Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City, February 12th, 1882.

It is well sometimes for us to reflect upon the position we occupy before God; it is well for us to understand the relation we sustain to each other; it is well for us to comprehend the relation that we sustain to the Church and Kingdom of God; it is also well for us to know the position that we occupy in relation to the world in which we live. As intelligent beings it is for us to comprehend all truth so far as we are capable of understanding it.

The Gospel is spoken of as being light; and when it was introduced by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ it was then said, that light had come into the world. But while light had come into the world there was a certain class of people that loved dark– ness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. Jesus, in alluding to himself, said: I am the true light. And He is spoken of as being the light that enlightens every man that cometh into the world. And again it is said of Him: the light shineth in darkness, but the darkness comprehendeth it not. There are many very significant sayings on the same subject, that afford food for thought and reflection.

The Gospel of the Son of God has always been obnoxious to a great portion of the human family. In it there is too much light, too much truth, too much intelligence; for the bulk of mankind; its principles are too pure, too noble, too elevating to accord with the general feelings of humanity and with that spirit that proceeds from the powers of darkness, and which rules in the midst of the children of disobedience. And hence people generally have been opposed to it, and they are opposed to it today. People oppose it, but they do not comprehend it. They speak against it; but they speak of that which they know not of. And while they think we are superstitious and ignorant, we know that they are; there is no doubt on that question. We know that they “understand neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.” Therefore to us they are objects of commiseration more than anything else.

Talk of Christianity and of the Gospel of the Son of God, in all the ages of the world, whenever and wherever it was proclaimed, there was a spirit of hostility and antagonism manifested towards it from the very first. We may go back as far as the days of Cain. We read that Adam had two sons, named Cain and Abel. Cain lent himself to the enemy of all righteousness, and became what is termed in Scripture, the father of lies. He rebelled against God, and rebelled against his father, and instigated by the spirit of enmity which proceeds from the evil one, he killed his brother.

These things are not always understood nor the reasons for them. But it has been revealed unto us that Cain loved Satan more than he loved God, and that he placed himself under his influence. And when Cain and Abel offered up their sacrifice, Cain offered his at the instigation of the devil; and his sacrifice, of course, was not accepted. God knew his heart and the feelings by which he was actuated, and therefore rejected his offering. Then came Lucifer, the devil, and says to Cain, “I told you the Lord would treat you wrong; He has treated me wrong;” and he instigated him to kill his brother, which he did. And why? Because his brother believed in God, and obeyed God; and because he believed in the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, which had been made known to them; because he believed these principles, and because Satan was opposed to them, he instigated Cain to kill his brother.

It looked a rather awkward thing for the world under these circumstances. As we read it—there were two sons, one of them righteous, the other wicked; the wicked killed the righteous, and the world was left under these influences to a certain extent. But then Adam had other sons and other progeny, and he himself was there; and he believed in God, and blessed God for having revealed the Savior, and the plan by which he and his children were to be redeemed from the fall, which he had been an active participator in bringing about, which, probably, was all right that it should be brought about. And from that time the spirit of antagonism existed between the two principles; the power of God and the power of the adversary. It had commenced, in fact, before that time. Lucifer and those that were associated with him were cast out of heaven because they rebelled against God their Heavenly Father. They were not willing that He should carry out the plan of redemption and salvation which He had devised before the world was; and having been cast out of heaven, he, with them, became full of wrath and of hostility against the purposes and designs of the Almighty in regard to the salvation and exaltation of the human family. And this spirit continues to grow and extend; and the descendants of Cain multiplied as did the other descendants of Adam.

By and by another seed was raised up to Adam, namely Seth, to stand in the place of Abel. “For God (said Eve) hath appointed for me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.” And he became the representative of God, as Adam was the representative of God. He took Abel’s place as the representative of God and the laws of God; and he had revelation, and the Priesthood, and the Gospel, and was acquainted with the principles of truth. Finally, there was a number of prominent men of whom we read, but of whom a very short account is given; no matter, it is not necessary to enter into details on these subjects, but I wish to touch upon some of the leading points thereof.

After a while wickedness had spread very extensively upon the face of the earth; so much so, that we read that the thoughts of men were evil and that continually; and it became inexpedient to the Lord to permit the people to live to perpetuate their corruptions and infamies. And, therefore, God decreed that He would cut them off from the face of the earth, that they should not have the power to perpetuate their species, and thus become the fathers and mothers of lives and be the media through which the intelligent, pure spirits that existed in the eternal world should receive bodies or tabernacles. They were to be deprived of that privilege.

But before this was done the Lord sent messengers among the people proclaiming to them what was about to befall them if they did not repent and turn from their evil ways. Enoch was one of these; he stood at the head of that dispensation. He, as we are doing, sent out missionaries among the people who had become very numerous. Their mission was to call upon the people to repent and to obey the Gospel and to believe in the Son of God and to obey His law; and to tell them that God had prepared a scourge for those who would not repent, that they would be destroyed from off the face of the earth by a flood; and the people thus destroyed should be cast into prison, a prison which God had prepared on purpose for them. And when these men went to preach this doctrine many believed on them and they were gathered together, as we are, unto a place which they called Zion. And they were placed under the direction of the Holy Priesthood, men who were inspired of God, with whom He communicated; and whom he taught in all the principles pertaining to the Gospel of the Son of God; and they continued in this condition for a length of time. And as they gathered out from among the people, the Spirit of God was withdrawn from among the people; and they became exceedingly angry, angry at Enoch and angry at those who preached the Gospel to them. And the nature of men is just about the same now as then. They spoke all manner of evil against the servants of God who ministered among them; they rejected their testimony, and not only that, but, like some of the very pious people in our day do towards us, they thought it would be doing God service to sweep these men off the face of the earth. And they thought so in earnest for they gathered together their armies for that purpose. The Saints were under the immediate direction and guidance of the Lord, and were, therefore, governed by revelation, and the power and Spirit of the Lord rested upon Enoch. And he rose up and prophesied and told the wicked of the fate that awaited them; and the power of God rested upon him in a marvelous manner, so much so, that the mountains trembled and the earth shook, and the people were afraid and fled away from his presence, because they could not endure it. Their armies were scattered, and they failed to accomplish that which they in their wickedness had designed to do.

But still the same spirit that animated them continued to grow and increase. And finally after the Saints of that day had become sufficiently taught, they and their city—that is, the great majority of them and their city, ascended up to heaven. We are told in the Scripture—which is a meager account of it, that—“Enoch was not, for God took him.” And we may add, Enoch’s city and Enoch’s people were not, for God took them; they were translated. The principle of translation was a principle that at that time existed in the Church, and is one of the principles of the Gospel, and which will exist in the last days.

Many of these that were left, continued to bear testimony to the truths taught by their predecessors; and they themselves were caught up from time to time, according to certain revelations communicated through the Prophet Joseph Smith.

The spirit of antagonism to the truths of God, and to the order of God, and to the law of God, and to the Priesthood of God and the Gospel of the Son of God, continued to exist. By and by the flood came, and the things spoken of by the men who had preached among them, were fulfilled, and the people swept from the face of the earth. They were shut up in prison, in the prison house which had been prepared for them. A few people were left, eight only—Noah and his wife, and his three sons and their wives.

One of the great evils that existed among the people was that the sons of God married the daughters of men; or, in other words, many who were connected with the Church mixed themselves up with those who were not; and thus their hearts were drawn away from God, and in the sight of God they were no better than those who rejected His servants; and consequently they perished with the disobedient and wicked.

There is something associated with these things that it may be necessary to refer to. It is necessary there should be opposing principles, light and darkness, truth and error, virtue and vice, good and evil, etc. It is necessary that man should go through a state of probation and trial, that he should have the opportunity of receiving or rejecting correct principles, or the Gospel of the Son of God. And it is a further development to us, that if men have not had this opportunity upon the earth, they will still have it. There is a further principle exhibited here in relation to this matter. Those very men who rejected the Gospel in their day were visited by Jesus after He was put to death in the flesh and was quickened by the Spirit; He went, we are told, and preached to those spirits in prison who had been disobedient in the days of Noah. And connected with that there is another principle; it is to place all mankind on the same footing, that all men of every age and nation may have the same privilege. And we are informed they will have. And hence, the Gospel is an everlasting Gospel; the Priesthood is an everlasting Priesthood; the work in which we are engaged commenced with our Father in heaven, it has been revealed from time to time to man upon the earth, and it will continue in all its power, fullness and glory in the eternal worlds, until all things that God has designed pertaining to the welfare and exaltation of the human family will be accomplished.

In relation to these things there are some remarkable passages contained in the Bible. For instance:

“As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

“For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

“And knew not until the flood came and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

This is a very significant Scripture, and if correct is pregnant with the greatest consequences to the human family; if not correct then everything we believe in is a phantom and our worship and religion are vain, and not only ours, but every– body else’s. But if such a personage as Jesus existed, and if he spoke those words, He most assuredly spake the truth, and they will most assuredly be fulfilled.

Now, in speaking of the two great principles, the two opposites, it must needs be that there be opposition in all things; that is, darkness as opposed to light; error as opposed to truth; evil as opposed to good, etc. We are told by one of the old Apostles that the “Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance;” and the spirit of evil is envy, hatred, malice, lying, slandering, uncharitableness, etc. We are told also in the Book of Mormon the same things precisely. Whenever we see lying, slandering, enmity, hatred, malice, we see the fruit of the spirit of darkness, no matter how pious the people are who profess these sentiments and who operate therein. And this is carried out still further in the revelations of John; the Lord through him says: “For without [the city] are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.” Such characters have no place within; but those who fear God and work righteousness, who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, they will be introduced into the presence of God, to participate with Him in the glories there referred to.

Hence, while these things here upon the earth make men feel exceedingly unpleasant, exceedingly unhappy and uneasy, when they get through and expect to get to heaven they will find themselves outside the city, because the pure would not have such society among them, neither would they here. It is necessary, I say, that those princi– ples should exist in order to test men, to try and prove them. It was necessary that Jesus should be tried in this way. We are 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.” And again, when John saw an innumerable company clothed in white, one was heard to ask, “What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?” The answer was: “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple.”

There is something very interesting for Saints to reflect upon in relation to these matters. And there is something that goes a little further than we think about sometimes; and that is, while we profess to be followers of the Lord, while we profess to have received the Gospel, and to be governed by it, a profession will amount to nothing unless we have washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. It is not enough for us to be connected with the Zion of God, for the Zion of God must consist of men that are pure in heart and pure in life and spotless before God, at least that is what we have got to arrive at. We are not there yet, but we must get there before we shall be prepared to inherit glory and exaltation; therefore a form of godliness will amount to but little with any of us, for he that knoweth the master’s will and doeth it not shall be beaten with many stripes. It is “not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but He that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” These are doctrines of the Gospel as I understand them. And it is not enough for us to embrace the Gospel and to be gathered here to the land of Zion, and be associated with the people of God, attend our meetings and partake of the Sacrament of the Lord’s supper, and endeavor to move along without much blame of any kind attached to us; for notwithstanding all this, if our hearts are not right, if we are not pure in heart before God, if we have not pure hearts and pure consciences, fearing God and keeping His commandments, we shall not unless we repent, participate in these blessings about which I have spoken, and of which the Prophets bear testimony.

However, to proceed in relation to these matters I said that it was necessary there should be opposing powers, and that men should be tested and tried as Jesus was, and just as other people have been. And why? Having passed through this ordeal that we may overcome the evil with the good; for it is to him that overcometh, saith Jesus, that I will grant to sit down with me upon my throne, as I have overcome and sit down upon my Father’s throne. It is not to him that puts on the armor only, but to him that fights the good fight of faith, and overcomes the world, the flesh and the devil; for him there is laid up a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give unto Him.

That power and spirit that disturbed the elements and affected the people of the old world still operates among the children of men, and it is—I was going to say a necessary adjunct to the Gospel, in order that men may be tried and proven. Jesus, of course, understood these things when He said, “If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” Said He, “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 exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” There is something very pleasing in reflecting upon these things. To be thrown into a world of evil where strife and corruption exist, and to be mixed up with it; and then to have sent to them the principle of truth, a spark of intelligence descending from the throne of God, the light of the everlasting Gospel, which if men receive in their hearts will bring them into communication with God their Heavenly Father, and make them to feel that they are fighting on the side of God and the right, for everything that ennobles and has a tendency to exalt man. There is something worth striving for in a battle of this kind, and there is something glorious in being able to conquer. It tries men’s souls sometimes. Peter, you know, trembled under it; but Jesus said, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell.” I say unto you fear Him; never mind the other power. You have drank from the river the streams whereof make glad the city of our God. The light of eternal truth has beamed upon your minds, and your hearts have been glad in the hopes of eternal life which have been presented to you when under the influence of the Spirit of God. You have rejoiced in the hope that blooms with immortality and eternal lives. Filled with this Spirit you feel that you are an eternal being having the principles of the everlasting Gospel within you; that you have received the everlasting Priesthood, that you are associated with principles that will exalt and ennoble man in time and throughout the eternities to come. There is something pleasing about it.

And when these miserable “dogs” howl and the coyotes yelp and exhibit their folly and nonsense—I was going to say, who the devil cares? Some people would think it is impious to say a thing like that. Yes, and the same people think it very honorable to lie in order to oppose the truth. No matter what men think of these things. I am not very precise in choosing my words in reference to such matters.

But then, did we expect to get along much better? People are very much exercised about us. Well, let them exercise themselves. They are very much troubled. Let them trouble themselves. I am pleased to witness the spirit of calmness and quiet and unconcern that exists among the Saints of God. It is the Spirit of God and the Gospel of the Son of God that gives that. And it is for us to continue to do right and keep the commandments of God; and let us be careful that when men tell these horrible stories about us, that they are not true. Blessed are you when men revile and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you, falsely, for Christ’s sake; but if they should speak evil of us, and that evil be true, then there would be no blessing connected with it. We could tell a great many things truthfully against these same people that slander and lie about us; but it is a dirty business, a business that reflects no credit upon anyone that is engaged in it. Let them take their course. We can afford to move upon a higher plane, doing good to them that injure us; and we can pray for those who evil entreat us; that we may be the children of our Father in heaven, who makes His sun to shine on the evil and the good, and His rains to descend on the just and on the unjust. Who, let me ask, were to be pitied during the time of the flood? The people that disbelieved and disobeyed the Gospel, or the people that were caught up to heaven? Would you feel very sorry for those who were connected with the Zion of God, or would you feel sorry for those poor, miserable, little-souled, ignorant people who rejected God and His law, and who in consequence had to be swept off from the face of the earth—which class would solicit your commiseration?

Today God has revealed to us great principles; and he is desirous that we should do right and obey His law, and keep His commandments.

Among other things there is a great hue and cry about what they call polygamy and what they call bigamy; but our plural marriage is no more their bigamy than white is black or than light is darkness, but seemingly neither they nor their judges nor legislators either can or do want to comprehend the difference between the two, great as it is. It would seem that they either do not know or do not want to know the difference between a man’s marrying a second wife without the consent or knowledge of the first wife, and in doing so deceiving the one he marries, who believes him to be a single man; and a man’s marrying a second wife with the knowledge and consent of the first wife, and living with his wives in honorable wedlock, performing the duty of a husband to them and of a father to their children, and maintaining sacredly his marriage vows. I would suggest either a little gas or electric light be turned on, and that it be allowed to shine upon the visions of their dull understandings; it may help them some. But it is evident that men do not want the truth, therefore they must believe as they choose in regard to these things; it is really a matter of no moment to us. But for the information of such people, if there be any, let me say, their bigamy is deception and fraud and a breach of the marriage covenant; while our polygamy, as it is called, is the fulfilling of the marriage covenant, it is honorable and the fruits of it are good; theirs is done clandestinely, ours openly; we acknowledge ours, they repudiate theirs. They judge us from their own standpoint, and their eye being evil, of course they see nothing but evil in us. With them a man may have his wife and also be mixed up with other women, and while he may be rolling in wealth, at the same time, perhaps, his poor, unfortunate offspring, the product of his vice and corruption, may be sweeping the crossings of the streets of our large cities, begging from his father a penny to help to support a miserable existence. This is compatible with their high state of civilization and purity. God save us from such “Christianity,” from this time, henceforth and forever. [“Amen” from voices in the congregation.] We do not want it. We would say in relation to that what a Prophet said on a certain occasion, “O my soul, come not thou into their secret; into their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united.” We expect to be associated with more honorable principles, and with more honorable people in time and throughout all the eternities to come.

There is one thing I wish to say, we do not preach to them this very obnoxious doctrine of polygamy for them to practice. Our Elders are sent forth to preach faith, repentance, and baptism for remission of sins. The doctrine of plural marriage does not belong to people who are governed by such principles as they are, people who break their marriage vows and who wink at those who do it, people who violate their sacred honor with the opposite sex and trample upon and destroy millions of the daughters of Eve, and drag them down to death and destruction—it does not belong to such people; it belongs to the people who have obeyed the Gospel of the Son of God, the people who are in possession of the principles of life, and who are keeping the commandments of God; it does not belong to Latter-day Saints even unless they are pure and virtuous; unless they are honorable and worthy they cannot be associated with any such thing, much less can the class that I have referred to who are making so much noise about it; so they need not trouble their heads.

These things you Latter-day Saints understand. When President Hayes was here, in conversing with him I told him that it was not our intention to crowd our peculiar ideas upon the religious world; that we had received the doctrine of plural marriage as a part of the Gospel, and that it was only for pure men and pure women, that class, and that class only, could receive it and practice it, and make it honorable; it was not for the licentious and corrupt, but for those who feared God and worked righteousness, who were true to themselves and true to the female sex, and who would stand by and sustain them and preserve them in purity and honor. There is quite a difference, you perceive, between the one and the other.

We are seeking to carry out the word and will of God, according to the revelations which he has given unto us, all of which are based upon truth, virtue, purity and holiness, principles that are eternal, that always have existed and always will exist. The Christian world make their covenants for time only; we for time and for eternity. They expect to be associated with their wives “until death do them part.” We expect to be associated with ours not only for time but for eternity. They not entering into any covenants for eternity, assume no obligations beyond this life; but I am sorry to say, it is quite a common thing among them to violate the covenants they make pertaining to this life. But that I may not be misunderstood let me say further with regard to this, there are many honorable people in our nation as well as other parts of the world, men who regard strictly the honor of their social ties, men who feel interested in the welfare of society, who are desirous to see correct principles prevail; but with the understanding they have of us—they believing that we are corrupt and are introducing religious tenets for the purpose of gratifying the sensual passions of man; that all are vile and corrupt at heart, and that we take the ground that we do for the purpose of defending our position and of making it statutory—I do not wonder at such men entertaining the feelings they do against us, because believing the lies that are circulated about us, they, of course, think that we are introducing that which will corrupt and demoralize society; and they know the state of society now, and so do we. And they are desirous to stop a thing of this kind. The clergy, too, are very much exercised, as a class, about us, and they appear to be the most incapable of all classes to tell the truth concerning us; these pious people circulate all kinds of falsehood about us under the name of religion. I need not refer to those things, the fact is well known to you.

Is it then to be wondered at that people generally who do not comprehend the true situation should come to the conclusions they do about us? I think not. Should we feel angry at such a feeling? No. Should we feel angry at those falsifiers? No; they are to be pitied because they yield themselves to work iniquity; they, therefore, become subjects of compassion. What did the same class of persons say of Jesus? If he healed the sick, or opened the eyes of the blind, they persuaded the people to give God the glory for, said they, “we know this man is a sinner.” If He cast out devils, this pious class said, He did it through Beelzebub the Prince of devils. And even when he was condemned to die and the people were asked whether He should be released or whether Barabbas, the thief, should be released, it was “the chief priests and elders,” the pious clergy of that day, that led the popular clamor, that “persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus.” The same spirit that moved upon the religious teachers of that day to incite the populace against Jesus and the Apostles, is moving upon the same class today to do the same towards us; and they are doing all they can do. They, notwithstanding their piety, are of their father the devil whose works they do. And what shall we do? “Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

Do we want to force the Gospel upon them? No. All religious classes, the Methodists, the Presbyterians, the Baptists, the Catholics, and all others have the right to worship God as they please, they have the right to either receive or reject the Gospel of Christ. If we had the power to force it upon them we would not do it; freedom of the mind, and the free exercise of the rights of men is part of our religious belief; therefore, we would not coerce them if we could. And if I would not coerce them in that I certainly would not crowd upon them the doctrine of plural marriage, for it is well known that after men join our Church they must prove themselves sometime before they are considered worthy of it.

When I reflect upon the terrible degradation that exists in the land, and the dens of vice and infamy that flourish and keep pace with our boasted enlightenment, I am not surprised that honorable people should feel horrified at the misrepresentations and lies that have gone forth concerning us. I received a letter not long ago from Brother Cannon, in which he states that he was approached on the subject by a gentleman, a member of Congress, who had visited here. He told Brother Cannon that when he was here he was told some very strange stories about the Mormon people, and he had made up his mind when he should meet Brother Cannon to speak to him about it. He said that a gentleman, or at least, a person that had the appearance of respectability, told him when he was here that doings akin to a Saturnalia were quite a common thing among the people—the promiscuous mixing of the sexes indulging in unrestrained license. This gentleman says that this was told to him in the most solemn manner, and that too by a resident of this city. He told Brother Cannon too that he was glad to hear him contradict it. You know Latter-day Saints whether such a condition of things exists among us or not; and yet such willful falsehoods are fabricated and circulated by persons who pass themselves off as our friends. It cannot be wondered at that honorable men should feel exercised in their feelings against us; but when this class of people—and there are thousands and tens of thousands and millions of such people—are correctly informed, they will feel differently toward us. But then, it matters not really what men’s ideas and feelings may be; and I do not feel that we are called upon to contradict all the infamous lies and misrepresentations that are circulated about us by men and women who are living in our midst. I say now, as I said to a gentleman not long ago who remarked, that a great racket was being made about us, meetings were being held and resolutions were being passed, etc.—I said, they may work as they please and “resolute” as much as they please, this we could easily stand, but hands off.

We are accused of being degraded and ignorant. I find that there is nearly twice the amount of illiteracy in the whole of the United States pro rata, as there is in Utah; and this fact exists notwithstanding they have had millions of dollars to sustain their institutions of learning while we have not had a penny. I am grateful to God our Heavenly Father, that we stand in as favorable a position. Let us continue to go on in every good word and work. Let our young people’s improvement associations, and our Sunday and day schools receive our encouragement and aid; and let our children be taught by our friends and not our enemies. Latter-day Saints, will you send your children to be taught of people who would teach them enmity to their fathers and mothers, and who would sow in their young hearts the seed of enmity to the principle of religious liberty, men who, if they had the power, would destroy the altars of freedom that the fathers of this country fought for? We do not want our children to be instructed by persons whose mission among us is to endeavor to instil into their young hearts enmity to the Gospel of the Son of God as revealed by Him through His servant Joseph Smith. We have men quite as capable to teach as they are. We stand on a platform as elevated as theirs, and a great deal more so. And by and by we expect to be as far ahead of them in science, art and literature, and everything calculated to ennoble and exalt a people and a nation, as we are now ahead of them in regard to religious matters. But as to their religious matters, you may wrap up the whole of them in a thimble and put it in your vest pocket, and hardly know it was there. [Laughter.] Any ten-year-old boy of ours who could not meet any of their ministers on matters of religion, I should consider very ill-informed.

