Remarks by President John Taylor, delivered at Ogden, Sunday, January 21st, 1883.

We convene in Conference in the various Stakes that everything pertaining to the interests of the Stakes may be considered in those conferences, and that all matters may be properly represented, and all the Saints have the privilege of voting for or against those officers who are presented to the Conference for their acceptance. It is also usual to vote for the officers of Wards in the Wards over which they preside, such as Bishops and their Counselors, with all the Lesser Priesthood, so that there may be perfect unanimity in all our acts. Because the Church of God is based upon the principle of perfect freedom of action. And while, as was said this morning, we have a Priesthood and an organization, and proper authority in the Church and Kingdom of God, it is proper that all of these authorities should be presented from time to time before the people, that all the people everywhere, not only in a Stake, but in all the Stakes, as well as at the General Conference, may have the opportunity if they know of anything wrong, anything immoral or unrighteous associated with the acts of any of the leading authorities of the Church, of speaking of it, that everything and everybody may be properly presented and that the conduct of all men may be intelligently scrutinized; for, if we cannot bear the scrutiny of our brethren upon earth, how shall we be able to meet the scrutiny and investigations of our heavenly Father when we shall stand before Him. And if there is anything immoral or unrighteous, of any kind, it is proper and expedient that it be righted; and this applies quite as much to the Presidency, the Twelve and the leading authorities as to any other individual in the Church; in order that everything may be presented in its proper form, and everybody have a full opportunity of offering their ideas and views in regard to these matters.

Now I want to say a little on some of the votes that have been taken this afternoon, in order that we may comprehend the situation. You have had a new name presented before you for the President of your Stake. Brother Peery, who was your former President resigned his office, which he had a perfect right to do; and we have nothing to say about it. It was according to his own feelings freely expressed to me and to others. It was necessary that his place should be filled. We selected Bishop L. W. Shurtliff, for whom you have just voted; and that is all right, and having done so you ought now to sustain him. In regard to the Counselors of the President, when he resigned and his place was filled, they also ceased to act as Counselors; they were dropped as authorities of the Stake with the President of the Stake, not because of any act of theirs. These brethren are good men. Here is Brother Herrick, for instance, he has maintained a good reputation, and a good position in the Church; but he was Counselor to a man who resigned his office; and as I have said, when the President resigned to whom they were Counselors they also ceased to act as such. The question arises, who shall be the Counselors to the new President? That rests with the new President and those that put him in office; and it seems that he has retained one of the old Counselors, Brother Middleton, and has chosen a new one; and that is right. Is there any disposition to hurt Brother Herrick? Not in the least. I speak of these things for your information, in order that all may comprehend the true position. For instance, supposing that I, as President of the Church, were to resign, or anything should occur to me, what would be the result? My Counselors would drop into their former place in the Quorum of the Twelve; and whoever succeeded me would have the selection of his own Counselors with the approval of the General Conference. He might and he might not retain as his Counselors those whom I have chosen. It is proper that we should understand these things in order that the right kind of feeling may exist, and no improper reflection be cast upon any person.

The High Priests occupy a position in their Priesthood whereby they are enabled to perform the various duties that they may be called upon to fill. You will find in reading the Doctrine and Covenants the following statement regarding the quorum of High Priests: “Which ordinance is instituted for the purpose of qualifying those who shall be appointed standing presidents or servants over different stakes scattered abroad.” That is, it is the duty of High Priests to preside; the principle of Presidency is connected with them. You have a High Priests’ Quorum over which Brother Farr presides; what is the duty of that quorum? To meet together to instruct one another in regard to the principles of the government of the Church and kingdom of God; that its members may understand the various organizations of the Church, the laws and the principles of government thereof, and the various duties they may be called upon to fill; it may be to occupy the position of a President of a Stake; it may be a Counselor to the President; it may be a High Councilor; it may be a Bishop or his Counselor. There are divers positions that High Priests are called to occupy, as deaths and other changes often transpire, and new Stakes and Wards are being organized. But the changes do not affect the status of the individual at all, as in the case of Brother Herrick, referred to. Here is Brother Shurtliff called from acting as Bishop to be the President of a Stake; have we a right to do that? Yes. Who is the Bishop? A High Priest. His place being vacated, that position needs supplying, and who shall supply it? These things are left for the counsel and the deliberation of the proper authorities to operate in for the welfare of the Church as far as they know how, and according to the best judgment they possess; and then they should be presented to the people for them to vote upon. But in dropping a President it drops his Counselors. They were selected to be his Counselors, not somebody else’s; and when someone else takes his place, then he should have his own Counselors. These are the views entertained on this subject, and they are correct and very proper. The order of the Church is for us to fulfill and magnify the calling to which we are called, and do it with an eye single to the glory of God, each man fulfilling the various duties and responsibilities of his office. I referred this morning to the feelings that prompted the acts of the Savior while upon the earth. He came not to do His own will, but the will of His Father who sent Him. It was a hard thing for Him to do. Did you ever think of it? When He found the accumulated weight of the sins of the world rolling upon His head, his feelings were so intense that He sweat great drops of blood. Could I tell it, or could you? No. Suffice it to say that He bore the sins of the world, and, when laboring under the pressure of those intense agonies, He exclaimed, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass.” But it was not possible. It was the decree of God; the fiat of the great Jehovah, and he had it to do. And on the cross He was heard to exclaim, “It is finished.” And he gave up the ghost; and went to move in another sphere, having atoned for the sins of the world and fulfilled His mission given Him in the flesh.

We also have been called and set apart to perform a certain mission; and the Holy Priesthood has been conferred upon us that we may be enabled to perform the various duties devolving upon us. And many of our duties are not of the most pleasing nature, and yet we cannot shrink from them any more than Jesus could; we have them to do. It is not a very pleasing thing for our Elders to go forth to the nations of the earth to preach the Gospel without purse or scrip, and then to be opposed, persecuted, maligned and abused, and even outraged in many instances. Yet it is a duty placed upon us by the Almighty, and we have to perform that duty as Jesus performed His, and our Elders go forth weeping, bearing precious seeds, the words of life and salvation, carrying in some instances their lives in their hands. This is required of us. Why? Because all men are the offspring of God, in whom He is equally interested.

Then we as Saints of God have duties to perform. We have to build up His Church according to the plan which He has appointed, and according to the order that He has revealed. Those of you who heard Brother Lyman yesterday, heard him describe the manner of entering into the Church of God, also the powers and privileges associated therewith. Those who heard Brother Joseph F., this morning, heard him speak about the organization of the Church, and the various orders and principles, powers and authorities associated therewith. These are so many principles introduced by the Lord. None of us, as was remarked, introduced any of them; none of us know them, neither do the world know them today. God introduced and put in order those principles that have been communicated to us in regard to the Gospel and in regard to the organization of the Church, and the various offices thereof, and everything pertaining thereto. And this Church and kingdom has been placed in communion with the kingdom in the heavens, with the Church triumphant, as it is sometimes called. And the Church is a living principle, a living power, a living communion; and as in former times God placed in the Church Apostles and Prophets, Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ, until we all come in the unity of the faith, and a knowledge of the Son of God; so it is in these latter days. He has revealed His will, His law, His power and His Priesthood; and He has been pleased to receive us as members and officers of His Church. And it is for us to magnify our calling and honor our God in any and every position that we may be called upon to fill. Paul said on a certain occasion, that a dispensation of the Gospel had been committed to him, and it was woe unto him if he preached it not. So we may say, that a dispensation of the Gospel has been committed to us; and woe be unto us if we preach it not; woe be unto us if we fulfill not the duties and obligations that are devolving upon us. I would say that this Priesthood is not for the honor of man, not for his exaltation alone; but it is imparted to man in order that he may be made the medium of salvation to others. It is true it is honorable to be a servant of God; it is true it is honorable to hold any office in the Church and kingdom of God; it is true there is not a more honorable position that a man can hold than to be found in the family of faith and the household of God, to belong to the Church and kingdom of God—there is nothing more honorable than that. Talking of the Elder, why he is a herald of salvation; he is a legate of the skies; he is commissioned of the great Jehovah to bear a message to the nations of the earth, and God has promised to sustain him. He has always sustained His faithful Elders, and He always will. And what of the Elder? He is commanded to call upon men to believe in Jesus Christ, to repent of their sins, and to be baptized for the remission of sins, promising them the gift of the Holy Ghost; and all who obey the requirements receive this divine gift. Is that true? Do you Elders not know that to be true? Does not this congregation know that it is true? And when you obeyed the Gospel, when you had hands laid upon your heads for the reception of the Holy Ghost, did you not receive it? If you were honest, you did; if you were true and sincere you did, and you are my witnesses as to the truth of these things of which I speak. What does it prove? It proves that God is with the Elders of Israel; it proves that God lives. Is not that a great witness to the Latter-day Saints, and is it not a witness to the world? Who dare come before the world with such a statement? Nobody but those that have the authority, as the Lord sanctions and acknowledges none excepting those that are authorized of Him.

Is there any greater position that man can occupy upon the earth than to be engaged as a herald of salvation, commissioned of the great Jehovah to proclaim the words of life to a fallen world, and to call upon them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins, promising them if they do it that they shall receive the Holy Ghost? This is the position occupied by our Elders, as well as that occupied by Seventies and High Priests. They go forth in the name of the Lord; and people believe their testimony and gather here. And why? Because they would not allow you to worship God in the world whence you came, and they will scarcely do it here.

We talk a great deal about the religious liberty that is guaranteed unto us in this land of the free, home of the brave and asylum for the oppressed; yet men are contriving all the time to deprive us of the rights of conscience, and of religious liberty. And what of it? Would we treat them as they treat us? No, no, no; a thousand times no. Why not? Says Jesus, “The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.” On the same occasion He said to His disciples, after commanding them to love one another, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” There was then, and there is today, and there always has been, a spirit of antagonism between the powers of light and the powers of darkness. There has been a conflict in the world ever since the creation of man to the present time. And that spirit of antagonism to the truth that existed in former ages exists in this age, and we have reason to know it. Is it because we are wicked that we are opposed? We are not as good as we might be by a great deal, it is true; we ought to be better than a great many people, and we are; and our lives and conduct prove it, notwithstanding there are a great many evils among us that we ought to repent of and put away. Yet, do we injure anybody? I do not know that we do. Do we wish to deprive anybody of his rights? Not that I know of. We are accused a good deal of this and everything else, in fact. Do we wish to interfere with anybody’s religion? I hope you do not do it here. You have Methodists and Presbyterians and Catholics, as well as other different sects; would you want to interfere with them? I do not think for a moment, that you would. We may think that their ideas are foolish in many respects, but then they have a perfect right to entertain them, and there are none, I think, that recognize that right sooner than we as Latter-day Saints. We believe in freedom of conscience; we believe that all men should be guaranteed the right to worship God according to the dictates of their conscience. Some may want to worship a God without body, parts or passions; a God that sits on the top of a topless throne; although to me the idea of worshiping such a God would be most ridiculous, if other people desire to do it, all right, and they should be protected in that right. But while we accord to all men the right to think, and the right to worship as they please, we claim the same right for ourselves. And then we do not want to have a set of men placed over us in a governmental capacity who do not recognize the rights of humanity; men who want to control the human mind. We want to maintain correct principles; and we want to sustain all men that do maintain them. We have a right to do that. Some, however, think that we have not that right even; and they are frequently trying to introduce principles that are at variance with our constitutional rights. But it is our duty to maintain our rights; it is our duty to stand up for those principles which guarantee freedom to man, and we intend to do it, God being our helper; and not permit the wicked and ungodly, the corrupt and depraved to deprive us of our rights. But I shall be talking about politics if I keep on much longer; what I have said, however, is correct, and it affects us as American citizens. We possess just as many rights as any other American citizens; and if there is anything contrary to this, it is contrary to the genius of the institutions of our country. We are all free and equal, at least, we are supposed to be; but we are not. We may as well laugh as cry about these things though, as it makes but little difference. We are engaged in doing the work of God; and we are seeking to do the will of God; and He has established a Church, which we, in the name of Israel’s God, will help to sustain. And we should not be concerned about the consequences of our acts. The Lord has all men in His keeping, and He has us in His keeping; and we cannot do anything only as He permits us. How could you Elders, who have been out preaching and baptizing, and confirming members into the Church, have imparted to them the gift of the Holy Ghost through the laying on of hands, excepting God were with you. And if God were not with Israel today, Israel could not be sustained. But God is on the side of Israel; and He will sustain His people if they will observe His laws and keep His commandments. And no man can successfully fight against Jehovah, for He will say to any that oppose Zion, as He did to the waves of the mighty ocean, “Hitherto shalt thou come and no further, and here shalt thy proud waves be stayed.” We are in the hands of God; and the nation is also in the hands of God; and we can do nothing unless He permits us; neither can this or any other nation. He controls them according to the counsel of his own will; and He manipulates, manages and directs the affairs of the children of men. He has appointed us to do a work. It is not our work; but we are willing to do it with His help. Will He be thwarted in His designs? I tell you, No. The kingdom of God will roll forth, and no man can stay it. And woe to that man who lifts up his hand against it; for the Lord is managing this work, not us, and it is His business to take care of His Saints. Therefore, we feel easy, comfortable, joyous and happy. And I feel all the day long like singing hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth; and He will reign until all His enemies are put under His feet. And Zion will progress and triumph, and the work of God will go forth, and the kingdom of God will be established, and the Zion of God built up, and all things spoken of by the holy Prophets will be fulfilled; and the kingdom of God will progress until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever, and unrighteousness and wickedness, corruption and evil will be trampled under His feet. God bless you, and lead you in the paths of life, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourses by President John Taylor on a Recent Trip to Bear Lake, delivered in the Various Settlements Around Bear Lake.

We are occupying a position which is different from that of any other people upon the face of the whole earth. We have a great work to perform, and there are duties and responsibilities resting upon us that rest upon no other people. There is no man living or that has lived that could have organized and set in order the work in which we are engaged. There are no men living, unaided by the Almighty, who are able to carry out this work to its consummation. All that have operated in it have had to trust in the living God for instruction, guidance and support, and all that will hereafter operate in it or that are operating in it now will have to trust to the same source. This work is one which is associated with the purposes and designs of God which He contemplated and planned from before the foundation of the world. The day in which we live has been spoken and prophesied of by all the Prophets that have existed since the world was, and it is in the Scriptures emphatically denominated “the dispensation of the fulness of times,” wherein God will gather together all things in one, whether they be things on the earth or things in the heavens. Neither Joseph Smith, nor Hyrum Smith, nor Sidney Rigdon, nor Brigham Young, nor myself, nor anybody associated with the Church at the present time, have had anything to do with the origination of these things. This work was commenced by the Almighty; it has been carried on by Him, and sustained by His power, and if it is ever consummated it will be by the power, and direction and sustenance of the Lord Jehovah, of Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, and then through the medium of the Priesthood here upon the earth. These things originated in the heavens, in the councils of the Gods; and the organization of the Priesthood and the power thereof, and everything pertaining thereto, has been committed from the heavens through Joseph Smith, principally, and through others who have been associated with him in this great work.

The times in which we live are pregnant with great events, and there will things come to pass that will affect all people—wars and rumors of wars, pestilence, earthquakes, the waves of the sea lifting themselves beyond their bounds; these and other judgments will go forth among the nations of the earth until, as the Scriptures say, it will be a vexation to hear the report thereof. I would simply remark, however, in relation to these things, that they are the decrees of the Almighty. They are not anything which has originated with us. We find them referred to in the Holy Bible, the record of the Jews; we find them referred to in the Book of Mormon, the record of the Nephites, and also in the revelations given unto us from the Lord through the Prophet Joseph Smith; and there are many now living that know that these events will transpire by things that have been manifested unto them.

Associated with this great work of God is the principle of gathering, and the labor of building temples. We have been gathered from the different nations of the earth to the land of Zion that we might be taught of God, and be subject to the will of God, the word of God, and the law of God. A temple was built in Kirtland, Ohio, at a very early stage in the history of the Church, in the year 1836, or six years after the organization of the Church. Some of the ordinances of God’s house were revealed and practiced therein, and many revelations, visions, and great manifestations of the power of God were given unto the people. Afterwards there was a temple built at Nauvoo, wherein further developments were made, and other and more advanced ordinances were revealed and administered. It was by a great struggle and indomitable energy that these things could be accomplished at all. Previous to the completion of the latter temple, Joseph and Hyrum were killed. But finally the temple was finished and dedicated to God, and a great many principles that had been revealed to Joseph Smith—and which he communicated to the leading authorities of the Church previous to his death—were there carried out and administered in by the Holy Priesthood. We are now building other temples. There is one that was completed several years ago in St. George, and many thousands of people have been administered to and for in that temple, pertaining both to the living and the dead. We have another temple in Logan, also another in Manti, both of which are progressing very favorably, as well as the one in Salt Lake City. Now, in regard to the use of these temples, neither we nor anybody else living had any idea until it was revealed to us from God—just the same as the first principles of the Gospel, were revealed, for they were nowhere to be found on the earth. Joseph Smith said to the Twelve in my hearing prior to their departure for Great Britain, “If you come across a people who have even the first principles of the Gospel of Christ correctly you need not baptize them, for the possession of those principles will be a sign that they have some portion of the Holy Priesthood.” And to this the Apostle John bears testimony when he says, “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.” But I never found anybody—and I have traveled many thousands of miles—who had even the first principles of the Gospel correctly, nor did any of my brethren—the Twelve, Seventies, Elders, High Priests, etc., ever meet with such a people. We knew nothing about these things ourselves until they were revealed from the heavens unto Joseph Smith. No people outside of the Latter-day Saints know how to build temples. The world would not know what to do with them today if they had them. Neither religionists, scientists, politicians, statesmen, philanthropists, nor any others would know how to administer in those temples if they had them. They would know no more how to administer therein, than this table that stands before me; and then we should be just as ignorant on this subject as they, only for the intelligence imparted unto us by the Almighty. But He has given us revelation in relation to this matter; He has told us what to do and how to do it, and what will be the result of our action in the performance of these ordinances.

But the world are ignorant in regard to a great many other things; they do not know anything even about marriage nor the object of it. What do they know about eternal union? Nothing. Is there any man living outside of this Church who will have a claim upon his wife on the other side of the veil? No. Why? Because in all their marriages, no matter by what church or denomination they are celebrated, the ceremony distinctly states, “until death do you part.” This is the acme of perfection in the Christian world in relation to this matter! Nothing else can be found anywhere, among any of the professed religionists of the world; the nearest approach can be found not among ministers, but in the yellow-backed literature of the period, for they do sometimes refer to the prospect of “eternal unions” hereafter, while the churches recognize no such principle. God has revealed, through His servant Joseph Smith, something more. He has told us about our associations hereafter. He has told us about our wives and our children being sealed to us, that we might have a claim on them in eternity. He has revealed unto us the law of celestial marriage, associated with which is the principle of plural marriage. I will speak a little upon this subject. It is very seldom that I refer to it, but there is need for it occasionally. I speak of it as that law given to us of God. I do not know, but I have been informed that there are those who seem to be opposed to this law in one or two places where we have been traveling. Now, I dare not oppose anything of the kind. I dare not violate any law of God. And I will tell you what Joseph Smith said upon the subject. He presented this principle to the Twelve, and called upon them to obey it, and said if they did not, the kingdom of God could not go one step further. Why could it not go one step further? Because we had a religion to live by, but none that placed our associations upon eternal principles or gave us a claim upon each other in the family relations in the eternal worlds. But through this principle we could be sealed to one another through time and eternity; we could prepare ourselves for an exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom of God. It is one of the greatest blessings that ever was conferred upon the human family. It is an eternal law which has always existed in other worlds as well as in this world. I will here call your attention to the revelation itself which reads:

“Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand to know and understand wherein I, the Lord, justified my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as also Moses, David and Solomon, my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines—“

“Behold, and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as touching this matter.

“Therefore, prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give unto you; for all those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same.”

This you will see is strictly in accordance with what I have told you Joseph Smith told the Twelve—that if this law was not practiced, if they would not enter into this covenant, then the kingdom of God could not go one step further. Now, we did not feel like preventing the kingdom of God from going forward. We professed to be the Apostles of the Lord, and did not feel like putting ourselves in a position to retard the progress of the kingdom of God. The revelation, as you have heard, says that, “all those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same.” Now, that is not my word. I did not make it. It was the Prophet of God who revealed that to us in Nauvoo, and I bear witness of this solemn fact before God, that He did reveal this sacred principle to me and others of the Twelve, and in this revelation it is stated that it is the will and law of God that “all those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same.” And the revelation further says:

“For behold, I reveal unto you a new and everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned.” Think of that, will you. For it is further said: “no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory.”

There are many people who try to excuse themselves in this matter and who essay to do as they please, but as the Lord God liveth, He will not excuse them. He expects those who profess to be his people to carry out that law. The revelation continues to say:

“For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundation of the world.”

“And as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for the fullness of my glory; and he that receiveth a fullness thereof must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God.”

I thought I would have a little of this revelation read. The whole revelation is quite lengthy. But it goes to say that all covenants heretofore entered into amount to nothing, and that they will be of no benefit to people beyond the grave.

Now, as I have already said, the reason was very obvious why a law of this kind should be had. As a people we professed to be Latter-day Saints. We professed to be governed by the word, and will, and law of God. We had a religion that might do to live by, but we had none to die by. But this was a principle that God had revealed unto us, and it must be obeyed. I had always entertained strict ideas of virtue, and I felt as a married man that this was to me, outside of this principle, an appalling thing to do. The idea of my going and asking a young lady to be married to me, when I had already a wife! It was a thing calculated to stir up feelings from the innermost depth of the human soul. I had always entertained the strictest regard for chastity. I had never in my life seen the time when I have known man deceiving a woman—and it is often done in the world, where notwithstanding the crime, the man is received into society, and the poor woman is looked upon as a pariah and an outcast—I have always looked upon such a thing as infamous, and upon such a man as a villain, and I hold today the same ideas. Hence, with the feelings I had entertained, nothing but a knowledge of God, and the revelations of God, and the truth of them, could have induced me to embrace such a principle as this. We seemed to put off, as far as we could, what might be termed the evil day. Some time after these things were made known to us, I was riding out of Nauvoo on horseback, and met Joseph Smith coming in, he, too, being on horseback. Some of you who were acquainted with Nauvoo, know where the graveyard was. We met upon the road going on to the hill there. I bowed to Brother Joseph, and having done the same to me he said; “Stop;” and he looked at me very intently. “Look here,” said he, “those things that have been spoken of must be fulfilled, and if they are not entered into right away, the keys will be turned.” Well, what did I do? Did I feel to stand in the way of this great, eternal principle, and treat lightly the things of God? No. I replied: “Brother Joseph, I will try and carry these things out,” and I afterwards did, and I have done it more times than once; but then I have never broken a law of the United States in doing so, and I am at their defiance to prove to the contrary.

I have related this to show why these eternal covenants are entered into; and that man among you who would seek to pervert these things and teach them to others and seek to frustrate the designs of God in regard to them, I tell you God will lay His hand upon him unless he repents, and speedily takes another course. I don’t know when I have talked so plainly as I have done today; but these are the feelings of my heart and they are true. It is for us to magnify our callings and not to tamper with the things of God. We must sustain and maintain the principles that God has committed to us inviolate. And about this nation and its ideas and feelings, we ask very little of unreasonable men who are not acquainted with the principles of which they speak. This nation will have enough to do by and by without troubling itself about us. It is for us to learn the ways of God and to place ourselves in subjection to His law. And then it is not enough for men to be married to wives and be sealed according to the order of God, they must treat them aright when they have them; they must treat them as they would treat angels of God; they must be full of kindness and mercy and long-suffering; they must provide for them and make them happy and comfortable, and take care of the families they have by them, and in this way gain the favor of God, and the respect of all honorable men. The laws of heaven must not be violated. We must keep sacred the holy covenants we have entered into. I will here relate a circumstance that came under my notice a short time ago, which will serve to show the terrible consequences following a violation of the law of God.

A certain Bishop wrote to me to know what should be done in the following case: A man had been away from home on a mission, and during his absence his wife had committed adultery. I replied that the woman would have to be severed from the Church; but requested that the aggrieved husband should call upon me. He did so, bringing with him his delinquent wife and three beautiful little boys—three as beautiful little boys as I ever saw. He also brought with him the villain who had done the damage. But I told him to take him away, I would have no communication with such a contemptible wretch. The husband explained that he wished to talk with me in the presence of his wife, if it was agreeable. He wanted to know what was to be done in the case. I told him I should be under the necessity of confirming the Bishop’s decision in the case, but I will have read to you what the law says upon the subject. George Reynolds, who is one of my secretaries, was present, and I asked him to read certain portions of the revelation on celestial marriage; for they had been married according to that order. That revelation states that, “If a man receiveth a wife in the new and everlasting covenant, and if she be with another man, and I have not appointed unto her by the holy anointing, she hath committed adultery and shall be destroyed.” And in another place it says, “they shall be destroyed in the flesh, and shall be delivered unto the buffetings of Satan unto the day of redemption, saith the Lord God.” Now, said I, I did not make that law. I find it in the word of God. It is not my province to change it. I cannot make any change. I am sorry for these little children. I am sorry for the shame and infamy that has been brought upon them; but I cannot reverse the law of God. I did not commit this crime; I am not responsible for it; I cannot take upon myself the responsibility of other peoples’ acts. Well, it made my heart ache. The husband wept like a child, so did the woman; but I could not help that. I speak of this for the purpose of bringing up other things, and of presenting them before the people. And the principle I desire to impress upon their minds is, that we have no right, any of us, to violate the laws of God.

