did we have to beg? No. I do not believe in begging: God will take care of us. It is not so with other ministers. You tell them to trust in God for the support of their bodies, and they are not willing to do it. They will be quite willing to trust in God for their spirits; but they dare not trust him for their bodies.

Go to the United States, and I will engage to give $50,000, if you will find a thousand men in all the United States that will go without purse or scrip to the nations of the earth to preach the Gospel. Come, now, I will banter the world with this offer.

On the other hand, if President Young wants a thousand men, they will be ready in one day, if it is necessary. Is it not so, brethren?

[Thousands of voices responded, “Yes.”]

This state of things exists in the world because they are governed by filthy lucre.

We have embraced the Gospel because we knew it was true. I have traveled with brother Young thousands of miles, preaching the Gospel, and with brother Woodruff, brother Hyde, brother Smith, brother Franklin, and many others around me. What did we do? We went trusting in Israel’s God; and we are doing the same now. What did we go for? Because we loved the human family, and knowing that God had revealed principles that would exalt men and women in the kingdom of God. We wandered forth to preach those principles voluntarily. We did it because we loved mankind.

Why have this people confidence in President Young and others? Because they have seen them leave their homes and go forth and endure every privation to promote their welfare in time and in eternity. They could not have confidence in a priest that would not go to preach except he had $10,000.

Furthermore, this people have confidence in their leaders, because in times of trouble and trial they have stemmed the torrents and been foremost in the battle. It is not a kind of soft, smooth eloquence to tickle the ears of men, but it is stern matters of fact that the people know.

As Paul said, “Can anything separate us from the love of God?” No, brethren; we are cemented together by eternal ties that the world does not know, nor can it comprehend. Talk to us of bowing to the Gentile yoke! Nonsense. What would be your feeling if the United States wanted to have the honor of driving us from our homes and bringing us subject to their depraved standard of moral and religious truth? Would you, if necessary, brethren, put the torch to your buildings, and lay them in ashes, and wander houseless into the mountains? I know what you would say and what you would do.

[President Brigham Young: Try the vote.]

All you that are willing to set fire to your property and lay it in ashes, rather than submit to their military rule and oppression, manifest it by raising your hands.

[The congregation unanimously raised their hands.]

I know what your feelings are. We have been persecuted and robbed long enough; and, in the name of Israel’s God, we will be free! [The whole congregation responded, “Amen.” And President B. Young said, “I say amen all the time to that.”]

I feel to thank God that I am associated with such men, with such a people, where honesty and truth dwell in the heart—where men have got a religion that they are not afraid to live by, and that they are not afraid to die by; and I would not give a straw for anything short of that.

The great God has set his hand to roll forth his purposes; and the hand that opposes it shall be palsied. The power of God shall be felt among the nations that reject the truth. All is right in Israel, and we do not want to hurt anybody; but we feel to bless everybody, and our hearts are full of blessings for all who will work righteousness.

Shall we still bless the human family? Yes. Shall we rally around the Constitution of the United States, and protect it in its purity? Yes; we will save it when others forsake it.

In the day of our sorrow and affliction, when hunted by our enemies, was there anybody to pour in comfort to the wounded bosom? Have there been any of the priests and editors to take our part? Where are they?

Brethren, I feel thankful that God has revealed unto us the keys of the kingdom of God and given us a knowledge of the things that shall transpire in these last days.

I ask my heavenly Father that I may be counted worthy and faithful to endure to the end, that I may obtain the crown that is in reversion for me.

I do not care anything about shooting: I have been shot. Neither do I care anything about dying; for I could have died many a time if I had desired to; but I had not got ready. But I do care about those principles of truth which I have received; and I would not exchange my position for that of any emperor, king, or potentate in any nation under heaven.

God will put a hook in the jaws of our enemies and turn them aside; and the day is not far distant when empires will crumble to pieces and the hand of God be against the nations; and they will know that there is a God in heaven, and a hand that is stronger than theirs.

Brethren, all we have to do is to live our religion, to obey the counsel of our President, be humble and faithful, and not exalted in our own strength; but ask wisdom of God, and see that we have peace with God, with our families, with one another, that peace may reign in our bosoms and in our community.

I pray God to preserve you in peace unto the day of redemption, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

A Discourse by Elder John Taylor, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, August 30, 1857.

I did not expect to be called upon to address you this afternoon; but I always feel ready to speak of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, whenever I am called upon.

Brother Kimball said he would like to hear me say something about the RIGHTS of “Mormonism.” The rights of “Mormonism” are so varied and extensive, that it would be very difficult to speak of them all in one discourse. We have the right to live. That is “Mormonism.” We have the right to eat and drink, and to pursue that course that we may think proper, so long as we do not interfere with other persons’ rights. We have a right to live free and unmolested; and there is no law, human or divine, that rightfully has a right, if you please, to interfere with us. We have a right to think, and we have a right, after we have thought, to express our thoughts, and to write them, and to publish them. We possess as many rights and as much liberty in relation to this as any other persons; and there is no law, human or divine, that can rightfully rob us of those liberties or trample upon our rights. We have a right to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience; and no man, legally, in this land, has a right to interfere with us for so doing. We have a right to believe in and practice as we please in relation to matrimony. We have a right to choose whether we will have one wife or twenty; and there is no law of the land that can legally interfere with us; neither is there a man that I have met with, that professed to be a man at all, that can say that we are acting illegally. We have a right to secure the favor of God, and we have rights as the citizens of the kingdom of God. We have rights upon earth, and we have rights in heaven; we have rights that affect us and our posterity and progenitors, worlds without end; and they are rights that no man can interfere with. We have a right to our own Governor, as brother Kimball says; we have a right to our own Judges; we have a right to make our own laws and to regulate our own affairs.

These are some of the rights that belong to us; but when you come to talk about rights, they are so various, complicated, and extensive, that it is difficult, without reflection, to enumerate them. They exist with us here and all around us, and they are rights that affect us, our progenitors, and posterity, worlds without end. But in regard to some of the things with which we are more intimately connected, we have our individual, our social, and political rights, so far as existing here as a people is concerned. I do not know but that you will think that I am for sticking to my text pretty well: however, I will try, as well as I can, to do justice to it.

If we look at the very foundation of government, we may enquire, How were governments formed? Who organized them? And whence did they obtain their power? It is a subject for deep thought and reflection, and one that very few have understood; nor is it very easy to define, definitely, the rights of man politically, socially, and nationally.

Now, I will suppose there was no government in the world, but that we were thrown right back into the primitive state, and that we had to form a government to regulate ourselves; what would be the position? Why, the strong man would intrude upon the weak, even as a strong animal intrudes upon a weaker, taking from it its rights; for that is a natural animal propensity that exists in all the creatures, as well as in man.

How was society organized? Upon natural principles. I am not now speaking about God and his government, but upon the rights of man. If there were a few bullies in the land, and we had to organize the government anew, the people would combine to protect themselves against them to protect themselves against those who had injured them, that would rob them of their labor, of their cattle, of their grain, or of anything they might have.

What would be the result of this course? It would be that a combination would exist that would organize to protect themselves, that the weak might be protected in his rights, that the feeble might not be trampled under foot. This would be the natural construction and organization of society.

Very well; when society became large and extensive, and could not convene in a general assembly to represent themselves, they would send their representatives, who would combine to represent their interests by delegation, or proxy.

Who would those individuals represent? They would represent the parties of that neighborhood, of that state, of that country or district of country that sent them, would they not? And what would you think of those men that were sent, if they attempted to rule over those who sent them? Why, you would say, “Come back here, you rascals, and we will send others; we sent you to represent us, and now you are combining to put your feet upon our necks.”

This has been the case ever since governments were organized; and hence have arisen governors, kings, and emperors. They have generally contrived to get the reins of power into their own hands; and, through the cunning of priestcraft and kingcraft, they have generally managed to bring the people under their feet and to trample upon their rights. Such has been the case in the nations of Europe and Asia. It is, in fact, the history of the world.

By what right have any kings obtained their dominions? Has it been from God? No. Has it been from the people? No. How did they get in possession of their kingdoms? How was France organized? How England? How Germany? And how were other states and nations organized? They have been organized because men usurped power, brought into subjection other men, trampled under foot their rights, and made slaves of them, and made them carry out their laws, and do their pleasure without any peculiar interest in the things that were done. And those men, instead of governing the people according to the principles of righteousness and truth, have generally made yokes and put them on their necks, and trampled them in the dust—so much so, that in many of the countries of Europe you cannot travel but you must have a passport; and every little upstart has a right to examine it and to stop you, if he likes.

You have to ask a right to stop in cities, and they will prevent you when they please, and not only strangers, but their own citizens; and there are many European cities now, where, if a father was to receive his own son into his house, if he had been absent without the permission of the police, he would be subject to a heavy fine.

It is the governors of the people that bring them into subjection in this manner, until the people think that kings and priests have rights—and they have no rights—until they think that presidents, governors, and kings are the persons who possess certain inalienable rights, and that no one has a right to interfere with them.

Kings, presidents, and priests combined govern men, body and soul. The first fetter them in their bodies and liberties, and the latter in their minds and consciences; and the human family, instead of being free, are literally and almost universally in a state of vassalage.

At the time of the Reformation, men began to break off their political fetters and to claim their rights, both politically and religiously. Many people talk of that event as a church concern alone: it was as much a political matter as anything else. The causes that prompted them to take the steps they did were both religious and political, the benefits accruing only very limited and partial; still it was a resistance to tyranny and oppression. The kings that sustained the Reformers did so merely upon political grounds, and not that they cared for their religion.

What made people come from the old countries to this land? It was because they were oppressed in England, in Germany, and in other states, and they fled from that power which sought to bind chains upon their necks. And why were they determined to flee from that government into this country? Because the mother country tried to make them subject to institutions and laws that they were unwilling to submit to, and because she wanted to put yokes upon their necks. Then the mother country sent armed men over here, and sought to enforce their armed minions upon the people; but they would not submit to it; for it was on that very account that they had fled from their mother country.

Such were the feelings of your fathers, and these were the things they talked about, a few years ago; and on account of the encroachments of the parent government, they took up the sword, and declared that they would live or die free men.

What was that freedom for which they contended? Just what I said a few minutes ago; it was the right to think, the right to speak, the right to act, the right to legislate, and the right to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences, and the right to do their own business without being interfered with.

We have come here to this land as citizens of the United States; and why have we come? Because there were men who sought to rob of us our rights, and because there was not sufficient purity and justice in the Government to protect us in our rights—because magistrates, constables, judges, governors, presidents, and officers of state, either directly or indirectly drove us, or suffered us to be driven—suffered us to be dispossessed of that which legally belonged to us.

Who are we? We are men made in the image of God, possessing the rights of other men. We have turned this desert into a flourishing field, and the desert has blossomed as the rose, and God has blessed our labors. And whom have we interfered with? Have we gone over to the States and interfered with them? Have we gone over to California and interfered with them? Have we gone to Oregon? Have we gone to New Mexico? Have we gone to any State and interfered with their rights, their laws, their immunities, or their privileges? I say we have not.

Well, then, what right has anybody to interfere with us? Oh, because they have got the power! That is, there is no right to it; there is no legal authority to it; there is no more right to it than there is in a bully and a blackguard insulting a little, weak man, because he has the power to do so. They have just the same authority that a large ox has to goad a small one, because he has the power.

They dare not interfere with some nations as they are doing with us: they dare not interfere with England or France, for fear of the consequences; and it is nothing but a principle of nasty little meanness that would try to interfere with us, and try to make you believe that they are the lords of creation. Great God! Who are they? Poor, pusillanimous curses, that have not manhood nor gentility enough about them to be gentlemen. They have just the same right that the highwayman has to put his hands into your pockets and take out your money.

Who led us here? Not the Christians of the United States, nor their governors, legislators, nor president. Who provided for us? Did the Government of the United States? Verily, no. Who built the houses in this city? Who made the improvements around it and through this Territory? Did the inhabitants of the United States? No. But they have done all that lay in their power to discourage us in every possible way. Who have fed you and clothed you? Your own right hands—your own energy and industry, by the blessing of the Almighty.

Then by what right, and by what authority, in the name of God, and in the name of every principle of right, honor, and integrity, have they a right to interfere with us?

“Oh,” say they, “the land belongs to us.” Ah! indeed; and I wonder where you got it from? “Oh, we got it by right of treaty with Mexico.” And whence did the Mexicans obtain it? Who treated with those Indians? Did they pay them for it? “No: but they are good Christians, and the Indians are poor savages; and what right have savages to land?” Where are their deeds and their right of possession? Will anybody tell me? “Oh, we took it because we had the power, and the United States took it from Mexico, because they had power.”

It is just like a lot of boys playing together, and one of them steals the other’s marbles because he has the power; and then another steals them, and calls them his, because he is a little more powerful than the other: or, when one man meets another and robs him of what he has, then two more go and take from him what he has stolen from the first one.

The simple fact in the case is, they say, “You are left upon our land, and therefore you must be in subjection to us, and we must rule over you.” But even on this principle they are at fault; for we, if there is any glory in the conquest, sent five hundred men, and possess equal rights with them as American citizens.

In speaking upon this subject once before, I showed you that, by the Constitution and the very genius of our Government, they had no right to interfere with us.

Again, on the common principle of justice, where did they get their rights to interfere with us? They did not bring us here, nor cultivate our farms; they did not send us either schoolmasters or priests to teach us; and we are not indebted to them for anything else. I would like to know what right they had to interfere with us? They have not a right upon religious grounds; for they kicked us out because of our religion; and, consequently, they have nothing to do with that. It is not because we have learned any morals of them; for we got our morals from a superior source. We have not learned either our religion or morality from them. We have not had them to cultivate our farms nor to build our houses. They have not done anything for us.

In relation to the land, I will suppose they did steal it, which they did. They obtained it because they had the power, and Mexico obtained it upon the same principle: the United States made a quarrel with the latter nation, because they knew they could bring them into subjection, and they intended to capitulate for California before they began the quarrel, and they took it upon those grounds. But that is righteousness—that is purity, truth and holiness, in the eyes of a corrupt and mighty nation.

We have got a little place that nobody else would live upon; and I will warrant that if any other people had been here, half of them would have died, the last two years, of starvation. But they cannot let us alone. This is their greatness—this their magnanimity, and this is the compassion manifested by the fathers of our great country. Of course we must feel patriotic; we cannot but feel strongly attached to such a kind, such a benevolent, such a merciful Government as we have got! How can we feel otherwise? They would take from us the right to live, and then it would be in their hearts to sweep us from the face of the earth; but they cannot do it.

There is no right associated with this matter; there is no justice about it. There are old rights and privileges the people used to have, and we have our rights. In the first place, we have a God that lives, and He will help us to take care of them, to maintain and preserve them. Then look at this in whichever light you please, you cannot change it: we are citizens of the United States, and have a right to the soil, if they did steal it.

I am ashamed of being associated with such things, but we cannot help ourselves; we are a part of the people, and we had to partake of their evil deeds.

When we came here, we came as American citizens; and we had just as much right to be here as any other American citizens in the United States.

They have made a religious pretext to rob us of the right of preemption—that is because we have more wives than one. This is the course they have pursued towards us.