Well, it is for us to keep the commandments, to train up our children in the fear of God, to live unto God, and I will risk the balance. Amen.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered in the 14th Ward Assembly Rooms, at the Funeral Services of Sister Elizabeth H. Cannon, on Sunday, Jan. 29, 1882.

In speaking a few words pertaining to the dead, I, as my brethren have expressed themselves, feel to reconcile my feelings to the purposes of the Almighty, whether respecting the dead or the living.

This morning, however, I have experienced sorrowful feelings not on account of Sister Cannon; she is all right. Her body lies here in the cold embrace of death, but her spirit is peaceful and happy. She has fought the good fight, she has finished her course, she has accomplished the object of her creation, and she has gone to where sighing, sorrow and trouble cannot reach her; therefore, I cannot mourn on her account. It is all right and all well with her. Yet there are sympathies, feelings and associations connected with humanity that it is difficult at times to dispense with. I have been acquainted with Sister Cannon from her youth, since she was quite a little girl, and have watched her through all her life, comparatively. I have seen her in life, and—I was going to say, in death; nearly so, for I was with her on several successive days before she died.

As has been said, we desired that her life might be prolonged, at least until her husband should return; but it seems that God has ordered it otherwise, for some wise purpose which to us is not always manifest.

This reminds me of a circumstance which occurred in my life, being situated at the time pretty much as Brother Cannon is now.

When I was in Paris, France, about thirty years ago, I had a dream that troubled me very much, in which I saw my first wife—as the deceased here is his first wife—lying sick at the point of death. And it so affected me that I awoke, being troubled in my feelings. I fell asleep again, and again the same scene presented itself to me when I again awoke and experienced the same feelings of sorrow, and after some time slept again, and it was repeated a third time. I knew then that my wife was very sick, lying at the point of death.

I got up and fervently prayed the Lord to spare her life until, at least, I should have another opportunity of meeting her in the flesh. He heard my prayer. I took a note of the circumstance at the time, and learned afterwards that such had been the case exactly as it had been shown to me. On the following morning I remember meeting a gentleman who was a Protestant minister, and he observed that my countenance looked sorrowful, and he enquired the cause. I told him that my wife was lying at the point of death, and he asked me if I had received a letter? I told him no; but related to him how it had been shown to me. But, I said, I got up and prayed the Lord to spare her life, and I feel consoled in knowing that she will be healed. When Sister Cannon was sick we prayed for her, exercising all the faith we possessed on her behalf; but God has seen fit to take her to Himself. Bro. Cannon, of course, would feel as I did, desirous to have another opportunity of seeing his wife in the flesh, and, if possible, to be at her side when she should pass hence, and had he been engaged in private instead of public business, he would most assuredly have been. But it was not to be. She has gone during his absence from home, and it is all right. So it would have been if my wife had gone under the same circumstances, I would have had the same feelings.

We are here for a short time only. Our spirits dwelt with our Father before we came to the earth. In coming here we took upon ourselves bodies according to the decree of the Almighty, and if our bodies are required, it would not be for me or for you to say when or how these things shall be. It is the Lord who directs in all these matters, both in regard to us individually and also in regard to the whole human family.

The present is only one stage of our existence. We existed before we came here; we exist here for a time, and when we depart from this mortal life we shall have a spiritual existence, an existence without the body, and then again with the body. And it is for those who manage and manipulate these matters to do as seemeth good in their sight, and it is for us to yield a willing and an obedient submission to the will of our heavenly Father, feeling always that whatever he does is perfect and right.

Every day such occurrences happen; the human family live, as did our fathers before us, for a short time, and then we, like them, pass away; and then again others are constantly coming to take the places of those who depart. And so it will continue until other dispensations shall be introduced, which will place things in another position.

There are one or two things which I wish to mention; they may seem small matters to some. I see in a telegram from Brother Cannon that he mentions certain things in regard to this funeral of his wife, one of which is, that he did not wish any show of mourning in connection with it. We know his feelings in this respect; they are the same as ours. It is customary for people to put on black apparel and to assume a melancholy appearance. That may be all very well, by way of paying respect to our dead friends; but the question is, whether this is the most appropriate way. Brother Cannon desired—I have talked with him also on the same subject—that the coffin in which the remains of his deceased wife should be laid, should be made of common mountain wood, and that everything about it be neat and plain, and that his family should not put on mourning apparel. His brother Angus has been desirous to carry out his instructions touching this matter, doing away entirely with those ostentatious appearances and all unnecessary parade of mourning so common nowadays on such occasions.

It is proper to sorrow; it is proper to show respect for the departed. It is proper that our sympathies should be drawn out; it is proper that we should assemble together to attend to appropriate funeral services, as we are now doing, that we may reflect upon our lives and upon the uncertainty thereof, and upon death and the results that may follow after; and that we consider the Gospel of the Son of God, and reflect upon our position, etc. But I have thought and indeed President Young thought, and so did Brother George A. Smith and others with whom I have conversed upon this subject, that we pay too much attention to these outward forms. We, above all other people upon the face of the earth, ought to be free from outward show, and from the appearance of sorrow, and mourning, having had planted within us the germs of immortality and eternal life; inasmuch as when we get through with the affairs of this world, we not only expect, but we know that we will inherit eternal lives in the celestial kingdom of God. And knowing this, it would not be for us to mourn as people without any hope.

When I see excessive sorrow on occasions of this kind among people professing to be Saints, I think they do not comprehend the position. It is proper to mourn; it is proper to sympathize, but I do not sympathize with Sister Cannon; I sympathize with her children; especially these little ones whom she has left; I sympathize with her friends who mourn her loss; I sympathize with Brother Cannon who is absent at Washington, under the peculiar circumstances in which he is placed; but while we do this it is not proper for people who, perhaps are struggling hard to obtain a subsistence to make a parade, to lay out a large amount of means to carry out the fashion that exists in the world. We want to feel that we are the sons and daughters of God; we want, when our friends leave us to show proper respect to them, which ought to be paid to all honorable men and women, and when we have done that we have performed our duty to them and our duty before God; it does not seem proper to place families or people in circumstances, through false ideas that would embarrass them and place them in an unpleasant position by trying to do that which they are really not able to do.

If we have secured the favor of God, if we are Saints of the Most High, if we have the Holy Ghost dwelling in us, if we are walking in the path of righteousness, if God is our God, and we are His children, if we are carrying out all those duties and responsibilities devolving upon us that His children should attend to, here upon the earth, we should feel satisfied if we are laid away without much ostentation and show; and in thus attending to the obsequies of those who pass away, we fulfil the duties which God has placed upon us. And He will take care of them afterwards.

If it were not for the atonement of Jesus Christ, the sacrifice he made, all the human family would have to lie in the grave throughout eternity without any hope. But God having provided, through the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, the medium whereby we can be restored to the bosom and presence of the Father, to participate with Him among the Gods in the eternal worlds—he having provided for that has also provided for the resurrection. He proclaimed Himself the resurrection and the life. Said he, “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” By and by the tombs will be opened and the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and they shall come forth, they who have done good to the resurrection of the just, and they who have done evil to the resurrection of the unjust.

There is one thing that gives me great satisfaction, that Sister Elizabeth, as she had been true in life to the principles which God had revealed pertaining to celestial marriage, was also true to them in death. Being the first wife, while in the heyday of life and youth having her husband to herself, in obedience to the law of God she sacrificed her own feelings at the shrine of duty, and in compliance with the laws of celestial marriage was willing that others should also share the affections of her husband. And during her last sickness, well understanding the animus that existed in the world and in Congress, in regard to this principle, when the grim messenger was staring her in the face and the clammy drops of the sweat of death were oozing from her brow, well knowing that her husband would stand true to his principles as she had to hers, she indited a telegram, telling him that if it was the will of God that she should be raised up, He could do it as well during His absence as if he were at home at her bedside; and in the conflict between affection and duty, while the springs of life were fast ebbing out, feeling the importance of his position, she indited the following immortal words, “REMAIN AT YOUR POST.” She has written during her last earthly moments, words of evidence to all the world, that she at any rate was a believer in those eternal principles that God has revealed for the salvation of His people, and for their purification and exaltation. I feel proud of that. And I believe there are thousands of our sisters would do the same. If we have a religion that will stand by us after life, if we have a religion that will exalt us among the Gods in the eternal worlds, the world may howl, and the corrupt may expend their energies, but God will take care of his Saints; and it will be all well with us in time and eternity.

I pray God to bless these children who mourn the loss of their mother, that they may be preserved in the truth and led in the paths of life. I pray God to bless the wives of Brother Cannon who are also here, together with all of his family and all that pertains to him. I pray God to lead them all in the paths of life; and that we may all be true to our God, and at last obtain a seat in the celestial kingdom of God, in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City, Jan. 1, 1882.

Brother Lyman on rising wished you a happy New Year; I will continue the compliment by adding a hundred thousand happy New Years and as many more as you wish.

A remark of this kind would sound rather peculiar in the ears of many individuals who do not look at things in the light which we do. But there are principles associated with the Gospel of the Son of God, which reach beyond this life into that which is to come; and we are simply here acting and operating in a state of probation. And if we act well our part here, the principles of the Gospel will place us in a position whereby we shall be enabled to act well our part in another world, and in another state of existence.

We occupy a peculiar position before the Lord. God is our Heavenly Father; and we are told that he is the God of the spirits of all flesh. We are told moreover that when men leave this earth, the spirit returns to God who gave it. And if we are faithfully performing our part, and attending to the duties and responsibilities which devolve upon us, as Saints of the Most High, then we shall be in a position whereby we shall have a right and a claim upon an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in the heavens for us. But we are here subject to the trials and vicissitudes pertaining to humanity, to prepare us for this inheritance referred to. And if we are faithful and diligent, as has been referred to by Brother Lyman, in regard to the various duties and responsibilities of life, we shall have a legitimate claim to the blessings that the good and the faithful expect to enjoy. But if we do not conduct ourselves aright, if we do not fulfil the requirements which the Lord makes of us, if we do not obey the commandments of Jehovah, we shall have no claim upon those promises that are made to the righteous, to those who fulfil His laws and keep His commandments. This is the way that I look at these things. Hence we are called to occupy a peculiar position in the world.

We have had a great many precious things revealed unto us, many of which have been hid from the minds of men from the foundation of the world. We are placed in a position to operate with God our Heavenly Father in the interests of humanity. He has selected, called and chosen us for this purpose. He has revealed Himself from the heavens. He has introduced the holy Priesthood, and conferred upon men power and authority to operate in his name, to act under his guidance, to be his mouthpieces to declare his will and to make known his designs to the human family. For this purpose men thus endowed and clothed have been sent forth to the nations of the earth, and are now being sent forth to spread that light, truth and intelligence which God has seen fit to reveal to the human family for their good, for their blessing, and for their exaltation in time and throughout the eternities that are to come. For this purpose he has imparted the Holy Ghost, and the light of revelation, confirming the testimony of his servants in their ministrations among the children of men. For this purpose he has gathered us together as we are here today, and as the Saints are gathered in other parts of this Territory, and in other Territories, that whilst we are pursuing the natural avocations of life, we might at the same time be taught and instructed of God, that we might learn the laws of life; that we might comprehend the object of our being and existence, and that we might in time learn to comprehend God the Eternal Father, and his purposes and designs in relation to mankind; that we might be purified from the corruptions and infamies that exist in the world, and that our spirits might be purged from everything that tends to deteriorate, injure or destroy man; and that we might be enabled to comprehend those principles which are calculated to elevate, to exalt and ennoble mankind, and to prepare them for the enjoyment of a place among the Gods in the eternal worlds. For this purpose he has organized the Church of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God, and revealed his law and his purposes to his Saints. For this purpose he has taught us of things pertaining to the future, having drawn aside the veil of the invisible world, and made known his purposes to his people, and taught us how to become saviors upon Mount Zion, that we may fulfil our destiny upon the earth, and accomplish the purposes of God, and carry out his design and will in sending us here upon the earth; that those principles which exist in the heavens and operate among the Gods may be communicated to man, and that we may be enabled to present them in all purity and in all their beauty, glory and grandeur, and that we may learn to save ourselves and then to save others. For this purpose we are building our Temples and, as they are being built, operate in them, that we may be one with God, and one with the ancient Patriarchs and Prophets and Apostles and men of God. And that while God our Heavenly Father and the holy angels and men of God who have lived in the different ages, who have been clothed upon with the Holy Priesthood, and admitted to communion with God, and have fulfilled their destiny upon the earth—are operating in the heavens with God our Heavenly Father for the accomplishment of his purposes pertaining to things upon the earth as well as to things in the heavens; it is for us to perform our parts and fulfil our duties and magnify our callings and Priesthood, and be one with them in the objects which they have in view pertaining to the welfare and exaltation of the Saints, the blessing of humanity and the salvation of the living and the dead, according to the foreknowledge and the eternal purposes of God relating thereunto. And we are here for that purpose.

We are here to establish the Church of God, that there may be a people who shall enjoy the right to serve him upon the earth in manner acceptable to him. We are here to establish the kingdom of God, that his government and rule and that an intelligent and comprehensive liberty and freedom may prevail among men and the peoples of the earth as they exist in heaven, and that we may be under the tuition and direction of our Heavenly Father, that his will may be done on earth as it is done in the heavens, and then be enabled to communicate these principles to our brethren and to the world.

These are some of the thoughts that pass through our minds when we read the word of God, and are in communion with him, when the Spirit of light, life, intelligence, and revelation rests upon us, and when the heavens and purposes of God are unfolded to our view. These, I say, are some of the thoughts that naturally flow through our minds. And talking about making new covenants on this the first of the year, why No! No! We do not wish to serve God by fits and starts, but to make his service and the obedience to his laws as the business of our lives. We love, reverence and serve God, because he loves us, and blesses and benefits us and acts as a kind and beneficent father to us. We have already entered into covenant with Our Heavenly Father; but the question is, are we fulfilling these covenants? Have we the Holy Priesthood, and do we magnify that before God and the holy angels, or do we suffer ourselves to be corrupted and demoralized, and make light of the things of God, and thus tamper with these great principles which are calculated to exalt all who are obedient thereto? These are some of the questions that we should apply to ourselves. We hear of things sometimes which make us blush for humanity. We hear of crime, corruption and debauchery spreading itself abroad throughout the world; and we hear too, sometimes, I am sorry to have to say of some calling themselves Latter-day Saints, being tainted with evils of that kind.

The great majority of the people of this city have been moved, because of drunkenness and kindred evils increasing among us, to petition the Mayor and members of the City Council to adopt such measures as will prevent this state of things. It is a shame for men professing to be Saints to be under the necessity of imploring the aid of the civil law to keep them sober; and while it is proper to guard our youth from the insidious wiles of the adversary, yet all men ought to do right from principle; and while we endorse such an act as most commendable on the part of the people, yet, in one sense, what have these dens of infamy to do with the Saints of God; or what have the Saints of God to do with the haunts of shame and disgrace? Why, if there were ten thousand of such things around, and men were living up to the spirit and power of God within them, they would say, My soul, enter thou not into their secret, mine honor, with them be not thou united, my morals, be not ye contaminated with such infamous corruptions. That would be the case if men did right and had the Spirit and power of God in them, and if they loved God and righteousness. But men who practice these infamies do not love God, nor have they a respect for his law; they do not love righteousness; they are not Latter-day Saints; they cannot be Latter-day Saints, neither can they have part or lot in the blessings and exaltations of the kingdom of God, either on the earth or in the heavens.

Let the wicked then pursue their course, and let the righteous pursue their’s. If any of our people are found mixed up with these iniquities, let them be dealt with as the law of God directs, and let them be purged from our midst. Let righteousness, truth and integrity be maintained, and let God be honored and let the Gospel be sustained and the law of God upheld, and He will stand by the righteous. These are my views and feelings in relation to these matters. And I would not give five cents for a man who had to have a law placed upon him; or someone to stand guard over him, to prevent him from going into those dens of infamy and those sinks of corruption that “civilization” has introduced into our midst. I would not give five cents for the religion of such a man, it is not worth having, the sooner he gets rid of it and comes out in his true colors, the better. And then let the transgressor be dealt with according to the law of God. Purge yourselves from them and their iniquities, and follow in the paths of righteousness. These are my feelings in relation to these matters.

We learn that in former times that there was no fellowship between God and Belial, no fellowship between light and darkness, no fellowship between truth and error, no fellowship between the Saints of God and the workers of iniquity. That doctrine is just as true today as it was when taught in former days. I speak of this because it is something which I, for one, will not bear; for one, I will not fellowship the workers of iniquity, I do not care who they are, or where they come from. And it is for us all to do right and keep the commandments of God. We talk sometimes about a man being an honest man; the reason why some are honest is because they cannot steal. But let a man be placed in a room or elsewhere with an amount of gold or other valuables within his reach, with the understanding that there was no fear of being detected, that if he appropriated any to his own use no one would know it as there was no check upon him; and if he of his own free will let it alone, I would say he was an honest man.

And in regard to drunkenness, which has been of late a prevailing topic of conversation—what a nice creature is a drunken Elder, a drunken Saint, a reeling, staggering, drunken Saint! What do you think of it? We write over our stores sometimes, “Holiness to the Lord.” We are called the Saints, or as the Germans express it, the heilige, der letzten tage or the holy of the last days. What! a drunken Elder, a drunken High Priest, or a drunken Saint? We will not have such a person associated with us; we will not be contaminated nor disgraced with the name nor with the infamy of such conduct. And as regards the sellers of intoxicating drinks, they would many of them, sell themselves. And any man who cannot let these things alone, any man that has not got manhood and respect enough to keep out of these pest-houses that disgrace our city, is not fit to associate with decent people, and respectable people ought to guard against him as they would against smallpox or any other pestiferous evil. And as the honesty of a man can only be tested by his having temptation within his reach, so no man can be considered as acting properly who cannot let liquor alone, when that is within his reach. Virtue does not consist simply in being prevented from committing evils, but in having temptations presented before us and then governing our passions and appetites. Good and evil are placed before us, no matter by whom, it is for us to resist evil and cleave to the right; we are told that it is to him that overcometh that I will grant to sit down on my throne, as I have overcome and sat down on my Father’s throne. Neither do we want excuses for any of these things, for God will condemn us if we bear them, and His wrath will be enkindled against us, and we shall find it a hard matter to pack such infamies upon our shoulders. I will not do it, I will throw them off of mine, I will have no fellowship with those who indulge in them; and I call upon all the Saints to do the same, and upon the proper authorities to take measures to root out from our midst everything that would defile and contaminate the morals of the Latter-day Saints.

About the world and their course—let them take their course. The wicked will, we expect, continue to do as they have done for years, grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. And to the evils that are among us, which have been introduced here, and which are being fostered and encouraged by wicked and corrupt men, I would say to our people, let them alone. If, however, our young men or any of the older ones should be found violating the laws of the land, let them be punished as the laws direct, it does not matter whose sons they are, or who they may be. If you should find any of mine doing it, bring them up and straighten them out, and let the penalty of the law be inflicted for their evil, pernicious practices; and if it be anybody else’s sons or fathers, do the same with them. And let us guard jealously the principles of virtue, sobriety and purity, by disfellowshipping and purging from us those who dishonor and trample them under foot. And let us be for God and for Zion, for truth and for righteousness; for we cannot drag the contaminated and corrupt into heaven, such are not wanted there; and I do not want to introduce them there whether they are my sons or the sons of anybody else. The Scripture says: “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Now, it is for us to choose what course we will pursue. I do not suppose that I am talking to any of these drunkards, they generally do not come to meeting; they would rather have a bottle with them at home, or meet in grog shops or other places where the debased and contaminated are wont to assemble. And it is proper they should seek their own company, for we do not want them here. We want men who are Saints from principle, men who love God, who keep his commandments, men who are pure and virtuous, men who are seeking to glorify God through obedience to his laws, and men who do these things because they love to do them. We do not wish to see anything approaching coercion in dealing with persons, but we wish them to understand that we will not any longer be disgraced by their infamies.

As has been referred to, we have entered into covenant with God, and it is only on the condition of our keeping our covenants inviolate that we shall be entitled to the exceedingly great and precious promises which he has made to us. And he does expect us to be true to him: he expects it of me; he expects it of my brethren associated with me as Counselors; he expects it of the Twelve; he expects it of the Presidents of Stakes; he expects it of the Bishops; he expects it of the High Councilors; he expects it of the High Priests, of the Seventies and the Elders, and of all Israel. He expects us all to be men of God, with clean hands and pure hearts, seeking to magnify our calling and to honor our God. Let us do this, and all will be right with us; and those who do not wish to do this, let them step on one side. And while we would avoid anything like harshness or precipitancy, and treat all men with forbearance and kindness, and bear, to a reasonable extent, with the weaknesses and infirmities of men, we must deal with transgressors for their fellowship, and cut them off from the Church. We must have people who will serve God and keep his commandments. And then we can go to God our Heavenly Father when our enemies conspire against us, and plead with him for protection; and he will take care of Israel and maintain and sustain his saints. But if we fellowship evil and iniquity, crime and corruption, infamies and drunkenness, debauchery and lasciviousness, and all the evils of the Christian world—if we do this we need not look for the help of God; he will leave us to ourselves to take our own course. But if we will do our duty, discountenance iniquity, obey the laws of God and keep his commandments, he will take care of Israel and sustain his people. These are my feelings in relation to this matter.

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

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, December 11, 1881.

I am pleased to have the opportunity of meeting with and addressing the Saints in this place. Since our last Conference I have traveled a great deal among the Saints in different parts of the Territory, in part accompanied by some of my counsel and the Twelve. Personally within a short time I have visited all the leading settlements of the Saints both north and south, east and west, and it may not be unin– teresting to you to hear a brief statement of the position which the Saints occupy in their various locations and settlements; because we all of us feel more or less interested in the welfare of all. It was in view of this that I felt a desire to visit the Saints at their own homes, to associate with them at their own firesides, or at least to meet them in their public assemblies. It has been very interesting to myself and accompanying brethren to find out the true position which the Saints occupy, to know what their standing is in relation to their religious views and sentiments, and also to ascertain their moral status and how they conduct themselves not only religiously but socially. And then another thing that we felt desirous to understand was the true educational condition of the Saints; and what they were doing to enlighten the minds of the youth and to train them in the right paths, and how far literature, science and those principles of intelligence which are calculated to exalt and ennoble men when under proper influences, prevailed among our people, and in what manner they deported themselves in regard to all these things. We have felt the more desirous to do this because many of the Saints live far from the seat of the Presidency of the Church. I suppose so far as we have been in this Territory, in the adjoining Territory of Idaho, in some portions of Wyoming, and in other portions south, that we have not traveled less than from 500 to 600 miles in a direct course north and south, besides visiting nearly all the prominent settlements east and west, and our feeling and impressions after visiting the whole of the Saints in all of their locations are to us very interesting and encouraging. So far as the temporal position of the people is concerned, they seem to be in possession of a reasonable share of the good things of life; their habits of industry and perseverance, their self-abnegation, the desire to comprehend and sustain correct principles, together with the blessing of the Almighty, have tended to promote their welfare in a temporal point of view.