The President of a Stake has no right to violate these laws; his Counselors have no right to do it; the Bishops have no right to do it; the Priests, Teachers and Deacons have no right to do it. God has called us to stand in holy places, and has placed upon us the responsibility of the Priesthood. He expects us to be as true to that Priesthood and to the administration thereof as the Gods are in the eternal worlds. We may think we can do this, that and the other irrespective of the word of God, but let it be understood that we cannot hide anything from the Lord; the Scriptures say, “Hell and destruction are before the Lord: how much more then the hearts of the children of men.” We may succeed in hiding our affairs from men; but it is written that for every word and every secret thought we shall have to give an account in the day when accounts have to be rendered before God, when hypocrisy and fraud of any kind will not avail us; for by our words and by our works we shall be justified, or by them we shall be condemned. It is for us to walk uprightly before God. And it is for the Priesthood—the Presidents of Stakes, Bishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons—to be governed by the law of God, and to see that there is no iniquity prevailing in the Church, and if there is, it must be dealt with according to the law of God, and not according to the notions and opinions of men. We have no right to condone this and to change the other, and to think that we are going to save men by permitting all kinds of iniquity to abound. It is the duty of those in authority to see things straightened out. Matters are sometimes allowed to go on to that extent that hard feelings, division, contention and strife arise, and all this because Teachers, Bishops and others do not do their duty. In our Bishops’ Courts, and in our High Councils, we must be governed by the law of God, and not by our notions and sympathies, or anything of that kind, and not because it is somebody’s son, or somebody’s brother, or somebody’s relative. If I have any sons, brothers or relatives, and they do something wrong, bring them up and adjudge them according to the law of God, and do the same with me and with everybody else. We sometimes think we will bear with this, that and the other thing. Perhaps a man may be a drunkard, and being a pretty good sort of a fellow, we think we will bear with him. I tell you he ought to be dealt with according to the law of God, and the same for Sabbath breaking, adultery, and other violations of His laws. The Saints cannot violate any of the laws of God with impunity, and the officers of the Church ought to see that they do not do it. We must not be governed by sympathies. My sympathies in the case that I related were very strong; but I must not be governed by sympathies—I must be governed by the law of God.

“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.” God has organized His Church after the pattern that exists in the heavens, and has given us laws for the government thereof, and placed at the head of it the holy Priesthood, which is after the order of Melchizedek, which is after the order of the Son of God, and which is after the power of an endless life, and then He has also introduced the Aaronic Priesthood as an appendage to the other. And what are these Priesthoods? The Priesthood is the rule and government of God as it exists, whether in the heavens or on the earth, and wherever that Priesthood is introduced, and the Gospel is introduced, life and immortality are brought to light; so that men can be placed in communion with God; so that by the spirit of light, truth and revelation, they can roll back the mists of darkness, gaze down the vista of future ages, and contemplate the purposes of God as they roll forth in all their majesty, power and glory. This is the position that we as Priests of the Most High God ought to occupy. We should feel that we are not living for ourselves, but that we are living for God—living to accomplish His purposes. We are here to build up His Church and to purify it from all evil, that it may be presented before the Father as the bride, the Lamb’s wife without spot or wrinkle. We are here to build up a Zion unto the Lord of Hosts—a Zion, which signifies the pure in heart—a people who will be prepared for the great events that are about to transpire upon this earth, and who will be able to stand the convulsions that will overthrow the world—and He has given us the Priesthood for that very purpose.

But there are those in our midst, who, although they have a name and a standing in the Church, disregard the authority of the Priesthood, both local and general. I hear sometimes of parties, and of cliques, and of rings in our midst. What! What, a party in the Church and kingdom of God? What! Rings associated with the principles of eternal truth—associated with the celestial law that emanates from our Heavenly Father? The devil got up a ring and was cast out of heaven for getting it up, as also a third part of the spirits who associated themselves with him. They were cast out because they devised principles that were in opposition to the word and will and law of God, and every man who follows in their footsteps, unless he speedily repent, will be placed in the same position—will also be cast out. The law of God must be put in force against the transgressor. No man who professes to be a Latter-day Saint can transgress with impunity. The Priesthood of God cannot be disregarded with impunity. We have men in our midst who are not afraid to speak against the authorities of the Church in the localities in which they live. Jude, in his general epistle, refers to such men. He alludes to them as “filthy dreamers who defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.” Yet, he says, “Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. But these speak evil of those things which they know not * * clouds they are without water, carried about of winds * * wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouths speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.” So also Peter speaks of such characters, “But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption.” Now, we have such men as these up and down. I think Brother Hosea Stout describes them as “smart Alecs.” They think they are wiser and better than other people, and they want to regulate the affairs of God, when God has given them no authority to do it. But it is woe to those who fight against the authorities of the Church of God. Let such be brought up before proper tribunals; for no backbiting, nor anything of that kind can be sanctioned in the Church and kingdom of God. These are things that prevail more or less in various parts of the Territory. I suppose we have them to meet. They have always been, to a greater or less degree, mixed up with the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth; but it is for the authorities to purge the Church of all such things, and to have a people who will be united, who will be one, and who will be governed by the law of God. If I violate any law of the Church, bring me up for it; if anyone else does, bring him up for it; but don’t go sneaking around backbiting and misrepresenting. Let us act as men, at least, if we won’t be Saints; but we should be true to our calling and profession, and honor our God. There is nothing new in all this. The spirit of rebellion has gone on ever since the devil and his angels were cast out of heaven. He and they have been making war against the Saints, and will continue to do so; but Satan will finally be over– come. Before that, however, Satan will be bound for a thousand years, and during that time we will have a chance to build temples and to be baptized for the dead, and to do a work pertaining to the world that has been, as well as to the world that now is, and to operate under the direction of the Almighty in bringing to pass those designs which He contemplated from the foundation of the world.

It is for us to live holy, justly, purely and righteously before God, that we may have a legitimate claim upon Him. If we will do this, then I tell you, in the name of Israel’s God, that you shall call upon the Lord and He will hear and answer you; that you shall draw nigh unto Him and He will draw nigh unto you, and will pour upon your heads blessings that it has not entered into your hearts to conceive of; and if all Israel will do this, and fear God and work right– eousness before Him, there is no power in existence can injure the Saints; for God is on the side of Israel, and He will put a hook in the jaws of our enemies. And I will say here, woe to them that fight against Zion, woe to them that plot against Zion, for God will fight and plot against them! And woe to the hypocrites in Zion and those that profess to fear God and are wallowing in transgression; God will be after you, for ere long the sinners in Zion will be afraid, and fearfulness will surprise the hypocrite. Now, let us purge ourselves from unrighteousness, for God is going to roll forth His work, and whether you or I do right or not, it will make no difference, the work will go on: it is onward, onward, onward, and will continue to be onward, until the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered in Payson, Thursday Evening, Nov. 23rd, 1882.

We are living, as Brother Cannon has remarked, in a most important day and age of the world. The times are pregnant with greater events than any we have any knowledge of in the history of God’s dealings with His people among the nations of the earth in the different ages. The very fact of our gathering together as we do is a very peculiar thing. It differs from the way of any other people. It is a part of the Gospel, and inspired by the spirit of revelation, even the gift of the Holy Ghost which comes through obedience to the Gospel. There is and always has been a spirit abroad in the world which is really a portion of the Spirit of God, which leads mankind, in many instances, to discriminate between good and evil, and between right and wrong. They have a conscience that accuses or excuses them for their acts; and although the world of mankind is very wicked and very corrupt, yet it will be found that almost all men, though they may not do good themselves, appreciate good actions in others.

The scriptures say that God “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though he be not far from every one of us.” The Scripture further says, He has given unto them a portion of his spirit to profit withal. But there is quite a distinction between the position that these people occupy and the one which we occupy. We have something more than that portion of the Spirit of God which is given to every man, and it is called the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is received through obedience to the first principles of the Gospel of Christ, by the laying on of hands of the servants of God. Hence, when the Gospel was preached in former times among the people they were told to repent of their sins; to be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of their sins, and then to have hands laid upon them for the reception of the Holy Ghost. They were told, moreover, what this Holy Ghost would do; that it would take of the things of God and shew them unto them; that it would cause their old men to dream dreams and their young men to see visions; and that it would rest upon the servants and handmaids of God, and they should prophesy. These are the operations of that Spirit which dwells with God, the Father, and God, the Son, namely the Holy Ghost. It is this Spirit that brings us into relationship with God, and it differs very materially from the portion of spirit that is given to all men to profit withal. The special gift of the Holy Ghost is obtained as I have said, through obedience to the first principles of the Gospel. Its province is to lead us into all truth, and to bring to our remembrance things past, present and to come. It contemplates the future and unfolds things we had not thought of heretofore, and these things are very distinctly described in the Bible, in the Book of Mormon, and in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. Herein lies the difference between us and others, and it was so in former times. One of the ancient Apostles in speaking of our relationship to God, says: “Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” Again it is said: “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God,” that is, rightful inheritors of the things of God, “and joint heirs of Jesus Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” It is the Gospel of the kingdom that has brought us into this relationship with God. We enjoy the same spirit that the Saints enjoyed anciently in the days of Jesus, in the days of Moses, in the days of Enoch, in the days of Seth, back to the days of Adam. The Gospel which we have received is the everlasting Gospel, which, through the atonement of Jesus Christ, brings men into close relationship to God, their heavenly Father, and makes them heirs of all the promises that God has made unto His people. Hence we occupy this position—God is really and truly our Father and we are His children. He is “the God of the spirits of all flesh,” and he has told us to draw near unto Him. He has taught us how to pray, and in what manner to approach Him and to ask for such things as we need. This is the position we occupy if we can comprehend it, and we are called upon by the Almighty to do a great work. He has taken very great pains in introducing the prin– ciples of the Gospel. In the first place He has Himself spoken to us from the heavens, as also has His Son Jesus Christ. He has restored the everlasting Priesthood. All those men who had it in their possession heretofore—that is those who held the keys of it upon the earth—have appeared and restored the authority of the Holy Priesthood which they held. Thus John the Baptist appeared, and laying his hands upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, ordained them to the Aaronic Priesthood, using the following words: “Upon you my fellowservants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.” Peter, James and John afterwards conferred upon Joseph Smith the Melchizedek Priesthood, which holds the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God. By this Priesthood the mind and will of God is made known unto man; by it man can walk according to the light and intelligence which God imparts. Men have been ordained to this Holy Priesthood, and they have gone forth to preach the Gospel to the nations of the earth. In this labor they have been sustained, blessed and upheld by the Lord, for although the world has generally been opposed to them in their ministrations, yet He has given unto them power, wisdom and intelligence, whereby they have been able to sustain and maintain the principles which God has revealed. And then the sheep of God—that is, the thousands that have been gathered together from among the nations—have been led to see and believe in and obey the Gospel as it has been presented to them. Jesus said that His sheep would know his voice, and a stranger they would not follow. Through the medium of the Gospel we have been gathered together in these valleys of the mountains today. Why did the Lord call upon us? That He might have a people who would obey His law; for the world generally will not listen to the voice of God; the nations of the earth, the kings of the earth, the princes of the earth, the presidents of the earth, the legislators of the earth, and the powers of the earth, will not listen to the voice of God, and He has called us together, as He said He would do, “one of a city and two of a family.” He has gathered us together that we may be taught of Him. It is written in the Prophets that the people “shall be all taught of God;” and we want to progress in this intelligence and in the principles which God has revealed until men shall not say one to another, “Know ye the Lord, for all shall know Him, from the least to the greatest.” This is the position that we are expected to occupy. Having obtained this knowledge of God, we are to teach it to others, so that the eternal principles he has revealed may be disseminated among the nations of the earth, until the honest in heart shall be gathered out, until all that love truth and are desirous to know the will of God and do it, will be under the direction and guidance of the Lord. And then, when the will of God is done among the saints of God upon the earth as it is done in heaven, a part of that which Jesus prayed for will be accomplished. Jesus taught his dis– ciples to pray that the will of God might be done upon the earth as it is done in heaven. At the present time it is not done in all the earth, but it may be done among us if we will subject ourselves to the law of God, the word of God, the will of God, and the principles of eternal truth, and follow the teachings of the Spirit of God; for as many as are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God, and if sons then are they heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Now, it is the rule of God which is desired to be introduced upon the earth, and this is the reason why the Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith, why John the Baptist conferred the Aaronic Priesthood, why Peter, James and John conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood, why Moses came to bestow the dispensation of the gathering, and why other manifestations have been given unto us as a people, His elect, whom He has chosen from among the nations. This is an honorable position for us to occupy. We are called to fill various duties that God requires at our hands. And our position is not a nominal thing; it is a reality. It is true that God appeared to Joseph Smith, and that His Son Jesus did; it is true that John the Baptist appeared; it is true that Peter, James and John appeared; and conferred upon him the Holy Priesthood; it is true that Moses and Elias appeared unto him and that these all conferred upon him the keys of their various dispensations; it is true that this Priesthood has been conferred upon us; it is true that the Gospel has been preached by the Elders of Israel to the nations, so far as they have yet gone; it is true that those who have obeyed this Gospel have received the Holy Ghost and have been placed in communication with God our Heavenly Father. These things are all true. It is also true that Elijah has appeared that the hearts of the fathers might be turned to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers—that is Adam, Seth, Methuselah, Noah, Abraham, and the men of God in different ages—that a general interest might be manifested towards the works of God and the people of God as they have existed upon the earth, that we may stand as saviors upon Mount Zion, and build up temples to the Lord, and then go and administer in those temples for the living and for the dead, that there may be, as the Prophet Joseph has said, a welding link that will cement and bind other peoples with us and we with them, and that there may be a bond of union, also, between the people on earth and those in heaven, that we may operate together, they in the heavens and we on the earth, for the accomplishment of the purposes of God pertaining to the peoples that have lived, that now live and that will live.

These are some of the objects of our existence, and this is the reason we are gathered together in these valleys of the mountains. It is a curious thing when you reflect that when you were baptized into this Church nobody could keep you from gathering here. To do so, many wives have had to leave their husbands, many husbands have had to leave their wives, children have had to leave their parents, and parents have had to leave their children. But we are gathered together that we might learn the laws of life and the word of God, and that we might comprehend the duties and responsibilities that devolve upon us—that we might learn how to save ourselves and how to save our wives and children, our fathers and mothers, our uncles and aunts, our grandfathers and great grandfathers, who did not have the privilege which we enjoy. This is the position we occupy, that is, if we are living our religion, keeping the commandments of God and obeying those eternal principles which He has revealed to us. There are no people living upon the face of the earth today, who enjoy the privileges that this people enjoy, nor that have the light, the truth, or the intelligence which we have. The world does not understand us, nor the principles we have received, and consequently we are persecuted, opposed, and abused on all hands. It makes no difference, however. We are here to do the will of God, to build up the kingdom of God, and to establish the Zion of God. And we have been, many of us, to the ends of the earth, I was going to say, but we have not been quite to the ends, in fact I do not know where the ends are; but we have been up and down the earth a great deal, and then there are a great many places we have not yet visited. It is true the world has not treated us very well, and I sometimes think that we entertain too much of the same spirit that the world exhibits towards us. We are inclined to return evil for evil. We ought not to do that. We should return good for evil. “Bless them that curse you, and pray for them that despitefully use you,” said the Savior. We have had the Gospel committed to us. For what? That we might be the messengers of life and salvation to others, not of death, damnation and destruction, but the messengers of life and salvation. How was it with Jesus when he was upon the earth? “God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.” He came to be a Savior to the world. He has not set us apart to condemn the world but to preach the Gospel of life and salvation to the world. It is not for us to feel in our hearts a principle of destruction, but a principle of salvation, and to seek to benefit, to bless, and to exalt the human family, as many as will come under the influence of the Son of God, and that those that won’t, why we will leave them in the hands of God; it is for Him in His own way and in His own time, to do with them as He may see fit. It is for us to carry out His designs; it is for the Twelve, the Seventies and others to preach the Gospel to the world and gather out the honest in heart; it is for us to give the inhabitants of the earth fair warning, that they may comprehend the true state of things and have the principles of life presented to them. “But,” says one, “they act very mean towards us.” Well, so they do. But, then they don’t know any better. Don’t know any better? No, they don’t. They don’t comprehend things as we comprehend them. We profess to be acquainted with the Spirit of God, as I before said, and with the light of revelation, they don’t. And furthermore, “The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” Well, but don’t God say He will come out in judgment against the wicked? Yes; but that is His business and not ours, unless He calls on us to help Him, and we must continue to bless them that curse us, and pray for them that despitefully use us. It is our business to preach the Gospel, and gather together God’s elect from the four quarters of the earth. It is for us to act right—that is the First Presidency, myself and Counselors. We are poor, frail, weak creatures, just as you are, and you are just as much as we are; there is nothing to boast about in any of us. Any blessings we have received are the free gifts of God to us. And He expects us to magnify our Priesthood and calling and to honor Him. What else shall we do? We will preach the Gospel; we will try and gather the people when we have preached; we will build Temples as we are doing, and we will administer in them when they are finished, in accordance with the pattern God has shown us, and we could not do so unless He had shown us. Those men that prate so much about our affairs and ignorance, we might build Temples for them, but would they know how to administer in them? No; they would not; and there is not a man living in the world outside of this Church who could perform the first ceremony in a Temple of the Lord of Hosts, and we would not ourselves have been in possession of that knowledge had God not revealed it to us. But having this knowledge we can enter into these Temples and administer for the living and for the dead. But we must humble ourselves before the Lord, we must put ourselves right, we must teach our families the principles of life, we must do right by our neighbors and by everybody, we must magnify the Lord and observe His law, purge ourselves from everything that is wrong, and say, “O God, try me and prove me. Give unto me Thy Holy Spirit that shall light up the candle of intelligence in my soul, that I may be enabled to see myself as Thou seest me, and if there is anything wrong in me show it unto me and give me power to put it away, that I may have the truth and be full of the Holy Ghost, the light of revelation, and the power of God.” We want to put ourselves and our families in order. And then let us learn to acknowledge the hand of God in all things and obey His law and keep His commandments in everything; not in one thing only, but in everything, that the Spirit and blessing of God and the power of God may be with us, that we may be the sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; that we may be full of joy, peace and thanksgiving to God our Heavenly Father, that we may be true to our devotions at the family altar, and every morning and every evening bow before the Lord with our family and all that pertains to us. And then let the quorums seek the spirit and power of the Priesthood that belongs to them, whether High Councilors, Presidents of Stakes, High Priests, Bishops, or whatever they may be, that all may magnify their calling and be full of the Holy Ghost and the power of God, laying aside our follies, our covetousness and our evils, and wherein we have done any wrong make restitution for that wrong. Now, this is the word of the Lord to you if you can receive it. Let us try and obey the word and will of God, and keep His commandments, and then call upon the Lord and He will hear our prayers. His eyes are over His people, and His ears are open to their cries. God will stand by His Israel and he will deliver His people if they will only serve Him. No man, no power, no nation can harm you if you are followers of that which is good, for God will sustain His people. Zion is onward, onward and onward. The kingdom of God will be established. No power upon the earth can stay the hand of the Almighty. Let us, then, be humble and faithful, and fear God and keep His commandments, that the Holy Ghost may dwell in us, that the peace of God may abide in our habitations. Let us dedicate ourselves and our families and all that pertains to us to the Lord, and we will feel that we are blessed of Him. The work we are engaged in is not a phantom. We are going to build up the Zion of God; and the kingdom of God will continue to grow and increase, until “the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever.” If we will be faithful, God will bless us and prosper us, and all things spoken in the Prophets will be fulfilled.

God bless you and lead you in the paths of life in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered at Grantsville, Sunday Evening, Oct. 29th, 1882.

I am pleased to have the opportunity of again meeting with the people of Grantsville.

In regard to the remarks which we have just heard pertaining to the desires and intentions of the wicked they are true and correct; but at the same time I do not feel any trembling in my knees, do you? It has been said, the wicked rage, and the people imagine a vain thing; and the Lord will have them in derision. Again, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. There are other remarkable and significant sayings in relation to these things; and whatever the opinions and ideas of men may be, it will be found at last that the Lord rules, manipulates and manages the affairs of men, of nations and of the world, and therefore, neither this nation nor any other nation can do anything more than God permits. He sets up one nation, and puts down another, according to the counsels of his own will. And he has done this from the beginning, whether men believe it or not. And as regards what are called the mighty ones—the kings of the earth—one of the prophets in speaking of them says that he saw them gathered together in a pit; and that after many days they should be visited. All men are but human; their breath is in their nostrils, and they have no power but that which God gives them. Anything beyond this they are powerless to do; and why, then, should His people fear? We certainly have a work to perform on the earth, and God our Father has selected us for that purpose. He raised up Joseph Smith and other men, and conferred the holy Priesthood upon them and today they are found organized as Elders, High Priests, Seventies, the Twelve, etc., by whom the Lord expects to lift up a standard to the nations, and an ensign to the people. And notwithstanding the calculations and plans of the world, we are told that when this standard is lifted up, the Gentiles shall seek unto it, “and his rest shall be glorious.” That is the way I read my Bible: I expect you will find it in yours. We are not going to war. We did not originate this work any more than men originated any work in which God called them to labor, at any former time. God has been the chief mover and manipulator of men in the different ages of the world from the time of their first existence upon the earth to the present. He has given men their own agency, and they have the privilege of receiving or rejecting it, but he holds them responsible for their acts. He does not hold us responsible for the acts of other men, nor for the acts of the nations.

He has given unto us a mission to preach the Gospel to every creature; and he that believes shall be saved, and he that believes not shall be damned. He has given unto us authority and has commanded us to preach this Gospel to the nations of the earth; and we have been doing it now for some fifty years, and are constantly sending out missionaries by way of fulfilling this duty. We have done this and are still doing it, not because the world love us very much; if they did, it would be a marvel, for Jesus in his day said: “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” And there has been a spirit of opposition and antagonism to the Church and kingdom of God in all the various ages of the world. Paul speaks of men who had to wander about in sheepskins and goatskins, secreting themselves in deserts, in dens and caves of the earth; of whom the world was not worthy. Said he, these men showed plainly by their acts that they desired a better country; “wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city” which is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in the heavens for them. Such men had a knowledge of these things, and they did not seem to care very much about the consequences of their obedience to the laws of God.

The three Hebrew children exem– plified their faith in God when they were told to do a certain thing; but, said they, we cannot do it. “But if you do not we will put you into a fiery furnace.” All right; it is not a very pleasant ordeal to go through, but one thing we know, we will not bow down to your image, nor worship the god which you have set up. And that is a fact in regard to us. We do not know what God will permit men to do or what he will not; but one thing we do know, that is, we will not worship their god nor bow down to their image; and we feel quite easy about the result—at least, that is the way I feel. It was considered criminal for Daniel to pray to his God, but he prayed nevertheless; and the Lord was merciful to him and took care of him. The king felt a little better towards him than some of our pious people feel towards us. He was called a heathen king; but he was a man that had the fear of God in his heart, and he had respect for his fellow men. And when Daniel was cast into the lions’ den, in the morning early the king repaired to the place, and with a lamentable voice cried, saying, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God whom thou servest continually able to deliver thee from the lions?” Daniel answered: “O king, live forever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouth, that they have not hurt me.” I do not know, but I am inclined to think that if some of you Latter-day Saints had the same ordeal to pass through, that few, if any of the authorities of the land would feel as much interested in you as the heathen king did in Daniel.

It is necessary that we pass through certain ordeals in order that we may be purified. People sometimes do not comprehend these things; they think it would be very nice to do as the Methodists sing about sometimes—sit and sing themselves away to everlasting bliss. And where is that? Somewhere they say beyond the bounds of time and space. I have never come across a person that was able to locate that place; and it is one of those things I never could comprehend. But they did not all do this in former times. When no other power operated against them Satan himself undertook to interfere; and I sometimes think that he has done that very thing in our day. Job, for instance, was a curious sort of a character. It is said that on a certain occasion the sons of God met together, and that Satan also presented himself before them—rather a strange personage to meet with the sons of God. I think sometimes that we have exhibitions of that here. And on that occasion, as usual, he was full of accusations; you know he always has represented the saints of God as the meanest set of people that ever lived, and he is up to his old tricks today; but then, we are told that he was a liar from the beginning. When he went before the Lord—I suppose he had been complaining to Him of the people down below, for he is called the accuser of the brethren—said the Lord to him: Lucifer, hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil? And Satan answered the Lord: Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast not thou put a hedge about him, and increased his substance, and blessed the work of his hands—as much as to say: “I, too, would serve the Lord, if he would treat me as well as Job has been treated; but let me have a rap at him and I will show you then what he will do.” And the Lord gave him permission to afflict Job, but charged him that he was not to take his life; and the devil did afflict him, as you all know. But in all that he did he found that Job was true to his God, and that the confidence he reposed in him was not misplaced. Not discouraged, however, the devil appeared again before the sons of God, and the Lord took occasion to remind him that Job “holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movest me against him, to destroy him without cause.” And Satan answered the Lord, and said, “Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.” The Lord then permitted the devil to afflict his body, which he did; and on the back of that he got Job’s friends to come and visit him, and comfort him—you have heard of “Job’s comforters”—and they did “comfort” him? They would have him believe that all his misfortunes and sufferings were because of his wickedness, and the judgments of God were overtaking him, and then to crown the climax his wife comes along and says, Job, I would not stand it any longer; I would curse God and die like a man. But, says Job, thou speakest like one of the foolish women. What, shall we receive good at the hands of the Lord, and not evil. And notwithstanding all that was brought upon him, he said, Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him, for I know that my Redeemer liveth; and that He will stand in the latter day upon the earth, and that although worms may wallow in my flesh, and revel in my brain, yet, in my flesh shall I see God, these eyes shall behold him, and I shall see him for myself and not for another. Job had faith in his God, and he delivered him; and in his latter days he gave him more children and more property than he had ever possessed before.

Again, we read of certain people, described in the visions of John, who were clothed in white raiment, singing a song that no man knew or could sing excepting those that were acquainted with the principles that they were. And who were they? They were those that had come up through much tribulation, who had washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. And are we not told that we must be made perfect through suffering? Are we not told, that “it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering?” I think that is the doctrine that we have read in our Bible; and that is the doctrine that I have always believed in. There are many of our good Latter-day Saints who are grasping and covetous and who take advantage of one another, and who frequently act dishonorably and who say things that are improper and wrong, and that are contrary to the principles of justice and equity; and sometimes it is necessary that men should be shook up a little. God in His wisdom has handled us from time to time. I can see men around me tonight whom I have seen and known for forty years—do you remember, brethren, when we had to leave the State of Missouri, “all hands and the cook?” And did we cry about it? I think not. I felt as happy then as I do now, and I feel quite comfortable tonight. I feel that all is well in Zion. As long as people have within them the principles of eternal life; as long as they have within them the hope that blooms with immortality and eternal life, what do they care about what is happening or going to happen; what do they care what this nation can do or is going to do. They can only do what God permits them.