Have they a right to force upon us judges and send officers under a military escort? The very act says they are afraid of something. Have they a right to send those men to rule over us, without our having a voice in the matter? I say they have not, according to the laws which exist among men; they have not according to the principles of justice and truth; they have not according to the principles upon which this Government is established: but they want to rule over us contrary to the principles of the Government; and, as you have expressed it, you have a right to withstand it.

God be thanked, there are not as many sneaks here as there are in the old country: men here dare think and speak.

Well, these are our feelings and some of our rights; but I will speak to you of other rights; for we have greater rights, that I have not yet touched upon.

[Blessed the sacramental cup.]

I speak of those other things because they are inalienable rights that belong to men—to us as American citizens—to us as citizens of the world; but there are other rights, other grounds upon which we claim these rights.

The Lord God has spoken in these last days; he has revealed the fulness of the everlasting Gospel; he has restored that Gospel in all its fulness, blessings, richness, power, and glory; he has put us in possession of the principles of eternal life; and he has established his kingdom upon the earth, and we are the legitimate heirs and inheritors of this kingdom. He has established his Priesthood, revealed his authority, his government, and his laws; and the grand reason why there is union and power here, and nowhere else, is because it emanated from God.

When we talk over those other things, we are under a lesser law, that we can any of us keep and that we have kept. We are not rebelling against the United States, neither are we resisting the Constitution of the United States; but it is wicked and corrupt usurpers that are oppressing us and that would take our rights from us.

To speak of our rights as citizens of the kingdom of God, we then speak of another law, we then move in a more exalted sphere; and it is of these things we have a right to speak.

God has established his kingdom; he has rolled back that cloud that has overspread the moral horizon of the world; he has opened the heavens, revealed the fulness of the Everlasting Gospel, organized his kingdom according to the pattern that exists in the heavens; and he has placed certain keys, powers, and oracles in our midst; and we are the people of God; we are his government. The Priesthood upon the earth is the legitimate government of God, whether in the heavens or on the earth.

Some people ask, “What is Priesthood?” I answer, “It is the legitimate rule of God, whether in the heavens or on the earth;” and it is the only legitimate power that has a right to rule upon the earth; and when the will of God is done on earth as it is in the heavens, no other power will bear rule.

Then, if we look at it in this point of view, we are standing in a peculiar position; we are standing here as the representatives of God, and the only true representatives he has upon the earth; for there is not another power or government upon the earth that acknowledges God for their ruler, or head, but this: there is not another.

Why did we come here? We came here because the people drove us, and because the Lord would have us come here; for it was necessary we should come into our secret places, and hide ourselves till the indignation of the Lord be overpast—until the Lord has shaken our enemies by the nape of the neck, as it were, until nations and empires are overthrown. We came to serve our God, to a place where we could more fully keep his commandments—where we could fulfil his behests upon the earth. This is the reason why we came here.

Well, then, if we are the only people that God acknowledges as a nation, have not we a right to the privileges which we enjoy? Who owns the gold, the silver, and the cattle upon a thousand hills? God. Who, then, has a right to appoint rulers? None but him, or the man that he appoints.

Who has ruled the earth? Who has borne sway? Man, who, by the power of the sword, has got possession of thrones, powers, and dominions, and has waded through seas of blood.

You read history, and what is it? A history of the depopulation of the nations, brought on by the overthrow of empires, and through the tyranny and ambition of wicked men, who have waded through seas of blood in order to possess themselves of that power which they now enjoy.

If we go to the United States and enquire into their rights, we may ask, have they a right to drive back the Indians, from time to time, and dispossess them of their rights? So long as they purchased of them it was well enough; but when they forced them into a swap, just as the Indians did with some of the traders back here, and made them trade on their own terms, that is something which they have no right to do; and, to use the language of one of the Indian Chiefs, “They have not left room for us to spread our blanket.” Have they purchased this Territory of them? No—nor made any arrangements to do so; but they have taken possession of it.

What authority has the President of the United States, or the Representatives of the several States? They have no authority but what the people give them, according to the institutions of the United States.

What authority had England over this land before they came here and took possession? None.

By what right, then, do nations and governments rule generally? Do they rule by the grace of God? I will tell you. They rule by the power of the sword.

Read the history of England, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and other nations, and you will find they obtain their authority by their swords; and then, when they have obtained, they go to work and sanctify it; they appoint and anoint kings by the grace of God and through the agency of their priests. That is the way they get their authority, and that is all the authority they have.

When the Pope was going to put the crown upon the head of Napoleon, he said, “Here, let me put that on; I won it myself.” But they generally want the priests to put it on.

You may go into any court in the world and say, “Thus saith the Lord,” and they will kick you out. Try it and see.

[Voices: “You have tried it.”]

No man can go and say, “Thus saith the Lord” amongst them; for they would put a straightjacket on him, if he was a respectable man; if he was not, they would kick him out. Such is the feeling of the people and the condition of the world, and yet they profess to worship God that rules on high.

Where does God rule on earth? Is he listened to in any nation? Is there any that will acknowledge him and his authority? I will tell you the nearest that I ever saw of it. It was Nicholas of Russia: he was an autocrat, you know. Some years ago, when they had the cholera very bad there, a feeling prevailed among the inhabitants that the wells had been poisoned: a mob arose, and they were going to kill many; but Nicholas went in amongst them and said, “My children, this is not so; this is the hand of God. Let us fall on our knees, and acknowledge our sins, and ask him to forgive us.”

That is the nearest to acknowledging God that I have heard of among the nations; but as to their authority, it is not there. Their emperors and rulers have been the most beastly in their conduct and oppressive in their acts of any other nations that rule under heaven.

Now, where can you find a nation that acknowledges God? They are very religious. Why, the Queen of England is said to be “Defender of the Faith.” Then it is not the faith of the Church of America—it is not the faith of the Church of France, nor of Germany, nor anywhere else, except the Church of England. Where did she get her right from? She is the descendant of a line of kings.

Henry the Eighth, some time since, wrote a book against the Protestants, and the Pope gave him the title of “Defender of the Faith,” which faith he afterwards sought to destroy, rebelled against the Pope, and started the Reformation, because the Pope would not allow him to divorce his wife. Hence the Protestant kings and queens of England have stolen the Roman Catholic title, to rule or defend the faith of the Protestants by kings and queens, whom they now anoint.

How do they anoint them? They anoint them by their Bishops, who declare them to be kings and queens by the grace of God. Go back, however, to their origin, and you will find that their kingdoms were first obtained by the sword; they stole their kingdoms and power, and then got priests to sanctify the theft.

Go back in England to the time of William the Conqueror, and you will find that he was a usurper; he was a Norman and a wholesale robber; and then, when he had subdued the Anglo-Saxons, the priests turned round and anointed him king by the grace of God. That is a fair example of the other European nations, and is all the authority that any of them had.

What is the Government of the United States? It does not profess any religion. There is no religion nor priesthood connected with it nationally, only they allow, or profess to allow, everybody to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences; but nationally they are a nation of infidels. They have no national creed, no national religious institutions; and hence the absurdity of interfering with us, when forsooth they have none themselves, and they do not want that we should have any.

Do they seek to acknowledge God in their acts? Or, is there any other nation that profess to acknowledge God? There are the Mahomedans, they had a Prophet, and professed to be governed by him. There is some talk about his being a false one: he might have been, or he might have been a true one, for aught I know; I leave them in the hands of God.

The Mahomedans have a certain faith or profession, which is spoken of in the Koran, or Alkoran. They, however, like the rest, obtained their nationality by the sword. We cannot find a nation upon the earth that has obtained its dominion or power to rule from God. If there is any people, except this people, I know them not.

The Lord has said, “If ye observe my law, ye have no need to break the law of the land.” We have not broken the law of the land, and we do not mean to, although he has revealed to us his will and given us certain privileges and immunities that he never gave to any other people. Still, we have not broken the law, and there is not another people who maintain the laws of the United States as faithfully as this people do.

Why, they are in storm and trouble every way in the United States, and here is the most perfect peace and the best morality that can be found in the world by a thousandfold: yes, it is a thousandfold better than I have seen in any part of the earth where I have been. There is not a place that can compare with it; and nothing but the very Devil himself could inspire the hearts of the children of men to make war against such a people as this.

What are we engaged in? We are engaged in building up the kingdom of God, and many of you have been ordained by the revelations of the Almighty to hold the power and authority of the Holy Priesthood. Besides this, you have been ordained kings and queens, and priests and priestesses to your Lord; you have been put in possession of principles that all the kings, potentates, and powers upon the earth are entirely ignorant of: they do not understand it; but you have received this from the hands of God.

The kingdom is put upon the shoulders of President Young and this people to carry it out, and by whom? By the Lord God—by him who holds dominion throughout the universe; by him who created all by the word of his power; by him who said, “Let there be light, and there was light;” by him who spake, and the worlds rolled into existence. By him you received rights that are not of this world—rights that flow from the great Eloheim.

What are we going to do, then? We are going to establish the kingdom of God upon the earth. This is our privilege—our right, if you please. But I consider it a high privilege—the greatest boon that can be bestowed upon mortals on the earth, to be the representatives of God. Let me say another thing. The people of the earth, their legislators, their princes, their kings, and their emperors, if they ever get salvation, have got to have it through us: if they obtain a celestial kingdom, they have got to go through the door that God has appointed, and there is no other way for it.

What are we doing here? We are here to stand up in defense of our individual rights—to stand up for our farms, our families, and our property, if it be necessary. Property! Why great conscience! It is just like the chaff and straw; and I was glad to see when the vote was taken, that if it was necessary to burn every house and all our property, every hand went right up for it. I was glad to see you appreciate these things.

Would we fight for these things? Just so far as I am concerned, they might take what I have got, and go to Gibraltar with it, or to Halifax; and I would say, You poor, miserable, corrupt creatures, take it.

But this is not all. The Lord has put us into a place where we cannot dodge, if we wish. We have asked for the blessing of his kingdom, and he has poured out blessings upon us, and there is no backing out. God has rolled his kingdom upon our should– ers; and now I ask, as a poet did some years ago,

“Shall we, for fear of feeble man, The Spirit’s course in us restrain?”

Shall we, for fear of those miserable curses, barter away eternal lives? Shall we set at naught those principles that God has imparted to us? Shall we exchange the pearl of great price, the riches of eternity, for the dirt and filth that the Gentiles wallow in? I know we do not feel like it.

Brother Kimball says we have to stand up to what we say, and the Lord will bring us to it; and I will tell you what I heard Joseph say years ago. He said, if God had known any other way that he could have tried Abraham better than he did, he would have put it upon him. And he will try us to see whether we will be faithful to the great and high calling that he has put upon us.

What are we doing? God has seen proper to establish his kingdom upon the earth, and here is that kingdom—that stone which has been cut out of the mountain without hands, and it is rolling forth to fill the whole earth.

A great charge is committed to us as a people: it is for us to walk up to the rack, resist the powers of darkness, and bear off the kingdom of God, that the powers of darkness may be rolled back with all their forces.

We are placed in this position to see if we will let the kingdom of God be trampled under foot of men. It is not a little thing, but it is one that is associated with our progenitors and posterity, as eternal beings, having to do with the past, the present, and the future.

The little stone was to smite the image on the toes; and I would not be surprised if there was to be a monstrous kicking—particularly, as brother Kimball says, if there should be any corns on the toes.

It is not whether we can stop here, and eat and drink, and say, poor pussy, and put off the evil day. It is not an evil day; it is a day of rejoicing—a day of bursting off the fetters from us; it is a day when every son and daughter of God ought to sing, Hosannah to the God of Israel! We know we used to sing sometimes,

“We’ll burst off all our fetters, and break the Gentile yoke,

For long it has beset us, but now it shall be broke:

No more shall Jacob bow his neck; henceforth he shall be free, In Upper California:

O! that’s the land for me,” &c.

We used to sing that years ago, and we can sing it now; but we have got to do it. Yes, it is “Yankee doodle do it.”

Well, what are we doing? We are laying the foundation for salvation for ourselves, for our progenitors, for our children, and our posterity after us, from generation to generation. The foundation of liberty, whereby the bond that has been on the neck of the nations, shall be burst asunder; for it is here that liberty shall spring from.

Here is a nucleus—a band of brethren inspired from on high, having the oracles of God in their midst—the only people that are taught by the revelations of God. Here is the place where the standard is to be erected to all nations.

We were talking, sometime ago, about our rights: these are our duties; we have got through with our rights. There is an old motto that they have got very conspicuously in England; it is this—“England expects every man to do his duty.”

What is a man’s duty here? It is obedience to the oracles of God that are in our midst; and so long as we keep the commandments of God, we need not fear any evil; for the Lord will be with us in time and in eternity.

“But,” says one, “I have got a son, who has gone out upon the Plains, and perhaps the soldiers will kill him.” Let them kill him. [President Kimball, “There can be more made.”] I suppose there can.

Did you ever know your sons were in possession of eternal life, and that this is only a probation or a space between time and eternity? We existed before, in eternity that was, and we shall exist in eternity that is to come; and the question only is, whether it is better to die with the harness on, or to be found a poor, miserable coward.

All that I said to my son Joseph, after blessing him, before he went out, was, “Joseph, do not be found with a hole in your back.” I do not want any cowardice—any tremblings or feelings of that kind.

What of our friends that have gone behind the veil—are they dead? No; they live, and they move, in a more exalted sphere. Did they fight for the kingdom of God when here? Yes, they did. Are they battling for it now? Yes; and the time is approaching when the wicked nations have to be destroyed; and the time is near when every creature is to be heard saying, “Honor, and power, and might, and majesty, and dominion be ascribed to him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever.”

We have got to bring this about, whether we do it in this world or that which is to come. I have seen the time I could have died as easily as to have turned my hand over; but I did not feel like it.

[President H. C. Kimball: “You did not have time.”]

Supposing I live, I have got a work to do; and if I die, I shall still be engaged in the cause of Zion. Why, great conscience! What difference does it make? They can only kill the body. And do not we know that we have an interest beyond the grave? That we have drunk of that fountain which springs up into eternal lives? Then what difference does it make?

These are my feelings. If it is for life, let it be for life; and if it is for death, let it be for death, that the spirit may move in a more exalted sphere; and then all is well with us. If we live, we live to God; and if we die, we die to God; and we are God’s, anyway.

We have friends gone behind the veil. There are Joseph, Hyrum, Willard, Jedediah, and many of our friends that are there, and they have been moving and acting there for years; and if any of us are called to go, it is all right: there is a Priesthood there to regulate things, as well as here; and if we have to go there, we might as well go by a ball as by a fever, or any other distressing disease. I want to go with the harness on; and if others go a little before us, does it make any difference? Do not you know the old Apostle said, “They without us cannot be made perfect?” Could they attend to these ordinances that are being attended to here on earth while they are there? No, they cannot. Can you do what they are doing? No, you cannot; but when you get there you can.

When in the old country you were striving to get here, many of you had friends here; and when you came, they would say, “I am glad to see you, brother William, and sister Jane, or Mary, or Elizabeth.” Now, when a person dies, you say, “I am glad to see you go, but still I am sorry that you are going.”

I remember saying so to uncle John Smith. When I went to see him, I felt that his time was come, and I said, “I am glad you are going, but still I am sorry to part with you;” and said, “I hope you will carry my respects to our friends behind the veil.” He said, “I will.”