We do not find so many very wealthy people as there are in some communities, but our people, so far as our observation goes (and we have had a pretty fair opportunity of investigating all these matters), are second to none in regard to the comforts, conveniences and necessaries of life; and perhaps there is no place nor people (at least, none that I have any knowledge of, and I have traveled quite extensively myself in the world), that are better situated as a whole than are the Latter-day Saints in this and the adjoining territories, nor where more of the people dwell in their own homes. We find thousands upon thousands of happy homes, and the people that inhabit them are sober, industrious, frugal and Godfearing, feeling a strong desire to observe the laws and keep the commandments of the Lord; and notwithstanding the many aspersions cast upon them by wicked and designing men, they nevertheless evince a strong desire to observe the laws and institutions of the land. We find them in possession generally of good houses, farms, orchards, gardens, and in many instances, of cattle, sheep, horses, and all the appliances of life which tend to promote comfort in a social and family capacity. We find, too, that this season has been a very prosperous one, with very few exceptions, throughout the length and breadth of the Territory. The Lord has blessed our labors, exceedingly, and I presume that the crops, as a general thing, have been increased at least 20 to 25 percent, I think we should be quite safe in saying 20 percent; and this, of course, tends to make existence more pleasant and agreeable, and to enable the people to more easily struggle in the battle of life in its various forms and phases. In addition to this we find that they are generally seeking to live their religion and to keep the commandments of God. And the various organizations which you have among you here, in this city, prevail throughout all the settlements of the Saints with very few exceptions, very few indeed. We find that the Relief Societies which are so active and energetic among you here and which are operating so creditably in looking after the interest and welfare of the female portion of our society, also exist all over the Territory, and that there is a creditable zeal and intelligence without that obtrusiveness which we see among many—a desire to promote the well-being of those with whom they are associated, and to make themselves useful in all the affairs of life: and we feel whenever we find a disposition of this kind, to appreciate it. We find, also, that our Young Men’s and Young Women’s Mutual Improvement Associations prevail almost everywhere, and that there is a desire to elevate the youth and lift them up from the sloughs of ignorance and darkness, and to implant within their minds true and correct principles, putting them in possession of a knowledge of science, literature, and the arts, and cultivating those principles that are calculated to elevate and ennoble mankind, as well as to correct their morals and govern them in their religious pursuits. We find, also, that their Primary Associations are attended to with the same vigilance that they are around us here, and that the most wise, prudent and intelligent ladies are selected for the purpose of supervising their movements and in “teaching the young idea how to shoot.” We find, also, that throughout the Territory our Sunday Schools receive that attention which we consider all such institutions ought to merit and do merit, and that the best of men and women are selected for their teachers, who, as we see, take an interest in the welfare of our rising posterity.

It is not for me to enter into all particulars; I merely wish to give a brief outline of these matters. All of these institutions that I have referred to are in a very creditable position; are managed with great care, and many of your old neighbors who used to live here in the city, both men and women, and who were known as high-minded, honorable persons—we find mixed in the various societies throughout the settlements and organizations, exerting an influence which is truly interesting to all who feel desirous to promote the welfare of Zion and the building of the kingdom of God upon the earth. Then, again, in regard to our scholastic affairs, we find that there is very great progress being made in our common schools, or rather what are termed our district schools. We find that a more intelligent class of teachers is being employed, and that with the operations of the normal department of the University, with the Brigham Young Academy in Provo, and other institutions of learning, they are telling very favorably upon our youth, and as better teachers are obtained, there seems to be a greater desire manifested among the people to acquire intelligence of every kind. From the best information that I am able to obtain, I suppose there are at least thirty normal students turned out every year. They are prepared in our University and in the other scholastic institutions referred to, and as these teachers, coming from their own counties and peoples, return to their several homes, properly qualified as instructors, they do a great deal of good among the community.

In relation to other matters, such as the building of Temples, they are also progressing very favorably. I need not say anything about the one we are building here; you are all acquainted with that. The one which is being built in Logan is now covered in. A large force of carpenters are engaged in finishing the interior department thereof, and another year will count very favorably in the work on that structure. It is a beautiful building, and stands in a very imposing position on an elevated plateau in Cache County, near Logan. About 200 miles from that, in the south, in Sanpete County, there is another Temple being built. That also occupies a very eligible position. A very large amount of labor has been performed in preparing the site. The point of a mountain has been removed, and a great amount of labor has been expended on the walls which surround the Temple, forming nearly a semi-circle. There are three terraces elevated one above another, the same as the gallery may be elevated above the lower part of this house; they surround the Temple, being wider, of course, at the lower part and narrower as they approach towards the Temple. A very large amount of means and labor have been expended in preparing these terraces and also in preparing the Temple. The Temple itself is a beautiful structure. They expect to have the walls up to the square in another season. I think they have built up the wall this year some 28 feet. It is built of beautiful white rock—or at least very light, clear rock and is hewn on the outside where the joints come together, and presents a very beautiful and creditable appearance. It is interesting, too, to find how strongly the feelings of the people are drawn out in relation to these edifices. They seem to think that no sacrifice is too great to accomplish the object which they have in view; indeed in both of these Temple districts they seem to take very great pride in prosecuting this labor. I was informed that the superintendent was a little short of means a short time ago at the Manti Temple, and he asked if he must slacken the labor. They told him no, he was to proceed with it, and I think in a very short time a number of people from different parts subscribed 7,000 bushels of wheat to assist in the construction of the Temple, and there seems to be, generally, a strong desire for the accomplishment of this work.

The religion that we have espoused, connects time with eternity, heaven with earth, this world with the next, and while the Lord has revealed unto us what is termed a new Gospel, and hence it is called the new and everlasting Gospel—new indeed to the people of the world, but everlasting so far as God is concerned and the interests of mankind both living and dead; for God is interested in the welfare of all humanity that has ever lived, that now lives, or that ever will live. He is, we are told, the God of the spirits of all flesh, and he has introduced principles which have been made known to us for the benefit of all. The principles that we are associated with reach back into eternity and forward into eternity. They are not the ideas, the theories or notions of men, they emanate from the Almighty. And in regard to the ideas which have been developed pertaining to the past, the present and the future, none of us can claim ourselves to be the founders or the originators of any one idea associated with the Church and kingdom of God, neither was Joseph Smith, neither was Brigham Young, neither are any of the Twelve, nor is anybody that now exists or has existed; all of these things come from the Lord. And having proceeded from him he has dictated the whole matter from first to last. We did not receive our ideas from any theologian, from any scientist, from any man of renown, or of position in the world, or from any body or conclave of religionists, but from the Almighty, and to him we are indebted for all life, all truth, and all intelligence pertaining to the past, pertaining to the present, or pertaining to the future. Therefore we feel our dependence upon him. Neither are we indebted to any man for any doctrine that we have received, nor for the organization of our Church, nor for the Holy Priesthood, whether it be the Melchizedek or the Aaronic; all of these proceed from the Almighty, and if he had not given them we should have been as ignorant of them as others are, for they do not generally comprehend the law, the word, the will, or the design of the Almighty; for no man knows the things of God but by the Spirit of God; and if the Father did not reveal them we should be very ignorant indeed, as are the rest of mankind pertaining to these matters. But the time having come to introduce what is termed, the “dispensation of the fulness of times,” when God would gather together all things in one, whether they be things in heaven or things on the earth, it became necessary, because of the ignorance of men, because they did not comprehend God, nor his laws, nor the principles of eternal truth, that men should be taught of the Almighty, that God should be their instructor, and hence he introduced through the medium of the Holy Priesthood that had existed heretofore upon the earth, those principles which are calculated to bless and exalt the human family, prepare them to carry out the word and will of God, and to accomplish these purposes which he had designed from before the foundation of the world. Hence he organized the First Presidency and the Twelve, he organized the Seventies, he organized Elders, Priests, Teachers, and Deacons, he organized Bishops and High Councils and all the various adjuncts associated with the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And why, it may be asked, should these institutions be introduced in our midst? For certain obvious reasons when we reflect upon this all-important matter. Having revealed his will to man, to Joseph Smith, as he had done to other men in former ages, it was necessary that that will should be made known to all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, that men might be informed of the things that he revealed for the salvation and exaltation of humanity. Hence the Twelve were set apart. For what purpose? That they might introduce the Gospel to the nations of the earth, and preach the principles of life as they emanate from God. Then the Seventies also were ordained until we now have upwards of seventy times seventy. What is their business? Under the direction of the Twelve, to preach the Gospel to the nations of the earth. Are they doing it? Yes. Have they been doing it? Yes. And the Twelve? Yes, for these many, very many years, and are still doing it. We still feel the same responsibility devolving upon us to spread forth that light, that truth, and that intelligence which has emanated from God our heavenly Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ. And these men are going forth bearing precious seeds, even the seeds of eternal life, and when the people believe the Gospel what do they do? Their testimony to the people is that God has spoken, that the Gospel has been restored; they explain what the Gospel is; they call upon the people to repent and to be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins, promising that the obedient shall receive the Holy Ghost. Do they baptize them? Yes. Do they lay on hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost? Yes. Do the people receive the Holy Ghost? Yes, and you here today are my witnesses in relation to these things, and you know what I say is true. And what will the Holy Ghost do? It takes of the things of God, and shows them unto us; it brings things past to our remembrance; it leads us into all truth and shows us things to come. Does it do that? Yes, and it is because of this principle that the Latter-day Saints feel as they do; having partaken of the Holy Ghost and tasted the powers of the world to come, and having received a hope that enters within the veil, whither Christ the forerunner is gone, and knowing today that they are the sons of God, and that they have rights and privileges pertaining not only to time but to eternity, they feel to act and operate under the directions of that spirit. And being partakers of that spirit, there is a communication opened between them and their heavenly Father through our Lord Jesus Christ, and being inspired by that spirit, their prayers ascend unto the God of the whole earth; they learn to place their confidence in him and to obey his laws; and then having been baptized into one baptism; they all partake of the same spirit—that is, those who are living their religion, observing the laws of God and keeping his commandments, and who have not grieved the Spirit of God, whereby they are sealed to the day of redemption. Then, that same spirit that brought them into the Church and led them to obey the laws of God, led them to gather together as we are here today. It is a false idea entertained by many very ignorant men that we gather men together on some kind of emigration principle. The people get the principle of gathering in their own hearts by the Spirit of God, and that draws them here. There needs no argument, no influence, no power of suasion, or anything of the kind to bring them here. Their desire, when they receive the Gospel, is to come to Zion. And why? That they may learn more fully of the laws of life. As the scriptures say—“I will take you one of a city and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion. And what will you do with them when you get them to Zion?” “I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” Hence we have come together as we are here in this city and in this Territory. Our object is to fear God, to observe his laws, to magnify our calling, to fulfil our destiny upon the earth, and to operate with those who are behind the veil in the interests of humanity, to lay aside our selfishness, our covetousness, our evils of every kind whatever they may be, and to purge ourselves from unrighteousness, that we may be fit receptacles for the Holy Ghost and be prepared to do the will of God on earth as it is done in heaven. I know a great many men object to us doing this. No matter; with God’s help we will try to do it; no matter what the opinions and ideas, the feelings and theories of men are. God has laid on us a mission, and in the name of Israel’s God we will fulfil it, and let all Israel say Amen. [The congregation responded aloud, Amen]. We will try and carry out what God has given us to do, no matter what men’s theories, opinions or ideas may be. We are here, then, for that purpose. And we feel that God is our heavenly Father; we feel that we are his children; we feel that we are doing his work by his assistance, we feel, too, that he is engaged just as much as we are, and a thousand times more, in carrying on this work, and therefore we feel easy and satisfied in our minds and know that all is well. God our heavenly Father, Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, the ancient patriarchs and prophets and men of God who have lived upon the earth years and years ago, Adam the Father of mankind, and Noah, another great father, and Abraham the father of the faithful, and all the Prophets, Apostles and men of God who have lived upon the earth are interested as we are in the welfare of humanity and in seeking to introduce and carry out the word and will of God which he designed before the world rolled into existence or the morning stars sang together for joy. God will accomplish his work and we will try and help him do it. It needs the cooperation of all these men who have held this Priesthood, who administer in time and in eternity—it needs the cooperation of all those and of the Gods in the eternal worlds to assist us in the labors in which we are engaged. Therefore, God has introduced the system of things that we have been speaking of for the purpose of gathering together a people who would listen to his voice and they are the only people on the earth today who will listen thereto, and then it is as much as the bargain for many of us to do it. God expects to have a people who will be men of clean hands and pure hearts, who withhold their hands from the receiving of bribes, who will swear to their own hurt and change not, who will be men of truth and integrity, of honor and virtue, and who will pursue a course that will be approved by the Gods in the eternal worlds, and by all honorable and upright men that ever did live, or that now live, and having taken upon us the profession of sainthood, he expects us to be Saints, not in name, not in theory, but in reality. And then he expects us to do just what we are doing, that is, to build Temples, and to preach the Gospel to an unthankful world. Have we done it? Yes, we have. I have done it. I have, traveled thousands of miles to preach this Gospel without purse or scrip, trusting in God. Did I ever lack anything? No. Here is Brother Woodruff, and many other men who have done just the same thing. High Priests, Seventies, Elders, and others have gone forth to the world, bearing the precious principles of eternal life, and have returned again, as the Scripture say, bringing their sheaves with them. What are we doing besides? Building our Temples. What for? That we may have places to enter into that are dedicated to the God of the whole earth.

The world have forgotten that God is the fountain of all truth, the source of all intelligence, of everything that is calculated to elevate and exalt mankind; but we will give to God all the glory. We are seeking to build up the Zion of our God. And shall we accomplish it? With the help of the Lord we will. Will we all do right? No, many will fall by the wayside as they have done; but the work of God will go on and prosper and increase, and the Lord will be with Israel if they will only cleave to the truth, obey his laws and keep his commandments. Are all good? No, you know that many of us do many things that are far from right. Let me say unto you that our only safety is in obedience to the laws of God. You need not fear the clamor that is now being raised against us, nor any of this nonsense, this spite of the world; you need not fear the illiberality of religionists who are clamoring to deprive you of your liberties, you need care nothing about that.

You all know that they are proclaiming falsehoods against us, and that we are misrepresented by them. No matter, they are in the hands of God, and we are in the hands of God; and while we seek to maintain righteous principles, virtue, purity, and the laws of the land, we can afford to leave them in the hands of God, and let him be their judge. Let us be for God, for righteousness, for virtue, for purity, for truth and integrity, and if our enemies prefer to wallow in their iniquities, and lend themselves to vice and falsehood, we can stand these things if they can, it is better to suffer than do wrong. The Lord will judge both them and us, and all will be well with those who cleave to the truth. We need not be troubled about their intrigues and mendacity. God will protect the right and will save and bless and deliver us despite their mendacious assertions, if we fear him, observe his laws, and keep his commandments. They, nor any other men, nor any power, can go further than God permits them, and when he says stop, they must stop. He will control all things according to the counsels of his own will. It is for us to be willing to obey his laws, to preserve our bodies and spirits pure, to cleave to righteousness, to honor the Lord our God, that we may always have his spirit to be with us. And if we are faithful by and by, it will be said of us, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things and I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.

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

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered in the St. George Tabernacle, Wednesday Evening, Nov. 9th, 1881.

I feel pleased to have the opportunity of again meeting with you. There are many things that if I had time, I should like to talk about. However, there were one or two statements, that I made yesterday, which I will further explain. In speaking of the position of the people and of their settlements in this southern country, I then stated that President Young did not make any mistake in laying out a city here, nor in building a Temple here; that it was quite as important a move as any that could have been made in the interests of the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth. If I were to enter into the details of that move I should speak of it perhaps in a two-fold capacity; but I will speak for a short time, at least, upon some of the leading features associated with the position that we occupy here in these valleys of the mountains.

We are quite a long distance from the outside world. It is true there are railroads and more are being made; and it is right there should be. That is their part of the business. In this way, and in many instances, they are assisting us to build up the kingdom of God, but they don’t know it. If they did they would not like to do it.

The position that we occupy in these valleys of the mountains, is a very peculiar one. When we came up here the first place that was designated was Salt Lake City. President Young said that he had a manifestation that that was the place. There was a valley, a very good valley, a comparatively rich valley, a valley that was well watered, a valley that could be irrigated without much labor, where the streams were quite easy of access and where a small community could easily raise their sustenance; and this we did. Now, had we landed in a place like this at first, it would have been more difficult, people would have become more discouraged, and some of them felt very much discouraged as it was—some going to California because everything looked so forbidding. Yet others thought it would be a pleasant place to reside in, a place where a living could be as easily obtained as in most other places, except we go to some of the rich lands of Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, etc. But there were other circumstances associated with these things that would have made it difficult for us to sustain ourselves even in those places. For instance, we lived in a rich land back in Missouri. Everything there seemed to grow at a very rapid rate, everything increased very fast. I have heard some people tell such big stories about the productiveness of that country that I have sometimes been afraid to tell what I myself knew of it, for fear that people would not believe me. For instance, I have seen fields of corn that a regiment of soldiers could ride into and they would be out of sight; and I have seen beans grow where corn has been planted where the corn stalks have served as bean poles; and I have seen pumpkins and squash grow among them, three crops growing the same year and at the same time. That country, nevertheless, has many drawbacks. In that country we were very unhealthy. We were subject to what is called fever and ague every year; in fact, in the spring we used to think we did well if we didn’t happen to die off in the fall. Why could we not stop there? Because the land was too good, and we were easy of access to men desirous to possess our property, and they told us to move on, and we had to go. We had to leave Missouri, and I suppose God intended to try the Saints, to let them pass through certain kinds of experience and place them in a position that they would have to lean on Him. Some of the people rebelled against these things in their feelings. Among the rest, I remember being much shocked at the remarks of Sidney Rigdon after he had been imprisoned with the Prophet Joseph in Richmond jail, as well as many others. I visited them in jail, and Sidney Rigdon made a remark soon after he got out, to the effect that if God did not care anything more about us than He seemed to do, that if He allowed us to be hauled around as we had been, he did not care about serving such a God. That is, he found the trials were heavier for him than he was capable of bear– ing, notwithstanding that he had seen the Lord and had had visions pertaining to the celestial, terrestrial and telestial kingdoms, in which he had seen the position of men in the future, and the purposes of God regarding the nations of the earth, and had borne testimony of it in connection with Joseph Smith, as we find recorded in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. Yet when trials came his knees faltered, and the knees of many others have faltered in the same way. Now, we talk about lands, good rich land. Why did we not stay in Missouri? Because people would not let us. It was just so in Illinois. Why did we leave there? Because, as I have heard Brother George A. Smith say, we left because we could not help ourselves; at least, that was the purport of his saying. I think the Lord was very merciful to us in Salt Lake Valley. I believe we landed just in the right place. The people commenced to establish themselves; they began to find that they could raise crops there, and that the land was very productive. We stayed there for a while and began to make little settlements and little excursions out into the surrounding country. The people had all kinds of difficulties. I remember once, in Bountiful, there were three or four families went up to settle there, and they felt that there was not enough water, and that they could hardly get along. They got to quarreling about water rights, as we do sometimes. I do not know of much quarreling down here; I do not think you have as much water to quarrel over as they had. Afterwards President Young was moved upon to begin to make settlements in other places. We had now obtained a foothold. We had a place where we could raise all the grain necessary for our sustenance, where we could raise sheep, cattle, etc. We pushed out to Ogden on the one hand and to Provo on the other, and then occupied some of the best places in Salt Lake Valley, in Utah Valley, and on the Weber. We began to increase; more immigrants came in, and others began to come from above. Things went on. A Temple was started there, but it seemed to progress very slowly; as well it might when we consider the substantial nature of the building. When we started, we had nothing but wagons to haul the rock on, and they were very big rock, if you remember. Those rocks had to be hauled about 17 miles in those wagons, and owing to the liability of the wagons to break down, this work gave us a great deal of trouble. Today, and right along for a number of years past, since the railroad has been built, it is not uncommon to bring in some three or four car loads at a time, delivering the rock in the Temple yard. Then it was thought best to commence down here. Why? Let me tell you some other things and show you about the settlements north and south, and especially south. If you remember, Brother Geo. A. Smith, as much as 25 years ago—I don’t remember exactly how long—came down and made a settlement at Parowan, and another at Cedar—and here is Brother Henry Lunt present, who was one of that number. He came to Cedar at that time, and they tried to start iron works at that place. And then Brother Joseph Horne and some others were sent down to see if cotton could not be raised in this district of country in the hope that something could be done whereby we might produce the raw material for the manufacture of our clothes, and they stayed a little while somewhere not far from here, some five miles south on the Santa Clara, I am told. There was a rich little settlement up there. Some time after, a great deal of it was washed away. I remember the struggles Brother George A. used to have. He labored under difficulties, being so very heavy, and not as active as most men; but he was a man of great energy. He would come down here and bring a few men, and would settle them down and go back again. By and by he would bring some more down, all that he could pick up that would volunteer. By the time he came down again, he would find half of the others had gone. They did not want to stop. They thought the land was set up on edge and had never been finished, and they had all kinds of notions. Then he would return to the city, and drum up a few more recruits, and take them down; and by the time he got here he would find that a good many of those he left had also gone. Finally, they became weeded out and left, until he got a lot of folks who, if they had considered it a duty to go on to a barren rock and stay there until they should be instructed to leave, would have done it. It needed just such an element to come to this country. What Brother Snow said here, referring to the sad fact of there being such a number of widows in this place whose husbands had gone to their graves through having worked themselves to death, was perfectly true; but, then, we don’t want to cry about it. We may as well laugh as cry about the past. You have done a great deal of hard work. In coming down from Pine Valley we found immense dugways in the most forbidding places, and it has required all the perseverance, energy, intelligence and faith of even those men who were capable of living on a dry rock—it required the combined energy of the whole to accomplish these things, and a good deal of faith too.

Still President Young urged forward the people; Brother Geo. A. Smith and Brother Erastus Snow urged them forward, and others urged them forward, and there was a general feeling to build up this southern country. Finally it was found that our Temple in Salt Lake City would take such a long time to build, it was thought best to erect one down here. Why? Because there was a people living here who were more worthy than any others. Who were more worthy of the blessings of a Temple than those who had displayed the self-abnegation exhibited by the pioneers of the south? God inspired President Young to build a Temple here because of the fidelity and self-abnegation of the people; and, furthermore that there might be an asylum here for those living further south to be administered to in the holy ordinances of God. I speak this for your credit—not that all of you are of that class, but let those that are worthy take the credit, and those that are not, need not take it. This Temple was built and we went into it, and a great many thousands of people have been administered to, and for, within its walls. People have administered for themselves and for their progenitors. Over 150,000 people, Brother McAllister says, have been administered for in this Temple. Don’t you think it is worth while building a Temple where such a work can be done? If life is worth anything, if salvation is worth anything, if the life of our friends and brethren with whom we shall be associated in the kingdom of God, is worth anything, then I think a good work was done in the building of this Temple. In other words, it was a wise move. Why? Because it helped to sustain this part of the country. Means were brought from other places down here to supply the people with means and labor, thus it has been a blessing both to the living and the dead. You men who comprehend things aright, you would not take in exchange anything that could be conferred upon you for the blessings you have received in that Temple.