We have learned many things through suffering, we call it suffering; I call it a school of experience, I never did bother my head much about these things; I do not today. What are these things for? Why is it that good men should be tried? Why is it, in fact, that we should have a devil? Why did not the Lord kill him long ago? Because he could not do without him. He needed the devil and a great many of those who do his bidding just to keep men straight, that we may learn to place our dependence upon God, and trust in Him, and to observe his laws and keep his commandments. When he destroyed the inhabitants of the antediluvian world, he suffered a descendant of Cain to come through the flood in order that he might be properly represented upon the earth. And Satan keeps busy all the time, and he will until he is bound; and I expect they will then have good times until he is loose again. The time will be when he will be cast into the bottomless pit, and he will not be able to deceive the nations any more until the thousand years have expired. I have never looked at these things in any other light than trials for the purpose of purifying the Saints of God, that they may be, as the Scriptures say, as gold that has been seven times purified by the fire.

The Lord has gathered us from the nations of the earth and has given to us His Holy Spirit. He has organized His Church, and He has conferred upon us all the rights and privileges of the Holy Gospel. He has taught us how to save ourselves, and how to save our wives and children, and how to save the living and how to save the dead. He has taught us how to be saviors upon Mount Zion, and he has taught us that the kingdom is the Lord’s; He has taught us that we are operating for him and his kingdom in the interests of humanity; for he is desirous to gather out from the nations all the pure, the virtuous and the noble, men and women who will observe his laws and keep his commandments.

Again, he has given unto us eternal covenants, as referred to this evening, which also are true and have emanated from Him. Can we violate the principles of eternal life? No, never. We have got to put our trust in God, let the consequences be as they may. And as long as we do this, and as long as we keep the holy covenants we have entered into with him and with one another, Zion will triumph; and the wicked will waste away until there will be no place found for them; and the man or the nation that lifts up his hand against Zion will wither before Almighty God. I will prophesy that in the name of Jesus Christ, and I will meet the consequences of what I say. But I will tell you what we have to do, my brethren and sisters, we must fear God in our hearts; we must lay aside our covetousness and our waywardness, our self-will and foolishness of every kind. As brethren, we must humble ourselves before the Lord, repenting of our sins, and henceforth preserve our bodies and spirits pure, that we may be fit receptacles for the Spirit of the living God, and be guided by him in all our labors both for the living and the dead. Our desires must be for God and his righteousness, until we shall exclaim with one of old: O God, search me, and try me, and if there be any way of wickedness in me, bid it depart. It is for us, as fathers and mothers, to go before the Lord in all humility and call upon him that his peace may be in our hearts; and wherein we may have done wrong, confess that wrong and repair it as far as we possibly can; and in this way let every man and woman in Israel begin to set their houses in order, and forever cultivate the spirit of peace, the spirit of union and love. And if the families of Israel do this throughout all the land of Zion, all fearing God and working righteousness, cherishing the spirit of humility and meekness, and putting our trust in him, there is no power in existence that can injure us; for God will stand by and sustain his people, and he will deliver them out of the hands of their enemies. And as for the world I will say again, and as I have said on other occasions, I care not what they may say or what they may do; the wicked, whether men or nations can do no more than our Father in heaven permits them to do, and so long as we are doing that which is right before him, why should we fear—are we not in his hands, and is not the whole world in his hands, and can he not do with us and with them as seemeth him good?

Brethren and sisters, God bless you, and may his peace continue with you, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, October 8, 1882.

We have had a very interesting Conference, and a great many thoughts, ideas and reflections have been presented to the people in a clear and pointed manner, and I have been pleased to see the unanimity and harmony that have existed in our midst. And while I attempt to speak to you I shall ask an interest in your prayers that I may be strengthened to perform the labor. It is difficult for a people to under– stand and to retain everything that may be said in a Conference like this, where there are so many subjects dwelt upon and so many principles enunciated; but it is a great blessing for us that we are situated as we are, and that we possess the intelligence which has been communicated from time to time. Many great and precious principles having been revealed unto us, it becomes necessary for us to try to compre– hend them, that we may understand the position we occupy before God, before the world in which we live, and before the intelligences that exist behind the veil in the eternal worlds. We have a great and important mission committed unto us, and it is for us to seek to comprehend that mission and fulfill the various duties and responsibilities devolving upon us. The Lord has given unto us a form of government, an organization, priesthood and authority to enable us to perform these several duties, and he has certain plans, purposes and designs to accomplish pertaining to us, pertaining to this nation, to other nations, and to the world in which we live—pertaining to those who have lived and are now in another state of existence, and also pertaining to those who shall yet live.

The time in which we live is denominated in Scripture “the dispensation of the fullness of times,” wherein it is said God will gather together all things in one, whether they be things in the earth or things in the heavens. This dispensation embraces all other dispensations, all principles and powers, rights, privileges, immunities and developments that have existed among men in the various ages that are past. This globe did not originate with man, nor was it constructed, designed or manipulated by him, nor were any of its organisms, sentient or inanimate; for we are told that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and all that in them is: nor did this dispensation with which we are associated, nor have any of the dispensations associated with the works, plans or designs of the Almighty originated with man. After man had fallen, and it became necessary that he be driven from the garden, it needed the interposi– tion of the Almighty, for as is said in the Book of Job, it was necessary to “deliver his soul from the pit; I have found a ransom.” That ransom was the Only Begotten Son of God who offered himself in the beginning to meet the demands of justice, to carry out the purposes of the Almighty, and to be a Savior and Redeemer to man. Adam was perfectly helpless in this respect, and it needed the direct interposition of the Almighty for the accomplishment of this object. In the patriarchal, or antediluvian age, when men were put in possession of any hope, any intelligence, any knowledge, or any revelation pertaining to God, these things did not originate with man, they came from the Lord and were given by inspiration; and when on account of the wickedness and corruption of mankind the old world had to be destroyed, a way was provided for a small remnant to be spared. By whom? By man? No. God dictated it. The Prophets prophesied about it. They taught the antediluvians as the people of this day are being taught, they warned them of the impending ruin that would overwhelm them, of the prison house to which they would go, and of the wrath and indignation of Heaven which would be poured out upon the peoples of the earth. It came to pass as they had declared. But God provided a way for the perpetuation of the human family. It was foretold to Methuselah that his seed should be preserved to perpetuate the human family upon the earth, and it was so. Noah, who was one of his descendants, fulfilled that decree.

Again, in later ages when the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt, they did not originate the method of their own deliverance, or point out the way for its accom– plishment. They were in a state of bondage and vassalage. God raised them up a Moses, revealed His will to him, set him apart for this mission, told him what to do, and after some little difficulties arising from human weaknesses were removed, Moses was accepted, and the Lord became his instructor, and pointed out in all instances the course that he should pursue, and in what manner the children of Israel were to be delivered, and He, the Holy One of Israel, gave them His law and ordinances, and revealed unto them His will, and stood by and sustained, guided and directed them. This salvation did not come from the people, it did not originate with them, they owed it all to God, the source of all truth, all light, all intelligence, all power and blessings. The time at length arrived that the Son of God was to come. Neither the Scribes and Pharisees, the High Priests and Sadducees, nor any of the sects and parties of the day comprehended the things that were about to transpire, and had nothing to do with bringing them to pass. His advent was announced to His mother by an angel, and His birth was heralded to shepherds by an angelic host, and the wise men of the East were led by his star to Bethlehem of Judea, where they found the infant Savior, whom they recognized as the Messiah, and to whom they brought presents of gold, frankincense and myrrh; and whom they worshipped.

It is said in speaking of the Son of God, that he did not come to do His own will, nor to carry out His own purposes, nor to fulfill any particular plan of his own, but he came to do the will of his Father who sent him. Jesus in selecting his disciples, took one man here and another there—a tax gatherer, a fisherman, and others who it was thought were the most unlikely of any men to carry out the purposes of God. He left the great men out of the question, that is the High Priests and the popular and pious of all classes, and he selected his own laborers to perform his own work; and he subsequently told them, You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and set you apart unto this mission. When a message had to be proclaimed to the world in these last days the agents were chosen on the same principle. There was any amount of teachers of divinity, any amount of professors of theology, any amount of reverend, and right reverend fathers and all classes of religious men and religious teachers; but God did not recognize them. He chose a young uneducated man and inspired him with the spirit of revelation, and placed upon him a mission and required him to perform it; and he was obedient to that requirement. I speak of this to show that we none of us had anything to do with the introduction of this work, but that, as in all other dispensations in the various ages of the world, God was the originator of everything that tended to develop a knowledge of Himself and of his plans and purposes; to unfold the past, to develop the present, and to make manifest the future.

To whom are we indebted for this book, called the Bible. We are told that holy men of old spake as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost. And from whence did they receive that Holy Ghost? Not of man, nor by man, but by the revelations of God, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We sometimes feel to exalt ourselves a little in the position that we occupy pertaining to the Priesthood, pertaining to our organization, and pertaining to ordinances, etc. What have we to glory in? Nothing. None of us knew anything until it was revealed. None of us could comprehend any of these principles only as they have been made manifest. But by obedience to the Gospel we have received the Holy Ghost, and that Spirit takes of the things of God, and shows them to us. We have received this and hence have been baptized into one baptism, and all partaken of the selfsame Spirit, as Paul expressed it, “dividing to every man severally as he will.” The question arises, What is the object of this? It is that the world should be visited from time to time and communications made to the human family. Because light cleaves to light, truth cleaves to truth, intelligence cleaves to intelligence; and as we are all made in the image of God, and as God is the God and Father of the spirits of all flesh, it is His right, it is His prerogative to communicate with the human family. We are told that there is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth it understanding. God having made the earth, made the people to inhabit it, and made all things that exist therein, has a right to dictate, has a right to make known His will, has a right to communicate with whom he will and control matters as he sees proper: it belongs to him by right; and he has seen proper in these last days to restore His Gospel to the earth, and, as I said before, intelligence cleaves to intelligence. We read in the Scriptures concerning man being a son of God. We read in the Scriptures about men becoming the adopted sons of God through obedience to the Gospel. Hence it is said: “Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” By what means? Through the atonement of Jesus Christ and by the medium of the Gospel, which has been introduced in different ages for that purpose. God having felt disposed to reveal the Gospel in these last days, has given the same principles and powers, the same light, revelation and intelligence that he did in former ages, for the accomplishment of the same work, and for the fulfillment of his purposes relating to the human family who are his children. Hence we occupy a very peculiar position in relation to God, in relation to the earth in which we live and the people thereof in relation to both to the living and to the dead.

It is proper for us to comprehend the position that we occupy. We sometimes arrive at curious conclusions pertaining to the wickedness of the world, and a variety of other things associated therewith. And permit me to say here, that we had no more to do with the peoples of the world, or the placing of them in the position they occupy, than we had in restoring the Gospel. We find ourselves a few people mixed up with the world. We find too that when the word of God is made manifest and the revelations of God are developed, that many things as they exist amongst mankind are out of order. There is a great amount of priestcraft, idolatry, corruption, oppression, tyranny, murder, bloodshed, covetousness, licentiousness, and every kind of iniquity that can be conceived of; and that is more clearly made manifest to us because the Lord has been teaching us through the Prophets, and inspiring us with other feelings, and given unto us to comprehend things more clearly than others do. But what have we to do with the people of the world? We complain sometimes that they do not treat us exactly right. Well, they do not in all respects, and I do not think this is very difficult to understand. But there is nothing new about that, God has revealed unto us His law, and they do not comprehend it, neither do they want to; nor did the antediluvians. They were very wicked, very corrupt and very depraved, very immoral and very dishonest; but that was a matter between them and the Lord, and he dealt with them; and it is his business to deal with the nations of the earth at the present time and not ours further than we are directed by him. What is the mission that we have to perform to this nation? It is to preach the Gospel. That is one thing. That was the mission given to the disciples of Jesus in his day: Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel; he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; and he that believeth not shall be damned. This mission is being carried out in the fact of our sending representatives of this latter-day work to all the civilized nations that will receive our missionaries. But we are not placed here to control people; we are not placed here to use any improper influence over the minds or consciences of men. It is not for us to attempt to do what Mahomet did—to say that there was but one God, and Mahomet was his prophet, and by force compel all others to acknowledge it. To attempt to do that would be to attempt to interfere with the agency of man; and anything of that kind is altogether foreign to the character and spirit of our mission. We preach the Gospel to the people, and it is for them to receive or reject as they may choose. We have done this to a great extent. Many of you Elders who are before and around me—and there are some thousands—have been engaged preaching this Gospel, but none of you ever used coercion, none of you ever attempted to force any man to obey the message you had to declare. If you did, you did not understand your calling. And when you have been among the different nations preaching this Gospel, have you sought to interfere with their governments or with their laws, or endeavored to stir up commotion or rebellion or trouble of any kind? No. I am at the defiance of the world to prove any such statement. That does not belong to our faith. When the Elders are sent forth, they go as servants of God with a message from the Lord, to unfold the Scriptures, and to bear testimony of the things that they themselves are witnesses of; and to administer the ordinances of the Gospel to all those who believe on their words. This is the position that we occupy in these matters. And what else do we do? We gather the people together; and they no sooner receive this Gospel than they are anxious to gather with the people of God. Why? Because the Scriptures say that they would? Because the Scriptures say, “gather my people, those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice?” No, but because they have obeyed the Gospel and received the Holy Ghost, and that Holy Ghost has instructed them pertaining to these matters, as it instructed the prophets in former times that such an event would transpire. The people have gathered together, and you could not keep them back if you were to try to. They have been trying. You know that Mr. Evarts wrote communica– tions to the European ministers requesting them to use their influence by way of putting a stop to the “Mormon” emigration. It is rather a sorry comment upon the government of this nation, that boasts of being “the land of the free, the home of the brave, and the asylum for the oppressed,” and that a little over a hundred years ago the chief complaint against the nation from whence the colonists came, was the lack of religious toleration; to think that they should so far forget their original condition as to call upon what they term the effete monarchies of Europe to assist them in suppressing religious liberty and controlling human freedom. And when this subject was brought before Mr. Gladstone, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, a short time ago by some pragmatical zealot in the British Parliament, calling his attention to the request of the American Secretary, he very distinctly told him that “he was unable to interfere with the operations of the Mormons in England, as he presumed their converts went with them willingly.” Thus while the American government is trying to exert force and to interfere with religious matters and bind the consciences of men, the British government pleads for and guarantees to its subjects religious and social liberty. I am told that Mr. Evarts is a great-grandson of Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. I should not have thought that that gentleman would have so soon forgotten the position occupied by his ancestor. But it seems that such is the fact, nevertheless.

I repeat, our mission is to preach the Gospel, and then to gather the people who embrace it. And why? That there might be a nucleus formed, a people gathered who would be under the inspiration of the Almighty, and who would be willing to listen to the voice of God, a people who would receive and obey His word when it was made known to them. And this people in their gathered condition are called Zion, or the pure in heart. I wish we were pure in heart; that is, I wish we were more so than we are. And this is something that we all need to reflect upon, to consider the pit from whence we were dug, and the rock from whence we were hewn. I have heard people say, they were born in sin, and cradled in iniquity. It is probably very true. Many of us have been rocked in these cradles, and we have been nurtured amidst infamies, and we have been surrounded by and enveloped in evils of all kinds. We talk sometimes about Babylon—“Come out of her O my people, that ye partake not of her sins, nor receive of her plagues.” We need not say too much about those people, for we came out from them ourselves; and it would not be becoming on our part to speak badly about our former status. That reminds me of a conversation I had some years ago with some Protestants who were abusing the Catholics. I reminded them of the fact that they descended from them. They were calling the Catholic Church the Mother of Harlots. Well, said I, if that be true, she has brought forth a scurvy offspring. History certainly informs us that the Protestants came out from the Catholics, and therefore, if the Catholic Church is the mother, they certainly must be the daughters, and one would think there should be some affinity between them. It is not considered proper for persons to rail against their mother.

It is well for us to comprehend our position with regard to the nation. Being gathered together, as a people, we have assumed a political status, for we not only brought our religion and our spirits with us, but our bodies also; and by thus being gathered in this land we become naturally an integral part of the United States. We have received by the act of the government of the United States a territorial form of government, in which we are authorized to perform certain functions of a political nature, and to enjoy, as do all other Territories, the free and full rights of American citizens therein, and thus have become a part of the body politic of these United States, with all the rights, privileges and immunities pertaining thereto, as exercised and enjoyed by all American citizens throughout this broad land; and these are guaranteed unto us in the Constitution of the United States and by the Congress of the United States, in an instrument denominated the Organic Act. And I will say this much for the United States; with all her faults and infirmities, I do not believe there is a nation upon the face of the earth today, where we could have as much liberty as we here enjoy and that is precious little, God knows. We are told sometimes that we live under popular government, and that the voice of the people rules. It used to, but who rules now? Well, no matter, we have got to make the best we can of it. We have a territorial form of government, with a governor appointed by the administration. I was going to say, God save the mark. We have judges and other officers; and we have a nominal legislature that makes our laws, but those laws can be vetoed by one man. There is a great deal of absolutism about it. But these are the circumstances in which we are placed; and I suppose it is thought by a great many that we ought to consider it a great privilege to be allowed to live. We do think so, but we are not indebted to any officials for it; they did not give us our life, neither did this government. There are certain principles that are inherent in man, that belong to man, and that were enunciated in an early day, before the United States government was formed, and they are principles that rightfully belong to all men everywhere. They are described in the Declaration of Independence as inalienable rights, one of which is that men have a right to live; another is that they have a right to pursue happiness; and another is that they have a right to be free and no man has authority to deprive them of those God-given rights, and none but tyrants would do it. These principles I say, are inalienable in man; they belong to him; they existed before any constitutions were framed or any laws made. Men have in various ages striven to strip their fellow men of these rights, and dispossess them of them. And hence the wars, the bloodshed and carnage that have spread over the earth. We therefore are not indebted to the United States for these rights; we were free as men born into the world, having the right to do as we please, to act as we please, as long as we do not transgress constitutional law nor violate the rights of others.

Being organized, then, into a government such as it is—that is, the name of a government, the name of a legislature, the name of a free people—being organized as we are, what next? We are necessarily obliged to look after our affairs as men, our political affairs. Our mission to the world is a mission of peace, the Gospel proclaims peace on earth and good will to man. Then, being organized in a governmental capacity, we have certain rights. They profess to give them to us, but they don’t. They try to deprive us of them while professing to impart them. I might enter into a long line of argument here; no matter, I am merely speaking upon some general principles. What then is our duty here, say as a people—leaving religion out of the question altogether? As men and as American citizens, we have the right to all the privileges, and immunities, protection and rights of every kind that any men in these United States have, and no honorable man or men would seek to deprive us of them. When we talk about rights, these are the rights, as I understand them, that we possess in this nation. Is it proper, therefore, for us, as men and as citizens of the United States to look after our rights? I think it is. Do we want to violate law? No, we do not, although we know many of these laws are wrong, corrupt and unconstitutional. We have no right to find fault with others about their religion. We preach the Gospel; they receive or reject it as they please. If we have found the benefit of embracing it, let us be thankful; but we will not interfere with them in their religion. Are they Methodists? They can worship as they please—Presbyterians, Catholics, Baptists, or any other “ists” can worship as they please, that is none of our business, that is a matter between them and their God. But when they interfere with our rights as citizens of the United States, it becomes our business to look after our liberties.

As religionists we call upon them, as a duty committed to us, as we aver, by the Almighty. Our mission is to call upon this nation and all nations to repent of their sins, of their lasciviousness, adulteries, fornications, murders, blasphemies and of all dishonest and corrupt practices. But in this we use no force; having laid these matters before them, they have their free will to receive or reject. As religionists they may proclaim us bigamists or polygamists or what they please, that is their business, and they must answer for their own acts; as politicians or statesmen they must at least give us the benefit of the Constitution and laws; these, as a portion of the body politic, we contend for as part of our political rights. We do not claim, nor profess, nor desire to interfere with any man’s religion or conscience. We have nothing to do with their religion, nor they with ours. Religious faith or belief is not a political factor. The Constitution has debarred its introduction into the arena of politics; and every officer of the United States has pledged himself under a solemn oath to abide by and sustain that Instrument, and not one of them can interfere with it without a violation of his oath.

What have we done in defense of our liberties? I have heard several people say that we are inclined to be aggressive. I think we are not aggressive, but some of the laws are very aggressive. We have a grand jury organized of some fifteen men. How many of them are Latter-day Saints? Two, I think. So I suppose there is one-tenth of the citizens of this Territory loyal, patriotic and honorable, and the rest are considered to be unpatriotic, disloyal, etc. But we ought at least to be tried before we are condemned; that is the law as I understand it. Now this one-tenth of loyal, good and virtuous people get thirteen men empanelled, and the nine-tenths get but two to represent them. But unfortunately for these loyal and patriotic people, carefully prepared statistics show that this ten percent of population supplies eighty percent of the criminals. How is it in other things? There is considerable said about offices and officers. Where is there a man appointed from among the people to hold any office in the gift of the national government? To use the words of a thoughtful non-”Mormon” observer, —though the ‘Gentiles’ constitute only ten percent of the population, yet from this small minority are taken the incumbents of nearly every position of influence and emolument. They have the governor, with absolute veto power, secretary, judges, marshals, prosecuting attorney, land register, recorder, surveyor-general, clerks of the courts, commissioners, principal post office mail contractors, postal agents, revenue assessors and collectors, superintendent of Indian affairs, Indian agencies, Indian supplies, army contractors, etc.”

According to the common usages of men, we have at least a reasonable right to our proper proportion, but it is evident we do not have it. And then our educational interests are interfered with by these very men who state how ignorant we are. For instance, the Legislature of Utah appropriated the means of the people to help build a university. Who was to furnish the means? The people of this territory. Who said they should not do it? The Governor, and through his action the appropriation was vetoed. These are some of the things we have to contend with. On the other hand, laws are enacted inimical to the interests of this people. And then His Ex– cellency goes to work and appoints a set of officers contrary to the law of the land; goes beyond the act of Congress and appoints officers to fill nearly every office in the Territory, vacant or not, as the case may be. I am not going to enter into the details of it, but we have generally found that there were people in those offices; that they had a right there, and that the law provided that they should hold over until their successors were elected and qualified. I believe the law so reads; indeed, I am told that the law not only reads so, but that the Governor’s commissions to many of these officers also reads so, and hence his present action is violative of his own commission.

These are some of the things we have to contend with. Do we wish to fight the government of the United States? No. What shall we do? Stand up for the rights granted to us by the laws and constitution of the United States as American citizens. We have ex post facto laws, religious inquisitorial laws, we have laws which smack strongly of bills of attainder, and we have test oaths presented, all of which and many others are unconstitutional and are violative of our constitutional rights. I have the opinion of some of the best jurists of the nation to the effect that all these things are a violation of law, and that men have no business to be subjected to such infamies, nor become their own accusers. An eminent jurist speaking of this queried how this kind of thing would apply in Washington, where miscegenation has prevailed to so great an extent. Suppose some of those who practiced this thing were placed under such a law, how would it operate with them? Why several members of Congress have said that if the Edmunds law had been made applicable to adulterers, and men had to become their own accusers, it would unseat three fourths of the members of Congress. Ex post facto laws have been passed, which are clearly unconstitutional, and it is for us to test them in the courts, and we mean to do it; for although as religionists we go as messengers of peace to the nations, yet as American citizens we mean to contend for our rights, inch by inch, legally and constitutionally, God being our helper.

Another thing God expects us to do, and that is to maintain the principle of human rights. I have felt sorrowful in watching the action of Congress towards us—sorrowful, not only on our own account, but on theirs. We fear no evil arising from those things, for we are anxiously performing our duty before God. But we owe it to ourselves as men, we owe it to our families, our children, and to posterity; we owe it to the lovers of freedom in this land, of which there are thousands, yea, millions, who despise acts of oppression and tyranny; we owe it to all liberty-loving men, to stand up for human rights and protect human freedom, and in the name of God we will do it, and let all the congregation say Amen. (The immense congregation responded, Amen.)

Joseph, the despised of his father’s house became their deliverer. Moses, the foundling and outcast of Egypt, became the deliverer and lawgiver of Israel. Jesus, the despised Nazarene, introduced principles that revolutionized the moral ideas and ethics of the world. And it may not be among the improbabilities, that the prophecies of Joseph Smith may be fulfilled and that the calumniated and despised Mormons may yet become the protectors of the Constitution and the guardians of religious liberty and human freedom in these United States.

Now these are some of my feelings upon some of these points. And I will proceed a little further and say that I do not blame many men for entertaining the sentiments which they do towards us. There is a feeling and desire to see fair play and honesty deep down in the hearts of millions of the people of these United States, who ardently desire to see justice equally and honorably administered to all people within the nation. That was manifested very clearly during the passage of the Edmunds bill, and while many of those venerable Senators and honorable members of the House could not conscientiously with their limited information and the false statements made by our enemies sustain Polygamy, yet, to their honor be it spoken, they endeavored to maintain human rights, free toleration and religious liberty, and the rights of man without distinction of party throughout the realm. We honor, appreciate and respect such men as honorable representatives of the founders of this nation, and of the thousands who today embrace similar opinions. It is the debauched, the corrupt, the violators of principles and law and desecrators of the sacred principles of liberty, it is their pernicious practices which are striking at the foundation of the institutions of this country and which are demoralizing and destroying the nation, and there are thousands of high-minded and honorable men today who, on account of trickery, hypocrisy, dishonesty and crime stand aloof from the filthy pool of politics. They have seen honor, truth, integrity and virtue trampled under foot, they have seen corruption and crime like a repulsive octopus pushing its Briarean arms into every department of State; they have seen corruption and crime like a deadly simoom permeating every department of the body politic, and debauching and corrupting the nation, and they have shrunk from the disgusting contact; how far they can reconcile this with their ideas of patriotism it is for these aggressors to say. It is not the honorable and upright, the men of virtue and integrity that we would proclaim against; it is the vicious, the untruthful, the calumniators, the corrupt and debauched, the stirrers up of sedition and strife, and the enemies of law, order, virtue, righteousness, justice, human liberty and the rights of man to whom our remarks would apply.