We have angels that are ministers of salvation; we have Joseph, Hyrum, Willard, Jedediah, and lots of others that are engaged in rolling on the work of the Lord in the upper worlds. What if they want any of us? Why, let us go, old men or young men. What if we are called by a ball, or die by a fever, what difference does it make?

What! Are we all going to die together? God has designed and said he would establish his kingdom upon the earth, and that the Devil shall not reign forever; but he whose right it is shall come and take the kingdom, and possess it forever and ever.

Now, brother Brigham has said all is right, and he is the representative of the Almighty upon the earth, and it is for us to stand by him and obey him; and he says, “Rejoice, and live your religion, and all shall be well.” Is not that the voice of God? It is. Shall we not listen to it? Yes; and we will maintain our rights as citizens of the United States.

I pray that God may bless you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

A Discourse by Elder John Taylor, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, August 23, 1857.

In listening to the remarks made by President Kimball this morning, I felt myself very much edified, very much instructed, and very much blessed. In fact, where the Spirit of the Lord is, and the oracles of God dwell, there must of necessity be truth, intelligence, and certainty. Many of those things, as he justly remarked, that seem light and trivial, and of little importance to many, are pregnant with meaning, are full of interest, and are of the utmost importance to the Saints that dwell in these valleys, and to the world of mankind, if they would only pay attention to and be governed by them.

Mankind are, more or less, fond of paraphernalia, show, pomp, and parade; but the kingdom of God does not always come with “observation,” as the Scripture says. The great and precious principles of eternal truth, like pearls and precious gems, are often hid from the view of the human family.

What is the reason that the world of mankind do not appreciate the principles that are so plain and so manifest to us? How is it that all of our friends, relatives, and associations, and the neighborhoods where we have resided have not fallen in with the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Why is it that all these things have not been received and appreciated by the millions of the human family who have had precisely the same opportunities that we have had? It is because they do not appreciate them—because they cannot see and understand. The light shone in darkness and it comprehended it not; but to those who received it, it was life and salvation.

Why is it that a swine cannot discern the value of pearls, and tramples them under its feet? Because it does not understand—it has not the intelligence, and does not comprehend the difference between the filth that surrounds it and precious gems. You might cast a precious jewel at a hog, and it would turn and rend you; but throw that to a man of understanding and intelligence, and he would ask for more. That is the difference. God has so ordained that, “strait shall be the gate, and narrow the way that leads to life; and but few there are that find it.”

If the men of the world, if the princes and potentates of the earth, if the statesmen and great men among the nations could comprehend things as we comprehend them, could understand the Gospel as it has been revealed to us—if they could know anything of our high calling’s glorious hope, and of the principles that animate our bosoms, they would, many of them, lay down their honors and their thrones, and come down and ask for admission into this kingdom. But they have got to receive the kingdom of God like a little child, just the same as you and I, or they cannot enter it; they have got to enter by the door into the sheepfold; and hence there is a test for every man to try him by; and hence the difference between us and them, and therefore a difference in regard to our views and position, which necessarily produce a difference in our feelings. They think differently, they speak differently, they look upon things in a different point of view to what we do. They look upon us as being enthusiastic, foolish, wild, and visionary, and among the rest as being polluted; and they would, forsooth, sympathize with us, some of them, and think we are in the most dreadful position of any people under the face of the heavens—that we are degraded and fallen. But they know not the spirit that animates our bosoms; they know not the hope that God has inspired in our hearts; they know not the things pertaining to the kingdom of God; they are as ignorant of them and of their own destiny as the brute beast which is “made to be taken and destroyed.”

It was a very correct figure that the Apostle made use of formerly, when he spoke of men being as ignorant as brute beasts, which were made to be taken and destroyed. Man, holding a relationship with things that have been, with things that are, and with things that are to come, being an eternal being, having existed before, existing now, and destined to exist while endless ages shall endure—when he understands his relationship to God, how he is associated with his progenitors, the position in which he stands to the Church and kingdom of God on the earth, the blessing he is able to seal on his posterity, worlds without end, and the great things he is destined to enjoy, if faithful—there is as much difference between his views and the world of mankind in general as there is between midnight darkness and the light of the sun in its meridian glory.

Men that are in darkness do not understand why it is that we think as we do, that we act as we do, that we endure as we do, that men can be united as we are, that people will leave their homes and traverse seas, oceans, deserts, mountains, plains, and sterile wastes, in order to meet with a people so much despised by a great majority of mankind. They do not know why it is, because they do not understand the counsels of God. How is it in relation to them? They have no revelation, no knowledge of God; and hence they are like the brute beasts, and know nothing but what they know naturally, as beasts obtain their knowledge, &c. They know nothing of their own position, or of their relationship to God; they know nothing about their progenitors, of their own destiny in the future, of what is within their reach while here on the earth, or how to secure blessings on their posterity; in fact, they are ignorant of all the great and vital principles which have a tendency to animate, enliven, and give vitality and power to all the acts of the sons of God; and hence they are like the brute beasts.

You can take an ox, or a hog, and put it into a stable, and feed it, and it will get fat there. What for? For the knife. If you could only give it a little revelation—if you could only make that ox or hog understand that it was being prepared to be killed and eaten, I wonder how fat you could make it? It is just so with the world; they are ignorant of their position, and they glory in their own shame, just as much as a hog does in wallowing in the mire; and they are just as ignorant of their destiny. This is the position of the world, and that is the reason why you see things as they are—why there is so much darkness; and I only wonder there is so much light among them as there is.

You wonder why men act so much like fools. I wonder they have as much intelligence as they have: and the only reason why they have so much is, that the Spirit of God is not entirely withdrawn from them.

In regard to principles of science, mechanism, &c., they possess a great deal of information; but they do not know that “every good and perfect gift” proceeds from God, and they won’t acknowledge it or him; and hence the little light they enjoy relative to religious matters, in relation to eternity, to their present real position and destiny, and to the things which God has communicated to us.

Is it to be wondered at, then, that men acting in that way should feel strange and act strangely? You cannot expect the conduct of a gentleman to proceed from a brute beast; you cannot expect anything but a grunt from a hog: it is their nature; and it is the nature of the wicked to act as they have done and as they are doing; and if you see animosity, hatred, evil, strife, vicious feelings, bad practices, lasciviousness, corruption of every grade, and every kind of abomination prevailing, it is because of their nature. One of those little hymns composed by Watts for children describes it right—

“Let dogs delight to bark and bite, for God hath made them so: Let bears and lions growl and fight; it is their nature too.”

Not desirous to retain God in their knowledge, they have given themselves up to every kind of evil, and are led captive by the Devil; and the Scriptures say, “His servants ye are to whom ye list to obey.”

Now, what is it that enlightens our minds? We were like them precisely. Is there any man here who knew anything about God until it was revealed to him? Is there a man or woman here who understood even the first principles of the Gospel of Christ until they were revealed to them?

I have traveled a great deal, and been in different nations, and I have never yet met with a man that did. To what are we indebted for that knowledge? To the administration of an angel, which made manifest the order of God to Joseph Smith, and he revealed it unto others, to that we are indebted for the first principles of the Gospel.

Can you find anybody, anywhere, in any part of the earth, who professes to teach religion, that will tell the people to repent of their sins, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of them, and receive the imposition of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost? And who dare promise them that they shall receive it in its power, as the Apostles did formerly? I cannot. I have not met with such a people, nor have you.

I was well versed in the Scriptures myself when this Gospel came along, but I was as ignorant as a brute about these things, and so is everybody else. I have not come in contact with a man who understood correct principles in relation to the principles of the Gospel, or who knew the way to enter into the kingdom of God. Who could know it without God revealing it? And it is to that revelation that we are indebted for the intelligence we have received concerning these matters, and to the spirit of prophecy and revelation that has been communicated with it.

Brother Kimball said he did not profess to be a Prophet of God. I bear testimony that he is a Prophet of God; and why do I do that? Because I have known many things that I could relate here, that I heard him prophesy years ago, that have been fulfilled to the very letter. And I bear testimony of it on another ground: any man that has the testimony of Jesus has the spirit of prophecy; for “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy,” so says the old Bible; and consequently, such a man is a prophet.

Concerning the first principles of the Gospel, at first they came by revelation; they were communicated to a young man who did not possess what is termed worldly wisdom, education, or intelligence; but he came and told it out just as God told it to him.

Was there anybody that could controvert it? No. It was not because it was in the Bible that he taught it, but because God had communicated it to him; and he went and told the things which he had received. Did you ever meet with a man anywhere that could controvert the principles Joseph Smith taught? Did you ever find a theologian, or priest, of any description, that could contradict these things successfully? Did I? I never did. I have never met with a man under the heavens that could successfully contradict one principle of it—never; NO NEVER; and I do not expect ever to be able to.

Why is it that people cannot contradict it? Because it is the eternal truth of heaven, and emanated from the great Eloheim, and is one of those eternal principles of truth which God has communicated to the human family; and truth, like God, is unchangeable, and cannot be controverted. Darkness flees before it, and error hides its head wherever it appears.

It was so in regard to the first principles of the Gospel, and it has been so in regard to principles that have been revealed and communicated from time to time, both by Joseph Smith, by President Young, by brother Kimball, and by all the authorities of this Church who have been inspired by the Holy Ghost.

In relation to the position we now occupy, the things that were spoken this morning are as correct, as true, and as incontrovertible as anything that could be adduced by any man—I do not care where he comes from, nor what may be his intelligence—I do not care whether he is king, president, potentate, or statesman, of any description, or what his intellectual qualifications: it matters not.

The principles that were spoken here are, in and of themselves, correct; and I want to speak a little in relation to some of these things, in order that men who have not examined them may understand them more minutely. You believe the principles because you heard them, of course; and so do I; so do we all; and every truth recommends itself to the minds of the human family; yet, at the same time, we are not all of us at all times prepared to judge of the correctness of all these matters.

The things we have heard this morning might sound to some croakers and ignoramuses, who have never examined the subject, and do not understand principle, like treason, as though we were in open rebellion against the United States and opposed to the Government we are associated with—as though we were going to trample down all law, rule, and order. No such thing. We are the only people in these United States, at the present time, who are sustaining them. I can prove this, and that it is others who are trampling them under foot, and not us. Whilst they are committing acts, themselves, that are treasonable in their nature, and pursuing a course opposed to the Constitution and the very genius of the institutions of the United States, they want to lay the sin at our doors that they themselves are guilty of.

Would I, as a citizen of the United States, come out in rebellion against the United States, and act contrary to my conscience? Verily no. Would brother Young? Verily no. Would brother Kimball, or brother Wells? Verily no.

Are they not true patriots—true Americans? Do they not feel the fire of ’76 burning in their bosoms? Assuredly they do. Would they do a thing that is wrong? No; and they will also see that others do not do it. That is the feeling, the spirit, and principle that actuate them.

There are thousands of you who are Americans, who have been born in this land, whose fathers fought for the liberties we used to enjoy, but have not enjoyed for some years past. There are thousands of such men here who feel the same spirit that used to burn in their fathers’ bosoms—the spirit of liberty and equal rights—the spirit of according to every man that which belongs to him, and of robbing no man of his rights.

Your fathers and grandfathers have met the tyrant when he sought to put a yoke on your necks; as men and true patriots, they came forward and fought for their rights and in defense of that liberty which we, their children, ought to enjoy. You feel the same spirit that inspired them; the same blood that coursed in their veins flows in yours; you feel true patriotism and a strong attachment to the Constitution and institutions bought by the blood of your fathers, and bequeathed to you by them as your richest patrimony.

There are others of you that have taken the oath of allegiance to the United States; and some of you, not understanding correct principles, may, perhaps, feel qualms of conscience, and think, probably, that if we undertake to resist the powers that are seeking to make aggression upon us, we are doing wrong. No such thing. You let your conscience sleep at ease; let it be quiet: it is not us who are doing wrong; it is others who are committing a wrong upon us.

What was the case in Missouri? Let me draw your attention briefly to some of the circumstances that have transpired in our history as a people. Whom did we interfere with in the State of Missouri? Did we rebel against the United States, or against the State in which we lived? Verily no; and I am at the defiance of that State and Congress, with all the world at their backs, to prove that we did rebel in one iota. Did they give unto us the protection of American citizens? They did not; and they perjured themselves in not doing it. They perjured themselves before God and all honest men.

Whom did we rebel against in Illinois?

Let me mention one circumstance in the State of Missouri. How much land did we purchase there from the United States, and pay for, which they promised to warrant and defend us in the possession of? Did they protect us in the right they guaranteed unto us? No; they allowed us to be robbed and plundered with impunity. And how many suffered death in consequence of their recklessness, carelessness, and barefaced iniquity? Thousands. I have seen their condition when many thousands were driven from their lands and homes, were persecuted, harassed, and driven like felons without redress, robbed, plundered, imprisoned, and put to death; and thousands of men, women, and children wandered houseless and homeless exiles in their own land, and fugitives flying from the rage of a lawless rabble, infuriated banditti, and bloodthirsty miscreants and murderers. I saw then a whole people robbed and disfranchised, and this too in the middle of winter. Did the State authorities yield us any redress? No. They were foremost in the mob. Did the United States? No.

Many of my brethren around me also witnessed these things, and know the misery, destitution, and death caused by those bloodhounds, when they first fled to Nauvoo, resting where the mud was knee deep—the only position they could get—with three or four little sticks put up, and a counterpane thrown over them, and there left to die.

Brother Wells was in Nauvoo at the time. After the excitement was over, there was not enough of well folks to wait on the sick.

I was off on a mission to England at this time, and all my family were sick; and my son George, who has been away and returned with me, being quite a little boy, not able to draw water, and nobody in the house able to get it, had to go and wait at the well, with a little bucket, for somebody to come and draw him a little water to carry home to the sick, to quench the parching tongue and allay the raging fever occasioned by these Missouri demons.

Brother Brigham, brother Kimball, George A. Smith, and the Twelve here, and everybody, almost, was down sick; and in this condition, feeble, faint, and half dead, they started off on a mission, because we were commanded to go. We went to fulfil the word of the Lord. Did the United States step forward and yield us any redress? No; but they stood there, and were willing to see us imposed upon and robbed of our property and rights; and we have obtained no redress for it to the present day.

Who are the transgressors? Are we? Martin Van Buren, the then President of the United States, acknowledged the injustice done to us when he said, “Your cause is just, but we can do nothing for you.” And we endured it.

We stayed in Illinois, lived there as peaceable citizens, and had a city charter, and under its protection improved our city, and had in a short time, by our energy, industry, and enterprise, built one of the best cities in the western country, and had one of the most peaceable societies that existed anywhere, without exception.

The first thing they did to aggra– vate us was to rob us of our city charter; and this very Judge Douglas, of whom we have heard so much as being our friend, was one of the first movers for its repeal. The first time I ever met with him was in an hotel in Springfield, Illinois, the time they were trying Joseph Smith before Judge Pope. He told me then that they had a right to do it, and that the Judges had decided so. I said, I did not know anything about the Judges.

I did not know who he was at the time, and it would not have made much difference if I had. I told him, It is no matter to me what the Judges decided about charters; the Legislature had given us our charter for perpetual succession; and for them to take away a charter with these provisions proved them either to be knaves or fools.