There were then blessings of a temporal nature, as well as of a spiritual nature, connected with the labor performed in the building of that house. There was another thing. In establishing the kingdom of God it was necessary that there should be a strong place somewhere here between the land south and the land north. It was necessary that there should be a foothold here all through these valleys of the mountains between Salt Lake City and north of Salt Lake City clear away, as you have heard President Young say, on the backbone of the American continent. And why? We make remarks sometimes, but I always like to get at the bottom of them. Why is it better for us to be here than to be somewhere else? If we had been in Missouri we should have been mobbed and robbed long ago. If we had been anywhere in Central America or South America where we could have been reached, our Christian friends would have come there and stolen what we had from us. But, furthermore, President Young, who was governed by the inspiration of the Spirit of God in leading the people forth in the way he did, expected that these railroads that are now coming would come along. Years ago I expected the same thing, because I saw them at work here, and clear away into Mexico. I had it manifested to me, and Brother George Q. Cannon, here has heard me speak about the matter. Didn’t you Brother Cannon? (Brother Cannon: Yes, sir.) At that time I was very sick. I told President Young of some things that I then believed would take place, among the rest was this railroad building. And if there had not been some pretty strong places, such as a settlement on Salt Creek, a settlement at Beaver, a settlement at Parowan, a settlement down here, etc., we never would have been able to carry out the will of God, and we should have been in a different position with regard to other settlements further south than we are today. Now your young men are beginning to say, they want room. There is plenty of room south. Here is Brother Snow, who has been working like a beaver, and there are others, who are doing the same, establishing settlements in the various valleys south, in Arizona, in Colorado, and all through this southern country, until we now occupy, as I have stated in other places, some 800 miles of country in a direct line, running north and south.

What did we have when we left Nauvoo? Not much. Any property to spare? I think not. I think many of us would have gone without shoes, without clothing, unless God had interposed in a miraculous manner in sending down—I was going to say, a shower of clothing. You remember that Brother Kimball prophesied at a certain time that clothing would be as cheap here as in the East. Regarding this some people felt a good deal like the man did when Elijah prophesied about a measure of meal being sold for so much. Says one man; if the heavens were to open this could not happen; but it did happen; and the other happened that Brother Kimball talked about. When the gold fever burst out, people brought clothing by the wholesale and sold it for a mere song, and let you sing the song; until the wants of the people were all supplied. Who supplied them? These men. Did they want to do it? No, it was the Lord who controlled these matters. He started up this feeling which brought the people here, and they acted more like crazy men than any I ever saw. They were ready to give us their goods almost for nothing. The Saints at that time in Salt Lake City were supplied with all the necessaries of life brought by traders whom they knew nothing about, and they traded off their cattle and their horses and anything these people could pack away. Here was a manifestation of the work of the Lord, of the will of God, and the protecting care of our heavenly Father over His Saints.

As I told you yesterday we have traveled among the Saints and found thousands of happy homes, good farms, good gardens and orchards, cattle, sheep, horses, etc., and that the people generally are now in a very prosperous condition. What has it originated from? We certainly did not bring it about. God has blessed our labors on the land and increased the water for our sake.

Now, having said so much upon this subject I will turn to our political position. We have already made in Salt Lake City numbers of very nice places. You have also got some very beautiful buildings here. I am sorry to see so much saleratus yet in the land; I wish you had a little easier times; but while I am inclined to sympathize with you, yet I do not want my sympathy to overcome my judg– ment about matters of this kind.

Now we have really the foundation for a prosperous State. We started with nothing a little while ago. I think we have made pretty well at it. You have had hard times; still you are living and thriving: there are none of you naked or without shoes, hats or bonnets. You seem to be provided with a great many of the good things of this life. You seem to be doing tolerably well. I know very well that you have a hard struggle to make two ends meet; I understand it. But there is one advantage you have—no one will want to steal away your place from you; will they? (Laughter.) I do not think they would want to carry it off. I do not think they would want to drive you away because of your extraneous wealth; consequently, you are free from this trouble. That is not the fix of the nations of the earth. Go to some of the nations today and look at their condition. Take England for instance; they are prospering very well, but look at the trouble they have had in Ireland. They have tried to benefit that people in one way or another, but they seem to spurn those benefits, and are inclined to stir up commotion which is not unlikely to end in bloodshed. We are not troubled in that way. In Russia, look at the horrible condition they are in. They have secret societies, as spoken of in the Book of Mormon. They are engaged in all kinds of plots, plans and calculations. They have tried to kill their present Czar, after having assassinated his father. There seems to be a feeling of uneasiness and trouble among the nations. Then again, in Turkey, they have had a great deal of trouble there. It has leaked out lately that the Sultan, who was said to have died a natural death, was strangled, and they have lately been prosecuting his assassins. There are terrible forebodings among the nations of the earth because of troubles that seem to be threatening them. Here we have had our own President killed, and a little while ago President Lincoln was assassinated, and there seems to be a spirit of that kind rampant, and it will grow worse and worse. Not long ago in Pittsburgh there was a shocking state of things, where they burnt up and destroyed property to the amount of three millions of dollars or more. We have apparently prosperous times. There is now a lull in the storm, but it is only a lull to burst out more violently by and by. You will see it. There are elements at work to uproot the government and destroy the foundation of society, and to take away the rights of men and pull down the bulwarks of this government, and scatter to the four winds the principles by which it has been governed, and to let loose the wildest passions of men. These are some of the things that are taking place. These are the elements that are at work today. They are running around, and through, and among the people almost everywhere. And it will not be long before there is trouble again in the United States. These inflated times will by and by bring about a great reaction, and then there will be trouble and difficulty; and so these things will continue to increase.

Now, we are here in the tops of the mountains, far away from these things. We are here learning the laws of life and the principles of truth, and we are here as saviors upon Mount Zion, operating in the interests of humanity, sending forth missionaries to the nations of the earth, gathering people together; and when they are gathered together, we build temples and administer in them. We are here, forming closer connections with the heavens, with God our Heavenly Father, with Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, and with the ancient Apostles, Prophets and men of God. We are here participating in some of the greatest blessings that ever were conferred upon mankind since the world was formed. We are here as those that God has selected from the nations of the earth, that He may plant among us the principles of eternal truth, and that we may operate with Him and with the Priesthood behind the veil in the interests of all humanity that have ever lived upon the face of the earth. We are a blessed people if we could only comprehend our position. And we need not be too anxious about the affairs of the world. Men of wealth, men of standing, men of position, men who stand in high places, are beginning to tremble and quake everywhere. They are looking forward with terrible forebodings to something that they fear is coming upon the earth. They do not know what it is, but it will burst upon them and their forebodings will be realized.

But we will look at this matter again. Could we be in a better place? I think not. Let me show you the reason for that. We are a very small people, and we are in the midst of a very large people. We occupy these valleys among these rugged mountains, and we dwell in deserts, and in many of the most forbidding places. We see people living in little places, on little streams of water trickling along, and perhaps all of it would go through an inch pipe without much pressure, and they are professing to farm and raise fruits, vegetables and vines in such places, wrenching their living from the barren desert soil. And they do live, but it is hard sledding, and there is a great deal of it here. Now then, go over the ground we have traveled to get here, say starting from Utah County to Juab, from Juab to Fillmore, from Fillmore to Beaver, from Beaver to Parowan, and so on down through here, and among these rocks where little settlements are placed, and up and down your rivers, how very, very few comparatively they are. Yet what an extent of land, is there not? We occupy the country it is true; but I tell the people sometimes that our mountains have very large feet, and that our deserts occupy very large tracks of land. But wherever there is a habitable place, Latter-day Saints are living on it, and consequently living in these little places they control the mountains and the country. Is not that a fact? And suppose we did not have these little forbidding, barren places, the little springs and little rivulets that come along reminding one of oases in the deserts—if we did not have them we could not have the country, but we have them and God has given us possession of them. If we had not possessed these narrow valleys and defiles they would have been in the possession of bands of Gadianton robbers, who would have preyed upon the people and their property, as “cowboys” and guerrillas are now doing in Arizona. But our possessing them gave strength and protection to our more important settlements.

We have paid for what we have got. I expect your land is all entered here?

Answer—Yes, sir.

You have paid for the land then, and you have paid for it up here in Pine Valley. There is a big moun– tain between, and you own that in the bargain, and all those sand ridges and rough places, including Jacob’s Twist are thrown in for nothing. You own the country here and there and all the way through. How far is it from these mountains to Kanab?

Answer—About 80 miles, sir.

The most of it is mountainous. But there are little places here and there which enable you to control all of it; the mountains are thrown in as chips and whetstones. It is the same all the way from here to Nephi; there are little places here and there; we own them and have got our titles for them, and we are the owners of the soil and the mountains are thrown in. So that owing to the small quantity of land we have been compelled by circumstances to go into Idaho, Arizona and Colorado. We cannot hide from ourselves that these things give us some political rights in these places; but who are we injuring, whose political or religious liberties are infringed upon by us? Nobody’s! If we live on and conquer those forbidden districts we ought not to be begrudged the limited influence that those positions naturally award us; and while we do not interfere with others and their political arrangements, we think we ought to possess that meager share that these forbidding circumstances place in our possession.

There is another remarkable thing. Who is it that we are to thank for this? The Lord. Did he inspire President Brigham Young in these things—to occupy these places! Yes. Is it right for us to occupy them? Yes. Is it right for us to build temples? Yes. Is it right for us to administer in them? Yes. Is it right for us to seek to establish the kingdom of God on the earth? Yes. Is it right for us to seek wisdom from God to do it? Yes. That is what we have been doing for a great many years and we are doing it today. Here is Brother Cannon. He is going to Washington as our representative in the general government. Only think about it. Here is a Territory several hundred miles long and I do not know how wide. Let me see (the speaker turning and addressing himself to President Cannon) George, how many representatives have they in Congress?

Answer: 293 representatives and 9 delegates.

And then there is the Senate?

Answer: 76 members.

And we, a little people in the valleys of these mountains, right in the tops of these mountains, in the midst of 50 millions of people, all the representation we have is just one delegate, and he has not a right to vote! And yet what have they done to us? Not much. Have they been plotting against us? Yes, they have. Are they seeking to injure us today? Yes. Who? All classes of men, and especially the religious kind. Our feeling is to save people, not to curse them. It must be a miserable feeling for men to have when they are seeking to destroy their fellow men, yet they are doing it. It is because they have not the intelligence to cope with the principles that God has revealed to us, that they want to drag the strength of the government to put down by arms that which they have not the power to do by argument or on any just or regular principle. I would be ashamed if I were one of them; I would be ashamed if I could not do something else besides praying to destroy a few, weak people in the tops of the mountains of Utah, far away from everybody, and pre– tending that we are so awfully corrupt that they are afraid we shall demoralize them. God save the mark! They themselves are killing off their own children by tens of thousands and by hundreds of thousands before they are born. That is the feeling that is growing up among them. It is adultery, fornication, lasciviousness that is undermining the constitutions of the people. They are rotting by thousands and tens of thousands, and they will come here and preach morality to us. We do not want them. We tell them to go among their own lepers and cleanse their own social evils, sweep out their own Augean stables, and purify themselves from their own corruptions, and then come and talk purity to us. That is what I would say to those people. We understand them as well as they understand themselves, and for that reason we do not want any of that kind of hypocrisy here.

Now, then, we come to ourselves. We are here. Could we have been placed in any better position than we are today? No. What has been the object of God for sometime? In the first place He operated upon Columbus to come and find this land. He then operated upon the Puritans and other men in England and other places to come to this land, and many of them were good, honorable, high-minded, virtuous people. The grandfathers and grandmothers of this nation were not murderers; they did not murder infants; they were honorable people who cherished human life, and considered it a blessing to have a large posterity and to take care of them. The spirit of the early fathers was, if their land was poor they could raise men. What are they doing now? Raising murderers and murderesses. From among those people and from Europe and other parts the Saints have been gathered. The Lord is gathering them together, and His kingdom is spreading and growing, and it is our privilege to grow and expand with it, and we should be true to ourselves, be true to our religion, be true to God, and operate in the interests of humanity. We could not find a better place for Latter-day Saints than in these valleys of the mountains, nor in those rugged parts further south. We expect to go on and to increase and seek to the Lord for his guidance, protection and sustenance, while we must learn to do right and observe his laws and keep his commandments. The kingdom of God is onward. It is accelerating in its speed. God has called the First Presidency, the Twelve, High Priests, Seventies, Elders, Bishops, High Councilors, Priests, Teachers and Deacons—he has called upon them to devote themselves to him. He expects us to be willing in the day of his power. He expects us to be true to our integrity, and having taught us eternal principles, he expects that we shall have the law of God written in our hearts and be valiant for the truth and for God. God and all the intelligences that he is surrounded with are on our side and are enlisted in our protection and for the sustenance of this people; and for the rolling forth of his work, and the accomplishment of the objects that he designed in the introduction of the Gospel in the last days, even in the dispensation of the fulness of times, when he would gather all things into one. Being called to live in a land like this, in the midst of rugged mountains and barren deserts we will sing, “For the strength of the hills we bless thee, our God, our fathers’ God;” for the wisdom Thou hast displayed we praise Thee, O God, our fathers’ God. And we will be true to God, to our religion and will keep our covenants; we will maintain strict integrity to our vows which we have vowed in sacred places; we will follow the guidance of the Holy Priesthood, and God will lead us from strength to strength, from victory to victory, from power to power, until the kingdom of God shall be established, and no man can stay its progress today, God being our helper. Let us go to him and put our trust in him, and all will be well with us in time and through all eternity.

Brethren: God bless you, and prosper you in all your journeyings, and enable you to accomplish your object, and frustrate all the designs of your enemies, and let all the congregation say, Amen [the congregation responded, Amen.] May God bless this people. Hold on a little longer, for this motto which I see in your house will be fulfilled, “After the cloud there will be sunshine.” Amen.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered at Malad, Oneida County, Idaho, Wednesday Morning, October 20th, 1881.

I am pleased to have the opportunity of meeting with you. We have been traveling during the summer through many of the various Stakes of Zion, and we thought that our labor would not be complete without visiting you. We have general and Stake Conferences, but the circumstances and numbers of the people do not allow of them attending these meetings, and therefore we think it well to come among you at your own homes, to see you, and converse with you, and to feel after your spirits, and that you may see and talk with us and feel after our spirits, that we may be mutually benefited and blessed; and that we may be the better prepared to operate together; for if we can comprehend it, we are engaged in a very great work. Not only we who are here, for we form but a very, very small portion of the Latter-day Saints; but the people that are Latter-day Saints in this Territory and those that are in Utah, and that are in Colorado and Arizona, and those that are scattered abroad in the different places throughout the earth, wherever a branch of the Church is organized. We do not all comprehend this work; in fact, comparatively a very few do. It is a work in which not only the Latter-day Saints are interested, but everybody else, if they could understand it; but they do not. And, indeed, we can hardly understand it ourselves. We get a faint glimpse, as it were, of certain truths, mixed up with many errors which we have previously entertained; but it is very difficult for us to understand correct principles; and if we would comprehend them at all, it must be by a life of devotion to God, and by complying with His laws, some of which Brother Joseph F. has spoken upon this morning, and which the other brethren present talked about yesterday.

The object that God has in view is to benefit mankind as much as lies in His power. We talk sometimes about moving heaven and earth, but God has moved heaven and earth for the accomplishment of that object. Men in most instances have been blinded by the adversary who leads them captive at his will, but they do not know it. And he operates very frequently among us trying to lead us astray, and we do not know it. It is a very difficult thing for us to comprehend the position that we occupy to God and to His Church and Kingdom.

God desires our welfare, and He has instituted laws for that purpose; He has introduced the everlasting Gospel for that purpose; and He has restored the Holy Priesthood that existed anciently, together with all the principles, blessings, powers, rites, ordinances, and privileges that have graced the earth from the commencement of time. We can hardly realize this important fact, but when you reflect you will see some peculiar features associated with this work.

We all look upon Joseph Smith as being a Prophet of God. God called him to occupy the position that he did. How long ago? Thousands of years ago before this world was formed. The Prophets prophesied about his coming, that a man should arise whose name should be Joseph, and that his father’s name should be Joseph, and also that he should be a descendant of that Joseph who was sold into Egypt. This prophecy you will find recorded in the Book of Mormon. He had very great and precious promises made to him by the Lord. I have heard him say on certain occasions, “You do not know who I am.” The world did not like him. The world did not like either the Savior, or the Prophets; they have never liked revealed truth; and it is as much as a bargain for the Saints even to bear the truth.

In the commencement of the work, the Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith. And when they appeared to him, the Father, pointing to the Son, said, “This is my beloved Son, hear him.” As much as to say, “I have not come to teach and instruct you; but I refer you to my Only Begotten, who is the Mediator of the New Covenant, the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world; I refer you to Him as your Redeemer, your High Priest and Teacher. Hear Him.”

What next? Then came men who had held the Priesthood before. Who were they? Moroni, an ancient Prophet who had lived upon this continent and who had charge of the records from which the Book of Mormon was translated—a fitting person to introduce the same principles again. Afterwards it was necessary that the Priesthood should be conferred; and John the Baptist came and laid his hands upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, saying, “Upon you, my fellow servants, I lay my hands, and confer upon you the Aaronic Priesthood, which shall never be taken from the earth again until the sons of Levi offer an acceptable offering before me.” That was the Lesser Priesthood—the Aaronic—appertaining to the bishopric. And why was John the Baptist chosen to confer this Priesthood? Because he was the last that held this holy Priesthood upon the earth. And why did he come? Because the Priesthood administers in time and eternity; both the Aaronic and Melchizedek. And he, holding the keys of that Priesthood, came and conferred it upon Joseph Smith. When he had conferred this Priesthood upon Joseph Smith, other things had to be conferred; that is, what is called the Melchizedek Priesthood. But you understand but very little about that, as the Indian would say, about so much (meaning the point of the finger). If you did you would think and act differently from what you do. Who held the keys of that Priesthood? Peter, James and John, who were three presiding Apostles. Did they confer this Priesthood upon Joseph Smith? Yes; and if you were in Salt Lake City and should go into the Assembly Hall, you might see these things pictured out on the ceiling of that building.

What next? They built a Temple by and by, as we are doing now, in Kirtland, Ohio. And in that Temple the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to them again, the account of which you may read for yourselves in the Doctrine and Covenants. Jesus appeared there, and Moses appeared there, and Moses conferred upon Joseph the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four quarters of the earth, and also the ten tribes. And you are here because that Priesthood was conferred upon the Elders who came to you with the Gospel; and when they laid their hands upon your heads, among other things you received the Holy Ghost and the spirit of the gathering. But you did not know what it was that was working in you like yeast sometimes under certain conditions, producing an influence causing you to come to Zion. Yet you could not help it; if you had wanted to help it, you could not while you were living your religion and were governed thereby, for that spirit brought that influence and power along with it, and it carries it with it wherever it goes. And as men received the Holy Ghost so they received the spirit of the gathering, which was conferred by Moses upon Joseph Smith, and by him upon others, and which created that anxiety you all felt to gather to Zion.

What next? Elijah was to come to “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers.” This has not been the case with this world, generation after generation, yet it must be, for the same Prophet says that, “If it is not, God will smite the whole earth with a curse.” There is a very trite saying, “every man for himself and the devil for the whole,” and I am inclined to believe that there is more truth than poetry in it. God feels interested in the welfare of all mankind as peoples and nations, white and black of all classes and conditions, Jew and Gentile, bond and free. He does not run on a narrow track as we do. We are too apt to feel as the man did when he prayed, “O Lord, bless me and my wife, my son John and his wife, us four and no more. Amen.” That is the way we feel. And if anything is introduced among the people that would be calculated to promote the general good the first thing we do is to screw ourselves up and begin to inquire, How is that going to affect me, I wonder? Who cares about you? It is not for you we are operating. It is not for you God is operating. It is not to make you rich or to exalt you particularly that God is operating; but it is in the interest of the whole human family that has ever lived or ever will live or that now live. That is the religion that I believe in. I do not believe in this narrow tucked up thing that you can pinch up and stick in your vest pocket, and nobody knows where it is. We want something more liberal, something that will reach the wants of the whole human family. But Satan has had so much power in the world; and God has been trying to frustrate his designs, and He will do it as sure as He lives. He will accomplish that which He set out to do when He organized this earth, and placed man upon it. And He will keep striving and working at it until every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ to the glory of God the Father. Until every person in heaven and on the earth and under the earth shall be heard to say, “Blessing and honor and glory, might, majesty and dominion be ascribed to Him that sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever.” And He will do it in His own way and in His own due time. And this principle that I have spoken of, turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, etc., is one of those methods by which He will do it. How many thousands and millions of people have died without a knowledge of the Gospel? Do you know? No, you do not. But as Jesus has said, “Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are that go in thereat.” They have found, as the antediluvians did, a prison in which they are put, and in which they will stop until they are redeemed by the holy Priesthood. As Jesus went and preached to the spirits in prison after He was put to death in the flesh, to those spirits that were sometime disobedient in the days of Noah; so those men that go the broad way will go into the prison house, and they will have to endure the wrath of God. And whatever they think about it, after many, many years shall have rolled away, when the due time of the Lord comes, this very Priesthood that the world have despised and refused to accept, will be their deliverers, by going, as Jesus did, and preaching to the spirits in prison.

What else? We will administer for them on the earth. Here is the turning of the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers. The ancient Prophets and Patriarchs and men of God who held the Priesthood and preached in and labored in time are now operating in eternity; and those whose names I have mentioned came to Joseph Smith and revealed to him what? Why, the dispensation of the fullness of time, when God would not only gather all things in one, but when Temples should be erected and the dead as well as the living should be looked after; when saviors should come upon Mount Zion, and the Kingdom be the Lord’s. Others had their time. They had the Mosaic time; and Moses who stood at the head of it, came and conferred his authority upon Joseph Smith. They had their prophetic time: and the Prophets came and conferred upon him the prophetic influences. They had the Aaronic Priesthood; and those who held it came and conferred it upon Joseph. They had the Melchizedek Priesthood, and the keys thereof, and they came and conferred it upon him. They had the gathering dispensation; and Moses was appointed, who held that in his day, to confer it upon Joseph. This is not one dispensation, but the dispensation of the fullness of times wherein all things are gathered together into one. Then the hearts of the fathers who are living in the heavens are turned to the children; they are feeling an interest in their welfare, like a great many men whom we know today, good men, but their sons do not do right. Adam had two sons, one of whom was a wicked man, and the wicked one killed the good one. At this stage of things I suppose the Devil thought he had a good thing. But he did not. And then he led the people into sin until they were prepared to be overthrown by the flood. I suppose the Devil laughed at the way things were going. But Jesus went and preached to those spirits in prison. And the people that are independent, who think they can get along without religion or without God, will find that in time or eternity they will have to come to the Priesthood of God.

I will go back to the things I was talking about, concerning the hearts of the fathers being turned to the children, etc. This, when fully accomplished, will reach all men that have ever lived. At the present time we are connected with it to a certain extent, and the Spirit of God leads us to build temples. Why is it that you go to work and build temples? You hardly know. You see them; they are pretty nice buildings. We talk about being saviors; but are we saviors unless we save somebody! No. But we build our temples as the Lord has directed, and then we administer in them for the living and the dead; and then we are saviors upon Mount Zion. You here have this same kind of feeling—have they not Bishop? [Answer: Yes, sir.] Moses conferred that upon Joseph Smith, and Joseph conferred it upon the Elders, and they preached to you, and you received the Holy Ghost. And when you gathered together they began to talk about these things; and that Spirit rested upon you, and you said, “I want a hand in it; I want to receive blessings in that temple, and I want also to look to my father’s totally, and those I have been associated with who have died without the Gospel.” And that is the meaning of the turning of the hearts of the fathers to the children, etc.

The world want to know what Mormonism is doing. Some of us hardly know. But, it is known that we are building temples; but the Christian world do not know what temples are for. If temples were built for them they would not know how to administer in them. And we did not know until God revealed it. And unless Elijah had come and conferred the keys it would not have been revealed. Hence I was showing you who and what Joseph Smith was. He has introduced the Gospel together with the dispensation of the fullness of times, which embraces all other things.