Again, Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, and all classes have come among us, and who has interfered with them? Has anybody interfered with their worship? No. Has any violence of any kind been offered them? No, you cannot find it. We are at their defiance to show any such thing here. What have we done? We have fostered them, as has been referred to; we have treated them courteously and kindly and gentlemanly as honorable people ought to do. What have they done? Combined together to publish some of the most abominable falsehoods that were ever circulated with regard to any community. Now, this becomes rather a serious matter. Talk about love for these people! I would do them good. If they were hungry I would feed them; if they were naked I would clothe them; if they were sick I would administer to them; but if they lied about me and about this people I would tell them they were liars and defamers; I do not care how pious they are, or how much religion they have got, I would tell them the naked truth in relation to these matters.

They are the avowed advocates of moral reform, profess to be shocked at our moral obliquity and complain of us as being licentious and corrupt. Even every prominent Christian minister in this city joined in a protest against customs inculcated in the Scriptures by the Almighty, and practiced by Abraham, Jacob, David, and hosts of the most venerated and honorable men that ever lived, practices which they aver are lascivious and corrupt; and these same ministers issued a circular calling upon their fellow ministers and brother Christians throughout the United States to petition Congress for legislation which should stop, as they claim, the “foul system of polygamy,” and hypocritically inserted, to blind the eyes of those not familiar with Utah matters, a request for legislation for the suppression of “adultery, seduction, lewd and lascivious cohabitation and kindred offenses,” that they might “be punishable as in the States and other Territories of the Union;” and political demagogues joined with them in the crusade.

Predicated upon these solicitations scores of petitions were forwarded to Congress to this effect. They obtained their legislation and in their frantic Christian zeal to stamp out polygamy, a Bible institution, Congress, under this priestly influence so far forgot the inalienable rights of man, constitutional guarantees and forms of jurisprudence, as to disfranchise nine-tenths of this community for the alleged crime of the one-tenth, and that too, without trial; thus making the innocent suffer for the alleged acts of the guilty. And today an infamous, expurgatory test oath is introduced, at variance with all precedents in this nation, which as stated by Judge Black, is altogether “odious, unjust and unconstitutional,” which “reverses those rules of evidence which lie at the foundation of civil liberty,” and is a flagrant, violent and direct attack upon the inherent rights of man. Thus in their intemperate, religious zeal making a direct onslaught upon the bulwarks of republican institutions, jeopardizing the safety of the state, and thoughtlessly, recklessly and inconsiderately ignoring every just principle; assailing the fundamental doctrines of political and religious freedom; and exerting all their energies in attacking a phantom to tear down the pillars of state and to destroy the Temple of Liberty, though they themselves, as a Samson, perish in the ruins.

What is the moral effect? This same test-oath, while it assails a Scriptural usage practiced by the most renowned, revered and honorable men of antiquity, who are denominated men of righteousness and the friends of God, protects and sustains the degraded, corrupt and licentious who are supposed to be good Christians and not polygamists.

A very honorable, upright and virtuous gentleman, whom no one will accuse of immorality or vice—the respected ex-mayor of this city, who has filled that office with dignity and honor for the last six years, has a son who was appointed registrar for the Fifth Precinct in this city; this son had the painful and humiliating duty to perform of refusing to register his father’s name, because many years ago he had had more than one wife, but who, through death, was for some time without a wife at all, and has lately married one wife; and yet this young man had to perform the disgusting task, according to the provisions of said test-oath, of registering a notorious keeper of a bagnio, and many of her harlot associates. Another circumstance occurred of a gentleman who came to be registered, but thought it would be impracticable for him to take the test-oath. More honorable than many of his pious associates, he suggested that he did not know that he could take the prescribed oath, for he not only had a wife, but kept a mistress, but on examination he found the oath exempted all those who might engage in illicit intercourse, provided the association was not, as expressed in the oath, “in the marriage relation.” On discovering this, he observed, “I can take that oath, for I am only married to one;” and he was accepted. Another young man in this city, whilst having the test oath read to him, said he could not take it, as he could not swear that he had not cohabited with more than one woman; but when the reading was continued and the words “in the marriage relation” sounded in his ears, be said, “I can go that,” and was duly sworn.

Thus these moral and religious reformers and teachers, these professors of high moral ideas, these inveighers against a scriptural practice professedly because it is immoral, have introduced safeguards to protect the libertine, the voluptuary and the harlot, whilst they have made criminals of those who have been observing a law instituted by the Almighty. Perhaps it would be considered too severe to call these “reverend gentlemen” and those “venerable seigneurs” who occupy honorable positions in Congress by the harsh name of hypocrites, yet it is very humiliating to the sensitive and virtuous to contemplate the result of their ill-timed and intem– perate acts, for they have thus made themselves, while professing purity, the advocates and abettors of vice, licentiousness, immorality and crime.

I wish here to apologize a little for the people of the United States, for I think sometimes we carry the thing too far in relation to them. Here are men supposed—would be in any other community—to be honorable men, reverend men that are teachers of religion, combining against us. And because they are considered honorable men, people say, why there is the Reverend Mr. So and So and So and So, they have requested us to send petitions to Congress, to do this and that because of the wickedness and abominations of this people, and their misrepresentations and falsehoods have been circulated in the religious magazines and in the political papers, until the people abroad hardly know what to think. Many of them think we are a very infamous people; they think we are a great deal more corrupt than they are, and that we need not be. And they go to work to legislate to correct our morals. Now, with thousands of papers circulating these falsehoods, and these falsehoods coming from supposed religious and honorable men, is it any wonder that the people should be deceived with regard to us. I read today an account of an attempt to drive our Elders from some of their fields of labor. What for? Because they are “Mormons.” They are so wicked and so corrupt, and all because the papers and reverend ministers said so and so; and thus thousands of honorable men are deceived; but many of them, when they come to a knowledge of the truth, will rejoice in it. I want, then, to stand in defense of many of the people of the United States who are thus deceived. It is said in the scriptures that the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood. We have certainly had floods of falsehoods, originating, many of them, with these pious people. Do we want much association with these people? I think not. If they circulate falsehoods about us, can we respect them very much? I think not. We cannot hold communion with people who are corrupt, low and degraded. We were down in the sloughs a little while ago ourselves; we have come out from among them and know what they are. We know the infamies which exist there, the licentiousness, the corruption, the social evil, adulteries, fornication, sodomy, child murder, and every kind of infamy. And they come here and want to teach our children these things. We have got to be careful how we guard our homes, our firesides, our wives, our sons and our daughters, from their association. We don’t want these practices insidiously introduced among us. We want to preserve our purity, our virtue, our honor, and our integrity.

The time is hastening on, and I shall have to stop. I wish to make some further remarks, and would have liked to have talked some time longer. But what shall we do? I will tell you what I will try to do. I will try and humble myself before the Lord and seek for his blessing, and say as one of old said: “Search me, Oh God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” I have talked with my counselors in the same way, and they are of the same mind. We have talked with the Twelve about these things, and they are of the same mind. Now, we call upon all you Seventies, High Priests and Elders, you Bishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons individually and in your quorum capacity, upon the heads of families, upon the various organizations in the Church, upon all the Saints who profess to revere His name, to humble yourselves before God, to lay aside your covetousness and your evils of every kind. And when you have done so, you that meet together for prayers in your holy places, call upon God for guidance, direction and deliverance, and he will hear your prayers and deliver you, and your enemies shall have no power over you, for God is on the side of Israel, and he will preserve his people. No power can stay the progress of this work, for it is onward, onward, onward, and will be, until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God and His Christ, and until every creature in heaven and in the earth and under the earth shall be heard to exclaim, Blessings and glory and honor and power and might and majesty and dominion be ascribed to Him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb forever.

We will leave the wicked in the hands of God: He will deal with them in his own way. We are told that the wicked shall slay the wicked; and one thing that I am sorry over in this nation is this: that they are striking at the tree of liberty and trying to fetter humanity and bring men into bondage, they are laying the axe at the root of this government, and unless they speedily turn round and repent and follow the principles they have sworn to sustain—the principles contained in the Constitution of the United States—they will be overthrown, they will be split up and divided, be disintegrated and become weak as water; for the Lord will handle them in his own way. I say these things in sorrow; but as sure as God lives unless there is a change of policy these things will most assuredly take place.

Let us be pure, let us be virtuous, let us be honorable, let us maintain our integrity, let us do good to all men, and tell the truth always, and treat everybody right, no matter their profession or creed, and love our religion and keep the commandments of God, and it shall be well with Zion in time and throughout eternity.

God bless you. God bless all the Latter-day Saints. God bless all rulers and all men everywhere in responsible situations who seek to do right and to preserve law and justice and equity, and to maintain the rights of all men, and let his wrath and indignation rest upon the perverters of justice and those who seek to bind down the human conscience and enslave their fellow men. God bless you and lead you in the paths of life, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered at Ephraim, Sanpete County, Sunday Morning, August 20th, 1882.

The work of God is onward, and we as His servants and people propose with His help to carry it on to completion. Some people do not like it very well, but we cannot help that. I do not think Lucifer likes it, but we cannot help that either. We are here as the representatives of God upon the earth to accomplish his purposes, and to carry out his designs, to spread forth his Gospel, to build up his kingdom, to establish his Zion, and to promote the welfare and happiness of all people of every color and of every clime, according to the mind and will of the Lord as it shall be made known to us from time to time. This is what we are here for, as I understand it, and this is what we will do, God being our helper, and no man nor set of men can stay the purposes of Jehovah, for the enemies of God will wither and weaken from this time forth and forever. I will say that in the name of the Lord. The Lord is with his people, but he does not approve of all our acts. Still we are, generally, striv– ing to do what is right and observe his laws.

We have a great work before us, a very great work to accomplish. God has laid it upon us and we expect to do it with his assistance. We have the Gospel to preach to the nations, a message that the Lord has given unto us to promulgate to all peoples; and to accomplish this purpose the Church of God is organized with Presidents and Apostles, with Seventies, High Priests, Elders, etc. A large amount of this labor is being done, and has already been done by my brethren around me as well as by myself. We have been among the nations of Christendom traveling without purse or scrip, trusting in the living God, to make known to the peoples of the earth the great things which he has revealed for the salvation and the exaltation of the world.

Our mission has principally been to preach the first principles of the Gospel, calling upon men everywhere to believe in the Lord God of heaven, he that created the hea– vens and the earth, the seas and the fountains of waters; to believe in His Son Jesus Christ, repenting of their sins, to be baptized for the remission of the same; and then we have promised them the Holy Ghost. In doing this the Lord has stood by us, sustaining those principles that we have advanced; and when we have ministered unto men the ordinances of the Gospel, they have received for themselves the witness of the Spirit, even the Holy Ghost, making known to them for a surety that the principles that they had received were from God. And in regard to this I can say as Paul said on a certain occasion—“Ye are my witnesses,” for this whole congregation, with few exceptions, know this to be true. The Twelve and the Seventies, the High Priests and the Elders are called upon to visit the various nations of the earth and see that the word and will of God pertaining to them is carried out. For we are all the offspring of God, and as we are interested in the welfare of our children, so our heavenly Father is interested in the welfare of all his children. He has sent forth the light of his truth and the spirit of revelation to gather together his sheep, and in this respect, as it was in the days of Jesus, so it is today. “My sheep (he said) hear my voice; they know me and follow me, and a stranger they will not follow, for they know not the voice of a stranger.” Under the influence of this spirit and Gospel we have been gathered together in one in our Stake organizations, in our Ward organizations, in our Priesthood organizations, and in all those principles that God has revealed for the guidance, protection and instruction of the Saints, that we may be prepared to operate and cooperate with God in all things in the in– terest of his people, in the interest of the nations, in the interest and welfare of all men who will listen to the words of life, and then to do the very best with others, as God does. That is about the position we occupy today.

We are gathered here to the place we denominate Zion. There have been Zions before. Enoch had a Zion which was translated and which is reserved till the latter days. And we have a Zion to build up, which we shall do with the help of the Lord. We certainly shall accomplish these things no matter what the ideas and feelings of men may be in regard to it. Zion is onward and upward, and the Lord is directing and manipulating the affairs of His Church.

We have our Temples to build, and we are doing it, and I certainly have no complaints to make, and I do not think that the Lord has. I think that the Lord is well pleased with the actions of the people in this respect, and with their zeal in carrying out some of these leading principles which he has had in his mind from the commencement of the world.

We are living in the latter times, in the dispensation of the fullness of times when God will gather all things in one, whether they be things in heaven or things on the earth. We are living in a time when we have to operate and cooperate with the Almighty, and with the Priesthood, that has existed upon the earth before we came here for the benefit, blessing and salvation of the human family. Many of the purposes of God have been spoken of and pre-figured, in some instances darkly and dimly, in others more vividly and plain, pointing out and portraying the purposes of God pertaining to the human family; and these purposes will all be fulfilled. They will not be thwarted; God will not permit them to be. He has his work to perform and he is interested in the welfare of his Israel, and in the accomplishment of those things spoken of by all the holy prophets since the world was; and he will carry out his own purposes in his own way and time as he sees best.

Now, what are we doing? We are sending the Elders abroad and they have been and are still going; the Twelve and the Presidents of Seventies are selecting and calling upon them and they are going to the different nations, and I am pleased to see the spirit generally manifested; I think that the brethren begin to comprehend the nature of their missions and calling from the fact that there are very few excuses made nowadays. The tenor of the letters that I receive now in answer to those sent to brethren calling them to perform a mission, is something like this: “I have received your letter and am grateful to be considered worthy to be called. I will be ready at the time appointed.” When men comprehend their position they feel it an honor to be engaged in building up the kingdom of God and of being heralds of salvation to the nations of the earth.

When we build our Temples, what then? The brethren of the Twelve have been calling some men and women to go and labor in them. The old men whose heads are whitened with the passage of time are not without zeal, but they have not the strength to cope with the hardships attending a foreign mission; and therefore some of them will be called to minister in Temples. I should esteem it a very great privilege, if my time were not engaged in other things, to be engaged in such a labor, because there is a spirit and influence about that kind of work that is happifying, producing peace and joy, and tending to enlarge the mind of those that are engaged in ministering for others as Saviors on Mount Zion, whilst the kingdom is to be the Lord’s. We feel in our hearts a desire to bless and benefit mankind, and to present the Gospel to all to whom the Lord gives us the power. That is one work that we have to perform. Another is, the building of Temples. Another is, the rearing of our children in the principles of righteousness. And in doing this do we need the assistance of outsiders? I think not. When our Elders go abroad, they are sent to teach not to be taught; and if they should need teaching the ministers of Christendom could not teach them for they are not competent to do so. That reminds me of a statement that I heard in which a pious minister figures conspicuously. It was this: He stated, and his statement was published widely throughout the United States, in the religious journals, that whilst preaching to some of you Sanpete people; he held the Bible in one hand and was obliged to hold a pistol in the other. Where is this said to have occurred? (Pres. Peterson answered, “In this house over here,” pointing to the old meeting house.) But then he was a pious man, and other pious men published it, and it was copied in all the pious newspapers and published as truth; and probably many pious men made it the text for their Sunday sermon. What a fortunate thing you did not hurt him. (Laughter.) Now, do we want our children taught by such people? I think not. We want something of truth; we want some– thing of integrity and honor; we want something after the character referred to by David: “Lord, who shall dwell in the holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that swareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.” We want men and women of integrity and truth as the teachers of our children, in order that our children may grow up in the fear of the Lord and full of integrity and righteousness.

Then they talk to us about our virtue. I think that some of these people had better attend to their own affairs. We do not want their system of what they call morality introduced amongst us; we can do without it very, very well. Why do we speak of these things? Because they are matters which concern us. Whilst men and women come here ostensibly to promote your welfare, they hail from places where the most outrageous infamies are perpetrated. Do we wish these corrupting influences introduced into our midst? I think not. Let them cleanse their own Augean stables where they came from, and then talk to us if they wish about purity. Do we want them to teach our wives and daughters how to murder their children—a practice that is prevalent in the places they came from? I should rather think not, nor do we wish the influence of people so educated to introduce their contaminating, corroding and damning practices amongst us, the emanations from such a source are like a pestiferous plague endangering, polluting and contaminating everything that comes within its reach. Newborn children are murdered by the thousands in the large cities of the east; and do they stop this evil? No. I have been told over and over again that it is not fashionable for women of the places where many of our would-be “Christian” teachers hail from, to have more than one or two children. And what do they do with the rest? To tell it in plain terms, they have a fashionable way of murdering them—either before or after they come into the world. This started with what was called Restellism; it was then denounced as infamous; the plague has now spread until nearly the whole nation is inoculated with it. Are these the kind of people that we wish to correct our morals? I speak of these things for your information. But what will you do with these people, would you persecute them? No; but we do not want them for our teachers. I would not introduce such people to my family, neither would I introduce them to our schools to contaminate our children with the vices that prevail in the places they come from. I do not know anything about the persons that are among you, neither have I heard anything about them excepting this heroic minister of pistol notoriety. (Laughter.) I am reminded too of a move that a number of these so-called ministers of the Gospel made a short time ago in appealing to the nation to help them to root out the abominations which they affirm exist here. Why do I speak of this thing? Because I have a duty to perform as your teacher. We observe all laws and principles that are correct, true and virtuous, and if there is anything else contrary to this we have from time to time called upon our Bishops to purge themselves and their wards from it, and I call upon them here to do the same thing. I have been abroad among the nations of the earth, and so have many of my brethren, and did I ever go into England, Scotland, France, Wales, Germany, or any other nation where I have been, and attempt to stir up sedition and trouble, or defame the people I was among? No, never. The Elders of this Church have been taught differently and they have acted in accordance with the teachings they received. We came to this land as religionists to serve God, fleeing from the face of persecution; we came here because we could not be protected in the places we left. Now that we have come here have we practiced anything that is contrary to correct principles? Not that I know of. Have we the rights of American citizens? We most assuredly have. Has any person in this nation any more rights than we? Not if we have our rights given unto us. As American citizens we possess as many rights and privileges as any other citizens in these United States. What have we to do? We do not propose to barter them away, nor to relinquish them without a struggle. Do you mean to get up a revolution? Oh, no. We mean to contend for all principles that belong to free American citizens; and while there is law, justice or equity in the land, we design to contend for our rights inch by inch, and we do not mean to be despoiled of our rights without a struggle. We propose to maintain our franchise in this boasted land of liberty. This is the position we propose to take. If they disfranchise us as they did Brother Cannon; if we have men who do not know the difference between 1,300 and 18,000 we do, and we will contend for those principles that God has committed to us. In reading some of the histories pertaining to the dealings of God with man and the dealings of the devil with him you will find that Satan sought to rob man of his free agency, as many of his agents are seeking to do today; and for this cause Satan was cast out of heaven. God will have a free people, and while we have a duty to perform to preach the Gospel, we have another to perform, that is, to stand up in the defense of human rights—in the defense of our own rights, the rights of our children, and in defense of the rights of this nation and of all men, no matter who they may be, and God being our helper to maintain those principles and to lift up a standard for the honorable of this and other nations to flock to, that they may be free from the tyranny and oppression that is sought to be crowded upon them. This is a duty we have to perform, and in the name of Israel’s God we will do it. It is a duty that our families demand of us; it is a duty that the honest in this nation demand of us, and that God demands of us; and we will try and carry it out, God being our helper. And if other people can afford to trample under foot the sacred institutions of this country, we cannot. And if other people trample upon the Constitution and pull it to pieces, we will gather together the pieces and rally around the old flag, or what is left of it, and proclaim liberty to the world, as Joseph Smith said we would. Is that treason? I do not know; no matter, it is true. Are we going to hurt anybody? No. If they were hungry I would feed them; if they were naked I would clothe them, and learn to do good for evil as Jesus did. But I would say, “O my soul, come not thou into their secret, unto their assembly, mine honor be not thou united.” Do them good? Yes, but do not enter into the associations referred to. We want to mix up with honorable men and women.

I have made some plain remarks, but they are nevertheless true, and I have nothing to take back. Will we rebel against the nation? No. This nation has done a very great deal towards propagating human liberty. We read it in our schoolbooks, and we hear it sometimes proclaimed on the 4th of July, when we talk of the brave things the fathers of this nation performed in the defense of human rights, and it is a great pity, I think, that it should have been so short lived, for while the altar of liberty is yet stained with the blood of the patriots who fought for human rights, it seems almost too bad to make that same altar a forge whereon to make chains to fetter the human mind, to retard the progress of freedom, and to deprive man of his inalienable rights. It is a lamentable thing to reflect upon, yet it is true. It was a sad spectacle that we noticed some time ago in Mr. Evarts, secretary of the nation, calling upon the nations of Europe to assist the United States in crushing out a religious people. We have seen a great many things of a similar kind. Judge Poland and his operations; then the course pursued by Senator Edmunds against an innocent and persecuted people will place him in a very unenviable position.

What course shall we pursue? We purpose to contend for human rights, for the Constitution of the United States, and for the rights and privileges of man and the freedom of humanity. We will try to live our religion and keep the commandments of God. People are wondering what the Commissioners will do. They will do what the Lord will permit them to do and nothing more. Shall we trouble ourselves about the action of Congress? No. We will put in a word for the liberty of man, equal rights and constitutional principles, and these we will maintain so far as God gives us power. When we have done that we will live our religion; we will cleave unto God and unto truth, maintain virtue, purity and righteousness, and seek for the Spirit of the Lord; we will be humble, faithful and diligent, and we will pray for our enemies and for all men. Jesus when he was put to the test and men were clamoring against him, not only clamoring but they had nailed him to the cross, used these words: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do;” they are ignorant, besotted and dark, not acquainted with the principles of righteousness; they know not what they do, Father, forgive them. Then we find the Apostles speaking, calling upon them to repent and be baptized that their sins might be blotted out. When? Then? No. When? When the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, and he shall send Jesus Christ, who was before preached unto you;” and not till then.

What more have we to do? To become saviors upon Mount Zion: to be full of kindness and long-suffering and contend against the sins and corruptions of the world, and cherish purity and holiness in the Lord our God. What else? Some people tell us we ought to proclaim polygamy. We have no such mission. Further, if we were to proclaim the principle that they call polygamy, they could not obey it. We believe in celestial marriage, in celestial covenants, in men and women being united for time and for all eternity. Are we going to suffer a surrender of this point? No, never! No, never! We intend to be true to our covenants in time and in the eternities to come. They call it bigamy. What is a bigamist? A man who marries one wife promising to be true to her, and afterwards representing himself as an honorable man, marries another one and deceives both of them. He is a breaker of covenants. A polygamist does not do that. Abraham, Jacob, David and Solomon did not perpetrate such infamies. Nor do we. Bigamy is an institution of a perverted Christianity and not ours. We make covenants with our wives, and we will be true to them and they to us in time and in eternity. Supposing, I say, we were to preach this doctrine to the world, and tell them what David and Abraham and the Patriarchs did, and they were to say we accept it; could we administer in it? No, and they could not enter into this thing. There are only a few in Utah associated with this matter, comparatively, and those none but the most honorable, pure and virtuous, yet our nation has seen fit to condemn everybody, the non-polygamists as well as the polygamists, because the non-polygamists happen to live in the same place as the polygamists. Thus nine-tenths are proscribed for what the other tenth are alleged to have done. That is the kind of justice we have administered nowadays.

But if the nation can stand this kind of legislation, we can as long as they can. We will try to do right and fear God, and observe His laws, and seek to pursue that course that our Heavenly Father will approve, and we will have His Spirit to be with us and rejoice together in the fullness of the Gospel of peace. And we will build Temples; and we will build up the kingdom of God, and God will be on the side of Israel, if Israel will only be on the side of right, laying aside covetousness, corruptions and follies of every kind, and will cleave to the truth, He will bless us and we will be blessed in time and throughout the eternities to come. Amen.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered at Logan Conference, Sunday Afternoon, August 6th, 1882.

There is one thing I wish to speak about which has already been referred to, that is, in regard to your Temple. I can join with the brethren in saying that I am very well pleased with the progress made on that building, and with the energy and liberality that has been manifested towards it. For one I have not a word of complaint to make about anything; I think that things have been done and managed very well. Some of the speakers have given the Trustee-in-Trust credit for doing something towards it; but then, that is nothing, it is your means not mine particularly, only as one of you. And what you have done you have done outside of these things, and consequently I think there is a little more credit due to you than to the Trustee-in-Trust. The people in this Temple district have furnished about three-fourths of the means, and the Trustee-in-Trust about one-fourth. Now we do not wish to have any of the employees deprived of what is justly their due; for the laborer is worthy of his hire—I did not like to hear some of the remarks this morning to the effect that we were in debt; we calculate to pay our debts as we go along, and then we feel that we have acted justly and are free from all responsibilities and care; for all just demands ought always to be met. We have kept things along pretty well, and I think that we will be able “to put it through.” I have been talking with Brother Card, who is the superintendent of the Temple, and also with the Temple committee; and I will tell you what I am prepared to do, if you are prepared to follow suit, and thus stop all remarks about tardiness of pay, for it is proper that all just obligations ought to be and must be met. Brother Card thinks that the sum of $20,000 will complete the building. I do not know whether his figures are too much or too little, but if that is sufficient, it seems as nothing compared with what we have already done. We have got accustomed to it: and it is much easier doing a thing when you are used to it than when you are not. There is a proposition to the effect that a fifty cent donation be made; if that be done and the people are willing to respond to it, all well and good; and whatever amount is subscribed, I will, as Trustee-in-Trust, add my proportion to it, according to the pro-rata in the figures mentioned. What do you say, do you think you can stand it? (President W. B. Preston, I think we can, we’ll try), Brother Preston says he thinks you can or will be found trying. I do not know what your donation will amount to, and therefore I will undertake to say now that the Trustee-in-Trust will be good for $5,000, which it is stated will be a fourth of the sum required to finish the work. I would like to know now whether you are willing that I, as Trustee-in-Trust, should help you to the amount of $5,000? All that are willing raise up the right hand. (A forest of hands went up.) I believe that is carried. (Laughter.) Now I want you to put to that the sum of $10,000. (Here President Taylor’s attention was called to the fact that he had made a mistake, that the proportion of the people would be $15,000 instead of $10,000.) I am reminded that I have made a mistake, that it should be $15,000. Will the clerk please give us the correct figures so that we may do things understandingly. (The clerk ascertained that the Trustee-in-Trust had paid more than one-fourth but not quite one-third.) We will not be too precise about these matters, perhaps it would be as well to err on that side as on the other, for in any event, we are all of us desirous to see the work progress and have all our liabilities met. Well, we’ll let it go at $10,000. I propose to give you my portion on demand that these men may get their pay, and then allow you a little time to get in your harvest which will give you an op– portunity to accomplish your end of the matter. What do you say? The question was put to vote and carried unanimously.