They were knaves if they did it knowingly, to give what they knew they had not power to do; and if they did not know it, they were fools for giving us a thing they had not power to give. Did they do it? Yes. And that State robbed us of the rights of freemen; and the only chance we had then, when they sent their scamps and rogues among us, was to have a whittling society and whittle them out. We could not get them out according to law, and we had to do it according to justice; and there was no law against whittling—so we whittled the scoundrels out.

I remember that one of the legislators who had annulled our charter, named Dr. Charles, went to President Young, and says he, “Mr. Young, I am very much imposed upon by the people around here; there are a lot of boys following me with long knives, and they are whittling after me wherever I go; my life is in danger.”

Brother Young replied, “I am very sorry you are imposed upon by the people: we used to have laws here, but you have taken them away from us: we have no law to protect you. “YOUR CAUSE IS JUST, BUT WE CAN DO NOTHING FOR YOU.” Boys, don’t frighten him, don’t.”

They deprived us of the rights of law to protect ourselves, and in doing it, they deprived us of the power of protecting them; and we could not help them when they wanted help.

[Voice: “We still have whittling societies.”]

Yes, we still have whittling societies, as brother Kimball says.

Why did we leave Nauvoo? Had we killed anybody? Had we broken any law? Had we trampled upon the rights of any people? Had we done anything that the laws of the United States or of that State could interfere with us for? If we had, they would pretty soon have dragged us up.

The people wanted us to leave; and because the people were dissatisfied—because there were a lot of religious enthusiasts, political aspirants, blacklegs, and scoundrels, who wanted to possess our property, all bound together to rob us of our rights, we must go away, of course.

Judge Douglas, General Harding, Major Warren, and some of the prominent men from Springfield met together in my house in Nauvoo, and these men could go to work and talk deliberately (and there was no less than two United States’ Senators among them at the time), about removing thousands of people, and letting them be disfranchised and despoiled, as coolly as they would cut up a leg of mutton.

[Voice: “And you told them of it.”]

Yes. I did.

Now, then, whom did we injure? What law did we break? Whose rights did we trample upon? Did we dispossess anybody of his land, rob anybody, interfere with anybody’s rights? Did we transgress any State’s law, national law, or any other law? We did not; and they never have been able to prove one item against us, and we stand clear. We maintained the law and tried to make it honorable.

What must we go away for? Why, they had murdered our Prophet and Patriarch under the sacred pledge of the Governor of the State and of his officers, all combined, and we could obtain no redress; and because they had done one injury, they must heap a thousand on the back of it.

That is the only reason I know of. They were murderers, and sanctioned the practice, and those men have got to atone for these wrongs yet. [Voices: “Amen.”] The debt has got to be paid.

[Voice: “Douglas is not a bit better than the rest of them.”]

Not a particle.

What is our position at the present time? Why are we here, gentlemen and ladies? Answer me, ye sons of the ancient patriots—ye sons of those fathers who fought for the rights and liberties this nation boasts so much of. Answer me—Why are you here? Because you could not go anywhere else—because you could not be protected in those rights that your fathers bled and died for. That is the reason you are here, gentlemen.

We are here, because we are exiled and disfranchised, because we are robbed of our rights, because we could not possess equal rights with other American citizens—rights that the Constitution guaranteed to every citizen of the Union.

We had to fly from the face of civilization, and found a refuge among the red men of the forest; we had to seek that mercy from the hands of the savage that Christian civilization denied us.

We are talking now about rights, laying aside religion. If we come to talk about the kingdom of God, that is another matter. We are talking now about our rights as American citizens, or rather our wrongs—the rights we have been robbed of.

We are here, then, under these circumstances. Have we broken any law here? No. I defied the whole Eastern country, when I was there, to prove that we have broken any law, and have not found a man that dare take up the gauntlet—not one, because they could not do it. Why could they not? Because we have done no wrong.

What did we do on the road here? Right in the midst of difficulties, in the midst of exile, when we were journeying to this place, this Government called upon us for 500 soldiers to go and fight their battles, when they were literally allowing us to be driven from our homes and to be robbed of millions of property without redress.

Did we send the soldiers? We did. Was it our duty to comply with such a requisition at such a time, and under such circumstances? I don’t know. I think it was one of those works of supererogation which the Roman Catholics talk about. I do not think any law of God or man would have required it at our hands; but we did it; and I suppose it was wisdom and prudent, under the circumstances, that we should take that course, because our enemies were seeking to entangle and destroy us from the earth. They laid that as a trap, thinking to catch us in it; but it did not stick.

What did we do when we came here? We framed a Constitution and a Provisional Government, and reported our doings to the United States again, right on the back of all the insults, robbery, and fraud which we had endured. We still went constitutionally to work.

Afterwards, we petitioned for a Territorial Government. Did they give it to us? They did. Is there any step that we have taken that is contrary to law? There is not. They have appointed our Governor, our Secretaries, our Judges, our Marshals; they have done to us the same in this matter as they have done with other Territories.

I do not believe in their right constitutionally to appoint our officers. Still they have done it, and we have submitted to it. And they have sent some of the most cursed scoundrels here that ever existed on the earth. Instead of being fathers, they have tried every influence they could bring to bear in order to destroy us.

Such have been our protectors. These have been the men who have been sworn to fulfil their public duties; but they have foresworn themselves in the face of high heaven.

What law have we transgressed? None. They trump up every kind of story that it is possible to conceive of, but have always been and are now unable to substantiate any of their barefaced assertions; and I declare it before you and the world, that this people are the most peaceable, law-abiding, and patriotic people that can be found in the United States.

What have they been doing in Kansas, in California, in Oregon? What in Cuba, in Nicaragua, and at present in New York, if you please? They have been filibustering in Cuba and in Nicaragua; and officers of every grade and condition, both civil and military, have winked at it and suffered those things to go on, right under their noses.

The position of affairs in Kansas has been anything but flattering; it has been North against South, and South against North, and Kansas has been the battleground.

The people there are not, perhaps, much worse than the rest of the people; they are principally emigrants from the North and South, who are arrayed against each other, whilst Kansas is the greatest Sebastopol, where the battle is fought. The inhabitants there are the representatives of Eastern, Western, Southern, and Northern civilization and Christianity, all combined.

Are they traitors? O, no! They are only a little excited. We must try and get a Governor who will try and compromise matters between the parties, and we will get things straightened out by-and-by. They send one Governor—he fails; and another, and he fails; and they have sent another; but whether he will fail or not, time must determine.

What are they doing in New York? The Legislature of New York passed laws interfering with the city of New York, and the city is in rebellion against the State of New York, and it was raging at the time I left. The State says, “I won’t submit,” and the city says, “I won’t submit.” And they had two different classes of officers there to regulate matters in the emporium of the United States: it is the mercantile emporium at least.

They are very peaceable; they are good citizens; there is no harm in that; it is only a little family trouble that we have to settle; and in doing so, we must use any pacific measure we can.

What is the matter with us? Have we broken any law? James Gordon Bennett, a man who is quarrelling with everybody, comes out at last, and says, “The Mormons have the advantage of us, and they know it.” And out of all he could hatch up and scrape together against the “Mormons,” there is only one thing that seems even in his eyes to supply any pretext for hostilities against them, and that is, the charge of burning some 900 volumes of United States’ laws; and this charge is also false. Bennett is one of the most rabid “Mormon“-eaters you can find, with the exception of Greeley.

What are they sending an army here for? I had thought things were a little different until I got here; but I have found, in conversing with President Young, that he knows more about things as they exist in the Eastern country than I did, who had just come from there. I had read all the newspapers, examined the spirit of the times, and tried to get at all the information I could; and I find, from the information I have received since then, that he understood things more correctly than I did.

I thought it was a kind of a pacific course which the Administration was taking, in order to pacify the Republicans, that they might have a reasonable pretext to have fulfilled their duties; for I do know that they were apprised of the unreliable character of some of their informants. When I heard that the troops now on their way here had sealed orders, were coming with cannon, and had stopped the mail, it argued that there was the Devil behind somewhere.

I will give you my opinion about their present course. The Republicans were determined to make the “Mormon” question tell in their favor. At the time they were trying to elect Fremont, they put two questions into their platform—viz., opposition to the domestic institutions of the South and to polygamy. The Democrats have professed to be our friends, and they go to work to sustain the domestic institutions of the South and the rights of the people; but when they do that, the Republicans throw polygamy at them, and are determined to make them swallow that with the other. This makes the Democrats gag, and they have felt a strong desire to get rid of the “Mormon” question.

Some of them, I know, for some time past, have been concocting plans to divide up Utah among the several Territories around; and I believe a bill, having this object in view, was prepared once or twice, and came pretty near being presented to Congress; but that was not done.

Now, they go to work and send out an army with sealed orders, and, if necessary, are prepared to commit anything that the Devil may suggest to them; for they are under his influence. They wish now to steal the Republicans’ thunder, to take the wind out of their sails, and to out-Herod Herod.

Say they, “We, who profess to be the friends of the ‘Mormons,’ and support free institutions, squatter sovereignty, and equal rights, will do more to the ‘Mormons’ than you dare do; and we will procure offices by that means, and save our parties;” and, as Pilate and Herod could be made friends over the death of Jesus, so they go to work and plan our sacrifice and destruction, and make up friends on the back of it. They would crucify Jesus Christ, if he were here, as quick as the Scribes and Pharisees did in his day, and the priests would help them.

President Young says they shall not come here and destroy us; and I say, Amen. [The congregation shouted, “Amen.“]

I have not quoted a great deal of Scripture today, but I will quote some. It says there was the opening of the “first seal;” so we will open this seal for them. We will declare their orders—a thing they have not manhood to do. They are too sneaking and underhanded, and have not manliness enough to declare their mind to a handful of people—the poor, pusillanimous curses. We dare do it; and I thank God, that I live among a people that dare; for I do despise this sneaking, miserable, cowardly tribe, that are obliged to act underhanded in all their ways. Why? For fear of something to come. We dare declare our intentions, and risk the consequences.

Now, I want to touch upon a principle which I spoke about awhile ago. We have submitted to their sending officers here; that is all right enough, if we have a mind to. We are citizens of the United States, and profess to support the Constitution of the United States; and wherein that binds us, we are bound; wherein it does not, we are not bound.

They have sent Judge after Judge, and many times we have been without them: their loss, however, was not felt. They have sent their officers, and we have treated them well; and for the good treatment we have received curses, bitterness, wrath, lying, and destruction in return. They have sought to destroy our reputation—to rob us of our rights. They have sought to injure us in every possible way that men could be injured, as patriots, Christians, and moral men. They have lied about us in every conceivable way.

We have borne it and borne it over and over again. Are we bound to bear it forever? That is the question that necessarily arises. Are we bound to suffer their abuse and oppression continually? And if we are, upon what principle? If there is any man in this congregation, or anywhere else, that will show me one principle or one piece of instruction or authority in the Constitution of the United States that authorizes the President of the United States to send out Governors and Judges to this Territory, I would like to see it.

I cannot find such authority. I will admit that a usage of that kind has obtained—that it is quite customary for the President of the United States, by and with the consent of the Senate, to appoint Governors, Judges, Marshals, Secretaries of State, and all of those officers that you have had here. But it is a thing that is not authorized by the Constitution—much less to force them upon us by an armed soldiery. There is no such authority existing.

I wish to quote to you one little thing. If I had the Constitution here, I would read it to you. It is to the effect, “That the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

No matter, therefore, whether the people live in States or Territories, they possess constitutional privileges alike. The most that is said in regard to Territories and the authority of the President and Congress is, that “The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property of the United States.” That is speaking of it as land; and some of the most prominent statesmen of the United States have so construed it. It is property as land—territory as land they have a right to interfere with, not territory as regards the people.

I published this in the “Mormon” long ago, and said the Missouri compromise was unconstitutional. By-and-by, the United States’ Judges gave the same decision. I gave mine, however, before they gave theirs.

It is a true principle, they have not the authority. If they have it at all, it is in the people ceding it to them, and not what they possess by the Constitution of the United States. They have sent scoundrels amongst us from time to time. If they had sent decent men, would we have opposed them? No: we would have respected them. But will we submit to such infernal scoundrels? Never; no, never!!

So far as right is concerned, then, they have no right to appoint officers for this or any other Territory; and I will defy any man to prove that there is any such right in the Constitution.

I conversed with a Judge Black, who was coming up to Nebraska Ter– ritory on a steamboat—an intelligent man, a Democrat, of course. When talking about these principles to him, which he acceded to, I put my hand on his shoulder and said, “Judge, what are you doing here?” “I am here,” said he, “according to the usage that has obtained; but if the people do not want me, all they have to do is to express it, and I will go away again.” I wish we had only half such decent men as that sent here.

He tried to take another tack, which is this: He pointed out in the Constitution where the Supreme Court of the United States was made one of the branches of the Government, and the President has the appointment of its Judges. That is true—he possesses the power to appoint the greater, but not the less. How do you make that appear? Simply because one is mentioned in the Constitution, and the other is not. The United States’ Supreme Court is a co-ordinate branch of the Government, and there is provision made by the Constitution for the election and appointment of its officers.

This is not the case in regard to the officers of a Territory. Out of courtesy we, as citizens of the United States, may say, “Mr. President, if you have a mind to appoint discreet persons to fill those offices, all well and good; but if you don’t, you had better take them back; for we won’t have them: we stand on our reserved rights as citizens of the United States.”

We are not lacking for men in the United States, at the present time, who want to make it appear that the United States have a right to lord it over the Territories, the same as the British Government used to do over their colonies.

Thousands of you before me were citizens of the United States, where you came from. You had the right of franchise—had a right to say who should be your Governor, and who should be your Municipal and State officers. You came out here by thousands or by tens of thousands. By what right or upon what principle are you disfranchised? Can anybody tell me? Say some, “You need not have come out here unless you had a mind to.” Of course not. But we had a mind to; we were American citizens before we came out, and we have transgressed no law in coming; and by what rule are we deprived of our citizenship? If we had a right then to vote for anything, we have a right now; and nobody has a right to cram this or that man upon us without our consent—much less have they a right to dragoon us into servility to their unconstitutional exactions.

What was the great cause of complaint at the time the Constitution was framed? In the Declaration of Independence, it was stated that the people had rulers placed over them, and they had no voice in their election. Read that instrument. It describes our wrongs as plainly as it did the wrongs the people then labored under and discarded.

Our Government are doing the very things against us that our fathers complained of. “They send armed mercenaries among us, to subjugate us,” &c. What is our Government doing? The same thing.

As American citizens and patriots, and as sons of those venerable sires, can we, without disgracing ourselves, our fathers, and our nation, submit to these insults, and tamely bow to such tyranny? We cannot do it, and we will not do it. We will rally round the Constitution, and declare our rights as American citizens; and we will sustain them in the face of High Heaven and the world.

No man need have any qualms of conscience that he is doing wrong. You are patriots, standing by your rights and opposing the wrong which affects all lovers of freedom as well as you; for those acts of aggression have a withering, deadly effect, and are gnawing, like a cankerworm, at the very vitals of religious and civil liberty. You are standing by the Declaration of Independence, and sustaining the Constitution which was given by the inspiration of God; and you are the only people in the United States this time that are doing it—that have the manhood to do it. You dare do it, and you feel right about the matter as the vox populi.