Then again, did Enoch build up a Zion? So we are doing. What is it? The Zion of God. What does it mean? The pure in heart in the first place. In the second place those who are governed by the law of God—the pure in heart who are governed by the law of God. Shall we build up a Zion? We shall; but we shall not, every one of us, have our own way about it. We shall feel that we need the will of God; and we shall feel that we require the Priesthood, under His direction, to guide and direct us, not men who are seeking to aggrandize themselves; but men who are seeking to build up the Church and Kingdom of God upon the earth; men of clean hands and pure hearts, every one honoring his Priesthood and magnifying it. Then we shall feel that we want to act like little babes, to ask them for counsel and instruction, and then be governed by it, under the counsel and direction of the Almighty and the aid of His Spirit. Now, this is what we are building up, and they built up a similar thing before the flood; and the Elders went forth in those days as they now go forth; and they baptized people and laid hands upon them, and gathered them to Zion; and after a while that Zion was caught up from the earth. And we will build up a Zion: that is what we are aiming at. And that Zion also, when the time comes, will ascend to meet the Zion from above, which will descend, and both, we are told, will fall on each other’s necks and kiss each other.

These are some of the things we are after. And we are traveling about to teach the people. Why? Because we want all to have the spirit of Zion. We sing sometimes and talk about Zion, that she shall arise, and the glory of God shall rest upon her. We want to lift up Zion. And we want you Welsh and other folks to work to this end—I suppose most of you are Welsh, and if you are not, you are Latter-day Saints, and if you are not Latter-day Saints, you ought to be. And you ought to be pure in heart, too; you ought to be living your religion, and if you are not, you had better turn round and live right before God, and walk worthily of the high vocation that he has conferred upon you. I have not time to talk upon these principles: but I have said enough to give you a general outline.

God is interested in this work, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Patriarchs and men of God are interested in it; and we are interested in it. And we have a little of that spirit upon us; and we would like you to drink of it too. Having been baptized by the same baptism that you may all partake of the same spirit, that we may build temples and administer in them; and having received the Gospel, to feel free to preach it to others. Our duty is to preach the Gospel to all men. Who, the First Presidency? Yes, if there is nobody else. The Twelve? Yes, it is their especial calling to preach it themselves or see that it is preached to all the world. And, then, the Seventies, it is their duty to go forth at the drop of the hat, as minute men, to preach the Gospel to all nations, under the guidance of the Twelve. And, then, it is for those who are in Zion, the High Priests, and others to go and preach the Gospel. And we are doing this in spite of the opposition of men, and in the name of God we will do it until He who directs us shall say, “It is enough: turn now to Israel.” When He says that, then we will quit. And if they love the devil better than God, they can do so and sup trouble and sorrow and calamity and war and bloodshed. For nation will rise against nation, country against country; and thrones will be cast down and empires will be scattered to the four winds, and the powers of the earth everywhere will be shaken; and the Lord will come forth by and by to judge the nations, and it behooves us to know what we are doing, and while we profess to be the Saints of God, not to be hypocrites, but be full of truth and full of integrity and magnify our calling and honor our God. This is what God expects of us. And then to build temples, and what then? Administer in them. Send the Gospel to the nations of the earth. And then gather the people in. What then? Build more temples. What then? Have men administer in them. And when we get through with our relatives and friends, and trace back our ancestry as far as we can, then we will call upon God to give us information as to who need to be administered for in the heavens; and we will work at it for a thousand years, until all the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and everything spoken of in the Prophets shall be fulfilled.

Now, you who live in this little place, look to it that you are found in the line of your duty. You have a beautiful location, and I would like to see you make the most of it. I would like to see at least a hundred times more apple, pear and cherry trees planted out; and all of your streets lined with shade trees. And improve your dwelling houses. If you cannot find the style of a house to suit you, go off to other places until you do find one, and then come back and build a better one. Beautify this place, and make your homes pleasant and agreeable, that you may have nice places for your wives and children, and thus help to fulfill that Scripture which says, that Zion shall become the praise of the whole earth; and that kings will come to gaze upon her glory. I have already had many honorable men from many of the civilized nations call upon me, and they generally express themselves in this way: “What a beautiful place you have here, Mr. Taylor;” “O, yes, (I would say) it is well enough for us, we can please ourselves, it is very difficult to please others, we do not profess much. You hear curious stories about us; but we would rather have our works speak for us.” There is nothing to boast of, and what there is we should not have if God did not give it to us. For we are dependent upon Him for all we have. We live and move in Him, and through Him we have our being. And if we can operate together upon the principles of virtue and holiness, and have more brotherly feeling, we should feel much better. Some people say, I hate such a person. I would not like to have that feeling about me, I don’t know of a person upon the earth whom I hate. What, not the wicked? No, I would say, “the Lord judge between thee and me.“ For if they can afford to do wrong, I cannot.

I will talk about some other things. Go to work and build a meetinghouse half an inch bigger than this. (Laughter). Then you have a public square, make some nice grounds in and about it. And then beautify your private squares at your own homes. Let every man make his own grounds pleasant and agreeable. And let every woman make her husband as happy as she can. The sisters ought to be like angels, ought they not? Be full of good, kind, pleasant and agreeable feelings. And we men who profess to be saints of God—saints of God! What an expression! Do we understand it? There is a peculiar form of expression in the German language. The term Latter-day Saint in the German is: der Heiligen der Letzten Tage, which being interpreted is, the holy of the last days. There is something very expressive about that. We should be the holy of the last days, under the influence and guidance of the Lord.

We talk about the Kingdom of God. God’s Kingdom is not our kingdom. Who manages, directs and controls? God. In whose interest? In the interest of the community, and for the happiness and the welfare of all Israel, and the whole of the human family, so far as they will let Him.

I want to talk about a principle here. We get up sometimes a very rash feeling against people who do not think as we do. They have a right to think as they please; and so have we. Therefore, if a man does not believe as I do, that is none of my business; and if I do not believe as he does, that is none of his business. Would you protect a man that did not believe as you do? Yes, to the last bat’s end. He should have equal justice with me; and then I would expect to be protected in my rights. We have in Salt Lake City, Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Roman Catholics, and all kinds. Do we interfere with them? No, not at all. Nobody persecutes them, but they do us in their weak way. They get up meetings and pass resolutions against us, poor, miserable “cootes.” They do not know any better; they do not know nor understand the rights of men as American citizens, much less about the Kingdom of God. So let them “resolute.” We believe in returning good for evil, right for wrong. Because they lie about us, that is no reason why we should lie about them; it would be bad enough many times to tell the truth about them, much less to resort to falsehood. On the same grounds I would not wish to interfere with their political rights, nor have them interfere with mine. I think that is correct doctrine; it is good democracy and good republicanism which we can all subscribe to. But because I would treat them right I would not want them to teach my children. I want good, honorable Latter-day Saints to teach my children because I want them taught correct principles and the fear of God along with their secular education.

It has been published in our papers about different religious bodies getting up resolutions against the “Mormons” to the effect that it is necessary something should be done to them. Well, what about it? Oh, let them “resolute;” our corn and potatoes grow just the same; so it makes but little difference. All we say is, “hands off.” We do not want it to go any further than talk. And if blab-mouthed people who do not like the truth choose to tell falsehoods about us, let them do so. Who cares? I do not, and I do not think you care. And so in regard to other things. What will we do? Try to educate ourselves and our children, and get good teachers who fear God, who are honorable men and women, and who take delight to instil honorable principles into our children. And set them good examples at home, you fathers and mothers. You should never say a word or do an act which you would not want your children to copy after. The idea of men who profess to fear God, and some of them Elders in Israel, being addicted to swearing. It is a shame and a disgrace to high heaven, and this is sometimes done before their families; it is a shame. And then some men give way and say they have a bad temper: I would sell it for nothing, and give something to boot to get rid of it. I would be careful that all my acts and doings were right. And it is right for heads of families to get their families together every morning and evening, and pray with them. Every man and woman to dedicate themselves to God; and in their secret prayers to ask God’s care over them during the day. That will not hurt any of you. That was the doctrine that Joseph Smith taught me; and I have always appreciated it. I would look upon it as a very great trial if I were stopping at a place and if I could not have my private prayers. If we cannot lean upon God, what is our religion worth! Not much. We will treat our wives right. He is a mean man who would abuse a woman. I never liked to see a big dog bite a little one; but if a little dog bite a big one, it is not so reprehensible. And if a man abuse a woman, who is the weaker vessel, it is an outrage to me. Have you not made covenants with your wives for time and eternity. Yes, you have. Would you not like, when you get through, to be able to say, Mary, Jane, Ann, or whatever the name may be, I never injured you in my life. And if you are wives, would you not like to be able to say, Thomas or William, I never injured you in all my life. And, then, to spend an eternity together hereafter.

Then, lay aside your covetousness; that is idolatry. And while laboring to be industrious, do not covet any man’s house, nor his farm, nor anything that is his; nor defraud one another, nor bite nor devour one another. But love one another, and work the works of righteousness, and look after the welfare of all, and seek to promote the happiness of all. That is what God is doing. That is why He has told us to go to the nations of the earth—and many of us have been hundreds and thousands of miles without purse or scrip. I have seen you, lots of you Welshmen, in Wales. And what was I doing there? Preaching the Gospel. How? Without purse or scrip. Did God take care of me? Always, and at every time and place; and I bear this record for God and His Priesthood and His Kingdom, that I was never at a loss for anything that I needed. He always took care of me, and I could do it without begging too. I believe in the same God yet. And I believed then I was benefiting mankind; and I believe in doing so now. But I do not believe in our being led away by their evils. Keep yourselves pure. Do not let corrupt men ingratiate themselves among you, to defile you. Preserve your virtue, you men and you women; preserve your virtue, and live uprightly before God. For as sure as you do not the wrath of God will rest upon you; and the Spirit of God will be withdrawn from you. Keep yourselves, therefore, pure, and be honest and virtuous, and be honest with all men, and treat all men honorably. We can afford to do that; and not be governed by their vices, nor permit them to introduce them into our midst. We cannot afford to follow after the ways of the Gentiles, nor to copy after their illiberality. We want the principles of liberty to extend and to expand so that all men can worship God as they please, without anyone to interrupt them.

Brethren and sisters, let us be virtuous and pure and holy, and God will bless us and lift us up and the power of God will be with us; and we will rejoice upon the mountains; and we will build our Zion upon the principles of righteousness, and we will love and fear God all the days of our lives. And by and by when the dead that are in their graves shall hear the voice of God, the Saints of God shall come forth to live and reign forever among the just who have lived in different ages, and have the privilege to perpetuate the lives in the eternal worlds, worlds without end. Amen.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered at Box Elder County, Wednesday, Oct. 19th, 1881.

I am pleased to meet with you, and I should have been so the other evening, when you held your last meeting, but I thought it proper to remain among our Lamanitish brethren, as they look to us for instruction. We sent other brethren along, but I heard some of the Saints felt a little disappointed because we did not come. We feel you are our brethren and sisters, and that you are one with us, and we are one with you, and with all who love righteousness.

We are endeavoring to build up the Zion of our God, that we may fill the measure of our creation upon the earth, and fulfil the various duties which devolve upon us, and also teach others to do the same. It is for this reason that we travel around among the people; and there are a great many people to see now. In a short time hence we shall have traveled all through the Territory, visiting almost all the settlements. We are building up Zion, and Zion is not confined to our prominent cities, but includes all the cities of the Saints. We are desirous that all should become acquainted with the principles which God has revealed for the guidance, benefit, blessing and salvation of His people upon the earth. These are our feelings towards you, and towards all the Saints. And then, we have not any bad feelings towards others, although the world generally are opposed to us.

You have a beautiful valley here, and have facilities for a large settlement; and the water, perhaps, if properly managed, would not be malad, or sickly.

Zion is growing, and the Lord has said it should; and it will continue to grow, and it is for us to grow with it—to grow in intelligence, virtue and purity, and in the knowledge of correct principles ourselves, and then to teach the same to our children; to cultivate these virtues in our own homes and in our little settlements, and to have all our surroundings such as God, angels, and all good men would approve. That our daughters may grow up virtuous, pure and happy; that our young men may abstain from licentiousness, from wrong actions, and from wrong speaking; that we ourselves may set our children a correct pattern, reverencing the Lord our God, and acknowledging His hand in all things—in the blessings we receive from Him, in the food we have to eat, the raiment we have to wear, and every temporal blessing that is conferred upon us, for all that we receive and enjoy comes from Him. And we are told that with none is the Lord angry, except those who do not acknowledge His hand in all things. Seek for His blessing upon everything you engage in. If you have a farm, dedicate it to God, and pray that His blessing may be upon it. If you build a house, dedicate it to God; also your garden, your cattle and sheep and all that you possess, and pray that His blessing may rest upon you and upon everything that pertains to you.

I am told you have had rather severe times, that you have been a good deal afflicted with grasshoppers and other things, and that for a number of years you have had short crops; that, in fact, you have not been able to raise sufficient wheat to bread your settlement. Well, while this is so, we must bear in mind that you here are not the only ones who have thus been afflicted. I am told that the crops throughout our Territory are far better than the general crop throughout the United States. The destructive insects and elements which you have had to struggle against begin to appear in other regions, afflicting the people of other places as they have you.

God has given unto us a land, but there are houses to build, farms to open, fences to make, our wants to be provided for, our animals to be taken care of, etc.: all these are necessaries that seem to crowd themselves upon us. Bishop Hunter says, children never come into the world with shoes and stockings on. No, nor clothes either, and if they did, their clothes would soon be too small for them. We have to try to make provision for the wants of our families, and to make them comfortable. The difficulties that you have to contend with, we have experienced; and as far as difficulties are concerned, none of us are free from them. Men of wealth among us, as elsewhere, who command their tens and hundreds of thousands, who have their every want supplied, have more anxiety, care and perplexity than many of you, who have to struggle for a comfortable living. And if you were placed in their position you would be a great deal more uneasy than you are now. We do not realize these things, but they are given unto us for our experience, and we should learn to understand and appreciate the position we occupy here upon the earth.

There is quite a fine opportunity now for men—good men, pure and virtuous men and women to raise up a goodly seed. A Bishop has a good chance, also his Counselors and those who are associated with him—and he should seek to gather around him the most honorable, chaste and virtuous men, and endeavor to elevate those over whom he presides; and as things progress get better houses and better gardens and surroundings in keeping with them. And upon everything we do we need the blessing of the Almighty; and we need to put our trust in him. If, for instance, I was living here and was raising a family, the first thing which I should do would be to dedicate myself and my family, my house and garden, my land, my cattle, and everything I possessed to God, and should ask his blessing upon them. Then every morning when I arose I should kneel down to supplicate his blessing upon me and mine during the day, to preserve us from evil influences, accidents and dangers, and to otherwise bless our labors in obtaining a livelihood. And then I would pray for those who presided over me in the Priesthood. Joseph Smith, upwards of forty years ago, said to me: Brother Taylor, you have received the Holy Ghost. Now follow the influence of that Spirit, and it will lead you into all truth, until by and by, it will become in you a principle of revelation. Then he told me never to arise in the morning without bowing before the Lord, and dedicating myself to him during that day. Some people treat these things lightly. I do not; because I know that we derive our food, our raiment, and all earthly as well as spiritual blessings from the goodness of God our Heavenly Father. I know, furthermore, that as President of this Church I should not know how to dictate if the Lord did not help me. Should I desire people to yield to my ideas? I have no ideas only as God gives them to me; neither should you. Some people are very persistent in having their own way and carrying out their own peculiar theories. I have no thoughts of that kind, but I have a desire, when anything comes along, to learn the will of God, and then to do it, and to teach my brethren to do it, that we may all grow up unto Christ our living head, that we may be acquainted with correct principles and govern ourselves accordingly: and if we have our trials—why we are all tried. You see people well off, such as I have referred to; they have just as many trials as you have. They may have nice houses, and have at their command many comforts; but what of that? Such things alone do not make people happy. It is a mistaken notion that wealth makes people happy. Cattle, sheep, houses, possessions, would not bring you happiness. The Scriptures tell us that he that hath eternal life is rich: and the Lord has told us to seek after the riches of eternal life.

We are here occupying a peculiar position. The Lord has called us from the nations of the earth, and he has restored to us the everlasting Gospel, and that Gospel is calculated to elevate us in time and throughout eternity. Jesus, in speaking to his disciples, called them his sheep; and in praying to the Father in their behalf, he said; “Thine they were, and Thou gavest them me. * * I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given me; for they are thine * * * Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom Thou has given me, that they may be one as we are.” That there may be nothing but harmony and peace, and the Spirit of the Lord, the spirit of intelligence dwelling in all, that all may feel to promote one another’s welfare, and all try to enhance the happiness of the whole. That is how Our Heavenly Father feels towards us.

Through some remarks already made I am reminded of my boyhood. At that early period of my life I learned to approach God. Many a time I have gone into the fields and concealing myself behind some bush, would bow before the Lord and call upon him to guide and direct me. And he heard my prayer. At times I would get other boys to accompany me. It would not hurt you, boys and girls, to call upon the Lord in your secret places, as I did. That was the spirit which I had when a little boy. And God has led me from one thing to another. But I did not have the privilege that you have. There was nobody to teach me, while you have access to good men at any time who can direct you in the way of life and salvation. But my spirit was drawn out after God then; and I feel the same yet.

We are here as Latter-day Saints. What would you do? I would try as much as circumstances would permit, without laboring too hard, to make comfortable houses, to make good orchards; I would endeavor to make my family comfortable and would try to promote their welfare.

Have you a school here? (Answer: Yes, sir). Have you a good teacher? (Ans. A pretty good teacher). Well then, I would educate my children. The teacher should be a man or woman who fears God, who not only teaches grammar and the common branches of education but the principles of the Gospel as well, that our children may grow up in the fear of God. And then if I were the head of a house, I should consider it not only a duty but a great pleasure to call my family together and pray with them morning and evening, and to pray for them, and to teach them to cherish this feeling and spirit. Do you think I would ever want them to hear me swear? Oh, how ashamed I should be if my children or my wives or any of my good brethren were to hear me swear. That would be setting a very bad example; while we, as parents, are required to set good examples to our children and to all men. And then we ought to be honest with one another; we should be truthful and never prevaricate. Parents, be truthful; let your children have confidence in your word, so that if father or mother says anything, they might say, “if father or mother says such and such a thing, I know it is right, because father or mother said it, and they never prevaricate or tell a falsehood.” That is the kind of feeling we want to cultivate among ourselves and with our families. And again we want to be cleanly in our persons, in our houses and in everything. And mothers, you ought to cultivate in your hearts the spirit of peace; you ought to be like angels of God, full of every virtue. And the father ought to treat the mother right. Has she her infirmities? Yes. And so has he. What would you do under such circumstances—would you bear with her? Yes, of course, and love her, and do everything I could to promote her happiness; and instead of trying to perplex and annoy her, I would bear with her in the spirit of love and kindness, and cultivate that everywhere. And on the other hand, I would say to the sisters, treat your husbands right, and make their homes pleasant. Is there anything they would like to eat? Try to prepare it for them; and let your children see that you love one another, that they may grow up with the same feeling, and be led from principle to honor their father and mother. These are the kind of feelings that will elevate us; and we will try to educate and elevate the Indians around us; and when they become educated, we will send them out to preach the Gospel among their own people, as we have done among our race. Oh, if we could comprehend the glory, the intelligence, the power, the majesty and dominion of our Heavenly Father! If we could contemplate the exaltation, the glory, the happiness which awaits the righteous, the pure and the virtuous, of those who fear God, even the Saints of the Most High! If we could comprehend the great blessings that God has in store for those people that fear him and observe his laws and keep his commandments, we should feel very different from what we do. But then, we do not. The Lord has brought us from among the different nations, that we may be educated in the things of the kingdom of God. He has conferred the Holy Priesthood for that purpose: and the very organizations that we have of Stakes and Wards, with their Presidency and Bishops, High Councils, High Priests, Seventies, Elders, Priests, Teachers and Deacons, etc., are placed in the Church by the Almighty, to educate and elevate us: and we are going around today lecturing on the principles of education. Education in what? In everything. In our morals; in our social position; in our religion; in everything pertaining to time and to eternity, so that we may be happy in our families, that we may prosper in our enterprises, and operate together and have the confidence of one another, and do away with everything that is wrong and dwell together in love and peace according to the Gospel of the Son of God. This is the kind of feeling we want to be educated in, and we want to start with it first in ourselves. As fathers and as mothers we want to do right; and as children we must do right. If they will not, as parents, we will set them good examples, and be kind to them, and lead them as well as we can in the paths of life. That is the spirit that dwells in our Heavenly Father. We want to follow after him, and cultivate these principles in our bosoms and in our hearts. For this reason we have various organizations in our midst. We have our Bishops; and it is their duty to look after their wards, and see that everything is moving along right, and that everybody is doing right, and if there be any poor or sick, to feel after them and relieve them; and then to enlist the sympathies of the brethren and sisters, that they may also feel after them. Then we have out Mutual Improvement Associations. Have you got one? (Answer, Yes, sir.) What are they for? To instruct the rising youth. This is another branch of our education. Our sisters, too, in their Relief Societies are doing a good work. Continue in it. Our sisters know a great deal better now to sympathize with their sex than the brethren; they can better enter into their feelings. Carry on this work. This is another part of our education. And referring again to our Young People’s Improvement Associations; how much I should have enjoyed such privileges when I was a boy. But I had no such opportunity. I had no Priesthood to teach me. You have privileges, young men and young women, that we older folks had not. And this spirit and feeling of improvement is not confined to one or two places; it is all over, and a good work among the young is being done throughout the dwellings of the Saints. And the Contributor, which I believe is the organ of the Mutual Improvement Associations, is an excellent periodical; and the young people ought to avail themselves of its pages by subscribing for it, which, no doubt, is being done generally. This movement among the young people is another branch of our education. Another is our Sunday School movement. Our children should be taught by good men and good women. Train their infant minds, and lead the little ones in the paths of life that they may understand about the Church of Christ, and be nurtured in the fear of God. By and by they will be men and women in Israel. It will not always be as it is now. Men will not always entertain towards us the feelings they do today. When they find that we are not the people the world has held us up to be; when we shall have proven to the world that we are not what they have believed us to be, but that we are a virtuous and law-abiding people, the honorable among men will acknowledge our worth. And the day will come when it will be said of our children, as the old Prophets have prophesied, that such and such a one was born in Zion. It will be considered a great blessing and one of the greatest honors that could have been inherited by our children to have been born in Zion among the people of God. These people are not liars, whoremongers, adulterers or thieves, as represented by our defamers, but they have learned the principles of virtue and holiness, and such things as are calculated to exalt and ennoble individuals, families and nations; they are in possession of these principles, and are exalted by them; and is it not an honor for a child to be born of such fathers and mothers? Yes. Then let us be such fathers and mothers. If we have done wrong, let us cease our evil practices and repent of all wrongdoing; humble ourselves and become as little children before God. Let us lay aside covetousness. We need not scramble, for there is not much to scramble after. There is not so much in the riches of this world as some people think there is. They cannot be compared for a moment with the riches of the kingdom of heaven, which are within the reach of all men who have not forfeited them.