There were some remarks made about liquor drinking this morning, and some people seem to think that there is a great difficulty about managing these things, but I don’t think there is if we can only manage ourselves. I feel like giving you credit for what you have done in this respect, and hope that you will be able to keep it up.

I want to state here, that God has organized His Church in such a way that all of these matters can be arranged within the Church, law or no law, if we will only do our duty, and each of us magnify our calling and our Priesthood in the various positions that we occupy in the Church and kingdom of God. And it is a much better principle than the civil law, as the civil law is frequently perverted by maladministration and made to operate in such a way as to trample on the rights of man.

The organization of the Church is after the plan that exists in heaven, and according to the principles that God has revealed in the interest of His Church upon the earth and for the advancement and rolling forth of his kingdom. We start in with the Teacher and with the Priest, whose duty it is to know the position of all the members in their several districts; if they do their duty they will know really and truly the position of all those who come under their charge. Their duty is very simple. What is it? They are to see that there is no hard feeling existing in the breasts of the Saints one towards another; that there are no dishonest or fraudulent acts, no lasciviousness or corruption, no lying, false accusations; profanity or drunk– enness; and that the people call upon God in prayer in their various households—the father and mother and children, and that all perform their various duties and do right. I look upon it that the Teachers and the Priests occupy a very important position in the Church and kingdom of God; and that if they perform their duty aright, there will be no hard speaking; there will be no hard feelings, no bitterness or wrath; there will be no fraud, no lasciviousness of any kind, no drunkenness, nor will there be any bitter or improper feelings of any kind; for it is their right and privilege to look after these things, and not only their right and privilege but their duty; and if they do not fulfill this, they are not magnifying their calling and Priesthood. But if they are and people are disposed to listen to them, then everything will be right in regard to this matter. And if there are those who are not disposed to listen to them and to do right, then it becomes the duty of the Teachers, after pleading with them and doing the best they can, to report them to their Bishop; and then it devolves upon him to do his part, not in anger or animosity or in the spirit of vindictiveness, but as a savior, and the Teacher and the Priest ought to act in the same way. And while God has organized His Church upon the earth after the plan that exists in the heavens, it is for the various officers in the Church to fulfill the duties devolving upon them, acting in all kindness, long-suffering and mercy before the Lord, yet with justice and judgment, that the law of God may be honored, that the principles of righteousness may be exalted, that the workers of iniquity may be ashamed, that the meek may increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men may rejoice in the Holy One of Israel; that righteousness and truth may prevail among the people of God; and we may act not in name only, but in reality as the Saints of God, without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.

If any persons then should feel that they are aggrieved by the acts of the Teacher or the Bishop; if they should think that they have been unnecessarily harshly dealt with, they have the right of appeal to the High Council—High Priests selected from among the people and set apart because of their fidelity, their integrity, their honor and their justice—at least these are the kind of qualifications necessary to fill this calling. And if upon an appeal to the High Council on any of these matters (of course including drunkenness), they find there has been unnecessary harshness, it would be for them to remedy the evil, to see that justice is done and that no man is oppressed; on the contrary that all have their rights, freedom, liberty and equal justice in righteousness without fear or favor.

When things are attended to in this way they move along all right. If professed Saints will not obey the law of God, but violate the commands of the Almighty, they are not fit to be the servants and handmaids of the Lord. We are told that they must be dealt with according to rules laid down in the law of God, by the proper persons that He has placed in His Church for that purpose.

I heard a man not long ago say that in the place he lived he had seen a great many people drunk; it was one of those places abounding with saloons in which they could get beastly drunk; and that some of those who thus indulged were Elders, High Priests, etc. The man himself was a High Priest. If I had seen such men I should have gone to them and told them what course to pursue to stop those infamies. Every Elder in Israel ought to be on the watchtower as watchmen upon the walls of Zion. Where iniquity prevails or evil of any kind, it is for them to do what they can to stem the current of evil and to lift up and exalt the people that they may comprehend correct principles, live their religion and be prepared to receive the blessings of Jehovah. When I was quite a boy—I was not a Mormon then, but I had principles of humanity nevertheless—there was an old gentleman whom I respected, he was a good man, a praying man—he had a wife who did not want to pray, and who interfered with his devotions; she was uneasy and turbulent, and a kind of thorn in his flesh. Under these trials he got along very well, but it used to drive him to the Lord. After a while she died and he married again; this time to a very amiable lady; his wife was so pleasant and agreeable that the change in his circumstances was very great. Being thus comfortably situated he became remiss in some of his religious duties, and commenced by giving way to the temptation of liquor. Seeing the course he was taking I went to him. I felt a little bashful on account of my youth at the time, but because of long friendship and out of respect for his many good qualities, I felt it a duty to bring these delinquencies to his notice; I told him that I had seen him drunk a few days previously, and that it had hurt me very much to see him in such a state, as his course had always been exemplary and he was a man whom I respected very highly. He appreciated my good feelings, saying that he felt disgraced and promised to mend his ways. Now that was not “Mormonism,” but it was a correct feeling. Cannot we, as Latter-day Saints, do as much good as those who are not Latter-day Saints? Cannot we go after our brethren and sisters when they do wrong, with love and affection, and lead them in the paths of life? But then, if they will not do it after much persuasion, it becomes our duty to deal with them as the law of God directs; but in doing this we ought to be full of love and kindness one toward another, and not be harsh, acrimonious or desirous to place them in a wrong; such feelings do not become Latter-day Saints. We ought to cherish feelings of kindness and love and long-suffering; but we do not want our charity to cover too many sins. Everybody is at liberty to do this, whoever he may be, it being our privilege to do good, to try to redeem and exalt our fellow men, and to act as saviors upon Mount Zion. But when people will not do right, are we to foster the wrong? No, God forbid. We talk sometimes about the celestial glory, the terrestrial glory and the telestial glory, do you think that a man will get the celestial glory if he does not abide the law of the celestial kingdom? You Latter-day Saints know better. Well, then, if men are disposed to do wrong, to violate the commandments of God and yield to evils of various kinds, is a Bishop authorized, or is the High Council authorized to cover up those sins and allow them to go on? I tell you No, they are not. And if the Priest and the Teacher do not do their duty, it is for the Bishop to look after them to see that they do their duty. And if the Bishop does not do his duty in this respect, it becomes the duty of the President of the Stake to do it, to see that righteousness prevails, that the principles of truth are sustained, that the Gospel of the Son of God is honored, and that the principles of equity, justice and righteousness and the fear of God are maintained in their purity in the Stake over which he presides. And if the President of the Stake does not attend to this duty, then it devolves upon the First Presidency to see that no iniquity exists in the Church. And when these things are done we are then in a position to approach God our Heavenly Father to ask and receive, to seek and find, and to knock and have the door opened unto us.

And besides these offices, which are the leading, prominent media or channels through which these things are reached, there are other methods by which they can be adjusted. The Twelve, where they go, are expected to regulate matters of this kind. We have a Quorum of High Priests in each Stake, and it is for them to exercise themselves and their influence individually and as a Quorum in the interests of righteousness and virtue and the maintenance of the principles connected with the kingdom of God. They have no particular position or calling; they are ordained to the High Priesthood, and it is for their President to meet with them and have them humble themselves before God, and seek for the guidance of His Holy Spirit and the light of revelation; “for this ordinance” we are told in the Doctrine and Covenants, “is instituted for the purpose of qualifying those who shall be appointed standing presidents or servants over different stakes scattered abroad; And they may travel also if they choose, but rather be ordained for standing presidents; this is the office of their calling, saith the Lord your God;” that they may comprehend the principles of law, of government, of justice and equity, and watch over, not only themselves, but their families and friends, associations and neighborhoods, and act as fathers in Israel, looking after the welfare of the people and exerting a salutary influence over the Saints of the Most High God.

Again, we have our organization of Seventies, and they ought to see that there is no iniquity among their quorums—no drunkenness, no whoredom, no fraud, nothing that is wrong or improper, unholy or impure; but that they are men of God chosen and set apart as messengers to the nations of the earth, and wherever they reside it is their duty, and it is the duty of all men in Israel, to see that there is no iniquity, to use their influence on the side of right, and to put down wrong.

Then again, the same thing will apply to Elders. The Elder is ordained in many instances to act as a standing minister among the people, to preach to them, to instruct them as we are doing and as your missionaries are doing and as others are doing, preaching among the people at home, and frequently going abroad as circumstances may require.

Now, while we are here, we do not want to hear a man laugh and say, “Brother so-and-so is as drunk as a fool.” Why do you not go to him and speak of this evil to himself? Why do you not go and try to put him on the right road, and tell him to walk in it? Why not ask him to go with you before the Lord to confess his sins, to seek for assistance to overcome his weakness? In doing this you help him, and you help one another to do right, not in the spirit of laughter or lightness; that is not becoming the Saints of the Most High, but it should be in the spirit of kindly regard and affection.

We have also our Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations, and I am pleased to find so good an influence prevailing among them, yet there are many things that are wrong even among them. They need watching over; they require to look after one another and use a kind supervisory care over their morals, and if any among them should go astray, to admonish them and lead them in another path. Then we have our Young Ladies’ Associations; they are trying what they can do in leading the female youth in the right way. And when they see the daughters of Israel liable to be led astray, let them labor with them, treat them kindly, preserve them from evil, and guide them in the paths of life. We none of us are preserved only as we are preserved of God.

Brother Joseph F. Smith spoke rightly this morning when he said, that no man could guide this kingdom; he cannot unless God be with him and on the side of the Elders of Israel. But with Him on their side, all things will move on aright, and the intelligence and the revelations of God will be poured out. His law will be made known and the principles of truth be developed; or it is not the kingdom of God. And we all of us ought to humble ourselves before God, and seek for the guidance of the Almighty.

There are forces at work in the world that will in time overturn the world, which are today sapping the foundation of all governments and eating as a canker the foundation of all rule and dominion; and by and by their thrones will be cast down and nations and empires will be overturned, for God will arise to purge the world from its iniquities, its evils and corruptions. And we have more or less of the principle of insubordination among us. But there is a principle associated with the kingdom of God that recognizes God in all things; and that recognizes the Priesthood in all things; and those who do not do it had better repent or they will come to a stand very quickly; I tell you that in the name of the Lord. Do not think that you are wise and that you can manage and manipulate the Priesthood, for you cannot do it. God must manage, regulate, dictate and stand at the head and every man in his place. The ark of God does not need steadying, especially by incompetent men without revelation and without a knowledge of the kingdom of God and its laws. It is a great work that we are engaged in; and it is for us to prepare ourselves for the labor before us, and to acknowledge God, His authority, His law and His Priesthood in all things.

I have men come to me sometimes with some great complaints to make about their Bishop. I hear them, but I either send them back to their Bishop or to their President as circumstances dictate. Then I have Bishops come to me finding fault with their Presidents. I send them back to their Presidents, and write to those whose business it is to attend to it. I acknowledge every man in his place and office, whether President, Bishop, Priest, Teacher or Deacon; and then they should acknowledge everybody over them, or God will destroy them. I tell you that in the name of the Lord. I know what I am saying. I tell you it is the word and the will of the Lord. Do not be wise above what is written. Do not be too anxious to be too smart, to manage and manipulate and to put things right; but pray for those that God has placed in the different offices of this Church that they may be enabled to perform their several duties. The Lord will sustain His servants and give them His Holy Spirit and the light of revelation, if they seek Him in the way that he has appointed, and He will lead them and lead you in the right path. This is the order of the kingdom of God, as I understand it, and not the other. And it is for us to learn that order and be obedient to it. And thus by obedience to the law of the Priesthood, drunkenness and all other immoralities can be rooted out and overcome.

The work of God is growing and increasing, and it will continue to do so until the words of the prophet will be fulfilled who said, “A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time,” but He expects every man in his place to magnify his calling and to honor his God. And while there are evils of the kind I speak of, there is a great amount of good, of virtue, of self-abnegation, and a great desire to do the will of God, and carry out His purposes. And it is for every man and every woman to do his and her part.

The Relief Societies are doing a great work generally throughout the land; and the Young Men’s and the Young Women’s Associations are doing a great work; but I am sorry to say I sometimes hear of occasional acts of fornication among our young people. Our young men go to labor on railroads and mix up with the foul mouthed and corrupt, and I am sorry to say, that once in a while they copy after their ways. Fathers and mothers, look after your sons. You members of the different societies, look after your members and try to save the erring and lead them in the paths at life.

There is a great zeal and a great interest manifested in Sunday schools, which is also very praiseworthy. It is a good work for us to be engaged in. Continue in it. And let all perform their parts, whether in Sunday school, in Relief Societies, in Mutual Improvement Associations or otherwise; and let all seek to act with a single eye towards the glory of God.

We are living in an important age. Time is marching on, and events of great magnitude and importance are transpiring. The nation in which we live has been moved against us. That is all right so far as God permits it; but if we fear him and keep his commandments as a people, no power arrayed against us can harm us. God will come forth to the deliverance of his people, and he will save his elect if they will only do right and obey his laws. We can do nothing unless assisted by the Almighty, neither can this nation, only as he permits. If we do right he has told us “the wrath of man shall praise me, and the remainder I will restrain.” God lives, and his eyes are over us, and his angels are round and about us, and they are more interested in us than we are in ourselves, ten thousand times, but we do not know it. We become self-willed and captious, and lack in a great many instances that liberality, kindness and charity that ought to dwell in the bosoms of the Saints of God. The Lord is a great deal more interested in his work than we are. We think a great deal about our farms and our houses, our wives and our children, which is all very proper. He is thinking about the redemption of the earth, the regeneration of the world, the salvation of the living and the dead, and the accomplishment of the purposes spoken of by all the holy Prophets since the world began. And it is for us to be co-workers with him. He is pleased with your efforts in building this Temple; and the angels rejoice as they see you go forth to prepare a place in which you may labor for the living and the dead. People will be called upon to labor, as a mission in those Temples when built. And you will rejoice too, for while you are engaged in the work of God, it always brings peace and joy. A Temple built to the name of the Lord is a most delightful place to labor in: we feel that we are saviors upon Mount Zion, and that the kingdom is the Lord’s, and that we are operating for God and not for ourselves, but in the interest of our common humanity and in the salvation of the world.

Let us attend to our duties and do not get up any quarrels in our families. Husbands treat your wives with kindness and try to make your home a heaven for them; and train your children in the fear of God. Then you sisters, treat your husbands aright; be full of kindness, for we are, as the old woman says, all “poor, miserable, independent sinners.” We have need of more long-suffering, we need the assistance of one another, and the help of the Almighty. Let us try to do right.

There are a great many things open to my mind which I would like to talk about; there are one or two, however, to which I will refer. We have a great work to perform? Who? We Seventies, we Elders, we Priests. What have we to do? We are required to build Temples and administer in them. What else? We have to take the Gospel to the world, as we have been doing and are doing, and to progress with it; to advance correct principles among men, and to lead them in the paths of life and salvation; to gather them to Zion and to teach them when we get them here; to go on and control matters; to learn to manage ourselves and our own affairs, and not trouble ourselves too much with outside matters.

We talk sometimes about the nation being inimical to us. Whoever dreamed of anything else? I never did. What did the Elders preach to you, say 10, 30 or 40 years ago? It was that the people of the world would grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. Do you expect it is going to get better? I do not. What did Jesus say in his day? He said: “If ye were of the world, the world would love its own,” that is the kind of love that exists in the world. It does not amount to much—it is love today and hate tomorrow, as the case may be. But continued the Savior: “Because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” What did he say again? “Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” Then there is nothing strange about it, is there? Some people think that because the priests of Baal lie so outrageously about us, that we ought to be angry. Why, that is their profession; for they are of their father the Devil, his works they will do, and he was a liar from the beginning. By and by when we and they get through, we shall find that all liars will have their portion with hypocrites and unbelievers; and they together with whoremongers and sorcerers, will be found outside the holy city. But we have to take the brunt of it. No matter, we can stand it. As I said to some prominent gentlemen—Members of Congress—who were here recently, You are cutting up rather peculiar antics down in Washington. It does not matter much, however, as our potatoes grow all the same. That is how I feel about it. Let them attend to their father’s business, and we will attend to our Father’s business, and trust in him and pursue that course that will be right in his sight. We do not want to get up any excitement about anything. Let us lean upon the Lord, seek to Him and ask for what we want, do right and we shall receive. And while they are treating us badly we will treat them as well as the circumstances will admit of, and follow out the instructions of Jesus, who told us to do good for evil; and so far as we are concerned we will save them if possible, in spite of themselves.

The Lord is operating upon the Lamanites, and many of them are being baptized into the Church. Some people think all that we have to do is to baptize them, that they are a poor miserable set of outcasts. This is not the case. Some of us were poor miserable outcasts before we came into the Church, and we needed the ministrations of the Elders, the teachings of the Holy Priesthood, and the blessings arising from the organization of the Church. Do not you think that they need the same kind of treatment? How would you like a mission, some of you High Priests and Seventies, to proclaim the Gospel to that fallen race, that Israel may have an equal chance with us, for God expects it at our hands. We received that record (Book of Mormon) through their ancient prophets and those same prophets are now beginning to communicate with them and to unfold unto them the work that he has commenced with us, and we shall have more of these things by and by. It is proper that our feelings should be drawn out after those whom the Lord is operating upon, that we may act in conjunction with the Lord in leading them in the paths of life.

This is a duty that devolves upon you Elders of Israel, for as he has commenced to labor with them we ought to be one with him. I have taken the liberty recently to request the Twelve to attend to this; and they will call upon the Seventies, the High Priests and others, that is, they will if they do their duty. What do you think of it? I think that the field is enlarging and that our labors are increasing and becoming more extensive. We ought to feel like little children; we ought to feel like humbling ourselves before God, seeking to be one and to enjoy the light of His Holy Spirit, saying O Lord God, I am a poor feeble creature, thou hast called me to Thy work and hast clothed me with the Holy Priesthood; and now I want to magnify it; I want to be a savior on Mount Zion; I want to preside anywhere, or preach anywhere, or do any labor that Thou shalt call upon me to do, that I may feel that I am Thy servant and that Thou art my God, and that I am for Israel, and for the salvation of the white man, the red man and all mankind. That is the position we are in. These are some of the things of which you will hear more by and by. I thought I would only tell you a part as perhaps you could not bear it all.

God bless you, and God bless all Israel, and God bless all who are in favor of righteousness, truth and equal rights; and may the Lord God confound the enemies of Israel, and all who are opposed to just rule and righteous government, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered at the Funeral Services of Bishop Reuben Miller, at Mill Creek, Monday, July 24, 1882.

I thought I would come here today to mingle my condolence and sympathy with yours while paying the last token of respect to the remains of your husband, your father, your friend, your Bishop.

These are occasions that cause us to feel sorrowful, and yet we should not sorrow at the departure of a good man—a highminded, honorable man, a good Latter-day Saint, as I have always esteemed Bishop Miller to be. I am told that many of you were not born when Brother Miller was first installed Bishop; that there are only two women, of whom his wife is one, and three men that are now living in the Ward when he was first ordained Bishop here; and that he has during his bishopric blessed, when children, a great many of the congregation assembled here today.

When a man who has been faithful and true leaves the world to go into another state of existence, what is there to mourn for? Should his family mourn? No. They cannot help the natural feelings of sympathy that well up in the heart at the departure of their friends; wives cannot help having sympathy for their husbands, and husbands for their wives, parents for their children, and children for their parents. The family of Brother Miller have lost a good husband, a loving father, a faithful friend, and under such circumstances they mourn when they are deprived of his society and his counsel.

When men leave this earth they leave it to occupy another sphere in another state of existence. And if, as is the case with Brother Miller, they hold the Priesthood that administers in time and in eternity, having fulfilled this part, as many others have done who have left the world, and as our deceased brother has done, they hold that Priesthood in the eternal worlds, and operate in it there. It is an everlasting Priesthood, that administers in time and in eternity. And the Gospel that we have received unfolds to us principles of which we were heretofore entirely ignorant. It shows us the relationship that exists between God and man, and it shows us the relationship that exists between men who have dwelt upon the earth before and those who exist today. It shows that while God has revealed the Priesthood to us upon the earth and conferred upon us those privileges, that in former generations he revealed the same Priesthood to other men, and that those men holding that Priesthood min– istered to others here upon the earth; and that we are operating with them and they with us in our interests and in the interests of the Church and kingdom of God, in assisting to build up the Zion of God, and in seeking to establish truth and righteousness upon the earth; and that there is a connecting link between the Priesthood in the heavens and the Priesthood upon the earth.

God, our heavenly Father, has gathered unto himself, through the atonement of Jesus Christ, very many great and honorable men who have lived upon the earth, and who have been clothed with the powers of the Priesthood. Those men having held that Priesthood and administered in it upon the earth are now in the heavens operating with the Priesthood in the heavens in connection with the Priesthood that exists now upon the earth. Consequently I do not feel sorrowful when I see a good man go, and yet in some respects I do. There is something painful about the separation. But I look upon it a good deal as it was with us when we were coming to this land. Said you to your friends when they were leaving: “Thomas, Mary, James or William, you are going away to Zion; I am sorry to see you go, and yet I am glad you are going.” We feel sorry to part with our friends; but when the struggle is over, when they have battled with the world and the powers of darkness, and by the Spirit and power of God have overcome and triumphed, having remained true and faithful to the last, and have gone to join the hosts in the eternal worlds, to associate with the eternal Priesthood that exists there, do we feel to mourn? No, I do not; there is no cause to mourn: it is a cause of rejoicing. By and by we shall follow; for we expect to mingle with them.

A few days ago I attended the funeral of one of my wives; and while doing so I looked upon the great city of the dead. I thought to myself, here are thousands of honorable men and women who are sleeping the sleep of peace, who have served their God, and who have got through with the affairs of this world; and that while their bodies are decaying here, their spirits are soaring in the heavens. Do I feel sorry for them? No, they have gone to rest, and all is peace with them, according to the mind and will of God in relation to those matters, He having appointed unto man that he must die.

Since the organization of the world myriads have come and have taken upon themselves bodies, and they have passed away, generation after generation, into another state of existence. And it is so today. And I suppose while we are mourning the loss of our friend, others are rejoicing to meet him behind the veil; and while he has left us, others are coming into the world at the same time, and probably in this our territory. There is a continuous change, an ingress of beings into the world and an egress out of it. As near as my memory serves me, from one-third to one-fourth of our population today are children under eight years of age. There are thousands of men upon the earth today, among the Saints of God, of whom it was decreed before they came that they should occupy the positions they have occupied and do occupy, and many of them have performed their part and gone home; others are left to still fulfill the duties and responsibilities devolving upon them.

I was remarkably struck on look– ing at the three mottoes before me, one is, Holiness to the Lord, which I suppose was placed there by your late Bishop. There is something beautiful and glorious in the contemplation. And when I heard Brother Gardiner speak about his visits with Brother Miller to talk over the things of the kingdom of God, it indicated to me that his heart and feelings were interested in it, as well as interested in the welfare of the county, as others have testified of. We should all have those feelings, not only Bishops and Presidents but all the people ought to be interested in one another’s welfare. Our welfare and happiness depends upon our obedience to the laws of God, upon our conduct before him in all our acts. We wish to have inscribed not only in our meetinghouse, but in our hearts and acts, Holiness to the Lord, God is my God, God is my Father, God is my friend; and I wish to devote and dedicate myself unto Him, ought to be the feeling of every man and woman, and especially of every Latter-day Saint. Let there be no act of my life, no principle that I embrace, that shall be at variance with these words which were first inscribed by the Almighty, and prophesied of that it should come to pass in the last days, that even upon the bells of the horses should be written “Holiness to the Lord.” That is not in name only, but it is to be written on the tablets of our hearts, as with a pen of iron, for when this principle shall become universal, righteousness will extend “from the rivers to the ends of the earth.”

Then, here is another motto: “Thy kingdom come.” All these things are full of meaning and interest. This was taught by Jesus to his disciples when they came to him, saying, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples. Said he, “When you pray, say, Our Father, who art in heaven.” Who? Our Father. What, my Father and your Father? Yes; and the God and Father of the spirits of all flesh. Our Father who art in heaven; hallowed be Thy name. Let me reverence Thee, O God, in all my doings, in all my acts, in all my proceedings, in all my associations with men and with the Church and kingdom of God and with the world—let me always reverence Thee. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. What kingdom? What is the meaning of “thy kingdom come?” It means the rule of God; it means the law of God; it means the government of God; it means the people who have listened to and who are willing to listen to and observe the commands of Jehovah; and it means that there is a God who is willing to guide and direct and sustain his people. Thy kingdom come, that thy government may be established, and the principles of eternal truth as they exist in the heavens may be imparted to men; and that, when they are imparted to men, those men may be in subjection to those laws and to that government, and live in the fear of God, keeping his commandments and being under his direction. Thy kingdom come; that the confusion, the lasciviousness and corruption, the evil and wickedness, the murder and bloodshed that now exist among mankind may be done away, and the principles of truth and right, the principles of kindness, charity and love as they dwell in the bosom of the Gods, may dwell with us.