According to the genius and spirit of the Constitution of the United States, we are pursuing the course that would be approved of by all high-minded, honorable men; and no man but a poor, miserable sneak would have any other feeling.

I lay these things before you for your information, that you may feel and act understandingly. I have carefully criticized these matters, and examined the views of many of those who are said to be our greatest statesmen on this subject; for I have desired to comprehend the powers of the Government and the rights of the people; and I have watched with no little anxiety the encroachments of Government and the manifest desire to trample upon your rights. It is for you, however, to maintain them; and if those men that are traitors to the spirit and genius of the Constitution of the United States have a mind to trample underfoot those principles that ought to guarantee protection to every American citizen, we will rally around the standard, and bid them defiance in the name of the Lord God of Israel.

In doing this, we neither forget our duties as citizens of the United States, nor as subjects of the kingdom and cause of God; but, as the Lord has said, if we will keep His commandments, we need not transgress the laws of the land. We have not done it; we have maintained them all the time. When we talk about the Constitution of the United States, we are sometimes apt to quote—“Vox populi, vox Dei;” that is, The voice of the people is the voice of God. But in some places they ought to say, VOX POPULI, VOX DIABOLI; that is, the voice of the people is the voice of the Devil.

We are moved by a higher law. They talk sometimes about a higher law in the States. Greeley is a great man to talk about a higher law, which means, with him, stealing niggers. We do not care anything about that. We want to do something better—something higher and more noble. That is rather too low for us; consequently, they need not be afraid of our stealing their niggers: we will let them have all the benefits of them as one of the grand institutions of Christians, together with the amalgamating process as another of the institutions of Christianity. And another grand institution they have among them is prostitution.

Well, thank God, we do not know anything about such things. A very respectable gentleman in Philadelphia said to me a while go, in talking over some of these matters—“Suppose a Mahommedan should come into the city of Philadelphia”—that is one of the puritanical cities, where they profess to be so good, the city of brotherly love—and walk through our streets in the evening, and see a number of ladies walking alone, being informed that it was usual for respectable ladies to be protected, he would necessarily enquire what was the meaning of this. Being informed that these were prostitutes, he would very naturally say, “Then I suppose this is one of the institutions of Christianity?” This is the conclusion he would come to at once. Well, so it is; and this niggerism in the South is about the same kind of thing, only a change of color.

These are all moral, all legal, all truly Christian. Men East may have one or a dozen misses, keep part of their children, and turn the other out as paupers. In the South, they buy them body and soul, prostitute them at pleasure, and sell their own children. Yet these men talk of our morals, and send out armies to chastise us for our corruptions, when God knows, and they know, that they are a thousand times more corrupt than we are.

We are not taking any steps contrary to the laws and the Constitution of the United States, but in everything we are upholding and sustaining them. Gentlemen, hands off: we are free men; we possess equal rights with other men; and if you send your sealed orders here, we may break the seal, and it shall be the opening of the first seal.

In relation to the kingdom of God, that is another matter. You before me understand about it—its laws, priesthood, principles, and influences, and the things that are about to transpire. God has set His hand to accomplish His purposes, to roll on His great designs, and bring to pass the things spoken of by all the holy Prophets since the world began, that should take place in the latter days, to establish His kingdom on the earth, that shall become mighty and prevail over all other kingdoms. You know all about this.

We are established here, and have the oracles of God in our midst, and the principles of truth revealed. This is the kingdom of God. The stone cut out of the mountain without hands has got to roll forth and become a great mountain, and fill the whole earth.

Satan has held dominion, and rule, and power, over the human family, for generations and generations; and God is gathering together a little nucleus here—a band of brethren clothed upon with the Holy Priesthood and the Spirit of God, by which they will be able to roll back the cloud of darkness that has overwhelmed the inhabitants of the earth, and plant the principles of truth, and establish the kingdom of God. That is what we are engaged in, and what we mean to accomplish by the help of the Lord; and in regard to any little thing that may be transpiring around us, in regard to their little armies they are sending here, great conscience! It is comparatively nothing; there will be thunder and lightning and the bellowing of earthquakes, in comparison with that, before we get through. Thrones will be cast down, and desolation, war, and bloodshed will spread abroad in the earth, and desolate nations and empires, and God will turn and overturn until the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and His Christ, and he will reign forever; and we are going to have part in it, and our children and our children’s children.

It is for us to act as the sons of the living God, magnify our calling, honor our God and His Priesthood, and live as men and as God’s true children on the earth, accomplish His purposes here, and then join with the redeemed that have gone before to help to roll on weightier matters in the upper world.

I do not know but I have been talking long enough. I feel well. I am happy. All is right; and if it thunders, let it thunder; let the lightnings flash and the earthquakes bellow; let them rage: there is a God in heaven that can hold the children of men, and He will do it, and His work will spread, His kingdom increase, and His power be made manifest among us and among all nations, and Zion will spread and go forth, and every creature in the heavens, and on the earth, and under the earth will be heard to say, “Blessing and power, might and majesty be ascribed to Him that sitteth upon the throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever.”

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

Remarks by Elder John Taylor, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, August 9, 1857.

Beloved brethren and friends—Being called upon this morning to address you in a few words, I do so with very great pleasure. The sea of upturned faces that present themselves to my view at the present time is indeed something new, although I have been in what may be called the metropolis of the United States for some length of time.

Gazing round upon my brethren and sisters with smiling countenances and happy, contented feelings, imparts peculiar sensations to my mind; and it is difficult for me at the present time to concentrate my thoughts so as to express the feelings that are in my bosom, if in fact I could express them. Suffice it to say that I am glad to be here; I am happy to meet with my brethren of the Priesthood, and my sisters, and all those who are friends to the cause of God; I rejoice to see you, and am glad of the opportunity of standing before you once more to speak of the things pertaining to the interests of Zion, and the building up of the kingdom of God upon the earth.

There are many here who, like me, have been absent from home for some time, who, when they come to meet with former associations and friends, particularly those with whom they have battled for years in the cause and kingdom of God, feel as I feel on the present occasion. Those alone, and there are many of them, can enter into the sympathies and emotions which I experience at the present time.

There is a very material difference between associating with those that have the fear of God before their eyes, whose first object is their own salvation, the salvation of their progenitors and posterity, and the building up of the kingdom of God, and associating with those who “have not God in all their thoughts,” who regard him not in all their transactions, but who are living “without God and without hope in the world,” whose hearts—and I am sorry to say it, but yet it is true—whose hearts are “full of cursing and bitterness,” who roll sin under their tongues as a sweet morsel, “whose feet are swift to shed blood,” and “the way of peace,” as the Prophet hath said, “they have not known.”

There is a very material difference between associating with men and women who are the sons and daughters of Zion, and characters such as I have last named. The contrast is so striking, the spirit is so different, the atmosphere varies so much, that any man possessing one spark or particle of the Spirit of the Most High must experience it the moment he breathes the atmosphere and comes in contact with the two contending parties. The one is engaged in the acquisition of wealth: gold is their god, and, associated with that, lust, pollution, and corruption of every kind.

While we are aiming to fulfil our destiny on the earth, to accomplish the object for which we were created, to magnify our calling, to honor our God, to build up His kingdom, to redeem the earth from the curse under which it groans, to roll back the tide of corruption that seems to have overspread the universe, our opponents are engaged in pursuits directly tending to dissolution and destruction. Their lives, their views, their objects are short, transient, and evanescent. Ours are wide as the universe, extended as eternity, deep as the foundations of the earth, and elevated as the throne of God; receiving and imparting blessings that are rich, glorious, and eternal—blessings which effect us and our posterity through endless ages that are yet to come.

The contrast so striking, so vivid, so manifest, is it to be wondered at, when a person reflects upon these matters, that ten thousand thoughts should crowd upon the mind and produce sensations that is impossible to fully express with human language? Such, then, are my sentiments, and such my feelings.

I have been for some length of time past associated with the Gentiles. I have been engaged in battling corruption, iniquity, and the foul spirits that seem to fill the atmosphere of what you may term the lower regions, if you please; and the Lord has been with me, His Spirit has dwelt in my bosom, and I have felt to shout, Hallelujah! and to praise the name of the God of Israel, that He has been pleased to make me a messenger of salvation to the nations of the earth, to communicate the rich blessings flowing from the throne of God, and put me in possession of truth that no power on this or on the other side of hell can controvert successfully.

In regard to the world, the Elders who have been out, as I have, and as others have around me, know something of its nature and spirit, and the feelings by which the people are governed and actuated. Our young men and women, who have not come in contact with it, can scarcely conceive of the amount of iniquity, depravity, corruption, lying, deception, and abomination of every kind that prevails in the Gentile world.

Talk of honesty! It is a thing in theory; and they will preach about it as loud and as long as anybody. As a matter of theory, it is honorable to be honest—to be men of truth theoretically; but when you come to put your finger upon it, you cannot find it, it is like a shadow—it vanishes from your grasp.

Where are the men of truth—nationally, socially, religiously, morally, politically, or in any other way? Where are the patriots? Where are the men of God? I declare before you and high heaven, I have not found them. Sometimes I have thought I had got my hand upon them, but they slipped out of my fingers.

I bless the God of Israel that I am permitted to mingle with the Saints of the Most High—to associate with men who, when I meet them and ask them concerning anything, I may expect to have an honest and truthful answer—men in whom there is some truth, some integrity, something to catch hold of, something you can rely upon.

To speak of men whom I have seen dissatisfied, and who have gone back to Babylon, I must say that I do not very much admire their taste. If people understood things as I do, and as I have seen and experienced them, they would thank God from the bottom of their hearts that they are permitted to have a name and a place among the people of God in these valleys of the mountains.

We have been engaged in publishing a paper, which is generally known, because it has been circulated here. About my proceedings and acts, I have got very little to say, only that I have done as well as I could, the Lord being my helper; and I believe my brethren here have prayed for me, and that I have been sustained by their prayers and faith.

I have not been in that place, because it was my desire to be there; for I have had a hard struggle and a good deal to pass through: but that is common with us all; and if there were no struggle, there would be no honor in a victory.

I have conversed with some of the Twelve since I came home, and they all feel about the same; and when I have read about your affairs here, and the position in which you have been placed, I have said, “My brethren have had to struggle.”

There is one thing that I have noticed: wherever I have come across a Saint, they differ very materially from others. I have met with those in different places who have been sent out on missions to the various stations, and missionaries going off to preach in Canada and other places; and I found, wherever I came in contact with one of them, I came in contact with a man; and wherever I came in contact with those who had not been up here, I came in contact with children—babies, if you please, hardly knowing their right hand from their left, I mean in the practical sense of the word.

There are a great many theorists in the world. They can talk and splutter, and make a noise, and have a great many theories; but they cannot reduce them to practice. There is no energy, vitality, or power. But come in contact with our own brethren, and they are all quick, full of animation, life, and energy; and there is a spirit infused into them that I do not see anywhere else. This is my experience.

You may pick up men from any part of the world you please, and bring them to this place, and what are they fit for? They are poor, miserable, croaking old grannies. But there is something in the atmosphere of the place—something in the scenery we have passed through. There is something in the difficulties we have spoken about, and something in our joys and prospects, that has a tendency to strengthen the mind and brace up the nerves. There is something, too, in the hope that is implanted in the bosom, that is different from that in the possession of other men.

Every true man among us feels he is a Saint of the living God, and that he has an interest in the kingdom of God; every man feels that he is a king and a priest of the Most High God. He is a savior, and he stands forth and acts with energy and power, with influence, and he is full of the Spirit of the Lord. Hence the difference between them and others, and hence the necessity of the experience we are passing through, the various trials we have to combat with, and the difficulties we have to overcome.

All these things seem to me to be so many lessons, which it is absolutely necessary for the young, the middle-aged, and the aged to learn, to prepare them and their posterity for more active scenes in the rolling forth of the great work of God in the last days. Consequently, if we have to pass through a few trials, a few difficulties, a few afflictions, and to meet with a few privations, they have a tendency to purify the metal, purge it from the dross, and prepare it for the Master’s use.

So far as I am concerned, I say, let everything come as God has ordained it. I do not desire trials; I do not desire affliction: I would pray to God to “leave me not in temptation, and deliver me from evil; for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory.” But if the earthquake bellows, the lightnings flash, the thunders roll, and the powers of darkness are let loose, and the spirit of evil is permitted to rage, and an evil influence is brought to bear on the Saints, and my life, with theirs, is put to the test; let it come, for we are the Saints of the most High God, and all is well, all is peace, all is right, and will be, both in time and in eternity.

But I do not want trials; I do not want to put a straw in anybody’s way; and, if I know my own feelings, I do not want to hurt any man under the heavens, nor injure the hair of any person’s head. I would like to do every man good. These are the feelings, the spirit which the Gospel has implanted in my bosom, and that the Spirit of God implants in the bosoms of my brethren. And if men will pursue an improper course, the evil, of course, must be on their own heads.

I used to think, if I were the Lord, I would not suffer people to be tried as they are; but I have changed my mind on that subject. Now I think I would, if I were the Lord, because it purges out the meanness and corruption that stick around the Saints, like flies around molasses.

We have met on the road a great many apostates. I do not want to say much about them. If they can be happy, all right; but they do not exhibit it. When a man deserts from the Gospel, from the ordinances, from the Priesthood and its authority, from the revelations of the Spirit of God, from the spirit of prophecy, from that sweet, calm influence that broods over the upright man in all his acts, he loses the blessing of God, and falls back into error; and, as the Scripture says, “The evil spirit that went out of him, returns again, bringing with him seven spirits more wicked than himself; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”

It has become proverbial, where apostate “Mormons” live, to say, “Oh, he is only an apostate Mormon.” They look upon them as ten times meaner than a “Mormon.”

I happened to go into a barber’s shop, one day, to get shaved. A man came in, and when he went out again, the enquiry was made, “Who is that man?” “Oh, he is only an apostate Mormon.” Their mouths are full of cursing; and you will find them chewing tobacco and getting drunk, thinking that, by so doing, they will recommend themselves to the people; but they have not learned the art very well; they can’t swear and degrade themselves so naturally as others, and the people find them out and repudiate them.

You that don’t know him, have heard of Thomas B. Marsh, who was formerly the President of the Twelve Apostles, but who apostatized some years ago, in Missouri. He is on his way here, a poor, decrepit, broken down, old man. He has had a paralytic stroke—one of his arms hangs down. He is coming out here as an object of charity, destitute, without wife, child, or anything else. He has been an apostate some eighteen years. Most of you know his history. He has been all the time since then afraid of his life—afraid the “Mormons” would kill him; and he durst not let them know where he was.

In meeting with some of the apostates, he said to them, “You don’t know what you are about; if you want to see the fruits of apostasy, look on me.” I thought they could not look on a better example.

In relation to some of those other folks that left here—the Gladdenites and others—where are they? Some of them that contended most strenuously for Gladden have cast him off, and now have nothing to tie to. Where is their hope of salvation?

In regard to the spirit of the time, I do not know but that I have published my feelings. I would observe, however, that there is a material difference between the people of the East and the people of the West. A great majority of the people of the West, on the borders, may be emphatically termed “Border ruffians.” The Eastern people call them by that name, and by that name they are known. There is a species of ruffianism among them, of rowdyism, groggeryism, of bantering, bullying, fighting, and killing, that is a disgrace to humanity.