Then we should treat everybody right, those who are not of us, as well as our own brethren. Would I cheat a man because he is not in the Church? The thought of such an act would bring the blush of shame to my cheek; and I feel chagrined when I hear of men, who have entered into solemn and holy covenants, doing such things. It is a common thing among a certain class of men to say I made a splendid trade today with Brother So-and-So. But did Brother So-and-So make as good a trade out of you? If he did, all right. But if you, because you happen to be a little smarter, or shrewder on a trade than your brother, have got the better of him, it is not all right, it is all wrong, and I do not think it a credit for a man to be possessed of that kind of smartness. I do not think it a credit to anybody to want something which belongs to somebody else. The Lord is trying us; and some of you are already pretty well tried: and you try one another sometimes. David, you know, said on a certain occasion, if it had been an enemy he would have borne it; but it was his friend that did it, and that cut him to the heart.

It is necessary that we should be tried, and that we should be cut to the heart. And why? “For 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.” Why? In order that we might have a High Priest who is acquainted with our affairs, and one who was tempted in all points like unto us. He was tempted as we are. I have seen men tempted so sorely that finally they would say, “I’ll be damned if I’ll stand it any longer.” Well, you will be damned if you do not. So you had better bear it; and go to the Lord and say, O God, I am sorely tempted; Satan is trying to destroy me, and things seem to be combined against me. O Lord, help me! Deliver me from the power and grasp of the devil. Let thy Spirit descend upon me that I may be enabled to surmount this temptation and to ride above the vanities of this world. This would be far better than giving way to sin, and proving yourself unworthy of the association of the good and pure.

I am reminded of Elijah. There was a time in his life when we find him alone in a solitary place. And it thundered and lightened, but God was in neither. By and by a still small voice whispered to him, “What doest thou here, Elijah?” Elijah told the Lord that they had digged down His altars and slain His Prophets, and that he only was left; and said he, they seek my life also. This was a gloomy picture; it was a sad story to tell the Lord. But God understood the situation better than Elijah did; and said he, I have reserved 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal, in whom are the principles of integrity and honor. Abraham was tried, and so was Job. Abraham was tried severely. He was told to take his son Isaac, him that had been given to him by promise, through whom all the families of the earth were to be blessed. Now, said he, Abraham, take thy son and offer him as a sacrifice. Do you not think that some would say, “I’ll be damned if I do.” Abraham did not stagger. He be– lieved that God had given him this son in his old age, and that a great and glorious promise had to be fulfilled through him, and moreover if he was sacrificed God was able to raise him from the dead. He did not stagger through unbelief; but he went in obedience to the command to offer up his son. A great deal might be said, but it would take too long to show what Abraham expected. But he did expect that his seed would inherit the Priesthood through all subsequent time. And that is the meaning of that saying, “In thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed,” not cursed. Abraham, through the spirit of prophecy, had gazed upon his posterity as they should exist through the various ages of time. And among other things he saw the days of Jesus, when he should come; and we are told, he was glad. And after all this, God told him to take the life of his son. What, and thus prevent your posterity from coming upon the earth as you beheld it in vision? Yes, and in one stroke of the knife blast all these glorious, these blessed hopes. He approaches his son, and says, Come, Isaac, come with me upon this mount. And they went. “Now, let us build an altar.” And they built an altar. And the boy was heard to say, Father, here is the wood, and here is the altar, but where is the Lamb for the burnt offering? Says Abraham: The Lord will provide the offering. Finally, the father, choking, probably with the awfulness of the moment, as his thoughts crowded upon him, says, My son, thou art the one that I have got to offer up. Then at last he takes his son and lays him upon the altar, and at the last moment he is seen lifting the knife to slay the promised child, when the voice of the Lord is heard, saying, Hold, Abraham, put not thine hand upon the lad. Look; there is a ram caught in the thicket. Take that, and offer it as a sacrifice. Would you, my brethren, like to be put in that position? And referring to Job, he was also proven. It seems that at a certain time the sons of God were gathered together, and the devil was among them. And the Lord, addressing himself to Satan, said, Hast thou considered my servant Job? Oh yes, but you have put a hedge about him. If you were to serve me the same way, I would be as obedient as he. Possibly I do not know about that, says Satan. Let me tempt him. Well, replies the Lord, you may try. Then what do we read?

“And there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:

And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them:

And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

While he was yet speaking, there came also yet another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:

And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

Job received all this intelligence, sad as it was, without being moved in the least to anger. He, we are told, rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down and worshipped, and said, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” We do not always feel so. We used to say in Missouri, “Those damned Missourians have stolen our cattle. Those damned Gentiles have done this and that.” But they could not do it if the Lord did not permit them. Here is another evidence of our being in the hands of God, and we should feel that we are in his hands; and then it will be all right. We will not blame the devil, nor wicked, corrupt men; for they are of the devil whose works they do. But we will say with Job, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

The devil again appeared before the Lord, and the Lord said to him: “Well, you told me that Job would do thus and so; but he remains true and unshaken, although thou movedst me against him to destroy him.” Satan then answered 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.” And the Lord said unto Satan, “Behold, he is in thine hand; but spare his life.” Satan sallied forth again from the presence of God, and smote Job with sore boils from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet. And while in this condition we are told that he sat down in ashes, and took a potsherd and scraped himself. And his friends hearing of his misfortunes came and taunted him with being a hypocrite, etc., as we are apt to do when a series of misfortunes overtakes a man. But he would not be moved by this, although he was stripped of everything and afflicted withal. At last his wife thought she could not stand it any longer; she got worked up over it, and I can imagine her saying to her husband Job, I would not stand it any longer, I would curse God, and die like a man. Job still retaining his self-possession turned and said to her, “Thou speakest as one of the foolish women.” “What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? Naked came I into the world; and naked must I return. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” And said he further, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. I know that my Redeemer liveth.” Job was a man that feared God and lived up to his privileges, and the Spirit of the Almighty God rested upon him; and hence he says, I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter-day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, and revel in this brain; although I go down to the silent tomb, there to rot and become as the dust of the earth, yet, in my flesh shall I see God; and these eyes shall gaze upon Him. And I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that these eyes shall see him, and he shall reign in the lat– ter-days upon the earth. That the kind of religion those men had; and we want the same kind of principle. After Job had been tried and proven, the Lord lifted him up again, and increased his flocks and herds and everything in the shape of earthly possessions which the world calls good. And so great was the goodness of God extended to Job, that we are told he was more blessed in his latter days than in his former days. And it was as the devil had said, God put a hedge around about him; and so he does about us, and we do not know it.

Here is Brother Cannon, for instance, who is soon about to go to Washington as our Delegate to Congress, and you know the influence that has been exercised against the people whom he represents, and you know also that he, as Delegate, is not entitled to a vote. And notwithstanding the devices and schemings of men and organizations, that have used their influence directly for the purpose of bringing inimical legislation against us, God has confounded them in all of their plans up to the present time. Has not God put a hedge about us? Yes, He has. And as long as we fear him, he will continue to do it; and he will preserve us, and no power this side of earth or hell can injure us.

One of the poets says—

“Shall I be carried to the skies On flowery beds of ease, While others sought to win the prize And sailed through bloody seas?”

And John, while wrapped in vision, saw an innumerable company of the redeemed clothed in white raiment, singing a song that no man knew save he that received it. And he inquired saying, Who are these arrayed in white, and whence came they? These are they that came up through much tribulation, who washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. I have heard Joseph Smith say to the Twelve, “God will get hold of your heart strings, and he will wrench them to the very core.” Has he done it? He has. The Twelve know that he has. President Young knew it, and Joseph Smith knew it; and finally he had to give himself up as an offering for this people. Have we passed through suffering? We have. And shall we have more of it, to face? We shall, if we be found among those whom John saw. We have got to be sifted in the sieve of tribulation until we shall prove our integrity to be true to God and man. Brethren, seek for the Spirit of God upon yourselves, and all that pertain to you, and live so that your prayers can be heard and answered upon your heads; and walk according to the light of that which you have already received, and the blessings of God will attend you. You can make a little heaven right here among yourselves, if you want to; and you need not go anywhere else for it. Live your religion, and you will be blessed in time and all eternity. God bless you. Amen.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered at the General Conference, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, Oct. 9, 1881.

We have now been in session for some time. We have listened to a great many interesting things associated with the Church and kingdom of God. We have had also, during the Conference, matters to reflect upon, pertaining to the departure of some of our brethren, whom we loved and esteemed. They have been taken away from us, and have gone into another state of existence, which is all perfectly right. We have nothing to say particularly in relation to these matters.

The Lord has revealed unto us his holy will. He has by his own voice, by the ministering of holy angels, restored to us the everlasting Gospel, that plan which was ordained by Jehovah, before the world rolled into existence, or the morning stars sang together for joy. Associated with the Gospel he has restored the Priesthood, which is simply, in a few words, the rule and government of God, whether in the heavens or on the earth. This Priesthood, this law, this government and these principles have been communicated from the heavens. They originated not with man upon the earth. They did not originate with any church upon the earth, or any people, or any authority. This is the gift of God to man. This Gospel places man in communication with God, his Heavenly Father; this Gospel brings life and immortality to light; this Gospel is proclaimed in the interest of all men in all parts of the earth; the Priesthood in connection with the Gospel has a commission to proclaim to all the world, to every nation, kindred, tongue and people. It is a message of salvation to the nations of the earth, and it is very different from that which many call the Gospel, whose followers would seek to destroy, to defame, to overturn and to injure all humanity who are opposed to them, and to their views and feelings. God feels interested in the welfare of the whole human family, and for this purpose he has established principles upon the earth which exist in the heavens—a Gospel that has prevailed among the Gods in the eternal worlds, containing principles which are calculated to elevate, ennoble and exalt the human family. The principles are eternal as the Gospel itself is eternal; and as the love of God was manifested in former times by the giving of His Son for the redemption of the world, so the goodness of God is extended in the last days to save, to bless, to elevate and to dignify the human family. And those who are in possession of these principles are in possession not only of the love of God, but of the love of man, and will seek, by every means in their power, aided by the Spirit of God, and that light, love and intelligence which dwell in his bosom, to spread these sacred principles and to save men, if possible almost contrary to their own will. It is a mistaken notion, let me say here, that some people entertain, that because men persecute us, we must persecute them: that because men would proscribe us in our religious faith, we must persecute them in theirs. There is no such principle associated with God, or with those who dwell in the love of God, or who are actuated by the Spirit of God. Everything of that kind proceeds from beneath and not from above. God is interested in the welfare of all people, all nations, all kindreds, and all tongues. He is the Father of the spirits of all flesh, and however narrow and contracted men may be in their ideas, he can afford to let his rain descend on the evil and the good, and cause his sun to shine on the just and on the unjust. For this purpose he has introduced the Gospel; for this purpose he is gathering together a people under the influence of the Gospel, which Gospel, when received and obeyed, imparts the Holy Ghost, and which Holy Ghost takes of the things of God, and shows them unto us. He has gathered us together here in this place and in this land, in order that we may be more fully instructed in His law, for men are not acquainted with God by revelation anywhere else to my knowledge. Very few men upon the face of the earth believe in revelation from God. They believe in their own theories, and notions and ideas and principles, but they know nothing about “thus saith the Lord,” as men used to do when they had the Gospel; and wherever the Gospel exists, there exists with it a knowledge of God, and of the laws of life. God has committed to us the Gospel and the High Priesthood, which is not intended, as some suppose, to bring men into bondage or to tyrannize over the consciences of men, but to make all men free as God is free; that they may drink of the streams “whereof shall make glad the city of God;” that they may be elevated and not debased; that they may be purified and not corrupted; that they may learn the laws of life and walk in them; and not walk in the ways of corruption and go down to death. Jeremiah tells us that the Lord says, “I will take you one of a city and two of a family and I will bring you to Zion; and I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.”

We have learned this, that God lives; we have learned that when we call upon him he hears our prayers; we have learned that it is the height of human happiness to fear God and observe his laws and keep his commandments; we have learned that it is a duty devolving upon us to try and make all men happy and intelligent, which happiness and intelligence can only be obtained through obedience to the laws of God. It is in him that we trust. We are not so much concerned about the destiny of this kingdom as some people think we are. God is interested in it, the holy angels are interested in it, the ancient Patriarchs and Prophets and men of God who have lived in other ages are interested in it, and in the councils of heaven it was agreed that this kingdom should be established; it is according to the word and will and eternal designs of Jehovah. And as he called men in other days he has called them in these days, and this Priesthood administers in the earth and in the heavens. And when Brother Moses Thatcher talks about a man being called, having finished his course here, to go into another state of existence, he talks understandingly on that point. This Priesthood is an everlasting Priesthood, as was the Priesthood of Jesus, after the order of Melchizedek, and it administers in time and in eternity. This Gospel brings us into communion with God our Heavenly Father, with Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, with the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn; and while they are operating there, we are operating here. For this reason we are building our Temples and administering in them, and these are things that I wish to speak a little upon to you Latter-day Saints who are assembled here from the various parts of the Territory. It is not an idle phantom that has been presented to us in this matter. There is nothing vague or visionary about it, we are dealing with sober, serious, solemn facts. Elijah it was prophesied should come and turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers. That prophecy has been fulfilled, and while millions and myriads of the human family have died without a knowledge of the Gospel, we are instructed what our duty is towards them; and while we are engaged in building Temples and administering therein both for the living and the dead, the everlasting Priesthood in the heavens are engaged in operating in the same way in the interests of all humanity, not only of those who now live but those who have lived. We need, it is true, the assistance and guidance of the Almighty, and the Holy Priesthood behind the veil also requires our assistance and our help. Paul, who understood these things, said, “that they without us should not be made perfect,” and we without them cannot be made perfect. They in their day had obtained a knowledge of God and his law, and we are permitted to obtain the same. God has been pleased to restore the same principles and to place us in communion with him and them. Hence, while they are operating in the heavens we are operating here upon the earth. We build Temples and administer in them. They are attending to those who have died without a knowledge of the Gospel, and who will communicate from time to time with us to show us our duty.

It is written that saviors shall come upon Mount Zion. How can a man be a savior if he saves nobody? And how can they save unless God shows them how? How can they build Temples unless they have a knowledge of the work in which they are engaged? And how can they administer in these Temples, unless God instructs them? They cannot do it; we cannot do it; nobody can do it; and therefore it is necessary that we should all the time be under the guidance and direction of the Almighty, for without Him we can do nothing.

The reports that we hear concerning the Temples that are being built are very interesting. We hear they have placed the roof on the one in Cache Valley; in Manti, they are progressing with another very favorably, and the people all around in those districts are contributing and aiding all they can for the advancement of the work, and then with the one already built there will soon be two and three and then four Temples in operation for the labor in which we are engaged. Some people I know will say it is a very poor speculation, a very singular kind of a religion. Yet we are carrying out the counsel of God, for all these things are designed by the Almighty, and emanate from Him. And if we die what then? We shall live and reign throughout eternity, worlds without end, and we know it. Therefore we are satisfied as to the work in which we are engaged. It is all right.

I say to the brethren and all who are engaged in this labor, I say God bless you, and if you could hear the voices above you would hear loud cries of “Amen:” for all heaven is interested in the work in which we are engaged; and whatever other men may think about these things, we know what we are doing, and we shall try, in the name of the Lord, and under His guidance and direction, to build up his Zion upon the earth; that there may be a phalanx of people that God will acknowledge—a phalanx of people that will bow to the behests of Jehovah; a phalanx of people in whom the heavens are interested; a people who are engaged in rolling forth the work of God, and establishing not only the Church of Christ, but His Zion and the kingdom of God upon the earth.

This is a work that is not popular among men. They want their ideas, their theories, and their notions; we want the ideas and theories, the word and will, and the guidance and direction of the Almighty; and if we are connected with his kingdom, if there is such a thing as the kingdom of God upon the earth, it means the rule and government of God.

Peradventure some will say, “We won’t let you do it.” Now, don’t stop the Lord, will you? No matter about the theories, ideas and notions of men. God has committed to us certain principles, and by the help of God we mean to carry them out. In doing this it devolves upon us to send the Gospel to every creature under heaven, and for this we have a First Presidency; for this we have the Twelve Apostles; for this we have some seventy times seventy of Seventies; for this we have several thousand High Priests; for this we have some eight or ten thousand Elders, and God has called us to do his work, and by the help of Israel’s God we will do it in the name of the Lord, and let all Israel say, Amen. (The vast congregation responded, “Amen.”) These are our feelings on that subject. And let the Twelve, let the Seventies, let the High Priests, and let the Elders work up to the dignity and importance of their calling, and feel that they are under command, as the servants of God, to do his will in spreading the Gospel of life and salvation to the nations of the earth. The world will hate you. No matter—they hated your master before you. They persecuted Him before they persecuted you. He endured it; we will try to.

What then? We will go on building our Temples, and when we have built them we will administer in them according to the word of God. And who else knows this order but us? Let the Latter-day Saints build these Temples and hand them over to the divines of the world, and what would they do? Why, all they would do would be to quarrel about theology. What do they know about the ordinances of the Gospel? Nothing. What do they know about salvation for the living and the dead? Nothing. They would not know how to ad– minister in a Temple if they had one, and further, we should not know if God had not shown us how. We are dependent upon the Lord; but we have our friends, as I have said, behind the veil. They have the same Priesthood which we have, and they are operating in our interests and it is that which frequently operates among men now, silently working when they know nothing about it. They rage in many instances, and foam and get up resolutions; generally very religious people. Well, it was that class of people that persecuted Jesus and his disciples; they thought they were unfit to live. What of it? Do you hate them? No. Would I injure any of them? No, they are injuring themselves, God knows, ten thousand times more than I could do. Any man who departs from the principles of right; any man who tramples upon human rights and human liberty; men who cannot allow other men to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience, are in a deplorable, condition; they are fast going back to barbarism; and it is necessary that God should introduce principles to lift man above these groveling ideas. We can look upon all mankind as our brothers, and can try to benefit and elevate the human race. This is the mission which God has given us to attend to—first, in regard to religious matters, and afterwards to political matters, that all men may enjoy perfect freedom in every respect, not in name, not in theory only, but in reality.

I find that time is passing. We scarcely have time in our assemblages to attend to things and talk about principles that we would like to. There are ten thousand things present themselves before my mind, which I would like to lay before this congregation; but we have not time. We shall have to take these things by degrees, little by little, line upon line, precept upon precept.

There is one thing I wish to speak about here politically. “What do you think about the government of the United States,” some people say. “What are your opinions?” I will tell you what I think about the Constitution. I have just the same opinion of it that Joseph Smith had, and he said it was given by inspiration of God. The men did not know this who wrote it; the men did not know it who adopted it; nevertheless it is true. There is an embodiment of principles contained therein that are calculated to bless and benefit mankind. “What do you think about the government of the United States as a government?” I think it is a good deal ahead of most governments, but I think the administrators are apostatizing very fast from the principles that the fathers of this nation instituted. It has become quite a question nowadays, whether men can be preserved in their rights or not, whether men can worship God according to the dictates of their conscience or not, or whether we are living in a land of freedom or not. What is the matter? Why, they are like the religionists. How is it with them? They profess to believe in the Bible. They do believe it shut, but when you open it they deny it. The people of this nation profess to believe in the Constitution. They do until it comes to be applied to the people and then they do not. That is perhaps too broad a saying; but I will say there are many who feel like this—not all by a long way. There are thousands and tens of thousands who are imbued with the same principles as were the framers of the Constitution and who desire to see human freedom perpetuated. The principles of freedom and the love of human liberty have not quite died out of the hearts of all men in these United States. There is a respectable balance in favor of liberty and freedom and equal rights. But there are others—why they talk sometimes about our polygamy until you would think from what these open-mouthed people say, that we were the most corrupt people on the face of the earth. I could say something about them if I wanted to talk, I would say here that we respect family virtue, and we protect virtue among us. We associate with our families upon principles that have been ordained of God, and sanctioned by Him, in the different ages of the world. And then we are true to our covenants, while they profess to be true to theirs, and violate them and disgrace and corrupt themselves. God save us from their infamies! Do not follow after their example. What have we seen of men here right in our city sent to evangelize us?—seducing females when they could, and then go into courts, churches, etc., and talk about the impurities of the “Mormons!” This is not a very good way to evangelize people nor to exalt them; it does not produce a love of those ennobling principles which all honorable men ought to be governed by. We would say then in regard to religionists—if you profess a religion be true to it; if you profess to believe in the Bible when shut, believe it when open, and practice its principles. We would say to men who profess so much loyalty and patriotism to the government, be true to your institutions, be true to the Constitution of the United States, as we say to all our people to be true to the same. We expect the Latter-day Saints to be so, and to be subject to law, to avoid lawlessness of every kind and the interference with men’s rights in any shape. Let all men worship as they please. That is a matter for their own consciences, it is not for us to dictate. Let all men be free in their business relations, that in all things we may feel that we are performing our part as citizens of the United States and citizens of the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth; and if other people can afford to traduce us, we can scarcely afford to tell the truth about them. I might talk about thousands of things that I am acquainted with that I know as well as I am standing here; but we will leave them to their master. If they choose evil let them choose it. We talk sometimes about the influence of saloons, of whiskey and beer, and all these kinds of things. Cannot you Latter-day Saints let them alone? If you cannot you are not fit to be Latter-day Saints and you will not be so long. If the world choose to wallow in these things, let them wallow. But would an Elder in Israel and a saint of God disgrace himself by being found in such dens? Yes, many have, but they have got to repent and turn round a short corner and purge themselves from these things, or they will be severed from the Church and kingdom of God, and they will have no association among us. We are after truth and after righteousness, and let us, as we have been exhorted, maintain our purity and our virtue, and if others introduce corruption among us, let them alone, let them take their own course, but “O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united.” Ye Latter-day Saints purge yourselves from iniquity and speak the truth, act honestly, be pure and virtuous, and honor God and your calling, and God will honor you, but if you do not, you will be speedily rooted out. There is a day of reckoning fast coming. God is beginning to trouble the nations of the earth, and these things will grow and increase, and it is time for you Elders of Israel to be on the side of right, to depart from evil, to cleave to the truth, to work righteousness, and to honor God. God expects it of you, the holy angels expect it of you, and if you do not leave your evils you can have no place with the Saints of God on the earth or in the heavens.

As I before said, we have not time to enter into all these matters. You have had a good deal of needful instruction. Let us profit by it and honor our God. And I say God bless all men who love the truth, whether here or anywhere else; God bless all men who maintain human rights and freedom; and God confound the opposers of these principles everywhere. These are my principles and feelings. We want nothing like communism, or nihilism, or any of the outrageous infamies that are beginning to vex and perplex the nations. Yet these things will roll on until it will be a vexation to hear the reports thereof, and unless this nation speedily turns round God’s hand will be upon them; unless they speedily adhere to the principles of equal rights and freedom, He will be after them. Now, you can set that down if you like, and see whether it will come to pass or not. I say, then God bless every lover of right, whether among this people or anywhere else, and God bless the rulers of this land who rule in righteousness, and God remove those who do not. (Amen). And let us honor our God and our religion and adhere to the principles of truth. God will stand by us, and the glory of God will rest upon us, and no power this side of hell can hurt us if we be followers of that which is good.

I ask the blessing of my Heavenly Father to be upon this congregation, upon all Israel who love the truth, and all men everywhere who are desirous to do right and keep the commandments of God, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered at Provo, Sunday Afternoon, August 28th, 1881.