“Thy will be done.” Not my will, not my desires, not my wishes. I do not know, you do not know, what would be good for us; I do not know what would be good for this people only as God teaches me. I do not want to teach my ideas; I want to know the will of God, and then teach it. We should all seek to know the will of God, and then do it. Thy will be done. What brought you and me here? Did we have any knowledge of the will of God? Not until he revealed it. Did we have any knowledge of the kingdom of God? Not until He revealed it; and numbers of us have very little knowledge of it today, very little indeed. We have very little knowledge of the kingdom of God; and yet we have been here year after year, and have been taught for many years the sacred principles of truth communicated by the holy Priesthood, but we hardly comprehend them. Is there a principle that we have received associated with the Gospel of the Son of God, that we should have received if God had not revealed it to Joseph Smith His Prophet? No; we knew nothing about them. Is there anybody among these aged and grayhaired men who came to an understanding of even the first principles of the Gospel until he revealed them anew? No. Do you know it? I know it to be a fact. I knew Joseph Smith and Brigham Young very well and other prominent men of this Church; and I have met with men in different nations, of all grades and classes of position and intelligence, and I know that they do not know the principles of eternal truth as God has revealed them to us. Have we anything, then, to boast of or to glory in? I have not, only in God. But I thank God our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Priesthood that existed, that God in his mercy has been pleased through their instrumentality to again restore the everlasting Gospel, bringing with it light, immortality and eternal life.

What did we know about the ordinances of the Gospel—could I find them anywhere? There is not a man living today that could, only as God revealed them, and I am at the defiance of any man to say that he knew anything about the principles of the everlasting Gospel until God revealed them. Did any of us find out anything about the Gospel? No. Who knew anything about the gathering? The prophets had spoken about it, but who comprehended their words? Nobody. Did they know anything about gathering men together to a land of Zion that should be, or about the kingdom of God that was to be set up? Some of them would talk about what Daniel saw, but they knew nothing about it; and they are in the dark about it today, for no man can know the things of God but by the Spirit of God, and they cannot obtain that Spirit only by obedience to His law, and hence there is so much misapprehension about us, and they will remain in the dark until they obey the Gospel of the Son of God. What do they know about the future? Nothing. What do they know about the celestial, or the terrestrial or the telestial glory? Nothing; they do not comprehend anything about these matters; and when they leave this world, as a prominent philosopher has said, they take a leap in the dark. We know where we are going; we know where Brother Miller has gone. God has revealed these things to us, and consequently we are enlightened. But did we find it out by our own wisdom and intelligence? No, it was the Lord who revealed it.

And what about our dead, and what about our Temple building? That is a singular thing for men to be engaged in. Do you find anything like it anywhere else? No. I remember talking with Baron Rothschild when showing him our Temple. He asked what was the meaning of it. Said I, Baron, your Prophets centuries ago, when under the inspiration of the Almighty, said that the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple. “Yes,” he said, “I know they said that.” “Will you show me a place upon the face of the earth where God has got a temple to come to?” Said he, “I do not know of any such place.” But if your Prophets told the truth, then there must be a Temple built before your Messiah can come. Said he, Is this that Temple? No, sir. What is this then? It is a Temple but not the Temple your fathers spoke of. But you will yet build a Temple in Jerusalem, and the Lord whom you seek will come to that Temple. What is this for, he enquired? Among other things that we may perform the sacred ordinances about which we are so much maligned, wherein we make eternal covenants with our wives, that we may have a claim upon them in the resurrection. Who revealed this? God our Heavenly Father. And because he has revealed these things, and because we are fulfilling these things, our nation, groveling in darkness, wrapped in midnight gloom, knowing no more about God and eternity than that piece of iron railing, makes it criminal for us to form associations that are to exist “while life or thought or being lasts or immortality endures”—associations with our wives and children, with our fathers and mothers, with our friends and associates, so that when the last trump shall sound and the dead hear the voice of the Son of God, that we with them may come forth to obtain the exaltation which God has prepared for those that love him, keep his commandments, and are obedient to his laws. Shall we forego these things and give up our hopes of eternal lives and exaltations at the instance of low, degraded, corrupt, besotted and benighted men. Verily I say unto you, Nay. We are after truth, exaltation and eternal lives; exaltation for ourselves, for our fathers and mothers and for all men and women who can comprehend the law of God, and who will obey his precepts and not reject the Gospel of his Son.

These are the things that we seek, and God is with us and will be with us, and will sustain us, and no power on earth or in hell can stop the progress of this work; for it is onward according to the decree of Almighty God, and will be from this time henceforth and forever. And as the prophets have said, so say I, woe to those men and woe to that nation or to those nations that lift up their hands against Zion, for God will destroy them. I prophesy that in the name of the Lord God of hosts. And he will be with his Israel, and will sustain his people and bring them off victorious; and if faithful to the end we shall obtain thrones, principalities, powers, dominions, exaltations, and eternal lives in the kingdom of our God, and Brother Miller will be there. Let us try to emulate his good example and seek to do that which is right in the sight of God and man. God has given us great principles and put us in possession of great blessings. Let us appreciate them. Let us, in all sincerity, be honest and virtuous, truthful, holy and pure. Let us abstain from covetousness, fraud, lasciviousness and corruption of every kind, and be in deed and in truth what we profess to be, the Saints of the living God.

God bless you in time and throughout the eternities to come, in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered at the General Conference, on Sunday Afternoon, April 9th, 1882.

In attempting to address the congregation this afternoon, I trust that all will be as quiet as possible. It is extremely difficult to make the congregation hear in this place, especially in so large an assembly, when there is the least confusion. While I address you, I wish to speak such words as shall be interesting, edifying and instructive, and I desire an interest in the prayers of the faithful, that I may be able to do so intelligently, that we may be the better for our coming together.

I am aware of the position that we occupy today. I feel that I am surrounded by a large number of intelligent men and women, and while I am addressing you, I am also addressing the world, for the remarks I make will be reported and published to the world. Therefore, I am desirous to advance such sentiments as will be in accord with the enlightenment of the Latter-day Saints, with the intelligence of the 19th century, and with the principles that have emanated from God.

Any intelligence which we may possess and which we may be able to impart, is not of ourselves, but of God. It did not originate with us; it did not originate with Joseph Smith, with Brigham Young, with the Twelve Apostles, nor was it received from any institution of learning, nor of science, either religious, political, or social. Our philosophy is not the philosophy of the world; but of the earth and the heavens, of time and eternity, and proceeds from God.

A message was announced to us by Joseph Smith the Prophet, as a revelation from God, wherein he stated that holy angels had appeared to him and revealed the everlasting Gospel as it existed in former ages; and that God the Father and God the Son had also appeared to him: the Father pointing to the Son, said, “This is my beloved Son, hear ye him.” Moroni, a prophet that had lived on this continent, revealed unto Joseph the plates containing the Book of Mormon, and by the gift and power of God he was enabled to translate them into what is known as the Book of Mormon. That book contains a record of the ancient inhabitants who dwelt upon this continent, a part of whom came from the tower of Babel at the time of the confounding of tongues, and another part came from Jerusalem in the time of Zedekiah, king of Judah, 600 years before the advent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This book contains a record of the dealings of God with those people; it contains a record of their worship, of their wars and commotions, of their righteousness and iniquity, and of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ unto them, and of His preaching unto them the same Gospel that was taught on the continent of Asia, attended by the same ordinances, the same organization and the same principles.

I shall not attempt to bring any proof with regard to these matters today; I am simply making statements, the truth of which you Latter-day Saints know, as it would be impossible to enter into all the details in a short discourse. Suffice it to say, that the Father having presented His Son to Joseph Smith, and commanded him to hear Him, Joseph was obedient to the heavenly call, and listened to the various communications made by men holding the Holy Priesthood in the various ages under the direction of the Only Begotten. He and Oliver Cowdery were commanded to baptize each other, which they did. John the Baptist came and conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood. Then Peter, James and John, upon whom was conferred, in the Savior’s day, the keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood came, and conferred that Priesthood upon them. Then Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Elias, and many other leading characters mentioned in the Scriptures, who had operated in the various dispensations, came and conferred upon Joseph the various keys, powers, rights, privileges and immunities which they enjoyed in their times.

Again, Joseph was commanded to preach this Gospel and to bear this testimony to the world. He was taught the same principles that were taught to Adam, the same principles that were taught to Noah, to Enoch, to Abraham, to Moses, to Elijah and other Prophets, the same principles that were taught by Jesus Christ and the Apostles in former times on the continent of Asia, accompanied with the same Priesthood and the same organization, only more fully, because the present dispensation is a combination of the various dispensations that have existed in the different ages of the world, and which is designated in the Scriptures as the dispensation of the fulness of times, in which God would gather together all things in one, whether they be things in heaven or things on earth. Therefore, whatever of knowledge, of intelligence, of Priesthood, of powers, of revelations was conferred upon those men in the different ages, was again restored to the earth by the ministration and through the medium of those who held the holy Priesthood of God in the different dispensations in which they lived.

Under the direction of the Almighty, Joseph organized a church; and when people were called upon to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to repent of their sins, to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and to have hands laid upon them for the reception of the Holy Ghost, those who did believe and obey received the atten– dant blessings. Then the various offices of the Priesthood began to be conferred upon men who believed, and in due time the quorum of the Twelve was organized, whose commission was to proclaim this Gospel to every people, to every nation, to every kindred, to every tongue. Then a quorum of seventy Elders was selected, known by the name of Seventies; and we now have some 76 times 70 of those Elders.

A First Presidency was also organized to preside over the whole Church in all the world. Then there were High Priests ordained whose office was principally to preside as well as to preach the Gospel. Then there were Elders, Priests, Teachers and Deacons; and this organization was given by direct revelation, by which the Church has been governed from that time until the present. Bishops were also appointed whose position in the Church was clearly defined by the word of the Lord. Then High Councils were organized for the adjustment of all matters of difficulty, for the correction of incorrect doctrine, for the maintenance of purity and correct principles among the Saints, and for the adjudication of all general matters pertaining to Israel. This was the testimony and this is our testimony today to the nations of the earth. The Lord stood at the head as instructor, guide and director; and the Elders were told to go forth and to preach the Gospel to every creature, because confusion, disorder, sectarianism and the theories of men had been substituted for the word and will, and the revelation, law and power of God. These Elders were told that we approached the latter times, when God would have a controversy with the nations, and the message which they had to proclaim was that which was described by John when wrapped in prophetic vision upon the Isle of Patmos. Among other great and important events he said “I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come.” This was the commission given by the Lord to the Latter-day Saints. This is the mission we have been trying to carry out from that time to the present; and I myself have traveled tens of thousands of miles without purse or scrip, trusting in God, to teach these holy principles, and so have many of my brethren by whom I am surrounded.

When we started we were told that we were not sent to be taught, but to teach. Why? Because the world was not in possession of the principles of life, and therefore could not teach them. We went in obedience to the direct command of God to us through his servant Joseph, and we have spread forth the Gospel among the nations. And is there anything unreasonable about it? No. Is it true? Yes. Is it scriptural? Yes. Is it philosophical? Yes. And I say today, not by way of boasting, because we have nothing to boast of (I have no intelligence but what I am indebted to God, my heavenly Father and my brethren for), that while I have traveled through various parts of the United States and the Canadas, also in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, Germany, and different parts of the earth, among the wise and intelligent as well as the poor and ignorant, among all classes of men—I have stood in their halls and talked with their professors, ministers, legislators, rulers, divines, judges and wise men of every class, grade and position in life—but I have never met with a man who could gainsay one principle of the Gospel of the Son of God, and I never expect to; because truth, eternal truth, as it emanates from God, cannot be controverted.

And what is the nature of the Gospel? It is the same as that taught on the day of Pentecost by the Apostles, when they cried out to the multitude, “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.” That was the testimony which they bore to the people. That is the testimony which the Elders of this Church bear. There is something about this that is reasonable, that is intelligent, and that is susceptible of proof. It was a very fair proposition for the Apostle to make, promising the people who would obey the requirements which the Gospel imposes upon its adherents, that they should receive the Holy Ghost. And what should this do for them? It was to cause their old men to dream dreams and their young men to see visions, it was to make their sons and daughters prophesy, it was to bring things past to their remembrance, to lead them into all truth, and to show them things to come. This proposition was not alone of a religious nature, but it was also strictly philosophical. The farmer sows oats or wheat, or plants corn, and what does he expect? He expects oats, wheat or corn, as the case may be, and nothing else. There are laws and principles in nature, in the vegetable, the animal and the mineral kingdoms, as well as in all the works of God, that are true in themselves and they are eternal. There are such metals as gold, silver, copper or iron, each possessing certain distinctive elements which they always did possess; and the different bodies in their chemical relations possess principles that are always true to unchangeable laws. It is so also in regard to all the elements by which we are surrounded, and also in regard to the heavenly bodies. Because of these unchanging laws, we know precisely when the sun will rise and when it will set. We know when certain planets or comets will appear and disappear. All their movements are undeviating, exact and true according to the laws of nature.

Now here is a principle of the Gospel that will admit of as strong evidence as anything in nature. What is it? “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.” Or in other words, sow wheat and you reap wheat; plant corn and you gather corn. It was a bold position to take. I remember that on these points I questioned the Elder who brought the Gospel to me. I asked, What do you mean by this Holy Ghost? Will it cause your old men to dream dreams and your young men to see visions; will it bring to pass the scripture which saith: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy? Yes. Will it give you the permeating influence of the Spirit of the living God, and give you a certain knowledge of the principles that you believe in?

“Yes,” he answered, “and if it will not, then I am an impostor.” Said I, That is a very fair proposi– tion. Finding the doctrine to be correct, I obeyed, and I received that Spirit through obedience to the Gospel which gave me a knowledge of those principles which I simply believed before, because they were scriptural, reasonable and intelligent, according to that scripture which saith, “If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.”

I was ordained an Elder by the proper authorities, and I went forth to preach this Gospel. Other Elders went forth as I did to the civilized nations, preaching the same doctrine and holding out the same promises. Some of them were not very learned; some were not very profoundly educated. We send a singular class of people in our Elders. Sometimes a missionary is a merchant, sometimes a legislator, a blacksmith, an adobe maker, a plasterer, a farmer, or common laborer, as the case may be. But all under the same influence and spirit, all going forth as missionaries to preach the Gospel of light, of life and of salvation. They have received the treasures of eternal life, and they are enabled to communicate them to others; and they hold out the same promises. You who hear me this afternoon, as well as thousands upon thousands of others, have listened to those principles, you have had held out unto you those promises; and when you obeyed the Gospel, you received this same spirit; and you are my witnesses of the truth of the things that I now proclaim in your hearing, and of the Spirit and power of God attending the obedience to the Gospel, and you will not deny it. This congregation will not deny it. When you yielded obedience to the laws of God, obeyed His commandments, were baptized for the remission of your sins and had hands laid upon you for the reception of the Holy Ghost, you did receive it; and you are living witnesses before God. This is a secret that the world does not comprehend. Its people have not obeyed it and they do not know it; and the things of God, say the scriptures, no man knoweth but by the Spirit of God; and this Spirit has imparted to us that intelligence and that knowledge. This people have in their possession a hope that enters within the veil, whither Christ, our forerunner, has gone. They are living and acting and operating for eternity. God is their Father, and they know it. Some people think we are a set of ignorant boobies, who do not know what we are talking about, and they try to overrun the faith of the Latter-day Saints by sophistry, falsehood and folly. Whilst the fact is, we are in possession of the principles of eternal life, and are operating for eternity; and then we are operating to build up the Zion of God, where righteousness can be taught, and where men can be protected, and where liberty can be proclaimed to all men of every color, of every creed and of every nation.

Being placed in communication with God, the sophistry, nonsense and dogmas of men have no influence upon us. We are built upon the rock of revelation, as Peter was, and on the same principle. Said Jesus to him, “Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” The answer was: “Some say thou art one of the Prophets; some say thou art the Elias who was to come,” etc. “But whom say you that I am?” Peter answered and said: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven; and I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” What rock? The rock of revelation—upon the intelligence communicated by the Holy Ghost to those who obey the Gospel of the Son of God; by this, men shall know for themselves, and stand as the rock of ages, invulnerable, immovable and unchangeable. That is the position which we the Latter-day Saints occupy.

This, then, is the religious part of the question. What do we believe in? We believe in purity, in virtue, in honesty, in integrity, in truthfulness and in not giving way to falsehood; we believe in treating all men justly, uprightly and honorably; we believe in fearing God, observing His laws and keeping His commandments. Do we all do it? No, not quite. I wish we did. But a great majority of the Later-day Saints are doing this; and if there are those that are not, let them look well to their path, for God will be after them, and their brethren will be after them, for God cannot look upon sin with any degree of allowance. And as we are here for the purpose of building up Zion, He expects that we will be upright and honorable in all our dealings with one another and with all men.

One part of the Gospel is that we should be gathered together to a land that should be called Zion. Have we been doing this? Yes. Some people are very much opposed to it. Have we injured anybody by gathering in this way? Is this indeed the land of the free, the home of the brave, and the asylum for the oppressed? Cannot the people of this nation afford to listen to the principles of truth, and allow men who are fearing God to assemble together to worship Him according to the dictates of their own consciences? Have we violated any law of the United States in thus gathering together and in thus worshiping our God? Not that I know of. Have we been opposed to the United States? No! no! no! We never have, and we are at the defiance of all men to prove anything of the kind. There are falsehoods set afoot by low, degraded, unprincipled men. We believe that the Constitution of the United States was given by inspiration of God. And why? Because it is one of those instruments which proclaims liberty throughout the land, and to all the inhabitants thereof. And it was because of those noble sentiments, and the promulgation of those principles which were given by God to man, we believe that it was given by the inspiration of the Almighty. We have always esteemed it in this light, and it was so declared by Joseph Smith. Did we do any wrong in coming here in the way we did? I think not. Did we transgress any of the laws of the United States? I think not. Did we transgress any of the laws of the nations we left? I think not. We gathered together simply because we were told there was a Zion to be built up. And what was that Zion? The term means the pure in heart. In connection with our gathering, I would remark, that a short time ago, at one of our public celebrations, there were twenty-seven nationalities represented. This is in accordance with the scripture which says: I will take them one of a city and two of a family, and bring them to Zion. And I will give them pastors after mine own heart, that shall feed them with knowledge and understanding. This is what we find in the Christian Bible, and there is certainly no harm in believing the Bible. The Christians send their Bible missionaries among us to circulate it, and we are always glad to receive the Bible and be governed by it.

Now, then, being gathered together, we necessarily required some kind of social relations with each other, for when we came here we brought our bodies with us as well as our religion, and we brought our wives and families with us as well as our religion; and we needed to cultivate the earth and build houses, and plant orchards, and vineyards, and gardens, and attend to the common affairs of life. And then as we began to increase we began to open and build farms, hamlets, villages and cities. Is there anything wrong in this? No. Finally, when we came here we petitioned for a State government, the people held a convention and a constitution was framed, and forwarded to Washington. Congress refused our application for a State, but they gave us a Territorial form of government and named the Territory Utah; and strange to say, how men and nations change, they are trying to interfere with us because of our polygamy, and at that time the government appointed a polygamous governor, Brigham Young. People change in their sentiments and views; I suppose they call it progress. Apostle Orson Pratt, whom you all knew, as soon as that revelation was made public, went down to the city of Washington, and there published the doctrine of plural marriage and also lectured upon it. The paper he published was called The Seer, which many of you brethren remember very well. They were not in ignorance in relation to these matters. It was then well understood by the nation that these were our sentiments, and that President Young was a polygamist.

But passing on. Sometime after that, we had some United States officials sent out here, who were not polygamists, but one of them went so far as to show us what beautiful civilization they had where he came from, and he left his wife at home and brought with him a strumpet and took her on to the bench with him, to let the people see how intelligent and enlightened the people were in the United States. However, fortunately for him, there was no Edmunds bill then. Still, we were not much edified. It might be according to some people’s system of ethics; it may be considered beautiful or aesthetic by the admirers of this fast and progressive civilization; but we could not appreciate it, and the consequence was, that the people felt indignant, they looked upon him as a profligate, and that he had defiled and disgraced the ermine. These were the sentiments of the people then, and they are yours today, for you have never been taught anything else. He and some others went back to Washington, and reported that the “Mormons” were in a state of rebellion; that they were a very wicked people, very corrupt and very depraved, almost as bad as some of our truth-telling ministers make us out to be, for some of them are not very notorious for telling the truth, nobody believes them here; but then they have reverend put before their names and that, of course, covers—what is it? a multitude of sins. And therefore, the mendacious stories that they tell and circulate are received as actual truth by thousands of blind, ignorant, bigoted people, who, doubtless, are far more sincere and far more honest and pure in their lives than these specimens of fallen humanity who, in the garb of sanctity, manufacture falsehoods and prepare them specially for the vitiated taste of the age.

But to return; judges and other officials were sent here, and suffice it to say, we did not like their civilization; and, then, they were not much enamored with ours, because whatever we may be in the estimation of the world generally, we are utterly averse to anything like licentiousness and debauchery; and, if there is any among us, we are indebted to our Christian friends for it, and to our Christian judges for maintaining and protecting it in our midst. We have no affiliation with such things; they cannot exist among us as a people, only by the force, the power and influence of this federal Christianity that has been introduced among us. Until these people came into our midst we had no house of ill fame; and a lady could travel as safely in our streets at any time of night as in the day; we had no occasion to lock our doors to prevent thieves from preying upon us; we had no drunkenness, ribaldry or blasphemy in our streets; all these things have been introduced among us by our good, kind, pure, pious Christian friends, and in scores of our remote settlements where this civilization has not penetrated, they are free from these vices today.

Now we will go back to the statement of these men. They were believed in Washington. What did they state? Among other things they said that we had burned the United States library, and the court records, and that a dreadful state of anarchy was in existence; and instead of the United States sending out a commission to enquire into these matters, they took the statement of a Lothario and his associates, and sent out an army to destroy us. And these troops were reduced to gnawing mules’ legs about the vicinity of Bridger, refusing salt when we sent it to them—for we would have done them good, notwithstanding they came as our enemies. I remember writing a letter to one of the officers who had a letter of introduction to me, and forwarded it by a messenger; I told him that I was very sorry, that as a United States’ officer, as an honorable man, he should be placed in the situation he was then in; because he could not help it, as an officer, any more than we could, as he was operating as a servant of the government under military rule and had, therefore, to obey orders. And that while we esteemed him and other officers as patriots and high-minded, honorable men, who had exhibited their patriotism and bravery in Mexico and other places, and while we heard of their excellent military equipments, we did not like the idea of their trying the temper of their steel upon us. I told him that republics which reflected the voice of the people were in many instances excitable and erratic, and that I looked for a reaction in public opinion, and that when that change came I expected the difficulties that the government had placed us in would be done away, and that then I would be glad to extend to him that courtesy in our city that one gentleman should extend to another, and would then be happy to see him. But we could not meet then of course; they could not come to us, and we could not very well go out to them.

So that the Latter-day Saints may know the truth or falsity of the allegations made by Judge Drummond, I will have the official statement of Governor Cumming, who came out with the army, read to this congregation.

It would be unfair and disingenuous to blame one administration for the acts of another, yet when we see a disposition to listen to the same kind of popular clamor that then existed, we cannot but notice a great similarity of circumstances.

[Elder L. John Nuttall then read the following extracts from the official statement of Governor Cumming, which was dated Great Salt Lake City, April 15th, 1858:]

“Since my arrival I have been employed in examining the records of the Supreme and District Courts, which I am now prepared to report as being perfect and unimpaired. This will, doubtless, be acceptable information to those who have entertained an impression to the contrary.

I have also examined the Legislative Records and other books belonging to the office of Secretary of State, which are in perfect preservation.

* * * * *

The condition of the large and valuable Territorial Library has also commanded my attention: and I am pleased in being able to report that Mr. W. C. Staines, the librarian, has kept the books and records in most excellent condition. I will, at an early day, transmit a catalogue of this library, and schedules of the other public property, with certified copies of the records of the Supreme and District Courts, exhibiting the character and amount of the public business last transacted in them.”

Thus it appears that the allegations made by our enemies were false, and the army was sent out under false representations, and their own Governor furnishes the evidence for their own refutation. Yet we were subjected to the indignity and outrage of having an army sent among us, predicated upon these false statements.

From the above and other similar actions manifested towards us as a people we have learned in the sad school of experience, and by the things that we have suffered, the excitability of the populace, and the unreasonable, savage and relentless feelings that frequently possess the people in their antagonism towards us, to be very careful, in all our acts among men, not to excite that feeling of hate which seems to be implanted in the human bosom against the principles taught by the servants of the Lord in all ages of the world.

Our mission is and always has been peace on earth and goodwill to man, to all men. We have in our midst Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Roman Catholics and all kinds of “ites.” Does anybody interfere with them? Not that I know of. Yet there was a man, a professed minister in Sanpete County—[addressing President Canute Peterson of Sanpete Stake] Brother Peterson, did you not have a man in your Stake who got up a sensation by publishing far and wide that he had to preach the Gospel in Sanpete with a revolver on his desk, to prevent the “Mormons” from interfering with him—was not that the purport of his statement? [President Peterson: Yes, sir.] Do you know the man? [Ans.: Yes, sir.] Is he there yet? [Ans.: No, sir.] [Laughter.] Others have stated lately that we were in a state of sedition, and that in our different counties there were armed bodies of men prepared to fight the United States. The person that made and published this last statement was, as I understand, also a minister, one of these reverend gentlemen. Do any of you know his name? [A voice: Sheldon Jackson.] I am told it was one Sheldon Jackson; a reverend gentleman with a big R, a pious man, of course, and therefore what he says must be true. [Laughter.] We have a set of people that seem to be prowling about; I suppose, however, they are as necessary as anything else; I do not know but what they are. We have a species of birds called buzzards, whose natural tastes are for any kind of nauseous food; nothing suits them better than to gorge on carrion. Like them, these defamers are fond of trying to root up something against our people here. They themselves fabricate all kinds of notions and opinions, similar to the above that I have mentioned, that everybody here knows to be false, and they circulate them, and they have fanned the United States almost into a furor. People generally are ignorant of what these men and women are engaged in. They think these persons are honorable men and women; and they get up a lot of stories about some poor woman or some poor girl who has been crowded upon by her husband, and that in this state of polygamy there is the most abject misery, and the greatest distress that can be found anywhere. Are they true? Some individual cases may be true. Some of our men do not treat their wives right, and then some wives do not treat their husbands right. We do not all do right by a great deal. I wish we all did right. But supposing we were to go down to the places where these people hail from, to the slums of Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, New York, and other cities, beginning, say, in New York, with the gilded palaces of 4th and 5th Avenues, and trace the thing down to Five Points, and then go through other cities in the same way, and what would we find there? Do you not think one could get up something as dirty and filthy as the most foul-minded person can get up about us? A thousand times more so.