The most of you who have read the news must be familiar with the scenes that have transpired in Kansas between the two parties that have existed there—one party in favor of slavery, and the other opposed to it. There has been a great struggle between them, and mobocracy has abounded to a great extent. Who are the best and who are the worst, would be very difficult for me to tell.

The Eastern people, of whom I have been speaking, as quick as they go to the borders, partake of the spirit that reigns there, and turn “border ruffians” too. It is not difficult for them to enter into it; for the spirit of deep seated hatred which prevails among many in the East towards the South soon breaks out, and their feelings are manifested in acts of violence, and they generally maintain their points by the bowie knife and pistol, by mob violence, vigilance committees, &c.

This disorder of things extends all along the frontiers. If a man does not do right, they get up a vigilance committee, and it takes up a man, judges him, whips him, banishes him, or puts him to death, as they please; and it has become popular to act in this way in all those border places.

They are called “border ruffians,” and I think the name is as appropriate as anything you could give them. I do not know that I could pick out a better title. In the East, they do it with their tongues; they do not use the bowie knives, pistols, and rifles so much as in the West and in the South; but a spirit of rancor, animosity, and hatred seems to be engendered in the bosoms of the people, one against another. They have their most deadly enemies in their very midst. Every man’s hand is against his neighbor.

The feelings of the North and South have run very high, each party seeking to support their own peculiar views alone, and truth is out of the question. If they tell the truth, it is by accident. The object is not to tell the truth, but to sustain parties and party interests; for to tell the truth is not generally considered very politic.

True, there is a great profession of truth, and a great deal of apparent abhorrence of lies and falsehood, because falsehood is not popular, although it is practiced all the time.

The ministers say it is right to tell the truth, and then go to work and lie. One politician banters another, on account of the hypocritical course he has taken: and as quick as he has done that, he goes to work and lies, and deceives as much as he possibly can to sustain his party; and it is not whether a thing is true or not, but whether it is policy or not; and if a thing becomes policy, every influence, every kind of chicanery, falsehood, and deception is brought to bear upon it; and when a little truth will tell better, they mix that up along with it, but it is generally the least ingredient in the whole mass.

Talk to them about the Gospel and the Scriptures! They seem to think, even the ministers among them, that it is old fogyism. Talk about Abraham and his institutions! Say they, “You are taking us back to the dark ages. Such things would do eighteen hundred years ago; but we are more enlightened now; we have got more philosophy, more intelligence, and comprehend the nature of human existence better; we are men of greater renown than they. Those things might do for our grandfathers and great-grandfathers, but they will not do for us.”

If a little Scripture will suit them, they put it in; but if it won’t, they keep it out, and talk about expediency. Expediency is the great principle by which men are governed.

Talk about politics! What is it? It is this or that man’s policy. “If it is policy to tell the truth, we will tell it; if not, we will tell a lie.” A man cannot obtain a cause because it is just, but because it is policy, and because he can bring certain influences to bear on that thing. This is about the position of things as I find them, so far as my experience goes.

But, as is the case in Congress, bullyism seems to be one of the most prominent arguments in the West, where they seem to imitate their honorable example. These are the two prominent places—Kansas and Congress. Brother Bernhisel here has been among them there; he knows something about it and something about their proceedings. If a man dare get up there and speak his sentiments, another stands over with a cane, and goes to work at caning him, and lays him in a sick bed for several months, so that he cannot speak; and for this dignified act, he is presented with numerous canes by his constituents, to show how they appreciate this Congressional argument, and to prove to others that if they speak the truth, they may look out for a caning. These things take place in this land of liberty and in the Congress of the United States. We have had a good deal of trouble sometimes in getting our appropriations; in fact, not sometimes, but always. And I will tell you how they do in the West and in California. A fellow goes up and seizes another by the collar, and says, “Damn you, if you stand in my way, I will put this into you”—showing him a deadly weapon. The official says, “I am afraid that fellow will kill me; I will give him what he wants.” But if an honest man goes and asks for his rights, he cannot get them, simply because he is honest, particularly if he happens to be a “Mormon.”

I have vowed in my own mind, over and over again, if I was in Utah, the United States might stand over me until doomsday, before I would do anything for them, unless I was paid for it beforehand. Excuse me, Governor Young, if I am not very patriotic. No men need call upon me to do anything in Utah for the United States, unless they pay me the money down. I won’t trust them.

I speak from experience—from things I have seen and known—from circumstances that have come under my own notice. I have seen the difficulties my brethren have labored under, when they have had to do with Congress or the Departments at Washington.

Any unprincipled scoundrel, no matter how mean, if he comes with a bowie knife or revolver in his hand, can get what he wants. People back East used to blame me for speaking and writing plain. I talk the same now. I feel that I can be sustained by the truth; and if I cannot live by truth, I will die by it and I am not afraid of telling it before any people. I met a gentleman on the road, on his way to the States from California. I asked him how things were getting on in Utah. He said, “Very well; all is peace there; they seem to do very well. Are you going there?” “Yes, sir, I am going to Utah.” “Did you live there?” “Yes.” “I think it is not prudent, the policy upon which they act. I would recommend your people to pursue a quiet policy. I saw everything peaceable and quiet there as could possibly be in any community; but I heard Governor Young talk about General Harney. He said he was the squaw-killing General. I did not think that was courteous to be said of a United States’ officer.” I replied, Are we the only people that must not talk about the United States’ officers? What do you do in California, in the East, and everywhere we go? Are we going to be imposed on from time to time, and not have the privilege of saying our souls are our own? “Oh, I merely recommend it as the best policy to be peaceable and quiet until you get to be a State, and for the present put up with these things.” I said, We have been outrageously imposed upon by United States’ officials. They send out every rag-tag and bobtail, and every mean nincompoop they can scrape up from the filth and scum of society, and dub him a United States’ officer; and are we expected to receive all manner of insults from such men without one word of complaint? They will assuredly find themselves mistaken. “What! You don’t mean to say you will fight against the United States?” We don’t want to; but we feel that we have as much right to talk as anybody. We have rights, as American citizens, and we cannot be eternally trampled on; but we shall assuredly maintain our constitutional rights, speak fearlessly our opinions, and take just the course that we think proper. That is our policy, and we shall pursue a course of that kind. He replied, “My idea is, that quietness and peace is better.” I told him, it is, sometimes; but a little bristle sometimes does good in keeping off the dogs. That is about how I feel.

In relation to the general condition of things in the East at this time, there has been a great hue-and– cry, and almost every editor, priest, and dog that could howl, has been yelping. They joined heartily with Drummond, one of our amiable, pure, virtuous United States’ officers. You know him. I never saw him; but I have heard about him as one of those spotless, immaculate, holy kind of men that they sent from the United States to teach us good morals, correct procedure, virtue, &c., &c.

This pure man commenced a tirade against us, then other dogs began to bark. We soon told the truth about it; then, by-and-by, somebody else would tell it; and he now stinks so bad, that they actually repudiate him. He is too mean even for them, and they had to cast him off. They supported him as long as they could, and finally had to let him drop.

The people are raging, and they do not know what for. The editor of the New York Herald, after summing up the whole matter, the only thing he could bring against us, after trying and trying for several weeks, was that we have burned some nine hundred volumes of United States’ law books. Of course I do not know anything about it; but if you did so, it is true, and if you did not, why it is a lie, and it all fizzles out. And, finally, he says, “The ‘Mormons’ have got the advantage of us, and they know it.” [Voices: That is true.] That was one truth, but it was told accidentally; one of those accidental things that slip out once in a while—“they have the advantage of us, and they know it.”

The majority of the people think you are a most corrupt people, following a doctrine something like those Free Love societies in the East. Greeley, the editor of the New York Tribune, was associated with one of those societies, and was its principal supporter.

That is what is called a virtuous kind of an abomination, used under a cloak of philosophy, a species of philosophy imported from France. Hence they call Greeley a philosopher; and, in writing about him, I have called him the same. I believe him to be as dishonest a man as is in existence.

These are my sentiments and feelings. I have examined his articles, watched his course, read his paper daily, and have formerly conversed with him a little; but lately I would not be seen in his company. I was thrown in his society in traveling from Boston, and occasionally met him afterwards; but I would not talk to him. I felt myself superior to such a mean, contemptible cur. I knew he was not after truth, but falsehood.

This Greeley is one of their popular characters in the East, and one that supports the stealing of niggers and the underground railroad. I do not know that the editor of the Herald is any more honest; but, as a journalist, he tells more truth. He publishes many things as they are, because it is creditable to do so. But Greeley will not; he will tell what suits his clandestine plans, and leave the rest untold. I speak of him, because he is one of the prominent newspaper editors in the Eastern country, and he is a poor, miserable curse.

I do not consider that many of them are much better. They are in a state of vassalage; they cannot tell the truth if they felt so disposed. People talk very loudly about liberty; but there are very few who comprehend its true principles. There is a species of bondage that is associated with every grade of society. It is with the mercantile community, the editorial fraternity, the political world, and with every body of men you can associate with, up to members of Congress and the President of the United States. There are yokes made for men of every grade to put their necks into; and everyone bows down to them willingly, and they are driven in their turn according to circumstances.

In the mercantile world there is what is called the credit system, which I consider one of the greatest curses that was ever introduced among men. Some will set up a small groggery or grocery; they go into debt to those who have a bigger groggery, or to a man who can, perhaps, buy a barrel of whiskey at a time, or a few pieces of calico. These little merchants are in debt to some larger ones in St. Louis; those to merchants in Cincinnati, New York, and New Orleans; and they are in debt to larger houses in England, France, Germany, and other places.

They all bow the neck: they are all trammeled and bowed down with the same chain. People talk about our credit not being good lately. I hope to God nobody will credit a “Mormon.” We don’t want anything on credit. I want us to live as we can live; and if we cannot live without going into debt to our enemies, let us die—never put our heads under the yoke.

The same thing exists in other branches. You may take a constable; he has got to pledge his honor to support such a man, no matter whether he keeps a doggery, a groggery, or whether he is an honest man or a rogue. Then a number of those support some other man that is more elevated, if there is any elevation in such doings. Then those other “elevated” ones form combinations and clubs, and sustain others; and so on, until you get up to the President of the United States. All are pinioned, and their tongues are tied.

There is Fremont, that great man, who could not lead a few men over these mountains without starving them to death. A few men, understanding his position, got him cooped up in New York, so that he could not be seen without coming at him through committees and checks, bars and bolts, lest he should speak and people find him out; and after all their great care, he came out at the little end of the horn: he was not elected.

When a President is elected, a crowd of men press around him, like so many hungry dogs, for a division of the spoils, saying, “Mr. President, what are you going to do for our town? Remember, here is Mr. So-and-so, who took a prominent position. We want such a one in such an office.” And, finally, after worryings and teasings, and whining and begging, some of those little men, mean, contemptible pups, doggery men, broken-down lawyers, or common, dirty, political hacks, bring up the rear, swelled up like swill barrels; they come to the table for the fragments, and, with a hungry maw and not very delicate stomach, whine out, “Won’t you give me a place, if it is only in Utah?” In order to stop the howling, the President says, “Throw a bone to that dog, and let him go out;” and he comes out a great big “United States’ officer,” dressed in a lion’s garb, it is true, but with the bray of an ass. He comes here, carrying out his groggery and whoring operations, and seeking to introduce among us eastern civilization.

The people here, however, feel a little astonished, some of them, although they are not very much astonished at anything that transpires; and when they look at him, they say in their simplicity, “Why, that man is acting like a beast.” His majesty, however, swells up, struts and puffs, and blows, and says, “You must not insult me. I am a United States’ officer; you are disloyal. I am a United States’ officer; don’t speak to me.” Of course you are, and a glorious representative you are.

I did start once to write a history of the judges sent to Utah; but I did not get through with it. You know we have the history of the judges in former days. If I had only had time, I would have liked to have written a history of the judges of Israel that came out from the Ammonites and Moabites down yonder.

There was one man here whom you considered one of the most honorable men among your judges. I refer to Judge Shaver. I do not know much about the man; he was spoken highly of, and a great deal of ceremony made at his funeral. I was on board of a steamer coming up to Florence, when some gentlemen got to talking about the “Mormons.” One man said, “I was there a year and a half, and I know them to be as good, peaceable, and quiet a society as I ever was among; but there is a pack of infernal scoundrels sent among them by the Government, that are not fit to go anywhere. A man, by the name of Shaver, was sent there, and he lay drunk around our town six months before he went there!” Thinks I, if that is one of the best, then the Lord have mercy on the rest.

With regard to office hunters, they are in bondage to each other; and even the President of the United States is trammeled, bound down, and no man has the manliness to say, I dare do as I please.

These things are so in a monetary point of view, in a religious point of view, and they are so in a political point of view, and in every way you can view it. Every man bows down his neck to his fellow, and they have their parties of every kind in the United States; and every man must be true to his party, no matter what it is. Politicians are bound by their parties, editors by their employers, ministers by their congregations, merchants by their creditors and Governors and President by political cliques. Divisions, strife, contention, and evil are everywhere increasing, and there is little room for truth in the hearts of the people.

I believe, notwithstanding, there are thousands of honest people in the United States; but so much evil prevails, and so much corruption, that it is next to impossible for them to discover the difference between truth and error.

Our preaching does not seem to have any value or effect on the minds of men at all, scarcely. You can revise, renovate, regenerate the Saints; but come to take hold of the world, and preach to them, it is like idle tales to them. As I have said, talk to them about the Bible, and they will tell you it is an old-fashioned, old fogy affair, with very little exception.

I have labored myself, as the rest of the Elders have, and the general result, wherever we have preached the Gospel, has been the same. I remember, in old Connecticut, the land of steady habits, some few embraced the Gospel, and one or two we had to cut off from the Church in a week or two after. There was one old lady, a farmer’s wife; she believed, and her husband treated us kindly, and they got a place for us to preach in, &c., and after listening for some time, said she would give anybody five hundred dollars to prove “Mormonism” untrue. I said I would do it for half of that sum; if she wanted a lie, she should have it.

In the neighborhood of Tom’s River, a number came into the Church; some have stood, and some have not: they are doing pretty well there. There was as good a Church when I first went there as I found in the East. There was also another in Philadelphia. In New York, when we went there, we found a people that called themselves “Mormons.” I called a meeting, and there was only two that I would acknowledge as such. I told the rest to go their own way; told them what I acknowledged to be “Mormonism,” and, if they would not walk up to that, they might take their own course,

Since then, a great many emigrants have come from the old countries—from England, France, Germany, Denmark, and other places. They form quite a body: there are now five or six hundred. At Philadelphia and around there, there have been some few brought in; but most of the Saints there are those who have come in from England and other places.

It is almost impossible to produce any effect on the feelings of the people. In New Jersey, I held several days’ meeting, to see if something could be done. They turned out in great numbers: “Mormonism” was popular; as many as 200 carriages were present. We were treated well, and preached faithfully. Somebody came and set up a little groggery, and it was removed forthwith. Was anybody converted? No. They turned their ears like a deaf adder to the cause, and that is the general feeling, so far as I have discovered.