We meet together here and elsewhere in a Conference capacity, for the purpose of regulating, managing and directing the affairs of the Church, and submitting the reports of the several Stakes to the people, that the Saints may comprehend the position which they occupy, and that through our inter-communication with each other and through the various reports, we may become acquainted, to a certain extent, with the spirit and feeling, the desires and motives that permeate the Saints of God, throughout all the land of Zion.

We talk about a great many subjects, and many principles are introduced to our notice. The various duties and responsibilities of the presiding authorities are referred to, as well as those of the Presidents of Stakes and their Counselors, the Bishops and their Counselors, and the Priests, Teachers and Deacons, as also the various societies and organizations which exist as aids to the Holy Priesthood in the several Stakes. All these things are very good, so far as they go; but it is proper that we should examine ourselves, and when it is our duty so to do, examine one another; and then ask the Lord to examine us; for it is possible that we may entertain ideas regarding ourselves and our position that may not be sanctioned by the Almighty; and if this be the case, then if that harvest should come off which we have heard sung this afternoon, it may find some of us who are not “wheat,” not faithfully performing in all respects the various duties and responsibilities which devolve upon us. And it is quite proper that we, as an intelligent people, professing preeminently to be the servants of God, should act with candor and truthfulness, and should be able to scan our own actions as well as those of others, to see wherein we come short in following the example that was set us by one of the ancient Prophets, in which he said, “Search me, O God, and try me and prove me; and if there be any way of wickedness in me, bid it depart.”

The position that we occupy is indeed a very peculiar one. We are gathered here from the nations of the earth. We are gathered here because of certain plans, purposes and designs of Jehovah, pertaining to the world wherein we live, pertaining to the peoples who have existed before us, and relating to all men whether living or dead. And as the Lord organized this world; as He is said to be the God of the spirits of all flesh; and as he is interested in the welfare of all humanity, he would be the proper personage to inaugurate every measure, everything that would be calculated to promote the interests of mankind. And in the accomplishment of the salvation of the human family his designs, plans and purposes have been perfected generations long ago. If he could reveal unto Adam all of the events which would transpire upon the earth associated with coming generations, he certainly must himself have had a knowledge of those things which he communicated to our first parents, or he could not have revealed them. Among other things which the Lord designed should be introduced upon the earth was what is termed the dispensation of the fulness of times, wherein he would gather together all things in one, whether they be things on the earth or things in heaven; but all should be gathered together in one.

We have had in the different ages various dispensations; for instance what may be called the Adamic dispensation, the dispensation of Noah, the dispensation of Abraham, the dispensation of Moses and of the Prophets who were associated with that dispensation; the dispensation of Jesus Christ, when he came to take away the sins of the world by the sacrifice of himself, and in and through those various dispensations, certain principles, powers, privileges and Priesthoods have been developed. But in the dispensation of the fulness of times a combination or a fulness, a completeness of all those dispensations was to be introduced among the human family. If there was anything pertaining to the Adamic, (or what we may term more particularly the patriarchal) dispensation, it would be made manifest in the last days. If there was anything associated with Enoch and his city, and the gathering together of his people, or of the translation of his city, it would be manifested in the last days. If there was anything associated with the Melchizedek Priesthood in all its forms, powers, privileges and blessings at any time or in any part of the earth, it would be restored in the last days. If there was anything connected with the Aaronic Priesthood, that also would be developed in the last times. If there was anything associated with the Apostleship and Presidency that existed in the days of Jesus, or that existed on this continent, it would be developed in the last times; for this is the dispensation of the fullness of times, embracing all other times, all principles, all powers, all manifestations, all Priesthoods and the powers thereof that have existed in any age, in any part of the world, For, “Those things which never have been revealed from the founda– tion of the world, but have been kept hid from the wise and prudent, shall be revealed unto babes and sucklings in this, the dispensation of the fullness of times.”

And who was to originate this? It originated with God the Father, and it was sustained by Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, and it was sanctioned by all the Prophets, Patriarchs, Apostles and men of God who held the Priesthood in former ages. And finally, when all the preparations were made and everything was ready, or the time had fully come, the Father and the Son appeared to the youth Joseph Smith to introduce the great work of the latter days. He who presides over this earth and he who is said to be the maker of all things, the Father, pointing to his well-beloved Son, says, “This is my beloved Son, hear him.” He did not come himself to regulate and put in order all things, but he presented his Only Begotten Son, the personage who should be, as he is termed in the Scriptures, the Apostle and great High Priest of our profession, who should take the lead in the management and regulation of all matters pertaining to the great dispensation that was about to be ushered in. And that Jesus who had been spoken of by all the holy prophets since the world was, and was the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world, who was the Son of the Eternal Father, and who was the brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image of his person, he it was who was to take charge of this all-important work, to regulate the affairs pertaining to the interests of humanity, to introduce the dispensation of the fullness of times, and to operate with the various Priesthoods that had existed and the men who held the keys of these Priesthoods in former times for the salvation of humanity.

And thus the work was commenced. Everything was prepared in the heavens that had been contemplated from the beginning. And I here desire to mention one thing pertaining to the Son of God. We are told that when it was determined to organize the earth, and when God had laid his plans before the councils of the heavens that he asked Lucifer what he would do. Lucifer answered, “Behold I, send me, I will be Thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost; and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.” The Father then turned to his well-beloved Son, and asked, “What will you do, you have heard these things as well as Lucifer?” The Son replied, “Father, thy will be done, and thine be the glory.” Satan, we are told, rebelled against God; and he wanted to introduce something that was contrary to the law of God and to the counsel of God; as much as to say, “O, you do not know much about it; I will go and save all; wherefore give me thy glory.” Some of our folks nowadays feel and say sometimes, they have a portion of the Priesthood, and they think they are almighty personages; they think they know better than anybody else, better than the Bishop, better that the Twelve, better than the Presidency of the Church: they are puffed up and filled with their vain imaginations. Say they, “let me have my way; and then, I want you to give me your honor to help me to carry it out.” Or, in other words, “I want to fight against the work of God and against the Priesthood of God, and I want you to give me power and influence to accomplish it.” They do not tell you that in so many words; but those are the facts. Now, we are told that Satan rebelled against God. He could not rebel against a law if that law had not been given; he could not have violated a commandment if that commandment did not exist. And we are told that he sought to take away the agency of man, to make man a poor miserable serf; and then to take his own course in regard to the destiny of the human family. But God would not have it so; and because of his rebelling he cast Lucifer out of heaven and with him one-third of the hosts of heaven because of their departure from God and his laws, and because they sought to pervert the counsel of God, and violate those principles which he had introduced for the salvation of the world which was to be, and upon which we now dwell.

Was it known that man would fall? Yes. We are clearly told that it was understood that man should fall, and it was understood that the penalty of departing from the law would be death, death temporal. And there was a provision made for that. Man was not able to make that provision himself, and hence we are told that it needed the atonement of a God to accomplish this purpose; and the Son of God presented himself to carry out that object. And when he presented himself for this position he was accepted by his Father, just the same as any man who owes a debt, if he is not able to pay that obligation, and somebody steps forward and says, I will go security for him. If the persons to whom he is indebted are willing to take him as security they will receive the security’s note or obligation to meet the debt. So Jesus offered himself. Now, man could not have done that. Man could do all that he is capable of doing. But there was an eternal law of God violated and it needed an eternal, infinite sacrifice to atone therefore; and Jesus offered himself as that sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world; and hence it is written, he was the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world.

Now, to carry out this view of indebtedness a little further. We will suppose that a man has given his note to pay a certain amount in a certain given time, and in order to keep that note good, he agrees to pay interest on it. Now, when Jesus gave himself up as security for the sins of mankind, and God accepted of his security, what was done then? Why, sacrifices were introduced as types of the sacrifice of the Son of God, to show that the ancient servants of God recognized this principle which had existed in the heavens, and many of them understood the principle with great clearness. We find that Adam offered sacrifices, and when he did this, he said in answer to a question put to him by an holy angel, I do not know why I do it, only the Father has commanded it. And then the angel commenced to explain to him that this rite was a type of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father who should come in the meridian of time to offer himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world; and said he, “Thou shalt do all things in the name of the Son, and call upon the Father in his name for evermore.” When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, the mercy of God was extended to them, and they perceived as Eve expressed it, that if there had been no fall, they would have had no posterity, and that they would have been deprived of many joys and blessings relating both to this life and the life to come. And so Adam and Eve rejoiced in their hearts that God had provided the plan, and although they were fallen, yet in this life, through the atonement, they would have joy, and by and by they would return to their Father, and there rejoice exceedingly in the abundant mercy of God, and in the redemption wrought out for them by the Son of God.

We find that from that time Satan began to operate and to use his influence against God, seeking to introduce rebellion on the earth as he had done in heaven. He succeeded but too well in his operations. And when Cain and Abel offered up their sacrifice, Cain would not have done it if the devil had not urged him; but we are told that Cain loved Satan better than he loved God, and that he departed from the laws of God. Satan requested Cain to offer up a sacrifice, which he did, and the Lord rejected it, but he accepted his brother Abel’s. Why did the Lord refuse one and accept the other? Because the Lord knew that Cain had departed from him, and that he was not sincere in his offering, as we sometimes are not sincere in our offerings and in our worship, and therefore he rejected it. Then Satan came again and whispered to Cain, I could have told you all about it before; God is an unrighteous God; he gathers where he has not strewn, he reaps where he has not sown. He was unjust to me in heaven, and therefore I rebelled against him; and I advise you to do so also. And Cain listened to the advice of Satan, and as the devil was a murderer and a liar from the beginning, so he induced Cain to become the same, and he instigated him to kill his brother Abel. Here were the two powers represented in the two men, that of God in Abel, and that of Satan in Cain; and thus the warfare commenced, and the opposition was inaugurated, for we are told it was necessary there should be an opposition in all things. And furthermore, we are told that it became him of 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.

Now, these things spread and grew. It was necessary and proper that there should be good and evil, light and darkness, sin and righteousness, one principle of right opposed to another of wrong, that man might have his free agency to receive the good and reject the evil, and by receiving the good (through the atonement of Jesus Christ and the principles of the Gospel, which he introduced, and which were advocated long before he himself appeared on the earth), they might be saved and exalted to the eternal Godhead, and go back to their Father and God, while the disobedient would have to meet the consequences of their own acts.

This warfare continued; and as men began to increase upon the earth, so wickedness increased, until it was decided that they should be destroyed, that they might be deprived of the privilege of perpetuating their species. Why? Let us go back to the time when Satan rebelled against the Almighty and drew away one-third of the hosts of heaven. We find that there were pure spirits that stood that test and who had given to them the promise of bodies on this earth. Let us suppose that you and I were there as spirits, awaiting the privilege of taking bodies, and that we could see the wickedness and corruption that was going on upon the earth, and that we could see Prophets going about teaching the principles of righteousness and warning the peo– ple of judgments that should come, of the flood that should overwhelm them and of the prisons prepared in which the ungodly should be cast. And we say, “Father, you see the people on the earth that they are wicked and depraved, fallen and corrupt!” “Yes.” “Is it right and just that we who have done no wrong should have to enter into such corrupt bodies and partake of the influences with which they are surrounded?” “No,” says the Father, “it is not just, and I will cut them off, I will cause the floods to come upon them to destroy them, and I will send those wicked and disobedient spirits into prison,” which he did.

Here was an act of justice. Some men who profess to be very wise, think God was unjust in thus destroying so many of his creatures. They know nothing about it because they do not comprehend the law of God and the purposes of God. It was an act of justice and righteousness according to the eternal justice that dwells in the bosom of the Father.

What next? Before they were destroyed, Enoch ministered unto them; he organized a church, and he sent forth Elders, as we are now doing, to warn the people of the desolation that was about to overtake the inhabitants of the earth; and the Savior, according to Luke, said referring to this event in the world’s history, “And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man.” And says Matthew, in referring to the same thing, “As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.” After these Elders had gone forth, under the direction of Enoch, they gathered together those who believed in their message, and they built up a city which they called Zion. And the power of God was with Enoch, and with those Elders; and the enemies of God and of his law arrayed themselves against God and against Enoch and his people, as some of our very pious people are doing today against us, and as others would like to do. Say they, “Look, what a wicked people these ‘Mormons’ are, they have more wives than one. It is true we have mistresses besides our wives; it is true we commit adultery; it is true we are covered with infamy and debauchery; it is true that the stink of our crimes and iniquities rises into the nostrils of Jehovah, as it did in former days, but we will cover all that over.” But they cannot do it; it sticks out on every side; the covering is too narrow. They are murderers and murderesses of their infants, and the stench of their infamy ascends into the nostrils of Jehovah; and you that want them, take them, and you that do will go along with them, and go to perdition with them; and I tell you that in the name of the Lord. And you that want your children to go to perdition send them to be taught by those not of us. Are there any more foolish than some of the Latter-day Saints are today? We read in our newspapers from time to time of certain combinations conspiring against us, and who are they? The Methodists, the Presbyterians, the Baptists, the Episcopalians and others, and they want to petition Congress—what to do? To destroy the very people whom you profess to love; and still you would send your children to be taught by them, to drink in their influence and spirit, and in time to imitate their acts, would you? What is being done in certain parts of the Southern States today? Mobs, led on by Christian ministers, co-religionists of these men, are seeking the lives of your own brethren, and those who are here manifest the same spirit and would perpetrate the same acts if they had the power in the same way that is being done in Georgia, for instance; but they pretend to be so nice, and so pure and so virtuous, and to have such agreeable manners, and to be so well educated, and they want to teach your children, and to tell you the truth, to lead them to hell. And you will assist them to do it! Woe to that man and that woman who permit their children to come under such influences! They will sup sorrow in time and in eternity, where there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Do you hear it? I tell it to you in the name of the Lord. Woe be unto those fathers and mothers, I say, who thus tamper with the children that God has given them.

I am reminded of a case of mobbing which occurred lately in Georgia, in which Elder Geo. W. Bean, a young man from this place (Provo), was attacked, the mob as usual having been gotten up by Christian ministers. And this same class of men will tell you what good people they are, and yet they will approve such acts; and on the back of that they will ask that your children may be sent to them to educate, to be taught what? How to mob; how to trample on the rights and liberties of men, how to trample upon everything that is great and noble and exalted in Israel. And they will pull down the pillars of this nation by their mobocracies and infamies; and, yet, you will tamper with them, will you? Leave them alone. Tell them to convert those Christians who are engaged in mobbing their fellow men, and when they get that done to come and convert you afterwards.

You know they had Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, etc., in Enoch’s time—or a lot of religious professors like them. Perhaps they did not call them by those names; but they assembled together their armies, the same as armies have been assembled against us, and will be again. And some of you will help to do it, and teach your children to do it. Now, the wicked assembled against the people of God, and Enoch rose up in the power and spirit of the living God, and prophesied and the mountains shook, whilst the people trembled and fled afar off, because of the power of God that was with him; and the power of God will be with Israel today if Israel will serve God; but if we pander to iniquity, evil and corruption, we will have to abide the consequences. What next? The flood came and destroyed the unrighteous, and their spirits were confined in prisons, as they are termed. And I think I hear the devil laughing, as some of them did when we were driven away from our homes, thinking that “Mormonism” had gone to perdition. But we live yet, and they were mistaken; and so was the devil. For although they were destroyed in the body, yet when Jesus came and was put to death in the flesh, yet quickened by the spirit, he went and preached to the spirits in prison that were disobedient in the days of Noah. And then the devil put on a long face and said, I imagined I had got rid of these fellows, but they are going to have a chance yet that I did not think of. And after the flood we are told that the curse that had been pronounced upon Cain was continued through Ham’s wife, as he had married a wife of that seed. And why did it pass through the flood? Because it was necessary that the devil should have a representation upon the earth as well as God; and that man should be a free agent to act for himself, and that all men might have the opportunity of receiving or rejecting the truth, and be governed by it or not according to their wishes and abide the result; and that those who would be able to maintain correct principles under all circumstances, might be able to associate with the Gods in the eternal worlds. It is the same eternal program. God knew it and Adam knew it.

Now, with regard to Noah and his day. God made arrangements beforehand, and told Methuselah that when the people should be destroyed, that a remnant of his seed should occupy the earth and stand foremost upon it. And Methuselah was so anxious to have it done that he ordained Noah to the Priesthood when he was ten years of age. Noah then stood in his day as the representative of God; and after him Abraham was selected to take the lead in relation to these matters pertaining to man’s salvation, Some people suppose that Abraham was an old fogy who knew but little, a kind of dull, dumpy old shepherd. But we were informed that he was a man that followed after righteousness, and that he sought to obtain more righteousness; that he searched the records of his fathers as they had come down to him, and traced them back until the days of Adam, and even before the world was. Before the world was? Yes. God, we are told, talked with him, and told him of certain noble spirits who stood in his presence in the beginning, whom he had determined to make his rulers; “and thou, Abraham,” said he, “art one of them.” He was not only a prince on the earth but a prince in the heavens, and by right came to the earth in his time to accomplish the things given him to do. And he found by tracing his genealogy that he had a right to the Priesthood, and when he ascertained that, he prayed to the Lord, and demanded an ordination. And he was ordained (as we are told by Joseph Smith) under the hands of Melchizedek to the holy Priesthood. And afterwards, we are informed, became in possession of the Urim and Thummim by which he could obtain a knowledge of God and of his laws, and all things pertaining to the earth and the heavens. And God revealed himself unto him; and he told him that in blessing, he would bless him; and in multiplying, he would multiply him, and that in him and in his seed all the families of the earth should be blessed. And has this been so? Yes; from that time forth, by that lineage the blessings of heaven have flowed to the children of men. Let us examine a few things. Who were Isaac and Jacob? Heirs of the same promises as himself. Who was Joseph, who was sold into Egypt? A descendant of Abraham. Who was Moses, who delivered the people from Egyptian bondage? A descendant of Abraham. Who was Aaron, who was associated with the Aaronic Priesthood, and who presided over it? A descendant of Abraham. Who were the Prophets that we read of in this Bible? They were descendants of Abraham. Who was Jesus, who as the Son of God, taketh away the sins of the world? A descendant of Abraham according to the flesh. Who were the Twelve Apostles, commissioned to preach the Gospel to all nations? Descendants of Abraham. And who were the Twelve Apostles that lived upon this continent? Descendants of Abraham. Who was Joseph Smith, to whom the Gospel was revealed in these last days? A descendant of Abraham. And it had been predicted of him that his name should be Joseph, and that his father’s name should also be Joseph, and that he should be a descendant of that Joseph who was sold into Egypt. And who are the present Twelve? Just the same kind of people. And who are we gathering to Zion? A remnant of that seed, with a considerable mixture of grizzly, grey, and all kinds. But Jesus said, My sheep hear my voice, and they know me, and a stranger they will not follow, because they know not the voice of a stranger. And why do not the millions of the inhabitants of the earth embrace the Gospel? Because they are not sheep; that is all. And if the goats kick up and cut a few antics, you need not be astonished. It is the nature of goats, is it not? (Laughter.)

This Gospel is introduced that we may be taught and instructed in the ways of God, and that the Priesthood may be organized according to the holy order of God, What for? That this Priesthood may associate with the Priesthood behind the veil, who are operating with God and for God in the interests of humanity. That is the reason of it. And hence we find that these men who hold the Priesthood, the everlasting Priesthood, that ministers in time and in eternity, coming one after another to Joseph Smith, and conferring upon him the Priesthood which they held. They conferred on him first the Priesthood of Aaron, a descendant of Aaron, John the Baptist, who held the keys of that Priesthood in his day, came to Joseph Smith and to Oliver Cowdery, and laid his hands upon their heads and said, “Upon you, my fellowservants, in the name of the Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministry 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.” Then came Peter, James and John, who conferred the same Priesthood and keys that they held. And then came other powers, principles and revelations in succession, one after another. After the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods had been conferred in general terms, then some of the most specific things in regard to the introduction, of this Gospel were accomplished. When Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were together in Kirtland Temple, we find that Moses appeared to them. He committed unto them the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north. And did they have this power conferred upon them? Yes. And is that power continued? I think it is or I do not think you would be here today. What brought you here? Why did you not stop where you came from? Because you believed the Gospel. When you heard it and obeyed it, the Elder who laid his hands upon your head, conferred upon you that principle which brought you here, and you hardly know why you came, but you could not rest easily until you did come; and you entered into all kinds of plans and calculations to get here. And I have known people so anxious to come here, that they were ready almost to sell themselves. And was it because we were such a good people? I do not know about that; I do not think we were as good as we ought to be. Nevertheless, that spirit operated upon you, and you could not rest until you got here.

Another thing associated with this was the coming of Elijah. What to do? To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers. And what is meant by that? He was a representative of a certain class in the heavens who felt interested in their children. And their children are our fathers; and hence they, the father’s hearts, are turned to their children; and our hearts who are their children, are turned towards them. And we begin to build Temples. Some think this is a very foolish thing to do. It does look like it to some, but not to those who are informed. Why do we build Temples? Because Elijah conferred certain keys which he held upon Joseph Smith. And when he laid his hands upon Elders conferring on them the Holy Priesthood, they carried the principles imparted by Elijah to Joseph to you and to others, and you received it without knowing it. And by and by as the Church began to gather together, we began to talk about building Temples in which to receive and to administer ordinances which had been revealed unto Joseph Smith, pertaining to the interest of the living and the dead and necessary to our salvation and exaltation in the kingdom of our God, as well as for those for whom we administer. And we have not only talked about it, but have done considerable in that direction. For besides having one handsome structure in St. George, we are employing not less than 500 men today who are engaged in the same work in different parts of the Territory. And we intend to go on with this work; and while our Christian friends look on and wonder what it all means, we will carry on the work, for we know what we are doing if they do not. As I have remarked before in speaking on this subject in other places, if we were to turn over a Temple to them after we had built and finished it, they would not know what to do with it, for God has not communicated this knowledge to them; and hence they could do no more than they used to do when I was a boy, and which I suppose they still do; that is, the minister, if an Episcopalian, would appear in a white surplice with a prayer book in his hand, from which he would read something like this: “We have erred and strayed from Thy ways like lost sheep”—which by the way, would be quite correct (laughter); “we have done those things which we ought not to have done, and left undone those things which we ought to have done.” And if the minister were a Methodist, he would be in favor of getting up a great revival, to embrace each other and invite each other to “come to Jesus,” and call upon the mourners to come to the mourner’s bench to be prayed for, and the sum total of the whole would be, “Come to Jesus.” Say some, “What shall I do to be saved?” Says the Methodist, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” “Well, I do believe.” “Well, continue to believe.” “But I do believe.” “Well, continue to believe,” (Laugh– ter). Would not the devil laugh at such foolishness? Yes, and the angels would, and everybody else who had good common sense, for such kind of foolishness is incompatible with the plan, ordinances, order and law of God, and with the Gospel of the Son of God.

In our Temples we expect to receive certain ordinances revealed to us from God through His servants. And would not the world like to know what they consisted of? They will have to go to their God to find out. But I am afraid that he would be a good deal like the gods we read of. It reminds me of a story told of Abraham. It is said Abraham’s father was an idolater, and that he had a number of gods in his house. This grieved Abraham, whilst his father wanted his son to believe and worship as he himself did; but Abraham knew better than to do such a thing. Abraham at last thought he would teach his father a lesson by making a clean sweep of his gods. So he got a club, or some other weapon, and knocked off the heads of some, the arms and legs of others, and made a general wreck among the idols, but left the biggest untouched. When Abraham’s father learned what had happened, he of course was greatly exercised; he inquired of Abraham who had done it. Abraham told him that the gods had had a quarrel among themselves, “and,” said he, “here is the fellow, (pointing to the big one he had spared) that did it.” Said the father: “My son, why do you tell me such a thing. My gods cannot fight; they have legs, but they cannot walk; they have arms, but they cannot use them; they have eyes and ears but they cannot see nor hear.” “Why, father,” said Abraham, “is it possible that you worship a god that cannot hear or see, walk or use himself at all?” The god of the Christians, according to their own description of him, being a god without body, parts or passions, would be as unlikely to hear them: when they called upon him, as were the gods of Terah, Abraham’s father, when he called upon them.