They say we are an ignorant people. We admit that we are not so very intelligent, and we never boast of our learning or intelligence; but then, they should not boast of theirs either. However, we can compare favorably with them any day; and while they have had millions of the public funds to sustain their educational establishments, we have been despoiled, plundered and robbed over and over again, yet we are prepared to compare notes with them on education, and also on virtue, honesty and morals, any way they can fix it. And I would be ready to say, as one said of old, Thou fool, first take the beam out of thine own eye, that thou mayest see the more clearly to take the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

We will have read some figures for the information of the brethren who come from a distance, who may not be acquainted with these matters.

[President Taylor then called upon his secretary, Elder L. John Nuttall, to read some extracts from a work published by an ex-United States official in New York City, which were as follows:]

Before citing from the still incomplete census reports of 1880, let us take that of 1870 and compare Utah and Massachusetts, the new theocracy with the descendants of an old theocracy—priest-ridden Utah with “cultured” Massachusetts, also adding the District of Columbia, which has the enlightening presence of the American Congress to add to its advantages, and is under its direct government.

[Insert statistical table here] XXX

“From statistics contained in the Report of the Commissioners of Education for 1877, it is shown that in the percentage of enrollment of her School population, Utah is in advance of the general average of the United States, while in the percentage in actual daily attendance at school, she still further exceeds the average of the whole Union.

In 1877, when the school population of Utah numbered 30,792, there was invested in the Territory in school property the creditable sum of $568,984, being about eighteen and one-half dollars per capita of the school population.

In contrast with this, take the amount per capita of their school population, which some of the States have invested in school property: North Carolina, less than $0 60; Louisiana, $3 00; Virginia, about $2 00; Oregon, less than $9 00; Wisconsin, less than $11 00; Tennessee, less than $2 50; Delaware, less than $13 00.

In respect to the amount, per capita, of her school population, which Utah has invested in school property, she exceeds several other Southern and Western States, is in advance of the great States of Indiana and Illinois, and I believe in advance of the general average of the entire Union.

Thus, in the matter of education, Utah stands ahead of many old and wealthy States, and of the general average of the United States in three very important respects, namely, the enrollment of her school population, the percentage of their daily attendance at school, and the amount per capita invested in school property.

From the census of 1880 I have compiled the following:

COMPARISON OF ILLITERACY—

The United States & Utah Territory: United States. Utah. Total population 50,155,783143,963 Total over 10 years of age who cannot read 4,923,451 4,851 Percentage who cannot read, 10 years & over 9.82 3.37 Total over 10 years of age who cannot write 6. 239,958 8,826 Percentage who cannot write, 10 yrs. & over 12.14 6.13 Total white population43,402,970142,423 Total white population over 10 years of age who cannot write 3,019,080 8,137 Percentage of white population who cannot write, 10 years & over 6.96 5.71

Of all the States and Territories in the Union there are but thirteen showing a lower percentage of total population who cannot read, Connecticut having the same 3.37. The rest range all the way up 32.32 percentage of total population in South Carolina.

We will now produce some evidence with regard to crime, etc., drawn from official sources:

The population of Utah by the census of 1880 is about 144,000, divided as follows:

Mormons ………….. 120,283 Gentiles …………….. 14,155 Apostate Mormons. 6,988 Josephites ………….. 820 Doubtful ……………. 1,717 23,680 Total ……………………143,963

“It will be seen that the “Gentiles” constitute only ten percent of the population, yet from this small minority are taken the incumbents of nearly every position of influence and emolument. They have the Governor, with absolute veto power, Secretary, Judges, Marshals, Prosecuting Attorneys, Land Register, Recorder, Surveyor-General, Clerks of the Courts, Commissioners, principal Post Office Mail Contractors, Postal Agents, Revenue Assessors and Collectors, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Indian Agencies, Indian Supplies, Army Contractors, express, railroad and telegraph lines, the associated press agency, half the jurors in law, but at least three-fourths and always the foreman in practice, in fact, every position not elective.

Last winter there was a census taken of the Utah penitentiary and the Salt Lake City and County prisons, with the following result: In Salt Lake City there are about seventy-five Mormons to twenty-five non-Mormons. In Salt Lake County there are about eighty Mormons to twenty non-Mormons. In the city prison there were twenty-nine convicts, all non-Mormons; in the county prison there were six convicts, all non-Mormons. The jailer stated that the county convicts for the five years past were all anti-Mormons except three.

In Utah we have seen that by the United States Census the proportion of orthodox Mormons to all others is as eighty-three to seventeen. In the Utah penitentiary there were fifty-one prisoners, only five of whom were Mormons, and two of the five were in prison for imitating Father Abraham in their domestic menage, so that the seventeen per cent “outsiders” had forty-six convicts in the penitentiary, while the eighty-three percent, Mormons had but five! The total number of Utah lockups, including the penitentiary, is fourteen; these aggregated one hundred and twenty-five inmates. Of these one hundred and twenty-five, not over eleven were Mormons, several of whom were incarcerated for minor offenses and polygamy; while if all the anti-Mormon thieves, adulterers, blacklegs, perjurers, murderers and other criminals who are at large, were sent to prison, the Mormons claim that their prisons could not hold them.

In 1878 a Mormon publication made the following boastful statement:

Out of the twenty counties of the Territory, most of which are populous, thirteen are, today, without a dram shop, brewery, gambling or brothel-house, bowling or billiard saloon, lawyer, doctor, parson, beggar, politician or place-hunter, and almost entirely free from social troubles of every kind; yet these counties are exclusively ‘Mormon;’ and with the exception of a now and then domestic doctor or lawyer, the entire Territory was free from these adjuncts of civilization (?) till after the advent of the professing Christian element, boastingly here to ‘regenerate the Mormons,’ and today every single disreputable concern in Utah is run and fostered by the very same Christian (?) element. Oaths, imprecations, blasphemies, invectives, expletives, blackguardism, the ordinary dialect of the “anti-Mormon,” were not heard in Utah till after his advent, nor till then, did we have litigation, drunkenness, harlotry, political and judicial deviltries, gambling and kindred enormities.

This is what the Mormons assert. Let us see how the case stands today, and what the facts attest.

Out of the two hundred saloon, billiard, bowling alley and pool table keepers, not over a dozen even profess to be Mormons. All of the bagnios and other disreputable concerns in the Territory are run and sustained by anti-Mormons. Ninety-eight percent of the gamblers of Utah are of the same element. Ninety-five percent of the Utah lawyers are Gentiles, and eighty percent of all the litigation there is of outside growth and promotion.

Of the two hundred and fifty towns and villages in Utah, over two hundred have no “gaudy sepulchre of departed virtue,” and these two hundred and odd towns are almost exclusively Mormon in population. Of the suicides committed in Utah, ninety odd percent are non-Mormon; and of the Utah homicides and infanticides, over eighty percent are perpetrated by the seventeen percent “outsiders.”

The arrests made in Salt Lake City from January 1, 1881, to December 8, 1881, are classified, as follows:

Men ………………………………………………….782 Women ………………………………………………..200 Boys ………………………………………………….38 Total ………………………………………..1,020 Mormons, Men & Boys …….. 163 ” Women ……. 6 169 Anti-Mormon-Men & Boys- 657 ” Women …….. 194 851 Total ………………… 1,020

A number of the Mormon arrests were for chicken, cow and water trespass, petty larceny, etc. The arrests of anti-Mormons were in most cases for prostitution, gambling, exposing of person, drunkenness, unlawful dram selling, assault and battery, attempt to kill, etc.

If the seventy-five percent Mormon population of Salt Lake City were as lawless and corrupt as the record shows the twenty-five per cent anti-Mormons to be, there would have been 2,443 arrests made from their ranks during the year 1881 instead of the comparatively trifling number of 169 shown on the record; while if the twenty-five percent anti-Mormon population had as law-abiding and upright a record as the seventy-five percent Mormons, instead of the startling number of 851 anti-Mormon arrests during the year, there would have been but 56 made.”

I give these statements of facts for the information of the brethren who are here from a distance; but, then, they know them as facts; that is, they know how these soi disant regenerators act, but many of them do not know what their civilization is here, and what is sought to be introduced among us, and the infamous statements circulated concerning us. We are ready, as I said before, to compare notes with them or the people of this or any nation at any time. And then again, we ought to be more pure and virtuous than they, for we do profess to be the Saints of the Most High God. With this view, when this Edmunds bill was being canvassed, and there was a prospect of its passing—although we thought at first it was impossible that such a concern could pass through Congress; but when we saw the falsehoods that were being circulated, the furor that was being raised and fanned by religious fanatics and political demagogues, petitions were gotten up by the people here, one of them representing the male class, another our Relief Societies, another our young men, and another our young ladies’ Improvement Societies. All of them represented that we were a virtuous people—that polygamy was a religious institution; and the young people asserted that it had been taught to them by their parents from their youth up, and that the principles of purity, virtue, integrity and loyalty to the government of the United States had been instilled into their minds and hearts since their earliest childhood; and further, that they had been taught and understood that chastity was their greatest boon, far above jewels or wealth, and more precious than life itself. In a few days we had 165,000 signatures, and they were forwarded to Washington. The request was that Congress would not act as the government had before—first send out an army and then send commissioners to inquire, but that they would send commissioners first to inquire into the facts of the case. But they did not choose to listen. In fact, there has been a great furor in the United States in relation to these matters, and that has originated to an extent through our Governor. Now I am very much averse to talking about official men; I do not like to do such things. They ought to be honorable men; the most charitable construction I could put upon his acts would be to say that his education had been sadly neglected, and that he was not acquainted with figures. He might have learned to read and write perhaps, but I would question his having gone so far as arithmetic; because he did not apparently know the difference between 1,300 votes and 18,500 votes. It does denote a lamentable absence of a knowledge of the rudiments of a common education; but then, a man should not, perhaps, be blamed for that which he does not know. And, indeed, it would seem that some of our lawmakers in Washington are not educated. With all due respect to them, with these facts before them and condemned throughout the United States, they did not think it was any crime for a man to be thus ignorant, or they would not have sent him back again. We hope the Commissioners will be better educated, that they will be men who can tell the difference between 1,300 and 18,500. Now we may be very ignorant—and we do not boast much of our intelligence, but when such people perpetrate such palpable, flagrant outrages, we have to resort to a political phrase in order to express our disgust towards them by saying, “There is something rotten in Denmark.” I have to be a politician as well as everything else.

Still, in the midst of these things, what are you going to do? Do the very best we can. Are you going to rebel? That would please our enemies, but we do not have much of that spirit in us. We feel to sympathize with people who have no better judgment than to adopt so suicidal and dishonorable a course as that which has been pursued towards us. Yet notwithstanding this, we are unshaken towards the principles of our government and believe that we have got the best on the earth, these evils arising from the corruptions of men and maladministration. It is said that error and falsehood will run a thousand miles while truth is putting on its boots, but truth ultimately will triumph, as according to the old adage, “Truth, crushed to earth, will rise again.” And what will you do? Contend for constitutional principles, or lie down and let the vicious, the mendacious and unprincipled run over and overslaugh you?

We have peacefully, legally and honorably possessed our lands in these valleys of the mountains, and we have purchased and paid for them; we do not revel in any ill-gotten gain. They are ours. We have complied with all the requisitions of law pertaining thereto, and we expect to possess and inhabit them. We covet no man’s silver or gold, or apparel, or wife, or servants, or flocks, or herds, or horses, or carriages, or lands, or possessions. But we expect to maintain our own rights. If we are crowded upon by unprincipled men or inimical legislation, we shall not take the course pursued by the lawless, the dissolute and the unprincipled; we shall not have recourse to the dynamite of the Russian Nihilists, the secret plans and machinations of the communists, the boycotting and threats of the Fenians, the force and disorder of the Jayhawkers, the regulators or the Molly Maguires, nor any other secret or illegal combination; but we still expect to possess and maintain our rights; but to obtain them in a legal, peaceful and constitutional manner. As American citizens, we shall contend for all our liberties, rights and immunities, guaranteed to us by the Constitution; and no matter what action may be taken by mobocratic influence, by excited and unreasonable men, or by inimical legislation, we shall contend inch by inch for our freedom and rights, as well as the freedom and rights of all American citizens and of all mankind. As a people or community, we can abide our time, but I will say to you Latter-day Saints, that there is nothing of which you have been despoiled by oppressive acts or mobocratic rule, but that you will again possess, or your children after you. Your rights in Ohio, your rights in Jackson, Clay, Caldwell and Davis counties in Missouri, will yet be restored to you. Your possessions, of which you have been fraudulently des– poiled in Missouri and Illinois, you will again possess, and that without force, or fraud or violence. The Lord has a way of His own in regulating such matters. We are told the wicked shall slay the wicked. He has a way of His own of “emptying the earth of the inhabitants thereof.” A terrible day of reckoning is approaching the nations of the earth; the Lord is coming out of His hiding place to vex the inhabitants thereof; and the destroyer of the Gentiles, as prophesied of, is already on his way. Already the monarchs of the earth are trembling from conspiracies among their own people; already has one Czar of Russia been destroyed and another holds his life by a very uncertain tenure through the perpetual threats and machinations of an infuriated populace; already have the Emperor of Germany, the King of Italy, the Queen of England, the King of Spain, the Sultan of Turkey, and many others of the honorable and noble rulers of the earth had their lives jeopardized by the attacks of regicides; already have two of the Presidents of this Republic been laid low by the hands of the assassin; and the spirit of insubordination, misrule, lynching, and mobocracy of every kind is beginning to ride rampant through the land; already combinations are being entered into which are very ominous for the future prosperity, welfare and happiness of this great Republic. The volcanic fires of disordered and anarchical elements are beginning to manifest themselves and exhibit the internal forces that are at work among the turbulent and unthinking masses of the people. Congress will soon have something else to do than to proscribe and persecute an innocent, law-abiding and patriotic people. Of all bodies in the world, they can least afford to remove the bulwarks that bind society together in this nation, to recklessly trample upon human freedom and rights, and to rend and destroy that great Palladium of human rights—the Constitution of the United States. Ere long they will need all its protecting influence to save this nation from misrule, anarchy and mobocratic influence. They can ill afford to be the foremost in tampering with human rights and human freedom, or in tearing down the bulwarks of safety and protection which that sacred instrument has guaranteed. It is lamentable to see the various disordered and disorganized elements seeking to overthrow the greatest and best government in existence on the earth. Congress can ill afford to set a pattern of violation of that Constitution which it has sworn to support. The internal fires of revolution are already smoldering in this nation, and they need but a spark to set them in a flame. Already are agencies at work in the land calculated to subvert and overthrow every principle of rule and government; already is corruption of every kind prevailing in high places and permeating all society; already are we, as a nation, departing from our God, and corrupting ourselves with malfeasance, dishonor, and a lack of public integrity and good faith; already are licentiousness and debauchery corrupting, undermining and destroying society; already are we interfering with the laws of nature and stopping the functions of life, and have become the slayers of our own offspring, and employ human butchers in the shape of physicians to assist in this diabolical and murderous work. The sins of this nation, the licentiousness, the debauchery, the murders are entering into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and I tell you now, from the tops of these mountains, as a humble servant of the living God, that unless these crimes and infamies are stopped, this nation will be overthrown, and its glory, power, dominion and wealth will fade away like the dews of a summer morning. I also say to other nations of the earth, that unless they repent of their crimes, their iniquities and abominations, their thrones will be overturned, their kingdoms and governments overthrown, and their lands made desolate. This is not only my saying, but it is the saying of those ancient prophets which they themselves profess to believe; for God will speedily have a controversy with the nations of the earth, and, as I stated before, the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way to overthrow governments, to destroy dynasties, to lay waste thrones, kingdoms and empires, to spread abroad anarchy and desolation, and to cause war, famine and bloodshed to overspread the earth.

Besides the preaching of the Gospel, we have another mission, namely, the perpetuation of the free agency of man and the maintenance of liberty, freedom, and the rights of man. There are certain principles that belong to humanity outside of the Constitution, outside of the laws, outside of all the enactments and plans of man, among which is the right to live; God gave us the right and not man; no government gave it to us, and no government has a right to take it away from us. We have a right to liberty—that was a right that God gave to all men; and if there has been oppression, fraud or tyranny in the earth, it has been the result of the wickedness and corruptions of men and has always been opposed to God and the principles of truth, righteousness, virtue, and all principles that are calculated to elevate mankind. The Declaration of Independence states that men are in possession of certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This belongs to us; it belongs to all humanity. I wish, and the worst wish I have for the United States, is, that they could have liberality enough to give to all men equal rights, and, while they profess to have delivered the black slaves, that they strike off the fetters of the white men of the South, who have been ground under the heel of sectional injustice, and let them feel that we are all brothers in one great nation, and deliver all people from tyranny and oppression of every kind, and proclaim, as they did at the first, liberty throughout the land and to all people. That is the worst wish I have for them. And when I see them take another course I feel sorry for it. I would like if I had time to talk a little upon constitutional rights; I would like a little to discuss the unconstitutionality of that Edmunds bill; but it was ably done by many senators of the United States, and by others in the House of Representatives. Very ably done; and I honor the men who maintain such sentiments. It is true that most of them apologized and said that they were as much opposed to polygamy as anybody. Well, that is a matter of their own; they have a right to their opinions as much as I have a right to my opinion. Would I deprive them of that right? No, I would not. I preach the Gospel to the world. What is it? Force, tyranny and oppression? No: it is all free grace and it is all free will. Is anybody coerced? Did anybody coerce you, Latter-day Saints? Are any of you forced to continue Latter-day Saints if you do not want to? If you think you are, you are all absolved today. We know of no such principle as coercion; it is a matter of choice. The principle that I spoke of before—that is, men receive the Holy Ghost within themselves, is the cementing, binding, uniting power that exists among the Latter-day Saints. What right have I to expect that members of the House of Representatives or the people of the United States should advocate polygamy? They would not understand it. Nor would it be reasonable for us to expect it at their hands; but what I admired in those Senators and Members was their fealty to the government, to the Constitution and the maintenance of the freedom and the inalienable rights of man, of every color, creed and profession.

I will relate a little conversation that I had with President Hayes, when he was here, on the subject of polygamy. I said to him, we are not generally understood by the people of the world, by the outsiders; and I can look with very great leniency upon the action of members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the governors, and others who have expressed strong indignation against this principle. From your standpoint, you think we are a corrupt people; you think it is a part or portion of the thing you call the social evil, that permeates all classes of society, and is sapping the foundation of the life of so many throughout the land. You think that we are trying to introduce something that is encouraging licentiousness and other kindred evils among the people, and to legalize these things by legislative enactment and other– wise, and trying to popularize and make legal those infamies. I continued, that is a false view to take of the subject. Mr. President, I have always abhorred such practices from the time I was quite young; when I have seen men act the part of Lotharios, deceiving the fair sex and despoiling them of their virtue, and then seeing those men received into society and their victims disgraced, ostracized and esteemed as pariahs and outcasts, I could not help sympathizing with a woman that was seduced, I looked upon the man who seduced her as a villain; I do so today. Said I, when Joseph Smith first made known the revelation concerning plural marriage and of having more wives than one, it made my flesh crawl; but, Mr. President, I received such evidence and testimony pertaining to this matter, scriptural and otherwise, which it was impossible for me as an honest man to resist, and believing it to be right I obeyed it and practiced it. I have not time now to enter into all the details; but in regard to those honorable gentlemen in the Senate who maintained the principle of constitutional rights and who declare, as I declare today, that that instrument which was then gotten up was unconstitutional in several particulars, I could not expect them to advocate my religion; it is not their business, but is mine and yours. They can take what religion they please; we do not wish to force our religion nor our marital relations upon them, nor have we ever done it, nor could we do it if we wished, for this principle is connected with the Saints alone, and pertains to eternity as well as time, and is known to us by the appellation of “celestial marriage.” It does not belong to them, nor does it pertain to all of our own people. None but the more pure, virtuous, honorable and upright are permitted to enter into these associations. Now I speak to the Latter-day Saints, who are acquainted with what I say. If I state untruths, tell me, and I will consider you my friends, and the friends of this community. Should we preach the doctrine of plurality of wives to the people of the United States? No; you know very well that it is only for honorable men and women, virtuous men and women, honest men and women who can be vouched for by those who preside over them, and whom they recognize as their Presidents; it is only such people as these that can be admitted to participate in this ordinance. You know it. I know it, you Presidents of Stakes know it and the people know it. There are any number of people in this Territory who are good people in many respects, but who cannot come up to that standard. That is the position we occupy in relation to this principle.

If the United States were to ask us if we could give to them the same ordinance, we would say, No; no, we cannot. Why can you not? Because it is a religious ordinance, as I have stated; because it connects men and women together for time and for eternity; because it associates people of this world in the next; because it makes provision for our marital associations in the other world, and that while we have our wives here we expect to have them in eternity; and we believe in that doctrine that reaches beyond time into eternity. Others make their marital relations to end in death; their covenants last only till death does them part. Ours take hold of eternity, they enter into the eternal state of existence, and contemplate an eternal union of the sexes, worlds without end.

We believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life in the world to come; and not only in the resurrection of the male, but also of the female. We believe also in eternal unions, union on earth and in heaven. And as the heavens declare the glory of God, and the stellar universes roll on according to eternal laws implanted in them by the Deity, and perform their revolutions through successive ages, so will man progress and increase—himself, his wives, his children—through the eternities to come. Who is injured by this faith? Cannot a great and magnanimous nation afford the privilege to enjoy these principles without passing bills of pains and penalties for the belief and enunciation of such divine, ennobling and Godlike principles?

Man is a dual being, possessed of body and spirit, made in the image of God, and connected with Him and with eternity. He is a God in embryo and will live and progress throughout the eternal ages, if obedient to the laws of the Godhead, as the Gods progress throughout the eternal ages. Is it a thing incredible in this generation that God shall raise the dead? Is it a thing incredible that the finest and most exalted ties and sympathies of humanity, sanctified by family relations—pure undefiled love, should continue in the resurrection?

We have no fault to find with our government. We deem it the best in the world. But we have reason to deplore its maladministration, and I call upon our legislators, our governors and president to pause in their career and not to tamper with the rights and liberties of American citizens, nor wantonly tear down the bulwarks of American and human liberty. God has given to us glorious institutions; let us preserve them intact and not pander to the vices, passions and fanaticism of a depraved public opinion.

Cannot the enlightenment, civilization and statesmanship of the nineteenth century in this great American nation find a more worthy object than to fetter human thought, to enslave its own citizens, to forge chains for the suppression of human progress, to bind in Cimmerian darkness the noblest aspirations of the human soul, to tear down the pillars of the temple of liberty, to inaugurate a system of serfdom and oppression, and to copy after Egypt, Russia, and the late practices of this nation in enslaving and brutalizing humanity, tearing to pieces that great Palladium of human rights, the Constitution of the United States? Can they afford to do this? If there are supposed wrongs, can they not find a legal and constitutional way of correcting these wrongs? Surely the tearing down of the bulwarks, the very temple of freedom, will not aid them in the solution of this, to them, vexed question, for if they tear away the strongholds of society, they themselves will perish in the ruins.

But with regard to those not of us, I will tell you what I believe about the matter. I believe it would be much better for them to have even polygamy in their state of existence than this corroding, corrupting, demoralizing and damning evil that prevails in their midst. We look upon it that polygamy is the normal condition of man; but that has nothing to do with Mormon plurality of wives, or what is termed “celestial marriage.” I would state also, that when we speak of its being the normal condition, it has so existed throughout all ages. And when we talk about polygamy, I have read the speeches of men in Congress when speaking about the Mormon position, telling us that the British in India put down suttee, which is the burning of widows on the funeral pile of their husbands; casting children into the Ganges, etc.—that the British put that down by force of law. But the British, if my memory serves me right, have about two hundred millions of polygamists under their jurisdiction, and they can afford to treat them right and to give them the protection of law; but our free government cannot. And when we talk about the suttee, that is the destruction of life, while polygamy means the propagation of human life. One tends to destruction and death, the other to the propagation of life. I will guarantee today, without fear of contradiction, that there is more of the suttee in the United States today pertaining to infants than there ever was in India among the same number of population. It has become unfashionable in the east for women to have large families. I have heard remarks like this: one lady was asked, How many children have you? One or two. Is that all? What do you take me for, do you think I am a cow? Why no, you are not a cow, for cows do not murder their offspring. What a terrible tale is here told! What a horrible state of affairs is here exhibited. And I am told that some of these iniquities are being introduced here. I tell you, in the name of God, if you do we will be after you. I am told of physicians who are acting as they do in the east—as the butchers of infants. Let us look after these things, you Bishops, and if you do find it out, bring them up. As God lives we will not permit such infamies in our midst; you will not commence your fashionable murders here. And I will say now, Wo to this nation and to the nations of Europe, or any people among any nation, that sanctions these things. Have you not read that no “murderer hath eternal life abiding in him?” What shall be thought of those unnatural monsters, the slayers of their own offspring? This revolting, unnatural, damnable vice may be fashionable, but God will require this crime at their hands. Wo to men and to women that are licentious and corrupt, depraved and debauched, and especially wo, tenfold wo, to the murderers of helpless innocence. I tell you this in the name of the Lord. If these things are not stopped, God will arise and shake the nations of the earth and root out their infamies.

Now then what shall we do?

We do not wish to place ourselves in a state of antagonism, nor to act defiantly, towards this government. We will fulfil the letter, so far as practicable, of that unjust, inhuman, oppressive and unconstitutional law, so far as we can without violating principle; but we cannot sacrifice every principle of human right at the behest of corrupt, unreasoning and unprincipled men; we cannot violate the highest and noblest principles of human nature and make pariahs and outcasts of high-minded, virtuous and honorable women, nor sacrifice at the shrine of popular clamor the highest and noblest principles of humanity!

We shall abide all constitutional law, as we always have done; but while we are Godfearing and law-abiding, and respect all honorable men and officers, we are no craven serfs, and have not learned to lick the feet of oppressors, nor to bow in base submission to unreasoning clamor. We will contend, inch by inch, legally and constitutionally, for our rights as American citizens, and for the universal rights of universal man. We stand proudly erect in the consciousness of our rights as American citizens, and plant ourselves firmly on the sacred guarantees of the Constitution; and that instrument, while it defines the powers and privileges of the President, Congress and the judiciary, also directly provides 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.”