They do not love the truth. In most of these places they have rejected the Gospel, and they listen not to the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely. Many asked about their friends, and if their was any speculation on foot. I could get thousands to immigrate to this Territory for speculative purposes; and committees waited on me to learn what inducements are held out to settlers. I could get thousands to come here, if we would give them good farms, and furnish them cattle, and work their farms for them until they got started, and let them carouse around, and have all the lager beer they could drink.

Those who love the truth are scarce. There are, however, a great many scattered all over the United States, who believe “Mormonism” is truth, and have not moral courage to embrace it; but if it is policy, they dare once in awhile say a few words, but in a kind of milk-and-water way: they dare not say much, because it is unpopular; and many dare not read a “Mormon” paper; it is unpopular.

I have met men in the world as much my friends, apparently, as those that are in the Church; and they have handed out means to me when I was in need. One man wrote to me that he would be glad to see me; but if I would not let the people know who I was, he would be obliged to me. I told him I did not go to such places, for I was a “Mormon,” outside and in, and I could get along in the world by holding my head up, and I despise men who will go crawling and cringing around.

In relation to things that are now transpiring in the United States, I suppose you have later news than I have. The mail team passed me on the road, but it had no mail. In relation to any policy that may be pursued here, I feel it is just right. I know that President Young and his brethren associated with him are full of the spirit of revelation, and they know what they are doing. I feel to acquiesce and put my shoulder to the work, whatever it is. If it is for peace, let it be peace; if it is for war, let it be to the hilt. It has got to come sometime, and I would just as lief jump into it today as any other time.

We are engaged in the work of God in rolling on His purposes; and if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to Him. The Lord has put His hand to the work, and all the potentates of the earth and their power cannot hinder its progress. The work is onward, and in the name of Israel’s God it will roll on, until the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and His Christ.

We are gathering a nucleus for a kingdom here that is bound to stand forever—

“While time and thought, and being last; And immortality endures.”

All is peace—and I feel like shouting, Hallelujah, hallelujah; for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, and all nations shall be subject to His sway.

I have talked longer than I thought I should.

There is one thing further I would like to say a few words upon. Brother George A. Smith, Dr. Bernhisel, and myself were appointed as delegates to go to Washington. I have never yet inquired what the First Presidency thought about our proceedings there. I was in Washington several times, and counseled with my brethren on the subject of our admission. We counseled with some of the most prominent men in the United States in relation to this matter; and those that dare say anything at all, dare not, if you can understand that.

That was about the feeling. We need not say much on this matter; but I believe that brother George A. Smith and brother Bernhisel labored with indefatigable zeal to the best of their knowledge and intelligence to accomplish the thing they set about; and I did, while I was with them. But it was not necessary for me to remain there; and I told the brethren, if I was wanted, by sending me a telegraphic dispatch, I would be there in a little time. I believe these brethren did all that lay in their power.

While speaking of the acts of the Elders, I remember remarking to brother Bernhisel that a set of men could not be found on the face of the earth that would go with the same talent and ability, and act with the same disinterestedness and zeal in the performance of whatever is required of them.

I have counseled with them, and that is the feeling and testimony I have to bear concerning them. When they get together, their feeling is, How can we best promote the cause in which we are engaged? Can a cause sustained by such men sink? Can the cause sustained by the power that sustains them sink? No. The truth will triumph, and shall roll forth until all nations shall bow to its scepter.

I pray God, in the name of Jesus, to bless you and guide you, that we may be saved in His kingdom. Even so. Amen.

A Discourse by Elder John Taylor, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 19, 1854.

Having been called upon by President Grant to address you this morning, I do so with pleasure. How long I shall speak, I do not know, for I have been quite unwell for some time past, and whether my strength will hold out or not, I am unprepared to say; I can tell you better when I have tried.

I have been much interested during the Conference that is past; and although I was not able to take an active part in the business that was going on, yet my spirit rejoiced to hear the principles of truth that were advanced, and in the things that were developed and fully made manifest by the Spirit of the Most High God.

Associated as we are with the kingdom of God, we may reasonably expect, so long as we do our duty before the Lord, to have continual developments of light, truth, and intelligence, that emanate from the great God, for the guidance, direction, salvation, and exaltation of this people, whether it relates to time, or to eternity; for everything we have to do with is eternal; and when we speak of time and eternity, they are only relative terms which we attach to things that are present; and things that are to come, and things that are past. But in relation to ourselves as individuals, we are eternal beings, although we occupy a certain space of eternity called time; in relation to the Gospel we preach, it is eternal; in relation to the Priesthood, it is eternal; in relation to our covenants and obligations, they are eternal; in relation to our promises, prospects, and hopes, they are eternal. And while we are acting upon this stage of being, we are merely commencing a state of things that will exist while countless ages shall roll along; and if we have right views and right feelings, and entertain correct principles as eternal beings, all our thoughts, our actions, our prospects—all our energies and our lives, will be engaged in laying a foundation upon which to build a superstructure that will be permanent, lasting, and enduring as the throne of the great Jehovah; and if anything is short of this, it is short of the mark of the high calling whereunto we may or ought to arrive; and many of the little incidents and occurrence of life that we have to pass through, are transient in comparison to the things that are to come; and yet all these little things are so many links in the great chain of our existence, of our hopes and prospects.

There are many things that seem to us trials and difficulties, that perplex, annoy, and harass our spirits; yet these very things, as one justly observed, are blessings in disguise, so many helps to us to develop our weaknesses and infirmities, and lead us to put our trust in God, and rely upon Him to give us a knowledge of ourselves, of our neighbors, and of the work of God; they have a tendency to develop principles of worth to our minds, and thus they serve as schoolmasters, helps, and instructors, and are to us as many blessings in disguise. In fact all things that we have to do with in the world, whether they are adversity or prosperity, whether they relate to ourselves or to others, if rightly appreciated and understood, may teach us a lesson that will be to our joy, probably not only in time, but in all eternity. We must know ourselves, learn what is in our nature—our weakness, our strength, our wisdom, our folly; and the like things that dwell in others, that we may learn to appreciate true and correct principles, and be governed by them whenever they are developed; that we may learn to set a just value upon all sublunary things, that we may not value them above their real value, and that we may neither value ourselves nor others above our or their worth; that we may learn to look upon ourselves as eternal beings, acting in everything with a reference to eternity; that we may by and by secure to ourselves eternal exaltations, thrones, principalities, and powers in the eternal worlds.

These are some of my feelings in relation to everyday affairs and occurrences in life, and the things with which I am surrounded, and I feel anxious every day, when I feel right, to make an improvement today, in something that will benefit me or others in relation to eternity, as well as to time; for while we are eternal beings we are also temporal beings, and have to do with temporal things, as well as with spiritual or eternal things. Taking this view of the subject, it is of very little importance whether we are rich or whether we are poor, whether we are placed in adverse or in prosperous circumstances. It may, however, be of more importance than we think of. I think adversity is a blessing in many instances; and in some, prosperity; but nothing is a blessing to us that is not calculated to enlighten our minds, and lead us to God, and put us in possession of true principles, and prepare us for an exaltation in the eternal world.

In regard to God and the things of God, could the world of mankind see aright, and understand aright; could they know what was for their true interests; or could they have known it for generations, there are none of them but what would have feared God with all their hearts, minds, soul, and strength, that is, if they had had power to do so; that would have been their feeling, and more especially so among the Saints. If the Saints could understand things correctly; if they could see themselves as God sees them; if they could know and understand and appreciate the principles of eternal truth as they emanate from God, and as they dwell in His bosom; if they could know their high calling’s glorious hope, and the future destiny that awaits them, inasmuch as they are faithful; there is not a Saint of God, there is not one in these valleys of the mountains, but would prostrate himself before Him; he would dedicate his heart, and his mind, and his soul, and his strength to God, and his body, and spirit, and property, and everything he possesses of earth, and esteem it one of the greatest privileges that could be conferred upon mortal man. If there are those who do not see these things aright, it is because they see in part, and know in part; it is because their hearts are not devoted to God, as they ought to be; it is because their spirits are not entirely under the influence of the Spirit of the Most High; it is because they have not so lived up to their privileges, as to put themselves in possession of that light and truth that emanate from God to His people; it is because the god of this world has blinded their minds that they cannot fully understand, that they cannot be made fully acquainted with the great and glorious principles of eternal truth. When we look at ourselves aright, when we understand the principles of truth aright, what is there we would not give for salvation? When the Spirit has beamed forth powerfully upon the hearts of the Saints, when the light and intelligence of heaven have manifested themselves, when the Lord has shone upon the souls of the Saints when assembled together, what have they felt like? That they are the blessed of the Lord. How oft, when they have met together on special occasions to receive certain blessings from the hands of God, has the spirit of revelation rested upon them, and the future been opened to their view in all its beauty, glory, richness, and excellency; and when their hearts have been warmed up by that spirit, how have they felt to rejoice? How have they looked upon the things of this world, and the prospect that awaited them—upon their privileges as Saints of the Most High God, and upon the glory they will inherit if they are faithful to the end! You may have experienced the feeling that such thoughts and prospects would naturally create in the human heart. Why is it we feel otherwise at any time? It is because we forget to pray, and call upon God, and dedicate ourselves to Him, or because we fall into transgression, commit iniquity, and lose the Spirit of God; and forget our calling’s glorious hope. But if we could all the time see, and realize, and understand our true position before God, our minds would be continually on the stretch after the things of God, and we should be seeking to know all the day long what we could do to promote the happiness and salvation of the world; what we could do to honor our calling—to honor the Priesthood of the Son of God, and what to do to honor our God, and to improve the remaining time we have upon the earth, and the energies of our bodies, for the accomplishment of His purposes, for the rolling forth of His kingdom, for the advancement of His designs, that when we stand before Him He may say to us—“Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of thy Lord; thou has been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things.”

These would be our feelings, and no doubt this is what we came into the world for. I know of no other object, no other design, that God had in view in sending us here. We came forth from our Father in heaven, having the privilege of taking bodies in this world. What for? That our bodies and spirits together might accomplish the will of our heavenly Father, and find their way back again into His presence; that while we are upon the earth, we might be governed by His wisdom, by the intelligence and revelations that flow from Him; that He might be a guide and dictator of our steps while we sojourn here; and that we might fill up the measure of our creation in honor to ourselves, in honor to our progenitors, and in honor to our posterity; and finally, find our way back into the presence of God, having accomplished the object for which we came into the world, having filled up the measure of our creation, having obtained honor to ourselves, honor for our posterity and for our progenitors, and become an honor to God our heavenly Father, by walking humbly before Him, fulfilling His laws, and accomplishing this the object of our creation.

I say, as I said before, if we understood ourselves aright, this would be our main object; but we know in part, and see in part, and comprehend in part; and many of the things of God are hid from our view, both things that are past, things that are present, and things that are to come. Hence the world in general sit in judgment upon the actions of God that are passing among them, they make use of the weak judgment that God has given them to scan the designs of God, to unravel the mysteries that are past, and things that are still hid, forgetting that no man knows the things of God but by the Spirit of God; forgetting that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God; forgetting that no man in and of himself is competent to unravel the designs and know the purposes of Jehovah, whether in relation to the past, present, or future; and hence, forgetting this, they fall into all kinds of blunders; they blunder over things that are contained in the Scriptures, some of which are a representation of the follies and weaknesses of men, and some of them perhaps may be the wisdom and intelligence of God, that are as far above their wisdom and intelligence as the heavens are above the earth. How often have I heard individuals, for instance, exclaiming against the harshness, the cruelty, and tyranny of God in destroying the antediluvians, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, and other cities and places, and against other judgments and cruelties that befell the people. How little do such persons understand about it. According to their own systems of philosophy, they would act precisely upon the same principles if they only understood the principles He acted upon; whereas in ignorance of them they think it cruel indeed for God to de– stroy the inhabitants of the old world, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, or other places. Why? Because it was the destruction of so much human life. But do they know the whys and the wherefores of that? No. In the same way they look upon Moses, Joshua, and some other eminent men of God, who were called forth to execute His judgments, and accomplish His designs—root out the wicked, destroy the ungodly, and establish the principles of righteousness. They would look upon their acts as acts of cruelty, tyranny and oppression. Why so? Because they can conceive of no other idea than that which dwells in their own bosoms; there dwells the principle of revenge, or ambition, and they know of no other motive that could prompt God to do as He has in the destruction of the wicked at sundry times. In the same way men judge us in relation to our matrimonial relations; if a man is associated with more females than one in the world, they cannot look upon it in any other way than lasciviousness and adultery, the very principles that predominate in themselves; they have no other idea. Our situation, our conduct, and our proceedings, to their feelings and views, are outrageous and abominable and this they believe in all sincerity. Why? Because they know of no other principle than that, they have not been enlightened, they do not understand the end from the beginning, the whys and the wherefores; if they did, they would know that virtue, purity, and strict integrity dwell in the bosoms of the Saints, and that they are governed by correct, virtuous, and holy principles, and a thousand times more so than ever they dreamed of in their lives. This is so with regard to their views of the transactions of God with the wicked in former ages.

The whole antediluvian world was enveloped in corruption; they had forsaken God, the Father and fountain of their existence, and the giver of every good and perfect gift, yielding submission to the powers of the adversary in a state of darkness and ignorance, living and propagating their species innumerable in that state of corruption, depraving themselves morally and intellectually, forsaking God, and teaching nothing but principles that were corrupt and abominable. Look at the world in that state, and consider God as their Father, and themselves as eternal beings, and propagating eternal beings in a state of the deepest depravity; look at things that awaited them in the future, the position they stood in, the misery they must endure in the future after they had lived here, the trouble and position they had got to be placed in before ever they could get back to the presence of their Father; think of millions and millions of people living and dying in this, and bringing millions of individuals into the world, that had got to bear their fathers’ sins, cursed with their curse, and living and dying in their corruption still more increased, to be damned and go to hell, to be redeemed before they could be brought back again into the presence of their Creator—taking this view of the matter, can you say that God was unjust, cruel, and tyrannical for destroying such a people as that? No; for there were millions of unborn spirits to come into this world and inhabit these depraved bodies, and become subject to the corruptions of a depraved parentage; for there was not a righteous generation, for the whole earth had corrupted themselves. He had power to put a stop to the propagation of such corruption, but, had He not done it, would He have acted righteously to those yet unborn? Would He be doing justice to His creation upon the earth to let the devil bear rule and universal sway, and never put forth His hand to stop mankind in their mad career? Every man of reflection would look upon the destruction of such depraved beings as an act of mercy, thus stopping those growing evils by cutting off the life of man from the earth, and stopping the onward course of that vile seed.

What is the reason men form wrong judgments about such things? It is because they do not understand and comprehend correct principles, because they do not possess the visions of the Almighty; they understand not the end from the beginning, neither do they comprehend the designs of the Great Jehovah; if they did, they would have very different feelings and ideas in relation to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the old world, with all their abominations and corruptions, and in relation to the doings of Moses and Joshua, and other men of God, who were set apart to keep in order affairs pertaining to the kingdom of God, and establish righteousness, and do the will of heaven. If they had not done these things, they themselves would have been corrupted, and their children after them, they would have suffered the evil to overcome the good, and suffered Satan to triumph over God, and to bear rule, and have dominion, and corrupt the whole of the human family. There are thousands of such things as these that men form wrong ideas about, and wrong judgments; whereas, if they only understood the mind of God, and correct principles, they would come to other conclusions, and say—“God acts with wisdom and prudence, and righteously, in all His dealings with the human family.”