In speaking further on this matter, I will tell you what we are doing. We are building three Temples, besides the one that is built in St. George. Two or three weeks ago we were in Logan; and we were on the roof of the Temple at that place. Brother Woodruff was at Sanpete; he says the Temple being built there is progressing finely. And then we are moving along with ours at Salt Lake City. A gentleman who called on us lately asked me when we expected to finish our Temple. I told him that I could not tell him. “I suppose,” said he, “it will depend upon the means at your disposal to carry on the work.” “O no,” said I, “money has nothing to do with it; we go at it, and work at it, and intend to work at it until it is done.” To show the kind of feeling that existed in Cache Valley, I will say they were a few thousands of dollars behind, and they applied to me, as Trustee-in-Trust, to help them. “O yes, I said, we cannot only help you, but finish the building. But we would not do that. Why? Because we would be doing you an injustice. When you build it yourselves, you have a right there. You are called to be Saviors upon Mount Zion, and it is one of your privileges, of which we would not deprive you, to build a Temple to the Lord, in order that people may be saved therein.” And it is not the men that wear the best clothes that are doing the work. I said to the people in Logan, the man who chops down trees, and those who drag them through the snows and frosts, and expose their bodies to the inclemency of the weather in the interests of the kingdom of God, as well as those who hew the rock and carry the hod, are as much interested in these things, and will receive their reward as well as those who contribute money or other means for that purpose. I saw, amongst others, a number of Lamanites helping to make mortar. I felt like blessing them in the name of the Lord. All men, those engaged in the work, and those who contribute to it, have an interest in these things. God is looking upon us, and has called us to be saviors upon Mount Zion. And what does a savior mean? It means a person who saves somebody. Jesus went and preached to the spirits in prison; and he was a savior to that people. When he came to atone for the sins of the world, he was a savior, was he not? Yes. And we are told in the revelations that saviors should stand upon Mount Zion; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s. Would we be saviors if we did not save somebody? I think not. Could we save anyone if we did not build Temples? No, we could not; for God would not accept our offerings and sacrifices. Then we came here to be saviors on Mount Zion, and the kingdom is to be the Lord’s. Then what shall we do? We will build Temples. And what then? Administer in them, When we get them done. Do we know how? Yes, we do, for God has told us how. And who shall we save? Our fathers and mothers, our uncles and our aunts, our grandfathers and our grandmothers, and we will look after the interest of all we can trace; we will still go to work, after we have settled indi– vidual matters and attended to our family affairs and a few little things among us—for we are a small people comparatively, notwithstanding that we talk about extending our power; we are a few people comparatively, but God has chosen us and selected us and planted us here, and told us what to do. Then after we get through with our own affairs, what next? There are myriads who have died without a knowledge of the Gospel, that God and Jesus and the ancient Patriarchs and Prophets and men of God were interested in as they are in us, and whom we are informed shall have the opportunity of receiving the Gospel if they had it not on this earth. And are the Priesthood operating behind the veil? Yes, and we are operating here. And we have a Priesthood here, and they have one there. Have we a Presidency? They have one there. Have we a Twelve? So they have there. Have we Seventies here? They have there. Have we High Priests here? They have there. Have we various quorums? Yes, and we operate in them; and when we get through we join our quorums above. As I told you yesterday that when Patriarch Joseph Smith died we were told that he was seated at the right hand of Abraham. And why was he there? Because Abraham was a Patriarch, and Joseph Smith’s father was a Patriarch. He was at his right hand because he was associated with the dispensation of the fullness of times, the same as Abraham was a leading Patriarch in the dispensation in which he lived. And David Patten, one of the first Twelve, what about him? Another was to be ordained in his place, but he was not to have his Priesthood; of David, we are told, his Priesthood no man taketh—he should stand in his proper position. Where? He was dead. No, he was not; he was alive. But he died? Yes, he did; but he lives. He was killed by a mob in Missouri, but he lives behind the veil and occupies his proper place there in his own quorum. Then, there was a man named Seymour Brunson, who died, who was a member of the High Council. It was said that another should be put in his place, but that he held his Priesthood: Where? Behind the veil. What of Seventies and High Priests? Just the same, if they fulfil their duties and magnify their callings. Has Joseph Smith ceased to minister in his office because he has left the earth? No; he administers in his office in the eternal worlds under the direction of the Son of God, and a proper presiding Priesthood as it exists in the heavens. And so will we. Hence they have gone to live forever. If a man dies, shall he live again? Why, yes. A man goes to sleep, but he wakes again. It is said that Jesus possessed life in himself; and says he, “I have power to lay down my body, and power to take it up again.” But we have not that power. But says he, “I am the resurrection and the life;” and, “Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” Die! We will go to sleep, and we will wake up again. We will associate with the Priesthood again; and that is the reason why we want to have our records all right, and everything straight in relation to all of these things.

If we are saviors, what have we to do? Build Temples. What then? administer in them; and others in the heavens are engaged in the same work as we, but in another position and in other circumstances. They preach to spirits in prison; they officiate in ordinances with which we have nothing to do. We administer in ordinances which God has revealed to us to attend to; and when we attend to them correctly, God sanctions them. For instance, you Elders who have been out preaching, you told the people if they repented of their sins and were baptized they should receive the Holy Ghost, and they received it, according to the promise you made them. God sanctioned these proceedings, and you are all witnesses thereof. And God has said that it was his business to take care of His Saints. But then it is our business to be Saints.

And then, in relation to these matters, when we are faithful and true to our calling on the earth, and we step behind the veil and are associated with our quorums in the heavens, and there continue to operate, what shall we have to do? We are told that all those myriads before referred to, that would have received the Gospel, but had not the privilege of hearing or receiving it in this world and have died without it, shall have the opportunity of receiving it hereafter. But who are to be the administrators of these ordinances? Are we? No, they are out of our reach, they are behind the veil. But there is a Priesthood there; and there is a place for the Seventies and the High Priests, etc., to operate there. And what were the Twelve to do who lived and operated on the continent of Asia? It is written that they should sit upon twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And what of those Twelve that were on this continent? They are to be judged by the Twelve whom Jesus chose in Judea. And then the people of this continent will be judged by the Twelve that were here; and very likely the Presidency and Twelve of this Church will have something to do in this matter in relation to those who live in this age of the world.

Now if they have that to do what have we to do? Build Temples. What then? Administer in them. And when we have got beyond the range of those whom we know, we shall need information from the powers behind the veil to know for whom we are to be baptized. Do you think they will be at the trouble of informing us? I rather think they will, if they are set to judge people. And having seen proper to organize the Church and establish the Holy Priesthood and reveal the first principles of the Gospel, it is but reasonable to conclude they will be sufficiently interested about the other matters. But it is for us to build the Temples and administer in them, and help the fathers to save their children, and the children to save the fathers. Have they rights in heaven? So have we on earth. Have they privileges? So have we. Have they earned salvation and become saviors? We also shall participate in that if we magnify our calling, honor our God, and keep His commandments. Hence we are joint saviors with them. We need their assistance, they need ours. These are some of the things that we have to perform. We have a labor before us. You, Seventies; you, High Priests, you are not here to find out what you shall eat or drink, or wherewithal you shall be clothed. You are not here to quarrel over little things and to have your own way. Jesus said, “Father, Thy will be done.” He said, He came not to do His own will, but the will of His father who sent Him. And when His disciples came to Him and said, Lord, “Teach us how to pray, as John taught his disciples.” He said, pray, “Our Fa– ther who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name: Thy kingdom come.” Let the rule and government of God be established. “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This was His feeling, and this is the feeling of all good Saints and faithful Elders in Israel. And what did Joseph Smith come to do? The will of his Father, to learn that will and do it. What, was the duty of Brigham Young? The same. What is mine? The same. What is the duty of the Twelve? To follow the counsel of the Presidency. What is the duty of the Presidents of Stakes? To follow the counsel of the Presidency. What is the duty of the Bishops? To follow the counsel of the Presidents of Stakes and of their presiding Bishop. I have had men frequently come to me and want to pass by the Presidents of Stakes. I pass them back again. I tell them to go to their Presidents. Again I have men come to me who wish to pass by their Bishops; I send them back to their Bishops as I wish to honor all men in their place. I have enough to do without interfering with the little details of others and so on from them to the Elders, Priests, Teachers and Deacons, every man in his place.

When the disciples of Jesus desired to know who should be the greatest amongst them. He placed a little child in their midst and said “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

We need not talk about our dignity; we have none only as God gives it us. We want the spirit of union and harmony in our midst, every man being governed by the principles of the Gospel and the laws of God. We are traveling through the Stakes instructing the people in the principles of life, that they may be one as the Father and the Son are one, that we may be one in Him; and that all the Presidents, and all the Bishops, and all the various authorities of the Church may see eye to eye, as we are told they shall when God brings again Zion. We want men to be governed by those principles; and for this reason we are traveling among the Stakes to teach people the principles of truth and righteousness; and we want you to be governed by your various officers; and by your various courts too.

Here I want to talk a little on a certain principle. There has been some considerable difficulty between you people of Provo and those of Salt Lake County about water. You should come together as men, and if you cannot compromise the matter, bring it before your High Council, and have it regulated there: and I will tell you here today, that if you take this matter to law before the courts of the ungodly, you shall be cut off from the Church. Now, do you hear that? If I have any voice in the matter I wish to be heard, and I tell you, in the name of Israel’s God, we will not tolerate such flagrant violations of the law of God, among the Latter-day Saints. No man shall hold a standing in the Church and kingdom of God, or preside in that Church, who will violate the laws of God, and seek to the ungodly, inasmuch as God has laws by which He expects us to be governed. That is my feeling about it; and we will carry it out, God being our helper. For we will not suffer this kind of iniquity; and if they do it in the other county, we will treat them the same. It is time for us to lay aside our follies and nonsense, and cleave to the truth and rely upon it, and maintain the Church of God upon the earth. If we do this, we shall be the blessed of the Lord and our offspring with us; and if we do not, then we shall not be, and this will not be a land of Zion unto us. But it will be a land of Zion. The work of God will progress; but the ungodly shall be severed from this Church. I will not fellowship them. And any man who does it, he does it at his own peril, for I will not have anything to do with it. God has given us laws to regulate these matters and all our matters before our High Councils, under the direction of inspired men who have been ordained to the holy Priesthood to judge in matters brought before them. And when we turn to the ungodly, we sell ourselves to the devil, which we will not permit men to do and maintain the fellowship of the Saints and a standing in the Church and kingdom of God. Now, all who are in favor of this hold up your right hands. (The congregation held up their hands). Now, Brother Smoot, you see that carried out.

Brethren and sisters, God bless you and lead you in the paths of life. Do I talk plainly? God expects me to talk plainly. I have not come here to daub you with untempered mortar, but I tell you the truth. And while He has called us to high privileges, to thrones and principalities and dominions, and to be saviors on Mount Zion, and to be kings and priests unto God, and our wives, queens and priestesses unto their husbands, while God has ordained us for this, in the name of Israel’s God we will try and carry it out. And we will find enough that will be true and faithful to God and to His Holy priesthood. And the work of God will roll on, Zion will be established, and the kingdom of God built up, and no man will stay its progress. Amen.

Remarks by President John Taylor, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, July 3rd, 1881.

I have been interested in the remarks made by Brother Cannon, who has addressed us, because I am personally well conversant with most of the events to which he has referred. I also coincide with him in his feelings as regards the position we ought to occupy in this Territory as an integral part of the United States, in relation to the melancholy event which has so recently transpired in the nation; for all right feeling people must execrate a crime like that attempted on the life of the President. It is usual with many people when they think they have received an injury to hope and wish that the like calamity may rest upon those who are their opponents, or by whom they have received, or supposed they have received, certain slights or injuries; and it is very difficult for such people to comprehend the principle that actuates, or ought to actuate, all high-minded, honorable men, especially those who profess to be influenced by that Gospel which was introduced by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our motives as Latter-day Saints should be very different indeed from those which many are actuated by, who do not believe in the principles enunciated in the Gospel of the Son of God. Our mission to the world is a mission of peace. Our proclamation is the same as that which was made by the angels of mercy who heralded the advent of the Son of God; it is: “Peace on earth, and good will toward men.” We have never entertained any other feeling or principle than this; nor do we desire to cherish any unhallowed feelings in our bosoms either to individuals or the nation.

Reference has been made by Bro. Cannon in his remarks to the feeling and animus which exist among many calling themselves Christians, in their conventions, etc., in their endeavors to stir up a spirit of persecution and opposition to us. Let them take their course; let them follow the influence by which they are governed. We cannot afford to entertain a spirit of that kind, nor do we desire to cherish a spirit of retaliation. If Jesus, when upon the earth, could patiently endure the scoffs, sneers and reproaches of men which were so indiscriminately heaped upon Him; if we are in possession of the principles which were enunciated by Him, we can afford also to cherish the same noble and magnanimous feelings which dwelt in His bosom. I know of no other principle than this associated with the Gospel of the Son of God, whether in this age or any other age. Jesus came here according to the foreordained plan and purpose of God, pertaining to the human family, as the Only Begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. He came to offer himself a sacrifice, the just for the unjust; to meet the requirements of a broken law, which the human family were incapable of meeting, to rescue them from the ruins of the fall, to deliver them from the power of death to which all peoples had been subjected by the transgression of a law, and He Himself took the initiatory in this matter, and offered himself, the Son of God, as competent propitiation for the sins of the world. And when He was opposed, rejected, cast out, spat upon and maligned; and again, when He was crucified, in His last remark He used the words which have already been referred to, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” He taught that it was written in the law in olden times, that there should be “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth;” but says He, “I say unto you, That ye resist not evil * * Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” These were principles worthy of a God; these were feelings which if cherished by the human family, would elevate them from that low, groveling position in which they are laboring, would place them on a more elevated platform, would bring them into communion with their Heavenly Father, and prepare them for an association with the Gods in the eternal worlds.

In reference to this late melancholy affair which has occurred, I feel in my heart a strong sympathy for President Garfield. People may think this strange. Why, say they, did he not make some remarks which are calculated to injure you as a people? Yes. But he, like the rest of us is a fallible being. We are all fallible, and it is not every man who can resist the pressure which is brought to bear upon him, and the influence by which he may be surrounded. Even Pilate, who was inspired by strong principles of justice, found it difficult to resist the popular clamor against Jesus; he felt a disposition to deliver the Savior from the position in which he was placed by his enemies, and asked the people, What harm has this man done? Nothing. Only the people continued to cry out, “Crucify him, crucify him;” and in answer to their demands he delivered Jesus into their hands, saying, however, “I wash my hands of his blood.” He had not the firmness to resist the cries of the population but yielded to their unreasonable demands.

But to return. In speaking of these matters, I have reasons personally, myself, to have very vindictive feelings if I would entertain them, in regard to misrule and mob violence, for under the pledge of the governor of Illinois, made to me and to Dr. Bernhisel, (who is here presented) Joseph and Hyrum Smith were guaranteed protection, and the governor pledged us his faith and that of the State therefore. But these two innocent victims were slain in cold blood, and the very guards whom the governor ostensibly placed for their protection, assisted in the murder, whilst I, myself, who was not there as a prisoner, received four balls at the time of their massacre. Under these infamous circumstances it would be very natural for a man to entertain vindictive feelings. But do I have feelings of revenge in my heart concerning these men? No. Did any of you ever hear me give utterance to feelings of that kind? I think not. I do not wish to be governed by such influences. Those who perpetrate such acts have enough to answer for without any maledictions from me. I do not cherish feelings of that kind. I consider that all these things are governed by an all-wise and inscrutable Providence, by a God who rules and regulates, manages and directs the affairs of the human family. I saw Joseph and Hyrum Smith mortally wounded by men with blackened faces, and, as I have said, I was severely wounded—quite as severely as President Garfield is. Do I feel enmity towards these men? No, their case is not an enviable one. There is a Being who knows the acts of the human family and is acquainted with their affairs, who will judge all men and all nations according to their deserts. Do I know this? I do know it. The Gospel reveals many things to us which others are unacquainted with. I knew of those terrible events which were coming upon this nation previous to the breaking out of our great fratricidal war, just as well as I now know that they transpired, and I have spoken of them to many. What of that? Do I not know that a nation like that in which we live, a nation which is blessed with, the freest, the most enlightened and magnificent government in the world today, with privileges which would exalt people to heaven if lived up to—do I not know that if they do not live up to them, but violate them and trample them under their feet, and discard the sacred principles of liberty by which we ought to be governed—do I not know that their punishment will be commensurate with the enlightenment which they possess? I do. And I know—I cannot help but know—that there are a great many more afflictions yet awaiting this nation. But would I put forth my hand to help bring them on? God forbid! And you, you Latter-day Saints, would you exercise your influence to the accomplishment of an object of that kind? God forbid! But we cannot help but know these things. But our foreknowledge of these matters does not make us the agents in bringing them to pass. We are told that the wicked will slay the wicked. We are told in sacred writ, “that vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, and I will repay.” And in speaking of ourselves we need not be under any apprehensions pertaining to the acts of men, for the Lord has said, “It is my business to take care of my saints;” but it is our business to be Saints. And to be worthy of that character it is our duty to live by the principles of virtue, truth, integrity, holiness, purity, and honor, that we may at all times secure the favor of Almighty God; that His blessings may be with us and dwell in our bosoms; that the peace of God may abide in our habitations; that our fields, our flocks, and our herds may be blessed of the Lord; and that we, as a people, may be under His divine protection. Fear him and keep his commandments, and if we do this we need know no other fear either on this side of heaven or of hell, for God has pledged himself to take care of his people and to sustain and deliver them from the hands of their enemies, Therefore we may feel easy, and we can always afford to treat all men right. What! Would you treat your enemies well? Why, yes. If they were hungry I would feed them; if they were thirsty I would give them drink; if they were naked I would clothe them; but I would not be governed by their principles, nor influenced by the feelings which animate their bosoms. I would try and imitate and cherish the same truths that dwell in the bosom of God, who makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and the rain to fall on the just and on the unjust. Then, having done that, I would leave them in the hands of God, and let him direct his affairs according to the counsels of his own will.

I am sorry to see this murderous influence prevailing throughout the world, and perhaps this may be a fitting occasion to refer to some of these matters. The manifestations of turbulence and uneasiness which prevail among the nations of the earth are truly lamentable. Well, have I anything to do with them? Nothing; but I cannot help but know that they exist. These feelings which tend to do away with all right, rule, and government, and correct principles are not from God, or many of them are not. This feeling of communism and nihilism, aimed at the overthrow of rulers and men in position and authority, arises from a spirit of diabolism, which is contrary to every principle of the Gospel of the Son of God. But then do not the Scripture say that these things shall occur? Yes. Do not the scriptures say that men shall grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived? Yes. Do not the scriptures tell us that thrones shall be cast down and empires destroyed and the rule and government of the earth be trodden under foot? Yes. But I cannot help but sympathize with those who suffer from their influences; while these afflictions are the result of wickedness and corruption, yet we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that those who engage in these pernicious practices are exceedingly low, brutal, wicked and degraded. I would say “my soul come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united.”

I have traveled abroad myself, quite extensively among the nations of the earth. Did I ever interfere with them? No, not in the least particular. Did I see things that were wrong? Yes, but it was not for me to right them. That was not my mission. I had no command of the kind. My mission was to preach the Gospel of salvation to the nations of the earth, and I have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles to do this, without purse or scrip, trusting in God. And so have many of my friends traveled. We did not hurt anybody, did we? For instance, now, right in our own city, we have Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Catholics, Episcopalians, and all kinds of isms. Do we interfere with them? We do not. Would you interrupt them in their worship? I know of no such thing, good Latter-day Saints will not do it. Would I malign or persecute them? No, I would not. If we told the truth about some of them it would be quite bad enough without stating falsehoods, and if other men cannot afford to treat us aright, we can afford to treat them properly and to give the fullest and broadest liberty to all who come within our reach; liberty to do right, not liberty to oppress, not liberty to trample upon correct principles, not liberty to rob men of their property or religion. Men who would do this are villains which we want nothing to do with; but all honorable men, all men who do right and maintain the laws and the Constitution of the United States, we are their friends and will sustain them to the last. These are my thoughts in relation to that matter.

In connection with President Garfield, have we any feelings of enmity? No; I have none. I feel truly to sympathize with him in his affliction, but I feel more profoundly moved that deeds of this description can occur in a free, liberal and enlightened government like this. We might expect such things in some of the European nations where the principles of nihilism exist to so great an extent, and where there seems a disposition to subvert all rule and government and place the people and nations in the hands of irresponsible mobs, and of low, brutal, murderous men, without any regard to the principles of law, order, justice, equity and righteousness. I could account for some of these things taking place there. It is really astonishing to see what efforts are being made to accomplish the overthrow of rule and government in Russia, Austria, Germany, Spain, England, Italy, France, Turkey, etc. These things are beginning to spread among and permeate the nations of the earth. Do we expect them? Yes. These secret combinations were spoken of by Joseph Smith, years and years ago. I have heard him time and time again tell about them, and he stated that when these things began to take place the liberties of this nation would begin to be bartered away. We see many signs of weakness which we lament, and we would to God that our rulers would be men of righteousness, and that those who aspire to position would be guided by honorable feelings—to maintain inviolate the Constitution and operate in the interest, happiness, well-being, and protection of the whole community. But we see signs of weakness and vacillation. We see a policy being introduced to listen to the clamor of mobs and of unprincipled men who know not of what they speak, nor whereof they affirm, and when men begin to tear away with impunity one plank after another from our Constitution, by and by we shall find that we are struggling with the wreck and ruin of the system which the forefathers of this nation sought to establish in the interests of humanity. But it is for us still to sustain these glorious principles of liberty bequeathed by the founders of this nation, still to rally round the flag of the Union, still to maintain all correct principles, granting the utmost extent of liberty to all people of all grades and of all nations. If other people see fit to violate these sacred principles, we must uphold them in their en– tirety, in their purity, and be patriotic and law-abiding and act honorably toward our nation and to its rulers. It is truly deplorable to see our President, the President of this great and mighty nation, one of the greatest rulers in the world stricken down by an assassin. Yet these things we have to mourn over. But in all cases it is for us to be true to our God and to our religion, to obey the laws of God, cleaving to correct principles, letting purity, virtue, honor, truth and integrity characterize all our acts, that we may be the blessed of the Lord.

I pray God to bless you, and that we may be led in the paths of light; and I pray God to bless all honorable men everywhere, and to bless our President and our rulers who rule in righteousness, and that wherein any of them are doing wrong, that they may be led in the right path, and that we may be led to pursue that course at all times that shall secure the approbation of God, the approbation of our own conscience and the esteem and respect of all honorable men everywhere. Regarding the notions of others, we care nothing; our trust is in God; and we will try and observe His laws and keep His commandments. May God help us to do so in the name of Jesus. Amen.