I have heard it boasted by British statesmen, that as soon as a slave planted his foot on British soil, his fetters were broken and he was a free man. It is the proud boast of Americans that her flag floats for all; and while Congress claims the right of dominion and legislation over territories, with that same right is associated the right of manhood, freedom and American citizenship. We need have no fears, no trembling in our knees, about these attempts to deprive us of our God-given and constitutional liberties. God will take care of His people, if we will only do right. I am thankful to say that you are doing pretty nearly as well as you know how. There are many things among us that are wrong, many things that are foolish, but generally you are seeking to fear God and keep His commandments. Now, treat your wives right, but do not subject yourselves to the infamous provisions of the Edmund’s act more than you can help, avoid all harsh expressions and improper actions, act carefully and prudently in all your social relations. Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. A gentleman in Washington told another, who related it to me, in answer to the question, What will the “Mormons” do with their wives and children when this bill passes? He was told: Turn them out in the streets as we do our harlots. I say in the name of God we will not do any such thing, and let all Israel say Amen. [The vast congregation, amounting to from 12,000 to 14,000 persons, responded Amen.] We will stand by our covenants, and the Constitution will bear us out in it. Among other things, that instrument says that Congress shall make no law impairing the validity of contracts. You have contracted to be united with your wives in time and in eternity, and it would not do for us to break a constitutional law, would it? [Laughter.] Others may do it, but we cannot. We cannot lay aside our honor, we cannot lay aside our principles; and if people cannot allow us freedom, we can allow freedom to them and to all men. We will be true to our wives and cherish them and maintain them, and stand by them in time, and we will reign with them in eternity, when thousands of others are weltering under the wrath of God. Any man that abuses his wife, or takes advantage of this law to oppress her, is not worthy of a standing in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and let the congregation say Amen. [The immense congregation responded by a loud Amen.]

Now, what will we do in our relations with the United States? We will observe the law as we have done, and be as faithful as we have been. We will maintain our principles and live our religion and keep the commandments of God, and obey every constitutional law, pursuing that course that shall direct us in all things.

Brethren and sisters, God bless you and lead you in the paths of life, and give you wisdom; be calm and quiet; all is well in Zion. You need not be under any fears about anything that may transpire, as though some strange thing had happened. We have met such things before; we can meet them again. God has delivered us before. He will deliver us again, if we put our trust in Him and remain true to the covenants we have made with Him. Our trust is in God. You have heard me say before, Hosanna, the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth; and if this congregation feels as I do we will join together in the same acclaim. Follow me.

[The speaker then repeated and was followed by the congregation: Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna! to God and the Lamb, forever and ever worlds without end, Amen, Amen and Amen.]

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered at the Assembly Hall, on Sunday Afternoon, March 5th, 1882.

We are living in peculiar times; we are operating in an eventful era; we are associated with a peculiar dispensation, and we have a labor to perform which in many respects differs from that of all other ages or times. The dispensation that we are connected with is called in Scripture the dispensation of the fulness of times in which, it is recorded, God will gather together all things in one, whether they be things on the earth or things in the heavens. There are ideas associated with this dispensation that are in many respects distinct, and dissimilar from those that have been enunciated and proclaimed in former ages and dispensations; and inasmuch as the present dispensation is to embrace everything that has been connected with all past dispensations—all the prominent features as well as the minor ones that characterized the Church and kingdom of God in former days, that were essentially necessary to its growth and developments must re-appear in connection with the work of God in this our day. If the manifestations and developments of other dispensations have been made known to us, we have had revealed to us doctrines, theories, organizations and systems that have existed among the whole of them; because it is emphatically the dispensation of the fulness of times. If they had anything that was peculiarly characteristic in the days of the ancient Patriarchs, we have the same revealed to us. If they had anything prominent and important in the dispensation of Noah, we have it, and if Noah was called upon to preach the Gospel to the world in his day, before its destruction, so are we.

If in the Abrahamic or Mosaic dispensations God revealed important principles, we have a clear knowledge of those things made known to us, and the reasons, the whys and wherefores, pertaining to them. If they had anything among the ancient Prophets and men of God, we have the same principles developed. If in the days of Jesus they had manifestations, revelations, doctrines or organizations, those things are made known to us. Or if the people upon this continent, to whom God revealed his will—either the people that came from the Tower of Babel, or those who came from Jerusalem during the reign of Zedekiah—if anything was revealed to them, we have had it revealed unto us. And this is why certain things exist pertaining to organizations, etc., referred to by Brother Hatch.

We have here on the ceiling of this building pictured to us, Moroni making known to Joseph Smith the plates, from which the Book of Mormon was translated, which plates had been hidden up in the earth; and in connection with them was the Urim and Thummim, by which sacred instrument Joseph was enabled to translate the ancient characters, now given unto us in the form of the Book of Mormon; in which is set forth the theories, doctrines, principles, organizations, etc., of these peoples who lived upon this continent. People talk about their disbelief regarding these things. That is a matter of no moment to us. I do not intend to bring any argument upon this question, caring nothing about what people believe. We know certain things, and knowing them we regard them as matters of fact. If we were to take the world and its ideas and theories, we should find that there is hardly one person in every thousand who believes the Bible. The Christian world professes belief in the Bible; that is, they believe it when shut, but not when open. Consequently, I do not propose this afternoon, at least, to address myself to infidels, whether they go under the name of Christian or any other name. I am speaking of certain principles to a people who believe them to be true; and I wish to refer more particularly to some events associated with the dealings of God with his earthly children.

When John was on the isle of Patmos, certain things were revealed to him that were to transpire in the last days, and he prophesied of them. While wrapped in prophetic vision, gazing on the purposes of God as they were to be unfolded in later times, among other things he saw an angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, to every nation, kindred, tongue and people; saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come. This was a declaration made by this ancient Apostle and Prophet of God while banished for his religion, as certain men today would, if they could, banish us. We now declare to the world that this part of the visions of John has been fulfilled; that the angel has come and appeared to man upon the earth, conferring upon him this heavenly charge, namely, the responsibility of opening up a new Gospel dispensation; and we declare that God himself took part in it, and that Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, accompanied him, both of whom appeared to Joseph Smith, upon which occasion the Father, pointing to the Son said, “This is my beloved Son, hear him.” Following this the Gospel was to be preached to every nation. What Gospel? The same Gospel that was preached to Adam, and to the Patriarchs and men of God of every age; the Gospel of salvation and deliverance from sin through the atonement of Jesus Christ, the resurrection from the dead, life immortal and all the blessings associated therewith. And when this Gospel was first proclaimed in this age, who knew anything about it? Nobody; it was not and had not been among men for centuries. The world of mankind had been left without direct communication from the heavens, and as a natural consequence while groveling in the dark, they followed the devices and desires of their own hearts; they were governed by man-made systems, and bowed to the dictum, to the notions, the theories and follies of men. There was no Apostle, no Prophet, no inspired man of God holding His Holy Priesthood to say, Thus saith the Lord, this is the way, walk ye in it.

In connection with this I may allude to an incident in my personal experience, to show the state of the world religiously some forty or fifty years ago. Not being then acquainted with this Church, a number of us met together for the purpose of searching the Scriptures; and we found that certain doctrines were taught by Jesus and the Apostles, which neither the Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, nor any of the religious sects taught; and we concluded that if the Bible was true, the doctrines of modern Christendom were not true; or if they were true, the Bible was false. Our investigations were impartially made, and our search for truth was extended. We examined every religious principle that came under our notice, and probed the various systems as taught by the sects, to ascertain if there were any that were in accordance with the word of God. But we failed to find any. In addition to our researches and investigations, we prayed and fasted before God; and the substance of our prayers was, that if he had a people upon the earth anywhere, and ministers who were authorized to preach the Gospel, that he would send us one. This was the condition we were in. We knew all that the Methodists knew then, and all that they know now. We knew all that the Presbyterians knew then, and all that they know now. We knew all that the Episcopalians knew then, and all that they know now. We knew all that the Roman Catholics knew then, and all that they know today; for we made ourselves conversant with the doctrines and examined them thoroughly, as well as the theories of all men who pretended to have knowledge of Gospel light. We prayed earnestly; and in answer to our prayers, the Lord sent us Elder Parley P. Pratt, who gives an account of this in his autobiography which has been published since his death. Brother Pratt, in relating the circumstances, says that Brother Heber C. Kimball came to his house one night after he had retired; that Brother Kimball requested him to get up, which he did, and then began to prophesy to him. He told him there was a people in Canada who were seeking for a knowledge of the Gospel, and they were praying to God to send them a minister who should reveal to them the truth. Brother Kimball then commissioned him to repair to Canada, telling him that the Lord would bless him and open up his way. Just previous to that time the Saints had been engaged in building the Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, and were all very much embarrassed as to means, Brother Pratt with the balance having devoted everything he had to spare for that purpose. Among other things that Brother Kimball told him was, that where he was going he would find means to relieve himself and that many of the people would embrace the Gospel, and that it would be the means of introducing the Gospel to England. And furthermore, said he, your wife who is now childless shall have a son. In the course of time she did have a son, and they named him Parley. I do not know but that he may be present; but I was going to say, I knew him before he was born. [Laughter.]

I speak of this to show that there was at that time nobody, of whom we had any knowledge, from whom we could obtain any information with regard to the Gospel of the Son of God, or that could teach us the doctrines Jesus and His Apostles taught, as contained in the Scriptures. Brother Pratt came and found us, and he came in answer to our prayer; at least, that is my faith in regard to the matter. And were all these things accomplished? Yes: I was baptized myself and others, and I baptized many others in that country; and it was the means also of sending the Gospel to England. John Goodson, who apostatized long ago, John Snyder, a good, faithful man who was one of the committee of the Nauvoo House, and who died in the 17th Ward of this City, Isaac Russell, and Joseph Fielding, uncle to Brother Joseph F. Smith, were of our number, embraced the Gospel, and were afterwards called to accompany Brother Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde to England for the purpose of opening up the work in that land; and I was the first person that wrote a letter to England on the subject of the Gospel; I did it at the request of Brother Fielding, who got me to write for him to a brother and brother-in-law of his who were ministers in England. These were the men that helped to introduce the Gospel into England in that early day. I speak of this for the information of many of you.

When Brother Pratt came to me I was, perhaps, as well read in the letter of the Bible as I am today, and as soon as he commenced to talk about Prophets, I said, Yes, we believe in them. And he talked about Apostles and I remarked, Yes, we have been looking for such men, but we cannot find them. He talked about the organization of the Church as it was anciently; and about the gift of tongues and the gift of healing, etc., and we were delighted with his message, it was something we were seeking for, and it was all new to us. We had heard rumors about the Mormons, just as people hear rumors nowadays of us; and the rumors we heard were not of the most complimentary character, any more than are those that are circulated about us today, or those that were circulated about Jesus and the former-day Saints. You know, the pious, hypocritical clergy of that day put the Savior down as the vilest creature that ever lived, and influenced the populace against him; for said they, if he heals the sick, give God the glory, for we know that this man is a sinner; and when he cast out devils, this same class attributed it to the power of Beelzebub, the prince of devils; and they spoke of him as being a bastard, and cast all manner of reflections upon him. The Savior in speaking to his disciples gave them to understand that inasmuch as they had persecuted him, they would also persecute them; and said he, further, when they persecute you in one city, flee to another; and he also told them to be exceeding glad when they were persecuted for righteousness’ sake. What, to be lied about by adventurers and political demagogues who seek to rob and plunder you? Yes; that is a good and favorable sign. If we were guilty of the infamies that they seek to lay at our door, that would be another matter. But whilst we are not as good as we might be, we do know that what they say and publish to the world about us, which has had a tendency to arouse the feelings of the general public against us, are infernal falsehoods. “Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad,” etc., in this we but share the lot of the honorable of other ages, the men of God who stood the abuse of their fellow man, and who, in many instances, were persecuted much worse than we are. Our present assailants have not learned how yet; but they are trying upon a small scale to introduce the inquisition, and may, by and by, in some degree, succeed in carrying out their nefarious objects. This is their work, if they can stand it we think we can. There are thousands of honorable men who will look down with contempt upon all such unprincipled and mendacious efforts.

After the Lord had spoken to Joseph Smith, and Jesus had manifested himself to him, and after Moroni had revealed to him the hidden plates containing the history of the ancient inhabitants of this continent, which, in the wisdom of God, have been translated into our own language in the form of the Book of Mormon, and which, in connection with the Bible, is to be the means of confounding false doctrines, the one being corroborative of the other in principle and doctrine and in relation to the designs and purposes of God—after this it was necessary that the Priesthood held by men in former days should be restored in these latter days, that people now, as men in those days, might be authorized to act in the name of the Lord. Hence John the Baptist, who held the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood, came and laid his hands upon the heads of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, using these words: “Upon you, my fellowservants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.” After having been ordained to this Priesthood which is after the order of Aaron, it was necessary that they should have another Priesthood which is after the order of Melchizedek, and after the order of the Son of God. And consequently Peter, James and John came and conferred that Priesthood. Why did they come? Because they were the last who held the keys of that Priesthood. After this order of Priesthood was introduced, the organization which we possess today was gradually effected, which is as full and complete, perhaps, as ever existed upon the earth. How perfect it was in the days of Enoch we are not told, but everything that they had revealed to them pertaining to the organization of the Church of God, also pertaining to doctrine and ordinances, we have had revealed to us, excepting one thing, and that is the principle and power of translation; that, however, will in due time be restored also. And if they in their day built a Zion, we have one to build in our day, and when this shall be done and everything is in readiness, the Zion which the people of Enoch built and which was translated, will descend from above, and the Zion of the latter days which this people will build, will ascend by virtue of this principle and power, and the former and the latter-day Zion will meet each other, and the dwellers in both will embrace and kiss each other, so we are told in the revelations of God.

We are indebted to no one excepting God, our heavenly Father, for the organization which we possess; and as a little circumstance with regard to its practical working occurs to me, I will mention it. Among other places, we sent to Bear Lake a copy of the form of petition which we are now presenting to Congress. I think it was on Wednesday that it was sent out from here, and on Saturday night it was returned with thousands of signatures. That is the way we do things here. In a few days we had some fifty thousand signatures, and I presume before this there are some ten or twenty thousand more from the more distant settlements. What does it manifest? Union and sympathy one with another, all testifying to one thing, which I was very glad to see. People have said that we know that polygamy is not a principle of our religion; but here are petitions signed by some seventy or eighty thousand, all of whom testify to their faith in regard to this principle. I think the testimony of seventy or eighty thousand persons living right among it, and most of whom are born in it, ought to be as strong as that of a few quidnuncs who know little or nothing about it.

The Gospel was then revealed, what for—for you and me, or for this man and that man? No; it was for the benefit of the world; it was in the interests of humanity; and it was to be proclaimed to every nation, kindred, people and tongue, by men commissioned of God to do so. That duty belongs to the Twelve especially, to either do so in person or see that it is done. I have traveled myself tens of thousands of miles, and so have my brethren, visiting the nations of the earth in their most prominent cities declaring to them the principles of the Gospel as God has revealed them. And could we find men upon the earth that could successfully oppose us? I declare before God I never found one, taking the Bible as a standard; neither can anyone be found today that can do it, and that is the trouble.

In that day, we are told, the meek shall rejoice in the Lord; and the poor among men shall rejoice in the holy one of Israel. God has had his people scattered among the nations, and his testimony was to go forth to all lands; and it becomes the duty of the Twelve, the Seventies, the High Priests and Elders to carry this message and present it to them in the spirit of the Gospel, not, to cram the truth down the throats of men, as certain individuals would cram their peculiar views down our throats. But when we were sent forth we were sent to teach, and not to be taught. We could not learn anything from them about the Gospel, for they did not know it. They could not teach us, hence the Lord in sending out the first Elders told them they were sent to teach and not to be taught. We went in the midst of opposition and persecution, mobbings and drivings, and were subjected to every insult, indignity and infamy that wicked and corrupt man could invent, and we have put up with such things all the time, and many have had to lay down their lives in the conflict, and they will, as others formerly did, when the time comes, gain a better resurrection. And we are still struggling on, in the face of a general opposition, trusting in our God to sustain us, while we shall continue to sow the precious seed of the everlasting Gospel, and maintain in our own midst the principles of life eternal, and freedom, liberty and equality to the human race. And our sons who have grown up are now doing what we have done; and they too are full of the Spirit, full of life, light and intelligence, having, as we had and still have, the interests of humanity at heart, as they move among the people as messengers of life and salvation. Our course is onward; and are we going to stop? No. Zion must be built up, God has decreed it and no power can stay its progress. Do you hear that? I prophesy that in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. For Zion must and will be built up despite all opposition, the kingdom of God established upon the earth in accordance with the designs and purposes of God. That is true, and you will find it to be true if you live long enough, and if you die you will find it to be true; it will make no difference. “But shall we not be persecuted?” Yes, and does not Jesus say, Blessed are ye when men revile you and persecute you, etc.—would you be deprived of that blessing? “But we have had enough of it.” O, have you? No matter, you will have to put up with it. “But,” say you, “have we not certain constitutional rights?” Yes, on paper, but when you get through with them, the paper does not amount to much; it is like pie crust, easily broken. We do not pay much attention to these things. Honorable men will be governed by constitutions, and laws, and principles, but dishonorable persons will not. Therefore, we have to do the best we can, taking a righteous course that we may be entitled to the blessings of God. “What will be the result of this?” I care nothing about what the result may be, it is a matter of very little importance to me. “Do you expect such things?” Yes, and have done for years; I have never expected anything else associated with the Gospel. When I first embraced it I considered it a lifelong affair; and when I came to look at it squarely in the face, if I could have satisfied my conscience by getting along without it, I would have done so; but I could not, and I apprehend that many of you have been in the same situation. I believed it was true, and so did you; and after I was baptized and had hands laid upon my head for the reception of the Holy Ghost, I knew it was true by the operations of the Holy Spirit upon my heart. And this is the common experience of all Saints. Some people seem to think that we are going to throw away our religion at the “drop of the hat.” I do not know of any such feeling among this people. There have been men who learned to endure things quite as bad as those which afflict us. My mind runs back to Daniel who was a man that feared God. There was a set of political plotters in his day—and probably a fair share of religious ones associated with them—who conspired against him, for Daniel was a man of God in great favor with the king; and the only way they could accomplish their plans was by laying a trap to catch him through an edict of the king. They did it by getting the king to issue a proclamation that no man should ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of the king, that if he did he should be cast into the den of lions. This was done expressly to catch Daniel, but the king was not made acquainted with the secret. Their request was granted and the decree established by the king’s signature, which then could not be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altered not. When Daniel heard of this, we are told that he went into his house, and the windows of his chamber being open towards Jerusalem, he bowed down before his God, and prayed and gave thanks to him, as aforetime, three times a day. He did not falter, although he knew the nature of the decree and the laws which governed it; but he knew too that the God whom he served was able to deliver him. They watched him, of course, and finally complained against him; and he was adjudged guilty of violating the law. The law had to take its course, although the king, when the thing was made known to him felt very sorrowful, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him. He did not feel like some feel towards us; although there have been praiseworthy efforts made by a few to maintain constitutional principles, and we recognize them as the sentiments and feelings of honorable men, who wish to see correct principles maintained in our land. There was no appeal in Daniel’s case; or as a certain class of Christians today would say, “Daniel had to go.” They cast him into the den of lions. The king went to the den early the following morning, feeling much concerned about him, and he cried out, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?” Daniel spoke up and said, “O King, live forever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me.” Now, he dared to do that which showed there was some manhood in him. We have another example in the three Hebrew children, who refused to bow down to a golden image that had been set up. Shall we call it monogamy? [Laughter.] The conditions were that if they did not bow down to this golden image, they should be cast into a burning fiery furnace. They did refuse to obey this royal decree, saying, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O King. But if not (said they), be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship thy golden image which thou hast set up.” This, of course, was considered a great indignity on their part to refuse to bow down to this God. These three men were cast into the furnace and their persecutors in their animus and religious zeal, heated it to such a degree—evincing in this respect the same feeling we see manifested toward us in a different form—that the men who cast Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the furnace were themselves destroyed by the flames. And it seems the King himself was curious to look into the furnace to know of their fate, and in doing so, to his astonishment, he beheld four persons in the midst of the flames, one of whom appeared to be like unto the Son of God. Nebuchadnezzar then called to these three men to come out, which they did; and even the smell of fire was not found upon their clothing, nor was a hair of their heads singed. Such was the faith of those young men, and such their conduct that all honorable men could approve and appreciate the nobility of their course; and even the Gods could admire them; and their integrity to God was the means of their being promoted to the favor of the King, and to distinction in the land. Let us hope that the descendants of those people in these days, in the trials that they have to pass through, which are now being enacted in Russia, in Europe, and in other places, and apparently commencing in this land, may be found as true to their integrity as were these noble examples of manhood and faith in God.

But to return to the Christian’s idol. The pious, zealous, religious and hypocritical in our day, uniting with political demagogues, have set up a God for us to worship, which they boastfully represent as the embodiment of everything that is pure and virtuous, embodying the enlightenment and civilization of the nineteenth century. Their god is overlaid with gilt and tinsel, but inside it is pregnant with the social evil with its twin adjuncts feticide and infanticide. Like a great Moloch it is crushing out female virtue, trampling upon innocence, and prostituting and destroying millions of the fair daughters of Eve. Yet this loathsome, filthy, debauched, degraded monster is held up for our veneration and worship by its corrupt Christian devotees as the essence of everything that is great and grand, noble and praiseworthy; and we are called upon to fall down and worship this loathsome monster under the threat of unconstitutional pains and penalties, and the violation of every principle of liberty and protection guaranteed under the Constitution.

Shall we worship this unnatural, lascivious Moloch? Shall we bow down before the shrine of this fetid, corrupt and debauched monster? No! We will worship the Lord our God, yield obedience to his behests, and, if we are faithful, live our religion and keep his commandments, the God whom we worship will deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, and we shall triumph over all our foes.

There have been men living nearer our own times who could meet the inquisition with its fagot, rack and thumbscrew, and in the midst of their sufferings could commit themselves in all serenity and calmness into the hands of God; and we can surely do the same. If the rulers of this nation can afford to tamper with the sacred rights of the people guaranteed by the Constitution of this great nation, and ruthlessly tear down the temple of freedom erected at the cost of so much blood and treasure, instead of anticipated glory, they will bring destruction upon the nation and ruin and infamy upon themselves. The sacred bulwarks of freedom once tampered with, the floodgates of anarchy and confusion will be thrown open and dissolution and ruin will follow in their train in rapid succession. It is for us to sustain and maintain the principles guaranteed in that sacred palladium of human rights—the Constitution of the United States, and to contend inch by inch in every legal and constitutional manner for our own rights and human freedom, leaving misrule, anarchy, violations of law and the trampling under foot of the rights of man and constitutional guarantees to religious fanatics and clamoring demagogues; and if they can afford to tamper with those sacred guarantees, we certainly can afford to have them do it. It is for us to seek more exalted ideas, to abide by constitutional law, to maintain inviolate the principles of human freedom, and to contend with unwavering firmness for those inalienable rights of all men—life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; and to seek continually to our God for wisdom to accomplish so great, noble and patriotic a purpose.

One of the first things I ever heard preached by the Elders of this Church was that the world would grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. Should we be surprised at its coming to pass? Another thing that I have heard from the beginning is, that people would persecute us, commencing with neighborhoods and villages, and then it would extend to cities and counties, and then to States, and then to the United States, and afterwards to the world. We have got about fifty millions of people on our backs now—and it is a pretty heavy load to carry, too; but the Lord will see us through. We are acting in the interests of humanity: we are proclaiming salvation to a fallen world, and in this we are carrying out the word and will of God made known and manifested directly to us. We are warning the people of their position, and we will continue to send forth our missionaries for this purpose until God says, it is enough. And if they persecute us in one city, we will do as Jesus told his disciples, we will flee to another, searching out the honest in heart. Persecution has been our lot from the beginning, and it has followed us to this day. I am reminded of a circumstance that occurred in Missouri, which I will mention to show the kind of feeling that Joseph Smith was possessed of. Some 25 years ago, in Far West, a mob—one of those semi-occasional occurrences—had come against us with evil intent, placing themselves in position to give us battle; and there were not more than about 200 of us in the place. We had one fellow who was taken with a fit of trembling in the knees, and he ordered our people to retreat. As soon as Joseph heard this sound, he exclaimed, “Retreat! Where in the name of God shall we retreat to?” He then led us out to the prairie facing the mob and placed us in position; and the first thing we knew a flag of truce was seen coming towards us. The person bearing it said that some of their friends were among our people for whose safety they felt anxious. I rather think it was a case in which the wife was in the Church but not the husband, and the mob wished these parties to come out as they, he said, were going to destroy every man, woman and child in the place. But these folks had a little “sand” in them, as the boys say; they sent word back, that if that was the case they would die with their friends, Joseph Smith, our leader, then sent word back by this messenger, said he, “Tell your General to withdraw his troops or I will send them to hell.” I thought that was a pretty bold stand to take, as we only numbered about 200 to their 3,500; but they thought we were more numerous than we really were, it may be that our numbers were magnified in their eyes; but they took the hint and left; and we were not sorry. (Laughter.) The Lord, through simple means, is able to take care of and deliver His people, but they must put implicit faith and confidence in Him; and when they are crowded into a tight place they must not be afraid to make sacrifice for the sake of maintaining the truth, and all will be well with us whether living or dying, in time or in eternity.

Well, what shall we do? We will serve the Lord; we will live our religion; we will be true to our covenants, keep his commandments and be one, and we will sustain one another, and not sustain men among us who have it in their hearts to cut our throats; let them alone to pursue their own course, and let them draw their sustenance from their own kith and kin; and let us pursue the even tenor of our way, operating together as a band of brethren; and if any have sinned, let them sin no more; and inasmuch as this people are found faithful to God and true to themselves and their fellow men, I will risk the results of what our enemies may do to injure us. We are in the hands of God, and this nation is in His hands, and he will do with us and them according to the pleasure of His will.

Brethren and sisters, God bless you, and God bless the honorable of the earth, and may the wrath of the wicked be made to praise Him, and the remainder may He restrain. Amen.