It is necessary that men should possess the Spirit of God before they can know the things of God: hence the great difficulty that the servants of God have had to labor under, in different ages of the world, in the propagation of the truth, is, what would be right in the eyes of God would seem wrong to the understanding of mankind; hence His servants have been persecuted, afflicted, tried, driven, hunted, put to death, and endured every kind of torment and affliction that the ingenuity of wicked men, and the hellish malice of demons could contrive, and all this for the lack of understanding and of love for the principles of truth. It has been difficult in every age of the world for the servants of God to accomplish His purposes upon the earth. It has been difficult for those who have professed to be Saints of God, in every age, to do His will faithfully without being molested, such has been the influence of the powers of darkness, the weakness of man’s intellect, and the lack of knowledge in the things of God. Because of this, it has been a difficult matter for those who have professed godliness, to discriminate between right and wrong; they would feel inclined to do right, but as it was with Paul on certain occasions, when he would do good, evil was present with him. I expect he ought to have overcome it, and I expect we ought likewise; but such is the case, we cannot look anywhere but we can see the weakness and infirmity of human nature.

We can sit down and reason calmly and dispassionately upon this matter, guided by the Spirit of God, and reflect back to the time of Enoch, and read some of the revelations given to that people, and look at the struggles and trials they had to pass through; then look also at the length of time that elapsed, after he had gathered His people from the corrupt world, before they were prepared to be caught up into the heavens; for Enoch was translated, and the city with him, and the Saints, its inhabitants, those who believed in him as a Prophet of God, and worked righteousness.

Look again at the time that Noah came from the ark, after he and his household were saved from the flood that drowned the world; they were the only ones that were righteous. When Noah and his family had seen the dreadful wreck, the awful calamity, the heartrending scenes of distress and anguish, trouble and death, that overwhelmed the world—with all this staring them in the face, how soon his posterity departed from correct principles, and bowed their necks to the power of the adversary; how soon was the weakness of human nature made manifest! Consider the trouble, afflictions, war, and bloodshed that have come in consequence of all this, the fostering of evil passions in the human heart, and giving way to every kind of iniquity, being led captive by the devil at his will, until nation has been arrayed against nation, kingdom against kingdom, power against power, and authority against authority. Witness the human beings that have been slain, and the human carcasses that have been left to rot upon the battlefields; all this has been in consequence of not adhering to what is righteous, true, and holy.

Again, see the old Israelites. Abraham had been set apart, and selected by the Almighty, as a man who had proved faithful in all things, after being tried to the uttermost extremity. God positively said, “I know Abraham will fear me and command his children after him.” Yet look at his children, and look at their seed in the wilderness, and when the arm of God had been stretched out in their behalf, see their rebellion, idolatry, and lasciviousness, and you will see fair specimens of poor, fallen, depraved human nature. Such was the case with them, and such has been the case in every age of the world. We cannot account for it upon any other principle, than that the God of this world has blinded, and does continue to blind, the hearts of the children of men, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of peace should shine in upon them, and they should be saved.

Wherein are we better than many of those of which we have spoken? God has revealed His truth to us; He has opened the heavens and sent forth His holy angels, has restored the holy Priesthood in as great power as ever it was in any age, and in fact greater; for we are now living in the dispensation of the fulness of times, when God has determined to gather all things in one, whether they be things in heaven or things in the earth; notwithstanding all this, are we much better than the ancient people we have just noticed? We can read the history of the people of this continent, in the Book of Mormon, of their faithfulness to God, and the principles of truth and righteousness, and the hand of God was stretched out in mighty power to save them from their enemies; and we read again of their destruction and overthrow in consequence of their departure from God. And among this people, who have been blessed with the light and revelations of God, who have been gathered from different nations, who have traveled thousands of miles for the privilege of listening to the oracles of eternal truth, of securing to themselves salvation, who have hailed with joy the message of mercy that has been extended to them, whose hearts in former times beat high with prospects of mingling with the Saints of God in Zion, and listening to the words of eternal life, what do we see even among them? The same specimen of fallen human nature; the same weakness, infirmities, and follies that have characterized men who have lived in former ages.

How many of us have fallen on the right hand and on the left; those we have judged to be men of intelligence, some of them have stepped aside in one shape and some in another. Some have given way to their corrupt appetites and passions, and have fallen in an evil hour, have lost the Spirit of God, have destroyed themselves, and have destroyed others; corrupted, weak, fallen, degenerate, and abominable, they have sunk to their own place. How much of this has there been both among men and women, to the violation of the most sacred covenants they have made before God, angels, and men. They have broken their covenants, corrupted themselves, departed from the right way, lost the Spirit of God, and they are anxious to go here and there, and everything is wrong with them, and every place fails to yield them comfort, because a consciousness of their guilt is continually with them; everything is out of place to them, and their understandings are darkened. At one time they were quick to comprehend truth by the light of the Spirit, but now they walk in darkness.

This reminds me of a remark made once in Far West by a man; says he, “I know Joseph Smith is a false Prophet, and that the Book of Mormon and Covenants are false.” How do you know it? “Why, says he, if a man commit adultery, he shall apostatize; and I have done it, and have not apostatized.” That is a good sample of the intelligence that is manifested by many. Do people think they can commit acts of iniquity, transgress the laws of God, and break their covenants, after being admitted to great privileges in the kingdom of God, and retain His Spirit, and a knowledge of His purposes? I tell you, no; but their very conduct and spirit give the lie to their profession all the day long, just as much as this Missouri man’s did which I have mentioned.

Well, what is it we are engaged in? Is the object of our being, in this life, attained by thinking of nothing else but horses, to look to nothing else but our little interests, our little farm or house, a few cattle, and the like? Is this all we are concerned in, ye Latter-day Saints? And if some of these things do not come smooth and square according to your notions; and if you have made your golden or some other darling idol, and a Moses should come along and break it to pieces and stamp it under his feet, and scatter it abroad, and say, “Arise, Israel, and wake from your slumbers;” do you feel very much grieved? Do you feel as though some dreadful calamity had happened to you? Have you forgot who you are, and what your object is? Have you forgot that you profess to be Saints of the Most High God, clothed upon with the Holy Priesthood? Have you forgot that you are aiming to become Kings and Priests to the Lord, and Queens and Priestesses to Him? Have you forgot that you are associated with the Saints of God in Zion, where the oracles of truth are revealed, and the truths of God are made manifest, and clearly developed; where you and your posterity after you can learn the ways of life and salvation; where you are placed in a position that you can obtain blessings from the great Eloheim, that will rest upon you and your posterity worlds without end? Have you forgot these things, and begun to turn again to the beggarly elements of the world, and become blind, like others we have spoken of, turning like the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire? We ought to reflect sometimes upon these things, and understand our true position. Have you forgot that you came from God, that He is your Father? Have you forgot that you are aiming to get back to His presence? If you have forgot all this, your conduct and actions now are fraught with eternal consequences to yourselves, to your progenitors, and to your posterity after you. Have you forgot that thousands who have possessed the Holy Priesthood here, still exist in the eternal world, and look with interest upon your conduct and proceedings? Have you forgot that God has set His hand again the second time to gather the remnants of His people? Have you forgot that He is preparing a people that shall be pure in heart; be blessed with light, life, and intelligence; with knowledge of things past, present, and to come? Have you forgot that you are standing in the midst of brethren who have gone behind the veil, who are watching your actions, and are anxious for your welfare, prosperity, and exaltation? Have you forgot that we are living in the last time, wherein a mighty struggle will have to take place between the powers of darkness that are in the world, and the children of light; that it is necessary for us as individuals to gird ourselves with the principles of truth, and be girt about with righteousness on the right hand and on the left, to enable us to stand in the midst of desolation, ruin, and misery, that are overhanging a devoted earth; and that as eternal beings we ought to have our eyes open to eternal things, and not be dreaming away our existence, forgetful of what we came into the world to accomplish?

Well, here we are, and who are we? We are Saints of the Most High God, are we not? And after all our weakness and infirmities, we are the best people there is under the face of the heavens, by a thousand fold. Poor as we are, weak as we are, changeable, afflicted as we are, still we are the best people God has upon the earth. If truth is revealed anywhere, it is here; if God communicates His will to the human family anywhere, it is here. If anybody can enlighten mankind, this people can; and if the nations of the earth, with their kings, potentates, and powers, are ever exalted in the kingdom of God, ever receive the light, truth, and intelligence of heaven, it will be through the means of this people. We are His servants; we are enlisted for life in the kingdom of God, to do His bidding, and to walk in obedience to His laws, to sustain His kingdom, to roll forth His purposes, and do whatsoever He shall think fit to require of us.

We have had some things presented to us during the Conference, about which I am ignorant of the feelings of this people, neither do I care what are their feelings; it is a matter of no moment to me, neither is it to my brethren, nor to any who do the will of God. But one thing I know, and one thing you know, you are not competent, in and of yourselves, to regulate anything pertaining to your eternal welfare; I do not care how wise and intelligent you may be, there is not one among you independent of God, or of the teachings of His servants. That I know, and that you know.

We have noticed some things this morning, wherein the world are at fault, because of their lack of experience. Take, for instance, one half of the world, I mean China, and the great majority in Europe. Notice their position at the present time, and can any of you point out a remedy that will restore amity and peace among them? Is there a master mind, or spirit—a man possessed of sufficient intelligence, to walk forth among the nations of Europe, and say to the hydra-headed monster, “War, lie still and be thou quiet?” Is there a man who can go into China and do the same thing, and straighten out the snarled condition of the world?

Let us come nearer home; can any of you regulate the affairs of this nation and put them right? I do not believe you can; and if you cannot do such small things, that are associated with time, things that we can see, know, and understand, how are you going to put in order the things of God? How are you going to order ends that are to come? To know what will be the best course to pursue, when the nations shall be convulsed, thrones cast down, and empires destroyed; when nation shall rush madly upon nation, and human blood shall flow as rivers of water? What would we do in such circumstances? Some people have thought we were in a dreadful condition, when the Indian difficulties were among us in these mountains; and our distant neighbors have been surprised how we have existed; but what would you think if you were in some of the European nations at the present time? Suppose you were one of the kings of those nations, or one of the counselors, and some of the largest nations should undertake to command you to supply a number of men to help fight their battles, and you would say, “We wish to remain neutral;” the reply would be, “But we will make you fight, and if you do not do it we will exterminate you, to begin with.” Suppose you were in a position like that. I think we are no worse off in these mountains, than the world are. We may be in some circumstances, but in many other respects we are much better off than they. I think our young men, for instance, would think it very hard if they were obliged to spend from three to five years in soldiering in times of peace, which they have to do in many of the nations of Europe, or bring a substitute to go in their place. I think sometimes we might be a great deal worse off than we are; and I think it is necessary men should be tried in order that they may be proved, and that they may know themselves; and that some should be destroyed, as they have been on this continent, or on the other; it is all in the wise providence of God; life and death are of little moment to Him. It is a matter of great importance to know the truth, and obey it, to have the privilege of learning, at the mouths of the servants of God, His will, and then to have the privilege of doing it unmolested, no matter what it is, whether to live or die, or whatever course we may have to pursue. I think it is a great privilege for us to be associated with the kingdom of God. I esteem it so myself, and I feel to bless God my heavenly Father, all the day long, that He has counted me worthy to obtain the Priesthood, and to be associated with His servants, who are the most honorable, pure, and philanthropic men upon the earth; and I feel to bless and praise my heavenly Father all the day long; my heart is full of praise, and I rejoice exceedingly that I have been counted worthy to be associated with His people and kingdom.

Should we not all feel alike in this? We all profess to be full of love for, and manifest a great amount of confidence in, the Holy Priesthood. It reminds me of some of the missionaries among the churches of the day; they always have a great deal of faith about the spiritual welfare of the people, but they never had faith enough to trust their time and their friends in the hands of God, while they were engaged in His work; but there must be missionary boxes to swallow up the money put into them, and if they go abroad, they must be well supplied with money, but they call upon the people to trust them for their spiritual welfare, while they cannot trust God for a piece of Johnny cake. I think we are very like them sometimes; we have a good supply of faith, we can speak and sing in tongues, and some of us have the gift of prophecy, and are full of religion and zeal. We pray fervently for the President, and for the Twelve, and for the rolling forth of God’s kingdom, and we seem all alive in it in this way; but what about our temporal interests? “O, I do not know so much about them, I think we are the best judges in these matters, but in spiritual matters I do not meddle as a judge, they are in the hands of the Lord’s servants, and I can attend to my temporal affairs myself.”

“Yes, we have a great deal of faith, we can speak in tongues, and cast out devils in thy name.” But take care he does not say at last, “I do not know you.” “Why, Lord? Did we not cast out devils, and were we not full of thy religion, and did we not pray unto thee often?” Yet He will say, “I never knew you.”

I will tell you how I feel about the principle of consecration, that has been presented by the President before the Conference; but there is one thing that will perhaps make a difference with me, I have not much to consecrate or sacrifice, consequently I cannot boast much in these matters. No matter about that, let it come; for I feel I am enlisted for the war, and it is going to last for time, and throughout all eternity; and if I am a servant of God, I am under the direction of those servants of God, whom He has appointed to guide and counsel me by revelation from Him; it is their right to dictate and control me amid all the affairs of those associated with the kingdom of God; and I feel moreover that everything, whether spiritual or temporal, relating to time or to eternity, is associated with the kingdom of God. Feeling in that way, it makes very little difference to me which way things go; it is not a matter of great moment whether they take that side, this side, or the other side; whether the path is rough or smooth; it will only last a certain time, and I can only last a certain time; but the chief thing with me is, how to hold on to my faith, and maintain my integrity, and honor my calling, and see to it that I am found faithful at the latter end, not only of this life, but in worlds without end; and continue to grow in all intelligence, knowledge, faith, perseverance, power, and exaltation; that is a matter of some importance to me, but the other is scarcely worth a thought.

The principle that was laid before us has been published years ago in the revelations of God, and the Saints have anxiously looked forward to the time when it would be fully entered into by them. But there is one thing you may set down for a certainty—if a man has not confidence in one revelation of God, he has not in another; and if a man feels right in one, he will in all the revelations from that source. I would hate, after struggling, and trying to master the evil around me, and to conquer the evil disposition that besets me, to let some little thing upset me, and root me up, and cause me to lose my high calling’s glorious hope, and make a shipwreck of my faith, and send me down to perdition; and I know you would hate it also. We have got to follow the oracles of heaven in all things; there is no other way but to follow him God has appointed to lead us and guide us into eternal salvation. He is either delegated from heaven to do this, or he is not; if he is, we will follow his counsel; if he is not, then we may kick up our heels, and every man help himself the best way he can. If I came from my Father in heaven, and am seeking to find my way back to His presence again, and I do not know the way myself, I feel, for one, by the grace of God, to yield to the intelligence He gives, and go forward in the name of the great Eloheim, that I may obtain the object of my creation, and not make a fool of myself, and destroy myself, but be a blessing to myself, to my progenitors, and my posterity, and obtain a seat in the kingdom of God.

These ought to be our feelings. I know the majority of this people feel right, and I pray God to increase this good feeling in every bosom, that our hearts may expand, and that the blessings of the great God may rest upon us, and that we may all ultimately be saved in His kingdom. Amen.